Sift You Like Wheat

The title of today's sermon is Sift You Like Wheat. Sift you like wheat. For those who study the Bible, and for most of us that have been around God's Word a long time, we understand where that phrase comes from. I want to talk about that today, not only because we have people who are going through things, we've had people who have gone through things in the last year, two years, five years, and people who will go through things in the coming year, and a year after that.

So I'd like, if you will, turn with me to, if you have your Bibles, if not, we'll have it up here on the screen for you. And that verse would come from the New King James Version, Luke 22, verse 31 and 32. I'd like to go there and read that because, as you can see, it says in verse 31, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon!

Exclamation mark after Simon, to let you know that he was saying it to get his attention. Simon! Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But in verse, it says, he has sifted you as wheat.

It's interesting if you notice these scriptures in 31 and 32, in the Greek, the U is plural. U is plural, which means what? It wasn't just talking to Peter, but he was talking to the disciples, and he's talking to us today. Plural! You! Also, I will pray for you! Plural! Brethren, do we sometimes need Jesus Christ to pray for us? I need a lot of people praying for me, and so do Bruce, and so do most of you.

That's why we have prayer that we talk about people, because it is important. As we go through temptations and trials, that's why I'm having this sermon this morning. I could have put on a video, but I thought I would do something different. Sift you like wheat. I want to talk about that. I bring this bag of mine, because find out that's how people, smaller households at the time that the Scripture was written, sifted their wheat.

So I want to explain that for any of you that didn't grow up on a farm. We didn't raise wheat, we raised corn, we raised beans, but we didn't raise much wheat other than winter wheat, that we just went through the winter in.

It wasn't the type of wheat that had the grain. But when wheat was harvested, and they all did, everybody had a little bit of a went and bought stocks of grain, if you've ever seen wheat, and they have the head on the wheat, and that's where the kernels are. And so they would take a bag, a little bigger than this, and they would put the stocks of wheat with the head in first, in this bag.

And then they would gather it up, and then they would beat it, beat it, and beat it, and beat it. And then they would even take a metal rod or a stone and set it on the ground and beat it some more. The first process of this sifting process that took for them to have wheat, to have the kernels that they would then make into bread.

And so the next process, once they were able to beat on it, and then they would pull the stocks out, and most of it would be left in, would be the grains of wheat. And it would be in here. But then they'd have to have something so they could get rid of the husk, because there's a husk on that wheat grain. And, of course, when the disciples went through and ate that time, they would put it in their hands and do this, and then they would eat it, like this.

But they would have to have something that would help take that husk off. So one of the things that they did was to make sure once that was out of there, they would sit this on the ground and walk over it, so they could even feel, and get all the husk, hopefully, off of that grain.

And then they would take this and they would have a screen they would set on top, over a bucket or a basket. And then they would set that screen, and then they would pour the husk over here, into that screen, a real fine screen. And when they did it, they wanted kind of the wind to blow, because some of that wind would just blow the husk out of here.

Chaff, you may even call it. And then they would take that screen and they would shake it. Then all over, shake it over that bucket or basket, so everything would either fall through or the wind would blow it out. And so the only thing you had on that screen left was what? The kernels of wheat. And then you could go and make bread out of that. Now, I bring that through because that is a process that everyone at that time knew.

Now, the bigger manufacturers had, you know, where they would sell a great amount of grain were different. They might have, you know, a different operation. But this is how most of the people, and some people even today, if you go and Google sifting wheat, you'll get a demonstration of farmers in California in various ways that have a little bit of, like, an acre of land.

And they grow this and they will actually show you the very thing that I was talking about. But back then, it was just very common. It didn't take a lot of equipment to have your wheat. But why would Christ tell Simon Peter, Satan has asked for you. He wants to sift you like wheat. Well, for one thing, Simon would have known it was a serious matter.

He would have grown up and seen people do this. And sifting was not something that was taken lightly. But what was the spiritual meaning? What was the attachment to Peter, to sifting, and to Peter's life in the next few days, weeks? Well, the meaning of it at that time was, he was going to be assaulted. Assaulted by furious and violent temptations, as one writer puts it. There were going to be some life-changing moments in Peter's life where he is tested and tempted, and he's going through a trial. And our Savior was trying to warn him and tell him, it's about head your way!

But he said, I've prayed for you, which should have given Peter a really good feeling. But I think it went over his head. Because it's sifting, as it's used in these scriptures, the sifting is a physical metaphor for a mental, emotional, and spiritual reckoning.

That can affect us all. Sift. Sift, the word. In Greek, it's sinneazu. Sinneazu. And the amazing part about sinneazu is it's only used one time in the entirety of the Bible. One time. Of course, it's a Greek word, so that limits it to the New Testament. But there are other words used as sift that can be translated in Hebrew and so forth. But the sinneazu was only used here in the entire New Testament. And when you look that word up, only has one real definition. To shake violently. Not just shake. To shake violently. Perhaps you had somebody shake you. Perhaps you had to shake one of your kids one time. More than that. We won't go there yet. That's another sermon, I guess. I remember my father. I was playing in Lake Michigan when I was a child, and I just went out there way over my head. I didn't really know how to swim, but I thought I was having a good time. I could just get to where he'd just barely touch my toes, and then I'd get over there, and I'd swim back to the other. And next thing you know, I get pulled away, and I'm struggling. And I remember my father running out and grabbing me and shaking me. You could have gone! And then he was about to hear the words I was going to hear for the next 20 years. What's wrong with you?

But it's that shaking violently is what this word means in this scripture. And it is there as a spiritual meaning to prove us, to test us. Are we ready? Can we handle it? And then you have to ask the question, why Peter? Why Peter? Satan already had Judas. He already had the person that was going to betray him, to sell him out for how much? 30 pieces of silver. So why was Satan then concerned in the last days of Jesus Christ's human life? Why was he so concerned about Peter then? One word. One word. Potential. Potential! You know the word? Do you have it? Peter had it. Peter had it. It was his potential. And guess why? You will also be tested. Your potential. Your potential is not only the Son of God, but what the future holds. Does that fight in you any? Yes. You might attest to this or those that were in the military, that in certain countries, back 30, 40 years ago, military men, when they were off duty, wouldn't wear their uniforms because it was dangerous, because of the potential threat of terrorism and taking and making headlines by killing an American soldier.

We pose a threat, don't we? Our potential poses a threat to the status quo of Satan, not only now, but in the future. I'd like you to go with me, if you will. Something hopefully to make you feel better about this potential is 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13 from the new King James Version. Paul tells the church at Corinth, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But that's always been the problem. He knows what we're able to endure. We don't. And so we always think, God, how can I do this? What is this going on? Why? And guess what? He knows.

It says, you may be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation, we'll also make the way to escape. The way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Hmm. So that should comfort us. It's that he's not going to allow a temptation that we can't handle. And then he's going to give us a way to escape it. If we take it, sometimes, though, we find out we didn't take it. We should have taken it. We look back and go, I shouldn't have gone there. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have done that. So, let us think. Are you ready to be tempted? Or maybe you are this week? I can almost tell you from experience that if you weren't tempted this past week, you will next week. It just happens. And usually, not the one way that it happened, there's another way. And then there's another way, and then you go, wow, I thought I had my temper under control.

So, we have to understand one thing about Peter. Peter, of all the apostles, the disciples at the time, the apostles, was what? He was an alpha male, wasn't he? He was an alpha male. He was confident. Aren't we many times? Sometimes too much. Impulsive.

How about passionate? You see it all through the Scriptures. You see what he did, how he lived, how he interacted with the other disciples, how he reacted to situations. Peter was driven. Why was he driven? Because Peter was a leader. Peter was a leader. And by being that leader, he had the potential to live for eternity, to be in the God family.

But know, if you might have thought, well, I'm not really a leader. Why did God call you? It was back to the word potential. Because you have potential!

To rule Satan's world.

There's a magazine article. I used to read it when I had my business, and it was called, Inc. Inc. magazine, meaning incorporated magazine. I had my business. I read it because it had quite a few writers, and it would be a lot of advice about legal matters, when you had companies, or what the government was changing about tax laws, or what the greatest advertising examples were at the time. And it was basically written for world leaders, leaders of corporations. I found this so interesting just the other day, because as I was looking at this, I read various articles, and I came across one that was in Inc. magazine. And the writer, the writer brought something forward that got my attention. And it came from an article from the Harvard Business Review, which is an article or magazine that's very popular, and it talks to the leaders of world business. Harvard Business School is a one that's considered the top business school, if you want to be somebody. They're a master's program. But the Harvard Business Review asked this question that I felt very poignant about here. And so they said that one of the top questions, this one question, is asked by so many, more than any other. And the question is, how do I become a CEO? How do I become a CEO? Chief executive officer. The head over a corporation!

And what they said shocked me, because I thought I knew what, when they posed that question, what I would say, you know. There's one guy said one time, how did you become a CEO or the head of this major corporation? And he said, I get up every morning at 4 30 in the morning. I take a cold shower. I spend 30 minutes on meditation, and I spend 30 minutes studying business review. And his last was, I married the daughter of the president of the company. That was his secret. But the real question is put here. How do I become a CEO? Was answered just like Jesus Christ did so many times. When Jesus Christ was asked a question, he answered that question with a question, another question. Because that causes you to pause and to think.

Because many people will ask me, two weeks ago I had a phone call from someone, didn't even know, but had this question. Well, and they were quoting something in the Bible. Why did Jesus Christ say that? At which I said, why do you think they said that? Why do you think he said that? Well, here's their question, except they didn't give one, they gave two. And they're saying, well, how does that relate to us? I think it relates very clearly to us and our future and one of the reasons. So how do I become a CEO? The answer was, do you have the motivation and focus required for a journey that will likely take decades? I like that. Do you have the motivation and focus required for a journey that will likely take decades? With us, conversion is usually a lifelong process. I wish it was like my water I put in this tray and put it in the freezer and an hour later it's converted to ice. One hour! Wouldn't that be so nice? If we could have total conversion, be perfect in an hour, my wife would be the first one to put me in that place.

But it's not that way.

Decades. I'm into my fourth decade of striving for perfection. My fourth decade striving not to mess up. Right? But then there was another question. He not only gave one, he gave another one, so I want to give that one to you. So how do I become a CEO? The second question is, do you have the potential to become a high-impact leader? Do you have the potential to be a high-impact leader? That means will you be able to say things to motivate people? Will you be the example that people can see and say, I want to be like that?

Not just become elite, but become a high-impact, where you have influence on people. Isn't that what becoming kingdom of God is about? I'm going to go ahead and relate that to questions to our destiny in the kingdom of God. What Christ talked about. Our potential as kings and priests. And don't forget servants. Because in God's kingdom, you get to be a king and a priest because you're a servant, because you serve others. Unlike the CEOs of this world. Charles, get the limo and bring it up here.

Yes, this wine is not quite... it's a year too early. The CEOs, I mean, they expect everybody to look up to them. They don't go shopping at Goodwill for their suits.

My bag, Goodwill.

It's a different world that's coming. It's going to take different leaders. Just look what the CEOs of this world have turned it into today. It's a mess, and it's a mess all over.

You too. School systems mess. If you two had your way, it wouldn't be done like this, would you? There's a better way, right? But it's not going to be done. Not until... God-like people are in charge.

So our potential as kings and priests, servants, in the government and rulership of a new world order, is why we are called for our potential. God came to earth 2,000 years ago. God came to earth, and He weighed our potential. Okay? And His deity and dignity.

And we weighed more.

If you've ever looked at a set of scales, and you see how you can have more on one side than the other. This is what God did. God weighed our potential, His deity and dignity. And He was willing to give it up because of our potential. How big is that? Do with me. I'd like to go in there. I'll read this from the New Living Translation. Here's one verse. Philippians 3 and verse 21. Philippians 3 verse 21. I love how this is put. I mean, if this doesn't get you juiced with your potential, there's something wrong. In the New Living Translation, He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. You know what that tells you? He's got this. He's got everything. It's going to happen.

Whether you're a part of it or not, it's going to happen. You want to be a part?

Or not? Because He's going to make it happen. And if He does, He's saying, I'm going to take that potential and turn it into reality of a glorious body.

Like His own. So what are we talking about? Moses' leader potential. Moses' potential. Job's potential. Right? For you see, Job... It's so interesting because next time I will do this, but I'll throw that in your mind. You run this through your mind. How many places and where were they that Satan actually spoke in the Bible? Think about that. We'll talk about that in another Bible study. Because it doesn't speak much. Those words have impact. And they're a great teaching tool for us. Because you see, Job was, for a little while, a short time in the whole history of mankind. Job was Satan's job. Job was Satan's job.

Job was not only going to be tempted, but in the end, he was going to be tempered. Are you ready for some tempering? Because it's probably not going to happen without some temptations, trials. It's something that we all have to look at. I mean, just think about it. Job's tests.

None of us... We always look at Job, whoa, I don't want to do that. Look at it. Job's tests. Seven sons and three daughters killed. His servants killed. His wealth stolen. His physical health broken down. So, as the Scripture says, he had barrels from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Anybody here ever had a boil? I did when I was 18. Where was yours? Remind me, yes. Well, mine was too, about right there. When I was about 18, 19 years old, I couldn't... Joshua had them too. Just... You had one? One barrel made my life miserable. Did it yours? Couldn't sit. Couldn't raise your hand. Like, magnify that. Times all over your body.

Now, that's a trial. If you had that, for very long, would you lose your religion, they might say? Job did not lose his. He learned a great deal. And sometimes, I think that Job kind of gets a raw deal as everybody says, Well, you know, he was full of himself, and he had to learn. But did he ever learn? Like, deal with me. Job 1 in verse 20, I read from the New King James Version. Just a verse, too. This is when everything happened. Okay? The family, the wealth, everything. And then it says in verse 20, Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground, and cursed God. No. He worshiped. Worshiped. And this is what he said. Naked, I came from my mother's womb. Naked, I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Bless be the name of the Lord. Remember what his friend said when he said something like that? What's wrong with you? Yeah, you've done something wrong. It's your God's bringing his wrath on you.

Look over next chapter, chapter 2, when he got the boils. In chapter 2, verse 10, and his wife said, what? You know, that strong, empowering life of his, that said, curse God and die. But what did he say? But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God? And shall we not accept adversity? And all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

Did not sin with his lips. What incredible potential God saw there. But it wasn't just the potential.

It's not all about potential, but it's about positivity also. You see what a person's really like when they are put under pressure. You see when things are not going well, if they pull it together and you go, wow, I know if I could be that strong.

But it helps if you have positivity, potential and positivity. It's a formula for being in the kingdom of God. It's a formula for ruling with Christ in the kingdom of God.

Potential, positivity. Do we have it? We have the potential? We know we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be following God if we didn't have the potential. Now, can we have the positivity it's going to take to see ourselves through adversity? Many of you have. You look back now on your lives and you go, had to get through this. At the time, it wasn't pleasant, but you made it through. And you keep your head up. You can only swim underwater so long. It's time to get your head up. Make it work. As I wrap this up, I want to go back to the one who was sifted like wheat. His words at the end of his life. He puts these words down. Let's go to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 1. Read from the New Living Translation. 1 Peter 1 and verse 5. He says to all of us fellow positive people, and all those who have the potential. He says, and through your faith, something else that we definitely have to be positive about. God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. Everybody's going to see your potential. 1 Peter 1. So be what? Truly glad. Peter says, so be truly glad. That's one of the most positive statements you could ask. Because God preserved Peter's flaws and thoughts for all of us to read. 1 Peter 1. Hey, I guess you don't want to hear that rooster crow, do you, Peter? Hey, how about that rooster? Come on, Peter. Oh, how about that water you walked on? Come on, come on. Get behind me, Satan. Christ said to him. These things were... He showed, and then He hid, and then all these things happened. But He did get through, and He did strengthen, as it said back in Luke 22. He did strengthen the brethren because He was a leader.

Go back to this. So be truly glad. There is a wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for little all. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold through your faith, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor. Is that incredible potential or what? On the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. And we will be too. We will be too. Potential and positivity. Job had it. Jesus had it. Peter had it. You have it. It just needs to be unleashed as often as possible. But the common denominator is the Holy Spirit. The common denominator is it's not us that can do that. It's not us that gives us that potential. It's God. It's not us that can have this, Oh, I'm happy. My car broke down. I wrecked my car today. Oh, isn't that joyful? It's not. What are you talking about? Oh, my refrigerator went out. Well, praise be. No, it's not a fake thing. It's a real thing that when tough times come, we can handle it. Because we've been given a power greater than the power on this earth. It's His power, the Holy Spirit. Power on loan from God. Without a doubt. Do we see it? To reach our full potential. We need, we must, have positivity. Means we can look at things one or two ways. Which way do you choose to look at it? I knew I was going to have a wreck. Sooner or later, I live in Miami.

I knew it. Crazy drivers. Should have had one before now. This is... Brother, and it's as simple as this. God is positive. And the adversary is negative. Positive, negative.

God is positive. Positive.

There's a football game going to be played two weeks from tomorrow. Super Bowl. Biggest game of the year. I'm going to watch than anyone else. One team's going to win that game.

If you had a choice, and they said, well, you could... ...we'll put you on as a special player on this team. Which team would you want to be on? The winner! God is going to win! I've read the end of the book. You've read the end of the book. God wins. The adversary doesn't.

You have two paths. You can follow this one, or you can follow this one. Sad part is too many people. They don't realize, well, I'm following God. You can't do that and be negative. Look at the examples. Bring this up because... You know the story of Job. Job. Has Satan asked for you?

Could have, might have, or he might yet. Do you need power? You need power on high to go through those? God saw Job through it. Saw Peter through it. Saw our Savior through it. And he will see us through it.

A deceased theologian, Robert Schuler. That is an incredible saying. Tough times never last. But tough people do. God's called us to be tough. We can do it. Because of your potential. Because of your potential. You can be so positive that when others look at you, they become positive too.

Why? Positivity is contagious. As is negativity. And God is about positive. So, when you have the opportunity, you have a choice. Positive or negative. But God called you, even at a time of 50, because of your incredible potential.