JESUS CHRIST HEALS YOU
Text: Acts 9:32-43
Introduction
1. There are some well-meaning Christians who believe that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. They teach the gifts of the Spirit were only for the apostles, and once the cannon of Scripture was completed, these gifts ceased.
2. I am not one of those Christians. I am a Pentecostal, and rather than a cessasionist, I am a continuist. I believe, and I believe that Scripture bears this out, that the gifts are still available today for any Christian that asks for them in faith.
3. Personally, I can attest that I have seen those gifts in action. One of those gifts is the gift of healing. In my ministry, I have witnessed several, medically verified, miraculous, physical healings.
4. Jesus Christ still heals today!
5. Read Acts 9:32-43
Transition: According to Scripture…
I. Jesus Christ Still Heals (32-35).
A. Jesus Christ Heals You
1. After introducing us to Saul, Luke now changes his focus back to Peter. We have not heard from Peter since back in chapter 8, but now he takes center stage in Acts. In v. 32 Luke tells us, “Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.”
a. Luke points out that Peter goes on a traveling ministry tour in the ministry of an evangelist.
b. He went from town to town to teach and encourage the believers as he went.
c. Luke tells us about one of the towns he went to called Lydda.
d. It was a predominantly Gentile town about twenty-five miles west of Jerusalem.
e. The fact that it was a Gentile town is going to become important over the next several chapters.
f. Lydda was a large commercial center that connected Egypt, Syria, and Jerusalem.
g. The gospel came to Lydda because of Pentecost.
2. While he was there, “he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.”
a. Aeneas was a man in Lydda who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Since Peter went to encourage believers, we can assume that Aeneas was a Christian.
b. When Peter saw him, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!” Notice that Peter doesn’t say, “Aeneas, I heal you,” or even, “Aeneas, be healed.”
c. Instead, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!”
d. Let me be clear, people don’t heal people. No human being on his own ability or power has ever healed anyone.
e. It is Jesus who heals people, and if someone prays over someone and they are healed, it is because of the power of Jesus!
f. Nowhere in Acts does Peter heal anyone, it is always in the power or name of Jesus!
g. Another thing we should notice is Peter requires that he take a step of faith.
h. This is a man who has been completely paralyzed for eight years, and Peter tells him to “roll up your sleeping mat.”
i. Peter was asking him to take a step of faith and respond to what God wants to do in his life. As a result, he is healed instantly!
3. This news has a major impact on the community. Luke tells us, “Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.”
a. As a result of Aeneas’s healing, the entire community saw him walking around, and they all came to faith in Jesus!
b. His healing had such a profound impact on the people in Lydda that they all gave their lives to Christ.
c. Imagine what would happen in our community if Mike Williams were completely and totally healed?
d. It would have a major impact on our community. You see the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that’s what healing is, a gift of the Spirit, aren’t only for our personal benefit.
e. They are meant to bring people to faith in Jesus. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere...”
B. Gifts of Healing
1. Pastor, how do you know that God still heals people? First, nowhere in Scripture does it say that any of the gifts have ceased until Jesus returns. Second, because I have seen people healed. When I pastored in Ohio, there was a lady in the congregation who had COPD, and it was getting progressively worse. We had a revival at our church, she came up to the altar to be prayed for, and God healed her. That was the last time she took her COPD medicine. She’s still going strong at the age of 90.
2. Jesus Christ is still in the healing business!
a. “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe…They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” (Mark 16:17-18)
b. According to Jesus, one of the signs that will accompany those who believe is that they will lay their hands on people, and they will be healed.
c. Notice he doesn’t say, “these signs will accompany some of those who believe.”
d. We should also notice that believing is a prerequisite to people being healed. If we don’t believe God can do it, why should he?
e. We should also notice that we are to lay hands-on people and pray for them. It is God who does the healing, but he uses us to do it.
f. Now, let me point out, nowhere does it say that this only for certain people, or that after a certain time this will stop happening. Jesus still heals people!
Transition: Not only does Jesus heal people, but…
II. Jesus Christ Still Raises the Dead (36-43).
A. He Knelt and Prayed
1. From Lydda, Peter moves on to the town of Joppa. Luke tells us in v. 36-37, “There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. 37 About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room.”
a. Joppa was a harbor town that was 125 feet above sea level, and it’s claim to fame at this point was it was the place where the cedars of Lebanon were floated to for Solomon when the first temple was built.
b. In Joppa there was a great woman of God named Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek). Luke tells us that she was a woman who was always doing things for others and helping the poor.
c. In v. 39, we learn that she was particularly helpful to widows.
d. Luke tells us that she had passed away. Now, the believers there did an incredible act of faith. It was a Jewish tradition that when someone died, they would bury them immediately.
e. However, rather than burring her, the believers washed her body for burial, but instead of burying her, the placed her in an upstairs room.
2. Then notice what the believers do next, “But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”
a. These believers had such incredible faith, they heard Peter was nearby, and so they sent two men to Lydda to beg Peter to come to Joppa.
b. They had heard how Peter had been used by God to bring healing to Aeneas and others.
c. So, they believed that God was going to do something mighty for Tabitha.
d. These two men must have been very determined to find Peter, because he was about ten miles from Joppa, which means it would have taken them anywhere from eight to ten hours to find him. That’s true faith!
3. When they found Peter, “Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.”
a. Peter goes with the two men to Joppa, and when he gets there, they take him to the upstairs room where they had laid Tabitha’s body.
b. Luke tells us that room was filled with widows, and they were weeping because their great benefactor was gone.
c. They showed Peter all the coats and other clothing articles that she had made for them.
d. Being a widow in that day was a great hardship, and they were dependent on the help of others.
e. Tabitha had taken care of them and provided for them, but now she was gone...or so they thought.
4. Now, “Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.”
a. Peter asks them to leave the room, and then he knelt down and prayed.
b. Like the miraculous healing of Aeneas, this miracle was going to be a God thing.
c. It wasn’t because of Peter, other than his humility to fall to his knees to pray. He realized that in and of himself he could do nothing. But with God all things are possible.
d. Then notice what Luke tells us Peter did next, “turning to the BODY.” Luke wants to make it clear that Tabitha, or Dorcas, wasn’t just asleep, she was dead!
e. Peter turns to the body and says, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes.
f. When she saw Peter, she sat up. Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he presented to the believers alive.
g. This once again was a miracle done through the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. As a result, Luke tells us, “The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord.”
a. Just as in the case of Aeneas, the miracle of raising Tabitha from the dead was a witness of the power of Jesus.
b. And as the word got around what had happened many people come to believe in the Lord.
c. Miracles aren’t just for those who receive them, but also for those who hear about it.
B. Do You Believe This?
1. Does God still raise the dead? Easter Services are supposed to be focused on Jesus and the power of His resurrection. One particular Easter Sunday, the members of Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Wagoner, OK, got an object lesson to go along with the sermon.
a. Just before the services were to begin, the Sunday School Director, Marty Richardson, was walking around the sanctuary greeting visitors. As she took the hand of a young man, she collapsed. It was supposed that she had just fainted. The young visitor motioned to his mother, a medical doctor, that there was a problem and the visiting doctor realized that Marty was not breathing.
b. Dr. Nancy Murphy was visiting ISBC on Easter with her extended family to hear her nephew preach the Easter Sermon. Marty had fallen between the pews, and it was impossible to get to her. The doctor asked for help and some members were able to move the pews out of the way. Nancy dragged Marty out into the aisle where she determined that not only was she not breathing, but her heart had stopped beating.
c. Immediately requesting someone to call 9-1-1, she asked if anyone knew CPR. Jeanine Loubier was tuning her guitar on the platform when she responded and assisted Nancy in administering CPR. The pastor met his wife, Sally, in the hall and she said she was on the way to call 9-1-1. The pastor ran ahead of his wife and made the call.
d. As the CPR continued (for more than ten minutes), it became apparent to the doctor that Marty wasn’t going to be revived. She later said that a very small percentage of patients are revived by CPR, but it is always worth doing. She called for all the children to be cleared from the sanctuary, because she didn’t want them seeing a dead body at church on Easter. The pastor asked everyone to leave the sanctuary and to go to the fellowship hall to pray for the situation. Sally was able to corral the members in the fellowship hall and began praying earnestly. That’s when the power of God was made manifest.
e. As the doctor later described, “Almost as soon as the people began praying, Marty opened her eyes and took a deep gasp for air. I was never so surprised to see someone come back to life as I was her!”
f. Marty was taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, about 45 minutes away. The doctors there found a blockage and inserted a stint. By the time the pastor was able to visit that evening, Marty was alert, smiling, and even ordered meatloaf, chocolate cake and iced tea for supper!
g. As we sat there together talking about the events of the day, I told her what else the doctor had said. She said that as a doctor, she had ZERO expectations that she would be revived. As far as she was concerned, she had died on Easter Sunday. However, the only way to explain what had happened was that “it was a miracle”.
h. We were able to laugh about some of the things done and said during the crisis. As we talked, I mentioned to Marty, “you died this morning, but here we are laughing about death this afternoon”. What an awesome God we serve that we can laugh about death! Marty died Sunday morning, but she should be released from the hospital Tuesday or Wednesday! God gets ALL the Glory for this one! (This took place at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church, 611 N. Gertrude Ave, Wagoner, OK 74467, on April 12, Easter Sunday, 2009. www.immanuelsouthern.com Rick Boyne, Pastor)
2. Yes, Jesus still raises the dead!
a. “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” (John 11:21-26).
b. Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this, Martha?”
c. I think that Jesus is asking us the same question, “do you believe?”
d. An evangelist friend of mine was doing some ministry in an African country, and while he was there someone in the church died. My friend, then discovered that there when someone dies, the church prays for them to be raised to life until they put them in the ground. When my friend asked why, they responded, “because that’s what the Bible says. Don’t the Christians in America believe in the Bible?”
e. Now, I’ve been in ministry for 26 years, and I have never seen someone raised from the dead, but I believe it still happens.
f. Now, if that church in OK had just given up, I believe that woman would have died. But because they believed, and their belief was put into action, she was raised from the dead. They didn’t give up, they prayed!
g. Do you believe?
Conclusion
1. Church, I believe…
a. Jesus still heals people.
b. Jesus till raised the dead.
2. What’s the point preacher? Jesus still works miracles through us and in us if we believe.
