Would you turn back to the ninth
chapter of Acts? It's my prayer that somebody
in this room this morning is going to believe for the very
first time. May the Lord be pleased to cause
that to be so. I've entitled this message Tabitha,
a type of Christ. Tabitha, a type of Christ. In John chapter five, verse 39,
the Lord said to the Pharisees, and I love the way the Lord spoke
to the Pharisees. I loved it when Rich was reading
that passage of scripture, two or three times he said, have
you not read? And you know, that just galled them when he said
that. Of course they'd read, they'd studied, Have you not
read? But he says here, you search
the scriptures in John 5 39, you search the scriptures for
in them, in the scriptures, you think you have eternal life.
I'm gonna read, I'm gonna study, I'm gonna find out what this
book means. I'm gonna live according to what this book says. You think
in them, you have eternal life, but they are they which testify
of me. All of them? Yes, all of them. They are they which testify of
me. Then beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, this is in Luke 24, he expounded to them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. The scriptures, all of the scriptures,
are the things concerning himself. To him, give all the prophets
witness. Every scripture, Old Testament
and New Testament, is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
sacrifice, every ceremony, every feast day, every parable, every
narrative, It's all given to typify the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And there are no exceptions to
that rule. He is not the central message
and central theme of scripture. He is the only thing. Now, Peter had just healed the
paralytic man in Lydda, we considered that last week. And in verse
36, now there was at Joppa, Acts 9, verse 36, there was at Joppa
a certain disciple named Tabitha. And what a remarkable description
is given of this woman, which by interpretation, interpretation
is called Dorcas or roe, doe, deer. This woman was full of
good works and alms deeds, deeds of mercy and compassion, which
she did. Now, what a special woman described
as full of good works, full of deeds of mercy. Should that not
describe every one of us? Yes, without question, it should
describe every one of us. How do you feel you fit in here?
Do you think you would consider yourself as one full of good
works and full of works of mercy and compassion? You ought to
be, but how do you feel? You think, well, it doesn't sound
much like me. Me either. I understand. Let's
go on reading. Verse 37. Don't you love this phrase in
the scripture? It came to pass. I love that. God purposed it.
It came to pass. God purposed for you to be here
this morning. It came to pass. Whatever happens
in time was decreed by God in eternity. It came to pass. That's in the scripture hundreds
of times. It came to pass. In those days that she, this
woman full of good works and deeds of mercy, she was sick
and died. We don't know what kind of illness
she had, but she became so sick that she died. Just like that. Someone called me this week.
It was Joe Blakely's daughter and wife. They used to attend
here. And just a couple of days ago, we prayed for that family. She walked in and her husband
had died. He's gone. And that can so easily
happen to me or you or Tabitha. It will happen one day. She got
sick and she died. Now, let me ask you a question. What's the reason for death?
Well, cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, sin. That's the only reason for death,
sin. If you had no sin, you wouldn't
die. The one reason this woman died was because of sin. So when they had washed her,
they laid her up in an upper chamber. That was, I guess, the
custom with people who died in those days. Verse 38, and for
as much as Lydda was nigh to Joppa. Now that's where Peter
performed this miracle. There was a man who was a paralytic,
and he said, Aeneas, rise up and walk. Jesus Christ maketh
thee whole. That's the gospel. Rise up. And
he did, and they heard about this. They heard about Peter.
And according to Matthew chapter 10, verse eight, all of the apostles
had the power given to them by God to raise the dead, all 12
of them. Had Peter ever raised up anybody
from the dead? I don't know, maybe he had, but
here he did. Here he did, and we know it was
through the Lord. He didn't have any power to do that, but through
the Lord, he did. But they heard about him, and
I guess they knew, hey, he's an apostle, let's get him back here. Verse
38, 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. Then Peter arose and went with
them. And when he was come, they brought
him into that upper chamber where the dead body of Tabitha lay
and all the widows, who were widows? People who can't supply
for themselves. They're totally dependent. All
the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made while she was with him. You know anybody else who made
some coats and garments? A robe of righteousness? Lord made a lot of coats and
garments, didn't he? When he lived this life, he made this
wedding garment, fine linen, clean and white. But they showed
the coats and garments that Dorcas made while she was with him. But Peter put them all forth. Peter had everybody leave the
room. And he kneeled down and prayed. and turning him to the body said,
Tabitha, arise. Evidently he was given some assurance
that she would arise because he prayed first. And then he
turned toward that dead body and said, Tabitha, arise. Can you imagine seeing this?
And she opened her eyes. Can you imagine seeing a dead
corpse? I mean, she's dead. Graveyard dead. Tabitha, arise. She opens her eyes. Wouldn't
that have been eerie to see that? And when she saw Peter, she sat
up. This dead person sat up. And he gave her his hand and
lifted her up. And we'd call the saints and
widows. presented her alive. And it was known throughout all
of Joppa and many believed in the Lord. Now you'd think everybody
would have believed in the Lord when they found out that this
dead woman was raised from the dead. You'd think everybody,
but they didn't, but many did. Many did. Now I've given an accurate
account of what took place. But have I preached the gospel
yet? No. No. You see, the gospel is not preached
till you give the meaning of what took place. Now, the example
I thought of was Genesis chapter 16, where God had promised Abraham
and Sarah a child. You can read the account. in
Genesis chapter 16. If you don't know the gospel,
you just think it's one of those weird things that's in place in the
Old Testament that nobody has an explanation for. Sarah says
to Abraham, we haven't had any children. Evidently, we haven't
done our part. We need to do our part. So let's do our part.
Here's what you need to do. You need to go into Hagar. And
we'll have a child through her. And that way, God's promise will
take place by us doing our part. Men are responsible. We need
to do our part. So Abraham goes in to Hagar,
which was wrong, which was sin. There wasn't anything right about
it. He went into her. They had a baby. And they cast out the bottom of her son.
This is not going to be the heir. The heir is going to come through
Sarah after she had been through menopause. She's still going
to have this baby, and God's promise is going to take place.
Now, if I gave that story, you'd think, well, that's one of those
weird things that took place in the Old Testament. It's the gospel. It's law and grace, according
to Paul in Galatians chapter four. He says they represent
the two covenants. Hagar and Ishmael and Abraham, man doing
his part, that represents Mount Sinai. That represents the law.
The supernatural birth of Isaac through a woman who had already
gone through menopause, that represents grace. That is the
gospel of grace. So you can tell the story and
not preach the gospel. And I can tell you the story
and not preach the gospel. Now let's see the gospel in this
passage of scripture. Go back to verse 36 in Acts chapter
nine. I've entitled this message, Tabitha,
a type of Christ. And remember every narrative
in the scripture is given to illustrate the gospel of Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Verse 36, 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 we admire Tabitha. We admire her. What a woman that
God would describe her thusly, full of good works and alms deeds. But we also know for a fact that
she was a sinner. just like me and you. She didn't escape that description. There is none righteous. No,
not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They've together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. And Tabitha was one of those
people. Just like me and just like you. But there was one who was literally
full of good works and alms deeds. Full, that means that's all there
was there. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
the eternal son of God and he is full of good works and deeds
of mercy. Before time began, the son of
God the creator, the second person
of the Trinity, the God-man, before time began, he took full
responsibility for the salvation of those the Father gave him.
It's called the covenant of grace. He's the assurity, the scripture
says in Hebrews 7, the surety of the better covenant. He took
full responsibility for my salvation before time began. I don't mean
part. I mean full, full, the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And in time, he came into this
world in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
And for 33 years, he lived a life without sin, perfectly keeping
God's Holy law. He never had a sinful thought.
He never had a sinful deed. He never had a sinful word. He
never had a sinful action for 33 years. He lived perfectly
before his father. I love to think of the son of
God coming into the world in answer to the scripture, behold,
a virgin shall be with child. You see, when he came into the
world, he came a lot differently than Tabitha did. When Tabitha
came into the world, she was born a sinner. Just like me and
you, she was born a sinner. He wasn't. He was born of a virgin. He didn't have Adam's sinful
nature. And he kept God's law perfectly. He was full of good works and
deeds of mercy. never sinned. Verse 37, and it came to pass
in those days that she was sick and died. This woman who was full of good
works and mercy died. Now, remember, there's only one
reason for death, sin. That's the only reason. If there
were no sin, there would be no death. So if the Lord Jesus Christ never
sinned, why did he die? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. I've got a couple of scriptures I want you to read with me. Verse 21, for he, God the Father,
hath made him to be sin. You'll notice if you have a King
James, that's in italics. We'd probably be better off without
it. It was not in the original. The translator thought it would
make it clearer. I don't think it does. Let's leave that to
be out. That's not leaving out the original.
For he hath made him sin for us who knew no sin. He'd never sinned. That we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. You know, I love to think of
Tabitha making those coats and those garments. The Lord Jesus
Christ made these perfect coats and garments that his people
are clothed in because he made him to be sin. Now, how does
that work? Turn with me to Leviticus chapter 16. Remember, the Old Testament is
given to illustrate the New Testament. Leviticus 16, and we have the
great day of atonement here. And this is when sin was placed
on the scapegoat. And I want you to notice the
wording. And the high priest, verse 20, when he hath made an
end of reconciling the holy place by sprinkling blood on everything
in the tabernacle of the congregation, the altar, he shall bring the
live goat. Remember, there was a goat that
was killed and there was a live goat. This represents the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands, verse 21, And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head
of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of
the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their
sins, putting them upon the head of the goat and shall send him
away by the hand of a fit man in the wilderness. And the goat
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited,
and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Now he's talking obviously about
all the elect. He didn't lay upon him the iniquity
of all men without exception, but all the elect. Christ bore
our sins. Don't miss that. Christ bore
our sins in his own body on the tree. When he was in Gethsemane's garden, he said, Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. What was in that cup? The sins
of everybody he was getting ready to die for. They were actually
transferred just the way the sins of Israel was transferred
to that goat and he bore them. When Christ drank of that cup,
he drank up my sins and my sins became his sins. And the reason he died was the
justice of God against sin. This was not the innocent being
punished. And I'm scared when I say this,
but because he took my sin, this was the guilty being punished. God is just, and that's precisely
what was taking place. And I love the fact that the
Lord put darkness over the cross, because that reminds us that
we're never really gonna understand, just believe. He bore my sins. He made a way for God to be just
and actually justify everybody that Christ died for. And he
glorified every attribute of God in that work on Calvary Street. That's how glorious this is.
The cross is the whole counsel of God. Verse back to our text. And for as much as Lydia was
nigh to Joppa and the disciples heard, that's verse 38, had heard
that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men desiring him,
that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and
went with him. And when he was come, they brought
him into the upper chamber and all the widows. And back then,
if you're a widow, you know what that means? They didn't have
social security and government assistance and retirements, means
you didn't have anybody to take care of you. You were in trouble. You were totally dependent on
other people to do something for you. You couldn't make it
on your own. That's what a widow is. Remember how Paul said, don't
take any widows under the church in 1 Timothy chapter 5 unless
they're over 60? They were dependent. You can
remember even in the early church, there was an argument between
the Greeks and the Jews, the Greek believers, Gentile believers,
and Jew believers, they were saying they're giving Jew widows
preference over Gentile widows. You remember that, and I guess
they were. They probably were. But the point is, a widow was
someone that was completely dependent on somebody to take care of them.
Anybody like that? Totally dependent? He brought
him into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping. showing the coats and garments
which Dorcas made while she was with them. You know, throughout the scriptures,
the work of the Lord is described as a garment, a coat to be clothed
in. You remember that parable of
the wedding feast? What'd you have to have on? The
wedding garment. The work of the Lord is described
as the fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the
saints. In Isaiah 61 10, he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. Now Dorcas made these things
or Tabitha, whatever name it's both. the widows, the Lord Jesus
Christ made these glorious garments for everybody for whom he died. Verse 40, but Peter put them all forth. Now he was going to pray for
this woman to be raised from the dead and he put them all
forth. He told them all to leave the
room. Now I would have wanted him to see me do this. I'd like
everybody to say, see the Lord's hand on me, I can pray for this
woman, she's gonna, but not Peter. He put them all forth. Everybody leave the room. When Christ was on the cross, men were shut out. That's what
that darkness is for. This was a transaction between
the Father and the Son. He was doing his father's business.
Remember how the very opening words of the New Testament in
Matthew chapter one, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. And after his death and resurrection,
he has saved. Now, if you're saved, it's because
You were saved by what he did. You weren't around, didn't have
anything to do with your works. You were saved before you were
born in Christ, if you're saved. That's so. He saved us and he
called us. What came first? The salvation.
He saved us and he called us. Now, if he saved you, he'll call
you. I hope he calls you this morning. But he saved us. Well, he put them out. Now, who is the only one that
can give somebody life from the dead? Well, you know the answer
to that, God. This didn't have anything to do with any strength
Peter had. This was God that did this through
Peter, but he put them all out. Verse 40, but Peter put them
all forth and kneeled down and prayed, turning him to the body,
to the dead body. the lifeless corpse and said, Tabitha, arise. He didn't say, let Jesus into
your heart or won't you accept him or nothing for her to do. He said, Tabitha, arise. And can you imagine how eerie
that must have been when she opened her eyes? Now, what I
love thinking about is the Lord being in that dark tomb for three
days. And nobody witnessed his resurrection. There were no men there, no believers,
no unbelievers. There were no angels. This was
just the Father and the Son. And I think of the father saying
to him, that dead body. And that's part of the mystery
of the gospel, isn't it? That Christ could die in the
first place. He's the God-man. And he died. Why did he die? Because of sin. But the father
said, arise. And I love to think of him opening
his eyes. And I don't know. We don't have
any record of what took place. But I bet the tomb was filled
with light at that time. Was it? I don't know. But seems
like maybe it could have been. but he opened his eyes and he
sat up. If thou shalt confess, now listen
to me carefully, listen to this so carefully. I couldn't say
anything more important than what I'm saying right now. If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you believe he's the Lord? Do you believe that God raised
him from the dead? Do you understand as much as
you can, that the reason he raised him from the dead is because
he finished the work of salvation. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. My justification before God,
and don't forget this, justification is standing before God, having
perfectly kept the law, having never sinned. My justification
was accomplished by what? He did, when God raised him from
the dead, God said, I'm satisfied with what he did and everybody
in him. You see, when he had by himself,
don't miss that, Hebrews 1.3, when he had by himself, that
means you didn't have any part in this. You didn't have any
work in this when he had by himself, you didn't make any contribution
to this when he had by himself purged our sins. He sat down. The work was accomplished. And everybody he died for was
justified. Now, let's go on reading. And when she opened her eyes, And 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 the widows, he presented her alive. Now, he called two
people, which represent the same person, saints and widows. What's
a saint? Sanctified one. Somebody God
sanctified. He set you apart in eternal election.
declared you to be holy by the work of Christ on the cross.
He made you holy when he gave you a new birth. That's what
a sanctified one is. All God's people are saints. And they're
widows. They don't have anything to bring
to the table. They don't have any experience. They don't have
any feeling. They don't have anything to bring
to the table. They're completely dependent. Now these people, saints and
widows, listen, you are commanded to believe. You're the only ones
who will believe, I realize that. But if you're a widow, if you
don't have anything to bring to the table, you can't muster
up a feeling, you can't muster up an experience, you can't muster
up anything good about you, there's nothing in you. You're the one
who is commanded to believe. And this thing of believing doesn't
mean you believe you're saved. Well, I believe I'm saved. Well,
maybe you are, maybe you're not, but just because you believe
you're saved doesn't mean you are. It's believing He's the Savior. It's
not what you think about yourself, it's what you think about him.
Do you believe he's God? Do you believe that when he was
raised from the dead, he had accomplished complete, full salvation? And he's your only hope. Now,
David or Peter presented her alive to the saints and to the
widows. And I love thinking about this
presentation being spoken of. I couldn't help but think of
this scripture, Ephesians 5, 25, Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it that he might present it to himself. There's
the same word, that he might present it to himself. A glorious
church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. They have on this beautiful garment
that Christ has made that not only clothes them on the outside,
but clothes them on the inside too. The king's daughter is all
glorious within. That's what this garment does.
This isn't a garment that covers our dirty body. This is a garment
that makes us exactly like Jesus Christ. Paul said in Colossians 1.22
that he might present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Jude 24, now unto him. that is
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. And he's presented, listen to
this, he presented her alive. We preach the living Christ and
his life is our life before God. I don't have any idea how long
I've been a believer. I know it was somewhere when
I was young. And I've been a believer, I know, probably 45, 50 years. I've had a lot of ups and downs.
I've had a lot of experiences. You know how much stock I put
in all of them? Nothing. Nothing. The life of Jesus Christ
is my life before God. Oh, I find such confidence in
that. His life. Tell me about your life. Well,
read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You'll read all about it.
That's my life before God. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes to the Father, but
by me. Verse 42, and was known throughout
all of Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. I wish I could say
this as sufficiently as I, well, I can't say it right, but if
the Lord makes this real to you, you will believe. Faith in Christ
doesn't have anything to do with what you think about yourself. Now, let me repeat that. Don't
look within yourself for evidence of whether or not God's done
anything for you. Don't do that. It's real stupid
to do that. You'll find something, then you're
really gonna be in trouble. Don't look within yourself for
evidence that you have faith in Christ. Do you believe that
when God raised him from the dead, everything you need for
salvation was completed? That's what faith is. Whoso believeth
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is born of God. Now, not everybody believed in
Joppa, but I know who did. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Oh, may God say to me And to
you, believe. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray.