New Wine Part 7

God's Way  BibleStudy

New Wine Part 7

Tuesday February 18,  2025

Choose Faith, Not Fear

Luke 22: 31-32 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. 

Proverbs 24:10 NKJV If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small.

God's Word Is Sure and Reliable 

Isaiah. 55:1, 10-11 Ho! everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat….    

[10] For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, [11] So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, But it accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 

We are Believers Who Stand On God’s Word Because There Is Nothing More Reliable to Stand On.

Even when we can't see how His promises will come to pass, we believe. 

Even when everything we see contradicts His Word, we believe.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without  wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Numbers 13:1-33 [30] The Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it.”

Number 14:1-10 [6] But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephuneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; [7] and they spoke to all the congregation the children of Israel saying: “The land we went through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.[8] If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. [9] Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” [10] And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.

Faith asks us to make a choice. Fear also forces us to make a choice. The question is, “Whose report will we believe?”

Proverbs 24:10 NKJV If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small.

All twelve spies saw the same thing. Caleb and Joshua chose faith. The other ten chose fear. Choose you this day how you’ll respond. I pray that you will choose faith today, tomorrow and forever.

Talking Past God

Talking past each other" is an English phrase describing the situation where two or more people talk about different subjects, while believing that they are talking about the same thing.[1]

Faith is the language of God. When we think and pray in faith we communicate in His language. When we think and pray in fear, we are talking past God. Faith is nothing but a positive response to God’s word. 

1 Samuel 30:6-8 NKJV Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. [7] Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. [8] So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

Faith believes God and moves/acts even when the only thing it has to go on is God’s word. 

Hebrews 11:7 By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir to the righteousness which is according to faith. 

Romans 10:17 So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

Faith Formula… God speaks. We hear Him. We believe Him. We move in agreement with Him. 

God has a purpose and we must seek to understand His purpose otherwise, we risk talking past Him. 

God knows every situation before we arrive at it. The giants and the problems they present are factored into His assessment. Yet, He has given us His promise. Our peace and prosperity means more to God than to us. Wealth does not always indicate depth.

Deuteronomy 8:18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish HIS COVENANT which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 

We must refuse every distraction and follow God's priority at this time.

Matthew 6:25-34 NLT "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? [27] Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? [28] "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, [29] yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. [30] And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? [31] "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' [32] These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. [33] Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [34] "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.

Luke 11:9-13 NKJV "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. [11] If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [13] If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

God’s Purpose In Giving New Wine

6. ANOINTING the promised outpouring of God’s Spirit to overflow. 

This is the  promised infilling-to-overflow of the Holy Spirit. 

The ministry of the Holy Spirit to us as believers, comes under three broad headings . God wants to fill us with the Holy Spirit for WORK and DEFENSE.

The Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation. If you are saved, you have the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit, you are saved. . 

However in order to do the work of God’s kingdom, we need to be FULL of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot do the work of God's kingdom and we cannot protect ourselves from the wicked one.

• The world hates the church, because the mere existence of the Church is a constant indictment against the world.

John 17:14 I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them; because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

John 1:5 NLT The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 3:19-21 NKJV And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [20] For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. [21] But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

• All this hatred, even before we begin witnessing about Jesus…

• We are hated for who we are and we are resisted and persecuted for what we do.

• There is, and there will be an increase of a diabolical push against witness to Christ. The devil knows he stands no chance against the gospel, if it is preached faithfully. The gospel is the power of God for salvation and it is the weapon of our warfare to overcome the devil. 

• Every attempt to speak the Name of Jesus will be resisted. The enemy will do everything to stop the preaching of the gospel… [a]physical and legal persecution; [b] intimidation through strongholds of human reasoning; [c] corruption of the truth through false arguments; [d] distractions by the things of the world; [e] spiritual attacks of diverse kinds like spells, voodoo leading to conflicts, rancor, confusion, discouragement, depression, etc.

• This started from the days of the apostles and the early church.  

2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the  coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life- (2) the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us- (3) that which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. (4) And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 

What they saw and experienced with Jesus was real. But the violence of the opposition, the confidence of the opposition was enough to make them lose heart and deny Jesus. They all forsook Him. Peter denied Him three times. All before the Holy Spirit came upon them. After they were full of the Holy Spirit, they were able to stand strong, face down and actually overcome every opposition. Nothing was able to separate them from the love of God which they had experienced and in which they stood with all boldness. Not life, nor death, nor angels, nor demons, neither height nor depth,  nothing thrown at them was able to intimidate  or overpower them. They knew their source of power and they constantly prayed for more grace. 

Acts 4:29-31 Now, Lord look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, [30] by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the Name of Your holy Servant Jesus. [31] And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. 

• In view of the great opposition to the Gospel, it will take being full of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to Jesus.