Matthew 6:22-24

“22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV)

The story is told of the pastor who was traveling from Rochester NY east to his home in Georgetown NY. If you know New York State at all, especially in winter, there is a rule about the weather: if you don’t like the weather you have in the morning, just wait! By noon it will be different! Well, Pastor Ken left Rochester on the main Interstate 90, and it was raining. Pretty soon the temperature dropped, and the rain turned to sleet. And what do you know! Not too long afterwards, the sleet turned to…SNOW! When Pastor Ken got off I-90 to head south to Georgetown, he was completely in the DARK! He pulled off the road and discovered that his headlights were completely covered in 2 inches of…ICE! When he cleared off the ice, guess WHAT? He could see clearly! And then he could safely drive HOME!

Verses 22-24 are the foundation for the rest of this chapter. They develop a principle, which principle is followed by 3 simple but profound fruits.

PRINCIPLE: The eye is the lamp of the whole body – what we look at and what we let in to our mind.

Have you read 1 John 2:15-17 lately? Here this passage is:

“15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

This leads us to FRUIT #1: A focused eye produces a fruitful life (v. 22)

The old King James uses a word which is quite foreign to today’s Bible student. Verse 22 in the King James reads, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” The word “single” [or “good” in the New King James Version] is from the Greek word, “haplous”. It is defined as “having a focus of purpose”. It is also translated as “pure” (The Living Bible) and “sound” (Amplified Version).

In my first charge in a small country church town, we lived in an 100 year old parsonage (come to think of it, in my SECOND charge we lived in a parsonage built in 1894!). We lived across the street from the neighborhood farmer and his wonderful wife. And with his barn came, well, mice and rats. Well let me tell you! We had a black and white cat named “Callie” who understood “haplous” very well! He would post himself in one of the doorways near the door to the garage. He would brace himself. And then? He would wait, and wait, and…all of a sudden there was this POUNCE! And the poor helpless animal became another victim that Callie proudly displayed for his parents – us! You see, Callie was SINGLE AND VERY HAPPY! The parsonage life in a farming community was the life for him!

But what if you used that focus – not to pounce on people (or mice or rats, for that matter!) – but on personal holiness? Proverbs 11:25 says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.” To “be made rich” is wonderfully translated elsewhere as “be made fat” (KJV), “be blessed” (Septuagint – the OT Greek), “enriched” (Amplified), and “rich” (Living Bible).

Isn’t that what we want, what we hunger for? God wants to create, and we are hungry, to be a spiritual man who sees things just the way they are, and responds in a way that reflects the Savior upon Whom he is focused! Which leads us to…

FRUIT #2: An unfocused eye, beyond being unfruitful, is DARK – an instrument for the devil’s use (v. 23).

“Dark” or “darkness” means “blurry”. Literally, it means “having double vision”

Blurred by WHAT??? How about: Sin. Lusts. Desires. Prejudices. The world’s standards.

The Bible says we are to “love one another” (John 13:34-35 AND 21 other references!) and we are to “hate evil” (Psalm 97:10 AND 2 others). The world says that all men are inherently good. So it is possible for the Christian with the unfocused eye to live in the fear of the world rather than in the fear of the Lord. It is possible for the unfocused Christian to have a fear of what the world will think of him, a fear of being misunderstood. As a result, he is, well, USELESS for the Lord!

Let’s look at an amazing Biblical example. One of Paul’s co-workers was a fellow named DEMAS. We learn of him directly in 3 passages: Col. 4:14, Philemon 1:24, and 2 Tim. 4:10. To the Colossians and to Philemon, Paul referred to Demas as working along with Paul’s personal physician, Luke. Further, Paul considered Demas a “fellow laborer.” 2 Timothy 4is believed to be the last chapter Paul ever wrote before he went home to glory. What does v. 10 say about Demas?

“for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…” [my emphasis]. What a sad commentary about someone who at one time was one of Paul’s trusted fellow servants. Demas is a perfect example of FRUIT #2: he had an unfocused eye, a DARK eye. He was no longer of use for the Savior. And if THAT is true, for whom is he useful? Hmmm…

Finally, there is FRUIT #3: a focused eye gives true DIRECTION (service) in what really matters most (v. 24)

The great American writer, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) had a thought about verse 24. He said, “this verse is a proof text against Mormonism and their old belief in having more than one wife. For the verse says, “no man can serve TWO masters.” (Groan…)

Lehman Strauss was one of the greatest authors and speakers that God used throughout the later years of the last century. He had no car and no house. He said, “those tie me down.” He commented that as a result, he was completely yielded to serve!

Both the Old and the New Testament say that the follower of the Lord is to “love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength”. God never said that we can’t have THINGS. He doesn’t want THINGS to have US, thus blinding our service for Him.

AS WE CLOSE:

There is the story of the farmer whose prize cow gave birth to 2 calves: one red, and one white, He proclaims to his wife, “when the time comes, I will sell one and keep the proceeds to live on, and then I will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord’s work. She asked him, “which one will you live on, and which one will you use to help the Lord’s work?” He wisely replied, “We won’t bother to decide now – we’ll treat both the same.”

A few months later, the farmer says to his wife, “The Lord’s calf is dead.” The wife reminds him, “but you never decided which is the Lord’s calf.”

“Yes,” the farmer replied. “The red cow was always to be the Lord’s calf.”

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: the Lord’s calf always dies.

That is the heart of this passage in Matthew 6:22-24. The singular heart is the one which has died to self and lives focused only on the Savior.

And you know what? The heart focused only on the Savior is…SINGLE AND QUITE HAPPY!

Am I really? Are you?

“SERMON ON THE MOUNT – AND BEYOND !!!”

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

“Treasure”. Allow me to relay a, well, what Dr. Becker might call a “joke”:

“A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget’s Thesaurus crashed as it left a New York publishing house last Thursday.

According to the Associated Press, witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, punchy, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, boggled,  overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, and perplexed.”

A “thesaurus” is a book which is a wonderful resource for pastors, other servants of the Lord, those doing research, Scrabble players (!), as well as those who are simply searching for that right word to say or write. Throughout college, it was one of those reference books that was invaluable to all those assignments that somehow always were due the NEXT morning! Of course, y’all never had that problem.

Wasn’t that above joke FUNNY? So WHY, you ask, is this important to our study? Interestingly, the word “treasure” in our text is from the Greek word – are you ready? – “thesauros”. Its meaning is quite similar to what we have in our English language. In the Greek, “thesauros” has both a negative and a positive importance. Negatively, it is NOT worldly things! Setting that nugget of information aside, positively it IS: a place of safe keeping; a storehouse; the valuable placed in that storehouse.

With that in mind, wisely our Savior used the word “thesauros” to illustrate with great power His desire for the hearts of those who would be walking with Him – both then and now. So how about us? What is my “thesauros”? What is yours?

Our Savior is giving us 3 good principles to understand “thesauros” and to be able to answer the question, “What or Who/who is our ‘treasure’”?

PRINCIPLE #1 says “The Christian is in a battle for the world’s attitudes” (Matt. 6:19)

The amazing things about the “things on earth” – that is, things of this world – is that they are more often than not GOOD things. If they were in appearance something BAD, it would be easy to discern it as BAD now wouldn’t it? But the “things on earth”, the things which govern the world’s attitudes, are a battle ground for those who love the Lord Jesus as Savior, What things? I’m sure today the list is endless. Let me make a few suggestions. How about THINGS! A house. A BIGGER house. A house which I really can’t afford, but when I own a house it means that I have really arrived, man!

A “thing” could be a TV! I remember one Thanksgiving night standing in a long line at…you got it, Wally World (ok, Walmart). What were we in line for? A TV!!! Not just ANY tv, but a 19” tv. What? Just a puny little tv? Well, that’s all we really wanted for our bedroom. And for $70 and 3 hours of waiting, we took home our…treasure. It was a good treasure to us. And believe it or not, when we moved from that house, we were able to sell that tv for exactly $70.

How about “family”? Can your spouse or your children become “treasures”?

How about “position”? We’ve all heard the term “moving up the ladder of success”. Some people literally walk over other people – friend and foe alike – in order to get to that position in the job that they thought they MUST have in order to be considered a success, to have arrived. Believe it or not, that also can happen in a church. There are many churches where even the trustees have the mindset that “what they say goes” when it comes to the oversight of the church facilities. The Lord did not have much say in what they had “say” in!

So that is Principle #1. Our Savior begins this section with a warning. The world’s attitudes are a battle ground. It does not take much effort for the world’s attitude to become the saint’s attitude. And when the world’s attitude becomes the saint’s attitude, the Lordship of Christ is no longer the priority of that saint. Has that happened to you, to me, to our churches?

PRINCIPLE #2 says “The Christian must have a right view of himself.” (Matt. 6:20)

If we are to have “treasures in heaven” we must make at least two major decisions on earth. FIRST, we must fix in our hearts that “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through”! One of my favorite scenes in the Old Testament is when Patriarch Jacob, in Egypt, is asked by Pharaoh, “how old are you?”. Now you or I might answer “I am [x] years old.” Not wise Jacob! He had a right view of himself, knowing this world is not his home. So how does one then answer that question? Jacob said:

“The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few

and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to

the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

[my emphasis] Genesis 47:9

The psalmist was equally wise. Another classic line is found in Psalm 84:5. Here is one of the 3 blessings listed in the psalm (look up the other 2!):

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.” [my emphasis]

The psalmist states his heart is set on pilgrimage. It is set. It is fixed. Why? Because he knew, as Jacob did before him, that this world is not his home!

Second, we must learn from the Scriptures what the Lord Himself determines are true “treasures”. Here is a suggested list of some good Biblical treasures:

(a). A heart which is filled with God Himself or the things of God’s Word:

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:35)

(b). Eternal profits rather than earthly profits:

“Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21 – and context)

(c). The gospel rather than a social gospel:

“whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Cor. 4:4 and context)

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)

(d). Filled with the wisdom and knowledge one has in Christ !!!

“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1-3)

PRINCIPLE #3 says “if your profits are in heaven your heart will be there, too!” (Matt. 6:21 The Living Bible)

Who should be my greatest treasure? Did you catch the question? This is not a “WHAT” should be my greatest treasure. Rather, the question rightly says “WHO” should be my greatest treasure?

That should NOT be an hard question. But for many of us – including born again, blood bought earthbound (not in heaven, yet!) sinners, it often IS an hard question. We have set aside the reminder that we are in a battle for the world’s attitudes. We DON’T have a right view of ourselves. AND, if that were not enough, we have fallen under the category of “SETTLED FOR”. We have “settled for” earthly gain rather than heavenly profits.

BUT if our treasures are heavenly, so will be our goals, our purposes, our values, our desires, our hungers while on earth.

So there you are, sitting in the huge crowd near the mountainside while the Savior is delivering the Sermon on the Mount. You say to yourself, “I’ve lived a good life. I’ve been blessed by God in so many ways. I’ve got a good nest egg. I’m set for life. But WAIT!!!! Jesus is saying WHAT??? “You’ve settled for earthly treasures, my child. Now settle for ME ALONE.”

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND?

May the Lord give each of us grace to TREASURE HIM ALONE!

Shared at Smyrna Baptist Church Smyrna, NY

July 25, 2021 11am

STOP THE PRESSES! HOLD YOUR HORSES! GIVE A LISTEN! Just WHERE is this week’s edition of the “Sermon on the Mount” study? Sorry, dear people. The study in Matthew has been set aside for at least one week for a very important announcement: Yesterday in church, I had the privilege of sharing about an amazing event which will actually take place sometime tonight (July 26, 2021). Are you ready?

My life is divided into 2 sections: BC and AD. BEFORE Jesus and AFTER coming to Jesus. For me, that was BEFORE age 19 and AFTER.

Before age 19, I believed in God. I remember that when I was younger, I used to lay flat on my back on the grass. Then I would look up at the clouds – and do what? I would have conversations with my unknown God!

Dad retired when I was 13. At that time we moved from our home near New York City down to our new home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. All that led up to that fateful day when I was 17. My best friend Jim and I were swimming in my parents’ pool when Jim said, “I got saved at the revival at church last week.” IMMEDIATELY I told Jim, “you keep that stuff to yourself.” But for the next 2 years I watched Jim. I watched his changing and changed life. Jim was going from “old things were passed away” to “behold, all things become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When I was 18 years old, I worked as a counselor at a boys’ camp in New Hampshire, the same camp where I had been a camper for 3 summers in the 1960’s. One of the counselors, named George, asked me to watch his cabin of boys one night while he was taking one of his 2 nights off we were given per summer. When I walked into his cabin I saw a stack of brand new Bibles, individually wrapped in plastic, located on his bureau. When he came back from his night off, I asked, “George, can I buy a Bible?” He wisely said, “No, I’ll give you one in the morning.”

The next morning at breakfast, George gave me the Bible. Inside the front cover he wrote that he was giving me the Bible at the boys camp. With that summer’s date. THEN? Then he wrote on the cover page 2 verses: [read from that Bible:]

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” 2 Timothy 3:16

The September after I came home from camp, George sent me a 4 page letter explaining how I needed to know – and how I could know – Jesus as my personal Savior. [I still have that letter!]. Included in that packet was a book entitled, “Now That I Believe,” by Robert Cook – former president of Kings College in New York. I set both letter and book aside.

We need to advance to when I was 19 years old, just over a month removed from my high school graduation. One night I couldn’t sleep. Ever have one of those nights? So for whatever strange reason, I was led to re-read that letter I hadn’t looked at for 10 months! And then I started reading that book, “Now That I Believe.” It wasn’t too long before I came to an HUGE conclusion: I DIDN’T believe in Jesus as my Savior.

I knew Jesus had died on a cross. That was HISTORY.

I DIDN’T know that He had died on a cross FOR ME!!! Now that was a MYSTERY!

That night, as best as I knew how, I asked Jesus to be my Savior.

THEN THE WHIRLWIND BEGAN!

Within 2 months, while a freshman at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York – REAL UPSTATE, like a few miles from the Canada border upstate – I started attending a Baptist church under the pastorate of Rev. Herman Underwood, who would soon become my spiritual mentor to the day he died some 40 years later!

Within one year I had transferred to a Bible College in Canada.

That first day of school, I met a girl from central NY. Let’s see if we have this straight. A guy from Ft. Lauderdale goes out of the country to Canada and meets a girl from central New York! The next story in my new adventures in Christ? Within 2 years of my receiving Jesus as Savior, Thuvia and I were married! And that counselor, George? He would be one of my ushers! He served with Tim, a fellow student at Bible School. AND he served with David, one of Pastor Underwood’s sons! Pastor Underwood’s daughter Kathy would be our organist. My best man, a fellow named Allen Carpenter, would go on to serve the Lord as pastor in about 5 different churches before he got called to be with the Lord at a very young age.

Within 15 years of my receiving Christ, I would begin serving as pastor of my first charge, a church “in the middle of nowhere”. How in the middle of nowhere? Several years later a friend asked for us to host her and her boyfriend’s wedding there BECAUSE: it was a plain colored church, built in the mid-1800’s, “in the middle of nowhere” – for her, a perfect setting for a Civl War themed wedding!

And as unbelievable to me, about that same time I began my 27 year career working as a parking enforcement officer with the City of Norwich (NY) Police Department.

Years later, a missionary friend who served for many years in Pakistan wrote a book with a title taken from many of the psalms: “WHAT GOD CAN DO”!

And that’s what God has done – and continues to do – for me! He faithfully works in me to draw fresh attention to Himself. Wow! What God can do!

OH! The date I came to know Jesus as Savior?

JULY 26, 1971

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK!

What God can do for me, He can do for everyone!

“…whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest!”

(Matthew 11:28)

Close in prayer – and praise!

EPILOGUE After the service, my wife and I went to our car to prepare to go home for the day. As we got into the vehicle, the thought suddenly hit me. I said to her,

“Weren’t you saved at the Bible Camp when you were 8 years old?”

“Yes”

“That means you were saved during the summer of 1961…

“That means you received Jesus as Savior 60 years ago this summer!”

I know the date I received Jesus as Savior. My wife knows how old she was and where she was, but she doesn’t know the exact date.

But you know what? GOD KNOWS THE HEARTS!

WHAT GOD CAN DO!

Have YOU received Jesus as YOUR Savior?

Do you know anyone who needs to trust Him today?

Catch the eternal vision of men and women, boys and girls, in the “valley of decision” (Joel 3:14)

THE MISUNDERSTOOD ART OF FASTING”

From the “SERMON ON THE MOUNT – AND BEYOND !!!”

Jeremy Stopford, Semi-Retired Pastor

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:16-18).

If you were ever to visit quaint little (under 8 thousand residents) Norwich, NY, you would immediately be drawn to the little red caboose in the business section on East Main Street, not very far from our local post office. For decades this caboose housed “Millie’s Diner”, with Millie herself as its chef! The food was good (serving breakfast and lunch Monday-Saturday), and the company even greater.

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. One of my privileges back then was to go to Millie’s each day just before noon to find out what the day’s special was for the employees at City Hall, located just across the street from the restaurant. That day I relayed to the front office folks that “Today’s special at Millie’s is chicken and biscuits.” Immediately I was told, “LEAVE RIGHT AWAY! Don’t you remember that this is the first day of the office diet?”.

FASTING. Today we would simply interpret that as “not eating for a certain season.” But what did it mean in Jesus’ day? Why was it so important to include in His valuable Sermon on the Mount? There are at least 3 good definitions of “to fast”:

1. To be without food or hungry; to suffer hunger

2. The temporary refraining from food for religious purposes

3. To be empty

Remember definitions #2 and #3, as they will be quite helpful in this study!

TOO FAST OR NOT TOO FAST Now THAT’s funny, especially to a car driver! Let’s try again.

TO FAST OR NOT TO FAST Funny how two added “o’s change the entire intent! How was this an important part of Jesus’ day, so important that His listeners knew right away what people to whom He was referring?

They knew there was a wrong way (verse 16) whereby the religious leaders had an outward show to give an appearance of spirituality. The Savior then taught (verse 17) “but when YE fast”, showing the true intention of this art which was thus most misunderstood. And then? It is to be done BEFORE GOD ALONE and not as before men or for their favor. It was A DENYING OF SELF. Hence comes the title, “NOT ME” (verse 18).

There are many Biblical helps or usages of “fasting” which give us the how and why of fasting. I like to refer to them as our “SEVEN SOUND SUPPORTS FOR THE SERVANT SEEKING FOR SUSTENANCE FOR THE SOUL”. (Honestly, Dr. Becker pays me WAY too much!)

1. Esther 4:16 A mourning for national sin through the avenue of faith

“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

Esther was in a position of political importance, the queen for the king. I would encourage you to read the entire book of Esther in one sitting. In the face of extreme political (and spiritual!) opposition, Queen Esther called for a season of fasting. This would be a national turning to true faith in the Living God!

I remember that 50 years ago, in my freshman year (and only year, before transferring to Bible School) at a liberal arts college in upstate New York, the student body was invited to give up an evening meal. In exchange, the school would donate the cost of that meal toward a ministry which was providing food for the poor, starving people of Bangladesh. It was my first exposure to true Biblical fasting. I spent the entire night in God’s word. And whenever I felt the hunger urge, I immediately bowed my head in prayer for the people of Bangladesh (and for those ministries there with which I was familiar).

2/3. (Read Dan. 6:16-18 where fasting [by the king] was for the purpose of overturning seemingly impossible circumstances [Daniel thrown into the lion’s den]

Daniel 9:1-3 When confronted with God’s Word

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”

This is a most fascinating piece of Scripture! The prophet Daniel – note the words: THE. PROPHET. DANIEL. The one and only. Servant of the Lord who both forthtells and foretells God’s Word. Daniel himself, most well known servant. Daniel was reading the Bible for himself! In particular, he was reading the scroll of Jeremiah in what we call today Jeremiah 25:10 [you may not realize that chapter and verse divisions are not considered inspired but added by spiritual men of God for the intent of making Bible reading much easier]. Daniel was a Jewish captive in Gentile – and idol worshiping – Babylon. By reading the Word of God, he learned God’s plan for Israel was to be in captivity for a total of 70 YEARS! When confronted in both his heart and mind with this truth, he immediately resorted to FASTING for his nation. Would we?

4. Jonah 3:5 A purging of personal, and thus national, sin

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”

Jonah had preached the Word of God to the wicked people of Nineveh [not long after Jonah’s side trip in the belly of the great fish]. Jonah knew the Word of God would be effective, yet it bothered him that the enemies of Israel would be given the grace of God. In response to the Word of God, the people of Nineveh called for a personal season of fasting. And as a result, a personal fasting brought a purging of national sin.

What would happen in the nation where you readers live IF you spent a personal season of fasting? What would happen to you? Your family? Your community? Your nation? Nineveh repented. They knew, they just KNEW, that the God of Israel IS the true God. He ALONE is worthy to be worshipped! Do we understand that for OUR nation?

5. Luke 18:9-14 True fasting

“9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Do you remember our important 2 definitions of fasting? It is the temporary refraining from food for religious purposes AND it is evidenced by being empty. In Jesus’ wonderful and most familiar parable, He illustrated fasting in a most tangible way. Fasting is NOT to be an outward religious observance (as shown by the Pharisee). Rather it IS a dying to self, [as wonderfully displayed by the tax collector].

There are many other uses of “FAST” or “FASTING” in the Scriptures. I would encourage you to check out:

Matthew 17:14-21: a seeking of God’s power, thus blessing the prayer life

1 Cor. 7:1-5: a seeking of God’s holiness, thus blessing the home

NOT ME! As we close, let’s ask ourselves: what is the underlying theme in God’s purposes for fasting?

A GRIEF FOR SIN !

Do you believe this?

Then set aside time a time of fasting for God alone:

– for the nation

– for the need (and the needy)

– for the family

– for the individual heart

For what? THAT GOD WILL HAVE FIRST PLACE!