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:-

“This dear man stood at the door and suggested that we might sing a psalm. He gave out Psalm 102. ‘When Zion’s bondage God turned back, then men who dreamed were we, then filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody’, and they sang and they sang and they sang and in the midst of it I could hear the cry of the penitent. I could hear men crying to God for mercy… and I turned to the elder and said, I think we had better open the doors again… and let them in… and within a matter of minutes the church was crowded at a 11:45pm. Now where did the people come from? How did they know a meeting was in progress in the church? I cannot tell you, I saw but this… from village and hamlet the people came… Were you to ask some of them today what was it the moved to you? They could not tell you. Only that they were moved by a power that they could not explain and the power was such as to get them to understand and to see that they were Hell deserving sinners and, of course, the only place they could think of where they might find help was at the church. Here they were, between 600 and 700… There was a dance in progress that night, in the parish, and while this young man was praying in the aisles, the power of God moved into that dance and the young people, over 100 of them fled from the dance… as though fleeing from a plague and they made for the church. When I endeavoured to get up into the pulpit, I found the way blocked with young people who had been at the dance. When I went to the pulpit I found a young woman, a graduate of Aberdeen University. She was lying on the floor by the pulpit crying out, “Is there mercy for me? Is there mercy for me? Is there mercy for me?” God was at work and Peggy’s vision now actual and real… a church crowded with young people… as well as old.

Charles Finney tells the story of what took place in Utica in New York. ‘I went to the factory. On passing through one of the apartments were a great number of young women who were attending to their weaving. I observed a couple of them eyeing me and speaking very earnestly to each other, and I could see that they were a good deal agitated, although they both laughed. I went slowly towards them. They saw me coming and were evidently much excited. One of them was trying to mend a broken thread and I observed that her hands trembled so that she could not mend it. I approached slowly, looking on each side at the machinery, as I passed; but I observed that this girl grew more and more agitated and could not proceed with her work. When I came within 8 or 10 feet of her, I looked solemnly at her. She observed it and was quite overcome, sunk down, and burst into tears. The impression caught almost like powder and in a few moments nearly all in the room were in tears. This feeling spread through the factory. ‘Mr W, the owner of the establishment, was present, and seeing the state of things, he said to the superintendent, “Stop the mill and let the people attend to religion; for it is more important that our souls should be saved than this factory run.” The gate was immediately shut down, and the factory stopped; but where should we assemble? The superintendent suggested that the mule room was large; and the mules being run up, we could assemble there. We did so and a more powerful meeting I scarcely ever attended. It went on with great power. The building was large and had many people in it, from the garret to the cellar. The revival went through the mill with astonishing power, in the course of a few days nearly all in the mill were hopefully converted.’ The glory came down in Utica in New York without even a word being preached.” (2)

Lord, purge us, and cut us to the heart with the conviction of your powerful, yet personal Holy Spirit. Give us that God-consciousness that grips us, and apprehends us, and transforms us that we might never be the same again. Lord, manifest yourself in your holiness and your power, that your Holy Spirit might flow though us again and touch, heal and save a lost and needy world. (3)

References

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

(2) Finney, C. Autobiography. CreateSpace (2014): pp108, 109.

(3) Taylor, Mission heroes, p14