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Men of Violence

From the time of John the Baptizer until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people have been seizing it. (Matthew 11:12 GW)

The Kingdom is so much bigger than conversion. Of course, if you are going to be saved at all I mean saved initially you will have to mean business for that. You will have to make it a desperate matter, because there will be everything to stop you. But the Kingdom means a very great deal more than merely getting into it, far more than being converted. There is a great deal more in the purpose of God for our lives than we have ever imagined, and if we are to enter into that, violence has to characterize us. We must desperately mean business, and come to the place where we say: "Lord, I am set upon all that Thou dost mean in Christ. I am set upon that, and I am not going to allow other people's prejudices or suspicions or criticisms to get in the way; I am not going to allow any man-made system to hinder me; I am going right on with Thee for all Thy purpose. I am going to do violence to everything that would get in the way." It calls for violence, and we have to do a lot of violence to get all that God wills for us.

Oh, how easily many lives are side-tracked, simply because they are not desperate enough! They are caught in things which limit things which may be good, that may have something of God in them, but which none the less are limiting things, and do not represent a wide open way to all God's purpose. The only way for us to come into all that the Lord means not only into what we have seen but into all that He has purposed is to be desperate, to be men of violence; to be men who say, "By God's grace, nothing and no one, however good, is going to stand in my way; I am going on with God." Have that position with the Lord, and you will find that God meets you on that ground. No men not even Paul himself knew all that they were going to know. Paul was constantly getting fuller unveilings of that unto which he was called. He received something fairly strong and rich at the beginning; then, later, he was shown unspeakable things (2 Corinthians 12:4). He was growing in apprehension. But why? Because he was a man of violence. God meets us like that. "With the perverse Thou wilt show Thyself froward" (Psalm 18:26). That, in principle, means that God will be to you what you are to Him. He will mean business if you mean business. There is a vast amount in the Kingdom that we have never suspected. Do believe that.

The Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come. § The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” § Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The Helper … the Spirit of truth. § The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. § The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us?”

2 Thess. 3:16;  Rev. 1:4;  Phil. 4:7;  Luke 24:36;  John 14:27;  John 15:26;  Gal. 5:22;  Rom. 8:16;  Ex. 33:14;  Ex. 33:15;  Ex. 33:16

We … glory in tribulations.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. § Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! § They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. § The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. § Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Rom. 5:3;  1 Cor. 15:19;  1 Peter 4:12,13;  2 Cor. 6:10;  Phil. 4:4;  Acts 5:41;  Rom. 15:13;  Hab. 3:17,18

Light Living

Ye were once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8).

It takes a long time for us to realize that we have been in the light above since we first saw the Light below.

"Let the realization of the soul be compared to the condition of men groping about in the dense, dark fog; still we know that it is clear daylight above the fog, and all we want is to get high enough. Now, the fact is, we are risen with Him. Then may we set our affection on the things above where the Lord Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father; and though the secret power is unseen, faith in Him will lift our spirit into the clear light where He is." -H.F.W.

"The first question is, where the believer walks; the next, how he walks. Is he in the golden palace, the Holiest of All, where the full blaze of the divine light shines, or is he still outside the palace and walking in the darkness of the world? The believer's walk may often be faulty as he grows, but he is in the light." -H.F.W.

"Here it is that the child of God is to walk: If we walk in the light as He is in the light.' How he walks is a question to be settled after it is determined where he walks. And walking in the light, fellowship follows, not as an attainment, but as a consequence."

"We are never called outside the camp till we are inside the veil. We have title to our home in the Father's presence; we are to come forth from that abiding place and let the world know that we are strangers to it." -J.G.B.

"As a Christian I am now in Him before the Father, as He is in me before men; and the Holy Spirit has been given as enablement to enjoy the privileges above and to make good the responsibilities below."

"Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12).

Personal Preparation

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).

Truth is acquired in fellowship with His Word; truth is shared in fellowship with His heart. “It is feared that when we speak of being here for Christ it is often the thought of our service or conduct that is prominent, and therefore it is well to be reminded that there is something over which the Lord Jesus is more concerned than He is over our conduct or our service. It is that ‘garden closed,’ that ‘spring shut up,’ that ‘fountain sealed,’ from which all others but Himself are excluded-the hidden spring of those affections which alone satisfy His heart, or render conduct and service acceptable to Him.” -C.A.C.

“All our trials in service only serve to lead us to know the Father, as we could not know Him otherwise, as ‘the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation’ (2 Cor. 1:3). It is in this school that we acquire the ability to comfort others; so that our personal affliction or personal comfort work unto the same end, even the profit of others for we are their servants for Jesus’ sake.” -J.L.H. 221

“A preparedness is necessary for the Christian soldier who hears his Lord’s words. We have to learn that human energy cannot cross rivers of death, or break down walls of this world’s strongholds; and if we be aroused to follow the Lord, it must be in His own way. Impulse is not faith. Going forward in the mere strength of humanity-acquired knowledge of God’s truth-is not being led of the Spirit. The Father would not have His people act in the excitement of freshly-gained knowledge, and well would it often be, if instead of pushing on in the impulse of newly-acquired truth, there were first a tarrying, as it were, three days, to digest it, to make it, by the power of God’s Spirit, thoroughly part of the new man.” -H.F.W.

“Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1).

Nehemiah, Man of Prayer - (1)

Heavenly Order Rightly Divided