(47) Jesus said, "A person cannot (at the same time) mount two horses or draw two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, but truly will honor the one and scoff at the other. No person drinks vintage wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins lest they burst. And vintage wine is not put into new wineskins lest it go bad. And old patches are not sewed to new garments, for a rip will develop."
Saying 47
"It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise he will honour the one and treat the other contemptuously.“ Here Jesus is speaking about serving the law of Moses and the law of faith to mount an horses or to stretch a bow implies action the action of obeying the law of Moses and the law of faith you can not do both “otherwise he will honour the one and treat the other contemptuously.“
The Lord Jesus is speaking also about serving God or our desires the Two Masters. The impossibility of living for God and for yourself is stated here in terms of masters and slaves. No one can serve two masters. One will inevitably take precedence in his loyalty and obedience. So it is with God and mammon. They present rival claims and a choice must be made. Either we must put God first and reject the rule of materialism or we must live for temporal things and refuse God's claim on our lives.
"We claim, and often tell God in prayer, that it is our 'sole desire to serve Him in immortal strength throughout eternity.' Some say 'humble desire' -- though we always wonder at the depth, or even the understanding, of 'humility' of those who tell God they are humble (doubtless we do it ourselves too, as in many other things we wonder about in others). But about this claim to desire to serve God totally and forever, We can show right now whether this is sincerity or just fancy words. If we really do desire to 'serve God throughout eternity,' we shall be serving Him now with all our present mortal strength and life, and mind and goods, or else all our fine words are froth. We shall recognize that we have no time to spare -- yea, we shall have no desire -- for anything else except providing the bare necessities of life so that we may wholly serve Him. Does our way of life confirm or belie our so noble protestations? Do we think God is deceived by mere words?
By serving Jesus, One cannot be a true and faithful lover of the beloved unless there is only the beloved in one’s life.
“No man drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into a new wineskin, lest it spoil it.“
if new wine was put into old wineskins. The pressure caused by the fermentation of the new wine would burst the old skins because they had lost their elasticity. The life and liberty of the Gospel ruins the wineskins of ritualism. and new wine is also a symbol of restored Israel to the land of Canaan under the seed of Jacob, and of Judah the inheritor of the mountains of Yahweh; and his elect shall inherit it (the land of Canaan), and my servants shall dwell there. (Isa. 65:8,9)
“An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear would result." here Thomas changes the thought from that of the new patch and the old garment presumably because he is thinking of life in the new world (Saying 51)."
To try to mix law and grace would be like putting an a old patch, shrunk cloth to patch a new garment. When washed, the patch would shrink, ripping itself away from the old cloth.
The new way of life (which Christ brings) cannot be pached with an old and useless cloth. The new "garment" must be used in its entirety. The old patch/garment saying 37 (fig-leaf covering) must be put aside completely in favour of the new garment (skins, required bloodshed). "Put off old man; put on new man" (Eph 4:23,24; cp Exo 28r; Isa 61:1,3,10). The new life in Christ does not need a "patch" of the old; it is a new "whole". Cp Jos 9:4,13; Psa 119:83. A cloth not properly prepared for a garment: Lk 5:36n. only a new garment will suffice for a new life: Lk 15:22. Thus A true Gnostic will not allow his new doctrine (the law of faith) to be encumbered with relics from the past."
A Judaistic Christianity which, with a profession of Grace and the Gospel, attempts to keep the law and fosters legal righteousness is a greater abomination in the eyes of God than professing Israel in the past, worshipping idols. Thus does the King warn His disciples against the admixture of the old ... and the new. ... And yet this is what has been done throughout Christendom. (Sabbath laws, Leant, Christmas, Esther, idols of the saints) Judaism has been patched up and adapted everywhere among the churches and the old garment is labelled "Christianity." The result is a confusing mixture, which is neither Judaism nor Christianity, but a ritualistic substitution of dead works for a trust in the living God. The new wine of free salvation has been poured into the old wineskins of legalism, and with what result? Why, the skins are burst and ruined and the wine is spilled and most of the precious life-giving draught is lost. The law has lost its terror, because it is mixed with grace, and grace has lost its beauty and character as grace, for it is mixed with law-works.
47)### Jesus said, "It is impossible for a man to mount two horses [continue in two (diametrically opposed) covenants] or to stretch two bows [fight for and against each side of an argument]. And it is impossible for a servant [of Christ (the Elect)] to serve two masters [God and Satan (god of mammon)]; otherwise he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously [this cannot be avoided]. No man drinks old wine [religious (Babylonian) dogma] and immediately desires to drink new wine [it is difficult to get anyone to leave behind the things of which they are accustomed to and start in a whole new direction (Way) - those who have built their foundation upon the sand (old wine) are perfectly happy until a great storm comes along and tears it down - the truth will do just that to any who receive it]. And new wine [true spiritual meaning of the Word which puts an end to the dogma] is not put into old wineskins [those who are hard hearted and set like stone in their old ways, ordinances and traditions], lest they burst [these having no place for enlightenments will even lose what they had (old wine) if they do not repent and turn back to the Father after taking in the new wine]; nor is old wine [religion] put into a new wineskin [the babes in Christ who have been called out from the world], lest it spoil it [this kind of activity is commonplace in worldly churches (religions) who bind their adherents by traditions, customs and ordinances which effectively keeps them from any further seeking of the truth]. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment [a spiritual man cannot solve his problems by going back to the rudiments of the world or by works of the law], because a tear would result [his faith would begin to have holes in it]."
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