(It will continue to be useful to have a copy of the Bible handy for this article.)
If the Holy Spirit is to teach and train us we need to learn to be still before God. When we hear, we need to be able to accept what he tells us. It may not always be as difficult for us as for Peter as a lifelong Jew, but there will be difficulties. This will not be attained without:
4. TOTAL COMMITMENT
"Commitment" does not sound too bad, but "total"?
Peter was shown that he must be totally committed, not just to Jesus as the Christ, but also to his fellow Christians. We have few details of how that very first Christian community came into being in Jerusalem, but Luke was "gob smacked" by it (for the uninitiated, a memorable Yorkshire phrase). So much so that he tells us about it twice (Acts 2. 44 - 47 and 4. 32 - 35). Peter must have been important in its development (although its leader was James, known as "the brother of the Lord"). They worshipped together (making full use of the Temple), they shared all their goods and the better off supplied the needs of the poorer members. Through his commitment to it, Peter came to know the importance of what he later referred to as "living stones" (1 Peter 2. 4, 5). We know we have to be that if we are to live and work together for the kingdom.
Peter was to be a rock in its foundation. He really was already a rock -- but a rock in his own nature, and that was an obstacle to God's work. He had to be, as it were, melted down and then reformed. Yes, a very painful process.
But it was mitigated for Peter, as it will be for us, through the growing realisation of how beautiful Jesus really is. He experience something of that at the Transfiguration (Mark 9. 2 - 13 but also ask yourself about verse 15). It was what allowed him to take the rebuke from Jesus that he was an ally of Satan (Matthew 16. 23). Yet, once we realise something of that beauty, we cannot wait for God to change us into something nearer himself.
5. DISCIPLINE OF THE TONGUE
In the earlier days God was always having to interrupt Peter. As example: a. On the Mount of Transfiguration after Moses and Elijah had appeared with Jesus (Luke 9. 33, 34). Note that it says " While he (Peter) was still speaking). When we do not know what we are saying, the best thing is to shut up. But Peter was overawed.
b. In Capernaum over the payment of the temple tax (Matthew 17. 24f). (This tax derived from Exodus 30. 11 - 16 and was a special voluntary tax but, before the time of Jesus, it had obeyed the first law of taxes and had become compulsory!). Peter committed Jesus to paying it, but Jesus would have claimed exemption because of who he really was.
c. At Cornelius' house in Caesarea, while Peter was still speaking the Spirit descended on the whole family and household. Peter and his companions were amazed.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit all intervened at various times to interrupt Peter in full flow. We must be ready to accept God's interruption to our words or actions. This is part of our being pure in heart.
6. THE PURE IN HEART
The sixth beatitude at Matthew 5. 8 promises the vision of God to the pure in heart, and Peter was brought to this state. It is a heart condition which God requires for the fulfillment of his purposes of grace. Purity of heart simply means a state where there is no hindrance to seeing and accepting God and his plan for all and for each of us.
It is a requirement for living in the kingdom while we are here on earth. It is a present reality for those who can believe that Jesus brought the kingdom and established it here. It exists wherever the pure in heart exist, and there is no reason for our not seeing it -- except the barriers we erect ourselves, in our own thinking and attitudes.
For example, how often do we hear and read other Christians denigrating their brethren who belong to churches other than their own? Often this is expressed contemptuously and with less than a modicum of insight but with pretension. Watchman Nee once said that, to stop us seeing an object, it is not necessary to put a dirty cloth over it; a clean one will do just as well. Our attitudes can appear sanitised but if they denigrate other Christians there is something there which is unclean.
In his first letter (1 Peter 1.13, 14) Peter warns us against conforming to evil desires and bringing into our present lives the kind of ignorance we once exhibited. He was moulded by experience and God's grace to truly be the first among Jesus' disciples. He still made mistakes -- anyone who is human will. But he could stand to be corrected for that and to accept the correction. (e.g. Acts 10. 9 - 16 and 17 - 48; 15. 5 - 11; Galatians 2. 11 - 21). It was part of his training, a training that continued all way the Rome and an inverted cross.

About The Author

Anthony Keith Whitehead
This article is copyright but may be reproduced providing all the information here is included.
A K Whitehead Web Site: http://www.christianword.co.uk
Keith has over twenty-three years in Christian healing teaching writing ministries. Wide range of secular employments before being called by the Lord into full time independent ministry in 1987. With his wife Iris he has ministered both in the UK and USA. Has written several books on healing meditation and various aspects of spirituality. Formal qualifications include: B.A. M.Phil. Cambridge University Certificate in Religious Studies Post Grad Cert in Education.