“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12 NASB1995)
John the Baptist, in preparation for Jesus Christ and his ministry, baptized many people with water for repentance. And repentance means a change of mind and heart, resulting in a change of behavior. Throughout Scripture, to repent means to turn away from sin, thus resulting in a heart transformation of the Spirit of God, and then turning to follow Christ in obedience - putting off our old flesh and putting on our new lives in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Ephesians 4:17-24).
Then John the Baptist talked about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. When we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, via repentance, turning from sin and turning to walk by faith in Christ Jesus, to obey him, by the power and working of the Spirit in our lives in new birth (spiritual birth), we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. Jesus, thus, baptizes us with his Spirit in the regeneration of our lives.
Jesus will also baptize us with fire. Fire has to do with judgment, and the New Testament teaches that God judges (disciplines; corrects; punishes; rebukes; chastises) his own for the purpose of purifying them and making them holy, and/or to get his wandering ones to return to their “first love.” He does this because he loves us, and because he wants us to be in a right relationship with him. And so he allows us to go through difficulties to test our faith and to make us into the people he wants us to be for his service.
Yet so much of today’s church is no different from the world. It is barely distinguishable between the church and the world anymore. The church is supposed to be the body of Christ, made up of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, with Jesus Christ as the head. Its meetings are supposed to be for the purpose of mutual edification and encouragement of the body so that we can go out into the world with the gospel of salvation, and so we can stand strong in our faith against all the tricks and traps of the devil in his deceitful scheming against us.
Yet, much of the church has invited the world into their gatherings, and they have acclimated the meetings of the church to the desires of the world in order to attract the world to their assemblies. Thus, many have diluted the gospel of our salvation in order to make it more palatable and acceptable to the sinful world and to the adulterous and idolatrous church. And feel good messages meant to tickle itching ears have mostly, it would seem, replaced Holy Spirit inspired preaching intended to convict human hearts of sin, and to call people to forsake their sinful practices and to obey God’s commands.
So the wayward, idolatrous, and adulterous church of today is under the judgment of God; of Christ. For so many who profess the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior are living so far away from what God requires of us who profess to know him. So many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are living worldly and fleshly lives to please the flesh, and not to please God. And so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of human making which are patterning the gospel and the church after the world. Their hearts are, thus, not surrendered to the Lord to putting sin to death and to obeying him.
So when Jesus baptizes with fire, he will do what is necessary to get all those who profess his name to submit to him as Lord, to obey his commands, and to walk in his ways and in his righteousness. And he will separate those who give him lip service only from those who are walking in obedience to him in holy living, empowered by God. And all who called him, “Lord,” but did not obey his commands, will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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Baptized with The Holy Spirit and Fire
An Original Work / November 28, 2025
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