50 Acts 9:32-35 THE APOSTLE PETER AT LYDDA Introduction: The past several texts here in the Book of Acts have been about Saul of Tarsus. However, our text today is about the Apostle Peter. In this text the Apostle Peter performs a miracle in the city of Lydda and a large number of people get saved. I. Peter on a tour through Samaria V. 32, “And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all [quarters]...” Luke says that Peter was passing throughout all quarters. That is, he was on a tour. His was not a pleasure tour. He was on a tour preaching and teaching God’s word. Back in chapter eight both the Apostles Peter and John were sent to Samaria by the church at Jerusalem to strengthen the church which Philip had started there. Apparently Simon Peter was now on a similar mission without John. The difference was that this time he was not going to just one city. He was intending to go throughout Samaria to the various cities of Samaria to which the members of the Jerusalem church had fled when Saul of Tarsus made havoc of the Jerusalem church. Perhaps you will recall that the Jerusalem church had about 10,000 people when they were scattered and they scattered throughout Judah, Samaria and Galilee. Just as Peter and John had gone to strengthen the church which Philip had started, he was now attempting to visit and strengthen all of the new churches throughout the region of Samaria. Perhaps he also intended to start new churches in those cities where Christians had settled, but had not yet started a church. The reason that I keep saying that his tour was evidently in Samaria is because the city of Lydda was in Samaria and the other cities to which he went immediately thereafter were in Samaria. (V. 32), “...he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.” The first stop which Luke mentions Peter making was at Lydda. Lydda was a Samaritan city which was located on a highway between Jerusalem and Joppa, which was over on the seacoast. It is my understanding that the city of Lydda still stands today, but it is not called by the same name. It is called “Judd.” In Old Testament times it was known as “Lod.” The city of Lydda was chiefly inhabited by the Samaritan people, who were a mixture Hebrew blood and several different Gentile bloodlines. Most Jews would have nothing to do with the Samaritans. This was in spite of the fact that they had some Hebrew blood in them and, thus, were somewhat kin to the Jews. The Jews resented them Samaritans, not only because of their Gentile blood, but because of their religion. Their religion was also somewhat of a mixture of Jewish and Gentile religions. However, all along there had been a few Jewish business men who lived in the Samaritan cities. This was true of all the Gentile cities. The Jews were very active in commerce and wherever there was business opportunities they lived. These Jews who lived in Samaria had, no doubt, heard of Jesus of Nazareth, but had not yet accepted Him as the Christ. The Apostle Peter would have an interest in winning these people to salvation through faith in Jesus as the Christ. Yet in addition to the Jewish business men who were already in Lydda before the scattering of the Jerusalem church, there was now a sizable number of Christian Jews who lived in the city of Lydda. They had probably organized into a church and were holding worship services regularly. If so, the Apostle Peter would need to strengthen that church by instructing them in the word of the Lord. He would also strengthen the church by laying hands on certain leaders in the church and to bestow special miraculous gifts upon them as he and John had done in the young church which Philip had started. So Peter was not there in the Samaritan city of Lydda with the intent of winning the unsaved Samaritans to Christ. He, like all of the Jerusalem Christians, still had no dealings with Samaritans --- or with any other Gentile people. It would not be until later that the Lord would teach Simon Peter that he should make an effort to reach the Gentiles with the gospel. Simon Peter was in Samaria only to strengthen the Jews who were Christians and to win the unsaved Jews to Christ for salvation. II. The miracle at Lydda V. 33, “And there he found a certain man named Aeneas...” Luke says that in this city of Lydda Simon Peter found a certain man named Aeneas. This leads us to believe that Aeneas was Hebrew, a Jew. Simon Peter at this time in his life would have had nothing to do with him if he had not been a Jew. Yet the name, Aeneas, was a Greek name. This means that he was not one of the Christian Jews who had fled from Jerusalem under persecution by Saul. He was born and raised among Gentiles and had been given a Gentile name. Luke says that Peter found this man, but he does not tell us how Peter made contact with him. (V. 33), “...which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.” This statement gives us some hint of how Simon Peter met Aeneas. Aeneas had the palsy. This means that he was afflicted with paralysis. Being bedfast indicates that the paralysis had affected legs. It may have affected his arms also, but at least it had affected his legs. He was a cripple and had been for eight years. He had been bedfast for eight years. He had been unable to work and to provide for his family for eight years. It appears that the Christian Jews who had moved into Lydda had learned of this man’s plight and had taken a special interest in helping this man and his family. I strongly suspect that they were helping to keep this family in food and clothing. They were also interested in helping this man’s physical condition. I am confident that they had offered numerous prayers on his behalf that he might be healed of his crippled condition. But prayer was about all they could do. I think you can relate to that. There have been many people whom you have known who were in some kind of dreadful condition which you would have liked to bring some relief, but all you could do for them was to pray for them, which you did. These Christians had furnished food and clothing and perhaps money for this family and had prayed for them, but that was all they could do. But now that the Apostle Peter had arrived in their city, there was something else that they could do for this man. They apparently got the Apostle Peter to go with them to the home of Aeneas. That seems to be how Simon Peter found Aeneas. Yet, being Christians, I feel confident that the physical condition of this man was not their only concern. They had a concern for the spiritual welfare of this man and for the spiritual condition of his family. They not only wanted him to be physically healed, but they wanted him to be spiritually healed. They wanted him to be saved. They wanted Aeneas to go to heaven whenever he would die. At any rate, Simon Peter went with them to the home of Aeneas and when he saw him he, too, was filled with compassion for him. V. 34, “And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed...” I call your attention to the fact that Simon Peter said nothing about it being necessary for Aeneas to have faith in Jesus in order to get healed. A lot of so-called “faith healers” today tell the sick that in order for them to get healed it is necessary for them to have faith. But that is not so. It was not necessary for Aeneas to have faith that Jesus could heal him, Simon Peter had the faith. Furthermore, he had the gift of healing. He had the gift of healing and he had the faith that Jesus could and would heal that man when he called upon Jesus to do so. Perhaps you will remember back in Acts chapter 3 when Simon Peter and John started into the temple they had met a man there who was also crippled. He had been lame from his mother’s womb. Simon Peter did not tall that man that he had to have the faith that Jesus would heal him. What Simon Peter did was to reach out and take the man by the hand and lift him up and the man was instantly healed. He started jumping up and down and praising God. So it was that Peter told Aeneas that Jesus Christ was about to make him whole and instantly that man was healed. (V. 34), “...And he arose immediately.” I am reminded of another miracle which had taken place earlier back during the life and ministry of Jesus. A man who was also sick of the palsy and was also bedfast was brought to Jesus. Family and friends brought that man bed and all to Jesus and Jesus said to him, “Thy sin be forgiven thee. Take up thy bed and walk.” And immediately that man got up off his bed, rolled up his bed and he walked as Jesus had told him to do. Listen, it was that same Jesus who healed this man in our text. Peter said so. He said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.” Aeneas had, no doubt, heard of Jesus many times. He had heard of Jesus as the great miracle worker. He had heard about Jesus being crucified at Jerusalem. He had heard about Jesus that His disciples said He had risen from the dead and that He is the Christ. Simon Peter told this man in effect, “Aeneas, it is Jesus whom you have to thank for your healing. It is Jesus who makes you whole.” III. The salvation of souls which resulted from the miracle V. 35, “And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.” The great miracle of this man made a great impact upon the people of Lydda and of the whole area. Lydda, of course, was the city where the miracle took place. Aeneas had lived there for a long time and had been bedfast there for eight years. These people all knew about Aeneas. They knew his crippled condition. They had all probably helped his family by contributing food and other necessities. This was no stranger whom they had never laid eyes on before on a stage pretending to be healed. They knew for a fact that he had been crippled and they knew for a fact that he was no longer crippled. They also knew that Simon Peter, the man who was involved in the miracle, said that Jesus had done the healing. They knew that Simon Peter also said that Jesus is the Christ. So great numbers of people in the city of Lydda and in Saron, which was the district in which Lydda was located much like Henderson is located in Rusk County, got saved. Simon Peter had come to Lydda to strengthen the church at Lydda spiritually and to reach the unsaved Jews of the area. As a result of the miracle, there was a much greater result than he had anticipated. Not only was the church strengthened, not only were unsaved Jews brought to Christ, people from all the area, both Jew and Samaritan, began to turn to Jesus Christ. I’m not at all sure that the Apostle Peter was happy that Samaritans were getting saved, but Jesus was happy about it. IV. The need of reaching the unsaved today I think that the love and concern of the Christian Jews at Lydda illustrates the great love and concern that we as Christians should have for the unsaved around us today. There are sick people out in our community and in the surrounding communities around that we can and should be greatly concerned about. I am talking about people who are not members of church. Many of them have serious sicknesses that affect both them and their families. That offers us as Christians an opportunity to do something to help. In some cases we can help with food or clothing or with other material things. In any case, it gives us the opportunity by helping with a short visit, a kind word, and a prayer. It would be nice for us to be able to send for the Apostle Peter so that we could bring the sick and afflicted to him so that he could use the gift of miraculous healing which the Lord Jesus Christ had given to him and relieve them of their affliction. But the Apostle Peter is not with us and I do not have that gift and you do not have that gift, and to be frank with you, neither does anybody else have that gift in our day and time. But that does not mean that we cannot help. The same Lord Jesus still sits on the throne of heaven and we have the blessed privilege of talking to Him. We can pray for the sick so as to help them physically. We can tell them about Jesus so as to help them spiritually. And the Lord can use our love and concern for these people to help convince them that Jesus is the Christ. Just as God used those miracles to confirm the gospel message that Jesus is the Christ, even so God can use our love and kindness to others to convince them that Jesus really is the Christ and that He really does save the souls of men, women, boys and girls. V. A modern story which illustrates the point In closing I want to tell you a story which I hope will illustrate the point. The story is taken from the September, 1999 issue of the Reader’s Digest. The story is about a thirteen year old girl who wandered away from a school group and became trapped underneath a huge rock up on the side of a mountain. The rock rolled onto her so that only her head and legs were not under the rock. In order for anyone to get close enough to help her, he had to endanger his own life. He was in danger that the same rock would fall upon him and crush him. Furthermore, all of the crew of men who got anywhere near her was in danger of a much larger rock up the mountain just above them might roll and crush them all. But after long hours of hard, exhausting work, the girl was set free. Setting this girl free from that danger was well worth the effort on the part of all involved. Let me tell you, that reaching lost souls and winning them to Christ requires sacrifice on the part of Christian people. It requites a lot of work and a lot of prayers. But when one soul gets saved, it is well worth the effort. Conclusion: Let me ask you just a few questions. First of all, are you the one who is caught under the heavy load of sin which has entrapped your soul and threatens to carry you into the pits of everlasting torment. Let me tell you what that girl did when there was nothing else she could do to free herself. She cried out for help and her cries were heard. I am going to ask you to cry out today to the Lord who is not only able to hear your cry, but He is able to lift the heavy load and save your soul. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Now let me ask you who have already been rescued from the burden of your sin and hold membership here in this church. Is your heart burdened for someone who is yet unsaved? Are you willing to be a part of the rescue team who will sacrifice your time and labor and seek to win the lost to Jesus Christ? If so, I call upon you to commit yourself to the task. I call upon you to renew your effort to help people around us. I especially call upon you to help reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are saved and do not hold membership here at Pleasant Hill, but you have given consideration to joining, let me call upon you come and help us in our effort to do good to this community and especially to help reach the unsaved for Jesus. We can most certainly use all the help we can get. Will you commit yourself to this great task?