Luke 5:36-39

Luke 5:36-39 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. 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. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

You must be born again by faith to contain the Spirit of God. If not, your fleshly spirit will leak the contents of God's Spirit. Many people can be inspired by God. They can be awed by God. They can even say God's inspirational words, but unless they are born again, unless they are the new spiritual container, they will not hold God's presence long, for His Spirit is like the wind, who can contain it. Jesus is telling the Judaic leaders that this gospel is a new beginning, a new creation. He has not come to patch Judaism, to make it better; He has come to replace it with a new garment. He has not come to patch the holes in the old with parts of the new garment; no, He has come to replace the old garment.

In another parable He says, He has not come to provide a new wine to an old system, to restore the old system by pumping in new vigor, new revelations. No, He has come to replace the old system with a new system, even though people might like the old wine better, for they are more comfortable with its taste. The leaders of Judaism were very comfortable with their religion and did not want any changes, for they were getting recognition and perks from Judaism. The general public respected them and bowed to their authority, so they were the true winners in the old system. The common people had to go through them to know God.

How many of us are still pouring wine into the old wineskin, the old way of living? How many of us are trying to patch the old garment of our lives with a partial gospel, a good word here or there from the Bible? We cannot do it successfully. We will always feel uncomfortable with ourselves and with God if we try to do that. A new creature has a new start, a new beginning. Salvation comes when we emphatically repent of the old and accept the new. When we accept and follow Jesus Christ and his works by faith, we become a new container, capable of holding the Spirit of God. We are given a new voice, a new song, a new life. The old passes away, and ALL THINGS BECOME NEW. Some of us are still using the old voice, the old personality, the old ways of thinking, the old ways of living, but we just sew on a patch of inspiration once in a while to comfort us, to inspire us. We are singing the old songs of the world, songs not from God's heart but the world. Some of us are continuing on with our old lives, but have conveniently added on Jesus Christ, something like having good insurance or a safe bet if our lives don't work out the way we want. Well, that lifestyle won't satisfy or firmly establish us in God's kingdom. Jesus says we must be BORN AGAIN--be a new garment, a new container.

Now, none of this is to bring you into condemnation, but it should prick your interest. You cannot be a prostitute for the Lord, you cannot be a bully for the Lord, you cannot be a rogue for the Lord, you cannot live the OLD LIFE FOR THE LORD. You must be a new creature, live a different life, dedicated to him. Jesus Christ is not an add-on to our lives: He is our life. No one can wear the old garment with new patches and be acceptable to God. No one can be the old container filled with new wine and still please the Lord. Christians are those who not only accept Jesus Christ as Lord but follow him as Lord. Of course, if we stumble, we say, "Forgive us Lord, for we are but humans, BUT WE INTENTLY BELIEVE YOU HAVE MADE US NEW CONTAINERS, NEW GARMENTS; therefore, we will endure to the end by faith." Faith in Jesus should change our lives for the better. If we are new creatures, we will grow sweeter with age. We will love others more. We will not occupy our minds with the trivial, the mindless, but we will fix our minds and spirits on HIM WHO LOVES US, FOR WE ARE NEW CREATURES, CONTAINERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES FOREVER. Amen!