This is an excellent essay that my wife and I read last night. Once on the page scroll down to the header:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/Kingdom21.html
"When our blessed Lord came teaching the Kingdom of God throughout the province of Galilee, He made it abundantly clear that possessing the Kingdom is not an easy thing. It is not so difficult to see the Kingdom, as Moses saw the promised land from the heights of mount Nebo, but to possess the Kingdom takes a definite effort. Jesus spoke of this when He told the Pharisees, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it” (Lk. 16:16). It is doubtful if any of those who heard these words had the remotest idea of the effort involved in possessing the Kingdom. Let me put it this way. It takes an added effort after you have already put forth an effort! Like a sprinting race, it is that final thrust at the end where the contender puts forth all of his complete energy. He will press forth with all the strength he can muster to win the race. In like manner it takes running, pressing, and even violence in one’s effort to take the Kingdom."
"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mat. 11:12). Some say that this is a negative statement, that Jesus is not talking about the necessity of taking the Kingdom by violent effort, but that in the hour when the Kingdom was announced many carnal people sought by the violence of carnal effort to seize the Kingdom for their own ends. These words of Jesus in Matthew are, however, a sequel to the words written by Luke. Matthew says that since the days of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffers violence — and the violent take it by force. Luke says that since John the Baptist the Kingdom is preached, and men press into it. Each of the Gospel writers expresses in his own words the thought given by Jesus. The backdrop to this is the conquest of the land of Canaan, the Old Testament type of our possessing our inheritance in Christ. No one can dispute that when Israel went in to possess their inheritance that the land of Canaan suffered violence. Ah, yes! they pressed their way into the land and violently took it by force. That is the picture the Holy Spirit has drawn of what it means to take the Kingdom!
Much more in the link:
Amen!