Here’s a story about a couple of Westcoast men who used to go Possum hunting.
In the West coast there are Possums everywhere – you see them on the road whereever you go.
Anyway these two men used to take the dogs out and the dogs would find a possum up a tree or chase one up a tree,and the two men, Dave and Fred, would shoot the possum.
For the squeamish remember that New Zealand has 60 million possums and they are an imported pest from Australia.
Anyway, one day Fred played a trick on Dave – he lowered the sights on Dave’s rifle.
They went out on a hunt that night and sure enough there was a possum up a tree caught in the spotlight.
Dave shot at the Possum and missed completely – another two shots.One cutting through a branch. Both missed but they frightened the possum.
The possum got startled and leapt from the tree and landed square on the head of Fred.
Dave whipped round and aimed his rifle at the possum. “Don’t worry.” He said “I’ll get him. I’ll get him.”
“Aim higher – Aim higher.” shouted Fred as he saw the rifle pointing straight at his head.
Dave confident of his ability simply pulled the trigger. The gun jammed – The possum jumped off Dave’s head clean into the campfire – yelping he jumped on the back of the dog, who being startled leapt into the ute, hit the handbrake which released and rolled the ute down the hill. It ran over the tent crashed into the bush, felled a tree which crushed the truck and killed the possum
- Fred just looked at Dave and said – “59 million Nine hundred and ninety nine to go.”
- Dave replied.
- “Good on ya’ Mate.”
The moral of this story is to aim higher.
In the Christian faith we need to aim higher we need, as Christians to be in the pursuit of excellence in our faith even though we know that we depend on grace.
It has been said – “If you aim at the moon and miss at least you’ll be among the stars.”
Well that is a nice little plastic saying for a plastic world but as Chrisitians we are involved in a much deeper and more profound enterprise.
The truth is we can’t settle for a second rate – low grade Christianity.
About four weeks ago I patched up my old lawn mower – It cost about 70 dollars.
Then a couple of weeks ago it broke down again – I thought it was because I put the wrong fuel in it.
But it turns out that the coil has failed and a new one will cost 180 dollars.
Where will it end??
A new mower will cost about 600 dollars.
It might be painful but I think I need a new mower.
A lot of us live our Christian life like that. We use Christianity to patch up what paul calls - the Old man.
Jesus once gave an illustration:-
New wine – newskins.
MK 2:21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
An exerpt from the book intercessors.
For three years, after his day’s work was done, Rees Howells had been at the mission every night. There were meetings five evenings a week and the other two were spent in visiting. His work in the pit took him from 7 a.;m. to 4.30 pm., and then he had a two mile walk each way in all weathers. There was no time to attend any other meetings, for he hardly ever left his flock. The work had become so well established that many people were coming in from the surrounding districts on Sunday evenings; it was like continuous revival.
The outward effect on the village had been that, whereas three years before, the brewery was sending up two wagons and a cart loaded with barrels of beer every fortnight on paydays, it had now come down to one cart, and that only half full. It was a common joke that it would have paid the brewery to have persuaded Rees Howells and his friends to become shareholders.
“The only enemy we had,” said Mr Howells, “was the devil himself! All the people respected us for they knew we were out for their welfare. …”
New Wine – New Wineskins.
Here we get a graphic visual aid where the people in Rees Howells Welsh village changed from the Spirit of alcohol for the Spirit of God.
What a picture of what God does for the soul who turns to him!
Wine was the most common drink for people in Palestine. Alcohol content killed germs. Along with this, they had leak-resistant animal skins that could be processed and treated in such a way that they could expand and stretch along with the new wine as it fermented. Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, usually a goat hide tied at the legs and the neck. After the flesh and bones were removed from the inside of the goat the skin was tanned over fires of acacia wood. Then the openings were sewn shut, the neck of the goat was used for the spout, and unfermented grape juice was poured in. Afterwards the neck was sewn shut and the fermentation process began. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched and somewhat dried out, would result in the bursting of the wineskins. Old wineskins become brittle and rigid with age; when new wine is put in these, gases build up--produce pressure and Bang! You’ve ruined your wine and your wineskin.
The meaning of the saying new wine into new wineskins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. Jesus could not patch or pour His new ministry into old Judaism. Judaism had become inflexible due to the accumulation of centuries of non-biblical traditions. Jesus could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism. Furthermore, Jesus did not come to reform an old and worn out system but to fulfill or complete it and then introduce something radically new. For example, He Himself would be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, so the sacrificial system would no longer be necessary. Can you imagine still sacrificing goats and bulls when Jesus has paid the price for our sins? The Pharisees liked the old way better. They didn’t want to let loose of the old way. Ever met anybody like that?
Application: God has a new thing He wants to do. I sense there’s some “new wine” God wants to pour into the “old wineskins” of Riversdale Waikaia Presbyterian Church. We must be willing to make the changes and stretch with new ideas. It’s time for you to trade-in. You’ve been driving that way of life for a long time. I believe God wants us to experience some new wine.
A lot of people today are waiting for revival –
They talk about it as if they really wanted it but ask them to contribute towards it and - - - -
Rees Howells saw revival in Wales but listen what He did in order for that revival to happen!!
For three years, after his day’s work was done, Rees Howells had been at the mission every night. There were meetings five evenings a week and the other two were spent in visiting. His work in the pit took him from 7 a.m. to 4.30 pm., and then he had a two mile walk each way in all weathers. There was no time to attend any other meetings, for he hardly ever left his flock. The work had become so well established that many people were coming in from the surrounding districts on Sunday evenings; it was like continuous revival.
How did Rees Howells live like this???
Well he became converted.
I wonder if you would mind me reading a little bit more from his biography?
One thing that hindered Rees Howells from coming through before was that while people said they were born again, he could not see that their lives were better than his.
How then could he be convinced that they had something he had not? But he had sometimes said to the Lord, “If I ever see a person who is living the Sermon on the Mount, I will give in.”
He met a man called Maurice Reuben and realized that he had met his man.
He said:-
“As Maurice Reuben brought those sacred scenes before us, I too saw the cross. It seemed as if I spent ages at the saviours feet, and I wept and
wept. I felt as if He had died just for me. I lost myself.
My parents loved me very much but they never suffered death for me.
His love for me, compared to theirs, was as high as the heavens above the earth, and He won my love – every bit of it. He broke me, and everything in me went out to him.
He added:-
“I saw that by His coming in to me. He would love sinners through me, as he loved me. It would not be forcing myself to love others, any more than the saviour forced Himself to love me. No person could be an enemy to me, because I had been an enemy to him before I was reconciled. If I live in the realm where He is, I live to have mercy and to be kind, to love others. Could the love of God in me do any harm to anyone? I had left the world and its folly, and had been born into that Kingdom where there is only the love of God – the most attractive life on the face of the earth..”
All of this encourages us to aim higher in our faith and to live in the new wineskins that God has given us to live in.
We learn that God not only wants us to put his new wine into new wineskins be born again he wants us to life a completely new way.
How do you do that?
Here’s what you can do today to release the new wine.
1. Submitted to Jesus’ Lordship. The Lordship of Jesus Christ cannot be poured into the old skin of our settled personality structure, our presuppositions about life, our prejudices about people, or our plans for the future. Jesus wants all of your life.
2. Inventory – Take an inventory of your spiritual walk with God. Identify the things that are old wineskin material. EPH 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
3. Respond to the call. I believe that God has given us the responsibility of communicating a call; a call to the Kingdom of God; a call to relationship with a God who wrapped himself in human flesh; a call to a life of service, mission and compassion; a call to prepare people for the coming kingdom; a call to authentic Christianity – not church-ianity. We have to call people to be committed to Christ himself. We call people to a life-long, life-changing relationship with the Divine Christ. The church becomes not a destination, but a conduit and channel through which people can find resources, relationship, tools and training for their relationship with their Lord.
The numonic for the points here are SIR
Submitted - Inventory Respond.
Cheers
Jgullick@xtra.co.nz
