3:11Matthew 3:11

John the Baptist called the crowds in the wilderness to turn from sin and be baptized in water to prepare for the coming Messiah.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+4 The One coming after him is Christ, so far greater that John is unworthy even to carry or untie His sandals.Lt 351, 1905, par. 12–13+4 Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit, who regenerates and sanctifies the heart and brings new birth where no outward rite can cleanse.HSP 13.4+4 His baptism with fire purges the threshing floor, consuming sin in those who submit while destroying those who cling to sin as chaff burned with unquenchable fire.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+4 True repentance must therefore be shown in transformed character and fruitful obedience, for heritage and outward form cannot save.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+4

The words were spoken by John the Baptist in his wilderness ministry in Judea, fulfilling the prophecy of the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, a fulfillment that no human effort can prevent.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8 They were addressed to those coming to his baptism, including Pharisees and Sadducees, placing the promise of the coming One alongside warning of coming wrath and judgment.Lt 19a, 1897, par. 2–4+2

The Pharisees were strict in outward forms yet haughty, worldly, hypocritical and self-righteous, and the Sadducees denied the resurrection and angels, were skeptical toward God and largely licentious.Ms 112, 1901, par. 7–9 John called them vipers, meaning malignant, antagonistic men bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God.Ms 112, 1901, par. 7–9 They had not yet repented.Ms 142, 1906, par. 32–34

It was proclaimed loudly and boldly with no whispering voice, no smooth message but a startling, stern yet hopeful and direct call to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.Ms 142, 1906, par. 8–11+2 It was declared without elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories yet with strange new power that stirred the whole nation.ST Aug 25, 1909 It drew multitudes of all classes to the wilderness — unlearned peasants and fishermen, Roman soldiers, chieftains, tax-gatherers, priests of the Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Sadducees, and Herod in his palace — all listening spellbound, silenced of sneers, cut to the heart with a sense of sin and trembling at the call.ST Aug 25, 1909 His preaching led many to confess their sins and be baptized in the Jordan, willing to submit to what he taught as essential to receiving an inheritance in that kingdom.Lt 160, 1910, par. 3–6

John's baptism with water was unto repentance, calling people to repent and to have faith, and preparing them for Christ's first advent, while the coming Christ would give the greater baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+3 That call to repentance prepared people to have faith in Christ.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+1 Family heritage and natural advantages could not replace purity and obedience to God's commandments, and obedience in outward form could not take their place.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+1

True repentance must be shown by fruits meet for repentance, by converted and transformed character, and by sanctification and righteousness, not by profession or by claiming Abraham as father.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8+4 God is able to raise up children to Abraham from stones, and every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8+1 Ancestry and ceremonial sacrifices cannot make people holy, for sacrifices have value only when people recognize the Lamb of God to whom Israel's sacrifices pointed, and true children of Abraham are known by good fruit.Ms 121c, 1898, par. 9–10+2

John's baptism unto repentance is distinct from the baptism administered by Christ's disciples unto a new life on profession of faith in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.ST Mar 1, 1883+3 The difference in wording did not mean their teachings conflicted or opposed one another, but were in harmony.4RED 20.3–4+2 That difference became a source of dispute and jealousy among disciples over the proper form and the right to baptize.4RED 20.3–4+2 Baptism itself does not purify the sinner from the guilt of sin.ST Mar 1, 1883

Receiving Christ must come before true repentance.Ms 142, 1906, par. 32–34 Those coming to baptism who had not yet repented therefore need a second baptism.Ms 142, 1906, par. 32–34

The One coming after John is mightier than John, so much greater that John declared himself not worthy to bear or carry His shoes or sandals, even to stoop to unloose them, and that lowly service declares Christ's surpassing authority.Lt 351, 1905, par. 12–13+4 John's water baptism unto repentance points to that Mightier One who baptizes with the Holy Ghost and with fire.Lt 351, 1905, par. 12–13+2 The contrast is between John's call to repentance and Christ's greater work to come.Ms 127, 1899, par. 15–20+1

That Mightier One is Christ, the Messiah to whom Israel's sacrifices and sacrificial offerings pointed.Ms 127, 1899, par. 15–20+1 He is the promised divine King whose coming was proclaimed beforehand, whom John was sent to announce, and the verse stands as testimony to who He is.12MR 99.4–100.1+2 John's announcement identifies Jesus as far greater than himself and introduces His work of cleansing and separating, gathering the wheat and burning the chaff.Lt 104, 1902, par. 8–15+2

John directed people away from himself and toward Christ, pointing them to the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.LC1 42.2+1 His preaching as forerunner pointed hearers to Jesus rather than drawing them to the preacher.Lt 79, 1893, par. 8–9 Those who serve as shepherds of God's people should do the same, keeping Jesus in view and exalting Christ rather than themselves.Ms 109, 1897, par. 10

John's baptism of repentance prepared the way for Christ, who was greater than John and would complete the work John began by baptizing with the Holy Spirit.4RED 11.3–12.1+2 That completing work is the Spirit's power and God's grace transforming the whole person and bringing about the new birth.4RED 11.3–12.1+1 Nicodemus had heard this teaching and understood, at least partly, that the Messiah would bring the spiritual change and new birth people needed, not merely outward religious standing.4RED 10.2–11.2+1

Christ's baptism with the Holy Spirit sanctifies the members of the church so that they become living, growing, fruit-bearing trees of the Lord's planting.HSP 13.4 John's baptism was a baptism of repentance that prepared the way for Christ, who was greater than John and would complete the work John began by baptizing with the Holy Spirit.4RED 11.3–12.1+1 The power of the Spirit together with the grace of God transforms the whole person and brings about the new birth.4RED 11.3–12.1+1 John baptized people as they repented and taught that this greater Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit.ST Jan 11, 1877

No outward form and no ordinance, even when administered by the saintliest of men, can make a person clean or take the place of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.AAP 11.2+1 The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God doing its regenerating work upon the heart, and water baptism and outward religious forms cannot cleanse the heart or replace it.AAP 11.2+1 All who have not experienced that regenerating power are chaff among the wheat.AAP 11.2+1 Christ has His fan in His hand and will thoroughly purge His floor, and in the coming day He will discern between him that serves God and him that serves Him not.AAP 11.2+1

The baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire is represented by golden oil flowing from the two olive trees.Ms 109, 1897, par. 8–9 That oil is the word of the Lord supplied to living messengers and poured into their hearts.Ms 109, 1897, par. 8–9 Through this work of the Spirit the word opens unbelievers to conviction.Ms 109, 1897, par. 8–9 Human effort cannot satisfy the soul's needs or deepest longings, and only the Holy Spirit can.Ms 109, 1897, par. 8–9

The promise of baptism with the Holy Spirit belongs with prayer for full consecration to God's will.SG2 175.3–177.1 It is joined with the plea to be purified by Jesus' blood.SG2 175.3–177.1 Without this baptism of the Holy Spirit, teachers and students may misinterpret what they study and bring confusion instead of light.Lt 104, 1899, par. 4–5

The fire is explained by the image that follows of thoroughly purging the threshing floor, gathering the wheat into the garner and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8+4 That purging is a separating work that divides the fruitful from the worthless and the repentant from the unrepentant, gathering the one and consuming the other.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8+3 The lowly service of being unworthy to bear the shoes belongs with this same judgment, for the One who is mightier judges with surpassing authority.Ms 147, 1906, par. 16–20+2 The warning therefore joins the call to flee from wrath to come and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, leaving a life-and-death decision to accept the infinite sacrifice or to reject Him and perish as chaff.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8+1

The fire means that God's Spirit consumes sin in those who submit to His power and are willing to be cleansed.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+1 Those who cling to sin are identified with it and are destroyed by the glory of God, because Christ's presence reveals sin and the corrupt cannot remain in His presence.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+1 At the second coming that same glory consumes the wicked while it gives life to the righteous, so only the pure in heart can abide with Him and enter fellowship with Him.Ms 113, 1907, par. 18–19+1

As the world was once judged by water, a baptism of fire in coming judgment is to come, and unbelief and mockery will not prevent it.ST Feb 16, 1882 Yet repentance and a changed life bring forgiveness and shelter from the coming wrath.ST Feb 16, 1882 All who have not experienced the regenerating power are chaff among the wheat.AAP 11.2+1 With His fan in His hand Christ will thoroughly purge His floor, and in the coming day He will discern between him that serves God and him that serves Him not.AAP 11.2+1 No outward form and no ordinance, even when administered by the saintliest of men, can make a person clean or take the place of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is the Spirit of God doing its regenerating work upon the heart.AAP 11.2+1

Through this Mightier One trembling sinners receive propitiation, justification and righteousness, eternal life they are not worthy of, recovery of the blessing lost through disobedience, escape from the corruption in the world through lust by partaking of the divine nature, and acceptance before the Father clothed in the robe of the Saviour's righteousness.Ms 117, 1901, par. 6–8 The verse belongs to John's warning that ancestry and ceremonial sacrifices cannot make people holy.Ms 121c, 1898, par. 9–10+2 Sacrifices have value only when people recognize the Lamb of God and the Messiah to whom Israel's sacrifices pointed, and true children of Abraham are known by good fruit, sanctification and righteousness, while every fruitless tree faces destruction.Ms 121c, 1898, par. 9–10+2

Matthew 3:11 belongs to the message to prepare the way of the Lord and repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, which is to go forth now in the loud cry echoed and reechoed through cities and towns and villages.Lt 351, 1905, par. 12–13 Living men are to take up that work, and its fruit is true conversion, seen when Roman Catholics bring their little images of Christ and are converted to the truth.Lt 351, 1905, par. 12–13 It is the same message needed now, to take the Word and plainly state present truth, calling people to live the life in this world that prepares them for the future life that measures with the life of God.21MR 421.3–5

The same repentance message applies today because the prophecies of the second coming of Christ are being fulfilled, leaving every person a life-and-death decision to accept the infinite sacrifice Christ made or to reject Him and perish as chaff.Ms 147, 1906, par. 16–20 The baptism with water demands fruits meet for repentance and warning to flee from the wrath to come, while the baptism with fire means thorough purging of the floor, gathering the wheat into the garner, and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.Ms 147, 1906, par. 16–20 The same work of preparing a people by rebuking iniquity is to be done just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord, with the direct message to prepare to meet God done as faithfully as John's.ST Aug 25, 1909

John's message was startling, stern yet hopeful and direct, declared without elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories yet with new strange power that stirred the whole nation and drew multitudes of all classes to the wilderness, unlearned peasants and fishermen, Roman soldiers, chieftains, tax-gatherers, priests of the Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Sadducees, and Herod in his palace, all listening spellbound, silenced of sneers, cut to the heart with a sense of sin and trembling at the call.ST Aug 25, 1909 It was a loud, bold proclamation with no whispering voice and no smooth message but telling the truth of the situation, and just such a straight, truth-telling message is to come into the ranks now as the judgments of God are in the world and the time of flight without time to pack goods is right ahead.Ms 142, 1906, par. 8–11 It was a pointed message given even though it cost him his life so the people would not be deceived, and the present message must become more and more pointed in the same way.MWISDAP 34.2+2 It serves as a model for an urgent warning calling people to heed the truth and the issues of their time.Ms 61a, 1906, par. 30

The baptism taught contrasts John's water baptism calling people to repentance with Christ's greater baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire, and this baptism must shape life every day.Ms 115, 1909, par. 8–11 Those baptized are to walk in newness of life and represent Christ in character, with humility and meekness rather than their former dispositions.Ms 115, 1909, par. 8–11 Baptism or a profession of faith without living out that faith will not save, and believers must not become careless or worldly-minded after baptism.Ms 115, 1909, par. 8–11

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift to be earnestly sought from God, and church members laboring for souls are to pray with determination for this baptism so they may work with greater faith, courage, and zeal.CH 594.2–3 Christ gives His Holy Spirit to His people when they come to Him for healing power, and this baptism equips them for service that blesses others by restoring spiritual and physical health.9T 178.2+2 Medical workers are to remember that the Lord God omnipotent reigns and that Christ was the greatest physician who ever lived on this sin-cursed earth, and they are to make special efforts to point the sick and suffering to Him as the Great Physician who made the human body.9T 178.2+1

Giving such a message requires the same spiritual experience as John's, beholding God until self is lost sight of, transformed by the touch of divine love from faults and weaknesses common to humanity.ST Aug 25, 1909 It requires understanding clearly his relation to the Messiah and gladly welcoming the One for whom he prepared the way.ST Aug 25, 1909 It requires calling people to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and not to be turned aside to side issues brought in by minds not worked by the Spirit of God.21MR 421.3–5