Victory in Troubled Times

The Bible warned that there will be unspeakable darkness and a great falling away in the last days before Christ returns, but most of us probably never thought we would live to see a day of moral decay quite like this.

Before David became king, he lived in a season when his own nation was in fearful spiritual decline. Self-will and false spiritualism, under King Saul, were on full display, leading the nation toward what inevitably would become certain defeat without divine intervention. David soon found himself being pursued by an army that hoped to cast off all that represented God. Of course, we know that David ultimately ended up being someone who made a difference.

What are we supposed to do in these days? We must pray for deliverance from the spirit of the age. “Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their hearts” (Psalm 140:1-2). In this psalm, David was referring to those who were looking for a solution in human terms. David was the Christ-type of his generation, and he felt called to something higher than the petty violence and grievance of his generation.

We, too, must pray for deliverance from the spirit of this age, saying, “Lord, I do not want to be part of the problem but part of the solution. Help me to get my mind back on spiritual things. Get me away from the media and anything that might poison my spirit and cause my speech to lose its effectiveness as it becomes exactly the way of the world. Give me your Holy Spirit! Give me your thoughts, your mind, your compassion for the multitudes. Help me to love even my enemies.”

In the natural, we are on the weaker side; but in the spiritual, we are already more than conquerors. We are seated at the right hand of Almighty God, the one who already destroyed the power of darkness and sits in all power and authority. We have direct access to the throne of God with power to push back the darkness and believe that there will be victory and rejoicing in the days ahead!

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.}