1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,000 So we'll read Matthew 6 verses 16 and 18 and Michael will come and bring his sermon. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:22,000 I'll just get you to turn to that on your device or in the Bible, whichever way you find a scripture nowadays. 3 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,000 There's many ways. 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,000 We will read the word of our Lord. 5 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:12,000 So far the reading of God's word. May God bless his word. 6 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Thanks. Good morning everyone. 7 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:22,000 It's great to be together. It's great to be praying together. It's great to be singing together. 8 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,000 And most of all it's amazing to come around God's revealed word together. 9 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,000 So let's go to the author and ask for his help this morning on this very, very interesting passage. 10 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:40,000 Would you please pray with me? 11 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Father God, we do thank you that as the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can look at the words of eternal life. 12 00:01:52,000 --> 00:02:00,000 And we do ask this morning, Father, as we look at these words that by your Spirit you would help us to understand them 13 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:11,000 and that you would hold our Lord and our Saviour so high amongst us that these words would not be burdensome to us 14 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:18,000 but that they would be words that we cling to and that they would change us. 15 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,000 We ask for this in Jesus' name. Amen. 16 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,000 Church, it's incredible the things you find on the internet. 17 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:35,000 And I have found that Google has been a wonderful tool when I'm trying to look up things quickly 18 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:41,000 to get information about really anything that I want to know. 19 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:52,000 In fact, Google has shut down a few conversations at our Connect Group because when some weird and wonderful facts are floating about, 20 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:58,000 usually someone will eventually whip out their phone and say, well, let's ask Google. 21 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Now the other day I was wondering just how many people own a Bible in Australia. 22 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:15,000 So out comes Google, which suggested a website called mcriddle.com, which gathers data about people in our nation. 23 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Here's some interesting facts that I found on that website. 24 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Less than half of all Australians own a physical copy of the Bible, 45%. 25 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:38,000 Less than one in three generation-wise, which I had to Google, means anyone born between 1982 and 1994, 26 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:43,000 have ever owned a personal copy of the Bible. 27 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:54,000 Sydney is Australia's Bible reading capital of Australia, and they access the Bible online seven times more than Darwin. 28 00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:04,000 Richmond in Melbourne is Australia's leading Bible reading suburb, accessing the Bible more than any other suburb in the country. 29 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:11,000 And Warren Ball in Victoria read the Bible the longest, which averages out at about 13 minutes, 30 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,000 whereas people in Gladstone, Queensland clock in at the shortest at about four minutes. 31 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,000 But this last fact really, really caught my attention, 32 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:31,000 and that's that the most Googled passage in Australia is chapter six of Matthew's account of the Gospel. 33 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:39,000 That's right, the most Googled passage that Australians are interested in is not the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, 34 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:44,000 but about the very chapter that we're in at the moment. 35 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:56,000 However, what is incredibly interesting is that many Christians in Australia will confess that they have never practised fasting. 36 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:02,000 So on the one hand, we might say that many people have read about fasting, 37 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:08,000 but on the other hand, many people have not put what they have read into practice. 38 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,000 So I suppose we want to ask this question this morning. 39 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:17,000 Are Christians meant to practice fasting like our Lord speaks about here, 40 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:26,000 or are we to leave what Jesus has said to his disciples in the historical records of the church? 41 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,000 We want to have a little bit of an investigation of our passage this morning. 42 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,000 We want to look at three things. We want three things answered. 43 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:45,000 We want to think about should we fast, and if we should, how should we go about it, and then finally, why we should fast. 44 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:52,000 So if you have your Bibles with you, let's look at the first two words of verse 16. 45 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Jesus says, when you. 46 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Now, if that phrase seems familiar to you, when you do such and such, 47 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:08,000 perhaps because we're in a part of the sermon on the mount where our Lord has been telling his disciples 48 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,000 not to do the things that they have observed by those around them in the religious community, 49 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,000 predominantly in the synagogues. 50 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:28,000 Now, you might remember just a couple of weeks ago that we entered into this section of Christ's sermon by looking at what it was to give. 51 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,000 But remember that giving wasn't the problem that Jesus had on view. 52 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:37,000 No, we are to give and people in this context, they were giving. 53 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:42,000 But what was on view was how they were giving. 54 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,000 That's what Jesus was kicking back against. 55 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:50,000 People had taken what God had told them to do, but made it all about themselves. 56 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:58,000 And they did that by making sure that people could see them as they were going about doing these acts of righteousness. 57 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,000 No, says Jesus, that's not why God told us to give. 58 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:09,000 He didn't tell us to give so that people around us would think, well, that that person is holier than thou. 59 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:16,000 We're to give because our hearts are so transformed that we genuinely want to help people. 60 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,000 So says Jesus, when you go and give, don't bring the horn section with you. 61 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,000 Go do it in private. 62 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:30,000 And when you do that, when you give from that place of genuine concern for others and love for your Father, 63 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,000 then our Heavenly Father will reward those actions. 64 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Last week, our guest preacher, Justin, wonderfully brought our attention to the total and utter dismal display of hijacking prayer. 65 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:51,000 And again, we see that same language when you, when you do such and such. 66 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:57,000 And again, prayer wasn't a problem in the religious society of Christ's day. 67 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:05,000 They were praying, and that's because praying is what people in covenant with God do. 68 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,000 We speak to the one who has rescued us from this world. 69 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:16,000 We speak to the one who is leading and guiding us in response to what he has revealed in his word. 70 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,000 And as you heard last week, some things can be pretty hard to do. 71 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 That's why he invites us to go to him. 72 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:30,000 Yet said Jesus, in the same way that giving had been hijacked as to make it about the one giving, 73 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000 prayer had gone through the same treatment. 74 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:44,000 People in the synagogues were making sure that prayer had become about them and not about the one in whom our words are meant to be directed towards. 75 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:52,000 No, says Jesus, when you pray, go into that secret place, go into that place where real intimacy can happen 76 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:00,000 and trust that your words that come from your heart are being heard by our Heavenly Father. 77 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:07,000 And it's there, says Jesus, it's there that our Heavenly Father will reward you. 78 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:15,000 And that's the pattern that we've seen, that we've noticed over the last few weeks in this part of the sermon, isn't it? 79 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:22,000 Jesus has said to his disciples, when you give, don't be like the hypocrites who make it about themselves. 80 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,000 No, when you give, do it in secret. 81 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,000 When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, you make it about themselves. 82 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,000 No, when you pray, do it in secret. 83 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:41,000 And as we've seen, Jesus is directing us to do this because God is a good Father. 84 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:50,000 And he gives his children who he loves things to do, not so that will be crushed under the weight of the task 85 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:57,000 or that we would hijack it and make it all about ourselves and receive praise from our contemporaries. 86 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:04,000 So that as we go and live our lives in obedience to the words of Jesus, 87 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:15,000 we will discover the things that our good Father has given us to do are so incredibly for our benefit. 88 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,000 This brings our attention to the passage that we have before us this morning. 89 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:28,000 You're going to notice the same pattern, but a different problem at hand. 90 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,000 So verse 16, if you have your Bibles, 91 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:43,000 When you fast, do not be sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others their fasting. 92 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:53,000 So suppose the first question that we want to ask this morning is what exactly is fasting? 93 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:59,000 Well, I want to answer that question first by telling you what it's not. 94 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:07,000 You see, fasting is a word that's not just used in the church. 95 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:12,000 It's also a word that is used in the wider world. 96 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:20,000 So we really want to get our thinking straight on what Jesus has on view here. 97 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:28,000 I mean, just the other day I was watching an interview with Henry Cavill, who played Superman in the latest DC film, 98 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:34,000 and he was asked how he got so ripped for the role, to which he replied, 99 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,000 Don't let me fool you, I did a lot of working out to be sure, 100 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:46,000 but all those scenes that you see me without a shirt on, I was fasting food and water for about two days prior. 101 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,000 People just don't look like that. 102 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,000 So that's one definition of fasting. 103 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,000 It's not eating, or in this case, not drinking as well, 104 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:04,000 so that your fat shrinks, I suppose, and your muscles are a little bit more apparent on film. 105 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,000 But there's also other advantages to fasting as well. 106 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,000 The Association of John Hopkins University has recently released research 107 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:23,000 recommending that people practice intermittent fasting because of proven health benefits. 108 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,000 Neuroscientist Mark Mattson states, 109 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,000 research shows fasting for a certain number of hours each day, 110 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:35,000 or eating just one meal a couple of days a week, may have health benefits. 111 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:42,000 Scientific studies are showing that intermittent fasting may help protect organs against chronic diseases 112 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:50,000 like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, 113 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,000 even inflammatory bowel disease and many cancers. 114 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,000 And may I please commend to you to go and talk to Gary and Tina 115 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:03,000 about any of that that I've just said at our community lunch today. 116 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:10,000 So we might say that society has come to see fasting as a good thing. 117 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:17,000 It defines it as not eating food so that there's physical or health benefits. 118 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,000 There's some more ways in which fasting may be used, 119 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,000 and it's usually seen in a positive way as well, 120 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,000 with products like SlimFast or the KetoFast diet. 121 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:33,000 But we don't have all the time in the world this morning to look at every single use and benefit. 122 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:38,000 But what we might say is that fasting is denying yourself food 123 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:45,000 so that some sort of physical change for the good, for the positive, might happen. 124 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:51,000 Is that what Jesus had in mind here? 125 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Does he want all his disciples to be ripped like a comic book hero 126 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:02,000 or eating here and there because he has health benefits in mind 127 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,000 and he just wants his disciples to live a little longer? 128 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Well, to that question, I think we can firmly say no. 129 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Because in context, to those he's speaking to, 130 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:22,000 the disciples were in a world where they knew exactly what Jesus had in mind. 131 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000 As the religious people around them were practicing fasting 132 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 because like giving and praying, as we've seen, 133 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:38,000 fasting was also a thoroughly biblical practice to partake in. 134 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,000 So what does the Bible reveal fasting to be? 135 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Well, Church, I need you to strap yourselves in this morning 136 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:54,000 because we're going to be looking at it in a bit of detail in just a moment. 137 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,000 We're going to tour our Bibles just a bit. 138 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:02,000 But I hope for now this definition will suffice, 139 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,000 which sums up what the whole Council of Scripture has to say on the matter. 140 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,000 Remember, we're going to pull it apart a little bit later, but for now. 141 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Fasting is a voluntary going without food to give oneself over 142 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,000 entirely to some task for a spiritual benefit. 143 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,000 Let me say that again. 144 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,000 Fasting is a voluntary going without food to give oneself over 145 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,000 entirely to some task for a spiritual benefit. 146 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:35,000 Now, we're going to have a look at why I've presented that definition in more detail in just a moment. 147 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:42,000 But for now, notice this, there's a contrast as to how the world understands fasting 148 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,000 as to what the Bible reveals fasting to do. 149 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000 One focuses on physical aspects and benefits, 150 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:55,000 while the other focuses on a spiritual interest. 151 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,000 And like we've seen over the weeks, that was the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees. 152 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:12,000 They were so taken over, so interested in the physical benefits of the things that they were doing. 153 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:18,000 Just so you know, the Jews did have a required national day of fasting on the day of Atonement, 154 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,000 as revealed in Leviticus 16. 155 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:27,000 And they knew that fasting was something to be done for a spiritual benefit in response to God's 156 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:34,000 incredible graces shown to their people through the atoning sacrifices that God had provided. 157 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:40,000 But it does seem that over time, the Pharisees had hijacked the practice 158 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,000 and they did it to be seen by others. 159 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:51,000 In fact, in Luke 18, the Pharisees boasted that they fasted more than anyone else in the nation, 160 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,000 up to two times a week, they would say. 161 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:03,000 In other words, fasting for some in the religious community had become more about a physical benefit for them. 162 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Not because they wanted to look like the Justice League, but because they loved the praise of others. 163 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:16,000 We know that, it's right there in our text this morning, verse 16. 164 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:23,000 They, being the hypocrites, disfigured their faces to show others their fasting. 165 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Now that language around disfigured faces basically means that they neglected their appearance 166 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:38,000 so that people would notice that they were on what one blues brother called it, a mission from God. 167 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:44,000 They wanted people to notice that they were neglecting food so that people would say to each other, 168 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:55,000 look at that guy, look how spiritual he is, look how holy he is, which in a sense is a false type of humility, isn't it? 169 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:03,000 It's like writing a book on humility, ten steps to being humble and how I got there in three. 170 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,000 That's what Jesus is going after here. 171 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:13,000 He's saying to us, disciples, when you fast, well it's an act of humility before God. 172 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:22,000 Who is in that secret place. So don't be like those you see out there with their faces all disheveled 173 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,000 because they want you to know how spiritual they are. 174 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000 They're not people who are concerned about what God sees. 175 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:35,000 No, they're directing their fasting towards someone and that's actually towards you 176 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:40,000 so that you'll be impressed by their spiritual fervour and praise them. 177 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:49,000 Truly I told you, says Jesus, they've received their reward in full. 178 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,000 Now church, I want you to notice something very interesting here 179 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,000 and I do think it answers our first question this morning. 180 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:05,000 Our first question about if we as the disciples of Jesus are meant to fast in our day and age. 181 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:16,000 Notice this, Jesus is not condemning these people for the practice of fasting. 182 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:21,000 It's not what's going on here. He's not saying to his disciples, 183 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:27,000 see these people who are fasting, that's not good. I tell you not to fast. 184 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:35,000 It's just the opposite. Jesus says when, not if, when you fast, don't go about it like those 185 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,000 who want all the attention on them. 186 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:44,000 They have their reward from the fan club. They have the handclaps. They have the tip of the cap. 187 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:52,000 No, when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your face so that it won't be obvious to those around you 188 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,000 that you're fasting, verse 17. 189 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:01,000 In fact, I'll go so far to say that the Lord Jesus never condemns fasting, 190 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:08,000 not here nor anywhere in the New Testament. He never abolishes the practice. 191 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:18,000 Every time Jesus speaks about fasting and it does have something negative attached to the teaching, 192 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:26,000 it's only ever directed against prideful false fasting of the Pharisees. 193 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,000 And so I think that answers our first question this morning. 194 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Is fasting something that is meant to be left in the past or like giving and praying, 195 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:45,000 is it something that's meant to be part of our discipleship on this side of eternity? 196 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:55,000 According to the New Testament, there is nothing to indicate that Jesus has abolished this practice for his church. 197 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,000 No, it's as we're reminded of here again. There are things that we are to do, 198 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:05,000 things that Jesus expects us to practice that is part of our discipleship, 199 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:09,000 part of our growth in the Christian faith. 200 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:15,000 We should be giving to those in need. We should be praying to our Father in heaven. 201 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:20,000 And in the same language used of those things, we should be fasting. 202 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:27,000 And, and this is a big and, when you go and do those acts of righteousness, 203 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:35,000 none of it should be done in such a way that it results in smug self-satisfaction. 204 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:42,000 No, it's as we'll see this morning, not only has fasting not been tossed aside to the annuals of the past, 205 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,000 but is supposed to result in a real sense of humility before God 206 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:55,000 that reminds us of just how dependent on God's grace we really are. 207 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,000 So with all that said, we might have a think here. 208 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:05,000 If we're not to neglect fasting, how on earth are we meant to go about it? 209 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Now, as we've already seen this morning, fasting isn't something that is practiced 210 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,000 with a high amount of degree in the Church of Australia. 211 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,000 We know the statistics and to be honest with you, my dear brothers and sisters, 212 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:27,000 I know my own Christian walk. It's just not something many think or talk about. 213 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:33,000 So I do for that sake want to get pretty practical on this because 214 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:39,000 this might be the only time you've ever heard a sermon preached on fasting. 215 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000 Now, going back to that definition that I gave before, 216 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:50,000 fasting is a voluntary going without food to give oneself over entirely to some task for a spiritual benefit. 217 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:58,000 I don't know about you, but that definition might conjure up all sorts of images in your mind 218 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:05,000 of maybe monks in castles all going around and humming as they don't eat, 219 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,000 whacking their head with a Bible. 220 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:18,000 Maybe it might give you a picture of other people who fast as a legalistic requirement of their religion. 221 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:23,000 I do understand that fasting can seem like such a foreign concept, 222 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,000 but believe it or not, fasting is mentioned more often in the Bible than baptism. 223 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,000 In fact, it's mentioned 70 times. 224 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:39,000 And so we have a massive plethora of scripture to pull from 225 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,000 so as to understand what spiritual benefit might be on view 226 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:49,000 and how we as the people of God might practice fasting. 227 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,000 Here's some things that I found helpful. 228 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:57,000 And if you're taking notes this morning, I've tried to be kind in numbering it. 229 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:05,000 So the first kind of fast that we see in the Bible is what we might refer to as a common fast. 230 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Now, admittedly, the world does have this half right. 231 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,000 And that totally abstaining from food is on view here. 232 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,000 But water was always meant to be on hand. 233 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,000 So it might be referred to as a partial fast, 234 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:32,000 but it has been the most understood and practiced type of fasting in the history of the Christian faith. 235 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:38,000 Christians in church history would plan to set aside their regular meals throughout the day 236 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000 so that they could engage in prayer. 237 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,000 Yet, they made sure they had access to water to balance things out 238 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,000 so that they could break their fast the next day. 239 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,000 Interestingly, where we get the word breakfast from, break fast. 240 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:01,000 Now, common fast didn't just have to be a day. 241 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,000 It could go for as long as you wanted them to, 242 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,000 as we saw in the case with Jesus. 243 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,000 He went at it for 40 days. 244 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:16,000 And not reading too much into Matthew's account, 245 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:21,000 Matthew never said that Jesus was thirsty, right? 246 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,000 He just said he was hungry after his fast. 247 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:35,000 That's because we can't go without water for more than any given amount of days. 248 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Probably going without three days is pretty full on, 249 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:44,000 without some supernatural intervention. 250 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:49,000 And that's why when the Bible does record 40-day fasts of food and water, 251 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,000 like in the case of Moses and Elijah, 252 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:59,000 there would have been some incredible supernatural intervention to keep them alive. 253 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,000 If Jesus was simply abstaining from food and not water, 254 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:09,000 then I think we do have an example of a common fast in the Bible here. 255 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000 The second kind of fast is what's known as a partial fast. 256 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,000 And for that example, I would draw your attention to Daniel when he was in Babylon. 257 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,000 See, after he was taken into that pagan country, 258 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,000 he engaged into a partial fast, 259 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,000 abstaining from certain kinds of food and drink, 260 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,000 because God's honour was in view. 261 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,000 He didn't want what was on offer, 262 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,000 and so he would only eat vegetables and drink water. 263 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,000 And I would commend reading Daniel chapter 1, too, 264 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,000 because it's interesting what happens there. 265 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,000 The third kind of fast is an extreme fast, 266 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,000 and what I would call an absolute fast. 267 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,000 And I just touched on this. 268 00:26:54,000 --> 00:27:00,000 This is the kind of fast where no food or water is consumed. 269 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Ezra tells us about this. 270 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,000 He engages in it in chapter 10 of his book. 271 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:12,000 But as I said before, this is a supernatural phenomena 272 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,000 that Moses experienced over a 40-day period. 273 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000 And I call it a supernatural phenomena 274 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000 because there's no way known that anyone could live 275 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000 without food or water for that amount of time. 276 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:32,000 And so it's worth mentioning that it wasn't Moses that said in Deuteronomy 9, 277 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:37,000 all right, now I'm going to go on a 40-day fast to get close to God. 278 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,000 You won't find those words there. 279 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:46,000 No, God called Moses to that mountain and into that fast. 280 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:51,000 And Moses, as we read, was in God's presence the whole time, 281 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,000 being miraculously sustained, 282 00:27:54,000 --> 00:28:00,000 which we should also understand happened in the case of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, 283 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:05,000 which just so happened to be the same place where Moses had done this very thing. 284 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,000 Now I mentioned before that Israel was called to a national day of fasting. 285 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,000 It was called the Day of Atonement. 286 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:19,000 But in looking at the evidence before us in just those few scriptures we've gone through, 287 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,000 there were other times that people could voluntarily fast as well. 288 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:28,000 And so with the passage that we have before us this morning in Matthew 6, 289 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:36,000 we can see that Jesus must not only be referring to that national day of fasting, 290 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,000 but also to private fasting. 291 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:44,000 And so we might say there's a fourth type of fasting, which we would call a secret fasting, 292 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:51,000 which is a secret individual abstinence from food for a period of time 293 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:57,000 because one is totally given over to the task that they have before them. 294 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:06,000 Think of King David as he interceded on behalf of his first son, conceived to Bathsheba. 295 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,000 But we might ask the question, 296 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:17,000 does that mean Christians can never partake in public prayer and fasting together? 297 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,000 Well let's say there is a fifth kind of fasting, 298 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:25,000 and we actually have an example of a church that publicly fasted together, 299 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,000 which we might call a corporate fasting. 300 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:34,000 And I'm of course referring to Acts 13 in that the church in Antioch came together to pray 301 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:39,000 and fast before sending missionaries into Europe. 302 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:48,000 And we see that instead of the Holy Spirit rebuking them for this public display of prayer and fasting, 303 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,000 he actually moves very freely among them. 304 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:58,000 And even if you read the language carefully, the Holy Spirit actually speaks to them, 305 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:02,000 sending Barnabas and Paul out to Europe. 306 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,000 Yet balancing what our Lord has said here in verse 17, 307 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:11,000 when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your face so that it won't be obvious to others that you're fasting, 308 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:16,000 we're meant to see that when we engage with others in prayer and fasting, 309 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,000 it's all about the heart attitude. 310 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:24,000 So we must keep in mind why we are fasting in the first place. 311 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:33,000 Is it because we're seeking God or are we after others well done? 312 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:39,000 It's a lot of information there church, but it's good to have a look at these things. 313 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:45,000 So first, we as the disciples of Jesus, we are to fast. 314 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:50,000 Second, we have various examples in the Bible on how to do it. 315 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,000 Common fasting is abstaining from food while still having access to water. 316 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,000 Partial fasting is refusing to eat some types of food in honor of God. 317 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Absolute fasting is a supernatural sustaining of the human body through the miraculous work of God. 318 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:13,000 It can be done in private, yet churches are still welcome to gather together in corporate fasting. 319 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:19,000 However, as we've seen, the heart should be directed to the one in whom you're humbling yourself before 320 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:24,000 and not to your peers for their praise. 321 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:28,000 So this leads us to our final question this morning. 322 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:34,000 Why do we fast? Why? 323 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,000 Now you might be here this morning and thinking to yourself, 324 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:43,000 Michael, I already find it really hard to find the time to pray with my busy life. 325 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,000 So on top of that, you're telling me that I should skip meals as well. 326 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:55,000 So not only will I be stressed about not doing the things I know I need to be doing, but I'll be tired and hungry. 327 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,000 I've got to admit that the Bible says a lot on this subject. 328 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:06,000 We are only skimming over this great, great theme. 329 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:13,000 However, we do need to have a think about the words of our Lord here. 330 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:19,000 He does expect that fasting will be part of the life of the disciple. 331 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,000 And for his immediate audience, you'll notice it. 332 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,000 That just doesn't seem to be a problem for them. 333 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:34,000 Now, it just seems strange to us because we don't hear a lot about it in our day and age. 334 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:41,000 Hence, we tend to ignore the things in the Bible that seem otherworldly or foreign, 335 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:49,000 making excuses as to why fasting seems impossible to be part of our discipleship. 336 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:54,000 But if we've learned anything, Church, over the past few weeks, 337 00:32:54,000 --> 00:33:00,000 Jesus isn't giving us things to do to crush us or to push us away. 338 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:06,000 No, just the opposite. He's giving us wonderful instructions to free us from the burden 339 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,000 of dead religious works that we put on ourselves in order, 340 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:17,000 and he's leading us to have a greater intimacy with our Heavenly Father. 341 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:25,000 It's what we've seen. He's continually leading us in ways to have that greater intimacy with our Heavenly Father. 342 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:32,000 You see, we tend to look at our own works in order to feel like we're doing the right thing. 343 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:38,000 We know in theory that we shouldn't be like that, but there is something innate in us that is pulled towards 344 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:43,000 always looking to ourselves to find the approval of others. 345 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:48,000 And we've seen this warning time and time again from the Lord Jesus 346 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000 in regards to what the Pharisees were leading people to do. 347 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:57,000 We've seen it over the weeks. You've heard it taught this way, but I say unto you, 348 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:01,000 you've seen it done this way, but when you do it, do it like this. 349 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:07,000 And through the weeks, we've seen Jesus leading the way in taking our dependency off ourselves 350 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:17,000 and our works and leading us to depend more and more on our Heavenly Father. 351 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:23,000 And so fasting was abused as a way to find the approval of men. 352 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Yet Jesus leads us here to the heart of fasting as it was given to us to be a physical act 353 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:42,000 that we practice that helps remind us of a reality, and that's that man cannot live by bread alone. 354 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:46,000 That's what's happening at the heart of Fasting Church. 355 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:55,000 It's the physical act of saying that there is something in our life that is more important than food itself. 356 00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:00,000 Now as we know, we can't live very long without food, but in the act of fasting, 357 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:05,000 we're showing ourselves that there are priorities that are more important to us 358 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:10,000 than the very things we do to sustain our own lives. 359 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000 That priority is God. 360 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:18,000 That priority is our relationship with Him and our time spent with Him in prayer. 361 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:28,000 When we fast, we're ordering our time in such a way that we devote ourselves to God above everything else, 362 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:34,000 even those things that are necessary for us to physically live. 363 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,000 I heard this put so brilliantly once. 364 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:46,000 It's very hard to ask God for your daily bread when your food is sitting right in front of you. 365 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:52,000 But that's what fasting does for the average Christian in Australia. 366 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:59,000 It reminds us that we don't actually provide for ourselves in its fullest sense, 367 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:10,000 but that we're totally reliant on our Heavenly Father to sustain not just our lives, but our very souls. 368 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:15,000 That is not a bad thing to be reminded of. 369 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:23,000 It's a great thing for us to contemplate in our very, very, very privileged lives. 370 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:29,000 I mean, we live in a consumer-soaked society that preaches to us continually 371 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:34,000 that you are the writer and provider of your own destiny. 372 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,000 Be whatever you want to be. 373 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:43,000 If we're not careful, that does creep into our Christian thinking. 374 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:52,000 So it is a good thing from time to time to be reminded physically that, no, there is another. 375 00:36:52,000 --> 00:37:00,000 Another who provides for us in such profound ways that I don't even begin to understand. 376 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:07,000 That's why Jesus says, when you fast, aim it in such a way that it is to your Father who's unseen, 377 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:12,000 and your Father who sees what's done in secret will reward you. 378 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,000 Verse 18. 379 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:24,000 As we end our time in this passage this morning, we see so very clearly that fasting, it's been given to us. 380 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:32,000 Not so that we can gain the approval of others or twist God's arm into doing what we want Him to do for us, 381 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,000 but for the good of our own souls. 382 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:42,000 That's why we're guided by the Lord Jesus into this practice. 383 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:53,000 Now as we've seen, there's really no strict way in how we are to go about it in the New Testament age. 384 00:37:53,000 --> 00:38:03,000 But in saying that, at the end of the day, fasting is a tool that's been given for the disciple to use as a way to humble us. 385 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:16,000 Humble us into not just knowing, but experiencing that we are finite beings, totally reliant on the Heavenly Father for all our needs. 386 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:25,000 Admittedly, fasting, as we've seen, has fallen out of practice in our privileged Western world. 387 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:38,000 But maybe practicing a bit of a fast will help remind us that we are not the providers of our own destiny, 388 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:43,000 but totally reliant on our Heavenly Father for all things. 389 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:56,000 I know for myself, that would foster some gratitude in my day-to-day life, which I so easily forget time and time and time again. 390 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,000 So church, let me encourage you with this this morning. 391 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:07,000 If you have never utilized this tool that's been put in the discipleship kit, 392 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:17,000 then along with giving and prayer, it's vital that we think about how to practically go about taking the Lord Jesus' lead in this. 393 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:21,000 It will look different for every single one of us. 394 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,000 But let me end by saying this. 395 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:34,000 Fasting, as we've heard this morning, is not about exposing our muscles or losing weight or impressing the religious community. 396 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:44,000 It's about coming to our Holy God in complete humility, showing that there is nothing greater or worth our attention. 397 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:54,000 It's about desiring to know just how much our Heavenly Father blesses us in the day-to-day without us even realizing it. 398 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:03,000 So might I suggest that as you put what the Lord Jesus has said to us this morning into practice, 399 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,000 you don't isolate it from prayer. 400 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:13,000 That's right. When you plan to practice fasting, whatever way and in however way you go about it, 401 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,000 don't isolate it from going to God in prayer. 402 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,000 Go to him in that secret place. 403 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,000 And please don't misunderstand me here this morning. 404 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:28,000 Fasting isn't something that manipulates our Heavenly Father into hearing us, 405 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:38,000 but it is something that reminds us how seriously we are taking the matter that we are going to our Father in prayer over. 406 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:43,000 Church, fasting is God-given and ordained. 407 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:51,000 It's ordained as a way of impressing upon ourselves the importance of the matter that we take to God in that prayer closet. 408 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,000 I don't know what you're going through this morning, 409 00:40:54,000 --> 00:41:00,000 but if you feel like your prayers are more like text messages that just hit the roof 410 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:06,000 rather than meaningful quality time spent with your Heavenly Father, 411 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,000 then might I suggest you take these words seriously. 412 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,000 Put some quality time aside not to rest, watch TV or read, 413 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,000 but go into that prayer closet, go into that room, 414 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:27,000 to not think of anything else apart from the task at hand, what you're taking to your Heavenly Father in prayer. 415 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:36,000 I think that you'll find that prayer and fasting is a wonderful way to spend the time that God has so graciously given you. 416 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:42,000 Let's pray. 417 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:49,000 Father God, we thank you indeed for these very amazing words, 418 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:59,000 incredible words that can seem so countercultural to where we find ourselves here in Western Australia in 2023. 419 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:10,000 But we thank you that they are not ancient words, but living words that are directed to us now, 420 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:15,000 growing us, leading us, guiding us. 421 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:21,000 We do ask, Lord Jesus, that as we've heard these words this morning, 422 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:26,000 that as you're teaching us and as we are still on this journey of being disciples, 423 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:32,000 that you would guide us in all wisdom to put what you have said into practice. 424 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,000 We're not sure what that would look like for us individually or as a church, 425 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:42,000 but Lord, we don't want to disregard or push to decide anything that you have said to us. 426 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,000 So would you please help us? Would you please guide us by your Spirit? 427 00:42:46,000 --> 00:43:14,000 And we ask for this in your precious name, Lord Jesus. Amen.