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These practices had a powerful effect on those believers. One of the key attitudes we find displayed by the 1st Century editions of God’s saints is that they considered themselves exiles on earth, and citizens of Heaven.
This produced not a detachment from earthly life or other people, rather it led to such a lacking of love for things that these early saints actually had abundant and overflowing time to love and seek and win their neighbors.
Now for a moment, think of all the time we spend gathering, protecting, and caring for our THINGS. Then think of what value collecting, protecting, and caring will have in Heaven at Christ’s Throne versus the same time, energy, and strength poured out in loving passion for the souls of our neighbors. Would those who know you are shocked if you started thinking of others more than your own THINGS! As one man well stated, “The absence of our fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.”
Listen to this brief glimpse from Early Church History as we jump into our study this morning of God’s Word’s New Testament portrait of the Early Church’s Hunger for God.
What shall we be known for? Let it be that we are willing to die for Christ and, even more, that we are willing to live for him in loving his people—and his enemies. The early Christians fasted so that they would have more to give to the needy, which means they did not have a lot stored up. O Lord, help us see Christ, be satisfied with Christ, and to show Christ as they did.
Then Christ’s words this morning are for you. Our text contains the most important words in the Bible on fasting. And these words can change your life if you understand them!
God’s Word says we must be Mastered only by Christ and nothing else. The evidence of being brought under the power of something is that we need it to make it through our day. What do you need to make it through a day? That will be a list of the items that have cast their influential mastering power across your life.
What pushes out your hunger for experiencing the intimacy of fellowship with the Lord in your life? Do you seek food first? Entertainment first? The latest news first? The status of your investments first? The web and your computer first? The television, radio, and music first? Your collections, investments, shopping first? Your sports, bodybuilding, and health need first? All of these are alone good and worthy of time but not at God’s expense, He is to be sought first and deepest of all!
Biblical Fasting uncovers and exposes whatever it is that has mastered our lives in place of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
The more we experience intimacy in fellowship with Jesus Christ the more we hunger for Him, and the greater our longings become to be with Him in Heaven. Then we see our focus in our lives begins to change, the more we long for our Great God and Savior:
The Greater becomes our Looking for our Bridegroom’s Return from Heaven
The Greater becomes our Hating any beachhead of sin in our lives,
The Greater becomes our Investing our time is Christ’s Body, His Church,
The Greater becomes our seeking the Evangelizing of Lost People around the World,
The Greater becomes our Sensing of Satan’s Lies in the Media and Culture of this World,
The Greater becomes our Asking for God’s Kingdom to Come on Earth,
The Greater becomes our Walking each day Pleasing God,
The Greater becomes our desiring to be filled with the Knowledge of God’s Will