My Motive for Fasting - Part II | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-4, 1 John 2:14-17, Deuteronomy 8:1-3, Job 23:8-12, Job 1:20-21, Matthew 6:32-33, 1 Kings 17:10-16, 2 Corinthians 8:12, Exodus 23:19

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--my-motive-for-fasting-part-ii
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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well this is the second wednesday of a church fast and no doubt as we begin to fast and put god in his proper place and put our flesh in its proper place we begin to feel a wonderful presence of god stirring us closer to him if you have your bibles tonight i'd like to continue the subject of fasting i'd like to open up in the book of matthew chapter number four verse number one and then we'll go to the first epistle of john the first epistle of john not the gospel of john but the first epistle of john chapter number two and verse number 15. then was jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward a hunger and when the tempter came to him he said if thou be the son of god command these stones to be made bread but he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god father i thank you tonight for the holy stirring i personally have in my own heart god i thank you for as the spirit led the spirit has led me and god i thank you god on this second wednesday of this fast i thank you lord for the holy stirring that i feel in my heart and the holy stirring god that i feel in this church god i ask you tonight for the next few moments to take the words that i have prepared god let them go into our hearts and let them change us lord for your coming is soon we must be ready to meet you and we must be getting everyone we know ready to meet you in jesus name we pray amen and amen you may be seated in  the hyphenate you may be seated those that are in hyphen uh the students may be dismissed to go to their class at this time tonight first john chapter number two and verse number 14. first john chapter number two and verse number 14. i have written unto you fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning i have written unto you young men because ye are strong and the word of god abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is it is of the world and the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever now i chose this passage of scripture tonight to go along with the passage on fasting because the apostle john the apostle john and don't get him confused with john the baptist this is not john the baptist this is the apostle john the apostle john wrote the gospel of john he wrote first second and third john and he wrote the book of revelation now what's interesting about the first second and third john is that it is believed that the apostle john was the last remaining of the apostles he was the last remaining of all of them it is believed that what we read tonight what we read to you tonight was some of the last words that john wrote while at ephesus because he was soon to be arrested and taken to the isle of patmos and there he would write to us the book of revelation there he would he would die on the isle of patmos so we understand now when we put things together church that the church is somewhere between 50 to 55 years old this is somewhere between 50 a half a century somewhere between 50 years to 55 years since the birth of the church on the day of pentecost somewhere give or take a few years and this apostle john would see the decline the decline of the church he would see commitment growing cold he would see a group of people that started with tongues of fire upon their heads he would see that fervor that they had for a love for god a love for total commitment to god a love to spread the gospel he began to witness the spirit of the world coming into the church of course one of the spirits of the world first established establishes itself in our hearts as selfishness self-centered before we go to the externals and start talking about looking like the world and dressing like the world and acting like the world we have to first address the spirit of the world the spirit of the world is self-centeredness so he witnessed he witnessed knowing probably if age alone if if if nero doesn't get him if nero doesn't get him if if the roman emperor doesn't get him he knows that age is going to get him i mean he is he is according to some studies he's he's in his 90s and according to some studies he's the longest of all the living of all the apostles that had lived so he lives with two things my life may end at any day because of the emperor or i don't have very many more years to live and so i want to pour into the next generation i want to speak to the next generation and what would you speak i would speak that love not the world love not the world neither the things that are in the world well tell me what is in the world what is it about the world that you don't want me to love john for all that is in the world verse 16 for all that is in the world the le the very first thing the very first thing and this is why fasting much needed the lust of the flesh the lust of the flesh the lust of the inward desires to make flesh number one to make flesh the king you really know what what fasting does fasting dethrones the king fasting lets the flesh know you are not in charge of me you are not in charge of me you you are not you are not controlling me you see it's the second born-again nature that must always keep control of our adamic nature the one we got in that first birth the second nature must always control the first nature and this is why john wrote and saw something creeping in and he said i want to tell the church i want to tell the church to love not the world and all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the flesh the the lust to get the flesh anything it asked for to get the flesh whatever the flesh calls for and that's why fasting is so important because for a period of time we tell the flesh you're not in control today i hope a great number of you joined the steps of your pastor and have told your flesh today you're not in control today yes i would like to eat a meal but you're not in control today you see now you understand did god understand god created us with the need necessity to eat but god also gave us a doctrine called fasting to abstain and for a period of time for a period of time we tell our flesh not today not today now i wish it would be as easy as making up your mind on tuesday that you're not going to eat tomorrow and the old flesh wouldn't bother you to come thursday morning but we all know that's not the truth don't we several times during the day the flesh says hey did you forget about me hey and then if you listen to him a little bit he'll start reasoning it out oh you could have just a little bite somewhere and i hope you've joined in because there is a reward that goes with fasting there is there is a tedious task of fasting and fighting but all the rewards that will come from fasting the rewards and so john just simply said church first apostolic the people that go to the miracle church the old apostle said love not the world then he said what's in the world is the lust of the flesh the desires of the flesh to gratify that's why and let's go back to matthew chapter four matthew chapter four verse number one that very first verse there is interesting it says jesus was led up of the spirit the book of mark says the book of mark does not use when recording the fasting of jesus the book of mark does not say jesus was led up of the spirit the book of mark uses the word driven driven we must understand that we cannot wait for our flesh to desire spiritual things it's never going to happen your flesh is going to fight spiritual things it is it is water and oil it's never going to mix it's never going to mix he was driven he was led into this into the wilderness to be tested to be tested tempted tempted tested of the devil and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights look at the next phrase he was afterward a hunger he was hungry he was hungry he wanted to eat he was flesh just like we are flesh and after 40 days and 40 nights as a matter of fact mark even adds a few other things that matthew and luke leave out mark even adds that he fasted 40 days and was in the wilderness with the wild beast he was there with wild beasts and afterward he was a hungered he was hungry notice it wasn't on the 15th day of the fast or the 30th day of the fast but it was on the 40th day when the lord was a hunger that's when the tempter came that's when the tempter came do you know the success or the defeat of the tempter always hinges on what we hunger for what are we hunger hungering for because really when we fast and i'm going to use this hunger meets hunger when we fast hunger meets hunger when we fast when we fast that part of us that hungers after god meets that part of us that hungers after the flesh and there is the battle of the two hungers and it's there that the enemy wants to always make sure that you never get an appetite for god that you never develop an appetite for god's spirit the tempter comes at the time of hunger and when the tempter came he said to jesus he said if you be the son of god command that these stones be made bread jesus answered him and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god now let me show you what he did he didn't say man doesn't live by bread because that would not have been truthful god created us to have to need for survival food he created us to need water he created us so if jesus had said man doesn't live by bread he would not have been truthful but watch the order of priorities and i hope you see this tonight oh i pray in jesus name you see this he simply put things in its proper place he simply said man doesn't live by bread alone but man lives by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god he says now when we want to start talking about priorities and i hope we have god as a chief of our priorities tonight he says when we start talking about priorities he said natural food is second to my need for god natural food the things of this world those natural the lust of the flesh those natural cravings come second to my spiritual craving for the things of god oh i pray tonight as your pastor this evening as the leader of your souls tonight i pray that you will keep your your priority for the hunger of god at first place in your life i pray that you have an appetite that doesn't go too long that you say i've got to go to church tonight and get a touch from god i've got to get a touch from god tonight i i hope that you never live your life having a touch from god that comes at two times a year on christmas and easter i hope that a touch from god is not something that's just abnormal in your life because man doesn't live by bread alone but we live by every word that comes out of the mouth of god well turn over with me to the book of deuteronomy the book of deuteronomy chapter number eight is actually where jesus it's actually where jesus is quoting from the book of uh deuteronomy chapter number eight and i believe i'm looking for verse number for verse number one can someone say praise the lord deuteronomy chapter eight verse number one listen follow this very closely if you don't have it your bible with you not follow on the screen deuteronomy 8 and 1 all the commandments which i command thee this day shall ye observe to do that you may live that you may live church youth group our survival is hinged to our obedience to god's word all the commandments i want you to observe to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the lord swear unto your fathers and thou shalt remember all the way which the lord thy god led thee these 40 years in the wilderness now i just want to make a note i want to make a note tonight that jesus uses a passage of scripture on a 40-day fast in the wilderness that is taken from a passage of scripture that talks about a 40-year journey in the wilderness how he led these these 40 years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou would us keep his commandments or no in other words the wilderness of fasting the wilderness of fasting is meant to humble you it is meant for you to see it is meant to clear up everything in your life for you to know there's one thing and one thing alone that you must have you must have god you must have god you must have god to humble thee and to prove thee to test to test thee to know what's in your heart i'll tell you if you will fast and pray and ask god to search your heart god will bring things to your mind that you need to repent of god will bring attitudes to your mind that you need to ask the lord god forgive me god forgive me for having forgive me for having that attitude god god i've not had that i've not had the right attitude lord sometimes when i've come in the church most dangerous place i said it today tonight earlier lord i want the right attitude when i come in this place to know what's in your heart whether you would keep his commandments or no verse three and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger he allowed them to hunger he allowed them to be hungry and fed them with manna which thou knewest not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know now watch this god wants you to know that he might make thee know that he talked to you now he's talking to me now that he might make thee know that man does not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the lord oh how we need god's word how we need to allow god's word to to change us how we need to allow god's word to feed us the word of god the word of god is so important so when the enemy came to jesus and said well turn these stones into bread well number one first and foremost could he have done it absolutely but think about it had he yielded and here's where we go notice that john said all that is in the world and he started with the lust of the flesh that's inward and then the neck if you allow your flesh to get whatever it wants then the next step the enemy comes is the lust of the eye is the lust of the eye now could jesus had turned the stones into bread absolutely i think he sure comes across as a better savior when his first miracle was for someone else and not himself he turned the water into wine and it wasn't even a life or death situation and he didn't do it for himself he did it for others because he's trying to tell us there sure i could have turned the stone into bread sure i could have but i would was i hungry absolutely i was hungry but i would have been showing that my natural desire was greater than god's word now had he succumbed to that and turned the stones into bread i believe that that would have been a domino to the next temptation which is cast yourself down and the angels because any time you start anytime you start allowing your flesh to get anything it asks for i'm telling you our flesh asks for things it needs to be told no you know i go listen there's no perfect teenagers and you start dating your flesh is going to ask you for some things your flesh is going to want to do some things and your flesh will tell all kind of reasoning it'll give you all kind of things of why you should let it happen but you need to know to tell your flesh no no sir bill carpenter we need more rules we need more you need to make more rules in the church there's things out in the world you need to make more rules no we don't need more rules we need more no power we need more no power we need we don't we don't need a we don't need necessarily a list of things we can't can and can't do we need some no power that we look at things and we're just able to say no no and so jesus it's interesting here he said man does not live by bread alone and you know in that statement in that statement he's not alone turn with me to the book of job turn with me to the book of job chapter number 23 job chapter 23 and verse number 12. now i want you to know something tonight i want you to know something you need to be sold out to god and you need to live for god you need to serve god you need to live for him and the reason the reason that you the reason that you need to live for him and serve him and i want you look up here at me please the reason you need to live for him and serve him there will come a day that you will face something that only the word of god is going to prepare you for there's going to come a day when you're going to need something that only the word of god can compare you c can prepare you for and get ready now get ready right now in other words let's don't wait let's don't wait for the fire to look up an insurance salesman to see if we can buy some fire insurance let's don't wait for tragedies to come because tragedies can come to any of us and all of us what i'm trying to do tonight with all my heart let's get ready for life's tragedies and and i have one thing to tell you tonight that will have you ready for life's tragedies the word of god the word of god gets you ready for life's tragedies listen listen to job job 23 and verse number 12. here's a man that's lost everything here's a man that's lost all of his wealth here's a man that's buried all of his children here's a man that life has fallen apart he don't he don't understand why here's the man's testimony he says he says well i'll tell you instead starting at verse 12 let's let's go back to verse number eight if you would give us verse number eight because he's in a search for god he's in a search for god life has fallen apart he's buried his kids he's lost his wealth he's lost his health now you know and it's easy for us to sit here we know the back of the book he didn't know the back of the book job didn't know why life had fallen apart and so in verse number eight he starts this journey he says behold i go forward but he is not there he's talking about looking for god he said i go forward but he is not there and backward but i cannot perceive him on the left hand where he does work but i cannot behold him he hideth himself on the right hand that i cannot see him but he knoweth the way that i take when he hath tried me i shall come forth as gold my foot hath held his steps his way have i kept and not decline here it is here it is neither have i gone back from the commandments of his lips look at this i have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food you know what got job through his dilemma do you know what got him to the end of the book able to rejoice because he had some seasons of his life that he said today is a fast day today is a day that i don't have i'm not going to take any food into my body what are you doing that for job because i want to hear from the word of god i esteem the word esteem means to value i value the word of god of more necessity than i do the nourishment that goes into my mouth could we just give god some praise right now come on could we give god some praise in this house i just give god  i give god i give god some praise in this place well when we begin to when we begin to look at job interesting facts about job how i went from jesus fasting and i did run a parallel i ran a parallel study with jesus fasting and the first uh chapter of the book of job some interesting things happened to job when life fell apart when life fell apart when life fell apart and in one day's time job has all this news come to him in one in one day's time all this news came to him and when it was over job chapter 1 verse number 20. when it was over here's what happened and i believe this is the product of a man that has steamed the words of god of more necessity of more necessity than the very food that he put in his mouth now i'm not advocating it is not god's will god never planned for you to go on a continual fast all right i'm talking about forever all right but god has ordained that we could see the value of fasting and the reward of fasting and job said he was a man that lived this way he said i i esteem there's times in my life there's times in my schedule where i want to hear from god more than i want to satisfy my belly i want to hear what god says i want to hear what god says more than that appetite to go open that refrigerator i want to hear because you know as well as i do that is short-lived but when god speaks to us when god when god speaks to us and god gives us god gives us direction job is a man of fasting verse number 20 of chapter 1 job chapter 1 verse number 20 then job arose you know people that don't put their flesh in the subjection they never get up after life hits them they never get up they're always the same i don't care if life hit them 20 years ago they're stuck 20 years ago if you don't believe me go out to eat lunch with them and the main conversation will be what happened to them 20 years ago it'll be the same it'll be the same thing these very first opening words then job arose people that can't put their flesh in subjection when life hits them they never get up they never recover it's lights out for them and job arose and rent his mantle that's his clothing there's nothing wrong with that he wanted to show on the outside his anguish he was flesh he he wanted to show the the renting of the mantle was was a outward expression of what he's trying to say this is what my heart looks like i've married my children i've got i i i i'm bankrupt i've buried my children and he just reaches and he he just rips his mantle and he's saying this is what i look like on the out on the inside he rent his mantle and shaved his head that shaving of the head meant i want to show everyone how mournful i am i'm showing you i'm shaving my head for everyone to look at me and know that i'm in deep mourning i'm in deep anguish i'm flash i've lost my children i've lost my babies i've lost my children i've lost everything i've ever worked for tomorrow is uncertain i rip my mental i shave my head but people that can put their flesh in subjection don't stop with just showing their outward signs of mourning the bible says that he fell down upon the ground and worshipped that's his god part that's the part that's going to connect him back to his redeemer because a torn garment is not my connection and a shaved head is not my connection if i have any hope at all of restoration revival joy peace and making it in the rapture it is capsulated in this one phrase and worshiped you will be stuck in your dilemma if you don't worship you will be stuck where you're at if you don't worship you can worship your way it might be easy for me to say this tonight i have worshiped my way my cross may not be your cross i can say you can worship your way through cancer it's kind of easy for me to say that tonight because i've never had cancer but i want at least one person that has worshipped your way through cancer i wish you would just stand right now maybe more than one if you have worshiped your way through cancer thank you sister jeter thank you brother billy thank you my brother thank you thank you brother look at look at here look at here look at it look look look all over this building look at all of this building you know how they made it they worshiped their way were they afraid you better believe that we're afraid were there some sleepless nights you better believe there were some sleepless nights i wouldn't know how i wouldn't know how i would respond i'm not going to judge anybody i don't know how i would respond if the doctor said on friday hey your test didn't come back good i want to see you next friday i would be like don't see me next friday you're going to see me today i i want to i want to know but many of the people that stood went through that scenario the doctor said there's some things that showed up on your test come in tuesday five days away you can't tell me that that probably every waking hour they didn't think about it but their sanity was they came to the house of god and they worshipped god they worshiped god i feel sorry for people i feel sorry for people that get bad reports and stay home from church i feel sorry for people that get bad reports and say well i'm just not going to go to church i don't feel like it i know what part of you don't feel doesn't feel like it it's that flesh that doesn't feel like it but the people stood tonight were people that it wasn't it wasn't easy for them to walk in here it wasn't easy for them to come some of them came from having chemo some of them were weak in their body but they knew that my lifeline is in worship i have got to worship god i have got to worship i i've got to worship him church i got to tell you i know i know i'm i'm pricking you to not about worship but i am not going to let us sit on these pews and not worship god you're going to identify yourself as a sinner that needs a holy and i'm not saying run the eyes i'm not seeing i'm not saying be an owl runner or a leaper or a dancer but you ought to have spiritual signs of life that you have come to worship god you have come to worship it's the only way you're gonna make sir there's a dilemma coming your way ma'am there's a dilemma coming your way i don't know who i'm pointing at but there's things coming our way and the only way you're gonna make it is being a worshiper and the only way you can worship is to tell your flesh no i dethrone you right now you're not going to tell me what i'm going to do you're not going to tell me i'm too tired you're not going to tell me it doesn't make a difference i'm going to worship god now now there's benefits to worshiping god there's benefits to worshiping god follow this with me there's benefits to worshiping god job arose and ran his man or shaved his head it's all natural fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said naked came i out of my mother's womb and naked shall i return thither stop right there do you know what worship does for you it gives you a god perspective without worship your mind is a blank check for the devil to write anything across it worry stress without worship your mind is just a blank playground for the devil to come and just play all day long or all night long on but when i begin to worship although i've got 10 dead children that i need to bury although i am bankrupt although my life is upside down when i begin to worship my perspective gets clearer and i begin to say you know what it all came from god naked i came into this world and naked i'm going to return in other words in other words job said there was a time i didn't have all this and god was good there was a time i didn't have children he was still my god watch this perspective as it comes into line he said i came into this world naked and i shall return thither look at these next words the lord gave and the lord hath taken away now wait a minute read that correctly don't you read it in your mind taken away and done away with is two different things the lord gave it we we read this like job's children don't exist anymore job's wealth doesn't exist anymore no if you know god and you face the worst thing that can happen to you and you know god which is actually the best thing that can happen to you job said god gave me those children and god took those children because god has them doesn't mean they don't exist oh we got to get this tonight because god because i can't see them does it mean it's not there i can't see knoxville tennessee tonight but i know that knoxville tennessee is there job said my children are with the lord the lord gave me my children and the lord has taken my children just it didn't say the lord done away with them he said the lord hath taken them but i'm telling you tonight you can't have that kind of faith without having the story that job said i esteem the words of god greater than the necessity of food you're not going to sit on these pews worshipless you're not going to come here and sit worshipless and one day a trial hits you and all of a sudden you're going to become spiritual that's not going to happen you better get ready now you better start you better start telling your flesh right now no you're going to worship because god is worthy of praise no you're not having lunch today because i want to hear the voice of god i esteem oh i wish you'd help me praise him right now do you really know what fasting does do you know what fasting does fasting tells god he's first fasting tells god you're first god shouldn't that be the desire of all of our hearts tonight god god you're first you're first in my life i know a lot of them a lot of us we want god first when life falls apart i'm sorry he's not first then you were first you were first i want him first right now as far as i know i'm healthy i got all my children in church i got all my grandbabies in church thank god but because the sun shines brightly upon brother carpenter and sister carpenter tonight doesn't mean the sun will always shine brightly but i don't want to wait for something to happen for me to start reaching out to i want to do it now because i want god to know you're first in my life god could you just give him some praise right now before we go on could you just give him just god i want you first just tell him that right now god i want you first god god i want you first in my life god that's what that's what missing a meal today was saying so some of you they didn't have lunch today that you were saying to god god i want you first in my life god god i put you first in my life lord jesus validates the doctrine of putting him first in the book of matthew chapter number six in verse number 33 jesus spoke about the things of life and how people worry and fret over what they wear and what they're going to eat and they worry and fret and the gentiles chapter 6 of matthew verse 32. for after all these things do the gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you look at that there are things that he knows that we need but we don't get them until we're willing to seek him first it would revolutionize your walk with god church it would revolutionize your walk with god it would amaze you the prayers will get answered it will amaze you the doors it will open it'll amaze you the things that will walk into your life that you've been looking for and wondering why they haven't come and god has just simply said they're not coming until i'm first and when i'm first all these things it's a bible doctrine that's weaved off through the scriptures jesus said seek ye not second he said seek ye first the kingdom of god go back to the old testament with me first kings chapter number 17 because of sin there's a drought in the land and god is taking care of the prophet elijah and god tells the prophet elijah in 1st kings 17 and verse number 10 he tells him to go down to the house of a widow woman in zebrafath and says i have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee take care of you so in verse number 10 of chapter 17 of first kings so he arose and went to zarephath and when he came to the gate of the city behold the woman the widow woman was there gathering sticks he called to her and said fetch me i pray via a little water in a vessel that i may drink and as she was going to fetch it he called to her and said bring me i pray thee a morsel of bread in my hand she got down there and said would you go give me some water she turned obliged to go get water and then he said would you make me a morsel of bread i just want some bread to eat a meal she turns in verse number verse number 12 and she said as the lord thy god liveth i have not a cake but a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil and a cruise and behold i'm gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die well that sounds pretty blink don't it think about a mother going out gathering sticks to cook the last meal for her and her son said we got enough oil we got enough meal for the last meal and we're gonna eat it and we're gonna die but you see this is where hunger meets hunger and elijah said unto her fear not go and do as thou has said but make me therefore a little cake somebody said first make me a little cake first now in the realm of the flesh in a fleshly mind that can seem to be horribly insensitive that that prophet would ask something of that widow woman can you believe that prophet would ask that widow woman that wants to feed her son can you believe that he would say that's a that is a carnal way of looking at that because you have one of two minds you don't have three minds you have two minds you either have a carnal mind that you see everything fleshly or you have a spiritual mind that you see things godly you see things you see things god's way and he said make me a little cake what was that word again how first and bring it unto me and after make for thee and for thy son for thus saith the lord god of israel the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the lord sinneth rain upon the earth and she went and did now we read the story we know the end of it but can you imagine what that widow woman did going and knowing the whole time this is the last meal in that barrel this is the last few drops of oil coming out of this cruise man i'm giving this to a complete stranger that the lord told me to take care of and all this but somehow she told her flesh no she told her flesh no and she better thank her god she told her flesh no she went and did as her she and she went and did according to the saying of elijah and she and he and her house did eat many days and the barrel of meal wasted not neither did the crews of oil fail according to the word of the lord which he spake by elijah there it is proof positive thank god she told her flesh no she told her flesh no because telling her flesh no determine whether it was going to be the last meal or the first meal of a miracle the first meal of a miracle telling our flesh no it is not our land oh this is going to kill me he's going to kill me to miss now he's going to kill you to miss lunch it's going to be your first missed meal that's going to lead to a miracle your eyes your spiritual vision will get open and you'll say man i am so thankful i feel something after this fast i feel something after i've told my flesh no but he had she had to make it she had to make it first a lot of things happen there's a lot of first in the bible as a matter of fact second quran excuse me second corinthians chapter eight and verse number 12 the standard for giving in the new testament apostolic church the standard for giving is if their first be a what if they're first what's the standard forgiving first be a willing first standard forgiving at first has to be has to be a willing mind a lot of things happen on the first the first day of creation god created light god would later use light to identify himself jesus said i am the light of the world several times in scriptures he used it to say i am the light of the world what is the light of the world when was it created on the first day is it any strange thing that the first day and the seventh day both identify the lord jesus christ jesus on the first day of creation god said let there be light god did not say let there be darkness darkness was already there but god created light and god identified with the light he said i am the light of the world i am the light of this world and the seventh day god said he rested on the seventh day i find it very interesting that the first day and the last day both depict god for god is a god of light and god is a god of rest your soul can rest in him your soul can rest confident in him jesus christ rose what day of the week did jesus christ raised from the dead you got it he raised from the dead on the first day of the week matter of fact it would be the first day of the week that thomas got the revelation that he was lord and god the early church throughout the book of acts met on the first day of the week for worship they gathered their offerings on the first day of the week so we see how first place such an important role in our lives in our relationship with god this time that pastor has called that i have called for fasting is nothing more than just simply telling god god we here at first apostolic church in maryville we want to put you first god we want to put you first god we want you to be first god if you're not first we are not reaching our potential god you've got to be first in our lives i want to end with this scripture tonight god i want you to be first it's in the book of it's in the book of exodus chapter number 23. i read it i got it the last scripture it's the last scripture even pondered whether out and put it in but i wrote it down in the last few few brushes on my notes but exodus chapter 23 verse number 19 says the first everybody said the first the first of the first fruits you think god's trying to tell us something he talked about bring the first of the first fruits on the first day it's not a coincidence he's trying to always emphasize me first first the first of the first fruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the house of the lord thy god and then this is this is what this is what church i just kind of read it and i thought why is that there because the verse is not over it's talking about bringing and giving something about bringing first fruits the first to the first fruits of thy land bringing the house of god thou shalt not seethe a kid it's a small small goat in his mother's milk a heathen practice a heathen practice can be validated by history the heathens believe that their fields will be fertilized by the gods if they would take an animal a young animal a newborn possibly a firstborn and boil it and its mother's milk grind it up and go spread it on their fields they believed in study brother there said they believe these heathens this was a heathen way that if i grind if i take a firstborn and i take the milk that should be used to nourish the firstborn i boil the firstborn in something that should nourish it it nourish it grind it up spread it among my fruit trees the gods of fertility will make it to grow do you know how that can relate to us today look up here at me tonight the people of god's ways are not like man's ways we are peculiar people well at least i thought we were well i i am i said we are peculiar people that's about 10 of us we're peculiar our ways are not like the world's ways we don't have that crazy custom of our firstborn goes to god we don't take think of the cruelty of that that mother's milk was made to grow that animal not to make that animal more savory and for it to be used in a heathen practice so i guess we can choose today we either going to follow the path of putting god first or we're going to fall in the path of having a humanistic carnal mind and singing things to the world god as for me and my house your first god you're first in my house god god you're first in my house lord i want you to know at the end of this bible study god with all my heart until the day that i die and you know how many years i got left god i want to put you first lord god you are first in my life lord i give you that i give you that word tonight anybody any other man want to join me tonight you can join me by standing to your feet right now god i give you i give you first in my life god oh god i tell my flesh no god because i want a relationship with you lord of anointing i want a relationship god with you of the miraculous oh god i want a relationship with you lord that my flesh is in its right place god oh god as for me right now lord god i give you my lord however how many years i got left god you're the first you're the first you're the first you're the first you're the first god i love you god help me about the women with the women want to stand right now we all want to stand right now and would we just i i know it's me telling you would you just give god your pledge tonight would you give god your pledge tonight that i'll be god you'll be first lord oh god you'll be first god you'll be first god oh god i love you tonight lord i praise you tonight god lord i worship you tonight lord oh god i thank you tonight god i want you to be first in my life god lord i've got to have your spirit i've got to have your anointing i've got to have your presence god in my life lord you are the lifter of my head you are the joy of my soul you are my everything you are my all in all god oh god i love you tonight lord i praise you tonight god come on just just another moment in just another moment would you feel my burden tonight just another moment come on could we lift our voice up just another moment i i plead with you i tell your flesh no right now come on tell your flesh no tonight i i worship you god i praise you god i magnify you god oh god you are great and you are greatly to be praised lord there's none like you lord there's none beside you god you're an almighty god lord you're the almighty god lord you're the almighty god god i love you lord god i worship you god god i magnify you god to those of you that may not know  many different states and even from different parts of the world they're coming to hone their skills they're coming looking for tools to grow their churches they're coming looking for instruments that they can come take back to their field of labor but they also fasted in the bible because of natural disasters that that come when disasters would come and war would come and they had no might against armies they would fast because they had no might against these armies and let me sound this one thing because i have kind of divided up brother jeff i've kind of divided up my fasting and my purpose for fasting it would appear by the news that there's another wave around the country of of of covet and things that are breaking out when we have no might against things i believe that we can get the attention of god by fasting by fasting god you first well brother carpenter you better believe in science i do believe in science i've been vaccinated and i'll get the booster i i do believe in all that but i do believe that god is greater than any vaccine god's greater than any booster god's greater than any of that i'll do all that i can do but there comes a time when man can just take you so far and that's when you got to reach up and say god i want you to take us all the way god keep your hands upon us i want you to give him praise before you dismiss tonight give him praise before you dismiss tonight god is great and god is greatly to be praised oh hallelujah