Sifted but Saved

7/28/2019 Sifted but Saved

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The Christian Arsenal

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SIFTED BUT SAVED

Sifted by Christs PredictionLuke 22:31-32

By Ron Dunn

Would you open your Bibles this morning to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22Im going toread verses 31-34. The setting of these verses is, as you know, the Lord eating the PassoverSupper with His disciples as He institutes the Lords Supper. Its a very critical and strategic timeboth for our Lord and for His disciples. Strange things are happening. Some strange things arebeing said. It is a night filled with tenseness and mystery and in the midst of this situation comesthe startling prophecy of the Lord Jesus concerning Simon Peter.

Verses 31-34:

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired

to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayedfor thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted,strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto Him, Lord, Im readyto go with Thee both to prison and to death. And He said, I tellthee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shaltthrice deny that thou knowest Me.

Now, there are two great themes in this passage. It is both a frightening and anencouraging passage. It is frightening and enlightening in the sense that it reveals to me that aman who loves Jesus sincerely and had the truest desire to follow the Lord Jesus may beovercome and overborne with fear and intimidation and by the devil and fall into great, great sin. Ihave every confidence Simon meant exactly what he said when he told the Lord that he wasready to go with Him to prison and even to deathI have no doubt that the apostle meant itbecause Simon Peter dearly loved the Lord Jesus with all his heartthat rough fisherman lovedthe Lord Jesus. He had given up everything to follow His Masterand I believe He meant it! Hewasnt just bragging! He wasnt making an idle boast! He meant it when he said, I am ready tofollow Thee to prison and to deathAnd, yet even with this dedicationeven with thisloveeven with the highest resolve, Jesus said, Peter, before the rooster crows this day onetime, you will have denied Me three times. And, I say to you that is a very frightening prophecy!

It reveals to us that a man who has lived in very close and intimate fellowship with theLord for three years and whose heart is dedicated to the Lord and whose life is filled with thesincerest desire to follow Him and serve can fall into great sin! The whole Bible is testimony tothis truthand not only the Bible,but the experience of every one of us, and many times were frustrated and discouraged becausewe somehow feel that our highest ideals, our highest resolves, our greatest times of dedicationwill somehow be a buttress against failure. We sometimes wonder how it is that we can fail our

Lord when we love Him as much as we do. And yet, Im convinced that the Lord Jesus is sayingto the Apostle Peter and Hes saying to us the same thingEven though you love Me, eventhough you have the most honest and sincere desire to follow Me, yet you are vulnerable and youare subject to failure. Thats the first thing that this passage of scripture says to me. Its afrightening thing in that it tells me that thebest can fail.

H. G. Wells once said that a man can love music and be a very poor musicianandtheres a lot of truth in that. A man can love art and yet be a very poor artist himself. A man can

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love Jesus and have the highest desire to never do anything that would dishonor and disgraceHim, and yet that man can fail miserably.

Not only is this passage a frightening passage to me, it is also an encouraging passage,because it tells me that the greatest fall can be recovered. Even a man who, like Peter, curses

and denies that he knows his Lord, Jesus said, When thou are converted, strengthen thybrethrenThe prophecy of the failure is made at the same time that the prophecy is made of hisrecovery. So, I say that this is a very encouraging passagebecause it teaches me that eventhough I may fail greatly, as Simon did, yet I can be recoveredI can be restored and I can go onto live a useful life of ministry for the Lord Jesus.

Now, these verses, particularly verses 31 and 32, where Jesus prophesies that Satan isgoing to sift Peter, but the fact that the Lord has prayed for Peterwhen thou art converted,strengthen thy brethrenthese two verses have occupied my heart and mind for several daysand several weeks and I find in them some of the greatest instructions for believers to be foundanywhere in the Scriptures. As a matter of fact, these two verses touch on a number of greattheological doctrines and a great number of theological truths that you and I need to implement inour daily lives. It touches on the matter of the devil and his personality. It touches on the matter

of the sovereignty of the Lord. It touches on the matter of the intercessory ministry of the LordJesusand many other things are revealed and touched on in this tremendous passageso Iwant us to examine these verses today and tomorrow as were talking about the generalthemesifted but saved. I believe thats a pretty good description of the Christian life of a greatmany people.

Sifted but saved! Simon was sifted but he was saved. You and I again and again aresifted but we can be saved even from that sifting. This is a very serious thing. You can see theseriousness of it in the way the Lord Jesus addressed Simon Peter. Youll notice in verse 31when the Lord says, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have youthe word you is in theplural, indicating all the disciples, but He singles out Simon in particularcalling attention to theseriousness of the situation. I may also mention that Jesus use of the name Simon issignificant. Notice He doesnt call him Peter. He calls him by his original name. Simon wasPeters name when Jesus met him. Jesus had said, Thou art Simon and thou shalt be calledCephas, or Peter, which is interpreted rock or stonein other words, Jesus is saying toPeter when He meets him that first time and calls him to be His disciple that Jesus is going tochange his character. Hes going to make something firm and steadfast and dependablearockout of Peter. But, when He comes to prophesy of the failure of this apostle, He does notaddress him as Peter. He addresses him as Simon. He uses his former name and I think bythis, Jesus Christ is indicating that Peter is full of frailty and fickleness and human weaknessbecause this is the area in which the devil is going to strike at Peter.

I have about four things that I want to share with you today and tomorrow. Four greattruths that come out of these great verses on being sifted by the devil. The first one is this:

1) Satan Desires to Have the Believer

Satan desires to possess the believer. Jesus said to Simon, Behold, Satan hathdesired to have you that he may sift you as wheat The fact that the devil has an intenseinterest in the believerthe fact that this interest is so great that he had a desire to possess thisman, to literally bring him, pull him, extract him from the hands of Godget him in his ownclutches and do with him as he pleases. I think this is a very important truth for every believer tounderstand.

The devil has a great desire for you. He wants you. He wants to take you in his handsand sift you as wheat. He wants to harass you, to trouble you, to attack you, to separate you

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from the Lord Jesus, to separate you from the fellowship of other believers. I think that SimonPeter was speaking out of his own experience when he wrote in 1 Peter 5:8Be sober, bevigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walketh about like a roaring lion, seeking whom hemay devour. The devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. Youremember in the book of Job, when the devil showed up in the court of God. God asked the devil

where hes beenJob1:7:

And the Lord said unto Satan, When comest thou? Then Satananswered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earthand from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan,Hast thou considered My servant, Job, that there is none like himin the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God andhateth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Jobfear God for naught? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him andabout his house and about all that he hath on every side? Thouhast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is in-creased in the land.

Now, the interesting point there is that when God asked Satan, hast thou consideredMy servant, Job, and Satan, by his reply indicates he has spent a great deal of timeconsidering Job. He knows a great deal about Job. He says, Aha, Job is Your servant, and hehas served You, but the reason he has served You is because Youve built a hedge about himand not only is there a hedge about him, but theres also a hedge about his house and theres ahedge about everything that he has on every side and You have blessed the work of his handsand his substance is increased in the land. I tell you, the devil knew a great deal about Job. Ihave an idea he had a pretty thick file on Brother Job.

How did Satan know there was a hedge around Job? Well, because hed been trying toget to Job and he found a hedge. You can rest assured he investigated every inch of that hedgeto see if there was a hole that he could sneak through. He found out there was a hedge about hishouse, and a hedge on every side of everything that he had. Job had been considered by thedevilindicating the devils great interest in Brother Job.as he also had an interest inSimonand my friend, as he has an interest also in you and me. The Apostle Paul tells us thatwe are still involved in a hand to hand combat with the devil and all his minions.

Satan has a great desire for the believer! He watches us and he considers us, looking foran opportunity, a vulnerable spot. This is why the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4, tells us not togive place to the devil. The idea there, of course, is of giving the devil a toehold, afoothold...letting the devil get a foot in the door. "Be careful, the apostle says, of how you livebecause the devil is an opportunist, and if theres anger among you, if theres an unforgivingspirit, if theres anything that smacks of bitterness or resentment, if theres any kind of crack or sinin the armor of the Christian life, the devil will be able to slip in and he will be able to overpoweryou. Be careful that you do not give an opening to the devil. Again, I believe, indicating the devilkeeps a watchful eye on every believer.

You see, the devil stalks before he leaps. The devil had been stalking Simon Peter. Youcan rest assured that that master of deception, that master of evil knew the weak spots in SimonPeter, and he had been listening and Im convinced that hed been listening there in that UpperRoom and he heard that argument about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom and Icannot help but believe that Peter was right there in the midst of it. That opened the door a littlebit wider and it gave the devil a little bit greater opportunity and I believe that is why Jesusimmediately said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired tohave you that he may sift you as wheat.

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Now, I want us to look and see some of the ways the devil strikes at us. The devildesires to take every one of us and to sift us as wheatto turn us inside outto injure, to attackus, to hassle us. Notice first of all that the devil often strikes at crisis moments. This was a crisismoment, but wait just a minuteSimon Peter didnt really know that. Simon knew something was

up and he could feel there was something strange and unusual in the air, but the Scriptures makeit clear that the apostles didnt understand what was going on.

You see, there was going to be a crisis in a few hours. Jesus was going to be taken fromthem. Jesus was going to be put on trial. He was going to be scourged and crucified. There wasa crisis coming in the lives of these disciples. Yet, they were unaware of it. In a little while, wellsee Simon Peter so comfortable, so at ease, that he falls asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.Can you imagine that? Jesus just a few feet away, praying in such agony that He almost died,yet Simon Peter is restfully asleep. There is coming a tremendous crisisthe greatest crisis ofhis lifeand hes unaware of it. But, Ill tell you somethingthe devil is not unaware of it. Heknows a crisis moment is at hand. Therefore, he cripples the apostle so that he will not be able tocope with that crisis.

If you study the tracks of the devil in the Scripture and in your own experience, I thinkyoull discover that at the crisis times of your life, the devil strikes. The devil is a dirty player. Helikes to kick us when were down and when were facing or coming upon some of those greatcrises of life, the devil is always ready. Why? He wants to cripple us in that situation so that inthat situation we will deny our Lord and lose our faith. This is what he was trying to get Job todoto deny and curse God and to jettison his faith. And, there are those times when you and Iare tempted, sorely tempted to doubt God and the devil knows when those crisis times arecoming and if he can somehow get a foot in the doorif he can somehow infiltrate our lives andcause us to come under his spell, then when that great crisis comes, he will have us! And, likeSimon Peter, we will fail!

Not only does the devil strike at crisis moments, he also strikes at the points of ourstrength. Now, let me make this very clearTo us it is a point of strength, but in fact it is a pointof weakness. Let me show you what I mean. Peter believed that his strong point was hiscourage. I think in the Gospels, you get the idea that Peters not afraid of anything. Theresnothing bashful or shy about this fellow at all. Hes always the first one to speak out on anysubject, whether he knows what hes talking about or not. Hes often been in error, but never indoubt. Peter is that type of brusque, rough manhes a mans manbig, burley fisherman! Hesnot afraid of anythingin the Garden of Gethsemane, he is the one who takes out his sword andattacks that man, and of course he may have been brave, but he wasnt a very good shothe gothis ear while trying to go for his head. One man said that Peter was trying to split Malchus intwoMal on the one side and Chus on the other. But, Peter missed and hit his ear, and bethat as it may, Peter was a brave and courageous man. He wasnt afraid of anything.

As I said earlier, I believe Peter was absolutely, totally sincere when he said, Lord, Ill gowith Thee to deathIm ready to die for You Now, to Peter, that was his strong point. Thatwas one thing that Peter didnt need to worry about. He may have other points that he needed to

reinforce, that he needed to keep a watchful eye onbut as far as his boldness, as far as hiscourage, as far as his fearlessness was concerned, that point was alright.

Now, I want you to notice. That was at the point the devil struck. The devil will alwaysstrike at your strong points because your strong points are your weak points. Why are they yourweak points? Well, for a number of reasons, but the main reason is this: If I believe this is mystrong point, then I am going to be complacent in that area. Im going to be satisfied in that area.Im not going to put any guards over there in that area. Im not going to put any reinforcements inthat area. I see all these other weak points, these weak places in my lifethese are the places I

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really need to watch. These are the places I really need to reinforceI need to bring up someheavy artillery at this place because its weak, and this is, of course, where the devil is going tostrike, but back here, this area of my lifethats strongIve got that handled, Ive got thatmastered, Ive got that settled no problem there, and so theres no need to reinforce that, noneed to keep too close a watch on thatthats alright. And, our strength becomes our weakness!

Do you remember in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul describes the failure of the Israelites in thewilderness and so many of them were slain and only two were able to enter into the PromisedLandhe says in 1 Corinthians 10:12:

Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heedlest he fall.

What a revealing statement that is! Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."You see, he is pointing out that a man's strength is really his weakness. Here is a man whothinks that he standshes convinced that he stands. Therefore, theres no need for him to worryabout falling like the Israelites did, but the apostle says, Watch out! Watch out! For you whothink you stand, you who think that is your strength are the most apt to fall! And he says

basically the same thing in Galatians 6 when he is talking about the brother who hasfallenGalatians 6:1:

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fall,ye which are spiritualrestore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thy-self lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one anothers burdensand so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to besomething when he is nothing he deceiveth himself.

Let us take those who have fallen and restore them in a spirit of meekness. Why in aspirit of meekness? Why not I a spirit of pride or arrogance? Humph, Ill help you up this time,but dont let it happen again! How could you have ever done such a thing! No, Paul says thatwhen you help a brother to restoration you do it in meekness because you know the very samething could happen to you! And, as so often occurs in the life of the believer, the things that hethinks he will never do, the points at which he thinks he will never fail are those very places thedevil strikes. The devil strikes at our strength because it is really our weakness! It is unguardedbecause we think it is secure.

Peters strength and weakness were his pride and his presumption. He thought he wasmore courageous. He thought he was more spiritual than the rest. Of course, I know that noneof you have ever fallen into that mistake of thinking you were more spiritual than other people, butthere are some of us poor souls who have been guilty at times of thinking that we are morespiritual than somebody elsethat the things they were doing wrong, the mistakes they weremaking, we would never make because after all, we had much more spiritual insight and wevebeen more blessed of God. No, that strength really becomes our weaknessLet him thatthinketh he stands take heed lest he fall.

You see, this preceding argument about who was going to be great in the kingdom was

an evidence of a weakness of these men. They thought they were strong or else they wouldnthave been arguing about who was the greatest! You notice they didnt argue about who was theleast. They didnt argue about who was the unworthiest. They argued about who was thegreatest! You see, they all thought they were strong, spiritual men. Peter, more so thananybody! And, it was at that point that the devil got his foothold in that band of disciples.

Not only does the devil strike at crisis moments. Not only does he strike at the points ofour strength, but he also strikes at strategic people. Now, I want you to notice that the devil is

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going to sift all of them. He wants to sift all of them, but he is paying particular attention to Simon.Look at the verses again

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desiredyou (plural) that he sift you (plural) as wheat. But, I have prayed

for thee (singular), Simon, that thy (singular) faith fail not andwhen thou(singular) are converted, strengthen thy brethen.

Now, get the picture. Jesus said that the devil wants allof you and he wants to sift allofyou as wheatyoure allgoing to forsake Meyoure allgoing to deny Mebut He singles outPeter and addresses Peter in particular and prays for Peter especially. Why is this? Well, I thinkits because Simon was recognized as the leader of that group and more than anybody else, hewould have an influence on the rest of those disciples. I think you could safely say that as Peterwent the rest of the disciples would go. In a way, it was sort of a compliment to Peter. You dontattack a fort that isnt manned. You wouldnt rob a bank that doesnt have any money in it. Thevery fact that the devil goes after a fellow indicates that fellow is a threat to him. Ive heard somepeople say, Well, the devil never bothers with me. Well, you know why he never bothers withyou? He has you right where he wants you and you pose no problem to himyou offer no threat

to him.

Now, what Im trying to say is thisthat when the Lord has something He wants to dothrough youwhen the Lord has a ministrywhen the Lord has a place and purpose for yourlifewhen God is most wanting to use you is when the devil singles you out. Yes Sir! You see,Simon was the leader of that bunch. Now, the devil was going to sift everybody, but he was goingto give his special attention to Simon Peter. And, I say to you that when God begins to bless you,whether its as a church or as an individual, you put it down, the devil is going to take special noteof you, just as he did of Job. Job was the most perfect man in all the earth. God Himself said thisand therefore he became the most strategic target of the devil.

There are some churches the devil doesnt seem to bother. You know why? Becausetheyre no threat. They dont need to be bothered! Theyre exactly what the devil wants! But,you let God begin blessing and using a church, and that will become the prime target of the devil.The same thing is true of an individual. Satan always strikes at strategic people and strategicplaces. As I said earlier, he is an opportunist. The moment he finds an opening, hes going tomove in. So, the first great truth that comes out of this passage of Scripture is that Satan has anintense desire for the believerto sift as wheat, to harass, to attack, to intimidate, toaccuseSatan has an intense desire for the believer. And, theres another great truth:

2) Satan Must Have Divine Permission

Now, Friend, this is one of the most important and encouraging truths youll ever entertain inyour mind. The devil, while he hates the believer, while he is our antagonist, he is committed tothe destruction of our lives, and he walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may notsimply taste or bite but whom he may devour, swallow whole, yet this master of malice cannottouch me without divine permission. He cannot touch me without divine permission! Look at

verse 31 again:

The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hathdesired to have you that he may sift you as wheat

Now, the key is the word translated desire. It means to beg earnestly for. Literally, theword could be translated to obtain by asking permission. In other words, the devil prayed to theLord! The devil begged Godto beg earnestly for, to plead with indicating again the strong

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desire. You have the picture of the devil pleading, begging the Lord to give him permission totouch Simon Peter. The same truth is brought out as weve already seen in the experience ofJob. Satan said, Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house and about all thathe has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increasedin the landbut put forth Thine hand and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy

face And the Lord said, Behold, all that he has is in thy power, only upon himself, put not forththine hand In other words, the Lord was going to give permission to the devil to touch Job butonly in his possessions, and he could not touch his life. Here again, you have this great thoughtthat while the devil is our master enemy, he does not have unlimited freedom, nor does he haveunlimited access to us. He must always submit to the overruling and permissive authority of theLord.

God regulates the devil. Now, I emphasize that this is a very important truth to understand.Years and years ago, there was a heresy that was called dualism. This heresy said that thereare dual powers in the universe. They are equal powers. They are opposing powers, but theyare equal powers. They are dual powersthe power of good and the power of evil. The powerof good does what it can and the power of evil does what it can, but neither one can reallyovercome the other. Now, thats heresy to believe that! Yet, I find today a great many people,

without really coming out and saying it just that way, are heretics in what they believe about Godand the devil. A great many people believe that God doesnt have any control over the devilthedevil can do things, they believe, whether God wants him to or not.

Now, Friends, the Bible makes it very clear that God is a sovereign God. That means therebelongs to God unlimited powerall authority, Jesus said, is given unto Me in heaven and inearth. All authority! All power! The devil may be the prince of the power of the airbut allpower belongs to God! And, the devil can do nothing except God permit him to do it!

You remember when the Lord Jesus stood before Pilate, and Pilate was questioning the Lordand he made this statement: Jesus, dont you know that I have the power of life and death overyou? And, Jesus said, You would not have any power but that was given to you of My Fatherwhich is in heaven. Thats an amazing statement! Pilate didnt have any power except thepower that was given him of God. Now, what that boils down to mean is thisthat God theFather gave Pilate the power to crucify His Son. But Pilate, regardless of his being the dupe ofthe devil, didnt have the power to crucify Jesus unless the Father permitted it. All power belongsto God!And everything the devil does, he must do under the permissive will of the Lordand so,Jesus says, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you He had obtained Peter byaskingbut he had to ask!

I think there is a beautiful illustration of this in the Revelation 9:1

And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall fromheaven unto the earth and unto him was given the keyof the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit.

Now, that star falling from heaven to the earth is the devil and notice it says, and unto himwas given the key of the bottomless pit I want you to notice two things. The bottomless pitwas locked and the devil didnt have the power to knock the door downit was locked againsthim. The devil didnt have the power to get his own key. The Bible says, unto him was giventhe key Listen, the devil is allowed to let loose upon the earth during this time of tribulationhorrible, horrible punishments and judgments, but I want you to know it is done so by thepermissive will of God! Hell may be let loose upon the earth, but Friends, remember it is letlooseit doesnt getloose by itself! The devil didnt climb up to heaven and take the key out of

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Gods hand. He didnt overpower the Lord and steal the key. He didnt knock down the gates tothe bottomless pitthe Bible says that it was given to him. Verse 14:

saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loosethe four angels which are bound in the great River Euphrates,

and the four angels were loosed

Notice that they had been bound and all of those who were going to strike terror upon theface of the earth were bound and they were let loose.

You remember in the first chapter of Revelation, when John has that beautiful picture ofthe Lord Jesus Christ opened to him on the Isle of Patmos, the Lord speaks and He says,Behold, I have the keys of death and hell Friends, I want you to know the devil doesnt havethe keys to his own house! He is under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, while thedevil today is walking around, going to and fro and up and down in this city looking for someonewhom he can devour, I want you to know that he is under the authority of our God. He wants totouch you and he wants to touch me to devour us, to sift us, but he cannot do ithe cannot do itwithout the permission of our Lord. Jesus is Lord of everythingeven the devil! So, Jesus said,

Simon, Simon, Satan has obtained you by asking.

Now, our time is gone. In the morning, were going to come back and were going tofinish this study on the sifting of the saints.

These two points I want to reiterate todaythe devil desires every one of us, and hisdesire is to take us from the protective hand of God into his own hands to do with us as hepleasesbut once he gets his hands upon us, he cannot do with us as he pleases. Now, thereason I emphasize this is that there are many times when it seems as though the devil has beengiven a free hand in our lives. Im certain that some of you this morning have at times felt thatGod had given the devil carte blanche to your lifehad just given the devil the keys to your lifeand said, go in and do whatever you want to do. Now, Friends, it may seem at times that thedevil is doing with us as he pleases, but I want you to know that the devil nevergives the devilunlimited freedom and access to our lives. I want to say this as an encouragement and as a wordof faith to you today that even though you may be going right now through a time of sifting, atime of great trial, a time of great difficulty, even though you may be right now in the very clutchesof the devil, and he seems to be devouring you, I want you to know that whatever hes doing, heis under the authority of your Heavenly Father who loves you and has nothing but good in mindfor your life. It may seem at times that the devil has his way with us, but never, never! The devilcannot do with as the devil pleases. He can only do with us as our Heavenly Father pleases.

Lets pray together

Father, were thankful that Youve revealed to us in yourWord who the enemy of our souls really is. And, werethankful that we have been warned of his strategy, tostrike at us in times of crisis, to strike at what we think

are our strong points which are really our weak points.And, were thankful, Father, that You have revealed tous that this roaring lion that so frightens and wreaks somuch havoc in our lives is yet under Your divine hand.Father, we can rest in that. Let him do what he will, aslong as we know that he is simply doing whatYouwillin our lives.

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen

Sifted but Saved

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