SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/24/2021 8:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Illustration”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
9:14-17
Message of the verses: “14 Then the
disciples of John came to Him, asking, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast,
but Your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "The
attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them,
can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast. 16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an
old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear
results. 17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise
the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but
they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.’”
I
can’t remember when I missed doing my Spiritual Diary, but I forgot it
yesterday and so we pick up where we left of Saturday from this illustration
that Jesus gave in Matthew 9:14-17.
We
have mentioned that the only fast that was taught in the Law of God was that of
doing it on Yom Kippur which is where the High Priest would go into the Holy of
Holies and offer blood as a sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant. This was done for the people of Israel, and
if memory serves me correct this was the first day of the year in what is
called the “Religious Calendar.” “Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is
the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and
repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a day-long fast and
intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Wikipedia”
In the days of when Jesus was on the
earth things were a bit different as far as fasting was concerned as fasting
was done two times a week and was one of the three major expressions of Orthodox
Judaism. We have mentioned in earlier SD’s
that the Pharisees loved to go around the city streets showing how terrible
that they were feeling as they fasted these two days of the weeks.
John MacArthur writes “Religious
ritual and routine have always been dangers to true godliness. Many ceremonies, such as praying to saints and lighting a candle for a deceased
relative, are actually heretical. But
even if it is not wrong in itself, when a form of praying worshiping or serving
becomes the focus of attention, it becomes a barrier to true
righteousness. It can keep an unbeliever
from trusting in God and a believer from faithfully obeying Him. Even going to church, reading the Bible,
saying grace at meals, and singing hymns can become lifeless routines in which
true worship of God has no part.”
Jesus’
first reply to John’s disciples was the following “"The attendants of the
bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But
the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they
will fast.” I think one thing to notice
from these words of Jesus was how He brought mourning and fasting
together. Many times people will mourn
over someone or something and while doing that they will not have any hunger
for food because of being distraught over something. I think that is how mourning and fasting go
together.
In
this statement Jesus is also talking about a wedding and in those days the
wedding would normally last for seven days and the bridegroom would choose his
best friends as his attendants who were responsible for the festivities. MacArthur writes “The wedding celebration was
not a time for them to mourn but to rejoice.
Jesus’ point was that it was inappropriate for His followers to mourn
and fast while He was with them in person.
The insincere, superficial, and hypocritical fasting practiced by the Pharisees
was, of course, always out of place. But
even sincere fasting was out of place as long as Jesus, the divine bridegroom,
was still among His people. Their
fasting was out of harmony with what God was then doing in their midst. There was no connection between their ritual
and spiritual reality.”
He
goes on to write “A fast is always meaningless if it is performed from habit
and does not result from deep concern and mourning over some spiritual
need. Going to church on Sunday is
hypocritical if it is done apart from a genuine desire to worship and glorify
God. Singing a hymn is only a pretense
of worship if it does not come from a heart that seeks to praise the Lord.”
Jesus
went on to say that there will be a day when the bridegroom is taken away and
MacArthur explains those words “taken away” “is from apairo, which can carry the idea of sudden removal, of being
snatched away violently. Jesus was
obviously referring to His crucifixion, which would abruptly and violently take
Him away from His followers, His faithful attendants. That will be the time for mourning, and then
they will fast.”
At
this point in time Jesus was saying that fasting was inappropriate. Why is He saying this? When there is no reason to mourn then there
is no reason to fast. We have mentioned
that fasting happens when a heart is broken.
At this point I will say that after reading a book entitled “Fasting for
Spiritual Break Through” that was written by Elmer L. Towns” I was convicted by
the Lord to fast over a broken heart of a sin that I was having trouble with
off and on for many, many years. I had
tried many things to rid myself of this sinful problem but it seems it would
always return again and again. In this
book Towns goes over a number of things to fast about as he uses Isaiah 58:6-8
as a background for the different types of fasts in his book. The first one he describes had to do with
helping to get rid of a sinful habit and so I began to follow his instructions
and God answered my prayer to rid me of this sinful habit. I am thankful to my former Pastor who showed
me this book, and I am thankful to the Lord for using this fast to answer my
prayers of many, many years.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Mourning over sinful things and fasting have
been a spiritual lifesaver for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting in the Lord to prepare my heart and
mind to begin to teach through the book of Hebrews beginning on the first
Sunday of June. My prayer is that God,
through His Spirit will keep my mind and heart focused on this task that I
believe came from Him and that He will teach me and those in our class many
wonderful things from this wonderful book that will cause us to grow in our
walk with the Lord.
5/24/2021 9:19 AM
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