Spirit and fire Thurs 2/10/22

Matthew 3:10 (NASB95) — 10 “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Who was this one who questioned even the religious authorities? For some time, these sects had gotten away with much. It offered them comforts and even vices of the flesh, while at the same time be hidden in a veil of false piety. The people may have defended them, as being, “Good Men of God.” Some may have known better.

But now here comes one that will challenge that authority. Here is the beginning of bringing things out of the darkness and into he light. A change of Command is beginning.

Point of Application.

Take where we are today. And say what you will about our former president. IN the previous administration there was justice. There was tearing down of all the burdensome regulations that restricted economic growth. The United States of America may have been hated but they were respected.

Now it is apparent that economy and world status has fallen greatly. We might say that we are far worse now than prior to the trump Presidency.

Why did God, who places kings and rulers put this man in power. And you may like him, or you may not like him, but the one thing that this man did was bring to light and expose the government to be as corrupt as we could ever have imagined.

He exposed the rats. And even exposed some whom we had in the past admired as being well intentioned.

He forced the evil within the hierarchy of our government to show its hand. There is no longer a gray area by which one can hide and be neutral.

In Joshua’s sermon he lays it out for the people.

Joshua 24:14–15 (NASB95) — 14 “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

To all, God gives the grace provision of both Revelation and the Time to respond.

This is the grace of God at work. for there are those who are on the wrong side because their hearts are evil. There are others on the wrong side maybe because they did not even recognize their own shortcomings.

Light is now beginning to shine and before it is all over the two sides will be clearly seen for what they are.

The Grace of God, the revelation of God demands a response. And one will be graded on the response.

The word of God is a two-edged sword. IN one stroke it cuts to one’s heart where one is convicted and turns from their evil ways. the other edge is the edge that is for those who have heard the gospel, but yet chose to remain status quo. They cannot claim that they did not know.

John spoke the truth which leaves the hearers with one question,

Do I believe this?

John was exposing these Pharisees and the Sadducees for the Hypocrites that they were. And they did not like it.

The Axe warning is an image of the impending Judgement.

Isaiah 10:33–34 (NASB95) — 33 Behold, the Lord, the God of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down And those who are lofty will be abased. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe, And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

Matthew 7:17–23 (NASB95) — 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

These Pharisees and Sadducees operated in the darkness. Everything that does not bring glory to God will, in the final judgment, be swept away. And ladies and gentlemen that is good news.

It is good in the fact that evil does not co-reign with the Righteous. That there is no eternal struggle between good and evil.

The time will come that we will see Justice.

Psalm 37 is an encouraging passage for those who long for the day when the Lord will deal completely with the unrighteous within this world.

And that day is coming.

God has extended his grace to the evil.

Those that practice evil have the grace commodity of time, and the grace that he afforded them to hear the message of John.

Now perhaps there were those among the Pharisees who might take the words of John to heart but would keep such thoughts to themselves. There were those who saw firsthand the corruption among their ranks, and it bothered them. And while the words of John did not cause an immediate run down to the water and get baptized, they would ponder on the words.

I’m sure that there were more out of the thousands of Pharisees than Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who sought for the coming of the messiah and was ready for the evil around them to brought out into the open.