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The people of that day fasted by not eating for a period of time. Earlier in this passage of Scripture God told Isaiah why He rejected the people’s fasting. Fasting itself was not rejected by God. The Bible gives us many good examples of people fasting. But at this time those people were fasting for the wrong reasons. Fasting was only an outward form of religion to them. They did it out of habit and routine at best, and at worst as a display of false holiness. We know they fasted for the wrong reasons because we find that they were arguing and fighting while they fasted. They neglected kindness and love for others. Their religion was cold and heartless. They were fasting, but they were only doing it as a ritual. They weren’t thinking about pleasing God when they fasted. They were thinking about pleasing man.

The Lord Jesus Christ condemned this kind of fasting. Christ said,

“When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward” (Matthew 6:16).

Their “reward” was to be seen by others, to show others how good they were. They didn’t expect anything from God when they fasted. They only did it to show off, to make people think they were religious.

But notice that Christ did not condemn all fasting. He said to His Disciples, “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites...” Christ did not say “if ye fast.” No! He said “when ye fast.” Again, Jesus said,

“But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine 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” (Matthew 6:17-18).

Christ did not condemn all fasting. But He told us how to do it, “when ye fast,” “when thou fastest.” Real Christianity consists in a personal relationship with Christ. Real fasting should also be personal and private. Unfortunately, some have reacted so strongly to hypocritical fasting that they neglect fasting completely. However, neglecting to fast while praying can have serious consequences. In our text, we read that God has chosen fasting for a specific purpose:

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

We can establish that fasting is not meant for some religious boast. We can establish that fasting is not meant to be flaunted as some marker of goodness. But Scripture also reveals that fasting does have a God-given purpose. God has chosen fasting to loose the bands of wickedness. God has decided that fasting can undo the heavy burdens. God has set aside fasting so that the oppressed can go free and bondage can be broken. Neglecting to fast is an inaction of serious spiritual consequence.

Notice how the great heroes of the faith were people who fasted and prayed. The Reformers Luther, Calvin and Knox often fasted. All of the early Methodist preachers were required to fast two days every week. Our Baptist forefather John Bunyan often fasted before he preached. David Brainerd, an early missionary to the American Indians, wrote in his diary,

I set apart this day for secret fasting and prayer...in view of preaching the gospel.

John Wesley fasted for two days every week for many years. These men had to fast. They were in a conflict. They were in a struggle. Those great men of God needed special power. They were faced with great wickedness and burdens and oppression. But they fasted and prayed and waited on God, and they were used to do great things for Him.

We are now living in a very challenging period in the churches of America and the Western world. Our churches are struggling. Literally millions of people are leaving the churches. Many are abandoning God and forgetting all about Jesus.

Yet, when we come to that question ourselves, we often wonder how we can effectively win lost young people from the world. Recently, we have been faced with the challenge of trying to bring young people into church. We invite them to spend time with us playing sports or at the park. We do our best to make friends with them and care for them. Eventually, we invite them to church to hear a sermon and have lunch together. That seems like a simple thing, but it is a great struggle. People are reluctant and resistant to coming to church. They have plans that they believe they cannot change. So often, it just seems very difficult to get anyone to come to church.

We are literally faced with the felt heavy burdens that chain people to the world. We are literally confronting the heavy burdens that restrain people from coming to church. When the moment comes to invite them to be with us in church, we are each locked in spiritual combat with the world and the devil’s demons. Our personalities are not a reliable method to bring people to church. We need supernatural power. There is a need for special help from God.

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

I am convinced that nothing we do can win young people from the world without the intervention of God Himself. That is the goal of fasting! The goal of fasting is to have the intervention of God in our life and ministry! God said to the prophet Zechariah,

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

The only possible way we can win lost young people to Christ and to our church is “by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”

The Disciples saw the Rich Young Ruler walk away from Christ, going back to a life of selfishness and sin. The Disciples asked Christ, “Who then can be saved?”

“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:26, 27).

There you have it! Humanly speaking it is impossible to convert the Rich Young Ruler, or any other young person! “With men it is impossible.” No program can do it! No clever sermon can do it! No sort of entertainment can do it! “Who then can be saved?” “With men it is impossible.” He did not say, “It is improbable.” No, no! He said, “It is impossible.” ONLY GOD CAN DO IT! “With men it is impossible, but not with God.”

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

We absolutely need God to be with us in our efforts to bring people to church to hear the Gospel. Without God, all our efforts will flounder and die. If we are content to rely on our own efforts and methods, we might as well be a failing business that is being overwhelmed by the titanic corporation of everything the world seems to offer. Our strength, even with the best intentions, cannot compete with the Devil’s sleight of hand and the tricks of the demonic. Our sweat and toil cannot break sinners free from the heavy burdens that bind them in their oppression to sin. Sinners have been seduced by the lies of the world, and they will never believe the Gospel without the power of God!

Power in prayer, Lord, power in prayer,
   Here ‘mid earth’s sin and sorrow and care;
Men lost and dying, souls in despair;
   O give me power, power in prayer!
(“Teach Me to Pray” by Albert S. Reitz, 1879-1966).

Only God can make a young person see the emptiness of this life – and the hopelessness of this world! Only God can make a young person feel the need to be in church every Sunday! Only God can strip away their confidence in themselves and replace it with confidence in Christ! Only God can show them their sin! Only God can draw them to Christ for salvation by His Blood!

Not only must we have the power of God to bring a person into church, but we must have the power of God so that we can lead a person to Christ. Bringing a person to church on Sunday is good, but that will not make him a disciple. The people we bring must come back again. They must hear the Gospel again. They must turn from their sin and trust Jesus. God must give our church power and life and grace for this to happen.

But how can we have the power of God? That brings us again to our text,

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

Here God told us why we should fast:

1.  To loose the bands [or chains] of wickedness.
2.  To undo the heavy burdens.
3.  To let the oppressed go free and break every yoke.

Fasting is not an end in and of itself. And the words of Christ reveal that there are wrong and right reasons to fast. Fasting is not some spiritual discipline to participate in to abhor and punish the body. That is what the Gnostics did and they were wrong. No, there is a reason to fast. We fast and pray for the power of God to do things that we are absolutely powerless to do. We are fasting and praying for something abnormal and supernatural. We are fasting and praying for a miracle.

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

Not only are we fasting so that God can loosen the chains of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed be free enough to visit us in church, but we are also fasting so that God can do the next work, the greater work, the eternal work. In so many ways, we flail and struggle to bring visitors to our church. But we are completely powerless to really win souls to salvation in Christ unless God lets the oppressed go free from the chains of sin. That is why we must fast. That is why we must have the power of God through prayer and fasting.

If you are with us and you are not yet a born again Christian, I want you to know that there are many young people here who have fasted for you. We are not announcing their names. But many of them fasted and prayed for you in secret. Why do they fast and pray for you? They did it because they are very concerned for you. They want you to be set free from the chains of sin. They want you to be set free from the heavy burdens and oppression of Satan. They fast and pray for God to come down and set you free from sin, and draw you into the full fellowship of our church, and draw you to Christ for cleansing by His precious Blood. Dr. Elmer Towns of Liberty University said,

      When you fast and pray, you can ask God to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on others...You can bang on the gates of heaven so that God will convict the lost person of sin and bring him or her to Jesus Christ (Elmer L. Towns, D.Min., The Beginner’s Guide to Fasting, Regal, 2001, p. 124).

We are praying for God to open your eyes to see the emptiness of life without Christ. We are fasting and praying for God to draw you into the warmth and friendship of our church. We are asking God to illuminate your heart, so you can feel your sin, and see your need for Christ. Because only God can show you that Jesus died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and shed His precious Blood to cleanse you from all sin. And so we prayed for you. We fasted and prayed that God would show you Jesus, in all His beauty, up in Heaven, in another dimension. We fasted and prayed for God to draw you into our church, and to draw you to Christ through the sermons, so you can be converted and have eternal life in Him. That old song Mr. Griffith sang before this sermon, expresses our prayers for you.

I have a Saviour, He’s pleading in glory,
   A dear, loving Saviour, though earth-friends be few;
And now He is watching in tenderness o’er me;
   But oh, that my Saviour were your Saviour, too!
For you I am praying, For you I am praying,
   For you I am praying, I’m praying for you.

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

(END OF SERMON)
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Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“I Am Praying for You” (by S. O’Malley Clough, 1837-1910).