The People God Uses

PRAY

INTRO: It’s true, I’m no Simon Peter. Peter is not your Average Joe Christian. Peter is one of the unique Apostles chosen by Jesus and given unique authority, unique spiritual empowerment, and unique influence. He’s even first among equals of the small band of Apostles! It’s true, I’ll never be Simon Peter.

But do we see the unique ministry of the Apostles (and of others during this transitional phase when the church of Jesus Christ is first being established) and just read it for information and entertainment but not for application?

So I’m not Michael Jordan. I’m not Lionel Messi. I’m not Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani. But as an athlete, do you just give up and that’s that? … What is it about their hard work and discipline, about their intelligence and understanding of the game that I can emulate?

I’m not Leonardo DaVinci. I’m not Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But what can I learn about their process and their understanding that can make be a more effective artist or musician.

If that’s true about us learning from remarkable people in any area of life, how much more should we seek to apply what we find in the lives of the people God is using for his purposes?

Without thinking that we have to try to have a ministry that looks exactly like Peter’s, what can we learn from Peter about living under Jesus, and for Jesus, and like Jesus?

Acts 9:31–43 ESV

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

Although we cannot be Peter, we learn from this pair of miracles to model our hearts and behavior after the kind of people we see God using in his word.

There are other people the Lord uses in this text as well, so we don’t want to overlook them either.

That’s where we’re going today. I want you to walk away being able to spot the things in Peter’s life that you can copy and apply, and I desire for you to be encouraged that God uses a variety of people in a variety of ways.

A Pair of Miracles in Context

1. It’s helpful to note, from the prior context, that here we have the sort of church growth described in v. 31. (the church at peace and being built up… fearing the Lord and comforted in the Holy Spirit… and the church multiplying)

2. Also, there’s no question that this serves to set up, to build towards, the significant, pivotal events in chapters 10&11.

- [map] This ministry we see today is already beyond Jerusalem, toward the coastal plains of Sharon (just as Philip’s ministry was in Samaria, and Peter and John came to him there). The first miracle now in this section is in Lydda (but has impact on people from the whole region), and the second in Joppa. After today we’ll leave Peter staying in the home of Simon, a tanner. It will be at such point that Peter learns that there are yet prejudice barriers to be broken down for the gospel of Jesus to go forth “to the end of the earth” (Ac 1:8)—not just to Jews in diaspora wherever they may be, but to all peoples everywhere.

- Peter is uniquely positioned, by the Lord, to help the church learn the chief lesson of this broader section. For the sake of the whole church, Peter learns beyond a doubt that Jesus is for the Gentiles also. Jesus doesn’t belong exclusively to the Jews, but his salvation is for all people (of any language or ethnicity... who will come to God through faith in him). (See Ac 10:34-36, 43)

But, at this point, we are focusing on Luke’s inclusion and careful description of these two miracles in Peter’s ministry.

3. So, a third big-picture contextual cue, is to note that it can’t be an accident how closely Peter’s ministry here parallels the ministry of Jesus.

-In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus heals a paralyzed man who had been lowered through the roof, telling him to “rise, pick up your bed and go home.” Peter here heals a man and tells him to rise and make his bed. Peter also healed a paralytic at the Temple gate called Beautiful in chapter 3.

Similarly, Paul’s ministry carries forward this parallel, as his first recorded miracle in Acts is also healing a man who was crippled from birth (Acts 14:8-10).

-In Luke 7 Jesus raises a young man from the dead who was the only son of his widowed mother (Lk 7:11-17), and in end of chapter 8 he raises Jairus’s daughter, saying, “Child, arise” (Lk 8:43-56). Luke’s parallel to this is no accident, because when Peter prays first and then raises this woman from the dead, he says, “Tabitha, arise.”

I’m just gonna tell you right now that there’s another crazy coincidence (that you will likely be convinced is providence rather than coincidence). Mark 5 records that same miracle by Jesus this way:

Mark 5:41 ESV

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

Jesus spoke this in Aramaic, so Mark also gives a Greek translation. If you haven’t already found a footnote in your Bible for this, Tabitha is an Aramaic name, and Dorcas is her Greek name, both words meaning “gazelle.” But the similarity of the Aramaic word for little girl, talitha, and Dorcas’s name in Aramaic, Tabitha… I mean.

Anyway, Paul’s ministry too has a parallel that authenticates Christ’s continued work through him as an Apostle, where Paul raised a young man named Eutychus from the dead when he fell asleep and fell out a window to his death (Acts 20:7-12).

These parallels are an intentional move by the author, and we are meant to notice the similarity to Jesus’ own miracles of this kind (and probably also the miracles of the prophets, especially Elijah & Elisha, 1 Ki. 17:17–24; 2 Ki. 4:18–37). David Peterson rightly points out, “[Peter’s] Christ-likeness is highlighted ‘at a moment when his authority is decisive to Luke’s argument’.” (The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 320.)

So back in the last part of Acts 9, Luke gives us two miracles that the Lord does through Peter in his itinerant ministry during this period of peace and growth for the church (v. 31). The section is indeed about how Jesus is using Peter. But even as the author establishes the unique position and role of Peter, he sets forth an example for us to follow.

How the Lord Uses Peter (& Us)

I want you to walk away from this knowing that, even though you can’t be 21st-century Peter, you can be used of Jesus like Peter if you will take the same approach to life as Peter. God blesses Peter’s pastoral and evangelistic endeavors; so what can we learn from Peter’s model of ministry, a model he has patterned after the ministry of Jesus?

Peter is about the Lord’s business, beyond his personal comfort.

What we see straight away is that Peter has an itinerant ministry at this time (a traveling ministry), shepherding and spreading the gospel (both pastoral and evangelistic). - Christians are strengthened, and “many turn to the Lord” (v. 35), “many believe in the Lord” (v. 42). He is strengthening and sharpening believers, sensitive to the needs around him. And he is spreading the good news (that Jesus is the perfect and only Messiah/mediator, and Jesus lives as reigning and returning Lord).

-Peter was a family man who likely had transferred his family at this point from Capernaum in Galilee to Jerusalem, where the church began. But here we see him traveling to strengthen the new churches and to continue proclaiming the gospel, and to do whatever he can to help.

-In the second miracle, we also find Peter responsive beyond his own comfort by being willing to travel 10 miles on short notice, and no doubt in a hurry, to get to Joppa, where Tabitha has died.

For ministry to take place in the body of Christ and out from the church, we must be willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of others.

[repeat sub-title]

Peter is compassionate and sensitive to the needs around him.

-Like Jesus, Peter has compassion on Aeneas, who, for reasons unknown to us, has now been paralyzed for 8 years.

-When Peter is approached hours away from Joppa to come help, he immediately departs from Lydda and goes with them (v. 39a).

You can’t preach truth unless you are preaching Jesus Christ and the truth of his word because you care about people responding rightly to God. And you can’t serve as a shepherd unless you care about people and will make sacrifices to help them in their need.

This posture is not only applicable to folks like me who are serving as under-shepherds, but to all of us who are in Christ. May we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18) in such a way that we are compassionate and caring, sensitive to the needs of those around us. If we are not intentionally making efforts to think of those around us, we will default to thinking mostly of ourselves and will miss the needs of others, miss opportunities to encourage and build up and witness.

Peter never presumes to do anything in his own power or for his own glory.

-Where several (all?) of these other items in this list are just like Jesus, this one is different, because Peter knows he isn’t Jesus. Peter invokes Jesus’ name to heal Aeneas. Jesus simply spoke from his own authority as God the Son. Peter only tells Tabitha to arise when he has prayed, undoubtedly confirming that it was God’s will to do so, and trusting only in God’s power to bring her back to life.

-The goal is always the glory of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The point of these miracles is for people to turn to Jesus, not Peter. We worship God, not Peter.

Here I’ll quote Eckhard Schnabel: “The attention that Christian faith healers solicit, and receive, stands in stark contrast to Peter’s attitude and his demeanor. Before he prays for Tabitha’s resuscitation, he clears the room of all who were present (while contemporary faith healers “perform” on a stage and in front of television cameras!). (Acts, Expanded Digital Edition., Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 471.)

Just as [repeat subtitle]… so too…

Peter’s focus remains on the power of Jesus to spiritually transform people.

-What is the purpose of these miracles? The text makes plain the purpose of these miracles by highlighting their outcome: “and they turned to the Lord” (35), “and many believed in the Lord” (42). It’s no coincidence that such is deliberately emphasized both times.

The purpose of these miracles is to draw attention to the saving power of Jesus and to picture the spiritual work of Jesus in saving. See Peter’s words in Acts 4:10, as he and John stand before the Sanhedrin because they healed the paralyzed man at the temple gate:

Acts 4:10 ESV

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

And see 4:11-12.

It doesn’t stretch the imagination to presume that this is the kind of thing Peter said regularly in order to press forward the opportunity to present the gospel… to draw people’s attention to the fact that Jesus is capable of being a much greater healer than they yet imagine. The sacrifice of Jesus and his resurrection means that he can forgive sinners and grant spiritual life, making full and complete restoration to God possible.

Is all of our ministry for the purpose of drawing attention to Jesus? And does all of our ministry ultimately aim to help people see the glory and the grace of God in the gospel? We’re leading people to understand what God has revealed to us: I can’t; God can. What I am powerless to do, God does through Jesus Christ. It is all of his grace, and for it he receives all the glory.

Now,

Peter is indeed kinda like the Michael Jordan of the early church, but even MJ can’t be MJ without teammates.

Peter is simply obeying his Lord to fulfill the role God has given him in the body, but he would be under no misconception that he’s the only one God is using. Remember, this whole context in Acts is about Christ building his church and what Christ is doing in and through the church. So we dare not overlook the ‘the others’ Jesus is using too.

How God Uses ‘the Others’

In what other ways can we be used by God?

Aeneas - healed so that others might be saved

-We are told that Tabitha is a disciple, so we know that she was already a follower of Jesus. But with Aeneas, we don’t know for sure bc the text isn’t clear. What is clear is that many others trust in Christ because of this miracle performed on his behalf.

-Our lives are a walking billboard proof that Jesus transforms sinners (enemies of God) and makes them children of God. Living proof that what we are powerless to do, Jesus can and does do for us.

Tabitha (Dorcas) - servant-hearted helper (also raised so that others might be saved)

-This was a sweet lady who was active in ministry to help others. (v. 36b, v. 39b) Tabitha was a graceful gazelle in the body of Christ because she served willingly with what God had given her.

-People die all the time, but Tabitha was raised so that others might be saved. Just to state the obvious: Did she exercise great faith to have this miracle performed on her behalf?)

Two Runners - more service-oriented ministry

Somebody’s gotta fetch Peter. -Is this a job that needs doing? How valuable, how essential, does it turn out to be?

-You might even make an argument here for the administratively-gifted disciples here who think, “Hey, Peter’s in Lydda. Let’s send for him.”

Simon the Tanner - hospitable and generous

Simon Peter I can’t be, but Simon Tanner, that’s my speed. (I’m messing around, but seriously, consider how God used this other Simon.)

-He opens his home to a travelling teacher, giving him a place to stay, and providing for his daily needs, no doubt. Hospitality and generosity. And hospitality is more than just having people in your home, although it definitely is that. Hospitality is a posture of caring concern and welcoming openness, and generosity is a desire to give of our own resources with a heart to help others and of wanting our resources to be devoted to the Lord’s work.

Ok, so we’ve highlighted four things about the way the Lord uses Peter that we can apply to ourselves, and we drew attention to four other individuals or groups in the text that God uses in various ways that we can relate to as well.

To Be Used of the Lord (Like Peter & Others)...

Don’t limit yourself to my closing thoughts here, but this is my effort to help you make sure that we be doers of the word and not just hearers only (Jam 1:22). (Some of you will think of additional principles and applications, and that’s fantastic.)

To be used of the Lord, we must first be in Christ.

-The spiritually dead are raised and given spiritual life. The spiritually lame walk and the blind see. It is true that God must do this for us, but we are also commanded by him, “Repent, and believe the gospel.” (Mk 1:14-15)

To be used of the Lord like Peter, we must not confuse ourselves with Peter.

-How can we accurately deduce what we should learn for our own lives from Peter’s life and ministry unless we can admit what distinguishes Peter from us?

-While we ought not go around telling paralyzed people to get up and walk, we are commanded to pray (and even ask the Elders to pray), trusting that God can heal and will do so if it is his will.

(Similarly) To be used of the Lord, we must submit to the Apostles’ teaching. (not going beyond God’s word as well)

-We dare not separate the activities of the Apostles from the teaching of the Apostles (1 Jn 4:1-6).

To be used of the Lord, we must have hearts to care for God’s people and spread the gospel.

To be used of the Lord like Peter, we must trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and not ourselves.

To be used of the Lord like Peter, we must desire to elevate Christ and not ourselves.

To be used of the Lord like Peter, we do not pursue personal gain but the welfare of others.

To be used of the Lord like Peter, we must pursue God’s will over our own comfort.

You might be able to think of more angles to add to this list. But here’s a final thought:

God’s people should be joyful and content to be in Christ and to be used by him. Period. Our prayer should be that God will give us joy in belonging to him, and a passion to be used by him in any way that he sees fit. That should be fine with us, because it’s not about us. It’s about him.

LET’S PRAY.

---