Worth the .50 Cents I Guess!

I picked up, among 200 or so other titles, a commentary by Andrew Murray on the book of Hebrews at the Emmaus book sale today (softcovers .25, hardcovers .50, special books $1-$2). Usually my book sale books wait for another day but I had never realized that Murray had written commentaries and because Hebrews is so close to my heart I picked it up to flip through it.

The next couple quotes made it worth my money and the 3.5 hours of sleep I got before I had to wake up to be first at the door,

"What the Hebrews needed is what we need. Not in ourselves or our efforts is salvation, but in Jesus Christ. To see Him, to consider Him, to look at Him, as He lives in heaven, that will bring the healing...It is Christ Jesus we must know better. It is He who lives today in heaven, who can lead us into the heavenly sanctuary, and keep us there, who can give heaven into our heart and life. The knowledge of Jesus in His heavenly glory and His saving power; it is this our Churches and our Christians need. It is this the epistle will bring us, if we yield to that Spirit who speaks in it, to reveal in us. It is therefore, with great confidence that I invite all who long for the rest of God, for a life in the holiest of God's love, for the [sic] fulness of faith and hope and love, to take up the study of the epistle, with the confident assurance of finding in its revelation of what Christ and His salvation are, the deliverance from sin and sloth, the joy and strength of a new life."

And further,

"God hath spoken! When man speaks it is the revelation of himself, to make known the otherwise hidden thoughts and dispositions of his heart. When God, who dwells in light that is inaccessible, speaks out of the heights of His glory, it is that He may reveal Himself. He would have us know how He loves us and longs for us, how He wants to save and to bless, how He would have us draw nigh and live in fellowship with Himself."

And again,

"God hath spoken! The words of men have often exerted a wonderful and a mighty influence. But the words of God--they are creative deeds, they give what they speak. 'He spake and it was done.' When God speaks in His Son, He gives Him to us, not only for us and with us, but in us. He speaks the Son out of the depth of His heart into the depths of our heart. Men's words appeal to the mind or the will, the feelings or the passions. God speaks to that which is deeper than all, to the heart, that central depth within us whence are the issues of life."

And finally,

"God hath spoken in His Son! The living Jesus, come forth from the fiery furnace of God's holiness, from the burning glow of everlasting love, He Himself is the living Word...In the beginning God spake: 'Let there be light! and there was light.' Even so now He speaks with creative power in His Son, and the presence and the light of Christ become the life and the light of the soul."

I suppose I'll read this book I paid 50 cents for if I must. How did I not know Murray wrote about more than prayer?

Loving the Glorious Christ with you friends,

R. D. Thompson