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I know it probably feels that there's a lot of pages in front of you, but actually,
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I cut it a little shorter today, knowing we'd have less time. But I included quite a lengthy appendix for you.
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We're dealing with this subject, the three great spiritual foes of the Christian, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
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And today is the second Lord's Day. We're dealing with the devil. And there's two books that I would recommend to you.
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They're on a short list. I would say, you know, the top dozen books that I would recommend for reading, these two would be on it.
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One is by William Gurnall, and they're listed actually on page 11 of your notes, if you want to just glance there quickly.
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And in that initial paragraph, I wrote the work of William Gurnall, who wrote the book
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The Christian in Complete Armor, which is an exposition of Ephesians 6, the passage on the full armor of God.
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It's a classic book. It's rather lengthy. They've got an edited version.
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I never buy edited version. Get the full version by Banner of Truth. And then the second book is the book by Thomas Brooks, who also lived in the 17th century, and he wrote the book
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Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices. You know, Paul wrote how we're not ignorant of his devices, the devil's devices.
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Well, he, you know, knowing that some of us are, Brooks wrote this book, and he spoke about Satan's devices and then the precious biblical remedies to those.
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And the rest of those pages you have, from page 11 all the way to, what, 17, is basically the table of contents from this book.
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And by the way, both books are online. They're on the Internet and available. And I put the introduction, or the table of contents out in full detail in these pages because I thought just the table of contents itself was helpful for us.
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And so you have, for example, Satan's devices to draw the soul into sin, and there are 12 of them that he identifies by presenting the bait and hiding the hook.
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That's what Satan does to entice people. And so he, after he talks about Satan's device, he sets forth the remedies, biblical remedies, to deal with each of these devices of Satan.
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And so altogether, I forget, there's a dozen, and then plus some more in the appendix, five more of Satan's devices and remedies.
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And so I would encourage you, if you want a book that deals with this matter, in fact, I was considering using his topics as points in a sermon or two, but it's so extensive and it's before you.
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And so there's a resource for you. Well, let's begin this morning with reading of our
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Lord's interaction with Peter as Peter was about to experience a great trial of his faith that the devil would cause him.
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And we're dealing with the devil and how he afflicts us and how we're to deal with him and how we are to understand him.
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We read, however, that in spite of the devil's malicious intention toward Peter, the
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Lord Jesus declared through his intercession on Peter's behalf, his prayer on Peter's behalf, the devil would not only fail to accomplish the destruction of Peter's faith, but the devil's efforts would result in Peter becoming more qualified to be a servant of Jesus Christ.
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The devil has to be the most frustrated being in God's creation. Everything he tries to do is opposed to God and God's people, but everything he does,
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God turns it around and furthers his kingdom through it. This exchange took place just before our
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Lord and his disciples traveled to the garden of Gethsemane where he was arrested and as recorded for us in Luke 22, 28 through 34.
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And I preached on this a number of years ago and I happened to tune in this week and listen to one of our radio programs happen to be dealing with this subject this week on the radio.
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And so that was a little confirmation for me that we should probably address it again. It's important.
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Luke 22, 28 through 34. Jesus speaking to his disciples, but you are those who have continued with me in my trials and I bestow upon you a kingdom just as my father bestowed one upon me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
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The 12 apostles were the new leaders of Israel. Israel reconstituted as a nation under the new covenant.
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And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.
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But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you've returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
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But he said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. And then he said,
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Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.
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Now again, last Lord's day, we began to address the spiritual foe with which we all struggle.
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We engage in spiritual warfare, that being the devil. And we considered the identity of this spiritual being as a fallen angel who had authority over a third of the angels that followed him in his rebellion.
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The devil fights against our Lord and attempts to frustrate the Lord's purposes. He always fails in this.
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But he attempts to defeat the Lord's people also. But our Lord, of course, totally vanquished the devil upon the cross.
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And when he was raised, Jesus was raised and exalted and enthroned in heaven in fulfillment of God's first promise of the gospel, the
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Protoevangelium, as it's commonly called, Genesis 3 .15. Although the devil had bruised his heel in the crucifixion,
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Jesus was crucified. Jesus had bruised the serpent's head. That is, King Jesus deposed
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Satan from his former absolute authority over the world, causing him to become subservient to Jesus the
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Lord. And so, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3 .22, Jesus has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels in authority.
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You include the devil in there, too. Angels in authorities, powers having been made subject to him, that is, to King Jesus.
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So God the Father glorified his Son, having given him authority over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to those that the
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Father had given him from eternity to save from their sins. Now, toward the end of last week's message, we cited the many ways in which the devil seeks to defeat
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Christians. He's deceitful and deceptive. He is cunning and conniving.
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And the Scriptures display him as yet having great authority over the fallen world system and over unregenerate, that is, non -Christian people.
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The devil is their master. Even though Jesus is
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Lord, the devil still retains great authority. But we pointed out, however, that although Satan is great and powerful, he's a powerful foe, the devil is not unlimited in his power or in his ability to thwart the purposes of God and the lives of his people.
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And so last week we stated, regarding the devil, Satan is not as God, for God is infinite.
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Satan is limited. Satan is finite. Satan is powerful, but he's not all -powerful, as God alone is.
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Satan is wise, but he's not all -wise. He's not omniscient like God. Nevertheless, the
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Scriptures do speak of him who deceives the whole world. He is an intelligent, powerful, malevolent spirit being.
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Well, today we will begin with a short review for those who may not have been with us last week, but we'll also include some additional information, and then we'll consider in some detail this event of Luke 22 that we just read.
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So first let's review just a few names of the devil because this reveals his nature and oftentimes his acts.
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The Bible employs a number of names, titles, descriptions of the devil. The Greek word for devil is diabolos, which conveys the idea of one being a slanderer.
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He slanders people. The use of the word devil is frequently employed in Holy Scripture.
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It's used 35 times in the New Testament, diabolos. Unfortunately, the
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King James Version uses the word devil on 60 occasions in the New Testament to refer not only to Satan, but to refer to demon or demons.
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The King James Version does not contain the word demon or demons. It uses the word devil or devils, where demon or demons is the better translation.
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And so this is incorrect on the part of the King James translators where, of course, there are many demons, but there's only one devil.
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Three times the New Testament uses the Greek word for devil, diabolos, to refer to people who are slanderers, they're devils.
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On four occasions, the word devil is used in the Greek Old Testament, that is the Septuagint, two of which refer to he -goats as demons or goat demons, and twice the word is used translating the word for demon.
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Aside from the Greek word translated devil, the devil has the personal name of Satan. Satan means opposer or adversary.
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He opposes God's people, opposes God. He's our adversary. Other names of the devil are
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Abaddon or Apollyon, used, of course, by Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress, the accuser of the brethren, the adversary,
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Beelzebub, that would be the prince of demons, Belial, the deceiver of the whole world, the great dragon, the evil one, the father of lies, the old serpent, the prince of this world, the prince of the powers of the air, and the tempter.
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And so the names of the devil reflect his evil nature and his intention toward everything good and righteous in God's creation.
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The origin of the devil, we talked about this last week from one passage. We stated the
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Bible does not reveal clearly the origin of the devil, and I put clearly in italic because I think it does hint of it, but it's not overt.
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There are several places in Scripture that are calmly regarded, however, interpreted, reflecting this chief angel who fell into sin, thus becoming the devil, that he did fall as clear.
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God did not create him as the devil in all of his evil nature. In creation, we read at the end of the creation week in Genesis 131,
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God beheld everything, and everything was good. That had to have been before this angel became the devil.
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And so shortly after creation, the devil, who was probably originally a holy angel, rebelled against God, and with many holy angels following him, thus they became fallen angels, and it's commonly understood, and I think rightly so, fallen angels are what the
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Bible sets forth as demons, spirit beings. And some might think that in our modern world, in our society, we don't believe in such things anymore.
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I think people are increasingly understanding that it's a reality, especially in third world nations.
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Somebody commented to me recently, I think it was Ross, I was talking to him recently, he's got some police friends, and he says they can tell you some stories about what they're seeing in our culture and society that reflect the demon oppression and possession that just seems to be increasing in a wide way, and how can you explain some of the most bizarre, egregious acts of violence and perversion, other than there's demonic influence involved.
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It's clear, it's present. But more so in nations with a less than Christian influence.
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Our friends in India deal with it all the time, and they've got stories about it.
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And it's reflected in the Bible, of course. And so does the Bible tell of the devil's original fall into sin?
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And the answer would be yes and no. There are several passages in the Old Testament in which the direct context is speaking about evil kings in history.
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However, they seem to go beyond the historical context to speak of the spiritual state of the devil, and a description how and why he fell into sin.
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And so last week, we considered Ezekiel 28. But there's another passage, and that's in Isaiah 14.
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And where in Ezekiel 28, the word of God was talking about the evil king of Tyre, the kingdom of Tyre, and then it seemed like the devil was brought into play.
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Well, here in Isaiah 14, we read of the king of Babylon, the great oppressor of Israel.
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And the matter of Lucifer comes into play. Let me establish the context.
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Isaiah the prophet had been declaring God's judgment on his people through the instrument of Babylon and its king.
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But then God made known his intention to restore his people. After he had chastened them, he'd break the power of Israel's oppressors.
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He'd break the power of Babylon, delivering his people from their affliction. And so he describes the king of Babylon here in Isaiah 14.
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And yet, as we read it, you'll see the description seems to go beyond the historic king of Babylon to the devil himself.
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And so here's Isaiah 14, verse three and following. It shall come to pass in the day the
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Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, how the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased.
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Talking about Babylon. The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke.
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He who ruled the nations in anger is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet.
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They break forth in singing. Indeed, the cypress trees rejoice over you. The cedars of Lebanon saying, since you were cut down, no woodsman has come against us.
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Everybody was rejoicing when Babylon fell. Hell from beneath is excited about you.
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Talking about the abode of the dead, the king of Babylon dying and being buried and going to Sheol. To meet you at your coming, it stirs up the dead for you.
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All the chief ones of the earth, it's raised up from their thrones, all the kings of the nations. They all speak and say to you, have you also become as weak as we?
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In his death. Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol. That's the abode of the dead.
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And the sound of your stringed instruments, the maggot is spread under you and worms cover you. Describing the body decayed in the grave.
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Now verse 12, notice how I emboldened and italicized the name.
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How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you were cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.
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For you have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
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Stars there should probably be understood as a metaphor for angels. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north.
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I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. And yet you should be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit.
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Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?
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All the kings of the nations, all of them sleep in glory. Everyone in his own house, but you are cast out of your grave.
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In other words, they were in mausoleums, very ornate and large, celebrating their life and their death, but not this one.
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He's tossed out there in the field. You're cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a corpse trodden underfoot.
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You will not be joined with them in burial because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
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And so this prophecy of the fall of the king of Babylon seems to reach beyond him as we read those verses, perhaps reaching to the distant past when the devil first rebelled against God, when this angel left his first estate and became the leader of those angels that joined him in his rebellion.
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And then, of course, we read in verse 12 that the king is addressed as Lucifer. How are you fallen from heaven,
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O Lucifer, son of the morning? Now, the text I read was from the
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New King James Translation, and it reads a lot like the King James Version. However, understand, this is the only place in the
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Bible that this name Lucifer is found, only here, verse 12.
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And so you see in the immediate context the name is a reference to the king of Babylon. And so actually the common name of Lucifer as a name for Satan is really more of a result of our
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Western literary heritage than it's a clear delineation of the biblical text.
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Now, I included a couple of footnotes. You might glance down there at the bottom of page four. Both John Calvin and Martin Luther said this is not a reference to the devil.
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Interesting. And so look at footnote one. John Calvin did not believe that the name
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Lucifer in Isaiah 14 .12 was a reference to Satan. He wrote, The exposition of this passage, which some have given as if it referred to Satan, has arisen from ignorance.
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For the context plainly shows that these statements must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians.
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But when passages of scripture are taken up at random and no attention is paid to the context, we need not wonder that mistakes of this kind frequently arise.
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And yet it was an instance of very gross ignorance to imagine that Lucifer was the king of devils and that the prophet gave him this name.
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But as these inventions have no probability whatever, let us pass by them as useless fables. So Calvin didn't believe that Lucifer should be a name assigned to the devil.
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And Martin Luther said the same thing. He dismissed the idea. So that's reading into this passage.
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Now I mentioned Lucifer. This is the only place in the Bible where the name Lucifer is found.
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Actually, it is only found in the King James Version and the New King James Version because the word is translated not as a name, but rather as a description in the other modern translations.
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And so in that last paragraph up above right in the middle, the
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English Standard Version, the ESV reads, how are you fallen from heaven instead of sun of dawn?
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Can you put it back on here? All right. How are you cut down to the ground you who laid the nations low?
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That's the ESV. The New American Standard Version reads, how you have fallen from heaven
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O star of the morning sun of the dawn instead of Lucifer. You've been cut down to the earth.
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You have weakened the nations. And then the NIV reads, how you have fallen from heaven O morning star sun of dawn.
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You've been cast down to the earth. You who once laid low the nations. And so rather than the name
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Lucifer, the word is translated as either day star or star of the morning or morning star in the modern translations.
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And that's what Lucifer means. These words probably refer to the planet
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Venus, the morning star, which often appears brightly in the pre -dawn sky.
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And so Venus is an emblem of the king of Babylon. Like the planet Venus, it appears brightly in the pre -dawn sky only to be overtaken as the brightness is overcome by the rising sun, which would be an emblem of God bringing his judgment on Babylon.
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And so the former glory of this day star diminishes as he is deposed.
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And so even though the name Lucifer or morning star is directly applied to the king of Babylon for a number of centuries,
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Lucifer has been asserted as the name of the devil. And if you want to know its origin, I think it originates with Dante in his
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Inferno. And it's also reflected in John Milton's Paradise Lost. But it's a stretch and it's only in the
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King James. Interesting. I'm not advocating changing our culture or anything like that, but just be aware of the context.
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And so if the reference here in Isaiah 14 does point beyond the king of Babylon to the devil who stood behind and energized that evil kingdom, then the devil is shown first to desire to be exalted above the angels.
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Verse 13, For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
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And that was certainly the devil's desire. And the second, it appears he also wanted to be the lord of all the earth when he said,
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I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. The devil wanted to be as God.
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And thirdly, finally, he aspired to take the place of God himself. Verse 14 reads, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
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I will be like the most high. So I think it does reflect the fall of the devil who is energizing and standing behind the king of Babylon and as we saw last week in Ezekiel 28, standing behind the king of Tyre.
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In fact, we know the devil, of course, is the prince of the power of the air and he stands behind most nations and the kingdoms of the world.
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Now aside from this passage of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, there's a few
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New Testament passages that speak about the fall of the devil. First Timothy 3, 6, we read of the qualification of a church elder.
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Paul wrote, he must not be a recent convert, he can't be a new Christian, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
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That's suggesting that's how the devil fell. He got puffed up, filled with pride. And again, when the devil sinned, apparently one third of the angels joined him, believing that he would be a better God to them than the one true
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God who created them. And we wonder, how could that possibly be? However, remember, the angelic host had not existed long when this occurred and besides, their decision to rebel with the devil was at the beginning of history.
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Really, the angels didn't understand who God was and what he was like or they would have never chosen the devil over God.
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The angels were quite ignorant of the true nature of God and really this world and the history of the world has been the stage on which
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God has been revealing himself not only to people in the world but to angels also. They're being instructed who
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God truly is and what he's like and how foolish it was to even think and attempt such a thing.
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We read of the fall of angels in Jude 6 and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling.
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He, that is God, has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
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They are confined. They are restricted. Yes, they are released here and there, some from time to time as God allows but they're confined and they're restricted by God.
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And similarly, we read in 2 Peter 2 .4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.
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And so the devil and his angels are God haters. They hate everything that God has created and they hate particularly mankind, all mankind but they hate especially those who have turned from serving him to serving
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King Jesus. The devil hates Christians and fights against them.
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The devil's chief concern and I think we have to spend one more Sunday on this. The devil's chief concern is to challenge and discredit the scriptures, the word of God and people's minds to confuse them, cause them to misinterpret, misapply, or set aside the holy scriptures.
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That's where his chief work is focused. Remember the serpent attacked
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Eve's understanding and her regard for the authority of the word of God. The devil's attack on God's word said
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Eve, you know to Eve as God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
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He was putting a measure of doubt into Eve's mind about the veracity and authority of the word of God.
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And so he would first have Eve question the content of God's word and then he would have her deny its truthfulness for it rightly.
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He told Eve afterward, you'll not surely die for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God knowing good and evil.
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Basically the devil was attacking the goodness of God. Trying to convince Eve God isn't a good
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God or he wouldn't have forbid this to you. The devil similarly assaulted our
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Lord in the wilderness temptation when he twisted the meaning of the word of God quoting it to Jesus.
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The devil can quote the word, he misinterprets it, misquotes it. Our Lord of course responded by quoting and applying the scriptures rightly.
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And so in our Lord's wilderness temptation he illustrated to us how we're to resist the devil.
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You do it by the scriptures. Jesus didn't use any power or authority other than the scriptures to resist the devil in the wilderness.
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He did nothing that you and I can't do. Resort to the scriptures. The one who knows and applies the
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Bible rightly will not be deceived or defeated by the devil. The devil has no power over the man or woman who knows, believes and obeys the word of God.
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But again thankfully in spite of what the devil and his minions desire to do to the Lord's people God is sovereign over the devil and his angels.
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And this is abundantly clear from the scriptures. The devil can only do what God permits him to do.
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The Lord is in control of the devil in that the devil needs to obtain God's permission to act against his people.
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And the devil needed to gain God's permission in order to afflict Joe. And from our passage in Luke 22 it's clear that the devil also had to gain permission from God to trouble
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Peter. And so I want us to look at this now, this passage. It's so rich and instructive.
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And so the activity of the devil in the expression or experience of the apostle Peter. Luke 22, 31 -34.
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Again the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.
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But I prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
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But he said to him, Jesus, Lord I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death.
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And then he said, I tell you Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.
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And so even when our Lord Jesus was about to go to his trial before the Jewish and Roman leaders, the
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Lord spoke to Peter about a spiritual trial that Peter was going to have to face. And then that very night we see that Jesus was aware of the danger that Peter would soon encounter.
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Peter, the devil desires to shift you as wheat. Satan was after Peter.
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And from these words, we can conclude a number of things. I dare say we can speculate on many more, but we don't have the time.
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I would like us to see, however, that our Lord used the evil intentions and designs of the devil to sanctify
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Peter. Peter was a better Christian after he was restored than he was before.
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Let's first recognize that trials of our faith are necessary and certain to every Christian's experience. Peter wrote later, he wrote this letter, and he was writing from experience.
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and it does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
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He says you're going to be saved. God's got this inheritance for you and he's guarding it and not only is he guarding that inheritance, he's guarding you and he's going to see to it that you get that inheritance one day, even the salvation that he's promised you, the full salvation.
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Verse six, in this you greatly rejoice, and then I put in bold, and italicized font, though now for a little while, if need be, and in the
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Greek, the way they put conditional clauses, this is a certainty, if need be, and it is necessary.
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You've been grieved by various trials. For what purpose? The purpose clause, verse seven, so that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, and though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible, full of glory, receiving the end or the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
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And so the Christian life is characterized by trials, grievous trials. It's necessary so that the genuineness of your faith is demonstrated to you and to others so that you know that you have salvation promised to you.
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Trials will come, and they'll often come to us through the agency of the devil and his evil forces.
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And one of the reasons for trials is God's purpose and effort to make his people holy before him and fruitful before him.
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And so our Lord Jesus said it this way in another place, I am the true vine, my father is the vine dresser, every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
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Pruning happens in every Christian's life, and pruning is not pleasant. Pruning needs to take place in all of God's branches, and the work of God is sharp and severe.
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I can tell you a couple events in my life, I don't want to go there, all right, but I can tell you some events in my life.
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The Lord humbled me in a moment, and it was a done deal.
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He cured me of some things through different events. This is how he works. I remember my old friend,
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Dave Leland, he was a sheriff down in Mississippi, and he was talking about his wife suffering so terribly, and he said it, he said
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I'd sooner die by being swallowed by a whale than nibbled to death by minnows, and it should just prolong.
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I thought to myself, well that's right, well I've been swallowed by a whale a couple times, and it humbled me. And the
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Lord knows what he's doing. And so often the Lord in his good and sovereign purpose will use the evil machinations of the devil to accomplish his work in us.
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He turns the devil loose on us. He did on Job, didn't he? You and I aren't better than Job.
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And we may seem to be moving ahead, it would seem, and our spirits will walk quite easily and quickly, and then all of a sudden we're cut down significantly.
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A prune vine is not a pretty sight, but it's one that's prepared for fruit bearing. The fact is that the new believer, though fresh with knowledge and invigorated with zeal, has much about him that needs removed, the new believer.
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He sees himself quite fit and full. After all, he loves the Lord. He is zealous for the things of Christ.
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But herein lies the problem. Under the surface of his profession there lies deep corruption, perhaps that only the
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Lord sees clearly. Maybe some others do too, but the Lord sees clearly. There exists a measure of self -righteousness and spiritual pride that resides in the new believer's heart.
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It was with Peter, and it is generally so with us. Peter was a proud guy, and quite outspoken, quite impetuous, quite presumptive.
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It's common for the immature believer to see himself quite advanced, but he doesn't see himself clearly. For even while he's rejoicing or attempting to rejoice in that he knows and loves
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God, his life is a troubled one, for he continues to have problems and difficulties, even as he tries to walk in love before God.
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But in the early stages of his Christian walk, he does not see the problems and difficulties lying mainly with himself.
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To him, others are the cause of his difficulty, and sometimes misery. All he wants to do as he sees it is walk with Jesus simply and sincerely, but other people and other things will not allow him to do so.
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Problems outside of me. He becomes frustrated and impatient, and perhaps for a while he becomes discouraged and embittered with others about him.
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They are my problem, if the Lord would just deliver me from them. But in reality, his major problem is not with externals, people and events outside of himself, but the problem is spiritual, and it resides in him.
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But he does not see it, and so mixed with faith is carnal presumption. Intermingled with his love is a counterfeit and shallow sentimentality.
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He does not know himself. He thinks too highly of himself and too lowly of others.
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He says, proud Peter, I love you more than they. That's what Peter said to Jesus as they're standing there.
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I love you more than they. They might defect and depart, not me. I'm going with you to death. Peter didn't know himself, and although the young Christian may not try to do so, perhaps claim he does not do so, he tends to look down on others about him.
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He believes that they do not have the same degree of knowledge or the same measure of love for Christ that he possesses. He says,
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Peter, when Peter expressed his love for the Lord Jesus, although all others will forsake you, I will lay down my life for your sake.
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In short, this believer has in root of himself a self -righteousness, a sense of self -sufficiency, and a sense of self -worth that the
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Lord has to squeeze out of him. And these sinful delusions must be surgically cut out of his soul, and that's what trials do.
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The great physician has ordained trials as the instruments by which he performs spiritual surgery on his people, and many times he'll use the evil working of the devil to accomplish his good work in his people.
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And there was a time that Peter himself was as we've described, and we read how the Lord superintended the work of the devil in order to prepare
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Peter for his great service to Christ's church, and again we read about it here in Luke 22.
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The Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you've returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
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He wasn't ready to strengthen the brethren beforehand. He would say, they might forsake you, not me. Peter said,
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Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day before you'll deny three times you know me.
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Peter was proud, confident of his faith and his love toward Jesus. He believed he was more spiritual and courageous than any others who followed the
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Savior. His pride preceded his destruction. His haughty spirit portended his certain fall, and the trial would come from Satan, but the spiritual benefit or fruit would come due to the intercession and authority of Jesus.
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Satan's desire to sift you as wheat, nevertheless, I prayed for you is what Jesus told
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Peter. Only after Peter experienced his great trial of faith was he truly ready for spiritual leadership among the people of God.
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He wasn't ready, even though he'd been with Jesus three years. And so in order to maximize the benefit of this sifting work in Peter's life, the
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Lord, in a very clear manner, predicts the exact time at which Peter would deny him. Before the rooster crows,
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Peter, you're going down. So Jesus saw the danger that Peter was in.
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Verse 31, Sometimes those more mature than we see the precipice before us long before we take the great fall.
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You could see it coming sometimes in people's lives. Satan was after Peter. And from these words we can conclude a number of things, speculate about more things.
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First, we see that Satan had to ask permission to do harm to Peter. That's implied.
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Satan is and always had been subject to God's sovereign rule. He had to get God's permission to afflict
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Job. God lets him have his way frequently so as to bring judgment on persons.
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Satan had to ask permission to do harm to Peter. Satan is and always had been subject to God's sovereign rule as we said.
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God lets him have his way frequently. Second, we read the devil desired and intended to destroy
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Peter's faith. But the Lord told Peter that he had prayed for him. Here we have
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Jesus Christ set forth as the high priest of his people. He cares for his people and their well -being.
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In their need, Jesus comes to the Father interceding on their behalf. If you're a
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Christian, the Lord Jesus intercedes for you in praying to his
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Father. If he didn't, you'd be in a world of hurt, wouldn't you? Here we see the need for and the effectual nature of the prayer of Jesus for his own.
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What Jesus prays to the Father is always granted to him. Now you and I pray all the time and we're not always, we don't always get the answers to our prayer we desire.
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Everything Jesus asks, he gets. If we ask with wrong motives, if we have rebellion in our heart, if we pray for things not according to the will of God, they don't happen.
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But all of our Lord's prayers are effectual. He in essence told Peter, Satan wants you,
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Peter, but I prayed for you. How dependent we are of the Lord Jesus. Every moment of every day we're dependent upon the
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Lord Jesus. Upholding us, praying for us, interceding for us. The Lord's prayer for Peter did not remove the trial of his failure.
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Rather, the Lord's prayer reversed the outcome of the trial to render spiritual benefit for Peter rather than harm.
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Amazing. So here you may have two people, one a Christian, one a non -Christian.
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They experience an identical calamity but one is ultimately helped by it while the other is destroyed by it.
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Because the Lord Jesus intervened and interceded on behalf of his people.
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Notice both the Lord and the devil are in the sifting business. He told Peter, Satan wants to sift you as wheat.
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And here wheat is an emblem of faith. He wanted to extinguish the faith that was in Peter. Satan wanted to blow the winds of adversity upon Peter so that his faith would be blown away.
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And that's what he wants to do in your life too. Satan wanted Peter to do, what he wanted
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Peter to do was apostatize from Christ, forsake, abandon Christ. But the
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Lord Jesus is also in the sifting business. But whereas Satan wanted the chaff and the wheat to be thrown up and the wheat separated and only the chaff remained in Peter's life, the
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Lord Jesus because he prayed reversed it and only the chaff was removed and the solid wheat, the grain of faith remained.
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Notice our Lord by the way knew even when he was on earth what was happening in a broader realm.
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He knew of Satan's designs. The Lord didn't often employ his divine nature when he was ministering on earth but from time to time it's displayed and here it's displayed.
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But again thankfully through the prayer of Jesus the works of the devil are thwarted. Third we see the presumption of Peter regarding himself.
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He said to Jesus, Lord I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Peter had too high view of himself.
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He had too little view of Satan. He had too low a view of Christ and he had a low view of his fellow disciples didn't he?
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He in effect said though prison threatened me though death stares me in the face Lord I even I will stand with you.
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But in a few hours it wouldn't be a rack or point a sword that was shreveled as valor but rather the flippant tongue of a young maid.
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That must have humbled him and he must have always remembered that. Nevertheless because the
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Lord prepared for prayed for Peter this was a preparation of Peter for future service.
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Jesus said when you return when you return to be strengthened the brethren I wish we could learn through instruction but oftentimes we don't do it.
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We learn through experience and so the Lord takes us through these things. And Peter would strengthen the brethren later when believers became arrogant or self -sufficient
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Peter would warn them be clothed with humility because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
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Peter was talking out of experience wasn't he? And when believers would become careless in their walk and watchful respecting
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Satan. Peter wrote the words be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.
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And when believers are shaken from their steadfastness they could read in Peter's writings the
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God of all grace who's called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you've suffered a while will make you perfect established strengthened and settle you.
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Peter lived out all those things didn't he? He was writing from experience. And so in writing
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Peter strengthened and has strengthened many brothers and sisters in Christ over these many centuries and it was because of this trial of his faith.
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He didn't come out the winner apart from the Lord Jesus. And so our
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Lord Jesus is this great vine dresser with pruning hook in hand and he cuts the believer down severely and as a result he removes that which is false.
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He removes that which is fleshly so that only the true will remain and will increase.
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And during this time the believer may sense a gradual draw of God's light and life. The things that before stirred this
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Christian do so no longer. Perhaps his love for Christ seems to wane while he's in this trial.
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The presence of Christ is no longer sensed as before but rather increasingly there arises in his soul that there's something desperately wrong.
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And he comes to see that the problem isn't primarily out there. The problem is right in here. That's where the problem lies.
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He realizes the superficiality of his love, the shallowness of his understanding, the weakness of his praying.
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His soul may even feel abandoned. Peter felt that way no doubt. Doubts as to a state enter the mind and heart but all this is a spiritual surgery that the
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Lord is performing. Maybe using the devil to do it. But as a result of the trials the believer begins to see that whereas before he thought himself quite advanced in his walk with Christ, he now sees how little he's progressed.
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He now sees himself as a little child, humble and teachable. It's now indwelling sin that plagues his conscience.
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For he now knows how weak his nature is, how easy and soon his potential fall is just before him.
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And so he's taught to lean upon Christ daily more fully. What he does not see at this time perhaps is through this trial
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God has done a work of grace in him. But again he's truly a humble man now. Though he probably wouldn't describe himself as such.
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Pride is no longer rather there's a self loathing. Perhaps the prophecy of Ezekiel 36, 31 is now his experience.
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Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.
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That's the experience of the spiritual man or woman. He esteems others better than himself.
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There's a sense of weakness even helplessness. In short he sees his need for Christ as he never had before.
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And so now due to having experienced this terrible trial he truly sees Christ in his glory. And I want to conclude reading this passage from J .C.
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Philpott. He was a London pastor he was converted in the
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Church of England became a Baptist pastor in London and he had a wonderful way about describing the
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Christian experience. Independence has been broken in pieces and the soul brought to hang upon Christ for everything.
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Pride has been cut down humility produced. A deceitful heart has been laid bare and spiritual integrity created.
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Hypocrisy has been detected and sincerity implanted. A form of religion has been crushed and power set up in its stead.
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An empty profession of dry doctrine has been rooted up and a realization of eternal things has been substituted.
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And so the Christian learned thus learned that if he stands God must hold him up. If he knows anything or right
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God must teach him. If he walks in the way of heaven God must first put and afterwards keep him in it.
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If he has anything God must give it to him. And that if he does anything God must work it in him.
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He no longer can take a killing letter for a living rule but is deeply conscious that it's only by being married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that he can bring forth fruit unto
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God. And now while others boast of what they've done for God he's glad that God has done something for him.
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While others are handling the shell he's eating the kernel. While others are talking of Christ he's talking with him.
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While others are haranguing about the treasure of the Bank of England he's pleased to find a few coins in his own pocket stamped with the king's image and superscription.
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And through the inward conflict, secret workings, mysterious changes and every varied exercise of his soul he becomes established in a deep feeling of his own folly and God's wisdom, his own weakness and Christ's strength, of his own sinfulness and the
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Lord's goodness, of his own backslidings and the spirit's recoveries, of his own base in gratitude and Jehovah's long suffering, of the aboundings of sin and the super aboundings of grace, he thus becomes daily more and more confirmed in the vanity of the creature, the utter helplessness of man, the deceitfulness and hypocrisy of the human heart, the sovereignty of distinguishing grace, the fewness of heaven -taught ministers, the scanty numbers of living souls, the great rareness of true religion and nor are these convictions borrowed ideas, floating opinions, crude half digested sentiments of articles of a creed which may be right or may be wrong, but they are things known by him as certainly and felt as evidently as any material object that his eye see of his hand touches or his hand touches.
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So may the Lord enable us to have full confidence in our Lord. We need not fear the devil, but we need to be wary of him and we need to be grateful that the
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Lord Jesus is going to see us through. Nothing can snatch you out of the Father's hand and the
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Lord is going to see to it. He will accomplish his purpose of glorying himself and the salvation of his people and he delights in frustrating and defeating the devil in our lives and even uses that to help us to become more like him and that's a glorious thing, is it not?
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And so may Christ be praised. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word and for the spiritual lessons that you set forth before us.
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Help us to take them to heart. Help us, Lord, to grow in maturity and therefore help us, our
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Lord, to be more humble before you, more dependent upon you, and more confident,
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Lord, in your ability to direct us and lead us rightly in this Christian life. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.