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The Power of Hidden Things

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“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Luke 19:42 ESV

Our enemy loves hidden things.

His realm is darkness, and he loves to cloud our vision with deceptive veils. He knows that while we remain in darkness, he controls us. We find our power when we walk in the light.

And that’s why Peter heard Jesus speak some disconcerting words to him before His arrest.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

It might interest you to know that the you in Jesus’ opening sentence is plural. Jesus said, “Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat”. But then Jesus addresses only Peter with a singular you.

“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”

I have wept over those words, dear one. You see, like Peter, I’ve had a sifting.

God allowed the enemy access to me so I could acknowledge some hidden things in my heart I couldn’t see. And afterward, when I had overcome, Jesus led me to those verses and whispered them into my heart. “I have prayed for you, Kelley, that your faith would not fail. Now that you have come back, strengthen your brothers and sisters.”

I don’t know what those words mean to you, beloved, but they brought me to my knees. An image of my Savior kneeling before the Father on my behalf overwhelmed me.

And I realized how I had overcome. Not by anything I had done, but because the Father had answered the prayers of His Son who loved me, who fought for me when I didn’t have anything left in me to fight with. I overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony, simply because in my darkest hour I never lost sight of my Savior.

That’s what opened Peter to his victory too, dear one. He stayed close to Jesus, even while he battled through his hidden sin.

Look at Peter’s response to Jesus’ words.

Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Luke 22:33

Peter truly believed he would follow Jesus anywhere. His deceitful heart had convinced him of his own infallibility. Matthew 26:33 records his passionate words, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

So Jesus told Peter the truth.

Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.” Luke 22:34

And Peter didn’t believe Him.

Take a moment to let that settle on you. Peter stood face to face with Truth—the One who declared, “I am the truth” (John 14:6)—and couldn’t agree with Him. He didn’t believe what He spoke because he couldn’t see the sin veiled within his own heart.

Yet Jesus loved Peter. So He gave Satan permission to sift him and bring what was hidden to the surface. He wanted Peter to discover the truth about himself so He could release him from the power it held over him. Jesus offered Peter the promise of John 8:32.

“… and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Peter discovered his truth shortly after Jesus’ arrest. When the soldiers seized Jesus and led Him away, Luke 22:54 reveals,

Peter was following at a distance.

This, dear one, offers the key to Peter’s successful outcome. Even when darkness cast doubt on Peter and brought distance between him and Jesus, he kept following. That close proximity to his Lord enabled the defining moment in Peter’s story.

You see, fear led Peter to deny he knew Jesus three times, just as Jesus had said. And at the precise moment of his third denial,

… immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. (verse 60)

 But Peter’s freedom came because of verse 61.

“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.”

Can you imagine how he felt? The Lord’s gaze penetrated his hard heart, and immediately he remembered what Jesus had said. “Before the rooter crows today, you will deny me three times.” Again Peter faced Truth, but this time he couldn’t deny it.

The fact that we don’t acknowledge iniquity in our hearts doesn’t mean it isn’t there, beloved. Jesus wants to remove it all, the things we see, and especially the things we don’t. It’s often what we can’t acknowledge that carries the most power to hurt us.

Peter might have allowed his iniquity to overtake him and miss his calling as an Apostle of Christ if not for this single choice. Even when the uncertainty of his circumstances brought fear and doubt, he kept following Jesus. He stayed close. Close enough to look upon His face.

“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.”

Sometimes the only place we’ll recognize the light of truth is in the middle of a dark moment.

Sometimes we’ll only recognize the light of truth in the middle of a dark moment. Click To Tweet

Beloved, hearing the truth from Jesus’ lips didn’t cause Peter to believe it. Jesus had to allow Peter to stumble into that sin in order to expose the darkness in his heart he couldn’t see.

That’s the purpose of a sifting, dear one. When we remain close to Jesus through it, His light exposes the truth about us. And when we finally agree with Jesus over our sin and repent of it, He sets us free.

Look at Peter’s response in verse 62. “And he went out and wept bitterly.”

Beloved, Jesus never exposes our sin to condemn us. He reveals it to free us from its power over us. If we want to experience that freedom, beloved, we must do what Peter did.

Never lose sight of Jesus.

 

A Distinct Salvation

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The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 ESV

The world keeps changing.

And society continues to redefine itself right along with it. Yet in the midst of our continually evolving world, one thing remains constant.

“I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3:6

As much as you and I may feel inclined to redefine God to suit who we want Him to be, He doesn’t change. And scripture is clear. Though everything else may fade away, His Word will endure. Eventually, it will prove itself true, and no one will be able to deny it.

So you and I have a choice to make, dear one. Will we draw near to God, stand on His Word, and reap the blessings of the faithful? Or will we allow society to redefine our beliefs and suffer the consequences?

That’s right. Turning our backs on God’s Word will bring consequences. Always. They may not be immediate, but they always come. That’s why Jesus told the deceiver,

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

Did you catch that, dear one? Jesus said every word. If you and I want to really live, we need to trust what God says.

You see, whether or not it’s presently popular to believe it, God’s Word remains true. Infallible. Flawless. And not just the convenient parts or the scriptures that suit our agendas. It’s all true.

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Psalm 119:160, emphasis mine

Partial truth deceives, dear one. We need the whole of it. And that’s what has brought us so much trouble. We’ve tried to pick and choose.

We grab hold of scriptures that celebrate grace while neglecting God’s call to holiness. Or we attack with the law as if it’s a weapon, ignoring Jesus’ plea to love even our enemies.

Beloved, our selective application of scripture places us on very dangerous ground. Ignorance of what God really says doesn’t qualify as an excuse to avoid His judgments.

And that’s what’s coming, dear one, for those who continue to exchange the truth of God for the enemy’s lies.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness … Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! … Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked. Isaiah 5:20-21, 25, emphasis mine

In days when our society turns from God in increasing measure, it’s imperative that we, His people, turn toward Him with even greater fervor. You see, if we don’t allow God to reveal His truth to us, we will find ourselves easily convinced by the lie.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:17-18, emphasis mine

There is only one way to avoid being caught in the tide that’s coming, dear one. We need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He alone holds the standard of truth by which we will all be judged. And He alone provides the power meet it.

Jesus holds the standard of truth by which we will be judged. And He alone provides the power meet it. Click To Tweet

Let Psalm 119:10 be the prayer of our hearts.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

You and I need to seek the truth, beloved, and Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). For too long we’ve allowed others to tell us what truth is. We need to open our Bibles and permit the Teacher Himself to write His Word upon our hearts. As we trust Him, aligning our beliefs and lives with what He reveals, we ensure our deliverance.

You see, a consistent theme reveals itself throughout the Word of God.

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 2 Peter 2:9-10

A distinction is about to be made.

“They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Malachi 3:17-18, emphasis mine

Beloved, you and I can’t expect people who don’t follow Christ to act like people who do. But we also can’t allow them to carry us away from truth with the futility of their thinking.

The Word of God must be our standard. We must not let our culture dictate what’s acceptable and what isn’t. God alone has that right.

But when we stand with Him in truth, dear one, you can be sure He will also stand with us.