Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew allow that both the "the kingdom of heaven separate violence" and "the violent take it by force".

While the word suffereth makes it seem that the kingdom is passively excepting violent assault from those who want to enter, the Greek actually allows for a both direction interpretation, and reads, “is forcing its way in” or “has been vigorously pressing forward.”

It "has been rushed" (Berkeley), “has been in during violent assault" (Weymouth), or “assailed by force” ( Murdock).

The idea is that the kingdom is "violating."

The second idea is that "violators" (forces) are violated.

Violating what?

Violating structures of chronos, of time, by entering them with saving good news.

The gospel that brings the kingdom of heaven in the time violates the negative bondage in time and cultures of darkness and traditions of spiritual bondage.

This is the opposite of political rebellion.

It is, rather, individual deliverance from the spiritual bondage of sin.

Liberating the individual from the debilitation creates a citizen capable of and with a clear inclination to be a contributor to peace and cooperation.

This violation is not gentle, but clearly includes assault, attack, violation, forceful entering, and overthrowing.

The kingdom, which is from above (Hebrews chapter 12:18, 19, 22, 23), violates, “is taking by force… is forcing its way in" to the flow of time in those who enter it are born from above (John chapter 3:5).

Meanwhile, those who respond are also violators who are violating the constraints of all time structures, including family, environment, tradition, culture, and ethnicity.

These resist mildly the attempt to keep them confined to the world of chronos.

Every man “presseth his way into it.)

Paradoxically, rather than this threatening political structures by creating political rebellions, the effect is the opposite, it creates peaceful citizens who are exemplary.

What, then, are the implications?

First, whether individually in the present church age, or universally at the end of the age, the kingdom, from the time of John the Baptist forward, enters the structure of time as an unapologetic, disruptive event.

While it is welcomed by those enthusiastically receiving, it will never be welcomed by the elaborately developed strongholds of “this present world."

Likewise, he who will enter this indescribably wonderful team must be radically determined to break the strongholds of this natural world and embrace salvation ( deliverance) from above.

It would be hard to find a more dramatic example of this bursting end of the kingdom of God to the earth in the coming of the Holy Ghost and fire on the day of Pentecost ().

Coming in an instant, violating sleepy routine, interrupting daily life, cutting through the dominance of both long-entrenched culture as well as demonic, spiritual powers, the Spirit comes in spite of the Pharisees and their traditions, or Hellenistic influences, or Rome’s political might.

(Premier Study Bible, page 1320-1321)

When you get born again of water and the Spirit it is oftentimes conveyed that the battles you fought will end, the things that haunted you before won’t haunt you again, and I wish that were true.

-But when you get born again, it remits your sin, not your problems.

You have to face up and fess up to them.

-You now have the power to burst into the problem and tell hell that I’m not coming there and to get on up out of my house, my family, my Church, and off my Pastor’s back.

-I’m born again of a Kingdom that I’ve not seen with my natural eyes, but I feel in my soul.

I’m calling for a HOLY REBELLION.

-We are not going the way of the world.

-We are not bowing to the demands of culture.

-We will not be another Church that falls into the ecumenical movement where we say that doctrine doesn’t matter.

It mattered so much to the Apostles that they died for it.

-We must stage a Holy Rebellion against the devil and every lie, attack, & plot that he and his imps have launched against us.

-You have to make it up in your mind.

I’m not longer a bastard child of the world, I now have royal blood flowing through my veins.

NO man can serve 2 masters

-A scribe came to Jesus and said, “Lord, I’ll go wherever you go”.

-Jesus said, you don’t understand.

I don’t have a pillow to lay my head down on.

-Another disciple said, “suffer me first to go and bury my father”.

Jesus said, don’t worry about that, let the dead bury the dead…you need to follow me.

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Serving God will not always be comfortable for us.

-When you’re fighting war, you don’t have down time in a battle.

-You’re on your all fours all the time.

You eat in the field.

You lay your life on the line.

-You must learn to adapt to Kingdom ways.

I’m afraid that we’re so uncomfortable that if we allow one little unpleasant thing to happen we’re ready to give in and up.

-We’ve done got so spoiled that we have to have everything going our way, and if not we’re questioning God’s presence.

We must understand that the Kingdom of God will suffer violence at times.

-That things will not always go our way at times.

-How many times do we ask God for direction when we feel hopeless.

But in all reality, if we would have listened to the instruction of God and your Pastor you wouldn’t be where you at anyhow.

-We have to learn to hold ourselves accountable and stop expecting God to pull us out of every quandry that we’ve got ourselves in.

-If we stayed on our knees in prayer as much as we are offended you’d be offended a lot less.

God doesn’t need my permission to be God.

-He doesn’t need my affirmation nor yours.

-He is God, all by Himself, don’t need anybody: God before, God now, God tomorrow.

-You’re going to go through times of resistance, but we can charge back at spiritual attacks in the Holy Ghost.

-God doesn’t need

Serving God and His Kingdom while fighting against a devil that hates you is not walking through a park eating ice cream on a cool spring day.

-This is a battleship and it’s time for the Church to wake up and lay your problems down and pick up a sword and fight.

We sometimes think God is Mickey Mouse and we’re in Disney Land.

-It’s time to fight for your life.

-The devil loves it when we feel sorry for ourself, because he knows that causes spiritual paralysis because our eyes are on the man in the mirror instead of the God in Heaven.

-When you get over what your dealing with and start fighting in prayer is when your problems are going to start to change and shift.

We spend more time fixing our hair, faces, & nose hairs than we do in His presence and wonder why we all the time Spiritually low.

-God never does for us what He’s given us the power, dominion, and authority to do for ourself.

-He never made you to be a trophy in hell, but a valiant mighty warrior for His Kingdom!

-But to be involved in this Kingdom requires Kingdom activity.

And the primary activity is talking to the King to make sure we’re charging the right front at the right time.

I wish that someone would rise up and declare that I’m going to leave here and go into the throne room until I receive the answer.

You might be feeling resistance in prayer, but that doesn’t mean you’re going down.

-You’d never see a blade of grass, a tree, or any other plant if it didn’t push through the dirt.

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