Would you turn to Luke, the fifth
chapter. Verse 33, And they said unto him, that
they are the same People mentioned in verse 30, but their scribes
and Pharisees murmured against his disciples saying, why do
you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? That's the day who
is speaking. And they say unto him, why did
the disciples of John fast often and make prayers? And likewise, the disciples of
the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink." The disciples of John, the disciples
of the Pharisees, practice asceticism. They're hard on themselves. They
deny themselves many things. They make prayers. I think that's an interesting
way to describe their prayers, making prayers. What about praying
in the Holy Spirit? They're making their own prayers. But your disciples eat and drink
and have a good time at a feast. Something's wrong with this.
There's gotta be sin in this somewhere. Something is wrong
with this. So they pose this question, why
do we fast often and make prayers and deny ourselves pleasure. And your disciples are eating
and drinking and enjoying themselves. Why this discrepancy? Something
seems wrong about this. I don't feel comfortable with
this. Why is it that we fast and we make prayers and you guys
just seem to have a good time? That's wrong. What is the problem? So our Lord answers them in verse
34, and he said unto them, can you make the children of the
bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? Now Christ is the bridegroom. He is the husband of his people. When you fast, You're denying
yourself. You're mourning. You're upset. You feel a great need of something.
A great need. That's why you fast and pray. You feel a great need. But when
the bridegroom is with you, what need do you have? You know, a happy marriage is
a wonderful thing, isn't it? And an unhappy marriage is a
very sad thing. But a happy marriage is a wonderful
thing. And who is like our husband,
the Lord Jesus Christ? I have his name. He's taken all
my debts. And what a gracious husband he
is. He loves me. I love being his
bride. In his presence, what else do
I need? I think of Mephibosheth. You
remember when Ziba had fooled David and said,
Mephibosheth is against you. And David believed Ziba. And
so when David has fleed and he's coming back, there Mephibosheth
meets him. And David said, what's wrong
with you? Why didn't you come out to meet
me? He said, well, Ziba deceived you. He betrayed me. And David
said, well, I've given him everything. And Mephibosheth said, I don't
care. As long as the king is returned
in peace and I'm in his presence, I don't care what I have because
I have all things. When the bridegroom is with you,
how can you fast? Being in his presence. You're happy. You eat and drink. with joy in his presence. Why
would you fast when you have his presence? Why would you mourn
when you have his presence? Why would you feel need when
you have his presence? I'm within. That's why they're
not fasting. That's why they're not mourning. That's not why
they're practicing a life of asceticism. That's why they're
enjoying themselves. I'm within. The bridegroom. the
husband of his people. Isn't it wonderful to have the
Lord as your husband? Christ is all, you have all things,
what a husband he is. Can they fast while I'm around?
No, they can't. Verse 35, but the days will come
when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them and then
shall they fast in those days. Now, When the Lord was crucified,
and the disciples had been in His presence, and as far as they
could tell, physically, He was no longer in, they were no longer
in His presence, the Lord said, you'll weep and lament, and the
world will rejoice. The Lord says, when I'm taken
from them, they'll fast in those days. But I believe that this
primarily refers to the time between the first and second
advent of Christ, until His return This seems to tell us that until
we're directly in the Lord's presence, there's going to be
much to mourn over. Turn with me to Matthew chapter nine, this
same passage from Matthew's account. Verse 14. Then came to him the
disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast
oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can
the children of the bridegroom mourn? Here's the word, mourn. That's why you would be fasting,
you would be mourning, and you would be desiring, you would
feel a need, you would feel an absence, and there's something
that you'd want and felt like you had to have that you didn't
have. That's why you'd be fasting. 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. Then shall they mourn. Now I
feel sure that our Lord is not just referring to those few days
when the disciples had him leave and die and spend three days
and they were just mourning. This is a reference to the whole
time that we're not directly in his physical presence. There's something to mourn over.
Now, fasting is a work of self-denial. I've entitled this message, Fasting. Fasting is a work of self-denial. When I'm fasting, I am denying
myself of food. I'm saying there's something
more important to me than food itself. Now, in Matthew chapter
6, the Lord gives, first of all, almsgiving, work of charity. He says, don't do it to be seen
of men. And then he talks about prayer, works of devotion to
the Lord. And he says, don't you do it
to be seen of men. You make sure you're in your
closet, praying to your father in secret. Your father would
see it in secret, shall reward thee openly. And then when he
spake of fasting, he said, when you fast, don't do it to impress
men. Don't do it so men can see what
you're doing. If that's what you're doing,
you have your reward. Now fasting. Now I have spent
three days in fasting and prepare, preparing for this message. You impressed? I remember one
time I came up to a guy, I said, what have you been doing? He
said, fasting. Oh, congratulations. How long did you fast? Did you
lose any weight? Rich, you might remember the guy. He was a preacher. If you find out about my fasting,
I didn't fast. If I find out about your fasting,
you didn't fast. You have your reward. But what came to my mind, I was
just thinking about this, the Pharisee said, we fast. We make
prayers. Your disciples don't fast. We're
more dedicated. We do more. We have more works
of self-denial. Why is it that your disciples
don't fast? And what the Lord, I believe the Lord brought this
to my mind was Isaiah chapter 58. Would you turn with me there?
Isaiah chapter 58. Yes, we are fasting. Perhaps literally, but certainly
this fast. Isaiah chapter 58. Beginning in verse 1. Cry aloud and spare not. Lift
up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression.
the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily. They have their devotion time.
And they delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness
and forsook not the ordinances of their God. They ask of me
the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching
to God. They're very religious, and might
I add, very sinfully religious. Look what they say in verse three.
Wherefore have we fasted, say they. We've denied ourselves
food. We fast twice in the week. You want to talk about dedication,
you think about how dedicated somebody would be that would
fast twice a week. We fast, and thou seest not. Wherefore have we afflicted our
soul? And thou takest no knowledge. You're not paying attention to
us. We're doing all this religious stuff, and you're not paying
attention to us. What is wrong? We're fasting.
I don't know of anything that seems much more dedicated than
fasting. I mean, withholding yourself from food. You know,
the Lord fasted 40 days. Elijah fasted 40 days. That is
impressive. And we're fasting and you're
not paying attention to what we're doing. God replies, behold, in the day
of your fast, you find pleasure. You find satisfaction in what
you're doing. I fasted. You find pleasure. You actually
think somehow things are well with me because I've dedicated
myself to fasting and to prayer. You find pleasure and exact all
your labors. You are hard on those who are
indebted to you in some way. How you treat others speaks volumes
about your relationship with God. He said, you're talking
about fasting, you're talking about praying, and yet you exact
labors on people. You mistreat those who you feel
owe you. You mistreat people, and yet
you say, I'm fasting. Your fasting is irrelevant. It's not real. What I really
think of the Lord is seen in what I think of you. And that's so. He says, your
fasting is just religious, whatever. It's not real. And let's go on
reading. He says in verse four, behold,
you fast for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of
wickedness. Here's what your fasting is,
strife, debate, and mistreating people. Smiting with the fist
of wickedness, and you think your fasting will make your voice
to be heard on high. Yet you shall not fast as you
do this day to make your voice to be heard on high. Verse 5,
is it such a fast that I've chosen, is this what I want? A day for
a man to afflict his soul. Notice these are all things that
can be seen. Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush? And to
spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast? An acceptable day to the Lord?
Do you think there's anything that's pleasing to me about this?
This fast you're putting on? Verse 6. Is not this the fast that I have
chosen? Let's read verses 6 and 7 together.
To loose the bands of wickedness. Now here's true fasting. This
is the fast that I've chosen. To loose the bands of wickedness.
To undo the heavy burdens. And to let the oppressed go free,
and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house? And when thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine
own flesh? Now this is the fast that God
has chosen. Now this almost sounds like social
activism, doesn't it? And social morality. and social
justice. And it's true that most of the
great efforts for social justice have come from the gospel. That's
true. I mean, public schools came from Sunday school, trying
to teach people to read so they could read the Bible. Most of
the great social institutions came from the gospel. But listen
to this real carefully. Our gospel is not about making
this world a better place. It's not. Now there are benefits
that come to this world. But our gospel is not about making
this world a better place. It's about loosing the bands
and the fetters of wickedness. And what does that but the gospel?
The natural man is bound in fetters to his own evil nature, to his
own sin. And he cannot escape. He's bound
in fetters. And the only thing that breaks
those fetters and releases that man and liberates that man is
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's the fast that
God has chosen. The only thing that breaks the
chains of wickedness is grace. I love this scripture. Romans
chapter 6 verse 14. It says, sin shall not have dominion
over you. Four, you are not under law,
but under grace. Isn't that wonderful? That's
the only thing that breaks the chains of sin. Nothing else does. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the fast he's chosen,
to loose the bands of wickedness. Secondly, he says in verse 6,
to undo the heavy burdens. The Lord said in Matthew chapter
11 verse 28, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Burdened under a sense of sin
and inability, inability to do anything about it, laboring under
a sense of not being able to please God by anything that you
do, heavy burdened. the burden of salvation by works. When have you done enough? He
says, the fast I've chosen is to undo the heavy burdens. And what does that with the Lord
himself? Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. He's got the power to do it.
He's got the power to give you rest. He said, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. I love the way he said that.
He didn't say learn about me. He said learn of me. For I am
meek and lowly in heart and you'll find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy. You know, if it's all grace,
it's easy, isn't it? And my burden is light. We're called upon to undo the
heavy burdens. Next, he says in verse six, and
to let the oppressed go free. Those that are oppressed, discouraged,
crushed under the load, set them free. And what sets free but
the gospel? I love to think of the year of
Jubilee. Well, it's supposed to happen every 50 years. What
I think is interesting is there's not one instance of it ever actually
taking place in the Old Testament. And I understand why. Can you
imagine if you had a bunch of people who owed you money and
all of a sudden they didn't owe it to you anymore? I'm sure you
would, I wouldn't like that. I'd want people to pay me what
they owe me. And I can understand the powers
that be trying to keep this from taking place. But here's what
was supposed to take place in the year of Jubilee. And the
year of Jubilee is actually answered in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the true Jubilee. But whatever you lost was restored
to you. Can you imagine what that would
have felt like? All your debts were canceled and you were debt
free. Slaves. Slaves. All of a sudden, you're
not a slave anymore. Can you imagine that? You've
been set free. The land was given a year's rest. Now that's freedom. Let the oppressed
go free. When you're free, two things
involved in freedom. One, you don't owe anything.
And two, you get to do what you want to do. Now that's freedom. You don't owe anything. And you
get to do what you want to do. What do you want to do? I want
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. As God is my witness, I want
to follow Him. I want to be His disciple. I
want to be His bride. That's what I want. I want to
follow Him. Let the oppressed go free. And then he says in verse 6,
And that you break every yoke. Turn to Galatians 5 for a moment. Now here's true fasting. Galatians chapter 5, stand fast therefore in the liberty
in the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage, salvation by law,
salvation by works. It's a yoke of bondage, that's
all it is. Doesn't do anything for anybody
but make them worse, that's it. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that circumcised, that he's a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law, you've fallen from grace. For we through
the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For
in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith which works by love break every yoke of bondage. And then he says in verse seven,
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry? And isn't that what
happens in the preaching of the Gospel? He hath filled the hungry
with good things, but the rich He hath sent away empty. Do you
know if you come in and if I come into this place hungry, He's
going to fill us. And if I come in already full,
I'm going to leave this place empty. Oh, may God cause me to
continually hunger after the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we
do is feed people and preaching the gospel. And look what he
says next in verse 7. And that thou bring the poor
that are cast out to thy house. Those who are trampled on, bring
them to your home. Remember, it's to the poor the
gospel is preached. And when thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him. And what is our covering? Our
covering is The righteousness of our Redeemer. It's His perfect
obedience. We preach His covering. And this
is the only thing that will satisfy the poor. The covering of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We preach Him. Now, He says,
that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh. That you don't
shirk your responsibility in preaching the Gospel. Now, this
is the true fast. This is the fast of God. This
is the fast that He's chosen. Now, when we do this fast, look
what He says in verse 8. shall thy light break forth as
the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily,
and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the
Lord shall be thy rearward, or behind you. Then shalt thou call,
and the Lord shall answer. In keeping this fast, you'll
call, and the Lord will answer. Thou shalt cry, and He shall
say, Here am I. If thou take away from the midst
of thee the yoke, the yoke of bondage. And I like this. I'd never really known what this
meant till I read some of the commentators on it. The putting
forth of the finger. You know what that means? Finger
pointing. accusing others. Let your finger
be pointed at yourself, not at somebody else. As long as I'm
doing this finger pointing, this yoke, I'm not going to have any
light. He says, and the speaking of vanity, a message of salvation
by works. If thou draw, verse 10, and if
thou draw out thyself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted
soul, and what is the only thing that satisfies the afflicted
soul? What's the only thing that satisfies me in my affliction?
Here it is. It is finished. And I don't care what my affliction
is, it's all okay then. You see, when the Lord said it
is finished, that means God couldn't ask anything more out of me. I want you to think about that
statement. God could not ask anything more out of me. He had
it all and He couldn't take anything less than this. It is finished. And what joy! This satisfies
the afflicted soul. Verse 10, if you draw out your
soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall
thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul
when there's nothing to be satisfied with. There's nothing there but
him, and he'll satisfy you at that time. And make fat thy bones,
and thou shalt be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of
water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee
shall build the old waste places. And thou shalt raise up the foundations
of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer
of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. Now this is
what happens when somebody keeps this fast. And this fast is the
preaching of the gospel. It's the believing of the gospel
and the preaching of the gospel. Now, the Lord said this. He said,
do you think this is real fasting? When you bow your head and let
everybody know you're fasting and you bow your head like a
bulrush and you put on sackcloth and ashes and everybody knows
how sorrowful you are? That's not fasting. This is the
fast that I have chosen. The fast of the gospel. And in
doing that, many generations Thou shalt be called the repairer
of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. Now, what's the breach? See ya. Sin. It causes a breach. It causes division. Your sins
have separated you. But in preaching the gospel,
we're repairers of the breach. Every gospel believer is a repairer
of the breach. And the restorer of paths to
dwell in. Now, this is the fast that I
have chosen. Now, until the bridegroom comes,
This is to be our business. This is to be our fast. Well, what about literal fasting?
Well, fast. The Lord said, when you fast. He didn't say if you fast. He
said, when you fast. Someone says, well, what if it
makes me sick? Well, I don't know. We don't
need to think about stuff like that. Lord said, when you fast. Remember when the disciples said,
why couldn't we cast them out? And the Lord said, this kind
cometh not forth but by prayer and by fasting. Is there any
rules about fasting? No. No. And if you fast and I
find out about it, you didn't fast. And if I fast and you find
out about it, I didn't fast. Sure, literal fast. I mean, the
Lord fasted 40 days. But this is the fast that's real. The fast that he has chosen.
It's not just withholding yourself from food. It's how he described
this. This is the fast I've chosen.
To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and
to let the oppressed go free, that you break every yoke. Is
it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the
poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your
own flesh. Now that's the flesh, that's the fast of God's choosing. Our job is to fast. All the time. and in glory it'll
be a continual feast. Fast now, feast later. That's what the scripture teaches
concerning fasting. Let's pray.