This message is for Christians, believers, followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. A subject, which is neglected, and that is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Christians are extremely unwilling to be guided by the Holy Spirit. They want to be guided by their own mind and by their own understanding. This is easy to understand why it is so.
The Lord Jesus talked about it in a parable in Luke 5:36-39 And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece from the new will not agree with the old. 37 And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins. 39 And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good.
Christians are not interested in the Holy Spirit or the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They are satisfied to be guided by their own interpretation of the scripture and anything and everything that goes contrarily to their discernment through their own carnal mind is rejected. That is the old wine that Jesus spoke about. He says, anyone who has had old wine does not want the new wine because he says the old wine is better. Why? Because if we follow Jesus by scripture we follow Him according to our own mind and we can contain it, we are in control. Therefore if we want to be guided by the Holy Spirit the way Jesus wants us to be guided it is hardly possible for a person who is used to the old wine being guided by his own interpretation, because he was in control. He doesn’t want the new wine and you cannot put the new wine into the old wineskins, they will burst. Why? Understanding and being guided by the Holy Spirit cannot be contained and quantified like we have with theory and interpretations of men.
Jesus Christ cannot be contained, His Holy Spirit cannot be contained, it cannot be put in a box. That is why traditional Christianity cannot fit into the kingdom of God it is the old wine. The kingdom of God is when Jesus Christ becomes the Ruler of my mind of my body of my total being, when I died to myself. It is not a rulebook, it is being guided by the Holy Spirit of God. Which explains the old but it supersedes the old, it goes beyond and above the old. We want to stick to the old because we know the old, we can contain that old. We think we are still in control, because in the old we are in control. Because I know what is written and if you tell me anything outside of what is written then I kill you. Like they did with Jesus, they killed Him. Why? It was the old wine of the Pharisees. We have many Christians today who stick to the old wine and they cannot go into the kingdom of God, they cannot see the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is when Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit guides you and rules you and determines your life. He does not rule you with a rod of iron. He guides you voluntary. You are a voluntary bond slave of Jesus Christ, if you follow Him. What is a bond slave? We read in Exodus 21 that after a person has served his 6 years as a slave and he chooses to stay with his Master, remember this man is now free. Then he says to his Master, I love you and I want to stay with you. And then they take him to the judges and they put a awl a sharp object through his ear, they take him to the doorpost and put it right through his ear and there is a hole in his ear. That hole denotes that this guy is a free slave, he is a bond slave. Why? He has bonded himself to the Master voluntarily. As a child of God I am a servant I am a bondservant. I serve Him because I want to. Being guided by the Holy Spirit is voluntarily but if I do not do that, if I do not go to Jesus, if I do not ask His guidance of the Holy Spirit, I do not become part of the Kingdom of God. I am still old wine in an old wine skin. The kingdom of God is a new wine skin, new wine in a new wine skin. The old cannot contain the new, it will burst and spill on the floor. If we want to be part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ we must let go of ourselves, let go of our old securities. People’s securities lie in their understanding of the Bible, the law, if I am inside of the law I am safe if I am outside of the law I am in trouble.
Jesus guides and He Rules by His guidance by the guidance of His Spirit. The difference is, if I am not guided by the Spirit I am outside of His will if I am guided by the Holy Spirit I am inside of His will. The old wine skin is if I am with in the law, I am fine, I am happy, if I am outside of the law then I am under condemnation. Jesus Christ came to make us free from the law but He did not make us free from being guided by His Spirit to enter His kingdom. I must be a voluntarily bond slave to Jesus Christ I follow Him wherever He goes and wherever He sends me because I want to, because I want to be part of His kingdom, because I want to know Him more intimately, because I need to be guided by His Holy Spirit to be useful in His kingdom.
I need to know His voice He said My sheep know My voice and they follow Me. People don’t want to know His voice. Why? They stick to the old wine it’s better. They justified themselves, but you know what? The problem is, they have no relationship with Jesus Christ it is a severe problem. Because He will say to them: You would not come to Me. He said to the Pharisees: You seek the scriptures because in there you seek to find eternal life but you wouldn’t come to Me and have life. Who is our life, this Book, no this Book leads us to life. Who’s that life? Jesus Christ the Living Word of God the way the truth and the life, that is Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. He is the King of the kingdom He is the judge who is coming if I don’t know Him, if I don’t know His voice, if I am not guided by His Spirit I am not part of His kingdom. Why? I still live by the old wine and I think it is better. Jesus wants you and me to be part of His kingdom to be guided by His Holy Spirit so that we can be fruitful in His kingdom, so that we can be part of what He is doing. We need the new wine but in cannot go into the old wine skin. We must ask the Lord to come and renew our mind, change us inside here so that we can understand. I must say: Lord Jesus I need not, I must not be guided by my mind by my understanding anymore. I must be guided by Your Holy Spirit. It is not optional, it is a requirement. The Lord Jesus said: I send you the Comforter. If I don’t want the Comforter, if I don’t want the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then plain and simple, I don’t want Jesus Christ. I don’t want His interference, I don’t want His guidance in my life. I would rather stick to my own understanding and you know what? That is a self-centered selfish religion of which Jesus Christ has no part. Because it does not lead me to a relationship with Him where Jesus Christ is everything, but everything in my life. I need to have new wine put into a new wine skin. I need to be changed by the renewal of my mind by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit inside of me. That is why He said to the disciples: Go to Jerusalem and wait until you receive power, until you receive the Holy Spirit. After they received the Holy Spirit they were guided by the Spirit and they could obey and follow Jesus Christ they were part of His kingdom. That is what we need, new wine in new wine skins.
