Numerical Bible Notes

(3) In fasting the Lord touches that inward mortification which expresses the realization of what man is in the sight of God: in one's own sight, therefore, in proportion as we have attained to oneness of mind with Him. In the mount with God neither Moses nor Elijah ate or drank. "If then ye be risen with Christ," says the apostle, ― "mortify your members which are upon the earth" (Col. 3:1, 5). Fasting is treating them as if they did not exist, ― not ministering to self: an unnatural condition which implies fallen nature; you can do nothing with it, but leave it out. The apostle speaks of this as the true characteristic of the children of God (Rom. 8:13-14): "if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live; for as many as are led of the Spirit of God they are sons of God." It is as self-realization before God, that fasting comes here in its numerical place.