Abiding Through Fasting: Part 1

Good morning. Let me invite you to find your seat ship with the reading of God's Word.

Our scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 16 through 18. Hear now the word of the Lord. Whenever you fast, don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly, I tell you that they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting isn't obvious to others, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks, Michael. For those of you who know today is May 4th and was looking forward to a Star wars themed sermon, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I will not be preaching a sermon called the Savior Strikes Back or May the Lord be with you, or he is the Way. Instead, I'm going to preach on something far more exhilarating and exciting. I'm going to preach on fasting.

If you've just joined us, I want you to know that we're in the middle of a teaching series called Abide, where we're introducing you to seven different practices that help you more consistently and deeply abide in Jesus Christ. We hope to equip you with practices that regularly expose your soul to the life giving, loving, joyous, empowering presence of God so that your days may be filled with greater joy and less dread, greater peace and less anxiety, greater faith and less fear. The hope of this series is to see you consistently abide in Jesus so that your soul will thrive, flourish and bear much fruit. And thus far, we've covered five practices. This year, we've covered the practices of Scripture, solitude, prayer, Sabbath and generosity.

Today, I'll be introducing the practice of fasting. Now, before you get up from your seat and leave, I want you to know that of all the seven practices we are covering, this is easily the one that is most unnatural for me. Why? Because of two reasons. I love food and I hate to suffer.

I love food and I hate to suffer. In fact, I've never been on a voluntary diet in my life. Never. I've never done keto, Paleo, Atkins, vegetarian, pescatarian or any other Aryans out there. I've never even tried to lose weight by restricting how much I eat.

I just love food too much. In fact, my brother, he's always on various fasts and I just don't understand him. I'm like, why? Why would you do that to yourself. In fact, many years ago, I once tried to fast on Good Friday.

My goal was to fast until Good Friday service and then eat afterwards. Not that hard, right? That's what I thought so too. Unfortunately, when 11am came, I started feeling hunger pains. At 3, I felt like I was dying.

At 4, I swung by Starbucks and got the most caloric drink possible, a caramel Frappuccino. In my mind, I wasn't breaking the fast because it wasn't food, it was a drink. I share this because I want you to know that as I commend this practice of fasting to you, I don't do so without understanding how difficult it can be for us. But I still commend this practice because I believe that if you're able to push through the initial difficulty and reach the other side, you're going to experience a greater joy and freedom in your relationship with God than perhaps any other practice you've done before. You'll see just how empowering and life giving this practical practice can be.

And so I pray that you won't immediately tune me out and dismiss what I have to say, but instead listen with curiosity. Because I truly believe that if you pick up this practice of fasting, you can experience a nearness with the Lord that can change your life. And so, for today and next week, I hope you can give me your ears and especially your hearts as we talk about this important practice. Today's sermon is divided up into five parts. Part one, where do we find fasting in the Bible?

Part two, what is fasting? Part three, when should I fast? Part four, why should should I fast? And then part five, how should I fast? So that's where, what, when, why, how?

And for those of you getting nervous, since I usually preach on three points instead of five, don't worry, all five points are really long.

A thousand years ago, making a biblical case for fasting would have seemed ridiculous to the church. Why? Because everyone in the church already knew that the Bible prescribes fasting. It would have been wholly unnecessary. It's like me spending an hour trying to convince you that the Bible prescribes prayer or that the Bible prescribes worship.

You say back to me, why are we wasting time on this? I already know this, Jeff. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about fasting today, especially in the Western church. In the Western church, fasting, fasting is not common. It's rare.

Some of you may have never fasted before. Yes, perhaps for a blood draw, or perhaps for physical health reasons. But how Many of us regularly fast for spiritual reasons. When's the last time you fasted before the Lord? Some people in the Western church aren't just inexperienced with fasting, they're suspicious of it.

The practice of fasting conjures up medieval Roman Catholic abuses. It smells of legalism and works righteousness. It seems to be an archaic way of trying to earn God's favor by flagging God's attention and saying, look how much I'm willing to suffer for you. Bless me. Or it seems like an archaic way of trying to twist God's arm and bend his will towards ours, saying, God, I'm going to suffer and not eat until you answer me.

Kind of like Gandhi did with the British Empire. True, like all spiritual disciplines, fasting can be abused and performed with legalistic intent. But as with other spiritual disciplines, just because something can be abused doesn't mean it should not be used. This is the premise of our scripture reading. In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks out against the legalistic use of fasting by the Pharisees.

He speaks against the virtue signaling of the Pharisees who fast before the crowd so that they might garner admiration from others. So that they might look at the Pharisees and say, wow, look how awesome they are. They're willing to go without food for God. But notice how Jesus doesn't cancel the practice of fasting. He corrects it.

He shows us the way. He says in Matthew 6, 17, 18. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting isn't obvious to others, but to your Father, who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you. He doesn't cancel fasting. He corrects us.

He shows us how to fast. He assumes that we revolve, will fast when you fast. Do this, Jesus isn't alone. The rest of the Scriptures is filled with calls and commands for God's people to fast. The Scriptures are full of God's people responding and obeying with fasting.

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel fasted one day a year on the Day of Atonement. Moses, David, Samuel, Esther and the prophets regularly fast. Jesus fasted, Most famously for 40 days and nights in the wilderness. Jesus disciples fasted in Acts 13. The apostles fast before sending off missionaries.

In Acts 14, they fast before they appoint new elders. In Second Corinthians, Paul tells us that he too habitually fasts. Church history is replete with fasting. Augustine, Tertullian, Origen, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, John Wesley, all taught on fasting for centuries, the early church fasted two days a week, on Wednesday and Friday. While fasting may be uncommon for the modern Western church, the practice of fasting is a common, frequent one in the global church.

It is widespread in Africa. It's commonly practiced in the Korean church and the underground Chinese church, and of course, throughout the Middle Eastern church, where fasting is already part of its culture. If we see fasting throughout the scriptures, if we see fasting throughout church history, if we see fasting throughout the global church, then we ought not to ask, why aren't we fasting too?

This then brings us to part two. What is fasting? One thing I want to make clear is that fasting is not the same as abstinence. It's not the same as fasting from social media, fasting from the television, or fasting from your children. That's not fasting.

That's abstaining or abuse. Now, there's nothing wrong with abstaining from these things and fasting from social media whatnot. They definitely have their uses, but let's not confuse it with the biblical fast. What is more, we must not confuse fasting with a restricted diet. Fasting from sugar or carbs.

These aren't fast. These are technically diets. The true biblical fast is to abstain from eating food, all food, including frappuccinos. This leads us to part three. When should I fast?

What makes this tricky is that there are no clear biblical mandates from God as to when to fast, how frequent we should fast, or how long to fast when we do. However, when you read the Bible and look at church history, two types of fasts seem to emerge. John Mark Comer calls these two types rhythms of fasting and responses of fasting. Rhythms and Response There are times in Scripture where God's people fast on a weekly, monthly, or annual rhythm, where there are fixed dates in the calendar, where God's people fast before the Lord. At the same time, there are fasting responses.

There are times in life where circumstances or difficulties or challenges might come your way, where fasting is a suitable response to life. Perhaps you are discerning whether or not you should marry this particular individual. Perhaps you're discerning whether or not you should move to Washington for a job. Perhaps you are praying for healing for someone who is desperately sick. Perhaps you have fallen into deep sin and desire true and full repentance.

The occasions that call for a fast are numerous and many. And so whether these fasts are predetermined according to a rhythm, or whether these fasts are a Direct response to life. Those are the two times to fast. Part 4. Why should I fast?

As I think about the reasons why we should fast, there are three main buckets that come to mind. These three reasons are one, we are embodied beings. Two, fasting purifies our faith. And then three, fasting amplifies our communion with God. I'm going to spend time today talking about the first two reasons.

I'm going to talk about the third reason next Sunday. First, to understand why we fast, we need to understand that we are embodied beings. We need to have a proper theology of the body. There are some people who grow up in the church with an unbiblical understanding of the physical body. They view the soul as more important than the body.

The body is simply an outer shell, if you will, an outer covering that clothes the true self, which is the soul. They say at death we shed off the outer shell and our true selves emerge and join God in heaven. But such an understanding is not biblically accurate. The body is not simply the husk of our personhood. It doesn't just have a temporary purpose which will one day be forever shed.

No. From the moment mankind was created, the Bible makes clear that to be human is to have body, soul. Our physical bodies are not simply disposable containers that can be easily shed. No, our bodies are part of who we are. They're part of your identity.

This is why the Incarnation is so significant. Jesus came to this earth in human flesh. He did so because we have human flesh. When Jesus suffered, he suffered body and soul. Because when we sinned, we sinned body and soul.

This is the reason why when he rose from the dead, he rose body and soul. Because we need redemption. Body and soul. This is why glorification involves body and soul. Because for God, it was inconceivable to have a glorified man without his body.

That's an imperfect picture. That's an imperfect person. That person is not whole. Therefore, in heaven we will all receive glorified bodies. That's how integral our bodies are to our personhood.

As you can see, the Bible has an exalted view of the flesh. The Bible says that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. I mean, if you've read the Old Testament, you know just how sacred the temple was in the Old Testament. All kinds of rules and regulations. Don't touch, don't draw near, lest you die.

And yet, just how as sacred as the Old Testament temple was, so too our bodies are to God. And so what we do with our bodies matters. To God. And if our bodies are this integral to our personhood, then doesn't it make sense that our discipleship, that our following after God also involves what we do with our bodies?

Romans 12, verse 1. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true worship. God doesn't just want our lips, our words, our hearts and our attitudes. He wants all of us, which includes our bodies.

This is your worship.

This is why fasting is important. According to John Piper, fasting is how we pray with our bodies. Fasting is whole body hungering for God. It's a way of telling God how much we need him. It's a way of telling ourselves how much we need Him.

When we fast, we tell ourselves that man must not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Because fasting so powerfully impacts our bodies, and because our bodies are an integral part of our personhood, this practice then enables us to experience God's grace in a powerful, life changing way.

The second reason why we fast is not only because we are embodied beings, but also because it purifies our faith. Just as a juice cleanse cleans out our gut of unhealthy toxins, the fast purges out spiritual toxins that may lay dormant in our souls. Two great enemies of spiritual growth are the enemies of pride and gluttony. We see both in the fall of Adam and Eve. When Satan appeals to Adam and Eve, he does so to their pride by telling them that if they eat this forbidden fruit, they shall be like God.

That desire to be like God, that's pride. The desire to want to exalt ourselves, the desire to want to be God, that's pride. Pride is self worship. It's idolizing the self. And when you see yourself as God and live for yourself, that's when sin just starts coming in.

At the same time, gluttony is also seen in the fall. When Adam and Eve saw the forbidden fruit, it was pleasing to the eye. Their mouths began to water, their desires were stoked, their cravings incited. Instead of saying no to these desires, they indulged it as they ate, chew and swallowed. Today, how many lives are ravaged by undisciplined appetites?

How many lives self destruct? Because the temptation to taste, eat and chew is not resisted. The temptation to click on that site, the temptation to drink another glass, the temptation to shop, the temptation to shame in anger. The temptation to eat Another cheeseburger. Our bodies scream at us for another dopamine fix and we fall over and over to our self destructive patterns.

This is why God has given us the fast. It attacks the enemies of pride and gluttony. It attacks the enemy of pride because nothing quite cuts us down to size quite like hunger. It reveals the folly of self deification. When you're hungry, when your stomach is growling, when you're weak, your true self emerges as you realize just how needy and creaturely and dependent you are.

How dare you exalt your name above the rest of the world when you can't even go a few miles meals without being angry. How dare you make your life's purpose to be the exaltation of yourself when you are so creaturely and small and needy.

Fasting reminds us that at the end of the day we are not God, but we were created to serve the one and true God. And not only does fasting have a way of stripping away our pride, but it also directly attacks gluttony. Fasting is a tangible way. We tell God and ourselves that we will not be slaves to our fleshly impulses, that we do not have to say yes and give in to whatever our flesh craves and desires. We are not slaves to the flesh.

We are sons and daughters of God. It's a tangible way that we demonstrate that even an urge as powerful and instinctive as hunger does not have power over us. And if we're able to say no to food, then we can say no to sinful desires. This active fight against our flesh is what the Puritans called the mortification of sin. When we come to faith, not all of our fleshly impulses die.

No remaining sin still is alive and kicking in us. And so the puritans said, you need to directly attack those temptations.

Don't just let it grow and pretend they're not there. If you have a tumor growing inside you, do you not attack it and try to shrink it in the same way? We need to have that same mentality with the flesh. Colossians 3, verse 5. Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire and greed, which is idolatry. Paul commands us, put these things to death. Sanctification is not some passive exercise that happens to us while we watch tv. Becoming like Jesus is not like going to the spa where you sit in the bubble bath of God's grace and suddenly your ill temper, your irritability, your greed for materialism just melts away. Becoming Like Jesus is not like facing down on a masseuse table while the Holy Spirit jumps on your back kneading away your counterfeit gods, your fleshly coping mechanisms and your self righteous defense mechanisms.

No, the Bible makes clear that if we want to grow and become God like, we must pursue holiness. Like a runner on the last leg of a race, we strain towards the upward call of Christ Jesus. First Corinthians 9, 26, 27. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control so that after preaching together to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

But please don't mistake me. While becoming like Jesus requires our effort and our participation and our putting to death our fleshly desires, I don't want you to think that becoming like Jesus is simply a matter of the will that the more disciplined you are, the more godly you'll become. If that's the case, then the Pharisees were the godliest of all people and Jesus would have praised them, not rebuked them. But they weren't. Why?

Because they didn't grasp grace. They lacked the Holy Spirit. Spiritual growth is an intimate dance between our effort and the work of the Holy Spirit. It's an intimate dance where our hearts are enraptured by the beauty of the Gospel and the heart's longing is one of wanting to do what pleases the Lord. We must not forget that before Paul tells us to offer our bodies as the living sacrifice, he begins with Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, present your bodies.

When the mercies of God are at the forefront of your thoughts, when the love of God expressed supremely through the cross begins to sink down into your hearts, when the music of the gospel reverberates down into your soul, when you're able to finally grasp what God saved you from and what God saved you to, then you'll come to the realization that presenting your entire body is a gift far too small for God, that offering all of your time, talents and treasures is insufficient compared to what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. That you'll be able to sing with Isaac Watts in When I survey where the whole realm of nature mine that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. In other words, when you fast, you might begin by thinking about all the things you are losing for Jesus.

But eventually the Spirit will move you and help you to understand all the things you've gained because of Jesus.

And so this leads us to the last part. Part 5 How should I Fast?

First, set aside a time to fast. This is not a Thus saith the Lord, but I want to invite you church to fast this week. I want you to invite you to set aside a day that works for you where you might fast before the Lord from sun up to sun down. If that seems too far of a stretch, then maybe till 2 or 3pm the key is to fast long enough where you feel hungry. So don't say from, you know, for three hours or something like that.

And when you fast, every time you feel hungry, pray, offer up a prayer. Romans 12 Lord, in view of God's mercies, I present my body to you as a living sacrifice. And during the normal allotted time where you would prepare a meal and eat. Instead of doing that, obviously spend and commune with the Lord, try practicing the other practices we've introduced to you. Pray, read God's word, meditate, memorize journalism, sing, worship, listen to a sermon.

Use that time to commune with the Lord. As with many things in life, the first time you do something is usually unpleasant. If you've ever learned how to ski or snowboard or ride a skateboard, you know the first day or two is rough, with lots of bruised knees and snow in your face. But once you push through, once you get the hang of it and your body learns and adjusts, you enter a newfound freedom and joy. The same is true with fasting.

If you're in a life group, try fasting together as a life group. Share about your experience. Talk about what was hard and difficult. Talk about what was good and what you gained. In any case, I hope you'll join me next week as I go over part two of fasting and discuss how it amplifies our communion with God.

Pray Lord, we thank youk for the gift of fasting that yout have given to the church. In many ways it reminds us, Lord, that the path of the cross is not a casual pursuit. But Lord, you have said if anyone desires to come after me, they must take up their cross, deny themselves, and follow me. Reminded, O Lord, that we are involved in a spiritual fight, a fight against forces without, but also forces within. And so, Lord, we pray that you would help us to take up the full armor of God and to pick up all the weapons you've given us.

And Lord, I pray that you would aid us as we consider and as we even step into the practice of fasting, that through it you might wean us from from ungodly delusions of grandeur on our part that you might help us to see how we were created for your glory and for your good and our good. And we pray, O Lord, that you would aid us and purify us and enable us to experience afresh the goodness and joy of our God. And we pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.