Amen. The words that I have upon my heart today are found there, especially in verse 32, dealing with the subject of the praying and prevailing Christ. Notice what we find in this verse, the words of Christ himself. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. Now the words of our text were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ on the night before his death in the upper room in the city of Jerusalem. They were very solemn words of warning because he referred to the evil intentions of Satan to inflict serious harm upon his disciples. And I suppose we could put that in there today for our behalf, the people of God. Peter was especially singled out for attention because Jesus warned him about Satan's attack on him personally by saying to him, Simon, Simon, behold, or pay attention if you like, Satan had desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. And as the story unfolds, we discover how Satan did attack Peter and how Peter failed miserably. One preacher commenting on this particular verse said, Peter ran a red light and got into trouble. And we all know that a red traffic light means one thing. It means to stop. And people who violate this law invite trouble, a ticket. And no one wants a ticket in these times. Simon was very foolish to ignore the warning of Christ. We could say that he ran a red light and got into trouble. But Jesus did not leave it there. He said something vitally important to Peter. And as he spoke to Peter long ago, he speaks to us today and he always speaks something that's important for our benefit, for the good of our souls. He spoke and he said, I have prayed for thee. Now you can see that it is a personal word. I have prayed for thee. It's a powerful word because Jesus says, I have prayed for thee. And it is a very pertinent word because it was dealing with the matter to hand. It was dealing with the whole subject of the attack of the devil upon him. So I have prayed for thee. And in this way, the Lord Jesus Christ comforted Peter. So there is a warning to alert Peter And then there is a word to assure Peter. And then the story before is there is the adversary of God's people. And at the same time, there is the advocate for God's people. Or we could say a real foe to encounter and a real faith that endures. Do we have a real faith? Is it a faith that can be tested in the providence of God? Are we experiencing the comfort of God and believing the promises of God, the promises that is given to us? We've come to a time of gospel preaching, a gospel campaign, that might be an old term used years ago, but you can be absolutely sure that a season like this, the devil is going to attack. He's going to attack the congregation, he's going to attack the preacher, He's going to attack the prayer warriors. He's going to attack us all. But I want us all to remember at this crucial time in the congregation that there's one in the glory who prays and prevails on our behalf. In Revelation chapter four, John was in the Isle of Patmos suffering there, a great tribulation and a hard place and a difficult place. And in the midst of his tribulations, he looked and he saw a door opened or standing open in heaven. He looked through that door into heaven and what did he see? He saw a throne. But better still, he saw one that sat upon the throne. And let me remind you at this time of gospel campaign and gospel preaching that God is still on the throne and he will remember his own. He will maintain his cause. He will bless the going forth of the gospel as he's done in the past. He will continue to do that. And the powers of darkness cannot prevail because the prayers of Christ on our behalf prevails with God. The praying Christ and the prevailing Christ is our Christ. So in the light of what I've said, as we stand on the threshold of this gospel mission, Let's ensure that our hearts are right with God, that we're right in His presence, that we're living close, that we will stay close. We will get behind the work of a mission, get behind the evangelist, getting behind those who've organized it, and stand shoulder to shoulder as we seek to advance the kingdom of God. After all, It's His kingdom, it's His work, it's His glory we labor for, and it's in the interests of maybe your family, your home family, it's in the interest of this community where the church is being placed in the providence of God, it's for their sake that we engage at this time in this special effort. Who shall ascend the hill of God? he that hath clean hands and a pure heart. They alone can come into the holy hell of God. Meet with him and be channels of blessing for the praise and the glory of God. There are three things I want to highlight for your benefit this morning. First of all, there's the seriousness of Simon's predicament. Well, in verse 31, the Lord said, Satan hath desired to have you, Now this title Satan is found about 50 times in the Bible and it simply means adversary, it means accuser, one who resists or one who opposes. So Satan the adversary, the old servant as he is introduced there in the book of Revelation or the devil, the devil was planning a vicious attack on the disciples at that particular time. Remember, in Matthew chapter 3, the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized of John in the waters of Jordan. Immediately following his baptism, there was his battle in the wilderness. At his baptism, he heard the voice from heaven, this is my beloved son. A testimony from above that God had set aside his son for this ministry. And so there's that time of blessing followed by that time of battling alone in the wilderness. And that's the way it is in life. Sometimes we reach the mountaintop, but then sometimes we have to come to the valley experience. That's not necessarily a nice place to be. We would prefer to be in the mountaintop, but that's life. That's the way it is. even from the experience of Christ, his baptism, the voice from heaven. And then in the very next chapter, in the wilderness, and the voice from hell. Now you can recall what Peter testified in Matthew chapter 16, thou art the Christ. That was a special revelation given to him, thou art the Christ. But now the Lord speaks here about his denial. Even great people have their faults and failures. We're like the image of Nebuchadnezzar. There's the gold and the silver, but then you come down to the feet of clay. That sums us all up, doesn't it? It sums us all up. And so, here we can see Satan's, not his work. He is a created, finite spirit, head of the fallen angels. We learn that from Matthew 12, and we read about it in 2 Peter 2, 4, and Jude, verse 6. And when you read the scriptures, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the scriptures, you read about the entrance of Satan into the garden under the guise of being a servant, subtlety, cunning, scheming. And then you read about Satan's enmity throughout the scriptures. He's a destroyer. He's a divider. He has ruined lives. He has ruined nations. He has ruined families and fellowships and churches and marriages and relationships. He's the one who divides. He's the one who separates. The Lord emphasizes in the book of Acts of the early church together, They pray together, they labor together, they suffer together in the kingdom of God. But here comes the serpent. He wants to attack God's people. He wants to make them weak, make them panic, make them fearful. He wants to triumph over them. But thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the victor. Because we also read in the Holy Scriptures about Satan's end, his entrance, his enmity, and his end. Revelation chapter 20 tells us that he ends up in the lake of fire. That's the place where every unconverted soul goes to. And so those who die refusing Christ and those who die the way of love and their sin will end up in the same place, tormented in the same fire. for God's eternity. That's why we're having this gospel mission, to get the good news out that Jesus saves, that he has power to save, that he has died an atoning death, and that salvation is full and free for sinners who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says they shall be saved. First time Satan is mentioned, he appears as the deceiver. and he's thus well named for he deceives the world he blinds the minds of the ungodly and listen to it listen to it carefully he attacks the saints of god and then jesus says in verse 31 satan had desired to have that he might sift you that's saying that the pronoun you is in the plural and it therefore refers to all of the disciples so satan planned to wreak havoc throughout the entire group. Now he had succeeded in securing Judas, one of the 12. That's a mystery. It's a mystery. One of the 12. He had a profession, but no reality, no real faith, no saving faith. And we've got to be clear about this, that Judas went to hell because he was a sinner. But the devil secured one within the body there. to carry out his foul deed. But then you'll notice the change in verse 32, the change to thee. I have prayed for thee. So it changes from you, plural, to thee, singular. And in this reference, it refers to Peter. So the Lord was addressing Peter now on this occasion. The attack was specifically aimed at him. He was in special danger. HG Wells once said, a man may be a bad musician and yet be passionately in love with music. And this is the truth I want to get across. Peter failed miserably, yet he passionately loved the Lord Jesus. And because of that, he became a target of Satan. And Satan's purpose is to isolate God's people and to separate them from other believers. And you've heard this illustration many times before, but I emphasize it just again to make things clear. A piece of coal is red hot in contact with other pieces of coal in the fire. But if that piece of coal falls out of the fire onto the hearth, it soon grows cold. soon grows cold. I think of 1 Samuel chapter 17, 34 and 36. Remember the testimony of David before Saul. He said a lion and a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock. That was a fierce attack upon that little lamb, the lamb that David loved. Here's a picture of the shepherd and the sheep. The older, the adults could be looked upon as the sheep, and the little ones, the lambs and the flock. Oh, how the devil attacks fiercely the lambs of the congregation. Oh, that God will be pleased and mercy to even visit the lambs for the glory of God at this time. But David defended the lamb. Do you see that? He defended the lamb. And so you see the lion and the bear isolating the lamb from the flock. Determining to tear it to pieces. But David was there to defend. Christ is always there to defend his people. And be very careful lest you get out of the fellowship of the people of God. Lest you get out of the company of the redeemed of God, for whatever reason. There's danger in that. Stick close to fellow believers. The child of God being found in the place of prayer. be found in the place of preaching, because sooner or later, with neglect of these things, your heart will grow cold and there's no telling where you might end up. That's the tragedy. A man who was a minister got away from God. His family turned out very badly. Recently, one of the daughters of the home was found hanged. And he forbade any preaching at the funeral. How great a fall that was. Let's be very, very careful. The Lord is giving a warning to Simon Peter. He's saying, behold, listen, pay attention, Peter. I have a word here for you. Pay attention to this. Don't let it just go in one ear and out the other ear. I've got a word in season for you. Behold. Do you see that? Listen to it. Satan had desired to have thee. The word desired is the intensive form of the verb to ask. And could be read, Satan had demanded to have you, or earnestly begged for you, or requested permission. Now, the amazing thing about this is the Lord permitted it to happen. The Lord didn't intervene to prevent this from happening. The Lord allowed it in his sovereign purpose to happen. And the words indicate a violent attack upon the disciples. And I think the incident here parallels with the experience of Job. And you can read the opening couple of chapters there about Job. and the justice Satan asked and obtained permission to attack Job. Of course, the purpose of that was to prove Job. He was a man of patience and you can read all through the whole book and it's a hard book to read and study. Job was asking questions and really at the end of the chapter, it's not been unwise or But then in James, you've heard of the patience of Job. God taught him patience through what he experienced. Now you think about his losses at the start. He lost his family. He lost his livestock. He lost his health. That was a great trial. But remember those famous words, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. That's his trust. That's a statement, is it not? No, he slay me. No, he take away my family. No, he take away my animals. No, he take away my health. Yet I will trust him. Oh, there's a trial, there's a trust. And then there is the triumph. Remember his friends. They weren't very helpful in this time of need. They gathered around him and they said, Job, do you see them in this presence now? Job, you must be a terrible sinner for God to have to deal with you in this way. Of course they were wrong. There's always two sides to every story. This was their story. You must be a terrible sinner. But then from God's point of view, the Lord was allowing him to go through this, to set him up as a beacon, as an example of patience. Do you hear that now? Do you hear what I'm saying? Do you understand it? This is a word from God. Because, and the Lord said, this is what he said. Peter never forgot this experience. Why do I say that? Do I have scripture proof for it? Of course I do have. We seek to have spiritual and scriptural truth for all things that we seek to do in life. 1 Peter 5 verse 8. He wrote about this experience, and he said, the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. That's what he was saying about. He never forgot it, what happened to him. And the word devour, it means to drink down, to swallow up. The fowls of the air devoured the seed, so and by the wayside, in Matthew 13, And so the seed is being broadcast in the files of the air. That's what the devil wants to do at the time of sowing the seed in this congregation, time of gospel preaching. He wants to seed away the good seed from the hearts of people who hear. Let's protect the seed with our prayers. Let's be solemn in these days, sober in these times, manifesting the fruit of the spirit living for Christ as men and women identified as men and women of God, men who know how to prevail in prayer, women who know how to go through with God in prayer. This is a great time in the congregation. when the seed will be sown. We've got to be aware of the files of the air swooping down to see the way of the seed. Jesus then says that he may sift you as wheat. The devil's come that he might sift you as wheat. That's an agricultural term that refers to the salvage process of separating the husk of the wheat from the grain. The wheat was crushed underfoot, then thrown into the air. and the chaff where the husk was blown away by the wind, and all that was left behind then was the good grain. Though Satan wanted to prove that there was no reality in the faith of the disciples, or in the faith of Peter. It's only a shambles, not real. He wanted to crush and sift them that nothing would be left but a lost heart and an empty profession. He would throw them into turmoil. He would throw them into a time of confusion. And the Lord warned Peter of the devil's purpose to destroy his ministry. The Lord is saying, listen, Peter, the devil is coming. He will certainly come. And he wants to destroy your youthfulness. He wants to destroy your ministry. Now Peter did feel, and he felt miserably. But then we have these two amazing books in the New Testament from a pen of a man who failed and what instruction he gives to us. He learned by experience. He learned even through his wilderness experience, through his failure, he learned. He learned to trust him more and more with the passing of time. He wanted to shatter his faith, but that was a liar. He has been defeated at the cross. Now he can never reclaim a redeemed soul, but he will oppose the progress of the saints of God. The Lord had a word for him before he even met that temptation. That's the beauty of it. Peter wasn't even conscious of his danger. Satan's plan was to destroy Peter, but the Savior's purpose was to develop Peter. The Lord knew Peter would deny him and that he would be filled with remorse and would repent and be restored. And the time came when the clock drew for the final time. He looked to Christ and he remembered the word of Christ. And the Bible says that he went out and he went bitterly. Oh, his heart was broken. He was a man of faith. He had a lean time, he had a time of failure. But he was a man of faith. The idea was that the wheat would remain in the sieve and that the chaff would be drawn away, for it was no use for food. John Trapp, an old Puritan, said, Jesus uses a fan and sifts to get rid of the chaff, but the devil uses a fan and sifts to get rid of the wheat. The devil was not successful on this occasion. At the end of Genesis chapter 14, Abraham faced a great trial, a great temptation, but God saw to it that he was well prepared before the King of Sodom came to him. The Bible tells us about the King of Salem came, a man called Melchizedek, a mysterious character. He certainly is a type of Christ. He may be more than that. I'm not going to enter into a debate about that. He came. And that's interesting, the King of Salem came before the King of Sodom. He was the priest king, a type of Christ in the Old Testament. What did he bring? He said before Abraham, bread and wine, the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. So Abraham anticipated Calvary before he met with the King of Sodom. And because of that, he was sustained in his time of need and had success, and he was able to ignore the invitation of the King of Sodom. Simon, Simon, behold. It's interesting that the Lord uses his old name. That was his old name. And did not use Peter until verse 34. Why? because Peter was acting like Simon, very fleshly, carnal. But that's the reason. And it's emphasized here, Simon, Simon, the old man, the old nature is prevailing here. Oh, you're boasting great things, but I know full well you'll fail me. I know you'll let me down. And then it's only in verse 34, I tell you, Peter, And we all have two natures, the old fleshly nature that pulls us down and then the part that is born of God that lifts us up and sets us apart. So, it may be well, it may be the purpose of God to draw attention to the fact that Peter at this point of time was still a weak believer and not a man of stability. My time is almost gone, I don't even think I should maybe develop the message any further. But it reminds us, I think, of Belshazzar's dream, whose feet were part of iron and part of clay. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And Christ employed the double use, Simon, Simon, to emphasize his deep concern. And he said, behold, or take note, pay attention, watch out Peter. Emphasizing his need to trust the word of God. His need to depend upon the word of God. If you don't listen to my word and abide my truth and take it to heart and endeavor by grace to be obedient to it, you're gonna be in trouble. You're gonna falter, you're gonna fail. Why does the Lord permit Satan to sift us as wheat? Well, why is wheat sifted? To separate the chaff from the wheat. Satan is after the wheat, but all he gets is chaff. And that's the whole purpose of trials and difficulties and tribulations in life. There was John in the Isle of Patmos were told and the opening part there that he was in tribulation. That was a difficult time for the apostle. He was in Pampas there, a treeless, barren, rocky island. The only people that he had with him was other prisoners of the vilest kind and the guards to prevent them leaving the island. It was like an open prison. I don't know if he had a covered pavilion or a covered area for his home or rest. Maybe not. There he was, suffering for his faith. Now, why should a man like John have to suffer? The last of the apostles to die. The one who leaned upon the breast of Christ. His brother had been slaughtered way back in Acts chapter 12. John survived. He was a beloved pastor of the Ephesian church. So how did he survive? Well, the little shuttle boat that traveled between Patmos and the mainland, Asia Minor, would have brought provisions. How did he write the book of Revelation? He needed parchment, he needed pens, he needed clothing, he needed food. Here's this servant of God in a hard place, suffering for his faith. Why, John? And it was then that the Lord came and gave him a wonderful vision in that first chapter of Revelation of Christ. You can look at that vision for yourself and see the remarkable features. So here he is, in isolation, forsaken by men, not forsaken by God and who is there on the island with him. Blessed Jesus. The Lord came. The Lord came, and when John saw this wonderful vision of Christ, what did he do? Well, when the soldiers came, or the mob came to Gethsemane to arrest Christ, and he identified himself as the Messiah, what did they do? Oh, they fell back. But when John saw Jesus, He fell down at his feet. He fell before him in humble submission. You see the difference? Fell in humble submission. And as he was lying there at the feet of Jesus, oh, to be at the feet of Jesus during this time of gospel preaching, to be at the feet of Jesus. As he was lying there at the feet of Jesus, on that hard ground, in that barren place, in that lonely place, suffering for the testimony of Jesus Christ. He is there lying at the feet of Jesus. What happens next? He hears a voice. It's like a trumpet. When you hear a trumpet, it's loud and clear. So here he is, he's at the feet of Jesus. He hears a voice. The voice, it's the Lord. And he says, fear not. Listen, John, fear not. I'm here. I'm with you. I am with you in Padmas. I'm here. He laid his hand upon him. And then, what did the Lord say to John? I want you to write this down. That's where John got the parchment from when the little ferry boat brought over these provisions for the prisoners. That came because of a church who loved him and stood behind him and prayed for him and was there in his time of need to support him. And that's why we have this classic. the last book of the Bible, the last book of the Old Testament. It's a remarkable thing. Mysterious things are here. Things that John saw, things that would happen hereafter, bringing us through the whole series of seven different revelations, covering the same period of time, from the first advent of Christ to the second advent of Christ. And so, each section begins with the first advent, the coming, and it concludes with the second advent of Christ, all the way through. He's writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, doing a great work for God, because he was a man who was found at the feet of Jesus, who received a touch of Christ upon his life, and God gave him a commission. I want you to write this down. I wonder, would he have succeeded in Ephesus with all the demands of a pastorate? Maybe not. In this day and age, pastors are busy. People, phones, emails, texts, people calling and so on. It takes the pastor away maybe from the preparation of his message. Yes, pastors can be very busy, you know. And God in this divine providence allowed John to go to Patmos. They were made of this classic in the book of God today. And when you read Revelation, it's a marvelous book. Remember the man who wrote it, in tribulation, forsaken by others. His colleagues, if you can call them colleagues, were prisoners. cold, barren, hard place. So God brought him to a hard place that he might give to the church a wonderful revelation of the person and work of Jesus Christ and his divine purposes. So here we have a word. I'm going to finish there. I could take another couple of hours to finish it, but I better leave it there. You're patient, but you may not be that patient. Here's the word. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desire to have you, that he may sift you as we listen to it, the praying Christ, the prevailing Christ. But I have prayed for thee. that thy faith fail not, and when they are converted, strengthen thy brethren. I'm going to bring you through this. And when I bring you through this, you can be a comfort, telling from your experience and encouraging others of how God dealt with you, to be a blessing to them. So please, if you can, come tonight to encourage Mr. McRae in the preaching. Pray for the men's group as well. Pray for the rest of the mission that God will come. But please take on board the warning. Everybody has heard it today from the pulpit. Everyone hears her, people listening in on social media hears her word. Let's pray. Father, we do thank Thee for Thy word. Thank Thee for Thy mercy, for Thy grace, even in the experience of Peter. Lord, we're thankful for even dealing with him in mercy. The Lord could have cut him off, but he didn't. He was gracious to him, merciful to him. And Peter learned a lesson that he never forgot. We have proof of that in the scriptures. And so, Lord, this is the way a loving heavenly father deals with his own children to make them better, to cause them to be more useful in the service of God. This is how he works, to perfect his saints. Not that we reach perfection this side of heaven, but the process of sanctification has commenced at salvation. It's an ongoing process. And all the way through this life, he still works on his people, causing them to become more and more and more like Jesus, just like the words of the hymn. And so let us take this on board today. Let's learn from the Master and keep before us the warning that he gave to his disciples and in particular the warning he gave to Peter. Now dismiss us with thy blessing and in thy fear and keep the fire burning till we meet again for we ask these things in the Savior's name. Amen.