Matthew 3
# Lord, I pray for more of Your presence in my life. Help me to always have my heart prepared to receive more of You as more of me decreases. According to your Word, may I continue to grow into your image and likeness Lord Jesus, from glory to glory.
John’s clothes – coarse camel hair and leather belt.
- – Belt (of truth??)
- – Garment (of righteousness??)
Food — Word of God??
- – Locusts?(? Word will devour sin/ unrighteousness?)
- – Wild honey (- sweet natural / unadulterated Word?)
People went to see, hear, confessed, baptised. Jordan river – represent Holy Spirit baptism after wilderness walk in Exodus??
Fleeing God’s coming wrath – using the free gift of salvation just to get out off hell ( free card) and not go to the Father or develop a relationship with the Father. Purpose of salvation is to be presented as the righteousness of God to the Father. Some would like to avoid hell but not go to the presence of the Father – requires righteousness ( which is a free gift received by grace through faith) but they would still want to live with some unrighteousness.
Come with a clean heart totally surrendered to the Lord and not with our ways / terms & conditions (- such as the religious spirit requirements. Seems to suggest trying to be cunning like serpents in trying to access salvation our way and not God’s way ).
The way we live should show our faith (- working out our salvation? or the character of God being worked out of us for others to see) or faith without the works (of faith – the actions that show that we indeed have faith in Jesus – such as just believing and receiving ) is dead?
Being born into church / just because I call myself Christian doesn’t guarantee salvation. The way to prove faith is through acts of faith – our lives reflecting our faith in Jesus Christ by listening and obeying His Word. For example, we are told in the Word that we receive salvation by Grace through Faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). My act of faith would therefore be to believe the Word and not to try to add what I think…like adding works to try justify my salvation. If the Word declares salvation is by grace through faith and without works, then salvation is indeed by grace through faith without adding the 10 commandments, baptism or any other works such as of the law or traditions of men.
We are put in this world like trees to produce good fruit. There will be judgment for everyone – we all have to account for the time we had on earth. The expected results will either be :
- – Good fruit
- – Bad fruit – tree chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Water baptism for repentance.
Jesus – baptism with Holy Spirit and fire.
– This fire from Jesus sounds like judgement of the bad. He will be the one to judge. He separates the good from the bad and burns the bad in never ending fire – sounds like hell?
– Is it that those baptised with water are given the Holy Spirit baptism while those that didn’t get water baptised ( repented and received Jesus as Messiah) receive the baptism ( judgment) of fire? It seems to suggest so in the context of the chapter – NLT.
Possibly another way to look at it: the water baptism quenches the fire baptism for those that received the water baptism ( The Passover Blood of the lamb that was sprinkled on the door posts of the houses ensured that those in the houses / under the Blood were saved from the destroyer). Those that have not received water baptism ( repented and received Jesus for salvation) are burnt / tormented by the fire ( of Jesus) , those that received repentance and salvation ( water baptism) are purified and sanctified ( refined) by the fire( of Jesus) . The fire may also ignite the anointing (oil) on ones life such as adding fire ( power) to ones gift (of the spirit) – Wisdom, knowledge, discernment, faith, healing, miracles,….
Or is water for purification and fire for sanctification?? Or water for sanctification and fire for purification? Or is one and the same?
We as servants of the Lord are just to lead people to repentance ( water) . Leave the judging ( Fire) to the master, Jesus. Fire will not affect ( negatively) those under the Blood… (Blood and water came out of His heart at the Cross!.)
Jordan river baptism – represents Holy Spirit baptism. Red Sea baptism represents water baptism? – Exodus into the promised land. We need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in order to possess our possessions of the promised land of the kingdom of God here on earth (thy kingdom come on earth as if it is in heaven) . Repentance / water baptism takes us out of Egypt (the world ) and marks us as children of God, delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13). But the Spirit of God, represented by baptism of the Holy Spirit & Fire, empowers us (Acts 1:8) to take and posses our inheritance of the kingdom of God.
To please the Father and be declared a child / son of God…. One needs Baptism of water ( this is my dearly loved son? Marked as a child of God? ) and of the Holy Spirit ( whom I am well pleased? The exploits of having the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us to accomplish His will, purposes and plans for His kingdom and for His glory? )
Jesus demonstrates to us both the water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism – carrying out all that God requires as He explained to John. The heavens open and God declares – my Son in whom I am well pleased.
# I repent of my sins and wayward ways that are displeasing to You Lord Jesus and turn back towards You that You may cleanse me and empower me with Your Holy Spirit and Fire. Indeed Lord Jesus, transform me into Your image and likeness from glory to glory so that all that I am may also reflect Your Heart and Your Love to others – being a blessing to others while point them towards You, all for Your glory. Amen
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