It was 1839 and Robert Murray McCheyne was just under four years from his death when, because of bad health and a doctors orders to get to a warmer climate, he decided that if he must leave his church for a time, he would go to Israel for ministry and to pray on-site for the Jewish people. He would die in 1843 of typhus, just short of his 30th birthday. It was a short life and a remarkably substantial one in his own time and even more powerful in the years since.
In this excerpt from Andrew Bonar’s, Memoir of McCheyne, we read from a letter he wrote to Pastor W. C. Burns, who had agreed to take his flock at St. Peter’s while he was convalescing in Israel. Before he left for Palestine, McCheyne penned a three paragraph letter to encourage his substitute during his time away. Here’s the two that caught my attention because of their relevance for all pastors but maybe all of us who give the word of God to others.
“Take heed to yourself. Your own soul is your first and greatest care. You know a sound body alone can work with power; much more a healthy soul. Keep a clear conscience through the blood of the Lamb. Keep up close communion with God. Study likeness to Him in all things. Read the Bible for your own growth first, then for your people.
Expound much; it is through the truth that souls are to be sanctified, not through essays upon the truth. Be easy of access, apt to teach, and the Lord teach you and bless you in all you do and say. You will not find many companions. Be the more with God. My dear people are anxiously waiting for you. The prayerful are praying for you. Be of good courage; there remains much of the land to possessed. Be not dismayed, for Christ shall be with you to deliver you. Study Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1, and the sending of Moses, and Psalm 51:12-13 and John 15:26, 27, and eh connection in Luke 1:15, 16.”
Memoirs of McCheyne: Including His Letters and Messages
by Andrew A. Bonar with a Biographical Introduction
by S. Maxwell Coder (Moody Press, 1947), p. 13
Men and women, that is good counsel.
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Take care of your own spiritual needs first. A healthy soul is centered in the Word of God.
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Keep a clear conscience.
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Keep in close communion with Christ.
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Study to become like Him.
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Read the Bible for your own growth first. People will see through a shallow man.
Over the next few days I am going to take McCheyne’s counsel myself and study the very passages he recommended to pastor Burns. Join me here on the blog and we can converse over our findings. Let’s live passionately for and like Jesus.
And if you want a short book that will reveal the mind of McCheyne about the job description of a pastor who honors God and serves His people well, you might check out this one that I edited a few years ago. It is available at Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions.
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