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About the Book
"Jesus Himself" by Andrew Murray offers a deep and insightful exploration of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Murray emphasizes the importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus and experiencing His presence and power in our daily lives. Through practical advice and biblical teachings, Murray invites readers to deepen their faith and grow in their understanding of Jesus Himself.
Henry Alline
Henry Alline’s early years
He was born and received his early education in Newport, Rhode Island and his family moved to Nova Scotia in 1760, when he was 12 years old. When he was nine he began to read theological works and became somewhat mystical, but after years of soul-searching and spiritual conflict he was powerfully converted in 1775, simultaneously receiving a call to the ministry.
Alone and desperate he prayed until…’redeeming love broke into my soul… with such power that my whole soul seemed to be melted down with love…and my will turned of choice after the infinite God. A year later he began to preach.
His preaching career
His preaching career lasted until his death eight years later. He was an itinerant preacher in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in an ever-widening circuit, beginning what became known as the ‘New Light’ movement and which is still the greatest revival that Canada has ever seen. He preached the new birth powerfully and effectively and his admirers compared him to George Whitefield and John the Baptist.
Considered an emotional and dangerous fanatic by some and a ‘ravager of congregations,’ the Congregationalists withdrew his right to preach in their churches, so he spoke in barns, houses and the open air. In all he began eight ‘New Light’ Congregational churches based on his non-Arminian but anti-Calvinist views of free-will and predestination, and his strong rejection of outward religious form.
Ironically, despite his indifference regarding baptism, his major 19th century influence was amongst the Baptists of eastern Canada, many of whom were his converts.
Despite possibly unorthodox views and methods, his ministry was without doubt that of an extraordinary revivalist.
Alline’s sermon style was always simple and extemporary, using a few simple, understandable points to help the unchurched to grasp the simple truths of the gospel. As with other itinerant revivalists, his objective was to lead the hearers to a point of decision – to accept or reject Christ as Saviour and Lord, which opened the door to the “new birth.”
Doubtless, his sermons were repeated over time, but he was never in one place long enough for his listeners to notice.
Alline also employed the ministry of prayer and of singing, writing many hymns which were helpful in communicating the gospel. A collection was gathered after his death and was reprinted at least four times in the United States, and several were included in the standard hymnals of the 19th century.
why god loves people who hate each other
The church is filled with lots of dangerously different people. There are rich and poor, old and young, male and female. We have families with fifteen children and fifty-year-old unmarrieds. There are Republicans and Democrats, executives and janitors, athletes, artists, and teachers. And the differences get even deeper — American, African, Asian, Latin, and Middle Eastern. Not to mention our personalities — outgoing and shy, bold and meek, patient and ambitious, emotional and unaffected, rational and relational. There’s no mystery why the Bible has so much to say about stress, conflict, and reconciliation between believers. How could there not be friction in a family like ours? A First-Century Food Fight Remember when Paul called out Peter in front of everyone? When the apostles — a very small group of very like-minded men who alone mediate the very words of Christ — don’t always get along, it could easily discourage the rest of us, right? Paul said, “I opposed him to his face” (Galatians 2:11). So what was he so worked up about? Peter had stopped eating with Gentile believers to preserve his image among the Jews, and many had followed his example (2:12–13). But is that really that big of a deal? It may seem like Paul blew an empty seat in a lunchroom way out of proportion, but he didn’t. Paul saw that Peter’s decision denied the world-changing, death-defeating, unifying work of Christ. Through the gospel, God was doing something uniquely beautiful and glorious by not only reconciling people to himself, but also bringing them together in love across every imaginable barrier and boundary. Why Did God Make Us So Different? We might be lulled into forgetting all of our differences are due to the God himself, who knit us together, every cell and disposition, before we were even born (Psalm 139). He’s never surprised that we’re different. In fact, he knows every difference completely and intimately because he designed them. Think for a minute about the thousands of years now of bloody, almost unrelenting, hostile conflict between Jews and Gentiles. God did that. God made Israel “distinct from every other people on the face of the earth” (Exodus 33:16). He set them violently against every neighboring nation (Deuteronomy 7:2). It was the worldwide rehearsal of Joseph and his fancy coat, when his father made him the enemy of all his brothers by setting him apart with his special love (Genesis 37). Why would he design Jews and Gentiles for so much division and destruction? For this reason: “[Christ] himself is our peace, who made us both one and has broken down the wall of hostility . . . and reconciled us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:14, 16). The God-designed differences — even hostilities — between these two peoples was meant to show the invincible power of the gospel message to produce love. When Two Become One God’s full acceptance of us in Jesus binds up the brokenness in our relationships. That’s a significant, intentional part of the most important plan in history, God’s plan to save his children from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Christ came to repair what our rebellion had wrecked in our relationship with him, but he also came to reunite us in love with people different than us in every imaginable way. Through the gospel, in light of every conceivable contrast, God has united us in at least three remarkable realities. 1. We are one in death. This is where Paul turns first with Peter. “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. . . . By works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). Self-righteousness has never rescued anyone from God’s wrath, because no one has lived and loved God’s law flawlessly. “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Therefore, we all — without exception — were dead in our sin and without hope in ourselves (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 6:23). 2. We are one in hope. “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:26–29). Everything that elevates us over one another in everyday society is eliminated before our heavenly Father for eternity. We can’t escape comparison, class, and cliques in this life, but God embraces us each equally from every family, country, and social status. In Christ, we are all — without exception and distinction — complete and full heirs of eternal life, the world, and God himself. 3. Therefore, we are one in life. Jesus promised the world would see him in our love for one another (John 13:35). How much more powerfully will they see him in our love for one another when we’re really, really different? When we love people like us, we don’t surprise many people in the world. But there’s a strange and beautiful love across boundaries that they simply cannot explain. It’s a love that restores the broken (Galatians 6:1) and bears heavy, inconvenient, painful burdens (Galatians 6:2). It’s a life that loves to do good to everyone, especially to those with whom we’re one in Christ (Galatians 6:10). Miraculously, there’s a oneness in this diverse family that “fulfills the law of Christ.” The happy, servant-hearted, committed, mutually beneficial relationship between flawed and different sinners displays the character and glory of God. Seeing Differences Differently The gospel turns haters into brothers, enemies into sisters. One of the most powerful and winsome things that Jesus purchased with his death was unlikely love. So we have to learn to see our differences differently, to see the contrasts and even inconveniences as unique canvases for Christ and his redeeming love for us.
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