Jesus Himself

Recently I stumbled upon a "new" author.  New to me, but he lived over 100 years ago.  Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian Pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church."

His book Jesus Himself was amazing nugget to find.  The first part is a message which originally appeared in the South African Pioneer, the organ of the "Cape General Mission". In it he retells the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  He says there are four stages of the heart that can be seen here.  

The first is a heart full of sadness.  This was due to the death of Jesus and the idea of who they wanted him to be.

The second stage is a heart slow to believe.  When Jesus joined them and asked why they were sad, they told him the news.  He replied "Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe."

The third stage is a burning heart. Jesus began to open the Scriptures to them, and to tell them of all the wonderful things the prophets had taught. Then their eyes were opened, and they began to understand the Scriptures.  Later they said "How our hearts burned within us..."

Murray says "The disciples had had a blessed experience of His divine powers, but He had not revealed Himself, and oh! how often it is that at Conventions and in churches, and in meetings and in blessed fellowship with God's saints, our hearts burn within us. These are precious experiences of the working of God's grace and Spirit, and yet there is something wanting. What is that?"

It is the final stage a satisfied heart.

Perhaps you have arrived at the stage of the burning heart, and can tell of many blessed experiences, but somehow there is a worm at the root. The experiences do not last, and the heart is so changeable.   You know the story.  Their hearts were burning as they drew nigh to the place they were going to, and Christ made as if He were going farther. He put them to the test, and if they had allowed Him quietly to go on, if they had been content with the experience of the burning heart, they would have lost something infinitely better. But they were not content with it. They were not content to go home to the disciples that night and say, "Oh, what a blessed afternoon we have had! What wonderful teaching we have had!" No! The burning heart and the blessed experience just made them say, "Lord, abide with us," and they compelled Him to come in. They constrained Him to come in.

And what is to make a difference between Christ's disciples--not those who are just hoping to get to heaven, but Christ's whole-hearted disciples--what is to make a difference between them and other people? It is this, to be in fellowship with Jesus--every hour of the day; and just as Christ upon earth was able to keep those people with Him for three years, day by day, so Christ is able in heaven now to do what He could not do when He was on earth--to keep in the closest fellowship with every believer throughout the whole world.

Amen!!  May this be our prayer - "Lord abide with us"