New Wine of the Spirit

The New Wine!

 Mary Ann Wray

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Ephesians 5: 18- 21

I first want to thank God that in His mercy He rescued me from a pack of the enemy's lies that I now realize began with one little lie. This is not an article to argue whether or not a Christian can or should drink wine (Colossians 2: 16). This is just  a story about how I devolved from faith to doubt and unbelief back to faith again. It's a story about how the enemy used alcohol and pills to nearly destroy me. At first, I began drinking because I was angry with God about how my life did not turn out the way I wanted it to after Bible College. Next, I drank to get a "buzz" and feel better-you know numb the internal pain and be more 'comfortable' around those I was socializing with.

The 'trade-off' was that I eventually wound up spiritually dry and lukewarm towards the things of God. I set a poor example for other members of my family who were shocked at first that I started drinking after my conversion experience in 1976 then later on, indulging in stronger spirits. My conscience grew dull. It wasn’t so much the alcohol that trapped me as it was embracing a lie that went against the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. I believed God didn't love me like He did before. I had under performed and under achieved-therefore, I was not worthy. The accuser was busy working overtime and my conscience not only became seared to God's love but became seared against sin that Jesus delivered me from years before! That word seared in the Greek (1 Timothy 4: 2) meant to cauterize. When something gets cauterized it looses its sensitivity to touch.

Eventually, my relationship with Jesus devolved to a nearly non-existent state while I was "busy" doing certain things in the church to 'appease' my conscience and the Father-so I thought. I was asked to teach a Bible Study one evening and had stopped all drinking a week before ‘in preparation’ for this event. In the middle of my teaching about “The Keys to the Kingdom” a lady walked in the room smelling and looking like she just came off the street. My heart went out to her and immediately conviction hit my soul. I thought, “How can I minister deliverance to her when I over-indulge in the very thing she is addicted to?” Needless to say, she didn’t get delivered that night, and I went back to drinking. I continue several more years until The Holy Ghost rocked my world one September day.

Years before, in 1976, when I was gloriously Born Again and filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. I almost immediately stopped drinking, partying and having sex not because someone told me to stop but because the Lord came into my heart and changed it. The thought of drinking, fornicating and smoking pot and cigarettes ever again, was purged out of me instantaneously and I never looked back: that is, until this dark time in my life of compromise which was nearing personal apostasy.

One thing led to another and before long I was into pornography, gambling, battling depression, having suicidal thoughts and finally taking tranquilizers to dull my conscience and the pain of being separated by my own sins from an open dialogue with Abba Father. The enemy convinced me I would never change. I was like Adam, hiding under my own fig leaves thinking The Father couldn't see where I was! I was deeply entrenched in spiritual adultery and my marriage was in trouble too. You see, I lost my spiritual vision and equilibrium because I replaced a relationship with the living Christ Jesus and His word made flesh in me, with the enemy's lies. The result was condemnation and fear rather than the Father's love and acceptance that won me to Jesus in the first place. Without the 'vision' of Jesus ever before us, and applying His word in our daily lives, we die-usually a slow death. The devil thought he had me but Jesus had a greater plan.

The Holy Ghost fell on me powerfully in a Children's Church Service one Sunday morning while sitting there with my granddaughter on September 25, 2005. He gave me a warning yet at the same time I felt no condemnation. The Fear of the Lord that I lost had returned! He said, "I'm calling you back by your calling. This is the last time. You have to make a choice now." The Bible tells us that God always gives us a space of time to repent-a window of grace, but it can and will close when He says so. Revelations Chapter 2-especially verse 21 shows us that. 

Yes, Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine (John 2: 1-11). However, I believe there was and is a prophetic significance to that miracle we can totally miss when we look at it solely as a Marriage Celebration. Jesus was a Nazarite meaning he took a vow not to shave his head or drink wine and there were some in His day that were not Nazarites. Therefore, I don't want to come across as legalistic but just want to share a few insights for those who may struggle with alcohol and encouragement to the saints that drinking wine or not is a matter of choice not law. I can drink wine if I choose. All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient (1 Corinthians 10: 23). I do not believe having a glass of wine will send anybody to Hell. It is unbelief in Jesus' sacrificial death for our sins that leads to eternal separation from God. Legalism kills. The Spirit gives life. More than anything, The Holy Spirit wants to cleanse our consciences of sin and give us a righteousness consciousness!

What I believe we need to see prophetically is that the vessels Jesus asked for were used for ceremonial cleansing. He didn’t ask for wineskins or other vessels typically used for wine at a wedding feast; He asked for specific cleansing vessels. I believe it was to prophetically show the people that the new wine He had to offer represents the New Covenant and foretold of His sacrificial death. He told His disciples at the Last Supper that He would not drink this cup with them again until the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Revelations 19: 6-9). The New Covenant represented by this wine can only be entered into by faith in the Blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin. He offers us the Miraculous New Wine of His Spirit that brings true joy and fulfillment without a headache or a hangover. He wants us to partake of and drink in His blessing! 

Secondly, saving the best for last also speaks of the remnant Church that will remain faithful and true to the Bridegroom Jesus, until His return. The Apostle Paul tell us to be continually filled with the spirit and not be drunk with wine. The Book of Revelations also talks about the wine of His wrath (Revelations 14: 10). That’s a cup of wine no one would want to drink if they knew what it really meant! Jesus took on the Father’s wrath on the cross, but for the unbeliever that cup will be bitter. 

As a minister, and by the way the Word of God tells us that we are all ministers, I believe we are held to a higher standard. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ". That is a sobering thought (pardon the pun). If anything I do causes a brother to stumble in their faith, I am not walking in love. At the same time, we are not to judge others based on what we eat or drink. Honestly, there is no high like the most high. I don't serve Him to get goose bumps even though they are nice; I serve Him because He first loved me and now I love Him. 

Several passages of scripture warn us about the abuse of alcohol. Jesus loves you right where you are if you struggle with addiction to alcohol or any other addiction for that matter. He calls you up higher in Him in your thinking because when you are in Christ you are already seated with Him in Heavenly places! Holy Spirit will fill you with His new wine of gladness and heal the broken places in your heart! I just share this as a point of encouragement to the Body of Christ pointing to the wine of gladness that only Jesus can give us! We all must beware of excess whether it is in meat or drink. Self-control is the fruit of the Spirit. Legalism can tell us what to do and what not to do but bring us no joy! Being controlled and led by the Spirit leads to life and peace. Selah!