The Acts of the Apostles (1911) — PDF Scan 141

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A SEEKER FOR TRUTH 135 them that waited on him continually ; and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.'' The angel, after his interview with Cornelius, went to Peter, in Joppa. At the time, Peter was praying upon the housetop of his lodging, and we read that he 'M3ecame very hungry, and would have eaten: hut while they made ready, he fell into a trance." It was not for physical food alone that Peter hungered. As from the housetop he viewed the city of Joppa and the surrounding country, he hungered for the salvation of his countrymen. He had an intense desire to point out to them from the Scriptures the prophecies relating to the sufferings and death of Christ. In the vision, Peter ''saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him. Else, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said. Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven." This vision conveyed to Pet6r both reproof and instruction. It revealed to him the purpose of God, — that by the death of Christ the Gentiles should be made fellow-heirs with the Jews to the blessings of salvation. As yet none of the disciples had preached the gospel to the Gentiles. In their minds, the middle