Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that believes if your face is a 4 and your personality is a 6, that means you’re a 10.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
~ Matthew 11:4
Many people, Christians included, are asleep. They are coasting through life, letting circumstances choke out opportunity.
They tolerate besetting sins and yield to persistent ailments, resigning themselves to defeat. All because they’re in a spiritual slumber.
But the New Testament has the defibrillator we need.
It shouts for us to commit holy violence, that is, violent activism to seize God and His promises.
This has nothing to do with forcing beliefs on others. It’s an inner revolt, overthrowing inertia with a radical posture toward God’s kingdom.
“Wake up,” it screams. With vigor! With vitality! NOW, before you waste yet another year in a spiritually comatose state.
We cannot rest content to simply ask the kingdom to come. The kingdom is taken by force. Its benefits are experienced by pressing into it violently with relentless spiritual intensity, shoving aside every obstacle.
It’s time to join the insurgency against apathy. Stop hitting snooze. Violence is the antidote to sleepwalking through life.
The essence of sin’s deceitfulness is the failure to see the superior beauties of Christ.
We get duped into thinking that the temporal pleasures of sin are more desirable than Jesus, the incarnation of all true beauty.
This deception is due to the fact that so few preachers and teachers today know how to unveil the stunning glory of Christ. And precious few are interested in learning how.
Our war is a war over what the soul regards as beautiful. As I explained in the opening chapters of Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, all of us are wired to gravitate toward beauty.
And true beauty is found in Christ and reflects Him.
Consider the spirit of violence behind these exhortations in the New Testament:
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
~ 2 Timothy 2:3-4
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
~ 1 Peter 2:11
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
~ Hebrews 12:4
The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
~ Luke 16:16
Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
~ Luke 13:24
The truth is, you won’t get very far in the things of God without exercising this species of violence.
None of this has to do with earning. It has to do with attitude and action – a radical decision that’s described by terms like “striving,” “pressing,” “warfare,” and “violence.”
I’ve been speaking and writing on the subject of “spiritual violence” for many years. What follows, therefore, are three audios where I’ve unpacked the subject in the past.
They are followed by two chapters from Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom on the topics: “Spiritual Violence” and “Wrestling with God.”
All of them drill down deeper into this issue and answer questions you may have. (So please hold any questions until you’ve gone through them all.)
Enjoy!
Audio Messages
Pressing Into the Kingdom: The Violent Take the Kingdom
The Kingdom is Taken by Violence
A Kingdom View of Baptism and Spiritual Violence
Spiritual Violence
Excerpt from Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, 190-191.
Just as the Israelites took the land of Canaan by physical violence, we “press into” the kingdom of God today by an act of spiritual violence.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12 NKJV)
The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. (Luke 16:16 NIV)
Another term for violence is “aggressive desperation.”
Only those who are desperate and take violent action toward the things that are preventing them from experiencing the fullness of Christ are those who will enter the fullness of God’s kingdom.
The more violent you take the kingdom, the more sure is your citizenship and the more established is your transformation.
By dealing with each area of your life in a ruthless, desperate, relentless manner, you’re giving the Lord free course in your life. You’re opening the door to experience the fullness of His kingdom.
Austin-Sparks put it this way:
The Kingdom means a very great deal more than merely getting into it, far more than being converted. There is a great deal more in the purpose of God for our lives than we have ever imagined, and if we are to enter into that, violence has to characterize us.
We must desperately mean business. . . . The only way for us to come into all that the Lord means—not only into what we have seen but into all that He has purposed—is to be desperate, to be men of violence; to be men who say, “By God’s grace, nothing and no one, however good, is going to stand in my way; I am going on with God.”
Have that position with the Lord, and you will find that God meets you on that ground.
The fact is, if we don’t thoroughly deal with the things that hold us back, we will get only so far in Christ.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1 NIV)
I exhort you, then, to come into the Lord’s presence and declare those things in your life that must go. I urge you to deal with the Lord to the fullest limits and hold nothing back. Not just for yourself, but for the kingdom.
Why? So that Jesus Christ might have something for Himself that nothing can shake or blow over (Matthew 7:24–27).
All who are part of the insurgence have dealt violently with the Lord so that He might gain further ground in their lives.
Wrestling With God
Excerpt from Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, 193-194.
James gives us the flavor of what it looks like when a person wrestles with God violently, seeking to break up the fallow ground of their hearts.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7–10 NIV)
I don’t want to use any personal illustrations, so I will use the experiences of friends who have dealt with the Lord in a violent way.
(They did this to achieve certain objectives, such as to seek God’s presence, to purge themselves from certain besetting sins, to see prayers answered, to move further into God’s kingdom, to receive divine guidance, to make a way for the Lord to do His deeper work, and so forth.)
Examples: Praying outside wearing shorts in the rain. Pursuing the Lord while fasting (only drinking water) for days.
Praying all night with one’s face buried in the floor. Crying out to God with hands wringing.
Beating the bed, throwing pillows, raising one’s voice, kicking the walls, fasting from television and movies for weeks while seeking the face of God.
For married people, fasting from sex for a time to subdue the body and deal with the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:5).
In the same vein, Paul talked about striking a blow to his body to make it his slave.
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:27 NIV)
These are just some of the things that holy men and women of God have done in their desperate, violent dealings with the Lord.*
* I give specific illustrations of how some people in the Gospels violently pressed into the kingdom in my audio message “Pressing Into the Kingdom,” which can be found at InsurgenceBook.com.
Keep in mind that when I talk about dealing with the Lord desperately and violently, I’m speaking about something you do privately before God.
Paul talked about being “crazy,” “out of one’s mind,” and “beside one’s self” before God, but in one’s “right mind” before others (2 Corinthians 5:13 NIV, NLT, ESV).
Desperation is the currency of God’s kingdom. The more desperate you are, the more ground you take in the kingdom.
Those who are part of the insurgence understand what it means to press into the kingdom of God by force.
For more, check out:
How to Find Fellowship Where You Live
Great article! Reading your book “Insurgence” and it’s blowing my mind. I love the podcast too.
I heard all three audios last week and WOW! Game changers!
All of those messages were powerful. The third one gave me chills too.
I really needed this! Just ordered the book.
Powerful article. I’m on my third read of Insurgence. Life-changing. Listening to these messages this week. Love your podcasts!
Wow. Just heard the first message, amazing. I just ordered “Insurgence.”
Possible alternative translation
Matthew 11:12 is traditionally translated as:
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
However, this translation has been debated, and an alternative interpretation considering the prophetic context and Hebraic imagery can be suggested.
Background to an alternative translation
Context of Micah 2:12-13
Micah 2:12-13 is a prophecy about the restoration of Israel, using the imagery of a sheepfold:
“I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”
The Hebrew verb “parats” (פָּרַץ) used for both the breaker (most likely John) and the sheep who breaks through the pen can mean:
1.To Break Through or Out: This is the most common meaning, implying a forceful breaking or bursting through barriers or confinement.
2.To Breach: Similar to breaking through, it can refer to creating a breach or opening in a wall or barrier.
3.To Spread or Increase: In some contexts, it can mean to spread out, increase, or expand widely.
4.To Burst Open: This can imply a sudden and forceful opening, often used metaphorically for significant, impactful events.
5.To Spread Abroad: This meaning can imply extending or disseminating over a wide area.
Jesus may have been hinting at this particular prophecy when he uttered his own words.
Translation Analysis
The Greek text of Matthew 11:12 uses “biazetai” (βιάζεται) It can mean:
1.To Use Force or Violence: This is the most direct translation, implying the application of physical force or coercion.
2.To Force One’s Way: This can imply pushing through obstacles or making a way forward with effort.
3.To Press or Urge: In some contexts, it can mean to compel or strongly urge someone to do something.
4.To Seize: It can also mean to take hold of something forcefully or assertively.
Hebraic Imagery and Remez
In Matthew 11:12, Jesus could be alluding to Micah 2:12-13. Ancient shepherding practices involved creating makeshift pens for sheep, which were cramped. In the morning, the “breaker” would dismantle the pen, and the sheep would eagerly and forcefully break/push through the opening.
Suggested Translation
If Jesus used the term “parats,” a valid translation could be:
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is breaking forth, and the breakers lay hold of it.”
This translation would also align with the second usage of biazetai to force one’s way or make a way forward with effort.
There is a bit written about this online.
Thought it was an interesting perspective that aligns exactly with what you are saying of not being asleep.