Robert Murray McCheyne

He lived a long time before I was ever around.

But he's one of the folk for whom I have a huge respect and from whom I've learned so much. One of my all time heroes of the faith.

Robert Murray McCheyne. He was a minister in the Church of Scotland in the 19th century, most noted perhaps for his ministry in St Peter's in Dundee. He was born in May 1813, and died in March 1843. You can do the maths yourself.

Barely thirty years old. And yet in the space of those few short years he accomplished so much.

Yesterday I made reference to something the man once said -

“Do not forget the culture of the inner man – I mean of the heart. How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care.

Remember you are God’s sword, his instrument – I trust, a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name.

In great measure, according to the purity and perfection of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”

Not great talents so much as likeness to Jesus. The man was the living demonstration of that truth.

Not that he was short of talent. He was a very able man, in all sorts of ways.

But it wasn't that which made him so much an instrument of God's blessing and power in people's lives. It was his likeness to Jesus.

They said of him that -

“when he appeared in the pulpit, even before he had uttered a single word, people would begin to weep silently. … The very sight of the man gave the impression that he had come from the presence of God and that he was to deliver a message from God to them.”

I find that hugely challenging. The very sight of the man had that effect.

That's what those who minister God's word are meant to be. Those who have come from the presence of God and are patently there to deliver a message from God to the people who have gathered.

There are no short cuts to this. That's pretty obvious.

But in a quick-fix age, I suspect that too often this has become a forgotten or neglected truth.

Reading Andrew Bonar's book, 'The Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne' should perhaps be compulsory reading for all who are called to exercise such a ministry of the word.

I chanced to read it a long time ago, while I was still a student. The impact that it had on me was huge.

You don't have to be called to minister God's word to benefit from reading the book. It'll give you a down-to-earth insight into just how strategic the teaching of the word of God is in the purposes of God: and just what that teaching of Scripture involves.

Likeness to Jesus is everything.

In the realm of the spirit, where the really important conflicts are waged and won, it's this alone which counts.

Remember the evil spirit in Ephesus? (Don't worry if you don't, but check it out in Acts 19.13-16).

"Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"

Good question.

Who are you?

And how like Jesus are you?