Fasting And Spiritual Warfare — Keith Malcomson

Fasting and Spiritual Warfare in Mark 9

Praise God. Let's go to our message here this morning. And I'm going to ask you to turn to Mark 9, verse 17. Mark 9, verse 17. We're going to read through to verse 29. My message this morning is fasting and spiritual warfare.

We are on the eighth message of this spiritual warfare series. And I think already we've dealt with some things that normally wouldn't be dealt with in spiritual warfare. We've looked at binding and loosen, how it isn't just binding a demon, but it's actually church discipline, how we deal with sin and issues that arise among real Christians.

Go back and listen to binding and loosen, and you'll see there binding and loosen has everything to do with an authority of the church and how we deal with problems. The scripture tells us we don't have a right to do that our own self.

Then we looked at pulling down strongholds in our mind. People normally are more caught up in binding demons than really dealing with thoughts in their own mind. We've done the entire message on that.

But here this morning, I'm going to deal with fasting in the context specifically of spiritual warfare. We've taught, we've preached, we've written on this before. We've exhorted you on it many other times, but I want you to think about fasting in relation to this one issue of spiritual warfare.

We're going to be very focused. We're going to follow a line through scripture as we look at this. And by talking about fasting, we are not diminishing prayer. I've done a whole series in prayer and finished the last message on fasting.

We do not make too much of fasting. In the church today, there is a great neglect. Reading from Mark chapter nine, fasting and spiritual warfare. Mark chapter nine and verse 17. And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit, and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he fumeth, and he gnasheth with his teeth, and he pineth away.

And I speak to thy disciples that they should cast out, and they could not. He answered him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me.

And they brought him unto him, that is Christ. And when he saw him straightway, the spirit tear him. Sometimes it gets worse when you bring an issue to Christ. And the spirit tear him, and he fell on the ground, and wallowed, foaming.

And he asked his father, how long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child. And oft times it is cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe. And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou my non-belief.

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried and rent him sore and came out of him.

And he was as one dead in so much that many said he is dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. Do you know, again, there's times when Jesus is at work, you'll think the boy is dead. He's not dead.

Jesus is gonna raise him up. And Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. And he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, notice what they do. Privately they ask him, why could we not cast him out?

They didn't want it to be publicly answered. And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Can we pray here this morning? Father, I thank you. Lord God, when we're in a battle with the powers of darkness, with the devil in our families, in our lives, in our own homes, Lord God, amongst friends, in our city, in our nation, Lord God, we can add to our prayers fasting.

You said prayer and fasting. You said there is a conflict with hell itself. When we begin to pray and fast, we are coming into conflict with the powers of darkness, with the evil spirits that bind men and women.

Lord God, when situations are impossible, when man can do nothing, Lord God, when even we the church can do nothing, we add fasting to our prayers. Father, I pray that through the preaching of the word of God, that faith would come into hearts.

Lord God, that many would begin to pray and to add fasting to it, even as they hear this message today. Lord God, stir hearts to seek you. Lord God, to rend their hearts, to humble themselves in fasting.

Lord God, to bring their body under. Lord God, that the spirit within them might pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. We come to our message here this morning. Fasting and spiritual warfare.

The Manuscript Question and Fasting as a Spiritual Weapon

In some Bibles in our generation, the new Bibles, they leave out certain words in this verse that we read in Mark chapter nine and verse 29. Certain translations of the Bible actually say this kind can come out only by prayer.

The word fasting is not there. And if you cross-reference this to Matthew 17 verse 21, you'll find the entire verse is missing. But I want to tell you, that is wrong manuscripts. Man has played games with that.

No, let me say something else. I believe the devil has played with those verses and taken out fasting from those two texts in the New Testament. And this is the reason. I believe fasting has to do with breaking the power of Satan, breaking his works, destroying his works, exposing him, and setting the captives free.

I have no doubt that fasting is a powerful tool in defeating Satan. And so we see fasting as a part of spiritual warfare. If you really want to take part in real spiritual warfare, you're not only gonna fast, but you're going to, sorry, you're not only gonna pray, but you're gonna pray and fast.

It says in Mark 9 29, where we've read here, and he, that is Jesus said unto them, the disciples, this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Over in Matthew 17 21, that's missing out of many Bibles, the verse isn't there.

It says, how be it this kind goes not out, but by prayer and fasting. You see, there can be no doubt that prayer is a spiritual weapon to destroy the works of Satan. It affects what is happening in the spiritual realm around us.

We can't see it. We can't touch it. But through prayer, our prayers affect the spiritual climate around us. It is a spiritual weapon that doesn't just have effect in the natural and the physical, but in the spiritual and the unseen.

You may never physically or visibly see the answer to some prayers, and yet your prayers are dynamic. In this spiritual world, it defeats the enemy. It destroys his plans. It stops him and hinders him from doing what he would otherwise do.

But it also brings forth the purpose of God in your life, in this church, in our nation. You see, prayer is a mighty weapon, but yet Jesus says prayer and fasting. What does he say? Add fasting to prayer.

There are some spiritual battles that prayer is not enough. You might say prayer is everything. Yes, I know. And yet here in spiritual warfare, Jesus says when you're facing the devil, when you're facing a supernatural power, when you're facing the powers of darkness, the devil himself, you must add fasting to your prayer.

Saints, when you realize that you're facing the devil in your home, your family, or your own life, when you realize there's a warfare going on, add fasting to your prayer. Jesus said in Matthew 6, he talked about three things, about alms given to the poor, about prayer, and then about fasting.

Do you know what he said? When you give alms, when you pray. In other words, a Christian prays. A Christian who doesn't pray isn't a Christian. It's utterly impossible. But listen, in Matthew 6, 16, he said, moreover, when ye fast.

In other words, Jesus took it for granted that every real Christian will fast. Maybe it's a day a week. Maybe it's three days a month. Maybe you miss a few meals here and there. I don't know. I'm not setting any sort of regulation on you, but you do fast if you're a Christian.

It is a vital part of your spiritual walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, the following verse says, when thou fastest, Jesus took it for granted that a Christian will fight. Is it any wonder so many in the church are defeated in their spiritual life when they don't realize fasting is a part of spiritual warfare?

There's some battles against hell in your life you will not win unless you add fasting. If you only pray, or if you only occasionally turn to the things of God and say, I don't know why anything's not changing.

You need to add fasting to it. In Matthew 9 and 15, Jesus said about his disciples, then shall they fast. In Ephesians 6, 18, it says, praying always with all prayer. Do you know that, Adam, fasting is a kind of prayer?

Oh yes, you can pray without fasting and God answers your prayers. He does. You don't need to fast always, but all prayer shows there's many different kinds of prayer and prayer and fasting is a certain type of prayer that is unique in its own self.

Again, the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 and 5, he talks about a minister, a preacher approving himself or showing himself forth that he is a preacher, that he's called of God, that he's called to minister to the body of Christ.

Do you know one of the things that says there in 2 Corinthians 6 and 5? By fastings. In other words, a real preacher, a real servant or minister of God is going to prove that he's really called of God.

How? One of the things is by fastings. In other words, fasting is gonna be a part of that preacher's life. It may change from time to time, maybe longer at other times, maybe shorter, but there's always gonna be a pattern of fasting.

It's a normal part of his life. Again, a bit later in that chapter, he goes on speaking about, he said, I am a minister. I am more than all of these false teachers. And then he gives a long list of qualifications.

Just one of them is in fastings often, in fastings often. Since I'm talking about real spiritual warfare here, I'm talking about breaking the power of Satan. We have dealt a couple of years ago with fasting and spiritual warfare.

It's a very thorough message. Go and listen to it. We also, on our church website, have a leaflet of how to fast, very basic instructions. But here this morning, I wanna deal with this issue, fasting in a very specific way, fasting as a tool to break the power of Satan.

And I've got two main points. That might shock you here this morning, those who hear me preach from year to year. Only two points, but be assured within each point, I've got at least several points if God will help me here this morning.

My two points this morning concerning fasting and spiritual warfare. First of all, defeated by gluttony. Second, victorious in fasting. As I show you these two points, defeated by gluttony or victorious in fasting, I'm gonna give you a fuller picture of what it means and how fasting actually affects the spiritual realm.

Defeated by Gluttony and the Old Testament as Instruction

The apostle Paul, again, in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, he says, now, all these things happened unto them. That is Israel. In other words, all the stories, the testimonies, all the things that go on, all about the kings of Israel and the wars and the battles, all those things happened in the Old Testament unto them for in samples or an example, or for us to see and learn from.

And they are written for our admonition, our attention, our warning, and for our mild rebuke on whom the ends of the world are come. In other words, everything written in this Old Testament, listen to me carefully before we go to our first point.

When I go to the Old Testament, every physical warfare between Israel and the Philistines and the Ammonites and whatever other peoples or the Egyptians, every single one of those physical, literal wars that were carried on, they're all written for the learning of the church.

You see, I believe all those stories in the Old Testament were actually placed there to be used to show us about spiritual warfare. What you see in the Old Testament in a physical, literal battle is transferred over as an example to us in the church.

And when we read them, we think of it spiritually. We as a church don't go out with swords and spears to fight our enemies. Our enemy is spiritual. We're not fighting flesh and blood. We're wrestling against powers and principalities.

And as we look at the Old Testament and the New Testament, there are many examples for us to learn how to wage spiritual warfare. And as we come to prayer and fasting, as we look into the Old Testament, we're gonna find many cases of fasting and prayer in literal situations, which have a message for us.

But first of all, here this morning, my first point, defeated by gluttony. Before I show you about victory through fasting, I wanna show you in the Old Testament how that gluttony was used to spiritually defeat individuals.

Do you realize that your body, how you eat, how you think about food, can either destroy you spiritually or it can make you a man or woman of God? How you buffet this body and use it to the glory of God or the neglect of it can either make you a castaway.

That's why Paul buffeted his body, lest he be a castaway. He buffeted his physical body. Those Christians who say, oh, but I love Jesus in my heart. I'm under grace. It doesn't matter about outward physical things.

You're a liar. You're a deceiver. And it's contrary to the Bible. My point, defeated by gluttony. In Deuteronomy 21, verse 20 and 21, it talks about an example. Moses has given us this of a young man, a son, and listen to his sense.

He's stubborn. He's rebellious. He's a drunkard. Those are terrible sins. But notice the fourth thing that's put with it. He is a glutton. Four sins are named. Stubbornness, rebellion, drunkenness. We know they're all terrible sins, but also gluttony.

Gluttony, eating too much or putting no constraint upon your eating habits. I wanna tell you this morning, if you do not watch over your eating habits, you're in dangerous ground. You will tell yourself, it's no problem.

It's under control. You're just like the alcoholic. You're just like the stubborn or rebellious person. They do the very same. If you do not govern your eating habits, watching over it, submitting it, buffeting that body, you're in very dangerous ground.

Do you know what they said to do with this young son who was not only a rebel and a drunkard, but he was a glutton? He ate constantly to his own satisfaction. He never denied himself. They said, stone him.

Take him out of the city, stone him to death. That's how serious gluttony is in the eyes of the Lord. The law would put a man to death for gluttony. It's still a sin, saints. Gluttony is a sin. If you eat without any restriction, it is a sin before God.

They actually go on and say, put evil, by this way, stoning him, put evil away from among you. In Proverbs 23 and 20, it says, be not among winebibbers, among notorious eaters of flesh. The next verse says that it leads to poverty.

Do you know there's such a thing as food drunkenness, addiction to food? It's often in the Bible connected to idolatry, laziness, sexual immorality, and hopelessness. Overeating without restriction, eating constantly to your busting.

Saints, you're not gonna understand this spiritual warfare until you begin to understand that physical body of yours, your eating habits are not just a natural physical thing. They actually affect the spiritual realm of your life and of the kingdom of Satan.

It says in Proverbs 13, 25, the righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul. Notice that a righteous man eats until he has had enough. He's satisfied. Do you know eating taste is a God-given thing.

God created it. It's good to eat. There's even right times in the Bible to have feasts where we eat beautifully for days. The people of God, there is a right time to feast. God is not denying enjoying food.

I enjoy my food. I like the taste of it. It is a God-given thing. It's a beautiful thing. But notice the righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, not his belly, but his soul. He seeks to satisfy his soul.

In other words, my soul has control over my body, over my belly, but it goes further. But the belly of the wicked shall want. In other words, the wicked are dominated by their physical belly, their feelings, their desires.

Even when they eat all they want, they're still not satisfied. They'll eat a full meal and they still do not tell their belly what to do. In Proverbs 25, 16, it says, "'Hast thou found honey? Eat so much that is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited.'".

Do you know, honey, too much honey is bad for you. Yet the Bible instructs you to eat honey. Honey is good for you, very good for you. I replaced sugar with honey many years ago. It is, sugar is the devil's substitute.

I assure you, sugar is a killer. If you drink Coca-Cola, you're killing your body. If you don't watch over these things, you're damaging the temple of God. There's no doubt about it. Sugar is not a good thing.

You do what you wanna do. I'm just telling you facts here. Now, honey in a small amount is very good for your body, in a sufficient amount. But if you eat too much, it's going to damage you. In 1 Corinthians 6 and 12, it says, Paul writing, "'All things are lawful unto me.'".

As a believer under grace, all things are lawful, but all things are not expedient or necessary. All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Are you under the power of food?

Does food, gluttony, your belly, determine your lifestyle? Can you not seek God because your belly determines what you do? I wanna warn you, the scripture talks into this. Listen again, Paul says, "'Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them.'".

If you live like that, you're in a dangerous pathway. Now, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. You see how he's just connected fornication with overeating. That's what he's just done here.

Now, saints, my point here is defeated by gluttony or the eye or the senses, smell, taste buds, your belly could destroy your spiritual life. Very simply, you may think this is ridiculous, but you won't do by the time I finish this message.

You may think I'm being too strong here. I can't be too strong when you see the verses I'm about to give you. Let me take you back to the Old Testament and look at the history, the outworking of this.

Eve, Esau, and the Power of Appetite

Genesis chapter three and verse one. Now, the serpent was more subtle, we know the devil inhabited that serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. That serpent was more cunning, more agile in his arguments, his words, the thoughts he planted in the mind.

Let's listen to what he says to Eve. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat, eat of every tree of the garden. The first time Satan speaks to a member of humanity, he begins to deal with their eating.

He sees that eating is an inroads into the garden of Eden, into their life, to steal their inheritance and into all of their children. Saints, don't belittle us. I know there's more spiritual truths and we've often preached on it, but I wanna show you the first time Satan speaks to Eve, it's concerning eating.

Ye shall not eat of every tree of the planet. Just ask him a question. Is it really wrong not to deny yourself food? The devil will say that to you. In the next verse, he mentions eating the fruit and the tree.

In verse three, again, he mentions the fruit eaten, not touching it, or else you will actually die. You know, when to this question, Eve responded and said, not only are we not to eat it, we're not to touch it.

God never said that. She put herself under a strict legalistic regime, saying God said we're not to touch that. He didn't say that. Never change God's word. If you make the word of God stronger than it is, the way narrower than it is, I guarantee you'll be someone who eventually makes it very broad because you think you can change the word of God.

You make it stricter than what God does. You judge people harder than what the word of God is. The Bible says, show grace, forgive, show meekness, but you're so strong, you're stronger than Jesus Christ himself.

That's a very dangerous place. Eve got into real trouble because when she was being challenged about eating, she made it far narrower than God himself had made it. Then in verse six, and when the woman saw that the tree, and notice as she sees it, first it's been a thought, just a question.

Now she's looking. The devil starts talking to her about eating. Now she's looking. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food. You say, that's harmless. All she's doing is looking at food. It's good for food.

What's wrong with that? And that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband. And they did eat. And we, as we say, the rest is history.

You know what happened. Now I know there's a spiritual realm here, but what I want to show you, this is a real story about real people, how Satan used the desire to eat to lead them into a realm of sin.

They could not have imagined. Saints, I'm telling you, this is at the beginning of the Bible. What a remarkable thing. But let's look at other examples here. When we go over to the book of Genesis, we find a young man called Esau.

He was the brother of Jacob and he sold his spiritual birthright for food. He was defeated because of his belly, his appetites, his thoughts, his smell, all of these things defeated him in his spiritual life.

In Romans 9 in the New Testament, the Bible says God hated Esau because of his entire lifestyle was dominated by this gluttonous spirit. Oh, he wouldn't have been a glutton like you think of a glutton, but that life was dominated by it.

He would rather compromise the things of God than sacrifice food. He wouldn't do that. In Hebrews 11, 20, it says that his father Isaac blessed him. He was a blessed man. Then in Hebrews 12, 16, it says, lest there be any fornicator, which means sexually immoral person or profane person as Esau.

Now look what it's talking about. Esau was not only a fornicator, he took two wives. That's where his desires were for this lifetime, but he was also a profane person. That's what the Bible says. Do you know what profane means?

It means to cross the threshold, to step outside the temple, to be outside the house of God. You know what it's saying about Esau here? He was a man of the earth, a central man, a worldly man, a man of appetites.

We find in Genesis that he was very fond of eating. He lived for food. He was a hunter. He was a hunter of deer. He loved red meat. That's what satisfied this man, this profane man. And the Bible's warning about the sins of Esau.

And it goes on in Hebrews 12, as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. You say this is extreme. No, it's not. I've seen Christians for the smallest things, sacrifice spiritual life. I've seen it in this church, person after person after person.

For something you go, they're crazy. They're crazy. They're sacrificing the spiritual blessing of the house of God for a morsel of bread. Esau done that for one morsel of bread. For you know that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place of repentance.

Though he sought it carefully with tears. Don't tell me that the appetites, the belly dominating your spiritual life doesn't make a difference to you. If you think that, you're deceived here this morning.

We have the story of Esau back in Genesis 30. And he went into his brother Jacob. He come in, he was tired from hunting, hunting meat. And he says, feed me, I am faint. You know, Jacob's savory dish. He was there preparing some vegetable soup and Jacob's savory dish of red lentil soup.

The fragrance of it hit that young man's nostrils. His saliva and his mouth began to break forth. His belly began to rumble. All the smell of that soup. You see, for a few moments of pleasure, you can make a big mistake.

Many men have. This man Esau hadn't learned self-control. The desire for food is one of the strongest desires in the flesh of man. And a Christian must get mastery of it. This man who was first in line to receive the spiritual inheritance from Abraham, Isaac, and then it would have been Esau.

But this young man, because he had no control over his appetites, lost his spiritual inheritance. Don't tell me there's a small thing we're dealing with here. I'm talking about fasting and prayer to break the power of Satan.

Israel, Eli, and the Spiritual Consequences of Gluttony

We're in a real spiritual warfare. What about Isaac, the father of Esau and Jacob? His entire life, if you study it, is marked by a life of sacrifice. He laid down his life. He sacrificed his soul. That's what marks his entire life.

Yet listen, just before chapter 30, back in chapter 27, we see Isaac come to the end of his days. Listen to what he says. And he said unto Esau, behold now, I am old. I knew not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons and thy quiver and thy bow and go to the field and take me some venison.

He's on his deathbed, but he wants venison. And make me savory meat. Yum, yum, tasty meat, such as I love. This man, Isaac, certainly by the end of his days, he loved these savory venison meals that Esau provided for him.

And he says, and bring it to me that I may eat and that my soul may bless thee before I die. I wonder what sort of example that left for Esau. Here's his father about to bless him, mixing the spiritual with the natural.

Oh, that he'd fasted that meal. Oh, that he'd fasted that meal and blessed them and warned them and corrected them. I'm just showing you what the Bible says here. All these stories are written for our learning, our warning, our admonition, our instruction.

Let me give you another example. Israel in the wilderness. Numbers chapter 11. We read in verse four, and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. This is the nation of Israel out in the wilderness, but notice in their midst was a mixed multitude.

They were not, they did not originate from Israel. They were from other people. Some of those Egyptians came with them. And that mixed multitude, they weren't truly converted, weren't really regenerated, but they're in the church.

They're in Israel. They're amongst the people of God. They're in their meetings. They're carrying on like them. But that mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. This wasn't sexualist. Oh no, it wasn't sexualist.

It was a very different type of lusting. And listen, and the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? God is supernaturally sending manna, angels food, food from heaven, supernaturally every day.

And the day before the Sabbath, he dropped two loads of it because they weren't to collect it on the Sabbath day. And once you have this mixed multitude begin to lust, begin to lust and long, and then it affects the entire people of God.

And they all begin to weep. What a terrible thing when men, they're looking at supernatural manna from God, and yet they're weeping over the very thing that they don't have. Weeping, lusting for flesh to eat.

Don't tell me that eating can't be dangerous. Don't tell me that. We remember, listen to what they say. We remember the fish and we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic.

What a dangerous place. When you begin to get your eyes on the things of this world, do you know what? You've got no power over Satan. No power over Satan. If you're living in this place, if this is how you think you're dominated by your body, you'll never have power over Satan.

I've known Christians in the past. I mean, they bound every demon you can imagine. You could feel the anointing when they prayed and rebuked Lucifer to his face. Yet they were gluttonous men. They had no control over their appetites.

They were men like Esau of this world. And yet they think demons are gonna listen to them. No way, no way. They said, but now our soul is dried up. There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes.

You know what God done to them? God gave them their desire. And I don't want God to give me my desire. He didn't just give them birds, fowl, flesh for a day or a week or two weeks. For one month, he gave them so much meat from the sky, supernaturally.

He got so tired of their complaining, their carnality, that he's provided them with manna that will sustain them. He says, until the meat came out of their nostrils, he gave them so much. You mommies maybe know this, but certainly I haven't tried this, so maybe don't try it.

But I've certainly heard it, that a child that would go in and steal chocolate or be a chocolate addict, they sat that kid down and fed him so much chocolate in a day. He got so sick, he wouldn't touch chocolate for years.

It scared him off. You know what God was doing? Says, take what you're demanding. Take your fill, satisfy your lust. And he marked that people to go, I'll make you sick of this. You know what it said?

As soon as the meat was in their mouth, a great plague struck, and they buried the people that lusted. Do you know, nobody died of a plague or an infection from that manna. Not one soul, not one. But in those dead birds, there was a lot of disease.

Everyone that touched it was judged of God. It says in Psalm 78, and they did eat and they were filled, for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust. But while the meat was in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest or the most gluttonous of them and smote them down, the chosen men of Israel.

You think God doesn't care about things like this? He does, he does. This is remarkable. Do you know, when I was going into America, I would tell friends, if I ever wanted to get trouble in America, I'd preach on the sin of fellowship and of feasting.

I said, I would've got stoned in one day. If I go to Northern Ireland, where I grew up, if I preach against foolish jesting, they'll stone me. These are all sins which are warned about in the Bible. But yet, if you begin dealing with them amongst real Christians, you'll find a reaction.

It says in Psalm 106, 14, but they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request, but he sent leanness into their soul. He can give you food for your belly.

He can leave you alone to a satisfied life. He'll give you your request. Saints, I don't want him to give me my requests, but he'll send leanness into your soul. Your spiritual life will shrivel up, but you'll have all you want.

One last example here, Eli and his house. You know that Eli had those two reprobate religious sons called Hophni and Phineas. We are actually told that they created their own rules and regulations for the house of God.

When people came in and gave their sacrifices, you know what they would do? They would force the people and steal that red meat from them. They would then boil that meat and take that raw red meat and cook it to satisfy their own desires.

They created their own customs. Now listen to the effect. The two reprobate sons were like this, but affected their old godly father who was called Eli. The Bible says Eli was old when we read about him.

Remember God's judgment came on him. He was a good man. He wasn't an immoral man. He wasn't a liar, but God judged him. He was old, he was blind, and he was fat. In chapter four of 1 Samuel, it says in verse 18, he was heavy.

That means he was compromised. He enjoyed that meat that had the fat on it. Red, raw meat cooked for him, and it led to sin. It says in Philippians 3 and 18, the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.