Jesus Christ heals you!

 “They Turned to the Lord”

(Acts 9:32-35, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 11, 2012)

32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all,

When the God of peace allowed, the Apostle Peter lived a life of passing through Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, where so many vital Christian churches were now gathering and worshiping the Lord. He made a practice of going here and there among them all.

We should not ignore that. There was a concern for the regional church that was lived out in his life. There was a certain rhythm of his days that involved traveling, stopping, visiting, and seeing people. In all of this, he glorified the Name of Jesus Christ. Of course he preached and taught, but he also prayed and performed apostolic signs of the resurrection kingdom.

he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.

He lived in a world where people had a sense of place and of their calling to live somewhere, perhaps for many generations, together with their extended families. Lydda is an hour's drive from Jerusalem today, but back then it was probably a long day's walk. Undoubtedly there were many places where Peter would have stopped along the way while he was passing through.

Saints were everywhere by now. The word saints means “the holy ones.” It was one of the words that was used in the early church to describe church members. All those who were baptized were called “holy ones.” They were set apart in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. They were washed by the cleansing gift of the Holy Spirit. They drank the milk of the Word. They called upon the Name of the Lord together. Peter was passing through their towns, greeting them in the Name of the Lord. That's why he came to Lydda. It was his life.

33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed.

If he had chosen the life of a recluse he would not have met a man named Aeneas. Aeneas did not have the option to be passing through anywhere. He stayed in bed. Not by choice, but by necessity. Aeneas was paralyzed.

Aeneas could not have the same rhythm of life as Peter. He was not an apostle, but even as a saint he could not go around doing what Peter did in serving the Lord. He could not go around at all. But people like Peter have an impact on people like Aeneas. Even if Aeneas stayed at home, he would have heard about the places where Peter went. Aeneas had been bedridden for eight years, but he could pray for the church and hear the Word through men like Peter who came by.

If people never come by, if men and women do not come in the Name of the Lord, then we live lives in some degree of spiritual paralysis. Some people are able to move, but they are still experiencing a paralysis. They may read books about the life of faith in their own day or in another, or they may listen to the radio or some other media bringing them a word about the progress of the kingdom. But what if no one is going here and there among them all? Is anyone visiting them? Are they allowing anyone to come by?

34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you;

If they are getting news of the work of Christ only through some remote input like a movie, a book, or a radio program, there is no Peter coming to their home. No one comes in the Name of the Lord. No one sees them with his own eyes, and hears the news that they have been lying in bed for eight years. No one calls them by name and says to them, “Jesus Christ heals you.”

Peter did not say that the Apostle Peter heals you. He said, “Jesus Christ heals you.” Jesus is all about healing. He is not a paralyzed God. He comes to you and lives in you. He hears about your desperate condition. He is committed to your full healing, though His ways are not our ways.

Joni Eareckson Tada is still paralyzed today, but she has been used by Jesus Christ to make sure that thousands of people who once did not have wheelchairs are now able to move more than they used to be able to move. She looks for a coming day of complete healing, but she has surely been touched by the Lord. She brings a message of hope to millions.

Our reformed churches are at great risk of being paralyzed. We teach and learn, but sometimes we have trouble moving. Particularly in our place and time we easily live as isolated individuals, and we don't know how to change that, or how to make others want to receive us if we go out.

rise and make your bed.”

One other thing: Being healed can be costly. If we rise up, we have to make our bed. If we learn how to live the life of going here and there among one another with the love of Christ, we have to suffer for others in the Name of the One who suffered and died for us. Those who have been healed by the powerful grace of Jesus should get up, make their bed, and serve the King. Right?

And immediately he rose.

Aeneas rose up by the powerful Word of Jesus Christ. Use your suffering to cry out to the Lord. Look for His healing today through some saint who is going here and there among the saints. Let the saints in when they want to come by. Let them speak to you in the Name of Jesus.

Cry out to God in the day of trouble, and He will hear you. You may not get exactly what you thought you needed most, at least not yet. But like Joni Eareckson Tada, you may get a blessing from God that no one can ever take away from you. When you receive that blessing from God, get up and embrace the life of bringing Jesus with you wherever you go.

35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him,

There were people living in Lydda and the surrounding region. They heard local news from one another, and not from the impersonal sources that we may find more normal. Normal to them was someone knocking on the door. Normal to us may be a more paralytic and paralyzing approach. But that can change. Jesus can help us to get up again.

People in that region not only heard about what happened to Aeneas. They saw him. He did get up and make his bed. And then he eventually went out. Imagine what it would have been like to see him and greet him if you had known him as the man who had been paralyzed for eight years!

and they turned to the Lord.

It was amazing. It was something that only the God of heaven and earth could have done. Many people turned to the Lord because of an event that could not be explained by the normal cause and effect that we are all used to. People saw Jesus as the Lord and Savior that He really is through what took place in this one life. And that must have been very encouraging to Peter as he went here and there in the Name of Jesus visiting the saints. Don't miss God's gift to you.

1. What was the rhythm of Peter's ministry as an apostle?

2. Describe the event that took place at Lydda.

3. What fruit came from this healing?

4. What does it mean for people to turn to the Lord?

OT Passage: Psalm 105