June 27, 2010 - Matthew 6:16-18 - The Gospel of Self-Denial: Why Fasting is Biblical and What It Says About Our Faith

Unfortunately my battery died again this week, only this time it only recorded for 8 minutes.  As a result, there is no audio available from Sunday, but I have made the notes available.  Fasting is a subject that few Christians discuss and practice, but it is an important biblical principle nonetheless. 

Here is the description:

Not many Christians talk about fasting and even fewer actually practice it.  In an obese society, fasting seems rather ridiculous.  But the gospel says something different.  Fasting is not a self-righteous ritual to be practiced or a formula to be tried, it is a symbol of something greater:  self-denial.  The heart of the gospel is a call to self-denial.  Unfortunately, most in our culture are preaching a message of self-fulfillment and self-esteem, but the gospel is not such a message.  If we are not willing to fast and focus on God for one meal, can we honestly say we are willing to give up everything, take up our crosses, and follow Christ?

Notes

For more:
Calvin on Fasting 
January 17, 2010 - Matthew 5:1-12 - If Your Joyful and You Know It . . . 
January 24, 2010 - Matthew 5:13 - Stuck Between Salt and Manure:  The Call to Preserve the Gospel 
January 31, 2010 - Matthew 5:14-26 - Its Dark in Here:  The Call to be the Light of the World 
February 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:17-20 - Medium Rare is Unbiblical or What Do Christians Do with the Law
February 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:21-22 - I Am a Murderer . . . And So Are You 
February 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:23-26 - Resetting What Was Broken:  The Necessity of Reconciliation
February 28, 2010 - Matthew 5:27-30 - America's Pastime: Our Lust for Lust 
March 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:31-32 - The Gospel and Divorce:  What Does the Bible Say?
March 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:33-37 - Allergies to Toast, the Gospel, and Integrity
March 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:38-42 - I Surrender!  I Surrender!
March 28, 2010 - Matthew 5:43-48 - Love God as He Loved You
May 23, 2010 - Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5 
January 17, 2010 - Matthew 5:1-12 - If Your Joyful and You Know It . . . 
January 24, 2010 - Matthew 5:13 - Stuck Between Salt and Manure:  The Call to Preserve the Gospel 
January 31, 2010 - Matthew 5:14-26 - Its Dark in Here:  The Call to be the Light of the World 
February 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:17-20 - Medium Rare is Unbiblical or What Do Christians Do with the Law
February 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:21-22 - I Am a Murderer . . . And So Are You 
February 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:23-26 - Resetting What Was Broken:  The Necessity of Reconciliation
February 28, 2010 - Matthew 5:27-30 - America's Pastime: Our Lust for Lust 
March 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:31-32 - The Gospel and Divorce:  What Does the Bible Say?
March 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:33-37 - Allergies to Toast, the Gospel, and Integrity
March 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:38-42 - I Surrender!  I Surrender!
March 28, 2010 - Matthew Thus Far:  Matthew 1-5 
January 17, 2010 - Matthew 5:1-12 - If Your Joyful and You Know It . . . 
January 24, 2010 - Matthew 5:13 - Stuck Between Salt and Manure:  The Call to Preserve the Gospel 
January 31, 2010 - Matthew 5:14-26 - Its Dark in Here:  The Call to be the Light of the World 
February 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:17-20 - Medium Rare is Unbiblical or What Do Christians Do with the Law
February 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:21-22 - I Am a Murderer . . . And So Are You 
February 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:23-26 - Resetting What Was Broken:  The Necessity of Reconciliation
February 28, 2010 - Matthew 5:27-30 - America's Pastime: Our Lust for Lust 
March 7, 2010 - Matthew 5:31-32 - The Gospel and Divorce:  What Does the Bible Say?
March 14, 2010 - Matthew 5:33-37 - Allergies to Toast, the Gospel, and Integrity
March 21, 2010 - Matthew 5:38-42 - I Surrender!  I Surrender!
March 28, 2010 - Matthew 6:1-4 - Camouflaged Gold:  Why Christians Should Give In Secret
May 30, 2010 - Matthew 6:5-8 - Jesus on Prayer:  Our Inward Motivations  

Weekly Recommendation - "Hard to Believe" by John MacArthur

Ok, its been a LONG time since I've done a weekly recommendation, but better late than never.  Tomorrow we will be discussing the issue of fasting.  In order to understand the importance of fasting, we must first understand the gospel and its call to self-denial and self-hatred.  This is what Jesus meant when He said "take up your cross and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  The cross in Roman times was an instrument of death and Jesus is calling for us to be willing to die on a daily basis.

Only in this context can we understand what fasting really is.  Fasting won't be that big of a deal if we understand the concept of how radical the self-denial gospel truly is.

So in that spirit, I highly recommend and would love it if everybody in the congregation read John MacArthur's book Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus.  MacArthur's point in the book is to show that the gospel is unpopular and difficult.  It calls for us to deny ourselves, forsake everything and everyone, and be considered a fool.  The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18ff).  We are fools for Christs sake.

I once heard MacArthur preach in Northern Kentucky where he admitted that of all of his books, this one didn't sell very well.  And no wonder.  Nobody in our world today wants to hear a message of self-hate and self-denial especially in a culture of self-esteem.  So if there is one book you read this summer, read this one.  Let is break you and let it convict you of what the gospel truly is.  If we as a church took this message seriously, we could change the world for Christ.  Isn't that what we want?


To read a full review on the book, click here. 

Calvin on Fasting

This upcoming Sunday we will be discussing the issue of fasting (yes that is a Christian discipline).  I am convinced that this is an area we need to work on as a church and as individual believers.  As I was studying, I came across the following quote from the Great Reformation theologian John Calvin who summed up our text from Matthew 6:16-18 quit well.  He wrote:

May for want of knowing its usefulness undervalue its necessity.  And some reject it all together as superfluous, while on the other hand, where the proper use of fasting is not well understood, it easily degenerates into superstition. 

In his infamous Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin wrote:

fasting in itself is not of great value in the sight of God, unless accompanied with internal affection of the heart, true dissatisfaction with sin and with one's self true humiliation, and true griefs from the fear of God; nay, that fasting is useful for no other reasons than because it is added to these as an inferior help. There is nothing which God more abominates than when men endeavour to cloak themselves by substituting signs and external appearance for integrity of heart. -IV.12.19

I find myself in there.  I oftentimes "undervalue" the "necessity" of fasting and at the same time find it to be "superfluous."  As we will discuss Sunday, there are a number of biblical reasons to fast.  It should be an interesting discussion.