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“It may seem strange to include a Portuguese navigator amongst notable Australian Christians. However; this remarkable man should not go unnoticed, and his life and deeds are worthy of tribute. For it is to this man that we owe the very name of our country, and it is to this man’s ‘vision splendid’ that many look with longing for a hope and a future – a land dedicated to the Holy Spirit. This man was Pedro Fernandez de Quiros.” (de Looper M)

“In 1606 de Quiros became the first explorer to lay claim to Australia, but he was also a man with a heart for God. Between the 14th and 15th centuries the Spaniards began sending expeditions into the South Pacific as they were convinced there existed a great land ‘terra australis.’

“De Quiros gave this continent its name ‘La Australia del Espiritu Santo’ or literally ‘Southland of the Holy Spirit.’ A rule applies in Scripture which is now called the law of first reference. Whenever we find a word used in a certain way, it is assumed the same meaning continue on without change. In Hebrew, names not only indicate character but often also the destiny of those granted that name. What does this suggest for the destiny of Australia? No other nation has ever been blessed with the name ‘Land of the Holy Spirit!’

“De Quiros began to believe that he had been singled out by God as the vessel through whom the inhabitants of ‘terra australis’ would be received into the Church, and that terra australis would be Australia del Espiritu Santo – a land dedicated to the Holy Spirit.

“Sailing into the waters of the South Pacific and sighting land (islands to the north east of Australia) de Quiros took possession in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the proclamation, “Let the heavens, the earth, the waters with all their creatures and all Those here present witness that I Captain Pedro de Quiros … in the name of Jesus Christ … hoist this emblem of the Holy Cross on which His (Jesus Christ) person was crucified and whereon He gave His life for the ransom and remedy of all the human race … on this day of Pentecost, 14th may 1606 … I, take possession of all this part of the south, as far as the pole, in the name of Jesus …which from now on shall be called the southern Land of the Holy Ghost … and this always and forever … and to the end that all natives, in all the said lands, the holy and sacred evangel may be preached zealously and openly.” (pp22-25, Col Stringer, Discovering Australia’s Christian heritage, Col Stringer Ministries Inc, PO Box 3554 Robina Town Center, Qld 4230)

Wow!!

I am sure most of you realise the implications of these words that have been spoken over this great country. During the 20th Century, this country was punned ‘The Lucky Country.’ Do we Christians really believe that the blessings we experience in this country comes from luck? Absolutely not, God has honoured the godly Christian heritage of this countries forefathers. We live in a nation with the most blessed name on the planet, no other nation or country has been called a land of the Holy Spirit. I personally believe that this country has been given this name as a prophetic anointing to be awakened and fulfilled prior to the return of Christ.

I believe that in these coming days, the Church in Australia will receive an impacting and potent visit by the Holy Spirit that will bring about a wave of repentance within the Australian Body of Christ that will be unprecedented in its scope and magnitude. Never in the history of Australia will such a breaking have occurred. The outcome will be a holy, spotless, unblemished Bride of Christ prepared gloriously for her coming Groom. From this place of holiness and awakening, the anointing of the De Quiros proclamation will settle upon the Church, and this Great Southland will experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will ebb and flow in the hearts of every Australian.

We will surely fulfil this prophecy by De Quiros and be a land of the Holy Spirit and the sacred evangel (Bible) will be preached openly everywhere. Then a move will occur that will change the course of the History of the Earth. God will openly manifest His presence and a great fire of revival will spread across the Pacific and burn up the countries of the world. This will be the complete and total fulfilment of the famous prophecy in Joel 2:28, “And Afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” This Scripture clearly tells us that all flesh will experience this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The world has never experienced all flesh being impacted by the presence of God. We have had revivals that have been community-wide, or even city-wide and sometimes spreading across countries by anointed evangelists, but never worldwide with all mankind being affected at once.

Prior to the return of Christ, however, this Scripture will be fulfilled and completed, and as I have said before, this last great and awesome move of God will be mankind’s last great chance to repent. If men experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and still reject the Lord, then the end of all things will come. Jesus did say, “When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 This is a significant question, and it is one question that causes me to wake each day and seek His face.

I pray that this blog has a deep affect on you, one that will cause you to continue to burn for Christ in prayer for this major move of the Holy Ghost. We, here in Australia, are not here by chance. God has strategically placed us here in this country for a purpose, and what grander purpose could there be but to prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord, by lifting up to the throne of God the prayers that will shake this nation, and not only that, but pray the prayers that will fulfil prophecy. That is why I believe that the prayer warriors in Australia who intercede for this country and stand in the gap, are the Daniels of this Land.

These times that we are living in are urgent times, and this blog is an urgent appeal to all of us to continue to stay passionate for the things of God, and prioritise correctly the things that matter most to Him. This coming worldwide revival will see a harvest of souls beyond anyones wildest and most optimistic estimates. Only heaven will be able to record the converts that will come to Him during this time. Believe for this saints, this is and has always been the destiny of the Church of the Risen Christ.

With all the Blessings of Christ
Rob Cartledge

In this blog I feel led to place the thoughts and concepts of one of the greatest authorities on revival in history, a man of God whose thoughts on revival blow my mind and change my heart. I dedicate this blog to Leonard Ravenhill, and am using excerpts from his book, Why Revival Tarries.

“Oh that believers would become eternity-conscious! If we could live every moment of every day under the eye of God, if we did every act in the light of the judgement seat, if we sold every article in the light of the judgement seat, if we prayed every prayer in the light of the judgement seat, if we tithed all our possessions in the light of the judgement seat, if we preachers prepared every sermon with one eye on damned humanity and the other on the judgement seat – then we would have a Holy Ghost revival that would shake this earth and that, in no time at all, would liberate millions of precious souls.

“It has been well said that there are only three classes of people in the world today: those who are afraid, those who do not know enough to be afraid and those who know their Bibles. Sodom, which had no Bible, no preachers, no tracts, no prayer meetings, no churches, perished. How then will America and England be spared from the wrath of the Almighty, think you? We have millions of Bibles, scores of thousands of churches, endless preachers – and yet what sin!

“Men build our churches but do not enter them, print our Bibles but do not read them, talk about God but do not believe Him, speak of Christ but do not trust Him for salvation, sing our hymns and then forget them. How are we going to come out of all this?

“Almost every Bible conference majors on today’s Church being like the Ephesian Church. We are told that, despite our sin and carnality, we are seated with Him. Alas, what a lie! We are Ephesians all right; but as the Ephesian Church in Revelation, we have “left our first love!” We appease sin – but do not oppose it. To such a cold, carnal, critical, care-cowed Church, this lax, loose, lustful, licentious age will never capitulate. Let us stop looking for scapegoats. The fault in declining morality is not radio or television. The whole blame for the present international degeneration and corruption lies at the door of the Church! It is no longer a thorn in the side of the world. Yet, it has not been in times of popularity but of adversity that the true Church has always triumphed. It is passing strange that we are so “simple” as to believe that the Church is presenting to men the New Testament standard of Jesus by such a substandard of Christian living.

“Why does revival tarry? The answer is simple enough

1. 1)Because evangelism is so highly commercialised.
   
2. 2)Because of cheapening the Gospel
   
3. 3)Because of carelessness. At the altar, too little time is spent with those souls who come to do eternal business.
   
4. 4)Because of fear. We are tight lipped about the spurious religions of the day, as if there were more than one name whereby men must be saved.
   
5. 5)Because we lack urgency in prayer. A title, undeniably true of the Church today, would be “We wrestle not.” The only power God yields to is that of prayer.
   
6. 6)Because we steal glory that belongs to God. Away with all the fleshly backslapping and platform flattery!
   

“How does God get much out of it all! Then why doesn’t God fulfill His blessed and yet awful promise and spew us out of His mouth? We have failed. We are filthy. We love men’s praise. We “seek our own.” O God, lift us out of this rut and this rot! Bless us with breakings! Judgement must begin with us preachers!”

I must say, those words by Leonard Ravenhill are hard hitting and terrible on the flesh. But the humble and Spirit Filled among us will receive them like a breath of fresh air. I find it surprising that Christians can be so easily offended when a man of God speaks with such Holy boldness. It is like they are offended that God would even try to correct, reprove or chastise His people. But isn’t it better that God corrects us here, and we repent and change our lives, than we get to heaven and God rebukes us there and says to us, “Away from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.”

Please watch our newest favourite video by Paul Washer, just below, this video absolutely blows me away.

God Bless

Rob Cartledge

We are living in a time like no other in history. We are seeing terrible things taking place before our eyes on a daily basis. But what makes this time so different is the lack of true concern and general numbness that most people today have in relation to these horrific daily events. At best they show a casual concern for what is happening all around them. What is even more disturbing is that the Churches concern for what is happening in the world today is much the same as the unchurched.

If any of you have read Pastor Mark Jurisic’s last blog called Outrageous Love, Mark describes a video he saw called ‘Furious Love’ which showed footage of revivals of Jesus Christ taking place in various countries around the world. Mark tells us that “the viewer is taken into some of the most evil and darkest regions of the world where satan and his hordes steal, kill and destroy. But in the midst of this deep darkness the light of Jesus shines brightest. In this footage we meet some radical Christians that are not content with comfortable or predictable Christianity.”

I think the key word for Christians today is radical. In the midst of these trying times that we are living in, the Light of the Gospel can shine forth, but only through a people who are radical in their approach for Christ. We need a radically new approach to Christianity here in Australia. The Church has sat back passively and watched a spiritual apathy and deception sweep over humanity. Because of this, we have grown more and more disengaged with the world around us and have just about shut out of our minds the belief that we can do anything to help this people who we live amongst. What is really disturbing is the fact that many generations have been brought up with this mindset, handed down to them by our church forefathers. “Whatever you do, don’t be controversial, we must be sensitive and not offend anyone.” Oh my Lord, we keep our friends here on earth, but lose them to hell for eternity, all because we are too scared to offend them by telling them about Jesus. God help us.

Didn’t God give us the “Great Commission” to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations? I must remind many Christians today that it has never been called the “Great Option” or the “Great Maybe” or the “Great, I’ll Do It One Day if I have the Time.” The command to make disciples of nations is not an option, it’s not a maybe, it’s a must, it’s a command. We better think seriously about this: One day we are going to stand before the God of the Universe and Jesus Christ our Lord, and we are going to have to give an account, and you know what one of His first questions will be? What did you do about the Commission I gave you to make disciples of nations? At that moment, when the earth is gone from below you, along with all the earthly treasure of which you accumulated there, and heaven is out of sight, you are going to have to answer Him. What are you going to say? Do you think He is going to be satisfied with your answer? “Umm, well, I, errrr, I tried, but um, you know, God, I had to work you know, and I, um, had no time, you know I did tell a few people about You though, but I suppose we fell into arguments, and I didn’t want to have anymore arguments, so I suppose I stopped telling them.”

Then the revelation of how you failed Jesus will hit you, and you will cry, “Lord, I’m so sorry but I even stopped praying for them. I’m so sorry Lord, I stuffed up, the deceitfulness of riches sucked me in and I found it too hard to devote myself to you Lord. Besides, I felt like I did not have enough faith to serve you and trust in you to provide, so I never stepped out and tried. Lord, I can see now that everything that the world offered me and that I worked so hard for is gone and means nothing now, only You Lord, only You Lord are eternal, and fulfilling Your commission is the only reason that I lived and I missed it, I stuffed up. Lord forgive me for being a coward, forgive me for being a hypocrite, forgive me for wasting my life chasing after worldly pleasures and riches. Lord, pleaaaaaassseeeeee Forgive ME.”

Leonard Ravenhill said that he stamped eternity on his eyeballs so that his life in Christ would be kept in check and so he would not waste a single moment in serving the Lord. I think getting a thorough revelation of the coming judgement is the most crucial and critical insight that we could ask God for. We must live as if every moment is our last and as if Christ will judge us in the next moment. I must ask you, “Are you ready to face Jesus?” “Are you ready to come before a Holy Righteous and Exact God who sees all?” “Have you lived as you should?” “Have you prepared what you are going to say when God reveals to the universe all your hidden sins?” “Have you got right with God while there is still time?” “Have you kept a short account of your sins, and repented even up to the present moment?” “ARE YOU READY TO BE JUDGED BY A HOLY GOD???”

In this day and age, men and women have so many weird and wonderful beliefs to choose from, and because of this they find it nearly impossible to tell which is from God and which is not. On the other extreme we have the so called scientifically minded who only believe ‘Cold Hard Facts.’ You can’t blame these people for believing this way, but in claiming to be scientifically minded they have slipped into another conundrum, they only accept supposed facts from ‘Professors.’ Therefore they blindly believe men and women who carry these titles, and accept their opinions without any evidence whatsoever, because they think “These professors are smarter than me, so they must be right.” So they accept theories like ‘Evolution’ and ‘The Big Bang’ even though these theories have never been proven and cannot be proven.

The only way the Church can be relevant and reach this hardened and deceived humanity today is for the Church to WAKE UP!! We have got to wake up, and repent of our wickedness, we have got to start ‘praying as if there were no tomorrow,’ actually let’s change that saying to, “Pray as if we are judged tomorrow.” We have got to live holy lives of purity and get truly baptised and empowered by the Holy Spirit and shake this nation to the core. Jesus needs us to Wake Up and get mad at satan, and mad at ourselves for letting satan have his way for so long on this earth. We must take back the ground that the enemy has stolen. But probably the most important thing we must do is spend the hours in the presence of God and allow Him to wash us clean, so that when we leave His presence His aroma will be all over us and we will smell of Christ.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (2Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)

God Bless

Rob Cartledge

What a life, what a wonderful life He has given all of us. But you know why most people don’t enjoy their life in Christ? They don’t actually live their life in Christ, they live it worldly and add a bit of Christianity to it, and then they wonder and complain that they feel defeated all the time.

It’s been a while since I have blogged a report on what is happening in the ministry. So I thought I’d better give you an update. A lot has changed in the last few months.

1. 1)We have launched this new look site.
2. 2)Mark Jurisic and I are putting together a new ezine called, ‘The Reviver’ an exciting online magazine, filled with interesting articles that will energise, excite and motivate you to seek hard after Jesus.
3. 3)We published a new book called ‘Taking Up Your Cross’ that has been received very favourably around Australia with some excellent reviews.
4. 4)I have been working steadily in my spare time writing ‘So You Think You Are Baptised With The Holy Spirit?’ This book is becoming absolutely amazing. I keep discovering men of God from the past, who were powerfully used by God and who thought the same way about the baptism of the Holy Spirit as I do. This is just adding so much punch to the book and making it clear as crystal to read and understand.
5. 5)We have planted a church called CityEast Church, a plant of CityWest Church in Melton Victoria. We are a little church at present, small in number, but the power of God is with us and we are worshipping Jesus in the Spirit and Truth.

Prayer though is becoming top on my list of priorities and I can’t seem to pray enough. I know that we can get caught up working for the Lord and not seeking Him and completely lose track. But I am slowly developing a lifestyle where prayer can be continuous.
Life gets so hectic, it can be crazy. I hardly ever if at all watch the TV anymore. I can’t justify the waste of time, nor do I need the corruption that goes with flicking it on. I find myself praying, reading, writing and working and you know what, I love it, I absolutely love serving Jesus, I love writing for Him, I love living for Him and pastoring His people and preaching His Word. What a life, what a wonderful life He has given all of us. But you know why most people don’t enjoy their life in Christ? They don’t actually live their life in Christ, they live it worldly and add a bit of Christianity to it, and then they wonder and complain that they feel defeated all the time. Living for Christ is a radical shift from what the world emphasises as important in a life style. To really enjoy the Christian life you have got to really live the Christian life. Turn away from the world and set your hearts on Him, then you will find that joy and peace talked about in the Bible.

God Bless

Rob Cartledge

Pastor Mark Jurisic of CityWest Church in Melton, Victoria, Australia preached the most awesome sermon in the ‘Invasion of God’ sermon series. Actually the whole series is incredible, but this particular sermon is extremely moving and impacting. Mark cuts to the heart of the problem in the Church today, he lays down the pure gospel, and makes it so clear what Christ expects of us.

This sermon hurts. He says, “Following Jesus will cost you everything.” As Mark elaborates on this statement, we receive clarity of vision. Mark makes it so clear, so clear that we can never again say to Jesus, “But Lord we never knew.” If I could give you one piece of advice in relation to living the true life of Christ it would be listen to this sermon and let the power of God impact you and change your life.

The sermon is called, “It’ll Cost you Everything.” and it is listed near the bottom of the page in week 21 of “The Invasion of God” Sermon Series.

5 MAY 2010

Scripture Cards are a fantastic way to memorise, study and meditate upon the Word of God. I hope you love these foundational Scriptures that I have put together in a printable pdf.

God Bless

Rob

As I was teaching tonight, I opened my drawer to my desk in search of a pen and to my surprise I discovered an old cassette tape case full of cards with scriptures written on them. While I taught, I held onto a card and read the scripture every now and then. I was mightily blessed by the experience and remembered the teaching I received in relation to using Scripture Cards. We are to take one card a day and continue to read it regularly throughout the day and commit it to memory. In doing this, we begin to memorise key Scriptures that will be in our mouth when we need them.

In response to this I printed up 24 cards full of foundational essential scriptures and have saved them in pdf, which you can download, print and cut out. I pray that these scriptures bless and help you grow in your Christian life.

To download the printable pdf Click Here

26 APRIL 2010

In August 1859 three pastors of the Dutch Reformed Church published a challenge for ministers to preach a series of sermons on the character of God, the role of the Holy Spirit and the need for both corporate and private prayer for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.  “An Awakening can occur through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit is promised in answer to prayer is a truth that is clearly taught in Scripture …

This year Christians in South Africa are celebrating the 150 anniversary of a most remarkable Revival which swept across the Cape in 1860.

A Spiritual Wilderness

The Cape Colony prior to the 1860 Revival was a spiritual wilderness.  The Dutch East India Company controlled the appointment of pastors and establishment of congregations.  Yet, in the first 150 years of Dutch rule in the Cape only five congregations had been established, all within 130km radius of Cape Town.  Most of the farmers and Trekboers had no access to pastoral guidance, or opportunities for religious services.  Even more seriously, although few of the people in the colony spoke Dutch anymore, the authorities deemed their vernacular, Afrikaans, to be unworthy for church services, prayers, or even for personal devotions.  This led to very stilted services where the average member of the congregation struggled to understand the high Dutch of the pulpit and found it hard to express themselves in prayer through the Dutch language.  The only Bible available was Dutch, which most of the population had trouble reading.  Without the ability to pray from the heart, most resorted to following fixed formulas of well worn expressions.

Spiritual Paralysis

Under these circumstances it should not be surprising that spiritual paralysis set in. Nicolaas Hofmeyr despaired at the unresponsiveness of his congregation in Calvinia.  During his 6 year ministry there he could not persuade a single person to attend the prayer meeting.  Not even once!  In addition to the resistance to prayer he also battled an intense opposition to mission work.

Deadening Liberalism

Gottlieb Van Der Lingen was born of Dutch missionary parents.  His father was a chaplain to the Cape Corps on the Eastern frontier.  Van Der Lingen studied for the ministry in Utrecht in Holland.  From his first sermon in the Groote Kerk in Cape Town he warned against the rising tide of liberalism and called the people back to the Bible.  With the Theological Seminaries in Holland turning out unregenerate preachers, spiritual deadness was infecting the churches in the Cape.  Ds. van der Lingen energetically promoted Christian schools, but was frustrated that not one church responded to his offer to help establish Christian education in their area!

The Language Barrier

The British first came to the Cape in 1795.  As part of their Anglicisation policy all school subjects had to be taught through the medium of English.  Most of the Cape Dutch could no longer speak Dutch, nor could they comfortably speak English.  There were no Afrikaans schools available and the churches refused to allow the use of the Afrikaans language in either church services or prayer meetings.

Anglicisation

However, the British Anglicisation policy had the unintended result of sparking the most incredible Spiritual Revival which resolved all of these problems and led to the establishment of Afrikaans as a national language.

Revitalisation

With the British excluding the Dutch language from the schools and from government, the Dutch congregations were pointed to Scotland to obtain their ministers.  The arrival of 11 Reformed pastors from Scotland, led by Andrew Murray senior, heralded a new era.  Andrew Murray’s father was appointed to the frontier parish of Graaff Reinet and he married Maria Stegmann of Cape Town on the way to his frontier congregation.  Andrew Murray junior was born in Graaff Reinet on 9 May 1828.  What the British government had failed to anticipate was that the Scottish Presbyterians would learn the Dutch and Afrikaans languages and, instead of converting the Cape Dutch to English, were used of God to revitalize their faith and culture in an unprecedented way.

Praying for Revival

Without fail, every Friday evening for 36 years, Andrew Murray’s father prayed for Revival.  When Andrew was 10 years old he was sent to Scotland to be educated.  During his 7 year stay with his uncle, Rev. John Murray and the family in Aberdeen, they were brought into contact with some of the most powerful Reformed preachers of the day, including Dr. Chalmers and William Burns.  After Andrew and his elder brother, John, graduated with M.A. Degrees in 1845, they headed for Utrecht for further theological studies and to master the Dutch language.

First Fruits

Andrew Murray senior’s brother-in-law, Georg Stegmann, was mightily used of the Lord in building up the St. Stephens congregation in Cape Town.  Many coloured people were brought to Christ and a dynamic evangelistic work sprang up.

To the Voortrekkers

When Andrew Murray returned from his studies in Scotland and Holland he was still only 20 years old  and church law required a pastor in the Cape to be at least 22 years old.  The governor, Sir Harry Smith, circumvented this rule by allocating Andrew to evangelise the Voortrekkers between the Orange and Vaal Rivers.  The Orange River Sovereignty had been annexed by Britain in 1848 and the approximately 12,000 Voortrekkers on scattered farms between the Orange and Vaal had been without a pastor since leaving the Cape.

Missionary Travels

As the first pastor appointed to the Voortrekkers, Andrew Murray’s headquarter was in the small village of Bloemfontein.  In order to minister to his vast congregation Andrew needed to constantly travel to conduct communion and preaching services throughout the sovereignty.  He also conducted 4 missionary tours amongst the Voortrekkers in the Transvaal.  Dealing with tough pioneering farmers Andrew quickly had to learn to keep his sermons simple, logical and practical.  Being the only pastor for the Voortrekkers, Andrew was forced to adopt a leadership role.  His speedy intervention prevented bloodshed as he helped negotiate the treaty between the Voortrekker leader, Andreas Pretorius, and the British government which led to the signing of the Sand River Convention of 1852.  This led to the recognition of the independence of the Orange Free State.

Character Training

Andrew later looked back on his 11 years of ministry amongst the Voortrekkers as invaluable training for his life long ministry.  Ministering on the frontier strengthened Andrew’s character, made him decisive in action and powerful in preaching.

Recognising Reality

He also became acutely aware of the desperate spiritual state of most in South Africa.  He wrote: “I begin to fear that the state of the great majority of members is much sadder than I at first realized … nothing but God’s mighty Spirit is able to conquer the deep enmity of the unconverted heart”.

Educational Crisis

He struggled to establish Christian schools in the Orange Free State, attempting to recruit teachers from Holland, but he faced resistance and inertia on all sides.  Despairing of obtaining suitable pastors from Holland, the Dutch Reformed Church appointed Rev. John Murray to establish a theological seminary in Stellenbosch.

When John expressed his reticence over this nomination his father, Andrew Murray senior, challenged him: “Are you willing to place your life on the line for this great task?”  John responded with a heartfelt “Yes!” He accepted the nomination and sought the assistance of Nicolaas Hofmeyr and Johan Neethling to launch the Stellenbosch Kweekschool.

A Call to Prayer

In August 1859 three pastors of the Dutch Reformed Church published a challenge for ministers to preach a series of sermons on the character of God, the role of the Holy Spirit and the need for both corporate and private prayer for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit.  “An Awakening can occur through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit is promised in answer to prayer is a truth that is clearly taught in Scripture … We earnestly beseech you to faithfully and fervently pray one hour every week – with others, or alone that God by His Grace may visit our land and give us the blessing of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”  An 85 page book entitled “The Power of Prayer” was widely circulated throughout 1859.  Several articles on Prayer and Revival were published in De Kerkbode and De Wekker.

Apathy Challenged

Yet, while many of the pastors were enthusiastic about prayer and Revival the average person in the pew remained disinterested and unresponsive.

A number of small prayer meetings began.  The one in Montagu never grew beyond three regular attendees prior to May 1860.  The weekly prayer meeting in Worcester seldom had more than three or four participants.  However, one dedicated intercessor wore a footpath to the top of a hill overlooking the town praying for Revival.

Worchester Conference

Andrew Murray was called to lead the congregation in Worcester at the same time that a conference of churches was to meet to discuss the subject of Revival.  Carts, wagons and horses brought in 374 visitors representing 20 congregations.  This included 8 ministers from the Andrew Murray family.  With great excitement the conference began 18 April, laying out the Scriptural basis for Revival.

A Decisive Moment

According to C.Rabie, a teenager who attended the conference and would later become a DRC minister, the Revival began at the conference itself.  He wrote: “Ds. Murray (Jnr.)’s participation during the first part of the conference was limited to one prayer, but it was a prayer so full of power and emotion that people came under deep conviction of sin.  You can safely say that the Revival dates from that moment.”

Pentecost at Worcester

Andrew Murray commenced his ministry at Worcester on Pentecost Sunday 27 May with a sermon on “The Ministration of the Spirit”.  C. Rabie wrote: “It was as though one of the prophets of old had risen from the dead.  The subjects were conversion and faith … deadly earnestness.”

Andrew Murray preached on: “What meanest thou o sleeper?  Arise and call upon thy God.”  Jonah 1:6; “He that believeth not shall be damned” Mark 16:16; “Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?” Matthew 22:12. The congregation in Worcester had never heard such straight forward shocking Biblical preaching.  The Revival in Worcester came like a firestorm.

Eyewitness Account

One of the pastors who experienced the Revival, Servaas Hofmeyr, wrote: “Before the days of Revival the situation of our congregation was lamentable.  Love of the world and sin; no earnestness or heartfelt desire for Salvation; sinning and idleness  that was the order of the day for most … when the Lord started to move among us how intense were the prayers for Revival and the cries for mercy! ‘I am lost!’ cries one here.  ‘Lord, help me!’ cries another.  Anxious cries were uttered, heart rendering testimonies of conversion were heard.  Visions were seen … Corporate prayer, even behind bushes and rocks, on mountains and in ravines, men, women, greyheads, children, gentlemen, servants  all kneeling on the same ground crying for mercy.  And none of this was expected by anyone, nor prepared by anyone, nor worked up, or preached by anyone  it was all the Spirit of God, and not for a few hours or days, but months long.”

Joy Unspeakable!

Prayer meetings were overflowing and full of fire and zeal.  Early in the morning and late at night people would come singing to God’s house.  Repentance, renewal and rebirth.  Devotion was deepened, vision widened.  Cases of heartfelt conversion occurred daily.

Amongst the first to be impacted by the Revival were the coloured farm workers near Worcester.  A written account of these farm workers described them as:  “debased and shriveled with drink and drunk all day long, sullen wretched creatures…” It was this least expected quarter that the Revival hit most powerfully.

Farm workers fell to the ground and cried out for mercy, so greatly was the presence of God felt.  At first Andrew Murray was shocked at the emotionalism and apparent disorder.  Andrews’ knowledge of Revival had been limited to the Scottish experience where congregations were far more orderly and restrained.  As Andrew sought to take control of a prayer meeting where people were experiencing agonies of conviction of sin, a stranger touched Ds. Murray and warned him: “Be careful what you do, for it is the Spirit of God that is at work here”.

The Real and the False

Andrew quoted from George Whitefield, who stated: “If you try to stamp out the wildfire and remove what is false, you will equally and simultaneously remove what is real.”

Nicolaas Hofmeyr wrote: “A Spirit of humility is observable amongst us.  We see ourselves in all our loathsomeness as lost and wretched children of Wrath unable of ourselves to do any good thing. … The Spirit of prayer increases and the supplications become more earnest … – this is the work of the Holy Spirit … the sense of sin is increasing.  Deep humility is observable and still our souls have been refreshed … God is being sought in secret.”

Montagu & Calvinia

At Montagu, a Scriptural class of coloured farm workers, who were being taught by a young woman, experienced an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit of God.  Calvinia, which had previously resisted every effort by their previous pastor to participate in prayer meetings, suddenly developed an overwhelming burden for prayer.

Answer to Prayer

Conviction of sin came over the congregations with intense spiritual agony, confession of sin and earnest restitution.  Andrew Murray senior visited Worcester and rejoiced that what he had prayed for, over 38 years, was now being experienced by his son.  “Andrew, my son, I have longed for such times as these which the Lord has let you have.”

Anointed Preaching

Rev. Henry Taylor of the Presbyterian Church in Wellington wrote this report on Andrew Murray’s preaching:  “His whole being is thrown into the task and he glows with the fervency of Spirit which it seems impossible for human flesh to sustain … audiences bend before the sweeping rain of his words, like willows before the gale.  The heart within the hearer is bowed and the intellect is awed.”

Writing Ministry

As Spiritual hunger increased, Andrew was led to provide more discipleship instruction and guidance for converts including writing: The Children For Christ, Abide in Christ, The Two Covenants, The New Life, The Full Blessing of Pentecost, Holy in Christ, The School of Obedience, The School of Prayer, The Ministry of Intercession, Pray Without Ceasing, Absolute Surrender, Waiting on God and Like Christ.  Andrew Murray became one of the world’s most respected writers on the deeper Christian life.  He wrote over 200 books, booklets and pamphlets, many of which were translated into numerous other languages, some continually in print for over 100 years.  Andrew wrote:  “A Revival of Holiness is what we need.  We need preaching about Christ’s claim on us that will lead us to live entirely for Him and His Kingdom.”

Evangelism & Revival

Selwyn Hughes observed: “In evangelism the preacher calls on people to get saved; in Revival people often call on the preacher to ask him how they can get saved.”

Transformation

The September 1860 edition of De Wekker declared: “The whole of society has been changed, yes, turned literally upside down!”  Church buildings needed to be enlarged to cater for the influx of new converts.  Side wings were built onto existing churches.

Robert Shand in Tulbagh wrote of: “A deepening of the Spiritual Life within the congregation.”  In Ceres the church council wrote of: “Coming to life of dead bones.”  In Robertson Ds. Smidt reported that the Revival was: “Undoubtedly the work of the Holy Spirit.”

The Cape Bows to Christ

The Evangelical Alliance issued a nationwide call for all churches in the Cape Colony to set aside a week in January for united prayer.  The Cape was literally on its knees.

Revival in Paarl

Ds. Gottlieb van der Lingen preached: “Are you, congregation of Paarl, being awakened by these cries of Revival?  Wake up, you who sleep!  Arise from the dead and Christ will shine His light on you…!  And what if you don’t awaken now?  Will you then ever be renewed before the terrible Awakening to take place in the hereafter?”  It was during that week of prayer in January 1861 that Revival swept through Paarl.  There were heart rending pleas for mercy and soul wrenching confessions of sin.

The church building became too small to hold the growing crowds.  The growing interest in prayer required numerous new prayer meetings to be established.  Members of the Paarl congregation experienced lengthy periods of wrestling through self examination, repentance and surrendering all to God.  There were great cries for mercy and ultimately many tears of thankfulness and joy.

Ds. van der Lingen exclaimed: “How many years have I not served God as a servant?  But what a great difference serving Him as a servant and serving Him as a son!  I only now understand the freedom.”

Pentecost Services

In May 1862 Ds. van der Lingen suggested that the congregation should assemble for prayer during the ten days between Ascension Day and Pentecost.  The adoption of Pentecost services throughout the Dutch Reformed Churches remains one of the significant fruits of the 1860 Revival.

Graaff Reinet

In April 1861 Revival erupted in Graaff Reinet.  A prayer meeting that began after a communion service on Sunday evening became so powerfully aware of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit that the meeting lasted non-stop until Tuesday midday before the congregation went home!

Reversal of Fortunes

The Dutch Reformed Church at the Cape was changed forever.  From the earliest days of the Cape Colony there had always been a desperate shortage of pastors.  Now over 50 young men came forward to be trained for the ministry.  A Bible based newspaper, Die Volksvriend, was launched January 1862 by Andrew Murray and Servaas Hofmeyr.  Resistance to missions evaporated.

Missions Launched

Die Vrouwen Zending Bond (Women’s Missionary Union) was established with Emma Murray becoming its first president.  The first Cape DRC missionaries Alexander McKidd and Henri Gonin were sent out to the Transvaal.

De Wekker editorialized: “What is the aim of Revival?  Not to enjoy God’s gift in a selfish way. No!  But to impart mission work.  Every farm must become a mission station and every congregation a mission organisation” De Wekker declared that we must send our sons and daughters to the mission field.

Sacrificial Service

Andrew Murray turned to Paul Kruger to help the DRC to establish its first mission station in the Soutpansberg Range.  When the first missionaries sent out, Alexander and Hessie McKidd, died of fever, this became a testing time for the revived churches.  Henry Gonin faithfully served at Paul Kruger’s farm near Rustenburg until his death in 1911. Stefanus Hofmeyr worked faithfully for over 10 years among the surrounding tribes seeing many witchdoctors and murderers come to the Lord.

Education & Evangelism

Despite much spiritual warfare and ongoing attacks from liberals in the DRC, Andrew Murray became a renowned author, an international evangelist and the Moderator of the Dutch Reformed Church.  He established the Africa Institute which sent out hundreds of missionaries through Africa.  Andrew also pioneered women’s education in South Africa and established the Huguenot College for training Christian teachers.

Africa for Christ

The missionary vision of the Dutch Reformed Church exploded with mission stations being established in Mashonaland, Matabeleland, Bechuanaland, Nyasaland, Nigeria and Sudan.  In 1927 the Missions Committee of the Cape DRC recorded 304 serving missionaries and 72,079 baptised African Christians.  DRC missionaries from the Cape had established 1,447 schools with 2,699 teachers and 96,309 pupils.

Afrikaans Advanced

The language barrier was overcome as Afrikaans became the language of the pulpit and in 1925 Afrikaans was granted equal status with English as an official language of the country.  In 1933 the first complete Bible translated into Afrikaans was published.

Murray’s Challenge

As Andrew Murray wrote: “Live in the bold and holy confidence that God is able to bless His Church through you … God is really only waiting for prayer in order to give the blessing”

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 13

Dr. Peter Hammond

Frontline Fellowship

PO Box 74

Newlands 7725

Cape Town

South Africa

Tel: 021-689-4480

Fax: 021-685-5884

E-mail: mission@frontline.org.za

Web: www.frontline.org.za

16 APRIL 2010

If the Universal Church has all of God that she is meant to walk in then all I can say is our God is not all-powerful and is unable to reach men with the gospel. But our God is all-powerful, our God can reach all men with the gospel and bring them to repentance, the problem lies however with the un-empowered Church, who is so conceited that she think she is baptised with the power of the Holy Spirit.

In his classic book on revival Why Revival Tarries, Leonard Ravenhill remarks, “The tragedy of this late hour is that we have too many dead men in the pulpits giving out too many dead sermons to too many dead people. Oh! The horror of it. There is a strange thing I have seen “under the sun,” even in the fundamentalists circles; it is preaching without unction… Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. The unctionless preacher is a savor of death unto death. The Word does not live unless the unction is upon the preacher. Preacher, with all thy getting – get unction.”

These words from one of the 20th Century’s greatest authorities on revival is a stirring call to ministers, as well as lay people, to seek for something that Leonard believes is missing in the Church at large. Leonard called this missing quality unction. Most will know it as the Holy Spirit Baptism or the Fire Baptism of the Holy Spirit, some will even call it the anointing or power from on High. These words attempt to describe a heavenly authorization that comes from God Himself.

David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world, said:

…the great mission of preaching the gospel was first given to the Holy Spirit and then to the saints who believed in the Lord. But Jesus emphasized here that the work of evangelism should be carried out as a partnership between the Holy Spirit and mankind – with the Holy Spirit participating as the Senior Partner. We can conclude that the whole reason why evangelism today makes so little progress, why the Church is retrograde in the work of winning souls and why it has been on the brink of bankruptcy is that this partnership with the Holy Spirit has been broken. These days, people neither acknowledge the Holy Spirit nor welcome Him. Since they don’t depend upon Him, they end up in failure, trying to accomplish the work of God through their own means and efforts.

As I will reveal to you through the pages of this book, we are experiencing an epidemic of ministers and lay people across this planet who are not empowered by God through the fires of baptism to achieve the commission as given by Christ. Many Christians do not even consider baptism whatsoever in their Christian walk. Others believe they have it just by accepting Christ into their lives. Still others have been fooled into thinking they have had the baptism but do not show all the evidences that I will be revealing in this book, and I can say that tongues is not the main evidence of being baptised, it is however one of the signs.

Lack of a true baptism in the Holy Spirit is evidenced by a lack of power and authority to fulfil the commission given by Jesus Christ. God has revealed in His Word much in relation to this subject, for He wants His people walking in the full power of the fire baptism of the Holy Ghost. If the Universal Church has all of God that she is meant to walk in then all I can say is our God is not all-powerful and is unable to reach men with the gospel. But our God is all-powerful, our God can reach all men with the gospel and bring them to repentance, the problem lies however with the un-empowered Church, who is so conceited that she think she is baptised with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Leonard Ravenhill said, “Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organisers, but few agonisers; many players and payers, but few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere… The ministry of preaching is open to few; the ministry of prayer – the highest ministry of all human offices – is open to all.”

Today, we have Christian preachers who do not believe that the Bible is the authentic Word of God, yet they preach from it every Sunday and treat their calling as a job, of which they do weekly just to receive a pay packet.

We have preachers who don’t pray and do not believe in the power of prayer. We have preachers who mix their belief with the “Big Bang Theory” and “Evolution” and try to align the unchangeable “Word of God” with the ever-changing opinions and theories of “Science.”

We have preachers who never go near the basic foundational doctrines of the Christian faith, such as the doctrines on “Sin” and “Repentance” and the offensive doctrines of “Hell” and “The Wrath of God.” They see them as too confronting and would rather preach totally upon the doctrines of “God’s Love,” “God’s Acceptance” and “Prosperity.”

We have men of God who deny Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the power thereof. There are others who do not believe that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead. Others say that Jesus is not who He said He was, “The Son of God.” Other ministers foolishly try to find common ground with the god’s of other world religions, compromising the truth of Christ’s own message.

But what has become so controversial, to the point of disempowering the Church is the conflicting doctrines on the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” There are many views and opinions, but what is most clear is there are two distinct sides to the debate.

1)When you receive Christ and are born again you are in effect baptised in the Holy Spirit. There is no actual separate experience of a baptism like that which the disciples experienced at Pentecost.

2)There is a clearly distinct, separate Holy Spirit Baptism to the initial born again regeneration experience.

These two fundamental viewpoints are causes for debates between many Christians and Theologians. I believe that the foolishness of fighting over these viewpoints is stupendous. Why would one Christian try to deter another from seeking more of God? If, by the Holy Spirit, one Christian is convinced that there is more of God to seek, why would another try to tell him otherwise?

Leonard Ravenhill said, “I am astounded, bewildered, confused, baffled, when people tell me in America that we have 75 million people filled with the Holy Ghost and we’re the rottenest nation on earth.” I believe Leonard has a very strong and convicting point. Could western Christianity have a grave misunderstanding to do with being filled and being baptised with the Holy Spirit? I am sure you are going to find, after you have read this book, that the answer to the question above is that western Christians have a terrible misconception to do with being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This book has been bent by God to expose the truth in relation to the second viewpoint, mainly because Scripture tells us that there is clear evidence of a separate baptism experience for the believer and even top up infillings after the baptism. In Chapter Two, I will be presenting many Scriptures that will reveal how the Bible supports and proves that there is a clearly distinct, separate Holy Spirit Baptism to the initial born again regeneration experience.

Some of the most powerful men of God of the past have had significant, separate baptism experiences from their born again experiences, that has caused them to walk in a power and authority in Christ that few men of God have ever walked in. Thankfully, these experiences were well documented biographically and serve as excellent illustrations to the points this author is endeavouring to make. So from Chapter 4 onwards I will present the baptism experiences and the view points of Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake, Dwight Moody, Charles Finney, John Hyde and David Yonggi Cho.

If you are a Christian who is frustrated at your ability to touch and impact people for Christ and struggle with depression, anxieties and fears… If sin still drags you back into your old ways and you find that you have become powerless and want more of God and believe there has to be more to the faith than you are living, then this book will open up to you a power and stir a passion in you to be all that you are called to be.

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how do we know if we have been baptised? What is being filled with the Holy Spirit? What is the breath of Jesus that was breathed upon the disciples after He was resurrected, before He went to the Father? What is being born again? Is speaking in tongues a heavenly language or is it meant to be actual languages of men or is it both? Is there more evidence to being baptised than just speaking in tongues? Is this other evidence the evidence that we should be looking for in ourselves?

These questions and others will be examined in this book. I have attempted to compile from Scripture and from great men of God of the past who walked in the fruit of the baptism experience, what it is and how to receive it. It seems to me that the Church at large does not walk in the power of the Holy Spirit Baptism, even those who boldly proclaim that they are a Holy Spirit baptised people. There is more to the Christian faith than what we are experiencing and I intend to help you discover all that you are in Christ and guide you to ultimate empowerment.

My advice to you as you read this book is to humble yourself and empty yourself of all your prejudices for a moment so you can hear the Words of the Spirit. Open your mind and heart up to new possibilities you may never have known existed, for by doing so you may have a significant encounter with our Lord that will change who you are forever.

Copyright By Rob Cartledge 2010

16 APRIL 2010

A time is coming when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh. In John 16:7-11,Jesus is talking about a worldwide revival. This revival of the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin, unbelief and its unrighteousness. It will make the realities of the coming judgment of Christ palpable and apparent. It will be unlike any other revival in history, as it will precede the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Much of this blog, I wrote in emails to my dear friend Pastor Mark Jurisic of CityWest Church in Melton, Victoria, Australia. This section was published in my book Taking Up Your Cross.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:7-11)

A time is coming when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh. In John 16:7-11, Jesus is talking about a worldwide revival. This revival of the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin, unbelief and its unrighteousness. It will make the realities of the coming judgment of Christ palpable and apparent. It will be unlike any other revival in history, as it will precede the second coming of Jesus Christ.

How will this happen? God only knows, but we, His people, must repent, pray, believe and be prepared to throw ourselves into the work of God. When it does happen, I believe it will be accompanied by a persecution of the Church like that of the first century disciples. If we are to be used at this time, we must have a heart to take up our cross and lay it all down for Jesus.

Jesse Duplantis said that, “The Church is the hand of God.” I feel the Church is better described as a glove that is empowered when the Lord God puts it on. For when the Lord God puts the glove on, we are then part of the living God. This is what happens when we go into revival, the praying Church or Churches offer themselves (the glove) to God, and when the Lord is pleased with this offering, He puts on the glove. This is not a miracle in the sense that it is just an expected response from God. When the Church is in constant, earnest, travailing prayer for revival the Lord will respond. This is a promise from Him to the righteous man who prays much that He will prevail much.

I believe in Australia that we have a greater need for Christ than anywhere else in the world. The people in Australia, in their prosperity, have hardened themselves to Christ. We are seeing the church of Laodicea in all its workings in the Churches here. Because the Church in Australia has been so distracted, people are going to hell in the multitudes.

Joel 2:28 is on the doorstep. “And afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.” We, His people, are the deciding factor in relation to the magnitude of this last great move of God. According to the depth of our repentance, will be the height of this coming worldwide revival. We are on the threshold of the greatest move of God in history, but it all depends on us to lay hold of the presence of God to such a degree that He pours out His Spirit without limit on all flesh.

We must pray for all nations, for we are supposed to house the prayers for all nations. However, we must not get in the way and limit the extent with which God wills to work on earth. We can see the awesome power of God displayed in ways we have never dreamed if we would just pray and let Him work. We must, however, remain sensitive to His Holy Spirit. This revival is coming and it is a big one. So big in fact that it will be like a Tsunami and sweep away everyone in its path. No one will escape the effect of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh.

The Lord has revealed to me that we His people are unprepared for this revival. We have slept when we should have been preparing. We must act quickly and pray much. This coming revival is mankind’s last chance to repent. I don’t know how long this revival will last, but I do know that it will not finish until all mankind has been touched deeply by the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28).

This is what we were born for and why God saved us until the “end of the age,” to be born on earth, just prior to His return. The Lord will not return until His Spirit is poured out. This will coincide with the great rebellion, (abomination that causes desolation). We will see revival, there is absolutely no doubt about it, but it depends on our ability to remain single eyed and focused, and not let up.

Never lose heart, no matter what. If you feel oppression from the enemy, and if things start going wrong, rejoice, because this means that satan is aware of you and you have become a threat. He is throwing all he can at you to stop you succeeding. These things should confirm to you that you are closing in on the prize and that you are on the right path. Trust in Christ to see you through, and He will make your paths straight. Stay on your knees, work less, pray more.

Preach the cross of Christ alone, ”For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1Corinthians 2:2) Obedience is what He wants. Our obedience to lay it all down and be prepared to speak the truth when God tells us to do something. God is awakening His ministers and causing them to seek Him first and put Him before His work. If we do this, we will see fruit from the works that we do.

God is going to have many forerunners in this coming revival and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they will be mightily and powerfully used to glorify His name before the masses. The less we can become in our own estimation of ourselves and our desires, the more He can fill us with the Holy Spirit to revival proportions.

In these coming days of the Spirit being poured out, we will see multitudes baptised as at Pentecost; rushing winds and tongues of fire coming from Heaven. We will walk in the boldness of the early Church Apostles, for God will not hold back His blessings. We, however, must be holy and walk in total obedience. What we consider a small sin today will soon have devastating effects on our daily ability to walk in God. We must be holy as He is holy.

We have to get more and more sensitive to His Spirit. We have to go deeper and deeper. We are going to have to go so deep it’s going to be scary. We are going to experience the fear of God like we have never known. But in it all, His power will come. We must go where angels fear to tread to see revival in this country.

There is an extremely bleak and terrible apocalyptic side of the last days. But at the same time there is also an incredibly exciting side of possibility as God pours out His Holy Spirit on all flesh. The world will be ravaged by satan and a great persecution will break out against the Saints but during all this, there will be a time of great harvest. Just as heat brings the juices into fruit to ripen them, heat against the Church will bring about an incredible harvest of souls.

When God pours out His Holy Spirit on all flesh, we have to ask ourselves this question, “What will the consequences be to the Church and the world and the realities we face in these last days?” The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh will be the most significant event in all of human history. It will be the bursting forth of the new age of Christ’s second coming and will be the last great sign of His soon return and cause the turning and mass repentance of multitudes of souls worldwide. How blessed we are to be on the planet at this time. We are on the verge of witnessing the revival to end all revivals and this will be the final chance for mankind to repent before the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth along with His Church. When the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth it will result in anarchy and absolute mayhem. Hell will rise up and consume the entire earth as God pours out the bowls of His wrath (Revelation 16).

This revival will not be as we expect. It will take us by surprise, but if we are broken and yielded before Him, He will carry us in it. I believe that in this last great worldwide revival, God is going to be far more forceful than in all past revivals, where man has tried to control what God is doing. There will be casualties if men get in the way. We must make up our mind now that we are going to flow with it and let God do everything. We must pray. Actually our main job will be to pray and intercede enough, so that we will be constantly in the center of His will. We must know Him and His will, just as the great prophets of old and the apostles knew the Lord’s will and could be constantly within it.

This revival is not about the gifts, the joy, the dancing and the chicken noises or the falling down or the standing up. It’s not even about the tongues or the miracles. This revival is about Jesus and it’s about our brokenness before Him. It’s about bowing the knee in repentance before the one and only true God, declaring that He is Lord and that we have been unfaithful, wasting our Christian life in pursuits of the flesh. Awaken us Lord, break us and awaken us. Open our eyes, open our ears and remove our hearts of stone.

Revival is going to come. Think of it like this, you’ve started to chop down a really big tree and all you’ve got is a blunt axe to do it with. You will feel like your choppin’ away, choppin’ away, but nothing is happening. But with each swing a piece of the tree will fly off, sometimes little pieces, sometimes big, but always something. This is disheartening and many give up and say, “If God doesn’t give me a sharp axe, forget it, I won’t chop anymore.” So they fold their hands and give up. But if they only knew how close they were to choppin’ through, they would never have given up. If you keep choppin,’ even a blunt axe will eventually bring down a giant tree. The key is to keep swingin’ at the same spot. Focus all your energies on the weakening part of the tree. It’s hard and it is difficult to understand why God gives us this blunt axe to start revivals with. But I think it’s because He wants to see our earnestness, He wants to see us sweat for it. If He just gave it to us easily we would not appreciate it as much, but if we work hard for it (in prayer and travail) we will so appreciate every soul that comes into the house of God and proclaims, “I believe in your God, for He surely is here, He is surely in this House.”

The Lord has made it clear to me that this message is not going to be popular at first. We are facing a lot of pride in the Church. I am already facing it from leadership in some Churches. But I am encouraged when I hear of how God speaks so powerfully to those of us who give the message a chance and humble ourselves.

This revival will not come unless we are prepared to fight for it. If we are prepared to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, even if the majority is standing against us, God will see to it that we prevail. God will push us a bit to see how far we will go and how faithful we will be, but when we look back in hindsight, we will thank God that we trusted in Him even in the face of great opposition.

This Church in Australia is going to have to yield, if it does not bend before God, God will try to break it, if it won’t break before God, God is going to crush it. In the coming days, God will stamp out that which will not yield, where in the past He has allowed the Church to coast along on its merry way. He is coming back to claim His Church, and destroy that which will not walk in holiness and repentance. The coming persecution is going to change everything, during it we will know who the truly saved are, for they will shine like the sun before men.

There is going to be much opposition, for we are taking the Promised Land. God has promised us revival and claim it we must. We must be prepared for all out war. For our nation has been overrun by the enemy for many years now and he has entrenched himself. To claim this country for revival, we must fight for every inch of ground we take. It’s going to be full on and intense, but passion for Christ will see us victorious. Let’s take from the Book of Joshua and claim it in Christ’s name.

Hell is rising in Australia and coming powerfully against the Church, the evil one knows something of what is happening here, but great is the Lord and victory is ours. Fight on, Fight on!! When the demonic powers in Australia fall, town by town, city by city, state by state, this nation will bow to Christ.

Multitudes of souls depend on this revival for their eternal lives. Everything that is going to come against the Church is worth confronting and going through if what the Lord has been talking to me about comes to pass. Sometimes it will seem like just a dream and satan even tries to make us think that it is foolish to think or believe for such a thing as Australia and the world won to Christ. But these dreams are from God.

His vision for Australia is so overwhelming and so grand that because we can’t work out how He is going to do it, we begin to doubt. But I find when I pray, He expands my faith and belief, and I begin to see it as He sees it. This encourages me greatly. He is simply calling us to obedience, to pray and believe, this is the faith that He requires of us.
Yours in Christ

Rob Cartledge