It's actually very appropriate: in Eastern countries a wineskin is a large bag for holding wine, made of the skin of an animal. In the Bible we find these words written by Luke:
37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’” The wineskin would stretch as the new wine in it continued to ferment. When totally fermented they would harden. If new wine was again put into an already hardened wineskin, the continued fermentation risked bursting the skin.
What does this have to do with this blog? Everything! |
- The wineskin we call “The Church” has burst, and the wine (the life of the Holy Spirit) has spilled out!
- Christianity as we know it today hardly represents the biblical patterns from which it was birthed.
- Christians struggle with their ungodly sin patterns (just like the world) and they can't find their way to victory or to a real purpose on earth.
For this initial blog lets just consider the first point about the church:
This picture is not the Church, it is a religious building.
The New Testament presents the church as those that are called out of the world and have surrendered their lives to Christ; to use them as He sees fit. The Greek word for church is Ekklesia and means “the called out ones.” It is used in Matt 16:18 where Jesus said, “I will build my church (ekklesia).” There is to be only one Christian church on earth made up of believers all over the planet. This is called “the Body of Christ” (Col 1:24). Denominational-ism was spawned in hell to divide, conquer and fracture the church into many, many unlinked Christian factions. If one does not agree with a churches specific doctrinal views, they are given the "left" hand of fellowship and are asked to leave or are ignored until they do. Does this seem right to you?
In John 17:21 (KJV) Jesus prayed: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.“
- If Jesus prayed this do you think it will come to pass?
- What will it really take for the world to realize that the Father sent Jesus to die for their sins and to reconcile it back to God? That's right, unity (in the Holy Spirit and not through denominational-ism or the slight of men).
Beloved, God is looking for a new generation of Christians who will knock off all the religious nonsense and become a part of one sold-out body of believers in the earth. This can be done and it will be done, but only by the workings of the Holy Spirit. It's time to pray for that new wineskin, because if we try to fit it into the old it will surely burst ( it already has)!
I welcome your comments ... (Next new Blog will be posted on Saturday 12/05/09)
