Luke chapter 5, I'm entitling
the message from what is said by our blessed Savior and Redeemer. Verse 34, Can you make the children
of the bridegroom fast? The children of the bride chamber
fast while the bridegroom is with them. The title of the message,
The Bridegroom and the children. The bridegroom is Christ, the
children are those given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember from
John chapter 6, All that the Father giveth to me shall come
to me, and those that come to me I will in no wise cast out. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
bridegroom of His church. The church is called the Lamb's
Wife, chosen by His grace, redeemed with His blood, and He bought
the church with His own blood. The Lord loved the church and
gave Himself for it. He purchased us with His own
blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
only called the Bridegroom, but He is called the Husband. the
husband, he is our head. We read in Isaiah 54, thy maker
is thy husband, the Lord has made us, we are his creation. Thy maker is thy husband, the
Lord of hosts is his name, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
the God of the whole earth, shall he be called, that is our husband. He is our Lord, our Savior, and
our King. As our King, He provides for
us. As our King, He reigns over us. As our Redeemer, He bought us
with His own blood. Our blessed Savior is our Husband
and Head. John the Baptist said, He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom. And the Lord Jesus Christ loves
His bride. He gave His life to secure her
salvation, and He gives that salvation to us freely by His
grace. Now remember two weeks ago from
our last lesson in Luke chapter 5, how the Lord sovereignly and
affectionately called a sinner as it says here in verse 27,
named Levi. We know Levi to be the same man
named Matthew, who was raised up to be an apostle. He was a
publican, one who was despised by the religious Jews, but the
Lord sovereignly called him out of darkness, death, and ignorance
of his sin, and he called him to life, light, and righteousness,
and salvation in Christ. And that's what he does for his
people. He has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and translated
us into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Well, Matthew being
overwhelmed with joy that salvation had come to his heart, Matthew
took the Lord Jesus Christ home with him, and made a great feast
for him, and he invited all of his co-workers, and many publicans
and sinners followed him home, but also another crowd did too.
Another crowd is known as the Pharisees and the Scribes. Notice verse 30 in Luke chapter
5. But there scribes and Pharisees
murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink
with publicans and sinners? And the Lord Jesus answering
said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but
they who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners. Sinners to repentance. So these self-righteous Pharisees,
they being agitated in their heart, complained to the Lord
Jesus Christ and to the disciples. Why do you eat and fellowship
with sinners? You know the Lord Jesus Christ
is called the friend of sinners. The Lord tells us that He didn't
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners! Turn over here to Luke
chapter 15 for just a minute. Luke chapter 15. Then drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners, verse 1, Luke 15, and
the Pharisees and scribes, here's this same crowd. They were always
following the Lord, looking for a reason to accuse Him of violating
the law, saying, this man, they murmured, saying, this man receiveth
sinners, and he eats with them. He receives sinners. Well, that
gives me hope, because we read in Scripture, when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. The Lord Jesus Christ justifies
the ungodly. He did not come to call the righteous. They do not need a Savior. He
came to call sinners. Now, in Luke chapter 5, notice
verse 33. They have another complaint.
Not only why, why do you eat with sinners? Why do you fellowship
with sinners? And then in verse 33 they ask
another question. Why? Why do the disciples of
John, talking about the forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist,
fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of
the Pharisees, but your disciples, but thine, eat and drink." So
they had another complaint. against the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they not only complained
about Him eating and drinking with sinners, but they also complained
about the disciples of the Lord rejoicing in His mercy. Instead
of being in the state of mourning and praying and fasting as did
some of the disciples of John, and some of the Pharisees, at
least they said that's what they did. Turn over here to Luke chapter
18. We're always mourning, we're
always fasting, that's what they said they did. And evidently
some of John's disciples were influenced by the Pharisees,
and likewise were doing the same thing. You remember in Luke 18
verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God I thank thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in
the week. I give tithes of all that I possess."
So those Pharisees were very, very particular about fasting,
about praying in public. Remember, our Lord said of them,
turn over to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. He said to
them, you pray just to be seen of men. In Matthew chapter 6
verse 5, And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be of the hypocrites,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogue, and in the
corners of the street, that they may be seen of men, Verily I
say unto you, they have their reward. Now look down at verse
16, Matthew 6 verse 16. Moreover, when you fast, be not
as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces,
that they may appear unto men to fast. They want everybody
to know, hey, I'm really suffering now, I'm fasting, I'm denying
myself. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when you fast, anoint
thy head, wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast,
but unto thy Father which is in secret. And thy Father which
seeth thee in secret shall reward thee openly. That is, do this
as unto the Lord, not to be seen of men. Now it seems like that
some of the disciples of John and the Pharisees had some sort
of strange alliance here. It seems like many of them did
not follow the declaration that John gave his disciples to do. Turn over here to John chapter
1. John chapter 1 verse 29. Do you remember what John the
Baptist told his disciples to do? He said, forget me, you follow
Christ. John chapter 1 now verse 29,
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This
is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred
before me, for he was before me, he is the eternal Christ. Now look at John chapter 1 verse
35, Again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples,
Looking upon Jesus as He walked, He said, Behold the Lamb of God.
And the two disciples heard Him speak, and they followed the
Lord Jesus Christ. Evidently, some of John's disciples
did not follow the command of John to follow Christ and look
to Christ. Therefore the Pharisees had an
influence upon them to do what they did, fasting and praying
and mourning to be seen of men. Now here's the Lord's answer
to that question back in Luke chapter 5 verse 34. He said unto them, Can you make
the children of the broad chamber fast and mourn? and deny while
the bridegroom is with them, verse 35, but the days will come
when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then
shall they fast in those days. Now, listen carefully. Here is
the Lord's wise and powerful answer. He's saying there is
a time to fast and mourn. But there's also a time to rejoice. And this was a time to rejoice. The Lord was among them. The
Lord was with them. He was teaching them, leading
them, guiding them, and feeding them right then and there. It
was not the time to mourn. It was a time to rejoice. The
Lord has come. The Lord is with us. While Christ
was with his people, and especially in that day, it was a day of
salvation. The Lord has come. It was a day
of rejoicing. The Lord has come. Glory to God
in the highest. The Savior has come to redeem
us. Oh, but there came a time when
the Lord was crucified and departed from them. They did mourn. They did fast. And they did Pray,
as it says in verse 35, the days will come when the bridegroom
shall be taken away. Now how was he taken away? He was taken away by the way
of the cross. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and crucified
the Lord of glory. He was taken away by the decree
of God. He was taken away as the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. He was taken away
as John said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away our sin. Those disciples, they did mourn,
didn't they? They did fast in those days. But listen to this, on the resurrection,
on the glorious resurrection morning, and the forty days that
the resurrected Lord spent with them, and the days since His
ascension to the right hand of God, and the time of his enthronement
seated on the right hand of God, the days of fasting and mourning
are over for the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ today." Now
what do I mean by that? I mean by that, the days of fasting
or mourning are over as to the fact how God can be just and
justify the ungodly. How He can be a just God and
Savior. We're no longer mourning about
how God can justify this ungodly sinner. We're no longer mourning
about that, are we? We're rejoicing that the Lord
Jesus Christ died for our sin according to the Scriptures. The day right now we are living
in, we're no longer mourning over how our sin can be put away. We know how our sin is put away
in the Lord Jesus Christ and through His sacrifice. We're
no longer mourning and weeping and fasting to try to produce
a righteousness, are we? We are resting in the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the Lord, our righteousness. We are to rejoice in the Lord
always and again I say rejoice. So when that's said, the days
of our mourning and fasting are over. We now are rejoicing in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We now have great confidence
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll give you several reasons.
He was deliberate for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Our no longer mourning over how
I can be justified before God, we're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, our sins are gone. The
reason of condemnation is sin, right? The wage of sin is death,
right? The Lord Jesus Christ put away
our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. I'm no longer mourning over my
sin. I'm rejoicing that sin is put
away in Christ Jesus. Here's another reason. Righteousness
has been established. Righteousness has been freely
given. I'm no longer mourning about producing a righteousness
pleasing unto God. I receive the Lord Jesus Christ
who is my righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. The bride of Christ, which
includes every believer, has been reconciled unto God. I no longer am mourning and fasting
and seeking how this sinner can be reconciled unto God. I'm rejoicing
that we are reconciled unto God. You see what I'm trying to say?
We rejoice in being reconciled. God was in Christ reconciling
us unto Himself. Not only that, I'll give you
another reason. That we are not mourning and fasting in that
sense as those disciples did in the early days. The bridegroom
ever lived to intercede for us. When you sin, my beloved, He
said, these things I write unto you, that you sin not, but when
you do, we have an advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our mediator whoever lives
to intercede for us. He is our advocate. He said,
I'm able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him,
seeing He ever lives to make intercession for us. Here's another
reason, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Head and Husband, Redeemer
and Savior, the Bridegroom is coming back. To receive us unto
Himself and there shall we be with the Lord forever. He's going
to take us home and enjoy us forever. I'm no longer mourning
and fasting over the fact will the Lord receive me unto Himself.
I believe His promise. I believe His Word. The Lord
fully intends to have His chosen bride to be with Him forever. Comfort ye one another with these
words, we shall be with the Lord forever. We read in Romans 8,
nothing will ever separate us from the love of God, which is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is now no condemnation,
and there is therefore now no separation. We're forever one
with the Lord Jesus Christ. What God had joined together,
no man can put asunder. You see, the bridegroom and the
bride are forever joined together. We rejoice in Him and we have
no confidence in the flesh. The church and Christ are forever
one. Listen to this. We have an eternal,
unbreakable union with Him, the head and the body. Remember John
17, I in them and thou in me that we may be made perfect in
one. What Christ is and what Christ
has, we are and have right now forever. Now let that sink in
a minute. What Christ is and what He has,
we are and have right now forever. We are accepted in The Beloved. I'm no longer mourning about
whether I'm accepted or rejected. I believe God's Word. We are
accepted in the Beloved. We read this in 1 John 4, 17.
Because as He is, so are we in this world. What Christ is and
what Christ has, we are and have right now. Now listen to this.
This is good. We have His position. We have
His position. His position is ours. Beloved,
behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us
that we should be called sons of God. We are sons of God in
Him. We have His position. His position
is ours. His position is ours. We're heirs
of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. His privilege
is ours. He said, ask what you will in
My name, according to My will, and it shall be yours. His likeness
is ours. We shall see Him and be like
Him as He is. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Every
believer is predestinated to be just like Christ. You see, His position is ours. His possession are ours. His
privilege is ours. His likeness is ours. We shall
see Him and be like Him just as He is. So are we in this world. Now think about this. He presents
us to the Father right now and in that final day, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable, without spot, blameless, faultless in His sight. Now I'm
no longer mourning. I'm rejoicing in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see what I'm trying to say?
We find I'm no longer mourning about how I can be reconciled,
how I can put away sin, how I can be justified. I'm rejoicing in
Christ that is already done. It's not due, it's done. Done. He said it is finished. In Christ,
we are accepted in the Beloved. That's the first part of his
answer. Oh, how can the children mourn while the bridegroom is
with them? And we are one with Him. The
second part of this, he says in verse 36, and he spake also,
a parable unto them. Now a parable is a earthly story
that represent a spiritual heavenly truth. A parable. The Lord spoke
in simple parables. We're going to see many of them.
The parable of the sower and so forth. Now here's the parable.
He gives it in two parts. 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
agreeeth not with the old. No man putteth new wine into
old bottles, else the new wine will break the bottle, the old
bottle, and be spilled, and the bottles perish. But new wine
must be put into new bottles, both are preserved." Now here's
the parable. Here's the parable. Again, the
Lord is answering that question, Why do thy disciples, the disciples
of John, fast often and make prayers that your disciples,
they eat, drink, and they're merry? Why aren't they worried
about anything? Because they're with the King.
They're with their husband. They're with their Lord. They're
with their Redeemer. They have nothing to worry about.
He's in control. He's God of all things. That's
where we find our comfort. That's where we rest in Christ
Jesus. Now, the second part of this
answer is this. The Lord's meaning in this parable
is simply this. In spiritual matters, we must
not join together what the Lord has separated. That's the meaning. There's no mixing of law and
faith. There's no mixing of grace and
works. There's no mixing of flesh and
spirit. There's no mixing of righteousness
provided in the gospel and self-righteousness. Now that's what the early church
got so confused about when those Judaizers came down and said,
except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you really
can't be saved. In other words, they were saying
Christ is not enough. Peter answered that question
and said this, we believe through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
that we shall be saved even as others. They tried to make salvation
partly by something they did and by partly making something
that the Lord did and bringing the two together. and making
a whole. The Lord is saying here, you
cannot mix works and grace, law and faith, old garment and anew,
old wine and new, you cannot be mixed. You cannot put, let's
look at the first part here, there's three parts to this,
you cannot put new cloth on an old garment. Salvation is often
described as a garment of salvation, as the robe of righteousness.
Now, it will help you if you turn to Isaiah 61, and let's
read this scripture. Isaiah 61 10. You can't put new
cloth on an old garment and make it look right. They won't mix. I will, verse 10, Isaiah 61,
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful
in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.
Now it's not a patchwork. He doesn't patch up our old garment
of flesh. as self-righteous. The garment
we have is not a patchwork garment. He has clothed me with a garment
of salvation. He has covered me with a robe
of righteousness. As a bride groomed, decketh himself
with ornaments. As a bride adorneth herself with
jewels. What we have is freely given
by His grace. Now stay right here in Isaiah.
Turn to Isaiah 64 verse 6. You see, salvation is described
as the garment of salvation, as a robe of righteousness. Now, what does the Lord describe,
how does the Lord describe our flesh? Okay, look at Isaiah 64
verse 6. Now here's the reason that we
just don't need some patchwork. Some patchwork. We're all as
an unclean thing, verse 6. And all of our righteousnesses
are as Filthy rags! And we all do fade as a leaf.
Our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. There is
none that calls upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. Thou hast hid thy face from us
and has consumed us because of our iniquity. What are we? All our righteousness before
God are as an old, worn out, filthy garment. The Lord doesn't
take a patchwork of righteousness and paste it on us to try to
make us righteous before God. He gives us a complete robe of
righteousness. A complete robe. of salvation. You cannot take the righteousness
revealed in the gospel, given and imputed and reckoned, and
add it to, or sow it to, a righteousness that you make of your own, a
patchwork salvation, partly by your doing and partly by the
doing and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot have
the righteousness of Christ added to your filthy rags to patch
up or plug the hole in your lack of or deficiencies." You see,
the righteousness of Christ doesn't make up for our deficiencies.
It's not something that He patches on us. He puts that flesh completely
away, calls it dung and ruin, that we might win Christ and
be found in Him who is the Lord our righteousness. He's all of
our righteousness before God. And this is what is revealed
in the Gospel. All the way through the book
of Romans, it talks about the righteousness that's of God. The righteousness that comes
from God. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works. Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. He is the Lord
our righteousness. We don't have a patchwork salvation,
do we? We don't have a patchwork garment. Now, when I was a little boy,
I was a mean little boy. Mama would buy me some new breeches
and I'd just crawl on the ground and I'd mess them up and get
them all dirty and I'd rip them and tear them. And Mama would
often try to put a patch on there to try to patch the hole to make
the garment look acceptable. It was still an old, dirty, ragged
garment. The patchwork Mama put on that
garment didn't make it new, did it? You see what I'm trying to
say? Christ is all of our righteousness. It's not a patchwork righteousness. He freely imputes to us a full,
justifying righteousness before God, and it is Christ Himself. Christ Himself is all our righteousness
before God. That's our hope. Don't ever mix. Well, you know, I'm going to
do the best I can, and I'm going to depend on Him for the rest
of it. That's death. Salvation is either all of Christ
or none. And we know that salvation is
all of God. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and we are complete in Christ. He's called the Lord, our righteousness. Now, here's the second part to
this parable. Likewise, you do not put new
wine in old bottles. New wine doesn't go into... you
don't put new wine in old bottles. New wine here represents the
gospel of Christ. The new wine must be put into
new bottles. The old bottles represent the
old sinful nature that we are born with. Born in sin, shaped
in iniquity. Now here's the lesson in the
second part of the parable. must be regenerated by the power
of God made new in Christ in order to receive the gospel,
the new wine, in the new vessel. In order to receive the gospel
of Christ, in order to believe the gospel of Christ. The new
wine must be put in new bottles. And that's exactly what the Lord
does in saving mercy. If any man be in Christ, He's
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. New wine must be put in new bottles,
not old. And here's the reason why. The
natural man will not receive the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This old bottle just doesn't
want anything to do with it. This old flesh. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be. The natural man is opposed to
the gospel of God's grace, loving darkness and hating light. We
must be given a new heart. We must be made a new creature
that we might receive the new wine of the gospel. We must be
given a new nature. We must be made partakers of
a divine nature, created in righteousness and true holiness in Christ. And only God can do this in regenerating
grace. That's why the Lord said, Except
a man be born again, he can't understand the kingdom of God.
You see, the new wine of the gospel must be put into a new
heart, a new mind, a new man in Christ Jesus. And that's what
we receive in regeneration. Except a man be born again, he
cannot understand, see, believe the kingdom of God. Except a
man be born again, he can't enter in. to the kingdom of God. And then our Lord said, you must
be born again. New wine must be put in new bottles. And that's what happens in saving
mercy, in saving grace. In verse 38, new wine must be
put into new bottles and both are preserved. Now here's the
last part. The third part, verse 39. And
this is only given here in the book of Luke. When this parable
is given in Matthew, and when it's given in Mark, Matthew 9,
Mark 2, this part is not given, only here in Luke 5, 39. No man having drunk old, and
notice the word there, wine, is supplied, but it's okay. No
man having drunk old wine straightway desireth New, for he saith, now
stay with me, the old is better. Old wine, vintage wine is very
good wine, expensive wine. Now naturally speaking, when
we take this, now remember I told you a parable is an earthly illustration,
an earthly story that represents a spiritual truth. Naturally
speaking, old wine, that is aged wine, is always preferred to
new wine. Vintage wine is always considered
the best wine. The older, the better, right?
When we're talking about wine, you talk to an expert on wine
and he will tell you Those old bottles of wine sell for thousands
of dollars, because the old is always better. The old is always
preferred. Now, the last part of verse 39,
it says the old is better. Now, when you think of the word
better, old wine is always better. When you think of the word better,
what do you think about? What do you think about? Right,
right there in your Bible, right next to the word better, right
in there, Hebrews. Hebrews. You remember the key
word all through the book of Hebrews? Christ is better. The old is better. The old wine of the gospel is
better. Spiritually speaking, the old
wine of the gospel, the wine of the free and sovereign grace
of God, is always better. It is the best wine. It's better
than any new doctrine, any new idea. Some fella said, well,
I've got a new revelation. I've got a new idea. I've got
a new doctrine. Forget it. I don't want anything
new. I want the old, old story of
God's saving mercy in Christ Jesus. Give me the old doctrine
of the gospel of Christ, which is far better. That is what every
believer, and here's another key word, desireth. What you
desire is what you really are before God. What you desire is
what you really are before God. The believer desires the old
wine of his love, the old wine of his grace. In the book of
Hebrews, we read that Christ is better. Let me remind you
of a few. Hebrews 1-4, Christ being made so much better than
the angels. Hebrews 7-19, the law made nothing
perfect, but bringing in of a better hope did. Hebrews 7, Christ is
assured to you of a better covenant. Hebrews 8, 6. I'm almost through,
give me just a minute. Christ is the mediator of a better
covenant established upon better promises. The old wine of the
gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is older than
creation, isn't it? He's a lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. The old line of covenant love
is much better. He loved us with an everlasting
love. The old line of predestinating
grace is much better than any free will works religion. We
read, in whom we have obtained an inheritance according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will, in whom we have obtained an inheritance according to his
predestinating grace. Where sin abounded, grace does
much more abound. Grace does reign through righteousness
unto eternal life in Christ Jesus. This is our whole hope of salvation
before God. Christ is Better. He's the only way. Christ in
you is a hope of glory. May God be pleased to give us
eyes of faith that we might see Christ as all of our salvation,
as our Lord, our Husband, our Bridegroom, our Redeemer, our
King, our Hope, our Righteousness, our Reconciliation, our Resurrection,
our Hope, and our Holiness, our Sanctification, everything before
God is found in Christ. I can't overemphasize that. Christ is better. Christ has
the fulfillment of every gospel promise. Christ is all and in
all. He's everything in salvation. You see, the old is better. The old is better. You cannot
mix grace and works. Salvation is all of grace, and
Christ is the only way of saving mercy for any sinner to enjoy.