The text tonight is found in
Matthew chapter 11 and the twelfth verse. Matthew chapter 11 and the twelfth
verse. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and the violent take it by force. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent take it by force." The subject matter then is that
of the Kingdom of Heaven taken by force. Some may be aware of
that spiritual autobiography by William Huntington, which
bears the title, a similar title really, to what I've just announced,
but the book is called The Kingdom of Heaven Taken by Prayer. A remarkable account of God's
dealings with the soul of a great sinner. In many ways it's not
dissimilar to Bunyan's Grace, abounding to the chief of sinners. And I would commend such books
to you, not just ordinary biographical reading, but spiritual accounts
of God's dealing with particular sinners. But that book by Huntington,
The Kingdom of Heaven Taken by Prayer, is one that we read of
John Warburton coming across in his early experience, if you
know his own spiritual autobiography. mercies of a covenant God. You'll
see how there in the earlier part of that book he makes some
reference to discovering Huntington's account and when he saw the title
of the book he concluded that it must be an Arminian book.
The title put him off. The kingdom of heaven taken by
prayer as if man of himself could take hold of God's kingdom by
his prayers. However, as he came to look into
the book, he discovered that that was not the case. There
was nothing at all of Arminianism to be found in that account. And there is nothing of Arminianism
to be found in the text that we've read tonight. Although
it speaks of men taking hold of the kingdom of God by force,
in fact, The margin here in this pulpit Bible gives this alternative,
that the kingdom of heaven is gotten by force and they that
thrust men. There seems to be much human
activity that is being spoken of. But what is spoken of here
is not anything to do with work's religion. It is altogether that
salvation that is by the grace of God, as I trust we will be
enabled to observe. But first of all, let's just
take account of the context in which these words are set. As we've said many times, we're
not to be those who take a verse of scripture and tear it from
its context and make it a pretext for what we want to say, we are
to see every part of God's Word in its immediate context, but
also in that general setting, what the old writers used to
refer to as the analogy of faith, where to let the Bible always
interpret itself. But coming to the immediate context
here, we certainly see something of that which would be an encouragement
to faith. And we see it in this, there
is such a clarity, such a clearness in the Gospel. The Lord Jesus
is speaking of the ministry of John the Baptist. Look at what
he says at verse 7 following. He just spoken to John's disciples. John had been imprisoned and
John was full of doubts. Had he been deceived in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ? was this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
really the promised Messiah and he sends some of his disciples
to inquire of Jesus and the Lord answers them there at verse 5
He says, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor
have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. And then as I say, at verse seven
following, the Lord goes on to speak of the ministry of the
Baptist. As these disciples of John went
their way, the Lord began to say to the multitude, what went
ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the winds? But what went ye out for to see?
A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft clothing
are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see?
And the answer's the question of profit. Yea, I say unto you,
and more than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
the way before me." Here is that one, who is the
promised forerunner, the harbinger of the Messiah. And earlier,
of course, we were we were looking this morning at the ministry
of John the Baptist as it's spoken of in the third chapter we took
for our text this morning those words in chapter 3 at verse 12 John's description of the ministry
of Christ whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge
his floor and gather his wheat into the garden, but he will
burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." And the Lord now speaks
of John and John's ministry. What of the ministry it was?
Well, that ministry was very much the fulfillment of what
had been prophesied at the end of the Old Testament in the book
of Malachi. verse 10 is really a reference
to the words of the Prophet Malachi. This is he of whom it is written.
Where is it written? It's written back in Malachi
chapter 3 and verse 1. Behold I send my messenger before
thy face which shall prepare thy way before them. And then
again at verse 14, the Lord says, If ye will receive
it, this is Elias, which was for to come. Elias
being the Greek form of the Hebrew name Elijah. And where was it
written that Elijah was to come before the appearance of Messiah? Again, it was in the book of
the Prophet Malachi. Verse 14 is a reference to the
language of Malachi 4.5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. John is that one who is spoken
of at the end of the Old Testament and John can be considered really
as the last and the greatest of all the prophets of the Old
Testament. The one who comes to prepare
the way for the appearance of the promised Messiah. And so here the Lord says in
verse 13, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until
John. Or what went ye out for to see
a prophet? Yea, says Christ, I sound to
you, and more than a prophet." That was John. And John's remarkable
ministry. Verse 11, Christ said, There
hath not a greater risen than John the Baptist. All his ministry
was such a remarkable ministry. And how was John's ministry so
much greater than all the others? Well, the prophets of the Old
Testament, they spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ who was to
come. Christ is always the spirit of
prophecy. Those Old Testament prophets
said Christ was the subject matter of their preaching. But they
would speak of him in terms that we have to recognize were somewhat
obscure. They spoke of him under dark
shadows and figures. But how different is John? John
speaks of Christ who has come. John directs people to the very
person of the Lord Jesus. We see that in the opening chapter
of the Gospel according to John. The Apostle John, there in the
opening chapter of his Gospel, speaks of John the Baptist. And
what was John's ministry? Behold, he says, the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. as he sees the
Lord Jesus. So he directs the people to him.
Behold, he says, the Lamb of God. And we know the significance
even of that word, behold, how it is a powerful word. And that's
that idea of a very intense look, a careful look, a consideration,
a fixing of the eye. All the Baptists would have meant
to consider Christ. There is such a clarity there.
with regards to that ministry of John the Baptist. And as he
pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, so he spoke very plainly of sin. Now we saw that also in that
chapter that we were considering this morning. How John comes
preaching the Kingdom of Heaven and preparing the way for the
coming of the Lord and how he calls men to repentance. He preaches a baptism of repentance. But we're told there, when he
saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism,
he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits,
meet for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you, that God
is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. how
he exposes the false confidence of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
who like to speak of their pedigree as those who were descended from
Abraham and from Isaac and from Jacob. What were these externals? They were nothing at all. John
speaks to them so plain, exposes their sins. And we see that it
was these faithful dealings of John that brought him into the
prison and that ultimately brought him to his death. We just turn
over a few chapters there in chapter 14 and verse 3, Herod
Herod the Tetrarch. He'd heard of the famine of John.
And Herod had laid holds on John and bound him, and put him in
prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John
had said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. How he doubt so faithfully this
man. There was such a claritin as
he preached the necessity of repentance and as he directed
the people onto the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, in John we really
do have the fulfillment of that prophetic word back in chapter
40, the voice of that one who is crying in the wilderness and
the message that this voice is to proclaim. Verse 6 of Isaiah 40, the voice
said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever." Or John
told the people as it was. He made it plain what men are.
They are but as grass which today is in the field and tomorrow
is gone. All his faithful dealings. And we see that many, many were
aroused, many were awakened as Christ himself came to exercise
ministry. Christ himself came not to call
the righteous but sinners to repentance. John made plain what
sin was. Making plain what sin was in
his ministry he would point, he would direct the people to
the Lord Jesus Christ. There is such a clarity then
in that ministry that the Lord has been speaking of with regards
to his great forerunner John the Baptist. But then also what
we have here And this is the encouragement
of faith. What we have here is the gracious call of the Gospel. There is a clarity, but there
is also a call. Verse 15, the Lord says, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. This is the call of the Gospel.
And then, of course, when we come to the end of this chapter,
We have that great call of the Gospel. Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke
is easy and my burden is light. Oh, what a contrast there is
in this Gospel call. and the language that we find
in the Lord of God, what a dreadful yoke, what an awful burden the
Lord of God is. How it makes such tremendous
demands upon people. If a man keeps the whole law
and yet offends in one point, he's guilty of all. The law requires
a full, complete, perfect obedience to every one of its commandments. And that obedience is to be not
only in the deed, not only in the word but also in the thought. That's the law of God. And so
the law doesn't really say come. The law keeps men at a distance. There's no approach to the law.
Even with the giving of the law, we see that in Exodus 19, how
bounds were set all around the mount, and they were not to draw
near, they were not to touch the mount. And if a man was to
dare to do such a thing, he was to be thrust through, he was
to be killed. No, the law says, keep away,
keep your distance, but here is the call of the Gospel. Yes,
there's a clarity, but what a gracious word, this is come. Come unto
me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, says the Lord Jesus,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light." The call of
the Gospel. Now what are we to conclude from
such clearness, such gracious words as these? Well, if men
do not come, if men do not come, at that call they are culpable.
The fault of not coming is altogether their own. The Lord Jesus says,
ye will not come to me that ye might have life. The fault is not with God, the
fault is with the sinner. Yes, his condition is such that
he cannot come, he is dead in trespasses and sins, but why
so? Because he sinned in Adam. And
he partakes of a sinful nature. And he sins in his own person.
But he chooses, he prefers the ways of sin, he refuses the call
of the Gospel. And so we see how here in this
chapter the Lord begins to upbraid those various cities where He
had done mighty works. Oh, what a display of the power
of God in those miracles, those mighty signs, those wonders.
Then began He to upbraid the cities where most of His mighty
works were done, because they repented not. Go on to the Ikharazi. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you, and thou, Capernaum. O how Capernaum was that favoured,
that favoured town, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be
brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which
have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day that wicked city of the plain upon
which God poured fire and brimstone because of the Sodomites. If the mighty works which have
been done in thee, Capernaum, had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for the earth. How awful to think of it, that
those who are favoured to hear the gospel of the grace of God
and yet shut their ears and refuse to come. Oh, how great is their
sin! What culpability! This is the
condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness
rather than light. Men, I say it again, men are
culpable in their sin, in their unbelief. in their refusal to
hear the words of the grace of God in the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One other reference that underlines
this particular truth are those words that we find in the 15th
of John. And there at verse 22, Christ
says, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak. They have no excuse for their
sin. He that hateth me, hateth my
Father also. If I had not done among them
the works which another man did, they had not had sin. But now
they have both seen and hated both me and my Father." How solemn it is, friends, when
we consider God's gracious Word in the Gospel so clear So plain, the way in which sin
is spoken of. You know there's such a blessed
simplicity when we think about the way of salvation. Sometimes
we, in our folly, make it a hard way. It's very simple. There's a vast difference between
the simplicity of salvation and easy-believism. We deny the very
notion of easy-believism. Why it's impossible really that
anyone can believe it's a mighty work of the Spirit of God, we
know that. It's the same power that's necessary to faith that
was there in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But the way of salvation is simple. As we see it set before us in
scripture. It is simply sin and salvation. It's to know we're sinners. and
to know that there is but one Saviour of sinners. And how God
reveals His truth, how God is so gracious, He reveals Himself
to those poor, weak, ignorant, foolish sinners. Again, look
at the language that we have in the chapter. What does the
Lord Jesus say? Verse 25, At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight, all things are delivered
unto me of my Father. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son. and
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. The interesting thing
is, there at the end of verse 27, the words to will, there's
two words that could be used, and one is a stronger word, and
it's the strong word that's used. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him. It's what the Son wills. It's
a sovereignty of God in that revelation of salvation to the
sinner. Oh God is pleased you see. God
is pleased to grant that revelation to those weak, ignorant, sinful
souls, so those who come who feel their utter impotence, those
who have learnt the awful truth concerning their condition as
sinners, dreadful doctrine of man's total depravity, they know
it, they feel it. Or to cease in smarts but slightly
to own with lip confession is easier still, but ought to feel
to feel the impossibility of faith, or could I but believe,
says Newton, then all would easy be I would, but cannot, Lord,
relieve. My help must come from Thee. And what does the Lord Jesus
say? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And he that
cometh to me I shall in no ways cast out. He that cometh to me
says Christ. He says, come unto me all ye
that labour and are heavy laden. He that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out. Or do we feel ourselves to be
such fools with regards to these great spiritual truths, these
blessed verities of the gospel, the simplicity of the way of
salvation, the clarity that we see in the gospel, the gracious
words of invitation, this blessed word come do we feel ourselves
to be such such fools we cannot comprehend these things well
we're told are we not there back in Isaiah 35 that the wayfaring
men though fools shall not err therein good to feel our own
native father then we will look for that heavenly wisdom the
wisdom that comes from above here then we see in the chapter
that should be really a great encouragement, a great encouragement
to faith. But here in the text, we have
to recognize that there is also opposition to faith. That's why the Kingdom of Heaven
suffers violence, because there's opposition. Remember the words of the Lord
Jesus on another occasion in Luke 13, He says, "...strive
to enter in at the straight gates for many shall seek to enter
in there at and shall not be able." All there is to be that striving
to enter the gates, the kingdom of heaven. "...suffereth violence And the
violent take it by force. Sure, you're probably familiar
with the content of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. And you remember
when Christian arrives at the gates, the straight gates.
That straight gate that leads into the narrow way, that leads
to life. We're told, Bunyan tells us,
there at the gate is Beelzebub, the prince of all the devils.
And he is shooting arrows at all those who would enter into
the gate. Now what are those arrows? What
are those arrows? Well, we can think in terms of
the accusations of the devil. He is an accuser. He's the accuser
of the brethren who accuses them day and night. He'll bring false
accusations. He'll stop any entering in at
the gate if he can in any way. There are accusing devils. There's
a guilty conscience. There's carnal reason. There's
hardness of heart. There's doubts. There's fears. There's unbelief. You can think
of so many different arrows that the devil will shoot and we will
seek to fire these deadly arrows into the minds and into the hearts
of those who would enter in at the straight gates. It would
make them feel how hard their hearts are. He'll have them to
indulge in their carnal reasoning, their foolish reasonings. He'll
make them feel that guilty conscience. There'll be doubts. Oh, He loves
to implant doubts into the mind, into the heart. This is how He
works. There's much opposition, you see. This is why this particular
language is employed by the Lord. The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth
violence, and the violent take it by force. There's a great
adversary, there's a deadly foe who will do all in his power
to prevent any entering in at that straight gate. But how comforting
is the language of that old Scottish divine David Dixon when he says
if we cannot remove impediments let us set our feet upon them
as stepping stones or how we need to be those who
are harmless as doves and wise as serpents or that wily foe
the devil himself you see time and again he He overstretches
himself, overreaches himself. Those are the things that will
serve to impede us entering in. Why, Dixon says, we are to set
our feet upon them as stepping stones. This is the way in which
we enter in. This is a gate that is open to
the sinner. Why, who is the one who is the
door into the way is the Lord Jesus Christ. As he says there
in John's Gospel, chapter 10, I am the door. By me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. Oh, the Lord Himself is that
why. And we are to come to Him with
all of those impediments. all those wicked things that
Satan will seek to implant into our minds and hearts. It is because
of all these cares upon the Lord Jesus. He is the man who is pleased
to receive the sinner, the man who is pleased to welcome the
sinner, to eat, to drink with the sinner. Yes, there is the
encouragement of faith when we look at the general context,
the content of this 11th chapter, the great clarity that we see
when we think of the ministry of John the Baptist of whom the
Lord has been speaking, when we look at the Lord's own gracious
words of invitation, that blessed word, come, there's every encouragement
and these encouragements should enable us to overcome all the
objections and all the opposition that Satan will come and seek
to implant in our hearts and in our minds. And then, finally,
here we observe also something of the activity of faith. How do we come? How do we enter
in? It is by faith. And so the text
is to be understood and interpreted in the light of that. By grace
are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Oh, we need that saving faith.
We need that justifying faith. The just shall live by faith,
we read back in Habakkuk. And three times, as you know,
three times in the New Testament that blessed statement is taken
up The just shall live by faith. And how much it meant to Martin
Luther when he discovered those words. The doctrine of justification
by faith. All we need is saving faith.
We need justifying faith. We need praying faith. He that
comes to God is to believe that he is and that he is a rewarder
of all that diligently seeking. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. And so here we interpret these
words of our text, these words of the Lord in the language of
the New Testament. The kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence and the violent take it by force. Here we have the
power of the gospel. It is the kingdom of heaven that
we're considering. it is God's kingdom and there
is one who is the king he is the king of kings he is the Lord
of Lords and surely we are to recognize therefore that basic
truth that salvation is of the Lord it is the Lord who saves
We don't, in any sense, save ourselves by our own force of
efforts. We don't gain an entrance by
our own violent activity. No, the kingdom is God's kingdom. Salvation is of the Lord. Neither
is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. salvation is of the Lord, we
know that that is the great purpose of the Father, He is the One
who from all eternity had set His love upon the people and
that people He committed into the hands of His only begotten
Son in the eternal covenant of redemption and so in the fullness
of the time God sends forth His Son made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem. To redeem that people who were
under the law. He stands in their law place. He answers for them. Before that Lord of God, He answers
in terms of both His precepts and His penalties. In His death,
He bears the punishment. The penalty that was there, just
deserved. They were the sinners. They deserved
to die, but He dies. The just for the unjust. To bring
sinners to God. but are we honoured and magnified
by that same law in His life, His life of perfect obedience? Or is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth? Neither is there salvation
in any other. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. The great purpose
of the Father and then the blessed accomplishments of God the Son. But what does Paul say when he
writes to those Thessalonians who had been brought to faith,
saving faith in the Lord Jesus, who had entered into the Kingdom
of Heaven, who had passed through that straight gate and were in
the narrow way? Why, he reminds them, our Gospel
came not unto you in word only, No, he says it was in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Why? What was
purposed by the Father, what was procured by the Son, how
it's applied, how it's brought home into the soul of the sinner,
he has an experience. And what is that experience?
Why, he's born again, he's born of the Spirit of God, new life
comes into his soul, he's partaken now of a divine nature. He has
that faith that he is of the operation of God. That's how
the Gospel comes. You see, it's a Trinitarian salvation. We sang of it. Oh, we sang of
it in our opening praise. All true Christians, this may
boast a truth from nature never learned, that Father, Son and
Holy Ghost to save our souls. We're all concerned. Our salvation
is of the Lord. Here we have something then of
the power of the gospel. It's God's kingdom. The kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. But then, also, thinking of the
activity of faith, there is something of the paradox of what saving
faith is in these words. Salvation is of the Lord and
yet it says the kingdom of heaven, God's kingdom, that kingdom in
which He is an absolute sovereign, suffers violence. And the violent
take it. And they take it by force. Thinking
of it, it reminded me of that that we find back in Exodus.
Remember when the children of Israel, they're delivered out of Egypt.
The Egyptians thrust them out. They spoil the Egyptians, really.
They go out, as it were, like conquerors. But then Pharaoh
and his armies begin to pursue them. And there's the armies
of the Egyptians behind them, there's mountains on each side
of them, there's the Red Sea before them. And they seem to
be shut in. How can they make their escape
now from these pursuing Egyptians? And we read of it there, in Exodus
chapter 14. It's interesting to read just
what he said concerning their experience. Verse 13, Moses said
unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Why? It is evident, is it not, salvation
is of the Lord. The Lord is going to fight for
them. The Lord is going to destroy their enemies. They are to stand
still, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. And then at verse 15, the Lord
said unto Moses, Wherefore cryest thou unto me, speak unto the
children of Israel, that they go forward. One minute they are told stand
still, while the next moment they are to go forward. There is a certain paradox here. They are standing still and going
forward at one and the same time. What is it that it teaches us?
It teaches us something of what faith is. True faith is that
faith that waits, that waits upon God, waits in blessed anticipation,
blessed expectation, waits with longing of soul. The Psalmist,
so many times we see it in the book of Psalms, that exhortation
to wait, wait on the Lord, be of good courage. He shall strengthen
thy soul. Wait, I say, on the Lord. What is this waiting? It's not
some passive thing. It's a holy activity of soul.
This is the striving, you see. This is the violence. It's sad
that he's taking place in the soul of that exorcised sinner.
Yes, he knows that he can do nothing, but what agonies of
soul in waiting, in crying, in calling. In Romans 8 and verse
19 we read of the earnest expectation of the creature, waiteth for
the manifestation of the sons of God. The earnest expectation
of the creature weighteth. Now, those opening words, the earnest
expectation, it's just one word really, and it has the basic
idea of watching with an outstretched neck, that is earnest expectation,
watching, watching, stretching the neck, watching, looking,
such earnestness, This is what we have here, you see, this is
the violence, this is the force. True waiting is not passive.
All the such desperation in the soul, the such longings and yearnings,
hungerings and thirsting, this is all the activity of faith.
This is all the activity of faith. That longing to to see manifested
something of the great power of God in the gospel of His grace. Yes, there's much opposition. There's opposition certainly
from Satan. He's there at the gates, Beelzebub,
firing all those awful darts, anything to hinder that pilgrim
who would enter in at the straight gate. But there's much to encourage. Or there's much more to encourage.
The goodness of God, the grace of God. Or the clarity of the
call of the Gospel. That blessed word come. Come
unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, says the Lord,
I will give you rest. Or that these words then might
encourage us to this blessed activity of true faith, of that
saving faith that we might be identified with the ones who
are spoken of here in the text from the days of John the Baptist
says the Lord until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and the violent take it by force or that God would grant to us
such a praying spirit as if you read that book of Huntington's
you'll see was so evident in his own conversion. The kingdom
of heaven is taken by prayer. We have to ask. Ask, it shall
be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened unto you. Oh the Lord grant His blessing
upon His Word. Amen.