Peter's Miracles

God wants to work miracles or changes in our lives this morning. In today's scientific age we have lost sense of the miraculous and the supernatural. God can and does work supernaturally even today. There are many miracles happening around us. Life itself is a miracle. Why do we go on living when others die. Why are we healthy when others are sick. These are the working of God's grace and goodness to us.

If you have a need in your life this morning He wants to come into your life and help you with those needs. God wants to do something special for you. God will do a miracle if you trust and believe and ask him to. Those miracles are not always instantaneous but God does answer.

William Carey a great missionary to Burma once said, "Expect Great things from God; Attempt Great Things for God." Do you think God can do great things through YOU? Do you think God can transform your life? God will if we have faith and trust him completely.

We read about two people who experienced a miracle in their life. These stories show us that God is a powerful God who is able to perform great and wondrous things. These miracles are not necessarily an every day occurrence but they happen so that people may understand the great power of God and turn to him.

Peter went to the churches along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. One of his first stops was at Lydda about 1 day's journey from Jerusalem. Peter's goal was to visit with the saints and encourage them. The early Christians were called saints in the New Testament. The word saint means holy ones. They were cleansed, made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died, they could be forgiven. The word holy in Greek means "different". We are to be different than the world around us. We are to live a lifestyle that is holy. We are to have different values and habits. We are different because we have been chosen by God to serve the world. We have been called to serve other people as Dorcus did. In our world most people are out to get what they can for themselves but we are called to serve and give what we can to help others. We are to serve others and in the process God will enrich our lives. We are to do good works so that God will be honoured and receive glory.

Peter was visiting those who had become Christians at Jerusalem or through the Philip's ministry. Peter visited a man who had been sick for eight years with a crippling disease. Some of you may be in pain and agony. We as a family are struggling now with Christopher not wanting to be a part of our family. We are praying for a miracle in his life, a change in attitude and his return to the family. Some of you may be having a spiritual struggle. You are looking for spiritual healing. Others may have physical difficulties like Aeneas which you are struggling with. God is able to heal and restore. In his love and care He may choose to heal you immediately or he may choose to give you grace to fight against your difficulties. We do not understand the will of God completely but at times God develops patience in us by having us wait for complete healing of our physical bodies until we will be in Heaven with Him. He will however always heal our spiritual pains if we come to Him for help.

Peter said to Aeneas, "Jesus Christ heals you." There is never anyone who can heal by his own power. God can heal but Satan also has power to heal. Therefore we must be careful that God is the source of the power to heal. One sign that the healing is from God is that all that is required is a simple prayer of faith. There is no special medicine, no chanting, no special hexes which are used in Africa and other places where the power of Satan is used to heal. A simple prayer, "Jesus Christ heals you." was all that was necessary for God to heal Aeneas. Jesus has the power to heal not only the body but the soul. Why not ask Jesus to help you this morning?

When Aeneas was healed the whole community heard that he was healed. As a result of the healing many people believe in God's power not only to heal but to forgive sins and heal the soul. When the word spread through this rich farming area, many people were converted and turned to Jesus.

Word of Peter's ministry in Lydda spread to Joppa about 17 km. away on the Mediterranean coast. There was a disciple there named Dorcus. She worked herself to death by helping those in need. There are all kinds of people in our community who are in need. Some are struggling with broken marriages; others who turn to alcohol and drugs to escape and drown their problems. Others have financial problems. We need to open our eyes and our hearts to the needs of people and serve our community like Dorcus did.

She gained the respect and love of many people by her diligent service and kind help. The Christian community deeply missed her when she died and hearing that Peter was nearby sent two messangers to him to ask him to come. We don't know whether they came to ask him to do the funeral or to come and bring her back from the dead. Peter hurried back and entered the upper chanber where Dorcus' body had been placed.

Peter was one of the three disciples who saw Jesus raise Jairus' daughter from the dead. God gave Peter the same spiritual power as Jesus had to raise Dorcus from the dead. Peter remembering what Jesus had done asked everyone to leave and then in a quiet room, got down on his knees and prayed. The power of God was unleased and Docus sat up when Peter spoke to her. He then called all the believers and presented her to them alive. What joy must have filled the house. The power of God and the promise of Jesus was very evident that day. Jesus had promised his disciples that they would be able to do even greater things than he had. This was proof that the disciple were given the power even to raise people from the dead. It is through prayer that this same power is available to some Christians even today. The Bible does not indicate that raising people from the dead became an ordinary event in the life of the church. There is only one other time when God demonstrated his power to being people back from the dead in the book of Acts. That is when Paul prayed and Eutychus was brought back to life. This story is in Acts 20. Thus we cannot take this as a normative experience in the life of the church. We do understand that God does demonstrate his power in special circumstances. His power is available to believers to use to bring glory to God.

Jesus told his disciples to let their lights shine before men that they may see you good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. We need to be careful where the spotlight falls when God does something wonderful through us. If the spotlight falls on us we need to reflect the light back to God so that He received the honour and glory for the miracles God does through us.

Peter removed the crowd and alone with God on his knees he poured out his Soul. God heard and answered. Paul knelt down and prayed for the saints at Ephesus. His prayer in Ephesians 3:14 - 21 is also a wonderful prayer to close this morning's message with. Let's read this prayer together.

Perhaps this morning you need a miracle in your life. Perhaps it is the miracle of physical healing.

Perhaps you have a spiritual problem which needs to be healed. Perhaps you need to experience the miracle of salvation this morning. God has the power to do any of these things. When the people saw the healing of Aeneas and the resurrection of Dorcus many people believed in the Lord. Have you trusted with your whole heart and believed in Jesus Christ? Why not pray and receive Christ as your saviour this morning. He truely will do more than we can ask or think if we trust in him completely.

CFC 10/3/82 WHC 1/22/89