Matthew 3:11–12 (ESV) —
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after
me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork
is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into
the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
NOTE: From John the
Baptist's perspective, there was one Messiah, one who would baptize with the
Holy Spirit and also with fire. We see the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the
new birth, but because of the Jew's rejection of the Messiah in Matt 12, we see
a change in the program of God, foreseen by God, but only hinted at to us.
There is still a second coming of Jesus. We live in the age of the Church where
the Holy Spirit indwells the members of the body of Christ. But John the
Baptist prophesized the fire coming as well. He was right -- the fire is coming. The threshing floor of God will be
cleared, the wheat gathered and the chaff burned with a fire that never is
satisfied. As great as our salvation is, we should be broken for those who are
still facing a future separated from God. Lord, give us a heart for the lost. I
pray they can see lives that express the love of God, and would be attracted to
the aroma of Christ. Satan has so deceived and blinded their minds. May our
lives shine with the power of a life transformed by Jesus that would break the
hold of Satan on their lives.
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