Parables, Part Two,
“New Goes into New”- Luke 5:36-39
Sunday, January 10th, 2016-MRWC
We are continuing on today with our new sermon series called Parables: Small stories, big ideas.
As you read though the Gospels, you will often see Jesus using parables—or stories—that have deep and profound truths for our lives.
Last Sunday, Pastor Mike took us to Mark chapter 4 and explained the parable of the seed and the soil and gave us three truths that we can apply to let God’s word take deep roots in our lives.
If you missed the message, I want to encourage you to take a few moments this week, and log on to our website and take a listen.
This morning we’re going to dive into another one of Jesus’ parables and this one comes from Luke chapter 5.
(This account is actually found in three of the 5 Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.)
Just to set the context for today’s lesson, Jesus had endured a busy day of ministry. He had called His first disciples; He had healed a man who had leprosy and, in one of my favourite stories in the bible, healed a paralyzed man, and then Jesus called Levi to leave his life as a tax collector and follow Him.
To show how grateful Levi was, he held a banquet for Jesus and had invited his friends—would you believe they were other tax collectors! Imagine!
Of course, this made the Pharisees hot under the collar, and they questioned Jesus about it. Jesus’ reply was classic:
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (Luke 5:31-32, NLT2)
As awesome and as preach-able as this passage is, our lesson for today actually comes from the next exchange that Jesus had.
Take a look at Luke 5:33: “One day some people said to Jesus, “John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees.
Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?”
34 Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. 35 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (NLT2)
According to OT law, the day to fast was just that. A day. One day.
For whatever reason the Pharisees and even John the Baptist’s followers fasted twice a week, and they were wondering why Jesus’ disciples didn’t join them in the twice a week fast.
Jesus casually reminded them that the time to fast wasn’t when the wedding was taking place; the time to fast was when the groom was gone, thus making fasting voluntary, not just another legalistic exercise for people to follow.
“Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment.
For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins.
38 New wine must be stored in new wineskins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.” (NLT2)
This parable of Jesus has been of interest to me for a long time, and Lord willing, we’re going to unpack it this morning, but we probably should stop and pray first.
PRAY
There are two truths that I see in this passage and one head scratcher, so if you’re keeping notes this morning, here is the first thing I want you to jot down:
New does not go into Old
Look again at verses 36-37: No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment.
37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins.”
Jesus actually uses two different illustrations in this passage; but both highlight the same truth
No one, He says, takes a new patch and puts it on an old garment. Both garments would then be ruined.
The new one because it has been cut up, and the old one because the new patch will not match the old, faded garment.
ILLUSTRATION- I’m no expert on sewing and I’m even less of an expert on wine.
In fact, when Beth and I were on our honeymoon, we were offered a glass of wine with our supper, so the server poured out the wine, and set it on the table for us to enjoy.
We looked at each other, picked up the glass of wine, smelled it, and then quickly asked for a bottle of Pepsi!
I don’t know much about the wine making process, but when Jesus reminded the people that new wine will not go into old wineskins, He was reminded them of the fermentation process.
If new wine goes into old wineskins, the already stretched and brittle wineskins will burst and the wine and the skins will both be lost.
Don’t miss the point, church, New does not go into old.
New, and this is the second truth from this passage, New Goes into New.
Look at verse 38: “new wine must be poured into new wineskins.” (NIV84)
The New Living translation says pretty much the same thing: “New wine must be stored in new wineskins.” (NLT2)
For the new wine to be any good, it must be stored in new wineskins. The new and clean skins will not cause fermentation so rapidly and they can stretch without breaking.
The application, at least to me, just leaps off the page. We can’t put new into old. New must go into new.
When we try to keep bits and pieces of our former way of life—before we came into a relationship with Jesus Christ—when we try to pair our old way of living with our new way of living, it will stretch and crack and break.
This is why Paul was so adamant in his writing to New Testament believers that new does not go into old, new goes into new.
Look at Eph. 4: “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” (NLT2)
Paul was telling us to put off our old, obsolete self—the corrupted self, the self that is full of hate and lust and deception, and greed, and to put on the “brand-new self” which is created to be like God.
We can’t put new into old. New must go into new.
In 2 Corinthians Paul wrote these words: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (NIV84)
We can’t put new into old. New must go into new.
In Galatians 2:20, he wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NIV84)
We can’t put new into old. New must go into new.
Listen to this awesome quote that came from my study time this week: “Man on his own can only reform, but by God’s activity, he becomes qualitatively—or brand—new.” (Key word study bible, under neos, 3742)
We can try on our own to be new, but we will ultimately fail, because becoming a new creation is God’s doing. This is what He does best; taking our messes and transforming them—us—into new people.
God gave this promise to the exiles, and it’s a promise that is still extended to us today:
“I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” (NLT2)
God doesn’t want us mixing old with the new. He wants us to put new into new.
We can’t go back into our old way of living and pick and choose the things we like and add them into our walk with Jesus. It doesn’t work that way.
To put new into new, we must allow God to perform surgery on us and remove our old, stony, stubborn heart and let Him fill us with a new Heart and a new spirit; His Holy Spirit.
ILLUSTRATION- I really love new things. Be it movies, or technology or new cars; it doesn’t really matter. If something’s new, I want to check it out.
What really takes my attention about new things is clothes, specifically, shirts.
Whenever the girls and I get the chance to do some “retail therapy” I let them wander on their own, and I make my way to the new clothes rack, where I will flip through shirt after shirt to find just the right one.
Usually I find one—sometimes more—and I will generally take it to the fitting room just to make sure the length is right; because if the length isn’t right, I won’t wear it!
Then I will casually wander around to find my wife, ask her if she likes it, she’ll shrug her shoulders, and I’ll go off and purchase my new shirt.
Due to my love for new shirts, Beth had to make a rule. Every time I got a new shirt, I had to get rid of an old shirt.
For a while I listened, when I got a new shirt, I would remove an old shirt and life would be good.
But as time went on, I wouldn’t replace an old shirt when I purchased a new shirt. I’d keep both the old and the new.
This left my closet extremely full, and, when I got a new shirt last week, I was unable to find a hanger for it, so I had to make the decision.
Would I steal a hanger from one of my kids, or would I remove a shirt?
I’m happy to inform you, that I did the right thing, I removed a shirt or two… just in time to find new ones!!!!
This small illustration is exactly what Jesus is telling us in Luke 5. New does not go into old. New goes into new.
If we want God to work in our lives we must get the old out and let the new in.
We do that by coming to God and asking Him to remove our old hearts and replace it with His Spirit; then we will be putting new into new.
But here’s the thing, and this next part is the head-scratcher that I alluded to at the start of my message… its verse 39 of Luke 5: “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"(NIV84)
Say what Jesus?
“But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.” (5:39, NLT2)
“What Jesus seems to be alluding to here is that people tend to want the old and reject the new, assuming (wrongly in this case) that the old is better.” (NT Zon Com)
Sometimes we can think that the old is better—and sometimes it is—but when it comes to your spiritual life, new is better and God always invites us to join Him in the new thing that He is, and wants, to do:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Is. 43:18-19, NIV84)
God wants us to understand that when it comes to your spiritual life, new does not go into old; new goes into new.
If you have been trying to live for Christ, but aspects of your old life have been creeping back in, we must ask God for help, we must starve the source; we must put new wine into new wineskins.
Jesus reminded us that: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62, NIV84)
We can't follow Jesus and at the same time look in the rear-view mirror, because it will always lead to a disaster. God doesn’t want us filling the new with the old.
In order to move forward in our walk with God, we must make a choice: will we surrender to ourselves, or will we surrender to God.
Will we submit to God’s authority and the path that He has for us and be filled with His Spirit, or will we keep our old way of living and eventually rip apart at the seams?
Some of us need to stop putting old into new.
- It could be the conversations that we’re having;
- It could be the TV shows that we’re watching;
- It could be the thoughts that we allow to roam inside our minds.
Whatever it is for you, it’s time to take that old shirt out of the closet and replace it with a new, crisp, white shirt, that comes only from Almighty God.
Still others have never been made new. You are trying to put new into old, but it’s not working.
Until you come to Jesus, you will keep ripping and stretching and eventually you will break.
Both of these responses involve surrender; and that’s not a word we like to hear, or even use.
We like to be in power, but in God’s economy, surrender is the key to thriving.
To put new into new, we must surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
We’ve got to pray something like this: “Here I am Lord, please take my life and fill me with new. Don’t let me patch my new life with my old life. Help me to die to self and live for you.”
Jesus invites us into a new way of life. Will you receive this new life that He offers? Will you put new wine into new wineskins, or will continue mixing old with new?
Just remember this one thing, according to Jesus, We can’t put new into old. New must go into new.
As the worship team comes back, I want to allow you the opportunity to do some business with God.
Many of us in this room, actually all of us in this room, don’t have it all together. Each one of us are a work in progress, so if you have been trying to mix new with old, you have the chance to mix new with new.
The Bible tells us that God is making everything new (Rev. 21:5), and this includes you, so if you want to put new into new, I want to encourage you to pray the prayer on the screen, come to the front of the church, or speak to PM and I this week.. It doesn’t matter much as long as you respond to God’s still small voice.
MRWC is a safe place where you can allow yourself to be vulnerable before God and others, so if you need a touch from God, or actually a new heart from God; may you feel the freedom to cry out to God and ask Him to fill you with His spirit… just don’t leave this place without putting new into new.
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