Discerning Truth: Living the Fruits of the Spirit

Introduction
We are nearing the end of our series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount—just a few more weeks to go.  Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount our Lord’s foundational teaching in the New Testament.  It outlines the ethics of the Kingdom of Heaven.  If you want to be a Christian, you should understand these principles in Jesus' sermon.

I challenge you to go back over Jesus’ sermon, found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7.  You can find the sermons I’ve preached on it here on this blog over the last 21 or so weeks.  These could be a resource for you as you study Jesus’ core teachings.  

Today's focus is Matthew 7:15-20, discerning what’s true from false in our spiritual journey.

Matthew 7:15
¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.

The Warning Against False Prophets
Jesus warned his people to watch out for false prophets.  Jesus' followers were poor.  They were oppressed.  They were hungry.  They were desperate.  They needed a savior.  This made them especially vulnerable to false prophets who would lie and tell people what they wanted to hear in order to use them for their own selfish gain.  Some real life examples we know of false prophets are:

• In 4 BC, Simon of Persia proclaimed himself as Messiah during the time of Herod's death, leading a rebellion against Roman rule; he was killed by Roman forces, and his movement was crushed.
• In 6 AD, Judas of Galilee led a violent resistance against the Roman census taxation, claiming to be the messiah who would deliver the Israel, ultimately leading his followers to a failed revolt and increased Roman repression.
• A false prophet mentioned in the Bible (in Acts 8) was Simon the Magician.  He used magic tricks to convince Samaritans he was full of God’s power for his own personal gain.  Simon’s influence was finally destroyed when the Apostle’s Peter and John brought the true power of God to Samaria and exposed Simon’s magic tricks as false.

One may ask why people would follow a false prophet.  When people feel desperate, they often will cling to anything or anyone who seems to offer hope.  But that’s when you need to be especially careful.  You must understand how vulnerable you are.  And Jesus gives some practical advise about how to discern if someone is a false prophet.

Slides – Matthew 7:16-20
¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Understanding "By Their Fruits"
Jesus says you can tell a tree (or a prophet) by their fruit.  That’s great advice.  It means look at the visible results of a person’s ministry.  But even here we have to be careful.  False prophets also often produce “signs” that may seem look like good fruit.  A magician can do tricks that seem like impossible miracles.  Charismatic leaders can often speak and act in ways that accomplish things that seem to be good.  You may think magic tricks are real or the accomplishment of a charismatic personality are show they are from God.  But that is not necessarily true.  You have to look closely at what kind of fruit they really produce.  

Hitler came to power in Germany during a time when people were desperate for hope.  Germans were in a state of deep economic despair, national humiliation, and the devastating effects of the Great Depression.  Hitler was a charismatic leader who could stir national pride.  He was going to make Germany great again!   And initially, Hitler had success.   Through hate, bigotry, and racism, Hitler rallied Germans to revitalize their country.  But they did so by evil means and, in the process, they committed the most terrible atrocities the world has ever seen.  Approximately 6 million Jews died because of the Holocaust.  Is that good fruit?  Absolutely not.  That’s rotten, poisonous fruit.

I want to warn you.  As you look to the leaders you admire—whether they be political or buisiness or spiritual leaders.  Consider the fruit they produce.  Is it good fruit or bad fruit?   And be careful becuase some will say the ends justify the means.  They may argue, "Yeah I wish they didn't do or say those bad things, but look at what they accomplish."  In other words, the good they accomplish is justified by the bad things the do to accomplish them.  

Jesus is clear about who to tell a false prophet that is a wolf in sheep's clothing who will tear you apart.  You have to look at their fruit.  And the fruit is not the results of their work but the fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22-23 names the good spiritual fruit a true prophet (and an authentic Christian) produces:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Just as we’ve seen bad false prophets (like Hitler, Jim Jones, and David Koresh), we have also seen true prophets lead movements to produce great fruit of the spirit (as defined by Galatians).  The early Methodists, guided by John Wesley's teachings, demonstrated the fruits of the Spirit in various impactful ways that reflected their deep commitment to living out their faith in practical acts of love and service. Their work led to:

• Evangelism:  passionately preaching the gospel in open fields, towns, and cities, reaching out to the marginalized and working-class people, leading to widespread spiritual revivals and the rapid growth of the Methodist movement.
• Social Reforms: Embodying the fruits of love, kindness, and goodness, they took strong stands against the societal ills of their time, including the abolition of slavery, prison reform, and the promotion of education for the poor.
• Visiting the Sick and Prisoners: Demonstrating compassion and faithfulness, early Methodists took seriously the call to visit the sick and those in prison to offer comfort, healing, and encouragement to those in need.
• Small Group Meetings: The early Methodist movement was marked by its innovative structure of small group meetings that met regularly for prayer, study, and mutual accountability. These meetings were essential for spiritual growth and community, fostering the fruits of peace, patience, gentleness, and self-control.

Christians can’t just believe in Jesus as an intellectual thing.  True Christians must live out an inward holiness that transforms our thoughts, words, and actions.  It’s not about moral superiority, but about being filled with the love of God and neighbor, a love that manifests in every aspect of your life.  Christian holiness is not static but dynamic and constantly growing and bearing fruit like a living tree.  It’s characterized by continuous self-examination, prayer, and participation in the means of grace, such as Holy Communion, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers.

Do you bear good fruit?  If a fruit inspector examined your life today, what would he find?  Would he find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? 

Now, we understand the life of a Christian is a journey.  Fruitfulness is not something that happens over night (just like a fruit tree does not bear fruit overnight).  But your life should definitely be heading in the right direction—toward fruitfulness.  God is the one who makes us grow and bear fruit.  But what are you doing to tend the garden in your heart that nurtures fruitfulness?  There are several things you can do to nurture the development of spiritual fruit God wants to grow in your life.

There is worship where you gather with other Christian believers and honor God.  Do you regularly in worship God with other Christians?

There is fellowship.  We may have many different groups we socialize with on a weekly basis at school and work.  But if you are a Christian whose heart's truest desire is to bear fruit for the Kingdom, other Christian friends should be your main social group.  Are you deeply involved with Christian fellowship?

Prayer is the heart of the Christian faith. Are you investing deeply in regular prayer throughout your day?

Bible Study is essential.  How else are you going to know how we are supposed to think and live unless we study God's Word--His official method for speaking to His people?

Are you in a small group where you talk about your prayer life and what you’ve read in your Bible and where people intentional hold you accountable and offer encouragement to live more fully for Jesus?

Are you practicing the means of grace Jesus specifically commanded His followers in practice in the Bible--Baptism and Holy Communion?

• Baptism is the initiation ceremony for Christians in the New Covenant that replaced the circumcision ceremony of the Old Covenant.  Baptism is a means for God to pour out His grace upon those being baptized and those who stand with them to help everyone know and walk with Jesus.  It is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.
• Holy Communion is as a means to receive God’s grace where we have our eyes opened as we experience the presence of Christ and receive spiritual nourishment for our faith journey. Communion is a sacramental act of thanksgiving and remembrance, commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, where bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Christ. This sacred practice fosters a deeper communion with Christ and with one another, strengthening our bonds with the church and empowering us to live out our Christian discipleship in the world.

Conclusion

As we reflect on Jesus' warning against false prophets and the importance of discerning true from false in our spiritual journeys, let us be vigilant gardeners of our souls. May we not only seek to identify the fruits in others but also nurture the growth of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control within ourselves. Through worship, fellowship, prayer, Bible study, and participation in the means of grace like Baptism and Holy Communion, let us cultivate a life that bears good fruit, reflecting the light of Christ in a world often shadowed by deception. Live out the Kingdom ethics Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount, growing closer to Him and each other as we journey together in faith.

The Choice: Narrow vs. Wide Gates

Introduction
I couldn’t sleep last night.  I was very tired.  I worked outside in my garden all day Saturday and I was physically tired.  I went to bed early.  I fell asleep fast.  But I woke up just a couple hours later with this sermon and you on my mind.  In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said we all have a choice to make.  Listen to what He said. 

Matthew 7:13-14
¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

The Way of Eternal Life
Jesus used gates and roads as a metaphor for eternal life and eternal damnation.  The narrow gate and difficult road represents the way of life that leads to eternal life in heaven.  The narrowness of the gate represents the exclusive nature of the path to eternal life.  Jesus is the only way to eternal life.  Jesus explicitly said so in John 14:6 - “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

So, some will not go to heaven because they either reject Christ or never deliberately choose Him.  Jesus said the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult.  Living a life that adheres to Jesus' teachings requires self-discipline, sacrifice, and a willingness to go against the prevailing norms and values of society. This path is not the easiest, but it is the one that leads to true life.

Jesus wants everyone to have eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.  (I want that for you too!)  But the reality is:  the gate is narrow and the road is difficult and few people ever find it. 

The Highway to Hell
Most people choose the wide gate and take the highway to hell.  It's the route that seems easiest and most convenient, requiring little to no sacrifice or change.  It aligns with our natural desires and the immediate gratification of our wants without considering the long-term consequences.  

And besides, it’s the road most people choose.  You don’t even have to think about it.  You just go along with the crowd.  It requires no discipline, no self-examination, no repentance or transformation. 

Yeah, it’s easy; it’s convenient; and it offers the false promise of freedom.  But it’s a lie!  While the gate is wide and the path is easy, it leads to spiritual death, separation from God, and eternal punishment in Hell. 

And I woke up last night full of sorrow and concern for the multitudes of people traveling on the
highway to hell and for the very few who choose the narrow, difficult road to heaven.  I lay in my bed thinking about how I may have failed to do my part to encourage others to choose the right path–the one that leads to Heaven.  I lay there thinking about everyone who would be sitting in my congregation  or watching online the next morning to hear this sermon, as well as everyone who might read it on my blog.  And I thought about how so many think you are walking on a path that leads to eternal life in heaven when you are not.  Maybe you think you're going to heaven because:

• You were baptized as a baby, (or as an adult), or
• You go to church, or
• Your parents or grandparents were great Christians, or
• You believe God exists, or
• Because you’re a good person, or
• Because you just believe everyone goes to heaven.

Listen to me.  No.  Don’t listen to me; listen to Jesus.  Jesus says it right here in our Scripture.  “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

Few Ever Find It
Most people think it’s so easy.  They say:  Just be a good person.  Go to church if you want to.  Be nice.  You’ll go to heaven.  But Jesus says:  “The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

You see, the idea here is, you can have good intentions and still miss the gate to life.  You can’t just casually walk through life assuming you’ll stumble through the right gate.  No sir.  You might still miss it.  You may think you went through the right gate but realize too late you chose the wrong one.  If you want to be one of the few people who find the gateway to eternal life, you better get serious about it.  You better study it so you'll recognize the right gate and the right path when you see it.  you better choose wisely.

People get serious about all kinds of things in this life.  They’ll work hard to achieve goals like:

• Athletic achievements
• Educational Achievements
• Finding a mate to spend their life with 
• Building a successful career,
• Home ownership
• Health and wellness
• Travel and adventure

Perhaps you can think how you have strived for some of these in your own life.

People plan and save and study and invest themselves in all kinds of things–some things that are good and important.  But the most important thing, the thing that will literally last for all eternity, so many people approach carelessly, as if this most important thing just happens automatically.  Few things worth having just happen automatically.  You have to be committed and strive for it.

How to Find the Narrow Gate
If you really wanted to be a winning athlete, you would intentionally train to succeed.  You might practice daily to get good, maybe workout to grow stronger; you might even change the way you eat to become healthier and fuel your body. 

There are things you can do to help you be one of the few who finds the narrow gate Jesus says leads to eternal life.  And I suggest everyone be dedicated to spiritual training.

1. Repent and seek forgiveness - Acknowledge your sins and mistakes, repent, and seek God's forgiveness. This process of turning away from sin is crucial in finding the narrow gate.  You will never find the gate until you decide to start looking.  And repentance is the the first step.
   
   
2. Commit to Live for Jesus - Jesus chose you.  But you have to choose Jesus.  You have to consciously decide to be His disciple–to apply Jesus' teachings in your daily life, including loving your neighbor, forgiving others, practicing humility, and serving those in need.
   
   
3. Join a faith community - Being part of a church or a spiritual community provides support, accountability, and encouragement as you strive to live a life that reflects Jesus' teachings.  Worship together.  Study together in a small group.  Serve together.  Jesus and the original Twelve Disciples worked together as a group.  If Jesus and the Twelve needed to be in a group, what makes you think you can do it alone?
   
   
4. Read the Bible - Regularly reading and studying the Bible helps you understand God's principles and Jesus' teachings. This knowledge is foundational to discerning the narrow path.  It’s the only way you are going to know which gate to go through and which path to follow in life.
   
   
5. Pray - Prayer is a powerful way to communicate with God, seek His guidance, and express your desire to follow Him. It aligns your heart with God's will.  Prayer is the heart of walking on the right path with Jesus. 

Closing
Some of you are already doing these things.
Some of you need to do better.
Some of you need to take a good hard look at your life and recognize, you’re just blindly walking through life along with everyone else, and you don’t even realize you are traveling on the highway to hell.
You better wake up now, before it’s too late and you find yourself suffering for all eternity!

 

Living the Golden Rule: A Deep Dive into Matthew 7:12

Introduction
This is the 19^th sermon I have preached from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount.  Leave it to a preacher to turn Jesus' one sermon over 19 sermons!  Actually, this is not unlike what the Twelve Disciples would have done.  Jesus preached this Sermon on the Mount as an overview of His core teachings.  Then, the Twelve would have gone town to town to share His lessons, explandning upon them much ass I have in this series.

The sermon today is based on just one verse.  And I bet it is one most of you have memorized.  Can you guess it?

Matthew 7:12
¹² “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

It’s So Simple
Can you think of a time when someone treated you kindly and it left a lasting impression upon you?  I remember many.  One time when I was about 12 years old, my karate instructor started coming to pick me up for classes a few times each week.  My mom was a single mom with 4 kids and couldn't always get me to class.  So Jeff Carmichael picked me up every week.  I felt bad because I knew it was extra time and gas for him to come get me.  I offered to pay for his gas and Jeff said, "No.  Don't pay me.  One day you will have a chance to help someone else.  Whenever you do, you'll be paying me back."  I've always remembered that and tried to live it out.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  It’s so simple, many are taught the golden rule in Kindergarten.  It’s so simple, almost every world religion teaches some form of “The Golden Rule”. 
Judaism 16^th century BC: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow-man. This is the entire Law, all the rest is commentary.” (Talmud, Shabbat 3id)
Hinduism 15^th century BC: “This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5, 1517)
Buddhism 6^th century BC: “Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others.”  (The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18)
Islam 7^th Century AD: “None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.”  (Hadith 13, The Forty Hadith of Imam Nawawi)

It would seem the concept of treating other people with the respect, dignity, and kindness you would want for yourself is a universal law for all humans everywhere.  But if that’s true, it raises some questions.

But Why?
First of all:  Why should we treat people the way we want to be treated?  For what reason?  There have been many people throughout history who have rejected the Golden Rule in favor of something we could call The Law of the Jungle where only the strong survive and the weak are culled from the heard.  Why should we value and treat weak, less talented, less beautiful, less intelligent people with the same dignity and respect we want?  And what about people who act like animals and do despicable things?  Why shouldn’t we treat them like animals since they act like animals?

There may be some self-serving reasons to treat others well.  It could earn you a better reputation or open opportunities or encourage others to treat you well.  If you scratch someone else's back they may scratch yours.  So, it might benefit you to do good unto others.  The only problem with these motivations is sometimes it will not benefit you.  What then?  Does that give you an excuse to break the Golden Rule?  Not according to Jesus and the Holy Scripture.

All Humans are Sacred Works of Art
The Bible gives a reason to follow the Golden Rule that’s outside humanity all together and firmly grounded in the divine nature of God.  Genesis 1:27 says “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  We are created in God’s image.  Every human being is a sacred, image of God.  And therefore, every person should be treated with dignity and respect—the way you would treat a priceless work of art.

Suppose several priceless works of art like Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh or the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper by Leonardo de Vinci were were inside a burning building.  Wouldn't you want people to do everything they could to rescue the masterpieces from being destroyed?  And it wouldn't matter if the building that housed them were a beautiful museum or a shack in a swamp.  The value of the art inside the building is not diminished by the type of building they're in.  We would want to save them either way.  The same is true of every human being.  Each one has sacred worth because they bear the priceless image of God--a divine image that should be treated with dignity and honor regardless of the shell that holds it.

When we treat people poorly, it's a denial of the divine image within them.  This kind of behavior doesn't just harm the person on the receiving end; it also impacts our relationship with God. It's a form of disrespect to what God has created and valued.  It reduces our interactions to something less than human.  We become less than human.  When we treat others like animals, we become animals ourselves.  When we treat any part of creation without respect for the Creator who made it, we degrade ourselves.

Jesus said, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.”  They bear the sacred image of God just like you do.  God loves people.  He loves everyone.  And if we love God, we should love what He loves.  We can’t see God, but we can see people.  How can we say we love God (when we can’t even see Him) if we don’t love the people God made (that we can clearly see)?  One of the ways we express our love to God is by loving the people He made in His image. (And also by take good care of all His creation.)

That’s not just something Jesus said.  It’s something Jesus did.  He treated everyone with dignity.
He valued and included children in his ministry—welcoming them in his presence when adults tried to push them away.  He spent time talking with the Samaritan woman at the well and revealed his true identity as the Messiah to her.  He was even kind to the thief on the cross who was dying in agony next to him at the crucifixion—welcoming him into Paradise.

Why Doesn’t Everyone Follow the Golden Rule?
The Golden Rule is so simple and universal.  It’s been known by cultures all over the world for over 3000 years.  And if people would just follow this simple rule, the world would be a much better place.  So why doesn’t everyone just do it?

The answer is summed up in one simple, 3 letter word: SIN.

SIN
God created us to love Him and to love each other.  But our SIN is we love ourselves more. We are selfish.  We want to be in control and do things our way.  And when we want something, we are willing to go against God's laws and moral principles and His purposes in order to get what we want.

This SIN is captured in the creation story in Genesis when the Serpent tempted Eve to breaks God’s command and eat the forbidden fruit.  The Serpent promised the fruit would make Eve like God.  And that’s often still the temptation--that if we  bend God's rules a little, we will receive some benefit, some reward, that is better than what what we have when we obey God.  God's way is always the best way, but we think we can do better by cheating the system.

Lenten Challenge
Today is the first Sunday in Lent.  Lent is a season of 40 days leading up to Easter.  It is a time when Christians refocus their spiritual lives.  Some may give up something as a form of self-denial to draw them closer to Christ.  Others commit to do something positive to live out their faith more authentically. 

Perhaps, for Lent this year, you could simply make an intentional effort to follow Jesus’ Golden Rule to treat others the way you would like them to treat you (in every circumstance).  I challenge you to do it as a spiritual practice.  Maybe you could even keep a journal every day.  Prayerfully keep track of the different interactions you had and how you did or didn’t follow the Golden Rule in different situations.

Closing Invitation
In closing, I must say you will always struggle with the Golden Rule until you surrender completely to God and become a Christian.  There will always be a reason to bend or break it until you finally surrender control of your life to God.  Jesus is Lord.  Surrender and let Him be your Lord.  Perhaps you would like to do that right now.

Jesus Instructions for Fasting

Introduction
We’ve been studying Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount for the last 12 weeks or so.  It’s called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus went up on top of a mount to teach these lessons.  Notice in the picture here:  The water is the Sea of Galilee.  The church on top of the “Mount” may be the place Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.  In this sermon, Jesus lays out His vision for God’s people—who they are and how they live.  

There were 3 common practices for Jews of Jesus day. They gave, they prayed, & they fasted.  In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus addressed each one.  He assumed His followers would give, pray, and fast.  Each time in His sermon, He said, “When you give… When you pray… When you fast…”  It was not “If you give… pray… fast…”  It was when not if.  So if we follow Jesus, we should also practice these 3 pillars of faith.

However, Jesus was clear that when His followers give, pray, and fast, they shouldn’t be like hypocrites.  A hypocrite is an actor who puts on a show for people.  Jesus says, “Don’t be like that. Because if you practice your religion to impress people, that’s the only reward you will ever get.”  Instead, Jesus said to give, pray, and fast privately.  That way only God will know what you’re doing and He will reward you.

Today, I want to read Matthew 6:16-18.  Jesus said:

Matthew 6:16-18
¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. ¹⁷ But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

So, What is Fasting?
Fasting is going without food for a set period of time.  Sometimes people fast if they have a medical procedure—like a colonoscopy or an annual checkup where they do blood work.  But the kind of fast Jesus is talking about is a religious fast.  It is a fast done out of devotion to God.
And I need to be clear, a religious fast is not a way to lose weight or et ready for the doctor…

We know Jesus fasted for at least two reasons.  First of all, Jesus was an obedient Jew who followed the Jewish Law prescribed in the Old Testament.  And the Law commands all Jews to fast at least once a year for the religious holiday Yom Kippor—the Day of Atonement. 
So we know Jesus would have observed this annual fast for the Day of Atonement.
But the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell how Jesus—at the very beginning of His ministry—went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days.  40 days is an extreme fast that Jesus was able to complete as a miracle.  It’s not something that we should attempt to duplicate.

During the fast, Jesus was tempted by the Devil to turn rocks into bread.  Jesus’ reply reveals one of the reasons Christians fast.  Jesus told the Devil in Matthew 4:4, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

If done with the right attitude, fasting can remind us of our utter dependence on God.  We need God even more than we need food.  You may think,
“I already know that.  I don’t need to go without food to realize it.”  That may be true.  But, it is one thing to know something in your head intellectually.  It is another thing to know it in reality—to have your stomach grumbling and every physical fiber of your hungry body screaming: “Give me food to eat!” and to remain spiritually disciplined to say, “No.  I’m not eating today because I need God more than I need food.”  When we fast, it can change the spiritual chemistry of our physical body.  It’s something that goes deeper than your conscious thought—something that reaches down into your unconsciousness.  When you fast, your hunger becomes a form of continuous prayer.  Every groan of your stomach is a cry to God for spiritual sustenance.

Although typically, fasting means going without food, there are other ways to fast as well.  You can give up something else besides food that is very important to you.  Such as:  going without coffee, not watching TV, abstaining from social media, not listening to music, or spending time alone without any social interaction.  The point is to give up something that is as important to you as food (and that could be different for each different people depending on your personality).

When should you fast?
Jesus said, “When you fast…”  So when should you fast?  (Or when could you fast?)  First of all, I should say Christians have freedom.  We are not slaves to laws and rules and traditions.  God grants us grace.  So if and when we fast, it is for our benefit and not to fulfill some obligation.  But fasting can be a great spiritual benefit.  

You can fast anytime.  There is no hard and fast rules about it.  I have found that consistency is better than extremity.  What I mean is it is better to fast a little bit regularly and consistently than it is to do one big, long extreme fast.  It's kind of like physical exercise.  It is better to exercise 30 minutes a day, every day for a year than it is to exercise for 12 hours only once a month.  Consistency is the key to exercise and fasting.

But if you are looking for some ideas about when you can fast, I will share a few.  Jews today fasted once a year on the Day of Atonement, the holiday they call Yom Kippur.  Yom Kippur is celebrated in September or October and it would be a great time for you to fast as you meditate on God's forgiveness and the atonement that comes through Christ.

Christians have two seasons when fasting is very appropriate.  The season of Lent (the 40 days prior to Easter) is an excellent time for a fast as we prepare to celebrate the ressurection of Christ.  Another season when fasting is very appropriate is the season of Advent, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and prepare for the Second coming of Christ.

Fasting can be very helpful before you make a big decision or start something new.  Jesus fasted before He started His public ministry.  If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for you.  Fasting can help clear your mind, align you with the Holy Spirit, and give you clarity as your start a new job, move to a new home, or make a big life decision.  

You can also fast on behalf of others.  People have become accustomed to saying and hearing, “I’ll pray for you.” What if you said instead in some very important situations, “I’ll be fasting for you while I’m praying.”  Now that tells someone, you are really committed to seeking divine help for them.

Warnings
In closing, I want to remind you of the warnings Jesus gave about fasting.  He said in Matthew 6:16 , “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.”

So Jesus gave at least 3 warnings.  Don’t try to impress people.  If you do, that's the only benefit your fast will bring (and what a cheap reward that is).  Second, don’t look miserable as you fast.  That's just a way to get sympathy from people or try to impress them.  So, don't do that.  Do your fast in private.  Don't even let others know you're doing it.  That way, God in heaven (who see what you do in secret) will reward you.

Christians Practice Spiritual Disciplines. Amen!

Introduction
The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation.  The Bible teaches that Jesus Saves us from sin when we have faith.  The Bible also teaches that faith without good deeds is dead. Today, I want to explain some of the spiritual disciplines the Bible teaches Christians to practice.

1 Timothy 4:7-8
⁷ Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Explanation
First of all, this Scripture warns Christians: “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales.”  The Bible is a fascinating book full of intriguing stories.  There are a lot of things that are hard to understand.  There are even many things that have caused people to scratch their head and speculate what the original writers meant.  There are stories about giants and even angels having intercourse with the daughters of the earth.  We wonder:  How did Noah fit all those animals on the Ark? Could Jonah really survive living in the stomach of a giant fish for three days?  These are interesting ideas that capture our imaginations and people love to speculate on them.

However, a quote often attributed to Mark Twain says, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”  It may be “fun” to speculate about the intriguing parts of the Bible, but Paul writes to Timothy (and us), “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales.  Instead, train yourself to be godly.”

Living a godly life takes work.  It’s hard enough work that we don’t need to waste our time on unfruitful speculations.  Paul writes:  “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

We all know the benefits of exercise.  In our comfortable and prosperous world, we eat too much and don’t exercise enough.  This leads to all kinds of health problems.  People who exercise regularly, tend to be healthier, happier, more energetic, and productive.  We know the physical benefits of exercise.

But Paul says, “training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”  No matter how much we exercise, our physical bodies are eventually going to wear out and die.  This Ash Wednesday we remembered how our physical bodies will be buried and return to dust: “Remember, you came from dust and to dust you shall return.  Repent and believe in the Gospel!”  We will be given new and perfect bodies for eternal life.   The gains of physical exercise are for this temporary lifetime, but the gains of spiritual exercise are for eternity.

Spiritual Disciplines
Spiritual disciplines are spiritual exercises found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth and health.  Just as physical exercise develops your body and muscles, spiritual disciplines develop your spirit so you become more like Christ.  Spiritual disciplines nurture the growth God wants to give us. 

It is not enough to know about the spiritual disciplines.  We must actually practice them in order to experience the benefits God wants us to have.  There are many spiritual disciplines, but I want to mention just seven for your today, and challenge you to practice them between now and Easter.

First, there is prayer.  Prayer the most basic element of Christian living.  Prayer is like breathing for the Christian.  Some people say, praying is talking to God, but it is even more basic than that.  Last night, Kelly and I went to see the movie “The Jesus Revolution.” It’s a wonderful movie.  Of course, we didn’t talk during the movie.  That would be rude.  We sat and held hands and watched the movie together.  Even though no words were spoken, we chose to be together.

Prayer can be like that. Prayer is spending time with God.  There are many different ways to pray.  You can ask God for help for yourself or people you care about.  Other times, prayer is just sitting quietly with God on purpose.  Sometimes prayer is listening to God while you read Scripture.  Sometimes prayer is writing a prayer or reading someone else’s prayer or even reciting a prayer you have memorized—like the Lord’s Prayer.  Whatever way you pray, you should pray.  It is the most important Spiritual Exercise for Christians.  Prayer is an essential part of all the other spiritual disciplines.

Another spiritual discipline is fasting.  Fasting is voluntarily giving up food (or something else) for a time as a way to humble yourself before God. Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life. Most often, fasting is associated with going without food.  (Jesus fasted for 40 days before he officially began his earthly ministry.)  Many Christians give up something for Lent—like chocolate or coffee.  Fasting could also be giving up TV or social media or something else for a time.  Anything you give up is meant to help you focus more on God and less on yourself.  Fasting and prayer go together.  Fasting amplifies your prayers.  It turns every fiber of your being into a prayer.  As you long for the thing you are without, your longing becomes an unconscious prayer of longing for God.

Next to prayer, study is one of the most essential ways the Holy Spirit changes us.  Our mind is the center of our thoughts and our thoughts lead to our actions.  When we study the Holy Bible, we allow God to transform our minds.  The Bible is the Living Word of God.  If you want to hear God’s voice—the Voice that gives Life—you must study the Bible.  Study can also include reading other books, attending classes, or other forms of study.  All these can be beneficial.  However, studying the Bible is the most essential form of study.

Human beings were designed to worship.  Worship means to show reverence and adoration for God.  It centers on God, not ourselves or our feelings or our own particular preferences.  When we worship God, we point our spirit toward God in worship, we begin to see, hear, feel, and experience God at a deeper level.  We must worship in spirit (heartfelt, intimate closeness, and submission to God) and in truth (based on right understanding).  Worship works best when we prepare properly.  If you expect to get the most out of Sunday morning worship, be sure to get enough seep the night before and prepare for worship on Sunday morning by praying on Sunday morning before worship for God to make worship meaningful.  Come hungry for the Lord and with the expectation that something important will happen.

Christian meditation is listening for God’s voice so we can obey His Word.  In meditation, we use our imagination to spend time with God in the Scripture.  We look for God to come to us and fill our minds with His feelings, His ideas, and His insights and welcome Him to transform our wills.  We are not so much searching for God as letting Him find us as we watch, listen, and wait patiently.  Often it is helpful to read a passage from the Bible, pray for God to speak to you through it, and then just meditate on the passage for a time, letting God speak to you.

One of my favorite spiritual disciplines is solitude.  To practice solitude is to step away from the world for a little while to focus on interacting only with God.  You silence the inner turmoil of your anxious mind and cease striving to control people and situations by your own force of will.  You learn to trust God to work things out according to His plan and His timing.  For introverts like me, it doesn't take much convincing to get us to seek alone time.  We need it!  But when you are alone, make sure to intentionally focus on God's presence with your.  If you are an extrovert who loves to be with people, being alone can be way out of your comfort zone.  But I encourage you to try it regularly.  It may be even more important for you to get away from people occasionally and to only rely on God's presence to to fill you.

Service is helping others.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you must be a servant.”  Service is a spiritual discipline that is good for both you and for others.  Service is really about recognizing we are servants.  We let go of our right to choose who and how we will serve.  Instead, we learn humility as we shift our focus from ourselves and onto others.   This is the main way Jesus taught his Disciples in the Bible.  Instead of sending them off to Bible college to get trained, Jesus gave them on the job training.  And He wants to do the same for you.  You may not feel qualified to serve.  But Jesus may invite you to serve anyway.  He will teach and equip you to serve as you serve.  You have to trust Him and answer the call when He asks you to serve--even if you don't feel ready.

I Challenge You to Practice Spiritual Disciplines
I’ve been giving you challenges throughout this series.  First, I challenged you to read Genesis and Matthew before Easter arrives.  Then, I said focus on one category of good deeds (see the list here).  Today, I challenge you to practice these 7 spiritual disciplines.  There are 42 days until Easter. Let’s get busy.