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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of our God on this Lord's Day perhaps you saw the lightning and then heard the Thunder last night that great display of God's power in the created order it's always good to appreciate His Majesty and His righteousness as it is declared from heaven and on the Lord's Day especially to consider His redemptive work through our Lord Jesus Christ well for our call to worship you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 148 Psalm 148 which is essentially a call from the psalmist to the entirety of the created order to praise and to worship and to glorify the get the living and true God so Psalm 148 beginning in verse 1 praise the Lord praise the Lord from the heavens praise Him in the heights praise him all his angels praise him all his hosts praise Him Sun and Moon praise him all you stars of light praise Him you heavens of heavens and you waters above the heavens let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created he also established them for ever and ever he made a decree which shall not pass away praise the Lord from the earth you great sea creatures into all the depths fire and hail snow and clouds stormy wind fulfilling his word mountains and all hills fruitful trees and all cedars beasts in all cattle creeping things in flying fowl kings of the earth and all peoples princes and all judges of the earth both young men and maidens old men and children let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is exalted his glory is above the earth and heaven and he has exalted the horn of his people the praise of all his saints of the children of Israel of people near to Him praise the Lord amen will please turn in your hymn books to number 284 hymn number 284 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] well let us pray our blessed God and our holy father it's a joy and the privilege to gather in your house on this Lord's Day we come to the Father through the son and the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that God would be all in all in this place we witness your majesty and your glory and your righteousness revealed in the created order and we saw something of that that power displayed even last night and we give praise to you for the work of creation we know as well that you govern all your creatures and all their actions and you are sovereign in your providence as the psalmist says you are in the heavens and you do whatever you please God on this Lord's Day every day we ought to consider your work in Redemption we thank you Father for sending your son into this world sinners to save we know Lord God that you did not purpose to save us because of anything good in us but because of everything great and glorious in your son Jesus Christ our Lord we confess and we know that you chose us in him before the foundation of the world that it was due to your love that you predestined us unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ and so we rejoice in your Sovereign Grace we rejoice in your great mercy and your loving-kindness we rejoice in the gospel of our salvation and the life and the death and the resurrection of the Savior on behalf of all those whom the father had given we rejoice Lord God Most High that you are our God that you are our Father that you govern us that you watch over us and that you have redeemed us through that precious blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and so as we pray now as we sing lifting up our hearts and praise to you and as we look to Holy Scripture we pray that you would be exalted and glorified the psalmist says in Psalm 22 you are enthroned upon the praises of Israel and we know that in the church the church is the the true Israel the Israel of the living and true God and we pray that you would be found among the people here that Christ would be walking in the midst of this lamb stand that we would know the nearness and the presence of God to be our chief good and that Most Blessed privilege that we as your creatures we ask our Father even now that you would forgive us for our sins we know that you are holy that your eye is too pure to approve of any any evil and God we confess our iniquity our transgression against that that holy law we confess that lack of conformity unto it both sins of omission and Commission we know father that the blood of Jesus Christ your son does in fact cleanse us from all sin so even now we confess those things asking for forgiveness asking for cleansing and purification so that we may enter in with clear conscience as to the the worship of the true and living God we do pray father for any and all who've come here this morning that are that are still in sin those who have not yet come to the Savior we pray that today would be the day of salvation that you would extend that mercy and that grace that was able to save the Apostle Paul who confessed himself to be the chief of sinners we know father that there is grace for the lesser sinners and we pray that you would pour that out even even today god blessed the word by your powerful Holy Spirit and cause it to take root in the hearts of men women boys and girls that are unconverted and we pray that you would cause them to come out of darkness into marvelous light confessing faith in Jesus Christ our Lord to the glory of God Almighty and for the good of their souls we ask Father in Heaven that you would be pleased to encourage your people to would sanctify each and every one of us and she would cause us to grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus we know the grand design and in the predestination of sinners under saving faith is conformity ultimate conformity ultimately unto Jesus Christ our Lord so God worked at work in our hearts by word and spirit caused us father to put off those things that are that are displeasing in your sight and cause us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ making no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts and we cry out to you Lord God because we know that this is a continual and an irreconcilable war that we face in this lower world and so we pray for fresh supplies of the Spirit of God and that word would come with power to our needy hearts we asked it would be with those who suffer with physical trials and challenges we praise you Lord God that you are not only over us in terms of spiritual reality but in terms of all things you own the cattle on a Thousand Hills you are the God who sustains us and in every fiber of our being so Lord those who are struggling we just commit them to you and to the word of your grace and pray that they would know that that blessed privilege of being counted sons and daughters of the living and true God we ask for all of us as we come here this morning we all have various spiritual challenges various spiritual trials and difficulties and hardships that we face we ask that you would equip us by your word to be able to deal with such things in a in a manner that is consistent with Scripture and God we pray for your sustaining power to be upon us not just on the Sabbath when we gather for corporate worship but for each and every day so that we may indeed bring glory and honor and praise unto you in this world we pray father for other churches in our community we thank you that we're not alone in this city and we pray that those churches that are faithfully preaching the gospel that you would bless them that you would that you would just give them great grace that you would prosper them under the mighty hand of God Almighty so we look at our community Lord we know that the one thing needful is that sinners come to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance so we pray for the blessing of God upon the preaching of the gospel be with other churches throughout this country God are our hearts are grieved at the sorts of sins and the sorts of things that we see going on in this land we see abortion we see euthanasia we see all manner of sexual perversion and our hearts are weary Lord God so we cry to you that you had blessed those churches that are in fact preaching truth and cause your word to run swiftly and be glorified throughout this land we pray that you would be merciful to civil authority to those in high places that have great responsibility god we pray that first and foremost they would kiss the son they would bow to the Lord Jesus Christ that they would govern in a manner that is consistent with your law with your holy revealed word and our God for those who choose to continually oppose you we pray that in your Providence in your mercy you would remove them from positions of influence and authority and those who will do right those who will govern with justice and righteousness we pray that you would exalt them that you would cause them to have that that role that responsibility in civil society we also pray father for other churches we pray for the Saints and Surrey thanking you for pastor Kirkpatrick and the Brethren they're praying that you would bless and prosper them not monetarily but spiritually God may they grow and may they see more and more people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior bless the work in Vernon please provide in your time a man after your own heart that would be charged with teaching and and preaching and shepherding the flock of God in that community and Lord we think of this the persecuted church and we know that in many countries throughout the world there is great persecution for the people of God and Lord God we pray that you would sustain your suffering Saints that you would enable them to go forward enable them to to invoke the the Grace and the power and the presence of God as they face the challenges associated with oppressive government and with false religion and the various trials that affect the people of God in this world we pray for those in prison and for those that are there are perhaps awaiting death sentences we just commit them to you praying that you would uphold them that they would never shrink back from declaring the whole Council of God and that they would find themselves to count themselves blessed and rejoice that they are counted worthy to suffer shame for the great name of our Lord and Savior Christ and in our own society God as we see increasing oppression and we see increasing hostility toward the church give us the grace father - to be faithful give us the grace to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and give us boldness - to hold forth the word of truth and God while many may be compromising I pray that you would cause us to stand fast to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints and not to capitulate or kowtow to the various oppressors or opponents of Christianity that God help us to have the courage that the Bible sets forth in and through the Holy Spirit and give us that courage that is necessary for the people of God as pilgrims in this lower world and our Father we just thank you we praise you we love you and we pray that all things would redound to your glory and honors we've got it gathered here today and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well please turn with me again in your hymnbooks to Psalm 89 be that Psalm 89 Bravo will stand together and will sing the first five stanzas Psalm 89 be [Music] [Music] [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts we're in Acts chapter 5 for our scripture reading this morning we'll take up the first 16 verses Acts chapter 5 I'll begin reading in verse 1 but a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira his wife sold a possession and he kept back part of the proceeds his wife also being aware of it and brought a certain part and laid it at the Apostles feet but Peter said to Ananias why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself while it remained was it not your own and after it was sold was it not in your own control why have you conceived this thing in your heart you've not lied to men but to God then Ananias hearing these words fell down and breathed his last so great fear came upon all those who heard these things and the young man arose and wrapped him up carried him out and buried him now it was about three hours later when his wife came in not knowing what had happened and Peter answered her tell me whether you sold the land for so much she said yes for so much then Peter said to her how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord look the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out then immediately she Bree she fell down at his feet and breathed their last and the young man came in and found her dead and carrying her out buried her by her husband so great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things and through the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people and they were all with one Accord in Solomon's porch yet none of the rest dared join them but the people esteemed them highly and believers were increasingly added to the Lord multitudes of both men and women so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on bed couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits and they were all healed amen well in this particular instance we see in the early church there was a desire to try and help the need the needy among that and in this particular instance or even prior in chapter 4 we see persons selling property selling possessions and bringing that money and giving it to the Apostles so that the Apostles could then distribute that money to those who were in need now the problem with Ananias and Sapphira were not that they were going to hold something back Peter makes that very clear while you owned it it was in your control you could have specified 80% given you could have specified 50% given but you said you gave it all and you did not the problem was is that they lied to the Holy Spirit translated here as lying to God we have a testimony here to the personhood of the Spirit and to the deity of the Spirit in one small passage so Ananias and Sapphira we're not wrong if they wanted to sell and give part of the proceeds you're not wrong for not giving everything that you possess you're wrong if you lie about it you're wrong if you're a hypocrite you're wrong if you say about a sound the alarm and say I'm gonna give everything that I own all the while holding back and we see what we saw in our study in Hebrews chapter 10 last week we saw there and we see in both old and New Covenant that our God is a consuming fire and that is evident in this account of Ananias and Sapphira it's not church discipline that's enacted against them it is God most high killing them for hit for their having sinned against it see there's this concept out there that the Old Covenant the Old Testament is filled with bloodshed and wrath and justice and fury well Ananias and Sapphira knew something of that wrath and fury and justice for having lied to the living and true God so we ought to remember we ought never to mock the Living God we ought never to treat him in a way that despises or in a way that is hypocritical and that is certainly held forth in this / particular account it's not a condemnation of not giving everything that we possess it's a condemnation of lying that we have given everything we possess all the while holding back from God and then we have this snapshot in verses 12 to 16 as we do throughout the book of Acts of these signs and wonders and miracles that are occurring through the agency of the Apostles always accompanied by the preaching of the word and it is that preaching of the word that the Spirit of God uses to bring sinners under conviction for sin and to show them the glory and the majesty and the excellence of Jesus Christ our Lord and this is what we pray for God willing every Sunday every Saturday night every Sunday morning as the people of God we ought to pray that the Spirit would come because if we meet here without the Holy Spirit it's an empty religious exercise but if the Spirit is here we have that confident expectation then he strengthens the people of God further conforms them unto the image of Jesus Christ and works in the hearts of dead sinners to resurrect them to bring them to life and to give them every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ we are utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for our exercise of religious worship and the good news is is that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask doesn't Jesus teach that if you being evil men love to give good gifts to your children notice our our Lord's assumption that he doesn't have this assumption of the gradual improvement of man he says if you to his disciples being evil men no love to give good gifts to your children how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask you don't have to go you sit on the top of sham you can ask in your living rooms in the morning you can ask in your Pew as we gather together here God is benevolent God is gracious God is profuse in his giving and God has promised and purpose to give the spirit to those who ask well let us pray our Father with that in mind we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit as we come to scripture again in a few moments we pray God that he'd be at work in hearts and minds that we would take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ that by the spirits power we would chase away any other thought that may be legitimate the other six days of the week but help us to be concerned with and consumed with the worship of God Almighty and Father we pray that the Spirit would work conviction for sin in the hearts of sinners and he as well would set before them the glory of Christ that one the bride says is altogether lovely that one that is chief among ten thousand we pray that today sinners would see that one and they would see their need for him and they would see that he does in fact give relief to weary souls that he does give rest that he does take them on we ask that this gospel would be proclaimed throughout the earth that it would go forth conquering and to conquer and that men women boys and girls from every tribe tongue people and nation would come to know the father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn before we look in detail at God's Word will sing number 378 that's three hundred and seventy eight again will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] well you can turn back in your Bibles to the book of Acts where in Acts chapter 9 for our consecutive exposition through the Acts of the Apostles we have finished up the account of Saul of Tarsus this conversion he's converted to Christ he's called by Christ to be a witness a testimony with reference to Gentiles Kings and the children of Israel according to verse 15 in Chapter 9 we won't meet with Paul the Apostle again until chapter 11 at verse 25 when Barnabas finds him in Antioch so in chapter 9 at verse 32 to chapter 12 verse 24 the emphasis is on Peter so the ongoing Ministry of the Apostle Peter the kingdom of God is not tied up in the agency of one man but God uses Saul of Tarsus he uses Peter he uses James he uses John uses various means or instruments to extend the kingdom of God on earth so we're looking at verses 32 to 43 in Acts chapter 9 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 paralysed and Peter said to him Aeneas Jesus the Christ heals you arise and make your bed then he arose immediately so all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord a jar there was a certain disciple named Tabitha which is translated Dorcas this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she which she did but it happened in those days that she became sick and died when they had washed her they laid her in an upper room and since Lidda 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 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 and it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed on the Lord so it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon a Tanner Amen well let us pray our Father thank you for the written word of the Living God we thank you for this inspired account of the early history of the church and we pray now the spirit would guide us and lead us as we consider this ongoing Ministry of the Apostle Peter father we thank you for the power display it in such passages we thank you for the the accompanied accompanying preaching of the word and the fact that that many turned unto the Lord God we give praise to you for your grace and for your mercy that you have not left your creatures and that that desperate sinful condition of misery but you've sent a redeemer you've sent your spirit you have indeed purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number so again we pray the Spirit would guide us we pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and our transgressions and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well as I said 9:30 to 2 1224 the emphasis is upon Peter in chapter 13 the emphasis will shift her folk focus then on the Apostle Paul and his ministry specifically to the Gentiles but Peter is sort of that the entry gate with reference to Gentile inclusion in the Covenant promises of God here in chapter 9 we have these two miracles wrought by Christ through the instrumentality or agency of Peter and then in chapter 10 we have a very significant passage of Scripture which is the conversion of a man by the name of Cornelius and he does represent the Gentile inclusion into the covenant of grace chapter 11 Peter has to explain this to religious authorities back in Jerusalem in terms of Cornelius and his inclusion and then in Chapter 12 Peters actually imprisoned he almost loses his head under Herod but he is freed by Christ from that prison cell so as I said the emphasis is primarily on Peter and this morning I want to look first of all at the healing of Inez in verses 32 to 35 and then secondly the restoration of Tabitha in verses 36 to 43 3 so it's a straightforward narrative but quite amazing the fact that this Inez had been in a condition for eight years in the fact that this Tabitha was was dead and here comes Simon Peter in the name and with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ in this man Inez is raised up from his sickbed and this woman Tabitha is raised up from her deathbed so let's look first at the healing of Aeneas in verses 32 to 35 we note what Peter is doing according to verse 32 it says it came to pass as Peter went through all parts of the country that he also came down to the Saints who dwelt in Linda now Linda if you look at this on a map you probably won't find it the Old Testament was called law to LOD so if you want to find Linda look for LOD LOD in your map guide or whatever they call that thing the concordance to the maps I guess but that's what it was and lit lit it was about 32 miles northwest of Jerusalem and here it's about ten miles southeast of Joppa and what he is doing is he's going about the churches and he's seeking to strengthen the people of God he's an apostle from Jerusalem he's making his way west he's going to go go to the coast there in Joppa and it's from there that he's going to meet up with these representatives from Cornelius God's going to bring them together and we'll look at the significance of that toward the end of the message this morning but he comes to Lydda and while he is there according to verse 33 he found a certain man named Aeneas who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed again this is a desperate condition this is a terrible thing we are not bedridden and we are not paralyzed there are persons that in fact experienced such things but in this particular instance very similar to with the Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ he finds these downtrodden and poor he finds these ones that are physically incapacitated he finds these ones where in the glory and the power and the majesty of God is going to be displayed in their healing and that is precisely the emphasis in the passage now note in terms of the healing of this man I næss verse 34 tells us Peter said to him I Nass Jesus the Christ heals you arise and make your bed we learned first of all that the healing is done by Christ I'm going to argue later on with reference to the miraculous that we find in the book of Acts the church is expectation ought not to be on that our emphasis today is to preach the Word of the Living God the miraculous existed initially to confirm that the preaching of the Apostles was in fact from God Almighty now the argument is not that God can't heal people we can certainly pray that God heals people we can pray that until the cows come home but to look for an agency to look for particular men that have been given this gift of healing that ceased that ended with the clothes of the Canon of the New Testament in other words they served a purpose and a function to authenticate and attest and confirm that what the Apostles were preaching were in fact the Word of God but today we don't need to look for mark driscoll or Benny Hinn or any claimant to have these powers of healing and repairing persons we pray to God Almighty and if it is his will he raises people up but in the apostolic era these signs these wonders these miracles accompanied the preaching of the word so that persons knew that it was in fact God's Word when you look at the Bible as a whole miracles occur when God is revealing himself miracles occur at the time of Moses miracles occur at the time of the prophets miracles occur at the time of Jesus and miracles occur at the time of the Apostles why because Moses the prophets Jesus and the Apostles are preaching God's Word and so that person's will in fact know that it's God God's words he sends these signs and wonders and miracles to confirm that is it that it is in fact the Word of God in the New Testament era the emphasis in the final letter written by the Apostle Paul is not on the miraculous it's not on tongue speaking it's not on prophesying and it's not on healing the emphasis with Paul in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 this preach the word be ready in season and out of season convinced rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and teaching why because the time will come when they will no longer endure sound doctrine but the professing people of God will heap up teachers that will scratch their their their tickled ears and then Paul says the time of my departure is at hand so he gives two reasons to Timothy as to why Timothy needs to preach the word because persons don't want the word so Paul says preach it to them anyway and that great logic what do we do well child you don't want your broccoli okay you can have cake no make them eat their broccoli I don't mean make by you know sitting on their chest and forcing it down their throat but enforce the reality that there's nutrients to be had in broccoli that there aren't in cake and you make them take it that's Paul's logic when the church will not endure sound doctrine do we bring in the puppets do we bring in the ponies do we bring in the flannel grass no we preach the word in other words God says I know what my people need the most I don't let them as two-year-olds make decision in terms of their dietary habits I tell them what they're supposed to eat and the same logic holds today this fascination with persons working miracles is absolutely positively misguided again do not misunderstand my argument is what's called a cessation 'el a cessationists argument or a non continuationist the argument isn't that God can't do miracles the argument isn't that God can't make sick people better the argument isn't that God can't raise people from the dead the argument is is that there's no longer an apostolic ministry there's no longer a group of men invested with that authority by Jesus Christ so that their preaching can be affirmed or confirm by the signs and wonders that accompany that and I hope to develop that a little bit later on and won't have to as much because I just did it but notice what we have here the healing is done by Christ it's not Peter Peter said to him - Jesus the Christ heals you that is so contrary to what we find - those though who claimed to have this ability and power now those who claim to have this ability and power and our are quite taken up with their ability and power they're quite taken up with their their role in the church and in the kingdom they're quite proud with reference to these particular expressions of what they deemed to be the power of God but for Peter it wasn't Simon Peter is here everything's going to be okay Peter the celebrity apostle is here and he's going to make all your woes go away no III næss that it's it's Jesus the Christ that heals you as well the Apostle follows the example of our Lord Jesus Christ he had spent enough time with him to hear how and know how the Lord Christ had healed the persons that he met in his preaching ministry notice what he says Peter said to him - Jesus the Christ heals you arise and make your bed Jesus does that mark 2:11 - the paralytic I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house why do you think Jesus and Peter say that why do you think Peter says to have arise and make your bed because God is a God of order and likes made beds I would say yeah but that's not the emphasis kids make your beds God is a God of order and your bed should be made that's not the point things he was unable to do as a paralyzed man he is now able to do he's able to arise which he had never been able to and now he's able to make his bed which he had never been able to it manifests that the power of Jesus Christ was effectual unto the healing of this particular man it didn't make him mostly better it didn't kind of assist him along the way and then as well it was effective immediately so the process involved when the power of Christ comes upon a man a woman a boy or girl who's in that miserable condition it's not you know like going to your doctor on repeat visits so he can fix whatever your particular malady is this is the power of Jesus Christ as displayed with reference to this man I nee s now notice the response of the people in verse 35 after this healing of I næss we see in verse 35 all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon now Sharon was the very lush region between Joppa and Caesarea on the coastline there so it says that all who dwelt in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord again we must assume that Peter preached the word he didn't just say to is Jesus the Christ heals you but he explained who Jesus the Christ is he explained the significance behind the mission and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ he unfolded to the people around there the gospel you see the miracles were never designed simply to impress people but it was to usher them into via the word and spirit the very kingdom of God Almighty see oftentimes the emphasis lies on this well let's go see what this guy can do that's not the important factor in the New Testament era the important factors that sinners who are in a worse condition than a paralyzed man a bedridden man of eight years but the reality is is that sinners can hear the truth of the gospel and be saved by grace through faith in Jesus remember that scene in mark chapter two or in Matthew 9 which is simply the parallel that paralytic man that Jesus is dealing with there is the one whom his friends lowered down from the roof remember that Jesus is preaching there's a whole bunch of people around and so the the men with their friend could not get in because of the press of the crowd so they open up the roof they lower this man in and when Jesus sees him he says son your sins are forgiven you think about the significance of that what would we be after a healing physical let him walk but Jesus says your sins are forgiven you and of course the Pharisees and the scribes all scratching their head saying who does he think he is only God alone can forgive sins of course jesus knows what they're thinking and Jesus says to them which is easier to say to the man your sins are forgiven you or take up your bed and walk well is it easier to say your sins are forgiven you because we don't know whether that's the case or not so then Jesus says to the paralytic arise take up your bed and walk we all camp on or not all of us but some charismatic sand Pentecostals think the amazing thing there is that the paralytic picked up his bed and walked but we who know better realize the better thing was his sins were forgiven he's going to go to heaven and the fact that he now arises the fact that he now takes up the bed and walk shows that Christ has the power on earth to forgive sins in other words the healing of the paralyzed man serves as the exhibit the confirmation or attestation that Christ has power to forgive sinners brethren friend there is a problem worse than paralysis there is a problem worse than chronic illness there is a problem worse than any of the bad things you can think of out there and that problem is sin but the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ deals with the sin problem doesn't it such were some of you Paul says to the church in Corinth but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ whatever malady whatever issue whatever challenge whatever trial whatever difficulty you ever faced as God's people realized that the worst has been defeated by the Savior realize that the sin that affects you in your totality has been dealt with by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ it really is a glorious thing so Peter preaches the Word of God along with this signed on with Inez and it says in verse 31 so all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord the miraculous beads were not an end in themselves but they served a redemptive purpose again take one of these modern faith healers they do all this rigmarole and don't preach the gospel all the rigmarole in the world unaccompanied by the gospel of free grace isn't going to new sinners any good whatsoever so Peter doesn't leave it there with the healing of Inez but he preaches the truth and in that the Spirit of God comes he blesses and we learn they turned to the Lord they were converted that man had woke up that day and at end of the day he was able to walk he was able to rejoice he was able to celebrate and sinners who had woke up that day dead in their trespasses and sins laid their heads down that night having been turned to the Lord by His grace and for his glory it really is a beautiful demonstration of the power of Jesus now notice secondly the restoration of Tabitha in verses 36 to 43 note her death in verses 36 and 37 prior to her death it tells us something of her life now Tabitha is the Greek for aromatic form and Dorcas is the Greek form of her name and both meaning is out so Tabitha is what Peter uses so we understand that Peter uses or spoke in Aramaic he addresses her that way uses the language exactly similar to what Jesus does with gyrus his daughter except there it's Talitha little girl and here it's Tabitha because that's her name and so he comes to this particular greet or he's going to be called to this particular region but initially it tells us what this woman was like a Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha which is translated Dorcas this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she had done brethren I don't know if there would be a better epitaph that could be written for a person than that we know we're not saved by good works because we don't have any apart from Jesus Christ but as those justified freely by God's grace those who have received that that grace of justification sanctification inevitably follows good works do precede were saved by faith alone but that faith is never it doesn't remain alone but it's accompanied by all other saving graces namely sanctification and good works so this woman as an expression of her faith in Christ was this kind of person this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did now most likely she was a woman of means and these widows and these people that are that are in verse 39 that are lamenting her death or her passing show to Peter all the tunics and the garments that she had made she had served the downtrodden and poor she had been full of good works she had engaged in charitable deeds again I don't think there could be a better sort of a epitaph written a concerning a particular person Matthew Poole explains it this way she was rich in good works which are the best riches last longest and go farthest it really is a great testimony to the grace of God in her life and it ought to make us reflect how would persons describe me if I drop dead today would they be able to say that fellow or that woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did now it doesn't take me long to conclude that that I'm not like Tabitha I'm certainly not like Tabitha as I ought to be and I think we all ought to meditate upon this and muse on this and reflect upon the reality that we have been saved not because of our good works but unto good works for we are his workmanship Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 created in Christ Jesus for what for good works which God had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them so don't mistake what I'm saying you were not saved because of your good works but you are saved unto good works and as Luther famously said God doesn't need your good works but your neighbors do and as those saved by God's grace you want to be about that sort of a thing such that when we do die it's not that the world is going to say good riddance I mean that guy was a hanger-on that guy had just glommed on he was a real you know real pain in the neck or whatever it might be no this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did and then notice in verse 37 it happened in those days that she became sick and died it's interesting isn't it same sorts of things that happen to unbelievers happen to believers notice what Peter doesn't do when he comes here you know if you had faith that sickness wouldn't have overtaken you if you had had faith you wouldn't a die he doesn't lecture her he doesn't reprimand her which is the prevailing opinion among those modern faith healers that if something is wrong in your life if you contract some terrible diseases it's because you don't have faith imaginery imagine butchering Souls that way imagine the great disservice that men do when they say to people that it's your fault that you have contracted this disease Tabitha lived in a world that is under the curse of God Almighty we live in a world that is under the curse of God Almighty we are not immune from sickness we're not immune from disease we are not immune from chronic injury or chronic chronic illness we're not immune from death itself that is the reality that we face living in this world so if any of these charlatans ever want to chastise you or chide you because you've got problems and it's your fault resist that reject it I cannot believe that persons get taken in by such you know charlatans like this it really is sad it really is pathetic and it really is frustrating and in some degree infuriating so she dies and notice the disciples as I said yet of Christ get sick and die and then the disciples of this particular the disciples the Christian disciples notice in verse 37 says when they had washed her they laid her in an upper room now Peter here is like the master he's like Jesus and some of the things the terminology that he uses but if you think even back beyond the Ministry of our Lord Christ to two men named Elijah and Elijah Peters much like them as well upper rooms or where they raised the dead or God did through their agency and they would put others out so that they would be alone with that body and have dealings with God the God who actually raises from the dead you see Elijah in first Kings chapter 17 that Widow who had a son who died and then Elijah in second Kings chapter 4 with the shunammite woman who had a son and then he died it's the same sort of a pattern that we see that God is working his glorious power through the means of Elijah Elijah and Simon Peter and so you ought to be thinking in terms of these Old Testament connections that we see as well but notice in terms of the restoration of Tabitha in verses 38 to 42 very intriguing the disciples know that Peter is nearby what happens when somebody is sick you you call a doctor what happens when somebody dies you call an apostle right this is the argument there's no apostles today there's no agency entrusted by Christ with the ability to heal inez or to raise Tabitha but in the first century church you had the apostolic ministry and these disciples in Linda knew or in Joppa knew that Peter was nearby in Lydda and so they send for him not because she's sick and he has some medical ability but because she's dead and the power of God is able to raise the dead to raise the dead up so they call for him and then in his in his ministry he comes over there notice verse 38 since little 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 so it's not just an empty sort of a statement that she was full of good works and charitable deeds you have this band of widows there that are able to confirm that she was that type of a woman look at the tunics look at the garments look at the good things that she's done she has kept us from freezing to death she has kept us dry she has been a a monument of God's grace in our lives in terms of real tangible aid and physical help so Peter meets these people he hears what's going on and then he dismisses them he he sends them away again not because he's mean or vicious or cruel or unkind but because he wants to have dealings with God Almighty who is the one who in fact is the one who raises the dead so he arises he goes with them he goes into the Upper Room where the body lay and then he prays to the Lord notice in verse 40 but Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed see Peter knew that Peter didn't have the power Peter knew that he couldn't just snap his fingers and dead people would rise up Peter knew that the power was Christ's he saw it with Inez he saw it in other instances where miracles were wrought he that he didn't possess this it wasn't that God said hey Peter I'm gonna just you know give you this power and this gift so that you can use it indiscriminantly you can just go about the countryside and heal whoever it is you want to heal no Peter knew better so he boughs before the Lord God and he prays verse 40 Peter put them all out knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said Tabitha arise again it follows precisely what Jesus does in mark 541 then he took the child by the hand and said to her Talitha cooming which is translated little girl I say to you arise same exact phrase Peter employs again except for the L and the beat and that's not you know I don't think there's anything esoteric or specifically mysterious about that he had just been in the presence of the Savior and saw how the Savior had raised irises daughter and he uses the same language here with Tabitha Kumi arise get up from your deathbed so it's an amazing thing that we see in the first section with reference to the healing of Inez but this woman is dead these people aren't fools they're not you know faked they're not you know backwoods podunk people that have no idea what a dead body looks like it wasn't the fact that they were just deceived or deluded she was just having a really deep sleep and Peter came and shook her and sort of sort of arose her from from that deep slumber no he he raised her from the dead God raised her from the dead through the agency or instrumentality of Peter the emphasis is upon the prayer of Peter the activity of God the power of Jesus Christ it's not in Peter and then notice that he presents her alive to these people I love the way that Luke who was a doctor explains this I just say she got up she got up that's all I would witness but but Luke kind of takes us by the hand as a physician and and tells us the the dis steps she opened her eyes again I would just say she got up but Luke notes this that he's the the historian here he's the theologian but he's also a medical doctor and often times in some of the healing narratives you see this sort of medical all facet or emphasis bye-bye our author here so he he says this he says then she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up again I'm thinking she got up he's given us the process he's telling us the steps involved he's showing us how when consciousness returns to her these are the things that occurred she first opens her eyes that then she sees Simon Peter there and he gave her his hand and lifted her up and when he had called the Saints and widows he presented her alive again much like the Savior in an account in Luke chapter 7 there was a widow at a city called nain and her son had died and Jesus raised him from the dead and presented him alive again this isn't you know in some backwoods room it wasn't off the beaten path it wasn't the report of some that were you know had mass hysteria it's very public it's very evident it's very obvious and it's very immediate there's no progression from she's dead to mostly dead and then to partially dead and then eventually no she's raised by the power of God Almighty you know there's the sort of famous illustration of the old-time revivalist meetings with the faith healer when you know that the faith healer pronounces that the the man who's difficult got difficult and difficulty in seeing or he's blind you know he puts the whammy on him and he heals him and then he says I want you to read John 3:16 well come on everybody knows John 3:16 you don't have to read it so as he recites it there it is he's been healed no he knew that from memory see not everything that purports to be of God is of God and I would suggest that a man who era gates to himself the power to heal or the power to raise the dead is a man that is completely contrary to the Apostle Peter he is not of the same fabric and we need to be very wary and very careful of such people again the argument isn't that God can't heal Inez the argument isn't that God can't raise the debt the argument is that specifically there is not an apostolic ministry charged by Christ with the purposes of healing casting out demons raising the dead and preaching the word those men are gone they've left us their writings and that is what we in the church are supposed to be about now notice what happens in terms of the effect of the result after he presents her alive according to verse 42 it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed on the Lord same emphasis that we have with Aeneas the miracles the signs the wonders serve a redemptive end see I remember being a brand new Christian coming into contact with a charismatic or Pentecostal group and then making the mistake of my life going to one of their public services and the the the guest speaker there looked specifically specifically at me and pastor barcelos and there was one other brother with us he looked at us and he said when we're in these other countries and when we've gathered together those people don't come for doctrine or for the Apostles Creed they come for a healing well then they're not coming the way they did in the book of Acts because in the book of Acts they may have come for healing but they want a doctrine they wanted truth they wanted the gospel they wanted freedom not from their malady in terms of physicality but from the malady of sin what an underestimation of the power of God Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto what unto salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for in that gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith that as it is written the just shall live by faith we are undercutting the power of God when we are focusing upon the physical to the neglect of the spiritual imagine doing that disservice to people oh come and and get healed of whatever malady it is but then go on home because you don't want doctrine it's precisely doctrine that persons should want with reference to Christianity it's the reality that Christ lived that Christ died that Christ was raised again and he's so-called ministry that fails to emphasize that is not the ministry that Jesus calls us to it is a sham it is a fake it is a fraud and that's what we ought to see with reference to the apostolic healing and ministry in the New Testament many believed on the Lord the redemptive focus of the miraculous in the gospel narratives and as well in the book of Acts it wasn't to impress it wasn't to dazzle it wasn't to make people say wow Israel's God is really good but it was to show them Jesus it was to show them their sin it was to show them the way of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord now notice where the narrative ends in verse 43 it may seem a bit incidental but I want to try and just show the significance in light of what's going to happen in chapter 10 verse 43 says so it was that he Peter stayed many days in Joppa with Simon a Tanner so he stays in Joppa many days he's going to be there he's going to have a vision Cornelius is going to have a vision Cornelius is going to send delegates or representatives or friends to find Simon Peter and then Peters gonna comedies going to preach the gospel to the household of Cornelius there's a there's kind of an interesting or curious thing about this statement though in verse 43 that thought that there's two Simon Simon Peter and Simon the Tanner but Simon's a Tanner do you know what a Tanner is if you went to a first-century Jews house you probably wouldn't have seen a buck on his wall not because they didn't eat meat or kill box but because they didn't have contact with dead things that that was forbidden The Book of Leviticus chapter 11 specifically on three occasions forbids the children of Israel to touch or contact dead things what's a Tanner do he makes his living with dead things it's kind of a paradox isn't it how do you make a living with dead things so that Simon Peter goes to stay with Simon indicates a couple of things that are curious at least one Simon Peter isn't as fastidious as the Pharisees were they he wasn't the sort of guy that says I can't you know go near that that downtrodden guy I can't go near that one that that is ceremonially on pure no Simon Peter goes and stays in the house of Simon the Tanner but I think the significance lay ultimately in Simon Peters vision that we get there in chapter 10 and then Peters explanation of the vision to Cornelius in chapter 10 verse 28 Peter is going to tell Cornelius this then he said to them you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation ceremonially unclean impure bad thing dog thing Jew don't Jews don't hang out with Gentiles that's just not the way Jews roll he goes on to say but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean Gentile inclusion in the Covenant promises of God Peter recognizes after having received this vision from the Lord that he is not to look down upon Gentiles he's not to despise even Tanner's he is not to think in terms of to tears he is rather to think of the power of the Christian gospel he is rather to think of the blood of Jesus Christ his son which cleanses us from all sin verse 43 in Chapter 9 though it may seem incidental paves the way or foreshadows what's going to happen in terms of Cornelius's inclusion in the covenant of grace so that Simon Peter goes and stays with Simon the Tanner shows this again it's a down payment or at least alerting us a not everything there seems consistent with what we find elsewhere but just stay tuned and pay attention and when God comes to Simon Peter in terms of this vision telling him to arise kill and eat and he says but Lord I've never killed anything unclean God says go ahead and kill this unclean what's the point it's not to treat the Gentiles as if they're second-class citizens it's not to treat them as if they are outside of the scope of God's redemptive grace rather Simon Peter you need to understand that the gospel is for every tribe tongue people and nation Robert Raymond famously said with reference to Acts chapter 10 one may legitimately say that the entire event was recorded not only to recount the conversion of Cornelius but also to record the conversion of Peter to Gentile evangelism so verse 43 in chapter 9 that he stays with Simon the Tanner and Joppa for these many days we see these barriers already breaking down in the mind and in the life of the Apostle would Peter have done that before before he had met Jesus would Peter have done that before he had come under the grace of god almighty or would he have said well Leviticus 11 forbids me or prohibits me of having contact with a man who has contact with dead things see there's a lot of stuff going on there in that small incidental verse in Chapter 9 verse 23 verse 43 but but something else that's unique about Joppa again you know when you read the book of Acts when you read anything in the New Testament try to think Old Testament - what was the significance of Joppa in the Old Testament well it was the site or the place where there was a a mission to Gentiles sort of initiated remember Jonah he's told to go to Nineveh but he'd rather go to Tarshish did you love that scene uh Jonah I want you go to Nineveh no I'm not going to Nineveh it's almost like Peter Lorre died I've never killed anything unclean Peter says this happened three times Peter if God's telling you you can eat the unclean thing go ahead go go right ahead but-but-but Jonah does this he wants to go to Tarshish Tarshish but he has to go to this coastal town to catch a boat in order to get to Jah to Tarshish it's Joppa in the 8th century BC God launches a mission to Gentiles Ninevites outside of Israel from Joppa in the 1st century AD God initiates a mission to Gentiles from this self-same city called Joppa both Jonah and Peter were hesitant both Jonah and Peter were reluctant you get that that's why God gives him this vision that's why Peter says in verse 28 - Cornelius Cornelius you know that this isn't garden-variety it's not the case that Jews hang out with Gentiles there's a reluctance on the part of Simon Peter according to Acts chapter 10 hence the vision given to him so both of these men are hesitant both of these men are reluctant but both of these men ultimately go to those respective places and both of these men see success in their ministry but then both of these men are challenged by the success of the ministry with Peter it's the religious leadership and with Jonah it's his own heart so there's a similarity that Luke gives us with reference to Peter from Joppa and Jonah from Joppa and the target audience is the same it is the Gentiles and everywhere the Bible enforces that message Jesus Christ is not simply the savior of ethnic Jews Christ is the savior of the world didn't we see that in the book of act I'm sorry in the Gospel of John and John for Jesus dealings with that woman at the well that Samaritan woman she goes back and she tells the villagers come see a man who told me all things that I ever did they come they hear it for themselves and then they say and describe we have seen it and heard it for ourselves that he is the savior of the world I suggest that that is the key to understanding John 3:16 God so loved the world that doesn't mean every single human being without exception it means men without distinction Jews Gentiles Samaritans men women old young the gospel is for sinners we all have that in common and that's the glory of Jesus Christ to save from every tribe people tongue and nation so 9:43 paves the way at least in small part for what going to happen in Acts chapter 10 Marshall says both Peter and Jonas start from Joppa and go to the Gentiles both protest against their commissions and need fresh revelations from God and both have successful missions the legitimacy of which is questioned well in conclusion couple of thoughts are close in prayer and then we'll go the first place the Ministry of the Apostle Peter one of the things that I think we need to appreciate about the book of Acts is the division of labor the division of labor is a reality and it's instituted by God himself so all of tarsus can't do everything Peter can't do everything men from every tribe tongue people and nation are gonna take more than Simon Peter to call them out of darkness into marvelous light brethren a plurality of men are employed by Christ in this missionary enterprise to see the extension of Christ's Kingdom on earth and as well we need to appreciate that no one man of the kingdom rather this depends on no one man save Jesus Christ but when Paul dies does the church and know it marches on when Peter dies does the church and know it marches on I mean we love them and we have a fond heart for them and we appreciate their Labor's on behalf of the kingdom but the kingdom of God doesn't ultimately depend upon us and I find that to be very encouraging I find that to be very good news that it doesn't matter ultimately with reference to any human being as to whether the church survives or doesn't it matters about Christ does any say this in Matthew chapter 16 I will build my church now again I'm not suggesting he doesn't use instruments he's not he doesn't say I'm gonna do it all on my own single-handedly no he he uses the bride he uses the woman there's an analogy between Christ's Great Commission and what we find in the in the Garden of Eden Adam is told to exercise Dominion to subdue the earth eva's his helper to assist him in particular project well the same is true of the second atom it's the Lord Christ who subdues it's the Lord Christ to his taming it's the Lord Christ who is extending the kingdom of God on earth and his bride serves alongside or rather helps him in this particular mission so we need to appreciate that because at times we can be imbalanced and think it all depends upon us I'm not saying this so I can alleviate myself from any responsibility and and not do what I'm supposed to do but brethren we need to be freed in our heads and minds and hearts that this project is ultimately Christ's he is far more better equipped for Ted and he will certainly accomplish what he has purposed and promised in building his church saying that the gates of Hell itself shall never prevail against it the division of labor is legit the division of labor is biblical the division of labor is blessed so that no one man is ultimately ruined because he's trying to do everything that God calls him to do secondly I wanted to revisit this idea of the miracles in the early church and just summarize some of the things that I said earlier first the miracles were done by the power of the Lord Jesus with thy næss Peter says Jesus the Christ heals you and with Tabitha Peter knelt down and prayed again the emphasis is upon the power of Christ and not the power of Peter secondly the miracles were immediately effective it wasn't like Peter said okay you know come back and you know for weeks - and we'll hook you up I remember when I was a kid I had planters warts and the way they dealt with planters warts then was they burned it off and you think they could just do it in one fell swoop no you had to go every week for that that fresh pain and that smoking foot it was no fun now you can just by compound W and do your own foot at home which is kind of nice but back then they'd have that and you had to go to the doctor so he could inflict great pain on you but it certainly wasn't immediately effective it you know it was gradual it was slow it was painful and that that's not the way they did this I nee s G zhis the Christ heals you arise and make your bed he does it tabatha arise and she doesn't as well the miracles are publicly attested they're publicly ya know in this meeting we had in this background this guy pulled up throughout the Whammy and He healed a bunch of ah I'm sorry I'm a skeptic by nature I just very suspicious of these claims especially the claims that a man on this side of the apostolic ministry has the power to heal especially when that man is you know the sorts of men that I've been exposed to in terms of the healers that we have seen as well the miracles were accompanied by the preaching of the word of God redemptive focus never forget not simply to dazzle the audience but to give them the gospel so that they by grace could be saved the miracles authenticated the preaching ministry of the Apostles you see that at the very end of the book of Mark this is Christ's emphasis in terms of the Great Commission he says at the end of Mark and day the Apostles went out and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and notice and confirming the word through the accompanying science what was the purpose the accompanying signs to confirm the word the cessationists to the non continuation this argument is simply this their word has been penned their word is finalized we have their word in the Canon of the New Testament therefore to look for accompanying signs is to look in vain again not that God can't do such things but God has not entrusted to an agency of man to do such things that's the argument it's not deistic it's not pagan it's not all the sorts of things that persons have accused us of we believe in the power of God we believe in his ability to heal we just disbelieve that he's going to use Benny Hinn that's the issue now notice as well the miracles or the death rather to summarize of the Apostles and the completed collection of their writings or what we call the Canon of Scripture meant that's a miracle ceased to be done by representatives in the church rather the Ministry of the church is tasked with what preaching why do we not want this or why do we not I exist some get consumed with the miracles and the signs and the wonders others get consumed with the entertainment others get consumed with pandering others get consumed with being respectable amongst the people that hate God in a culture brethren the the scanning order for the Church of Jesus Christ is to preach the word if we get tired of that our problem is with God if we think there are better ways to do it our problem is with God God knows the creature God made the creature God sustains the creature God knows precisely what we need just like we as parents know what the nutritional needs are for our two-year-olds I doubt any one of you would ever let your child enter into debates or conversations as to why he shouldn't have a good portion of meat and fat for dinner and that he should get sugar and refined carbohydrates if you engage in that you're a fool you would never do that you would make sure they eat what they're supposed to so when Paul says to Timothy the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but they'll want sugar and refined carbohydrates Paul's response is preach the word we don't let the people dictate what they want or need we preach the word why is it in the history of the church this one standard objective continually gets neglected it continually gets run over roughshod we're caught up with the signs and the wonders we're caught up with the entertainment we're caught up with the self-help we're caught up with the therapy we're caught up with the moralism we're caught up with the behavior modification we need to preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but to those who are being saved Christ the wisdom and power of God that's our job that's our task embrace it we must and embrace it to be blessed by God when we get off the beaten path of preaching the word and we chase down all these shadows we're going to end up in a bad place another thing we often hear is we've got to be truly relevant what more cultural relevance can there ever be than for the church to preach the Word of God we have to be like down and talk like them and have sex like them and do like that no we need to preach God's standard to this wicked world so that they will see they've broken the law and preach his blessed gospel to see that there is deliverance from God afforded in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ so another sort of thing oh we don't preach the law it's all about love love love love love brethren if we never hear the law and our miserable state before God Almighty will never appreciate his love we will never appreciate the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord if we haven't first reflected upon Sinai and reflected upon how we have transgressed how we out like sheep have gone astray the gospel is glorious because it comes to lawbreakers like us didn't we sing last Sunday night guilty vile helpless we spotless Lamb of God was he full atonement can it be what does that evoke hallelujah what a savior cultural relevance on the part of the church is to obey God Almighty it is to take what Paul says in 2nd Timothy 4 seriously and to preach the word to be ready in season and out of season to convince rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and teaching and that is the emphasis that we find in the New Testament Paul doesn't tell Timothy and second Timothy 4 speak in tongues heal people throw the Whammy out there make everybody healthy and effort that's not the point the point is they are unhealthy not physically but spiritually and the answer is in the Word of the Living God well brethren I hope that this will encourage our hearts to see first and foremost God's power displayed in the healing of æneas and in the raising or restoration of Tabitha but to see equally and more powerfully the fact that the word went forth and many turned to the Lord many were forgiven of their sins many were given that righteousness of Jesus Christ many were brought out of darkness into marvelous light - and Tabitha is a keyhole by which we appreciate the grace of God Almighty working in the hearts of sinners in Lydda and in Joppa and if you have not believed a few are dead in your trespasses and sins there is a savior and his name is Jesus Christ and he came into this world sinners to save it's not a great testimony the Apostle Paul this is a trustworthy statement it is worthy a full acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save it's a it's a beautiful thing and then he says of whom I am chief so if you're here this morning saying you know I'm too sinful I know that mr. Lawson and I met a guy doing we did tracts I think one day over there and this guy said on to sin fall for God and I'm just too too wicked well you know what that's like right that's like somebody saying I'm too hungry to eat of course you need to eat Cassandra when we say oh I'm too sinful for God to say there's pride and arrogance there because Paul is actually the chief of center but there is mercy with God there is forgiveness with God whatever you have done up to this point in your miserable life God Most High forgives God Most High cleanses God most high takes the blood of his Blessed son and washes sinners clean it's a beautiful and a glorious thing that those of us who by God's grace were delivered from miserable lives can attest to well let us close in a word of Prayer father we thank you for this section in the book of Acts we thank you for the the book of Acts as a whole and for the way it displays the glorious acts of Jesus Christ executed from the right hand of the Father through the Apostles through the churches we pray father that we would appreciate that that Christ is Lord Christ is had Christ as king and builder of the church and in light of that may we take up our responsibilities with great vigor and with great joy and with great earnestness and father for any and all who have yet to come to Christ we pray that you by grace would constrain them that you would show them their sin and show them the savior for sinners and we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we'll close our service by singing number 506 d four five six four you can take that in your handbook once you find it will stand as we sing together 560 floor [Music] the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace God made these things be true in our own hearts and lives we ask that you would go with us now help us to enjoy and to sanctify the day and help us to bring glory and honor and praise unto you and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please be seated for a brief time Ahmet