How To Receive New Wine In 09 Pt1 (Prayer) Series

Series: How to receive New Wine in 09?

Step #1: Perseverance in Prayer

Thesis: To receive new wine in 09 requires that we persevere in prayer.

Introduction:

Our theme this year is New Wine in 09 – We talked a couple of weeks ago about the importance of being willing to change so that we can drink in a new fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Wine in the NT symbolizes the Holy Spirit and that is what is referred to in our banner.

We looked at Jesus parable in Luke 5:37-39: 37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

We discovered that Jesus was being ripped on by the religious leaders because He and his followers did not strictly adhere to the man made religious rules of the religious legalists. Jesus and his followers were criticized for not being reverent to God and obedient to God’s rules – Jesus enlightened them that most of their rules where man made religious rules. He was telling them that these old wineskins needed to go or the new wine would be lost. In a sense Jesus warned them that they needed to put on new wine skins if they wanted to receive the new fresh out pouring of the Spirit. If they refused to change then the old wineskins would explode and be useless. Which if you know your Jewish history is exactly what happened with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD by the Romans. The old system exploded and for many religious Jews the new wine was also lost. But for those who changed who put on new wine skins they received a fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. The fresh out pouring of God’s Holy Spirit brought revival and transformation to both Jews and Gentiles. It changed individuals and communities. One of those converts was Paul and he chose to throw off the old wine skin and to put on the new one so that he could drink in the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

In my study of the apostle Paul I soon discover that this guy is 100% sold out to the New Wine being poured out in His day. He consistently speaks out against the old wine skins and points to the necessity of people grabbing a hold of the new wine skin. Paul never wavered in his battle against the old ways of dead religion with no Spirit. Paul role modeled for me the character trait of perseverance. It becomes obvious as you study Paul’s life that his ability to persevere – adapt – change and press forward with the Gospel came because of his prayer life. Paul was a prayer warrior and a person who seemed to have the supernatural ability to persevere through anything:

Listen to this:

Philippians 3:1-16:

1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

2Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.