Go ahead and with me take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 2.
!
Uncomfortable moments for the Pharisees as Jesus makes great affronts to the religious culture of His day.
We started there at the beginning of chapter 2 as He heals a paralytic and establishes authority to forgive sin which flew in the face of their religious culture.
It was a blasphemy to them and it was indeed if He wasn't in fact God in flesh.
And see that He spent time with sinners.
That He reclined with them.
That He came to heal those who were sick.
Who needed spiritual renewal.
And then we come here to verse 18.
And we speak today about fasting which struck me just before in the service is rather hilarious considering what this week tends to be all about with Thanksgiving and a great gorging of food.
We're going to talk at length today about fasting.
But join me in reading Mark chapter 2 beginning in verse 18.
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.
And people came and said to Him,
Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
And Jesus said to them,
Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
And as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.
If he does, the patch tears away from it.
The new from the old and a worse tear is made.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.
If he does, the wine will burst the skins and the wine is destroyed.
And so are the skins.
But new wine is for fresh wineskins.
Join me in praying.
Father God, we thank you for the blessing of the Word and the privilege to come together and to learn from it.
And I pray God, for all of us here, by a great work of your Spirit,
you will plant the truth of your Word deep in our hearts that we might become more like Christ
to the praise of your name and for our good.
Father, we recognize this morning in great humility that we have no good thing in and of ourselves,
but only those things that you have worked and are working in us by your Spirit.
So I pray that he will move and be powerful in us this day.
And we pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
So, as he's confronting this religious culture,
we have a very specific group of people that were constantly standing in opposition to the ministry of Jesus.
And there was particularly these Pharisees.
We see some broadening groups of people.
We see the Sadducees.
We've got the scribes, which some were Pharisees, some were not.
But there's this particular group of about 6,000 people in this day.
Their founding happened way back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.
And it was this particularly pious group of people that practiced an apostate form of Judaism.
And they thought they practiced it very well.
This is exactly what Jesus is saying at the very end of verse 17.
He says,
Those who are well have no need of a physician.
They were righteous in their own minds.
They trusted in themselves.
And it's these people that we see once again fasting,
but in an improper way.
Interestingly, in the beginning of verse 18,
we also see them collectively put in with John's disciples,
referring to John the Baptist.
And just as an aside,
note here that they're still being referred to as John's disciples.
We see in chapter 1 a great multitude,
all Judea is coming out to John to be baptized in the Jordan.
But look here how few of them have followed Christ.
Have had faith worked in their lives that they might follow Him in obedience.
And you still have many who are John's disciples,
even though John was saying,
not me, but Him.
They were missing the point.
And here we find them fasting right along with the Pharisees.
And a question is asked.
And it's a question of accusation.
Not so much an honest question,
as we might propose,
but a question of accusation.
There was constantly a case being built against Jesus
for the claims that He was making.
And here they are, once again,
trying to say,
look at the pious nature of John's disciples and of the Pharisees.
Why are your disciples not this way?
Why is it that you're supporting an unholy living
while these are so holy?
These are righteous and your disciples are not.
How dare you make the claims that you're making?
That is what is loaded into this question here.
You see, the Pharisees,
the religious culture of the day,
recognized that the teaching of Jesus Christ
was completely opposite of their teaching.
It was diametrically opposed.
It was distinct in every way.
And they knew that they had to shut Him down
if they were going to continue
to serve in the way that they served.
This is the case for all world religions today.
Apart from Christianity.
Apart from those who believe that
grace comes by faith in Christ alone.
That is the way of salvation.
All other religions are merely a creating of law.
A work to change the exterior
and the morality of that.
It's Christianity.
It's this message of the Gospel
that seeks to change our hearts.
Change who we actually are.
All world religions recognize
that there's a great symptom,
a great issue with humanity.
This problem of sin.
And yet they treat symptoms.
It reminds me of Western medicine.
Always treating symptoms,
but never treating root cause.
It's Christianity that comes and treats the heart.
And so they had to shut Him down.
If they were going to remain right,
Jesus had to be wrong.
And so they approach Him on this question
of fasting and why it was
that His disciples were not fasting.
Now to really understand
the question they're asking,
we have to understand first fasting.
What it was meant to be
and the way in which they
were practicing it in this day.
And so let's kind of step over
just for a moment
and let's talk a bit about
fasting this morning.
And this is the hilarious part
coming into this week.
First, Matthew 6,
the Sermon on the Mount.
Fasting there is assumed
of Jesus' disciples.
He brings about correction.
He tells them not to be like the hypocrites
who practice fasting in this way,
but to rather practice fasting in this way.
It's an assumption that is made.
And I would ask you then,
as a follower of Christ,
do you, have you ever fasted?
It's an assumption that you will,
in fact, fast.
And as we look a little bit more
about what fasting is meant to be,
I think you'll understand
why it should be the case
that we do fast.
Maybe not the way you've seen it done,
but that we ought to be fasting.
It's an assumption that is made
on our part.
We find a multitude of examples
of fasting in the Scripture.
Very little expressed prescription
for how it ought to take place.
But we see it happening
all over the place.
More places than I could possibly
present to you this morning.
We see it in varying amounts.
Fasting always being
the not eating of food.
It's not,
I'm going to avoid chocolate for a week.
Right?
It's the abstinence from food altogether.
No eating of any food
is what fasting is always referred to
in the Scriptures.
We see one day fasts.
We see three day fasts.
We see seven day fasts.
Fourteen day fasts.
We see forty day fasts.
Right?
Note,
here in our chapter,
Jesus has fasted.
Right?
Mark 1, 12 and 13
states that He was
sent out into the wilderness,
driven out into the wilderness
by the Spirit of God,
when He was there for forty days.
And both the Gospel of Matthew
and Luke add that He was fasting.
He was there for a forty day fast.
And it's important, I think,
that we understand here
why it is that He was fasting.
Right?
Why did Jesus go into the wilderness?
And why was it while He was in the wilderness
He was fasting?
Right?
I believe,
and I think that the scriptural evidence
of why fasting took place
derives at this,
and again,
we're going to step into that
in a moment here,
but that He went as a preparation
for the work that He was about to do.
Right?
He had just begun His ministry.
He had just gone down to the Jordan
and was baptized.
Right?
It was continuing this process
of completed perfection.
He was baptized.
He comes up,
and then immediately,
in verse 12,
chapter 1,
it says,
the Spirit immediately drove Him out
into the wilderness.
He went out to be alone with God.
Right?
To set His face before Him
and to prepare for the work
that He was to do.
He knew full well
what He was sent to accomplish.
What would happen to Him
some three years later
on the cross
and the ministry that was to take place
between this time and that.
I believe that's why
He went out there,
taking the example of Elijah
in 1 Kings chapter 19,
who fasted for 40 days.
He was actually given
a special meal by the angels.
And He fasts for 40 days
on Mount Horeb
where He gets to preach,
I mean speak,
with God Himself.
So I believe that Jesus goes out
to do this very thing.
I've often heard it proposed
that He did this
so that He was very weak in the flesh,
that it actually exalted
the temptations
that were given to Him,
made it more difficult
for Him to stand up.
It was a way in which
He showed forth His perfection
and that He was very weak
and therefore it was harder
for Him to resist
the temptation
that was given to Him.
But I think that
while He was weak in the flesh,
having fasted properly,
He was strong in spirit.
He was actually more prepared.
He had been close with the Father
and was ready to stand
against the temptation of Satan.
So what does it look like?
When fasting is done rightly,
what should it look like?
And this is brief at best,
but firstly, done rightly,
it is a response to God's providence.
It's a response to God's providence,
not a means of obtaining God's favor.
It's not some sort of equation
that we put into play.
If I want God to speak to me clearly,
I am going to fast.
I am going to stop eating food
because that's what happens
when you stop eating food.
God speaks to you.
It's not an equation in that way.
In fact, it should be a response
to God's providence,
the fact that He is, in fact,
in control.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 58.
Let's look at an example
of fasting done improperly
and then God's prescription
for what fasting should look like.
This will just give you some clue
as to what I'm trying to say to you here.
Isaiah chapter 58.
God says to Isaiah,
cry aloud, verse 1,
cry aloud, do not hold back,
lift up your voice like a trumpet,
declare to my people
their transgression,
their sin,
to the house of Jacob,
their sins.
Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways
as if they were a nation
that did righteousness
and did not forsake
the judgment of their God.
They ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
Now, those of you who hate sarcasm,
this is sarcasm, right,
in the Scriptures, right?
God's being very sarcastic.
Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways
as if they were a nation
that did righteousness
and did not forsake
the judgment of their God.
Verse 3,
the response of the people.
Why have we fasted
and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves
and you take no knowledge of it?
There's their question.
We've been doing this thing.
We've been carrying out
this equation
that we think
we've done this thing.
We should be receiving God's favor
because of our action.
Last part of verse 3.
He gets at the very heart of the issue.
Without spending all the time
of explaining all these things,
what God is saying is
you're doing something
on the exterior,
but yet in the inside
you are still wicked.
You are evil.
Verse 6,
Is not this the fast that I choose?
To loose the bonds of wickedness?
To undo the straps of the yoke?
To let the oppressed go free
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread
with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor
into your house
when you see the naked
to cover him
and not to hide yourself
from your own flesh?
Then shall your light
break forth like the dawn
and your healing
shall spring up speedily.
Your righteousness
shall go before you.
The glory of the Lord
shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call
and the Lord will answer.
You shall cry
and He will say,
Here I am.
So it's a response here
of the goodness of God
on their heart.
It's their heart
that matters
in this process.
And so it should be
a response in this way,
not a prescription,
not a means of obtaining
God's favor.
Secondly,
done rightly,
it avoids the praise of men.
Turn to Matthew 6,
which I referenced
just a moment ago.
Again, remembering
that Jesus assumes
that His followers
will in fact fast.
He assumes some other things
as well,
that they'll give to the needy,
that they'll be philanthropic
in that way,
that they will pray.
And He brings some correction here.
We can see in
the final place,
verse 1,
verse 5,
and verse 16.
Beware of practicing
your righteousness
for the people
in order to be seen by them,
for then you will have
no reward from your Father
who is in heaven.
Verse 5,
And when you pray,
you must not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to stand
and pray in the synagogues
and at the street corners,
that they may be seen by others.
Truly I say to you,
they have received
their reward.
Verse 16,
And when you fast,
do not look gloomy
like the hypocrites,
for they disguise their faces
that their fasting
may be seen by others.
In fact,
they put makeup on
to look sadder
than they really were.
Right?
They disguise their faces
that their fasting
may be seen by others.
Truly I say to you,
they have received
their reward.
So done rightly,
it avoids,
it tries to get around
the praise of men.
It's intention is not
to show people
how holy and how pious
and how set aside you are.
Right?
It avoids this very thing.
Right?
That you might have
a reward in heaven.
This is the instruction
given to us
by our Lord
on fasting.
Done rightly,
it avoids the praise
of men.
Thirdly,
done rightly,
it is the sorrowful,
prayerful rejection of food.
It is the sorrowful,
prayerful rejection of food.
It's characterized by
a hunger for God
that drives out
a hunger for food.
A desire to see Him
move and work
both in your life
and in the lives of the people
and in the world.
That it drives out
the desire for food.
I say to you
that this is often
a voluntary
type of fasting.
Not something
that I prescribe to you.
We as a church
are going to go through
a time of fasting.
Right?
But it's something you do
out of a compulsion.
Out of a sorrow
for your sin
and the sins of others.
Out of a desire
to see God
repair such things.
To bring reconciliation
to such situations.
Almost every Sunday
I get up very early
to prepare for Sunday morning.
Sometimes that's because
I'm just really not prepared
for Sunday morning.
I just don't feel like
my notes are together.
They're a scramble.
They're just a big mess.
I've got to get them
in the right order
so I can speak
in some fashion
that you'll be able to follow.
Sometimes I'm entirely prepared.
Sometimes I've got
all my notes ready to go.
I can sleep another
couple of hours.
But I always have this
great desire
to get up
and to start preparing
my own soul
to stand before you
each day.
And I don't do this
as an intentional effort.
I don't wake up
on Sunday mornings
and say,
man, this is a big day.
It's important
what we're going to do today.
I'm going to fast
so that I can call down
the favor of God
on what's going on.
But I feel the weight
of Sunday morning.
And I feel the weight
of preaching
the Word of God.
And I'm so aware
of my frailty
and my incapability
of doing a good job
of it apart from
God working.
And I find that often
I don't eat
on Sunday mornings.
Not as a choice.
I don't go,
I'm not going to eat.
I'm not really that hungry.
I just don't think about it.
I so want to see
God move
and work
on our Sunday mornings
that I just
don't think about it.
It doesn't cross my mind.
I'm not hungry.
It's often right
before the service
that I start to get hungry.
Like right now,
I'm pretty darn hungry
right now.
And totally unintentionally,
I love that we do
the Lord's Supper
every Sunday
because I get a snack
that reminds me
that Christ is my nourishment.
Isn't that good?
That I very often remember
as I get that little bit
that hits your stomach
and you go,
okay,
I can get through to lunch.
Right?
But that Christ Himself
is my sustenance.
So in that way,
I fast just about every week
but not as dogma.
If I were hungry at 9 a.m.,
I would eat something.
I don't think of it
in those terms.
I'm just not hungry.
So some examples
of voluntary fasting
in the Scriptures.
Esser chapter 4.
Proceeding this
in chapter 3,
we have the king of Persia,
Ahasuerus,
has,
we've got Mordecai
not bowing down
or paying homage
to Haman
who's been put in charge
of a region
by the king.
So Haman
receives the king's blessing
to have all the Jews destroyed.
Right?
In order to destroy Mordecai,
he receives the king's blessing
to have all the Jews destroyed.
And then chapter 4,
verse 3,
it says,
And in every province,
wherever the king's commands
and his decree reached,
there was great mourning
among the Jews
with fasting
and weeping
and lamenting
and many of them lay
in sackcloth and ashes.
They had this outward expression
of their mourning
for what was going to happen.
And you know why?
They knew this was
a judgment of God.
They knew it was
because of their sin.
They were in captivity
to begin with.
They knew this was
a judgment of God.
And therefore,
wherever the decree reached,
the decree was not
that they should fast.
The decree was that
they would be destroyed
by Haman.
They fasted.
Joel chapter 1.
Joel brings a word
from the Lord
calling for a fast
to lament the loss
of grain and wine
at the hands of a plague
of locusts.
Again,
as a judgment from God.
They became aware
in this plague
that they were sinful
and God was bringing
a judgment against them.
And so a fast
is called for.
Daniel 9.
Daniel's outpour
of prayer
for his people.
Again,
they're in captivity.
This outpour of prayer
is done
while fasting.
Right?
He's mourning.
He's sorrowful
for the state
of his nation.
And so he fasts
and prays
the beautiful prayer
of Daniel 9.
I'll encourage you to read
at a later time.
There's only one time
in all of the Old Testament.
Right?
This would have been
what the Jews
would have had
to help them
guide the practice
of their own fasting.
There's only one time
that it's commanded
for them to fast.
There's one time a year
for one day,
the day known as
Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement.
One day
of the entire year
that they were commanded
as the nation of Israel
to fast.
That was it.
Leviticus 16,
29-31
is where you can read
about that
if you'd like to.
This fast
was meant to express
their sorrow
for their sins
on the Day of Atonement
when the High Priest
went into the Holy of Holies
and made atonement
for the sins of Israel
for that year.
Right?
It was meant to express
the condition
of their hearts.
A real sorrow.
A real humility.
Right?
Not just some religious
rite and practice.
That's what it was meant for.
So we see it both
being voluntary
and commanded,
but just the same,
it was always meant
to be done
in sorrow
and prayer
and that's why
you reject the food.
You're just not hungry.
You so desire
to see God
move and work.
That is what you hunger for.
That the desires
of your flesh
fade away.
Now the practice
of fasting
in this day
was quite different.
Right?
This fasting
that was being done
by the Pharisees
was quite different.
They in fact
had elevated fasting
to a really high degree.
So much so
that they fasted
twice a week
on Monday
and Thursday.
If you were going
to be part of
the in crowd,
if you were part of
God's crew
in this day,
these Pharisees,
this is the way
in which you fasted.
You didn't eat
sun up to sun down
on Monday
and on Thursday.
You recall
Jesus' parable
of the Pharisee
and the tax collector
found in Luke
chapter 18.
Beginning of verse 9
we see recorded,
He also told
this parable
to some who trusted
in themselves
that they were righteous.
Hear the wording there.
Who trusted
in themselves
that they were righteous
and treated others
with contempt.
Those who didn't
carry out this
new religious fast.
Verse 10,
Two men went up
to the temple
to pray,
one a Pharisee
and the other
a tax collector.
The Pharisee
standing by himself
prayed thus,
God, I thank you
that I am not
like other men,
extortioners,
unjust,
adulterers,
or even like
this tax collector.
I fast twice a week.
I give tithes
of all that I get.
This is the evidence
of his righteousness
before God.
I fast twice a week.
This man-made law
that had been put in place
which was merely external.
Something they had done
to look more pious
than others.
John MacArthur said
in a sermon
on this text,
Empty ritual
is the enemy
of true godliness.
Empty ritual
is the enemy
of true godliness.
Joel 2,
verses 12 and 13
says,
Yet even now,
declares the Lord,
return to me
with all your heart,
with fasting,
with weeping,
and with mourning,
and rend your hearts
and not your garments.
It's an issue
of the heart.
This is the condition
that needs to be fixed.
This is the condition
that the gospel
of Jesus Christ fixes.
It's distinct in that way.
No other religious system
accomplishes this.
If you practice religion
for that reason,
and if you're here
just because you're going
through those motions,
I would encourage you
to stop.
There are better,
more fun things to do.
If your end is destruction
one day,
you better get it in now.
It's a beautiful day.
Go hiking.
It's a waste of your time
to be here.
If your heart's not regenerate,
if you're not coming
and seeking to worship God
in spirit and in truth,
and you're merely going
through the exterior motions,
what a waste
of your time.
I can think of all kinds
of things I could do
with two hours
of my day.
If it's merely exterior.
If I'm trusting in this
to put righteousness
on myself,
even the preaching
of the Word.
If I say,
I'm glad I'm not like
other men.
I preach the Word of God
on Sunday mornings.
That is not my righteousness.
Christ is my righteousness.
The Gospel is distinct
in this way.
This is what the religions
of the world need to hear.
This is how Christianity,
a devotion to our Lord,
is different than all of them.
And he gives us two
little examples.
These are really kind of
the first parables
that we see recorded in Mark.
Little examples that are
really fairly simple
to make the point.
Would have been very
familiar to them
in their cultural context.
He says to them,
can the wedding guests
fast while the bridegroom
is with them?
As long as they have
the bridegroom with them,
they cannot fast.
The days will come
when the bridegroom
is taken away from them,
and they will fast
in that day.
Weddings,
we get this,
weddings are a time
for joy.
We come together
to celebrate.
It was more so
in this day.
Some wedding festivities
went on for a week.
Much joy was taking place.
Big parties were going on.
You remember what Jesus did
in one of His early miracles?
He turned water into wine.
Jesus was into big parties
and celebrating at weddings.
That's what it was for.
There's actually an old
rabbinic document
called the Megalot Ta'anit.
You don't have to remember that.
I just wanted to say it out loud.
In English,
the scroll of fasting
gave rules
to the way in which
this should take place.
And it forbid fasting
at a wedding.
You know why?
Because no one wanted
these bummers to show up.
Right?
To come in
all self-righteous
and pious
with their makeup
on their face
looking sad
and ruining the buzz
of a wedding.
It was meant
for celebration.
And that's the point
that Jesus is making here now.
He predicts His death.
There's going to come a day
when the bridegroom
is going to be removed from them.
And in that day,
they will fast.
They will.
It's going to happen
that they'll fast
in those days.
But now,
I am with them.
And they have reason
for much joy.
This is why
my disciples don't fast.
Right?
And I love that Jesus
is telling you
why, in fact,
His disciples aren't fasting.
I wonder if that's really
even the case
for them personally.
Counted amongst that number,
I'd go,
that's a great reason, Jesus.
That is why
I'm eating
and enjoying this food.
Right?
But this is what He tells us.
This is why they're fasting
because they're experiencing
the joy
of the bridegroom,
the one
Jesus Christ.
Two more examples here.
No one sews a piece
of unshrunk cloth
on an old garment.
If he does,
the patch tears away from it.
The new from the old.
And a worse tear is made.
This is probably
a little bit removed
from a lot of your thinking
because most of you
probably don't patch
your own clothing.
Most cloth we buy
is probably in some way
fabricated
so that it's pre-shrunk
or something like that.
But,
any of you ever had a horrible,
I've got some clothes
that have just been
shrunk horribly on me.
And it happens still
these days
that you put something
in the dryer
in the wrong way
and it ends up
a whole lot smaller
than it was intended to be.
And you have to get rid of it
because you can't wear it
any longer
because it would be
obnoxious.
What's going on here
is when they patched clothing
they had to pre-shrink
the patches
before they put it on
to the clothing.
So that when
that patch shrunk
in the wash
from the fabric
that had already been shrunk
it didn't cause
a greater problem.
You don't do this.
This was a very simple
analogy for them.
They'd all go,
of course not.
No, you wouldn't do that.
Of course you've got to
shrink the patch
before you sew
the patch on.
It says that no one
puts new wine
into old wineskins.
If he does,
the wine will burst
the skins
and the wine
is destroyed
and so are the skins.
But new wine
is for fresh wineskins.
He didn't come
with a message
to patch the old system.
He didn't come
to bring in
a little fix
to this form
of Judaism.
And remember,
this is the apostate Judaism.
They weren't practicing it
the way it had been
prescribed to them
in the Old Testament,
which was still
a message of faith.
So this is not
Jesus coming
and replacing
the Old Testament.
The Old Testament
is still gospel saturated.
But this is the
apostate form of Judaism
that was being practiced today.
It's the modern form
of Judaism.
It's apostate
in all manner.
He didn't come
just to fix that.
He came to
replace
that.
He gave us
another parable,
Matthew 13,
verses 44-46.
He said,
The kingdom of heaven
is like treasure
hidden in a field,
which a man found
and covered up.
Then in his joy
he goes and sells
all that he has
and buys that field.
Again,
the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant
in search of fine pearls,
who on finding
one pearl of great value
went and sold
all that he had
and bought it.
Put away
everything else
for the value
of this treasure.
Jesus came to
replace
not to patch.
Now in this day,
if you don't understand,
I'm going to teach you today
everything I know
about wine,
which is going to take
just a few moments.
But in this day,
they used goat skins
to store wine in
in the process
of it fermenting
and they simply,
when they skinned the goats,
they stitched them back up.
They stitched the leg holes
and the neck hole shut
and that's how they
stored wine.
And the process
of wine fermenting,
it expands.
It produces carbon dioxide
and it expands
and new goat skin
does the same.
It also can stretch
because it's still
pliable.
Old boots,
you've got to
condition the leather
to keep it soft
so it doesn't get all
dry and brittle.
So they would do this
and as the wine
fermented,
as it was forming,
it would separate.
There'd be less
beneficial parts of it,
often called dregs.
I don't know why.
I didn't take the time
to figure it out.
But that would settle
to the bottom
and they would pour off
the better portion
of the wine
into another new goat skin
and they would continue
that process
until the wine was
where they wanted it to be
and then it would be consumed.
So these sediments
would settle
and they would do this.
Once that portion
was poured out,
if the wine skin
was just thrown
to the side,
it would get dry,
it would get brittle,
it would crack.
What he's saying is
you can't pour the gospel
into old,
dry,
cracked wineskins
of religion.
That's not where it belongs.
It'll burst out of it.
That's the point
that he's trying to make here.
That you need new,
a new thing.
Throw away the old.
This apostate Judaism.
You need the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
You cannot place
the gospel of grace
into any system of law.
That is not the gospel
that we celebrate.
Now to be clear,
a response
to the gospel of grace,
the changing of our hearts,
definitely yields fruit.
It has to
to be genuine faith.
We will live
a certain way
in light of the truth.
But we don't earn
our salvation
because of the work.
We get it
caught before the horse
all of the time
this happens.
The rest of the world's religions
seek to find
grace with God
because
of their action
and not the other way around.
He gives us grace
and therefore
we act.
I love the story
of John Bunyan,
the man who wrote
Pilgrim's Progress
when he
was thrown into prison
because he was
preaching the gospel
without a license
from the state.
He was in prison.
He would actually preach
in the courtyard
and people would gather
around the prison
in the thousands
so they threw him
into a dark dungeon.
That's where he wrote
Pilgrim's Progress.
So if you read that book,
if you haven't read it,
you should read that book.
That's where he was at.
He had a copy
of his scriptures.
He had a copy
of Fox's Book of Martyrs
and he wrote
Pilgrim's Progress
there in this
dark, dark dungeon.
There were another group
of men who were also
thrown into the darker
part of the dungeon
to their commendation.
They were also
preaching the gospel
without a license.
Good job, men.
Right?
Also,
evangelical believers.
But they were
very concerned
with his message
and they said,
you must stop
teaching people
how much God
loves them
by grace
in Christ.
If you keep doing that,
they're going to do
whatever they want to.
Right?
They saw he was
giving a license to them.
God loves you immensely
and that will never change
and he pours out grace
on you in Christ.
This was his message.
And they said,
stop.
They're going to live
however they want to.
They're going to take
that grace
for advantage.
They're just going to live
in whatever way they want to.
And he said,
no,
if I teach God's people
about God's love for them,
they'll do whatever
he wants.
Right?
So it's a natural response
to the gospel of grace
that we live rightly,
but we don't live rightly
that we might receive grace.
Now, interestingly,
to drive this home,
turn to Luke chapter 5.
Luke adds a little bit
to the story here
under the inspiration
of the Spirit.
He records after the same phrase
we see here in Mark chapter 2.
It says,
and then Jesus went on to say,
so it says,
and no one after drinking
old wine
desires new,
for he says,
the old is good.
And no one after drinking
old wine
desires new,
for he says,
the old is good.
Does that get your wheels turning?
I hope so.
I hope on Sunday mornings
you don't just go,
explain please,
but you actually start thinking.
Get your mind engaged
in this process
this morning.
It's an interesting way
to end his little parable,
this little journey
that he's been on,
because when you're
looking through it,
you think,
well, wait,
isn't the new wine
the thing that we've just
understood to be the gospel?
Isn't that what we've understood?
And yes, it is.
When he's talking about
new wine,
old wineskins,
the new wine,
he's referring to the gospel.
I just drove that point
for a little bit.
So then it seems to say
that old wine
is preferable to new wine.
What is he talking about?
So it's been suggested
by some scholars
that this phrase,
the old is good,
is people who are content.
They like the old
apostate Judaism.
Right?
And so therefore,
it's just the reality,
the truth of things
that Jesus is saying to them.
And those of you
who think you have
old wine,
who have drunk
of the old wine,
you're just content
and satisfied with that.
You don't want new wine.
But that's troubling
because new wine
was not as good
as old wine.
That's true today.
Now that's all the information
I have.
I don't know anything else
about wine.
Old wine was less tannic,
was less severe
in its flavor,
more mellow.
It was more nourishing
than new wine.
It was the much preferred,
much preferred wine
over new wine.
So, I think that
what Jesus is saying here
is that these people
who say the old is good
are people who have drank
of the old wine
of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
I think what he's doing
is he's flipping his analogy
back on them
as they are coming
thinking that they have
the old religion.
Right?
This apostate Judaism.
They're coming and saying,
whoa, whoa,
what is this new teaching?
Right?
Jesus expresses it
as a new thing
and then he flips it around
to say,
actually,
it's an ancient thing.
Right?
That began before
the foundation of the world.
The gospel of Jesus Christ
is old wine.
And those who have tasted of it
never drink new wine.
Never care for this
apostate version of Judaism
or any other world religion
or ours for that matter.
The trappings that we tend
to stack on our faith as well.
It's the old wine.
Those who've been saved
by faith through grace
Noah,
Abraham,
Moses,
Isaiah,
to name a few.
These were drinkers
of the old wine.
The wine that the apostles
drank of.
These that were now
not fasting
because they understood
the gospel of grace.
But they were rather rejoicing
while the bridegroom
was with them.
I believe that's what
he's saying to these.
That have created
a religious system
and have replaced
the old good message
of the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
We see the first proclamation
of it in Genesis chapter 3.
I hope and pray
that Adam drank deeply
of that.
One day we might rejoice
in heaven with him.
And so today,
you have to ask yourself
the question,
if you're here,
are you here
because you have
genuine saving faith
in Christ?
Is it because you believed
the gospel of grace?
Are you here
because you merely
find this an external thing
in the hopes
that you might
earn favor?
If you have fasted
or are considering fasting,
is that why
you would do that?
Because you think
in some way
you can work your way
to God.
You can't.
Our righteousness
is found in Christ.
Christ.
That is where it's from.
When God sees us,
He sees Christ
because of what Christ
has accomplished
on our behalf.
And if you haven't,
I pray this morning
that you will drink
of the old wine
of the gospel of grace.
That you will repent
and believe,
which is the call
that Jesus has given to us
in chapter 1,
verse 15.
And those of you
who have drank
of the old wine,
why do we trade
what is good
for what is of lesser value?
We do this so often.
Right?
Having begun
by the Spirit,
Paul says in Galatians,
are we now being
perfected by our flesh?
In this rhetorical,
again,
sarcasm.
No,
of course we're not.
We've begun
by the Spirit
and we're being
perfected
by the Spirit.
Why do we
so often
march off
on our own
thinking that
in some way
we can get it right?
We can't.
In our flesh,
we get it wrong
every time
without a doubt.
This whole analogy
ought to draw us
into desperation
for God to continue
to move
and to work
in our living.
I want to exalt Christ
with all of my life.
I want to lift Him up.
This life is so fleeting
and this is the highest aim
of any man's life.
This is what I want to do.
And I know,
at least here,
day by day,
that I cannot accomplish that
apart from His work in me.
Why do I so often
try to do it on my own?
And every time
I fail,
those of us
who have drunk
of the old wine
need to continue
to do that
and to live
by the grace
that's been given us.
And the Lord's Supper,
again,
is this display.
It's old wine.
It's actually grape juice,
but it represents that,
doesn't it?
The symbols
of the Gospel of Christ.
His body broken
and His blood spilt
on our behalf.
And so as I'm praying,
men who have volunteered
this morning
to hold those elements,
I'll ask you to go ahead
and make your way back there.
Reflect upon this.
Have you drunk
of the old wine
of the Gospel of Christ?
Let's pray.
Amen.