March 8, 2025 • 24 mins
Acts 9.32-43 | Ps Alex Huggett | 23.2.2025
Part of a series on the book of Acts
© Bentley Baptist Church Inc.
www.bentleybaptist.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, for those who remember that far ago, john
Wimber had a healing ministry,in the 70s and 80s particularly.
And when he was a new believerhe started reading the Bible.
He was sort of saved out ofhippie culture and started
reading these amazing stories ofwhat Jesus did, all the
(00:22):
healings and miracles and so on.
And he asked someone when do weget to do the stuff?
And this guy was a bit confusedat first.
Then he realised what JohnWimber was talking about.
He said, oh, we don't do thestuff anymore.
Does God still do the stufftoday?
Well, I think actually probablymost Christians would say yeah,
(00:45):
god does do the stuff sometimes.
At least.
Even many Christians who don'tbelieve in spiritual gifts
believe that God still worksmiracles.
And so can we show that video,angelina, just like this one.
This is a local testimony,pretty amazing.
Eh, I'm going to read from Acts, chapter 9.
(01:06):
It'll be up on the slide.
Acts, chapter 9, verse 32.
As Peter was traveling fromplace to place, he also came
down to the saints who lived inlitter.
There he found a man namedAeneas who was paralyzed and had
(01:29):
been bedridden for eight years.
Peter said to him Aeneas, jesusChrist heals you, get up and
make your bed.
And immediately he got up andso all who lived in litter and
Sharon saw him and turned to theLord.
In Joppa there was a disciplenamed Tabitha, which is
translated Dorcas.
She was always doing good worksand acts of charity.
(01:49):
About that time she became sickand died and after washing her
they placed her in a roomupstairs.
Since Lydda was near Joppa, thedisciples heard that Peter was
there and sent two men to himand who urged him don't delay in
coming with us.
Peter got up and went with them.
When he arrived, they led himto the upstairs room and all the
(02:10):
widows approached him, weepingand showing him their robes and
clothes that Dorcas had made.
While she was with them.
Peter sent them all out of theroom.
He knelt down and prayed and,turning toward the body, said
and prayed and turning towardthe body, said Tabitha, get up.
She opened her eyes, saw Peterand sat up.
He gave her his hand and helpedher stand up.
(02:30):
He called the saints and widowsand presented her alive and
this became known throughoutJoppa and many believed in the
Lord.
And Peter stayed for some timein Joppa with Simon a leather
tanner.
Simon a leather tanner Well,I've personally never seen a
miracle of these magnitudes orsomeone raised from the dead
(02:52):
like Sean George.
Nevertheless, I believe that Godsupernaturally heals and works
miracles.
Today I've seen and read toomany stories to doubt that, but
it does raise the question whyhaven't I seen one?
If you're like me and youhaven't seen one, why not?
(03:12):
If they're so common, why don'twe see them all the time, or at
least why don't we see themsometimes?
Why don't we get to do thestuff?
Well, as we unpack this thismorning, we first need to ask
ourselves what are healings andmiracles for?
In the New Testament, healingsand miracles are a sign of the
(03:35):
presence of God's kingdom.
To give just one example amongmany, jesus said when you enter
any town this was to hisdisciples when you enter any
town and they welcome, you, eatthe things set before you, heal
the sick who are there and tellthem the kingdom of God has come
near you.
So healing is a sign of God'skingdom.
(03:59):
So why is that?
Well, where the kingdom of Godgoes, wholeness comes.
So you know, we talk aboutJesus dying for our sins.
Jesus didn't just die so we canbe forgiven and go to heaven.
Sin is at the root of evil inthe world of sickness, of death,
(04:20):
and so when Jesus died for oursins, and so when Jesus died for
our sins, he died to set usfree from those sins.
Now, of course, there are othersigns besides healing and
miracles, which I hope are morecommon and, I certainly think,
part of our experience Thingslike radically changed lives,
(04:45):
things like the love betweenJesus' followers.
And just because healings don'thappen doesn't mean the kingdom
of God's not present, buthealing is a sign that the
kingdom of God is present, inpower.
It's a testimony to that andthat's perhaps why healings seem
to be the stories we hearparticularly prominent among
evangelistic ministries, becauseevangelists are heralds of the
(05:06):
kingdom of God.
But we do also find healings inchurches, because churches are
communities of the kingdom ofGod.
Now, as Peter went aroundencouraging the churches in
Judea, it's noteworthy.
As you unpack the narrative,there's some subtle things in
(05:27):
there that reflect Jesus'healing.
So, for example, jesus healed alame man and told him to take
up his mat and walk.
Peter declared to Aeneas Jesusheals you, get up.
As a result, many people turnedto Jesus.
Get up.
(05:48):
As a result, many people turnedto Jesus.
Peter told Tabitha to get up,just like Jesus told a little
girl who had died to get up, andthe Aramaic word for little
girl is Talitha, talitha,tabitha.
It's like Luke is putting theseechoes of Jesus in our ears.
Luke is putting these echoes ofJesus in our ears and many
(06:10):
people believed in Jesus.
The immediate motives in themoment for Jesus' healing and
the disciples' healing can bevaried.
On one occasion the Bible saysJesus was moved to compassion
and healed someone.
God loves us and he wants us tobe healed.
On another it said he healedsomeone.
God loves us and he wants us tobe healed.
On another, it said he healedsomeone, someone had been sick,
so Jesus could heal him.
To display God's glory whenwe're healed, or when miracles
(06:33):
are worked or when lives arechanged because there are
miraculous stories of lifechange God's glory is displayed.
But all were because thekingdom of God had come.
The king was present.
So again, if healings are asign of the kingdom and we are a
(06:56):
people of the kingdom which weexplored in January why don't we
see more healings?
Why is it that we pray, pray,but nothing seems to happen?
Well, no doubt there's manyreasons, but I want to just
explore three this morning.
In the first one.
(07:17):
One of the principles we read inthe Bible is that although the
kingdom of God has come, thekingdom is present.
The kingdom of God is presentamong us this morning.
It's not fully here yet.
This is sometimes dubbed thenow but not yet, of the kingdom.
In the new creation there willbe no sorrow, sickness or death.
(07:41):
But we're not living in the newcreation.
Sickness or death, but we'renot living in the new creation.
We still live in a fallen,sinful world that's in rebellion
against God.
And we know that the wholecreation has been groaning
together with labour pains untilnow.
And not only that, but weourselves, who have the spirit
as the first fruits, we alsogroan within ourselves, eagerly
(08:03):
awaiting for adoption theredemption of our bodies.
So the believer's soul issecure in Christ, but our bodies
are yet to be fully redeemed.
I hate to break it to you, butyou're going to die Unless Jesus
comes back first.
You're going to die.
(08:23):
Our bodies wear out, diseasesrun rampant, but the sting of
death has been removed becausewe know that although our body
perishes, our soul, our spirit,is kept with God.
So God does heal today, but theworld is still broken, I think.
(08:47):
Another reason we often don'tsee healing, sometimes at least,
is because of unconfessed sin,particularly among the church.
James says the prayer of faithwill save the sick person and
(09:09):
the Lord will raise him up.
If he has committed sins, hewill be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins toone another and pray for one
another so that you may behealed.
The prayer of a righteousperson is powerful in its effect
.
I could preach a whole sermonon this one, but I just want to
hone in on this Confess yoursins to one another and then
(09:35):
pray for one another.
In the context of confessionand repentance, I want to ask
you a question when did you lastdo that?
When did you last confess yoursins to someone?
When did you last confess yoursins to someone Spouse, trusted
(09:58):
friend, your home group?
Been a long time for me, so I'mnot judging anyone here.
Look, if we expect the fruit ofthe kingdom to be evident among
us, then we need to liveaccording to the values, the
principles, the priorities andthe purity of the kingdom of God
, not the values and principlesand priorities of the world, not
(10:21):
of rationalism, not of makinggrace an excuse for sin and yes,
there is grace, but sin is alife stealer and we need to turn
away from it.
If we want the life of God'skingdom, then we must pursue a
(10:43):
kingdom lifestyle, and thatincludes holiness.
Now we also need to pursue alifestyle of grace, because we
can only be open about our sinsto one another.
There's enough shame in sin,isn't there, without people then
adding shame onto that.
So we need to be in a place oftrust where we know that I can
(11:05):
confess my sin to you and youare going to love and accept me
and not judge me for that,because we're all in the same
boat.
So I need to know I'm going tobe loved and accepted in spite
of my sin, and so we need to seethe church like this.
We need to see the church as arehab centre where we come to be
(11:28):
set free.
We need to see the church as atraining centre where we come to
learn, and particularly atraining centre for life, where
we come to learn how to live.
What we don't need to see isthe church as a courthouse where
(11:51):
we come to be condemned, but wedo need to deal with our sin.
I want to be very careful aboutthis next reason, because it's
often abused, but I think thatsometimes perhaps often we don't
receive healing because wesimply lack faith.
(12:14):
James says Now, if any of youlacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives to all generously andungrudgingly, and it will be
given to him.
But let him ask in faith,without doubting, for the
doubter is like the surging sea,driven and tossed by the wind.
That person should not expectto receive anything from the
Lord, being double-minded andunstable in all his ways.
(12:36):
Now, the application of thisverse here is asking for wisdom,
obviously, but the principle isreceiving by faith, and we see
this in many other places inScripture.
Now, I know some people usethis as a cudgel.
They'll say if you trulybelieved, you'd be healed.
I had this 40 years ago in achurch I was in.
(12:58):
It wasn't even a charismaticchurch, but there were people
that we had.
One of our ladies was dying ofcancer and some people came
along and basically accused thefamily she wasn't being healed
because of your lack of faith,friends.
That is abusive and it's notnecessarily true anyway.
(13:19):
I mean, there are plenty ofpeople who have believed, have
faith.
Many of the faith healers inthe 70s and 80s who were seeing
healing happen, died ofsicknesses.
Cancer seemed to be prevalent.
So we can't use this tomanipulate or condemn people.
(13:40):
I don't think that's a problemin our church and many Baptist
churches.
If anything, I think isn't theopposite.
Perhaps true that we don'tbelieve enough, perhaps it's
because of disappointment, orwe've been burned, or we just
don't have a theology of that,or we just accept the way things
are.
We accept that, yes, thekingdom of God is here, but we
live in a sinful, fallen world,and the sinful, fallen world is
(14:04):
just the way it is.
Where's the power of thekingdom of God?
In our faith and ourexpectation?
Because here it is.
Having said that, it can beabused.
Here's an uncomfortable truth,at least for me.
In my observation, people with astrong faith and expectation do
(14:25):
seem to see more miracles thanthose who don't.
Now, I think sometimes I canoverstate it, and I see people
call something a miracle Godhealed me.
I have seen this.
It's like, oh, god healed me ofthe flu.
We prayed for you a week agoand now you're well, great.
I think that's called bodily,natural healing and we see that
(14:49):
in all kinds of ways.
So, nevertheless, we tend tosee miracles where there is
faith for a miracle, and I thinkthat for many of us and again,
I have to folks.
You know when I preach thisstuff, when I preach this stuff,
I'm usually preaching to myselfwe simply don't persist in
(15:13):
faith and prayer as Jesus taughtus to and consequently, we
don't see the breakthrough.
Because, you know, again, welive in a sinful, fallen world.
There is a spiritual warfaredimension to this.
You know the natural forces ofthe world, but the spiritual
forces of the world are comingagainst us.
What happens in a war is youjust have to persist and persist
(15:34):
and persist until you get thebreakthrough.
And that's the same in prayerand with faith.
And sometimes we just say Ipray for your healing In Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Oh, they weren't healed.
See, jesus doesn't heal today.
No, if we're not praying for abreakthrough in a way that's
going to get a breakthrough,then there won't be a
(15:56):
breakthrough.
Now, again, there is thismystery of it doesn't always
happen, but I want to talk alittle bit more into that,
because I think that healingshappen not just where someone is
believing, but in anenvironment, and faith rises up
in an environment of faith.
(16:16):
There's a culture that churchesadopt.
So over the past few weekswe've been exploring what it
means to carry the presence ofGod into our communities, and
part of that we talked aboutbuilding an altar.
Now, what's an altar?
Well, an altar is a table thatyou make sacrifices on.
(16:38):
In a sense, this little tablehere is an altar, not because we
make a sacrifice on it, butbecause we represent the
sacrifice that has been made inJesus.
In the old days, these wereusually animal sacrifices.
You know, one of the things inancient Israel was this battle
over the altars, because peoplewould often, at various times
(17:01):
and more frequently than not,actually in ancient Israel,
they'd be making sacrifices onthe altar to false gods, and in
extreme cases, they'd besacrificing their children false
gods, and in extreme cases,they'd be sacrificing their
children.
What does it mean, then, for usto build an altar?
Now, though, of course, wedon't mean this table or
(17:21):
physical altars.
Well, people still build altarsto all sorts of things in their
hearts.
Many people build altars tomoney or success.
What do they sacrifice on thatsort of altar?
Well, they sacrifice familyrelationships, sometimes even
their health.
(17:42):
But you know, we as Christianscan build false altars.
They're a bit more subtle.
We're not building themnecessarily to foreign gods or
something, but sometimes webuild altars to, rather than
sacrificing family on it.
We build an altar to our familyand to our children and we
sacrifice church on it, and thethings of God Can't come to
(18:05):
church.
My kids have sport.
I've heard that one before.
That's a little thing for youyoung parents who have that
ahead of you.
What are you going to teachyour children to build an altar
on?
We can still build an altar towork.
As Christians, we want to bediligent in our work and we want
to be successful, and does ourcommitment to work hold us back
(18:29):
from building an altar to theLord?
Can't get involved in church,can't even really don't really
even have time for a properquiet time.
Now, I know some of you workreally important jobs that have
shifts and keep you away fromchurch.
I'm not actually talking aboutthat, okay, so you know what I
think I mean, though.
Sometimes we can build an altarto sports and hobbies.
(18:52):
Sometimes we do build an altarto God, but yeah, we sort of do
it reluctantly or casually.
She'll be right and then wewonder why we don't see miracles
or signs and wonders or themove of God just generally in
our midst, because God's like isthat all you've got?
(19:16):
You know, in the Old Testament,god said to the Israelites
bring your best.
Don't pick the lame lambs, theblind, the ones you don't want
in your flock, because theymight you know, you don't want
to breed those, so we'll just.
They're good enough for God.
God understands.
(19:36):
I said bring your best.
Do we bring our best?
You might say well, isn't Godgracious?
What about grace?
Doesn't God gracious?
What about grace?
Doesn't God accept me as I am?
Yes, god does accept you as youare.
This is the wonder of the cross, isn't it?
(19:58):
I don't have to be good enoughto come to God and in fact, in
some ways, the cross says thatthe worse I am, the better
qualified I am to come to God.
But here's the thing we come aswe are, the better qualified I
am to come to God.
But here's the thing we come aswe are, but God doesn't leave
us as we are.
This is what the cross is aboutsetting us free.
(20:19):
One of the things God wants todo is to form us into his image,
the image of Jesus, who wasgracious and compassionate, but
also holy and majestic.
So what does the kind of altarthat God can bless look like?
(20:39):
Or does it maybe look like analtar built on prayer and
blessing and praise and worship.
Does it look like expecting Godto move and then turning up to
see what he does?
Does it mean saying yes tofaith, doing things like
(21:03):
gathering together in Jesus'name, saying no to the things
that get in the way of us,chasing God both individually
and corporately, saying yes tothe things of God's kingdom and
no to the things of the world?
And so you know one of thethings again I've noticed in
churches where God seems to moveparticularly with these I want
(21:29):
to say miracles and signs andwonders.
But it goes beyond that.
Just as an atmosphere you walkin and it's just like God is
here, they build an altar.
It's a culture, if you like.
It's an environment of faithand expectation.
(21:49):
You know, have you ever walkedto one of those churches?
Sometimes, walking to thosechurches it's actually really
annoying.
They're so enthusiastic, butGod loves that.
So look, building that kind ofculture, that kind of altar,
takes time, attention andsacrifice.
(22:11):
But when we do, when we buildthat altar, here's what happens
Sin starts to get pushed out.
God starts to come in, thenatural order starts to get
overwhelmed by the supernaturalpresence of God's kingdom.
Faith and expectation, start tochase after God, overwhelmed by
(22:32):
the supernatural presence ofGod's kingdom, faith and
expectation start to chase afterGod.
And you know what God does.
He's like, yeah, turns aroundI'm going to take some of that
and embraces us.
And again, while not everyoneis healed, a heck of a lot more
people are going to be, andagain, not just bodies but
(22:55):
hearts and minds.
So what does this mean for us atBentley Baptist?
I really genuinely love thischurch and I'm really genuinely
excited.
I don't know if you can seethat I guess, as pastor, I have
a bit more of a global view, butreal sense of God moving here.
So be encouraged.
(23:16):
But what would it look like togo deeper and see God moving
more profoundly and perhaps moreobviously?
What would it mean for us tochase after God's presence, his
kingdom, in a deeper way?
What would it take to build thekind of culture where the sick
(23:37):
are healed and captives arereleased and we just expect it
to happen?
What would it mean for us tobuild the kind of altar that God
blesses, an environment inwhich we're so in tune to God's
spirit that, like Peter, we canconfidently walk in and you just
have a sense of God wants to dosomething here.
(23:57):
Aeneas see, jesus just saidthis is a fact.
Aeneas, jesus heals you.
Boom, get up.
And Aeneas gets up because weknow what God's doing.
It's a culture where we don'thave to ask why aren't we seeing
the stuff?
Is God still doing the stuff?
Because God is doing the stuffamong us.
(24:19):
Let's pray and then we're goingto move into a time of
communion.
Well, for those who remember that far ago, john
Wimber had a healing ministry,in the 70s and 80s particularly.
And when he was a new believerhe started reading the Bible.
He was sort of saved out ofhippie culture and started
reading these amazing stories ofwhat Jesus did, all the
(00:22):
healings and miracles and so on.
And he asked someone when do weget to do the stuff?
And this guy was a bit confusedat first.
Then he realised what JohnWimber was talking about.
He said, oh, we don't do thestuff anymore.
Does God still do the stufftoday?
Well, I think actually probablymost Christians would say yeah,
(00:45):
god does do the stuff sometimes.
At least.
Even many Christians who don'tbelieve in spiritual gifts
believe that God still worksmiracles.
And so can we show that video,angelina, just like this one.
This is a local testimony,pretty amazing.
Eh, I'm going to read from Acts, chapter 9.
(01:06):
It'll be up on the slide.
Acts, chapter 9, verse 32.
As Peter was traveling fromplace to place, he also came
down to the saints who lived inlitter.
There he found a man namedAeneas who was paralyzed and had
(01:29):
been bedridden for eight years.
Peter said to him Aeneas, jesusChrist heals you, get up and
make your bed.
And immediately he got up andso all who lived in litter and
Sharon saw him and turned to theLord.
In Joppa there was a disciplenamed Tabitha, which is
translated Dorcas.
She was always doing good worksand acts of charity.
(01:49):
About that time she became sickand died and after washing her
they placed her in a roomupstairs.
Since Lydda was near Joppa, thedisciples heard that Peter was
there and sent two men to himand who urged him don't delay in
coming with us.
Peter got up and went with them.
When he arrived, they led himto the upstairs room and all the
(02:10):
widows approached him, weepingand showing him their robes and
clothes that Dorcas had made.
While she was with them.
Peter sent them all out of theroom.
He knelt down and prayed and,turning toward the body, said
and prayed and turning towardthe body, said Tabitha, get up.
She opened her eyes, saw Peterand sat up.
He gave her his hand and helpedher stand up.
(02:30):
He called the saints and widowsand presented her alive and
this became known throughoutJoppa and many believed in the
Lord.
And Peter stayed for some timein Joppa with Simon a leather
tanner.
Simon a leather tanner Well,I've personally never seen a
miracle of these magnitudes orsomeone raised from the dead
(02:52):
like Sean George.
Nevertheless, I believe that Godsupernaturally heals and works
miracles.
Today I've seen and read toomany stories to doubt that, but
it does raise the question whyhaven't I seen one?
If you're like me and youhaven't seen one, why not?
(03:12):
If they're so common, why don'twe see them all the time, or at
least why don't we see themsometimes?
Why don't we get to do thestuff?
Well, as we unpack this thismorning, we first need to ask
ourselves what are healings andmiracles for?
In the New Testament, healingsand miracles are a sign of the
(03:35):
presence of God's kingdom.
To give just one example amongmany, jesus said when you enter
any town this was to hisdisciples when you enter any
town and they welcome, you, eatthe things set before you, heal
the sick who are there and tellthem the kingdom of God has come
near you.
So healing is a sign of God'skingdom.
(03:59):
So why is that?
Well, where the kingdom of Godgoes, wholeness comes.
So you know, we talk aboutJesus dying for our sins.
Jesus didn't just die so we canbe forgiven and go to heaven.
Sin is at the root of evil inthe world of sickness, of death,
(04:20):
and so when Jesus died for oursins, and so when Jesus died for
our sins, he died to set usfree from those sins.
Now, of course, there are othersigns besides healing and
miracles, which I hope are morecommon and, I certainly think,
part of our experience Thingslike radically changed lives,
(04:45):
things like the love betweenJesus' followers.
And just because healings don'thappen doesn't mean the kingdom
of God's not present, buthealing is a sign that the
kingdom of God is present, inpower.
It's a testimony to that andthat's perhaps why healings seem
to be the stories we hearparticularly prominent among
evangelistic ministries, becauseevangelists are heralds of the
(05:06):
kingdom of God.
But we do also find healings inchurches, because churches are
communities of the kingdom ofGod.
Now, as Peter went aroundencouraging the churches in
Judea, it's noteworthy.
As you unpack the narrative,there's some subtle things in
(05:27):
there that reflect Jesus'healing.
So, for example, jesus healed alame man and told him to take
up his mat and walk.
Peter declared to Aeneas Jesusheals you, get up.
As a result, many people turnedto Jesus.
Get up.
(05:48):
As a result, many people turnedto Jesus.
Peter told Tabitha to get up,just like Jesus told a little
girl who had died to get up, andthe Aramaic word for little
girl is Talitha, talitha,tabitha.
It's like Luke is putting theseechoes of Jesus in our ears.
Luke is putting these echoes ofJesus in our ears and many
(06:10):
people believed in Jesus.
The immediate motives in themoment for Jesus' healing and
the disciples' healing can bevaried.
On one occasion the Bible saysJesus was moved to compassion
and healed someone.
God loves us and he wants us tobe healed.
On another it said he healedsomeone.
God loves us and he wants us tobe healed.
On another, it said he healedsomeone, someone had been sick,
so Jesus could heal him.
To display God's glory whenwe're healed, or when miracles
(06:33):
are worked or when lives arechanged because there are
miraculous stories of lifechange God's glory is displayed.
But all were because thekingdom of God had come.
The king was present.
So again, if healings are asign of the kingdom and we are a
(06:56):
people of the kingdom which weexplored in January why don't we
see more healings?
Why is it that we pray, pray,but nothing seems to happen?
Well, no doubt there's manyreasons, but I want to just
explore three this morning.
In the first one.
(07:17):
One of the principles we read inthe Bible is that although the
kingdom of God has come, thekingdom is present.
The kingdom of God is presentamong us this morning.
It's not fully here yet.
This is sometimes dubbed thenow but not yet, of the kingdom.
In the new creation there willbe no sorrow, sickness or death.
(07:41):
But we're not living in the newcreation.
Sickness or death, but we'renot living in the new creation.
We still live in a fallen,sinful world that's in rebellion
against God.
And we know that the wholecreation has been groaning
together with labour pains untilnow.
And not only that, but weourselves, who have the spirit
as the first fruits, we alsogroan within ourselves, eagerly
(08:03):
awaiting for adoption theredemption of our bodies.
So the believer's soul issecure in Christ, but our bodies
are yet to be fully redeemed.
I hate to break it to you, butyou're going to die Unless Jesus
comes back first.
You're going to die.
(08:23):
Our bodies wear out, diseasesrun rampant, but the sting of
death has been removed becausewe know that although our body
perishes, our soul, our spirit,is kept with God.
So God does heal today, but theworld is still broken, I think.
(08:47):
Another reason we often don'tsee healing, sometimes at least,
is because of unconfessed sin,particularly among the church.
James says the prayer of faithwill save the sick person and
(09:09):
the Lord will raise him up.
If he has committed sins, hewill be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins toone another and pray for one
another so that you may behealed.
The prayer of a righteousperson is powerful in its effect
.
I could preach a whole sermonon this one, but I just want to
hone in on this Confess yoursins to one another and then
(09:35):
pray for one another.
In the context of confessionand repentance, I want to ask
you a question when did you lastdo that?
When did you last confess yoursins to someone?
When did you last confess yoursins to someone Spouse, trusted
(09:58):
friend, your home group?
Been a long time for me, so I'mnot judging anyone here.
Look, if we expect the fruit ofthe kingdom to be evident among
us, then we need to liveaccording to the values, the
principles, the priorities andthe purity of the kingdom of God
, not the values and principlesand priorities of the world, not
(10:21):
of rationalism, not of makinggrace an excuse for sin and yes,
there is grace, but sin is alife stealer and we need to turn
away from it.
If we want the life of God'skingdom, then we must pursue a
(10:43):
kingdom lifestyle, and thatincludes holiness.
Now we also need to pursue alifestyle of grace, because we
can only be open about our sinsto one another.
There's enough shame in sin,isn't there, without people then
adding shame onto that.
So we need to be in a place oftrust where we know that I can
(11:05):
confess my sin to you and youare going to love and accept me
and not judge me for that,because we're all in the same
boat.
So I need to know I'm going tobe loved and accepted in spite
of my sin, and so we need to seethe church like this.
We need to see the church as arehab centre where we come to be
(11:28):
set free.
We need to see the church as atraining centre where we come to
learn, and particularly atraining centre for life, where
we come to learn how to live.
What we don't need to see isthe church as a courthouse where
(11:51):
we come to be condemned, but wedo need to deal with our sin.
I want to be very careful aboutthis next reason, because it's
often abused, but I think thatsometimes perhaps often we don't
receive healing because wesimply lack faith.
(12:14):
James says Now, if any of youlacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives to all generously andungrudgingly, and it will be
given to him.
But let him ask in faith,without doubting, for the
doubter is like the surging sea,driven and tossed by the wind.
That person should not expectto receive anything from the
Lord, being double-minded andunstable in all his ways.
(12:36):
Now, the application of thisverse here is asking for wisdom,
obviously, but the principle isreceiving by faith, and we see
this in many other places inScripture.
Now, I know some people usethis as a cudgel.
They'll say if you trulybelieved, you'd be healed.
I had this 40 years ago in achurch I was in.
(12:58):
It wasn't even a charismaticchurch, but there were people
that we had.
One of our ladies was dying ofcancer and some people came
along and basically accused thefamily she wasn't being healed
because of your lack of faith,friends.
That is abusive and it's notnecessarily true anyway.
(13:19):
I mean, there are plenty ofpeople who have believed, have
faith.
Many of the faith healers inthe 70s and 80s who were seeing
healing happen, died ofsicknesses.
Cancer seemed to be prevalent.
So we can't use this tomanipulate or condemn people.
(13:40):
I don't think that's a problemin our church and many Baptist
churches.
If anything, I think isn't theopposite.
Perhaps true that we don'tbelieve enough, perhaps it's
because of disappointment, orwe've been burned, or we just
don't have a theology of that,or we just accept the way things
are.
We accept that, yes, thekingdom of God is here, but we
live in a sinful, fallen world,and the sinful, fallen world is
(14:04):
just the way it is.
Where's the power of thekingdom of God?
In our faith and ourexpectation?
Because here it is.
Having said that, it can beabused.
Here's an uncomfortable truth,at least for me.
In my observation, people with astrong faith and expectation do
(14:25):
seem to see more miracles thanthose who don't.
Now, I think sometimes I canoverstate it, and I see people
call something a miracle Godhealed me.
I have seen this.
It's like, oh, god healed me ofthe flu.
We prayed for you a week agoand now you're well, great.
I think that's called bodily,natural healing and we see that
(14:49):
in all kinds of ways.
So, nevertheless, we tend tosee miracles where there is
faith for a miracle, and I thinkthat for many of us and again,
I have to folks.
You know when I preach thisstuff, when I preach this stuff,
I'm usually preaching to myselfwe simply don't persist in
(15:13):
faith and prayer as Jesus taughtus to and consequently, we
don't see the breakthrough.
Because, you know, again, welive in a sinful, fallen world.
There is a spiritual warfaredimension to this.
You know the natural forces ofthe world, but the spiritual
forces of the world are comingagainst us.
What happens in a war is youjust have to persist and persist
(15:34):
and persist until you get thebreakthrough.
And that's the same in prayerand with faith.
And sometimes we just say Ipray for your healing In Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Oh, they weren't healed.
See, jesus doesn't heal today.
No, if we're not praying for abreakthrough in a way that's
going to get a breakthrough,then there won't be a
(15:56):
breakthrough.
Now, again, there is thismystery of it doesn't always
happen, but I want to talk alittle bit more into that,
because I think that healingshappen not just where someone is
believing, but in anenvironment, and faith rises up
in an environment of faith.
(16:16):
There's a culture that churchesadopt.
So over the past few weekswe've been exploring what it
means to carry the presence ofGod into our communities, and
part of that we talked aboutbuilding an altar.
Now, what's an altar?
Well, an altar is a table thatyou make sacrifices on.
(16:38):
In a sense, this little tablehere is an altar, not because we
make a sacrifice on it, butbecause we represent the
sacrifice that has been made inJesus.
In the old days, these wereusually animal sacrifices.
You know, one of the things inancient Israel was this battle
over the altars, because peoplewould often, at various times
(17:01):
and more frequently than not,actually in ancient Israel,
they'd be making sacrifices onthe altar to false gods, and in
extreme cases, they'd besacrificing their children false
gods, and in extreme cases,they'd be sacrificing their
children.
What does it mean, then, for usto build an altar?
Now, though, of course, wedon't mean this table or
(17:21):
physical altars.
Well, people still build altarsto all sorts of things in their
hearts.
Many people build altars tomoney or success.
What do they sacrifice on thatsort of altar?
Well, they sacrifice familyrelationships, sometimes even
their health.
(17:42):
But you know, we as Christianscan build false altars.
They're a bit more subtle.
We're not building themnecessarily to foreign gods or
something, but sometimes webuild altars to, rather than
sacrificing family on it.
We build an altar to our familyand to our children and we
sacrifice church on it, and thethings of God Can't come to
(18:05):
church.
My kids have sport.
I've heard that one before.
That's a little thing for youyoung parents who have that
ahead of you.
What are you going to teachyour children to build an altar
on?
We can still build an altar towork.
As Christians, we want to bediligent in our work and we want
to be successful, and does ourcommitment to work hold us back
(18:29):
from building an altar to theLord?
Can't get involved in church,can't even really don't really
even have time for a properquiet time.
Now, I know some of you workreally important jobs that have
shifts and keep you away fromchurch.
I'm not actually talking aboutthat, okay, so you know what I
think I mean, though.
Sometimes we can build an altarto sports and hobbies.
(18:52):
Sometimes we do build an altarto God, but yeah, we sort of do
it reluctantly or casually.
She'll be right and then wewonder why we don't see miracles
or signs and wonders or themove of God just generally in
our midst, because God's like isthat all you've got?
(19:16):
You know, in the Old Testament,god said to the Israelites
bring your best.
Don't pick the lame lambs, theblind, the ones you don't want
in your flock, because theymight you know, you don't want
to breed those, so we'll just.
They're good enough for God.
God understands.
(19:36):
I said bring your best.
Do we bring our best?
You might say well, isn't Godgracious?
What about grace?
Doesn't God gracious?
What about grace?
Doesn't God accept me as I am?
Yes, god does accept you as youare.
This is the wonder of the cross, isn't it?
(19:58):
I don't have to be good enoughto come to God and in fact, in
some ways, the cross says thatthe worse I am, the better
qualified I am to come to God.
But here's the thing we come aswe are, the better qualified I
am to come to God.
But here's the thing we come aswe are, but God doesn't leave
us as we are.
This is what the cross is aboutsetting us free.
(20:19):
One of the things God wants todo is to form us into his image,
the image of Jesus, who wasgracious and compassionate, but
also holy and majestic.
So what does the kind of altarthat God can bless look like?
(20:39):
Or does it maybe look like analtar built on prayer and
blessing and praise and worship.
Does it look like expecting Godto move and then turning up to
see what he does?
Does it mean saying yes tofaith, doing things like
(21:03):
gathering together in Jesus'name, saying no to the things
that get in the way of us,chasing God both individually
and corporately, saying yes tothe things of God's kingdom and
no to the things of the world?
And so you know one of thethings again I've noticed in
churches where God seems to moveparticularly with these I want
(21:29):
to say miracles and signs andwonders.
But it goes beyond that.
Just as an atmosphere you walkin and it's just like God is
here, they build an altar.
It's a culture, if you like.
It's an environment of faithand expectation.
(21:49):
You know, have you ever walkedto one of those churches?
Sometimes, walking to thosechurches it's actually really
annoying.
They're so enthusiastic, butGod loves that.
So look, building that kind ofculture, that kind of altar,
takes time, attention andsacrifice.
(22:11):
But when we do, when we buildthat altar, here's what happens
Sin starts to get pushed out.
God starts to come in, thenatural order starts to get
overwhelmed by the supernaturalpresence of God's kingdom.
Faith and expectation, start tochase after God, overwhelmed by
(22:32):
the supernatural presence ofGod's kingdom, faith and
expectation start to chase afterGod.
And you know what God does.
He's like, yeah, turns aroundI'm going to take some of that
and embraces us.
And again, while not everyoneis healed, a heck of a lot more
people are going to be, andagain, not just bodies but
(22:55):
hearts and minds.
So what does this mean for us atBentley Baptist?
I really genuinely love thischurch and I'm really genuinely
excited.
I don't know if you can seethat I guess, as pastor, I have
a bit more of a global view, butreal sense of God moving here.
So be encouraged.
(23:16):
But what would it look like togo deeper and see God moving
more profoundly and perhaps moreobviously?
What would it mean for us tochase after God's presence, his
kingdom, in a deeper way?
What would it take to build thekind of culture where the sick
(23:37):
are healed and captives arereleased and we just expect it
to happen?
What would it mean for us tobuild the kind of altar that God
blesses, an environment inwhich we're so in tune to God's
spirit that, like Peter, we canconfidently walk in and you just
have a sense of God wants to dosomething here.
(23:57):
Aeneas see, jesus just saidthis is a fact.
Aeneas, jesus heals you.
Boom, get up.
And Aeneas gets up because weknow what God's doing.
It's a culture where we don'thave to ask why aren't we seeing
the stuff?
Is God still doing the stuff?
Because God is doing the stuffamong us.
(24:19):
Let's pray and then we're goingto move into a time of
communion.
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