The Ax & The Fire

Last Week, in looking at Matthew 3:7-9 we saw that John the Baptizer, the prophesied harbinger of Christ, stood his ground against the Pharisee and Sadducees; the “Supreme Court” as it were, of Ancient Israel. Each group, the political parties that made up the Sanhedrin, were afforded no titles or adoration as they approached the camel-hair wearing, locust eating Old Testament Prophet that day in the wilderness, but instead, were met with opposition. His boldness is something we would be wise to not only learn from, but to put into practice. We live in a culture of cowardly, lukewarm Christians, afraid of offending in all directions, and as a result, we are watching the unraveling of Western Society. This may be too bold of a statement to start a Sermon with, but when we see unchecked wickedness running rampant, we have no other choice than to gird up the loins of our heart & mind, boldly approach His throne in prayer, and then confront the evil we see.

Moving forward into Verse 8 last week, we saw the topic of John’s confrontation. He called them to “bear fruit worthy of repentance”. Such a command from Scripture is one that everyone must put into practice, not simply politicians or priests. We looked at the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ in Galatians 5, and we were forced to ask what “fruit” our life produces. Do we see love, joy, peace & patience coming from our life? And further still…if we don’t, what are we going to do about it? Do we hate our sin? Do we view our lust, laziness, adultery or arrogance as God views it? And once we do, will we take the necessary steps to keep our ability to give in temptation away from us? Will you, brothers and sisters, make it inconvenient, make it hard, to sin? Why would you not take life-altering action to keep evil away from you?

And concluding last week with Verse 9, we saw another “piece” of the Doctrine of Baptism that we are building. Earlier, we saw that confession of sins always accompanies Baptism, and then we read that our parents being part of the Covenant People of God does not give us reason to be Baptized. John even went so far as to say that even if Abraham himself were someone’s ancestor, it doesn't automatically grant them entrance into Covenant with God. We hinted at the intertwined nature of Baptism and Salvation (which we will cover more fully in the coming weeks); but then closed by understanding that the kind of Godly boldness a Christian ought to engage in, can only come about once their stone hearts have been turned to flesh.

Scripture Reading → Matthew 3:1-12

Opening Prayer

Point #1 → Verse 10

Continuing his thought from the previous Verse, John Baptist uses the illustration of God clearing a forest of unfruitful trees. Take note children of God, of where John says the mighty ax of our God actually is. He doesn't say that God is walking across the Earth in the cool of the day as He did with Adam, already knowing precisely why & where Adam was hiding, no. John doesn't say that the felling ax of God is lazily hanging upon His shoulders, or being dragged through the dirt as He looks for unfruitful trees. He says that “even now (italics added) the Ax is laid to the root of the trees.” God is, as it were, lining up His shot. He is taking aim. He has identified the precise place He wishes to cut by laying the shining blade of His righteous anger nowhere else…but at the root. That place from which all of life is fed; the origin of everything that empowers every emotion, thought, and action; is the precise place where the glittering sword of the Lord has been placed.

Is the Ax of God laid upon the root of your life?

Is your tree, your life, lying beneath the blade of His heavenly ax? If it is…if you can feel the cold and angry iron of God pressing into your life, how long will it be before He raises His holy arms, lifts His ax, and deals to you the death that your sins have earned? Will next week be the final stretch of days you experience beneath the Sun, before you are torn asunder? Will tomorrow or even this afternoon, be the last time you see your family before you are hewn down by the double-edged sword of Jesus Christ?

Do not take these words lightly, children of God. Your grave calls to you from your future, and each piece of dirt that will one day hide your casket from the eyes of those you love, has already been planned and appointed for such a specific purpose. Will you be cut off, cut down, before you have made the choice to flee from your sins? Do you, here and now, exploit the time that God has given you to turn and repent, by living in your sin? Do you think to yourself: “I’ll turn from my sin tomorrow, or the next day.”? I pray this thought has never entered your heart, because as our Verse this morning reads: “Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Do you propose to put your sin away tomorrow, while arrogantly assuming that you will even have a tomorrow? Will your heart still be thundering within your chest tomorrow? Or will its very next beat be your last? Kill your presumptions of a future, but instead, be encouraged that all of your days were written in His book before any ever passed (Ps. 139:16).

Every moment you draw breath you child of Clyde-Savannah, is another opportunity to live for God. To forsake your sin, to turn from it, and thereby be ensured that the ink with which your name has been penned into His book will never grow dim. But instead, it is ink tapped from the very veins of Jesus Christ, and shining with a neon light that will never fade. God thrust His pen into the palms of His only begotten Son, drew forth the glowing blood, and permanently inscribe your name into His book.

Not because you earned it. Not because your prayers were filled with elegant or even Biblical language. Not because you performed enough good works or checked off all the boxes of correct Doctrines. He did this, He forgave you, not for anything that you ever did or could do…but because Jesus Christ took upon Himself the condemnation that you deserved, for His reasons and His own glory, and then died under it.

If you have repented of your sins and believed in Jesus Christ,

then His ax will never fall upon you

because it fell upon Christ in your place.

So now…now that your heart of stone has been replaced; now that you are someone upon whom God smiles when He peers over the edges of eternity to set His fatherly eyes upon…you are free indeed (Jn. 8:36). Free from the law of sin and death. Free from guilt. Free from condemnation. And free to live a life of fruit-producing glory. You are now, because of Christ, a tree whose roots will never be cut down. Lift your heart to the heavenlies, you child of God! For the words of God in Psalm 1:1-3 apply to you →

“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

With indestructible roots and branches so high they scrape upon the underside of Heaven, whatever you do will prosper. And every day that the sun does indeed rise upon your life, is another day to bear more and more fruit.

When your heavy head finally falls for sleep upon your pillow, and the events of your day dance before your tired eyes, can you with confidence claim that it was a day lived for God? Not a day of perfection, that is a goal unattainable this side of eternity…but a day of obedience. A day of dependency. A day in which you sinned, yet repented. A day in which you prayed more than you complained, and a day in which His perfect word was partaken of with eager expectation that it will never return void (Is. 55:11). Every moment you breathe in the sweet air of His providence, is a chance to live a life of such golden significance that your children’s children will sing a thousand songs of glory over! Every day is an opportunity to bear fruit. “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Heb. 3:15).

Point #2 → Verse 11

Moving forward into Verse 11, he clarifies that his Baptism (“the Baptism of John”) is, in fact, one of repentance (Acts 19:4). It wasn’t a “lesser” or “different” Baptism than those that every Believer has gone through. When we repent, we are Baptized. The water which we were immersed beneath, is the same water that he used… “unto repentance”. “But”...John continues to say, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Before touching on a truth that we modern believers seem to have lost; the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” is not a separate experience from our Salvation. 1st Cor. 12:13 → “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is another name for our Salvation. When God performs His heavenly heart-surgery, we are fully immersed within the third person of the Godhead, The Holy Spirit, causing a permanent change to who we are. It is our salvation. It is not a spasm of our body or our tongue. It is not erratic behavior. It is not something that happens to someone when the lights are low and the music is intentionally manipulative, causing them to surrender the fruit of self-control which their new heart produces. That may be something new for you to hear this morning, so remember that we will be having a question and answer time next week.

But moving on, the truth that modern believers seem to have lost, and we would do well to remember, is what it means to be “baptized with fire”. Jesus Himself speaks of what this reality is, in John 15:1-8 →

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. [5] “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. [7] If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. [8] By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Last week, and even this morning, we have spoken of the truth that the fruit of the Spirit which God produces in our life through the means of our renewed hearts is evidence of our Salvation. It was what John commanded of the Pharisees & Sadducees, and even goes so far as to say that the lack of it is why God will cut them down, throwing them into the fire. In fact, Jesus says these verbatim words later on in Matthew (7:19). But did you see what Jesus just said in verse 2? “...every branch that bears fruit He prunes…”

God cuts things out of our life that work against our sanctification.

…and it hurts.

It is painful to experience parts of our life; be they thoughts or beliefs, careers or hobbies, friendships or family members; be cut out of our life by God. Have you lost interest in your hobbies? Or lost the ability to enjoy them? Has the brightness of your career grown dim? Have you grown astray from someone you used to love? Did someone you love pass from this World into the next?

Numerous times you have heard me say from this very Pulpit, that everything that enters our life does so by the providence of God. And to be “Baptized by fire” is the other side of that truth; everything that is taken away from us, is by His perfect providence as well. No matter what it may be, nor how close to our heart it may have lived, if it has been taken out of our life…we can only find peace with the absence it left by understanding that it was God who took it away. Be it a job, a possession, a parent, or a child. Hear me clearly children of God, you can never come to terms with people or things leaving your life until you accept that God was sovereign over it.

The natural question then, when hearing a truth of this depth…is “why?”. “Why is God cutting things out of my life?” And there are two answers, the first of which we have already read together: “...every branch that bears fruit He prunes…that it may bear more fruit.” (Jn. 15:2)

Whatever has left your life, brothers and sisters, has done so not only by the direct power and permission of God, but for the specific and perfect purpose to cause you to bear more fruit. To grow more like Christ. To grow more like Him who is perfectly loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.

Everything that is taken away from you,

is taken by God,

to make you more like God.

This is where our heart rests. This is where our hope lives. When we are “Baptized by fire” and feel the cutting away from everything in our life that God has ordained for us to feel; when the rain descends and the flood rises; when the winds blow and beat upon the house of our life…the truth of God’s absolute sovereignty over it all, is the unmoving rock we can never fall from.

Yes, it still hurts. Don't let this truth force you into feeling undue guilt because you still feel hurt by it; but take heart that there is a purpose beyond your pain. And when you do; when you accept the pain of providence, you can then place everything in your life between His blades. Every family member, every career aspiration. Every hobby. Every thought, every feeling. You can willingly bring to the Cross every ounce of your physical or mental energy. Every gift He has given you. All of your grit and determination that you are sure God has given you. You can wrap them about with cords of sorrow and grief, and, as Abraham did to Isaac, carry everything in your life to Mount Moriah, and be willing to surrender it all to Him.

To do so; to be willing to lose it all; is our only option.

It is our only option, because the tighter we hold on to anything or anyone, the more and more we say: “My life is yours God…except for this”, whatever or whoever it may be…the more it will hurt if or when God cuts it from you.

Do you trust Him to only trim those branches that are necessary to make you more like Christ? Do you trust Him to only prune your life in such a way that it will cause you to grow more and more, leaving behind only that which He knows will be good for you?

Do you want to trust Him?

Then ask.

But, ask in confidence knowing that He will…He will…sanctify you. He will cause your trust to grow. He will cause your faith to deepen to such depths that the waters they contain will drown to death every fear that will inevitably arise.

The second answer to “why” we are being “Baptised with fire", is the same reason why we can be sure that He will help us trust Him through the flames: Because it is His name that is on the line. Isaiah 48:9 & 10 → “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

When the fires of affliction’s furnace bathe you in fear, tempting you to take your eyes off of Christ…take joy, because those fires are for your good, and for His glory. Is He carrying you, as He did with Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, towards a furnace heated seven times more than normal? Take joy, for the glowing coals that cause you pain, are the same coals from which the fire of Christ will burst forth in your life in pillars of incandescent glory the likes of which can guide you through any wilderness.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

1st Pet. 1:6-9

Point #3 → Verse 12

To bring our Sermon together to a close, and again, speak of something that modern Christianity seems to have relegated to the back corners and closets of the Bible, we need to keep looking at what God has said in Verse 12. “ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

“Chaff” is the husk of a wheat kernel. For us in 2025, we can understand this to be the cloud that surrounds the combines during harvest season. It's light, brittle, dry, and just about useless for anything. But using an illustration that those of the ancient world would have been well aware of, those who heard John the Baptizer’s words that day knew exactly what he was talking about.

Before mechanized industrial agriculture, the farmer would pick his wheat, pile it on a place in his field that was pressed hard by the work he had been doing all season (the threshing floor), and with all the strength of someone surviving off the land, plunge his “winnowing fan”, his pitch fork, into the pile. It was done on a windy day, so then when he casts the wheat into the air, the wind would carry the chaff away, leaving him with what he wanted to begin with.

John, using all the unabashed honesty that every Preacher ought to have, is speaking of a truth seen all through Scripture, which the modern World refuses to accept. Eternal Conscious Torment. Hell.

Matthew 25:46 → “...and these will go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:8 & 9 → “...in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…”

Mark 9:43 & 44 → “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ ” (Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24 ↴)

Isaiah 66:24 → “And they (Christians) shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm (consciousness) does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

To summarize John the Baptist; those who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus Christ; those who assume there is no God; those who ignore the truth of God’s existence that they have spent their life suppressing (Rom. 1:18); those who have made an image in their heart of a God according to their own thoughts and beliefs while ignoring the truths of Scripture…all of them will be harvested from this World when God drives His pitchfork into humanity and casts them into the eternal horrors of Hell.

Every Atheist, Muslim, or Jew. Every Homosexual or soldier in the rainbow army. Every employee of Planned Parenthood or mother who paid them to kill her child. Every Adulterer or those who feel as if it isn't Adultery because they aren’t married. Every Tyrant. Every ancestor-worshipping pagan who thinks they are in-tune with Nature because of the drugs they ingest.

Everyone, unless they repent of their sin and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will suffer unending disgrace and eternal destruction as the neon wrath of God crushes them forever. They will experience, they will feel, in their physical bodies (Dan. 12:2) infinite pain. They will experience, they will feel, with their conscious minds (Mt. 8:12) infinite sorrow. It is there, with screams of torment echoing back and forth between the blood-stained cliffs of Hell, where tears do nothing to ease their pain, but instead increase their hatred towards God…will be God, inflicting His righteous and fair judgement upon them.

However, we need to desperately understand that this is what was waiting for us, before God saved us. We are not an exemption. We have no “get out jail free” card. We aren't extra special people who made extra special choices and thereby avoided the crashing thunder clouds of God’s anger. We, brothers and sisters, like all of humanity, have earned every eternal moment of conscious torment, and nothing we could ever do was able to drink the cup of God’s liquid wrath.

It was Christ who drank dry the wrath of His Father. (Mt. 26:39) It was Christ who took upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. (Is. 53:5) It was the Lamb of God, that day upon Mount Moriah, ensnared within thorns that He Himself nurtured from a seed, who was slaughtered instead of us. He experienced the wrath of God, so we never will; and He fell under the Ax of God in our place.

He is the One who both brings things into our life, and cuts them out….

all for our good and His glory. He is Jesus Christ. The King of kings and Lord of lords.

Rev. Jacob Marchitell

June 22nd 2025