THE LOOK OF JESUS

TEXT: Luke 22:31-34"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." 34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

22:52-62 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour — when darkness reigns." Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him. 57 But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said." 58 A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. 59 About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." 60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."  62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.” 

INTRODUCTION: 

Where are we Church? Where are we Warrior Assembly of God? I will tell you where I believe we are: We are in a place when darkness reigns! We are in a place when Godly people are being singled out for their faith in Christ. We are in a place where being a true believer in Jesus is costing you something! It is a time when darkness has seized the moment. The pressure is on to conform to this world; to accept the sin of the world or else be ostracized, isolated, and in some cases persecuted. It is the time when speaking out for the truth can most definitely affect your relationships at work, at church and even at home! I am not being dramatic. I am simply telling you the truth. This is the time that we are living in. 

But don’t despair. None of what is happening today has taken God by surprise. Quite the contrary. He is actually using it to prepare the Church for His next great move!  Preacher, what is that next move. It is a move of the Holy Spirit, a mighty revival, that begins in the Church with THE LOOK OF JESUS. That is the word of the Lord to you today, THE LOOK OF JESUS. Let’s pray. 

I. In verse 33 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." But was he? Peter needed to know what was really in his heart. And that revelation would come with the Look of Jesus. 

My first point to you today is that THE LOOK OF JESUS reveals to us what is really in our hearts. 

When Peter told the Lord that he was willing to go to prison with Him and even die with Him, Jesus spoke these sobering words to Peter in verse 34, “Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

I wonder what was going through Peter’s mind when he heard those words from Jesus. Is this what Jesus meant when He said to him, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

Up to this point, what Jesus said to him were only words. He didn’t yet understand. How could he? He had walked and lived with the Master for over three years and had seen Jesus do things that no one else had ever done. Perhaps he was thinking that Jesus would soon be declared King and Israel would once again be a mighty kingdom like that ruled by King David and King Solomon! 

But all of this changed when Jesus was arrested and taken into the house of the high priest to be tried! The Scripture says that when Jesus was arrested, “Peter followed at a distance!” Where now was all of that courage about following Jesus to prison and to death? When it became dangerous to follow Jesus, Peter followed at a distance! The Greek word for distance actually means from “far off!” 

And when Peter was confronted by a servant girl about being a follower of Jesus, he denied it. He said, “woman, I don’t know him!” Then twice more when being confronted with being a follower of Jesus, he again denied that he knew Jesus! Peter went from I’ll die with you to I don’t know you! 

Look with me at what happened when Peter had denied Jesus the third time, 

Luke 22:60-61 “Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."

It was the LOOK OF JESUS at that moment that revealed to Peter what was really in his heart! He followed Jesus when it was popular and when it was easy and convenient. But when it was going to cost him something, it was a different story. 

And friend, that is where the next move of God must begin! The Church has to be awakened to where she really is! And I’m telling you today that most of the Church is where Peter was on the night, he denied Jesus, on the night that he realized that following Jesus was going to cost him more than he knew! 

It took the LOOK OF JESUS for Peter to receive that revelation! And it will take the LOOK OF JESUS for us today to know where we are in the Lord. I believe that He is looking at each one of us today, right now. As I have been bringing you this word from the Lord, maybe you have begun to realize that you have been following the Lord at a distance. You have been following Him from far off! You are seeing that at work, at home and even at Church you are denying the Lord. When you could have stood for the Lord at work, you instead denied Him by remaining silent. At home when you could have spoken up for the Lord, you denied Him by not speaking out or by leading your family in prayer. But today, Jesus is LOOKING STRAIGHT AT YOU with eyes of love that are penetrating your very soul. The Holy Spirit is revealing to you what is really in your heart, just like He did with Peter. 

And it’s this revelation that the Church must receive if we are to be prepared for the next move of the Holy Spirit, for the coming revival! 

II. And that leads to my second point which is that the LOOK OF JESUS must lead us to repentance. 

Luke 22:61-62 “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."  62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. “

Just having a revelation of what’s really in our hearts is not good enough. Judas regretted what he did in betraying Jesus, but he didn’t have a heart of repentance. There is a big difference between being sorry and being repentant. 

Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” 

This scripture is referring to a broken heart over your sin, over a failure to obey God, over a failure to live as God intended us to live. We all have regrets. We all wish we had not done something that hurt others or had done something that helped others. But did that regret lead to repentance? Did it lead to a change of heart? Do we become bitter or better? God is willing to forgive. He will save us from our elves, from our mistakes, from our sin. But we must be willing to humble ourselves before Him if we are to see the salvation of the Lord. 

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said “sin dies hard. It makes a hundred excuses for itself.” 

The LOOK OF JESUS reveals to us what is truly in our hearts, not because He desires to hurt us, but because He longs to save us and lead us into our God-given destiny. 

Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

God allowed Satan to sift Peter. Why? because the Lord needed to show Peter what was in his heart and to help mold him into the leader that would play a major role in the coming revival that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost! 

The LOOK OF JESUS is for to reveal to us what is really in our hearts and not just what we think is there. We need to know who we are if we are to be a part of the remnant Church that will help steward the coming move of the Spirit. 

And we must allow the LOOK OF JESUS to break us and lead us to repentance for the sin that’s in our life. True repentance is not just being sorry for what we’ve done, but it is turning from it. 

The LOOK OF JESUS has the power to cause us to see and experience the sin that is really in our hearts. The LOOK OF JESUS STRIPS away all of our cover up and excuses. He looks straight into our soul. And the LOOK OF JESUS also has the power to break us and lead us to repent from our sin. THE LOOK OF JESUS broke Peter, and it will break us too, if we let it! And let me show you why we should let it.

Revelation leads to repentance and repentance leads to revival. 

III. And that is my final point to you in this message. The LOOK OF JESUS leads to revival!

When we get to the Day of Pentecost and the first revival in the Church, who do we find leading that revival? We find Peter, the man who was broken by the LOOK OF JESUS! It is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times on the very night He was betrayed! 

The LOOK OF JESUS had so broken Peter that he now preached Jesus in the same hostile environment in which he had once denied Him!!!

Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat to destroy him, but God allowed and used that sifting to prepare Peter to steward the great power of the Holy Spirit that was soon to be poured out. A outpouring that would empower the Church and bring in a great harvest of sons and daughters into God’s eternal family! 

CONCLUSION

This is the Word of the Lord to you: we are in the season and in the place where God is soon to pour out His Spirit for a great end time harvest of souls. In the midst of a gross darkness, the Great Shepherd of the Church is allowing His chosen vessels to be sifted like wheat. He is allowing this sifting not to destroy us but to prepare us to steward what He is soon to send: A GREAT REVIVAL! 

In the days ahead we should fully expect to be encountered by the One who walks among the seven golden candle sticks, His Church. We should be ready for the LOOK OF JESUS, whose eyes are like flames of fire, to reveal to us what is really in our hearts so that we can repent and so be prepared to steward the coming revival of signs, wonders, divine healing and miracles! 

ALTAR

Is there a yes in your spirit to the LOOK OF JESUS? I pray so friend. It is time to hoist our sails because the wind of God is soon to blow!