““Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 11:11-15 (NKJV); Matthew 13:3-9; 37-43(NKJV)
The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence:
The Kingdom of God is going into the world with violence compelling many to enter here and now, where the eternal life starts. From John the Baptist, who sacrificed his entire life for the preaching and making way for Jesus, and all were killed for their works and became blood witnesses for Jesus. Many were beheaded like John, others were crucified like Jesus, or burnt alive and such horrible deaths they met with. So Gospel is still preached even now with people suffering and dying for it, because there are still rejection from the people, who do not understand the value of the good news. The gospel, the good news is described in the following verses.
Jesus read this passage in the synagogue concerning Himself, ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”” Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV); Isaiah 61:1-2(NKJV)
The violent take it by force:
Only those who are violent, in the sense, very diligent to go for the spiritual life and live with Jesus here and now are getting the life abundant, the life eternal with force. Others are standing as spectators, who see the life which Jesus died to give, pass by and go waste for them personally. In my life I found many things they taught in the church were not enough and sometimes very opposite to what was in the Bible. I had to fight my way out of all the religious systems that stopped me from attaining the level of spiritual growth in the anointing of the Holy Spirit and power. From the denominational churches the guidance we get are insufficient and available for a limited time; later if you are not taking the matters in hand violently for spiritual maturity you are not attaining your full potential.
Jesus said, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”” Luke 14:25-35 (NKJV)
Jesus is very clear here, you can be His disciples, only if you give yourself completely for the sake of preaching the Gospel to others; and gives this example of salt, which dissolves completely into the food to give a flavour, without which nothing will taste good. If we are not like the salt, then we are useless and is to be thrown out and stamped.
““He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’”Revelation 2:7, 17, 29; 3: 6, 13, 22 (NKJV)