SPIRITUAL VIOLENCE

SPIRITUAL VIOLENCE

First of all,  what is the meaning of violence?

Violence is a behavior involving physical/brutal force to hurt,  damage or kill something.

Violence is synonymous to intensity,  fierceness,  pitilessness,  attack etc.

Now does this mean we should try to kill or damage people spiritually?
Well,  no (not in this context)..

Let's go to our text for today so we understand clearly where we are coming from.

 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 11:12 KJV

From the time of John the Baptist until now, violent people have been trying to take over the kingdom of heaven by force.
Matthew 11:12 CEV

I think I've had this Scripture in my head for as long as I could memorize anything,  so many Christians have also.  It has taken me years to understand the concept of Spiritual Violence as described in this verse. So many people even use the Scripture wrongly to justify anger or some violent behavior.

What exactly does the Scripture mean by "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence"?
Who is attacking our precious Heaven? 😧😧
The violent ones take heaven by force;  does there have to be a forced entry into this heaven ?
Are we not supposed to be sweet and gentle as our darling Jesus? 🤷🏼‍♀

So many questions but we will try to break it down one after the other. 

Back to our scripture, Matt 11 vs 12, what led to this reply from Jesus?

Let's scroll up a bit.

From verse 1 ,we see John the Baptist who was in prison at that time sending his disciples to find out if Jesus was the Messiah. At that same time also,  multitudes were with Jesus listening to Him keenly.

One thing is evident here,  the people in this time were searching for something,  a prophecy given by the prophets of old,  the Messiah.  Even John was (He had to send His disciples to confirm if Jesus was the Messiah and Jesus sent them back with a prophecy concerning Him that was now evident which He was sure they knew)

The people sitting in the crowd listening to Jesus had also gone to visit John before.  One would wonder what exactly they were looking for.

As they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. “What kind of man did you see when you went out into the wilderness? Did you expect to see a man who would be easily intimidated?

what did you really go out to see? Was he a prophet? He certainly was. I tell you that he was more than a prophet 
Matthew 11:7-9 CEV

This same crowd listening at Jesus' feet had also been to the wilderness to see John before Jesus came.  To get to the wilderness where John was at that time according to old manuscript was a 5day journey,  one way.  So 5 days going,  another 5 days coming back (note that they were walking)
These people wanted something and nothing was going to stand in their way.  They were ready to risk it all,  they didn't mind leaving their homes for the kingdom even though they didn't fully understand at that point.

Jesus cries out to them in verse 12 saying: From the days of John the Baptist...  This means from the day John's ministry started.  John had been preaching for over a year at that time: "Repent,  for the kingdom of Heaven has come near" 
Matt 3:2 (NIV)

Now Jesus is saying from the day John started preaching that men repent as the kingdom of Heaven is near, many have been in pursuit of this kingdom.

They've been trying to get a hold of it. John had people coming from far and near, risking all just to know about this Kingdom that is near.

This kingdom of God now suffers violence

Those who heard the teaching and were touched by it seized it,  they would not let it go,  their response to it is whatever it takes,  we will find ourself inside this Kingdom.  They didn't care how forcefully they have to get there,  they will literally seize and take things by force.

 The law of Moses and the revelation of the prophets have prepared you for the arrival of the kingdom realm announced by John. And now, when this wonderful news of God’s kingdom realm is preached, people’s hearts burn with extreme passion to press in and receive it.
Luke 16:16 TPT

John was the last of the old prophets and also the one to usher in the new by being a forerunner of the Messiah.  John came to announce the arrival of the Kingdom realm. And anytime John preached about this Kingdom realm,  people's hearts begin to burn,  they are stirred,  there is a certain fierceness and intensity with which they use to pursue this realm they've heard of. They become violent spiritually.

What exactly is spiritual Violence?

To be Violent Spiritually is to pursue God intensely,  to seek Him with one's entire being.  To say enough is enough and deny self while throwing off all entangling sin.

It means to run the race with passion,  purity and perseverance.

To seek God with Violent abandonment of whatever is holding us back

And this is not starting today,  we are not the first, this started in the days of John.  Men have been reaching and violently seeking All of Heaven with intense zeal.

To be spiritually violent,  we do not care about what we lose in the process.  No! the gain of this Kingdom of Heaven is more precious than all we can ever lose.

Just as it is in this generation where people say they are chasing the kingdom and running the heavenly race but refusing to let go of their old ways,  so it has always been.

We see Jesus addressing this same crowd in Matthew about it:

 “We played the flute, but you would not dance! We sang a funeral song, but you would not mourn!”
Matthew 11:17 CEV

We see Jesus here rebuking the crowd that (some of them)  they were not dancing to the flute being played and they were not mourning even with the funeral song.  What does this mean?

The flute being played and dancing signifies celebration of God's presence and their reaction to it.
God has brought down His presence,  now He lives in us but so many of us do not dance to this new tune.  We do not walk in this new dispensation.

The funeral song being played and them refusing to mourn represents the death of sin in our lives but we as Christians still refuse to accept that we are now dead to sin.

We refuse to mourn sin and now live in this new kingdom realm.

We want to enjoy the kingdom realm but yet still have one of our feet in the world.

We consciously choose to live in sin even though we claim we are a new creature.

It doesn't work this way!

I once read somewhere : True Faith is revealed by how we chase God and earnestly seek Him

How exactly are you chasing God?
How are you seeking Him?
Is it passively or aggressively?

This thing is do or die.

It's a practical example of we die here,  if that is what it will take.

Spiritual Violence for every Christian begins in the secret place.  John spent time in the wilderness seeking God. 

The disciples locked themselves up for days in the upper room praying and fellowshipping before receiving the Holy Spirit (and they moved immediately with great power after this).

If you do not fellowship with God,  do you really seek this Kingdom realm?
Do you really wish to know Him more?

The excuse these days is we are all busy.  Know this,  if you truly want God you have to create time for Him.  You have to be ready to leave your comfort zone.

I used to have roommates when I took the decision to improve my prayer life.  I had to pray under my breath most times,  sometimes I'm in the toilet praying,  other times I'm taking a prayer walk at night during winter. 

I'd tell myself then,  "Remi,  you will die if you don't pray". I'd repeat this over and over.  It was in my notes back then.

Of a truth,  you'd die spiritually if you don't pray or fellowship with God.

And fellowshiping with God doesn't come easy,  you have to sacrifice. You have to be aggressive and violent about creating time for it. 

When God calls any man,  He first calls you to unusual dedication to fellowshiping with Him.  This is where it all flows from.

Another mistake people make is confusing Natural zeal for the things of God with fellowshiping with Him and violently seeking Him. They are very different.

Going to church always,  helping with church works,  Bible studies,  preaching etc, all these things are very good and should not be kept aside but you see,  doing these things only do not outlast watching eyes.

When you are alone,  you can't pray for 2 hours straight but you can do it in church where people are.  These things are natural zeal and it is a good start. Take it up by seeking God violently,  laying all that has been holding you back aside.

If you pray at night and you sleep off,  then start praying earlier when you are very much active.  If you start the day and get busy immediately leaving no time to commune with God,  then please starve yourself some sleep by waking up earlier to pray.

You must be ready to make any sacrifice in seeking God!
Whatever it takes,  you should be ready to give!
Radically pursue God,  without fear and without restraint.
Proverbs 2 vs 4 says we should search for wisdom (God)  as though it were a hidden treasure.

Do you know what it means to search for something that is hidden?

Who remembers Gulder Ultimate search ?  The last task is to find the hidden treasure to become the winner.  Do we see how those guys used to search like their lives depended on it? 
The money/prize was more than enough motivation.

Till someone shouts "I found it", everyone is digging sands,  scattering forests hoping they find this hidden treasure first. 

Sometimes,  it takes hours but they do not stop to rest.

The prize was the motivation.

Is this kingdom realm prize enough for you?

When the Bible said "Narrow is the way", this is what it meant,  that the path to this new life of enjoying Heaven even here on earth is difficult.  A lot of things dear to you will stand in the way,  you have to take them away yourself.

This is why Jesus said except you leave all behind,  you cannot follow me.  We must be ready to leave ALL.

As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.
Hebrews 12:1 TPT

ACTION POINTS
As we end the teaching tonight,  I will share some Action points with you

- Get a book and write down everything that is holding you back in your fellowship with God.

- Search yourself sincerely and also write down why each of these things have been a stumbling block

-Deliberately place your communion and fellowship with God above all those things.

- Maybe just like me,  write it down everywhere you can easily see it,  make it your prayer alarm name :

"I,  xyz,  will die if I don't pray/fellowship with God"
- Earnestly pursue God.


I pray for you that as you take these steps in your pursuit of God,  the Holy Spirit who is our helper will be with you and make the walk easier for you. 

God bless you!