On Sunday evenings we have begun a series in “The Beatitudes” (Matt. 5:3-12) the first of which is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” One of the most popular Christian devotionals today is My Utmost for His Highest written by Oswald Chambers – a man that many believed exemplified a life “poor in spirit.” But just who is Oswald Chambers?

        Some would say that this man was one of the great Christian thinkers of our time – although he would have given such recognition only to His Lord and Savior. Born July 24, 1874 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Chambers became a Christian during his teen years under the ministry of Charles Spurgeon. After answering God’s call into the ministry, from 1906-10 he conducted itinerant Bible-teaching ministries in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. When he returned home he married Gertrude Hobbs. In 1911, he founded and was named principal of the Bible Training College. The school closed in 1915 due to World War I, and the Lord then led him to Egypt where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops. Excerpts from Chambers’ devotional lectures at the school and while ministering to these troops make up a large portion of My Utmost for His Highest.

        Chambers wrote that God used a wilderness experience to “bring him to the end of himself.” He became keenly aware of his utter worthlessness; he learned that his only worth was that which God had given him in Christ. He wrote: “A sanctified soul may be an artist, a musician, or anyone – but they are not a sanctified artist or musician… Abandonment of (self) is the kernel of consecration, not presenting our gifts, but presenting ourselves without reservation (to Christ).” Also, the cross of Christ took on a new dimension for him. No longer was it just a point of salvation: it became the place of self-abandonment and surrender to the call of God – a place of hallowed ground where a Christian gives up their right to themselves and dies to self (Gal. 2:20). Out of this death comes life and the opportunity to live a Spirit-filled existence (John 12:24). Chambers also wrote that times of trial, distress, and isolation are times when God accomplishes His greatest work in our lives, and when He molds us into the likeness of Christ. Chambers’ view was that the way we come to see Jesus is through surrender. In abandonment and surrender we find the unbridled soul – one not tempted by the treasures of the world, but bound to the grace and glory of the Savior.

        Chambers’ death, the result of a ruptured appendix in 1917 (at the age of 43) came as a shock to all who knew him. However, through his writing God continues to touch and change lives for Christ’s sake. Some would say that, at its core, Oswald Chambers’ message was a call to leave behind everything outside of Jesus Christ: “The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God…every now and again, not often, but sometimes, God brings us to a point of climax. That is the Great Divide in the life; from that point we either go towards a more and more dilatory and useless type of Christian life – or we become more and more ablaze for the glory of God” – a life poor of our spirit, but full of God’s Spirit!

        Pastor John