Duncan Campbell - He that hath Clean Hands and a Pure Heart
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Sean Michael Morris·Oct 20, 2013·Updated Sep 3, 2026
"A very remarkable thing happened…", Duncan reports.
While kneeling in straw among the barn of a farm house, "The Young Man" arose and read
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD"
— Psalm 24:3-5
Then "The Young Man" looked at the Church ministers who were gathered there to pray, and he said...
"Brethren, it seems to me just so much humbug, to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God!"
– The Young Man’s message to the Church Ministers
Then "The Young Man" began to pray aloud, and said...
"Lord, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?"
— The Young Man
Then the Young Man fell on his knees among the straw, and suddenly, three of the elders fell into a trance! When this happened in the barn, a power was let loose which shook Lewis, Duncan exclaims! The result - "God seemed to be everywhere!" Some of you know these events well, but who knew them more than the God-chosen microphone of the revival, Duncan Campbell? You see, Campbell was branded with a holy poverty, a self-hatred, a confession of sin and a longing, for he knew that he, at that moment in time, was hindering God's gracious flood-tide of revival glory. Campbell, who appeared to be branded with no greater impression, remembered what was upon God's heart the moment that revival broke out. God revealed it to his servant, a prophet, who Duncan does not give a name whereby we might know him, only that he is "The Young Man". When God showed "The Young Man" the secret of revival's absence, revival broke out, and "The Young Man's" words seem to be the entire focus of what Duncan now seeks. Do you remember - Campbell, rich in Scottish ascent, speaks forth the anointed words...
"Who shall ascend the hill of God? Who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD!"
— Duncan Campbell
Three Noteworthy Observations
"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein."
— Jeremiah 6:16
1st) They were intent on knowing revival God's way, not a human endeavor.
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."
— Isaiah 62:6-7
2nd) With exhausting self-sacrifice, they were intent on prayer and waiting upon God until He came, or until He revealed the hindrance of revival (at any cost).
"The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and He will shew them His covenant."
— Psalm 25:14
3rd) When the secret behind revival's absence was revealed - they accepted it! - because the power of God was upon them. It is written: "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth"
What Actually Happened
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."
— Proverbs 29:18
1st) An 84-year-old blind woman ("The Deborah" of the revival) was the praying prophetess who bore the initial burden, and suddenly she had a vision of a mighty move of God. This vision became the guiding hand and end goal for all the authorities in the local Church.
"So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; THEN shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."
— Proverbs 2:2-5
2nd) 2 nights of the week (Tuesday & Friday) were entirely spent in prayer and waiting upon God, until finally, God's central burden was unleashed upon the community. During these times of prayer they did cry, lift up their voices, and seek after the hidden treasures of God's revelatory leadership, and as it is promised by God's holy word - they did, finally, "understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God!"
"Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me" (Isaiah 45:11). The promise which the people of Lewis did plead with holy importunity was: "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring"
— Isaiah 44:3
3rd) They put God to a holy obligation, having boldness thereto, because they were completely resigned, whole-hearted, and self-sacrificed, which means, they were conforming their entire lifestyle around seeking God for a move of His Almighty hand, therefore they had a clear conscience to boldly approach unto and speak such holy prayers unto God...in other words - THEY HAD CLEAN HANDS AND A PURE HEART!
The DecidingMessage of God
"O God, why hast Thou cast us off for ever? Why doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture?...We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long."
— Psalm 74:1,9
"Well then, it seems to me, just so much humbug, to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God...(then he began to pray aloud in front of the ministers) God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?"
— The Young Man
My reader, do you have vision?
Preacher, do you have vision?
If we don't have vision,
can we rightfully assert that God is in control of the Church?
"Sunday morning (attendance) shows how popular the church is; Sunday night shows how popular the preacher is; (Wednesday) prayer meeting shows how popular God is!"
— Leonard Ravenhill
"If God withdrew the Holy Spirit tomorrow, my church would function just the same; we wouldn't even know He was gone."
— A. W. Tozer
"I can think of one thing when I get to the Judgment Bar and Jesus will look down and say," I had many things to tell you but you couldn't bear them."We're too busy running our own lives: praying when you want to pray, eating what you want to eat, going where you want to go, spending what you want to spend, reading what you want to read, (Do you) call that a spiritual life? Brother, it is carnal as carnality!"
— Leonard Ravenhill
The Most Astonishing and Appalling Conclusion
(The Need For Biblical Reformation)
What is the eternal destiny of those who have not been enabled to ascend up and presentlystand upon the hill of the Lord, or those who, at present, cannot stand in His holy place?
Will they be allowed into The Gates of Heaven?
Initial Salvation
An initial ascent and safe-standing upon Zion, basking under God's friendly face.
The Father God, at initial salvation, is He "who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son" He hath brought us so nigh, it is not blasphemy to declare, God has "raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" Shocking! We are not there in bodily presence, but through a saving union with Christ we are, spiritually and lawfully, with Him where He is, being enabled to relate to God by and through Christ. In a spiritual and lawful way we are "dead, and [our] life is hid with Christ in God" "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or Who shall stand in His holy place" This is a question of eternal consequence! And again, "who shall abide in [God's] Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in [God's] holy hill" The answer: We, the regenerate, blood-bought, crucified, and resurrected multitude, by the perfection of Christ's sanctifying powers, have already (spiritually and lawfully) "come unto Sion, and unto the city of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels" We are, in Christ, ascended up Mount Zion and standing in His holy place! In Christ we have been given, instantaneously, suddenly, and miraculously, "clean hands and a pure heart", and all that remains for us to do is - as we have received clean hands and a pure heart, even so, we should walk in them, or in other words, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him"
Present Progressive Salvation
Presently and continually abiding upon Mount Zion, because you are abiding in Christ.
To abide in Christ is to, of necessity, abide in "the holiest" place of heaven and again, staggeringly, upon the very throne of our Lord Jesus Christ Accessing the free-powers from this place of POSITIONAL GRACE, we are enabled to have power to overcome the world We are able to overcome the world because, namely - Christ Jesus already overcame it! - and He is above it right now, "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the that which is to come: And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" Therefore in Him - we too! - "tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy" "And nothing shall by any means hurt you", the Victor of humanity declares Oh saints - reckon it so! - you are already clad in a Divinely manufactured armor, you are, namely, "in the Lord", "in the power of His Might", because of where the grace of God has spiritually and lawfullypositioned you! Therefore Satan, who fell from Heaven like lightning, will "flee from you" Only one condition remains so that you will be unconquerable in your ability "to stand" my reader, by faith you must "put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ" who hath ascended Mount Zion in victory, and there - in Him - stand still and abide (presently and progressively)! Revival is the unfathomable expression of God's power - "the power that worketh in us" - and when we are rightly related with the Lord we become God's "Divine channel" - "channels only" - through which God's causes His "exceeding greatness" to rush upon and overflow from us! God's people are lead to this climactic experience by a present-continuous right relationship with God. We must be, as The Young Man said: "rightly related to God". We must be, in other words, savingly related to God, and then nothing will interrupt the floods of revival power! Can you imagine it!? Revival floods which are "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us"
Final Salvation
Through the glory of the final resurrection we shall, literally, ascend up and stand with the Lamb of God upon Mount Zion, henceforth to abide for eternity.
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
— Revelation 3:11-12
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the Throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without faultbefore the Throne of God."
— Revelation 14:1-5
Duncan Campbell reported the wondrous Revival of the Isle of Lewis to the world. Today, via the internet, these recordings are listened to across the world! Duncan argued that this work of reviving grace was in fulfillment of specific conditions - condition which, when they are met, put God in a holy obligation to perform the promises of His Covenant. These conditions are found in one primary text of scripture in which Campbell continually cites. He affirms to us, as a Divine-witness of revival, that a similar revival can be experienced if indeed, now, we meet these very same conditions outlined by his primary text. Namely, one must meet the conditions of
What I desire for my reader to see is: though other fulfillments of this promise can be shadowed in time, the apex of this passage is finally fulfilled at the final salvation of God’s people, and what is so terrifying is, Duncan preached this text as conditions for Revival merely, but he left the people unaware that these conditions are, biblically and contextually speaking, conditions for final salvation, so the people imagine a revival experience that is eternally insignificant for their own souls, they vainly justify themselves without such manifestations, they do not demonstrate whole-hearted sacrifice to pursue such nearness to God, and they come to believe that revival is only for the salvation of lost souls! But, my reader, God is signifying that these conditions are for the final salvation of regenerate souls! And if the saints will obtain this final standing before God, it is because they have been enabled to initially and present-progressivelystand with God on the holy mountain of Zion How does one know if he is presently and progressively standing upon Mount Zion? According to & you must have – "clean hands," "a pure heart," a denial of "vanity" and false swearing, "not defiled with women," as "virgins," as one that does "follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth," having no "guile" in the mouth and "without fault" before the Throne (to be applied in physical and spiritual interpretations where necessary, for example: ). Are you one of those "who shall ascend the Hill of the LORD" so as to be finally saved? Then you must presently and progressively abide in such a character of blamelessness – personally for sure and God willing, corporately - and if the corporate body is enabled to reach this stature of perfection, then at last, the world will see "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" manifest through His local Church "Take heed therefore how ye hear"
"Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded"
— James 4:8
A crime against God which renders a man unclean in hands and an impure in heart, is no small sin! God jealously declares, such a man is an "enemy of God" an "adulterer" a "sinner" who needs to set his entire heart upon the only course of hope and reconciliation with God. My reader, restoration does not come by a mere confession of sin, or some "sinners prayer" for backslidden Christians! Nay! God commands such a man to continue in affliction, mourning, weeping, and heaviness for an undetermined amount of time - simply because of the fact that his offended God has called HIM an enemy. God calls such a man to humiliate himself before the eyes of the Lord, if haply, at the time God ordains, the man might be lifted up again into the experiential, present-progressive grace of God! Read the pointed words of God - The Judge - and let us conform ourselves to the Book's narrow way! God has directed us to a sure way of escape, and let us choose it, and not another!
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."
— James 4:7-10
The false prophets or heretical messages of our day preach that revival is eternally insignificant and inconsequential, and therefore, an option to obtain or refuse by each individual's choice of pursuit. So likewise therefore, all of its synonyms are also preached as an option without any eternal consequence. As a result, to the loss of many souls into a Godless eternity, the people are blinded by preachers of peace who keep asleep revival-less persons, when, lo, God would have then wake up from their carnal peace and look straight on at their trouble!
"O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; inwrathremembermercy"— Habakkuk 3:2
Qualification: I, of course, do not assert that such a widespread move of God (like the Lewis revival) is a mark that we, His individual people, are savingly related to Christ, but it is a mark that we, as an entire people, are savingly related to Christ (see the promises of in context with ). The bottom line is, we need to reform our ideas and convictions unto the biblical standard of salvation and revival.
Divine benevolence is pleased to make happy sinners sadder with time (Jer. 2:19,2 Cor. 7:8-10). Solomon as a backslider is no exception. Hence, the outburst: “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity.” (Eccl. 1:2)!
He asked his wife to give him a glass of water for he would obtain none where he was going. He drank it; then, looking his wife in the face, exclaimed,"O Martha, Martha, you have sealed my everlasting damnation!"
"I want nothing but hell! Come, O devil, and take me!' At another time he said, 'Oh, what a terrible thing it is! Once I might, and would not: now I would and must not."
Perhaps you don't bow before a relic or kneel before an emblem of a Cross like Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Or perhaps you don't find religious serenity in a stately building of aesthetic appeal.
Job is popular today, and referenced often by peace preachers, because it seems that people have never been more depressed than in modern times. Of course, they misinterpret Job!
In writing, he endeavored to establish before all certain biblical rules on how to discern if a work of revival in any location is of the Devil or from the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 16:8-11).
