All right, let's go back to Matthew
chapter 11. Let's read one verse. Matthew 11, verse 12. I hope you have a Bible. I hope
you'll look at it with me. Matthew 11, verse 12. This is Christ speaking, and
he says, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. He said, from the days of John
the Baptist. Ask the people what they thought
of John the Baptist. Look up in verse 7. As these
two disciples of John departed, Jesus began to say unto them
concerning John, what went ye out in the wilderness to see?
A lot of folks went out to see and hear John preach. His fame had spread everywhere. preacher out there in the wilderness,
out in the desert. A lot of folks went to see and
hear all over the land. Everywhere, people go and sit
and listen to the preacher, like you have. And our Lord said,
what did you go to see? What did you expect to see? You
went to go hear the preacher. What did you expect to see? He
said, did you expect to see a reed shaking with the wind? Now a reed, everyone here has
seen a farm pond, there's those cattails, there's the foliage
of a head that's a reed. And the slightest little wind
comes along and that reed, you know, Now, this is expected to see. Did you expect to see a fellow
being a weak little effeminate fellow who is easily intimidated
by anything, anybody who comes along who will bend over backwards
to whoever comes along? That's what the Lord said. Did
you expect to see a little fellow who would bow and scrape? to
anyone and everyone, trying to appease everyone, standing for
nothing, falling for anything and everything. He's not dogmatic about anything,
but for fear of his job, will say whatever he has to say to
whoever, depending on who's there. That's what he said. Is that
what you expected to see, John? Now listen to this. The messenger is a reflection
of the one who sent him. The messenger, the ambassador,
let me use this little illustration, ambassador of a is generally
a reflection of the one who appointed him. An ambassador is an appointment,
it's not an election, it's not an elected office. An ambassador
of a country, the president of that country, the king, whatever,
he chooses that man, he hand-chooses his best man to represent. his country and himself. That's
the ambassador. He's a reflection of the man
who sent him and the country whom he represents. A few years
ago, we had a very weak president in office. Yes, we did. He chose, as his Secretary of
State, to represent the most powerful nation on earth, he
chose a woman. Before this message gets halfway
through, I'm not here to offend women. Nevertheless, an ambassador of
this country dealing with Arabs, Arabic nations who don't even
think women are human beings. I'm not going to listen to that.
They're not even going to look her way. The Germans, the superior
race, the Japanese, the Chinese, they're going to listen? This
is our representative of our country. No, sir. This woman
had no respect of anybody. But by comparison, now, the Secretary
of State of this country the representative of this country.
Like him or not, he's a man. Everybody listens to him. See,
he's a reflection. That's a good illustration. He's
a reflection of the one president. Now, like him or not, he's strong,
isn't he? Do you agree with him or not? He stands for what he believes. Preachers. pretty much reflect the God they
preach. Pictures are pretty much like
Hollywood depicts them. If you'll watch the average movie
or TV show, whenever a preacher comes on, whenever I see a preacher
in some movie, I just cringe, because he's always a weak little
fellow with his collar turned around backwards. And he doesn't
have an answer for nothing. He's just kind of standing over
there, and you know, somebody's died, or there's a funeral, or
he's wearing these long robes, he's marrying everybody, and
everybody's not giving him the sliders. He's just... That's the way Hollywood depicts
them, because that's the way they are. That's the way every
preacher is. Because that's the way their
God is. Their God is like them. not John the Baptist. Even everybody went to hear him.
Why? He was a man. Even people who didn't like him. Verse 8 here, our Lord says,
What put you out for to see? A man's clothing? Soft raiment, meaning back then
they wore wool. Everybody wore wool, rough clothing. But he says kings, the whole
day they wore soft clothing, they were in kings' houses. Kings
wore these long, flowing silk robes. long flowing silk robes. That's what kings wore. Long robes. You getting the picture
here? Not John. It says he wore a leather
girdle, camel's hair, a coat of camel's hair. I don't know how that would look,
what you would how that would correlate today, unless it would
be a Carhartt jacket. But turn back with me to Matthew
chapter 3. Turn back to chapter 3. What
did you go to see, the Lord said? A man clothed in soft raiment?
Silk, long clothing, silk robes, you know? Matthew chapter 3. Back here, a pulpit committee
went to hear And they went to hear the preacher and listened
to his message. Matthew 3, verses 1-5, And those
days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is in hand. This is he
that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of
one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his path straight. Saint John had his raiment of
camel's hair and a leather girdle about his lawn. His meat was
locusts and wild honey. And they went out to him. They
went out to him, Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region
around the back. Down to verse 7. This is that
pulpit committee I was telling you about. They went out to see
and hear John, looking for a new pastor. And when he saw these
Pharisees and Sadducees, he said, old generation of vipers. They came to hear him preach
on a Sunday morning, and he stood up and said, You're all a bunch
of vipers, snakes. What did you go out to see, the
Lord said? What did you go to hear? Our Lord, in the second Timothy,
he said, People heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.
Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Tell me what I want to
hear, I'll pay you. That's a hireling, is what that
is. What'd you go out to see? Go back to the text. So they
went to see John, and he called over a bunch of snakes. That old brother, Ralph Barnard,
evangelist from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that took this
southeastern United States by storm, the modern-day John the
Baptist, he called this preaching that'll get your head cut off.
And it did. John got his head cut off. And all the apostles were killed. Not because they were nice fellows.
Because they told the truth. People. Why? Because they point
in people's faces and tell it like it is. This is what God
says. I like that. Verse 10, he said, Behold, I
send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy
way before thee. My messenger. John is a man sent
by God. You understand? I said that
the messenger reflects the one who sends him. Right? John was
sent by someone. Who sent him? God. And he has a message. Now, listen. Listen to me. Whether or not
you should hear Othello depends on who sent it. Right? You hear my statement. Who you
hear, whether you go to hear him or not, depends on who sent
it. And whether or not you hear it,
and what you think about Depends on what the message is. Now, if the National Society for the
Preservation of the Loony Birds sent their noted speaker, Mrs. Theodore Dimwitty, to speak to
you on the demise of the loony bird in North America, Who cares? If you go to hear
her, who needs to know about that? But if God sends a man with a message, it's life or
death. God sent and the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Look back at chapter 10 of Matthew. Now, he said, Behold, I send
my messenger. That's what God said to him.
I send my messenger. Chapter 10, verse 14, the Lord
said this to his disciples. Chapter 10 is where he's giving
his disciples his commandments to go and preach. And he says
in verse 14 and 15 of chapter 10, Whosoever shall not receive
you, whoever won't hear you, nor hear your words, when you
depart out of that city, that house will shake off the dust
of your feet. Don't beg them. Don't plead with them. You're
not a beggar. You're not trying to get anybody
to do anything. You're not a beggar. is not a beggar, and nor are
his ambassadors. Colin Powell doesn't go anywhere
begging people to accept the United States as their, you know,
minister. He didn't go over there and say,
Mr. Saddam, would you please accept these terms of agreement,
conditions of… Kings and ambassadors are not
beggars. The king had it. His men are not beggars. He says,
you go out and you tell them, this is what I said. Don't ask
anybody anything. Don't beg. Don't plead. Don't
offer. Don't bribe. Don't cajole. Don't do it now. That's a reflection
of who sent you. And they've got to understand
this thing is not life or death. It's their life. The king's going to live on whether
they accept or reject. Now he said, if they hear you,
shake the dust off your feet. Don't need them anyway. Verse 15, Verily I say unto you,
It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than that for that city. God says, I'll
deal more kindly with homosexuals than I will with those who hate
what you say. Look at verse 40. He says, He
that receiveth you, receiveth me. You see that? He that receiveth you, receiveth
me, because I sent you. He that receiveth me, receives
him that sent me, God. So you see what I'm saying? Whether
or not you hear a fellow depends on who sent him. Whether or not
you need to hear him or not. And what he has to say, whether
or not you receive it, depends on the message. And this is life or death. Now, verse 11, back in our text.
Chapter 11, verse 11. The Lord said, Verily I say unto
you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen
a greater than John the Baptist. Jesus Christ says, There's not
a greater man on earth than John the Baptist. Who'd you go to
see? Well, he's the finest man to ever live. And people, I can say that without
hesitation about any preacher who stands in this pulpit, present
preacher excluded, but I can say that the men that will stand
up here this coming weekend, Men that men can look up to.
There have been many men standing in
this pulpit. Men. I'll give you a few examples.
Just a few. Everyone I know is like this,
but just a few. Henry Mahan, World War II veteran. Greg Elmquist, who will be here,
Navy veteran. That man, he can do anything. This man is the most talented,
oh, he's an athlete. He took me scuba diving and about
drowned me. I thought I was diving with Lloyd
Bridges. We were going to just look for
some lobster, you know. I thought just a leisurely little
snorkel, you know. We went on sea hunt. Greg only
knows one way to do everything. Look, a lobster, 30 feet deep. Let's get it. I can't hold my
breath that long. Cody Groover, submarine, Navy
veteran, submarine, man's man. Don Bell, two-time Vietnam veteran. Men, leaders. men that men will follow. God's men, the king's men. Men, like I said, no offense
to Wendland, but would you marry? What attracts you? Strength? Safety? Somebody to provide for
you? Now, God's kingdom Listen carefully,
because this next verse may have puzzled you. Now, the Lord said
this, verse 12, From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force. Do you know what that means?
Do you understand that? Jesus Christ said that. The kingdom
of heaven suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. A kingdom, listen to me now,
there's never been a kingdom on this earth established but
one way. Violence. Like it or Those who, and understand, I'm
not here to promote our present administration
or take up any war cause or anything like that. That's not what I'm
doing, but these are good illustrations. The people who protest war and
all right now can only do so because people died to give them
that right. My brother died so that people
can protest. If people hadn't died, they couldn't
open their mouth, or a fellow like Saddam Hussein would split
their throats. Right. This whole country was
formed by bloodshed. Right? A kingdom is established by strength. God's kingdom was established
by violence. And if you're put in this kingdom,
it will be a violent thing. This is what the Lord is saying. A kingdom is only established
by a strong king conquering somebody else. And there's a lot of violence
that takes place. The kingdom of heaven is set
with violence, and the violence will take it by force. Now listen,
there are two kingdoms that the Scripture speaks of, two kingdoms. Now, this is not myth, and this
is not folklore. This is Bible. There are two
kingdoms. One is called the kingdom of
this world, the other is called the kingdom of heaven. Believe
it or not, this is true. Now listen to me now. This is
going to be very revealing, very revealing to you. Both of these
kingdoms are spiritual. Both of these kingdoms are spiritual. You can't see them. They're unseen. Both the leaders of these kingdoms,
you can't see them. They're unseen. Listen to the Scripture. Let
me quote the Scripture to you, Ephesians 6, 12. We wrestle not
with flesh and blood, not a seen enemy. but against principalities
and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places, spiritual wickedness
in high places, an unseen enemy of whom the Scripture said. Now
listen, this is not myth, this is not folklore, this is not
this simpleton These little preachers preaching about a little devil,
you know, that they're stronger than you can step on his head
or you can whatever. No, sir. Spiritual wickedness
in high places, the Scripture says. Rulers of the powers of
the darkness of this world. At home, the Scripture says,
he seeks whom he may devour, not influence, devour. of whom the scripture says men
are led captive by him at his will. That's what the scripture
says. And though modern man says it's
old-fashioned, ignorant religion, devil, Satan and all that, Jesus
Christ spoke of Satan more than anybody else. And to scoff at
that and to dismiss it is to call Jesus Christ a liar. Now, what is salvation? What is salvation all about? Listen to me. Listen to the scripture.
I'm going to quote the scripture to you. Colossians 1, 13. It's to be delivered from the
power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of his dear
son. And it takes violence. And I'm not talking about you
and me strapping on our swords and doing something. He's not talking about you and
me. You see, by nature, listen to
what this book teaches. By nature, we're the ones in
prison. We're the ones in bondage. We're
the ones captive to this enemy. We're the ones who are led captive
at his will. We're the ones who are duped,
ignorant, blind followers of this end. That's what this book's
in. Pawns and puppets. Men say, I
don't want to be God's puppet. You already are somebody's. Kids, young people. Oh, I want to be different. I
want to be different. I'm my own person. I do things
because I want to do them. And why are you dressed like
everybody else? Huh? They're pawns, they're puppets,
they're followers, they're dupes. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. You see, the enemy is unseen. As I said, this is not myth or
folklore, this is reality, Christ himself. spoke of the enemy more
than anyone else. The enemy is unsafe. Prince of
the power of the air, Scripture says, the God of this world is
what Christ calls him. Principalities of power, spiritual
wickedness in high places. Does not work, though. He does
not work in places that we think. See, men and women, if you're
a real smart adversary, you won't let people know you're the adversary. Right? He doesn't work in places
where we think. He does not have horns and a
pitchfork. Who would follow him? Huh? If
he looked like what Hollywood depicts him, who would? Where'd
that come from? Satan in the garden. What does the Scripture say about
the serpent in the garden? Well, the woman came to talk
to him. He showed me a woman that's not
afraid of snakes. He didn't look like a snake.
He was very appealing. He was sweet-talking. He was
pleasant to look at and listen to, very convincing, very swaying,
very appealing. She liked him. look like they depict, and he
doesn't work in places, listen, listen now, he doesn't work in
places that the world thinks he's working, or they could spot
him. He has a Bible in his hand. He has a Bible in his hand, and
he's standing behind a pulpit right now. I don't mean in this
place, but in most places. has a Bible in his hand behind
an average pulpit with a pleasant smile on his face. Everybody
just thinks he's wonderful. He's subtle, he's smart, he's
deceptive, he's appealing. Verses 13 through 15, such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. No marvel, Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no greater thing,
no great thing, if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of righteousness." He is so sweet. He is a devil. Look at chapter 11, verse 3. Paul says, I fear, what I fear
is, lest by any means as a serpent beguile Eve through his subtlety.
So your mind should be corrupted. Do you see that? Are you still
with me? You open up Mark 9, the gospel
of Mark, chapter 9. This message took a while to
prepare. I hope you'll give me a few more
minutes, okay? This is very revealing. I hope God honored him. Mark
9, the enemy is a great deceiver. The Scripture says evil men and
seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. They're so deceitful they deceive
themselves. The heart, listen to me, the
Scripture says the heart itself is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Salvation, I
asked you what salvation is. Salvation is not you being convinced
or wooed or sweet-talked into accepting some sweet fellow named
Jesus and look at it, emotionally pulled and all, you know. Salvation, the Scriptures talks
about breaking a stony heart. A stony heart that looks like
a hammer, able to break the hair-busted concrete. Some of you men have,
maybe some of you women. Some women in here are more men
than some men today. Really. Back in pioneer days,
men were men and women were too. But you ever busted concrete? I've done it, busted a lot of
it. That's about the hardest job I know. Taking eight, ten,
twelve pound sledgehammer, depending on how big a man you are. and
swing that thing and bust up that concrete. That's a violent
thing, isn't it? That's a hard thing, isn't it? It'll break, won't it? Oh, won't
you please break? Bam, bam, just a constant bam,
bam. God says, I'm going to break
the stony heart. This heart is so hard, obsolete. What's it going to take? The
power of God. A violent confrontation from
God Almighty's Word. I mean, words that people have
never heard before. Huh! This preacher, what he told
me, shocked me. Yeah, because you're not hearing
this book. Preachers are hiding it from people. God says, My
Word is like a hammer, because you've got a heart like concrete.
And God says, I'm going to take my Word and bam, bam, bam, bam,
until that heart just reduced to rubble. Then he said, I'm
going to give you a new heart, because that heart is so hard
it won't hear anything. It won't believe anything. I'll
knock at him and I don't care what he says. Wait a minute,
maybe he is telling the truth. Convict in piercing water won't
go through concrete, and the Word won't go through
an average man's heart, a woman, until God Almighty in violence
through a strong picture, through a strong message, bust that heart
into pieces. Balance! Oh, won't you please,
that ain't what this is about. What is salvation? Salvation
is opening deaf ears and blind eyes. What would you think it
was like for a man born blind, all of a sudden sick? Huh? What
do you think? It would be like if all your
life you couldn't see a thing. You're stone blind. I don't mean
cataracts. I mean never seen nothing. No light whatsoever. None. And
all of a sudden you see. What would that be like? Raising
the dead. Raising the dead. I mean a fellow. What would you do if you were
walking along? Every funeral the Lord Jesus
Christ attended, the person I love that. Don't we, Debra?
We love that. Because you can't be dead in the presence of life.
Christ is life. In Him we live. Every funeral
the Lord attended, that person got up out of the coffin. What
was that like for everybody? What was it like for that person?
Oh, it turned upside down. Silence. Subduing an enemy. Ever been in a fight? Some of
you men, some of you women? Ever been in a fight? Who's going to win? What's it like? I used to wrestle
in high school. Justin, is that about the hardest
thing you've ever done in your life, wrestling? Even when it
gets done, your hair hurts. I'm like, am I kidding? Justin,
you know what I'm talking about. Your toenails hurt. I'm serious. It's a violent thing, isn't it? Subduing and delivering from
captivity. There's some POWs over there.
There's some held captive by brutal, torturous
enemy. How are we going to get them
out? where we'll negotiate. We'll blow their heads off and
come get our own. Huh? We're called captives. We're captives. Men and women
are captives. People in Iraq were captives
to a brutal dictator. Didn't know it. Didn't know it. They'd buy and scrape to him,
Brother Stephen, wouldn't they? Love him. Oh, we love him. He
might just kill us tomorrow, but we love him. Boy, if that
isn't ignorant. Captivity, huh? And what happened? How did we free those people?
I know this sounds like a political message, but it's not. It's a
good illustration, isn't it? How do you free those people?
How did they find out they were in captivity? How? Bombs blow
up. You've got to kill their leader.
You've got to kill him. Somebody stronger than him has
got to say, listen, he's dead. I'm in charge. Hey, we're free. They didn't even know we were
in bondage. You understand? The kingdom of heaven suffered
violence. You look at—I don't want to talk
about myself, You know, people think they're just, you
know, all right, and their own free, their own man, their own
woman, and everything's going to be all right. Absolutely not. Capture this world, capture themselves,
sin. And here in Luke 11, did you
turn there? Did I tell you to turn to Luke
11? Mark 9. Mark, now let's go to Luke 11,
all right? I'm running out of time. Luke chapter 11. The Lord
was casting out devils. He actually was. And people,
they can take different forms. Devils don't look, like I said,
they don't look like Hollywood depicts them. Their head don't
spin around. When a person's captive to a devil or demon possessed,
their heads don't spin around. They don't look like a gargoyle
in the face, you know, like Hollywood shows it. No, sir. They can be
sitting at a desk in a corporate office. Like I said, standing
behind a pulpit. That's the cheap ones. They look
real good. The Lord cast out, the miracle
he performed more than anything else was casting out demons.
Why? Because if you're not possessed
by Christ, who are you possessed by? If we're not captive to Christ,
if we're not If God's not our father, who is? So, in that sense, everyone is
possessed some way or another. Possessed with this world, possessed
with themselves, possessed with fame, fortune, money, career,
you know, possessed. Look at verse 21. Our Lord said,
Number, I like verse 20. If I were the finger of God,
cast out devils. Finger, Stan. The finger of God. Oh, Satan's God's finger. If I were the finger
of God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come to
you. When a strong man, and our Lord's talking about Satan right
here. He says, When a strong man, armed, keeps his palace,
his goods are in peace. Peace, peace, peace. But when
a stronger than he shall come upon him and overtake him, he
takes it upon him. Takes all his armor from him,
divides his bow. Who's that talking about? You and I are no match for this
enemy I've been talking about. None whatsoever. Our Lord turned
to Peter one time and said, Peter, Satan hath desired to sift you
like wheat. He sifted you like wheat. The smartest, most intelligent,
wisest man to live on this planet, Adam, was no match. The smartest woman that ever
lived, Eve, just putty in that fellow's hands. There was some,
and these preachers today, you know, they love to talk about
what they told the devil. They're doing what he tells them.
They're saying what he told them to say that so that people think
he's a wimp. They're doing his bidding. In
the scriptures, there was a story about seven fellows. sons of
a man named Siva, a man named Siva who had seven sons. They
took it upon themselves to exorcise demons, exorcise demons, cast
out devils. I love that story. It says they tried and the demons, they ran, when it was all over,
they ran out of the place naked. The demons stripped all their
clothes off. And they went running out of
there naked, seven men. And what that demon said to these
fellows was, Jesus we know, and Paul we know. Who are you? Well, we're Saba's son. Well,
we're priests, so and so. Stripped them naked and ran,
skedaddling out of there. Stronger than he. I love Martin
Luther's hymn, Don't You, John? It talks about, If we in our
own strength did confide, our striving would be losing, if
not the right man was on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Do you ask who that may be? Why,
Christ Jesus it is he. Lord Sabbath is his name. from
age to age the same. He must win the battle. Stronger than he. The violence,
now we're getting to the root. The violence, take it by force.
Jesus Christ is the violent one. Oh, he's not like preachers are
calling, gentle Jesus, sweet and mild Mac. No sir, he said,
I came to bring a sword. I got a sword stretched on my
side, Jesus Christ said, a captain of our salvation. Got a sword
stretched to his side. Let me give you some illustration.
When Jesus, Jesus, that men like to talk about, when Jesus walked
in the temple in Jerusalem, the first time he ever walked in
the temple in Jerusalem, he planted a whip. He planted a whip and
went in the church house and started beating men. Get out
of here. He cleaned house. Yes, sir, that's the Jesus Christ
of the Scripture. The first time he walked in the
church house of that day, he planted a whip. He said, this
place is rotten to the core. And he went in there and and
took the tables over and took a whip. Boy, if that ain't a
man. Why didn't anybody oppose him? I thought about this. You know,
there's those old fishermen in the boat. And like I said, I hope none
of you women are getting offended by this. Really, I don't care. But anyway,
those fishermen, those old fishermen in that boat, all right, those
old fishermen in that boat, Peter and those fellows, man, they'd
seen storm after storm. They'd seen hardship after hardship.
They'd been in it brawl after brawl, after fight after fight.
James and John and Peter and Andrew, these weren't some, these
weren't pinhead little preachers that came out of a seminary.
All they'd ever known was hardship. Men's men. All right, here comes
this teacher walking down the shore, Jesus. What do you suppose he was like
to get those old rough fishermen to follow him, to drop everything
and follow him? He must have been the greatest
man they'd ever put eyes on. His voice, even the enemy said,
no man has spake like this man. I love when some of them said,
well, he speaks as one having authority, not like the scribes,
not like our preachers. Well, he actually sounds like
he's got authority. He does. Man's man. Leader. Stronger than he. This is the
violent one. Takes it from him. Salvation
is Jesus Christ. to redeem us from the hand of
the enemy. And it took a violent confrontation. Christ, as I said, he opposed
religion. He came into that and he called
house hundreds, maybe a thousand people in that and he called
them all. Drove them all out, Kelly, single-handedly. He himself,
in his first part of his ministry, Satan himself, himself, faced him and tempted him with
everything. This was a violent confrontation.
Tempted him with everything the human beings have ever been and
always will be tempted by. Everything which nobody can stand
up to. Nobody. Nobody can stand up to. Jesus Christ faced him square
on. Backed him down. And the ultimate violent confrontation
You know where it is? It's that sweet, sentimental
little story as an example of how much Jesus Christ at Calvary's
tree on the cross, the most violent thing in the history of mankind. Forces of evil, all of them together. One man, standing there, confronted
it all. Violent confrontation. You ladies that have had children, any of you gave, had natural
childbirth. Back in the old days, like I
said, when men were men and women were too, when there were no
epidurals and no real painkillers and all that. A woman, boy, if
they were out on the road and had to have a baby, you just
had to have a baby. And even with modern, you know,
things that ease the pain, it's still a violent thing, is it
not? It's a violent thing, this thing of giving birth to a child.
It's a body-wrecking, soul-wrenching, emotional, it's a violent thing. Why? Some women die from childbirth. A lot of women die from childbirth. What did it take to save man? What did it take to give birth
to the spiritual kingdom of God? Jesus Christ died. Is that a good illustration? A violent
thing. A violent thing. on the cross,
not a martyr's death, a violent thing, a violent confrontation,
slaying our sin, being the object of God's wrath against sin, one
man. Hell is eternal because man cannot
satisfy the infinite wrath of God. Jesus cried by himself,
John. How violent was that? By himself,
enduring all the hell for all his people. Just thinking about
it in the garden, he sweats blood, blood poured out of his pores.
Just thinking about it, what he was going to go through on
that cross for these people, a violent thing. And as I said, it's not just
some sentimental thing to try to, oh no, no, this is us being
delivered from captivity. This is him being a substitute, a death. a subject of God's death, God's wrath. Well, what is salvation of the
violent? He's the violent one. I've got
to quit, OK? I've got to quit. Our text, the
Lord says, the violent, take it by force. And in Luke's gospel,
and I'm going to quit, I promise you. In Luke's gospel, it's written
this way. The kingdom of heaven is preached
and men press into it. Men press into it. What is salvation? We looked at Jacob. The story
of Jacob, didn't we? When was Jacob saved? When was
Jacob finally, the Lord finally saved him? When that wrestling
match took place. You know the story. It says Jacob
went to sleep one night. He was running from his brother.
And he went to sleep one night and it says there a man wrestled
with him. A man, I mean a man. Somebody
grabbed hold of him. Grabbed hold of him and wrestled
him. And wrestled him so hard through his thigh out of joint.
His leg was thrown out of joint. Permanently crippled. Permanently. He crippled him. That's how,
it was a violent confrontation. He knew somebody was wrestling.
He knew somebody was He's got him sleeping. He's lying there sleeping, maybe
having some sweet dreams, and all of a sudden somebody grabs
him. When are you going to accept?
When this gospel gets a hold of you. When I'm in this gospel, I absolutely
shake you to your foundation. Yes, it is. When this gospel
smites your conscience, where it won't leave you, when you
leave this place, if God Almighty is wrestling with you, it's the
reason we don't have to play soft music, you know. Oh, don't
let anybody disturb. Don't let anybody, don't let
them do that. If God Almighty is wrestling with somebody, when
they leave this place, they'll still be wrestling. See, it's spiritual. That's flesh,
that's all flesh. Play soft music, play a hundred
verses so somebody will gotta come. Play enough verses, somebody
will come just to give them the quick playing. Right? If you weep enough and, you know,
that's flesh. I mean, God Almighty with the words
here, well, pick the conscience. And then you leave this place.
That's what I want people to do. Leave. Leave. Go someplace. Well, I'm going to get my Bible
out and see if what you're saying is good. Boy, I hope you do.
Read it for yourself. If God's working on a person,
hmm, he's wrestling with them. And they smite the conscience,
pricks the heart, shakes the foundation. He's got to kill
your God. God, the God of the Bible, has
got to kill your God. Everybody's got a God. Everybody's
got a religion. Everybody's got a foundation.
Everybody's got a refuge. The Scriptures call it a refuge
of lies. They're goodness. Well, I was baptized when I was
twelve. Big deal. Doesn't account for nothing. And God Almighty's got to kill
all that. God Almighty's got to kill your God. God Almighty's
got to kill our God. Like what God did to the ark
when the ark was put in the temple at Dagon. Remember that pagan
god Dagon looked like a fish? Boy, ain't that interesting.
Dagon, the pagan god of the Philistine, looked like a fish! Is anybody catching that? Yeah,
a lot of fish today, don't they? Anyway, that Dagon looked like
a fish, and they put, well, here's our God, and here's the God of
the ark, represented the true God. They came back in the next
morning, Dagon was on the ground, his head was cut off. His arms,
his legs, his head was cut off. Now, if that isn't a picture
of modern religion, huh? That's what preachers say. They
say, God has no hands but your hands, no feet. That's exactly
what preachers say. He's a Dagon. You've got to show
us that I didn't believe God at all. The God I used to believe
wasn't even God at all. He was a God I let do things.
Now the God who is God, I sure hope he lets me into his kingdom. The God of the Bible, he doesn't
need me, but oh, I sure need him, and I sure hope he has mercy
on me. Do you reckon he will? I think
he already has, to make you realize that. Got to destroy all our notions.
Everybody's got a notion about God. You can't teach anybody
anything. Somebody make some religious profession, they're
an expert on this book. Can't quote one verse of it.
Can't quote one verse, but they're an expert. When Christ, when the gospel
wrestles with the son of Jacob, it cripples them. And they wrestle
back. Jacob, it said, wrestled with
him. It's a wrestling match. The kingdom of heaven is preached,
our Lord said, and then press into it. When, if this thing,
it becomes a pressing matter. It's not a Sunday morning, go
to the meeting, it's a pressing matter. It's a life or death
thing. It's a pressing matter. Somebody
that might attend the gospel and might not, it's not a pressing matter. It's
just religion. If this thing's life or death,
you've got to have it. The violent, take it by force.
Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. A man
who really wants to know the truth said, I'm going to keep
coming until you tell me. And then when you tell me, I
really keep coming in. You ever been hungry? I mean,
really hungry? How many times do they have to
call you to the table? Don't even have to call you to
the table. You're waiting. You ever been thirsty? How much water did it take to
satisfy you? Blessed are they that hunger and thirst. It's
violent. Hunger is a violent thing. Thirst is a violent thing.
You ever been in love? You know, love is a violent thing. Yeah, it is. It makes people
crazy. It drives the ends of the earth. For what? No. It is. It's a violent thing. It's a consuming thing. Is it
not? You tell me. Is it not? It's
a consuming thing. It's a pressing thing. Carl said, I'm not there yet,
but this one thing I do. I press. Some people are going to miss
the kingdom. Why? Not a pressing matter. I will not let you go unless
you bless me. I will not. I'm not there yet. I hope I get there. I'm hungry and thirsty. That's the day that loved me,
he said. That's a consuming thing. Those
who confess may live with somebody who's not loving them. Commitment. Spending a life with
them. Casting your everything upon
them. Devoting your life to them. That's love. That's confession. Is it not? The king of heaven
suffered violence. Violence. Take it. How did that open up to. All
right let's say that. All right let's let's say number
sixteen. Stand with me. Number 16 in the
Green Hymnal. I love this hymn. Number 16, we'll sing the first
and third verses only, okay? Number 16. The Lord is King Lift up, lift
up thy voice Sing his praise, sing his praise. All heaven and earth before him
now rejoice. Sing his praise, sing his praise. From world to world that joy
shall ring. For he alone is God indeed. From sky to sky we will sing. Sing His praise, sing His praise. Third verse. The Lord is King,
and bow to Him ye must. God is great, God is good. Shall judge of all, to all is
ever just, God is great, God is good.