Peter's Ministry in Lydda and Joppa

Alright, let's take our Bibles and let's turn to Acts chapter 9. If you were keeping up in your study, our study of the book of Acts, you know that we are right here in verses 32 to 43. We'll cover all of those verses tonight. Now in the verses that are before us, we're going to see another change. And Luke sets us up for this change in the previous verses. The message last week set us up for this change. And this is the change. At this time in the life of the Jerusalem Church, that's where we are right now. Saul left the scene and the focus of ministry. And Peter re-emerged as a main character in Luke's account of all of these events.

But he re-emerges as the main main character only for a little while. He re-emerges as the main character only for a little while. Remember what we have seen and what we've been seeing in this shift back and forth with these main characters. We saw that the main character and focus shifted from Peter to two leading laymen, two leading laymen in Acts chapter 6. Of course that was Stephen and Philip. And then we saw Saul or Paul emerge starting at Acts chapter 8. Of course that's when he was persecuting the church. And then in chapter 9, in chapter 9 verses 1 to 19, we saw Saul's dramatic and great and wondrous conversion to Christ.

And in verses 19 to 31, we studied Saul's dramatic, great and wondrous ministry in Damascus and in Jerusalem after he was converted to Christ. We covered verses 1 and 19 in two messages. I simply titled those messages the conversion of Saul and we covered verses 19 to 31 in one message last week. I called it the aftermath of Saul's conversion to Christ and aftermath being positive. And if you've not gotten those messages I encourage you to do so because all of these messages do go together. Now one thing I pointed out last week was how the church scene and circumstance changed dramatically because Saul moved off of the scene.

And this is key to understanding what we'll study tonight in verses 32 to 43. This is key in understanding why these events were able to take place. Because of the great persecution of Saul and the threat to his life, the church at Jerusalem sent Saul or Paul off to Caesarea and then on to Tarsus. Well, the result was this, peace for the church. Really great, great peace for the church. This is verses from last week but look at verses 30 to 31. And when the brothers learned of this, this being the Jews trying to kill Saul, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee in some area had peace and was being built up in walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied. And last week we explained or I explained that this peace really came about because of two reasons. First, and the more obvious which I've covered, the persecution of the church changed into peace for the church because the lightning rod of Saul was out of the way. Saul left Jerusalem so he was not engaging the Jews with the gospel in his great fireball way. So that brought peace. And then the second less obvious reason was a political situation. Politics changed.

Scholars and historians tell us that at this time Pilate was removed as governor and Herod Agrippa tightened down with power and control. So this political change limited the Jews and especially the religious leaders in their ability and opportunity to persecute. So what took place in the church now at this time was great. After four great events that would be Saul's conversion to Christ, his breakout when he preached Jesus in the gospel to the Jews in Damascus and Jerusalem. Third, Saul being persecuted greatly in Damascus and Jerusalem and then last Saul being shipped away for his safety because he was in danger.

The church entered into this great time of peace. And as a result last week we saw that the church grew in many ways. Verse 31 is powerful. It's loaded. The church was edified. The King James uses the word edified. The English Standard says that they had peace. The Amplified says they enjoyed peace. This simply means that they enjoyed peace from persecution so they were built up, they were strengthened and they continued in this edification. The church was also being built up. This word built up, it actually means to build or to erect like someone would build a house or a building.

And this speaks to how the church and the churches were being built up spiritually. The church was walking in the fear of the Lord. The King James says that they were going on in the fear of the Lord. This means they were living, they were going about in life in the fear and the reverence of the Lord. The church was enjoying evangelistic growth. The Amplified says the churches continue to grow in numbers. I quoted A.T. Robertson last week. I'll quote him again and then I'll add to what he says or I'll add another of his quotations. It ties all this together.

Robertson says the multiplication of the disciples kept pace with the peace, the edification, the walking in the fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He also says the blood of the martyrs was already becoming the seed of the church. Stephen was not born, had not born his witness in vain. Stephen had not born his witness in vain. So this is my point. This is what I want us to understand right here. The church had entered into this time of peace, spiritual growth and edification. They were living in the fear of the Lord, growing evangelistically in this great time of peace.

And as a result, believers were able to come back to Jerusalem from being scattered because of the persecution that broke out with Stephen's death. The apostles were able to minister in and out of Jerusalem freely and safely. And verse 32 tells us that Peter went here and there among the churches. Here and there among the churches. Look back at verse 31 and then I want us to see verse 32. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee in some area had peace and was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it, the church, multiplied.

Now as Peter went here and there among them, see, here and there among them he came down to the saints who lived in Lyda. Now this leads me to share what happened next. I've read it. As a result of all of this great peace, Peter goes down the Lyda and Joppa for ministry purposes. This leads me to the title of the message. Just real simple. Peter's ministry in Lyda and Joppa. Peter's ministry in Lyda and Joppa. That's two cities back to back. Now let's read all of our verses starting at verse 32 and then I will share with you how I want to approach divide the verses.

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, remember going from Jerusalem to the churches, he came down also to the saints who lived in Lyda. There he found a man named Aeneas bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you, rise and make your bed." And immediately he rose and all the residents of Lyda and Sharon, that would be outside of Lyda, saw him and they turned to the Lord. That means they believed. Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha which translated means dorkus. She was full of good works and acts of charity.

In those days she became ill and died and when they had washed her and laid her in an upper room, since Lyda was near Joppa, the disciples hearing that Peter was there sent two men to him urging him, "Please come to us without delay." So Peter rose and went with him and when he arrived they took him to the upper room and all the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that dorkus made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all outside and he 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 and when he and he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints that would be the believers and the widows he presented her alive and it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord. Again others came to faith in Christ and he stayed in Joppa for many days with Simon a tanner. Now this is how I want to approach the verses. First I want us to see Peter's ministry. Peter's ministry that's in the beginning of verse 32.

Second I want us to see Peter's ministry in light of. That's in verse 32 to 35 and then third I want us to see or look into Peter's ministry in Joppa. It's really easy to see. He had two particular cities in which he ministered in. But number one I want us to see Peter's ministry. We can say it like this Peter's personal ministry and that's at the beginning of verse 32. Now I have already mentioned the peace and the freedom that the church and the apostles enjoyed at this time and we have seen that Peter was able to travel here and there out of Jerusalem from Jerusalem among the churches.

But I want us to see the type of ministry that Peter had. Peter was the chief apostle in Jerusalem among the other apostles. He was based out of Jerusalem the Jerusalem church and he was the apostle primarily to the Jews. But that does not mean that Peter was some administrative director executive minister. It does not mean that Peter was in some kind of administrative directorship or executive office or position. No.

Here we see that the great apostle Peter was traveling in and out of Jerusalem and into Lida which was mostly a gentile city about 25 miles from Jerusalem and to Joppa which was about 10 miles from Lida which was mostly a gentile city as well. Now what is my point? What do I want us to see? Luke shows us that the great the respected and venerated apostle Peter was busy in ministry going town to town and dealing with people. He had a boots on the ground approach to his ministry. You see? He had a boots on the ground people to people person to person church to church approach to ministry. He was busy. He was hard working in his ministry.

I like something that John MacArthur says here and I'm quoting him those actively involved in ministry are usually the ones to whom God grants the most ministry opportunities. That's good. Let me say that again. Those actively involved in ministry are usually the ones to whom God grants the most ministry opportunities. He continues, "God has always seemed to entrust his richest ministries to his busiest saints." Now notice what we see here in just this short portion of verse 32. The apostle Peter was busy in ministry. He does not hold to some administrative or executive ministry approach or office.

He had a boots on the ground people to people person to person church to church traveling the dusty roads approach to ministry. Now before I move on I want to say two things here. First of all I want to thank you Grace Life Church for how you serve. I want to thank you for how you as men and women and how you even lead your families to serve. We could never pull off a vacation bible school. We could never have an act like men weekend. We could never have a trunk or treat like we're having if we didn't come all together to serve.

I kind of call it a all hands on deck and it takes all of our hands to do these things and I'm thankful we're really not a large church but we pull off some large church ministry. So I want to thank you for how you serve. Boots on the ground serve but I want to remind I want to remind you I want to remind you that our service is serious. Our service is necessary. Everything that has to be done is serious and necessary. I say it like this jokingly but it's serious. If we have a fellowship and you sign up for soup and you're too busy on Saturday to get that soup together and you just don't show up well there's a spot missing.

There's food that's not there and some other people have to double up. If you serve if you sign up to serve in an area in the life of the church but yet you for some reason just kind of neglect that well someone else has to tighten up that slack. Now I'm not scolding anyone. I'm just reminding us that all of our service, our boots on the ground service is necessary and important. So let's move on. Peter's ministry. We could say the characteristics of his ministry, his ministry approach are the type of ministry that he had. But then next number two, Peter's ministry and Lyda. Peter's ministry in Lyda. Now let's read verses 32 to 35.

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints the believers the church who lived in Lyda. There he found a man named Aeneas bedridden for eight years who was paralyzed and Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed." And immediately he rose and all the residents of Lyda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. Here we see that Peter went down, down because Jerusalem is higher in elevation, from Jerusalem to the town of Lyda which was about 25 miles north west of Jerusalem and this was mostly a gentile city.

And Lyda was an important city, not a large city, but it was important since major roads or travel routes from Joppa to Jerusalem from Egypt to Syria went through Lyda. It's interesting. I ran across this in my study today. Today the city of Lyda is home is home to Israel's international airport. Lyda is home to Israel's international airport today. That's just an interesting fact. Now Luke shows us that Peter went down the Lyda and he went and ministered in three ways. First he ministered to the saints. Luke says that Peter went down the Lyda to the saints. That would be the believers. We could save the church.

Now a question, who evangelized the people of Lyda? Actually we do not know, but we can speculate. There are several plausible explanations. It is possible that Lyda was evangelized by some of the Jews who had been converted to Christ at Pentecost. That's a plausible explanation. It's possible that Lyda was evangelized by Christians who had been scattered from Jerusalem because of the persecution that broke out after Stephen's death. That's possible. Or Lyda may have been evangelized by Philip as he ministered in the area according to Acts 8.40. But this is the point. There were believers there. There were believers there.

There was a church there in Lyda. And Peter went to Lyda to minister to the saints. And notice something about Peter's attitude in ministry. He saw the saints in Lyda as worthy of his time. Although Jerusalem was a large and influential church, the most respected of the churches. And he was their "pastor." Peter was not too important to go to the saints at Lyda. And there's a lesson right here from Peter. The size of the church does not matter. The saints of the church is what matters. The size of the church doesn't matter. The saints of the church does not matter. The size of your ministry within the life of our church doesn't matter.

What matters is the saints. You might say, "Pastor, I only teach the children every now and then. I don't know that that's really that big of a deal." Oh yes it is because the church is all about people. And those little boys and girls are very important. But then second, he ministered to Aeneas. Here we see that Peter found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years. He was paralyzed. But who was this man? How did he become paralyzed? Was he a Jew? Was he a Gentile? Was he a believer? Was he not a believer? Honestly, we do not know because Luke does not tell us very much. But there is a hint here in the language.

Luke says that when Peter got to Lyda he found a man. In the original language it says "man." Our English translations say "man." But later when he was in Joppa, Peter found a disciple. The original language says that and our English translations do. And the point here is this. It seems that Luke may have been saying that this man was not a believer. But we do know that Peter healed this paralyzed man. And notice how he did so. He said that Jesus Christ, or Christ Jesus, heals you. Get up and walk. The amplified reads, and I'm reading verse 34, Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up. Make your bed.

Immediately Aeneas got up." Now what was the result of the healing? We will see that along with Peter's gospel preaching this miracle brought about much evangelistic success. So if this man, Aeneas, was not a believer it is safe to say that he was converted to Christ. But what if this man was already a believer? Well if that was the case then this healing brought great spiritual renewal in the man's life. He worshipped God in a great way because he had been healed. And this healing would have led him to serve God in a greater way. So Peter ministered to Aeneas. And I believe he was not a believer but was converted through the miracle.

Now third, he ministered the saving power of the gospel in Lyda. Third, he ministered the saving power of the gospel in Lyda. Here we see that as a result of this healing the saving message and power of the name of Jesus and the gospel went out. Look back at verse 35. "And all of the residents of Lyda and Sharon saw him," that would be the healed man, "and they turned to the Lord." This is simple. Two things happen. One is stated and one is implied.

First Luke tells us that the residents of Lyda and Sharon, Sharon to the north, "saw the healed man and they turned to the Lord." And all the translations I mentioned say "turned to the Lord," which means that many were converted. They believed savingly in Jesus as the Messiah. But what is implied? Luke does not say it, but it is obvious that in through and because of this miraculous healing, Peter preached Jesus and the gospel. And I believe it is safe to make that assumption. And look church, there is a very, very valuable lesson here in this assumption. Yes, we should do kind and good things for the lost.

Yes, we should love on the lost, but in through and because of our good works to the lost, we should be declaring the saving power of the gospel and man's great need of the gospel. Paul says in Romans 1 16, "For I am not ashamed of giving out candy at Trunkertree, for giving out candy is the power of God for gospel to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Paul says in Romans 16, "For I'm not ashamed of being nice to my lost family member, for being nice to my pagan family, for that is the power of the gospel for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Is that what it says?

Actually, Paul says, "For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes for the Jew first and then for the Greek." I think you get my point. So look at what we see here in the verses. "Peter went down to Lyda and he ministered to the saints there, the church there in the city. He ministered to this paralyzed man which turned into this great evangelistic ministry event. Many in Lyda and Sharon were converted to Christ through the miracle and the powerful, I believe, powerful preaching of Peter." I love how Warren Wiersby summarizes Peter's ministry in Lyda. I'm quoting him.

Wiersby says, "You can be sure that Peter did much more in Lyda than Heleneus, as great and helpful as that miracle was. He evangelized, taught, and encouraged the believers and sought to establish the church in the faith." I love that. "Sought to establish the church in the faith." He continues, "Jesus had commissioned Peter to care for the sheep," John 21, "and Peter was faithful to fulfill that commission," and I added that by saying he was faithful to fulfill that commission in Lyda. So look, church, this is local church ministry. This local church ministry there in Lyda because the believers there were a local church in that city.

Then number three, we see Peter's ministry in Joppa. We see Peter's ministry in Joppa. Let's go ahead and read those verses. "Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha which is translated or means dorkus. She was full of good works and acts of charity and in those days she became ill or fell ill and died and when they had washed her and laid her in an upper room since Lyda was near Joppa the disciples hearing that Peter was there sent two men to him urging him please come to us without delay.

So Peter arose and he went with him and when he arrived they took him to the upper room and all the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that would be clothing that dorkus made while she was with him. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said, "Tabitha arise." And she opened her eyes and saw Peter.

And when she saw Peter she sat up and when he gave her his hand and raised her up then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive and it became known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord and he stayed in Joppa for many days with Simon, one who's called a tanner. Here we see that Peter moved from Lyda because he was busy in boots on the ground ministry now God could use Peter more and more and God did. But here we see that Peter was still in Lyda and the believers at Joppa heard that he was there so they sent for Peter to come. No doubt the believers in Joppa had heard about all that had happened, all that had happened.

Now there is a lesson here that we all need and especially those who minister in what I call the forefront. We should be busy serving God in church. We should be busy serving God in the church as He has given us opportunity but we should leave the recognition and the acclaim to God. You see we should leave the recognition and the acclaim to God. You notice that? He was serving in Lyda. The recognition the acclaim came. And look church whether we change a light bulb at the church, whether we help at vacation bible school, teach children or preach from behind this pulpit.

We all have a sinful temptation to want recognition and acclaim for what we do. It's within all of our hearts but we must crucify that and crucify that some more and crucify that some more all while we serve. Otherwise that can turn into pride and sin, sin and pride. But I want us to see just like in Lyda in Joppa Peter, ministered in three ways. First he ministered to Dorcas or Tabitha. Now whereas Luke did not tell us much about Aeneas and Lydia or Lyda, excuse me, here he tells us quite a lot about Dorcas in Joppa. Here we have a woman named Dorcas can be translated Tabitha.

Luke tells us of her Christian service which points to her Christian character. The English standard says she was full of good works and acts of charity. The amplified says she was rich in acts of kindness and charity which she continually did because the original language communicates that. She continuously did these things. And verse 39 says that the widows that were mourning her death were showing Peter the clothing that she made with them and for them. So this tells us that she ministered to the widows. So she was a Christian woman who was busy serving in good works and acts of charity continuously.

And she did this by ministering to the needy, ministering to the poor, and the widows. And this points to her Christian character because true Christian service comes from true Christian character. And we know that she was a Christian performing true Christian service because Luke refers to her as a disciple named Dorcas. And there is a much-needed and there is a much-needed lesson for women here that comes from the life of Dorcas. Dorcas did not preach nor does she have a position of authority in the life of the church. She was within the boundaries of what was and is permissible for women in the life of the church.

Yet she was dearly loved and respected for her good works and acts of charity especially to the poor, the needy, and the widows. And the lesson for you ladies is this. There is plenty of ministry to be done in the church even though God's Word does not permit you to govern the affairs of the church like elders. Nor does God's Word permit you to preach and teach to men like men. There is certainly plenty of ministry to be done among our ladies in the church, among our children in the church, and there are many many other places for ladies to serve. And you do serve and I'm very, very thankful.

But Dorcas fell sick and she died to Texas and they prepared her body for burial as was the custom of the day. And they had her body out in the upper room for a time of morning which was the custom of the day. And we see that Peter did what he did for Lyda, in Lyda. He healed Dorcas. But look at verse 40. But Peter put them all outside. That would have been all the mourners, all the saints, all the widows. And he knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said, "Tabatha, arise." Now notice that Peter did two things when he healed Dorcas which may be pointing to Peter's humility.

John MacArthur points this out and I'm really putting it into my words. I think it does point to her humility. Humility. First, a question. Why did Peter put the crowd out of the room before he healed Dorcas? He very well may have not wanted to put some kind of a, put on some kind of a healing show for the people. He just may not have wanted the attention. He may not have wanted them to be in all of the miracle. That's a speculation, I know. But second, notice that he got down on his knees and prayed. And get this, Peter had been involved in many healings before. He had just healed Aeneas back in Lida.

But his experience did not lead him to a place where he simply called on Dorcas to arise. To quote MacArthur here, he says, "He knew the source of his power and presumed nothing about the will of God." Now there's a lesson here. All truly successful ministry. Successful meaning godly now. All true and godly and successful ministry is void of self. Is void of self. All godly ministry. All successful biblical ministry. Is void of self and dependent on God. And just like before, if any self comes up in our ministry and we begin to think that we can do this ministry because we're smart or educated or prepared, we need to crucify that as well.

And that can lead to pride and sin, sin and pride, just like when we want acclaim and recognition. But then second, he ministered to the saints. Now nothing in the verses say that Peter ministered to the saints or the church, but we know that he did. The church sent to Peter to come minister to them in their great time of need. He rose from the dead at one of their most respected and believing women. And verse 41 says that he called in the saints and the widows to see Dorcas after she was raised. And verse 43 says that Peter stayed on. So my point here is this.

Peter ministered to the saints there in Joppa and he stayed on to minister to Joppa. And then third, he ministered in Joppa the saving power of the gospel, just like he did in Lida. Look at verse 42. Sounds very familiar. And it became known throughout all Joppa what it became known. Well, Dorcas had been raised from the dead and many believed in the Lord. Here we see the same thing happening in Joppa that happened in Lida as a result of the healing of Dorcas, the bringing of her back from the dead, and Peter's preaching of the gospel in Jesus. Many believed.

Again, Luke does not directly say that Peter preached, but it certainly must have happened. I did not mention this before, but we know the purpose of the miracles and the miracles such as this. God gave the apostles and those close to the apostles miraculous gifts and abilities to confirm the message of Jesus and the gospel that it was true indeed. And those miracles were meant to authenticate the preaching and the messengers as legitimate and of God. So just like in Lida, Peter ministered in Joppa through the preaching of the gospel and Christ Jesus. So look what we have here in these verses.

Peter was called by the church in Joppa to come to them. So he left Lida. There he raised Dorcas from the dead, who was a respected believing and serving church member. And this turned into a great evangelistic opportunity and many people believed savingly in Jesus. And I think we can take what Warren Wiersby says about Peter's ministry in Lida and apply it to Joppa. So I'm putting Wiersby's words into my words. We can be sure that Peter did much more in Joppa than simply raised Dorcas from the dead. As great and helpful as that miracle was, he evangelized the lost. He taught and encouraged the church.

And he sought to establish the church in the faith. I like that. Jesus had commissioned Peter to care for the sheep in John 21. And Peter was faithful to fulfill that call and that commission there in Joppa as well. And look church, this is just local church ministry now there in Joppa. Just local church ministry there in Joppa. And notice a similarity when we compare what we learned of Saul last week and what we're learning of Peter this week. Saul's pattern remember was to associate with, to join with, to connect with the local church, and then to do his ministry in and out of those local churches. We saw Damascus first and then Jerusalem.

And Peter's pattern was much the same. He associated with, he joined, connected with the church at Jerusalem, and he ministered out of his home church, and he ministered to those local churches there in Lida and in Joppa. And what was Peter's goal? His ultimate goal? Was it to heal more sick? Was it to raise more from the dead? Was his ultimate goal to grow his personal ministry more and more? Of course, if it was God's will for him to heal more, he would have done so. If it was God's will for him to raise more from the dead, he would have done so. Now the growth of his personal ministry, he just left that to the Lord.

But Peter's ultimate goal was to establish the church and the churches more and more in the faith. You see, that was his ultimate goal. Now I want to move back from the verses. I want to give us a few observations from Peter's life and ministry. This really turns into application or lesson's teaching points for us. Number one, the lesson on balance between discipleship and evangelism. There is a lesson here in balance on being balanced between discipleship and evangelism. Peter ministered in two ways. First to the individual churches and believers, second in evangelism to the lost.

And get this, he did not engage in one at the expense of the other. You see, he had balance. And we must do the same. We must minister to the church into the saints first. Then we must evangelize the lost. Let me restate that and then I'll tell you why. We must minister to the church into the saints first, then we evangelize the lost. But why do we do that first? Healthy evangelism and healthy evangelists must be connected to and come out of a healthy church. If an evangelist is not healthy, if an evangelist is not healthy as simply a Christian and a church member, then they will not be a healthy evangelist.

And an unhealthy evangelist makes for an unhealthy evangelistic work. The health of the church comes first, but we stay in balance. Number two, the exaltation of Peter's apostleship. The exaltation of Peter's apostleship. I ran across this from some John Stott material. Stott points out that Luke deliberately described Peter as an authentic apostle. And he points to four facts to support this claim. This will be real quick. First, both of Peter's miracles followed the example of Jesus. Simply Peter healed and raised the dead just like Jesus, which points to the genuineness of his apostleship.

Second, both of Peter's miracles were performed by the power and the power of Jesus. Simply Peter healed and raised the dead in the name of Jesus with the power of Jesus, which points to Peter being a true representative of Jesus, therefore an apostle. Third, both miracles were signs of salvation in Jesus. Just like Jesus did, Peter performed a miracle, then he preached the gospel. Simply by performing a miracle and then preaching the gospel, the people believing as a result, those things pointed to the genuineness of Peter's apostleship. And then fourth, both miracles led to the glory of God.

Jesus never performed miracles to bring glory to himself, only to God. And Peter did the same. He diverted glory from himself to Jesus, thus emphasizing that he was Christ-like and an apostle. Well, what is the lesson here? We must see that Peter was a genuine apostle of Christ. Number three, Peter treated small ministry the same as large ministry. Peter treated small ministry the same as large ministry. I've touched on this son, Peter, the great apostle to the Jews, who preached to thousands on the day of Pentecost, worked just as hard in the small church at Joppa, the small church at Lido. Well, how does that speak to us?

Folks, we can never look to the bigger and the larger and the grander ministry, thus overlooking the ministry that God's given us. If we do that, we'll miss the Lord every time. Number four, Peter was in the people ministry, not in the preaching ministry. Peter was in the people ministry, not solely in the preaching ministry. Yes, Peter preached. Yes, Peter even performed great miracles, but he was in the people business first. Simply, he cared for and loved people. Church and church work is people and people work.

And if we do not have a heart for people, the saints of God now and the loss that we come into contact with, well, we fell in ministry, you see. Church and ministry in the church is people and people work. And evangelism is people and people work. Peter was in the people ministry. And he didn't get those things out of balance either. Now, I close by showing you how Luke is setting us up for what's to come. He's really giving us a hint of what's about to come. Look at verse 43. It's real simple. "And he stayed in Joppa for many days." I believe he's ministering. Probably still evangelizing.

"And he stayed in Joppa for many days with," one, what is it, what is his name? Simon? A tanner. And notice how this sets us up for what's to come. "Soon God would be calling Peter to go to the house of a Gentile, Cornelius. And he would have to break every Jewish rule and custom just to go into that house because Gentiles were considered unclean and off limits for the Jews. But in staying in the home of a tanner, that made Peter unclean. That is because tanners were unclean because they touched dead bodies.

So Simon the tanner was unclean and despised almost as much as Cornelius." So this is just a taste of what was to come for Peter starting in chapter 10. Because soon he is about to go into the home of Cornelius. And we will see the birth of the Gentile church which was and is a part of the church. And I encourage you to read chapter 10, study chapter 10, and anticipate what we will learn and study and see in chapter 10. So again, the title of the message is real simple. Peter's ministry in Lida and Joppa.