The Duty of Fasting, and the Manner in Which the Duty Should Be Performed

^jid it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. — Neui HIAH i: 4.

Mourning and fasting are proper on certain occasions. Nehemiah was a good man, and a zealous and eminent reformer. The cause of God lay near his heart. He resided, at the lime to which the text refers, with king Artaxerxes, in Shushan the palace. On a certain occasion, he was visited by some of his brethren from Judah. He made inquiry of the welfare of Jerusalem. “I asked them” he says, the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction and reproach; the wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.”

On learning this, Nehemiah was greatly afflicted, and “sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.”

I propose, in this discourse, to consider
I. The duty of fasting.

II. In what manner it ought to be performed.

I. Fasting in all ages, and among all nations, has been practiced in times of calamity and affliction.

The Jews used often to fast when experiencing the judgments of heaven, and when about to engage in any important undertaking.

Some of their fasts were national. Some less general, were confined to certain bodies of men, and others to single individuals.

The Ninevites, terrified at the preaching of Jonah, proclaimed a national fast. ‘* Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried and said, yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. Yea let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not.”

Thus it was with the Jews in the time of Esther, when all were condemned to die. She proclaimed a fast. “Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night nor day. I also, and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

No particular time is set apart by Christ or his apostles for the observance of this duty aniong Christians. Yet the duty is plainly revealed. It is clearly inculcated both by precept and example.

Our Saviour, in his sermon on the mount, gave his disciples directions on this subject.

‘’Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may ajopear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father which is in secret; and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Our Saviour, when reproached by the boasting pharisees because his disciples did not fast so often as they, replied, ‘’Can the children of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”

We find that the apostles and primitive Christians were in the habit of practising this duty. Paul says, “Approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in labors, in watchings, in faslings.” 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, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.” Anna, the prophetess, served God with fastings and prayers, night and day.

II. How ought this duty to be performed?

Persons may fast, and still not offer to God an acceptable sacrifice. This was the case in the time of Isaiah. They fasted, they afflicted their souls, they lifted up their voice on high, they bowed their heads like a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under them, and yet the Lord would not accept their services.

‘’Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge’?” The Lord answers. “Behold in the day of your fast, ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.”

Some may perhaps think that if they keep the day by abstinence from food, and afflict their souls for the time being, this is all that God requires. But this is a great mistake.

“Is it such a fast that I have chosen ] A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, an acceptable day unto the Lord?” A bare outward observance of the day, however strict it may be, is not such a fast as God requires.

Nor is the duty performed by inveighing against the sins of others. To spend our time in scanning the lives of others, and declaiming against their sins, is not what God requires. To talk, and complain of the wickedness of others, is very natural, and very common. It is doubtless our duty to oppose and discountenance sin, wherever we see it. But we must remember that this may be done by the vilest of men, without any desire to reclaim the offender. The good man weeps over the sins of others. He prays for the sinner, and labors to bring him to repentance and reformation.

But to talk and declaim against the sins of others, without feeling any grief or sorrow of heart, and without praying for their reformation, is not what God requires. This is done by the worst of men. To talk of the sins of others with a kind of satisfaction, or to buffet others for their faults, is highly criminal in the sight of God.

To accomplish her nefarious purposes, Jezebel proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people, falsely accused, and slew him.

To keep an acceptable fast, we are

1. To humble ourselves for our own sins. Each one must begin with himself, and inquire what have I done 1 What sins have I committed? This, however humiliating and painful, is absolutely necessary. No one can repent of his sins, till lie sees and feels that he is a sinner. Each one must look into his own case and see what duties he has- neglected, and in what sins he has indulged. He must take a retrospective view of his past life, and consider the number, and the aggravations of his offences. He must look into his own heart, and think how it must appear in the sight of a holy God.

When you reflect, my hearers, that every act, and every thought of your past life is perfectly known to God, have you no reason to blush — no reason to humble yourselves in his sight 1 Not to blush and be ashamed at our past sins, is a mark that our iniquity is full. <’Weie they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore shall they fall among them that fall.” But he that is truly humbled for his sins, can adopt the language of the prophet, “0 my God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face to thee my God, for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our trespass has grown up unto the heavens.” ^’ He that exalte th himself shall be abased; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” ^’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

2. Confession of sin.

This is always humiliating; but without confession pardon cannot be obtained. Confession is as indispensable in order to obtain pardon, as repentance itself. God requires that we should confess, and that our confession should be according to the nature of our sins.

Some of our sins are of a public nature — some may be national — or we may have sinned as a public body, as a church, or parish, or town. These sins may be generally known; and hence it is proper to assemble, and wiih united hearts to confess them publicly to God. Thus Nehemiah, as we learn from the context, confessed the sins of the Jewish nation. “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, 0 Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes be open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess ilie sins of the children of Isyael, which we have sinned against thee; both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant Moses.”

Hear also the confession of the prophet Daniel. ‘’And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and I made my confession, and said, 0 Lord, the great and dreadful God, we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the i)ropliets which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 0 Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us, confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass which they have trespassed against thee. 0 Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.”

This confession included the sins of the whole Jewish nation, kings, princes and all.

And here I would remark, that it is highly proper, in times of spiritual declensionj for the members of a particular church to assemble and make a public confession of the prevailing- sins of that church, and to renew their covenant with God, and with one another. This should be done with prayer and fasting. Of this we have a striking example recorded in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah.” Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloths, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquity of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the hook of the law of the Lord their God, one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part, they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their GodJ^

Some of our sins may be of a less public nature — as wrong feelings, or improper conduct between families, or single individuals, and known only to those. In such cases, the command of God is, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed,”

Others may be known only to God and ourselves. Here is work for every sinner. It lies between God and your own conscience. Here no friend can follow you, to detect your secret sins, or to bring out your hidden iniquities. Secret sins, and sins of the heart, must all be brought out and slain before the Lord. These are the sins which damn the soul. “Out of the heart,” says our Saviour, ‘’ proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.”

Some there are, who may indeed appear beautiful without, whom Christ coiupares to whited sepulchres, which are within full of dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness. One single secret sin indulged, and cherished in the heart, unconfessed, and unrepented of, will destroy the soul. “Thus saith the Lord, O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved; how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” “What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 1 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.”

That sinner who will not call his own heart to a strict account — who will not accuse and condemn himself, will be accused and condemned of God. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.” “If we regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will not hear us.” “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all uniighteousness.” Then “let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon.” “He that confesseth and forsakoth his sins, shall find mercy.”

The difficulty and pain of breaking ofifrom sin may be great. The contest may be long and arduous. But by prayer and fasting the victory may be won. And it must be won, or the soul is lost.

3. A thorough reformation.

It is not that we appear to reform for a day, but that we do it efTi’ctually — ihat we not only repent for the time being, but that we bring forth fruit meet for repentance.

We must do all in our power to repair the injury done to our neighbor, and to the cause of God.

Have any of you been unjust in your dealings’? Now is the time to make restitution. Have any of you neglected your duty to the poor 1 It is the appropriate business of this day to search out the objects of charity, and to supply their wants.

Do quarrels, or unhappy divisions exist between families, or individuals. Let them be settled. In obedience to the divine command, “Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother.”

After reproving the Jews for their hypocritical fastings, and their complaints that the Lord would not hear them, God, by his prophet proceeds to describe an acceptable fast.

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? — to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke 1 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?”

He then describes the happy effects v,^hich will follow.

‘’ Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer, thou shalt cry, and he shall say, here I am. If thou take away from the midst of

230 SERMONS, REMAINS diC.

thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee, shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”