Peter's New Challenge

Acts 10:9-16 About noon the following day as (those Cornelius had sent) were on their journey and approaching Joppa, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
 
PETER was in prayer. This was very common in Acts. Prayer is the key to hear from God as he reveals his next step to advance his kingdom.
   The LORD God is using Peter to initiate a dramatic change to the church. Peter will be the first to preach the gospel directly to Gentiles and to baptize them. Is Peter ready for this?
   It doesn’t seem so. Acts has revealed that Peter did remarkable works of God, even resurrecting Tabitha. But now he seems to once more put his will above God’s commands. To the Lord’s command, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat!” Peter replies, “Surely not, Lord.” God has commanded him to eat of any animal. But Peter rejects the new command. He firmly holds to God’s dietary laws. Three times the sheet comes down, and three times Peter denies God’s command. (Sound familiar?)
   Peter knows God is speaking to him. But he rejects the Lord’s authority. Even after ministering in God’s power, Peter did not fully understand the freedom of Jesus’ sacrificial death. The apostle Paul defined this freedom: But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6)
   We often find it difficult to break from the codes, the rules that keep us from knowing God. Somehow we easily become attached to particular ideas or beliefs that cause us to deny the Lord’s commands.  
   Peter needed to remember: the LORD God has a plan. He chose Peter to be a vital part of the plan. God does not wait for Peter’s approval. God’s plan is already in motion. Cornelius’ messengers have come to Joppa. They are at the door of Simon the tanner, the place where Peter was staying. It was time to open the door to a new era in God’s eternal church.