Luke 22:31-34 NIV
31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." 34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
How strong are you spiritually? Many people work out and lift weights in order to stay strong physically. The Apostle Paul says physical exercise is of some value but Godliness has value for all things. As you are thinking of that, ask yourself, “How strong am I spiritually?”
As we look at the life of Peter how is it that he had awesome, life-changing encounters with Jesus yet he denied Him three times? Peter saw the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear and still he fell. Peter was there when Jesus fed the four thousand and the five thousand. Peter was the one who caught the fish and pulled coins out of its mouth to pay taxes. He was there when Jesus said, “Let down your nets into the deep.” Peter and his friends caught more fish than he ever had in his life, bringing him great financial blessing. When Jesus raised the widow of Nain’s son from the dead Peter was there. When Lazarus came forth and Jairus’s daughter were raised from the dead- Peter was there. Peter even walked on water and saw the Lord still the wind and the waves with a word. To top it all - he saw the glory of who Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration - God. Peter saw it all. Not only had he experienced many things with Jesus, he was brave. Peter was the one who pulled out the sword and cut off the ear of Malchus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He even went into the courtyard where Jesus was being tried at the risk of his own life. How in the world did Peter fail? What caused Peter to deny Jesus?
We can see three main things that caused Peter’s denial of Jesus. The first thing was Peter’s pride! In Mark 14:27 Peter basically says all these clowns will fall but not me! I am ready to die with you! Even in verse 33 Peter said the same thing. Scripture declares over and over that pride comes before a fall. Peter had a pride problem, which opened a door for his failure. Pride was the sin that cause Lucifer to be cast out of heaven and become Satan. The second thing that we see that precipitated his denial of Jesus was his fallen human nature. In verse 31 Jesus is speaking and says Simon, Simon, not Peter, Peter but Simon, Simon. Peter was his spiritual name. If you recall earlier in the gospel record Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and the disciples responded, “Some say that your are John the Baptist risen from the grave and some say that you are Elijah.” Simon’s response was, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.” It was then that Jesus gave Simon a new name-Peter, a spiritual name if you will. Over and over he is referred to as Peter or Simon Peter. But here Jesus calls him Simon. Not once, but twice. Why? Because one of the very things that would cause Peter to fail was his fallen human nature. I believe that the Lord was using his natural name as a way of illuminating or revealing what would cause Peter to fall. There were things about Peter, things in his own nature that would cause him trouble. He was impetuous and brash. He would get out of the boat but get distracted by the waves. He would say things, like on the Mt of Transfiguration - that were fleshly. There were aspects of his being that allowed self-preservation to kick in and cause him to deny the Lord. In the courtyard I guarantee that he did not plan on turning away from the Lord. He probably rationalized it within himself. “I need to be here and it’s okay. It’s not that bad. Before he knew it, “Cock-a-doodle-doo - Fallen! We do the same thing. We justify our disobedience and say things like, “God knows my heart.” We yield to self and rationalize our sin saying it was not all that bad.
Besides his pride and fallen human nature, the third thing that caused Peter’s denial was Satan. Satan wants to sift us all like wheat. You might think that you have your act together but you could end up deceived. There is a very real enemy that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The Bible calls him the deceiver, the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren. He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He has his minions that are looking for the opportunity, the open door to cause you to be sifted. He is powerful but not all-powerful. The thought or belief that Satan and God are the same in strength and power is called Zoroastrianism not Christianity. You don’t have to live in fear of the demonic and the power of hell if you are a believer. The Devil ought to be afraid of you because of the Blood of Jesus and the authority you have in Him. If you don’t live for Jesus the bible clearly states that you have every right to be afraid. In the text we see that Satan has to ask God to sift Peter. The key here is he asked. My children have to ask me for many things and without my approval they are not authorized. My wife and I are in charge. Satan asked God. If you have to ask you are not in charge. Satan is a legalist (Definition: One who practices or advocates strict conformity to law; in theology, one who holds to the law of works) and he knows the word of God. “ The soul that sins shall die”. So if Satan can get you to sin then he has rights to you. Satan’s power is parasitical in nature. A picture that comes to mind is that of a courtroom and Satan is the prosecuting attorney. One of the strategies of Hell is that he pushes you to sin and when you take the bait he has rights to you- the Devil is a bad Devil.
Satan has nightmares and his worst nightmare is God’s people praying! In our text Jesus says, “ But I have prayed for you. All of a sudden there is a tempering of the power of evil in our world and it is the intercession of God’s people covered in the Blood of Christ before the throne of God. Not only our intercession but God’s. The scriptures declare that Jesus is the mediator between God and man and that he is at the right hand of the Father – “ever living to make intercession for us”. Jesus death on the cross was and is the judicial penalty that releases us from judgment of our sin and Satan’s rights to us. Peter survived because of prayer. I can not help but wonder how many times God wanted to do something but we failed to pray or how many were lost because we failed to intercede and then we blamed God for the loss. Can you, will you imagine what could and will happen if we will pray. If we will pray we will see a historic move of God. Prayer has been the spark that ignited every great revival in History. If we don’t pray it is like facing an angry, man-eating brown bear with a gun and no bullets. Be Satan’s worst nightmare -live holy, smash the idol of self and pray for it to be on earth as it is in heaven in the name of Jesus. Satan has desired to sift us all but God has given us the loaded gun of prayer. Use your God given, blood-bought right and fight in Jesus name. The Victory has already been won.
