Several weeks ago early in the
morning my wife Cathy came into the room.
What about wineskins, she said.
She had been getting ready for the day when God led her to think about
the passage about wineskins. It was a message for both of us.
One of the more difficult to
understand of Jesus’ parables is his warning about not putting new wine into
old wineskins (Luke 5:36-39; Matthew 9:17).
Simply stated, old wineskins have already been used, already been
stretched to their maximum extent possible.
If newly made wine is poured into an old wineskin, the ensuing
fermentation process will burst the old wineskin. The old wineskin cannot contain the new wine.
Jesus brought truth and grace
into the world. He brought the gospel
message. He brought forgiveness, the new
life in Christ, and all the many blessings attendant to that.
His wonderful new message could
not be contained in the religious organization at that time, the organization
run by the Pharisees, dominated by thousands of rules and regulations, by form
and procedure over substance.
The message for us today? The same as Jesus’ day. His message, his gospel is one of new life,
of hope and a future, of manifold blessings in him, of the imminent coming of
the Kingdom of God to earth, of miracles and healings. That message cannot be contained in many of
the established churches of today with all their rules and regulations, their
carefully scripted services which allow little or no time for God, some of them
with a contemporary approach focusing on entertainment and current events. As some of you well know, a large number of
our churches today do not even believe healings and miracles are for today,
thinking erroneously that all that ended in the first century with the death of
the disciples. Similarly, many do not
truly teach and preach the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. There is no time or openness for the Spirit
to minister there. Even further, today
many do not teach the imminent return of the Lord. And far too many falsely believe that the modern
church organization replaced the nation of Israel in importance to God!
Today? Pour new wine into these old wineskins? Hardly!
The old wineskins can’t handle it.
But how are we going to wake up
all the sleeping people of our age, those so oblivious to the truths of Jesus
and his imminent return. Or more
accurately, how is God going to do it, using us as he needs us?
It seems apparent that any
significant spiritual revival, or awakening, will likely not happen in the
“religious” church structure of today laden down with man’s rules and
regulations. Any large scale awakening will
have to happen by using new wineskins.
But what are those new wineskins?
Where are they? How do we find
them?
Consider this: The only thing that is important now in our
time is Jesus Christ and each person’s relationship with him, and the fact that
he is coming soon. It is all about
Jesus. The Father’s design was to send
his son that the world might be saved through him. That is still the design. Jesus is the King of the Kingdom. He is coming soon. When he comes he will not come as the teacher
and preacher and healer he came as initially.
He will come as the King of everything.
The ruler. The commander in
chief. The government will be on his
shoulders.
In the past several years we have
seen serious believers leave traditional churches and form small groups,
usually meeting in the homes of members.
Well, that is a form of a new wineskin, but it’s not reaching nearly
enough lost people. Basically it is
just providing a safe place for people already serious about God to meet with
some freedom and peace.
We need a new wineskin that will
reach the world! One that people will
pay attention to in this difficult time.
I send this message now so you can be praying about that. I do have some thoughts on how we might
proceed, but right now I ask you to join me in praying for exactly what is the
new wineskin God would have us use for him to awaken the sleeping population of
our day to the fact that the Lord of all creation is coming and that unless
they wake up they will miss him.
One thought for sure: we need
people who truly know the Lord to be in leadership in all areas of life – in
the government, in the media, in the entertainment arena, in the business
world, in the education world. We have
turned so many key positions over to lost individuals who are leading society
over the cliff. Maybe you are one of
those persons who should be out there in a leadership role. Certainly, in this election year in America
do your best to support and vote for those who you believe truly know the Lord,
who will stand up for Jesus and the gospel.
And do not stay home from voting because you can find no candidate who perfectly
expresses what you are looking for.
There has only been one perfect human to ever walk the earth.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!
(February
2016)
Copyright © 2016 by John
Newlin
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