Rev. Jim Lyons_Easter Sunday_'Resurrection Proofs'_5th Apr 26

The Bible Reading for this morning's sermon is 1 Corinthians 15 v 1-11

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We're going to turn for our Bible reading and to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And if you've noticed the banner outside the church, it's been there for quite a few years, but it's in your form. And it's always based on the verses in this chapter. Well, only some of them. And so we thought we would look at this this morning. First Corinthians 15, and we read from verse 1 through to the end of verse eleven. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received in which you stand and in which you stand, by which also you were saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, then after he was seen by five h over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then last of all he was seen by me also, as one by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, and by the grace of God I am what I am, and by this his grace toward me was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Amen. We look to the Lord for his blessing upon his word this morning. Just a short prayer. More about Jesus, let me learn. More of us holy will discern. Spirit of God, my teacher be showing the things of Christ to me. And we pray for Christ's sake. Amen. When buying a product online, we generally compare various sites to get the best, the cheapest product. Although the validity of some has been questioned, we do read the reviews and we depend a fair bit upon the reviews. These are people's opinions based upon their personal use of the product we're seeking to purchase. Such reviews can either persuade you or discourage you from making that purchase, because we rely a lot upon the testimony of others. So when we come to look at the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we notice that he appeared on several occasions, which give us many testimonies and evidence to the risen Christ. Lee Strouble, an investigative journalist, said that without question, the amount of testimony and corroboration of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances is staggering. He went on to say, to put it into perspective, if you were to call each one of the witnesses to a court of law to be cross-examined for just fifteen minutes each, and you went round the clock without a break. He said it would take you from breakfast on Monday, Monday until dinner on Friday to hear them all. They said after listening to 129 straight hours of eyewitnesses' testimony, you could pass how could you ever possibly walk away unconvinced? He went on to say having been a legal affairs journalist who has covered scores of trials, both criminal and civil, I had to agree with the assessment of Sir Edward Clark, a British High Court judge who conducted a thorough legal analysis of the First Easter. He said, To me the evidence is conclusive. And over and over again in the High Court, I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling. As a lawyer, I accept the gospel evidence unreservedly as the testimony of truthful men to the facts that they were able to substantiate. So this morning we turn to 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul sets out his defense of the resurrection of Christ. Why did he need to do that? Well, he needed to do it because Corinth was a Greek city, and the Greeks didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead. And we can see an example of that in Acts chapter 17, when Paul is preaching in the city of Athens, and he mentions the resurrection, and those who heard him laughed at him. This attitude then obviously has been filtering into the church, causing great doubt and confusion. Therefore, we read in verse 12 how he says, How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? So Paul faces this problem head on, and in this first section, he presents three great proofs to assure the believers that Christ is truly risen. The salvation of the church, the focus of the scriptures, and the testimony of the witnesses. So, first of all, we consider the salvation of the church. Gone a wee bit farther, but that's okay. Don't worry. Paul turns for his first piece of evidence to the church because the church is a living reality that the Lord Jesus is alive. Paul says here in verse 1 that when I first came to Corinth, he says, I came with the gospel. Moreover, brethren, are he clear to you, the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, and in which you stand. It is the dynamite of the gospel, he says, that has transformed your lives, and that has made you the people you are today. Not the people you once were, but the people you are today. You have heard from me the message of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension. You have received it, and you stand complete in it, and it is this message of the gospel of the risen Christ that makes you the living church today. And that is what the church is. They are a living proof of the resurrection of Jesus. Not talking about the building, not talking necessarily about everybody who comes to the building, but those individual people who have rested their faith in Jesus Christ alone, upon his death and glorious resurrection for their salvation, not referring to anything they have done, not relying upon their background or their connections, but simply personal trust in what the gospel is, in what Jesus did for us there upon the cross. And I trust that finds you as part of the church today. You could be in this building and not be part of the church at all. You could be committed to the congregational building in the town, but not committed to the Christ who inhabits the lives of all of the true church of Christ. So Paul says that you, the church, are the living proof of the resurrection of Jesus. And the fact that you, he says, are persevering here in verse 2, the fact that you are persevering unto this day is proof that you are true believers. Holding fast, maybe I'll read verse 2 again, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in Vien. Holding fast, therefore, is not a condition to you keeping your salvation, but a proof that you truly are saved, because some people do believe in Vienna. People can give a mental assent to truth. But they have if they have never had that inner transformation by the Spirit of God through the gospel, they believed in Vienna. The fact he says that you're holding fast, you're keeping going on, is proof that you're saved. I was reading this morning, little magazine from Trans World Radio, and obviously focusing on the country of Nigeria, and I was reading about a girl and uh who had trusted the Lord Jesus as her savior from an Islamic background, and she was sharing the difficulties in her home life, the persecution she'd received, the awful threats that have been placed upon her, but you said, amidst it all, I'm still going on, still going on, holding fast, holding fast.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Have you trusted in Christ today? Holding fast to Christ, that proof that you're saved.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Paul points to the church and the salvation of his members as the first evidence for the resurrection. Because how else can you explain the church? How do you explain the conversion, the transformation in individuals' lives if Christ is not raised from the dead? The bottom line is that if there is no resurrection, there will be no church. End of story. The Lord Jesus will be branded a fraud. His disciples, of course, will be scattered. They would never have been united and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the church would never have been formed because at the heart of it all is the resurrection of Jesus. The historian, is it Lateret, Lattere? I don't know how you pronounce his name. Anyhow, he said, it was the conviction of the resurrection of Jesus which lifted his followers out of the despair into which his death had cast him, and led to the perpetuation of the movement begun by him. But for their profound faith, profound belief that the crucified had risen from the dead, and that they had seen and talked with him, the death of Jesus, and even Jesus Himself would probably have been all but forgotten. If the resurrection didn't happen, we would just be a bunch of orthodox religionists coming to do their own thing, going through the motions, but void of any spiritual life. In fact, we probably wouldn't even be here at all. I know I certainly wouldn't be here. If the Lord Jesus had not come and transformed my life, I wouldn't be here. I think I would be in the grave. I really do. I think alcohol would have killed me. But he did. In fact, we wouldn't be here at all. And this would be possibly another green site. Well, hard to imagine a green site nowadays in towns on the North Coast, isn't it? It would be some kind of housing scheme. We would have no joy of forgiveness, no assurance of acceptance before God, no peace for a guilty conscience. But thank God we are here today because of the resurrection, and from its inception, the church has been folding fast to this great truth. And Paul makes it clear here that the church is the living proof, and every individual believer is proof to the resurrection of Christ. The very fact that the church itself, despite the setbacks and disappointments, and despite all the persecution and hostility thrown against it, the fact is it's not a museum piece. In some places there's decline, but it's not a museum piece. It's not finished with because Jesus said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And whatever Satan throws at the church, the church will prevail. Yes, a building here and a building there may close. Maybe a congregation may dwindle here and there, but overall and above all, the church as a whole, a united company of people who know Jesus Christ will prevail. Because Jesus said so, and it's based upon him who is living after the power of an endless life. So the first proof is the salvation of the church, and you need to make sure you're part of the church. You need to make sure that you have personally committed your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're part of the church. Secondly, is the focus of the scriptures, verse three and four. Paul begins here in verse, he says, verse three, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received. The words first of all mean first by the way of importance. So he says, This is the prominent issue I receive from the Lord. So it doesn't take a very IQ, high IQ to know that Paul came onto the scene after the death and after the resurrection of Jesus. He was converted, Acts 9, on the Damascus road. But after not that, the scriptures refer to another significant time in his Christian experience. He went to Ribia, as mentioned in Galatians 1, verse 17. During this time of solitude, he received from the Lord what he ought to preach. And of course, we believe he received from the Lord the instruction about the Lord's Supper. Paul unfolds now what he received from the Lord in verses 3 to 4. He says in verse 3, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And Paul reminds us that the death of Christ wasn't an afterthought. It was foretold because of Scriptures, of course, is the Old Testament scriptures. His death on the cross was in the divine plan according to God's word. This was the gospel message Paul preached and believed with all his heart, and at the center of it, he believes, is the death of Christ. Therefore, in chapter 1, verse 22 and 23, he said, the Jews request a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But he says, Let them do what they will. We preach Christ crucified. And we must never veer from that. That's the message, that's the heart of the gospel, that's the heart of our hope, is the death of Christ. Because there is no other merit before God, only what Jesus Christ has done. And I don't care if you try to live a good life from here till you die, that will merit you nothing. It's only upon what Jesus Christ has done. Those scriptures were, of course, the Old Testament scriptures, and Paul believed from those scriptures that Jesus' death was a saving death. He died for our sins. And they pointed out to his death to him that Jesus gave himself for us. Wherever you go in this point in the Old Testament, you have to include Isaiah 53, where it says the prophet said, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. Therefore, Paul says, based upon this foundation, Christ died for our sins. The sacrificial system was incomplete and insufficient, unsufficient because the offerings were ongoing and could never take away sins. They found their fulfillment in Jesus, who John the Baptist said that he would come and he would take away the sins of the world. He would offer himself once for all. His offering would be complete, it would be satisfactory in relation to sin. In this second proof, being the focus upon the Old Testament scriptures, Paul refers us to the death of Christ, as you can't have a resurrected Lord without the death of the Messiah. This was set out in the Old Testament through sacrificial system and prophecies. This therefore was not an accident, but something carefully planned and of course executed under the control of God. Then in verse 4, still focusing upon the Old Testament scriptures, Paul said, and that Jesus was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Paul says that Jesus was buried, and all the four gospel accounts, you know, it doesn't just say he died and he rose. They really stressed his burial in every gospel account, which refers to his death as a fact. They carefully set out how Joseph of Arimathea sought permission to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. Then they set down before us how his body was taken with the help of Nicodemus, the man who came to Jesus by night. It was then prepared for burial and laid in Joseph's own new tomb and sealed with a stone. Also, they tell us that the women were watching and observed where he was laid. Maybe they thought the men just couldn't do it right. Maybe they just wanted to put the fear up the men to make sure they did do it right. But they were watching. They wanted to come back, of course, and do their bit. Jesus died for our sins, he was buried. And if he had been an ordinary person, well, that's it over. Nothing more to say. He's died, and that's the end of it. But there was more to it. As Jesus talked with two disciples after his crucifixion, who were returning from the cross back to their village, he said to them, Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? And then two months there's Lord. There's more. Well the Jimmy Cricket is in there's more. He's always in, and there's more, and there's more. Hey, there's more.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

This is not Muhammad, this is not Elvis Presley. All those people have died. They didn't defeat death. But Jesus says there's more. So he spoke to those people from the Old Testament about himself, Luke 24 says.

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He spoke from the Pentateuch, which is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. He spoke from the prophets, and he also in that chapter spoke from the Psalms. He explained that his death and resurrection were foretold. And then he leaves them to join the dots. So we can draw a line from Psalm 16, verse 9 to 11. Where there it says, and David is prophesying, My flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in the abode of the dead, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life, and your presence or this fullness of joy, and at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore. And recently our studies in Acts we saw how Peter made the connection. In the sermon in Acts 2, when he speaks of God's predetermined plan regarding Jesus, and he applies it to the Messiah. David was prophesying and pointing forward to the Lord Jesus, who would die, but his body would not decay like others, but be raised to life. Peter says this is not fanciful thinking, and he sets it out clearly in Acts 2. It's a little lengthy, but it's worth reading. Let me speak freely to you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his body, according to his flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Also you will discover through the gospel accounts in Matthew chapter twelve, the Lord Jesus spoke about the prophet Jonah. And he said, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the wheel's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And so Paul says the proof is focusing upon the scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures, and Jesus did it. And when you go further into 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, Paul refers to the Lord Jesus risen as the first fruits, which comes from the feasts of Israel in Leviticus 23. The first fruits were to be offered on the day after the Sabbath following the Passover. So the Sabbath being the seventh day makes the feast the first day of the week. The Passover points us to the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God crucified for us. The Sabbath speaks of rest. He finished the work he came to do. He committed himself unto the Father, and on Saturday his body lay at rest in the tomb. The first fruits on the first day of the week point us to the resurrection of Jesus. So Paul clearly makes the connection between this Old Testament offering and the resurrection, a signpost pointing forward to Christ. So Paul says the church, individual people who have trusted in Jesus, they are a living proof of the resurrection. The Old Testament scriptures, they testify to the resurrection of Christ. And Paul knows that if he wants to defend his case for the resurrection, he must stand on the rock of Holy Scripture. And it clearly presents a suffering Messiah who would die but be exalted and glorified. God has laid great emphasis upon the scriptures because it's through them that we have the big picture of what God has planned for his son. That this something that just did not happen, God's back was not against the wall. This happened way back in eternity past. He is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. And in the mind and purposes of God, his will was set, and the plan was set forth through the Word of God. Therefore, to disregard the Old Testament as irrelevant in your Bible reading, you're making an absolute massive mistake. You're making a mistake because you're not seeing the whole painting. You're not seeing the whole picture. It shows us that he thinks of everything he has organized and is active in putting those plans into motion. It is from the big picture of Scripture that we see God's plan for his son, God's plan for this world, and God's plan for our lives as well, which causes us to rejoice because it's God's big picture, and that's what gives us hope. That's what gives us encouragement in the little details of our lives. So Paul says, there's the proof, the scriptures. Christ died for our sins. And these New Testament writers are filled with this stuff. The death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. That's why they're persecuted. That's what they're told to shut off about. That's what they're told not to preach about. Christ and Christ's resurrection. And if Jesus did not rise, Paul says, We're of all people most miserable. If the Lord Jesus did not rise, we have no message to give to you. We have no hope for the future. It's all based in the resurrection of Jesus. Very quickly, just mention the testimony of the witnesses, verses 5 to 12. Paul or Luke tells us in the beginning of Acts that the Lord Jesus showed himself alive after his suffering by many infallible and unmistakable proofs. And he was seen by them, by the witnesses. And he tells us about them. He tells us Peter's there in verse 5. If anybody didn't deserve to see the risen Christ, it was Peter. He denied the Lord. And the last time he did it, he was weeping bitterly because of what he had done. What a wonderful display of the grace of God. That God came to Peter. And when the woman went to tell the disciples, don't forget to tell Peter. And the message was given to Peter, the Lord Jesus is risen from the dead. And we are what we are, Paul said, by the grace of God alone. And I do not deserve it, and I'm sure you do not deserve it. If you think you deserve God's salvation, well you haven't got it. You haven't got it. You'll never get it because you deserve it. You'll get it because you don't deserve it. And you know that he's done it all for you. He mentions the twelve in verse 5. Obviously, there weren't twelve at this stage. Judas is gone. And when Jesus appeared to the disciples in the first time, which we'll look at tonight in John 20, Thomas was absent. But the twelve is a ref reference term for the disciple group, not necessarily about a certain number. So Peter saw him, and the disciples saw him, and five hundred brethren at once saw him. Verse 6. Scatters will say the disciples were hallucinating. They were having nothing more than a dream. But how could five hundred believers hallucinate? They're all there. Paul says to them, Look, some of these people are still alive. You got a problem with this? You think I'm a head case? You go talk to them. You know, they're still alive, some of them. Go and ask them. Why would they make a pact to spread lies that would benefit them nothing but persecution? James verse 7. He is there. Most believe this was the brother of Jesus, one of Mary and Joseph's children. Cross references if you have time to look at them. Matthew 13, 55 56, Mark 6 3. The account of them in the gospels is one clearly of unbelief. You'll get that in John 7 5. This is very likely the meeting with Jesus that changed him. And through his testimony, the rest of his brothers, therefore in Acts 1 14, we find them gathered together in prayer. James wasn't a good choice to go around spreading news that wasn't true. If he was a skeptic before, he would be an even bigger one now. Because if Jesus didn't rise and didn't appear to him, he would have gone and joined Saul's crusade in persecuting believers. Surely he was truly sorry for his unbelief. It humbled him. And you get a note of that at the beginning of his epistle, James, a bond servant of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is the last one, verse 8 to 10. He sees himself as the least of all the apostles, and yet today many see him as the greatest. He says, I'm not worthy because of what I've done. He says at the beginning I didn't believe that Christ was risen. In fact, I so opposed him and engaged in persecution against those who did. But Ma he said it all changed one day. One day along that road it changed. And my life was turned around and set in a direction that I could never ever have contemplated. But I met with Christ and He changed me. And I'm going preaching the message at once. I condemn. And you know God can change you. God can turn you around. God can change your life and give you a hope that you never dreamed of, give you a new beginning that you never thought was possible. He can change you, he can turn you around and set you in a direction that is a way that you never thought was possible that you could tread. Because it's a wonderful thing that God done. And Paul said it is by the grace of God alone. He finishes in verse 11 by saying, you know, it doesn't really matter who the preacher is, because we're all united in our testimony of the gospel that Christ died and rose again. Christ died for our sins. And Christ rose according to the scriptures. So we gather today not because it's a good thing to do, not because it's a respectable thing to do. The bulk of people in this place gather today because they have a living relationship with Jesus Christ. That He has changed them and He has set their hearts upon Him, upon His will for their lives. And that transformation has come because living He loved us. Dying He saved us and buried He carried our sins far away. Rising He justified freely forever. One day He's coming. Oh glorious, that day. Make sure you're ready. For when He comes again. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today. Thank you for the privilege we have to read it and think about it. Blessed we pray by your Spirit into our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.