Please God's to bless us together
this evening as we continue our meditation in the Sermon on the
Mount and This evening we'll speak in chapter 6 of the gospel
of Matthew and reading 3 verses 16 17 and 18 the gospel of Matthew
chapter 6 and reading the 3 verses 16 17 and 18 Moreover when he
fast be not as the hypocrites of a
sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces,
that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you,
they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest,
anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto
men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret. and thy father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. There would appear to be two
types of fasting and both of them are dependent upon denying
oneself in one form or another. Perhaps the most obvious is to
deny physical food and physical eating. And the second is to
deny ourselves perhaps things that we want to do and desire
to do and yet do not really profit or are not really beneficial. And so we should recognize that
these words that the Lord has set before us here are important
to us. Indeed, every word of God is
important. And it is relevant that we observe
the fact that these words point out the problem of not pretending
to do or to be what we are not. And so the Lord tells us Here,
moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites are. You know, we've spoken already
about, in this same Sermon on the Mount, about those who were
not honest in their almsgiving, and also did not pray in a right
way, but praised to be heard of men. Both of those positions
were really hypocritical, if done in a wrong way. And so here,
these things are also, if they're done in a wrong way, are hypocritical. And surely the whole essence
is that such fasting is not done to impress men. It's that which
occurs before God. so that we are not a hypocrite. You remember there was that occasion
of the Pharisee and the Publican and the Pharisee was very pleased
with himself. He said I fast twice a week and
expected people to observe it and to notice it. Well that wasn't
a very apt position at all. whereas the publican was so very
different. In fact, he hung down his head
and wasn't able to lift it up and smote upon his breast. And there was a man who truly
prayed. And we pray therefore that we
may not be found hypocritical in such things. And of course,
in the Word of God, there are many occasions where fasting
in a natural way is recorded and we can read and just to read
a sentence fasting or occasional abstinence from food in order
to bring the body into subjection to the spirit is a practice frequently
mentioned in the Bible and generally in connection with prayer. David fasted when his child was
sick. Daniel fasted when he sought
special light from God. Paul and Barnabas fasted when
they appointed elders. Esther fasted before going into
King Ahasuerus. And we know that Anna the prophetess,
she also fasted. And Cornelius, he also fasted. So we have quite a considerable
list of those who did fast in a natural way. And when we think
of that, we may say, well, what is the benefit? Well, the benefit
is that we are not so occupied with natural feeding And it's
obvious, isn't it? I'm sure we all know if we eat
too much, the tendency is to be sleepy, and we're not very
alert in our mind. And if we're concerned about
our spiritual state, surely it is that we should be concerned
not to eat too much, or perhaps not to eat for a while, so that
we can concentrate upon the things of God. It is relevant, isn't
it, for each of us to know the wonderful blessing of nearness
to God and not to be found kindly minded, just seeking those things
which are fleshly, especially with regards to eating physical
food. It's very easy to become, we
might use the phrase, which is a biblical one, a glutton, gluttonous
in the things of food. We may think drunkenness is very
wrong, so it is, but so is gluttony equally wrong. And we tend to
not categorise them together, but nonetheless they are. And
the Apostle, when he wrote to the Corinthians and in the in
the first epistle and the seventh chapter he speaks about these
situations and he tells us he says defraud you not one the
other he's speaking about husband and wife except it be with consent
for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer
and come together again that Satan tempt you not for your
incontinency. So we see there the benefit of
abstention in those things which we may perhaps think are right
and lawful, which they are. Nonetheless, sometimes it can
be beneficial to abstain from these things. And also, we read
together in the prophecy of Isaiah, that 58th chapter, which dwells
at length, really, upon the difference between true fasting and false
fasting. And the Prophet describes that
when he tells us, wherefore have we fasted, say they? And thou
seest not. Wherefore have we afflicted our
soul? And thou takest no knowledge.
You see, people want to be noted. for what they're doing. They
wanted to have some acclamation of what a good person they are,
what a good Christian they are. And so here we see the apostle
pointing these things out. And thou takest no knowledge.
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact in
all your labours That's a natural pleasure, thinking we're doing
well, and expecting acknowledgement from people. Well, that isn't
in accordance with what we've read together here in these verses,
because the Lord tells us, that thou, but thou when thou fastest,
anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto
men to fast, but unto thy father, which is in secret, and thy father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. So it's not something
that you and I are to do in a way to obtain the acclaim of people. We need to do it as unto the
Lord. And he goes on to say, behold
ye, fast for strife and debate, and to smite with a fist of wickedness. you shall not fast as you do
this day to make your voice to be heard on high." And then he
points out, is it such a fast that I have chosen a day for
a man to afflict his soul and to bow down his head as a bulrush
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him So it's just the appearance. It's not from the heart, it's
not the reality. It's just trying to impress people. First of all, with bowing down
the head in a wrong way, and then to spread sackcloth and
ashes under him. Willst thou call this a fast,
and an acceptable day to the Lord? And then he asks the question,
is not this the fast that I have chosen? This is the way that
God chooses to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy
burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that she broke every
yoke. Is it not to deal thy bread to
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out in
the house? When thou seest the naked, that
thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own
flesh? Now we have that which is acceptable
to God, and that which people think is acceptable to themselves. And there is, of course, a considerable
difference. And then we read this wonderful
word from the Lord, because if we do that which is right, then
shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall
spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before
thee, The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Well, we see that, do we not,
then, in a spiritual light. that you and I might be blessed
in this way, with the light of God shining into our hearts. But it won't occur if we think
that we are fasting to receive acclaim from men, be it a natural
way, from food, or perhaps be it in another way, denying ourself. You see, we don't want people
to say, well, that person's a very good person, he's doing this
and he's doing that. All these things are to be done
unto the Lord, because it is the Lord that rewards. We don't
want praise of men. We need the praise of God, and
that's between our soul and our God. And yet, you see, we have
a sinful nature. And the sinful nature likes the
praise of men. But you see, it doesn't truly
benefit us. It doesn't really bring us into
any real spiritual profit. And so how important it is that
we desire spiritual benefit. And the Lord Jesus, he goes on
in the ninth chapter of this same Gospel of Matthew, he tells
us, Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and
the Pharisees fast off, 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. And so we have a scene there,
don't we, of again being blessed with spiritual enjoyment and
thanking God for that. and therefore not to pretend
in that situation that we're fasting, when in actual fact
the Lord is gracious to us and remembering us for good and blessing
us. Well, so we have these words
before us this evening. And then if we think of this
to deny ourselves, and the Word of God tells us to deny ourselves,
and what's the option? is to take up our cross and to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not following our own
way, is it? It's denying ourselves. And this is the effect of God's
grace, when that is poured into our hearts, that we are willing
to deny ourselves. That really means we're willing
to fast. And that we, instead of pleasing
ourselves, we deny ourselves, and we then take up our cross,
that which the Lord has given us, that cross to carry, that
cross which is union and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we meditate on such a statement,
as we read here in these few verses, how relevant they are
still to us today when he says, moreover, Moreover, when ye fast,
be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance." And it's very easy,
isn't it, to produce a long face, so that people will think, oh,
that person's really in a sad condition and really lowly and
humble. Well, it's not like that at all.
Because he tells us, for they disfigure their faces, they make
them appear, not like they truly are, but as they think would
appease people, or make them think one of them, you see, to
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. And that, of course,
is the reward just to our nature, just to our own self, thinking,
well, I think I've done well there, people are thinking well
of me. You see, it's not what people think, it's what God thinks.
God looks at the heart and how relevant that is. for all of
us to remember. Yes, it's not the outward appearance,
it's what God sees in our heart, it's our real attitude before
him. And so the Lord tells us, but
thou, don't do that, but thou, this is what we are to do, when
thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, so that there's
no indication that we are truly denying ourselves. But the opposite,
that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father,
which is in heaven, you see, God looks in our heart. It's
not the outward appearance, it's the inward appearance. And what
a great blessing if the Spirit of God comes upon us like this,
so that we are concerned to truly fast unto God, but unto thy Father,
which is in secret. My Father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly. The Lord grants the blessing. The Lord favours us with spiritual
blessings. The Lord shines upon us indeed,
as we read in that little account in Isaiah, the light of God lights
upon us. We're not left in that dark condition
of hypocrisy, but blessed with a light of the Gospel, blessed
with light in our hearts. And what is that really? Surely
it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's the Lord Jesus
within us, as we're able by his grace to fast and deny ourselves,
to seek for those spiritual blessings which will be good for us and
above all will bring honour and glory to our God. So we have
these verses here and we should not therefore think fasting is
not for today. There are no specific rules about
it. But it's very clear from the
Word of God that God's people did fast in a physical way as
well as in a spiritual way. And these things were indeed
for their good. Well, may we be concerned to
follow the Word of God for our good. Amen.