97. Sifting

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[hanks]

1. Why would you sift grains of wheat? (Luke 22:31) What kind of experience does "sifting wheat" convey? 
The purpose is, of course, to save the wheat, and to separate it from chaff and other unwanted materials. In Scripture it is used as a symbol of judgment in which the good are separated from the evil. Sometimes we might become a little too complacent in our relationship with our Lord Jesus and need a little “shaking-up” to awaken us. Temptations and trials can result in purification; exposing our hypocrisy, our weak faith, our insincerity, or our unbelief. The same with inward conflicts and adversity which can also lead to sifting. But Satan had other ideas, he asked God for permission to see if he can shake the faith out of the apostles. He sifts Peter and the other apostles, not to separate the chaff from the wheat, but to destroy the wheat by scattering them from Jesus and from one another, filling them with doubts about Jesus being the Messiah, and by frightening them with fears about enemies and of death. 
 

[hanks]

2. Extra credit: Why is Satan able to attack us? (Luke 22:31) What are the chief weapons he has at his disposal? 
I think God allows Satan to attack us to strengthen our faith, to draw us closer to God, and to learn to trust Him more. Adversity strengthens real faith, but destroys superficial faith. I have heard it said if we never go through any adversities we should be concerned because God disciplines those He loves. So, sometimes we need to be sifted. Another reason might be that by going through trials, and tribulations, we could help others who are experiencing the same suffering. As we experience the attacks of Satan we can trust that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). At times during our suffering of heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, or bereavement, we wonder what good can come out of it. This is when we are to fully trust our Heavenly Father knowing that whatever He permits to come into our lives is designed to conform us to the image of His Son. God is sovereign and our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our wonderful, personal Lord who is all wise. Satan has many weapons at his disposal, but we should not be too concerned, rather we should just be extra vigilant. We know he has limited power and can only do what God has permitted him to do (Job 1:12). He may tempt us through the **** of the flesh, through the **** of the eyes, through the pride of life, through masquerading as an angel of light, through false teachings, or through many of his evil schemes. The more effective we are for the Lord, the more we will experience his attacks; he does not waste his ammunition on nominal Christians. In our own strength we are no match for the devil, but we have the whole armour of God at our disposal (Eph 6:10-20). 
 

[hanks]

3. How could Peter be so unrealistic about the level of his own strength and faith? (Luke 22:33-34) Why is he so out of touch? How does a person get in touch with their own spiritual strength? 
It is clear that Peter did not know himself. He did not consciously lie here; I think he believed what he said about being ready to go to prison and to death for Jesus, but was unaware that Satan wanted to completely crush and defeat him. Peter merely looked to how he felt at the moment, and at that moment he felt pretty brave. He is out of touch with reality, having confidence in his own strength and faith, and being ignorant of the trials which he will soon pass through. Jesus, of course, was aware of both the spiritual reality and of the spiritual battle behind the scenes, and did not see Peter’s temporary lapse as a failure of faith, because He knew that Peter would return to Him. There is a lesson here for us. We should be asking God to thoroughly search our heart and expose every wicked way in order that it might be confessed and forsaken. Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. We pray this so that our Lord can point out all our iniquities and help us to deal with them effectively. Like Peter we can never make such promises relying on our own strength; confident promises of loyalty can only be made dependent on His strength. It teaches us that all promises to follow our Lord should be made rather relying on Him for help and support. If left on our own, any adversity can easily expose our spiritual strength as being weak and feeble. It’s through trials and adversities that we learn to rely on God’s strength. 
 

[hanks]

4. How can a believer's faith possibly become extinguished? How does Jesus' prayer affect Peter's faith? What are the limits of the power of prayer for another person's faith? Can we "believe them" back to God? 
True believers who have been regenerated can never lose their saving faith, but they may recover, turn back, be strengthened as often as they fall into sin. So, in that way their faith can never be extinguished. As we are still sinners saved by grace, our faith is topped up as we repent and ask forgiveness. But this will happen less and less often as we grow spiritually and as we become more and more like Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will be there to help us persevere right up to the end. Jesus knows that Peter will stumble but He also knows that his unfaithfulness will only be temporary, and that he will recover and come out stronger. Once it had sunk in and Peter realised that Jesus has told him that He has prayed for him, and that he will turn back and is needed to strengthen the other apostles, he must have been fully restored and strengthened. I feel if we go alongside our fellow believers, we encourage them, pray with them, and study the Word of God, we can definitely make a difference and bring them back to the Lord. I doubt whether we can believe them back to God, they are the ones to believe and put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ.
They have to do that themselves. 
 

[hanks]

5. Is Peter stronger or weaker after his "fatal flaw" had been revealed? Why does God allow temptation to come to us at all? 
Peter recovers, his faith is restored, and made even stronger as he relies on God’s strength, and as a result of Jesus’ prayer for him. And he will need this extra strength to carry out the command Jesus has given him to strengthen his brothers. As he mentions in 1 Peter 5:10, our Lord Jesus will, after we have suffered a little while, restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast. Satan tries to drive a wedge between us and God. He intends to weaken and wear us out, but it has the opposite effect on believers – it strengthens us and helps use persevere. His temptations are unfortunately a daily part of our lives (1 Peter 5:8). Even our Lord Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are” (Heb 4:15). Yet with the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God’s Word will help us to effectively resist temptations. The reason why God allows temptation to come upon us, is that He is trying to produce Christlikeness in each one of us. This may involve some suffering, frustration, and confusion, and will most probably be difficult and disagreeable. It helps if we realise that He has some good purpose in it for us, and that fruit of the Spirit cannot be produced when all is easy going. 
 

[hanks]

6. In what ways do you think Peter strengthened his brothers after Jesus' resurrection? In what ways can we strengthen our brothers and our sisters? 
Having experienced what they will go through, I think Peter is in a strong position to warn them of the impending dangers they will face, to comfort them, to sustain them, and to encourage them as well. Peter was obedient to our Lord’s command “Strengthen your brothers" (22:32b), as shown by his later life and by the two epistles of Peter. Having been strengthened himself, he would out of gratitude obey the Lord. He must have carried the dreadful guilt of denying his blessed Lord the rest of his life. This was seen when on his death, he requested to be crucified with his head downward, as being unworthy to suffer in the same manner that Christ did. In the same way we are to strengthen our brother and sisters in Christ. Not only must we help our fellow believers in times of weakness; it is our duty, having been strengthened ourselves, to bring glory and honour to our Lord. This all has to be done in the spirit of love and tenderness. A great deal of compassion, meekness, and humility is required. 
 

[hanks]

7. Extra credit: In light of verse 32, why is it so important in God's plan that each of His children be part of a local congregation? 
Jesus gave us these two commands, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34b), and “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:12). Our Lord Jesus was a living example of God’s love; even loving us enough to give His life for us. In our own way we can love others by listening, helping, encouraging, and giving to them. Such love will not only bring unbelievers to Christ; it will also keep believers strong and united in a world hostile to God. Being part of a local congregation enables us to demonstrate this love for one another. We can bear one another’s burdens. In times of failures, temptations, testings, and trials we can be at the side of our brother or sister and help them in every possible way. We realise that it’s only because of the grace of God that we are not the one in need of help. God’s plan is that united we are much stronger and we can help each other withstand the evil attacks of Satan. In a congregation there will be believers who will have experienced certain attacks and will be of a great help to strengthen those that are going to similar attacks. 
 

[Irmela]

1.  Why would you sift grains of wheat? (Luke 22:31) What kind of experience does "sifting wheat" convey?

You would sift grains of whear to separate the grains from the chaff. Separate the useful from what needs to be burnt. "Sifting" makes one think of a shaking and a "separating from".

 

[Irmela]

2. Why is Satan able to attack us? (Luke 22:31) What are the chief weapons he has at his disposal?

When we are not watchful and pride gets the upper hand, satan uses that to trip us up and make us fall, by doing something or by saying something which we would under normal circumstances not do or say. We act in an unseemly manner. 

Pride might not be our weakness. It might be ****, coveteousness, greed, bad language, substance abuse or whatever. That is what satan tries to use to attack us with. Our weaknesses are his weapons. 

We are still living in the world where satan and his evil forces roam about. 

Eph 6:12 reminds us that we are dealing with spirit forces of darkness. We need to ensure to be armed at all times. 

We need to be WATCHFUL and ARMED with the whole armour God provides. 

[Irmela]

3.  How could Peter be so unrealistic about the level of his own strength and faith? (Luke 22:33-34) Why is he so out of touch? How does a person get in touch with their own spiritual strength?

I think he really believed that he would be able to stand in the midst of adversity. He fully believed in his own strength and faith. In being able to take things in his own hands. He certainly did not think the situation through properly. He was being very protective over the Person who he firmly believed to be the Messiah, the One who would deliver them from Roman oppression. 

He has still not fully accepted that Jesus would not rise to Power then and there. Maybe some "hiccups" but not taken to be crucified. It didn't sink in even though Jesus had been open about it. 

When you are actually confronted with adversity then you realize what your spiritual strength is. Then you see if you are cold or lukewarm or really able to stand. 

[Irmela]

4.  How can a believer's faith possibly become extinguished? How does Jesus' prayer affect Peter's faith? What are the limits of the power of prayer for another person's faith? Can we "believe them" back to God?

When you turn your back on Jesus your faith too is extinguished or diminished as there is no real proper connection to the light bringer. 

Peter's faith is restored. He does fail and fall. But he learns by that that he cannot rely in his own strength, he definately needs Jesus. 

By having fallen he was able to pray for others going through similar things. So can we. 

Not sure of believing them back to God but we can pray for them. (i don't believe in naming and claiming. Asking/praying without ceasing, yes, that to me is Scriptural] We can believe and trust God to do a miracle. That's why we pray. 

[Irmela]

5.  Is Peter stronger or weaker after his "fatal flaw" had been revealed? Why does God allow temptation to come to us at all?

Peter is weaker first because he realizes he cannot do it on his own. In fact he is shattered by what he has done. So now he repents and again connects to Jesus. Then he becomes much stronger in his faith. He in fact gets back to where he can lead the group. Others can look up to him.

God allows temptation to come our way, so that we can see and acknowledge our need to hold onto Him. When we have overcome we become stronger and realize by first hand experience that we can and must rely on Him and not try in our own strength. We too get to the point where we realize we cannot judge others for what they are doing. Empathy and sympathy becomes part of our character and being watchful and pray. 

[Irmela]

6. In what ways do you think Peter strengthened his brothers after Jesus' resurrection? In what ways can we strengthen our brothers and our sisters?

Peter realized he could not rely on his own strength. It failed him. He found forgiveness in Christ and realized he could find strength in Him too. So after the resurrection Peter could stand and encourage others, he had been forgiven and he could encourage others to find forgiveness too. He could now stand as he had learnt to rely on strength through praying. He could encourage others in the same way. 

Past experiences, be they positive or negative, joyful or painful, can be used to equip us into helping others who are walking on a similar pathway. In that way we too can strengthen them. 

[Irmela]

7.  In light of verse 32, why is it so important in God's plan that each of his children be part of a local congregation?

We are all different. But somewhere along the line we need strengthening. In a local congregation that is what should happen. It's like an extended family. 

[Katy]

Q1. Grains of wheat would be sifted to get rid of foreign bodies which are not wanted mixed up with the wheat. These can be stones, weeds, pieces of stick etc. Sifting conveys the idea of separating the good from the bad. We see this in Matthew 13. The parable of the wheat and tares where they are allowed to grow together until harvest and then they are separated. The good is kept and the tares are burned. It is also similar to the world today the righteous and the unrighteous live together but in Judgement day that will all change. Matthew 25. 
Q2.The Lord allows a certain amount of tempting by Satan but God is always in control. We see this in the book of Job. God allowed Satan to do certain things but he had his limits. God allowed this to show Satan that Job was a righteous man in all circumstances not just when all was going well for him. There are other times when we can leave ourselves wide open to attack by taking our focus off God and concentrating on worldly matters. Satan is the father of lies and he can put lies into our minds which can lead us into all kinds of sin. This was how he tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. We must remember that Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking those weak spots so he can devour us enticing us to sin against God. We need at all time to have the full armour of God on, as we are told in Ephesians 6, in order that we can fight against his evil attacks.

Q3.I don’t think any of us know how we are going to react in any given situation. We think and hope that we will be brave and strong but in reality if it is a totally new and frightening situation we really don’t know how we will react. If we are proud or impetuous, we will think the best of ourselves and feel sure we will react in the correct way. I also think that having been with Jesus for three years I couldn’t imagine denying knowing Him, but again Jesus has been arrested and everything Peter and the other disciples appeared to be at an end, no wonder Peter reacted in a negative way. It is easy for us to be hard on Peter when we know the end of the story, but given the circumstances I wonder would I have done any better. When we study Jesus and see His Holiness and what He has done for us it makes it very clear that we full of evil desires and our only hope is to be constantly looking to Jesus to keep us on the straight and narrow way.

Q4.We need to constantly be in touch with God and the things of God. Otherwise we get distracted and our faith starts to waiver. It is like removing a bright ember from the fire and putting it on its own. It gradually gets colder and dies altogether. Peter turns back to Jesus unlike Judas and this was due to the prayers that Jesus said for him. I find the last question difficult. Prayer is always listened too by God and answered in some way maybe not always in the way or the time we would wish. But we must pray without ceasing and trust God for the outcome. God is in essence good and He is not willing that anyone should perish but come to repentance. 
Q5.Peter is stronger once he gets back on track. He sees how forgiving and gracious Jesus is and Jesus entrusts him with  the church of the future. When we go through temptation we learn how easy it is to fall but also how God will help us when we ask. Jesus uses these times of testing to refine us and bring us to maturity to become the people He wants us to be. As we are told in James we should consider it pure joy when we face trials because Gos is using them to make us into His people.

[Katy]

Q6.Peter had experienced the love of Jesus, His forgiveness and a new strength, then restoration. Because Peter was so ashamed of his failure , the strength and restoration meant everything to him. He was appointed by Jesus to be the new leader of the disciples and His fledgling church. So in turn Peter was able to strengthen his fellow disciples by encouraging them, by sharing with them all he had experienced and by leading them in prayer and action. We also are called upon to strengthen those who are weak vulnerable and lost. Also our brothers and sisters that we meet at church to have fellowship with them and look for ways we can encourage them. Spend time with them and find out what is going on in their lives and how and where they need prayer and encouragement or practical help.

Q7. Hebrews 10v25 tells us not to give up meeting together, but to encourage one another especially as end times approach if we are not part of a church we cannot do this and so we miss out on so much including having fellow believers to come along side us in times of trouble and times of joy. We don’t have any one to pray for us and we don’t know who needs our prayers. We see from v32 that prayer is vital, because of Jesus praying for Peter he was strengthened and restored. We miss out on that strengthening we can both give and receive. 

[haar]

1.    Why would you sift grains of wheat? (Luke 22:31) What kind of experience does "sifting wheat" convey?

One will sift grains of wheat or any grain to get rid the chaff.

2.    Extra credit: Why is Satan able to attack us? (Luke 22:31) What are the chief weapons he has at his disposal?

Satan is aware of areas of our weaknesses and thus targets them to get at us.

3.    How could Peter be so unrealistic about the level of his own strength and faith? (Luke 22:33-34) Why is he so out of touch? How does a person get in touch with their own spiritual strength?

Peter thought that he was not vulnerable but was wrong. Most, if not all of us have our weaknesses and should thus rather boast in the Lord's strength rather than our own.

4.    How can a believer's faith possibly become extinguished? How does Jesus' prayer affect Peter's faith? What are the limits of the power of prayer for another person's faith? Can we "believe them" back to God?

Believer’s faith can become extinguished when they are tempted through diverse trials and are not well rooted in the Lord through prayers and the study of the word.

5.    Is Peter stronger or weaker after his "fatal flaw" had been revealed? Why does God allow temptation to come to us at all?

Peter was still weak even after Jesus had told him that Satan had wanted to sift him out. He still denied the Lord and only become stronger after Jesus restored  him after his fall.

6.    In what ways do you think Peter strengthened his brothers after Jesus' resurrection? In what ways can we strengthen our brothers and our sisters?

After his fall and resuscitation Peter, upon the Pentecost experience was so full of power that he virtually became the leader the rest of the disciples.

[George L]

1. Why would you sift grains of wheat? Sorting the valuable wheat grains from the residue.(Luke 22:31) What kind of experience does "sifting wheat" convey? Shaken and examined for quality.
2. Extra credit: Why is Satan able to attack us? (Luke 22:31) we are not perfect and have several weaknesses remaining where the enemy can inject thoughts.. seeing if we can become distracted, discouraged, or become ensnared in our old lifestyle. What are the chief weapons he has at his disposal? Lies, deceptions, temptations.
3. How could Peter be so unrealistic about the level of his own strength and faith? It had yet to be tested . (Luke 22:33-34) Why is he so out of touch? Students are on cruise until they begin to work in their field. Then they understand to apply is not just think about it. How does a person get in touch with their own spiritual strength? In our testing. That is the testing time for our faith.  It us a time for rejoicing. As Paul said count it all joy when you are found worthy of testing. How can a believer's faith possibly become extinguished? Seed parable, become entangled again in the worldly. How does Jesus' prayer affect Peter's faith? He sees to the end result. What are the limits of the power of prayer for another person's faith? We can not over rule their free will, we can surely set the stage, call in spiritual reinforcements, and deal with the enemy. Can we "believe them" back to God? Eze 37:4 I believe in prophetic declairation of God’s word over such situations. Their will remains, lighting the spiritual fire of needing living water is our work in prayer.
4. Is Peter stronger weaker after his "fatal flaw" had been revealed? It strengthens the depth of his knowing, trusting. Why does God allow temptation to come to us at all? We need to know our faith holds like an anchor in the storm.
5. In what ways do you think Peter strengthened his brothers after Jesus' resurrection? His testemony of denial and restoration. If for me, then for you as well. In what ways can we strengthen our brothers and our sisters? The same way, our walk is not without testings. We learn from each. We pass that confidence on.
6. Extra credit: In light of verse 32, why is it so important in God's plan that each of his children be part of a local congregation? True family relationship generates a common bond, a group feeling of how others are free or burdened. We can come alongside of those needing support.