Have you fought earnestly against sin? It is a bloody battle. Are You Violent Enough? I want to discuss two kinds of violence that Christians should be involved in.
Matthew tells us "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." This text in the past has always made me wonder a bit. It sounds kind of odd that the Heaven could be taken by force and much less that the Kingdom is occupied by violent people. My mind automatically goes to when Peter cuts the ear off of Malchus and Christ turns around and heals him and tells Peter that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. So in this text Christ is obviously not talking about acts of violence against other people.
So what is this violence that Jesus speaks of? If it’s the violent that take and occupy Heaven what is this violence we need to have? Let’s start by looking at a couple of examples that I believe will help us understand what Christ is talking about here.
Mark illustrates a similar situation. "And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter."
Now let’s stop for a minute and think about this. Here is a man that because of his disease is cut off from all society including his friends and family. He has a disease that would even make a revered king an outcast. He’s been told that he is suffering under the curse of God and there is no hope.
Then rumors make their way to him about a man in Galilee that heals people from all kinds of diseases. He stops to ponder that maybe even Christ wont’ heal him as nothing of this kind has been done since the days of Elisha.
But nevertheless hope springs up in his heart since it’s been told him that Christ has helped everyone that has asked for help and he determines to find this Jesus and ask for healing. But how is he supposed to get near Christ? He can’t enter the city and he can’t just wait around hoping Christ will come his way. The difficulties in getting to Christ are great but it’s his only hope and he becomes determined to find this Healer.
Then one day he finds Christ teaching a crowd of people beside a lake. From a distance he watches as lame are healed and blind are given sight. He continues to watch as the cripples walk again and other dying people are healed and walk away in health!
His faith starts to grow and he is drawn to Christ. He starts to walk closer and closer. He forgets that he’s considered unclean and as he walks closer the people can see his decaying flesh and step on each other in their attempt to get away from him. The crowd yells at him to get away but he doesn’t see or hear them. He only sees the Son of God and only hears the voice that speaks life to the dying.
He falls at the feet of Jesus and cries out “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” And immediately Christ replies “I will, be thou clean.”
My friends do you see the violence this man offered to gain healing? No, it’s not a physical violence but once he saw his need and the solution. Nothing stands in his way. As difficult as it is he sets out to find
| Nothing stands in his way |
Christ. He doesn’t let societal norms stop him. People try to block his way and yet even this doesn’t stop him. He doesn’t care what people think or will think. He only knows that he can’t let this opportunity slip away.
You probably already see where I’m going with this. As good Bible students you know that this story of Christ healing the leper is an illustration of His desire, ability, and willingness to heal us from the leprosy of sin.
We cannot through human effort heal our disease. It’s only the healing power of the grace of God that can cleanse the soul of sin. Isaiah describes our situation. "….the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isaiah 1:5-6
But if we will fall at the feet of Jesus and say in faith “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,” we will hear the same answer Christ gave the leper. “I will, be thou clean.”
Here is how it’s described in the Desire of the Ages. In some instances of healing, Jesus did not at once grant the blessing sought. But in the case of leprosy, no sooner was the appeal made than it was granted. When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to our prayer may be delayed, or God may give us something other than we ask, but not so when we ask for deliverance from sin. It is His will to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Galatians 1:4. And "this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." 1 John 5:14, 15. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Pg. 266.
I want to show you one more example of violence that will help us gain the Kingdom of Heaven. "And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." Mark 2:3-11.
In this example we have a man who also had lost all hope of being healed. But his case is a little different in that unlike the leper the paralytic has brought this disease upon himself through life choices. He bears the burden of guilt and this is what he most desires to be healed of. How do I know this? Because it’s the first thing Christ dealt with. First He told the main be of good cheer thy sins be forgiven thee. Then Jesus healed the man.
Sometimes Christ grants physical healing first then deals with the heart but this time the burden of sin was the greatest thing this man desired relief from.
Do you see the violence this man offered? He was a paralytic and yet he took Heaven by violence. Do you see that he saw his need? Do you see how badly he desired to be healed? He wanted it to so badly
| Rip apart someone else’s roof |
that he had four of his friends carry him across town on a stretcher to where Jesus was. When they got there they couldn’t get near Christ. So what did he have them do? He convinced them to haul himself unto the roof of the house and he asked his friends to commit what we’d call vandalism today. He had his friends rip apart someone else’s roof and then lower him down.
My brothers and sisters this is the kind of violence that will take the Kindgom of Heaven. So I ask are you violent enough? Have you seen your need? If you have, what have you done about it? Have you offered the kind of violence these men did?
Mrs. White has this to say when it comes to this kind of violence. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). The violence here meant is a holy earnestness, such as Jacob manifested. We need not try to work ourselves up into an intense feeling, but calmly, persistently, we are to press our petitions at the throne of grace. Our work is to humble our souls before God, confessing our sins, and in faith drawing nigh unto God. . . . It is the design of God to reveal Himself in His providence and in His grace. The object of our prayers must be the glory of God, not the glorification of ourselves. TMK 272.
There is one other thing I want to say about this kind of violence before I move on to the second kind. Some of us don’t have the victories we desire because we don’t understand the power of the will. We must make a determined effort to put our will on God’s side. You might ask what I mean by this. Here are two verses that will help explain. One from Isaiah and one from Daniel
Isaiah 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
| I set my face like a flint |
Isaiah says to set our face like flint and we won’t’ be ashamed and Daniel gave us the example of being determined beforehand that we won’t defile ourselves with sin. These 3 sentences from the 5th volume of the testimonies says it better than I can.
You will be in constant peril until you understand the true force of the will. You may believe and promise all things, but your promises or your faith are of no value until you put your will on the side of faith and action. If you fight the fight of faith with all your will power, you will conquer. 5T 513.
Now I’d like to discuss the second kind of violence that all Christians should be involved in. We have an enemy that wishes to destroy us. "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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
I’m not going to go through each and every one of these examples in this passage. But just look at what Paul talks about. Not only are we to put on armor but we can’t afford to skip one step. Our loins are to be girded with truth, having the breastplate of righteousness, our feet fitted the gospel of peace, taking the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and sword which is the Word of God.
Does this sound like something one would wear while on vacation or at a spa? Let me suggest that there
| No resting ground between here and heaven |
is no resting ground between here and heaven. The devil doesn’t sleep so we are to be constantly wearing our armor while keeping watch with prayer.
Have you ever considered what Paul says in verse two? He says that we wrestle with evil. Anyone here ever watch a wrestling match? It is hand to hand combat. Each side seeking to pin the opponent down to the mat. There are long drawn out sessions and sweat flows and groans are uttered. Each one not daring to let up or else loose the match.
Does this remind you of a story in the Old Testament? Jacob wrestled with what he thought as an enemy. Do you remember how long Jacob wrestled? It was all night. This wasn’t some high school match. Jacob was wrestling for his life.
I don’t say these things to scare you but to make you aware of the dangers. So long as we have put on our armor and have surrendered our hearts to God we are promised victory. Here is a favorite line of mine from the Desire of Ages. "Others He met who were fighting a hand-to-hand battle with the adversary of souls. These He encouraged to persevere, assuring them that they would win; for angels of God were on their side, and would give them the victory."
In the book Pilgrims Progress the main character named Christian meets the giant Apollyon who threatens to kill him. For a moment he thinks about turning around to run but then realizes that there is no armor for his back so he determinedly stands his ground and fights until satan is forced to leave him alone.
Here are a few more Bible passages to consider.
Luk_13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Heb_12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Jer 12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
1Co_9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
Heb_12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
1Ti_6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
My fellow Christians, I ask you one more time. Are you being violent? Have you taken hold of Heaven even though at the moment you live here on earth? Are you fighting the good fight of faith?
The Kingdom of heaven is free but we must still actively seek to take hold of it. The Israelites were offered the promised land of Canaan freely but they had to put forth violent effort to gain it. They were to go into the land and subdue by warfare the inhabitants of the land even though they may be giants.
You too can be a giant slayer. Everyone has to slay different giants at different times in their lives. Don’t
get discouraged. There are no blessings in giving up. Do you want to be guaranteed victory? Here is the answer…
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
And once the whole heart is submitted to God He promises this…
Rev_2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Matthew 25:23
(23) His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
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