Effective Personal Ministry II

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2016 · 24 July 2016

Open up Acts 9, and we will take up where we left off last week. We just began to study verse 32 to 35; and we are seeing here two miracles that Peter does in the power of Christ. One is the restoration of a man eight years sick with paralysis. And the other is the raising of Dorcas from the dead. Now this is his personal ministry; and this is important, because there are principles that can be applied to our personal ministries.

Peter after Pentecost, after the Spirit of God empowered him, was a great success. He became the leader of the Twelve and a powerful preacher to the multitudes. Peter was really the opener of the Gospel, both to the Samaritans and to the Gentiles. He it was who had the keys to the Kingdom in Matthew 16. He also was the point of contact for the coming of the Spirit of God. Paul is the theologian and we see in Peter a lot of action. Peter shows us principles rather than telling them to us.

Now, in Acts 9, Peter has more principles to teach us, and they just become apparent in what he does. He is the great teacher by example, he got involved with people on a one-on-one basis. And here we see two simple little vignettes from the life of Peter that indicate some of the things that made him effective in personal ministry.

Last week we mentioned six things that are the marks of effective personal ministry. No. 1, Peter was involved. No. 2, he was Christ-exalting. No. 3, he was available. No. 4, he was prayerful. No. 5, he was fruitful. And no. 6, he was free from prejudice. These are things which should be learned by us and applied to each of our lives so that we might have effective multiplication-type ministries. God wants us to work one-on-one with other people.

Let us review what we learned last week. We only got past the first two. No. 1, Peter was involved. He was always going. Well, when he was Holy Spirit activated it was in perfect conjunction with his temperament. Verse 32 starts with, “Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country.” God always chooses those who are already active in the mainstream of His ministries for His biggest tasks.

Verse 32, “And he came down to the saints who dwelt at Lydda”, right on the pathway to Joppa. Verse 33, “There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.” Because Peter was involved, God led him to this place; and because he was available, God used him to heal this man. As a result, verse 35 says, “So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.”

Next, Peter was Christ-exalting. Verse 34 says, “And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately.” He really makes a disclaimer repeatedly regarding his own ability and power. He says, "Jesus Christ makes you well." Peter had only one desire, and that was to exalt Jesus Christ.

Later on, in Acts 10, Cornelius worshipped him. But Peter grabbed him and said, “get up, Cornelius. I myself also am just a man." Peter rejected any worship. Don't ever credit yourself with the victories. Don't ever lift up yourself in conversation, in your wisdom, in your ability to teach the Bible, and your ability to handle their problems, always exalt Christ. Be preoccupied with that.

Now, thirdly, Peter was always available. All we can ever say is, "God, I'm available," and then anything He does through me is great. Often our priorities get so fouled up that we do everything else but be available to God. Verse 36, “At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.”

So this is to introduce to us a miracle. God worked these miracles through His apostles, and Peter was the apostle in proximity to Joppa, and so God was going to work this through him. These apostles had power, 2 Corinthians 12:12 says, “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”

This woman Dorcas was full of good works. She lived to give to others gifts of charity. Specifically, she made clothes for them. She was the one who did things for the poor and did things for the needy. She is everything a disciple is to be, because she was really fulfilling what God called her to be. She is a Proverbs 31:20 woman, “She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.”

So we are introduced to Dorcas. Then verse 37, “But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.” Now, the custom of the Jews at death was to immediately to bury the body, since they did not do any embalming. But in this case, they didn't bury her, which was very unusual, because dead bodies were a very unclean thing in Israel to a Jew.

Verse 38, “And since Lydda 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.” They knew that Peter was given the power to raise the dead. Verse 39 says, “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.”

Peter doesn't say, "Look, she died. Praise the Lord, she is now with the Lord.” No. Peter just got up and dropped everything else. When God says, "Go," that's the time to go. Understand your priorities. They were crying about Dorkas’ death, they loved her so much because she made all their clothes. Look what Peter did first in verse 40, “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.”

I just want to mention that the ministry of the women in our church is marvelous. There are deaconesses and others who go out and minister, visit sick people and work with women who have needs and other problems. God has designed a place for women that is equal to men. Galatians 3:28, “there's neither male nor female in the body of Christ.”

Here we see in Acts 9, a ministry going that is for widows by women. You know, the church has a responsibility, according to 1 Timothy 5, to care for the widows. Widows are the most vulnerable group in history. If you have a widow in your family, you are to care for her. And if she has no family to care for her, the church should care for her. That's the design of God for the church.

So Peter was always involved, Christ-exalting and available. Now, let's get to the fourth one. He was prayerful. In verse 40 Peter kneeled down and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, 'Tabitha, arise,'" This reminds us of what Jesus said to the child of Jairus in Luke 8:54, “Little girl, arise.” Here Peter says, "Tabitha, arise. “And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up."

Wow what a miracle, she had been dead between 36 to 48 hours. But when Peter said, "Arise," everything in her body was reversed, all the decay that had begun to set in was reversed, and she came out of there as fresh, clean, and whole as new. God performed a miracle, and it came about because Peter was available and prayerful. He acknowledged that only God is the source of power.

The temptation is there for every Christian, when you have a little success to think you did it. Remember, whatever is done, God did it all. In Ephesians 3:7 Paul says, “I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.” Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” It is all because of His power.

Five young Christians one time were in London years ago, and they were interested in going to Spurgeon's church to hear him preach. So they arrived early, hoping to get a seat, and the doors were still locked. As they were standing on the steps a gentleman walked up to them and introduced himself by this statement, "Would you like to see the heating apparatus of this church?"

They thought, "who wants to see that?" But they didn't want to be impolite, and so they said, "Why, fine, if you would desire to show that to us, yes." So he proceeded to take them in the door, through a long hallway that looked like a dead end. Then the man opened a door, and there was this large room filled with 700 people on their knees in prayer. At which point, he said, "There is the heating apparatus of this church."

They later found out that their unknown guide was Charles Spurgeon himself. You see, he recognized the power was not his, but the power was God's, and it was unleashed in prayer. You know what prayer is? Prayer at this point is simply the admission that I can't do it, but God can. That releases power. Jesus did it. He went to the cross, but before He got to Calvary, He went to Gethsemane to pray. Make prayer a priority in your life.

Well, Dorcas sat up. Verse 41, “Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.” Wow, can you imagine the joy? This was not solely for Dorcas' benefit. Her friends considered it a joy because their loved one returned. But God had a different thing in mind. Verse 42, “And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.”

Do you know why God did it? For the same reason that all of the other miracles had been done, as confirming signs to prove to the whole world that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true. God had evangelism in mind. This is God's process of multiplication of believers. Here Peter dropped everything and went up to take care of some weeping widows, and what happened? Revival broke out in the city.

We cannot determine how effective any ministry is going to be. God may have multiplication in mind that will stagger your imagination. The power in the Gospel doesn't depend on the eloquence of the preacher. It doesn't lie in the wisdom of men. Spurgeon said, "We might preach till our tongues rot, till we exhaust our lungs and die, and never a soul will be saved unless there is the power of God.”

Verse 42 gives us the fifth point, Peter was fruitful, “And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.” He did the miracle through the power of God. The fruit came as an indirect result, but fruit comes. All believers are saved to be fruitful. In John 15:8, Jesus said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Now, you may not see all this fruit in your own lifetime. William Carey in India who had 35 years of ministry there and saw only a handful of people saved. He is in heaven now, but he's still bearing fruit right today in 2016. You see, some plant, some water, and God gives the increase. Christians will be fruitful if they follow the patterns of the Word of God.

What do we mean with the fruit of a Christian? We mean Christ-likeness, look at Galatians 5:22 and Ephesians 5:9. Hebrews 13:15 says, “The fruit of my lips praise." Giving to the needy is fruit, Romans 15:28. Blessing other people is fruit, 1 Corinthians 14:14, praising with my soul is fruit. Colossians 1:10, Holy living is fruit. But most significantly, people that come to Christ are fruit. Every Christian should bring others to Christ.

So Peter's ministry was fruitful, not because it was directly attached to the miracle, but because God blessed what he began to do. If we love Jesus Christ, everything we touch in our ministry can issue in fruit. Be faithful in your ministry. Sometimes just working with one individual may bear far more fruit than speaking to a mass of people about Christ.

Lastly, the final verse is important. Peter had an effective personal ministry because he was free from prejudice. Verse 43, “So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.” One of the most despicable trades for a Jew was that of a tanner, because he dealt with the skins of dead animals, making leather. In fact, the Mishnah said if a woman had a husband who took on the trade of a tanner, she had the right to divorce him. A tanner was not respected and, it was ceremonially unclean.

Peter, as a Jew has been trained and raised in all the prejudices and all of the Old Testament attitudes; and prejudices die hard. These are tough lessons for Peter. First he had to present the gospel to the Samaritans, and his heart has opened up as he accepted the Samaritans into the body. And then in Acts 10, he will have to accept the Gentiles. Not only that, he will have a vision to eat that was previously unclean. And now he is living with a tanner.

What cripples Christianity around the world, and it comes under many different guises, is just prejudice. This is an inability to accept people for what they are, and it's so true in so many Christian circles. If you don't fit the mold, they are not interested in you. You can't minister effectively for Jesus Christ as long as you see somebody in a prejudicial sense. In any ministry, if you are prejudiced, you are a detriment to the ministry.

It says, "Peter stayed many days." The same phrase was used to speak of Paul's three years in Arabia. So Peter probably stayed there for some years. We need to learn to love people and to accept them for what they are. Jesus did. Now, He didn't like their sin, but He sure loved them. Prejudice needs to die if you're going to have effective personal ministry. So be involved, exalt Christ, be available, be prayerful, be fruitful and be free from prejudice. Let's pray.