Fasting For An Audience of One

Well, if you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, we're making our way through the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

And last year, I pre- last year, we were at Matthew last year.

Were we at Matthew last year? Yeah, we were at Matthew last year.

Well, last week I preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer.

And unfortunately, I ran out of time, so I wasn't able to get to verses 14 and 15.

And so I've heard back from a couple of you this week saying, we were waiting for you to get to verses 14 and 15.

Would you please explain it?

So let me explain it briefly, and then we'll get into this section Jesus talked about on fasting.

Well, in verses 14 and 15, what they are is Jesus elaborating on something from the prayer itself.

And so if you look at back in chapter 6, verse 12,

and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,

what Jesus is doing is, having modeled that in how we pray to our God,

he now comes back in verses 14 and 15 and elaborates on it.

He says,

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

And so that is a sobering word for many people when they hear that.

And it should be.

So this is an elaboration, but it's a warning.

And what is he warning against?

Jesus is warning against a kind of hypocrisy.

A kind of hypocrisy that would be,

I can pray these kinds of prayers,

and I can ask God to forgive me for my sins,

but not be willing to forgive those who've sinned against us.

Now if you want to read a parable in Matthew,

turn to Matthew chapter 18.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

We're not going to do it this morning,

but there's this parable in Matthew 18.

It's the parable of the unforgiving servant.

And Jesus is making the same point.

He is warning his followers that they need to forgive as many times as needed.

And so the parable of the unforgiving servant

is a very helpful way of understanding what Jesus is saying here.

So Jesus is giving a warning here to not be hypocritical in our prayer life

when it comes to forgiving others when they've sinned against us.

It's sobering, and it's a call to be self-reflective.

But what we also see is at the beginning of that section in prayer in verse 5,

Jesus starts by saying a warning against the hypocrites.

And so here he closes that section on praying

with another warning about hypocrisy for us.

Well, that's a little brief explanation on that.

In this passage in Matthew 6, 1 through 18,

Jesus talks about generosity,

talks about prayer,

and now he turns to this topic of fasting.

Just a show of hands,

who's heard a sermon on fasting before?

Would you raise your hands?

Oh, that's surprising.

Okay.

All right.

I thought it was going to be a little less than that, actually.

Let me read what Jesus says.

And when you fast,

do not look gloomy like the hypocrites,

for they disfigure their faces

that their fasting may be seen by others.

Truly I say to you,

they have received their reward,

but when you fast,

anoint your head and wash your face

that your fasting may not be seen by others,

but by your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret

will reward you.

Fasting is the purposeful forfeiting of food.

Fasting is the purposeful forfeiting of food.

And there are a variety of reasons why

people from all walks of life fast.

People fast because they're having a colonoscopy the next day.

People fast because they simply

don't have enough money

to eat three square meals.

It's a tragic thing.

People fast in order to lose weight really quick.

They really want to squeeze into those pair of jeans.

People fast so that they can compete.

I had a dear friend in high school

who was a top-notch state wrestler.

And the things that he would put his body through

to cut weight in order to compete.

And he would fast.

Why?

To compete.

Why?

To win.

And he was good.

People fast because they're emotionally overwhelmed.

Maybe you've been there.

You are just so overwhelmed by things of life

that the last thing on your to-do list is to eat.

Similarly, people fast because they're preoccupied with a task.

I do this.

You get dialed into something,

and you're hammering it out,

and you forget to eat.

And then there's religious fasting.

The Muslim fast of Ramadan

is one of the five pillars of Islam.

And it's a religious work to win God's approval.

Muslims fast to garner favor with God

to make themselves acceptable to God.

But praise be to our God of the Bible

that only Christ's blood in righteousness

can make a sinner acceptable to God.

And having put our faith in Him,

we are acceptable to God.

Muslims will fast out of a fear of God

in order to win His approval.

We don't.

We don't fear God.

We fast in order to feast on God.

Christians fast from food

in order to feast on God.

And so this morning,

I'm going to give you six tasty morsels of truth

that are designed to whet your appetite

to feast on God through fasting.

Six tasty morsels.

Now, if you read verse 16,

Jesus starts with these words,

and when you pray.

He doesn't start with saying,

and if you pray.

He starts by saying,

and when you pray.

No.

And when you fast.

Sorry about that.

And when you fast.

According to Jesus,

Jesus assumes His followers are going to fast.

fast.

But I'm not sure if we're all there.

I think many of us have never fasted.

And so I don't want to assume

that we're all fasting.

I don't want to assume

that we all know what it means to fast.

And so this morning,

six tasty morsels

to prime your pump,

to whet your appetite,

to feast on God

through fasting.

You ready for tasty morsel number one?

Fasting is a spiritual exercise

with the goal of godliness.

Fasting is a spiritual workout.

We all know the importance

and benefits of physical exercise,

don't we?

My doctor is very interested

in how much I exercise.

Because he's very much interested

in my overall health.

But we all know

that physical exercise,

working out,

isn't limited to physical bodies.

If you would just turn in your Bibles

to 1 Timothy,

just flip over a few pages,

Matthew,

Acts,

General Electric Power Company,

Galatians,

Ephesians,

Philippians,

Colossians,

Thessalonians,

and then you should be in

Timothy.

1 Timothy 4.

1 Timothy 4.7,

the Apostle Paul

strongly urges

this young pastor

named Timothy.

And here's what he says.

If you look at halfway through,

he says,

rather,

train yourself

for godliness.

For while bodily training

is of some value,

godliness is of value

in every way

as it holds promise

for the present life

and also

for the life

to come.

And so,

what Paul is saying is,

Timothy,

you really got to

spiritually work out, buddy.

Spiritually work out.

It will result

in spiritual health,

what he calls godliness.

And that godliness

bears fruit

both now

and in eternity.

And then if you look down

at verse 16,

not only is it healthy

for Timothy,

it's going to be healthy

for his congregation.

So,

Paul commands Timothy

to train yourself

for godliness.

And that Greek word

translated train

is where we get

the English word

gymnasium from.

Gymnast.

And when you think

about that,

you probably think of

some kind of gym,

people exercising in it,

training their bodies,

athletes working out.

And so,

literally,

what this would read

is,

but you,

Timothy,

you train yourself

for godliness.

Christians don't

drift into godliness.

Christians purposefully

pursue godliness

like an athlete

trains for an event.

Godliness.

So,

Paul is urging

Timothy to spiritually

work out

so that he experiences

increasing spiritual health,

godliness.

And it benefits him,

his flock,

all to the glory of God.

So,

train yourself

for godliness.

The goal

of a spiritual discipline

like fasting

is godliness

to become more like God.

To be like him

and his character.

To be like Jesus.

And so,

when we bring it back

to Matthew chapter

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

5 and 6,

it'd be like this.

Jesus says in Matthew 5,

48,

it's a command,

be perfect

as your heavenly

Father is perfect.

perfect.

What he's saying there is,

hey,

train yourself

for godliness.

Train yourself

for perfection.

Train yourself

to become mature.

And so,

as we come full circle

back to Matthew 6,

1 through 18,

what Jesus is doing here

is he's cautioning

his disciples

in how they practice

their righteousness.

He's saying

how to go about

their spiritual workouts.

Don't go showboating

with your spiritual exercises.

Nowhere does Jesus

forbid giving to the needy.

Nowhere does he forbid

publicly praying.

Nowhere does he forbid fasting.

What he forbids

are acts of piety

that are to be done

to be seen by others.

That's what he's forbidding.

So again and again,

Jesus says,

do your spiritual exercises

for an audience of one.

Your Father who is unseen

and who sees the unseen.

Our pursuit of godliness

through the spiritual disciplines

is first and foremost

for God's eyes only,

which reminds me

of a 1980s hit,

for God's eyes only.

Way back machine.

fasting is one spiritual exercise

to grow in godliness

for the glory of God.

And I just want to remind you again

of those first four words

in verse 16.

And when you fast.

It's not an if.

It's a when.

When you fast,

Jesus assumes his disciples

will train themselves

for godliness

by employing

this particular

spiritual exercise

called fasting.

And what I'm going to tell you

in a little bit

is that fasting

is forfeiting food

to feast on God.

So morsel number one,

fasting is a spiritual exercise.

Morsel number two,

fasting is one of many

spiritual exercises

exercises for a Christian.

There's a bunch

of different exercises

you can do.

I mean, I'm not sure

if you've ever been

to a gym before,

one of those

kind of build your muscle gyms,

but you walk in

and all of a sudden

there's all these

kind of machines

and all these different

ways you can work out

and build your physical health.

I've got some friends

that every week

they get this,

this email goes out

and they are describing

this exercise

they're going to do

and invite everybody

to come and do it.

But the thing is,

these exercises are crazy.

But when they do it,

they do it in order

to benefit

and grow in their

physical health.

The spiritual disciplines,

and this is Donald Whitney

from his 1991 classic

The Spiritual Disciplines,

the spiritual disciplines

are those practices

found in Scripture

that promote

spiritual growth

among believers

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

And he goes on

to list ten.

Here, let me just tell you.

Bible,

prayer,

worship,

evangelism,

serving,

stewardship,

fasting,

silence and solitude,

journaling,

learning.

Ten disciplines.

Ten different workouts

for a Christian

to grow in godliness.

It's a great book.

I've got an old version.

It looks like this.

But this past year,

I read another book

on the spiritual disciplines

that I like more.

And it's this book.

It's called

Habits of Grace

by David Mathis.

And I would just strongly

recommend this book.

It's outstanding.

And so,

it's Habits of Grace,

our habits,

His grace.

This is God at work

in us.

And he,

just to give you a taste of it,

he organizes his book

in three categories.

Hear God's voice,

getting Bible in you.

Having his ear,

prayer,

and in that section

includes fasting,

and then belong

to his body.

Spiritual disciplines

of one anothering,

of being together,

all about

growing in godliness.

So,

fasting is one of

many spiritual disciplines.

But,

I want to,

I want to steer you clear

of two mistakes

when it comes to

the spiritual disciplines.

The first mistake

is one of legalism.

And here's the thinking.

It's,

it's thinking that

your right standing

with God

depends upon

your practice

of the disciplines.

It's thinking that

the practice

of

something like fasting

earns us

favor with God.

It does not.

Our

standing

with God

is accomplished

in Jesus alone.

It's only on the basis

of Jesus' blood

and righteousness

imputed to us

by faith

that we're made

right with God.

So,

a spiritual discipline,

fasting,

for example,

is actually

an outworking

of our salvation.

It's not to

earn salvation.

It results

from being

saved.

God's

good works

don't save us,

but we were saved

for good works.

Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

1 through 10.

And so,

reading your Bible,

praying,

giving,

evangelism,

those are all

outworkings

of what God

has already established

in us through Christ.

It's all

to grow

in godliness,

not to win

God's favor.

That's legalism.

The second,

second caution,

the second mistake

is much more subtle.

And I think

that it's the mistake

that many of us make.

It's the self-dependent

spiritual disciplines.

It's thinking

that my growth

in godliness

depends on me.

Now,

Paul does command

Timothy,

train yourself

for godliness.

And so,

we do have

a responsibility,

but God

gives the growth.

Our habits,

His grace.

Now,

in order to help

you understand this,

I want to share

with you an illustration.

An illustration

of oars

and sails.

The difference

between a rowboat

and a sailboat.

I'll never forget,

20 years ago,

I was mentored

by a man named Thomas,

and he shared this with me,

and I've held on

to it ever since.

When somebody

becomes a Christian,

Christians can think

about the Christian life

as a rowboat.

It's like,

I've got to make progress

in the Christian life,

and I've got to

row this boat.

And so,

hand me the oar

of Bible reading,

and hand me the oar

of prayer

right when you're saved.

I've put my trust

in Jesus

by faith alone,

and now it's on me

to make progress.

And so,

I grab the oar

of Bible reading,

I grab the oar

of prayer,

and I start,

I start pumping

through the water.

Oh yeah,

I'm making progress.

And then someone else

says,

you know,

you should really start

giving some of your money

back to the Lord.

Okay,

alright,

I can work this.

Three oars now,

I'm working it.

I should start fasting.

Okay,

I'm working four oars now.

And then Donald Whitney

comes in and says,

actually,

you've got ten oars,

and so,

I am going to somehow

manage ten,

what's going to happen?

I'm done.

I'm lying in the bottom

of my rowboat

thinking,

what just happened?

The Christian life

is not a rowboat.

Christian life's a sailboat.

And so,

what we're called to

is hoist sails

in order to capture

the movement

of God's Holy Spirit.

And so,

when I read my Bible

in the morning,

I'm raising the sail

so God will act upon me

and move me.

And I raise the sail of prayer.

I raise the sail of fasting.

I raise the sail of evangelism.

I raise the sail of stewardship.

These are all sails

and they're made out

of the same fabric.

Bible.

And the Holy Spirit of God

fills my sails.

Fills your sails.

You know that scene

from Master and Commander

when Captain Jack's

on the front of his boat

and it's blowing

and all the sails are up

and he's just smiling.

When you are,

when God's filling your sails

through the disciplines,

there is great joy.

But when you're trying

to row your boat,

there is just drudgery.

And so,

you know how you can

avoid these mistakes?

You raise your sail

every morning.

Fasting is just one sail.

The difference between the two

is who is powering the boat.

Who's powering the rowboat?

Who's powering the sailboat?

Sign me up for the sailboat.

So,

this second point

I've tried to make here

is fasting

is one of many

spiritual disciplines

and they're not oars.

They are sails.

The third morsel.

Fasting is an act

of humility.

Fasting is an act

of humility.

James 4, 6.

God opposes the proud

but gives grace

to the humble.

When I hoist my sail

in the morning,

it's an act of humility.

I want to be empowered

by God.

Fasting is a self-imposed

forfeiting of a basic need.

And classically,

that basic need

is the need

to eat.

Eat food.

So, fasting

means going without

something good

in order to gain

something great.

We're going to forfeit

food in order

to feast on God.

And so,

all throughout the Bible,

we see people fasting

for different reasons

but the fasting

is always moving

towards God.

It is always

this act of humility

towards God.

Humbly seeking God.

And so,

we see corporate fasts

throughout the Bible.

So,

the nation of Israel

were commanded

by God

to fast

once a year.

This is the command

on their calendar

that wouldn't change.

And that fast

was linked

to the Day of Atonement.

Yom Kippur.

A day in which

a goat lost its life

and its blood

covered the people.

And so,

the people of Israel

would fast

and mourn

their sin

towards God

on the Day of Atonement.

It was a command.

The whole nation did it.

Big corporate fast.

And then,

if you read Jonah,

there's this other kind

of fast.

This city

of Nineveh.

Now,

Jonah was a really

cranky prophet.

Just,

he was cranky.

And so,

he shows up

in the city of Nineveh

and he spoke

out of his crankiness.

He essentially

told this whole city,

walks in,

turn or burn!

And he walks away.

And you know

what God did?

God moved

in those Ninevites.

And they turned.

And you know

what they did?

The king of Nineveh

called a fast

for all people

and animals.

No eating.

No drinking.

We are repenting

before the God

of Jonah

that He would have

mercy on us.

Remember Esther?

Haman is the bad guy

and he wants

to destroy the Jews.

Esther tells Mordecai,

will you call a fast

for three days?

Get all the people

in Susa praying

so that when I go

before the king,

He will give me,

God will give me favor

and I will be able

to be used by Him

to help deliver

God's people

living in Susa.

We see corporate fasts.

And it doesn't stop

with the Old Testament.

It goes in the New Testament.

In Acts 13,

we see churches fasting.

The church in Antioch,

after fasting and praying,

sends out Paul and Silas

on their first missionary journey.

They're fasting and praying

towards gospel advance.

Acts 14, 23,

there's more prayer and fasting

connected to the appointing

of elders in a church.

So we see all this corporate fasting

taking place all throughout Scripture.

We see nations,

we see cities,

we see churches fasting together

towards God.

It's a seeking of God.

And then we see individual fasts as well.

David fasting,

seeking God on behalf of his son

that was born of Bathsheba,

that was born of infidelity.

Do you remember that?

Daniel, in Daniel chapter 9,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

upon reading Jeremiah,

he reads that there's going to be

a 70-year desolation

upon the city of Jerusalem.

And he looks at his calendar

and he's like,

oh man, that's getting close.

And so what does he do?

He fasts and pray.

Confessing the sins of the people,

petitioning God,

oh Lord,

make your face

to shine upon your sanctuary

which is now desolate.

Send forth a remnant God

to get reestablished in Jerusalem.

And of course,

then there's Nehemiah.

When he hears the report

that Jerusalem is in shambles

and the walls are broken,

he responds personally

by fasting and praying for days.

Pleading with God.

Confessing the sins of the people.

asking God to give him success

on behalf of God's people

because remember,

he was a cupbearer of the king.

And of course,

when we turn to the New Testament,

you don't have to go beyond

Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Jesus has himself fasted

for 40 days and 40 nights

in order to be prepared

for being tempted by the devil.

In Matthew 9,

some disciples come up to Jesus

and say,

Jesus,

why aren't your disciples fasting?

And Jesus is like,

I'm the bridegroom.

I'm here.

They won't fast while I'm here.

But when I leave,

you better believe,

they'll fast then.

What's the point

of humbling yourself

through the forfeiting of food?

food?

It's so that you can have

a focused time of seeking God.

You're essentially saying,

Father,

I want to seek you

more than I want to eat.

We forfeit food

in order to seek God's face

and feast on Him.

So fasting

is a humble act

that was morsel number three.

Morsel number four

is fasting

is a feast.

Fasting is a feast.

We forfeit food

in order to feast on God.

When we think about fasting,

I don't know

if you're like me,

but when I think about fasting,

I'm kind of like,

all right,

what am I going to have to give up

and what's going to be the effect?

I really like scrambled eggs.

I really like juicy cheeseburgers.

Mmm,

I don't want to give those up.

And then,

man,

if I go without coffee,

I'll have a headache

and I might be a little cranky,

there's the hunger pain things,

and then there's the food lust.

You know,

if I'm fasting secretly,

I'm watching somebody else eat,

I'm like,

ooh,

juicy cheeseburger.

so we're always aware

of what we have to give up

and the physical effects,

so yes,

fasting means

forfeiting food,

which is not easy,

nor is it fun.

But what makes it all worth it

is the spiritual feast

it allows.

Christians forfeit food

forfeits food

in order to feast

on God.

So let me try to get specific.

let's say you say,

this coming Thursday,

this is,

you're not going Facebook

with this.

This is for your father's eyes

only.

This Thursday,

you're like,

okay,

I'm going to fast.

But you need a feast.

We know what you're going to go without.

What are you going to feast on?

Feast on God's word.

So you're like thinking,

okay,

Thursdays I usually have

ham and cheese sandwiches

and instead of

a ham and cheese lunch,

I'm going to feast

on Ecclesiastes.

I'm going to feast on Proverbs.

I'm going to feast on Hosea

or Romans

or 1 Corinthians

or Jude,

which is a great book.

That's what I'm going to feast on.

Man cannot live by bread alone

but by every word

that proceeds from the mouth of God.

I'm going to feast on that

this Thursday.

I'll let my hunger pains

drive me to finding

my satisfaction

in God's word.

Or maybe it's not feasting

on Ecclesiastes.

You're like,

you know what,

I am just,

this whole fellowship thing

is new to me.

I don't know

what the Bible says

about one anothering

and so you just

pile up

all the New Testament

says about one anothering

and on that Thursday

you're like,

I'm feasting on

what the New Testament

says about one anothering

and I'm going to let God

do a satisfying,

filling work

in my soul

over that.

Or maybe it's joy

in the book of Philippians.

Or maybe it's the Holy Spirit

in the Gospel of John.

You just camp out

and you feast

on God's word.

So there's one way

you can feast

on God

and then there's another way

you can feast

on God.

You feast on God's presence

by communing with Him

through prayer.

You could do the Lord's prayer.

We talked about that

last week.

Oh, Father,

I know that I can't

claim You as Father.

I can only claim You

as Father

because You've claimed me

as Your Son

by the Son.

Hallowed be Your name.

And so your feast

for Thursday,

lunch,

is taking your time

and praying through

the Lord's prayer.

Communing with your God.

Or maybe it's not that.

Maybe it's you're acutely aware

of a spiritual need.

You lack wisdom

in a particular area.

You're like,

I don't know if we should move.

I don't know if we should

sell our house.

I don't know if we should

go from two incomes

to one income.

But you know what?

Here's what I do know.

I'll set aside that Thursday

in order to just

go before my God

and commune with Him

over.

That's how important

it is to me.

Maybe you're

gonna,

you,

you,

you,

there's this one sin

that's got this headlock

over you

and you just can't

pull out of it.

Set that Thursday aside

to,

to fight,

to confess,

to plead,

to ask God

to deliver you,

to weaken

and strengthen.

Feast on that.

Or maybe

you're just aware

of marriages

in crisis

or children

who are

wandering

spiritually

or

you've just been

so aware

of this country

called North Korea

and you just

want to spend

one lunch

just asking God

to open up

this country

to the gospel

of Jesus Christ

and He radically

changed the whole

regime.

You've got a lot

of options.

This is no

little feast.

You've got a lot

of options

to feast on God.

Fasting is a

feasting

on God.

I hope that's

whetting your appetite.

Morsel number five.

Fasting can get

hijacked

by hypocrisy.

Remember Jesus'

warning?

Look at chapter six.

Beware of practicing

your righteousness

before other people

in order to be

seen by them.

He doesn't call it

hypocrisy there

but that is what

it is.

And then we see

in verse three.

Excuse me,

two.

Thus when you give

to the needy

sound no trumpet

before you

as the hypocrites.

Verse five.

And when you pray

you must not be

like the hypocrites.

Verse 16.

And when you fast

do not look gloomy

like the hypocrites.

What's so hypocritical

about going public

with your fasting?

What's so wrong

about that?

Well, it's when

you turn a humble

seeking of God

into a prideful

desire to be seen

by men.

That's the hypocrisy.

And Jesus says

keep it secret.

Just do it for

your father's eyes

only.

It's all about

your motive.

That's what it

boils down to.

Who you are

fasting for.

Who you are

seeking

by fasting.

That's what Jesus

is getting at.

So faster

beware.

Fasting

can get

hijacked

by hypocrisy.

That was a little

bit of a bitter

morsel,

wasn't it?

A little bit

of a sour

morsel,

but an important

one.

Morsel number

six.

Fasting

doesn't need

to be intimidating.

Fasting

doesn't need

to be intimidating

when you realize

it's a gracious

feast that awaits.

remember

Jesus assumed

his disciples

would fast.

It's not

if you fast

but when you

fast.

And remember

we forfeit

food in order

to feast

on God.

Communion

with God

is the goal.

We're pursuing

godliness

through this

spiritual exercise

but ultimately

it is to

experience

his presence

for his glory.

So let me

just encourage

you very

specifically.

if you're

new to the

whole idea

of fasting

start with

lunch.

Just start

with one meal

and just

start with

forfeiting

the food.

Enjoy the

coffee.

Enjoy the

orange juice

but just

start simple.

And when

you start

make sure

you plan

your spiritual

feast.

Make sure

you know

what you're

going to do

when you

fast.

fast.

You've

got a

feast

you're

going to

dial up

a feast

whether

that's

Ecclesiastes

or praying

for North

Korea.

And when

you are

fasting

let the

hunger pains

lead you

to your

God.

Let them

focus

your

feasting

on

God.

Let them

help you

to think

about God's

word or

to pray

about a

specific

thing.

You're

saying

I'm

doing

this

because

I

want

to

bring

glory

to

God.

Keep

it on

the

down

low.

Remember

this is

for God's

eyes

only.

And if

someone

finds out

don't

panic

like your

private

fast has

now gone

public

on

WikiLeaks.

Don't

worry

about

that.

Just

be

matter

of

fact

about

it

and

change

the

subject

and

move

on.

Now

you

maybe

notice

this

call

for

our

church

to

fast

and

pray

on

November

6th.

Remember

there's

precedent

in our

Bibles

to

pray

corporately

but

more

importantly

it's

why

we're

going

to

pray.

We're

not

going

to

do

this

in

order

to

be

seen

by

men.

We're

going

to

fast

and

pray

together

on

November

6th

in

order

to

seek

God

together

for

wisdom

and

the

welfare

of

our

nation.

This

falls

along

the

lines

of

Esther

and

Nehemiah

and

Daniel.

So

six

morsels

this

morning.

I

hope

they

whet

your

appetite

to

feast

on

God

through

fasting.

But

in

closing

I

want

to

remind

you

of

this

that

Jesus

fasted

for

you.

Jesus

fasted

that

we

could

feast

on

God

and

I'm

not

talking

about

the

40

days

and

40

nights

he

spent

in

the

wilderness

getting

ready.

I'm

not

talking

about

that.

He

was

faithful.

That

was

essential

to

our

salvation

but

I'm

talking

about

another

kind

of

fast

the

Son

of

God

conducted

for

you.

He

gave

up

his

glory.

He

fasted

from

the

rightful

worship

he

deserved

in

order

to

make

himself

nothing.

Taking

the

form

of a

servant.

He

humbled

himself

by

becoming

obedient

to the

point

of

death

so that

we

could

feast

on

the

salvation

God

has

provided.

He

lived a

33

year

fast

from

glory

that

we

could

feast

forever

in the

presence

of

God.

Jesus

fasted

that we

could

feast

on

God.

Let

pray.

God

in

heaven

we

do

thank

you

so

much

for

your

word.

We

thank

you

God

that

you

are

a

God

who

speaks

and

is

speaking.

God

would

you

move

the

ball

in

as

we

seek

to

follow

you.

Would

you

help

us

to

take

these

steps

of

practicing

our

righteousness

in a

way

that

pleases

you.

God

we

want

to

be

perfect

as

you

are

perfect

and

we

want

to

do

that

in

a

way

that's

pleasing

to

you.

God

would

you

give

us

strength

would

you

fill

our

sails

by

your

spirit

for

the

glory

of

your

name

Amen.