Robert Murray McCheyne lived only until his thirtieth year, and yet his preaching continues to impact generations of believers. In the years following his death, his congregation compiled a collection of his sermons from their own personal notes, so eager were they to preserve his writings.
The result is a collection of bite–size sermons characterised by Christ–centred exposition, that testifies to McCheyne’s trust in the Word of God. A Basket of Fragments overflows with wisdom stemming from a love of Scripture and a passionate desire to see people saved. Each portion of clear yet poetic teaching, when savoured, will produce lasting spiritual nourishment.
Robert Murray M'Cheyne a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1835 to 1843. He was born at Edinburgh, was educated at the University of Edinburgh and at the Divinity Hall of his native city, where he was taught by Thomas Chalmers. He first served as an assistant to John Bonar in the parish of Larbert and Dunipace, near Falkirk, from 1835 to 1838. After this he served as minister of St. Peter's Church (in Dundee) until his early death at the age of 29 during an epidemic of typhus.
Not long after his death, his friend Andrew Alexander Bonar edited his biography which was published with some of his manuscripts as The Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M'Cheyne. The book went into many editions. It has had a lasting influence on Evangelical Christianity worldwide.
In 1839, M'Cheyne and Bonar, together with two older ministers, Dr. Alexander Black and Dr. Alexander Keith, were sent to Palestine on a mission of inquiry to the condition of the Jews. Upon their return, their official report for the Board of Mission of the Church of Scotland was published as Narrative of a Visit to the Holy Land and Mission of Inquiry to the Jews. This led subsequently to the establishment of missions to the Jews by the Church of Scotland and by the Free Church of Scotland. During M'Cheyne's absence, his place was filled by the appointment of William Chalmers Burns to preach at St. Peter's as his assistant.
M'Cheyne was a preacher, a pastor, a poet, and wrote many letters. He was also a man of deep piety and a man of prayer. He never married, but he did have a fiancée at the time of his death, Jessie Thain, who died heartbroken.
M'Cheyne died exactly two months before the Disruption of 1843. This being so, his name was subsequently held in high honour by all the various branches of Scottish Presbyterianism, though he himself held a strong opinion against the Erastianism which led to the Disruption.
M'Cheyne designed a widely used system for reading through the Bible in one year. The plan entails reading the New Testament and the Psalms through twice a year, and the Old Testament through once.
One line from his sermon on the High priestly prayer. “Imagine hiding behind a tree while He was praying on the mountain, and hearing Him say your name! Friend what confidence you would have, what security you would be given to know the Savior said your name to the Father. Would you doubt Him? No.......so don’t doubt Him now!” Fragments indeed, able to supply the weary Christian for an entire lifetime if believed.
A collection of evangelistic sermons. It can be slow reading because the English language has changed since these were written. Also, interesting to see how the church’s focus has changed since these thoughts were written. We have become less Christ-centered in our teaching. Today’s church just wants to apply God’s word to the individual rather than as a body of believers, which is to our detriment.
The modern reader may have some difficulty in reading these sermons, particularly if he rushed through them or merely skins through. But the patient, thoughtful reader will be blessed and will gain much from spending time with these thoughts. I recommend reading one a day, going slowly enough to allow the words to sink in and take hold.
I didn’t read every sermon. M’Cheyne’s sermons are quite short. They get right to the heart of the matter, no time wasted. They are powerful sermons. What a blessing the hearers had to sit under this preaching. I’m thankful we have the words recorded and by God’s Spirit we can read them for our edification and exhortation today.