Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Acts, chapter 9. Acts, chapter 9. We've said many times, it's so. are concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, who he is, what he has done, where he is now, what he
is doing. If there is anything that we
look for save seeing him, we look wrongly. We must see Christ. That's the only comfort that
a believer is going to have. If we go through these scriptures,
and you that believe, don't behold the mercy and grace of Almighty
God. You leave here having not eaten. You're not fed. He's the bread.
Without the bread, we don't have anything to eat. Well, tonight I want to look
at a passage of scripture, and I've entitled this message, A
Lesson from a Woman Named Tabitha. I pray the Lord bless this message
and that we see the gospel in it. It's a message about a woman that died. And a man named Peter was brought and the Lord spoke through him. And this woman was resurrected. Now in this resurrection, I want
us to look to see the gospel of God's free grace. Salvation. If all this is is a story, though
wonderful as it is, of a woman that was raised from the dead,
if that's the extent of it, what profit is that to you or to me?
It happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but if this message,
if this account is relevant to us tonight, now there's something
to hear there. And I pray that the Lord speak
to us through this woman's healing, resurrection, The Scripture sets forth about nine truths that I want
us to consider about a woman named Tabitha. Here's the first thing that I
know about this, and remember that we're looking at how Almighty
God treats His people. how he treats them, how he looks
upon them, how he considers them. This woman right here is in type
a picture of every one of God's elect. The first thing that I
know about this woman named Tabitha is that she was a chosen vessel
of God's mercy. The scripture starts in verse
36. This is where we left off. Now, there was at 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. Now, here's a town, Joppa. We've heard of that town before.
That was the town that Jonah was going to flee to, going to
get away from God. Here's the same town, Joppa,
a town that God had blessed to the housing of some of His sheep. One for sure, probably many. But it was a woman named Tabitha,
and she lived in a place called Joppa. And she was a certain
disciple, a particular sanctified, set-apart disciple. Now, the
word disciple means a learner or a pupil. This woman was a
disciple. She was a disciple of God's grace,
a taught woman, a learner. The Scripture says in John 6.45,
they shall all be taught of God. I can set forth and preach the
gospel, set forth the glory of God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But if you're taught, you're
taught of God. The Spirit of God takes the message
of God and blesses it by the Spirit of God to your heart. Taught. She was a certain disciple.
One that the Holy Scriptures gives no other account of. This
is this woman's epitaph. There was a certain woman that
was named Tabitha, Tabitha, Dorcas. It means a dove, or a beautiful
one, or one with clear vision, clear eyes. Dorcas, Tabitha. I know this, secondly, about
this woman. I know that she was regenerated. by the grace of
God, called out of darkness. Now, we know this because the
Scripture says of her, this woman was full of good works and alms
deeds, which she did. She was a faithful woman that
adorned the doctrine that she professed. When there is a new
heart, it evidences itself. The Scripture says you will know
them by their fruit. A good tree bears good fruit. A person regenerated by the grace
of God with a new heart, it shows on them. I've said this before,
a person that is a believer acts like a believer. Someone says,
how does a believer act? They just act like a believer.
You know what, there's no way in the world that I can sit down
and tell you how a believer acts. But I can tell you this, they
all act consistently. They all have a hunger after
God's Word. They thirst after Him. They love
to assemble themselves together. They love the fellowship of God's
people. They act like a believer. And
when they talk, they talk like a believer. Boy, you know, you
listen to a person that is a religionist. Now, you that believe, you know
what I'm talking about. A person that is a religionist,
they have a religious jargon, but a believer talks like a believer. Well, how do they talk? Well,
listen to them. Just listen to them. There's no set rule to
it. I mean, they just have this life
in what they say. They speak life. They speak of
Christ. They speak of Him. They set forth
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was a faithful woman that
adorned that doctrine that she professed. She had some good,
the Scripture says, good works. Now that word good right there,
now there's the key to it. I looked it up. It means good
in character or constitution. Good. Good works. But it wasn't that she herself
was the producer of those works, but she was the vessel of mercy
through which God Almighty worked. Philippians 2.13 says, For it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure. Good works. She believed God. Faithful. Faithful. She was a
woman that did what she did to the glory of God. Now, to most,
I would say that they would consider this woman's position pretty
insignificant. What did she do? Well, later
we're going to find out. She made coats and things for
the poor. That's what she did. I mean,
how can that be significant? Let me tell you. There is no
insignificant part in the body of Christ. Someone could say,
well, you know, compared to the eye, the fingernail is not that
big a deal, unless you pull one off. And all of a sudden, you
realize That whole body aches. Have you ever broken a toe? Let
me tell you something. You hurt all over when you break
a toe. I mean, I walked through a house
one night and I caught my little toe right on the edge of a corner. And I mean just right there.
Little toe, the next one over. Had it x-rayed the next day.
It was broken. And let me tell you something. That little toe
is not insignificant. It's significant. This woman,
to many, they considered her place insignificant. But this was the place that God
put her. This was the place that the Spirit
of God saw fit to manifest Himself through this woman in what the
Scripture refers to as good works and all the deeds that she did. So we learned that this woman,
a chosen vessel of mercy, in this particular place in Joppa,
this is where he placed her. But this is what else I know
about this woman, who is a picture of all of God's elect. This woman
was a sinner. The Scripture says in verse 37,
it came to pass in those days that she was sick and she died. whom when they had washed, they
laid her in an upper chamber." Now, the only reason that anyone
gets sick and dies is because of sin. Sin. The Lord told Adam, in the day
you eat, you're going to die. Surely, you're going to die.
Spiritually, he died that day. He began dying physically, and
eventually he did. The wages, the pay of sin is
death, physical, but for the grace of God, eternal. This woman
was a sinner. But this sickness concerning
this woman could be described in the same way that Lazarus'
sickness was. This is what the Lord said of
Lazarus' sickness. John 11-4, when Jesus heard that
he said, ìThis sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.î This woman,
a sinner, a chosen sinner, a regenerated sinner, but a sinner. This woman died. This picture
right here is what we see. of our spiritual need. This woman
was sick. All God's people are sick. The
Lord said in Mark 2.17, they that are whole have no need of
position, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. But one might ask, aren't all
people sinners? Well, yes, but only those that
God reveals to themselves. that they're a sinner, a needy
sinner. Only they are the ones for whom
the Lord died. They're the ones that the Lord
came to save. This woman was sick and died. There's a picture of what happened
in the garden. He died. Fourthly, I learned
this, that this woman was a spiritually cleansed woman. A chosen object
of God's mercy, yes, but a sinner. She failed. The Scripture says
in that second part of that 37th verse, it says, whom when they
had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. Now, there
is nothing that could more clearly set forth the spiritual significance
of this washing and what we see in the wording of this scripture. There are two words that are
translated wash. One of them, it means to wash
a part of the body, wash just a part. That's the description,
to wash a part. That word in John 13.5 is, ìAfter
that he poureth water into a basin, and he began to wash the disciplesí
feet.î That word ìwashî there means ìa partî, ìa part ofî. Now, thereís another word translated
ìwashî that means ìto batheî or ìto wash the whole body.î
That word is in Hebrews 10.22, ìLet us draw near with a true
heart and full assurance of faith.î having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, that
is, by the Word of God. Two words, washed. One of them means the whole body,
the other one means a part of the body. Now, here's a scripture
where both words are used, and it is the continuation of that
scripture when our Lord was washing the feet of the disciples. And
you remember Peter told him, he said, Lord, you'll not wash
my feet. He said, Peter, if I don't wash
your feet, you have no part in me. No part. And he says, oh,
my head, my arms, wash all of them. He says, no, just your
feet is necessary. Here's the Scripture, John 13.
Jesus said to him, he that is washed, that word washed right
there means the whole body washed. He that is washed needeth not
save to wash, but to wash his feet, the part that is clean
every week." This woman was washed. In verse 37, it meant the whole
body. This woman was spiritually cleansed. Next, or fifthly, we learn that
this was a woman that had a whole. The Scripture says in verse 38,
ìAnd 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 unto them.î Now here, Peter
is a wonderful picture in type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tabitha
was dead. She had absolutely no ability
to call Peter. Why? She was dead. Dead. A picture of a chosen vessel
of mercy, but a picture of one who was not without hope. The objects of God's mercy are
totally void. of any ability to summon the
Lord of glory to their aid. You know, you listen to men set
forth. What they say is calling upon
the name of the Lord and exercising their free will. What more clear
picture can you see of man's inability than right here? This woman was sick and she died. She was dead. She was in a coffin. Set up in an upper room. Chosen
vessel of mercy. Yes. Dead, though. If the Lord waited on her to
call upon Him, she'd never call. Why? She's dead. Dead. No voice, no heart, no thoughts,
no hearing, no breathing, no nothing. She's dead. Peter, a
type of Christ. was constrained. It says they
sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would come, not delay
to come unto them. Don't delay to come to this woman
Tabitha. God's eternal covenant of mercy
was the constraint upon the Lord Jesus Christ. What did he say
concerning the woman at the well? I must need to go through Samaria. I've got to. I've got to. Other sheep that I had that are
not of this fold, them I must bring. I must bring them. Why?
Everlasting covenant of grace and mercy. Sheep given to Him
before the foundation of the world. The Father had entrusted
Him with the redemption, the salvation of all that He had
given Him. This is the Father's will which
has sent me, that of all which He hath given me, that I should
lose how many? None! None of them! Constraint! This woman right here was absolutely
helpless. All of God's people are. Sixthly,
this woman manifested the title that she held as being a disciple. The scripture says in John 13,
35, ìBy this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another.î The scripture says in verse 39,
ìPeter arose and went with them, and when he was come, they brought
him into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him,
and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was
with them. Tabitha, as all God's people
do, had a good report among the saints. Now, I understand that
man by nature, religious man by nature, despises, number one,
he despises the God that we preach. therefore despises those that
preach him. But this woman had a good report
among the saints. These widows, those to whom Tabitha
had shown kindness for Christ's sake, spoke highly of her. God's
people love one another. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples. You love one another. God's people
love God's people. They love them. They're in fellowship
together. They commune together. They meet
together. They love Christ together. They
have a heart for one another because they have a heart for
Him. They'd lost a good friend. A
taught believer. One that God had given some wisdom
had been removed from their midst. And that's always tough. Boy,
we're between a rock and a hard place whenever God's people leave. Now, I'll tell you, I'm just
trying to be honest here. When one of God's sheep, especially
an aged believer, and I don't necessarily mean necessarily
in years, I'm talking about in wisdom, whenever God is pleased,
And whenever God is pleased, that's when He removes His people. But whenever one that is taught
by Almighty God, I've said this before, but it bears saying again,
one that God has taught, taught of Himself, given some wisdom,
whenever God removes that person, there's a great void in there. We bow to the fact that Almighty
God has done that which is right. But I'm going to be honest with
you. There are some folks, many that sit right here tonight,
if the Lord were to remove you and I stay here, it would be
a void. It would be tough. We bow to
His will and we thank the Lord for His mercy and grace and we
rejoice in that which God has done, but I'm telling you, we
miss each other. Why? Because we love each other.
These people sitting around, all the widows stood by and weeping,
showing the coats and the garments which darkness made while she
was with them. We enjoy each other's fellowship.
She was a loved woman. But the love that was most important
was the love of Almighty God that He had shown her. They loved
her. Because she loved them, but especially
that the Lord had loved them before they loved Him. They had
fellowship. He loved her. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. And she loved her Lord. Loved
His people. Seventh, in Tabitha's call to
life, we see the mystery of regeneration. In verse 40, it says, ìBut Peter
put them all forth and kneeled down and prayed, turning him
to the body and said, ìBoy, Iíll tell you this, if you canít see
the gospel right here, then we just donít see it.î What a picture! She said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And
when she saw Peter, she sat up. There is absolutely no doubt
that the life-giving power to call this woman to life from
the dead was of God. There is no doubt about that.
Peter was the instrument. The Lord had given his disciples
granted them that ability, that power to raise the dead, to speak
in languages that they had never learned before. It was an evidence
that they were His disciples. But what that was, it was a setting
forth of Him, His power. What did Peter and John say?
There was a man there. He sat by the gate called Beautiful. He walked up. He was asking alms.
And what did Peter say? silver and gold have I none,
but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth. Rise up and walk. Peter was but the instrument
through which the Lord manifest His glory and His grace. God
Almighty sends a preacher He's a mouthpiece. John said of himself,
he said, I'm just a voice. That's all I am. I'm just a voice. A voice crying in the wilderness.
But if Almighty God is pleased to speak to his people, he'll
do it through the message that he's given, the voice. But if
they hear in power, it's the voice of Almighty God. My sheep,
he said, hear my voice. And Peter here, as a type of
Christ, spoke to her. And what did he say? He said,
Tabitha? Why did he call her that? That
was her name. The Lord said, I know My sheep
by name. I call them by name. I call them
personally. When God was pleased to call, A personal call. What did He
do? He said, Tabitha, arise. Tabitha, get up. Here's the miracle of birth. Rebirth. The Lord told Nicodemus,
you must be born again. What did He tell him? Here's
a picture of rebirth. When it pleased God, And He didn't
call all of you, you that believe. He didn't call you all together.
He called this one, and He called that one, and He called this
one. But He called them all the same way. He called them through
the preaching of the gospel, the power of God and the salvation.
But when He called, He called you personally. And you heard
Him. He called you out of darkness. He spoke and she heard. Christ speaks and the sheep hear
His voice. They hear Him. She opened her
eyes and the Scripture says she saw Peter. She sat up. The sheep are given eyes to see
Christ. And they see Him. They see Him
by faith. But they see Him. She sat up
and the Regenerate was raised up in newness of life. But there's
one other point that I want to look at in this particular verse,
in verse 40, before we go to the last three verses. And it's
this, the first part. But Peter put them all forth
and kneeled down and prayed. He put everybody out of the room
is what he did. It was just Peter and Tabitha. Regeneration is a private matter
between the Lord and His people. The eyes of men do not and cannot
behold the mystery of God's working. Deuteronomy 29.29 says, ìThe
secret things belong unto the Lord our But those things which
are revealed belong unto us and our children forever, that we
may do all the words of the law. Turn back to John. Just look
at this. John 3.8. John 3.8. Regeneration. A mysterious, gloriously mysterious
truth and event. John 3.8. The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every
one that is born of the Spirit." How does God save a sinner? I
can tell you that God saves a sinner through the preaching of the
gospel. I know that it is through the foolishness of preaching.
that God saves. I know He calls them out of darkness. I understand that. I can understand
that part. But how is it that Almighty God
removes a heart of stone? And that heart of stone is not
the throne anymore. How is it that Almighty God gives
a man a new nature? How is it that He imparts life? How is it that it's Christ in
you? The hope of glory. That's a mysterious
thing. He put them all out. He put them
out. He spoke to her. And then verse
41 says, And he gave her his hand, he lifted her up, and when
he called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. Tabitha,
as a type of all-God sheep, was lifted from the bed of death. David said in Psalm 1848, ìHe
delivereth me from mine enemies, yea, thou liftest me above those
that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the
violent man.î Psalm 30 and verse 1 says, ìI will extol thee, O
Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, youíve delivered me, and
has not made my foes to rejoice over me.î David said, ìYou, Lord,
by power, grace, by your will, you lifted me up from the pit
of hell and death and the ditch of sin and the slough of despondency. You did that. I know this. I can see in this right here
that Marvin Stoniker, being a chosen vessel of God's mercy, but dead,
sick with sin, in trespasses and sin. And what's going to
have to happen? The Lord's going to have to come
to me. And God's going to have to speak to me. And God's going
to have to lift me up. But when He speaks, I rise. He lifted me up. He did. And when He had called the saints
and widows, He presented her alive. He lifted her up. How high has God lifted us up? I tell you this, He's lifted
us to the place of being sons. Now are you the sons of God.
How high has He lifted? He gave her His hand. He lifted
her up. Lifted us up to that place that
He has said that we're adopted. Adopted. adopted sons, heirs
of God. How high is that? Joint heirs
with Christ. What He receives, we receive
in Him. Oh my, what joy! I don't doubt
it was to see their friend alive When He called the saints and
widows, He presented her alive. I cannot express the joy that
a believer has when they behold God and call a sinner out of
darkness, and they behold Him alive, and they hear Him speak
of Christ, and they hear Him and see Him growing in the grace
and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What
a privilege! But while we rejoice now to see
the objects of His mercy, called out of darkness, oh, one presented
alive. What do they say? I want to confess
the Lord in baptism. Boy, that's an evidence. one
that God's done something for. I want to confess Him before
this world. I want to fellowship with you
people. We're God's people. That's where I want to be. I
want to behold Him presented alive. We rejoice now to see
the objects of His mercy. But what shall it be in the day
of the Lord when the throng that no man can number shall be presented
alive before Him, to come before Him and to hear Him say, presented
alive, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. This resurrection,
and this is the eighth point, verse 32, was in type the power
of God. It was known throughout Joppa
and many believed in the Lord." This story right here is a picture,
it's a type, it's a setting forth of the gospel of free grace.
Dead in trespasses and sins, the shepherd comes, the shepherd
calls, he gets the sheep, he brings them to himself, he calls
them out of darkness and they live. It was known, it was perceived,
it was understood. Here's a picture of our great
Shepherd coming to get, lifting us up. That's the power of God
unto salvation. And then lastly, point number
nine, this message, as it always has been, is foolishness to the
world. Now here we've seen a picture. of one of God's elect, how God
viewed them before the foundation of the world, how they fell in
Adam, died in Adam, hopeless, helpless. Here's Peter, a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ coming to them, putting everyone else
out, calling her out of darkness, speaking to her, calling her
by name, lifting her up, presenting her alive. In verse 43 it says, ìIt came
to pass that he tarried many days,î that is Peter in Joppa,
ìwith one Simon, a tanner.î You say, ìWell, whatís the significance
of that?î Well, you know, if Peter, now Peter was an apostle,
he was an apostle, and if there I doubt not. If there had been,
in that place, maybe a lawyer, a doctor, maybe a statesman, congressman, governor, oh, they
would have had Peter. I don't doubt, had there truly
been one there that was a believer, oh, they would have invited,
I don't doubt it a bit. But I want you to notice who
Peter stayed with. He stayed with Simon, a tanner,
a menial job, hard-working man, a tanner, someone that worked
hard with his hands. That's who Peter stayed with.
Scripture said he stayed many days with this fellow. 1 Corinthians 1.27 says, But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world. to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence." Here was a story of a woman named
Tabitha. As far as the world was concerned,
what did she do? Not very much. She just made
coats and some things for the poor, for the widows, believing
widows. But here is a beautiful picture
in time of God's people, things that this world just absolutely
considers so insignificant. She didn't have a television
program, didn't have a big sign, you know, something behind her,
you know. Didn't have a lot of hoopla,
but when this woman died, a picture of our spiritual state before
Almighty God, we see how Almighty God set forth and showed in type
This woman called out of death, presented alive, loved by those
who were in the same state as she was in. The glorious gospel
of free grace. This world is just going by like
gangbusters. And this world absolutely has
no idea of what's going on. Everybody is in a race. to just
see how fast can I get to hell. But Almighty God in this place
and this place and this place has one here and one here and
one here. And He's calling them out. And
He calls them by name. And they come and they realize,
but for the grace of God, God left me to myself and I'd have
died. and perished in my sin. Lessons from a woman named Tabitha. Well, I pray the Lord bless that
for our hearing.