 Matthew chapter 9 we're going to be looking at verses 14 through 17 and again I want to share with you some things in my introduction that's really going to give you information related to what a disciple is discipleship during the time of Christ and also an introduction and reminder of John the Baptist because what we see is disciples of John coming to Jesus and so I I I realize that very often Christians speak a language that is kind of a Language that is known to those who are fellow believers And so I call it Christian ease it's a language that we speak amongst ourselves And so there are words in that particular language in that vocabulary that we take for granted we use words that have biblical meaning and Assume that everybody has been trained in what that word means and all in one of those words that we use is the word Disciple so when we introduce our study today I'm actually going to lay a few things out for you so that you'll know what a disciple is and That way you're going to be able to better understand who John's disciples were and secondly I'm going to speak a little bit about John reminding you of who John the Baptist is And then we'll deal with a question that's being asked of Jesus by the disciples of John And so I'm going to give a lot of information today Hopefully it will help you to get a grasp of some of the things that are in the Bible that can it'll in the future help you to understand these words and and Histories etc that will make it better when you're reading the word so Matthew chapter 9 verses 14 through 17 Then the disciples of John came to him saying why do we and the Pharisees fast often? but your disciples do not fast and Jesus said to them can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then they will fast No one puts a piece of unshrunk shrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch pulls away from the garment And the tear is made worse nor do people put new wine into old wine skins or else the wine skins break The wine is spilled and the wine skins are ruined, but they put new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved So at this time during the time of the writing of the gospel There were various groups of people who gave their allegiance to various rabbis or teachers these people would be referred to as Disciples Mathetes and that speaks of a person who is a a learner it speaks of a Continuation of a relationship so he's a permanent or she's a permanent learner Now it's interesting when you read your Bible that the word Christian The word Christian is used only one time in the New Testament The word Christians plural is used only two times So the most common word that is used to refer to a follower of Christ Would be a disciple the word disciple is used some 263 times in the New Testament It's used one time in the Old Testament and So a disciple is somebody who is attached to a to a teacher. They are a lifelong follower and learner When you read your Bible, you'll note something that is also interesting and that is this that Jesus Christ did not Commission the church to go out into all the world To make Christians Now isn't that an interesting statement, and I'll show you what I mean in a moment, but That's not what the Great Commission in Matthew 28 says In Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 it says Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in Heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age He didn't say go out and make people who are going to call themselves Christians That is not the commission of the church We have not been called to go out and just popularize the name of Jesus so that people will begin to wear a cross as Jewelry and refer to themselves as on surveys as a Christian That's not what we have been commissioned to do and today a lot of Americans and Statistically it's going down, but a lot of Americans when asked. What is your religious affiliation? What do you believe they will say? Well, I'm a Christian Because it's easy to say that but those who would say I'm a Christian when asked in a survey very nonchalantly if you were in a Country that that puts to death people who refer to themselves as a Christian if some radical individual speaking to that person and said to them What is your religious affiliation? I doubt very much whether a nominal would say or person in name only would say oh I'm a Christian because they know that to be called a Christian would be also a way of signing your own death sentence And so today what we have is a lot of people who believe themselves to be Christians and they refer to themselves as being Christian But the fact is Jesus didn't say go out and make Christians He said go out and make Disciples and there is a difference between calling yourself a Christian and actually being a disciple during the time of Christ To become a disciple required some very basic things If I wanted to be somebody's disciple if I wanted to follow some rabbi and I wanted him to mentor me I wanted to become somebody who is trained to follow God in the way that this particular rabbi this teacher was Then there would be certain things that would be involved in that one I I would decide to follow the teacher to I would memorize their words their teachings Three I would learn their method of ministry for I would imitate their life and character and then five when I was mature I would raise up my own disciples. That's what you see in scripture You see a disciple would personally decide to follow a teacher The decision was something that came from within themselves. They had a desire to follow him When Jesus spoke to Matthew recently and said follow me Matthew immediately rose up and followed him The invitation was given but the response came from Matthew When Jesus was speaking in Luke 9 23. He said if anyone desires to come after me Let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me see so it's a desire if anyone desires to come after me If there's an internal motivation If there's something within them that that resonates when I'm speaking to them Jesus would say that there's something within spiritually that causes them to want to attach themselves and so to be a disciple There was a personal choice that I made And I followed after this particular teacher not only that as a disciple I would memorize the words of the teacher his lessons would be something that I would memorize in a personal way So as a believer in Christ that is a disciple of Jesus Christ I should be memorized in his words or the words of the Lord like it says in Deuteronomy 6 verse 6 Where it says these words which I command you today shall be in your heart Or Psalm 119 verse 11 your word. I have hidden my heart that I might not sin against you It's a it's a hiding God's word a treasuring God's word. It's a memorization That's why scripture study and memorization is so important for disciples The disciple also would would learn the master's manner of performing their ministry. I Still remember years ago now I was at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and I was standing next to my pastor Chuck Smith and and you could see these young men Who were praying at the Western Wall and and all of us if you haven't been to Israel? I'm certain you've seen film of These who are standing next to the wall and and they're putting little prayer requests into the cracks in the wall And they'll stand there and they'll pray and if you're there watching them You'll note that some of these young men will be moving some will be moving side-to-side like this Others will be moving back and forth as they're praying and you'll watch that and I was Standing next to pastor Chuck and I said to him Why is it that they're praying the way that they are and he gave me two answers? He said one he said the scripture says love the Lord thy God with all your strength And he says so in their prayers He says they move because the loving God with all of their strength He says that's one thing but secondly notice he said some are going side-to-side some are going in different direction He said undoubtedly they learned to pray in that fashion from the rabbi So they were being mentored even in the way that they prayed And so you'll see them going like this and as they're praying in all of that and they're doing so because they believe They're loving God with all of their strength, but what it is It's an emblem or an indication that they are following a certain rabbi and the manner in which he performs his ministry In John 13 verse 15 Jesus said it like this. He said I have given you an example that you should do as I have done To you he had washed their feet. He said that's the example You do the same for other people the disciple would imitate their teacher's life as well as their character They would learn compassion They learned ministry how to love others and how to serve God by watching their rabbi Jesus had his disciples with him. They would see him as he healed the sick They would see him as he prayed for those who were in need They they saw him as he held infants in his hands and as they watched them They were learning how to practically do ministry. It wasn't just theoretical. It wasn't just going to rabbi 101 classes it was watching the rabbi as he was out serving and so as they watched him They began to know how to serve and that's what Jesus was teaching them You should do as I have done to you and Ultimately they were to become like their master in Matthew 10 25 It's enough for a disciple that he'd be like his teacher a servant like his master and then again when ready the disciple would raise up other disciples You see at a certain point we who follow examples become examples for others Paul said it like this in Philippians 4 verse 9 the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do and the God of peace will be with you and So that's what would happen when disciples would be attached to a mentor a rabbi a religious leader John the Baptist as we see here in this passage had disciples interestingly enough we know that At least two of them ultimately became apostles when you read John's gospel in chapter 1 verses 35 through 42 That portion of scripture mentions Andrew who became an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ But it mentions Andrew as a one-time disciple of John there's another another disciple of John with him and Every conservative Bible commentary that I've ever read will say that that's John himself Andrew and John were also followers of John the Baptist Interestingly enough John the Baptist continued having disciples who followed after him even after the church was birthed When you read the book of Acts in chapter 19 verses 1 through 8 that portion of scripture records that John still had Disciples after the church was already 17 or 18 years old So his impact was not only for that moment, but actually lasted Into the years following many years following you see who is a very godly man He was a very godly man. He was a great example He was worthy of respect and he was worthy of of loyalty When Jesus spoke concerning him in Matthew chapter 11 Jesus in verse 11 said assuredly I say to you among those born of women. There has not risen one greater than John the Baptist and So this was a great man the name John when you look at it and translate what it means because Often in scripture your name Actually has a meaning my name David is a Hebrew word. It means beloved. That's what my name means John means Jehovah is gracious. That's what it means He was the last of the Old Testament prophets and He was the one who was used to introduce us to the grace that is found in Jesus Christ When John the Apostle was writing the Gospel of John. He said in John 117 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ John was the one who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord It says in mark 1 2 through 3 2 through 3 as it it is written in the prophets Behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord make his path straight John a great man. Jesus said a great very great man who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord Now the disciples of John knew that he had a spiritual pedigree. They knew he had a calling from God The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 1 verse 36 that he was related to Jesus through his mother Elizabeth and In many ways when you read concerning his birth, you would see it was very special His mother was unable to conceive a child and she and her husband Zacharias grew too old to have their own children But in spite of this it appears as Zacharias continued praying that God somehow would bless him with the son and God answered their prayers a child was given to him He was performing Zacharias was performing ministry at the altar of incense and he was praying and as that was happening An angel by the name of Gabriel which means man of God was sent to give him a message and in Luke chapter 1 verse 13 The angel said to him do not be afraid Zacharias for your prayer is heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son And you shall call his name John Jehovah is gracious So Gabriel also gave Zacharias a prophetic glimpse of the son that would be born if you take notes It's found in Luke chapter 1 verses 14 through 17 You you will have joy and gladness many will rejoice at his birth He will be great in the sight of the Lord shall drink neither wine nor strong drink He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children the Disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready of people prepared for the Lord John would have a special Ministry he would be a source of joy and delight causing many to rejoice He would be great in the sight of the Lord He would never drink alcoholic beverages indicating a complete separation to God He would be filled with God's Spirit from birth. He would effectively preach Repentance he would go before the Lord as his forerunner He would restore the hearts of the fathers to the children through repentance and he would be used to make ready of people Prepared for the Lord when you read about John you discover that his preparation period lasted 30 years And at the age of 30 he began his ministry according to Luke 3 23 and Matthew records that his ministry was built on preaching a message of repentance Interestingly enough John 1041 makes it clear that John performed no miracle, but he was an effective preacher And he was greatly admired and he had a number of disciples On one occasion when you read concerning his disciples and the loyalty and love you discovered that they had become jealous for him And for his ministry Jesus who had been baptized by John was now making more disciples and and John's disciples got upset over that And even went so far as to tell John the one whom you baptized Well, you know what many people are now following him and they got jealous for him, but John had said to him I must decrease And he must increase and he pointed them to Jesus who's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world Apparently his disciples hadn't listened too closely to what he was saying but now During the course of his ministry He has many enemies He had preached against an adulterous situation and according to Matthew chapter 4 verse 12. He's now in prison But that doesn't keep his disciples from approaching Jesus and they come and they come with a question Now Matthew doesn't record how much time separates this event from the one that we already studied He just records that some disciples of John approach Jesus and they brought a question Now I want you to notice something here these disciples of John are nobler than the Pharisees because they approach Jesus directly This indicates that their question would be sincere not simply out of frustration about Jesus's popularity They really have a question. So these disciples of John According to verse 14 Matthew chapter 9 came to him saying and here's their question Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast Why would this matter so much to them? I'll give you the answer from what they could see Jesus did not seem to be devout. He did not seem to be religious You see at this time religious people performed at least three outward acts that were recognized as being religious And we looked at that when we are earlier in the gospel of Matthew They would give their alms. They would pray and they would fast What had happened is outward religious ritual had become the barometer for righteousness and During their day Jewish religion had adopted twice weekly fast as evidence of righteousness So because Jesus's disciples didn't fast they must not be devout. They must not be sincere in their faith as As is true to this day External appearances is not always sufficient to make a spiritual judgment But people have a tendency of a judging from the outside they look at the outside and they'll say to themselves that person seems to be a Religious person and that other person doesn't seem to be a religious person and we can actually Use outer appearance as a barometer for whether we we think somebody's a sincere believer or not We can do that. We've been doing that forever. We did it 2,000 years ago, and it still happens to this day When I got saved as a young man a hippie kid Longer hair barefoot When you would compare me in the way I looked when you would compare me with with a Mormon That that society at that time would have said That Mormons genuine believer in Christ and and that guy there he needs a bath and that's kind of how our society was He's not the real deal, but we still have that to this day to this day because somebody could be dressed up nicely can have the white shirt and slacks and and and clean-cut look and they can come and bring something that's not biblical and then some Tattooed and pierced guy could be sharing the gospel and people even to this day have a tendency of saying oh That person can't be really a Christian because that person's got a tattoo and that person's got that got pierced You know and and I'll tell you They will listen to the clean-cut person sometimes quicker than they would to that person They think needs to get a haircut and take those piercings out and cover up those tattoos Tattoos. I mean a lot of people today Have a real problem with that, but that's not a new thing. I mean my mom and my dad had problems with people who had tattoos I mean my dad was in the Navy He never got a tattoo because my grandfather was opposed to him My dad was in the Navy and a lot of Navy guys You know they get their anchor on their arm or a battleship on their chest that sinks down to become a submarine You see these women who put their I don't know if it's a proper. I probably shouldn't say this their tramp stamp And they put a little hummingbird in their back. You know so cute it becomes a vulture in 12 years it And when they walk it flies I make them up I People have problems with that But that's a fact isn't it I said it's a fact I mean you'll see somebody with ink and they say well this person can't be he can't be saved She can't be saved because they have tattoos and that that goes way back way back My cousin I have cousins who grew up Culver City Venice in that area and we're talking about in the 50s And it's changed a whole lot since the 50s some of you know it's changed the whole lot Those areas were some of the areas were really really really rough and my cousin lived in a rough area Well, my cousin decided my girl she a girl cousin decided to get a tattoo And she put it on on her hand between her thumb and finger there It was a cross with little lines on it Some of you know what that symbol was it's my dad mom said that a symbol of being a what was called a pachuco Yeah, and my auntie my aunt aunt Tilly was not happy and So they didn't need laser then she took a razor blade to it That's right And she cut it off with a razor blade You're not going to be tatted in my house See, so I that's that's my family, you know, my dad Didn't like the ink. He didn't like the tattoos. He was in the Navy And his father didn't like tattoos and my brother got a tattoo on his shoulder That was maybe a half inch at the most and my dad was So angry that he put tattoo on him See, so that's not a this attitude, you know that we have today. It's not a brand new attitude There have been attitudes like that where some will go so far as to say, oh, you can't be saved because you have that tattoo And and that's a common thing that we still see to this day And they usually bring out a scripture out of it Leviticus to show us some things and and but that's the attitude that people can have It's an outward attitude See man looks at the outer appearance God looks at the heart and what what the Lord wants to do is he wants to show us the reality of a faith in Christ and And there's so many people who who who want to just regulate the outward and that was taking place during that day Why do the disciples of John and why do the Pharisees fast and again? It was religious ritual at time of Christ where they would fast twice a week Why is it that they are fasting and your disciples do not why are your disciples? not wearing your religiosity as an emblem the way Pharisees do even the hypocritical Pharisees is is what they're basically saying and And the disciples of John we have learned that we are to fast It is the acceptable practice of a religious person But we've been watching you Jesus, and we've noticed that your disciples seem to be partying all the time They seem to be happy and all of that and and we don't get it We don't understand Why is that so? Well, Jesus answers at verse 15 Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them When he says can the friends of the bridegroom mourn in scripture fasting often represents voluntary humility and mourning Psalm 35 13 says I humbled my soul with fasting Psalm 69 verse 10 says when I wept and chastened my soul with fasting that was to my reproach So fasting represented humility it represents mourning So Jesus's point is clear. This is not a season of sorrow. This is a season of joy It's a time of refreshing. It's a time of rejoicing Like like when a young man marries his wife and the young woman and he are rejoicing at their wedding You see his followers because he is with them His followers should be rejoicing Not mourning and crying in sorrow The believer should be rejoicing because they're with Jesus Christ You see being with Christ is joyful Even when we are concerned with the condition of the world and even when we are seeing things or things are happening Around us or even in our family There's still this this sense of peace and joy that comes by the spirit of God because we know that we're not alone We know that God's in control God is with us and we can have a joy even in the midst of grieving in Romans chapter 5 verses 10 and 11 Paul said if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son Much more being reconciled. We shall be saved by his life And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement We rejoice in God. We joy in God through Jesus Christ You see the the friends of the bridegroom are the groom's best friends They were the ones who were in charge of all the festivities and and so Jesus is saying my friends are to enjoy my presence And they are to be filled with the joy that my friendship produces for them Believers should be rejoicing because of the relationship with the Lord But he goes on to say the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then That's going to be the time that they can mourn Now when it says there that he'll be taken that word Taken means to be suddenly seized in a violent manner Soon the bridegroom will be violently taken from you and at that time you'll have time to mourn and this is referring Obviously to him being taken to the cross and crucified The Apostle Peter referred to this violent taken of Christ in a sermon on Pentecost in Acts 2 verse 23 It says speaking of Jesus that he was delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God But he goes on to say you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified in slain you took him violently You crucified him and you killed him and so Jesus is referring to that He's saying the bridegroom will be taken away and at that time there's a proper time to have sorrow in your heart You see the disciples of John need to understand just who Jesus Christ actually is their loyalty to John is getting in the way of They're being saved John's disciples have to follow Jesus and in doing so that will fulfill the ministry of John So he goes on and he says in verse 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk Cloth on an old garment for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse Nor do people put new wine into old wine skins or else the wine skins break the wine is filled out Wine skins are ruined, but they are but they put new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved and so There comes a time when attempting to patch something up is actually counterproductive Jesus is making it very clear that his ministry was not intended to somehow repair Phariseeism He wasn't here to try and make it better He wasn't here to try and patch it up and we understand that I I don't know how many people here are old enough to remember this And I don't even know if this is still something that continues to this day I think that may be so but there was a time When we actually wore our jeans until we put holes in them. We didn't buy them with holes I know it's a long time ago. We're talking about ancient history and all of that we actually we actually would buy jeans that didn't have holes and The jeans that you would buy the Levi's that you would buy We're not pre-shrunk So you would wash them and hang them out to dry eventually if you were rich you got a clothes dryer What is so Taken for granted today We didn't have a dryer when I grew up, you know the dryer was Nature with the wind and sun and you went out to what was called a clothes line and They used to have clothes pins and and you would listen to your 33 rpm record as you know, I'm just kidding Then you got a four-track and an eight-track and on and on but a portable phone Was something with a real long line That you connected and you go walk around the house with it and a party line Was a line that you shared with your neighbors Anyway Just talking to you young people and forgetting what I wanted to say What the Lord had given to us and what the Lord would have to us to have is a freshness of the things and so if you bought a pair of Levi's and And you Somehow when they were still new and hadn't been washed if you tripped and you ripped the knee Mama would go to the store and she'd buy a little patch kit You could bring it home. You open, you know, you turn the Levi's inside out you put the patch over it But you better do that before you wash the jeans because if you wash them and then put that patch on and then you wash It with the patch then the patch is going to tear away And that's basically what Jesus is talking about because they did that during his day the same kind of thing he says so you never ever put an A patch on something that hasn't been prepared to receive it and he's saying I haven't come to repair Parasheism I'm not here to patch it up Then he moves on and gives a second kind of illustration in verse 17 When he says nor do people put new wine into old wine skins or else the wine skins break The wine is spilled and the wine skins are ruined But they put new wine into new wine skins and both are preserved and so Jesus is letting us know that the Pharisee order is not right because it's external and External religion promotes self-righteousness Not only does an external only religion promote self-righteousness, but it also Begins to enshrine rules and regulations that may not be found in scripture But people have an agreement that that would be good to do and it becomes realistic and You just basically stifle any of the freshness of the Spirit of God Because you've created a system that doesn't allow him to work in it it's a system that doesn't welcome the new wine of the Holy Spirit and Jewish formal religion was not welcoming the work of God through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit What happens is ritual religion becomes inflexible it becomes Unyielding it becomes a system that resists the power of the Spirit It's not led by the Spirit and therefore produces religious, but unspiritual followers So when I get saved I go to church and There's a freedom that I'm experiencing amongst the people and I have a pastor named Chuck Smith who doesn't Forbid the long hair from showing up to church because again what you have today in terms of what's accepted fashion Was not so acceptable at that time and long hair Was something that people really had a real problem with and so Chuck didn't tell us to go out and cut her hair He simply said come on in and I'll give you Jesus but after I got saved I was reading about a particular church that was in another state and it was a very large church very well-known church and It had a barber this church had a barber on staff So when true story so when the hippie kid would come forward at the invitation to commit their life to Christ They would go into the back for the counseling and the barber would be waiting there to cut his hair Because everybody knows that Jesus had a real short haircut. Everybody knows that He's aware of a lease and a suit and a tie. I mean everybody knows that and That is what happens and and that's what that kept a lot of people a lot of my generation It would keep them from coming to faith in Christ because the externalism of the religious beliefs Because you have to look this way. You can't look that way You you have to have short hair, you know Even even what I do now when I stand out here and I'm wearing jeans and and I'm casual that's you're used to that You're you but that was not so when I got saved That wasn't so When a preacher preached a message on a Sunday morning back in 1970 71 and all he better wear his suit He had to be a tired properly and people would complain. They'd say you're taking the gospel less seriously because You're that way. You're not wearing your suit. We had people who left our church because we didn't have stained glass They get into the traditionalism the ritualism they think that that denotes real Christianity and they do that Maria and I were driving through a neighborhood in Ontario years ago now There was a man who was mowing his lawn and I said to Marie. That's a pastor She says you don't know him. How can you know he's a pastor? I said he's wearing his suit True story. He's there with his push more in case, you know, somebody should show up. He's on duty I can pray if I got my tie on and people think that way even to this day and you know it and I know it We externalize religion if you look in a certain way, I'll listen to you But if you don't look like I think you're supposed to look like I don't want to hear where you have to say Because you don't look religious and so that's what the Lord is dealing with it's that mentality It's that that sense of stifling the spirit of God because we're trying to patch something that is external only John was not the Christ He was sent to prepare the way for the cry for the Christ and He wanted people to know Jesus wanted people to know that God wanted to do a fresh work and he uses the illustration of wine When he says nor do people put new wine into old wineskin. Why would he use the word wine? because in the scripture Wine can be used as an emblem or a symbol of the spirit of God That's why Paul would say and be not drunk with wine where in his excess or dissipation But be filled with the spirit Because people during the time of the writing of Ephesians Would believe that when they were drinking and they got a bit buzzed a little high drunk That they were actually possessed by the spirit That was within wine and Paul says and be not drunk with wine wearing is a lack of self-control when's the last time you ever saw somebody get so drunk that they wanted to go out and and and Do some good things, you know, they just don't they're not out there trying to volunteer to go out and build housing for the poor when They're drunk, they don't do that. They'll talk about it, but they don't do it Because you're not really driven to do good things when you're real drunk You just not and so you're out of control not under control Even in the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the hundred and twenty there in the upper room One of the things that were said concerning them is all these people are filled with new wine because they seem to be Speaking in a language. They thought they were just babbling that was not understood by the majority every one of them was speaking something a bit different and The people there representing 16 or 17 nations began to hear the wonders of God in their own language But now initially they were saying all these people are filled with new wine And that's why the Apostle Peter said no men and brethren is not that way at all No, we're not drunk with wine, but this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel who said In the last days I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh He said this is actually a fulfillment of what the word of God says concerning him pouring out his spirit and so What we are is under the influence of the Holy Spirit We are actually to be those who are moved along by the spirit of God You see traditionalism and inflexibility can end up stifling and quenching the work of the spirit and And some aren't even open to what God wants to do in Luke chapter 5 verse 39 It says no man also having drunk old wine straight away desires new for he says the old is better People get stuck in what they think is the best way and Then they begin to harden and become inflexible. I have been praying for a long time That that I will as a minister of the gospel Always remain firm about what scripture says is specifically important to know doctrinal cardinal doctrines to remain Very very inflexible when it comes to compromising God's truth and to remain open to what he may want to do in a fresh way I used to be an assistant pastor in another Calvary Chapel. We were renting a particular church from a denominational church and The denominational church Board said to us You can You can bring electric guitars Into the fellowship hall But you cannot have electric guitars on the platform in the main sanctuary They had a real problem with electric guitars now again what is normal to us today was not normal back then Pastor Chuck was looked at as some kind of radical hippie lover They didn't really the the church of that age was losing all the hippies because they were so caught up saying You got a change. You've got a look in a certain way. We don't like your long hair We don't like the fact that you don't wear shoes in church and and do you know and this you some of you've heard this You'll know this is true Some of you may have never heard this you're young in the in the Lord or perhaps chronologically young But the music that we play today. Do you know what it was called by the church world? It was called voodoo music Did you know that how many of you knew that I want to know okay? I you didn't know it voodoo why because they said it's got a hypnotic beat and When you're playing the drums what happens is the people are coming under the spell of voodoo so I got a doll with some needles and I know During worship and so we were using a church for Sunday morning and Midweeks and they told us that you cannot play electric guitars in the main sanctuary But you can have electric guitars in the fellowship hall and it even then at that how strange God likes fellowship So when we play guitars in there, he's cool with it But he doesn't come into the main sanctuary if we have an electric guitar It did it didn't make sense to me that you're dividing up rooms in that way To the degree that they think God's okay with because the word fellowship is less than worse I've never up to this. It's been almost 35 so about almost 38 years Since we I heard that I still don't understand that that's legalism. That's ritualism. That is What jesus said just doesn't work God is creative and god is innovative And our god does a new thing Be careful that you don't get traditionalized Be careful that you don't become an old wineskin and as we're growing older And all of us thank god One day at a time or a little bit older One of the ways that you can begin to see if you're getting to be an old wineskin Is if you begin to say things like I don't get it. I don't know why they're doing that How come they're doing that? We don't need to do that Be careful I don't understand what's going on You know what? One of one of the things that gives me pleasure in life One of the pleasures and god has given me so many thank him. I thank him for it is Watching my grandchildren growing up Because they make messes They are so messy And they are so loud Oh, they're loud And rambunctious And fresh and alive I like that I like the life. I like the joy. I like That even if it does make me tired and indeed it does I get tired and go oh Settle down. Where's the Benadryl? But I think you know what I mean? I I and christ new christians with the life. They want they want to see god move They want to see god roll And and I'm with them on that I want to see the lord really I want to see god move in our life as long as it's appropriate Doctrinally, but I never want us to formalize our walks with god to the point where Where people who are young exuberant in their faith and god is ministering To the point where we as a church begin to exclude them because they're not doing it the way that we think they should do it My very first message that I gave as a as our first day of a church Was out of isaia 43 18 and 19 Where it says do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old behold I will do a new thing Now it shall spring forth shall you not know it I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert behold I am going to do a new thing And one of the things that I am learning about god and have learned about god is he's in the business of doing new things He wants to do new things and by the way when you're saved he even calls you that He says you are a new creation old things passed away behold all things become new god does new things Behold I behold I make all things new And so jesus is simply saying listen You're rabbi john taught you religious disciplines As a godly man The Pharisees have religious disciplines because they're legalists And are not open to the spirit John came in preparation for the one who was to follow that was jesus I have come to do a new thing So rather than getting caught up with the old Be open to the new And the new would be faith in christ Who has come to pour his spirit on those who follow him John prepared people for that Jesus said but it's like it's like a wedding He said I am here and as I'm here. There's a time of rejoicing Don't become an old wine skin But allow the work of the spirit in your life To have freedom So that god may move because jesus is the one who sends the spirit to dwell within those who follow him So that we might have the joy of walking with christ every day in anticipation With being with the one who makes things new So may our lives be filled with his love with his joy with his compassion with his concern with his heart for others May we live in such a way that we do fast that we do pray that we do give But may we do that with a heart because we love christ Not because it's an emblem or an indication that i'm religious But simply because that's what believers do and we do it not to force other people to do it We do it because he has he has compelled us to and so it comes from within us to follow jesus Not some outward rule, but some inner passion to follow christ to love him and serve him forever Because he is the one who gives to us the new wine may the spirit work in us to that end