Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash.
When this passing world is done;
When has sunk the radiant sun;
When I stand with Christ on high,
Looking o’er life’s history:
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.
When I stand before the throne,
Dressed in beauty not my own;
When I see Thee as Thou art,
Love Thee with unsinning heart
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.
When the praise of heaven I hear,
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters’ noise,
Sweet as harp’s melodious voice:
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.
Chosen not for good in me;
Wakened up from wrath to flee;
Hidden in the Saviour’s side;
By the Spirit sanctified:
Teach me, Lord, on earth to show,
By my love, how much I owe.
This lovely hymn was written by a Church of Scotland minister who lived a very short life. Robert Murray McCheyne was born in Edinburgh in May 1813 and he died in March 1843. He was remarkably clever - being able to write the Greek alphabet on his slate at the age of four and he began studying at Edinburgh University at the age of 14. He was converted after the death of his brother and he became a well-known minister starting off in Larbert near our church in Falkirk then becoming minister of a church in Dundee with a congregation of 4,000 and the attendance at the church services was over 1,000 each Sunday morning.
It was not his academic ability or his gift of oratory which made Murray McCheyne such a remarkable man. He was a Godly man whose primary desire in life was to be more like Jesus. This quotation from this man of God sums up his character "It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likenesses to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” Here is an extract from a letter of someone who heard him preaching. “I heard you preach last Sabbath evening, and it pleased God to bless that sermon to my soul. It was not so much what you said, as your manner of speaking that struck me. I saw in you a beauty in holiness that I never saw before.”
Notice that the first three lines of this hymn begin with the word 'when.'
When this passing world is done;
When has sunk the radiant sun;
When I stand with Christ on high,
Looking o’er life’s history:
Robert Murray McCheyne was living his life for eternity. He was fully aware that life was transient and fleeting. He was looking forward to a day of reunion with His Saviour and Lord and a day of reckoning. He knew that he would stand before the judgement seat of Christ and that his life would be reviewed. But he also was fully aware that it was only in glory that he would fully appreciate what Christ had done for him.
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.
He knew that he owed his salvation to Jesus Christ whose death had delivered him from his sin and made him fit for heaven. This is a powerful hymn. Robert Murray McCheyne was a great man with great achievements. But what mattered to him was the great debt he owed to Jesus Christ. As the modern hymn says:
He paid a debt he did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sins away;
And now I sing a brand new song,
"Amazing Grace" the whole day long
Christ Jesus paid a debt
That I could never pay.
Robert Murray McCheyne uses the language of the book of Revelation in the second and third stanzas.
[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” [11] And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, [12] saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” [Revelation 7:9-12 ESV]
3
[1] Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. [2] And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, [3] and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. [Revelation 14: 1-3 ESV ]
The fourth stanza sums up beautifully what Christ has done for us. It is a gallery of the riches of God's grace:
Chosen not for good in me;
Wakened up from wrath to flee;
Hidden in the Saviour’s side;
By the Spirit sanctified:
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. [Ephesians 1:3-4 ESV]
[9] For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, [10] and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. [1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ESV]
[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [Colossians 3:1-4 ESV]
[11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. [1 Corinthians 6: 11 ESV]
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