God is on the Move! — Part 2 — The Diligent Disciple
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Church!
It’s good to have each of you here with us this morning.
I hope each of you have had a great week!
This morning, if you have your Bible’s with you, I’d ask you to go ahead and be turning to the Book of Acts and we will once again be in Chapter 9 and will be looking at the final 8 Verses this morning…Verses 36-43.
Now, last week if you will remember, we looked at a paralytic named Aeneas in the city of Lydda and we see how Peter healed this man through the mighty name of Jesus.
And we also seen how the life of Aeneas was a picture of a lost person and how that only Jesus can make any of us whole.
We seen a man with a problem that he couldn’t fix.
We seen a man whose condition was helpless and hopeless until he heard of Jesus.
And then we see a man whose life was changed forever because of Jesus.
And what I want to say this morning is this…maybe you’re here and you feel helpless, or hopeless…maybe you feel like your life has no purpose or you’re searching for something to fill a void in your life.
Listen, your life will never change, those feelings will never go away until you trust in Jesus like Aeneas from last week.
Peter told Aeneas, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ make thee whole: arise and make thy bed!”
And this morning, I want you to know that only Jesus can make you whole as well!
And if you are here and God speaks to your heart and tells you that you need to be saved, if you feel the Holy Spirit of God tugging on those heart strings of yours letting you know that you are lost, do like Aeneas did and rise up and put your trust in Jesus!
Peter told Aeneas to arise in the name of Jesus but Aeneas had to put his faith into action and trust in the healing power of God and you must do the same here today.
Trust in Jesus and He will make you whole!
So, last week we seen a picture of a lost person.
This week, we’re going to see the life of a believer.
And again, just like last week, on the surface it don’t seem like there’s a lot there but when you get to diving deeper, we’re going to see a lot of things each and every one of us that have been born again can probably take and apply to our lives.
With no further ado, if you have your Bible’s turned to Acts 9:36 would you say, Amen.
The Testimony of Tabitha — (Vs. 36)
The Testimony of Tabitha — (Vs. 36)
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
The Distinctness of this Disciple — (Vs. 36a)
The Distinctness of this Disciple — (Vs. 36a)
The Bible starts us out here by telling us here in the city there is a “certain” disciple named Tabitha.
Now, if you will remember, last week read about a “certain” man named Aeneas, right?
And as I mentioned in the introduction, we looked at how Aeneas' life was a picture of a lost person.
Well this week, we’re looking at the life of Tabitha and how that her life is a representation of what a Saint’s life ought to look like but…the point I don’t want you to miss is this...
Last week we talked about how God knows the very names of every single person and how that each and every individual is precious to Him and how He wants a relationship with all of us, right?
Well, today I don’t want you to miss the fact that God isn’t just concerned with the lives of the lost but He’s also concerned with the lives of His born again children, Amen!
There was a “certain” disciple named Tabitha at Joppa.
God new Tabitha’s name.
God new Tabitha’s lifestyle.
And God new most importantly, Tabitha’s heart!
And God was seeing the work this lady was doing for His Kingdom, Amen!
Now, with that being said, I want you to know this morning that God also sees the work you are doing for His Kingdom or lack thereof!
4 Doth not he see my ways, And count all my steps?
21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, And he seeth all his goings.
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry.
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And he pondereth all his goings.
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
There was a “certain” disciple named Tabitha in Joppa! She was a distinct disciple! And her life had caught the attention of the almighty!
But not only do I want you to see the distinctness of this disciple named Tabitha, I also want to take a brief moment here and touch on…The Definition of Her Name.
The Definition of Her Name — (Vs. 36b)
The Definition of Her Name — (Vs. 36b)
The name Tabitha/Dorcas means Gazelle.
And I find this a very fitting name for this lady and as we will see, the testimony of her life shows us why.
Have you ever seen a Gazelle?
They favor a deer but are smaller in stature and if you’ve ever seen one run they are extremely fast!
Wikipedia says they can run in bursts as high as 60 mph and if you’ve ever seen one on TV they make it look very easy!
It goes on to say, the etymology of the very name is appreciated for it’s grace and became a symbol most commonly associated in Arabic literature with human female beauty.
Now, physically we don’t know if Tabitha was a beautiful woman or not but what we can see from scripture here is that she had a beautiful heart for the Lord!
Look on down with me at The Dedication of Her Life in rest of Verse 36.
The Dedication of Her Life — (Vs. 36c)
The Dedication of Her Life — (Vs. 36c)
The Bible says here that Tabitha’s life was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
When the Bible says here that her life was “full” of good works and almsdeeds…the word “full” used here is (plērēs) and it literally means “filled up” or “completely & totally full!” ]
Tabitha may or may not have had natural beauty but she had a beautiful heart for the Lord that was constantly helping those less fortunate than herself!
The NLT puts it very nicely I believe...
Acts 9:36 (NLT) — She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor.
“Always” — what an amazing testimony!
We could all take some notes from Tabitha’s life huh?
Just imagine someone was writing a biography of your life, what would they say about you?
Would they say, “that person was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor.”
Would they say, “that person was a Godly man/woman.”
Would they say, “that person was always shining the light of God in everything they did!”
Tabitha had dedicated her life to the work of the Lord and listen friend, if we want to catch the attention of the almighty, we too should be busy for the Lord!
On Wednesday nights we’ve been studying in the Book of James and James is very straightforward about our work for the Lord.
He says in...
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
If we are born again this morning, the world ought to know we are by the life we’re living!
There should be some works to back it up!
Tabitha had no trouble in this area! She was a dedicated disciple of God whose works definitely backed up her faith in the one she called Lord!
We see the Testimony of Tabitha’s life.
Next, I want us to look at...
Her Troubling Situation — (Vs. 37a)
Her Troubling Situation — (Vs. 37a)
Now, we don’t know how exactly she died other than the simple fact that the Bible tells us she got sick and died.
But as I was studying through this yesterday something jumped out at me that I don’t want you to miss.
The Bible says here… “And it came to pass in those days.”
Now, that may not seem significant to most people but don’t miss the (3) O’s of God here.
His Omniscience — God knew where Peter would be.
His Omnipresence — God knew there was a Saint in need.
His Omnipotence — God gives Peter the power to raise the dead!
God again had a much bigger plan than anyone anticipated and just like last week where we seen the healing of Aeneas and how is wasn’t as much for Aeneas as it was the people who would trusted in the Lord after his healing, the healing of Tabitha that we are about to see if a few minutes here wasn’t as much for her as it was for those who could come to the Lord because of the miracle that God was about to do!
Think about it…Tabitha was better off dead than alive…amen!
It reminds me of what Paul said in...
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
She was with the Lord already! She had heaven in view! No more heartache; no more sorrow; no more strife!
But God wasn’t done with Tabitha just yet!
He needed her to continue the Kingdom work she had begun and not only that, she had been such a faithful servant he wanted to honor her life by performing such a miracle on her that her name would live on forever!
We’ve seen her Testimony.
We’ve seen her Troubling Situation.
Now, let’s look at Her Trustworthy Friends!
Her Trustworthy Friends — (Vs. 37b-38)
Her Trustworthy Friends — (Vs. 37b-38)
Now, what we see here speaks a lot about the character of Tabitha’s friends.
The Bible says here that when she died they washed her and laid her in an upper chamber.
What you need to know is that this was not the normal custom.
Chuck Swindoll — This was highly unusual for a couple of reasons. First, they had no means of preserving the body from decay, so the normal procedure would have directed them to apply an initial coating of spiced resin to the body and then place it in a burial cave.
A day or so later, they would complete the burial by wrapping the body in strips of linen soaked in as much as 100 pounds of spiced resin to contain the smell during decomposition. But they didn’t even complete the first stage of burial preparation; instead, they merely washed the body.
Second, they placed the body in a space normally reserved for dining or for housing special guests. Deliberately placing a dead body where people sleep or eat simply wasn’t done!
Now, what I think we see here is Tabitha’s friends faith in action!
Could they have just wrapped the body in spices, said some nice words and laid her in a tomb?
Sure they could!
But her friends had a greater expectation!
They loved their dear friend so much that they were willing to exhaust every measure imaginable before giving up!
Lydda and Joppa were only about 10 miles away from each other and no doubt, the miracle of Aeneas had spread that far by word of mouth.
Hearing of the miracle and how Peter had been the instrument used in the healing, they said, “Hey, let’s send someone to see if Peter will come see if there’s anything he can do! Maybe, just maybe God will be merciful to us!”
So, they send two men to Lydda and they plead with Peter to come and help them.
Now, I want to hit on a point here before we move on.
Prayer can move mountains, Amen?
Tabitha’s friends believed this and they were willing to go as far as they possibly could for their dear friend.
We need to take a page out of Tabitha’s friends book this morning.
17 A friend loveth at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
We need to be there for our friends like Tabitha’s friends were for her!
The Bible says there, “A friend loveth at all times.”
The good times and the bad.
And a brother is born for adversity!
A friend is most important in the troublesome times, Amen!
When the gates of hell have opened up to blast you and things aren’t looking so good; when you think that you’ve hit about as low as you can possibly go, that’s when a true friend is needed most, Amen!
Tabitha had some really good friends who cared about her very deeply.
Be a good friend today.
Pray for your friends.
Be there for them when things get tough.
Most importantly, in whatever situation you find yourself in, let the light of Jesus that shines within you shine for all the world to see!
Tabitha had some trustworthy friends who thought very highly of her and we see that next here in...
The Touting of Her Work — (Vs. 39)
The Touting of Her Work — (Vs. 39)
The Bible tells us here that Peter obliges their request.
He hadn’t no more than got there when all the little widows that Tabitha had been such a blessing to grab him and say, “Peter, come look at all that Tabitha did! She was such a blessing!”
This touting of her work and the one’s doing the touting speaks volumes about the kind of woman Tabitha was.
The Bible says in....
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Pure religion…genuine religion…religion instilled within the heart of man/woman to do accomplish the will of God!
Tabitha’s life was an example of what a born again believer’s life should look like!
Keeping busy with Kingdom work and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world!
We’ve seen her trustworthy friends.
We’ve seen the touting of her works.
Now, let’s finish it out by seeing The Triumph of Their Faith!
The Triumph of Their Faith — (Vs. 40-42)
The Triumph of Their Faith — (Vs. 40-42)
The Separating — (Vs. 40a)
The Separating — (Vs. 40a)
Peter follows the example that he had seen when Jesus raised Jairus daughter from the dead.
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
Just as Jesus had put everyone forth from the room save Jairus, his wife, and Peter, James, and John, Peter puts everyone out of the room so he can get down to business.
He was NOT interested in making a scene of her healing as these prosperity preachers do today.
They are in it for filthy lucre as Paul would tell young Timothy.
But not Peter. The only thing Peter was in it for was the glory of God!
So he puts all the people forth so he can get one on one with God.
Jesus said in...
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Peter needed some privacy in order that he might get one on one with God so he puts all of Tabitha’s trustworthy friends outside the room and then look at...
The Supplication — (Vs. 40b)
The Supplication — (Vs. 40b)
The Bible says here that once Peter got everyone out of the room he kneels down and begins to pray.
It wasn’t that very long ago when he would see his Lord pray this same way in the garden of Gethsemane.
Peter gets down, he gets humble before God and then the Bible says he prayed.
As simple as this may be, it’s the most significant action in this entire verse for without supplication, without prayer, without getting one on one with God, Tabitha would have never been raised from death!
The most simplistic action that we so often taken for granted when faced with great problems and great decisions in our own lives.
How many times do we try to go it alone?
We try to fix it ourselves?
We try to do this thing called life without the help of the very giver and sustainer of life?
Jesus told His disciples in...
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
We use prayer as a backup plan when in reality it ought to be our preliminary plan!
If we’d just start every day with God and ask for His guidance, His protection, His provision, His presence, His power!
If we’d just learn to lean on Him instead on the power of ourselves, our lives would be so much easier!
Jesus said A.S.K.
Ask
Seek
Knock
On Wednesday night just a few weeks ago we seen in...
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
So often when we do pray, when we do ask God for something, we ask with wrong motives and therefore never receive because we ask wrong to begin with!
When you ask God for something, make sure it’s not a selfish request!
There’s nothing wrong with praying for yourself or your family but what I mean is simply this…don’t be praying you can win the lottery because you want a big fancy mansion!
Ask according to God’s will but most importantly a.s.k.!
The Summoning — (Vs. 40c)
The Summoning — (Vs. 40c)
This was the same command that he had witnessed his Lord say to Jairus daughter when Jesus raised her from the dead!
The Sitting Up — (Vs. 40d)
The Sitting Up — (Vs. 40d)
The Tarrying of Peter — (Vs. 43)
The Tarrying of Peter — (Vs. 43)
Are you being a diligent disciple this morning?