Dealing With The Devil

Matthew chapter 26. This morning we are going to read the account of Peter's denial of our Lord.

! We'll be reading from verse 30 to 35, and then we'll be skipping over to verse 69 and pick up the account and go to verse 75.

So Matthew chapter 26 and verse 30. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus told them, This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter replied, Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.

Tell you the truth, Jesus answered. This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. But Peter declared, Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.

And all the other disciples said the same. Verse 69. Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him.

You also were with Jesus of Galilee, she said. But he denied it before them all. I don't know what you're talking about, he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.

He denied it again with an oath. I don't know the man. After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, Surely you are the one of them, for your accent gives you away.

Then he began to call down curses on himself. And he swore to them, I don't know the man. Immediately, a rooster crowed.

And Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken. Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly.

It is of the utmost importance for all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to learn how to deal with their enemy, the devil. It was two weeks ago that we began a study on our threefold enemy, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And we learned that these three enemies of ours do not work independently, but are in collusion with each other. They work together to get us to sin. And so we began with our oldest enemy, the devil, Satan.

And we saw his person. He's not a force. He's a fallen angel, and he has many other fallen angels who work with him. We saw his aim is to rob glory from God, to get people to sin against God, and so to destroy their lives and to bring themselves into damnation.

He's the ultimate thief who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. We saw his power, not human, but superhuman.

On earth is not his equal. And then we saw his methods. He lies, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And his success, the success of his whole mission depends entirely upon men believing his lies. And then we saw his schemes, that he has developed tailor-made strategies to get you to sin.

He knows you. He studied human nature for thousands of years. And he studied you and knows you better than you know yourself. What you want.

Where you're weak. Where you're vulnerable. Where you more easily fall. And with all that information, he devises his schemes.

Now to be ignorant of those strategies, the apostle tells us, is to come into the batter's box with two strikes against you. It's to meander onto the field of battle with the battle already half lost.

Because you don't know. You're not aware of his stratagems. So that's why two weeks ago I left you with an assignment. I wonder if you've got it done yet.

Or do you have one of those excuses that teachers hear when assignments are being collected. The assignment, If you were the devil, how would you tempt you?

Remember? Oh yeah. With the crowing of the rooster, it all comes back, doesn't it? Well, why is it so important that we think about that?

Knowing what we know about ourselves, and where we're weak, and where we've fallen in the past. Maybe you've learned something in the past two weeks about where the devil is pressing the attack with you.

Have you thought of that? Have you identified his stratagems with you? How he's trying to get you to sin? In private. In your family. In your school.

Your work. Your church. How he's seeking to get you to sin with your money, with your time, with your eyes, your hands, your mouth. We dare not be ignorant of Satan and his devices.

That is a recipe for spiritual disaster. Now here's a frightening statistic. 47% of Americans don't believe Satan exists.

Now that's half. Just about half. But even more frightening is that one out of five professing Christians don't believe that he exists.

Now that gives a tremendous advantage to the enemy. To go totally undetected. To fly completely under the radar so that he's not even, so that people aren't even aware that he exists.

And we see just how effective he is at lying to people. And he's not afraid to lie and say, I don't exist. A forgotten devil wreaks far more havoc than a remembered devil.

And though we may boast that we're better taught and we know from the Bible that Satan is real, I wonder how often we're forgetful of this truth and we live as if he didn't exist.

I wonder how many days go by in our month where we give no thought whatsoever that we have an enemy who is stalking us and seeking to devour us, seeking to destroy and damn us, to shame the name of Christ that we bear, to grieve his Holy Spirit, to ruin our lives and rob God of his glory.

What difference is the truth of our enemy, Satan, making in our lives?

You see, to know your enemy, and that's what we were after in the first sermon, to know your enemy is a great place to start, but we dare not end there. We need to go on to learn how to deal with this enemy, the devil, what to do, how to fight him.

And here's where the good news meets us, brothers and sisters. We have one who's fought this enemy tooth and nail for 33 years and never lost a battle.

He's on our side. One who was made like us in every way, became a man, lived in the same world, tempted by the same devil in all points just like we are, yet never fell once to him.

That should be of encouragement to us as we face this enemy, the devil. And this victor Jesus is the one who not only triumphed for us, but also teaches us how to deal with the devil.

Three words today. Watch, pray, resist. first of all, watch. We just had it read. It was the night of Jesus' betrayal.

The Lord's Supper has ended. Judas has gone to get the arresting mob, and Jesus is alone with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. And he says, this very night, you all will fall away because of me.

And Peter immediately objects, even if all fall away because of you, I never will. And Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, this very night before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.

And Peter declared, even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same. Now, what we didn't read in the passage in Matthew is what Luke records, that earlier at the table that night, the Lord Jesus had told Simon Peter that their fall would be due to the activity of Satan.

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

And that's when Peter says he would be willing to die with Jesus. But he put him and the others on notice that their falling would be due to Satan's tempting, to his sifting them like wheat.

Now, when the farmer brought his wheat into the barnyard, he would first thresh it and he would trample it in some fashion with the oxen, with threshing sleds, and there would be the pile of wheat and chaff and stubble and stones and he would put it into a sieve and he would take that sieve and he would shake it back and forth, side to side, up and down and he would be clearing the grain out from the chaff and the stubble, the stones.

And Jesus is saying that's what Satan's going to do to you. He's going to put you in his sieve and shake you up and throw you around such that you are going to fall. Well, now they're entering into the garden of Gethsemane, having heard all this.

Now they're in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death and he takes three, Peter, James, and John and he says to them, stay here and keep watch with me.

And after going a little farther, he fell down on his face and poured out his heart in prayer to his father in heaven. Luke tells us he sweat great drops of blood in his praying.

And then he returns to the twelve, he returns to the disciples and finds them sleeping. Now this was the very night on which Jesus said they are going to be shaken and they're all going to fall away and Peter's going to deny three times if ever there was a night you needed to watch, this was it.

But Peter was sleeping instead of watching. And so Jesus said to Peter as well as the others who were sleeping, could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?

Watch and pray so that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Watch.

That's the first word. Now watching is what a military guard does. He remains alert. He remains vigilant. On the lookout for the enemy.

And the enemy to look out for was not the arresting mob. Jesus wasn't saying look out for Judas and those guys coming to get me. Not at all. He'll turn himself over voluntarily to them in a moment.

That's not who they were to watch out for. They were to watch out for Satan who was coming to shake them and to tempt them and to cause them to fall. This was his hour of power of powerful shaking and tempting for which they would need to watch and to watch so that they would not fall into his temptation.

The inference is clear here. You will fall into temptation if you don't watch and pray. Satan is so deceitful Jesus is saying and you are so easily deceived.

Satan is so powerful and your flesh is so weak that unless you watch and pray you'll fall. Well Peter feared no fall did he?

Not me and the others as well. He saw no pressing need to watch and pray against this enemy and so he slept instead of watched. And that left him totally unprepared unguarded for Satan's temptations as they came and hit him.

And the apostle Paul says let him who thinks he stands take heed watch set a guard lest he fall. Peter does not take heed so he falls before temptation not once not twice but three times.

A few words of a servant girl here another girl here and the servant of the high priest there and before he even knows what was happening he finds that he has denied his lord three times saying he didn't know him even swearing an oath that means he called upon the name of God he broke the third commandment and misused the name of his lord of the lord his god in denying that he knew him he even called down curses on himself if what I'm saying to you isn't true and it all happened so quickly and so craftily that he did not he wasn't even aware that he had just done what Jesus had said he would do until the rooster crowed and Jesus turned and looked directly at Peter and then it all came flooding back into his mind he was wakened from his spiritual slumber but only after he had fallen so far he failed to watch and so he was not prepared to stand when the temptation came so he went outside and wept bitterly

John Bunyan in his pilgrim's progress as Christian his pilgrim making his way to heaven stop at interpreter's house and there he learned many important lessons for his journey and he came into one dark room and there he saw a gloomy man locked up in an iron cage his name was hopeless and he was without hope he couldn't get out and Christian wants to know how did you come to be in there I failed to keep watch I just laid the reins upon the neck of my lust and let them go wherever they wanted to go and now it's all come to this I failed to keep watch and don't miss the enemy in Peter's temptations yes there was the woman yes there was the few servants and all the soldiers standing around the fire warming themselves but hidden in the shadows remaining invisible and unseen was the real enemy stalking

Peter that night the devil the master mind of this temptation the one who was stirring up his instruments here and there putting thoughts into their minds words into their mouths timing their questions arranging it in the very place where they asked it here in front of others where it would have more power upon Peter indeed our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places can you imagine the joy it gave the devil to see Peter deny that he knew his Lord it was Jesus greatest hour of temptation and one who was closest to him swears he doesn't even know him don't think that our Lord did not feel that well Jesus had told him to watch hadn't he he'd also told him

I'm gonna pray for you Peter and when you have turned back strengthen your brothers isn't that good Jesus praying for weak Peter knowing he's gonna go down hard and when you have turned back strengthen your brothers you've got a work to do even as a fallen man you're not put on the shelf for the rest of your life you have a work to do strengthen your brothers 25 years later Peter is writing to the people of God scattered throughout the world he comes to chapter 5 what we call chapter 5 in verse 8 of his letter and he says be self controlled and alert watch that's the same word Jesus it's an echo of the word that Jesus gave that night in Gethsemane be self controlled sober and alert watchful because your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour the man whose soul still bore the ugly scars of this prowling lion that on more than one occasion found him unwatchful unalert and so led to that disastrous scandalous fall is now strengthening his brothers he's saying brothers you don't know how much he's on the prowl listen to me

I have I have I've felt his claws in my flesh I've suffered defeat at his hands you must be alert you must watch because he's stalking you waiting for a moment to pounce watch watch now where does a sentinel need to post his guard where does he need to stand guard and watch in the barracks in the mess hall you say no out there out there on the fringe of the frontier where the enemy is and where he will be making his approach that's where people set a watch the guard wants to find the enemy as early as possible and sound the warning and that's why I challenged you two weeks ago to consider if you were the devil where would you make your approach from where would you come and tempt you because that you see is where you must especially set a guard and set a watch to set a watch everywhere else is like setting a watch in the barracks or in the mess hall no you set a watch where he is most likely to show up in your life how do

I know that where did you fall last week where did you fall the last time he tempted we are not ignorant of his devices find out where he's striking in your life and set a watch there that's what he's saying to us here set a watch beyond the alert to be watchful everywhere else but in the area where you are stumbling is to admit defeat but never forget his ability to surprise us and to attack us where we never expected it so Job finds Satan's words in the mouth of his dear wife who says curse God and die the Lord Jesus finds Satan's words in the mouth of his best friend Peter and must say get behind me Satan watch the man who knows there's someone stalking him all day will want to be watchful against him but while watching also pray so what

Jesus says watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation you will fall if you don't watch you will fall if you don't pray so watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation when's the last time you prayed Lord Jesus keep me from falling into temptation today Peter slept instead of prayed and so he fell you know the Lord Jesus knows the devil much better than we do he created him didn't he he wrestled with him hand to hand combat with him and the one who knows him better than we do never expected us to fight him alone he knew that would be over the curtains for us we're no match for him our only hope is to have God fighting for us to call his power into the field of battle and that's what we do in prayer prayer engages

God's help in the battle against Satan so pray that you might not fall into temptation you remember when Jesus first taught his disciples to pray in the sermon on the mount and he said when you pray say and then he goes through the Lord's prayer lead us not into temptation keep us from temptation and deliver us from the evil one shield us shield us from

Satan's power and his temptation don't let me fall hold me up now that's not the prayer of someone who's flirting with temptation somebody who's taking fire into his lap thinking he's not going to get burned oh help me as I toy with temptation help me not to fall no this guy doesn't trust himself in temptation that's why he's crying don't let me don't lead me in path don't allow me to go into Satan's temptations but deliver me from the evil one now whether you use this actual prayer that Jesus gave us in those words and pray those words or whether you take this prayer as just being a model and a guide of what kind of petitions we are to use in prayer either way you are to be praying against Satan's temptations you are to be praying against not falling before the evil one praying for God to deliver you and so

I ask you is that petition found in your normal prayers it follows the prayer for our daily bread is it found often prayer life deliver me don't lead me into temptation but deliver me from the evil one watch and pray because prayer is the humble language of dependence and weakness isn't it in prayer we do not come before God as the Pharisee and Jesus story and quote before God how wonderful we are in prayer we come and spread our weakness our absolute dependence and need before him in prayer we acknowledge that our resources are not enough for this battle we confess that our determination is no match for Satan that he is sneakier than we are watchful and that even with our best watching we do not have the power to stand against his temptations we need supernatural power for a supernatural enemy we need to be strong in the

Lord and in his mighty power Ephesians 6 10 but dear believers do you know that the Lord Jesus is willing to help you do you know what his heart is toward you his tempted bride here on earth there he is up in heaven in the glories of heaven here you are slugging it out against the devil and his temptations every day what's his heart toward you he pities you his heart is touched with the feelings of your weakness when he sees the enemy he remembers what it was like to fight against Satan he remembers its power and he pities you he prays for you he's ready to send help from the throne he was tempted by the devil in every way just as you are so he's able to sympathize and he never fell to the devil's temptation so he's able to help you he knows precisely the kind of grace you need when you are being tempted he reigns on a throne of grace he has grace for you brothers and sisters so seek him let us therefore come boldly to this throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need he is the one who is able to keep us from falling so ask the savior to help you to comfort and strengthen and keep you he is willing to aid you he will carry you through so as you head into another day lord keep me from satan's temptation today and as you feel the first rising of the temptation lord deliver me from the evil one i need power right now for this battle watch pray resist the third word comes from jesus recovered disciple peter when jesus sent him to strengthen his brothers and peter says brethren you need to be sober and watch and be alert because of this prowling enemy but then he says in first peter five nine resist him standing firm in the faith the faith the objective faith once delivered to the saints resist him standing firm in the faith now that means that satan is trying to move you from the faith you're to stand firm in the faith satan is out to move you from the faith from believing it from living it he's trying to get you to doubt and disbelieve

God's word to disobey God's word to be moved from the faith so the only way you can stand firm is if you resist him resist resistance a force it's a force that pushes back against an opposing force that's what resistance is it comes this force and if you resist you push back against that opposing force and that's what you're to do with the devil think of sumo wrestling two very fat Japanese men grappling on a mat with a circle around it they're trying to move each other that's the object you win if you move the other person outside of the boundary line or cause some part of his body to touch the mat besides his feet so if he's pushing you've got to push back or you'll soon be out of bounds and he'll win if you're going to stand firm you've got to exert tremendous energy to not move and sometimes it looks like they aren't doing anything just two fat men hugging each other and they're not moving a lot but don't let it fool you there's tons of energy being expended just to stay where they are to not be moved because the other one's pushing and they're resisting that's the picture there's no room for passivity in this sport to do nothing is to soon find yourself out of bounds a loser!

so you've got to push this so there's the boundary line of God's command like the circle around us and what's Satan trying to do to you Christian he's trying to push you to trespass that boundary line to step over it to sin it's one of the words for sin transgression trespass to step over the line and Satan's pushing not with physical force weren't you with him aren't you one of those followers of Jesus of Nazareth you see it's it's temptation that he's pushing with and pulling to get us over that line and so you've got to push back you've got to resist him every time he says yes you've got to push back no just as hard and with God's power called in by prayer you can resist him you can resist him for the grace of

God that brings salvation teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions the grace of God the power of God teaches us enables us to push back to resist him with a no so resist him standing firm in the faith unmoved now how does this work well let's go to a wrestling match out in the wilderness where Jesus and Satan the Lord Jesus and Satan are locked in battle round one Jesus is hungry he hasn't eaten for 40 days and that's where Satan pushes is it any wonder I told you he has strategies he thinks about his temptations Jesus hasn't eaten for 40 days I'm going to push him at the point of his hunger and need and so he says to

Jesus turn these stones into bread he tempts Jesus to not trust God with his need for food but to use his own powers to turn a stone into bread say does the devil ever tempt you to but to lean on your own ingenuity and expertise and resources to do something and Jesus pushes back it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and he resists him he pushes back God just speaks and I live so I will trust him to provide food for me he pushed back with the word of God and round one goes to the Lord Jesus round two Satan says well if you trust God so much then prove it and he takes him out to the highest point of the temple says if you are the son of

God then throw yourself down from here for it is written he will command his angels! concerning you and they will he tempts Christ with the word of God in his mouth and that's a reality that the modern church has not sufficiently come to terms with the fact that Satan knows and quotes the Bible and so do his ministers yesterday we received a visit from a Jehovah's witness and he left this pamphlet at our door a very simple pamphlet attractively done it's got 11 scripture passages quoted in it I think I can say I believe every word on this pamphlet but if you check the box that says I'd like a visit from a Jehovah's witness and you keep swallowing everything they keep dishing out with their scriptures written right beside and mixed right in with what they're teaching they'll lead you to hell because they don't believe that

Jesus is Jehovah God they twist the scriptures to their own destruction and the devil has long been quoting scriptures to disguise his lies and at the same time do you know what's been happening in the church the church of God at worship in our day music drama humor is up preaching of the scriptures is down way down preaching of the whole council of God way down with the result of an ever increasing biblical illiteracy within the church professing Christians that don't know their Bibles and therefore they're ill equipped to detect Satan's lies when his ministers come along with their air and they quote scriptures behind it they swallow it hook line and sinker they're ill prepared without the word of

God to push back against Satan's lying temptations I want to ask you do you know the scriptures well enough to know a false interpretation of it that's how he comes at us sometimes do you know other scriptures well enough to show that he's using scripture out of context the Lord Jesus resisted the devil's misuse of scripture with the right use of scripture and he says to Satan it also says do not put the Lord your God to the test Jesus pushes back with the right use of scripture and round two goes to Jesus round three Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor all this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me so Satan is trying his best to push him outside of the line of

God's commandments and he does it now by showing him the world and all that he would give him does the devil ever promise you the world and stir up your desires by showing you things through your eye gate Jesus is tempted in every way like we are and here he's being tempted and Jesus pushes back with scripture away from me Satan for it is written worship the Lord your God and serve him only and the devil left him for a more opportune time resist the devil and he will flee from you that's what James says in James 4 7 submit yourselves then to God resist the devil and he will flee from you you know in every temptation there's always two voices there's

God's voice you shall not or you shall and Satan's voice go ahead or don't do that and in every temptation you see James is saying we need to submit to God and resist the devil say yes to God in his word and say no to the devil and he will flee from you not let me think about it for a while because as we roll his tempting thought around in our mouth it gains power over you have you found that the longer you think about his temptation the more strength it gets the more hooks you find in different parts of your heart and life so nip it in the bud with a swift and final no it's not up for discussion slam the door in his face immediately decisively rejecting his offer because it will never be easier to resist the devil than it is the first time he comes calling never gets easier always harder so take the first way out the way of escape that

God is faithful to provide Satan's tempting thoughts are like birds that are seeking a nesting place and they come into our minds and they want a place to settle down and we need to drive them out not even give them another thought a second thought they're not worth a second thought and set our minds on things above pushing back with the scriptures memorized quoted and prayed so don't give the devil a foothold is what Paul says in Ephesians 4 27 don't give him a foothold he'll say it's just a little thing nobody will be hurt by this but what he seeks is a foothold a small place from which to launch further attacks upon you and if you would avoid defeat don't give him an inch he'll soon have the mile don't give him a toe hole don't give him any place to land if you don't intend to walk with him the whole way don't take one step the first step with him resist him standing firm in the faith so this is how we deal with the devil this is how we stand our ground against his temptations you watch you pray and you resist the devil with the word of

God and all the other armor that God has provided in Ephesians chapter 6 10 to 18 so let me go back to our homework okay if you were the devil how would you tempt you let's suppose you've you've made a list of a few things on that list and you've seen in the past how easily he's he's got you to stumble and fall in these areas and you know something of your weakness there's your list the first thing to do is to set a watch precisely at those points watch that means that whenever you go into that place or with that person or do that thing you need to be on your guard on your toes looking for Satan to show up he's often met you there and triumphed over you so you set a watch on those places where you expect to find him he's found you asleep there before he'll exploit it again to his advantage so set a guard there precisely there and if possible avoid the very occasion of sin avoid the very temptation itself if if something repeatedly causes you to sin

Jesus says get rid of it if your right eye causes you to sin by looking lustfully at a woman gouge it out and throw it away it's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell so things that cause us to stumble into sin are to be amputated from our lives gone it may be something in and of itself wholesome but for you it's where the devil pulls you down gone that means if you can't surf the web without ending up in places that you shouldn't be you quit surfing the web and if you find every time you're with this set of guys you find yourself sinning find new friends gone this is the way that Christ says we set a watch we guard against

Satan's temptations whatever causes us to sin must be amputated watch secondly okay you got the list these are places where I'm weak where Satan is pressing his attack against me that's now your prayer list watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptations oh Lord I've gone down on this one hold me up that I do not fall I need grace to say no and to go on resisting and to keep saying no I need more more determination than I've got Lord help me right here on this problem in my life this temptation dear brothers and sisters you have a mighty savior he's willing to help you make use of him in your fight against the devil he pities you he wants to help you ask him to help you and thirdly watch pray and then prepare yourself to resist with the word of God your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you it's one of the reasons a Christian memorizes the word of God that he might not sin against him it's the reason we watch so that we will not fall into temptation it's the reason we pray so that we will not fall into temptation it's the reason we memorize the word of God so that we will not fall into temptation and sin against our savior so there's your list and beside each one of those areas where Satan has been known to attack you need to find an appropriate bible verse as Jesus did so that when the temptation comes you're not oh I've got to go home and find my bible it is written you shall worship and serve the Lord your God only or whatever the verse is among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality whatever your struggle you have a verse you memorize it you hide it in your heart so that you are prepared to push back anytime the devil comes at you you resist him standing firm in the faith

God's given you a mighty sword to fight with use it Christian a mighty savior use him call upon him in prayer and know this that for all of our failures we have a savior a savior who never failed and because he never failed he has a perfect righteousness to give to us who have failed you know when we saw Jesus and Satan struggling in the temptations in the wilderness he was not just teaching us how to fight Satan I believe he was doing that but more importantly he was winning our salvation for us he was defeating Satan he was keeping himself pure that he might purify us you know if he would have just had one sin just one little sin it would have been like a leak in a ship and it would have sunk our hopes of salvation but because there in the wilderness and every time thereafter

Jesus defeated Satan he has a perfect righteousness to give to every sinner who doesn't but who trusts in Jesus and he gives that perfect report card to us he covers us in that robe of righteousness so trust in Christ trust in his perfect obedience alone to make you right with God not your performance but his and then he triumphed over Satan on the cross he put him to an open shame as we saw last Sunday evening so trust in his death under God's wrath that he might save you from the punishment that your failures deserve and then he rose from the dead trust in his resurrection to give you newness of life a whole new life the old heart gone and new heart in with the spirit of God put in you to move you to be careful to keep his commands and to not transgress those boundary lines you see trust in him for the newness of life and then go and live for him watchful prayerful and resistant of every temptation let's make our return to our savior our song back to him our reply to his word to us number 476 where we challenge ourselves to respond to our lord's words and obedience let's stand as we sing 476 we thank you our father that you take even the falls of your people and work it for the strengthening of your church we're blessed to have this record of the warnings of our savior the heedlessness and sleep of

Peter and yet the recovery and the subsequent words from Peter to strengthen us your brethren so thank you for your heart towards us who are your people thank you that you know what each one of us are up against not a one here but that has the claws of this lion scratching after our souls and seeking to bring us down thank you for speaking words of life to us thank you for showing!

yourself to be that willing! helper to give us strength beyond our own wisdom beyond our own that we might push back and resist against this enemy help us then we lift our voice together for this help remember your promise to us that from this throne of grace we would find grace to help us in our time of temptation thank you for the blood that cleanses whiter than snow and for the Lord Jesus who willingly!

gave himself for us we pray in his name amen