Gathered in His Barn

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

 GATHERED IN HIS BARN

Matt 3:11-12

11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

NIV

There it is the fullness of the gospel in one statement. The whole truth of salvation is told right here. We are either in or out, and the choice is ours. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That is if we accept his baptism because he has that winnowing fork. This fork is used to pick up the grain and throw it up in the air to separate the grain kernels from the chaff, or to stalk. In the day of Christ, the way a grain, such as wheat, was harvested, it would be cut down and piled up. The piles would be taken to the threshing floor, a place where the grain would not get lost as they took the winnowing fork and threw it up in the air, thus getting the kernels to fall to the floor and the chaff would blow away. This is the analogy of how Jesus will separate those who accept his baptism and those who do not. The kernel, those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are baptized in the Holy Spirit will be gathered into his barn, or heaven, or the kingdom of God. The chaff, those who are not the kernel of grain, those who refuse to accept him, and his baptism will be burned up in the lake of burning sulfur. We know this due to the detailed account in the revelation given to John. Why would anyone want to be the chaff when they can decide to be the grain is beyond reason? We are so thankful that the Spirit got through to us and that we repented of our sin and accepted Jesus’s baptism with the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit was the one who first convicted us of our sin, but that is far different from being baptized with Him. This being baptized is being immersed in the Spirit. Although he dwells within, it is deeper than that. We are immersed in the Spirit, which is completely covered by Him. He is more than a part of our life, he is our life. In some sense, it is like being immersed in water, and not just a second as in water baptism, but we are fully and completely immersed in the Spirit forever, under his leadership for he is the only one who can lead us into all truth. Without being fully immersed in the Spirit we cannot see or know the truth and we would then be susceptible to the lies and schemes of the evil one and all those who follow his ways. The other beauty here is also the confidence we have that we are going to be gather into His barn.