"Peter was being freed from Prejudice" (Acts 9:43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/12/2018 10:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Peter was being freed from Prejudice

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:43

            Message of the verses:  “43 And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.”

            When we begin to look at chapter ten we will see that this last verse in chapter nine serves as a bridge between this passage and the following account of Cornelius’s conversation.  When we get to chapter ten we will see that this time period for Peter was a very difficult time for him as he was raised in the Jewish faith which make him prejudice against any gentiles and it was going to be a difficult time for him to realize that the gospel was for all peoples, not just for the Jews.  There is a section in the letter that Paul wrote to the Galatians that showed later on in Peter’s life that this problem with the Gentile believers:  “11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”  I have to believe that Peter repented of this sin as perhaps he remembered what happened to him with the events we will see from chapter ten.

            When we look at who Peter was living with, as the man was a tanner, we see some differences there in his life, for Tanners were despised in first-century Jewish society, since the dealt with the skins of dead animals.  Now because of that tanners were actually unclean in the eyes of the Jews.

            John MacArthur writes “Prejudice is devastating to any ministry.  In far too many Christian circles, those who do not fit the mold are rejected.  Any bigotry is a blight on the cause of God, who ‘is not one to show partiality’ (Acts 10:34).  There is no place in an effective personal ministry for prejudice.  The zealous Jewish nationalist Paul learned that lesson.  To the Corinthians he wrote:

‘19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.’”

            Whatever problems Peter had in this area he overcame them through the Spirit of God and also through the Word of God, and we know that God blessed his ministry and in the end Peter was killed for the cause of Christ.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Peter like the rest of Jesus’ apostles were not young children when they came to know the Lord.  This makes a difference in a person’s life as to when they become a believer.  I was almost 27 years old when I became a believer and had thus gone through some times in my early life that caused me to have some bad habits and so even after I became a believer there were and still are things that I struggle with, and so I can understand what Peter was going through.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to continue to work in my life to overcome some habits from the path, so that I can live to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Memory verse:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Samson” (Judges 15:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy what city?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/12/2018 10:45 AM