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Times of Sifting

Times of Sifting

Words of Faith 1-23-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Luke 22:31-34

    "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

    [33] But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."

    [34] Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

 

          In the aftermath of the Lord's Supper, a dispute arose among the disciples.  We saw how the "love of strife" can break in-- an eagerness to contend, a readiness to stake our claim and seize control.  But that is not the worst of it. 

          Jesus now warned that there was another plot at work against the disciple of Christ.  Jesus announced an attack which was about to be launched against the disciples.  The warning is in an unusual language.  "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat."

          It was a frightening and powerful warning.  The word "you" is plural here.  Satan desires to sift all of you. The word translated "desires" means to obtain by begging.  Satan cannot do so without asking. Satan is begging to sift you. God is supreme. Anything that goes on in the universe goes on because God allows it, even testing or sifting.  There are times when Satan asks for this permission, and it is granted.  Apparently, this was one of those times, and the disciples were about to be put through sifting with Peter at the forefront.

          Do you remember a similar scene?  It is in the first chapter of the Old Testament book of Job.  Satan asked permission to test a man named Job (pronounced as if rhyming with lobe) in an attempt to prove that Job only loved God because God blessed Job and not because of who God is.  God granted that permission with the one provision that Satan would not kill Job. This is a similar glimpse into the spiritual warfare that goes on.

          The image of sifting wheat is something we must understand.  Sifting was part of the process of preparing wheat so that it can be used as food.  The edible seed had to be separated from the coarse husk and the stalks.  The method includes three steps.  It started with threshing either by beating the wheat or dragging a sledge over it.  Then the wheat was winnowed by tossing it into the air so that the wind could blow the stalks away.  Finally, the wheat was sifted or strained through a mesh so that the good grain would fall through and leave behind the husk. 

          Sifting is a powerful image because essentially Jesus says: Satan wants to shake you.  He wants to run you through a sieve.  He is betting that you won't make it through.  Sifting assumes here that threshing and winnowing have already been accomplished.  The image is one of painful refinement.

          Why would God allow such a thing?   There may be any number of reasons.  James 1:2-4 tells us: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  

          God may allow a time of threshing, winnowing and shaking to develop perseverance and character.  God may have a purpose in mind to develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life.  God may desire to separate you from sin or worldly influences.  God may allow the shaking of your spiritual world for the very purpose of purifying, refining so that we will be separated from anything that is not pure or not useful.  

           But make no mistake about it. The purpose of Satan is entirely different.  The goal of Satan is to separate you from three things:  God, other people, and yourself.  Satan wants to get you away from God and every Godly influence.  Satan wants to get you apart from the Body of Christ and estranged from your family.  Satan loves division and strife.  Satan loves prideful estrangements and divorces.  Satan also wants to separate you from your best self, the person God designed you to be.  Satan even intends to cause you to despair such that you will destroy yourself in one way or another.

           How does Satan shake us?   We know from the story of Job that one way is to challenge God to remove the sense of His presence and His blessing from the believer. Satan thinks that the believer will fall and turn from God. Satan suggested to God that the believer will not stand by faith through trial after trial, not without the evidence of some physical or material blessing. He suggests that the believer loves God not for Himself, not because of what Christ has done for him, but because of what he gets out of God-- that we are fair-weather followers that will abandon God at the first storm or difficulty ( Job 1:6-12.)  The profound shaking for these disciples would come when the presence of Jesus was removed from the disciples. He was to die. They would scatter in a time of great confusion.

         Satan may be allowed to shake us up in any number of ways.  Reading through the book of Job we see some.  He may shake our family, our marriages, our job security, our finances, our relationships, and close friendships. Satan is willing to do whatever it takes to separate you from God.  God is willing to allow whatever it takes for you to manifest the fruit of the Spirit and become mature in Christ.

          Jesus wanted Peter to know three things.  First that He had already prayed for him and that in the end, his faith would not fail.  Second, that when Peter failed he would turn back to Jesus.  And third, that the whole process would strengthen others.  We will look at these in more depth tomorrow.  For now, we receive them as beautiful promises from God.

           We can trust in these truths.  When we go through times of sifting, Jesus has already prayed for us.  When we fail, Jesus will bring us back to Himself.  When we come back to God, He will use our experiences to strengthen other believers.

 

           Father God, thank you for Jesus.  Thank You for the one who has interceded on my behalf even before I have needed it.  Thank You for the prayers of Jesus, the great Priest.  Give me the strength to endure the times of sifting when they come.  Carry me through.  When I fail, receive me back to Yourself.  Use me to strengthen others.  In Jesus' name.