April 25, 2012
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God's greatest gift to any generation
From Andrew A. Woolsey's "Channel of Revival: A Biography of Duncan Campbell," (The Faith Mission: Edinburgh, 1974, reprinted 1982), 64-65:
God's greatest gift to any generation is not a major breakthrough in science of technology which makes life more easy; it is a man with the voice of eternity within calling his fellow-men from paths of selfishness to find satisfaction in God. When Robert Leighton was accused by his ministerial colleagues of not speaking sufficiently to the political and social issues of his day he calmly replied: 'Gentlemen, when so many are speaking to the times, permit one poor brother to speak for eternity.'Duncan Campbell was a spokesman for eternity, 'We are the ambassadors of eternity in the courts of time, and it is our business to permeate the courts of time with the atmosphere of eternity,' he quoted.¹
On the doorstep, the street corner, or in the church he used plainness of speech to remove false hopes and show the terrible consequences of sin before pointing men and women to the Saviour. Triflers with truth were silenced unsparingly. A rather self-righteous woman told him she didn't need him to preach to her––she had been through the Bible herself! 'Perhaps so, madam,' he quietly replied, 'but have you allowed the Bible to go through you?' At an open-air meeting in Ballachulish an arrogant young fellow began to mock. Quick as a flash, Duncan turned and rebuked him with solemn effect: 'Young man, your head won't be so high, and your speech won't be so bold when the waves of death are lapping the shores of your body.'
Proverbs 19:23The fear of the LORD leads to life,
and whoever has it rests satisfied;
he will not be visited by harm.The fear of the LORD tendeth to life:
and he that hath it shall abide satisfied;
he shall not be visited with evil.
(KJV)
Psalm 65
1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hears prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!II Corinthians 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
¹These words of Campbell are similar to those of Robert Ellis from chapter 1, "The Welsh Pulpit and Revival" in "Living Echoes of the Welsh Revival, 1904-05": "The preacher is the ambassador of Eternity in the court of Time. In the court but not of it. His authority is eternity, his headquarters the realm of the eternal verities. His only concern is to permeate the court of time with the atmosphere of the eternal."For more about Duncan Campbell, please read this Brief Biography of Duncan Campbell.
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Are You Working on the Wall? (redemption, spiritual gifts, the glory of God, joy & holy ambition)Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Emphasis mine.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Photo credit: "The first page from the 9th edition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1785)." Source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westerminster_catechism_first_page.jpg>. Author: Alekjds. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 License.
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Comments (3)
Good Afternoon, Karen. Thanks for this post reminding us that eternity is far more important than our brief time here.
frank
Amen to the good and godly thoughts!
@ANVRSADDAY - Hi Frank. We all need that reminder constantly. Not that we shouldn't be engaged in this world (for we are called to be lights shining in a dark world) – but as we live in this world, we must always have an eye to the eternal realities.
@cerwindoris - Thanks! I love Christian biography, and besides the Bible, that's one of God's blessed means to get us back once again to those good and godly thoughts!