In the Sieve

In the Sieve

Satan is our fierce adversary. He goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Pet. 5:8. He rages against the saints, trying to gain power over them in order to sift them like wheat. Luke 22:31-32. God also permits the saints to be shaken in the sieve, so that the chaff can be thoroughly separated from the wheat. The wheat belongs to Christ, and it will be gathered into God’s barn, whereas the chaff belongs to the devil and will be burned with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3:12.

God permitted His faithful servant Job to be shaken powerfully in the sieve of trials; but no matter how much Job was shaken in the sieve, he remained God-fearing and sound, in good times and in bad times. We read so blessedly about him: “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” Read Job 1:20-22. This is the kind of wholehearted and faithful saint that God wants to have in His barn. They will sit at the table with Jesus in the kingdom of God. Matt. 8:11; Luke 22:28-30.

There are a few people who are fervent and warm for as long as they have to endure poverty and tribulations, but as soon as they have an opportunity to earn money, they immediately end up in the spirit of Satan that requires more and more of the goods of this world.

Satan is a spirit, and if he wants to get anything done, he has to use human bodies. When he realizes that it is futile to get God-fearing people to curse, drink, and fight, he comes as an angel of light and tries to sneak right in to the fear of God. He can sneak in to humility, and after some time one can notice that Satan has disguised himself in this humility and piety. He can sneak in to zeal, so that a person becomes an instructor and is zealous against sinners. Then the truth, instead of working as a drawing power combined with grace on those who are upright, has the effect of a beating.

On one important occasion Satan even succeeded in disguising himself in Peter, but Jesus saw Satan himself behind Peter’s love, compassion, and care, and He said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Matt. 16:23.

Satan has a mind for everything that is human, and he uses his many satanic wiles to capture as many people as possible with his spirit. Therefore we must watch and pray so that we can expose him in whatever guise he comes. The least display of wanting to have a reputation according to the flesh belongs to the nature of Satan and should be abhorrent to us.

Satan is trying to remove the wheat, which is the true life in God in the depths of the heart, so that all that is left of godliness is an outer shell. Paul said that the Christianity of the last times will have an appearance of godliness, but will deny its power. 2 Tim. 3:5.

May God preserve us in His Spirit in these last and difficult times, as true grains of wheat that can be stored in God’s barn.