Acts 9:36-42 “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. (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. (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. (39) 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. (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. (41) Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. (42) And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.”
We saw earlier that with regards to the accounts of healing in the book of Acts, that it was significant that every account mentioned related to believers ministering to the unsaved. The reason for that is because the ministry of laying on of hands, as far as healing is concerned, is mainly for the unsaved. But when it comes to laying on of hands to raise the dead however, then this ministry will only work for those who have died in the Lord. There are two accounts recorded in the book of Acts, and in both accounts the people who were raised from the dead were believers. So why is that? The reason for that is simple. When believers die their spirits go to heaven, and because they go to heaven they can return to the earth to re-enter their bodies, if the Lord sends them back. The apostles Peter and Paul were involved in both instances recorded in scripture, and in each instance they would have called for the spirits of these deceased disciples to be returned to the earth. Because both Peter and Paul prayed in faith and it was only their faith that was involved, our Lord honoured their faith and instructed the two disciples in question to return to the earth, thus causing their bodies to be raised from the dead. The two disciples mentioned in these instances would have had to be sent back by the Lord, because of their own volition they would not have wanted to return, for no believer, once they have entered heaven to be with the Lord ever wants to return to the earth, for it is far better to depart and be with Christ (Philippians 1:23). Besides believers, children (under the age of thirteen) can also be raised from the dead because their spirits also ascend into heaven when they die. It is not possible to raise unbelievers from the dead however because their spirits descend to hell. And God has decreed that none that go there are allowed to come out until they are raised on the day of judgement to face their eternal judgement. In the incident quoted above where Peter was involved, we can see that he had to put everyone out of the room before he prayed. Peter did that because raising the dead requires faith with no presence of doubt, and Peter had learnt that lesson when he watched Jesus putting everyone out of the room before He raised the little girl from the dead (Mark 5:40-42).
Acts 20:8-12 “There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. (9) And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. (10) But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him." (11) Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. (12) And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.”
The above quoted incident where Paul was involved in raising this young man from the dead was a little different. In Paul’s case, no one expected him to do what he did. Paul just went down, fell on the young man and raised him from the dead, and so no one present had any time to express any thoughts of doubt before Paul acted. The Lord Jesus did the same thing when He raised the young man in Nain. No one suspected that Jesus was going to raise him from the dead. And so even though there were many people present, there was no unbelief manifested to hinder that miracle from happening (Luke 7:11-15).
Michael E.B. Maher
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