Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Three elderly ladies were discussing the trials of getting older.
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One said,
“Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand, standing in front of the refrigerator, and I can’t remember if I need to put it away or start making a sandwich.”
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The second lady chimed in,
“Yes, sometimes I find myself on the landing of the stairs and can’t remember whether I was going up or down.”
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“Well,” the third one said,
“I’m glad I don’t have that problem -- knock on wood.”
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As she rapped her knuckles on the table she added,
“That must be the door.
I’ll get it!”
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Whether it is our memory, our health, our finances, our relationships, our school or work situation, or whatever, we all face various struggles in life.
Sometimes when things go badly, those trials can test our faith.
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Today, we will look at the testing of the faith of one of the twelve disciples...
Today, we will look at the event in which Jesus foretold that Peter’s faith would be shaken.
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 22 and focus on verses 31 through 34.
Our message this morning is titled “Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial.”
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As you are turning to our passage today, please keep in mind this fact:
The crucifixion is quickly approaching...
And we are seeing that as the cross comes into vision, Satan is particularly active in those closest to Jesus...
Specifically, the twelve disciples.
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Satan earlier entered Judas to help betray Jesus...
Here Jesus informs Peter that Satan has set his sights on him and the rest of the apostles.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Prayer
2) The False Confidence
And...
3) The Denial
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
We need You desperately...
Every moment in this life is a moment where we need Your mercy...
Where we need Your grace...
Where we need Your love.
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Thank You, precious Heavenly Father, for Your long suffering and patience...
Thank You for Your myriad of gifts that You flood us with...
Thank You for Your perfect and unchanging plan of salvation.
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Forgive us of our sins...
The sins we commit daily...
The sins we commit knowingly...
And the sins we commit unknowingly.
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And it is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Prayer
1) The Prayer
Verses 31-32: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Beloved, I would first like to point out the repetition of Peter’s name at the very beginning of our passage...
A lot is happening here...
For instance, the double repetition of the name implies an earnest and somber tone of warning from Jesus...
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Additionally, notice how even though Christ Himself had given Simon the name Peter...
Here Jesus reverted to using his old name of Simon...
This may have been done to intensify Christ’s rebuke about Peter’s fleshly overconfidence that we are about to witness.
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Furthermore, the context also suggests that Peter may have been one of the more vocal participants in the dispute over of who of the twelve is the greatest that we covered last Sunday when we examined Luke 22:24-30, which says:
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials,
29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
So, following the disciples’ dispute over which of them is the greatest, Jesus turns to their spokesman, Peter...
Again, Peter might have been bragging the loudest...
And Jesus choose this time to humble him and predict his failure that was very soon to take place.
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Now, the pronoun “you” used in our passage when Jesus says, “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,” is plural in these two instances...
Thus, this indicates that all the disciples are in view here and not just Peter, even though Jesus is talking directly to him.
As Matthew 26:31 says:
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
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So, we can see how Satan has asked permission to trouble all the disciples.
You see Beloved, Satan has no power to act outside the area God allows him.
He may be our enemy but has to answer to God!
As the Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke says:
“Direct discourse with Peter signifies the danger at hand.
Satan ‘asks’ to ‘sift’ the disciples.
The Greek word for ‘ask,’ exaitein, occurs only here in the Greek Bible, meaning ‘to demand, to ask as though one has a right to do so.’
This is the way Satan approaches God with respect to Job and is thus reminiscent of Satan’s demand to test Job.”
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Therefore, Beloved, let us consider what is recorded in Job 1:6–12 as there is many similarities to our passage:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Thus, although Satan continually assaults believers, he can operate only within the parameters and limitations established by God...
Hence, the Devil always needs God’s permission to attack any follower of Christ.
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Furthermore, look with me at Job 2:1–6, which says:
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
3 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
So, just as in Job’s case, God allowed Satan this liberty, but always within bounds...
The Evil One has no free and unlimited right to act against the faithful...
He must always submit to the overruling and permissive authority of the Lord...
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Beloved, as you are afflicted...
As you endure spiritual warfare...
As you are challenged and feel stretched beyond your limits...
Know this, the Lord has a purpose for it...
If you are His, then all hardships and trials act as tools that mold you to be stronger...
They mold you to be more mature in the faith...
They mold you to be more like Christ!
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Now, Jesus says, Satan wants to “sift you like wheat”...
He wants to shake the faith of Peter and the rest of the disciples...
As theologian Darrell L. Bock says:
“Using an agricultural figure, Jesus says that Satan has asked to sift Peter like wheat.
The picture is of grain in a sieve, where the head of grain is taken apart.
Our English idiom of ‘picking someone to pieces’ or ‘taking someone apart’ has similar emotive force.
Satan would like to bring Peter to ruin and leave him in pieces, exposing his lack of faithfulness.
This leader of the Twelve is a prime target, and Jesus knows it.
The warning should make Peter alert.”
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Now, Beloved, take a look at the pronoun “your” used in our passage when Jesus says, “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail”...
That word is singular...
Thus, although it is clear that Jesus prayed for all of the disciples as seen in passages like John 17...
Jesus personally assured Peter of His prayers and of Peter’s ultimate victory...
He even encouraged Peter to be an encourager to the others disciples.
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Although, Peter himself failed miserably, his faith was never overthrown.
At the end of the day, Peter would soon hit at an all-time low...
However, Jesus assures Peter that his faith will not utterly fail...
Jesus assures Peter that his turning again is a certainty and not a mere possibility...
This is true since Peter’s restored faith would not be due to his own accomplishment...
Instead, it was a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in response to Jesus’ prayer for him.
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Beloved, Peter may not have appreciated Jesus warning that at the moment...
And he may not have understood the need for Jesus’s prayer for him..
But when he would soon hit rock bottom...
He would remember the words and prayer of his Lord.
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As the Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Luke says:
“The verbal phrase ‘may not fail’ probably means ‘may not give out’ or ‘may not disappear completely’ (as the sun in a total eclipse).
If this is correct, then Jesus’ prayer was certainly answered.
Peter’s denial, though serious and symptomatic of a low level of faith, did not mean that he had ceased, within himself, to believe in the Lord.”
So, Peter will “be knocked down, but not knocked out” as 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 says:
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies.
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Next, Jesus says, “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Wow!
So, Peter would fail horribly...
And Jesus assures not only would he turn back and be faithful...
He would also be given the responsibility to strengthen his fellow disciples...
Wow!
That is incredible, Beloved!
It adds so much weight to what Peter would say in his own epistle as recorded in 1 Peter 5:8:
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
These words come from a man who has been bested by the devil...
But only for a time...
For by Jesus’s prayers he would not stay down.
As 2 Timothy 4:17–18 says:
17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Now, the Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke has another great note for us to consider:
“‘Turning back’ should be understood as Peter’s repentance, turning away from his denial, and his rehabilitation by Jesus.
Verse 32 invests Peter with dominical authority not to command but to serve and strengthen the apostolic college as ‘first among equals’ and ‘pillar,’ as the chief apostolic authority in the early Jewish Christian community and beyond.
Peter is the prime example of the ministry of strengthening in faith that characterizes God, Christ, Paul, Timothy, and the church in general in the New Testament.
How instructive that the one ordained to strengthen Jesus’ followers will not be strong and invincible, but weak and fallen.
Usefulness in the kingdom, even leadership in the church, does not depend on perfection but on a journey inward and a journey outward, on (re)turning to Jesus and on strengthening the faithful.”
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Beloved, just as Jesus prayers for His true disciples, so He prayers for all His follows...
Just look at the high priestly prayer in John 17:9-20:
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
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So, what does Peter have to say to this warning that Christ is giving him?
Well, take a look with me at our next point for his reply.
2) The False Confidence
2) The False Confidence
Verse 33: Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
So...
Jesus just told Peter that he would fail Him...
Jesus tells Peter that He is praying for him...
And that he will be restored and will encourage others...
And to all this Peter said....no!
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The Lord of Lords and King of Kings told Peter what was going to happen...
Jesus was perfect in every way and everything He said that would happen eventually happens just like He said it would...
Yet Peter’s pride and arrogance shows up big time here...
And he claims that Jesus must be wrong...
For he can’t fathom that he would do anything to fail Christ.
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Peter was convinced that he was ready for any challenge or trail that would befall him...
Jesus even earlier admonished disciples to be “ready” in Luke 12:40, which says:
40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Indeed, in God’s providence and in the future, Peter will be both imprisoned and martyred for Jesus.
However, at the present moment in our narrative, Peter is ready for neither.
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Peter even boldly boasts this in Matthew 26:33, which says:
33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”
Peter is confident...
There is no denying that...
Peter is also being sincere...
He truly believes what he is saying...
Yet Peter is sincerely wrong...
As Proverbs 16:18 says:
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Although Peter’s fall will not be a total fall...
Although his fall will not be like Judas’s fall...
He will fail and ignore Jesus’s clear warning due to a high view of himself and his own abilities.
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In response to Peter’s words, Jesus will bring more clarity and reveal exactly how Peter will fail Him...
And that takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Denial
3) The Denial
Verse 34: Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Those words must have crushed Peter...
He claims that he would follow Jesus to prison or death...
But Jesus said that Peter would be so filled with fear that he will deny even knowing Him not just once...
Not just twice...
But three times, Beloved!
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As scholar James R. Edwards says:
“The same Peter who in the comfort of the Last Supper vows readiness to go with Jesus to prison and death will, in the crucible of Caiaphas’s courtyard, swear with equal vigor that he never knew Jesus.
The grace of God comes in many forms, in this instance in Jesus’ refraining from berating Peter for shameless bluster.
Jesus mercifully allows the crowing [rooster] to convict Peter of his folly.”
Thus, Jesus warns Peter very expressly that he will not remain firm...
Jesus warns Peter that he, in a moment of weakness, will deny Him...
And Peter will not deny him once but repeatedly.
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Jesus also reveals that this will not happen in the distant future, but during that very night...
Before daybreak.
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That is exactly what happened, Beloved...
As recorded in Matthew 26:69–75, which says:
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”
71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”
73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”
74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.
75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Now, Beloved...
Do not fly by this passage so quickly.
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Pause with me at the very end of that passage...
Look at what Matthew wrote...
“And he (Peter) went out and wept bitterly.”
That bitter weeping was a sign of Peter’s genuine repentance...
With the roosters crow he instantly understood that how prideful he was is claiming he would follow Jesus to prison or jail...
When the situation became real, Peter folded...
But Peter saw his sin...
And Peter truly wept over it.
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It was a very hard and necessary lesson for Peter...
But God would not leave him down on the ground...
Like when Peter started to sink in the water do to his lack of faith, Jesus would rescue him...
Jesus would restore Peter...
Reversing the three times Peter denied Him with with three questions...
All the same...
“Do you love me?”
Just look at what is recorded in John 21:15-19, which says:
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
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Beloved, none of us are perfect...
We may not fall away like Judas...
But we will stumble...
And when we do, we must remember the Lord we serve...
He is just and merciful...
So, weep over your sin...
And turn to Him...
For He will no reject His own.
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Beloved, as a child of God, He has loved you from before the foundation of the world...
And He will continue to love you even when He picks you up and dusts you off...
For our Lord and Savior is praying for you and me and interceding on our behalf.
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So, as we near the end of our study, I would like you to consider this note that acts as a summary of our passage...
As the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“While Satan has requested permission to test Peter and the others, Jesus has interceded for him, that Peter’s faith may not fail.
This does not mean that Peter will never fail, but that whatever failure he has will be temporary.
It is clear that failure here means ultimate, total failure, that is, a total renunciation of Jesus.
Peter will not fall away completely, since Jesus goes on to note that, when Peter turns back from his failure, he is to strengthen the brothers.
This turning refers to coming back to faith—or better faithfulness—since Peter will deny Jesus, only to regret his action afterward.
Peter’s failure will be a failure of nerve, not a heart denial of Jesus.
The remark is a note of reconciliation before the fact and pictures how God offers total forgiveness.
He knows our failure and still extends his hand graciously to the believer who trusts him.”
In the story of Peter’s fatal self-confidence and pitiable fall every believer has a permanent and powerful warning never to rely arrogantly on his or her own strength.
A healthy confidence is indeed necessary to every Christian, but this must be in the sense of reliance on God...
Faith, not in our own resources, but in the power given to us by Him.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
Peter missed three opportunities to take a stand for Jesus...
Instead of sharing the truth about Christ...
Peter denied Him three times.
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So, we have to ask ourselves...
How many opportunities have we missed to share about Christ due to our fear?
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Penn the magician and comedian who is one half of the comedy duo Penn & Teller is an atheist.
But Penn has a clip on YouTube where he tells about a man who talked to him after a show last year.
This businessman had been to the show the night before, and he came back, not to see the show again, but to see Penn after the show and give him a Gideon New Testament.
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The man told Penn,
“I wrote in the front of it And I want you to have this.
I am kind of proselytizing.”
(We would usually say “witnessing” or “evangelizing.”)
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As Penn talked about that encounter, he was obviously moved and said,
“He looked me right in the eye, and it was really wonderful.
I believe he knew that I was an atheist, but he was not defensive.
And he looked me right in the eyes and he was truly complimentary and kind and nice and sane.
And then gave me this Bible.
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If you believe that’s there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever.
And you think that well it’s not really worth telling this because it would be socially awkward.
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How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize them?
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How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?
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I mean if I believed beyond the shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you.
There is a certain point where I tackle you, and this is more important than that.
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This guy was a really good guy.
He was polite and honest and sane.
And he cared enough about me to proselytize and give me a Bible, which had written in it a little note to me and then like five phone numbers and an email address, if I wanted to get in touch with him.”
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Beloved, do we love God enough to tell other of Him...
Peter’s situation was extreme...
His life was on the line...
But he was still wrong to deny Christ.
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When we are afraid to evangelize are we not acting in a way like Peter during his moment of weakness...
Are we not seeking to protect our reputation?
Or our job?
Or our relationships?
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However, if we are not ashamed of Christ...
Then we need to tell others about Christ and Christ crucified!
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in, you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and the juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand, and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider 1 Corinthians 11:26, which says:
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
As found in the article titled, “Evangelized by the Lord's Supper?” by Eric Watkins, he says:
The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that “as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
There is no question that the Lord’s Supper proclaims the gospel to the saints.
It visibly reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross by which he has reconciled us to God.
It points us ahead to the heavenly reception that awaits all true believers, when we shall see Him face-to-face and dine with him at the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”
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The Lord’s Supper also reminds us that while we live between the first and second advents of Christ, He is with us by His Spirit.
He is spiritually present, even during the administration of the Lord’s Supper, to comfort and strengthen our souls as only He can truly do.
Christ is really and truly present, not by changing the substance of the elements, but by the work of his Holy Spirit.
But in what way does the Lord’s Supper minister to unbelievers who happen to be with us in church?
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For years I have been perplexed by the attitude that suggests that the Lord’s Supper has no evangelistic benefit.
I would like to suggest the exact opposite—that the Lord’s Supper is profoundly evangelistic, and that it is a wonderful thing for non-Christians to see, even if they cannot yet participate.
I will illustrate this with a true story from our church.
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A young man began visiting our church as a skeptic.
He had many doubts but was interested in learning.
It was a wonderful privilege to be able to befriend and talk with him.
We agreed to study the gospel of John together.
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For about a year this young man and I read and discussed the gospel of John.
At the end of that time, he still was not ready to make a profession of faith.
I was admittedly disappointed.
But he continued to come to church.
I was happily surprised.
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One Sunday after the Lord’s Supper, he came up to me with tears in his eyes and said,
“I think I’ve become a Christian and I want to profess my faith.”
Shocked and elated, I asked him what had sparked the change.
His answer was the Lord’s Supper.
Every time he was there, the table was fenced, and he knew he was not ready to partake.
He was reminded that he was still not reconciled to God, and that he must be reconciled to God and profess his faith in Christ before coming to the table.
He was eager to do so, and made a wonderful profession.
The Lord’s death had been visibly “proclaimed” to the evangelistic benefit of his soul.
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However often our churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper, let us not see it as a hindrance to our unbelieving friends, but a loving, visible reminder of their need to profess Christ, and then to join us as we “taste and see that the Lord is good.”
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom, will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian, will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that, we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way:
Overcome their unbelief...
Shatter their walls around their hearts...
Rip up the vile that keeps their eyes blind.
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You:
Help us to serve You better today than how we served You the day before...
Give us the right words to speak...
And the right heart to serve.
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’ name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
