The Violent Take the Kingdom by Force

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This greatness of true manhood is so much to be desired that ‘the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12

God intends that those who are really serious about storming the kingdom with all the force of their being are the ones who truly enter and experience the deep things of God, living on a plane that is inconceivable to the rest of humanity. They walk on the high places of the earth, and are fed with the heritage of Jacob, their father. (Isaiah 58:14).

“With the great truth we have been privileged to receive, we should, and under the Holy Spirit’s power we could, become living channels of light. We could then approach the mercy seat; and seeing the bow of promise, kneel with contrite hearts, and seek the kingdom of heaven with a spiritual violence that would bring its own reward. We would take it by force, as did Jacob. Then our message would be the power of God unto salvation. Our applications would be full of earnestness, full of a sense of our great need; and we would not be denied. The truth would be expressed by life and character, and by lips touched with living coal from God’s altar. When this experience is ours, we shall be lifted out of our poor, cheap selves that we have cherished so tenderly. We shall empty our hearts of the corroding power of selfishness, and shall be filled with praise and gratitude to God. We shall magnify the Lord, the God of all grace, who has magnified Christ. And He will reveal His power through us, making us as sharp sickles in the harvest field (RH Feb. 14, 1899).” 5 BC 1089.

 

Reeds and the Mark

Jesus asked if the people went out to the wilderness to see a reed shaken in the wind. We must now have a character that does not bend in the wind. We much have roots that go far below the depth of the apostasy and anchor in the character and personality of God. We must be anchored far beyond this earth, to the throne of God. Those who bend to earthy influence will receive the mark in their forehead. Those who allow themselves to be pressured will receive the mark in the hand.

We must plow ahead steadily, as John did, in the work of preparing a people for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory, without being swayed or influenced in the slightest by the apostasy all around us.

 

New Wineskins for New Wine

Apostasy becomes imbedded in culture, in churches. Layer after layer of apostasy resting upon wrong principles and decisions means that a person such as John had to scrap altogether even being around apostasy. That is why he, at an early age, went and lived out in the desert, alone with God –so that only God would influence him.

There must be new wineskins for new wine. Matthew 9: 17. The structures of self, self-esteem, apostasy, and ecumenism cannot hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

The Greatest Deception in Jesus’ Day: A Mere Assent to Truth Constitutes Righteousness

Unless a man starts out on the right foot, on the right premise, in utter self-renunciation and crucifixion, and Christ is born in the depth of his soul, everything else is askew. Of what value is it for the soul to intellectually know the advanced doctrinal truth if the soul is not saved through self-surrender to Christ?

“The greatest deception of the human mind in Christ’s day was that a mere assent to the truth constitutes righteousness. In all human experience, a theoretical knowledge of the truth has been proved to be sufficient for the saving of the soul. It does not bring forth the fruits of righteousness. A jealous regard for what is termed theological truth often accompanies a hatred of genuine truth as made manifest in life. The darkest chapters of history are burdened with the record of crimes committed by bigoted religionists.” DA 309.

 

Built Upon the Foundation

“Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:5.

I have heard people involved in fanaticism advance highly theoretical linguistic arguments when the issue they really needed to address was, What think ye of Christ? Let us have all the advanced developed truth that we can bear, but let it be built on the foundation of Christ-the Biblical Christ and on His Word.  A building not built on the Foundation will be swept away in the tempest. All around us buildings are crumbling. We must be built up in Him, the Rock of Ages, the Cornerstone, the Foundation. That is why the Three Angels’ Messages begin with the everlasting gospel.

 

Earthquakes Predicted by Scientists

Scientists are now predicting a massive earthquake with a 32-foot shift of the tectonic plates along the San Andreas fault, which runs right through Loma Linda and up the coastline of California.

Thirteen million people will be affected. On scientist said it could happen tomorrow, it could be happening right now. The science of earthquake prediction, it was noted, in 1906, the time of the San Francisco earthquake, was like driving a car with a mud splattered windshield. The scientist said that now that the windshield is crystal clear, with a thousand times better prognostication.

 

The Cascadia Subduction Zone

A recent production of the Weather Channel, “It Could Happen Tomorrow,” deals with an overdue impending earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone, along the coast of Oregon and Washington.

This series of productions by The Weather Channel (“It Could Happen Tomorrow”) has scored an amazingly accurate prediction regarding a hurricane hitting New Orleans. One of this series was released regarding New Orleans and a killer Hurricane about 3 or 4 months before Katrina. It was remarkably on target.

The coming Cascadia subduction earthquake, once again, is long overdue. The last major earthquake in the area was 300 years ago. No one can tell when it will come. There will be no warning at all, the scientists say.

Every year the Pacific tectonic plate slides under the North American, plate 5.5 centimeters more. The pressure builds and builds, and suddenly will be released in a tremendous earthquake. The fault line is the Juan de Fuca. A magnitude 9 earthquake is predicted. The earthquake will go on for an estimated ten minutes. If it is going to happen, the question is when. The shift on the ocean floor will unleash fifty-foot tsunami waves.

February 27, 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake occurred at Kodiak, Alaska. That earthquake was due to an identical geological scenario to what exists along the coast of Oregon and Washington….and identical to the same geological features along Sumatra with the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami.

 

Going With the Flow

A reed shaken in the wind represents people who bend in whatever direction the wind is blowing. If they read in the church periodicals about how wonderful self-esteem is, they believe it. If the Purpose driven Life Seminars are held, they attend. If they read the Review editorial advancing political correctness, they buy it without critical reflection. If special music is hard rock, they approve-or at least say nothing. If NLP training is given the elders, that is fine. If the youth have a rap concert that is all right. If the eleven o’clock service is Celebration, that is great. If they hear the government/media complex version of 9-11, though it defies all truth, fact, and reality, they go along with it.

 

Moved Off the Foundation

Reeds shaken with the wind. Removed off the Foundation. The training of conscience to receive the mark of the beast in the forehead. Or perhaps they are disturbed by it all, and say nothing, but just go along with it. Reeds shaken with the wind. Trained to receive the mark of the beast in the hand.

 

Immoveable as the Rocks and Mountains

“In our character building we must build on Christ. He is the sure foundation-a foundation which can never be moved.” SD 155

Not so John. No reed shaken in the wind. No circumstance shaped him. Only God, and the Spirit of God. Rather, he was as immoveable in conscience and spirit as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness. He knew God, and he knew God’s sacred truth, which he practiced.

 

He That is Least in the Kingdom of Heaven is Greater than He

 “And he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  Matthew 11:11.

Viewed from the perspective of man, John was the extreme of the extremes, the radical of the radicals. Viewed from God’s perspective, John was the greatest man born of woman-a man who was dead center on target. Viewed from the perspective of man’s judgment, John’s parents were radical-they were different from almost all the other priests. They walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. Luke 1:6. However, even the radical departure from the surrounding apostasy was not enough for John. He separated even from relatives to go to live in the wild wilderness, a desert land of rocky caves and wild ravines, so that no alien influences would shape his perception of God.

 

The Desert Solitude a Welcome Escape

“It was a lonely region where he found his home, in the midst of barren hills, wild ravines, and rocky caves. However, it was his choice to forgo the enjoyments and luxuries of life for the stern disciple of the wilderness. Here his surroundings were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial. Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature, of revelation, and of Providence. The words of the angel to Zacharias had been often repeated to John by his God-fearing parents. From childhood, his mission had been kept before him, and he accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from society in which suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well nigh all-pervading.  He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation, and shrank from constant contact with sin, lest he should lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness.” DA 101, 102.

 

“That Which is Highly Esteemed Among Men is Abomination in the Sight of God”

To man, this man who had spent his life ‘in solitude…meditation and prayer” was insane, they said, “He hath a devil.” To God, this man was the greatest among men born of women.

The Glory of Being a True Disciple

Jesus declared, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Matthew 11:11. Great though John in his faithfulness, his radical departure from apostasy, his grasp of the glory of God in the might of the Holy Spirit, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  The least person in the kingdom of heaven is granted, through the power of the infinite Christ, a greater revelation of the glory and might of the character of God than John, the greatest born of women. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven takes a man infinitely farther down the path of the radical knowledge of God than even John, the radical of radicals. If John was radically different from his wicked generation, even more so is the member of the kingdom of heaven.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is Gotten by Force

Listen carefully to what Jesus now says regarding the radical nature of John and the even greater radical nature of those who are in the kingdom:

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is gotten by force, by violence, (to apply force, to enter forcibly, passive from here means to be violently treated, to be oppressed, to suffer violence) and the violent, the one who uses violence, they that thrust men, snatch it, rob it, take it by force.” Matthew 11:12.

Jesus declares that if you think that John, who lived in the wild desert all his life, one who is a greater than a prophet, greater than all born of women, a man who scorns the luxury and conventions of men who wear soft clothing, is radical, the least in the kingdom is greater even than John, and it is men of violence, spiritual violence, who take the kingdom-men who storm the kingdom with all the spiritual force at their command. 

 

Seek the Kingdom of Heaven With Spiritual Violence

“With the great truth we have been privileged to receive, we should, and under the Holy Spirit’s power we could, become living channels of light. We could then approach the mercy seat; and seeing the bow of promise, kneel with contrite hearts, and seek the kingdom of heaven with spiritual violence that would bring its own reward. We could take it by force, as did Jacob. Then our message would be the power of God unto salvation. Our supplications would be full of earnestness, full of a sense of our great need; and we would not be denied. The truth would be expressed by life and character, and by lips touched with the living coal from God’s altar.  When this experience is ours, we shall be lifted out of our poor, cheap selves that we have cherished so tenderly. We shall empty our hearts of the corroding power of selfishness, and shall be filled with praise and gratitude to God. We shall magnify the Lord, the God of all grace, who has magnified Christ. And He will reveal His power through us, making us sharp sickles in the harvest field (RH Feb. 14, 1899).” 5 BC 1089.

“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

“And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” Matthew 11:13, 14. Here is the living incarnation of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 11:13-15.

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