The Axe And The Fan

Q: What does the Bible say about repentance?

The Bible emphasizes repentance as essential for the remission of sins, aligning with the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus. In Luke 3:3-4, John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, a message echoed by Jesus in his ministry. Repentance is more than just an acknowledgment of sin; it's a heartfelt turning away from sin and a turning toward God. John and the prophets before him emphasized that true repentance produces a life that brings forth fruits worthy of this change, showing that a genuine relationship with God naturally results in transformed behavior. The call for repentance is paramount because it aligns individuals with God's purposes, enabling them to receive the grace necessary for salvation.

Q: How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

The sovereignty of God is affirmed throughout Scripture, illustrating His ultimate control over all aspects of creation and salvation. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine in Reformed theology, asserting that God has complete authority and control over His creation. Passages such as Ephesians 1:4-5 affirm that God predestines individuals according to His will, demonstrating His divine oversight in salvation and the unfolding of history. Moreover, the doctrine of the Five Points of Dordrecht underscores that God not only initiates salvation but maintains control over it. God's sovereignty assures believers that His plans are perfect, and they cannot be thwarted by human efforts. The entirety of Scripture testifies to God's rule, from creation to redemption, showcasing His work as both sovereign and loving.

Q: Why is the preaching of the Word important for Christians?

Preaching the Word is vital because it conveys God's truth, exposes sin, and facilitates spiritual growth. The preaching of the Word is central to the life of a Christian community as it is instrumental in fulfilling the Great Commission and nurturing the faith of believers. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, equipping believers for every good work. The preached Word serves as the means through which the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin, reveals God's character, and fosters true repentance. It acts as God's tool to winnow the hearts of believers, separating what is valuable from what is not. Moreover, the Word builds, instructs, and strengthens the church, forming the basis for its faith and practice.

Q: What does the axe represent in John the Baptist's ministry?

The axe symbolizes God's judgment and the necessity of repentance for producing good fruit. In Luke 3:9, when John the Baptist speaks of the axe being laid to the root of the trees, he underscores the imminent judgment of God upon those who do not bear fruit in keeping with repentance. The axe is a metaphor for God's Word, a sharp tool used to expose unfruitfulness and call individuals to repentance. It demonstrates the seriousness of living a life aligned with God's will, making it clear that mere outward appearances or heritage, such as claiming descent from Abraham, do not guarantee salvation. Instead, it is the work of the Holy Spirit through the preached Word that convicts and transforms hearts, ultimately leading to a life that produces good fruit by faith in Christ.

Q: What is the significance of the fan in the context of Jesus' ministry?

The fan signifies the process of separating believers from unbelievers, illustrating God's judgment and purging through His Word. In Luke 3:17, John the Baptist describes a fan in the hands of Jesus, which is a tool used for winnowing grain—separating the wheat from the chaff. This imagery represents how Christ will use His Word to discern and categorize people: the believers, or 'wheat,' who are gathered into His garner (the church), and the unbelievers, or 'chaff,' destined for destruction. This calls attention to the reality of God's purging work through the preaching of the gospel, emphasizing that trials and afflictions reveal the authenticity of one's faith. As Christians encounter various trials, they are ultimately winnowed by the Word, which reveals their true nature and reliance on God.

Luke chapter 3. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke in simple
parables, a parable being a very simple story
of earthly things which represent spiritual truth. Our Lord used everyday things—things
that people were familiar with, things they used in their occupations
and everyday life. He used everyday occurrences
to illustrate heavenly things. He used parables such as the
parable of the sower or the farmer. He talked about a woman. bread,
the parable of the leaven. He talked about fishing, the
gospel being as a net cast into the sea, and all manner of fish. He talked of the parable of the
husbandman, or the landowner, or the wine grower. He used the
parable of a marriage feast. everyday common ordinary things,
everyday common ordinary people and occurrences and events that
people could understand. John the Baptist did the same. Here in Luke chapter 3, John
the Baptizer, as we refer to him to distinguish him between
the Apostle John uses two things here in Luke chapter 3, two ordinary
things that men use in everyday life and occupation, two illustrations
that John uses to tell us of eternal truth. He talks about
an axe in verse 9, and then he talks about a fan in verse 17. All right, let's look at it verse
by verse. Luke chapter 3, verse 3 and 4. John came into all the
country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for
the remission of sin. This was John's first or his priority in preaching,
the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin. And so
it was. with all of the disciples after,
including the Lord himself. All of the prophets before John—John
being the last of the prophets, of the Old Testament prophets—preached
repentance toward God. And so did the apostles, and
so did the Lord Jesus Christ himself. If you will remember
the first words out of his mouth—that is, the first public message
he proclaimed was Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. A message entirely missing in
our day, and that tells me that those who do not preach it are
not sent by God. They're not. Repentance. Repentance toward God. And this
is the message God Almighty uses. The first thing God Almighty
says to a sinner. It's not that he loves you, it's
not that Christ died for you, but it's repent. Repent. God Almighty, through the preaching
of the gospel, brings a man, a woman, a young person to a
place of repentance. Read on. Repentance for the remission
of sins, or unto the remission of sin. As it is written, this
was prophesied of John by the prophet Isaiah. in Isaiah 40,
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophets
say, and the voice of one crying in the wilderness. They asked John who he was, of
his credentials and his attainments and his education and his notoriety,
and he said, I'm nothing. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
voice. He must increase, but I must
decrease. And that is the motive with every
true God-sent man. He doesn't desire that his name
be known, but one name be known, Christ his Lord. He said, The
voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make his path straight, or make
paths straight to him. John, a messenger sent before
Christ to prepare the way, or that is, to point men to Christ
who is the way. As we looked earlier this morning
at John, John had two disciples who followed him, who listened
to him, who were probably somewhat enamored with him. And John saw
Christ coming and said, Quit looking to me and look to him. Behold the Lamb of God. Look
unto him, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
And those two disciples quit following John and started following
Christ. And John was well pleased with
that. It didn't bother him a bit. That's what he wanted. And so
is it with all true messengers sent by Christ. Prepare the way,
or that is, point men to the way. To the way. All preachers
of the gospel prepare the way or point men to Christ. That
is their mission. That is their message. To point men to Christ. And to
warn and prepare. Prepare them for His imminent
return. Christ is coming. Christ is coming. And to remove the obstacles.
Remove obstacles in the way. Traditions, superstitions, idols. Look at verse 5. He says, Every
valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be brought
low, and the crooked shall be made straight, the rough ways
shall be made smooth. Every obstacle in the way of
Christ, a true preacher of the gospel endeavors to remove it
by preaching, making the message plain that Christ is all and
in all and nothing else at all. for salvation but Christ, to
point men to him, to remove the obstacles, the traditions, the
superstitions, the idols. And it says here, this is a picture
of who God saves and what he does with them. Every valley
shall be filled, every poor sinner. Our Lord said, Blessed are the
poor in spirit. Everyone who is poor in spirit,
that is, has no righteousness. of their own to make God pleased
with them. No righteousness of their own.
The poor in spirit, those down in the valley of this spiritual
poverty, he says, they shall be filled. Those that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, he said, they shall be filled.
They shall be filled. The hungry, the meek, the lowly,
the broken-hearted, spiritually speaking, the downcast. shall hope in the Lord." Because
of sin, those who are downcast down in the valley because of
sin and need a Savior, they shall be filled with a vision of him. And every mountain, verse 5,
every mountain and hill. Every man who thinks himself
to be a mountain is nothing but a molehill. Every mountain, or
that is every proud and haughty, every proud and haughty sinner,
mockers, scoffers, high on themselves shall be brought low. Every mountain
and hill shall be brought low, shall be abased. The Scripture
says, He that exalted himself shall be abased. And the crooked, verse 5, the
crooked shall be made straight, rough ways shall be made smooth. Crooked lives, crooked lives
can be made straight. going to be made straight, going
to be conformed to the straight and narrow way. Rough lives,
lives that have been lived in a rough manner, shall be made
smooth, smoothed out. All things made smooth concerning
them, made like cry. All right, verse 6, "...and all
flesh shall see the salvation of God." John says God has a
people, has a people in Amongst all flesh, all manner of men,
every manner of man shall be saved. Every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue, peoples under heaven, all flesh shall see the
salvation of God." God has a people, many people throughout the world. Verse 7 and 8, "...then said
he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him."
There was a large crowd that was drawn to this meeting, this
preaching. And here's what he said, this
brave and bold preacher. Old generation of vipers. Boy, that wouldn't win friends
and influence people, would it? Say that on a Sunday morning,
get up in the first First Baptist Church of the Pharisee and say,
Oh, vipers, old generation of vipers, who hath warned you to
flee from the wrath to come? Who hath? God hath, all the way
through his scriptures, the wrath to come. Verse 8, he says, Bring
forth therefore fruits worthy or meet or fitting for repentance. fruit worthy of repentance, or
that is, not just saying only, but doing. Not just saying you're sorry,
but doing something about it. Not all talk. So many people
talk a good talk. He says, not all talk, but a
change of walk. A fool's voice is known by a
multitude of words. A wise man studieth to answer.
He's not so quick to say too much. He sets a watch over his
lips. He doesn't give the sacrifice
a fool. Those who exhibit real humility and grace and submission
and subjection don't just talk grace. They are gracious. Those
who don't just talk about Christ being Lord and and authority
over all, and designating that authority, and they refuse to
be under it? No. By good words and fair speeches,
some deceive the hearts of the simple, but in the same way deceiving
themselves. John boldly says, Bring forth
fruit, meat, for repentance, for someone who has been truly
broken. Bring forth a life that exhibits
a broken heart, the life of a subject. Be not ruder over many. All right,
read on. Verse 9, he says, and don't say,
verse 8, don't say, We have Abraham to our father. Why? I'm a believer.
I'm a son of God. I say unto you, God's able of
these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Don't boast of
your of your profession or your heritage," he said. We're not
born, anyway, of blood, or the will of man, or the will of flesh,
or by some decision, or by a baptism, or even by our Calvinistic knowledge. We're born of God. All right,
now here's the first type, or picture, John uses. He says in
verse 9, Now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
The axe is laid under the root of the trees." The axe. What
is this axe, and what is this root, and what are these trees? The axe. Are you with me? The axe. What is an axe? Many
of you men probably own axes. I have two or three. Single-bladed,
double-bladed axes. An axe is a sharp tool, or if
it's going to do any good, it's a sharp tool. A sharp tool, it's
been hand-forged. There's no better type of axe
to use than a hand-forged. As a matter of fact, the older
axe you can find, the better axe you'll have. Right, men?
An old hand-forged one, one forged in the fire. It's a sharp tool
used by the user, the owner, for chopping, for cutting, for
hewing. What is this a picture of? What
is this axe? A picture of? Anyone know? The
Word of God Almighty. God's Word is his instrument,
his tool, which he uses. This is how God speaks. This
is how God moves. This is how God breaks. This is how God cuts down. This is how God builds up. This
is how God hues. It's forged by God, hand forged
by God Almighty. This is God's Word. This is not
the mere words of a man. Peter said, We unfollowed cunningly
devised fables. Peter said, No prophecy of the
Scriptures of any private interpretation. No. Holy men of old spake as
they were moved by the the Holy Spirit of God. Though men took
dictation, and that's all they did, they took dictation. God is the one that spoke. This
is his Word. This is the inerrant, inspired, infallible, unchangeable
Word of the living God. This is God's Word forged by
him. It's called throughout the Scriptures
many things. The Word of God is called A fire,
he says, is not my word, is a fire, a fire that burns up the dross.
If any man has any dross, if he is being conformed to the
image of Christ, upon hearing the word, God Almighty will burn
that dross up, burn up that wood, hay, and stubble, and conform
him to the image of Christ. It's called a fire, to burn away
that wood, hay, and stubble. It's called a hammer. God's Word
he uses as a hammer to break the hard rock, or this heart
that's hard as a rock. He uses his Word. It's called
a sword. Over there in Hebrews he said
it's a sword, sharper than a two-edged sword. God's Word is a sword
that pierces, he said, pierces. If the Word of God, upon hearing
it, Upon reading it, upon hearing it, a priest does not pierce
your mind, heart, your conscience. You haven't heard it. God's not
operating on you. Either that or He's leaving you
to yourself. That's how He hardens people.
He doesn't use the Word on them. God's Word is as rain which softens
the hard ground. If it does not soften your heart,
you're being hardened. The reading, the preaching of
God's Word is a serious matter. And it's a sword, and when used
by the Holy Spirit, pierces. It ought to pierce. It ought
to pierce. And an axe, he says, an axe here,
cuts down. Don't cut me down, preacher. The Word of God does that. It
cuts us down, brings us down. That's what the Word of God is
primarily meant to do in the first place is cut us down, bring
us down, because he that is brought down shall be lifted up. And only those who approach his
word downcast, down in the dirt, will hear him say, Arise. Only
those who are at his feet as that guilty woman caught in the
act of adultery Condemned before His holy law. Only those will
hear Him say, I don't condemn you. Those who judge themselves, who
justify God in condemning themselves. That's what it said about some
whom Christ preached to. They justified God in condemning
themselves. Whatever God said in His Word
to them, they said, that's true of me. It's worse. The half about
me has never been told. Well, it has, too, in God's Word.
He has fully known us. And they say, it's true about
man. It's true. And they justify God
in condemning themselves. Don't justify themselves and
condemn God's Word or him that preaches it. They justify God
in condemning themselves. It's called an axe, used by God's
Holy Spirit to cut down. And he first cuts down, the first
thing he cuts down in every sinner, is their idol, their religious
idol, their Dagon. Are you with me, somebody? I
see a couple of, I see some lights on, a couple of faces. The first
thing God Almighty does to a sinner that He operates on with this
axe of His Word is to cut down their Dagon, cut off his hands,
his feet, so that he can't do anything. Their little god, small
g, can't do anything for them. Everybody in here at one point
was in false religion. was in false religion. And the
first thing God does through the preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of his Word, is to cut down your little God and
show you he can't do any good. Make him fall flat on his face.
Come in one day like those Egyptians and find out what—he's down. Come in and hear the gospel and
find him flat on his face. Can't help you in it. and cause
you to lift up your eyes and see who the true and living God
is, and worship him in whose hands you are. Not one who doesn't
have any. Oh, God, he shows that idol to
be what it is. But he shows you himself, and
he shows you as he did his disciples when he arose from the grave.
The first thing he did was show them what? His hands. I have hands, and he said, and
you're in them. And no man's able to pluck them
out. He has hands. And he cuts down your Dagon,
cuts down your idol, that is, that false god, and hews it to
pieces, breaks up your false profession of faith, all that
knowledge you accumulated in religion, he breaks it up, hews
it to pieces, cuts it to pieces by the Word of God. You thought
you knew something of Scripture, didn't you? The preaching of the gospel in
a consistent, plain, bold declaration of Scripture, line upon line,
line upon line, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon—will
cut your religion all to pieces. Where is the wise Paul said?
Where is he? Bring him! Let him stand before
Scripture. He won't. He'll fall. Where's
the scribe? Where's the doctor? Where's the
MDiv? An old friend of mine called another friend of mine
the other day, and he said, Well, I finally got it. And my friend
said, What? He said, My Master of Divinity. And my friend said, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry. Because not many mighty, not
many wise men are called. He may have signed his death
warrant when they signed his name to M. D. Mastered God. That's what M. D. meant. Master
of divinity. In him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily. Divinity. He's the body of divinity.
We've mastered Christ, is what they're saying. Well, God Almighty, if he uses
this axe, lays it to the root, he'll hew it to pieces. He'll
break that heart. An axe is also used to make something,
not only to break something, but to make something. The old
pioneers used to do it the manly way, Stan. They didn't have a
Husqvarna Model 51 or a steel farm boss. And they counted the cost. Well,
before they built the house, they counted the cost. What's
it going to cost me to build this out? Blood, sweat, and tears. Blood, sweat, and tears. And
they used this axe to build something up. And this is what the Lord
uses the Word to do, is to build you up on this most holy thing,
to build the spiritual house. And unless the Lord builds it,
They labor in vain and strive to build it. Oh, I'm not building
necessarily. God's the one who must build
it. We'll build on that foundation. If I see that he's laid the foundation,
we'll build upon it, but not wood, hay, and stubble, but the
same thing, the same foundation, precious stone, gold, silver,
and precious stone. The root of the tree, what's
this? Look over at Mark chapter 8 with me, back at Mark chapter
8. It says, The axe is laid to the
root of the trees. What are the—what's these trees?
What's the root? Mark chapter 8, look at verse
24. This is the man whom—the blind
man whom Christ healed him and He was partially healed to begin
with, and it said in verse 24, he looked up, this blind man
looked up and said, I see men, men as trees walking. I see men as trees, and I see
men as trees. Here, that's what this is talking
about in the text. Men are these trees, different
sizes. Some of you who own a little
bit of property or a yard with various trees in it. They're
different shapes and sizes and ages. There's some saplings,
little saplings. There's some old oaks. There's
some young trees, old trees, some deciduous trees, some evergreen
trees. Different sizes, shapes, and
types of tree. And the tree, the health of a
tree, the health of a tree, the condition of a tree, the height
of a tree, How high it will grow, the health of the tree, whether
or not it will grow, whether or not it will live. The height,
the health, the age of a tree, how long it will go depends on
one vital thing. What's that? What's the tree
totally dependent on? The root. The root. And what
is the root of the matter in man? What determines man's health,
man's height? What determines that? Eternal
life. What's the root of the matter?
The Scripture says it's from the root, or as in the plant
realm, the root, all life and nourishment flows upward to the
tree. Listen to this, Proverbs 8. Listen
to this. He says, Keep thine heart with
all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. No real
heart, no true heart, no new heart, no heart alive under God,
no root of the matter. No root. Out of the heart, our
Lord said, look over at Luke 6, Luke chapter 6, turn over
there. It all comes from the heart.
Our Lord said, out of the hearts proceeds evil, false, murderers,
adulterers, and so forth. He said, it's not what goes into
the mouth that defiles a man. And he condemned the Pharisees and
the Sadducees and the religious outwardly for trying to make
clean the outside of the cup when the inside hadn't been changed
yet. Insight hasn't been changed.
It's out of the heart. It's not what goes into the mouth,
he said, and that's what preachers are trying to do to people, conform
them, reform them. God Almighty needs to change
their heart. They need to be given a new heart. Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts and murders and adultery. Look at Luke 6, verses 43 and
following. Luke 6, "'A good tree bringeth
not forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. Every tree is known by his own
fruit. Of the thorns men do gather figs,
nor of bramble bush gather they grapes.'" In other words, when
you don't get figs out of a thorn bush, you get them out of a tree.
You don't get grapes out of the briar patch. Oh no, no thorns on a great mountain.
He said, neither are these things in a man. Verse 45, A good man
out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which
is good. An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is evil. For of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaketh. So John says to these Pharisees
and to us, all we speak to is people. Everyone who heard him,
this was addressed to everyone, Pharisee and believer, Sadducee
and disciple. He said, the axe is laid to the
root of the tree. The axe is laid to the root of
the tree. God's word is laid to the heart. I'd like to have a nickel for
every time somebody's come to the door back there after service
and said to me, you sure stepped on my toes this morning. And I think I blew it. I missed. I wasn't aiming at
the toes. I was aiming at the heart. Besides, a man can't shoot there
anyway. He shoots at an adventure. God
must send it to the heart. God must send it to the heart.
Stepped on my toes. Well, you didn't hear from God,
then, did you? Oh, preacher, the Word blessed my heart or
broke my heart. Good. Good. Good. The heart of the tree. Right
now, actually, right now, right as I speak, right now, the axe
is being laid to the root of the matter. The root. Our Lord
gave the parable of the fig tree. You remember that? I'll not have
you turn. I'm running out of time. I've got to get on with
it. Our Lord gave the parable of the fig tree. And He said,
He came to a fig tree and there was no fruit on it. He said,
Cut it down. Why cumbrest thou the ground?
He said, This thing's getting in the way. It's cumbering the
ground. Cut it down. And one said, Well,
let's bear with him another year. One more year. Dung him. Not exalt him. Not praise him. Not pat him on the back. Dung
him. Keep dunging him. Bring him down
to the point of he's a beggar on a dung hill. Then, if he bears
fruit for the good glory of God and the good of others, he's
a fig tree. If not, he's going to be cut
down. Our Lord said, every good tree
brings forth good fruit. What's good fruit? Very quickly,
John 15. Good fruit. What's good fruit?
It's the fruit of faith, people. First of all, it's the fruit
of faith. Fruits of the Spirit are love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. And faith is
the first fruit. And fear is in that faith, isn't
it? That's the first fruit. that God brings forth. Fruit
of faith. Fruit under righteousness. For
with the heart—what's Romans 10 saying, what the heart man
does? How is a man declared righteous? How is a man declared good fruit?
Or what is it that makes him acceptable unto God? What is
it that makes a man a tree of righteousness, planted by God? God. Faith. Faith. With the heart man believes it. unto righteousness." With a mouth,
confession is made. John 15, 2, our Lord said, Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. That's
talking about someone who appears to be one of his disciples, but
is not. Nor beareth not fruit, he taketh
away. Every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it. Everyone that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Verse 4, "'Abide
in me, and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine.'" What is this? Do you know who the root is? The root of David, the Scripture
says. Isaiah 53, the root out of dry ground. The fruit has
its root, or faith in the root, in Christ, in Him only. And it's
the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is the fruit of the
Spirit. Good works. We are His workmanship, created
unto good works. Paul said, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. Right? The fruit of
the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, and so forth. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And Psalm
1 says this, Blessed is that man who's planted by that river. Christ is that river. He is that
river of living water, and he's planted there. like a tree that
bringeth forth his fruit, and his leaf will not wither." Will
not wither. His faith will not wither. It'll
grow. He's an evergreen. God has only
evergreens and no deciduous trees. None. All right. Here's the second
thing, and I hurry. Back to Luke 3. And he says back
there in Psalm 1, listen as I quote it to you, in Psalm 1, he says,
He said the wicked, the ungodly are not so. Planted, unwitherable, standing, seated, ungodly are not so. He said they're like chaff. The
wind drives them away. That brings me to the next thing
that John spoke of in Luke 3. Look at it. Luke 3, verses 16
and 17. John said, I baptize you with water, but one mightier
than I cometh, the lecher of whose shoes I am not worthy to
unloose. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand. Whose fan is in his hand, he
will throughly purge his floor. His fan is in his hand. What
is this fan? What is this fan that's in the
hands of the Lord Jesus Christ? Who is it, or what is it, the
fan? Well, a fan is kind of like a pitchfork, kind of like a multi-tined
instrument used to sift things with. Pitchfork. You ever had
a—used a manure fork? A pitchfork. It's a tool like
a fork or a rake used for winnowing or separating. solid from dust
and so forth. And this fan here is an instrument
like a large rake used for winnowing of wheat, winnowing of wheat. And it's used to separate the
chaff. from the wheat or that is the
husks the stems the stubble the hay you get hay and some of you
have wheat hay I bought some wheat hay the other day off of
Charles's daddy and hay you don't put the good wheat in with if
you're a wheat farmer you save the wheat get the wheat out of
it and then the rest goes hay stubble Chaff, that is. That's
another word for it. Chaff. And this rake or this
fan is used and what it is is they have it on the floor of
the threshing place. Threshing is the process of winnowing
or separating. Threshing. Well, you get this
large fan and you scoop a great big fan full of this mixture
and throw it up in the air. And the wind, you do it out in
an open place, and the wind that's coming through will take the
chaff away, and the wheat will fall down. The wheat will settle
down on the ground. It'll be settled, the wheat will.
The chaff will go on, away. This fan. Now again, what is
this fan? Again, the fan is the Word of God, and it's in His
hand. Christ is the Word, and the Word
is in His hand. And He's the one that does the
winnowing with the Word. We need to be winnowed by the Word, don't
we? The Word is in His hand. It's a multi-time, multi-faceted
tool. God Almighty's Word is in His
hands. The hands of God's Spirit is
multi-time. There are many times on a fan, like—I don't know how
many of those. manure fork has 19 tines on it.
Well, those big fans were a little bit closer tines and several
tines on it. Well, this is a—God's Word has
innumerable tines on it, multifaceted, God's Word. It does all these
things and more. It cuts, it hews, it tears down,
it breaks, it separates, it divides, it pierces, it discerns, it reproves,
it rebukes, it corrects, it builds up, it molds, it shapes, it conforms,
it consoles, it comforts. It encourages it, enlightens
it, and on and on it goes. The Word of God is marvelous. A multi-time, multi-faceted instrument
in the hand of God Almighty. Multi-faceted. As a fan, it separates
a chap from a wheat, as I preach right now. His fan is in His
hand, not my hand. If I am sent by Him, then He's
the one doing it, right? With His Word. threshing the
wheat, separating the chaff from the wheat. It's his floor. What
is this floor? It says he will purge his floor. What is his floor? What is the
floor? His floor. It's the world. Psalm 24 says,
"...the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, and
the people that dwell therein." The world and the people that
dwell therein. That is, as it were, the floor. upon which is this great mixture. And the word comes, and his garner,
what's the garner there? It says he will gather the wheat
into his garner. What's the garner? Anybody would
venture to say what the garner might be? He gathers wheat into
the garner. There's the floor, and he gets
the wheat and brings it into the garner. Come on! It's a church. It's the church. Right? Christ is the one doing
the gathering. And where does he bring his people?
He gathers them into the garden, into the church. His gardener. A place reserved for the wheat.
A place protected from the elements. A place where he has separated
the wheat from the chaff. His church, where his name dwells,
where he dwells, where his people dwell. Church. His gardener. What is the wheat here? He gathers
the wheat into his garden. What's wheat? The wheat and the
chaff. What's wheat? The believer, the
child of God, God's elect, the fruit that he grew. Fruit from
the root. Fruit that come from the root.
Something I want you to notice about wheat, as opposed to chaff. Which weighs more than the other? Why, wheat, right? Wheat, chaff,
is lighter than air. It's dust. Vanity. It wastes. It flies away and
it wastes away. Not wheat. As I said, wheat settles
down to the ground. See, weightier matter is in wheat. There's weightier matters in
wheat. And wheat is an edifying thing.
and edifying fruits profitable to the landowner and profitable
to others." Wheat, not chaff. Chaff. And that's a picture of
believers, wheat. The weightier matters in them.
They're profitable unto God the Father and profitable unto others.
After he brings forth fruit in it, chaff are unbelievers. Lighter
than air, carried about with every wind of doctrine. That's
chaff, isn't it? Carried about with every wind
of doctrine. It's a great mixture. The gospel is preached, and as
the winnowing process goes on, the fan is in his hand, the gospel
is preached, and chaff goes after other things, flies away with
every wind of doctrine. Wheat says, Day! Settles down. Becomes grounded and settles. Settles. And can't be moved away.
He winnows again. He throws up again. Wheat just
keeps throwing up in the air, and more chaff sifts it as wheat. The weak must be weak. Why? It's staying. It's staying there grounded,
settled, not moved away. Not moved away. Well, how does
God use it? In the chaff, he says, it's fit
for the burning. He gathers the chaff, burn it
with fire unquenchable. All right, quickly, and I'll,
just a moment or two. How does God use this fan? How
does he use this fan? What is the Word, more particularly,
more specifically? Peter said, this is the Word,
the Word of truth. You're born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible. The Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. And this is the Word which we
preached unto you, the Gospel. The Gospel is the Word, preaching
of the Gospel. Christ said, go into all the
world and preach the Gospel with the fans in His hands. Shoot
an arrow at the bencher, but he guides the arrow. Go into
all the world and preach the gospel, he that heareth and believeth
and is baptized shall be saved." Weeks. Weeks. He that believeth not shall be
damned, burned, chaffed. The gospel has fanned out all
over the world. The gospel has fanned out. I think this thing
is drawing to a quick close. I really do, because the gospel
has fanned out. Christ said that in Matthew 24. Have they not all heard, yea,
barely? The sound is going throughout to the end of the earth. And
as a net cast, Christ says, as a net cast, all manner of fish
are brought into it. God's people, though shall be
kept, shall be kept, but rest cast
into the fire. The gospel. What's the gospel? It's the gospel of God. Who He
is. Holy, just, sovereign. Sovereign in His love, sovereign
in His mercy, sovereign in His grace. There is no other gospel.
Sovereign, a gospel of a sovereign God, a holy God, a just God,
a loving God, yes, but sovereignly loving. Sovereign mercy, sovereign
grace, sovereign in salvation. That's the God of the gospel.
The gospel concerning God's Son, concerning Him, that's it. Who
He is, what He did, where He is now. The gospel, the salvation
of this world is all in Christ, Christ alone. Concerning His
Son, only mediated, only substituted, only righteousness. His work,
sovereign work, successful work, particular work, finished work.
Concerning His Son. The gospel of God concerning
his Son, and God Almighty uses his hand. It's in his hand. And men, upon hearing this gospel,
men are threshed. They hear this gospel of God
and of Christ, and they're threshed. Oh, yes. He always causes us
to triumph when we preach the gospel. Always. I'm triumphing
right now because I'm preaching the gospel. by God's mercy and grace and
God's power. Some believe, made willing today
of his power, some believe not. And they go away. But he says
to the wheat, he says, will you also go away? Where are we going to go? Wheat
can't. It can't. Something carries away
the chaff, but not the wheat. Something carries away the chaff,
like the fowls. that come get that seed sown
by the wayside, you know. Something, somebody carries them
away. They're not weak. It's there
to stay. Trials and afflictions is how
God Almighty uses the fan. Trials and afflictions is how
He uses the fan. Fan? You hear that fan? Trials and afflictions are His
fan. Trials don't give faith, they
reveal it. Trials don't give faith, they
reveal it. Trials, when they come, a person
will either be found to be relying on God, trusting in God, believing
his God, or he'll say, too much for me, this is a hard thing,
I'm leaving. Affliction, persecution, whether
it be by the Word or by whoever, reveals the heart reveals the
root of the matter. I like what Job said. He said,
why persecutest thou me seeing the root of the matter is in
him. In Job 19 he said, and this is
the root of the matter in him. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth.
I know whom I have believed. And I'll see him with these eyes. The ax is laid to the root. Is
there root of the matter in you? Faith from the heart, the root.
Faith in the root. Faith that's in the root, and
faith that's in the root. Understandest thou what I say?
Is the root of the matter in thee? The fan, well, the axe
is laid to the root. It's going to be tried. If the
root of the matter's in you, it's going to be tried. That, and the fan is in his hand.
He's purging the floor. Peter said, Judgment time has
come. Judgment has begun at the house of God. Let the righteous scarcely be saved.
Before this whole thing's over with, and this little congregation—we've
already seen this, already seen several people come and go. Before
this thing's all over with, we'll see more go and more come. He's purging his floor. Judgment
is at the house of God. Say, this isn't the only place.
No, it's not. But if it's here, why would somebody
leave it? If it is the place, who or what
or why would someone leave? They won't. They won't. If there
are others. The fan is purging the floor.
Judgment at the house of God. The gospel trials persecution
will reveal who are his, who are his, and who is his wheat.
And he'll gather them into the barner, and they will not forsake
the assembly of themselves to gather, as the manner of some is. Where
the carcass is, that's where the eagles are gathered. Where
their garner is, that's where the wheat will be found, grounded,
settled. unmoved away, bringing forth
fruit of the glory of God.

The Axe And The Fan

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

Why is the preaching of the Word important for Christians?

What does the axe represent in John the Baptist's ministry?

What is the significance of the fan in the context of Jesus' ministry?

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The Axe And The Fan

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

Why is the preaching of the Word important for Christians?

What does the axe represent in John the Baptist's ministry?

What is the significance of the fan in the context of Jesus' ministry?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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