Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick presents God’s kingdom as a present reality under Jesus’ rule and contrasts it with spiritual darkness. He urges wholehearted commitment. Beginning with Matthew 11:28-30, he emphasizes Jesus’ humble, caring character and invitation to rest, while acknowledging that following him still involves difficulty.
The core text is Matthew 11:12, where Jesus speaks of the kingdom being taken forcefully. Pastor Keith reads several translations and walks through John the Baptist's life: his wilderness preaching, his confrontational call to repentance, his baptism in the Jordan, his imprisonment for naming Herod's sin, and his question from prison about whether Jesus was the one to come. Jesus' answer points to visible kingdom activity—healing, deliverance, and good news to the poor—which Pastor Keith notes echoes the prophet Isaiah. He stresses that the force in view is spiritual, not physical, and explicitly rejects using the verse to justify crusade-style violence.
The second half turns to people who pressed through obstacles: the friends who tore open a roof in Mark 2, blind Bartimaeus calling out over the crowd, the woman who had bled for twelve years reaching for Jesus' garment, and Zacchaeus climbing a sycamore tree. Pastor Keith reads these as faith that takes a risk rather than waiting for convenience, and calls the church away from a country-club posture toward sacrificial pursuit. He closes with an invitation to respond to King Jesus and a prayer for marriages, families, the next generation, and the region.
Take this with you
Rest Is the Fuel, Not the Finish Line
Pastor Keith pairs Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11 to come and find rest with the same chapter's word about forceful kingdom pursuit. He notes that Jesus still said a burden would remain, so rest is not the removal of all difficulty. Rather, rest fits a rhythm that sustains effort, and comfort alone becomes an excuse to settle.
The Force Here Is Spiritual, Not Physical
Pastor Keith explicitly rules out reading Matthew 11:12 as permission for violence, naming the Crusades as a misuse of such texts. The conflict described is spiritual—territory the enemy has taken that belongs to God—and the response is prayer, faith, and persistent pursuit rather than force against people.
Faith Takes Risks Rather Than Waiting
Pastor Keith moves through several Gospel accounts of people who pressed through obstacles. In Mark 2, friends tear open a roof to reach Jesus and he sees their faith; in Mark 10, Bartimaeus keeps calling out over the crowd's objection; in the account of the woman who bled for twelve years, she reaches for Jesus' garment despite cultural barriers; and in Luke 19, Zacchaeus climbs a tree. Pastor Keith highlights that each took a real risk rather than waiting for convenience or full clarity, and that in the Mark 2 account Jesus responded to the friends' faith.
Doubt in Hard Places Is Not Disqualifying
In Matthew 11:2-6, John the Baptist, in prison, sent disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the one to come. Pastor Keith gives listeners permission to ask hard questions when following God leads somewhere painful, while pointing to Jesus' answer—healing, deliverance, and good news to the poor, echoing Isaiah—as evidence that the kingdom was still advancing even from a prison cell.
The Kingdom Is for the Least and the Desperate
Pastor Keith connects Matthew 11:11 with Matthew 5:3 as a call to recognize one’s need for God. He also draws on John 15 to emphasize dependence on Jesus rather than ability or status. He says the kingdom welcomes people across circumstances and social positions.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
we get into the word today I want to remind you that Jesus preached a message frequently and often and it was a consistent message and he didn't preach about the church he only talked about the church two times but there was a message he repeated often and it was a message of the Kingdom everyone shout kingdom kingdom the kingdom is not for somay it's not for one day Jesus taught us that we can experience God's kingdom here and now I'm talking about a way of life that Jesus is the king of all Kings and there is a way to the king and that is the kingdom now there is a kingdom of light that is God's kingdom and there is a kingdom of darkness that is the way of this world it's the prince of this world that is the devil's Kingdom now those
two kingdoms are in CRA in contrast to one another and here's the reality is that we are living lives where the enemy does not even want us to think about spiritual things that you would just get your eyes and your ears off of the things of God that way at the end of your life you will have not fulfilled God's Mission and his plan in your life and as most people will experience you will end your life not fulfilling God's potential God never meant for you to live in mediocrity or half-heartedness he's never meant for you to be defeated spiritually or even depressed you're not meant to stay in sickness you're not meant to be in poverty you're not meant to live a life of mediocrity you're meant to experience the kingdom amen and it's time for you to take that which God
has already given you now in doing so I want to warn you with today's message this is going to get uncomfortable and it's going to get uncomfortable quick so before we get to the uncomfortable let me just give you a promise in the same chapter where we're going to go today Matthew chapter 11 Jesus Promised You This Promise he promised you come to me there's an invitation Here Come to Me Jesus said here's the invitation Come to Me Jesus said here's your invitation to come to Jesus all of you all of you today young old divorced widowed single married come to me today all of you who labor are a heavy laden and I will give you what rest okay would
you receive that promise today Jesus wants to give you rest now in the very next verse Jesus actually reveals his heart which is really unique he says because he is not a burdensome God if he's the king of all Kings he's not a a a taxing King that just gives you a burden that you can't bear but instead he says that his heart is gentle and lowly could you imagine if we all had name tags and says here's my heart it's like full of bitterness and anger here's my heart I'm a complete fake and fraud here's my heart I look happy on the outside but on the inside I'm miserable come on here's my heart I'm
actually really needy I mean could you imagine if we rid around and actually exposed who we were and Jesus exposes who he is and he says for I am gentle and lowly in heart so he says come learn from me I'm not a teacher that's going to whip you or beat you or bring you down he want he wants to bring you up so can we just acknowledge today the words of Jesus because he said if if you would just connect to me if you would just learn from me take your yoke which is he's going to show us his way as a rabbi and a teacher that we would learn from him learn from his words he says for his yoke is easy and his burden as light but you've got to believe that today I just want to note these these words of Jesus he did still say there'd be a
burden did yall hear that you're not in heaven yet yet so this isn't going to be easy but on this journey he's going to give you rest with that said I want to get into today's text is found in the same chapter if you brought your Bible Matthew chapter 11 is where we go these are the words of Jesus when he says in Matthew 11 verse 12 chapter 11 verse2 of the Book of Matthew from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence and the vience vient take it by force the title of today's sermon comes from these words in the Book of Matthew
11:12 that Jesus speaks the violent take it by force all right you don't get it yet so you're going to say it with me all right say it with me the violent take it by force now I want you to turn to your neighbor we're going to say it in two word phrases all right turn to your neighbor and say the violent violent take it take it by force by force I want you to understand this today it's the words of Jesus to our hearts I want you to preach it I want you to believe it I want you to be changed by it for if you understand these words the world will never be the same we could be the generation God has been waiting for you could be the one that the Lord is just waiting and willing to use you to change
the world and it won't happen with just getting back it won't happen through apathy or accident or happen stance it won't happen by going to church it will happen by being the church and understanding the words of Jesus and taking him so seriously you're willing to get uncomfortable you're willing to move forward to press in now these can be some difficult words but I want us to understand the text today and one of the ways we can understand this is to say when these words were spoken and when these words were recorded they were not done in English so as you study study the Bible one of the basic tools of scripture study is to understand context to understand what was said and what's meant to be said and so why do we have so many different translations of the Bible in our English language some
are literal translations from the original Greek text to a literal English translation some are cultural that we would understand with being said in a more readable uh uh way so that the reader can understand what was originally intended so with that in mind let me just read from a few other translations today I read from the English Standard Version it's a literal translation from the Greek text to the to the English so that we would understand a literal meaning but sometimes it's helpful to hear it in other ways The New International Version puts it this way from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and violent people have been raiding it the New Living Translation which is easier to read says and from the time
John the Baptist began preaching until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing and violent people are attacking it if we look at the Amplified version which which adds some context so that we would understand the meaning the Amplified says from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven heaven has suffers violent assault and violent men seek sees it by force as a precious prize and I love the JB Phillips which was written long ago and it was written in a a way that's more of a paraphrase so that we would understand the cultural context and meaning when Philip says this of this translation from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken by
storm and eager men are forcing their way into it the kingdom of heaven has been taken by storm and eager men are forcing their way into it basic rules of Bible study simply are our context who wrote these words who are who is saying these words when were these when were these words said who are they said to so when you read the Bible the Bible's comprised of 66 books we can just ask some basic questions before we read who wrote this book who was written to when was it written where was it
written these basic questions will provide for us answers in context furthermore when you study the Bible you never want to just take one verse and come up with your own conclusion you always want to look at what's said before and what's said after one more tool for Bible study is to understand what does Scripture say about scripture the Bible will not contradicts itself all the other words of this world they will pass away but the word of God will not fail so we could study scripture with scripture which is why here at Journey you will often see us use so much scripture to support what the scripture says are you tracking with me so I want you to understand this text so we're going to go there today to understand what's being said we first are told that
John the Baptist out of the mouth of Jesus from the time of John the Baptist until now who is John the Baptist well he's actually a cousin of Jesus which would be pretty cool he's not just a cousin of Jesus he is a wild one he is a preacher that did not preach in the context of a natural four walls but he was willing to go out to the Wilderness and preach a powerful message some might say that's a little unorthodox it's like having a church in a strip club that moved to a strip mall that's just saying Hey listen we'll go wherever Jesus calls us to go because the church can not be found within four walls now John the Baptist was willing to go where wherever God called him to go he went out to the Wilderness we learn about him in the Book of Matthew now who is Matthew he was one of the 12 disciples he was raised in a Jewish
upbringing but he chose a career choice that was by the standards of Jewish tradition corrupt and that he would collect taxes for the Roman Empire a pagan government system he would take enough to not only give to the Roman Empire but he would take a little off the top for himself but Matthew was invited to follow Jesus and everything changed and so he writes about the life of Jesus Christ and what an interesting lens to read through a Jewish perspective of someone that was changed as we get to Matthew chapter 3 he tells us about John the baptizer look look what he says in Matthew 3:4 now John what kind of guy was John well he tells us about his fashion first now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist he he was not one that looked like the
typical religious people he didn't dress like them he didn't look like them this guy was wearing camel's hair and then he goes on to tell us a little bit about his diet it was one of those keto vegan weird uh combo things his food was Locust and wild honey he liked the Savory and the sweet I mean this guy he's he's while so who would want to come here and well verse 5 tells us then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him so people across an entire region were curious about this message being preached from this really unorthodox preacher which tells us that what happened then can actually happen
now that when we look across the region we we don't have to just settle for what has happened or what is happening we have to believe God's best and in this case those who came to him verse 6 they were baptized by him in the River Jordan here's where he gets that nickname John the Baptist they were baptized in the river confessing their sins but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees these are the religious Elite of the day they more than likely were not wearing camel's hair they more than likely were eating food that was kosher in the right way with their hands washed in the right way when he saw those religious Elite that probably looked really good coming to
his bapti baptism he said to them you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the Wrath to come bear fruit in keeping with repentance now let me start in the end and work my way back with what Matthew tells us of John the Baptist first he's willing to confront the contentious religious of the day I appreciate that about a man who's courageous enough to speak the truth and he tells them you're you're hypocrite it's time for you to repent now this is a consistent message if you read chapter 3 it's the first message he preached repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand repent means means change your thinking align your life with God's life align your heart with
God's change your mind you're not doing it God's way so change your thinking to be God's thinking that's what repent means and he's telling even the religious repent and bear this fruit of repentance show it in your life that you have God's heart show it through what you do the fruit that you produce from your life should should be according to what God God's will is in your life now you got to imagine that he was doing some things that were counterculture at the time typically baptism would happen in the temple it would happen in the temple for several different reasons there would be the baptism of purification there would be the the baptism of being incorporated into
Judaism when a when a a person a gentile would convert to Judaism they would be baptized and ushered in as a a new person with a new Faith but baptism traditionally did not take place in a river in the wilderness without the presence of priests yet John is the one that God would use to prepare the way for the Messiah which means the chosen one of God the anointed one there would be one unlike any other the Messiah or as we call him today the Christ it's the time title given to Jesus the anointed one of God in Hebrew the hamashiach and here John is he's preaching a message that there is one coming that I'm unworthy to
tie his sandals there's one coming that I baptize you with water but he baptizes you with with the Holy Spirit and with fire and when he sees Jesus he says there he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and he preached this message prophetically he preached it powerfully and then as we read about the life of John this baptizer in the Book of Matthew he ends up in prison not for preaching the message about Jesus but simply for preaching the message about truth Herod one of the political leaders of the day was sleeping with his brother's wife and John the Baptist just called it out this is actually God designed marriage to be sacred and you're not meant to be having
sex with whomever you please andh herit did not like it so he locked him up in prison which is a warning to those that choose to advance the kingdom it will not only be comfortable but often times it will not be celebrated there is a way according to the scripture that is right to man but in the end leads to destruction so it doesn't matter if political leaders are doing it it doesn't matter if all of the crowds are doing it Jesus warns us wide is the road that leads to destruction narrow is the road that leads to life so we want to ask in all Hearts am I following God's way the kingdom way following the king of all Kings or am I following the crowd the kingdom of this world now while John's in prison we fast forward to the chapter where we find our text
today chapter 11: two now now when John the Baptist heard in prison about the Deeds of the Christ he sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another if I can just take a pause for just a really quick moment if John the Baptist can ask questions to Jesus and if we're to read him between the lines of his questions have doubts I want to give you permission to do so as well when you end up in your proverbial prison when you end up in the place that you didn't think because you're following God you're doing what God asked you to do and all of a sudden you seem seems like you're trapped you're
held back you're kind of stuck in this place that doesn't mean that God's given up on you that doesn't mean God's not God that doesn't mean that God's will will not be fulfilled in your life in fact things might go from bad to worse but it is okay to ask some questions because I've got some good news Jesus is still the way and the truth and the life so if you're looking for answers he's probably still the answer so the question asked to Jesus is are you the one is this worth it and at some point you're going to ask yourself is this worth it or should you give up and as he asked Jesus this question Jesus could have just sent back a really quick test text yes or is my youngest would say
kk he could have just sent a thumbs up emoji go tell John he could have given whatever answer he wanted but I want you to see the Heart of Jesus he could have just simply said yes he did not owe John any explanation but this is what he said to John in response Jesus answered them you go and tell John what you hear and see this is real this isn't just Theory this isn't just something you learn in a textbook this is not just a sermon you go tell him what do you see what do you hear and he says go tell John what you hear and see the blind receive their sight and the lame walk lepers are cleansed the deaf here and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them
that's called The Kingdom you want to know what the kingdom is go read Matthew Mark Luke and John these are the four books that tell about the life of Jesus Christ and repeatedly hundreds of times you're going to see the same theme with Jesus he heals the sick he casts out demons and he preaches the gospel this Kingdom Healing The Sick delivering from demons and preaching the Good News that's the kingdom I don't know why we've made it so complicated today we've got denominations and we've got all these credentials and ordinations and all of these different things to to qualify or quantify what we think is is the work of God but Jesus just simply says here's how you can testify that I am the Christ to John
who's in prison on behalf of preaching the truth you just simply say you've seen the kingdom people are no longer the same God's way has come and God's way is one that writes that which is wrong those who are sick are healed and then he added in verse six you also tell John this and blessed a deep happiness is what blessed is blessed is the one who is not offended by me and in this context of what's happening with John in prison asking the questions Jesus answering which by the way Jesus answered him by quoting the prophet Isaiah simply saying what was said about me 700 years ago is
being fulfilled Through Me Be simply he could have just said yes but he's saying I am the one that was written about me you can see the signs and the Wonders and in this place Jesus goes on to say in verse 7 are you still with me Matthew 11:7 as they went away Jesus began speaking to the crowds concerning John now is Jesus gossiping well no actually he's going to speak about him to the people he's going to point right back to their hearts what did you go out to the Wilderness to see did you just go to see a reed shaken by the wind was it a spectacle you were looking for are you looking for entertainment he goes on to say what did you go out to see verse eight a man dressed in soft clothing behold those
who wear soft clothing are in King's houses did you come for eloquence did you come for for something to look really good because if so just go to the King's house verse n what then did you go to see a prophet yes I tell you and more than a Prophet this is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you Jesus once again goes back to these ancient prophecies he says this prophetic word has been fulfilled out of Malachi he is the one John the Baptist was simply coming not to be a spectacle
but to prepare the way for Jesus he is the one whom the Bible prophesied about now it's in this context the message John preached consistently is repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand now if we can look at John's life and Jesus says you can look at John's life it was extremely uncomfortable the kingdom is not comfortable but it is courageous and Jesus explained in verse 11 truly I say to you among those born of women there is risen no one greater than John the Baptist wouldn't that be awesome if Jesus said that about you there's no one greater that's ever been
born than John how many you would like Jesus to say that about you all right he does say that about you if you keep reading he says yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he so do you want to be better than the best just be the least now the least does not mean that you live in poverty the least does not mean that you are the sickest the least does not mean that you're marginalized because in the kingdom of God it is welcome to the sick to the marginalized and to the poor but it is also welcome to those who are rich and those who are healthy and those who seem to have it all so let's just be really clear the
kingdom is available for all the least according to Matthew 5:3 are those that are empty and poor in their spirit is theirs they've received the kingdom of God those who understand their depravity let me put it this way when you are desperate for God and you realize you have nothing to offer that's when you're the least of these Jesus said in John chapter 15 he said if you bite to me I'll bite in you and then you'll bear much fruit but really he this is what he said you can do nothing apart from me do you really think you're talented enough good-looking enough or smart enough that that's what does the kingdom of God no when you understand understand the kingdom of God is because the king of all Kings and you say I couldn't do this without you you get the glory you're the one that works through me that's when
you become the least and that's when Jesus says that's when the kingdom of God has come in your life just as it came in John's life and that's when it comes into the world that the world would see me through you and it's out of this context that he says there's no one greater than John but the yet the least of these will actually be greater than he then he says this in verse 12 here we are we came back to the text from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom has suffered violence let's just pause for just a moment so that you understand the greater meaning and not misunderstand this it it should be there spiritually but for those that may not have spiritual eyes right now Jesus is not everyone shout not not that was not a
shout let's try it again on the count three 1 2 three not he's not not talking about physical violence this is the kingdom of God when the Christ came the world was expecting a king like the king of this world but he does not need to demand Force for us to follow him this is a force spiritually so the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violently it's suffered violence let's look at this here when you read the Bible we see that there are angels and there are demons they are at at War now if you would have eyes to see and ears to hear and the moment you take this pill this is spiritual
pills and God gives you eyes to see you see it everywhere you see it at church you see it in the grocery store you see it on television you can't watch a movie the same you will have just spent $15 on a movie ticket to walk out because you have eyes to see some of you are getting this some of you are not getting you need to understand this is not a physical some will use something a text like this and justify the Christian Crusades that in the name of Jesus we we should just go kill people who aren't like us nope this is not physical violence this is a spiritual force that the devil has taken territory and it's time for you to see that John the Baptist was willing to go wherever God wanted him to go to do
whatever God wanted him to do to take back that which is already rightfully his who was it well you go read Matthew you go read Luke you know who came to hear this message I will tell you Tax Collectors prostitutes now what do prostitutes mean in the original language prostitutes Roman soldiers so you got to imagine when the religious showed up and John is preaching repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is hand the religious and the pretentious are saying uhuh the kingdom does not belong to those Folk and John's over here saying come on come on be baptized the kingdom is yours if you want it but you got to go do it you want to just sit back and say well God's time will be God's time if you're looking for an excuse you will find one but if you want the kingdom of
God you got to go get it violently and Jesus says of the violent John the Baptist did what he needed to do he's in prison I believe Jesus knew exactly what would happen to John next his head was cut off so now the mantle has been passed who's going to be the violent who's going to keep the kingdom going who's going to go take it by force because you could look around in your own heart in your own home in our own City in our own State even in the great country that we live in the devil has taken that which is not rightfully his and it's time for us to press in and say that is not yours I am taking back the kingdom of of God I will not sit back idly and let the enemy Go destroy my life or my marriage
or my kids or my grandkids I'm not going to let the devil destroy this region I'm going to take it by force and it's in this place that Jesus goes on to say for all the prophets just so you can test God's word go to the Book of Malachi 4:5 for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John there is a fulfillment that has happened the Christ has come if you're willing to accept it John the Baptist he is Elijah the one that was written who is to come that Elijah would return He Who has ears to hear look at verse 15 today he who has ears to hear Let Him hear you got to open up the ears of your heart or as Paul wrote to the Ephesians you got to have the eyes of your hearts enlightened you got to open
up the violent take it by force Matthew 11:12 12 the violent take it by force Those whom you see today who are called Saints Matthew Peter you see them on the stained glass and Cathedrals do you know who they were in scripture they were ordinary messed up men Matthew was a corrupt tax collector yet he was called by Jesus and and and because of that he would change the world Peter he was just a stinky fisherman but Jesus says I'm reversing the curse now you're going to be a fisher of men I want you to see that that what you were doing I got a greater potential in
your life the violent take it by force True Confession this is not in my notes but I'm just going to tell you this because I'm about to preach my face off I have never in my life I've been in full-time vocational Ministry for 26 years I have never preached this message I have preached that message that I started with that wasn't even in my notes but I felt like I need to tell you the end of the story before I tell you the middle of the story when Jesus says come to me and I'll give you rest but somehow I left out that part about the violent that Jesus talks about we'll take it by force there's a reason you're going to
need the rest do you know when Jesus would go do Mighty Miracles almost immediately when you're reading the scriptures about Jesus life do you know what he would do next go get some rest so there's nothing wrong with go getting in a rhythm of rest and getting away from people because where there are people there are problems but it's not it it's not up for you just to be like oh the world sucks it's going to hell in a hand basket oh everything is wrong right now just let's turn on the news and just keep talking about everything that's awful right now nope that's not the kingdom of God the kingdom of God says let's get on our knees and turn off the television and pray for those people right now the kingdom of God says Lord I'm not going to allow this to happen on my watch I'm going to get on my knees till they bleed I'm going to be praying for the Next Generation I'm going to be praying for all those 18y olds that are voting for
The First Time Lord I'm going to be praying for every Church to be filled in my city I'm going to be praying for every school I'm going to quit criticizing these things and start doing something about it so this full confession I warned you I'm about to preach my face off but let's side note real quick I've not preached this before because it can be an uncomfortable message and I have been in Ministry full-time for 26 years and here's what I found Christians want a comfortable life and then when it's not comfortable they blame everybody else they blame their spouse they blame the preacher they blame the church there's a whole slew of things and they're probably all valid their spouse is as messed up as they actually are the preacher is not as good as he thinks he is and the church does have problems but here's what I often see Christians they do the minimum
wanting the maximum result it's like you get really excited to get healthy and so you go do like 20 setups and you think oh that's enough that's enough and you go look in the mirror and you're like my belly looks the same that's because it's going to be harder work than one time so you can't ask for financial blessing when you're not trusting God with your finances you can't ask God to serve you when you're not sacrificing officially serving him so I I want to give a a proof of text if we could bring that verse up one more time from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force so if this feels uncomfortable let me give you some examples of this just so that we understand the church was never meant to be a country club we're not supposed to look like each other we're not supposed to try to find people that are just like
us we're supposed to go out and change the world do you believe me so so here's here's what the Bible says I'm going to go over this quickly in Mark chapter 2 read an account where Jesus is is preaching and people come from all over to see him and there are some men that bring a paralytic to see Jesus that day but they can't get to Jesus because there are too many people it's like going to church and the parking lot's full and maybe I'm not supposed to go to church that day I don't really want to walk a little bit of distance to come to church but these guys they see that there's a crowd and they can't get to Jesus and they could have used every excuse that day I guess it's not God's will we tried well look what happened they could have come up with any excuse but these guys get on the roof they raise the roof they make a hole so great that they can bring their friend down to Jesus don't you read this story through the na natural lens these guys took a
risk who's going to pay for that roof someone's going to get in prison someone's going to get in trouble listen you take a risk for God it's a risk I don't know why we think God you need to validate it I need to understand this okay no let me tell you you go do great things for God it will be a risk they took a risk and Jesus looks up at them and he the Bible tells us he saw their faith and he looked at the paralytic and he said your sins are forgiven do you hear that their faith his sins are forgiven that tells me that your risk might get someone else's sins forgiven you going to places no one else is going you doing things no one else is doing you actually might get someone
saved and it didn't stop there that day Jesus says pick up your mat so he came in on a mat he left carrying the mat the violent take it by force oh you keep reading the book of Mark chapter 10 one of my favorite stories is blind bardus he was a beggar but he heard Jesus coming by and he asked what is that noise and commotion and they said that's Jesus and then and then he cried out Jesus Son of David have mercy on me but some heard blind bardus and and they said hey keep silent you beggar and he said even louder Jesus Son of David have mercy on me and it says that they got upset and they told him you be quiet you be dignified Jesus is coming through here and so he got even louder
Jesus Son of David have mercy on me this guy had every excuse to be silent that day he was born blind he's just a beggar and everybody around him told him to be silent but he took a risk and Jesus said go get that man and he took off his robe and he came to Jesus and he left that day seeing the violent take it by force Matthew Mark and Luke all tell the story of a woman who suffered tremendously for 12 years hemorrhaging with blood doctors could not do what need to be done to make her well she lost all of her finances but she did not
lose her faith she heard that Jesus was nearby and you've got to understand the cultural context women in this day and in this time period they're second class citizens they don't have the standard rights of a man if you were unclean and you touched someone who was clean you made them unclean you could be killed for that but she goes and she sees the crowd and she gets down on all four and she presses in going through the crowd to get to Jesus she recognizes she's touching people on her way and she could be put to death she had every excuse not to get to Jesus that day I'm unclean I'm a woman I've tried this over and over if doctors couldn't do it maybe it's not God's will for me to be well but she pressed in on all four and she touched the Hem of His
Garment that's how we know she was on all four she touched the bottom of his robe she was in the the back of the auditorium and in that moment by her faith she was made well the violent take it by force oh we can see example over and over zakus according to the Sunday school songs he was just a weed little man and a weed little man was he but zakus was willing to climb up a sycamore tree come on this is what the Bible says zakus was a corrupt tax collector but he was interested in Jesus let me just tell you there are some wealthy corrupt people in this city that need Jesus and when we present the true Jesus there's something attractive and different about him when zakus got there the Bible says that he was small in stature he had every excuse to walk away that day every
excuse God why' you make me this way I wish I was a little taller I wish I was a baller I wish he he could have he could have come up with any excuse that day he should have walked away if he was just an ordinary mediocre man but instead he ran up a sycamore tree and he thought he was looking for Jesus when Jesus had been looking for him the whole time the Bible says that if you would draw near to God He will draw near to you he's been seeking for you he's been going after you but he wants you to take a little bit violently he wants you to go after him because if you get a false gospel you're going to give up on God when times get tough but when you get the real gospel let me tell you to live as Christ and to die is gain I don't care if I have to suffer I have something greater I'm going after him zakus was transformed by Jesus that day Jesus said
salvation is coming to this house he became generous instead of greedy he gave away his money because God got a hold of his heart may I just tell you today Jesus is looking for some violent people he's looking for some faith-filled people who will run to the throne of grace and get help in a time of need you're not alone you've got God on your side Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that you should receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you it's not about you it's about the Holy Ghost working in you that when you take a risk God meets you right where you're at it's not about you you don't have to be smart enough you don't have to know enough you don't have to have it figured out it's time for you to get into God's word that God's word gets into you and you start taking back that which the devil has stolen Jesus warned us the Devil is a thief he came
to steal kill and destroy but Jesus came to give life and life abundantly take it back in the name of Jesus Christ oh you take it back Revelation 12 warns us he accuses you day and night you take it back and you say I may have sinned I may have messed up but I am blood bought by Jesus Christ I've got a testimony I'm no longer who I used to be quit living in your depravity quit going back to your vomit quit living a life of depression quit living a life without faith it's time for you to step up and be who God called you to be this is the message of the Kingdom so I want to invite the the band up here and I want to to just ask you today do you have the kingdom because here's what the kingdom is it's King Jesus that that's the solution we have one God in three persons God the Father the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit and
when you have Jesus you have the father when you have the father you have the Holy Spirit when you have the Holy Spirit you will do things you never thought you would do some of you are at the end of your life and the devil's lied to you and said this is the end you missed your opportunity you have regrets in your life let me tell you the Bible is really clear some of the the greatest Heroes of Faith are the ones that are at the end of their life some of you are so young you think I couldn't do great things for God let me just tell you some of the greatest heroes in the Bible are the young people that step up and do what the old people aren't doing some of you could make any excuse in the world I'm divorced I'm widowed I don't have enough money I'm sick you can come up with an excuse but I'm just asking you do you want the kingdom if you want the kingdom it's yours course but you got to take it you
got to go after it it's time for you to press in it's time for you to run ahead it's time for you to climb that tree it's time for you to raise that roof and you you don't even know how you going to pay for this you don't even know what's going to happen next but enough of enough is just living that ordinary mediocre life fight for it fight for it not with words not not with physical power this is not by might it's not by power it's by the spirit says the Lord so someone here today needs to surrender the life to King Jesus for the first time I don't know who you are but God brought you here for this moment to say I've been
waiting I've called you I love you I want to give you rest I want to use you mightily if that's you you've never fully said yes to Jesus today your day there's no better day the Bible says if you would believe in your heart and confess it with your mouth that he died on the cross he rose from the grave you are saved you may not always feel it but you don't have to follow your feelings follow your faith follow Jesus feelings aren't bad by the way but don't ever allow your feelings to dictate your life allow Jesus to King Jesus will tell you to do things that are very contrary to your feelings he'll ask you to do things that just don't make sense yes you could feed all these people but I don't have enough how much do you have that's enough in
jesus' hands when he's meet you in the middle of a storm you might be freaking out but he says it's about your faith when you have King Jesus you have everything so I just want to ask you I just going to do this with eyes open right where you are if you want to say yes to Jesus for the first time God brought you here In This Moment your heart is racing and you're saying I I need to follow Jesus if that's you would you just raise your hand nice and high I want to just see you and keep your hand up in the air yeah come on praise God yes keep your hand up I I want to just ask you today is there anyone else who wants to be bold and courageous and you're saying yes this is me I'm I want to say yes to Jesus I'm done living my life my own I don't want to be metoc I don't want to just get to the my end of my life and know that there was more you know it right now there's more it's called The
Kingdom it's the Kingdom of Light it's an invitation from Jesus anyone else it's right where you are just throw your hand up nice and high the violent take it by force they go for it they go for it they say from this day forward I'm I'm doing whatever Jesus tells me to do I'm going where Jesus tells me to go anyone else just raise your hand I wonder even if there's someone listening right now right where you are that God allowed you to hear this message for such a time as this listen God has not overlooked you your pain might be the passageway for the kingdom for you to see that all that you've been through God is greater he's greater this is not the end of your story one more time is there anybody
else your heart is fluttering your stomach is full of butterflies if that's you just come on I want to make sure I'm so grateful for my brother with boldness today that came in and said yes because from this day forward you've got Jesus things are backwards in the Kingdom they're upside down they don't always even make sense it's easy to judge in the kingdom and be like really God this is the way you're going to do it and God often times is like yep it's to show you it's about me and not about you it's all about Jesus so would you just pray with me right now Lord we receive today your kingdom come and your will done help us to fulfill
this and take you at your word god it's not by our strength it's not by anything we could do we actually can't do it we we are in desperate need for you Lord we want more of you in our lives and I know there are miracles in this room that need your kingdom to come invade that space so I declare it done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth it is finished that which looks lost is not over so I surrender to you right now and say in the name of Jesus Christ let your will be done save that marriage save that family that child that looks like they're such a pro prodal they'll never come home we declare in jesus' name they're returning home this is the year
of the Lord's favor we declare right now that which we can't see with natural eyes is already done that people will come to Bend Oregon not to get high and not to float the river but they want to seek the Jesus where the kingdom of moving mightily in this region we declare it's already done we ask in jesus' name for a a courage and a boldness in this room like the woman willing to get on her knees for the woman willing to break the alabaster jar of perfume to anoint you Jesus that we would eradicate the fear of man and go after you a sovereign God you are the king of all Kings Eternal Almighty Mighty all powerful all knowing May Our Lives be a Living Sacrifice to you oh God it's worth it you're worth it all it's like treasure it's like a pearl that's better than the
rest of we want you and your ways heal some hearts here today solidify what you've done I ask protection in the name of Jesus Christ I plead your blood against what the enemy wants to do after someone's heard this message that there would be a radical shift that there would be some Jesus Freaks today that are willing to just do whatever needs to be done do it Lord people would be willing to get fired at work for preaching Jesus that we would be a defender of children in the womb and we'd be a defender of the modern-day orphan we'd be a defender of the Widow Lord come on raise up an army equip the Saints to be an army come on Lord I I feel it I see it I know it I believe it today Lord you are not finished and what
you've begun you will complete it in Jesus mighty name in Jesus mighty name in Jesus mighty name we pray if you believe that word today would Jesus say amen amen amen
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The Kingdom and the Heart of Jesus
Pastor Keith contrasts God’s kingdom with spiritual darkness and warns against distraction from God’s purposes. He begins with Matthew 11:28-30, emphasizing Jesus’ humble, caring character and invitation to rest amid a life that still includes difficulty.
Matthew 11:28-30
- Pastor Keith describes Jesus' heart as gentle and humble. How does that picture differ from how you tend to imagine God?
- What do you notice in Jesus' words that he still said a burden would remain this side of heaven?
- How does Jesus' invitation to rest fit alongside his call to press into the kingdom?
John the Baptist: Courage and Cost
Pastor Keith walks through John the Baptist's life—his wilderness preaching, his call to repentance, his baptism in the Jordan, and his imprisonment for confronting Herod. Pastor Keith presents John as a model of courage whose faithfulness did not spare him from hardship, and notes that advancing the kingdom is often uncomfortable and not always celebrated.
Matthew 3:1-8 · Matthew 11:2-3
- Pastor Keith says advancing the kingdom is not always comfortable and not always celebrated. Where do you see that tension in John's story?
- How do you respond when doing what God asks leads to difficulty rather than celebration?
- What does John's courage reveal about what it costs to follow God faithfully?
Doubt, Questions, and the Kingdom You Can See
From prison, John sent disciples to ask whether Jesus was the one to come. Pastor Keith treats this as permission to bring honest questions to God when following him leads somewhere painful, and points to Jesus' answer—healing, deliverance, good news to the poor, words drawn from the prophet Isaiah—as evidence the kingdom was still advancing.
Matthew 11:4-6 · Isaiah (cited by Jesus in Matthew 11)
- When have you been in a hard place where following God felt like it led to a dead end?
- How does knowing John the Baptist asked hard questions affect how you view your own doubts?
- How does Jesus' answer to John address the question John actually asked?
Pressing In: Faith That Takes a Risk
The final stretch of the message recounts people who pushed through obstacles—friends tearing open a roof, Bartimaeus shouting over the crowd, a woman who had bled for twelve years reaching toward Jesus, and Zacchaeus climbing a tree. Pastor Keith frames their actions as faith that takes risks rather than waiting for conditions to be ideal, and calls the church toward that same posture.
Mark 2:1-12 · Mark 10:46-52 · The Gospel accounts of the woman who had bled for twelve years · Luke 19:1-10
- Which of these stories—the roof, the blind man, the woman, or Zacchaeus—most challenges the way you approach obstacles right now?
- What risk might God be inviting you to take that feels uncomfortable or costly?
- Pastor Keith says taking a risk for God is still a risk. How might you step forward in faith without waiting for a guarantee?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What does Pastor Keith say Matthew 11:12 means about forcefully taking the kingdom?+
Pastor Keith interprets Matthew 11:12 as describing spiritual persistence rather than physical violence. He explicitly rejects using it to justify religious violence and presents John the Baptist as an example of obedience despite opposition. He urges prayer, faith and persistent pursuit of God’s purposes in dependence on the Spirit.
How does Pastor Keith distinguish spiritual persistence from violence against people?
Why does the message begin with Jesus' invitation to rest if it is about forceful pursuit?+
Pastor Keith front-loads Matthew 11's invitation to come to Jesus and find rest, then notes that Jesus did not promise a burden-free life—only rest along the journey. Later Pastor Keith explains that rest is part of a rhythm in Jesus' own ministry: after significant miracles, he would pull away to rest. The point is that rest is not the opposite of pressing into the kingdom; it is what sustains it. Pastor Keith also challenges Christians who want a comfortable life and blame others when following Jesus becomes uncomfortable.
Where in your life might a rhythm of rest and pulling away with Jesus fit alongside pressing into the kingdom?
Why does John the Baptist end up in prison, and what does the message draw from that?+
Pastor Keith says John was imprisoned for confronting Herod about sleeping with his brother's wife, not for preaching about Jesus. Following the Bible's insistence that marriage is sacred, John named the sin of a political leader and was locked up for it. Pastor Keith uses this to warn that advancing the kingdom is not always comfortable and not always celebrated. It also sets up John's later question in Matthew 11:2-6 from prison about whether Jesus was the one to come, and Pastor Keith treats that as permission for listeners to bring their own hard questions to God when faithfulness leads somewhere painful.
What would it look like to stay faithful in a hard place while still bringing your questions to Jesus?
How does the message use the example of the men who tore open the roof?+
Pastor Keith retells Mark 2 as an account of friends overcoming a crowded gathering to bring a paralyzed man to Jesus through the roof. He highlights their willingness to risk consequences and Jesus’ response of forgiveness and healing. He applies this as encouragement to take costly steps to help others encounter Jesus.
Who in your life might need you to take a risk on their behalf, and what would that look like?
What does the message say about the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years?+
Pastor Keith points to the Gospel accounts, told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, of a woman who suffered for twelve years, spent all her finances, and still was not healed. In the culture of the day, she was a second-class citizen and considered unclean, so touching people on her way through the crowd could have endangered her. Pastor Keith emphasizes that she could have given any number of excuses to stay home, but instead got down and pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. Pastor Keith reads her story as an example of faith that goes after Jesus regardless of the obstacles and the cost.
What excuse tends to keep you from pressing toward Jesus, and how might you set it aside?
