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This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.
If you’re new to MCF, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what the Bible means in our lives today.
With that said, we are currently doing that through the NT book of Acts. A book written by a disciple named Luke for two primary reasons:
First, to give us a history of how the church started.
Second, to give us a template for how Jesus wants us to accomplish the mission of taking the gospel to the entire world.
To date, we have covered the first 8 chapters in this study, so if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life where you can listen to messages leading up to today.
Today however, we will be finishing out chapter 9 as we come back to the second of three stories surrounding the Apostle Peter.
If you’re not familiar with the Apostle Peter, he was one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus. And of the 12, he was probably one of the closest to Jesus.
We know this because on many occassions when Jesus would go off to pray or minister, he would sometimes only take 2-3 disciples with him. And of these 2-3, Peter, James, and John were typically included in that group. Which meant at times Peter, James, and John were privy to information the other disciples weren’t.
And so like we said last week, if you wanted to know WWJD, what would Jesus do, Peter would be a good one to ask because he spent a lot of time with Jesus.
And this is probably why Luke focuses in on these particular stories, because in many respects these stories represent “What Jesus Would Do”, specifically when it comes to the subject of Evangelism.
And when I say Evangelism, I’m talking about the responsibility of every Christian to share their faith with people who don’t know or haven’t heard about Jesus. A responsibility that goes back to something Jesus instructed his disciples to do right before he ascended into heaven. So, going back to , listen to what Jesus says concerning Evangelism:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus says until He returns, our job is to be His witnesses as we take the gospel literally to every person that lives on the planet.
The Apostle Paul echoes this command in as he writes:
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Paul says the only way people are going to hear about Jesus is if they are witnessed to. And the only way they are going to be witnessed to is if people like us, who already know Jesus, are willing to tell others about Him.
All that to say, the evangelization of the entire world is the primary mission Jesus has given us.
The question then is, “What would it take to do that?” In other words, what would it take to reach every person on the planet with the gospel? Because let’s just be honest, that feels like an overwhelming and daunting task. So what would it take.
Well, as we learned last week, like most great endeavours, we have to start small. We have to start with some manageable bites. And Jesus knew that, because that’s why he said it starts in Jerusalem. In other words, it starts where you live. It starts in the community you’re a part of.
we have to start with some manageable bites. And to do that, we have to start where we live.
And so last week, in order to answer the question, “What would it take?”, we started by asking the question, “What would it take to lead every person that lives in Marshall County to faith in Jesus?” And as we learned through the story of Peter and Aeneas, it would require at least three initial steps.
“What Would It Take? What would it take to reach every person on the planet with the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
Well, as we
First, it would require each of us to be committed to proactively sharing our faith. In other words, it’s one thing to say, “I want to reach people for Jesus”. But it’s another to actually be committed to doing it.
Like we said last week, it’s the difference between wanting to learn a foreign language like Spanish and actually committing learning the langue. For it to happen, it’s going to require a commitment of effort and time.
So, if we want to reach Marshall County, everyone of us has to be willing to make a commitment to day by day proactively share our faith.
Second, it would require us to be willing to reach the most broken people in our community. For Peter, it was Aeneas. A man who had been paralyzed for 8 years. A man society had written off as hopeless. A man others had discarded and given up on.
So, why did Peter seek out the most broken person? He sought him out because Peter knew it would be through the most broken person that the power of Jesus would be most displayed. Because if Jesus can heal the most broken person living in a community, imagine what he could for everyone living in that community.
And it must be the same for us. If we want to reach our county, what better way to do it then by showing that Jesus can heal and transform the most broken person in our county. The individuals society has written off. The ones that others view as hopeless. If Jesus can transform them, and He can, imagine what he could do for anyone that would put their faith in Him.
Finally, it would require you and I to believe that Jesus can work in and through anybody he wants. To believe hat despite our own brokenness and our own deficiencies, that Jesus can and will work through us. To believe we are the “Peter’s” of our day.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Paul says Jesus uses broken people to reach the broken. He uses people who don’t have it all figured out. He uses people like you and me.
So, those are the initial steps we have to be willing to take. And my prayer is that individually and as a church, we would be willing to take those steps.
But we can’t stop there. In order to maximize our evangelistic efforts, we have to be willing to ask another “What would it take?” question. A question that on the surface will probably sound personally impossible and improbable to most of us here today. But a question that we need to know the answer to if we want to accomplish the mission that Jesus has given us.
So, what’s the next “What would it take?” question? The question is found in our text this morning. So, before I present the question to you, let’s take a moment and read through our text as Peter continues his evangelistic tour. Beginning in verse 36, listen to what Luke tells as he introduces us to this next story. Luke writes:
36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 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.” 39 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. 40 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. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.
Acts 9:36-
Wow, what a story! What a miracle. Peter has definitely taken it to the next level. I mean it was amazing to watch Peter heal a man who had been paralyzed for 8 years. But this is off the charts as he now raises a dead woman from death to life, which then leads to many people putting their faith in Jesus. Peter has definitely hit it out of the park.
Now, at this point, some of you may be putting two and two together, and you might be thinking, “Hold on Pastor, surely your not going to suggest that we need to be able to raise people from the dead, are you? Pastor, I hope you’re not suggesting that in order to lead people to Jesus, we need to be able to perform such a miracle? Surely not pastor?”
That’s exactly what I”m suggesting. I’m suggesting the next “What does it take?” question we need to ask and know the answer to is, “What would it take to raise a dead person to life?” What I’m suggesting is if we want to reach “many people” for Jesus , then like Peter we need to be able to take somebody from death to life.
Now, I when I say that, you might be thinking, “Pastor, what have you been smoking. Pastor, did you just hear what you said? Because pastor that’s impossible. There’s no way I could do that. And I’m going to tell you right now pastor, if that’s what it takes to reach people for Jesus, then I’m out because what your suggesting is crazy.”
“But pastor that’s impossible. There’s no way I could do that. So if that’s what it takes to reach people for Jesus, then I’m out because what your suggesting is crazy.” And that is where you would be wrong. And my goal this morning is to prove that to you. My goal is to show you that God has called you and equipped you to raise dead people to life.
And that is where you would be wrong. Because that’s exactly what God wants to do in and through you. Like Peter, He wants to use you to raise dead people to life. And my hope is, by the end of this message, you’ll not only believe that, but that you’ll be willing to engage in it.
Some of you are like, “Pastor, not going to happen. I’m sorry, but I’m just not buying it.”
That’s ok. All I ask is you give me until the end of the message before you totally dismiss this idea.
Can you do that for me?
Ok, so, here’s what I want to do. To help explain and prove the application of this passage in your life, I have two goals this morning:
Goal #1 - My first goal is to give some explanation to this passage. And to do that, we’re going to take a few minutes and walk back through this passage so we can get a better idea of what’s really going on here and what led up to Peter raising this woman from the dead.
And so here’s w
Goal #2 - My second goal is to help us understand how this story applies to our lives, and why our understanding of this passage is critical if we want to lead many people to Jesus.
The problem, the response, the solution.
So, to get us started, let’s take a few moments and get some context as we walk back through the passage. And to do that, we are going to break the passage into three sections. We’re’ going to call the first section “The Problem”.
So what’s the problem? Luke tells us:
“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...” (ESV)
36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.
Luke says the problem is that somebody has become ill and died.
And the fact is, that’s a universal problem. A problem that none of us are exempt from and everyone of us will have to deal with.
36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.
Because like it or not, at some point everyone in this room is going to deal with the death of someone we love, and at some point, somebody who loves us is going to have to deal with our death. There’s no way around it. It’s a universal problem. And in this case, it’s the death of a woman named Tabitha.
So, who was Tabitha? Well, we don’t know a lot about her, but from what Luke tells us, she was a really good woman:
A woman who was known for good works and acts of charity.
A woman who had been a blessing too many people.
A woman who would obviously be missed by those who knew and loved her.
A woman, who out of the blue, became ill, and died.
This then leads us to the response. Listen to what Luke tells us:
This then leads us to the response. Listen to what Luke tells us:
This then leads us to the second section of the story. We’re going to call this section “The response”. And it’s a two part response. Listen to how Tabitha’s friends first responded to her death. Luke writes:
“…and when they washed her, they laid her in an upper room.” 7b (ESV)
At first glance, it would appear the response of her friends is a typical response. Because they did what most of us would do. They cleaned the body and placed it in a room for viewing. And then they called people to mourn.
But what we need to understand is, in the Jewish culture of the first century, this isn’t what people typically did.
Yes, they would clean the body in preparation for burial. That was normal.
But rarely would they put a body on display for an extended period of time.
Why not? Largely for health reasons since they didn’t embalm bodies then. And in the dry and arid climate of eastern Israel, decay would set in quickly, and so the goal was to clean the body and get it in the tomb as quickly as possible. Because in Jewish culture, there was nothing more unclean than touching a dead body.
Acts 9:36-
But that’s not what Tabitha’s friends do. Instead of burying Tabitha, they place her in an upper room and put her on display for several hours.
So a good question would be, “Why did they do that? Why did they break with the custom?”
What I would like to suggest to you, is the reason they didn’t bury her right away, is because they couldn’t accept that she was gone.
And the proof of that is in the fact that they were unwilling to bury her.
This leads us to the second part of their response, Luke tells us:
This leads us to the second part of their response, Luke writes:
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.” 8 (ESV)
Luke says as they sit there distraught and unwilling to accept that Tabitha is dead, they hear that Peter is in Joppa. And they hear the news that Peter has just healed a man who has been paralyzed for 8 years. And so in their unwillingness to accept Tabitha’s death, they send two men on a 3 hour journey to find Peter and bring him too Joppa. Why Peter?
Well, they hope Peter can do something about this. After all, he just healed a paralyzed man, so maybe he can heal Tabitha. Maybe he can restore her back to life. And so they send for him.
They hope Peter can do something about this. That if he was able to heal a paralyzed man, maybe he can heal Tabitha. Maybe he can restore her back to life. And so they send for him.
Acts 9:
So, how does Peter respond to their request? Luke tells us:
39 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.
“So Peter rose and went with them...” (ESV)
Luke says upon finding him and hearing about Tabitha, Peter agrees to go with these two men, and together they walk for another 3 hours from Lydda to Joppa. Which means, 6-8 hours have passed since Tabitha has died.
What happens next? Luke writes:
“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.” (ESV)
Luke says as Peter arrives he is quickly taken to the upper room where the body of Tabitha lies. And as he stands there, with great emotion, Tabitha’s friends begin to tell Peter what an amazing woman she was. They show him the garments she had made for them. They talk of her many wonderful attributes.
What’s their purpose in doing this? Their hope is that Peter will sympathize with their pain. And maybe, just maybe that Peter would deem her worthy, as somebody worth saving. That Peter might be willing to do something miraculous and restore their friend back to life. Because if anybody could do it, it would be Peter.
So, a good question would be, “Why are they so confident in Peter?” Probably because Peter had been in a situation like this before with Jesus. The story is found in both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel accounts. Listen to how Luke describes the situation in :
Luke
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.
49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.
You see, their hope is Peter can do what Jesus had done. Peter has been a part of something like this before. And now their hope is that like Jesus, Peter can restore their friends life as well.
So, what does Peter do? This leads us to what were going to call “The Solution”. Luke writes:
Acts 9:40-
Acts 9:40-
40 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. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
“But Peter put them all outside...” (ESV)
40 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. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
Notice what Peter does first. Following the pattern of Jesus, he begins by asking everybody to leave the room.
Why does he do that? We don’t know for certain. It could be in that moment he asks himself, “What would Jesus do?”, and then he thinks back to the incident with Jairus’s daughter, and he remembers what Jesus did first. So, he starts by asking everybody to leave. That’s possible.
Or it could be the weeping and wailing of Tabitha’s friends is a little overwhelming, making it hard for him to focus. So he asks everybody to step out.
But in my opinion, the reason he asks people to leave is rather obvious. Because listen to what Peter does next:
“But Peter put them outside, and knelt down and prayed...” (ESV)
“…and knelt down and prayed...” (ESV)
He asks them to leave because he needs to pray. Why does he need to pray?
He’s praying, because as we learned last week, Peter understands the only one that could possibly resuscitate this woman is Jesus. That Jesus is the only one with the power to do that. So before he does anything, Peter gets on his knees, and He goes to the one who has the power to heal this woman.
So, what does he pray? We don’t know. But more than likely he’s praying something like, “God what do you want me to do? God, what do I do next? God how do I handle this situation?”
Reason #2, it’s possible Peter doesn’t know what to do. Maybe God has brought him there to raise her from the dead, or maybe not. Or maybeGod’s brought him there to consult the family in their time of loss. Peter doesn’t know for sure. So before he doesn anything, he gets on his knees and seeks guidance. He asks the Lord to direct him and show him what to do.
Why would he pray that? Probably because Peter doesn’t know what to do at this point.
Because who know, maybe God brought him here to raise her from the dead, or maybe not.
Or maybe God’s brought him here to consult the family in their time of loss. We don’t know. And neither does Peter.
So he does what we should all do when we need direction and don’t know what to do. He gets on his knees and he prays, and he goes to the one who has the power to act, and he seeks guidance.
What he does know is that Jesus has the answer. So before he doesn anything, he gets on his knees, he goes to the one who has the power to act, and he seeks guidance. He asks the Lord to direct him and show him what to do.
And apparently the Lord answers his prayer. Because as Peter prays, an answer comes, and Peter acts. Luke writes:
40 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.
Acts 9:
Luke says after praying for a period of time, Peter turns, looks at the woman, and tells her to get up. And miraculously the woman opens her eyes, looks at Peter, and then sits up.
Now, I don’t care who you are, that would be a little startling. But apparently, it doesn’t startle Peter. Because Luke writes:
41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
Luke says as the girl sits up, Peter helps her get up off the bed, and calling for her friends, he presents her to them alive.
What a miraculous moment!
But the miracle doesn’t stop there, because as word begins to spread, and people begin to hear about what has happened, Luke writes:
42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
Luke says as a result of Tabitha’s restoration to life, many people put their faith in Jesus.
What an amazing story! A story of a woman being raised from death to life. A story of salvation as many people put their faith in Jesus. It doesn’t get any better than that!
So, a great question at this point would be, “How does this apply to us?”
As I said a few moments ago, I believe it applies in exact same way for three reasons:
Why? Three reasons:
#1, Because the problem of death still exists. That hasn’t gone away. People are still dying.
#2, The response to death is still the same today as it was then. It’s a tragedy nobody wants to deal with.
#3, While death is inevitable, the solution to overcoming death remains the same.
Because that’s what this miracle represents. It highlights the universal problem of death, but it also gives us the answer to the universal problem. And the answer is Jesus.
Because from a symbolic standpoint, what this miracle represents is the ultimate power of Jesus to overcome the universal problem. The problem of death. A death that not only separates us from loved ones, but more tragically, a death that separates us from our creator.
Because that’s what sin has done. It’s the root of the universal problem. Sin has brought death. It’s what has separated us from God, which is what hell is.
I don’t have time to tell you all the stories, but I know missionaries who have witnessed and performed such miracles.
I know a lot of people like to think of hell has a fiery hot place. And I think it is
But what is going to make hell hell isn’t the heat. It will be the fact that a person is separated from the presence of a good God for eternity. That’s hell.
And that’s ultimately why Jesus came, so that the power of sin could be broken and so that death could be defeated. The Apostle Paul puts it like this:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
As a result, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says, because of what Jesus has done through His death and resurrection, death no longer has a hold on the person who puts their faith in Jesus.
Now, does that mean that Christinas won’t die? Of course not. Tabitha was a Christian and she died. What it means though is when we die we don’t die.
In other words, when while we may die physically, because of Jesus, we won’t die spiritually. A death the Bible refers to as the second death. A spiritual death for those who haven’t put their faith in Jesus.
In Jesus puts it like this:
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
That’s what Jesus saves us from. And ultimately, that’s what this story represents. It symbolizes Jesus’s victory over death and his ability not only to restore physical life, but to give us eternal life. That’s what the Apostle Paul is talking about when he writes:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus has provided us with a way to escape the second death. And it comes as we put our faith in Him.
And this is where the application for us comes into play. Because like Peter, we too have been called to lead people from death to life. But our calling isn’t so much to raise people from physical death, as it is to lead them from spiritual death to eternal life.
And like Peter, we too have been called to lead people from death to life. But our calling isn’t so much to raise people from physical death, as it is to lead them from spiritual death to eternal life.
And please don't get me wrong. By saying that, I’m not saying God couldn’t use you or I to raise somebody from physical death. That’s entirely possible. While the media doesn’t report it, that still happens in countries all over the world, especially in third world countries where medicine isn’t as prevalent. If you don’t believe me, talk to Bob Huff after service. He was a missionary in Vietnam and he’s witnessed such things.
What I’m saying is, while raising somebody from physical death like Peter did would be an amazing miracle, leading somebody from spiritual death to eternal life is a far more important miracle, Because that’s the greatest restoration of life. Jesus calls it being born again. And for you and I, that’s what this story is all about.
Because whether you realize it or not, that’s what Jesus has called you to do. To lead people from death to life. To lead them to Jesus. To introduce them to the one who has the power to deliver them from spiritual death and give them everlasting life.
The question then is, “What would it take to do that? What would it take to lead somebody from spiritual death to eternal life?”
Based on this story, I’d like to suggest it requires three things:
First, an acknowledgment of the problem.
Second, an appropriate response to the problem.
And finally the right solution to the problem.
Let’s start with the acknowledgment of the problem, and I would state it like this:
In order to lead somebody from death to life, we have to be willing to acknowledge they are spiritually dead.
You see, what we often forget as Christians, is that we live in a world where we are surrounded by people who are spiritually dead. People who don’t know Jesus. Family members, friends, co-workers, who if they died today, would experience the second death and be eternally separated from God.
And to be honest, I don’t think a lot of Christians give much thought to that. Why not? I would say for a number of reasons:
For some, quite honestly, they just don’t care. They’re focused on their life, their own needs, their own problems, and their own spiritual state. As long as they have their ticket to heaven, they’re good. Which in my opinion, says much about their lack of spiritual understanding.
For others, and I think for a majority of Christians, they just don’t want to believe it. Because after all, they’re family member, friend, or co-worker is a good person. And good people don’t go to hell, right? So instead of acknowledging their spiritually dead, they just assume their goodness is good enough.
No, they haven’t always gone to church. No, they haven’t always done the right thing. No, they don’t always live like a Christian should. But they said a prayer one time. They got confirmed as a child. They got baptized. And they’ve done some good deeds over the years. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t go to heaven when they die. All in all they’re a really good person.
It’s the good person myth.
But here’s the problem with the good person myth. The reality is, good people don’t go to heaven. Want to know how I know that? Listen to what Paul tells us about this. In Romans 3 he writes:
10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
Paul says good people don’t go to heaven because no one is good. Not even one.
Think of it like this. If you were good enough to get into heaven, then you would never die. Why wouldn’t you die? Because death is the result of not being good or righteous enough. And that’s why everybody dies. Because they’re not good.
That’s what James was talking about. In he writes:
That’s why Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death...” (ESV)
Based on this story, I’d like to suggest it would requires an acknowledgment of the problem, a response to the problem, and a solution to the problem. Let’s start with the problem, and I would state it like this:
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
That’s why Tabitha got sick and died, even though she was a really good person. Because listen again to what Luke tells us about her:
“She was full of good works and acts of charity.” (ESV)
The word for “full” here in the greek means to hold or contain as much as possible; having no empty space.
Meaning, Tabitha was ripe with goodness and good works. Better than most. As good as they come. But guess what, she still died. Why? Because she wasn’t good enough to escape death.
Here’s what we need to understand. When a person dies, they don’t go into a holding room. They don’t go to a place to get prayed out. They don’t go to the pearly gates and see Peter. So, where do they go? The writer of Hebrews tell us:
Like Tabitha’s friends, it should
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
The writer of Hebrews says, when a person dies, they automatically go before Jesus for judgment. And contrary to popular opinion, that judgment has nothing to do with how many good works you did, how good you were, how often you went to church, where you went to church, whether you were Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or whatever other label you want to attach to your faith. At death, all that goes out the window.
How do I know that? Because that’s what Jesus tells us. Listen to what Jesus says about that judgment:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus says on the day a person dies, on their day of judgment, there will people who stand before Him and try and use their goodness and good works to convince Jesus they are good enough. So, they will say things like:
But Jesus I went to church almost every Sunday.
Jesus, I went to Sunday School growing up.
Oh, and Jesus, I went to Sunday School growing up.
And Jesus, I was a good Catholic, a good Protestant, a good Christian. Just ask anybody and they’ll tell you.
Jesus, I was a good Catholic, a good Protestant, a good Christian. A good whatever.
Oh and Jesus, don’t forget I even volunteered at the Back To School Bash.
And Jesus, I put money in the bucket every time it passed.
Not only that, but I volunteered down in the kids area every other Sunday.
Jesus, I did a lot of good works and did a lot of good deeds in your name!
And it’s at that point Jesus is going to say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Wow, that seems harsh. What’s Jesus’s problem? Why would Jesus say that after all they did for Him? Because salvation isn’t about what we do for Him, it’s about what He did for us.
And the reason Jesus will say to some “I never knew you”, is because while they tried to be a good person and prove themselves to God, they never put their faith in Jesus. They never made Him Lord of their life. They never submitted completely to Him. They never had a relationship with Him. Because it’s not your righteousness that gets you into heaven, it’s His. And the only way you receive that righteousness is through faith in Jesus. Paul writes:
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Paul says
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Here’s the bottom line. If you want to lead somebody from death to life, you have to be willing to acknowledge they are spiritually dead. That if they haven’t put their faith in Jesus, and if they havne’t made Him Lord of their life, then they’re going to die in their sin, and unfortunately experience the second death.
Jesus puts it like this:
24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Church this is the reality of sin and death. It’s black and white. It’s why Jesus left heaven, came to earth, and gave his life for us. He doesn’t want us to die in our sin. And so he paid the price so we wouldn’t have to.
This leads us to our response to the problem. And I would state it like this:
In order to lead somebody from death to life, it better bother us that they are spiritually dead.
In the case of Tabitha’s friends, it really bothered them that she was dead. Bothered them to the point that it literally made them sick with sorrow. Bothered them to the point that they weren’t going to rest until something could be done.
24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
And spiritually speaking, the same should be true for you and me.
For example:
Jesus says anybody who dies without putting their faith in Him, dies in their sin. And that my friends is a tragedy. Because to die in your sin means to experience the second death.
Bother you to the point that your unwilling to accept it and willing to go to great lengths to do something about it.
It should bother you that your co-worker, whose a really good person, is spiritually dead.
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It should bother you that the friend you grew up with and care about, is spiritually dead.
It should bother you that your brother, sister, mom, or dad is spiritually dead.
And if you think I’m trying to step on your toes, I am. Because it’s just that serious.
Because if we truly want to lead somebody from spiritual death to eternal life, it has to bother us that they are spiritually dead. Otherwise, why would we even bother.
It should bother you that your classmate is spiritually dead.
It should bother you and keep you up at night to know that if any of those people died today, they’d die in their sin, and they would be eternally separated from God. That ought to eat at you to the point that your unwilling to accept it and willing to go to great lengths to do something about it.
And let me just say this, if it doesn’t bother you, then something is wrong with your faith. Because either you don’t really believe Jesus is the only way or you’re not in tune with what’s important to God.
Because if the Spirit of Jesus is living in you, then you should care about what God cares about. And God cares about people.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That’s the heart of God. And it should be our heart as well.
This then leads us to the solution. And I would state it like this:
In order to lead somebody from death to life, we have to see Jesus as the only answer to the problem.
As Tabitha’s friends struggled to accept her death, they realized the only solution was Jesus. So they sent for Peter, hoping he could help their friend.
And while Peter had spent a lot of time with Jesus, Peter knew there was nothing he could do. So, after arriving he got on his knees, and he asked the one with the power to save to guide him.
And what was true for Peter, must be true for us as well. Because if we want to lead somebody from spiritual death to eternal life, we have to see Jesus as the answer. Jesus himself said:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So, wow do we do that? How do we lead somebody to Jesus?
#1, we have to recognize without Jesus’s help, we can’t lead them to the truth. The fact is, you can’t force somebody into faith.
For example, in most cases it’s very difficult to convince someone that what they grew up believing or what somebody taught them isn’t true or doesn’t line up with the Bible.
The fact is, your words don’t have the power to soften their heart.
And as a result, in many cases, your logic, your argument, and your attempts to share your faith are going to fall on deaf ears and may even lead to anger and animosity between you and that person. And that can be discouraging.
And that’s where we have to stand back and remember that this is a spiritual battle, and spiritual battles for souls aren’t won in the physical realm, they’re won in the spiritual. The Apostle Paul writes:
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Paul says it’s only through the power of Jesus that such battles are won. Which means:
#2, if you want to lead somebody from death to life, it starts on your knees.
It starts as you begin to pray and ask the Lord for his guidance and help.
It starts as you ask the Holy Spirit to soften your friend or loved ones heart.
It starts as you ask the Lord to guide your conversation by giving you wisdom and discernment.
It starts as you ask the Lord to go before you and open doors of spiritual opportunity.
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
It starts as you get on your knees and ask Jesus to bring your spiritually dead family member, friend, or co-worker to life.
That’s what Peter did. I mean imagine if Peter had walked in the room and not prayed. Not asked for guidance. Not relied on the power of Jesus. Do you think it would have gone the way it did? do you think Tabitha would have been restored to life? I don’t.
But Peter knew the answer was Jesus, and so he started there. He started on his knees. And the same must be true for us.
I love how the Apostle Paul describes this dependence. In he writes:
1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Paul understood it’s by the power of Jesus that people come to faith. A power that He works in and through us as we rely on Him to lead and guide us.
So, if you want to lead somebody from death to life, it begins on your knees.
As the worship team comes and as we close this morning, I think this message requires a response from all of us. And I say that because nobody in this room is above the universal problem of death. We’re all going to have to deal with it. At some point, everyone we know and love is going to die. And at some point, you’re going to die. The fact is, we all have the same problem to deal with.
So, the question then is, what’s are response going to be to that problem?
Well, it probably depends on where you’re at with Jesus.
Because if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus, you actually face a greater problem. Not just the problem of physical death, but the problem of the second death. A spiritual death that comes for those who die in their sin outside of faith in Jesus. For you, the problem is eternal.
But the good news of the gospel is that there’s an answer for that problem. And the answer is Jesus. Because Jesus did something for you that you can never do.
First, He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, and lived a life you couldn’t live. A perfect life void of sin.
Second, He died a death you deserved. On the cross, he paid the penalty for your sin. He took your place.
Finally, because He had no sin, because He actually was a “good person”, death couldn’t hold him, and he rose from the grave.
And because of that, he can now offer eternal life to anybody that would put their faith in Him.
Paul puts it like this:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
And what that means then is, if you’re willing to admit you’re not good, that you are a sinner, and put your faith and trust in Jesus, and make Him Lord of your life, then you too can have the gift of eternal.
The question is, “Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to admit your need for a savior and put your hope and faith in Jesus?”
If you are, I want to invite you to come up front so I can pray with you.
Alter Call:
For those of you who do know Jesus, my challenge to you today is that you would embrace God’s call on your life. The call to lead people from death to life. And that you would respond in three ways:
First, that you would face the reality that many people you know and love are spiritually dead. And that unless you or someone else leads them to Jesus, they’re going to die in their sin.
Second, that you would become bothered by that fact. That you would get a burden for the lost. That you would be willing to go to great lengths to make sure your family member, friend, or co-worker has an opportunity to meet Jesus.
Finally, that you would begin the process of leading somebody from death to life on your knees. That you would begin to pray for that family member, co-worker, or friend. That you would begin to ask God to guide you. That you would ask the Lord to give you spiritual wisdom and power to lead them from death to life.
Because at the end of the day, this is a spiritual battle for souls that requires spiritual weaponry. A weaponry that comes as you fight on your knees.
Let’s Pray
And so to set up where Luke is taking us today, I want to begin by asking you
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
So, a good question would be, “Who are we supposed to tell?” Well, thankfully, Jesus answers that question for us. Listen to who Jesus says we are to take the message too. In Jesus says:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus says our target begins where we live and extends out to the rest of the world. Meaning, that