willingness of Peter to eat with the Gentiles; about this Paul testified, “I rebuked Peter to his face, for he was to be blamed.” These statements are not an effort to belittle the Apostle Peter for he was quite a testimony, but the New Testa ment shows clearly that he was not Christ’s chief witness. Paul now becomes the name before us. Jesus said of Paul that he should "Pray, Give or Go" Three things the Master hath to do, And we who serve Him here below And long to see His kingdom Come May pray or give or go. He needs them all— the Open Hand The willing feet, the Praying Heart— To work together and to weave A three-fold cord that shall not part. Nor shall the giver count his gift As greater than the worker's deed, Nor he in turn his service boast Above the prayers that voice the need. Not all can Go; not all can Give To speed the message on its way, But young or old, or rich or poor, Or strong or weak— we all can Pray. Pray that the gold-filled hands may Give To arm the others for the fray; That those who hear the call may Go, And Pray— that other hearts may Pray! bear His name before the Gentiles. Galatians 2:8 says that Peter was to work effectively taking the Gospel to the circumcision — the Jews; while Paul was to take it to the Gentiles ■— the uncircumcision. Peter wrote two books of the New Testament — I and II Peter, which are full of comfort and instruction. Paul wrote 14 books of the New Testament. Paul, the supreme Christian, is evangelical Christianity’s true leader and chief teacher. 4
God use in the most effective way, to spread the Gospel? It was not John, although he is called the beloved disciple and wrote his majestic Gospel. It was not Matthew who wrote the longest record of Jesus’ life, full of prophetic passages concerning the Mes siah. Peter was often the spokesman for the disciples but it was probably because of his impetuosity — he was not always right and was rebuked by Jesus. Sev eral times he assumed authority only to have our Lord chide him. A case in point might be noted when the Lord said He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, high priests and scribes and be killed; but, He would be raised from the dead on the third day. Peter boastfully de clared to the effect, “I am your repre sentative now and I will not let this happen to you.” Jesus quickly turned, and with judgment on His holy brow said, “Get thee behind me Satan”, or as one translator gives it, “get out of my way you Satan for this view of yours is not from God but from men.” Just a short time before this Peter had pleased the Lord with his great con fession, “Thou art the Christ.” But we must remember that Christ gave Peter the keys — yes, but not to the church, nor of heaven, for heaven — spoken of in Matthew 16 is the seal of Christian profession and Peter obedi ently used the keys to open the door of Christianity for the Jews on the Day of Pentecost . . . read Acts 2:38-42. Peter later did the same for the Gentiles in the home of Cornelius, a Roman cen- turian — read Acts 10:34-36. After fulfilling his commands and opening the door of the kingdom to Jew and Gentile, Peter fades out of the pic ture, never after assuming authority. It was James, not Peter who presided over the first great Council of the Church at Jerusalem. Paul gives ac count of a startling occurrence in his Galatian Epistle, 2:11-14 — of the un
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