UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

Each daily devotional below begins with an excerpt from a transcript of Duncan Campbell telling the story of how the 1949 Hebridean revival began.[1]

Duncan Campbell said:-

“Now you might ask me, ‘What do you mean by revival?’ There are a great many views held by people today as to what revival is. So you will hear men say saying “Are you going out to the revival meetings”… “We are having a revival crusade and so on.” There is a world of difference between a crusade, or a special effort in the field of evangelism. My dear people that is not revival. As I have already said from this platform, I thank God for every soul brought to Christ, through our special efforts and for every season of blessing at our conferences and at our conventions. We praise God for such movements, but, is it not true that such movements do not as a general rule touch the community? The community remains more or less the same, and the masses go past us to hell.”

‘Revival is spontaneous in the sense that it is not forced or suggested or caused by outside agency’ -Oxford Dictionary. [2] It is the result of divine and not human impulse. Revival can never be explained in terms of activity or organisation, personality or preaching. It is essentially a manifestation of God. It has the stamp of deity upon it, and this, even the spiritually uninitiated are quick to recognise. We cannot explain revival because we cannot explain God. ‘The wind blows where it wills’. Revival is different from evangelism. In evangelism man takes the initiative, though it be with the prompting of the Holy Spirit.’ In revival, the initiative is solely God’s. In the one, the organisation is human: with the other it is divine….. Revival may break out in the midst of evangelism….. While revival tarries evangelism must go on’.[3]

In Acts 2:2, Luke writes, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting”. Luke describes the Pentecostal outpouring as coming ‘suddenly from heaven’. This suggests two important features. First the outpouring came SUDDENLY. ‘There is the mark of suddenness. God is a man of war and a superb strategist. He makes use of the surprise element by striking suddenly. Revival overtakes men, comes upon them, and takes them unawares. When men fear that God is about to corner them and confront them with His claims, they tend to take avoiding action. But in revival God often moves so swiftly that they are pierced with conviction before they know what has happened.’ [4] Secondly, the outpouring was FROM HEAVEN ‘Here is the hallmark of the real thing as distinct from that which men commonly call revival, but which may be organised, promoted and so presumably controlled. Did anyone organise, promote or control that which came from heaven on the day of Pentecost. Only God. Certainly not the men of ‘the upper room prayer meeting’[5]

Revival is recognised as clearly heaven sent, when men cannot account for what is happening in terms of human personality or organisation. When a movement becomes organised or controlled by man, it has ceased to be spontaneous – it is no longer revival. ‘It is of course necessary that leaders ensure that the work of the Spirit is not infiltrated by false doctrine or practice, but great care needs to be taken that we do not take things out of the control of the Holy Spirit. When God has put his hand on the helm we do well to keep ours off.’[6]It is this distinction between evangelism and revival that Duncan Campbell is highlighting. Evangelism is organised by man, revival is heaven sent.

Lord, you have come suddenly in the past, come suddenly today, rend the heavens and come down in sovereign power. Let there be a sudden awakening of the youth of this nation, a heaven-sent move of God.

References

(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXIZOSWvXaE

(2) A.Wallis, Rain from heaven, 45.

(3) A.Wallis, Rain from heaven, 14.

(4) A.Wallis, Rain from heaven, 43.

(5 )A.Wallis, Rain from heaven, 45.

(6 )A.Wallis, Rain from heaven, 47.