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And we'll sing song 110. All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell. For I know whatever befall me, Jesus, doeth all things well. For I know whatever befall me, Jesus, doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me, cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace, for every trial feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul a thirst may be, gushing from the rock before me, lo, a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me, oh, the fullness of His love, perfect rest to me is promised in my Father's house above. When my spirit clothes immortal, wings its flight to realms as new, when my spirit clothes immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way. And let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for this beautiful day that we get to gather gather in your house and to hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would give us ears to hear, but also, Lord, that we would obey your word as well. I pray, Lord, for the soul wanting to follow the service, and I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, you may be seated and take your, I keep forgetting the name of this book, take your Mountain Baptist Church Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs book. AKA the Blue Book. And turn in your books to Psalm 24. All right, we'll sing Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the sea and established it upon the floods, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generations of them that seek him, that seek that face, Jacob, Selah. Lift up your hands, O ye gates, and be lift up the everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord in battle. Lift up your hands, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the cling of glory, Selah. Well, that's rough. Okay. Anyway, well, just some announcements here. Welcome to Mount Baxter. As far as service times go, everything should be normal today. As far as the afternoon service, our soul-wanting time at 1 p.m. everything should be normal there. And then our soul-wanting times throughout the week, just be on the WhatsApp for all the soul-wanting times there. Be in prayer for anybody that's not feeling well. Seems like there's always one in my family that's something going on with them. So, yeah, that vicious circle, the sickness going around. But just be in prayer for all those especially those that have a lot of kids because that just keeps going around and around and around. So, and then upcoming events here, we have soul-wanting marathon in Sutton, West Virginia, or the Flatwoods area there. So that's on January 21st. And so as far as that goes, brother Nick I know is leading that one up. So any information or questions you have there, definitely meet with brother Nick. And then we have the men's prayer meeting at the end of the month here. And then we have the Lord's Supper scheduled for the 29th. So just put that on the list there. So Lord's Supper coming up at the end of the month here. And that's always on the afternoon after the afternoon service. So so be in your places there. It's been a little while since we've done it. So and then we'll probably the next time we do it will probably be around Easter, Easter time there. Well probably it'll be on Easter. That's usually how we do it. So and then on the back of your your invite there, your bulletin, if you will, we have 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 is our memory chapter for the month. We're also doing that challenge as far as reading through the New Testament. I know a lot of you are thinking through that. And so keep up the good work with that or just keep up if you're behind. Just keep plugging away. Keep doing those nine chapters a day. There should be a couple of days of grace period there. But even if you if you get done with it, like February 5th or something like that, then that's great. So don't worry about if you don't get it done within January. And so but that's the goal, obviously, to get done in January. But it's better to be through it if it takes you a month and a half to get through it. That's better than not going through it. So so I know a lot of people, actually, I'm preaching a sermon this morning and there's a question that was brought to me by multiple people. And I'm like, why is everybody bringing up the same question? And I'm like, everybody in the church is like reading the same passages. Everybody's in the same exact chapters every single day. So it's kind of cool to see that because everybody's thinking about the same exact passages because because of this challenge. So I have not figured out yet what our prize is going to be for those that make it through the New Testament. I was thinking maybe a Bible, maybe a gift card, something like that. But just keep plugging away and we'll have a prize for you. Some kind of prize for getting through it. And that's on the honor system. So none of us are policing that. So knowing whether you're actually getting through it, but excited about that. Our memory verse for the week is First Peter, chapter one, verse 15. And it says in First Peter one, 15, it says, but as but as he which had called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation. And so that's our memory verse for the week. And then on the birthdays there. I don't think we have any to sing for yet. Coming at the end, we had the most, you know, two important people there. You know, that sing happy birthday to brother Wade, you and me at the end, bring it in the rear of January. And so just kidding. But but yes, that is at the end of the month here. And then pregnancies there be in prayer for my wife. I am in that that period of like basically always checking my watch phone, making sure that I'm not getting a text on my wife going into labor. So is it working now? Just try turning it on and see what happens. Oh, OK. Hello. See, there was a bus going by there and I just threw him underneath of it because he's actually actually definitely give him a lot of credit. There's that system back there. I have no idea what's going on with that. And he's been doing a lot of work getting that together. So definitely thankful for the other band and all the work he's doing there. So but yeah, on the pregnancy list, they're being prepared for my wife. That could be at any time, honestly. So if I'm not here at a service, I'm probably at the hospital on the side of the road somewhere. But just be in prayer. I mean, that's probably the biggest thing that my wife is worried about is that we don't make it to the hospital again. But so. But yeah, anyway, so just be in prayer there and then be in prayer for the Lesko family, too. Exciting there with Yara and and be in prayer for them. And. I think if there's anything else coming up. Lord's Supper is kind of the big thing that's coming out there. The next event, the following marathon, the Lord's Supper there. I think that's how how's that sound back there. Is that OK? OK. Not too loud. No reverb or anything like that. OK. All right. So the offering boxes and back there, Mother Baby Room and Mother Baby Room. I do want to make an announcement. I want to clarify what I said last Sunday, because I feel like what I said last Sunday. One, maybe I didn't phrase it the right way or. So anyway. You can go back to that mother baby room for any reason that you need to go back there. OK. So I'm not trying to say like if your child. I know I said that, but I understand that there's other reasons why you got to go back to the mother baby room. So that hypothetical I was mentioning there was one that I hadn't I don't think anybody's ever done in our church. But so I did not mean to pin that on anybody or say, like, you can't go back for other reasons. So anyway, I apologize if there's any confusion or maybe I worded it wrong or anything like that. So utilize the mother baby. OK. This is what I'm trying to say here. Utilize it. It's there for a reason. So don't feel bad. And no one look around any baby like their kid isn't screaming. You know, and then start judging them for going back there because there's other reasons to go back there. I understand there's dirty diapers or speeding. There's other things that are going on there. So anyway, so don't take what I said too far when it comes to that. But anyway. Yeah, that's about all I got for announcements. Brother Dave is going to sing one more song. Who's brother Anthony are you reading this morning? OK, so brother Anthony is going to be reading Matthew chapter nine for us after we sing one more song. He's still limber, everyone. I know. I know his birthday's coming up. Yeah. He just wanted to demonstrate his dexterity. So. All right. Take your song books and turn to song 156. Song 156. We'll sing. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. What chapter were you reading, brother? All right. We'll sing song 156. There that I have loved to hear, but never has there been a name so dear to this heart of mine. As the name divide the precious, precious name of Jesus. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And he's just the same as his lovely name. And that's the reason why I love him so. Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name. I know there is no name in earth or heaven above that we should give such honor and such love as the blessed name. Let us all acclaim that wondrous, glorious name of Jesus. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And he's just the same as his lovely name. And that's the reason why I love him so. Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And someday I shall see him face to face to thank and praise him for his wondrous grace, which he gave to me when he made me free. The blessed son of God called Jesus. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And he's just the same as his lovely name. And that's the reason why I love him so. Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Matthew, chapter number nine, Matthew, chapter number nine in your Bibles. And we'll have Brother Anthony come and read that for us. Matthew, chapter nine. The Bible reads, And he entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city. And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their heart, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For weather is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven, or to say, Arise and walk. But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then saith he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed and go unto thine house. And he arose and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast off, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent 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. While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples. And behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment, for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall behold. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith had made thee whole, and the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels, and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth, and they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose, and the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord, then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened, and Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He cast out devils through the prince of the devils. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labors into his harvest. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your word, and thank you for this morning where we're gathered back here to learn from your word. I pray it should be with Pastor Robinson, fill them with your Holy Spirit, and help us all to be edified this morning. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So you're there in Matthew chapter 9, and I'm going to preach a sermon actually on a topic that multiple men brought up to me. And I actually, I touched on this a little bit when I was actually in Matthew 9, but this was probably like three years ago. And it was one of those things where in the sermon it was kind of like this short little bit. So if you don't remember it, I don't hold that against you or anything like that. But I'm going to be preaching on this portion of the passage here where Jesus talks about not putting a new cloth on an old garment, or putting new wine into old bottles, and kind of discussing what that's talking about. In verse 14 there, and this passage is actually brought up in Mark, it's also brought up in Luke. But to understand this, I think obviously you don't want to just look at that alone right there and not look at what's being said. Meaning this is a unique context as far as why did he say this, right? When you're looking at any of these passages or any things like this, you want to see what's the reasoning of why he's giving this. What I would call, you know, what the Bible a lot of times would call like an allegory or a parable or something like that. It's basically where you're taking something else to try to explain it, right? You're taking something else that's physical to try to explain something that's being said. So in verse 14 it says, So the question that's being asked is like, we're fasting all the time, but your disciples don't fast. And then it says, Jesus says, in verse 15 it says, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast. So what he's stating here is that it doesn't make any, basically if you think about it, it doesn't make any sense that they'd be mourning and fasting when they have the bridegroom there with them, right? The idea there is that this isn't a time to fast. It's out of place, right? It's like you're going to a wedding and mourning or going to a funeral and rejoicing. It's just completely out of place. It doesn't make sense. And that's the premise, if you understand why he brings this up later on, is the fact that he's basically just stating that these things don't go together, right? You don't mourn when you're at a wedding. You're not supposed to be just rejoicing when you're at a funeral. You know, contrary to popular belief in Baptist circles sometimes where they're just like, we need to just be rejoicing. This person's in heaven. No, there's a time to mourn. And I'm not against rejoicing and not having, you know, having hope and sorrow and all that. But at the same time, you shouldn't just be going to a funeral just acting all jovial when everybody's really distraught and mourning over the loss of somebody, right? And so then he goes on to say in verse 16, No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment and the rent is made worse. So it's basically, now granted, there's fashions out there that like this, okay? But if you were to think about it, if you had a tear in like a garment or something like that and then you put, and it's an old garment, right? It's one that's worn, it's faded. But then you put on a new piece of cloth, well then that's going to be like really bright. And it's going to, basically, it's going to stand out from the garment. So if your whole point of like fixing the garment is that you don't notice that there was a tear, that's not going to help it, okay? Because then you're going to be like, there was definitely a hole right there, right? Your eyes are just going to be focused right on that new piece of garment, right? But then he goes on to say in verse 17, 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. And basically it's just the idea that when you're basically putting, you got this new drink, this new juice if you will, you're not going to put it into old bottles that are like ready to fall apart. You put them into new ones because you want them to like stay preserved. You want it to do its job of not, of holding the liquid, right? Now you may say, well okay, what's the spiritual application behind what he's saying? Well, go to John chapter 3 because when you go through parables and when you go through allegories, the thing that you need to really focus on is what's the broad main meaning of what's being said, right? Look at the physical meaning of what's being said there, right? Before you get into the spiritual, if there even is a spiritual aspect to it, meaning this is that, just look at, okay, just from a physical aspect, not looking at doctrine, not looking at anything like that, what is he saying? Like what's being said here, right? And notice what Jesus says to Nicodemus here in verse 12. So John 3 and verse 12 and I think that this really kind of goes into, if you're going to go, if you want to know dark sayings and parables and allegories in the Bible, you need to understand the physical meaning first before you go into the spiritual. You really need to just grasp, okay, what's the physical application here that has nothing to do with spiritual realm, right? And verse 12 there says, if I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? Meaning this is that you got to understand the physical earthly things first before you can go into the heavenly things. And a lot of times, I think the reason that there's a lot of confusion and people go off the rails on parables is that they're automatically going into the spiritual without even understanding the physical. And if you understand the physical, that kind of keeps you in a lane of like, okay, when I go into the spiritual realm, here's kind of like my lane that I'm going to be in based off of just the physical meaning there, right? So what's the physical meaning that he's trying to get across here? That things are out of place, right? There's a time to mourn and there's a time to fast and there's a time not to fast. That's essentially what's being said here, right? There's a time that they're going to fast but now's not the time, right? Now's the time to basically rejoice and basically you're dealing with this wedding, if you will. When the bridegroom's not there, that's the time to fast, okay? And so there's a time and place for everything and go to Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2 and I'll show you basically the parallel passage here saying basically the same thing. Mark chapter 2 and verse 18. And I'm going to get into some of the things because I know some have asked me, you know, like what does this, the old and new represent? And I think sometimes we get stuck in this mode of like we see old, new and we automatically have to like associate the old and new with something in the Bible. And I don't believe that's always the case, right? Sometimes it's just giving you, it's giving you an allegory to show you like, hey, a new garment going on an old garment is not going to make it any better, right? It's basically going to make it worse because it's going to just put attention on that rent that was there. Putting new wine into old bottles isn't going to work because you need like new bottles that are going to be strong and they haven't been like, you know, they're ready to go, right? They're not going to break. And so that's kind of the concept, just the physical on the bottom shelf, like here's the physical meaning, not looking at any doctrine, right, of what is being said. But Mark chapter 2 and verse 18 it says, And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast, and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? Notice this, as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. Notice how it's like, it's not just that they're not going to fast, they can't, right? You can't, it's so out of place for them to fast, like it doesn't make any sense. They can't fast while he's here. But then it goes on to say, But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. So there's going to be a time for them to fast, but it's not now. And it says, No man also soweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And then it goes to say, And no man puteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred, and the new wine must be put into new bottles. So, again, just that physical application, it's out of place, it's not the way it's supposed to be. Now, go to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. So if there's one thing that sums up what I believe Jesus is saying here, is Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and we'll start there in verse 1. I mean, if you think about it, right, think about like the parable where he talks about, it's like a fisherman that puts out a net, and there's like good and bad in it. I mean, just think about the physical application, okay? You put out a net, and then you get a bunch of fish, but then there's like, you know, crepe in there, there's like, there's, you know, crabs, or there's something like in there that you don't want, right? There's like an eel, you get rid of the bad stuff, and you keep the good, right? Just the physical on the bottom shelf, like this is what he's trying to state. But then you can go on to the spiritual and be like, okay, we're talking about the saved and lost, and the idea he's keeping the saved, and he's throwing out the lost, and you can think of it that way. But ultimately, you just want to look at, okay, what's that physical meaning? What's he trying to get across here by going to this earthly meaning first? And Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 1 says, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. And this is what I believe Jesus is getting across here, is that there's a time for everything under the sun, but it needs to be in its place. Notice what it says in verse 2, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Now, that's exactly what I believe is being stated here. They're asking, you know, like, why are they not fasting? And then he gives this example of like basically a bridegroom, a bride chamber, you know, the idea that if you're about to go into this wedding and you're there with the bridegroom, you're not supposed to be mourning and fasting, right? It's a time for feasting and rejoicing. It's like completely out of place. And you don't want to put those out of place. Keep reading there. It says a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. And when it comes to Christianity, I think this is the big thing that you need to understand. Is that what watered down Christianity wants to do is that they want to simplify everything to the fact where they don't have to discern like between knowing what to do in situations, right? So this idea like we need to love everybody. You know what that does? It simplifies. It would be like, well, I'm just going to love everybody. I don't have to worry about ever hating anybody because I'm just going to love everybody. But you know what the Bible would teach there is that that's out of place, right? If there's a time to hate and there's a time where you shouldn't love somebody, you shouldn't love them to hate the Lord. So, you know, it's out of place. It's just like putting a new cloth on an old garment or putting new wine into old bottles. It's not going to work out for you, okay? And you need discernment on when you need to do certain things, okay? And in this case, we're dealing with basically being happy, rejoicing or being sad and mournful and weeping, right? Because fasting is associated with that, right? I mean, show me a place in the Bible where fasting is just like everybody's having a good time, right? Anybody that's dieting right now knows that no one just enjoys dieting, you know? No one just loves that. I just love not eating what I want to eat. I just love it, you know? I love the hunger pains, you know? No, no one's like that. If they are, then they're like a masochist, you know? They're a little strange, right? It's out of place either way, right? But the idea here is that when we're looking at this passage, know the physical of what's being said here is that these examples he's giving, sometimes we can look too far into it and we try to, you know, basically look too deep into it. And know this is that each parable, what's being said in there only applies to that one subject that he's stating, right? Because in another place, if you try to take what he was saying there and like, you know, for example, if you're looking at someone falling away in like the parable of the sower and the seed, and basically it's talking about someone being offended, a Christian being offended and kind of falling away from the things of God, right? Then you look at another place where falling away is used and it's talking about someone that's not saved, or someone that's been given over to a reprobate mind. It's like you can't just use that term falling away and just apply it the same everywhere. And you can't just look at some parable over here and just say, well, old means this over here, new means this over here, this one state. Therefore, over in this parable, it must mean the same thing. Now, and that's the problem where people get into is that they'll look at, okay, I see old, new, and listen, don't get me wrong, when you're looking at this, I would look at all the things that are like compared to old and new as well and see if it applies. I think that's a good way of going about it, but you have to basically look at it and be like, okay, does that fit though? Does that fit with what's being said? So, what's the context of what's being said there? Go to Proverbs chapter 25, Proverbs chapter 25. Proverbs actually hits on this subject a lot of what Jesus is trying to state here. Ecclesiastes obviously is kind of like an extension of Proverbs. But, you know, it's interesting because Proverbs, the beginning of Proverbs even talks about the fact that if you want to understand a proverb and dark sayings of old, you know, basically that's what Proverbs is about, is understanding parables and proverbs and, you know, dark sayings if you will. But Proverbs 25 verse 19, it says, Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth in a foot out of joint. As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nighter, so is he that sings his songs to an heavy heart. So, this is kind of the opposite of what's going on in, it's like the complete opposite of what's going on in Matthew 9 and Mark 2. Meaning that they're saying you need to fast when they should be rejoicing, right? It talks about rejoicing while the light of the world is with you, right? You know, it's talking about like while I'm with you, you know, basically walking the light, rejoice, you know, all that. He's going to be taken away and they're going to be sorrowful about it. But now is not the time to be sorrowful when Jesus is with them and he's walking with them and all of that, right? It's the time to rejoice and basically take that all in. Here it's basically stating that, okay, well, if you're going to be rejoicing and singing songs to them that are of a heavy heart, then that's out of place too. It's like taking away a coat, think about it, it's like super cold outside and you just rip their coat off and be like, alright, deal with it. You're like, that's not comfortable, that's out of place, right? Or, you know, in vinegar upon nighter, I don't really know if there's a chemical reaction that's going on there, but apparently that's not good either, okay? And so as far as the idea there of being out of place, go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12 and verse 15. So on the surface when you're looking at this, it's really just stating that it's out of place, it's not, it doesn't go together. And I'll get into the new and the old and how that may apply and how it may not apply when it comes to that. But ultimately, if you just stop right there and be like, okay, I get it, right? What's the spiritual meaning behind what he's saying is that those two things don't go together. Because, think about it, is not old and new pretty opposite from each other? I know we think of Old Testament, New Testament, old man, new man, and I'm going to get to that to a certain extent. But honestly, if you just think about rejoicing, mourning, killing, you know, healing, right? The war, peace, these are polar opposites, aren't they? Old, new, and why is he doing that? Because he's basically showing you these are complete opposite things, putting them together is not, doesn't make any sense. Okay, so that's just kind of the concept that's being stated there. But in Romans chapter 12 verse 15, it says, Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Meaning this is that if people are mourning, you need to be mourning with them. If people are rejoicing, you should rejoice with them. It shouldn't be this, you shouldn't be just contrasting your emotions with everybody. It's just, and the idea there is that it's out of place. That's kind of just like the main reason, that's what's being said. And that honestly is really the main spiritual application as well, okay? But go to Luke chapter 5, Luke chapter 5. You say, well, is there any other deeper meaning there behind that? You know, it's talking about this old garment and this new cloth. It's talking about, it seems like old and new is like really mentioned there. Again, I personally believe that the main application here is just talking about just how you're dealing with two ends of the spectrum and putting them together and how it doesn't make any sense. Fasting when you should be rejoicing or rejoicing when you should be fasting. Those things don't, they don't go together. And he's just given two examples of how they don't go together. Now, one thing that could be thought of is the fact that, well, what about Old Testament, New Testament, okay? Now, I'll say this. There can be some things that you can pull out of this and say, well, this would apply, this is good doctrine. But I don't think that's why this is being written, okay? Meaning this is that, for example, he taketh away the first and he may establish the second. The New Testament is not patching on to the Old Testament. Does that make sense? It's completely, they're separate. You know, the Old Testament, the administration of death, the New Testament's administration of righteousness and grace and all that, right? So you don't like put the two together. You could also look at this as far as the law compared to grace, right? The works compared to grace. You don't mix the two. If you try to mix the two, it makes it worse, okay? And all those things are true, right? I mean, you could look at that and be like, that's good doctrine. That makes sense. You got verses to back up all of that. I don't think that's the point of what he's trying to get across there. Though that would apply, right? Just as much as the polar opposite of old and new and the polar opposite of works and grace, right? And you could look at it that way as far as just looking at everything that's polar opposite in the Bible, right? Curse, blessing, right? You know, life, death, bittersweet. And you could look at how, okay, these things shouldn't go together. And that would all apply to what he's stating there. But here's why I don't specifically believe it's talking about old and New Testament, okay? And here's why. Because in Luke chapter 5, the same passage that's stated here. Look at verse 33. It says, and they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can you make the children of the brine chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. So same exact story that's being stated here, right? Now let's keep reading. Verse 36 says, and he spake also a parable unto them. So this is a parable, you know, like no denying it. But a parable, what is a parable, right? I mean, if you think about it, a parable is basically just likening something onto something else. It's like an allegory. Now it can be very dark and cryptic, but sometimes it's not that dark and cryptic. It's very, it's pretty basic. But basically, he's just giving you something physical to represent what he's trying to say. But he said, 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 agreeeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall burst. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved. Now here's where I think it'd be very hard pressed for you to convince me that this is talking about Old Testament, New Testament. Because notice what it says in the next verse here. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith the old is better. Okay, now here's a problem with this. Now again, anybody that's looking at this and you're reading Matthew and Mark, and you're like, this could be talking about Old and New Testament, I understand where you're coming from. It makes sense to go down that trail, but look at all the passages. Now here's why this wouldn't make sense. Go to Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrews chapter 7, Hebrews chapter 7 verse 22. Now you may say, well, is he saying that it's good to drink alcoholic wine? Because the old is better? Now what does it say? No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith it is better, the old is better. Now let me ask you a question. If you just went out into the world right now, the people that drink wine, are they going to tell you the new wine or the old wine is better? Every single one of them is going to be like, the old wine, right? The older it is, the more aged it is, the better it is, okay? So it's not Jesus saying that it's better. It's just the fact that he's stating this is what people say, right? I mean, he's just stating a fact of the world, right? The fact of the world is, if you went out into the world right now and said, hey, what's better, new wine or old wine? They're all going to say old, right? And he's specifically talking about people that drink old wine, right? He's like, they drank old wine. They're not going to want to go back to the new. They're going to want to stick with the old, and they say it's better. Now here's why that doesn't make any sense, because the New Testament is the better testament, not the old. Notice what it says in verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Go to chapter 8 and verse 6, chapter 8 and verse 6. Chapter 8 and verse 6, it says, but now hath he appointed a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. So the New Testament's obviously better. So if you're going to look at the old wine and new wine, now you could say this, and I'm with you on this, I could follow you on this, but here's the thing. When it comes to this stuff, I try to not keep, if it's getting complicated, you may be going down a wrong path. Meaning this is that you could say, well, there are two different allegories being made, right? The old wine, or the new wine into old bottles, and then just old wine, new wine allegory, right? And then you can kind of split those and say, well, the new wine into old bottles, that's talking about Old Testament, New Testament. This is talking about something else. And, you know, sure, that could be possible that he's kind of giving you two different allegories, but in the end, in the end, when you think about, let's back up to what I stated to begin with. What's the surface meaning of this? You got two polar opposite things, and what's out of place, right? Right? It's out of place for someone that drinks old wine to desire new. It's out of place to put new wine into old bottles because old bottles aren't going to be able to contain and preserve it as long as new bottles would. It's out of place to put a new garment on an old garment because it's going to make the rent worse, it's going to take away from it, it's going to, you know, draw attention to it, whatever the case may be. It's out of place. It's not the right season for any of it. So that means everything that was stated in all three of those passages makes sense and fits with what was stated to begin with, which is this isn't a time for them to fast. There will be a time for them to fast, right? So just keeping it simple, that's how I would go about it. So, but again, you could say, well, the Old and the New Testament, right, and you take it away the first, they may establish the second, and so obviously you don't mix the two. It's true. That's a true statement. But the question is, is that what Jesus was trying to teach there, right, with that parable? Was he trying to get that across there? Or was he just trying to get across the fact that he's stating, okay, these things don't go together? And listen, you can say, well, the Old Testament and the New Testament don't go together. They kind of do, though, because the Old Testament is the knowledge of sin that we might come unto Jesus by faith, right? So they do kind of work together. They do kind of go together. But as far as, like, you're not saved by the Old Testament. You're not saved by the law. And you can look at the law and grace, and those don't go together, okay? So now let me give you an idea. You say, well, okay, what's the spiritual meaning behind this old is better, right? Because, you know, obviously, maybe there isn't a spiritual meaning behind it. But let me give you a rabbit trail to go down where you could look at this as, like, going deeper into it. Go back to Hebrews 7, Hebrews 7. Not dealing with Old Testament, New Testament. But how about priesthood? And specifically, the priesthood is Melchizedek. And which one's better, right? And the idea here is that old can be better. It's not when you're dealing with the New Testament and Old Testament, though, right? The old isn't better. It's very clear that the new is better. But when can old be better? Well, as far as Jesus being the high priest, that's where old is better. Now think about this in Hebrews 7, verse 1, it says, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them, receiveth tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises, and without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. So who's the better? Melchizedek, right? Melchizedek better, but who's older? Melchizedek. Melchizedek's older. And you say, well, okay, Melchizedek's older, but Jesus came later. Jesus is Melchizedek. It says he's made like unto the Son of God. And he's made after the similitude of Melchizedek. So it's like Melchizedek's made after the similitude of the Son of God, and Jesus is made after the similitude of Melchizedek. They're one and the same. But here's the difference, though. When Jesus came and he was born of the Virgin Mary, he did have a mother, right? He did have descent physically, whereas Melchizedek didn't. He was just, you know, basically flesh and bone, if you will. And he was, you know, he was a man that was here on the earth, and, you know, God there, but he wasn't flesh and blood, okay? He wasn't born into this world yet, and that's where Jesus comes in. But think about this Micah chapter 5. Micah chapter 5, Micah chapter 5 and verse 1. Micah chapter 5 and verse 1, it says, Now gather thyself and troops, O daughter of troops. He hath laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting. So when it comes to Jesus himself, the old is better, right? I mean, how about this in Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 6, and you don't have to turn there, but Jeremiah 6, 16, it says, Thus that the Lord stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein? Are the old paths better? Yes. Okay, so you can definitely look at old being better. Why? Because, you know, well, Jesus is better. The Melchizedek is better. There's a reason why it's better, but he's older, but he's better. And you can think about the old paths and how they're better. And how about this, and this will be the last thing I'll kind of hit on this, because, again, I'm not even saying that you need to go down this path of finding some, like, extra spiritual meaning to this, right? Because, like I said, you can look at the old and new and the new wine and old bottles and say, well, that's the old man, new man, right? It's old bottles, an old vessel, it's new wine going into it. And you can say, well, it doesn't really work that well, because, you know, the old is perishing, right? And it's true, like, obviously, when we get saved, the Holy Ghost indwells us, we have the new man, but that's just not, you know, it's a constant battle. We're always warring against it, right? And it's not something that just fits together really well, okay? And you can look at that that way. And you can look at the Old Testament and New Testament and see how, okay, those don't go together completely, and one's condemnation, one's justification, and you can see how those don't go together when it comes to that. And same thing with this, like, old wine is better, is the fact that sometimes being older is better, okay? Not maybe for physical stamina, right? We're not falling off the platform, you know? Old's not being better, right? But think about this when it comes to leadership, though. When it comes to, and this doesn't necessarily mean older in age, but maybe older in wisdom or experience, knowledge, wisdom, stuff like that. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3, and I'll read to you, while you're going there, Titus 1. So these are qualifications for a pastor, for example. And in Titus 1, 5, it says, For this cause left I thee, and create that thou shouldest set in order to the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless. And it goes on to say, like, all these qualifications of the pastor, but notice that he's like, hey, elders, right? Elder meaning older, right? Now, older doesn't necessarily mean, like, age as far as physical age, but more so as far as spiritual age, okay? But what's the opposite of being spiritually aged? Being spiritually young, right? Or new, if you will. Or as the Bible is going to say here, a novice, right? Someone that's a beginner, okay? Who here has played video games where there's, like, there's, like, novice, intermediate, expert, right? And that could be, you know, like some racing game or something like that, but it's, like, novice is obviously beginner, right? That's, like, beginner level, expert is not beginner level, right? And so that's what you're dealing with here is that if you're going to look for, let's say, a spiritual leader, do you want someone that's new or do you want someone that's old, right? And it's not necessarily saying the new is bad, it's just saying that the old is better, right? Good, better, better best, you know? Like, the idea there is that they're not necessarily saying any of them is wrong, it's just which one would you rather have? So in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 1 it says this is a true saying, if a man desire the opposite of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given the hospitality, apt to teach, not given the wine, no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. So the opposite of basically being like an elder in the faith, if you will, you know, being mature, is being a novice. And, or a beginner, right? So you want someone that's well seasoned, if you will. They have experience, they have knowledge, and listen, even if you had, let's say you had good preachers all the way across the board, from being new to being old, right? When it comes to experience, which one's better, right? And I'm just kind of taking away everything else, right? Let's say, everything being equal, right? They believe the same thing on doctrine, they go soul winning, like everything being equal, right? Which one's better? The one that has more experience, the one that has more maturity, the one that has more wisdom, right? And I'm not saying that you should like have a list and compare all the pastors and all the people that, or people in the church and be like, okay, here's my list of people that are better, right? That's not what I'm stating here, but it's just facts of life, right? And go to Hebrew chapter five, Hebrew chapter five. Do you want someone that's a full age being a spiritual leader, or do you want someone that's a babe in Christ? And you're like, that's extreme. Well, that's what we're talking about, isn't it, right? We're talking about new and old, right? We're talking about extremes, and how do you compare these things? And then I'm gonna come full circle and bring it back and be like, how does this apply to what Jesus said, okay? Because I'm talking about leadership, and I'm just using this as one example, okay? And this is how you can get down, go down like a rabbit trail into it, as far as like, okay, what is this talking about? How can I look at the spiritual, like deep spiritual meaning of what's being said here? Well, here's one way you can go about it. In Hebrew chapter five and verse 12, it says, For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. Okay, so he's basically saying, you're babes in Christ. And you ought to be teachers, but you have need that someone teach you. So he's basically saying, you're not fit to be teachers, because you're a babe in Christ, right? But then it goes on to say, a strong meat belongs to them, what? That are a full age. Full age. And it says, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So they're a full age. They're using what they're teaching. They're not just, they don't just know the oracles of God and the principles of Christ. They use them, right? The difference between a babe and someone that's a full age. Now take away the whole like worldly aspect of wine and like alcoholic and all that. Think about, because this is done with all kinds of different food products, right? Think about like cheese, right? You have aged cheese, right? You have aged meat nowadays, right? Well, probably not nowadays, it's probably been like that for a while, right? But if you're to look at like, okay, what cheese is better? The aged. What meat's better? The aged, right? And you go down the line as far as what's better going down the line. And obviously, you know, when it comes to alcoholic wine, you know, wine is a marker and strong drink is raging. And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise, right? But the world is going to say it's better, okay? Because it tastes better, it's been matured longer and all of that, right? But I'm looking at the spiritual element here as far as what, this physical application of what's out there in the world and how this applies. And coming full circle with that though, and I'm just giving an example of, you know, Christianity, leadership, of being a babe in Christ and being full age. Now, is it bad to be a babe in Christ? No, of course not, right? As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. That's not a rebuke, that's just, hey, you know, you're a newborn babe in Christ, desire the sincere milk, that's hard to say, isn't it? Desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. But here's where it gets bad is when you ought to be teachers, you ought to be a full age and you're not and you're still babes, okay? That's where it gets bad. That's where it's just like, what are you doing? But if you're a babe in Christ, you haven't been saved that long, then praise the Lord, you know, just keep growing. And the idea here is that there's nothing wrong with that, it's not bad, but what's better and what's best, okay? And go to Proverbs chapter 19, Proverbs chapter 19, and I'm going to be ending here in Proverbs, but I just kind of want to come full circle with this. Because coming with, when it comes to leadership, okay, that spectrum of new and old, when it comes to spirituality, for example, there's nothing, just on the surface, there's nothing wrong with any of that, right? There's not like, oh, that's bad, that's, or that's bad, or this is good, you know, it's just that there's a spectrum there. But when it comes to leadership, it can be out of place though if you have this newborn babe that's the leader. Does that make sense? Like, you're not supposed to have a novice. And there's reasons why you don't want to have a novice. But in Proverbs 19 and verse 10, it says, delight is not seemly for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes. So here's what's not, what's not seemly, right? For a servant to rule over princes. Okay, you got these princes that are supposed to be rulers, that's, I mean, that's in the name. In a principle, prince. But you have a servant ruling over them. See how that's out of place? Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. It's not, it's backwards of what it should be. Go to Proverbs 26, Proverbs 26, Proverbs 26 and verse 1, it says, as snow in summer and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool. I mean, can you, I mean, you could get the physical, right? It's snowing in summertime. You're like, what in the world is going on? Must be in Terra Alta, you know, must be up in the mountains somewhere for this to happen. But then rain and harvest, you're like, that's not when I need rain. I need rain before the harvest, you know, for my plants to grow and everything. But when it's raining, the harvest is just like, this is only making things worse, right? You know, you're trying to like pick everything and everything is just getting soaked or whatever. But so honor is not seemly for a fool, meaning like you're not to honor a fool, right? Honoring a fool, that's just so out of place. It doesn't go together. Now go to Proverbs 30 and verse 21, Proverbs 30 and verse 21, Proverbs 30 and verse 21, it says, for three things the earth is disquieted and for four which it cannot bear. Now this is just kind of a poetic way of saying like four, but the Bible does this sometimes. So you're going to get four different things that are basically, basically it's disquieted, it cannot bear, it's like, it's just out of place, right? It's not something that should go together, it shouldn't be happening, right? It says, for a servant when he reigneth, a fool when he is filled with meat, for an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. Those things are all out of place, right? I mean, imagine ladies, you know, those that are, you know, the ladies in our church that are like trying to live for the Lord and you know, living, you know, trying to live a holy separated life and you know, meek and quiet spirit and then you see some like just loudmouth like, you know, just horrible of a woman getting married to like some let's say handsome guy that's got this great job and you're just like, what's going on, right? Or you know, you got this idea of, you know, a servant that's reigning, right? And a servant rolling over a princess and you're just like, what's going on? Or a handmaid that's heir to her mistress, meaning this is that, you know, why doesn't she have children that's like basically being heir, right? It's just, everything's out of place, okay? But an odious woman when she is married, I'm more so thinking of the women because you know, me, if an odious woman gets married to a man, all I can think about is that guy's an idiot. It doesn't bother me, right? But to a woman, you could definitely think and be like, what's going on, right? Because you know, ladies, you're wanting to find a good guy and you're wanting to get married. He's like, what in the world is this person doing getting married, right? How did they get married? And that's why it's so out of place. You're just like, this is messed up, okay? So ultimately, when you're dealing with this passage, you know, what's the surface meaning? The surface meaning is this. Jesus is saying that they can't fast while I'm here. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't fit. And then he gives two examples of a new garment, old garment, new wine, old bottles. And he's basically just saying, this is like this, right? That doesn't make sense to do. And he gives the kind of reasons why it doesn't make sense to do, right? He doesn't just say it. He's like, here's why you don't put new wine into old bottles. Here's why you don't put a new garment on. But here's why you don't fast when the bridegroom is with you. It doesn't make any sense. You're supposed to be rejoicing. You're supposed to, you know, fast when he's not there. Fast when you're separated from each other or whatever, right? And so that's kind of the main principle there. And you can dive deep into like, here's what these things represent. But ultimately, when it comes to a lot of stuff, I don't dive deep. I dove deep there on that one point just to kind of give you, hey, you can dive deep into this type of stuff. But ultimately, doesn't it come back to the same thing? It's out of place, right? Even in that case of like, okay, the old is better and the new than the new, when it comes to, let's say, spirituality, leadership, when it comes to like being a full age compared to being a novice, those are two extremes. But what's the point? In leadership, out of place. Out of place if you have someone that's a novice than someone that's a full age. And I'll say this, if your interpretation, the rabbit trail you're going down, doesn't come back full circle to it's out of place, like what's being said there, then that's not a good, you know, it's not a good rabbit trail to go down, right? So if I were to come down here and I'm completely talking about something different, you know, like it has nothing to do with what was said to begin with in the passage, then it may be good doctrine, right? You can a lot of times be like, this is good doctrine, but that's not what the passage is talking about, right? That's not what he's trying to get across there. And when I go into James 2 on Wednesday, James 2, you know, how I explain, you know, faith without works is dead, there's different ways of explaining it, but there's only going to be one way that's going to actually fit the context, right? And there could be a lot of people that explain it and they have good doctrine, and that doctrine is explained in the Bible and there's scripture to back up that doctrine, but maybe that's not what the passage is actually trying to say though, right? And so, but when you're going into parables and stuff like that, my advice is, is really dealing with understanding the earthly aspect of it, understanding the physical earthly meaning of it before you go into the heavenly. And kind of like Jesus said in Nicodemus, if I tell you earthly things and you believe not, meaning like you don't, think about it, if you don't understand the earthly meaning, how are you going to understand the heavenly meaning? Because the whole point of the earthly meaning is to point you to the heavenly meaning. So, but, you know, multiple people brought this up to me as far as a question, and it's a good question. And next time, if someone brings up another question, and it's going to be like in Romans or it's going to be in somewhere, I'm going to be like, I know where everybody's at right now. I know where everybody's reading's at right now. So, but it's kind of cool to see that. So, let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. And just pray that you'd help us to understand your word, you know, with parables, or just things that you show in the Bible. Help us to not go too far sometimes when it comes to trying to maybe look at spiritual meanings, but really just kind of stick with the surface meaning and then work out from that. But Lord, just pray that you be with us as we go, soul wanting to stay. Pray that you be with those that aren't feeling well. Pray that you heal all sicknesses in our church and be with all the families and be with those that are pregnant. And Lord, just pray that you bring us back at the appointed time. And we love you and pray also in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Brother Dave will come, sing one more song, and that will be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 187. Song 187 in your song books, we'll sing Jesus Loves Me. If you would stand, we'll sing song 187. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me, He who died. Heaven's gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin. Let His little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me. He will stay close beside me all the way. Thou has bled and died for me. I will henceforth live for thee. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.