The Master’s Indwelling

It is a series of Andrew Murray's addresses on the transforming power of Christ dwelling within the believer. Murray leads the reader to yield to the indwelling Christ and the Holy Spirit, addressing the carnal Christian life, the roots of spiritual bondage, and the way into a life of rest, holiness, and victory through the Master's presence within.

A South African pastor and one of the most beloved devotional writers of the deeper Christian life, author of many short books on prayer, humility, and abiding in Christ. The Master's Indwelling gathers a series of his addresses on the indwelling of Christ, in the same warm and searching style as his other works.

The living presence of Christ within the believer by his Spirit — Christ not merely as an example to follow or a Saviour outside us, but as a life dwelling in us and transforming us from within. Murray teaches that the secret of a holy, victorious life is to yield to this indwelling Christ and let him live his life through us.

The life of a true believer who nonetheless lives in defeat — governed by self, marked by fleshly striving, and lacking the rest and power God intends. Murray addresses this condition frankly, showing its roots and its remedy: not more self-effort, but a fuller surrender to and dependence on the indwelling Christ, who alone can break the power of the flesh.

By yielding — a full surrender of self to Christ and a trustful dependence on his Spirit within. Murray teaches that the transformed life comes not by struggling harder but by giving way to the indwelling Master, letting go of self-reliance and resting in Christ to live his life in us. The change is Christ's work, received by faith and surrender.

It presses the same heart-truth from another angle. Where Abide in Christ dwells on remaining in him and Absolute Surrender on the full yielding of self, The Master's Indwelling dwells on Christ living within the believer as the source of holiness and victory. All three call the reader away from self-effort into a life lived from and by Christ.

For any Christian who knows defeat and longs for a life of rest, holiness, and victory, and who suspects the answer lies deeper than trying harder. Murray writes for the earnest but struggling believer, and the book points them to the indwelling Christ as the secret of the transformed life they seek.

At the beginning, following Murray's addresses in order, since he first diagnoses the carnal, defeated life before leading the reader into the life of the indwelling Christ. The chapters were originally spoken and read easily; taken prayerfully and in sequence, they press the reader gently toward the surrender and rest Murray describes.