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Fasting Handout
Fasting Handout
“. . .we may face a truth in Scripture again and again without it ever touching us.”
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
The Normal Fast (the most common type)
“Once the truth becomes nebulous it ceases to have any practical application.”
! We (and/or the church) have come to believe “to fast” can mean
o to abstain from anything that hinders communion with God
o this we ought to do without neglecting biblical fasting!
! Fasting means primarily NOT to eat.
The Time Is Now “When the bridegroom is taken from them. . .then
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
they will fast” Matt.9:15 (most crucial NT text on fasting)
NOTES:
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
On a fast day. . .you shall read the words of the Lord - Jer.36:6
• In the context of vs.3- that ‘perhaps’ they might turn from their sin
o so, they proclaimed a fast (vs.9)
! the connection: almost all the regular fasts of the Bible were public ones,
but not all the public fasts were necessarily regular.
! By the time of Christ the Pharisees had turned fasting into ‘bondage’
o Boasting, “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:11,12)
! By the 2nd & 3rd century; Wed. & Fri. became recognized fast days
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
• No desire for food because of anxiety, sorrow, mental distress
o Dan.6:18
When ye fasted. . .did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? – Zechariah 7:5
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
" Unto the Lord; our eyes fixed on Him
" Let us beware of a danger deeply rooted in all our hearts that-
o we merit (deserve) nothing from our fasting
o fasting does NOT establish our own righteousness
o does not procure salvation as a debt to us
" it is of grace we are saved. . .period!
! How can fasting help us here? – first, the negative side: PRIDE
o pride & a too-full stomach are old bedfellows
" Ezekiel 16:49
" The nations of the West- see any parallels??
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GOD’s
Chosen
Fast:
Arthur
Wallis
AWAKEN
Church
2014
! Fasting also had to do with mourning (Matt. 5:4)
o O.T. funerals- practiced as a sign of mourning for the departed
" Rending of garments, wearing of sackcloth & ashes
• His wilderness testing & fasting was His reaffirming to do the will of His
father even to the end (the cross)
o After the 40 days. . . .the power of the Spirit became operative
Paul and Barnabas- there was a setting apart for apostolic ministry
• Acts 13:3 After they fasted and prayed. . . .sent them off
• Acts 14:23 They used the same pattern for setting apart leaders in the
local churches
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