A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XI -II
"I, Peter am back in Jerusalem...As soon as I arrived I found out something... I found out that believers there knew of my unusual visit.... Now I have been making many visits during my time in Joppa...But that visit was unusual for one reason... It was a visit to the home of a Gentile.... And Jews never visit the home of a Gentile... But I had done so...I had visited the home of a Gentile named Cornelius.... He was a Roman Centurion....And the believers here in Jerusalem were having many questions about this visit.... For I am one of the Apostles..... So how could I have gone into the home of a Gentile?.... Never mind that he is a Roman Centurion.... I understood that they were very confused about my visit.... So it was time to bring the believers together.... I could then explain to them why I had made that visit...I knew too that I should give them all the details of what had taken place... To begin with I should share with them the vision I had had in the home of Simon the Tanner....I was confident that the Holy Spirit would then help them to see things differently... Just as He had had helped me to see things differently.".... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of Peter's meeting with the believers in Jerusalem...
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
ACTS XI - II
Many of the Jewish believers came to the meeting that had been organised to hear Peter give details of his visit to the home of a Gentile. They sat down and Peter stood in front of them. And he looked at them with eyes of love. These were his brothers and sisters in Christ. He knew them so well. And he knew exactly what they were thinking for not too long ago he had been like them for he too had believed that to be pleasing to God he had to remain separate from Gentiles by not entering their homes and eating with them. But then God had transformed his life. He knew too that God could do the same for these believers. But ti would need careful explanation of what had happened to him.
So he began to tell the story of the time that he had been at Simon the Tanner's house in Joppa. He told them that he had been praying when God ha given him a vision of a sheet from heaven as you can read in Acts 11:4-6
"I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. I looked into it and saw four footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air."
Peter next shared with them that he was told to kill and eat these animals, which was a very tantalising offer for he was, in fact, quite hungry at that time as you can know from Acts 11:7
"Then I heard a Voice telling me, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat."
Peter continued by explaining to them that he felt he had to say "No, Lord" to this offer even though he was looking forward to a good meal. The reason he felt he had to say "No, Lord" was because the sheet contained animals that he, as a good Jew, could not eat as you can know from Acts 11:8
"I replied, "Surely not Lord" Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth."
Peter's listeners would have been very pleased with Peter's response to these words for, according to them, this was the only response a good Jew coul give.
However, then Peter told them the Voice from heaven spoke again as you can know from Acts 11:9-10
The Voice spoke from heaven a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again,"
These believers would not have known what to make of these statements for they seemed to be so contradictory to everything they had been taught. Moreover, it seemed that Peter has been as confused about these statements as they were now, which must mean he was still a good Jew up to that point.What had happened to him to make him change so much?
Peter, knowing that his fellow believers would have great difficulty understanding his transformation began to talk about some visitors from Caesarea as you can read in Acts 11:11
"Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying."
As Peter was saying these words to his friends he studied their faces for he just know that they would be greatly puzzled by his words. He, therefore, needed to explain to them that he had invited these men into the home of friend Simon the Tanner because they had been sent to him by none other than the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit had told him to go back to Caesarea with them as you can read in Acts 11:12a
"The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them."
Peter knew that his fellow believers needed to hear that it was not his own idea to go to Caesarea but that it had been the leading of the Holy Spirit that had made him go to the home of a Gentile because the Holy Spirit had made it clear to him that the vision he had received had not been about so-called clean and unclean animals but had been about so-called clean and unclean people or Jews and Gentiles. God, had, thereby, shown him that He accepted Jews as well as Gentiles. Therefore, he, Peter, should do likewise.
Read Part Three HERE
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