Is He Worth It Acts 9:32-43

Peter Is On the Move

We find that the Gospel is spreading in Jerusalem and people are leaving Jerusalem to take it back to their home towns. These people are starting churches and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Peter is familiar with these people as he refers to them as saints. He travels to Lydda and Joppa. Lydda is about 25 miles north of Jerusalem and Joppa is about 12 miles from Lydda.

Both of these sights are important in Jewish history and hence have many Jewish inhabitants. Joppa is the port city where they offloaded the cedars from Lebanon to build the temple. Lydda was a roadway that they used to deliver the cedars.

Even today Joppa is a very important city. It is now called Tel-Aviv and is Israel’s second most populated city with 415,000 residents.

Peter did not stay in Jerusalem but chose to check on those who had left Jerusalem to go spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians have a responsibility not only to spread the gospel themselves but to teach others to do the same and support them in their efforts.

On Wednesday evenings we are starting a study that teaches you how to do this. In Sunday School you are taught the gospel and how to share it with others.

As you study the Bible daily you are learning the gospel because the Word of God is full of the gospel. When you pray God reveals people that you have opportunity to share the gospel with.

There is no excuse for not sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are not sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others then you are living in disobedience to Christ. It is a sin of omission.

We must get out of our modern day Jerusalem (church) and take the gospel to a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Often times we insulate ourselves from a sinful world because it is uncomfortable to deal with sin and sinful people. It is hard because they have no desire to be holy because they don’t know what holy is. We must be patient and build relationships with people that are lost for the purpose of leading them to Christ.

Where are the lost people in your life? Are they in your family, workplace, social circles, neighborhood, ballpark, school? If you don’t know where they are then you probably are not building relationships with them. You must know where they stand in their relationship with Jesus. If they don’t have a relationship with Jesus then share the gospel with them.

Peter was so concerned about the spread of the gospel that he left Jerusalem and went to encourage and support those that were actively engaging in gospel conversations.

Peter’s mission was to fulfill the great commission. Matt 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

On the way he came across two opportunities to demonstrate the power of the gospel.

Two Opportunities

Peter came across Aeneas and Tabitha. Aeneas was a lost person as indicated by Luke when he says in Acts 9:33

Acts 9:33 NASB95

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed.

Notice Luke refers to Aeneas as “a man”. This is indicative of him being lost. Luke does not refer to him as a brother, saint, believer, disciple or anything else that would lead one to believe he was a follower of Christ. He simply refers to him as “a man”.

The second person Peter encountered was Tabitha. Luke refers to her as a disciple. Acts 9:36

Acts 9:36 NASB95

Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

She was a follower of Jesus Christ and demonstrated her faith by her kindness and charity continually.

Though they were in different places spiritually they were both in the same place circumstantially. They were both in bad spots. Aeneas was paralyzed and bedridden for eight years and Tabitha became so sick that she died. Neither one of these situations are desirable.

Peter handled the situations very differently. Let’s take a look at Aeneas first. Peter approached Aeneas publically and told him that Jesus heals him. Acts 9:34

Acts 9:34 NASB95

Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.

Peter had seen Jesus heal the lame numerous times and knew that he could heal Aeneas. We see Aeneas immediately get up and was completely healed. This healing was not a process but an instant miracle.

Tabitha on the other hand was healed in private. We see Peter praying before raising Tabitha to life. Peter was not going to be presumptuous about what Jesus was going to do in this situation of death. He prayed and sought the Lord’s will before he asked the Lord to raise her back to life.

In both instances Peter sought Christ for the miracle. One was done in public the other in private. On was for healing and the other was for resurrection.

Christ still does miracles today. We must understand that He does them the way He wants and when he wants.

One may look at these two instances and say that the situations were not fair or equitable. For example one may ask, “Why did Jesus allow this man to be sick and bedridden for eight years before he was healed? He could have prevented him from getting sick.” In Tabitha’s case one may ask, “ Why would God let such a good and righteous person like Tabitha get sick and die? She should have been protected from this since she was such a good person.”

The answer to these objections are found in the results. Let’s look at the result of Aeneas miracle in Acts 9:35

Acts 9:35 NASB95

And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Notice that all who lived in Lydda and the neighboring city of Sharon turned to the Lord. They “ALL” turned to the Lord. Was the eight years of suffering worth the salvation of “ALL”? Perhaps it took eight years for “All”the people to know Aeneas situation.

In Tabitha’s situation we see a similar result. Acts 9:42

Acts 9:42 NASB95

It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Many people believed in the Lord because Tabitha was brought back to life. Perhaps it was her death that led people to know the Lord. She was such a good person that everyone loved her. Believers and non believers loved her. Her untimely death caused people to wonder. Her resurrection demonstrated the power of the gospel and caused people to believe.

Was it worth it? YES.

There are many people both lost and saved that need Christians to have enough faith in the miraculous hand of God to supernaturally intervene in their lives. Will you be that person to take the gospel to them? Will you be that person that intercedes in prayer for them?

If you are, then watch what the Lord does in their lives and how he uses you to lead people to Christ. Christ will do miracles through your prayers that will lead others to Christ!