God Indwelling Us - Duncan Campbell — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith, and powerful sermons from modern preachers too.

This week we have Duncan Campbell with his message, God Indwelling Us.

God's Presence in the Tabernacle

Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Those of you who were present during the giving of my first talk on the tabernacle will remember that we consider the time of its setting up on the first day of the first month set up the tabernacle, suggesting, as we saw, that the Christian life is made up of new beginnings, the word of the Lord coming the second time, yes, and the third and the fourth time, so that today's surprises in the realm of grace makes yesterday's experience but a commonplace.

Now this morning we are going to consider the purpose for its setting up, and you have that stated in the words that I've just read, that I may dwell among them. This surely is one of the most arresting, if not one of the most stupendous facts in the records of revealed truth, that God wills to dwell in the midst of his people, and that in the midst of his people his own dear presence can become the supreme reality in Christian experience.

The realization of the divine presence in the soul of man is, as I already stated, as great a verity as any other fact of human consciousness. God's presence right at the very center of my life. Indeed I would go as far as to say that the consciousness of this presence, the realization of God on its subjective side, is a power that stands against and drives back any attempt by modern thought to divert us from the true meaning of the word and the purposes of God for these lives of ours.

Oh, the depth of meaning you have in the words that I may dwell among them. Some little time ago I picked up a book written by Major Ian Thomas. In that the major asks a question. It's a startling one.

What difference would it make in your life if word came this morning that God was dead? Startling question. I want to repeat it. What difference, young people, what difference would it make in your life if word came to the Prairie Bible Institute this morning that God is dead if his presence is real, if God is a supreme reality at the very center of your life, if the consciousness of Jesus is something wonderful and real at the very heart of your experience, the very bottom would drop out of your existence if that news came.

Life would not be worth living. That is, if God is a If God is in the midst speaking, revealing himself, and giving purpose and direction to your life. But if that is not the case, it would make no difference whatsoever.

Oh, it's true that you would still adhere to the ethical interests of human life. You would endeavor to be good, purpose and full intention, live for the good of the community. My dear friend, you can do that without God.

Communists can do that. Oh, tell me the presence of God, the nearness of Jesus, the realization of this supernatural reality that cannot be explained on the basis of the human. Is that real? Let me tell you a story from the Jewish revival.

Conviction of Sin and the Reality of Forgiveness

You must pardon me for referring so often to this gracious moment, but it's so near and so dear to my heart that I cannot help it. It was my privilege to visit this island when God was moving in revival blessing.

And it was my joy to stay in the same house that the two pilgrims of the faith mission stayed, who were God's instrument in this mighty movement. They were staying in the house of a farmer, a bachelor, a God-fearing man, but not a Christian.

God began to work in his heart. The Spirit of God brought deep conviction to him. Night after night, after we retired to rest, we would hear the farmer in the farm kitchen crying to God for mercy. Again and again I heard him plead the promises of God.

Let the wicked forsake his way, he would say. God, that's my desire. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord. And then he would say, God, as far as I know my own heart, I'm turning to thee.

I'm forsaking the ways of sin and I'm turning to thee. Oh, won't you have mercy upon my soul? And this went on for about a week, for about a week, every night. And during the day he would go aside to the barn and you would hear him crying to God for mercy, until one morning, three o 'clock in the morning, we heard a different prayer.

It was one of rejoicing. It was one of praise. And this is what he kept saying, Oh, my blessed Redeemer, how did I not recognize you before, because I knew you were near me? How did I not recognize you before?

I knew you were near me. Why do I tell you that story? To indicate and illustrate what I mean by God becoming real. The invasion of the heavenly into the earthly. God speaking the word as well as through the written word, thy sins are forgiven.

Surely that is the thought uppermost in this passage of scripture, that I may dwell among you. Now may I ask this question, and I ask it especially with reference to the young people. Tell me, young folks, is God real to you?

Oh yes, you see, I believe that I am a Christian. Someone said to me yesterday, I believe that I was a Christian, but I have serious doubts now. Just yesterday. I have serious doubts now. There can be no doubt when the reality of the divine presence grips the soul in whom I have believed.

And I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him. Oh, is he real to you? Bible student, is he real to you? Thinking of missionary work in the foreign field, is he real to you?

And so real that he has given and direction and a sense of call and vocation. Tell me, friend, is God real? That I may dwell among them. Do we not find him walking in the garden in the cool of the day?

Was that not his original purpose, that he might walk with his creation and talk to his creation? I say that was, that was his original purpose. But sin entered, and the garden became a wilderness. But thank God, Calvary has changed the wilderness into a garden, and God comes again.

And he comes into his garden, the garden of your life and the garden of your heart. Listen to what Paul has to say about the change that Calvary has brought about, among whom we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desire of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Grace, Faith, and Christ's Indwelling Presence

O how thankful I am for that word, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, the gift of God is God himself.

Jesus manifesting himself and walking freely through and along the avenues of my personality, and he becoming the supreme reality in the midst of my life. Let me pause again and ask the question, is that your God?

Do you know God in that manner? Do you know Jesus in that fashion? If he today, the most wonderful person in all your acquaintance, he ought to be, he ought to be, and certainly is, if he is your Savior.

Oh, but is he your Savior? I already stated from this platform that today we have a Christianity made easy. Ask an accommodation to an age that is unwilling to face reality. Ask an accommodation to an age unwilling to face the implications of Calvary.

Ask an accommodation to an age that hath eliminated the supernatural from Christian experience, but you cannot do that. Let me say it again, a Christian is a supernatural being, so supernaturally altered that godliness will characterize every part of his being, body, soul, and spirit the moment he is born again.

Now I know that that is not the common approach. I was listening to an evangelist give instruction to counselors who were to counsel young converts. It was in Glasgow a few years ago, and in his advice to the counselors, he said this, never say to a young convert, now you must give up dancing, never say to a young convert, you must give up the theater.

Never say to a young convert, you must give up, and I would go as far as to say, don't say to the man given to drink, don't give up drinking. Just say to him, accept Christ, and all that will drop off.

I say men and women, no more damnable advice was ever forged on the anvils of hell than that. According to the word of God, come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and what then?

I will receive you. But I'm not prepared to receive you until that work of separation in your heart. I'm convinced of this, men and women, if this truth was proclaimed as it ought to be proclaimed, our crusades and missions would not be producing harvests of infidels.

It's a supernatural being who has had a supernatural experience. God has come in, and God is supernatural. Oh, let's think of it, dear people. Here it is, that I, that I may dwell among them. I think it was one of your own great preachers who passed to his reward recently.

I refer to Dr. Tozer, who said this, when God is remote, religion becomes unreal. And possibly that is the reason why you are gripped today by a consciousness that you are still unreal in this field. Why?

Because God's remote. God's remote. He's the God of heaven. He's the God of the universe, of the church. Brother, my sister, is he your God? Is he your God? Have you a personal acquaintance with him? That's regeneration.

That's regeneration. I sometimes put it this way, salvation, sanctification, holiness, in a sense, is not your responsibility, but it is your response to Christ's ability. There's a difference. My dear people, it's all vested in Jesus.

That is why I ask, do you know him? Do you know him? Or are you still living under a self-created delusion that has its origin in hell? You remember that New Testament story? They, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, Joseph and Mary, supposing him to have been in the company.

Joseph and Mary went a day's journey, but he wasn't in the company. He wasn't in the company. They were moving under a self-created delusion. And I also find that truth clearly written across the records of the virgins.

The Wise and Foolish Virgins: Reality Versus Counterfeit Faith

You remember that there came an hour when they discovered that the lamps were going out. Now I know that there are some students of scripture who read prophecy into this parable. Well, I'm a student of the New Testament and have been for years, and I want to say that I do not see any trace of prophecy in the parable of the virgins.

I believe that that parable was given by Christ to demonstrate how near the counterfeit can come to the real. How near the counterfeit. My, if they were living in Canada today, they would move heaven and earth to be at this conference, the foolish virgins.

They would indeed rest in the garb of the virgin. With lamps that were lit. Don't forget that. All the lamps were lit. You cannot have conviction of sin. You cannot have aspirations after God, apart from the operation of the Holy Spirit.

But there are men and women in hell today who were under the power of the Holy Spirit in conviction, but never repented. Yes, their lamps were lit, and they are waiting. Oh, the wonder of it. The deception of it.

Oh, here you are by the strategy of hell. Anticipation, the coming of the bridegroom. The end of the parable. Read the end of the story and listen to the master say, Oh, you know, but they were in the company of the wise.

They were waiting with joyful anticipation. His coming for young people. I beg of you today to search your heart. Some straight questions. Substituted decision for Christ. Have I substituted a desire to be among others in a Bible college for the realization of God in my personality?

Oh, let's ask God from being deceived by an angel from hell. Satan comes again as an angel of light. Let me again quote from Towson. At the heart of the Christian message is God himself, waiting for his redeemed children to push into, now listen, into a conscious awareness of his presence.

A conscious awareness. Do you know it? Oh, do you know it? Listen, dear people. If that was not real to me, I certainly would not be here today. I can say in the presence of God, the supreme reality in my life is not that lovely home that I have in Scotland or that lovely wife and lovely family that I have there.

Dear and precious and wonderful as they are. To me, the supreme reality is just Jesus. It's just Jesus. As I walk with him and as I talk with him. Oh, tell me, is there an awareness of God in your life?

Listen again to Towson. That type of Christianity that is in vogue today knows his presence only in theory. It fails to stress the privilege of present realization. According to its teaching, we are in the presence of God positionally.

And nothing is said about the need to experience the presence of God actually. No wonder, he adds, we are today snared in the coils of a strange and spurious logic. God save us. God save the young people of Canada from being snared in the snare of a snake.

Knowing God Rather Than Religious Formalism

A strange and spurious logic. There is a very arresting passage in Hosea chapter 6. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And the knowledge of God. That's it. That's it. And the knowledge of God. More than burnt offering.

We give our burnt offering. Oh, we do. But heaven cries and cries aloud. The knowledge of God before burnt offering. Paul has another arresting word. You remember how he speaks of the body as being the temple of the Holy Ghost.

He does not speak of the soul as being the temple. Now that's interesting. He speaks of the body being the honored instrument. I remember hearing one of our Scottish preachers addressing one of our large conventions say this.

Don't keep God in the soul. Let him out on a dying world through your body. The temple. The temple of the Holy Ghost. God's residence here upon the earth. Oh, tell me. Is God letting himself loose through your body?

That I may dwell among you. I may dwell among you. Was that not the thought in the mind of the apostle? When he spoke of bearing about in my body. Oh, get it again. Young people. Your body. Bearing about in my body.

The dying of Jesus. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest through my soul, but through my body. Oh, the wonder of, I sometimes speak of God moving in the farmyard in Dongaree. Ever thought of it?

Ever thought of it? The body is clothed very often in Dongaree. God manifesting himself through the body. And that is why Paul, in his letter to the Romans, cries and cries aloud. Yield yourselves unto God and your members, your members.

Wonderful. That God can express himself. Of my redeemed body. But is it? Oh, is it rotten, expressing himself of that redeemed body? Let's face the question. Let me quote it again. Yield yourselves unto God and your members as instruments of righteousness.

Total Consecration and the Yielding of Every Member

You will notice that he makes a difference between the yielding of ourselves and the yielding of our members. You recall that when Elijah was on Carmel and offered sacrifice in the presence of the prophets of Baal, we read, he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces.

He put the wood in order. And then he went to. First of all, there was the surrender of the whole bullock. But before the fire fell and consumed the offering, there was the dividing of the bullock in pieces.

And piece after piece was placed on the altar. Until the last piece was there, did the fire of God fall to consume the offering. May I pause here and ask this question? Has God handled every piece in your life?

Oh, you may have made what you thought to have been a complete offering of yourself. But oh, so often our very consecrations are mingled with the destructive element of self-preservation. And the last piece is held back.

But surely, surely in this service today and at this convention, there will be those, I believe there are those, who are saying, God, I want you to come down. I want you to possess my whole being. Oh, do the cutting, if you will.

But all that I ask is that you handle and that I ask you to handle the last piece. Is he going to do it, friend? Is he going to do it? Oh, let us remember that the yielding of ourselves includes the separate analysis and offering of our members.

It is only as we are thus yielded to God that the tabernacle becomes what it was intended to be. A place for God to dwell in. A place for God to move in and move through on a dying and half-damned world.

My dear people, let's face it. We are talking about revival. We shall be thinking about it this evening. And I believe that many of us recognize that a God-sent revival is the only answer to the problem that confronts the Church and the nations today.

But my dear people, what are we doing about it? Carmel, when the last piece was handled, to this institute with all my heart, are you in your seat now, saved? God, handle the last piece. You remember Peter repairing to the man thus yielded?

Showing Forth God's Praises Through a Holy Life

Speaks of him as chosen to show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his own marvelous light. Chosen to show forth the praises of him. That's what you're called to do. That's what you're called to be.

I'm not talking of sanctification yet. Ask a saved person. Now, in the Amplified New Testament, it says, display the virtues and the perfections of him who called you. The Standard Dictionary gives the meaning of virtue as manly excellence.

Manly excellence. Now, of such a character was Barnabas of New Testament story. The word of God states that he was a good man. And as the photograph is examined, his body photograph, his mind, his spirit, his soul, part of his redeemed, God says to the angel, oh, there's a good man.

Every part of his being good. Every member of his body good. You remember what God said? He's full of faith and he's full of the Holy Ghost. And of course, if a man is full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost, he can't be full of anything else.

The word of God is so clear in the doctrine of sanctification and holiness. And God says he's full of the Holy Ghost. Every avenue in that redeemed life was under the control of a holy God. Now, may I ask a question?

Supposing it were possible for me to get the ear of Gabriel this morning. Supposing it was possible. And that I said to Gabriel, Gabriel, I want you to come down to the Prairie Institute and I want you to take a photograph of every person.

This convention, the labor, the visitors and the preacher. God, I want you to come. I want you, Gabriel, to take a photograph. And Gabriel is willing to oblige. And he comes down to the Prairie Institute.

And he takes a photograph of every heart and of every life. And then he suggests that the photographs be sold for half a dollar at the close of the service. Would you be happy about that? My dear people, let's face it.

Would you be happy for your neighbor, your wife, your husband, your children to see that photograph? It's a true one. Heaven has taken it. Every member, every member cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. A good man full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost.

Oh, tell me, would you be happy about the photograph? Let me go on a little further. Maltese is instructed to do all according to the pattern. And here are his instructions. Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold and do that within and without.

Inward Purity and Outward Righteousness

What? That in the tabernacle that represented God, the Ark of the Covenant. Overlay it with pure gold within and without. Now that to me is profoundly suggestive. It speaks to me of inward purity and of outward righteousness.

Inward purity. Now here I would say, in order to make myself clear, is it possible to relate truth to duty and revelation to experience? Is it possible? If it is, then this pure life that God speaks about, that David prayed for, that Christ referred to when he said, blessed are the pure in God, because God is there to be saved.

Oh, that's what I'm getting at. That's what I'm getting at. Purity depends upon character. Here it is. If not, if a pure heart is not possible, then I say we are living in a period for which Scripture has no relevance whatsoever.

We have no message to proclaim to a baffled and defeated young man or young woman in the snare of evil. But thank God I believe in heart purity. Listen to what Wesley wrote. "'Twas most impossible of all that here sin's reign in me should cease.

Yet shall it be. I know it shall. Jesus, look to thy faithfulness.'". What words? He's challenging Jesus to do what he promised to do to thy faithfulness. "'If nothing is too hard for thee, all things are possible to me.'.

And this blessed be God is one of the possible things. Blessed are the pure in heart. They," I'm quoting from the Gaelic, "'they see God,' as already stated, because God is there to be seen in the midst of purity.".

Overlay it with gold. Do take a verse like 2 Corinthians 7 and 1. "'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.'".

Is it possible? Can it be done? People, is God foolish? Sometimes, no. But he tells me that this can happen. Oh, my dear people, if you wish to honor God, if you wish to honor God, give Him full credit for the excellency of His work.

He provided a Savior that can save us. John George Govan, the founder of our mission, wrote one hymn, but it lives today. Here is the verse from it. "'Aye, from every sin you part, and let Christ have all your heart.

You need fear no fiery dark while you trust Him. For while Jesus reigns within, the Lordship of Christ, while Jesus reigns within, you are proof against all sin.'". Is that scriptural teaching? Is that scriptural teaching?

"'Proof against all sin, and His perfect peace you'll win.'". Hallelujah. Now, in passing, let me say this, that heart purity, or purity of heart, is not maturity of Christian experience. There are no limits whatsoever to our attainment in the divine life.

We can press upward, we can press onward in our approach to God. It is not finality or maturity. Did you notice the two words in that passage that I read? Perfectly. Now, I believe that cleansing is the crisis, the gift of purity.

Perfecting speaks of the gradual maturity in Christian experience. I sometimes put it this way. Purity has to do with the heart. Perfecting has to do with the mind. Now, let me illustrate. Some years ago, when that gracious movement was sweeping the inner Hebrides, the island of Tyrethe came into the grips of God.

And, of course, I loved to be in the midst of revival, and I couldn't stick in my office in Edinburgh. So I took wings to the island to spend some time with the two pilgrims that were in the midst of such a glorious movement.

One night, God was moving mightily. Oh, so mightily that we just couldn't get the people away from the church. Pronounced the benediction, they went out, but back they would come again. Oh, give us more, give us more, give us more.

Well, the meetings went on until after midnight. It was a cold, cold night in January. Snow on the ground and frost piercing. On arriving home to the house where we were lodging, on entering the kitchen, the farm kitchen, we found the old granny sitting by the fire.

The others were at the meeting. Granny's at home. She has a huge fire on, and a table loaded with good things. But in front of the fire, two pairs of bedroom slippers. They were there to be warmed for the two lassies that were being so wonderfully used by God.

And I see one of them go over to the fire to her own pair of slippers, and she lifts them to discover that the soul of one was burned. Burned. Now I'm positive that it was the purest of love that moved old granny to put the slippers at the fire.

But dear old granny had to learn that if you put slippers too near a fire, they'll be burned. And that is what I say with reference to heart purity. Purity of gift. Perfecting the operation of light in the mind.

You've been listening to the From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons series. This week you heard Duncan Campbell with his message, God Indwelling Us. Tune in next week for another powerful message from God's Word on From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.