The Heavenly Father has established an unfailing covenant for a sovereign revival in His New Testament church. Every great awakening in America, Great Britain, Africa, South America, etc., past or present, is set in this covenant. While I am a classical Pentecostal, most great visitations from God have occurred among non-Pentecostals. Yet in the process of those awakenings, Pentecostal powers became wonderfully accepted. Revival without the manifestation of Holy Ghost ministry and gifts is impossible. Yet, the New Testament model for these Sovereign events had to be Biblically maintained or the revival ended in confusion and emotional foolishness.

A perfect model for this covenant of divine visitation is found in the Book of Acts. It is a blood covenant and cannot be disannulled. Every time one person or more humbles himself or herself before God, refuses to doubt what the Master has said, and waits in travail for a lost world, totally separating themselves from known and hidden sins, a sovereign visitation will occur. The blood covenant of the Father by His Son cannot be broken unless we break it or fail to believe to the time of its manifestation. Our covenant with Him cannot be fulfilled on our timetable, but on His Divine Watch. His divine Plan is perfect and most worthy of our absolute rest and faith.

The sovereign model of a Biblical awakening clearly started on the Day of Pentecost. It continued throughout the whole Book of Acts. As you move from this great book into the epistles, you see the evidence of a Holy Ghost empowered church turning the world upside down and establishing the great doctrines of this New Covenant that Jesus had established. The Book of Acts is our model for the church. We dare not turn from this model to human schemes and sociological ideas. Paul clearly warned us not to depart from this established plan. He said, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Corinthians 4:1-2).

One of the most beautiful moments in the Book of Acts is seen in chapter four. The leaders of the church had been put in prison after the miracle of the lame men at the Beautiful Gate. The Jewish leaders were angry with the Apostles, but afraid of the people. The city was shaken and over three thousand had already been converted to Christ. The Jewish leaders threatened the apostles and commanded them to preach no more in the name of Jesus. These men, full of the Holy Ghost, had no fear of their enemies or threats, but were totally convinced that the Kingdom of God would prevail. The threats of these vicious leaders only served to set their faces toward God and to make them completely dependent on the promised covenant. The promise of the Holy Ghost had come and He would triumph in the church.

Let’s look at this text, “And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their thr eatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that will all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus" (Acts 4:23-30). What a statement of the covenant relationship these men had accepted.

First, they confessed their faith in God. “Lord thou art God which hath made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is.” Then, they declared the covenant that David had spoken in prophecy of this very moment in human history. “Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ” (Acts 4:25-26). It is imperative that we see their confidence in the connection between Pentecost and this prophesied covenant. They knew that this covenant of victory over every power they might encounter was already guaranteed. The Holy Ghost had given these words to David concerning Jesus Christ and His death and the effect it would have in the world. They were going to experience a Sovereign move of God over all powers of human government and resistance because David had prophesied and it was already being fulfilled.

I can almost hear Peter, James, John, or one of the other disciples, standing up in the market place or the Jewish temple and reading Psalm Two as a sermon text. Let’s listen in, as they must have read this text in either the Greek or Hebrew language: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. As k of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:1-9).

God had spoken and these men were taking the country by storm. Let the heathen rage or their own rulers take counsel against the Lord or the “Anointed One.” They were His anointed and they said, “Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us,” and cast away their cords they did! It is beautiful to look by faith at the way they acted in total surrender and faith to the Word of God. The more the powers of Rome or the Jewish leaders stood against these Holy Ghost filled preachers or witnesses, the more effect they had. Multitudes were being saved and supernatural miracles were abundant.

If every Saint of God could see beyond the cross, they would find nothing but joy in being totally surrendered to our Lord. A “Cross Life” passes through many tough places. It includes self-denial, separation from the world, and many battles with the enemy of our soul. The “Cross Life” is never easy and is diametrically contrary to this world system. But, remember, it is the grandest life known to the human race.

First we must understand the cross of Jesus Christ. His cross far exceeds any cross we will ever be required to bear. He left His Heavenly Father’s eternal presence to condescend into His human temple. He actually laid aside all expressions of divinity — not the nature, but the outward glory — to walk among men. He endured every action of human hatred and abuse without complaint. When they battered His body, He only prayed for their forgiveness. He gave His body and soul for the remission of all of our sin. His cross was the ultimate cross. None can match the price He paid.

The Bible explains why and how He could bear such a load. He became our guilt for every human sin. There was only one possible way a human body could carry the load He carried. He looked beyond the cross to the triumph of human redemption and to the saints that would share that new life.

The Apostle Paul put this fact into perfect words to inspire the saints to bear their cross with exceeding hope of victory. The Holy Spirit inspired the words, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

The Son of God prayed in the Garden, endured the stripes of great suffering, and finally died by the cruelest possible means without one expression of resistance. It was His vision of the joy this would produce that enabled Him to endure the cross. Notice those words again, “Who for the joy that was sit before Him.” Jesus Christ took a cross of sorrow and shame and turned it into the “Hope of The World.” That cross became the center of human history. It dates every event of mankind’s six thousand years.

The Lord Jesus Christ had proclaimed, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life …” (John 14:6). That statement was impossible without His cross. There is no final Way, or Truth, or Life until we properly view His death and His resurrection. Our cross can and will produce a likeness of His cross when we totally surrender to the death life it requires. To even speak of the cross without death is a total misnomer. It is Impossible! A cross can produce pain, sorrow, and shame; but, if that life stops short of death, it is only religion. The thing that is missing in today’s Church is that nobody wants to die to themselves. Separating one’s self from the world is almost completely absent in the present Church world.

Something sovereign is happening that will produce an awakening. The Christ-centered life of sanctification and death is going to break forth in a Holy Ghost revival. Actually, it cannot fail. It is impossible for even one saint of God to die to their self and not create a shakening. When God’s saints look beyond the pain of self-surrender and put everything of self on the altar to Him, a spiritual earthquake is in the making.

I challenge my Salty Saints’ readers to join me in death to ourselves. I do not speak of self-righteousness or just an external appearance of piety. I speak of allowing the grace of God to chasten, purify, and cleanse us until Jesus Christ is our everything. The joy of seeing the results of such surrender is the vision that will carry us through the dying process. Watch and see what our God is going to do when we can glory in our own cross and all of our independence has been crucified.

Praying is a waste of time until the Prayer Warrior is willing to engage Satan in combat. The Son of God made one of his greatest proclamations about prayer in Matthew’s Gospel. His words took my breath when I read them again a few days ago. My soul has been longing for a prayer life like John Knox, Duncan Campbell, or John Wesley. The king of England declared that he feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the armies of his enemies. Today, it is clear that our politicians fear nobody, not even God.

That is about to change. Here is what Jesus Christ said about prayer, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house” (Matthew 12:28-29). Praying for a change in our churches, homes, or communities is hopeless until we move beyond just making petitions to God about the needs. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds…” (2 Corinthians 4:4a). Satan must be defeated by saints that engage him in combat. Satan has to be cast out of a situation before prayer can change that situation.

The Father is ready for you and me to learn that we can bind Satan and every evil spirit under his command. Never has our world been more overwhelmed with the spirit of the Antichrist. Our children are deeply troubled by dark forces of the night. Music of this generation is straight out of the pit. Rock, rap, and most contemporary music are soulical at best and often diabolical. This music creates bondage and spiritual blindness. Even small children are terribly troubled by spirits of fear and selfishness. Only in defeating these spirits can these lives be liberated.

Satan is nothing but a fallen angel. Jesus Christ has provided His church with authority to bind Satan and his powers so that Satan can do nothing but yield. The Son of God said “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

This statement was made to Peter. Some might say that it does not apply to the church. Our Lord of His church was careful to eliminate that possible argument. Later, He speaks to the church about brother sinning against brother and the authority of the church to deal with such situations. He then tells the church, clearly identified as the church, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven”(Matthew 18:18-19). The church is His authority on earth, which includes the very realm of Lucifer. The very word church means “called out and set in authority.”

The Apostle Paul gave us the picture of warfare in the spiritual realm and warned us that it was like “hand-to-hand” combat. He said by the Spirit, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:11-12). Using the term “wrestle” reminds us of a personal engagement. It’s a spiritual war that we are called to be part of in this Christian life. Many years ago, the church used terms with a military ring, but our modern church is passive and resents such terminology. Their helplessness is the result of this lost of a warfare mentality.

This kind of warfare is not for the adult babies in our churches. The church is full of worldly, emotionally titillated people trying to use spiritualistic powers to bind spirits. They are making things worse, not better. The seven sons of Sceva were of the same nature as these spiritual weaklings. Seven of his sons tried to use the name of Jesus whom Paul preached and prayed over a possessed man. The result was a perfect picture of our church world today. “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:15-16). Does Satan know our names like he knew Apostle Paul’s name?

Do not think to move quickly into this warfare with hell. Prepare your life by separation from the world and a great period of consecration to a life hid in Christ. Seek His righteousness and holiness until there is a broken and humble spirit before the Lord. Obey every Biblical restriction of Godliness and learn how to utterly depend on Christ and His Holy Spirit.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude1:20). “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32b).