#1234 Matthew 6 Part 3 Lights, Camera, Fasting

 

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6: 16-18 ESV

Matthew 6: 16-18 Fasting

Yet they seek me daily

and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that did righteousness

and did not forsake the judgment of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments;

they delight to draw near to God.

3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

and oppress all your workers.

4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to hit with a wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day

will not make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is such the fast that I choose,

a day for a person to humble himself?

Is it to bow down his head like a reed,

and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

Will you call this a fast,

and a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58: 2-7

Isaiah 58 notes

And when you fast - Not if, but when, so it is understood that they would fast. It's not a question here of whether you should, but how you should, just like prayer, what is acceptable to God? What was the when? What sort of circumstances were involved? 

…15After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.… 2 Samuel 12: 15-17

In the above example, King David is fasting for his sick child, he is grief stricken. God is disciplining David for his sin with Bathsheba, and the child, though sick, is still alive. David realizes that it is his sin that has brought this to his kingdom and his house. He is God's anointed, yet whom the Lord loveth He does discipline, and David does this out of a repentant and even hopeful heart, knowing what God has said, but begging for mercy while the child still lives. Now when I was younger I heard preachers who taught fasting as though it were a coin that went into a slot and you turned the handle to have what you want fall into your other hand. Giving, prayer and fasting were all gum ball machines to them; you do this and God has to do this. I would encourage you to come out from any church like that.

…18On the seventh day the child died. But David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He may even harm himself.” 19When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied. 20Then David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they set food before him, and he ate.…

…21“What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.” 22David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”… 2 Samuel 12: 18-23

Fasting doesn't guarantee us the thing we want, but it can be brought on by grief. Think about it, I have fretted so much over something, I remember when my wife would not wake up and breathe properly, from a reaction to anesthesia. A lot of time went by, and I realized I had to feed the kids, I realized I was getting low, and so we ate, but it wasn't enjoyable, we just ate for some fuel to get by. I didn't intend to fast, and I love food, but it didn't matter so much then. We know of "butterflies", that people get when they are nervous or in love. I can get so focused on fishing that most of a day will go by and I will forget to eat or drink because I am that intent upon my mission. Just like prayer and giving, what is our intent? For David, the life of the child, the grievance of his sin against God, those things became more important to him than food. 

Do not look gloomy like the hypocrites - Remember, they sent a herald with a trumpet before them to announce their giving.  They made sure that they were at the busiest intersections when it was time for prayer, when the 3 o'clock gong struck they wanted to be in the middle of Time Square, so they could stop everything and be seen by all the passerby's, look, a righteous man, he's praying. It's no different here, the hypocrite (actor), has to put on a face. He thinks, "remember what David did, remember Job? That's how I want to look, the more grunge, pale, gaunt and sullen, the better I want men to know that I am fasting, to see that I am a spiritual guru, standing on this pole, whipping my ascetic back with this hyssop branch, can you hear my stomach growling?" What's the intent, what's the purpose? It is to be seen by men. You see though, they imitate someone who was so focused and intent upon an audience with God, forgiveness from God, mercy from God, but you can't paint on someone else's integrity. They tried to give the appearance, and sadly that works a lot of times in our culture, people playing the game. 

Anoint your head and wash your face - Don't let it be known, just like your prayer closet, don't do this for self glory, for the cheap praise and honor of men. Remove the temptation from yourself and from them. Oil made people look healthy, gave them a glow, and scented oils probably helped with BO. Wash your face, take the focus off of you, be intent upon a higher purpose, strive for something beautiful. Remember that fasting is not token, and it is always accompanied by prayer. Have you ever lost your appetite over your sin, or because you didn't want to break away from a problem that you were trying to solve, a passage of Scripture that was exceptionally demanding, a child or loved one who was lost? 

…2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,… Daniel 9: 2-4

J C Ryle explains that…

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, generally in connection with prayer. David fasted when his child was sick (2 Samuel 12:16); Daniel fasted when he sought special light from God (Daniel 9:3); Paul and Barnabas fasted when they appointed elders (Acts 14:23); Esther fasted before going in to Ahasuerus (Esther 4:16). It is a subject about which we find no direct command in the New Testament. It seems to be left to everyone’s discretion, whether he will fast or not. In this absence of direct command we may see great wisdom. Many a poor man never has enough to eat, and it would be an insult to tell him to fast: many sick people can hardly be kept well with the closest attention to diet, and could not fast without bringing on illness. It is a matter in which each person must be persuaded in their own mind, and not rashly condemn others who do not agree. One thing only must never be forgotten: those who fast should do it quietly, secretly and without ostentation. Let them not “show men they are fasting.” Let them not fast to man, but to God. - Precept Austin

C H Spurgeon's comments…

Having dealt with prayer, our King now instructs us as to fasting. Fasting took a leading place in devotion under the Law, and it might profitably be more practiced even now under the Gospel. The Puritans called it “soul-fattening fasting”, and so many have found it. We must, by order of our King, avoid all attempt at display in connection with this form of devotion. Hypocrites went about with faces unwashed, and dolorous, that all might say, “See how rigidly those men are fasting. What good men the, must be!” To look miserable in order to be thought holy- is a wretched piece of hypocrisy; and as it makes fasting into a trick to catch human admiration, it thereby destroys it as a means of grace. We cannot expect to get a reward both from the praise of our fellows and the pleasure of God.

We have our choice; and if we snatch at the minor reward, we leave the major. May it never be said of us, “They have their reward. ” (Commentary) - Precept Austin

Father who sees in secret - Where is your aim; who is your intended audience?

…17Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 2 Corinthians 10: 17-18