An almost violence in our enthusiasm will have to be a way of life now. For that reason, you cannot accept those who want to pour cold water on your spirit. The prophecy of Jesus said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). If you try to go along on an average keel, the overwhelming iniquity will cause your love to wax cold. Either you will keep it red hot or the devil will throw some water on you, one of the two. Keep it red hot—keep overflowing and moving on with God in your heart. It is the only way. Deliberately set about to get all the frost out. Get fired up until there is real steam. That’s the way it should be, because you will not make it, until you become so intense that people begin to criticize you. This is what you want—to be recognized because you have so much of God. It has to be recognized. All that will live godly will suffer persecution. The worst thing that can happen is to knock yourself out working for the Lord and be completely ignored. People can ignore you as long as this violent aggressiveness isn’t in you. Stir them up and they have to do something about it.
The early Church was that way. People had to do something about their sermons, stone them or cry, “What shall I do to be saved?” Something had to happen. Or half-way through the sermon the Spirit of the Lord fell on everyone and they all started speaking in tongues and prophesying. That’s the way it should be. Today we are living in the age where Satan has tried to set the stage of cynicism. People are cynical. They don’t care. Acts 18:17 tells how the people were so philosophical, so objective about everything that when they dragged the ruler out of the synagogue and harangued him, the magistrates didn’t care, they were completely indifferent to the whole situation.
Indifference is deadly, and it is characteristic of the church in this age. The last church period was neither hot nor cold; and God has said, “I’ll spew you out of my mouth. Would you were hot or cold” (Revelation 3:15, 16). Cold, God would judge. Hot, He would bless. But where are we? If we’re just in that lukewarm stage, we’re in the place where God doesn’t like us, and the world’s sick of us. So we have to determine that our way of life is going to be one of violent love, of violent, aggressive faith.
Get this in your mind, as an apostolic truth, you’re never going to make it along the accepted channels. The older generation liked worship a little more quiet. They will have to learn to worship at a scream. It will be very necessary for us to have violent prophecy every time we come to church because of the inroads into people’s minds that Satan will attempt from day to day and service to service. The battle is on, it is real conflict. It is the wind up of the ages. The termination of this could mean that a few violent souls could take the Kingdom and become the instruments by which God cuts this time short. If he doesn’t cut it short, no flesh will be left alive, Jesus said (Matthew 24:22).
It has to be almost violent. Something has to be almost frighteningly real to us in order to go after it with all our heart. We have to live this way. We can’t be critical. We can’t get hung up on little details and nonessentials. I refuse to get hung up on any little detail. No one is going to make an issue to get shoes on the young peoples’ feet or to cut their hair, etc. because that’s completely immaterial, it just doesn’t matter. What counts with me is to hear the prophesying and see the dedication coming forth in the young people. As long as God will give me breath (and I intend it to be a long time, by His grace) you are going to stay with it. I will keep exhorting and inciting you to this aggressiveness and violence for out of it will come the apostolic company that will reach the whole world. You don’t dare let it wane.
People who have the walk in theory but not in practice will object to this violence. They can take it when it’s mild and easygoing. They can build another system with it. They can use it. But nothing, nothing with this violence in it can be turned into man’s program. Violent faith keeps it in a state of constant change. You will not slip into denominationalism and sectarianism (man building a kingdom) as long as you are an aggressive people praying through the nights, seeking the face of the Lord. As long as that spirit is there, we are going to be right on.
It doesn’t matter to me if we become fewer in numbers or offend people. There are a lot of things that don’t matter. But I am concerned about a few things. I am concerned about the Lordship of Jesus Christ over us. I am concerned about not building another denomination. The secret fear of my heart would be seeing human leadership or administration turning this walk into a denomination. I will welcome seeing the saving factors that will come forth by the hand of God to keep us from the danger points. Violent, aggressive exhortation and prayer and seeking the Lord is going to keep this walk on the track.
Nothing will happen wrong unless there comes a lull (because of abounding iniquity, peoples’ love begins to wax cold), then we’re in trouble. We have to fight the spirit of the age with everything that’s within us, to walk wholly with the Lord. We are actually drawing on the spirit of the new age in order to counteract the deadly effects of the old age. You have to be wholly in the Kingdom, and the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12). The only thing that will stand now is the Kingdom expression of violence. If you are critical of it, just remember there is a very deep thing in the wisdom of God why it has come as it has come, and protect it.