PRAYER - PRAYER LIST in bulletin
PRAYER PARTNERS
JUDGES 3
John gives TESTS that expose false
Christianity He that says… If we say

Matthew 11:12-25
“Wows and Woes” pt 2
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.
Two interpretations of this passage –
1.) “Here’s the kingdom of heaven and you take it by force. You claim this and grab hold of the promises of
God.”

In a sense I understand that…We should have faith and move forward.
To as many as received Him….
Joshua Possessing an inheritance through faith and obedience.….
But I have a little bit of trouble with the way that some define taking the kingdom violently.
Rodney Howard Brown (the ring leader of the “holy laughter movement) said that he threatened
God ….. God - either You create a great movement in the church or I will come up to heaven and pull
You down.
I’ve got a little bit of problem with that.

I hope I don’t have the God that Rodney Howard
Brown can pull down from heaven.
I was depending on somebody much bigger than that.
The DILIGENT STUDY of the SCRIPTURES is so important in being able to sniff out and dealing with such WRONG views!
When Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given. Seek and it shall be found. Knock and it shall be opened.”
The Greek says reverently knock.
In other words Remember whose door you’re beatin’ on.

Reverently persist in knocking and it shall be opened.
Listen to Isaiah - with all of his anointing as prophet of God “In the year King Uziah died I saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train filled the temple. The pillars shook and then I said ‘woe is me.’”
He didn’t say, “I’m going to take by violence.”
Daniel - perhaps the most amazing of the prophets - said, “All of his beauty was turned to ashes in the presence of the Lord.”
John the apostle on the Isle of Patmos fell down as a dead man when he saw the Lord.

So I have a little bit of problem with the interpretation of that in the sense of taking God’s kingdom by violence.
PASTORAL MOMENT (Gentle but Firm)
Bible study is NOT an option for the Christian.
Early Church -
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles ’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
THAYERS DEFINITION -

to adhere to one, to be devoted to 2) to be steadfastly attentive unto , to give unremitting care to a thing 3) to continue all the time in a place 4) to persevere and not to faint 5) to show one ﾕ s self courageous for
Today church goers love to continue steadfastly in fellowship and potlucks
But they are NOT so when it comes to the Word and Prayer.
It’s so hard… where will I find time
VALERIE: First Women’s studies in GV
Too much work… They’ll never find the time… Cut the lessons in half.

I can understand that there might be some who are genuinely way over their heads in trying to provide for their family.
But let’s be real Truth is - We ALWAYS manage to find the time for things that are important to us.
The truth is that the Bible and the study of the
Bible is not important enough to the average church-goer to make them want to
Adhere to it….. Be devoted to it
Be steadfastly attentive unto it
To persevere and not to faint in the reading and study of it
To show themselves courageous for it

Metro was not birthed to provide you with a 20 minute sermonette on some “truth from the Bible” and give you a little piece of paper with five blanks to fill in.
We are PASSIONATE about the WORD of God because we can NOT
Really KNOW GOD apart from it
Really KNOW THE WILL OF GOD apart from it.
Really GROW in FAITH apart from it
WE MUST be DILIGENT to study the Word of God
I can’t answer for any other church….

2.) I think we could more accurately look at in light of the NLT’s reading of the passage
(Mat 11:12 NLT) And from the time John the
Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people attack it.
The kingdom was being forcefully advanced –
Jesus was constantly on the move - the very power of God was at work as people’s lives were being touched.
Also there were multitudes who wholeheartedly pressed into it

That is -
They “violently” - if you would - wanted to come in….
There was a need and desperation.
AND - Simultaneously the kingdom was violently being attacked.
Oh that WE would see the Kingdom advanced by the power of God changing lives…. Oh that we would see people DESPERATELY PRESSING IN to the Kingdom.
NOTE ALSO: There will NEVER be people
PRESSING into the kingdom without OPPOSITION.

16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying,
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Jesus paints the picture of a group of children out playing in the streets.
One group says, "Let's play funeral."
They play funeral for awhile, soon tire of it and then say, "Let's play wedding."
Soon they grow tired of playing wedding.
They go from one extreme to another. They are spoiled children.
The generation Jesus was speaking to was like that, and our generation is also.

Jesus says to them,
“You know God sends you a holy man who lives in the wilderness and does not associate with the sin and the patterns of the world that surrounded him and is completely separate in his life… PROCLAIMS THE
WORD and POINTS TO the LIVING Word… and you say, ‘this guy is demon possessed.’
Then here I come, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, to eat and to drink and to sit with them and to fellowship with them and teach them and you call me a glutton and a drunkard.
John was both austere and severe…. And they didn't feel comfortable with him.

Jesus was friendly.
"Oh, He is gluttonous. He's too friendly with sinners!"
They weren't pleased with John, nor were they pleased with Jesus.
APPLICATION: There are some people that you simply cannot please, and you are better off to forget about them.
They don't like one preacher because he is too monotone.
They don’t like the next preacher because he is very demonstrative and pounds the pulpit.

Or one is too profound, and they don't understand him, and the other is too simple -- so they don't like him either.
There are a lot of people whom no one can please, and that was certainly true in our Lord's day.
But wisdom is justified of her children.”
Look at the fruit of the ministry of John the Baptist
Look at the fruit of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
27 All things are delivered unto me of my
Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the
Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal
him.

In the middle of all this He thanks the Father for what
He’s doing.
Jesus sees it! He’s rejoicing in the ways and the wisdom of His Father!
Then He says, “You know, no man really knows the
Son….. The wise and prudent, the scribes and the
Pharisees, They turn their back to me.”
POINT: Haven’t we all had those times when we feel just like - this when we just witnessed to friends or family?
In the most loving way possible, with the greatest clarity we posses, we share Jesus with them.

And when we’re all through they look at you as if you’re nuts….turn their backs on you!
When that happens let’s remember that Jesus makes this remarkable statement –
He says that it was the common people, the babes that are able to take hold of this.
When Paul spoke of the kinds of people that came to
Christ in Corinth he says “Not many wise
He didn’t say ‘not any wise ’ - He said not many wise.”
It’s remarkable that God has chosen

1.) Foolish MEANS things to be His tools… to be the instruments by which He undertakes His great enterprise of evangelism
2.) Foolish METHOD The foolishness of preaching as THE MEANS…
1 Cor 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Cor 1:21 NLT Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe.

The MESSAGE, the MESSENGER and the
METHOD confounds the wisdom of this world.
I appreciate the wisdom of God more and more every day -
As I look at the wisdom of this world and see how it’s brought us to more sociological problems than we have ever had
More alcohol abuse.
Six to nine thousand high school kids getting venereal disease per day in the United States.

Mad men with nuclear bombs.
WMD delivery systems in the hands of Islamic lunatics! people that will create a nightmare if they decide to use them. (Todays Sunday
London Times -
LONDON (AFP) Elite Israeli forces seized
North Korean nuclear material during a raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israeli warplanes bombed it September 6, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Killing 4000 babies in the womb each day while fanatically trying to save the spotted owl.
We’re at precipice of destruction and the only thing that makes sense is the gospel of Jesus
Christ… That He’s paid for our sins with His own blood.

That He’s returning for the purchased possession.
To gather us up to Himself.
That He will come back to set this world straight.
What a day that will be.
So - Jesus says -
“I thank you anyway.
You’ve revealed these things to the common people.
You’ve hidden from the eyes of the wise and the prudent.

All things are delivered to me.
Nobody really knows me, Father, except you.
And no one knows the Father except the Son and to whomever He will reveal Him to.”
NOTE WELL: Genuine Christianity is NOT about
You deciding to buy into a certain culture with certain moral values…
Church membership at a place that all your friends go to…
Becoming a Christian is something outside of the ability of man!

It is GOD revealing Himself to us in the person of
Jesus Christ!!
2 Cor. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
YES - There is a CHOICE that we make
But it is a RESPONSE to God revealing Himself to us in the face of His Son.
Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts
We must choose to open to Him

BUT THESE WORDS OF JESUS tell us that the awesome enterprise of evangelism is something that
We CAN NOT undertake in the energy of the flesh
We CAN NOT undertake by means of natural abilities or talents.
Our wisdom… our intellectual abilities… our creative talents can create a “niche culture”
But NONE of those things can CHANGE a heart…
SAVE a soul!
THEN WHAT
CAN
WE DO?
WHAT IS
OUR
ROLE?

1.) We MUST be on our knees asking God to interrupt the lives of men and women!
Just as there was that day when He interrupted
YOUR life… MY life.
2.) We MUST make ourselves available to be instruments that He can use in that process.
Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
EXAMPLE: Concert at Bradford Cathedral

Cold Winter. City is at bottom of bowl. Old Stone building.
England at that time had several clearly defined music cultures….
Mods - Wore long black over coats / road
Vespas
Rockers Leather jackets… often with a vest over it made out of a levi jacket with cut oof sleeves… with their favorite heavy metal band logos stitched
Punks - Foot high multicolored mohawks… ultra high top Doc Martins… piercings

In front row… Some rockers.
As Malcolm gave invitation these guys were openly mocking those who were coming forward.
I remember just praying that the Lord would break through their hardness
Suddenly - in a moment - one of them went from mocking to dead serious
Got up and came forward and turned and faced his mates!

He goes into these verses that we all know so well.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We’ll look at those next week
1.) Has God been interrupting your life?
Suddenly pressing upon you how real He is… How empty you are?

YOU MUST KNOW that you can ONLY come when
He is calling
1 Cor 6:2 NLT For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.
” Indeed, God is ready to help you right now.
Today is the day of salvation.
Hebrews 3:7-8 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts
2.) WON’T YOU BEGIN TO PRAY -
Pray that WE would see the Kingdom advanced by the power of God changing lives….

PRAY that we would see people DESPERATELY
PRESSING IN to the Kingdom.
3.) And there will NEVER be people PRESSING into the kingdom without OPPOSITION.
INDIVIDUALLY - The moment you respond to Christ and desire to press in to knowing Him YOU will face opposition.
You don’t want to go to Bible study… you want to watch Monday night football.
You don’t need to need pray… you need to play
You don’t want to share with that person… it will be so embarrassing

CORPORATELY - The moment Metro decides to press in to knowing and loving and serving Jesus WE will face opposition.
The devil will begin to sow discord and division
Try to attack from without and from within
May we INDIVIDUALLY and CORPORATELY PRESS
IN with every ounce of energy we possess!