Full of New Wine

Dear friends,
I pray that you are well and prospering in the Lord. These are interesting times in which we live. I believe God is calling us to Himself. "Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you." He is our hope and shield.
Recently, I began teaching from the book of Acts. I haven't made it very far. At the moment I am revisiting Pentecost. I would like to share a couple of thoughts that came to me as I was studying Acts 2. As always I desire to be an encouragement to you.

And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Acts 2:5

These men were men who were serious about God. Many had probably made great sacrifices to get to Jerusalem. They were from all over the known world. Many had traveled great distances on land and by boat to come to Jerusalem to participate in the feasts. They were God seekers and they heard a "sound".

And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Acts 2:6

"---- we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said,"They are full of new wine." Acts 2:11-13

There were basically two responses: one group began soul searching and the other began mocking.
God encounters usually evoke these two responses. Ultimately there are really only two choices, receiving and rejecting. The one group rejected the message of God and accused the messengers of being drunk.

The accusatory phrase was really pretty accurate as wine is often a type of the Holy Spirit. They were mocking, but there was a measure of truth. These men were full alright, full of the Holy Spirit. As I thought about the new wine statement, the words of Jesus concerning wineskins came to mind.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Luke 5:37, 38

I believe you could label the two groups as wineskins; those who received were new wineskins and those who rejected what God was doing were old wineskins. In the spiritual, age does not determine whether you are an old or new wineskin, it is the attitude of the heart. A new wineskin has not lost their hunger for God; they are seeking for a greater and greater revelation of the Father. They are teachable and open. They still have a reverse gear in order to back up and line up with the truth. In fact, someone can be young and be an old wineskin. They are rigid, unteachable, and satisfied that they are right. They are not open to greater revelation and manifestations of God. They reject as wrong anything that does not fit their paradigm. I have known young "old wineskins" and, praise the Lord, I know some old "new wineskins."

On the day of Pentecost, an awesome immeasurable gift was offered and it was received by many, but some would not receive because they didn't like the package it came in. As I wrote this I thought of a vision I had years ago, I saw a beautiful Christmas tree surrounded by many presents. There was no one in the vision, just the tree and the presents. When I inquired of the Lord as to the meaning of the vision, He said, "I have many gifts for My children, if only they would receive them. Would you agree with me that every gift of God is good and that we want everything He has for us.

In His love,
Herb Dean