If that's antinomian, then I
am one. That's what I want to be. All right, back to Acts chapter
9. Part of the reason I brought
all that up was so that you might be thinking, having our brother
on your mind, going through some problems. I'm sure you've covered your
prayers and thoughtfulness. Acts chapter 9, within ten verses
here, verses 32 through 43, two remarkable stories. The last
one we looked at was found from verses 32 through 35, two miracles. The first was a man sick with
a palsy for eight years who was raised up. And then now this
woman who was actually raised from the dead. And two notable
miracles. And there are a lot of so-called
miracles going on today being performed in the name of Jesus.
You've seen them on TV. And they do what they do. They say in the name of Jesus,
but I believe that's just a. Just the front, just the word
only when they use that name is certainly what goes on today
is certainly not for the glory of Christ is not and it's not
to. To emphasize for the sake of
emphasizing the greater work of preaching the gospel. This
is why God gave the disciples, the apostles, these miracles
in the first place, were for credentials, for credentials
to do the greater work, which was the preaching of the gospel,
which is the one thing needful. People, Aeneas, who was raised
from the palsy, he got sick and died. That was a temporal Tabitha
here, who was raised from the dead, she got sick or she died
later on again. So the most needful thing is
spiritual healing, isn't it? And that's what preaching the
gospel does. But there are no real miracles
going on today. Don't believe any of this that
you're seeing. Don't believe it. There's no real miracles,
not like we're seeing here. There's no blind halt and lame
being healed, people sick of the palsy, people quadriplegics
and paraplegics being raised. You see any of that? Just a few
supposedly deaf ears being unstopped and people walking on canes,
but no incapacitated people. Sick, real sick. No dead people. Ever heard of anybody being raised
from the dead today? Huh? Where's that? They claim
to be apostles. Why don't they do that? Huh?
Peter did it. Paul did it. If the Lord did to them like
he did to the sons of Saba, he'd strip them and run them out of
the place naked. Saying Peter we know and Jesus we know and
Paul we know, but who in the world are you, Oral Roberts or
whoever? Who are you? Barnard used to
say, you show me a man who's doing miracles and preaching
the gospel. He said, I might believe him.
I doubt it, but I believe the gospel anyway. And I didn't mean
to get on this, but miracles of healing and all. The Lord
is still in the healing business, but he's not doing it in such
a way that men are going to get any credit for it. Not at all. Look at here in verse 35. It
says that when Aeneas was healed, it says, all that dwelt in Lydda
and Saron saw him and what? Turned to the Lord. Look at verse
42. And it was known throughout all
Joppa when this Tabitha was risen. And many believed in Peter and
the Lord. See, that was the end of the
whole thing. It's quite clear who's getting
glory today, isn't it? Quite clear. Or at least it should
be. All right. In these back-to-back
stories here, we have two pictures, I think, more in-depth pictures
of God's power in a spiritual way. We have the picture of the
raising of Aeneas, if you remember that, Sunday before last. A picture of God's power, the
work of God, the effectual call of Christ. All Peter said to
that man was, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.
And that guy jumped up and he was healed. And that shows the
power of God and the effectual call of Christ, how that and
this is the way I never to bring it out. Well, just by looking
to Christ, every sinner who ever looks to just merely looking
to Christ, trusting calling on that all powerful name, you'll
be safe. Don't have to go through a long,
lengthy period of doing penance and feeling your guilt and know
a lot. You need to know God, who God
is basically, who Christ is, what he did, and feel your need
of him. But just looking to Christ will
save you. That's it. Jesus Christ makes you whole.
Not feelings, not experiences, Jesus Christ. It's the powerful
work of God. Salvation is the work of God.
The effectual call of Christ when Christ calls a man and draws
him, he will be saved. He is saved. And in Tabitha here
in our story today, tonight, this is the results of God's
work in a believer. The results. And rather than
dwell, like I was talking about the miracles, rather than dwell
on the miracles, I want us to learn something from this. And
the tendency is to just be enamored with the miracle. Indeed, a notable
miracle was done, but there's a lesson, a spiritual lesson
to be had here, a lesson for us to learn. I have five points
to this message, five points. Look at verse 36 now. Let's read.
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple. There's that word again,
certain. God's elect are a certain predestinated
people. known, loved, called, or known,
loved, chosen before the foundation of the world. This is one of
those certain, elect, chosen individuals. A certain disciple
named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas, or doe, roe,
pleasant creature. This woman was full of good works
and alms deeds which she did. A woman full of good work. Now
I preach good works. Did you hear that tape, listeners,
wherever this may go? Oh, you're in radio land. I preach
good works. I do. I believe in good works. I do. Why? Because the scriptures
plainly tell us that good works are necessary, don't they? Turn
over to Ephesians chapter 2, and Ephesians 2 verse 8 is probably
sovereign grace Probably every believer's, what's the word I'm looking for? The verse of scripture that they
would use to describe what they believe about salvation. How
are you saved? You'd say, Ephesians 2.8, you'd
say, by grace are you saved. By grace, 100 percent by the
grace of God. It's a gift. Not of works? By
grace are you saved through faith, and even that is not of yourself.
You don't produce faith. You don't just decide to believe
one day. You don't just up and make your
decision. That's the gift of God. Even that's of grace. Faith
is a grace, a gift of God given to you. God that makes us willing
in the day of his power. Not of works. He emphasizes that
it is not of works. Salvation is not of works, lest
any man should boast. Doesn't have anything to do with
work. Salvation. Nobody earns salvation. It's
a gift of God Almighty based upon the blood, the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not of works, lest any man should
boast that he did a part in this salvation. God's not going to
share His glory with anybody. Verse 10 says, because we're
His workmanship, He's going to get the glory for us. He's going
to get all the glory for everything about us. By the grace of God,
we are what we are. We know what we know. We can
do what we can do. We are his workmanship, and here
he says, now here is the purpose that he saved us for. We're created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. Or in another place it says that
God has predestinated us to be conformed to the image of Christ. Barnard used to say God admired
his son so much he decided to have a whole family just like
him. That's the reason, that's the purpose for salvation. That's
the reason God saves people. Not to let them live like they
want to, but to make them like Christ. And this world is preparation
for that which is to come. Creating, whittling, conforming
us to the image of Christ unto good works. You see that? Created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
or prepared, preordained, predestinated, determined, purposed, willed
that we should walk in them. It's not an option. It's a mandatory,
and it's going to happen because people are going to. We do exhort to good works, but
here's the good news is that. Faithful is he that called you,
he will both. He will also do it. He will also
do it now over to Titus. Look over Titus chapter two.
Here's an easy way to remember this. Ephesians 2.10, Titus 2.10.
Easy way. It says here in Titus 2.10, and
if a man were an antinomian, he sure couldn't even, he couldn't
preach from Titus 2, could he? Let alone, I don't even think
he'd quote it. Titus 2.10, it says that we're
not to purloin or steal, but show in all good fidelity. that
we may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things,
for the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all
men, or all sorts of men, and it teaches us. This is what grace
teaches. This is what grace brings about. This is what grace produces.
It teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, that we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Antinomian tendencies there at
all, are there, huh? I preach good works. I believe
in good works because the Scriptures preach good works. They teach
good works. But I do not preach, nor do I believe, that good works
in any way, shape, or form are meritorious. That is, that means
that they give us merit or acceptance with God. And anything we do,
God takes notice of it and says, hmm, you've earned some points
there. Or you've earned some acceptance with me. Or that'll
merit you a little crown. That'll give you another little
jewel in your crown that you've earned. You're working your way.
Not at all. Not in any way. It's our reasonable
service. And after we've done, the scripture
says, after we've done all that is required of us, still unprofitable. Still haven't added a thing to
God. And haven't added to our salvation. Because our salvation's
complete in Christ. We're saved by the works of Jesus
Christ. Good works are the result of
salvation, not the cause or the condition. You're not saved on
condition of good works. You have good works on the condition
of salvation. All right? Grace is the cause. Works are the effect. All right? Christ is the root. Works are
the fruit produced from that root. And let me remind everybody
in here of James chapter 210. Listen to this. You don't have
to turn, but you can if you want to. James 210, very familiar
passage. It says this, as the body, as the body without the spirit
is dead. I'm sorry, James 226. As the
body without the spirit is dead. In other words, a man may have
a body and it may look good, say a man lying in a casket,
and he has a body and it looks good and for all practical purposes
looks alive, but if there are no evidences, if there's no life,
no talk, no walk, no speech, no hearing, he's dead, isn't
he? As a body without spirit is dead,
and look at it, it says, so faith without works is dead, right? Man has a body, may look good,
but he's no evidence of life, he's dead. So faith, you may
have a body of divinity, and may look and even sound good,
but no evidences, no fruit, no work, no works of true religion,
dead, dead. All right, now here are my five
points, and I promise you'll hear them. All right, back in
Acts chapter nine. Turn back there and we'll stay
there. Our first point is that Dorcas says here that Dorcas
was full of good works and alms deed, which she did. She was
full of good works. Whatever good works are, she
was full of them. What are good works? Huh? What are good works? Well, listen
to this. Two basic things, I think, determine
good works. Good works are works done in
love to God and faith in Christ. That's one point. Works done
out of love to God and faith in Christ. The scripture says
without faith it's impossible to please God. Without faith
it's impossible to please God. In another place he said even
the plowing of the wicked, or that is unbelievers, is sin to
God. Take a man out there who's not
a believer. who does not know, love, trust, worship the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's plowing his garden. Seems
like a good, wholesome work, doesn't it? God says, that's
sin in my sight. Why? Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. If it's not done in love and
gratitude to God for the land he gave you, nor with a believing
heart for God's Another place also says, whatever is not of
faith, whatsoever is not of faith is what? Sin. In other words, it doesn't matter how moral you
are, how charitable you are. I had a fellow I worked with
on a railroad one time. We were talking about these things
and got on the subject of Catholicism and he said, Catholics do more
for the poor and hungry than any other denomination in the
world. It doesn't matter a flip. Remember Christ one time, was
it Judas, that said that money could have been taken. You remember
when the woman took the alabaster box and poured it over Christ's
head. I think it was Judas, wasn't it? Believe it or not. He said
that money could have been taken and given to the poor. He said,
the poor you have with you always. That's not the most important
thing. It doesn't matter how moral you
are, how charitable you are, if you do not worship God's Son,
if you do not attribute everything to God's Son, if you do not glorify
God's Son in everything, especially salvation, God is angry with
you every day. The wrath of God abides upon
you. Anybody who's not worshiping God's Son, I don't care what
he's doing. Acts of morality, acts of charity, God's angry
with them. Right? So good work has to be
done out of love to God and faith in Christ. And it's also good
works are works done for the glory of God. It has to be a
work done for the glory of God to be called a true good work.
The motive is what's all important in a work, isn't it? The motive
is what's important, not the work, but the motive behind it.
It better be a motive for God's glory. It better be a motive
out of gratitude and praise to God, and not have some ulterior
motive of your own praise and glory, or else it's a stench
in God's nostril. Right? So those determine good
work. There's another scripture in
1 Corinthians 13, and this is what I was trying to convey to
that fellow. Paul said, though I bestow all my goods to feed
the poor and have not love, it profits me nothing. Well, you
say they do, they love men. Ah, that's not the first love
he's talking about there, is it? Huh? That's not the first
and most important love, is it? Love your fellow man. Hate the
God of the Bible, but love your fellow man. Love the God of your
imagination, but hate the God of the Bible. But love your fellow
man. You see, when we talk about love
Christ, remember when that lawyer came to Christ one day and said,
good master. He said, hold on now. There's nobody good but
God. If you're going to call me good,
you're going to have to acknowledge that I'm God. Anyway, the fellow
said, what is the greatest commandment? Trying to catch him in his words,
you know, if he'd say this and deny that, they'd say, oh, what
about this? If he'd say this and deny that, they'd say, oh,
you missed that. Christ summed it all up, didn't
he, by saying this. He said, all the commandment,
all the laws fulfilled in one word, love. And what was the
order which he gave? He said, Love God with all your
mind, heart, soul and strength. Isn't it perfect? Number one,
you love God supremely. Christ said, If any man hate
not his father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son or
daughter, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. You
will have your affection, your heart, your mind set on God above
all else, everyone else. Love God. And then he said, love
your neighbor as yourself. On all these two hang all the
law, all the law. So love is love for God supremely,
his person. And you can't claim to love God
if it's not the God of the Bible, if it's not the holy, just, and
sovereign God of scriptures, is it? You love some God, but
not the God of the Bible. that holy and sovereign God,
His person, His work. You must love everything about
Him, the way He does things, the way He is, His attribute,
the way He saves sinners, elects. And love your neighbor as yourself. Love for God will be manifested
by merciful, gracious, loving character. If you live for yourself,
you don't love God. If you live for yourself, you
don't love God. No matter what you say no matter what we say
you know the only thing we can do for Christ really on this
earth is what we do for Christ body. Right. He's not here his body is that
he's seated at the right hand of the majesty on his body is
and he said. You remember the story he gave
of those that he said, blessed are you, you gave me clothing,
you fed me, you clothed me, you took me in when I was a stranger
and so forth. And he said, as much as you've
done it and the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto
me. The only way, the only thing we do for Christ is what we do
for his body, for his people. Right? So love for God is shown
by love for Sarah. Or love for others, I mean. All
right, now the second point is, look at verse thirty-six again.
It says she was full of good works and alms deeds, which she
did. Alms deeds. You remember our
Lord dealing with alms in Matthew chapter five, was it? Alms, when
you do your alms, take heed that you don't do them to be seen
of men. In Matthew six. Point number two, Dorcas was
a faithful disciple. These alms deeds are acts of
worship, being about the things of God. That's what alms are,
alms deeds. Our Lord dealt with it there
in Matthew 6, prayer and fasting and worship and so forth. And
this lady was about her father's business. in the church. She was with the church when
it worshipped. She was with them. It says in
verse thirty-nine, the last verse, that Dorcas was with them. She
was with them, coming in and going out. Remember that? You
remember over there in Old Saul, when the Lord saved him, it says
he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem. So was
Dorcas. And I bet you Aeneas was, too.
And so were all people of God, when God says they're about the
father's business, they're about the family, they're at the table
with the family in worship. And it says she was full of good
works and alms deed, that is she gave her money, her time,
her energy and her efforts to the work, God's work, God's people. And it says she, look at verse
39, says that she made coats and garments. It says, when Peter
came, all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats
and the garments which Dorcas had made while she was with him.
Apparently, Burgi, apparently Dorcas was a seamstress. That's
what she did. She was a seamstress. What an
insignificant thing to do. What an unimportant person this
is. A seamstress? Seamstress, somebody that worked
at Virginia Prayer, what an insignificant person. It's in the Bible for
all eternity to read it. This woman's story, God recorded
it for all eternity, a lowly seamstress. Apparently she was
a seamstress and she plied her trade cheaply for the benefit
of this needy congregation. It says that. She sewed coats
and garments. She didn't just cross-stitch
some little Christmas gifts and hand them out. She spent her
time and her energy and her effort sewing garments, some things
that were needful, real and needy goods. This was a truly godly
woman. Godly. What is godly? Well, godliness is not just a
mere outward show of piety or mere talk. That comes easy then. That's cheap. Cheap as it can
be. We don't hear a word that this woman said. We just see
what she did. Godliness is an inward principle of love and
kindness which shows itself in selfless, self-denying speech
and deeds. The Pharisees were all talk,
weren't they? His Pharisees were all talk. They professed to be
godly, men of God, but they never showed it. Christ said, you're
a whited sepulchre. You look good on the outside.
On the inside, you're full of extortion and excel. He said,
you say this, and now, brother, I'll pray for you, and never
do a thing to relieve the heavy burdens. Christ. How about the Lord Jesus Christ
himself? Very godly? What is it to be godly? Christ. Christ, very God of very God. The God-man. Godly. You're talking about godly. No
one more godly than Christ. The godly man. And his words
were powerful, weren't they? His words. Everything he said. Powerful, wasn't it? But what
did he say in another place? He said, I have something else
that bears witness to me. said the works that I do remember
that the works that I do they bear witness to me right. He
said in other words if I'm just saying everything in my life
doesn't back it up don't believe it. Isn't that what Christ was
saying? It says though he was equal with
God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Robbery is taking something that
doesn't belong to you and Christ thought it not robbery. for taking
the glory and the honor that belonged to God. Why? Because
He is God. He was God and He is God. It
wasn't robbery. It was what rightfully belonged
to Him. To be equal with God, but He took upon Himself the
form of a servant. Doesn't it say that? Became as
a servant. And what does He say to us? He
do as I do. Remember when He got down to
wash your stinking dirty feet of the disciples? And he said,
now, if I, your master, had done this to you, I'm talking about
the God of glory came down here and washed your feet. He said,
you do it. You do it too. Wash your feet.
You want to be great? Remember this? He said, you want
to be great? Be a servant. And I've reminded you time and
again that God gave Christ a name which is above every name. Why?
Because he humbled himself, became a servant. And he that was greatest
became the least, and now he that was least became the greatest,
didn't he? Huh? Now, we can have orthodox
faith and sound doctrine, and we must. We must. We must have a right confession
of faith. We must. We must. We must have faith in God as
God. We must have faith in Christ
as all in salvation. We must give all glory to God
in Christ for all things. We must look to Christ and Him
alone, His person, His work. And we must bear fruit to the
glory of the Father. We must give God all the glory
with our lips and bear fruit to the glory of the Father. Isn't
that what Christ said? How the Father is glorified?
Dear, and is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. He's glorified by our confession
of faith and also our profession of faith. Well, how do we bear
fruit to the glory of God, huh? How can we bear this fruit? How
can someone have fruit? It's called the fruit of the
Spirit, isn't it? How can you have it? Well, you
grit your teeth hard enough, it'll pop out. No, it's a gift. It flows from the vine. It flows
from the root, from the source. Christ is in you. It'll come,
but it's the gift of God's Spirit. Fruit is the gift of God's Spirit. It's a gift. Gifts, though, are
for the asking. Aren't they? Ask and you shall
receive. And we learn and we assimilate these things by use
of means, by use of means, like what we're doing tonight. All
of this is designed to make you like Christ, that you might grow
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, both those things.
grow in knowledge of Christ, dependence upon him, looking
to him, and grow more like him. The more you study Christ, the
more you'll be like him, and the more it will exhibit itself
in your life. This is what we're doing here—worship, reading the
Scriptures, prayer, communion with God. that we use, that God uses, God
uses means, and we learn by example. This is the good thing about
being in a congregation, fellowship together, fellowshiping together. We learn by the experience of
others. Paul said in one place, those things you've both seen
and heard and learned of me do. You remember that? He said the
things you've both seen and heard, seen and heard and learned, we
learn by experience of others. We learn. Well, this message
on Dorcas ought to encourage us to do the same as Dorcas should.
All right, my third point. Dorcas did what she could for
God's glory. I said there she was a seamstress. She did what she could for God's
glory, for God's people. If I called his name, you'd know
the man, the preacher, the great preacher. He said, I would rather
live like Dorcas than preach like Peter if I had the choice. This is a great preacher now
that said that. I would rather live like Dorcas
than preach like Peter if I was given a choice. Dorcas' ministry
was vital to the church. at Joppa, vital. Now this was
a small group of believers, this little church at Joppa. It may
not have been any larger than this congregation here, a very
small group of believers, and she was a lowly seamstress, like
I said, yet God recorded this in the Bible for everyone to
read for all eternity. That makes her pretty special,
doesn't it? Doesn't that make what she was doing pretty important,
Virgin? Doesn't that elevate the position of seamstress to
lofty heights? Huh? Will you take your place
with Dorcas? I will. I will. That makes her ministry seem
pretty important, doesn't it? Look over Hebrews 6, verse 10.
I like this. Hebrews 6, 10. Hebrews 6, 10. The world may not even know or
care about you. You may you may be insignificant
to the world, but God knows and God cares. And God remembers. Remember, your name is engraved
on his hand. The names of lowly seamstresses
and lowly workers, lowly sinners, Hebrews six, look at verse 10. This is good. Hebrews six, verse
10 says God is not unfaithful. Hebrews 6.10, God is not unrighteous
or unfaithful to forget your work and labor of love which
you have showed toward his name in that you have ministered to
the saints and do minister. Can you believe that? Huh? A faithful man, a faithful woman,
somebody that will acknowledge things done for them on their
behalf, huh? God is never unrighteous or unfaithful. to forget. He always acknowledges
it. Always. Every believer has a
ministry which is important in the body. Important. If you want
to turn, you can. Over in 1 Corinthians 12, it
says this, and we've looked at this before. Every believer has
a ministry, and it's important in the body. Important. What
I do is important. Well, let me show you this. First
Corinthians twelve, look at verse fourteen. The body is not one
member, but it's many. You got it? First Corinthians
twelve, fourteen. If the foot shall say now, I'm
not a hand. I'm not very visible. I'm always
covered up. I'm lowly. I'm not a hand. I'm
not out there really doing anything special. I'm not of the body.
I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body?
Try doing without it. The hand, it hampers the hand
to be without a foot. Right? Your hands can't do what
they would if your knees bummed up, that's sure. If the ear shall
say, I'm not as important, I don't see, I don't understand, I don't
look into, I just don't have the knowledge and discernment
that some have. You're an ear out there, aren't
you? If I'm not an eye, I'm not the body. No? Is it not of the
body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?
What if you had one big eye in the center of your head? That's
what he's saying. That'd be a grotesque thing.
Well, if the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
What about a nose? You need those noses. Huh? And now hath God set to members
every one of them in the body as he hath pleased him, made
some eyes, some ears, some noses, And I'll not comment on some
of our noses, but he's given, he's given thing and people into
the ministry that he, that have pleased him. If all were one,
if there weren't, were all one member, where were the body?
Where are the diversity? Now are they many members, yet
one body, and I cannot say unto the hand, I don't have any need
of you, nor again to the head, to the feet, I have no need of
you. Look on, verse twenty-two. Nay, much more of those members
of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. Let
me, all right, let's do this. Try to do without. What is the
most insignificant thing you can think of as far as a member
of your body? How about your little toe? Huh? Your little toe. Try doing without
that. Just a little toe. Well, you've
got ten of them. Cut one off. You'd have to learn
to walk all over again, wouldn't you? Right? It's like, you take
this building here. This building is made up of many
members that make up one building. Many bricks, right? Many bricks
that make up this building. You pull one brick out and step
back and look at it. There will be a hole there. There
will be a hole there. And eventually, other bricks
will start cracking. Yeah, they will. They'll start
coming down. They all rest. They all rest. Like I said last
week, it all sits on the foundation. The whole building stands because
of the foundation, right? But all those bricks are built
on top of one another, too, aren't they? Building up ourselves in
our most holy faith. That's what Paul said. They're
all resting, leaning upon one another, and all leaning on Christ. God tempered the body together.
Now, no doubt we could all do more. We could all do more. No doubt about that. You say,
I don't do very much. That's probably true. And no
doubt we could all do much more. And we need we need to learn
to come out of our little hermit crab existences. And out of our
self-centered, self-pitying little shale, you know, and start, as
the Scripture says, start thinking on things of others. Our problems
will melt into insignificance if we start thinking on things
of others. If we start ministering to others, we start gathering
together instead of scattering abroad by our bad attitudes and
lack of service and so forth. Dorcas did what she could for
the glory of God, for the good of the body. She did what she
could. Fourth point. It says Dorcas got sick and died. Verse 37, it came to pass that
she was sick and she died. And like Aeneas, she was really
sick. She was sick. Well, she must
not have had much faith. Huh? She must not have had much
faith. If she don't have faith, she wouldn't have got sick. Try
telling that to Timothy. Paul said he had often infirmities,
didn't he? He had a stomach problem. They
made his gallbladder removed, but they didn't have laser surgery
back then. It is often infirmed. Timothy
was a sick and frail fellow. All the time he was sick. How
about a paproditus? Try telling that to him. It says
that he was sick nigh unto death for the work of the ministry,
but God had mercy on him. Paul said, God had mercy on me,
too. He raised him up. He was sick nigh unto death.
He was nearly dead. But this woman was sick, and
contrary to popular belief, Popular heresy, I should say. Contrary
to popular heresy, God's people, they experience sickness and
pain and suffering in this world. They do. And sickness does not
reveal a lack of faith. Sickness reveals faith. That's
what it's designed for. It doesn't reveal a lack of faith,
it reveals faith. It makes a person trust and look
to Christ more than ever, doesn't it? And it ought to be an opportunity
for that person to witness a good testimony for Christ. That's
what it's designed for. And then she was really sick
and she died. She, I mean, she was, as Byron
would say, graveyard dead. She died in faith. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. She died. And she died in faith. I love Hebrews 11 says these
all and he died and he died. These all died in faith. What
does it mean to die in faith? Huh? And I'll hurry. Well, listen,
now this will be a blessing to you. Stay with me. To die in
faith is to die in peace. This woman didn't kick and struggle
and die like Stephen. Remember when Stephen was stoned?
Says he just fell asleep in the arms of Christ. Christ stood
up and said, I'm with you. And Stephen saw him, and there
you are, and fell asleep in the arms of the Lord. And the Lord
took him on in his arms. To die in peace? The only way
you can die in peace is with a sense of blood-bought peace.
The only way you're going to die in peace is with a sense
of blood-bought peace and pardon. Paul said, if God be for us,
who can be against us? He spared not his son, but delivered
him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall condemn us? Who is
he that shall condemn us? Christ died. Christ died. There is no condemnation, no
judgment for me because Christ died. And I died in him already. So death, where is your stain?
Grave, where is your victory? No victory. And that brings me
to my next point. To die in faith is to escape
death. Death wears your sting. Christ
took it away. Christ came back and said, I
died. You have nothing to fear. I've been, I've walked there.
I've been in the tomb. You don't have, as that old song,
you've got to walk that lonesome valley by yourself. No, you don't.
You don't have to walk it by yourself. Christ said, I'll never
leave you. Yeah, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I won't fear it. Why? Thou art
with me. Thou art with me. And to escape
death, we die in faith. To die in faith is to escape
real death, separation from God. That's real death, judgment,
condemnation after this life. to escape that. To die in faith
is to depart and be with Christ, Paul said, which is far better.
Paul said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which
is far better. Far better. And I thought about
this. You know what these services
are primarily designed to do? What we're doing here. We gather
here on Sundays and Wednesdays primarily for one reason. You
know what that is? Number one, to worship God. Yes. To worship
God. Thank God. But the reason I'm
looking for is to prepare us to meet that God. Right? To prepare us to die. That's
what this is all about. To prepare us to die. And we ought to talk about death.
We ought to, we ought to think about death. That's what we're,
everything we're doing to learn of Christ, to win Christ, to
be found in Him is so that we can die. Die peaceably and go
be with Christ. That's my next point. It's to
be in the, finally to go and be with Christ. That's what it
is to die in peace. And it's to be in the company
of Christ. Wow. To be in the company of
God's elect. How about that? To go and dwell,
it says that heaven is a place wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Man, I look forward to that, don't you? A place where nothing
but righteousness dwells? And a place where no one but
righteous people dwell? I'm tired of being around a bunch
of wicked and ungodly and filthy people. I can't wait to be around
people who are nothing but like Christ. Huh? That's the reason
we like to come here so much. Huh? Because people, though we
just bear a faint resemblance to Christ, it's enough. It's
good enough. It helps us a little bit. Just
to be around those that are a little bit like Christ. Think what,
John, think what it's going to be like to be, to spend an eternity. Talk about home on the range
where never is heard a discouraging word. All, the only words you're
going to hear is words of praise and glory and joy unspeakable. I can't wait. Not only to be
with Christ, but to be with Christ's people for eternity. And to die
in faith is to have our prayers finally and completely answered.
I told you about the church that was praying for a man who was
sick with cancer. Lord, heal him. Lord, heal him.
Lord, would you please, it can be your will, heal him. The man
died. Their prayers were answered. He was healed. I mean completely. To have our prayers finally and
completely answered is to be like Christ. What are we praying
for? To be like Christ? When we die, we'll be like Him.
Just like Him. We'll be like Him. What do we
pray for? To know Christ? When we die,
we'll know even as we've been known. We'll see Him as He is. What do we pray for? To be free
from sin? Is that what you pray for? When we die, there will
be no more sin. Not only no more guilt, but no
more presence of sin. No temptation. And my last point.
Dorcas, let's read verses 38 through the end of the chapter
one more time. And later was Nida, Joppa, and the disciples
had heard that Peter was there, and they sent unto him two men
desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Now, they
didn't want him to come down there and raise her up. They
just wanted him to come down. and comfort them and maybe, I
don't know, preach a funeral. Just be with them. They didn't
dream that he would raise her from the dead. Peter arose and
went with them, and when he was come, they brought him into the
upper chamber, and this was sad. All the widows. She must have
been significant to me that this woman's name has six letters in it. A young unmarried
woman. May did things for the widows.
Leave that to you to figure it out. Showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made. She died and these widows were
sad and she had done a lot of things while she was with them.
And verse 40, Peter put them all out. Peter put them all out. Now she was dead. This is a picture
of salvation right here. I needed to get to this. She
was dead. She was dead. Everybody knew
it. She was dead. Peter knew. Everybody else knew.
Scripture says, And you who were dead, you hath he quickened,
made alive who were dead. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. And this woman was dead. Peter,
a faithful minister of the gospel, came and put them all out and
kneeled down. In other words, what he was doing
was not to be seen of the crowd. Right? It was not to be seen. He got alone with God concerning
this dead woman. And he wasn't doing what he was
doing to be seen of the crowd for God's glory. He said he put
them all out and he kneeled down and prayed. Peter had sought
the will of God and the power of Christ, didn't he? And so
does every preacher of the gospel whom God uses to raise spiritually
dead. men and women by the power of
God's Word. Peter kneeled down and prayed
and turned. After he prayed a while, it doesn't
say how long, it says he turned to the body and said, Tabitha,
arise. And she opened her eyes and when
she saw Peter she sat up. She was raised by the Word of
God's servant, wasn't she? The Scripture says, God is chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
Paul thanked God that the people received the Word, not as his
words, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. This was Christ
speaking through Peter. It wasn't Peter. This wasn't
Peter. He denied it before, didn't he,
Joe? When they started worshiping,
he said, I didn't do this. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
that did it. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God, it says in verse 42, is known throughout all Joppa,
and many believed in the Lord. God was glorified in her resurrection. God got the glory for this. And
the salvation of sinners is ultimately for the glory of God. They're
raised for his glory, for his glory. Now, God must have had
more important work for Dorcas to do, bringing her back from
the dead. You ever think about that? Bring her back from the
dead? God must have had some more important
work for her to do. Not more important than what
she was doing, but more of that important work she was doing.
Do you hear me? Virgie, I'm picking on you because
you're the only seamstress I know in here. She went right back
to her sewing machine. No, I didn't have a sewing machine.
Went right back to her needle and thread. There was no more
important work for her to do than what she was doing right
there, what she was called to do. Sewing coats and garments. She
went right back and made sure. God must have had a few saints
who needed another coat. How does that lend importance
to what she was doing? He raised her from the dead to
come back and make a few more coats. We say we don't have a
ministry. We say we don't do anything. Peter, we're going to see this
in the next chapter where God said, don't you call anything
common that I have sanctified, that I have called blessed. Right? Don't call anything or anyone
common. Joe, that's for you. And here's the
conclusion I want us to understand. I want us to, I want myself and
for you to, like Dorcas, we need to learn to adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior. In all things, we need to live
by faith. This woman lived by faith. She
died by faith. She believed Christ was about
the things of Christ. She died in faith to Christ. She glorified God in what she
did. She lived to serve others. In verse 43, it says, It came
to pass that Peter, after this was over, he tarried many days
in Joppa with one Simon, a tanner. Now, why did he put that there?
Why did God put that there? Just to kind of just fill in? Well, that tells me that even
a tanner is an important fellow. You ever think about all the
people in God's Word that he mentions? His choice servants,
what were they? Fishermen. Simon the fisherman.
Simon the tanner. Dorcas the seamstress. Christ
the carpenter. Common people, but very uncommon
to God. Who has despised today a small
thing? Huh? God doesn't. God doesn't. I hope that was an encouragement
to you. All right, let's stand, and I'll dismiss this in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for every verse, every word in your Holy Word. How we thank
you. One word can give such comfort
if you take it and apply it. This blessed story of this woman
that you made faithful. Her faith, her service, her works,
you get all the glory. By grace, by your grace, she
was what she was and did what she did. And you get all the
glory. Yet we learn from this, and we
want to be faithful like this Dorcas, this lowly, seemingly
insignificant woman, Lord. May we be so insignificant and
of such service to Thee and Your people for Your glory, Lord.
Whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, may we do it for Your
glory, hearts filled with gratitude and love for Christ and what
He has done, our blessed Redeemer, He came down here and did what
he did. My, my. What a lowly place he took. And now what a high place he
has. And may we be willing like our Master. It's enough for the
servant that he be as his Master. And that's what we would be.
Servants to thee and servants to others. May we learn from
this, Lord. Don't let the fowls of the air
take this away, but may it be rooted in prepared ground. For your namesake, we've met
together. Amen.