In Matthew 11:12 we find Jesus making a profound statement in which He noted that John the Baptist instituted the Kingdom of Heaven, that the kingdom was still in the growing process and that “violent” men were using “violence” to take (enter) the kingdom “by force.”  Jesus was telling us that, with minutely few exceptions, the world’s church leaders have been lying to us for some 2000 years.  In that statement He was telling us that entering the Kingdom of Heaven is not as simple as walking the isle and completing a prescribed ritual as we have been led to believe.  Knowing this, several questions immediately come to mind.

Exactly what is the Kingdom of Heaven?  What is its relationship to the Kingdom of God?  Are they one and the same? or are they two distinct entities?  Why does violence play a part in entering the first kingdom?  What kind of violence is necessary to enter it?  Why have religious leaders misled the church masses for generations?  Why does church doctrine differ so greatly from the Word of God?  Why do church people become so angry when the difference is revealed to them?  Why do they choose their doctrines over God’s doctrines?

As I have stated before on this website, the Kingdom of Heaven is the present earthbound kingdom in which God’s Very Elect reside spiritually.  That kingdom is the early, totally spiritual representation of the Kingdom of God which is presently in heaven but will one day come to earth as Jesus acknowledged while in praying to His Father:  “… Thy (God’s) kingdom come (later) … on (to) earth as it is (then and now) in heaven ….”  Notice that He said that the Kingdom of God is now in heaven but will one day come to earth.

John the Baptist initiated the Kingdom of Heaven.  What he began, Jesus and His apostles would finish.  That process is still unfolding and will continue to unfold until He returns at which time He will take those who had entered the Kingdom of Heaven to Jerusalem where He and they will establish the Kingdom of God which will come down from heaven where it now resides and where it will remain until Christ’s return.  In short, the Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom of God in embryo.

The Kingdom of Heaven exists now in the realm of profession, meaning that it is not at this time visible in material form.  The parables of the kingdom describe what is taking place in that kingdom now and will continue to take place until Christ returns to replace it with the Kingdom of God which will last forever.  Anything said about the Kingdom of Heaven can be said about the Kingdom of God because the former is merely the earthly, spiritual, prophetical and dispensational aspect of the latter.  The Kingdom of God will be the physical manifestation of the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven now on earth.  The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Heaven will eventually become the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God–His Very Elect saints.  They are the violent, God-seeking, Truth-believing, Bible-obeying warriors against whom Satan and his merchants of death fight every minute of every day.  They are the minutely few strait gate enterers and narrow way walkers who violently force Satan and company out of their way the walk in obedience which is required in order to achieve holiness and righteousness which are necessary for receiving eternal life (Rom. 5:21; 6:22/ 1 Jn. 3:6.9,10).

Relative to those who are entering the Kingdom of Heaven at the present time, notice what Jesus said about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11.  He said that among those born of women (all human beings), not one of them was greater that John the Baptist.  Nevertheless, the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven (the true church) is greater than John.  What did He mean by that?

Until the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. the Kingdom of Heaven existed in the realm of proclamation.  In the eyes of the world, there was nothing to come against, nothing to hate and destroy at that time.  No one came against John because of the kingdom he was spiritually building.  He was beheaded because of what he said about King Herod, not about the Messiah He proclaimed and the kingdom He would usher in.

The world’s lack of attention relative to those who followed Jesus would change following the establishment of the Church of God on the Day of Pentecost, 31 A.D.  At that point true believers would begin to face tremendous persecution, including death, in order to enter and remain in that kingdom.  Many generations later the world’s hatred for the church (Kingdom of Heaven) would culminate in the slaughter of some 50,000,000 people who would not obey the dictates of Satan’s church.  The war against God’s Very Elect would be called the “Inquisition.”

Because of the coming persecution against His people, Jesus said that those who would obey Him until His return would be greater than John.  The persecution and temptations from Satan, his demon spirits and false prophets that Jesus warned about has been going on since that day in the upper room in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit baptized the 120 with power.  John did not face the persecutions and temptations those people had to face which began with the founding of the Church of God–the Kingdom of Heaven.

No sooner had the church been established when both the Jewish religious leaders and their Roman masters began to wage war against the people of God.  The priests and Pharisees hated them because the One they called Jesus had replaced them in the hearts of many of the people.  The Romans came against the church because her people recognized a king other than Ceasar.  John did not face this kind of resistance.  Therefore, those who did, as Jesus said, were “greater than John.”  And let us not forget the identity of the force which was behind both groups of persecutors–Satan.

The word “violent” in verse 12 is the Greek word biazo, meaning to use force; to force one’s way into a thing.  The idea here is that, before John, the kingdom existed only in the realm of prophecy and concerned only the future.  But with the establishment of the church, men were pressing into it with such vigor that their actions resembled violence and desperation.  It appeared that they were taking the kingdom by force.  In Luke 16:16 it is described in this way: “The Law and the prophets (written forecasts of the kingdom) existed before John (came on the scene).  Since that time the Kingdom of God is preached and men press (force their way) into it (it’s early manifestation–the church).  In Second Corinthians 7:11 the Apostle Paul spoke to this type of warfare when he noted the church’s reaction to His teaching on sin: “You sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves (of sin), what indignation (concerning their former lives), what fear (of God), yes, what vehement desire (to please God), what zeal, what revenge (against the tempter).  In every way you have cleared yourselves of sin.” These people had clearly fought their way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Does this sound like any church you have ever heard of or been a part of?  What spiritual battles were you forced to fight and defeat in order to enter and remain in your church?  I am guessing that there were no such battles.  If your experience was like mine, church joining was simply a matter of performing the prescribed ritual employed by the denomination you were entering and, presto, you were saved, born again, sanctified and rapture-ready.  I have watched numerous “salvation experiences” during my 82 years.  I don’t recall any of them lasting more that five minutes.  There was not at the time, nor in the future to my knowledge any of the things Paul wrote about in his letter to the church at Corinth.

The only resistance I experienced during my time in the counterfeit church was the weather.  The summers were brutally hot and churches had no air conditioning.  Winters were equally brutal and the heating systems were ineffective during those Missouri winters when snow and ice would sometimes cover the ground for days on end.  Those were the only types of resistance and warfare I faced.  That is, until I was truly converted later on in life and then, as the saying goes, “all hell broke loose.”  Fortunately, I have as my power source the Lord Jesus Who said: “I (not man) will build MY (not man’s) church and the gates of hell will not prevail against IT” (Mat. 16:18).  Why would Jesus make such a statement if joining and remaining in a church was what I and you experienced?  It is obvious that the gates of hell have prevailed against the whole of professing Christendom.   The “gates of hell” broke loose against me when I came to the Lord and have grown stronger as I have grown closer to the Lord.  This is how I know I am on the right track.  This is why we are told to rejoice when we are under attack from Satan and his followers (Jam. 1:2).  I thank God that His Holy Spirit (His power) is within me.  If left to my own power, I could not prevail.  Know this: SATAN AND HIS MINIONS–BOTH SPIRITUAL AND HUMAN–HATE GOD’S CHURCH AND FIGHT AGAINST HER CONSTANTLY.  

Satan’s church is easy to enter and easy to reside in.  Just show up, ‘fess up, pay up and get ready to go up.  Grace has replaced Law.  Rules, if they exist at all, are whatever the people want them to be.  Right and wrong, being fluid, are relative to the individual and the situation.  Equity is the word of the day.  It means that no matter what one does, everyone in THE (right) church goes to heaven in the end.  In the sports world this “I’m O.K., you’re O.K., we’re all O.K., everyone wins” theology is referred to as being given a “participation trophy” for simply showing up.  Like most social ideas that defies common sense, this bit of lunacy originated in THE CHURCH.  As I have said for years, AS GOES THE CHURCH, SO GOES THE SOCIETY.

In the following posting we will look deeply into the war that God’s true saints must fight each day, just as our Savior had to do every day of His life.  Let us fight it together and lift each other up as we face the god of this world on his turf (2 Cor. 4:4).  Let us fight against him with the weapon guaranteed to win the day–the Sword of the Spirit of God.  Let us go forth into battle with His Words on our lips.  Let us respond as Jesus responded when being tempted by the devil: “It is written ….”  The “sword of the Spirit” is, after all, sharper than any double-edged weapon.  Let us use it violently.  L.J.