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The Lord Jesus was born in a religious nation where Judaism originated, but everything related to Him, including His birth, took place outside religion and had nothing to do with religion. This was not an accident or a coincidence; it was God’s arrangement and ordination. Man likes religion, but God detests religion. From man’s point of view, religion is better than sin, the world, and the flesh with its lusts, and religion renders a certain amount of help to communities and societies. From God’s point of view, however, religion is deceitful, because it undermines God’s work by causing man to reject the living God. Hence, religion is God’s enemy.
We must receive this word with much prayer. If a young saint would go to a dance club or visit an improper place, we would be quite concerned, but if he comes to the meeting with his Bible and sits in a well-behaved manner, we would praise him. It is easy to understand that a Christian should not be in a sinful place like a dance club, but few of us realize that it is also improper for a Christian to devoutly attend a meeting in a dead and formal way. We condemn the practice of going to a dance club, but we do not condemn the practice of coming to a meeting in a dead and formal way.
Many saints who used to attend dance clubs have confessed this matter to the Lord and asked for forgiveness. However, how many saints have ever confessed to participating in a meeting in a dead and formal way? I doubt that many saints have confessed this, because in our concept going to a dance club is a sin, but attending a meeting is an honorable thing. In God’s eyes, however, death is no less defiling than sin.
Because we have a concept of morality, our consideration of what is a sin is quite clear to us. Because we do not have the concept of life, however, we have very little realization related to death. God detests sin, but He detests death even more. He is not only a holy and righteous God who detests sin and the world; even more, He is a living God who detests death. Going to a dance club is in the realm of sin, but attending a meeting in a formal way is in the realm of death. Even if there are five hundred people in a meeting that is dead, it is still an insult to God. This is something that we must confess and repent of and ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.
Perhaps some saints cannot accept this word. They may say that they are not dead and that they do not meet in a dead way or attend a dead meeting. I would ask whether a living person can remain inactive for two hours. Before a living person enters the meeting room, others will hear the voice of his joyful prayers: “Hallelujah! Amen! Praise the Lord!” Since we have a concept of morality but not a concept of life, some saints say that they do not like the meetings in which others are noisy. Those who have children know that the more living the children are, the noisier the home will be. If a family has five children between the ages of two and nine, it will be impossible for their home to be quiet and orderly. If the home is quiet and orderly, it may be because all five children are sick, or they are all dead. If they are dead, that home will be very quiet, and it will surely be tidy, without any confusion. The children will no longer fight or quarrel. If, however, the five children are neither sick nor dead, they will be active and lively, even causing problems. Although they may be troublesome to others, they will be living.
I have many grandchildren, and when they come to visit, they are like a team of destroyers. Everything in my living room must be removed before they come; otherwise, in less than five minutes they will break everything. Do you prefer children who are sick or dead to those who are active, lively, and messy? In the same principle, when the saints are dead in their spirit, our meetings are quiet and orderly, but when we call “O Lord!” and are living, it is not possible to be orderly. This does not mean that we should not be orderly. However, sometimes when we are living, we will not be concerned about being orderly. Man cares for religion, but God cares for life. God does not want religion. He wants us to be living.
In John 5 during a certain feast, the Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem. A feast should be a happy occasion. However, near the sheepgate in Jerusalem there was a pool with five porticoes where many sick people lay, waiting for the moving of the water. These people were sick, lame, blind, and withered. These sick ones did not have any rest, because they were very sick. One man had been in his sickness for thirty-eight years and could not move. The Lord Jesus went to this pool on the Sabbath and spoke to the man who had been sick for thirty-eight years, asking him if he wanted to get well. Then the Lord said, “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man became well, and he took up his mat and walked. This was on the Sabbath. Therefore, the Jews said to this man, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your mat” (vv. 1-10). The Jews were saying that it was unlawful for the man to take up his mat and walk on the Sabbath, because he was profaning the Sabbath. Does God want man to keep a dead Sabbath by lying down and suffering, or does God want man to be enlivened?
Christians have held many dead Sunday services. God wants to do a work that is contrary to religion. The end time is approaching — Jerusalem has been returned to Israel, and the Lord is returning soon. In these days God wants to move faster. When a person wants to move faster, he does not care about being elegant. Since God wants to move faster, He does not care for religious rituals and ordinances. Everything about the Lord Jesus took place outside religion. His star was shown to those outside religion, the way people sought Him was outside religion, and the way people followed Him was also outside religion. If we are in religion, we will miss the Lord.
Christ is new, and He is outside religion. He is our Bridegroom, and He is the new cloth for making our new garment. He is the new wine for us to drink, and He makes us a new wineskin to contain the new wine. We have been saved for many years, but have we enjoyed Christ as our Bridegroom? One day we said, “Lord, I receive You as my Savior. Thank You, You died for me on the cross, and You resurrected and ascended.” However, have we ever said, “O Lord, You are so lovely. You are our Bridegroom”? In the bread-breaking meeting, we have praised the Lord for descending from heaven, putting aside His throne, being born in a manger, suffering afflictions in His human living, dying, and resurrecting. Now we say, “O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah!” We dropped the cliché of the past, but we have a new cliché. Not many saints may have experienced the loveliness of the Lord during the bread-breaking meeting. Not many saints say, “O Lord! You are the lovely Bridegroom. O Lord! You are so lovely!”
The Lord is not only our Savior but also our Bridegroom. In Matthew 9:10 the Lord Jesus was reclining at table in the house, and many tax collectors and sinners were also feasting with the Lord and His disciples. However, some disciples of John did not like that the Lord and His disciples were feasting, so they came to the Lord and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” (v. 14). John had been ministering for about a year, and he had overthrown the old religion, but his disciples formed a new religion. Hence, not only the disciples of the Pharisees questioned the Lord, but the disciples of John also questioned the Lord. Furthermore, the disciples of John took the lead to give the Lord Jesus a difficult time. The Lord Jesus gave them a profound answer. The disciples of John paid attention to methods, but the Lord Jesus did not reply with a method. His answer was concerning His presence. The Lord said, “The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?” (v. 15). Hence, it is not a matter of fasting or feasting. It is a matter of having the Lord’s presence.
The young people like to be loud. Why are they loud? They should reply, “It is because of the Lord’s presence. The louder I am, the more I touch the Lord’s presence, touch Him as the Bridegroom, and touch His loveliness, sweetness, and freshness.” If this is the case, they should always be loud. Why do the older saints like to be quiet? Can they say that the more they are quiet, the more they have the Lord’s presence and touch His freshness and His loveliness? If this is the case, they should be quiet. We should not care about whether we are quiet or loud; rather, we should care about whether or not we sense the Lord’s presence. In the church there should be no regulations, no ordinances, and no rituals. In the church we care only for the Lord’s presence.
The Lord Jesus did not give any reasons to John’s disciples. He did not say, “You have formed a new religion, and in order to tear down your new religion, I do not want My disciples to fast.” The Lord Jesus did not say this. However, some saints might have this thought. The older ones may say, “The young people’s being loud has turned into a new religion, so I will be quiet. I will use silence to counter their loudness. They are loud in order to oppose our old methods, so now I object to their new method by being quiet.” The older saints may have overthrown the new religion by being quiet, but they have also produced a third religion. The Lord is not concerned with methods.
The Lord Jesus said that He was with His disciples as the Bridegroom. If He as the Bridegroom wanted them to fast, they should fast, and if He wanted them to eat and drink, they should eat and drink. Likewise, if the Lord’s presence wants us to be loud, we should be loud. If we can touch the presence of the Bridegroom by being quiet, we should be quiet. If we cannot touch the Lord’s presence in our quietness, we should proclaim, “O Lord! Lord Jesus!” By calling on Him in this way, we will enjoy the presence of the Bridegroom. The older saints say that to proclaim loudly is not right. I am not saying that it is right. However, the older saints should try to touch the Lord’s presence by declaring His name. Once they taste the Lord in this way, they will enjoy it. This is not a theory but a fact.
We are not speaking of the Lord’s ordinary presence but of His presence as the Bridegroom. A bridegroom is a special person. He is the most lovely and most admired person. Our Lord should be so sweet and precious to us. We must touch the Lord’s presence as the One who is our Bridegroom. Hallelujah! He is not merely our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord, but He is even more our Bridegroom.
The first stanza of Hymns, #170 says, “Lord, Thou art the lovely Bridegroom, / God appointed, dear to us; / Thy dear self is so attractive, / To our heart so beauteous!” When we truly see that the Lord is our Bridegroom, our meetings will be different. They will become wedding meetings. Can we fast when we have the Lord’s presence as our Bridegroom? Suppose a young brother is getting married and will soon become a bridegroom. To fast for him would be to put him to shame. We would fast for him only if he had encountered misfortune. Has the Lord encountered misfortune, or is He our Bridegroom? He is our Bridegroom! Hence, we need not fast. Let all the religionists fast. Let the followers of religion fast. We will eat and drink, and we will sing of our Lord being the lovely Bridegroom.
Before our salvation we looked like ragged beggars and could not possibly match our Bridegroom. We thank the Lord that He is not only the Bridegroom for our enjoyment but also the new cloth to be made into our new garment for us so that we are worthy to enjoy His presence. In Matthew 9:16 the Lord spoke of Himself as unfulled cloth. The Greek word for unfulled also means “new.” In Luke 5:36 the Lord spoke of Himself as the new garment. Do we know the difference between the new cloth and the new garment? The new cloth is material that is untreated, uncut, and unwashed, and it has not yet been made into a garment. A new garment is made from new cloth that has been treated, cut, washed, sewn, and steamed. From the time of His incarnation until His death on the cross, the Lord was the new cloth. Through His death and resurrection, this new cloth became a new garment. We can put on this new garment simply by saying, “O Lord! I believe in You. You died and were resurrected for me.” This new garment is our garment of righteousness for us to be justified by God and for us to be able to stand before Him (15:22; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30). This is the way that we are saved by grace to be His match.
In Matthew 9:17 the Lord spoke of the new wine. We have put on the new garment and can match our Bridegroom, but what about our inward condition? How can there be any enjoyment if we are still hungry and thirsty? Hence, merely wearing the new garment is not adequate. We also need to have the new wine within us so that we may have true enjoyment. The new garment can be put upon us, but it cannot be mingled with us to become our life. When we drink the new wine, it enters into us to become our life. The Lord is not only the new garment upon us but also the new wine within us. He not only justifies us outwardly in our position by becoming the garment of righteousness upon us, but He also causes us to drink the new wine of His life. The moment this wine enters into us, we become vigorous and energetic. Those who are drunk with physical wine bring harm to their bodies, but we are energized and invigorated when we drink the Lord Jesus as the new wine. On the day of Pentecost the Jews said that the disciples were “full of new wine” (Acts 2:13). As Christians, we should also be persons drunk with Christ as the new wine.
Many saints in the church in Los Angeles are drunk with this new wine. From morning until evening they are always proclaiming, “Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! Christ is Victor!” There is a brother who is not yet forty years old. He is truly drunk with Jesus, the new wine, and every day he is beside himself. One day this brother was driving his car and calling, “Jesus is Lord!” A policeman thought the brother was drunk and stopped him. Our brother told the policeman that he was not drunk, but he was declaring that Jesus is Lord. A few days later this brother was calling on the Lord, and the same policeman saw him. The policeman could do nothing but agree that Jesus is Lord.
There are seven brothers who live near the meeting hall of the church in Los Angeles. Every day these brothers drive to and from work together. This gives them a good opportunity to enjoy the Lord, especially on their way home from work. When the traffic lights turn red, all the cars stop, and the seven brothers proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!” They are truly beside themselves.
This kind of atmosphere not only releases Christians but also releases the spirit of the gospel, which draws people to follow the Lord. This is much better than being in a dead religion, participating in a dead Sunday service, or attending a dead meeting. It would be wonderful for some of the saints to be beside themselves just as the saints in Los Angeles are. We need to drink the Lord Jesus as the new wine. The more we drink, the better we will be. We need to be drunk and full of the new wine.
Not only do we have the new wine, but we also have the new wineskin (Matt. 9:17). The new wineskin is the local churches. Anything religious is an old wineskin. If we put new wine in old wineskins, the wineskins will burst. New wine must be put in new wineskins. The local churches are the new wineskins that can hold the new wine. In the local churches we can enjoy the new wine.
Some saints may prefer to stay at home and enjoy the Lord instead of going to the meetings. They can stay at home and enjoy the Lord, but after a few days their enjoyment will disappear, because the new wine is depleted. We must go to the meetings of the church, because the local churches are the new wineskins that store the new wine. Hallelujah! We have the Bridegroom, and we have the new cloth to clothe us as the new garment so that we may match our Bridegroom. Furthermore, we have the new wine to drink and the new wineskin to contain the new wine.
According to our observation, those who profess to be Christians may be divided into four categories. The first category consists of those who take Christ as the new cloth. The second category consists of genuine Christians who take Christ as the new garment. The third category consists of genuine Christians who not only put on the new garment but also drink Christ as the new wine. The last category is the highest. The Christians in this category not only have put on the new garment and drink the new wine but also have the new wine in the new wineskin. The first category of people who profess to be Christians regard Christ merely as a model. They acknowledge that Christ’s noble character has made Him a perfect example for humanity, and they imitate Him to serve society. However, they do not accept the vicarious death of Christ or His redemption of their sins, nor do they believe that Jesus was resurrected. This is to take Christ as the new cloth. These are Christians in name only, the so-called modernists.
Genuine Christians receive Christ as their new garment by acknowledging that the Lord Jesus died and was resurrected. They accept that the new cloth passed through the process of cutting and sewing to become the new garment. Those who receive the crucified and resurrected Christ as the new garment are saved and justified. This is very good, but it is still not good enough. Some Christians take a step further. They not only receive the Lord Jesus as their Redeemer but also as their life. They not only put on the new garment but also have the new wine within them.
However, we are not only clothed with the new garment and drinking the new wine, but we are also in the local churches. We have the new wineskin to contain the new wine. We are justified, and we have Christ as our life and the church as our living. Furthermore, we can enjoy Christ as our Bridegroom. Hallelujah! He is the Bridegroom, He is the new cloth for the new garment, He is the new wine, and, as the church, He is even the new wineskin.
