ACTS 9:32-43 DOING MINISTRY LIKE PETER2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 9:32-43 Doing Ministry Like Peter

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Well, this evening we are in Acts chapter 9, and we'll be working our way from verse 32 through verse 43, finishing up

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And so what we're going to be doing now as we go forward, we kind of put pause on Saul of Tarsus, and Luke is going to now focus back on the apostle Peter.

And here in chapter, the remainder of chapter 9 and then on into chapter 10, we're going to see God continuing to do some things through the Apostle Peter and the ministry that took place there. And so we're going to be looking at Peter's ministry this evening as we finish up chapter 9. And let's begin as we usually do by reading through our passage together. So we'll be looking at Acts chapter 9 verses 32 through 43. Here's what it says.

Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. Then he arose immediately."

Verse 36. Verse 36.

And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed."

Verse 41. Verse 41.

Here as we finish up Acts chapter 9, we're looking at some ministry that takes place by the Apostle Peter. And so I've titled the message this evening, Doing Ministry Like Jesus.

As we look at this passage, as we look at these accounts that take place, it's a reminder for us that every one of us as believers in Jesus are called to ministry. This is not the kind of thing that only apostles are called to or only pastors or special Christians, but it's

Christian life is ministry, and that's the reality, that as Christians, our lives are to be devoted to serving God and serving others as He directs and in the capacity that He calls us to serve. And so,

the example here of Peter, although we may not do exactly the same types of things that Peter does, Peter sets a good example for us for how to do ministry. And so we're going to look at four points this evening as we work our way through this and see the different types of things that we need to learn about ministry from the example of Peter.

The first thing that we'll see in verses 32 through 35, point number one, is do ministry in the name of Jesus. As Peter is out doing ministry, it's clear from this passage, he's not building a name for himself. He's not building up a following for himself.

He's not trying to become famous. He's not trying to establish, you know, the church of Peter. He is continuing to proclaim the name of Jesus and to make sure that Jesus is the focal point of his ministry and that he gets the glory for the work that is done. And we'll see that as we look at these verses. But once again, in verse 32, it says, Now it came to pass as Peter went through all parts of the country,

that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.

And so we see Peter here kind of like on a mission trip. He's working his way throughout the land of Israel and spending some time in different places in proclaiming the gospel and bringing forth the good news. And this is a little bit of a change from what we saw before, right? Because we saw the apostles specifically gathered together in Jerusalem. And that was good. It was appropriate for the time that they were ministering there in Jerusalem, the whole church together.

you know, only existed in Jerusalem until Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter 8 began to persecute the church and everybody fled and spread out throughout the region of Israel. And

But it tells us there in chapter 8 that the apostles stayed there in Jerusalem and they continued to minister in Jerusalem. And we saw a couple occasions where specific apostles were sent out to, you know, certain locations where a work was going on, but then they would return to Jerusalem. But now Peter is shifting gears. He's kind of changing up his ministry a bit. He's not

♪ I'm a-wantin' to be ♪

Right there in the middle, you have Samaria. We looked at ministry there that Philip was doing, and then he ended up in Caesarea. But here it describes Peter going all throughout the country. And so up at the end of the, kind of the tip of that arrow is, where it curves anyways, is the region of Galilee, which is where Peter is from. And so it's likely that Peter went

up through that region and, you know, back through his hometown. And it says he went all throughout the country. So he's ministering to the nation of Israel, but then he comes back down south to Lydda, which is there a little bit inland from the Mediterranean Sea. And so he's ministering to the people there. Now it tells us specifically in verse 32, he came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.

And so as he comes down to Lydda, he's specifically dealing with and ministering to the church. And so I think that would be kind of a cool experience, right? There you have Apostle Peter, you know, coming to your church and just, he's just there to minister to you. And so he's there, he's ministering to them. But notice what the Christians are called there in verse 32. And it's something that we should pay attention to. It says that he came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.

This is interesting because, of course, we have a different concept of saint that often comes to our mind than what the Bible actually uses. The word saint is first used here in the book of Acts, here in chapter 9. We see it earlier in verse 13. We saw it a couple weeks ago, but I didn't really talk about it at that point.

But there it was talking about the saints in Jerusalem and how the Apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus at that time had persecuted them and done much harm to them. And so Christians are referred to as saints in verse 13 here in Acts chapter 9. And then Christians are referred to as saints here in verse 32, talking about those Christians who are in Lydda. And then in verse 41, we'll see Christians referred to as saints once again.

The word saint, as far as the Bible is concerned, is not some super special class of Christian. The word saint, as far as the Bible is concerned, is every Christian. That is, a Christian is one who is set apart. That's what the word saint means. It's the idea of holiness or being set apart unto the Lord. And so as you believe in Jesus Christ, you are saved.

Now a saint, you are declared to be set apart for God. Now that doesn't mean that we are perfect. And that's usually kind of part of the connotation, right? When the idea of a saint is brought forth, that there's this perfection, you know, there's this extra, you know, special holiness or extra special connection to God.

Listen, you can't have a closer connection to God or more access to God than you already have. You, by faith in Jesus Christ, you have everything. It does, you know, depend on you how much you take advantage of that, but there is no better condition. There is no better class of Christian that is, you know, a saint that you don't qualify for. We're all saints. And

And as I talk about ministry this evening and doing ministry like Peter and doing ministry in the name of Jesus, I know sometimes we kind of hold ourselves back. We kind of, you know, keep ourselves out or count ourselves out of that group of those who are called to minister and to represent Jesus to the world around us. But I just like to take this opportunity to remind you, you're a saint. You're a saint.

And you are qualified as a saint to do ministry in the name of Jesus. You're qualified and you're called to be a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so do ministry in the name of Jesus. And that's why it's important for us to look at this example and see what Peter can show us as far as how to do the ministry that we are called to do.

Verse 33, there he found a certain man named Aeneas who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.

So as he comes down to Lydda, he's doing ministry. He's, you know, ministering to the saints. He's encouraging the believers. He's building them up. And there's this one guy who's been bedridden for eight years. He was paralyzed for some reason. We don't know how he got that way. But for the last eight years, he was paralyzed. Can you imagine that?

What that might have been like to be paralyzed for eight years. It caused me to reflect a little bit on a couple years ago when my foot was broken and I had to be off my foot, you know, no weight upon it for nine months.

and remembering, you know, some of the difficulties that I put Kim through in that season and how she had to carry me around everywhere I went. She didn't really do that, but anyways. But it would be very difficult, right? This guy's life was seriously changed and for eight years he's been paralyzed and

But Peter shows up in verse 34. Peter says to him, Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. And then he arose immediately. And so we see a great miracle take place. This guy who's been paralyzed for eight years has his life restored to him as he's able to get up, to make his bed, and to begin to walk immediately. But what I'd like to call to your attention here in verse 34 is the way that Peter approaches this

He tells the man, Jesus the Christ heals you. This is where I get the point, do ministry in the name of Jesus. Peter, from the get-go, from the very beginning, he wants to make sure it's abundantly clear this is the work of Jesus. It's not even, I, Peter, heal you in the name of Jesus, although that wouldn't have been wrong for Peter to say, but Peter says, Jesus the Christ heals you.

He wants to make it clear. He wants to make it known. It is important that Jesus get the glory for this work that is taking place. And so he wants this guy, Aeneas, to know Jesus is healing you. As well as we have this account recorded for us. It would have been known, you know, by the people around him and the people of the region that,

It needed to be known that this was not a work of Peter, but that it was a work of Jesus. Now, it's interesting because it's different than when Jesus was healing people in his ministry, right? Now, as you look at the Gospels, you see Jesus healing

He just healed people in the name of Jesus because he is Jesus. And so here, Peter heals this man in the name of Jesus. He's doing it representing Jesus. He is the agent or the administrator for Jesus. He's the messenger saying, hey, I just want to let you know Jesus is healing you. He's chosen to do that right now. And that is similar to the ministry that you and I have. Now, the message might be different sometimes.

Or it might not. I know a lot of times we just kind of, that doesn't even cross our minds, right? That the Lord might use us to bring healing to somebody, to be the messenger to say, hey, Jesus wants to heal you. That probably is not the first thing that jumps to our minds. And, you know, probably rightly so because we don't get to experience that that often. And yet we shouldn't exclude it and just think that that's never going to happen because God knows.

could do that and so if the lord does that work and he speaks to you in that way then i would encourage you to trust the lord and follow through on the things that he speaks to you and bring forth those messages

But there's other messages that God might bring through you also. And he speaks to your heart to call people to repentance, to encourage them in the Lord, to build them up, to share the love of Christ with them. Whatever that message might be, we're the messengers of Jesus. We're his ambassadors, calling people to the love of God, calling people to what he has in store for them. And so we get to approach people and say, hey, Jesus has a message for you.

Maybe a message of healing. Maybe a message of encouragement or rebuke. But we're the messengers that God has sent forth to bring forth the work that he wants to do. Verse 35. Notice the response. Notice the result. So this guy gets healed.

It becomes known. It's something that, you know, people take notice of. Lydda and then Sharon, that was like the whole region around this city. It wasn't a city, it was a region. And so this whole region of Sharon, they saw this guy and he'd been paralyzed for eight years. So they had some contact with him previously. They saw him lame. They saw him paralyzed. But now they see him walking and

And it makes a big difference in their lives. They take note of it. And the result, it says there in verse 35, is they turned to the Lord. People saw him. They saw this transformation in his life. And it caused them to turn to Jesus. But notice this result. It's a great work. And God used it to turn people's hearts to him. But again, notice the direction of Peter's ministry and the effect of Peter's ministry here.

they didn't turn to Peter. It doesn't say they saw him and began to follow Peter. I think that's interesting to think about the difference between Jesus's ministry and Peter's ministry. When Jesus ministered in the gospels, he had groups of people, crowds of people, multitudes of people following him from place to place to place to place to place.

We see kind of somewhat humorous different descriptions of Jesus kind of trying to get away from the crowd sometimes, right? Then, you know, the crowds figure out where he is and they catch up with him. Oh, he's on the other side. They run around the lake to try to catch up with him. The crowds followed Jesus. They gathered around Jesus. They congregated around Jesus. That was not what we see happen in the ministry of the disciples, right?

they were not establishing themselves as the name. They weren't establishing, you know, their fame or their ministry. Here in this work, Peter says, Jesus the Christ heals you, and the result is that people are turning to the Lord, and they're following Jesus. They didn't follow Peter around, but they followed Jesus as a result of the ministry of Peter. And

This is something I think that is important for us to consider and take note of. We need to be all about Jesus. We need to be focused. And really, intent is the right word. I'm trying to think of the right word. It's just, it's like right there. I just can't quite reach it. Intentional. We need to be intentional about doing things in the name of Jesus. Doing ministry in the name of Jesus. Again, Christian life is,

is ministry. Even if you don't want to be in ministry, even if you don't want to be an example, even if you don't want to be a representative of Jesus, if you believe in Jesus, you already are all those things. Welcome to the ministry. That's your calling. That's your life. And there's no way to follow Jesus without ministry being your life. There's no way to follow Jesus without you being an ambassador on behalf of Jesus to bring forth the message of Jesus. And

The only question is whether or not we're going to do it well or whether we're going to do it poorly, whether we're going to be a good example or a bad example, but either way, we're an example. And here, Peter sets for us a good example to say, look, we need to be focused on Jesus.

to make sure that he gets the glory, that he gets the credit, that people know the work that we do, whether it be work here on this property or work here in other locations, the work that we do, we do by the power of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, for the glory of Jesus. Listen, saint, you are qualified to do ministry in the name of Jesus.

So do ministry and serve and do all that God puts upon your heart, but make sure that you do so proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Colossians 3, verse 17, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We're not just talking about, you know, when you serve in Sunday school, make sure you do it in the name of Jesus. Paul says, whatever you do in word or deed, everything you do, your whole life is to be lived in the name of Jesus and to be lived in such a way that you are giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ. I think about this a lot, especially in the more recent days because I'm being challenged and stretched in...

on things outside of ministry. And so for those who don't know, I've been doing kind of like some freelance website design and programming and behind the scenes stuff online.

And what kind of started out as just like little side projects has really kind of turned into a big deal. And I'm being stretched and challenged in that. And you know what's amazing to me is, you guys know me, I love this stuff. I love technology. I love that stuff. And yet, it is amazing to me because I can see the hand of God at work.

And I need to be careful. I need to make sure, and I'm reminded of this regularly, I need to make sure that I do all things in the name of Jesus and glorify Jesus. I'm surprised when things work many times because I know it's not me. I know I'm not smart enough to figure out the problems. When I used to work at Paychex and I was the technical support for the payroll software there, and I would have to go to clients. And, you know, when you're dealing with payroll, you're dealing with

There's high tension. People get really upset. Their paychecks are late. Their employees are upset with them. And so they're upset with us. And so when you go visit a client, and there's all this tension. And I'm driving there, and I'm just praying. And I'm just praying every scripture I can think of to pray. I can pray every prayer I can think of to pray. Praying in tongues. Just trying to ask the Lord for help, because I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what the problem is. I don't know how I'm going to resolve this. And then they go and show me the computer, and

I don't even know how to fix this. I don't even know where to begin. And in my mind, I'll think of something random. And many times my first response is, surely it couldn't be that. That's so random. Like that doesn't seem like it's even related. But then I'll go, maybe you put that in my mind, Lord. And so then I'll try it. And sure enough, that thing, that random thing that seemed so unrelated was something that

resolved the client's problem that happened over and over and over again and the client would be like you're a genius and i'd be like no you don't understand like i was praying the whole way here i didn't have any idea i didn't think that that i i was doubtful the whole time that that was going to fix your problem but but this is what the lord put on my heart so that's what i tried and and i see that being repeated again in my life and i need to keep that model i need to keep that doing all things in the

It's so easy for us to begin to take credit for our lives, for our accomplishments, our achievements. It's easy for us to think, well, yeah, of course. Well, you know, I went to school for that, so no big deal. But whatever we do, everything that we do, we need to do in the name of Jesus, to represent Jesus well to the world around us.

And so do ministry in the name of Jesus. Well, as we go on in verses 36 through 41, we have point number two, and that is do what Jesus teaches you. Here, as we look at Peter ministering in these various capacities, you can see such great similarities in his ministry into the ministry of his teacher. He was with Jesus for those three years of ministry. He watched Jesus work, and now you see him

Put those things into practice as he's doing these things. Look at verse 36 and 37 again. It says, Here is Peter is there in Lydda at a town called Joppa, not too far away from

There's a lady named Tabitha. Now, also translated Dorcas. Sometimes that makes us giggle a little bit. She wasn't dorky. Dorcas, Tabitha, just different, same name. It means gazelle in both languages. One's Aramaic and one's Greek. But so her name was Gazelle.

And you could choose Tabitha or Dorcas, whichever you prefer. But here she is. She's full of good works. She's a saint, just like you. She's serving the Lord in a variety of ways and charitable deeds. But it happens that she becomes sick and then dies. And so it says they washed her and laid her in an upper room.

Well, as this happens, the people around hear about Peter being not too far away. Verse 38. So a quick look at the geography here. Peter is there in Lydda.

And at Joppa is where Tabitha is. And so they hear about Peter being not too far away. It's about eight miles from Joppa to Lydda. And so they send messengers to go get Peter and then bring him back. Now, they tell him not to delay in coming to them. It was very important that

not delay because it would take several hours for the messengers to travel the eight or so miles to Lydda to get Peter and then it would take several more hours to get back and the practice of the Jews was to bury the dead the same day that they died. They would not, you know,

keep the body around for a few days and bury it when the family could all get there. You know, that wasn't the case. They would always bury the body the same day that the person died.

And so the messengers had to travel probably three or four hours to get Peter. And then he had to travel three or four hours back. And so it was important that he not delay, that he didn't just kind of wait around because before long, this woman was going to be buried. He had to arrive before sundown so that he would have an opportunity to do this work. Verse 39, then Peter arose and went with them.

So Peter gets there in time and they take him to where she is. And there's this gathering around of the mourners, of those who were specifically, it says, the widows who were there weeping.

And as they're weeping, they're showing him some of the things that this woman had done. And I kind of think of it in my mind, and it doesn't say this specifically, but just kind of saying, look, she's worthy of a miracle. Look how good of a person she was. Look how faithfully she ministered and just what a difference she made for us. And so they're talking to Peter. They're weeping over their loss and showing him all that she had done for them.

And so here Peter is. Now, just put yourself in Peter's shoes for a moment. You're kicking back at Lydda, you know, just hanging out, having a good time, encouraging the disciples. Messengers rush in. Hey, don't delay. There's a woman here. She's sick and she just died. Come quickly. And I don't know about you, but...

She's dead, right? I wouldn't be in a rush. There's not that big of an urgency because, well, it's too late. But Peter complies. He goes, okay. He gets up.

I don't know if you would be willing to do that and ready to do that. You know, someone come rushing in here this evening and said, hey, three hours away, we got to go right now, let's go. And you're like, okay, you know, let's go. And we just run out the door and be on our way to some occasion of ministry. And so we see Peter here just available and flexible and just ready to do whatever God wants to do at this time. And so he arises and goes with them. And when he gets there,

Here's this scene of this room full of people who are weeping and sorrowful over someone who has just died. And I can just imagine Peter, I don't know if Peter's anything like I imagined him, but I imagine Peter a lot like myself, wondering, okay, so what do I do in this situation? Am I here to minister to these people? How do I minister to these people who are weeping and they've just lost someone? How am I going to do this? And what is it that God wants to do in this situation?

here. Well, we see what Peter does in verse 40 and 41. It says, So Peter walks into this situation. It's a room full of people weeping over someone who has just died. And Peter says,

I remember something like this happening. Would you turn with me for a few moments to Mark chapter 5? I want to show you an occasion in the life of Jesus and a work that he accomplished in his ministry that there's many parallels to what we see Peter doing here in Acts chapter 9. So Mark chapter 5, we're going to pick it up in verse 38 and read through verse 42. Here's what it says.

Then he, talking about Jesus, came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult in those who wept and wailed loudly. When he came in, he said to them, why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him. But when he had put them all outside, he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him and entered where the child was lying.

I think it's really interesting. As you look at this account here in Mark chapter 5, and then you look at what Peter did in Acts chapter 9, he says,

I would suggest to you it's pretty clear Peter did what Jesus taught him to do. He modeled his actions. He modeled his ministry off of the ministry of Jesus. And I just want to kind of walk you through it a little bit to reflect on the things that happened that Jesus did here in Mark chapter 5 and that Peter did in Acts chapter 9. First of all, what do you do when you enter a room filled with people weeping over someone who died?

In Mark chapter 5, we see Jesus was there with those who were weeping and wailing loudly in verse 38. In Acts chapter 9 verse 39, Peter is there with the widows who stood by them weeping. And so the similar situation, similar context, someone's just died, groups of people are there weeping. And so what does Jesus do? Well, in verse 40 of Mark chapter 5, we see Jesus put them all outside.

He kicks them all out of the room. What does Peter do? In verse 40 of Acts chapter 9, Peter puts them all outside. He kicks them all out of the room. He clears out the room just like Jesus did. Really following the example of his master, following the example of his teacher, he clears out the room so he can prepare to do what's next. What is next? Well, then Jesus in verse 41 says,

Says to the little girl, Talitha Kumi, which is translated, little girl, I say to you, arise. Speaking in Aramaic, Jesus says, Talitha Kumi, little girl, arise. What does Peter say? Tabitha, arise. Now, I mean, not to get a little bit too technical or anything, but Peter's saying Tabitha. He's using her Aramaic name. So probably what he said is Tabitha Kumi.

So you have Talitha Kumi and Tabitha Kumi. Only one letter different. The L of Talitha is a B. Now Tabitha, it's very similar, very close. Now that's the English transliteration. I'm not trying to be super technical or precise here, but you get the point. He almost like verbatim quotes Jesus. Jesus said Talitha Kumi. He says Tabitha Kumi. Wake up, get up.

Just like Jesus spoke to the little girl. He's following the pattern. He's following the example that Jesus set for him. And then also in verse 41, Jesus, it says, took the child by the hand. So Jesus takes the child by the hand and says, hey, little girl, arise. Now, Peter, he tells Tabitha to arise first and she wakes up and sits up. But then I think it's interesting there in verse 41, he gave her his hand.

lifted her up. And so you can see the pattern here that Peter is following the example that Jesus set for him, following the model that was set for him, putting everybody outside, speaking virtually the same words, having the same kind of contact with the person that he's ministering to. He followed the example of Jesus. Now,

Please understand what I'm talking about here is not that Peter did this every time that he walked into a room with weeping people. Okay, here's the formula. Whenever I walk into a room and there's weeping people and someone's died, okay, step number one, clear everybody out of the room. Step number two, you know, say the person and then arise. And then step number three, take them by the hand. It's not a formula, but what I would suggest to you is that as Peter walked into this situation, the Lord reminded him, this is what I did. Remember what I did?

Do what I did, Peter. And so Peter followed the pattern, followed the example that was set for him and followed the instruction that the Lord was giving to him. Now, other times, Peter would go into a room of weeping people and he would do something different. This wasn't the formula for the rest of his life in ministry. But the formula that you can look at here is that Peter looked to Jesus as the model and as the example of

for how to deal with situations and what to do in situations and how to minister to people. And so he uses that example and puts it into practice in his own life. And there again, I suggest that Peter is a really good example for us, that we need to look to Jesus to be the model and the example for ministering to people, to do what Jesus teaches us to do.

Now we can look at the example of Jesus that we have in the gospels in the New Testament. And there's great powerful examples and plenty of material for us to understand the Lord and his work and his ministry and things that we can model and practice in our own lives. And Jesus will teach you through his word how to minister.

How to respond to situations. How to respond to different scenarios and deal with different things that are maybe really difficult. Maybe that you don't know how to deal with. But through his word, he will teach you how to minister in those areas. How to do those things. But then also, you need to remember that you can learn from Jesus through your personal relationship with Jesus because Jesus isn't dead. He's alive. He's alive.

And you have relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. It's through Christ that you have relationship with God. And so you have a connection to Jesus and he's going to be teaching you. Remember what Jesus told his disciples? He said that the Holy Spirit is going to remind you of the things that I've taught you. And so as we enter into different scenarios,

We've spent time studying the scriptures. We've spent time studying the life of Jesus. The role of the Holy Spirit as we walk into those situations is the Holy Spirit will remind us of those things that Jesus taught us through his word. But then Jesus also told his disciples, and the Holy Spirit is going to teach you more things because you're not ready to hear everything that I want to tell you. The Holy Spirit is going to continue to bring forth teachings of Jesus to your heart as you walk with God.

And we need to rely upon that. We need to look to the Lord as our example, as our model, as our teacher, and do what Jesus teaches us to do. Not do what is natural for us to do necessarily, not do what someone else taught us to do or what people expect us to do, but to look to Jesus and say, Jesus, what do you want me to do in this situation that I face? Peter sets a good example for us to do ministry today.

As we follow what Jesus teaches us to do. Well, moving on. I'll actually kind of stay in the same spot. But moving on to point number three. We're going to look at verses 36 through 42. Just kind of highlighting a couple different things. And here the point is to do your share in the body.

Do your share in the body. Notice in verse 36, it says, Here I want to shift gears a little bit and focus on Tabitha. And as we look at Tabitha, she sets for us a good example of doing our part, our

The specific thing that God has called me to do, my share in the body of Christ. Tabitha sets for us a good example because she was full of good works.

and charitable deeds, which she did. A lot of Bible teachers at this point, you know, kind of highlight and point out some people are filled with good works and charitable deeds in their mind, but they don't ever actually do them. But she's actually one who was filled with good works and charitable deeds, which she did. So she didn't just have good intentions, but she was effective and active as a servant of the Lord.

And she was doing good things for the Lord. She was serving people. She was ministering to people and was filled. Her lifestyle was based around ministering to people. Her life was a lifestyle of good works and charitable deeds. So she's an essential part of the body of Christ. And she is doing what God has called her to do and enabled her to do. And so she is serving. That's her life.

Again, the Christian life is ministry. And so that's what she's doing. She's living the Christian life the way it's meant to be lived. And so her life is filled with good works and charitable deeds. But it happened in those days, verse 37, that she became sick and died. So here she is living the Christian life, doing it well, doing it right. And she gets sick and she dies. But then they go get Peter. They bring him back. They're in the room where her body is.

They're weeping. They're showing Peter. Notice verse 39 says, So as Peter is there, these widows are gathered around her.

gathered around, well, her and him, and they're showing Peter, look at what she made me. Now, widows, we talk about that, it seems like pretty regularly here in the book of Acts. In that culture, in their time, widows were in desperate conditions. They had no real way of making a living themselves. They really relied upon the generosity of other people.

because they didn't have a husband to provide for them. And if they didn't have kids to provide for them, they were even more desperate because there wasn't really any good ways for them to make a living. And so they relied upon the charitable deeds of others. And so here are these widows who were tremendously impacted by Tabitha.

Because here they are showing Peter, look at what she made me. Now understand, in the condition of widows, they weren't showing him closets full of stuff. Look at, look at, you know, the selection that I have now because she was there. They're showing Peter what they're wearing. Look at this shirt. You know, she made me this shirt. Look at this shawl that I have. Or I don't know, that's the limit of my clothing language. But look at what I have here. Look at, well, I guess I could read the

The text, right? Tunics and garments. Look at the tunic that I have. She made this for me. If she didn't make this for me, I don't know what I would be wearing right now. Look at the garments that I have. She provided for it. Not just me, but look at my friend here and over here. Like, you know, all the widows are showing, oh yeah, she made mine too. She made mine too. And so there's all these people that have been cared for and provided for by this woman, right?

as she has made for them tunics and garments, part of the charitable deeds and good works that her life was filled with. Now, we look at this passage, and I don't know about you, but immediately, you know, I'm thinking about Peter and the miracle and, you know, the raising of the dead, and that's kind of what stands out. But I wanted to take the time to just consider Tabitha

for a minute because this also is an essential part of the work of the kingdom of god and her life is a good example for us to be involved in whatever it is that god has called us to do god hasn't called all of us to raise the debt he hasn't called all of us to you know do spectacular miracles for people to ooh and ah over it but he has called all of us to something within the body of christ

Now, would you rather be the one to do a miracle, or would you rather be the one behind the sewing machine? That's a question for you to evaluate and consider and take to the Lord. Here's this woman whose ministry, at least from the glimpse that we have, largely is filled with sewing. She's making garments for those who are in need. And there could be

I don't know that it is necessarily the case, but there could easily be in our minds and in our hearts kind of a slight, you know, like, yeah, that's not a big deal. Not that important of a ministry to be, you know, making clothes or sewing garments or providing in those little areas, you know, for a couple widows. We could easily kind of think little of that type of ministry. But here's what I would ask you to consider. Here's what I would ask you to notice. Notice the impact that she made.

She made an impact in these lives. It was not on the surface. It was deep. So deep that even though she was dead, they said, we got to send for Peter. He's nearby. Maybe there's still a chance for her. It wasn't normal.

Sometimes it maybe can appear that way because, you know, there's so much history that's condensed into the book of Acts. But it wasn't, you know, that people were rising from the dead every day. It wasn't expected that Christians were going to rise from the dead immediately if they got sick and died. This was not an expected thing. But these people were so tied. They had such an impact from this woman that they reached out for something radical, for something crazy, for something impossible.

And they sent for Peter. The lives of these widows were touched greatly. And that is not a little thing. It's not a little thing. Tabitha's ministry was a great ministry, an effective ministry. She impacted these ladies to a great degree. But that's not the end of it. And this is what's amazing to me. In verse 42, it says, and it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed on the Lord. So Peter said,

Hears from these widows. He prays, says, all right, Tabitha, arise. She gets up, but then notice the fruit in verse 42. It became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. You know, I absolutely believe that Tabitha gets reward for those who believed from this situation. In eternity, she has reward from the Lord, because here's what she did. She sowed for Jesus. She

She sowed for Jesus. She impacted lives so much so that when people die or that when she died, people were moved. And God works a miracle that results in many people believing in Jesus. They turn to the Lord. It says many believed on the Lord. She wasn't called to be an evangelist, but she gets the reward of an evangelist because she was faithful to sow for Jesus. I think this is amazing. I think this is so cool.

She impacted lives by doing her part. And I don't know how she felt about it, but I know how we can feel about things many times. We think it's such a little thing. And because we think of it as such a little thing, sometimes we're not real faithful in it because it's such a little thing. It's not that big of a deal. Or we don't even do it. Why bother doing it? Because it's such a little thing. But to be faithful in whatever part God has given to you is so crucial.

Because you never know what God will do with your faithful service to him. Her life was filled with good works and charitable deeds. She did her best to fulfill her role in the body of Christ, and it brought forth great fruit. I would even dare to venture to say this might be blasphemy, and maybe the Lord will strike me down for it. But she has more reward from this than Peter does, who did the miracle and brought her to the Lord, or brought her back from the dead.

I would suggest that because here she is faithfully serving. She invested way more into this situation than Peter did. She faithfully served, made an impact in many lives. And so as a result, when this happens in her life, many believe in Jesus and there's great reward for that.

This whole scenario reminded me of what Paul walked us through in 1 Corinthians 12. I want to read a couple verses to you. In verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says,

Paul says there are members of the body that we think are less honorable. It's not that they are less honorable. It's just that sometimes we get our perceptions wrong and we're confused about what things are important and honorable. And so the things that we think are less honorable, and I would suggest, yeah, there could be a tendency on our part to think sewing garments, that's a less honorable part. Or we could think

Cleaning toilets, that's a less honorable part. Or we could think ministering to a convalescent home, that's a less honorable part. Or, you know, whatever. We have a tendency to have our opinions and perspectives on what we think is a, you know, better or lesser work for the Lord or on behalf of the Lord. But Paul is kind of correcting us in this. He says the parts that we think are less honorable, he says we bestow greater honor to

Why is that? Well, he goes on in verse 24 to say God did this. In verse 24, he says, our presentable parts have no need, but God composed the body, having given greater honor to the part which lacks it. God composed the body. God designed the body of Christ, and every believer in Jesus is a part of the body, and God has specifically fashioned you and designed you to fit as your part of the body of Christ. And the way that he's designed it

He's given greater honor to the part which lacks it. So the part that we might think it's not that valuable, it's not that important, it's not that big of a deal, God has designed it in such a way that that part actually is more important than everybody thinks. And that's why I suggest to you that Tabitha's reward for this whole situation is greater than Peter's reward because God's designed the body, he's composed the body, giving greater honor to the part which lacks it.

That's how God works. That's how God has designed us so that those parts which we think are not that important are actually the most important as far as God is concerned. Then in verse 25, he says that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. He tells us why God has designed the body this way. And I think this is something that can easily get out of balance for us as believers. Sometimes there is schisms in the body. There is divisions in the body.

Because we've forgotten about God's order and the things that we think are honorable, the things that we think are valuable are backwards compared to what God has said and designed. And we need to correct ourselves and realign ourselves with the value that God has set forth. As members, we're to have the same care for one another. It really shouldn't be, you know, a difference for us. Whatever we are called to do,

We should be willing and joyful to serve the Lord in that area. And whatever other people are called to do, we should rejoice with them and bless them and encourage them and help them to serve the Lord in however he's called them. That we should have the same care for one another because we're all part of the body and we all do different things. And sometimes we get hung up over that. We think everybody's supposed to do what I do, but that's not the reality. The reality is God has designed us to be different and

And even the parts that we think are less honorable, God says, no, that's the most important part of all. That's the most important work. Here, Tabitha sets us a good example to do our part within the body of Christ. Whatever God has called you to do, Tabitha sowed for Jesus. And maybe that's God's calling in your life. Maybe God has a different calling for you. But whatever it is, fulfill your role in the body of Christ. And you will have great reward in eternity.

You'll have great reward for the work that you did for God. That's what the Lord has called us to do. That's what we need to be engaged in doing. Our part, whatever it might be. There's no dishonorable part. There's no unimportant part. Whatever God's placed upon your heart and set upon your life, do it. Do it with all that you have. Do it with all of your heart. Do it with great joy for the glory of God and be faithful in that.

Well, for point number four, we're just going to look at verse 43. Point number four is do new things. Verse 43. So after this whole event took place and Tabitha has raised from the dead, Peter sticks around in Joppa for many days.

But what's significant about this is that he stays with a man named Simon and it calls out his occupation. He is a tanner. Now that's not his last name. He's not Simon Tanner, you know. He is a tanner. He tans hides. He's making or dealing with the skins of animals. Now this is significant for Peter. It may not be that significant for us, but it's significant for Peter because in the Jewish culture,

The tanners were really looked down upon because they were dealing with dead bodies all the time because they were dealing with the skins of animals. And so as a result, they were considered unclean and they would be kind of shunned from society.

society. That was their traditions. In fact, G. Campbell Morgan talks about this a little bit. He says, Now the Jews, they considered their betrothal, their engagement was much more serious than ours. It required a divorce to end a betrothal. But

If a woman was engaged, betrothed to a man, and then later found out, oh, you're a tanner? No problem. No questions. No legal loopholes or catches to worry about. It's just, okay, engagement's off. I don't have to marry you because you didn't tell me up front. You were a tanner. We're off the hook. It was something they frowned upon. The supreme contempt, he says. That's what their society taught them.

But here's Simon staying with Simon. Peter staying with Simon the tanner. Breaking traditions. Now understand these are the Jewish traditions. God's law didn't specify you can't stay with a tanner. God's word didn't say that anywhere. So he's not breaking God's law. But remember they built traditions. Things that they valued and esteemed greatly on top of the scriptures that God had provided.

And there's a need for us to break those kinds of traditions, to do new things, to not just follow the same things that we've always done. Now, it's good to do the same thing over and over for a long time when God tells you to do that. That's called faithfulness. And so if God tells you to sew garments over and over for the rest of your life, that's faithfulness. You just do what God's called you to do.

But you know, the way that God works in our lives many times is he likes to stretch us. He likes to call us to step out in faith. He likes to call us to do new things. And so Peter here is doing something new. He's breaking traditions. He's staying with Simon and

the tanner. Now, God's going to take this further in next chapter and challenge him with the salvation of the Gentiles and the eating of unclean foods. And Peter's like, no way, I can't do that. But God says, no, no, I've called it clean. I'm changing the rules, Peter. I'm changing things up. I'm doing something new. So follow along, keep up. And so it's good to do the same thing over and over when God tells you to. That's faithfulness. It's not good to do the same thing over and over again when

Because, well, that's what you've been doing. And so you just keep on doing what you have been doing because that's what you've been doing. That's not good. That's not faithfulness. God's going to challenge you to do new things. Well, I've always served in Sunday school. Yeah, but maybe God wants you to jump on the worship team. Or I've always worked in this occupation. Well, yeah, but maybe God's going to want you to be a bus driver. You're going to have a whole new ministry as a bus driver now. Well, I've always lived in this state. Well, things are changing. Try Africa.

Do something different. Now, not just for the sake of being different or doing something different or doing something new, but as you walk with the Lord, let him break those traditions. Let him break those things that, well, this is the way we've always done it. This is the way that I've always been. This is the thing that I always do. Let God break those things as he leads. Again, not just doing something different for the sake of being different, but let God challenge you and stretch you into new areas, right?

Don't just stay in the same spot unless that's where God tells you he wants you to be. Otherwise, let God lead you out. He wants to take you onward. He wants to do new things. Try something different.

Let God break those traditions. And so here we have the example of Peter for us to do ministry like Peter. That is to do ministry in the name of Jesus. You're qualified as a saint to do ministry in the name of Jesus, to represent him and to be his ambassador to the world around you. So do what Jesus teaches you to do. Learn from his example in the New Testament. Learn from what he teaches you personally and fulfill your role in the body of Christ. Do your share.

Whether it's working a miracle or sewing some garments, do your share, whatever it is that God has given to you. And don't be afraid to break traditions, man's traditions, God's laws we hold on to. We follow those, but let God break our traditions, our personal traditions, our family traditions, our Calvary Chapel traditions, our church traditions, our, you know, Christian culture in America, Southern California traditions. We've got all kinds of traditions.

Let God do some changes as he leads. And don't be afraid to break those things that we've established as important to us, but God hasn't established as important to him. Do new things for the glory of God. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each of us. Lord, that you would help us if we are kind of stuck in a rut of tradition in some form or capacity. Lord, I pray.

that you would help us to see that, that you would reveal that to us, Lord, that we might allow you to lead us out of the rut, to break through our traditions that keep us, Lord, in a place where you don't want us to be. And I pray, God, that you would help us to really explore and to be able to just step out in faith and trust you and do, Lord, those new and scary and frightening things that you have on our hearts. I pray, God, that you would help us to trust you as

as we go forward, that we might represent you, that we might share your word, your gospel, your name to the world around us. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be faithful, to do our part in your kingdom, whatever that is. And Lord, whether we think it big or small, whether people around us think it honorable or dishonorable, help us, Lord, to be faithful.

to whatever you call us to, that we might minister effectively, that we might make an impact, that we might glorify your name and have much fruit for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.