09-04-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                                   JESUS WILL IMMERSE

YOU A passage in Luke 3 connects the ministry of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in dramatic fashion. John the Baptist is on the scene, preparing the way for the coming of Christ. In the process, people ask John if he's the Messiah, for they see something about his life that suggests he's more than just another prophet. John, however, explains the difference between himself and the coming Messiah, and it's almost alarming. John baptizes with water, but he says that the Messiah will baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). At this point, we need to clarify what the word baptism means. Don't think of a religious ceremony or church practice. The Greek word literally means “to immerse, plunge, or submerge.” When Jesus comes, He'll immerse you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. You'll know you've met the Christ, for your whole life will be completely encompassed by the Spirit and fire.

The Holy Spirit isn't simply a gift Jesus gives us, but a Person who captures us, purges us, and directs our lives. When this happens, it's a moment that cannot be mistaken. All who have encountered Jesus will at the same time experience the coming of the Holy Spirit and fire upon their lives. Could that be said of your life? Can you identify your encounter with Christ and the work of the Spirit upon your life? According to John the Baptist, being immersed in the Spirit and fire is evidence that you've met the Christ. He said that a “winnowing fork” is in Christ's hand, that He might “thoroughly clear His threshing floor.” Our lives will be thrown up by the fork and the wheat separated from the chaff. The wheat will be gathered, and the chaff will burn “with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12, NASB). If you cannot identify the separating process of the Holy Spirit in your life, could it be you haven't truly met the Christ? For Christ brings with Him the person of the Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit isn't at work in your life, you're just practicing cultural Christian religion rather than experiencing the living Christ.

To meet Christ is to endure the winnowing fork and its active work, whereby all that is unacceptable is identified and removed from your life. The chaff represents the impurities in our lives. Malachi 3:2-3 likens the coming of the Lord to a refiner's fire or launderers’ soap. When fine metals like silver or gold are put into the heat, the dross is separated and rises to the top. All the impurities are then skimmed off to leave pure silver or pure gold. Fire purifies; it has the power to remove impurity. Have you noticed that the presence of Christ includes the purifying presence of the Holy Spirit to bring to the surface the impurities in your life? Has the Holy Spirit revealed unholy living in you? You cannot receive Christ into your life without being immersed in the Holy Spirit. Jesus brings the Holy Spirit with Him! Consider the statement Jesus made in John 14:9. Philip had asked Jesus to show the Father to the disciples. Jesus answered, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

To look at Jesus was to see the Father, for He was the true image of the Father's love, His kindness, His power, and all that God is. With that image in mind, consider the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Jesus immerses your life in the Holy Spirit and fire to remove all the impurities—so that when people see you, they have an accurate picture of Him. Jesus wants people to see His image when they look at your life. What an eternal tragedy it would be for a person to look at your life and be turned away from Christ! There's never an excuse for sin once you've been immersed in the Holy Spirit and fire. You cannot argue, “I've always had a problem with anger, even as a child. People just need to accept me for who I am.” That rationale is proof positive that you haven't met Christ, for He brings the winnowing fork. He brings the Holy Spirit and fire to remove anything that doesn't reflect Him. Before you met Christ, you couldn't help it. Sin had a grip on you. But once you met Christ, He gave you power over sin, and He also desires to burn it away completely. That's why Jesus gives the gift of the Holy Spirit. You won't be able to go with Him until the Spirit does His work to remove your sin.