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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 After 40 days of power and greater works, most of us feel new because we prayed, we have
00:21 received strength, our strength is renewed like the eagle.
00:26 We have new experiences, we have new expectations.
00:31 The thing about life is that many times we experience newness and things happen to us
00:37 and God brings something new into our lives and we're not too sure how to hold on to the
00:43 new thing, how to manage the new thing that God is doing in our lives.
00:48 And so today I'm going to start a two-part message, but this is going to be part one
00:55 of the message and I've titled it "Working with the New."
01:02 Working with the new.
01:05 What do you do when God gives you something new?
01:10 When God brings a new word your way, new life, new opportunity, new knowledge, new experience,
01:18 how do you work with it in your life?
01:21 How do you make it work in your life?
01:24 Working with the new, part one.
01:31 And my text is going to be from Luke chapter 5, verse 36, and we're going to examine a
01:41 parable of Jesus and we're going to learn some lessons from that parable of Jesus.
01:47 It teaches us what to do with the new thing.
01:52 Luke chapter 5, verse 36, and we read, "Then He spoke a parable to them.
02:02 No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one, otherwise the new makes a tear
02:12 and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old."
02:20 It is a parable of Jesus that is repeated in the other Gospels and the concept is very
02:26 clear.
02:28 Jesus is talking about the old and the new.
02:32 And the background to this is that the disciples of the people, the Pharisees came asking Jesus
02:42 questions.
02:44 And they said to Jesus, "Why is it that the Pharisees fast and the disciples of John fast
02:51 but your disciples do not fast?"
02:55 And so Jesus is responding to that.
02:58 Now remember that in the parable or in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 6,
03:04 Jesus had talked about the fasting of the Pharisees and He had actually said that His
03:10 disciples should not fast like that because He said when the Pharisees fast, they march
03:16 in the market with their long faces and everybody knows that these people are deep in the spirit,
03:22 very sanctimonious and they don't clothe themselves well because they fast to impress people.
03:31 And so people saw the Pharisees as spiritual people but it was all a show off.
03:37 Jesus said to His disciples, "You will fast but you will not fast like the Pharisees."
03:41 So when they came asking Jesus a question, "Why don't your disciples fast like the Pharisees?"
03:49 He's now going to answer why they should not do that.
03:54 And the answer is this parable.
03:57 He says, "No one, no one," and I like how He says, "No one, no one puts a piece from
04:06 a new garment on an old one.
04:11 Otherwise the new makes a tear and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not
04:17 match the old."
04:21 Sometimes when you hear the answers of Jesus, you wonder what is He saying?
04:26 Did He miss the question?
04:29 Because that's not how most of us will have answered such a question.
04:33 So Jesus is using a parable to answer this important question and we're going to learn
04:39 some great lessons from it.
04:42 A parable normally uses natural things to teach spiritual things.
04:48 So it uses a natural occurrence, something that happens naturally, and then it helps
04:53 us to see how it applies spiritually.
04:57 So in this parable, Jesus talks about two things.
05:02 The first thing He talks about is old garment.
05:07 An old garment is something that is weak and that is worn out.
05:13 Now you have to understand that the days of Jesus is not like our days.
05:20 Most of you have many, many clothes.
05:23 What you wear today, tomorrow you will change.
05:25 Some of you actually go home and change your clothes when you get home and then in the
05:30 evening you probably have an event and you wear something else and tomorrow morning you
05:34 wear something else and tomorrow evening you may wear something else.
05:37 In the days of Jesus, people didn't change clothes like we do now.
05:41 About 2,000 years ago, mostly you wore the same clothes for a very long time.
05:51 And so if you had clothes and you, you, you have clothes, you wear them and you wear them
05:56 until it gets worn out.
05:59 You wear it in the morning, afternoon, evening, next day, morning, afternoon, evening, next
06:02 week, next month.
06:03 Most times people wear the same clothes for about a year, sometimes for more than a year.
06:09 And then when the clothes is worn out, then you get new one and start wearing that too
06:15 and wear it out.
06:18 So people didn't have change of clothes.
06:21 Having a change of clothes was a luxury.
06:23 Only a few people had it, they're very rich.
06:26 But the normal people had only one garment.
06:30 So Jesus is using that to talk about, to answer the question and He says no one would take
06:38 a new garment and, and patch an old with it.
06:42 So the first thing He talks about is an old garment.
06:46 Let's say old garment.
06:48 Now the garment He has in mind is an outer garment like my third piece here.
06:53 So He says no one is going to take an old one of this.
06:57 Why?
06:58 Because it's worn out.
07:00 Now what did Jesus mean by an old garment?
07:04 By an old garment, Jesus is talking about the traditions of the old life.
07:10 The traditions of the people.
07:13 The traditions especially of the Old Testament that the Pharisees have messed up.
07:20 The Pharisees have complicated the Old Testament, the laws, and they've made it into what Jesus
07:26 calls the traditions of men.
07:29 That is what He calls the old garment because remember the question is why do the Pharisees
07:35 fast and your disciples don't fast?
07:37 So He says there is an old garment and He's referring to the way of the Pharisees.
07:42 It's an old way.
07:44 It's an old traditional way.
07:46 So that's the old garment.
07:49 Then the second thing Jesus talks about is the new garment.
07:56 The new garment is fresh, is strong.
08:02 So as I said normally once a year people will get a new garment and they'll put away the
08:07 old and wear the new until it also becomes old.
08:11 So Jesus talks about a new garment.
08:15 What did the new garment represent?
08:17 The new garment represents the new life that Jesus Christ has brought to the people.
08:23 The new Christian life, Christ's way of life.
08:26 So whereas the old garment represents the traditions of the people, the new garment
08:34 represents the way of Christ, the way of Christ.
08:39 Now I want you to have this in mind and see how Jesus is using this parable to teach about
08:46 how to manage the old or the new things that we've received.
08:53 So in the days of Jesus because people wore their clothes for a very long time, most people
09:02 had what we will call today tattered clothes because invariably if you wear the same clothes
09:10 for a long time it's going to get torn.
09:13 And when it gets torn you will patch it.
09:16 Much like how, I don't know whether people still do that now, but we used to patch a
09:20 lot of clothes.
09:22 In my day when we were young we had the oyadiye, the clothes mender who would carry his sewing
09:29 machine and go through the neighborhood and announce his presence and people would bring
09:35 their old garments and so they would take a piece and mend it here and mend it there
09:40 and mend it there because you had to mend.
09:42 Now most of you don't mend your clothes.
09:44 If it's torn you throw it away, buy a new one because we are all rich people.
09:51 Is that not so?
09:53 Alright, but you know for people in Jesus' day that's not what they did.
09:58 So when you see people's clothes it would be a patchwork because they've been wearing
10:03 it for one year.
10:04 It's torn here, get some garment and fix it here.
10:07 Then torn there, get a garment, fix it there and so on and so forth.
10:11 So Jesus is saying when you have an old garment and the old garment is torn and you receive
10:21 a new garment, he says you don't take the new garment, cut the new garment and use the
10:28 fabric of the new garment to go and patch the old.
10:33 So Jesus is saying no one does that.
10:36 Why is he saying no one does that?
10:37 He says it doesn't make sense and the reason he says no one does that is the people understand
10:44 nobody in their right mind is going to take an old, a new garment they've just received
10:51 and cut it, take a piece from the old garment, from the new garment and go and patch the
10:56 old garment that is worn out.
11:01 That's what Jesus is saying.
11:02 So basically what Jesus is saying is you don't tear up the new to patch up the old.
11:14 You don't tear up the new to patch up the old.
11:22 That's a major lesson.
11:25 Your garment is worn out, the tradition is worn out, the old way of life is worn out.
11:32 It's not beneficial.
11:35 It's not serving you any good purpose.
11:37 Now God blesses you with something new, new information, new life, new experience and
11:43 what you do is you take the new experience and try to apply it to the old discredited
11:49 way.
11:50 And he says no one does that.
11:54 So what Jesus is telling them is you want me to take the new life I have, I have and
12:00 use it to live your pharisaical life.
12:04 And I'm not going to take the new I have and apply it to the old way.
12:09 And that is the wisdom Jesus teaches us today.
12:15 You don't take from the new to patch up the old.
12:22 And he says if you do that, two things will happen.
12:27 First he says there will be a big tear.
12:31 It's going to ruin everything.
12:33 Everything's going to be ruined.
12:34 The old garment will be ruined and the new garment will be ruined.
12:37 Why is Jesus saying that?
12:39 Because if I have the new garment, which is not torn, it's not weak, it is good, it is
12:47 fresh, but I go and cut it and take a piece from that new garment, I have created a tear
12:54 in the new garment which doesn't have to have a tear.
12:58 Then I go and patch the old tear in the old garment and he says it's not even going to
13:04 work because the new garment is made of fabric that has not shrunk.
13:11 Now these days, you know, we have more synthetic fabric, but those days when most of us wore
13:19 cotton and everything was cotton, especially I remember one way, secondary school we wear
13:24 khaki, khaki trousers.
13:27 You know they sew the first khaki trouser for you and the length is fine and it hits
13:35 your shoe and those days when we used to wear bell-bottom trousers, it actually sweeps the
13:41 road.
13:42 All right, so the first day it looks like wow, my trouser fits, but then the first day
13:52 you wash that trouser, it shoots up and all of a sudden you realize it's not as long as
14:01 I thought it was.
14:03 So that's what happens to the new fabric.
14:05 If you patch it to the old, the next time you go to the river and wash, the new fabric
14:11 is going to shrink and he says when it does, then the old tear in the old fabric will be
14:17 worse off.
14:19 So he says it's not going to help, it's not going to build, so don't do it.
14:24 Not only is it going to tear, he says it doesn't even match.
14:29 It doesn't match because one is brand new and the other is brand old.
14:37 All right, so it's not even going to match.
14:40 So that's what Jesus is saying.
14:42 Now we have to get that at the back of our minds and then we can now see how this applies.
14:50 What is the lesson Jesus is teaching?
14:57 What is He teaching us?
15:02 Let's say a person is a Christian.
15:07 You're born again.
15:10 Before you were born again, let's say you were, you have your drinking buddies and you
15:15 go to drink with them, get drunk, that's normal life for you.
15:20 And then you get born again and you receive a new life in Christ and you sober up so you
15:26 don't drink again.
15:28 So now you have a new fabric, you have a new garment, you have a new life.
15:36 Then you go to meet your old friends and they say, "Oh, Charlie, let's go and drink and
15:41 let's do all of these things."
15:42 You say, "Oh, I don't drink any longer."
15:46 And they say, "Oh, you're boring these days, you're boring.
15:49 You know, there's no fun, your life is no fun again."
15:53 So you decide, "OK, you know, I can't be boring.
15:57 I have to be sociable.
15:58 I can't be anti-social.
15:59 I have to be nice.
16:01 So I'm going to take part of my new life and I'm going to try to fit into this old life."
16:06 What you're doing is you're cutting your new fabric and you're going to patch a hole in
16:11 the old life that God has delivered you out of.
16:14 When that happens, Jesus says, "There's going to be a bigger tear.
16:17 First, you're going to lose the new life and the people you're trying to please, they're
16:22 not going to be excited about you because it won't match."
16:27 Are you getting what Jesus is saying?
16:29 He says, "When I do something new for you, don't try to compromise it.
16:33 Don't try to let it blend with the new -- with the old because I took you from the old to
16:39 give you the new.
16:40 Don't take the new I've given you and take it back to the old."
16:46 And it has serious application for life because you know, sometimes God can give you a new
16:51 life.
16:52 A lot of Christians have it.
16:54 You have new life, you are born again.
16:56 You know Jesus is Lord.
16:58 There's no God like Jehovah.
16:59 We've been singing, even in Heaven we are singing it.
17:05 There's no God like our God.
17:07 Then one day, there is something in your family and they say, "Well, according to the family,
17:12 you have to go and pour some libation and call on the ancestors and do all of that."
17:17 And you say, "Well, I'm a Christian.
17:18 I only worship God."
17:20 They say, "Well, but this is our way.
17:22 It's the old way.
17:23 It's the way of the fathers.
17:24 It's the old garment."
17:26 What are you going to do?
17:27 You're going to take part of the new garment and cut it and try to appease the old.
17:32 And Jesus says when you do that, your life is ruined.
17:37 The Christian life is not about taking the new things that God has given to us and compromising
17:45 with the old things that we used to have.
17:48 When God delivers you from something, He doesn't want you to go back into that same place.
17:54 When God gives you a new life, He wants you to use the new life fully and to His glory.
18:03 That's at the spiritual level, but sometimes even at the natural level.
18:13 Let's say you're married.
18:16 Married is having problems.
18:20 And every time, you know, you and your husband or you and your wife start talking, in minute
18:27 six or minute seven, there'll be an argument.
18:32 And it's going to be a bad one.
18:35 And so it happens.
18:38 That's your old garment.
18:39 You just know we're going to fight.
18:41 Some of you go home, you know that within 15 minutes there'll be a quarrel.
18:48 That's the old garment.
18:49 That's the old way.
18:51 Then you go for a marriage seminar or marriage counseling and you go and get new garment,
18:56 new ways of addressing conflict in marriage and you are so excited, "Oh God, now I know
19:01 how to solve marriage problems."
19:03 Then you go back home and minute seven comes in the conversation.
19:09 And somehow, instead of allowing the new knowledge to now drive what you're doing, you're now
19:16 trying to find how to still do the old thing with the new knowledge that you have received.
19:22 And in the end, every knowledge, every seminar, everything you've learned is wasted because
19:28 you didn't know that when God gives you a new garment, you don't use it to patch an
19:33 old one.
19:35 All right?
19:38 Now, greater works.
19:40 We got new garments.
19:44 You're going to go to the old world.
19:46 You have to determine, am I going to still try to go back to the old life or I'm going
19:52 to wear my new garment and walk in the victory that Christ has given to me?
19:59 And it has wide application.
20:01 You know, I believe one of the reasons why development is very difficult for Africa,
20:10 the answer is in this parable.
20:14 You know, sometimes people are so -- the leaders of this country, don't they travel?
20:17 They travel.
20:18 Don't they see?
20:19 They see.
20:20 Don't they go to school?
20:21 They -- don't they read books?
20:22 They read books.
20:23 All of us do.
20:26 But the moment we come back, everything new is challenged by the old.
20:35 And somehow we're trying to figure out, should I wear my new garment or should I try and
20:41 make it work somehow with the old way?
20:44 And before we realize, every seminar we attended, workshop, knowledge, degree, PhD, whatever
20:50 we learn, is making no difference in anything in our lives because we are doing what the
20:58 Pharisees wanted the disciples of Jesus to do.
21:01 To have a new life, but use it to live the old life.
21:08 And Jesus says, "No one does that."
21:14 If God has given you something new, use the new.
21:18 So what must we do with the new?
21:22 First, we must do something new with the new.
21:27 When God gives you some -- a new life, you must do new things with it.
21:32 Do something new with the new.
21:38 In the case of the parable, if it's a new garment, then let it lead into a new lifestyle.
21:47 Do something new with the new.
21:49 You know, there are people who can't wear new garments.
21:53 When I was a kid, I didn't -- I never received new garments anyway, most of the time.
21:59 Because I was a third boy, and that's one of the hazards of being a third boy in our
22:05 part of the world.
22:07 Everything you receive goes through three generations.
22:12 The oldest brother wears it, the second one wears it, then it comes to you.
22:16 By the time it gets to me, it's gone through three generations.
22:19 My shoes are three generations.
22:24 When I was going to secondary school, my trunk, generational.
22:27 Shop box, generational.
22:29 Shoe, generational.
22:30 Shirt, generational.
22:31 Because my brothers have been ahead of me and they pass it on what they don't like.
22:36 So I got used to using old things.
22:42 And something about using the old things is that it makes you old.
22:50 So when I bought -- I remember when I first started working and I would buy a new shirt.
22:57 I remember so well.
22:59 I bought three shirts, brand new.
23:02 I couldn't wear them.
23:04 They were new garments.
23:07 I couldn't wear them.
23:10 I kept them down.
23:11 I needed it to become old.
23:20 Before I could wear it.
23:21 Because my psychology says if it's an old garment, it doesn't fit me.
23:29 I'm an old -- it's a new garment.
23:31 It doesn't fit me because I'm an old garment person.
23:36 And that is why some of us can sit under the greatest knowledge and still go back and do
23:42 the same.
23:44 Somebody can live, have a PhD, live outside, be exposed to the greatest knowledge, come
23:49 to Ghana, go to the village, accept a village title to be a chief and settle to an old life
23:54 of his ancestors and not be able to bring any new knowledge to the old.
24:04 Because we don't know how to use the new thing.
24:07 But if you're going to take what Jesus says, then do something new with the new.
24:13 If it's new, live a new life with it.
24:16 Do something new with it.
24:21 That's what we did when we were building this auditorium.
24:24 Nothing here reminds us of the old place we have because this is a new garment.
24:29 We're not trying to live at Christ Temple West, at Christ Temple East.
24:34 Some of you still have nostalgia.
24:35 "Oh, I like the old place and I like it."
24:38 Because you know, when you have -- you are like me.
24:43 You are like me.
24:44 You are old.
24:46 The new makes you very uncomfortable.
24:51 Some of you can't even adjust to the new, the way we worship.
24:54 You say, "Oh, I just want, you know, I just want to be around to the woman."
25:03 You know, it's the old way.
25:09 It's the old way.
25:11 And in part two, I'm going to touch more on this.
25:13 It's the old way.
25:16 It's the old way.
25:17 But God gives you a new garment.
25:20 When God gives you something new, you have to do something new with it.
25:35 That's the first thing.
25:37 We do something new with the new.
25:39 Second thing, we must join the new with the new.
25:43 If you're going to patch, patch a new garment with a -- onto a new garment.
25:50 If you're going to join, join the new with the new.
25:56 If you're going to be a new person, network with people who are new, not people who are
26:01 old.
26:03 When the angel of the Lord spoke to Mary and gave her that momentous message about the
26:11 child to be conceived by her, the angel pointed her to another woman who has received another
26:17 momentous message, Elizabeth.
26:20 And the two of them had to network because they were the only two women who understood
26:24 this new thing that God was doing.
26:27 Because sometimes when God is doing a new thing with you and you bunch up with old people,
26:32 the old garment will swallow up your new.
26:37 Network for people who are going where you are going, thinking as you are thinking, desiring
26:41 what you are desiring, seeking what you are seeking for.
26:44 That's why the kind of church you attend is so significant as to the journey of your life.
26:50 If you go to a place where somebody tells you there is a -- there is a witch following
26:54 you, there are demons following you, you have to come for 21 days prayer to cast out demons
26:58 from your life, your life is always going to be backwards because you're always trying
27:02 to correct the problems of your grandfather and not the problems of today and the future.
27:10 The knowledge you receive must reinforce the new thing in your life.
27:16 If you have received a new life but the knowledge you are receiving is old, then the new life
27:21 will not manifest itself.
27:23 You have to join the new with the new.
27:28 Third and finally, we must keep the new new.
27:41 Keep the new thing new.
27:45 If it is new, keep it new.
27:48 So try to take the new thing that God has given to you and try to make it old.
27:59 And for each one of us, there will be moments of newness in our lives.
28:03 The reason why sometimes it doesn't last is we do what Jesus says we must not do.
28:08 We take the new and we want to let it live in the old.
28:14 And nothing good comes out of it.
28:16 Have you noticed that sometimes the people you want to please never get pleased?
28:25 If you're a Christian, you went to that party, you stopped drinking and they persuaded you
28:30 and you said you drink and then you start coughing, "Qua, qua, qua, qua, qua."
28:34 Then get drunk and now you're talking foolishness at the party, then they will say, "Oh, so
28:39 fool, oh, so fool."
28:44 They make fun of you because your drinking doesn't please them.
28:49 It doesn't impress them.
28:50 It just shows them you are fake.
28:53 You are fake.
28:57 All that you've been talking about is fake because you couldn't stand when pressure was
29:02 brought on you.
29:05 Don't take the new garment.
29:08 Cut it up and try to patch an old life.
29:12 There are some people you cannot please.
29:14 Don't try to please them.
29:16 There are people God has taken out of your life.
29:19 Don't try to pacify them.
29:21 They are gone and they are gone and God is doing a new thing in your life.
29:30 Don't live life always looking backwards.
29:33 What do they think?
29:34 What about me?
29:35 Oh, I have to make sure that nobody gets upset with you.
29:37 Somebody's going to get upset with you.
29:40 But God has brought you into a new life.
29:43 Somebody say, "I have a new life."
29:44 >> I have a new life.
29:45 >> And I'm going to live the new life.
29:48 >> And I'm going to live the new life.
29:50 >> That's what God wants us to do.
29:52 Every new thing that you've received, make it work in your life.
29:57 Don't go back to the old garment.
29:59 Don't try to do patch-patch work with the new thing that God has given to you.
30:03 It's a new life, it's an abundant life, and it's a great life.
30:09 Before we close this morning, if you are here and you don't have Jesus Christ in your heart,
30:13 you're not born again, the way to have new life in Christ is to receive Jesus Christ
30:18 into your life as your Lord and personal Savior.
30:22 And this morning before I sit down, I'm going to give you the chance to make that very,
30:26 very important life-changing decision, to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.
30:33 Let's bow down our heads.
30:35 And if you are here, you say, "Pastor, I want new life in Christ.
30:39 I want Christ to change my life.
30:41 I want to be born again.
30:42 I want my sins to be forgiven."
30:44 If that's your prayer, with every head bow, just lift up your hand as a sign of readiness
30:49 to live for Christ.
30:50 Just lift up your right hand wherever you are.
30:53 Lift up your right hand.
30:54 Lift up your right hand.
30:56 Lift up your right hand.
30:57 The ushers will notice you when you lift up your hand, and they will give you a small
31:02 booklet.
31:03 Just lift up your hand.
31:06 And those of you who lifted up your hand, put your hand upon your heart, upon your chest.
31:12 And let's pray this prayer together.
31:16 Say with me heavily, "Father, I come to you today just as I am.
31:23 I am a sinner.
31:25 I cannot save myself.
31:27 I ask you, Father, save me through Christ Jesus.
31:33 Forgive me of my sins.
31:35 Give me new life.
31:37 And help me to live the new life to your glory.
31:41 I thank you, Father, for accepting me.
31:45 In Jesus' name, amen."
31:49 And amen.
31:50 God bless you.
31:51 If you prayed that prayer and the ushers gave you a form, please take your time and fill
31:55 out the forms and hand it back to us, either in the offering basket or when you leave,
32:01 just put it in the hands of any of the ushers and we'll get back to you and help you to
32:05 live that Christian life.
32:06 It's a new life and we're not going to use it to patch on any old garment.
32:10 God bless you.