When the light of the gospel goes out
in a town, a vacuum is created, and
that vacuum is filled with darkness.
Evil will begin to permeate a community as
Satan stakes out his ground, as gross wickedness
becomes the norm instead of godliness in that
community.
I've experienced this several times in my life.
Once when driving up to Chicago, I pulled
into a small community to buy some gas.
The very atmosphere of that town was heavy
with spiritual darkness.
It was a Sunday, and the first thing
I encountered was a van driving ahead of
me, advertising a local strip club.
But what was so shocking was that the
van was covered with photos of completely naked
women as it drove around town on a
Sunday.
I was so shocked I looked for a
police officer to see if I could complain
about obscenity laws, but none were to be
found.
As I pulled into a gas station and
got out, I noticed two men arguing in
loud voices like they were going to get
into a fight, and they were swearing at
each other.
A man at the gas pump closest to
me fell into a rage, began pounding on
the gas pump, and started taking God's name
in vain.
It was as if the whole area was
seen disturbed from hell.
As I pulled out of the gas station,
a woman gave me the finger and yelled
obscenities at me.
I couldn't wait to get out of that
hell-filled town.
I believe this is particularly true of a
town where once God moved in powerful revivals
and blessings of giving a town godly ministers
and pastimes, and once they die and no
one rises up to carry the spiritual baton,
so to speak, that Satan will move in
there and spread his malignity throughout that town.
I get this sense every time I visit
the town of Northampton, Massachusetts, where Solomon Stoddard,
Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, David Brainerd so blessed
that town with their presence.
Even Praying Hyde from India stayed in that
town for a time.
But now you see lesbians walking hand in
hand in broad daylight without any shame, and
a pride parade takes over that town every
year and floods it with homosexuals.
Even in Bridge Street Cemetery, where David Brainerd's
grave is, I have heard on more than
one occasion a demon laughing who lives among
the tombs there.
I've walked to where the mocking laughter rises
and have found no one each time I've
heard it.
I had a fellow evangelist with me one
year when this demon manifested himself to us
with this mocking laughter, and my friend heard
him as well and was so disquieted by
it he wanted to leave immediately.
Like I said, when the light of the
gospel goes out in a community, then great
darkness will fill that void and prevail.
In Luke's Gospel in chapter 19 and in
verses 12 through 14 we read, He said,
Therefore a certain nobleman went into a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom and
to return.
And he called his ten servants and delivered
them ten pounds and said unto them, Occupy
till I come.
But his citizens hated him and sent a
message after him, saying, We will not have
this man to reign over us.
I believe this passage, friends, is telling us
to proactively occupy until his return.
Not to be passive, not to be inactive
in prayer, but to occupy with the full
force of our capacity and capability that God
has given us.
But I fear some of us have thrown
in the towel.
It got too tough for us in ministry,
and we got discouraged, or we got our
feelings hurt by a deacon or somebody at
church, or it got too hot for us
as we could no longer endure the fiery
darts of the evil one thrown at us
continually.
So we quit occupying.
We just maintain instead.
And the devils just run all over our
town.
Sin is rampant.
Vice is king.
Immorality holds sway.
But I believe we can do something about
it, friends, if we band together, pray together,
make a vow to push back the darkness
in our community and clean house and occupy
till he comes.
I'll never forget a conversation with a Scottish
pastor from Glasgow whom I was having lunch
with.
He told me the most incredible story.
He said that his town of Glasgow, Scotland,
for years had a local banner spread all
throughout the town with the town motto.
The town motto was, Let Glasgow Flourish in
the Name of the Lord.
And that had been the town motto for
centuries.
That is until some godless liberal elected officials
changed the town motto to read, Let Glasgow
Flourish.
That's all it said.
They got rid of the words, In the
Name of the Lord.
And this Scottish pastor told me that when
they did that, the town became more evil.
Drug use increased.
Teenage pregnancies increased.
Vice and drunkenness increased, as well as gross
immorality to such a degree that it disturbed
the of the local pastors.
Finally, this pastor shared with me that several
of the pastors made a vow together to
push back the darkness in their community by
meeting for prayer once a week and crying
out to God to come and push back
the darkness by his spirit to clean up
the community for his honor.
This man told me that God honored their
prayers for soon drug use declined, teenage pregnancies
declined, vice and immorality and drunkenness declined, as
the spirit of God occupied that territory once
again for his glory.
When I was in Glasgow, I visited with
a godly pastor who didn't know these other
men, but who was a man of prayer
as well.
And I believe that God was moving among
many of his saints there to pray for
the same thing, to take that town back
for him.
I believe, friends, that we too can experience
the same results if we only banded together
and made a commitment to pray regularly and
fervently until the darkness was pushed back in
our own community as well.
Are we sick of sin?
Are we grieved over the spread of evil
in our town?
Are we upset by how the devil has
taken spoils of our young people today and
drugging them and perverting them?
The admonition is to occupy till I come.
Christ will come again.
What we are doing in the meantime will
make all the difference in the world.
Let us pray.