PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Bonar, Andrew A. (Andrew Alexander), 1810-1892 · 73,789 words · 98 reading sections
Part 1
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Keren Vergon, and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net. The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne [Illustration: Robert Murray M'Cheyne with Signature] * * * * * The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne…
35 wordsSECTION 2ZONDERVAN PUBLISHING HOUSE GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
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0 wordsSECTION 3PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
The telling of the deeply spiritual life story of the young minister of the Gospel of St. Peters Church, Dundee, Scotland, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, has been used of God to bring challenge, blessing and inspiration to hundreds of thousands down through the years since his death in 1843 at the early age of 30. Few men hav…
235 wordsSECTION 4MEMOIR.
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0 wordsSECTION 5HIS YOUTH, AND PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY
"_Many shall rejoice at his birth; for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord_"--Luke 1:14. In the midst of the restless activity of such a day as ours, it will be felt by ministers of Christ to be useful in no common degree, to trace the steps of one who but lately left us, and who, during the last years of his s…
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He had great delight in rural scenery. Most of his summer vacations used to be spent in Dumfriesshire, and his friends in the parish of Ruthwell and its vicinity retain a vivid remembrance of his youthful days. His poetic temperament led him to visit whatever scenes were fitted to stir the soul. At all periods of his l…
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In this brother, who was his senior by eight or nine years, the light of divine grace shone before men with rare and solemn loveliness. His classical attainments were very high; and, after the usual preliminary studies, he had been admitted Writer to the Signet. One distinguishing quality of his character was his sensi…
551 wordsSECTION 8ON PAINTING THE MINIATURE LIKENESS OF ONE DEPARTED.
ALAS! not perfect yet--another touch, And still another, and another still, Till those dull lips breathe life, and yonder eye Lose its lack lustre hue, and be lit up With the warm glance of living feeling. No-- It never can be! Ah, poor, powerless art! Most vaunting, yet most impotent, thou seek'st To trace the thousan…
626 wordsSECTION 9"THE RIGHTEOUS PERISHETH, AND NO MAN LAYETH IT TO HEART."
A grave I know Where earthly show Is not--a mound Whose gentle round Sustains the load Of a fresh sod. Its shape is rude, And weeds intrude Their yellow flowers-- In gayer bowers Unknown. The grass, A tufted mass, Is rank and strong, Unsmoothed and long. No rosebud there Embalms the air; No lily chaste Adorns the waste…
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It was to companions who could sympathize in his feelings that he unbosomed himself. At that period it was not common for inquiring souls to carry their case to their pastor. A conventional reserve upon theses subjects prevailed even among lively believers. It almost seemed as if they were ashamed of the Son of man. Th…
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He thought himself much profited, at this period, by investigating the subject of Election and the Free Grace of God. But it was the reading of _The Sum of Saving Knowledge_, generally appended to our Confession of Faith, that brought him to a clear understanding of the way of acceptance with God. Those who are acquain…
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_Feb. 5_, Sabbath.--In the afternoon, having heard the late Mr. Martin of St. George's,[1] he writes, on returning home: "O quam humilem, sed quam diligentissimum; quam dejectum, sed quam vigilem, quam die noctuque precantem, decet me esse quum tales viros aspicio. Juva, Pater, Fili, et Spiritus!" ["Oh! how humble, yet…
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"What a mass of corruption have I been! How great a portion of my life have I spent wholly without God in the world, given up to sense and the perishing things around me! Naturally of a feeling and sentimental disposition, how much of my religion has been, and to this day is, tinged with these colors of earth! Restrain…
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"_June 30._--Much carelessness, sin, and sorrow. 'Oh wretched man than I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin and death?' Enter thou, my soul, into the rock, and hide thee in the dust for fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty." And then he writes a few verses, of which the following are some stanzas:-…
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Ah! where is the harp that was strung to thy praise, So oft and so sweetly in happier days? When the tears that we shed were the tears of our joy, And the pleasures of home were unmixed with alloy? The harp is now mute--its last breathings are spoken-- And the cord, though 'twas threefold, is now, alas, broken! Yet why…
427 wordsSECTION 16SHE LIVED--
So dying-like and frail, That every bitter gale Of winter seemed to blow Only to lay her low! She lived to show how He, Who stills the stormy sea, Can overrule the winter's power, And keep alive the tiniest flower-- Can bear the young lamb in his arms And shelter it from death's alarms.…
54 wordsSECTION 17SHE DIED--
When spring, with brightest flowers, Was fresh'ning all the bowers. The linnet sung her choicest lay, When her sweet voice was hush'd for aye The snowdrop rose above the ground When she beneath her pillow found, Both cold, and white, and fair,-- She, fairest of the fair, She died to teach us all The loveliest must fall…
80 wordsSECTION 18SHE LIVES--
The spirit left the earth; And he who gave her birth Has called her to his dread abode, To meet her Saviour and her God. She lives, to tell how blest Is the everlasting rest Of those who, in the Lamb's blood laved, Are chosen, sanctified, and saved! How fearful is their doom Who drop into the tomb Without a covert from…
70 wordsSECTION 19SHE SHALL LIVE--
The grave shall yield his prize, When, from the rending skies, Christ shall with shouting angels come To wake the slumberers of the tomb. And many more shall rise Before our longing eyes. Oh! may we all together meet, Embracing the Redeemer's feet! "_May 20._--General Assembly. The motion regarding Chapels of Ease los…
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It is scarcely less interesting, in the case of one so gifted for the work of visiting the careless, and so singularly skilled in ministering the word by the bedside of the dying, to find a record of the occasion when the Lord led him forth to take his first survey of this field of labor. There existed at that time, am…
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_May 29._--He this day wrote very faithfully, yet very kindly, to one who seemed to him not a believer, and who nevertheless appropriated to herself the _promises_ of God. "If you are wholly unassured of your being a believer, is it not a contradiction in terms to say, that you are sure the believers' promises belong t…
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His soul was prepared for the awful work of the ministry by much prayer, and much study of the word of God; by affliction in his person; by inward trials and sore temptations; by experience of the depth of corruption in his own heart, and by discoveries of the Saviour's fulness of grace. He learned experimentally to as…
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It was about the time of his first year's attendance at the Hall that I began to know him as an intimate friend. During the summer vacations,--that we might redeem the time,--some of us who remained in town, when most of our fellow-students were gone to the country, used to meet once every week in the forenoon, for the…
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His intellectual powers were of a high order: clear and distinct apprehension of his subject, and felicitous illustration, characterized him among all his companions. To an eager desire for wide acquaintance with truth in all its departments, and a memory strong and accurate in retaining what he found, there was added …
427 wordsSECTION 25HIS LABORS IN THE VINEYARD BEFORE ORDINATION.
"_He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him._"--Ps. 126:6. While he was still only undergoing a student's usual examinations before the Presbytery, in the spring and summer of 1835, several applications were made to him by ministers…
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The parish to which he had come was very large, containing six thousand souls. The parish church is at Larbert; but through the exertions of Mr. Bonar, many years ago, a second church was erected for the people of Dunipace. Mr. Hanna, afterwards minister of Skirling, had preceded M'Cheyne in the duties of assistant in …
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His anxiety to have every possible help to holiness led him to notice what are the disadvantages of those who are not daily stirred up by the fellowship of more advanced believers. "I have found, by some experience, that in the country here my watch does not go so well as it used to do in town. By small and gradual cha…
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The days when a holy pastor, who knows the blood-sprinkled way to the Father, is laid aside, are probably as much a proof of the kindness of God to his flock as days of health and activity. He is occupied, during this season of retirement, in discovering the plagues of his heart, and in going in, like Moses, to plead w…
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A simple incident was overruled to promote the ease and fluency of his pulpit ministrations. From the very beginning of his ministry he reprobated the custom of reading sermons, believing that to do so does exceedingly weaken the freedom and natural fervor of the messenger in delivering his message. Neither did he reci…
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"_April 13._--Went to Stirling to hear Dr. Duff once more upon his system. With greater warmth and energy than ever. He kindles as he goes. Felt almost constrained to go the whole length of his system with him. If it were only to raise up an audience, it would be defensible; but when it is to raise up teachers, it is m…
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"_June 12_, Sabbath.--To-day a sinner preached Jesus, the same Jesus who has done all things for him and that so lately! A day of much help, of some earnest looking-up of the heart to that alone quickening power, of much temptation to flattery and pride. Oh for breathing gales of spiritual life! Evening--Somewhat helpe…
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About this time he again felt the hand of affliction, though it did not continue long. Yet it was plain to him now that personal trouble was to be one of the ingredients of that experience which helped to give a peculiar tone to his ministry. "_July 8._--Since Tuesday have been laid up with illness. Set by once more f…
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He seems invariably to have applied for his personal benefit what he gave out to his people. We have already noticed how he used to feed on the word, not in order to prepare himself for his people, but for personal edification. To do so was a fundamental rule with him; and all pastors will feel that, if they are to pro…
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"Tell me, dear G., would you work less pleasantly through the day--would you walk the streets with a more doleful step--would you eat your meat with less gladness of heart--would you sleep less tranquilly at night--if you had _the forgiveness of sins_, that is, if all your wicked thoughts and deeds--lies, thefts, and S…
851 wordsSECTION 35"R.M.M."
It is the shepherd's duty (Ezek. 34:4), in visiting his flock, to discriminate; "strengthening the diseased, healing that which was sick, binding up that which was broken, bringing again that which was driven away, seeking that which was lost." This Mr. M'Cheyne tried to do. In an after-letter to Mr. Somerville of Ande…
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I believe it was about this time that some of us first of all began our custom of praying specially for each other on Saturday evening, with a reference to our engagements in the ministry next day. This concert for prayer we have never since seen cause to discontinue. It has from time to time been widened in its circle…
494 wordsSECTION 37FIRST YEARS OF LABOR IN DUNDEE.
"_Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations_"--Acts 20:18, 19. The day on which he was ordained pastor of a flock, was a day of much anxiety to his soul. He had journeyed by P…
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In his own house everything was fitted to make you feel that the service of God was a cheerful service, while he sought that every arrangement of the family should bear upon eternity. His morning hours were set apart for the nourishment of his own soul; not, however, with the view of laying up a stock of grace for the …
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"Sept. 30, Sabbath.--Very happy in my work. Too little prayer in the morning. Must try to get early to bed on Saturday, that I may 'rise a great while before day.'" These early hours of prayer on Sabbath he endeavored to have all his life; not for study, but for prayer. He never labored at his sermons on a Sabbath. Tha…
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He records another case: "_January 4, 1837_--Sent for to Mrs. S----. Very ill; asthmatic. Spoke on '_No condemnation to them that are in Christ_.' She said, 'But am I in Christ?' seemingly very anxious. Said she had often been so, and had let it go by. 5th--Still living; spoke to her of Christ, and of full salvation. (…
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Partly from his state of health, and partly from the vast accumulation of other labors, and the calls made on him for evangelizing elsewhere, he was never able to overtake the visitation of the whole district assigned him. He was blessed to attract and reclaim very many of the most degraded; and by Sabbath schools and …
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He had a high standard in his mind as to the moral qualifications of those who should teach the young. When a female teacher was sought for to conduct an evening school in his parish for the sake of the mill-girls, he wrote to one interested in the cause: "The qualifications she should possess for sewing and knitting y…
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He went about his public work with awful reverence. So evident was this, that I remember a countryman in my parish observed to me: "Before he opened his lips, as he came along the passage, there was something about him that sorely affected me." In the vestry there was never any idle conversation; all was preparation of…
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He was sometimes a little unguarded in his statements, when his heart was deeply moved and his feelings stirred, and sometimes he was too long in his addresses; but this also arose from the fulness of his soul. "Another word," he thought, "may be blessed, though the last has made no impression." Many will remember for…
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His health was delicate; and the harassing care and endless fatigue incident to his position, in a town like Dundee, seemed unsuitable to his spirit. This belief led to another attempt to remove him to a country sphere. In the summer of this same year (1837) he was strongly urged to preach as a candidate for the vacant…
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How heartily he entered into this scheme may be seen from the following extract. In a letter of an after date to Mr. Roxburgh, he says: "Every day I live, I feel more and more persuaded that it is the cause of God and of his kingdom in Scotland in our day. Many a time, when I thought myself a dying man, the souls of th…
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Occasionally two or three of us, whose lot was cast within convenient distance, and whose souls panted for the same water-brooks, used to meet together to spend a whole day in confession of ministerial and personal sins, with prayer for grace, guiding ourselves by the reading of the word. At such times we used to meet …
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Nor did he make light of the kirk-session's power to rebuke and deal with an offender. Once from the pulpit, at an ordination of elders, he gave the following testimony upon this head: "When I first entered upon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of the vast importance of church discipline. …
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His visits to friends were times when he sought to do good to their souls; and never was he satisfied unless he could guide the conversation to bear upon the things of eternity. When he could not do so, he generally remained silent. And yet his demeanor was easy and pleasant to all, exhibiting at once meekness of faith…
251 wordsSECTION 50"PEACE TO THIS HOUSE."
Long may peace within this dwelling Have its resting-place; Angel shields all harm repelling,-- God, their God of grace. May the dove-like Spirit guide them To the upright land! May the Saviour-shepherd fed them From his gentle hand! Never was there one more beloved as a friend, and seldom any whose death could cause…
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"2. _A sense of forgiveness does not proceed from marks seen in yourself, but from a discovery of the beauty, worth, and freeness of Christ,_ Psalm 34:5. We look _out_ for peace, not _in_. At the same time, there is also an assurance rising from what we see in ourselves; the seal of the Spirit, love to the brethren, et…
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One could tell him that the reading of the chapter in the church, with a few remarks, had been the time of her awakening. Another had been struck to the heart by some expression he used in his first prayer before sermon one Sabbath morning. But most were arrested in the preaching of the word. An interesting case was th…
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"_April 1_, Sacrament day.--Sweet season we have had. Never was more straitened and unfurnished in myself, and yet much helped. Kept in perfect peace, my mind being stayed on Thee. Preached on 'My God, my God,' etc., Psalm 22:1. Not fully prepared, yet found some peace in it. Fenced the tables from 'Christ's eyes of fl…
906 wordsSECTION 54HIS MISSION TO PALESTINE AND THE JEWS.
"_Here am I; send me_"--Isaiah 6:8. Though engaged night and day with his flock in St. Peter's, Mr. M'Cheyne ever cherished a missionary spirit. "This place hardens me for a foreign land," was his remark on one occasion. This spirit he sought to kindle yet more by reading missionary intelligence for his own use, and o…
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He was led to look more carefully into this trying dispensation, and began to anticipate blessed results from it to his flock. He was well aware how easily the flock begin to idolize the shepherd, and how prone the shepherd is to feel somewhat pleased with this sinful partiality of his people, and to be uplifted by his…
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The interest that this proposed journey excited in Scotland was very great. Nor was it merely the somewhat romantic interest attached to the land where the Lord had done most of his mighty works; there were also in it the deeper feelings of a scriptural persuasion that Israel was still "beloved for the fathers' sake." …
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It was a singular event,--often still it looks like a dream,--that four ministers should be so suddenly called away from their quiet labors in the towns and villages of Scotland, and be found in a few weeks traversing the land of Israel, with their Bibles in their hand, eye-witnesses of prophecy fulfilled, and spies of…
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Arrived at Alexandria in Egypt, and thence proceeding onward to Palestine by the way of the desert, we found ourselves set down on a new stage of experience. Mr. M'Cheyne observed on the silence of the desert places: "It is a remarkable feeling to be quite alone in a desert place; it gives similar feelings to fasting; …
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An event occurred at that time in which the hand of God afterwards appeared very plain, though it then seemed very dark to us. Dr. Black fell from his camel in the midst of the sandy desert, and none of all our company could conjecture what bearing on the object of our Mission this sad occurrence could have. Is it a fr…
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Many a time in these days, when our attendants in the evening were driving in the stakes of our tent and stretching its cords, he would lie down on the ground under some tree that sheltered him from the dew. Completely exhausted by the long day's ride, he would lie almost speechless for half an hour; and then, when the…
837 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.