Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was a South African pastor and spiritual writer of the Dutch reformed Church.
All are familiar with the wonderful passage:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. - Phil. 2:5,8, KJV
Paul is speaking about one of the most simple, practical things in daily life - humility; and in connection with that, he gives us a wonderful exhibition of divine truth.
Consider he humility of Jesus. First of all, that humility is our salvation; then, that humility is just the salvation we need.
Straight from Heaven
Humility is the salvation that Christ brings. If we love Christ above everything, we must love humility above everything, for humility is the very essence of His life and glory, and the salvation He brings. Just think of it. Where did this humility begin?
Is there humility in heaven? You know there is, for [the elders] cast their crowns before the throne of God and the Lamb (Rev. 4:10-11). But is there humility on the throne of God? Yes, what was it but heavenly humility that made Jesus on the throne willing to say, "I will go down to be a servant and to die for man; I will go and live as the meek and lowly Lamb of God"?
Jesus brought humility from heaven to us. It was humility that brought Him to earth, or He never would have come. Just as Christ became a man in this divine humility, so His whole life was marked by it.
He might have chosen another form in which to appear. He might have come in the form of a king, but He chose the form of a servant. He made Himself of no reputation; He emptied Himself. He said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28). And on the last night, He took the place of a slave, girded Himself with a towel, and went to wash the feet of Peter and the other disciples (Jn. 13:1-17).
Beloved, the life of Jesus upon earth was a life of the deepest humility. It was this that gave His life its worth and beauty in God's sight. His death, too, was an exhibition of unparalleled humility.
My Lord Christ took a low place all the time of His walk upon earth. He took a very low place when He began to wash the disciples' feet. But when He went to Calvary, He took the lowest place there was to be found in the universe, and He let sin and the curse of sin and the wrath of God cover Him. He took the place of a guilty sinner that He might bear our load, that He might serve us in saving us from our wretchedness, that He might by His precious blood win deliverance for us, and that He might by that blood wash us from our stain and our guilt.
Exactly What We Need
The salvation that Christ brought is not only a salvation that flows out of humility; it also leads to humility. We must understand that this is not only the salvation which Christ brought, but that it is exactly the salvation which you and I need.
What is the cause of all the wretchedness of man? Primarily pride - man seeking his own will and his own glory. Yes, pride is the root of every sin, and so the Lamb of God comes to us in our pride and brings us salvation from it.
We need above everything to be saved from our pride and our self-will. It is good to be saved from the sins of stealing, murdering, and every other evil; but a man needs above all to be saved from what is the root of all sin, his self-will and his pride. It is not until man begins to feel that this is exactly the salvation he needs that he really can understand what Christ is and can accept Him as his salvation.
This exerpt is adapted from The Master's Indwelling, a series of addresses Murray presented at a conference in 1895.
~from Discipleship Journal, Sept. Oct. 2008, Issue 167, pg. 82
All are familiar with the wonderful passage:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. - Phil. 2:5,8, KJV
Paul is speaking about one of the most simple, practical things in daily life - humility; and in connection with that, he gives us a wonderful exhibition of divine truth.
Consider he humility of Jesus. First of all, that humility is our salvation; then, that humility is just the salvation we need.
Straight from Heaven
Humility is the salvation that Christ brings. If we love Christ above everything, we must love humility above everything, for humility is the very essence of His life and glory, and the salvation He brings. Just think of it. Where did this humility begin?
Is there humility in heaven? You know there is, for [the elders] cast their crowns before the throne of God and the Lamb (Rev. 4:10-11). But is there humility on the throne of God? Yes, what was it but heavenly humility that made Jesus on the throne willing to say, "I will go down to be a servant and to die for man; I will go and live as the meek and lowly Lamb of God"?
Jesus brought humility from heaven to us. It was humility that brought Him to earth, or He never would have come. Just as Christ became a man in this divine humility, so His whole life was marked by it.
He might have chosen another form in which to appear. He might have come in the form of a king, but He chose the form of a servant. He made Himself of no reputation; He emptied Himself. He said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:28). And on the last night, He took the place of a slave, girded Himself with a towel, and went to wash the feet of Peter and the other disciples (Jn. 13:1-17).
Beloved, the life of Jesus upon earth was a life of the deepest humility. It was this that gave His life its worth and beauty in God's sight. His death, too, was an exhibition of unparalleled humility.
My Lord Christ took a low place all the time of His walk upon earth. He took a very low place when He began to wash the disciples' feet. But when He went to Calvary, He took the lowest place there was to be found in the universe, and He let sin and the curse of sin and the wrath of God cover Him. He took the place of a guilty sinner that He might bear our load, that He might serve us in saving us from our wretchedness, that He might by His precious blood win deliverance for us, and that He might by that blood wash us from our stain and our guilt.
Exactly What We Need
The salvation that Christ brought is not only a salvation that flows out of humility; it also leads to humility. We must understand that this is not only the salvation which Christ brought, but that it is exactly the salvation which you and I need.
What is the cause of all the wretchedness of man? Primarily pride - man seeking his own will and his own glory. Yes, pride is the root of every sin, and so the Lamb of God comes to us in our pride and brings us salvation from it.
We need above everything to be saved from our pride and our self-will. It is good to be saved from the sins of stealing, murdering, and every other evil; but a man needs above all to be saved from what is the root of all sin, his self-will and his pride. It is not until man begins to feel that this is exactly the salvation he needs that he really can understand what Christ is and can accept Him as his salvation.
This exerpt is adapted from The Master's Indwelling, a series of addresses Murray presented at a conference in 1895.
~from Discipleship Journal, Sept. Oct. 2008, Issue 167, pg. 82
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