God Has Better For Us!
Notes
Transcript
And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
Key verse:
And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
The Call of Levi
The Call of Levi
I. The call to follow me.
a. Levi left all, rose up, and followed Jesus.
b. Levi was grateful that the Lord choose him to be a disciple.
c. Levi’s actions caused others to follow him as he followed Jesus.
II. Pharisees murmured against those who followed Jesus.
III. Jesus and the two parables.
a. The parable of the bridegroom.
b. The parable of the new piece of garment.
c. The parable of new wine in old skins.
Three levels:
Religion and tradition (dealing with understanding of text and some self-applications)
Jesus speaking the Pharisees and the scribes begins to address the criticisms given forth by these two religious parties. The came into the house where Levi the publican was hosting a big reception for Jesus. The Pharisees and the Scribes were alarmed that Jesus would even associate himself with such a group of people.
I want to stop right there, to let you know that the Lord appreciates those who trying to live right....but I need to let the others know that Jesus didn’t come just to save the righteous.....he didn’t come to heal those who are well.....Jesus came to heal those who are sick. Sometimes those of us that have been in this way for a long time tend to look down on others who haven’t made it to the level that we’ve made it......or think that we’ve made it to a certain level.....and when someone struggles.....when someone is in the fight of their life for their soul we do just like the Pharisees did and look down on them and scrounge up our nose and judge and condemn others. But I’ve come to serve notice that Jesus didn’t come for those who got themselves together......he came for those who needed help! Let me see the hands of those who can be honest and declare that I still need HELP! YES!!! I’m going on to perfection but I still need help getting there, and if you admitted that you still need help....then you qualify for Jesus to come into your HOUSE! Jesus came.....to deliver and save those who need to be helped......those who need to be saved. He came for the ostracized, He came for those who suffer, He came for those who are sick, He came for those who need deliverance, He came for the messed up folk, He came for the ones who seem as if they had been forgotten! You ought to testify to someone and tell them neighbor.....I’m glad Jesus came for me! My God! When I came to Jesus, I’m glad that Jesus didn’t push me aside and tell me “you’re not Holy enough, you’re not good enough, you still have issues and I don’t want to deal with......but He said “come unto me....all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come just as you are......come with your hang-ups, come with your brokenness, come with your addictions, come with your attitudes, come with your disappointments, come with your hurt, come with your pain......and I’ll GIVE YOU REST!!!
The Pharisees/Scribes were shocked and alarmed that Jesus kept company with these type of folks. So now in verse 30 they didn’t want to deal with Jesus so they started grumbling at or the KJV “says “complained bitterly TO Jesus’ disciples and said “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners.” Why do you even associate yourselves such scum......ah see we see the adversary at work.....because now they are presenting a guilty by association verdict. See, if Satan can’t get to God he’ll get the next best thing....you. Then if Satan can’t get you, he’ll attack your family member or he’ll work through a family member, if he can’t get a family member he’ll use a friend or co-worker......and if he can’t use that he’ll raise up an enemy. But my God....it’s good to know that the Lord is just not gonna sit back and let your enemy consume you......He’s going to fight for you! Did you hear what I said.....I said when the enemy comes in like a rushing flood.....the LORD will lift up a standard against him! Jesus came to their defense.....just like He’s going to come to your defense and says “Healthy people don’t need a doctor....sick people do! I have come to call not those WHO THINK they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
Now the scriptures says on another day....(verse 33)
And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
“They” is referring to the same group of people.....the Pharisees and Scribes were commenting on outward religious observations (fasting and praying). They are turning over the plate and fasting but your disciples are eating and drinking......WHY!? Then Jesus and the only way that Jesus could begin to get to the cut.....to the root of their problem with Jesus and his disciples.
The root and the true problem wasn’t that his disciples where often eating and drinking.....the problem was with them. Sometimes when we are busy pointing the finger at others we fail to see the fault within ourselves. Their problem was that they were so blinded by their own self-piety and religious rituals that they could be blessed and enjoy the true presence of God in their lives. And this is what happens when you get caught in the time loop of only being use to God coming a certain way. If God doesn’t knock you in the floor He ain’t moving, if you don’t feel nothing then He ain’t moving.....but the things of God isn’t based upon a feeling, it isn’t based upon what you hear or what you see....it is based upon faith! This is one of the reasons some of come to church Sunday after Sunday and God is in fact moving.....but you don’t feel because you’re stuck in your own mindset, stuck in doing things your way, worrying about what some else is going to say, worrying about your own self perception, mind on your issues instead of God, thinking about how tired you are and how little sleep you got, and then you leave out the service the same way you were before or worse and you done messed around and missed the move of God! Here it is God is moving in the house and He’s here to help you.....but you don’t want to open up to Him. He’s here to give you more strength but you sit there tight-lipped, arms folded, cold and indifferent, mad because your neighbor is giving Him glory, mad because the praise-team is singing too long, mad because Pastor is trying to exhort you to glorify God and live for God and turn your burdens over to Him and you just sit there dying! Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they couldn’t enjoy the presence of the Lord because they were so caught up in their own preconceptions, their own feelings, their own thoughts, their own ways of doing things and they were missing out.....and were getting ready to miss out.
Getting ready to miss out? Let me explain.
5. Jesus asks a question: “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom?” Of course not. Then Jesus says “But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”. The disciples didn’t need to fast and be sorrowful now.....because Jesus was right there with them.....and they could enjoy his presence. In other-words, your preconceptions, your hangups, your rituals are causing you to miss out on a wonderful time with the LORD!
6. Then Jesus gives another illustration: No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment. In other-words......God is trying to do a new thing.....but you’re holding tight to that old preconception! You’re holding tight to the way that you are use to doing things! Let’s take this home! Textually wise, Jesus was getting ready to do something extraordinary! He was getting ready to die for the sins of the world. Everything that the prophets had wrote and testified about was getting ready to be fulfilled. The Pharisees were stuck in tradition of men.....they were stuck in the way that they were use to doing things. But the way that they were doing things were getting ready to come to an end.....why.....because Jesus was the fulfillment of those things. They were use to going up to the temple at a certain time, use to saying certain prayers, use to offering up blood offerings and grain offerings and they were so stuck on it that they were going to miss out on the true presence of God! We are so use to keeping to ourselves that we don’t want to witness to anyone, so use to come to church and being entertained, so use to making excuses for ourselves for our actions that we are going to miss out on a move of God! You should lift your hand and pray this simple prayer......LORD pull me out.....don’t let me miss your move! When I don’t feel your presence.....pull me out......when I’m stuck in outward religious observation but dead inside....pull me out.....when I make excuse for my behavior....pull me out......when I stop testifying to others......PULL ME OUT!
7. You cannot, take a new piece of cloth and saw onto the old fabric......because the old fabric can’t handle the shrinking of the new. Movement......it can’t handle the move! Watch this......you can’t get to wear you need in God when you are stuck in the same old religious observations. What you mean preacher, many of us are just coming to church Sunday after Sunday and for some strange reason we aren’t getting anything out of the services. We are just here and disconnected! We are stuck, you want movement in God......but you want to hang on do what you been doing the last 10-20-30 years. You won’t more anointing but don’t want to suffer! You want God to use you but you don’t want to spend time in prayer or time in the word. You want to be a witness, but you content with just getting fed once a week. You want to be delivered and set free but you’re still hanging around the same old friends that aren’t saved. You want to go higher but you don’t want to let go of the thing you need to let go for God to take you higher. That’s the reason why some of us we can come to church and feel an anointing but the anointing doesn’t stay with us because we are trying to sew new fabric on the old garment!
8. Jesus then adds another parable to help them to understand. It is amazing that despite of their mindset and them coming side ways at Jesus…that Jesus is taking the time to try to help them and show them the error of their ways. Jesus says “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.” Watch this.....this came straight from the Lord.....I did not go to a commentary or a Bible dictionary to figure this out. There are different levels of fermentation. They did not have wine glasses or metal kegs back then. They placed wine in wineskins and the wine inside of the skins would ferment. The bags would expand and or contract and the bag that was assigned to that particular wine was for that wine only. Once that wine was fermented it was used to drink, but you could not use that same skin to put new wine in there. Because that bag or skin was only for that particular wine....if you used the old wineskin......the fermentation of that wine was going to cause that skin to burst. In other-words the old-stuff can’t contain the new stuff! I’m going somewhere with this. The old can’t contain the new! I need that to register in your spirit!
9. Jesus also says “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says ‘The old is good enough.’” The old system is good enough for me......I don’t need the new wine. See.....textually again....the Pharisees and Scribes thought they were fine where they were at. They thought they were fine with the old sacrificial system....but God had better for them. I want to minister to the older saints now......you think you are fine where you are at. You think you’ve experienced all that God has for you.....but I’ve come to serve notice to you.....that if you answer the call....that God is getting ready to take you to another level! Matter of fact that’s not just for the older saints that is for everyone! Those of you that know that there is more to God than just routine rituals, more to it than just coming and sitting here Sunday after Sunday. I come to speak into your life....I come to declare and to decree that the dry bones shall live again! I come to declare and to decree that the Holy Ghost is going to shift your direction, you are going to experience revival, God is going to give you a fresh breath of air, He’s going to talk to you like never before, He’s going to reveal to you like never before, He’s going to move in you and through you and around you like never before! He’s going to give you renewed energy to work and to honor Him in service and when you try to fall back to the old routine, when you say to yourself.....I think I stay home tonight.....the hand of God is going to push you out of your place of comfort.......I think I’ll be quiet.....the fire of God is going to fall on you and cause you to open your mouth and praise Him. Don’t be surprised when you see people who never shouted or danced a day of their lives come dancing down the aisle! Don’t be surprise when you see the quiet, introverted, shy folk be the ones who evangelize, be the ones who lead the praise team, but the ones who become prominent and leaders in the church! God has better for US!!!!
Anointing and Elevation (Dealing with self-applications and how this text relates to my present circumstances).
My God there is an anointing and an elevation that is getting ready to hit our church! If you’re satisfied where you are, if you think you are alright, if you think you’ve arrived, if you think you know all there is to be known, if you think you’re prayer life is fine where it is, if you think you don’t need to sit under teaching, if you think you don’t need witness to someone, if you think I don’t need to open my mouth and praise the Lord, I’m going to keep doing what I do every Sunday......you’re going to miss the move of God, you are going to miss the anointing and elevation! Listen, some of you are skeptics......you still don’t believe anything that has been happening of the last couple of months. But God told me the other day......I asked God why is this happening.....God told me I’ve put on you the anointing like I put on Samuel “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19)! We been seeing a heavy activity of God, working miracles, making supernatural provision, within the last week two members got unexpected raises, people being healed in their body......and I come to tell you what God told me to tell this church......THERE IS A AN ANOINTING AND ELEVATION THAT IS GETTING READY TO HIT OUR CHURCH.....IT’S GOING TO HIT YOU! Tell your neighbor.....come on neighbor lets shift! Let’s get ready for the shift, lets do more for the LORD, LET’S PRAY MORE, LETS FAST MORE, LET’S WITNESS MORE, WHEN WE SING LET’S OPEN OUR MOUTHS AND SING, WHEN WE PRAISE.....LET’S GIVE GOD GLORY FROM OUR HEART WITH ALL OUR SOUL, WITH ALL OUR MIND, WITH ALL OUR STRENGTH.......LET’S LIVE FOR THE LORD.....LET’S TURN AWAY FROM ANYTHING NOT LIKE HIM.......AND WATCH THE NEW ANOINTING COME.....WATCH THE ELEVATION! Now listen....some of you are going to go through a season of turbulence......but watch these......the anointing is going to come out of the pressing! When this happens a change is taking place and God’s glory is going to rest on you!
Transitional change and glorification (self-application and future circumstances).
There is a transitional change and glorification that is taking place. God is turning it around for you, God is working everything out in your favor......God is going to pour more wine in you but in order for it to happen a change has to take place! That’s why you are suffering, but I got good news for you. The scriptures says:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
His glory.....is going to rest on you! If you just hang on a little while longer.....his glory is going to rest on you! In order for you to be anointed.....in order for you to experience elevation.....you may have to cry......you may have to sacrifice......you may have to turn it lose......you may have to suffer......but when it is all......but when it is all done........when it is all over and done with.....you’re going to come out on top......you’re going to come out of it better......you’re going to come out of more anointed......your going to come out of it on another level.....encourage your neighbor and tell your neighbor look for the shift!
God is working on us......He’s working on us right now, He has already begun the transition with those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Tell someone on your row......let God uses you! God is working on us.....he’s working on these wineskins.
For the believer, everyday the outer is changing (not the outer man) but the outward expression of man, the thoughts, the habits, the actions are changing. It is changing because he continues to pour into us this new wine. This new wine, that the scoffers thought that the Holy Ghost saints experienced in the upper-room.....God is going to continue pour into us this new wine. And, our outer is going to change because he has placed his design on us. God has cut a new pattern out, God has made us a new creature, and God is changing us! Our outer is changing because 2 Cor 3:18 “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as the Spirit of the Lord”.
The more I go beyond the veil the more I become like Him, the more I’m in his presence, the more I become like, the more that I suffer, the more that I become like, until when He comes back to rapture the church, when He comes back to resurrect my body......I shall be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye. Every believer in the house turn to your neighbor and tell your neighbor (only the saved folk....now) “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is!” He is changing me until....I’ll be like him.....He is changing me.....until I walk like He walks.....He is changing me.....until I walk like He walks.....AND......this change is going to keep happening until one day I’ll reach glorification......one day I’ll have a body just like his.....one day.....I’ll be without sin just like He is.....so you ought to lift your hands and say LORD Keep working on Me!