Burn Up The Chaff

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: You brood of vipers! ...every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire…" (Matthew 3:7-10)

"Vipers" spew out poison from their mouths.  These "vipers" that John the Baptist is talking to are the religious leaders, not their congregations, or those outside which they termed sinners. Whatever they were spewing from their pulpits was not "good fruit".

“...after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire… “ (Matthew 3:11)

Of course John is talking about Jesus. Those religious leaders needed a strong dose of his Truth, not the poisonous "precepts of men" they were passing out.

“They worship me in vain, they teach as doctrine the precepts of men." (Matthew 15:9)

When Jesus returns he will "baptize" them "with the Holy Spirit" which will burn up these "precepts of men" in "unquenchable fire"...

"...he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)

The "chaff" John the Baptist is referring to were the venomous "precepts of men" that the Jewish religious leaders were teaching. It is the "chaff", not the wheat seed, which is going to be burned up. Chaff is the shell around the wheat seed. Even those "brood of vipers" are part of the "wheat" harvest, so they will be gathered "into the barn" and saved along with all the other wheat seed - all mankind. Paul puts it this way...

"For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed by fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man's work. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

There is much "chaff" around the "wheat" which make up Judaism, Christianity, and all other religions. The "good fruit", the truth, is that God through Christ Jesus has reconciled all creation to Himself at the cross, and will save all mankind out of death and into abundant immortal life. At that time all mankind will know the truth, even the "brood of vipers", and that truth will have set them free!

"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free."  (John 8:32)

AMEN to that!

Fire Is A Good Thing

"...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven...removing those things that are shaken...that those things which cannot be shaken may remain...for our God is a consuming fire". (Hebrews 12:27-29)

Is FIRE good or bad? 

Well, it depends on whether your perspective is short term or long term. In the short term fire can be an awfully destructive power, but in the process it purifies its object or victim.  God is a "consuming fire" that will purify his creation. The "lake of fire" is part of that process.

"...And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire...where the beast and the false prophet are... And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire...And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:6-15)

The "lake of fire" consumes the "devil" (slanderer), and the "beast and false prophet" (adversaries of God). It will also consume "death and hell" (the enemies of mankind). And any "not found in the book of life" will be consumed as well (consumed by the fire, not eternally tortured).  But even they will eventually be "made alive" when “death is abolished”.

"As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive...(when) death is abolished...that God may be all in ALL" (1 Corinthians 15:22-58) 

All will then be "reconciled" to God...

"...and through him (Jesus) to reconcile to himself ALL THINGS, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)

Fire is good according to God...it is false religious doctrine that makes it eternally bad.

The End of the Age

"So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:49-50)

I find it hard to believe that bible teachers cannot seem to understand the context of the above passage. If they would just read and study the above along with Mark 13, Luke 21, Matthew 24 and 25 and the books of Daniel and Revelation they would not apply the above verses to their horrible views about a mythological “hell” being the "furnace of fire" and a place of eternal torment for all mankind except Christians.

The above passage and those related to it deal with Israel as a Nation, the chosen people of God among all the people of the earth, most of whom rejected Jesus as their Messiah at his first coming.  And at "the end of the age" (this age in which we are still living) most in Israel will still be rejecting Jesus as they are today.  All who reject Jesus are wicked for such rejection and will be excluded from reigning with Jesus when Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom on this earth. Instead, they will be cast out into the figurative “furnace of fire”, and they will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” because they have been excluded from reigning with Jesus. They will all die during that age and not resurrected until the end of that 1,000 year Kingdom Age. Those who followed Jesus and have believed during this age will be resurrected to immortality at the beginning of the Kingdom Age to rule and reign with Christ for the ages of the ages.

However, God is not done with unbelievers, for they will later be “made alive” and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”, all to the “glory of God” who will then make “all things new”.

"As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive...every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father...Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And He said, Write, for these words are faithful and true." (1 Corinthians 15:22; Philippians 2:10-11; Revelation 21:1-5)