chapter fifteen first corinthians fifty we've been speaking on the first epistle of corinthians for many months but we're getting into the very important chapter we've been in the two or three lord's days already first corinthians Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how 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. That he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained unto this present. But some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. But I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I. But the grace of God which was with me, therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believe." Here we are at the most sensational event in history, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're likely to be on it this Sunday and next Sunday and the following Sunday. What a remarkable event this is and what. Wonderful to talk about the cross of Christ the Bible does. But as wonderful as the cross, if it had stopped there, The world never could be saved. Something had to follow the cross. That is the resurrection of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross itself stands alone. But when Christ rose again from the dead, this was the greatest event in the history of the world. How wonderful is the story of the resurrection? is declared in this chapter fifteen. You see its authority and its power. Paul faithfully preached it. And there are some wonderful things here. It says, by which ye are saved. How wonderful the gospel is. How sweet the gospel is. It's good news. It's glad tidings. And he says, by this you're saved. Really saved. And he said, in this he stands, and so you're secure. The gospel is sweet, the gospel saves, and the gospel makes you secure. Isn't that a wonderful message to proclaim? The receiving and the believing is the same act. When you receive Christ, it's just the same as believing, fully and holy, and what He did for you upon the cross. And all this is substantiated by Scripture. It tells you that in verses three and four, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, Paul is telling them something that he had experienced. He wasn't telling them something he learned at a theological seminary, no, or no Bible school. He was telling them something that he had experienced. That was, first of all, on the Damascus Road. He was already a very well-educated man. But his experience of salvation and new birth was the main thing, the main thrust in his message. He knew the power of this resurrection, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. And so the Apostle is now telling them something that he knew. I noticed something this week I was reading, and this gentleman said, that he had taken just about all the Bible correspondent courses of the Emmaus Bible School in Chicago. And he said, I heard two men discussing the resurrection and the Holy Spirit. And he said, I had all this down pat, he said. And so he said, I got with these two men and tried to straighten them out. And he said, I believe it is. And he said, a few hours after, take them home to me. What a hypocrite you are. You're telling about the resurrection, about the work of the Holy Spirit, and you don't know yourself that you're going to heaven. And he wrote the letter, and I have it on my desk. He said, What a revelation it was to me that I was talking about something I didn't know experimentally in my own heart. Yes, that's possible. Many of those who have been saved after he went to Bible school. Many a man been freed and then saved while he was preaching. My mother used to tell me time and time again, a little man she knew in England. Well, that's where we came from originally. And how he got saved while he was preaching. And in his audience was a wonderful Christian character by the name of Billy Bray. He was tight and eccentric, very emotional man, always saying, Hallelujah, praise the Lord. And this Sunday he was sitting in the audience. And he had noticed for months that there was something lacking in the preacher. He had it down, theoretically. He was a good auditor and a fine personality. And all of a sudden, while the preacher was preaching, his face lit up and Billy Bray hollered out, Hey, the Lord, the preacher got saved. And so he did. And his preaching was different from then on. There was a power. There was a grip to it. So Paul is saying, now I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received. And I couldn't tell you this morning how to be saved if I hadn't had the experience myself. At the age of nineteen, up in Stratford, Ontario, sitting beside my father in the kitchen of our home, he pointed me to Christ. And a peace came into my heart that I never had before, and I've never been without sin. I knew I was saved and on the way to heaven. How wonderful to speak from experience. And then he goes on, Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, not according to my feelings. My feelings had nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ dying on the cross, nor being raised again in verse four, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. How do we know he rose from the dead? How do we know he was crucified? Because the Scriptures tell us that. The Word of God tells us this. And this is what we've got to go by, the Word of God, because we're born again by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. I know that our historians, and they have given pretty accurate accounts of what happened nineteen hundred years ago. But we cannot rest upon historians. Josephus, that great Jewish historian. He pictures the person of Christ, and he takes up the subject of hell. It would almost make you tremble in your shoes, but he was not a Christian. I have his book in my library. And so it's nice to know that we're resting out all for eternity upon God's precious word. How do I know Jesus Christ died? And how do I know he died for me, according to the Scriptures? How do I know he was buried and raised the third day, according to the Scriptures? The Old Testament Scriptures forecast that. And we have all the New Testament, and the New Testament is the story of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ had not risen, we wouldn't have a New Testament. The New Testament is the story of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful that is. And so it's according to the Bible, and Paul is bringing that out, and Christ substantiates it. He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that set me past everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment that is passed from death unto life. That's what Christ said, and that's the way you get saved. Christ says, me and my word. And so the Bible is what we go by. And Paul here is substantiating the resurrection by the word of the living God. Three things are very definite in this passage, and that is the death of Christ or the cross, his burial, and his resurrection. He conquered death and the grave. This is fully proven in these first eleven verses. Notice that word must five times in verses four to seven. And that, here that is that word that, and that he was buried, and that he rose again, the third day according to the scripture, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, and that he was seen of about five hundred brethren at once, And verse seven, and daddy was seen of me, three times over, and daddy was seen, and daddy was seen, and daddy was seen. How dogmatic, how empathic, how convincing is the Apostle Paul when he's taking up the subject of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are six references here. You could include seven, although our name's not mentioned. That's Mary Magdalene. Seven witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. all together there are fourteen i'm not going into some of the others we may mention that next week but we have right in this passage the apostle is referring to seven and there are four others because there are two or three instances when christ appeared time when he appeared with thomas and he was absent and then he appeared eight days later when he was present well the bible doesn't mention the one about him being present or nor the women over in Matthew twenty eight so there are some references to the resurrection of Christ visible resurrections that are not recorded but he does record these here in this passage and you'll notice there's something very interesting about these appearing of the Lord Jesus as to the spheres now the first one was in a garden and it was in that garden that cold bleak morning when Mary She wouldn't leave that sepulchre. She went early that morning. She knew he had been crucified. She knew he had been buried. Why was she there? Oh, there was someone in that tomb, in that sepulchre, that she owed her salvation to. He had cast a demon. But here she was, a happy woman. And her heart was there. where that man was dead, and she saw him. For when he appeared, she supposing him to be the gardener, said, Where have you laid him? Tell me, and I'll carry him away. You, Mary, carry away a full-grown man, possibly, a hundred and eighty, ninety pound, dead weight, and you, a fair woman, how could you carry it? Loved and carry great load. Tell me, where have they laid him? I'll carry him away. He says, Mary. Just one word, Mary. Ah, his voice hadn't lost his resonance. She heard it before he died. It sounded the same afterwards. And when he said, Mary, she said, Rabona, Master, ah, yes, he's alive. And evidently this is where one of the other disciples saw him at the grave, in the garden. A lovely garden, isn't it? The garden where he rose from the dead. Another time he appeared unto them was at the High on the highway in Luke twenty-four. Here are two of the disciples, hopeless, frustrated. They're walking together. and they're talking about what had happened, they had hoped that it had been he who would have delivered Israel. All their hopes were in Christ Jesus, and now he's dead. He's buried. And they're depressed. They're walking along that road going home, and something happened. A personality approached and joined their company. And when that personality came near to them, there was a warmth about that personality, and their hearts began to get warm in that chilly warm. Did not our hearts burn within us? And so as they began talking, and he said, What manner of communications are thee that you have one with another, and you are sad? Art thou were stranger in Israel, and those not things that have happened in these last days about Jesus of Nazareth, and how he was crucified, his burial, and their eyes were holding them. They did not see him. And so they reached their dwelling, and he had rebuked them. Why, do you mean to say that you don't know the story? Why, it unfolded in the Old Testament, beginning at Moses and the prophet, and he also brings in the Psalm, And he opened unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they reached their home. And he made as though he would have gone further. He never forces his company on anyone. He wants to be invited. When he walked on the water, when the disciples were tossed about on that little boat, he would have passed them by. But when they saw him, they cried out for fear, Lord, save us. He wants to be invited. He doesn't force his company on anybody. He doesn't break down any door. He wants to be welcome. And so the two invited him to come in, and he turned in. While he was breaking the bread, they saw something. They saw those hands with scars, and he vanished out of their sight. Why? The one we've been walking with and created that heartburn was Jesus. He's risen! Yes, he was risen. And, friend, there'll be a warm glow come over your heart when you receive a living Christ. Because those of us who are saved, we have that assurance in our hearts. He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me, talks with me, a long, light, rugged way. He lives, he lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart. Every born-again Christian knows Jesus Christ lives, not only because in the book, but he does something to the human heart. He creates a peace. Did not our heart burn with enough. As he walked with us, by the way, talked with us. Yes, in the garden, on the path, the highway. Then in the upper room. Here's the upper room and the disciples there. They are crouched in the upper room, full of fear, afraid of any footsteps approaching, for fear that those who were crucified to put to death their master would now seek them out, but that was a custom in those days when they got the leader of any movement and put him to death. They would seek out his followers, especially his intimate followers. Here they were huddled in the upper room, full of fear, and Jesus appeared in their midst. What a wonderful appearance. What happened to their fear? Flint! No fear. He said, Jesus! be unto you. Wonderful peace, the gift of God's love. And so you find them in the midst in the upper room, imparting peace to those fearful hearts, replacing fear with his peace be still. Then again there was another place where you find the Lord in these appearing on the mountainside. You find that over in Matthew He gave them the commission, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Read the preacher. The other place was at the seaside. They had toiled all night and caught nothing. Here are experienced fishermen. They had been out there all night. They caught nothing. In the morning and the early ducks They saw a personality or form on the bank. Who's this? And that voice speaks, and over those chilly waters came the voice. Cast, first of all, he says, have we caught any fish? They said nothing. We've caught all night and caught nothing. That's about the truest fish story was ever told. We've caught all night. caught nothing. He says, cast your net on the other side and he shall find. Why, though, experienced professional fishermen could have argued, now listen here, this boat's about eight feet wide. And if there are fish down here, they'd be down here, and they're not down here, they're not down here. He says, cast your net on the other side, and that's no easy task. They pulled in all those big nets, wet nets, cold and they let him down. I don't know what mumbling and drumming was going on while they were doing. They cast their nets on the side he told them, for there was always a right side and the wrong side and the things of God. Now they were not able to pull in the nets for the great catch of fish. There were so many fish. The commander in chief, the control of nature, he ordered all the fish, likely the big ones, to make for that net. And they did. And they couldn't pull the net in because they were full of fish. The net was full of fish. Now, who did this? That voice had authority. Nature could have been. And John said something to Peter. Peter? That's the law. Love is always quick to detect. John leaned on his bosom. He was so intimate he could detect that voice. He said, that's the Lord. Well, Peter, do. And an experienced fisherman, why do I want to leave all these fish? No, he dived in, and he swam to the shore. The fish meant little to him. He wanted to see the man that a few days before he had denied an oath and curses. Oh, what must have been to him. Now he's standing in the presence alone. He didn't want the other disciples around when he confronted the Lord that morning. This is a little secret conversation. What did Peter do when he hit the shore and met the Lord? He had denied an oath in the presence. We don't know. But Peter was a different man after him. What a wonderful revelation that was on the seaside. And you know the Lord had a little fire burning there with fish on it, it says. Where'd he get the fish from? Not out of their net. He just commanded the fish to come up where he could take them out and fry them. In other words, you want those fishermen to know, I can be independent of you. I don't need your hundred and fifty-three fish. Without so many we're in the net. I can get along without you, but you'll find it hard to get along without me. Then the Lord can get along without you. But you'll find it hard to get along without him, especially when you've come to die. Like the lady I've been referring to. And by the way, the driver of that truck was killed and they'd afraid to tell her. Yes, the time will come when you're face to face with death. You'll want him in. You'll better get him now. So many people today, they don't want to talk about the Lord. Think about the Lord. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Oh, I have no time with the Lord. But when something happens in the way of tragedy, Lord, I need, I need, I need. If you want him in tragedy, you better do not know something about him before tragedy comes. You may be too far gone when tragedy hits to do anything about it. He can get along without you. But you'll find it hard to get along with those kidneys when the body's weakening and things are beginning to go foggy and like this lady, she's not ready. It's a mercy God saved her life that she might get saved and she's been told that. Now she wants to be saved. Another time on Mount Olivet, you'll notice the first times in the garden. the next time on the highway, the next time in the upper room, then on the mountainside, now the next time he appears as on the seashore and then on Mount Oliver, he led them out in Luke twenty four. And as they were watching him, he lifted up his hands and blessed him, and a cloud received them out of their sight. He had given them a little counsel and he was gone. Here you have these evidences. of the risen Christ. He revealed himself to the disciples on these different occasions. Five hundred people are a lot of folks. And one time there were five hundred. Not likely there were a multitude in Matthew twenty-eight on the mountainside. This is likely another occasion altogether when five hundred saw the Lord Jesus. Now when you can take five hundred people witnesses up to the courtroom, and they all saw what happened. You've got a lot of evidence. That's a known fact in law that eyewitnesses, no matter if the case happened a hundred years ago or two hundred years ago, law says that eyewitnesses his testimony stand to this day according to law. Here are five hundred witnesses plus the other to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these scenes, first of all, you have them in the garden, comfort it. You have them on the roadside, companionship. You have them in the upper room, he's the center. He was in the midst. You have them beside the sea. He's the controller of nature. He told the fish to get into that net. And they did. Then you have him commissioning his disciples in Matthew the confirmer. He's confirming his plan that God had revealed and purposed that he should come into this world and go to the cross and die and rise again. Yes, it's all confirmed through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul says, and of me also, as one born out of Jerusalem, Paul never did see Christ Jesus in the flesh. He never did. He saw, or heard about him after he had gone, and he saw, now all the others saw him on earth. The ones on Mount Olivet saw him leaving the earth. But in the night of Acts, the Apostle Paul saw that risen Christ in heaven. Paul said he was seen of me as of one born out of two times. He got quite a sight of a risen Christ, and it was quite a shock to him, because he was persecuting that Christ. He was failing his people who believed in him, failing under court, wanting him to be put to death. Here was this Pharisee, a zealous Pharisee, and he stood for the law of the Ten Commandments, and he was willing to put to death anybody. came up with anything that violated those commandments or denounced those commandments or his religion he'd been brought up in Julian. Now the very Lord himself reveals himself to the Apostle Paul on that Damascus Road. What a revelation that was. Little lovely verses in following that, you have what happened in verse nine, Paul said in Saturday, my house sincere Paul walked. Paul's sincerity, for I am the least of the apostles. I am not me to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. Now notice the word grace in the next verse. By the grace of God I am what I am, what humility. And his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God which was with me. Three times he speaks of the grace of the Lord to one. You see his humility in verse nine, his sincerity, suitability, and strength in verse ten. And notice what he says in verse eleven. Therefore, whether it were they, I, or they, the previous apostles, so we preach and so we believe. He says, what I'm preaching you is in perfect line and accord with the apostles, whose song on earth. I didn't see him on earth. I saw him in heaven. But he says our message is the same. Our message is the same. Now, did the Lord Jesus Christ predict he was going to rise again? We're living in a day when a lot of prophets are coming up. Of course, the Lord Jesus said in the latter day that the false Christ, that we have, like this fellow moon, another, claimed to be prophet, Muhammad, confuses great problems their bones remain still on earth had they predicted that they were going to die and on the third day they would rise again their whole system their whole movement would have collapsed because they didn't rise and they had enough sense not to predict they would for they knew they wouldn't but here's a man And he told them who he was, why he came, and what he was going to do, and he said, I'm going to be crucified. On the third day, I'm going to rise from the dead. He didn't say I'm going to be crucified and buried, and someday I rise again. And people waiting all these centuries. And something like Mary, you know, when Lazarus died, she said, I know Lazarus, my brother, will rise again at the last day. But the Lord said he's not going to wait till the last day. I'm the resurrection of the life. He's going to live right here, again. So he said of himself, and I'm going to give you the scriptures for five times. He says this, Matthew twelve, forty. For as Jomas was three days and three nights in the Wales Valley, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Here you have in John seventeen, twenty-two and twenty-three. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners, and they shall kill him. And the third day he shall be raised again, and they were exceeding sorrow. Then again in Luke, eighteen thirty-one, And all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished, for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spit it off. and they shall scourge him and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. And in John sixteen twenty-one, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. In John two nineteen, Jesus answered, and said unto them, Destroy this temple. And in three days I will raise it up. He's challenging his enemies. But he spake of the temple of his body. And when, therefore, he was righte risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed. The Scriptures and the Word with Jesus are saved. Five times, and then he made another reference to it, he said, I have power to lay down my life. I've probably taken it up again. Here's a man who predicts the manner of his death. And he says, three days later, I'm going to rise from the dead. That's the only man of the human race ever did. He would predict his death and how he was going to die. And he would rise again in the third day. It all happened. Why wouldn't the skeptics and the critics of the Bible have an argument? if he hadn't risen from the dead. Christianity would have collapsed. The founder lied. He said he was going to rise on the third day, and he didn't. Christianity would have died right there. But he predicted a rise again the third day, and he did. On the third day, the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. What other prophets ever predicted anything like that? None of them. But here's a prophet. He told them how he was going to die. He told them how he would rise again and when he would rise again. And for nineteen hundred years, this is the message of the Gospel, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, built upon the foundation of the veracity and the honesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. If he didn't rise, he's a liar. What he said was fulfilled and the world knows it. And what he said then, it took place exactly as he prophesied and predicted. So what he said about his coming in the future and the wicked perishing who reject him, that too will be fulfilled exactly as he said it. How wonderful is the word of God. Think of the open, too. It's sealed, it's guarded. But his enemies didn't want him to be raised from the dead. They thought that was impossible anyway. They're going to see. First of all, let those followers of the herd don't come and steal them. They thought they'll come and steal them and hide them somewhere and then tell the people he rose from the dead. So the enemies, they were going to see that that tomb was sealed and gone. But something happened. That morning, early in the morning, an angel from heaven. What did an angel care for the Roman seal that was on that stone? Nothing. The angel from heaven came down, and he rolled away the stone. Remember, it was a big one. The stone in front of those sepulchres was a big stone, almost every ten feet in circle, maybe that thick, and it rolled in the groove. And it was set up on a little knoll. When the person was put in that tomb or sepulchre, that big stone was urged, and nudged, and down it rolled, and jammed. And who's going to roll it back? Today they have the equipment to do it. But it took an aim. The angel came back and he rolled the stone away and to show his disdain, he sat on it. The Bible says that. He rolled the stone back and he sat on it. Now, the Lord didn't need that stone to be rolled away for him to come out. It was rolled away to let man look in. The Lord Jesus came out. He had the power to do it. When the disciples went in, what did they see? They saw the grave clothes all neatly folded. There they were. Now, when Lazarus was buried, by the fourth day, they said, by this time he stinketh the grave clothes wrapped around the corpse of four days. Nothing like that with the Lord Jesus. The white linen that was wrapped around the body of Christ was just as clean and pure on the third day as on the first day. His body saw not corruption. And so there were the grave clothes folded. And the napkin was around his head. It was neatly placed at the head of the slab where his body was placed. He was in no hurry. Most folks, when they get up in the morning, you'd think a tornado hit the bedroom when they leave. Well, the Lord had been there for three days and three nights. Everything was orderly when he left the truth. And they looked in. Why? This was the end of his earthly pilgrimage. The end of the traveler. This indicates He's had his rest. This indicates his work was done. Ah, yeah. The Lord Jesus rose from the dead. This is the end of his earthly pilgrimage. He glorified his father on earth. He had finished the work the father gave him to do. His work was done. He had died on the cross. And now he had risen again from the dead. He did exactly all that he had promised to do. are wonderful. And the Bible tells us that he spoiled principalities and powers. He made a show of the openness. And by that stroke of resurrection taking up his life, he disgraced the command and chief of all principalities and powers and opened the door for all the prisoners of sin and Satan to escape. That's the story behind the empty tomb. His enemies wanted to stay in there. So they could say that Christ who said he was going to rise again, his body right in there. So the enemies they wanted to stay in there. And his friends couldn't get him out. Because the authority of Rome was there, sealed and guarded. So what happened? The empty tomb proves one thing, that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. That's the message of this time of the year. An empty tomb. He was with his disciples for forty days. To say more about this later. What happened on those forty days? What he told them. And after this appearing, the eleven that we referred to, There were others, six others. Three happened while he was still, well, after his, before he ascended. Before he ascended to heaven, there were three revelations of the Lord Jesus, the Stephen, Christ the Apostle. Three more appearing to remain in there in the future. What are they? The rapture, Christ's revelation, to his people, Israel, and Christ, the revelation at the judgment. That is, when he comes of the army given. In all there are eighteen Christophases, revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these fourteen, eleven took place before his ascension. There are three after the ascension, there pass. There are three still remaining, there are future. And this Christ has got to be reckoned with. And God has appointed the day in which he will judge the world by that man who he hath raised from the dead. And this risen Christ simply means the death norm to every other religion. No other religion can boast this leader alive and well. No other religion. Jesus Christ, the head and foundation of Christianity, rose from the dead and he's alive, and he's alive forevermore. And friend, this message has a power. that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Oh, you say I wish Christ would reveal himself to me this morning, he will. How? Through his word. He's not going to come down in this glittering glory and appear to you this morning or appear to you. He's not going to stand here at the front so he can see him in hand. He said, I'll give you my word and not just as good as my presence. and what Christ said to Peter, Bless and blood hath not revealed this unto Peter, be Peter, but my Father, which is in heaven. When Peter confessed, O art, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Christ became his. And friend, if you confess Jesus Christ this morning on the authority of his blessed book, to believe Christ and to believe his words the same thing, he can't lie. And when he tells you, that if you hear his word and you believe his word, you'll have everlasting life. You shall not come into judgment because he took your judgment for you at Calvary. You'll pass from death unto life. Are you going to believe his word? It's not going to be a visible person standing here. It's going to be an invisible person, but he knows your thoughts. And you're believing him. saying, Lord, I believe you died for me. I believe you rose again for me, and I believe you're living, and I want you to be living for me and in me until you come again. That will glorify him. Thomas, you've seen me. You believe. Blessed are they who have not seen me, yet have believed. That's you. You haven't seen them, the Viva. But by the eye of faith, believe. Jesus loved you, died for you on the cross, paid your debt. And this very day you'll know the power of that resurrection if you open your heart and see it.