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OPENING
The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence
What is the Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God)?
In a broad sense, the Kingdom of God is the rule of God over the entire universe.
In a more specific sense, the Kingdom of God is the rule of God over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority.
So the Kingdom of God is currently a spiritual kingdom.
Those who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are part of the Kingdom of God.
John the Baptist began preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven (God) is at hand.”
It was “at hand” because the incarnation and earthly ministry of Jesus Christ was the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth.
But there is a sense in which the Kingdom of God is "already but not yet."
It is “already” here in the sense that:
Jesus came, died, and was raised from the dead.
And we now have access to the plan of salvation through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is “not yet” in the sense that:
One day there will be a literal Kingdom of God on earth.
This will begin with the Millennial Kingdom and continue through to the Eternal Kingdom.
One day all human government will submit to a theocratic government headed by Jesus Christ.
One day Satan, demonic forces, evil, sin, and death will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
What is the violence the Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) is suffering?
Scholars interpret this verse two different ways:
First, the “violence” can refer to the huge rush of people who were trying to enter the Kingdom of God at the time of Jesus Christ.
In other words, they were forcefully entering into the Kingdom of God.
Second, the “violence” can refer to opposition to the Kingdom of God.
Perhaps there is a sense in which both of these statements are true:
Those who are in the Kingdom of God are “forcefully” entering it and advancing it against all opposition.
But in another sense, there were, and are, spiritual forces working to oppose the Kingdom of God and stop its advancement.
First, the intensity of spiritual warfare that surrounded Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Second, the intensity of spiritual warfare that surrounds those that are part of the Kingdom of God today.
Notice that this “violence” has been occurring from the days of John the Baptist until now.
Jesus was speaking these words during His earthly ministry, perhaps only months or at most a few years after John the Baptist’s death.
But we can say that this message still applies to believers in the Kingdom of God today.
The Kingdom of God is still suffering violence today.
Christians are trying to advance the Kingdom of God.
And there are demonic forces at work trying to stop the Kingdom of God.
The Violent Take it by Force
So what or who are the violent who are taking it by force?
Well, if we take it in the context of those advancing the Kingdom of God, it means that they are advancing it forcefully against the powers of darkness.
“The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness.
This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles…The Kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.”
(D. A. Carson)
If we take it in the context of those opposing the Kingdom of God, it means that there is an enemy of God that is plotting a violent, hostile takeover in order to stop the advancement of His Kingdom.
Just like there is a Kingdom of God, there is also a kingdom of Satan.
The Kingdom of Satan is made up of all the demons, fallen angels, or evil spirits, whatever term you want to use, as well as all those who oppose God and His Kingdom.
In this period of the “already, but not yet,” there is constant conflict between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
These conflicts between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan are called POWER ENCOUNTERS.
There are examples of POWER ENCOUNTERS throughout the Bible.
The Garden of Eden
David and Goliath
Elijah on Mt.
Carmel
Jesus Casting out Demons
These are not just random events.
They are connected.
There is a common thread that runs through them.
They are all POWER ENCOUNTERS.
This morning, we’re going to talk about a particular type of POWER ENCOUNTER.
The devil is fighting mad.
The Kingdom of God has been advancing.
God has been doing some great things in and through our church.
And the devil can’t stand it.
So He is in a rage and he is throwing everything he can at us.
He has his demonic hordes on assignment.
He is trying to cause division and confusion in the church to stop the Kingdom of God from advancing here at Farm Hill Church.
It is a POWER ENCOUNTER.
But greater is He that is on the inside of us than he that is in the world.
Our church is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And Jesus has all power and complete authority over the powers of darkness.
And Jesus has delegated that power to us as the church to advance the Kingdom of God against the opposition of the enemy.
So this morning, we are going to “take it by force.”
We are not going to sit back any longer and let the devil wreak havoc.
So this morning, we’re going to bringing our own POWER ENCOUNTER to the devil.
We are bringing the spiritual fight to the devil.
It is time for the demonic forces that are warring against us to go in the name of Jesus.
You’ve probably heard of squatters.
These are people who take up residence in a building or on a property that they do not own and have no legal right to dwell there.
They simply move in or move on the property without paying rent.
It often takes legal action for a landlord or property owner to have them removed.
And it begins with serving them an eviction notice.
The devil and his demonic entourage are nothing but spiritual squatters.
They like to try to move in to places that they have no legal right over.
So what do we do when the devil tries to move in?
We remind him that the title deed to us and our families, the title deed to our homes, the title deed to our church is owned by God, purchased and paid-in-full by the blood of Jesus Christ, and is secured by the Holy Spirit.
And then by that legal authority, we serve him an eviction notice!
So this morning, we’re EVICTING DEMONS!
SCRIPTURE
MESSAGE
We need to understand the context of our Scripture text.
Earlier in this chapter, Jesus had cast a demon out of a man that was blind and mute.
And the Pharisees got all jealous and accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Baalzebub, the prince of demons.
In other words, they attributed the work of Jesus to the power of Satan.
Jesus then told them that they were committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
They were not blaspheming Jesus.
They were not blaspheming the Father.
They were blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus told them that type of blasphemy would not be forgiven.
So in response to the Pharisees, Jesus gave an illustration of what happens when an unclean spirit is evicted from a person’s life.
He used this illustration as a way to rebuke the Pharisees for their blasphemy and warn them that they were in danger of continuing to fall further from the truth because of their rejection of Jesus’ work.
But this illustration also gives us some insights into how demonic spirits operate.
And this, and other passages of Scripture, help us to understand how to defend ourselves against them and how to evict them and send them on their way.
But before we get to the eviction notice this morning, we need to understand a few things first.
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