Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction.

If you were with us a few weeks ago, we were talking about the Ferrero Rocher ad where the ambassador offers Ferrero Rocher to his distinguished guests, and we paralleled that with the Kingdom of God, where in the kingdom of God we are offering the world something better than they currently have or are expecting.

We’re going to continue that theme in a sense, because in the book of Acts, it’s all about this theme - the expansion of the kingdom of God and what that means for everyday Christians.

Because, don’t forget, when we commit our lives to Jesus we become citizens of this kingdom, which is a better kingdom…and we serve a better king.

And, if you remember from a few weeks back, as citizens of this kingdom, our thinking needs to change.

We need to think like citizens of this new kingdom.

Our whole outlook on life should change - we are no longer living for ourselves and serving our own desires and wishes - instead, we are living for Jesus and serving HIM and doing what HE desires and wishes.

And that’s what Luke is trying to express in his letter to Theophilus (don’t forget he’s the person Luke is writing to when he wrote the book of Acts).

Pause

And right back at the start of the book, Luke tees this up.

We’re only on chapter 9 now, and chapter 1 seems SO long ago, but in chapter 1, just before Jesus ascends to heaven, he speaks to them about the kingdom of God.

It’s only 3 verses in the book...

For 40 days Jesus teaches his followers about the kingdom of God.

And then they ask him in verse 6...

In other words, they’re asking Jesus - when is this going to happen?

When will we see this kingdom of God in action?

And what WE don’t necessarily pick up is that it IS happening as we go through the Book.

The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost and gives them amazing gifts in order to perform signs and wonders…this is what happens when you’re part of the Kingdom of God.

People receive power, confidence, strength - they’re able to escape prison, heal lame beggars, understand the scripture - and it’s all part of living in the kingdom of God.

But what we need to understand is that these signs and wonders that the Apostles perform have a purpose…they reveal how awesome the kingdom of God is.

They show everyone that if they trust in the preached word of the Apostles, there’s a much BETTER kingdom than what they are experiencing right now.

And so, the signs and wonders are to show people that life in the kingdom of God is so much better than life outside the kingdom of God...

INSIDE the kingdom we have healing and wholeness.

There is understanding and peace and strength and power…

OUTSIDE the kingdom there is death and decay and suffering and division.

Pause

It’s a picture of the garden of Eden.

You see, in the garden of Eden, Before the fall, there was peace, health, wholeness, right relationships.

After the fall, outside the garden, there was death and decay, division, fighting, and broken relationships.

And the POINT is that in the kingdom of God, we are moving back towards that perfection in Eden.

We’re moving to this NEW garden city that John write about in Revelation.

That’s where we’re headed, but we get a taster of it right here on earth as citizens of the kingdom of God on this earth.

We get to experience a taste of that new Eden on earth - we get to experience some of the peace and the power and the strength and the right relationships here on earth… in God’s kingdom.

And our passage today gives us another glimpse of what that looks like.

Pause

Luke gives an account of kingdom living, and the potential that we have as citizens of God’s kingdom…and it’s through Peter’s healing of Aeneas and Dorcus or Tabitha.

And again, if you remember a few weeks ago, we saw how Luke maps Jesus’ life onto the life of the Apostles.

Luke wants to show us that the follower of Jesus will do what Jesus did and live as Jesus lived.

If you remember he did that with the Ethiopian Eunuch and how that event was almost identical to the episode when Jesus meets the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Well, whaddaya know…He does it again here.

The first account is Peter healing the paralysed man.

Let me read it to you again...

Now, listen to the account of Jesus healing in Mark 2...

In Mark 2, Jesus is in a house and it’s crowded.

Some friends come to the house bringing their friend who is ALSO paralysed.

Jesus says a few things, but at the end he says this...

So in both cases, there is a paralysed man, in both cases he is healed using almost the same words.

And in both cases, people praise God or turn to the Lord as a result.

So in both cases, the healing brought people INTO the kingdom of God.

They saw the healing and they turned to God.

In other words, the healing had a purpose.

Pause

Now, look at the next healing Peter did...

Let me read the whole account again...

Now, listen to the account of Jesus healing in Mark 5...

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue, a man called Jairus comes to him and says that his daughter is dying and would Jesus come with him to heal her.

And we pick up the story in verse 35 of Mark 5...

Now in both cases there is a female - one is a girl and the other is older, but the point is they are BOTH female....and the female in each story has died.

Peter and Jesus arrive at the house where there are mourners.

Peter and Jesus both put them out of the room.

Jesus says Talitha Koum.

Peter says Tabitha Koum.

Both take them by the hand and they sit up and are risen from the dead.

Pause

Once again, Luke is showing US, his readers, that the life of the disciple of Jesus, if led by the Spirit and under the influence of the Spirit, will be on the SAME trajectory as that of Jesus…we’ll be able to live more like him and think more like him and ACT more like him.

Pause

But there are some differences in the stories that we should note.

First of all, in Mark 2, Jesus tells the man that he is healed.

In Acts 9, Peter tells the man that Jesus heals him.

Peter realises that HE doesn’t have the power to heal - only Jesus Christ does.

And again, at the house of female who has died...

Jesus simply says to her to arise.

Peter gets on his knees and prays first...

Again, Peter had to call on Jesus’ power to do this.

And we don’t know what he prayed.

Did he pray for her healing?

Did he pray for God’s will to be done?

Did he ask Jesus whether or not this woman SHOULD be healed?

We don’t know.

But he prayed to Jesus, because Jesus is the one who heals - not us.

And also, if we want to see God move in this world, it’s only done through prayer.

But it’s Jesus who does the amazing stuff, not us.

If people believe in the supernatural gift of healing, it could be easy to say, ‘yea, I can heal people.’

NO, no you can’t - Jesus can; not you.

A commentator wrote that we think too much about what WE can do and too little about what Christ can do through us.

And that is SO true.

Even as I am speaking now, it’s so easy for me to think that I’m doing this.

That I have this understanding of God’s word and I’m able to piece together a sermon on it.

I can tell you now, that as a dyslexic, scientist, who struggles with reading and anything literary…this is only possible through the power of Jesus working through me.

And the more I relax INTO that way of thinking, the more reliant on Jesus I will become, and the more of HIS power will be displayed through me.

LONG Pause

Another similarity in both accounts of healing in Acts 9, is that the result is that people turn to the Lord.

There is a REASON for the healing.

And I think this is critical to our understanding of healing and the gifts of the Spirit.

The healing benefitted the kingdom of God.

It wasn’t done for the sake of it.

Pause

Now, I don’t know what you think about supernatural healing.

Some believe it doesn’t happen anymore.