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Absolute Surrender and Other Addresses
“Absolute Surrender and Other Addresses” is a compilation of sermons and essays written by the famous South African religious leader Andrew Murray. Born in South Africa in 1828, Murray grew up educated in Scotland and later the Netherlands. He returned to South Africa in 1848 after his ordination and pastored several churches all over South Africa. Murray was an important proponent of the “Higher Life” or “Keswick” movement which believed that after one’s initial baptism into the Christian faith one must continue to work on a second blessing from God. This second blessing or purpose is possible by living a more holy and less sinful daily life. This goal may only be achieved by surrendering one’s will and daily life absolutely to Jesus and by studying and understanding Jesus’s words and lessons to his disciples. In these stirring and inspiring sermons, Murray details the benefits of absolute surrender to God, such as untold blessings and a true experience of Jesus, and instructs the faithful in how to achieve this surrender in their daily life. Murray’s wise words continue to guide the faithful over a hundred years later. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
- GenresChristian
76 pages, Paperback
Published June 27, 2019
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About the author
Andrew Murray
1,197 books546 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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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 23, 2012
This was an awesome book for Christian living.
June 23, 2018
Continuing my explorations of the formulation of faith as 'the complete acceptance of the way things are, and the total belief that things can be different' (which I fleshed out a bit here: https://sacramentofbreathing.wordpres... ), I was interested in knowing more about the surrender component of that paradox.
Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was born in South Africa, the son of a Scottish Presbyterian serving the Dutch Reformed Church. He was educated at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Coming from a reformed, Calvinist foundation, he was associated with the Keswick Convention and was something of a 'proto-charismatic' - later becoming beloved of pentecostals and charismatics in the 20th century for his strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit.
It was the (rather formidable) title that drew me to this book, along with a lovely quote that I came across elsewhere.
Surrender - a mode of letting go - is, I think, woven into the faith paradox. It involves total dependence on God; theologically, Murray finds grounding for this move in one of the central themes of Calvinism - it is God who does the work. It is our move to let go, and God's move to supply the wherewithall, primarily through the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual's life.
The book is made up of a number of sermons that dovetail into the overall message - they are concrete and accessible - really enjoyable. You are constantly aware of the 'high calling' that Murray is making (absolute surrender is no casual thing) but it is always offset by his insistence on the load being carried by God. One of the sermons, for example, puts forward a way of being that entails helplessness combined with restedness... perhaps alarming to our 'try harder, earn more' sensibilities but oh so inviting. Abiding is important here too - resting within the overall scope of God's work and being.
All this weaves in a rather lovely way with my thoughts about the faith paradox - I remain pretty convinced about the saliency of the idea. Surrender, restedness and abiding are all wonderful terms in keeping with acceptance... and I'm even prepared to entertain helplessness in this. In the final analysis, helplessness is existential realism - despite what we've been told, there is only so much we can do - as humans we are limited and actually vulnerable. We need to acknowledge that void. Thank God that's not the whole story, and because that's not the whole story, there can be peace and contentment in that acknowledgement.
One major thing that Murray adds to my understanding is this notion: surrender (the first half of the paradox) enables the second half of the paradox to begin to come into realisation - it provides a springboard. Surrendering enables a forward movement into the realisation of things being different - even so far as the 'impossible' becoming possible - because the Prime Mover is given space to work.
And now for a quote:
"...we must understand that faith is rest. In the beginning of the faith-life, faith is struggling; but as long as faith is struggling, faith has not attained its strength. But when faith in its struggling gets to the end of itself, and just throws itself upon God and rests on Him, then comes joy and victory."
Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was born in South Africa, the son of a Scottish Presbyterian serving the Dutch Reformed Church. He was educated at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Coming from a reformed, Calvinist foundation, he was associated with the Keswick Convention and was something of a 'proto-charismatic' - later becoming beloved of pentecostals and charismatics in the 20th century for his strong emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit.
It was the (rather formidable) title that drew me to this book, along with a lovely quote that I came across elsewhere.
Surrender - a mode of letting go - is, I think, woven into the faith paradox. It involves total dependence on God; theologically, Murray finds grounding for this move in one of the central themes of Calvinism - it is God who does the work. It is our move to let go, and God's move to supply the wherewithall, primarily through the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual's life.
The book is made up of a number of sermons that dovetail into the overall message - they are concrete and accessible - really enjoyable. You are constantly aware of the 'high calling' that Murray is making (absolute surrender is no casual thing) but it is always offset by his insistence on the load being carried by God. One of the sermons, for example, puts forward a way of being that entails helplessness combined with restedness... perhaps alarming to our 'try harder, earn more' sensibilities but oh so inviting. Abiding is important here too - resting within the overall scope of God's work and being.
All this weaves in a rather lovely way with my thoughts about the faith paradox - I remain pretty convinced about the saliency of the idea. Surrender, restedness and abiding are all wonderful terms in keeping with acceptance... and I'm even prepared to entertain helplessness in this. In the final analysis, helplessness is existential realism - despite what we've been told, there is only so much we can do - as humans we are limited and actually vulnerable. We need to acknowledge that void. Thank God that's not the whole story, and because that's not the whole story, there can be peace and contentment in that acknowledgement.
One major thing that Murray adds to my understanding is this notion: surrender (the first half of the paradox) enables the second half of the paradox to begin to come into realisation - it provides a springboard. Surrendering enables a forward movement into the realisation of things being different - even so far as the 'impossible' becoming possible - because the Prime Mover is given space to work.
And now for a quote:
"...we must understand that faith is rest. In the beginning of the faith-life, faith is struggling; but as long as faith is struggling, faith has not attained its strength. But when faith in its struggling gets to the end of itself, and just throws itself upon God and rests on Him, then comes joy and victory."
December 23, 2018
I don't often give books a five-star rating. Being an avid reader and hopeless bibliophyle, a book has to be truly life-changing, profound and/or super-engaging to earn an "I loved it!" rating. This book DEFINITELY fits the bill.
I had heard good things about Andrew Murray, but never read anything by him. Quite frequently I am put off by the formality of Christian writers from the 1800's. While I love Shakespeare, I am not a fan of classic King James language and thinking.
However, Andrew Murray had a way of tackling one brief Scripture passage at a time and breaking it down into a few manageable points. Unlike many preachers, then as now, his messages were also quite concise. And they always had a meaningful application.
He starts out with an address, or chapter, on the subject of "Absolute Surrender"--giving oneself unreservedly to God. Subsequent chapters talk about how God gives us not only the desire but the ability to do what pleases Him, how we are incapable of living the Christian life according to our own strength and understanding, and so on. He stresses the necessity of allowing the Holy Spirit to have full reign over our lives. It's spectacular how he encapsulates the balance between our responsibility to yield to the Lord and His responsibility to keep us on track! No contemporary author, save Derek Prince, comes close.
I would love to have multiple copies of this book to give away. I think it should be required reading in every seminary and mission training school. My good minister, if you have not read it, you are cheating yourself. Your success and longevity as a messenger of the Gospel depends upon your understanding of the truths explained so simply yet eloquently within! Read a chapter a day as part of your devotions, and you'll find yourself drawing nearer to the heart of God with each message.
I had heard good things about Andrew Murray, but never read anything by him. Quite frequently I am put off by the formality of Christian writers from the 1800's. While I love Shakespeare, I am not a fan of classic King James language and thinking.
However, Andrew Murray had a way of tackling one brief Scripture passage at a time and breaking it down into a few manageable points. Unlike many preachers, then as now, his messages were also quite concise. And they always had a meaningful application.
He starts out with an address, or chapter, on the subject of "Absolute Surrender"--giving oneself unreservedly to God. Subsequent chapters talk about how God gives us not only the desire but the ability to do what pleases Him, how we are incapable of living the Christian life according to our own strength and understanding, and so on. He stresses the necessity of allowing the Holy Spirit to have full reign over our lives. It's spectacular how he encapsulates the balance between our responsibility to yield to the Lord and His responsibility to keep us on track! No contemporary author, save Derek Prince, comes close.
I would love to have multiple copies of this book to give away. I think it should be required reading in every seminary and mission training school. My good minister, if you have not read it, you are cheating yourself. Your success and longevity as a messenger of the Gospel depends upon your understanding of the truths explained so simply yet eloquently within! Read a chapter a day as part of your devotions, and you'll find yourself drawing nearer to the heart of God with each message.
February 14, 2010
Audio book (from librivox.org - free public domain audio books created and maintained by volunteers)
This is the third of his books that I have listened to and I find him to be inspirational and educational. I'd never known of him before stumbling upon one of his books on librivox and thinking it looked good. He was a protestant minister and missionary from South Africa.
This is the third of his books that I have listened to and I find him to be inspirational and educational. I'd never known of him before stumbling upon one of his books on librivox and thinking it looked good. He was a protestant minister and missionary from South Africa.
February 21, 2014
Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray was a book that was pivotal in my relationship with the Lord and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in going into a deeper relationship with the Lord. It is not a book to read just once, but a book to read through over and over, slowly with a highlighter and pen and paper for journaling thoughts that come to mind.
March 19, 2015
I love Andrew Murray! This man is highly underrated for his contributions to Christian theology and Spirituality. While the style of his writing can seem daunting, there are additions that have made his style more modern and approachable. If you're looking to get rocked, then pick up anything by this man.
April 25, 2021
Absolutely surrendering
This Book was great , I just have to smile cause I was left in amazement and I choose absolute surrender ,I choose to be the branch that brings forth much fruit. I surrender all to Jesus
This Book was great , I just have to smile cause I was left in amazement and I choose absolute surrender ,I choose to be the branch that brings forth much fruit. I surrender all to Jesus
March 14, 2013
Excellent version available at www.booksshouldbefree.com. Loved it!
January 28, 2015
Good information, but dry.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews