51 Acts 9:36-42 DORCAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD Introduction: In our previous text the Apostle Peter visited the Samaritan city of Lydda to strengthen the young church that had sprung up there as a result of Christian Jews who fled from Jerusalem when Saul of Tarsus scattered the church at Jerusalem. While Peter was at Lydda the Lord used him to heal a palsied man and as a result, many people in that city trusted in Jesus and got saved. In our text today the Apostle Peter is called to the nearby city of Joppa where there is another young church which had also sprung up as a result of persecution at Jerusalem by Saul of Tarsus. While there, he will raise a godly Christian lady back to life. I. The sickness and death of Dorcas V. 36, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas...” Joppa was a large seaport city near Lydda where the Apostle Peter was ministering at the time. This is the seaport city which serves the city of Jerusalem, which is inland and is known today by the name Tel Aviv. In this verse Luke mentions only one disciple a disciple by the name of Tabitha or Dorcas, but later verses indicate that there was an entire church there, just as there was at Lydda. This would be another young church which the Apostle Peter would strengthen. Within this city of Joppa and within this young church there was a woman by the name of Tabitha, which was a Hebrew name meaning “doe, gazelle or antelope.” Luke calls attention to the fact that she was sometimes called “Dorcas,” which was a Greek name which also means “doe, gazelle or antelope.” It was probably the Samaritan who called her by the Greek name. I will use this name in this message because this is the name that most Christians today use when referring to her. (V. 36), “...this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.” Luke tells us that Dorcas was full of good works and almsdeeds. The term “good works” means that she was living a clean, godly, moral, productive life. She was not involved in ungodly evil immoral conduct. The term “almsdeeds” means that she was always doing for other people. The word “alms’ means “giving.” Connect this with alms making, almsdeed and it means that what she gave was not always money. Much of what she gave was deeds --- deeds of kindness and service. There is no indication that she was wealthy and gave away much money. But she was always giving something to other people. She was always sewing and making some kind of garment and then giving it away to others. This is just an example of the kind of good deeds she was doing for others. I suspect that she was also always cooking some kind of dish and finding somebody that she could carry it to. She certainly had a kind heart and this implies that whatever she could do to help other people, if it was within her power, she would gladly do it. I am confident that if somebody needed any kind of work done which she could do she was eager to be of service. She may not have given much money, but she gave a lot of deeds which were helpful to others. Dorcas is often used today in sermons and Bible lessons as a worthy example for Christian women of our day to pattern their lives after. Let me say to you that she is a worthy example for any Christian whether man or woman, boy or girl to pattern after. I doubt that many men could sew and make coats and garments to give to others, but they can still pattern their lives after her willingness to be of help to others. Dorcas, was, no doubt, a great asset to the church at Joppa. She had a good influence on others. But that all of her good deeds came rather abruptly to an end. V. 37, “And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid [her] in an upper chamber.” Dorcas was stricken with some kind of illness. The news must have spread rather quickly that Dorcas was sick. I am sure that people began to pray for her that she would get well soon. But such was not to be the case. Instead of mending and getting better Dorcas got worse. She became so sick that she died. Again the news spread among the Christians rather quickly and the women reverently bathed her and placed her body in an upper room to lie in state while the family and friends mourned her passing. It must have been a heartbreaking experience for the family and for the church members --- and for all who knew her. II. The Apostle Peter sent for V. 38, “And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring [him] that he would not delay to come to them.” The church members apparently had already been informed about the Apostle Peter being with the church over at Lydda. They had probably heard the news about the man with the palsy being healed. Since Lydda was fairly close to Joppa they sent two men to Lydda asking the Apostle Peter to come to them without delay. I am not certain just what they wanted Simon Peter to do. I doubt that people used preachers in that day and time to preach funeral sermons. So they were not asking him to hold a funeral service for Dorcas. I certainly see nothing in the passage to indicate that they expected the Apostle Peter to raise her from the dead. So they were not asking him to come and raise her back to life. I think they were simply asking this man of God, for whom they had great respect and in whom they had great confidence, to come to them and bring to them some measure of comfort in their time of sorrow. At any rate, when the two disciples arrived at Lydda bringing the sad news about the death of Dorcas, Simon Peter immediately went with them. V. 39, “Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.” When Simon Peter arrived at Joppa, a heart rending scene awaited him. He was ushered immediately into the room where the body of Dorcas lay and the room was packed with weeping women. Many of them were widow women whom Dorcas had helped. Some of them wore garments that Dorcas had made with her own hands and had given to them. Others, perhaps, had garments in their hands that she had made and given to them. The Apostle Peter looked at each garment and I am sure that he must have spoken words of comfort to each of the ladies and to all who were present. III. Dorcas restored to life V. 40, “But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed...” Then the Apostle Peter did a thing that must have seemed strange to them. It would have seemed strange to me if I had been there. He asked everybody to leave the room. He put them out and I assume that he closed the door. The people outside the door could hear him inside the room as he spoke, but they could not see what was going on. I think that Peter may have put them out because he wanted to focus entirely on prayer and did not want any distractions or interruptions. Perhaps it was because he wanted complete privacy while he would go to God with a gigantic request. I think that Simon Peter knew by now what he was going to do. He was going to ask the Lord to raise this woman back to life. None of the disciples had ever done such a thing. Jesus on more than one occasion had brought someone back to life. The resurrection of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, even today is a well known event, but there were others. Back in Old Testament times a few of the prophets had been known to call the dead back to life. But up to this time, none of the disciples of Jesus had ever even asked God to do such a thing. But that was what Simon Peter was about to do. He was about to ask the Lord to restore this woman back to life and he believed that the Lord was going to answer his prayer. Let me say that this is not the first time that Simon Peter had done what the other apostles had never done. I recall reading about the time when the apostles were in a boat in a storm and Jesus was walking toward the boat on the waves of the lake. The Apostle Peter just hopped right out of that ship and started walking on the water toward Jesus. As you will recall, before he got to Jesus he had got scared and started to sink. But at least he dared to get out of the boat and onto the water. None of the other apostles ever did such a thing. Now Simon Peter is about to take another great step of faith in the Lord. He kneeled down and prayed unto God. Luke does not tell us what he said in his prayer, but it is obvious that he asked the Lord to raise Dorcas from the dead. He not only asked the Lord to do this tremendous thing, but he believed that the Lord was going to answer his prayer. Listen to what he said to Dorcas. (V. 40), “...and turning [him] to the body said, Tabitha, arise...” Now get this. Simon spoke to a dead body and told that body to arise --- to get up! I think you are aware that a dead body could not hear a word he said. Neither was that dead body able to arise. That dead body could not move. But I must say, Simon Peter did not expect the dead body to hear. What Simon Peter expected was that the Lord had heard his prayer and that the Lord would make that dead body to come back to life. He expected that by the time his voice would fall upon the ears of that woman, that she would be alive. He expected a live body to hear him speak and he expected a live body to arise. And she did! (V. 40), “...And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.” She heard his voice, she opened her eyes and she sat up. She did not at first get completely up, but she sat up and with his help, she would get completely up. V. 41, “And he gave her [his] hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.” Simon Peter caught her by the hand and lifted her up and he called in the Christians and others who were present and he presented her to them alive. V. 42, “And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.” IV. Some things which I want you to see Listen, I do not know what Simon Peter said to those people when he presented Dorcas to them alive. I do not know what Dorcas said to them or what the people said to Dorcas or to Simon Peter. But I do know what I want to say to you. I want to say to you that as great and as spectacular as that event was, there is something far greater and far more spectacular awaiting us. The time will come when Jesus Christ will return to this earth from heaven and before He reaches the earth, the Lord is going to shout and every person who has ever been saved will come forth out of their graves. They will come for alive and will go up to meet Jesus in the air! Furthermore, that resurrection will be a better resurrection for us than the one which Dorcas experienced. You see Dorcas, like Lazarus, came forth from the grave for only a relatively short period of time. We have every reason to believe that they returned to the grave. But when Jesus calls forth the redeemed at His return they will come forth never to return to the grave. That resurrection will last forever. Another thing I want you to see is that every Christian should live the kind of Godly, helpful, generous life that Dorcas lived. We have many opportunities to help other people. You might not be able to make coats or other articles of clothing, but there are other things which we can do to help others. May the Lord give us grace to do what you can to be of assistance to other people. The opportunities are great and numerous. The amount of good that you can do for others is great. The amount of joy which you can bring to others is great. The amount of joy which you can receive for yourselves by helping others is great. The amount of good that you can do for the cause of Christ by helping others is great. Conclusion: Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared for the resurrection? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ to save your soul? If not, then I want to urge you to get ready this morning. Get ready by calling on the Lord Jesus Christ now and trusting Him to save your soul. I want you also urge you who are saved to give your life in service to God. Come and present yourself to this church as a candidate for membership in this church.