Fast - Why?
Men's Bible Study Groups • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
What is fasting?
What is fasting?
Fasting in the Bible generally means going without all food and drink for a period (e.g. Est. 4:16), and not merely refraining from certain foods.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Fasting
(צוֹם, tsom; νηστεία, nēsteia; ἀσιτέω, asiteō). A ritual of abstaining from food and/or drink for a predetermined period; practiced in the Bible primarily as a means of mourning. Fasting frequently occurs in the Old Testament in response to suffering or
disaster, in conjunction with other
In our modern days, people have chosen to do different types of fasts for different reasons.
Further, people have chosen to do “Daniel fasts” and some have even tried to do a “Jesus fast”. But the reasons for these have varied greatly.
By the time of the Second temple period, fasts in the Biblical time had gained a further connection in worship/service/devotion…the commendation of fasting with prayer as an act of devotion.
Why Fast?
Why Fast?
Reason 1: Worship
37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
Reason 2 Consecration
16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;
Reason 3 (straight from our text today)the assumption that we will
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Reason 4 It is laying aside “life” to concentrate on the giver of life
37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
again
How to fast?
How to fast?
Abstain from food:
Abstain from food:
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
Make it About the Lord not Us!
Make it About the Lord not Us!
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Without a purpose, fasting can be a miserable, self-centred experience.
Donald S. Whitney
Trust in God’s Movement!
Trust in God’s Movement!
18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
First, let fasting be done unto the Lord with our eye singly fixed on Him. Let our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father which is in heaven.
John Wesley (Founder of the Methodist Movement)
Set The Time Frame!
Set The Time Frame!
Jesus did so for 40 days, but for us it is discretionary.
A meal.
A day.
Several days.
Fasting is not approved by God, except for its end; it must be connected with something else, otherwise it is a vain thing. Men by private fastings, prepare themselves for the exercise of prayer, or they mortify their own flesh, or seek a remedy for some hidden vices.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
There are some people who fast because they expect direct and immediate results from it. In other words they have a kind of mechanical view of fasting; they have what I have sometimes called, for lack of a better illustration, the ‘penny in the slot’ view of it. You put your penny in the slot, then you pull out the drawer, and there you have your result. That is their view of fasting. If you want certain benefits, they say, fast; if you fast you will get the results.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (2), 39
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
