Duncan Campbell - Revival in the Hebrides

By

DUNCAN CAMPBELL

Copyright by Kraus House, 2015 for this digital edition only

KRAUS HOUSE

kraushousedigital.com

Contents

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Zechariah 12:10

In 1949 the Spirit of grace and supplication fell upon a congregation in the village of Arnol, on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides.

They prayed for revival.

Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, LORD, and grant us Your salvation. Psalm 85:6-7

One night they crowded into the home of the blacksmith a smith named Smith but the spiritual atmosphere was dry. A sense of deadness prevailed as one after another tried to break through in prayer. Duncan Campbell, a visiting evangelist, called on Mr. Smith to pray.

The prayer was short and sharp: O God, you made a promise to pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground, and, Lord, its not happening. He paused and then continued in a rising voice: Lord, I do not know how Mr. Campbell or these other men stand with you, but if I know my own heart, I know that I am thirsty. You have promised to pour water on him who is thirsty. If you dont do it, how can I ever believe you again? Your honor is at stake. You are a covenant-keeping God. Fulfill your covenant engagement!

At that instant the granite house shook like a leaf (Acts 4) and a Power was unleashed that swept the entire parish. Campbell said, I could only stand in silence as wave after wave of Divine power swept through the house, and in a matter of minutes following this heaven-sent visitation, men and women were on their faces in distress of soul. He stepped outside and discovered that the whole village was astir. Though it was 11 oclock at night, people with lanterns and flashlights were making their way along the roads and across the fields toward the meeting place, as if summoned by a silent bell!

Next day the looms were silent and work stopped. Everywhere the people gathered to discuss this strange invasion from heaven and the awareness of Gods presence that now pervaded the community. Spontaneous prayer meetings took place in homes and on the streets.

You met God on meadow and moorland, said the parish minister. You met Him in the homes of the people. God seemed to be everywhere.

Or as another observer put it, The Lamb of God took the field and the forces of darkness were routed.

That was the beginning of the Arnol Awakening, the second wave of the mighty Hebrides Revival.

The Hebrides are an isolated reach of the British Isles; a cluster of treeless, rocky islands pounded by North Atlantic winds, separated from the west coast of Scotland by a fierce body of water called the Minch and populated by Gaelic-speaking Celts. The story of the revival only became known because evangelist Duncan Campbell told it all over the world.

In this book we let Duncan Campbell tell it again! This volume includes

Chapter 1 The Lewis Awakening , an account of the revival published in 1954.

Chapter 2 A collection of testimonies from converts of the Hebrides Revival, plus Campbells conversion testimony.

Chapter 3 Revival in the Hebrides , a 1968 sermon preached in the U.S., and in my opinion the most dynamic and inspiring of all Campbells revival narratives. Closing prayer by Leonard Ravenhill.

Chapter 4 DCs address to the clergy at Oxford, 1954.

Chapter 5 The Price and Power of Revival , sermon collection

Chapter 6 A review of the 1952 publication, When God Stepped Down From Heaven , by Owen Murphy, which so exasperated Duncan Campbell, but which remains in circulation today.

Chapter 7 DCs 1952 address to the Keswick Convention

This little anthology is arranged so as to give the reader a bright and inspiring vision of revival. Those unfamiliar with revival history will see that there is a level of Christian experience unknown to our generation; that we are merely paddling around the shore of an infinite ocean of Grace. And those who are praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit will understand the magnitude of what they are praying for!

Wayne Kraus

The Island of Lewis has been the scene of a very gracious movement of the Spirit. The breath of revival has been felt, and communities have been conscious of the mighty impact of God. The Island had, in past days, experienced seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, but of late years the stream of vital Christianity appeared to be running low. This view was shared by the Free Church Presbytery of Lewis who, in the following declaration, publicly expressed their deep concern:

The Presbytery of Lewis having taken into consideration the low state of vital religion within their own bounds, and throughout the land generally, call upon their faithful people in all their congregations to take a serious view of the present dispensation of Divine displeasure manifested, not only in the chaotic conditions of international politics and domestic economics and morality, but also, and especially, in the lack of spiritual power from Gospel Ordinances, and to realize that these things plainly indicate that the Most High has a controversy with the Nation. They note especially the growing carelessness toward Sabbath observance and public worship, the light regard of solemn vows and obligations so that the sacraments of the Church especially that of baptism tend to become in too many cases an offence to God rather than a means of grace to the recipients, and the spreading abroad of the spirit of pleasure which has taken such a hold of the younger generation that all regard for anything higher appears with very few exceptions to have been utterly dismissed from their thoughts.

The Presbytery affectionately plead with their people especially the youth of the Church to take these matters to heart and to make serious inquiry as to what must be the end should there be no repentance; and they call upon every individual as before God to examine his or her life in light of that responsibility which pertains to us all, that haply, in the Divine mercy, we may be visited with the spirit of repentance and may turn again unto the Lord whom we have so grieved with our iniquities and waywardness. Especially would they warn their young people of the Devils man-traps the cinema and the public-house.

The foregoing is an extract from a Free Church Presbyterial declaration, as published in the Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advisor (December 9th, 1949)

The decline referred to in this declaration began to show itself in a growing disregard for the things of God; indeed the blighting influence of the spirit of the age, with its deadening effect, had wrought so effectively that in certain parishes very few young people attended public worship: the dance, the picture show and the drinking house were institutions which could now thrive in Lewis, on the generous support given by their willing devotees.

True, Lewis has its traditions. The time-honoured practice of family worship is still observed in most homes. The great doctrines of the Christian faith, such as the total depravity of man, justification by faith on the ground of Christs atonement, regeneration by the Spirit, and the sovereignty of God in the affairs of men are central in the theology of Lewis. But then it is possible to have a name to live and yet be dead, and has not experience demonstrated again and again that man can be orthodox in sentiment and loose in practice? Correct views of scripture do not constitute righteousness.

What effect the foregoing declaration had on the Christian Church in Lewis is beyond the knowledge of the writer, but certain it is that most would regard its publication as timely, and its contents a true representation of the situation.