Know Your Enemy: Remedies Against the Flesh—How to & How Not To Fast (2) | Matthew 6:16-18

Reformation Month, the Trinity Foundation, and the Goal of This Fast

I wanted to bring up Reformation Month once again today because I posted on our church group an important announcement that I wanted everybody to look at and to sign. In light of the fact that we're going to celebrate the Reformation and everything, there's something called the Reformation Day Statement and the Reformation Day Declaration that the Trinity Foundation put out, which is one of my favorite ministries.

I thoroughly enjoy their work, the work of Gordon Clark, John Robbins, and others. They are a very, very sound ministry for many things, and they drafted these statements and declarations for the purpose of trying to take a stand for the biblical gospel, which the Protestant church has always upheld, and against the ecumenical lies and false gospel of Rome.

It's a great document. It's not very long. You can read over them and sign them yourself, and I highly encourage everybody to do that. With that being said, last week I mainly was dealing with how we should not fast, or improper ways of fasting, and how we should also watch what we eat, what we put into our bodies.

Today, I want us to continue focusing on how we, as God's people, primarily should fast now, proper fasting, true fasting, and encourage us to put this into biblical practice so that we can, in our own lives and including in our corporate church fast that we're going to do, that we're going to start today.

Because the church of Christ must recover the practice of addressing the whole man, the entire man, not just the inner man, not just the spirit, but also the body. What I mean by that, like I mentioned before, is that we must deal with not just sexual sin that affects the body, but also those things which we eat and put into our bodies and which affect our bodies, and consequently our flesh and our spirit as well.

All of this is related, and all of this has consequences, what we eat and consume. This is why we need to, as a church, be mindful of our health, our diet, and our food, where it comes from, and all of those things.

And remember that just because we are saved believers, filled with the Holy Ghost now, does not mean that God automatically delivers us from any of the physical and spiritual consequences of eating or drinking the wrong thing.

And, you know, I mentioned a few last time, a few things to avoid, but there's several things that you want to be aware of and just avoid. Things like soy, and I mentioned monosodium glutamate or MSG, high fructose corn syrup, gluten is another big one, aspartame, these artificial sweeteners and preservatives.

And you'll see oftentimes that food companies will make you think that something is healthy when it's really not. They'll say, oh, sugar-free, or fat-free, or whatever, but if you look at the back and the ingredients, you will find a different story oftentimes.

Because they'll stuff it with preservatives and fake artificial sweeteners, which are actually in some cases worse than just sugar. So those are all things that we need to just be aware of as a church and as individuals and for our family's sake as well, our children too.

Fasting, then, is a powerful and effective means of disciplining our bodies, among other purposes and benefits, which I've mentioned already, and one of the ultimate forms of self-denial when done correctly.

Fasting as the Means to the God-Ordained Ends

That's why I'm really excited to get to all of this. I have a brief correction that I wanted to also mention, because I said last week that fasting is a means to an end. But I misspoke when I said that denying the flesh, mourning, and the health benefits were the means themselves.

But that's not what I meant. This is actually backwards. Fasting is the means. Fasting is the means to the end. The goal or the purpose of fasting are those benefits and rewards which God has ordained for our good, like those Reformed authors have said, that I've quoted, and which the Lord has also said in this very passage in Matthew 6 .18.

So the means is fasting. The benefits are better health, mourning, self-denial, all of these things, flesh denial. Those things are the goal of fasting. We don't fast just for fasting's sake, just for the sake of it.

And it is one of the most effective biblical solutions to many, if not most, of the problems which plague Christians and churches today. So I'm really excited, therefore, to fast together as a church.

I've never been so excited about this, and I've just learned a lot. And I hope this series has blessed you all as well. Last week, I also left us with this thought that we shouldn't guilt trip others when you are fasting or make others feel bad or inferior because you are fasting and they may not be.

We don't want to be judgmental that way because this is false pharisaic piety. And it, in fact, segues into another important question that we do need to understand and have a biblical answer for. Drum roll, please.

And that question is, are you allowed to tell people that you are fasting? Are you allowed to tell people that you're fasting? Because this has been the source of a lot of controversy and misunderstanding.

Matthew 6:16–18 and Whether You May Tell Others You Are Fasting

So I want us to go back and turn to the passage for today in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, in verse 16, where we will find our answer. Now, Jesus here, once again, is dealing with the Jews and a lot of their objections.

So in Matthew 6, verse 16, we read, Now, whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do. For they neglect their appearances so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.

He's talking about people like the Pharisees, of course. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. In other words, their vanity of wanting to be noticed by men has rendered their fast completely useless and abhorrent to God.

Because it is hypocrisy, right? Verse 17, But you, on the other hand, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your father who is in secret.

And your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Amen.

So does this mean then that we cannot tell anyone that we are fasting? Well, let's think about this for a little bit. Like what do we do when somebody asks us, hey, let's go eat or let's, you know, let's go get some food or whatever.

I mean, what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to like lie? Are we supposed to say, no, I'm good. Like, well, why not? What's the problem? Like, well, you know, no, just like we don't need to. We don't need to make this like difficult or unnecessarily complicated.

Right. We obviously shouldn't lie about the fact that we're fasting. And so that's not what we should do or try to try to be, you know, how do you say conspicuous? Because then that often makes people want to know more like, hey, what's going on?

Like, why are you what you're not eating? Why not? What's going on? So that will make that might even make people more suspicious. And so the answer to the question is, yes, it is appropriate to tell people that you are fasting.

It is appropriate. OK, the issue is how how you say it or how you communicate that. Because otherwise that would make corporate fasting like the one we're starting today. Impossible since the whole church would then know whether you were fasting or not.

Right. If we're engaging in a corporate fast, then the expectation is that, hey, we're going to be fasting together. So there's nothing wrong with that. Right. And again, it's not it's not whether you tell people, it's how you tell it.

If you're communicating it in a in a vain manner, in a virtue signaling, signaling manner where, oh, well, I'm better than you because I'm I am denying myself and you're just a wretched, you know, sinner that has no self-control.

Right. So not only that, it's actually good to tell your fellow brothers and sisters when you are fasting. It's a good thing to tell them that so that they can also intercede in prayer for you. Right.

That way we can support each other and lift each other up in prayer and intercede for each other during our fast, regardless of what it's for, whether it's for mourning or for self-denial or for whatever it is.

It is good to encourage each other during our fasting. Right. So it also has the the the other positive effect of encouraging self-reflection for others to determine their own need for a fast. OK, it helps us to kind of check ourselves.

Hey, well, this OK, this brother's fasting. I'll be praying. Well, maybe do I need to go on a fast? Have I been a little bit out of control? Have I had a hard time controlling my mouth or my temper or my appetites?

What I eat or what I see or struggling with sexual sin, whatever it may be. These are really important opportunities for us to go on a fast for, like I've mentioned already. So this is good. This is a very good thing to do.

As long as we don't do it, like I said, in a self-righteous, I am holier than thou manner. Right. We don't want to do it in that way. Like the Pharisees. And one other obvious thing is that you would have to tell your spouse whether you were fasting.

You would have to coordinate with that. In fact, you would have to coordinate that with them because of the fact that fasting includes self-denial, including marital intimacy. Since fasting will diminish all physical appetites, OK, which includes the desire for marital intimacy.

And I'll I'll deal more with this a little bit later. So then the main point of Christ teaching in this passage was, in fact, to rebuke the false piety and hypocrisy of the Pharisees when they fasted.

OK, that was the issue. He was rebuking false, hypocritical piety when they were fasting to try to make themselves appear better than others. Than those around them. OK, what this means then is not that we shouldn't tell people that we're fasting, but that we should not nullify or ruin our fast with bad motives for the sake of attention or vainglory or hypocrisy or false piety.

Right. Or this pietism where we try to do these things, you know, because we think they're spiritual when we don't really understand why we're supposed to be doing them. Now, vainglory, that's an important word that the Bible that God despises.

God despises vainglory and vanity in general. Right. So vainglory means excessive vanity, excited by one's own performances, by one's own good. Good works, quote unquote. Empty pride on empty because you have nothing to be prideful about.

Undue elation of mine, vain show and boastfulness, boastfulness. Right. And Isaiah 58, verse four touches on this a little bit where God says, behold, you fast for the wrong reasons, for contention and quarreling and to strike with a wicked fist.

You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. In other words, for supplication. So we shouldn't fast for the wrong reasons. Like I mentioned last week. OK, so how then should we fast?

How should we then fast? What is true fasting? What is biblical fasting? I think by now we all have a pretty good idea of what it is, but I want to lay out some of these points very clearly for us to follow along in our fast.

When whenever we fast, I appreciate that our confession of faith, the London Baptist Confession of 1689 in chapter 22, which is on religious worship in the Sabbath. Section five says, moreover, solemn humiliation or humility with fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions ought to be used in a holy and religious manner.

OK, so like I've established pretty clearly already in our tradition, in the Reformed faith, the Protestant understanding, fasting has been a well-established thing that ought to be done, that we ought to do and recognize, because Jesus said, when you fast, when you do fast, do it rightly.

Right. So I previously covered the major pitfalls of improper or false fasting. Right. And that we want to avoid so that we do not cancel out our fast or render it ineffective or unprofitable. And always remember that biblical fasting is for our benefit, not for harm.

And there are many benefits, like I've mentioned before, as well. It is not for asceticism. It is not for self-abasement. And it is not for vainglory. Right. Like Colossians 2 .18 says, like 1st Timothy 4 says, because fasting, if you recall, in Greek means to not eat, to not eat nor drink food.

That is what it means to fast biblically, to not eat or drink food. True fasting is when you abstain completely from all food and drink. OK. Now, or another good way to fast is avoid all food, but just drink water.

OK. The first one is called a dry fast, where you have neither food nor drink, not even water. The other one is called a water fast, where you only drink water and nothing else. This is a very good way to fast.

Both of them are good, but I would recommend that we try a water fast. OK. And again, you may need to continue your medications or any supplements that you're on. You may need to adjust your medications during your fast.

And so be careful. Right. Just be careful. Be mindful of these things. But the reality is that fasting, including intermittent fasting, in which you restrict your eating window to only a certain amount of time during the day, may actually boost your health tremendously and even help you get off your medications.

So that's why I really want to encourage us to look into this and to promote it and to apply it into our lives. This is very powerful stuff, but we need to do it properly. And there is no prescribed or predefined number of days that we should fast for.

OK. There is no set number of days that we need to do it for. And this is something that I failed to mention when I first covered this series on fasting. When I quoted Wilhelmus Abrakel, the Dutch Reformed friend of ours and theologian, he actually says that fasting should only be for a single day.

And this is not correct. This is not right. There's no biblical text or passage or teaching that says you need to do it for only a day. That's not right. You need to determine that for yourself. OK. For your particular struggles, for your particular situation.

Right. When you do fast, make sure then that you do it as long as you need to. OK. Otherwise, you're not going to get the proper effect of the fast. Go as long as you need to. And a good recommendation for those of us who are trying to break a bad habits or sinful or sinful habits is to go on a 21 day fast.

Right. So. But all of this varies can depend on, again, your situation, your context, your health situation, all of those things. So you want to just be aware of that and prepare accordingly. And you will need to do it, especially when you know that the flesh has finally broken its grip on you.

You will feel that that tugging, that struggle will subside. And that is when you'll know that you have gained the upper hand over your flesh. And it will be easier now to have self-control and to deny yourself because your flesh will no longer try to master you so strongly, even though it always comes back.

It will always comes back as soon as you start feeding it, even with just normal, normal diet and food. So we always need to keep these things in mind. This is the ongoing Christian struggle of flesh versus spirit.

Right. This is what the Bible repeatedly talks about. What I preached on for many, for many weeks already. There is the flesh and there is a spirit and they are at odds. They are against one another. The inner man and the outer man.

The law of my mind versus the law of my body. That is the contrast, the struggle, the war against the flesh and the spirit. So this brings me to the next very important takeaway for us and lesson in this, in all of this.

This is critical to understand. True fasting must also be comprehensive, total, panoramic, all-encompassing in order to deny the flesh completely. I've already alluded to this before, but we need to really understand.

This is one of the most important takeaways from true fasting, because otherwise it is not going to help you and it's not going to be effective if we don't do this correctly. A biblical fast means that you also stay away from, we abstain from, not just food, not just drink, but also anything else, anything else that will fuel your flesh.

Okay? And this is where you need to know thyself, right? Like Calvin wisely says, know thyself, know your weaknesses and know what activates or what provokes you to sin and what provokes your flesh. What tempts you, right?

Stay away from those things. Even if they're good things, it doesn't matter. If they're okay things, stay away from them. If they cause you or tempt you to keep from denying yourself in this exercise of fasting.

Therefore, during our fast, we need to likewise abstain from things like alcohol, entertainment, music, TV, movies, social media, etc., and any other distractions in order to instead, so we stay away from those things, to instead fill ourselves and fill our fast to satisfy our souls, rather, with prayer, with biblical meditation, with self-examination and study, right?

With reading and studying God's Word. This is what we need to, one of the most important takeaways that we need to do. We should abstain from those things which tempt us to sin or to feed our flesh, making it harder for us to deny ourselves and instead use this time to fill our souls with the means of grace, the means of God's grace, right?

So, it is even like we read in the question 104 of the Orthodox Catechism, that in short, I give up anything rather than go against His will in any way. So, this is sort of a subset of this. We understand that denying ourselves means that we need to be comprehensive about this exercise for it to truly work, okay?

We need to do it properly. Very important. This is exactly what God's means of grace are for. And remember the six S's or means of deliverance that I preached some weeks ago. Number one being Scripture, the primary sanctifying light of God's Word and means of our sanctification, of our holiness, our growth in holiness and putting sin consequently to death, right?

Number two is the sound, systematic study and doctrine of Scripture, studying God's Word. Number three are the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. And of course, it is appropriate to take the Lord's Supper even when you're fasting.

That is an ordinance of Christ that we do not override simply because we're fasting. But, very important. And then number four, self-awareness and self-denial, which of course includes none other than the F word, right?

Fasting. I probably shouldn't have said it that way, but this is a good word, a very good word that we want to embrace in our lives. Fasting, of course. Number five also is sage counsel. And that's why I want to encourage us to share with each other when we're fasting.

Say, hey, brother, sister, please keep me on your prayers because I want to try to fast and get myself right before God. I have an important decision to make or I lost a loved one. I'm mourning, I'm struggling and I want to just go on a fast and seek the Lord, right?

So, encourage one another during your fast. Let your brothers and sisters know that you're doing it in order to also engage in spiritual warfare, right? That's number six. Remember that fasting is spiritual warfare.

The kind of demons that Jesus talked about in Mark chapter 9 and in other places in the gospel, he said, this particular kind does not come out but by prayer and by extension fasting. It requires a certain dedication and intercessory activity.

That is what prayer is regarding spiritual warfare and fasting as well. What are we denying? What we are denying our worst and most pernicious of all enemies that we face every day. That is the flesh, right?

That is spiritual warfare and that is the primary vehicle by which the world and the devil, our other principal enemies, try to attack us. It is through our flesh. So, fasting is a powerful weapon of spiritual warfare.

Amen?

This is good stuff, really good stuff. So, we must then deprive the flesh of and from all of its fuel like the great Second Helvetic Confession says. Now, I want to go back to our good friend Wilhelmus O 'Brockle in his Christian's Reasonable Service, his systematic theology.

He has a very good thing to say regarding this matter. He says, we must deprive ourselves of all entertainment such as recreational games, taking a walk for the purpose of seeing gardens, ornamental works of art, or plantations, or going out by boat or horse and carriage merely for pleasure.

Isaiah 58, verse 3 says, Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure. God is calling them out because they are not fasting right. You are not supposed to be seeking pleasure when you are fasting, right?

One must even refrain from marital union. Marital intimacy, okay? This is very good. You can see how, my, how the times have changed. What was considered recreational back then has changed in many ways, has it not?

So much of what we call recreational has just radically changed. And these screens bombard us and they mess with our heads. They mess with our brains. They mess with our flesh. They mess up our ability to control ourselves.

They are particularly addictive. They are designed to be that way, for you to be glued to them. So we need to be careful. Video games, TV, all of these, the screen time.

Amen?

And like I said, even if you're not fasting, it's good to take this time to stay away from those things. Take some time away from that. Drown out those other voices, the news, the media, everything going on, and just to keep yourself, be still, just to be still before God.

Now, we, very important, no marital intimacy as well. And if you turn with me to 1 Corinthians 7, verse 5, we'll see why. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 5. Now, here, Brother Paul says, the Apostle Paul says, stop depriving one another.

He's referring to marital intimacy. Accept by agreement for a time, for a special particular time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, right? And by extension, fasting as well, to prayer and fasting.

And come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. Okay, so this is very important. Paul himself, the Bible, the Word of God is telling us that when we dedicate time to fast and pray, we need to abstain ourselves from these other things, right?

Let's turn now back to, or forward rather, to 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24, which I've read previously as well. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. Verse 24. Do you not know, beloved, that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?

You only get the prize if you run to win. In other words, okay, run in such a way then that you may win, that you may win. Now, everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in what? In all things.

All things. Not just some things, but all things. They then do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave.

Okay, how do we do this? By denying ourselves in all things. All things, like Paul says. Like the Word of God says, amen? All things. This is how we win. If you want to win, especially in a fast, we must practice self-control and self-denial in all things.

All of these things. And in fact, this is actually similar going back to the Old Testament now, when Daniel had also fasted in this way, but the king of Babylon, even King Darius, in Daniel chapter 6, verse 18, where it says, then King Darius went off to his palace and spent the night fasting and no entertainment was brought before him and his sleep fled from him.

Right?

So he was in a time of despair and he wanted no food and no entertainment. So he deprived himself of all of those things. That is similar to how we should practice this ourselves.

Okay?

Puritan and Reformed Teaching on Fasting as a Vow

I want to read now just an amazing quote. These Puritans, y 'all have got to get yourself acquainted with these Puritans. These brothers are amazing. Not all of them are created equal, of course. Some are better than others.

But one such particular Puritan that I have recently discovered in light of this study is Matthew Barker. Okay, Matthew Barker. And he has some incredibly wise and biblical truths I want to lay out before us in a sermon on religious fasting.

A religious fast, it's called. A religious fast is the devotion of the whole man, the whole man, to a solemn or serious, extraordinary attendance upon God in a particular time separated for that end, for the deprecating of his displeasure.

Okay, so that we could decrease his displeasure and for the supplicating of his favor to ask for his guidance, his wisdom, his direction. Join with an abstinence from bodily food and drink and other bodily delights and entertainments and from secular affairs as much as possible, okay?

So from other worldly affairs that we don't have to do if we don't need to do them. So that he that fasted does for a time separate himself, consecrate himself in a way, in a sense, to God and does voluntarily.

That's another important key word here, right? We don't do it out of force. We do it voluntarily because we want to and we understand our need to do it. Dedicate a part of time to his more solemn service and doth put himself, as it were, under a religious vow, under a religious vow to abide solemnly with God, with God, in the duties of the fast he is engaged in.

Amen.

This is powerful stuff from these Puritans. They are just... And these are Reformed. These brothers understood fasting better than anybody. As you can tell. This is very wise. And I never really connected these dots together in thinking about fasting as a vow.

Fasting is a type of religious vow because you're saying, this is something you're doing before God, between you and God, and you say, Lord, I'm going to deny myself. I want to seek your will, your favor, your guidance.

I want to mourn. I want to try to deny myself and my flesh so that I can fight back against the world, the flesh and the devil. I want to dedicate myself, consecrate myself unto you for this time and abstain from these things in a fast so that we can run to win.

Amen.

Run the race so that we may win. And this is also very similar to the... In the Reformed understanding, this actually parallels the Lord's Day Christian Sabbath, the religious worship on the Lord's Day.

Okay.

This is very interesting how there's a parallel to fasting. In chapter 22 of section 8 of our London Baptist Confession, which is the same chapter on religious worship and the Sabbath, it describes this.

It says, the Christian Sabbath is kept... In other words, the Lord's Day, what we are doing right now, when we gather corporately for God's worship, publicly, right? That is what... Publicly and privately.

It is the entire day in this understanding, in the Reformed understanding. The Christian Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord when people first prepare their hearts rightly and manage their everyday activities beforehand so as not to become a distraction.

Then they observe a holy rest. That is what Sabbath means, right? Shabbat.

Rest.

A holy rest all day from their own works, their own worldly employments and recreations. Works, words, and thoughts regarding these worldly employments and recreations. In addition to that, it is resting from those things but also unto spending instead the whole time in public and private acts of worship and in the duties of necessity and mercy, such as providing for the poor, whether it is police work or things that need to be done in order to maintain society.

Okay?

Acts of necessity and mercy. So this is fascinating how in some ways the Lord's Day, and you only get this from the Reformed faith, how the Lord's Day, and we understand that we set apart the whole day for this special purpose of in a way denying ourselves these recreations and entertainments and employments to set apart the time for the means of grace.

It's the exact same thing that we do in fasting. Pretty much the exact same thing. Except, of course, in the Lord's Day you can still eat and everything. You don't necessarily have to fast on the Lord's Day but fasting is a special type of vow.

The Health Benefits of Fasting and the Right Priorities

Now, what else? The last major point here is that it is also perfectly good and acceptable to acknowledge and receive the health and healing benefits of fasting.

Right?

Reap those benefits. Take advantage of all of them, including the health benefits. It's a perfectly good thing to fast for health benefits as well because it will help you and it will also help you to control your appetites.

It's a good thing. It's a good thing to have better health as a result of it. To have less toxins, less junk in our body that's been accumulated because of all the food, all of the dirty foods that are...

Practically everything is dirty these days. It's hard to find clean food. So it's good to fast and cleanse ourselves. Now, let's turn to 1 Timothy 4. In verse 7. In 1 Timothy 4, verse 7, we read God's word.

But refuse godless myths fit only for old women. The LSB has a funny way of rendering this. Another way is old wives' fables.

Right?

Old wives' tales and fables. On the other hand, train yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily training is only of little profit. But godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Okay, so how do we make sense of this? Does this mean that we should not fast or neglect our health or avoid any physical exercise or disregard everything that I've been preaching for the entire series?

Is that what this verse is telling us? The answer is no. Okay, that is not what this passage teaches.

Right?

That's just your flesh trying to talk you out of it.

Alright?

That's not what this means.

Amen?

We should fast. We should still fast and do these things.

Okay?

But,.

The verse, what this verse is saying is that we primarily, this verse is referring primarily to our priorities. Priorities. Because if we prioritize physical exercise above spiritual exercise, then we have become earthly minded and are out of order.

Okay, that's what this passage is teaching. It's not that we should not practice good health or deny ourselves or fast or anything. That's not what this is saying. It's saying have your priorities straight.

Okay?

The main priority is spiritual exercise. Means of grace.

Right?

Studying the word.

Praying.

All of those things. Participating in public and private worship. All of these things are more important than mere physical exercise. So let's not misunderstand this.

Right?

That's how we need to make sure that we have a good understanding. In fact, we can be, when we practice these things like fasting, we can be more productive for God and serve Him better with a healthy diet and lifestyle that avoids bad foods and denies our flesh.

And these bad foods, like I mentioned, are often tied to very ungodly agendas to mind control and to effeminize men. To turn men into women and women into men. Or get them sick. Get them with tumors and cysts and stuff.

Because of the imbalances that these chemicals often put into our bodies because of these bad foods that were not created by God. So, the moral of the story is that we must have balance and have the right priorities.

Right?

Not to neglect these things of physical exercise or fasting. We should not neglect these things, but we should not prioritize them above spiritual exercise.

Amen?

So, now.

Okay.

And it'll even give us more energy, more mental clarity, sharper focus. All of these things which help us to engage in spiritual exercise and to worship God better. To follow Him and obey Him better. Now, even though dieting, to go on a diet is all well and good.

Now, but some diets are better than others. Just keep that in mind. One of the most significant ways that you can help and heal your body and as well as your soul is by simply not eating.

Right?

Dieting is not fasting. Fasting, remember, is not eating. And not eating has very powerful physical and spiritual effects on us. But yeah, like I said, it helps us to physically cleanse out the toxins from our bodies and purify them.

And there's something called autophagy, which is powerful because it recycles the dead proteins and the dead buildup in our bodies and it flushes them out when we fast, when we not eat. Powerful stuff.

And this is also very, happens when we practice intermittent fasting. And even folks who are sick, it can help you get better and maintain good health. Even like diabetics can do this. So, and like the passage I quoted as well in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 9, verse 42, where Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy from his seizures and gave him back to his father.