“ And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

I indeed -baptize you with water unto repentance-: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: -he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire- :

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. “ – Matt 3:10-12

“ I am come -to send fire- on the earth; and what will I, -if it be already kindled- ?

But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, ---Nay; but rather division---:

For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.

The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. “ – Luke 12:49-53
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. “ – Matt 10:34-36

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A HOLY FIRE
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Our first text this week is from the lips of John the Baptist, a figure who appears suddenly in the Judean wilderness, breaking a 400 year silence from the Lord. He is referencing the prophet Malachi – from the last book of the Old Testament:-

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a ---refiner's fire----, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. “ – Malachi 3:1-4

The Baptist is very clear as to his mission. Baptizing Israel with the water of repentance – (which is what we have been looking at last week) a turning back to God’s ways. He draws a clear distinction between himself, and the Person who will baptize Israel with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. What does THAT person have to say about His Mission?

It’s no secret to Christians. He came to die for us … right? Isn’t that the Baptism HE is talking about when He is saying how He is “straitened” (prevented, compressed, constrained) till it is accomplished? Yes, that is correct, and His Baptism on the Cross into death, and resurrection to life is THE key mechanism by which we are restored to fellowship with God! Hallelujah!

What is of interest NOW to us, is what happens after that? ? What happens when He is not “straitened” anymore – which is what happened when He was resurrected! Well…. When you look at what He says right after (texts 2, 3 this week which are from the lips of Jesus Himself) …. It does not paint a very shiny happy scenario, does it?

No peace? Division? Sword? Fire? Domestic disturbances? Didn’t we read last week in the book of James that all of this was enemy generated? What happened to the loving God that we read about? How can a Gospel of reconciliation lead to such rifts in society?

Well, history tells us it did. The gloves came off on the day of Pentecost (the day Christ fulfilled the prophecy of baptizing with the Holy Spirit) , and we have had 2 millennia of history to evaluate these words and the truth of what they imply.
Israel was divided. Into those that accepted the Messiah (the early church) and those that did not. The Apostle Paul (then known as Saul) was part of an early faction of the Jewish religious leadership that persecuted any Jew that went after this new Way, or it’s Messiah.

The early Christians were persecuted by the Roman government, later Christians by the deprivation of the Word & the Inquisition, the schism amongst the Eastern and Western Churches. The Reformation caused another split but led to the Word taking its rightful state of prominence. Even today, in a household where there are both “saved” and “unsaved” people under the same roof, belief and world-view differences divide families and national politics.

There are fires that are like volcanic eruptions. There are fires like those occurring right now in the Australian bush. There is the warm cheer of a fireplace in winter… and there is the cold blue flame of the acetylene torch that cuts through stainless steel like butter!

Fire purifies. It burns away all that is irrelevant and leaves only the most resilient materials behind. It has the power to consume utterly – like a spaceship plowing into a sun, or gently warm – sunshine on our shoulders makes us happy!

When we look at Fire in the Word, we begin with Light in Genesis, the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, the Burning Bush of Moses, the Cloud/Pillar of smoke and fire in the wilderness, the lamps in the Tabernacle, the sacrifices offered by fire on the altar, the fire from heaven for Elijah, chariots of fire all around the people of Israel, tongues of fire on Pentecost, the Fires (7) burning before the throne of God, a sea of glass mixed with fire on which people stand in the book of Revelation, and yes, a lake of fire to which evil is consigned. When you consider that the God is the one who made the sun (every star is a fire to a greater or lesser extent) and the entire Universe – do you see a theme of light and FIRE?

Not just His nature, but His Word. Consider the words of the prophet Jeremiah who weeps at what he is forced to declare to the people of Israel, and see’s their reaction:

“O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.’ But his word was in mine heart -----as a burning fire shut up in my bones------, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. “ – Jeremiah 20:7-12

The Word of God is not to be trifled with. It judges us, and not the other way around. It is the light in which all our deeds will be looked at.

“ According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because -- it shall be revealed by fire ---; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. “ – 1 Co 3:8-3:15

You are saved from Hell by the blood of Christ, but if you are attempting to do something for Him, those works will be tried by the Word of God Himself. It’s why we are most earnest about finding out what HE WANTS and getting with THAT, as opposed to relying on our own strength! What does He want?

Well, beyond confession, baptism, and a dedication to repentance (Water Baptism) it is ….

1. Ask for and be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
2. Spend more time with Him, and fellow believers to get to know Him, His Word, His Spirit, and your god gifted ministry.
3. Preach His Word through your actions. Teach others how to apply it to do the same. Grace and Truth, Mercy and Forgiveness not Sacrifice!
4. Get to know His promises, and resources, and use them in your day to day life
5. Trust Him to have your back in all things. All evil must go through Him to get to you. Death is a transition to His presence – so never be afraid. Be of good courage, with peace in your heart and goodwill to all men.

The Word will divide. No man can serve two masters. Light can have no fellowship with the works of darkness, nor do idols (any world-made thing) have any place in the temples of God (YOU!).

Christ came to pour out the fire of the Spirit on a world that desperately needed it. He was clear that it was not lit when He was alive (“what will I, -if it be already kindled-“), but it was His desire to see it poured out, and it prevailed. His EYES are like flames of fire when John sees them on Patmos, and this disciple, a familiar of Jesus, falls at His feet like one dead. NO ONE can stand before a presence like THAT!

There is no faking Christianity. A fake Christianity is not Christianity at all. The Fire will burn it up, and all feel-good, life-coaching, prosperity-gospel teachings will be consumed by the fires of adversity in the end-times which are fast approaching – worse - those works will be of no use to those who advocated them – judged by God Himself!

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 Jn 3:18)

“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:

And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

For our God is a consuming fire.” – Heb 12:18-29

Hallelujah!