John answered them all, “I baptize you with water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Luke 3:16-17Luke 3:16-17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 John said, “I am just baptizing with water. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. x untie his sandals: This was the duty of a slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His threshing fork y threshing fork: After Jewish farmers had trampled out the grain, they used a large fork to pitch the grain and the husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up. is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in his barn and burn the husks with a fire that never goes out.”
WP-Bible plugin, RSV
When thinking about the Kingdom of God and the nature of His people this week, I was reminded of the line, ‘His winnowing fork is in His hand …” as a reminder that God is constantly in the process of, not only shaping us to become more like him, but weeding out the pretenders from His true followers.
In Matthew 19, we find Jesus approached by the Pharisees, who drill him on questions about eternal life, commandments and the kingdom. Seemingly fixated on deeds rather than faith, they ask him: “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” Acquiescing momentarily, he runs off a list of commandments. But then, when a likely rich, young man comes to him and says he has kept the commandments, Jesus ups the ante: “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
As we see in the following verse, this was an additional step of faith the young man, tragically, was not willing to make.
And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 19: 23-24Matthew 19: 23-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
23 Jesus said to his disciples, “It's terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! 24 In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom.”
WP-Bible plugin, NAS
Here, we see Jesus clearing drawing a dividing line, a line in the sand. While God does not wish any to miss out on being part of his kingdom, he recognizes that some, because of their selfishness, pride, false religiosity, showmanship and lack of full and abiding acceptance of Christ, ultimately will be hewn from his side. The chaff, he says, will be burned with unquenchable fire.
Throughout this section of Matthew, we find Jesus speaking in parables because the true believers will understand and learn from the parables, while the pretenders and unbelievers will simply not grasp the meaning behind the stories. One such story about a wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14Matthew 22:1-14
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Great Banquet
22
1 Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people:
2 The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son.
3 The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused.
4 He sent other servants to say to the guests, “The banquet is ready! My cattle and prize calves have all been prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!”
5 But the guests did not pay any attention. Some of them left for their farms, and some went to their places of business.
6 Others grabbed the servants, then beat them up and killed them.
7 This made the king so furious that he sent an army to kill those murderers and burn down their city.
8 Then he said to the servants, “It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don't deserve to come.
9 Go out to the street corners and tell everyone you meet to come to the banquet.”
10 They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests.
11 When the king went in to meet the guests, he found that one of them wasn't wearing the right kind of clothes for the wedding.
12 The king asked, “Friend, why didn't you wear proper clothes for the wedding?” But the guest had no excuse.
13 ; . So the king gave orders for that person to be tied hand and foot and to be thrown outside into the dark. That's where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
14 Many are invited, but only a few are chosen.
WP-Bible plugin) again draws a distinction between the few — God’s chosen, us, his people — and everyone else. When the father sent out his son to gather up guests for the wedding, those who had been invited (here, we can equate them with the Pharisees, non-gentiles or overtly religious people without true abiding faith) paid no attention to the invitation. They were punished. The father again opened up the invitation to those along the “main highways” (equated with the Gentiles). The father surveyed the room of guests, which included both people of good and evil, spotted one not clothed properly for the wedding and cast him out into the “outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10Isaiah 61:10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Celebrate and Shout 10 . I celebrate and shout because of my Lord God. His saving power and justice are the very clothes I wear. They are more beautiful than the jewelry worn by a bride or a groom.
WP-Bible plugin, NAS
As his people, God wants us to be properly fitted for his service. Some may shimmer, present a “holy” demeanor and do all the right “church” things, but without an abiding, all-surrendered faith in Jesus, their presentation is tarnished and fading. Jesus’ winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will snatch up the good and cut off the bad. Just as the enemy is called the prince of darkness, was once shimmering but now a hobbled, fallen angel, so too are those who infiltrate the church and our lives in an attempt to skirt us off course. But his people are made precious in his site. In trusting Him with our lives, we not only gain the fruit of the spirit, we should relish it and vividly display it in our daily lives.
… For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-111 Thessalonians 5:9-11
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
9 God doesn't intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 That's why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.
WP-Bible plugin, NAS
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Today, thank God for calling you to himself. You are uniquely made and uniquely gifted. You have an intricate series of interests and talents to serve in his kingdom on earth in preparation and anticipation for the New kingdom. Ask God to make you steadfast in your faith, not only knowing in your head, but having an intimate knowledge of Him in your heart. Pray that you begin to trust him for fully each day and that he would rightly equip you for service in his kingdom. Be encouraged that, as a child of God, whether awake or asleep, you abide in him, and he abides in you.
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