The Violent Take the Kingdom By Force

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Have you ever had the experience that your life isn't going as you had expected it to go?

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I mean, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. Yeah.

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In fact, I wanted to fly F -18s for the U .S. Navy. That's what I really wanted to do.

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And when I talked to the Navy, the Navy wasn't so keen on me flying F -18s. They wanted me to be a nuclear engineer on a submarine.

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And I told them, I said, no, I don't want to be under the water. I want to fly at Mach 3 over the water.

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And they said, no, no, no, that's not how this is going to go. So, of course, things didn't go according to plan or as I expected.

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And so, the Navy and I, we never joined up. So, sad thing, but it's absolutely true.

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All of that being said, consider what's happening in our Gospel text today. In the Gospel text, you can say that things aren't quite going as expected when it comes to the arrival of the

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Messiah. And it's our Old Testament text that helped create some of these expectations.

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I mean, the expectation was what? That, well, the deserts would dry up. The wilderness would be no more.

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That the redeemed of the Lord would return to Zion. Well, that Jesus would flex his kingly muscles, oust the

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Roman Empire out of Judea, and it would be our best kingdom now kind of stuff going on in Israel.

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But things were not quite going according to plan. Now, let me explain the confusion to you this way. A few years ago, actually, maybe not that long ago,

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I had a conversation with a fellow who's a Karaite Jew. Have you heard of this sect of Judaism?

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You're thinking, well, okay, I've heard of Hasidic Jews. I've heard of the Orthodox. But what's with the

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Karaites? Well, the Karaites is a group of Jews who, well, you can kind of roughly say they're like people of the book.

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They are the sola scriptura Jews. That's a good way to think about them. And so I asked this fellow.

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He's actually quite well known. And I asked him, I said, so, you know, let me ask you. Why do you think

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Jesus is not the Messiah? Answer, because he didn't fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah.

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He didn't kick the Romans out. He didn't flex muscle. He didn't establish the kingdom. And so what happens is that the

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Karaites think of Jesus in this way. He can't be the Messiah because they do not see in the prophecies of Isaiah that there are two advents of Christ.

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In the one advent, Christ doesn't come to flex muscles to kick out the

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Romans. In the one advent, he comes as a humble, suffering servant whom the

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Lord will lay on him the iniquity of the whole world, and he will bleed and die in their place.

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You'll notice that doesn't sound like the kind of muscle that the people at the time were looking for. And so not recognizing that there are two advents of Christ, the

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Karaites believe that Jesus didn't meet prophetic expectations, and therefore he is not worthy to be considered the

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Messiah. Think of our text kind of like in these terms because here's what has happened to John the

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Baptist. John the Baptist, he's clearly the forerunner of Christ. Absolutely, the people from all over Judea are coming out, and he's spitting grasshopper legs at them, telling them to repent.

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They're confessing their sins. They're being baptized. Everything's going according to plan. And then

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John, well, he tells Herod, listen, you're committing adultery. It's wrong for you to have your brother's wife as your own.

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And Herodias, bearing a grudge, convinces him it's time to silence

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John the Baptist. So they have him arrested, and he's now in a jail cell at the fortress of Machaerus.

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More than just a speed bump at this point. It's like hitting a brick wall. And so John, at this point, his disciples, he still has some disciples who are attending him, faithful men.

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John is going to fulfill his office as the forerunner of Christ, and in this last thing that he does, point them back to Jesus because it's clear that he's probably not going to get out of this jail alive.

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And so his disciples, he sends a couple of them with a question to ask

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Jesus. Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Because things are not going according to expectations.

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You see, John's now in prison. We kind of expected that rather than you forgiving prostitutes, that they would be burned up by fire.

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And those tax collectors are still collecting their taxes, and there's still institutionalized evil in the whole temple thing going on, and everything seems to be going the way it was.

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In fact, the people you're preaching the gospel to and the good news to, there's a whole group of them who are not only being annoyed by the gospel, they are reacting violently to it.

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I mean, what good is a Messiah if you can't have power and wealth and influence and affluence and stuff like that?

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What good is a weak, suffering, forgiving, loving

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Messiah? Think of it this way.

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We talk about versions of Christianity today. In a similar way, I oftentimes wonder why people are

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Christians. This past week on a radio interview, we were covering the teaching of a woman who is the daughter of the very famous TBN televangelist and word -of -faith preacher

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Jerry Savelle. His daughter's name is Terry Savelle Foy, and she was explaining that we need to look for signs that God is asking us and wanting us to believe him for bigger and better things.

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And she, in her teaching, lamented that she doesn't even practice what she preaches perfectly, and the example she gave is this.

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Well, there was this property that my husband and I were looking at purchasing, lakefront property in Texas, one acre.

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And apparently the Lord spoke directly to Terry Savelle Foy and told her, I am not the

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God of good enough. They were willing to settle for this one acre piece of property on a lake in Texas.

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And as it turns out, once she heard the voice of God saying that he's not the God of just good enough, but that she should expect and believe for better, wouldn't you know it, another piece of property came on the market, eight acres of lakefront property in Texas for less than the one acre.

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And so she saw this as a great sign, that this is what we're all supposed to be doing as well, believing

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God for more. So let me ask you guys, I mean, how's your property deals going lakefront?

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I mean, everyone here goes to the lake. I don't know which one during the summer, but you all go to the lake.

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Is that what Jesus is about? Giving you really great property deals? Helping you get that promotion at work?

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Giving you that really, really nicely padded 401K? And of course, you know, the easy life and all the things that go along with that, power, wealth, and influence.

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I always wonder, people who believe that that's what Christianity is about, what happens when real persecution breaks out against those who confess

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Christ? When the government says, enough of you

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Christians telling us that Jesus is the only way, that's a hate crime against Muslims and Buddhists and things like that.

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So if you keep talking this way, we're going to revoke your religious liberty and we're going to jail you or we're going to persecute you or we're going to take away your job and make it so that you cannot even sustain yourself in this life because of your confession of Christ.

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When that kind of persecution shows up, the people who think that Jesus is all about helping you get really nice eight acre land deals, are they still in the church at that point?

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That's not the Christianity they signed up for. It makes you wonder, do they even know the gospel at all?

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Expectations really, really tell you a lot about what you believe Christ is about.

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And so here, like I said, John is imprisoned in Machaerus, sends his disciples and asks,

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Jesus, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? The expectations aren't quite lining up here.

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How do we make sense of this? And so Jesus tells them, you go and you tell John what you see and you hear.

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The blind received their sight. Oh, we read about that in Isaiah. All right, check.

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Okay, yeah, got that. The lame walk. Yeah, that's in Isaiah too. Lepers are cleansed.

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That's even above and beyond what Isaiah prophesied. The deaf hear. Check. Yeah, the dead are raised.

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Yeah, that's even more than what Isaiah said. And the poor have good news preached to them.

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So you'll note that Jesus' miracles, his signs and his wonders, are, if you would, a foretaste, a sampling of the kingdom that is to come, and they show that he is the

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Messiah. You guys ever get a box of chocolates as a gift?

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My wife is into C's Candies and has been ever since we lived in California, as long as I can remember.

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And the worst thing ever, I mean the worst experience ever, it's like here you've got this box of chocolates and you're sitting there going,

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I'm not sure what these things are. And so you decide, all right, I'm going to take a risk.

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I don't know what that one is, but it looks like it might be good. You take it, you bite into it, and it's got that sappy, icky, cherry thingy going on.

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It's just going blah, blah, blah, right? Okay. There is a company, I forget the name of it, what they do is brilliant.

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It's really brilliant. What they do is in their box of chocolates, when you flip the lid up, it gives you pictures and names and tells you what you're getting.

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I love it because then I know what to avoid and leave for my wife. But I had a seminary prof kind of put it this way, that the miracles of Jesus, the raising of the dead, the giving sight to the blind, hearing to the mute, that this is like receiving one box of chocolates with samples in it explaining everything that shows this, and then the note goes something like this.

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We've got an entire truckload of this that's going to be delivered to you in a future date. This is just to let you know what's coming.

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Not a bad way of thinking about it. So you'll note then that Jesus is clearly saying,

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I am fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah. But listen to the last words. Blessed is he who is not offended by me.

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And why would somebody have an offense? Well, like I've already pointed out, the tax collectors are still collecting taxes, the

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Romans are still in charge, and rather than the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the sinners being smitten and sulfur from heaven burning them up, they're being forgiven and welcomed back into fellowship and reconciled, not only to God, but reconciled to their neighbors and embraced as forgiven sinners.

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And this is scandalous. The gospel is scandalous. Jesus isn't meeting expectations, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

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So as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. And you'll note that Jesus here gives no hint that somehow

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John is having a crisis of faith. I always love it how the liberal theologians say, see, this is an example of how we need to get rid of certainty and embrace mystery and doubt, because even

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John the Baptist had that. Do you guys not even know how to read?

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Anyway, so you'll note then that Jesus now praises John the Baptist and consider the subtext of what he's saying, because the question before us, is

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Jesus really the Messiah or not? Is he? Because he's not really meeting our expectations.

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We kind of expected something a little bit different here. So Jesus says, what did you go out into the wilderness to see?

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A reed shaken by the wind? No, what then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?

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Even Jesus has a sense of humor, right? That's a polite way of pointing out, yeah, John had a strange uniform.

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Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. So what then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

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And then listen to what he says. This is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.

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And by saying, John the Baptist is the one prophesied in the scriptures who would be the forerunner of the

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Messiah, by Jesus saying that, who is Jesus saying he is? He's saying, guess what, guys?

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I am the Messiah, because that's the guy you expected. He's the one, he's the

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Elijah to come. And if he's really the Elijah to come, well, note this, that when you look at the prophecies carefully, that the forerunner of the

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Messiah would prepare the way before Yahweh. And so not only is Jesus claiming to be the Messiah, he's even claiming to be

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God here. It's quite the assumption. But it's not an assumption or presumption on Christ's part.

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He's telling the truth. And then he says, truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the

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Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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And now come the important words as we're going to focus in on. For from the days of John the

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Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

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And now Jesus is resetting expectations. And he notes that the kingdom of heaven that he has been proclaiming, the kingdom that has drawn near, which is truly there by virtue of the fact that he is the king, that, no, the kingdom has suffered violence.

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And you know what? It will continue to suffer violence, even till the return of Christ.

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And it suffers violence to this day. Now, consider this. We all recognize that our

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Christian brothers and sisters who confess Christ, who, like us, have been reconciled to God through the redemption won by Christ on the cross, that in Muslim nations, our brothers and sisters are persecuted.

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Some of them are even martyred. And we recognize that as violence against the kingdom of God, and it is.

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But here in the United States, we have the Minnesota Nice version of violence.

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And this is not limited to only Minnesota. Let me explain to you. I have lost track of how many, and I mean this number in this sense, thousands of emails

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I've received over the years from men who faithfully have exegeted the

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Scriptures, pastored congregations, and preached law and gospel, called sinners to repent, and placarded

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Christ, who have been told by their congregations, Pastor, we're sick and tired of always hearing about Jesus.

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We're sick and tired of your irrelevant message. Can't you see? Just look around. The church is full of a bunch of gray -haired old people.

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We barely have any young people here. And if we don't change up our message and start getting relevant, we're going to die as a church.

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So you need to change it up. Stop talking so much about Jesus. And could you pare back all of that Bible stuff?

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Who wants to hear that anyway? And they're basically told, get with the program.

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The new program is relevant, or we're going to sack you. And no pastor, no

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Christian pastor worth his salt, would say, okay. And so what do they do? They persist in preaching

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Christ and doing and dispensing the duties of the pastoral office.

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And then they are sacked. It's happening all over the world. It's happening here in the

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United States. This is violence against the kingdom of God.

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Oh, and by the way, the people that they replace those guys with once they finally get rid of them, well, let's see.

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You know, weird Pentecostals in skinny jeans, women claiming to be prophetesses.

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The stories just go on and on and on. I wish I could share these emails with you. It's just tragic. I almost should write a book, you know, reports from around the world that come in to me.

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But see, this is a form of violence against the kingdom as well. And don't think for a second that when it comes to violence against the kingdom of God and against Christ the king, that somehow it's them out there.

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It's not. It's you. It's also me. Because think of it this way.

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Listen to the statement again. The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

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Now, I don't know too much about jiu -jitsu or the martial arts. There was a time when

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I was studying Taekwondo but blew out my knee, and that came to an abrupt halt. But I do know this, that oftentimes when it comes to being able to throw a person, that you use their inertia and their weight against them.

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You take their forward momentum and you use that as the thing by which they end up on their back looking up at the stars and wondering how come

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I can't breathe. I do remember that, okay? But I want you to think of it this way.

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Christ saying that the violent take the kingdom of God by force. That's a weird way of thinking.

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A weird statement. I think of it like the ultimate jiu -jitsu move, and here's how. Scriptures are clear.

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When it came to Christ's crucifixion, you are the one responsible.

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I am the one responsible for putting Christ on the cross. I would say the cross is the ultimate example of violence against the kingdom.

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The murder of the innocent, spotless king of kings and Lord of lords.

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We are all guilty of that violence. You crucified the

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Lord of life. I crucified the Lord of life. But you'll note that God laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and through this ultimate act of violence, rather than us receiving from God what we should deserve an eternity in hell, suffering

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His wrath justly, God uses the cross, the ultimate act of violence against the king, as the very means by which we are forgiven and reconciled to God.

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So the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. You've participated in it. I've participated in it.

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And in a very real way, you can say, each of us, we have taken the kingdom of heaven by force.

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But that ultimate evil, crucifying Jesus, God has worked for our salvation.

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And through the law and the gospel, through the law and the prophets,

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He's brought us to some kind of sanity, to where we recognize that by participating in this violence against Christ, that we do stand guilty.

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And Christ, rather than giving us what we deserve, has said to us,

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I forgive you. And He's reconciled you to God through this violence. And so you'll note then, it's scandalous that sinners like me have been pardoned by Christ.

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It doesn't meet expectations. I should have suffered and died and be burning in hell for my sins.

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But at the same time, it's scandalous that sinners like you, farmers from Oslo, Minnesota, people who work for the

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North Dakota government, good night, does anything good happen in the government? People who spend their time doing the things that you do, that you are forgiven.

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Working at Digi -Key, or even working for Pirate Christian Media, and you housewives too, don't even get me started about how evil that group can be.

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And of course, the youth, their students. Oh man. What a seedy lot you all are.

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Me too. And so you'll note, Jesus says, blessed is the one who's not offended by me.

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We who are guilty of putting Christ on the cross, rather than getting what we deserved, we're blessed.

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We're forgiven. We're reconciled. You see, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force, even to this day.

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All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to accept it,

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He is the Elijah to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So consider this, you violent lot, who are guilty of violence against the kingdom of God.

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You have been forgiven by your violence. Because Christ willingly laid down His life.

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He didn't resist your violence, but willingly laid down His life to bear your sins so that you can be forgiven.

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And so now we look forward to the fulfillment of Isaiah 35. And it's important that we do this as our last bit in our sermon today.

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And here's the reason why. The pink candle is lit today. Go to death. Joy. Today is

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Joy Sunday in Advent. So consider then the joy that is set before you when

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Christ comes in His second advent. In our text from Isaiah, the one the Karahites think proves that Jesus isn't the

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Messiah. But blessed is the one who isn't offended by Christ.

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Isaiah says this. Strengthen the weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees.

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Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.

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And He will come to save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.

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And you'll note that when this happens, there will be no more blind people. Period. The ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

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Everybody will see and will be able to hear perfectly. I won't have to wear these anymore.

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Then shall the lame man leap like a deer. The tongue of the mute sing for joy. The waters break forth in the wilderness.

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Streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool. And the thirsty ground springs of water.

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No more Sahara desert. In the haunt of jackals where they lie down, the grass shall come, become reeds and rushes.

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It's the return of Eden. And it's all over the earth. And a highway shall be there.

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It shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way.

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Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion will be there, nor shall there be ravenous beasts to come upon it.

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And they shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there."

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And there's the point. How could this be a prophecy about Christ's first advent?

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Because in His first advent, He's the one who redeemed us. That's the one where we were redeemed.

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We were purchased back from slavery. We were ransomed off out of slavery to sin, death, and the devil.

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And see, in order for this to be about the Messiah, it would require that the Messiah had already redeemed and ransomed us.

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But that's in His first advent, not His second. So the redeemed shall walk there. The ransomed of Yahweh shall return.

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And that's you. And they will come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

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And they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

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So brothers and sisters, this joy advent, third

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Sunday of advent, consider the joy that awaits you, the forgiven, who have been pardoned through the violence of the cross that you are all guilty of participating in, but which

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Christ has worked for your salvation. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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