Truth and Confusion

Truth and Confusion
Luke 22:31-34

31 And [de] the Lord [kurios] said [epo] , Simon [Simon] , Simon [Simon] , behold [idou] , Satan [Satanas] hath desired [exaiteomai] to have you [humas] , that he may sift [siniazo] you as [hos] wheat [sitos] :
32 But [de] I [ego] have prayed [deomai] for [peri] thee [sou] , that [hina me] thy [sou] faith [pistis] fail [ekleipo] not [hina me] : and [kai] when [pote] thou [su] art converted [epistrepho] , strengthen [sterizo] thy [sou] brethren [adelphos] .
33 And [de] he said [epo] unto him [autos] , Lord [kurios] , I am [eimi] ready [hetoimos] to go [poreuomai] with [meta] thee [sou] , both [kai] into [eis] prison [phulake] , and [kai] to [eis] death [thanatos] .
34 And [de] he said [epo] , I tell [lego] thee [soi] , Peter [Petros] , the cock [alektor] shall [phoneo] not [ou me] crow [phoneo] this day [semeron] , before that [prin] thou shalt [e] thrice [tris] deny [aparneomai] that thou [me] knowest [eido] me [me] . KJV-Interlinear

31 'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. '33 And he said to Him, 'Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!' 34 And He said, 'I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.' NASB

Peter protests and Jesus quiets him quickly by repeating his former name, 'Simon, Simon. Be quiet and listen to Me. Wake up. Satan wants to run you into the wall and squash you. He has been given permission by God (the Father) and will do so.'

That should have gotten Peters attention. He probably is well aware of Satan, and the book of Job, where we are taught of the pattern of temptations which Satan wishes to impose on certain individuals in history.

Satan has power over temptations, disease, and even death in certain cases, however he is never allowed access to individuals unless God first gives permission. Satan will constantly try to bring man to a stage of rebellion against God, by imposing temptations on him, by imposing difficult times on him, by trying to bring any given target of his attack, to his knees and in utter rebellion against God.

God will counter, that regardless of the attacks Satan initiates on certain individuals, their faith will eventually end up in their rejection of Satan, and remain faithful to God.

Now granted there are probably many individuals in history that will succumb to these attacks and their attitude will be anti-God. What attacks?

Well we live in this devils world. We have needs which impose difficult situations on us because of our need to fulfill our needs. We need an education in order to compete in life. We need a job in order to pay our bills. We need money and social interactions, and so on and so forth. We are surrounded by our thoughts, surrounded by people, surrounded by bureaucracies of many sorts, and most of us are exposed to natural disasters from time to time. Some even have physical impairments. Now add all of these items up and you have a recipe for problems in life.

That is bad enough, but when you allow another sphere of creatures (Satan and his demon angels) to manipulate what this world can throw at you, then you have a tremendous disadvantage as a member of the human race.

Will Satan throw his weight against you or me? Probably not. I would think that you and I are virtually non-existent in his plans. More likely, Satan will be active in national capitals and trying to influence the leadership of countries or terrorists and the like, around the world.

But regardless of our temptations and adversities we might face in life. What do you suppose is our number one defense against them? Faith.

Jesus told Peter of the threat that was brewing against him. Then He followed up with the statement that He, Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, has already prayed to the Father in Peters behalf. Did He pray that Satan would fail? No. He prayed that Peters 'faith' would help him through the difficulties, and that his faith would help him to recover, and that his faith would help him to lead others back to their faith.

Faith then is the key muscle of your spiritual life.

In the book of Hebrews, we read that faith is the prime ingredient of the spiritual lives of many of the past Old Testament believers. It is true in our individual lives.

Satan has many arrows with which to 'sift' or to test the will of people on this planet. You recall that the sifting of wheat brings the chaff up and separates the good (wheat) from the bad (the chaff). Satan cheers for the chaff, hoping that we will all lose out in life, overwhelmed with our troubles, overwhelmed with our antagonism toward God when life deals us a short straw.

God counters with faith. A simple and yet fundamental element of the soul founded in His Word.

Peter again objects, but his faith is shallow and a shallow faith is impotent when it comes to dealing with the realities of life. Peter operates on emotion rather than solid thought based on Bible doctrine. And consequently Satan will have his way with Peter for a while. The arrest and the Cross will have a tremendous impact on Peter, but Peter will not give up and go home. He will stick it out and on that third day, He will be rewarded with the resurrection of Christ.

Some tests are short lived, just a mater of days or even hours. But other tests seemingly go on and on for years, and generally it is because you are either very weak and inconsistent in your Bible study, or God has something better for you eventually. Either way you can best evaluate your consistency or lack thereof in your spiritual life and determine what your direction is or needs to become.

Peter protests, but Jesus counters with the facts of reality. Peter will deny Him three times before the morning dawn. All of the apostles will vanish in the night. God knows the status of our soul and He allows or rewards the appropriate response to our situation based on our spiritual status.

Faith comes from Bible doctrine in the soul and from nowhere else. You get Bible doctrine in the soul by applying yourself to a consistent daily study habit, and from no other means. You gain use of and benefit from that doctrine in your soul by applying it to your daily life, and from no other mechanism. That full circle of learning and applying Gods Word is the exercise which builds up the spiritual muscle which we call faith. When faith is weak, everything can overwhelm us. When faith is strong, then nothing can defeat us, not even Satan.

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