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Many Infallible Proofs
Introduction:
Do Christians have good reasons for believing that
Jesus actually rose from the dead? Listen to the following:
THE RESURRECTION IS A FACT
Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of
Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed
to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with
the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This
great scholar said: “I have been used for many years to study
the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence
of those who have written about them, and I
know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by
better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a
fair inquirer, then the great sign which God hath given us that
Christ died and rose again from the dead.” Brooke Foss
Westcott, an English scholar, said: "taking all the evidence
together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic
incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of
Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false
could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it."
The angels spoke the truth in Luke 24:4-6. The Bible affirms that
Jesus’ resurrection was confirmed by many infallible proofs. Acts
1:1-3 So what are some of these convincing proofs?
Body:
I.
Post-Resurrection Appearances
By combining information from several New Testament
books, we find that Jesus appeared to His disciples on at least ten
separate occasions:
·
Mary
Magdalene
John 20:14
·
Peter
I Corinthians 15:5
·
Cleopas and another disciple
Luke 24:13-33
·
Eleven apostles minus Thomas
John 20:19-24
·
Eleven apostles with Thomas
John 20:26-29
·
Seven apostles at the Sea of Tiberius
John 21:1-2
·
Eleven apostles at the mountain of Galilee
Matthew 28:16-17
·
More
than 500 brethren at once
I Corinthians 15:6
·
James
I Corinthians 15:7
·
Apostles at the ascension
Acts 1:9
These were all eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection,
many of whom were still alive.
II.
Conversion of Paul
·
Paul, originally Saul, was not always a
follower of Christ. Acts 8:1-4
·
He admitted years later to his persecution of
Christians. Acts 22:4, Galatians 1:13
·
Saul sees the risen Savior and later, in
Damascus, converts to the Christian faith.
·
He endures tremendous trials for his religion.
II Corinthians 11:23-27
·
He was thoroughly convinced that he had seen
Jesus.
III.
The Change in the Disciples
·
Less than two months after Peter had denied
Christ three times, he stood up before thousands of Jews and boldly
declared they had by lawless hands crucified the Messiah. Acts 2:23,
36 What caused this change? Acts 3:14-15
·
Other instances
Acts 4:12-13, 18-20, Acts 5:30
·
These men didn’t just believe Jesus had been
resurrected; they knew it!
·
As a reward for their efforts, however, those early Christians were
beaten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and
crucified. Every conceivable method was used to stop them from
talking. Yet, they laid down their lives as the ultimate proof of
their complete confidence in the truth of their message.
IV.
The Empty Tomb
·
If Christ’s body was still in the tomb on the
Day of Pentecost, when Peter claimed the tomb was empty, the Jewish
leaders would have stopped the speech and taken him to the tomb.
·
Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of
Arimathea. John 19:38-42 It was guarded by Roman
soldiers and had a Roman seal on the stone. Matthew 27:62-66
·
Even Jesus’ enemies acknowledged the tomb was
empty. Matthew 28:11-15
Conclusion:
In the Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, he
states, “The Christian church rests on the resurrection of its
Founder. Without this fact the church could never have been born; or
if born, it would soon have died a natural death.” In the book, The
Resurrection of the Son of God, Wright said, “Christianity is
inexplicable apart from the assumption that almost all early
Christians . . . did indeed believe that Jesus of Nazareth bad been
raised bodily from the dead.” Sufficient evidence exists for anyone
with a good heart to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and
rose from the dead.
Prepared by Bobby Stafford
March 31, 2013
The church of Christ at Granby, MO
Located at
516 East Pine St.
P.O. Box 664
Granby, Mo. 64844
(417) 472-7109
YouTube Playlist of video sermons
on the Resurrection:
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