Secrets to succeed in the Christian walk
Jesus gave us three quick short parables to help us to understand the concept of spiritual things in a sinful world, something that is almost beyond our understanding, but yet these parables give us the glimpse or a concept of spiritual things and the Christian walk.
Luke 5:36 “And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was [taken] out of the new agreeth not with the old.” Old Cloth-New Cloth
Luke 5:37-38 “And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.” New wine in new bottles-old wine old bottles.
Luke 5:39 “No man also having drunk old [wine] straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” Old wine is alcoholic. The key and linchpin word in this text is “straightway” or “immediately.” Fresh grape juice is not immediately desired, we need a process of change, it takes time, a walk, a growth, a progression, a development, a “New Heart” and new inclinations.
Remember wine in scripture also has a spiritual meaning of “Doctrines or Beliefs” Fresh Grape juice is represented as God Doctrines fresh from the Bible, and fermented grape juice or wine or booze is manmade and old corrupted doctrines. Believers sometimes find it hard to take on new doctrines as they conflict with the old man of sin, which dwells within. Remember in Jewish/Hebrew thinking, Yeast and Sin is in essence the same thing.
Watch the phrase: Rom 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, “The just shall live by Faith.”
Faith to Faith: 2 Cor 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Glory to Glory: 2 Cor 4:16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.”
Day by Day: Paul clearly tells us that the Christian walk is “Faith to Faith” “Glory to Glory” and “Day by Day.” It is a progression, a sort of staircase of upward growth. Remember what is said in Romans 10:17 “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Our Faith grows with a daily consumption of scripture, well chewed over and assimilated into the life.
We find this admonition in 2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Feelings Alone Are Not an Indication of Sanctification. Happy feelings or the absence of joy is no evidence that a person is or is not sanctified. There is no such thing as instantaneous sanctification. True sanctification is a daily work, continuing as long as life shall last. Those who are battling with daily temptations, overcoming their own sinful tendencies, and thus seeking for holiness of heart and life, make no boastful claims of holiness. They are hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Sin appears to them exceedingly sinful. {CCh 56}
Let us be growing Christians. We are not to stand still. We are to be in advance today of what we were yesterday; every day learning to be more trustful, more fully relying upon Jesus. Thus we are to grow up. You do not at one bound reach perfection; sanctification is the work of a lifetime. . . . {3SM 193}
Why do we not dwell more upon this? Why do we not strive to make it easily understood, when it means so much? Why do not Christians open their eyes to see the work God requires them to do. Sanctification is the progressive work of a lifetime. The Lord declares, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Is it your will that your desires and inclinations shall be brought into conformity to the divine will? {3SM 202}
Prov 24:16 “For a just [man] falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”
So Dear reader, let us each one continue to rise up once more, get back on our feet, dust off and quote Phillipians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” As an active Believer, please be a “Good Samaritan,” keep an eye out for fellow travellers on the road of life, give them a lift, and encouraging word, a shoulder to cry on to share their load by a burden lifted.
