THE KINGDOM SUFFERS VIOLENCE

THE KINGDOM SUFFERS VIOLENCE

PIHIM 5-FOLD MANDATE

The Kingdom Contention is the intense battle of strategic demonic warfare and violent struggles within the heart and mind for knowing our true identity, purpose and function in life — that either works to establish a decision focused on claiming or possessing our God-ordained place and rightful inheritance, or works against us because of our pursuit for fleshly indulgences that pollute and contaminates our hearts.

The perception and worldview of the masses is critical in the formation of beliefs, behaviors, habits, decisions, disciplines, and philosophies about every facet or aspect of life. As the curious world wrestles with the concepts of good and evil —especially as hedonism, humanism, and sensationalism are the pervasive and dominant influences in society; the imagined cosmic struggle between "angels and demons", "God and Satan", and "the sacred versus the secular" is becoming more and more prevalent, as the societal mountains and centers of influence where the institutional powers and remnant elite often occupy in absolute ignorance of the real battle going on within their own conscience and the hearts of everyone around them.

Because Satan is under God's creative order, he is neither equal in power or even a battle-worthy opponent against God-Almighty. But, the human being that rejects the Perfect Sacrifice and Perfect Substitute of Jesus Christ for the sins of the entire world (of every generation) through the finished work at Calvary, will live life (exist) in utter defeat — chasing the wrong things, sitting on the throne of their own hearts, or choose to live well beneath His perfect will concerning them.

Satan's Scheme: To kill, to steal, and to destroy as many human beings as possible, before his pending judgment to the Lake of Fire in the pit of Hell — where he and his entire demonic host are assigned throughout eternity.

THE KINGDOM SUFFERS VIOLENCE

PEOPLE OF GOD: The BRIDE OF CHRIST "is" going OUT with a SHOUT..There will be NO RETREAT or DEFEAT for the Remnant of His Followers, AT ALL!!

In The Forwarding Agenda of Yahweh - The Lord Most High through the Restitution of All Things in Christ, God intends Jesus "fill all in all" as he wraps up the End-Time Drama..

The current dispensation of Grace was all about JESUS CHRIST being the "SUFFERING SERVANT", but the End-Times Agenda is all about The Revelation of Jesus Christ being the Mighty & Triumphant Soon & Coming King!

SUFFERS = experiencing unpleasantness; it doesn't mean being:

• BULLIED
• COWERING IN FEAR
• RETREATING
• LOOKING BACK
• TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO

It does mean:

• ADVANCING INTENTIONALLY
• WARRING STRATEGICALLY
• RESPONDING THOUGHTFULLY
• PREVAILING PURPOSEFULLY
• DEPENDING UPON HIM DESPERATELY
• WAITING PATIENTLY

VIOLENCE = Those who have suffered through injury, abuse, damage, threats, physical harm, deprivation, setbacks, mischaracterization, misrepresentation, mismanagement, and demonic accusations

"THE VIOLENT" .."TAKE IT BY FORCE" = The aggressively determined, purposefully focused, eternally bound, thoughtfully disruptive, prophetically engaged, intentionally courageous, and humbly positioned Body & Bride of Christ with the whole armor of God on, has a winning attitude and disposition, appropriates the "Finished Work of Jesus Christ", refuses to take "no" for an answer, and advances the Kingdom of God on purpose with aggressively gentle fruit and gifts of the Spirit to the Glory of God, without fail!

THE KINGDOM SUFFERS VIOLENCE

Jesus' statement that the kingdom of God suffers violence is found in the context of His commendation of John the Baptist: "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).

Other translations put it like this: "The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it" (NIV).

"Violent people have been trying to take over the kingdom of heaven by force" (CEV).

"The kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence, and [the] violent seize on it" (Darby).

This is indeed a puzzling verse at first. How can God's kingdom suffer, and what do violent people have to do with it?

A basic rule of hermeneutics is that context is king. As already mentioned, Jesus is speaking to the crowds about John the Baptist's ministry. Immediately before His statement that the kingdom of God suffers violence, Jesus honors John as the greatest prophet (Matthew 11:11). Immediately following His statement (verses 13–14), Jesus signifies that John was the capstone of the Old Testament revelation and the one who fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 4:5. Jesus then speaks the familiar words "whoever has ears, let them hear" (verse 15)—words that suggest He has been speaking figuratively.

Another rule of hermeneutics is to compare Scripture with Scripture. One thing that had characterized John the Baptist's ministry was the large number of people who came to hear him: "And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River" (Mark 1:4–5). This crowd was as loyal as it was diverse. Those who responded to John's message of the coming Messiah included people who some thought would never repent, including tax collectors and prostitutes and Roman soldiers (Matthew 21:31–32; Luke 3:14). This crowd believed John to be a true prophet of God, and they were adamant about it (Matthew 14:5; Mark 11:32).

The pressing multitudes that had followed John continued to follow Jesus' ministry (Luke 5:15; 12:1). This is the key to understanding Jesus' statement that the kingdom of God suffers violence. Pointing to the huge crowds that followed John and that were now following Him, Jesus likens them to an invading army surrounding a city to capture it.

"From the days of John the Baptist until now," there has been an extraordinary rush of people pressing in from all sides, eager for a blessing. The "kingdom of heaven suffers violence," figuratively speaking, in that people were so thronging to hear the gospel that they resembled an army trying to besiege a city. And the "violent take it by force"; the people entering the kingdom were not violent literally, but their eagerness to see the coming of the Messiah was so overwhelming that it was as if they were attacking a city and beating down the doors to enter.

Jesus' statement that "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence" is a graphic picture of the enthusiasm and excitement generated by John the Baptist's and Jesus' teaching. People were hungry for the truth and would not be kept away. For centuries, God's prophets had predicted the Messiah's coming, and now that the Messiah was here, nothing could hold back the flood of people pressing into the kingdom. We see some of this fervor in Luke 5:18–19, when some men literally tore through a roof to get to Jesus, and in John 6:15, when a crowd "intended to come and make him king by force."

We should take note of the response of the believing people in Jesus' day and share their passion. The gift of eternal life is beyond compare. Knowing Christ has come should create earnestness in us and a striving to be closer to Him. There is no place for apathy or ambivalence in the follower of Jesus Christ.

OUR SUFFERING HAS DIVINE IMPLICATIONS, NOT HUMAN DEVASTATION

There is so much suffering in the world, and it is felt by everyone to one degree or another. Sometimes, people suffer as the direct result of their own poor choices, sinful actions, or willful irresponsibility; in those cases, we see the truth of Proverbs 13:15, "The way of the treacherous is their ruin" (ESV). But what about the victims of the treachery? What about the innocent who suffer? Why would God allow that?

It is human nature to try to find a correlation between bad behavior and bad circumstances and, conversely, between good behavior and blessings. The desire to link sin to suffering is so strong that Jesus dealt with the issue at least twice. "As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus" (John 9:1–3). The disciples made the mistake of assuming that the innocent would never suffer and assigned personal guilt to the blind man (or to his parents). Jesus corrected their thinking, saying, "This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him" (verse 3). The man's blindness was not the result of personal sin; rather, God had a higher purpose for the suffering.

Another time, Jesus commented on the deaths of some people killed in an accident: "Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:4–5). In this case, Jesus again discounted the notion that tragedy and suffering are the result of personal sin. At the same time, Jesus emphasized the fact that we live in a world full of sin and its effects; therefore, everyone must repent.

This brings us to the consideration of whether such a thing as "the innocent," technically speaking, even exists. According to the Bible, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Therefore, no one is "innocent" in the sense of being sinless. We were all born with a sinful nature, inherited from Adam. And, as we've already seen, everyone suffers, regardless of whether or not the suffering can be linked to a specific personal sin. Sin's effects permeate everything; the world is fallen, and all creation suffers as a result (Romans 8:22).

Most heartbreaking of all is the suffering of a child. Children are as close to innocence as we ever see in this world, and for them to suffer is truly tragic. Sometimes, innocent children suffer because of the sin of others: neglect, abuse, drunk driving, etc. In those cases, we can definitely say that the suffering is the result of personal sin (just not theirs), and we learn the lesson that our sin always affects others around us. Other times, innocent children suffer because of what some might call "acts of God": natural disasters, accidents, childhood cancer, etc. Even in those cases, we can say that the suffering is the result of sin, generally speaking, because we live in a sinful world.

The good news is that God did not leave us here to suffer pointlessly. Yes, the innocent suffer (see Job 1–2), but God can redeem that suffering. Our loving and merciful God has a perfect plan to use that suffering to accomplish His threefold purpose. First, He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). Trials and distress are not something unusual in life; they are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world. In Christ we have an anchor that holds fast in all the storms of life, but, if we never sail into those storms, how would we know that? It is in times of despair and sorrow that we reach out to Him, and, if we are His children, we always find Him there waiting to comfort and uphold us through it all. In this way, God proves His faithfulness to us and ensures that we will stay close to Him. An added benefit is that as we experience God's comfort through trials, we are then able to comfort others in the same way (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Second, He proves to us that our faith is real through the suffering and pain that are inevitable in this life. How we respond to suffering, especially when we are innocent of wrongdoing, is determined by the genuineness of our faith. Those with faith in Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:2), will not be crushed by suffering but will come through the trial with their faith intact, having been "tested by fire" so that it "may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7, ESV). The faithful do not shake their fists at God or question His goodness; rather, they "consider it pure joy" (James 1:2), knowing that trials prove that they are truly the children of God. "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him" (James 1:12).

Finally, God uses suffering to take our eyes off this world and turn them to the next. The Bible continually exhorts us to not get caught up in the things of this world but to look forward to the world to come. The innocent suffer in this world, but this world and all that is in it will pass away; the kingdom of God is eternal. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), and those who follow Him do not see the things of this life, good or bad, as the end of the story. Even the sufferings we endure, as terrible as they can be, "are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

Could God prevent all suffering? Of course He could. But He assures us that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28, KJV). Suffering—even the suffering of the innocent—is part of the "all things" that God is using to accomplish His good purposes, ultimately. His plan is perfect, His character is flawless, and those who trust Him will not be disappointed. 

COURTS OF HEAVEN — “THE GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES..”

“SEEING GOD” as FATHER, FRIEND and JUDGE

OUR PERCEPTION is the beginning of our SEEING, and if we see incorrectly because of being in pain, suffering trauma, or due to experiencing low self worth, low self esteem, inferiority, or insecurity — that wounded perception colors the way we see and relate to JESUS and others. WS-3

Walter L. Smith III (WS-3)

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