The Foundation of Fasting- Ps Rob Urban

Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly.

We pray what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life.

Enjoy the message.

Well this morning I don't have an extra long message and some of you would probably think

I don't believe you.

That's alright.

That's alright.

I want to speak on something today that is very, very important and the word fasting

has come up in our prayer meetings quite a bit lately and through the congregation many

of us are speaking about getting into a fast.

And I just felt the Lord just impress on my spirit this morning to really explain the

foundations of fasting and it may not be what we think.

Fasting is an incredible thing that a human being can do because I mean who in their right

mind would choose not to eat?

I mean really and by the way welcome to our friends and guests this morning who have travelled

far in the deaf community.

It's lovely to have you with us today.

Why don't we just welcome them this morning.

Praise God.

That's right.

You get like that.

That's how you do it.

Praise the Lord.

So who would in their right mind decide to I'm just not going to eat.

There's a purpose behind it and see fasting is not dieting.

Hello.

Fasting is not dieting.

Fasting has an intention and it has a purpose.

It has a target.

I want to speak about that today because fasting is very, very important.

Jesus fasted.

He taught his disciples to fast.

And so the people today will say that there are many different kinds of fast.

I fasted my phone for a whole hour.

You hero.

Praise be to God.

You know I fasted TV for a whole week.

Well good on you that you've got time to watch TV in the first place.

But I fasted social media.

I fasted this and I fasted that.

And really we cannot use technically the word fast for abstaining from things that may be

idols in our life.

That's really not a fast.

And some will say well I'm going to do the Daniel fast.

I'll only eat the vegetables and things like that.

And that isn't a fast either.

I mean we hear it taught and you know that we're going on a Daniel fast.

Daniel didn't fast.

Daniel refused to eat the king's delicacies because it was offered to idols.

And he said I'll tell you what.

He said you keep your meat.

You keep those things sacrificed to idols.

Just give us the veggies.

I mean I'm just thinking of this guy.

He's got more faith than me.

I mean who just loves eating veggies?

Come on let's put up our hands.

And who loves eating steak?

And come on I just felt the anointing just flow all over the place.

And who here today would trade in a T-bone steak for some lentils?

Now you're feeling it.

This is what it's about.

And so Daniel didn't fast.

He had a conviction that he said I am not going to eat the king's delicacy.

It's offered to idols.

He said I'm not going to eat that.

I'm not going to eat it.

Fasting means nil by mouth.

It means in the Hebrew actually the hand covering the mouth that nothing is going in.

And that is fasting.

That is a fast.

There's nil food going into this bottomless pit, into this hole that is like an abyss

that some of us can eat.

I've been out with some of you guys down at the butcher down here at the hyperdome.

By the way it's Mr and Mrs Katsoulis' 45th wedding anniversary today.

And so we can eat, some of us guys, but it's probably not good for us.

Fasting is abstinence of food.

If you don't believe me, go check it out and you'll find what I'm telling you is the truth.

And so everything has a foundation, a house.

When it's built they set a foundation in place and that foundation is designed to support

the house.

And if a house didn't have a foundation it would just crumble.

Everything has a foundation.

If you look into the very core of it, a foundation.

Christianity has a foundation and his name is Jesus, the word of God.

So a foundation, so does fasting have a foundation?

I'm glad you asked because the answer is yes it does.

Fasting has a foundation and if we choose to go on a fast without first securing the

foundation upon which we fast on, the fast is nothing more than a diet because it will

not, it will not do anything.

And I'm going to read from Isaiah 58 this morning and you know we don't hear much about

this but if we get this part right and then we begin to fast and pray with this foundation

set in place, there we see things change.

Now fasting, not like what I thought in the beginning, if I fast I can get God's arm up

his back and keep putting pressure on him until he yields and gives me what I want.

Has anybody understood fasting like that before?

Come on you can be honest this morning.

That's okay it's just me and you can pray for me later but I'm sure there's more.

But I used to think that if I fast God will give me the desires of my heart, God will

give me what I need.

Fasting doesn't do that.

Fasting is not about appeasing God.

Fasting is about something completely different.

Fasting reveals the thoughts and intents of our own heart and often when our thoughts

and intents of our own heart are not in alignment with God it hinders God's blessing and opening

doors and so what it is is fasting then when we go into a fast suddenly then when we get

hungry and often and God speaking to us we listen and God will bring out within a fast

things about us.

Within a fast God gives wisdom.

Within a fast God will give direction and also often sometimes we may fast if there

is an obstacle in life, in your family, in your ministry and so we fast and we pray.

That is a good thing but often you will find that when we are fasting and praying God reveals

what the blockage is.

God reveals what is going on and so when we fast it gives God an opportunity to really

delve deep into us and to show us what he already knows and things that possibly he

may be or has been trying to show us for some time.

So fasting has a foundation.

Let me read from verse 1 of Isaiah 58 and it reads here, cry aloud, spare not, lift

up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people their transgressions.

This is the word that God is giving to Isaiah and he is saying to him, he said, man of God

I want you to proclaim this unapologetically because God wanted to address something with

his people.

He said, tell the people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins, yet they

seek me daily and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and did

not forsake the ordinances of their God.

They ask of me the ordinances of justice.

They take delight in approaching God.

Why have we fasted they say and you have not seen?

You ever been there?

Why have we afflicted our souls and you take no notice?

In fact in the day of your fast you find pleasure and exploit all your labourers.

Indeed you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness.

You will not fast as you do this day to make your voice heard on high.

Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul?

Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Would you call this a fast, an acceptable day to the Lord?

Let me just stop there for a minute and unpack what I've just read.

It was the nation of Israel, God's own people.

Their worship was defective.

Here they were, the very people of God.

They got into a routine of service to God.

Here they were, fasting, keeping all the ordinances and in fact if you were to read no other nation

on the face of the earth at that time held to as many ordinances as the Israelites did

in worship to God.

But yet their heart was not in it.

It became an exterior act of worship.

God as you know is really interested in heart worship.

Not that we just do something the same way over and over again.

Friends that's called religion.

That's what religion is.

We do the same thing over and over again because that's what we've been taught to do.

Now you have a look, the Israelites, the time of Jesus, they upheld all of the ordinances,

the sacrifices, they did everything.

They kept the Sabbath, they fasted, they did everything right and right in the middle

of all of the keeping the ordinances were planning to murder Jesus.

Think about it.

Think about that one.

So they're doing everything right by the rule book but this guy Jesus is just in our way.

So we're going to devise a plan how to get rid of him.

And so even on the Passover they refused to go into the judgment house with Pilate because

it would break the law.

So they stayed out and continued to devise the plan to murder an innocent man.

Is that making a point here today?

They were still fasting.

They were still fasting.

They were still keeping the ordinances.

And then they say why, God, why?

It seems like I'm fasting and praying and you're not listening and you're not doing

anything.

It's almost like I'm invisible.

Have you ever felt like you're invisible sometimes in society?

I remember one day I went into a service station and the people went before me and the doors

open and closed and I walk up and it's like you're waving at the thing and it won't open.

It's almost like am I invisible or something?

Anybody ever experienced that?

And another time I thought they were out of automatic doors and they weren't and I was

just crashed straight into them.

I can see some of you have done that too.

And so here were the people of God, chosen of God.

They're complaining that God, we're fasting.

We are really sacrificing here and you're not doing anything.

What's the problem?

The problem is the foundation was missing.

The foundation was completely missing.

It says there would you call this a fast, an acceptable day to the Lord?

That was a question.

And so that then begins to whet one's appetite to start thinking, well what really is a fast?

What really is it?

What are my intentions?

What are our intentions for calling a fast and to fast?

Is it because there are problems, relational problems?

Is it because there's a marriage problem?

Is there because there is lack in our life?

Is it because of whatever?

And usually when things like this are presented to us in daily life, it's got nothing to do

with God.

It's because something is out of relational alignment, either with each other or us to

God.

Fasting, it does exactly that.

It realigns us.

So what did God say to these people that they were so far away from the very heart of worship,

but yet they were doing everything right?

You see, it speaks there about how we're talking about others pulling people down, gossiping,

murmuring, discord, slander, and then they'll go and do their fast and say, God, why are

you not listening?

You see, people mean everything to God.

The words that we speak, they are life or they can be death.

And when we speak badly about other people, without us maybe even knowing it, we can be

assassinating somebody spiritually.

It is so important that we understand the foundations of fasting.

Verse six, here comes the foundation.

Is this not the fast that I have chosen?

Now remember, this is God speaking through the prophet Isaiah.

He says, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed

go free and that you break every yoke.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?

We just saw a perfect example of JCI in the Philippines, feeding the hungry, the poor,

the needy, those that really need help.

You see, when we do these things and it becomes a lifestyle for us, that is Christianity.

That is the very core of Christianity.

People will say, yeah, but I'm saved by grace, not of works.

So are we all.

But we were saved by grace, not of works, lest we boast.

But we've been saved by grace so that we can do good works.

Christianity is about doing good works post salvation, about changing the world, about

making a difference wherever we go, that the sphere that God has placed you in in life,

that we are to influence that sphere with God's presence, with his goodness and his

kindness.

And when we establish this foundation, that it's the goodness of God that we're allowing

flowing through us, and then on top of that, when we begin to fast, God's going, hey, both

of my ears are attentive to your prayers.

Because it's unhypocritical.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor

who are cast out?

Isn't that a good one?

To bring to your home the poor that are cast out.

When you see the naked, that you cover them.

And here's a big one, and not hide yourself from your own flesh.

So do we have family members that are in need?

Ones that are dearest to us, are we taking care of them?

Are we nurturing them?

Are we too busy?

There is a great need that they have that may be within your power to fulfill and meet

that need.

And to hide ourselves from our own flesh, our own family, be it that way.

Can you see what God is saying here?

He said, he's not interested in an external worship that we don't eat for a day.

I believe it was for one day a week that the Israelites fasted, especially the leadership,

but it never changed the heart.

It never changed the outward actions.

It didn't change anything.

It became a ritual.

What God is saying here, I want this to become a ritual that anybody that we have been exacting

usually on to release them, let them go, to forgive people.

You know, it is good to forgive.

Forgiveness is a wonderful thing to do.

So let the oppressed go free.

In other words, everything within our power, everything, to see that people who are oppressed

are liberated, that it's in our power to do so.

And I remember speaking to a missionary one day and he said that I lack the resources

to be able to fulfill this mission.

And I said to him, well, how many have you?

He said, well, I haven't reached any yet.

I stand in my home and I look at the need and I know I don't have what it takes to meet

that need.

And it doesn't work that way.

We saw that this morning.

The supernatural provision is in your vision.

And when we step out from that place of security and step out into what we can't see, God says,

okay, now I can see your feared income.

And when you meet this person, the warehouse filling up, I mean, you take from it, it fills

up.

You take from it, it fills up.

Oh, I'm praying for a bank account like that.

Praise the Lord.

But this is what pleases God.

Faith pleases God.

And faith in God, knowing that this is what he's required for us as Christians, that we

go around every day to see not who we can hide from, but who we can bless, who we can

protect, and one of the testimonies I heard about Teresa is that Anthony was sharing that

be at the shopping mall and someone's a bit short on their grocery bill.

And so what does she do?

She goes and pays for it.

I've done that a few times.

I got burnt once.

I got blessed once.

Not everybody appreciates it.

But it's from the heart.

You see, God is showing us that it's this kind of Christian living that actually has

substance, that it means something.

And then there from that point, the foundation is laid that we are servants of God.

Chantelle mentioned it this morning, that surrendering to God and to give him our all

and everything, everything that we have, our finances, our provisions, whatever, when we

see someone else that has not and we have, that we transfer that over.

And yet, if we don't, we can go to a prayer meeting and say, God, I need this and I need

that.

And God's saying, I know what you need, but I gave you an opportunity to give to here

so that I could give to you to keep the whole circle going.

But hello.

We still here today?

See Christianity is about living water.

It's flowing.

It's living.

It's not a dam that's stored up with stagnant water.

And we must keep that living water flowing.

It's so, so important, so, so important that we do.

In verse eight, it says, and your light shall break forth like the morning and your healing

shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you.

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Now, how many of us would like that today?

We could walk out and say, you know, I actually have this now.

The light shall break forth in the morning.

It's speaking, verse eight is speaking about God's blessing invading your life.

How good is that?

Verse nine, and you shall call and the Lord will answer.

You shall cry and he will say, here I am.

That's a good prayer meeting.

It's instant.

You see, there are no blockages.

What opens up the blockages?

Fasting.

Fasting is about what may be blocked inside of me, stopping the flow of God coming through

me to others.

And so fasting is not about twisting God's arm up his back to get what I want.

Fasting is about to find out what's not in alignment within myself.

And that's why fasting is an act of humility.

I'm fasting because there's some things not right and I'm going to fast, trusting God

is going to reveal to me what is out of alignment.

That's fasting.

That is fasting.

So do we still want to fast?

Hopefully the answer is yes.

If you take away the yoke from your midst and the pointing of the fingers, this is all

speaking about relational issues that are out of divine order.

If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light

shall dawn in the darkness and your darkness shall be as the noon day.

What does that mean?

You can be going through your darkest moment and when you and I maintain that Christian

integrity, that kindness, God is a kind God.

Do you know that?

God is so kind and he is so generous and so are we.

We can be going through one of our darkest times, but if we maintain this foundational

structure in our lives, even though darkness may come, the light will soon be there.

And it speaks about the noon day.

It says your darkness shall be as the noon day.

The noon day here means midday, 12 on high.

You know, I remember a farmer out west, we went out to poison some ant nests and I said

to him, because this property was taken over by these ant nests and if you guys know about

it, the ants, they get down really deep, they pull the soil out and the soil that they bring

out and it spreads out is not fertile, so anything around that ant nest won't grow.

And he had thousands of them, so he was losing a lot of pasture.

And so I was up early in the morning, he was listening to the radio and I said to him,

I said, Jim, when are we going to go out and poison these ants?

Not now, not now, it's like 10 o'clock.

When are we going to put it?

Not now, 11 o'clock he said, okay, we'll go now.

And we get out there and I said to him, Jim, why are we out now at the hottest part of

the day poisoning these ants?

Wouldn't it have been easier doing it like 5 in the morning when it's not so hot?

Because what you don't understand is he says at 12 noon for an ant nest there's no shade,

there's no shadow and all those little critters are in their hole, that's the time to poison

them because when the sun moves and there's a shadow and it's cooler, they come out and

they take the poison with them and they bring it back in the nest.

What I'm saying is simply this, at 12 noon there's no shadow.

This is the example that God is giving here.

Then we simply lay the foundation and get these simple things right that even in a dark

time, a hard time, a test or a trial, God will come through and any darkness that may

try to invade you, you'll be at 12 noon.

You ever notice, you try and look for your shadow when it's exactly 12 noon or that time

of the day when the sun is right above you?

The shadow is very minimal and that's what God is saying that he will see to it if we

look after people whether they're saved or not to go out and make it our interest to

help people, to bless people, to be kind to people that God himself is saying that I'll

make sure I'll take care of you.

When I take care of you, I'll bless you, I'll take care of you, I'll take care of your provisions,

I'll take care of your health and so because I'm seeing that you are someone that is really

dedicated to doing what I've called you to do.

You see, this is the foundation for fasting and if we don't have this foundation that

fasting then becomes about us, about my needs, about my wants, not about the world, not about

the calling that we have on our life.

If you extend verse 10, your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your

light shall dawn in the darkness and your darkness shall be as the noonday, the Lord

will guide you continually and goes on and on and on.

I just want to pull up something here this morning before I close on the last scripture

and it's verse 13 that I see is causing a lot of confusion in the Christian church today.

Obviously what I'm about to share about the Sabbath, a lot of it is taken from this passage

of scripture verse 13 that if you want God to bless you then this is what you need to do.

So we don't want to turn away our foot from the Sabbath and from doing your pleasure on

His holy day and call the Sabbath a delight.

So let me just stop there and park here for a little bit.

I am amazed that how many people are falling for this teaching that as a Christian, a blood

bought, blood washed, born again, spirit filled, child of God, going back to keeping a Sabbath.

They're saying if you don't keep the Sabbath you're not saved.

I don't know if any of you guys have heard this getting around but it's like a whirlwind.

We talk about typhoons in the Philippines.

This is like a typhoon sweeping through the church.

Can I just park there and just bring a little bit of teaching on this and a bit of correction

that you do not have to keep that Sabbath.

The Bible says that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath so what does that mean?

Is not the blood of Jesus or was not enough to cleanse us from all our sin?

Can somebody please give me a witness here?

Was His sacrifice all sufficient or was it only partly done?

Was the cross of Calvary, did it only take care of part of our salvation or did it take

care of all of it?

All of it.

So then why would we go back to pick up an old ordinance to try and improve on what Christ

has done?

It doesn't work and yet we are seeing members of the body of Christ falling for this modern

teaching.

It's not modern at all.

It's been around a long time.

Now the Sabbath itself, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

We need to look at the first, the law of first mention.

The Sabbath is in the first chapter, the book of Genesis and when God had finished creating

on the seventh day, what did God do?

He rested and He Himself expected the Israelites to continue on on this day of rest.

Now the question is why did God rest?

Let me say this way.

God did not rest because He was tired.

God rested because the work was finished.

The work was finished.

Jesus on the cross of Calvary, He said, it is finished.

That from that day on, the Lord of the Sabbath, that Jesus being our all in all, that His

blood was more than enough to cleanse us from all sin.

Every day now is a Sabbath because the Sabbath means to rest from works as a born again believer.

We rest from works trying to be saved by our own works.

That's been taken care of.

It's all about the grace of God now.

By grace you have been saved, not of works, lest any of us would boast.

It is a gift of God.

And so every day, Saturday is a Sabbath for us.

Sunday is a Sabbath for us.

Monday is a Sabbath for us.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and over and over and over.

Every day is a Sabbath.

So why would we go out of that from under His grace to try and perfect things of the

old?

You see the cross of Calvary, we just see it there.

Because one of three things, it allows things from the old to pass through to the new.

Other things come to the cross from the Old Testament and they drop.

And other things it perfects.

You see the keeping of the ordinances came to the cross at Calvary and it dropped, didn't

go through.

But we see the requirement of love and honour and honouring our parents comes to the cross

and it went straight through.

We see the priesthood of Christ, the priesthood of the Old Testament comes to the cross and

from there on it's perfected in Jesus.

The Sabbath came to the cross and from there it was perfected.

The Sabbath was a one day from the cross, it's every day.

Every day we rest.

Every day we experience the wonderful grace of God.

Every day.

So why would you want to go back?

Why?

And I hope that really makes it clear.

I'm just quickly finished on Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 to 21.

Galatians 5:19–21

It speaks about the work of the flesh.

Verse 22 and on speaks about the fruit of the Spirit.

Did you know that the fruit of the Spirit, its primary purpose is so that we would walk

in right relationship with each other and with God?

Did you know that?

But the work of the flesh is the very thing that tries to destroy relationships.

Remember God is about relationships, He's about us relating with each other and loving

one another and where the brethren dwell together in unity, God commands a blessing.

He doesn't suggest it, He commands it.

But the devil works with the flesh, with adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness and all

the rest of all that stuff, that horrible things.

But in verse 22 it says, but the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence of the Spirit of

God in a believer's life is simply this, love and joy and peace, long suffering, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against there is no law.

In other words, this is relating back to Isaiah 58, how we relate to one another, whether

that people be saved or not, how a husband relates to his wife, wife to the husband,

children to the parents, parents to the children, siblings to each other.

You see it really matters a lot to God that we get these relational issues right in the

things of God.

They too are foundational to fasting, they are entirely foundational.

And it goes on to say, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions

and desires, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, amen.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.

Guys, fasting has a foundation.

The foundation is how we relate with each other.

It is so important.

We really got to see how important it is to be in right relationship with the person beside

you, behind you, in front of you.

It means everything to God.

Jesus paid a heavy price, not only for our salvation, but for unity amongst us.

Jesus actually prayed, let it be on earth as it is in heaven.

What's in heaven?

There is a unity so tight in heaven, God wanted to see that here on earth.

And when we dwell together in unity, I tell you, it's a wonderful blessing.

So fasting, if we're going to call a fast, I believe we need to start looking at some

foundations.

I'm not saying that it's you, I'm just saying it's probably good to check.

Is there anyone that I haven't forgiven or withholding forgiveness toward?

Is there someone that I'm ignoring?

Is there somebody that I'm talking badly against?

Is there someone I know that is in need and I know that I can meet that need, but I don't

want to do it.

See folks, this is all about relationships, the whole thing.

So I want to just finish by saying this, fasting is good, but let's not be like the Israelites

that go, God, I fasted and look at me.

You're not even listening and I'm suffering.

Fasting again is nil by mouth.

Fasting will bring us back in alignment with truth, with God.

Fasting doesn't change God's mind about anything.

Fasting changes our heart.

That's what it does.

And fasting keeps our heart soft and pliable before God.

Amen.

Praise be to God.

Now as I close, I'd just like to ask, is there any person here today that maybe you have

never received Christ as your Lord and Savior?

I'd like to give you the opportunity to come forward and surrender your life to Jesus.

Is there anyone here today that you are in a place where you're kind of like on the fence?

Let me encourage you.

See someone, the person you came with today and let them know, I want to know more about

Jesus.

Be the best thing that you'll ever do in your entire life.

Last thing, I'd just like to pray for any person today that you feel that whatever area

in your life that you need, pray, just come forward.

Just come forward, amen.

Just come forward.

Why don't you do that now?

Why don't you just come forward now and I'll pray for you.

Thank you for joining us.

We pray God's richest blessing on your life.

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You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com.

See you next week.