THE FIRE THAT MAKES YOU READY

INTRODUCTION — Worldly Principle vs. Kingdom Truth

The world teaches a predictable lie: “People only change when life breaks them.” Pain becomes the motivator. Crisis becomes the teacher. Rock bottom becomes the turning point.

But the Kingdom of God declares a deeper truth: “that God calls you to change before life collapses around you.”

John the Baptist steps into a generation drowning in religion but starving for righteousness. A generation with temples but no transformation. A generation with rituals but no repentance.

He doesn’t whisper. He doesn’t negotiate. He doesn’t soften the message.

He comes with fire, because the King is coming with greater fire.

BRIDGE —

Psalm 24:3–6 “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, That seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.”

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?”

This psalm is not a gentle invitation—it is a holy interrogation.

Clean hands → outward obedience

Pure heart → inward integrity

Not lifting your soul to an idol → undivided loyalty

Not swearing deceitfully → truthful living

Receiving blessing → open heaven

Seeking His face → expectation

Psalm 24 is the cry before the cry of John the Baptist’s cry. David says: “Prepare to ascend.” John says: “Prepare the way.” Jesus says: “Prepare your heart.”

🔥 “THE KING DOESN’T FALL ON ANY GROUND—HE FALLS ON CLEAN GROUND.” 🔥

God is not withholding fire—He is waiting for readiness.

1. Luke 3:7 — “You brood of vipers!”

Luke 3:7 “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

John is not attacking their worth—he is exposing their spiritual condition.

Snakes shed skin but remain snakes. John says: “Don’t confuse shedding habits with surrendering your heart.”

Modern illustration: People today reinvent themselves—new job, new city, new relationship, new aesthetic—but the same old heart remains untouched.

John confronts the illusion of change without the reality of repentance.

John looks at the crowd… and righteous fire falls.

He does not pat them on the back. He does not say, “Thanks for coming to the service.”

He calls them a brood of vipers.

Why? Because they wanted the baptism without the repentance.

They wanted the ceremony without the surrender.

They wanted the fire escape without the life change.

They wanted to dip in the water but stay in their sin.

They wanted to look spiritual without being transformed.

John is saying:

“Do not dare play games with God.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

John is not talking about religion — rescue.

John is saying this is not ritual — this is repentance.

This is not tradition — this is transformation.”

There is a wrath coming. There is a holy judgment for sin. There is a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.

Imagine a brushfire tearing across a dry field, the heat rolling ahead of the flames like a warning from heaven. As the fire advances, snakes erupt from the grass—hissing, twisting, scrambling for escape. They are not leaving because they have changed. They are not leaving because they have repented. They are leaving because the fire finally got close enough to make them uncomfortable.

That is the crowd standing before John in Luke 3:7.

They rush toward the river like snakes fleeing a blaze—moved by fear, not by faith. They feel the heat of God’s judgment, but they do not want the holiness of God’s presence. They want escape, not transformation. They want baptism as a shield, not repentance as a surrender.

John looks at them and cries, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He’s not insulting them—he’s diagnosing them. They are moving, but they are not changing. They are stirred, but they are not surrendered. They are fleeing the fire, but they are not embracing the God who sends it.

The Holy Ghost does not make you run from judgment; He makes you run into Jesus. The Holy Ghost does not just expose the hiding places; He burns them out. He does not just push the snakes from the grass; He purifies the ground they slithered on. The Holy Ghost does not scare you into the water—He comes to transform you in the water.

John is saying:

Do not come to the river because the fire frightened you. Come because the fire awakened you. Come because the fire convicted you. Come because the fire changed you.

A snake can flee the flames and still be a snake. A sinner can flee judgment and still be unchanged. But when the Holy Ghost gets hold of a heart, He remakes you.

And the only way to flee from the wrath to come is not by pretending, not by performing, not by showing up to the river — but by repenting from the bottom of your heart.

John is sounding the alarm. The warning siren is blaring. Church, the King is coming.

This is not the time to blend in. This is the time to break free. This is the time to run — not from God, but to God.

Hebrews 3:15

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when life settles down. Today.

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

2. Luke 3:8 — “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

Luke 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

John is not calling for emotional moments; he is calling for evidence. “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance…” Repentance is not a moment—it is a movement. Not a tear—it is a turn. Not an emotion—it is evidence.

And John confronts the crowd’s favorite excuse: “We have Abraham as our father.” In other words: “We’re good. We’re covered. We’re already in.”

John crushes that false confidence with one thunderous truth: “God can raise children from stones.”

What Makes Our Repentance Different From the Stones

Stones cannot repent. Stones cannot turn. Stones cannot surrender. Stones cannot produce fruit.

But you can. You can respond. You can yield. You can obey. You can be transformed.

The stones could become children by God’s power, but only a repentant heart can become fruitful. The stones could be raised, but only a surrendered life can be changed. The stones could be claimed, but only a disciple can bear fruit.

This is what makes your repentance unique: God doesn’t just want to claim you—He wants to cultivate you. He doesn’t just want to raise you—He wants to remake you. He doesn’t just want to save you—He wants to shape you.

What Fruit Requires

Fruit takes:

Time — because repentance is a lifestyle

Cultivation — because the Spirit works the soil of your heart

Pruning — because God cuts what competes with Christ

Consistency — because fruit grows through daily obedience

If someone says they’re “getting healthy” but never changes diet, sleep, or habits—nobody believes them. Why? Because fruit proves desire. Desire without discipline is deception. Emotion without evidence is empty.

John’s message is simple and sharp: “Don’t show me your tears—show me your transformation.” “Don’t show me your heritage—show me your holiness.” “Don’t show me your claims—show me your character.”

“Repentance is not what you feel—it’s what you follow.”

“Repentance is not proven by the river—it’s proven by the fruit.”

“God can raise stones, but only surrender can raise fruit.”

“If repentance is real, fruit will reveal.”

3. Luke 3:9 — “The axe is laid to the root.”

Luke 3:9 “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” — The Axe at the Root

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees…” John is not describing light gardening. He is announcing divine surgery. God is not trimming your branches—He is targeting your roots. The Spirit goes after what feeds the fruit, because roots feed fruit, and roots feed ruin.

Bitterness has a root. Lust has a root. Pride has a root. Unbelief has a root. Fear has a root. Rebellion has a root.

And God refuses to leave those roots untouched. You don’t fix a cracked foundation by painting the walls. You don’t fix a toxic habit by changing vocabulary. You don’t fix spiritual cancer with motivational quotes. God says: “I’m not here to decorate your life—I’m here to deliver it.”

How to Let the Axe Work in Your Life

1. Name the Root

Say it out loud. Drag it into the light. Identify the real issue beneath the behavior—bitterness, lust, pride, fear, unbelief, rebellion. Naming is the first swing of the axe.

2. Confess and Cut

Confess specifically, not vaguely. “Lord, I confess pride in ______.” “Lord, I confess bitterness toward ______.” Confession invites the Spirit to strike the root, not the leaves.

3. Replace the Root

Roots always feed on something. Replace the old root with Scripture, prayer, obedience, and accountability.

Bitterness → forgiveness

Lust → purity and boundaries

Pride → humility in one concrete act

Fear → trust expressed in prayer

Unbelief → Scripture meditation

4. Take Practical Measures

Remove triggers: apps, places, relationships.

Add disciplines: daily Scripture, honest prayer, weekly accountability.

Make restitution: repair what the root has damaged.

These steps are not legalism—they are landscaping for the soul.

5. Invite the Fire

Pray boldly: “Lord, burn what You must so I can become what You desire.” The goal is not shame—it is sanctification. The Spirit burns what you cannot fix and uproots what you cannot reach.

Preaching Riff (Memorizable and Strong)

“God’s axe hits the root, not the leaves.”

“If the root is rotten, the fruit will be ruined.”

“The Spirit doesn’t prune excuses—He cuts chains.”

“Deliverance begins where denial ends.”

“He came to deliver, not decorate.”

4. Luke 3:10–14 — Practical repentance

Repentance touches:

Your generosity

Your integrity

Your relationships

Your money

Your power

Your speech

Repentance is not mystical—it is Monday morning holiness. Tuesday afternoon integrity. Thursday night purity. Friday morning humility.

Repentance is visible, practical, relational, measurable.

5. Luke 3:15 — “The people were in expectation.”

Expectation is the womb of revival. Before Jesus appears, the people start leaning forward.

When a church expects God to move:

Worship shifts

Prayer deepens

Hunger rises

Atmosphere changes

People come early

People linger longer

People stop spectating and start seeking

Expectation is the spark that invites the fire.

6. Luke 3:16 — “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”

John says: “My water can wash you, but His fire can change you.”

Water cleans the outside. Fire purifies the inside. Water prepares you. Fire empowers you. Water is symbolic. Fire is transformational.

A blacksmith heats metal until it glows—because fire makes it moldable. The Holy Ghost fire makes the believer shapeable.

Jesus doesn’t just want to forgive you— He wants to forge you.

7. Luke 3:17 — “His fan is in His hand.”

When John says Jesus will “thoroughly purge His floor,” he’s describing a scene every Israelite understood—a threshing floor on a hot, windy hilltop.

Wheat and chaff grow together. They look similar. They sway in the same wind. They occupy the same field.

But when harvest comes, the separation begins.

Wheat is weighty.

Chaff is weightless.

Wheat falls to the ground. Chaff is blown away.

Wheat feeds. Chaff deceives.

Wheat is gathered. Chaff is burned.

John is saying: “Jesus is coming to reveal what in you is real—and what in you is empty.”

This is not gentle imagery. This is not poetic language. This is judgment imagery. This is purification imagery. This is the King cleaning His house.

🔥 Stronger

Think of a farmer standing on the threshing floor with a winnowing fork in his hand.

He tosses the mixture of wheat and chaff into the air. The wind does the separating. The weight determines the destiny.

The wheat drops because it has substance. The chaff flies because it has no weight.

Now bring that into the soul:

Bitterness has no weight.

Pride has no weight.

Lust has no weight.

Fear has no weight.

Unbelief has no weight.

Cynicism has no weight.

Secret sin has no weight.

Spiritual laziness has no weight.

These things cannot stand in the wind of the Holy Ghost. They cannot survive the breath of God. They cannot remain when Jesus steps onto the threshing floor of your heart.

He’s trying to burn chaff.

He’s trying to purify your life.

He’s trying to sanctify your soul.

Jesus says: “Let Me separate what’s killing you from what’s calling you.

Let Me burn what’s empty so I can fill what’s ready.”

This is not cosmetic Christianity. This is threshing‑floor Christianity.

8. Luke 3:19–20 — Herod rejects the message

Herod isn’t just a villain—he is a mirror. A warning. A case study in what happens when conviction is ignored long enough to become contempt.

John didn’t confront Herod because he hated him. John confronted Herod because God loved him enough to send a prophet to his palace.

But Herod does what many powerful people do when truth gets too close: He shuts the voice down. He silences the messenger. He locks the prophet away so he doesn’t have to lock his sin away.

Herod thinks he’s imprisoning John. But in reality— Herod is imprisoning himself.

He silences the prophet… and ends up silencing his own soul.

He shuts John’s mouth… and shuts heaven’s invitation.

He rejects correction… and forfeits transformation.

He kills the voice calling him to repentance… and kills the only path that could have saved him.

Herod is proof that you can be powerful and still be spiritually pitiful. You can sit on a throne and still be ruled by your flesh. You can command armies and still be conquered by your desires.

Herod is a warning: When you silence conviction, you strangle your own destiny.

🔥 Modern Illustration

Today, people don’t throw prophets in prison—they just mute them.

They unfollow anyone who challenges them. They block anyone who confronts them. They avoid any sermon that convicts them. They label truth as “judgmental” so they can keep their sin comfortable.

Herod didn’t reject John because John was wrong. He rejected John because John was right.

And that’s the danger of our generation: We are more offended by correction than we are by corruption.

Herod unfollowed John— and lost his last chance at repentance.

9. Luke 3:21–22 — Jesus is baptized; heaven opens

When repentance prepares the way, heaven responds.

The Father speaks

The Spirit descends

The Son is revealed

This is the pattern: Repentance → Surrender → Fire → Open Heaven

🔥 FINAL PREACHING RIFF — “MAKE ME READY, LORD!”

Declare it:

When the axe hits the root — Make me ready, Lord! When the Holy Ghost convicts — Make me ready, Lord! When the fire falls — Make me ready, Lord! When the wheat is separated from the chaff — Make me ready, Lord! When Jesus steps into the water — Make me ready, Lord! When heaven opens — Make me ready, Lord! When the Father speaks — Make me ready, Lord! When the Spirit descends — Make me ready, Lord! When the King calls my name — Make me ready, Lord! When the fire burns what I couldn’t fix — Make me ready, Lord! When the Spirit exposes what I tried to hide — Make me ready, Lord! When the Word cuts deeper than my excuses — Make me ready, Lord! When the King comes with His fan in His hand — Make me ready, Lord! When the glory breaks through the clouds — Make me ready, Lord!

ALTAR CALL — Expanded, Urgent, Direct

Church… We have walked through the wilderness with John. We have stood on the threshing floor with Jesus. We have heard the mountain cry of Psalm 24: “Who shall ascend?”

And now the question is aimed at you. Right now. In this room.

The axe is already at the root. The fan is already in His hand. The fire is already burning.

This is not a moment to think— this is a moment to surrender.

Some of you have wheat, but you also have chaff that must burn.

Some of you have hunger— but you also have habits that must die.

Some of you have desire— but you also have roots that must be cut.

Some of you have expectations— but you also have idols that must fall.

The Spirit is saying: “Don’t leave the threshing floor with what I came to burn.”

If there is bitterness—come. If there is pride—come. If there is lust—come. If there is fear—come. If there is unbelief—come. If there is secret sin—come. If there is spiritual laziness—come. If anything in you cannot stand in the wind of the Spirit—come.

This altar is not a place of shame. This altar is the mountain of Psalm 24. This altar is the threshing floor of Luke 3. This altar is where the King makes you ready.

Come and say:

“Lord, clear the ground.Cut the root.Burn the chaff.Purify my heart.Make me ready for the fire.”

Move now. Move quickly. Move while the wind is blowing. Move while the fire is falling. Move while the King is calling.

The King is ready. The fire is ready. Heaven is ready.

The only question left is—Are you.