Untitled Sermon (4)

#9 Growing in Grace - Fasting

Runway (2-3 min)

Recap: Last two weeks

"We’re in our series on growing in grace—spiritual disciplines that train us for godliness. It’s about transformation, resisting temptation, pursuing holiness.

But here’s the catch: Real change always requires real effort, and implementing effort means facing a question of control.

Who is controlling our motivations for the effort we are seeking to implement or order to see change?

We want to see transformation through spiritual discipline and reliance on God’s grace, through it’s varied means dispensed to us.

But how?

Grace is not opposed to effort but earning.

Especially, when it comes to our topic today, spiritual disicpline of fasting, we have to oh so careful, we don’t slip into the earning category and poison the fruit of our labor.

Yet, without effort, discipline you will not fast, and you will not be sharpened in your affection toward God.

No one drifts into self-denial, the flesh is full of appetites of comfort and excess, gluttony, and indulgence, and more and more. It’s insatiable and the flesh will eat itself to death, both in food, but also in the sin it consumes.

It will eat the forbidden fruit, because it wants it, like Golem and the precious. It wants it and it will have it, because it wants it.

Therefore, God’s grace… has been given to us through the Holy Spirit and our new heart, which must be fed, nourished in order for it to flourish over an already common and well-established enemy, our hunger, body, and appetite for sin and indulgence.

Effort. Discipline. Starving one stomach… to feed another.

Fasting…

Hook: "Think January—New Year’s resolutions. Dieting? Exercise? You say ‘no sweets, daily workouts.’ Day one’s fine, maybe day two. But by day five?

Your stomach growls, your body resists. It’s a battle.

Who’s in charge—you or your cravings?"

Your spirit, or your flesh?

Truth is… you are body and spirit not either or….

I do not subscribe to christoplatonism… a christian kind of hatred of the physical. Where body equals bad… and spiritual unseen equals good. I talk about this in my book of heaven and earth. Because our hope for eternity is not heaven alone… it’s not heaven OR earth… it’s HEAVEN AND EARTH. It’s SPIRIT AND BODY.

The tension point is the bringing of our bodies under subjection and under control of the Spirit which is the nucleus of the cell of real life. The body is not to be running the show. The Spirit, is life and the flesh must be brought under control.

We bring our bodies, and our appetites under control, under the discipline of the Spirit, through training and through obedience to God and his way. To availing ourselves to his varied means of grace.

Sabbath, rest, prayer, the Word, Lord’s supper and baptism… and FASTING… fasting perhaps more than any of the others, exposes our true hunger, hungering and thirsting after righteousness???

Or our hungering and thirsting after comfort and

Personal Story: "Training for a triathlon was brutal for me. No coach, no team—just me vs. me. Before, coaches for all the sports teams pushed me hard and the teammates challenged you, but solo sports? The enemy of finishing strong is… me. … No one is making me do this. Why am I doing this?

Today, I want you to present to you the spiritual disicpline of fasting… but less focus on the you should fast, because you should fast… and more on what are you truly wanting to see changed in your life or the lives around you?

What are you hungry for?

Who is mastering this hunger?

Take - Off - Transition (30 sec)

"That battle—it’s the heart of today’s question: Who is your master? Let’s dig in."

1. The Fall: When Flesh Took Over (3-4 min)

Scripture:

Gen. 1:28 - God blessed them… gave them fruit to eat…

2:9; 16

Genesis 3:6 (ESV) – “She saw the tree was good for food… took its fruit and ate, and gave some to her husband… and he ate.”

Point: "Sin started with a bite. Appetite overruled God’s command. The flesh became master.

Sin entered the world that day.

The physical body, became enslaved to it’s own that day. Eternal life and eternal blessing as servants of God would forever be changed, as we exchanged service to God to service to ourselves, we became little gods for ourselves, without any of the capacity to handle it ourselves.

But in our rebellion, we severed spirit and flesh that day.

Genesis 1 and 2 is all about the unity of Heaven and Earth. The joining of two as one. Marriage. Of heavens and earth. The Spiritual world of heaven and God was in harmony with the physical of earth.

But through sin, they were severed, broken and separated. We pushed God out and attempted to take the throne on our own terms and in our own way, his kingdom and his authority was not enough for us. We fell to temptation.

Flesh, our desires turned in on itself, sinful and selfishly consumed.

At its root, this is a failure to fast—to abstain from what God had commanded them to avoid. They had abundance in the garden, but the one restriction tested their trust in God’s provision and authority. Instead of denying themselves, they indulged, seeking satisfaction outside God’s will.

This moment marks humanity’s fall into sin, revealing our vulnerability to appetite-driven rebellion. Fasting, in a sense, reverses this pattern—it’s a deliberate "no" to the flesh and a "yes" to dependence on God.

I heard Comer preach this turn and I’ve read several commentators connect this same idea here…

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus, is being tempted by the devil. (sound familiar?)

Jesus is fasting. Denying physical food.

The Scene: After fasting for 40 days and nights, Jesus faces three temptations from Satan: turning stones to bread (appetite), throwing Himself off the temple (testing God), and bowing to Satan for worldly power (idolatry). The first temptation explicitly ties to fasting, as Satan exploits Jesus’ hunger.

The Core Issue: Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus succeeds where they failed. He’s hungry—physically weak after fasting—but He doesn’t give in to the temptation to satisfy His appetite outside God’s timing or will. He responds with Scripture: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3). His fast strengthens His reliance on God, not His flesh.

Theological Takeaway: Jesus’ victory reframes fasting as a weapon against temptation. By denying Himself, He models trust in God’s provision and authority, undoing the failure of Eden.

Fasting as Reversal: Adam and Eve’s fall came through eating—giving in to desire over obedience. Jesus’ triumph comes through fasting—denying desire to uphold obedience. Fasting, then, becomes a theological act of reversing the Fall, realigning us with God’s will over our impulses.

Eventually, this leads us to an even greater reversal. Jesus, denies himself, takes the cross, and gives up himself for the sins of the world.. Where Adam, fed himself, instead of giving up himself, he took the fruit for himself and in turn gave up the whole world in exchange for his own desire.

Question: "Who’s your master today—your hunger or your Savior?"

2. The Battle: Spirit vs. Flesh (4-5 min)

Scripture: Matthew 6:24 (ESV) – “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and money.”

Romans 6:12-14 - let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. … instruments for unrighteousness or righteousness

Romans 6:19 (ESV) – “Present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

Sow to the spirit, reap rightreouness… Sow to the flesh, reap condemnation.

Point: "You can’t serve two masters—spirit or flesh, sin’s desire or spiritual hunger. Paul says make your body a slave to righteousness, not indulgence.

Illustration: "Dieting’s tough—your stomach fights back. The battle rages. You stand in front of the fridge. You can take eat, right now.

Triathlon training? My body begged to quit. It’s a war of control.

It’s a war of contorl… but also of hunger.

What do I really hunger for?

Am I satisfied for the status quo, or do I want to see something change? Do I want to grow stronger?

Do I hunger for more of God’s grace and more of him to fill me?

Or do I want a temporary fix, for a temporary filling, for a temporary relief?

Psalm 42:1-2 - As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Corneilus Plantinga Jr. - Self indulgence is the enemy of gratitude, and self-discipline usually its friend and generator. That is why gluttony is a deadly sin. The early desert fathers believed that a person’s appetites are linked: full stomachs and jaded palates take the edge from our hunger and thirst for righteousness. They spoil the appetite for God.

Question: there is a battle. "Are you mastering your flesh, or is it mastering you?"

3. America’s Excess: A Culture of More (5-6 min)

Point: "In America, indulgence is normal—restraint isn’t. We’ve got more food, more restaurants, more fast food than most of the world can imagine."

We have 1st world problems…

we have so much food and so much access to more, that our biggest problem is how to stop eating all the food we have access to.

Much of the 3rd world… can’t dream of the statement I just said.

There biggest problem is where to get food, so they can stay alive?

Our biggest problem is how can we stop eating all the food, so we can stay alive?

Stats:

Obesity statistics, how much food we waste, how much we eat without even thinking what it’s doing to us.

"DoorDash, Uber Eats, drive-thrus—eating’s effortless here, not labor-intensive like elsewhere."

Think about it… we live in the boonies out here in the sticks, but most suburban and cities, you can be hunger, tap a few things on your phone and food will arrive at your door within minutes.

Contrast: "While 265 million people starved globally in 2020, we threw away 40% of our food—$408 billion worth."

Point: Time for everything… time for feasting… and a time for fasting…

"Our culture chokes fasting with ‘more, more, more.’ Fasting’s a countercultural stopping… when everyone is going to get more.

Why?

Because the source of our life is not here alone and in the food we eat.

The breath in my lungs comes from God. I didn’t put it there.

The nutrients in my bones, comes from God.

I live and move and have my being… by his grace alone.

Fasting say → Man shall not live by bread alone…

Fasting says → man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Fasting directs our hearts to our reliance on God first… and starves our over indulgent lifestyles.

The problem…

Is… you.

Your appetite.

Phil. 3:19 - Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Is your mind set.. On eternal things or focused solely, on earthly temporary feelings of satisfaction?

Question: "What’s hungrier in you—your flesh or your faith?"

You might say… well, it depends on the time of day. Fasting, reveals, peels back the layers, to reveal the target of your worship… idolatry or worship.

4. Fasting: Starving Flesh, Feeding Spirit (6-7 min)

Big Idea: "Fasting starves our fleshly appetite to feed our spiritual hunger."

Scripture: Galatians 6:8 (ESV) – “The one who sows to his flesh… reaps corruption; the one who sows to the Spirit… reaps eternal life.”

Quotes:

David Mathis: Our problem might be how we think of fasting. If the accent is on abstinence, and fasting is some mere duty to perform, then only the most iron-willed among us will get over the social and self-pampering hurdles to actually put this discipline into practice.

But if we are awakened to see fasting for the joy it can bring, as a means of God’s grace to strengthen and sharpen godward affections, then we might find ourselves holding a powerful new tool for enriching our enjoyment of Jesus.

David Mathis: Fasting is an exceptional measure, designed to channel and express our desire for God and our holy discontent in a fallen world. It is for those not satisfied with the status quo. For those who want more of God’s grace. For those who feel truly desparate for God.

What sticks out to me? Those who are not satisfied with the status quo.

David Mathis summarized… “If fasting’s just a duty, only the iron-willed do it. But see it as joy—a means of grace to sharpen godward affections—it’s a tool to enjoy Jesus more.

Point: "Fasting’s not a diet or punishment—it’s reliance on God over flesh. It sharpens your hunger for Him."

Matthew Henry: says that fasting serves to “put an edge upon devout affections.”

Application: "Starve your body’s cravings to feed your soul’s longing. It’s not about health—it’s about holiness."

The scriptures include many forms of fasting: personal and communal, public and private, congregational and national, regular and occasional, partial and absolute. Typically, we think of fasting as voluntarily forgoing food for some limited time for an express spiritual purpse.

We can fast from good tings other than food and drink as well. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Fasting should really made to include absitencen from anything which is legitimate in and of itself for teh sake of some special spiritual purpose.” But normal christian fasting means privately and occasionally choosing to gow without food anfor a period of time.. For a specific purpose.

That’s why just giving up something for LENT… istn’t the same as biblical fasting.

It’s often done casually for no specific reason. There isn’t a real aim or spiritual purpose.

Often, it’s done to trim down your wasteline so you can have a better beach body for the summer.

This is not biblical fasting.

Might be a good thing. But it’s not what fasting’s purpose is for.

Mathis quotes David Whitney and gives a great list for fasting’s spiritual purposes: (think through your life and situation right now… do any of these speak out to you, as something in which you might want to pursue a fast for one of these concentrated reasons in your own life? I have the correspaonding scriptures for all of these, p. 118, habits of grace)

Strengthening prayer

Seeking God’s guidance

Expressing grief

Seeking deliverance or protection

Expressing repentance and returning to God

Humbling oneself before God.

Expressing concern for the work of God

Ministering to the needs of others

Overcoming temptation and educating yoursle fot God

Expressing love and worship to God.

5. Humility: Avoiding the Pitfalls (4-5 min)

Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) – “When you fast, don’t look gloomy like the hypocrites… they have their reward. But… fast in secret, and your Father… will reward you.”

Jesus did not say, IF YOU FAST…

WHEN YOU FAST.

Don’t look gloomy…

Isa. 58:4 - (NLT)

4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

Fast in secret.

Yet… I always struggle with this. Mostly, because if I’m fasting, someone is going to find out, and then welp, my fast is ruined because I’ve told someone.

Dont’ get hung up on this. If I say, hey, I can’t go out to eat with you guys, because I’m fasting. That’s fine, but if you’re saying… hey everyone, I’m fasting… look at me, and my amazing spiritual muscles… and how self-controlled I am… wow, look at me. And oh it’s so hard… I need someone to feel sorry for me… boo hoo…

This defeats the purpose. You have turned in your self-denial into self-centeredness.

Luke 18:10-14 - I fast twice a week… I am thank you that I am not like those other men…

Danger: "Pharisees fasted for pride. Ascetics reject God’s gifts—like food’s bad. That’s not it."

Point: "God gives good gifts—enjoy them! Fasting’s not beating your body down but bringing it under the Spirit’s control."

Scripture: Joel 2:12-13 (ESV) – “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting… rend your hearts, not your garments.”

Question: "Who’s your master in fasting—pride or God?"

6. Intentional: Preparing and Planning (4-5 min)

Scripture

Isaiah 58

Come up with a plan.

First try biblical fast from food.

Couple it with a fast/avoidance of social media, or something like this.

Set time limits.

Start and stop.

Purpose or when goal has been met.

Examples

Talking a pastor friend of mine, he says, he fasts mosts fridays to prepare himself for worship. But his fast is simply breakfast and lunch. And it intensifies his prayer life.

Skipping meals, and snacks and substituting it with prayer and focus.

Accountability

Fasting together.

Group accountability.

DEPLANE

Complete Fast

In this type of fast, you drink only liquids, typically water with light juices as an option.

Selective Fast

This type of fast involves removing certain elements from your diet. One example of a selective fast is the Daniel Fast, during which you remove meat, sweets, and bread from your diet and consume water and juice for fluids and fruits and vegetables for food.

Partial Fast

This fast is sometimes called the “Jewish Fast” and involves abstaining from eating any type of food in the morning and afternoon. This can either correlate to specific times of the day, such as 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, or from sunup to sundown.

Soul Fast

This fast is a great option if you do not have much experience fasting food, have health issues that prevent you from fasting food, or if you wish to refocus certain areas of your life that are out of balance. For example, you might choose to stop using social media or watching television for the duration of the fast and then carefully bring that element back into your life in healthy doses at the conclusion of the fast.

Landing (2-3 min)

Recap: "Who’s your master? Flesh ruled in Eden, and it fights to rule now. America’s excess feeds that fight, but fasting flips it—starving flesh to feed spirit."

Call: "Try fasting—not for a slimmer waist, but a sharper faith. Say ‘no’ to indulgence, ‘yes’ to joy in Jesus."

Put an edge upon your devout affections. Sharpen them. Hone them in on what truly matters.

Final Questions:

"What’s winning—your stomach or your soul?"

"Could fasting unlock deeper hunger for God?"

Close: "Let’s pray for grace to master ourselves—not by willpower, but by His power."

Zech. 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Can I just be real with you…

I don’t fast… like hardly ever. I want to start doing it. I’m in this boat with you.

Yet, I wonder some of my reasoning, the battel and war over my own mind… is because