All right, Matthew chapter 9. Thank you for letting me know.
We are going to continue on in our series about stories of the kingdom, the parables of Jesus.
! And we are going to look at Matthew chapter 9 today.
The title is Treasures and...I'm sorry, that was last Sunday.
Treasures and Pearls. Anybody remember that?
Treasures and Pearls. This Sunday we're going to talk about garments and wineskins.
You notice there's kind of a theme.
Jesus takes these very interesting themes in each parable, and a parable is just an illustrative story,
a tale that someone would tell to make a greater point, and Jesus was always making a greater point,
about the kingdom of God.
So we're going to look at verses 14 down through verse 17.
How many of you enjoyed the service already this morning?
Amen.
Glory to His name.
Thank you, Jesus, for the blood applied.
We thank those who have gone before and paid the ultimate sacrifice for us on this earth,
and we thank the one who came before us and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
Matthew chapter 9, verse 14.
You've been up and down today.
I'm going to let you keep your seats, but let's read verses 14 down through 17.
Then John's disciples came to Him saying,
Why do we and the Pharisees fast often?
But your disciples do not fast, Jesus.
Can you hear a little passive aggression there?
It's not like, Jesus, we respect you as a teacher.
Please instruct us, help us understand why it's better for your disciples not to fast according to our custom.
It doesn't seem to be, maybe, you know, we try to not read too much into the text other than what it says,
but it certainly could have been phrased differently.
And so they come to Jesus and say,
Why do we fast and your disciples don't?
Jesus said to them,
Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them?
The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the skins burst and the wine spills out and the skins are ruined.
No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
Let's pray together.
God, please give us an understanding of what you meant to teach here.
What your greater point was, what you were teaching us about the kingdom of God and our role in it.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
How many of you have an older phone?
Anybody?
An older cell phone?
Smartphone?
Y'all all a bunch of latest model.
There you go.
They're pointing to Barbara.
Y'all be nice to Barbara.
Come on now.
Just proud she's got one, you know?
That's awesome.
Al, yeah.
Al, you don't have a smartphone, do you?
You told me that he's like, I am staying off the grid.
That's good.
They're going to find us, but they're not going to find you.
That's good.
We're all coming to your house.
All right.
I have had many older phones.
The very first cell phone my family ever got was when I was a kid, and it was very large
and had a big old antenna coming out of it, and that was my dad's cell phone, and we thought
they were the cat's pajamas because we had a cell phone.
I think it was made by Nextel or something.
I don't know.
This right here is an iPad that my mom, not my mom, my kid's mom, my wife got me for.
That was good.
Can we just start over real quick here?
Cut the tape.
We're starting over.
Remember we used to have tapes?
Yeah.
Now it's all live.
Anyway, I love this thing.
I preach from this thing.
Y'all want to see how this looks?
Not that you can all see.
First of all, there's Holly.
Isn't she pretty?
And then here it is.
There's no way you can see that, but maybe some of you up front.
I've got the slides over here that you see, so I see what's coming up next.
I've got all my notes right here that correspond to the slides, and that's what works for me.
Now, before I had that, now this is not the latest iPad, trust me.
It's a few years old, but those tend to be a little cheaper than the latest ones, so it's new to me, and it works great, and I love it.
Before I had that, I had this iPad, and I could not preach from it for the simple reason that it will not hold a charge.
So you can charge this thing up, and I did just recently, and it will not turn on.
So there you go.
Not only will it not hold a charge, it does not receive the latest updates.
It's very, very old in its updates.
How many of you know what we're talking about?
How many of you had your iPhone or your Android or whatever pop up there?
You need to update your software.
Yeah.
How many of you have tried to update your software, and for some reason you wake up in the morning,
and it says your iPhone was not connected to a power source and Wi-Fi, so the software update failed.
Anybody had a software update fail?
Yeah, me too.
I'm really glad y'all raised your hand, because I thought maybe I was the only one.
But listen, this is the world we live in now.
Smartphones and software updates.
And do y'all understand this concept, this principle that these companies make?
Designed obsolescence.
Anybody understand what that is?
Yes, sir?
Bill says yes, I got it.
Look, they make it to where your phone is going to be out of date soon.
I feel like I just got my phone, and it's already showing its age,
because I think it's three or four years old now.
Some of you are like, man, my phone's 10 years old.
Might be time.
Look, if you have a phone that's 10 years old, you can't get the latest software for your phone.
Who cares?
I don't need the latest software.
That means some of the apps that you try to use probably won't work,
because they're designed to work with the latest software.
They get you coming and going, you know?
Buy the phone, spend a bunch of money on it,
and then you're going to have to keep these software updates coming
so it works how you want it to work.
All these fancy, you know, advantages that this phone gives you.
Oh, by the way, you've got to have the latest software updates to use them.
Well, after a while, your phone won't update anymore,
and then you've got to go get a new one.
It's how it works.
Why?
Because old phones are not compatible with new updates.
Now, this is not, I don't think, too hard of a concept for anybody in this room to understand.
If it is, we'll talk after.
But look, Jesus is talking about that in this passage.
He's talking about old phones not being compatible with new updates, new software.
Okay?
But he's using different illustrations because they didn't have phones back then.
But he's using the same principle.
So, thank God, I don't have to use this thing anymore.
Now, it looks nice, but it doesn't work.
It doesn't function.
So it does me no good.
Because it's incompatible with anything that I want to do with it now.
Let me just say this, y'all.
Now, the traditions of men are incompatible with what God wants to do.
Let's throw it out there again.
The traditions of men are incompatible with what God wants to do.
Man creates structures.
God comes in to replace them.
All right, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Let's look back at the text.
Number one, from Matthew chapter 9, verses 14 through 17.
Let's look back at verse 9.
Jesus went on from there.
Where?
Hold on a minute.
I'm in chapter...
I'm in verse 9.
I need to be in verse 14.
Here we go.
Then John's disciples came to Jesus and they said,
Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?
We talked about it a moment ago.
Do you see what they just said there?
First of all, who's the John they're talking about?
Anybody know?
John's disciples.
Who was that John?
Say it again.
Y'all, this is a Baptist church.
Let's say it together.
Ready?
John the...
Yes, we love to say that word.
Say, see, Baptists were in the Bible too.
It's a little different than the Baptists on the...
Anyway, John wasn't the first Baptist pope, okay?
There is no Baptist pope.
I'm sorry.
Can't necessarily trace the Southern Baptist Convention back to John the Baptist, all right?
But he did baptize and we do too.
So we get to share that name.
All right, so John the Baptist was what to Jesus?
Cousins, right?
They were related.
They grew up together.
John the Baptist was what by God?
It's kind of getting obscure here.
He was sent by God to be a forerunner of Jesus, the Messiah.
John was an evangelist.
John was going around.
He was a missionary, like the kids were talking about.
He was telling people about Jesus, but Jesus wasn't out there yet.
His public ministry hadn't started yet.
So John's going around preaching about the coming king, his cousin.
He didn't even necessarily know yet who it was.
But then we get to read early in the Gospel of John how this all plays out.
Now listen.
Here's the deal.
John had his own disciples.
Those who believed his message.
The Gospel message.
The message of Jesus Christ.
And they would believe.
And they would start to follow him.
And they would help him in his ministry.
So these guys knew by now that Jesus was, of course, John's cousin.
But he was the Messiah.
Because John had called it.
He said, this is the one.
This is the one who I've been preaching about.
I'm not even worthy to tie his shoes, basically, is what he said.
So he held Jesus in high regard.
He was God.
He was the Son of God.
He was the Messiah.
He was the one that John had been preaching about.
He taught his disciples this.
So they come to Jesus.
And they say, Master.
Jesus.
Teach us everything we need to know.
John taught us this much.
You fill in the blanks, Jesus.
That's not what they said.
It's probably what they should have said.
It's probably the attitude they should have had.
And it's probably the attitude you and I should have when we pray, when we talk to Jesus.
God teach us.
Show us.
We can only understand so much.
But instead, they had a different attitude.
They said, we've noticed something.
We fast a lot because we are good religious people.
We follow the customs.
We follow the religious traditions.
Oh, and just to back us up in this, by the way, we're not alone.
The Pharisees do this too.
The great religious leaders of the day.
You know, Jesus, they love you.
Those Pharisees.
Let's try that one again.
They love you, those Pharisees.
You know, they're your biggest fans, Jesus.
Y'all, they didn't.
Okay?
Do I need to educate you on this?
The Pharisees hated Jesus.
They couldn't stand him.
Read the Gospels.
Open it up.
It's the books that have a bunch of words in red.
That's the words of Jesus.
Look, they didn't like him.
The religious leaders of the day called the Pharisees and then another group called the Sadducees.
They hated Jesus.
Isn't that weird?
Isn't that crazy?
Now, Jesus, Christianity is the most common religion around the world.
And yet, back in the day, religion rejected Jesus.
So they said, we have this tradition, and the Pharisees do too, and we fast.
They fasted twice a week.
Mondays, Thursdays.
It was a sad day.
Monday was a sad day.
Thursday was a sad day.
It's great.
Great form of religion there.
Why?
Why would they fast?
Because they were in mourning.
They were in sadness.
They were crying.
They were weeping.
That's what the whole day was basically given over to.
Why?
Because Jehovah God had instructed them a long time ago to do this?
No.
He hadn't.
Do you know the one day per year they were required to fast?
They call it Yom Kippur now.
It was the day of atonement.
The one day a year when the high priest that God had appointed would go into the Holy of Holies.
Inside the tabernacle, he would go into the Holy of Holies, and he would take the sacrifice, the animal that had been killed,
to make a show of atonement for the sin of the people.
That was the one day that God had said you should fast on this day.
What does it mean to fast?
I mean, I feel like in today's world, you know, there's all kinds of fasts out there to lose weight, that kind of thing.
I should probably look into a couple of them.
But look, I'm working on it, all right?
Seriously, we're on this diet plan.
It's actually working right now.
Could have used some amens right there.
Like, yes, it really is, man.
You're doing great.
But look, fasting, you know, there's this intermittent fasting, all this stuff.
That's not what this was about, okay?
This wasn't trying to be healthy or lose weight or get on a diet plan.
This was a religious show.
It was a religious practice.
Came from that, Jehovah's commandment to his people.
But then, just like people always do, they take what God set up and they mess it up.
God put the line here.
Here, here's one day a year that you should fast.
And before you know it, man gets a hold of God's commandments and he twists them.
And before you know it, they're now asking people to fast twice a week.
And most of those people were sincere.
They were using that time to call out to God.
God, send your Messiah.
Send the Deliverer who's going to help us.
God, send the Deliverer who's going to help us.
So first of all, John's disciples are in bad company.
They think they're in great company.
Man, the Pharisees do this.
We learned it from them.
Why do we fast twice a week like our religious customs ask us to do?
Hey, side note.
What do your religious customs ask you to do that God never asked you to do?
Do you know what religious customs are really good at?
They're really good at distracting you from the thing that God wants you to be doing.
Religious customs are excellent, excellent tools to get you not doing what God said to do and doing everything but that.
That's what was happening here.
So they said, Jesus, why does this happen?
Do you understand that old religion has expectations?
Old religion has expectations.
Remember, we've learned this in recent weeks and some of you already knew it before.
But every passage of the Bible, every group block of verses that you pick up and read, it has an interpretation that is correct.
This is what it's saying.
And then it has all kinds of extra applications that you can take and apply to your life.
Because this was written a long time ago.
So there's different ways to apply it back then.
And there's different ways to apply it now.
So how can we apply it now in 2025 in Henrietta, Texas?
Old religion has expectations.
They were sincere, but they were misguided.
They've been trained to expect a certain religious rhythm.
Fasting as a sign of being pious, being religious, being holy.
Grief, sadness, longing for God's deliverance.
Their assumption was that the form they assumed that this form of religion had to be preserved at all costs.
That's where the Pharisees come in.
At all costs.
Man, they just about had the Roman army on their side.
Almost as their arm of enforcing at times.
They're going to preserve their religious customs at all costs.
Even if the function no longer fits the moment.
Even if the function started in sincerity, started for a good purpose, but it's no longer relevant.
It's no longer applicable to the moment.
What they didn't understand is it was no longer relevant or applicable to the moment.
Why?
Because Jesus was there.
Jesus was there.
And we're going to get there in just a minute, okay?
But stick with me.
First, Acts chapter 15 makes this incredibly valuable point that they didn't get.
And this was the early church.
Peter was talking to the early church because they were starting to do the same thing that those disciples did of John when they came to Jesus,
the Son of God, the one we pray to, the one we sing to, he's out there walking around with him.
And the disciples of John go to him and say, what about our religious traditions?
You and your crowd ain't keeping them.
What's up with that?
Fast forward.
Jesus has died on the cross.
He's risen from the dead.
Spoiler alert if you didn't know.
Jesus rose from the dead.
He's alive.
He hears the songs.
He hears the prayers.
He's here with us today through his spirit.
But listen, his church started.
They took off.
They started spreading everywhere.
It wasn't just his disciples.
It wasn't just the disciples of John.
Now there's Jesus followers all over the world.
It's spreading like wildfire.
And somebody says, hold on, hold on, hold on.
We're letting this get away from us.
Too many people getting baptized around here.
Too much momentum from God around here.
Too much fruit from the Holy Spirit around here.
It's starting to spiral out of control.
And our religious traditions are not being kept.
And so Peter gets up and says, folks, we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
He said, we are making it difficult.
By all these people who are catching a glimpse of Jesus and they're responding to Jesus.
They're not responding to our Jewish religious customs that we grew up with.
They're responding to Jesus.
Fast forward to 2025 in Clay County.
Folks, people are not responding to your religious customs or traditions.
But they will respond to Jesus.
Look, I love the church building.
I love the choir.
I love the pews.
I'm throwing things.
I love a lot.
I love to throw things.
I love a lot of the stuff we do around here.
But that's not what draws people to Jesus.
He is.
He is what draws them.
So if the custom fits the moment, then we do it.
If it doesn't, then we hold it loosely and we say, God, what would you have us do now?
What will now help us reach people for you, not for our traditions?
We don't want to make it hard on anybody.
Turning from sin and turning to the Savior, that's hard enough.
Turning from darkness to light, humbling yourself before God and saying, I can't save myself.
I need you to save me.
That's hard enough.
We don't need to add anything to it.
We don't need to make it hard for the Gentiles.
Say, look, God loves you and we do too as long as you fit our mold.
As long as you fit in.
As long as you do this Jesus life how we do it, then we love you and we want you to walk with us.
That's the danger of old religion.
It has expectations.
Jesus didn't come to bring old religion.
Then or now.
Jesus' way is always the new way.
It's always the radical way.
It's always the way that flies in the face of your tradition.
I promise you.
So, why do we fast and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don't fast?
Because Jesus came to abolish those traditions.
Now, let me jump in here with this.
Too often, you and I operate just like the disciples of John.
We say, why aren't things like they used to be?
Why don't things look like I'm used to them looking?
Why don't they sound like I'm used to them sounding?
Jesus isn't interested in maintaining appearances.
He's inaugurating something completely new.
He's kicking off something completely new.
Listen, He's always doing it.
He's taking the old time religion
and He's turning it on its head.
You know the one thing that never changes?
The color of the carpet.
Nope.
You know the one thing that never changes?
Who the pastor is.
Nope.
Who's sitting in the pews?
Nope.
How the lights look.
I thought building the grounds was going to do something about the lights,
so that's why I use that as an illustration.
Don't start that way.
What's going on with the lights?
The one thing that never changes is the message of Jesus.
That was the same message that John preached.
That was the same message that Jesus preached.
God willing, it will be the same message that gets preached from this pulpit forever
until Jesus comes back.
That's the message that doesn't change.
Everything else, we hold loosely.
It's subject to change.
You ever seen the disclaimer at the bottom,
terms and conditions subject to change?
Well, listen.
Conditions will change.
The terms of salvation will never change.
But the terms of how we live in this world as followers of Jesus,
how we communicate the gospel to the lost,
the kind of music we use,
unfortunately, there's no Ten Commandments regarding church music.
So we've got to work it out through the guidance of the Holy Spirit
what best suits our day, our moment,
so we don't make it hard for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Not saying,
well, this is how we did it 20 years ago,
so why are you not wanting to do it this way now?
Because God came to bring something new.
His gospel is new.
The vehicle that carries his gospel is the church.
And the church must continually refresh itself
so we are not a stale vehicle
for the always new, always alive gospel of Jesus.
The story that never changes,
and yet it's always fresh.
It's always new.
Isn't that amazing?
There's nothing like it on this earth.
So what is God doing now
and how must we respond?
That is the attitude.
Okay?
You want to know what kind of attitude should you have
toward God and church and his work?
What is God doing now
and how should I respond to it?
Not how should I react?
Not how should I get bent out of shape?
Not how should my expectations not be met?
Nope, that's the old religion talking.
Old religion has expectations.
Jesus brought something new.
How do we respond to it?
So religious routines,
even well-meaning ones,
can become barriers
to recognizing Jesus when he shows up.
And he's showing up, by the way.
We've had 30 people baptized in the last two years.
I'm excited about that.
We've had 30 people baptized in the last two years.
Glory to God.
Yeah.
Glory to God.
I'm excited about that.
Verse 15.
Let's go to verse 15.
We'll be done in just a couple of minutes.
Y'all stick with me,
so that's not a lie, okay?
Verse 15.
Here we go.
Jesus said to them,
can the wedding guests be sad
while the groom is with them?
The time will come
when the groom will be taken away from them
and then they will fast.
What's he talking about?
Does anybody get that off just face value?
Aubrey, don't raise your hand.
I'll have you explain it.
And you have your newfound voice again.
So, look.
Back then, weddings were different, okay?
You know how weddings work today?
Back then, it was different.
The groom would go to the bride-to-be's house
and he would carry with him a payment,
a dowry.
Dowry for the bride.
He had to pay off the dad
to give his bride away,
to give his daughter away.
It was,
I'm not gonna say it's weird
because that's their culture,
but different for us, right?
I'm like,
good night, man.
I bought her a ring.
What do you want?
But look, it was different.
He would go to the bride's house.
He would pay the price for the bride
and then he would take her
and he would bring her to his house
and there would be a big feast set up
and all the friends and family would be there
and they would celebrate
and it was great
and they wouldn't leave
and go off to a honeymoon then.
It would last for a week.
So they're celebrating this wedding for a week.
It's the reception,
the rehearsal,
the ceremony,
and the honeymoon
all rolled into one.
Just a big week-long to-do.
So that's the culture
that Jesus is using this illustration in.
So, isn't that interesting?
Little side note here.
Do you know who the bridegroom is in Scripture?
Anybody?
Jesus is the bridegroom.
Do you know who the bride is?
The church.
It's us, right?
It's us.
And do you know
that someday
he will come
and he will rapture
or take his church away
and we will celebrate in heaven
for seven years?
What an exciting thing.
All right?
Now, we can talk about timelines
and get into arguments about Revelation
and how that all plays out.
But look,
you know that Jesus is coming to get us
and we're so thankful for that.
And it's a reference to this.
But why would they be talking about fasting here?
Why is he using this as an illustration of fasting?
Because nobody would eat
until the groom got there.
The party didn't start
until the groom walked in.
Listen.
Jesus is saying
your fasting
has been
because you're waiting
for the groom to come.
In the Old Testament,
Jehovah God
referred to himself
as the bridegroom.
Now,
Jesus is referring to himself
in front of these disciples of John
as the bridegroom.
He's saying,
that's me.
I'm the one you've been waiting for.
I'm the groom.
He's saying,
there's no reason
to be sad.
There's no reason
for Monday, Thursday,
sad days anymore.
There's no reason
to fast anymore.
I am here.
It's time
to celebrate.
It's time
for joy.
It's time
for rejoicing.
In the presence
of God,
there is great joy.
There is joy
in God's presence.
And he was present
with them.
Boy,
they had endured
a long period of darkness.
They had endured
a long night.
But what does
Lamentations teach us?
Weeping may endure
for the night,
but what comes
in the morning?
Joy.
And the morning
was there.
It was present
with them.
Some of y'all
have forgotten
that joy is here.
We're living
in the morning.
Jesus came.
He's here
with us.
So we can put
a smile
on that grouchy face.
We can lighten up
a little bit.
Because Jesus
is here.
And I got
a question.
If there's no joy,
is it because
you don't have
God's presence?
Why do y'all think
I keep giving
an invitation
every Sunday morning?
saying some of you
probably need to
turn to Jesus
for the first time.
Because I suspect
you don't have
God's presence
because you don't
exhibit his joy.
And in the presence
of God,
there's joy.
Oh, there's sorrows.
There's weeping.
It'll endure
for the night,
but the morning
always comes.
Jesus is always there.
He never abandons us.
He's still there
and the joy
has to be
the overriding
attribute
of your personality.
It's not that you all
got to be type A
people persons
and I love to talk
and I'm going to be
the life of the party.
That's not it.
But there's a joy
that can't be
extinguished.
No matter how hard
the rains fall,
you're built on the rock.
So, the groom's here.
There's no reason
to fast anymore.
There's joy.
There's no reason
to mourn.
There's no reason
to be sorrowful.
The groom is here
with the bride.
It's time to celebrate now.
We're going to pivot
to the last two verses
and we'll be done.
It's 1157.
We're going to try
to knock this thing out
in eight minutes.
12.05?
Can I get 12.05?
Okay.
I'm going to shoot for it.
Here we go.
Ready?
Verse 16.
No one patches
an old garment
with unshrunk cloth.
No one patches
an old garment
with unshrunk cloth.
Why?
Because an old garment
with unshrunk cloth,
the patch will pull away
from the garment
and make the tear worse.
Wow, I totally skipped that.
All right,
we're just going to move ahead, y'all.
We're going to move ahead.
Here we go.
All right,
we need new clothes.
The ladies are like,
yes and amen.
We need new clothes.
Let's go shopping.
Everybody will meet at TJ Maxx
or whatever.
All right.
No one patches an old garment
with unshrunk cloth
because the patch
pulls away from the garment
and makes the tear worse.
Stop there.
We're going to get to 17
in just a second.
We've already lost a minute.
Here we go.
We need new clothes.
What do we mean by this?
Jesus is deepening his warning.
He used the whole wedding thing
and he made the first point there,
but now he's bringing
his new reality of his kingdom,
the kingdom of God
that he's talking about,
this whole thing.
All these are stories
about his kingdom.
He's having to teach everybody
because, by the way,
the kingdom of God
is very different
than the kingdom of this world.
Completely night and day.
You and I are taught
and brainwashed
in the kingdom of this world
from the time we are born.
If we're blessed by God
to grow up in a home
that worships Jesus
and tries to follow him,
then we also hear
about the kingdom of God.
But it's always competing
with all these other voices
that are training us
in the kingdom of this world.
So Jesus is coming into this
and he's saying,
my kingdom's different.
And he's using this illustration.
Clothes back then,
they're made of wool.
So,
you put a new patch
on this old garment
and it's not pre-shrunk.
Anybody, ladies,
know what we're talking about?
Like pre-shrunk?
Men too.
I'm not trying to be.
Anyway.
You gotta pre-shrink things, right?
What happens
if you don't pre-shrink it
before you patch it
onto an old garment
that's already shrunk?
Shrinks.
There you go.
It's not gonna work.
The patch isn't gonna work.
And you're gonna end up
ruining both garments.
So he's saying the old fabric
is illustrating this old way,
these old customs,
these old traditions,
these rigid systems
that the Pharisees had come up with.
By the way,
we're not that different
from the Pharisees.
We come up with our own rigid systems
and structures.
Why do we do it this way?
Well, because it's how
it's always been done.
I've heard this illustration
from two different people.
We've talked about it
in staff meeting.
I've heard it from people
in this church.
Somebody said,
who was it?
Somebody can raise their hand.
Somebody said
they would get a roast
and they would cut the end
off of the roast
before they put it in the oven.
Anybody know
what I'm talking about?
Yeah, there you go.
I've heard this
from a couple different people here.
And, you know,
the daughter,
whoever it was,
says,
why do you do that?
Why do you cut the end
off the roast?
I mean, that's valuable meat, right?
She says,
well, that's how my mom
always did it.
Well, it turned out
it was because
her mom had a small oven
and the roast wouldn't fit
without trimming off part of it.
But she never understood that,
so it's just like,
that's what you do.
You cut the end off the roast.
What are things
that we're cutting
the end off the roast
and it doesn't even apply anymore?
Right?
Doesn't even apply anymore,
but we hold on to things
because that's how we know it.
We were trained in that.
We grew up in that.
That's what we know.
That's what we relate to.
That's what makes sense to us.
That's what we're comfortable with.
What's going to happen
if I put the whole roast
in the oven, man?
It's going to like blow up
or something.
It's too much.
Too much roast.
What's going to happen
if we have too many new people
coming to the church?
It's too many.
Too many new people.
They might start
populating our committees.
They might start
populating our teams.
They might start
getting involved
in the service.
Things might start changing.
I'm not comfortable with that.
And maybe
something worked
for a moment in time,
but God wants to change it
because it's a new moment
and His gospel
is never outdated.
It's fresh
and alive
and applicable
for every single moment,
but we're trying
to put holy patches
on our old garments.
We're trying to take
what God's doing
and somehow make it work
with what we know
and are used to.
And I promise you,
it doesn't work.
It didn't work back then.
It will never work.
What happens
is you ruin both.
You make the gospel
more ineffective.
You make it
not as loving,
not as gracious,
not as compassionate
as it should be,
and you ruin
what you had.
It never works.
So,
2 Corinthians 5, 17,
instead of trying
to put a holy patch
on your old garment,
Jesus wants to give you
a new garment.
It's what He did
when you got saved.
Maybe you're not saved.
We talked about that
a moment ago, right?
Maybe you haven't experienced
God's presence yet.
In reality,
you've had this form
of religion,
but you don't have
a relationship
with the Savior.
When you get one,
it's just like
that wedding garment.
Was that
two Sundays ago?
You've got to have
the right wedding garment
on, right?
Jesus' righteousness.
He clothes you
in Jesus' righteousness.
Just like that,
God wants to give you
a new garment,
continually clothing you
in Him,
continually clothing you
in Jesus' righteousness.
And that's not going to work
with the clothes
you have on.
I'm not talking about
the clothes you're wearing
right now.
I'm talking about
what you clothe yourself
in every day.
our selfishness,
our pride,
our ego,
our traditions.
It's what we wrap
ourselves in,
like an armor
that protects us
from all the horrible
people that want
to change things.
Instead,
God wants to make you
a new creation.
The old will continue
to pass away
because the new
is here.
The new has come.
That's what Jesus
is teaching.
These themes
are consistent.
You find them
in the Old Testament.
We'll get there
in a minute.
You find them
in Jesus' teaching
and you find them
in Paul's letters
to the churches.
It's the same principle.
We've got to let go
of the old garment
entirely
if we want to wear
the righteousness
of Christ.
Now,
last verse.
It's 12.05.
Y'all,
we've got to do it.
We've got to do this
last one.
Last one and we're done,
okay?
I promise you
I'll try to wrap it up
as soon as I can.
But please don't miss this.
It's what ties
the whole thing together.
Verse 17.
Jesus says
to the disciples of John,
no one puts new wine
into old wineskins.
Let me throw a disclaimer
about there.
I'm not advocating
drinking alcohol,
okay?
You make your best decision
based on you and God.
The Bible gives absolute warnings
about drunkenness,
about addictions,
about how dangerous
alcohol can be.
I'm not advocating
for anything like this.
Wine was a common drink
of the day.
It's not like the Chardonnay
that you go get in a bottle,
okay?
Very different.
Lower alcohol content,
more fruit.
It was fermented beverage.
Very different from what
we're talking about today.
So just work with me on that.
Don't get hung up
on the wine part.
No one puts new wine
into old wineskins.
Otherwise,
the skins burst.
The wine spills out
and the skins are ruined.
No.
They put new wine
into fresh wineskins
and both are preserved.
Do you know
what the number one problem
facing most churches
in America today,
especially in small rural areas?
We're trying to put
new wine
into old wineskins.
Work with me on that.
Just follow me there.
Hold that.
Set it to the side.
I'll explain
what I'm talking about.
This is the heart
of Jesus' message.
The new wine.
The life
that the Holy Spirit
brings to us.
The movement
of God's kingdom.
The power
of His gospel.
His message.
This is the new wine.
And do you know
what it will do?
It will burst
anything rigid,
anything that can't move
and form with it,
anything that it can't
mold and shape,
it will burst it.
The Bible uses
another illustration
that if you keep
hammering on a hard heart
with the gospel of Jesus,
it will break.
It likens it to a sword
that is so sharp
it can pierce anything.
Jesus' way
is revolutionary.
But that doesn't
necessarily describe
His followers.
So what happened?
Where did we lose
the power?
It's our wine skin.
It's what we're trying
to put the wine in.
It doesn't work.
It just ruins both.
The skin bursts
and the wine spills out.
So,
the problem
is never
the beverage.
It's always
the vessel.
The problem
is not the wine.
It's the wine skin.
This is where
we have to look inside.
Have we become
old wine skins?
Has our church
become
an old wine skin?
Have we built
a culture
in our church polity,
our governance,
our structure,
our relationships,
our presence
in the community,
our reputation
that's unable
to bend,
unable to break,
unable to be filled
even by God's Spirit,
unable to be moved
even by God's Spirit.
Galatians chapter 5
and verse 25.
Wow, that was good.
I want to show you this.
There we go.
God wants to replace,
not repair.
Okay,
turn to Galatians
if you would.
Galatians chapter 5
and verse 25.
While you're turning,
I'm going back.
Sometimes I forget
to advance these slides,
but I don't want you
to miss this point.
Back on the patches
and the garments,
God wants to replace,
not repair.
That's an interesting point
that he's making here.
Don't patch an old garment
with a new patch.
He's saying he wants
to give you
a whole new garment,
right?
So replace,
not repair.
Now we're up
in Galatians 5.
Galatians 5,
talking about new wineskins.
Ooh.
If we live by the Spirit,
let us also keep in step
with the Spirit.
Did you hear that?
If we live by the Spirit,
let us also keep in step
with the Spirit.
How many of y'all
went to Texas A&M?
Slip your hand up
loud and proud.
There you go.
I expected a little more pride,
but that's all right.
What is this?
What is that, y'all?
Aggie man.
There you go.
Look,
if you know me at all,
you know that I'm
a Longhorn fan.
Hook them.
There you go.
Tyler,
Bruce,
Harlan,
Matt,
wherever y'all are.
Billy,
we got some
Longhorn fans in here.
I will admit
the Aggies have a good band.
All right?
We also have a good band
in Texas.
It's great,
but the Aggies have a good band.
One thing they know
how to do really well
is march.
They march in step.
Right?
Now listen.
As much as I hate
to look at that picture,
it's really good formation.
That's a strength of theirs,
all right?
If we live by the Spirit,
let us also keep in step
with the Spirit.
Do you know how you keep in step?
My dad went to San Marcos
Baptist Military Academy,
San Jacinto.
He did drill team.
He knows how to be in step.
So I'm walking,
and then I get out of step,
and then I got to do a little change step.
Right?
Then I'm back in step.
Everybody know the whole change step deal?
Yeah.
It's just kind of a little hitch,
and then you're back in step
with the people next to you.
I never did drill team,
but my dad taught me that
from an early age,
and I have fun with it.
And my wife and I
go walking around the neighborhood,
usually with the dog,
and sometimes I'll get out of step with her,
and who cares,
as long as we're not really out of step,
right?
But it's just a thing with me.
I've got to get back in step.
So I'll do a little change step,
and then I'll make sure
that our legs are,
and my legs are longer than her,
so we get out of step a lot.
But anyway,
what does it mean
to be in step with the Spirit?
Keep in step with the Spirit.
Y'all, please don't miss this.
I know we've got lunch around the corner.
I know there are cookies being sold.
It's going to be awesome.
But please don't miss this.
New wine in old wineskins doesn't work.
You can't keep in step with the Spirit
and also keep in step with yourself
and what you want.
It does not work.
Many of you will keep trying to make it work,
but I pray by God's Spirit,
He will use His words
to show you
and enlighten you
to change your step.
Do a change step
and get back in step
with the Spirit.
Because if someone
is out of step,
it ruins our whole formation.
I didn't plan that,
but wow.
Again, I hope it's nothing serious.
Nobody's in danger there,
but man.
Look.
It is serious.
It is a crisis, okay?
It is an emergency.
Listen, folks.
We've seen it in our church.
We've seen people get out of step.
We've seen it in our community.
We've seen people get out of step.
If you refuse to stay in step
with what God is doing,
it ruins the whole formation.
It ruins what we're trying to accomplish.
Keep in step with the Spirit.
Not your spirit.
Not your spirit of a judgmental attitude.
Not your spirit of prioritizing
what you want over everybody else.
Not your spirit of,
I'm right and I deserve to get my say.
Not your spirit of what you show
on social media.
Not your spirit,
which is actually
the devil's spirit.
It's the spirit of darkness.
darkness.
And it's incompatible
with the spirit of light.
Y'all, I promise you,
this is what it's about.
I adjust myself
to what God is doing.
I don't ask God to adjust to me.
I don't ask His church to adjust to me.
I don't ask His people to adjust to me.
I adjust myself
to what God is doing.
Here's our takeaway.
I'm not going to have you turn there.
I'm just going to read it for you.
Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord,
will enter the kingdom of heaven
because I will declare to them,
I never knew you.
Do you realize
that the sobering truth is
many people are out of step
with the Spirit
because they're not saved.
Many people who come to this church
go to other churches in town,
other churches across this country,
and sit there Sunday after Sunday,
and they hear the Word of God preached,
but they've never submitted themselves to God.
And they're going to get to heaven,
well,
they're going to get to the judgment someday,
not heaven.
They're going to get to the judgment someday,
and they're going to say,
Lord,
what in the world?
I called myself a Christian all my life.
I did all kinds of things in your name.
I told God,
I said,
God bless you to people
more times than you can count.
And he's going to say,
I never knew you.
Matthew chapter 7.
So,
I told you the Old Testament
talks about this stuff.
The former things
don't dwell on the past.
Forget them.
See,
I'm doing a new thing.
Y'all,
we got our 150th anniversary
coming up next year.
How many of y'all knew that?
This church's been around
almost 150 years.
Isn't that incredible?
Thank God for it.
Thank God for what he's done in the past.
But then move on.
Because he's not doing
what he did in the past again.
Ever again.
He's going to do
a new thing.
I don't need him
to make me the next Ted Traylor.
I don't need him
to make me the next Ron Gunner
or name your favorite pastor
of this church.
I need him
to make me
what he wants Sam Bunnell to be.
Deacons,
you don't need to be
those deacons
who came before you.
You need to be the deacon
that God wants you to be now.
Trustees,
same for you.
Sunday school teachers,
same for you.
Committee chairman
and members,
same for you.
You are going to do
a new thing
through God's power
because he's going to do it.
It springs up
and it's already springing up.
Haven't you seen it?
Haven't you seen it happen?
Haven't you seen the new faces,
people you don't know?
Haven't you seen
what God's doing?
I've been counting up.
We're almost up to
20 new individual family units
who have come
over the last two years
and kept coming.
And I thank God for them.
He's doing a new thing.
We should have 20 more.
We should have 30 more.
God's going to do it.
Are we going to be here for it
or are we going to be
fighting back against it?
Are we going to be softening
or are we going to be stiffening up?
Hold on a minute.
This doesn't look like
what I'm used to.
This doesn't look like
what I recognize.
So that's our takeaway this morning.
Are you going to soften you,
yourself,
so God can fill you?
Or are you going to be
the hard,
brittle,
wine skin?
You know what's going to happen to you?
The new wine's going to burst you.
It's going to burst you.
It's already happened.
And it's going to keep happening.
God will not be denied.
God will win the day.
I want to be on the winning side.
Let's pray together.
God, please soften our hearts.
Start with me.
Start with my family.
Go to our leadership.
Go to our staff.
Go to our deacons,
our committee leaders,
our teachers,
our d-group leaders,
our Sunday school teachers.
Go to everybody in this church, God.
Soften us so we are ready
for your new wine.
I want to taste it.
I want to see how good it is.
And we don't get any credit for it, God.
You did it.
It was your wine
that made it look so good
and so new.
But Jesus,
let us not resist it.
Let us be suitable
to receive your new wine, God.
Tradition, expectation,
religious structure.
It's got to change.
It's got to be compatible
for the new thing you're going to do.
Are we going to be ready?
Are we going to let you make us new?
Remake us?
Give us a whole new garment?
That's what I pray for right now, God.
Stretch us,
soften us,
yield us to your spirit.
What you want to do
in this church, God,
it's not ours,
it's yours.
We ask it in Jesus' name.
Church, would you stand...