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Sermon Notes of Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley (6-6-1999 Guisborough Evangelical Church)
As man becomes increasingly
aware of the brevity and uncertainty of this life, he asks questions about the
future. Is there life beyond the grave? Is there anything more to come? People
like to think and hope, but this chapter provides the Christian answer. It is
not based on pious hopes, but on solid evidences, reasoned argument, solid
comfort, detailed teaching. Christ has brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel (2 Timothy 1:10).
Because Christ arose, we have a
flood of light and truth about future life. Even the Old Testament saints had
faint glimmerings. Now all has changed. There is life beyond the grave. We are
not just speaking of spiritual survival, personality endurance, or
reincarnation. But our bodies are going to be affected - bodily resurrection.
Whole person to be raised from dead – body and spirit. If we deny this, we
deny the Gospel.
As with so many other things,
this valuable teaching came because of problems in the Corinthian church. Some
people denied the resurrection, and just believed in the survival of the spirit.
Paul begins with the resurrection of Jesus. Our resurrection is to be like His. Believe this teaching and take heart. To begin with facts of history. (1) The place of the resurrection in the Gospel, (2) historical evidence, and (3) Paul’s personal experience of the resurrection.
Paul begins with the
resurrection of Jesus and puts it in the context of the total Christian message.
The Christian message is not his own invention. He received it and passed on
what he received to Corinth (1 Corinthians 15:1). And there is only one
Christian message. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach,
and this is what you believed (1 Corinthians 15:11). And right at the centre
of that message is the resurrection of Christ.
The two basic truths of the
Gospel – That Christ died for sins according to the Scriptures, and that He
rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians
15:3,4). On the Cross He was made sin for us, though personally He was sinless. The
Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). When He arose on the
third day He demonstrated God’s approval. He is a living Saviour. This is the
Gospel by which we are saved.
There was a bodily resurrection.
The body which was crucified was buried, and three days later it was raised. It
was not just His spirit that survived, or His influence that lives on. But His
body was raised. The tomb was empty.
The death and resurrection
- the outworking of God’s plan of salvation drawn up in eternity.
Foretold in the Old Testament scriptures, executed in history in A.D.30. These
truths were at the centre of all the early church’s preaching and witnessing.
Be clear about the heart of the
Christian Gospel. So little is known in many places, and in other places these
truths are even rejected. We are not talking about human ideals, or Jesus as the
noblest pattern of a good life. Easter morning is not a reawakening of earth and
Easter eggs and bunnies. The Gospel is the mighty acts of God in history. Christ
died for us. He rose from the dead on the third day and is alive forever more. He
is able to save completely them that come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25).
The death and resurrection of Christ are the heart of the message. They were not an epilogue, an afterthought, a happy ending. They are at the heart and the core of the Gospel. Here it is. Believe it, grasp it, and apply it. Deal with fear of death and every other fear. The Gospel gives stability and strength and confidence to life. It puts our feet on a rock, and a new song in our mouth. It causes us to praise God. Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:2,3).
This is not a bit of make-believe, or wishful thinking.
It happened in history. There were eyewitnesses. Paul writing to the Corinthians
encourages them to examine their accounts and evidence. Peter saw the risen
Jesus. In His grace, Jesus appeared early on to Peter, the very disciple who had
denied Him. Then He appeared to the Twelve, and later to 500 brethren at once,
many of whom were still alive at the time Paul was writing (1 Corinthians
15:5,6). He urges the Corinthians to ask them. Interrogate them. Then He was
seen by His own brother, James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Jesus’ family had been
hostile to Him when He was on earth. But it all changed now, probably because of
this resurrection appearance. Later James became the leader of the church at
Jerusalem.
Then He was seen by all the
Apostles, probably at the time of the ascension. This is not a complete list –
we know this from the records in the Gospels. But it is enough for Paul to make
his point and show how important and well founded this truth is. There was an
impressive array of witnesses. Did they all suffer from hallucinations and
visions? Maybe Mary Magdalene might have been susceptible, but what about a
hardheaded businessman like Matthew? And sceptical Thomas who took a lot of
convincing? Or unbelieving, hostile James, who was hardly biased in Christ’s
favour? Yet many, from different backgrounds, with different temperaments and
attitudes, touched Him, spoke to Him and saw Him eat. Perhaps it was a made-up
story – but do men in their right mind make up stories they know are lies, and
die for them? They earned themselves no money or fame by saying Jesus was alive
– only jail and death.
And to back up these claims –
why did the Jews not produce the body and stop the Christian movement at the
very beginning? After all, they were preaching the resurrection only seven weeks
after the event, in the very city where it happened.
And how do we account for the
amazing change in the disciples from being frightened mice into bold lions? And
if these witnesses and their testimonies are wrong, how do we explain the
existence of the Christian church, the day of rest being changed from the
seventh to the first day of the week, the writing of the New Testament books?
Indeed, the resurrection is one of the best-attested facts of history. Sir
Edmund Clarke K.C. wrote, “As a lawyer, I have made a prolonged study of the
evidence. I find it conclusive. Over and over again in the High Court I have
secured a verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling.”
There is the story of another
lawyer in Britain, Frank Morrison, in his early 30’s. The resurrection to him
was a fable and fantasy, and he was determined to do the world a favour by once
and for all exposing this fraud and superstition. He discovered his case was not
as good as he thought. He wrote the book “Who moved the stone?” In the first
chapter, “The book that refused to be written”, he confessed how the
evidence had persuaded him, against his will, of the truth of the bodily
resurrection.
“The resurrection is the Gibraltar of Christian evidence, and the Waterloo of infidelity and rationalism.” The evidence for the resurrection is always an embarrassment for the sceptic. Indeed, it is usually ignored rather than answered. The resurrection of Christ is a more certain historical fact than that Julius Caesar once lived and invaded Britain in 55-54BC.
Having shown
the importance of the subject and produced impressive witnesses for his case,
Paul reaches his climax with personal testimony. He expresses his own personal
conviction and personal experience. Last of all he appeared to me also, as to
one abnormally born (1 Corinthians 15:8). ektrwma
literally means a miscarriage or abortion. This may be a reference to his
violent and unnatural entrance into the apostolic band. Or it may be a term of
abuse since Paul was not a handsome man, some might have said, “He was an
abortion of a man”. Or it could be criticism of the doctrine of free grace –
so far from being “born again”, Paul felt he was an abortion.
Paul is
overwhelmed by the wonderful grace of the living Christ to him, Paul the
persecutor. Here is another proof of the resurrection, and to Paul, the most
amazing and convincing proof. Paul was not expecting the resurrection or wanting
the resurrection, so he was not in the right mental condition to be a victim of
hallucination. But God had broken into his life when he was hostile and
resisting and hating the very name of Christ, on the road to Damascus.
Faith in
Christ and submission to Him transformed Paul’s whole life. He could not have
done it, not had he wanted it done. The grace of God alone had done it. By
the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10). Grace made him what
he was, and when he started to live for Christ, grace enabled him to labour more
extensively than all the others. Paul is the last to claim himself a self-made
man, in fact, he is the very opposite.
Paul’s life
and direction was totally revolutionized. His personality changed. He was indeed
a “new creation”. His boundless energy and extreme enthusiasm and zeal were
redirected into the service of Christ by the grace of God. The Gospel he
preached was no theory. It had got a hold of him and changed him. It redirected
him. The things he once hated and loathed, he now passionately believed and
lived for. Christ, whose name he hated, and whose followers he hated and spent
his life trying to imprison and kill, he now loved with his heart and soul. That
I may know Him (Philippians 3:10). How greatly I long for you all (Philippians
1:8).
This is most convincing line of evidence about the resurrection. It is personal, immediate and vital. It is possible to be indwelt by the living Lord. Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
“He walks with me and he talks with me
Along
life’s narrow way.
He
lives, salvation to impart.
You
ask me how I know He lives?
He
lives within my heart.”
Other evidence is impressive. But this clinches it all. Assurance and final certainty from within the Christ-filled heart. The experience of the burning heart is the final evidence.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is basic to the Gospel. We need to hold onto it tenaciously, for it is so well attested, the evidence is strong and compelling. The final proof is open to all. Knowing Christ, yielding to Christ, submitting to Christ. Being open to this is costly – we have to turn away from self, sins, self-importance, and self-righteousness. But then we find our all in Christ – salvation, direction for life, a master, a guide, strength and confidence.
