REASONS TO BELIEVE

This morning my one-year trip through the Bible brought me to Acts 1. I love the book of Acts… It kicks off describing some of the post resurrection appearances of Jesus to his followers… During one of these appearances Jesus spoke to the apostles about the kingdom of God… He challenged these believers, “Don’t leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what He promised… John baptized with water. You’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Somehow this incredible promise flew right over the heads of the apostles. The Bible says, “They kept asking him, ‘Are you going to free Israel now and restore your kingdom?’”

These guys wanted Jesus to pull out the charts… They wanted Jesus to start filling in all of the eschatological blanks…

Jesus smiled and said, “Chill out, guys…” Well, actually He didn’t say that, that’s my very loose paraphrase…

Jesus said, “Guys, the Father sets those dates and they’re NOT for you to know… Here is what is important… Here is what you NEED TO KNOW… You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth…”

Jesus basically says, “If you boys think the last three years have been amazing, fasten your seat belts, because you ain’t seen nothing yet! You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

Wow!

It wasn’t too long after Jesus said this that He ascended into heaven and a couple of angels gave the apostles the promise that He would return.

Tons of great stuff in the opening eleven verses of Acts 1… You can’t read this chapter without getting stoked.

Then I read these three verses. Unfortunately, sometimes we can read right over the importance of the info these verses contain…

Acts 1:12-13 (NLT), The apostles were at the Mount of Olives when this happened, so they walked the half-mile back to Jerusalem. 13 Then they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here is the list of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James).

That’s not a surprise! All eleven of the remaining apostles went to the upper room to pray… But the next verse is loaded…

Acts 1:14 (NLT), They all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

Read that verse again. Slowly.

Jesus had a total of four brothers. During his earthly ministry, these guys weren’t very supportive at all. They were doubters and skeptics… (John 7:1-5)

When Jesus’ ministry kicked into high gear and began drawing such huge crowds that Jesus and the disciples couldn’t find the time to eat, Jesus’ brothers got ticked off!

In fact, Mark 3:21 says, “When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him home with them. “He’s out of his mind,” they said."

But in Acts 1:14, the same guys who days before had been skeptics, became followers and worshippers… In humble obedience to Jesus’ command, they gathered in a small room and “met continually for prayer.”

What changed? What moved these guys from doubt to belief? From fear to faith? From skepticism to heartfelt commitment?

There’s only one answer: Jesus’ miraculous resurrection! These four guys knew that Jesus lived! Jesus died. He was buried. But somehow, miraculously He was ALIVE! These guys were witnesses… They knew the truth… THEY BELIEVED!

1 Corinthians 15:7 gives us a little glimpse into some of what happened. It reads, “…[Jesus] was seen by James and later by all the apostles…”

James was the half brother of Jesus… After his resurrection, Jesus gave James a personal visit…

The result? A doubter and skeptic turned believer and follower (James 1).

Why do I believe?

This has to be one of the reasons! When critics and skeptics like James, Jude and later Paul believe, it’s another reason for me to take the claims of Jesus seriously…

Why do you believe?