Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20010422.htm

1 CORINTHIANS: MINISTERING TO BELIEVERS WITH DEEP PAGAN BACKGROUNDS
Part XXVII: Handling Doubts About The Bodily Resurrection
(1 Corinthians 15:1-19)
  1. Introduction
    1. We believe in the bodily, miraculous resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the bodily, miraculous resurrection of believers at the rapture of the Church -- both of which are miracles!
    2. Well, there are times when believers can doubt miracles, and hence privately find themselves wondering about the validity of their own Christian faith!
    3. Paul faces this problem of doubting the miraculous resurrection of the body, and reveals how to handle it:
  2. Handling Doubts About The Bodily Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:1-19.
    1. Some of the believers at Corinth had come to claim there was no resurrection from the dead, 1 Cor. 15:12.
    2. Paul addressed this problem of doubting the bodily resurrection first from a positive angle, 15:1-11:
      1. Christ's resurrection proving His credibility was predicted by many Old Testament prophecies, 15:3-4:
        1. Jesus fulfilled prophecy about His death, 1 Cor. 15:3 with Ps. 22:1-21; Isa. 50:6; 52:14; Zech. 11:8-13; Isa. 53:1-12 among many others.
        2. He fulfilled prophecy about His burial, 1 Cor. 15:4a with Mtt. 27:57-60 as predicted in Isa. 53:9.
        3. Christ fulfilled prophecy about His resurrection, 1 Cor. 15:4b with Psalm 16:10 as clarified by Acts 2:30-31; Zechariah 12:10 and Isa. 53:10a,b.
      2. Christ's resurrection was witnessed by the testimony of Peter, a man who had miserably failed Jesus before the crucifixion and was thus humanly least likely to affirm it later, 15:5a (Luke 22:54-62).
      3. Christ's resurrection was witnessed by the twelve who had seen, touched and been with Jesus for years before the crucifixion, 15:5b with 1 John 1:1-3.
      4. Christ's resurrection was witnessed by more than 500 people at a time who together saw the risen Lord, 15:6. Paul told his readers that at least 251 of these people remained alive when he wrote the epistle in case his readers wanted to check on his claim!
      5. Christ's resurrection is attested by His half brother, James, who had known Jesus much longer than had the 12, 1 Cor. 15:7. Also, all the apostles (possibly the 70 whom Christ had sent out in His earthly ministry) witnessed His post-resurrection appearances.
      6. Christ's resurrection is witnessed by the remarkable vision on the road to Damascus which turned a stark opponent to Christianity into Christianity's most distinguished missionary -- Paul, 15:8-11a!
      7. Christ's resurrection is attested by the remarkable conversion of the Corinthian believers, people who had once been grossly immoral in the "sin city" of the Roman Empire, 1 Cor. 15:11b with 6:9-11! (To show how evil was the town even by way of secular reputation, the Greek writer, Aristophanes, coined the term, korinthiazomai after the town's name to mean to fornicate, Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 505.)
    3. Paul next addressed this problem of doubting the bodily resurrection from a negative angle, 15:13-19:
      1. He stated that if Christ is not bodily resurrected, there is no resurrection, 1 Cor. 15:12-13.
      2. He noted that if Christ is not raised, Christian preaching, faith in what Christian preachers proclaim, deliverance from sin and hope for deceased people are all false, 1 Corinthians 15:14-17.
      3. If this all be the case, those who died in Christ have perished, and we who hope in Christ are then of all men most to be pitied, 1 Corinthians 15:18-19 NIV.
Lesson: If facing doubts about the bodily resurrection in general, we can (1) FIRST dwell on the PRACTICAL evidences of Christ's resurrection by way of the reputable testimonies of the Apostles and eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection. (b) Then we can note how useless would be the entire Christian faith if Christ be not raised from the dead as it implies total destruction for Christianity as a result!

Application: We need to keep in focus the TWO-PRONGED approach to handling doubts of the resurrection of Christ and of believers: NEGATIVELY, not allowing for Christ's bodily resurrection totally undermines the credibility of all hope we have in the Christian faith, meaning one cannot afford to harbor such doubts for long and affirm the faith. POSITIVELY, the evidences for the Lord's resurrection should AFFIRM our faith by virtue of their overwhelming numbers and credibility!