| Robert Murray McCheyne |
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 This past week when I was in Israel visiting the places where Jesus walked the earth, I had an 1844 copy of the letters and sermons of an incredible Scottish Presbyterian Minister by the name of Robert Murray McCheyne. His words of reflection after he had visited the very same places were moving and again reminded me of the inspiring strength and depth of faith that our leading Presbyterians had. McCheyne was born in 1813 and was always plagued by fragile health. He was hardworking and labored enduringly for the gospel. One special thing about him was the way he preached; in the words of his biographer Andrew Bonar, “It was not doctrine alone that he preached; it was Christ, from whom all doctrine shoots forth as rays from a centre… the flocking of souls to his ministry, and the deep interest excited, drew the attention of many.”Listen to one powerful excerpt from a letter of his in 1839: “The awful disease of leprosy still exists in Africa… It is regarded as perfectly incurable, and so infectious that no one dares to come near a leper. In the south of Africa there is a large lazarhouse for lepers. It is an immense space, enclosed by a very high wall, and containing fields, which the lepers cultivate. There is only one entrance, which is strictly guarded. Whenever any one is found with the marks of leprosy upon him, he is brought to this gate and obliged to enter in, never to return. No one who enters in by that awful gate is ever allowed to come out again. Within this abode of misery there are multitudes of lepers in all stages of disease... Ah! how little we know of the misery that is in the world. Such is this prison-house of disease. But you will ask, who cares for the souls of the hapless inmates? Who will venture to enter in at this dreadful gate never to return again? Who will forsake father and mother, houses and land, to carry the message of a Savior to these poor lepers? Two Moravian missionaries, impelled by a divine love for souls, have chosen the lazarhouse as their field of labour. They entered it never to come out again; and I am told that as soon as these die other Moravians are quite ready to take their place. Ah! my dear friends, may we not blush, and be ashamed before God, that we, redeemed with the same blood, and taught by the same Spirit, should yet be so unlike these men in vehement, heart-consuming love to Jesus and the souls of men.” Powerful and convicting. |
