In the book of Exodus, come with me
to chapter 17, and we shall read a
few verses from verse 5.
Exodus 17 and verse 5.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on
before the people, and take with thee of
the elders of Israel and thy rod, wherewith
thou smotest the river, take in thine hand,
and go.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon
the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite
the rock, and there shall come water out
of it, and that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of
the elders of Israel.
And he called the name of the place
Nazar and Meribah, because of the chiding of
the children of Israel, and because they tempted
the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us
or not?
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in
Rephidim.
And Moses said unto Joshua, Juice us out
men, and go fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of
the hill with the rod of God in
mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses said to him,
and fought with Amalek.
And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to
the top of the hill.
Amen.
God will add his blessing to the reading
of his word.
You will find the words of my text
in the portion which we read.
So come with me again to Exodus chapter
17 and to verse 7 and 9.
And he called the name of the place
Nazar and Meribah, because of the chiding of
the children of Israel, and because they tempted
the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us
or not?
And Moses said unto Joshua, Juice us out
men, and go out fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of
the hill with the rod of God in
my hand.
The burden that is on my heart this
evening is that of a message on God's
answer to the cry of unbelief.
Is the Lord among us or not?
That's unbelief.
And you have God's answer in the words.
I will stand on the top of the
hill with the rod of God.
That's the answer, brother.
The rod of God in my hand.
Thank God he hath an answer to unbelief.
My cry is that in this meeting tonight,
we will find the answer in getting the
rod of God into our hands.
Those of you who are familiar with this
part of Old Testament story will remember that
on the way to the promised land, Israel
had many encounters with the enemy.
And one of these was Amalek.
That suggests to me that the man who
is out to possess his possessions in God
will very soon discover that there is no
easy way to blessing.
I believe that the highest values in life
must be fought for and won.
But think of that other there.
They that know their God shall be strong
and do exploits.
Now, I believe, dear people, that we all
have to face our Amalek.
It may be in our own personal experience
during this meeting, during the first address given,
I'm fully persuaded that there are those here
to whom God spoke.
And you made this discovery that there is
an Amalek that you've got to face this
evening.
I believe that the nearer we get to
God, the more we shall discover about ourselves
of things that we never suspected before.
And I can well believe that such is
listening to me now.
I think you already must know that the
supreme strategy in war is to know your
enemy.
I'm an old soldier, had my baptism of
fire during the first world war.
And it was impressed upon us, try and
get to know as much as you can
about the enemy that you're facing.
Was it not the great apostle who said
we are not ignorant of his devices?
And I believe that his devices are in
operation here.
God is here, but brother, so is the
devil.
And the devil is here to frustrate the
purposes of God.
That's his business.
Oh, that's his business.
And thank God we are not ignorant of
his devices.
But I would say this, that blessing and
victory, and I'm believing for victory tonight, I
came to this meeting believing for victory.
But blessing will depend on how you react
to the enemy.
And to the cry of unbelief, perhaps, in
your own heart.
Now, here let me say this, that in
every engagement with the enemy, it is deeds
and not words or much activity that measures
the value of my life.
In other words, it's how you react to
the challenge that you face.
You can say yes to God, or you
can say no to him at this moment.
Indeed, there may be those who have come
to the meeting fully persuaded that they're not
going to be moved.
Well, may God have mercy on you.
But let me say this, brother, God has
a way of dealing with you.
And God will deal with you before he
allows you to drift to hell.
Oh, my dear people, God is jealous for
his cause and for his kingdom and for
the crowned rights of our glorious Redeemer.
He'll deal with you.
Oh, my dear friend, let's visit this evening.
And consider, how did Moses react to the
challenge?
He certainly faced it and reacted and faced
the challenge.
Amalek is there, a powerful enemy, but in
the name of my God, I challenge him.
And I'll meet him.
Notice how he faced the challenge.
First, by utilizing the human forces at his
disposal.
And addressing Joshua, he said, Joshua, juice us
out, men, and go fight with Amalek.
That was a first consideration, a first request
for the service of God upon the part
of man, therefore a character.
What I am, oh, brother, what I am
is far more eloquent and far more convincing
than anything I can say.
I was thinking this morning of words that
I read in a sermon delivered by Murray
M'Cheyne in St. Peter's in Dundee, Scotland.
In that address, he said this, What a
man is on his knees before God, that
he is, and nothing more.
That, to me, is a searching word.
What a man is on his knees, may
be very different to the man that stands
in the pulpit.
May be very different to the man who
may be a pastor, or a deacon, or
what have you.
But on his knees before God, he's an
honest man.
And he discovers, definitely discovers, what God has
to say about him.
And what God thinks of him, he remembers
that all is bare and open to the
eye of him with whom we have to
do.
What he is on his knees before God,
brother, that's just what you are, and you
are better fit.
And you are better acknowledged.
If I'm not true, oh, let me acknowledge
it.
If I'm hiding sin in my heart, as
I stand before the people, God, help me
to acknowledge it.
If I'm so different in the church to
what I am in the home, help me
to acknowledge it.
I was sitting in the Tent Hall in
Glasgow, that is a large evangelistic center in
the city.
It was on a Saturday evening, and a
team of young people were there as a
deputation from a Baptist church for the Saturday
meeting.
And during the period of their testimonies, one
young man waxed eloquent on his experience in
the realm of sanctification.
My, I tell you, he spoke well.
I'm talking about his speaking.
But right in front of me, there were
three young women, and I overheard one of
them saying to the other, Our joke has
evidently forgotten that I'm listening to him.
It was his wife.
Our John has evidently forgotten that I'm listening
to him.
And what he was saying in his testimony
did not correspond with his attitude and action
in the home before his wife.
My dear people, let me say it again,
at the risk of repetition.
What a man is on his knees before
God, that he is and nothing more.
I believe that the world expects something different
of us.
I believe that with all my heart.
I was conducting a mission some years ago
in a certain village in Argyllshire in Scotland.
There were some outstanding Christian men in this
village, and they were praying and believing for
revival.
And in the mercy of God, they saw
it.
They saw it.
Prayer was answered, and God swept into the
village.
And we were there for three months, right
in the midst of a moving of God.
But in that village there were two sisters,
children of very godly parents.
Oh, godly parents can have difficult children.
And here were two of them.
And they were so difficult that it was
impossible for us to visit the house because
of their attitude.
But one afternoon, one of the sisters met
an uncle of hers, a godly man.
And this dear man said to the sister,
Will you do the first thing I ask
you to do?
And replying, she said, Uncle, I know you
would never ask me to do an impossible
thing.
Yes, I will.
Well, will you come out with me this
evening to the meetings conducted by the pilgrims
of the faith mission?
Well, that was a blow.
But I believe that in a certain sense
she was an honourable girl.
And she said, I made a promise and
I will go.
And she came to the meeting.
It happened that on that night the address
was given by my fellow worker, an Irish
young man.
And he took out his text, God speaketh
once, yea, twice, but man perceiveth it not.
At the close of the meeting, of course,
again, let me say, we didn't make any
appeals.
But at the close of the meeting, that
young woman sat in her seat.
She was weeping bitterly.
And her uncle, along with myself, went down
to her.
And he spoke and asked the question, Is
there anything that we can do for you?
Why did you sit in when all the
others left?
And then, before answering his question, she asked
a question, Can you tell me how is
it that that young man is so different
from the average minister in the country today?
Why is he so different?
He has a concern for our souls.
And then she said this, And he has
transmitted that concern into my heart, and that's
why I'm sitting here.
He has transmitted that concern.
She saw the difference and she felt the
difference.
Let me say this.
If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you believe in the baptism of
the Holy Ghost, you ought to be God's
transmitter, transmitting concern into the souls of men.
When He has come, oh, get it, brother,
when He has come unto you, He will
convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and
of judgment.
May I ask, in a greater or in
a lesser degree, are you seeing that happening?
Oh, are you seeing it happening?
You talk about the baptism, you talk about
a second work of grace.
I was interested in what the doctor said
this evening.
It matters not what you call it if
you've got it.
And I said amen to that.
Oh, brother, tell me, are you a transmitter?
I already said that there ought to be
a difference.
Of course there ought to be a difference.
But is that difference in evidence in your
life, in your home?
I believe, dear people, that unbelief in our
midst is challenging the very existence of God.
And I believe that again and again this
question is asked.
Is God alive?
Is God among us?
I came across a question in a book
that I read by Major Ian Thomas, a
man that frequently comes to America, a man
that's doing a great work for God.
And in this book he asks a question.
And I acknowledge, when I read it, it
shook me.
This is the question.
What difference would it make in your life
if word came from heaven tonight that God
was dead?
What difference?
Now, my dear people, let's face it.
What difference if word came tonight to this
meeting that God had died?
What difference?
If God is real to you, if the
supreme reality in your Christian experience is the
presence and power of God, why, if such
an intimation was made and you could believe
it, the very foundation upon which you have
been building for time and for eternity would
be swept from beneath you.
But brother, if God is not thus real
to you, if the presence of Jesus is
not the supreme reality, if this difference is
not in operation, visible to yourself and visible
to others, my dear brother, it would make
no difference whatsoever.
You would be out at the camp meeting
tomorrow, singing your hymns and shouting your amen.
If God is not real to you, he
might as well be dead.
Now, dear people, that is to me a
searching question.
And I want you to face it.
I remember when I read it, I was
alone in a carriage, and I got down
on my knees and found myself asking the
question, O God, what difference would it make
in my life, in my soul, that I
could say, Thank God, my God is alive.
My God is alive, and I know it,
and I feel it.
O bless God for glorious feelings, glorious feelings.
The world cannot offer anything to compare to
it.
The peace of God that passes all understanding.
But we are living in a world that
is alienated from God, in a world that
is antagonistic to God.
That is the atmosphere that we move among,
so that we have the humanist, we have
the materialist, and we have the communist.
And you have men like Swayne Byrd, the
humanist, with his jeep near a jeep, the
pale Galilean.
The pale Galilean.
A man is master of his own faith.
The language of the humanist.
But my dear people, I am here tonight
to say, and I say it in the
name of God, Give us men.
O give us men.
Chosen men, as recorded here.
And God will demonstrate that his Jesus is
no pale Galilean.
O there is no pale Galilean, I am
sure.
That must have been the thought in the
mind of the poet when he penned the
words, Give me men to match my mountains.
Give me men to match my plains.
Men with eras in their vision.
Men with empires in their brains.
Give me men to pray for nations like
Elijah on his knees, Who in hour of
dark silence waits to catch the heavenly breeze.
Give me men of faith and vision, Stripped
of every earthly gaze, Till across our parched
valleys, Dark will roll God's showers of rain.
O give us, I say again, Give us
such men.
Men of whom it can be said, They
know God and they see exploits.
I heard a preacher say at our convention
in Ireland, the preacher was Dr. Paul Rees.
And Paul Rees made this statement, You can
count upon God when God can count upon
you.
Now to me that was a great statement.
When God can count upon me, I can
count upon him.
And in that connection, I sometimes use the
illustration of the good Samaritan.
You remember, he found the man half dead
by the roadside and brought him to the
inn and left him in the care of
the host.
But you will recall that just before leaving,
he said to the host, If you spend
more, after giving him two pence, If you
spend more, I will repay you, suggesting that
when he returned, he would repay him.
Now to me that good Samaritan is just
saying, Do what you can for the poor
man.
Get him on his feet.
Do all that is within your power for
him.
And you can count upon me.
O my friend, tell me, Are we tonight
in the place where God can count on
us?
For the mission field.
Oh, much was said this evening about the
offering.
About the offering and the need.
I wonder if God, gazing down, hath already
recognized that here are a people that he
can count on.
That he can count on.
O brother, tell me, Are you behind God
in the effort?
Are you behind God thinking of the mission
field?
Oh, the mission field.
The thousands perishing in darkness.
Missionaries going forth.
Sacrificing in order to go.
Tell me, O tell me, brother, Is God
conscious of the fact that you are behind
him?
That you are behind him.
I thank God for men in this country
that are standing true for God.
And I thank God for the men that
I have met since coming to this camp.
What may I ask again?
Are you behind them?
During the First World War, I found myself
to begin with in a frightful engagement.
A soldier of the Highland Brigade before I
was transferred to the cavalry.
And I was in that fearful engagement, the
taking of Passchendaele Ridge.
In the midst of that awful engagement, I
saw on my right a younger 42nd Highlander.
He was wounded in the arm.
He is tearing the tail of his shirt
and trying to bandage the wound.
But right in front of us, a young
man lay wounded.
In fact, I thought he was dead.
But then I saw a movement.
A hand was lifted as though beckoning for
help or asking someone to give him a
drink of water.
And I heard that 42nd Highlander on my
right in that shell hole.
And I heard him say, I'm sure that's
Joke or that's John.
I'm sure that's John.
Evidently a companion of his, a comrade.
And then there was another movement from the
man lying in no man's land.
And I saw that 42nd Highlander spring to
his feet, his wounded arm lying beside him.
As he cried, Yes, it's our Joffrey Blair
Gowrie and I'll save him or die in
the attempt.
My dear people, how often I've thought of
that.
All for that spirit.
I'll save him or die in the attempt.
My dear people, around us today there's bruised,
bleeding and broken humanity drifting to hell.
But how many of us have the spirit
of that 42nd Highlander?
Spiritually?
Oh, how many of us have his spirit?
I'll save him.
I'll save him though I die in the
attempt.
And rather spiritually it may mean just that.
We sometimes say in Scotland, and you may
be saying it also here, that in the
spiritual life we die to live.
But in the natural life we live to
die.
And there is a profound truth in that.
In the spiritual life we die to live.
But oh, how few of us are prepared
for that.
Ah, but here were chosen men.
Here were men that could be defended on.
Men of character.
Men of integrity.
Go among the soldiers.
Go among the crowd and choose out such
men.
And I believe that God is here this
evening to do just that.
He's going to touch you.
Oh, he's going to touch you.
And he's going to call you.
And he's going to put steel into your
Christian character.
That will stand.
Dare to be a Daniel.
Dare to stand alone.
Dare to have a purpose firm.
And dare to make it known.
Men of character.
Chosen men.
Men that God can depend on.
But you will notice that in the second
place, after his choice of men, he makes
it crystal clear that good as they were,
he needed divine assistance.
For you hear him saying, I will stand
on the top of the hill, but I
will stand with the rod of God in
my hand.
Now to me, the rod of God speaks
of the supernatural.
And oh, how we need that today.
It speaks to me of heaven's anointing.
God in the midst.
And God demonstrating his power.
But to me it is of interest that
he says, I will stand on the top
of the hill.
And the top of the hill suggests to
me the place of vision.
The place of vision.
Do we not read, for lack of vision
the people perish.
Oh, my dear people, are we men, women
of vision this evening?
Are we on the top of the hill,
above the maddening crowd, above the world and
its ways, in the place of vision?
You remember that before Ezekiel saw the move
of God in the valley, it is said
that the heavens opened and he had visions
of God.
And you remember that it was then that
the word of the Lord came expressly to
him.
In other words, he had a direct communication
from heaven.
Oh, my dear people, are we men, women
of vision this evening?
Are we on the top of the hill,
above the maddening crowd, above the world and
its ways, in the place of vision?
You remember that before Ezekiel saw the move
of God in the valley, it is said
that the heavens opened and he had visions
of God.
And you remember that it was then that
the word of the Lord came expressly to
him.
In other words, he had a direct communication
from heaven.
A Scottish poet made this statement.
A correspondence fixed with heaven is sure a
noble anchor.
I want to ask how many of us
here can truthfully and honestly say, I have
a correspondence fixed with heaven.
That suggests to me a consciousness of God.
Oh, I am on the hill with him.
I am in fellowship with him.
And I have a consciousness.
I am not sure whether I told you
already of what that dear old woman through
whom the revival came to Louis.
Remember, brother, that he didn't come through my
going.
Oh, how it has grieved my heart, crushed
my heart, to hear people talk about the
man that brought revival to Louis.
My dear people, I did not bring revival
to Louis.
No more than I can bring revival to
any place.
I don't carry revival in my pocket.
Oh, no.
But the secret of the coming of that
gracious move of the Spirit of God lay
in the fact that an old woman had
a consciousness of God that created within her
heart a confidence.
Have you got that?
A consciousness that created a confidence.
In other words, she is just saying and
said it to me, a God who could
become so real to me why that God
could do anything.
That God could do anything.
And it was that night that God gave
her the vision that led to that mighty
move of the Spirit of God within a
matter of days.
Ten days after the vision, tarrying, waiting, pleading,
and then the fire fell.
And oh, what a demonstration.
You remember the report brought by the spies?
Moreover, we saw the children of Anak.
Walled cities, very high.
Oh, we saw the giants.
There you have the language of unbelief that
Caleb was there.
And Caleb stilled the people, kept them quiet.
And then he spoke.
Oh, then he spoke.
Let us go up and possess it.
The confidence of implicit faith in God.
We are well able.
Have you ever thought of that?
Oh, the conviction and the confidence.
Our God is able and He will.
That is God.
That is the language of faith.
That is the word of implicit confidence.
Giants, yes.
But oh, what confidence you have in the
words.
Their defenses hath departed from them.
We are well able.
Oh, I would to God that faith would
spring up this evening and cry aloud to
demons and devils, Our God is able and
He will.
The crying need of America is revival.
Oh, there are walled cities and there are
giants that are out to defy the very
existence of God.
But our God is alive and our God
is able and He will.
Ah, but Moses was on the top of
the hill.
Moses was in the place of vision.
He saw what was happening.
And so long as his hands, his arms
were lifted, he saw Amalek defeated and his
chosen man victorious.
What a picture.
But notice this, that he had in his
hand a rod.
A rod suggesting the supernatural.
I wonder how many of us believe that
as Christians we are committed to a belief
in the priority of the supernatural.
Do you believe that?
Of ourselves we can do nothing.
At our best we are but unprofitable servants.
But our God is able and Moses is
standing there with the rod of God in
his hand.
Now let me say again that I believe
the rod speaks of Heaven's anointing.
Heaven's anointing.
You remember that John tells us that we
have an anointing.
We have received it from Him.
Now what have you here in this anointing?
What have we in that suggested by the
rod?
I would say that we have first of
all authority and invincible power.
Authority.
Oh, for men with authority.
Oh, for prophets.
I tell you, dear people, we need prophets
today who will speak with authority such as
was demonstrated on the day of Pentecost when
we read they were pricked in their hearts.
My dear people, we need that word of
authority that has at its center the power
of God.
Tell me, is that the longing of your
heart this evening?
But remember this, that with His chosen men
and with the vision from the top of
the hill and the rod of God in
His hand He saw the enemy defeated.
Oh, He saw the enemy defeated.
Listen, I will put out the remembrance of
Amulet forever.
My dear people, when God works, He does
a thorough work.
Oh, He does a thorough work.
I wonder who this evening will face the
challenge of self to the spirit.
The challenge of self because the self-life
is in operation in your heart at this
very moment.
And the self in you is challenging God
and challenging revival.
How are you going to react to the
challenge?
Oh, let me say this, when sin exerts
itself and you know its power, when by
its power you are held in bondage, when
self-loathing and misery are symptoms of its
deadliness, surely your need and mind is that
represented by the rod, the mighty power of
God the Holy Ghost in me, possessing me,
controlling me and manifesting Jesus through me.
Oh, my dear people, that is the answer
to unbelief.
That is the answer this evening.
But I would say this in closing, that
if you are going tonight to get the
rod of God into your hands, or as
my dear brother was stressing in the first
address, if you are going to know the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, that is the
answer, brother.
Oh, that is the answer.
But remember, the hand that holds the rod
must be a clean hand.
Oh, let me stress it.
Who shall ascend the hill of God?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands.
Oh, Moses was on the hill in God's
holy place.
He that hath clean hands and a pure
heart.
I am glad that God in his mercy
led me into the secret of purity.
Into the secret of purity.
My dear people, oh, let me say this,
perhaps at the risk of being misunderstood.
I haven't given my testimony here and I'm
not led to do it, but God gave
me the blessing of a clean heart when
I was wounded in a cavalry charge.
I'm lying beside my dead horse.
I'm severely injured in my spine.
The horse rolled over me and I'm wounded.
But there, God spoke to me about holiness.
About holiness.
I felt so unworthy.
I at that moment felt that I was
moving toward death.
I couldn't see any hope because the blood
was flowing freely from me apart from my
injury of the spine.
And I felt so unfit.
Oh, I knew I was born again.
I could never doubt the work that God
did in my heart that night in the
barn at home.
But I'm now lifted by a Canadian trooper
from that awful bloody battlefield.
And I'm thrown across the horse's back and
he's galloping to the nearest casualty-clearing station
when I remembered the prayer of MacTree.
God, make me as holy as a saved
sinner can be.
And the miracle took place in less time
than I paid to tell it.
God swept into my life.
No one need ever tell me that there
isn't such an experience as a second work
of grace.
A second work of grace.
Call it what you will.
It matters not what you call it.
It's the experience.
But I'm here to say and God is
listening to me.
At that moment, I felt as pure as
an angel.
My language was gaily.
And I'm now in the midst of a
crowd of wounded and dying Canadians.
And I began to quote Psalm 103.
Oh, you may have read the testimony in
some magazine because it has been published abroad.
I began to praise God.
Oh, thou my soul.
I couldn't sing, of course, but I just
kept repeating it.
Oh, thou my soul.
Bless God the Lord and all that in
me is.
Be stirred up his holy name to magnify
and bless.
But there wasn't a man there that could
understand a word of what I was saying.
But in a matter of minutes, the power
of God fell upon the casualty clearing station.
And in less than an hour, seven Canadians
were soundly born again and bearing testimony to
them that God had swept into their life.
He that hath clean hands and a pure
heart, who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive
not our blessing.
Oh, my dear people.
I'm tired listening to people talking about going
to the conference for our blessing.
You've come to this conference seeking our blessing.
Brother, seek thee blessing.
He shall receive the blessing of the Lord.
And that was what happened.
It was the blessing of the Lord.
I'm sure that if we were in certain
quarters today, they would be saying Campbell was
speaking in tongues.
Well, I wasn't.
I was just talking to the Lord in
my own Gaelic language.
I'm so thankful that God understands Gaelic.
My dear people, we have a wonderful God.
But the miracle happened.
And brother, you're anxious to see the miracle.
Oh, you're anxious to see the miracle of
revival.
It will depend on whether you are in
a position that can hold the rod of
God.
A clean hand.
Oh, a clean hand.
But also an empty hand.
Oh, tell me, brother, are you empty?
I read of one New Testament story who
was full of the Holy Ghost and full
of faith.
Isn't that remarkable?
That God could say, here is a man
and he's full of the Holy Ghost and
he's full of faith.
But God said of him, he's a good
man.
And also God said to me, he's a
good man.
But this is my point.
If he was full of faith and if
he was full of the Holy Ghost, he
couldn't hold anything else in his hand.
He couldn't have anything else in his hand.
Every corner full because God said it.
My dear people, may I ask, are your
hands empty?
And last of all, it must be an
outstretched hand.
Nothing in my hand I bring.
Simply to thy cross I cling.
Oh, may God get us there.
Now, brother, listen, I'm not making any appeal,
not making any appeal.
It's between you and God.
And oh, how I long to see what
one has seen again and again.
People leaving a meeting and going quietly and
silently to wait upon God.
To wait upon God.
My soul waits now only upon God.
For my expectation is from Him.
And if you tonight seek Him with all
your heart, you will find Him.
This is the confidence that we have in
Him.
That if we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us.
And if we know that He hears us,
we know that we have the petition that
we desire of Him.
But brother, to get there, your hands empty.