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:-

“That meeting continued to 4 o’clock in the morning… As I was leaving the church a young man came. He was not a Christian but he was a God-fearing young man… and told me this story, “Mr Campbell there must be anything between 200 and 300 people at the police station. They are gathered there and some are on their knees. I cannot understand this. He wasn’t in the church you see… but here a crowd of men and women from a neighbouring village, 5 and 6 miles away, were so moved by God that they found themselves moving to the police station, because the constable there was a God-fearing and well saved man and just next to the door was Peggy’s cottage. They were there and this young man begged of me to go along to the police station, and I went along and I shall never, never, forget what my ears heard and what my eyes saw that morning… Young men were kneeling by the roadside. I think just now of a group of half a dozen, one of them was under the influence of drink and his old mother kneeling beside him saying, “Willy, Willy are you coming at last.. Willy, Willy, are you coming at last” and Willy today is now the parish minister of Ilgui and from the group of young men who sought the Lord that night there are nine in the ministry… today… God moved… my dear people, that’s revival… that is God at work and I will be bold to say in passing that is the crying need of the Christian church in Canada today… not this effort or that effort, on the basis of human endeavour but the manifestation of God that moves sinners to cry for mercy before they go near a place of worship.”

Deep conviction of sin was experienced in the Second Great Awakening also. When Charles Finney arrived in Antwerp, New York state, in April 1825, he found that no religious services at all were held in the town. He said,(2) ‘In passing around the village I heard a vast amount of profanity. I thought I’d never heard so much in any place that I had ever visited. It seemed to me as if the men playing ball upon the green and in every business place that I stepped into, were all cursing and swearing and damning each other. I felt as if I had arrived upon the borders of hell… ‘… I went immediately to the school house… and it was packed to its utmost capacity. I read the text: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life.” I saw several of the men there from whom I had the day before heard the most awful profanity. I pointed them out in the meeting and told what they said, how they called on God to damn each other day. Indeed, I let loose my whole heart upon them. I told them that they seemed to howl blasphemy about the streets like hell-hounds, and it seemed to me that I had arrived on the verge of hell. Everybody knew that what I said was true and they quailed under it.’ (3)

‘On the third Sabbath (in Antwerp) Finney rose to preach on, ‘Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city… I told them how exceedingly wicked Sodom became and what abominable practices they fell into (and) that Abraham prayed to the Lord to spare Sodom… that if He found ten righteous persons in the city, he would spare it… I observed the people looking as if they were angry… It seemed to me that their anger rose higher and higher.’ After about a quarter of an hour he said, ‘an awful solemnity seemed to settle on them and they began to fall from the seats in every direction and cried out for mercy. If I had a sword in each hand, I could not have cut them off their seats as fast as they fell. Indeed, nearly the whole congregation was either on their knees or prostrate, I should think in less than two minutes from this first shock that fell upon them. Everyone prayed for himself who was able to speak at all … I was obliged to stop preaching for they no longer paid attention. I saw the old man who invited me there to preach and pointing to him I said “Can’t you pray?” He instantly fell upon his knees and with a stentorian voice poured himself out to God. I then spoke as loud as I could, and tried to make them attend to me. I said “You are not in hell yet; and now let me direct you to Christ.” ‘I learned later… the place was called Sodom, and the old man that invited me there, was called Lot. The people supposed that I chose my subject and preached to them in that manner, because they were so wicked as to be called Sodom. This was a striking coincidence; but … altogether accidental.’

Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me, break me, melt me, mould me fill me, Spirit of the living God fall on me!(4)

References

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

(2) Finney. C, Autobiography, p60-61 (paraphrase)

(3) Finney. C, Autobiography, p62 (paraphrase)

(4) Prayer from the East African revival