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The Indwelling Spirit: The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer
Inspiring and Practical Teaching on the Work of the Holy Spirit
In 31 clear, concise chapters, Andrew Murray shares his insights on all aspects of the Holy Spirit's work in the Christian's life. This helpful study includes
* Being filled with the Spirit
* Walking in the Spirit
* The Spirit's ministry in the church
and much more.
Readers today will find this classic devotional study as timely today as when it was originally published in the 1880s as The Spirit of Christ.
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16
In 31 clear, concise chapters, Andrew Murray shares his insights on all aspects of the Holy Spirit's work in the Christian's life. This helpful study includes
* Being filled with the Spirit
* Walking in the Spirit
* The Spirit's ministry in the church
and much more.
Readers today will find this classic devotional study as timely today as when it was originally published in the 1880s as The Spirit of Christ.
"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16
286 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2006
55 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Murray
1,235 books550 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Murray was Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Murray became a noted missionary leader. His father was a Scottish Presbyterian serving the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, and his mother had connections with both French Huguenots and German Lutherans. This background to some extent explains his ecumenical spirit. He was educated at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. After ordination in 1848 he served pastorates at Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town, and Wellington. He helped to found what are now the University College of the Orange Free State and the Stellenbosch Seminary. He served as Moderator of the Cape Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church and was president of both the YMCA (1865) and the South Africa General Mission (1888-1917), now the Africa Evangelical Fellowship.
He was one of the chief promoters of the call to missions in South Africa. This led to the Dutch Reformed Church missions to blacks in the Transvaal and Malawi. Apart from his evangelistic tours in South Africa, he spoke at the Keswick and Northfield Conventions in 1895, making a great impression. upon his British and American audiences. For his contribution to world missions he was given an honorary doctorate by the universities of Aberdeen (1898) and Cape of Good Hope(1907).
Murray is best known today for his devotional writings, which place great emphasis on the need for a rich, personal devotional life. Many of his 240 publications explain in how he saw this devotion and its outworking in the life of the Christian. Several of his books have become devotional classics. Among these are Abide in Christ, Absolute Surrender, With Christ in the School of Prayer, The Spirit of Christ and Waiting on God.
Murray was Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Murray became a noted missionary leader. His father was a Scottish Presbyterian serving the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, and his mother had connections with both French Huguenots and German Lutherans. This background to some extent explains his ecumenical spirit. He was educated at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. After ordination in 1848 he served pastorates at Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town, and Wellington. He helped to found what are now the University College of the Orange Free State and the Stellenbosch Seminary. He served as Moderator of the Cape Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church and was president of both the YMCA (1865) and the South Africa General Mission (1888-1917), now the Africa Evangelical Fellowship.
He was one of the chief promoters of the call to missions in South Africa. This led to the Dutch Reformed Church missions to blacks in the Transvaal and Malawi. Apart from his evangelistic tours in South Africa, he spoke at the Keswick and Northfield Conventions in 1895, making a great impression. upon his British and American audiences. For his contribution to world missions he was given an honorary doctorate by the universities of Aberdeen (1898) and Cape of Good Hope(1907).
Murray is best known today for his devotional writings, which place great emphasis on the need for a rich, personal devotional life. Many of his 240 publications explain in how he saw this devotion and its outworking in the life of the Christian. Several of his books have become devotional classics. Among these are Abide in Christ, Absolute Surrender, With Christ in the School of Prayer, The Spirit of Christ and Waiting on God.
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September 8, 2016
I once had a mentor who was surprised to learn that I read Andrew Murray, and she called them “challenging.” For my part, I was surprised to find anyone else who’s ever heard of him and read his works. As a young teen, I used to sneak and read some of my dad’s books on God and prayer and abiding in Jesus – Andrew Murray’s books among them. (My dad wouldn’t have minded, and the way he put notes, often of scripture, in the margins of his books, I knew exactly what he thought of them. I just didn’t want to talk to him about them.)
I like them because I like the call to worship God in awe, and the call to make ourselves entirely accessible to Him. Reading them is an act of worship for me. The books on prayer are not books on “manipulating God to get things out of Him,” as one person expressed today’s books on prayer. Andrew Murray’s books on prayer involve finding out what God wants in prayer from His Word. It’s a drawing close to God in awe.
Having said all that, when I attempted this book, “The Indwelling Spirit,” my mentor’s description came to mind – challenging – more so than most of the other Andrew Murray books I’ve read, including his study of the Biblical book of Hebrews in “The Holiest of All,” about God being in the innermost part of the temple, about Jesus' sacrifice, and entering the heavenly temple. (I would recommend “Abide in Christ” for a first Andrew Murray book to read; I know I read that one as a teen.)
I can’t possibly review or comment on everything in this book, and there are too many good quotes to list all my favorites. I find myself writing in the margins like my dad, in particular, putting in a Bible reference where Murray quotes it without the reference. Usually Murray does reference it, but I think he assumes more Bible knowledge than most readers have today. For example, Murray wrote of “the Spirit’s work in convincing us of sin and of righteousness,” and I wrote in John 16:8. And in one of Murray’s prayers at the end of a chapter, he prayed from both Ephesians 1:18 and Ephesians 3:19, without referencing them.
Murray reconnects John 16:8 with its context in a way I’d not seen done before. “And when [the Comforter] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.” I had always taken that to mean that it was not our job to convict, but the Holy Spirit’s. But Andrew Murray says the opposite, that the context in the verse above was the Holy Spirit within us, that is within Christians, would have this effect on those who do not yet believe around us. I can only say that if that is true, then no wonder Christianity was so dangerous and so many were martyred. I am convinced, though, that this verse does not mean that we should show off our spirituality or our having-it-altogetherness (we don’t.) But something about us will convict others. I had someone once tell me that my diligence in college convicted them to see something less than diligence. It may work something like that. I wasn’t being diligent to aggravate him. I didn’t even know he was watching.
The real question is what others will do when the Holy Spirit convicts them. Turn their hearts towards God for His pardon, too? Or just hate those who love God?
Whether or not the Holy Spirit convicts the world through us or from inside themselves, the end result is the same for us. We must be faithful.
I appreciated the straightforward talks on sin, temptation, self-denial, and the Holy Spirit. Those are not common topics for today, and that is one of the reasons I enjoy reading Christian literature from the past. The authors are not swayed by our current times and audiences. It feels like a fuller picture in some things. (Or maybe that lack of teaching is just in the church we attended – until recently.)
Another place where Murray reattaches a verse to its context is Romans 8:14, "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." I had always taken this to mean that if God is leading us, as in, if He is illuminating scripture, and we are trying to put it into practice, then that is a sign that we are His.
But Murray reattached the verse to the preceding one, Romans 8:13, "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Murray notes that the context for this has to do with fighting against the sin in our own lives, putting "to death the misdeeds of the body." He notes that what the Spirit leads us to do in vs. 14 is to do away with the sin within, the selfish self-indulgence. It is a paradigm shift in what God is leading us to do in these passages, and what marks us as children of God. (Certainly, I still believe that the Holy Spirit, as Author of the scriptures, still illuminates them, and that we should still live them out as well.)
I appreciated Andrew Murray's chapters on the Holy Spirit's love and on unity in the Spirit. Those chapters and thoughts helped me get through some difficult talks during dissension.
In a couple of places, I had to think hard to disagree with Murray. Sometimes, his writing is hard to decipher, or else I’m not much experienced to decipher it in the context of understanding the Holy Spirit. For example, Murray wrote that the Holy Spirit changed with Jesus’ death and resurrection. I have no way of knowing if that is true. God the Father is unchangeable (Malachi 3:6), but Jesus Himself “grew in wisdom and in stature,” (Luke 2:52), and was “made perfect” (or more mature) by His suffering (Hebrews 2:10, Hebrews 5:9,) so there were some changes in Jesus, although I don’t understand them.
I don’t know if the Holy Spirit changed, but Murray wrote, “It is particularly in this capacity – [indwelling mankind] that He bears the name Holy Spirit, for it is as the indwelling one that God is holy.” I disagree. God Himself is always holy, whether He chooses to indwell us or not.
Also, Murray tries to separate and figure out what the role is of each person of the trinity, to the point that I am uncomfortable with it. If my husband and I took a trip together, you wouldn’t know that he chose to see the Tower of London, that I chose the white cliffs of Dover, and that we both chose to see Fingal’s cave, unless I told you, because we did all those things together. I think it would be even harder to separate what each person of the trinity did and does, unless they tell us, and often (always?) they work together, even if in different ways. I doubt we are meant to solve that mystery, although we can certainly enjoy getting to know them better. It is possible that Murray is thinking of references that he doesn’t list and that I don’t know.
Murray says “Everyone who longs for the full blessing here [the indwelling Spirit] must only believe.” He was speaking of John 7:38-39, but he also referenced Acts 2:38-39, which is odd, because it speaks of more than just belief for that promise – but also of repentance and baptism. Repentance is spoken of elsewhere in Murray’s book. I don’t really have a problem correlating John 7:38-39 and Acts 2:38-39 because one who truly believes will probably find themselves repenting, being baptized, and hopefully doing many other things as well.
Murray said that the Holy Spirit “labored in vain” for the mastery of the human heart in the Old Testament. I disagree. I think He set the stage there and prepared hearts who would later believe. I am nitpicking now. We would both agree that the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Old Testament was incomplete without His work in the New Testament.
Murray said, “All that Christ did would have profited us nothing if the Holy Spirit did not come into our hearts and bring it all home.” I wouldn’t quite say “nothing.” We would have our salvation, a vast treasure in itself, but would be strangers with God, which would indeed be immense loss – but we would have all of eternity to get to know each other.
Favorite quotes: I found that my favorite quotes were ones from the Bible. It was those that I put on index cards to have around the house. But I will not copy them here. They are in your Bibles. Here I’ll put my favorite Murray quotes:
“In worship I gather my being and present it to God.”
“Let us realize in holy fear and awe that He dwells within us. Let us humbly, in the silence of the flesh, yield ourselves to His leading and teaching.”
“It will keep us from expecting to enjoy the teaching of the Spirit without the Word, or to master the teaching of the Word without the Spirit.”
“If you would be full of the Spirit, be full of the Word.”
“This alone satisfies the soul’s thirst, making it a fountain that gives life to others – the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”
“Be faithful to what appears the nearest His voice until we come to know His voice better.”
“that simple, full allegiance to every dictate of conscience and every precept of the Word is the passport to that full life in the Spirit.”
“How do we know when it is the Spirit that is teaching us? We must know the Teacher.”
“Do not be content with the teaching of the church or of men, but go directly to His Word.”
In discussing Matthew 16:24, Murray said, “Many seek to follow Jesus without denying themselves.”
“Life truths can only be known by living them.”
“The enthronement of Jesus in His glory can take place only in the heart that has promised implicit and unreserved obedience.”
“The Holy Spirit is not given to us as a possession of which we have control and can use at our discretion. The Holy Spirit is given to us as our Master, who has control of us.”
“As you wait before God, He interprets your silence as confession that you have nothing – no wisdom or strength to pray or to work aright. Waiting is an expression of need, of emptiness.”
“All prayers for the guiding and encouraging influence of the Holy Spirit in the children of God ought to have this as their aim: power to witness for Christ and effectively serve in reaching the world for Him.” I am not sure about the word “all” here, but I have noticed that He seems especially eager to answer such prayers lately, and with power.
“We want to get possession of power and use it; God wants to get possession of us and use us.”
“If you would have His power work in you, bow before the holy presence that dwells in you, that asks your surrender to His guidance even in the smallest things.” Much easier said than done; hard to actually do.
“God does not give this power for our own enjoyment or to save us from trouble and effort. He gives it for one purpose – to glorify His Son.”
“the believer’s testimony will always be according to scripture.”
“Mission to the lost is the ultimate goal of the Spirit.”
“The work is His: Depend on Him, yield to Him, wait for Him; the work is His and He will accomplish it.”
“’Walk according to the Spirit.’ The Spirit is to lead, to reveal the path. This implies surrender, obedience, waiting to be guided.”
“As conformity to this world and its spirit is crucified and dies, and as we deliberately deny the will of the flesh, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and so the mind becomes able to prove and know the good and perfect and acceptable will of God.” (Commentary on Romans 12:2)
“The real answer is: The Word of God as taught by the Spirit of God.”
“All the Word is given by the Spirit, so His great work is to honor that Word.”
“The temptation to sin remains to the end. But the deeds of the body, each sin as it presents itself, can be denied.”
“Sin can be put to death. To do this we must be full of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
“When one fears the evil tendency that may return and betray him, the Holy Spirit is able to keep that one form sin by the power of Christ’s death.”
“’We do not know what we should pray for as we ought.’ (Romans 8:26): How often this has been a burden, a sorrow! Let it from now on be a comfort. Because we do not know, we may stand aside and give place to the One who does know.” – I love this one and drew a heart in the margin next to it.
“It is not enough that the light of Christ shines on you in the Word; the light of the Spirit must shine in you. Each time you come in contact with the Word through study, preaching, or reading Christian literature, there ought to be an act of self-denial, a choice to deny your own wisdom, yielding yourself in faith to the divine Teacher.”
“The extent to which many Christians yield themselves to the influence of the literature of the age without fear or caution, is one of the great reasons why the Holy Spirit cannot guide them or reveal Christ in them.” I drew an exclamation point after this one. I’ve seen it to be true.
“The flesh offends in two ways – unrighteousness and self-righteousness.”
“We must believe that God means what He says.”
“In spite of whatever there was among the Corinthians that was wrong or unholy; Paul speaks to them, thinks of them, and loves them as one in Christ.”
“If I am to deny self in my relationships with others, conquer selfishness and temper and lack of love, I must first learn to deny self in my relationship with God.”
“They miss the power of taking God at His Word. A key has no value until I use it in the lock of the door I want to open. So it is only in direct and living contact with God Himself that the Word opens my heart to believe.”
“I learn to fear nothing so much as myself. I tremble at the thought of allowing the flesh, my natural mind and will, to usurp the place of the Holy Spirit.”
“Many have sought in vain to follow Jesus, but could not because they have neglected what is indispensable – self-denial. Self cannot follow Jesus because it cannot love as He loves.” (commentary on Matthew 16:24)
“Displays of selfishness, flaring tempers, hash judgments, unkind words, lack of patience and gentleness are simply proof that we do not yet understand what it means to be full of the Spirit of Christ.”
“The sign that self is deposed and that God reigns will be love.”
“Love every believer, not because he is in agreement with you or pleasing to you, but for the sake of the Spirit of Christ who is in him.”
I like them because I like the call to worship God in awe, and the call to make ourselves entirely accessible to Him. Reading them is an act of worship for me. The books on prayer are not books on “manipulating God to get things out of Him,” as one person expressed today’s books on prayer. Andrew Murray’s books on prayer involve finding out what God wants in prayer from His Word. It’s a drawing close to God in awe.
Having said all that, when I attempted this book, “The Indwelling Spirit,” my mentor’s description came to mind – challenging – more so than most of the other Andrew Murray books I’ve read, including his study of the Biblical book of Hebrews in “The Holiest of All,” about God being in the innermost part of the temple, about Jesus' sacrifice, and entering the heavenly temple. (I would recommend “Abide in Christ” for a first Andrew Murray book to read; I know I read that one as a teen.)
I can’t possibly review or comment on everything in this book, and there are too many good quotes to list all my favorites. I find myself writing in the margins like my dad, in particular, putting in a Bible reference where Murray quotes it without the reference. Usually Murray does reference it, but I think he assumes more Bible knowledge than most readers have today. For example, Murray wrote of “the Spirit’s work in convincing us of sin and of righteousness,” and I wrote in John 16:8. And in one of Murray’s prayers at the end of a chapter, he prayed from both Ephesians 1:18 and Ephesians 3:19, without referencing them.
Murray reconnects John 16:8 with its context in a way I’d not seen done before. “And when [the Comforter] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.” I had always taken that to mean that it was not our job to convict, but the Holy Spirit’s. But Andrew Murray says the opposite, that the context in the verse above was the Holy Spirit within us, that is within Christians, would have this effect on those who do not yet believe around us. I can only say that if that is true, then no wonder Christianity was so dangerous and so many were martyred. I am convinced, though, that this verse does not mean that we should show off our spirituality or our having-it-altogetherness (we don’t.) But something about us will convict others. I had someone once tell me that my diligence in college convicted them to see something less than diligence. It may work something like that. I wasn’t being diligent to aggravate him. I didn’t even know he was watching.
The real question is what others will do when the Holy Spirit convicts them. Turn their hearts towards God for His pardon, too? Or just hate those who love God?
Whether or not the Holy Spirit convicts the world through us or from inside themselves, the end result is the same for us. We must be faithful.
I appreciated the straightforward talks on sin, temptation, self-denial, and the Holy Spirit. Those are not common topics for today, and that is one of the reasons I enjoy reading Christian literature from the past. The authors are not swayed by our current times and audiences. It feels like a fuller picture in some things. (Or maybe that lack of teaching is just in the church we attended – until recently.)
Another place where Murray reattaches a verse to its context is Romans 8:14, "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." I had always taken this to mean that if God is leading us, as in, if He is illuminating scripture, and we are trying to put it into practice, then that is a sign that we are His.
But Murray reattached the verse to the preceding one, Romans 8:13, "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Murray notes that the context for this has to do with fighting against the sin in our own lives, putting "to death the misdeeds of the body." He notes that what the Spirit leads us to do in vs. 14 is to do away with the sin within, the selfish self-indulgence. It is a paradigm shift in what God is leading us to do in these passages, and what marks us as children of God. (Certainly, I still believe that the Holy Spirit, as Author of the scriptures, still illuminates them, and that we should still live them out as well.)
I appreciated Andrew Murray's chapters on the Holy Spirit's love and on unity in the Spirit. Those chapters and thoughts helped me get through some difficult talks during dissension.
In a couple of places, I had to think hard to disagree with Murray. Sometimes, his writing is hard to decipher, or else I’m not much experienced to decipher it in the context of understanding the Holy Spirit. For example, Murray wrote that the Holy Spirit changed with Jesus’ death and resurrection. I have no way of knowing if that is true. God the Father is unchangeable (Malachi 3:6), but Jesus Himself “grew in wisdom and in stature,” (Luke 2:52), and was “made perfect” (or more mature) by His suffering (Hebrews 2:10, Hebrews 5:9,) so there were some changes in Jesus, although I don’t understand them.
I don’t know if the Holy Spirit changed, but Murray wrote, “It is particularly in this capacity – [indwelling mankind] that He bears the name Holy Spirit, for it is as the indwelling one that God is holy.” I disagree. God Himself is always holy, whether He chooses to indwell us or not.
Also, Murray tries to separate and figure out what the role is of each person of the trinity, to the point that I am uncomfortable with it. If my husband and I took a trip together, you wouldn’t know that he chose to see the Tower of London, that I chose the white cliffs of Dover, and that we both chose to see Fingal’s cave, unless I told you, because we did all those things together. I think it would be even harder to separate what each person of the trinity did and does, unless they tell us, and often (always?) they work together, even if in different ways. I doubt we are meant to solve that mystery, although we can certainly enjoy getting to know them better. It is possible that Murray is thinking of references that he doesn’t list and that I don’t know.
Murray says “Everyone who longs for the full blessing here [the indwelling Spirit] must only believe.” He was speaking of John 7:38-39, but he also referenced Acts 2:38-39, which is odd, because it speaks of more than just belief for that promise – but also of repentance and baptism. Repentance is spoken of elsewhere in Murray’s book. I don’t really have a problem correlating John 7:38-39 and Acts 2:38-39 because one who truly believes will probably find themselves repenting, being baptized, and hopefully doing many other things as well.
Murray said that the Holy Spirit “labored in vain” for the mastery of the human heart in the Old Testament. I disagree. I think He set the stage there and prepared hearts who would later believe. I am nitpicking now. We would both agree that the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Old Testament was incomplete without His work in the New Testament.
Murray said, “All that Christ did would have profited us nothing if the Holy Spirit did not come into our hearts and bring it all home.” I wouldn’t quite say “nothing.” We would have our salvation, a vast treasure in itself, but would be strangers with God, which would indeed be immense loss – but we would have all of eternity to get to know each other.
Favorite quotes: I found that my favorite quotes were ones from the Bible. It was those that I put on index cards to have around the house. But I will not copy them here. They are in your Bibles. Here I’ll put my favorite Murray quotes:
“In worship I gather my being and present it to God.”
“Let us realize in holy fear and awe that He dwells within us. Let us humbly, in the silence of the flesh, yield ourselves to His leading and teaching.”
“It will keep us from expecting to enjoy the teaching of the Spirit without the Word, or to master the teaching of the Word without the Spirit.”
“If you would be full of the Spirit, be full of the Word.”
“This alone satisfies the soul’s thirst, making it a fountain that gives life to others – the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”
“Be faithful to what appears the nearest His voice until we come to know His voice better.”
“that simple, full allegiance to every dictate of conscience and every precept of the Word is the passport to that full life in the Spirit.”
“How do we know when it is the Spirit that is teaching us? We must know the Teacher.”
“Do not be content with the teaching of the church or of men, but go directly to His Word.”
In discussing Matthew 16:24, Murray said, “Many seek to follow Jesus without denying themselves.”
“Life truths can only be known by living them.”
“The enthronement of Jesus in His glory can take place only in the heart that has promised implicit and unreserved obedience.”
“The Holy Spirit is not given to us as a possession of which we have control and can use at our discretion. The Holy Spirit is given to us as our Master, who has control of us.”
“As you wait before God, He interprets your silence as confession that you have nothing – no wisdom or strength to pray or to work aright. Waiting is an expression of need, of emptiness.”
“All prayers for the guiding and encouraging influence of the Holy Spirit in the children of God ought to have this as their aim: power to witness for Christ and effectively serve in reaching the world for Him.” I am not sure about the word “all” here, but I have noticed that He seems especially eager to answer such prayers lately, and with power.
“We want to get possession of power and use it; God wants to get possession of us and use us.”
“If you would have His power work in you, bow before the holy presence that dwells in you, that asks your surrender to His guidance even in the smallest things.” Much easier said than done; hard to actually do.
“God does not give this power for our own enjoyment or to save us from trouble and effort. He gives it for one purpose – to glorify His Son.”
“the believer’s testimony will always be according to scripture.”
“Mission to the lost is the ultimate goal of the Spirit.”
“The work is His: Depend on Him, yield to Him, wait for Him; the work is His and He will accomplish it.”
“’Walk according to the Spirit.’ The Spirit is to lead, to reveal the path. This implies surrender, obedience, waiting to be guided.”
“As conformity to this world and its spirit is crucified and dies, and as we deliberately deny the will of the flesh, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and so the mind becomes able to prove and know the good and perfect and acceptable will of God.” (Commentary on Romans 12:2)
“The real answer is: The Word of God as taught by the Spirit of God.”
“All the Word is given by the Spirit, so His great work is to honor that Word.”
“The temptation to sin remains to the end. But the deeds of the body, each sin as it presents itself, can be denied.”
“Sin can be put to death. To do this we must be full of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
“When one fears the evil tendency that may return and betray him, the Holy Spirit is able to keep that one form sin by the power of Christ’s death.”
“’We do not know what we should pray for as we ought.’ (Romans 8:26): How often this has been a burden, a sorrow! Let it from now on be a comfort. Because we do not know, we may stand aside and give place to the One who does know.” – I love this one and drew a heart in the margin next to it.
“It is not enough that the light of Christ shines on you in the Word; the light of the Spirit must shine in you. Each time you come in contact with the Word through study, preaching, or reading Christian literature, there ought to be an act of self-denial, a choice to deny your own wisdom, yielding yourself in faith to the divine Teacher.”
“The extent to which many Christians yield themselves to the influence of the literature of the age without fear or caution, is one of the great reasons why the Holy Spirit cannot guide them or reveal Christ in them.” I drew an exclamation point after this one. I’ve seen it to be true.
“The flesh offends in two ways – unrighteousness and self-righteousness.”
“We must believe that God means what He says.”
“In spite of whatever there was among the Corinthians that was wrong or unholy; Paul speaks to them, thinks of them, and loves them as one in Christ.”
“If I am to deny self in my relationships with others, conquer selfishness and temper and lack of love, I must first learn to deny self in my relationship with God.”
“They miss the power of taking God at His Word. A key has no value until I use it in the lock of the door I want to open. So it is only in direct and living contact with God Himself that the Word opens my heart to believe.”
“I learn to fear nothing so much as myself. I tremble at the thought of allowing the flesh, my natural mind and will, to usurp the place of the Holy Spirit.”
“Many have sought in vain to follow Jesus, but could not because they have neglected what is indispensable – self-denial. Self cannot follow Jesus because it cannot love as He loves.” (commentary on Matthew 16:24)
“Displays of selfishness, flaring tempers, hash judgments, unkind words, lack of patience and gentleness are simply proof that we do not yet understand what it means to be full of the Spirit of Christ.”
“The sign that self is deposed and that God reigns will be love.”
“Love every believer, not because he is in agreement with you or pleasing to you, but for the sake of the Spirit of Christ who is in him.”
September 23, 2024
“we must be careful not to misunderstand the word that the spirit will teach us. we generally connect teaching with thoughts. we want the spirit to suggest to us certain concepts of how jesus will be with us and in us. this is not what he does. the spirit does not dwell in the mind but in the life; not in what we know but in what we are. do not expect at once a clear apprehension, a new insight, into this or any divine truth… lay your own will and your own wisdom captive at the feet of jesus and wait in faith and stillness of soul. the deep consciousness will grow that the spirit is within you and that his divine life is living and growing in you” (91-92)
September 3, 2025
The greatest explanation of how to be filled with the Holy Spirit!
This is the best description I have read of how to prepare for and ask for the filling to overflowing of the Holy Spirit!
This is the best description I have read of how to prepare for and ask for the filling to overflowing of the Holy Spirit!
December 13, 2025
Such a great book by such a lovely author. This book is a great read about the Spirit for a Western world who doesn't give the third person of the Trinity much focus/thought/weight. I didn't get bowled over by every day's reading or even every other day, but the ones that got me, they got me GOOD.
May 31, 2025
Know What You Believe
This book helps you to separate truth from fake, and to understand many elements of the spirit. A very good read.
This book helps you to separate truth from fake, and to understand many elements of the spirit. A very good read.
September 6, 2025
If I could give it 10 stars I would. Put it on the shelf next to Murray’s HUMILITY, and Lewis’s work. I will be rereading this one often. 🔥
December 18, 2025
The easier reading version of The Spirit of Christ written over 200 years ago by Andrew Murray. Wish I had read this earlier in my life. Bottom line, you can't live a Christian life. The Spirit can.
June 22, 2015
This is one of the most fabulous Christian books I have every read. I love Andrew Murray - such an encourager. I believe this is "must read" for any Christian seeking to know the power and working of the Holy Spirit.
April 24, 2013
Excellent devotional on the person and work of the Holy Spirit
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