The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the Book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter nine, verses 36 through 43.

Tony Clark: All right, let’s dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter nine. We're going to be looking at verses 36 to 43 as we continue our verse-by-verse study of the book of Acts. We find ourselves in chapter nine, looking at verses 36 to 43 as we're going to finish up this chapter.

Father, thank you again that you have brought us to this point where we can sit at the table of your word and feast upon you. Speak into our hearts, God. Reveal the secrets of our hearts. Bring healing, Lord, to where we're struggling. Lord, do a work in our hearts through your word, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts 9:36-43. The title of this message is "Saint Or Ain't." This is part two of this message. In part one of this study, we saw one of the characteristics of a saint, and that is being available for God's use. Because Peter made himself available, God used him to heal a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden and paralyzed for eight years according to verse 33.

Peter made sure that the attention was on the Lord and not on him, and he said in verse 34, "Jesus the Christ heals you." Then Aeneas arose immediately, which is the second quality or characteristic of a saint: they point people to Jesus. Very humble. They point people to Jesus. So when all who dwelt in the cities of Lydda and Sharon saw him healed, referring to Aeneas, they turned to the Lord.

Now we pick it up in verses 36 to 39. Look what it says there. "At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. And this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. And when they had washed her, they laid her in the upper room. 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. And 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."

In these verses, we see Peter's availability led him to be used in a greater way, and that is raising Dorcas from the dead. The Bible says in Luke 16:10, when we are faithful in what is least, God will give us greater things to do for his kingdom. And this is why we send those who feel called to ministry, we send them to the children's ministry. Because if you can be faithful in teaching children, teens, and preteens, God will open up more opportunities for you.

I remember when I was doing children's church years ago, I started out teaching three-year-olds to third graders. Then I had to break the word down to where the three-year-old could understand, and I didn't lose the third graders who were sitting toward the back. And then I started teaching high schoolers, then college-age, then adults. And as we're faithful in the little things, God will give us more to do for him.

Many people say, "Well, God doesn't use me." And I say, "Well, are you being faithful in the small things he's given you? Are you faithful to teach and pray with those in your home?" When God sees that you're faithful in the small things he has given you, he will give you more, like we see in Peter's life. I was just reminded of how I was talking to those in our Calvary Connections class yesterday.

And I was reminded of when we used to have a Sunday night service, and of course, we still have Wednesdays. I remember, it brought back some memories. I remember when there were only six people on a Sunday night. And we used to meet in a guy's garage. He had fixed up a one-car garage for Wednesdays, and there were eight to 12 people on a Wednesday night.

And I remember those days, and then we moved to my living room, and then we had a two-car garage. We used to be in there. That was right around '96 when we had 26 days of over 95-degree temperature. And I was teaching through Leviticus in my hot garage. Adella remembers that. Adella was back then in those days, and we were in there going through Leviticus. I remember those days.

When God sees that you can be faithful in the small things, he'll give you more to do, just like we see in Peter's life. Now, while Peter was in the city of Lydda, tragedy broke out at the church in the nearby city of Joppa. Joppa was 10 miles northwest of Lydda. One of the most beloved members, Tabitha, known more commonly by her Greek name Dorcas, which is a name that means deer or gazelle, she had died.

And this woman had a beautiful reputation in verse 36, that she was a woman full of good works and charitable deeds. Verse 39 gives us the specifics of what those charitable deeds and good works consisted of. She made clothes for the poor and needy. She was a New Testament example of the Proverbs 31 woman. If you would notice that Dorcas was called a disciple in verse 36.

The feminine form of the Greek word is only used here in the entire New Testament, *mathētria*. It's a word that means a follower or a student. Dorcas was a beautiful model of what a Christian woman should be. She fulfilled her calling as a disciple as described by Paul in Ephesians 2:10, which says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Colossians 1:10 says that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. As I mentioned earlier, she was a New Testament example of the Proverbs 31 woman, who extends her hand to the poor and stretches out her hands to the needy, according to Proverbs 31:20.

When it says in Ephesians 2:10, "We are his workmanship," the Greek word is *poiēma*. It is where we get our English word "poem" from. We're God's expression of his love and forgiveness and grace to this world. We're God's work of art, displaying him to this dark world. And so I have to ask us, what kind of poem are you being to those around you? What are you expressing to those around you about God?

In other words, what is the poem of your life expressing about God to your family members? That God is cold? That he's mean? That he yells? He's indifferent? What about to your coworkers? That God is unloving? Judgmental? What about to your friends? That God is a joke? He's just someone you call upon only when you're in a crisis. In other words, that God is someone to call upon when you're in a tight place, and he really doesn't care how you live the rest of your life.

This may not be what you're saying out of your mouth, but this is what your life is expressing to them. We, as Christians, are his *poiēma* to this world. We're showing them what God is like. And Dorcas was a beautiful example of a godly Christian woman. However, according to verse 37, it happened in those days that she became sick and died. From what we knew from her in verse 36, this was a serious blow on the church there.

They washed her body and prepared it for burial, which was customary, and they laid her in the upper room instead of immediately burying her, which was the custom. Why is that? Because they had other plans. It was very obvious that they heard of the healing of Aeneas because verse 35 says, "So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him," referring to Aeneas, "saw him and turned to the Lord."

The word had gotten around that Peter had something to do with this healing. Verse 38 says, "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." This would have taken these two men somewhere between six to eight hours to travel these 10 miles in those days. Their request was so urgent that it says that they were imploring him not to delay in coming to them.

The Greek word for "imploring" is *parakaleō*, and it can be translated as to desire, to implore, to call near, to call alongside of. They were begging Peter to come immediately. In other words, they were saying, "Peter, come alongside of us and follow us to the church in Joppa." Verse 39 says that Peter arose and went with them. And when he had come, they brought him to the upper room—this is why they didn't immediately bury her—and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing their tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

And so we can see that the loss of Dorcas was a serious blow to the widows in the church. It was serious because employment opportunities were extremely limited, and widows without families to care for them were often left destitute. So it was a very serious blow when Dorcas died because she took care of the widows and those who were less fortunate. These widows came up to Peter and showed him how much they needed her. Why? Because Dorcas was one who ministered in practical ways to them.

She did good things for the people. She sewed clothing. She cared for them in very tangible ways. She was, as we would say, she was down to earth. She was real. She fulfilled what Titus 3:14 says—it's not on the screen for you note-takers—Titus 3:14 says, "And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful." And Dorcas did this beautifully with those in need in the church.

Let me say that there is nothing like having people like Dorcas around the church. Because when your car is down or something is broken at the house or you need a meal cooked for you because you just had surgery or just had a baby, you don't need a pastor, per se, to come over and quote you some scripture. You need somebody like a Dorcas to come cook a meal, clean a house, or fix something that's broken. That's who you need.

You don't need somebody like me coming over there quoting a verse. "Oh, you just had a baby. Children are a blessing from God." Okay, we understand. "The fruit of the womb is his reward." You need somebody who's going to come clean the house for you because you're unable to, someone to minister in very practical ways. So I want to say thank you to all the people who are like Dorcas here at this church. You are a blessing to many, many people because these things are needed.

People are struggling when they have surgery or they have a baby or something is going on or their car is broken. I thank God there are some guys who can look at a car, take it all apart, and put it all back. God bless you for being able to do that. Those who can fix things, build things from the ground up—God bless you for being in the body of Christ. We need you. I just go pay somebody. My wife says, "Why don't you try to fix...?" No, then I jack it up more, and then I have to pay double for somebody to come fix what I just jacked up. Or it's working halfway or kind of half on there and wiggling around.

God bless y'all who are like Dorcas in the church. Look at verses 40 and 41. It says, "But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, 'Tabitha, arise.' And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive." These are some incredible verses.

After the widows crowded around Peter showing him all of the things Dorcas made for them, verse 40 said, "But Peter put them all out." Now, why would he do that? Peter saw Jesus do this in Matthew 9:24 in the raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead. For Peter, could it be that he didn't want to put on a display before the crowd? Anything that would draw attention to him and take the focus off of the Lord? Or it could be he put them all out because he just wanted a quiet place to pray and not just put on some kind of show.

The people are here, the crowds are here. "Gawd!" No, Peter... no, he's not. And people would be like, "Whoa, did you hear how he called God? He called him 'Gawd.'" He put all those folks out. Get out of here. I'm not putting on some show for y'all. Get out of here. So he put them all out, which is... I'm just so thankful that he did this. And so he was just trying to be like Jesus.

Notice how Peter, a true saint, never wanted the attention to be taken away from Jesus. So he did everything to let everyone know that he is only a humble servant of Jesus Christ. Does the attention always have to be on you? When you go somewhere, do you brag about how you're the life of the party? But you're just a big distraction. When you come into a place, you suck the air from it.

And you think that you're the... "Hey, people love to have me around because I'm the life of the party." And you just don't know they're like, "Will you get this guy out of here? This chick, look at... will you get her out?" A true saint of God will do what Peter is doing here, making sure that he doesn't do anything that will draw attention to himself. So he put them all outside and he knelt down to pray. And turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise."

And Peter seems to remember the healing of Jairus's daughter recorded in Mark 5:38-43. When Jesus brought her back to life, he said in Mark 5:41, "*Talitha, koum*," which is Aramaic for "Little girl, I say to you, arise." And so here is Peter basically saying the same thing: "*Tabitha, koum*." Arise. And Peter is just doing what he saw Jesus do, which is what saints, Christians, are supposed to do. We're supposed to follow in the steps of Jesus like 1 Peter 2:21 teaches.

I was thinking about this this morning as I was going over my notes. Would people say this about you, that you're always following in the steps of Jesus? This is what saints do. I was reading this morning through 1 John and I was reminded of 1 John 2:6, "He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked." Peter is demonstrating this in these verses. He was just doing what he saw Jesus do. That's all he was doing.

So we see that Peter was not only available, number two, he pointed people to Jesus, so he was humble. Number three, he followed in the steps of Jesus. But also he was number four: he was prayerful. When he prayed for Dorcas, the end of verse 40 says, "And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up." Prayer is essential to any successful ministry. Prayer acknowledges our dependence upon God.

Prayer realizes that God can do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or even think or even imagine. I'm reminded because this is a rare thing in the world, what I'm about to tell you. I'm reminded of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I'm really reminded of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. See, you know the choir, but see, you don't know their Tuesday prayer service that they have. Over 3,000 people attend their prayer service.

Before the doors are open, lines are outside wrapped around the building. They're ready to get in there to meet with God. And when the doors open, they rush towards the front so they can be in the midst. And they said when you're in there and hear those people praying, it sounds like thunder. A prayer service where over 3,000... People know the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, their Grammy Award-winning choir, but the secret behind that church is the Tuesday prayer meeting. That's the secret.

When can you get 3,000 people to come out to pray? You can get 3,000 people out to a potluck or a barbecue. Folks ready to walk away with their paper plates and aluminum foil on the top, two or three plates, and walking away. You can get that. That's a given. But 3,000 people to come out to pray? Oh, we're trying to turn up the temperature at our church here with prayer. Our monthly prayer, our quarterly prayer, praying every... well, that's for me. I pray every day here.

But just praying, and then Saturday nights, we've started, whoever wants to come out to just pray for Sunday morning services. And we're starting to get a few people come out. I'm not discouraged because I told them I only expect to be here. So if anybody else comes outside of me, it's victory for me. But I would love to see this amount of people come out for prayer.

Because if we really believe that we are praying and talking to the God who created the universe, through whom he said, "Nothing is impossible with me," I wonder why we don't see more come out for prayer. You know why? Because we really don't believe he answers prayer. We really don't believe it. Because if we do, we vote with our feet. We still do that. We still vote with our feet.

We really don't believe that God... He may hear prayers, but we don't believe he answers prayers because we would show it with our feet. Prayer is essential to the success of any ministry. Anything God is doing here is the result of prayer. God is answering our prayers. We believe that here, that God is doing a work here. We keep it real simple. We don't have a flashy 200-member choir. We don't have some spectacular... I'm not up here to wow and bedazzle you and walk across the stage and walk across the chairs.

I'm not doing any of that. I'm up here just teaching you the word. We worship God, I tell people: we worship God, get taught the word, and we go home and try to live it. It ain't nothing flashy. We don't have some big nothing. There ain't nothing big here but my mouth. I've got a big mouth. Okay, that's the only thing big here. Outside of that, we're just keeping it simple. And people are coming from all over because Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me."

Oh, yes, he was talking about being lifted up in the cross, we know. But when we lift him up in the teaching of the word of God, he draws all people to him. You can look around, you can see all kinds of people, all kinds of ages and looks and shapes and shades of color. That's because that's what Jesus is doing through the teaching of the word of God. So prayer is essential.