Lasting Testimonies Concerning the Resurrection A Special EASTER Message 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

WHAT IS RESURRECTION (VS. WHAT IS NOT)? Resurrection is NOT resuscitation.  Resurrection is to come back to life from death with an immortal body that will never face death again. Resurrection is NOT spiritual survival.  The resurrection of Jesus was a bodily resurrection (so will each believer’s be). Resurrection is NOT about subjective truth.  The resurrection of Jesus was a historical event that can be verified as objective truth. Resurrection is NOT irrelevant to irreligious people.  The resurrection of Jesus changes EVERYTHING—the eternal destiny of EVERYONE depends on it!

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 1)Testimony #1: The Birth and Rise of the Christian Church 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you —unless you believed in vain. (vs.1-2)  The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation on which the Church stands.  Had there been no resurrection, there would have been no New Testament, and no Christian Church.  It was the central message of the gospel during the first century Church.

29 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses… 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2:29-32,36

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 2)Testimony #2: The Prophecies of the OT Scriptures 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (vs. 3-4)  Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 2)Testimony #2: The Prophecies of the OT Scriptures 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (vs. 3-4)  Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.  Jesus was buried in accordance with the Scriptures [the empty tomb is a historical evidence for the resurrection]. because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. Psalm 16:10 [NIV]

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 2)Testimony #2: The Prophecies of the OT Scriptures 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (vs. 3-4)  Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.  Jesus was buried in accordance with the Scriptures [the empty tomb is a historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus].  Jesus was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Hosea 6:2 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.“ John 2:19

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 3)Testimony #3: More Than Five Hundred Eye Witnesses 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (vs.5-7)  Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written only 20 years after the resurrection—which meant many of the eye witnesses were still alive.  People don’t die for hallucination or fabrication of facts— but so many of the Early Christians (i.e., eye witnesses) chose martyrdom for the Risen Savior!  Risen Jesus appeared to more than 500 people.

 Jesus’ appearances after the resurrection: 1.To Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18) 2.To the other women (Matt. 28:8-10) 3.To Cephas [Peter] (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5) 4.To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-35) 5.To eleven of the disciples—except Thomas (Luke 24:33- 49; John 20:19-24) 6.To the twelve a week later (John 20:24-29; 1 Cor. 15:5) 7.To seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-23) 8.To five hundred followers (1 Cor. 15:6) 9.To James (1 Cor. 15:7) 10.To the twelve at the ascension (Acts 1:3-12) 11.To Paul [then Saul] (Acts 9; 1 Cor. 15:8)

WHAT ARE THE LASTING TESTIMONIES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION? 4)Testimony #4: The Changed Lives of Jesus’ Followers 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (vs.9-11)  Paul’s transformed life was a fact due to his notorious persecution of the Church prior to his conversion.  The disciples who were once so afraid and deflated had been transformed into bold witnesses for Jesus.  Believers throughout the history also have experienced the transformation of the Risen Christ—even today, Jesus can transform your life inside out!

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed (v.11).

You Must Make Your Choice A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. - C. S. Lewis

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.Renew your hope and faith in YOUR RISEN SAVIOR WHO LIVES IN YOU.  Put your hope in Christ who lives in you.  Live by faith in Christ who loves you and gave himself for you. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 2.Share YOUR TESTIMONY concerning your Risen Savior& Lord.  Don’t keep the Good News of EASTER to yourself!  Live out your transformed life as a testimony.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 3.Believe IN JESUS CHRIST as your Risen Savior and Lord.  ADMIT: that you are a sinner.  BELIEVE: that Jesus died and rose again for your sin.  CONSIDER: the cost of following Jesus as your Lord as well as your Savior.  DO: receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord by faith.