What Only Jesus Can Do

Last week we witnessed the earthquake moment of Saul’s conversion and the first ripples of his transformed life and witness.

Jesus has taken the chief persecutor and made him a preacher;

the one who scattered the flock is now sent to gather sheep from all nations.

But in Acts 9:32, the camera swings back to the apostle Peter

- to show us how Jesus is preparing the whole church,

Not just Saul, for their mission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

And todays two episodes also reveal the way the gospel advances: 

It advances through yes the great apostles, but also through bog standard (meaning) ordinary believers.

But it is neither the apostle or the bog standard Christian that is to be celebrated in these passages.

It is Jesus,

as we see that:

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

You hear it in Peter’s words to the paralysed Aeneas—“Jesus Christ heals you” (Acts 9:34).

You see it in the raising of Tabitha as Peter consciously walks the footsteps of Jesus.

You see its purpose in the result—“many believed in the Lord” (Acts 9:42).

And you see it in our church here today.

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

1) The Living Lord Heals (Acts 9:32–35)

Acts 9:32 NIVUK

As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda.

The phrase “the Lord’s people” (literally “the saints”)

tells us that there is an existing community of believers

- berfore Peter gets there.

Lydda is towards the coast from Jerusalem, about 30miles in distance, and about 7 miles form the coast.

And there are believers already there, presumably because of the persecution of Chapter 8 that meant

Acts 8:4 NIVUK

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

The risen Christ has been building His church through bog standard Christians,

and now an apostle comes among them

—not to replace their witness, but to strengthen it.

Not to despise the “anonymous” ministry of the saints;

But honour it.

It’s easy to look out at celebrity preachers, and incredible missionaries,

And think I’ll leave it to them.

But you and I can be encouraged today - bog standard ordinary saints

- Christ delights and will to use us for his glory.

but on with the text:

Acts 9:33 NIVUK

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

eight years is a long time - clearly no human remedy or treatment could help him.

A few of us here know the powerlessness of being very ill,

of having no relay earthly hope of recovery.

Those of you who do have something to teach us,

For your harrowing physical state reminds each of us of our natural spiritual state.

All without Christ are powerless and paralysed by sin.

Left to ourselves hopeless.

But without outside help?

Acts 9:34 NIVUK

‘Aeneas,’ Peter said to him, ‘Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.’ Immediately Aeneas got up.

Peter heals Aeneas?

No, look again,

Peter refuses to be centre-stage.

He names the Healer: Jesus Christ heals you.

those present would be in no doubt!

Jesus is alive!

The same Lord who healed the paralytic in Galilee (in Luke 5:24) continues His work through His servants.

Acts 1:1 told us the Gospel Book of Luke recorded what Jesus began to do and teach;

Acts records what He continues to do and teach—by His Spirit, through His people.

There is a straight line from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the risen ministry of Jesus through the apostles and then through his Word to even us today.

Jesus is not dead, he is risen,

and he is not risen and removed, but risen and reigning in power.

“Immediately Aeneas got up”

Luke loves that word “immediately.”

Becasue Jesus’ word is effective, powerful, immediete!

When He speaks, reality obeys.

And what is the purpose of this miracle?

Acts 9:35 NIVUK

All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

The miracle points beyond itself to Christ.

Sharon was a the fertile coastal strip running north toward Caesarea.

You think your land is fertile, look how fertile the gosple of Jesus is!

ALL turned to the Lord!!

I wonder where our confidence is when it comes to peoples spiritual paralysis? 

What will save people, heal people from sin, deliver people

- what will attract people to Jesus?

Technique, charisma, programmes, great worship experinces?

‘Jesus Christ heals you’ is the church’s only boast.

In preaching, counselling, visiting the sick, discipling new believers, we are servants of a living Lord.

Jesus heals - not Peter the apostle, not you or I, not the church,

Jesus!

For a time Jesus used apostles to heal physically to confirm the new covenant message - the gospel of Christ.

And we no longer have apostles or see the paralysed walking, or the dead raised to physical life again.

And those who struggle with severe illness are a very painful, agonising example and reminder to us all - we all are spiritually even worse off.

We must pray for and support those suffering,

But that must also include a reminder to all - We need an eternal spiritual healing from Jesus alone.

The NT is clear,

every conversion is a healing, a resurrection even.

Hearts dead in sin stand up and walk.

Addictions that felt like iron bars get broken.

Shame that glued souls to the bed of despair is lifted.

Eternal condemnation at the hand of an angry God for our sin is given new life in Christ JEsus!

When the name of Jesus is preached, life begins.

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

from that snapshot of Church life in Lydda,

We now get a snapshot from Joppa ,

now on the coast, a port town in modern day tel aviv, and our 2nd point:

2) The Living Lord Raises the Dead (Acts 9:36–41)

Acts 9:36 NIVUK

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.

Luke introduces Tabitha with dignity and warmth.

She is a disciple—a learner of Jesus—

and her life seems very ordinary, but generous and full of love:

good works, acts of mercy, care for the vulnerable - for the widows as we learn in v39.

Good works don’t save, but they do display salvation.

as James 2v17 says, Faith without works is dead.

And if A tree is known by its fruit; Tabitha’s life is a bumper harvest of Christlike kindness.

Acts 9:37–38 NIVUK

About that time she became ill and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 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!’

We assume some have seen, or certainly heard of the miraculous powers of the apostles- so maybe, just maybe.

Acts 9:39 NIVUK

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

What a scene.

Dorcas’s love is tangible

—she’s stitched her love into garments,

wrapped it around lonely shoulders,

woven it into the churches body.

The church is poorer for her absence.

What a great reminder to cherish those with gifts of compassionate practical care for the needs of those in our church.

Acts 9:40 NIVUK

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

Seems like an odd process, but

Peter’s actions and details matter.

Remember those 3 key details

Clear the room, pray, Tabitha Get up.

Now keep a finger in acts 9 and turn with me to Mar 5v35.

Mark 5:35–41 NIVUK

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).

Peter is very deliberatly demonstrating that Jesus is the only one with power to raise the dead.

The only differnce with Acts is Jesus isn’t there in body,

so Peter prays to Him instead!

Even the words seem a deliberate play on words.

In Mark Jesus says: Talitha Koum - little girl get up

In Acts Peter says: Tabitha Koum - Tabitha - get up!

The same power—now exercised by Jesus from the right hand of the Father, through His servant.

Acts 9:41 NIVUK

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.

The new creation has broken in.

And as we thought about earlier,

we may not see the dead raised physically

- For the apostles have been and confirmed their message in the Word of God once and for all time,

So that, spiritually and eternally, all who renew and believe may be made a new creation.

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

3) The Living Lord Multiplies His Church (Acts 9:42–43)

Acts 9:42 NIVUK

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

Luke keeps the spotlight on the Lord.

The miracle is not an end in itself;

it is a sign pointing to Christ,

and the sign accomplishes the purpose of signs—faith. “Many believed in the Lord.”

Faith is actually the greatest miracle by a long stretch in this passage - because it is the one that endures into eternity.

And it’s not immedietly obvious, but the final verse shows just how wide the gospel has made access to God.

Acts 9:43 NIVUK

Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

A tanner—was a trade considered ritually unclean because it handled animal carcasses—

And Claire Reynolds told me they soak the skins in urine!

but in Christ Jesus - all are welcome.

The Lord who raises the dead also breaks down barriers.

As we saw with Saul last week

- Jesus can save the worst of sinners,

the furthest from holiness,

And even the one with the dirtiest smelliest job that we would rather avoid!

From the dorcas’s to the outcasts

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

Pause

It struck me as i prepared just how many ‘normal applications’ come out of this text that are incredibly helpful for us today.

Applications

Confidence for Ordinary Saints

Peter arrives to find “the Lord’s people” already in Lydda (Acts 9:32). That’s how gospel movements normally work.

Most of the evangelism in Acts is not done by apostles but by believers on the move.

The apostles demonstrate the key turning points,

But the rest is done at Your kitchen table, your office desk, your WhatsApp threads—these are the “roads” where the risen Lord spreads His word.

Take confidence that you are key to Jesus’ plans.

We don’t need a personality on a platform - we need Bog standard saints like you and me.

Ministry in Jesus’ Name

The words “Jesus Christ heals you” are key to Peter’s evangelism (Acts 9:34).

We too should name the healer in our evangelism and ministry.

In counselling, say His name.

In youth work, say His name.

In service leading, preaching, evangelism, anchor hope in His name.

We are not secular clinicians offering generic help;

we are heralds and helpers of the living Christ.

The Church that Lifts the Weak

The text dignifies widows (Acts 9:39) and a woman whose ministry was practical and precious (Acts 9:36).

A church shaped by Acts will take special care of the vulnerable among our number and to value compassionate generous servants who care for them.

I for one am very grateful and impressed with those of you who demonstrate this sort of care, thank you. PCT -

Home groups looking out for one another,

the Dorcas’s among us who are always ready and willing to help and love practically for people.

You serve the church and Christ, while freeing the elders to teach the Word.

Thank you, and keep going.

Praying Before Doing

Peter kneels before he commands (Acts 9:40).

prayer is not a prelude to “the real work”; it is the work by which we confess our dependence and invite the Lord to display His power.

Prayer is Ministry.

Courage in the Face of Death

Tabitha’s raising is a sign, a promise that every Christian funeral will be reversed.

Jesus will call every saint by name. He knows how to say Talitha Koum, or “Child, arise” in every language of every cemetery.

Therefore we comfort the grieving with Christ; and live your days with fearlessness.

Stretching Hospitality

“Peter stayed…with a tanner named Simon” (Acts 9:43).

Who is your “Simon the tanner”?

Who feels unclean to you—culturally, socially, politically?

The gospel will ask you to sit at tables you once avoided.

Because In Christ Anyone can be clean.

But let us end back in Joppa,

It’s where the OT prophet Jonah once ran away from God’s command to preach salavtion - from this very port (Jonah 1:3).

Peter is about to face a similarly uncomfortable challenge from God, in chapter 10.

He will teach him to call no person common whom God calls clean.

To Welcome in the gentiles!

Will Peter jump on a boat to run away?

No,

The Christ who heals paralysed bodies and raises beloved saints

is the Christ who makes the unclean clean 

and gives the nations His Spirit.

From Lydda to Joppa to Caesarea to Worcester Park, He remains the same:

The risen Lord Jesus still does what only He can do — bringing life through His powerful name.

Just to close,

Perhaps you feel like Aeneas—stuck, powerless to change, paralysed by sin or shame. Hear the word of the living Lord: “Jesus Christ heals you” (Acts 9:34). Come to Him in repentance and faith.

John 11:25 NIVUK

25 Jesus (says) …, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

Pray