In regards to our role as a member of the kingdom of God, what we have to do it is violent. This is true in the spiritual sense. I’m not supporting extremist here for they direct violence at others to destroy them in the name of God. Our force is for a much more deadly enemy—the devil, sin, members of our own body. We must take these enemies by force and keep them defeated by force. It will take great force to keep all the enemies away from us. There is victory in Jesus, but there is something for us to do and do it we must.
Mathew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
To be saved and continue in the Lord will be the fight of your life. It’s a real fight that requires every muscle we can muster and every effort we can make. It takes all the force and aggression we can put into it. We must have a cautious and defensive attitude and make a strategy for ourselves. We can be made more than conquerors, but we can’t run or be a coward. We must be willing to fight. We must be willing to take it by force.
Jesus used John the Baptist as his example. He stayed in the wilderness of Judea; he had no problems, no worries until he lifted up his voice and took a stand for God. He claimed the Messiah as his own. As soon as he started his mission as the forerunner of the Christ he began to be bothered. The Pharisees and the wicked around wouldn’t leave him alone. Even Herod got into it. The most bothered people in the world are Christians. Satan didn’t bother us while we were unsaved. As soon as we began thinking about our soul and then accepting Jesus as our Savior, the devil used force to the point of violence to hinder us. He began to shake our faith, discourage us, and try to break us away from the Lord.
That which is valuable is worth fighting for. Jesus is worth it. It takes force to maintain what God has given us. However, we are not alone. When Satan gangs up on you, remember he gangs up on Jesus and you. Whatever and whoever it is, John said “greater is he that is in you that he that is in the world.” How aggressive are you? How are your defenses? Are you at your guard post? Are you losing the fight? Does violence and force describe your experience right now? How is your fighting spirit?
John’s ministry was short, yet from the time he stood he fought and suffered to the end. Paul said “I have fought a good fight.” Jesus said that he who follows him must take up his cross. He didn’t sugar coat it. Things are hard, and it’s because of Satan not Jesus; it’s not heaven but earth that gets to us. Our Adam nature is against us. Paul said we wrestle against spiritual wickedness. James said trouble comes from the members of our own body. Jesus is more real than all these. The experiences of life and the curse of Adam combine with forces to defeat us. The commander of evil wants you and me to fall away. Our Commander and Chief is over all things, and he wants to free us from the devil. He offers victory, so we must resist the devil. Life is tough and no respecter of persons. There is more against us than we can possibly imagine. It creeps in using subtle ways trying to get into our fox holes. Satan doesn’t use a pea shooter; his ammunition will kill the soul, and it’s time to toughen up not be wishy-washy. It’s not time to sit down and expect Jesus to do it all while we do nothing. We have to face the devil with all our resources and with victory in mind. The Holy Spirit will lead us over the battle lines. When the enemy pushed John, he pushed back; when they used force, he used force. He didn’t use his fists. His weapon was the Word of God. It was his steadfastness. The devil can only get to us as far as we allow him. Jesus gives us grace to say no to temptation and raise our head high in this humanistic world that is bound by sin. We have been set free by the truth of God. John was in the dungeon in prison but was freer than any other around.
We must become fighters to win. Boot camp teaches a soldier how to fight and instills a fighting spirit of self defense. He is taught not to throw his weapon down. We have the knowledge, now we must be aggressive and fight back. If we don’t get down to business we’ll lose the battle. When I’ve sat down and almost given up, Jesus told me to get up and take control of the situation with my fighting spirit. I’ve won before. I’ll win again. Don’t lose your fighting spirit. Take it by force.
It’s hard to say no to temptation. It’s hard to control ourselves. It’s hard to control that tongue or that temper. It’s hard to control those passions. We’ve got to be careful of what we do with our hands and look at with our eyes. We have to keep our own heart and mind under subjection, and with the force of God we can have victory. When we want to stay out of church, force the desire and go anyway. Sometimes it’s hard to love, force it and love anyway. Sometimes we get lazy; serve God anyway. Some times are harder than others. So what! Force it. A soldier knows he can’t quit; the others will go on and leave him for the enemy. We need to double time it. Hup 2, 3, 4. We need to force ourselves to live clean and get past our sinful weak points. Force your way past the devil. James said if we resist the devil, he will flee. When we fight, the Captain of our Salvation will take us through. The devil will run, and we’ll have the victory.
It’s not time for taps. It’s not time for revelie. It’s time to fight. It’s time to take it by force.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 