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Scripture Reading: Acts 9:31-43
In this message we shall cover 9:31-43.
Acts 9:31 says, “So the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied.” This verse speaks of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, all of which were provinces in the Roman Empire. Judea was in the southern part of the Jewish land, Galilee was in the north, and Samaria was in between the south and the north. There were churches in all three of these provinces. Since at this time the church had spread only to the provinces of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and the word “whole” covers all the places where the church existed, the “church” in singular is used in the universal sense. The church here is spoken of in the universal sense although there must have been a number of churches in the various cities of these three provinces, which may be called churches in the local sense.
According to verse 31, the church throughout the whole of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee had peace. The church had peace inwardly although there was persecution outwardly.
Having peace in the midst of persecution, the church was being built up. The building up proceeded after the establishment of the church.
We are also told that the church in these provinces was going on in the fear of the Lord. Although there were persecutions, the church was not in the fear of men. Rather the church went on in the fear of the Lord lest the church offend the Lord by being put down or even subdued by persecution, or lest she offend the Lord in other things.
According to 9:31, the church was going on also in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. This indicates that the church was suffering affliction through the persecutions, in which she feared the Lord and enjoyed the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
The Jews regarded Judea as the best province. They considered Galilee a despised region and Samaria a region full of mixture. Therefore, the Jews in Jerusalem despised Galilee and rejected Samaria. But in 9:31 we see that the churches in these three provinces are regarded as one. This verse speaks of “the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria.” I believe that the Spirit inspired Luke to write in this particular way in order to indicate that no matter how much Galilee was despised and Samaria was rejected by the Jews in Jerusalem, the churches raised up in those regions should all be considered one church. In the local sense, there were the churches, but in the universal sense, all these churches are the church. Here we have a basic revelation concerning the oneness of the church universally.
Some readers of Acts may think that by the time of chapter nine, when Saul of Tarsus came into the Lord’s testing, Peter has moved out of the scene. However, in 9:32-43 we see that Peter is still in the scene, and these verses describe the spread of Peter’s ministry. His ministry has spread from Jerusalem to Lydda. Acts 9:32 says, “Now it came about that as Peter was passing through all those parts, he came down also to the saints dwelling at Lydda.” Lydda was a town about eleven miles southeast of Joppa, called in the Old Testament, Lod (1 Chron. 8:12; Ezra 2:33). While he was in Lydda, Peter healed a “certain man named Aeneas, who for eight years had been lying on a bed, for he was paralyzed” (v. 33). Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Rise up and make your own bed!” Immediately Aeneas rose up, and “all those dwelling in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord” (vv. 34-35).
In 9:36-43 we have the healing, or quickening, of Dorcas in Joppa. Verse 36 says, “Now there was a certain disciple in Joppa named Tabitha (which translated is called Dorcas); this woman was full of good works and alms which she did.” “Dorcas” is the Greek equivalent of the Aramaic “Tabitha,” meaning gazelle. When the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, which was near to Joppa, “they sent two men to him, entreating him, Do not delay to come through to us” (v. 38). Peter came down to Joppa and healed Dorcas. It may be better to say that Dorcas was quickened.
Some may consider the quickening of Dorcas a case of resurrection. Dorcas may have been dead for a full day before Peter came to Joppa. Peter prayed and “turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, rise up! And she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up” (v. 40). This may be considered an instance of resurrection. However, the term “resurrection,” a strong expression, is not used here. Therefore, instead of speaking of the resurrection of Dorcas, I prefer to say that through Peter she was healed or quickened.
In 9:32-43 we see Peter in his ministry outside of Jerusalem, even outside of Judea, in a region that is somewhat related to the Gentiles. When Peter was in Joppa, he was not far from Caesarea, which was a center for the Roman government. This means that Peter had moved away from Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish center, toward the city of Caesarea, the place where one of the Roman governors resided. Because Joppa was close to Caesarea, it became a stepping stone for Peter to open the door of the kingdom to the Gentiles. Peter’s stay in Joppa, therefore, was a preparation for him to go to the house of Cornelius and use the second key given him by the Lord to open the door so that the Gentiles may enter into the kingdom. As we shall see, in Caesarea Peter opened the door for typical Roman Gentiles to enter into the kingdom of God.
Both in the case of Saul and that of Cornelius, the Lord worked through visions. In a vision the Lord appeared to Ananias: “Now there was a certain disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias! And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord” (9:10). Before this, Saul of Tarsus had a vision of the Lord Himself. The Lord appeared to Saul and spoke to him. Following that, Saul had another vision, in which he saw Ananias laying his hands on him. The Lord told Ananias about this, saying that Saul “has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, so that he may receive his sight” (9:12). Therefore, with both Saul and Ananias there was a vision. Here we have the matter of visions related to the carrying out of the Lord’s work.
In the case of Cornelius the Lord also worked through visions. First, Cornelius “saw clearly in a vision about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, Cornelius!” (10:3). On the next day, Peter saw a vision as he was praying on the housetop (10:9-10, 17). Therefore, in the case of Cornelius we have two more visions — the vision seen by Cornelius and the vision seen by Peter.
We have pointed out that the cases of both Saul and Cornelius involve visions. A vision was given to Saul, and then to Ananias. Likewise, a vision was given to Cornelius, and then to Peter. In between these two cases, both of which involve visions, there are two miracles which took place through Peter. First we have the healing of Aeneas, and then the quickening of Dorcas. In our study of the book of Acts, we need to put together different cases such as these and then consider what is portrayed. We should not consider chapter nine in isolation. Rather, we should study this chapter in relation to what precedes it and to what follows it.
Chapter one of Acts stands alone as a chapter concerned with preparation. Then in chapter two we have the beginning of the propagation. Chapters two through five are one portion. These four chapters are concerned with Peter’s propagating ministry. In chapter two we have Peter’s first message, given on the day of Pentecost, and then in chapter three we see the miracle done for a man lame from birth. Based upon that miracle, Peter gave another message, which is recorded in chapters three and four. This is related to what took place in chapter five. Therefore, these four chapters form a section concerned with the propagating ministry of Peter.
Acts 6 begins with the appointment of seven serving ones. Among these seven was Stephen, who was a teacher of the Word. In chapter seven we have a record of Stephen’s teaching. Another of the seven serving ones was Philip, who was an evangelist. Chapter eight gives us a record of the preaching work of this evangelist.
Stephen was persecuted and eventually put to death. A young man named Saul took part in that persecution. The case of Stephen caused the Jewish leaders to be stirred up to persecute the followers of Jesus. Concerning this, 8:1 says, “There occurred in that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.” Following this we are told, “Saul was devastating the church” (8:3). This indicates that Saul was one of the main leaders of the persecution against the followers of Jesus. But as this leading persecutor was on the way from Jerusalem to Damascus, he was saved. Not only was he saved — he became a prevailing preacher, as indicated by the record in 9:20-30.
Saul’s conversion and his becoming a prevailing preacher do not mark the end of Peter’s ministry. Immediately after the record of Saul’s preaching, Peter comes back into the scene. The scene, however, is not in Judea but in a place not far from Caesarea. As we have seen, this place became a stepping stone for Peter to go into the Gentile world and open the gate for the Gentiles to enter into the kingdom of God.
Readers of the book of Acts may find it difficult to divide this book into sections. In our study of Acts, we may regard chapters six through eleven as a section. In this section of Acts we see that Saul’s ministry in its initial stage is mingled with Peter’s ministry. But although these two ministries are mingled, Peter’s ministry is still primary in these chapters.
As we shall see, Saul’s ministry comes in gradually. Peter went to Joppa, which became a stepping stone to the Gentiles in Caesarea. This was a preparation for the gaining of the Gentiles so that Saul, who was to become an apostle to the Gentiles, may begin his ministry to the Gentiles. In chapters six through eleven Peter, although his ministry is still primary, is beginning to move out of the scene. Also in these chapters Saul is coming into the scene. We first hear of Saul at the end of chapter seven where we are told that the witnesses to Stephen’s stoning “laid down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul” (7:58). This indicates that when Paul came into the scene, he came in as a persecutor. Then in chapter nine this persecutor was converted into a prevailing preacher. Toward the end of Acts 9, Saul begins to step into his ministry. As we shall see, his ministry to the Gentile world began in a definite and prevailing way in chapter thirteen. By that time Peter is out of the scene, and Paul is fully in the scene.
In these chapters we see the Lord’s sovereignty in propagating Himself by spreading into His chosen people. The Lord spent three and a half years plus an additional period of time to prepare Peter. Then the Lord spent another period of time to prepare Saul. In our reading of Acts, we need to realize that between the end of chapter nine and the beginning of chapter thirteen there is an interval. During that interval Saul received a great deal from the Lord. However, what took place is not recorded in the Scriptures. We only know that for a time Paul was in Arabia (Gal. 1:17). We have no way to find out what he did there. Nevertheless, we believe that during this interval Paul received a great deal more from the Lord. Therefore, when he came forth to preach in chapter thirteen, his preaching was much more inclusive than that in chapter nine. Paul’s preaching in Acts 9 was simple and brief. According to this chapter, he emphasized Jesus as the Son of God and as the Christ; that is, he emphasized Christ’s Person and His work. But in chapters thirteen through twenty-eight his preaching was much more inclusive.
As we study Acts, we see that the Lord had His sovereign way to prepare a chosen vessel such as Saul of Tarsus. The Lord turned this one from a leading persecutor to one who became a great blessing to the believers.
