In several verses, Paul couples two common words into a special theological idea.
In Romans 6:6 he says, – “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him (Christ), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
In Ephesians 4:22 Paul exhorts us to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”
And in Col. 3:9 he says, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”
If I had not given you that clue, and I told you that tonight’s message was entitled: “Peter’s Old Man,”
You might have thought that I was speaking derogatorily about someone.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to hear some kid speaking about “their old man.”
There are a lot of old men in this world,
But to hear someone to call his father, his “old man” bothers me, because it lacks proper respect.
This evening as I speak about Peter’s old man, I’m talking about Peter, not his father.
In computer language, there is a cookie implanted in our hearts,
And sometimes that key can be hit accidentally or even by outside sources.
“Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”
And the fact of the matter is that neither have you.
Last Sunday night when we read this passage, did verse 14 bother you?
Just as hearing a surly, disrespectful teenager call his father “the old man,” hearing Peter say, “Not so, Lord,” bothers me.
I get the urge to find a paddle whenever I hear a child scream the word “no” to hisr parent, but I’m afraid that the parent would hit me back when I got through with her.
But should THAT bother me worse than what Peter said?
Those three words, “not so, Lord,” should never be joined in a single sentence:
Should anyone ever try to say, “no” to the sovereign God?
This evening I’d like you to think about the revelation, the reaction of Peter and the rebuke of the Lord.
So that makes me second guess myself, as to how far to push the separate points of the picture.
For example, Peter saw a GREAT sheet and not a small sheet.
Israel was a small sheet, a tiny nation with a small population & now a fragment of the Roman Empire.
And the four corners of this sheet were knit or tied together.
Could this mean that the Lord was bringing together the four corners of the earth?
Wasn’t this a revelation that all the peoples of the world were to be treated equally in some ways?
And this great sheet was let down from Heaven.
The idea that the Romans were as worthy of Jehovah as were the Jews, was not a Jewish idea.
That the Lord might be interested in saving people of other races is not an idea that is native to whatever race happens to be considering it.
Universal evangelism was a revelation of God, not an idea enjoyed or employed by just any “old man.”
Inside this sheet were all manner, or all kinds, of animals.
There were four-legged creatures of all the domestic varieties: sheep, goats, horses, cattle, camels.
The creeping things include the creepy things, such as worms, bugs, salamanders, and even snakes.
And then there were the birds of every variety., from sparrows and doves to hawks and vultures.
And Peter was told to get up and kill one, or more, of them for lunch.
No, it doesn’t destroy what the Lord was trying to say.
Were there any dogs and cats and skunks?
Were there any rabbits, another unclean animal?
Apparently all these critters were there, because it says that it contained all manner of four-footed beasts.
There were REPRESENTATIVES of each kind of animal, not every animal ever born, hatched or otherwise brought into the world.
Peter was then told to kill and eat.
Does the fact that verse 13 doesn’t tell him to carefully select one of the CLEAN animals of the herd mean that he was supposed to kill and eat any or all of them?
Peter’s reaction tells us that he understood God to be telling him to eat them all, including those which had been forbidden by the laws of Moses.
When Peter told God that he refused to obey Him, the command was repeated two more times.
Was it faith? Was it obedience? Was it humility?
The spokesman was Peter’s old man, his old sinful nature.
But that old man was dressed up in his finest Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes.
Peter’s suit even had Moses’ monogram embroidered on the breast pocket.
He thought that he had logic on his side with which to deny the Lord.
He believed that not even God could overturn what Moses had told him to do.
He had about 1500 years of Israelite history and tradition on his side, and who is God to overturn tradition?
If we leave out the fact that this revelation came from God Himself, then there was substance to Peter’s refusal.
In Acts 16 Paul was given a vision of a man of Macedonia inviting him to sail into Europe to preach the gospel to those people.
At that point the pronouns in the Book of Acts change from “them” to “us.”
I might have said to Cornelius, “No, I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean and I’m not going to start now just because you’re telling me to do so.”
The old man never learns, and has to be kept in chains at all times.
Matthew 16 – “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
John 13 – “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”
But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.”
Who was it who was cursing and swearing? It was Peter’s old man.
We need to be on guard to fight against our inward whims and desires.
If the Lord tells us to kill and eat, then let’s arise and kill and eat, even if it is brussels sprouts and escargot.
What was the tone of the Lord’s voice?
Was it booming and quick or was it sorrowful and quiet?
I think that it was in the tone of a loving parent or teacher.
Notice first of all, the Lord’s patience with the man.
There was no lightning from Heaven; the earth didn’t open up under him and swallow him down.
Praise God for this repetition and the rebuke.
Praise God for His kindness and His patience.
How many times has the Lord repeated His commands to us without striking us down?
The Lord is better aware of our frailties and weaknesses than we are ourselves.
You might think that I’m being hard on Peter here, but I’m actually being soft on Peter and hard on myself.
May we be as quick as Peter was to finally pick up on the message that the Lord was giving.
Yes Lord, I will rise and eat. With which animal would you like me to start?”
From where did Moses get the Jewish dietary laws? From the Lord.
What was the purpose of those dietary laws? To mark a distinction between Israel and the nations.
And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.
Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.”
There was a time when God called some of these animals unclean, but now what God hath cleansed is clean.
There was a time when the nations of the world were considered unclean, but that day is over.
“What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”
“Peter don’t be afraid to give him the gospel, or anyone else for that matter.”
I believe that it does.
We may have our dietary preferences, and certainly some things are more healthy for us than others.
But among other things, this scripture is telling us that no food is off-limits in the sight of God.