They Were Never The Same
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Turn to Luke 1:1-4
This week I have taken some time to read the gospel accounts of our Savior’s death, burial, and resurrection.
At times, my heart has been moved with gratitude.
My soul has been encouraged to continue walking with the One who gave all for me.
And likewise, my mind has been challenged.
As I have read and meditated about that week in our Savior’s life, my thoughts have been drawn towards His disciples also. I’ve found myself thinking about them - what they experienced as He died, what they felt as their hopes and dreams were dashed, and what they said and thought as some of them walked the road to Emmaus.
Read slowly:
One thing is certain. As I compare the men who followed Jesus before the resurrection, with the same men who followed Jesus after the resurrection, this much is certain: They Were Never The Same!
Oh, yes, it was the same men! Except for Judas, the 11 disciples who followed Jesus before His death were the same 11 who followed Jesus after His resurrection!
Their names were the same!
Their personalities were the same!
But if you compare the men of the gospels with the men of the book of Acts and beyond, you can only reach one conclusion: Something changed them! Because They Were Never The Same!
There are several questions about them that I want you to consider today:
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How deeply were they convinced of the resurrection?
We live in a day where there is a lot of skepticism - and some of that is justified. Fake news abounds! AI generated content is taking over the internet!
And so some question what we are celebrating today - the resurrection of Christ.
It’s worth asking: did the disciples believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Or did they think it was a fairy tale?
Luke, a doctor by trade, tells us that…
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Jesus’ resurrection was something they most surely believed - Luke 1:1
As Luke begins his letter to Theophilus, Luke says that everything about which he was going to write were things that were “most surely believed.”
The disciples were convinced! This wasn’t fake news! This wasn’t AI generated content! This was undeniable historical fact!
The Jewish leadership knew it!
The local Roman rulers knew it!
The disciples that followed Jesus knew it and their lives were never the same because of it!
Jesus’ resurrection was something they most surely believed.
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Jesus’ resurrection was something they knew with certainty - Luke 1:4
Read Luke 1:3-4
To summarize Dr. Luke, he said, “I decided to write this letter so that you would know the undisputed truth of what you’ve been taught.”
Luke was willing to go on the record for this. He was writing what he considered undoubted fact. He was going to give Theophilus the dates, names, addresses, and phone numbers of the people involved so that he could check it for himself. That’s how certain the disciples were of the resurrection.
This leads me to my next question:
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What convinced them of the resurrection?
Since the disciples were so sure of it, it’s worth asking: why? What made the disciples so convinced that Jesus rose from the dead?
If the evidence convinced the ones who lived then, it should be enough to persuade us who live 2000 years later.
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Jesus’ resurrection was evidenced by many infallible proofs - Acts 1:1-3
Turn to and read Acts 1:1-3
Did you catch what Luke mentions in passing as he begins this second letter to Theophilus?
He said that after Jesus suffered, He showed Himself alive “by many infallible proofs”
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Infallible: that which is surely and plainly known; unquestionable evidence
Luke was saying that the evidence for the resurrection was sufficient to pass in a court of law. It met and surpassed a high standard!
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Jesus’ resurrection was verified by many witnesses - 1 Corinthians 15:3-7
Turn to and read 1 Corinthians 15:3-7
In most modern courts (like in the United States), there is no specific number of witnesses required to prove a case.
One credible, reliable witness can be enough. Quality over quantity is what matters.
I’m no lawyer, but I’m sure it helps your case when you can call more than 500 people to the witness stand who will testify that what you’re saying is true!
These are the things that convinced the disciples of the resurrection! Not only were they convinced by many infallible proofs, but so were hundreds of others! They saw the risen Lord also!
Here’s a fascinating little detail. Paul mentions James in verse seven.
Who was James? He was one of Jesus’ younger siblings. Jesus’ brothers and sisters rejected Him during His earthly ministry. But after His resurrection, something changed! They were never the same!
One Christian apologist writes,
How is this to be explained? On the one hand, it seems certain that Jesus' brothers did not believe in him during his lifetime. On the other hand, it is equally certain that they became ardent Christians, active in the church. Jesus' crucifixion would only confirm in James' mind that his elder brother's Messianic pretensions were delusory, just as he had thought.
Many of us have brothers. What would it take to make you believe that your brother is the Lord, so that you would die for this belief, as James did? Can there be any doubt that the reason for this remarkable transformation is to be found in the fact that "then he appeared to James"? Even the skeptical New Testament critic Hans Grass admits that the conversion of James is one of the surest proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. - William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, Christian Truth and Apologetics, pg 380
This leads us to our most important question:
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What did the resurrection motivate them to do?
It’s obvious that these were changed men.
After the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit…
Fishermen were turned into preachers.
Unbelief was turned into miracle-working faith.
Unlearned and ignorant men were turned into rhetorical defenders of Christ.
Again I ask,
What did the resurrection motivate them to do?
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It motivated them to bold obedience - Acts 4:13
Turn to and read Acts 4:13
The high priests saw it! The Jewish rulers, elders, and scribes saw it! These were the same guys who had been with Jesus, but they were changed men! They were different in that they boldly followed their Lord’s commandments!
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Application: Christian, be bold in your faith!
Be bold in lovingly telling others about Jesus.
Be bold in living a set apart, righteous life! It’s okay to be different! It’s good! I’ll even say, it’s biblical! Who wants to look like, act like, or be like our corrupt society anyway? Why would we try to be like the unsaved? Why would we let them set the standard? Be different!
It was obvious that these men were different from the sanctimonious Jewish culture around them! It was obvious that they had been with Jesus!
Christian, it is time that we grow weary with being just like the rest of America! It is time that we start being good ambassadors of our risen Savior! What kind of Jesus are you representing to the lost souls around you? Are you showing them a Jesus that is just like them? Because if so, they’re going to be wondering what’s so special about Him!
What motivated the disciples to be so different from their world? They served a risen Savior, and they wanted to obey His every command!
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It motivated them to travel the world preaching the gospel - Acts 1:8
Read Acts 1:8
Did you catch what He said? Did you hear our Savior’s mandate? It was pretty ambitious. “Be witnesses unto me in…”
Jerusalem.
Judea.
Samaria.
Uttermost part of the earth.
The amazing part is…they did it! Read the book of Acts. They did it. They fulfilled the mandate to the letter. They went all over the world preaching the gospel and planting local churches.
They believed that everyone needed to know about the risen Christ.
Application: Christian, what does the resurrection motivate you to do? Or are you unwilling to follow our Savior’s mandate?
Go tell someone about Jesus who is alive!
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It motivated them to smile through suffering - Acts 5:41
When I worked at Walmart as a driver coordinator, I found that a lot of drivers would come in the office having just come from a stressful day out on the road. Sometimes they came in having avoided a near collision. Sometimes they came in, having just had a bad experience at a vendor or a store. I know it didn’t happen every time, but I tried to greet them with a smile. A few gave me a nickname of “smiley” and I was okay with that.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
I try to be a person who smiles a lot. Very simply, I find it’s one of the ways I can be different from our world because people don’t smile very much. Maybe it’s because they don’t have a lot of reason to.
But I do. I serve a risen Savior.
It seems the disciples smiled too.
Read Acts 5:41
You know, it’s one thing to smile when life is going well, but smiling through suffering? That’s not normal. You don’t smile through suffering unless you’ve got an unusual reason to smile. The disciples had a reason - Jesus was alive! They rejoiced when they were insulted and treated unfairly for His name’s sake!
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God as they were chained in the Philippian jail.
Peter wrote a 1 Peter and encouraged the Christians to rejoice when they were partakers of Christ’s sufferings!
Application: Christian, how about we do a little smiling through our suffering?
“Okay, Pastor Tim, I will smile through gritted teeth.”
No, that’s not what I mean. I mean truly rejoicing that the Lord counts you worthy of suffering for His name.
When a family member mocks you for being a Christian
When a coworker has a vendetta against you for being a Christian
When someone you love rejects your message of hope and salvation
Smile, Christian! Weep for them, but smile through your suffering! Christ has counted you worthy of His name! What an honor!
Our question: what did the resurrection motivate the disciples to do?
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It motivated them to a martyr’s death - Acts 12:2
James and John were the sons of Zebedee, two of the most prominent among the twelve disciples. James was the first of the disciples to be martyred.
Why would he throw his life away like that?
Why didn’t he run away?
Why didn’t he fight back?
He was motivated by the resurrection of the Lord. Death was not much of a terror when it was the way to Heaven’s gates.
There’s a congregational song that we’ve sung here a few times and we’ll be singing it again soon. It’s entitled, “In God We Trust, In God Alone.” It’s a call to be salt and light in America, but the final verse strike a somber tone. It says,
If persecution soon will come,
Help me to stand if all alone.
And though my life He may call forth,
God’s kingdom is not of this earth.
Chorus (Refrain):
In God we trust, in God alone.
We put our faith in Him who sits on heaven’s throne.
Though men of earth will rise and fall,
Our only hope is in the Lord of all.
In God we trust, In God alone.
Application: Christian, because of the resurrection, the disciples were willing to be martyred for their faith.
Now, it’s not fair of me to ask if you would be willing. I’m not sure we can really answer that question until we’re faced with that reality, but here’s my word of caution: don’t dismiss the possibility of such a thing either.
Don’t be flippant in assuming you would die for Christ. Don’t be so foolish as to think it could never happen here.
Jesus laid down His life for you. Quietly think about the prospect of laying down your life for Him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
From Jerusalem, those eleven men fanned out across the world, telling others that Jesus was alive! It was a reality they believed with every fiber of their being - one they refused to recant, even at the point of a sword.
What convinced them?
Many infallible proofs, and the testimony of hundreds of other eyewitnesses.
The resurrection motivated them in such transformative ways that their lives thereafter can best be summed up in this way: They Were Never The Same.
Christian, this Resurrection Sunday, determine that you will not be the same either, because the resurrection of our Lord calls you - indeed it demands of you - a transformed life that is never the same.
