Is fasting a New Testament practice, or was it only practiced under the old covenant? Lesson presented by Wayne Cornwell to Highland Heights on April 5, 2015

2. Fasting:
Is this a New
Testament
Practice?

3. Scripture Reading:
Matthew 6:16-21

4. Matthew 6:16-21
16 “Moreover, when you fast,
do not be like the hypocrites,
with a sad countenance. For
they disfigure their faces that
they may appear to men to be
fasting. Assuredly, I say to
you, they have their reward.

5. Matthew 6:16-21
17 But you, when you fast,
anoint your head and wash
your face, 18 so that you do
not appear to men to be
fasting, but to your Father
who is in the secret place; and
your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly.

6. Matthew 6:16-21
19 “Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in
and steal;

7. Matthew 6:16-21
20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.

9. Definitions
Fasting - is from the Hebrew
word sum, meaning "to cover"
the mouth, or from the Greek
word nesteuo , meaning "to
abstain." For spiritual purposes,
it means to go without eating
and drinking.

10. Is this a NT Practice?
Jesus fasted

11. Mark 4:1,2
1 Then Jesus was led up by
the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted
forty days and forty
nights, afterward He was
hungry.

12. Luke 4:1,2
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the
Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jordan and was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness, 2 being
tempted for forty days by the
devil. And in those days He
ate nothing, and afterward,
when they had ended, He was
hungry.

13. Is this a NT Practice?
Jesus fasted
Jesus taught on fasting

14. Matthew 6:16-18
16 “Moreover, when you
fast, do not be like the
hypocrites, with a sad
countenance. For they disfigure
their faces that they may
appear to men to be fasting.
Assuredly, I say to you, they
have their reward.

15. Matthew 6:16-18
17 But you, when you fast,
anoint your head and wash
your face, 18 so that you do
not appear to men to be
fasting, but to your Father
who is in the secret place; and
your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly.

16. Matthew 9:14,15
14 Then the disciples of John
came to Him, saying, “Why do
we and the Pharisees fast
often, but Your disciples do
not fast?”

17. Matthew 9:14,15
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can
the friends of the bridegroom
mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them? But
the days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken away
from them, and then they
will fast.

18. Is this a NT Practice?
Jesus fasted
Jesus taught on fasting
The first century church fasted

19. Acts 13:1-3
1 Now in the church that was
at Antioch there were certain
prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Simeon who was
called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who had been
brought up with Herod the
tetrarch, and Saul.

20. Acts 13:1-3
2 As they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy
Spirit said, “Now separate to
Me Barnabas and Saul for the
work to which I have called
them.”

21. Acts 13:1-3
3 Then, having fasted
and prayed, and laid
hands on them, they sent
them away.

22. Acts 14:23
So when they had appointed
elders in every church, and
prayed with fasting,
they commended them to
the Lord in whom they had
believed.

23. Is this a NT Practice?
Jesus fasted
Jesus taught on fasting
The first century church fasted
So why don’t we fast today?

24. So why don’t we fast?
Jewish custom

25. Acts 10:30
So Cornelius said, “Four days
ago I was fasting until
this hour; and at the ninth
hour I prayed in my house,
and behold, a man stood
before me in bright clothing.

26. So why don’t we fast?
Jewish custom
We aren’t commanded to fast
Too dangerous
Don’t see the benefit
It’s weird
Never seen it done before