He then told them not to provoke God by passing some rule that would compel the Gentiles to do what the Lord does not require of them. For, he added, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they."
Upholds the Right.
There was a time when Simon, the Jewish fisherman, with all his Jewish prejudices, would have rather yielded to the Jewish side of this question; but now, it was not Simon, the fisherman, who spoke, but Peter, the chief apostle of the Lord. What were prejudices to him in the light of the inspiration of truth! All that was necessary for him to know was, whether the thing was right, and prejudice or no prejudice, favor or no favor, he would defend it.
It is true that once after this council, so Paul says.[[1]] Peter withdrew from the company of some Gentiles because some of the Jews came down from Jerusalem. Paul says he rebuked Peter for his actions on this occasion; but we have no record of what Peter said or did. Knowing Peter as we do, we are safe in concluding that he did not intentionally waver from the right. It seems more probable that Paul misunderstood Peter's motives. At any rate, we may rest assured that what Peter said and did was intended to help those who were influenced by his actions.
Visits All Churches.
From that time, we know very little of Peter's travels. By reading his epistles, we get a little insight into the nature of his labors and travels during the last years of his life. Undoubtedly, he visited every country where there were organized branches of the Church, even to the "seven churches in Asia."
Thirty-five Years' Service.
We do not know just where he died, nor the kind of death he suffered; but it is evident that the end was not far off when he wrote his second epistle to the churches. That was about thirty-five years after he first met the Savior. He was in the ministry then, approximately thirty-five years, perhaps longer.
Referring to the prophecy of the Lord on the shore of Galilee, the aged apostle, writing to the Saints and urging them to be true to the Gospel, said:
"Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance."