Holy Spirit and Fire

Scripture:

Luke 3:15   As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ 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.”

Observation:

The people were flocking around John and listening intently to his preaching. This led them to wonder whether he just might be the promised Messiah. Recognizing that this might be what they were thinking, John sought to clarify his mission. He was there to baptize people into repentance with water, but he knew that one more powerful would be coming. The true Messiah would be able to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, cleansing people from the inside out, not just the outside. 

The presence of the Holy Spirit would be real, but the fire would bring about purification. Those who claim to be followers of God will be lifted up and blown away by the wind. The chaff will be revealed — such as those who claim to be religious but are not — and will be burned by the purifying power of the Messiah’s presence. 

Application:

John foreshadows a day when the Messiah will come with Holy Spirit power and fire. We are a people who are privileged to live in the day when that baptism is entirely possible. At the same time, I wonder how many of us are living in a type of water baptism without realizing the power and strength of the Holy Spirit in our lives? There is such promise in the words from John. He recognizes his own limitations and in humility points to one who is greater. 

There is incredible power available to God’s people through the infilling and baptism of the Holy Spirit. We watched the transformation of Jesus’ disciples on the day of Pentecost. Luke is the same author of the book of Acts and so this scene automatically leads us from John to Jesus to Pentecost. 

Lately I’ve spent time thinking about the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. The early Nazarenes would spend hours in prayer, praying for the Holy Spirit to fall upon them. The works that they did, empowered by the Spirit, were nothing short of miraculous. Somehow, I wonder whether we are selling ourselves short by being satisfied with water, when God wants to send the fire! 

Maybe we’re afraid of the fire, for the fire was the destruction of the Pharisees. They thought they were good religious people, but when the unquenchable fire of Christ came upon them, they could not survive his scrutiny. The fire burns off all of that which is impure and only leaves that which has been made clean and pure by the power of the Spirit. God wants to burn away all of that which is in and on us that is not filled with the Spirit. This requires entire consecration on the part of God’s people — even those who have been following God for many years. A return to a place of examination from time to time is important to our spiritual development. It’s easy to let the fire go out, and we need to keep tending to the fire throughout our entire life. 

Thanks be to God that we have this promise of Holy Spirit and fire. The Messiah has come, and we may live into all that he has provided for us. 

Prayer:

Lord, I need to know you more. Day by day I need fresh infillings of your Holy Spirit. Amen.