Acts 9 :32-43

Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 9. You know, I got to thinking, as I was just thinking about today and what we're gonna talk about, and you know, it's typical, even in years past, you know, when we come to Resurrection Sunday, well, we, you know, we come to Palm Sunday, we come to Good Friday, and then Resurrection Sunday, and it's very typical to come up with a message that is, you know, geared specifically to those events and so forth. But as I was thinking through our study here in the book of Acts that we've been doing, and for those of you that aren't with us normally, we study through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Here on Sunday morning we go through the New Testament, on Wednesday night we go through the Old Testament, and right now we're in the book of Acts, and we're in chapter 9, and as I was kind of reading through the text of what we were going to be, you know, dealing with here, I thought, you know, we're just gonna kind of bring this in, because the resurrection is so powerful and so evident in really everything that the believers were saying and doing, particularly, you know, in that first century, and it permeated their messages as well. You know, it wasn't that long ago when we were in Acts chapter 2, and we went through that message, we studied that message that Peter preached on Pentecost, the day of Pentecost, when he got up and began to address the people, and it's in Acts chapter 2. Let me show you this on the screen. He wrote, he said, 'Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up,' there it is, 'loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.' We're gonna leave that passage up because I want you to notice that last word, which is an interesting word. It's the it. He says that the pangs of death were not possible to hold him. That's the it that he's referring to there, but he's not talking about death in the general sense as we would talk about the conclusion of life. It isn't death as a result of natural aging or because of an accident, some tragic thing, or act of men. He's talking here about death as a penalty, okay? He's talking about death as something that is required for all mankind because of sin. Let me remind you of what Paul went on to write in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 on the screen. The wages of sin is death, he said. In other words, the required payment of sin is death, and that means that every person who's ever been born upon the earth, save that of Jesus himself, owes a debt, and that debt is death. So, I mean, there's in that some great news here on your Easter Sunday morning, you know. We are literally born owing a debt of death, and because Jesus owed no debt of his own, because he did not sin and never sinned, he came willingly to take our debt upon himself. I want to show you a quote that I found from G. Campbell Morgan. He wrote this, he said, as the Lamb of God, Jesus made himself responsible for the sin of the world, and the consequence of that responsibility was death. He took sin, and because there was no place for death in his life, by dying, he exhausted the penalty due to us. So, in the mystery of the cross, all the penalty of our sin has been borne. Isn't that amazing? By the way, that quote from G. Campbell Morgan, I'm sure some of you are aware of who G. Campbell Morgan is. I think he was born in England. I think he came to the United States around 1900 or something like that. But this was in a book that I just received, like last week, I think it was. Somebody sent me this book by G. Campbell Morgan, and I don't know who it was. So, if that was you, thank you. But I started looking through it, and it was pretty good. But I love the fact that this day we get to celebrate the resurrection because the resurrection is the confirmation. It's that stamp of God, if you will, upon the sacrifice of Jesus having been accepted on our behalf. Now, as we continue our study in the book of Acts, here in chapter 9, we get a little bit of a picture of Peter who is living out that resurrection life, that power of the resurrection. We're picking it up in verse 32. So, if you have your Bible there, it's Acts 9, 32.

I know it looks like Lida or Lida, but it's actually pronounced Luda. There's a little accent there, which I can't do. But it was just a small town north of the road from Jerusalem to Joppa, and we're told that

And Peter said to him,

And immediately he rose. And it says,

So, obviously, the paralysis or the condition of Aeneas' paralysis was well known in that area, those two areas of Luda and Sharon. And so, when they heard and saw that he had been healed miraculously of that particular paralysis, they responded by putting their faith in the Lord Jesus and the work that he had done on the cross. And then we're told in verse 36, he says,

And, of course, that doesn't mean a thing to you because you probably don't speak Greek. But Tabitha, which is Aramaic, and Dorcas, which is Greek, both mean gazelle, interestingly enough. I don't know, maybe that means that in her young days she was fleet of foot or something like that. But we're told here in the middle of verse 36 that

So, she was a godly woman and she did lots of wonderful things for people who were kind of down and out. So, in verse 37, it says,

And since Luda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, Please come to us without delay. Let me show you on a map kind of what we're talking about. I've circled this area here where you can see, I think, Luda, which is a little more inland, and then Joppa, which is on the coast there of the Mediterranean. And perhaps you can see Jerusalem down to the southeast of those two areas. So, Peter's making this trip, which is a distance of about 11 miles. So, it's not a tough trip. But it says in verse 39,

Verse 40,

And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa. And you can well imagine that to be the case. And again, many believed in the Lord. And it says here that he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon the Tanner. And we'll talk a little bit about that. next week Lord willing but so what are we seeing here in this last section of Acts chapter 9 well we're just kind of seeing the the body of Christ here in the person of the Apostle Peter it could have been any one of the Apostles but we're seeing just the movement of of the faith that is being brought to these areas and the power of the cross and the power of the resurrection that is being recognized and expressed by these individuals and again in this situation it is particularly the the Apostle Peter but I I got to tell you I I thought about this I thought you know I really love this because this fits so beautifully into our just our thoughts about Resurrection Sunday and what we ought to be pondering and more than pondering what we ought to be living because what Peter and all the other believers were doing is they were daily walking in the recognition that Jesus Christ had been raised from the grave that he had conquered death again they were walking in that reality we know that reality I I mean here we are you know we've been singing about it you know we we got all these things splashed on the screen you know he has risen and so we know these things we understand these things but the question is are we living these things are we living the reality of the resurrection in our daily lives in the way we live in the way we treat people in the way we speak to people you know in our hope in our faith is it really truly there or is it just all kind of locked up his head knowledge you know I mean sure we might pass a test did Jesus rise from the dead yes he did true or false yes true but the biggest question is are you living the reality of the resurrection because what we're seeing here again in the end of Acts chapter 9 are the believers living the resurrection Peter who walks into a group of believers you know they're in Luda and he sees this man who's paralyzed and he says he's Aeneas Jesus heals you get up and he gets up and they all rejoice and people get saved and then he's called you know over to Joppa and and he sees this lovely woman you know who's been taken in death and and it's interesting isn't it that he puts all of the the ladies who are there in mourning he puts them all out of the room I think that's interesting and then he it's kind of weird to talk to a corpse but it says you know he looks down at this woman and he calls her by name Tabitha wake up and she opens her eyes can you imagine what it was like when Peter brought her down to the ladies oh by the way I have someone here the like that kind of come back into the the realm of the living are you good with that and and they all I'm sure they freaked out and a lot of people came to the Lord and it was it was it was amazing but there is a there's a real this was a reality for them you see that's the point this was a reality for them and I have to tell you I believe that it is something that has been lost to us today in our in our modern expression of our faith in Jesus Christ and our daily way of walking out and living out that faith I I feel as if something has been lost and you know I'm reminded that in his letter to the church in Ephesus the Apostle Paul he was talking to them in the first chapter it's quite interesting I've been going over that first chapter of Ephesus in my own kind of Bible reading lately and just kind of hanging out there and and there's a there's a place in that chapter where Paul reveals how he prayed for them and I have to believe this is probably how he prayed for pretty much any you know church or group of believers and that in that sense I think it's very applicable for us today but when we read that prayer when I that's what was happening as I was reading that prayer I recognized a marked difference between how the Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus back in that first century and how we pray today I mean there's a difference and I think you'll see because I'm going to show you this in a moment but I think you'll see that it I mean forgive me if I'm wrong but it just seems like we've lost something of the expectation that they had in the first century that was connected to the resurrection and the power of the resurrection in their lives because the resurrection to them wasn't something that just happened to Jesus the resurrection was a power that had now been given to them you see to carry out to walk out to live out again the resurrection wasn't a doctrine people it is that but it wasn't just a doctrine you can you can pick up a systematic theology book and you can turn to the area where it says the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the doctrines connected to it and it's wonderful you can read through it and it's all great but when it becomes to us just a doctrine that we say yeah that that happened yeah Jesus was raised from the dead I got that one right but it is no more than a doctrine then our our faith and the expression of our faith becomes empty because we know it in our head but we're not living it out in the reality of our lives and so I'm going to share with you this prayer that that that Paul shared with them and and again I think it's very connected to us so on the screen here's here's what Paul writes he says for this reason because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the Saints I do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers and he begins to talk about how he prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory may give you first of all the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened but why here's what he goes on to say that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named just like we sang today above all powers above all kingdoms and so on and so forth not only in this age but also in the one to come in that amazing do you hear people praying like that these days because I don't I don't he's basically saying if we were gonna kind of turn this into a little bit a little bit more of our more common vernacular it's like I'm just praying for you guys that your eyes will be opened to everything that's yours through Christ the hope that's ours the inheritance that ours that is ours and lastly the power that is ours what power is that Apostle Paul he says oh I'll tell you about it let me tell you it's the power of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead that's yours you see that's not just something a power that raised Jesus from the grave it's a power that's been given to you as believers are you living it are you walking it out is it a reality to you in your daily life in the way that you pray in the faith that you put in the difficulty of circumstances and challenges that come your way are you seeing this as a reality of your life I think if most of us are gonna be honest with ourselves we're gonna say well not so much not so much but I think I probably speak for all of us here when I say that when we when we see passages like this in the Bible I mean don't you kind of get jazzed doesn't it doesn't it resonate in your heart as a reality as a truth that you can lay hold of something that can actually change Change your life and change the way you think. And I'm not talking about changing your life in a way that, you know, the weird, wacky word faith, gotta have it, blab it and grab it people, you know, try to interpret all of this power and stuff like that. Because, you know, we're not going there, okay? We're not, this is not all about you and getting the things that you want and treating God, you know, like your big cosmic Santa Claus. This is about living the surrendered life to Jesus Christ and following His will and His purpose and seeing the work of His hand unfold in this dark world in which we live. And so again, it's not about Him fulfilling you, your will, it's you walking in His. But when you do that and when you surrender to that, and when you recognize that there's a power that attends that, I tell you, things begin to change. And we read books about, you know, great men of the past or great women of the past who have walked in the reality of the resurrection life. And we read them and we admire them and we think, wow, that is incredible. That's just amazing. But we know nothing of it in personal experience. And that needs to change. But it changes by faith. I mean, like I said, we have that head knowledge, but is the faith there to say, I wanna see and I'm ready to see the power that raised Jesus from the grave working in my life and through me into the lives of others? Because one of the things we see here in both of these events that we've read here in Acts chapter nine, the result of each of those events, it wasn't about Peter. Peter just, he happened to be in Luta and then he made his way to Joppa and the resurrection power of Jesus just came with him. But what was the result of that? It says people in that area came to faith in Jesus Christ. They got saved. And that's the point. It's not so that we can feel good about ourselves or so that, you know, we can say, woohoo, God loves me, he's working through me. No, it's that people are getting saved. People are coming to faith in Jesus Christ. So I'm gonna take this passage we read here in Ephesians, we're gonna distill it down and highlight just this area that we're gonna focus on, okay? That you may know, and I'm praying for our apostles, I'm praying for you guys that you may know what is that immeasurable greatness of his power. Did you catch that? It's not measurable, it's immeasurable, okay? That immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe that's just, we Christians, we followers of Jesus, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Wow, the power of the resurrection, working in you, working in me, changing this world one life at a time. You know, I'm not sure, people ask me from time to time, Pastor Paul, do you think we're gonna see a revival again in our day before the Lord comes? I don't know, I don't have a looking glass, and I'm a horrible guesser. Just asked my wife. I lost my wallet yesterday, and I could not find it. It was in my back pocket. She promised she wasn't gonna tell anybody. She said, if you tell people, that's okay, but I won't tell anybody. I said, thank you. I couldn't even guess where it was. It was in my pocket. I'm looking all over, but anyway, that's beside the point. I don't know if there's gonna be another revival. I don't know, but I'll tell you something. There are individual revivals going on. There may be some revival again that becomes regional or large, but I am seeing revival of individual hearts happening. People are coming to faith in Jesus Christ. People are coming back to the truth. People are coming back. People who knew him and walked with him before are coming back to him, and they're going, man, am I tired of living my life for myself. I am sick to death of living for my own pleasures, and they're coming back to Jesus, and it's happening. It's happening, and if you're okay with that, I mean, I appreciate those of you that are praying for revival. God bless you. If the Lord's laying that on your heart, keep praying, but don't stop looking and finding those individual revivals that are happening in homes and businesses and places like that because people's hearts are being changed, and it's exciting to see, and I wanna see more of it, and I think we can see more of it if we Christians would just get ahold of the fact that the power of the resurrection lives within us now, and that power attends us wherever we go, and if we will embrace it and walk it out, live it out, that we're gonna see some incredible things happening. Amen? Amen. Well, then let's stand and pray about that, shall we? Amen. If you personally need prayer, we'll have some folks down front here to pray with you, so take advantage of that if that's a need, but we're just gonna pray right now for all of us. We're just gonna pray that we would all just open our hearts to the power of the resurrection, you know, that power that raised Jesus from the grave. Father God, we open our hearts to you, and we thank you and praise you for your incredible goodness to us. Lord, you are so good, and we don't deserve it, and you have given your life for us, and we don't deserve it. You have given us new life, and we don't deserve it, and we did nothing to earn it, and now, Father God, we just wanna open our lives. We wanna open our expectations to the resurrection of life operating through us today, changing the way we live, changing the way we see this world, changing the way we see others. Lord, transform our understanding that we might have a faith expectation of what you're going to do and what you desire to do through a people who humbly come to you and say, I can't do this, but you can, and I surrender myself to you that you might do a work in me and through me to reach others, and I thank you, Father, for calling my name and giving me life, a life that I don't deserve, and I accept it, and I praise you for it, and we worship you today as a people, as your children, as the body of Christ, and we lay all of these things at your feet in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and all God's people said together, amen. God bless you. Have a good rest of your Resurrection Sunday.