He Will Gather His Wheat into the Barn
He Will Gather His Wheat into the Barn
John the Baptist’s job was to prepare the hearts of the people to listen to Jesus’ message and believe it — heart, mind, and soul. There are even Old Testament prophecies about John’s preaching job. John preached repentance and faith as he described the Savior. He didn’t coddle the people with promises of ease, comfort, self-righteousness, and wishy-washy expectations. Rather, John pictured the Savior in Matthew 3:12 by saying,
And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Every farmer knows that his wheat must be cleaned before it is usable. It must be thoroughly cleaned from all dirt, sand, weed seed, chaff, and anything else that might contaminate it. As LORD God over all, Jesus is more than able to “thoroughly clean His threshing floor”. He will judge every one of us.
When all the good wheat is clean, Jesus “will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”. So, what does the chaff represent? It had been mixed in with the good wheat. But, it was a contaminate. It is no good and has to be burned, so that it won’t contaminate anything else. “The chaff” represents all the unbelievers and false preachers, who claim to be a part of the true church — the good wheat.
The unbelievers and false preachers contaminate the church with all sorts of false doctrines, man-made traditions they boldly enforce, divisions, and idolatrous teachings that rob people of a true and pure faith in our Savior alone. We see all this chaff in the world today, as false preachers gain great followings by twisting God’s word and leading people into all sorts of self-righteous ideas.
The reality is that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian will get into heaven. They will attach themselves to a church and claim leadership, but Christ Jesus has “His winnowing fork in His hand”. He is the holy and righteous Judge, who knows all of our hearts and minds.
We must ask ourselves, “Are we really the good wheat Jesus desires? Will He gladly gather us into His barn?” Our answer is in Matthew 18:3-4, where Jesus says,
Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
We need to “become like children” in our faith. Instead of being conned into trusting in our self-righteousness, we need to humbly accept the fact that Jesus has already done all things for us on the cross. We must depend totally on what Jesus has done, because we are helpless and in great need of God’s salvation — not our own prideful, but pitiful, “good works”.
It behooves us to open up our Bibles and let God teach us from His word, so that we can be “converted and become like children”.
Simply trusting in the awesome love of God for us, we say, “Hallelujah! Heavenly Father, thank You for saving us through faith in Christ Jesus alone.”
Love,
Margaret
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Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus by the Yupiq Eskimo village of Quinhagak, Alaska
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… Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus …
A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and GOD of gods
Pray for our country
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The LORD made this day, let us rejoice and be glad in Him.
Psalm 118:24
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The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:30
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Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Psalm 33:1
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How blessed are those who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4
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Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13
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O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1
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Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3
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Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12
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