Sifting You As Wheat

Sifting You As Wheat

First, We need to know what we are supposed to be.

-Set up for victory, spiritual success, & over comers.

We have a certain kind of life set up for victory, spiritual success. We are to be over comers. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. When you start down this path, there will be obstacles. These obstacles are the world, the flesh, and the devil. We need to learn how to have victory over each.

I. -What is going on around you, right now?

a.The context of this scripture, there is a flood of physical and spiritual things happening. What about the context of your life?

-Just in Ch 22,

vs3 -Satan enters Judas. Judas agrees to betray Jesus.

vs13- they went and found the man just as Jesus said, who had the upper room for Passover.

vs15 - They sit down with Jesus and celebrate Passover and Jesus begins to tell themHe will not be with them much longer.

vs19 - Jesus sets up the Lord’s Supper

vs21 - Jesus predicts His betrayer.

vs24 -They argue over who is the greatest and Jesus lines them out as how they are to serve.

vs35 -Jesus tells them things are about to change. They will have to begin meeting their own needs and to prepare for conflict.

vs39 -the Gethsemane scene

vs47 - Judas betrays Jesus with a Kiss and more….

-Our lives may not be packed full of these kinds of events. Yet, they may be at some point. We will not walk with Christ this way, but we do walk and live with the Holy Spirit

-Recognize the potential complexity life can dish out. Add spiritual aspect and the possibilities are endless. As to what is going on around you, right now?

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b.It could be easy to assume that Peter was overwhelmed or oblivious by all that was going on around him.

-To pop off and say, “that he will not fall away” just shows that he wasn't aware of what all was really going on around him.

-vs31, Jesus tells him that Satan is asking for him.

-Today, we have the luxury to armchair quarterbacking Peter. Peter was at a pivotal point maybe his weakest point. We should recognize even at our strongest we can be sifted.

-We may not have the privilege of knowing all the spiritual battles happening around and in us.

-We cant get caught up viewing live events as luck, coincidence, karma, etc…There is purpose to

our lives. We have been given purpose by Christ, and Satan has purposed to devour us and that same purpose given to us.

II -Why does Satan seek to sift us?

“…there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.”

-Satan may want to knock you down, damage or destroy your witness.

-To see someone walking in the Joy of the Lord, must drive him crazy.

“lest Satan should take advantage of us;…”

-here Paul is teaching about forgiving each other. Keeping unity.

-Satan will take advantage of our weakness and emotions to tear us apart.

“…,seeking whom he may devour.”

-Satan is looking to slander, devour, overwhelm believers with temptation, persecution, and discouragement. “He sows discord, accuses God to men, men to God and men to men.”

- He wants to destroy Christians.

-Similar to the fact that there are mean evil people out there. Who seek to do mean terrible things to people. People that they don't even know. Some have no agenda, they are just evil. Satan has a mind we cant comprehend. He has fallen from grace and seems to take as many souls with him as he can.

-Misery Loves Company

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-So many of us are at a pivotal point in our faith, if your surrendered or turning towards Christ

-We may be at the point where Satan is demanding to have us. In order to break us down.

-How quick our lives can turn upside down.

-They just had the Lord’s supper. Judas just left to betray Jesus. The Garden scene was to follow with Jesus’ arrest.

III. -We are not left alone to be tossed around sifted.

vs32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail,…”

-To know your not alone, is huge. Christ is praying for you. Remember His track record for answered prayers. We ask for others to pray for us and thats great, but no offense when I say, “I’m wanting my Lord to be praying for me” His prayers are as solid as it gets.

IV. -What’s next after we have been sifted?

vs32“…and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.”

-The thought of Satan asking for me, gives me uneasy mixed feelings.

There is the fearful part.

There is the bold zealous part.

-I’ve heard from others and said hundreds of times myself.

When warning people about Satan’s attacks.

-Especially when we are making changes towards serving Christ. Be aware Satan will come for you!

-Time after time you can sit back and watch brothers and sisters being sifted like wheat.

-I believe we write it off as bad luck, unfortunate happenings,etc…

-We are allowing a vale to be placed over our lives. Satan has masterfully hidden his deceit right under our noses. It seems we have no awareness of spiritual attacks from Satan or his demons.

-If we will ever recognize when we've been sifted, we can learn and be ready next time.

-After, this happens we need to share what we have learned.

-Christ told Peter to “strengthen your brethren”

Christians have a big problem sharing their failures and often times reaching out to those in their darkest times.

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-How much do we live out restoring our brethren? Paul tells us in his letters to restore.

-I believe that we would have a lot less restoration need if we would go “all in” with/strengthening part.

-Pastors falling deeply into sins. Pastors families falling and being torn apart from sin induced scandals. Deacons, teachers, etc..

If these brothers and sisters will return from their failures, as Peter did, seeking forgiveness/restoration from God lets take part in that restoration. They need to get back out their in some form

-If your that brother or sister who has miserably failed your Lord Jesus Christ, listen to His words at the end of vs 32 and “strengthen your brethren.”

Learn where you've gone wrong and never go back down that road. Then do your very best to help your brethren not to go down the failed roads you went down.

CLOSING

-In our scripture, Peter failed by denying our Lord. Satan hit him with fear and Peter failed.

Fear alone is something very hard to deal with. Peter, while walking with Christ, failed to it.

Satan has many more tools and tactics than just one thing.

We need to learn our enemy. You better believe he is real and out to sift you.

It’s no secret that we have all failed, but…..we are not like the rest of the world. We walk with and have the Holy Spirit abiding in &guiding us. We also have His Holy Word guiding us.

-Awareness is huge,medical, political, movements. Business markets themselves, medical movements, elections…Spiritual awareness good and bad is even more important to live the life we are supposed to live.

“God desires for us a life of divine kingdom authority. Kingdom Authority means the power to rule over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It means living victoriously focused on the plans God has for us instead of falling prey to the entrapments that our enemy places in our way. It’s basically living as children of the King, which we are. When we possess such life-changing,liberating truth, why don’t we experience victory all the time?”

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?