Pushing Back the Darkness — E.A. Johnston

Spiritual Darkness and the Loss of Gospel Light

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 I 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.

Spiritual Decline After Revival

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 past times. 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 the community, then great darkness will fill that void and prevail.

Occupying Until Christ Returns

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.

The Cost of Abandoning Spiritual Occupation

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.

United Prayer for Glasgow

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 peace 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 the saints there to pray for the same thing, to take that town back for him.

A Call to Persistent Community Prayer

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 spirit of evil in our town? Are we upset by how the devil is taking spoils of our young people today and drugging them and perverting them? The admonition is to occupy till I come.

Hope in Christ’s Return

Christ will come again. What we are doing in the meantime will make all the difference in the world. Let us pray.