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." - Matthew 3: 12 (ESV)
This is not a game beloved. I do not understand how the charlatans who hold some of our pulpits can sleep at night except to realize that they have no fear of the Lord because they truly do not believe. Do not let anyone downplay the severity of what we are dealing with. These are eternal life and death decisions. Society has done a magical job of mocking hell and judgment. Let the words "burn with unquenchable fire" resonate in your spirit. The devil is not some caricature in a red jump suit with a pitchfork in his hands. Likewise, Jesus is not some hippy-dippy blessing machine. People talk about the love of Christ in increasingly creepy and unbiblical terms. God loved us so much that He would not leave us in our sins. He loved us so much that He does not want us to burn with an unquenchable fire. Jesus is coming soon but that should not be a source of solace for most people, including the majority of people in church today. We may be able to lie to our neighbors. We may be able to lie to ourselves. But on that last day, when He has His winnowing fork in His hand, we will know for sure if we are wheat or chaff. If we were honest with ourselves - we know today. Chapter Three concludes:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." - Matthew 3: 13-17 (ESV)
The chapter concludes with a rare appearance of the entire trinity. The spirit in the dove resting upon Him. The voice of the Father confirming Him. Why? Because He was willing to humble Himself to be baptized by John. The Baptist here is not wrong when he objects. Jesus however understands on a higher plane than we do. He understands that it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness. Here are Matthew Henry's notes from these Scripture verses:
"Christ's gracious condescensions are so surprising, that even the strongest believers at first can hardly believe them; so deep and mysterious, that even those who know his mind well, are apt to start objections against the will of Christ. And those who have much of the Spirit of God while here, see that they need to apply to Christ for more. Christ does not deny that John had need to be baptized of him, yet declares he will now be baptized of John. Christ is now in a state of humiliation. Our Lord Jesus looked upon it as well becoming him to fulfil all righteousness, to own every Divine institution, and to show his readiness to comply with all God's righteous precepts. In and through Christ, the heavens are opened to the children of men. This descent of the Spirit upon Christ, showed that he was endued with his sacred influences without measure. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. At Christ's baptism there was a manifestation of the three Persons in the sacred Trinity. The Father confirming the Son to be Mediator; the Son solemnly entering upon the work; the Holy Spirit descending on him, to be through his mediation communicated to his people. In Him our spiritual sacrifices are acceptable, for He is the altar that sanctifies every gift, 1 Peter 2:5. Out of Christ, God is a consuming fire, but in Christ, a reconciled Father. This is the sum of the gospel, which we must by faith cheerfully embrace."
His readiness to comply with all of God's righteous precepts. In and through Christ the heavens are opened to the children of men. Valuable theological nuggets. I present them here because there is a movement in modern Christianity to discard what is solid theologically for what is experiential. Discard centuries of cogent, thoughtful exposition for what we feel. The widely accepted commentaries are not Scripture but to use that to discard them is intellectually and spiritually bankrupt. I have a lot more faith in what has been vetted for hundreds of years than I do in someone in the year 2015 opening their discourse with "God told me." Just a side note to remember. We have commentaries as tools to help us understand the Word better. To illuminate for us. Beware those who claim direct revelation from God.
That wraps up Chapter Three of the Gospel of Matthew. John the Baptist fulfilling the final prophecy of the Old Testament. Showing us exactly what the true Gospel message is - repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The key portion that stands out for me is "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." This absolutely destroys the hyper-grace teachings of people like Joseph Prince. Repentance is not merely "consenting to be loved." Our true repentance should result in something. It should change things. Instead of being judged by the law eternally, we should now desire to keep the law temporally. Not out of fear of judgment but out of reverence and love for the one who died for us. Preach that. Celebrate that. This is the Gospel.
Reverend Anthony Wade - February 7, 2015
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