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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

already. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark in chapter 2. I want to talk to you about new cloth, new wine, and new birth. That ought to be interesting. There’s a portion of Scripture that’s found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It’s not found in John, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And it seemed a little hard to understand. I’ve often had people over the years asked me, so what does that mean? And sometimes I wish people wouldn’t ask me certain questions.

I don’t mind asking me easy questions, you know, answers that I know. But when you have to kind of hot dog around something, you know, people can tell when you really don’t know. Because when you don’t know, you talk on and on and on and on, trying to explain Well, I might do that today. But here in the book of Mark and chapter 2, Mark chapter 2, look there in verse 21, verse 21, no man also soeth a piece of new cloth on an old garment.

What this means is, is sewing is for women. See, there’s just certain things that are men jobs and then there’s women jobs. No man does this. So if you’re a man and you’re sewing buttons on your shirt, well, it really doesn’t refer to that. No man also sawed a piece of noughed cloth on an old garment. Else, the new piece that filled it up, taken the way from the old and the rent is made worse. Now, my mama used to put patches on all of my pants, special moneas and sometimes on the rear.

Has anybody ever had patches put on your clothes? Some of you have, some of you don’t want to admit it. But you wonder why all of a sudden he’s going along through here and everything’s going along fine and then he says something like that. Like out of the clear blue sky, no man sought that piece of new cloth on an old garment. Oh, that’s wonderful. There’s got to be some spiritual truth here somewhere. Now look in verse 22, and no man put a new wine into an old bottle.

Well I never have. Else the new wine does burst the bottle and the wine is spilled and the bottles will be marred. But new wine must be put into new bottles. Okay. You know there’s got to be a good meaning for all of this. What in the world is he talking about? I’ll have to admit that many of the commentaries that I read, they skip right over it like it’s not in the Bible. I don’t blame them. Because if you start trying to explain what it means and you really don’t know what it means, you’re going to get trapped.

So I’m going to attempt that today. I’m going to attempt to answer what this means. Turning your Bible to the book of Matthew, chapter 9, the book of Matthew and chapter 9. You see, each scripture enlightens just a little bit more so that you can see it a little bit better. Bullet there in chapter 9 verse 16. No man put it a piece of new cloth into an old garment. One says the same thing, but each one will have something just a little different.

No man put it a piece of new cloth into an old garment for that which is put in to fill it up take it from the garment and the rent or the tear is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles else the bottles break and the wine runneth out and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved. Both are preserved. So that is a little bit more to it.

You think, well, okay, now what does it mean? Have you got any enlightenment? Well, you wonder what does the God of all heaven? He came into this world, and if there’s anybody who knows truth, he knows truth. If there’s anybody who is an expert in the area of communication, understanding the mind of man, knowing what we can grasp and what we cannot. Now, God, you really put something on us here to say, what did you mean? And as I study the Scriptures, there’s time when I think, Lord, quick, you have been a little clear.

If you understand something, don’t you try to make it as simple as you possibly can? Well, why don’t He tell us what it means and give us that spiritual, you know, little diamond that we can’t find, he’s going to make us do the studying. And it would be so much easier and less taxing upon my brain if he was just going to head and told me. Then I would have known for sure what he means. But he didn’t do that.

You know the Bible is written such a way so that it doesn’t just satisfy curiosity seekers. The Bible says the natural man understand if not the things of God for their foolishness unto him. Neither can he discern them because they’re spiritually discerned. So God says the things of God, you have to have the spirit of God to discern the things of God. That makes sense, don’t it? But I am saved. I do have the Holy Spirit living inside of me.

So what come I still have trouble discerning what saying, have you ever studied prophecy? Wouldn’t you like to be able to figure out every little thing he says? And know for sure. Well, when he says things like, no man knows the day or the hour, even the son of man, only the father knows. Okay? Why can’t we know? Why can’t I know? I have an inquiring mind and I want to know. If the Son doesn’t know and He’s the one that’s coming back, how’s He going to know when to get ready?

But the Bible says that only the Father knows. Well now He said that before He left. So maybe He knows now. Maybe there’s a reason why God doesn’t tell us everything. It makes a statement in the book of Deuteronomy, the secret things belong unto the Lord, the secret things. Guess what I’m always wanting to know? The secret things. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know the things that nobody else knows. Don’t you just have that inward desire to say, man, I’d love to find some truth that nobody’s ever found.

I want to dig in this gold mine and come up with some little nuggets that nobody’s ever seen before. And then they say, well, if it’s new, it’s not true. Because if it’s true, it ain’t new. Because there’s no new thing under the sun. And since you can’t produce anything new, why should I waste my life trying to be an original? Just listen and learn, try to make decisions based upon that which God’s already put in his word. But I have to admit, I do have a curiosity.

I do want to know what God’s talking about. You see, as you read and study the Bible, there’s things that God will enlighten your mind, and you’ll say, I never saw that before. Every time you read the Word of God, you’ll learn a little bit more, and a little bit more, and hear a little, hear a little, hear a little, hear a little line up online, precept upon, precept. You see, one truth believed leads to another truth, and then that truth will lead to another truth.

But if you reject truth, you stop your growth. You can’t get anymore. God won’t give you no more because you don’t believe what he’s already said. So the key is understanding what he’s already said. Just like we study the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. It’s easy sometimes when we understand that Jesus Christ, when he came into the world, he was the king, which is pictured in the book of Matthew. And as the king, he’s the lion. And as a lion, he rules.

When you studied a book of Mark at pictures Jesus Christ as the servant, it’s always immediately straightway and and and. Harley, any breaks just keeps on going from one verse to the next verse to the next verse to the next verse. Though he was king, he is a servant. So that’s Matthew. match mark. The Book of Luke. While you look at it and you study in this Jesus, talking about his birth, as the perfect man, the perfect man. So when you read the book of Luke, that’s how you see it.

As a man, that’s perfect. God is genealogy, listen there. Over in the book of Matthew, it pictures his genealogy as the right to be the king of Israel. But in the book of Luke, as the right to claim, I am human. I can be your near kinsman. I can be the redeemer. I can be that perfect sacrifice. He is the perfect man. But when you read the gospel of John, it pictures Jesus Christ as the eagle high and lifted up as God.

So when you read the gospel of John, it’s as God. That’s why you don’t find the temptations mentioned in the gospel of John because God cannot be tempted with same. As a man, he was. So you’ll find there are certain things that are talking about Jesus as a man in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but not_> in John. John is a different book altogether. And I believe there’s a good possibility that as you study things that seems a conflict in Matthew and Mark and Luke, the gospel of John is the key that unlocks these other books and these stories.

So you see whenever you study the Old Testament, Israel sought a sign. In the Old Testament, it’s always story after story after story. In the New Testament, you have doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. But the Old Testament stories taught the doctrine. In the New Testament, we have the doctrine, but it’s got all these stories that help illustrate those doctrines that we believe. So when you understand that, you know that there’s stories in the Old Testament of types, figures that illustrate great truths so that you can get a better understanding of the Bible.

Well the Bible tells us that Moses, when he made the tabernacle in the wilderness and when got into the land they built the temple itself under Solomon, it was made after a pattern, a design that God gave to Moses, a one that really existed in heaven. So he saw one in heaven and he drew it and built it accordingly after the patternness mentioned in the book of Hebrews in chapter 9. So you and I, and I mentioned this the other day, that if I was to stand a certain way in the lights up here on me, you know, that leaves a shadow.

And so as you study the shadow trying to figure, can I discern the man by the shadow? But when the man comes, you no longer need the shadow. So there’s all these things in the Old Testament that were shadows of the man Christ, so that when he comes, they should be able to recognize him by the shadow, because nobody had a shadow like his. It was unique, it was different. And so they could study in the prophecies of scripture, and it all comes down to one person in a period of time.

Jesus Christ was born, and he lived and fulfilled prophecy so that they would know who he is. Now, when you get to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, did you know it’s still the Old Testament? Christ hadn’t died yet. We have to say the Old Testament is up until Christ, not when he was born, when he died. New Testament is after his death. New Testament, new contract, because the payment now has been made. The new covenant. But you see, this Old Testament, with the Jews, he says, I will give them sign because they seek a sign.

They want to see something. But with the Greeks, they sought wisdom. So you had your full philosophers coming from the Greeks. And with Israel, they sought a sign. And they asked him one day, give us a sign. And he said to them, an evil and a culture of generations seek it after a sign, but there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah. Where as Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, even so must the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

That was a good sign. When that happens, you know, I am God. But with the Greeks, they sought wisdom. So Christ, the power of God for signs, and the wisdom of God for the Greek. So whether Jews are Gentiles, Jesus Christ is what everybody is seeking. And He came into the world, and when He was talking to the Jews, even though he might have preached one sermon. There were some there of mixed multitudes of different beliefs, some Greek, some that wanted to know truth, some that didn’t want to know truth.

So he would speak in parables so that they could discern based upon their interest. If they really wanted to know they could get it. If they didn’t really want to know truth, it was like a black wall. They saw nothing could understand nothing. That only heard words but could not discern. So as you study the Scriptures you’ll find out that God has in the person of Christ preached a message and there are individuals there that would see things from the Jewish heart, the Jewish eyes, and he would tell stories and the Jews could understand parts of the stories but not the spiritual emphasis if they They didn’t really want to know truth.

They hear stories. But they could not perceive, and there were times when it says, they perceived. He was talking about them. But they didn’t understand it totally. And then you have other things that Christ did. But if you was to take, not Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and put it like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there’s the Gospels. But spread it out. You’ll see there’s people who go two different ways. He was a king, yet he was a servant.

And he was the son of man, but he was also God. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. When you read in the book of Ezekiel in chapter 3, and also in the book of Revelation in chapter 4, it talks about these living creatures that were seen in heaven. These living creatures that had four faces. Four faces? One was the face of a lion, and one was the face of an ox. One was the face of a man, and one was the face of an eagle.

So you and I know that if we take those four that gives a composite picture of Jesus Christ because, see, Jesus Christ just wasn’t one. He wasn’t just God. He was also man. He wasn’t just king. He was also a servant. He came to minister and to give his life a ransom for all. But he set up his cabinet in the book of Matthew, and he gives us the keys to the kingdom and how he’s going to rule when he sets up his kingdom upon the earth.

But as a king, he was rejected. So the kingdom was postponed and it’s coming yet in the future. But there’s a reason why God does it the way he does it. see if you separate it and lay it down this way, you will not have as clear understanding as if you put Matthew, Mark, and Luke this way. And you line up all the scriptures that deals with his crucifixion and then go back. And you’ll be surprised how that these three books will tell some of the similar stories, but each one from a little different viewpoint.

And as you look at them, you can sign a line them up with this story and this story and this story. And it’s amazing that so many of these stories are in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but not in John. So if you want to understand these books, then you need to overlay it with the Gospel of John. And you take the Gospel of John as a book and lay it over the top of it. You see, all these messages that He did preach were all done at the same time.

It’s just that this was written with one idea in mind because of what they saw from the Jewish eyes. And Mark, I mean, he was written from the Roman eyes. And so you have the various things written, but sometimes we don’t understand unless there’s a key. Well, the key that unlocks, I believe, much of the darkness in some of these books is because this was done. For the Old Testament, it’s still giving them stories of how they’re supposed to apply, and that’s why in the Gospel of John in chapter 3, it says there was a ruler of the Jews who came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art them.

Teach you come from God. For no man can do the miracles that thou doeth, that God be with him. Jesus says you must be born again. He also says to him, how can thou be a ruler, a leader in Israel, and knoweth not these things? And if I speak unto you a earthly thing, and I’m not a believer in this, I’m not a believer in this. And you don’t understand those, how are you going to understand the spiritual things?

Because you see, he spoke stories of earthly things that they would understand in order to teach them spiritual truth that you’ll find more so in the Gospel of John that deals with the new birth of how to be born again. And so it’s not like the Gospel of John happened at another time. When Book of Matthew happened at a different time, no, it happened the same time. When he was crucified in all four gospels, it was all at the same time.

He didn’t crucify four times. He only got crucified one time. When he got born, he only got born once. But it’s in different stories. When you talk about in Matthew, it talks about when he was born, King of the Jews. Later on in the Book of Luke, you’ve got Luke who talks as a doctor and tells you some about his birth. When you get to the gospel of John, it just says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. And all things were made by him, without him was not anything made that was made. And him was life and the life with the light of men. He came into the world, and this is the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world. And he came into his own and his own received them not. So you have it from a different viewpoint. There is the Eagle. In the book of Mark, you have the ox, the book of Luke, you have the face of man.

In the book of Matthew, you have the face of the lion, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. All of those together gives you a picture of Christ. So though So he was teaching certain things that we may not understand. You can utilize the gospel of John, I think, and discerning that. And I believe that it will be cleared up. We’ll look at that in just a second. Look during the book of Luke in chapter 5. The book of Luke and chapter 5.

Luke chapter 5, look in verse 36. And there you will see just a little bit more light. If there is a cheek set and he spake also a parable into them, no man put it the piece of a new garment upon an old. If otherwise, then both the new make it the rent. And the piece that was taken out of the new agree if not with the old. And no man put it new wine into an old bottle. Else the new wine will burst the bottle and each spill it and the bottle will perish.

But new wine must be put into new bottles and both are preserved. Oh man also having drunk, oh wine immediately desire new, where he said the old is better. You notice that last statement wasn’t in the other ones. It reveals us a little bit more. The other one talks about, and both are preserved. Well, it kind of says that here, but look what he says. A little bit additional stuff. But you see, new wine is not fermented. It’s after it ages a little bit, then it gets fermented.

And if you put that new wine in that old bag, and then whenever it gets to be fermented, it’s going to expand, and it’s these, or wineskins, not bottles, not glass bottles, they’re thinking of their wineskins, or made out of animal skin, and they will explode. So therefore, you don’t do that. But what does he refer in this too? An old and a new. Old and a new. I have an idea what it’s talking about. Piece of cloth, an old piece, a new piece.

While any pressure put on it, the old is still going to tear, but the new one. So there’s teaching something about a new and an old, a new and an old. And you’d be surprised when you study the scripture the Bible talks about the new and the old. You see the old nature, the old birth that you have. And you are born into this world. Well God says that it’s old and it’s going to be destroyed. It’s going to die.

And so God is going to put eternal life into a new birth. Not into the physical flesh because the flesh is not going to last for long. It’s going to die. So the day will come when we will get our new body because we’ve been given a new birth. You see, my eternal life is not in my flesh nature. It’s in my new nature that God gave to me. When he talks about this and you see it and understand it, you also enlighten upon another issue very quickly.

Turn in the Bible to the book of Matthew in chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, if you’ll notice there in verse 15, beware of false prophets. Why? False prophet have false messages. False messages leads to false hope. There were people who were hoping they would get into the Kingdom of Heaven. They hoped. They thought they believed because they had heard a false message from a false teacher. So he makes a statement here in verse 15, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

So you got a distinction between wolves, sheep, wolves sheep. Now, the sheep don’t eat wolves, but wolves do eat sheep. And verse 16, you shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistle? They don’t come from that. That’s why you always hear me say, if you want cotton, don’t sow corn. But if you sow corn, you’re going to get corn. If you sow cotton, you’re going to reap cotton. It’s the same principle.

God also always used this comparison showing the difference between the natural and the spiritual. If you can’t understand the things that happens naturally in nature, you’re not going to understand spiritual things. That’s why there’s certain amount of knowledge that has to be attained to be able to understand what God’s talking about. That’s why in this world we have sin, sorrow, death, and all these things. So when you start talking about spiritual You don’t know what he’s talking about because here it’s temporal, but there’s death, but you want to live Want to live forever?

So there’s this contrast The two places that God talks about in the Bible that are totally extreme One is heaven and it’s perfect. No sin gorgeous paradise live forever and hell The worst thing any man can ever imagine is to be in a literal fire-burning hell in torment for eternity, or total bliss for eternity. Look at the extremities, and yet God teaches us these things by in light, giving us a little bit of hell on earth and a little joy, so you can understand the difference.

And if you don’t understand the difference, you can’t make wise decisions. That’s why as you study the Scriptures, you’ll see things that God says that’s right and that’s wrong. Good, bad. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tappa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline programs, just go to our home page at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the radio broadcast link. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10-30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.