25th January 2015 - Beginning with God

The Christian Life, The Fasted Life (Pastor Femi Fenojo)

There are things the church needs to start waking up to. It has been said many times that we are in
the end times. This is especially true today. In fact, we are currently living on borrowed time. There
is a calendar to our times. Israel is Gods calendar. God has chosen Israel to be a sign for us. This
can be illustrated in the ancient jewish wedding.
Text:
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your
disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and
then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears
away from the garment, and a worse tear is made
(Mat 9:14-16, ESV)
The christian life is a fasted life. The days which Jesus spoke about that are coming are the days
which ch we live in at the moment. and hence, we cannot live as we please, but ought to live a
fasted life. When we fast, we deny ourselves from legitimate things such as food. However,
fasting should not end with us denying ourselves things but requires us to apply ourselves to
something at the same time. Hence, when we fast, without applying ourselves to our relationship
with God, we are merely starving ourselves.
The sabbath is a day that was set apart to be dedicated to God.
1John 3:2-3 - Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but
we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And
everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure (ESV)
The next great event that we are waiting for is the coming of Christ. The world events seem to be
rushing towards this great event. No man knows the date, according to the bible, however,the bible
teaches that we ought to recognise the season.
2 Peter 3:10-14 - The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the nightwhat sort of people ought
you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of
God
The delay:
Mat 24:42-51; Mat 25:1-13; Gen 24
we need to be wise in our waiting for the Lord. We need to be prepared.
The commitment:
John 14:1-4 - the background of Jesus commitment here is that of the ancient jewish wedding. Our
full understanding of that verse is dependent on us understanding ancient jewish wedding.
The jewish wedding - the shadow & the reality
Ephesians 5 - many people believe that Paul was merely teaching about how earthly marital
relationships ought to be. But in verse 32 we come to understand that this is the picture of our
relationship with Christ. Note, there is no dormant part of the bible. Every verse, every word has a
reason for being there.
When a young man notices a young woman and there is a spark he carries out a bit a background
check to find out where she is from and what her family is like. He then approaches her and asks
her permission to bring his father round. He then goes to the womans house (just like Jesus came

to earth, putting on flesh). Form that point on, they are married even though the marriage is yet to
me consummated. The next step is all about the woman accepting the proposal. It is up to her to
accept. She has the right to reject the proposal. Next, the Ketubah is presented. The Ketubah is
like the marriage contract and contains the promises the groom makes to the bride and the rights
of the bride. Note, the bride price is not the cost one pays to buy the bride but it represents the
value a man places on a woman.
At this point, the woman makes the decision to accept. After this, they share wine form the same
cup - it becomes binding. After that the groom presents the bride with a price. This acts as a
downpayment, because he is leaving. He is going back to his fathers house and he prepares a
place for her. From that point onwards, she covers her face as a signs that she is married and no
longer available. From this post onwards until he returns, at least one year passes while the son
goes to prepare an extension in his fathers house ready for the bride to move in. In that period,
she has not contact with the man but prepares herself for him.
Once the place is ready, the groom waits. It is his father who decides when he is ready to go pick
up his bride. This usually happens at night. The bride gets no prior warning but is finds out the time
has come when she hears the sound of the horn.
The bridegroom is Jesus, we are the bride and the father is God. Jesus noticed us first while we
were yet sinners. He came into our home with his father by putting on flesh and coming to earth.
He left us with the bible as a Ketubah and gave us the Holy Spirit as a downpayment and reminder
that he is coming back to get us. He has paid the brideprice with his life. His life is the value he
places on ours. He has gone back to HIs fathers house where there are many mansions to
prepare a place for us and will definitely come back to get us.
The question is, while he is away, will we live a life worthy of Christ, keeping ourselves pure until
His return?