May I please God to bless his
words as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 9, and we'll consider this evening from verse 32 down
to the end of the chapter. And this section, as we've read
together, shows to us how the Lord healed through his servant
Peter, Aeneas, and also brought back to life Tabitha. And as we consider these two
accounts, one thing is very clear and stands out and is so important
for us to recognise that through these blessings, which were brought
to Aeneas and to Tabitha in a natural way, the greater result was that
many people were brought to a believing knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful thing that
is to consider, and how important it is to consider. It is really
the most important thing and the vital thing. We are thankful,
are we not, when people are healed naturally, but the greater blessing
is to see those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And therefore, That really is
the great theme as we come to the end of this chapter. And
so it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters,
he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. Now he'd
been on a journey coming from Jerusalem to Lydda, some 35 or
so miles, quite a long way in those days, and yet the Lord
ordained that Peter should come to this very place and there
We read, he found a certain man named Aeneas which had kept his
bed eight years and was sick of the palsy. Quite clearly this
man was a very ill man. He'd been in his bed for eight
years, he hadn't been able to get up particularly and go around.
He was confined there, he was really ill. And we observe the
Lord brought this man to this place and Peter at this time
to this place. And Peter then came to him. And we see how the Lord quite
clearly had worked in Peter's heart and given him that inner
knowledge to believe that the Lord would heal this man, Aeneas. And so he comes and addresses
him in this way. And he says, Jesus Christ maketh
thee whole. Arise and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. When the Lord works, the work
is done. It was done, in the case of this
man, in a natural way. How much greater is it when the
Lord does these things in a spiritual way? When the Lord comes and
says, He maketh thee whole. When the Lord cures us in a spiritual
way, brings life within, then We recognise it is, as it was
here, the work of God. No one had been able to cure
this man. He'd been there for eight years. And then Peter comes,
and with just these few simple and yet all powerful words, blessed
by the Holy Spirit of God, we realise the outcome. As he said, Jesus Christ maketh
thee whole. It was Jesus. who made him whole. And my friends, only Jesus that
can make us whole in a spiritual way. Now, the blessing is that
Peter, he couldn't claim any great virtue for this. He'd just
been the tool. The Lord had just seen fit to
use Peter in this way. But it was Jesus Christ that
made this man whole. And although today, perhaps preachers
are used to Bless one another. We must always realise it is
the work of the Holy Spirit. It's nothing in ourselves. We
have no power ourself, but bless God, He does. And as we consider
that, we realise how important it is that comes to pass, because
God will have the honour and the glory. And I'm sure any who
are used in this great work are so thankful. It is so. that the
great God should have and is worthy of all honour and glory. And so we have this account as
Peter came and spoke these words and we read, and all that dwelt
at Lydda and Sarum, which was the surrounding area, saw him
and turned to the Lord. It must have been a wonderful
occasion, wasn't it? Through this man being raised
from his bed, And the effect was, as we read here, and all
that dwelt at Lydda and Surran saw him and turned to the Lord. Those who came and recognised
this man had been healed. It was a miracle. How was he
healed? Through the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that simple action, that
simple blessing produced a wonderful blessing upon so many people. well we know that our God is
able still to do great things today and we pray it may be so
through perhaps a very simple thing there may be a wonderful
blessing poured out upon many people and all that dwell at
Lydda and Saron saw him and turned to the Lord and then we read
now there was a Joppa and that wasn't very far away from where
Peter had been here. It wasn't far away. Now there
was a joppa, a certain disciple named Tabitha which by interpretation
is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works
and alms deeds which she did and it is clear from this little
account that this woman was full of doing that which was good
and upright and honourable And these works that she did were
for the honour and glory of God. She spent her time, as it were,
in helping other people, in making garments for other people. And
no doubt, and how true it was, she was looked upon as somebody
who was very important and very blessed in that neighbourhood.
And it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died,
whom when they had washed they laid her in an upper chamber
and for as much as Lydda was nigh to Joppa and the disciples
had heard that Peter was there they sent unto him two men desiring
him that he would not delay to come to them." Now it would appear
from this therefore that the blessing which had occurred at
Lydda had been noised abroad so that these people in Joppa
were aware of what had occurred and now this good lady Tabitha
had been taken and had died and their concern was that she might
be brought back to life and therefore they sent for Peter and it's
good so often we read in the Word of God that when this occurred
people moved immediately then Peter arose and went with them. So he didn't He didn't say, well,
I don't think I should go, I don't think I should do this, I'm quite
comfortable here. He arose and went with them.
It's good when the Lord brings an influence into our lives,
when there is a request for something, that we arise, as it were, and
do that for which we are asked to do. Then Peter arose and went
with them. And when he was come, they brought
him into the upper chamber and all the widows stood by him weeping
and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was
with them. What a loss it was for this woman,
how useful she'd been and how sad they were that she'd now
died and was taken from them. Now we see here a different situation. Peter now, not like previously,
was given that faith and that right understanding to come and
speak directly to this man, Aeneas, but now we see Peter putting
everyone outside and it will all go out when he was come.
They brought him into the upper room and he put them all forth
and what did he do then? He kneeled down and prayed. He kneeled down and prayed. Well,
no doubt he'd prayed before with regard to Aeneas, but now it's
a very specific situation. He comes here, he realises He
has no ability. He has no gift, naturally. So what does he do? He puts everyone
forth. He doesn't want to make a show
of things. He didn't want to impress people. He was there
by himself, praying to his God. And that's a great blessing when
you and I are blessed with true, prevailing prayer with our God. When we're alone, we don't impress
people then at all, do we? We're just between ourselves
and God. And this man Peter here, he was in this situation, and
we see him by himself, kneeling down and praying. Now, what do
we understand? We understand this. The effectual,
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Because then
we're told, and turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise. she opened her eyes and when
she saw Peter she sat up and he gave her his hand and lifted
her up and when he had called the saints and widows presented
her alive. He called the Church of God,
those believers who would be so thankful and had no doubt
also been praying probably for the Lord to bless Peter's visit
and so he called them And they came, and she was presented alive
to them. And again, this thing was not
done in a corner, and it was known throughout all Joppa. And what was the wonderful result?
And many believed in the Lord. We're not told all, but we are
told all. And many believed in the Lord. And so we see these two occasions
when Peter was wonderfully used to heal and to bring back to
life. And through these two instances,
there was much blessing. There were many spiritual lives
brought into being. Many people were born again.
Well, we're thankful to know and to read of such an account. And then what happened to Peter?
It came to pass that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon
Atanna. It would seem he didn't go and
live in a palace. He didn't live in any important person. He just
lived and went and stayed with a person, Simon of Tanna, as
an ordinary person by the seaside there and carrying out his trade
and Peter went and stayed with him many days. We're not told
very much more but we're told he's had many days in Joppa with
one Simon of Tanna. So we can thank God coming on
this evening for the gracious record we have of God's wonderful
work and the way it was carried out through the Apostle Peter
and the tremendous effect that his blessings had. And we come
tonight realising that we come to that same almighty God that
we read of here, that God is able to do today far more exceedingly
abundantly than we can ask or even think. Amen.