Fasting
Christian Disciplines • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction: So far we have talked about spiritual disciplines of, Study, Fellowship, Prayer and Discipleship. Now we will talk about Fasting. How many of you fast on a regular basis or maybe occasionally for a specific reason?
Before we get going lets first define what fasting is:
Fasting - The practice of abstaining from food (and probably drink). This could be done as an expression of remorse for wrongdoing, as an expression of mourning for a loss, or as a spiritual discipline meant to help one focus on spiritual matters.
According to this definition a fast is abstaining from food, in other words not eating food and probably drink. And there are multiple reasons why we can or should fast. One reason would be to seek God. Ezra 8:23 says:
23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.
Another of those reasons would be mourning 2 Sam 1:12 says:
12 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
I know about this one - (Tell the story of first wife)
Our fasting shows humility along with our prayers.
Now let’s take a look a passage that speaks about just such a thing, the how and why of our fasting and what we might expect from righteous fasting.
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
In verse 1 Isa 58:1
1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins.
we see God telling Isaiah to cry out against the nation for their transgressions. He is to cry out loudly...
In verse 2 Isa 58:2
2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, As a nation that has done righteousness And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, They delight in the nearness of God.
We see God telling Isaiah what to tell the people the sins he is to call out against them. They think they are near to God and keeping His law righteously but in truth they are only going through the motions.
What about you? Are you near to God or are you really far from Him keeping a righteousness that is all your own?
In verse 3 Isa 58:3-5
3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.
4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.
5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
We see Isaiah repeating back to God the grumblings of the Hebrew people. Why are we doing this…you don’t even see it. And then their great why have we humbled ourselves? Then Isaiah continues telling them of the motives of their hearts as they fast. You fast for contention and strife - they are doing this thing for their own personal reasons and gain. And then God asks if this is an acceptable fast. If all you do is put on a show, you act like you are humbling yourself, bowing your head, and lying in sackcloth and ashes. All the things that the scriptures say would happen throughout the history of the Hebrew nation.
But, God knew what the motives of their hearts truly were. They probably made themselves look all disheveled, put on sackcloth and threw ashes on their heads. They put on a show - It wasn’t true humility. Mean while they were actually acting in a very prideful way towards those who were not as well off, the alien among them, their slaves and hired people.
Later on Jesus would say to the people: Matt 6:16-18
16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face
18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Jesus spoke this in opposition against those Pharisees and others who put on a show about their fasting to look righteous before the people but they really weren’t, they were simply acting the part - white washed tombs - Hypocrites.
When I was fasting during my time of mourning there was no thought of any kind of self righteousness in my heart. I didn’t have religiousness or rules to guide me in my fasting. I was truly broken and seeking a God I didn’t even know I needed or really wanted.
Finally in verses Isa 58:6-7 God gets to the point and tells the people what He truly wants:
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
These are the reasons God wants to see His people fasting. Loosen the bonds of wickedness - what? Bonds are handcuffs and the yoke is a device used to force animals to do our bidding. God wants us to let the oppressed go through our fasting and prayers. He wants us to act in a way that will help others to live freely. This includes those who are in bondage to the evil one. The oppressed and those in bondage are often that way because they are enslaved to sin. They are suffering from spiritual death syndrome, an illness that only Jesus can cure.
He goes on to say we should divide our bread with the hungry. If we aren’t eating our daily bread today then we might as well share it with someone who doesn’t have any. Bring the homeless into your home and give the naked some clothes. These are all seemingly simple acts of love that would help someone in a time of need. However, they are very hard things to actually do. There are so many reasons not to help now. So many worries that keep us from doing it.
And then came His last rebuke - don’t hide yourself from your own people. The Hebrews weren’t even helping other Hebrews. Maybe, not helping the aliens in their midst would have been alright, but the law told them to take care of other Hebrews because they are family they were one flesh.
And then we come to verses Isa 58:8-12 which tell us what the Hebrews could expect if they did these things truthfully and honestly.
8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
10 And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday.
11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
What an awesome mix of images. How many of you have seen a good sunrise? They can be spectacular. So just as this spectacular sunrise is coming up on the horizon the recovery of the people will visit the people, the nation would rise up again. The peoples righteousness would return. No more hypocrisy and deceit and God would be there with them. God would hear their voices again, He would listen and remove the yoke they were under the evil that was oppressing them.
And then picture of verse 10. Have you all seen a gloomy midday, its been raining and the dark clouds are thick in the sky. Suddenly some clouds break apart and beams of light break through and brighten the day. What about the idea of being a watered garden in a scorched place. Watered gardens are lush, vibrant and colorful. Scorched places, there can be beauty there but most people wouldn’t see it.
Ask for testimonies about fasting!!!!!!