I am getting blind as a bat. Without those lights, I couldn't see the scriptures, so. Maybe I need new glasses. I don't have them with me, that's part of my problem. Well, let's begin with a word of prayer as we come to our time of worship in the word of God. Father in heaven, we thank you for your eternal word. We thank you that this word, the written word, was planned every dot and pen stroke from all eternity. It was designed by your infinite wisdom to meet every spiritual need of every Christian, of every culture, in every age, in every era, so that your word is truly sufficient for salvation all godliness and divine wisdom which you have imparted to us, so that nothing that you would have us to know is missing. Nothing is obscured which you want us to know that we cannot discover in your word. We thank you also that we are told by the Spirit through Paul that all Scripture is not only breathed out by the Holy Spirit, who oversaw the writing of all of Scripture through the Scripture writers, to not only guard it from error, but to infuse it with all the truth you want in it, to sanctify, to save. And because of that, Paul also tells us that all of Scripture is profitable. When we hear your word, Lord, may we cling to every bit of it. Because every piece of your word shows us better who you are. It shows us more clearly your will for our lives. It teaches us how to think, how to live, how to function in this world. And it matters. It matters with real, earthly, and eternal dividends. that we know you and know your truth. Father, as we are coming to our second week looking at this issue of fasting, would you just stir us to delight in what we learn about you today and to see the importance of this practice. what it is and what it is for and the very spirit and attitude with which we are to approach not just fasting but all of our service to you and all of our ministry to you and to the body. Show us also the great reward, the great purpose for fasting. And may that also be used, the truths of it, to help us to understand more clearly. with great conviction that will bear fruit in our actions and our thinking of what and how and the purpose and the reward of service, of ministry. And we ask these things in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, again, this week we come to week two in our consideration together of Jesus' teaching on biblical fasting, and our main text for today is Matthew chapter 6 and verses 16 to 18. Matthew chapter 6 and verses 16 to 18. As we turn in our Bibles to that text, let me just remind you a little bit of what we saw last week from our passage, and then I want to give you a little bit of a basic roadmap for where we will be headed in our study on biblical fasting this morning. And so first of all, just a brief review of where we were last week. Last week we saw together that biblical fasting is a practice which Jesus expects of his people. We see this in how it begins in verses 16 and 17, when he says at the beginning of verse 16, whenever you fast, and at the beginning of verse 17, but you, when you fast, And so fasting is expected by our Lord of his people. And we saw together that fasting is not about the ritual of it, and we'll cover more of that today. It really is about setting aside everything in order to focus our attention, our prayers, our worship, and our thoughts entirely upon God and our fellowship with him. And food is probably among the most basic of distractions. And we saw together that the reasons for fasting are primarily fourfold. Number one, we are to fast during times of intense sorrow and mourning over our sin. Sorrow and mourning over our sin. Number two, we saw together that we are to fast whenever we are seeking God's will and direction for our lives, for his calling on our lives, for the church. Number three, we saw that we are to fast during times of great trial and difficulty. And then number four, we are to fast simply out of holy affection for God, out of a longing for these times of intense, focused, private sessions of prayer and fellowship with the living God. It's not that we can never have morning tea and something while we're reading the Word, but the point is we need those times when we're just sort of setting aside all distractions so that we're completely focused upon the Lord. Interestingly enough, other than that, the Bible doesn't give any further requirements for the Christian as to when we are to fast, how often we are to fast, how long we are to fast, or what restrictions we may place upon ourselves when we fast. That was last week. And now the roadmap for this morning. This morning we are going to examine together two principles of fasting which Jesus gives to us here in verses 16 to 18 of Matthew chapter six. And we're going to look together at number one, the spirit or the attitude or the motivation for fasting. And then number two, we're going to look together at the reward of fasting. We're just going to sort of weave those principles together. And as we look at these two principles, my prayer for us is that we would recognize then also how these principles of fasting might also be applied very appropriately to other areas of life and ministry. So we're gonna look at the spirit of fasting and then the reward of fasting. How should we approach fasting? What should be our thoughts and our perspectives? And what is the reward, what are the benefits that we should expect from our fasting together? So those are the two main goals, the spirit of fasting and the reward of fasting. And we're gonna see these two goals in Jesus' description of how not to fast, as the Pharisees fasted, and how God would have us to fast. We're gonna look at the spirit and the reward of fasting in these two categories of how not to fast and how to fast. T-O-F-A-S-T, not T-O-O-F-A-S-T. To fast, how we are to fast. So with those goals in mind, let's read our three verses for this morning. Jesus says, whenever you fast, and again notice the assumption of fasting. And here's what not to do in fasting. Here's the wrong spirit and the wrong reason to fast. When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance. And what reward are they seeking? Why are they fasting? Well, Jesus tells us, so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly, Jesus said, they have their reward in full. But then verses 17 and 18, Jesus now tells us the right way to fast. But when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face, and what should be the benefit or the reward that we're seeking? Well, Jesus tells us in verse 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. Now again, just by way of reminder, notice to whom Jesus is speaking. He is not speaking directly here to the Pharisees. who used fasting as one of many means by which they attempted to boast of their own righteousness before men and to gain the applause and approval of men. And he is certainly here not speaking to unbelievers. An unbeliever has no part in the joy and the fasting and the purposes of fasting. So all of the fasting that takes place in all of the pagan and false religions and among the false converts of the world have no effect, no impact, no meaning whatsoever. They can't enjoy the benefits and the reason for genuine fasting before the Lord. This is exclusively for believers. Unless, of course, that unbeliever then, by God's grace, comes to faith and through mourning and repentance, like the people of Nineveh, in their response to Jonah's teaching, they did fast, but it was a mourning unto faith. That is a reason for a sinner to fast and to mourn. No, Jesus here is speaking directly to the Christian. And he is speaking to those whose faith is already in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in both his death and his resurrection for eternal life. And he is saying then to all of you who are in Christ, this isn't how you fast, verse 16, but this is how you fast in verses 17 and 18. Now again, last week we did a survey of scripture in order to understand why we are to fast, and we saw that fasting is not some mystical ritual. It is only a means to an end. It is one way of giving our full attention to God and to God alone, and that is the purpose and meaning of fasting. Now let's look together at the spirit, the motives, the reasons which should accompany our fasting, and let's begin by looking first at the wrong reasons, the wrong motives for fasting in verse 16. This is where Jesus begins. Whenever you fast, he says in verse 16, 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. Now notice here this word fasting. It is the Greek word, which sounds very much like our English word, hypocrites, excuse me, the word for hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites. This is a word which comes to us into English directly from the world of the ancient theater. The Greeks and the Romans loved their theatrical performances. This is one of the main reasons why there are these massive stone and marble amphitheaters which we find sprinkled all throughout the Roman Empire, the remains and the ruins of these Greco-Roman cities. We find major amphitheaters in most of them. Yes, they used them for civic gatherings. They used them sometimes for gladiators. But the main point of these amphitheaters, especially the semi-circular ones, were for musical performances and for the theater. And this word, Hippocrates, literally means a play actor. In fact, it is related to the word for the masks which the actors used to wear on the stage. In modern day, the tendency for actors and actresses on the stage is to put on, if you will, too much makeup, to really overdo the makeup, so that you can see the expressions as best as possible from the audience. And it's interesting that when motion pictures began a number of about over a hundred years ago now, they brought that heavy makeup into the early movies, which is why when you watch the older movies, they're really slathered on with the makeup. And then they learned to do away with that. But in the ancient Greco-Roman theater, what you typically had were these masks that you would hold up in front of your face. You had the sad mask, right? The angry mask. You had the happy mask. You've seen probably pictures of those masks before. The idea then of the hypocrite is someone who is a play actor wearing a mask in order to appear different from who they really are. And boy, did the Pharisees ever play act when they engaged in their fasting. We look at historical records and Jesus here tells us they put on gloomy faces, they neglect their appearance in order to receive the sympathy and the praise of men. Historical records outside the Bible tell us that the Pharisees would wear soiled and tattered old clothes. They would deliberately mess up their hair. They would cover themselves with dirt and ashes. Some Pharisees even went so far as to put on makeup in order to make their faces look ashen and sunken, to make them look hungry and weak. It was a whole theatrical show. Their selfish pride was to draw the sympathy of men so that they might commend them for their religious devotion. They delighted in keeping up spiritual appearances. Their ego was large, and their love was pointed inward upon themselves, and they were really ignorers of the two great commandments to love God first with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others second as even you love yourself. So they did their religious deeds in order to gain rewards not from God, but to receive the applause and the praise of men. As Jesus would later say to the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23, verses 5 to 7, but they do all their deeds to be noticed by men. For they broaden their phylacteries and they lengthen the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues. and respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by men. You know, the phylacteries were those leather square boxes that they would roll up scripture and put them into those little boxes and they would typically attach one box to their forehead, which had four compartments, and a second box with one compartment to their left forearm. And they would wear these during weekday morning prayers. And they would make these, even though the Bible never requires them, they would make these phylacteries big and wide. They would broaden them, perhaps to impress other men, to perhaps imply that they were carrying more scripture around with them. This all harkens back to when the Lord originally told the people of Israel, when you go out of your house, when you come in, when you lie down, when you stand up, go forth with the word of God. But instead of going out into the world to work and to witness and coming home and bringing your faith back into your home, instead of falling asleep in prayer and thoughts of the Word of God on your mind, instead of waking up in the morning to go about the Lord's business, they just sort of tied boxes to their heads and to their arms. That's how they took those scriptures literally. Take the Bible with you wherever you go. They would broaden their phylacteries, make the boxes wider so that men would be impressed with their devotion to the Word. It's a bit like carrying a Bible which you don't read, but which you lug around for show so that others think you're spiritual. Dear beloved, if you carry the sword, make sure you know how to use the sword, and not for show, but for God's glory and for the blessing of men. The tassels, to which Jesus was referring, was attached to the four corners of their prayer shawls. Those tassels were made of four cords, and each of those four cords was intertwined with individual threads. Each tassel had these cords, and eight threads per these cords, and they would tie these ropes in them, and sometimes they were pure white, other times they were white and blue, and they would just sort of lengthen these tassels. A little bit like carrying around rosary beads. I pray. And they would make sure their garments sort of expressed their great religiosity before other men. The attention he said to them, the greetings, the praise, the admiration, the applause, the places of honor, that's what the religious hypocrites want. They come to church for show. You remember Jesus' parable of the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector, you remember that? Luke chapter 18. Listen to how Jesus describes this arrogant pride of this hypocritical Pharisee, Luke 18, 11. The Pharisee stood and was praying to himself. That's an interesting way he puts that. He's praying to himself, God. I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like the tax collector, who's right next to him, I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I get. Now mind you, not that it's wrong to fast twice a week, or to pay tithes of all that you get, that's good, but really, for the Pharisees, the fasting twice a week was really about legalism and showmanship. Why? Why did they fast twice a week? You ever wonder about that? Well, there was a reason for it. Because the major Jewish food markets were open twice a week. And that's when everybody gathered and bought their food. And those are the days the Pharisees showed up all decked out with their makeup and hair tussled and ripped clothes. They'd walk among the people who were buying their food and showing, oh, we're doing without food. Can you picture the scene? So Jesus assures us here in this verse that those hypocritical displays of religiosity will not be rewarded by God. People might think highly of you. They might think, oh, that guy's really suffering. He's really all in. Truly, Jesus says, I say to you, they have their reward in, what? Full. In other words, that's all the reward they're gonna get, is the praise of men. So if your motive for fasting or doing any service or ministry is that men might see that and praise you, but there's no true heart devotion and love for God himself and love for men, then it's worthless. For the unbeliever, this kind of hypocritical service might very well be a sign, a clear sign of their lost condition. There's no love for God, there's no love for men, no thought of actual righteousness, no thought of what they can give, but only what they can get. Jesus again spoke of such men in Matthew 23, 27. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs on the outside, which appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. They looked impressive on the outside, but in the middle they were full of death and corruption and unbelief. There are many people who serve in churches in different capacities throughout the centuries who had no true faith in Christ, no true life. On the inside, it's dead. It's a little bit like biting into a strawberry and finding half a worm. And I say strawberry and not apple because that's exactly what happened to Kimberly one time. She'll share that with you. By the way, she was expecting and already struggling with morning sickness, and so biting into this beautiful red strawberry and finding a remaining half a worm was not exactly conducive to a settled stomach. So the dead man's bones is the corruption of the sin of the Pharisees, of their hypocrisy on the inside, and Jesus says to them, woe to you, God's curse be upon you for your empty, dead, hypocritical, self-centered man-pleasing worship and efforts. And that goes from the pulpit right on down through the whole church. So it clearly is a problem for the unbeliever. But even a genuine Christian can also struggle with seasons of spiritual pride from time to time, and to one degree or another. And he can be guilty of serving the church even with selfish motives. You know, look at me, look how good a job I'm doing. Look at me, I'm serving, where is everybody else? Sometimes there's a flash of pride for which we must repent. And so this instruction of Jesus is not actually aimed directly at the Pharisees who surely would have overheard this. It is aimed at you and me who are in Christ. It has an evangelistic purpose in the sense that it was a stark revelation, a critique, a condemnation of the false religionists. But it is also a reminder to those who are truly in Christ that we keep a watch and eye on our motives when we're serving. None of us has pure motives all the time, and don't think you do. I know I don't. I don't think there's ever been a believer other than Christ himself who has ever been driven by pure motives all the time. This is why we need to be constantly evaluating ourselves to see what's driving us in what we do for God and for others. Now, and this is critical, some have wrongly concluded that fasting is a means of getting through to God. I've heard people say this, this is a means of breaking through to God. You ever heard anyone say that? Or something like that? As if by fasting you're impressing God with your sacrificial devotion. As if fasting were some religious ritual by which we impress God and convince him and stir him to action. as if fasting were some supernatural ceremony which must be performed in order to awaken God from slumber. And you could have this attitude about fasting, or prayer, or scripture study, or any other kind of service, or worship, or devotion. The idea that God is somehow hard of hearing. or stubborn or slow to respond or indifferent to his people, as if we need to get his attention by means of some sacred routine. Dear beloved, as I hope to demonstrate for you in a moment, that's paganism, that's not Christianity. Those are the characteristics of man-made idols. What an insult to God that is. That's not the point of fasting, as if fasting were some means of getting God to do something. As if fasting were some special ceremony which activates God or draws us closer to Him in and of itself. Again, that's pure paganism. Fasting isn't about any of that. In fact, fasting has in and of itself no spiritual power. In fact, fasting isn't really about fasting. Fasting doesn't give you any added insight. Fasting doesn't heighten your spiritual awareness. Fasting doesn't give you greater revelation. Fasting doesn't open the windows of heaven. Fasting doesn't draw you closer to God. Fasting doesn't give you greater access to God. Fasting doesn't pique God's interest. Fasting doesn't impress God. Fasting doesn't provoke God to respond. Listen, it is we whom God must stir up. It is we who are slow to hear. It is we who are stubborn and lazy. It is we who are distracted. God is perfectly and infinitely aware of all things. God is never distracted or lazy or slumbering or indifferent or unaware. In fact, the idea of awakening God is the very insult which the prophet Elijah dished out to the pagan priests of Baal. Do you remember that? Let's see that. Now, I want you to see this, because we're going to be in several verses here. 1 Kings chapter 17. 1 Kings chapter 17. Here, the wicked king Ahab is on the throne of the northern kingdom of Israel. There had been a division in the kingdom of Israel after Solomon split into the northern and southern kingdoms, and they have never reunited since that time. So there were two different kings, one in the southern kingdom known as Judah, and one in the northern kingdom known as Israel. And every single king of the northern kingdom was a wicked king. And among the wicked kings, perhaps the wickedest king was Ahab. What a wicked, wicked man. And he had married, perhaps, if anything, an even more wicked wife, a woman by the name of Jezebel, who was the daughter of the pagan king of Tyre. And it is actually she, Jezebel, who championed, devilishly so, the promoting of Baal worship in Israel. And so, as means of discipline and punishment, God had brought a severe drought upon the land because of the idolatry and the immorality of the people of Israel. And so, we meet Elijah in 1 Kings 17.1. This is the first verse where you meet Elijah in Scripture. And we read there, now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. There's no actual time frame given for how long this drought will last. Elijah just says, by the word of the Lord, it's not going to rain again until I say so. And then in order to keep Elijah safe from Ahab, God sends Elijah away. We read this in verses two to four. The word of the Lord then came to Elijah saying, go away from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. It will be for you that you will drink from the brook and I have commanded the ravens to provide food for you there. And so Elijah goes to the brook Cherith, and remember that the Lord provided for Elijah there for some time until the brook finally dried up, and then he sent Elijah to a widow and her son in the village of Zarephath. Remember that? You remember how the Lord miraculously kept her and her son and Elijah alive by refilling the flour and the oil during this time of famine? You remember how the boy had died and was miraculously raised by God again? through Elijah. But then came the time for the end of the famine, and we pick it up in chapter 18, verse one. Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the face of the earth. Let's go to verse 17 now. Now here's where Elijah comes and visits Ahab again. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, is this you? You troubler of Israel, it's your fault we haven't had rain all these years. Elijah responds in verse 18, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have forsaken the commandment of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. Now Jezebel had tried to wipe out all the priests of Israel. One particular priest actually hid a number of the true priests of Israel. But Jezebel had set up 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Remember her, the sister of Baal who was the goddess of immorality? We talked about her last week. So here's what takes place. When Ahab saw him, he says, you trouble of Israel? Elijah says, you're the trouble of Israel, you follow the Baals. Now here's the call of Elijah. Now then, send and gather to meet all Israel at Mount Carmel, not Caramel, Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table. So they actually, these men, fasted or feasted with her every day. So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. I should say whenever they gathered. Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal, follow him. But the people did not answer him a word. This is the stubbornness of unbelief. It does not respond to the call unless God works. Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left among the prophet, left a prophet of the Lord. And he didn't know about some of the priests being still alive. But Baal's prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen. Let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up and place it on the wood and put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other oxen and lay it on the wood and I will not put fire under it. Then you shall call, you guys shall call on the name of your God and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire, he is God. And all the people said, well, that's a good idea. So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one ox for yourself, prepare it. First, for you are many and call in the name of your God and put no fire under it. Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called in the name of Baal from morning until noon. That's from 6 a.m. to afternoon, that's six hours. They're dancing around this altar crying out, oh Baal, answer us, right? They were trying to break through to their deity through their religious activities. The text goes on to say, but there was no voice, no one answered. They leaped about at the altar which they had made. It came about at noon that Elijah began to mock them. And here's what he says. This is the point I was getting at. Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god. Either he's occupied, which could be translated, by the way, in the Hebrew, he's using the bathroom or he's gone aside, or he's on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep and needs to be awakened. This is one problem with this view of fasting. It's a wrong view of God to believe that fasting will produce in him some awakening. And so we read in verse 28, they cried out with a loud voice. They even began to cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood was gushing out of them. You know, God likes that kind of thing. When midday was passed, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. That's the false god of pagan worship and pagan ritual and pagan fasts. When it's Elijah's turn, You remember they covered the altar with three pitchers of water, so it was running even around trenches, which Elijah had them build, so it was just soaking wet. Elijah prayed how many times? Once. He prayed once, and at that moment, fire fell from heaven, consuming the offering, the stones, and the water. Dear beloved, you don't need to break through to God. If you're in Christ, you're already at the throne of grace. God knows all things. He's perfectly aware of all things at all times. He knows your every thought before you ever think it. He knows your every word before you ever speak it. He knows your every need before you know it. And if you are His redeemed child, and if your hope and faith are in Christ alone, then there is no need for a spiritual breakthrough. You already have access to the full throne of grace through Jesus Christ, and He perfectly loves and cares for you. You are His precious child. You are the apple of his eye. The love he has set upon you is unconditional and nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So if you ever feel that God is distant, it could very well be correctional upon you. Remember David, when he wouldn't confess his sin, God felt far away? But the breakthrough was not the need for him to get through to God, but for God to get through to him. So he allowed David to experience a season of what it feels like as if you can't get through to God, but he knows everything that's going on, God does. He knows David's heart, he knows his mind, he knows his thinking, he's fully aware of everything that's going on. but he's silent, not because he doesn't hear God, not because God doesn't understand, not because God doesn't care, but because he loved David. He brought him through this desert season spiritually until finally David cried out and repented and said, against thee and thee alone I have sinned. And then God again then opened the windows of heaven. He began to, you remember again, speak to him through the word of God. And David was reassured that the eyes of God were upon him. And he stirred again in David's heart the praise and the worship. It's we that need to be broken through to, not the other way around. And when God brings these seasons for various purposes in our lives, as he did with David in withholding the joy of fellowship, in closing up the scriptures, in making David feel remote and isolated from God, Hebrews 12, six says this, for those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, he scourges every son whom he receives. But if you are without discipline, then you are illegitimate and not children and not sons. And so listen. The point of fasting isn't about showing off to men. It isn't about impressing God. It isn't about breaking through to God. It isn't some ritual that causes spiritual things to happen. It is much simpler than that. It is very simply about undistracted, undivided, concentrated, focused prayer and worship. It's that simple. It's not hocus-pocus. It's setting aside everything in order to fix your attention fully upon the Lord. In fact, it's interesting, every time in Scripture that fasting is spoken of, it's accompanied by prayer. And can I say this? It's not about the fasting, it's about the prayer. It's about setting aside everything, all distractions, even some basic needs for a temporary season of single-minded preoccupation with God and God alone. And it is in rather not the fasting, but the season of focused prayer, and the season of time meditating on the scriptures, and the hours of concentrated praise, and in those periods of intense fellowship with God, this time which may involve repentance, or seeking God's direction, or provision, or protection, or just a very special treasured time of deep fellowship with just you and God, or you and a group of fellow believers. And fasting is just a means to that end. It is not an end in and of itself. Because the intention of the fast should be to remove every earthly distraction which might draw away your attention from God during these seasons, these significant times of you and God. And eating is a basic distraction of life. It's not wrong, it's not sinful. But I've often noticed that during a day, how much precious, wonderful, sacrificial time my lovely wife spends literally, well, shopping, preparing, and then us eating, and then cleaning up. And you do that three times a day? Not that that's wrong, we need to eat or we're all what? Dead, right? There's seasons for this. You need to be wise and reasonable. But think of how much time is taken out of the day for this. And the point of this is that we might concentrate our attention fully upon God. And it's the focus on God, and the prayer, and the praise, and the worship, and the study of the word, and the searching of your heart before God, that brings the transformation. And the fasting is just a means to that concentration. In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul even mentions couples refraining for a brief season from marital intimacy so that they might, by agreement I might add, devote themselves to a season of prayer. That's another distraction. Not that it's bad for a husband and wife, but they even set aside marital intimacy for a time agreed upon to pray and focus their attention upon God And then they were to come together again, the Bible says. The same idea about fasting. It's about the focused prayer, the undistracted study, the singular worship, the concentrated fellowship with God, wherein you will be richly blessed. Not in the fasting itself. In fact, I think, without even thinking about it, probably many of us here just sort of do that anyway when we study the Bible. I'm not saying it's wrong. The Bible doesn't say it's wrong to have My old British days came back to my thinking, a scone and a cup of tea while you're reading the scriptures. It's not that that's de facto evil in and of itself, it's just that there is something very precious about just setting aside the distractions. You know, recent studies of new employees at corporations have revealed that the younger employees, they keep their cell phone open and on all the time, sitting in front of them while they work. Constantly distracted. The idea then is putting aside everything, everything which could potentially distract your thinking and focusing entirely upon God. Now, what are the right motives for fasting? I think we've already touched on that a little bit, but look at verse 17 and 18. But when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret, sees what is done in secret, will reward you. First of all, we are clearly to have those times of private worship and fellowship with God, and we're to have those times by ourselves, with our spouses, with our family. We can have them even with groups of believers, even with the whole church, as we saw last week. But the purpose of it is so that we might devote ourselves to prayer and to worship. We aren't to do this for self-righteous show. We aren't trying to impress one another or impress God. Because when we do that, it loses all value. We lose all reward. Because you're not fasting in order to pray. You're not fasting in order to praise the Lord. You're not fasting in order to search out the scriptures. You're not fasting to deal with your sin. You're not fasting to seek God's direction in your life. You're fasting to gain men's approval. And there's no reward for that. There is reward, however, with unbroken prayer, and undistracted study, and focused praise, and concentrated fellowship with God. Can you see that? That's the reward and what comes out of that. The prayer, the praise, the fellowship, the study. That produces the blessing. And the fasting is a means to that end. In fact, Jesus goes on to say, we're to anoint our head and wash our face, or the modern day equivalent might be, take a shower, for crying out loud, wear your best clothes, not to impress people, and put on some cologne or perfume, so that you don't distress the people that are around you. And just rejoice. Now, when it comes to ministry, first of all, we are to try to be as private as possible. We're not to do it for show. Jesus said this about our giving. He says in verses three and four, when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that in your giving, it will be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will be done, or what is done in secret will reward you. He says this about our prayer, verse six, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And this entire truth was summarized by Jesus, you remember, in verse one of chapter six. It begins this whole section, look at that there, chapter six, verse one of Matthew, beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Be as private as possible. Now, Jesus is not saying that we should never be seen by men when we are ministering to others or serving God in some way. Oftentimes, it's truly unavoidable. And we're called every week to faithfully gather for corporate prayer, praise, and worship, right? Preaching's a pretty public deal. It's not that we're not, Jesus isn't saying don't pray in front of other people. Jesus isn't saying don't ever walk up to a homeless person, share the gospel with them, and buy them a meal, because they're going to see you doing it. He's not saying be so private that you become a hermit and you lock yourself away. So could I say this? That your goal is to be as private as possible so that when you're praying, yeah, go alone into your closet, when you're giving, try to be as secretive as possible. But when your ministry has to be public, and it should be, and it must be at times, Not in the recesses of your closet, but in the recesses of your heart. Seek by God's grace to do that with humility. And the God who sees you in the secret of your closet and who sees the counsel of your own heart, the humility of your own heart, if it's public ministry, will see that. And if the heart is right and the motives are right, he will reward that. So you see that principle. Jesus said in Matthew 5.16, for public ministry's sake, let your light shine before men in such a good way, or in such a way that they may see your good works. It's interesting, because elsewhere he said, don't do your works to be seen by men. And he means in the prideful, arrogant, self-righteous sense of the Pharisees. But for the ministry you must do in the presence of men, he says, let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and what? Glorify your Father who is in heaven. So when we do public ministry, there needs to be this prayer, this constant check on our motives and what we're doing. If it is a very public service in some way, to make sure that the goal is the glory and honor of God and the blessing of other people. Sometimes you'll be right in the middle of humbly serving God and others, and your pride will rise up right in the middle of that. and you might need a moment of humble repentance. Quietly, Lord, forgive me for that. Let me remember this is for your glory. This is for the blessing of others. So, be as private as possible when you fast, when you give, when you pray, when you worship, unless there is, this is a time of public ministry. And when you fast, don't do it as a ritual, don't do it to impress God or men, don't do it to break through to God. He's not gonna be impressed. He already hears you. Do so in order not to break through to God, but to break you. You see that? To bring you to humility and joy and fellowship with God. So that fasting is a means to the end, not as the end in and of itself. And God who sees in private will reward you in ways that befits your faithfulness. Some of those rewards won't be enjoyed until the fullness of glory when we are with Christ. Some of them will bear fruit in this life. But it will be the prayer, the praise, the study, the mourning, the seeking, the delighting in God. and especially without distraction for a season that will be the fruit, that will bear the fruit that you're desiring. The great reward and the greatest reward will be to know God better, to spend more time with him, to deepen your devotion to him, to stir your love for him all the more, to walk with him more closely, to know him better, to serve him more faithfully, to be a more bold witness, to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's what this is all about. That's the reward of fasting. to provide times of focus, prayer, praise, study, fellowship with God. Be as private as possible, but when you are in public, don't make a show of it, do it so that God would be glorified. Don't be embarrassed to serve, just love, love God and love others. Yes, put on your best clothes for God's glory, dab on some cologne and perfume, not for show, but rejoice and do so with joy. It's interesting. In Philippians chapter two, you might want to read that section. In verses 17 and 18, Paul was talking about his own sacrificial service, his own pouring out of himself, he says, in ministry for the faith of the Philippian Christians. And he says there that he did that Not like the Pharisees who put on the gloomy faces. He says he did that sacrificial service with joy and rejoicing. And then he says to them in verse 18, join me in sacrificial service to others and do it with joy and do it with rejoicing. I think for many evangelical Christians in our Western comforts, if we were thrown in prison for our faith, we would be bemoaning ourselves. Instead of like Paul in the Philippian jail, chained to the lower parts of the prison. And what were they doing? Singing praise to God. Paul says, when you do your sacrificial service, don't do it with pride. Don't do it to impress God. Don't do it moaning and groaning. Do it for the glory of God and the love of God. Do it for the blessing and the love of others. and do it with joy, do it with rejoicing. We're here to glorify God, dear beloved. We're here to serve one another, not to parade our spirituality in front of each other. We are here to demonstrate our love to God and to others. And so in closing, I would ask you, first of all, do you deliberately have these times of concentrated prayer study, praise, repentance, and fellowship with God. Do you? Do you search out the scriptures? Do you bow your hearts in prayer? Do you lift your voices in praise? Do you mourn over your sin? Do you fellowship with God? alone with the church? Is this your life? No one can see this but you and God alone. What is your life away from the fellowship? Do you have these regular seasons? Jesus prayed constantly. He went away for whole evenings to pray. Can I say this? If Jesus needed it, I know we do. Is your life marked, maybe not by daily fasting, is your life marked by daily searching Him in the Word? Is your life marked by daily times of devoted prayer? I don't mean just before the meal or you start your day. I mean, is there a season of devoted prayer? Is your life marked by times of daily thanksgiving and praise to God? Is your life marked daily by a time of mourning over your sin and over the sins of the world and by repentance? Are your days marked daily with a season, a time of sweet fellowship with the Father through Christ in the Spirit? And are you doing the steps that are necessary to make sure you have those times? Is this you? Let's pray. Father in heaven, let us See and understand with deep conviction by your word and your spirit the greatness of our God. The glory, the wonder, the magnificence, the majesty, the perfections, the delight, the joys, the satisfaction of the one true only and living God of the universe is our delight in you, truly. Not just we say it, is it? Is Jesus really our first love? Is that revealed to be true by our devotion to studying your word, to seasons of prayer, to times of real praise? the times of mourning and repentance, the times of delightful fellowship with you, not to impress you, not to show off to men, not to broadcast that and to strut around like the Pharisees, but simply because we delight in you and we long to be conformed to Christ and we want to worship you better and we want to honor you and we want to obey you. you're worthy. May our lives individually and as a church scream to the world, you are worthy. No matter what all the other churches are doing, the denominations, the world, we take our standard and our marching orders not from the community and evangelicalism around us, but we take our marching orders from the Savior before whom we will give account of our lives, when nothing about our community, or evangelicalism, or the denomination, or other churches, or what other Christians are doing, will matter one bit. It will be us and Jesus, and were we faithful. Oh God, work this in our lives, and whatever sin might be interfering, may we mourn and repent, may we deal with our iniquities, may we set aside the distractions, may we make sure that we are having those deliberate, faithful seasons of focused, concentrated fellowship with you. And then you will break through to us. Then we will be prepared. Then we will know real power. Then we will have the words to speak. Then we will know wisdom. Then we will know deeper the truth we came to know when we trusted Christ, for the truth sets us free. Let us not make the standards of our life based on the culture, the era, the region we live in, so that we're not testing ourselves against other men, but against Jesus and what He most sweetly and gloriously calls us to, this glorious, beautiful, mind-renewing, life-transforming fellowship. And we plead this in Jesus' name, who gave us these commands. In His name we pray, Amen.