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A Fraudulent Rebel Thief?
Luke 22:47-53
December 13, 2020

Well as you know, we have now left the upper room.
• Jesus has finished with His instruction of the disciples.
• He entered the garden of Gethsemane and there He told the disciples to pray.

• Satan had already demanded permission to sift them.
• Jesus knew that his hour had come.
• And the attack that was on its way was too much for them.

• But instead of praying, they were sleeping and the stage was set for their failure.

At the same time we saw Jesus praying fervently in the garden.
He was so distraught that He was sweating drops of blood.
He prayed that this cup might pass from Him.

That is to say He prayed that He might not be
Subjected to the full fury of the wrath of God.
He prayed that He might not
Feel the utter weight of God’s holy condemnation.

And yet, understanding the will of the Father,
He endured and submitted to the plan.

We said that in the garden Christ was IDENTIFYING WITH US.
• The writer of Hebrews pointed out how every good high priest is one who will
negotiate before God like his life depends upon it.
• In short, you and I want a priest who will plead our case with a real and
sincere fear of hell.

Jesus learned that fear in the garden.
He faced condemnation…
He faced judgment…
He faced God’s fury…

And the trauma from such contemplation actually caused Him
To sweat blood and cry out to God with loud tears.

In the garden He was educated as a priest.
• He identified with sinners.
• He identified with the condemned.
• It was a moving scene.

While the disciples were sleeping, Jesus was doing for them
What they could not and would not do for themselves.

But this morning, the prayer time comes to a close.

We read in verse 47, “While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them;”

• The prayer time is over
• The sifting is at hand
• The judgment of God is about to get real

THIS MORNING WE COME TO THE ARREST OF JESUS.

Now, as we prepare to work through this text I want to CALL YOUR MIND
Back to something Jesus said just a few hours prior.

Luke 22:35-37 “And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”

We certainly remember that announcement.
• Jesus told the disciples that the days of safety and hospitality were over.
• They should no longer expect to be welcomed into homes
• They should no longer expect to be invited in for supper
• They should no longer expect to freely without fear of attack

And the reason things were about to change was because
An Old Testament PROPHECY about Jesus was about to be FULFILLED.

Jesus quoted from Isaiah 53:12
And He said, “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”

You remember this right?

We talked about the reality of FOLLOWING A FUGITIVE.
• The entire narrative on Jesus was about to change
• That would be a change that would be felt by His followers too.

Jesus was about to IDENTIFY WITH SINNERS (we saw that in the garden)

And Jesus was about to be TREATED LIKE THE SINNERS with whom He identified (we see that here)

As you now realize, Luke focuses on
Different aspects of these events than other gospel writers.

For example, Luke has been very gracious to the 11 disciples.
• He is the only one to record that commendation Jesus gave them about sticking with Him in His trials.
• He is the only one to mention Satan’s activity in their coming desertion.
• He gave an abbreviated account of their sleeping in the garden, only mentioning it once.
• And you’ll notice here that unlock the other gospel writers, Luke does not speak about them fleeing in fear.
• Luke is gracious to the 11 and does not focus on their failures and follies.

Another thing that again becomes evident is the fact that
Luke likes to focus on the spiritual realm of things.
• That is to say Luke likes to show the activity of Satan who is working behind the scenes.

Remember when Jesus sent out the 70 and they returned with joy because even the demons were subject?
Luke 10:18 “And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”

Remember it was Luke who showed us the spiritual motive behind Judas?
Luke 22:3 “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.”

It was Luke in the upper room that explained the coming desertion of the disciples as the sifting of Satan.

And even here, Luke records words of Jesus
That no other gospel writer includes.

(53) “While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

Luke wants you to understand that
The battle raging here is a spiritual one.

This is not a petty war between Jews and Jesus,
This is a spiritual war between good and evil.

YOU SEE OTHER DISTINCTIONS.
• For example, while other writers reveal that Peter cut the ear off of the slave of the high priest, only Luke reveals that Jesus healed the man.
• Luke also doesn’t out Peter by revealing which one did it.
• Luke also is the only one to reveal how Jesus responded to the kiss of Judas. (48) “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

And as we have said before the reason for the differences in each account
Is because each writer, while telling the story,
Is focusing on different points and purposes of the story.

If you read the arrest scene from Matthew’s gospel,
• Over and over Matthew points out that everything that happened was to fulfill what was written.
• Over and over Matthew wants the reader to understand that everything that is happening to Jesus is all part of the plan.

If you read the arrest scene from Mark’s gospel,
• It is very violent and sudden and abrupt,
• No doubt Mark (taken from Peter) is focused on the horror and hardship of the moment of what Jesus had to endure.

If you read the arrest scene from John’s gospel,
• John focuses on the meekness of Jesus,
• Who at one moment put the entire posse on the ground with a word,
• Then negotiates the freedom of the disciples,
• Then consents to go with His arresters.

They all have different purposes to show you through this event.

LUKE’S PURPOSE?
To continue on his theme of showing you how Jesus identified with us.

By now you should be familiar with the terms, since we have discussed them frequently,
But in regard to the work of Christ we like to talk about:
1. His Active Obedience
2. His Passive Obedience.

His active obedience refers to the intentional obedience of Jesus to submit Himself to and actively obey the Law of God.
• It speaks of the righteousness He earned on your behalf.
• It speaks of the Law He fulfilled for you.
• He did what God told you to do, and then imputed that righteousness to you.

And His passive obedience speaks to what He submitted to on your behalf.
• It speaks of the treatment He received and endured that you deserved.
• It speaks of the punishment He took that you earned.

Here Luke is showing you Jesus’ passive obedience.
You see it very clearly here in His arrest simply by looking at
How Jesus is regarded or treated or labeled.

He is here numbered with the transgressors.
Very simply, in the garden Jesus is regarded as
A Fraudulent Rebel Thief.

Of course you know He was anything but,
But look and see how He is regarded and then realize that once again,
He is identifying with you; He is being numbered with the transgressors.

3 Points: In His identification with us, Jesus was:
#1 MOCKED AS A FRAUD
Luke 22:47-48

Well now Judas has shown back up into the story.
• He departed during the middle of the Passover meal.
• While Jesus has been instructing the 11 regarding His departure, Judas has been rounding up the posse.
• He knew where to find Jesus, because Jesus purposely went where He had been going.

So after a night of facing the anguish of the coming condemnation of God,
Jesus has now arisen from prayer and the wait is over.

“behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them;”

There is extra sting there of course that Judas was “one of the twelve”

But we talked about how Judas was a picture of the nation who betrayed their King.
• It had to be betrayal.
• And Judas was the guy.

The part that increases our frustration with Judas
Is the ABSOLUTE EAGERNESS he shows in doing his Satanic work.

Judas “was preceding them”
• He was quite eager.
• He didn’t just tell the Jews were to find Jesus.
• He didn’t stop a few yards away and say, “He’s in there”
• He didn’t try to stay anonymous as the traitor.
• There is no shame at all.

Now, Judas is leading the pack.
He’s confident, he’s arrogant, he’s absolutely despicable.

“and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.”

The other gospel writers give us the logistical reason for this kiss.
Matthew 26:48 “Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.”

So this was the sign.
• Evidently there was some concern that one of the other disciples might stand up and claim to be Jesus so that they arrested the wrong man
• Judas was going to give definitive proof by pointing Jesus out to them.
• And apparently the sign was this kiss.

But what Luke points out, which the other gospel writers omit,
Is how offended Jesus was by this.

Only Luke reveals Jesus’ response.
(48) “But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?”

To put it another way:
• “Really, a kiss?”
• “Are you serious, a kiss?”
• “You’ve got to be kidding me, a kiss?”

It is important to Luke’s narrative that you understand
That beyond the traitorous act of leading the posse to Jesus,
There was A SPECIAL STING in the fact that Judas kissed Him.

WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS?
There is some really detestable play going on here.

On one hand a kiss was often times a token of extreme respect.
• You would kiss the cheek of a rabbi or one who you held in high regard.
• It was a token of affection and admiration.

So in that sense alone, this is deplorable that Judas would put on such a show of hypocrisy by pretending respect for Jesus by kissing Him.

But there is perhaps EVEN MORE AT PLAY here than that.

ALL OF THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS share a common interest in their story as they reveal that during the arrest of Jesus we really enter sort of “BIZARR-O-WORLD”

Starting here things start going crazy and backward.
• We’ll have an undeserved arrest here…
• It will be followed by an illegal trial in which more Jewish Laws were broken
than you can imagine…
• That will be followed by an uncharacteristic cowering by Pilate…
• And then Jesus will be executed after being publicly acquitted.
• We’ll see a known killer released while a Savior gets condemned.

Beyond that, we will be witness to a mocking coronation.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on Monday seated on a donkey’s colt and being lauded as the coming King.
• He’s about to have His coronation with a crown of thorns…
• He’s about to clothed in purpose robe…
• He’s about to take His throne which is a cross, and as for those seats on His
right and on His left that James and John wanted, those seats will be
occupied by criminals.

Everything that’s coming is totally wrong and totally backward.
AND IT ALL STARTS HERE WITH THIS KISS FROM JUDAS.

Remember Psalms 2?
(You should, it’s another passage we go to a lot)

Psalms 2 is the story about the REJECTED MESSIAH.
• However God laughs at their rejection and declares that He has already put His king on the throne.
• Remember?

And it ends with a warning.
Psalms 2:10-12 “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

“do homage” there is the Hebrew word NASHAQ (naw-shack)
It means “to kiss”

In a world that is rejecting God’s king, you should show discernment,
Go against the grain, and instead kiss the Son.

They are mocking Him, you should honor Him.
Which is why the NASB rendered it “do homage”.

NOW GO BACK TO JUDAS.
“he approached Jesus to kiss Him.”

Now do you see why Jesus balked?
It was more than a signal.
• It was a mockery.
• It was a humiliation.

In fact, Judas just put out the greatest signal he could
To say as boldly as possible, THIS MAN IS A FRAUDULENT KING.

He was openly humiliating Jesus.
He was saying, “You’re no king!”

His action is right there with the soldiers who in a few hours
Will mock Him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe.
He is accusing Jesus of being a fraud and a fake.

THERE’S THE FIRST THING LUKE WANTS YOU TO SEE.

In His identification with us,
Jesus was MOCKED AS A FRAUD

He most certainly wasn’t, but we were.
• Born in the image of God and yet sinful to the core.
• Isaiah even taught us that all the righteous deeds we did were actually nothing but filthy rags.

Every one of us at one point in our life masqueraded as a good person
When we were nothing but sinners in disguise.

We were the frauds, not Jesus.

Isaiah looked at the children of Israel and said:
Isaiah 1:2-3 “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

Again:
Isaiah 30:9 “For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD;”

They were false. They were frauds
Jesus is identifying with them here.

Jesus is identifying with us here.
He is being numbered as a transgressor.

Mocked as a Fraud

In identification with us Jesus was:
#2 DEFENDED AS A REBEL
Luke 22:49-51

Even though Jesus had repeatedly told the disciples that arrest and death was coming, it is evident that they never really grasped the reality.

It is especially shocking sense John’s gospel reveals to us that Jesus had just spent the previous night explicitly telling them that He was going away.

Luke even mentioned that they were sleeping in the garden from sorrow.

You would think they would have been more ready for this.
But perhaps the kiss of Judas set them off too, we don’t know.

But what we do know is that
It didn’t take them long to figure out what was going down
And they sprang into action. (Especially Peter, which Luke omits)

(49) “When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

They figured it out.
• Jesus is about to be arrested.
• That traitor Judas led the troops right to Him!
• They’re about to take the King!

And the one thing they were certain of at this moment was that
THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN!

If you’ll put yourself in the scene you can actually feel their anxiety
And affection for Jesus as they see what’s happening.

And in sort of confused desperation they yell,
“Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

Jesus, what do you want us to do?

Obviously Jesus does not answer,
• So Peter, convinced this cannot go any further,
• In a moment of impulsiveness takes a sword and goes for it!

(50) “And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.”

This wasn’t a warning shot, this was a miss.
Peter was going for his head, but the guy ducked.

It was courageous, but it was impulsive.
• There is no way that Peter could have thought this would end well.
• In reality, Peter was likely signing his own death warrant there.

But again, the FOCUS OF LUKE is on the response of Jesus.

(51) “But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his hear and healed him.”

What do we make of such a moment?

Although the disciples had His best interest in mind,
Their behavior actually made Him look like
Anything but a meek Savior.

By going instantly into battle mode
They actually made Jesus look like the rebel
He was about to be accused of being.

You know what’s coming later.
Luke 23:1-5 “Then the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”

The battle plan of the Jews is to get Rome to crucify Jesus.
Jews were not allowed to execute anyone so they needed Rome to do it.

But Rome could care less if Jesus broke Jewish Law.
Rome could care less if Jesus was a false prophet.
Rome could care less if Jesus offended the chief priests.

So the plan of the Jews was to CONVINCE ROME
That Jesus was an insurrectionist; a militant rebel.

They needed to paint Him as a terrorist that was coming for the throne.

Jesus had never done anything in His life
To insinuate that He was going to take the Roman throne by force,
But on this night that is precisely what the disciples made Him look like.

With their impulsive action they (by association) accused Jesus
Of being the rebel that the Jews would soon label Him as.

They asked if they should strike with the sword
And then answered “Yes” on His behalf
And nearly killed this slave.

LUKE MENTIONS that not only did Jesus stop the disciples,
But He also healed this man.

In fact, it is quite likely that Jesus just saved the lives of the 11.

John 18:7-9 “Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”

It was important to Jesus to not lose any of His own.
He quite likely saved their lives by stopping Peter and healing this slave.
Now, despite the flaring tempers, there would be no grounds to arrest the others.

But the point is that by their actions
The disciples made Jesus look like a rebel.

But you know, He wasn’t the rebel, we were.
• He was treated as an insurrectionist…
• He was treated as a militant terrorist…

• We were the rebels.
• We were the ones who had rebelled against authority.
• We were the ones who lacked meekness and submission.

And here, Jesus is identifying with us.
He is being numbered with the transgressors.
He is being treated according to our sinfulness.

Mocked as a fraud, defended as a rebel
In identification with us Jesus was:
#3 ARRESTED AS A THIEF
Luke 22:52-53

We get here the third response of Jesus.
• This response is due to the massive number of well-armed troops who have come to arrest Jesus like He is some big time threat.

(52) “Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber?”
• You came out after Me armed for bear (we would say)
• You must think I’m a real dangerous and violent guy.

And then Jesus points out.
(53) “While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me;”
• Wasn’t it just a couple of days ago that I was teaching in the temple, and you didn’t do anything then?

And of course we know why.
It is because His hour had not come.

But here they are now treating Him like He is a thief.
• Like He is a robber.
• Like He is a criminal.

You and I know that this was certainly NOT THE CASE.
Jesus was no criminal.
He was sinless and perfect in every sense of the word.

• We were the criminals.
• We were the robbers.
• We were the transgressors.

Jesus is merely being labeled and treated as a transgressor.

Do you see that nothing going on here in the garden makes sense?
• Jesus should not have been treated as a fraud.
• Jesus should not have been treated as a rebel.
• Jesus should not have been treated as a thief.

He was the last person who should have been treated like that.

THAT IS WHO WE ARE.
But here, just as He said, He is being numbered with the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING.
• He is identifying with you.
• He is taking upon Himself your scorn and your shame and your sin.
• He is being treated accordingly.

He was treated like a FRAUDULENT REBEL THIEF
The sinless and perfect Son of God
The rightful King of Israel
The holiest Man to ever live

In order that He might save us,
He is clothing Himself in our sin and our shame.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

He is a great Savior!

And one other point Jesus makes that Luke includes, because he likes to show you the spiritual aspect.

“but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

This wasn’t a just arrest…
• This wasn’t a deserved apprehension…
• This was not an earned attack…

This was Satan.
• Satan had tried to get Jesus to skip the cross, Jesus overcame.
• The plan now will be to kill Him and try to keep Him dead.

But Satan is at work and Jesus knows it.

The only reason you can arrest Me now
Is because God has sovereignly decreed that this is your hour.

God is allowing Satan to prevail in this instance for His greater purposes, but rest assured if that were not the case,
There would be no arrest in this garden.

In short, it is PASSIVE OBEDIENCE.
• They DIDN’T arrest Him because He was guilty…
• They DIDN’T arrest Him because they surrounded Him…
• They arrested Him because God ordained for them to be able to.

And Christ submitted.

Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

He had spent His entire life in active obedience to the Law of God that He might have righteousness to impute to you.

And now He is ending His life in passive obedience to your suffering as your sin is being imputed to Him.

It is all wrong because it should have been anyone but Him.
BUT FOR OUR SAKE, HE SUBMITTED.

Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

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A Prayer of Moses, The Man of God
Psalms 90
December 6, 2020

Tonight we come again to a tremendous privilege of a moment.
We have recorded for us here “A Prayer of Moses”

• We’ve heard prayers of David
• We’ve heard prayers of Asaph
• We’ve heard prayers from other Psalmists

Tonight we get one from Moses.
• We love this, not only because this was a Psalm inspired by the Holy Spirit which He preserved through Moses,
• But also because in a prayer we are granted a little more insight into the heart of a man who is revered as a man of God.

It is a privilege to be granted access into the heart of Moses
Here in this great Psalm.

It is quite likely that Moses needs no introduction for you this evening.
He’s such a huge historical figure that even the pagan world knows him

• He was the man chosen by God to lead the children out of Israel and through
the wilderness.
• It was Moses whom God spoke to face to face.
• It was Moses who received the Law of God.

He is of such importance to the nation of Israel
That often times God’s Law is even called “the Law of Moses”.

His greatness to Israel and to the church is well documented.

I want to begin by drawing your attention to
A statement made about him in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 3:5 “Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;”

The writer of Hebrews gives great regard to Moses
As he identifies him as a faithful servant in the house of God.

The house of God should be recognized as
God’s people or God’s congregation and Moses served them.

And the writer of Hebrews says that he was a faithful servant
“for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;”

That means that of all the things that Moses sought to do,
Of chief importance to him was to bear witness of what was coming later.

You might say it like this.
The main objective of Moses was to make sure that the house recognized its builder.

Here is a verse that may help you better understand:
John 5:45-46 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”

So Jesus actually said that Moses wrote about Him.

And if you’ll remember our study of Genesis a few years ago,
You know that to be the case.

We actually called our study of Genesis “The Gospel According To Moses”.

Moses was meticulous as he laid out sin in Adam, judgment in Noah,
Justification in Abraham, Sanctification in Jacob, and Providence in Joseph.

• Moses showed us how God promised a coming seed to crush the serpent
• Moses showed us how God clothed Adam and Eve after their sin
• Moses showed us how God carried Noah through judgment
• Moses showed us how God provided a sacrifice for Abraham
• Moses showed us how one son delivered his brothers in Joseph

The focus was clearly there.
Moses was writing about Jesus

And that is just Genesis.
Moses also wrote Exodus, and Leviticus, and Numbers, and Deuteronomy
Where he continued to point to Christ.

• The Law in Exodus was to drive men to Jesus
• The sacrifice in Leviticus was a definite picture of Christ
• Moses lifted up the serpent in Numbers pointing to Christ’s crucifixion
• Moses laid out the ultimatum of life and death in Deuteronomy all meant to drive men to Christ.

Moses was indeed a faithful servant,
Not because he kept Israel fed, but because he faithfully preached to them the gospel and sought to push them to Christ.

• We saw him preaching
• We saw him rebuking
• We saw him shepherding
• We saw him serving and working
• And we saw him interceding

Perhaps you remember the horrific golden-calf incident.
• Moses went up the mountain to receive the Law of God and down below Aaron threw gold in the fire and out popped this calf.

God was angry.
Exodus 32:7-10 “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘ This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

And Moses interceded:
Exodus 32:11-14 “Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”

Moses was indeed a faithful servant to the house
God had temporarily given him charge over.

He was constantly at work to reconcile God’s people to God.
Part of that work was PREACHING
Part of that work was PRAYING

It reminds of the statement the apostles made shortly after the church was born and there was a squabble about some widows being overlooked in the food distribution.

Acts 6:3-4 “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

That was Moses.
He preached and he prayed!

And in all things he maintained a view of the coming day of God’s favor.

Hebrews 11:24-27 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”

You see the references there don’t you.
• Moses embraced “the reproach of Christ” as “greater riches”
• Moses saw “Him who is unseen”

• Moses WASN’T leading people to liberation…
• Moses WASN’T just some political hero driving men to a free land…
• Moses WAS embracing Christ and seeking to lead God’s people to Christ.

He was a spiritual leader first, foremost, and without fail.

And tonight we get just a small glimpse
Of that leadership, that faith, and that hope.

• Certainly Psalms 90 gives us insight into Moses…
• Certainly Psalms 90 gives us an example of intercessory prayer…
• Certainly Psalms 90 opens theology to us regarding things like the eternal nature of God, the brevity of life, the danger of sin, and the necessity of mercy.

But more than anything, for the church today,
Psalms 90 allows us to rejoice in the fact in that
What Moses longed for, we have received.

He pleaded for rest, we have it.

So let’s work our way through it tonight.
3 points
#1 HIS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Psalms 90:1-2

You’ll remember that Jesus taught us how to pray,
And that prayer was to begin with exaltation of God.

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

Prayer is always at its core an act of worship.
• We are humbling ourselves to come before the God of the universe in submission, in humility, in great need, in faith, in hope, in love, etc.
• Failure to contemplate who it is you are approaching is to fail to pray as we ought.

The Psalm is clear that Moses has a heavy heart.
The Psalm is clear that Moses has a definite appeal he wishes to present to God.

But neither of these things precede the fact
That Moses acknowledges the greatness, goodness, and grandeur
Of the God he is approaching.

Beyond that, his acknowledgement of God is inspiring!

(1) “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.”

We note that “Lord” here is not the covenantal name for God YHWH
Which is you see in all caps.

This is the Hebrew word ADONAY which is a word referencing God as Master and it was a name given to God out of fear and reverence instead of saying the divine name.

There is a real spirit of reverence and submission here from Moses.
He is bowing low as he comes.

And you have to love his acknowledgement.
“You have been our dwelling place in all generations.”

Now that was easy to see
As Moses shepherded the people through the wilderness.

Exodus 40:36-38 “Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.”

Clearly in the wilderness God was charting the course.
• When God moved they moved.
• When God stopped they stopped.
• When God stayed they stayed.

But the point Moses makes is
Not that God has just been their guide in the wilderness,
But that God has “been our dwelling place in all generations.”

You have heard the statement before, “Home is where the heart is.”
As long as you are with the people you love, location is sort of irrelevant.

Well that has certainly been true of Israel.
• Abraham was a squatter in Canaan, he never owned any of it.
• Jacob was a stranger in Egypt but he never belonged
• The Israelites were slaves in Egypt longing to leave
• And now they are sojourners in the wilderness looking for a land to call their
own.

They never had anything, except God.
He had always been their home.

That is still true by the way.
• Christ is our refuge, our dwelling place, and our home.
• Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall
• The place of our habitation on this rock may change,
• But ultimately we reside with God.

Moses recognized that.
Nothing matters so much as Him.

And then Moses acknowledges the greatness and authority of God.

(2) “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

There is great theology there.
There is transcendence there.

To Israel, perhaps nothing appears more secure and steadfast
And enduring than a mighty mountain.

Even when Scripture wants to depict something as immovable,
It references a mountain.
That is why Jesus used a mountain as an analogy when He said if you faith like a mustard seed you can tell this mountain to move.

It was a shocking statement because mountains can’t be moved.
They are permanent, resolute, unchanging, and enduring.

But Moses speaks of the mountains as infants.
• They are but a recent interest of God.
• Even the ocean, in all its vastness and mystery, is a recent novelty of God.

And incidentally, both will soon die as well.
The mountains will be cast into the sea and the sea will disappear forever.

Revelation 21:1 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”

Even what appears to be the most resilient and permanent thing you can think of is but a temporary thing compared to God.

Whom Moses says is “from everlasting to everlasting”

Seek to wrap your mind around that statement.
• God is eternal going forward and backward.
• It’s not just that God will last forever, it’s that God has always been.
• There has never been a time when God wasn’t.
• You and I can’t even grasp that.

There is a greatness there that is beyond human comprehension.

And finally Moses ties it all together with 3 powerful words,
“You are God.”

The sheer contemplation of the truth is enough to bring fear and trembling.
• Moses is not appearing before a man; his equal.
• Moses is not appealing to a temporary ruler.
• Moses is not approaching some finite being.
• Moses is coming before the eternal, all-powerful, mighty God.

And that acknowledgement is important
Because it helps you and I understand that
When you hear Moses’ complaint in a moment,
IT IS NOT COMING FROM A REBELLIOUS HEART.

Moses will lay out his current struggles, but it should NOT be seen as a complaint against an incompetent or unfair ruler.

Moses is here because God is a good God,
Not because God is an incompetent one.

Such acknowledgement is an important distinction even in our prayer life.
We may indeed lay our burdens at frustrations at the feet of God,
But we do not do it out of disrespect, but rather out of admiration.

We go to Him because He is good and because He is God.

His Acknowledgement
#2 HIS ANGUISH
Psalms 90:3-12

Here we find the struggle of Moses current situation.
And his burden is not hard to grasp
Since it is well-documented in the Old Testament.

I often tell people who aspire to leadership that before they do,
They need to home and read the book of Numbers.

Here was the greatest earthly leader Israel ever had, and he knew nothing but ingratitude, grumbling, rebellion, and disdain from those he sought to lead.

He was shepherding the most stubborn people on the planet through the wilderness, but now he was purposely stuck there until they all died.

Think about it.
Numbers 14:22-23 “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.”

Numbers 14:28-30 “Say to them, ‘ As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ‘Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.”

Now imagine for a moment a day in the life of Moses.
• He shepherded a people who had offended God,
• And God had promised that the entire generation would die before they left the wilderness.

Death must have become an almost routine thing for Moses to observe.

Certainly there were times that mass death occurred
• Like when the children of Israel played the harlot with the Moabites and God sent a plague to kill 23,000 of them.
• Or like when the ground opened up and swallowed Korah alive for rebellion
• Or on the next day when God sent a plague to kill nearly 15,000 of Korah’s followers.

Certainly there were times of mass death,
But what about the daily death that must have occurred?

Today the media is fascinated by the COVID count of numbers of cases and numbers of deaths.
• What about under Moses the serpent count?
• How many were bitten today?
• How many died today?

It was a real thing that Moses watched.
• Peers, relatives, ministry partners, friends…
• Death was everywhere and you can feel that anguish in Moses.

He is in anguish because of:
THE CURSE OF GOD

(3-6) “You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.”

You read that and it reminds of the Lion King movie when the current king starts telling his son about how when a lion dies his body becomes grass and the antelope eat the grass.
And then everyone starts singing about “The Circle of Life”

That’s sort of what this sounds like,
Except Moses isn’t singing about the circle of life,
Moses is singing about the brevity of life.

Man starts as dust and it isn’t very long until he returns to the dust.

And of course we know where this comes from.
Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

This is a consequence of the curse.
• Death is real.
• People are born and people die.

Their bodies return to dust and the dust sprouts forth grass,
But even that grass doesn’t last. Even it fades and withers away.

IT’S A DEPRESSING THOUGHT.

And sitting above it all is God.
Moses said, “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night.”

Imagine what all can occur from a human aspect in 1,000 years.
America isn’t even 250 years old yet but much has occurred.

But Moses says to God “a thousand years…are like yesterday”

It is nothing to Him.

God sits outside of and above humanity
And from Moses perspective we appear less than significant.

Our lives are just blips on the radar screen.
James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

And all this because of the curse.
And Moses is living right in the bitter reality of it.

Moses is also in anguish because of:
THE CAUSE OF DEATH

(7-10) “For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.”

• Moses knows why death is here.
• Moses knows why God cursed this world.
• Moses knows why people all around him keep dying.

(7-8) “We have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.”

We are dying because we angered You.
Our death is a direct punishment to our offense of Your commands.

And until the day of our death,
We live in futility and hardship simply waiting until we fly away.

(9-10) “For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.”

You notice there that Moses sings “I’ll Fly Away” as a dirge, not a song of praise.

He is in anguish.
• He is watching person after person die under the anger of God.
• Maybe they make it 70 years, maybe they last 80
• Either way their life is hard and filled with sighing
• Until finally they die

Ecclesiastes 5:16-17 “This also is a grievous evil — exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness and anger.”

Ecclesiastes 9:2-3 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”

That’s where Moses is too.
You have people who have offended God
And so their life is hard until they finally die.

Moses is having a hard time watching it.

But there is one more thing bringing him anguish:
THE COMPLACENCY OF ISRAEL

(11-12) “Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Moses laments that no one seems to understand this.

He is shepherding a people who keep dying in the wilderness
And they don’t ever seem to put it together
That offending God is a bad idea.

They never learn!

I mean, how often does the story repeat itself with them?
• Over and over and over they offend God and God kills them.
• Time after time after time.
• But they never get it.

And this lament of Moses actually comes with a request
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

That is to say, teach us how short life is
And that the objective of life is that we might serve and obey You.

Israel never seemed to learn that.

Now, those who read the story of Israel have learned it.
• David watched their plight and in response he wrote the mighty 95th Psalm.
Psalms 95:6-11 “Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

David said, “Today!”

That’s exactly what Moses was talking about when he said,
“Teach us to number our days”

Our people need to know that yesterday is gone
And they are not promised tomorrow.
• They are like a vapor
• They are like grass
• They are like dust

They need to wake up today and seek God.
David understood what Moses was saying.

The writer of Hebrews did to.
• He quoted David’s 95th Psalm in Hebrews 3 and said the same thing.

Hebrews 3:12-13 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Moses felt that anguish.
• Here he had a God who had been offended
• And this God was punishing and killing those who sinned against Him
• And yet the people failed to grasp how important it was not to offend God

Could you imagine the frustration in leading such a congregation?
Can you see why Moses is in anguish?
• He’s stuck between a holy God and sinful people.
• He’s stuck between a righteous God and stubborn people.

He is in anguish.

His acknowledgement, His anguish
#3 HIS APPEAL
Psalms 90:13-17

Now first I would point out that
The very presence of the appeal is a remarkable statement of faith.

Moses is not mad at God.
Moses is not accusing God of wrong-doing.

If that were the case, Moses would not be here.

It is simply this.
Moses understands that in his efforts to reconcile Israel to God
He will be more successful in prayer than he will be in preaching
For God will listen and the children of Israel will not.

That is something that every preacher, evangelist, missionary, Sunday school teacher, etc. should learn.

In your efforts to see sinful men reconciled to God, who do you suppose is more apt to listen to you; God or sinful men?

It does not make sense to only preach and never pray.

Moses knows that.
So even though he has spent many years preaching to Israel,
He is also spending time in prayer before God.

AND NOTICE HIS APPEAL.
He prays for a complete reversal of what they have received.

In verse 7 all they have received is wrath.
In verse 13, he wants mercy and sympathy.

(13) “Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.”

In verse 9 all they have is despair and a sigh.
In verse 14, he wants hope.

(14) “O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”

That is a request to have such confidence in God’s favor (as opposed to God’s disdain) that you can live the day in joy and not in dread.

That is what Moses wants.

In verse 10 Moses said they have labor and sorrow
In verse 15 he wants gladness.

(15) “Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil.”

In verse 10 Moses lamented how laborious life is. We have to work for it.
In verse 16, he wants help.

(16) “Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children.”

In verse 7 we have Your anger and Your wrath, in verse 9 we have Your fury.
In verse 17 he wants God’s favor.

(17) “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.”

That is to say, don’t block us, help us.

You want to sum it all up?
Moses is in anguish.

He sees death and despair and futility and labor and sorrow.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE WANTS?
REST

It is the common lament of those under the curse.

Remember Noah’s dad? (Lamech)
Genesis 5:29 “Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

THEY NEVER GOT IT DID THEY?
God swore in His wrath that they would not enter His rest.

It is a sad Psalm from that reality.

But as I said to you from the beginning.
It is not sad to us because what Moses prayed for,
We have received.

We are not under that Old Covenant
That put the burden of achieving God’s favor on the backs of the people.

We are under the New Covenant
That put the burden of achieving God’s favor on the back of Christ.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Moses never brought rest…
Joshua never brought rest…
But Jesus did.

Hebrews 4:8-10 “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.”

We enjoy what Moses prayed for.

And do you see Moses looking at it through eyes of faith?
He DIDN’T say, “Where is it?”

(13) “Do return, O LORD; how long will it be?”

• He knew it was coming…
• He knew God would provide it…
• And on this day he prayed for it…

If you learn nothing else from this Psalm
Then learn again the blessing of Christ in your life.
He provided for you and you enjoy in Him
What Moses pleaded with God for.

• We don’t have a curse in death – we have hope in death
• We don’t have opposition from God – Romans 8 says God is for us.
• We don’t have wrath abiding on us – We have no condemnation in Christ
• We don’t have sorrow – We have deep abiding joy that no one can take

We have landed in the Promised Land that Moses yearned for.
We, in Christ, have the rest Moses always wanted.

Psalms 90 was a lament for him, but it is not for us.
We sing it rejoicing in what Christ provided.

Download Here:

Our Great High Priest
Luke 22:39-46
December 6, 2020

This morning we come to the infamous account of
Jesus praying in the garden before He would be arrested.

You are familiar with His infamous prayer that God
Might let this cup pass, yet not My will but Yours be done.

John doesn’t include this event.
• He includes instead the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 and then mentions that Jesus went to the garden, but doesn’t mention this specific moment.

Matthew and Mark show the more drawn out version.
• Where Jesus leaves 8 of the disciples near the gate of the garden
• He takes Peter, James, and John in closer and even leaves them to pray alone
• He tells them to pray
• He goes off to pray and returns to find them sleeping
• He wakes them up and tells them again to pray
• He goes off to pray again
• He then returns and again finds them sleeping, Mark says they didn’t know what to say that time.
• He goes off to pray again.
• He comes back a third time and found them sleeping again.

Luke’s version is a little more condensed.
And Luke seems to show a little more compassion toward the disciples
As only Luke regards why they were sleeping.

He says in verse 45 that they were “sleeping from sorrow”.

They were overcome with the gravity of
What Jesus had just told them was about to happen.

On the other hand Matthew and Mark say nothing
• About the angel coming to strengthen Jesus
• Or about Him sweating drops of blood.

It becomes apparent to us that Luke’s focus for the event is temptation.
• You have Jesus warning the disciples to pray not to enter temptation.
• Jesus then prays that this cup might pass from Him
• He returns to remind the disciples to again pray not to enter temptation.

The point rings our loudly in the text.

And what we will find is that
While the disciples should have prayed to escape temptation,
Jesus had to enter it.

He entered temptation out of NECESSITY.
They will enter temptation out of APATHY.

Jesus had to be tempted, the disciples did not.
Jesus faced it correctly and defeated it,
The disciples faced it wrongly and stumbled badly.

ONE MIGHT ALSO draw parallels to the first and second Adam.
• It was Adam who squared off with Satan in the first garden and who
succumbed to temptation and plunged humanity into sin.
• It is Jesus, the second Adam who again squares of with Satan in the second
garden but who overcomes and delivers humanity from sin.

But our goal is to remain true to Luke’s text and Luke’s point.

So for our time THIS MORNING, I want to show you how
• While the disciples were totally dropping the ball in agony and sorrow,
• Christ was overcoming
• So that He could do for them what they could not and would not do for themselves.

Let’s break this passage down into 4 point this morning.
#1 HIS CUSTOM
Luke 22:39

It is an interesting verse that reminds us yet again of
The steadfast determination of Christ.

We remember when it was time to take the Passover,
• How Jesus kept their location hidden so that Judas couldn’t betray Him there.
• Remember back in 22:10-13 how Peter and John were supposed to enter a city where they would see a man carrying a water pot and they were supposed to follow Him to the upper room.
• Jesus was determined to take that Passover with the disciples and He would not allow Judas to betray Him before it occurred.

But now, Jesus is yielding Himself up so His itinerary is no longer secret.
HE IS INTENTIONALLY PREDICTABLE.

“And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives;”

This is NOT some random place, this is His normal and routine campsite.
All the disciples had been here with Him for several days.

Luke 21:37 “Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet.”

And even more important is what John reveals:
John 18:1-2 “When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples.”

• He is clearly not hiding.
• He is not running from His destiny.
• His hour has now come and He is here.

His commitment is marvelous.
He is offering Himself up for sinners.

It is also important to note that “the disciples also followed Him.”

For all the mistakes they make and failures they exhibit,
It is still important to note that
What Jesus said of them in the upper room still holds true.

They are still those who stand by Him in His trials.
• They know He announced betrayal…
• They know He announced arrest…
• They know He announced death…
• They know He announced sifting…
• They know He announced be labeled a fugitive…
• They know He announced the need of a sword…

BUT STILL THEY ARE HERE.
That is a good thing.

But the point is that Jesus is not in hiding.
• He IS NOT running from His calling or His mission.
• He IS pitching His tent in plain sight of His enemies.

His Custom
#2 HIS COMMAND
Luke 22:40

So they arrive at the garden.
And as is typically the case, only Jesus is truly aware of the situation.

He knows what is coming, the disciples are not as discerning.

And Jesus knows that the disciples cannot handle what is coming
So He gives them an interesting command.

“Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

That is an interesting command, and one that warrants examination.
• He does NOT say, “Pray that you may endure temptation.”
• He does NOT say, “Pray that you may overcome temptation.”

He says, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Not the first time:
Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”

The command here is for the disciples to pray
That they are never even tempted.

Jesus is here specifically to be tempted.
But the temptation of the disciples is not necessary.

And one would think that after the recent warning that
Satan is gunning for them,

That the disciples would have headed such a warning
And would have been praying like crazy
That his sifting would not present itself.

But if you’ll remember, they weren’t concerned about it.
Their response was “Bring it On!”
We’re ready to go to prison or die if we need to.

BUT JESUS TOLD THEM TO PRAY NOT TO ENTER IT.

Have you ever considered such a command from the Lord?
• A confident man might pray, God give me the strength to endure temptation when it comes.
• But a humble man, a weak man might pray, God spare me from such that is stronger than I.

A man aware of the weakness of his flesh…
A man aware of his past history of failure…
A man aware of his spiritual bankruptcy…
Has no problem praying to never even be entered into temptation.

David Mathis wrote: (Desiring God website)
When we pray not only against our sin, but against temptation to sin, we display a maturing humility. We acknowledge our weakness and the power of sin. And we remember our Father’s heart for holiness and for our good. God “himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). The blame for sin falls squarely on the sinner. “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14). And yet God, in his grace and mercy, delights to keep us from many temptations — countless times perhaps even when we fail to ask, and how many precious instances in direct response to our asking?
If we take seriously the depths of sin in us, and the depths of mercy in our Father, we will heed the words of Jesus, and the commentary of John Owen: “Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also! These two are too closely united to be separated. He does not truly hate the fruit who delights in the root.” For the sake of truth and good conscience, we distinguish temptation from sin, and for the sake of holiness and joy, we do not separate them. And so we pray not only against our sins, but our temptations.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-you-pray-against-temptation

Jesus understood this, where the disciples did not.
• He knew what was coming, they dismissed it.
• He knew Satan would sift, they had already boasted to let him try.
• He told them to pray to not even be tempted, they would ignore the command.

It is clear that ONLY JESUS
KNEW THE TRUE STRUGGLE of what was about to immerge.

Jesus had come to this garden so that He could be easily found
By Judas and the army he was bringing.

But Judas was not here yet.
Now would be a TIME TO WAIT.
• No doubt the anxiety would grow…
• No doubt the mind would run away with “what if” scenarios…
• No doubt the uncertainty of arrest and torture and death would captivate…

And the waiting might just be the worst part.
For in this waiting Satan would be coming
To do everything he could to turn Jesus away from the cross
And His work to redeem humanity.

IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG DIFFICULT NIGHT.
Prayer was in order, but only Jesus seemed to know that.

It is a simple encouragement to you and me as well,
Not only to pray in the midst of temptation,
But to also pray that some temptations never even come.

His Custom, His Command
#3 HIS CRY
Luke 22:41-44

Here is the heart of the passage.
Here is the praying of Jesus in the middle of the garden.

But there is something going on here that you may not realize
That is of absolute essential importance.

Some of you are listening to the daily devotions we put out on the church podcast or livestream through the book of Hebrews.

This past week I recorded one that will come active I think on Tuesday.
(I’m going to give you a spoiler this morning)

TURN TO: HEBREWS 5

Now the point is that
1. Having a High Priest is necessary
2. And that there are certain qualifications and requirements that one must meet in order to be a high priest.

Things like:
1. Must be a man, from among men (you want him to be sympathetic and just as desperate as you)
2. Must go to God to negotiate a remission of judgment
3. Must be one that God is willing to deal with.

Think of him as a sort of a negotiator.
• You have sinful man on one side and God on the other
• And sinful man has realized that if this goes to war, God will kill us all.
• So we need to send someone to God to negotiate terms of peace.

THIS IS WHAT A HIGH PRIEST DID.
He took the gifts and offerings to God in order to negotiate appeasement.

Now two very important verses about every high priest are found in Hebrews 5:2-3

(2-3) “he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.”

Those two verses are NOT about Jesus,
They are about every high priest in general.

The point is that
You want to send someone who is in just as much danger as you are.

Why?
• So that he will negotiate like his own life depends upon it.
• So that he won’t take “no” for an answer.

It is not wise to send someone who is not in danger with you,
Or else he might not care enough to make sure you get off.

How much more effective would your defense attorney be if he/she was forced to share in your punishment if you are convicted?

You get the idea.

NOW THAT PRESENTS AN OBVIOUS PROBLEM FOR US
When we say that Jesus is now our high priest,
Why?

Because Jesus was perfect, sinless, and was not ignorant or beset with weakness, and did not have sin that needed to be atoned for.

So at the outset Jesus DOESN’T look like a great high priestly candidate
Because there is some question as to whether or not
He will negotiate with the kind of desperation that we need.

• Will He be desperate?
• Will He negotiate like His life depends on it?
• Will He refuse to take “no” for an answer?

Well, notice the writer of Hebrews has an answer to that dilemma.
(7-8) “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

We find out that this Jesus “in the days of His flesh…offered up both prayer and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death…”

NOW PAUSE RIGHT THERE FOR A MINUTE,
Keep your finger in Hebrews, and turn back to Luke 22.

(41-44) “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

So here we have what the writer of Hebrews is talking about.
The day when Jesus cried out to God
Because God could save Him from death.

The specific prayer is “remove this cup from Me”

Now this is important because it helps us understand
What Jesus really hopes to escape.

If you think that Jesus is in the garden grieving over
The coming physical pain of arrest and crucifixion
YOU ARE NOT UNDERSTANDING THE SCENE.

“this cup” is NOT a reference to physical death,
IT IS A REFERENCE TO GOD’S WRATH.

Psalms 11:6 “Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.”

Psalms 75:8 “For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.”

You can read Isaiah 51, Jeremiah 25, Ezekiel 23, and many others
And see references to this cup of God’s wrath.

It is more than death, it is destruction, it is condemnation,
It is the eternal wrath and fury of God on sinners.

Now, the interesting thing is that here in the garden,
This is the cup that Jesus is facing.

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

SO WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Jesus is here doing exactly what the writer of Hebrews said.
(Flip back over there)

He is crying out “to the One able to save Him from death”.
(that is condemnation)

DO YOU SEE THIS?

JESUS HAS NOW BEGUN IDENTIFYING WITH SINNERS.

Let me ask you,
• Do you remember when you first experienced conviction of your sin?
• Do you remember the horror of the moment when you realized that you were at enmity with God?
• Do you remember the fear the day you realized that God, in His justice, would send you to hell?

It is a horrible feeling; it is an awful moment.
Indeed it is meant to drive you to Jesus for salvation.

But do you remember the horror and fear and dread of hell?
THAT IS WHAT JESUS IS FEELING HERE.

Now, IT IS IMPORTANT for you to realize that
He is NOT feeling that because He sinned and deserves it.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews says that in this prayer, which Jesus prayed, (7) “He was heard because of His piety.”

• That is to say God heard His prayer
• Because He was so righteous and so pious and so devout.
• God, in His holy justice, would have and must have delivered Christ in this
garden when He prayed this prayer.

Where it not for the fact that Jesus also prayed,
“yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

God would have otherwise immediately delivered Him.

BUT HERE IS WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Look at Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

Saying He learned obedience DOES NOT MEAN that He was rebellious but God taught Him how to obey. No, He always did the Father’s will.

The obedience spoken of here is spoken of in an experiential sense.
He identified with you, He entered your suffering,
He embraced your condemnation so that He would know your struggle.

REMEMBER, when you send a priest before God you want someone who will negotiate for you like His life depends upon it.

Can you see that this is WHAT JESUS IS LEARNING in the garden?
Can you see that this is exactly what He is doing?
In the garden He also is feeling
The fear and horror of the full condemnation of God.

That fear you felt when you realized
That God would crush you in hell for all eternity,
Is what Christ is feeling here.

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS
• In your fear you could cry out to Christ to save you from such a fate
• Christ can’t escape it; He must face it if you are to be saved.

Now do you understand His qualification to be your priest?
Now do you understand why His temptation was necessary?
Now do you understand why He is in such turmoil?

He is looking the full wrath of God right in the face
Because He has chosen to identify Himself with our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

WHAT AN AWESOME SAVIOR WE HAVE!

SO NOW, BACK IN LUKE, HE IS IN AGONY.

And a beautiful thing occurs which only Luke mentions.
(43) “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.”

What is this?
It is clearly the help and encouragement of God the Father.

While Christ has determined to bear up under the load of our sin,
His sacrifice is not overlooked by the Father.

And while an angel of darkness (Satan)
Would tempt Christ to forsake us and leave the garden,
God would send a holy angel to encourage Him to endure.

Speaking about angels, the writer of Hebrews says:
Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

Well that is clearly what this angel is doing.
• He is render service to Christ on our behalf.
• He is encouraging Christ so that we might be saved.

So not only do you have Christ, the Son, identifying with us
And facing our condemnation and feeling our guilt,
But you also have God the Father at work on our behalf
Encouraging Christ to continue.

John 16:32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”

It is the Father’s encouragement we see here
In the sending of this angel to minister to Him.

And all this, while the disciples are sleeping.
• Tell me again how it is you worked so hard for your salvation?
• Tell me again how it is that you are saved because of something you did.

Here is the battle.
Here is the war.
And the disciples are contributing nothing.

Salvation is by grace alone
Do not insult the agony of Christ or the sovereignty of the Father
By asserting that anything you did contributed to your salvation.

Sinners are saved because of the work of God and God alone.
Can you see that here?

AND THAT IS NOT ALL.
Luke wants you to understand the extreme agony that Christ is under.
• He is facing the full fury of the wrath of God…
• He is facing total condemnation…
• He is facing that bitter cup…

And because He is keenly aware of what that means,
His response is fitting.

Luke captures it in a way that only a physician could.
(44) “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

• Now certainly, as with everything, there is debate as to whether Jesus actually
sweat blood or if His sweating was just compared to blood falling.
• The obvious point here is that one might compare sweating to a lot of things,
but comparing it to blood is bizarre unless the actual medical condition is in
view.

The condition is called HEMATIDROSIS which is rare,
But is caused by extreme mental and emotional strain, causing subcutaneous capillaries to dilate and burst, releasing blood mingled with sweat.
(MacArthur, John [MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Luke 18-24; Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 2014] pg. 306)

And that seems to be precisely what Luke, the physician, is describing.

• Jesus was in “agony”
• Jesus was “praying very fervently”
• And that agony was seen in the very blood mingled sweat that was falling off
His face.

Jesus, for the first time, was facing what a sinner feels
When He comes under the condemnation of God.

• He was identifying with you.
• He was beginning to bear your sin.
• He was understanding the full effect of “being sin on our behalf”

And so you understand His cry.

Do you see what a tremendous Savior He is?
Do you see what a qualified Savior He is?
Do you see how He loves us?
Do you see the price of your atonement?
Do you see the weight of the guilt of your sin?

We enjoy “no condemnation” because Jesus faced condemnation for us.
We enjoy “peace with God” because Jesus was put at enmity with God.
We enjoy “eternal life” because Jesus drank the cup of death from God.

And the horror of that price is shown to us so clearly in the garden.

When you look at the garden,
• Don’t walk away talking about the power of prayer.
• Don’t walk away talking about practical steps of intercession.
• Don’t walk away talking about the importance of staying awake.

TALK ABOUT THIS.
• That Christ identified with sinners
• That He felt the full weight of the condemnation of God
• That He learned the fear of hell and judgment
• And that it caused Him such grief that He sweat drops of blood.

And let the warning echo in your ear:
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Jesus did.
And He did it for you.

And as the writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 5:9 “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”

WHAT A SAVIOR!

His Custom, His Command, His Cry
#4 HIS CONCERN
Luke 22:45-46

As we noted, Luke doesn’t go into the long diatribe
Of all the times Jesus came back and found them sleeping.

But Luke doesn’t totally omit it either.

But Luke also reveals why they slept.
(45) “When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,”

What do you mean?
John 16:5-6 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”

The disciples were now contemplating life without Jesus
And they were grieved.

And in their pity, instead of praying,
They tried to escape their pain through sleep.

Jesus specifically told them to do otherwise, but they ignored Him.

(46) “and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

So Jesus returns to the warning He gave them at the beginning.

What do we make of this?
• Do you see the concern of the Savior?
• The conflict of His soul extends beyond His own suffering.

Even while facing God’s wrath and the condemnation that is coming,
Jesus has still maintained His concern for the disciples
And their coming sifting.

Can you see that He is in fact a merciful and faithful high priest?
• They should have been consoling Jesus…
• They should have been praying for escape from temptation…
• They should have been doing something…
• Instead, wrapped in self-pity and disillusionment they did nothing.
• They didn’t pray…
• They didn’t comfort…
• They slept…

HERE IS THE GLORIOUS PICTURE AGAIN.
Christ was doing for them
What they could not and would not do for themselves.

THAT IS A GREAT HIGH PRIEST!

He never wrote them off…
• He endured
• He prayed
• He interceded
• He encouraged
• He warned

ALL THE WAY TO THE END.

• His concern is evident.
• He is a great and awesome Savior.
• He is fighting for them when they don’t even fight for themselves.

And passages come to mind like:
Hebrews 2:16-18 “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

• He bore the terrible wrath of God on your behalf…
• He felt the terror and the sting of condemnation…
• And now, He negotiates before God like His life depends on it,
• For He knows the horror of God’s judgment.

He did that for you.
What a Savior!

Praise Him, adore Him, submit to Him, trust Him!

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Following A Fugitive
Luke 22:35-38
November 29, 2020

This morning we return one final time
To the upper room here in Luke’s gospel.

After these final 4 verses, Jesus and the disciples will depart and go to the Mount of Olives and Jesus will enter the Garden of Gethsemane where He will pray before His arrest.

In order to keep the whole evening in perspective.
• You know about the Passover Meal, the washing of the feet, and ultimately the Lord’s Supper announcement.
• You know about the announcement of a traitor, the discussion and dispute the followed with the disciples.
• You know how Jesus praised the 11 and promised them a kingdom.
• You know how Jesus announced the sifting and scattering of these men in order to prove their faith.

This morning we will read in Luke’s gospel about
Jesus final announcement of His coming death.

And that is where the synoptic gospels break the story
And move on to the garden and the praying of Jesus.

If you want to fill in your timeline with Luke’s gospel,
• Then after the text we read today you can throw in John 14 where after this
announcement Jesus addresses the troubled hearts of the disciples.
• Jesus announces the coming Holy Spirit and actually tells the disciples they
should rejoice in His announcement because He is going to the Father.
• And at the end of John 14 they all leave the upper room.
• It is on the way to the Mount of Olives that John includes the conversations of
John 15, 16, and the prayer of John 17.

Perhaps that helps you bring the entire evening and events into focus.

But here we have LUKE’S FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT of the upper room
And it is a BOMBSHELL!

It is so big and so important that before we work through the text,
I just want to pull it out and address it by itself first.

The bombshell announcement comes in verse 37, “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSOR’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”

That is a HUGE announcement from Jesus.

Already in Luke’s gospel we have several times when
Jesus announced His coming death.

That is not new.
Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

Luke 9:44 “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”

Luke 18:31-33 “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. “For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

It is true that they haven’t really grasped it when He has announced it,
But still, He has said it several times.

In Luke 18 He even alluded to the fact that His death was of prophetic fulfillment saying, “all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.”

So He’s announced His death and that it is a prophetic death.

WHAT MAKES THIS ONE DIFFERENT?

Namely the passage Jesus identifies as being a prophecy about Him.

Do you recognize the verse He quotes?
“AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS”

Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

• Many times we read Isaiah 53 and certainly we talk about the atonement of Christ from that magnificent chapter.
• We even read how the apostles, obviously inspired by the Holy Spirit, take that chapter and apply it to Jesus.

But unique here is that the first person to ever take that chapter
And apply it to Jesus…WAS JESUS!

He said that chapter is about Me!

This is now the second Isaiah passage that Jesus has claimed to fulfill.

Luke 4:17-21 “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS EQUALLY AS BIG.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 53

Now, I like outlines as a way of understanding passages so let me just give you a quick one for Isaiah 53.

1. HIS HUMILIATION (1-3)
2. HIS PROPITIATION (4-6)
3. HIS AUTHENTICATION (7-9)
4. HIS GLORIFICATION (10-12)

Here Isaiah speaks of a man who was identified as “the arm of the LORD”
Which is a reference to saving might and saving power,

But who was not recognized as such.
• He was not recognized because His form and His appearance were not overly
impressive.
• He was ultimately despised and forsaken and acquainted with grief and He
was not esteemed.

He was God’s means of salvation, but no one recognized it.
THAT IS HIS HUMILIATION.

From there Isaiah saw His awful death,
• Even announcing that He would be “pierced through”

But Isaiah said it wasn’t for His own sin, but for OUR sin.

God was laying our iniquity on Him and then punishing Him for it.
THAT IS HIS PROPITIATION.

Thirdly we see how even in His affliction, He never argued or fought back.
• He was led away, He was slaughtered, He was cut off
• And no one seemed to see why that was happening.

But even though He was being executed as a criminal still
GOD INTERVENED AND GAVE HIM AN HONORABLE BURIAL
For He was buried in a rich man’s tomb with honor.

Though executed, was actually endorsed by God.
THAT IS HIS AUTHENTICATION.

Even though God would authenticate Him, God was still pleased to crush Him
• Because God was accomplishing salvation for His children through that death.

Through His death He would justify the many
Because He is bearing their iniquities

Because of this sacrificial act God would exalt Him
THAT IS HIS GLORIFICATION.

It is a remarkable chapter.
It is a glorious truth.

And it is that last verse that we focus on for today.
(12) “Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

That statement “numbered with the transgressors”
Is the greatest summation sentence of the entire chapter.

“numbered” in Isaiah 53:12 is the Hebrew word MANAH (mu-nau)
It means “to be reckoned” or “to be assigned”

In Luke’s gospel in the Greek it is the word LOGIZOMAI (lo-geed-zo-my)
Which means the same thing. “to be reckoned”

It speaks of identification.
It speaks of having a sentence passed on one’s character.

In this instance, think of a MUG SHOT of a criminal.
Just to see that picture is to associate it with guilt and shame and lawlessness.

That is what is spoken of here.
This man that Isaiah wrote of
Would be a man who would suffer the reputation blow
Of being labeled a transgressor of the Law.

This man that Isaiah wrote about,
Would be innocent, but would be treated by man and even by God
As though He were a traitor and a criminal.

• His reputation would be smeared
• His honor would be stripped
• His teaching would be discredited
• He would be labeled; branded; regarded; numbered as a transgressor.

And for the first time in History Jesus announces who this man is.
Jesus says, “IT IS ME.”

That chapter is “that which refers to Me”

And by quoting once sentence
Jesus makes the clearest statement that could possibly be made
As to the PURPOSE of His death.

• He is going to die so that He can bear the punishment that sinners receive.
• He is going to bear our griefs
• He is going to carry our sorrows
• He is going to be pierced through for our transgressions
• He is going to be crushed for our iniquities
• He is going to be chastened for our well-being
• He is going to be scourged for our healing
• Our iniquity is going to be laid on Him
• He will be cut off from the land of the living because of our transgression
• He will receive the stroke that we deserve
• He will be crushed because of our guilt
• He will bear our iniquities
• He will be poured out to death for our sin
• He will be numbered with the transgressors

HIS DEATH IS FOR OUR SALVATION.
Jesus was the first to announce that.

He would be considered a fugitive
In order to save those who really are.

That is the massive announcement here this morning.

But because of that fact there is A SECONDARY CONSEQUENCE
That the disciples need to be aware of.

AND THAT IS WHAT THESE FINAL 4 VERSES ADDRESS.

• If Jesus is ultimately labeled as a transgressor, what sort of effect will that have
on His followers?
• If Jesus is going to be branded as a fugitive, what sort of effect will that have
on His ministry?

I think you know the answer.
Anyone who sticks with Him after this night
Will also be labeled traitors, fugitives, conspirators, and transgressors.

We understand collusion
We understand guilt by association

And this is the consequence Jesus is about to announce
To these 11 faithful disciples in the room.

Let’s work our way through these 4 verses together.
#1 THEIR FORMER MINISTRY
Luke 22:35

Here Jesus simply reminds them of
What ministry has been like over the first 3 years.

And while there have been trials and hardships
And decisions of faithfulness to be made,
STILL, FOR THE MOST PART THE MINISTRY HAS BEEN A POSITIVE ONE.
• There have been record crowds…
• There has been extreme popularity at times…

And here Jesus even reminds them of
What it was like the first time He sent them out on mission.

“And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” And they said, “No, nothing.”

And we remember that commission.
Luke 9:1-6 “And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

The disciples were going out to preach and minister,
THEY COULD EXPECT a certain level of HOSPITALITY as they went.

Certainly not everyone would be enthused with their ministry,
But they would always be able to find someone who was.

Even in the next chapter when Jesus sent out the 70 we read:
Luke 10:4-7 “Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.”

Jesus told them as they went to count on hospitality.
• Someone would feed them
• Someone would clothe them
• Someone would house them
• It was going to be a favorable mission.

And we even remember the exuberant response of the 70
When they came back from that short term mission.

Luke 10:17-20 “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

When they came back, it was just like Jesus said.
• They found people to be hospitable…
• They found illnesses to be healable…
• They found demons to be subservient…

And for 3 years that has sort of been what missions was like.
• Certainly there were always a few who rejected…
• Certainly there was the occasional debate with the religious elite…

But for the most part, people welcomed Jesus into town.
• They loved His miraculous power…
• They fed Him…
• They clothed Him…
• They honored Him…

Being one of the main followers of Jesus had its perks.

So long as Jesus was regarded as the Messiah
Or at the very least as a Teacher or even a Prophet
FOLLOWING JESUS WAS AN HONORABLE THING.

But as we said, JESUS’ TITLE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.
• Jesus title is about to shift in the public eye from Messiah to Transgressor.
• Jesus title is about to shift in the public eye from Teacher to Traitor.

Things are going to change.

All that easy stuff was their former ministry.
#2 THEIR FUTURE MINISTRY
Luke 22:36, 38

In a somber announcement Jesus told the 11 that
The days of banquets, celebrations and basic hospitality are over.

Don’t expect that treatment any more.
“But now, whoever has a money belt is take it along, likewise also a bag”

• Don’t count on people feeding you anymore, buy your own food.
• Don’t count on people clothing you anymore, take extra clothes with you.
• Don’t count on people housing you anymore, pay your own way.

And then the somewhat confusing statement,
“and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.”

Leo already asked me about that verse last week,
And so I’ll give you the same answer I gave him.

“I don’t know”

I can tell you what others say.
MacArthur says Jesus is speaking figuratively when He says this, and in a moment when He tells them, “It is enough” that He is saying, “No more sword talk.”

I read some who see it is a staging prop, that Jesus wanted them to have swords so they would look like a band of rebels at His arrest.

Others today certainly use it as a defense of self-defense and tie it to the 2nd amendment and the need for guns.

Here we simply apply basic laws of Bible hermeneutics.
(Bible interpretation)

And rule #1 of Biblical Hermeneutics is this:
SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE

And sort of as a sub-point we’d say that
Clearer passages explain passages that aren’t as clear.

For example.
1 Corinthians 15:29 “Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?”

That verse is in chapter where Paul is defending the resurrection from the dead.
You can read that verse and legitimately ask, “What is Paul talking about when he mentions being baptized for the dead?”

And here’s the best answer I can give you.
I don’t know what he means, but I know what he doesn’t mean.

Based on the rest of Scripture I know Paul doesn’t mean that after a person dies, someone else can be baptized on their behalf and that person be saved.

The rest of Scripture makes that clear.
You let the rest of Scripture shed some light on that verse.

This is how I handle Luke 22:36.

What does Jesus mean when He tells them buy a sword?

Well, in the context, it is obvious He is referring to the fact that
Where they were not formally in danger, now they will be.

Formerly they did not need a sword,
But in the future a sword might be handy.

Does that mean that Jesus endorsed self-defense, even the use of violence?

I can say that this is clearly what the disciples thought He meant at the time.
• They thought He meant that if they found themselves in danger they would have to use a sword to defend themselves.

Luke 22:49-50 “When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.”

And that explains their statement in verse 38
(38) “They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

They understood Jesus announcement of danger
And they immediately looked for a sword.

Now, we must also note that
• After finding just 2 swords Jesus said, “It is enough”,
• And we must note that 2 swords isn’t much for 12 people, especially with a Roman cohort (at least 480 soldiers) on the way.

Clearly Jesus didn’t have a war on His mind here.

We also must note that at the arrest Peter is actually going to use one of those swords and try to take a guy’s head off.

Jesus will respond:
Luke 22:49-51 “When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.”

The disciples understood the statement to mean it was time to fight,
But Jesus’ response here makes one cautious about their understanding.

No sooner do they strike with a sword
Than does Jesus rebuke them,
And immediately undo what they just did.

They thought Jesus meant to fight for the kingdom, clearly Jesus did not.

Furthermore, (if we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture) THERE IS NOT ANOTHER INSTANCE in all of the New Testament where the apostles either used a sword or encouraged others to do it.

We might also remember Jesus’ words to Pilate:
John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

SO WHERE DO WE LAND?
• If you want to use this verse to speak of self-defense, it is hard to argue
with you since Jesus clearly said to take a sword.
• If you want to use this verse to defend using a sword, you also have a
difficult time on your hands since the rest of Scripture will stand against it.

That’s why I told you, I’m not sure what Jesus meant.
I know what the disciples thought He meant.
And I know how Jesus responded very soon after.

BUT THE BASIC POINT TO BE MADE IS THAT
THE DAYS OF SAFETY ARE OVER.

The hospitality and safety and camaraderie that you formerly experienced
IS A THING OF THE PAST.

Future missions are going to be cold and lonely and dangerous.
The Former Ministry, The Future Ministry
#3 THEIR FUGITIVE MINISTRY
Luke 22:37

Here Jesus tells the disciples
WHY this ministry will go from friendly to dangerous.

Namely because that famous prophecy is about to be fulfilled.

“For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”

I am about to be labeled as a fugitive.
I am about to be as a transgressor.

Think about this night.
• The false witnesses will call Him a liar…
• The chief priests will call Him a blasphemer…
• They’ll take Him to Pilate and call Him an insurrectionist…
• They’ll stand Him before Herod who will mock Him as a phony…
• They will stand Him before the crowd who will condemn Him as a transgressor who deserves crucifixion…

The public persona of Jesus is going to change drastically.

This helps you understand THE SIFTING PROCESS that is about to occur.

Luke 22:54-61 “Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance. After they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, “This man was with Him too.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” A little later, another saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” After about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean too.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”

See how that works?
It wasn’t knowing Jesus that threatened Peter,
It was the accusation that Peter was with Jesus or one of them.

They had Jesus on trial and Peter was accused of being part of His gang.

Up until that night being associated with Jesus had been a good thing.
• During the triumphal entry being associated with Jesus was amazing.
• Even during the temple sermons as Jesus silenced the chief priests being associated with Jesus was great.

But all of a sudden the public view of Jesus had changed.
Now to be associated with Jesus made you a criminal.

John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

John 16:1-4 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

It’s the danger of guilt by association.
“If you ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw.”

The days of easy and hospitable missions are over.
You are about to enter this world labeled as a criminal gang.

THINK ABOUT THAT.

Honestly, we have known nothing of that thus far in America.
• Jesus, by in large, has maintained a good reputation in America.
• And so following Jesus has been a relatively easy thing.
• For years being a Christian has even been considered a good thing.

But what happens when the public perception on Jesus changes?
• What happens when Jesus is seen as a fugitive, not a Savior?
• What happens when Jesus is labeled a hoax, not holy?

Are you prepared to follow Christ even when the world hates Christ?

You can see the apostle’s struggle in this.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Peter would recognize that the title “Christian” was a derogatory term in his day and yet he encouraged the church to embrace it.

• Called fools for Christ.
• Considered fugitives because of Christ.

THE EASY DAYS WERE OVER.

And on this night, as Jesus ate this final Passover with them,
They were each forced to address this new reality in their hearts.

Would they be willing to be fools for Christ?
Would they be willing to be fugitives for Christ?

Many of you have read the book of John Bunyan called “Pilgrim’s Progress”.

• John Bunyan was a preacher in the 17th century who had been arrested sentenced to 3 months in jail
• For violating the Conventicle Act of 1593 which made it illegal to attend services outside of the perish.
• The act arrested and then banished ministers who gathered groups of 5 or more as they were seen as a threat to the crown.
• If the charged would swear to stop they were released after 3 months and then banished..

Bunyan would not swear the oath and ended up serving 12 years.
• But as he was a fugitive for Christ his wife and children would occasionally visit him in jail;
• One of which was his blind daughter Mary.
• Bunyan was poor before he was imprisoned and now his family was all but destitute without him.

As his family would visit and depart,
Bunyan wrote in his book “Grace Abounding”:

“The parting with my wife and poor children hath oft been to me in [prison] as the pulling the flesh from my bones . . . especially my poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than all I had besides; O the thoughts of the hardships I thought my blind one might go under, would break my heart to pieces.”
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/gallery-of-people-around-john-bunyan

Here was a man who was contemplating and living and suffering
Under exactly the type of thing Jesus warned the disciples of.

Bunyan had become a fugitive because He followed a Fugitive.

We see in Scripture that we are called to proclaim the truth
“in season and out of season”,
when Jesus is esteemed and when He is not.

And that is the weight of what Jesus told the disciples here.
Be faithful even when it isn’t popular.

DOES THIS SOUND UNFAIR?
Does this sound unjust?

Does it sound wrong for you to be considered a fugitive just because you identify with Jesus?

Perhaps until you go back to our Lord’s announcement
And remember that the only reason He was considered a fugitive
Is because He identified with you.

He asks you to identify with Him and become a fugitive in the eyes of men
Because He identified with you and became a fugitive in the eyes of God.

CERTAINLY THAT IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK

This morning we are going to come again to the Table of the Lord.
• Certainly it is a reminder of His atonement on our behalf.
• Certainly we remember the meal earlier in the night.

But perhaps this morning we partake in a different light.
Perhaps this morning we partake
Contemplating the high cost of identifying with Him.

Jesus offered Himself to the disciples
And then bid them to face hostility on His behalf.

1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

We have often sung the hymn of the Getty’s called “Behold the Lamb”
We remember that final verse.

“And so with thankfulness and faith We rise to respond: and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering, We proclaim: Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven Around the table of the King.

Communion hymn

This morning we partake in that mindset.
We share in His sufferings, but we do so in hope of His return.
We partake and we proclaim Christ (no matter the cost) until He comes.

We will have a time of preparation and then partake.

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Sifting The Saints
Luke 22:31-34
November 22, 2020

As you know we are currently in the Upper Room, where Jesus has been preparing the disciples for His soon coming death and resurrection.

While our main focus has been the text of Luke’s gospel,
We have looked at the other gospels a little too so that we can better piece together the events of this night.
• After the cryptic instructions to finding the room
• Jesus and His disciples gathered where they began their Passover meal.
• During the meal Jesus got up and washed their feet.
• Jesus then instructed them about serving and loving one another.
• He then took bread and wine and instituted the Lord’s Supper
• After this event Jesus announced that there was a traitor in their midst
• First a discussion occurred as to who it would be
• They all denied that it was them, even Judas.
• In that commotion Peter asked John to ask Jesus who it was
• Jesus during that time confronted Judas, who took the sop and left
• None of the disciples thought anything of it, since now they were in a debate as to who was the greatest.
• Jesus addressed their debate and we learned what true greatness was.
• Then Jesus (LAST WEEK) commended the remaining disciples for staying with Him and promised them reward.

This has been then events of the night in that upper room.

And THIS MORNING we come to ANOTHER TRAGIC ANNOUNCEMENT.

Just a few moments ago Jesus announced
That there was a traitor in their midst.
Now He will announce that all of them will scatter from Him.

Matthew and Mark present near identical accounts:
Matthew 26:31-32 “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

Jesus there quotes:
Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.”

Both Matthew and Mark show particular interest to the fact that
The denial of the disciples was prophesied in the Old Testament.

In part to demonstrate the horror of the crucifixion
And the reality that Jesus would suffer alone for our sin,
It was determined that all the disciples would flee.
The prophet Zechariah prophesied it.

But Luke’s gospel takes a different approach to this event.
Luke is quite fond of making sure you see behind the scenes
And the work of the enemy in all of this.

• It was Luke who showed us earlier in chapter 22 that Satan entered Judas as part of causing the betrayal.
• And now Luke wants you to see his role in the sifting process.

We know that Satan already owned Judas.
• He was using him as the traitor who would betray Jesus to the authorities.
• But it is apparent that Satan was not content with simply Judas;
HE WANTED THEM ALL.

The objective of Satan is to cause every single follower of Christ
To deny Christ and fall away from the faith.

He is a liar – He is a thief – He is a deceiver – He is a tempter

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”

Satan seeks to drive a wedge between God and His children in any way possible.
• He will tempt you to sin…
• He will accuse God of injustice to you…
• He will accuse you of sin before God…

He will use deception, temptation, persecution, and any other means necessary TO SEEK TO DESTROY the followers of Christ.

And yet, the remarkable truth is that he has a 0% success rate

Oh, he wins his small battles here and there, even as you see here,
BUT HE NEVER WINS THE WAR.

Those whom Christ saves, He saves forever.

Later on this very night
Jesus will give His famous High Priestly prayer for the disciples.

John 17:11-12 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Jesus said none perished, except for Judas
And that was only for the fulfillment of Scripture.

John 6:38-40 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Those whom Christ saves He saves forever.

BUT that doesn’t keep the enemy from attacking.

WHY? Why attack if you can’t win?
• Because he doesn’t know who the elect are.
• Satan doesn’t have access to the Lamb’s Book of Life.

His objective is simply to shake everyone in order to
Try and knock loose the imposters who are hanging by a thread.

In this way, Satan actually UNKNOWINGLY DOES THE WILL OF GOD.

Remember John 15?
John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Jesus will never lose one His own,
But at the same time no one who simply says “Lord, Lord”
Without truly trusting in Christ will be saved.

Or consider what John the Baptist said about Jesus.
Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Jesus will sift out the wheat from the chaff.

And one of the ways we see false and fruitless branches removed
IS ACTUALLY THROUGH THE SIFTING OF SATAN.

Satan attacks them all in hopes of removing the redeemed,
All he ever succeeds in doing is weeding out the chaff.

BUT YOU SEE THAT even though it ultimately fulfills God’s purpose, SATAN SIFTS in hopes of stealing back the redeemed of God.

THIS MORNING WE GET A PICTURE OF THAT.
• It is actually a picture quite similar to what we read in the first few chapters of the book of Job.
• We get evidence of a conversation between Satan and God regarding the legitimacy of the faith of His elect.
• But as you will notice, there is not a shred of doubt from the Lord as to what the end result will be.

But let’s examine this passage together this morning
And learn a little bit about when Satan seeks to sift the saints.

4 things
#1 THE SOURCE OF SIFTING
Luke 22:31

The statement here is clear.
“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;”

The process of sifting wheat was a two-part process.

First the farmer would take the wheat and thrash it.
• Typically he would spread it all out on a floor and beat it with flail so as to
loosen the wheat grain from the stalk and the hull.

Secondly the farmer would winnow the grain.
• He would take a winnowing fork and throw it all in the air so the wind would
blow away the chaff and the heavier grain would remain.

This entire process was known as SIFTING

And Jesus tells Peter and that
This is what Satan has demanded permission to do to them.

Incidentally the word for “you” in the verse is PLURAL.
• Satan is not just demanding permission to get at Peter, but at all of them.
• It might be more accurately translated “Satan has demanded permission to sift you all like wheat;”

SATAN WANTS TO THRASH YOU.
That is to say, he wants to put you on the floor
And beat you to loosen anything that might come free.

AND SATAN WANTS TO WINNOW YOU.
That is to say, he wants to toss you around and let the wind blow over you
To see if there is anything in you that is real and weighty and heavy.

You may notice that the word “permission” is actually italicized which means it is not actually in the Greek text.

So most literally it simply says that “Satan has demanded to sift you”
I suppose translators add the word “permission” because they do not want
To give the impression that God is required to do anything Satan wants.

The word for “demand” is EXAITEO (ex-i-tay-o)
It can be a request, even a begging request, or it can be a demand.

It can be used in a POSITIVE SENSE as in someone begging for pardon,
It can be used in a NEGATIVE SENSE as in a demand to hand someone over for arrest or torture.

It is best to see this in a legal sense.
• God is the righteous Judge.
• He always judges in righteousness.
• Satan is the prosecuting attorney.
• He is out to condemn the defendant.

In a just and legal system the prosecuting attorney
Has the right to cross examine the witness.

That is what we see here.
Satan is only demanding justice
Which God is obligated by His own holy nature to grant.

IN SHORT, Jesus has now revealed that Peter and the rest of the apostles are about to be cross-examined.

They are about to be put through the ringer and tested
By a skeptical adversary to see if they are really genuine or not.

We’ve seen this before.
Job 1:6-12 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”

• That was another peak into the spiritual realm where we see this sort of transaction take place.
• Satan is there doing the same thing in regard to Job that he does for the disciples.
• He is demanding right to put Job through the ringer to see if his faith is really legitimate or not.

Job passed the first line of interrogation with flying colors.
He praised and blessed God.

And then Satan approached God a second time.
Job 2:1-6 “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

It is Satan threshing and winnowing; ultimately sifting Job
To determine if his faith in God is legitimate or not.

Later in his epistle, Peter teaches us this about Satan:
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Satan doesn’t know who the elect are.
He doesn’t know whose faith is legitimate.
And so he seeks to sift.

Those who ARE NOT real are sifted out as fruitless branches.
Those who ARE real will never be removed for the Lord will not let them go.

In fact, if you follow the analogy of the vine and the branches
All the sifting of Satan produces in their life is more fruit since sifting from Satan only produces pruning which in turn makes the vine even more fruitful.

BUT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS OCCURRING HERE.
• Satan is out to sift the disciples.
• He goes before the Judge and wants the right to cross-examine.

I’ve always imagined when Jesus said this to Peter
That Peter must have been shocked at Jesus’ next statement.

The Source of Sifting
#2 THE SURVIVAL OF SIFTING
Luke 22:32a

Incidentally he calls Peter “Simon” any time Peter looks more like the old man than the new and in this room Peter is brimming with pride and is much more of a Simon.

So Jesus tells him that Satan has demanded to sift them.

I’m sure Peter hoped Jesus would have said next, “But I told him to get lost, so you guys just stick with me.”

But that’s NOT the answer.
Jesus says, “but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail;”

Jesus tells Peter that the request was granted.
• You guys are all about to be sifted.
• You guys will be threshed and winnowed by the enemy to put your faith to the test.

But you’ll notice that there is SUPREME CONFIDENCE here from the Lord
That these men will survive.

Not because the disciples are strong
But because “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail;”

Never underestimate the importance or the power
Of the intercession of Christ on our behalf.
Christ does not pray prayers that don’t get answered.
He always prays according to the will of the Father and is always answered.

When He prays that your faith won’t fail…it won’t fail.

This is such a confidence for the church.
Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Jesus isn’t just able to save, but is able to save forever.
Because He lives to make intercession.
This is security here.

TURN TO: ROMANS 8:28-39

Of course we begin with the sovereign prerogative of God.
(READ 28-30)
• That everyone He foreknows ends up glorified.
• He doesn’t lose anyone in the process.
• In short, if God wants you saved, you are saved and saved forever.
• There is no evidence of someone who gets foreknown, predestined, called, justified and then unjustified. God glorifies everyone He justifies.

And that is what prompts Paul’s great statement.
(READ 31)
• I mean, if God wants us saved, who can stop Him?

And then Paul begins to flesh it out a little more.
(READ 32-39)

Do you see all those reasons?
(32) Do you really think God would go to the extent of giving His own Son for your salvation and then renege on the offer?

(33) Do you really think Satan can undo your salvation since God knew you were a sinner when He justified you in the first place?

(34) Can Satan really make an accusation stick when Christ paid for your every sin and sits right next to the Father reminding Him of that?

Nothing can undo what Christ has done.
That is the point. Christ is praying.

Satan is asking to do his worst to try and pull the disciples away And Jesus doesn’t even break a sweat.

He has never lost one of His own, and He never will.

Satan is about to find out with the disciples
The same thing he found out with Job.
The relationship between God and His children cannot be undone.

The source of sifting, the security of sifting
#3 THE SERMON OF SIFTING
Luke 22:32b

I call this the sermon because when this is all over
It was supposed to inspire a sermon in the apostles.

“when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

In short, the only thing Satan is going to be able to accomplish
Is to prove your faith legitimate.

You aren’t going anywhere.
You’re going to have a rough couple of days, but you’ll be back.

And when you come back,
You’ll have a message of hope and encouragement for your brothers.

We don’t see the message here, but the rest of the New Testament certainly bears that encouraging word out.

TURN TO: 1 PETER

This book could almost be called “The Encouragement of Peter that he learned after being sifted by Satan”

Namely because Peter is writing this to persecuted believers.
They are also being sifted.

But notice, right out of the gate the encouragement that Peter gives.
(1:3-7)
• Peter acknowledges that they are suffering various trials.
• He sees that life is hard.
• But Peter also knows that trials are necessary, because they prove faith.

And you’ll notice that Peter, like Christ, isn’t the least bit worried that one single true believer is going to fall away.
• He tells them in verse 5 that they are “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the las time.”
• They aren’t going anywhere.
• All this trial (this sifting) will do is prove their faith and cause them to rejoice.

Peter learned that first hand.

TURN TO CHAPTER 4

(READ 4:12-14)

Did you catch it there?
Peter said that this suffering isn’t strange.

What is the purpose? “for your testing”

You’re being sifted.
And when you pass the test…well that’s the best news you’ll ever get.

(14) “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

• Satan won’t be able to separate you from God.
• Satan won’t be able to pull you away.
• All Satan will be able to do is prove that your faith is real.

And Peter is still not finished.
LOOK AT CHAPTER 5

(READ 5:6-11)

Peter also learned a valuable lesson in his sifting didn’t he?
He learned the importance of humility.

(Incidentally, if you studied through Job with us
You’ll know that Job was also confronted for his pride)

It was Peter’s pride that God crushed and pruned during his sifting.

And part of Peter’s encouragement to his brethren is to let go of pride.
(6) “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God”

And then listen to Peter talk about sifting and how it works.
We already read verse 8 about how Satan prowls around to sift and devour.

But look at Peter’s encouragement.
(READ 9-10)
• Trust God and resist him (don’t take the bait)
• Know that other brothers are accomplishing this same thing – you aren’t alone
• And after the sifting is complete, God Himself will restore you.

Did not all of that happen to Peter?
He learned didn’t he?

And as a result of his sifting, not only will God prove his faith,
And prune his pride, but God will also use him
To encourage other believers in their sifting process.

That is the sermon of sifting.

And it should have ended there,
But Peter’s pride comes to the forefront so Jesus gets specific.

Source of…Security of…Sermon on
#4 THE SPECIFICS OF SIFTING
Luke 22:33-34

It is clear that PETER DEFINITELY UNDERSTOOD
What Jesus meant regarding sifting.

Peter knew that Satan was about to attack
And that the attack was ultimately meant to remove the false disciples from the true ones.

And JUST LIKE the conversation earlier in the night
The disciples immediately GO INTO DEFENSE MODE again.

Remember when Jesus said there was a traitor
We first got a discussion and then a dispute about greatness.

Now, when Jesus announces that sifting is coming
They all flex their spiritual muscle again.

Matthew 26:33-35 “But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, ” Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.”

Mark’s gospel adds that “Peter kept saying insistently” that he would not deny.

John 13:36-38 “Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.”

And of course that falls in line with what Luke records here.
“Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

In short, Jesus just said that Satan was going to sift them
And the answer of the disciples was a hearty, “Bring it on!”

I’m not afraid of prison
I’m not afraid of death
There is nothing that he can do to me
He can try, but he will fail

And certainly that was Peter,
But the other gospel accounts tell us that was all of them.

To which Jesus announces:
(34) “And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

• Not only will you run from prison and death…
• Not only will you deny Me…
• You will deny Me 3 times before the sun even comes up.

What we have on display here is clear and evident pride.
It is self-sufficiency
It is self-reliance

The same pride that caused them to say, “I am the greatest”
Is now at work in their assurance that
They can endure anything the devil would throw at them.

Of course you know what is coming.
JESUS IS RIGHT.
• They’ll all run.
• Peter will deny 3 times.
• Peter will even deny before a slave girl and call down curses upon himself.

THEIR PRIDE WILL FAIL THEM.

It brings to mind the warning of Paul:
1 Corinthians 10:12 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

And it certainly helps us understand why when Peter wrote his epistle to the suffering church he reminded them of the importance of humbling themselves before God as they sought to resist the devil.

BECAUSE SATAN WILL USE YOUR PRIDE AGAINST YOU.

But here is where you need to make sure you understand it accurately.

Satan sifted the disciples.
They all ran, Peter did deny 3 times.
DID SATAN WIN?

And the answer is a resounding NO!
Yes, the disciples fled…
Yes, Peter denied 3 times…
Yes, Friday was a rough day for them…

But what did Jesus say up in verse 32?
“when once you have returned…”

Where do we find them by Sunday evening?
• They are once again in the upper room with Jesus worshiping Him.
• We certainly remember the end of John where Jesus reinstated Peter and told him to shepherd His sheep.

What do we learn about the disciples?
They were genuine wheat.
• Weak wheat? Yes
• Fickle wheat? Yes
• Overconfident wheat? Yes
• But wheat none the less

They were a branch that needed pruning,
But they were a fruitful branch none the less.

And while Satan hit them, he DID NOT conquer them,
And he was NOT ABLE TO sever them from Christ.

Such is the security of the relationship between Christ and His own.
John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

I have always loved the Westminster Confession’s statement on security of the believer.

I. They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally, fall away from the state of grace: but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

II. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

III. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.

They recognized that true believers can struggle and have trials and moments of failure, but they will never fail totally and they will never fail finally.

Such was true of the disciples.
• They were sifted, and though they had a rough day, they returned and served God the rest of their lives.

The lesson for you and me today is this:
• Satan will also sift you and me, and God will allow it and use it.
• Those who are truly in Christ will never be lost, those who are not will fall.
• So TRUST CHRIST

Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”