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STUDIES IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

—INTERNATIONAL S.S. LESSONS—

SUGGESTIVE THOUGHTS DESIGNED TO ASSIST THOSE OF OUR READERS WHO ATTEND BIBLE CLASSES, WHERE THESE LESSONS ARE USED; THAT THEY MAY BE ENABLED TO LEAD OTHERS INTO THE FULLNESS OF THE GOSPEL. PUBLISHED IN ADVANCE, AT THE REQUEST OF FOREIGN READERS.

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DORCAS RAISED TO LIFE

FOURTH QUAR., LESSON II., OCT. 9, ACTS 9:32-43

Golden Text—”This woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”—Acts 9:36

This lesson presents two instances of the exercise of the gift of healing on the part of the Apostle Peter. In the one case there was the restoration to health from a long and severe illness, and in the other case the restoration to life of one who had succumbed to the power of disease and was dead. The result of the miracles in both cases was faith on the part of the people who saw in them the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name they had been accomplished; and faith in Peter as a servant of the Lord, and in his teachings concerning Christ and his coming kingdom, and the blessings promised to all them that believe in him.

And this was the object in the performance of these miracles—viz., to establish the authority of the apostles’ teachings by thus showing to all men that the Lord was working with them and thus endorsing them.

It is also noteworthy that in every such instance of the manifestation of divine power the effect was the same: there was a large increase in the number of believers. And yet we find that this potent agency for the conversion of the world did not survive the days of the apostles; and consequently the world is full of doubting Thomases who would believe if they had some more tangible evidences of the divine purpose and power. How shall we account for this seeming indifference on the Lord’s part in the matter of the world’s conversion?

The Scriptures answer that it is because “the Lord hath appointed a day”—a set time—in which he purposes to give to all men just the kind of evidence which their doubting and unbelieving condition of mind requires. Then—in the Millennial age or Times of Restitution—he will say to all, Open thine eyes, and reach hither thy hand, and behold the manifestations of my power, and be not faithless but believing. And then will follow the speedy conversion of the world to God. These manifestations of divine power will come first in a great time of trouble (Dan. 12:1) which will completely revolutionize the whole present social order of the world and bring in a new and better order, based upon sounder principles of justice and truth. Then will follow manifestations of power in the healing of the morally and physically sick and infirm, the lame, the halt, the blind and the deaf, and the awaking of all the generations of the dead to life. When these mighty works are done in the earth there will not be

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room for a single doubt as to God’s purpose and plan and power, and of his glorious and righteous character; for then “all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest,” and the way of life will be made so plain that “the wayfaring men though unlearned shall not err therein.”—Jer. 31:34; Isa. 35:8.

But we call to mind the words of the Lord to Thomas after giving him the tangible evidence that his weak faith demanded, saying, “Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed”—whose confidence in God is simple enough to take him at his word without the evidence of their senses. It has been for the purpose of selecting out from among men such strong and fearless characters, and granting to them the special blessedness of joint-heirship with Christ, that the appointed time for manifesting the divine power to the world is delayed. The Gospel age now closing has been the appointed time for the selection of this “blessed” class; and when this work is fully accomplished, the enlightenment, conversion and blessing of the world will follow.

There is another fact noticeable in connection with this narrative; and that is, that when Dorcas came to life again, although she was a good woman and a child of the Lord, and therefore one whom all the creeds of “Christendom” would send to heaven as soon as she died, yet when she was awakened to life she had no wonderful experiences or mysterious visions to relate, nor any disappointment to express at being recalled to this mundane sphere. She simply opened her eyes and recognized Peter, and, accepting his helping hand, sat up and received the congratulations of her friends. And the same may be observed in every case of awakening from death. See the accounts of the awakening of Lazarus, of the son of the widow of Nain, of Jairus’ daughter and others. And then let the student remember the clear statements of the Scriptures—”The dead know not any thing;” “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them;” and “No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man;” “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.”—Eccl. 9:5; Job 14:21; John 3:13; Eccl. 9:10.

With these statements and observations before us, call to mind also the prominence given in the Scriptures to the doctrine of the resurrection—how Paul said that except for the promise of a resurrection our hope and faith would be vain; and how when he had finished his course he did not expect to go to heaven, but to await the Lord’s return to earth, when he and all the faithful would be rewarded by having part in the “first resurrection.”—1 Cor. 15:13,14; 2 Tim. 4:7,8.

Thus in the light of the Scriptures death is seen to be just what God intended it should be—an “enemy,” an undesirable thing, a penalty

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for sin. And we are then able to thank God for the victory over this enemy, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by a resurrection from the dead; and with the early Church to appreciate and look forward with joy to his second appearing, when the resurrection of the dead will be accomplished. The few instances of awakening to life recorded in the Scriptures, but never repeated since the days of the apostles, were not resurrections in the full sense of the term anastasis, which signifies a full raising up to perfection of life and health, never again to relapse into death, as all of these died, because the appointed time for full restitution had not yet come. These instances were given to aid our faith in looking forward to the full restitution or resurrection promised at the time appointed, as well as to divinely endorse the teaching of the Lord and the Apostles and some of the Prophets.

In the life of Dorcas, of which this brief narrative gives us a glimpse, we see an example of Christian benevolence and zeal well worthy of imitation in spirit if not in exact detail. There often are temporary necessities now among poor neighbors and friends for the use of the needle in works of charity; but such necessities are far less common now than they were in the days here referred to, being superseded by public benevolence on a much larger and more effective scale. But there is always the still more important work on hand of feeding the hungry soul with the bread of life and clothing the naked with the robe of Christ’s righteousness—a work in which this good woman doubtless engaged also, at the same time that she sought to relieve the temporal necessities of the needy poor.

When Dorcas was dying she was surrounded and ministered to by the loving hands of the Lord’s people, the saints, and many poor widows whom she had lovingly sought out and ministered to previously. And when she was restored to life these were there to bid her welcome. How suggestive the thought—If we live the life of self-sacrificing love and devotion to God and his cause, sweet will be the awakening and the blessed re-unions beyond these scenes of sorrow and suffering. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; and blessed and holy are all they that shall have part in the first resurrection.

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— September 15, 1892 —