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Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)

Oswald Chambers was not famous during his lifetime. At the time of his death in 1917 at the age of forty-three, only three books bearing his name had been published. Among a relatively small circle of Christians in Britain and the U.S., Chambers was much appreciated as a teacher of rare insight and expression, but he was not widely known.

While there are more than 30 books that bear his name, he only penned one book, Baffled to Fight Better. His wife, Biddy, was a stenographer and could take dictation at a rate of 150 words per minute. During his time teaching at the Bible College and at various sites in Egypt, Biddy kept verbatim records of his lessons. She spent the remaining 30 years of her life compiling her records into the bulk of his published works. His daily devotional: "Utmost For His Highest" has sold millions of copies and is well known in modern evangelicalism today.


Oswald Chambers was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Converted in his teen years under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he studied art and archaeology at the University of Edinburgh before answering a call from God to the Christian ministry. He then studied theology at Dunoon College. From 1906-1910 he conducted an itinerant Bible-teaching ministry in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

In 1910, Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen.

In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to troops from Australia and New Zealand as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.

Although Oswald Chambers wrote only one book, Baffled to Fight Better, more than thirty titles bear his name. With this one exception, published works were compiled by Mrs. Chambers, a court stenographer, from her verbatim shorthand notes of his messages taken during their seven years of marriage. For half a century following her husband's death she labored to give his words to the world.

My Utmost For His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic.

      Oswald Chambers was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on July 24th, 1874, to Clarence and Hannah Chambers, the seventh of seven children. Years earlier, Hannah converted to Christ under the dynamic preaching of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Both she and Clarence were baptized by Spurgeon; and Clarence was one of the first students to enroll at Spurgeon’s Pastor’s College at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

      After accompanying his father to hear C.H. Spurgeon preach, Oswald surrendered his life to Christ, and was duly baptized by Rev. Briscoe. At Rye Lane Baptist, he faithfully attended Bible classes and prayer meetings. Anxious to apply his newly-acquired knowledge, he engaged in street evangelism and preached at missions.

      In 1895 he received an Art’s Master’s Certificate. Thereafter he pursued his education at the University of Edinburgh, where he excelled in rigorous classwork as well as successfully maintaining a balanced devotional life. Attending a gathering of the Christian Union, he heard Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, preach winningly on the faithfulness of God, nudging Chambers yet further toward ministry. After much prayer, he surrendered to missionary service.

      On October 29th, 1917, Chambers, suffering severe pains in his abdomen, was rushed to a Red Cross hospital in Cairo where an emergency appendectomy was performed. Recovering somewhat, he relapsed from a blood clot, and died on November 15th, 1917.

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Oswald Chambers

Seeing God through the darkness

"... we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead... in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us,... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Service: Are we disciplined to obey God or impulse?

"For we are God’s fellow workers." 1 Corinthians 3:9 "Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him. ... The one concern of a worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the other margins of life, mental, moral and spiritual, are free with the free... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Standing alone with God

"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, . . . so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. " Psalm 123:2. "This verse is a description of entire reliance upon God. ... Spiritual leakage begins when we cease to lift up our eyes unto Him. The leakage comes not so much through t... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Studies In The Sermon On The Mount - Part 1

INTRODUCTION IN order to understand the Sermon on the Mount, it is necessary to have the mind of the Preacher, and this knowledge can be gained by anyone who will receive the Holy Spirit (see Luke XL 13, John XX. 22, Acts XIX. 2). The Holy Ghost is the only expounder of the teachings of Jesus. The o... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Studies In The Sermon On The Mount - Part 2

INCARNATE WISDOM AND INDIVIDUAL REASON 59 in, we will not trust what we cannot see, we will not believe what we cannot trace. Then it is all up with my dis- cipleship. The great word of Jesus to His disciples is " Abandon." When God has brought me into the relation ship of a disciple, I have to vent... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Taking a Stand

"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master ... so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God." Psalm 123:2. "This verse is a description of entire reliance upon God. Just as the eyes of the servant are riveted on his master, so our eyes are up unto God.... "For instance, you came t... Read More
Oswald Chambers

Thanksgiving

Only by His wonderful grace can we see from His perspective, rejoice always, and continually give thanks. Only by His life in us can we walk in humility and live together in the victory of His cross. Only by His Spirit in us can we obey His Word and follow His ways. Therefore we can thank Him -- not... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The “Go” of Preparation

It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. T... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The “Go” of Reconciliation

This verse says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you….” It is not saying, “If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity,” but, “If you…remember….” In other words, if something is brought to your conscious min... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The “Go” of Relationship

Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Basis for Forgiveness

"In whom we have . . . the forgiveness of sins." Eph. 1:7. "Beware of the pleasant view of the Fatherhood of God—God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That sentiment has no place whatever in the New Testament. "The only ground on which God can forgive us is the tremendous trag... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Cross

"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24 "The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' The whole meaning of the Incarnation is the Cross. Beware of separating God manifest in the flesh from th... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Divine Commandment of Life

Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislik... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Eternal Goal

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience whe... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Fool and the Wise

The Shame of the Gospel "A wise person who has built his life in confidence in God will appear a fool when he is among people who are sleek and cunning.... The wisdom of God arrant stupidity to the wisdom of the world, until all of a sudden God makes the wisdom of the world foolish. (See 1 Corinthia... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Key to the Missionary’s Message

The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The ... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Key to the Missionary’s Work

The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost w... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Missionary’s Goal

In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the full... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Missionary’s Goal

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem." Luke 18:31. "In the natural life our ambitions alter as we develop; in the Christian life the goal is given at the beginning: Our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him—'until we all attain to the stature of the manhood of Christ Jesus,' not to our id... Read More
Oswald Chambers

The Missionary’s Master and Teacher

To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It mean... Read More

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