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"WHY I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION"

1 Corinthians 15

 

I. The dilemma of death.

II. Centrality of Resurrection.

A. Apostle Paul rested his whole case on it. 1 Corinthians 15:14

1) (Frank Morison and "Who Moved the Stone?") A remarkable attack was contemplated in the 1930's by a young British lawyer named Frank Morison. He was convinced that the Resurrection was a mere fairy tale. Sensing that it was the central point of the Christian faith, he decided to do the world a favor by once and for all exposing it as a fraud and supersitition. As a lawyer, he began to rigidly sift the evidence and admitted nothing as evidence which did not meet the criteria for a law court today. However, while Morison was doing his research, a remarkable thing happened. The case was not nearly as easy as he had supposed. Frank Morison found that the evidence for the Resurrection was so overwhelming he was forced to accept it. He became a believer. The book he ended up writing is called "Who Moved the Stone?". It sets forth the evidence for the resurrection of Christ, and its first chapter is called, "The Book that Refused to be Written."

C. Significance of resurrection: Romans 1:4 – Center, core of Christianity.

MAIN TWO FACTS of Resurrection of Jesus.

I. Empty tomb. 1 Cor 15:4

A. Body stolen. Matthew 27:64

B. Authorities moved the body.

C. Women went to wrong tomb. (They imagined it was empty.)

D. Swoon theory.

E. Jesus was really raised from the dead. 1) The tomb was empty because Jesus was not there.

II. Appearances of Jesus after his death. 1 Cor 15:5

A. Hallucinations.

B. Evolved from a confused story.

III. Most convincing proof that something happened 2,000 years ago - evidence we can see in people's lives today.

A. Millions testify that Jesus is alive to them in a personal way.

B. The fearful disciples were changed into courageous men.




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