Monday Night Study Papers
12-26-05
What Are "Old Wine Bottles"? (See Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37)
They rejected what they were taught and tried to prevent anyone else from hearing it. When they rejected further knowledge Paul quit teaching these old wineskins and went to those that would listen. At whatever point in my life I reject something God is teaching me, I will become an old wineskin. He will give me no more knowledge and understanding and He will give the opportunity to someone else.
The story of the Pharisees and publicans in Luke 18:11 shows the Pharisee telling of all of his righteous acts, and that he is not like the others there. He needs nothing. He has learned it all. He is an old wineskin.
There is no excitement. No growth. They are tired worn-out, stagnate, just counting time until their life is over. They are complacent with their life, they feel they don’t need to change any more. They have become comfortable christians. There is nothing wrong with them. They do not look at themselves and say is there anything I can do to become closer to God and become more righteous. Instead they know they will look at God someday and say, “see what I have done for you God? And he will say I never knew you.” They were not faithful to the end. They did not continue to grow in grace and knowledge.
2 Peter 1:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
We have to be strong by studying and asking God to help us because He will not give us anything more than we can deal with and not give us a way of escape. We learn and have faith as we live a more righteous lifestyle all of the time. This makes a new wineskin.
Then, here came Christ with a whole new wine, smashing head-on into their old, comfortable religion—pointing out flaws in their old wine and forcing them to question their sacred concept of reality and and faith and of God Himself.
This new wine demanded a deep personal repentance, plus a whole new level of responsibility and far greater obedience to the Ten Commandments, plus a life of faith, serving God and trusting God directly, in the Spirit. Their old God required FAR less from them. He had allowed them to compromise away the meaning and Spirit of the Law, by their traditions and was therefore a FAR better God!
A person’s concept of God represents their deepest ideals—their entire identity—their concept right and wrong—of truth and perfection.
In Matthew 19:16, a young man asked Christ “what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus said, “… keep the commandments.” The young man replied, “All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”
This young man believed he was righteous. He had followed the religious precepts of God’s priesthood his entire life. He was in the true Church of God—one of the CHOSEN ones. His God already accepted him as he was.
Once he heard what Jesus expected of him, he immediately decided he did not want new wine; he said, “the old is better” and no doubt, went running back to his favorite Pharisee, to hear Christ condemned for usurping the authority of the priesthood and saying these horrid, negative things about God’s Church! This young man was an old bottle!—and so were his ministers!
It’s no different in today’s Churches of God; Christianity’s fine as long as it’s free—as long as you can pay lip service to the law and claim Grace when it’s too inconvenient to actually keep the Sabbath or destroy your idols. And if caught in your sin you can always say something like, “This is God’s Church; we’re God’s people; He understands; we have his special favor; He doesn’t expect us to be perfect!
The Pharisees’s thought like this too. Their religion, with the true Sabbath and Holy Days, was a very deceptive, close to the truth, form of Godliness. It was difficult, even for Christ, to convict them of a specific sin. He had to condemn broad, general things, like traditions or hypocrisy or lack of faith.
Today’s Churches of God are hiding behind a similar FORM OF GODLINESS, while denying the true power of God (2 Timothy 3:5); divorcing; collecting cute little pagan idols; working on the Sabbath; stealing—little things of course; lying, deceiving and thinking God’s Grace delivers them to do these things AND as always, His people are clinging to their traditions and rejecting His prophets and will continue to do so, until they are taken away in their sins!
Nearly ¾ of a century ago, Herbert Armstrong brought NEW WINE to the Church of God 7th Day, but they said , “THE OLD IS BETTER.” They rejected him and the message of faith God sent with him AND God REJECTED them! New wine must go in new bottles.
New wine is an active, living FAITH that puts its trust in truth, above all else—hungering and thisrsting after after righteouosness. Old Wine is an ancient story; a comfortable, empty, faithless form of Godliness that puts the tradition of the church above faith and truth! Once again God is sending the SAME New Wine to the same Old Church and with the same old results!
Old bottles are the used up, withered, dried container that once contained new wine; all that remains is a musty odor, vaguely reminicent of stale, contaminated vinegar, to those who still remember the new wine.
New wine is new understanding about what God wants. Old wine is the mental picture of God that you already have. Old bottles fill up the church today, just as the Pharisees did in Christ's day. People who think that their “Old wine” is going to get them saved. They don't want to hear NEW wine, because the old is better!
When a person starts to feel that way, YOU CAN'T HELP THEM! When someone thinks that God is happy with them just as they are, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEM, because they are QUITE HAPPY with their old wine!
Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
The people of God were supposed to be the salt of the Earth. This crowd was supposed to teach the Gospel to the world, and make the world a little bit more palatable to God – just as a pinch of salt adds flavor to vegetables, these few disciples could make a huge difference in the world. BUT YOU CAN'T SALT SALT!
AND ONCE THAT SALT GOES STALE, once they stop FIGHTING to understand more, DEMANDING to change themselves – once they get complacent and self-satisfied, YOU CAN'T HELP THEM! OLD SALT CAN'T BE FIXED!
Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
WE ARE NOT SENT TO THE CHURCH! Matthew 28:19 DOES NOT SAY “Go ye therefore into all the churches...” now does it?? Why do you suppose that is? Because they that are whole don't need a Physician, and those that THINK they are, don't WANT ONE!
Our job is to salt this world, and make it a more righteous place. It ISN'T to change church people, it's to CHANGE THE WORLD! The church DOESN'T WANT new truth! They HAVE old wine AND THEY LOVE IT! We are commanded NOT to put our new wine into them! How DARE you disobey that command!
Matthew 7:6 Give NOT that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before SWINE, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.