In chapter one of Matthew, we have the presentation of the seed. In chapter two we have the proper people to receive the seed. Now, beginning with chapter three, we are shown how this seed of the kingdom will be sown. First, Matthew 3 tells us that the sowing of the Lord Jesus as the seed has nothing to do with culture or religion. In the book Christ Versus Religion, we pointed out that the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, John the Baptist, came forth without any culture or religion. During that time the Jewish people had the highest culture with their Hebrew religion. John the Baptist was born into the highest religion and culture. However, when John appeared, he went outside of religion and culture. The religious center was in Jerusalem with the temple and the altar, but John did not go there. Although he was born into a priestly home, he went out from the temple, out from the holy city. He went into the wilderness, far away from human culture and religion. He wore camel's hair, something wild and dirty. According to Leviticus 11:4, a camel was an unclean animal. Not only did John wear camel's hair; he also had locusts and wild honey for his food (Matt. 3:4). Everything related to John was without religion and without culture.

John the Baptist preached in a peculiar way: "Repent, for the kingdom" (3:2). He also had a strange practice. If you accepted his preaching, he would not teach you. He simply put you into the water, meaning that he buried you and terminated you. John, in effect, said, "You must be terminated! You must be buried! Do you repent for the kingdom? Then I will terminate you. I will put you to death. You must realize that you are not good for anything. You are only good for burial!" On the negative side, John buried people in the waters of baptism (Matt. 3:5-6).

On the positive side, he said that One was coming who would baptize them in the Holy Spirit. John terminated people, but the coming One would give them a new beginning. What is this new beginning? When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John, they perhaps had the concept that they needed to improve, and that this strange person could do something to improve them. Listen to what John said to them. John did not say, "You Pharisees and Sadducees are all gentlemen, but you are not gentle enough. I am here to improve you and make you more gentle." Instead, John said, "Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" (Matt. 3:7). In other words, "Don't think about being good or bad. You are vipers, poisonous serpents, a generation of vipers. To change your conduct means nothing. If you polish yourselves, you are still vipers. If you improve yourselves, you become improved vipers. You don't need a change in your outward conduct; you need a change in birth. You need a change of life, a change of your nature!"

John told the Pharisees and the Sadducees not to presume (Matt. 3:9). He said "Do not presume" because they were thinking, "We are the sons of Abraham. Our great forefather was Abraham." This simply means that they were exercising their mentality based on the old tradition. Abraham was an old tradition to them. For Jews not to think about Abraham was very difficult. John knew that the Pharisees and Sadducees were in their mentality, thinking about Abraham. Therefore, John said, "Do not presume!" "Stop thinking and repent. Repent from your thinking. Don't presume that you have Abraham as your father. God is able to raise children up out of lifeless stones. God is able to put His life into these stones and raise up children of Abraham." How could God make stones into children to inherit the promise that was given to Abraham? There was only one way—the way of life.

Then John seemed to continue: "You vipers come to me pretending. You may fool me, but you can never deceive Him. I am putting you into the water. If you are honest and mean business to repent for the kingdom, the One coming after me will put you into the Holy Spirit so that you may have new life. If you are dishonest, He has another way to deal with you. He will put you into the fire and burn you up!" (3:10-11).

Many Christians quote Matthew 3:11 about being baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, thinking that the fire is something positive. If you read verses 10, 11, and 12 carefully, you will see that each verse ends with the word fire. Verse 10 says that the axe is laid to the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Is fire something positive here? Certainly not! In verse 11 John says, "I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance; but He Who is coming after me is mightier than I...He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire." Whether it is in the Holy Spirit or in fire depends on you. In the following verse John said that the coming One has the winnowing fork in His hand and that He is thoroughly cleansing His threshing floor. If you are grains of wheat you will surely be gathered into the barn, being the ones whom He will put into the Holy Spirit. But if you are chaff, He will put you into the fire. This is the correct meaning of fire in these verses. In all three verses fire is used in a negative sense. The Lord Jesus has the power to put you either into the Holy Spirit or into the fire.