This morning, in connection with our text, which is Matthew 6, verses 6-18, as we continue our consideration of the Sermon on the Mount, please turn to Isaiah chapter 58. Isaiah chapter 58. We'll read Isaiah chapter 58, and then turn to our text, Matthew 6, verses 16-18. Hear now God's Word. Shout it aloud, do not hold back, raise your voice like a trumpet, declare to My people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek Me out, they seem eager to know My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask Me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed? Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? Only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast? A day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen? To loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke? To set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter? When you see the naked to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear. Then your righteousness will go before me and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help and He will say, Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk. And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations, you will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings. If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord. And I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. In our text, Matthew 6, verses 16-18, which really is the final portion of verses 1-18. Again, as we are reminded in verse 1, Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. And he turns to the third illustration of this with fasting. Verse 16, When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full, but when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And God had His blessing to the reading, hearing, and consideration of His Word this morning. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, maybe by way of recap a little bit, we know that in our Lord's Sermon on the Mount that he is teaching about life in the kingdom of God. Life in the kingdom of heaven. He is teaching about the life of the kingdom's citizen, the believer. And as he teaches about that life, he includes, of course, what the believer's kingdom character looks like outlined by the Beatitudes, being poor in spirit, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being meek, and all the things that are listed there. He also teaches us what the believer's life looks like in relationship to the law of God. Not simply giving an outward obedience to the commands of God, but rendering an obedience from the heart. And then here in chapter 6, verses 1-18, he has been teaching us about the believer's proper motive for acts of righteousness, for Christian conduct. And that motive, as he makes clear already in verse 1 of chapter 16, is our motive is not that we do these things in order to be some kind of a show before men. In order to gain the praise of men, to gain the admiration of others. But our motive, the believer's motive, is to have an audience of one. The audience of God alone. And therefore, performing acts of righteousness done out of thankfulness to God and in order to demonstrate a heart of faith and devotion to Him. And of course, as we have been considering, he lays before them three illustrations of what that motive looks like. Three illustrations of righteous acts. First of all, pointing out the believer's relationship with others, specifically talking about giving. And then he moves on to the believer's personal relationship with God as we considered last week, focusing specifically on prayer. And now he moves to personal discipline in the believer's own spiritual life. Spiritual disciplines. Now we know that we discipline our lives in many ways. And boys and girls, we're not talking about the punishment that you receive if you've done something wrong. But we might discipline our lives when it comes to exercise. having a disciplined exercise life or a certain discipline when it comes to diet, what we eat, what we put in our bodies. But believers engage in spiritual discipline as well, which has to do with how we discipline our lives with regard to our walk with the Lord. And it may include things like personal devotions and prayer and worship, of course. It may include having an accountability partner. It may include serving and stewardship. all kinds of things. And here Jesus specifically addresses fasting. Of course, fasting may seem a little bit foreign to us because especially in our Reformed circles, it's not really or very rarely practiced today. Most likely because we don't really understand it. And to be sure, fasting goes against our sinful nature, a sinful nature which is inclined to indulge in the flesh, not only with food, but all kinds of things, but to feed the fleshly appetites. A sinful nature wants nothing to do with denying the passions of the flesh, but instead satisfying them. And of course, our society promotes the very opposite of fasting as we normally think of it, with uncountable options to choose from for eating out. Grocery stores full of food. And even the temptation to supersize your order. Now John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion commends fasting. Saying that it is an excellent aid for believers today as it always was, he says. As an excellent aid for believers today. and as a profitable admonition to arouse them in order that they may not provoke God more and more by their excessive confidence and negligence. It is an aid and an admonition. It serves a particular purpose for God's people. All by itself, it's meaningless. All by itself, it's nothing. Now, Jesus here in no way is condemning the practice of fasting. In fact, He is assuming, again, like with giving and prayer, He is assuming that it is done. When we think about the Pharisee and the tax collector in that parable when they went to the temple to pray, he does not condemn the Pharisee for fasting two times a week, which had become a practice of the Pharisees at that time and of the people, of the Jews. He doesn't condemn him for that, but he condemns him for boasting about it. He has no way condemning the practice of fasting. He assumes it. And our purpose this morning is not to argue whether or not we should participate in it. Lord willing to learn something about it that maybe you and I might be motivated to use this aid and this admonition as John Calvin talks about. But here as Jesus continues teaching about the proper motive for acts of righteousness, He teaches of fasting that is approved by God. First of all, supporting the practice of fasting. As we just said, when you fast, he assumes that it is done. And the Jews fasted, we know, for good reason. On the one hand, it had been a part of their cultic life, a part of their spiritual life from Israel's birth. Isaiah 58, we see there, even though God condemns that particular fasting there, we see that Israel had been fasting. It was a part of their regular diet, we might say. And we are able to somewhat trace the practice of fasting in Scripture. There are all kinds of illustrations of the fasting of God's people. When we talk about the definition of fasting, fasting, we know, is abstaining from food and drink. But not just to lose weight. It's not just cutting back. It's not to protest by way of some sort of a hunger strike. That's not the fasting that our Lord is talking about here. But it is abstaining from food and drink as a spiritual exercise for religious purposes. It is indeed an act of spiritual discipline. As far as when and how it should be done, it could be going completely without food for one day. Or it could be accomplished over a number of days by cutting way back on the quantity or doing without a certain quality, giving up certain foods, giving up favorite foods or delicacies. There are different ways that it could be practiced. But the practice includes what was demanded, what was commanded by God. And there's only one time, according to the law of Moses, that God commanded fasting. And that was on the Day of Atonement. One time per year. On that day when symbolically the sins of God's people were laid upon the head of the scapegoat, that scapegoat was sent away to show the sins of God's people being removed by God Himself. Therefore, that fasting was a focus on one's sins and a focus on what God has done for those sins. And along with what was demanded that one time by God is what was also determined by the nation or by individuals privately. Not wrongfully. But it was determined by the nation or the individuals, for example, in times of national emergencies or personal crises or even remembering certain events in her history like her captivity after that, then Israel would fast. In those times, nations and individuals would call for a fast and they would participate in fasting. We find all kinds of examples in Scripture. In times of war or when they knew that the enemy was approaching, they would fast. In times of famine, they would fast. when God's judgment was coming or was upon them, they would fast. We think of Jonah 3. Jonah preaches of the judgment to come upon the Ninevites because of their sin. And we read there that the people and the king of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth and cried mightily unto God. They were humbled because of their sin. They turn to God in repentance and faith and seeking His forgiveness. Or there are other personal illustrations. For example, David fasted before the infant son of Bathsheba died. Nehemiah fasted in a sense mourning the affliction of those in captivity. Daniel fasted, hoping for the delivery of the captives from Babylon. And fasting was accompanied, we know, by sackcloth and ashes, that visible evidence of complete and total humiliation, of humbling oneself. And of course, it was accompanied by prayer. And not only in the Old Testament, we know in the New Testament too, at the time that our Lord was born, we read that Anna fasted and prayed. In Acts 13, the church of Antioch fasted as they were desiring the special blessing upon the commissioning of Barnabas and Saul for their missionary duties. Many, many examples that we find in Scripture. But again, the purpose of fasting was not simply done just for the sake of doing it. It was not to be, as we might say, a heartless activity or hobby so that the heart itself was not engaged in the act of fasting. It is indeed a spiritual discipline, not like the disciplines of daily devotions or weekly worship. It was done on certain occasions. And as we think about the reasons that fasting took place, think again about some of the examples that we just talked about. Fasting was done in times of humiliation because of sorrow for sin. Because of confession of sin. The Day of Atonement. It was done, it was practiced at times of lamenting because of some sort of distress, war, or other threat, or death, or some sort of sad news. It was practiced to promote concentration on important religious activities or events. We think of Moses. Moses fasted as he waited for revelation from God. Or again, in Acts 14, the church fasted as she prepared to appoint elders in the church. The aim, beloved, I believe is the same really in all the cases. It is humiliation before God. It is demonstrating dependence upon God. Seeking direction from God alone. As an aid, as John Calvin says, really to focus us in, to help us to draw closer to God. You see, here Jesus most likely is talking about fasting that was done individually and voluntarily. Fasting that was a sign of that humiliation before God because of sin. A sign of sorrow and repentance for sin. A sign of understanding that one's only hope is not found in the things of this life. It's not found in material goods and possessions. but it is found in God alone. He is talking about that which was to be a sign of rending, tearing the heart, and not just tearing the garments as the prophet Joel says. Fasting, which is a means by which the believer's heart and mind is focused more and more on God, by which the believer humbles himself more and more before God. Just as by much food. Think of that Thanksgiving feast or that huge Sunday dinner. Think of the effect that that Thanksgiving feast sometimes has on many of us. It makes the body heavy. It makes the senses dulled. It causes our mind maybe to become a little bit sluggish and lethargic and lazy. Tired. That can be the effect of much food. But the opposite for the child of God, The opposite for the kingdom citizen is that the body and the soul or the spirit is joined in such a way that by the humbling of the flesh in this way, by denying oneself, the heart becomes softened before the Lord. The one fasting physically is reminded of their weakness and their frailty. Fasting is a means by which one is reminded of their dependence upon God and that it's not the things of this life that satisfy, but it is God alone. It is forgiveness through Jesus Christ alone that truly satisfies you and me. Fasting is intended to be a means to motivate toward and to deepen fervency in prayer and meditation and worship of God. It's a very specific spiritual discipline that Jesus speaks of here. It has to do with that outward activity of inwardly bowing down one's soul before God, again, because that one recognizes their unworthiness before God because of their sin, and through fasting, demonstrating that sorrow and repentance for sin and that one's only hope is in God alone. It represents sorrow for sin before a holy God. And that helps us to understand why Jesus gives in the second place the warning against false fasting. When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received the reward in full. Now, over and over again, we see that Jesus cuts these hypocrites no slack, if you will. He makes it very clear that there is a very clear distinction between one who is a hypocrite and one who is not. Between the hypocrite and the true believer. He makes it very clear. And we see here the hypocrite's mask. We've talked about that Greek word hypocrite that has to do with a theater, a stage, and an actor on that stage as if to have their face covered with some sort of a mask. And we cannot help but to clearly see that acting with this illustration that Jesus gives. It's as if these hypocrites put on makeup to disguise their face. In the Greek, there really is a play on words when Jesus talks about disfiguring their faces and walking around to look somber. As if to say they cause their true face to disappear in order to appear another way. They cause their true face to disappear by putting on a dreary and a sad look and maybe covering themselves with ashes to give the look of extreme sorrow, but only then to engage in the hypocrite's production to get going with their acting. In a sense, when they should be home fasting in private, just like with giving, just like with praying, they're walking around where everybody can see them, But doing so with a sad look that was counterfeit. Doing so with a dramatic display of grief. And doing so, no doubt, with a slow and a solemn pace. Think of a child once in a while, for whatever reason, the child kind of slumps their shoulders over and their head is down like this and they got that pouty look on their face And the goal, we know, is to get anyone's attention. To get some sympathy. The purpose of the hypocrite's production, Jesus says, is simply to get the attention of others. And to do so that others might say, well, look at him. Look at her. See how much their sin bothers them. See how close they are to God. Oh, I wish that I could be that close to God. Seeking the praise of men. Giving the impression to others that they are truly humble and truly filled with grief and sorrow for sin. Truly repentant and truly seeking the forgiveness of God because they truly love God so much. And therefore hated their own sin so much. And looked and trusted in Him alone. But the hypocrite's problem is Jesus makes it very clear. He doesn't say that maybe they are sincere. He can read their heart. And that's the whole key here, isn't it? It's the heart. The hypocrite's problem is that there's nothing true about their play acting. They did not mean any of it. Their hearts were overflowing with pride and there was no humiliation or sorrow to be found there. They thought that their fasting made them look good, that it made them look pious, that it made them look like a good Christian example. Like Israel in Isaiah 58. Well, what more does He want? We fasted. We bowed our heads. What more could God want? You see, beloved, what was to be a sign of humiliation before God became a sign of self-righteousness that was absolutely meaningless to God? Again, I have a hard time, and I suspect maybe together we have a hard time thinking about how fasting really applies to us today because we don't fast. Maybe not as we should. But I believe there's a two-fold warning for us to consider here this morning with us. First of all, a warning against piety, against spiritual exercises, disciplines for our own life that is meant to draw the attention of and the applause from others or to give a certain impression to others of something that may not really be accurate in our own hearts and lives. For example, making sure in conversations that others know just how demanding your life is serving the Lord. Someone has said that it's easy to disfigure one's face, as it were, in making it very clear how demanding it is my life is serving the Lord. For example, making it very clear to whomever will listen, I'm involved in Sunday school and I'm on a food service group and I participate in this Bible study and that Bible study. I'm an elder or a deacon or I volunteer in this way, that way. None of these things are wrong. These are good and profitable in and of themselves. But the point being, making it clear, boasting as it were, or talking in an extra spiritual way about the Lord using certain catchphrases that makes one sound so holy, ending every conversation or visit with, oh, God bless you. Or saying, well, I'll pray for you, out of habit, saying that out of habit, but then forgetting all about it. Again, things that are not bad or wrong in or themselves, but doing them only to give a certain kind of impression. You see, almost anything that is supposed to serve as an outward sign of inward attitude can be cheapened by hypocritical piety. I think of even things like wearing a cross necklace or cross earrings or a knot of this world t-shirt or having clothing with Bible verses printed out on them or bumper stickers that have scriptural references or that fish symbol that many of us put on the back of our vehicles or carrying a Bible and making it visible for everybody to see, again, all things that are not wrong or bad in and of themselves. Not at all. Please understand, I'm not saying that. But we ought to ask ourselves, why do we have these things? Why do we use these things? You see, none of these things by themselves, just because you have a fish symbol on your car or wear that t-shirt with that verse on or just because you fast does not mean that one is a Christian. We need to understand that. So we're to ask ourselves, why do we have these things? Why do we use them? May it be simply out of love and gratitude to God for Jesus. and not to gain the trust of others as if they might say, well, you know, I think we can trust them because it's obvious by the fish on their car that they're Christian. Not to gain their business or not to have people think that we are so godly or spiritual more than we know that is really true. You see, beloved, even external acts of going to church or coming to the Lord's table can be for show in a sense just to check in and make sure that the rest of the congregation knows that I was there. And might even make one think to themselves that God is being served sufficiently by them. Again, that was the problem of Israel in Isaiah 58. We've done our duty. We've bowed our heads. We've put the ashes on. We've stayed away from food. But God shows them how their fasting was not true. How their fasting had nothing to do with Him. That's the first warning against piety or spiritual exercises that might be meant to draw the attention of others to ourselves in some way. But the second warning then, I think, is against practices in this world that will draw one's attention away from God. And I say that because, remember, fasting, as Calvin says, is an aid. An admonition, in a sense, to focus one's attention on God. To help one put everything else out of their mind. And to put aside the things of this life and to focus on God. And therefore, there ought to be a warning here against practices that will draw one's own attention away. And therefore, the believer should deny himself, deny his body of that which would draw him away from God and our dependence upon God. Paul says flee sexual immorality. Keep your body pure. We are called to live a moderate life. Abstaining from over-unhealthy indulgence in food or possessions or in the dangerous excess of alcohol that might affect the mind or the body or obsession with work and hobbies. Not engaging in them, but obsession with them. Anything that one might become a slave to. Satan will use to try to draw our focus away from God and to put it on that other master. Peter says we are to be sober-minded, to be clear-headed, clear-thinking, to know what's going on all around us. And there, too, we are not to think that spiritual exercises, disciplines in some way merit, earn us God's favor, because they don't. In and of themselves, they are worthless. But notice then finally, as Jesus teaches fasting approved by God, He does so describing genuine fasting. But when you fast, verse 17, but when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your faiths, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Now Jesus is not saying here put on a false face in the other way. That's not at all what he is saying. His point is that even though oil for the head and washing the face were signs of joy and celebration and feasting, these things were also an ordinary, normal procedure for cleansing, especially the oil in that hot, dry climate. Jesus is saying here, be natural. Be your everyday person. As you are fasting, don't give any sort of hint to anybody that you are fasting or that something unordinary is going on in your life. Be seen by others with your ordinary countenance, with your ordinary pleasant daily face. Be seen with your ordinary actions and your ordinary clothing. And be content with God's omniscience as your only witness. Be content with God as your only audience. Be content with His goodness for your reward. Beloved, spiritual disciplines and exercises will be an ordinary, a normal part of the life of the kingdom citizen. Not to draw the attention to ourselves from others, but to nurture one's relationship with God. And those disciplines then will be transformed into a life of service to God and for His praise. They will be an ordinary, normal part of the life of the kingdom citizen. Again, when it comes to fasting, it is an outward sign or exercise of inward humiliation, sorrow, repentance for sin. And with regard to that sin in Christ Jesus as those who are purchased by, as those who are washed in His blood, for all who look to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, we have confidence of the forgiveness of all of our sins that we have committed, that we will commit today, or tomorrow, or in the days to come. Even though we still struggle with sin on a daily basis. Yet as God's people, we do not, are not to walk around with a hopeless look on our face because of that sin. Doubting God's promise. But instead, to live in the joy of forgiveness and salvation, as Nehemiah says, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And one's true sorrow for sin will be seen as joy in the Lord for forgiveness. The normal, ordinary, daily life of the believer is a life of being a living sacrifice to God. A life of whether eating or drinking, doing all for the glory of God, focused on Him. That is the truth of the believer's heart. A heart of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Anything else is abnormal for the Christian. And the kingdom citizen's life then, And even as He disciplines it, she disciplines it spiritually, that life is not focused on Himself, but focuses on others through a transformation. Kingdom citizens, as Jesus taught, are merciful. They're peacemakers. Those are some of the things that those spiritual disciplines nurture our life for. Or as the Lord says in Isaiah 58, verses 6 and 7, Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Kingdom life demonstrates that reconciliation with God. Restoration with Him through Jesus Christ, through love for others. Beloved, the motive for kingdom righteousness is to please God to express thanks to Him. Indeed, we look forward to that ultimate reward in eternal glory, that eternal feast that awaits God's people. You see, God rewards His people in the here and now. He does so with that peace that passes understanding. with contentment in life whatever my lot with confidence that theirs is the kingdom of heaven with confidence that they will be filled with confidence that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. The motive for kingdom righteousness is to do all to the glory of the King who rescued us, who saved us, who keeps us in His care forever. and pointing others to Him. You see, what is to be seen by others is Jesus Christ living in me, that they might glorify God and not me. Satan desires to keep us full and fat and sassy and selfish with everything but the thought and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, making us think that we have everything we need right here, we need nothing else. But God, by His Holy Spirit, for Jesus' sake, fills us with Himself and the glory of His grace and the truth that our help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You, again, for Your instruction. Instruction pointing our hearts and our minds and our actions and our lives to You alone. And that even when others do observe us in any way, shape, or form, however it might be, that it should be our desire that what they see is the Lord Jesus Christ. His love. His compassion, God's mercy and grace poured out upon us. Father, we thank You for the gift of faith that You've given to us. We thank You for those tools, those exercises, those disciplines that You place in our lives for us to participate in, by which You nurture our faith and our walk with You. And we pray that it would not be those things that are seen by those around us. it would not be those things that we would boast of. But that through these things You would continue to draw us closer to Yourself and transform us. We might be used of You to shed the love of Jesus Christ, to spread it abroad throughout this world. Father, we pray that You would continue to lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit. We know You have promised to do so. And we ask it in confidence for Jesus' sake. In His name we pray. Amen.