Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. To stop eating for a time has known health benefits, but for the Christian it also has great spiritual benefits. You don't hear much about fasting in a fast food culture. Today, more on the why and how of fasting, as Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 6. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, isn't it true that fasting is associated with times of deep, almost desperate prayer?
It really is, Dave. When you look at the Old Testament, you find that when Israel was attacked and they saw the enemy coming, it is then that they really began to fast. And you know, the same is true even as we have seen it during the COVID crisis. Now suddenly people were crying up to God. God has a way of getting our attention. But before we go to that message, I need to tell you that I have in my hand a wonderful book entitled The Closer Look at the Evidence, 365 one-page devotional readings for every day of the coming year. You're going to learn all about science and history and biology.
I'll tell you more about that at the end of this broadcast. But for now, let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church as we continue this study on fasting. Here he is. He is asked now to be tempted of the devil. He fasts for 40 days, and then the tempter comes to him. And it says that after the 40 days, he was hungered, and he was hungry. And the tempter said, turn these stones into bread. Could Jesus have done it?
Yes, it's the kind of miracle he was going to do in just a couple of months he'd be doing those kinds of miracles. But you see, Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone. He quotes Deuteronomy, and in context, that verse has to do with the giving of manna, not the taking away of food, but the giving of food. You remember how Israel, they didn't like the cafeteria in the desert. You remember how they were complaining and they said, you know, we don't like what God is giving us, and God says I'll give you manna. Later on, he said, I'll even give you some quail until it comes out of your nostrils, if that's what you want. But they were complaining about the menu. They complained about the menu. It's probably happened in other contexts since, but that's what happened back then. And the Lord says, I am going to let you be hungry, and I'm going to feed you from something that you know not of, namely the manna, which is going to come from heaven every single morning.
Why? That you might know that man shall not live by bread alone, but he lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And what is the word that proceeds out of the mouth of God? It is the manna. Every single morning, the word proceeded out of the mouth of God, and God says, let there be manna, and there was manna. And you see, what he wanted them to know is that you don't live necessarily with security, that God has the ability to create food. He has the ability to speak, and the manna comes.
And that's the word by which you should live. Now, says Jesus to Satan, in effect, I can turn these stones into bread, but I'm relying totally upon my Father, and there is within me some thing that is even more satisfying than eating, and that is the will of my Father. And therefore, be gone to Satan, for man shall not live by bread alone. But I'm living by the word of God that proceeds out of God's mouth. There is something even more important than food.
And with that, Satan, of course, left, though he came back later. It is a fast of faith. It is a fast of fighting, fighting. There are churches in this world that have experienced that only when we fast and only when we humble ourselves do we see the victory of Jesus Christ.
It is also a fast of finding. We find out what we are like. Have you ever noticed how grumpy you can be when you've not eaten? You can just be totally miserable to live with. Some of you may even be miserable after you've eaten, but I'm not talking about that kind.
No, no, no, no, not at Woody Church. I was thinking I said that for the benefit of those listening by cassette tape. The point is, the point is we can be very irritable. Now, do you mean to tell me that you cannot enjoy God or be controlled by the Spirit unless your stomach is full? That God has nothing, no relevance to you as long as you're hungry.
I once had somebody say, well, you know what my sanctification is? It's a cup of coffee in the morning. You know, I'm not fit to live with until I have that cup of coffee.
Oh, brother, brother or sister, whatever it may be. Are you telling me that the work of the Holy Spirit of God in your life is so unreal and so distant that God can't make you livable until you get that shot of caffeine? You know what the scripture would say is that there is such a thing as an inner well of water that springs up into everlasting life that is even more powerful and more satisfying than a cup of coffee or food. Oh, I know we need food to eat. I don't want to overstress the point, but I do want to say that we are such prisoners of our desires, aren't we? Aren't we? I speak of myself, but aren't we all prisoners of our desires?
So it's the fast of finding. I've talked to people who have fast for a long, long time, many more days than I've ever fasted, and they said that during that period of time, the flesh was subdued. The desires were brought under control.
There was freedom in their relationship. Well, you knew that we'd come to the text. I promised you, and I also still promise you, that one statement that will make Christian fasting unique from all the other fastings of the world, and you're still with me. So turn to the sixth chapter of Matthew.
Sixth chapter of Matthew. This is a series of messages on secrets. We've talked about secret giving. We've talked about secret praying. And now we speak about secret fasting. So you say, well, why are you speaking on this?
Because Jesus spoke on it. When you expound the scriptures, you go where the scriptures lead you, and this is where they lead us, to verse 16 of chapter 6. And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen, fasting by men.
They have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you may not be seen by men to be fasting, but your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret, will repay you. A couple of comments become very immediate as you look at the text. First of all, fasting is assumed. It's assumed that you will do that. Jesus didn't say, now, if you fast, as if to say that, you know, you may or may not. No, he says, when you fast, whenever you fast. Of course, in the early church, fasting was very common.
I mentioned to you that Paul fasted, the disciples fasted, all throughout history. And you say, well, you know, this is for super saints. No, no, this is just for common, ordinary people who struggle in their Christian walk. This is for you and for me.
This is for anyone. And you say, well, ah, but, but, well, listen. Jesus is saying, whenever you fast, it is expected. It is expected. Second very quick observation is that you have to do it with the right motive. Now, notice Jesus says, when you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do.
They neglect their appearance. They have their reward in full. We need to pause before we say anything about motive and say that all of us, all of us are very, very much aware of our reputations. And, and we all have the same desire within us to be accepted and to be well thought of.
And we know how good it is to be seen by man. We want to dress for it and strut for it and posture for it and give for it and pray for it and do all those things and, and fast if necessary. Now, the question is, why is it a hypocrisy if you're fasting for you to let everybody know you are? Isn't that exactly what hypocrisy isn't?
You're just letting it all hang out. You're saying, you know, I'm fasting today. Why does Jesus say that's hypocrisy? Wouldn't concealing it be hypocrisy? Now, the reason you see that this is a hypocrisy here for them to act this way is because you see, they are really giving the wrong impression about their motive.
That's their problem. If they put a sign on their back and say, I am fasting to be seen by men, then they would not be hypocrites. That's actually the reason why they're fasting. But you see, they're hypocrites because they're pretending to fast for God, and yet they do it that they might be seen of men. Now, Jesus said, when you fast.
When you fast, he said, do it in secret. Again, it doesn't mean that people can't find out about it. Just like we notice that there is giving that is public and that's okay. There is praying that is public and that is okay. But what Jesus is emphasizing in all of these secrets that we're talking about is that their main motive should be for God. Obviously, if you're fasting, your family will know about it. Sometimes you go out for lunch and your friends have to know about it because you're not eating. So there's no big deal there.
Don't make a big thing of that. But what Jesus is saying is that the inner motive has to be God-directed, that really you recognize that at the end of the day, you're not fasting for anybody else. You're not doing it because others are doing it, but you are really doing this for God. And your desire is to develop an intimacy with him and to develop a heart for God. And so what Jesus said is that the intention, the intention of the hypocrites is wrong and those who conceal the fact that they are fasting and those who don't speak about the fact that they are fasting, they aren't the hypocrites because they understand that the real purpose of fasting is to develop that heart for God and therefore they aren't hypocrites at all.
They just don't make a big thing of it. So Jesus is saying we have to fast for the right motive. And again, he talks about doing it in secret.
Why? It helps our motive to be pure. Now notice, there is a reward. And your father who sees in secret, does God know about your hunger pains? Does he know about all of the things that come to mind when you're fasting and you're beginning to get agitated because you've skipped lunch?
Does he know that? Yeah, yeah, but your father who sees in secret, he will repay you. You're doing this for him. He will repay you. Now how does God repay us? I'd like to suggest that God repays us primarily, maybe in different ways, but primarily the reward is God himself. The reward is God himself. I promised you that I would give you one sentence that would distinguish Christian fasting from all the other fasting that might be done in the world. And it is simply this, that every once in a while, every once in a while, what we need to do is to prove that the giver is more satisfying than the gift.
Let me say that again. Every once in a while, we have to prove that the giver is more satisfying than the gift. Every once in a while, we have to say, even though my bodily need for food is now being denied and this is difficult for me, Lord, I pray, Lord, I pray that my desire for you might increase and may I long for you as much as I long for some baked salmon during my fast.
That's the whole point. You see, it's God that we seek. It is God who satisfies the depths of the soul.
As the deer pants after the water brook, so my soul pants after thee, oh God. And we say to ourselves, oh God, I want you so bad. I want you as bad as that thirsty day when I was on the peninsula of Masada, 1968, how well I remember it when we were out of water and we were in the desert and it was 100 degrees and given anything for just a half cup of water.
God, I want you that bad, you see. And every once in a while, you and I who are so pampered and who are so filled with good things to eat and who think that every time our little stomach tells us time to eat, oh, we have to obey, we have to obey. You and I have to prove once in a while that the giver can be more satisfying than the gift than the bread, that we too have meat to eat that the world knows not of. So the reward is God himself. It is the supremacy of God in all things and it is a reminder of the fact that we miss him.
We miss him. The king has not yet come. The church is waiting for the revelation of the bridegroom from heaven, but he is not yet here and this is a period of mourning. This is a period of searching.
This is a period of yieldedness because the master has not yet come and so we do that. I speak to many of you who have never fasted, unless you're like my friend who says, oh, yeah, yeah, I do it. I do it often. I fast between breakfast and lunch.
Yeah. You say, well, how do you begin? Well, first of all, I suggest that you begin with a 36-hour fast.
Just skip food for one day and then have breakfast the next day and that will turn out to be about 36 hours. That's a good way to start. Now, I need to warn you. Here's what's going to happen. Your stomach is going to try to convince you otherwise. First line of defense is going to say, you will die.
You will die if you do this. People have died. That's the first line of defense. That's the first assault. The second assault is to say, well, you might not die, but it's going to damage your immune system.
You're going to get all of the flu bugs that have ever been hatched here in the city of Chicago. They will all come to you really seriously because you are going to be dangerously weakened as a result of this. If that doesn't work, your stomach is going to quote the Constitution of the United States of America. It's going to say, I'm going to tell the ACLU on you because it's unconstitutional.
This is cruel and unusual punishment. The question is, what are you going to do when that happens? What are you going to do? What you're going to do is to say, oh God, this is difficult because I'm thinking about food. I could hardly wait, hardly wait to eat, but Lord, please, please, I'm taking some baby steps here. Please give me a desire for you that is as great as the desire that I have for food at this moment because, because I'm hungry and I'm irritable and I'm dissatisfied, but Lord, fill that gap with yourself and someday, someday, maybe not yet, but, but someday help me to desire you as much as I desire that food.
Why? Because every once in a while I have to prove that you, the giver of every perfect gift, including bread, that you are more satisfying than the bread that you give and I've not been able to prove that. I've not been able to prove that, but Lord, teach me that. Give me a hunger and a thirst after righteousness that I shall be filled. And that is the reward then of the blessing. It is the reward of fasting. It is, it is the recognition that at the end of the day, the father who saw in secret, he will repay you. The Greek word repay really means I'll pay you back.
In other words, I'll give you the reward. I spoke to somebody this past week and he said that the reward of fasting and he fasted rather long. He said it was not even during the fast. He said it was a difficult time, but he said the rewards came afterwards. The rewards come afterwards as we are filled with the fullness of God. Some of you who are here today, this message has not been for you directly, though I'm glad you listened because what you need to do is you need to connect with God first.
You need to connect with God first and you don't do it through fasting. If you don't know Christ is your Savior, this isn't the starting point for you. Your starting point is to come and to receive freely the gift of eternal life. It's to acknowledge your own helplessness like Augustus' top lady wrote, could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal no respite know? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone. And so you come helplessly and you come to receive the gift of eternal life. Then once you're a child of God and you belong to the family, then you begin to develop that intimacy, that intimacy. But the first step is for you to open your heart and life to Christ and to receive the forgiveness and the mercy of God.
And then you can begin to say someday, someday I'm going to fast because what I'd like to do too is to prove that the giver can be more satisfying than the gift. Let us pray. Father receive the words that have been taken we pray. We pray Father that all who have listened today, students, young people, teenagers, older adults, those who've walked with you for many years, those who are new in the faith, we pray for a transformation of heart. We pray today Father that you will make us a church that seeks you and that at the end of the day we might find you to be satisfying. Father we pray that you might come to us by your Holy Spirit. Show us how satisfying you can be. Show us that you can indeed be a cup of cool water in a desert. Show us Lord that our desires are so out of kilter with where you're at that we need to repent of all those things that stand in the way of finding you to be beautiful and lovely. Do that Lord we pray and Father unless you do it it won't be done so do it among your people we ask in Jesus name.
Amen. Well my friend today I urge you to seek God and if that involves fasting then begin to fast take out a day without food and use those hunger pangs to remind you of the fact that all of us need God even more than we need food. Well my friend I have to ask you a question if you're a parent or grandparent and your kids come home from school or your grandkids come home from school and they begin to ask you questions about science what about the fossil record? Is it possible that evolution can explain human life? How do you answer? I have in my hands a wonderful resource it's entitled a closer look at the evidence written by two scientists and this book has 365 one-page readings one for every day of the year and most of the pages are with color photos it will help you defend the Christian faith and it will show you the beauty of God's creative ability for a gift of any amount it can be yours here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com let me give that to you again rtwoffer.com or if you prefer call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 ask for a closer look at the evidence. It's time again for another chance for you to ask pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life at Running to Win we're glad that so many of our listeners find help and encouragement through this program every day but no program can replace the community of God's people found in the local church Dr. Lutzer this issue came up when a listener named David wrote to us he says is it okay to listen to your radio program and several other radio and tv preachers instead of attending church well David first of all let me say I'm so glad that you listened to our program and of course there are a lot of other good ones out there proclaiming the word of God and I hope that you listen as often as you can but the answer to your question is no staying home to listen to these broadcasts is not the same as going to church now mind you there are many people who listen to our broadcast who cannot go to church I'm thinking particularly those who may have a physical infirmity a disability perhaps because of old age perhaps because of a number of different reasons so of course it is very good then that they can listen and participate but if you can go to church you should and the reason is this that going to church is more than listening to a sermon or hearing music going to church is connecting with the community of God we should be a transforming community and we can't be that alone God has worked it out in such a way that it is through human relationships through the exercise of the body working together as a whole that much is accomplished you can't live the Christian life that you should on your own we need one another and the place to find that one another is church thank you david for your question and thank you pastor lutzer for your direct answer if you'd like to hear your question answered you can by going to our website at rtw offer.com and click there on ask pastor lutzer or you can call us with the question at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at running to win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614 good deeds can be seen motivations can't why we do what we do is a key focus of Christ's teaching in Matthew chapter 6 here we experience radical surgery as our motives are dissected next time on running to win we go to the clinic to get Christ's diagnosis running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life thanks for listening today for Dr. Erwin Lutzer this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church
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