"...proving that this is very Christ." _ Acts 9:22
"...proving that this is very Christ." _ Acts 9:22

NOVEMBER 22nd

PETER’S DENIALS  (DENYING CHRIST IN SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY)

 

Reading:   Luke Chapter 22:31-34

 v31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

 v32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

 v33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

   v34  And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

 

     Satan, our adversary, desired to have Simon in order to sift him as wheat. That means he wanted to try Simon’s faith to the verge of overthrow by agitating him inwardly.  He wants to do the same to everyone.  Consider what happens in the process of sifting.  Besides agitating in an attempt to overthrow one’s faith, satan is all about destroying the Seed.  He desires to destroy the corn in order to get rid of the life in it. 

 

     On the other hand, the Lord of glory winnows instead of sifting.  There is a great difference between the two.  To winnow means to fan or scatter with the purpose of saving the grain.  As depicted through Boaz in the Old Testament, the Kinsman Redeemer and Lord of the harvest heaps the grain and gets rid of the chaff (Ruth 3).  The chaff is suitable only for burning.  When the Lord rests from winnowing, the Church may be found at His Feet as Ruth was at Boaz’s.

 

     Jesus went on to assure Peter that He had prayed a specific prayer for him, that his "faith fail not."   It is by looking at the meaning of fail that we learn so much about faith here.  The root meaning of the word fail is to experience an eclipse of light.  When an eclipse of the sun and moon takes place, the light is blocked, hence darkness is given place.  In Christ Jesus is Life and that Life is the Light of men (John 1:4).  Anything apart from His Life is death or darkness, and satan desires to separate us from the Light of the Lord.  If we abide in the Lord Jesus, there will never be a failure of Light or eclipse because He is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  Failed faith means separation from the Light that Christ is because in Him every need is supplied. 

Continued

 

Print | Sitemap
© Restoration Christian Ministries Center