The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Verse 10
God says that he is already holding an ox and holding it against the trunk of a tree. In other words, trees that do not bear fruit are immediately cut down and thrown into the fire, which is a terrifying story. He is not the meek and long-suffering God we used to know, but the God of judgment and justice.
If you live an easy life, thinking only of God’s patience, you will be immediately cut down and thrown into the pit of fire. If you look at the parable of the man with 10 talents and the man with 1 talent that Jesus spoke in parables, it is said that the man with 1 talent did nothing and just buried it in the ground because he was afraid of God. In other words, since God is a scary person, he was afraid and did nothing. In that parable, God scolded him for his laziness, asking why he put it in the bank and didn’t get interested.
In other words, those who do not bear fruit do not mean those who did not bear fruit even though they worked hard, but those who rationalized their laziness and did nothing with the excuse that they were afraid of God.
I myself have many gifts given by God, but if I say that I cannot properly play the role that God has called me to be a fisher of men because I am lazy, then I will have no choice but to enter God’s fiery judgment.
I must live a fire that is used to promote Jesus and preach the word of God with the skills of using computers and advertising skills in the internet market, which are the gifts given to me, and bring back those who are doomed to perish by sin.
Also, it seems that you have been given the gift of the word. I pray that you will be able to deliver the will of God well in the words you receive and live a life of boldly preaching the living God through practice in the words.
Work hard as a worker, but God will give you the fruit. We know that even if we work diligently with our given talents, we can succeed in our business only when God is with us. Therefore, I pray that you will be able to work diligently as a worker of the Lord.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Verse 11
Baptism means to express with water that sins are washed away on this earth. In other words, when we wash something dirty clean, we think of what we usually do with water, so we baptize with water to mean that we are washing our sins with water. When John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan River with water, he did so in the sense of allowing those who repented of their sins and wanted to be cleansed of their sins to be washed away.
If you come to get baptized and someone with unclean behavior says to baptize you, no one will want to come. As a result, John the Baptist, as one who prepared the way, became a person who led a godly life well and played the role of a person who gave such a baptism. It was a role similar to that of priests. However, he is a human being and the priests are also human beings, so there are things that make us uncomfortable to see that our sins have been completely washed away. Just because we washed a wound with water doesn’t mean it has been disinfected. At a minimum, it is said that germs are eradicated by burning with alcohol or fire.
In that sense, in order to completely wash away our sins, only the baptism given by God, who is spotless and unblemished, is perfect. That is why John the Baptist said that Jesus would come and baptize our sins with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism that God gives is to completely wash away our sins. Our sins are completely burned away only when they are burned with fire. However, on this earth, if we are baptized with fire, we cannot survive, so we are baptized with water. But Jesus is the one who burns and takes away our sins with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Today, I pray that all my sins will be forgiven and burned with fire in the midst of the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus and that I will be able to handle my life as a minister well in God’s work. Hallelujah. Thank you.