I am going to go back and forth today from Luke to other places of scripture and back to Luke again. I have to tell you what God has laid on my heart. Some of these scriptures are very clear in the message and some of it I believe pertains to how we live and how is working through us right now. I will do my best to explain as I go.
Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon and were wondering if John was the Messiah. John told them, I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:15-16)
The day of Pentecost! Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages; as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. - Acts 2:3-4
The fire is also associated with judgement. On judgement day the fire will reveal each one's work, and test it. Will it have any value? Will it endure through the testing or be burned up? (1 Corinthians 3:13,15). This fire of judgement is included in Luke as well. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with His winnowing fork (vs17a). It is important that you understand that the chaff represents the unrepentant and the wheat represents the righteous.
Then He will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into His barn, but burning the chaff with never-ending fire (vs.17b). As God has separated the good from the bad He is going to clean everything up and put it in the proper place. The righteous will be gathered and put into His barn which is heaven. The chaff will be burned with never-ending fire which is hell.
John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people - Luke 3:18. Now that we know that this is a warning I want to shed some new light on this subject. These last few verses in Luke are something I believe we can use to live by today in preparation for the days to come. I think it is beautiful how God already sees us as righteous and is constantly trying to clean us up. I also think God is constantly burning the chaff in the present with a never ending-fire. The chaff is the loose outer covering on wheat. It is useless and becomes separated from the wheat. Could this also be our flesh? The wrongdoings of our life in which we blame the flesh. Isn't God constantly burning these wrongful things from our life? Just a thought! I am just sharing what I believe personally! I believe God is always helping us clear out the bad while making room for the good. We are responsible for doing our part. I will leave you with a quote from Luc Favre. (cf. Luke 3:15-18) "He will burn up everything that is not right or just in our lives."