BIBLICAL FATHERHOOD--THE GREAT NEED OF THE WORLD 4f) 11d) "ON FIRE" ARROWS continued

11d) "ON FIRE" ARROWS continued again.

John the Baptist proclaimed in Matthew 3:11-12 says, "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 thoroughly purge his floor, and gather this wheat into the garner: but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

John the Baptist makes it clear that the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire is infinitely more powerful and significant than the baptism of water. Most Christians have been baptized in water.

However, if we are honest to ourselves as well as God, we have little evidence of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, let alone the fire that consumes the chaff. Chaff is what's left after the wheat is harvested. It is sterile and cannot reproduce any fruit. In Bible days, they burned the chaff. The chaff represents the works of man, the self nature, the flesh nature, the cross-less Christian.

Men, God has provided us with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and unquenchable fire in order to consume what is not of God in our lives.

We need to ask ourselves why the church seriously limits fiery arrows. We ourselves need a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit's power and fire in order to affect our own generation, as well as future generations. Men, always remember that the Holy Spirit knows how to get rid of all the chaff. The answer is power and fire.

Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 2:3 says, "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as fire, and it sat upon each of them."

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell