1 Corinthians 15:1-34 - Part B

Look at these post-resurrection appearances.

He was seen by Cephas. Remember Jesus? Thought that it was important that he had a special meeting with Peter after the resurrection. Peter, do you love me?

He asked him three times. He was restoring the apostle who fell. There had been much confusion among the Christians in Corinth, so the apostle Paul wrote to encourage and instruct them.

Today on Connect with Skip Heintze. Skip shares about the evidence Paul gave for Jesus' resurrection, explaining why you can trust in God's promises and power. But before we begin, we want to tell you about a resource that will inspire you to build even more unity with others in the church. The most recent U.S. Census revealed that our population is much more diverse than ever before. In fact, over the past 10 years, our multiracial population increased 276%, which presents new challenges.

Here's Skip Heintze. To say that this nation is divided would be a gross understatement, but I am not going to take sides politically. I am going to take sides morally and spiritually and biblically. I'm going to raise the conversation to a different level, to a higher level, to a biblical level, because the issue as I see it is not a skin issue as much as it's a sin issue. We want to help you understand this divisive issue from a divine perspective. When you give $20 or more today to this Bible teaching ministry, we'll send you Pastor Skip's booklet, The Church and Racism, plus his teaching featuring a conversation with Pastor Tony Clark.

Get these relevant resources today when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Okay, we'll be in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for today's study, so let's join Skip Heintze. Jesus' resurrection is the first fruits. That's a word he will use for the template for our physical resurrection.

One guarantees the other. So moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel. Gospel means the good news, which I preach to you, which you also received. I preached it, you heard it, you then received it, you internalized it, you made it your own, and in which you stand, by which also you are saved.

If you hold fast that word, which I preach to you, which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. Evidence number one for Jesus' resurrection, number one, the fact that there were believers in Corinth. That in this pagan city, there were some who believed the message that Paul preached, and in believing the message that Paul preached, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it totally transformed their lives. That's the first evidence, is the existence of Christians in Corinth, because he says, you also received it, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast that word to which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. So the fact that there are people in Corinth who believe the message of Christ, death, burial, and resurrection, which is the gospel, as you will see, that's the first line of evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. You believe the gospel, inherent in the gospel is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. You see, a dead savior can't save. A dead savior does no one any good. The idea that Jesus lived a good life, he was a good person, he taught some wonderful things, then he dead, he died, he's dead, and never came back. So what?

So what? That's a philosophy. That's not transformative. What is transformative is the guy who died got back up, which means he can conquer death. If he can conquer death, and by the way, he predicted that that was going to happen. No man takes my life from me.

I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down and take it again. Anybody that has the power to do that has the power to do anything else he promises.

So if he promises he can transform your life, then he can and he will if you let him. So that's the first line of evidence, the existence of Christians in Corinth. Evidence number two, the prediction of the resurrection found in the scripture. Verse two or verse three, for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received. When did Paul receive that? When did Paul receive the gospel?

First. Well, the Damascus road was his moment of transformation. He had heard from Stephen about Jesus, but when he really embraced the gospel was the Damascus road.

He received it. Then he spent three years in Arabia sort of working through the theological implications of that, internalizing it, before he went out and shared with the rest of the world. So he heard it, he received it, he was transformed by it. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The scriptures predicted the suffering of the Messiah. Isaiah 53, graphic detail, the suffering servant, actually the end of Isaiah 52 the rest and then Isaiah 53.

In graphic detail, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, by his stripes we are healed. Then you have Psalm 22, which uncannily describes death by crucifixion hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented by the Persians and adopted by the Romans. And you have a list of these things that are predicted in the scriptures.

So evidence number one changed lives in Corinth. Evidence number two fulfilled scripture from the old testament predicting the death of Jesus, the burial of Jesus, also Isaiah 53 says he would be buried along with the rich and then it says and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Now we have something interesting because you need to ask where exactly does the old testament predict the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day.

Well you could like Peter look at Psalm 16 that's what Peter did on the day of Pentecost he reached back to Psalm 16 quoting what David said in Psalm 16. David said you will not allow your holy one to see decay or corruption. And Peter makes the point that David wasn't talking about himself because he died and his tomb is here in Jerusalem and his body did decay. So when he said you won't allow your holy one to see decay Peter said he wasn't talking about himself he was talking about the son of David the ancestor of David Jesus the messiah who did not see decay he was in a tomb and rose again so he quotes Psalm 16 but still you don't have three days. Jesus himself goes back to the book of Jonah and announces beforehand for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale or the great fish three days and three nights the son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. So Jesus points to Jonah however there's nothing in Jonah that announces the burial and residing of Jesus or the messiah in the tomb for three days prior to a resurrection. But interesting in the prophet Hosea, Hosea said that God spoke through the prophets in similitude or in parables.

So that's why we believe and we believe that there are types in the old testament that are fulfilled in the new so let me let me throw something out at you. In Genesis chapter 22 there's the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac or almost sacrificing Isaac because the Lord said take now your son your only son Isaac to a place that I will show you a mountain that I will show you the mountain of Moriah and you will sacrifice him there for me. Now that's interesting wording because Abraham didn't have a single son and only son he had two sons he had Ishmael and then he had Isaac. So when God said take now your son your only son Isaac Abraham could have said pardon me God first of all your premise is all wrong I have two sons not one. But the point is God didn't recognize the son of the flesh the work of the flesh he only recognized the son of promise Isaac. But the wording is interesting take your only son sounds a lot like John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Take now your son your only son whom you love the very first time the word is of love is used in the bible it's used there in Genesis chapter 22. And it's remarkable because the first time in the bible the word love is used it's used of a father sacrificing his only begotten son on a certain mountain the mountain of Moriah. Fast forward a few thousand years Jesus was crucified on Calvary Golgotha mount Moriah. Okay so Abraham goes probably he's down in Hebron he goes toward mount Moriah which would become Jerusalem eventually and he sees the mountain afar off it says on the third day Abraham looked up and saw the mountain that he was to sacrifice his son what does that mean it means that for three days Isaac was dead in the mind of Abraham. Take your son your only son and kill him and he said okay I'll do it so he's taking his son and he travels to Moriah for three days for three days his son was dead to him he knew that he was going to kill his son. But Abraham had a little bit of a quandary didn't he because God promised him that true that son Isaac all of the promises of God would be fulfilled throughout history so if I kill him how is God going to fulfill the promise. Well the book of Hebrews answers that question. It says Abraham by faith took his son Isaac to sacrifice him and he took his son Isaac to sacrifice him supposing that God could and would raise him from the dead. So he's taking his son his son is dead to him and for three days he takes his son he's going to follow through he has the knife lifted up but by faith he believes I'm going to kill my son then God's going to resurrect him so he goes his son says dad we got the wood got the fire but where's the sacrifice listen to the answer of Abraham my son God will provide himself a sacrifice not provide for himself God will provide himself a sacrifice and then he says in the mountain of the lord it shall be seen that was a prophecy a prediction in the mountain of the lord mount mariah gogeth at calvary it was seen so once again back to first corinthians 15 he was he died he was buried according to the scripture and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures plural so line of evidence number one the resurrection of Jesus Christ saved people in Corinth number two the prediction of the scripture evidence number three post resurrection appearances Jesus appeared to people after he had risen verse five and he was seen by Cephas that is peter then by the 12 after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remained to the present but some have fallen asleep fallen asleep is the euphemism for death because the corpse looks like it's sleeping it's a nice way of saying they they kicked the bucket they died you know we say um we'll often say they passed on we want to soften like whatever happened to so and so oh he he died but if we say oh he passed on for some reason that's okay that's better than if you just say yeah he he carted he's dead you know he's he's he's horizontal now room temperature you know we we have to soften it and be nice and so they they did too they've fallen asleep and then verse seven after that he was seen by James then by all the apostles now that's eyewitness testimony post resurrection appearance eyewitness testimony if 500 people in Albuquerque saw somebody commit a crime if you have that many eyewitnesses well 512 and then 13 mean or you add all these up that's a sizable group for eyewitness testimony in a court of law anywhere in the world eyewitness testimony is the most powerful line of evidence so if you had 500 and so many people seeing a crime committed in Albuquerque do you think the person would would suffer the consequences go to jail or well maybe given our climate today we might side with the poor victim you know he's he got bit by a cat when he was 10 and you can't blame him for that and but in in normal sane times yes eyewitness testimony would be enough to seal the deal but but look at these post-resurrection appearances he was seen by Cephas remember Jesus thought that it was important that he had a special meeting with Peter after the resurrection Peter do you love me he asked him three times he was restoring the apostle who fell so he was seen by Cephas then by the 12 Jesus appeared to his disciples on the night of the resurrection and he had been walking on the road to Emmaus that evening he appeared just appeared in the room in his resurrected body to his disciples and said peace shalom and he saw them there when they were gathered together in the upper room then he was seen by over 500 at once of whom the greater part remained in the present but some have died but out of that group they're still around to tell the story after that he was seen by James there are two apostles that are named James there's James the brother of John the son of Zebedee they were in a fishing business together one of the close associates of Jesus Peter James and John were often with Jesus when the others weren't they had special access access there was also James the son of Alphaeus who was one of the apostles I don't believe either of them is the James Paul is talking about I believe the James that Paul is talking about is James the half brother of Jesus who became the head the leader of the early church in Jerusalem in acts chapter 15 so Jesus was born of a virgin conceived in the womb of Mary after Jesus was born Mary and Joseph had normal physical relations produced children Jesus had brothers and sisters half brothers half sisters one of them was named James James did not believe in Jesus John chapter 7 it says his brothers did not believe in him in fact they chided him and said you ought to go up to the feast show yourself nobody does these things in secret you know prove who you are because the footnote John says is that his brothers even his brothers did not believe so when did James believe when did he get converted right here the resurrection Jesus showed up hey Jimmy boy after the resurrection he showed himself to James and I believe it was the resurrection that brought the conversion of his half brother so he was seen by James so he was seen by James then by all of the apostles then last of all he was seen by me also so this is the fourth line of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ Paul said I saw him as well and he was the last to see him he was on the road to Damascus post resurrection and post ascension Jesus had already ascended into heaven and yet he makes an appearance a special appearance to Saul of Tarsus who becomes Paul the apostle Paul said I saw the resurrected Christ he looked up and he saw that bright light and he said who are you Lord not knowing it was Jesus because he didn't expect the resurrection he didn't believe Jesus rose he believed Jesus was dead and buried and decaying in a tomb in Jerusalem and he was out to hunt down and persecute maybe kill but at least in prison believers who had gone from Jerusalem to Damascus he was hunting them down because he said this is stupid they're believing in a guy who died he's not risen from the dead so he says who are you and the Lord answered I am Jesus what you are Jesus like you're still around I am Jesus whom you are persecuting now he realized he's alive so he appeared to me also as one born out of due time what a fascinating description of himself I was born just a little too late to be in the original lineup of the 12 maybe longing wouldn't it have been great to have known him in the flesh and to be discipled by him like those others for three and a half years I was born out of due time for I am the least of the apostles who am not worthy worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God there is really no reason why Saul of Tarsus should be converted he was a violent oppressor and a violent unbeliever but he was converted radically because of the resurrection so Paul he pulls that out he goes I have a personal stake in this I saw him interesting there was a lawyer years ago named Frank Morrison who made this statement he said he was an unbelieving attorney at the time and you know you get an unbelieving attorney and that's a force to be reckoned with I know we have some attorneys in the room tonight so I'm glad you're saved and and I hope you like me but Frank Morrison said there are two things that must be addressed to overturn the credibility of Christianity number one is the resurrection of Jesus and number two is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus those two things if you can overturn the credibility of the resurrection and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus you can explain those two radical things you could overturn Christianity he was an unbeliever and he sought to do exactly that through research he was going he was determined I'm going to debunk Christianity once and for all the idea of the resurrection that has to be done conversion of conversion of Saul has to be done in the process of his research he became converted he gave his life to Jesus and the name of his book that he was going to he was going to write this book proving that it didn't happen but he now wrote the book after that called Who Moved the Stone and it's a book on his discovery that Jesus is indeed who he claimed to be and his journey of faith in trying in compiling the evidence trying to overturn the resurrection and conversion of Saul and he said I couldn't do it I was faced with the evidence and now I either had to put it out of my mind to walk away or respond to it and I decided to respond to it and he was saved converted so happened to me I saw him the apostle born out of due time for I'm least of all the apostles I persecuted the church of God but I love this part but by the grace of God I am what I am now he's an apostle now he's a representative now he's a saved teacher of truth preacher of the gospel by the grace of God and let me just say you heard it tonight in our exhortation and worship the grace of God is what makes all the difference and no matter who you are what you've done where you've come from apply the grace of God to your life everything changes everything changes everything is different all things are possible if anyone is in Christ he's a new creation all things are passed away all things become new by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain but I labored more abundantly than they all yet he's kind of same than the other guy the other apostles yet not I but the grace of God which was with me that concludes Skip Heitzig's message from his series expound first Corinthians now here's Skip to share how you can keep this broadcast going strong connecting you and many others to the gospel I just want to say thank you thank you for being a faithful listener to connect with Skip it's thanks to the grace of God and generous folks like yourself that we're able to expand the reach of this radio program far and beyond what we would be able to achieve on our own and I want to invite you to help us reach even further so you and many more people can hear these bible-based teachings and experience the transforming power of God's word here's how to give a gift give us a call at 800-922-1888 to give a gift 800-922-1888 or give online at connectwithskip.com slash donate that's connectwithskip.com slash donate your support is vital to 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