Miracles abound!
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Recap:
Last week we looked at the preaching ministry of Saul in Damascus and in Jerusalem!
We did note that there are many who yes beleive and recieve the message and gift of Jesus.
However, not everyone shares that sentiment!
As Saul preached the truth of the Gospel in Damascus the Jews hated him for it!
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
They went as far as to align themselves with local leadership and government to aid them in their plot to kill the zealous evangelical!
32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,
But gracious was God to Saul and allowed him to be lowered down by the disciples in Damascus to his safety.
Saul would then flee to Jerusalem!
As he tried to join the believers in Jerusalem they were leary of his conversion
After all he was the one who left for Damascus with the intent of persecuting the church
However it Barnabas who came to his side:
He told the Apostles of his conversion on the Road to Damascus
He told them of how he had preached the Risen Christ
How he had fled from Damascus because he was preaching the truth of the Gospel and they wanted to kill him for it!
This was the catalyst for the minstry of Saul beginning in Jerusalem
Scripture records that he would go in and out from the church preaching the truth
That is until they sought to kill him in Jerusalem too!
Saul was so passionate in his preaching that he made many enemies
Because his message was shaking things up in Jerusalem like it did in Damascus!
Because the Gospel declares that the Law cannot save you
Because the Gospel declares everyone a sinner, that there is none who are righteous, no not one!
We must remember that our task in preaching the Gospel is an urgent one!
I came across a quote that summed up this thought well.
“If I am wrong about God then I’ve wasted my life. If you’re wrong about God then you’ve wasted your eternity.” Lecrae
We preach not because people will like us for it
No rather we preach because people are lost and facing eternal punishment in Hell!
The Gospel is the solution to the worlds sin problem!
The Gospel, the truth, about Christ is what will set us free from the bonds of sin and bring us into a right relationship with God!
So preach the truth Christian!
Preach out of a heart of obedience
Preach out of a love of the people God has put around you in this life
Preach even if you are hated, even if it cost you your life because someone elses eternity is at stake!
Introduction:
What I love about the Word o God is that it is so alive!
It feeds our soul spiritually
It directs the state of our minds
It causes us to relfect and think about our life
It convicts us (along with the Spirit of God) when we disobey and go against it
It calls us to action
It is our greatest tool in evangelism
It is the truth that we love because it tells us about Our great and good God.
The Bible, The word of God, really is the greatest gift we have been given by God for our lives with Him outside of eternity!
Whether people love it - trust in it - live by it
Or whether they hate it - try and disprove it - run away from it
It doesnt change that it is the truth!
The Bible reveals the lovingkindness of God, and our Savior Jesus Christ!
How he died for our sin
How he rose again in victory over sin and death
How he is now seated at the right hand of God having ascended into heaven!
The Bible reavels to us through it’s many accounts the power of God!
His interactions with mankind
His awesome power being displayed
His ability to do the impossible!
So this evening as we begin, I want to ask you a question.
Question:
When you read your Bible, how is impacting, changing and challenging you in your life with Chirst?
Do the miraculous things like we aer going to read about tonight, stir your heart? Do they challenge you to want to be apart of the work that God is doing?
Ok that was more than one question but sometimes I can’t help myself!
Peter Travels to Lod (Lydda):
Peter Travels to Lod (Lydda):
32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed.
34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.
35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Now what makes Peter, and the other Apostlse ministry a bit differnt then most in pastoral ministry was the mobile nature of what they did!
They, rather than being the pastor of one local congregation they would travel from local congregation to local congregation!
This was to validate the message of the preacher
Safeguard these young believers against false teachers who would decieve and destroy
To lay hands and bestow the Holy Spirit on new believers (again transitional as we looked at with Philip)
To ordain new ministers and church leaders
Yet his HQ was in Jerusalem
But we open tonights passage with Peter on the move!
He has travelled to Lydda, or Lod from Jerusalem!
Lydda (Lod):
This was a city kind of northwes of Jerusalem
Inbetween the Dead Sea and the Mediteranian
This also was a city started by the tribe of Benjamin
12 The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns,
But the other thing we know is that going into tonights passage is that the Gospel was at work here in Lydda or Lod.
Which is why Peter is going there in the first place
32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
There were saints that were in Lydda
Saints is the term referring to any person who has put their faith in Jesus as savior
Not just a few deemed worthy by men!
Peter’s Encounter:
Peter’s Encounter:
33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed.
For Peter as he arrives he comes to a man named Aeneas
What we know about this guy is...
He has been bedridden for 8 years
He was paralyzed
Matthew Henry elaborates:
His case was very deplorable: He was sick of the palsy, a dumb palsy, perhaps a dead palsy. The disease was extreme, for he kept his bed; it was inveterate, for he kept his bed eight years; and we may suppose that both he himself and all about him despaired of relief for him, and concluded upon no other than that he must still keep his bed till he removed to his grave. Christ chose such patients as this, whose disease was incurable in a course of nature, to show how desperate the case of fallen mankind was when he undertook their cure. When we were without strength, as this poor man, he sent his word to heal us.
I love the way that Matthew Henry here brings this miracles back to not just the power of God at work but also to the grace of God, reaching out to those who were uncurrable!
We like this man were unable to accomplish what we needed most, to be saved!
Needless to say this man Aeneas was about to recieve one of the greatest gifts he could recieve!
34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.
How Amazing and Awesome is this!
Peter comes upon this man in his helpless state
He makes a declaration “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you..”
It was not by any power of Peter’s
It was not by any other name that he was healed
It was in Christ’s name, and in the Power of Christ that Aeneas was healed!
This miracle is the second recorded healing in Acts
The first was in Acts 3:1-10 where Peter and John heal the crippled man just before the hour of prayer!
A Catalyst for somthing bigger!
A Catalyst for somthing bigger!
35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
I believe that God never wastes and opportunity!
There are no accidents
There are no coincidents in life
There are only situations and circumstances where God is at work!
So it is with this miracle in Lydda!
God was doing a work as the Gospel went out from Jerusalem!
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 9:32–35
The gospel was beginning to attract a wider audience, for many in this coastal region were Gentiles. Sharon is the fertile plain along the coast of Palestine, about 10 miles wide and 50 miles long. Lydda was on the southeastern edge of the plain.
This man Aeneas was healed physically and spiritually by the grace of God, but God used this moment in the life of one man to serve as a catalyst when others saw his transformed life to bring many to himself!
I want us to stop and think about that for a moment!
God used again, another ordinary guy, touched by the grace of God to spark a revival in an ordinary place!
What does that say about each one of us?
Our lives have been forever changed by the grace of God!
How is God using your life, your testimony of his life changing grace at work in you, to work in the lives of others?
Do people around you see and know that you have been chaged by grace? That you are child of God?
We need not hide the good work he has begun in us! Now is that time to embrace it, run with it, and let the power of God work in us to work in others as well!
This is the Story of a woman named Dorcas:
This is the Story of a woman named Dorcas:
I will be honest when I first heard this story as young man in high school we couldn’t help but laugh a little because if we are honest anything to do with being a dork mde you laugh!
After all it was the one thing you didn’t to be labeled as in high school
I epically failed at this!
I played tennic
I was in the marching band
And i had probably the worst bowl cut you can imagine!
So it is ironic that I laughed at the idea of Dork since looking back I was the biggest one of them all!
But I didgress as this is not the point here, and not does this womans name have anything to do with being popular in high school during the 90’s.
Setting the Scene:
Setting the Scene:
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.
Joppa:
A seaport village along the mediteranian was not to far from Lydda where Peter was staying and working among the saints there.
The home of a faithful woman full of good works and love
This woman had died!
This was a tragedy for the community as it seems as though she was ell liked and loved
But normally this is where the story ends, or at least it is supposed to!
Not saying that death is easy
Not saying that the families didnt morn
In fact the opposite was happening as she was laid in the upper room of the home!
This was the common space of the house
The cool gathering place where friends and family would have gathered to honor her!
Peter is asked to come to Joppa:
Peter is asked to come to Joppa:
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.
So now some of what we assume are family and friends come and find Peter in Lydda and ask him to come “Without Delay”
They knew there was a possibility that the power of the Spirit at work could reverse this tragedy that was now facing the family
So Peter rose and went with them!
What we know about Joppa:
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Location and Dates and Name
Joppa is located on a low hill overlooking a small harbor on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It is about 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem—within the modern city of Tel Aviv—on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The ancient city was founded on an approximately 115-foot-tall promontory overlooking its harbor. Over the millennia, this hill has grown to about 130 feet due to accumulated destruction debris. Until Herod the Great’s construction of the artificial harbor at Caesarea Maritima, Joppa was the only port between Egypt and Akko, making it a city of moderate strategic importance.
Joppa is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Archaeological evidence has found that the site was occupied as early as 7500 BC. It has been occupied almost constantly from that time until today.
Legendarily, Joppa was founded by Japheth—one of Noah’s sons—after the flood (Coleman, Atlas, 213), giving his name to the city. The word “Yafo” may be a Hebrew corruption of the Canaanite word yafi meaning “beautiful” (Dumper, “Jaffa,” 199). Joppa’s location on the coast, with its commanding view of the beach and ocean, lends credence to this view.
When he arrived he was taken to the upper room where the family was mourning and honoring Dorcas.
In their morning they remembered the amazing woman that she was
They did this by showing off the clothes that she had made
You can picture the memories being shared around each item
what was happening when they recieved it
What it was like to be around her
What it is going to be like now that she is gone
When all of a sudden a stranger enters the upper room!
No doubt this would have distrupted the vibe in the rooms
Conversations would have dropped to a whisper or even stopped
As people wondered who this stranger was who was now in their very personal space.
Was he a friend
How did he know her?
Why was he here?
I think it was that last question that was about to blow their minds when they see what Peter, through the Spirit of God was going to do for them.
Peter Clears the Room:
Peter Clears the Room:
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.
I cannot express just how encouraging the posture of Peter is before the Lord!
He didn’t want this to be a public spectacle in front of everyone
He knelt before the Lord and prayed
I can only assume (since we don’t know the content of the prayer) that he was praying for the Lord’s will to be done here
Submitting himself to the Lord’s will and His name in all of it!
After he had finished praying he turns to Tabitha, and calls here by name
“Tabitha, arise.”
It’s so personal, so intimate when God calls us by name.
Not saying that Peter is God, no not even close
But through Peter here God is doing a work in Tabitha’s life!
He knows her
he loves here
He wants to use her life to further His kingdom just as he did with Peter and every other saint!
As she opens here eyes she sees Peter and sits up immediately!
Peter extends his hand to Tabitha and helps her up off the bed where she was laying!
I almost think what was that like for these people like Tabitha or Lazarus who are brought back to life?
You were with Jesus then he tells you, you have to go back
Again not sure how all that works but it must be surreal to wake up again!
Peter then calles the saints and widows back in!
I don’t believe that Luke was claiming that widows weren’t saint rather woudl have been calling them back in an order of respect!
But we do need to note that the Gospel had reached Joppa!
The truth had been proclaimed and the church in Joppa had been started!
Those who had trusted in Christ surrounding Tabitha were now given a first hand encounter with the power of the Spirit of God at work through the saints of God!
God’s Glory for God’s Kingdom:
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.
It really didn’t take long for something like this to spread around the city of Joppa!
This city withis prominence in Israel now had an Apostle there performing a great miracle
And you bet people going to go around talking about Tabitha
How she had died
How she was having a memorial
How she was now alive again after Peter had prayed over her and told her to arise!
What I love about miracles is that the display the power and might of God, while giving glory to his love and grace!
Every miracle we see in the Scriptures always pointed others to the truth of the Savior!
The same was true here!
“And many believed in the Lord”
Like Jerusalem
Or Samaria
And Now Joppa
God was moving, he was healing and reviving bring etenral life to all who believe!
One miracle begat many miracles in Joppa!
Every person who see the truth is a miracle!
The truth of sin and its consequences
Truth about the Love and grace of God towards them
The truth about the death and resurrection of Christ
When someone believes they are forever changed, they are granted eternal life, they are now a child of God!
Conclusion!
As we draw to a close for tonight and round out this amazing chapter in Acts I want us to consider a couple of things for us to contemplate and apply
How are you responding to the Lord’s leading in your life?
The mission of God for us is that same today as it was that day in Joppa - To preach the Gospel that we might see people saved!
Eery person who believes is a testamony to the Power of God to save!
Let that be the fuel that keeps you going!
It is God who saves through faith in Christ
You just have to submit yoru will to His and let him lead and guide you as you fulfill your part in the mission of the church!