THE WAY OF THE RESURRECTION
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (KJV)
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;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And 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 remain 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.
For I am the least of the apostles, that 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 laboured 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 believed.
We have said repeatedly that 1 Corinthians is written to correct the errors that existed in the church at Corinth.
Over and over in this book, Paul had dealt with sins, wrong practices, and wrong doctrines.
In chapter 15, Paul sought to correct their errors concerning the doctrine of the resurrection. This church, which thought of itself as so great, actually had members who did not believe that even Christ had risen from the dead.
In his effort to effort to correct their error, Paul wrote what I believe is one of the most exciting chapters in all of the Bible.
It’s essential to see it as a whole so allow me to give you the outline I plan to use to teach us through it over the coming few weeks
The Way of the Resurrection
Vs 1-11
The Facts of the Resurrection
Vs 12-53
The Triumph of the Resurrection
Vs 54-58
We’re going to go through verses 1-11 this morning.
In these verses we have:
*I. THE GOSPEL PREACHED
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (KJV)
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
In verses 3 and 4 Paul tells us what the gospel message is:
· That Christ died for our sins
· That Christ was buried, and
· That Christ rose again
This gospel message is the "power of God" unto salvation.
Romans 1:16 (KJV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Paul reminded them of it because they were saved through the message of the death, burial, and resurrection but now were doubting the resurrection part.
So the next things we have is:
*II. THE GOSPEL AUTHENTICATED
There were two things that Paul used to verify the truth of the gospel message;
A. The Scriptures
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (KJV)
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Two times Paul said that the Gospel message was according to the Scriptures. These were things the Old Testament said would happen.
B. Eyewitnesses
1 Corinthians 15:5-8 (KJV)
And 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 remain 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.
Paul gave a list of eyewitnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
· Cephas (another name for Peter)
· The Twelve (the Apostles were called the Twelve)
· 500 Brethren at one time (some had died, but most were still alive when Paul wrote this)
· James
· The Apostles again and lastly
· Paul had seen the resurrected Christ Himself[1]
*III. THE GOSPEL BELIEVED
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 (KJV)
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.
1 Corinthians 15:11 (KJV)
Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but only to those who believe.
Paul began this chapter in verse one by saying they had received this gospel.
And Paul reminded them again in verse 11 that they had believed this gospel.
Only those who believe and receive the gospel are saved people.
Those who have believed and received then have the hope of being resurrected with Christ.
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