The New Wine'

The New Wine "And no one pours new wine into old

 wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the 
 wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into 
 new wineskins" Mark 2:22.

Jesus referred to the Spirit-filled

 Christian life as "new wine." He was talking about the nature of the 
 Christian life, which involves daily change. Just as new wine is undergoing 
 a fermenting process which pushes out against the wineskin (Job 32:19), 
 so the Christian is undergoing a transformation process - a conforming 
 to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29; 12:2).

"And we, who with unveiled faces all

 reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness 
 with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the 
 Spirit" 2 Corinthians 3:18.

The Holy Spirit is God's agent of

 change in the Christian life. He is the one who is transforming us 
 into the image of Christ. He is the new wine that is being poured 
 into our lives.

"Do not get drunk on wine...Instead,

 be filled with the Spirit" Ephesians 5:18.

The Vineyard
"I am the vine; you are the branches.

 If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart 
 from me you can do nothing" John 15:5 (read also verses 4,8).

God often likens His people to a vineyard

 (Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:2-6; Luke 20:9-16,19). We are designed by God to 
 bear good fruit - grapes that can be made into new wine.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor

 does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognised by its own 
 fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers" 
 Luke 6:43-44 (see also Matthew 12:33).

The Wine
"'The days are coming,' declares the

 Lord, 'when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter 
 by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains 
 and flow from all the hills'" Amos 9:13 (see also Joel 3:18).

Wine is used as a picture of two things

 in the Bible - God's joy (Psalm 4:7; 104:15) and God's judgement (Joel 
 3:13; Revelation 14:10,19). Wine is made out of crushed grapes. In 
 the same way, it is only as Christians are "crushed" together in the 
 winepress of true fellowship that the new wine is poured out. This 
 new wine is made out of the fruit of God's Spirit displayed in each 
 believer's life.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love,

 joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness 
 and self-control..." Galatians 5:22-23 (see also Ephesians 5:8-10; 
 Philippians 1:11; Colossians 1:10).

Many people don't like the process

 of fermentation. They don't like the change. They prefer the old wine 
 - religion that makes no demand of change on their lives (Luke 5:39). 
 But God is in the process of producing the miracle of new wine in 
 His Church (read the account of the miracle of new wine in John 2:1-10).

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come

 to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, 
 buy wine and milk without money and without cost" Isaiah 55:1.

The Need for a Wineskin
In Bible times, people used wineskins

 to hold wine. The wineskin was a container, so that wine could be 
 poured out. In the same way, God has created our lives to be a container 
 of His presence. The Holy Spirit is poured into our lives, and then 
 from our lives into the world.

"In the last days, God says, I will

 pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 
 your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even 
 on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those 
 days, and they will prophesy" Acts 2:17-18.

There are, however, two wineskins

 that can be used to try to hold this new wine:

The Old Wineskin

When Jesus talked about the "old wineskin," He was referring to the hypocritical lifestyle of the Pharisees, observing the law of Moses - but only on the outside. They had ordered their life with human traditions that had the outward appearance of holiness (Mark 7:9). Even in the Church, it is easy to fall into the

 trap of outward law (Galatians 3:1-3). The old wineskin is based on 
 rules and regulations, the "written code" of self-effort, and the 
 outward trappings of Christianity. It can never contain the new wine 
 of God's Spirit.

"But now, by dying to what once bound

 us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new 
 way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code" Romans 
 7:6.

The New Wineskin

"...The Lord does not look at the

 things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the 
 Lord looks at the heart'" 1 Samuel 16:7 (see also Romans 2:27-28).

In contrast to the old wineskin, which

 focuses on external things, the new wineskin is all about the internal 
 things of the human heart - our love for God, our daily relationship 
 with Him, hearing His voice, being led by the Spirit. It is about 
 a lifestyle of obedience to God, not just to a list of rules.

"Surely you desire truth in the inner

 parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place" Psalm 51:6.

Containing the Glory

"But who is able to build a temple

 for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain 
 him?..." 2 Chronicles 2:6.

No building can ever house the fullness

 of God's presence (Acts 7:48-50). But God's plan was never for a physical 
 building. From the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4), He planned for 
 a Body of people that would contain His presence. 

"And God placed all things under his

 feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 
 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in 
   every way" Ephesians 1:22-23.

God's plan is for the Church to be

 a wineskin that will pour out new wine - the revelation of the presence 
 of His glory - into every corner of the world.

"For the earth will be filled with

 the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" 
 Habakkuk 2:14.