The Tay River, taken from the overlook at Mills Observatory, Dundee, Britain's only full-time public observatory.

No Christian can read the biography or the writings of Robert Murray M'Cheyne without realizing that the true measure of life is not its length, but its usefulness. He ministered but a short seven and a half years and died at the age of 29, yet the fruitfulness of that brief life remains to this day.

Nor does the amount of our activity or our words reflect the true value of our life. M'Cheyne left notes of only some 300 sermons when he died in 1843, but his own counsel to a fellow minister explains why these sermons brought such abundant blessing, not only to 'the noisy mechanics and political weavers' of Dundee but, later, to all parts of the English- speaking world:

'Get your texts from God - your thoughts, your words, from God... It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin.'

- Taken from back cover of Sermons of Robert Murray M'Cheyne, published by The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1991.

BIOGRAPHY

A good biography of M'Cheyne can be found at David Haslam's site. It is an article originally written by Iain Murray for the Banner of Truth magazine.
Also, just added is another biography by Keith Walker at David Haslam's page, Saint and Preacher.

M'Cheyne Biography (Part I) - Heath Christian Bookshop
M'Cheyne Biography (Part II) - Heath Christian Bookshop

Robert Murray M'Cheyne - Banner of Truth

The Vessels Of Wrath Fitted To Destruction
Thanksgiving Obtains The Spirit

M'Cheyne's Sermons - David Haslam's Page

The Seven Churches of Asia Minor - Free Church of Scotland

This Do In Remembrance Of Me - The Westminster Presbyterian
God In Christ Reconciling The World - The Westminster Presbyterian
Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life - The Westminster Presbyterian
The Cry for Revival, Part I, Part II - The Westminster Presbyterian