Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Why did God save us, heal us, prosper us, deliver us, and protect us? No, not because of our faith. It is because He loves us. Faith certainly connects us to the benefits, but it is God’s love that is the reason He did it. I John 4 tells us, “God is love.” This means that “love” is not a characteristic or attribute of God, it is the very essence of God. It is Who He is.
I asked God a question one day recently. “Why do so many Believers struggle to believe and receive the already purchased benefits of God? I know You love them dearly, so why is it so difficult for them to receive from You?” As is God’s method of teaching me, He sent me to a verse, Matthew 11:12.
Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Years ago, I remember reading this verse and thinking to myself, “what in the world is He speaking of? I don’t remember reading of any attacks or violence in Heaven or these violent people being referred to in the verse trying to overthrow Heaven.” It made absolutely no sense to me. And it won’t to anyone else if they read past what Jesus was doing in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Throughout the stated books, it tells us Jesus was preaching and teaching The Kingdom of God.
We’ve spoken of The Kingdom of God in past messages. You’ll find The Kingdom of God and The Kingdom of Heaven are synonymous. When you read the verse in context, it almost seems out of place. Jesus is speaking of John the Baptist in the verses before and after Matthew 11:12. It’s almost as if Jesus is speaking, and then breaks His train of thought to throw in this verse, then goes back to what He was originally speaking about. Let’s examine it.
In Matthew 11:12, Jesus starts by saying that since John the Baptist has been on the scene and up until the moment Jesus is speaking, The Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence. Now, we know there is no violence in Heaven, and there is no account of violence in Heaven. So, it literally can’t mean Heaven is suffering violence. If it’s not literal, then it has to be figurative speech. But what does it mean? The second part of the verse gives us a clue. “The violent take it by force.” This implies there is some kind of figurative assault on Heaven by violent individuals. The language just seems strange coming from Jesus.
Let’s start by defining where Jesus taught us The Kingdom of God (The Kingdom of Heaven) is located. We look to Luke 17:20-21 for this.
Luke 17:20-21
20 And when He [Jesus} was demanded of the Pharisees, when The Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, The Kingdom of God is within you.
Jesus tells us The Kingdom of God is located in our Spiritual hearts. What is The Kingdom of God? We find this in Isaiah 9:6-7.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Verse 6 tells us “the government shall be upon His shoulder.” This government is The Kingdom of God. Verse 7 tells us His government, The Kingdom of God, shall increase and bring peace with it and that He, Jesus, will rule it and establish it with judgment and justice forever. A government has laws. In this case, the laws are Spiritual. We’ve written about the Spiritual Laws of The Kingdom of God in the past.
One other pertinent fact is the message John the Baptist was preaching of “repentance” was so different from the condemnation of the law taught in the Synagogue. Under the law, a yearly sacrifice had to be made for sins. Now you have this strange dressing and acting prophet preaching, “Repent ye: for The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2). The word “repent’ in this verse is the Greek word, “metanoeó,” which means, “to change one’s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.” John is telling the Israelites to change their way of thinking for The Kingdom of Heaven is here. Why was John saying such a thing? Remember what it says in Isaiah 9:6-7. The Mighty God is now here, and He has brought the government, The Kingdom of God, with Him. He, Jesus, is The King of The Kingdom. It is His government which according to Isaiah is to increase throughout the earth and all of creation, and Jesus is to rule it with justice and judgment. John can say this because The King is here. John was baptizing people in the river Jordan, and they were confessing their sins. No, this was not the “forgive me father for I have sin and the naming of the sins.” They were acknowledging they were sinners and asking God’s forgiveness. Notice John doesn’t have them offering animal sacrifices. Why? Because Jesus is the one, only, and last sacrifice. Once Jesus made it into the earth as a human being, as flesh, the fix was in.
If we read Jesus’ teachings and the signs and wonders He performed, we are reading and seeing The Kingdom of God in action. The Kingdom is operated by Spiritual Laws. Spiritual Laws are activated by words and actions. John the Baptist introduces The Kingdom of God and The King of The Kingdom. The Kingdom is not based on behavior, it is based on faith. This is the New Covenant of God through Jesus Christ. No longer are animal sacrifices required, only faith in the once and last sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So, when John the Baptist said to “repent ye: for The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” he was directing the Israelites to change their thinking and their hearts from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.
Circling back to Matthew 11:12, we now have a better understanding of what Jesus was saying in this verse. “From the days of John the Baptist until now” is letting everyone know something has changed starting with John the Baptist and it continues until this moment. The word “now” is in a Greek tense that means it has started and ever continues. I could issue this statement, “From the days of John the Baptist until now,” and it would still be true in this present day. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence…” The word “violence” in this verse is the Greek word, “biazo,” which means, “laying hold of something with positive aggressiveness.” Jesus is saying that once people learn of the New Covenant of Grace given us by God through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a covenant we don’t have to work for, that we don’t have to perform for (annual sacrifices and feasts), that is full of wonderful promises, they press hard into The Word of God and His Kingdom to receive all that God has promised to them through Jesus Christ.
Now, the last part of Matthew 11:12 says, “…and the violent take it by force.” The word “violent” is the Greek word, “biastes,” which means, “one who is eager in pursuit, who strive to obtain its privileges with the utmost eagerness and effort.” It actually would have been better translated, “and the violent claim it.” This verse is not talking about violence in the modern sense of the word. It is speaking about a man or woman who is so excited at what they’ve learned, they eagerly pursue the privileges of The Kingdom of God with great eagerness and effort. The Holy Spirit says the same thing through Paul in Hebrews 11:6 when He speaks of God rewarding those that diligently seek after Him. If one is diligently seeking, they, too, are using positive aggressiveness and eagerness to strive to obtain all the privileges (prosperity, healing, protection, deliverance) of salvation and of The Kingdom of God.
In closing, the question is how “violent” are we? How violent are we in striving to obtain all the promises of God which are yes and amen in Christ Jesus? This violence on our part determines what, how many, and how much of the promises of God we obtain. If we are decreeing or praying, and we are not receiving the answer(s), something is wrong with what we’re doing. There is nothing wrong with God’s Word. Rather than quit, or keep doing the same thing expecting a different result, we need to examine The Word of God and ourselves through The Holy Spirit. We need to get positively aggressive with pursuing after the answer to why we’re not receiving that which God has already given to us. We just have to manifest it from the Spiritual to the physical realm. Rather than whine, cry, grovel, snivel, just accept less, or quit, we need to get aggressive and get after the answer(s) from God. God wants you to have His promises even more than you want them. This should be reassuring to you.
Keep the faith and walk freely in His wonderful riches and glory.
In Christ,
Larry