Bible Study Guides – Dry Brittle Skins

February 7, 2010 – February 13, 2010

Key Text

“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.” Matthew 9:17.

Study Help: The Desire of Ages, 278, 279; Lift Him Up, 259; The Signs of the Times, September 19, 1892.

Introduction

“The effort to unite the teachings of Jesus with the established religion would be vain. The vital truth of God, like fermenting wine, would burst the old, decaying bottles of the Pharisaical tradition.” The Desire of Ages, 279.

1 What does the hope of glory mean to us? Colossians 1:27.

Note. “When God’s people are one in the unity of the Spirit, all of Phariseeism, all of self-righteousness, which was the sin of the Jewish nation, will be expelled from all hearts. The mold of Christ will be upon each individual member of His body, and His people will be new bottles into which He can pour His new wine, and the new wine will not break the bottles. God will make known the mystery which hath been hidden for ages. He will make known what are the ‘riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27).” Selected Messages, Book 1, 386.

2 To be a real Christian is to have Christ in us; where then is self? Galatians 2:20.

Note. “This is the most perfect interpretation in a few words, in all the Scriptures, of what it means to be a Christian. This is the whole truth of the gospel. Paul understood what many seem unable to comprehend. How intensely in earnest he was! His words show that his mind was centered in Christ, that his whole life was bound up with his Lord. Christ was the author, the support, and the source of his life.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 903.

3 What takes the place of cherished ideas and/or traditions of men? Galatians 5:6.

Note. “God’s people must go on from light to a greater light, or they will become, as did the Pharisees, unwilling to receive additional light. They will find themselves in the condition represented by withered, dried-up bottles.” The Signs of the Times, September 19, 1892.

“In the scribes, Pharisees, and rulers, Jesus found not the bottles for his new wine. He was obliged to turn from them to humble men, whose hearts were not filled with envy, covetousness, and self-righteousness. The lowly fishermen obeyed the call of the divine Teacher, while the scribes and Pharisees refused to become converted.” The Signs of the Times, December 11, 1893.

4 Since self is filled with ceremonies and traditions, what does God want to give to us? Ezekiel 36:26.

Note. “He must find men who were willing to have regeneration of heart. He came to give to men new hearts. He said, ‘A new heart also will I give you’ [Ezekiel 36:26]. But the self-righteous of that day and of this day feel no need of having a new heart. Jesus passed by the scribes and the Pharisees, for they felt no need of a Saviour. They were wedded to forms and ceremonies. These services had been instituted by Christ; they had been full of vitality and spiritual beauty; but the Jews had lost the spiritual life from their ceremonies, and clung to the dead forms after spiritual life was extinct among them.” The Review and Herald, March 20, 1894.

5 If we do not receive that new heart, our old heart, those old decaying bottles of Pharisaical tradition, dry and brittle, will perish. Why? Matthew 9:17.

Note. “The skin bottles which were used as vessels to contain the new wine, after a time became dry and brittle, and were then worthless to serve the same purpose again. In this familiar illustration Jesus presented the condition of the Jewish leaders. Priests and scribes and rulers were fixed in a rut of ceremonies and traditions. Their hearts had become contracted, like the dried-up wine skins to which He had compared them. While they remained satisfied with a legal religion, it was impossible for them to become the depositaries of the living truth of heaven. They thought their own righteousness all-sufficient, and did not desire that a new element should be brought into their religion.” The Desire of Ages, 278, 279.

6 Knowing that the new bottle is the new heart, what happens when the new wine, Christ’s teachings, is poured in? Matthew 9:17.

Note. “The mold of Christ will be upon each individual member of His body, and His people will be new bottles into which He can pour His new wine, and the new wine will not break the bottles. God will make known the mystery which hath been hidden for ages. He will make known what are the ‘riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27–29).” Selected Messages, Book 1, 386.

7 The Pharisee claimed to be whole and had no need. What was his real need? Luke 5:31, 32.

Note. “The Pharisees claimed to be spiritually whole, and therefore in no need of a physician, while they regarded the publicans and Gentiles as perishing from diseases of the soul. Then was it not His work, as a physician, to go to the very class that needed His help?

“But although the Pharisees thought so highly of themselves, they were really in a worse condition than the ones they despised. The publicans were less bigoted and self-sufficient, and thus were more open to the influence of truth.” The Desire of Ages, 275.

“Man must be emptied of self before he can be in the fullest sense a believer in Jesus; and when self is subdued, then the Lord can make of man a new creature. New bottles can contain new wine. Truth will be received into the heart, the character will be transformed into the likeness of Christ; the Son of God will be revealed to the world by his followers, as the Father was revealed to the world by the Son. And all who reveal Christ, are revealing the Father also.” The Signs of the Times, November 16, 1891.

8 Is this same message repeated to the Laodicean church? How does it parallel to the Pharisees? Revelation 3:17.

Note. “It is a fact that we have the truth, and we must hold with tenacity to the positions that cannot be shaken; but we must not look with suspicion upon any new light which God may send, and say, Really, we cannot see that we need any more light than the old truth which we have hitherto received, and in which we are settled. While we hold to this position, the testimony of the True Witness applies to our cases its rebuke, ‘And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked’ [Revelation 3:17]. Those who feel rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, are in a condition of blindness as to their true condition before God, and they know it not.” Counsels to Writers and Editors, 33.

9 What is the counsel to us when our hearts become dried up wine skins of ceremonies and traditions? Revelation 3:18, 19.

Note. “In the days of Christ the religious leaders of the people felt that they were rich in spiritual treasure. The prayer of the Pharisee, ‘God, I thank Thee, that I am not as the rest of men’ (Luke 18:11, R.V.), expressed the feeling of his class and, to a great degree, of the whole nation. But in the throng that surrounded Jesus there were some who had a sense of their spiritual poverty.

“Jesus had presented the cup of blessing to those who felt that they were ‘rich, and increased with goods’ (Revelation 3:17), and had need of nothing, and they had turned with scorn from the gracious gift. He who feels whole, who thinks that he is reasonably good, and is contented with his condition, does not seek to become a partaker of the grace and righteousness of Christ. Pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite blessings He came to give. There is no room for Jesus in the heart of such a person. Those who are rich and honorable in their own eyes do not ask in faith, and receive the blessing of God. They feel that they are full, therefore they go away empty.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 7.

10 Jesus turned from the Pharisees to find new bottles, new hearts, to the publican and the woman of Samaria so He could pour in the new wine. Where should our affections be set and where should our lives be hid? Colossians 3:2–4.

Note. “The Pharisees thought themselves too wise to need instruction, too righteous to need salvation, too highly honored to need the honor that comes from Christ. The Saviour turned away from them to find others who would receive the message of heaven. In the untutored fishermen, in the publican at the market place, in the woman of Samaria, in the common people who heard Him gladly, He found His new bottles for the new wine. The instrumentalities to be used in the gospel work are those souls who gladly receive the light which God sends them. These are His agencies for imparting the knowledge of truth to the world. If through the grace of Christ His people will become new bottles, He will fill them with new wine.” The Desire of Ages, 279.

“We need to be constantly filling the mind with Christ, and emptying it of selfishness and sin.” The Review and Herald, March 15, 1892.

Additional Reading

“When God’s people are one in the unity of the Spirit, all of Phariseeism, all of self-righteousness, which was the sin of the Jewish nation, will be expelled from all hearts. The mold of Christ will be upon each individual member of his body, and his people will be new bottles into which he can pour his new wine, and the new wine will not break the bottles. God will make known the mystery which hath been hidden for ages. He will make known what are the ‘riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily’ [Colossians 1:27–29].” Ibid., March 20, 1894.

“The scribes and the Pharisees appeared to be very punctilious in living out the letter of the law; but Christ said to his disciples, ‘Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [Matthew 5:20]. What a startling declaration was this! It made manifest the insufficiency of legal or natural religion, and showed the need of moral renovation and the necessity of divine enlightenment. The Jewish nation had occupied the highest position; they had built walls great and high to inclose themselves from association with the heathen world; they had represented themselves as the special, loyal people who were favored of God. But Christ presented their religion as devoid of saving faith. It was a combination of dry, hard doctrines, intermingled with sacrifices and offerings. They were very particular to practice circumcision, but they did not teach the necessity of having a pure heart. They exalted the commandments of God in words, but refused to exalt them in practice; and their religion was only a stumbling-block to men. The old bottles were found unfit to contain the new wine, and new bottles must be provided for the new wine. Thus it was with priests and rabbis, scribes and Pharisees; they were as old bottles that could not contain the new wine of the kingdom of Christ. Although they had hitherto held undisputed authority in religious matters, they must now give place to the great Teacher, and to a religion which knew no bounds and made no distinction of caste or position in society, or of race among nations. But the truth taught by Christ was designed for the whole human family; the only true faith is that which works by love and purifies the soul. It is as leaven that transforms human character. The truth brought into the soul temple cleanses it of moral defilement; but where there is no change in the characters of those who profess to believe it, it is evident that it is not taken into the soul temple, and is simply no truth to those who advocate it. Such are under a deception.” Ibid., April 30, 1895.

Lesson Studies were prepared by Judy Hallingstad of the LandMarks staff. She can be contacted at judyhallingstad@stepstolife.org .