Fasting That Pleases God | Matthew 6:16-18

Scripture

• Matthew 6:16–18

About this sermon

Introduction: Our Lord now returns, in this sermon, to a series of contrasts He was focused on prior to His digression on the subject of prayer. After giving a description of the character that is produced by the grace of God in the redeemed (the beatitudes), He began to systematically show us how genuine salvation is different from empty religion. “Here are the kingdom’s citizens in character — here are the kingdom’s citizens in contrast to hypocrites.” He demonstrated the difference, both in the realm of PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS and in the realm of RELIGIOUS PRACTICE. THE CONTRASTS ARE MEANT TO ASSURE WHERE THEY MEET WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE GENUINELY CONVERTED — THEY POINT TO WHAT GOD HAS DONE IN YOUR LIFE. BUT THE CONTRASTS ARE MEANT TO EXPOSE AND RESCUE WHERE THEY MEET WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE MERELY RELIGIOUS — THEY IDENTIFY HOW NATURAL PEOPLE LACK THE SINCERE AND INTERNAL MOTIVATION OF TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the realm of religious practice (which he began dealing with in chapter 6) that difference is on display in acts of generosity (vs.1-4), and in prayer (vs.5-15), and now in FASTING (vs.16-18). These were the three areas where religious practice among the Jews was often on display in the public realm. The people who were thought to be the most religious, the most holy, the most devoted, paraded themselves before the eyes of others in the realm of giving, and praying, and fasting. JUST AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD MUST NOT BE LIKE THOSE PEOPLE IN OUR GIVING AND PRAYING, JESUS NOW SAYS WE MUST NOT BE LIKE THE HYPOCRITES IN THE MATTER OF FASTING. Fasting. I find it amazing when God’s Word speaks of something that professing Christians find strange, only to watch as the world embraces a practice, but of course in an incorrect way. There’s sort of a fasting craze that took hold in recent days. Intermittent fasting has been embraced for weight loss. Fasting has been embraced for healing of the body in some circles. And in charismatic circles, fasting is often seen as a means for spiritual breakthrough, a way to sort of “get God’s attention.”

Topics

• Fasting