Who Am I?

Text:

Luke 5:36-39:

36And 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.

37And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.

38But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

39No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

 

Theme:

Who Am I?

 

Introduction:

 

• The Gospel According to Saint Luke is the third of the four synoptic Gospels.
  • Written by Luke the physician who also wrote the Acts of the Apostles
  • Luke wrote of accounts that he had gathered in his research concerning the life and times of the Master.
  • Luke wrote in a specificity and forthrightness that was typical of his Greek background and education while, at the same time, focusing on more the peculiararities of the Jesus’ life, character, and actions.
• The text is a parable spoken by Jesus to the disciples that is also captured in Matthew and Mark. The parable is a highlight upon the fact of Jesus bringing the new dispensation upon the people that does not replace Judaism but FULFILL it!
• The dilemma that often contaminates the thinking of the person pondering belief in God or even those who have professed belief in God is the age-old question of “Who Am I?”

Throughout history men and women have dedicated their lives to either the academic, personal, or societal pursuit of the question “Who Am I?”

• Henry David Thoreau à “Walden”
• Rene Descartes à “I think therefore I am”
• Martin Bubor à “I and Thou”
• Malcolm X à Trip to Mecca, color without distinction

Biblical history and theological studies have revealed similar existential positions addressing the question, “Who Am I?”

• To know who we are, we must first understand who God is!
• God is a Spirit à Everything, Everywhere, and Everyway
  • Omnipotent, All-Powerful – Omniscient, All-Knowing – Omnipresent, Everywhere
  • Exodus 3:14 summarizes, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
  • John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
• God is Eternal à Infinite, the Creator
  • John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
  • Psalms 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
  • Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
• • God is sovereign à the Almighty King
    • Through Christ, He conquered death and the grave to give Him the rule over Heaven, Earth, AND Hell. Whatever we need, we can go to Him!
    • Revelation 1:18, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
    • Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

We cannot accept who God is until we accept who we are, philosophically and metaphysically!

• In and of ourselves, we are worthless!
  • Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
  • John 5:30, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
• Through Christ, I Am Somebody!
  • Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
  • Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
  • Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
• But don’t get arrogant! Remember that we are just SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE!
  • Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Body:

•  The question of “Who Am I?” is especially difficult for the individual faced with or dealing with belief in God!
  • Paul articulates the confusing and frustrating situation
    • Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
      • What do I do when I want to do good and seemingly can only naturally do evil? HELP!!!!
  • Paul also gives us our existential answer
    • Romans 6:4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
      • How do we walk in the newness of life?

• We are supposed to be walking in life more abundantly!
  • John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
• That is our problem! We are walking in the old life and not the new life…more abundantly!!
  • Paul addresses this issue also
    • Romans 7:6, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”
    • In the Spirit there is life!!!
      • John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
    • In the “letter” (or law) there is death
      • 1 Corinthians 15:56, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”

 

At this point, we can clearly see the pertinence of the parable by Jesus spoken in our text!

• Verse 36 à You can’t mix new cloth with old cloth
  • The new is stronger and will tear the old when sewn together
  • A chain is only as strong as its weakest link!
• Verse 37 à You can’t put new wine in old bottles
  • The new wine will cause the old bottles to burst and the wine will be lost
    • The new wine has to expand with fermentation and the old bottles have already stretched and will burst.
  • Jeremiah testified of this in Jeremiah 4:19, “My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.”
• Verse 38 à New wine must be put in new bottles so that both are preserved
  • New bottles have the ability to expand with the expansion of the new wine and will not burst.
    • Both the wine and the bottle can stand the tests of time!
  • You have to know that you are in the right place.
  • There’s merit to being in the right place, at the right time, and with the right person!
• Verse 39 à If a man drinks old wine, he will prefer the old wine to the new
  • The addiction is based on the substance that is taken.
    • A heroine addict won’t crave gin
    • A cocaine addict won’t crave marijuana
    • The wino prefers his select cheap liquor that gets him his familiar drunk “on”J

In the same way, you can’t be playing in an old life and expect to produce the fruit of a new life more abundantly!

• You can’t mettle in OLD HABITS and expect to feel a NEW JOY of salvation in Christ Jesus
• You can’t hang around OLD HANGOUTS and expect for people to respect you as having a NEW LIFE in Jesus.

• The presence of the old weakens overall existence of the new!
  • The garment is weak because of the existence of the weaker cloth
  • The wine is spilled and lost because of trying to put it in old bottles
  • The man who drinks the old wine either does not ever get or loses his desire for the high quality new wine.
  • The individual is turned away from the saving power of God and goes down, down, down…..
    • Isaiah testifies in Isaiah 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Conclusion:

•  We have to be careful to not fall in the trap of mixing the OLD and the NEW
  • Don’t be mixing a NEW WALK with an old path or direction
  • Don’t be mixing a NEW TALK with old conversations
  • Don’t be mixing NEW PEACE with old confusion
  • Don’t be mixing NEW POWER with old weakness
  • Don’t be mixing NEW VISIONS with old memories
  • Don’t be mixing NEW MERCIES with old guilt

 

• I AM SAVED!!!!

• I AM SAVED!!!!

• I AM SAVED!!!!

 

#214