In this sermon, the speaker discusses three marks or trademarks of the Holy Spirit: the spirit, the fire, and the winnowing fork. These three things all speak of the same thing, which is to enlighten our eyes and help us understand God's will. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being in right standing with God and living according to His will, as we will all have to appear before Him one day. The sermon concludes with a call to repentance and a prayer for God's mercy, as well as a desire for the Holy Spirit to baptize believers with fire and for God's message to spread throughout the world.

Let's turn to our text for today, Matthew chapter 3, verse 11 and 12. As for me, I baptize you in water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I'm not even fit to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 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. We'll stop reading there. I don't want to separate these two verses from each other. You probably know that when the Bible was written originally, it was not divided into verses. I don't want to separate these two verses from each other. So originally, these two verses would have just been together. And there are very many points we find in these two verses, but I'd like to emphasize just three main points. The first thing is the Spirit. Secondly, the fire. Thirdly, his winnowing fork. If you really look at it, these three things, they all speak of the same thing. What we have read here is of extreme importance. Our Lord spoke of John the Baptist saying that of all men born of woman, no one is greater than John the Baptist, but obviously in the kingdom of heaven, the smallest is the greatest. Because in heaven, it will be turned around. Who's the smallest down here will be the greatest there. Heaven is a different place. Everyone wants to go to heaven. But many people, when they get there, will turn around and run away like a scared rabbit. Because he who is great down here on earth will be small when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great in heaven. So, when we read this verse, we understand that God is great down here on earth, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is great down here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is great down here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small here will be great when he gets to heaven, but he who is small we all want to be great we all fight for position because we want to be something but the lord says he will he's great here will be small there so if you are wise pray and ask the lord that you will just be small and then you can be great in the kingdom of heaven Oh If you want to be great here on earth you don't have god's spirit in you that heavenly spirit Well, you may make it into heaven by grace But even in but then once in heaven, um, it will be like hell to you And now john is known as the one who's the greatest ever born Why is he so great Did he raise the dead And heal the lepers No, he did no such miracles But his greatness was in what he spoke Now listen carefully to what he said Me he said he who comes after me is far greater than I Says for I baptize you in water, but he will baptize you in the holy spirit and in fire Epitome now this preacher he he was From america from america and he was preaching then in pretoria And in his sermon he suddenly called up a dutch reformed minister and a baptist minister to come forward Oh And he put one on either side of himself And he said look i'd like to ask you a question He said when you baptize people who uses more water Oh And I thought to myself sure I thought he was such a wise man, I don't know whether this is wisdom because as you know um, the dutch reformed people they just sprinkle and then the Baptist they immerse in water with baptism Foreign Foreign Then he said to them both he said what i'm sorry about that When you baptize people Yes, the water just touches the outside of the body, but the tongue stays dry Because even though you baptist you use so much water That tongue doesn't get touched because I know baptists who gossip speak badly about other people But I also know dutch reformed people who also gossip about other people They even criticize and talk about people behind their backs Foreign You see now the significance of this word Where it said that he will come and he will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire and that fire reaches even the tongue Foreign The holy spirit descended upon the son of man our lord jesus it came down in the form of a dove But it's significant when the holy spirit came down upon the disciples It came descended upon them like tongues of fire Signifying that the first thing that is touched is the tongue And touched by fire by fire by fire it burns The tongue the unclean tongue and sanctifies it first thing General Foreign Like the prophet when he saw god in his holiness He called out he said holy holy holy Is a lord of hosts and woe to me for i'm a man of unclean lips Of all the members of the body even the sexual organs there is no Member that causes as much damage as this one the tongue I know that the spirit of immorality has been poured out on the earth today And yet it still is not so depraved and doesn't do as much damage as the tongue Foreign But the holy spirit that fire is not like water When the holy spirit enters a person there is not a member of the body that is not affected and touched by it Don't leave And so is the fire You can take a stone go and put it into the vile river All that together of it can stay in there for a thousand years And then you take it out Take a hammer And hit it And the stone breaks open And dust comes out Um Because water just affects the outside like paint it's just an outer covering But fire has a different result. You put that stone into fire. It goes red hot and even right through it is It's red hot Kunal You can Foreign Foreign If you take A green tree or just take a log Or you take a black coal or you take A rusty old piece of iron or an iron a piece of steel that's painted whatever color it is You put all those into the fire what will happen Eventually the whole thing becomes a red hot mess Everything will look the same. There's no difference anymore because of the fire that has changed it melted it into one And so it is when the holy spirit works. It makes us all into red hot mess. There's no difference anymore There's no more saying well i'm black. I'm white. I'm a colored. I'm an indian I'm an indian that is something of this earth from hell But when god's spirit works it melts us and we become a red hot mess I'm Me Me Now by that I don't say that a person like myself who has straight hair that I must now go and cut my hair and make them curly that i'm become like the black man or That an african goes and he stretches his hair to try and make it look like mine Or even that a woman goes and tries to be like a man and makes herself to be like one or vice versa No, I mean by that that in christ We can stay what we are but i'll be on fire for him You know, you needn't if you're a man become a homosexual And behave like a woman If you're a man be a man And if you're a woman be a woman be in your place Don't try to be something else try to be a man Because eventually you'll become abnormal and people will laugh at you Me What would you say of me if I had to go into town and i'd have my handbag hanging over my Arm, you'd also laugh at me But you will also be laughed at if you try and be something which you are not Yeah, now let us speak about the holy spirit, um, john says when jesus comes he will baptize you with the holy spirit I pray I pray that the lord will help us that we will grasp what he is saying that we'll understand it And that it enlighten our eyes that we grasp what it is about We will soon Right standing we will soon have to appear before god and woe to us if we're not in right standing with god Foreign And if you have If you haven't lived according to god's will Then today you should repent and dust than ashes cry to god and pray that he be merciful to you Now john says he is coming after me jesus christ he will baptize you with the spirit Now what is he speaking about when he speaks of the spirit Some years ago when I preached in holland After the service someone a preacher came to me a minister He said, you know, I didn't never know what the holy spirit was all about. I thought it was just all about a noise I thought revival was just all about making a big noise Well, let me tell you Even if there was noise that noise stops when the holy spirit comes The lord jesus spoke to his disciples he said the time has come for me to leave you that I go to the father who sent me Loco 16 verse 7 and 8 that we find in john 16 verse 7 and 8 Foreign The lord jesus said it's expedient it's good for you that I go if I do not go then the holy spirit will not come Comfort What and who is the comforter The comforter comforts But you must understand how the holy spirit comforts I Never might don't mind Some people may interpret it to mean Uh that he will come and pat you on the shoulder and say look old friend. Don't worry It's not so bad. God is love and it's not as bad as you think and don't mind La Now the lord jesus himself spoke about what the comforter what the holy spirit will do when he comes He says he will do this and that and that What is it that he refers to three things Some people have the ideas of what it will be like when the holy spirit comes Yes The first thing the lord says he will come and he will in the first place convict judge and convict And condemn people regarding their sin And in some interpretations in some translations it says that he will instruct Yes But But in the greek first thing It's a in the greek it's a conviction being judged and you found guilty and convicted for your sin the greek word means convict And convinced He will leave you in no doubt as to your lost state as a sinner before god So the first thing the holy spirit does when he starts working he convicts you of sin he Shows you how guilty you are before god And that you will be convicted yourself And greek gets uses the word paracletus Is Referring to the comforter and that means he's like your companion someone who stands alongside you rubbing shoulders with you And he can speak to you in a very clear way Because he's right alongside you Foreign So the first thing the holy spirit does when he comes he convicts of sin And when he does that it leaves you no doubt about your guilty state. There's no Self-justification and trying to make it look a bit better or sound a bit better than it was. No, he convicts you of that sin The first thing Yes So let every preacher of the gospel remember that as we go around preaching the first thing the holy spirit does He convicts he convinces you of your sin number two Secondly He convicts of righteousness Oh What is righteousness Righteousness Is uprightness of heart And to be in right standing with god that's righteousness Is I'm still trying to keep this message short that it doesn't get too long about judgment He convicts about judgment Those are the three marks trademarks which god put onto the holy spirit That's what his spirit does Um If we have time we could still go on and speak about the the judgment part because he goes on to say for the The prince of this earth has been has already been judged Because the ruler of this world and you know who that ruler is that satan He is judged He's condemned And judgment has already been passed upon him Yeah So if you cling to him you stay on his side the ruler of this earth on the devil's side You will be condemned and judged together with him That was just in short in a few words about the spirit Of god the holy spirit Write it indelibly into your mind and heart and behind your ears That you'll never forget it And if you preach make it Straight That everyone who hears will understand. Otherwise, you'll be dead And all those that have heard you and listened to you Foreign You When you get home take your bible and your concordance and you study this part about the holy spirit what the bible says of the holy spirit and Find out what the holy spirit is like and then make sure that you are filled with that. Holy spirit Number two Oh Read about what the lord jesus himself because he comes first read about what he says about the holy spirit And then you can read about what all the others john and the others say about the holy spirit Because there's much confusion about the holy spirit today much is said about the holy spirit, but there is much confusion about him The second point is the fire Foreign We can read in the last book of the old testament malachi Chapter three Verse two Oh And he had spoken of the messiah But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like full as soap And he will sit as a smelt and purifier of silver and he will purify the sons of levi and refine them like gold and silver So that they may present to the lord offerings in righteousness Foreign Many people were crying out to the lord and saying oh lord send the messiah send the christ Send the holy spirit Because jesus Christ is the redeemer the savior the anointed one And then the prophets asked he said but who will endure and can endure the day of his coming Who will be able to stand on the day of his coming Foreign Brethren many people will not be able to endure. They won't be able to stand the day of his coming many will say no No impossible can't be You're going too far now Foreign Because he will sanctify his people he'll refine them like gold and silver in a furnace I'm eating your words Now our dear friends from Joburg and pretoria area they will know that furnace in which gold is refined Have you ever been to a mine where you see that furnace which they use to refine gold You've never been then go Catch a taxi get to that place where they demonstrate how gold is mined How it is first crushed and then put into that furnace to be refined If this wasn't written in the bible I would say no no impossible it's just a story If you read the bible Proud When you read the bible You must understand and know This is not just any book This is god himself The living god speaking to you to you personally directly Foreign Bible For the german theologian before was martyred by the nazis He said when you read the bible, you must realize that it's god himself standing before you and speaking to you Foreign Today people say oh, no, the bible isn't relevant today It's it's it's gone through so many things and it's not relevant anymore today You speak like that because the devil has thrown sand in your eyes and you can't see anymore Me This fire of god when that burns and refines you that fire is so hot even something solid a stone and iron just melts in that a red hot flame Keeper It refines that silver and that gold it refines it takes all the impurities out anything that's not genuine it takes out that eventually it's Hundred percent pure gold that's left behind and it becomes like a mirror Wow So Whether you're a corsair zulu an englishman or a german when you've been Baptized with that fire with that with the holy spirit that fire Sanctifies you every member of your body your eyes your lips every single member gets sanctified And refined by that fire When you've been been baptized with the holy spirit and with fire you will know all about it A leader of a certain congregation What? He said how is it possible that in our congregation where so much is said and preached about the holy spirit That there should be so much immorality in our midst Hmm He said well we speak so much and we emphasize so much the baptism of the holy spirit But yet there is full of immorality in our midst Foreign Dear men, let's examine ourselves let's not just be like blind men or blind men even leading the blind and ending up in the bottomless pit with that Fire burns that will not be quenched I remember 1966 the beginning of the revival We had prayer meetings in a store At that time the government the authorities didn't allow us to hold services So a businessman allowed us to have these prayer meetings in his trading store in the supermarket At that time we got together and we were in a circle and we prayed We prayed earnestly we said oh lord we know of the baptism with water We've experienced that but as john said we need that baptism of the holy spirit with fire Oh We prayed earnestly with all our heart as the lord says if we seek him with all our heart he will let us find him And as we prayed crying to god I suddenly heard someone calling out Um crying to the lord and saying oh god, oh lord, please forgive me Says for my lips my tongue are burning in this fire Oh He said oh lord I have spoken many wrong things I have gossiped about many people Oh We had been praying earnestly saying oh lord Rent the heaven send your fire pour out your spirit in our midst And this person said oh lord. I am burning in this fire Good And another person started calling out and saying oh lord my eyes my eyes are burning As with fire and when I looked I couldn't see any any fire or anything burning It And this person called out like someone in the greatest need like someone who's dying saying oh lord help me My eyes are on fire because I looked at things. I shouldn't have looked at Books, I looked at photos. I looked at I looked at the wrong things. Oh lord Save me And then someone else called out Is Saying oh lord my feet are on fire And I saw that person taking off his shoes and throwing them Across the room where we were gathered in that store Foreign I could take you to mapumunu today and I could show you exactly where those people were kneeling And then I saw the person take off the other shoe throwing it into the other corner Foreign And then I saw that person beating the feet As if putting out flames I looked I couldn't see any flames But that person said the feet were on fire Oh The person said oh lord i've gone many crooked and wrong ways i've gone places I should have never gone to No christian should have ever walked those those ways And I Walked that way. Oh god, forgive me Dear friends, it's one thing to speak about this. It's another thing to experience it. Do you know this? Have you met with? God who is a consuming fire if not I must ask the question. Do you know him at all? Or are you just following? like a fly That follows a swarm of bees And when they get there Where they make honey the fly doesn't make any honey, but it lays eggs And you know what comes what is hatched out of those eggs maggots Oh I keep In Each one should ask himself earnestly saying lord. Do I really know the holy spirit? Do I know that consuming fire? Um And that fire consumes every wrong thing be it pride haughtiness Wanting to be great lying gossip stubbornness everything that is not right it consumes Um Now let's move on we've spoken about the holy spirit the fire Let's move on now to the winnowing fork that is in his hand Is 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 I trust that you know What wheat is? But I feel sorry for people growing up in the city Some don't even know what a cow looks like And what a bull looks like Is I remember years ago when we were visited by some children of certain businessmen I thank the lord that I grew up on a farm Um after all when the lord created man, he put him in a garden. He didn't put him in a concrete jungle So these children from the concrete jungle arrived on the farm We went to the cattle And a big bull came along Oh And these children looked and said wow, this is a big cow it probably gives a lot of milk And we'd laugh They didn't even know that you can't milk a bull Them One of the children when they saw how the cows were being milked Went home and said to the parents said well i'm never going to drink cow's milk again I'm only going to drink milk out of a bottle because that's far cleaner That's ignorance So here john says he will clean his Threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire Now when you harvest wheat Um the wheat the grain, um grows within that cob Now when you eat it, you can't eat the whole thing you've got to separate The grain from the chaff and the chaff is thrown away And the farmer builds a threshing floor He looks for a Place that's raised up and then he will harden it till it gets hard as concrete So And then the farmer will put the wheat there, um And he will then take a rod a winnowing fork a rod and he will beat it Not because he wants to do damage to the grain. No, but he wants to separate it from the chaff But if the wheat if the grain doesn't want to separate from the chaff Eventually that wheat that grain will be thrown away together with the chaff into the fire Where it will explode in that fire We were born in sin Christ He uses his rod He wants to separate us from the sin And if we are not to not prepared to break with the sin He will throw us with the chaff into hell And there you'll explode You think it's a a bullet that has gone off. No, it's you for all eternity So when god uses his rod on you then you must recognize That he wants to separate you from this thing. That is not good There are a number of governments abroad and even in africa who have passed laws that you're not allowed To chastise your child. You're not allowed to use Give it a hiding use the rod That's not good From the devil That's not from the lord The bible teaches us that a father that doesn't use the rod on his child actually hates that child You But I can't use the rod on my child I love it too much Said no you're a liar You're contradicting the living god He says the father that doesn't use the rod on the child hates him And all the evil and criminality That happens in the world today and the governments don't know what to what to do about it. It's because of them making unbiblical and ungodly rules Foreign But by that I don't say you must indiscriminately give your child a beating as if you Beating an animal. No, that's also wrong. You must do it with the lord prayerfully Swazi Because the lord says that rod takes foolishness out of that child removes foolishness Human So if you don't remove that foolishness That foolishness will remain the boy grows up in the foolishness the girl eventually they become men and women That have the foolishness in them still Oh And so you take that Wheat and it is threshed My father even used to drive over it with a car or use the the oxen to walk over it Now the purpose is not to harm the wheat. No, the purpose is that it will be separated from the chaff Very often i've given people The advice don't pray that god should use the rod on you Don't pray because when he does it That's It will be so When he uses the rod on you Rather say god by your grace. Give me a heart Before you need to punish me that i'll bow That's the better way Old Is The greatest person ever born He said Of whom the lord jesus spoke. He said that he will send And come with his holy spirit with fire and with his winnowing fork where he will separate the grain from the chaff Go And may god be with you and our friends from Ettridgeville that you may go and be busy with this that people may be baptized with the holy spirit with fire And god can be at work with his winnowing fork and that his message his gospel will go throughout the world La and let us not be found wanting in this Like belshazzar who saw that hand writing on the wall and it says you've been found wanting you've been weighed in the balances And you've been found wanting you've fallen short Let's stand up and close with prayer For Thank you lord that we can hear your word for reminding us once again Thank you lord for opportunities like these to sit at your feet hearing words coming from your mouth Mangekos Lord as we part may we not part from you and from your word, but that your word will consume us and be at work within us But Please keep our friends friends from pretoria that they may get home safely And all the other visitors here today Be with everyone and may your work work and be at work in a wonderful way Amen. Amen