believing that you're destined for
heaven when you're not would be the most
tragic self-deception David servants
book the great gospel deception will
help you be sure that heaven will be
your eternal home order your copy and
heaven word on TV okay good to be back
let's dive once again into Matthew
chapter 9 Jesus has just had a little
confrontation with the Pharisees who are
questioning him you know about the fact
that he's eating with sinners tax
collectors and lowlifes we've already
talked about that
Jesus deflected that and gave them a
correction which we've talked about that
as well
after that then some of John's disciples
approached Jesus and again it's a little
bit of a criticism I don't know where
these guys got the nerve to criticize
Jesus I mean he's just done an
incredible miracle before a crowd of
scribes and Pharisees were just you know
really probably hours before this this
man who was lowered to the roof you know
of a house in Capernaum who who was
paralyzed and Jesus tells the guy to get
up and walk what are these guys doing
asking Jesus critical questions it just
boggles your imagination but she just
looked like a regular person I suppose
they were wondering you know is this the
Messiah and so I'll give them the grace
to ask some questions but the question
they asked it is tragic really
how come we fast the disciples of the
Pharisees fast but your disciples don't
fast and Jesus just simply says in so
many words it's not the time to fast
guys you know I mean the Messiah we've
got things to do
it'd be like telling me that we should
be fasting during a wedding feast or in
preparation for a wedding come on when
you go to a wedding it's not time to
fast it's time to feast and so he said
later on will it be an appropriate time
to fasts and this is where we left off
last time in verse number 15 the second
half of chapter 9 Jesus says but the
days will come when the bridegroom is
taken away from them and
then they will fast and that's a very
very veiled reference isn't it to the
fact that Jesus the bridegroom will be
going away at some time in the future
and that's a developing theme of course
as you progress through all the Gospels
now they come to a very interesting
section in Matthew chapter 9 that it
relates and and to what we've already
been reading it's kind of a lamentation
by Jesus and it has application to
everybody in his day and everybody
everybody in our day it has application
to you as that application to me but I
like to read these things that Jesus
says within their context because he's
just deflected criticism twice from
people who ought to know better and
people who have no right finding fault
with him and it's people who have
preconceived ideas that are wrong you
know they're the wrong people
questioning the right person and she
just gently corrects them but they came
to him with baggage old baggage okay and
so then Jesus in rabbinical fashion
gives two kind of a metaphors here the
first one is found in verse number 16 of
Matthew 9 but no one puts a patch of
unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the
patch pulls away from the garment and a
worse tear results and then the second
metaphor and this we've seen
consistently in Jesus's teaching
ministry two examples two metaphors two
stories represent the same principle
making the same point verse number 17
nor do people put new wine into old
wineskins otherwise the wine skins burst
the wine pours out and the wineskins are
ruined but they put new wine into fresh
wineskins and both are preserved okay
now think about that for a second I'm
not a seamstress or a tailor and so I
just have to take Jesus's word for this
you know if you've got an old garment or
old piece of fabric you know something
that you wear and you gets a hole and
you want to put a patch on it apparently
you don't take brand new freshly woven
cloth and stitch it on there because
when you wash them that one
shrinks and the old one has already
shrunk all it's gonna shrink and the the
new fabric patch shrinks and tears and
makes a bigger hole and so you don't mix
new with old it's a mistake there's the
point same thing with the new line old
wineskins again imagine an old wineskin
made from leather or some kind of animal
hide after it has been conditioned and
seasoned and so forth it's had wine in
it it's been used many times you know
have no fear you pour wine into that
wine skin it's a bottle actually and
nothing happens but if you create a
brand new wine skin and pour wine into
that wine skin and then seal it somehow
whatever it is they use to seal it if
it's airtight
the chemical reaction that takes place
causes gases to you know in the
fermentation process or something to
grow and ultimate explodes it bursts the
bag what's the point it's just a mistake
to try to mix old things with new things
you're just gonna be frustrated why is
Jesus saying that at this point in time
because he's just run into some people
that that's basically their problem
they've been doing something a certain
way for so long they've had certain
misconceptions were so long and they
can't accept something that's new and
different that goes against their grain
a little bit the Pharisees of course it
would have gone back hundreds of years
the practice of fasting well if John
taught his disciples that couldn't have
gone back more than maybe a few months
or a couple of years or something no
longer than that but already it's
ingrained in them that this is a primary
component of spirituality and it's been
the Foundation's been laid by the
Pharisees and and now John's disciples
are doing in sofa but Jesus your
disciples are not doing it yeah I've
heard it said you know the most common
eight words that are spoken from
parishioners to pastors are the words
we've never done it that way before and
pastors hear that those words all the
time when they try to implement a little
change all right oh that's really not
the point here the point is I don't want
to be like those guys and you don't want
to be like the
guys either do you know I mean we can
easily become that way the older you get
the easier it is just kind of gets set
in your ways and rest on the leaves and
and just you know question anything
that's new and just rejected well let's
be open not to new revelation that's not
biblical but let's make sure that we're
we're not you know the old codger that
you know can't receive anything new or
any correction let's not be those old
dogs that you can't teach any new tricks
lord help us to be open-minded to the
truth of your words so that we're
willing to stay flexible and to change
praise God okay thanks so much can't
wait till next time to amazing faith
building healing miracles see you then