Through unbelief man gratified wrongly an appetite contrary to God's Word. Through disobedience to God's Word death came upon the human race. Sin, sickness and sorrow, along with the other curses of the fall, are traced to the serpent, Satan.

    Fear also came upon man. Certain carnal desires having been awakened in Adam, he NOW HAD GREAT FEAR, "I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED. I HID MYSELF" (Gen. 3:10). Fear is related to unbelief.

    The Lord began to pronounce judgment and one of the first curses given to mankind was the SORROW CONNECTED WITH SEX APPETITE. "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen. 3:16). The next major curse was placed upon the ground and concerned the appetite of EATING. "In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life" (Gen. 3:17). These and innumerable other distresses and sorrows were what MAN NOW WAS TO PARTAKE OF. By participating in the wrong menu, against the will of his Maker, man now must eat of sickness and sorrow. ALL BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF and the failure to take the Lord at HIS VERY WORD.

    The fall of man came about by his appetites. Hunger appetite is by far the strongest of all the appetites with which man is confronted. Think of it, the very appetite that originally caused the race to fall is the key to all the other appetites.

    By believing on God's Son Jesus Christ our Savior, then we can have power to do His miracles and come into fruit bearing.

    If it was necessary for the Son of man to come into the world to lay down His life for us, He surely would give us some information regarding the proper procedure to CAST OUT UNBELIEF IN ORDER THAT WE MAY REGAIN OUR Miraculous power AND FAITH IN GOD. We find that He did this very thing in Matthew 17:17-21. The disciples did not believe enough. They did not take Jesus' word seriously because they "could not". They were too much in state of carnality. THE FEEDING HABIT WAS UPPERMOST IN THEIR LIVES, and they could not approach the faith necessary to see the work of FAITH in operation in the case of the lunatic. The powerless disciples came to Jesus to ask Him WHY they could not cast him out. JESUS SAID," BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF".

    Jesus was very tactful and diplomatic when He continued His teaching on "UNBELIEF" and "FAITH", and gave them the FORMULA that was necessary in order to obtain "THE FAITH". Previously it was too early to tell them. Now was the time to do so.

    Jesus was very wise to five the discourse on faith as He did. After carefully analyzing the embarrassing situation with which they were confronted, He proceeded to tell them what to do to HAVE THE FAITH and to eliminate their unbelief which was a by-product of carnality. Great faith was needed, and could be obtained by the proper means. Here our beloved Jesus revealed one of the greatest secrets ever recorded in the Word of God.

    It was not time, in Matthew chapter four, to reveal why He fasted. Jesus was not in the habit of teaching His disciples any truths they were not yet able to comprehend or "bear". This was the psychological moment and He made full use of it. In their exultation over their power over unclean spirits

    They did not perceive that even greater FAITH was needed and could be obtained by the proper means, as given in Matthew 17:20: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you". Verse 21: "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and FASTING".

    The revelation of WHY JESUS FASTED FORTY DAYS AND NIGHTS was unfolded to them. We may feel assured that this truth was remembered and later put into practice by the disciples.

    Since the days of the apostles, there have been countless thousands who were not able to "bear" these words of Jesus and some copyists have omitted "and FASTING" from their manuscripts. These manuscripts originated in a time when whatever one could not "bear" in a doctrine was put under suspicion, even though the sacred text had to be altered. It was a time when very little of "this kind" was being cast out. The religious leaders who omit the major consecration fasts are like a machine hitting on only one cylinder. They do their utmost in "knocking" a vital Christian truth. They too, are powerless. The full formula of Jesus is "PRAYER and FASTING". If these theological gladiators had honored Christ enough to try fasting, the church would have attained a spiritual level equal to that of the apostles' time.

    "And fasting" is genuine for the following reasons:

    1. It is in harmony with the practice of Christ.

    2. It gives us the only key to the fast of Jesus. "And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered" (Matt. 4:2).

    3. It alone gives the complete answer and explanation of Jesus.

    4. It agrees with other teachings of Jesus on fasting.

    5. It is verified by apostolic experience.

    6. It is proved true by every proper use of fasting and prayer.

    7. It is proved true by the personal experiences of men and women who have fasted from ten to forty days in the present time. Nothing could have been more impressive or emphatic than the simple teaching of Jesus, given under the impressive circumstances of the disciples' failure. If there were not another syllable about fasting in the Bible, these words of our Blessed Redeemer, taken in connection with His fast, should have been sufficient to remove all mystery hovering over His temptation, and should have induced the disciples of all centuries to seek the benefits of prayer and FASTING as a PREVENTATIVE OF FAILING FAITH, and a destroyer of UNBELIEF. Or, if no lack of faith were felt, the desire to follow the example of Jesus should have been sufficient motive to follow Him in HIS PRAYING AND FASTING. Fortunately we are not limited to this one statement of Jesus about the value of prayer and fasting. Jesus elsewhere expressly commended fasting to His disciples and declared that THEY WOULD FAST. (Matt. 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39).

    According to tradition, Moses ascended Mount Sinai on Thursday and returned on Monday, and these twice a week fasts of the Pharisees were therefore of a memorial nature, differing essentially from the fasting the disciples would practice when the BRIDEGROOM WOULD BE TAKEN FROM THEM. The fasting to which Jesus referred would differ in method, purpose, and effect from that of the Pharisees and the disciples of John. As long as Jesus was with them, His disciples had no need of fasting. Through His presence He gave them what thousands of memorial FAST DAYS would not be able to give to the disciples of John or the Pharisees. Jesus corrected their errors in belief and practice. He revealed to them what they desired to learn and were capable of receiving. His example and presence inspired them. Surely they were blessed above kings and prophets through His presence. Through it they enjoyed privileges which disciples of all ages have desired to share and we enjoy only in a second-hand measure through the Bible record. Still we all feel that with these privileges of the apostles even greater things could be performed; we would consider ourselves well qualified for every spiritual problem, and in following this line of thought, we entirely overlook the significance of the fact that Jesus said even these heaven taught men WOULD FAST WHEN THE BRIDEGROOM WOULD BE TAKEN FROM THEM (Matt. 9:15). He also told them, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7). Did the Bridegroom leave? Did they tarry in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1st and 2nd chapters.) Did the apostles FAST? Then are not we to FAST? Do we know how? If fasting was worthless, as is popularly supposed, and as the neglect of it would seem to indicate, why would they have fasted, and why did Jesus recommend it to them? Would He have done so, if the benefits of fasting had been obtainable by any other means? If there were any spiritual or physical danger involved in the practice, would He not have told them?

    Did He not operate the gifts of the Spirit after He fasted? Jesus did not perform a recorded miracle until after His 40 day fast!

UNBELIEF may not appear very significant to Christians unacquainted with fasting. It may seem very small and unimportant.

    In a twenty-one day fast, sometimes it is still beyond out ability to grasp and cast it ot, but at least it has had a great shaking. Spiritual battles are usually in full operation here, a battle between the flesh and the spirit, between evil forces and heavenly powers (Daniel 10:12-14).

IN A FAST THRU TO VICTORY, MAJOR FAST, NOT ONLY IS THE CURSE OF UNBELIEF FULLY REALIZED, BUT THE EARNEST, FULLY CONSECRATED AND YIELDED CANDIDATE HAS POWER TO REACH OUT AND PICK UP THE BARRIER OF UNBELIEF AND CAST IT COMPLETELY "OUT", BY PRAYER AND FASTING (Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29). NO OBSTACLE CAN BE REMOVED UNTIL WE REALIZED IT AS AN OBSTRUCTION AND BECOME DEEPLY BURDENED ABOUT THE VICTORY.

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