Book 1 of Musings Forcing Our Way Into the Kingdom

You have to push past resistance in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said something that I have pondered for many years. He said from the days of John the Baptist the Kingdom of God is forcefully entered and violent men take it by force.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Matthew 11:12)

This verse has always bothered me, the reason being Christ also said the meek inherit the earth. I guess He was speaking of two different circumstances.

After watching people through the years, I have come to the conclusion that it does take a certain amount of push to move forward in the Kingdom. Paul spoke of pressing on in order to lay hold on that for which he had been laid hold of by the Lord. "I'm pressing on the upward way."

However, the Greek terms employed for "forcefully" and "forceful" seem to imply that Christ was saying people like Herod and scribes and Pharisees seize the Kingdom and prevent other people from entering. Be that as it may, it remains true we must exert effort if we are to press through all the hindrances that confront us and enter the Kingdom.

Do you remember the woman with the issue of blood? She had to press through the multitude in order to touch the Lord.

And how about the Gentile woman who wanted the devil cast from her daughter? She stayed with it until she got what she wanted.

In the day in which we are living, the Kingdom of God is moving forward. If I am not mistaken, we have arrived at the time when the messengers of God are being sent out to remove from the Kingdom all that causes sin.

I suppose when a doctrine has been established, such as salvation through the blood atonement, or the baptism with the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues, it is relatively easy to lay hold on this experience, although I am sure the seeker is beset with difficulties as he or she tries to move forward in God.

But in the case of today, the believer has to press past the experiences of redemption that are familiar to the churches, and enter a new area. Only those who are really determined will make the necessary effort.

The Lord is speaking to us now about what it means to grow into the image of Christ. This entails the removal of the sinful nature as well as our learning to live by the body and blood of Christ.

We always have been taught that as long as we live on the earth we can never get rid of our sinful nature. There is no scriptural passage to support this viewpoint, and there are verses that underscore the opposite. To lay hold on the idea that Christ does have the authority and power to destroy our sinful nature requires much more faith and determination that we usually see exhibited in the churches.

Our assumption has been that our sinful nature will be destroyed when we die and go to Heaven. But sin began in Heaven and is spiritual in nature. It is not inherent in the physical composition of the human body. Also, there is no passage of Scripture that tells us our sinful nature will be destroyed in Heaven.

Matthew informs us that at the end of the age the messengers of God will go forth and remove from the Kingdom everything that causes sin. This means the sinful nature. Also, at that time, those of the Kingdom who refuse the deliverance when it arrives will be removed from the Kingdom and thrown into the "furnace of fire."

I know First John says if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves. I understand. We all know we have sin in us. The point is, however, that Matthew tells us that at the end of the age the messengers will be sent out and remove from the Kingdom all that causes sin.

This had to come, you know. It is not possible that the members of the churches in their present condition are fit to be "ever with the Lord." And the idea that we can have a sinful nature and still walk with the Lord "by grace" is neither scriptural nor reasonable. Can you imagine Christ having fellowship with people who are filled with the lusts of the sinful nature, on the basis of grace? If we think this is possible, we do not understand the realities of the Kingdom of God.

These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. (Revelation 14:4-5)

We have been as far as Pentecost. Pentecost is the fourth of the feasts of the Lord. God does not destroy our sinful nature during the spiritual fulfillments of the first four feasts. But the last three feasts refer to the removal of our sinful nature and the coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in us for eternity.

We simply have not been here before. Moses is dead and Joshua, the man of war, is the leader. Christ is Moses and Christ is Joshua.

When will this new step of redemption take place? According to Matthew, at the end of the age. Where will it be accomplished? Wherever we are. It is the work of Divine judgment, and Christ judges both the living and the dead. It is appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment.

It commonly has been taught that our judgment was accomplished on the cross. This is true for the forgiveness of our sins. That was one judgment, the removal of our guilt. But there is another problem, and that is our sinful nature. That also has to be removed by judgment. If our judgment had been completed when we accepted Christ, Peter would not have written that it was time for judgment to begin in the house of God.

It is obvious if we are to be set free from Satan our guilt has to be dealt with, and then our behavior has to be dealt with. Otherwise we are no more than forgiven sinners. The Kingdom of God consists of sinners who have been both forgiven and delivered, not sinners who only have been forgiven.

So we see we are facing a concept of redemption that is almost totally new to us. Yet, if we ever thought about it, we knew somehow, somewhere, at some point in time, God had to remove the sinful nature from His elect.

Well, the time has come. We now are at the end of the age. Passages of Scripture, such as the ones in Matthew and Peter, have always been in the New Testament. But they must have been sealed, because we could not see what was in front of our face.

We are here now. The lukewarm, soft, coddled American Christians are going to find it difficult to exert themselves sufficiently to move from Pentecost to the spiritual fulfillments of the Jewish Blowing of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. What will happen to them? They are going to be exposed to the hot fires of Divine judgment. Why is this? Because God does not love them? No, it will take place because He does love them and wants to save them.

You know, we often have spoken of people being saved as by fire, referring to those who lived a defeated life but were saved anyway by some kind of experience of fire.

The truth is every believer is saved by fire. This is what Peter means when he spoke of our fiery trial, and then of the righteous being saved with difficulty. What this means is that believers have to suffer in order that their sinful nature may be driven from them. This is difficult to accept because the natural man rebels against the Divine program of redemption.

We are headed toward wonderful, dangerous, difficult days. The purpose of the coming problems is to remove the sinful nature from us so we will be ready when the Lord returns.

The Kingdom is entered by those who approach it forcefully. They push past their own fears and unbelief. They ignore the lethargic believers with whom they are surrounded. They refuse to be frightened by Satan. On occasion they may face the scorn and wrath of the leaders of the established churches. Yet they want more of Jesus, and nothing will stop them from pressing forward.

They want to live in the power of Christ's resurrection and they are ready to share His sufferings. The goal set before them is the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection of the members of the royal priesthood.

They are ceasing from their own plans and programs and fighting their way into the rest of God, that is, into life lived in the flowing of the Life of God. They will not permit anything to stand in their way. When they stumble they cry out to God, get back on their feet, and fight onward.

Those who will ride with Christ when He descends to drive sin from the earth and install the Kingdom of God are called, chosen, and tested, tested, tested until their faithfulness has been proved beyond doubt.

A great people and a strong: there never has been the like before, and never shall be again.

Most of these warriors died long ago and are with Christ in the spirit realm. If I am correct, they, as well as we, are undergoing judgment at this time. Everything in our personality that is not in harmony with the will of God is being brought to the light and renounced vehemently.

You can see readily that the Kingdom of God is at hand and only those who are fiercely determined are going to be resolute enough to find his or her place among the Lord's mighty men.

To be in the army of the warriors who are set on destroying all sin from the creation, beginning with themselves, is available to whoever will. But, as the Lord said, we must take up our cross and follow Him. We must learn to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:20-22)