SIFTING FOR SERVICE OR PRESSURE FOR PURITY

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LUKE 22:31-62
Lesson #58
SIFTING FOR SERVICE OR PRESSURE FOR PURITY

Memory verse: 1Pet 4:7
Jesus with the disciples had just experienced the last Passover where Jesus called attention to the new covenant in His blood initiated by the coming crucifixion.
Read Luk 22:31-34 The prophecy of Peter’s denial
- Because Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, He knew the events about to occur. He knew the weaknesses of His disciples.
  - Yet, He chose those 12 men knowing they were not perfect.
  - He does the same thing in believers today. He chooses those that He knows will belong to Him even though He knows we are not perfect, that we will go through periods of weakness and failure.
  - However, in His love and patience, he makes us better people by walking us through trials that conform us to His image.
    - You can see the big change in the disciples when you see their weaknesses in the Gospels and then see their great strengths in the book of Acts.
    - What makes the difference? The presence and power of the Holy Spirit that filled them after the day of Pentecost.
    - He gives us that same presence and power when we seek to serve Him.
- We have discussed Judas and his failure as a disciple. Peter, having free will, is no different in his failure to stand firm with the Lord.
  - But there is a big difference between the two. If not for this difference we would have no hope of overcoming our weaknesses and failures.
  - The difference between Judas and Peter is a heartfelt repentance.
    - Judas never repented of his failure.
    - Peter repented. (Joh 21) As a result of his repentance, He became the leader of the disciples after the resurrection of Jesus.
- ^“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” (31)
  - What does it mean to be sifted as wheat?
  - Sifting wheat is the process of purification; to remove the husk of the wheat so as to produce a fine, purified flour.
    - The sifting process is likened to God’s process of making the believer pure so as to be able to use him to minister to others.
    - Sifting is necessary before God can use you.
      - God sifts lightly for a light task for which He wants to use you.
      - God sifts moderately for a moderate task.
      - God sifts heavily for a heavy task.
- “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (32)
  - The word, “converted” means a change of mind or change of heart.
  - “strengthen thy brethren” (32) refers to his future position as the leader of the disciples.
    - Those who have gone through failures and experienced weaknesses and have come out an overcomer like Peter, is better able to minister to others that experience failures and weaknesses.
    - God uses these experiences in our lives for His purposes:
      - His purpose is to take us through these experiences to make us better, stronger people.
      - His purpose is to use you to minister to others.
- Why did Peter say, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”? (33)
  - We think we know how we will react to certain situations, but in reality we do not know until that moment arrives.
  - God knows us better than we know ourselves.
- The cock crow (34)
  - Probably this does not refer to a literal rooster that crows in the morning. In fact, the city of Jerusalem had an ordinance that forbade the raising of chickens in the city.
  - The phrase “cock crow” was the designation of the dawn of the morning when a town crier called the hour.
Read Luk 22:35-38
- “…he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” (36)
  - When Jesus sent out the seventy disciples to minister, they were to take nothing in preparation with them because they were in training and He would give them special protection.
  - Now they are told to prepare themselves first before they go out to minister because now they will have to fight spiritual battles against the enemy.
  - He counsels them to buy a weapon because a person has the right to defend himself and heavy persecution was coming.
- ^“For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.” (37)
  - This is a quote from Isa 53:12.
  - Jesus personally refers Isa 53 to His crucifixion.
Read Luk 22:39-46 In the Garden of Gethsemane
- Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
  - Notice that He separates Himself from them. They are left at the entrance to the garden while He goes on alone. Why?
  - Jesus knew the agony of soul that He would experience there. He wanted the prayers of the disciples but not their presence. It would have been too much for them to see.
- The word Gethsemane means = olive press.
  - Gethsemane was located on the Mt. of Olives where olives were grown to produce a pure olive oil.
  - It is an illustration of severe testing or pressure to produce purity.
    - Of course, Jesus was already pure and without sin.
    - However, as He was tested in the wilderness before His ministry, He is tested here at the end before His greatest challenge, the crucifixion.
    - Of course, the disciples were also being tested. (40)
  - The victory of the crucifixion was actually won in the Garden of Gethsemane through prayer.
- “…remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (42)
  - What is the cup in this verse?
  - It is the cup of suffering that is filled with the dregs of man’s sin.
    - Jesus bore all the sins of the world on His body on the cross.
    - Read 2Cor 5:21 where it says He became sin for us.
    - Why was this so hard to bear? What is it that makes this Jesus’ greatest temptation, more than the temptations in the wilderness?
      - As the second member of the Holy Trinity, Jesus was always united with God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
      - Sin separates man from God.
      - When Jesus became sin for us, He was separated from God for those moments in time. How do we know this? Remember that on the cross Jesus said, “Why has thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46)
- Great drops of blood (44)
  - Read Psa 40:12
  - This prophetic verse tells us that Jesus’ heart burst under so great a stress.
  - Dr. Luke is the only Gospel that tells us this detail.
- Now we can see why Peter failed to stand firm with Jesus and instead denied Him.
  - While Jesus was praying, Peter was sleeping. A failure to pray leaves the door for the enemy.
  - While Jesus was submitting to God’s plan, Peter was resisting God’s plan.
Read Luk 22:47-53 Judas’ betrayal (Psa 41:9)
- As we have gone through the details of these last events in Jesus’ earthy ministry, we continue to see that God’s perfect timing is essential and necessary to fulfill God’s plan established before the foundation of the world.
  - Satan would have liked to see Jesus die in the Garden of Gethsemane of a broken heart, but an angel strengthened Him just as an angel strengthened Him in the wilderness testing.
  - Satan would have liked to see Jesus die at the hands of the soldiers when His disciples drew swords and Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant. (50) (Joh 18:10)
    - Jesus calms the situation because He knows it is not yet God’s perfect timing.
    - He mentions how He was in the temple every day with these religious leaders and they did nothing to arrest him. Why did they not arrest him then?
      - The religious leaders did not want to upset the crowds in the temple area for fear of Roman retaliation.
      - The enemy works under the cover of darkness.
      - God’s timing was not yet.
- God’s perfect timing was the timing of the killing of the Passover lamb, at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday the 14^th day of Nisan.
- God’s perfect method was the crucifixion according to Isa 53 where Jesus was numbered with the transgressors to become sin for us. (37)
Read Luk 22:54-62
- Peter was identified as a Galilean. How?
  - The people from Galilee dressed a little differently.
  - The people from Galilee spoke with a slight accent.
- The prophecy of Jesus’ denial is fulfilled before the dawn breaks (the cock crow).
Summary and Application:
- The title of our lesson is sifting for service or pressure for purity.
  - God uses the same plan throughout the Bible and even today to take people like Peter from being ineffective and unstable to being great heroes of the faith.
  - Every person in the Bible that did great things for God went through a sifting process where the circumstances of his life applied pressure to conform the character to God’s will and God’s plan.
- Often as humans we want to be “comfortable” and without struggle. But in reality we learn more through struggle, and we learn to trust God more as a result.
- Jesus and Peter are the examples in this chapter. Great victories are gained through struggle when we get out of our comfort zone and be what God wants us to be.

Homework
Luke 22:63-71 Luke 23:1-25

Application of Luk 22:31-62
- Do you tend to avoid God’s “school of conformation” by avoiding the struggles God has placed or permitted in your life that are supposed to conform you to His image?
- What will it take for you to submit to God’s will?
  - ….More prayer like the disciples?
  - ….More commitment to stand more firm than Peter?
  - ….Total submission like Jesus?
- Pray and ask God to show you His purposes for the trials, temptations, and testing He is taking you through in your life.
Preparation for Luk 22:63-71 Luk 23:1-25
- Read Luk 22:63-71 Luk 23:1-25
  - Why was King Herod happy to see Jesus?
  - Why did Jesus not answer King Herod (23:9) ?
Memory Verse: Luk 22:69