KINGDOM LIVING: HERE & NOW, 13 A LIFE OF WORSHIP Matthew 6:16 18

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1 CORNERSTONE BIBLE CHURCH June 12, 2011 KINGDOM LIVING: HERE & NOW, 13 A LIFE OF WORSHIP Matthew 6:16 18 Matthew 6:16 18 [open & read] Introduction: Super Size Me! In 2004, a man by the name of Morgan Spurlock put to test an idea he had: What would happen to his body if for 30 days, he ate every meal at McDonalds. His story is found in the documentary entitled Super Size Me. Here were his rules for his experiment: o He would dine (not sure you should use that word for what he did) at McDonalds three times a day. o He would eat every item on the menu at least once over the course of the 30 days (he actually did this in 9 days) o He was only allowed to eat food from McDonalds, no other food was allowed. o He must Super Size his mean if it was offered to him, but not on his own will. The results: Well, as you can guess, they were not too good. o He gained 25.5 pounds. It took him 14 months to lose the weight (mostly through a vegan detox diet not sure which is worse). o He saw a 13% body mass increase o o He saw a spike in his cholesterol level He experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver. It is an interesting story and I am not saying that we should or should not go to McDonalds. I am sure I will again. My point in using this illustration is not that we should not even eat at fast food restaurants. My point is that, as Americans, we hardly do things like eating and drinking in moderation. In a lot of ways, food or drink, or many other things have become gods to us, we just don t know that they are our gods! This morning, we come to the point in the Sermon on the Mount where we talk about the biblical issue of fasting. Our main thought this morning is simple: FASTING IS A TEST OF OUR WORSHIP. Now, on the surface, the message Jesus is giving is really easy to understand. As we have been saying over the past several weeks, we are not to do religious things in order to be noticed by men. That s what makes them religious things and not Christian things. If our heart is to be generous with our money so that we can see our name on the plaque on the building; if our heart is to pray long prayers so that people 1

2 will look at us and think that we are spiritual; or even as we will study today, if we fast in such a way so that people will think of us as really holy and righteous then we have missed the point of all of these things. And Jesus consistent statement to us is that our reward is what we get from the people around us. Our reward is the plaque on the building; the smile or pat on the back by our friends; or the reputation of spirituality. But there is a much greater reward! It is the one that is given by the Father who sees everything that is done in secret! Before we get too far into this concept, I feel I need to give some background on this concept of fasting. We have so lost it in our culture. I know we fast from food for many physical reasons. I have done the detox thing before. I have done the three day food fast before. Maybe you have been motivated to skip a meal or two because of some medical issue. Yet, not many of us, I would guess, actually fast for spiritual reasons. What I mean is that we probably do not have to look into our motives as to whether we are fasting to be noticed by men. We probably need to ask if we are going to engage in the act of fasting at all. What does it mean to fast? What is the purpose of a fast? What is this fasting thing all about? So, put on your student hats and let me give you some background. In the Old Testament, there is only one fast that was required. We are told that on the Day of Atonement, the people were to humble their souls and not do any work in Leviticus 16:29. The concept to humble their soul is a Hebrew expression that included forsaking food as an act of self-denial. 1 This was a command for a national fast. For that day, the entire nation of Israel was to forgo their food & work and put their trust in their God. I will say that fasting is different from giving and praying (the other examples Jesus is talking about in this section in Matthew). There are many examples and commands to give and pray, but this command to fast on the Day of Atonement is the only command in the OT to fast. While there are very few commands in the OT, there are examples of people fasting. It seemed to become the habit of God s people to fast. During the Old Testament times many faithful believers fasted Moses, Samson, Samuel, Hannah, David, Elijah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, and many others. 2 If we were to look at the examples of God s people, we see at least three reasons why people would fast. FIRST, SOMEONE MIGHT FAST AS AN ACT OF CONFESSION. This is fasting for the reason of sorrow over sin or as an act of confession. This is why they would fast on the Day of Atonement. There is the example of Moses when he 1 MacArthur, John. Matthew 1 7. (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1985), Ibid.,

3 comes down from the Mountain with the Ten Commandments and finds the Israelites with the golden calf. This is what he said: Deuteronomy 9:18 I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. He was so ashamed at the sin of the people that He gave up food and drink for a period of time and prayed that the Lord would not incinerate His people. After the people returned to rebuild Jerusalem from their exile, we are told they gathered together for the preaching of God s Word. Here is what happened: Nehemiah 9:1 2 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins. They were finally in their homeland, they listened to the preaching of God s Word and they were moved to get things right with the Lord. So, they fasted and confessed their sins. Finally, remember the story of Jonah? What happens after he finally goes to Nineveh and preaches the message to them? We are told in Jonah 3:5 that the people believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Their fasting was connected to the confession of sin. SECOND, SOMEONE MIGHT FAST AS AN ACT OF SORROW. It was a way of expressing sadness or regret, not necessarily because of sin, but because of the situation. And during that time, the person would fast and cry out to the Lord to intervene. For instance, when King David found out that his enemy, Saul, was killed, we are told he mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the Lord (2 Sam. 1:11). On another occasion, after finding out the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba would be the death of his son, David begins to fast and pray. 2 Samuel 12:16 17 David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them. It was only after the child died, that David stopped fasting. In that moment of worship to His God, He was hoping that God would be merciful and save his son. When in the moment of sorrow, they would fast as an act of crying out to the Lord. Of course, we know when things happen to us, that deep sorrow can 3

4 bring about a loss of appetite. But these examples seem to be more than just an I m not hungry attitude, but a giving up to cry out to the Lord attitude. THIRD, SOMEONE MIGHT FAST AS AN ACT OF SEEKING GOD S WILL. We have to fast forward to the NT in order to see this example, but people fasted in order to seek out the Lord s will for a particular situation. As the Church in Antioch was looking at sending out someone for a missionary journey, the church gathered together... Acts 13:2 While they were ministering to the lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. They had a list of men they wanted to send and they didn t know who they should send out on that journey. And so, they gave up things in order to come and worship God and pray, and it was during that time that the answer was revealed to them. Then, during that first missionary journey, as churches were established, we are told that Paul and Barnabas would appoint elders in the churches. They did it as they fasted and prayed for the Lord s will (Acts 14:23). Of course, the most famous example of a fast was Jesus, who went into the wilderness for 40 days and nights without food as He prepared for His public ministry to begin. While in the OT, there are few commands; there is certainly example after example of the activity of fasting (even into the NT). As we move into our text and why Jesus would make mention of it, we need to realize that the religious leaders, the Pharisees, in the days of Jesus had made it their regulation to fast twice a week. Somewhere between the command of the Day of Atonement and Jesus day, the religious leaders made it their religious duty to fast two times a week. It is generally thought of that they would fast on Mondays and Thursday. Now, at first, this didn t make sense, until I came across this statement: They claimed those days were chosen because they were the days Moses made the two separate trips to receive the tablets of law from God on Mount Sinai. But those two days also happened to be the major Jewish market days, when cities and towns were crowded with farmers, merchants, and shoppers. They were, therefore, the two days where public fasting would have the largest audience. 3 They had taken this beautiful thing of giving up food in order to pray and made it a mockery by seeking attention for it. Most likely, the fasting Jesus is 3 MacArthur,

5 mentioning here that they did to be seen by people would have been the fasting as an act of sorrow. In vs. 16, as Jesus says these people put on a gloomy face as they are fasting, because they want to be noticed by men. I m not sure how they did it, but they would have maybe even put dust on their head to make it evident that they were fasting and praying that day. They would have played the game. They were concerned more with the appearance of fasting than they were with actually fasting. Of course, that is Jesus point in this section, do we like the appearance of religious items, or do we really like doing them? Do we really like to give or to be seen giving? Do we really like to pray or just want people to know that we are prayer warriors? Do we want to be known as the one who fasts or do we just like to fast? If we do them so that we can be noticed by others, we are the hypocrites, who care more about the reputation with men than our standing before God! As is the case with the other items, their reward is the reputation they have with the people. Their reward is the glance of their friend, the slap on the back, and the atta-boy from the person who passed by them. Their reward was the name they had in the community of being a very religious person. Then in vs. 17, Jesus once again assumes that His followers wouldn t fall into the trap of this religious activity, but he also assumes they still will engage into it. What I find interesting is that while there is only one OT command and lots of examples of fasting, Jesus assumes that it will continue until today. In fact, one of the most important portions of the Scripture that talk about fasting takes place just a few chapters over in Matthew. Matthew 9:14 15 [open & read] Note very carefully what Jesus says here. His disciples do not fast like the disciples of John or like the Pharisees. Why? It was because in vs. 15, Jesus says those who are part of the party do not weep or mourn or fast when the King of the party is there. But soon, the bridegroom will be leaving and then they will fast! Why? And here is the heart of where we are going this morning: He assumes we will continue to engage in fasting because at the heart of fasting is a test. And the test goes something like this: Do I love that item more than I love my Lord? At the heart of fasting is a test as to what we worship! It is a test as to whether I love the here and now or the eternal Bridegroom who someday will be coming back. Now, let me define some very important terms for you and then we will come back around to this fasting concept. 5

6 Worship To worship means to ascribe quality or glory to something. The English word comes from two old English terms, worth and ship (quality). So when we worship, what we are saying is that which we worship has a quality or a worthiness to get our attention. Now, biblically, to worship something means just that, to acknowledge that something or someone is worthy to receive praise and glory and honor and attention. Probably the clearest passage on the issue of worship is found in... Romans 12:1 2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God with is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Actually, if we were to look back one verse from this, the last verse in chapter 11, it says, To Him be the glory forever. Amen. It is to God that belongs all the glory forever and ever. Therefore, now because He deserves all the glory, because He deserves to be worshipped, because He deserves to be ascribed glory and no one else, vs. 1 2 says two things: that there is a presentation of ourselves and a sacrifice of ourselves to Him, which then is an act of worship. Do you see the concept of worship used here? There is someone worthy to be worshipped. There is a focal point of the worship, something glorious (here described as GOD), and therefore there is a presentation of ourselves to Him, or some translations might say dedication. I like that term better, it seems to describe it a little clearer. And in the presentation of ourselves, it will mean that we are willing to sacrifice, our bodies, really, everything that we are to God which is in turn a spiritual act of worship. Note that progression: Glory (God is worthy), Dedication (we present ourselves), and Sacrifice (we do whatever we need to do for Him)! Three steps in worship. So, worship is finding something that is Glorious, dedicating yourself to that person, thought, or thing, and then sacrificing for it. That is worship, so then what is idolatry? Idolatry The dedication to and presentation of ourselves to anything other than the Lord God of the Bible. Any person, any concept, any possession, anything other than God that gets our dedication and sacrifice other than God can and probably is an idol to us. God is the only One who truly is glorious. So therefore, there is only One that we should be dedicating and sacrificing for. And if we dedicate ourselves and sacrifice ourselves to anything other than the Lord God of the Bible, we are to be considered idolaters. 6

7 Luther has said that our hearts are idol factories. Worship is a way of life. It is everything to us. It is finding something that is glorious, dedicating ourselves to it, and sacrificing for it. Tozer has said worship is all day, every day... everyone worships all the time. At this point, you might be thinking: okay, thanks for the mini-lesson on worship and idolatry, but what does this have to do with fasting. Here s the point: We fast and we intentionally give up things from time to time in order to test our heart as to the object of our worship! John Piper has written a wonderful book on this subject called A Hunger For God. Listen to what He has to say about our desire for God vs. our desire for other things. Desire for other things there s the enemy. And the only weapon that will triumph is a deeper hunger for God. The weakness of our hunger for God is not because he is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with other things. What we hunger for most, we worship... When God is the supreme hunger of our hearts, he will be supreme in everything. 4 And so we give up things from time to time to test whether He is indeed supreme in everything to us! You see, I think fasting for us today is much more than just food. Yes, there are times when we should give up food for a concentrated time of prayer and worship of our Father. And yes, there are times when we should give up other things as well for the sake of a concentrated time of prayer and worship of our Father. We do this because we want to ask ourselves: DO I LOVE THE GIFT OR THE GIVER OF THE GIFT? Look, there are many things that God has given us in this life; we can call them great gifts from the Lord. But if we end up loving those things more than God, then there is something wrong. We are idolaters. Fasting is the proving ground that we indeed love the Lord more than this thing. Illustration: IPhone 4 Yesterday, my IPhone just died. Don t know what happened, but just went blank and died. I went to the store and they said I needed to call in the warranty on it. I did and they are sending another one, maybe in by Monday night. That means, 2+ days without my phone. For some of you, you could care less. I do most everything on my phone. I feel lost without it. Yet, I was thanking the Lord for an opportunity to test my heart: Do I love this gift of the IPhone more than the Lord. I know that sounds crazy that anyone would love it more than Jesus, but let s be honest with each other we both know it is possible and probable that we can. Good news after praying, the Lord resurrected it. It just suddenly came back on! 4 Piper, John. A Hunger for God. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1997),

8 So, what do we fast from? Let me give you several examples of things that you might choose to fast from. 1. FOOD & DRINK Most of the biblical examples of fasting have to do with food or drink. Maybe you might choose to take some time to test yourself: Do I love that thing more than my God? And the way you can tell is whether or not you are willing to give it up for a meal, or better yet, a season of time. 1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. And so, we take a lunch away once a week and spend time praying. Or maybe we take an entire meal and set aside a day of prayer to our Lord. Or maybe we just take one aspect of our food and get rid of it in order to test ourselves as to whether it is an idol for us. Illustration: Giving up all Pop from time to time You can ask my wife about this, but each year, I usually take about a month or so and give up all Dt. Dew, Dt. Coke, all pop all together. Why? Because I want to test myself as to whether this is a god to me or not. Is this an idol for me? What about you, maybe giving up pop wouldn t be anything to you, but what about your coffee? Yea, that s right. Let me meddle if I could for just a minute. When we talk about these sort of things, people often laugh and say something like Oh, I couldn t do anything without my morning coffee, I would be so mean. What would we say to the person who says that, but the thing they can t give up isn t something that is sold at Circle K, but in some back alley downtown Cleveland? Could it be that coffee or pop, maybe caffeine is the Christian drug? Let me just shoot straight and be very honest with you. Some of you can t even sit through an entire church service without getting up to get your coffee. What does that say? Don t shoot the messenger, I m just pointing out the obvious, that maybe you need to test yourself to see if there is something you love more than the Lord. Maybe there is something that has controlled your mind and affections more than Jesus. What is it that you say you cannot give up? Then fast from that food or that meal. But be wise, if you are diabetic or have other health issues, seek your doctor. Don t be unwise. 8

9 2. SEX Obviously, if you are not married, you should not be engaging in sexual activity. It is a beautiful thing that God created, at least beautiful if seen in the context of marriage. If you are not married and are engaging in sexual activity, or seeking it outside of marriage, we are not talking about fasting from it, but fleeing from it. Saying that, did you know the only other specific example of fasting, other than food, in the Scriptures has to do with sex. Listen to this; maybe the #1 least applied text in the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 7:5 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Now, I know that some of you might think that you are fasting from sex way too much in your marriages. Maybe we can talk about that at some point. But Paul s point here is that as husband and wife, you should not be keeping yourself from each other. You should be seeking each other. The only time when you might stop having sex for a time is if you agree for a time that instead of having sex, you are going to pray together, then that is good. I have to tell you, not sure this is done too much in Christian marriages. But after the time of prayer, you have to make sure and come back together so that Satan does not get a foothold in your marriage. 3. TECHNOLOGY I gave the example of my phone earlier, but what are some of your examples? Are there things that you feel as if you can t live without? Then give them up for a time. Test yourself, fast from them, so that you can prove they are not your god. How much time do your kids spend in front of screens? TV, Video Games, Phones, Computers, and so on. The Next Story by Tim Challies great book that deal with this issue. I hope you graduates will indeed read it! 4. OCCUPATION Are you a work-a-holic? Are you seeking the American Dream through your work? Are you trying to climb the corporate ladder? Does your job interfere with those things that should be higher on the priority list? Does it come in 9

10 conflict with your time with the Lord? Does it interfere with your church responsibilities? Does it come in confrontation with your family? Then maybe make some rules and regulations. Test yourself as to whether or not you are worshipping your job. I am not saying fast from your job in the sense of ignoring or abandoning your responsibilities to take care of your family. But maybe give up some nights of your work. Maybe seek to develop a healthy perspective of the purpose of work. 5. HOBBIES Would you give up your sports for Jesus? Would you help your children develop a good perspective of sports for the sake of Jesus? I hate to tell you, but your child is probably not going to be the next Lebron (oh, sorry, Dirk). But remember, when you do fast, the point that Jesus is trying to make in vs is that our fasting, our time when we test ourselves, we are not to make it a big deal. It is to be between the Lord and us. Sure, there are some examples of times of corporate fasts, but we should not seek to make it a big deal even during this corporate time. We should just be about what we normally do. Do you see vs. 17, He says to anoint your head and wash your face? This sounds strange to us, but what He is saying is just do things as normal. Maybe for us, it would be take a shower, do your hair as normal, put on deodorant as normal, and so on. His point once again, is the motive for fasting is what matters, not whether people know or not. Live your normal life because you are entrusting yourself to your Spiritual Father who sees what is done in secret. And you are fasting to test yourself as to whether this good thing He has given you, have you turned that good thing into an idol thing and made it a bad thing? Is it now an idol to you. Let me end with the last words by the Apostle John in his first letter... 1 John 5:21 21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols. Don t you find it a little curious that John gets to the end of his great first letter and warns them to stay away from idols? I don t necessarily think he was talking about a fat wooden guy who smiles and you rub his belly. 10

11 Homework today go home and ask your spouse, friend, parent, child what is my idol? Be honest with me? What do I put before Jesus? And the way in which you will guard yourself from that idol is to give it up for a season! Fast from it! Test your heart as to whether you worship that thing or not! 11