Psalm 31: 1, 2								Rev. S. de Marie
Psalm 25: 2
Psalm 5: 1, 5, 8					Reading:	Matt. 16: 13-25;
Psalm 27: 5, 6								Luke 22: 24 – 38
Psalm 25: 3, 4, 10					Text:		Luke 22: 31, 32

Beloved Church of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The suffering of Jesus Christ is a deep serious matter, but at the same time a source of great joy. This gospel is of the utmost importance to the Church today. To focus on Christ as our Savior. And to follow Him. Through all the troubles, worries and trials. To the world this gospel is foolishness and offensive, but to those who believe it is the power of God.
I may proclaim to you God's Word from Luke 22 under the theme:

Jesus Christ saves his church from the hands of Satan
1. Satan's devastating work
2. Christ's preserving work
3. Christ's strengthening work

1. Simon, Simon. The Lord Jesus speaks to his disciple very penetratingly. Simon Peter had established himself as leader of the disciples of Jesus. But here he is forcefully called to order. Which is not the first time.
Earlier the Lord had even addressed him as Satan, adversary. That was when Peter said the Lord would not have to suffer. That was a temptation for the Lord Jesus on the part of Satan. The Lord rebukes him very severely:
Get behind me, Satan; you are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men.
The Lord Jesus had just announced to them that he was to suffer and die. But Peter rebuked the Lord for that. He tried to block the way from Jesus to the cross. In it Peter turned out to be an opponent of Jesus, Satan's tool on Jesus' way of his redemptive suffering.
While he and the other disciples followed Jesus, Satan was busy pulling them away from Him. But Jesus rightly helps them, telling them that what really matters is that they are mindful of the things of God and not the things of men. That they really are willing to follow Jesus and deny themselves, that they want to take up their cross and follow Him. If necessary, that they would be willing to lose their earthly life for Christ's sake and thereby finding eternal life.
Now the Lord, in the mean time, has gone a lot further along the road of His suffering. Peter's sinful words, then, were in response to the very first announcement of his suffering. Now the Lord stands before the night of his death. He has just instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in his remembrance. What bitter suffering He will experience in the Garden of Gethsemane that very evening, where the bloody sweat will be pressed out of Him!
And the next day He will die bitterly on the cross for the sins of all those that are His. Also for those of his disciples.
But just now Peter makes another mistake. Not with a slip, but with an act of unbelief. Peter again goes the wrong way. Again, he is not mindful of the things of God but of the things of men.
Again the Lord speaks to him very directly:
Simon, Simon.
It is remarkable that the Lord does not call him Peter. That name the Lord had given Simon when he had said
You are Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.
But, now he says:
Simon, Simon.
We know this penetrating addressing of the Lord also towards Paul:
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me.
Thus Christ brings Paul to repentance from his anti-Christian actions.
In the say way, the Lord spoke:
Martha, Martha,
to point out, with great emphasis, her wrong attitude. 
Paul, Martha and Simon Peter, all three were convinced of their good intention, their good actions. They thought they were serving the LORD God. But the Lord Jesus shakes them up.
Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
Congregation, thus it is possible to join Jesus Christ, even to be his called disciple, to make a true statement of faith, yet also become an instrument in the hands of Satan.
But the Lord wants to bring his disciple back from that wicked way. Simon Simon Satan is in the process of ruining your life. He claims you for himself.
On this eve of that very last phase, Christ sees how active Satan has become and how close Satan is drawing near to Him, now even within the circle of his disciple. Satan has already stolen one of His disciples from Him. Judas Iscariot. Judas left the table as a pawn in the hands of Satan. He sets his carnal eye on money and goods, prestige and earthly future. He is not mindful of the things of God, but only the things of men. Judas does not want to deny himself, he does not want to lose his earthly life. He chooses the security of this world. But that is how he will lose his life. Thus Jesus loses his disciple Judas to Satan.
But why does the Lord speak these so deeply incisive words? When we look at the situation, it is staggering. Notice what Christ says and does, and what occupies the disciples. Christ celebrates the Passover and institutes the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to His remembrance. With the broken bread and the drinking cup as a sign, He is pointing to his death and blood shed on the cross. In this way he wants to impress upon his disciples that His redemption must take place through suffering and death in order to save them. And in that way to come to God's Kingdom.
But the disciples, at that moment, what are their thoughts busy with? Do they have the same thoughts of Christ and His suffering.  Do they ask Him what all this means? We hear nothing of it. On the contrary, they are concerned with themselves in an earthly way with the said kingdom. They speak of ruling and not of serving. They want to be the greatest in that kingdom and not the least. They have not yet now understood anything about what Jesus Christ wants to accomplish and what He wants to change in them. They have so little eye for the things of God.
Yes, they do want to serve and follow their Lord. They do love him. Yet not in the way the Lord must go. The way of serving others through bitter suffering.
Yes, they even argue among themselves about who, of them, is actually the most important. Who may receive the most prestige in the kingdom.
The Lord breaks into their thoughts. Their thinking is like that of unbelieving kings. Lust and ambition do not fit into God's kingdom.
Christ points to himself: I am your Lord. But that's exactly how I am your servant. For I offer my life as a sacrifice for you. Do not follow those kings who follow their flesh.
Thus, just before his bitter suffering, the Lord finds how his disciples are imprisoned in human self-centred thinking. In it he sees Satan busy with drawing his disciples away from Him. Not only Peter, but the others as well.
Yes, they readily are wiling to stand up for the Lord if He later may be arrested. But what will they do when He allows Himself to be taken captive and goes the way of a bitter and shameful death on the cross? What will become of them then?
Will he lose the other disciples after Judas too? With that in mind, Jesus says:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
Be aware of who is stands behind what you speak. The great opponent. He is now claiming you from my hand. Satan feels that he has that right. He wants to sift you; he wants to do what he wants with all the disciples.
Congregation, Jesus here depicts Satan as the great accuser before God's judgement seat. He once tried, through severe temptations, to make Job give up his faith in God. Now Satan demands the extradition of the future apostles on which the Lord wants to build his church. For whom He wants to give his life in a moment. Satan claims them to be lost.
Satan wants to show God, as it were: that the faith of Jesus' disciples is really nothing, hear them talk about suffering and see them arguing over the highest position; is that, now, true faith? When the going gets tough, they will say goodbye to Thee and Thy Son. Let me sift them now!
Congregation, what is sifting? Sifting is to sieving. The wheat is separated from the chaff by shaking a sieve with vigorous movements. The chaff is blown away like empty skins and the real wheat grains remain in the sieve.
So, Satan demands the disciples to shake them in such a way that their faith appears empty, vacant, and useless. Like chaff. Opposed to real faith like wheat that is useful.
How will Satan do this? He will make them experience the Jews' hatred for Jesus. He will confront their faith with Jesus who willingly surrenders himself to his executioners. What then remains of their beautiful kingdom and of their high positions? They will then turn away from Jesus. Then their faith will prove worthless.
Congregation, Satan, as the great liar, wants to make the redeeming and church-gathering work of Christ worthless. He wants to rob Christ of his church. And is he not very advanced in that?
Peter and the disciples have just been extremely weak with very small faith. So child-like. Just a few more shakes and they will be lost and come under the power of Satan. Then they will be burned like chaff by unquenchable fire.
Congregation, are we stronger of ourselves than the disciples? Is there not often a proud attitude among us too? Carnal desires and childish thoughts? Do we not often see the lust of power and ambition in our midst? Are we always mindful of the things of God or sometimes more of the things of men? As long as we benefit ourselves? Let us also, in this carnal thinking,  see Satan's ongoing activity. He also wants to claim us if we do not remain hidden with Christ.
Does Satan have the right to sift the disciples? Well, the right to shake is not denied him by Jesus. As with Job, Satan is allowed to do his thing.
But how will this end? We see that in our second point.

2. The theme is "Christ saves his church from the hands of Satan" We saw Satan's devastating work. We now see as, a second point, Christ's preserving work.
The Lord Jesus sees through the thoughts of His disciples. He sees in this the work of Satan. He realizes that Peter and the other disciples of their own cannot endure this. They will perish if they are delivered to the temptations of Satan.
Satan will hook onto to their carnal desires. Then they will want to keep standing up for themselves and expect it of themselves. They will be disappointed in their Lord. Perhaps even bitterly turning away from Him when it appears that He cannot establish the earthly kingdom here.
Congregation, what a very sad development this is for the Lord Jesus Himself! Also very aggravating to his suffering. For the Lord fathoms much deeper than we do what this means, and where it leads to.
But at the same time, and that is the special thing, it is the Lord who knows the only outcome. And that He is the only One who is able to save them. He sets over-against the right of Satan, the right of his Redemption. On the basis of his crucifixion, which will take place the next day.
Congregation, what a wonderful word it is which the Lord speaks here:  
But I have prayed for you.
Jesus intercedes for Simon, also for the other apostles. In the high priestly prayer He prayed to God the Father:
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
But here the Lord says that He has prayed especially for Peter because of his temptations. Has prayed. Yes, Jesus has already prayed this. And this Peter may know as an encouragement, because Jesus has already received the hearing of this prayer from His Father.
Over-against the satanic attack, the Lord points to His salvation like this:
But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail.
In contrast to Satan's stated demand, Jesus sets his redeeming work as the great Advocate of those that His own. 
But I.
Jesus Christ contrasts his plan of salvation with Satan's plan of murder. Satan will want to sift them, but He has prayed and is sure of the victory. Because He will suffer and die. He will atone for all the sins of His own, including the sins of their little faith. And thus effect redemption.
But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail.
Won't that prayer mainly include here: Father, for My name's sake, assist Simon in the hour of temptation. That his faith should not fail. That he does not give up the fight of faith, but will stand in tribulation and persecution.
But I have prayed for you.
Thus Jesus lets Simon know: Simon, you cannot stand without my prayer. You will not be able to rely on your own courage and strength. Because, then your faith will end one day. But know that only My intercession can save you.
Congregation, the Lord Jesus will soon finish his redeeming work without his disciples. But He Himself has never released them. He held them by praying and speaking and acting until the death of the cross. Thus, Jesus provided the outcome. He who is the Greatest has become the least by devoting his life for his own.
Nevertheless, congregation, the disciples still will have to go through the sieve. For Jesus still lets Satan go on to sift his disciples as wheat. But not without Him as their Savior.
Satan wants only chaff to be left over by his requested sifting. He maliciously tempts them to give up their faith, so that they all perish.
But Christ also sifts and handles the sieve, the sieve of the trial. Not for chaff, but precisely to keep the wheat. So that none of his own are lost, but just so to save them from the trial, for their good.
Congregation, you would expect the deep words of the Lord to have made a deep impression on the disciples, especially Peter. They now hear that their lives are about Christ or Satan, about life or death. But what follows shows how little they understood. For when Christ had spoken, Peter answers:
Lord,  I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death!
That reaction boils down to: "Lord I will do it." It is, in fact, a misunderstanding of what he had heard.
Peter must be brought even deeper into the crisis. To really learn to renounce himself and surrender himself to the Lord. And not to rely on his own strength.
But the Lord is already anticipating that crisis. He once again points to Peter's weakness in faith, but also that nothing happens without Him. That is why Jesus here warns Peter, that he, Peter, will deny Him three times before the rooster crows.
If Simon Peter will deny Jesus despite everything, Simon will still be able to remember these words. In this way Jesus helps Peter to be able to come to repentance in his deepest crisis of faith.
Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 
How truthful these words proved to be at the time of those denials of Peter. But how much they will be of service to his conversion. Especially since the Lord added:
but I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.
Brothers and sisters, what we see here of Satan's work and that of the Lord Jesus Christ is still of great significance to us as well.
We know that the battle between the Church of the Lord Jesus and Satan is not over yet. Satan has meanwhile lost the power struggle. As a prosecutor, he has been cast from heaven. But now he goes about the earth looking for whom to devour. And he specifically targets the church. He knows that he has little time. He is intensifying his attacks and wants to sift all of God's children as wheat.
He now also wants only chaff left over, let us also be warned. For the fleshly desire to expect it of ourselves to build our kingdom here on earth, is not foreign to us. Ambition and self-interest continue to challenge us. But even now you as a church may know that Christ is your great Intercessor. That He constantly pleads for you with the Father. Pray now for your salvation, appealing to his finished work on the cross. That your faith should not fail.
In ourselves, we resemble Peter and the other disciples. We are mindful about the things of men and not the things of God. But in the meantime we have received the Holy Spirit. Let us not grieve Him with self-will and rebellion. But for Christ sake, confess all that as sin and entrust ourselves to Him. Then we can be assured that He also prays for us and will never let go of us.
Yes, Satan,  through repeated temptations, also desires that we become but chaff. Let us, therefore, always go to God in the name of our great Shepherd and pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

3. "Christ saves his church from the hands of Satan."
We saw Satan's devastating work and Christ's preserving work. We now finally see Christ's strengthening work.
Our Savior's words also direct a charge to Simon, when he has repented. The Lord then says:
And once you have repented, strengthen your brethren.
Simon Peter will go through a deep valley. He will soon deny his Savior three times. Three times Peter says "no" of the Lord as His Savior, but the Lord in His faithfulness continues to say "yes" to Peter. He leads him to conversion. When He stood there imprisoned, Peter sees Him turn to look at him, and with that look Peter remembers all Jesus' words. Then Peter turns about and cries bitterly.
In the way of weeping, the Lord leads Peter to the establishment of his faith in Him, in everything. He may see the tomb with his own eyes, he may even meet the resurrected Christ, and finally the Lord makes Peter confess his love for Him. By asking him three times again:
Simon, do you really love me?
And Simon answers three times, yes Lord. A special confession of his faith and of his conversion. The faith that then comes from his heart. And the repentance that is sincere. 
Then the commission set forth in our text comes into effect:
Strengthen your brethren.
In spite of everything, Simon may be an apostle of Christ. He hears from Him the command:
Feed my lambs, tend my sheep.
Peter has then been made ready to be an apostle. To be able to carry out the Lord's commission. To be allowed to be a servant of the Word. To be able to pass on the gospel of salvation to others. To be allowed to testify of his faith. As an undeserved grace to be the servant of the Lord.
Peter must then strengthen the brethren: that is, building the church with them. Contributing in the church-gathering work of Christ. On the day of Pentecost, we hear Him speaking on behalf of the apostles. He appears to be a full instrument of the Holy Spirit. And so, through the work of the apostles, the Church of Christ was built and spread.
That is how God's Word of salvation has reached us too. That we might believe in Christ. With a faith that renounces ourselves, that expects everything from the Lord Jesus Christ. Whereby we want to be the least in everything, and where we are willing to follow Christ through suffering.
Congregation, Christ still preserves His Church against all of Satan's attacks and temptations. Christ still strengthens his church against all that demonic destructive forces. This is how we can continue as a church today.
But only in the way of surrender, faith and conversion. By denying ourselves, by wanting to take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ as the only head of the Church.
At a time when the Church is under pressure, struggling, and undergoing suffering, it is always a trial and a temptation. Satan keeps seeking to destroy the church through his temptation. He tries to tempt you to go your own way proudly. Or avoid trouble by giving up the fight of faith or by resigning yourself to lies and apostasy. That is still the sifting work of Satan.
But in the trial, let us look to the Lord. See that He is pleading for you in the pressure of tribulation so that your faith does not fail and you can continue strengthened. To help build the church against all oppression, by working with one accord in the church-gathering work of Christ. Hope, then, in the Lord as your Savior, your Advocate, your only High Priest. Who pleads for you through His sacrifice, and who will lead you through suffering to His glory. He who has promised: I will build my church and will always be with her, and will not let the gates of Hades prevail against her.

Amen