WINESKINS - NYOBS 47.02

 WINESKINS

First Word

·         A similitude is similar to a parable, it is a likeness, a resemblance or an allegory.

·         In the day of Jesus, bottles were very expensive therefore they were not very common. – Most people used leather from sheep or goat skins where the orifices had been sewn up and sealed where the legs would be, except for the neck; leaving the goat hair on the outside. 

·         Ropes could be tied to the leg portions and hung about their shoulders making them easy to be transported, while other skins were shaped by a tanner to look like bottles.

·         They held all sorts of liquids, but most often were used to hold wine. – New wineskins were used for New Wine while they were still pliable and elastic; the skins would stretch and expand accommodating the fermenting gases. – NYOBS 03.21 BEER, BOOZE AND BUBBLY

·         You must get the point here… You can put New Wine into a wineskin only once because it will be only elastic enough to stretch and expand once. – If you put NEW WINE into and old wineskin, it will burst and both the skin bottle and the costly wine will be lost.  

Genesis 21:14 – Goat skin of water carried on the shoulders
¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away (ESV)

The Illustration

·         According to Scripture, man is born void of the understanding of spiritual things like a wild ass’s colt. – Things of the spirit are just foolishness to him because these things are spiritually discerned. - The heart of the old carnal man receiving the new spiritual things will leak like a sieve leaving behind in his heart, the chaff, the bran and the refuge of the world.

·         Jesus used Wineskins to illustrate a point about being filled with the Holy Spirit. - It was the custom to transfer old wine into old wineskins –This similitude was actually about the infilling of an old container with “The Religion Of The Day” – The dynamic NEW Gospel could not be contained in an OLD bottles of Tradition. – Christianity cannot be contained in Judaism, nor can grace be confined in the bonds of the Law.

·         The nature and the actions of man can be redirected, restrained or changed because of the enforcement and prosecution of the severe laws of the land, however his change is just Make Believe.

·         A nature can be adjusted because of a good education; one that brought knowledge of the results of what happened in past history. - He is still just a Make Believer.

·         A nature can be modified because of reading God’s laws, conforming and obeying them only because of the terror or fear of the Laws themselves; however “The Heart” is still carnal and “The Will” is still rebellious. - He remains a Make Believer.     

·         None of these things can change the evil in a man’s heart. – A renovation of the whole man, body and soul must take place.

·         The carnal heart of man must be changed or made NEW… It cannot hold the NEW WINE of the Holy Spirit.  

Matthew 9:17 – You cannot put NEW wine put into old wineskins.
¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh (NEW) wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (ESV)

Luke 5:38 – New wine must be poured into new wineskins
³⁸ No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. (NIV2011)

1 Corinthians 2:14 – The natural man cannot receive the Spirit
¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (ESV)

1 Corinthians 2:14 - Things of the Spirit are foolishness to him
¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (NKJV)

Job 11:12 – Man born like a wild ass’s colt – Void Understanding
¹² But vain man is void of understanding, Yea, man is born as a wild ass's colt. (ASV)

The Holy Spirit

·         I need to get a couple of big words out of the way here so we can continue.

·         Justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice through His death on the cross.

·         Regeneration is the objective work of God in a believer's life. Spiritually, it means that God brings the Christian to a new life from a previous state of subjection to the decay of death.

·         When man comes into a justified state, he is at that very moment is also regenerated.

·         When the Holy Spirit enters into the Natural man, he is changed into a NEW man; he is born again; anew.-  NYOBS 20.19 - HOLY SPIRIT

·         Old things are passed away, old affections, passions and notions, etc. – you will know them by their fruits; what they do. – Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire; they are just Make Believer Trees. – SELAH - Ponder that -

John 3:3 – The Natural man must be BORN AGAIN
³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (ESV)

John 3:7 - Do not marvel - You must be born again
⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

(ESV)

2 Corinthians 5:17 - The old passions are passed away
¹⁷ Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. (ASV)

2 Corinthians 5:17 - If a man is in Christ, he’s a NEW creature
¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(KJV)

Matthew 7:16-19 - You will know them by their fruits
¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

¹⁷ Every good tree bears good fruit - the bad tree bears bad fruit.

¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (NASB

Deader than a Mackerel

·         Man is predisposed to walk after the passions of his flesh; following the desires of his body and mind, dragged along by the course of the world.

·         Man, before receiving the grace of God is spiritually DEAD – Without the grace of God, he cannot even reach out for a life preserver even if it was floating right next to him. - While it is true that he may naturally do things that are morally good; they are not spiritually good.

·         You are PARTNERS with darkness; your mind and conscious has been defiled. – Scripture says that the unregenerate man’s prayers are without his heart and are an abomination to God; like that of a rebelling howling dog on his bed.

·         Man in a spiritual sense is blind and cannot see the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ nor the beauty of holiness.  He must be made alive to breath, see, hear and walk.  – A person can become a new man, but not reformed; he may become reformed, but not renewed. – He must be transformed with the renewing of his mind or he is just a Make Believer.

Ephesians 2:1-3 - You were DEAD in your sins
¹  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
²  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
³  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

(ESV)

John 15:5 – Without Jesus Christ, you can do nothing
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

(ESV)

Hosea 7:14 – You have howled like dogs and rebel
¹⁴ And they have NOT cried unto me with their heart, when they howled (like dogs) upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

(KJV)

Ephesians 5:7-8 – You once were partners with darkness
⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them;
⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

(ESV)

Titus 1:15 – Your mind and conscience is defiled
¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

(ESV)

Romans 12:2 - Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

(NIV2011)

Side Bar

·         When someone is accustomed to the OLD, they cannot be expected to immediately like the NEW.  There is a naturel revulsion to a sudden change; however time will cure this. -  Over time the New Wine will also become Old or aged and will become the preferred taste.

·         So, it is natural to expect the NEW Gospel of Jesus Christ to be rejected at first in favor of the OLD comfortable ways of Judaism.

·         The Wineskins are a teaching about a change in dispensations from the Old Testament of LAW to the New Testament of GRACE. – The Old Covenant dispensation of Law was ending.

·         When I first heard the similitude of the Wineskins, I thought it was just an exercise in wisdom, like don’t patch an old garment with new unshrunk material because it will eventually tear out. - I did not get the spiritual aspect. – You cannot MIX the two materials – Just as you cannot mix new wine into old skin bottles. - You cannot mix the Law of Judaism with the Grace of Christianity. – They cannot be patched together, trying to do so would ruin both.

·         The new age movement takes the best forms of worship, praise and songs from the many different religions and tries to Mix or homogenized them into one; you just cannot do this. -  It’s a lie born out of the pit of hell. – Christianity is a totally different way of life; it is NEW WINE.

·         You cannot pour the New wine of Grace into the Old skin bottles of Legality, it cannot be reduced or contained by tradition. – NEW WINE can only be contained in a NEW FORM.

Matthew 9:16 – Don’t use unshrunk cloth to patch an old garment
¹⁶ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. (NIV2011)

Luke 5:39 – The Old Wine is preferred over the New Wine
³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘THE OLD IS GOOD.’”

(ESV)

John 1:17 – Law through Moses – Grace through Jesus
¹⁷ For the LAW was given through Moses; GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ.

(ESV)

The Regenerated Man

·         A wineskin left unused in the smoke of a windowless kitchen, becomes brittle and dry. – We are told to be filled and refilled; to stay soft and pliable.

·         Job said it best - His feelings about spiritual things were like bottled up New Wine in skins that were ready to burst.

Job 32:19 – I am like bottled-up wine, READY TO BURST.
¹⁹ Inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst. (NIV2011)

Psalm 119:83 – A wineskin unused in the kitchen becomes brittle
⁸³ For I have become like a (unused) wineskin in the (kitchen) smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes. (ESV)

Ephesians 5:18 – Be FILLED with the spirit
¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; (KJV)

Acts 13:52 – The Disciples were FILLED with the Holy Spirit
⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy with the Holy Spirit. (ASV)

                             

Closing Thoughts

The Gospel is New Wine that cannot be poured into an Old Wine Skin; it cannot contain it.

Christianity cannot be contained in Judaism, nor can grace be confined in the bonds of the Law.

It cannot be mixed nor homogenized with other religions.

We must be born again with the new wine skin of a new heart.

Apart from Jesus Christ, we can do nothing.

John 15:5 – Jesus is the vine - We are the branches
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (ESV)

Wine Rabbit Trail

     The references to wine in the Bible indicate that wine was very common to their everyday life and was part of their regular diet.  Some scholars feel that it would have been impossible to have wine that was unfermented during Biblical times as it was stored for months in jars and wine skins and kept in cool cellars.  Jesus could not have been tempted to drink “too much wine” unless he had the same temptation as we have.

     Drinking wine is not a sin; drunkenness is a sin.  Eating is not a sin, gluttony is a sin. -  The Kingdom of God is not what we eat or drink. - It’s not what goes into our mouth that defiles us, it’s what comes out. 

     We are free to drink alcohol in moderation if we choose to, but not to the extent that it causes someone else to stumble in their faith; so it seems advisable not to drink in public.  Although we have freedom in Christ, others may feel differently. - NYOBS 03.21 - BEER, BOOZE AND BUBBLY

     I feel pretty sure that this word study will please only about half the folks that read it; the ones that drink.  I just hope that it is controversial enough that it will cause you to dig through God’s word for yourself to get your own special revelation. - If I can get you excited enough to check out God’s word for yourself, then this study will have accomplished that which it was sent to do. - SELAH

Matt 15:10-11 – It’s not what goes in a man that defiles him.

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.

11 What goes into a man's mouth does not make him `unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth that is what makes him `unclean.'" NIV

Rom 14:13-17 – Heaven is not what you eat or drink.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.

16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. - NIV

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

A commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

All the Parables of the Bible – Herbert Lockyer

Expositors Bible Commentary: The – Frank E. Gaebelein

Exposition of the Parables – Benjamin Keach

Harpers Bible Dictionary – Harper & Row

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

New International Dictionary of the Bible: The- Douglas – Tenney

Thru the Bible Series – J. Vernon McGee

Victor Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers

Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible - Tenney