04 April 5, 2015, Luke 24;1-12, Easter, The Declaration

Luke 24:1-12
The Declaration - He Is Risen!
April 5, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
The Glory of God!
http://forgodalmighty.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/godsglory1.jpg
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.
April Memory Verse:
I Peter 1:3
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He
has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead,

Friday, April 17, 2015 | 6:30 pm | Fellowship Hall East
• Dr. Jason Lisle: Creation vs Evolution vs ID, Apologetics, Cosmology, The
Big Bang, Astro Physics, Astronomy
• Mark Cahill: Apologetic Evangelism, Do Something, Biblical Truth
• Jay Watts: Life Training Institute, The Case for Life, Biblical Worldviews
Saturday: April 18, 2015 | 9:00 am - 2:00 pm | Fellowship Hall East
• Jay Watts: “Back to the Cross, Apologetics in Service to the Gospel”
• Mark Cahill: Apologetic Evangelism Training (2hrs) (Breakout Session)
• Dr. Jason Lisle: How the Heavens Declare God’s Glory (Breakout Session)
• Jay Watts: “The Case for Life” (Breakout Session)
Saturday Lunch | 12:15 pm | Cost $10 (Purchase by April 12)
• Dr. Jason Lisle: “Ultimate Proof of Creation”
• Mark Cahill: “No Excuses”
Sunday, April 19, 2015
• 9:00 & 10:30 am Sunday School Sunday
• School Option: Fellowship Hall East: Dr. Jason Lisle: “Why Genesis
Matters”
• 9:00 & 10:30 am Worship Services – Sanctuary
• Apologetic Message – Mark Cahill: “One Heartbeat Away”
Sunday, April 19, 2015 Evening Service – Sanctuary
• 5:00 pm Dr. Jason Lisle: “Discerning Truth: Exposing Errors in Evolutionary
Arguments”
• 6:15 pm Mark Cahill: “One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven”

Secret Church Simulcast
Friday, April 24, 2015, 6:00 - 11:59 PM
Contact: Hal Warren
Taught by Dr. David Platt,
President of the I.M.B.
Books may be purchased for $10 in the Missions office starting April 12.
We have three challenges that the Education Department has placed before us
in 2015:
http://kazyoung.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Challenge.jpg
1.) Memorize the monthly memory verses and know each month we are hiding
God’s Word in our heart.
http://rejoiceministries.org/images/hiding-gods-word-banner.jpg

January verse: Romans 10:9
February verse: Ephesians 2:8-9
March verse: Romans 3:23
April verse: I Peter 1:3
2.) Share your faith with one person each month and build a relationship with
them, so they will become a believer in 2015 as God uses you to plant seeds
with that person.
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608020305571221387&pid=1.7
3). Ask two Sunday School class members to share how they have seen God at
work during the week.
http://www.tillhecomes.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/God_At_Work.jpg
Next Sunday:
April 12, 2015
Luke 24:13-35
The Promise Fulfilled

http://c710327.r27.cf2.rackcdn.com/assets/1592/reviewaccountingstandards.jpg
http://rsc.byu.edu/sites/default/files/Seely%20Image%201%20copy.jpg
The priest examined the lamb for imperfections, not the man who brought the
lamb to serve as the substitute for his sins.
http://barryboucher.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fb77662883301156fdbb7b7970b-800wi

Except through Me – John 14:6
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ekgLbfjCjWw/TxwO979IySI/AAAAAAAAL9w/fU_HZZKeszU/s1600/judgment-day-man-before-
throne-with-jesus-medium.png
What are the only three things that are presently on this earth that are going to
Heaven?
1) ___ __ _____ ___
2) ____ ______
3) ____ __ ____ ___
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vWYL4EO0BQ/TefTdSEh-II/AAAAAAAAAD0/Dnk3kEcq1jQ/s1600/HeavenOnEarth.jpg
What are the only three things that are presently on this earth that are going to
Heaven?
1) All of God’s Word. Isa 40:8, 1 Peter 1:23-25
2) Some people. 1 John 5:11-13
3) Some of your works. 1 Cor 3:11-15
Isaiah 40:8 NKJV
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”
(Also 1 Peter 1:23-25)

1 John 5:11-13 NKJV
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. 12 He who has the Son has (eternal) life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life. 13a These things I have written to you who believe in the
name of the Son of God, that you may know (not hope so, not maybe) that you
have eternal life,
1 John 5:11-13a NKJV
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NKJV
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will
declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s
work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will
receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself
will be saved, yet so as through fire.
(You can lose your rewards but not your salvation.)
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Revelation 4:10 NKJV
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne and worship
Him Who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne,
http://ubdavid.org/youthworld/majoring-in-life/graphics/10_elders-crowns.jpg

The greatest reward a person can ever have is the presence of God.
http://liveholy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Presence-of-god.jpg
http://splxp.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/held-by-god.jpg
Psalm 16:11 NKJV
11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Yesterday is the past, Tomorrow is the future, Today is a gift – that’s why we call it
The Present!
http://firsttrinity.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Presence-of-God.jpg

Isaiah 40:10 NKJV
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
12 And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every
one according to his work.
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
10 For we are His workmanship (poem), created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Luke 24:1-12 NKJV
The Declaration - He Is Risen!
Luke 24:1-12 NKJV
He Is Risen
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain
other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had
prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went
in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were
greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining
garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they
said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but
is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying,
‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again.’”
8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told
all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene,
Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told
these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales,
and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and
stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed,
marveling to himself at what had happened.
Luke 24:1-12 NKJV

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul gives the most extensive treatment of the
resurrection in all of Scripture.
http://www.jesuspictures.co/jesus-resurrection-92.jpg
1 Corinthians 15:3b-9 NKJV
The Risen Christ
3b that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and
that He was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen
by over five hundred brethren at once , of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by
all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of
due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
1 Corinthians 15:3b-9 NKJV
COMMENTARIES CONSULTED:
• J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible
• Wiersbe Expository Outlines
• Ray Stedman
John MacArthur, Jr. (Born June 19, 1939)
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4529821671755722&w=282&h=366&c=7&rs=1&qlt=80&pid=1.7

Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of
the resurrection gives life to every other area of Gospel truth.
The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which
none of the other truths would much matter.
http://worshipsounds.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/he-is-risen-tomb.jpg
Without the resurrection, Christianity would just be wishful thinking, taking its
place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/d4/f4/42/d4f442d94263dff4aa3f41e745a8f859.jpg

The first two sermons preached after Pentecost both focused on the resurrection
of Christ (Acts 2:14-36; 3:12-26).
http://christianitymatters.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/he-has-risen.jpg
Because of that truth, the heart-broken followers of the crucified Rabbi were
turned into the courageous witnesses and martyrs who, in a few years, spread
the Gospel across the Roman Empire and turned the world upside down.
Acts 17:6 NKJV
6 But when they did not find them (Paul and Silas), they dragged Jason and some
brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world
upside down have come here too.
No fear or dread in this life can quench the hope and joy of an assured life to
come.
http://virginialieto.com/wp-content/uploads/Hope-in-the-Lord.png
True New Testament Christianity is a religion of the resurrection.
"Our Savior's resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity, so great that
His being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it.", said John Locke.

Because it is the cornerstone of the Gospel, the resurrection has been the target
of Satan's greatest attacks against the church.
http://biblicalproof.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/the-devil-as-a-roaring-lion.jpg
If the resurrection is eliminated, the life-giving power of the Gospel is eliminated,
the deity of Christ is eliminated, salvation from sin is eliminated, and eternal life is
eliminated.
"If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1
Corinthians 15:19).
If Christ did not live past the grave, those who trust in Him surely cannot hope to
do so.
Without the resurrection, salvation could not have been provided, and without
belief in the resurrection salvation cannot be received.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-
NOQ3fqcuCJI/UsrohEyil5I/AAAAAAAAAnw/fk_ieRghW38/s1600/I+Am+the+Resurrection+and+the+Life.jpg

"If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
• It is not possible, therefore, to be a Christian and not believe in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The doctrinal problem on which 1 Corinthians chapter 15 focuses was not the
Corinthians' disbelief in Christ's resurrection but confusion about their own.
Paul was not trying to convince them that Christ rose from the dead but that one
day they, too, would be raised with Him to eternal life.
http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/194/028/194028878_640.jpg
To lay the foundation in the first eleven verses, Paul reviews five evidences for
Jesus' resurrection.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pf1tLR81edo/TbQl5ya2dHI/AAAAAAAAAPE/p6_Ua5eFpBo/s1600/empty_tomb23456.jpg
The five evidences, Paul presents are:
1) the church (v1-2);
2) the Scriptures (v3-4);
3) the eyewitnesses (v5-7);
4) a special witness, the apostle himself (8-10); and
5) the common message (v11).

1 Corinthians 15:1-2
The Testimony of the Church
The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the Gospel which I preached to you,
which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved,
if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Because of the reality of Christ's resurrection and of their trust in it, they were now
a part of His church and thereby were evidence of the power of that
resurrection.
• Their lives had been transformed because of the resurrection.
Obedience and continuous faithfulness mark the redeemed.
The endurance and growth of the church of Jesus Christ for over 2,000 years is
evidence of His resurrection reality.
His church and His Word have survived skepticism, persecution, heresy,
unfaithfulness, and disobedience because of our belief in His resurrection.
Critics have denounced the resurrection as a hoax and fabrication, but have
never explained the power of such a fabrication to produce men and women
who gave up everything, including their freedom and lives when necessary, to
love and to follow a dead Lord!
His living church is evidence that Christ Himself is alive; and He could be alive
only if He had been raised from the dead.

He Lives
I serve a risen Savior
He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy;
I hear His voice of cheer;
And just the time I need Him
He’s always near.
He lives, He lives,
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me
and talks with me
along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives,
salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.
Composed in 1933 by Alfred Henry Ackley (1887-1960)
In the Garden
Written by a pharmacist,
C. Austin Miles (1868–1946)
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses . . .
And He walks with me,
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other, has ever, known!
“A crucified Messiah would have been no Messiah at all. He was One rejected
by Judaism and accursed of God. It was the resurrection of Jesus, as Paul
declares in Romans 1:3-4, which proclaimed Him to be the Son of God with
power” (Dutton, 1946).

Romans 1:3-4 NKJV
3 His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who was born of the seed of David according to
the flesh,4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Matthew 27:54 NKJV
54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the
earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying,
“Truly this was the Son of God!”
(Also in Mark 15:39)
A follower of Buddha writes of his religious leader, "When Buddha died it was with
that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains."
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/3392929141_83f48bc81c.jpg
Mohammad died at Medina on June 8, 632, at the age of 61, and his tomb there
is visited yearly by tens of thousands of Muslims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mausoleum_Muhammad.jpg

But they come to mourn his death, not to celebrate his resurrection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mrs_Aisha_room.jpg
Franklin Graham said, “Mohammed is dead and buried in Medina. Jesus Christ
is alive and He is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven. (Hebrews
1:3) Who do you want to follow, the dead or the living?”
The church of Jesus Christ, not just on Easter Sunday but at every service of
immersion baptism, celebrates the victory of her Lord over death and the grave.
The Testimony of Scripture
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures,
http://healthy-family.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/and-on-the-third-day-he-rose-in-fulfillment-of-the-scriptures.jpg

To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said, "'O foolish men and slow
of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for
the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' And beginning with
Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning
Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:25-27).
Acts 10:43 says that all the prophets testify about Him…
Acts 10:43 NKJV
43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in
Him will receive remission of sins.
When the unbelieving Jews asked for a sign of Jesus' messiahship, He said:
Matthew 12:39-40 NKJV
39 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be
given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RXWDJZK5vCE/U0whpbrGyeI/AAAAAAAABJk/MVF819AIBGE/s1600/sign+of+Jonah.jpg
Jesus, Peter, and Paul all quoted or referred to such Old Testament passages as:
Gen 22:8, 14;
Psalm 16:8-11;
Psalm 22;
Isaiah 53; and
Hosea 6:2.
The more time there is between the prediction and when the event occurs, the
more amazing it is, the more impressed we are.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.607995313212558541&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

Psalm 22 was written by King David 1,000 years before it took place.
It was written 500 years before the Romans had perfected crucifixion.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608049322458875634&w=243&h=169&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7
The Psalms were not numbered in Jesus’ day so the way they referred to a Psalm
was by the first line of that Psalm.
Psalm 23 = The Lord is my Shepherd
Psalm 22:1 NKJV
1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
http://www.lifeinchristministries.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/psalm22.jpg
Psalm 22:14-18 NKJV
14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f3/c2/22/f3c222545d38a7d6b2fc3c2ce54279ad.jpg

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd (dry piece of pottery),
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
http://mattmilamii.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/i_thirst1.jpg
16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
http://www.joyfulheart.com/easter/images-tissot/tissot-the-garments-divided-by-cast-lots-599x719.jpg
Psalm 22 Six of the Fulfillments Gospels
v. 1 -- Christ spoke these words Matt. 27:46
v. 2 -- Alternate light and darkness; Matt. 27:45
v. 6-8 -- The reproach of the people; Matt. 27:39-44
v. 16 -- His hands and feet pierced; Matt. 27:35
v. 17 -- People staring at Him; Luke 23:35
v. 18 -- Gambling for His garments; John 19:23-24

Over and over again, either directly or indirectly, literally or in figures of speech,
the Old Testament foretold Jesus' death (Psalm 22), burial (Psalm 16), and
resurrection (Isaiah 11).
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RIJ57UBnL-
M/T2xambBMMSI/AAAAAAAAAZE/djGhAmfHEjk/s1600/the_baptism_of_the_christ_21.jpg
http://ubdavid.org/advanced/way-to-heaven/graphics/4_jesus-baptism-beloved-son.jpg
No Jew who believed and understood the Scriptures should have been surprised
that the Messiah was ordained to die, be buried, and then resurrected.
http://media2.gracechurchsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/12_jesusintheot_main.jpg
Twice Paul repeats the phrase according to the Scriptures, to emphasize that this
is no new thing, and no contradiction of true Jewish belief.

The Testimony Of Eyewitnesses
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen
by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by
all the apostles.
Jesus' Appearance To Peter
One of the requirements for apostleship was having seen the resurrected Christ
(Acts 1:21-22).
http://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/church/news/March%202013/29th/580-Resurrection.jpg
Acts 1:21-22 NKJV
21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that
day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us
of His resurrection.”
Psalm 109:8 NKJV
8 Let his (Judas) days be few,
And let another take his office.

The first apostle to whom He appeared was Cephas, that is, Peter.
http://wordincarnate.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/saint-thomas-jesus.jpg
We are not told why the Lord appeared to Peter first or separately, but it possibly
was because of Peter's great remorse over having denied his Lord three times,
and because his role as a leader among the apostles (Acts 15).
In going to Peter first, Jesus emphasized His grace.
• Peter had forsaken the Lord, but the Lord had not forsaken him and Christ
did not appear to Peter because Peter deserved to see Him most, but
perhaps because Peter needed to see Him most.
• Peter was the Lord's spokesman at Pentecost and was crucially used in the
expansion of the church for several years.
• As such he was the prime witness to the resurrected Christ.
Jesus' Appearance To The Eleven
Jesus next appeared to the eleven disciples as they were fearfully assembled on
Easter evening (John 20:19; Luke 24:36).
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-tPfvMT88E/Sd-qercS8AI/AAAAAAAADuE/nTMuRrbcJwc/s400/risen.jpg

The apostles laid the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), which from the
beginning based its beliefs and practices on their teaching (Acts 2:42).
Those men whom the Lord used to establish His church on earth all saw Him in
His resurrected body (Acts 1:22).
They were capable, honest, and reliable eyewitnesses to the most important
event of history.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zvW4b38RcUQ/TnDuEk9BEJI/AAAAAAAADZw/V7L-lRJB2Ww/s1600/Jesus-Christ-Image.jpg
Jesus' Appearance To The Five Hundred
“After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time.”
The quality of specific witnesses is represented by the apostles, all of whom were
known by name and could easily be questioned.
The quantity of witnesses is seen in the five hundred brethren who all saw the
risen Christ at one time.
• Scripture gives no indication of who those people were, or where Jesus
appeared to them, but they were surely well known in the early church,
and, like the eleven, would often have been questioned about seeing the
risen Savior.
http://deseretnews.com/images/article/midres/16048/16048.jpg

Jesus' Appearance To James
James is the half-brother of the Lord, the author of the letter of James and a key
leader in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13-21).
http://members.bib-arch.org/bswb_graphics/BSBA/28/06/BSBA280603120.jpg
James originally was a skeptic (as were C.S. Lewis and Josh McDowell).
Like his brothers he did not at first believe that Jesus was the Messiah (John 7:5).
John 7:5 NKJV
5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
But now this member of Jesus' own household, this one who for several years did
not recognize Jesus as the Christ, was a powerful and convincing witness to His
resurrection.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608050215808731103&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0
Perhaps, as with Paul, it was the experience of seeing the resurrected Christ that
finally brought James to saving faith.
http://theworddetective.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/camelknees.jpg

In any case, the convincing testimony of a family member and former
unbeliever was added to that of the apostles and the five hundred.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/3f/c9/41/3fc9414666b6f33266bd00df8a46b0d9.jpg
"Over a period of forty days" (Acts 1:3), between His resurrection and ascension,
Jesus appeared to all the apostles on other occasions that are not specified
(see John 21:1-14).
4) a special witness, the apostle Paul himself (8-10); and
The Testimony Of Paul
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I
am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
The fourth major testimony of Christ's resurrection was that of the apostle Paul
himself, a special and unique witness of the risen Lord.
http://danmckinlay.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/apostle-paul.jpg

Paul was not among the original apostles, all of whom had been disciples of
Jesus during His earthly ministry.
• He was not among the five hundred other believers who had seen the
resurrected Christ.
Rather, he had for many years been an unbeliever and a chief persecutor of the
church.
He was, however, last of all allowed to see the risen Christ.
The Lord's appearance to Paul not only was post-resurrection but post-
ascension, making Paul's testimony more unique still.
• It was not during the forty days in which He appeared to all the others but
several years later.
All the others to whom Christ appeared, except perhaps James, were believers,
whereas Paul (then known as Saul) was a violent, hateful unbeliever when the
Lord manifested Himself on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-8).
There were also other appearances (Acts 18:9-10; 23:11; 2 Cor 12:1-7).
• Jesus appeared to Paul as it were to one untimely born (ektroma) which
ordinarily referred to a miscarriage, or premature birth — a life unable to
sustain itself.
In Paul's figure, the term could indicate hopelessness for life without divine
intervention, and convey the idea that he was born without hope of meeting
Christ.
But the use of the term in the sense of an ill-timed birth, too early or too late,
seems to fit Paul's thought best.
He came too late to have been one of the twelve.
In carrying the idea of unformed, dead, and useless, the term was also used as a
term of derision.
• Before his conversion, which coincided with his vision of the resurrected
Lord, Paul was spiritually unformed, dead, and useless, a person to be
scorned by God.
• Even when he was born it was wrong timing.
• Christ was gone.
• How could he be an apostle?
• Yet, by special divine provision, He appeared to me also, Paul testifies.

Paul knew all of his sins were forgiven, and he was not plagued by feelings of
guilt over what he had once done against God's people.
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608036742505564402&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0
But he could not forget that for which he had been forgiven, and it continually
reminded him that by the grace of God I am what I am.
• That he deserved God's forgiveness so little was a constant reminder of
how graciously His grace is given.
It is possible that Paul's memory of having persecuted the church of God was a
powerful motivation for his being determined that His grace would not prove
vain.
http://www.dailywordofgodgroup.com/images/the-grace-of-god.jpg
As is clearly substantiated in the New Testament, Paul was able to truthfully say, I
labored even more than all of them.
Yet he was not boasting in his own spirituality or power but in God's, because, as
he hastened to add, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
The same grace responsible for his calling was responsible for his faithfulness.
God sovereignly appointed Paul an apostle and sovereignly blessed his
apostolic ministry.

Paul believed, responded, obeyed, and was continually sensitive to the Lord's
leading and will. But apart from God's prevenient grace the apostle knew that
everything he did would have been in vain and worthless (Eph 4:15-16; Col 1:28-
29; etc.).
The truth and power of the resurrected Christ had brought three great changes in
Paul.
• First was deep recognition of sin.
• For the first time he realized how far his external religious life was from
being internally godly.
He saw himself as he really was, an enemy of God and a persecutor of His
church.
• Second, he experienced a revolution of character.
• From a persecutor of the church he became her greatest defender.
His life was transformed from one characterized by self-righteous hatred to one
characterized by self-giving love.
http://sfodan.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/transformed_by_god.jpg
He changed from oppressor to servant, from imprisoner to deliverer, from judge
to friend, from a taker of life to a giver of life.
Third, he experienced a dramatic redirection of energy.
As zealously as he had once opposed God's redeemed he now served them.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bbt2HjyGzpg/UTyodiWShjI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/JCiUt57Xm18/s1600/01-serving-others-1.jpg

4) a special witness, the apostle Paul himself (8-10); and
1 Corinthians 15:11
The Testimony Of The Common Message
1 Corinthians 15:11 NKJV
11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The last testimony to Christ's resurrection was that of the common message that
every true apostle, prophet, and pastor preached.
Without exception, the preaching and teaching in the early church centered on
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ - whether it was Peter, the twelve, the
five hundred, James, or anyone else.
Wherever Christ was preached and by whomever He was preached, His
resurrection was the pivotal message that was proclaimed.
http://www.jesuspictures.co/jesusresurrection_2.jpg
There was no dispute about the truth or the importance of the doctrine, which
hardly would have been the case had it been a fabrication.
Except for a few isolated heresies, the doctrine of Christ's resurrection has not
been questioned within the church until our modern age of skepticism and
humanism.
New Testament Christianity, whether ancient or modern, knows nothing of a
gospel whose heart is not the risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 49:16a NKJV
16a See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
http://christfromtheheart.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/isiash-49-16.jpg
The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
 Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
 Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sins.
 The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in
Revelation 21:8.

8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.”
 Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus as our Savior.
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
If you have questions or would like to know more, Please, contact First Baptist
Church Jackson at 601-979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

04 April 5, 2015, Luke 24;1-12, Easter, The Declaration

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

En vedette

En vedette (20)

Similaire à 04 April 5, 2015, Luke 24;1-12, Easter, The Declaration

Similaire à 04 April 5, 2015, Luke 24;1-12, Easter, The Declaration (20)

Plus de First Baptist Church Jackson

Plus de First Baptist Church Jackson (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

04 April 5, 2015, Luke 24;1-12, Easter, The Declaration