EXPOSING THE OLD WINE SKIN OF RELIGION

TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW WINE SKIN OF THE SPIRIT

 

TEXT: Luke 5:27-39 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 31 Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 33 They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking." 34 Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast." 36 He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'" 

 

INTRODUCTION: 

 

One of the biggest obstacles to the coming move of the Spirit is the Church! More specifically, the “religious traditionalist” in the Church. There is nothing wrong with the traditions that have been passed down in the Church through the generations that have preceded us. As a matter of fact, solid church traditions, based on the Word of God, are a blessing. For example, our structure of worshipping God through hymns and spiritual songs at the beginning of our gatherings prepares the atmosphere, as well as our hearts, to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The receiving of communion on a regular basis reminds us of the sacrifice of Jesus as our only source of salvation and hope beyond this life. I could go on, but the point I want to make here is that traditions that have been passed down to us as the church can be good in our worship and service to God. However, on the other hand, traditions in the Church can also be a religious hindrance to the new move of the Holy Spirit that the Lord desires to bring. The Church can become so fixed on how it has always been done that there is no openness to the new thing that God wants to do! The spirit of the “Pharisee” is still in the Church today! And it must be dealt with if the Church is to experience the new wine of the Spiritthat Father God desires to pour out! 

 

Therefore, our message to you today is to expose the old wine skin of religion to make room for the new wine of the Spirit. Let’s pray. 

 

I. The religious problem with old wine skins. 

 

The Pharisees, a major religious sect in Israel, were considered to be the conservatives of the Jewish faith. But in their zeal, they created new laws or traditions that were not part of the written word of God. For example, they created their own traditions that required the Jews to fast twice a week. Not only that, but in their drive to be “righteous,” they taught that following this tradition of fasting would make that person righteous in God’s eyes, even though God never said that. The Pharisees, in their zeal to be righteous before God, became ultra-legalists. And they forced their religious legalism on the people of God—a legalism that God never intended. Jesus referred to these legalistic traditions as heavy burdens that weighed the people down.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with fasting. It can be a blessing. But true biblical fasting is not a religious exercise that God requires if we are to be righteous before Him. Fasting should be something we do in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to get closer to God. It is a way to eliminate distractions so that we might better hear His Voice. It’s about relationship and not religion.

 

The point I want to make here is that legalism cannot prepare us for the coming move of the Holy Spirit. God is not going to pour out His Spirit on a legalistic Church that “checks all of the boxes of religious duty.” As a matter of fact, revival will completely bypass churches who are religious but do not have a genuine relationship with God. Religious legalism makes us proud of what we are doing and what we can do. But the scripture says that God resists the proud. The Spirit of God will not be poured out on those who think that they deserve it. Rather it will come to those who know that they could never deserve it! 

 

Just as God would never pour out His Spirit on a church who believes that grace gives them the right to live however they want to, so too He will never pour out His Spirit on those who believe that their religious righteousness makes them good enough is His sight. 

 

II. Another problem with old wine skins is holding onto “it’s never been done that way before.”

 

When the Toronto outpouring of the Spirit, known as the Father’s blessing, and the Pentecostal fire of the Brownsville revival happened back in the mid 1990’s, many “Pentecostal churches,” churches that are known for their love of the Holy Spirit,completely missed it! Why? How? Because it did not come in the way that they believed it would come! God did not do it like He had done it in the past. I personally talked to Pentecostal pastors who were offended by the laughter that would simultaneously break out in the revival services. Never mind the fact that “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine!” There was one prominent Pentecostal minister who spoke against the Toronto Outpouring and urged people to stay away from it!

 

I had a pastor call me during the Brownsville revival and told me that several of his members had gone to the revival and had come back to his churchwith unusual manifestations, manifestations that they hadn’t seen before. He asked my advice. I told him that he ought to go to the revival and find out for himself what his members had gotten into. He didn’t receive my counsel and rather quickly ended our conversation! 

 

I will admit that when I went to the Brownsville revival, there were things that I didn’t understand. There were things happening there that didn’t happen in the Huffman Assembly revival that I was part of back in the 70’s. For example, I had an initial struggle with being prayed for and then finding myself on the floor under the power of the Spirit! I went to a Pentecostal college and a Pentecostal graduate school that did not prepare me for what the Spirit was doing in Toronto and in Brownsville. But by the grace of God, I opened myself up to the new thing that the Spirit was doing, and we as a Church also embraced the new move of the Holy Spirit. I am so glad that we did. It altered the DNA of our Church as the Holy Spirit deposited in us both the spirit of intercession as well as the spirit of the prophetic. And I believe that those two things, intercession and the prophetic, are a very important in preparing us for the next move of the Holy Spirit. 

 

The point here is that a big part of being prepared as the new wine skin for the next move of God is to be free from the old wine skin of, “it wasn’t done that way before.”

 

And that brings me to the final point I want to make in this message. 

 

III. The third problem with the old wine skin of religion is that it’s “better” than becoming a new wine skin of the Spirit. 

 

Look at what Jesus said in verse 39. “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"

 

The issue here is not the wine itself, but the person drinking the wine. It’s so much easier to just continue in the old ways of religion. The reason why is because we get so comfortable in religion. In religion we feel like we are in control, but in revival God is in control. So, there are many in the Church who say, “the old is better.” 

 

Back in the early 90’s, when the Lord began preparing this Church for a move of the Holy Spirit, a move that would continue for almost a decade, something had begun to happen on Sunday mornings. The Spirit was coming down during the worship. Consequently, the services began to go longer. As a result, I had some of those who were in positions of authority at the time come to me and tell me that what was happening wasn’t going to work. They told me that the worship was to only go so long and no longer. This at first shocked me. Why wouldn’t anyone who is a believer, especially a Pentecostal believer, not want to experience more of the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our services. Wasn’t that a big reason why we were meeting together as believers? I believed so, but not those who were in positions of leadership at the time. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that the worship was to be only 15 minutes so that we could be out of church by 10 minutes until 12! 

 

As a young pastor, I had a decision to make. Either obey God or men. I chose to obey God. I asked Brother Tommy to continue leading in worship for as long as the Spirit was leading, no matter how long that was!

 

He did, and at the next annual business meeting we had, those leaders who had given me the ultimatumto shorten the services called for a vote on whether I should remain as pastor. 

 

I will not get into details about that businessmeeting, and the politicking that went on behind the scenes in an effort to remove me as pastor, but I will tell you that the will of God prevailed. I obviously remained as Pastor, and our church experienced an amazing revival for years that touched hundreds of lives through the Presence of the Holy Spirit! 

 

It wasn’t that “the old was better,” but it was those who liked religion better than they liked the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Again why? because in religion they were in control, but in revival the Holy Spirit was in control! 

 

I remember hearing John Kilpatrick say that leading up to the Brownsville revival, 42 families left their church! Why? because it was easier to have the old wine skin of religion rather than to pay the price of becoming the wine skin of the Spirit. 

 

And that is where we are today as we stand at the door of another outpouring of the Holy Spirit! There are those in the church who prefer the old wine skin of religion. To them it is “better.” And they will have what they desire. A religion where they are in control and not the Holy Spirit; a lifestyle where serving God and building the Kingdom really has no room. For them, this is the better wine. The old for them is better. Consequently, they will not be a part of the new wine skin that the Spirit is preparing to receive the new wine of the Spirit. 

 

This is just the simple truth. It’s the way it is and has always been.

 

On the other hand, there is a remnant church that is being prepared for the new wine of the Spirit that will soon be poured out. This remnant Church is made up of those who are hungry for the Presence of God, regardless of the cost! 

 

This new wine skin that is being prepared are those who have no room for dead religion that has only the form of godliness but denies the power thereof! 

 

And as in the other messages I have preached, there is only one question that must be answered: where are you? Are you one that says the old is better? I prefer religion over relationship. I choose to remain in control. I am not willing to surrender fully to the Holy Spirit. I am unwilling to do what it takes to be part of the new wine skin that God is preparing for the coming revival. 

 

Or are you one that says, God, whatever it takes to have Your manifest Presence in my life and in our Church, I am willing. Prepare me Lord. I choose to be part of that new wine skin that is being made ready for the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

 

ALTAR

 

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy tried and true. With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for You! 

 

 

 

 

 GENESIS DAY ONE, PART II

TEXT: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

QUICK REVIEW FROM LAST WEEK 

1. Foundations are important:  

    

    1.) Genesis 1:1 is the foundation for Genesis 1-11

    2.) Genesis 1-11 is the foundation for the rest of the Book of Genesis

    3.) Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Word of God

2. THE UNIVERSE HAD A BEGINNING

The first verse in the Bible tells us that the universe was brought into existence—it was created by God. 

3. GOD HAD NO BEGINNING! 

The Bible tells us that time, space, and matter (the universe) had a beginning, but God was just there! How could this be? If God made time, then God had to exist before time. We know that time can be measured. For instance, we measure time with our watches by measuring minutes or hours. Each time we have a birthday, we know that a whole year of time has passed by. As time goes on, we get older—everything that exits gets older. But if God made time and exists outside of time, then He does not age.

And that brings us to our teaching tonight. Let’s pray. 

WHO MADE GOD? 

Some people say, “Surely God had a beginning!” Or “Who made God?” 

Let’s ponder this question very carefully. Consider a watch. Did someone make the watch? Of course they did. A watchmaker made the watch. A watch could not have come into existence by itself! So, is the watch more intelligent than the watchmaker? NO! The watchmaker is greater than the watch. We know that someone had to make the watch. That of course would be the watchmaker. Yet, the watchmaker is greater than the watch. So who made the watchmaker? Someone greater than the watchmaker. The Bible tells us that this someone is God. 

If someone made God, who would that be? A super God. And who made the super God? A super, super God? And who made the super, super God? A super, super, super God! We could keep saying this forever—and we would never get to the end! We would always have someone bigger to make someone. This doesn’t make sense. It means that there must be someone who is biggest of all. And that someone is the infinite God! 

The Creator God of the Bible exists in eternity, and the scripture teaches these three things about who the uncreated God is:

1. He is omnipotent. This means He is all powerful. Luke 1:37 says it very plainly, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

2. He is omniscient. This means He is all-knowing. Colossians 2:3 says about Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

3. He is omnipresent. This means He is everywhere at once. Proverbs 15:3 says “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” 

The word we use to describe God is “infinite.” This word means “without end or limit—greater than any amount we could number.” If God always exists, and no one made God, then it means His knowledge is infinite. It means His power is infinite. It means His understanding is infinite. It means His wisdom is infinite. It means God had no beginning—He is always there—He is the great I AM. He is the infinite Creator, He knows everything there is to know, and has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding. Everything about God is infinite. His love for us is infinite. As Jeremiah 31:3 says, “He loves us with an everlasting love.” He is infinitely good! As the scripture says, “His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 100:5

As we read God’s Word, it is important to remember that we are finite beings. We need to let God, who is infinite, tell us from His Word what He wants us to know. We must do our best to never take our ideas to God’s Word and try and make it say what we want it to say. 

Another way to understand our own finiteness is to think about our education. We have to learn to read and write, and then maybe go to school or college and earn a degree so we can be a tradesman, a scientist, a doctor, a teacher, or some other profession. But God never had to learn anything because He has always known everything. Everything we take a lifetime to learn He has always known. God knows it all! How great is our God!! The God of the Bible is truly infinite, without any limitations, forever!

CAN GOD REALLY HAVE NO BEGINNING? 

But what about people who say, “It’s silly to believe in God, because no one could just have no beginning and always exist.” Usually these people believe that the universe just came into existence by chance—as a result of naturalistic evolutionary processes. 

If people don’t believe in an infinite God, then we need to ask them where matter came from and where space came from. Many will say that matter has just always existed. This means they have faith that matter just exists (they believe in eternal matter), whereas we have faith, an objective faith that makes sense by what we observe, that God exists. So the question for the unbeliever to answer is this: where is the evidence that matter by itself ever made anything? They simply can’t answer that question. They cannot provide any evidence that matter ever made anything. You see, it takes intelligence to make things. Man is intelligent—he makes cars, computers, and airplanes. So we need to tell them that it is more scientific and logical to believe that intelligence has always been there rather than their belief that matter has always existed! 

Some will tell you that matter just appeared out of nowhere. They have faith that matter just came into existence by itself and then just made everything! 

But the problem is that no one has every observed matter to do that! To believe that is to have blind faith. Actually, it’s a faith that lacks any credibility because it doesn’t explain what is observable. It is much more reasonable and scientific to believe an infinite intelligence, who has always been, made everything, just as the Bible tells us. Yes, that means that we have faith that God who exists in eternity created everything, but it is not a blind faith like those who reject God. Our faith makes sense of what we observe, and science confirms it in many ways. 

In the New Testament Book of Romans we read: “For His (God’s) invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). 

Here we are told that if anyone does not believe in the infinite Creator God, they are without excuse, because God has made it obvious to everyone from just looking at what is seen that God the Creator exists! For example, when we look at cars, planes, computers, trains and buildings, we would never think that they just arrived here by chance. Matter just didn’t make those things! Intelligent people made them! However, trees, flowers, animals, and people are so much more complex than the things that man has made. In fact, a single cell (and we are made with trillions of them!) is more complex than anything man has made! And inside each cell God created a program, similar to a complex computer program in the DNA molecule to make the cell work and even make copies of itself. If it took intelligence to make simple things like cars, planes, computers, trains and buildings, what kind of intelligence did it take to make the first trees, flowers, animals and people, and then to also enable them to make copies of themselves? A much greater intelligence. In fact, an infinite intelligence—the God of the Bible! The God of creation! 

God made the first parents, Adam and Eve, and designed them to have children. When we look around the world today and see the trees, flowers, and animals, we need to understand God made the first trees, flowers and animals and also programed them to make copies of themselves. So the trees, flowers and animals are copies (descendants) of the original ones (“made after their kinds”) that God made. So we truly can say that God made all the trees, flowers, and animals as long as we understand that created the original ones and designed them to reproduce or make copies of their own kind year after year since the beginning. 

This is important, because as we come to the event of the Fall (Genesis 3) we must understand the world today has greatly changed from the way it was originally created. Now sin has affected everything, so in the present world, we are not looking at the world God originally made. More on that later. 

When you think about it, if we are amazed at the wonderful things man makes, we should be more amazed and give great glory to the One who made man and all things—the God of the Bible! We should kneel down and worship our infinite Creator. And we should recognize that we know almost nothing compared to what God knows. This should put things into perspective as we study God’s Word. 

CONCLUSION

I will end tonight with giving you four scientific facts seldom taught in our schools: 

1. The origin of life is unknown to science. The Law of Biogenesis observes that life only comes from life. Louis Pasteur proved scientifically that life does not, cannot come from non-life. 

2. Natural selection, the supposed basis of evolution, can only select from existing characteristics and does not produce any new genetic material. 

3. Mutations, said to be the source of new genetic material, are harmful to life and often lethal. Deliberately induced mutations in over 3,000 consecutive generations of fruit flies have failed to produce a better fruit fly, or to increase its’ viability—the ability to live and grow and survive. 

4. As Charles Darwin admitted, there is no actual evidence of any species having developed into another species!