We're studying First Corinthians, so if you want to turn to First Corinthians 15 in your Bibles. In the back of my office or one of the rooms behind my office, maybe I should say, I have a room that people don't get to go to. It is where everything ends up. And I have a desk back there. It's a library table. It was my first desk when I came here to church and I use it to put everything. So people will think I keep a somewhat clean desk. I have a hard time keeping up, but that desk sort of gets deep and I periodically go back and determine I ought to clean it up. So I start through my material and I know this article, I forgot about that. I start reading it and I think, oh, that's too good to throw away. So when I'm all done, I've just rearranged my pile. Some of you understand how that goes. Well, I was going through that process and I came across an article that I thought was relevant to what we're talking about and some of the background for it. I'll tell you where we are. This came from Time magazine, 1998. This is not one of the older articles. On my desk is written by Charles Krauthammer. He's not a professing Christian Jewish. Some of you see him on TV as a commentator, I believe, trained as a medical doctor, was paralyzed in an accident as a young adult. And most of you are familiar with him through his columns or TV commentary. But he wrote this essay. in time in 1998, and it was entitled, Will It Be Coffee, Tea, or He? Capital H. Religion was once a conviction, now it is a taste. He checked in at a local hospital for some tests. Then the lady asked the usual name, rank, serial number, insurance, ailment. Then she asked, What is your religious preference? I was tempted to say, I think Buddhism is the coolest of all, but I happen to be Jewish. My second impulse was to repeat what Jonah said when asked by the shipmates of his foundering skiff to identify himself. I am a Hebrew man and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. But that surely would have got me sent to psychiatry rather than x-ray. So I desisted. In ancient time, they asked, who is your God? A generation ago, they asked your religion. Today, your creed is a preference preference. I take my coffee black, my wine red, my shirts lightly starched. And oh, yes, put me down for Islam. And the point is that we have reduced religion. To just another preference, there's no conviction, it's a preference. He alludes to a man of a bygone generation, Chesterton, who said tolerance is the virtue of people who do not believe in anything. And he was critiquing tolerance. But then Krautheimer notes where religion is trivialized, one is unlikely to find persecution when it is believed that on your religion hangs the fate of your immortal soul. The Inquisition follows easily when it is believed that religion is a breezy consumer preference. Religious tolerance flourishes easily. After all, we don't persecute people for their taste in cars. Why? For their taste in God. Goes on to show how in our society, everything is acceptable. And religious beliefs and convictions are acceptable as long as they're not true convictions, just preferences, just your own personal taste. He concludes at a time when religion is a preference and piety, a form of eccentricity, suggesting fanaticism, Chesterton needs revision. Tolerance is not just the virtue of people who do not believe in anything. Tolerance extends only to people who don't believe in anything. This fits to where we are in our study of Corinthians and Paul's dealings with the Corinthian church. Now, we keep hearing the term postmodern. You hear it so many times you get tired of hearing of it just gets bantered around. We live in the postmodern day, postmodern society. But I guess we do. And one of the characteristics is there is no such thing as objectivity and objective truth. And the worst thing you can do is tell someone else they are wrong, especially when it comes to religious matters. It's all right for us to have our beliefs and other people to have their beliefs and Catholics have their beliefs and the variety of Protestants have a variety of Protestant kind of beliefs and Jews have their beliefs and on we go. That's OK. No problem, except if you try to tell someone else that their beliefs are wrong and yours are right now, that's not acceptable. We think what we live in a postmodern day, this is totally new, but we ought to understand it's not totally new. The world in which Paul lived. With a diverse world. And the Roman society and the Roman government. under which the civilized world lived in Paul's day, they tolerated and encouraged a variety of religious beliefs. And when the Romans had absorbed a new people or a new culture with their religion into their empire, they were happy to absorb their gods into their empire as well. That's why they could have a pantheon of gods. In fact, shortly after Paul's day, the Roman emperors are going to decide that they want to become gods too, so they'll begin to declare themselves gods. Not the only god, but just a god. So the offense of Christianity in the world of Paul's day was not that it was a different religion. The problem was, it was a religion that claimed to be the only true religion. that the God that Paul proclaimed and the other believers proclaim was the only God. Remember, Paul told the Athenians, I passed an altar to the unknown God. You know why they had that? No, they weren't saying they didn't know any God. They had a lot of gods. But they also had an altar to the unknown God in case they missed any gods. They didn't want to offend him. Let me tell you, I'll tell you about the God you don't know. And he is the only God. And he can only be worshipped in one way, that exclusivity. Was not acceptable in Paul's day, it has never been acceptable and it is not acceptable today. People don't mind that you go to church, people don't mind that you have your own religious beliefs, they may have theirs. What infuriates them is when you tell them that their beliefs are wrong, That their worship is unacceptable to the living God, that there is only one savior, only one way to be saved. And all other ways are roads to hell. Now you have become unacceptable. You have become intolerant, but I'm not intolerant in that sense. I can tell them it's fine, you can believe however you want, but you will go to hell for that belief. It's wrong. That's not intolerant. I don't have to be tolerant of people I agree on everything with. Tolerance comes when you disagree, doesn't it? I have to be tolerant of people I don't agree with. They have a right to be wrong. When it comes to the message of biblical Christianity, there is only one way, there is only one God, there is only one savior, there is only one way of salvation. Everything else is wrong. Everything else will lead a person to eternal condemnation in hell. That's the message of the Bible. That's the message Paul's presenting in 1 Corinthians 15. He has to make clear to the Corinthians, it is not possible to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, cleansed from your sin, and be open to accept doctrines contrary to what God has said. Some in the Church of Corinth were saying there was no bodily resurrection. That's in verse 12 of First Corinthians 15. Some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead. Paul said, if you truly believe that, if that's what you teach, you were never saved. You see how exclusive it gets, how narrow it gets. No, Paul, I believe in Jesus, I believe in his death and resurrection, I just don't believe that anybody else will experience bodily resurrection. Paul said you can't believe it that way. This is not a smorgasbord, you're not going to a buffet, the word of God is not a pick and choose book. The teachings of the word of God are not something that you go through and decide, I like this, but I'm not really too keen on this, I'll just not believe that. It doesn't matter if I'm not straight on these other things and I don't agree with the Bible on everything, at least I agree with certain things. So what Paul's telling the Corinthians, and that's why at the end of verse two, remember, is possibility suggested is unless you believed in vain. I mean, you have to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. And. Continue. To believe that gospel. And when you depart from it, you indicate you never truly savingly believed it. So Paul has reminded them that that's the gospel he preached. Verse three, I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received. This is not my word, and in Galatians one, he made clear where he received it was not from Peter, not from other apostles or teachers. He received it by direct revelation from Christ. This is the word of the savior who dwells In the courts of heaven today. I passed it on to you just as I got it, Paul said, and that's a good reminder for us. I read in the paper and churches have contemporary service and traditional service and, you know, everywhere Paul went, he only had one ministry, one message. He didn't say, well, we have a church for this kind of people and a church for this kind of people, you know what? He preached in Palestine. Some of you watch the news. The Jews and the non-Jews of that region of the world can be quite emotional, quite expressive. He travels through the world to a different continent, and he's in Greece where they really like wisdom. You know what? Paul says, I preach the same message in Palestine. I preach the same message in Greece. I preach the same message in Asia. I preach the same message when I get to Rome. Nothing changes. We think today, well, we have to adapt to reach our culture. Paul, that's foreign. He says, I know what the Jews want. They want signs. I know what the Greeks want. They want wisdom. You know what I do? I preach Christ. Well, don't you want to be culturally relevant? Yes, that's why I preach Christ. That cuts through all the cultural issues, all the social issues. There's one message. That's what Paul's drawing their attention back to. Verse three, I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received. Now I want to unfold the Gospel to you in four statements. Christ died for our sins. Christ was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day. And He appeared to witnesses. Those four basic statements clarify the heart and center. It's not all you have to believe, but it is the heart and center of the message. Christ died for our sins. This is foundational to the others. You can see you build here. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. That's the evidence he died. He was raised from the dead. He appeared to witnesses. His appearance to witnesses is the evidence that he truly was raised from the dead. So there's two basic statements with two supporting statements. And there is one statement upon which the other statements build. He died for our sins. There'd be no statement he was raised from the dead on the third day if he hadn't died, right? So the foundational, foundational statement is Christ died for our sins. He died in our place to pay our penalty. He was our substitute. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. First Peter 2. God has made him who knew no sin It becomes sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. He died for our sins. It's not just he died. He died for our sins. First thing Jesus said in unfolding what the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be when he sent him to earth after his death and resurrection and ascension to heaven would be he will convict the world of sin. Oh, you recognize I am a sinner. Christ died for me. He took my place. He paid my penalty so that I might be forgiven. There's no other way. You know, the multitudes of people who think they're going to church, they're doing good works. They fail to understand. All have sinned. There is none righteous and the wages of sin is death. Hebrews 922 says without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. How can people think I'm going to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments? I'm going to be saved by being baptized. I'm going to be saved by filling the book. You understand someone has to die. The penalty for sin is death. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness. That's why Jesus Christ came and died. His death for our sins was prophesied in the Old Testament. We looked at some of those passages. He was buried. That's simply a statement of the reality of his death. You bury a dead person. Paul doesn't go on to all the evidence to support that he really died. No, the soldier runs a spear into his side. They wrapped him in burial cloths. I mean, it's a non-issue. These people lived in the Roman world. Roman soldiers didn't take someone down from the cross and put him in a tomb if he wasn't dead. You know the penalty for that? You go to the cross. Roman soldiers didn't make it. Paul didn't have to argue and present proofs. You know, he was really dead when they took him down. It takes mindless fools. Two thousand years later to present such silly ideas. Paul doesn't go into those things just to say he was buried. That's what you do with a dead person. You bury the body, you put it in a grave, a tomb. That's what happened to Christ. That will form the bridge from which you can have the resurrection. So the third statement is he was raised on the third day. Paul changes tenses here, we talk about tenses because it's so exciting for you and I like to keep the service really exciting. So we've been talking about Greek tenses. The first two verbs here, he died and he was buried, are aorist tenses. A-O-R-I-S-T. And that's the tense used often for the past tense in Greek. Not the only use of it, but it would be the normal tense you would use if you want to refer to a past event. Something happened in the past. Now he switches from the aorist tense to the perfect tense. He was raised on the third day. The Aoristens picture something that happened in the past, but the results continue to the very present. He was raised at a time in the past and he continues to be resurrected. He continues to be a raised person, alive. Romans 6 says he's never to die again. Hebrews 9.27 says, He ever lives to make intercession for us. He was raised, came out of the tomb on the third day. You know, these are historical events. They happened at fixed times in history. Christ hung on a cross and died. had occurred at a particular time on a particular day in the past history. He was taken down from that cross, his body was wrapped in burial cloth, and he was placed in a tomb. He was buried. That happened at a point in time in history. You could have written down at such and such a time on this day, in this week of this month, in this year, this happened. They are historical events. So also is the resurrection. There's nothing indefinite or unsure. Paul's going to elaborate on the subject of resurrection because that's the issue in the church in Corinth. They weren't denying that Christ died for our sins. They weren't denying he was buried. But they had an issue over bodily resurrection. And so Paul now will begin to elaborate on that and really all the rest of the chapter is a development of this subject, bodily resurrection. But first, you must be sure to understand that part of the essential gospel message is Christ was raised from the dead on the third day. He himself taught this during his earthly ministry. Back up to Matthew, chapter 12. Matthew, chapter 12. Remember, in first Corinthians, chapter one, Paul says the Jews want signs. The Greeks want wisdom. Well, that's the characteristic of the Jews. If we were doing it today, we'd say, well, we're going to have a service for the Jews at an early hour, that will be our sign service. Then we'll have a service for the Greeks later in the day. That will be our wisdom service. Oh, no, they both need the same thing, the gospel, the simple, clear gospel. When Jesus was on the earth during his earthly ministry in Matthew, chapter 13, verse that's chapter 12, verse 38. Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. He answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet, for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster. So will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He's going to be buried, prophesying his coming death and burial. He'll be three days, three nights, wait a minute, a short stay in a grave. You buried a loved one that happened five years ago, the body still in the grave five years later. Jesus stay in the grave will be limited to three days. Turn over to Matthew, chapter 16, verse 21. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised on the third day. Yeah, I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die. The hands of wicked men at Jerusalem. And then after three days, I'm going to be raised. Turn over to John's Gospel, Chapter two. John's Gospel, Chapter two. Verse 18. The Jews said to him, what sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things? He just cleaned out the temple of the money changers and so on. Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews said it took 46 years to build this temple. They're there at Herod's temple, been 46 years in the building. And will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of the temple of his Body. Destroy this physical body. And in three days, I'll raise it up. So clearly, Jesus, on several occasions, spoke of his death. Burial and resurrection after three days, come back to first Corinthians 15. This is absolutely essential. Because we've made an overwhelming statement. Christ died for our sins. And I'd agree, he died. He even died on a cross, and cursed is the one who hangs on a tree. But you know, he wasn't the only one who died. The Romans crucified literally thousands of people. The day Jesus died, he was crucified between two other men. Dying on a cross doesn't mean you paid the penalty for sin for someone. Jesus Christ is a unique person. He's the son of God dying a unique death. Acting as a substitute to pay the penalty for sin. Well, you say so, what's the proof? After three days, he was raised from the dead. That's the evidence. He was raised because of our justification, Romans 4.25 says, because righteousness had been provided for sinful people. The work was done. So the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential. In fact, Paul will go on to say later in the chapter, verse 17, If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you're still in your sins. He wasn't a savior, he's just another criminal crucified on a cross, maybe a good man. With the way the Romans crucified people, they crucify good people as well as bad people. Depended if you got in their way or did something they found particularly offensive. They're crucifying a perfect man when they crucify Jesus Christ. So their crucifixions could be rather indiscriminate. But you understand, if Jesus Christ wasn't raised from the dead, he was just another man who died. Died a terrible death, maybe the best man who ever lived, but that's all there is to the story. Here's what one man writes about the death of Christ. To think that the central meaning of Easter, the resurrection of Christ, depends upon something spectacular happening to Jesus' corpse misses the point of the Easter message and risks trivializing the story. The link Easter primarily to our hope for an afterlife, as if our post death existence depends upon God having transformed the corpse of Jesus is to reduce the story to a politically domesticated yearning for our survival beyond death. This guy is in, you know, a fantasy world. That's what it's all about, the bodily resurrection. Here's a man who reads the scripture with a blinder over his eyes and understands nothing of what he reads. And then makes fun of what the scripture says. And mocks those who believe what it says. And these kind of people are promoted as those we ought to listen to and learn from in the church. Remarkable. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day, according to the scriptures. That's parallel to verse three, Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. He was raised from the dead on the third day, according to the scriptures. Well, the very prophecies of Christ. Are part of the scriptures, even as Paul's writings, Peter, remember, in his second letter, chapter three, includes Paul's writings as part of scriptures. But Paul's probably referring to the teaching of Old Testament scriptures. Not necessarily focusing on one, he doesn't quote any, just like in when Christ died for our sins, according to the scripture, there are multitude of scriptures he could have used. So there are several scriptures that could have been used when you say that Christ was raised. From the dead on the third day, according to the scriptures. We'll have to go back to Isaiah 53, that's the only one we'll turn to back here, we'll read another in the New Testament in a moment. Isaiah 53. It's a beautiful chapter written over 600 years before Jesus Christ came to the earth. People used to say, well, you know, Christians changed Isaiah to fit the events of Christ's life. It used to be the earliest manuscripts we had, earliest copies of the Old Testament, were from a thousand years after Christ's death. They said, well, during that time, Christians changed the manuscript. Then we found the Dead Sea Scrolls. And you know what they found? You guessed it, a complete copy of the book of Isaiah from at least 200 years before Christ. Now, it's a little hard to say that Christians after Christ changed it, because everything in that manuscript, 200 years before Christ. Nothing changed. It had been remarkably accurately preserved. The message in it, the truth in it, nobody had changed. So they went back 11 or 1200 years to find a manuscript that was that much older and it was the same. And then you had Isaiah 53. And we've been in Isaiah 53 because here he tells about Christ died for our sins. Here he anticipates that he will die for our sins. We read verse five. He was pierced through for our transgressions. Crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. You see, He was taking our place. It was for our iniquities, for our transgressions, our chastening, so that we could be healed and made well from sin. Verse 6, the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Also here, prophesizes burial. Verse 9, Know how precise Scripture is. So God tells us what will happen in detail. His grave was assigned with the wicked, yet he was with a rich man in his death. You know what happened to people crucified on crosses? They were criminals. They didn't get a nice burial. Well, Christ was assigned with the wicked men, he was crucified, his body would normally have been taken and buried with the criminals. But he ended up being buried in a rich man's tomb. He was with a rich man in his death. Amazing. Every little detail of God's word. Will come to pass, not possible for one jot, one tittle. The littlest mark. To pass without it all being fulfilled. We're here for the resurrection. Look down in verse 10. The Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering. We talked about sacrificial system, all anticipating Christ. Book of Hebrews showing how Christ is the one sacrifice that did what all the animal sacrifices could not do. He's the guilt offering for us. And yet what? He gives himself as a guilt offering, he has to die as a sacrifice. He will see his offspring. He will prolong his days. The good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. He sacrificed for our sins, but he lives. Amazing, the end of verse 11, by his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities. No other way to have your sins forgiven. It justified the many by burying their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great, he will divide the booty with the strong because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressor. Yet he himself bore the sins of many was number with the transgressor, you see the connection, he's going to die, he's going to be the sacrifice, he's going to pay the penalty. And he's going to live. And on it goes. So the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. All prophesied hundreds of years before it occurred. Come to the book of Acts, chapter two. On the first day of the church, the church comes into existence in Acts, chapter two. The Holy Spirit is sent from heaven by Christ who ascended The heaven in Acts chapter one. And he sends the Holy Spirit, and this marks the beginning of the church, and now we have a record of the first sermon preached in the church. It's preached to Jews by a Jew, Peter, the apostle sermon begins in verse 14, and I'm sure this is just an abbreviated summary because I can't believe he preached the shortest sermon, but we'll leave that as it may be. You can tell the quotes from the Old Testament, the way they're set off, my Bible in capital letters. Verses 17 to 20, early in Peter's sermon, he quotes from Joel chapter two. Which concludes with verse 21, and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Men of Israel, listen to these words, Jesus, the Nazarene. A man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. This man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. But God raised him up again and put an end to the agony of death. since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. You see the summary very clearly. Christ died. You crucified him. But this was part of the sovereign predetermined plan of God. We read that in Isaiah 53. All the animal sacrifices anticipated someone would die for sin. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no Forgiveness. You crucified Him, put Him to death. God raised Him up. It was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. Then you'll note the quotes again. David says of Him, and he quotes from Psalm 16, verses 8 to 11, I saw the Lord always in my presence, for He is at my right hand, so I will not be shaken. My heart was glad, my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh will live in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will allow your Holy One to undergo decay. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence." You're going to say, brethren, David's dead. His tomb is here. His body's in that tomb. Verse 29, David died, was buried, and his tomb's with us to this day. They could go visit David's tomb. David's not talking about himself here. He's talking about a descendant. Who would be raised from the dead. Verse 31, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ. That he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. This is where Paul's going. He's going to offer the witnesses to the resurrection in a moment. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he's poured out the Holy Spirit upon you." Then again, it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself. And he quotes from Psalm 110, verse 1. You see, the Old Testament anticipated and spoke of the coming resurrection of the Messiah. Psalm 16, Psalm 110, Psalm 53. And as a result of this, Peter calls them to repent of their sin. And place their faith in Christ, one person put it this way, the religions of the world are all based upon the lives and the teachings of their founders, but only biblical Christianity rests upon the death and resurrection of its savior. That's the foundation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no Christianity apart. from these events, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Come back to first Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised from the dead on the third day and he appeared to witnesses. This is absolute proof that his resurrection truly occurred. Numerous people saw him alive bodily on the earth after his resurrection. We're not talking about visions and dreams here. We're talking about actually the physical glorified body of Christ being present on the earth for people to see. Paul gives a selective example, selective examples, of those that Christ appeared to. This is not a complete list. He selects basically prominent individuals that the Corinthians would be familiar with. And then a large group that shows this is just not a made up story. He appeared to Kephas. Kephas is the Aramaic name of Peter. They both mean the rock. Jesus gave Peter this name in John chapter 1 verse 42. He appeared to Cephas. This was an actual bodily resurrection. There was a time, a point in time when he appeared, was seen by Peter. Now there were several occasions when Peter saw Christ after his resurrection. One of the most extensive accounts at the end of the Gospel of John, remember when after fishing and Jesus confronts Peter and says, Peter, do you love me more than these? Peter, do you love me more than these? Peter, do you love me more than these? That's not the one Paul was talking about here. He's talking about that first appearance. On that first day, that first Sunday when Christ was raised from the dead, Christ appeared to Peter. Now, the actual recording of that event is not recorded. But in Luke chapter twenty four verse thirty four. The apostles tell two other individuals. The men who confronted Christ and men wrote Christ has been raised and has appeared to Peter. Now it also appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other woman who came other women who came to the tomb. But the focus there is Peter. He's the prominent individual, the one who will provide the leadership in the early church. Who is appointed to bear testimony for all? He's appeared, he's risen, he's appeared to Simon, as Luke 24, 34 addresses him, Simon Peter. So that's the appearance, he appeared to Peter. Peter was a well-known figure in the Corinthian church. Remember, in the early first three chapters of First Corinthians, the issue over division, comes out in chapter 3. Some at Corinth said, oh, we're followers of Peter. Some said, oh, we follow Apollos. So Peter was a well-known figure in the church at Corinth. He perhaps had visited there. Paul spent 18 months in the church at Corinth when he founded it. That was some five years before this letter. During that time, there would have been a variety of teachers to come. And further instruct the people there and Peter may well have visited the church at Corinth. They're well familiar with him and his ministry. So he first appeared to Peter as an eyewitness. Then he appeared to the twelve. Now, the twelve weren't the twelve at that point, they were the eleven. Because Judas had gone out and hung himself. So he never experienced the resurrection of Christ. But the 12 becomes an identifying title of this special group, and they can be referred to as the 12, even if only 11 are present, because that's the identifiable group. Maybe like we say, well, the Senate is in session, but every senator may not be there, but that is the Senate. Had that identifiable group in the scripture, so it's referred to as the 12. That'll be true even when only 10 are present. In chapter one of Acts, Judas will be replaced so that they maintain a full contingent of twelve. To the eyewitnesses of the resurrection, Peter will say the twelve are mentioned in Matthew, chapter 10, verses one to four, if you've forgotten who they are. Again, Judas is included there, of course. This appearance, this initial appearance is recorded in Luke 24, 36 and John 20, 19, John 20, John's Gospel, chapter 20, verse 19. Remember the disciples, the 11, they're closed in a room with the door locked because they're afraid of the Jews. That would have been, again, on that first day of Christ's resurrection. I mean, word's spreading around. But they're afraid what's going to happen here, what's going to happen to us, the Jews may be coming for us. The word's coming out. Simon Peter saw the Lord. And you're getting reports around, then Jesus appears to the twelve. These will be his special official representatives, and they will lead the way in carrying the message of a resurrected savior to the world. And when they replace Judas with Matthias in Acts chapter one, Peter says it is so that he can join with us, the eleven, The two be eyewitnesses to testify of his resurrection. So these are going to go out and they're going to be able to tell people Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Messiah of Israel, died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. He's the Lamb of God. You can be forgiven by believing in him. How do you know I saw him after his resurrection? He's alive. He was raised from the dead. That's the argument, Peter. is using in Acts chapter 2. He quotes the Old Testament scriptures and he says we're eyewitnesses of this event. I've seen him. I've seen him many times. I saw him the last time in Acts chapter 1. Just as he, prior to his ascension to heaven. Verse 6, after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. You know, you could say, well, Peter, you know, he could be an emotional kind of person. And being distraught and in all that's gone on and the Messiah that he thought would set up the kingdom now crucified, maybe he just thought he saw Christ. And, you know, then you put the other ten disciples And they were thinking that he was going to set up the kingdom for Israel and he gets crucified and they're in disarray. And pretty soon one person says, I think I heard I think I saw Christ and the other day I saw him pretty soon. They've convinced each other they saw. You know, sideline, some of you saw in the paper. The you know, people see Christ everywhere on a pancake on a, you know, silly. I got the silliest. In fact, if it wasn't contrary to my religious convictions, I might use it as a moneymaker myself. There was a guy who was replacing a garage floor and in the grease on the garage floor. You see this? He saw the image of Christ, his face. They have a picture of it in the paper. He cut it out of the concrete, put it for sale on eBay. This was in this week's paper. Did you see it? How many of you saw it? You know what he got for that? You laugh, you're going to be going home looking in your garage for that little piece of concrete, the grease that looked like $100,000 on the eBay auction. I mean. Are people. What's the word fools? A rich fool, but you're going to give $100,000 for a piece of concrete, somebody cuts out of their garage because he thinks he sees the face of Jesus in the grease on the floor of the garage. So you can understand, people would say, look at the disciples. They probably thought they, you know, thought they saw them. But now you've got 500 witnesses all at one time. At one time. One adverb in Greek that denotes they were all there at the same time. You don't have 500 people hallucinating at one time. So Paul says in the 25 or so years, Since Christ has been raised, some of these have died. But some are still alive. So they're credible witnesses, so he moves from these select witnesses to give this one group. It's not specifically recorded in the Gospels when this happened. Some commentators think this is probably what occurred when Jesus instructed his some of his followers in Matthew chapter twenty eight. to tell his disciples, the eleven and others to meet him at a pointed mountain in Galilee. You know, much of Jesus earthly ministry took place in Galilee, up by the Sea of Galilee, north from Jerusalem. He's crucified in Jerusalem, but now he tells them he'll meet them on a certain mountain. He would have many, many followers in Galilee. And so this may be in the occasion when the 500 would have seen him at one time would have been much safer, much easier for a group of this size to assemble together. We have 500 believers. Going to have the opportunity to see Christ and his resurrected body on Earth. That may have been when it occurred. You can read some of the commentaries that give some of the reasons and follow the scriptures on that. We won't take time. Paul just presents it as an evidence. You know, I'm amazed. These Corinthians, they've been believers for about five or six years. Paul spent 18 months there teaching him, teaching them. Other teachers have come and gone in teaching and instructing them. Some great teachers like Apollos, maybe Peter, maybe others. You know, it's amazing what Paul assumes they should know. Most of you have probably been believers longer than five years. A large number of you have been here, part of this fellowship of believers, longer than five years. I mean, Paul just throws out these things as though everybody ought to know it. He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. Of course, you know the Old Testament Scriptures. You realize everybody didn't have a copy of the Old Testament like we do. There should be no question on that. You know the Scriptures taught that. He was raised from the dead according to the scriptures. He doesn't give the scriptures or explain it. Of course, you know that. For Paul, the meeting of the church and the fellowship of believers wasn't fun time, wasn't entertainment. This is where you packed in everything you could. So the believers knew the word, understood the word, had a grasp on it for themselves. He didn't have to unfold every detail. Here are believers, five years, six years old, the church. Without the precious treasure of having their own copies of Scripture and Paul just throwing out this stuff, of course, I don't even have to explain this to you. If you're a believer, you understand and know this. They appeared to 500 witnesses that settled. These are important to us because, you know, none of us have seen Jesus Christ in bodily form on Earth. How do you know he was raised from the dead? I have the testimony of the witnesses. Just like I know every historic event, You know, except for the last 100 years, they couldn't make videos or, you know, film it or whatever. All our history we know from history, right? Nobody living was there when they signed our Constitution, we just have copies and, you know, we everybody saw it was it and that happened and this battle happened and that event happened and. We're saying the Romans ruled the world, did you ever see the Romans rule the world? Have you ever met anybody that saw the Romans rule the world? You ever see anybody who knew Julius Caesar? You ever talk to anybody who talked to Julius Caesar? If you did, you're in trouble. But the point is, we believe it because the record of history, the witnesses come down. You say, I don't believe there was ever a Roman Empire. I don't believe there was ever a Julius Caesar. I don't believe there was ever an Abraham Lincoln. You say, that's silly. Well, I say it's silly, you don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's silly. The witnesses are here. It's recorded. Oh, well, that's just what that says. Well, that's whatever historical document is, right? That's what they said. But this is the word of God, so we who believe, understand and know it to be true. Then he appeared to James. James. There's two James of particular interest to us. Here's James, who was the brother of John, one of the inner circle of the inner circle, the twelve were the core followers of Christ. Within that core following, remember, there were three, Peter, James and John, who were privileged to have an especially close relationship to Christ. James and John are brothers. That James, the brother of John, an apostle joined with Christ during his earthly ministry, is executed by Herod in Acts chapter 12. That's not the James that is in view here. This James is the one that Paul refers to in Galatians 119 as the first person, first among the apostles he saw when he went up to Jerusalem following his conversion, years after his conversion. Said when I went up to Jerusalem, I didn't see any of the apostles except James, the brother of the Lord. So this James is the James who was one of the brothers of the Lord, the four brothers of the Lord are named for us in Mark chapter six. I think it is. Mark six three. So if you want to see. His brothers, the interesting thing is the Bible tells us, John chapter seven, verse five, that Jesus brothers did not believe in him during his earthly ministry. They were unbelievers. Imagine that. Raised with Jesus the Christ. Then see the ministry he has on earth. This is not even his brothers were believing him in John seven five. But yet when you come to Acts chapter one and the disciples are gathered together in the upper room there, we're told that Mary and the brothers of the Lord are present for that prayer meeting. So some after his resurrection, they come to believe in him. Evidently, in the grace of God, Jesus Christ appeared to him following his resurrection. They become believers. In fact, James and the other brothers may have visited Corinth back up to first Corinthians, chapter nine. This James becomes the leader of the Church of Jerusalem, he becomes a key figure in the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15, Paul refers to him in Galatians one and in the Jerusalem Conference in Galatians two. So he becomes a prominent figure, but first Corinthians, chapter nine, verse five, Paul's talking about his liberty. it is right to have a wife. Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles? And note this, and the brothers of the Lord, Encephalus. The church at Corinth was familiar with the Lord's brothers, and that they were married men. Perhaps some of these men had visited Corinth in their ministry. Perhaps some of them had their wives traveling with them. They came to further teach them The word of God and the word concerning Christ. Because Paul just assumes they know all about the brothers of the Lord and that they're married men. So they may, James may well have been to Corinth, other brothers of the Lord as well, but he's a prominent figure. The church at Corinth is well familiar with him. And so Paul reminds them, James saw the Lord. Then to all the apostles, we wrap up with this. I thought we just saw the twelve. Now, he says, then to all the apostles referring to the last meeting, that would evidently be Acts chapter one. When he does meet with his. Apostles. Now, the question is, well, I thought he's met with the twelve. Well, a number of commentators think that this is another reference to the twelve. The reference here is to the apostles, all of them, in other words, to the apostles as a group, and he's finalizing this series of earthly appearances with this climactic one. To the apostles, particularly the 12. There's another appearance and it's the final appearance that becomes significant because then Paul is going to be brought into the picture, which we will do in our next study. The other possibility is there are others included, like James and James in Galatians 119. Paul says when he went to Jerusalem, he didn't meet with any of the apostles except James. which may indicate that since James knew of the earthly ministry and was able to observe it, even though he was an unbeliever and then saw Christ following his resurrection, he could be classified among the apostles, although not among the twelve. Acts, chapter four, verse four, verse 14, seems to indicate that Barnabas was classified as an apostle as well. At any rate, the apostles saw him again, the twelve and any others that might have been classified as apostles on that day. So the fact of the bodily resurrection is established for Paul, the final consummate evidence with the final appearance will be himself. And he will elaborate on that more than any of the others. The death, burial, resurrection and appearances of Christ. This is foundational. Come back to Acts 10 and we will be finished. But you understand the importance of this. What do you think that the devil is going to attack in the church and its ministry and message if he wants to undermine it, ruin it, destroy it? The message of Christ's death as the substitute for sinners, Christ's resurrection from the dead, as the final demonstration of his victory over sin, death, the world, the devil. So you go to church and you hear messages, but no message of Christ. I read an article in the paper this weekend by a Christian organization. The best of my knowledge, if I remember it, it took us the whole top of a page. There was not one message of one mention of Jesus Christ in the whole article. Absolutely no mention of his death, of his resurrection. This is a Christian organization. We're all about the family. Well, believers are all about Jesus Christ. And more specifically, we're about the fact that he died to pay the penalty for sin, your sin, my sin. He was raised from the dead and he is alive today. In Acts, chapter two, Peter preached the first message to the church on the day of Pentecost, and it was to Jews because it was on a Jewish holiday in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 10, Peter is given the privilege of preaching the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time to an assembled group of Gentiles. And here's what he has to say. Acts chapter 10, sermon begins in verse 34. After summarizing something of what happened in Jesus' earthly life that they had all heard about, comes down verse 38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all the things he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible, not to all the people, not to everyone, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God. Some of which we just read about, and in particular, the twelve, whom Peter is a key figure, that is, to us who ate and drank with him. after he rose from the dead, and he ordered us notice he didn't suggest us. He ordered us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify. This is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening to the message. That's God's plan of salvation. That's the way it gets done. We have to figure how are we going to reach our culture today? What are we going to do with a postmodern society? Preach the gospel. We cannot do what only God can do. Only the Holy Spirit can take that truth and drive it home to our heart. What Peter's responsibility was, was to present Jesus Christ, God's sacrifice for sins, the one who died, the one who was raised from the dead, the one who will someday judge the living and the dead. And announce all who believe in him. Will be forgiven their sins. That's what we have to do, carry that message, we think, well, people won't be interested in it, tell them anyway. I can't decide what the Holy Spirit will do with the message. But it's not my prerogative to change it, to make it just, well, you know, we live in a day where people don't want to hear black and white truth, they don't want to hear this is the way it is, period, no options. What makes you think they wanted to hear it in Jesus' day? Why do you think Jesus was crucified? Why do you think they wanted to hear it when Paul preached it? Why do you think he was put to death? This is the message that says. I think about when did the Holy Spirit impact your life and transform you and make you knew. As a result of hearing and believing that Christ died for your sins. Was raised from the dead and is alive. That's what it takes for salvation to occur. You must believe. That he is the savior and when you truly believe in him, The Spirit of God comes into your life in a transforming way and makes you new. And you're never the same again. Never. Ever. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the power of the gospel. That gospel that has impacted many of our hearts and lives through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. A simple truth. that goes beyond our understanding, that the eternal Son of God was born into the human race, that He might be the sacrifice for our sins, that He might be our representative, our substitute, that He might pay our penalty to satisfy the demands of holiness, the demands of justice. He was raised from the dead in glorious victory over sin. He is alive today. And you offer the free gift of eternal life to each and every man, woman, and child who will repent of their sin and turn to Christ, believing in Him and Him alone as their only Savior. Lord, we rejoice to know that salvation is a free gift You do not desire that any should perish, that all should come to a knowledge of the truth. Lord, may we count it our greatest honor and privilege to tell the lost that Jesus Christ died for them, that he's alive and he desires to be their Savior. We pray in his name. Amen.