We are the human agents through
which revival is possible. Let me ask this question, "Are
you in the place where God can trust you with revival?"
He is sovereign. He is supernatural. But He comes down!
And in His sovereign purpose and wise economy, He has
placed this treasure in earthen vessels. Are you one that
He can use? Are you one that He can trust? Are you in
intimate fellowship with God? - Duncan Campbell
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THE NATURE OF A GOD-SENT REVIVAL
by Duncan Campbell
INTRODUCTION
Now will you turn with me to a very familiar passage of
scripture. You will find it in the book of Psalms. And
together we shall read Psalms 85:
Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land; thou hast
brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven
the iniquity of thy people, thou hast taken away all thy
wrath; thou hast turned Thyself from the fierceness of
thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause
thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with
us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Wilt thou not revive us again; that thy people may rejoice
in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.
I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for he will
speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but let
them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is
nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth; and His righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land
shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before
him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
The Lord will bless that reading from His Word.
Now, will you turn with me to verse 6. We might read verses
5 and 6. "Wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt
thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou
not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee?"
I mentioned the other evening that I would be speaking
this afternoon on principles that govern spiritual quickening,
and I would also tell you something of how God in His
mercy met with me and brought revival to this heart and
life of mine.
"Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people...thy
people...may rejoice in Thee."
These words of the Psalmist express the heart cry of many
of God's dear children today. There is without question
a growing conviction in many quarters that unless revival
comes, that is, a God-sent revival, other forces that
are out to defy every known Christian principle will take
the field.
Indeed, the observant eye can already see shadows around
the world that are ripening and ripening fast for repentance
or judgment. With that conviction there seems to be a
growing hunger for God to manifest His power, and so intense
is the hunger and so deep the longing that the cry of
the prophet of old is frequently heard upon the lips of
God's children.
OUR ONLY HOPE IS REVIVAL
"Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou
wouldest come down that the mountains might flow down
at thy presence" (Isa. 64:1,2).
You will observe that in that prayer of the prophet two
fundamental things are suggested. That unless God comes
down, mountains will not flow and sinners will not tremble.
But if God comes down, if God manifests His power, if
God shows His hand, if God takes the field, mountains
will flow...mountains of indifference, mountains of materialism,
mountains of humanism, will flow before His presence,
and nations, not just individuals, but nations, shall
be made to tremble.
We haven't seen nations trembling, but we have seen communities;
we have seen districts; we have seen parishes in the grips
of God in a matter of hours when God comes down!
It is true that we have seen man's best endeavor in the
field of evangelism leaving communities untouched. We
have seen crowded churches. We have seen many professions.
We have seen hundreds, yes, and thousands responding to
what you speak of here as the altar call. But I want to
say this, dear people, and I say it without fear of contradiction,
that you can have all that without God! Now, that may
startle you, but I say again, you can have all that on
mere human levels!
Howard Spring was right when he wrote, "The kingdom
of God is not going to advance by our churches becoming
filled with men, but by men in our churches becoming filled
with God." And there's a difference! Crowded churches,
deep interest in church activity is possible on mere human
levels leaving the community untouched!
The Difference Between Evangelism and Revival
The difference in successful evangelism, (and I use the
word 'successful,') and revival is this: In evangelism,
the two, the three, the ten, the twenty, and possibly
the hundred make confessions of Jesus Christ, and at the
end of the year you are thankful if half of them are standing.
But the community remains untouched. The public houses
are crowded, the dances, dancing ballrooms, packed. The
theater and the picture houses are patronized by the hundreds.
No change in the community!
But in revival, when God the Holy Ghost comes, when the
winds of heaven blow, suddenly the community becomes God-conscious!
A God-realization takes hold of young, middle-aged and
old. So that, as in the case of the Hebrides Revival,
75% of those saved one night were saved before they came
near a meeting!
"The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."
That is where the difference comes in between evangelism
and revival, and that is why I say our only hope is not
in crusades. Thank God for all that has been accomplished!
Thank God for all that is being done through missions!
I represent a mission in Scotland. We have also workers
in Canada, and we thank God for all that is being accomplished
through the efforts of ministers and evangelists and Christian
workers, bringing one here and two there to a saving knowledge
of Jesus. But our supreme need and the only answer to
the problem that confronts the Christian church today
is a visitation from God!
Revival at Berneray
Let me illustrate what I mean by an incident that happened
on the small island of Berneray. I was addressing the
Bangor Convention. The Bangor Convention is perhaps one
of the largest conventions in Britain. I was sitting in
the pulpit beside the chairman of the convention and the
other speaker when I was suddenly gripped by the conviction
that I had to leave the convention, and leave at once,
and go to this island. I turned to the chairman and told
him my convictions. "Oh," he said, "you
cannot leave the convention. You are down to give the
closing address." Oh, but I couldn't give the closing
address with this conviction! So, to make a long story
short, it was agreed that I should leave the convention.
I left the following morning by plane to the city of Glasgow,
and from Glasgow by plane to the town of Stornoway, and
then by car across the island where a ferry boat met me
and took me to this island of, say, 500 inhabitants.
On arriving, I met a young lad. I said nothing to the
man who ferried me across. They were strangers to me.
I was never on the island. I was never invited to the
island, and to my knowledge no one on the island had ever
met me. But I was there. And I said to the man that met
me, "Would you direct me to the nearest minister?"
"We have no minister on the island. Just now both
churches are vacant."
"Would you then direct me to the nearest elder?"
"Yes, the nearest elder lives in that house on the
hill."
So I said to the lad, "Do you mind going up to the
elder and telling him that Mr. Campbell has come to the
island? And if he asks, 'What Campbell?' tell him the
Campbell that was on the Island of Lewis."
So that young lad went up and after a few minutes came
back and said, "Hector McKennon was expecting you
to arrive today. And you are to stay with his brother.
And he asked me to tell you that he has initiated a meeting
at the church at 9:00 tonight and he expects you to address
it."
The Secret of Revival at Berneray
Now, explain that as you will. Here was a man who on the
morning of the day that I sat in the church of Bangor
Island, decided to spend the day in prayer.
He was concerned about the parish, particularly about
the state of the young people growing up in a state of
indifference to God and to the church. And his wife told
me that on three occasions she went to the door of the
barn where he was praying and she heard him pray, "God,
I do not know where he is, but you know, and you send
him."
About 10:00 that evening he was possessed of the conviction
that God heard his cry and that I would be on the island
on this particular day. Hence, the initiation that I would
preach in the church at 9:00 that evening.
We went to the church. Quite a considerable congregation
gathered—about 80. The service was a very ordinary
service. Indeed, at the end, I wondered after all if I
was led to the island. But there were men there nearer
to God than I was. My dear people, we've got to be honest!
This old man that I already referred to came to me and
said, "I hope you are not disappointed that revival
has not come to the church tonight. But God is hovering
over us, and He will break through any minute!"
Here was a man near to God! "The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear Him."
The Difference Between Human Faith and Saving
Faith
Oh, there is a difference between human faith and saving
faith!
I heard a prominent evangelist in Britain say something
that really startled me. He said, "You exercise faith
in a plane. You go into that plane and you exercise faith
that that plane will take you to your destination. You
go into a steamer and you exercise faith in the steamer
and the captain and the crew to take you to your destination.
Exercise that faith in the promises of God." Did
you ever hear or listen to such nonsense? That is human
faith! It is not given by God!
Oh, Calvin was right, and I love to quote him, although
I am not an extreme Calvinist- I'm a Highlander. Calvin
said, "We are saved through faith alone, but the
faith that saves is never alone." God is in it! Surely
that is what Paul tells us in that great passage. "I
am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not
I, but Christ, He liveth in me. And the life that I now
live in the flesh I live by the"—faith of Paul?
Oh, no! That wouldn't get him very far. "I live by
the faith of the Son of God!" The faith of God.
Harvests of Infidels or Believers?
Now I'm convinced of this, that if this truth was stressed,
there would be less appeals. If this truth was stressed,
our crusades and campaigns would not be producing harvests
of infidels.
If men and women would but recognize that glorious truth—"They
shall seek me and shall find me when they shall search
for me with all their heart." That means that they
may not find Him tonight. They may not find Him tomorrow
night. They may not find Him next week. They may not find
Him for a month or for six months, but if they are seeking
God with all their hearts, they're going to find Him,
or God is not true to His covenant engagement.
Oh, let's get this clear. It comes into revival. That
is why I could count upon my five fingers all that I spoke
to about their souls during the whole of the three years
I was in the midst of it (1949-53).
You see, in the Northwest of Scotland, if you were to
press yourself and your advice and your help upon an anxious
soul, he would be inclined to believe that it was man's
work...just man's work. And he would much rather be left
to God so that God Himself would handle him. That is why
we have known people for weeks and longer in distress
of soul before light broke in upon them.
THE ORIGIN OF REVIVAL
Now, let me touch first of all on the origin of revival.
You have it in this verse. "Wilt Thou not revive
us again." (Psalms 85:6)
My dear people, we do well to remember that in the whole
field of Christian experience, the first step is, and
remains, with God. We want to remember that. Thought,
feeling, endeavor must find their basis, must find their
inspiration in the sovereign mercy of God. Now I believe
that. I believe it with all my heart.
I remember making that statement at a conference outside
London some time ago. And at the close of the conference
the chairman overheard a certain titled lady say, "That
was a wonderful address that we listened to, but I don't
agree with all that he said, particularly to the sovereignty
of God. But we must not forget that the dear man was born
and brought up among the hills of Scotland, and that is
his background and he can't help it."
My dear people, let me say again, in the field of revival,
God is sovereign! But, I hasten to say, that I do not
believe in any conception of sovereignty that nullifies
man's responsibility. God is the God of revival, but we
are the human agents through which revival is possible.
And God found that man in the postman of Berneray.
I believe this to be the reason for so few making contact
with Christ that is vital: to me, one of the most disturbing
factors of present-day evangelism, (let me say, present-day
evangelism) is the overemphasis on what man can do. "Come
to the front. Raise your hand. Respond to the altar call.
Come to Jesus and be happy!" God have mercy on us!
I say, God have mercy on us! Man, in the final analysis,
can do nothing but throw himself on the sovereign mercy
of God! Oh, let's get that clear. That is not Highland
Theology. It's New Testament Theology! It's Old Testament
Theology! I'm tired, positively tired of this gospel of
simple believism!
No Backsliders
You go back to those villages today—I'm glad I see
Mr. McFarland of the Faith Mission here. He was up on
Lewis not so very long ago. He was in a village that saw
the mighty movings of God. I never spoke to one single
person in that village in an endeavor to help them find
the Savior! We just left them to God and God did it! That
is why you haven't a single backslider in that whole community.
Oh, my dear people, when God does a work, He does it well!
You can go back, and you can go back again, and you'll
find them pressing on with the God that revealed, not
only Himself to them, but revealed Himself in them.
Salvation is of God
"God," said David, "God is the God of our
salvation." The fact of ultimate reality surely is
this, that salvation is of God!
I was asked recently to help a young woman. She was a
nurse in Glasgow, now home in the Hebrides, and she was
in terrible distress of soul, and the distress continued
for a long period. Her father thought that perhaps a word
from me might help her, so I called and I found the young
woman in a terrible state, fearfully distressed about
her soul. The sense of guilt, the sense of unworthiness,
and behind it all, the question: "Am I in the covenant...Am
I in the covenant?" So I knelt beside her and did
my best to help her, and I quoted that great verse of
Scripture that I so often quote, John 10:27, "My
sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me
and I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never
perish, neither can any man pluck them out of my Father's
hand." And I quoted it again, and I tried to point
out the two supreme characteristics of the sheep for whom
Christ died. They hear his voice and they follow Him!
Have you heard His voice? Oh, have you heard His voice,
young people? Have you heard His voice? It is different
from the voice of man! The voice of the Shepherd speaking
the word of conviction, speaking the word of pardon, speaking
the word of assurance, speaking the word of power. Have
you heard the voice of the Shepherd?
I spoke along these lines, and then she looked at me through
her tears and said, "Mr. Campbell, I thank you for
your kindly words of counsel, but surely, surely, as a
minister, you believe that a verse of Scripture won't
save you?"
Have you got it? Oh, have you got it?
Extensive Delusion About Salvation!
There are thousands today living under a self-created
delusion, and a delusion given birth to in our evangelical
crusades, who have nothing to rest upon but a verse of
Scripture. Are you saved by a verse of Scripture?
Listen to the poet, "The promise can't save though
the promise is sure. It is the blood we get under that
cleanses us through. It cleanses me now. Hallelujah to
God! I rest on the promise but I'm under the blood!"
That's it! That's it! "Beyond...beyond...the sacred
page I see Thee, Lord...I seek thee, Lord...my spirit
yearns for Thee, thou living Word."
Tell me, has the living Word spoken? Has the living Word
spoken, or are you just holding on to a verse of Scripture?
So she said, "Surely you are not suggesting that
a verse of Scripture will save me? "My heart cries
for Jesus!" That's it! "My heart cries for Jesus!"
And Jesus, four or five days after that, revealed Himself
in her...revealed Himself in her! And she was gloriously
saved. And today she rests upon the promise, she feeds
upon the Word—that brings her to Jesus.
God Has Come!
We are now walking down from the church. The church is
on a hillock, the main road is down about 300 yards below
the church. The congregation is moving down and we are
walking behind them when suddenly...oh, this is what I
am getting at, noting the difference between evangelism
and revival ...suddenly, the elder stands, takes off his
hat, "Stand, Mr. Campbell. God has come! God has
come! See what is happening!" And I looked toward
the congregation and I saw them falling on their knees
among the heather. I heard the cries of the penitent.
And that meeting that began at 11:00 that night continued
on the hillside until 4:00 in the morning.
The island was suddenly gripped by God! Was it because
Campbell went to the island? Banish the thought!
I thank God for the privilege, and how thankful I am that
I was near enough to God in that pulpit to hear His voice.
I have often thought of that. Oh, I've often thought of
it! If I was out of touch with God—if I was in the
place where I couldn't hear the voice of the Saviour,
the voice of God, would Berneray have missed that mighty
visitation that shook that island from center to circumference?
I question if there was one single house on the island
that wasn't visited that night! An awareness of God, a
consciousness of God, seemed to hover over the very atmosphere!
The very atmosphere seemed to be charged with the power
of Almighty God! That is Revival!
Note the principle brought into operation. "If my
people called by my name, humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then
will I in heaven hear, come, and heal their land."
There was at least one man on that island who fulfilled
the conditions of that one passage of Scripture, and because
he fulfilled the conditions, God, being a covenant-keeping
God, must be true to His covenant engagements. And God,
to vindicate His own honor, had to listen to the prayers
of the parish postman who knelt in a barn for a day.
The principles that govern spiritual quickening...Oh,
that God may find a people ready to fulfill and to comply
with the governing principles relative to spiritual quickening.
Revival Where The Bible Is Unknown
Oh, let's get this clear. It is a truth we want to lay
hold of. And it becomes so wonderfully real in revival.
People have said to me, "But you see, Mr. Campbell,
up there they know the Word of God and the Holy Spirit
has ground to work on. They are not tied up with this
doctrine and that doctrine and the other doctrine."
But listen friends. God sweeps into communities where
the Word of God, to a large extent, is unknown. There
are such communities in Britain, almost pagan. But I've
seen God sweeping into such communities. For instance,
the Midland of England just recently, sweeping into a
godless community, and suddenly men and women understanding
perfectly what it means to be born again and what it means
to be sanctified, who, before the moving of God knew nothing
or could not understand what Christ meant by saying, "You
must be born again." That's why I say there's hope
for any community when God takes the situation in hand.
MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR REVIVAL
The origin then is God...and the way God works—I
think we've seen that. But His agents are His people.
God, as I have already said, is the God of revival. He
is sovereign, but as I already said, I quote again, "we
do not believe in any conception of sovereignty that nullifies
my responsibility"...to say as many do today, "Well,
we can do nothing, we've just to wait for the wind to
blow." Well, that may be a very accommodating doctrine
to the man at ease in Zion, but it will not stand in the
light of Divine revelation.
"If my people, called by my name, will pray."
I wonder how many of us are praying? I wonder how many
of us here talking about revival and interested in the
convention are giving time to God in prayer.
I'm thankful that I was brought up in a home where prayer
had a prominent place. Mother saw that God had at least
an hour every morning...stillness in the farm house. No
work from half past six in the morning to half past seven.
Horses fed at six. Oh, yes, they had to be attended to.
(Those were the days of horses...and I'm not sure but
what they were better days than the days in which we're
living.) Half past six until half past seven...quietness
in the farm house...in order that we might listen to God
and give God an opportunity to speak to us.
We are the human agents through which revival is possible.
Let me ask this question, "Are you in the place where
God can trust you with revival?" He is sovereign.
He is supernatural. But He comes down! And in His sovereign
purpose and wise economy, He has placed this treasure
in earthen vessels. Are you one that He can use? Are you
one that He can trust? Are you in intimate fellowship
with God?
I'm sure some of you will have heard of Murray McCheyne...died
at twenty-seven, but left his mark, an indelible mark,
on Scotland. Murray McCheyne was wonderfully used in revival
prior to the disruption of '43. It was the revivals of
McCheyne and Bonar and others that led to that great disruption
when the free church left the establishment. Murray McCheyne
said this, "If we are to walk worthy of our high
and holy calling, we must live in daily consideration
of the greatness and glory of Jesus."
The man who is there is just the man that God can trust
with Revival. He is sovereign, but I am the instrument
that He wills to use. Oh, tell me, friend, tell me, are
you there?
PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Now, I want to close my talk by telling you something
of how God in His mercy met with me. I must go back to
the days of my conversion.
Conversion
I was converted under strange circumstances. I cannot
take time to tell it all. But I was a piper and a step-dancer.
And I was playing in a concert and dance outside of Oban
when God spoke to me. God spoke to me in the dance. I
had a praying father and a praying mother. And I left
the dance and went home, shut myself in the barn and knelt
among the straw prepared for the horses in the morning.
And I cried, "God, I do not know how to come. I know
not what to do, but if you'll save me as I am, I'm coming
now." And God saved me! God saved me! And I say here
today that never for one single moment had I ever any
occasion to doubt the work that God did in my heart that
morning. God did a sovereign and supernatural work and
set me gloriously free. I believe that I can honestly
say, Godliness... Godliness...characterized every part
of my being—body, soul, and spirit—in that
wonderful experience. And I'm not talking of sanctification
or the deeper life. I'm just talking of a soul born again
when God does the work.
A Defeated, Desperate Christian
But shortly after that I joined the forces and found myself
in France during the 1st World War. And it wasn't long
until I discovered that there were powers resident within
me that were more than a match for me. You see, I was
cradled in the midst of Godliness. And I found myself
in the midst of extreme ungodliness—extreme ungodliness.
And I soon discovered, as I already said, forces resident
within me that were more than a match for me. Again and
again I cried, "Oh, God, speak the word of deliverance
along with particular avenue."
Injured in Battle
However, to make a long story short, I am in a cavalry
charge. And in that cavalry charge, I at last find myself
lying on the battlefield, badly wounded. I thank God for
a young trooper of the Canadian Horses. (I owe a great
deal to Canada. For that reason I am happy to be here
to pay a long-standing debt.) I was lying on the ground
when there was a second charge and this charge was by
the Canadian Horses, the last Cavalry charge of the British
Army...outside of Ales on the 12th of April, 1918. And,
as they charged over that bloody field, a horse's hoof
struck me in the spine. I must have groaned, and that
groan registered in the mind of the young trooper that
was in the charge, so much so, that in the providence
of God, he came right back to where I lay. After they
had cleared the hill and took the guns, he came back,
dismounted, and threw me across the horse's back and carried
me to the first casualty clearing station. I thank God
for that young man, whomever or wherever he is.
Desperate for Holiness: Endued with Power
I, on that horse's back, entered into an experience that
revolutionized my life. I believed that I was dying. I
knew that I was being carried to the casualty clearing
station, but would I ever see it? And I prayed a prayer
frequently prayed by my father, "God, make me as
holy as a saved sinner can be." That was it! McCheyne's
prayer—"Make me as holy as a saved sinner can
be." And listen, friends, God swept into my life!
God, the Holy Ghost—I cannot explain it in any other
way—swept into my life as I was brought to the station.
Now, listen, I could not speak very much English then.
Gaelic was my language. But I know this, that I began
to talk about Jesus in Gaelic...in Gaelic...and there
wasn't a soul there that could understand me. And I want
to say this, that before we left that casualty clearing
station, seven Canadians were gloriously saved—seven
of them!
Midargyl Revival
Again, I must leave that casualty clearing station and
after a year in the hospital, and after a few months of
Bible training, I went out to proclaim the unsearchable
riches of Jesus. It was the Midargyl Revival. God moved
in those parishes in a mighty way and hundreds were swept
into the Kingdom of God.
Defeated Again
And then an evil hour struck me. I stepped consciously
out of the will of God! I began to study for the ministry.
And I'm sorry to say that during that period I drifted
far from God in my mind...in my mind and in my heart.
Oh, I was still evangelical, passed through, came out
a minister, and for seventeen years ministered to two
congregations.
I was Campbell of the Midargyl Revival and I would be
asked to address conventions and conferences. Oh, the
deceit of the human heart! I knew how unfit I was. Oh,
I would question my salvation, because I tried to live
consistently. But I knew barrenness...barrenness...in
my spirit.
Prayer became a burden and the Word of God a dead word.
Oh, brother, have you had that experience?
Desperate Again
Then one day...oh, how I thank God for that day...my young
daughter came to me...thank God for her...a girl of sixteen
years of age—she came to me and said, "Daddy,
I would like to see you in your study. I've been praying
for you, Daddy. I want to speak to you." And she
took me to my study, and she threw herself on my knees,
as daughters sometimes do. She put her arms around my
neck, and I can still see the tears streaming from her
eyes, as she said, "Daddy, when you were a pilgrim
in the Faith Mission, after the 1st World War, you saw
revival in Scotland. You saw revival! Daddy, how is it
that God is not using you in revival today? Tell me, Daddy,
when did you last lead a soul to Christ?"
Thank God for faithful daughters! And I tell you, dear
people, that shook me. Oh, it shook me! I knew! I knew!
Campbell, a convention speaker...Campbell, the evangelistic
minister...in his study smashed and broken by a question
from his daughter.
Listen, I was booked to address the Keswick Convention
that year. I went to the convention. Oh, the deceit of
the human heart. I went to the convention and I had my
address. And I was so thankful when it was over. The words
kept ringing in my ears, "When did you last lead
a soul to Christ? When did you last lead a soul to Christ?"
Determined to Leave the Ministry
Then God in His own wonderful way moved Dr. Tom Fitch
to depart from the address that he had prepared and give
his own personal testimony. Dr. Fitch gave his personal
testimony and I went home resolved that unless God would
do something for me and give me back what I lost, that
I certainly would resign from the ministry. I was absolutely
decided on that!
So, in going home, I said to my wife and daughter, "I'm
going to my study and I want you to leave me alone. I'm
going to seek a meeting with God."
And I went to my study. I shut the door. I put the rug
down on the floor in front of the fire and I lay on the
rug. I cannot take time to tell you all that God said
to me in that hour. I'm thankful to say that He spoke
to me the word of pardon, and the word of forgiveness,
and the word of re-commission.
I cried, "God, won't you give me again what you gave
me on the battlefield?" And listen, friends, God
did it!
My daughter came in at 2:00 in the morning. She lay down
beside me and she said, "Daddy, whatever it costs,
go through with God." And I said, "Sheena, I'm
going through whatever it may cost."
Cost to Pride
And God knows what it cost me—to stand in my pulpit
the following Sunday and make a public apology for pretending
what I was not in the midst of my congregation. Five of
my office bearers left me within a week. They wouldn't
have a fool in the pulpit.
Oh, that may happen. It sometimes happens, you see, in
revival, that there's a subtraction before addition.
Baptized with Love and Power
But listen, friends, as I lay there, God the Holy Ghost
came upon me. Wave after wave came rolling over me until
the love of God swept through me like a mighty river!
So much so, that there were moments...now listen, my daughter
beside me put her hand on my shoulders and she prayed,
"Oh, God, keep his reason to Daddy." I was never
more sane in my life! But I was so wrought upon by the
Holy Ghost that I cried and I laughed and I prayed.
I say that the Holy Ghost came to me...in a mighty cleansing,
empowering power!
A professor in Edinburgh met me sometime afterward. Of
course, it was known abroad that something had happened
to Campbell. (Of course, some thing did happen to him.
I was set free—glorious freedom!) This professor
said to me, "Now tell me, tell me, Campbell...they
tell me that you had a wonderful experience in your study."
"Yes," I said. "God came to me."
"What difference did it make in your life?"
"Well, I think, professor, that the difference must
be obvious to you from what has already happened,"
I said. "I went out to preach the same sermons that
I'd been preaching for seventeen years...went out to preach
the same sermons with this difference—that I now
saw hundreds converted, hundreds brought savingly to Christ."
Go Through With God
And if God in His mercy has been pleased to use me in
some small measure since that hour, I can trace it back
to that moment, when Sheena said to me, "Whatever
it costs, Daddy, go through with God."
And I say to you, brother, whatever it costs...whatever
it costs...go through with God!
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