Luke 5:33-39 - Out With The Old, In With The True - Dr. Steven J. Lawson

good morning and welcome to Trinity Bible Church of Dallas let us worship God this morning and start by standing to sing the [Music] doxology God all blessings praise them all creatures here below Oh Praise Him hallelu Praise Him above the Heavenly Host praise Father Son and Holy Ghost Oh Praise Him Oh Praise Him hu hallelu Hallelujah let's pray heavenly father thank you for this day that you have given us Lord this day of life and breath that you've given us in our lungs as the author of life may we use that life and breath to praise you this morning as we come to your house this morning to worship you in prayer prayer and song and hearing from your word may we remember Lord that we are coming here not out of routine Lord but ultimately to worship you and may we worship you from the Heart Lord may we worship you in spirit and truth may we worship you this morning as an audience of one as we lift our our praise to you Lord Lord we thank you for the greatest gift of all your son the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we can have forgiveness and the Redemption that only comes through his blood Lord if anyone here does not know you we ask that you would give them the gift of repentance and Faith may they see their sin this morning and see their separation from you and the coming judgment and that they deserve the wrath of God to be cast into the Lake of Fire but may they also see the love of Christ and the love of you God the Father to send Christ to save them from their sin may they come in Repentance and Faith to the foot of the cross and put their trust solely In Christ Alone to save them from their sin may you grant them everlasting life Lord as our brothers and sisters come to worship you this morning not just here but in this city in this state and around the world may your name be lifted High may you be worshiped this Lord's Day May the name of Christ be made known across the world and may we worship worship you not just here but across the world in spirit and in truth Lord there are many needs in the congregation we know that you know what those needs are Lord you know all things and may you give us Grace to trust you in the trials that we may be going through and to lean on you and not on our own understanding in the midst of the trials Lord Lord May everything that be done this morning be to the praise of the glory of Your Great Name may you give Dr Lawson boldness as he proclaims your word may you fill him with your spirit as he exposes your text may you cause his mind to remember the things that he's studied in his preparation and give him great joy as he exposits your your text this morning in your son's name amen all right you may be [Music] seated if you are a visitor with us this morning we are glad that you are here we have a gift for you a free MacArthur Study Bible and you can get one of those in the lobby on the way out and if you'd like one in Spanish those are in the orange cover we'll be starting our summer hours after Memorial Day and so that will be on May 26th is when our summer hours will start and the first service will be at 8:15 and the second service will be at 10:15 and there will be no Sunday school so that'll start on May 26th this Wednesday we'll be having a trinity night of worship for the young adults and that'll be from 7 to9 here and if you're looking for something to invite a visitor to that would be a great chance to invite a visitor the gospel would be will be proclaimed and it'll be a great night of worship amongst the young adults this Wednesday night Dr Lawson will be continuing his men's bible study on Thursday morning at herbs house at 7:00 a.m. and he'll be continuing his study Through The Sermon on the Mount next Sunday we will be having corporate prayer before the service at 7:15 at herbs house two weeks from today we will be serving the evening meal at Dallas life that's the 26th Dallas life is a christian-based homeless shelter that exists to radically transform the lives of homeless people through biblical accountability based recovery programs and is a great ministry and we en Joy getting to serve alongside them in prayer and in serving this evening meal and so if you've never done that I'd encourage you to do that and then once again we have vacation bible school coming up the week of June 17th and you can find more information on that in the bulletin with that let's stand and sing our first hymn number 186 a deor to Mercy [Music] a to Mercy alone of Cen Mercy I see I come with your righteous Lord I will off to me the jce of you all in all with me have nothing to do my savior obedience and blood all my transgressions from [Music] you I work with your good this begin the arm of your strength will complete your promisees yes and amen and never was for yet the future things that are now no power below or above can make you your Purp this for or my soul [Music] from my name from the PS of your hands etern [Music] will him press all your heart way in of GRA yes the will endure until I bow down and forever and always secure to Mercy [Music] please continue singing this morning number 187 Before the Throne of God [Music] above Before the Throne of God above I have a strong and perfect a great high priest who name is Love whoever lives Andes for me my name is on his hand my name is on his I know that in he stand no tongue can B me then seeart no tongue can B me then [Music] see when Satan turn me to Desair and tells me of the guilt with upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin because a sinor DI my sinful Soul ISE for the Justice satisfied to look on him and paron me to look on him and paron [Music] me Behold Him there the my perfect SP this righteousness The Great unchangeable I Am the king of glory and of Praise with himself I cannot die my soul is purchased by his my life is with Christ on high with Christ my savior and my god with Christ my savior and my God one with himself I cannot die my soul is purchased by his BL my life is with Christ on with Christ my savior and my god with Christ my savior and my god with Christ My Savior and my [Music] God for our last song this morning we're going to be singing number 394 Jesus I my cross have taken [Music] Jus my cross haveen hold to the fall just foren SM there isation all our reach is my God and still let the world isise and we have left my savior to human heart and most deive me th God my one true God of wisdom love and might and show my all Earth and Tre come his for and P in th Ser his pleasure with my cre lost his I call be the father I have set my heart on me stor H and clouds we G all was work for love to so them know my full salvation R your sin and fear and in every station so we you to what Spirit dwells within think what father Smiles are the think that Jesus died to child of him [Music] can on from grace to Glory by fa and W by pray all days before me God shall might to CL shall pass by change to to sign and pray to PR you may be seated well these are sweet days for us here at Trinity Bible Church it wasn't long ago we were meeting across the street in the coffee shop and we've moved across the street here and we had one service and now we have two services and we had no idea if anyone would come at 8:00 and here you are and it'll be the same again at 10:45 and who knows what the future is for us as we continue to grow and God continues to bring people into our midst but I think we will always look back on these days as some of the sweetest days in our Christian lives uh days when we really met with God that we were not playing church that we were walking with the Lord and the word of God was Finding entrance into our hearts and our lives and we were being strengthened and transformed and that we were fellowshipping with one another I mean these are just sweet days I I love how compressed we are in here you can't even walk into the building or out of the building without without running into 20 people and um there's just an authenticity um about this it reminds me of the first century Church uh before it would become very institutionalized that there is an organic spontaneous feel of just God at work in our lives um though some of you have found your designated seat that uh I know where you are so you've already marked out your spot and that's good I'm glad that you have so well I'm excited to be back with you I had to step out last week I was in Los Angeles for the graduation service of the Master's Seminary and I preached out there on Sunday morning and so but it's good to be home and it's good to be back with you and I am so eager to get back into the Gospel of Luke so I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of Luke Luke chap 5 and we've come to the end of this chapter we're going to be looking at verses 33-39 the title of this message is out with the old in with the true so I want to begin by reading starting in verse 33 and they said to him the Disciples of John often fast and offer prayers the Disciples of the Pharisees also do the same but yours eat and drink and Jesus said to them you cannot make the attendant of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them can you but the days will come and when the bridegroom is taken away from them then they will fast in those days and he was also telling them a parable no one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old and no one puts new wine into old wine skins otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be Spilled Out and the Skins will be ruined but new wine must be put into fresh wine skins and no one after drinking old wine wishes for new for he says the old is good enough so what all is being said here well let's go to the Lord in prayer father we do ask for understanding that we would rightly handle your word it is written for our instruction every word in fact every letter every stroke every every tit is inspired by you and so this is for our good this is for our edification and being built up so give us eyes to see give us ears to hear give us a heart to receive and to believe and make us yet even more like our master and like our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we're grateful for this opportunity that we have to gather this morning and we ask that to the max to the maximum we would receive all that you have for us we pray this in jesus' name Amen in these verses that I have just read Jesus is once again confronted by the scribes and the Pharisees this is the third time in this chapter alone and just rapid fire staccato fashion there is this clash between the scribes and the Pharisees and Jesus and the difference between the two could not be any greater the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus has come to establish in the hearts of men and women is completely antithetical to the religion of the Pharisees that there's no overlap they are inject of position the scribes and the Pharisees were blind leaders of the Blind and Jesus is the light of the world and the scribes and the Pharisees had contrived their own religious system their own way of attempting to come to God and it was false and it was erroneous the Pharisees taught salvation by human work Jesus by Divine works the Pharisees taught man-made Traditions Jesus god-given truth the Pharisees stressed rituals before God Jesus stressed a relationship with God the Pharisees stressed trusting self Jesus trusting God the Pharisees emphasize the outward appearance Jesus the inward attitude the Pharisees preached living separated from Sinners Jesus preached confessing that you are a sinner there's a world of difference between these two religious systems one is true the other is false they are both not true so I want us to walk through this passage and this is really escalating and coming even yet further to a to a head in a conflict so as we look at verse 33 I want you to see the interrogation and that's what's really taking place here an interrogation of Jesus verse 3 33 begins with the word and and I'm going to ask you to stop right there the word and here connects what follows now with the previous passage it's all a a seamless garment it's all a continuous flow so from this we are to understand that Jesus is still in Matthew's house as you saw last week Jesus is still in Levi's house who was thrown a banquet in order to for his friends to meet Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees have come along with Sinners and tax collectors and and the rest and so it is in this same room in this same house of of Levis and he was very well off because he was a tax collector he had the the franchise for this local area and he worked for the Roman government and was required to take up a certain amount of taxes to send to Rome and everything over and above and beyond he could skim off the top and it would it would be his to keep and so it was obviously a very nice house a very large house and so we read and they said to him we have to ask the question who's the they who's doing the talking here who's doing the interrogation and I think it goes back to verse 30 where it says the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at his disciples it goes back to the Pharisees and the scribes that's who the they is uh here in verse 33 and Matthew's account of this in Matthew chapter n tells us there is also a third party uh asking this question which is the Disciples of John the Baptist so this is quite a mixed crowd I mean we've got everything from tax collectors to Notorious Sinners to the hyper religious Pharisees to the scribes to the Disciples of John the Baptist and this just what happens when Jesus shows up I mean people start coming from every direction and they want to get as close as they can to the Lord Jesus Christ for a variety of different reasons and so they said to him and when they did this they're trying to put him on the spot um I I've been a pastor for 40 years and I've done a lot of q&as and I've done a lot of congregational meeting q&as and some of them you could almost cut the air with a knife there's just so much tension and some there'll be open mics and people can ask me any question about why are we doing doing this why are we not doing that etc etc and sometimes the question is really more of a statement that I'm I keep waiting for the question and even if it's put in the form of a question it's still a statement and that's what's going on here and the intent is to expose Jesus the the intent is to paint him into a corner and so they said to him in front of everybody the Disciples of John often fast and offer offer prayers now this John is John the Baptist and some of John's disciples have followed Christ and others have not followed Christ and these are some I think we can understand are still kind of halfway but they have come all the way to Christ and The Disciples of John often fast and offer prayers now fasting in the entire Old Testament there's only one command to fast and that is just for one day out of the year it's on the day of atonement Leviticus 11 it's repeated in Leviticus 23 you'll find it in numbers 29 only one commandment for one day out of the Year well any other fast is just strictly voluntary um it could be a crisis in your life it could be the death of a loved one it could be um an unusual need it could be a time of national disaster I mean whatever but it's just strictly voluntary but the Disciples of John really in some ways have been influenced by the Pharisees and the Pharisees are notorious at adding more Commandments to the Bible such that they not only do they believe the Bible they go beyond the Bible and if you go beyond the Bible you're canceling out the Bible and the Pharisees up the Annie that you have to fast twice a week and so in the parable that Jesus will tell in Luke 18 we'll we'll get to that in about a decade uh in Luke 18 the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican and the Pharisee is just so proud of himself and he says remember I I thank you that I'm not like this Publican over here that's a tax collector uh I fast twice a week and so that is in the the the drinking water already this is in the system and so the Disciples of John are are fasting multiple times we're not told exactly how many but verse 33 continues and the discip the Disciples of the Pharisees also do the same referring to fasting and and and praying and the Pharisees when they fasted they wanted everybody to know about it and so they would show up at church without combing their hair and looking all disheveled and they would show up with a sad face and people would ask him how are you doing well if you fasted as much as I do if you pray as much as I do you would be very tired also and so it really became a badge of their spirituality as they would parade this in front of everyone else and the scripture did not require it Jesus Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount said in Matthew 6:1 beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them beware do not be parading your righteousness in front of other men to draw attention to yourself now verse 16 is very important Matthew 6 whenever you fast do not put on a gloomy face as the Hypocrites do now the word hypocrite in the Greek language means one who puts on a mask and it referred to an actor or an actress who would come onto a stage like this and in a Greek tragedy if it was a sad scene they would put on a mask with a frowned uh frowning face and a mouth that is drooping and then at other times in the play it it would be a happy scene and they would take that mask off and they put another mask on in which they're smiling and they would just play out a role act out a part to be someone that they're really not but they're just acting and then when the play is over they take the mask off and they come down with the people and they go back to being themselves that's what the word hypocrite means you're to faced you you you are just putting on pretenses to be someone that you're really not and so Jesus says whenever you fast do do not put on a gloomy face as the Hypocrites do for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting truly I say to you they have their reward in full verse 17 but you when you fast anoint your head that that means put some hair gel on and some hairspray and wash your face Verse 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men and so Jesus rebukes the Pharisees in The Sermon on the Mount and their followers for looking so gloomy thinking that they are so spiritual so they show up at Matthew's house and it's a mixed group and over here on this side of the room this side of the room are all the gloomy people and all the Pharisees and all the scribes and then and they're just walking around the Bland leading the Bland and uh and they just are so unhappy looking looking as they're trying to be so spiritual over here on this side of the room are the Disciples of Jesus and and even the the out andout Sinners look happier than this group over here and so at the end of verse 33 they they draw this now to a head but yours eat and drink they're not fasting they're having a good time they're eating and drinking They're laughing they're smiling they're talking they're feasting they're going back for seconds they're happy faed they're they're acting like they're at a wedding and these over here are acting like there at a funeral and so the the difference is so noticeable between these two groups the contrast is like night and day and so the Pharisees over here and on this side of the room come to Jesus in front of everybody and say why are your disciples not gloomy looking like we are couple things need to be said here number one no one's under obligation to fast we're not even celebrating the day of atonement anymore that was fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ you can but it's voluntary can't be imposed on anyone else but more than that the one of the distinguishing marks of being a true disciple of Jesus Christ is joy Jesus said in John 15:1 these things I have spoken unto you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full and Jes uh Paul wrote in Romans 14:7 the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking or it's not eating or not drinking that has nothing to do with it Paul writes it's Joy there is the distinguishing Mark of the kingdom of God and Paul will write in Philippians 4:4 rejoice in the lord always again I say rejoice and so one of the distinguishing marks of your life as a True Believer in Christ is joy and God uses that even in your Outreach and sharing your faith in evangelism you'll attract more flies with honey than with vinegar and the reality of joy in your life is a very very much a positive and I think that what we learn here also by way of application before we move on to the next verse is that legalism like the Pharisees had a tight rigid legalism never produces Joy legalism suffocates joy and squeezes it out of a person now please understand when I say legalism I'm not talking about obedience to the word of God I'm talking about OB obedience to what's not in the Bible that somebody says well if you're a good Christian I used to hear this you're you're not going to play cards I played cards with my grandmother almost every vacation in the backseat of our car we're just laughing and having a great time or or dancing it may shock you to know I danced with my daughter at her wedding to The Temptations My [Laughter] Girl I'm going public with it right now but legalism is saying you cannot play cards you cannot dance well there's dancing and then there's dancing I'm talking about dancing and so legalism just suffocates the joy out of a person's life and puts them in a straight jacket and it in imprisons them and likewise when children grow up in that same atmosphere that they can't even blink as they've grown up under legalistic parents and they go off to college sometimes they wonder why those children don't ever come back to church well they've already had round one of Bad Medicine they may not want anymore legalism neuters Joy but where the spirit of the Lord is there is Joy Ephesians 5:2 for the fruit of the spirit is love joy it's number two on the list peace patience kindness goodness gentleness self-control etc etc Joy well that the interrogation why aren't you sad like the rest of us Jesus why aren't your disciples moping around this leads us to verse 34 the explanation Jesus now brilliantly answers their question with a question and so in verse 34 Jesus said to them he gives them a straightforward answer and the word an indicates there's no pause there's no uh lag time as soon as they say this the the their words are in the air Jesus is returning ser Jesus said to them you cannot make the attendance of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them can you it's a rhetorical question the answer of which is so obvious it does not even need to be answered the answer is obviously no no one shows up at a wedding and acts like it's a funeral unless you're the old boyfriend who got jilted she traded [Laughter] up but at at a winning the attendance and and here the attendance would be in our culture like the the best man the best men I can't even remember what you call the other guys that are standing up there the what groomsmen thank you um and then the Bridesmaids when they're standing up there they're not sad there there there there is an excitement in the air and some of them may have been the one to introduce them to the bride who's about to come down the uh the the aisle and and no one's fasting at a wedding I mean at a wedding you got cake I mean you've got a buffet I mean it's it's a time to eat it's a time to be happy it's a time to laugh it's a time to to smile and so no one shows up at a wedding to fast wedding is a time of great joy and festivity it's a time of singing It's a time of dancing it's a time of laughter it's a time of sheer Joy how inappropriate would it be for for you to stand up there for those wedding pictures and you've got this Gloomy face and you haven't fixed your hair and you haven't washed your face and you just look like an Advan agent for the Undertaker so Jesus just is brilliantly dismantling their question which is intended to put him on the spot and in this analogy this picture that Jesus is painting I mean his closest disciples are these attendants and Jesus himself is the bridegroom and when the church is birthed on the day of Pentecost we become the bride of Christ just to extend this out but for us to be associated with the Lord Jesus Christ there ought to be more joy in this room than any place else in Dallas Texas and so he continues in verse 35 but the days will come let's look into the future when the bridegroom is taken away from them when when the bridegroom is suddenly snatched away suddenly removed and it is a veiled illusion to the arrest of Jesus in the The Garden of Gethsemane when the Roman cohorts came and arrested him and he was taken off and he stood six trials and then was crucified the next day that's the illusion here in very veiled language the bridegroom is taken away from them from them the disciples then at that time they will fast in those days and that points to the time between the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ and after the resurrection there will be explosive Joy there will be exuberant Joy Jesus said in John 16:22 this will help tie that down you you have grief now he says this in the upper room discourse right before all of the arrest will take place you have grief now because he's already told them I will I will be leaving you and Peter goes where are you going we want to go with you and Jesus says where I'm going you cannot come now and then he says let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me obviously their hearts were troubled that there was going to be the separation so Jesus says you have grief now but I will see you again and that's pointing not to the second coming it's pointing to the Post Resurrection appearances that Jesus will have with them but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you and that early church was so filled with joy now let me just say this Jesus even said to these disciples I mean there will be a time when you're sorrowful and then there will be a time when you're joyful and there are things that happen in our lives that are tragic and there are times we weep and we mourn and we have to acknowledge this and it doesn't mean that it's un you're unspiritual Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 4 says well let me start with verse one there is an appointed time for everything verse four a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance and so under the sovereignty of God there are appointed seasons in our lives and times could be the loss of a spouse could be the loss of a parent could be the loss of a child I mean there are times s that we do mourn and Paul will say in Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep it would be inappropriate to Rejoice with those who are Weeping you need to enter into their sorrow and their loss and James does say though in James 1 verse two consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance so that's Jesus's explanation this is why my disciples are not like your disciples because my disciples are with me and when you have close proximity to Jesus you have joy and so if you need increased Joy today draw closer to Jesus abide in Christ Fellowship with Christ set your mind on things above and not on things of the earth and you will find your joy increasing but this leads us now to verse 36 the illustrations now Jesus drives this home with the use of two Parables that function or serve as two illustrations and they really continue with the wedding Motif the bridegroom and the attendance these two Parables still are couched in this imagery of a wedding and joy so he says in verse 36 and he Jesus was telling them a parable now the word Parable simply conveys the idea it's an Earthly story with a Heavenly meaning and literally Parable par means parallel laid next to each other there are two things that will be laid down next to each other one the story and then next to it will be the obvious application that's what a parable does and so he's telling them a parable and so here's Parable number one in verse 36 Parable number two will be in verse 37 and 38 so in verse 36 first Parable no one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on in Old garment I mean no no one does this it's just never going to match the color is going to be different the texture is going to be different and the older garment has already been washed several times which shrinks it a bit and then the newer garment when it's sewn in it's not at the same elasticity and it's just you you can't mix and match you can't take this old Swatch and sew it into a new garment and expect it to look good and you can't even expect it to stay sewn together because Jesus acknowledges is this and and he says otherwise he will both tear the new and and the peace from the new will not match the old now this is referring to the attendants who are at the wedding and they need to dress up it would be inappropriate for you to show up looking like someone who's fasting and so the apparel and here if you both tear the new and the peace from the new it just won't match the old that there's no Harmony there there's no agreement so what's the point now Jesus is saying the true religion that he has come to bring cannot just be swn into to the Pharisees self-righteous system of religion you can't mix and match you you can't just add Jesus to your life to your old system of religiosity to your old Pharisee ways to your old empty rituals and external routines and man-made traditions you just can't patch up legalism by just adding Jesus but you still have the legalism the legalism has got to go if you're going to have Jesus and if you're going to have the joy of of of Jesus and you just cannot be a conglomerate of a little of this kind of religion and a little of this kind of religion and little of this kind of religion no it's it's all Jesus or no Jesus it it's all the kingdom of heaven or none of the kingdom of heaven so that's the first Parable and I it's glaringly obvious what Jesus is saying to his crowd there that day and so if you came from a legalistic home if you came from a legalistic church if you came from a legalistic background you can't just come here and now add all of this to your background and expect that your Christian life is going to function and work no you're going to have to burn your Bridges behind you you're going to have to let all that stuff go that's not found in the Bible and you're going to have to stand with the bridegroom close to him if you're to have joy now the second Parable is in verse 37 and 38 and it's still this wedding metaphor Jesus is just such a brilliant Master teacher he says no one puts new wine into old wine skins well you serve wine at a wedding I mean read John Chapter 2 they ran out of wine Jesus said to the servants go fill up six water pots with water and take it to the Headmaster and somewhere along the way Jesus by The Authority that's his as the Son of God the son of man he he caused the miracle to happen and the water became wine and it wasn't just grape juice it was wine and when this head waiter tasted he said oh my goodness this is this is the best I've ever tasted everybody else gives the best first and then when people's senses are dulled a little bit then they serve the cheap stuff you have saved the best for last and so as Jesus Now talks about wine it's still about like a a wedding Fe East and he says and no one meaning no one in their right mind puts new wine into old wine skins now why would you not do that because new wine is still fermenting and it's still sending off gas es and when you put it in an old wine skin that has already held old wine the fermenting and the gases have already expanded the old wine skin is kind of as far as it's going to be expanded now you put new wine in this it's going to expand it now even more the old wines the old wine can't expand it anymore but the new wine can and it will expand it so much it'll it'll cause it to bust it'll burst it'll crack and the new wine cannot be contained in an old wine skin so Jesus said and no one puts new wine and by the way throughout the Bible wine is is a symbol of joy and happiness and laughter like would be Associated at a wedding no one puts new wine into old wine skins into an old leather bottle or an old animal skin that's already dried out and brittle and hardened Jesus says otherwise verse 37 the new wine will burst the Skins it will cause the Skins to crack and to burst and to Spill and the Skins will be ruined meaning destroyed and so the point is new wine requires new wine skins you can't take the new and put it into the old because the old can't handle it so what is the point of Jesus's illustration well Jesus is not saying that the Old Testament is old winkin that's not what he's saying he is saying that the old dead religion of legalism of the Pharisees and the scribes cannot contain the Kingdom of Heaven the old win skins which are pheric and legalistic and go beyond scripture and impose this on other people that like if you're a good Christian you're going to do this but there's no chapter and verse to back it up the old win skins represent the self- efforts of man to find approval before God by keeping someone else's checklist know the old win skins or the teaching of the Pharisees and the scribes the old wineskins represent religion without Grace religion without forgiveness religion without Joy it represents the unconverted heart the spiritually dead soul and you cannot just just add Jesus to an apostate religion even if it has the name of Jesus on it so you're going to have to totally distance yourself from the religion of the Pharisees you can't you cannot play all ends into the middle so in verse 38 Jesus said but new wine must be must be put into fresh wine skins there is a a Divine necessity about this not could be should be would be must be the new wine must be put into fresh wine skins and the word fresh in the original language really means new but there there are two words used in the original language for time one means Chronos like a chronometer a watch it means new in time that that's not the meaning here like it's was just made yesterday now this word isos which means new of a totally different kind it has nothing to do with the time it has everything to do with the kind new wine must be put into a totally different kind of wine skin it must be put into a new heart new wine cannot be contained in an old unconverted heart it cannot be contained in the legalistic physical system of religion it will not fit this is why you as a True Believer will never be satisfied in a church that's legalistic it's impossible it won't happen you can only be in a church that's like new win skin for the new wine of your life to be plugged in and there are many legalistic churches in this city in this state in this country in this world and many of them are caught up in false systems of religion some are well- intended they're just not well taught others are teaching a different gospel that does not save and so every one of us needs to understand new wine cannot fit into an old wine skin several years ago couple decades ago I was the pastor of a church and when I went to be the pastor of the church I really did not understand that the church was comprised of more Pharisees than there were Disciples of Jesus and I was there for eight years and there came a point where I felt I can no longer be the pastor of this church and the image the metaphor that kept coming to the Forefront of my mind is you cannot pour new wine into an old wine skin the old wine skin will have to be thrown away it will just have to be totally eradicated and it will just be easier for me one person to leave with my family than to try to reconstruct this entire church filled with Pharisees unconverted the two religions cannot coexist they are two they're going in opposite directions they have opposite standards they have opposite authorities they have really opposite Masters and Jesus said no man can serve two masters now there's one last verse we've got to look at and that's verse 39 and this is the condemnation now when I first read this verse this week I I misread it and I had to look at it a second time and a third time and scratch my head and pray and even pull down some commentaries from the best of the best commentators to explain this verse and open this verse up to me because it seemed to be the total opposite but what we have to understand is Jesus now ends his words with an ironic twist as he will describe the Pharisees to the Pharisees who are entangled in their dead religion this is a portrait of the Pharisees and no one meaning no unconverted scribe or Pharisee who is spiritually dead and being dead they have dulled spiritual tastes and senses and it's still the the wedding Motif and and no one after drinking old wine now this old wine are the man-made rabinal Traditions that are not found anywhere in the Bible they are the the rules that the Pharisees have contrived on how to live in a way that would be acceptable to God but they have not come from God no one after drinking old wine and the Pharisees have been drinking this old wine for a long time and they have developed a taste for this old wine and they do not want to give it up they they love their old wine so he says no one after drinking old wine wishes for new in some ways that's human nature I've been wearing the same striped ties for years same white shirt same black pants same black belt I mean I'm painfully traditional so there's nothing wrong with being traditional in and of itself I love traditional architecture I love tradition art etc etc but it says no one after he's tasted the old wine wishes for new and he's talking to the Pharisees that you do not want the new wine that I have come to bring you still are attached to your old wine and this is what the Pharisees says at the end of verse 39 for he says for the Pharisees says the old is good enough he stubbornly clings to his old traditions that profited him nothing in fact harmed his spiritual life he's not interested in the new so we ask the question then how in the world would a Pharisee ever be saved God must perform a miracle in that Pharisees heart just like he must perform a miracle in your heart whatever your background wherever you've come from you cannot work your way to heaven like a Pharisee you can't you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps up to the heights of Heaven you cannot be like a disciple of the Pharisees and go to heav Heaven they're not going to heaven they're going to hell there must come a time there must come a place in your life a crisis moment when the realization has come I cannot continue to be a disciple of the Pharisees I I can no longer work my way to heaven I I can I can't meet the standard I'm not good enough there must come a time where you realize that you must become a disciple of Jesus Christ who has done all the work to save you the only contribution that you and I make is the sin that was laid upon Christ at the cross that's all we bring to the table is our sin and God does everything else God even arranges the circumstances for when you heard the gospel God was the one who convicted your heart of your sin and need for the gospel God is the one who sent his son into this world to die for Sinners God is the one who crushed him on the cross God is the one who raised him from the dead God has done it all God has sent the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to your heart and persuade you of your need for Christ all you can do is receive the free gift of God which is eternal life that's what the Pharisees couldn't it it didn't register it didn't connect the lights didn't come on for them it was too simple trust and Obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and Obey you just come finally to the end of yourself and you deny yourself and take up a cross and you begin to follow Christ maybe that needs to happen in your life today maybe you need to finally come to the end of yourself and all of your self efforts to raise yourself up to God because you can't raise yourself up high enough his standard is perfection and there's only one who's met that standard and that is Jesus Christ and if you would put your faith and your trust in him and just extend an empty hand to Jesus Christ he would fill that hand with the fullness of forgiveness and righteousness and along with that joy and for the first time in your life you would experience the reality of Christ in your life if you've never done that this could be the greatest moment in your life this could be the greatest day in your life and there is no reason for you to hesitate or to procrastinate the Bible says behold now is the accepted time behold today is the day of salvation when you hear his voice Harden not your heart so if you know that this is what you need to do to take that step of faith and to come through the narrow gate then do not Harden your heart but humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you and he will save you and he will forgive you it's the greatest offer you'll ever hear in your life let us pray father we stand in awe of our Master the Lord Jesus he he just always knows what to say he always knows what to do and we haven't even come to the end of Luke's gospel where he will die upon the cross for our sins and be raised from the dead just even as we observe him through the three years of his Earthly Ministry we we we are lifted up we we are elevated by just walking in his footsteps and hearing his voice and I pray that it will be internalized within us for all of us here today who know Christ may we become more like Christ and for those who have never yet come to Christ for the very first time oh May today be that great day of salvation in their life so God bless everyone who who has come here today in jesus' name amen a very short benediction from The Book of Romans 15: 13 now may the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit may you know his joy joy inexpressible full of joy this day God bless you you're dismissed

Channel: Trinity Bible

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Length: 77min 3sec (4623 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2024