Read Part One HERE
A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART X - IV
"I, Peter, was still thinking about the vision I knew to be from God....I then heard some voices outside the gate of my friend's home....They were calling for me!!.... Who could these people be?.... The Holy Spirit then spoke to me...He told me He had sent these people.... And I should receive them...I went downstairs to check on them.... I saw three men outside the gate....It looked like they had been travelling... For they look tired...They told me they had come from Caesarea....That is about a day's travel... They told me as well who had sent them... A man named Cornelius had sent them....I wondered why he had sent them to me... After all he is a Gentile and I am a Jew....Does he not know that Jews do not communicate with Gentiles?.... For we consider Gentiles unclean....But these men then told me an angel had visited Cornelius... And he had instructed him to send some men to Joppa.... And for them to look for me.... I am go to back with them.....It became clear I should welcome these men into the home of my friend...So I did... We will leave tomorrow for Caesarea.... Who could have thought that I, Peter, a Jew, would be called to preach to Gentiles?... I am just very grateful to God that He is very patient with me... So I can learn to see things from His perspective.".....Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of the time that Peter discovered that God loves all people, regardless of their nationality, status in life or gender....
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART X - IV
As Peter was wondering about his vision, he heard some voices outside the gate of the house of his friend Simon as you can read in Acts 0:17-18
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. They called out asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
Then the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and told him to receive these men for He had sent them as you can read in Acts 10:19-20
While Peter was still thinking about the vision the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."
So Peter went downstairs, opened the gate and in front of him stood some men. Peter told them he was the person they were looking for and asked them why they wanted to see him. They then explained who they were and who had sent them as you can read in Acts 10:21-22
Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you are looking for. Why have you come?" The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the Centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to the house so that he could hear what you have to say."
Peter then understood that his vision from heaven had, in fact, nothing to do with so-called clean and unclean animals but that was related to so-called clean and unclean people, or Jews and Gentiles. For, according to Jewish belief, they were the clean people in the world and Gentiles were the unclean people with whom they could not communicate and whose homes they could not enter.But here in front of him were some Gentiles. And the Holy Spirit had told him he should receive them.Moreover, God had already told him that he should not call anything impure that God considered clean. Therefore, in God's eyes these men were acceptable. And, likewise, Peter should accept them. So he received these men into the home of his friend Simon the Tanner as you can read in Acts 10:23a
Then Peter invited the men into his house to be his guests.
This truly was a new day and was in fulfillment of what Jesus had told them they were to do according to Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
These Jewish believers had just taken some time to be obedient to the words of Jesus for the church had been in existence for quite a while by now. The Lord must have decided He better do something about them going to the Gentiles, for if He left it to them, it might never happen.
Cornelius' men stayed overnight at the home of Simon the Tanner ready to go back to Caesarea the next morning. That night Peter would have had little sleep. He would have been thinking about what had happened that day. A great transformation had taken place in his heart and mind. In the morning he had been like any other good Jew: he had believed that in order to please God he should remain separate from Gentiles. But by the evening God has so changed his thinking that he knew he should receive them as brothers in the Lord.
Read Part Six HERE
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