Articles

The following articles by or about M‘Cheyne have appeared in The Banner of Truth magazine.

Published by The Banner of Truth Trust, The Grey House, 3 Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh EH12 6EL.
PO Box 621, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013, USA
PO Box 29, Sylvania, Southgate, NSW 2224, Australia.

Each reference in parentheses is to the issue number followed by the page numbers.

Biographical

The following account of M‘Cheyne appeared shortly after his death in The Free Churchman (1843), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 44-50.  This periodical, published in Calcutta, was intended to convey to readers in India ‘information relative to the course and nature of the solemn events which have lately terminated in the disruption of the Established Church of Scotland’.  All the missionaries of the Church of Scotland in India (in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay) had left the Established Church at the Disruption.  They included such men as Alexander Duff, William Sinclair Mackay and David Ewart whose careers are described in The St. Andrews Seven by Stuart Piggin and John Roxburgh, published by the Trust (ISBN 0 85151 428 6, 144 pp., large paperback, £4.95/$9.99).   The author of the appreciation of M‘Cheyne was a London minister, the Rev. James Hamilton.

The original title of this article was, “On the Rev. Robert M. McCheyne, late minister of St. Peter’s Church, Dundee”.

Sermons

Another Lily Gathered: Conversion of a Child“. R. M. M‘Cheyne (9:2-9).  Also on the Internet at the Bible Presbyterian Church web-site.

Vessels of Wrath Fitted to Destruction“. R. M. M‘Cheyne (19:6-12)

M‘Cheyne’s Sermon After Returning From Palestine“. R. M. M‘Cheyne (355:23-27).

The above information was obtained from Reformed Christian Sources Index, an electronic index to Reformation Today, The Banner of Truth and the Puritan/Westminster Conferences created by librarian Michael Keen of Aberystwyth.

Conviction of Sin” by R. M. M‘Cheyne.  This was originally preached at Dundee in 1837 as two consecutive sermons. It has recently been republished as a 32 page booklet (price £1.75 each) in the Evangelical Press series Living Classics for Today / Gospel Essentials. (Series consultant – Michael Haykin.).
A  brief review of this series appeared in Evangelical Times, April 1998.

Tracts

Christ’s Compassion” by R. M. M‘Cheyne. 

Thirsting Sinners Called” by R. M. M‘Cheyne. 
Both these titles are listed in a series of printed tracts available from  Quotation and Reflections, 950 Ball Ave N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (USA).
This page is part of the unofficial website of the Grand Rapids congregation of the Free Reformed Churches of North America.

Other biographical articles

There is a further two-part biographical article about M‘Cheyne available at the web-site of Heath Christian Bookshop – a bookstore in Cardiff, Wales. Visit their “Free” menu option.  For the Heath site, your web-browser needs to support frames. Even without frames support, the biographical articles can be visited directly as follows:

Part 1 – “As one bought with a price”

Part 2 – Dressed in beauty not my own

The same site also has a biography of William Chalmers Burns, who was the young assistant minister standing in for M‘Cheyne at St Peter’s, while M‘Cheyne was on the Mission of Inquiry. It was during this period that the revival started in Kilsyth, and spread to include Dundee. Burns later went on to be a missionary in China.   For more about W.C. Burns, see also my M‘Cheyne’s friends page.

The Life of Robert Murray McCheyne

Yet another biographical article has recently appeared on the Internet. This one is by George McGuinness, and is found on the web-site of Blessed Hope Ministries, which is based in Gainesville, Georgia.  The site contains many other articles by famous Puritan & Reformed authors and preachers. In addition to the above biographical article, they include M‘Cheyne’s sermon, “The Christian’s Warfare“.

See also the short biographical portrait (taken from Stewart’s book) at the web-site of Sovereign Grace Articles. A visit to this site is recommended.

This is one of several short biographical sketches under the theme Prayer Makes History, which are to be found on the web-site of The Watchword which is an organisation providing resources related to Revivals.  This series includes similar articles on Andrew A. Bonar and William C. Burns, who were among M‘Cheyne’s friends.

A Modern Saint; or Three Lectures on the Rev. R.M.M‘Cheyne

This small booklet by J. Moffat Scott is referred to on page 81 of  the book “M‘Cheyne from the Pew” by Kirkwood Hewat. It was probably   published at the close of the nineteenth century, and must be long out of print. No other details available.

Let the Fire Burn…a Study of R. M. McCheyne, Robert Annan and Mary Slessor“. by Revs. J. Harrison Hudson, Thomas W. Jarvie, & Jock Stein.

This is an out-of-print booklet that was published in 1978 by Handsel Publications (formerly of Dundee).  The company is now called Handsel Press.
The chapter on McCheyne is now posted on this web-site with the kind permission of Rev. Jock Stein.

The impact of Robert Murray McCheyne by Rev. J. Harrison Hudson.

The Rev John MacPherson on the influences of M‘Cheyne upon his life by Rev. John MacPherson
(published in The Record, the monthly magazine of the Free Church of Scotland, May 2013)

Robert MCheyne: A Model of Manly Ministry by John Ross
(Recycled Missionaries, The blog of John Ross, posted 22nd May 2013)

An article originally published in the January 1987 issue of Life and Work, the magazine of the Church of Scotland.  This is posted on this web-site with the kind permission of the author.

ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE by Gareth Burke.

This article appeared in the Reformed Theological Journal Volume 15 (1999).  RTJ is a publication of the Faculty of the Reformed Theological College in Northern Ireland, and is available from November each year.  Postal address: Cameron House, 98 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6AG.

Robert Murray McCheyne – an article in the New EnglanderApril 1848.

This biographical article appeared in Volume 6, issue 22 of the New Englander and Yale review of April 1848, published by W.L. Kingsley of New Haven.  The article was on pages 219-230 of this issue.  This journal has been made available by the Cornell University Library as part of its Making of America American Memory website, with links back to Cornell.  The article is a descriptive review of “The works of the late Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne, Minister of St. Peter’s Church, Dundee.   Complete in two volumes.  Vol. I, containing his Life and Remains, Letters, Lectures, Songs of Zion, &c. New York : Robert Carter.”  In the ‘Index of Books Noticed and Reviewed’, the article is listed as “McCheyne, (R. M.), Life and Writings of, reviewed, by A. P. Marvin, VI, 219.”

TITLE: “Robert Murray McCheyne : live so as to be missed

[biographical sketch; sermon repr]

AUTHOR: DeRemer,-Bernard-R     SOURCE: Fundamentalist-Journal. 7 (F 1988), p. 24-25+.
PUBLICATION YEAR: 1988         DESCRIPTOR: Preaching,-Reformed; Scotland-Church-history; Church-of-Scotland
ISSN: 0736-1963                            ACCESSION NUMBER: ario19880000010558.

Sermon

The walk and triumph of the saints“. A sermon preached in St Peter’s Church, Dundee, on Sabbath 2d April 1843, on occasion of the lamented death of the Rev. Robert Murray M‘Cheyne. by the Rev. John Roxburgh, A.M. (1806-1880), Minister of St. John’s, Dundee. Published (1843) in Dundee by William Middleton (24p); published at the request of the Kirk-Session of St. Peter’s, and respectfully inscribed to them, and to the congregation over which they preside.  Information from the British Library Public Catalogue [Shelfmark: RB.23.a.20062].

Poetry

Weep! Church of Scotland” being a 12-stanza poem written by J.R. Perth as a lament shortly after M‘Cheyne’s death in 1843.
This file was kindly supplied to me by Herman Krijgsman in the Netherlands, who has also translated a number of M‘Cheyne’s works into Dutch.

A Poem by Robert Murray McCheyne is found on the website of Christian Fellowship Devotionals – which provides Free Daily Email Devotionals.
This item sent out on 1998-07-20 was one of M‘Cheyne’s Songs of Zion, all of which may be found on my own website.

Gleanings from the English Poets, Chaucer to Tennyson, with biographical notices, etc. by Robert Inglis. Publisher: (pp. xvi. 544.) Gall and Inglis: Edinburgh, [1881.] 8o.  This includes at least one poem by Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne. I have yet to check the contents.

Other references

‘Isaiah’s Wild Measure’: R. M. McCheyne“, by R.P.Gordon, Expository Times 103,8 (May 1992) pp 235-237 contains comments relating to his poem JEHOVAH TSIDEKENU.  [Source: footnote 15 on page 11 in the book, Mission of Discovery.]

Look and Live” by Robert Murray McCheyne, is a letter in the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, SPRING 1992 – Vol 5:1.
This letter, written on March 20, 1840, is taken from Andrew Bonar’s Memoirs of M‘Cheyne p91-93; (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute 1947).
The stated goal of Grace Evangelical Society is to focus worldwide attention upon the distinction between the freeness of eternal life and the costliness of eternal rewards. Authors whose articles are published by the Journal cover a fairly wide spectrum of theological positions within Evangelicalism.

The impact of Robert Murray McCheyne“, by Rev. J.Harrison Hudson, in Life & Work (January 1987) pp 29-30.  This article was written by the minister (now retired) of St. Peter’s McCheyne Memorial Church, Dundee, and appeared in the above-named magazine of the Church of Scotland.
It was published shortly after the 150th anniversary of the ordination and induction of Robert Murray McCheyne.  The article is now available online.

The Story of Robert Murray M‘Cheyne” – a small booklet was produced at St. Peter’s McCheyne Church to commemorate his life and ministry.

The Early Days of St Peter’s, Dundee. History of the church, including an account of the life and ministry of Robert Murray M‘Cheyne“, by G.Fairlie, Minister. “For the assistance of visitors.” 1975. [Typescript, 7pp]. Listed in the archives at the library of Dundee University – Collection: Miscellaneous Manuscripts – Dates: [19th C.] – Reference: MS 15/277.