This sermon was preached by Rev. Paul Mims recently at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, GA.

Acts 9:32-43
In the exciting story of the early church our author, Dr. Luke, turns from Saul’s conversion to a narration of the miraculous happenings around the life of the Apostle Peter. He is setting the foundation for Saul to be the Apostle to the Gentiles and Peter to be the Apostle to the Jews. Saul will take the Greek form of his name and will be known as Paul. It is important that both of these be recognized as men upon whom the favor and power of God rests. To illustrate this he tells us of two miracles related to Peter. One is a miracle of healing. The other is a miracle of raising the dead.

The purpose of this sermon is to study these two miracles and ask, “What are their implications for us today?”

I. WHY WERE MIRACLES PERFORMED IN THE EARLY CHURCH?
The first miracle (vv.32-35) involved a man named Aeneas. He was a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. That is all we know about him. Peter visited his town of Lydda and was invited to his home. He simply said to Aeneas, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make up your bed.” That is all there was to it. But the impact on the area was great. “All who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.”

The scripture is profound in what it does not say. There is no mention of what caused his paralysis. It is not indicated that he requested Peter to come to his home or asked him for help. It is not even stated that he was a believer in Christ. There is no statement that Peter even offered a prayer. This was one of those times that God intervened and acted for his own purposes. Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit simply announced what God had done. This was a healing miracle that anybody would want.
So what do we have in the story of Aeneas? God was the healer and Peter was the instrument. There is no indication that Aeneas expressed any faith at all. Did this happen elsewhere in the scriptures?
In John 5:1-8 is the story of a man that had been lame for thirty eight years. Jesus simply said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk!” The man, when questioned who had healed him, said that he had no idea who he was. Here again, there was no request for healing, no faith, and no prayer. He was just healed!

Then there is the miracle of raising the dead. There is the story of Peter raising Dorcas from the dead. She lived in Joppa just a little way up the coast from Lydda. Dorcas was “always doing good and helping the poor.” She became ill and died and the believers sent for Peter and said, “Please come at once!”

Peter arrived and found that the body of Dorcas had been prepared after the regulations of the Jews and was placed in an upper room of the house. The widows, who made up the lamenting group, stood around Peter and showed him the robes and other clothing that she had made. “Peter sent them all out of the room and got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called all the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa and many people believed in the Lord.” (vv40-42). “Tabitha” is the Hebrew form her Greek name “Dorcas”.

Here again is a miracle that God performed to glorify his name and to authenticate his servant, Peter. Faith was not involved. These two miracles are both God initiated. There is a type of healing where faith is involved such as in the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12. “When Jesus saw their faith,” he forgave the man his sins and healed him. Also in Mark 5:34, “Daughter your faith has healed you,” he said to the woman who touched the hem of his garment.

The ministry of Jesus was characterized by “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up.” (Matthew 11:50).

In the ministry of Jesus miracles were performed to authenticate his claims as Son of God and to show his power and compassion on hurting people. In the early church miracles were given to authenticate the Apostles and to demonstrate the power bestowed on the church.

II. ARE MIRACLES A PART OF THE CHURCH TODAY? Yes and No.

Yes – because God is still the same and his power is not diminished. But his purposes for doing miracles are different today than they were in the early church. When the church was young and the glory of the gospel was just beginning to spread across the world, they got the attention of unbelievers by the miracles they experienced.

Yes – because we see today miracles done today through medicine and through the prayers of the congregation. When a person goes through a health crisis and requests the prayers of the church, we intercede for them and often they are raised up again from serious illness. It is both medicine and prayer that gives new life.

No – we are not like some churches that have a different theology of healing. God has not promised to heal everyone. Neither as some churches claim that healing is provided for in the atonement. They use Matthew 8:16-17, Isaiah 53: 4-5, and James 5:14-16 as their proof texts.

Matthew 8:16-17 says “When even came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’”

It is true that Jesus died for our sins and the diseases that will kill us. Believers are cleansed of their sin and often healed of their diseases. But what is not true in their theology is when they say, “Sickness is not part of God’s plan and not devised by God’s will.” They mean in the context of this life. Surely this was true before Adam’s fall and will be true again in our heavenly glory, but it is not true in this present life. Sickness is part of the curse of the fall just as death is. The atonement did not remove physical death nor the curse of sickness as our bodies are not perfect as they will be in glory.

The James passage says: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.” This has to be interpreted in the context of the age of the person or else no one would ever die. It also has to be interpreted as the biblical miracles show that they were granted in the providence and purpose of God.

We do not share their belief that all sickness is of the devil and that a Christian who is ill is sinning in some way.

The Apostle Paul who prayed three times for healing was not granted his request. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 he says, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you , for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God did not heal Paul’s son in the ministry, Timothy. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul advised him, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.”

God did not heal Paul’s companion, Trophimus. 2 Timothy 4:20 says, “I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.” Many of God’s servants through history have been seriously ill. William Tyndale, one of the first translators of the Bible into English was sick much of the time he was translating the Holy Scriptures. Charlotte Elliot who wrote the hymn “Just As I am” was bedridden at 30 years of age and until she died at age eighty two. Fanny Crosby, wrote 8,000 hymns including “Blessed Assurance” and “Saved by Grace.” She was blinded as an infant and stayed blind for ninety five years. William Bradbury who wrote “He Leadeth Me” and August Toplady who wrote “Rock of Ages” and Sarah Adams who wrote “Nearer My God To Thee” and Philip Doddridge who wrote “O Happy Day” all suffered from tuberculosis and finally died of it. William Cowper who wrote “There is a Fountain” suffered chronic depression all his life and attempted suicide several times.

The Scottish Reformer, John Knox and John Bunyan who wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress” suffered torturous sicknesses throughout their lives.

But this is a new day as we come to the end of the age and the return of our Lord is on the horizon. There are “signs and wonders” appearing in spots over the world. These things are happening to get the attention of the unsaved and to encourage believers in standing firm for the faith. People are having “visions” of Jesus and claim that he is appearing to them. Some of these reports come from the Arab countries. We do not know what God has in store for his church in these last days, but we do know that his grace and power is available to all who believe in Him.

III. WHEN WE ASK FOR A MIRACLE

Remember that God heals so that He may be exalted in the eyes of believers and unbelievers alike.

John 9:2 – “His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned’ said Jesus, ‘but that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’”

John 11:4 – “Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Hebrews 2:4 – “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

So ask for your miracle. Believe in his mighty power. Revel in his redeeming love. And trust in his answer. Submit to his grace and draw the strength from beyond yourself.

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!