WHY I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION

1 Corinthians 15:1-19

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was either the greatest event in human history or the greatest hoax of all time.

If Jesus Christ Did Not Rise From The Dead.

1. There Is No Resurrection For Us vs 12,18

2. All Preaching Is Empty & False vs 14-15

3. Faith Is Empty And Useless vs 14,17

4. There Is No Forgiveness For Sin vs 17

5. There Is No Hope - Only Misery vs 19

Why I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

* Some skeptics claim Christ never really died. - IE. Swoon Theory

- close to death – but revived by disciples

* Let’s Consider The Evidence

(a) Jesus refused to take the common pain-killing drug offered crucifixion victims.

- obvious agony and death cry - not befit man who is drugged.

(b) The heavy loss of blood indicates Jesus was dead.

- 5 Wounds - on cross from 9 am to sunset (Mark 25:25,42)

(c ) Jesus was heard to utter a death cry by those standing by

(d) Pierced in the side by soldiers - blood and water flowed out.

(f) Jesus Embalmed in about one hundred pounds of spices and bandages

(g) Pilate Inquired to Make Sure That Jesus Was Dead Before He Gave the Body to Joseph of Arimathea for Burial.

* Can be little doubt that Jesus did indeed die on the cross. No evidence to the contrary but the wishful thinking of those who deny the resurrection.

* There are more manuscripts of the New Testament Scripture than of any other record in ancient history.

- we are confident that modern archeological study textual examination have verified the reliability of the NT Scriptures that clearly teach the Resurrection of Christ.

* Tremendous advances in historical research and Biblical archaeology in the last century have given us strong evidence that the NT was written within 35 yrs or less of the events they describe.

- Since the records were written so soon after the death and resurrection of Christ - it would be impossible to distribute a blatantly false story about him while thousands of His followers and observers were still alive to dispute it.

- If one wanted to write a false story about President John Kennedy performing miracles and being raised from the dead 40 days after his assassination in Nov. 1963, one would have to do two impossible things:

(1) Get all the books and newspaper articles ever written and insert your counterfeit story.

(2) Convince millions of people still living who remember the days of JFK to accept the false accounts.

- Impossible to produce such a forgery when people who remember JFK are still alive.

* Liberal Scholars who suggest that NT was altered to introduce new doctrines and statements about Christ’s resurrection are proposing just such a ridiculous thing.

* I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead because I believe on the basis of scholarly evidence in the complete reliability of the NT scriptures.

Flavius Josephus - a Pharisee and priest living in Jerusalem.

Born in A.D. 37, following the death of Christ, he witnessed first-hand the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

-fought as a general of the Jewish rebel forces in Galilee in the war against Rome.

- captured by the Romans at the fall of the city of Jotapata

-became friends with the Roman general Vespasian.

As a historian, with access to both Roman and Jewish governmental records, he described the events in Israel during the turbulent decades of the first century.

-A.D. 94, Josephus published in Rome his definitive study of the history of the Jewish people called Antiquities of the Jews.

- One of the most fascinating passages in his important history concerned the events in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." - Josephus: The Complete Works (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), p. 577.

Josephus was a Jew writing to please the Romans. This story would not have pleased them in the slightest. He would hardly have included it if it were not true.

John - writes that when the soldier pierced Jesus’ side, blood and water came out.

Emery H. Bancroft asks, "Why is this told? Modern physiologists tell us that the physical explanation of this is that Jesus suffered from . . . ‘a broken heart.’ (Ruptured heart) . . . But John knew nothing of modern physiology.

Why did he insert a detail that has taken hundreds of years to explain?

Because he is recording things as they occurred and as he saw them.

- Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p. 141.

* I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because modern science verifies the message handed down to us from the Apostles.

* What to do with the empty tomb. That has always been a tricky question for sceptics.

* As soon as the disciples began to report His resurrection the authorities and sceptics have tried to come up with ways of explaining away the evidence. 2 such Theories:

(1) Unknown Tomb Theory

- Disciples didn’t know where the tomb was.

* Problem is it totally disregards the straightforward historical narrative surrounding Christ's burial and resurrection.

- Joseph of Arimathea - received permission to take the body to his own tomb (Matt. 27:57-60) and not to a common pit for those who were crucified.

- If the disciples didn’t know the location – Joseph of Arimathea did.

- It was his private tomb.

- Romans knew where it was – they posted guards.

(2) Wrong Tomb Theory

- Says when women went to the tomb Sunday – went to wrong tomb.

Krisopp Lake, initiator of this theory - says since many tombs in Jer. women simply picked wrong tomb.

"The women came in the early morning to a tomb, which they thought was the one in which they had seen the Lord buried. They expected to find a closed tomb, but they found an open one; and a young man . . . [who] guesses their errand, tried to tell them that they had made a mistake in the place. ’He is not here,’ said he, ’see the place where they laid him,’ and probably pointed to the next tomb."

(1) Women noted precisely where the tomb was because they planned to return on Sunday

(2) Evidence Does Not Support the Theory.

Claim young man said, "He is not here. See the place where they laid him."

- Completely ignores all 2 Gospel writers say,  "He is risen."

* Fact Is - The Tomb Was Empty.

- They made sure Jesus was dead.

- Every effort was made to secure the tomb

- All the evidence points to the fact that in the morning of the 3^rd day, the body was gone from the tomb.

* Empty Tomb - acknowledged by Jesus’ opponents, affirmed by Disciples.

- resurrection story and cover-up still repeated 30 years later.

- After 30 years they still had not found the body.

I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because there is no other reasonable explanation for the Empty Tomb.

I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because it is the only reasonable explanation for the condition of the grave clothes.

* There are a host of Eyewitness Accounts to the Resurrection.

Order of Appearances

(a) To Mary Magdalene and the other women as they returned from the sepulcher (Matt. 28:8-10; Mark 16:9-10; John 20:11-18).

(b) To Peter, before the evening of the day of the resurrection, but under circumstances of which we have no details (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5).

(c)To the two disciples, Cleopas and another, on the way to Emmaus, on the afternoon of the day of the resurrection (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-32).

(d) To the ten apostles, Thomas being absent, together with others whose names are not given on the evening of the day of the resurrection at their evening meal (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25; 1 Cor. 15:5).

(e) One week later, to all the eleven apostles, probably in the same place as the preceding appearance (Mark 16:14; John 20:26-29).

(f) To several of the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, while they were fishing (John 21:1-24);

(g) To the apostles and more than 500 brethren and James, the Lord’s half brother, on an appointed mountain in Galilee (1 Cor. 15:6-7);

(h) To those who witnessed the Ascension at Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:19; Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:3-12).

I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead because of the overwhelming evidence of eyewitness accounts.

* Pentecost had been celebrated for hundreds of years.

- every year Jews came from all across the world to celebrate.

- nothing earth-shattering ever happened.

* BUT On the Pentecost following the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - there was a dynamic upheaval in the religion and beliefs of a whole nation that soon spread to the entire known world.

* Something unusual - something miraculous -had taken place and that something was the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it changed the face of history.

* I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because at Pentecost the world was forever changed.

Charles Ryrie sees the changing of the day of worship as an effect caused by Jesus’ resurrection.

* I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because the reality of the Resurrection was so powerful in the lives of the early Jewish believers that they uniformly changed their day of worship to celebrate the resurrection.

* The church exists today because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

– The Early Christians could not be stopped because they held the firm belief that Jesus was alive. Everywhere they went, they testified to the Risen Lord. They were so powerfully persuaded that nothing would stop them.

* When told to stop preaching the resurrection – they would not stop. Even the leaders of their opponents felt that the movement would soon die out.

One of their leaders, Gamaliel stated:

* I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because the Church of Jesus Christ is a testimony of enduring faith founded upon the reality of the Resurrection.

* Perhaps the greatest evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the transformation in the lives of His disciples.

1. The Transformation of the Early Disciples.

Josh McDowell writes,

"Look at the life of James, the brother of Jesus. Before the resurrection he despised all that his brother stood for. He thought Christ’s claims were blatant pretension and served only to ruin the family name. After the resurrection, though, James is found with the other disciples preaching the gospel of their Lord. His epistle describes well the new relationship that he had with Christ. He describes himself as ‘a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ . . .’ (James 1:1). The only explanation for this change in his life is that which Paul gives: ‘Then He [Jesus] appeared to James . . .’ (1 Corinthians 15:7)." - Evidence that Demands a Verdict, p. 236.

Consider the transformation of Peter:

"In the hall of judgement when Jesus was on trial, Peter shrank and shivered at the pointed finger of a little maid . . . . But on the day of Pentecost and later, he shook his own finger in the face of the chiefest of the Jews and accused them of the murder of Jesus Christ, whom he acknowledged to be the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel. What changed this coward into a hero, this craven traitor into a brave and loyal supporter and adherent of the Christ of God? He had been with Jesus, the risen Christ, and that changed his cowardice for a courage that was adamant and strong." - Emery H. Bancroft, Christian Theology, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 141.

And then there’s doubting Thomas. When the other disciples told him that Jesus had appeared to them, Thomas did not believe. He said, "Except I shall see in his hand the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe (John 20:25). Then eight days later Jesus did make Himself know to him, and Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Thomas made an about-face after seeing his Lord risen from the grave and went on to die a martyr’s death.

According to the best records, every disciple except the Apostle John died for his faith.

** These men would not die for a lie. They believed in the risen Lord and they would not be shaken. The resurrection transformed their lives.

2. Transformed Lives Today

The disciples were so convinced about the reality of the resurrection that they were changed from a frightened, scared group of people into a fearless, indomitable band of witnesses. Despite threats, not one of the disciples changed his story about the resurrection. Tradition says that ten of the twelve apostles were martyred for their faith. In the first few centuries thousands of Christians were put to death for their belief that Jesus rose from the dead.

Do you think that people would willingly die for something that they believed was not true? Of course not. They willingly died because they were utterly convinced that Jesus was alive! And today, millions know and believe that Jesus is Alive.

* I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ because of the millions of lives transformed by the Resurrected Lord.

* The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ bodily from the grave is overwhelming.

Sir Lionel Luckloo - the flamboyant Guyanese Lawyer who died at age 83, was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most successful advocate, with 245 consecutive successful defenses in murder cases.

- " I spent over 42 years as a defence trial lawyer, I say unequivocally the evidence for the resurrection is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt."

When Jesus died on the cross, filled with fear, His disciples went into hiding, fearing for their very lives. It seemed that what Jesus started had come to an abrupt end. But Sunday morning changed all that. They witnessed the miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and they went from being cowards to mighty men of courage who died preaching the Risen Lord Jesus to the nations.

Most of them were Martyred for their faith in the Resurrection. They would not die for a lie, but they willingly laid down their lives for what they knew to be the truth.

They left everything behind and faced unimaginable abuse for this truth that they witnessed themselves: Jesus rose from the dead and He is Lord.

In addition to the disciples dying for this core belief: Jesus rose from the dead and is Lord; millions of Christians have joined them and continue to join them in death as martyrs for this same belief.

Underneath Rome lies some 900 miles of passageways where it is estimated that over 7 million Christians, executed for their faith, were buried. In 400 A.D these catacombs were buried and forgotten. In 1578 they were discovered by accident. Scratched into the walls of these catacombs there lies testimony that these people died for their belief in Jesus and his resurrection.

*And we today, though we have not seen the Risen Lord with our eyes, we believe the testimony of those who laid down their lives, and having examined the evidence, we affirm the truth that Jesus rose from the dead and He is Lord.

(Invitation)