Let's open our Bibles to Luke
chapter 22. Begin reading in verse 31. 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. And he said unto him, Lord, I
am ready to go with thee both into prison and unto death. And
our Lord said to Peter, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not
crow this day before thou hast thrice denied that thou knowest
me. So here our Lord tells Peter
and warned him what would happen. And then look in verse 54 of
this same chapter. Then took they him, speaking
of our Lord, and they led him and brought him into the high
priest's house, and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled
a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter
sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him
as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This
man also was with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman,
I know him not. And after a little while, another
saw him and said, thou art also of them. And Peter said, man,
I am not. And about the space of one hour
after, another confidently affirmed, saying of a truth, this fellow
also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter said, man,
I know not what thou sayest. And immediately while he spake,
they caught crew. And our Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. Peter remembered the words of
the Lord, how he had said unto him before the cock crows, that
shall deny me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. This account of Peter here denying
our Lord is recorded in all four gospel accounts. We find it in
Matthew 26 and Mark chapter 14 and in John 13. And we asked
the question, why did God see fit to record this in every gospel
account? And in any of those accounts,
none of them tried to excuse what Peter did. What he did was
wrong. What he did was wrong. But God
recorded it for our learning and for our admonition. He recorded
this to show us Peter, the apostle, The best of men are still men
at best. We see here how God makes a child
of God. How he makes one of his preachers
and how he makes even his churches. This is how God makes them. He
must make us. If he ever leaves us alone to
ourself, we are in a mess. We read this and we go, can this
really be Peter? He said, Lord, everybody else
may leave, but I won't, not me. But in just a little while, before
the night was ended, he did. He did. Our Lord said, Satan
hath desired to have you, Peter, that he may sift you like wheat.
Listen to what it says in Amos chapter nine. For lo, I will
command and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations like
as corn is sifted in a sieve. Yet shall not the least grain
fall to the ground. Some of y'all are too young to
know what it is when people used to, sieve flour and things before
they would make cornbread or different things. But I remember
what it was when I was growing up. They had what we would call,
some people would know what I'm talking about, I know Hoosier's
cabinet. And they had a place in the top where you'd put flour,
and then there was a thing that you would crank, and it would
sift that flour, and the flour would come out in a pan or something,
but inside of that screen, you would have the chaff, or the
grain or whatever, what was useless was left. And he said, Satan
hath desired you that he may sift you just like wheat. Why would God allow Peter to
be sifted like wheat? God can and does use Satan to
sift his people, but indirectly, it's God who does the sifting. Satan can only do what God allows
him to do. We see that in the book of Job.
He said, if you considered my servant Job, there's none like
him in all the earth. And he said, well, he said, you've
got a hedge about him, I can't get to him. The Lord said, well,
he'll take down the hedge and you can touch anything he's got,
but you can't touch him. He took everything he had and
then he said, skin for skin, And he said, you can touch him
now, you can touch his body, but you can't take his life.
God's in control of all things. How does God sift his people? God sifts us when he puts us
into very trying circumstances which try our faith. And you know what it does? It
separates the precious from the vile, from that which is nothing
more than flesh. And he just sips it away. He
sips it away. What does he use to do this?
Well, you know, he can use even prosperity. You said, well, how
could he use prosperity? Listen to what it says in 1 Timothy
chapter six, verse 10. The love of money is the root
of all evil. from which while some had coveted after, they
have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows. Then adversity, there may be
sickness in a person's body, there may be a disobedient child,
there may be something at home. These are things that God allows
to happen to sift us, to sift us. As the brother prayed back
in the study, we have friends, we have family, we have children
and loved ones who don't, No, God, and it breaks our hearts.
It breaks our hearts. Then there is soul trouble. And you imagine what, when our
Lord turns and looks at Peter, and this breaks Peter's heart. Can you imagine how he feels? The guilt, the shame, the despair
inside. What soul trouble? To me, I think
the worst part is the soul trouble. And then we face temptations. James, it says, God does not
tempt a man to sin, but every man is tempted when he's drawn
away of his own lust and enticed. Peter did exactly what Peter
wanted to do. That's what he did. Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, they all fell. They all were tempted. And you
remember what Abraham said? This is not my wife, this is
my sister. What does Isaac say? The same
thing, this is not, she's not my wife, she's my sister. Rachel,
Jacob, the one he worked for for 14 years, she was full of
envy and jealousy of Rachel. I mean of Leah. Moses was sifted
with impatience and a hot temper. Don't you know, you know the
Bible says he was the meekest man, but he reached his point. I used to say, well, I wish I
could lose my temper and just get rid of it. And, you know,
we think, you know, we think sometimes we have these saints
under control. We think that there's no unbelief there left.
And you let God allow something to happen and it begins to manifest
itself. You know what that is? That's
just the chaff that has to be blown away, that it has to be
sifted out. He that has begun a good work
in us will perform it until the day of Christ. Whom he did foreknow,
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of Christ and he's
gonna do that. He won't leave his people alone. David was sifted
by lust and power. Solomon by women and idolatry. Hezekiah was sifted with pride. Every believer has been sifted
and will be sifted. Don't you know at times we cry
out, this is more than I can bear. It's more. You know what Peter said? He
said, I'm going back fishing. He didn't just say, well, I'm
going out here on the bank of the creek on a Saturday evening
and get me a pole and go fishing. No, he was a fisherman before
our Lord taught him. And he said, I'm going back to
what I once did. You mean he's giving up? That's
what he's saying. I'm going back fishing. Don't you know at one time he'd
have thought, well, I'll never say that. But this was Peter. He said in
John 21 three, Simon Peter said unto them, I'm going to fishing.
And we don't go alone. And they say unto him, we're
gonna go with you. They went forth and entered unto a ship
immediately. And all that night, they caught
nothing. Nothing. I can see. I thought about this
this evening as I was looking over these notes. I can see Peter
say, I can't do anything right. I can't even catch fish anymore. This man's low. This man's been
broken. This man's been humbled. This
man's been sifted. But our Lord did not pray for
Judas. He left him alone and he went
to hell doing exactly what he wanted to do. But our Lord, here's
the difference between Judas and Peter. Here's the difference.
He said, Peter, Satan hath desired to have you that I may sift you
like weed, that he may sift you like weed. But I've prayed for
you. that your faith fail not." That's
the only reason it won't fail. The only reason, the only reason. I've prayed for thee that the
faith fail not. And our Lord said, here's what
caught my mind as I looked at this a while back. He said, Satan's
going to sift you like wheat and I prayed for you. and when
thou art converted. Most people would read that and
think, well, that's saying when Peter's saved. That ain't what
that's saying. Peter was already saved. When was Peter saved?
When God gave him faith to believe. That's when he was saved. But
he's saying when you are recovered. When you are brought back, when
I bring you back, and I'm going to, Peter, there's no question
about it, you're gonna fall, you're gonna deny me three times,
but when I bring you back, strengthen your brethren. Is there anybody in this house
tonight that needs strength? Do your hands ever feel feeble?
Do you feel So prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. He said, Peter, you strengthen
thy brethren. How did our Lord recover Peter? A work of providence. He did
dine him once and nothing happened. He denied him twice and nothing
happened. Then it said he went on for another
hour, nothing happened. But when he denied the third
time, that rooster crowed right when he denied and he remembered. You know what God did? God woke
him up. And we see many times in the
scriptures, it talks about believers being asleep. They were asleep
when our Lord was praying in the garden. In the Song of Solomon,
she said, I sleep, but my heart waketh. It's high time for us
to wake out of sleep. Our salvation is nearer than
when we first believed. It's like, how did Peter do this?
How was he doing this? Why was he so indifferent? He's
asleep. God woke him up. And our Lord just turned and
looked at him. And it broke his heart. Just turned and looked at him. And see our Lord, he's in control
of the whole situation. Peter's over here warming him.
This is one of his little sheep. over there by the enemy fire,
trying to hide himself and warm himself by their fire, and he's
denying our Lord, and our Lord, after Peter denies him three
times, he turns and just looks at him. He didn't look in anger. Can
you imagine how he looked at him? Looked at him with eyes
of grace and mercy. The goodness of God leads a man
to repentance, not the wrath of God, not the judgment of God,
The grace of God. How can I have been so foolish? Then a word of love. He remembered
the word of God. How quick we are to forget. I
wished I had the ability to read this book and remember it. And
remember it. But God brings things back. to
our remembrance. He broke his heart, that heart
that had been cold as ice is now melted. This broken and contrite heart. But you remember our Lord, after
he was risen from the grave, And he tells them, he said, you
tell the disciples that I'll meet them down by the Sea of
Galilee. Oh yeah, don't forget to tell Peter. You see them when they come,
whoever it was that came with the news and said, Peter, you're
not gonna believe this. Our Lord's risen from the dead.
And he told me to tell you. I'm here to tell you tonight.
He's risen from the grave. Go tell Peter, don't forget to
tell him. Peter had lost nothing in the
sifting, only the chaff. That's it. Our Lord got rid of
it. What are we to learn from this?
Well, we learn something about ourselves. If God ever leaves you to yourself
for one second, you are in a mess. If God left us alone, every one
of us would go out in our car, we would leave, and we would
never come back. You would never see any of us
again. You're kept by his power. You're kept by his grace. We
learned something about God's grace, that God's grace is sovereign
and it is unmerited. What did Peter do to deserve
God's grace? Nothing. Why didn't God just say, you
go tell everybody but Peter? Just let him go on fishing. We learned something about God's
faithfulness. I love the song where it says, I will never,
No, never. No, never. Peter may forsake our Lord, but
our Lord never forsook him. This had to happen. This had
to happen. Read you this song by John Newton. that wrote Amazing Grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. It says, I asked the
Lord that I might grow in faith, in love, and in every grace.
I wished I could grow more in faith, in love, and in every
grace. Might more of his salvation know,
and seek more earnestly his face. Twas he who taught me thus to
pray, and he I trust has answered my prayer. But it has been in
such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some
favored hour at once he'd answer my request, and by his love's
constraining power would subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart and let the angry powers of hell
assault my soul in every part. Yet more with his own hand he
seemed, intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all my fair designs
I schemed, blasted my gorge and laid me low. Lord, why is this? "'Why is this?' I trembling cried.
"'Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?' "'Tis this the way,'
the Lord replied. "'Thou answer prayer by grace
and faith. "'These inward trials I employ,
from self and pride, "'to set thee free, and break thy schemes
of earthly joy. that thou might find thy doll
in me." He's brought Peter to the place
where he's seen the evil of his heart. I looked up some history on that
hymn and that was written at a In a difficult time in John
Newton's life, they said him and William Cowper, who wrote
that song, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, were gonna
put together what was called the Only Hymns Collection. But not long after that prospect,
you know what they said happened? Cowper went insane. God rules and overrules all things
for his glory and for our good. If he left us alone, we would
all become raving maniacs. What did Peter learn from this? I want you to turn with me to
1 Peter. I want to show you some things.
1 Peter. We'll look at 1 Peter chapter
one. Well, what did he say? He said,
Peter, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you
like wheat. But I've prayed for thee, and
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Who wrote 1 Peter
and 2 Peter? Peter did. Now we know he wrote
it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, because it says
in 2 Timothy, all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
and for instruction in righteousness. Here in verse five, what I did
was just went through 1 and 2 Peter, and just said, I wanted to say,
what did God teach Peter? I know Peter wrote by inspiration,
but he also wrote from experience. Does he know something about
the grace of God? Does this man know something
about the mercy of God? Does this man know something
about the forgiveness of sin? How does he know that? He's been
taught this. In verse five, But 1 Peter 1,
who are kept by the power of God. How are we kept? How did he know this? God taught
him this. He didn't keep himself. He said,
Lord, everybody else may leave. Oh, not me, Lord. He said, we
are kept. by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. Verse 24, same
chapter. What else did Peter learn? And
how does this strengthen his people? What are we to learn?
What am I to glean from this tonight? All flesh is as grass,
and all the glory of men as the flower of grass. What does that
say? Your flesh is nothing but flesh. It's just grass. That's what it is. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh and will never be nothing but
flesh. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Look in 1 Peter chapter two,
don't you see this in verse seven? Don't you see this? And to you
therefore which believe, he is precious. Did Peter learn this? to you
that believe. He is precious. Then verse 11 of chapter two. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims, I beseech you gathered here tonight in
Danville, Kentucky, I beseech you as strangers in pilgrims,
abstain from fleshy lust, which war against the soul. Is that not what we just read?
Is that not what we just talked about? The fleshy lust. Like I said, every man is tempted
when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. You know why
Peter did what he did? He was after protecting Peter.
That's right, because that's protecting flesh, which wars
against the soul. Then verse 22, I mean verse 24
of chapter two, who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. that we being dead to sins should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes you are healed. For you were a sheep going astray. but are now returned. Is that
not how Peter was? He's returned. He's been converted. He's been brought back to the
shepherd and bishop of his soul. He loves every one of his sheep. He protects all of his sheep.
He feeds them. He leads them. He guides them.
He cares for them. And when they wonder, you know
what he does? He goes and picks them up and puts them on his
shoulders and he carries them. That's what he's saying right
here. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and he's
put them away. How can God forgive you of your
sins? Because he has to put them away. If he's put them away,
they're forgiven, they're gone, they're no more. 1 Peter 3, verse 12. For the eyes
of the Lord are over the righteous. Is that not what our Lord did
when he turned and looked at Peter? But the eyes of the Lord
are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. Peter's fall is recorded, but
we don't know what happened when Peter went in his closet. He
said he went out and wept bitterly. Can you imagine how this man
pours out his heart before God? How in the world could I do such
a thing? His ears are open unto their
prayers. Why does God hear your prayers?
But the face of the Lord is against him that do evil. Verse 18, 1 Peter 3. For Christ
also has once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust. that he might bring us to God. Has God taught this man something?
He's taught him something. He's taught him. And now he teaches us from these
words, this man that fell so miserably. For Christ who once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by
the Spirit. He died the just for the unjust. Chapter four, verse eight. And above all things, have charity,
have fervent charity among yourselves. For charity shall cover the multitude
of sins. What about Peter's sin? Did our
Lord put it away? He put it away. Charity shall
cover a multitude of sins. Are you a sinner this evening?
Do you struggle with sin? War against your soul? His love
and His mercy shall cover a multitude of sins. Verse 12 of chapter four. You see this. Beloved, think
it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. Are any of you going through
a trial? A fiery trial? As though some strange thing
happened unto you? But rejoice, inasmuch as you
are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. If you be reproached
for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody
in other man's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. Verse 17, for the time has come
that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first
begin with us, what shall the end be of those who obey not
the gospel of God? and if the righteous scarcely
be saved. Now that's not saying that they're
just barely gonna make it through, that they're just gonna make
it through by the skin of their teeth. That means that the righteous
are saved with great difficulty. The kingdom of God suffereth
violence and the violent take it by force. If the righteous
scarcely be saved, well where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear? Wherefore, let him that suffer according to the will
of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well-doing
as unto a faithful creator. Now verse two of chapter five. Peter says, feed the flock of
God. You remember what our Lord told
Peter when they were sitting there by the Sea of Galilee?
And he says now, he says, Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you
love me? He's not so arrogant now, is
he? He said, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you. He said, well, Peter, if you
love me, feed my sheep. Peter, if you love me, feed my
lambs. And what does he say here? Feed
the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but
being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourselves unto the elders. I want you to see this. I want
you to see this. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud and he gives grace. Does he know anything about being
proud? Does he know something about being broken? Does he know something about
humility? You think about this. Everybody knew what Peter did.
Can you imagine when Peter has to face, when he faces all the
other disciples? They know what he did. We know
what he did. Everybody knows what he did.
It's not here, this thing was not done in a corner. Everybody
knows. How's he gonna deal with this? The way you deal with things,
it's by grace. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Brothers and sisters, cast all
your care upon him, for he careth for you. Verse eight, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. Did Peter know anything about
that roaring lion? Yes, he did. Be sober, be vigilant. We have an adversary who walks
about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The only reason God's sheep are
kept is because our shepherd keeps them. whom resist, verse nine, steadfast
in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all
grace, who hath called you into his eternal glory by Jesus Christ,
after that you have suffered a while, after that he's put
you in the sieve and has sifted you, that's what he's saying,
after you've suffered a while, why does God allow these things
to happen? And he tells us, to make you
perfect. To establish. And what's that
next word? Strengthen. And to settle you. What does it say in James chapter
one? If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives
to all men liberally and he upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. A man that wavereth is like a
wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. He's a double-minded
man. Let not that man think he shall
receive anything of the Lord. He wants the opposite of a double-minded
man, a man that's established, and he's fixed, and he's settled. Who did the settling? He did.
He made you perfect, mature, established, strengthened, settled
you. God in his grace brought Peter
through all that and taught him humility, taught him meekness,
taught him grace, taught him forgiveness. Let me give you
a few more just in 2 Peter. He said in 2 Peter 1, verse 13,
and we'll be through. He said, I think it meet, as
long as I am in this tabernacle, this body of flesh, to stir you
up by putting you in remembrance of those things. He said in verse 19 of chapter
two, while they promised them liberty, they themselves are
the servants of corruption. For of whom a man is overcome,
the same is brought. into bondage. You can only imagine
what was going on in Peter's mind. What in the world have
I done? He denies once, twice, and then
when he, God awakens his sleeping conscience and he's standing
there and it finally comes to him and he realizes what in the
world have I done? For whom a man is overcome, the
same is brought into bondage. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but he's long-suffering to usward, not willing that any of the usward
should perish, but that they all should come to repentance. Did God bring Peter to repentance?
Oh yeah. Did he repent? Oh yeah. He worked
repentance in his heart. Repentance. Faith and repentance. You can't have one without the
other. Where there's faith, there's gonna be repentance. And where
there's repentance is faith. What did God do when he sifted
him? He tried his faith. Faith is not our savior. It's
the object of our faith. Verse 15, 2 Peter 3, an account
that the long-suffering of our God is salvation. Last verse, 2 Peter 3, 17. You
therefore, beloved, seeing that you know these things before,
beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfast. Isn't that pretty sobering? Ye
therefore, beloved, seeing that you know these things. I've not
told you anything new this evening, not anything new. Beware, lest
you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall
from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory
both now and forever. Amen. When you are converted, strengthen
your brethren. I remember when David was chased
by King Saul. He's hunted like a dog. Every,
every day Saul's on his tail. Saul, Saul hates him. Saul despises
him. And Jonathan and David are such
dear friends. And it says one day, Jonathan
came out and he strengthened David's hand in the Lord. He
said, how did he do that? He said, David, one day you're
going to be king. God's chosen you and God's going
to put you on the throne. Let me tell you something, child
of God, everything's going to be okay. He won't leave you alone. You may fall. You may fall. It's
not if, it's just when. It's not if you sin, it's just
when. But He will recover you. He will bring you back. And He
will show you mercy. And His love will cover a multitude
of sins. He died the just for the unjust. To put away our sins. Grow in
grace. Grow in grace. God enabled us
to grow in grace. Well, how are we gonna grow in
grace? Well, he's gonna let the evil of your heart, and you're
gonna see it, and you're gonna be so broken, and you go, say,
surely this ain't the way he does it. That's how he does it. Isn't it? To teach us to do what? to look to Him and not to our
self, we're nothings. Amen.