WHY CHANGE IS COMING
By W. G. Guy
The church system as it exists today is not sufficient for what God is about to do in the earth. There is a major change coming to what we currently know and recognize as church. It will become without spot, wrinkle or blemish.
Ephesians 5:27 – that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
It will be the church that Christ is coming back for. Man’s form of church system (the I.R.S. – Institutionalized Religious System) isn’t it. Change to what we know as church is coming! This includes a cleansing purge! Including its leadership, of whom too many are self-serving and not serving Christ or His people!
Jesus identified the needed change as follows:
Matthew 9:17 – 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.
About forty-nine years ago I researched this topic. The word bottles actually refers to wineskins which were goat skins that were processed and sewn up to form a bag-like bottle since there were no glass bottles in existence at the time.
Old wineskins became dried out and brittle having lost their pliability. New wine was in the process of fermenting which caused gases to form which would put pressure in the bottles. If the new fermenting wine were placed in old wineskins the pressure would burst the old non-pliable skins.
(Please understand that wine, as used in the Bible, was always fermented as they had no refrigerators to put grape juice in, so they had to preserve it by fermentation. When Jesus turned the water into wine it was fresh grape juice and not fermented, which is why the master of the wedding feast asked why the best, or freshest, was saved for last.)
The key to understanding this process is in knowing the New Testament Greek word used for “new”. The “new” used as to the wine was the Greek word “neos”, for brand new as to age. The word “new” used as to the bottle was the Greek word “kainos”, for renewed or refreshed.
Old wineskins had to be renewed and made pliable again in order to be used to contain the new wine. This renewing of the wineskins is a process that applies to the church. It is only fitting to refresh this study for the benefit of all who read this article.
The ancient process of renewing old wineskins is as follows:
The old non-pliable wineskins had to be soaked in water to soften the skin. As this applies to the church it simply means to immerse the church in the Word of God:
Ephesians 5:26 – that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Anyone who has taken a dried piece of leather (which is skin of a cow or steer) and put in water knows how pliable it becomes.
The next step in the renewing process is to rub the skin, anointing it with olive oil which gives the skin some elasticity allowing it to expand as needed. Oil is representative of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, much of the church today rejects the
immersing and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Such is the renewing process of the wineskins. Similarly, it is the renewing process for the church; being immersed in the full Word of Truth and then being immersed in the Holy Spirit.
Churches that continue to deny or reject the Baptism (immersing) of the Holy Spirit and that do not uphold the power, truth and infallibility of the Word of God, are not fit for the Lord’s use in this next move of God that some have termed the “great awakening”. They will not have the Light of His Glory shine in them which will draw the lost to them.
This next move of God will not only include the nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit, (that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10),
which were re-introduced to the church in the Charismatic Renewal of the late 1960’s and 70’s, but it will add the much needed restoration of the Fruit of the Spirit, which is the restoring of the character and divine nature of God that was fully manifest in our Lord Jesus Christ. This character and nature of God was lost when Adam and Eve submitted to the ploy of Satan in the Garden and they became naked. losing their spiritual covering.
Galatians 5:22-24 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The Fruit of the Spirit must be seen in God’s people to show the world that they are His children and not those of the world and Satan.
2 Peter 1:3-4 – according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
When Jesus returns the Body of Christ, His church, will be like Him:
1 John 3:22 – Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
This next move of God will also be the separation of the wheat, (the true), and the tares, (the false) church. God has to bring about a change to the church as it exists today before He moves mightily on the earth to bring in an abundance of new souls into His kingdom. He does not want to bring them into a dead and dried out church full of spots, wrinkles and blemishes. The church needs to be renewed in the power of His glory and for His will to be done. Then comes the final harvest!
By W. G. Guy
The church system as it exists today is not sufficient for what God is about to do in the earth. There is a major change coming to what we currently know and recognize as church. It will become without spot, wrinkle or blemish.
Ephesians 5:27 – that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
It will be the church that Christ is coming back for. Man’s form of church system (the I.R.S. – Institutionalized Religious System) isn’t it. Change to what we know as church is coming! This includes a cleansing purge! Including its leadership, of whom too many are self-serving and not serving Christ or His people!
Jesus identified the needed change as follows:
Matthew 9:17 – 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.
About forty-nine years ago I researched this topic. The word bottles actually refers to wineskins which were goat skins that were processed and sewn up to form a bag-like bottle since there were no glass bottles in existence at the time.
Old wineskins became dried out and brittle having lost their pliability. New wine was in the process of fermenting which caused gases to form which would put pressure in the bottles. If the new fermenting wine were placed in old wineskins the pressure would burst the old non-pliable skins.
(Please understand that wine, as used in the Bible, was always fermented as they had no refrigerators to put grape juice in, so they had to preserve it by fermentation. When Jesus turned the water into wine it was fresh grape juice and not fermented, which is why the master of the wedding feast asked why the best, or freshest, was saved for last.)
The key to understanding this process is in knowing the New Testament Greek word used for “new”. The “new” used as to the wine was the Greek word “neos”, for brand new as to age. The word “new” used as to the bottle was the Greek word “kainos”, for renewed or refreshed.
Old wineskins had to be renewed and made pliable again in order to be used to contain the new wine. This renewing of the wineskins is a process that applies to the church. It is only fitting to refresh this study for the benefit of all who read this article.
The ancient process of renewing old wineskins is as follows:
The old non-pliable wineskins had to be soaked in water to soften the skin. As this applies to the church it simply means to immerse the church in the Word of God:
Ephesians 5:26 – that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Anyone who has taken a dried piece of leather (which is skin of a cow or steer) and put in water knows how pliable it becomes.
The next step in the renewing process is to rub the skin, anointing it with olive oil which gives the skin some elasticity allowing it to expand as needed. Oil is representative of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, much of the church today rejects the
immersing and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Such is the renewing process of the wineskins. Similarly, it is the renewing process for the church; being immersed in the full Word of Truth and then being immersed in the Holy Spirit.
Churches that continue to deny or reject the Baptism (immersing) of the Holy Spirit and that do not uphold the power, truth and infallibility of the Word of God, are not fit for the Lord’s use in this next move of God that some have termed the “great awakening”. They will not have the Light of His Glory shine in them which will draw the lost to them.
This next move of God will not only include the nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit, (that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10),
which were re-introduced to the church in the Charismatic Renewal of the late 1960’s and 70’s, but it will add the much needed restoration of the Fruit of the Spirit, which is the restoring of the character and divine nature of God that was fully manifest in our Lord Jesus Christ. This character and nature of God was lost when Adam and Eve submitted to the ploy of Satan in the Garden and they became naked. losing their spiritual covering.
Galatians 5:22-24 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The Fruit of the Spirit must be seen in God’s people to show the world that they are His children and not those of the world and Satan.
2 Peter 1:3-4 – according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
When Jesus returns the Body of Christ, His church, will be like Him:
1 John 3:22 – Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
This next move of God will also be the separation of the wheat, (the true), and the tares, (the false) church. God has to bring about a change to the church as it exists today before He moves mightily on the earth to bring in an abundance of new souls into His kingdom. He does not want to bring them into a dead and dried out church full of spots, wrinkles and blemishes. The church needs to be renewed in the power of His glory and for His will to be done. Then comes the final harvest!
