| Cambuslang, on the outskirts of Glasgow, now a populous and thriving
town, was, in the eighteenth century, a small parish of about 900 souls.
Here a memorable and far reaching awakening took place, and its green braes
are fragrant to this day with the Divine breath that breathed so sweetly
there in 1742.
The work is abidingly associated with the name of William M 'Culloch, minister
of the Parish Church. He was not at all a "popular" preacher.
His delivery was slow and cautious, but his message was intensely Biblical.
He rose at five that he might revel in the riches of Divine Truth. He abounded
in charity, but, above all, he was a man of prayer. He loved the secret
place, and he was ever encouraging his people to unite in praying bands,
and to make the chief burden of their petitions the revival of God's Work.
Like Elijah's servant, he eagerly scanned the heavens for the tokens of
coming blessing, and the news of the gracious movement under Wesley and
Whitefield filled his soul with joy. He at once began to tell his people
the story of the great revival in England and America. The church being
small and in need of repair, the services were often held in a green hollow
of the surrounding hills. Here, then, on the Sabbath evenings, when his
sermon was finished, he told his flock, little by little, the great tidings
that had gladdened his own heart. His preaching, more than ever, became
a solemn and awakening call. For fully a year he dwelt on the need of the
new birth, and strictly kindred topics, and gradually the effect was seen
in deepening reverence and a growing hunger for prayer.
God times the movements of His obedient servants with a beautiful accuracy.
He now sent Whitefield to Scotland, the first of a long series of visits.
In July, 1741, he commenced a truly apostolic ministry in Dunfermline. When
he gave out his first text, the rustle of the leaves as the whole audience
opened their Bibles, filled him with surprise and delight. He felt like
Paul in Berea. The soil had been enriched by long and systematic study of
the Scriptures, and the good seed at once took deep root. At Edinburgh he
preached twice daily, and every morning he had "a levee of wounded
souls." He then turned to the West, and the vast graveyard of Glasgow'
s ancient Cathedral became the birth-place of a multitude of souls. When
he went south in October, Whitefield. had the assurance that God had visited
His people in Scotland, and that greater things were in store.
In Cambuslang the work had received a new impetus. The year of grace 1742
opened with lively hope. In January a petition was presented to Mr. M 'Culloch
from ninety heads of families, requesting that a weekly service be held
for the further ministry of the Word. Thursday was at once fixed for this
purpose.
Prayer now became importunate. On Monday, February 15th, and again on Tuesday
and Wednesday, a band of intercessors gathered at the manse. Next day the
newly established service was held, and when the sermon closed it was evident
that the great power of God had been liberated. The Word, quietly delivered,
cut like a sharp sword, and when the minister retired to his house fifty
people followed him in an agony of conviction. The whole night was spent
by Mr. M'Culloch in the blessed labour of directing these wounded souls
to Christ. The following day the church doors were thrown open, and for
twelve weeks he preached daily to a stricken people. The deep conviction
that their sins had pierced the Son of God this was the heart of their sorrow.
Now the Gospel was heard, as it were, for the first time, and beholding
the Lamb of God, their sorrow was turned into a joy unspeakable. Heaven
seemed to come down to earth again, and the very glory of God seemed to
shine on every hillside. A mighty hunger for the Word seized the new-born
converts, and old people went to school with the children that they might
learn to read the Bible. The life of the community was transformed. Drunkenness
and blasphemy ceased. A spirit of tenderest love filled their hearts and
shone in their eyes. Faults were confessed and forgiven. Restitution to
the utmost was eagerly made. Family worship was revived, and every one sought
to bring another to the Saviour.
The tidings of this gracious movement spread far and wide, and the "Wark
at Cambuslang," as it was called, became the talk of Scotland. People
came flocking from all parts of the land to see the grace of God, and Mr.
M 'Culloch now frequently ministered the Word to ten thousand. The blessing
culminated in two great comniunions, the like of which Scotland had never
seen. The first was fixed for July 11th. On the previous Tuesday, Whitefield,
again in Scotland, came to Cambuslang for the first time. He preached thrice,
at two, at six, and at nine o' clock. The people were literally smitten
down, and had to be borne into the surrounding houses. When he was exhausted,
Mr. M 'Culloch continued to preach until long past midnight. Through all
that night the voice of prayer and praise was heard in the fields and barns
of the country around. On the Sabbath twenty thousand assembled to hear
the Word, while more than 1700 pressed to the Communion Tables, sitting
down by companies upon the green grass, as in Galilee of old.
So great was the blessing that it was determined to hold a second Communion
on August 15th. Many travelled from afar to the sacred feast. Old Mr. Bonar,
minister of Torphichen, from whom has sprung a famous and godly seed, though
very frail, was determined not to miss this crowning joy. He took three
days to ride the 18 miles that lay between, and joined Whitefield and the
goodly band of ministers who had come to Mr. M 'Culloch' s assistance. More
than thirty thousand hearers assembled, and three thousand sat down at the
Lord' s Table. The windows of Heaven were again opened above the thronging
multitude, and an even richer blessing was outpoured. There was indeed no
room to receive it, and again the mourning of stricken hearts mingled with
the song of the redeemed throughout the night.
The "wark" was of God, and it stood the test of time. When the
flood of spiritual ecstasy subsided, a rich soil remained, and a bountiful
harvest was securely garnered. The movement spread quietly through the land,
and not a few of the subsequent and seemingly isolated outbursts of the
Holy Fire can be traced to a spark wafted from the great blaze on the hills
of Cambuslang. |