Mat 3:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | In his announcement of the Mighty John indicates that there is no comparison between him and the One Who comes after him. John makes himself nothing and Christ everything. In His presence John regards himself as nothing. The point is not that he would not feel at ease with Christ, but the glory of Christ is so great for him, that he himself disappears into nothingness. Christ’s walk is so much more exalted than his walk. He does not dare to compare his walk with that of Christ. The work of Christ is also so much more exalted than his work. He baptizes with water, but Christ will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and baptism with fire are two different things that will happen at two different times. The baptism with the Holy Spirit has to do with the first coming of the Lord Jesus on earth, with His completed work on the cross and His glorification in heaven. The baptism of fire has to do with His second coming to earth, when He comes to judge. Between the two comings lies the time of grace. Both events indicate the great characteristics of the two comings of Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God’s blessing in view of the kingdom of heaven as it is now, in the time of grace. The baptism of fire will accompany the kingdom of heaven when Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth in majesty. The coming of Christ will cause a separation between who are of Him, “His wheat”, and who are not of Him, “the chaff”. The picture of the threshing floor is used. There the wheat is separated from the chaff with the winnowing fork. As a result, complete cleaning takes place. The wheat is a picture of the believers. They have accepted Christ and He is their life. The chaff is a picture of the unbelievers. He will baptize His ‘wheat’ with the Holy Spirit and He will baptize the ‘chaff’ with fire. This will be fulfilled for Israel at the beginning of the millennium. A partial fulfilment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place at Pentecost. This is how the church came into being.

‏ Matthew 3:11-12

John Announces Christ

In his announcement of the Mighty John indicates that there is no comparison between him and the One Who comes after him. John makes himself nothing and Christ everything. In His presence John regards himself as nothing. The point is not that he would not feel at ease with Christ, but the glory of Christ is so great for him, that he himself disappears into nothingness. Christ’s walk is so much more exalted than his walk. He does not dare to compare his walk with that of Christ.

The work of Christ is also so much more exalted than his work. He baptizes with water, but Christ will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and baptism with fire are two different things that will happen at two different times. The baptism with the Holy Spirit has to do with the first coming of the Lord Jesus on earth, with His completed work on the cross and His glorification in heaven. The baptism of fire has to do with His second coming to earth, when He comes to judge. Between the two comings lies the time of grace.

Both events indicate the great characteristics of the two comings of Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God’s blessing in view of the kingdom of heaven as it is now, in the time of grace. The baptism of fire will accompany the kingdom of heaven when Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth in majesty.

The coming of Christ will cause a separation between who are of Him, “His wheat”, and who are not of Him, “the chaff”. The picture of the threshing floor is used. There the wheat is separated from the chaff with the winnowing fork. As a result, complete cleaning takes place. The wheat is a picture of the believers. They have accepted Christ and He is their life. The chaff is a picture of the unbelievers. He will baptize His ‘wheat’ with the Holy Spirit and He will baptize the ‘chaff’ with fire. This will be fulfilled for Israel at the beginning of the millennium. A partial fulfilment of the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place at Pentecost. This is how the church came into being.