If you would, be turning to Luke
5. Luke 5. Luke 5 and verses 33
through 39. And they said unto him, why do
the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise
the disciples of the Pharisees? But thine eat and drink. And
he said unto them, can you make the children of the bride chamber
fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will
come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and
then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable
unto them. No man putteth a piece of a new
garment upon an old. If otherwise, then both the new
maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new
agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into
old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles and be
spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be
put into new bottles, and both are preserved. No man also having
drunk old wine, straightway desireth new, for he saith, the old is
better. When I first started looking
at this, I was looking for the context of the passage, and it's
always a good idea to find out what the context is. But have
you ever heard the saying, I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I was looking all around at the
surrounding passages that were around this account, in this
account, and it's found in several places, and I struggled with
it. But then it dawned on me, and by God's grace, the text
is the context. There are many other things that
happened before this and after in the books of Matthew, Mark,
and Luke. But we have the context right here in the passage I just
read. The disciples of John asked the Lord why they and the disciples
of the Pharisees fasted and prayed while his, that is Christ's disciples,
ate and drank. And I like how it puts it here
in Luke, but thine eat and drink. So we first have a question about
fasting and praying, and specifically why some do this and some don't.
Christ is being very clear with them, and he begins to explain
to them the very reason why this is. We have it all right here. He tells them and us that it
is because he was right there with them. He is what his people
desire. And let's turn to John 6. John
6. So I want to read some of these
passages that Christ is talking about, and
this is all related. John 6 verses 53 through 58. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
has sent me, I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. This is partaking of Jesus Christ. We know that the way we partake
of Jesus Christ now is through the gospel. But these here at
this time had Christ right with them. They could touch and handle
the word of God. They could speak to him. There
was no fasting or mourning at this time. If you noticed in
most of the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, both Mark and
Luke use the word fast when it says, can the children of the
bridegroom fast? I don't think there's a big difference
here, but in Matthew it uses the word mourn. This just sheds
more light on what Christ is telling us. While Christ is with
them, can they that are his grieve and wail for him or abstain from
eating and drinking of him? If he is right in front of your
face, I mean where you can touch and handle him physically, we
will partake directly of him, if you will. But then he says
there will come a time when he will not be here. When this time
comes, there will be fasting, that is grieving and wailing,
or abstaining from eating and drinking. There will come a time when the
people of God will hunger and thirst after righteousness. This
is true, and every one of his will do this. They will hunger
and thirst after righteousness that they do not have. Not their
righteousness, but the righteousness of God, which is Christ. They
will hunger and thirst after him. They shall be filled, the
scripture plainly teaches us that. God will send them the
gospel. This is the context, but let's
look now at some of the scripture when Christ himself is telling
them of that time when he would go away. So if you would, turn
to John 16. John 16. John 16 and verses four through
16. The, you know, he speaks of them
quite lengthy. There's more to it than what
I'm gonna read, but I wanted to limit it down a little bit
because of time, but verse four through 16. But these things
have I told you that when the time shall come, ye may remember
that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto
you at the beginning because I was with you. But now I go
my way to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, whither
goest thou? But because I have said these
things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that
I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. And when He has come, He will
reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me. Of righteousness,
because I go to my Father and you see me no more. of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I that he shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you. A little while and
you shall not see me, and again a little while and you shall
see me, because I go to the Father. When Christ went away, in which
he is now seated at the right hand of the father, he promised
to send his spirit which would teach us all things of Christ. This is what Christ tells us
in this passage in John that we just read. We know based on
comparing scripture with scripture that this is done through the
gospel, for it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. So this is the context of the
passage I have read. Now Christ is going to give us,
as I see it here, three related things. In this parable, he is
telling us three specific things that are not exactly the same,
but they are all related, the one to the other. That was my
introduction. Now I wanna go through each of
these things. The garment, wine and bottles,
and desiring new wine. So first, the garment. Now this
could mean you cannot take the old garments of works by the
law and fix it up with the new garment of salvation by Christ.
This is certainly true, but it's not talking about this. And I
say this for a reason. The context here is why do thine
eat and drink? Christ himself also says that
the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and they will
fast. So he is talking about his people. Here Christ is talking about
clothing or garment, an old piece of garment that is torn and needs
fixed. Then we have him telling us in
this parable that you cannot put a piece of new garment on
the old to fix it up. The new piece of garment is so
strong here in this parable that it will cause the old to tear
somewhere else. The word here for agreeth, when
it says, the new agreeth not with the old, means to be harmonious
or agree together with. God is not going to give us or
create something in this flesh to fix it up, because the flesh
cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. So no matter
what we are talking about, this flesh is never going to be made
better with something new from God. This old man will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God because it cannot. 1 Corinthians
2, verses 13 through 16, we read, which things also we speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. So how is it that we have the
mind of Christ? Since this flesh cannot receive
the things of the spirit of God, how is it that we will receive
the things of the spirit of God? And this leads me to my next
point, wine and bottles. Here our Lord gives us an illustration
of putting wine into bottles. You have new wine which has not
been fermented yet or has not been fermented very long. And
they may have put it in these bottles to ferment. I don't really
know. I did not check that out. But I don't think they had barrels
back then. So they used these wine skins
or bottles made from the skins of animals. So then you have
the bottle. The bottle either being a new
bottle, which has not been stretched at all yet and still has some
stretch to it, you might say. Or you have old bottles that
have been stretched as far as they can. The thought here is
that the new wine has gases when you put it in there after a while.
Place it in the old bottles and the gases start to come. It will
burst the bottles because the old bottles have already been
stretched as far as they can. What are we talking about here?
We are talking about there has to be a new bottle created by
God that will contain that new wine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The old man will not receive
this. The old man and the new man are
totally opposed the one to the other. Galatians 5.17 we read,
for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh. And these are contrary the one
to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
There is nothing in this flesh that is going to receive the
things of the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. It
is corrupt, and that is all it will ever be. Christ himself
tells us in John 3, 6, he says, that which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Both
of these are always true. It is either that which is born
of the flesh or that which is born of the spirit, and neither
will be anything else. Neither will join together with
the other because they are always opposed the one to the other.
Paul in his epistle to the Romans tells us of this opposition.
So if you would, turn with me to Romans 7. Very familiar, but
I'm gonna read these. I got some time. Romans 7. Romans 7, verses 14 through 25. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is
present with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. But I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of
sin. It is a constant battle for those
who are born of God, that is, born of the Spirit, that have
this old man, and they have the new man born of the Spirit of
God. They are at odds with one another, so much so that we must
be watchful and mortify those members when they raise their
ugly head. When God does something for us,
we are a new creation in Christ. Galatians 6.15 says, for in Christ
Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. And I just wanna, have a side
note here, the scripture is clear, we are no longer under the law.
We are dead to the law, the scripture says. But that does not mean
we are out to do whatever our flesh desires. It is neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision that availeth anything but a
new creature. This new man, this new creation,
which can take on the new robe of righteousness, but it has
been created in Christ Jesus. The only way we will ever be
able to know Jesus Christ is if we are a new creation of God. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 16 through
18, we read, wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. all things are
passed away behold all things are become new all things are
of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation when we are
placed in Christ and I want to be clear here We are chosen in
Christ from before the foundation of the world, but we are born
just like everyone else in this world and are the children of
wrath even as others. But we in time are placed in
Christ by his grace and purpose. If we are not ever placed in
Christ in time, we will die in our sins and be condemned forever. But we know God does what he
says he will do. And if He has chosen us in Christ
and loved us in Him, He will in time join us to His Son in
the giving of life from the dead, that new creation or new creature. As we have already read, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
There has to be a new bottle that can hold this new wine.
This is not just simply the Spirit of God, although it is not void
of the Spirit of God. Does God create a new Holy Spirit
for all of his people? The Holy Spirit is God and is
eternal. We are told that we are a new
creature, that is creation in Jesus Christ. I cannot explain
this. It is hard for me to grasp a
new man, which is me, and also having this flesh. All I can
do is believe God in what he says specifically in his word.
He will create us a new creature in Christ. I know men can create
some straw men on this point and beat the daylights out of
it. Christ specifically tells us here in this parable, you
cannot put new wine in old bottles. Now you can look at it a few
ways. Either this new wine is talking
about the gospel, or it is talking about the spirit of God, or it
is talking about both. I happen to think it is speaking
of both. Either way, there has to be a new bottle because if
not, the new wine will be spilt and the bottle will be ruined.
So what else do we see here in this parable? Desiring new wine. It's only found in Luke's account,
this last verse. As we are born in Adam, we have
this flesh. This flesh is all about doing
for God, thinking in some way it is going to please God when
there is nothing but foulness in it. This flesh will not like
the gospel of Jesus Christ because there is nothing for the flesh
to do and the flesh likes doing. The flesh has grown accustomed
to this old wine. It takes time for a man, when
he is given this new man and filled with the gospel of Christ,
to come to love it more than the old one they have been receiving
in the flesh. Now, I want to be clear. I cannot
define for you, nor does the scripture define a specific time
frame or range of how long this takes. But there will be at first
that time when, because of this flesh, it will not desire that
new wine and would rather continue with drinking that old wine of
works. The word, therefore, straightway
means at once or soon, anon, immediately. We see this in the
parable of the seed and sower, where our Lord explains it in
Mark, verses 16 and 17. This is the negative side of
it. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground,
who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it
with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure
but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or
persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. So if a man, when first hearing
the truth of the gospel, immediately loves it, there might be reason
to be suspect of him based on the word of God. These are the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ. But there is that one ground,
the new creation, that new bottle created by God when the seed
of the gospel sown in that ground, it will start its work by the
spirit of God and they will have root in them and at some point
the new wine starts to taste as sweet as honey to them. James
117 says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. God will give his people what
they need, when they need it, based on his wise counsel. When
he does his work, the gospel will start to become your food,
and you must have it to continue. This is how you will feel. You
will always hunger and thirst after righteousness of God, after
the righteousness of God, and that is Jesus Christ the Lord,
until he returns or he takes us to be with him. Christ, as
we have read, spoke to his people, and he spoke to these disciples
of John right here. He told them there will be a
time that comes when he would be taken away. This time has
already come. He went to the cross to bear
our sins in his own body and he did this. Having taken the
judgment of the father on himself, he was forsaken of the father.
He gave up the ghost and died. He was buried and then rose again,
ascending to the right hand of the Father on high, there making
intercession for us and saving us to the uttermost, having already
taken our sins as far as the east is from the west. He now
rests and we rest with him. He promised to send the comforter.
This he has done. When there is one of his who
he creates a new creature in Christ and then sending them
the new wine of the gospel, they being prepared by him in giving
of an honest and good heart, they receive his word by the
power of the Holy Spirit, the comforter which seals the truth
to their heart. This is that new heart, that
new bottle which can hold the things of the Spirit of God.
This old man will not be fixed up. This old man will not receive
the gospel nor the spirit of God. What did Stephen tell those
in Jerusalem in Acts 7.51? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your
fathers did, so do ye. This is all of us by nature.
How do we get from this place where we do always resist the
Holy Ghost? This flesh, and I mean even my
flesh, does always resist the Holy Ghost. It cannot be fixed
up. God must perform the work of
creation, that is creating a new creature that loves his word,
that can hear his word. That will receive the Spirit.
A person must have ears to hear, a heart to understand, and they
do not have this in and of themselves. The gospel does not give them
this because in order for the gospel to do this, they would
have to hear it first before it could do anything. But we
cannot as we are born in Adam. None of us will know this gospel
apart from a work of grace on or to a sinner. Even hearing
the gospel for the new man is not done apart from the spirit
of God. It is God that gives the increase. I pray that God
perform his work on me always, for we know it is even he that
works in us both to do and to will, both to will and to do
of his good pleasure. May it be that I am created a
new bottle so that I may receive the new wine of the gospel, amen. Dear old God, thank you for allowing
us to once again gather together to hear words of your son, Oh,
may it be that you will open our hearts, mind, ears, dear
Lord, so it will be nourishment for our souls, dear Lord. All
these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.