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Mark 2:18-22 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Go ahead and with me take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 2.
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!
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Uncomfortable moments for the Pharisees as Jesus makes great affronts to the religious culture of His day.
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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.
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It was a blasphemy to them and it was indeed if He wasn't in fact God in flesh.
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And see that He spent time with sinners.
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That He reclined with them.
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That He came to heal those who were sick.
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Who needed spiritual renewal.
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And then we come here to verse 18.
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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.
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We're going to talk at length today about fasting.
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But join me in reading Mark chapter 2 beginning in verse 18.
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Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.
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And people came and said to Him,
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Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
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And Jesus said to them,
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Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
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And as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
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The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast in that day.
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No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.
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If he does, the patch tears away from it.
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The new from the old and a worse tear is made.
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And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.
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If he does, the wine will burst the skins and the wine is destroyed.
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And so are the skins.
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But new wine is for fresh wineskins.
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Join me in praying.
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Father God, we thank you for the blessing of the Word and the privilege to come together and to learn from it.
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And I pray God, for all of us here, by a great work of your Spirit,
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you will plant the truth of your Word deep in our hearts that we might become more like Christ
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to the praise of your name and for our good.
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Father, we recognize this morning in great humility that we have no good thing in and of ourselves,
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but only those things that you have worked and are working in us by your Spirit.
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So I pray that he will move and be powerful in us this day.
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And we pray this in Christ's name.
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Amen.
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So, as he's confronting this religious culture,
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we have a very specific group of people that were constantly standing in opposition to the ministry of Jesus.
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And there was particularly these Pharisees.
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We see some broadening groups of people.
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We see the Sadducees.
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We've got the scribes, which some were Pharisees, some were not.
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But there's this particular group of about 6,000 people in this day.
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Their founding happened way back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.
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And it was this particularly pious group of people that practiced an apostate form of Judaism.
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And they thought they practiced it very well.
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This is exactly what Jesus is saying at the very end of verse 17.
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He says,
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Those who are well have no need of a physician.
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They were righteous in their own minds.
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They trusted in themselves.
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And it's these people that we see once again fasting,
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but in an improper way.
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Interestingly, in the beginning of verse 18,
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we also see them collectively put in with John's disciples,
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referring to John the Baptist.
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And just as an aside,
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note here that they're still being referred to as John's disciples.
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We see in chapter 1 a great multitude,
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all Judea is coming out to John to be baptized in the Jordan.
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But look here how few of them have followed Christ.
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Have had faith worked in their lives that they might follow Him in obedience.
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And you still have many who are John's disciples,
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even though John was saying,
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not me, but Him.
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They were missing the point.
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And here we find them fasting right along with the Pharisees.
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And a question is asked.
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And it's a question of accusation.
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Not so much an honest question,
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as we might propose,
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but a question of accusation.
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There was constantly a case being built against Jesus
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for the claims that He was making.
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And here they are, once again,
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trying to say,
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look at the pious nature of John's disciples and of the Pharisees.
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Why are your disciples not this way?
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Why is it that you're supporting an unholy living
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while these are so holy?
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These are righteous and your disciples are not.
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How dare you make the claims that you're making?
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That is what is loaded into this question here.
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You see, the Pharisees,
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the religious culture of the day,
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recognized that the teaching of Jesus Christ
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was completely opposite of their teaching.
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It was diametrically opposed.
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It was distinct in every way.
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And they knew that they had to shut Him down
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if they were going to continue
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to serve in the way that they served.
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This is the case for all world religions today.
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Apart from Christianity.
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Apart from those who believe that
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grace comes by faith in Christ alone.
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That is the way of salvation.
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All other religions are merely a creating of law.
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A work to change the exterior
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and the morality of that.
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It's Christianity.
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It's this message of the Gospel
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that seeks to change our hearts.
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Change who we actually are.
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All world religions recognize
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that there's a great symptom,
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a great issue with humanity.
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This problem of sin.
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And yet they treat symptoms.
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It reminds me of Western medicine.
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Always treating symptoms,
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but never treating root cause.
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It's Christianity that comes and treats the heart.
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And so they had to shut Him down.
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If they were going to remain right,
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Jesus had to be wrong.
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And so they approach Him on this question
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of fasting and why it was
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that His disciples were not fasting.
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Now to really understand
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the question they're asking,
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we have to understand first fasting.
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What it was meant to be
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and the way in which they
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were practicing it in this day.
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And so let's kind of step over
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just for a moment
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and let's talk a bit about
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fasting this morning.
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And this is the hilarious part
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coming into this week.
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First, Matthew 6,
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the Sermon on the Mount.
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Fasting there is assumed
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of Jesus' disciples.
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He brings about correction.
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He tells them not to be like the hypocrites
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who practice fasting in this way,
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but to rather practice fasting in this way.
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It's an assumption that is made.
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And I would ask you then,
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as a follower of Christ,
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do you, have you ever fasted?
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It's an assumption that you will,
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in fact, fast.
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And as we look a little bit more
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about what fasting is meant to be,
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I think you'll understand
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why it should be the case
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that we do fast.
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Maybe not the way you've seen it done,
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but that we ought to be fasting.
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It's an assumption that is made
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on our part.
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We find a multitude of examples
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of fasting in the Scripture.
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Very little expressed prescription
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for how it ought to take place.
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But we see it happening
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all over the place.
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More places than I could possibly
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present to you this morning.
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We see it in varying amounts.
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Fasting always being
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the not eating of food.
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It's not,
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I'm going to avoid chocolate for a week.
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Right?
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It's the abstinence from food altogether.
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No eating of any food
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is what fasting is always referred to
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in the Scriptures.
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We see one day fasts.
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We see three day fasts.
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We see seven day fasts.
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Fourteen day fasts.
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We see forty day fasts.
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Right?
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Note,
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here in our chapter,
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Jesus has fasted.
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Right?
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Mark 1, 12 and 13
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states that He was
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sent out into the wilderness,
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driven out into the wilderness
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by the Spirit of God,
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when He was there for forty days.
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And both the Gospel of Matthew
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and Luke add that He was fasting.
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He was there for a forty day fast.
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And it's important, I think,
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that we understand here
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why it is that He was fasting.
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Right?
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Why did Jesus go into the wilderness?
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And why was it while He was in the wilderness
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He was fasting?
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Right?
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I believe,
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and I think that the scriptural evidence
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of why fasting took place
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derives at this,
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and again,
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we're going to step into that
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in a moment here,
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but that He went as a preparation
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for the work that He was about to do.
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Right?
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He had just begun His ministry.
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He had just gone down to the Jordan
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and was baptized.
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Right?
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It was continuing this process
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of completed perfection.
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He was baptized.
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He comes up,
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and then immediately,
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in verse 12,
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chapter 1,
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it says,
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the Spirit immediately drove Him out
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into the wilderness.
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He went out to be alone with God.
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Right?
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To set His face before Him
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and to prepare for the work
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that He was to do.
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He knew full well
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what He was sent to accomplish.
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What would happen to Him
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some three years later
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on the cross
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and the ministry that was to take place
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between this time and that.
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I believe that's why
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He went out there,
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taking the example of Elijah
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in 1 Kings chapter 19,
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who fasted for 40 days.
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He was actually given
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a special meal by the angels.
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And He fasts for 40 days
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on Mount Horeb
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where He gets to preach,
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I mean speak,
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with God Himself.
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So I believe that Jesus goes out
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to do this very thing.
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I've often heard it proposed
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that He did this
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so that He was very weak in the flesh,
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that it actually exalted
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the temptations
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that were given to Him,
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made it more difficult
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for Him to stand up.
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It was a way in which
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He showed forth His perfection
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and that He was very weak
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and therefore it was harder
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for Him to resist
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the temptation
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that was given to Him.
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But I think that
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while He was weak in the flesh,
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having fasted properly,
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He was strong in spirit.
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He was actually more prepared.
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He had been close with the Father
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and was ready to stand
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against the temptation of Satan.
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So what does it look like?
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When fasting is done rightly,
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what should it look like?
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And this is brief at best,
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but firstly, done rightly,
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it is a response to God's providence.
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It's a response to God's providence,
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not a means of obtaining God's favor.
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It's not some sort of equation
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that we put into play.
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If I want God to speak to me clearly,
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I am going to fast.
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I am going to stop eating food
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because that's what happens
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when you stop eating food.
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God speaks to you.
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It's not an equation in that way.
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In fact, it should be a response
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to God's providence,
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the fact that He is, in fact,
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in control.
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Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 58.
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Let's look at an example
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of fasting done improperly
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and then God's prescription
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for what fasting should look like.
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This will just give you some clue
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as to what I'm trying to say to you here.
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Isaiah chapter 58.
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God says to Isaiah,
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cry aloud, verse 1,
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cry aloud, do not hold back,
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lift up your voice like a trumpet,
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declare to my people
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their transgression,
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their sin,
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to the house of Jacob,
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their sins.
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Yet they seek me daily
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and delight to know my ways
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as if they were a nation
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that did righteousness
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and did not forsake
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the judgment of their God.
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They ask of me righteous judgments,
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they delight to draw near to God.
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Now, those of you who hate sarcasm,
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this is sarcasm, right,
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in the Scriptures, right?
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God's being very sarcastic.
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Yet they seek me daily
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and delight to know my ways
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as if they were a nation
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that did righteousness
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and did not forsake
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the judgment of their God.
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Verse 3,
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the response of the people.
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Why have we fasted
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and you see it not?
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Why have we humbled ourselves
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and you take no knowledge of it?
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There's their question.
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We've been doing this thing.
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We've been carrying out
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this equation
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that we think
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we've done this thing.
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We should be receiving God's favor
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because of our action.
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Last part of verse 3.
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He gets at the very heart of the issue.
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Without spending all the time
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of explaining all these things,
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what God is saying is
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you're doing something
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on the exterior,
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but yet in the inside
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you are still wicked.
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You are evil.
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Verse 6,
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Is not this the fast that I choose?
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To loose the bonds of wickedness?
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To undo the straps of the yoke?
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To let the oppressed go free
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and to break every yoke?
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Is it not to share your bread
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with the hungry
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and bring the homeless poor
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into your house
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when you see the naked
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to cover him
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and not to hide yourself
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from your own flesh?
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Then shall your light
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break forth like the dawn
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and your healing
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shall spring up speedily.
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Your righteousness
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shall go before you.
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The glory of the Lord
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shall be your rear guard.
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Then you shall call
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and the Lord will answer.
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You shall cry
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and He will say,
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Here I am.
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So it's a response here
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of the goodness of God
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on their heart.
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It's their heart
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that matters
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in this process.
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And so it should be
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a response in this way,
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not a prescription,
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not a means of obtaining
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God's favor.
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Secondly,
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done rightly,
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it avoids the praise of men.
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Turn to Matthew 6,
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which I referenced
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just a moment ago.
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Again, remembering
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that Jesus assumes
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that His followers
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will in fact fast.
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He assumes some other things
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as well,
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that they'll give to the needy,
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that they'll be philanthropic
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in that way,
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that they will pray.
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And He brings some correction here.
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We can see in
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the final place,
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verse 1,
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verse 5,
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and verse 16.
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Beware of practicing
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your righteousness
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for the people
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in order to be seen by them,
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for then you will have
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no reward from your Father
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who is in heaven.
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Verse 5,
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And when you pray,
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you must not be like the hypocrites,
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for they love to stand
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and pray in the synagogues
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and at the street corners,
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that they may be seen by others.
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Truly I say to you,
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they have received
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their reward.
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Verse 16,
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And when you fast,
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do not look gloomy
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like the hypocrites,
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for they disguise their faces
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that their fasting
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may be seen by others.
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In fact,
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they put makeup on
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to look sadder
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than they really were.
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Right?
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They disguise their faces
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that their fasting
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may be seen by others.
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Truly I say to you,
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they have received
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their reward.
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So done rightly,
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it avoids,
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it tries to get around
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the praise of men.
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It's intention is not
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to show people
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how holy and how pious
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and how set aside you are.
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Right?
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It avoids this very thing.
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Right?
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That you might have
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a reward in heaven.
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This is the instruction
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given to us
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by our Lord
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on fasting.
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Done rightly,
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it avoids the praise
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of men.
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Thirdly,
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done rightly,
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it is the sorrowful,
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prayerful rejection of food.
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It is the sorrowful,
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prayerful rejection of food.
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It's characterized by
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a hunger for God
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that drives out
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a hunger for food.
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A desire to see Him
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move and work
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both in your life
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and in the lives of the people
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and in the world.
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That it drives out
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the desire for food.
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I say to you
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that this is often
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a voluntary
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type of fasting.
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Not something
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that I prescribe to you.
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We as a church
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are going to go through
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a time of fasting.
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Right?
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But it's something you do
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out of a compulsion.
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Out of a sorrow
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for your sin
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and the sins of others.
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Out of a desire
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to see God
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repair such things.
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To bring reconciliation
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to such situations.
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Almost every Sunday
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I get up very early
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to prepare for Sunday morning.
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Sometimes that's because
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I'm just really not prepared
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for Sunday morning.
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I just don't feel like
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my notes are together.
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They're a scramble.
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They're just a big mess.
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I've got to get them
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in the right order
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so I can speak
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in some fashion
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that you'll be able to follow.
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Sometimes I'm entirely prepared.
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Sometimes I've got
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all my notes ready to go.
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I can sleep another
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couple of hours.
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But I always have this
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great desire
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to get up
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and to start preparing
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my own soul
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to stand before you
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each day.
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And I don't do this
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as an intentional effort.
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I don't wake up
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on Sunday mornings
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and say,
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man, this is a big day.
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It's important
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what we're going to do today.
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I'm going to fast
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so that I can call down
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the favor of God
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on what's going on.
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But I feel the weight
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of Sunday morning.
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And I feel the weight
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of preaching
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the Word of God.
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And I'm so aware
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of my frailty
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and my incapability
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of doing a good job
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of it apart from
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God working.
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And I find that often
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I don't eat
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on Sunday mornings.
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Not as a choice.
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I don't go,
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I'm not going to eat.
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I'm not really that hungry.
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I just don't think about it.
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I so want to see
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God move
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and work
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on our Sunday mornings
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that I just
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don't think about it.
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It doesn't cross my mind.
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I'm not hungry.
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It's often right
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before the service
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that I start to get hungry.
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Like right now,
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I'm pretty darn hungry
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right now.
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And totally unintentionally,
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I love that we do
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the Lord's Supper
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every Sunday
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because I get a snack
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that reminds me
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that Christ is my nourishment.
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Isn't that good?
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That I very often remember
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as I get that little bit
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that hits your stomach
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and you go,
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okay,
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I can get through to lunch.
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Right?
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But that Christ Himself
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is my sustenance.
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So in that way,
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I fast just about every week
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but not as dogma.
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If I were hungry at 9 a.m.,
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I would eat something.
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I don't think of it
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in those terms.
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I'm just not hungry.
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So some examples
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of voluntary fasting
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in the Scriptures.
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Esser chapter 4.
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Proceeding this
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in chapter 3,
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we have the king of Persia,
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Ahasuerus,
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has,
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we've got Mordecai
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not bowing down
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or paying homage
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to Haman
20:07
who's been put in charge
20:09
of a region
20:09
by the king.
20:10
So Haman
20:11
receives the king's blessing
20:12
to have all the Jews destroyed.
20:14
Right?
20:14
In order to destroy Mordecai,
20:15
he receives the king's blessing
20:17
to have all the Jews destroyed.
20:18
And then chapter 4,
20:19
verse 3,
20:20
it says,
20:21
And in every province,
20:22
wherever the king's commands
20:23
and his decree reached,
20:25
there was great mourning
20:26
among the Jews
20:26
with fasting
20:27
and weeping
20:28
and lamenting
20:29
and many of them lay
20:30
in sackcloth and ashes.
20:31
They had this outward expression
20:33
of their mourning
20:34
for what was going to happen.
20:36
And you know why?
20:37
They knew this was
20:38
a judgment of God.
20:39
They knew it was
20:40
because of their sin.
20:41
They were in captivity
20:42
to begin with.
20:43
They knew this was
20:43
a judgment of God.
20:45
And therefore,
20:46
wherever the decree reached,
20:48
the decree was not
20:49
that they should fast.
20:50
The decree was that
20:51
they would be destroyed
20:52
by Haman.
20:53
They fasted.
20:56
Joel chapter 1.
20:57
Joel brings a word
20:58
from the Lord
20:58
calling for a fast
21:00
to lament the loss
21:01
of grain and wine
21:02
at the hands of a plague
21:03
of locusts.
21:04
Again,
21:05
as a judgment from God.
21:07
They became aware
21:07
in this plague
21:10
that they were sinful
21:11
and God was bringing
21:12
a judgment against them.
21:13
And so a fast
21:14
is called for.
21:17
Daniel 9.
21:18
Daniel's outpour
21:19
of prayer
21:20
for his people.
21:21
Again,
21:22
they're in captivity.
21:23
This outpour of prayer
21:24
is done
21:25
while fasting.
21:27
Right?
21:27
He's mourning.
21:28
He's sorrowful
21:29
for the state
21:30
of his nation.
21:31
And so he fasts
21:32
and prays
21:33
the beautiful prayer
21:34
of Daniel 9.
21:34
I'll encourage you to read
21:35
at a later time.
21:38
There's only one time
21:39
in all of the Old Testament.
21:42
Right?
21:42
This would have been
21:43
what the Jews
21:43
would have had
21:44
to help them
21:44
guide the practice
21:46
of their own fasting.
21:47
There's only one time
21:48
that it's commanded
21:50
for them to fast.
21:52
There's one time a year
21:53
for one day,
21:54
the day known as
21:55
Yom Kippur,
21:56
the Day of Atonement.
21:58
One day
21:59
of the entire year
22:00
that they were commanded
22:01
as the nation of Israel
22:02
to fast.
22:03
That was it.
22:05
Leviticus 16,
22:06
29-31
22:07
is where you can read
22:08
about that
22:08
if you'd like to.
22:09
This fast
22:10
was meant to express
22:11
their sorrow
22:12
for their sins
22:12
on the Day of Atonement
22:13
when the High Priest
22:14
went into the Holy of Holies
22:15
and made atonement
22:16
for the sins of Israel
22:17
for that year.
22:19
Right?
22:19
It was meant to express
22:20
the condition
22:21
of their hearts.
22:22
A real sorrow.
22:24
A real humility.
22:25
Right?
22:25
Not just some religious
22:26
rite and practice.
22:29
That's what it was meant for.
22:31
So we see it both
22:31
being voluntary
22:32
and commanded,
22:33
but just the same,
22:34
it was always meant
22:35
to be done
22:36
in sorrow
22:36
and prayer
22:37
and that's why
22:39
you reject the food.
22:41
You're just not hungry.
22:44
You so desire
22:45
to see God
22:45
move and work.
22:47
That is what you hunger for.
22:48
That the desires
22:49
of your flesh
22:50
fade away.
22:53
Now the practice
22:54
of fasting
22:55
in this day
22:55
was quite different.
22:57
Right?
22:57
This fasting
22:58
that was being done
22:59
by the Pharisees
23:00
was quite different.
23:02
They in fact
23:03
had elevated fasting
23:04
to a really high degree.
23:06
So much so
23:06
that they fasted
23:07
twice a week
23:09
on Monday
23:10
and Thursday.
23:12
If you were going
23:13
to be part of
23:14
the in crowd,
23:14
if you were part of
23:15
God's crew
23:17
in this day,
23:18
these Pharisees,
23:19
this is the way
23:20
in which you fasted.
23:21
You didn't eat
23:21
sun up to sun down
23:23
on Monday
23:23
and on Thursday.
23:26
You recall
23:27
Jesus' parable
23:27
of the Pharisee
23:28
and the tax collector
23:29
found in Luke
23:30
chapter 18.
23:32
Beginning of verse 9
23:34
we see recorded,
23:35
He also told
23:36
this parable
23:36
to some who trusted
23:37
in themselves
23:38
that they were righteous.
23:39
Hear the wording there.
23:40
Who trusted
23:41
in themselves
23:41
that they were righteous
23:43
and treated others
23:44
with contempt.
23:45
Those who didn't
23:46
carry out this
23:47
new religious fast.
23:50
Verse 10,
23:51
Two men went up
23:52
to the temple
23:52
to pray,
23:52
one a Pharisee
23:53
and the other
23:54
a tax collector.
23:55
The Pharisee
23:55
standing by himself
23:56
prayed thus,
23:57
God, I thank you
23:58
that I am not
23:59
like other men,
24:00
extortioners,
24:01
unjust,
24:02
adulterers,
24:02
or even like
24:03
this tax collector.
24:05
I fast twice a week.
24:07
I give tithes
24:08
of all that I get.
24:08
This is the evidence
24:09
of his righteousness
24:10
before God.
24:11
I fast twice a week.
24:13
This man-made law
24:15
that had been put in place
24:16
which was merely external.
24:19
Something they had done
24:20
to look more pious
24:22
than others.
24:25
John MacArthur said
24:26
in a sermon
24:27
on this text,
24:28
Empty ritual
24:29
is the enemy
24:30
of true godliness.
24:33
Empty ritual
24:34
is the enemy
24:35
of true godliness.
24:38
Joel 2,
24:40
verses 12 and 13
24:42
says,
24:43
Yet even now,
24:44
declares the Lord,
24:44
return to me
24:45
with all your heart,
24:47
with fasting,
24:48
with weeping,
24:49
and with mourning,
24:50
and rend your hearts
24:51
and not your garments.
24:54
It's an issue
24:55
of the heart.
24:57
This is the condition
24:59
that needs to be fixed.
25:02
This is the condition
25:03
that the gospel
25:05
of Jesus Christ fixes.
25:07
It's distinct in that way.
25:08
No other religious system
25:11
accomplishes this.
25:14
If you practice religion
25:18
for that reason,
25:19
and if you're here
25:20
just because you're going
25:21
through those motions,
25:22
I would encourage you
25:23
to stop.
25:24
There are better,
25:26
more fun things to do.
25:28
If your end is destruction
25:29
one day,
25:30
you better get it in now.
25:32
It's a beautiful day.
25:34
Go hiking.
25:35
It's a waste of your time
25:37
to be here.
25:38
If your heart's not regenerate,
25:39
if you're not coming
25:40
and seeking to worship God
25:42
in spirit and in truth,
25:43
and you're merely going
25:44
through the exterior motions,
25:46
what a waste
25:48
of your time.
25:49
I can think of all kinds
25:51
of things I could do
25:51
with two hours
25:52
of my day.
25:53
If it's merely exterior.
25:55
If I'm trusting in this
25:57
to put righteousness
25:58
on myself,
25:59
even the preaching
26:00
of the Word.
26:01
If I say,
26:02
I'm glad I'm not like
26:03
other men.
26:03
I preach the Word of God
26:04
on Sunday mornings.
26:05
That is not my righteousness.
26:08
Christ is my righteousness.
26:10
The Gospel is distinct
26:12
in this way.
26:14
This is what the religions
26:15
of the world need to hear.
26:17
This is how Christianity,
26:20
a devotion to our Lord,
26:21
is different than all of them.
26:24
And he gives us two
26:25
little examples.
26:26
These are really kind of
26:27
the first parables
26:28
that we see recorded in Mark.
26:29
Little examples that are
26:30
really fairly simple
26:32
to make the point.
26:33
Would have been very
26:34
familiar to them
26:35
in their cultural context.
26:37
He says to them,
26:38
can the wedding guests
26:39
fast while the bridegroom
26:41
is with them?
26:42
As long as they have
26:43
the bridegroom with them,
26:44
they cannot fast.
26:46
The days will come
26:47
when the bridegroom
26:47
is taken away from them,
26:48
and they will fast
26:49
in that day.
26:51
Weddings,
26:52
we get this,
26:53
weddings are a time
26:53
for joy.
26:55
We come together
26:56
to celebrate.
26:57
It was more so
26:58
in this day.
26:58
Some wedding festivities
27:00
went on for a week.
27:03
Much joy was taking place.
27:05
Big parties were going on.
27:08
You remember what Jesus did
27:09
in one of His early miracles?
27:10
He turned water into wine.
27:12
Jesus was into big parties
27:14
and celebrating at weddings.
27:15
That's what it was for.
27:18
There's actually an old
27:19
rabbinic document
27:20
called the Megalot Ta'anit.
27:23
You don't have to remember that.
27:24
I just wanted to say it out loud.
27:27
In English,
27:28
the scroll of fasting
27:29
gave rules
27:30
to the way in which
27:31
this should take place.
27:33
And it forbid fasting
27:34
at a wedding.
27:36
You know why?
27:37
Because no one wanted
27:37
these bummers to show up.
27:39
Right?
27:40
To come in
27:41
all self-righteous
27:42
and pious
27:42
with their makeup
27:43
on their face
27:43
looking sad
27:44
and ruining the buzz
27:46
of a wedding.
27:47
It was meant
27:48
for celebration.
27:50
And that's the point
27:51
that Jesus is making here now.
27:53
He predicts His death.
27:55
There's going to come a day
27:56
when the bridegroom
27:56
is going to be removed from them.
27:57
And in that day,
27:58
they will fast.
28:01
They will.
28:02
It's going to happen
28:03
that they'll fast
28:04
in those days.
28:04
But now,
28:05
I am with them.
28:06
And they have reason
28:06
for much joy.
28:08
This is why
28:08
my disciples don't fast.
28:10
Right?
28:10
And I love that Jesus
28:11
is telling you
28:13
why, in fact,
28:14
His disciples aren't fasting.
28:15
I wonder if that's really
28:16
even the case
28:16
for them personally.
28:18
Counted amongst that number,
28:19
I'd go,
28:20
that's a great reason, Jesus.
28:21
That is why
28:22
I'm eating
28:22
and enjoying this food.
28:24
Right?
28:25
But this is what He tells us.
28:26
This is why they're fasting
28:27
because they're experiencing
28:28
the joy
28:28
of the bridegroom,
28:30
the one
28:30
Jesus Christ.
28:33
Two more examples here.
28:35
No one sews a piece
28:36
of unshrunk cloth
28:37
on an old garment.
28:39
If he does,
28:39
the patch tears away from it.
28:40
The new from the old.
28:41
And a worse tear is made.
28:44
This is probably
28:45
a little bit removed
28:45
from a lot of your thinking
28:46
because most of you
28:47
probably don't patch
28:48
your own clothing.
28:50
Most cloth we buy
28:51
is probably in some way
28:53
fabricated
28:54
so that it's pre-shrunk
28:55
or something like that.
28:56
But,
28:57
any of you ever had a horrible,
28:58
I've got some clothes
28:59
that have just been
28:59
shrunk horribly on me.
29:01
And it happens still
29:02
these days
29:03
that you put something
29:04
in the dryer
29:04
in the wrong way
29:05
and it ends up
29:05
a whole lot smaller
29:06
than it was intended to be.
29:07
And you have to get rid of it
29:08
because you can't wear it
29:09
any longer
29:09
because it would be
29:10
obnoxious.
29:11
What's going on here
29:12
is when they patched clothing
29:13
they had to pre-shrink
29:15
the patches
29:15
before they put it on
29:17
to the clothing.
29:18
So that when
29:19
that patch shrunk
29:21
in the wash
29:22
from the fabric
29:23
that had already been shrunk
29:25
it didn't cause
29:26
a greater problem.
29:27
You don't do this.
29:28
This was a very simple
29:29
analogy for them.
29:30
They'd all go,
29:30
of course not.
29:31
No, you wouldn't do that.
29:32
Of course you've got to
29:32
shrink the patch
29:33
before you sew
29:33
the patch on.
29:35
It says that no one
29:36
puts new wine
29:37
into old wineskins.
29:38
If he does,
29:38
the wine will burst
29:39
the skins
29:39
and the wine
29:40
is destroyed
29:41
and so are the skins.
29:42
But new wine
29:43
is for fresh wineskins.
29:46
He didn't come
29:47
with a message
29:47
to patch the old system.
29:51
He didn't come
29:52
to bring in
29:53
a little fix
29:54
to this form
29:56
of Judaism.
29:56
And remember,
29:57
this is the apostate Judaism.
29:59
They weren't practicing it
30:01
the way it had been
30:01
prescribed to them
30:02
in the Old Testament,
30:03
which was still
30:04
a message of faith.
30:07
So this is not
30:08
Jesus coming
30:09
and replacing
30:10
the Old Testament.
30:11
The Old Testament
30:12
is still gospel saturated.
30:15
But this is the
30:16
apostate form of Judaism
30:17
that was being practiced today.
30:18
It's the modern form
30:19
of Judaism.
30:20
It's apostate
30:21
in all manner.
30:23
He didn't come
30:23
just to fix that.
30:25
He came to
30:25
replace
30:26
that.
30:28
He gave us
30:29
another parable,
30:30
Matthew 13,
30:32
verses 44-46.
30:33
He said,
30:34
The kingdom of heaven
30:34
is like treasure
30:35
hidden in a field,
30:36
which a man found
30:37
and covered up.
30:38
Then in his joy
30:39
he goes and sells
30:40
all that he has
30:41
and buys that field.
30:42
Again,
30:43
the kingdom of heaven
30:43
is like a merchant
30:44
in search of fine pearls,
30:45
who on finding
30:46
one pearl of great value
30:47
went and sold
30:48
all that he had
30:49
and bought it.
30:50
Put away
30:51
everything else
30:53
for the value
30:54
of this treasure.
30:56
Jesus came to
30:57
replace
30:58
not to patch.
31:01
Now in this day,
31:02
if you don't understand,
31:03
I'm going to teach you today
31:04
everything I know
31:05
about wine,
31:06
which is going to take
31:06
just a few moments.
31:08
But in this day,
31:09
they used goat skins
31:10
to store wine in
31:11
in the process
31:12
of it fermenting
31:14
and they simply,
31:15
when they skinned the goats,
31:15
they stitched them back up.
31:16
They stitched the leg holes
31:18
and the neck hole shut
31:19
and that's how they
31:19
stored wine.
31:21
And the process
31:22
of wine fermenting,
31:23
it expands.
31:25
It produces carbon dioxide
31:26
and it expands
31:27
and new goat skin
31:29
does the same.
31:30
It also can stretch
31:31
because it's still
31:32
pliable.
31:34
Old boots,
31:35
you've got to
31:35
condition the leather
31:36
to keep it soft
31:37
so it doesn't get all
31:38
dry and brittle.
31:40
So they would do this
31:40
and as the wine
31:42
fermented,
31:43
as it was forming,
31:44
it would separate.
31:46
There'd be less
31:47
beneficial parts of it,
31:49
often called dregs.
31:50
I don't know why.
31:51
I didn't take the time
31:52
to figure it out.
31:52
But that would settle
31:53
to the bottom
31:53
and they would pour off
31:54
the better portion
31:56
of the wine
31:56
into another new goat skin
31:59
and they would continue
31:59
that process
32:00
until the wine was
32:00
where they wanted it to be
32:02
and then it would be consumed.
32:04
So these sediments
32:05
would settle
32:05
and they would do this.
32:08
Once that portion
32:10
was poured out,
32:11
if the wine skin
32:12
was just thrown
32:12
to the side,
32:13
it would get dry,
32:14
it would get brittle,
32:16
it would crack.
32:17
What he's saying is
32:18
you can't pour the gospel
32:19
into old,
32:21
dry,
32:22
cracked wineskins
32:23
of religion.
32:25
That's not where it belongs.
32:27
It'll burst out of it.
32:28
That's the point
32:29
that he's trying to make here.
32:30
That you need new,
32:32
a new thing.
32:33
Throw away the old.
32:35
This apostate Judaism.
32:37
You need the gospel
32:38
of Jesus Christ.
32:39
You cannot place
32:40
the gospel of grace
32:42
into any system of law.
32:46
That is not the gospel
32:47
that we celebrate.
32:48
Now to be clear,
32:50
a response
32:51
to the gospel of grace,
32:53
the changing of our hearts,
32:54
definitely yields fruit.
32:57
It has to
32:58
to be genuine faith.
33:00
We will live
33:01
a certain way
33:02
in light of the truth.
33:05
But we don't earn
33:07
our salvation
33:08
because of the work.
33:09
We get it
33:10
caught before the horse
33:11
all of the time
33:12
this happens.
33:14
The rest of the world's religions
33:16
seek to find
33:17
grace with God
33:19
because
33:19
of their action
33:21
and not the other way around.
33:22
He gives us grace
33:23
and therefore
33:24
we act.
33:27
I love the story
33:27
of John Bunyan,
33:28
the man who wrote
33:29
Pilgrim's Progress
33:30
when he
33:31
was thrown into prison
33:33
because he was
33:33
preaching the gospel
33:34
without a license
33:35
from the state.
33:37
He was in prison.
33:39
He would actually preach
33:40
in the courtyard
33:41
and people would gather
33:42
around the prison
33:43
in the thousands
33:43
so they threw him
33:44
into a dark dungeon.
33:45
That's where he wrote
33:45
Pilgrim's Progress.
33:46
So if you read that book,
33:48
if you haven't read it,
33:49
you should read that book.
33:50
That's where he was at.
33:50
He had a copy
33:51
of his scriptures.
33:52
He had a copy
33:52
of Fox's Book of Martyrs
33:53
and he wrote
33:54
Pilgrim's Progress
33:55
there in this
33:56
dark, dark dungeon.
33:58
There were another group
33:59
of men who were also
34:00
thrown into the darker
34:01
part of the dungeon
34:02
to their commendation.
34:04
They were also
34:05
preaching the gospel
34:06
without a license.
34:07
Good job, men.
34:08
Right?
34:09
Also,
34:09
evangelical believers.
34:12
But they were
34:12
very concerned
34:13
with his message
34:14
and they said,
34:15
you must stop
34:16
teaching people
34:17
how much God
34:18
loves them
34:19
by grace
34:21
in Christ.
34:22
If you keep doing that,
34:23
they're going to do
34:24
whatever they want to.
34:25
Right?
34:26
They saw he was
34:27
giving a license to them.
34:28
God loves you immensely
34:30
and that will never change
34:32
and he pours out grace
34:33
on you in Christ.
34:35
This was his message.
34:36
And they said,
34:37
stop.
34:37
They're going to live
34:38
however they want to.
34:39
They're going to take
34:39
that grace
34:40
for advantage.
34:42
They're just going to live
34:42
in whatever way they want to.
34:43
And he said,
34:44
no,
34:44
if I teach God's people
34:45
about God's love for them,
34:47
they'll do whatever
34:48
he wants.
34:49
Right?
34:49
So it's a natural response
34:51
to the gospel of grace
34:52
that we live rightly,
34:54
but we don't live rightly
34:55
that we might receive grace.
35:00
Now, interestingly,
35:01
to drive this home,
35:03
turn to Luke chapter 5.
35:04
Luke adds a little bit
35:12
to the story here
35:13
under the inspiration
35:14
of the Spirit.
35:20
He records after the same phrase
35:22
we see here in Mark chapter 2.
35:25
It says,
35:26
and then Jesus went on to say,
35:26
so it says,
35:27
and no one after drinking
35:28
old wine
35:29
desires new,
35:31
for he says,
35:33
the old is good.
35:37
And no one after drinking
35:38
old wine
35:40
desires new,
35:41
for he says,
35:42
the old is good.
35:43
Does that get your wheels turning?
35:45
I hope so.
35:46
I hope on Sunday mornings
35:47
you don't just go,
35:48
explain please,
35:49
but you actually start thinking.
35:50
Get your mind engaged
35:52
in this process
35:53
this morning.
35:54
It's an interesting way
35:55
to end his little parable,
35:57
this little journey
35:59
that he's been on,
36:00
because when you're
36:03
looking through it,
36:04
you think,
36:04
well, wait,
36:05
isn't the new wine
36:06
the thing that we've just
36:07
understood to be the gospel?
36:08
Isn't that what we've understood?
36:09
And yes, it is.
36:10
When he's talking about
36:11
new wine,
36:12
old wineskins,
36:13
the new wine,
36:13
he's referring to the gospel.
36:15
I just drove that point
36:16
for a little bit.
36:17
So then it seems to say
36:18
that old wine
36:20
is preferable to new wine.
36:22
What is he talking about?
36:23
So it's been suggested
36:24
by some scholars
36:24
that this phrase,
36:26
the old is good,
36:27
is people who are content.
36:31
They like the old
36:32
apostate Judaism.
36:33
Right?
36:34
And so therefore,
36:34
it's just the reality,
36:36
the truth of things
36:37
that Jesus is saying to them.
36:38
And those of you
36:39
who think you have
36:41
old wine,
36:41
who have drunk
36:42
of the old wine,
36:43
you're just content
36:43
and satisfied with that.
36:44
You don't want new wine.
36:46
But that's troubling
36:48
because new wine
36:50
was not as good
36:51
as old wine.
36:53
That's true today.
36:54
Now that's all the information
36:55
I have.
36:56
I don't know anything else
36:57
about wine.
36:59
Old wine was less tannic,
37:01
was less severe
37:02
in its flavor,
37:03
more mellow.
37:04
It was more nourishing
37:06
than new wine.
37:08
It was the much preferred,
37:11
much preferred wine
37:13
over new wine.
37:15
So, I think that
37:17
what Jesus is saying here
37:18
is that these people
37:19
who say the old is good
37:21
are people who have drank
37:22
of the old wine
37:24
of the gospel
37:25
of Jesus Christ.
37:26
I think what he's doing
37:27
is he's flipping his analogy
37:28
back on them
37:29
as they are coming
37:30
thinking that they have
37:32
the old religion.
37:33
Right?
37:33
This apostate Judaism.
37:35
They're coming and saying,
37:36
whoa, whoa,
37:37
what is this new teaching?
37:39
Right?
37:39
Jesus expresses it
37:41
as a new thing
37:41
and then he flips it around
37:42
to say,
37:42
actually,
37:43
it's an ancient thing.
37:45
Right?
37:45
That began before
37:46
the foundation of the world.
37:48
The gospel of Jesus Christ
37:50
is old wine.
37:52
And those who have tasted of it
37:54
never drink new wine.
37:56
Never care for this
37:58
apostate version of Judaism
37:59
or any other world religion
38:01
or ours for that matter.
38:03
The trappings that we tend
38:05
to stack on our faith as well.
38:08
It's the old wine.
38:09
Those who've been saved
38:10
by faith through grace
38:12
Noah,
38:14
Abraham,
38:15
Moses,
38:16
Isaiah,
38:17
to name a few.
38:18
These were drinkers
38:19
of the old wine.
38:21
The wine that the apostles
38:22
drank of.
38:25
These that were now
38:26
not fasting
38:27
because they understood
38:29
the gospel of grace.
38:31
But they were rather rejoicing
38:32
while the bridegroom
38:33
was with them.
38:36
I believe that's what
38:37
he's saying to these.
38:39
That have created
38:40
a religious system
38:41
and have replaced
38:43
the old good message
38:45
of the gospel
38:46
of Jesus Christ.
38:48
We see the first proclamation
38:49
of it in Genesis chapter 3.
38:53
I hope and pray
38:54
that Adam drank deeply
38:56
of that.
38:57
One day we might rejoice
38:59
in heaven with him.
39:01
And so today,
39:03
you have to ask yourself
39:03
the question,
39:04
if you're here,
39:05
are you here
39:05
because you have
39:06
genuine saving faith
39:08
in Christ?
39:09
Is it because you believed
39:11
the gospel of grace?
39:13
Are you here
39:13
because you merely
39:14
find this an external thing
39:16
in the hopes
39:17
that you might
39:18
earn favor?
39:20
If you have fasted
39:21
or are considering fasting,
39:23
is that why
39:23
you would do that?
39:24
Because you think
39:25
in some way
39:26
you can work your way
39:28
to God.
39:30
You can't.
39:32
Our righteousness
39:33
is found in Christ.
39:34
Christ.
39:35
That is where it's from.
39:37
When God sees us,
39:38
He sees Christ
39:40
because of what Christ
39:41
has accomplished
39:42
on our behalf.
39:45
And if you haven't,
39:46
I pray this morning
39:47
that you will drink
39:49
of the old wine
39:50
of the gospel of grace.
39:51
That you will repent
39:53
and believe,
39:54
which is the call
39:55
that Jesus has given to us
39:57
in chapter 1,
39:58
verse 15.
40:01
And those of you
40:01
who have drank
40:02
of the old wine,
40:03
why do we trade
40:04
what is good
40:05
for what is of lesser value?
40:08
We do this so often.
40:10
Right?
40:10
Having begun
40:11
by the Spirit,
40:13
Paul says in Galatians,
40:15
are we now being
40:16
perfected by our flesh?
40:18
In this rhetorical,
40:19
again,
40:20
sarcasm.
40:21
No,
40:21
of course we're not.
40:23
We've begun
40:24
by the Spirit
40:24
and we're being
40:25
perfected
40:26
by the Spirit.
40:29
Why do we
40:30
so often
40:31
march off
40:32
on our own
40:33
thinking that
40:33
in some way
40:34
we can get it right?
40:36
We can't.
40:37
In our flesh,
40:38
we get it wrong
40:39
every time
40:40
without a doubt.
40:43
This whole analogy
40:45
ought to draw us
40:46
into desperation
40:47
for God to continue
40:48
to move
40:49
and to work
40:50
in our living.
40:51
I want to exalt Christ
40:53
with all of my life.
40:54
I want to lift Him up.
40:55
This life is so fleeting
40:57
and this is the highest aim
40:58
of any man's life.
40:59
This is what I want to do.
41:00
And I know,
41:02
at least here,
41:03
day by day,
41:04
that I cannot accomplish that
41:05
apart from His work in me.
41:07
Why do I so often
41:08
try to do it on my own?
41:10
And every time
41:11
I fail,
41:13
those of us
41:15
who have drunk
41:15
of the old wine
41:16
need to continue
41:17
to do that
41:18
and to live
41:19
by the grace
41:20
that's been given us.
41:23
And the Lord's Supper,
41:24
again,
41:25
is this display.
41:26
It's old wine.
41:27
It's actually grape juice,
41:27
but it represents that,
41:30
doesn't it?
41:31
The symbols
41:31
of the Gospel of Christ.
41:34
His body broken
41:35
and His blood spilt
41:36
on our behalf.
41:39
And so as I'm praying,
41:40
men who have volunteered
41:41
this morning
41:41
to hold those elements,
41:44
I'll ask you to go ahead
41:45
and make your way back there.
41:47
Reflect upon this.
41:49
Have you drunk
41:50
of the old wine
41:51
of the Gospel of Christ?
41:52
Let's pray.
41:53
Amen.