The Gospel of Luke #22

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.200 In Father, we come to your word. And Lord, this is important, 2 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:09.439 for it is your word, and it's important that I carefully exposit it 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:12.199 to your people, and that I do not try to go to the writer 4 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:16.359 to the left, but that I try God to be faithful to the text. 5 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:21.640 Lord, you were teaching some marvelous things in this text, and I 6 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.239 don't want to mess it up, but I do want to emphasize what you 7 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:29.480 were trying to teach us. And so Lord, I pray that as I 8 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.000 read your word, and as I exposited to your people, that you would 9 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.679 help me to have grace to do it rightly, Lord, and to indeed 10 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:41.280 to be able to speak to your people in such a way that will edify, 11 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:46.159 exhort and comfort them. And so Lord, we ask for your spirit, 12 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:52.759 Oh Holy Spirit, please not only illuminate and anoint your word, Boord, 13 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:57.759 but that which follows as well. Keep me from sin, keep me 14 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.600 from falsehood and deceit, but help me to preach your true word. We 15 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:08.040 ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Our text this morning comes to 16 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:15.200 us from Luke chapter five. The end of the chapter, we're going to 17 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:22.359 be looking at Versus thirty three to thirty nine Luke Chapter five, thirty three 18 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.760 the thirty nine here is God's word. And they said to him, the 19 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:33.200 disciples of John fast often and offer prayers and do and so do the disciples 20 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:38.079 of the Pharisees. But yours eat and drink. And Jesus said to them, 21 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:42.400 can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The 22 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:46.200 days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they 23 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:49.879 will fast in those days. He also told to them a parable. No 24 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.280 one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. 25 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.439 If he does, he'll tear the new, and the piece from that 26 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.560 new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old 27 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:06.359 wine skins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, 28 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.360 and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new 29 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.039 wine must be put into fresh wine skins. And no one, after drinking 30 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:21.280 old wine desires new, for he says the old is good. Since the 31 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:28.199 reading of God's word, please be seated. So this morning we come to 32 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.199 the end of Luke chapter five, chapter that I think has had a lot 33 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:35.400 to teach us much for us to look at in our last text, we 34 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.520 saw the call of Levi. We saw that after he had been converted, 35 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:45.120 he uh calls this major feast and invites all of his friends, who, 36 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:49.680 as we looked at, are basically the low life of society because text collectors 37 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.400 didn't have friends in the upper echelon, so he would invite all of these 38 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.599 people that many people would not want to be acquainted with, but Levi invites 39 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:05.240 them. And so this morning we have the third confrontation between Jesus and the 40 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:10.639 Pharisees, and these confrontations will continue into the next chapter as well. There's 41 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:15.439 two more coming up in chapter six. But let's start by looking here at 42 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:20.680 verse thirty three, it says they said to him. Now we might assume 43 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.599 from that, and it says they that it's referring to the same group as 44 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:30.080 in verse thirty where it identifies them as the Pharisees and the and their scribes. 45 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:36.439 But in Matthew's account he says it is the disciples of John who actually 46 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:42.120 come to Christ. With his question, Mark's account combines them says, now 47 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.520 John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, 48 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:52.159 why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your 49 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:55.360 disciples do not fast? So there is no contradiction here. It's just that 50 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:00.879 different writers want to emphasize different groups that are coming to Christ. And it 51 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.400 just happens at this time that both of the groups, the Pharisees and also 52 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:14.560 the Disciples of John, are fasting at this time, and they come therefore 53 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.319 with his question that that he has now the reason for the joining together. 54 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:26.000 Calvin says that maybe the Pharisees are attempting to draw the disciples of John away 55 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:30.560 from Jesus and into their party, which they could be doing, and he 56 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:34.560 draws this application Calvin does. He said, this example reminds us that prudence 57 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:41.959 and caution are necessary to prevent wicked and cunning men from sowing divisions among us 58 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:47.079 on any slight ground. Now what we might question, though, is why 59 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.639 would the disciples of John. I mean, we understand the Pharisees, but 60 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.680 why would the disciples of John be coming to Jesus to question him? After 61 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.480 all, John pointed his disciples to Jesus, he said, has he pointed 62 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:04.279 at him? Look? Behold, this is the lamb of God who takes 63 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.399 away the sins of the world. He said, he must increase and I 64 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:14.160 must decrease. So why why are they are questioning Christ here? Well, 65 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.040 we have to remember a couple of things. Number One, remember John was 66 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:21.759 an ascetic. John was someone who lived in the wilderness, ate very little, 67 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.879 probably often fasted as well, and so they would, of course his 68 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:32.000 disciples would wonder about that. Why why would Jesus be doing a different kind 69 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:38.079 of lifestyle. And Jesus refers to this in Matthew eleven, eighteen and nineteen. 70 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:42.240 John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. 71 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:45.600 The son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, look 72 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.920 at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 73 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:56.120 sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by your deeds. So it would very likely 74 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.519 be that the disciples of John, as disciples of a teacher will often do, 75 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.160 they'll of the practice of their master, and so they of course would 76 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:06.879 follow the ascetic practices of John. And so they might wonder why is it 77 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:14.439 that Jesus is not following that particular procedure. The other thing we got to 78 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.560 remember is that although John did point out to his disciples that Jesus was the 79 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:21.519 Lamb of God. Not all of his disciples were present at that time. 80 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.360 In fact, we're gonna come, well, we won't, but you can 81 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.519 when you go further in your Bible upon a group in x nineteen of disciples 82 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.920 of John who didn't know anything about the Gospel or the Holy Spirit. And 83 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:38.000 so of course there's going to be some of those here. And also we 84 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:43.600 note that John was really the last prophet of the Old Covenant and Jesus the 85 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:47.120 first of the New. There is one other possibility for the fasting, however, 86 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:51.399 that I'll just mention. We can't prove this. We don't know exactly 87 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:57.839 because Luke doesn't tell us things that strict chronological order. We don't know exactly 88 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:01.560 when John actually died at the hands of of Herod. We know about the 89 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.600 story, but we don't know when. And some postulated perhaps, uh, 90 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:12.800 the disciples were fasting in mourning because of the death of John. The possibility 91 00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:17.199 but certainly not provable. And this is a question of practice. This is 92 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:21.240 not a question of obedience to the law. It's not that at all. 93 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.600 The law only required and kind of obliquely, uh not not really clear, 94 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.720 But the law only requires fasting of the Jews one day in the year. 95 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:35.000 That day, as I'm sure many of you know, is the day of 96 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.519 Atonement. That was the day, and there it says, and it shall 97 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:43.279 be a statute to you forever, that in the seventh month, on the 98 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.079 tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work 99 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.959 either the native of the stranger who sojourns among you. In that term, 100 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:58.639 afflict yourself is the term for fasting. But from practice, what it appears 101 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.319 by this time is both of the disciples of John and the disciples of the 102 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:07.680 Pharisees were practicing regular fasting at this point. You might remember when Jesus tells 103 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:11.480 the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. One of the things that 104 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:16.319 Pharisee says is I fast twice a week, and those two fast would have 105 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:22.079 been Monday and Thursday that they fasted together. James Edwards says, although not 106 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.920 a legal requirement except on the day of Atonement, fasting had become in Jesus 107 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.879 day a prerequisite of religious commitment, a sign of atonement of sin and humiliation 108 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:39.480 and penitence before God, and as a general aid to prayer, and there 109 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:43.840 were uh aids and their writings that would tell people particular times they ought to 110 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:50.720 fast, and remembrance is perhaps of national disasters, is when the tempo had 111 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:56.279 been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, And even during times of crisis, fasting would be 112 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:01.000 perhaps um given by the leadership that they should and and there might be just 113 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:05.799 practical reasons that one might fast. But the danger of fasting, like anything 114 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.279 else, like it is it can lead people, which just does here to 115 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:16.279 these people, to a kind of works righteousness, to justifying yourself by works, 116 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:20.559 which is not the gospel that Jesus comes to do. And so um 117 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:28.000 we have them coming to the Lord. And remember our Lord had just recently 118 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:33.360 finished a forty day fast, okay, so he could have easily said to 119 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.879 them, which he didn't. But he could have said, fasting. You 120 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.799 asked me about fasting, let me tell you about fasting. And he could 121 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:43.399 have he could have enlightened them upon how much he fasted, but he didn't 122 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:48.679 do that. What he does is he simply exonerates his disciples from the charge 123 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:54.480 that they're making. As I mentioned, we read earlier that Isaiah had warned 124 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.360 about fasting become a works righteousness, as we read this morning where they said, 125 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:03.799 why we fast and humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it. 126 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:05.799 In other words, Lord, we're doing the works you've commanded, so 127 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:11.600 you should bless us because of that. Jeremiah said in chapter fourteen, verse 128 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.919 twelve, though they fast, I will not hear their cry. And it 129 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.200 seems from what Jesus says in a sermon on amount that the Pharisees had come 130 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:22.600 up with a pretty good way to show people that they were indeed fasting, 131 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.679 so you could look at them and say, oh, look at the way 132 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.840 they look, they must be fasting. So they made certainly made it into 133 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:35.480 a works righteousness for sure. So in verse thirty four, Jesus begins by 134 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:41.799 taking an example from cultural practice. Now, it is traditional in our culture 135 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:46.440 to have a wedding dinner following the wedding ceremony. That's normally the practice, 136 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:50.159 and maybe a dance as well, that we'll have that. But in the 137 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:56.919 days of Christ it went a lot further than that. Um a wedding party, 138 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:01.440 not talking about the people in the wedding, but a wedding celebration could 139 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.960 last even up to two weeks that they were there. That they were there, 140 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:13.159 the normal procedure would be a seven day celebration for a virgin bride and 141 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.919 three days for a widow. So the one time that no one, not 142 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.240 even a Pharisee would think about fasting, was during a wedding. You would 143 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:26.960 never ever do that. And you might know that in the Greek when you 144 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.519 ask a question, you can ask a question in such a way that you're 145 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:37.039 anticipating what the result and the answer is going to be. In that so 146 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:43.159 I could paraphrase christ question here to say, you wouldn't make the wedding guest 147 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:48.720 fast when the bridegroom is with them? Would you therefore anticipating a no answer? 148 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:54.440 Uh? In regards to that, And Chris Asten thought that Jesus took 149 00:11:54.519 --> 00:12:01.200 this example of him being the bridegroom directly from John the Baptist. Calvin says, 150 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:03.559 I have no objection to that view, but I did not think it 151 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.960 rests on solid grounds. But remember John the Baptist said, the one who 152 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:11.519 has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and 153 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:16.960 hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. And so there John made 154 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:24.200 the correlation that Jesus was the bridegroom. And then he says very interesting comment. 155 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:30.120 He says, while the bridegroom is with them. Now it has been 156 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.840 noted that nowhere in the Old Testament is the Messiah ever referred to as the 157 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:43.799 bridegroom. But there is someone who is referred to as the bridegroom, and 158 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.240 that is God. God is referred to that Isaiah five, I will be 159 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:52.159 troth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and 160 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:56.879 injustice, in steadfast love and mercy. And of course the book of Josiah 161 00:12:56.919 --> 00:13:01.440 that's kind of built around that, and I will betroth you to me forever. 162 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:03.879 I will betroth you to me. Uh well, actually I copied the 163 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:07.399 same verse there, but it's in jose I won't take the time to look 164 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:11.200 it up. But um. But again, that whole book of jose has 165 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.960 kind of written around the idea of Josea taking a wife and all that goes 166 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.039 along with that. So Jesus, by saying that he is the bridegroom, 167 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:26.240 is not saying necessarily that he is the Messiah, but what he is saying 168 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:31.360 by saying he is the bridegroom, is he saying he is God? So 169 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:39.159 Jesus is the bridegroom, which means Jesus must be God. So in verse 170 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.559 thirty, kind of a distressing thought, okay, He tells him the days 171 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:46.080 are going to come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. And 172 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:52.120 this begun several statements in the Ministry of Jesus where he talks about being destined 173 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.600 to be killed. This is the first one that we have in the Gospel 174 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:58.039 of Luke. And the word taken away, the bridegroom will be taking away, 175 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:03.039 taken away. That's that's a strong word in Greek. It indicates taken 176 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:07.480 away by force, by an act of violence. And so Christ will be 177 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:11.120 taken from his disciples and taken violently. We can think of Isaiah fifty three 178 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:18.200 eight by oppression and judgment he was taken away and as his force generation who 179 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.200 considered that he was cut off from the land of a living stricken for the 180 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.639 transgression of my people. Or Zachary thirteen seven. Awake, o sword against 181 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.559 my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the Lord 182 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.679 of hosts, strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. I 183 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:41.279 would turn my hand against the little ones. But we have no idea here 184 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:46.799 or indication that the disciples are actually picking up on that at this particular time. 185 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:50.720 But the point the Lord is making is usually at a wedding feast, 186 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.639 the people that go away are the guests. They're the ones that begin to 187 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.120 go away. But Jesus has saying in this case, it's going to be 188 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:03.159 different. The bride group is actually going to be taken away from the guest. 189 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:07.879 And then he says, and in those days, my disciples were fast. 190 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.960 The question is what does he mean by that? Come back to that 191 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.320 in a little bit. Let's look at the versus thirty six or thirty eight. 192 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.919 We've been looking at parables that are fellowship groups that I'm leading, and 193 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.360 here Jesus gives us two of the shortest parables that we have. Um, 194 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:28.320 I could say, I could say even that this whole idea of the wedding 195 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.679 feast and the wedding uh and the groom and all of that is also a 196 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:37.240 parable of sorts. But the parable and verse thirty six concerns two pieces of 197 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.080 fabric and old and a new now when I read it this morning in the 198 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.200 attack, some of you might have picked up on it, because I think 199 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:48.679 we're much more used to hearing the way it's phrased in Matthew or Mark than 200 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.919 it is in Luke. And you might have said, oh, wait a 201 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.440 minute, I don't think that's what he said. It seems like he said 202 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:00.080 something else. So in Matthew and Mark, the point is that if you 203 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:04.159 put a new garment that is not shrunk, they didn't have pre shrunk in 204 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:07.480 those days. And if you if you have, if you take a new 205 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:11.639 garment and you put it on an old one to patch it, when when 206 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.480 that new piece would start to shrink, it would tear away from from the 207 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:21.120 old piece. That's the point that he makes in those uh in those gospels. 208 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:25.399 But in Luke the point seems to be more. By taking a path 209 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:30.080 from a new garment, you're ruining the new garment, and the piece that 210 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.919 you're gonna put on the old one will not even match that one. And 211 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:38.320 that seems to be the point here. Now you might say, well, 212 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.000 you know, why why does it say something in Matthew and Market says something 213 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.600 different than Luke? And you know again, is their contradiction. No, 214 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:52.399 Jesus is just doing what what good pastors do or should do. Now, 215 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.679 Um, what we do sometimes, And I've gone to other churches and and 216 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:02.000 filled in for them. I'm almost all. I've almost always preached sermons that 217 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:07.480 I've preached before. Um, I haven't done that here. I determined that 218 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.119 I wouldn't do it because I knew I needed to keep my feet to the 219 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.960 fire and studying and doing those things. So I determined I would continue on 220 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.440 the series I've been preaching before I came here. Um, which is too 221 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.119 bad for you, because I got some really good sermons you could hurt. 222 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:27.920 But uh joking um anyway, Um so so, but Jesus again, Uh, 223 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:32.319 and when we do this and we reworked thing, I am reworking the 224 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:36.559 parable study on the fellowship groups, I'm reworking them, but I'm using old 225 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:40.400 material and doing so. But oftentimes when we red a servant, we we 226 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:45.119 tailored to our audience and we changed some applications and some things that are there. 227 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.039 So Jesus, of course, as a good pastor, would have done 228 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.640 that same thing to illustrate the same truth. But the truth and the application 229 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.680 is the same, which is we can't fit the new into the old. 230 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.400 In other words, the Lord is saying, what the Pharisees have done to 231 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:03.720 the religion? Now what what? What is the old religion? What they 232 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:08.279 have done is something that can't be patched. We just can't make it better. 233 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:12.599 It's a garment like job, says a job man. Waste away like 234 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.880 a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth in. And then the 235 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:22.559 second parable concerns wine and wine skins, and here the parables are much closer 236 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:27.880 in Matthew, Mark and Luke and again and telling the parable. The point 237 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:33.759 here is that if they used old wine skins, and they had already been 238 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:37.960 they had already been used um to uh to the wine to fill in them. 239 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.400 And so then as the wine expanded uh in the new When they were 240 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:45.920 new, they would have expanded with the wine. But now if you take 241 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.400 those same wine skins and reuse them, they won't shrink this time. So 242 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.680 if you fill it with wine and the wine expands, it's going to break 243 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:56.440 the wine skins, and you're going to uh lose the new wine as well. 244 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.440 And so that that is the point that we have here. And then 245 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.839 in verse thirty nine, look gives as saying that's not found in Matthew or 246 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.839 Mark. So this is interesting as well. And the point can be missed. 247 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:15.960 Jesus said, and no one after drinking old wine desires new, for 248 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:21.880 he says the old is good. Now. I don't know about you, 249 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.119 but when I read that, my mind goes to the fact that says, 250 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:29.319 well, of course the old wine is better. Old wine is always better, 251 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:33.279 right you know you don't you don't go to the story by wine and 252 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.960 and it's a hundred dollars because it was just you know, vented this year 253 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.599 or something like that. But but you might do that for a very old 254 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.799 wine and do that much. So it could say, well, of course 255 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:48.960 the the old wine must be better because it's been aged more. But the 256 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:53.079 point he's trying to make is maybe you should have your mind open. Maybe 257 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:59.799 the new is better, and you don't know unless you try. And so 258 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.440 the overall point that our Lord is making here is I am bringing something completely 259 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:10.799 new. And of course you're thinking is that the old is always going to 260 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.640 be better. But I want you to consider that possibly in this case, 261 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.680 the new wine is better. And what I am bringing to you by both 262 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:26.720 my words and my actions is proving to you that the New is better the 263 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:30.079 BT I've troubled with his name always, but on your b away says, 264 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:36.279 we cannot have the Gospel, which just a little touch of law and legalism 265 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.119 we cannot have. We cannot have the law with just a few ounces of 266 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:44.039 Jesus poured in. Now, I want to say, Jesus isn't trying to 267 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.079 overthrow the Old Testament. He's not saying, yeah, just get rid of 268 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:48.920 that, there's nothing there. No, he comes to fulfill all that. 269 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:53.319 And he said not one jot or tittle would ever pass from the from that 270 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.119 Old Testament. So he's not doing that. But what he's trying to do 271 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:02.079 is change with the Pharisees. And the saddest season this ribes had made out 272 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:04.160 of the Old Testament. They had missed so many points. They were not 273 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:08.319 doing it right until Jesus is trying to tell them, uh, it's different 274 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.920 right now. And so we have to realize that they had made it into 275 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:18.200 a legalism thing. And so Jesus has said, is it possible that what 276 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:22.799 I'm bringing to you is actually better? Well, I want to make some 277 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:26.839 applications this morning. The first one is we come to application. I wanted 278 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:32.559 to deal with the question of fasting among Christians. This is a question that 279 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:37.680 I find different opinions by different very respected UH Gospel teachers that I see. 280 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:44.200 The problem in this text concerns what Jesus is referring to when he says the 281 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:48.680 days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away and then they will fast. 282 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:55.880 So exactly what days is that that he's talking about. There are some 283 00:21:56.319 --> 00:22:00.079 who would say that the days he's speaking of and the only days proper to 284 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.680 fast are those days between his crucifixion and his resurrection. G. Campbell Morgan 285 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.920 says, the days did come, and they did fast. That was local 286 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:15.319 and transitory. This has no application to us. Why, because he is 287 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:18.680 with us, he has not taken away. When he came back by the 288 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:23.440 spirit to abide with them, the need for fasting past. So, in 289 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:29.279 other words, his view is fasting is not for today. And we might 290 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.359 look at the passage that Jesus refers to a John sixteen and says this the 291 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:40.319 period he's talking about in versus nineteen and twenty, he entered he uh it 292 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.880 intimates that the time is not going to be long. He said Jesus knew 293 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:45.799 they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, is this what 294 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.519 you are asking yourselves? What I mean by saying a little while and you 295 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:52.359 will not see me? And again a little while and you will see me. 296 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.400 Truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but 297 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:00.160 the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but you're sorrow will be 298 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.559 turned into joy. And so is that what Jesus is saying. It's just 299 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:10.079 that period of time when Christ is taken from them by crucifixion, and tell 300 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:17.640 the resurrection that they would fast. Others have a different view. Charles Spurgeon 301 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:22.279 says, and what is fasting for? That seems the difficult point. It 302 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.920 is evidently practiced oftentimes by our Lord, and advised by him to his disciples. 303 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:33.559 Not a kind of religious observance in itself meritorious, but a habit, 304 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:38.960 when associated with the exercise of prayer, unquestionably helpful. I am not sure 305 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.839 whether we have not lost a very great blessing in the Christian Church by giving 306 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.400 up fastening. Another name you may have heard before, John Calvin says, 307 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:55.240 according to the need of the times, pastors should exhort the people either to 308 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:00.960 fasting, or to solemn supplications, or to other acts of humility, repentance 309 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:04.720 of faith and faith. So both of these two giants of the faith are 310 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:11.000 saying that they believed that fasting is still helpful for the Christian Church. So 311 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:17.599 should Christians practice fasting or should they not? For myself, I do believe 312 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:22.799 that the scriptures indicate and mask that fasting is something that the church should um 313 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.880 should practice. Uh. There are several different scriptures, including our text that 314 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.000 is there, and of course that dependspend how you take our text. But 315 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.880 an ext thirteen to concerning the church auld Antiacht. When they were getting ready 316 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:38.960 to ordain people to ministry, it says, while they were worshiping the Lord 317 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:44.640 and fasting. This is well after the resurrection of Christ, while they were 318 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.599 worshiping the Lord and fasting. Later on and Act fourteen twenty three, and 319 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:53.440 when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, 320 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:59.519 they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Paul says 321 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:03.240 of them s off in Second Corinthian six five in stripes, in imprisonments, 322 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:08.240 in tumults and labors, and watchings, in fastings. Some might say that 323 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:11.839 those were forced fast and where Paul had no way to get food, and 324 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:17.200 that's possible, I think, But I also think that Paul fasted other times 325 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.559 as well. Then we have a couple of scriptures where, if you have 326 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:23.279 a King James version, fasting is mentioned, but if you don't, it 327 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:29.160 probably not mentioned. First countin seven five some manuscripts, that says, where 328 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:33.519 Paul is speaking of married couples in their conjugal conjugal relations defrauging not one the 329 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.920 other, except that you would consent for a time that you may give yourselves 330 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:42.720 to fasting and prayer. But the later versions don't have fasting there. Matthew 331 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:48.039 sev concerning the disciple's question as to why they were not able to cast out 332 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:52.720 a demon, Jesus said, howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer 333 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:57.839 and fasting. The later versions do not have fasting in that passage. But 334 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:03.960 I think to me the rightist argument for fasting is jesus own words in the 335 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:10.559 Sermon on the Mount, he said to them, and when you fast, 336 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:14.200 so, in other words, if it's not the time now, which Jesus 337 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:17.920 said in our Texas Morning, to fast, there is coming a time when 338 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.359 it would be proper to fast. He said, do not look gloomy like 339 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:23.920 the hypocrites, for they disfigured their faces. That they're fasting may be seen 340 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:27.359 by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 341 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.279 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that 342 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.720 you're fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is 343 00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:40.559 in secret. And your father, who sees in secret, will will reward 344 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:45.000 you there as I said, Jesus says, when you fast. Now, 345 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.319 I can tell you in my own personal life that for many years, fasting 346 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:53.920 was a regular part of my Christian life, and and I tried to do 347 00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:57.599 several lengths to fast and in my life, and I would say it was 348 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:03.440 very beneficial. But in the last several years, and I'd say many several 349 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.960 years, I have not fasted at all. I have used my health as 350 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.799 an excuse that the doctors would say that being diabetic, it's not a good 351 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:15.359 idea for me to fast, I shouldn't do it. Um And I could 352 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:18.400 say, that's a really convenient excuse for me, so it works out really 353 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:22.559 nice. But either way, I do think it is proper and good for 354 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.920 Christians. Too fast. But I have to give you some caveats in saying 355 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:32.920 that. First, the New Testament sets no time where we are commanded too 356 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:37.200 fast. There are two scriptures I read to you that seemed to indicate that 357 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:41.720 they did fast when they ordained leaders. But there's no command to us anywhere 358 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:47.480 in the New Testament as to when we should fast. However, I think 359 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:52.279 it's certainly okay for churches to ask for a voluntary fast from their members for 360 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:56.359 a time, and I've done that in years past. Many years ago, 361 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.240 back in the nineteen eighties, we had a time when three major families in 362 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:07.200 our church decided to leave the church, and they all they all left. 363 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:11.400 They felt that they needed to be part of a home church, and so 364 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:15.039 they left our church. I met with them, I tried to persuade them. 365 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:18.559 I could not persuade them, and so they left the church. So 366 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:22.519 I called for the church to come together for a night of prayer. And 367 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.240 as we prayed together, I told the church, I think it would be 368 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:32.200 proper for us to fast uh starting tomorrow, however long you would want to 369 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:34.920 fast. I didn't put any length on it for anybody, or any stipulations 370 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:37.559 on it. I just said, I think it would be good for you 371 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.559 to fast, and we can do this as a church, and asking God 372 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:47.519 that they would restore these families to us. Now, one dear lady the 373 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:51.440 next morning, so that was Thursday. The next morning I called people to 374 00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:55.720 start fast on Thursday. She called me ten thirty Thursday morning, said past 375 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:59.359 her. I fasted. I fasted breakfast. So now I'm meeting my lunch 376 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:03.240 right now. It's that I wasn't real long and fast. I guess to 377 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:07.039 go to ten thirty in the morning. But nonetheless, but many of the 378 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.759 church did fast for for an extended period of time. And and it's one 379 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:15.640 of those times, you know, you call me a heretic, kick me 380 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.480 out, And I'm not saying this is proper right for anybody. But I 381 00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:22.240 just knew in my heart at the end of that time that those families would 382 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.680 return to us. I had no doubt, there was no question in my 383 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:29.880 mind, and I knew and they did. Indeed they did. Indeed, 384 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.119 all three of them returned to the church. Now, I'm not trying to 385 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.640 put any kind of merit on fasting. I'm not trying to say, well, 386 00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:37.960 if you really need this answered, you should fast. You should. 387 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:41.400 I'm not trying to say that, I'm just saying sometimes it's proper. Sometimes 388 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:47.119 it is a way of approaching God. Uh that that indeed is proper to 389 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:51.160 do. And um, I just I want to be careful. I would. 390 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:52.799 And again, don't don't look at fasting. Secondly, don't look at 391 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:57.319 because you faster, your holier than other people. That was a Pharisees argument. 392 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:00.799 Is not that we don't become holy because we fast. It's not that 393 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.720 that at all. Calvin says, if anything pleases us, we forthwith desire 394 00:30:04.759 --> 00:30:08.880 to make it a law that others may live according to our pleasure. Then 395 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:12.599 he says, let us first learn not to place holiness in outward and in 396 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:18.039 different matters, and at the same time to restrain ourselves by moderation and equity. 397 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.880 That we may not desire to restrict others to what we approve, but 398 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:27.240 allow everyone to their own freedom. And so again, it doesn't make us 399 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:33.680 holier. And thirdly, we shouldn't believe in any way that fasting has anything 400 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:38.119 whatsoever to do with our salvation. We're always tempted to make our salvation a 401 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:41.880 matter of works, even those of us who exult free grace and talk about 402 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:48.599 God's salvation and God's electing us, and God call calling us uh. All 403 00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:53.039 of those things that we use, we're still tempted to go back into works 404 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:57.680 righteousness. Colossian said, if with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of 405 00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:00.839 the world, why if you were still alive in the world, do you 406 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.680 submit to regulations do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, 407 00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:11.680 referring to things that all perish as they're used according to human precepts and teachings. 408 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:17.400 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self made religion and asceticism 409 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.359 and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the 410 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:26.960 indulgence of the flesh. So there again would be want to be very very 411 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:30.519 careful, because whenever we get our hands on religion, we want to make 412 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:33.960 it into some kind of works based thing. Years ago ago, I think 413 00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:37.720 this relates. I thought of this, and then I thought, maybe it 414 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:40.119 doesn't. But I like this saying so much, I'm gonna say it anyway. 415 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:45.839 Um. Someone said, the Romans made out of Christianity a good religion, 416 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:51.960 the Germans made out of Christianity a good theology, and the Americans made 417 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:57.200 out of Christianity a good business. I think that's true. And again I'm 418 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:00.200 trying to relate it and make I don't know if I can't, but anyway, 419 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:07.119 again, we want to fashion our religion according to us and according to 420 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.240 our own works. And and the fourth thing, I'd say, I believe 421 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:16.279 it's possible to relate fasting to other things besides just food. Calvin again says 422 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:20.960 in addition, there's another sort of fasting, temporary and character, when we 423 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:23.880 withdraw something from the normal regiment of living, either for one day or a 424 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:30.759 definite time, and pledge ourselves to a tighter and more reached severe restraint in 425 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:35.880 diet than ordinarily. So we might choose to give up the television for a 426 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:37.960 period of time, we might choose not to look at our phone for a 427 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.680 period of time, or other things that we that we might do with some 428 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:46.119 recreational activity that we enjoy, we might we might want to do that. 429 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:52.400 And so, looking at what Jesus said about it in our text this morning, 430 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:57.000 the question is is this a day of feasting then, or is this 431 00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:00.160 a day of fasting? And I would say, yeah, it is. 432 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:06.119 It's a day of feasting, and it's a day fasting. Sometimes we feast. 433 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:10.160 Sometimes we've asked. Now, I want to say also two more things 434 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:15.640 about new, and then I'll close here. I don't think we should have 435 00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:21.640 Jesus saying here that what he's trying to teach us whatever is new is better, 436 00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:27.119 because that isn't always true. In fact, it probably is rarely true. 437 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:30.880 There are people today that look at anything new in the church, and 438 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:35.960 there's a lot of new stuff in the church today. Anything new is good 439 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:38.720 because it's new wine. And people that don't think it's good, well, 440 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:43.279 you know, you're just funny duddies and you don't understand the newness, and 441 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.359 you you're you're you know, you don't know how to receive new wine into 442 00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:50.119 all of that. And so there's people that do that. Now, there's 443 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:52.839 also people who think that anything that is new is bad, and they are 444 00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.799 equally wrong in that as well. We can't go that way either. There 445 00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:00.400 are many different things in the church that are new. Some are good, 446 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:05.640 some are bad, and we need to be discerning and figure out what those 447 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.039 things are. We have to walk a line. We don't want to remove 448 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:13.239 the old landmarks, as a scripture tells us, but we don't want to 449 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:17.119 also just give up on things because somebody else does them and we don't like 450 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:21.360 it. Well, there's a lot to be said there, but I don't 451 00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:23.679 have enough time, so I'll just say with Thomas Brooks, the great Puritan 452 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:28.320 writer, often would say, you are wise and know how to apply it, 453 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:30.400 so I will leave it for you. But let me make a final 454 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:40.039 application about the newness. Why with people by the millions reject the Gospel of 455 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:45.800 Christ, why would they reject the offer of what is really really good for 456 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:52.079 them? Why would they do that simply because in their mind the old is 457 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:55.800 better. You see, sometimes all we know is the old. That's all 458 00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:59.920 we have to go by, and we might decide we kind of like the 459 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:04.840 old. They live in sin. They think this is good. I'm enjoying 460 00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:07.679 it. I'm enjoying myself, and so I don't want to hear what you 461 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:12.639 have to say there. Why would I give up what I have now and 462 00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:15.880 live a life that would be lived to the glory of God, When when 463 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:19.880 I can live my life for me, this is a good life. Why 464 00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:22.480 would you change your life to where you gotta be in church one day a 465 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:27.199 week, or or give ten percent of your income to the church. Or 466 00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:30.000 or any of those other things. Why why would you do that? I 467 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:31.760 mean, who would want to do that? That doesn't make any sense at 468 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:37.840 all. Why would you give up your life now to a life that asks 469 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:44.840 you to serve and to sacrifice? Why would anybody do that? And all 470 00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:51.639 the saints of God say, because it's glorious, because it's the only fulfillment 471 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:55.599 we have that we've come to. We finally found our life to find complete 472 00:35:55.599 --> 00:36:00.400 fulfillment. It finally changes us in such a way. We can't understand why 473 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:04.960 everybody doesn't sip of this new wine. Why doesn't everybody think of it? 474 00:36:05.159 --> 00:36:07.119 This is the greatest thing ever, This is the most wonderful life in the 475 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:12.119 world. This is so great. Yes, tribulations, yes, everybody has 476 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:16.639 them, But oh the glory of following God and following Christ and living for 477 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:22.559 him. It's so glorious. But some can't understand it, and they say 478 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:28.000 the old is better. But my challenge to you is, if you've never 479 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:32.840 tried the new, if you've never turned to Christ and his death on the 480 00:36:32.840 --> 00:36:38.840 cross as the fulfillment of your salvation, I would say you'll find in it 481 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:44.559 a glorious thing that will change your life. Forever and you'll never want to 482 00:36:44.599 --> 00:36:49.559 go away. And so the new when it comes to the Gospel, when 483 00:36:49.559 --> 00:36:53.760 it comes to Christ, the new is better. Let's pray love me thank 484 00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:00.480 you for your word and many practical lessons as well as spiritual since we can 485 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:04.280 apply to our lives. Help us, Lord, is your people, that 486 00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:08.760 we would know the balance between doing what is new and old and understand that 487 00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:15.519 balance. Help us, Lord to be willing to proclaim to those around us 488 00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:20.920 the new wine and what it means. And Lord, help us to be 489 00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:25.239 like Levi in our text last week invited all their friends to come and see 490 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:30.119 the Lord. Lord, help us to point others to Christ as well, 491 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:35.239 and in our own lives. Lord, just make us evangelist and help us 492 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:39.079 Lord to follow you in the way that you've called us to. And we 493 00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:43.840 pray God that it would use us in this way to bring others into the 494 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:47.639 Kingdom of God as well. We thank you Lord for the cross. We 495 00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:51.880 thank you Lord that you have made a way that does not require us to 496 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:57.960 work to earn our salvation, but simply ask us to trust in You and 497 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:02.800 believe in your death, and then we will find new life. We thank 498 00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:07.519 you for this, Lord, in Jesus name Amen might,