The Parables of Christ no. 41
New
Cloth on old Garment
Rev. Brian Kocourek
This morning I would like to continue with our study
on the parables of Christ and we shall examine a parable this morning that is
found in three of the Gospels; Matthew, Mark and Luke.
MATTHEW
MARK
LUKE
5:36 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. 37 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. 38 But new wine must be put into new bottles;
and both are preserved. 39 No man also having drunk old [wine] straightway
desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
Before we examine the parable itself, to know and
understand what the parable means, we need to look at the back ground of who he
was talking to, to understand why Jesus gave them this particular parable.
MATTHEW
MARK
LUKE
5:33 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? 34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom
is with them? 35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken
away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
Now, Jesus in answering their question does so with
very few words, but then gives them the two parables to illustrate the answer.
Now, you will notice in all three Scriptural references,
that Jesus was asked the question, “why He and His disciples did not fast when John’s
disciples did, and also the Pharisees which were considered by all to be the
most precise in their form of worship fasted as well.”
You see in those days there were three groups of
believers among the Jewish people. The Pharisees who were by far the most
dogmatic in the observance of the Jewish law. These were men who were so
thoroughly trained in the Scriptures, that you could place a needle through the
scroll and they could tell you what letters it past through as it penetrated
the entire book that was rolled up.
These were men whose lives were dedicated to knowing
and understanding the scriptures. But they were also very legalistic. They took
their religion very seriously, and did not make time for the pleasures of life.
They believed in the resurrection of the dead, they believed that Messiah was
to come, and they were even looking for Him to come in their day. And most importantly, these were a group that
took so seriously the Scriptures, that they studied every jot and tittle of the
Scriptures, and claimed to believe every word the prophets had spoken or
written. Yet when the Very Messiah they claimed to be looking for did come,
They missed Him because they had so engrained in their thinking of how He was
to come, that when He did come, they did not recognize Him. Yet He came right
according to the very Scriptures they claimed to believe, yet they missed Him
because he did not come the way they had been taught that He would come, for he
did not come according to their understanding and He did not come according to the way their
traditions had spoken of how He was to come. Now, these traditions were not
just the current thinking for the times but they had evolved over the centuries,
and they had been handed down from generation to generation until, and through
the process of time they began to read into Scripture what was not there, and
bypass in their minds what was there, until they had a different Gospel than
what was actually written. And we have
seen the same thing in this day.
The next group among the Jews in those
days were the care-free group of believers who were lax in their worship.
This group was called the Sadducees. The sadducees claimed to believe the Scriptures, but were
very liberal in their interpretation, and thus very loose in their
understanding. They were not sure whether there would be a resurrection or not,
and they did not really look for Messiah to come at any time much less in their
day. They were not sure about angels nor did they believe in the supernatural. In
essence they were the carnal believers, the intellectual believer who thought
of scripture as only a Book for debate to exercise the mind. These took from
the scriptures only those things that they deemed suitable to themselves, in
other words, only those things which were immediately profitable to them, and they
left off what did not seem to benefit them in the here and now. We have the
same thing today in our nominal borderline church goers.
Then there was yet a third group of believers that
really did not exercise any religious belief. These were the Herodians, a very
worldly bunch who were not interested in keeping the law, nor were they
interested in religious discussion. These were worldly people, caught up in the
cares of Life. They were the partiers, those who thought only of entertainment
and the cares of this life. Yet as we find in the Book of Revelation, the people
of the Laodicean church age are said to be rich and increased with goods, and yet
they do not know that they are miserable, blind and naked.
Now, to be blind and naked and to know it is one
thing, but to be miserable, blind and naked and not even know it shows a mental
deficiency. And so we have our makeup of the Jewish people in the times of
Christ, and they are no different than the people who make up the church today.
Now, in this study of the parables, we find the
disciples of John coming to Jesus because they were concerned. They did not
come to Him in a self righteous manner as did the Pharisees, but they came to
Him because they could not understand why Jesus and His disciples did not seem
to be taking the days they were living in very seriously.
They believed they were living in the end time, and
as such they thought all who were looking for Messiah should be acting with a
graveness and sobriety as they were living. They noticed the approach of Jesus and his
disciples was very different than what they were accustomed to, and what they
also saw in the Pharisees as well. So, Let’s first look at their question and
then at His answer, because this discussion will tell us a lot about how we
should be conducting ourselves today.
And so they asked Him the question, …, Why do the
disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of
the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?...
In other words, they were asking the question, “what’s
going on with you guys? Don’t you understand that we are at the end-time? Don’t
you understand that Messiah is to come in this day?” Then why are you not
preparing yourself for His coming?
They asked Him, “why do you not fast?” And yet Jesus
did fast. We all know that immediately after Receiving the Holy Ghost He went
and fasted 40 days. And from the sermon, …
HAVE
FAITH IN GOD 54-0900 E-6 Brother Branham said, Now, in
the Scriptures I wish to read just a little portion and about five minutes talk
before we go into the healing service. And it's found over in Saint Mark. Many
of you who like to keep it down, Saint Mark the 11th chapter, and beginning
with the 20th verse, I'll read just a portion here. And in the morning,
as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling
to remembrance said unto him, Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursed is
withered away. And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. The story's very
striking, as all Bible readers that's read much of the Scriptures knows the
instance. Jesus came down from the hill
as a human, a Man Who'd been up all night fasting. He came down to find
something to eat, looking on the tree.
But they did not know He fasted because He did not do
his fasting publicly.
Now, that is a good question. But since they asked
the question to Jesus, we could also ask the question, “why did John and His
disciples fast? Why did the Pharisees fast? And what is fasting all about?
Well, that is a good question. And Why do we fast in
the first place ?
Well, the Scripture is replete with examples of the
people fasting. In fact fasting and praying are usually tied together. We fast
to get ourselves out of the way, that we might be able to hear from God
concerning whatever our motive is for fasting and prayer.
INTER
VEIL 56-0121 E-26 Christianity is not something,
God's not One you have to beg, and cry, and plead, and fast, and starve, and
everything like that to get to. Certainly not. I'm not
degrading a fast. But here not long
ago, a man wrote a book on fasting. My, women come into the meeting, and men,
who'd went on those fasts that were insane. They went just because the book
said to fast forty days. Some of them with false plates, and their teeth would
drop out. And their eyes would sink back. And mothers-to-be to... women to be
mothers, their little ones as you understand, they would completely go mentally
out, and be taken to the institutions. Many, many of them, come in that
condition. I believe in fasting. Certainly. But when you fast, you don't hunger. Jesus
after He had got through fasting, the Bible said, He was hungry. God puts a fast on you. You don't put it on
yourself. He certainly captured the women, the man did that wrote the book,
when he said, put a picture of a woman there, she looked twenty years younger,
said, after the fast. You ought to seen her then, just
about a year later what she looked like, after that. See? Certainly. You don't do that. You don't do things
by works. It's by grace. God in sovereign grace...
MATTHEW
15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples [unto him], and said, I have
compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and
have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in
the way. 33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread
in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves
have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
Fasting weakens your body, and should not be done unless
you really know that God is calling you to fast. And if God does call you to
fast, no one should know about it.
Jesus said in , MATTHEW
But there are times when we should fast. William
Branham said in his message, HEAR YE HIM 60-0712 E-13
Truly, our heavenly Father, You know every word and every thought is
recorded. And we see, today, and our hearts are zealous of the great Church of
the living God, as we see the hour approaching of the coming of the Lord, and
know that You have predicted that the church would be lukewarm. You'd spew it
from Your mouth, because it was neither hot nor cold. O God, that's why the
true servant of God, his heart cries out for revival. We think of the
great men a crossing the nation today, putting their whole life into it, all
that they have, oh, trying to call to the church to get back. And they're...
That's the warning of God. And Father, I pray tonight that in the Name of the
Lord Jesus, that You'll send a revival here at Klamath Falls, and throughout
this country, that'll be a soul-saving revival that will be a church stirring
revival, that all the saints of the living God will start praying and fasting. For it is written, "If the people that art called by My Name
shall assemble themselves together and pray, then I'll hear from heaven."
So we must know and understand what fasting is before
we do it. solomon once wrote, “There is a purpose for everything under the Sun”.
And there is a purpose for fasting. But Jesus told when we do we should not do
it publicly. It should not be made into a show. And neither
shoyuld prayer. Because fasting and prayer go together like a hand ina
glove. Now, that does not mean that everytime you pray you should fast, but
when you fast it should be for the purpose of drawing close to God wanting to
hear from him, and you are weakening the body to help you to get aside from
yourself in order to weaken the pull of the flesh so that you can hear from
God.
ATTITUDE
AND WHO IS GOD? 50-0815 E-10 It
is a truth that I believe, as a physical man tears down, the spiritual man has
a chance. That's what fasting and things
are for. He can have a chance to work upon these five senses of ours, to
bring us to believe and have faith in Him. I like the attitude of this
centurion tonight, that we've just read of. He was a man that felt unworthy. As long as you're feeling unworthy of the
blessing you're asking, you're pretty apt to get it. But when you get to a
place where you think that God just owes it to you, that's when you're
mistaken. We're in debt to God, not God in debt to us. We're indebted to God.
So we see that fasting is something we do when we
know that we need to go deeper within, and when we know that we need to get
ourselves out of the way. Fasting in itself is not an end but a means to an
end. We fast to get self out of the way.
We fast to bring self under control. Paul said, “I get under my body and bring
it into subjection. That’s what a wrestler will do. If he can get your body up
in the air, you have no leverage against him, and he thus can control you.
Therefore by fasting you weaken the body, and the pulls of the body, and thus
you in essence are getting yourself out of the way.
You see your desire is for a more consecrated life,
and you want to be close to the Lord, and through fasting you feel that you can
make smaller the hold that your flesh has upon self.
BELIEVEST
THOU THIS? 50-0716 E-9 But I do like to get out
when you're not under that anointing for the sick, you know. And you can just
be at liberty, you feel free to preach, or to speak of the Word, or anything.
And that's what it is. They give me a little time once in a while so I can kind
of rejoice. Now, when the anointing
for healing is on, I just keep praying,
fasting. And it gets to a place you feel a real sacred calm feeling, not like
rejoicing; you just feel a real sacred feeling. But when you're speaking of
the Holy Spirit, then it comes with joy, and happiness, and gladness, and the
refreshing from the Presence of the Lord. And I'm very happy to--to have that
this afternoon.
But we must be careful not to place too much emphasis
upon fasting. Because fasting is not the important thing. Faith is what is
important, and Faith is Revelation. And
you do not get faith from fasting. Nor do you receive faith by prayer. Nor do
you receive faith by reading a book. Faith is a living, daring confidence in
God’s Grace, so sure and certain
that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times. Faith is not that human notion and dream that some hold for faith.
Faith, however, is a divine work in us. It changes us and makes altogether
different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers, and it brings with it
the Holy Ghost.
Fundamental
Foundation For Faith 55-0113 E-13 Faith doesn't come by fasting. Faith doesn't come by praying, or reading a book. All of that's good:
fasting, praying, and reading a book. But faith comes by a settled something
that's in the human heart, that tells you just as sure as you come to this
church tonight...
E-14
Now, if we could throw ourself
completely to God and to His will and be lost to our own thoughts, and just let
the mind of Christ be in us, them same operations of the Spirit would work
through us just as the natural things does, just the same thing. Because we
were first created for that purpose to control, to rule, and to praise God and
to live for God. Now, Jesus said, "If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in
you, you can ask what you will and it shall be given unto you. If ye abide in
Me and My Word abide in you..."
And that is the key. To lose ourselves in God’s Word,
in His thoughts. For His thoughts are not opur thoughts, and His ways are not our
ways. But the problem
we have with fasting is that most people fast with wrong motives. Most people
who fast do so to try to twist God’s arm. In other words, they use fasting as
some sort of leverage in which they think that somehow if God can see that they
are sincere enough, then they might influence God and His decisions. And that
is a wrong motive, And God will never bless a wrong motive.
And people usually fast when they are seeking God for
an answer. But what if God has already given you the answer?
MATTHEW
17:14 ¶ And when they were
come to the multitude, there came to him a [certain] man, kneeling down to him,
and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed:
for often times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I
brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus
answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be
with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus
rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from
that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could
not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for
verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall
say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and
nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
LUKE
2:36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of
Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an
husband seven years from her virginity; 37
And she [was] a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed
not from the temple, but served [God] with fastings and prayers night and day.
RECOGNIZING
YOUR DAY 64-0726M 82 Everywhere now there's no revival. Everybody's
complaining, ministers crying. I was reading one of the outstanding papers that
come here to the church, a very fine paper. And I know the editor, and I know
the people. And they're godly people, very fine, Brother and Sister Moore, of
the "Herald of His Coming," one of the finest papers on the field,
"Herald of His Coming." But
they hardly will print anything unless it's about, "Fast, pray, fast,
pray. Sound a trumpet. Get..." How many reads it? You know, you see it all
the time. "Fast, pray, fast, pray!" That's all you hear. "Fast,
pray. We're going to have a great breaking of the day. There's a great
thing going to happen. All of you pray, pray, pray. We're not too late
yet." Why
do they do that? Why do they do that? They want a great
awakening. They're crying, believing that there will be awakened. They're good
people. Why is it? What have they done? They
have not recognized the awakening of the Bride. See? By being a Christian
they feel the pull of the hour, but they haven't recognized what's been done. That's what's making them feel that way.
They know something's supposed to
happen; but (See?), they are looking for it way off in the future to come, when
it's already happened right by you. That's
the same thing they did in the old days. They were believing in a coming
Messiah. They believed that there'd be a
forerunner come. But it was right on them and they didn't know it. They didn't
recognize it. They believed there would come a forerunner that would
forerun the Messiah. And they cut his head off and killed their Messiah,
because it was prophesied that they'd be blinded. Hosea said so.
Notice how Jesus answered these disciples of John. He
says, you fast until you get your answer, and if the answer has come then why
do you continue to fast. Notice how Jesus answers their question with a
question.
Can ye make the children of the bride
chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
Now, that is a very good question to ask. You prepare
for the Wedding, not during the wedding. And when the wedding has been completed,
you enter into celebration, not fasting.
And that is what Jesus is telling them here. Can ye
make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? And
then he tells them, 35 But the days will come, Notice he says, days, that is
plural, that’s two thousand years for a day with God is a thousand years with
man. 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom
shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. So
during those days, those two thousand years the people are to fast for the
return of the Bride Groom. Because you
fast to get an answer from God, showing Him that you are serious about what you
are praying about. But what if He has
come? What if He is in the midst of the people? What if the Marriage is already
in process? Do you fast for an answer when you have your answer? If you do,
then you are denying the very answer itself.
And so we see the setting up of this parable is
because Jesus knew that these disciples of John were not aware that the very
thing John had fasted for was now in their midst? John had said, I do not know
Him, but when He comes I will know Him, and I tell you that He is in your very
midst right now. And then when John
spotted Him, he proclaimed to the people, “behold”, that means, look and see,
the very one that I have been speaking to you that He would come, and here He
is, “behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world”.
And yet only two of those disciples that heard these words,
followed the One that John had pointed them to. And what about today? We have
had a ministry come and point us to the Word, and how many have left off their
traditions to follow the Word?