Not a Patch Job

River Church Sermons

True Stories

Pt. 11: Not A Patch Job

By Louie Marsh, 10-20-2024

Intro. Last pic wall patch

1) If I want to change I’ve got to admit that I’m BROKEN. 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Luke 5: 36 (ESV)

· I’m not WHOLE because I’ve got holes in my soul.

The context of this parable:

30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:30-32 (ESV)

· Doing things my way just won’t WORK.

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Proverbs 14:12 (ESV)

2) What’s the old and new?

· The old – robe or wineskin – is WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The issue Jesus is addressing:

33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” Luke 5:33 (ESV)

· The new – robe or wineskin – is CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV)

3) Fixing my life, my soul, isn’t a PATCH JOB.

16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17 (ESV)

A wineskin was a goatskin that had been removed without slitting it; the openings at the feet and the tail were closed, leaving the neck as the mouth. When it is fresh, the skin stretches to a degree, but when it is old it becomes stiff and bursts quickly under pressure. People therefore never put new wine, which still ferments and causes pressure, into old, dried-out skins. The result would be disastrous, for the skins would burst and thus be lost and henceforth be useless, and the wine would be spilled out and thus also be lost.

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6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7 (ESV)

13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Galatians 6:13-15 (ESV)

4) Change does not come NATURALLY, EASY or all at once

39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” Luke 5:39 (ESV)

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV)

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24 (ESV)