Sermons

Note: There was an issue with the recording, and thus there is not anything to listen to this week.

Message: “How Does Our Faith Impact What God Will Do”

Acts 9:32-43

INTRODUCTION: Just a couple of years ago we prayfully spent time discerning our call as church. We came up with this vision…

Our Vision

NewDay Covenant Church aspires to be a church that reaches out in innovative ways to others

who have not yet experienced the life-changing difference

that comes from knowing and following Jesus

and, in so doing, provide hope, healing and purpose.

Today I want to talk about how God helps us to provide the second word in the last line… healing.

Let’s jump into the text

In our ongoing study of Acts we have discussed the transformation of Saul of Tarsus. We saw the man who hated Jesus, and His disciples became followers of Jesus. And because of that, there is short period peace in the land, which opens up the opportunity for Peter, and probably other leaders of the first century Church, to move freely about and to investigate what is happening beyond the realm of Jerusalem.

Luke now leaves Saul, home meditating in Tarsus, and comes again to the Apostle Peter. We find him right where we left him, traveling around among the churches of Judea and Samaria. It’s Peter who dominates from now through Chapter 12. We don’t see Peter here like we have in the past chapters of Acts–preaching to great crowds of thousands. We see him kind of isolated with individuals.

…. Time frame: Biblical chronology shows this to be about 40 A.D., or seven years after Pentecost. During these months and years since Pentecost (when Jesus sent his Spirit), there are untold thousands of people coming to faith in Jesus. At this point of time the Church is made up almost entirely of Jewish and Samaritan believers.

Peter calls Aeneas by name, and then tells him that “Jesus Christ” heals him. Next Peter tells the paralyzed man to ‘get up and to ‘make’ his bed.

Does this sound familiar? Peter is using the same pattern he learned from Jesus.

The mention here of a specific miracle performed should be seen as having a specific purpose. So the point here is that, as at the beginning of Acts (3:1-10), the lame and paralyzed are restored. Here it was Aeneas. In a way we can see Aeneas as a picture of mankind, paralyzed and awaiting restoration. This was what the continuing ministry of the apostles was accomplishing.

In Matthew 9 we see Jesus in a conversation with the religious leaders. Here is what he says…

“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.⁷ Then the man got up and went home.”

Jesus told the paralyzed man in Capernaum to “get up” (Mark 2:11). Peter told Aeneas, “get up’. The healing is carried out in the name of Jesus the Messiah (compare 3:6); and Aeneas immediately rises. It is Jesus the Messiah Who now offers hope to all and can relieve the paralysis of the world.

Peter declares, “Jesus Christ heals you”–and this man was made well instantaneously, completely delivered. As we have seen before in Acts, these physical miracles are a picture of the spiritual miracle that God is performing in the human heart.

Do you realize that God’s physical healings are selective? He doesn’t’ heal everyone that is sick. Jesus didn’t heal everybody when He walked the earth. He healed selectively, because it is intended to picture the healing of the spirit–that is what God really wants. Any healing of the body is, at best, temporary. Every one who was ever healed in New Testament time died later on in life. The healing of their bodies was just temporary, because it was designed to be a picture–God’s wonderful way of illustrating the restoration of spirit, which would be eternal, and which is really what God wants.

II. Luke now takes us to Joppa. This was a seaport town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, 10 miles west and a little north of Lydda. It was the ancient seaport for Jerusalem. Joppa would have been made up of a population of Jewish and Gentile people. Luke believes it necessary to tell us both her Jewish name and her Greek name.

Vs36-37 “ 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.

Tabitha, a Christian woman whose life was the product of her faith. She was full of good works, including works of charity; a woman renowned and respected for what she did. Tabitha is Hebrew for “gazelle,” for which the Greek is “Dorcas.”

In the original translation it would sound more like this : “she abounded with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did.” The word “abounding” here is from the Greek word pleres, which means: “controlled by.” This woman was controlled by her inner spirit to do good works. She lived to give to others. Specifically, she made clothes for them. Her “acts of charity or mercy” and encompassed many kinds of deeds, but she was especially gifted in caring for those who needed it most.

She exemplified the core verse our NewDay community is built upon. Ephesians 2:10, For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Vs38: 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Does anything in verses 37-38 stand out as strange to you? The custom of the Jews at death was immediately to bury the body since they did not do any embalming. They would merely do what they called the washing; the Mishnah prescribed a certain washing, and then the burial immediately. But in this case, they didn’t bury her, which was very unusual, because dead bodies were a very unsacred thing in Israel to a Jew, and they didn’t let dead bodies hang around. So why didn’t they bury her? Aeneas’ healing led to the broadcasting of Peter’s reputation to the nearby town of Joppa–they obviously thought Peter could help:

This brings us back to the signs of a true apostle. Notice that the disciples in Joppa do not attempt to bring Tabitha back to life. They were well aware that the apostles had been given unique powers. So they sent two disciples for Peter.

Vs 39: 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

… It is felt among some groups today that we ought not mourn the passing of a believer, but this is contrary to our nature. Although we know without any doubt that a believing loved one goes to be with Jesus, we yet feel their loss very deeply. It is perfectly right to weep. But here we will see Peter do something we might find strange.

Vs40 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

…. Why did Peter send the disciples out of the room? Were they not believers? The reason is deeper. Peter needed his moment of aloneness with Jesus. The apostles did not just go around raising as many as possible from the dead. Peter kneels in prayer. Just he and Jesus. And in the quietness of the moment the apostle receives what he is to do. He is listening… he is waiting.

What if he would have come out of the room and said, “She has passed from this life to the next.” What would have been our response?

No shouting. No loud noises. No repeated praying. Peter turns to the body, and says, “Tabitha, arise!” Instantly resurrection power fills her lifeless body, and she sits up. Can you imagine how Peter felt at this moment to have the certainty of the Spirit that this is what the Lord wanted to do. What a humbling experience.

I often wonder if Peter thought of what Jesus his core group of disciple in preparation for his death… ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)

Can we learn from this? First of all… we have not been given the same set of healing gifts that the Jesus disciples (apostles) had. These were given for a specific purpose for a designated period of time. In our study of Acts you will find that in just a short period of time miraculous physical healing becomes something that scarcely happens. WHY? Because it was to given to show at this time that Jesus had the ultimate power to even RAISE the DEAD while he was not physically present! He had broken the power of death! He could restore life and health. But MOST of all… He would restore the broken connection between ourselves and God. He would transform us inwardly by His Spirit even though our outward body would waste away.

Notice Peter’s first response… it’s to pray. What is prayer? It is a declaration of our dependence on God; whereas prayerlessness is a declaration of our self-sufficiency.

ILL: The story is told of five young men who were visiting London years ago, and they were Christians, and they thought it would be interesting to go to Spurgeon’s tabernacle and hear the great master preach. So they arrived a little early, hoping to get a seat, and the doors were still locked. They were standing on the steps in the front, and a gentleman walked up to them and introduced himself by this statement. “Young men, would you like to see the heating apparatus of this church?” They looked at each other and thought, “The heating apparatus, who wants to see that?” But they didn’t want to turn away their friend that they had just met, and so they said, “Why, fine, if you would desire to show that to us, yes,” being gracious young men. So he proceeded to take them in the door. They went down long steps, and they came to a hallway that looked like a dead end. They went to the end of the hallway, and a man opened the door, and there was this large room filled with 700 people on their knees in prayer. At which point, the gentleman turned to them and said, “There, my young men, is the heating apparatus of this church.” They later found out that their unknown guide was Charles Haddon Spurgeon himself.

Spurgeon recognized that God’s power was unleashed in prayer. You know what prayer is? Prayer, at this point, is simply the admission that I can’t do it, and God can.

PRAYER CARD on our bulletin… please use this!

APPLICATION: Pattern of prayer for healing

Pour out your heart to God (Psalm 62:7-8)

My salvation and my honor depend on God, he is my mighty rock, my refuge. ⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Ask for others to pray and petition to God for you. (James 5:14-16)

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

(NOTE: James was one of the early disciples who were given a specific anointing to for healing. This is a general practice that did NOT always result in the physical healing in the here and now. BUT it was a practice that brought about inner healing… inner peace… deeper faith… restored the soul of the person and reminded them of the Lord who gives ultimate life.)

Should we still practice this? Yes… I’ve done this a number of times, because our reliance is on our Lord Jesus, not on temporary results. Having others pray for you is POWERFUL and life changing!

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen

CONCLUSION:
41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

…. Peter calls the believers back to the upper room, and there before them stands this precious disciple of Jesus Christ. She had been made whole. And you can be sure that whatever medical condition resulted in her demise, that condition was no longer present in her body.

Vs 42-43: 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

…. Again we see the pattern of ‘many’ conversions as a result of a miracle. The Lord knows that the Jewish harvest has to have it’s miracle element, and this is exactly what He provides.

But this is another reason the Jewish people of that time were left without excuse. Signs and wonders followed the apostles. These signs and wonders continued to affirm that Jesus was truly Messiah.

The apostle Paul later writes,

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

(1Cor 1:22-24)