Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near - Part 3
Matthew 3v11-12
11th February 2012
Over the last two weeks, we've been remembering the ministry of John the Baptist. Many responded to his message, confessed their sins, repented and were baptised. Many others - in particular most of the Pharisees and Sadducees - refused. John rebuked them and warned them that repentance must be sincere - it must produce fruit. He warned them that their nationality was no guarantee of righteousness, and promised that the Gentiles could be just as much children of Abraham as the Jews. We finished last week with John's words of warning to those who would not repent:
Matthew 3v10
The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire.
John's next words were a prophesy about Jesus:
Matthew 3v11
"I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals
I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
Jesus, was Emmanuel - God with us. John was just a man. He was a man of God, he was a prophet, but he wasn't divine. Jesus was. Jesus was more powerful than John, as God is more powerful than any man. John was properly humble. He knew that he wasn't fit to carry Jesus's sandals. Some Christians sometimes act as if they've forgotten that they're no more fit than John. John had a true reverence towards Jesus Christ, which we need to rediscover.
And just as Jesus was more powerful that John, Jesus's baptism in the Holy Spirit is more powerful than John's baptism in water. But what would Jesus's baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire be like? The early church experienced it fifty days after Jesus died, forty-seven days after He rose from the dead:
Acts 2v1-4
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they
were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled
them.
And ever since, many Christians have been baptised in the Holy Spirit and, as a result, have received spiritual gifts, and experienced a process of purification (purification is symbolised by fire). Our baptism in the Holy Sprit is not usually as dramatic as what the early church experienced at Pentecost, as theirs was less dramatic than what Jesus experienced when the Holy Spirit came upon Him, but that's OK, isn't it? Many still experience speaking in tongues and other spiritual gifts, as well as a powerful sensation of God's love, peace and holiness when we're baptised in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came and died both to pay for our sins and to empower us, by his Holy Spirit, to live effective, godly lives. Baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit are essential elements in our re-formation as people of God.
But the context of John's words about Jesus baptising us with the Holy Spirit and with fire indicates not just blessing but also judgment. Judgment was what he'd just been talking about, and his next utterance is:
Matthew 3v12
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Just as Jesus will later divide people into sheep and goats:
Matthew 25v31-34ff
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly
glory.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd
separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world'.
...
So John divides us into wheat and chaff.
When wheat had been harvested, a farmer would use his winnowing fork to separate the wheat from the chaff by throwing the wheat into the air. The chaff would be blown away by the wind, and the grain would fall to the floor. When the process was complete, the chaff would be gathered and burned as fuel, and the wheat would be stored in barns.
In Greek, the word of "wind" and the word for "spirit" is the same. So John's words could equally well be translated "He will baptise you with the Holy Wind and with fire". The Holy Spirit will separate "wheat" from "chaff", those who repent from those who don't, those who will bear fruit from those who won't, those who will be swept up and thrown into the eternal fire from those who will be gathered into God's eternal rest.
And John was saying that the process of separating the wheat from the chaff was about to begin.
John was saying, in as clear a way as I can imagine, "make your mind up". This is life or death! This is wheat or chaff! This is repent or burn! This is heaven or hell! This is God's offer of the forgiveness of sins, which some refuse to accept.
And Jesus is coming!
Some of my readers may be shocked, even disturbed, to see me writing like this. But how can I not speak about such important matters? Normal service will be resumed next week.