Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 22. We read for our text verses 31
and 32. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Luke 22 and verses 31 and 32. I want to look the Lord's help
this morning at when, when the Lord prayed for Peter, for Simon
Peter, the whole situation of it, what followed, what is bound
up with it, and in this text. As we read this passage, you
might have thought of a real contrast that is in this passage. We have the most solemn effect
of Satan upon Judas. How Judas went and betrayed the
Lord. He had been with the disciples,
numbered with the apostles, sat at the Lord's table, as it were,
sat at the Passover, and when the Lord's Supper was instituted,
The Lord says in verse 22, but behold, the hand of him that
betrayed me is with me on the table. And it was then Satan
that entered into Judas. Most solemn, solemn character. But what made the difference
with Peter? This same chapter, the Lord says, and really, the
way it's worded here, Satan hath desired to have you. That is
in plural, not just Peter, but all the people of God. And then there's the but, something
that Judas did not have. the Lord praying for him. But
I have prayed for thee, and that made all the difference, that
thy faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. The prayer at this time was specifically
for Peter, for thee, that is singular, because it was Peter
at this time being attacked by Satan. What a contrast. We've highlighted
many times in the Word of God that whenever the Lord will teach
His truth, He does it in contrast, He does it in twos. We've said
it many times right from the beginning. The right way of worship,
the wrong way of worship. Those that are the Lord's, those
that are Satan's, Cain and Abel. Abel offered a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain. And so we are not just given
one side of it, the right way of worship, we're given the other
side of it as well. When the Lord tells about the
two praying in the temple, he doesn't just speak about the
publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. He also tells us
of the Pharisee who spake thus with himself, how much better
he was than others. And again and again through scripture,
we don't know just how Ruth plucked as a brand from Moab, but we
have a sister-in-law, Orpah, who went back to her country
and to her gods. And so do notice these contrasts,
and this is what we have here. that we have in this same passage. Two characters, two apostles,
two that had been with the Lord. And Satan desires them both,
all of them, all of the people of God. With Judas, he prevails. With Judas, he has him, he follows
him, he betrays the Lord. And with Peter, he doesn't. The
difference is the intercession and prayer of the Lord. If there's
any passage that should make us to really value the intercession
and prayer of the Lord, it is such a passage as this. You might say, well, didn't Judas
go as it was determined? Wasn't it foretold and prophesied
even a thousand years before with David, Ahithophel, used
as a time? Yes, it was. All things are under
the sovereign control of God. But that does not excuse our
sin. And it does not and should not
make us fatalistic. But those things that are revealed
to us That is what we are to seek. And the message for us
here is not to walk in pride. That's another lesson and contrast,
isn't it? Here is Peter walking in pride,
all of them really. And they are debating in verse
24, strife also among them, which of them should be accounted the
greatest? Then we have Peter, though all
men forsake thee, yet will not I. And yet Peter has to prove
this, that he cannot stand. He is no different than the rest.
He is no different than Judas, except for the intercession and
prayer of the Lord. And so I want to look at this
word then, this morning. Firstly, Satan's desire against
the Lord's people. And then secondly, our Lord's
intercession for his people. And lastly, the Lord's charge
to his people, seen in the words to Peter, when thou art converted
or restored, strengthen thy brethren. But firstly, Satan's desire against
the people of God is always a necessary thing for those that are engaged
in any warfare, that they are aware of the enemy and they are
aware of his designs against them. And you think of the case
of Nehemiah, when his adversaries were planning to come against
him, but the plot got found out. And because it was found out,
they didn't come against him. One of the great blessings that
the Lord gave us in the Second World War was the radar to be
able to know in advance when the enemy was coming. But we should be in no doubt
as to Satan's desire after the people of God. Our Lord says here, Satan hath
desire to have you. There is a contrast here as well. We read that the desire of the
righteous shall be granted. But here is Satan's desire And
we know that His desire for the people of God is not granted
to their destruction. He can only desire. Whatever
He does, He needs permission from the Lord. We spoke about
Judas and being foretold. Satan is not in control. God is in control. What Satan
is doing is fulfilling the scriptures. He doesn't excuse him. He thinks
he is doing it to destroy the people of God. God is using it
for good. This was highlighted when David
numbered Israel. One account says that the Lord
was grieved with Israel because of their behavior, and so he
moved David to number Israel. Another was that Satan stood
up against Israel. And the result was David numbered
Israel. But when David realized what
he'd done, he doesn't blame the Lord or Satan. He says, I have
sinned. But we see there how Satan was
used. And yet it was the means of showing
where the temple was to be built on Mount Moriah. where the Lord
appeared for them in answering David's prayer. So may we remember
that. Satan can desire, but he cannot
control. He cannot dictate. He can want
to do many things, but whatever he does, he needs permission
from the Lord. He is not in control. The Lord
is in control. The enmity that Satan has was
first realized in the first promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ in the Garden of Eden. You have in Genesis chapter 3
and verse 15, and I will put enmity, this is our Lord speaking
to Satan, enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed
and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel." It's specifically speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the enmity, the hatred, what happened at Calvary. Our Lord
bruised Satan's head in putting away the sin of his people's
sin. and in fulfilling the law of
God, satisfying justice, that Satan bruised his heel with his
wounds, his sufferings, the hiding of her father's face. The Lord
felt what it was to come under Satan's power in that way, and
yet overruled for good. And again, when it was charged
by Peter It was their wicked hands that had taken and crucified
the Lord. It wasn't blamed to Satan. But
right from the very start, where Satan was, you might say, friendly
with the woman, friendly with man. And through that friendship,
then there was brought the sin in entering into the world. The
Lord has said, in effect, no more friendship, only enmity,
only conflict between the two. And it is in through the seed
of the people of God. We said how Satan desires to
have all and really those that are dead in sin, he already has
them. He already has them under His
dominion, under His power, under His influence. And it's the work
of God's grace to pluck His people as brands from the burning, to
change their hearts. The hymn 76 says, At peace with
hell, with God at war. In sin's dark maze they wander
far. That is what it is by nature. But when the Lord calls by grace,
another hymn says, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint
upon his knees. He trembled because he knows
that where the Lord begins, he will save, he'll finish. Also
marks out those that God has plucked from his hand. It always
shows that difference. And where there is a difference
then, Satan will have his utmost desire against those, those ones
that are escaping, that have escaped his power. He will seek
to attack them. So we must remember that it is
God's appointment that this should be so. I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, not only between Satan and Christ, but
all of his seed, all of Christ's seed. When our Lord suffered,
it is said in Isaiah 53, he shall see his seed and it shall be
satisfied. At the end of Psalm 22, a seed
shall serve him, it shall be accounted to him for a generation. And with Abraham, The promise
is unto thee and thy seed. It is not of seeds, which is
many, but Christ and all the Christ's people. But we are not
to think that the way of salvation can be in any other way than
an enmity, a conflict between those that are Christ's and those
that are Satan's. Those that are under his dominion
He has dominion over them, but when the Lord begins to deliver,
then Satan knows who the Lords are, and he will seek to attack
them, to annoy them, to bring them, as his desire was here,
to be in a sieve, in Satan's sieve. This desire is manifested in
the book of Job. Job was accused by Satan that
he only followed the Lord because he had put a hedge about him
and preserved him. If the Lord took away those temporal
blessings, then he would curse him and die. And so the Lord
gave him permission, first to touch his goods and his family,
then to touch his health. but spare his life. Again, there
was a limitation on how much Satan could do. And the end of
Job was better than the beginning. The Lord blessed him more. The
Lord used it for good. But we see how far Satan can
go, can be permitted to go, in distressing the people of God. Naked came I, said Job, into
the world. Naked shall I go hither. The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. We see it also in prophecy in
the book of Zechariah, where we have Joshua, or in prophecy,
the Lord Jesus Christ in Zechariah 3. He showed me Joshua, the high
priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. and Satan standing
at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuketh thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire? And it goes on, Now Joshua's
clothe, with filthy garments, stood before the angel. He answered
and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, take away
the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with the change of raiment. It is the Lord that
takes his people's sin, puts that sin away, and then gives
them a robe of righteousness instead. But again, we have a
picture of Satan at the right hand. to resist. We read in Peter's
epistles to the churches later on that the devil is as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. We read also that he is as an
angel of light, to deceive, if it were possible, even the very
elect. Then in the Revelation we read
of the accuser of the brethren that is cast down, that accused
night and day, no doubt referring to the accusations levelled against
the Old Testament saints. Where was the blood? Why were
they in heaven? Why were they blessed? The blood
had not been shed, but God had promised it, and what God promises,
He will bring to pass. So when Christ suffered, bled,
died and rose again, the accuser of the brethren is cast down,
because there is the blood. There is what was required. And so he is the accuser of the
brethren. That is what he did with Job.
Accused Job of only serving God for that which God had done.
And don't be surprised, dear friends, if you find that Satan
accuses you. You get thoughts, well, you only
just serve the Lord because you've been brought up unto the sound
of the truth. He's not a miracle of grace at
all, it just happened. And accuse you just of following
Him, just in a natural way, just in a way of the flesh, just in
the mind and not in the heart. And all sorts of accusations. He will level at the people of
God. And oft times they're very hard,
impossible really for us to answer and to combat those accusations
that we are exhorted that we are to resist the devil. Resist
the devil. Remember, how shall we know the
devil? Because he has enmity against
the people of God and against the Lord Jesus Christ. He will
drive a wedge. He will drive suspicion. Remember
the first Temptation in innocency with our first parents, for as
God doth know that if thou dost eat of this fruit, then thou
shalt know good and evil. In other words, he is keeping
back from you something that is good, something that is profitable. He is an ulterior motive. He's not a trustworthy person. These sort of insinuations that
drive a wedge between the people of God and their God, if possible,
and we are to remember that because we are told in the Word that
we are not ignorant of His devices. He's had 6,000 years of practice,
as it were, in attacking, deceiving, sifting the people of God. And
we are to note what is written in the Word of God. to know His
words. We are not ignorant. We are told
them. We are told what to expect when
Satan comes in like a flart. But what of what was desired
here? What Satan wanted to do? Satan had desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat. What did he want to do? You know,
he couldn't destroy Peter, he can't destroy any of the people
of God. They're secure in the Lord's
hands, they're secure in his father's hands. But you picture
a sieve, you've got some at home, a round sieve, and if you put
a mixture of wheat and chaff in that sieve and you shake it
around, then the chaff is flying around, the wheat is flying around,
it's all being jiggled up and down. Can you imagine being in
that? If you were the wheat in that
sieve and you're thrown about from one way to another, and
it doesn't really look whether you're the chaff or the wheat.
For a while it can't see any real difference between the chaff
and the wheat. And you think what followed later
on, Here is Peter denying the Lord when they say he's a Galilean. It's not in this account, but
another. He changed his speech. He began to curse and swear,
I know not this man. And for a little while in Peter's
life, it was as if he was the child. It was as if he wasn't
one of God's people. He was acting like the world.
He was acting like one that didn't know the Lord and didn't love
the Lord. He was in Satan's sieve in that
way, and we may have times like that, through tribulation, through
trials, through afflictions, through Satan's temptations,
that we are tossed so much about, and we look at one thing and
another, and the pull of the flesh, the love of the world,
the strength of temptations, the bents of our mind, our carnal
mind, our carnal affections, And look at all these things,
you say, can ever God dwell here? Is there anything at all that
is of the Lord's? Next moment, you try a few groans
and cries to the Lord, but it doesn't seem that the heart is
in it. And it seems a bit like the Lord's people, and then a
bit not like the Lord's people. And he's tossed too. And fro,
the hymn writer says, hymn 722, what am I and where am I? The
strange paths the people have to walk in, the contrary ways. Another hymn, hymn 295, I think
it is. Ask the Lord that I might grow,
grow in faith, grow in grace. And the Lord answered it in such
a way that almost drove me to despair. And what it is, it's
taking us away from self. What if Peter had been left in
that thought, though all men forsake thee, yet will not I?
What if the disciples were to be left in that thought, who
is the greatest? Let me be greatest. But the Lord
used these memes to humble them, to bring them down, to bring
them low. And we would remember that that
is the way the Lord does work. Thou shalt remember all the way
the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness,
to humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldst serve the Lord thy God or no. And the Lord has said he must,
through much tribulation, enter the kingdom, and it is through
that Satan is often used in that, to annoy, to tempt, to try the
people of God. And may we be in no doubt of
Satan's desire, of the Lord's sovereignty, the Lord's power
over him, but certainly be watchful, be mindful of our weakness, mindful
of our need of the intercession of the Lord for his people. And
I want to look at this second point. After the Lord tells Simon, and
tells the disciples really, Satan hath desired to have you, and
that he may sift you as wheat, then he says, But, but I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. This is what will make
the difference. The Lord did not pray that he
wouldn't deny him, that he wouldn't go in the sieve, but that through
that time he would come out the other side, and that he would
still love the Lord, he would still have faith in the Lord,
he would still be trusting in Him. Remember, the Lord is the
author of faith, and He'd given faith to Peter. He is the author
and finisher of our faith. And that is the faith. He prayed
that his faith would not fail. Paul, he says, the life that
I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. He loved me
and gave himself for me. That faith of the Son of God,
that which comes from him, that which keeps the soul, that is
the vital thing. But here is the Lord's intercession,
I prayed for thee. What encouragement for us to
pray. Don't neglect prayer. However
poor, how weak those prayers are, I will yet be inquired of
by the House of Israel to do it for them. But here we have
not our prayer, but the Lord's prayer. When the Lord ascended
up into heaven, he is our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. He appears in the presence of
God for us. He presents our petitions. He prays the Father, I will pray
the Father and he will give you another comforter which shall
abide with you forever. Tarry at Jerusalem until you
be endued with power from on high. And so the intercession
of our Lord, we have a beautiful illustration of it in the Gospel
according to John. And chapter 17, where our Lord,
while on earth, he is praying to the Father, glorify thy son,
that thy son also may glorify thee. And he's praying for his
people. And he's praying that they might
be kept from the evil. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine." And he prays that they then might
be kept, and there again is the contrast with Judas. While I
was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that
thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the
son of petition that the scripture might be fulfilled. I've given
them no word, and the world hath hated them, because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And the Lord
is interceding for his people, a little time, the same as we
have here. A little illustration of the
Lord's intercession in heaven, and the mindfulness of when When
his people need that prayer, when they are in the fire, Peter
is now, so he needs the Lord's prayer, and the Lord prays and
makes intercession. We read in Romans 8, the Spirit
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,
and that is put against the backdrop that we know not what we should
pray for as we all It may be you've come this morning like
that. I don't know what to pray for. I don't know what to pray
for as I ought. You might feel that all the weight
is on your shoulders. You must pray. Your soul is in
your own hand. But to have a picture this morning
of our Lord in heaven, His intercession there, that He is praying. He has an interest in it, doesn't
He? You might say, I have an interest is my soul, whether
it be saved or lost. But just a minute, you think
of what the Lord's interest is. The Lord's inheritance is his
people. Is he going to be robbed of his
inheritance? Those that he paid the debt for
on Calvary, shall Satan have them? Shall His glory not be shown
to any? If the Lord were to lose one
of His people for whom He died, then all His glory is gone, His
power is gone, His sovereignty is gone. He is not the God that
He has said He is. Not one shall be lost. The Lord,
in one sense, has more at stake than we have. We need to think
of His side. With the Levites, they were not
to have any portion in Canaan, not land. The Lord was their
portion. But then also the Levites were
the Lord's portion. And so the Lord prays for his
people. Value this. May it encourage
us in our prayers. But may we remember we have a
voice that speaks for us. In heaven's high court for good,
From the curse has set us free, it is Jesus' precious blood. I want to look lastly at the
Lord's charge to his people. The Lord says to Peter, and when
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. If we were to leave
that word as it is translated, converted, think of what we've
said about the sieve. In Satan's sieve, sometimes it
may appear as if we were not converted. Those that are looking
on might think, is he really called by grace? Has he really
been born again? If these things are said, if
these things are done. And so looked at it in that way,
when Peter is restored, when God's people are restored, then
now it is clear they are converted. It is just proofed it. It is just put the seal more
on it. But the other way of translating it is when thou art restored. But remember, when it is put
in these words, when thou art, is not now. There is a time walking
through when we're not restored. We're not converted as it were,
we're looking like unconverted. You need to always remember there
is a time factor in the trials of the people of God. They had
70 years that were in Babylon. Joseph had 22 years before that
he was brought before Pharaoh. And the people of God Have those
times when, like the children of Israel in Egypt, that they
are under taskmasters, they're under bondage, they're under
darkness. It doesn't appear that they are
the people of God. The Lord is looking on them,
He has respect to them, and His time, His purposes are ripening
fast, unfolding every hour so Him says. There is a time. Dear brethren, do being couraged
and strengthened and held to go through these times. Remember,
this then is God's charge to Peter. Strengthen thy brethren,
charge all the people of God. If you've been through a path
of time, a trial in Satan's sieve, then you've gone through this
for the benefit of another. Apostle Paul says that we are
able to comfort those with the comfort wherewith we are comforted
of God. If we have known what mental
affliction is and been delivered from it, no deliverances from
it, we can comfort, we can help those in those afflictions. If
we have known physical affliction, we can comfort them. If we've
known temptations of Satan, we can tempt them. We can help those
that are tempted and they're walking through that same path.
This is what the Lord is saying, really, to all of His people.
Don't let your experience be wasted, but use it to the strengthening
of those who are following afterwards in the same trials. There doesn't
need to be a minister or an apostle to walk in this way. The least
of His people can be used for the comfort and good of His people. you think then of Peter's epistles,
his two epistles. Just to look at one part, you
see in the first epistle, chapter five, and he says in verse five,
likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea,
all of you be subject one to another, clothed with humility
for God resisted the proud, giveth grace to the humble, Is he not
thinking to those times? Though all men forsake thee,
yet will not I. Who is the greatest? He's not
speaking that way now. He's pointing to humility. Humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God. He's strengthening the
brethren from what he has learned. Casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. He did prove that the Lord cared
for him. And then be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour, whom he resists steadfast in the faith. The Lord said, I prayed for thee
that thy faith fail not, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. How often
the Lord isolates his people and said, only you know this.
None of the other of the Lord's people know what you feel or
what goes on in your heart and your wicked, evil heart and your
thoughts and affections. You're the only one that feels
like this. No, says Peter. These things, all of the people
of God, they feel and they walk through these paths as well. You think of how he speaks in
the very first part. first chapter of that first epistle. He says, those that are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation. He knew what
it was to be kept through the power of God, through faith.
Were any greatly rejoiced though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. This is this
same Peter strengthening the brethren, part of the inspired
Word of God, for the Church of God to the end of time, that
they might be helped and strengthened through Peter's ministry, through
the Word of God, through the ministry of the people of God,
if we would be of use to the people of God, then we speak
of those things that we've handled and tasted and felt. Those times of trial, those times
of tribulation, those times like if Peter thought back on this,
what pain that must have caused. The same as the apostle Paul,
what pain it caused him that he hailed men and women to prison. Peter, that he should have done
this, that he should have denied his Lord these times. You think
of those that crucified the Lord, what pain, that when it says
they were pricked in their heart, hardly tells what they must have
felt to realise what they had done. And so those things that
we pass through, when we see our brethren pass through them,
When we see the Lord's people pass through, though not just
the little ones, but it may be those who have preached for many
years, those who have been stalwarts for the truth, and Satan attacks
them and tries them and troubles them. Then, if we're in that
position to strengthen thy brethren, may you be used in that way.
poor though he may feel to be, to strengthen the brethren, not
in themselves, but strengthen them in the Lord. Strengthen
them in the knowledge that the Lord prays for them, in the knowledge
that God is sovereign over Satan, and that Satan shall not prevail,
but God shall prevail. Strengthen them in that this
is the path of the people of God. And as sure as Peter was
brought to heaven so sure shall you as well. May we be encouraged
and strengthened through the word this morning. And the Lord
said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that
he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. When the Lord prayed for Peter,
may the Lord bless the Word. Amen.