[RESURRECTION REALITIES SERIES]
1 CORINTHIANS 15: 8-11
PAUL’S WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION
[Acts 9:1–8, 17]
The first eleven verses of chapter 15 reviews evidence or the proof of Jesus' resurrection, [a truth the Corinthians already believed (vv. 1, 11)]. For it is on the foundation of the resurrection of Jesus that the hope of our resurrection is built. In verses 5-7 we looked at an impressive array of witnesses, most of whom were still living when 1 Corinthians was written.
The fourth major testimony of Christ's resurrection listed was that of the apostle Paul himself. He was a special and unique witness of the risen Lord. Paul was an unbeliever who was solidly convinced that the imposter Jesus was dead. Paul radically changed from the worst of unbelievers to the strongest of believers. He testified before one and all that what changed him and his life was becoming an eyewitness to the Resurrected Lord of Life. The radical change in Paul’s life which brought him persecution, suffering, and a new purpose, is certain evidence that the Lord indeed had risen from the dead.
Let’s look this morning at:
I. THE TESTIMONY OF A SPECIAL WITNESS, 8-9.
II. THE TESTIMONY OF AMAZING GRACE, 10.
III. THE TESTIMONY OF THE COMMON MESSAGE, 11.
As one of the greatest witnesses of the resurrection, Paul must add himself in verse 8. “And last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
Though there were many other resurrection appearances to many other people (Mt. 27:56; Jn. 20:14; Acts 18:9–10; 23:11; 2 Cor. 12:1–7), Paul now turns to himself. Paul’s most important credential to be an apostle was that he was an eyewitness to the risen Christ. As one abnormally or untimely born means that his was a special case. [Ektroma (untimely born) ordinarily referred to an abortion, 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.] 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. Paul testifies that by special divine provision, “He appeared to me also.” The Lord's appearance to Paul not only was post-crucifixion 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; 17-18).
Let me help you recall the life changing event of the Risen Christ appearing to Saul.
[Tell story of Acts 9:1-18.]
The Person Paul met on the Damascus Road changed Paul’s life. None could deny the before and the after in His life as verse 9 indicates. “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”
Though Paul never doubted his apostleship or hesitated to use the authority that office brought, he also never ceased to be amazed that, of all persons, Christ would have called him to that high position. He not only considered himself to be the least of the apostles, but not even “fit to be called an apostle, because [he] persecuted the church of God” ( Acts 22:4; 1 Tim. 1:15-16) which he now served (2 Cor. 4:5). Paul realized what a depraved man he truly was before he met Jesus.
Paul thus also would call himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). He called himself the worst of sinner because he persecuted the church. The worse sin is causing the church damage and the worse sinners are those who do damage to the church of the Living God. Before God there is nothing worse, no greater sin that one can commit than to do harm to the church for which Jesus die and shed His blood. But God is a God of amazing grace.
I hope you too have a BEFORE AND AFTER TESTIMONY. It won’t be as dramatic as Paul’s but if you have had a true encounter with Jesus Christ, your life was change. You were once lost, maybe even lost while thinking you were serving God, but then you had an encounter with Jesus that radically changed your life. Do you have such a testimony? Every person that has been born from above has had a life changing encounter with the Lord of Life.
Next we have:
II. THE TESTIMONY OF AMAZING GRACE, 10.
Paul made it clear that His salvation was purely an act of God’s grace. God’s amazing grace changed him and then continued to work through him all the days of his life. Verse10 proclaims, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”
Paul realized that his past was simply a dark backdrop on which to display the grace of God (1:3) so clearly. Paul had been so responsive to the grace of God that he was without peer in his devotion (9:19-27) and service to Christ. The history of the church confirms that the grace of God given him was not in vain or without effect (ken, “empty”; 15:14). He had worked harder than any of the other apostles, as he traveled more, suffered more opposition, wrote more New Testament letters, and established more churches. Yet Paul knew that the power with which he ministered was not his but God’s (2:4-5) and therefore produced eternal results (3:6).
By God’s amazing grace Paul knew all of his sins were forgiven, and he move beyond the feelings of guilt over what he had once done against God's people. But he did not forget that for which he had been forgiven, and it humbled him as it reminded him that by the grace of God I am what I am. That he did not deserved God's forgiveness was a constant reminder of how amazingly gracious is God’s grace.
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. (Compare his testimony in 1 Tim. 1:12–17.) As is clearly substantiated in the New Testament, Paul was able to truthfully say, “I labored even more than all of them.” [Compare his commitment as chronicled in 2 Cor. 11:23–12:12.] 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 (suv) me.” The same grace responsible for his calling was responsible for his faithfulness. God sovereignly appointed Paul an apostle and sovereignly empowered his apostolic ministry. Paul believed, responded, obeyed, and was continually sensitive to the Lord's leading and will. But apart from God's amazing grace the apostle knew that everything he did would have been in vain and worthless (Eph. 4:15–16; Col. 1:28–29; etc.). [MacArthur, John. MacArthur NT Commentary. Moody Press. Chicago.1984. P 405]
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, no matter how zealous and sincere he was. He came to the place where he could admit that he was really an enemy of God in his persecution 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. 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 & worked to expand the church throughout the world. [MacArthur, 406]
III. THE TESTIMONY OF THE COMMON MESSAGE, 11.
Verse 11 proclaims that the resurrection has always been a part of gospel preaching. “Whether then 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. “Whether then it was I or they” —Peter, the twelve, the five hundred, James, or anyone else— “so we preach and so you believed.” Without exception, the preaching and teaching in the early church centered on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Wherever Christ was preached and by whomever He was preached, His resurrection was the pivotal message that was proclaimed. 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.
In the final analysis it was not the messenger but the message which was important (1:18-4:5). The apostolic message based on eyewitness fact was that the crucified Christ became the resurrected Christ. This is the message they preached, and the Holy Spirit used to bring the Corinthians to belief in Jesus as the resurrected Lord of Life.
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.
The resurrection was the focal point of every other truth Christ taught. Jesus taught His disciples that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk. 8:31; 9:9, 31). He said, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (Jn. 11:25). The first two sermons preached after Pentecost both focused on the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:14–36; 3:12–26). Because of that truth the heart-broken followers of the crucified Teacher or Rabbi were turned into the courageous witnesses and martyrs who, in a few years, spread the gospel across the Roman empire and beyond. Belief in the resurrection, the truth that this life is only a prelude to the life to come for those who trust in Jesus Christ, could not be obliterated by ridicule, prison, torture, or even death. No fear or dread in this life can quench the hope and joy of an assured life to come.
In CLOSING / Time of Response
A father knelt down beside his little boy’s bed. It was TIME FOR PRAYERS, hugs and kisses, and tucking in. The little boy began the childhood prayer he had repeated so many times before: now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake Pray the Lord, my soul to take. This time the words got mixed up. Unwittingly, the child spoke words of the greatest wisdom. He prayed, “If I should wake before I die.” Embarrassed, he stopped. “Oh Daddy, I got all mixed up.” Wisely, his dad responded tenderly, “Not at all, Son, that’s the first time the prayer was properly prayed. My deepest longing for you is that you may wake up before you die.” The child drifted to sleep, but the father turned the prophetic words about in his mind. “If I should wake before I die. That’s it!” he exclaimed. “that’s the promise of and hope of Easter. We can come alive & live forever!
The gospel is this: Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, gave up His life by being sacrificed on a cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and was raised from the dead 3 days later. Because He took our punishment for sin on Himself, He can forgive our sin and make us children of God, if we put our faith in Him (Acts 13: 38-39).
If you have not done so -I encourage you to place your faith in Jesus Christ as the Resurrection and the Life right now today. Let the old, old story, the greatest story ever told make you brand new¬- forever.
If you do not have a local church home, we invite you to come and unite your life and ministry with us. Then we will encourage each other to live in the resurrection power of our Living Lord of Life. You come, as the Spirit leads.
PRAYER: Risen Lord, be our resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life for those who feel forsaken. Be the resurrection and the life to those who live as if You do not. Be the resurrection and the life for those who do not believe they need resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life in churches that believe they are dying, and in successful churches who don't know they are dead.
Be the resurrection and the life in us who know the good but fail to do it, who know love but still live for self, who know hope but succumb to despair. Be the resurrection and the life for those dying of malnutrition and hunger. Be the resurrection and life for those who live under regimes that seek to crush all who proclaim resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life for those in the throes of sickness that leads to death.
Be the resurrection and the life in the life we share and the fellowship we enjoy & fill us anew with the wonder of your love and the power of your grace, that we may go forth to proclaim your resurrection life to a world in the grip of death and yet on the verge of redemption, a redemption promised by you and assured by what occurred on the first Easter morn. Amen. [Adapted. Christianity Today.2011.
