The One Who Heals

Acts 9:32–43 NASB95

32 Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. 35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. 36 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. 37 And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” 39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 40 But Peter sent them all out 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. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

Introduction:

There is no doubt that healing takes place today, or else we wouldn’t pray for it.

As a child, I would pray for silly things: “Don’t let this test be hard so I get a bad grade and have to get a whoopin from dad”

But of course, now prayer means much more to me, than it did when I was being taught around 5 or 6.

Prayer for healing has always intrigued me.

It is indeed God who heals, and He alone. He may use medicine, doctors, or intervene completely on the basis of His will… but it is God alone who heals.

There are many false teacher who sicken me to my CORE, in their abuse of what “seems” like physical healing… and its a SHAM! They abuse the holy name of Christ and put on a theatrical show of PRIDE in their mis-understanding of the text of scripture!!

Taking Isaiah 53… “by his striped we are healed” to say to people: “Your cancer is gone, your speech impediment is gone”… when many of the SAME people died to guess what? Cancer!

The true doctrine of healing is SO needed in our day and age, and may we learn from the ministry of Peter what a true miraculous healing is.

As we begin… only an apostle, and those to whom the apostles laid their hands on (Acts 9:18) have the ability to heal.

It was a sign of the 1st Century Church to VERIFY the authenticity of the gospel message they proclaimed

And there are no apostles today. An apostle must be:

An eye-witness of Jesus Christ

Someone appointed by Christ to be an apostle

Someone who can preform the signs and wonders of the apostles

Dear friends, there is not an apostle alive today on this earth.

What you are seeing in this charismatic, modern faith-healing movement, bears NO resemblance to the miracles we see within scripture.

Peter has been out of the limelight for a couple chapters now… remember Stephen & Saul

The One Who Heals… KNOWS The Sick

Acts 9:32 NASB95

Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.

Traveling

For leisure? No!

Which regions? … V31 says Judea, Galilee, and Samaria

Peter was tied to his mission

As we tie on our shoes each morning, Peter tied on his gospel sandals

Ephesians 6:14–17 NASB95

Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This is what Peter did in every place.

If I were to ask you 2 question: The first being:

Is it important to put a priority on proclaiming the gospel” … YES

Do YOU place a priority on proclaiming the gospel” …

Peter walked the Christian life… but he also taught it.

And without teachers, how can we ever expect our world to hear, or learn the truth.

If you truly care about the salvation of the world, teach them. For faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ

Acts 9:33–34 NASB95

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up.

A man named Aeneas, paralyzed 8 years from an incident not recorded in scripture… is “found”

Baffling to me

No doubt, there were others to be healed in the city… but Peter found Aeneas.

But 2 verses! … that’s it!! Yet what a powerful message we can obtain from it today, that Jesus Christ, HEALS!

He healed a paralytic, but he can heal a far more damaging wound… a wound that no man can heal… that is curse of SIN

And indeed that is the VERY reason our Lords power is demonstrated through Peter…

Not for sake of compassion

Not for sake of his state of health

Not for sake of Peter’s glorification

But for sake of knowing CHRIST! … and His LIMITLESS power… and words of truth.

The one who heals… knows the sick

The One Who Heals… LOVES the World

Acts 9:35 NASB95

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

Ultimately, when you read this passage, may your focus not be on Peter… Paralytic… but on what God accomplished to bring about faith in Jesus.

1) It shows God’s power… his omnipotence

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

2) It shows God’s desire…

1 Timothy 2:4 “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

3) It shows God’s grace… unmerited favor

To bring about a circumstance wherein HE, might be glorified

So those in Lydia and Sharon, turned to the Lord

The act of turning is the act of REPENTANCE!

Their old culture, worship, they forsook, and turned their face from it.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

And the new things to come, are the marks of disciplined life, being a disciple of Jesus Christ! And means:

To forsake sin… and to LOVE, Christ.

Do you remember your first love?

Husbands… your only correct answer is your wife! Don’t want you getting in trouble

But a love has spurn within every Christian heart since the beginning of his walk with God. A love that was initiated before we were ever born… in Creation and in the Incarnation of Christ… but a love RECIPROCATED, in the decision to trust fully in Him for our salvation.

We can never come CLOSE, in fully reciprocating God’s love… but it begins, as it does with those in Peter’s presence

1) With God demonstrating his power through deed or word

2) Forsaking all other means of deliverance and salvation

3) Turning to Christ! And He alone for your salvation!

Have you done it! Have you made the good profession! Have you inherited the kingdom of God and the blessings found in His son!

Lay your life before Him today and turn to the one who knows.. you ..by.. name, and SEE, that indeed, He is good, and worthy to be praised!!

The One Who Heals… RAISES the dead

Acts 9:36–39 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. And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.

Our attention is now turned to the city of Joppa, wherein a Godly woman had just died, because of a sickness

Her name is Tabitha, or in the Greek: Dorcas… an odd name!

“abounding… with deeds of kindness, and charity… which she continually… did”

Abounding means: “complete, full, (in this case) very many”

Her life was consumed!!! With what we would ask?

But first let me ask, if this were you what would it say?

Consumed with what? TV. Work. Kids. Eating… all appropriate things depending on the context.

But what CONSUMES your life!! What ABOUNDS upon the highest peak of your existence!! What in the final analysis, will people say about you and the life that you lived!?

May it be, what the apostle Paul wrote…

Philippians 1:20–21 “that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Tabitha was found in Joppa, before her death, as a faithful, diligent, and joyful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture tells us they washed her body

Heard Peter was near

Called him to their upper room

And widows were found there, weeping with the very items Dorcas made them whilst she was alive

Acts 9:40–41 NASB95

But Peter sent them all out 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; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Prayer is powerful

I don’t wish to call it a powerful tool, or a powerful resource.

But a powerful union, where GOD, HEARS our heart!

Proverbs 15:29 “The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous.”

When is the last time you prayed.

When is the last time (for those who are able) you knelt down on your knees to pray

Which means to request of God, to plead with God, to PRAISE your God!

The miraculous age of the Church has ceased, but is prayer not just as powerful for one in union with God?

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Here we find Peter praying in the upper room…

And after, he turned to a dead, lifeless corse and said:

“Tabitha, arise”

“And she opened her eyes and sat up”

Peter… by the power of Christ on high, raised the dead.

It’s remarkable how closely this moment resembles Jesus raising Lazarus

Lazarus gets sick and dies

Jesus hears word of it

Jesus prays unto the Father

Jesus says “Lazarus, come forth”

Many saw and believed in Him

Is Christ not at work in Peter?!

There is no doubt!! THIS IS the power of Christ, the one who is the self-proclaimed “resurrection and the life” which he undeniably proved by evidence of an empty tomb!

1 Chronicles 29:11 ““Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.”

This story is NOT solely about Peter’s boldness or Tabithas faith… but it is about GOD who in His sheer COMPASSION… RAISED a woman as WITNESS… of His love and desire for all to see… His grace!

The One Who Heals… Is WORTHY of Praise

Acts 9:41–43 NASB95

And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

What joy must have entered their hearts, in seeing her once more.

Not for sake of making them more clothes, I ASSURE you, that be not the case, however it’s possible they joked about it

But joy, for sake of seeing their beloved sister in Christ, and to behold God’s miraculous mercy, on Tabitha… and on them

Conclusion:

Today, and every day we live, God’s miraculous mercy is there to behold. In creation, in redemption, and in the life of the Church… His love and compassion are made evidently clear to those who look.

The one who heals:

KNOWS the sick

LOVES the world

RAISES the dead

& is WORTHY of praise

Did you know, that the power of Christ’s resurrection, is working on your behalf this very moment? You should

Ephesians 1:18–20 NASB95

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

For us who are in Christ, the very power that rose Christ from the gave, is the very power that rips us up from the dungeon of sin.

And no greater joy can be felt, than to see someone, even possibly someone here today, to be raised from death to life in Christ.

The gospel, is simply this:

You are a sinner. And God is a righteous judge. He MUST punish sin,

Therefore God sent His Son Jesus Christ, truly man, truly God

And Jesus lived a perfect life, perfectly satisfying the perfect will of God

And died on the cross, taking upon His shoulders, the wrath of God which we SO deserve…

Having raised from the dead 3 days later… He proved to the skeptic world that He is who He claimed to be, The Son of God

And proclaimed that all who believe on Him, turn from their sins in repentance, confession, and baptism into His death burial and resurrection… you may have the assurance of eternal life

DO you have that assurance today?

God is compassionate God, but His compassion may only be accept whilst we live.

There will come a day when all will give account before the judgment seat of Christ.

May you, when that day comes, be assured upon the basis of your submission to the sacrifice of Christ, that you also, may be told: “Come Forth”

John 6:40 NASB95

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Before it’s too late, come forward this morning and let us pray for you… as we stand and sing