| Luke 22:31
| And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
| Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. In these words is expressed both what Satan desired, and what God permitted. Satan desired leave to tempt them, that he might make them fall from their faith in Christ. Almighty God permitted this temptation, this trial, to convince them how weak they were of themselves: he permitted their frailty to be partly overcome, yet so that rising again by his grace, they should be cleansed and purified as wheat when it is sifted: and that shortly after, being strengthened and confirmed by the coming of the Holy Ghost, they might become new men, enabled to stand firm against all the attacks of their greatest adversaries. (Witham)
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