Please open your Bibles in Esther 4, verses 13 till 17. Esther 4. So we've heard Mr. McLeod's topic this morning, in which he put the dilemma in front of us, and here is going to be the answer. The answer to the dilemma. We are going to look at it, the first part of it. So Esther 4, 13 till 17. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, Then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer. Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in unto the king. which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. Let us now come together before the Lord in prayer. Great, glorious God, Father in heaven, We come pleading, pleading with Thee for courage, pleading with Thee for a work in our lives that makes a difference. Heavenly Father, we come here together tonight as a group and we confess as we have just sung, we need Thee, Lord. We need Thee every hour, every moment, every second of our lives. Without Thee we cannot do anything. And so, Lord, we lift up our eyes and we pray, forgive our sins, wash us in the blood of Jesus Christ, exalt Christ tonight in hearts and lives and futures and eternity. Lord, let thy kingdom come. Let thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Also tonight. And so, Lord, help us in speaking and listening. Take away every distraction and take all of our hearts, O Lord, for thyself. For Jesus' sake. Amen. So we read the response of the plea of Esther. Esther had received that question, or what Mordecai said to her, if you do not take action, God will do something from another way. And then she comes with this response in verses 15 and 16, And we are going to look especially at verse 16a. And before I do so, I will start with some facts. As an introduction, some facts about our world. And then I would like to draw your attention to three things. And that's first of all understanding, responding. How are you going to respond? How are we going to respond to the dilemmas of our time? So some facts about our time. How are we going to respond to that? Do we understand the dilemma? Do we then also understand our identity when we respond? And thirdly, and that's the largest part of this topic, do we then also confess and understand our weakness as we venture forth? in the Lord's power. So these are the three things that I want to lay before you, and every point that I've given to you, you can say, I shortly introduce it with Esther's world, and then I go to your world. And so, basically, these are the sub-points, if you think that's handy for following along. Now, I said some facts, some facts about this world here we live in. First one, abortion. Your world is a world in which abortion happens daily. 150,000 abortions daily. 115,000 daily. Young babies in the womb should be the safest place, voiceless, murdered, sold, as we know, sliced in pieces. Can you make a difference? Can you make a difference? Poverty, another fact. 2012, 13%, 896 million people of the world's population lived at or below $1.90 per day. People not having medical care, having to travel for a long time to get medical attention, Some even never get there because they die on their way because their cure is so bad. Can I make a difference? Can you make a difference? Who cares about their spiritual poverty? Who cares? Do you? Do I? What about evangelism? What about missions? Can you make a difference? Is God calling you to make a difference? Preaching, teaching, evangelizing, missions around the world. Labors are few. The harvest is white and ready. Can you make a difference? So many unreached people. Kingdom of God is going to come. But are you going to make a difference? You go to, perhaps, are you enrolled in for college, to go to college, and there you come. Your teacher is starting to influence you. Not a Christian college teaching you evolution. Here's what some professors said. He was from supposedly a Christian college. He said, most of the 50% of my students who rejected evolution at the beginning of my course accepted it by the end. And my colleagues at other evangelical colleges report similar experiences. Are you going to stand? stand up and say, I disagree. Are you going to make a difference? If you don't, you know, if you compromise there, you know, if you compromise on the first chapters of the Bible, If you compromise on the fact that Adam was an historical figure, or if you compromise on the fact that God created everything in seven days and made it all very good, it's far easier also to compromise on anything what follows. The question comes to you then, is Christ a historical figure? These are the battlegrounds of our day. Another one, religious freedom. I just read before I came here, or a few days before when I was preparing the topic, religious freedom. Washington State, a pharmacist's company, a Christian company, wanting to do the right thing, the Stormont's company basically, and what happened was this. They didn't want to prescribe drugs that induced abortion. And what happened was this, that 2015, the court ruled against their religious concern. They went to the Supreme Court, June 28, 2016. The Supreme Court says, I don't want to listen to your case. I'm not going to defend you on this issue. Religious freedom. What's going to happen? Are you standing with those? Are you able to make a difference? Is the Lord calling you to make a difference for these kind of people? What about sex slavery? Sex trafficking over the world? Countries like India, Little girls are told to have a future in a restaurant and then abused, taken to a city. No clue how to get back. Papers taken away. Western world, boys just luring girls in, lover boys, same thing. Are you going to make a difference for these kind of people? Pornography? The web is full of dirt. Are you going to make a difference? It's the biggest industry on the web. Young man, are you standing? Are you standing? Are you able to stand? Are you able to stand? Not to mention homosexuality. We know the floodgates seem to be open. God's judgment upon a godless culture. And the Bible tells us so clearly, flee sexual immorality. If that's, just before we start, when I just want to introduce this, if that's your problem, if you struggle with sexual immorality, young men, here are men who want to help you, who want to stand alongside of you. Pastors, teachers, elders. Don't struggle alone. So what is your response? What is your response when you just think about these few facts about this world we live in? The question is, can I make a difference? Can you make a difference? How are we going to stand? And so we need to understand this dilemma, just as Esther did, as we heard so clearly. For Esther, it seemed like this is an impossibility. It's impossible to stand against this tidal wave of iniquity. In Esther's day, it seemed like she could choose only for death. to be dead in her culture, just to say nothing, but to be spiritually dead, or to die by the plot of Haman, that she would be found out later, and she would die because they found her out that she would be a Jew, or death by going to the king. In our day, it's not different. When the Lord Jesus comes to you, he says, come, follow me, come after me, take up your cross and follow me. And basically what the Lord Jesus is saying, take up that torture instrument, that one on which I died, take that up and come and die. Die to yourself. Die to your sin. Die to your fears. And experience that I'm real. I'm real. If you want to Keep your life safe tonight and say, I don't want this. I don't want this. This is costing me too much. The shame, perhaps, that you say, okay, when I'm going to stand for abortion, that people even would hate you. Maybe you have been at Peter Boss' workshop. That people are going to hate me. This is too much. How can I impact poverty? How can I stand and be ridiculed concerning evolution or the other things? How can I make a difference? I want to save my life. I want to save my life. And the Lord says, if you do that, you will lose it. You will lose it. You need to stand for me, on my side. Yes. Yes. We are going to be the generation in which these things are becoming increasingly hostile against us and Christians. But are you going to stand? Are you going to respond knowing this is the challenge? And have you, have I, considered the cost? Have you, just as the Lord Jesus said, the man who was going to build a tower, and he was building that tower, and the Lord Jesus says he first needed to do some counting of the cost. Have you been doing that? And say, okay, this means death. Following, being a disciple of Christ. Have you considered it? That's the first way in which we can respond. But that's not all. We need more. That's our second point. Second point is we need to respond with understanding of your identity. And we've touched on it, but let me just highlight just one fact from the book of Esther. There are two names. Esther and Hadassah. Esther was the queen from the Persian Empire, but there's also Hadassah, her Jewish identity. Where is she going to stand with the people of God? Or is she going to stand with the people of the world? This double name tells us something. Do you have a double name too? And which are you choosing? Choose today whom you will serve. In our day, that means then, are we trying to be safe in this world? Trying to be safe in this world? Hiding in the collars of this world? Just like fitting in with this world and nobody notices you? Materialism? Just going for the new thing, newest gadget, newest car, so that you can build up your own ego. And of course, you don't want to take risks. You just want to be certain. And this is what all the advertisements want to tell you. You need to be certain. And you can be certain when you have just this new thing. And so what people do here in the Western world is they insure themselves. I'm not making a statement about insurers, but they insure them from birth to the grave, because that brings certainty. Or, you can hide in the collars of this world, or the second thing you can do is say, okay, I know all these facts in this world, I know the troubles that are in this world, abortion, homosexuality, poverty, sex slavery, pornography, and all the rest. People dying for the name of Christ, I know all that. Persecuted Christians. And you stick your head in the sand like an ostrich. Say, I'm just going for myself. Just want to do what I want. Just, I hide. I just don't listen to these things because they trouble me and I don't know what to do. I just love myself more. I love myself more. Is that safety? If you love your life more, you'll lose it. That's what the Lord Jesus says. It's true. When you stand before that great judgment throne, he will hold you to these words. You know them. You can't escape them. What do you need? You need safety outside of yourself in that judge who's going to judge you that day. Are you going to confess him? Because if you confess him before people, he will confess you that day. So there's the safety in your judge. What do you need then? You need this new identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to die to yourself. You need to know that when you come to faith and repentance in Him, you are united to Him. You become one with Him in His crucifixion. That's where you died. And in His resurrection, that's where you resurrected to a new life. And when you are united to the Lord Jesus Christ in an unbreakable bond, He will bring you to that place too, where He is forever. And so what you need, you need this new identity which Paul is speaking about in Galatians 2 verse 20 when he says, I am crucified with Christ. And then he says, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. So that means you are dead. You're dead. Your lust, your desires, your wants, means you're dead. When you by faith learn to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're dead. You sacrifice everything. to that cross, and to the person and work of Christ. And so it's, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. That's the life, that's the hope, that I'm not my own, right? Heidelberg Catechism. But I belong to my faithful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. No hair can fall from my head without the will of my Heavenly Father. That's safety. That's safety. I'm not my own. So the question comes to you, to whom do you belong tonight? I really want to press this home, answer this before the Lord. To whom do you belong here tonight? It makes all the difference. It makes all the difference for that day, that great day when Christ is coming. And it's going to make all the difference how you are going to stand in this world with these kind of problems. Makes all the difference. You see it in the life of Paul, for instance. He was dying to himself daily. He went through all kind of stuff. 2 Corinthians 6 shows that He went through all difficulties, trials, shipwrecks, and all why He was seeking the kingdom of God. He was taking up His cross. He was bringing the gospel message where the Lord wanted Him to bring it. He died to Himself daily. And He made a difference. a huge difference. Wilberforce made a huge difference too with regard to the abolition of slave trade. He stood. He stood. The Lord used him. He stayed at his place in the parliament, right? He wanted to become a minister, but he stayed where he was. He was faithful, as we've heard so many times already. He was faithful with the gifts that he had, and he went for it. How many people are here? If we would all, by the grace of God, by that renewal of our hearts, be faithful, what an impact could we have? By the grace of God. What an impact! Like Wilberforce, perhaps? Get rid of abortion and all the funding of this murder. So that's what we need to do. We need to respond, we need to understand the challenge, we need to understand our identity. We need this firm identity, otherwise we can't do it. You need Christ. And then, come to our last point, that's responding with understanding of your weakness. In Esther's day, we read then that she, as we turn to the text in Esther 4 verse 15, So that's what she does. She understood her weakness. Now the question is then, what did she do? She fasted. Now commentators have been discussing this about fasting, whether there was prayer included, and I believe so, and most of the commentators say so, because this was an expression of dependence, complete dependence upon the Lord. Fasting is exactly what that is. So this text tells us that she fasted, but we can be quite sure that she pleaded with the Lord, that she prayed. So prayer and fasting were going together here, and that expressed her dependence on the Lord, because we can't do it in our own strength. Never noidni, noid. Sorry about that, that was Dutch. Never, we're never going to do it in our own strength. The method that she used was, she said, okay, you go, the goal is here to the servant, gather together all these people in Shushan and do the same thing. Go gather these people and then we will fast three days, three nights, we don't eat." And what happened? What happened? What a difference did it make? She expressed her dependence upon God and God was going to move things for her. that she never could do. Just let us quickly look at the chapters that follow. She had suddenly permission to approach the king. In chapter five, first eight verses we can read about that. Permission to go to the king. Second, kings can't sleep. Suddenly the king can't sleep and he's tossing and turning as we perhaps did the first night here. And he is remembering, he's remembering Mordecai. Mordecai did something for me. And then Haman comes in, right? Next part of chapter 6, verse 14. And then he has to honor him, and he has to lift him upon an animal, and then just go and honor him, and says, this is what the king wants to do to those who have done great things for him. honor him, fall down before him. There he sits on the animal. Suddenly it's all turned upside down. All the plans of Haman, all the plotting of Haman is turned upside down. Then the banquet, and another banquet, right? And then the victory of the Jews, chapter 8. The victory of the Jews. The king writes another decree. How did that change? Fasting. Praying. Saying, I can't do this. I can't do this. I need you, Lord. Come, help me change this situation. Turn it upside down. That's how it changed. And God moved for his people. God moved for his people. And yes, that was because of the sea that needed to come. Christ needed to come. Absolutely. But God moved for his people still. Christ's life. Remember what happened in Christ's life. He was fasting and praying. 40 days in the wilderness. Matthew, you can read about it. And then, after those 40 days, Matthew 4, it says, And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Fasting. Hungry. He's just hungry. turned these stones into bread. But he answered and said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That's what you do in fasting and in praying. You say, I desire to be obedient to God more than to my desires. That's what the Lord Jesus did. And he overcame the tempter. He stood against the devil at that day. After fasting and praying, he had spiritual strength to stand. He was equipped with the Holy Spirit to do so, yes. But also after this fasting and praying, he used that instrument and he knew the Word of God. It was in him and he stood with it. Because he quotes here, as you maybe know, Deuteronomy 8 verse 4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth." So what was his aim? His aim was at that moment to express that the will of God is more important than my own desires. He was, as it were, dying to His own flesh. There where we didn't stand in the garden with Adam and Eve and pluck that fruit because it was desirous in our eyes to make us wise. There He stood and didn't give in to the desires of the flesh. And He had spiritual strength. Prayer and fasting. Just as He said also later on in John 4, He says, My meat, My food is to do the will of Him that has sent Me and to finish that work. That's His goal. The commandments of the Lord are more important to me than the cravings of my own flesh. That's what the Lord Jesus expressed in his fasting. And therefore he had spiritual strength. Now in our day then, fasting then means that you take no food for some time. and that you do that, or something that you regularly enjoy, that you say, I'm not going to do that in a period of time. And this is counter-cultural. You all know that America, Canada, the fast food restaurants are ubiquitous, means they are all over. And food has a huge place in our culture. It's huge. And it shows something. It's not necessarily wrong, but we use it for building relationships, we eat together, it's all good. But are you able to say no by God's grace in order that you say, I desire something more, something better. I desire God to act for me. I desire to live a more holy life. So there's biblical ground for this fasting, especially when you see at the Lord Jesus. He himself gave the example when he entered into his ministry, when he fought the devil in the desert there. He fasted. Jesus commanded it also in light of his second coming. Think about Matthew 9. I think we should turn there for a moment. Matthew 9. It's important to understand that. Then came to him, 914, then came to him the disciples of John saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often? But thy disciples fast not. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn? as long as the bridegroom is with them, but the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." It doesn't say if they fast. Some people say, well, fasting is for the Old Testament. It's legalistic stuff. We shouldn't do that. No, the Lord says, then shall they fast, not if. And when? Well, in the period that Jesus Christ is taken away. In the period that Jesus is taken up to heaven, he explains it here, the days will come when the bridegroom, that's Jesus Christ himself, shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. And then it says this, No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break and the wine runs out and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved." What is the Lord Jesus talking about here? He's saying there is an old garment and you can put a new piece of cloth on it, but it doesn't work. It will rent. You have old bottles of wine Rather, you have new wine, you can put them in old bottles or old leather sack and they will perish and they will run out and they will spill the wine. What is the Lord Jesus saying here? He says the old way of fasting is over. The old way of fasting was looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He says, now I'm here. And while I'm here, they don't need to fast. But when I'm taking up, then we will fast, looking forward for that day when I come back. Longing, as it were, to say, Lord Jesus, come quickly. to set all things straight in this world. That's what Jesus then commands us to fast as a church in the light of His second coming. And it's also the pattern that we see in the early church. So not only He Himself fasted, then He commanded it, But also we see this pattern then in the early church. In Acts 13, they fasted when they were separating Barnabas and Saul unto the work. And when they had fasted and prayed, they lay their hands on them and they sent them away. Acts 14, and they prayed with fasting. 23, when they were ordaining elders. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 5, Paul speaks about all these troubles he was going through. He says, "...in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in fastings." And then maybe you say, well, maybe he couldn't eat for a moment at that time, and while he was traveling and things like that. No, because chapter 11 says this, "...in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst." So he couldn't eat. And then in fastings, often in cold and nakedness, and see what a difference Paul made. And there's another reason why the Bible speaks about fasting because it teaches us self-control. It teaches us to control the lusts and the cravings of our body. Just as Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 12, that he won't be mastered by anything. Now, if you go to our culture and you see how big food is, are we mastered by it? You will find out if you fast. how big that is in your mind. Are we mastered by it? You need to ask that question yourself. And Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 9 about that he is even buffeting the body, he's really getting it, hamming it in, He wants in no way to make others stumble by the way he does. And so he wants to be self-controlled. And one of the ways that we can become self-controlled is by way of fasting. if we know the Lord, of course. Because otherwise we are going to do it for all kinds of other reasons. And I want to go into those reasons, negative reasons, why we should not do it. There's politics, some people use fasting as a political weapon. I remember that I was one day in an internship And that prime minister from that country, he took it as a political weapon. He said, I'm not going to eat until you do this for me. They said, I want to see something changed. It's not what we are talking about. We want God to act, not us people to change things because we use this as a political weapon. Some say, well, health reasons, and it's very good for health reasons, absolutely. But that's not the reason that we want to do it. If you're not saved, there's a tendency to say, I do it because I want to be accepted with the Lord. That's not a good reason either. We are not saved by works. Then there is a way of fasting. Isaiah talks about that in 58 of his writings and that way of fasting is self-indulgent fasting. Isaiah 58 verse 6 and 7, it says, is not this the fast that I have chosen to lose the bands of wickedness and to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke? So basically what Isaiah is talking about here with regard to fasting, he says, if you just continue living the way you are and you are not fasting in order that you would bring under the sins that so easily beset you, If you just continue being bossy or being just grumbling about anything and everything, and you just oppress people, and you continue, and you put on that religious fast, that's not pleasing to the Lord. You need to untie the bonds of wickedness. That's the reason why we fast. See? So we should not do it in a self-indulgent way, so I can just continue the way I am. No, we want change also in our character, in the way we do. We want holiness. And as you all know probably, and that's why probably many people say, fasting, is that something for the New Testament church? People did it in the Lord Jesus' time to be admired of men. Matthew 6, verse 16 and 17. And I said already, it's not if, but it's when you fast. So is it okay that others know about the fact that you are fasting? Is that okay? It's okay about that, because you're living in a family. You're living in a family. And you're suddenly not showing up for a meal? That would make... people are going to ask questions, right? So you can't avoid that, can you? But it's wrong to want everyone to know about it. That's the trouble. Because then our pride heart is just trying to get attention from people and say, see how good I am? Actually, that's a real temptation. That's a real temptation. And the whole thing that is behind that is, is God real for you? Or do you still need the affirmation of the people? Is God real for you? Or do you still want, yeah, I think, oh wow, that person fasted, right? Desire for praise from people is destructive. Destructive. Do you want praise from God? Don't tell. Don't tell anyone. Don't tell. Yes, sometimes you may say, okay, God answered my prayers in this way and come and glorify God with me. That's what the Psalms do as well, right? That's what we can do. Come glorify God with me. Praise the Lord because He heard my cries. He answered me. So yeah, it's not to be seen of man. That's negatively, but then positively, what is it all about? And I spoke a bit already about that from Isaiah 58. It's a hunger for God. It's a hunger for God and holiness in your life. So when you find your identity in Christ and you want holiness, and you can't seem to master a particular sin, then you need fasting and prayer. And the Lord Jesus said something about that some sins and some things are not going away except by fasting and prayer. Then you need fasting and prayer about that sin. If you struggle for a long time and you know you are saved, then you need fasting. and say, Lord, I hunger for Thee, I want Thee to act in my life, I want to master this. Second thing why we should fast is a hunger for God's presence in our lives. that you may know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of the mouth of the Lord." If you want God to speak and to be real in prayer and fasting, it's an expression to say, I want God above everything else. I hunger and thirst after God. I want His presence. I need Him. So that's a personal reason. Holiness, His presence with you. If you're tonight, if you're saying, my life is not what it should be, and you know you're a child of God, then consider this. Lord, do I need to fast? Do I need to pray? Are there sins in the way? Because as soon as you start to fast and things start to come up, you start to see sins clearer, if you pray for that as well. And then you suddenly realize that there's lots of things in your life that's not right, that are not right, that you have to fight against. And then you have this instrument given by God to fight, to fight these things. It's also a hunger for God's supremacy in your life. I take that from John 4, where we saw that text already, right? My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. So that He would be supreme in your life, to do His will. So these reasons positively then about why we should fast. And if we are just satisfied in this world then that shows that we are spiritually sick. That's dangerous. If you say I don't need that because I'm just a happy camper. And I don't need it, I'm just fine in this world. That shows that you're spiritually sick, because you're satisfied with the things of the world. The other side, if you're just rejoicing in the Lord, that says something different. If you're satisfied in the Lord, then you can say, I really live, I'm really satisfied. That's what we need. Satisfaction is dangerous in the life of a Christian. Satisfaction should only be in God. Now there are specific motives in the Bibles that we see of why people fast, so you can do that for personal holiness and personal reason, but also specific motives for fasting like Jesus to come back as we saw, a new ministry as we saw also from Acts, to avert danger here in Esther's situation. She wanted to avert danger, express sorrow and loss. David was weeping and fasting and mourning for Saul and Jonathan. Repentance for sin, Joel 2. Rent your hearts and not your garments. Facing God's judgment. Think about the people of Nineveh who fasted, even till the animals. Even they put in sackcloth the animals. Spiritual distress, Daniel was in a difficult situation, he fasted. So these are the motives, the positive motives. We cannot do it for personal holiness, we cannot do it for specific reasons. Think of all the reasons and all the information I gave you at the beginning. Aren't those reasons to fast and say, Lord, we need revival, we need reformation, we need Thee to act? Now, how do you do it? Method. You can fast from food, you can fast from media, you can fast from everything that you see in your life that is taking a big place. And taking a place in your life above God. And how do you do that? There are three parts, basically. So you don't do that for a time, you abstain from food or other pleasures, then you also focus on God, attend upon God by prayer and Bible reading, and then you also humble yourself before God so that you confess your sins and when God brings them to your attention again, you confess your sins, you confess that He is just, when He deals justly with your sins, you consider His grace in the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoice in His forgiveness, that He so sets forth in the promises of God's Word, and you consider your relationship with God, you test it, you take the pulse of it, as it were, And then Isaiah also in verse 7 speaks about fasting. And is it not that he wants us to deal thy bread to the hungry and thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? So consider also how you can be helpful to people around you That's also a way, consider how you can do ministries of mercy and pray and fast that the shackles of your sin might be loosened, shackled over sin, that the ties, that the attachment that you feel to sin So let me give you a few guidelines. Start small. If you're a child of God, start small. Plan what you are going to do instead of eating. Plan it, because otherwise you're just sitting there and you don't know what to do. Fill it up with prayer and Bible reading, with mercy acts, as I said already. Consider also how it will affect others and inform your family if you won't show up. Don't just think, okay, now I'm going to go hungry for some time and just feel the joy or the pain, whatever, from fasting. We had an action or some event at our schools in the Netherlands some day and we called it zip your lip, don't eat. And people were just telling me, oh, are you feeling hungry? That's not what we are doing. That's not what it's all about. We are seeking God. We are seeking God to act for us. And then consider fasting from something else than food, and then fill it again with prayer. And God will hear. God will hear. God is still the same God. He is from eternity to eternity the same. I have no stories to tell you about it because people are afraid to talk about what happened because of that text in Matthew, remember? But it's certain the same God yesterday, today, and forever is able to act for you, on your behalf, when you plead and when you say, I'm serious. I'm serious about this. I hunger for your presence. I hunger for you, O God, the living God. My soul cries out for you. So, let me conclude. Are you going to stand? Are you going to stand? You need this weapon. Are you going to the battlefront? Are you going to fight this spiritual battle with the weapons that God has given you? Or are you going to fly? Flee, rather. Fight or flight? With regard to abortion, with regard to poverty, with regard to evolution, with regard to religious freedom. No, you can't do it all on your own. No, absolutely not. That's why you need God. That's why you need this instrument that God has put into your hands, in which you express your weakness, but show your dependence upon Him and His power. So you need that whole armor of God to fight against the wiles of the devil. And having done all to stand, That's what it says. To stand. God is fighting the battle for you. It's to stand. wielding these weapons, and then to stand in His power, in His strength. So are you responding with knowledge of the challenge that is before you, the dilemma? Understanding it? Are you, by God's grace, understanding your identity? Have you made that choice? The choice which you will not regret it a second of your life. And are you understanding that God has given us weapons, spiritual weapons, which are powerful and mighty to cast down imaginations and strongholds. Mighty weapon, prayer and fasting. Shall we pray? glorious, eternal God. God of the universe, we pray, we hunger and thirst after Thee. Lord, is not time for Thee to work Is it not time for thee to work? For they have made void thy law." Lord, give us heart to respond, to stand, to be faithful. Help us to consider our identity. Help us to consider the claims and the calls upon our lives, the claims of discipleship. and help us to wield that sword, help us to pray in the Spirit, O God, do valiantly, because Thou art a mighty God, able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we think and pray for. And so, Lord, we come, expressing our weakness and glorying and rejoicing in Thy power. Come and give the power of Thy resurrection in our life. Make us a life, Lord, through Christ our Lord, that we are dead to sin, dead to ourselves, to our cravings, our desires, but a life in Him forevermore. Lord, may none here tonight be missing at that great day or standing on the wrong side of thy judgment. And so we plead with thee. We plead with the weapons that thou has given us, knowing that thou will do what is pleasing in thy sight. We plead, Lord, for all of us to stand and to respond for Jesus' sake. Amen.