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Amen Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 17 look down at your Bibles at verse number 19 It says then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out and Jesus said unto him unto them Because of your unbelief for verily I say unto you if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed You shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you Verse 21 how be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting and I want to preach on the subject of Fasting this evening and the title would be fasting the accessory discipline. That's what I'm gonna call the sermon tonight and So we're gonna talk about fasting. I know this is not necessarily a popular topic, especially an independent fundamental Baptist churches But it is a biblical topic. And so I want to cover it to see what the Bible says about it We're gonna look at fasting from a biblical perspective Now fasting is simply voluntary abstinence from food And I think the reason why the Bible calls it fasting because you ever think about that as a why is abstinence from food You know considered or called fasting why is it described as a fast or as fasting and I think what it is is because of the fact that when you Fasten something it's fixed. You are bringing it into subjection. You're fixing it you are Fastening your physical body in order to restrain it from eating. Okay, and Obviously, you know you as different people they'll say you can fast different types of things But primarily in the Bible a fast is when you abstain from food. Okay, so you're restricting your body You're restraining your body from eating for a specific purpose It's like what the Bible says I keep under my body and bring it into subjection By any means what I preach to others I myself should be a cast away now this evening I'm gonna talk about the biblical Concept of fasting but let me just say this is that fasting is not only a biblical concept It's actually just a concept just in general. It's a health thing that you can do as well Okay Now obviously we understand that not everyone can fast because of the fact that there's different people, you know For example, if they're they have diabetes or their their health is bad or their doctor does not recommend it Then obviously they can't fast or if a mother is breastfeeding. They should never fast Okay, so this is obviously not something that is subject to everyone It's something that should be voluntary But it is something that's that's it's it's healthy to do and in fact studies have shown that when people abstain from food for a certain period of time it actually permits the body to go into a state of Autophagy, which is when your body begins to recycle its damaged cells, okay You know you begin to repair damaged cells things that maybe Drugs or bad eating has done to your body your body can actually repair itself by fasting can lower inflammation So if you have problems with inflammation fasting can help with that it can aid and weight loss I mean, there's tons of benefits to abstaining from food that can help you it can give you mental acuity Okay, it can clear clear your mind and and and help you with that So obviously fasting is a health benefit just even aside from the spiritual aspect of fasting Fasting in general is just good for you. Let me let me share this this story with you that my wife was telling me about there's a CEO and he You know, he's a very successful guy He has this business and he was the CEO of this company and he just fell into a really deep depression Okay, and partly the reason for is because of the food that he was eating He just loved junk food and would constantly eat junk food and constantly just you know not eat well and it really caused him to go into a state of depression became very overweight and And he just kind of hated life and he got to a point where he just felt like I don't want to live anymore He's like, I don't want to live I'm not happy about life. No matter how successful I am. I just feel like crap, you know I just want to just kind of end my life So he got to a point. He basically said well, I'm done with life I'm just gonna crawl into my bed and Starve myself until I die and he basically made a decision to just die now. That's a really random way to commit suicide it was just like You know jump off a bridge or you know die in your bed of starvation I'll do that one instead, you know, but he basically lost the will to live and I'm not obviously I'm not mocking suicides Obviously, it's a wicked thing and it's a sad thing when when people resort to that but this individual that was the avenue that he decided to take so he crawls into bed and He just lost the will to live and he lost his appetite and he just wasn't happy about life three days later While he's still in bed He wakes up and he has this renewed sense of desire for life And he gets up he's like man I feel great and then he starts getting all these ideas for his company and then he just kind of Burst back into his company and just kind of revolutionizes it and really, you know when he began to study Why that happened is because of the fact that his body fasted for those three days Okay, so his body basically You know just got rid of all those toxins and all the junk food and cleared his system and It gave him a renewed sense of energy and hope and just made his body healthy Okay And so obviously fasting aside from the biblical aspect of it is good for you in the physical sense It's good to fast obviously if you are capable of fasting So this is not telling you hey if you want to be healthy go ahead and fast You know your diabetic or your breastfeeding obviously this would not apply to women who breastfeed You know, sorry ladies You're just gonna have to pick pick and choose whatever you can from the sermon because this is obviously not gonna help you Because I don't believe it's right. I mean, you know, medically speaking women who breastfeed should not fast at all Okay, it's not good for them Now another thing is that fasting in the Bible is actually accompanied with prayer So it's not just a matter of discipline of fasting and abstaining from food It's often accompanied with prayer And in fact, it's actually a manner in which you can serve God with because the Bible says in Luke chapter 2 in Verse 36 it says and there was one Anna a prophetess the daughter of Fenuel of the tribe of Asher she was of a great age and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity and She was a widow of about four score in four years which departed not from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day and She coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem so we see the and a serve God by prayer and Fasting now turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter number six We're gonna come back to Matthew 17 at the end of the sermon I'm explaining what that passage of Scripture is talking about regarding this kind going not out by by prayer and fasting We'll come back to that at the end, but go to Matthew chapter 6 if you would Let me give you a couple points about fasting. Okay, and I have to preach the sermon before next week Okay, can't be preaching sermons like this on Thanksgiving or on Christmas, you know, that's kind of weird to do You know, I mean like there's a pastor a couple years ago who during the Christmas season preached a sermon called downsizing the temple or he made a couple videos called downsizing the temple and It was supposed to be a long series, but only lasted about two or two or three You know episodes and all of a sudden he just kind of fell off the wagon or something You know, it's just like oh what happened? You're not downsizing the temple anymore, but it's this hyper spiritual Oh, you know holier-than-thou attitude that says oh, I'm losing weight. So you need to lose weight just like me Let me make a bunch of videos to show you how you can downsize the temple. It looks like his temple became a megachurch And look I'm not downing on anybody who's trying to lose weight Who you know goes on a diet or seeks to improve their health in that manner? But you know, you got to know what you're talking about Obviously and be an example of those things if you're gonna tell other people to do it Okay, make two or three episodes and all of a sudden, you know, you just decide to cut that series short So anyways, let's talk about fasting this evening before next week where we have a feast day by the way You know the Bible actually encourages eating more than not eating obviously Bible likens the Bible to food likens it to meet the meat of the word the milk of the word, you know, Jesus said, you know eat of my flesh Obviously that's not referring to transubstantiation It's it's a it's an analogy that he uses to say that we need to believe on Christ for salvation And so obviously food is a very important aspect of the Christian life So fasting is not necessarily that which is most essential. Okay number one Let me start off by saying this is the Bible does not command Christians to fast Does not command Christians to fast and the reason that's an important point to make is because in old IFP churches They have this attitude where it's like well Christians have to fast and they'll often make this You know corporal fast and where everyone has to fast and if you choose not to fast even though it's supposed to be a voluntary discipline a Voluntary act if you don't people look down on you for it like oh you're going to McDonald's Oh, you know the next time I mean if I do that to someone it's because they're going to McDonald's Not because they're eating. Okay Cuz McDonald's sucks But you know the the Bible doesn't command Christians to fast it encourages fasting It will express the the discipline of fasting. It'll give you examples of fasting, but it does not come in And I will say this is that in the Old Testament? Fasting was commanded for the children of Israel one time a year for the Day of Atonement Okay, let me read that to you Leviticus 1629 the Bible reads and this shall be a statute forever unto you Then in the month the seventh month on the tenth day of the month ye shall afflict your souls Now when the Bible says afflicting your soul, it's often synonymous with fasting Okay You'll see that throughout the Bible afflicting your souls and do not do no work at all Whether it be one of your own country or of a stranger that sojourneth among you For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you that ye may be clean from all your sins Before the Lord ye shall be it shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you and you shall afflict your souls by a statute forever So we see here that God actually commands his people to fast on that particular day now It doesn't even say for how long and that's another thing you won't see in the Bible how long you should fast You'll see extreme instances of people who fast for long periods of time such as Jesus Christ who fasted for 40 days You know, you have Daniel fasted for 10 you have different examples in the Bible people fasting for long periods of time But those are isolated incidents folks, you know Jesus fasting for 40 days is not a template for us to fast for 40 days now You can fast for 40 days But let me say this if you choose to fast for 40 days, you better not tell a single soul about it You said why would you say that well because of the fact that once you tell someone that you're fasting For a spiritual reason you've lost your reward and I personally know someone Who fasted for 40 days and went around the country telling everyone that he did Doug Fisher of What is it light? Lemon Grove, what's the church called lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove? Okay, you know, he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights He came to our church not here but our old church and telling everybody that he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights He went around the country telling everybody who's fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Well, he got his reward What is the reward that he got everyone like well you lasted for 40 days and for you fast It's just like Jesus and this is what he said I could have gone for longer but you know after a while your flesh begins to tell you Yeah, why don't you go longer than your Savior with? Kind of nonsense is that Well That was a waste and folks anybody who's ever fasted even for two days knows two days is a lot. I Mean for some of us one meal is a lot People start getting hangry and getting upset and just like feed me Imagine 20 imagine 48 hours. Imagine seven days. Imagine 40 days, okay You know and after a while, you know, and obviously I guarantee you this guy wasn't going around Anointing his face But we don't see an allotted amount of time you should fast why because it's a voluntary Action that you should take or that you could take should I say and an example of this is like this You know tithing is a command of God, but offerings are not Offerings is something that you can voluntarily give that's why it doesn't give you an amount to give for the offering because it's based upon Your estimation how much you want to give based upon what God places upon your heart to give So that's the same thing with fasting, you know prayers a command the Bible says that we should pray pray without ceasing That's a command We should be praying and when we choose not to pray we're sinning because he didn't know it to do good and do it And not to him it is sin Bible commands is to pray but it doesn't command us to fast if we voluntarily choose to fast We can do it for a however long we want it could be for a meal It could be for three meals. It could be for a day. It doesn't matter. Okay? Now in the New Testament We're not commanded like the children of Israel too fast because of the fact that Jesus Christ brought in a better Testament The Bible tells us in Colossians 2 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us Which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to the cross and having spoiled Principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or inspect of a holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. We often Apply that to you know Sabbath keepers, but this also applies to meats and drinks We shouldn't be judged if we choose to eat or if we choose not to eat That's based upon our own thing that we want to do, you know And the reason I say this because I remember literally times when a fast was proclaimed in a church for example and You know, some people didn't want to partake in the fast It's just like I don't want to fast and that's perfectly fine But you know what? God forbid if someone some holier than thou in that church were to see someone Going out to eat because they'd get called out they'd get you know, oh you're eating, huh? But you know, we're supposed to be fasting today You know just kind of condemning them and embarrassing them for fat for not eating or for eating should I say and So it should never be to that extent now, why is the sermon called fasting an accessory discipline? Well, let me liken it on to powerlifting. Okay Weightlifting powerlifting. Okay, when you think of powerlifting you think of three essential workouts that are really necessary now ladies You can tune out this this you could probably care less but you know It'll make sense in just a bit. Okay When you powerlift there's three essential workouts that you need which is the deadlift and then You need the bench press and you need the squats You cannot skip leg day Never skip leg day, man. Those are the three essential workouts that you need in order to be strong Okay, if you want to be a well-rounded strong person, those are the three main workouts that you need Those are the ones those are the ones that in a sense you're commanded to do if you really want to get strong Right, you guys understand what I'm saying? Don't look at me like that's the truth. Go look it up Now there's other workouts that you can do To assist you in your deadlift in your squat or in your bench press and those would be considered what accessories Now here's the thing you could be strong without those things You can be a very strong individual without ever touching those accessories those accessories just assist you in your lift You understand Now, how does that apply to fasting? Okay. Well, let me explain how it applies to fasting prayer is essential Bible reading essential Okay, church attendance essential and you can wrap around that soul winning in that church attendance as well Okay, these are the essentials to the Christian life you understand and in fact, you know deadlifting squats and and bench presses This is what these are. What's there? What's known as compound workouts. So in other words when you do them, it just works everything out Works out your back your arms your chest your belly everything. Okay. It's a compound workout Well, you know, the Bible is a compound spiritual workout, too Because when you're reading it you're cleansing that which is inside but you're also learning to save others with it as well So you not only benefit yourself you benefit others as well In fact, the Bible tells us to give thyself holy unto it by doing so that shall both save thyself and them that hear thee It's an overall spiritual workout to read the Word of God to learn the Bible You not only save yourself from false doctrine you equip yourself to save others as well, right? How about prayer prayer is a compound workout spiritual workout why because you pray for your personal needs Right, but you also make supplication for the needs of others Okay Church attendance is a compound Workout spiritual workout why because you come to hear the preaching of God's Word Okay, so you're not a child tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning Craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive but it's also a place where you're sent out To go preach the gospel to pull them out of the fire So you see how they these are well-rounded spiritual disciplines in our life Well, there's other things in the Christian life that can be considered accessories Things that will help you in your Christian life. They're not they're not commanded for you to do But they're just accessories that will assist you in these areas. You know, it's commanded for us to give the tithe and That will help us to have our hearts in the right place, right? But you know what if you give an offering that'll just increase your desire to give to the things of God That'll place your treasure in heaven In fact, it'll give you a reward when you get to heaven when you actually give an offering and in like manner, you know Fasting although not a command is like an accessory discipline that can assist you in your prayer life Now here's the thing, you know, like bench pressing and deadlifts and and and squats You could be a really strong person without those accessories and in like manner you could be a great Christian without ever fasting once in your life You can be an awesome great godly Christian to do great works for God Just a powerful strong Christian with God's favor in your life and never fast once in your entire life some of you like Thank God, you know and it's true you know, I'm not gonna tell you that fasting that's the way you can become a Great Christian you need that element in your life to be a great Christian because it's not true Now will it assist you? Yeah Will it help accentuate those other disciplines? Absolutely Will it help you in a specific area of your spiritual disciplines that are commanded for you to do? Absolutely Do you have to do it to be a super Christian though? No, you don't it just assists you now Anybody knows that you should do those accessories because if you're really serious if you really want to improve by leaps and bounds You should you know, basically add those to your regime and in like manner, you know add fasting to your life If you want to you know, excel in your Christian life a little further, okay, but you can still be a great Christian without it Now there although there's no you won't find commands too fast There are commands given if you choose to fast So there's no command that tells you thou shalt fast thou shalt abstain from food But there is a command given if you choose to do so look at Matthew chapter 6 and verse 16 Moreover when ye fast This is assuming that people are gonna practice this discipline of fasting, right? Be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance Now why are the hypocrites sad because it's sad not to eat sometimes Am I the only one who thinks that I mean right Sometimes you get Hangry, you're upset a little moody You know and then you go eat and then that dopamine spikes and you're like happy again, you know God is good Right, you know what I'm talking about all of you know what I'm talking about Don't leave me up here on an island by myself, you know, it's true. Okay, you know so He says don't be like a hypocrites of a sad countenance so the hypocrites that he's referring to are the Pharisees because we're the Pharisees are the ones who would fast twice in a week and They're literally telling I fast twice in a week and all this. So what would they do? They would fast And they're just like what's wrong I'm fasting, you know They just want people to know that they're practicing the spiritual discipline is this hyper spiritual attitude, you know that They want people to view their their spirituality to know that they're fasting Now look if you're fasting for health reasons tell anybody be like, yeah, I feel like junk right now because I'm fasting Yeah, I am upset right now because I'm not eating but if it's for a spiritual reason, you know The Bible tells us here. Look what it says Be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear into men to fast Barely, I say unto you they have their reward. Okay now I think that what this is actually saying is that the Pharisees Look like they're fasting but they're actually not even fasting at all Because it says as the hypocrites That they may appear into men to fast if you're fasting you don't have to try to appear like you're fasting Just naturally you have to like focus on not looking like you're fast I mean you understand what I'm saying, but when you're fasting it's like you got to focus on okay I got to look alive alert awake enthusiastic. I got to make sure you know, these guys are like, okay I got to look like I'm fasting here because I just I just had some meat and you know And I told a bunch of people that I'm fasting but I'm really not You know and they're doing it because they want to be seen of men And God says they have the reward. What is the reward the praise of men? And isn't this something that's notorious with the Pharisees that they wanted the praise of men more than praise of God He says in verse 17, but thou when thou fastest anoint then thine head and wash thy face What is he saying comb your hair? Wash your face don't look like you just rolled out of bed. You know what I mean? Because you want to appear unto men to fast That Thou appeared not into men to fast but unto thy father which which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret Shall reward thee openly. So there is a reward attached not necessarily to fasting But there's a reward that is attached to prayer that is increased when you fast you understand So it's not like well, I'm just gonna fast and not pray and therefore I'm gonna receive a reward Now the reward comes by praying okay, and we'll get into that point in just a little bit But it doesn't come to those who are fake fasting and what is fake fasting when you just tell everyone you're fasting without verbal Verbalizing it you're showing by your sad countenance your unanointed face your unanointed head You know your dirty face your long face your countenance You just want to appear like you're fasting because you want the praise of men you want people to think that you are spiritual Now go with me if you would to Luke chapter number five if you would look chapter number five So prayer is an accessory discipline That's not commanded to do but when you choose to do it, there are commands attached to it and the reason there's a command attached to it is because of the fact that There is a reward that you receive if you pray and fast But that reward is made null and void if you choose to do it the wrong way So there are stipulations to receive receiving a reward by prayer and fasting and you can actually Forfeit that reward if you choose to be a hypocrite about it So number one is that fasting is not commanded number two fasting is a natural response to grief and sorrow So when you think of fasting you think okay, it's a spiritual discipline is attached to prayer, but there's people who yeah, they Volunteer to fast they volunteer to abstain from food But then there's other people who don't volunteer to do those things it just comes naturally to them because they're sad they're depressed, okay And this comes as a matter because you know, they're depressed because maybe they lost a family member They're going through some sort of Financial. Whoa, they're experiencing some sort of trial or tribulation and it's so deep it's so painful that they just lose their appetite and You know science says that basically it's because of the fact that cortisol is raised and obviously cortisol when it's raised can cause you To eat a lot, but that actually could cause you not to eat at all That's why people who are sad and have anxiety and depression Often struggle to eat because they're so consumed with their problems that they actually forget to eat and you know I've been in that state before where you know I'm Overcome with much sorrow because a particular event that happened in my life and I just don't want to eat It's not important to me So basically eating physical food no longer becomes a priority to your life You know It's other things are important that you're thinking about and even if your body wants to eat You're just kind of like I don't feel like doing that right now. I'm too sad. I'm crying. I'm I'm depressed I'm just very sorrowful. Look at Luke chapter 5 Verse number 30 it says but their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples saying why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? Look at these holier-than-thou guys Jesus is eating with his disciples they're feasting and Then this guy come these guys come over and they're like, why are you guys eating? And Jesus answering said unto them they that are whole need not a physician but they that are sick I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance they said unto him Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them can he make the children of the bride chamber fast? While the bridegroom is with them But the days will come when the bridegroom shall shall be taken away from them and then shall they fast in those days So this isn't a marker for when fasting began in the new testament or something when Jesus is taken away because obviously the bridegroom Is referring to Jesus? What this is saying is that why are they going to fast if they're not mourning? They're not sorrowful They have Jesus right there in the flesh I mean what a great time to be alive Right to have God in the flesh you're with him for three years You're eating with him. You're sleeping in the same areas and you're doing ministry with him. You're conversing with him I mean, it's a that's a wonderful thing That's literally a once in a lifetime experience Literally, right I mean good night. What a time to be born To be born and it's just like hey when you turn 20, you're going to be with God in the flesh for three years That's what a wonderful thing So there's no room for Mourning or sorrow because you have you have the source of joy in your presence But Jesus is saying but when the bridegroom is taken then it's going to be a time to fast because at that point My disciples are going to be sad. They're going to be mournful They are going to you know, be of a sad countenance and that's exactly what happened A lot of them became sad and mournful and I would assume that many of many of them fasted not voluntarily But just as a natural response to grief and sorrow Now this happens when people lose a child they lose a family member You know, they go through some sort of grief or or sorrow. They just don't want to eat They just kind of go days without eating go with if you would to Go to second samuel chapter 12 second samuel chapter number 12 Or sometimes it happens because of some Sudden fear that comes upon you You know, basically some people have fast not voluntarily, but they fast Naturally because some event has taken place in their life. That's actually far more important Or has is calling their attention far greater than food Which if you think about it is a big deal Because I guarantee you half of the crowd in here if not more are thinking about what are we going to eat after service They're like man, i'm hungry. What are we all this talk about food, you know, i'm like i'm not even talking about food I'm talking about fasting. Yeah, but it's associated with like not eating, you know Food is important to people I mean something we do every single day We eat every single day and we know we let's just be honest. We eat to live but some people live to eat They enjoy what they eat Like it's just like this is what I want. I want to party in my mouth and you know, and so it's constantly on their mind So think about this for that to be such an important aspect of their life How much grief or sorrow has to come upon them for them to just completely forget about eating? To the point, it's just like it's not important to me. I'm not hungry Why don't you eat? I'm not hungry. I don't feel like eating i'm just so overcome with sorrow and grief And that is a state that people can be in sometimes Okay Uh, I think of let me read to you from first kings during second samuel. I'm gonna read to you from first kings 21 verse 25 It says but there was none like unto ahab which did sell himself to work wickedness in the side of the lord Whom jezebel his wife stirred up And he did very abominably in following idols according to all the things as did the amorites whom the lord cast out before the children of israel And it came to pass when ahab heard those words referring to the preaching The condemnation about what was going to happen to him That he rent his clothes. This doesn't mean like he got a tuxedo or something rent means like he tore his clothes He rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went softly So when a grief comes upon you some sort of Event that just destroys your life or you get some really bad news, you know what causes you to do walk softly Why because it humbles you And when you're humbled, you're not that hungry anymore because it's not that important. It's just like god's gonna kill me Why do I care about raising canes if god's gonna kill me tomorrow? Why do I care about eating if god's gonna kill me? You know if death is around the corner food would no longer be an important aspect to you anymore And the word of the lord came to elijah the tish by saying see seeest thou how ahab humbled himself before me Because he humbled himself before me I will not bring the evil in his days But in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house and we'll get into what uh fasting can do But this is one instance here Let's read from second samuel chapter 12 And verse 15 it says and nathan departed unto his house And the lord struck the child that yourrias wife bare into david and it was very sick And david therefore besought god for the child And david fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. So what's going on here? Of course, david committed adultery with bathsheba. He committed his grievous sin Nathan is sent unto david to proclaim judgment upon him and he basically said like, you know, the child is going to die So he strikes the child with with a sickness that is unto death And this is very grievous for david Why because it's not the baby's fault It's not the baby's fault. It's not the child's fault, you know, it's david's fault and he knows that it's his fault So what it causes him to do is to fast it's not like well, you know what? I think i'm gonna fast now I think i'm gonna go without some meals. No, this is a natural fast That's a result of his grief because he knows he's about to lose his son And anybody who's a parent knows the grief that can come upon you if you ever lose a child It's grievous I mean, i'm sure every parent in here has thought about Like man if I ever lose my child i'd like lose it I lose it Because they mean so much to us you understand especially when you think about an infant who is just you know, just a baby You know, it's it's very grievous. So this is what happened to him He fasted he went in lay all night upon the earth by the way another aspect of this grief is sleeplessness Sleep is another thing that's important to people Right, right like don't mess with my sleeve. I want a sleeve don't bother me when i'm asleep But there's times in the bible and even today where people can be so grieved over a specific event That they actually lose sleep. They can't sleep. They stay up all night Thinking about problems or whatever it may be Goes on to say in verse 17 and the elders of his house arose and went to him and to raise him up from the earth But he would not Neither did he eat bread with them and it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died And the servants of david feared to tell him that the child was dead for they said behold while the child was yet alive We spake unto him and he would not hearken into our voice How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? But when david saw that his servants whispered david perceived that the child was dead Therefore david said unto his servants is the child dead and they said he is dead Then david arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself And changed his apparel and came into the house of the lord and worshipped and he came to his own house And when he required they set bread before him and he did eat now, obviously david is built a little different, right? The dude is just built different Okay, because if it were me i'd still be grieving i'd be grieving probably even more Which obviously david later on with the son absalom when he died he grieved even after his death He grieved when his son forsook him, but he also grieved exceedingly when he was put to death Okay But here he understands well, you know, and we'll see later on he says I shall go to him But he should not return them to me So he understood and he worshipped the lord. He as joe said did not charge god foolishly For that which took place because the child died. Okay. He understood it was because of his sin But the point that i'm trying to make here is that grief and sorrow can often cause natural fasting where you just don't want to eat Okay Go with me if you would to Go to james chapter four james chapter four James chapter number four Now here's a big thing Okay, obviously I mentioned all the health benefits in the beginning of fasting But this next point is not only just the health benefit, but it actually because it's a health benefit will assist you spiritually as well You said I don't know about that. Well understand that we're mind body and spirit folks All of those things are attached one to another Understand so if you want to have a good spiritual life, you got to have a good physical healthy life as well Because they're all attached you need it all in order to function properly and perform at maximum performance as a christian The next one is this fasting in the bible is done to accentuate humility. Okay Now, what does that mean? Well? When you are fasting you're hungry And when you're hungry and you go without eating for a while you become what weak Right become weak. You just become very kind of Just become weak. I don't know how to explain it. You know, you just become kind of vulnerable Well vulnerability leads to humility Because when you're vulnerable you recognize man, you know God can actually like destroy my life or god if you wanted to can make me go without food forever I can die like this, you know god holds my life in his hands You you come to grips with your frailty Because you know sometimes christians or people especially in america They think they got it all down packed Got their bootstrapped and you know, they got their their business or they they're they're working and they're providing And they're doing all these things and they can often think to themselves or by my hand have I gotten these things whereas when you fast You know It actually accentuates humility because it helps you to come to grips with your own frailty and even mortality sometimes Because you recognize i'm not as strong as I thought I was I'm not as fortified or as strong as I thought it was and here's the important thing about this. Okay? If you are a prideful person if you can if you could if you're so, you know If you can admit that you're prideful and recognize your need for humility fasting is a great way to get to that point Why because humility Basically invites the grace of god into your life Look at james 4 verse 6 says But he giveth more grace Wherefore he saith god resisted the proud but giveth grace Unto the humble submit yourselves therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you Draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands You sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded now it's humility in the bible commanded of god for us Yeah, it is, right God commands us to be humble Right. God commands us to read the bible. He commands us to pray he commands us to be humble But you know what can accentuate that humility is fasting It can help place you in a place where you need Basically, it comes it brings you to grips with your own frailty and helps you to be humble Okay, the bible says in psalm 35 turn with me if you would to Go to second chronicles chapter 20 Psalm 35 verse 13 says but as for me When they were sick my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting And my prayer returned into mine own bosom We live in a very fast paced world and when you fast Time actually goes by a lot slower if you've ever fasted for a long period of time, it's just like five hours Two hours is like five hours It's like when is tomorrow gonna come? You're just like man This is hard. Now. Let me give you some practical advice regarding fasting. Okay? If you want to make this a spiritual discipline in your life Don't don't do a cold turkey if you've never done in your life and you eat a lot of junk food Because you will last for about an hour Now if you were not fasting if you were not fasting You would withhold yourself from eating junk food four hours three hours But because mentally, you know, you're fasting Your body's going to tell you you want junk food like right now So in order to kind of ease your way into fasting you gotta first kind of get rid of like other stuff first Okay, like sugar and all that stuff because that will not help you when you fast cold turkey So if you really want to fast where you just like you just go without food And and it's just water and that's what you're doing You kind of have to ease your way into that especially if you're accustomed to eating a lot of junk food Okay If you're into energy drinks and coffee and coca-cola and cupcakes and and you know, uh fries and what else what else we got pizza and Come on, what what? What? Jack in a box Gross You can't fast You don't know how to fast my bro You know, i'm just saying like junk food in general. You kind of have to like Cut through that layer of junk food first because if not, that's gonna pull at you You understand but once you've gotten to that point You know then practice fasting for a meal You know, some people eat three meals a day Maybe you can you can not eat breakfast and then eat at lunch You know practice in that manner and you know if you want to do two or three But what i'm saying is to set yourself up for success You know, don't do a cold turkey now if you're like i'm gonna do a cold turkey or I have at it whatever i'm, just saying if you if you wanna if you want to set yourself up for success and not fail miserably and just be like And then because here's what happens is people like fast And they do it for like two meals and then they just binge eat For the next meal and then they go in deep into sin like deep Then they go to jack in a box Then they do jack in a box and mcdonald's things that they would never thought that they would do before Because of the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet You understand Look at second chronicles 20 verse 1 it says and it came to pass after this also that the children of moab and the children of ammon And with them others beside the ammonites came against jehoshaphat to battle Then there came some that told jehoshaphat saying there cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea On this side syria and behold they be in has on tamar which is in engedi and jehoshaphat fear And look what it says and set himself to seek the lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all judah So this is obviously showing us that he does not fast in times past because now Fear is kind of motivating him to just proclaim a fast not just for himself But for the whole land we see this when jonah goes to Nineveh and the ruler there proclaims a fast throughout all the land For everyone to be in sackcloth. I mean he even made the animals go into sackcloth and ashes, right? What is it fear? Okay Fear can cause you to fast Because again, it's causing you to focus on that which is most important and not worry about Uh the menial things of this world, okay? Go to daniel chapter 9 and Number four fasting is done to produce mental acuity So one thing you'll notice is that if you ever fast for a long period of time for a day Your your your mental health actually improves exceedingly become very clear in your mind Okay, and the reason for that is because when you eat You know all the the the the blood cells they rush to your stomach to go digest the food That's why on thanksgiving We're all gonna knock out afterwards You know, it's not because there's tryptophan in the in the turkey by the way, you know, it used to be like a myth It's like oh there's tryptophan in the turkey. So everyone's getting high off of the turkey I mean there might be like small amounts of tryptophan, but you would have to eat like, uh, uh, Uh in order an amount of turkey to even feel any effects of tryptophan The reason people fall asleep is not because they're they're stoned. Okay It's because they ate a lot It's because it's turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and marshmallow candy yams And what else gravy? And let's pray i'm just kidding, you know, and just all that good stuff And you're just eating eating eating and then you're just like then you go sit on the couch Watching charlie brown christmas and fall asleep Because you're so full What was I talking about Mental acuity, okay So the reason for it is because the blood cells they go to your stomach and they're digesting the food And so it leaves your you know, not all of it, but it leaves some For your it doesn't leave much for your brain and therefore you you get tired. Okay Whereas when you fast all those blood cells stay right there Obviously, they're all over your body, but particularly in your mind and then therefore you receive this clarity You're able to make you're able to think clearly, okay and It's good that when you are feeling like man, my mind is a little foggy I don't feel like I can focus right then you should fast for a little bit Obviously if you meet those requirements of physically fasting because it's good for your brain now There's churches that will tell you if you want the deep truths of god You know, you gotta fast you gotta do the the daniel fast or something As if like not eating is attached to like the holy spirit being able to like teach me something from the bible or something Like oh you're not eating something. Okay. Now i'm going to give you the real deep truths of the word of god That's not what it is at all. Look at daniel chapter 9 verse 1 In the first year of darius the son of ahazurus of the seed of meads Which was made king over the realm of the caldians in the first year of his reign I darius understood by books the number of years I daniel, excuse me understood by books the number of the years where of the word of the lord came to jeremiah The prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of jerusalem and I set my face unto the lord god to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes So in order for him to understand the prophecy of the prophet jeremiah He prays he makes supplication and the bible says that he fasts This doesn't open him to a realm of spiritual understanding what it is it gives his mind more mental clarity Okay That's what it is It gives his mind clarity to actually focus On what he's reading So here's some practical advice for us as christians If you if you're ever reading the bible, you know, you're doing your devotions and you have a hard time focusing Have you ever been there or it's just like I just read the entire chapter. I don't even know what I read That I I can't pay attention to what i'm reading. Well, it's probably because your mind is foggy Either that or you got issues that you're dealing with at that time I'm, not saying you got issues, but i'm saying like there's problems you're dealing with That you can't get your mind off of right? But if you don't have problems, you don't have issues, but your mind is just foggy It maybe would be good for you to fast for a day for a meal in order to give you Give your mind that mental clarity that it needs to focus on god's word So what daniel is doing here is that he's fasting in order for him to seek the lord at his maximum potential You understand so his mind is clear. He can read god's word. He can he can study the prophecy of jeremiah And understand what it's saying, okay And so, you know and obviously This isn't for everyone but it does assist with that. Remember it's an accessory discipline Look you can eat mcdonald's every single day and still understand the word of god Better than some unsaved dude like john macarthur Who's not even saved that guy probably had maybe he has a good diet. I don't know But the guy's not safe so he can't understand god's word So he could be the healthiest dude alive But the guy's unsaved he does not have the holy spirit of truth dwelling within him therefore he's not gonna understand jack squat He's not gonna understand anything the guy who's pre-diabetic But he's saved and he reads the word of god will understand the word of god more than he can Okay, obviously that's an extreme example But i'm just saying you know a person who is saved who has a bad diet will still understand the word of god more Than an unsafe person Who you know has his ducks in order is a carnivore Or whatever or zonkito, you know, and they they they've got all kinds of mental clarity, but if they're not even saved It doesn't do them any good Better to have both but if you if you have to choose one, obviously just being saved And eating like junk will still you can still understand the word of god better than most people Who are healthy but they're not even saved or they don't even believe in god's word That's that's true. Okay, go to act chapter 13 So daniel understands the prophecy because he fasted and he coupled prayer and supplication with fasting, okay But not only that, you know sometimes fasting because it gives you mental acuity can actually assist you in making good decisions You understand Some people have a hard time making good decisions Especially if it's a major decision that they have to make And it requires prayer supplication and maybe even fasting not because it just catapults you into the spiritual Mindset but just because it gives you mental clarity and acuity. It helps you to think clearly. Okay, look at acts 13 verse 1 Now they were in the church That was at anioc certain prophets and teachers as barnabas and simian. It was called niger and lucius of syrene and mania Manium which had been brought up with herod the tetrarch and saul And as they ministered to the lord and fasted the holy ghost said separate me barnabas and saul for the work were unto I have called them and when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them. They sent them away So they being sent forth by the holy ghost departed into salutia And from thence they sailed to cyprus. So obviously this is a big deal. They're making a big decision. They're appointing leaders They're appointing missionaries And so they they see it as an important thing So therefore they're going to not only pray But they're going to couple that with an accessory discipline such as fasting to make sure that they have good mental judgment when picking leaders understand Look at chapter 14 if you would chapter 14 The bible says in verse 21 and when they had preached the gospel to that city and atop many they returned again to lystra into Iconium and anayoch confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith And that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god And when they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting They commended them to the lord on whom they believed now, obviously they could have done this without fasting Just point leaders based upon their qualifications based upon their judgment But they use this accessory discipline Of fasting to kind of assist in that area to just make it a little make that judgment a little better you understand Go to matthew 17 and we're done here because i'm hungry By the way, you know before jesus really started his ministry he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights as he's going Spiritual battle with satan you understand And so, you know, obviously he's the son of god So that's why he did 40 days and 40 nights and that is an isolated incident But it goes to show you that it's obviously coupled with prayer in order to assist in that area Now in matthew 17, we run into this very interesting unique story of someone being demon possessed And the disciples although they had authority over demons and these devils were not able to cast them out And jesus says in verse 21, how be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting it's pretty interesting statement now Don't misunderstand what this is saying because we can't necessarily Apply this particular situation to ourselves because we don't cast out devils This isn't a charismatic pentecostal church folks where we slap you on the forehead. We might slap you on the forehead You know to cast you out But not to cast out a demon out of you or something like that you understand This is obviously something that was isolating unique to the apostles who were given The spiritual authority to be able to cast out devils and demons But it's applicable for us because of the fact that when he says how be it this kind goeth not out But by prayer and fasting he's not saying hey if you want to cast out some crazy demons if you want to get like legion Out you don't only need prayer you need fasting as well It's not what it's saying at all because look what it says in verse 19 Then came the disciples to jesus apart and said why could we not cast him out? Notice he didn't say because you didn't pray and fast That's not what he said, right? He didn't say because you just guys just love food too much You guys can't seem to go without a meal And therefore you couldn't cast out this devil No, he said and jesus said unto them because of your unbelief For verily I say unto you if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed Ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place And it shall remove And nothing shall be impossible unto you So the main factor that we see here the problem the reason they couldn't cast out the devil was not because they didn't fast It's because of their own belief They lacked faith Okay, you said what does fasting have to do with it then? Well, if fasting is an accessory discipline to prayer Think about this in order to increase our faith. We have to pray But in order to pray to increase our faith an accessory discipline that helps with that is fasting So you pray to increase your faith, but in order to pray with intensity and seriousness and severity To increase our faith. It's good to add that accessory discipline of fasting in order to Help us pray more for us to have more faith That's what it is. Because if that wasn't the case, then you know, he would have told them you should have fasted Should have just fasted if you would have fasted you would have been able to cast out that demon But that's not what he says because of your unbelief so the last thing is this folks is that Fasting helps assist you in your prayer life so you can increase your faith if you're lacking faith Whether it's because you lack faith in god that he can provide for you. You're lacking faith to to to Stand for truth or whatever it may be that that you need to step out in faith in Maybe you need to increase your prayer life a little bit to increase your faith and one thing that helps boost that is fasting Fast for a meal fast for two meals fast for three if you obviously are physically capable of doing so But I do want to emphasize this You don't have to do it to be a great christian So this isn't a sermon condemning if you walk away and say that was a great sermon But I probably will never fast ever in my entire life You know I'm going to jack in the box or you know, i'm gonna i'm gonna keep doing what I do That's on you. I mean, it's not you can still be a great christian You can still win souls to christ You can still earn a ton of rewards at the judgment seat of christ. You can read your bible understand the deep things of god You know, you can understand end times bible prophecy and still pull out great truths from it You can still Live a holy acceptable life unto the lord All the days of your life if you choose not to fast but If you want to just add a little bit to that That accessory discipline does help It does help. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for this day. Thank you for The concept of fasting lord and of course the most important element of these two is is prayer And that's a non-negotiable Prayer bible reading and church attendance is they're non-negotiables in the christian life These other accessories you provide for us just kind of accentuate uh those The results of those disciplines lord and I pray you help us to to apply them to our lives lord And never have this fair say goal holier than thou hyper spiritual attitude regarding the accessories of the christian life In jesus name we pray. Amen