Would you turn back to Luke,
chapter 22, verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon. I've entitled this message, Simon,
Simon. The Lord could see everything
that was going on in Simon Peter's heart before Peter could see
it. Peter did not realize what a
state of pride and self-sufficiency he was in. He had no idea. He thought he was going to be
zealous for the Lord. And he actually had said, although
the rest of this bunch denies you, I'll never do it. And the Lord looked at him, knowing
what was in his heart, and I can hear his voice, Simon, Simon. See, the Lord loved Peter. And
he knew what was getting ready to take place. And I can feel
his love in his voice and his compassion and his pity when
he says, Simon, Simon. I know what's getting ready to
happen. Simon, Simon, behold Satan. hath desired to have you. Now that means literally Satan
has asked permission to have you. You see, he can't make a
move without the permission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
you love that? That shows how glorious Christ is. The devil
can't make a move without first asking Christ whether he can
have permission. There is a being named Satan,
Lucifer, the devil, the accuser of the brethren. And he is called
the prince of this world. When you go to work tomorrow,
there's a prince running things. He's called the god of this world. He's called the ruler of darkness. He's called the prince of the
power of the air. He's called the tempter. And
he masquerades as an angel of light. and his ministers masquerade
as ministers of righteousness. He doesn't know infallibly who
the elect are, and he's always going to be at work where the
gospel is preached. He doesn't need to be at work
where the gospel is not preached, but he is always at work where
the gospel is preached, and you can be sure he'll be at work
here. You can be sure of it. Scary,
isn't it? Scary. You see, he doesn't know who
the elect are, and he will do all he can to fight against God,
and if he can beat you to stumble or fall away, he feels like he
has the victory. And he had had experience with
Peter before, didn't he? Do you remember when the Lord
said to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan? He was under the influence
of Satan at that time. He was telling the Lord, don't
go to the cross. And the Lord looked at him and said, get thee
behind me, Satan. For thou savest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. As mighty as Satan is, and he's
a mighty being, and me and you aren't any match for him. Even
the Archangel Michael said, the Lord will be with thee. He didn't
want to have anything to do with him, and I don't either. It scares
me when people start getting interested in things like demonology
and demons. Stay away from it. Stay away
from it. But as powerful as this being
is, He's God's devil on God's chain, doing God's will, fulfilling
God's purposes, and he can't make a move without the permission
of God. I'm so happy it's that way. Simon,
Simon, Satan has asked permission to take you and to sift you as
wheat. And we know that he did sift
Peter as wheat. None of us can stand before him. He goes about, the scripture
says, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And you know
that if he gets a hold of me or you, If God doesn't protect
us, he'll sift us just like he did Peter. You see, he's got
a lot to work with, with every one of us, doesn't he? He's got
a whole lot to work with. And as far as that goes, him
being the accuser of the brethren, what accusation can he make against
you before the Father that wouldn't be true? It'll all be true. Anything
he accused you of, anything he accused me of, it'll be true. Look what the Lord says in verse
32, but I have prayed for thee. Now he's asked permission to have
you that he may turn you inside out and sift you as wheat and
he did. I mean, Peter ended up denying
the Lord before a little maid with oaths and cursing and swearing
right in the Lord's presence. At one point, the Lord looked
at him while he was doing it. The Lord didn't say anything,
but he just looked at him. He turned him inside out just
the way he could easily deal with me or you. But the Lord
says, I have prayed for you. Now to have Christ praying for
you, do you need anything else? The Father always hears him.
He never prays for somebody and the Father says no to him. Whatever
he asks for, he gets. If he prays for me, if he prays
for my safety, if he prays that my faith fail not, You know what's
going to happen? My faith's not going to fail.
Not if he prays for me. I have prayed for thee. I love that scripture in John
chapter 17 verse 9 that lets us know of the effectiveness
of his prayers. He said in John chapter 17 verse
9, I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given
me. Everybody Christ prays for, they're
in good shape. I pray not for the world, not
for the unbelieving world, not for those who don't know me,
not for those who are not of the elect. I don't pray for any
of them. I pray for those whom you have given me. Now this is what is called the
intercession of Christ. I want to spend a couple of moments
on this. He says, Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail
not. This is called the intercession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now 1 Corinthians chapter 15
verse 3 says that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures. And that he was raised again
the third day according to the Scriptures. And he's talking
about the Old Testament Scriptures. And in the Old Testament Scriptures
there was a vital link between the priest offering up the sacrifice
slaying the sacrifice and then taking its blood and bring it
before God as the great high priest and intercessor of his
people. There is a connection between
the sacrifice and intercession that cannot be dissolved. The priest would go into the
Holy of Holies and present the blood to God and that would be
on his ephod. His tunic that he wore and his
shoulder plates. The names of the 12 tribes of
Israel. Every one of their names. He
represented every one of them. He didn't represent the world.
He didn't represent everybody. But he represented the 12 tribes
of Israel. And he came in to God's presence
with the blood. Sacrifice and intercession go
together. Let me show you this even in
the New Testament. Turn to Romans chapter 8, verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect It's God that justifieth, who is he that
condemneth. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Right this moment as I speak,
there's a man in glory with blood humping through his veins and
he is representing all of God's people. He's praying for them
as their representative and understand this, the ground of what he's
praying for is his own sacrifice, his own blood. You see, his blood,
his death demands the salvation of all God's people. He doesn't
say, oh, let them go again. Let them get by me this time
now. He stands there as the high priest with His blood and all
of God's people are accepted because of His intercession. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
2. That's why I'm safe right now.
That's the only reason I'm safe right now. Because He represents
me. And He's already put away my
sin. He's already presented that blood to God. I'm safe. Peter I prayed for you. Now, if you knew that the Lord
was praying for you, wouldn't you have full assurance? You
wouldn't need anything else, would you? If you knew that the
Lord brought your name before the Father, what else is needed?
1 Peter, or 1 John, chapter 2, verse 1. My little children,
these things write I unto you. that you sin not. You know, I'm thankful for that
passage of scripture. You know what it tells me? Sin is never
okay. Sin is never okay. There's no room for sin. We ought to make it our resolve
to never sin again. These things have I written unto
you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin, and that
word if is quite often translated when, because when I say, We
ought to make it to our resolve to never sin again, and sin's
never okay. You know as well as I do that
me and you will sin again, don't you? You know that. When you
do, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the
righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. Here's the reason
why he represents us. This is the reason we have this
advocate with the Father. We have one who propitiated. He removed God's reason for anger. That's what the word means. The
reason for anger is removed. God is appeased. And now we have
this advocate who has this propitiation that makes our salvation a necessity. The very justice of God demands
it. Now do you see how intercession
and his sacrifice are so closely linked together? Turn with me
to Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7 beginning in
verse 15. And it's yet far more evident
for by after the similitude of Melchizedek there arises another
priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is made not after the law
of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life. For he testified thou art a priest
forever, after the order of Melchizedek. For there is verily a disannelling
of the commandment gone before, for the weakness and the unprofitableness
thereof. For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did. By the which we draw
nigh unto God, and inasmuch as not without an oath he was made
priest. For those priests were made without
an oath, but this with an oath, by him that said unto him, The
Lord swear, and will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much Jesus was made a charity. of a better testament. I love
that word surety. That means he was a guarantee.
He was a guarantee for the salvation of everyone he represented. Now
let's go on reading. Verse 23. And they truly were
many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. Now, he's offered up this sacrifice,
and now he comes into God's presence as the great intercessor of his
people, representing every one of his people. If you're a believer,
his name is on your heart right now. He's representing you before
the Father. He always sees you. He always delights in you. He
always represents you before the Father. And He is able, I
love this word, He's able to save them to what? To the uttermost. How saved am I? I can't get any
more saved than I am. How holy am I? I can't get any
more holy than I am. How pleasing to God am I? I can't
be any more pleasing to God than I am. Nearer, so nearer to God,
nearer I cannot be. For in the person of His dear
Son, I'm as near to God as He. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of His dear
Son, I'm as dear to God as He. You see, I come to God by Christ. What's that mean? That means
I'm in Him. And that means when He comes
to God, I do too. When He says, I am the way, the
truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me, that
doesn't mean we come to the Father behind Him, or beside Him, or
pleading Him. It's not real what that's talking
about. That means if I'm in Him when He comes to the Father,
I do too because I'm in Him. And He is able to save them to
the uttermost that come to God by Him, the ground of Christ's
prayer as our great intercessor is His sacrifice. So when He
prays for us, He's not saying, oh, let Him get by again. I know
He messed up again. No, not at all. The ground of
His prayer is His sacrifice. Justice demands this man's salvation,
this woman's salvation. I died for Him. They're perfectly
righteous in your sight. They're complete. That's the
way he intercedes. Isn't it glorious to have him
as our intercessor? Now I think of his prayer from
the cross. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And
everybody that he prayed for was forgiven. That wasn't a generic
prayer. Remember that Roman centurion
who was presiding over his death? He ended up saying, surely this
man was the Son of God. You see, Christ forgave him,
and he gave him faith, and he believed. Everybody Christ prays
for must be saved. Peter, I have prayed for you. But notice what it was he prayed.
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. He didn't say I prayed
for you that the devil doesn't sift you as wheat. He did not
say I prayed for you that you might not fall. Actually, Peter's
fall was needed. It ended up being for his good. It knocked the starch out of
him, made him look to Christ only. He said, I prayed for you
that your faith fail not. Now he did fail. And he did fail
mightily, denying that he knew the Lord. Denying the Lord's
name before men. And remember the Lord said, he
that confesses me not before men, I will confess him before
my Father which is in heaven. Well, when Peter remembered that
and he thought, well, he's not going to confess me. It's over
for me. I don't have any doubt that Peter
thought he wasn't a believer anymore. He never was one in
the first place. Remember in Mark chapter 16, when Christ
had arisen, he said, you go tell my disciples and Peter. You see, Peter didn't believe
he was a disciple anymore. Peter thought he'd been cut off.
Peter thought he'd sinned away the day of grace. Peter was in
bad shape. He didn't know what to think
about himself. As a matter of fact, he thought it was over
for him to this extent. He said, I'm going back to being
a fisherman. I'm going to fishing. That doesn't mean he was just
going to go fishing. That means I'm going back to the way things
used to be. That's what I'm going to do. And some of the disciples
followed him. Peter was a mess. I have prayed
for you that your faith fail not. Now there are types of faith. that fail. You may really believe. You hear
and you say, well, I believe. I believe. But there are types
of faith that fail. It's said of the stony ground
here and the thorn-choked here that they believed for a while. For a while. Faith that does
not persevere. is not saving faith, but faith
that fails. And I got to thinking about this.
How many hundreds of people have come and gone over the years? Hundreds, hundreds, literally
hundreds. How many people have come and
gone over the years? But he says to Peter, I'm praying
for you that your faith fail not, Peter may fail everywhere
else, but here's a place he won't fail for this reason. Because
Christ said, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. Actually, after this fall, all
Peter was left with was faith. He didn't believe he was saved.
He didn't believe he was one of the elect. He didn't believe
Christ died for him. He thought he was going to reprobate.
He thought he'd send away the day of grace. He thought it was
over for him. That's the way he felt. I know
what it feels like to feel that way. He felt like he'd been cut
off. That's why the Lord said, you
make sure you tell Peter because Peter won't believe he's one
of my disciples. You make sure you tell Peter. Peter believed. I dare say that Peter believed
that he was not saved. But you know what? There's not
a day that goes by in my experience at some point when I say, I can't
be saved. Would I do that if I was saved?
Would I think that if I was saved? Would I be that way if I was
saved? I understand Peter feeling this way. I mean, look what he
did. But you know something, Peter never stopped doing. He might not have thought he
was saved. But he never stopped believing that Jesus was the
Christ. He never stopped believing that
Jesus was the Son of God. Now, listen real carefully. Faith
is not believing you're saved. Faith is not believing that Jesus
Christ died for your sins. Faith is not believing you're
one of the elect. Faith is not believing that you've
been born from above. Faith is not thinking you're
a Christian because fill in the blank. Some way you are or some
way you're not. Faith is believing that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God, the eternal, uncreated Son of God,
the second person of the Blessed Trinity. Faith is believing that
He is the Christ. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ, is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? Do you believe that he's God's prophet? Do you believe
he's God's priest? Do you believe he's God's king?
When scripture says you're born of God, if you do. I love what
that Ethiopian eunuch, he goes, here's water, he'd heard Philip
preached the gospel and said, here's water. What hinders me
from being baptized? If you believe with all your
heart, you may. And he said, I believe. And I
love what he didn't say. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved. He didn't say, I believe Christ died for me. He didn't
say, I believe I'm regenerate. He didn't say, I believe I'm
one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe I'm a Christian. He
said, I believe. that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. And he went down into the water.
That's what faith is. Faith looks holy to him. It doesn't have anything to do
with what you think about yourself. Peter had all kinds of conflicting
thoughts about himself, but he believed that Jesus was the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And do you believe that Jesus
is the Christ. Do you believe that he is able
to save you without any help from you? Now that's what Peter
believed. Now he wasn't too sure about
himself but he was still sure about Christ. That's what faith is. Faith has
nothing to do with what you think about yourself. Every time you
look within It's going to go wrong. I can guarantee you that.
You look within, you're not going to find anything to be encouraged
about. You look to Christ. There's nothing but anything
to be encouraged about in Him. Now, Peter had all kinds of doubts
about himself and misgivings, but he still believed that Jesus
was the Christ. All he was left with was saving
faith. Peter, I prayed for you. that
your faith fail not. Now, when you come even to a
human being for forgiveness, you come to him as a sovereign.
What do you mean by that? If you come to me and say, you
ought to forgive me. You ought to forgive me. I mean,
that's what Christians do. You ought to forgive me. You ought
to do this for me. No. No. You come to me like that,
and I'm going to say, come back some other way. I'm not dealing
with that. You come if it's your will, if
you can find it in your heart. You don't have to. Whatever you
do is right. If you can find it in your heart,
would you please forgive me? Now that's the way we come to
the Lord. Peter fell, fell so grievously,
he thought it was over for him. He came just like that leopard
did. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now you only come
to God as a sovereign. It's up to him as to whether
or not you'll be saved or forgiven. Now this faith, that doesn't look to yourself,
but you look to him, and you know that everything is in his
hand. It's up to him as to what's going to happen to you. That's the faith that never fails. Do you know everybody who comes
to Christ is received by Christ? Because they come just like that
leopard did. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, all
Peter had at this time was Christ. Is it ever any different than
that? Now I can say with such conviction
right now, I'm believing it with all my heart, all I have is Christ. But what else would you want?
What else could you buy? What could you add to that? Your
works? Your sincerity? Your understanding? No. Christ is all. Now Peter, while he was left
with nothing but Christ, he still had everything, didn't
he? He still had everything. Now look what he says next. Back
to our text in Luke chapter 22. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan has asked permission 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 from this
horrible position of pride that you're in. from this arrogant
state of thinking, all these other fellows might deny you,
but I won't do it. This pedestal you put yourself
on. Now, he didn't know he put himself on a pedestal, but he
did. And the Lord says, when you're converted. Now, understand,
this conversion, Peter was already saved. But he needed to be converted.
You know, I need to be converted every day. I need to be turned
every day, don't you? I think of David saying, Turn
us again, O Lord, cause thy face to shine, and we'll be saved.
I need to turn, and I know I need to be turned. Turn me, Lord,
and I'll be turned. Now, that's the cry, but when
you're turned, that's all converted means. You're in this corrupt
way of thinking. You're in this corrupt attitude
when you're turned. Oh, I need to be turned, don't
you? Lord, turn me. Turn me. Don't let me go in my
own direction. The worst thing that could happen
to me is for him to let me go in my own direction. Turn me.
Turn me and I'll be turned. When you're converted, and I
need turned constantly, don't you? Constantly. I really, I need his preserving
grace to turn me constantly. When you are converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Now, when he was converted, He
was going to be turned from the posture of the Pharisee to the
posture of the publican. You know, he was in the state
of the Pharisee, wasn't he, when he said, these other guys might
do it, but not me. That's the same way as the Pharisee. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. I'm giving you the credit that
I'm not as other men are. And when he's turned, he's gonna
be just like that publican in the temple. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Now, when you're turned, strengthen
thy brethren. Not put yourself above them,
not think that somehow you're better than them, but strengthen
thy brethren. Now turn with me to John chapter
13. This is John's account of this. Verse 36, Simon Peter said unto him, Lord,
whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, whether I
go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee
now? I lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, wilt
thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled. Does it really say that? Yes,
it does. The chapteral division was put
there by a man, and that's not a very good chapteral division.
You're going to deny that you know me. three times, let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God? Believe also in me. Do you believe God is able to
save? Believe also in me. Do you believe God is omnipotent?
Believe also in me. Do you believe God can turn you?
Believe also in me. Now, in the very announcement
of his denial, and oh, Peter's going to go out and weep bitterly.
He's going to be so troubled that he's done something like
this. Yet the Lord said, let not your heart be troubled. Now
how could the Lord say that? Because he was going to the cross
to put away Peter's sins and they were going to be all blotted
out. You're going to deny you know
me three times. Let not your heart be troubled
because you see I'm the savior of sinners. Yes,
you're a sinner. I'm the savior of sinners. Let
not your heart be troubled. Now, while I'm saying that, I'm
thinking, I can't believe you're saying that. Really? Lord said it, didn't he? Lord
said it. And I want to take him in his
word. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
intercession of our great Redeemer who represents us before your
throne with his own precious blood and causes us to be saved
to the uttermost because he ever liveth to make intercession for
us. How we thank you for his sacrifice. Lord, we pray that
we might be hedged about, that we might be kept from sin, that
we might be kept from falling the way Peter did. Lord, cause
us to stay low. Cause us to always see ourselves
as completely dependent upon your grace and upon the precious
blood of your Son. But Lord, how we thank you for
the prayers of our great high priest. Lord, he's altogether
lovely, and we give thanks for him. As we observe thy table,
Lord, enable us to do this in remembrance of thee. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.