There is a time and a place for everything!
There is so much going on here I don’t even know where to start! As I read and studied my mind just ran in 15 different directions, so let’s just dive in and see if we can take it all in!
Matthew 9:14–17 (NIV)
14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse."
17 "Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
When “Religious” People disagree!
VS 14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
I see a few things in this verse that concerns me:
· Secondary issues
· Sowing discord is never productive
· Do we even know why we do what we do?
· Outwardly religious does not mean inwardly faithful
· And your way is not the only way!
Primary VS Secondary Issues!
Paul tells us this simple truth!
Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
· Faith and faith alone save you!
· PERIOD!
So, what are the primary things we all must believe?
· Jesus is 100 percent God and 100 percent man.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”(John 1:14).
· Jesus was virgin-born.
· The substitutionary atonement declares that Jesus died in our place on the cross.
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His son”(Romans 6:23).
· The resurrection is our proof that Jesus cheated death, and if we believe in Him, we can cheat death too.
“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay’”(Matthew 28:5-6).
· We must make a conscious decision to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.
· No one is born a Christian. Following Christ is a personal decision of the will. Forgiveness of sin is a free gift, but it doesn’t come automatically. The gift is received by accepting Christ personally.
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
Secondary Issues!
· Baptism, when, where, how
· Prophetic gifts
· Women in ministry
· Some sins are worse than others!
· Can you lose salvation?
· Traditions
o Lord's supper
o Lounges
o Fasting
· Worship styles, music, what the pastor wears, what you wear
· And the lists go on and on and on!
Do we even know why we do what we do?
Do we even know why we do what we do? Or do we just do it because that is what we have been taught?
· Altar Calls
· Fasting
· Lord's supper
· Worship (music)
Most people just do what they do because that’s what they have always done! Understanding what we do and why we do it, will help us to understand when it’s appropriate and when it's not.
· Like praying before a meal
· Or opposing something
And believe it or not, your ways are not the only way or necessarily the right way!
· Sometimes we get so caught up in our way we miss the point of why we even do it
· We push our agenda on everything
o From what kind of bible version we read
o Wine verses grape juice!
o Drinking
o good sin verses bad sin (I don’t even know what that means)
§ and do you know the sins we rail on the most, are the ones least covered in the bible?
§ Money is talked about a lot more than even murder, but we sure don’t want to talk about that!
They tear down, Jesus builds up!
14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast."
People sow discord!
· In verse 11, they had a problem with Jesus and went to His disciples
· In verse 14, they have a problem with the disciples, and they go to Jesus!
Proverbs 6:16–19 (NIV)
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
· Pitting people against one another as believers is never a good thing
· When secondary issues are turned primary, that causes us to sow discord
· When our way is the only way, that's when we sow discord
· When we take our eye off the Gospel, we sow discord!
Jesus builds up
· He frames His answer so as to defend His disciples and protect their practice of traditions!
· To point out that their way is not the only way
· That we all go through different seasons, and there is a time for everything!
Ecclesiastes 3:1–4 (NIV)
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
· Our walk is individual, our walk is personal
· So, we don’t judge, we don’t tear down
· We don’t sow discord
· We walk side by side in our struggles!
· And rejoice in our salvation!
The faithful followers of Christ, who have the Spirit of adoption, have a continual feast, while they who have the spirit of bondage and fear, cannot rejoice for joy
Methods come and go; the message stays the same
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
· Music styles change
· Fasting changes
· Preaching styles change
· The gospel never changes
All Christians would do well to reflect on whether their demeanor, life-style, and words convey to others, especially the unsaved, this joy of salvation and the lively presence of Jesus or whether they communicate, even unwittingly, a sour, judgmental attitude that is quicker to point out the wrongs of others then the joy in the relationship with Jesus.
We must also consider, even as the message of the gospel remains unchanged, whether the methods of evangelism, preaching, church growth, music, and worship, once effective in different circumstances, have turned counterproductive and need to be replaced by new methods that will more effectively win and minister to the current generation.
All things to all people!
1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (NIV)
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
21 To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
· Issues don’t matter, people do
· Souls won for Christ matter
· And how the world sees us matters!
· What we fight about, and the stands we take, can either shine a light or extinguish it!
