Pastor Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings check out pastors homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar
Fast
Are you hungry? For the first time ever
our church has committed to a week of fasting. How did we go? Who has fasted of
things other than food, for instance: TV or music or the internet? Hands up, please. And who among us has managed to abstain
from food the occasional meal or a whole day or the period from Friday to
Sunday? Hands up, please. Are you hungry (and grumpy)? I
am but I am also excited because we are entering into something new and we know
that God has been speaking to us as a church. It was God who put fasting on the
agenda of Living Grace when one person after another kept asking me: Could
we not do a congregational fast? And
even last Sunday the people of this church purchased sixty-five copies of a
book on fasting. God is stirring us up and not only us. Across the city of
On any other occasion missing lunch missing dinner does not sound like a good idea the feeling of hunger is not nice
a growling stomach is not nice but
when God speaks, we put aside any uncomfortable feelings and listen with a
sense of excitement and expectation.Whatever comes from God is going to be
precious because he loves us. Jesus taught that fasting is one of three
Christian core disciplines. In one of his sermons he said Matthew 6:1-18
I read from the Bible:
when
you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets
your giving may be in
secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you
when you pray, do not
love to pray
on the street corners to be seen by
others
go into your room
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you
when you fast
put oil on your head and wash your face, so that
it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting
your Father, who sees
what is done in secret, will reward you.
In this message Jesus focused on three Christian core disciplines
one after the other:
when you give
when you pray
when
you fast
and he made the same
point about all of them: Neither giving nor praying nor fasting
is to be done for show for proud
posturing before others but these
actions are for God which he will reward, if they are for him. Giving praying
fasting: Jesus assumed that all three are standard practice among Christians
and all of them carry a reward.
Last Sunday we already made the observation that when it comes to fasting, the reward comes frequently in the form of
power breakthrough power at
times even changing the fate of an entire city an entire nation. For
instance and this is only one of many examples in the Bible when a vast army was coming against Gods
people, the king 2 Chronicles 20:3:
resolved
to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all
with the result that the Lord himself set
ambushes against the foreign army and 2 Chronicles 20:25:
there
was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 2 Chronicles
20:29: The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when
they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of
And this is precisely where the
excitement comes in. What is God up to among us? If he is now leading us into
fasting, then so we can conclude he is also now wanting us to have power
breakthrough authority because
yes the time has come for us also to
walk in victory according to his promises what Jesus pledged in the Bible
John 14:12:
anyone who has faith in me will
do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these
John 15:8: This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear
much fruit
Matthew 28:19:
make disciples of all nations
And as a church we have been
specific in our desires for breakthrough: 1) The healing of Greg Storey, 2) a new worship home for Living Grace, 3) financial provision for Living Grace and 4) the removal of any personal obstacle which
we want to overcome.
Why does fasting work? The practice is
in the Bible but why should abstaining from food long days without breakfast, without lunch and
without dinner make any difference in
the world around us? Last Sunday I gave three answers which we will revise
quickly and then move on to a fourth answer which is the most important of them
all.
Why does fasting work? Answer number one: There is power in fasting
because God responds to passion Hebrews 11:6:
he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Matthew 5:6: Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
they will be filled. God deserves the best from us (all
honour and all glory and all praise) and
he finds it irresistible he is so
pleased when we demonstrate that we
are more hungry for him than even food.
Answer number two: There is power in fasting because we become
certain of who we are. When we fast, God is testing our faith. No hunger
no deprivation no persecution no hardship is to make us doubt ever who
we are the sons and daughters of God [
because if we no longer know that we are sons and daughters, then we no longer
know that we have a dad a Father in heaven and therefore we no longer know
what he promised us as his children Ephesians 1:18-19:
the riches of his
glorious inheritance
and his incomparably great power for us who believe
]
We learn to walk in our inheritance
even when we are under pressure.
Answer number three: Why does
fasting work? There is power in fasting
because this is where the battle is won. No church can bring people to faith,
heal the sick or drive out demons unless the spiritual battle is won first with
prayer and fasting. The Bible explains Ephesians 6:10-18: that
our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but [is a spiritual struggle] against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms
Therefore, Jesus himself first defeated the devil in prayer and fasting
won the spiritual battle first in hunger and hardship before he lived out his victory before he had the easy authority
of Gods kingdom. Only after he had won
the battle in fasting and prayer, do we read in the Bible Luke 4:32-37:
his message had authority
All the people were
amazed
With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and
they come out!
Luke 4:40-41:
the people brought to Jesus all
who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed
them. Moreover, demons came out of many people
In the same way Jesus won the battle for
our salvation in the agony of prayer
the night before he actually died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. We read in the Bible Luke 22:41-44:
Jesus withdrew
knelt down and prayed, Father, if you are willing, take
this cup [of suffering] from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel
from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he
prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the
ground. The anguish the intense
warfare the sweat like blood the need for an angel to come and help him
happened in the hours of prayer and there the battle for our salvation was won.
The actual dying the cross was
the result of this victory.
For us this means that the Friday prayer
watch is our most important church meeting which determines whether we walk in
victory or defeat whether we gain
victory over addiction, suicide, pride and any demonic oppression or walk in
defeat with powerless preaching and powerless evangelism.
So far the
revision. Why does fasting work? Answer number one: There is power in fasting
because God responds to passion. Answer number two: There is power in fasting because we become
certain of who we are. Answer number three: There is power in fasting because this is where the battle is won. Now
answer number four the most important answer: There is power in fasting because we humble ourselves before God which
means that we get out of the way and let God take over with his strength.
The Bible makes this point repeatedly Ezra 8:21-23: There
I proclaimed a fast, so
that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey
Psalm 35:13:
I put on sackcloth and humbled
myself with fasting
1 Kings 21:27-28: When [king] Ahab heard these
words [of judgement], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay
in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the Lord came to [the
prophet] Elijah the Tishbite: Have
you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled
himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day
There is power in fasting because as we deny ourselves the most basic nourishment and
pleasure of food we humble ourselves
we repent we put a stop to everything that we are doing in a most radical way
which moves God to show mercy. How are
we hearing this? We know that repentance is the gateway to salvation. Jesus
himself said Luke 24:47: . repentance
and forgiveness of sins will be preached in my [original: his] name
and therefore the Bible models
Christian preaching with these words Acts
Charles Finney suggests that many of us
no longer know. He writes:
The main purpose of ministering to an awakened sinner
is to
do away with errors and demolish the foundation of self-righteous hopes,
sweeping away every vestige of comfort a sinner could find in himself. This is
often difficult
Sinners often cling with a death grasp to false dependencies,
and Christ is the last person sinners want to run to for relief. They will make
any sacrifice, pay any price, or endure any suffering to avoid coming as lost
rebels to throw themselves on Chirst alone for salvation
In reality, the
anxious sinner seeks a hope he seeks pardon, comfort and deliverance from
hell. He anxiously looks for someone to make him feel better without being
obliged to conform to the humiliating conditions of the Gospel [which is total
surrender to God in repentance]. His distress lingers only because he wont
yield to Gods terms. Unfortunately, awakened sinners find comforters enough to
their liking. They are miserable helpers
Millions and millions are no doubt
in hell because those around them supply false comfort. They had so much false
pity or were themselves so ignorant that they couldnt bear to let a sinner
remain distraught until he had submitted his heart to God
Now millions are
lost (Charles Finney: Lectures On Revival, Minneapolis: Bethany House
Publishers 1988, p208-209).
According to Finney millions and
millions are lost because many of us Christians are moved by false pity. (I am probably guilty of that.) We cannot bear to see anyone squirm under the weight of their sin
and the prospect of hell and therefore
we rush in with the wrong words of comfort such as: Relax. Youre not
so bad and God is nice. If you are not yet ready to give up everything for God,
then dont beat yourself up. I understand. You may yield to God little by
little over time. Youre on the right track. Lets pray together. These words are damning condemn
millions to hell because they undermine
the one true condition for salvation which is: repentance absolute
surrender to God with nothing held back.
God has more compassion than any of us he loves the lost if you are here in church this
morning and you know that you are not right with him, be assured: he loves you
he wants to comfort you but at
the same time he knows by
experience by the death of his own son on a cross that the cure of sin has to be radical like it was for the people of
the Bible.
For instance, the prophet Jonah declared
to the city of
Many a time we think that this kind of
radical repentance with fasting and
a complete stop to ones evil ways is
not possible. This is asking too
much of people. But the people of Niniveh were into everything from
addiction to murder and they managed (by
the grace of God) to give up their sins (at
least make a commitment of the will to give them up) at once. The key for them
was to believe the message: Judgement complete destruction was coming. They knew that they faced the wrath of God.
Imagine what sort of repentance is
possible today in people when they believe the truth Ephesians 5:3-7 I read from the Bible: . among
you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of
impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for Gods holy people
For
of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person
has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with
empty words, for because of such things Gods wrath comes on those who are
disobedient
Imagine how thorough our repentance could be and
would be, if we believed the message: Gods wrath comes on the disobedient
an eternity in hell.
Many of us may need a new awareness of
Gods majesty and holiness which is offended by sinful rebellion. Charles
Finney is again a sharp observer. He writes:
Our primary objective should be to
induce the sinner to obey God. His comfort is important, but it is secondary,
and while we are more concerned with relieving his distress than seeing him
stop dishonouring God, our instructions are unlikely to do him any genuine
good. This is a fundamental point for dealing with awakened sinners, but many
overlook it, seeming to have no higher motives in counseling than sympathy for
the sinner. If in preaching the Gospel or instructing the awakened, we arent
driven by high regard for Gods honour, if we rise no higher than wanting to
free the distressed, we will do no more than what oridnary human sympathy can
accomplish (Charles Finney: Lectures On Revival, Minneapolis: Bethany House
Publishers 1988, p209-210).
Are these words convicting us? How much
do we care about Gods honour in human conversion? In our sympathy for sinners
do we ever take the side of God agreeing with his justice understanding his wrath
insisting on reverence that is due to him worrying about his glory?
The Bible teaching on repentance is the
first teaching which anyone hears from God Acts
Another reason why we back off and rush
in with damning comfort is our lack of confidence in victory. Do we really expect
that God can deliver us from sin in
a moment? Can God set a person free
in a moment from stealing and lying
and looking at pornography and drinking and the darkness of suicide? I
understand that sometimes the root causes for sin are hidden and there needs to
be a process of uncovering the tangled web of lies which we have believed.
However, once everything is laid bare, do we have the faith that God can set us
free in a moment or do we expect
that anger problems and low self-esteem problems and painful memory problems
do we expect them to run our lives?
How radical can the break with sin be? God declares his reality in the Bible
Romans 6:11-14:
count yourselves dead to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus
do not let sin reign
so that you obey its
evil desires
sin shall not be your master, because you are
under grace.
Romans 8:1-14:
the Spirit of life set me free
from the law of sin
You . are controlled not by the
sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you
by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body
Right! The break with sin can be as
radical as salvation itself a
change from death to life from darkness to light. Count yourselves dead
to sin, but alive to God
Sin shall not be your master
the Spirit of life
set me free
You can be free now. As a church we are learning this and
therefore when we refuse you easy comfort, then dont get mad at us because we
want to see you set free from sin now.
Even this week a new Christian confided
in David and me that he tries to follow Jesus but when he needs money and there
seems to be no other way, he will have to make some quick bucks in the drug
trade. No! There are no words of comfort for this kind of thinking. This is
unbelief and worse this is setting you up for failure
constant and relentless misery because
it leaves you without the power of God in your life. You cannot have both: sin
and God your schemes and his salvation. You have to make a choice. If you want Gods power, humble yourself
before him even with fasting. Become
nothing so that he can heal your life with the make-over from heaven.
This is a general principle in the
Bible. The more we submit to God in repentance and humble fasting, the more he
can take over completely with his power. And God is committed to make us learn
the lesson (as a church and in our
own lives) if need be with suffering if need be with making our own efforts
come to nothing because he wants us to
succeed through him to his glory 2 Corinthians 1:9:
this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who
raises the dead. 1 Corinthians 1:28-30:
God chose the lowly
the
things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast
before him
Christ Jesus
has become for us
our righteousness, holiness and
redemption
Therefore on the basis of this general principle coming back
to the main focus of this message fasting
works. There is power in fasting because the more we humble ourselves and get
out of the way, the more God can be everything.
All of this is radical and my empty stomach is telling me that this is
radical and we may not like the
confrontation but who would want to miss out on the power of God? God can do
anything for us. The Bible says
Ephesians 3:19-20:
you may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God
[he] is able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us
And hear this when we repent when we take the step
and become radical in humbling ourselves then
we will make an unexpected discovery, that is: joy.
Charles Finney shares the following from
his own experience [abbreviate and
retell in your own words]:
this winter
my
mind was . exercised on the question of personal holiness
I gave myself to a
great deal of prayer
After praying
for weeks and months, one morning
the
thought occurred to me, what if
my heart is not really subdued
Just before
I had had a great struggle about giving up my wife to the will of God. She
was in very feeble health, and it was very evident that she could not live long
I had never before seen so clearly what was implied in laying her and all
that I possessed upon the altar of God, and for hours I struggled upon my knees
to give her up unqualifiedly to the will of God. But I found myself unable to
do it. I was so shocked and surprised at this that I perspired profusely with
agony. I struggled and prayed until I was exhausted, and found myself entirely
unable to give her altogether up to Gods will, in such a way as to make no
objection to his disposing of her as he pleased. This troubled me much
But
I was enabled, after struggling
to fall back in a deeper sense than I had
ever done before upon the infinitely blessed and perfect will of God. I . told the Lord that I had such confidence in him that I
felt perfectly willing to give myself, my wife and my family, and all, to be
disposed of without any qualification according to his views and will
I then
had a deeper view of what was implied in consecration to God than I ever had
before. I spent a long time upon my knees
giving up everything to the will of
God
the whole of that day
nothing troubled me. I was neither elated nor depressed;
I was neither
joyful nor sorrowful. My confidence in God was perfect
Just
at evening the question arose in my mind: What if God should send me to hell
what then?
my mind . settled.
I said, No
hell could be no hell to me if I accepted Gods perfect will.
This sprung a vein of joy in my mind that kept developing more and more for
weeks and months, and indeed I may say for years.
For years my mind was too full of joy to feel much exercised with
anxiety on any subject
It seemed as if my desires were all met. What I had
been praying for for myself, I had received in a way that I least expected.
Holiness to the Lord seemed to be inscribed on all the exercises of my mind
The language of the Song of Solomon was as natural to me as my breath
I hnot
only had all the freshness of my first love, but a vast accession to it. Indeed
the Lord lifted me so much above anything that I had experienced before, and
taught me so much of the meaning of the Bible, of Christs relations and power
and willingness, that I often found myself saying to him, I had not known or
conceived that any such thing was true.
I had had no conception of the
length and breadth, and height and depth, and efficiency of his grace
I found
myself exclaiming, Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!
(Charles Finney: The
Original Memoirs Of Charles Finney, Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1989, p328-332).
Even a Christian man like Finney
struggled with the radical nature of consecration giving up everything to God in humility and repentance:
his wife and possessions but
spending a long time on his knees he
did with the help of God and
then surprise! joy came into his life like never before. It
seemed as if all of his desires had been met. He fell in love with God. The language
of the Song of Solomon was as natural to him as breath. As Finney gave up
praying for himself as he gave up all his dreams and good intentions even
as a minister he received everything back
so much joy in a way that he
least expected.
Then Finney shared how other Christians
could not relate to his experience which makes sense because most of us have
not been as radical as him in giving up everything for God. Other Christians
look at people like him and point the finger, saying: This is too extreme. This is being too fanatical
with holiness and obedience. But
the joy proved him right and the Bible 1 Thessalonians 1:6:
in spite of severe suffering [complete
consecration], you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy
Spirit
Again this is what we have been saying. Why does fasting work? Why does humbling ourselves before God work
giving up everything for him? It makes
way for him his power, his joy, his love, his life, his victory, his
gentleness, his hope, his salvation.
Please, if you are here in church this
morning and you have not yet humbled yourself before God, do it now. God loves
you. He sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for you.
Repent and receive forgiveness
today.
I close with a testimony from a healing
evangelist. This is what he saw in the Spirit. He heard engine noise (wrrm wrrm as gutsy as formula one cars) and he heard wheels
screeching. A car came round the corner and inside was the Lord. He slammed the
brakes, jumped out of the car, threw him the keys and said: Do you want
to drive this one? This car is the new model for 2005. It is not for lease but
ownership and authority. This is the new model for ministry in the church.
The evangelist had a closer look. What
kind of model was it? God said: This one is Fast. Thats the name of
the model. It will get you to your destination quicker. What used to take six
years is going to take six months what used to take six months will take six
days what used to take six days will take six minutes. Do you want to drive
it? Just then a salesman came by
who sold oldsmobiles and he tempted the evangelist to settle for an oldsmobile
settle for the old way of doing things in ministry: Be wise. Why risk
anything new? Save money. Trust the old ways.
The evangelist had a choice to make.
What did he want? [Side comment: This
visitation came in 2004 the very year General Motors discontinued the making
of oldsmobile.] Then the Lord said:
This car drives on one highway only and one lane only holiness. This is
the only way that you can handle the car and its power. Drive on the highway of
holiness. This new model is for acceleration for buildings, harvest, land,
partners, money, multitudes.
Do we want to accelerate as a church?
Yes, we do and therefore we commit to the highway of holiness even in fasting. God humbled us this week. He made us rediscover the Christian core
discipline of fasting but for a reason. He is about to throw us the key of the new model of ministry and the
new model is fast. Here comes our
church: Wrrm wrrm. Amen.
Altar call