In Matthew 3:1-3 we find John the Baptist coming on the scene warning the people to “REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.” He went on to tell the people that the Messiah promised by the Prophet Isaiah was on the way so they were to prepare for Him by repenting of sin (breaking the Law) and making His path to them spiritually straight so that there would be nothing to hinder His spiritual entrance into their lives. John tells those who had come to his baptism that this One would “BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE.” Three and a half years later the Holy Spirit would come on those gathered on the Day of Pentecost in an upper room in Jerusalem. Read John’s Baptism to learn the difference between His baptism and Christian baptism. Key word–Baptism.

Using wheat as a metaphor, John told the people that the Messiah would spiritually “purge His (threshing) floor, gather the purified wheat (true believers) into His garner (His church) and burn the chaff (their sins, bad habits, spiritual errors, etc.) with unquenchable FIRE” so that no chaff would remain in them. He would use the fire of the Holy Spirit to get rid of every vestige of sin and error within His true saints, making them true spiritual Israelites, being “without spot and blameless” (2 Pet. 3:14) and remain in that spiritual condition until they had “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). These would be “chosen people, a royal priesthood and peculiar” in the eyes of a world that did not know God. Those who remained in that spiritual condition until the end of their lives would be saved (Mat. 10:22).

John’s ministry was garnering a great deal of attention as people came under conviction for having broken God’s Law. They knew they needed their sins washed away through water baptism. Being Jews, they were familiar with the writings of the Prophet Isaiah who said that God would sent someone Who would come on the scene just prior to the arrival of the Messiah. He would be the one “crying in the wilderness” of Judea, telling the people to prepare to have Israel’s Savior come to them with Truth which they must embrace and obey.

So powerful was John’s preaching that people were coming to be baptized from “Jerusalem and all of the region of Judea as well as all of the region east of the Jordan River. The masses came confessing their sins and seeking to have them symbolically washed away. I had the privilege of preaching a baptismal service for a group of Americans who were being rebaptized in the Jordan River. I will share what I told them about the meaning of the word “baptize.” The word comes from the art of dying wool. Sheep’s wool is especially absorbent relative to dye in that wool hairs soak up and retain the die so that the color remains indefinitely. The word “baptize” literally means to submerge so as to make the change of color particularly powerful and long-lasting. Submerging guarantees that the dye soaks every part of each hair.

On another occasion I was in Guatemala with a missionary who had established a number of churches in that part of the world. We were walking across a corn field toward a house that we could see in the distance. Extending out in both directions from the house were rows of various bright colors. I soon learned that what we were seeing was wool that had been died a variety of colors. When we arrived at the house the owner was in the process of making cloth out of wool using a wooden, hand-made, hand-operated machine. I was immediately fascinated. I watched with great admiration as this man made wool fabric exactly the same way that man had been making such fabric for thousands of years using the exact type of man-made machines.

Once he had turned the wool into thread using another wooden, hand-made machine, he “baptized” the threads in tubs filled with dyes of various colors then hung them on a fence to dry. This was the sight that greeted us as we approached the house. There were several colors of strikingly beautiful thread drying in the sun. As we watched, the man wove the colored threads into fabric which reflected the color of the threads being used. I was thoroughly impressed with his skill. From the first act to the final product, this man did it all. At every level of the operation–from the making of the wooden machines to the finished product–he was a master.

The ancient art of permanently changing the color of sheep’s wool and turning it into a color that will neither change nor fade reveals the meaning of water baptism relative to those who truly come to the Lord and undergo true conversion. The baptismal act symbolizes the total and permanent change that must take place in our lives in order for us to become what God requires us so that we can enter His Kingdom. Those who make a total change of life (true conversion–reversal) and remain in that converted condition for the remainder of their lives will be allowed to enter into the earthly Kingdom of God upon the return of His Son to gather His Very Elect saints to Himself.

The Lord’s baptism of fire is designed to remove all “chaff” from our lives, then destroy it totally and permanently. Christ’s death enables us to receive His Holy Spirit fire and allow it to do its soul-saving work. The Holy Spirit within us then empowers us to remain as the Spirit has made us by overcoming the temptations Satan sends our way. Those who do so will sit with Jesus on His throne in the Kingdom of God from whence they will rule the universe forever (Rev. 3:21). Read The Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe. Key word–Caretakers. L.J.