Can I Trust My Bible?

 PSALM. 12:6; 19:7

Psalm 12:6, The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psalm 19:7, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.                                                                        

SUBJECT: The Credibility Of The Bible

                       

THEME: today we will learn that the inspired books of the Bible are completely reliable and credible.  We will also endeavor to set forth the Bible’s credentials by other well-known established facts.  In doing this, we will avoid circular reasoning, that is using the Bible to prove the Bible’s accuracy.  Instead we will construct empirical (experimental or observable) evidences which further support the biblical truth of inerrancy by using external proofs.

           

RELEVANCY: many times our arguments from the Scriptures are discounted by skeptics and unbelievers because they reject the authority and accuracy of the Bible. How then can we convince a “doubter” that the Bible is indeed a credible source of information?  If we grasp this lesson well, we will have the ammunition we need to answer the skeptics and prayerfully win them to our Lord Jesus Christ eventually.

INTRODUCTION:

1) The Revelation in the Bible Is Accurate (John 17:17), Progressive (Heb. 1:1), and Purposeful (2 Tim. 3:15-17).  The root problem with liberals and skeptics is their failure or refusal to believe the Bible. No man who has humble, unwavering faith in the Bible is a liberal!

Why do we believe the world was created in six literal days? Or that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish prepared by God?  Or why do we accept the teachings that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and walked on water and rose from the dead the third day?  Why? Simply because the Bible plainly teaches this! The Bible destroys liberalism and liberalism seeks to destroy the Bible.

2) Scripture Should Be Taken For What it Says.

Primarily, two approaches exist as to the credibility of the scriptural revelation.  One Camp (Fideists) insists that “the Scripture and the revelation it contains is self-authenticating, or that they validate themselves” (that is, autopistic). Of course we believe in the infallibility and the inspiration of the Scripture.  In addition to these, the Holy Spirit Himself accredits the Word by placing His endorsement upon it. This should be enough for any Christian, simply the fact that God said it in the Bible ought to be enough to settle any issue in life. (Ryrie)  

This is clearly the position the Lord Jesus took, in that He never questioned the Bibles content, claims, and statements.  Remember it was Jesus who said, “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;” (John 10:35). Our Lord also said on a different occasion that,

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

3) Scripture’s Claims Should Be Supported By Various Evidences.

Then there are those (Empiricists), on the other hand, who stress the natural (intrinsic) credibility of the Bible as being worthy of belief, (that is, axiopistic). “The Bible's claim to authority is not in itself proof of its authority; rather there exist factual, historical evidences which constitute the Bible's credentials and validate the truth of its message.” (Ryrie) 

         a) This Is Not an Approach of Unbelief Necessarily, but Rather a Position That Seeks to Prove What the Bible Claims. This kind of insight can be incredibly valuable when dealing with skeptics and those who generally discount the Bible’s message.  They can be won over by proving how the Bible’s message is verified in nature, real science, history, and by experience. 

ILLUSTRATION: The Apostle Paul used this basic approach while on Mars Hill in Acts 17:22-34, to witness and reveal the UNKNOWN GOD to pagans and skeptics. Paul used General Revelation that which all men have as common ground. His basic argument is from Creation, Geography, and Science.

         b) I Personally Believe That There Is Truth in Both These Approaches So That Both Can and Should Be Used Especially With Critics.  Therefore, we will look to both methods today as we examine the credibility of the Bible. Why? Because of a Biblical mandate:  1 Peter 3:15, clearly states, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:".

God in His great wisdom requires that the Christian be able to skillfully defend the Faith when questioned or even discounted because of an apparent lack of credence.

4) The Reliability of the Bible’s Content Is Assured by the Lord!

Psalm 12:6, The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psalm 19:7, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

       a) It Is Commonly Held That the Bible Is Full of Historical Errors, Scientific Impossibilities, and Misstatements. Let us understand that there are many things in the Bible about which we need fuller light; but let us also state confidently that the Bible is accurate and reliable. Over and over again, what seems to be discrepancies are cleared away after careful and prayerful investigation. Psalm 119:160, states, "Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever."

  

       b) There Is Not One Single Proven Inaccuracy in the Whole Bible. The Bible is accurate historically, geographically, genealogically, scientifically, psychologically, typologically and verbally.

       c) Bible-believing Baptists Approach Doctrine from the "First Truth" That the Bible Is Truth.  Jesus said “thy word is Truth” (Jn. 17:17).  Many unbelievers; however, will not accept this premise, so it becomes necessary to actually prove the Bible for what it claims to be. (R. Sargent)

THE QUESTION IS: "Is the Bible Narrative Trustworthy?"

THE TEST IS:  Compare Bible Statements with Known Facts.

Lesson:

I.  HOW DOES ARCHAEOLOGY TESTIFY TO THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE?

Not one archaeological find disproves accounts in the Bible and many confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible.  This significant area has continued to prove the Bible’s accuracy!

Many of the attacks on the accuracy of the Bible occurred prior to modern archaeology. However, beginning with major excavations in the Holy Land in the mid-1800s, archaeological evidence has confirmed the Bible's historical accuracy time and time again.   As travel became easier and scholars more curious, archaeologists began to peel away the earth's surface to reveal ancient cities, painted tombs, solid gold likenesses of rulers, jars, money and items needed for the afterlife, tablets of stone and clay telling the story of a people or a city, and so on. As these artifacts piled up, references to biblical places and people surfaced. In a number of cases, people or places which skeptics had written off as fanciful mistakes in the Bible were instead confirmed as authentic. In fact, many things that eighteenth-and nineteenth-century scholars questioned have now been verified as factual, such as cities and things in those cities, rulers, and important people.  Perhaps the greatest of the external proofs of the trustworthiness of the Biblical narrative are derived from the archaeologist's spade. (Anders)

 A.  ARCHAEOLOGY HAS CONFIRMED BIBLE PERSONALITIES.

    1. King Belshazzar (Dan. 5): Belshazzar, named in the book of Daniel as the last king of Babylon, was nowhere to be found in Babylonian records: all known Babylonian records listed Nabonidus as the last king. Then, archaeological records revealed that Nabonidus left Babylon for ten years and went to Arabia. In his absence, his son Belshazzar ruled as king in his place during the time of Daniel. In this way, archaeology explained the apparent discrepancy between the biblical record and the previous Babylonian record (Paul Little, Know Why You Believe 95).

     2. Sanballat (Neh. 2:19; 4:1):  Clifford Wilson, a committed Christian and retired archaeologist at the University of Sydney in Australia, tells of evidence of a man named Sanballat, found during the time of Alexander the Great (356 – 389 BC). A man named Sanballat is also found in the book of Nehemiah, before Alexander the Great’s time. Critics often cited this as proof of historical error in the Bible. But then it was discovered that there were three Sanballats, and that one of them lived during the time of Nehemiah. The Bible was right after all (“The Bible: Fable, Fraud or Fact,” Coral Ridge Video Ministry, January 4, 1994).

B.  ARCHAEOLOGY HAS CONFIRMED BIBLE HISTORY.

William F. Albright, recognized throughout the world as a leading Palestinian archaeologist, attests that there is little doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historical accuracy of Old Testament tradition.

    1. King Solomon’s Extravagant Wealth.

For example, higher critics of Scripture doubted the Bible’s description of King Solomon’s wealth. But archaeologist Henry Breasted, between 1925 and 1934, unearthed the remains of one of Solomon’s “chariot cities” at Megiddo in northern Palestine (2 Chron 1:14; 2 Chron 8:6; 2 Chron 9:25). Mr. Breasted found stables capable of holding more than four hundred horses and the remains of barracks for Solomon’s chariot battalions which were stationed to guard a strategic trail that ran through Megiddo.

Nelson Glueck, another archaeologist, found the remains of a huge refining factory for copper and iron, two metals Solomon used when bartering for gold, silver, and ivory (see 1 Kin. 9:28; 10:22).

     2.  The Existence of the Hittite Clan.

Critics of Scripture also doubted the existence of the Hittites (Gen. 15:20, Jos. 1:4) a people the Bible refers to some forty-eight times. Archaeologist Hugh Winckler excavated the Hittite capital of Boghaz-Koi and recovered thousands of Hittite texts, as well as the famous Hittite code.

Other examples of how archaeology confirms the authority of the Bible could fill several dozen books. Archaeology helps us see clearly that our Christian faith rests on facts (actual events) not mere myths or stories.

     3.  Statement From Archaeologist Nelson Glueck.

More than a century of biblical excavations at over 25,000 sites have repeatedly confirmed the accuracy of the Bible.   After working in the field for many years, noted archaeologist Nelson Glueck said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted (contradicted) a biblical reference” (quoted in Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict 1:65).

C.  ARCHAEOLOGY HAS CONFIRMED BIBLE CHRONOLOGY.

Archaeological discoveries of contemporary societies have given much supportive evidence to Biblical events, the order of events, and the circumstances involved.

The Gospel of Luke has often been attacked for historical inaccuracies, especially relating to the birth of Christ. Discoveries have now shown the Romans had regular censuses every 14 years, that Quirinius (Cyrenius) was the Governor of Syria at around 7 B.C. (Luke 2:1-3) and that Roman procedures for conducting a census (outlined on a papyrus document discovered in Egypt) required the return of people to their homelands. (R. Sargent)

D.  ARCHAEOLOGY HAS CONFIRMED BIBLE LANDS AND TERRITORIES.

Topography has to do with the layout of the land. It is evident Bible localities are where the Bible says they were; times taken for journeys were feasible.

     1.  The Five Cities of Gen. 14.  (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, Bela)

The discovery of the Ebla Tablets in the 1970's relate to a kingdom existing around 2,300 B.C. One tablet actually lists the 5 cities mentioned in Genesis 14:2 in the Biblical order! Until then, the existence of these cities was doubted by Higher Critics. (R. Sargent)

      2. The Plain of Jezreel.

Any visitor to the Holy Land will find desert where the Bible says there is desert, mountains where the Bible says there are mountains, etc.

The Plain of Jezreel (which figures in Bible prophecy and the coming Battle of Armageddon) actually exists, and is a plain, which forms a strategic passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan valley without having to cross mountains.

To be completely candid, we must assess what all this means. By itself, this does not mean that the Bible is the word of God. It does mean that the Bible has never been proven wrong on any point of history or geography.

However, the historical-geographical test must be passed if we are to conclude that the Bible is the word of God. Mistakes in the record would cause us to doubt the Bible as the word of God. Since there are no mistakes in it, it passes the historical-geographical test and allows us, on that ground, to conclude that it is the word of God. Whether or not we decide it is the word of God is ultimately a matter of faith, but we would not be able to make that conclusion if we found the Bible riddled with error.  Thank God it is not!

II. WE WILL CONTINUE OUR STUDY ON THE CREDIBILITY OF THE BIBLE IN THE NEXT LESSON.

Today we have reaffirmed that the inspired books of the Bible are completely reliable and credible. We have also set forth the Bible’s credentials by means of archaeology.  In doing this, we have avoided circular reasoning, that is using the Bible to prove the Bible’s accuracy.  Instead we have begun constructing empirical (experimental or observable) evidences which further support the biblical truth of inerrancy and trustworthiness.

   

Many times our arguments from the scriptures are discounted by liberals, skeptics, and unbelievers because they reject the authority and accuracy of the Bible. By using external proofs we can perhaps convince the “doubters” that the Bible is indeed a credible source of information. In any event the Spirit of God must be free to work powerfully in the heart of men. If we have rightly grasped this lesson, we now have some ammunition to answer the skeptics and prayerfully win them to Christ eventually. Now, seek to give an answer to every man concerning your confidence in the Scriptures.                     

Psalm 12:6, The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psalm 19:7, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The weight of this argument could enable a person to believe that the Bible is the Word of God. It takes a mind gravely prejudiced against the supernatural not to agree that the evidence for the Bible being the Word of God is strong indeed. So to the question: Can I Trust My Bible? The answer is absolutely!

The Proof of Christ's Resurrection!

    “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3)

    “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3)

The important place of this doctrine in the Christian system cannot be overstated!  These two verses clearly declare how Christ literally died and arose again. All Christian teaching rest upon the fact of Christ’s resurrection:

• In that wonderful chapter on the resurrection (1 Cor. 15) Paul makes Christianity answer with its life for the literal truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That the body of the founder of the Christian religion did not lie in the grave after the third day is fundamental to the existence of the religion of Christ: “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (v. 14). “If Christ be not raised … ye are yet in your sins” (v. 17). …Remove the resurrection from Paul’s Gospel, and his message is gone. –Evans, W. 1998, c1974. The Great Doctrines Of The Bible

The gospel shows how completely the resurrection of Christ had been demonstrated (1Cor. 15:1-11). It is the foundation and hope of Christianity—everything soundly rests on the resurrection of Christ.  Let us explore four areas of Christ’s resurrection and its significance to our Christian faith:

1. The nature of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
2. The proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
3. The necessity for the resurrection of Jesus Christ
4. The results of the resurrection of Jesus Christ

I.  THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Answering the question, What?

A. The meaning of credibility

1. Credibility is the quality or power of inspiring belief.  –Merriam-Webster
2. When we say something is credible, we mean it offers reasonable grounds for being believed.
3. Credibility refers to the acceptance of a fact in a manner that deserves belief; it is belief based upon good authority, reliable facts, and competent witnesses…. The resurrection of Christ is a fact proven by competent evidence, and is deserving of intelligent acceptance and belief. It is a doctrine buttressed by “many infallible proofs.”  --Evans, W. 1998, c1974. The Great Doctrines Of The Bible
4. 1 Cor. 15:3-4, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:

B. The meaning of Christ’s resurrection

Negatively:

1. Not a swoon.
1. Some believe Jesus merely swooned on the cross, and in the cool air of the tomb He revived and came forth from the tomb as though He had really risen from the dead. But, the disciples believed that He had really died and risen again (John 19:33–37; Matt. 27:57, 58).
2. Jesus definitely died on the cross. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people witnessed it. The Romans were not careless executioners; they knew when a person was dead. They had ways of making sure. They broke the legs of the person so he could not support himself to breath any more, and he asphyxiated. But Jesus needed no bones broken. He was already dead. To be sure, the Roman speared his side. No reaction. Blood and water came out, a sign of legal death. The executioner had to verify the death to Pilate. If he had gotten it wrong, it would have meant his death. 
3. In fact, when Jesus Christ appeared to the disciples after the third day, he was not a weak, suffering, half-dead man, but a conquering, triumphant victor over death and the grave. He never could have made this impression upon the disciples if He was Himself a half-dead man.
2. Not a resuscitation.
1. Jesus had suffered much even before He was nailed to the cross. He had undergone the horrible ordeal of a Roman scourging which shredded His back by a whip with pieces of glass and metal at the end of the leather strands. The pilot’s soldiers had struck Him on the head repeatedly. He had been forced to carry the cross from pilot’s headquarters toward His place of execution until, due to Jesus’ weakened state, another man was compelled to carry the cross the remainder of the way.
2. But suppose for a minute that the Roman executioners were wrong and Jesus had somehow survived and was buried alive. How likely would He have endured another seventy-two hours in a cold, damp tomb without food, water, or medical attention? Would He have survived being wound in heavy, spice-laden grave clothes weighing an estimated seventy pounds? Would He have had the strength to free Himself from the grave clothes, roll away the heavy stone sealing the mouth of the tomb, overpower the Roman guards, and then walk several miles on feet that had been mutilated with nails?

3. Not continued existence of only the soul of Jesus.
1. According to this theory, belief in Christ’s resurrection only means faith in the survival of the soul of Jesus.  That is Jesus was spiritually alive, and lived with God, while His body decayed in the grave.
2. But, all the facts in the Gospels sharply contradict this theory.  Jesus could be touched and examined by His disciples and He even ate with them to prove He literally physically and bodily rose from the dead (Luke 24:37-44;John 20:26-31; Acts 1:3).
3. Jesus’ resurrection, which was a divine act involving all three Persons of the Godhead (John 10:17-18; Acts 13:30-35; Rom. 1:4), was not just a resuscitation of the ruined physical frame that was taken down from the cross for burial. It was, rather, a transformation of Jesus’ humanity that enabled him to appear, vanish, and move unseen from one location to another (Luke 24:31, 36). It was the creative renewing of his original body, the body that is now fully glorified and deathless (Phil. 3:21; Heb. 7:16, 24). The Son of God in heaven still lives in and through that body, and will do so forever.  –Packer, J. I. 1995, c1993. Concise Theology

Positively:

A literal resurrection of the physical body of Jesus Christ from the tomb in Joseph’s garden

1. The resurrection of our Lord is portrayed in the NT as the miraculous restoration of His physical life, and the reunion of His spirit with His body! Christ Resurrection in the deepest sense was not unnatural but entirely natural; He had to be raised from the dead.
1. Acts 2:24, Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
2. Acts 1:3, To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
3. Romans 1:4, And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

2. In addition, the risen Lord’s body was real; the same the disciples had seen Him with before His crucifixion, and that which had died (Luke 24:39; John 20:24-29). But, Christ lived in such a way that the natural limitations that previously confined Him were set aside.  Christ’s resurrection was wrought by the miraculous power of God (Acts 13:30; Rom 1:4; 1 Cor 15:15); therefore it presents no difficulty for faith to one who really believes in God.
1. Christianity is the only religion that bases its claim to acceptance upon the resurrection of its founder. For any other religion to base its claim on such a doctrine would be to court failure. Test all other religions by this claim and see. –Evans, W. 1998, c1974. The Great Doctrines Of The Bible
2. The Living One

A Muslim and a Christian were discussing their religions and had agreed that both Mohammed and Christ were prophets. Where, then, lay the difference? The Christian illustrated it this way: “I came to a crossroads and I saw a dead man and a living man. Which one did I ask for directions?” The response came quickly, “The living one, of course.” “Why, then,” asked his friend, “do you send me to Mohammed who is dead, instead of Christ who is alive?” This is the basic difference between Christ and every other religious leader. All the others came into the world, lived, and died—but none of them lived again. The resurrection of Christ was the one event that persuaded His disciples once for all that He was the Christ, God’s Son.

II. THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Answering the question, Why?

A. Cause and effect:

Here are certain effects, the cause for which can be traced only to the fact of Christ’s resurrection.

1. The empty tomb.
1. The Jews demanded and received from Pilate a Roman guard outside the tomb for the period of three days. In addition, a Roman seal was placed on the tomb, which meant a death sentence to anyone breaking the seal. Nevertheless, on Sunday morning after the crucifixion, Jesus’ followers went to the tomb and found it open. Jesus was gone, though His grave clothes lay as though Jesus’ body had evaporated from them.
2. The fact of the empty tomb was confirmed to by solid witnesses—from friends and foes (Matt. 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:3, 12; John 20:1, 2).
3. The condition in which the linen cloths were found lying by those who entered the tomb excludes the possibility of the body being stolen.
4. Then the testimony of angels to the fact that Jesus really arose as He predicted is totally trustworthy (Matt. 28:6; Mark 16:6; Heb. 2:2).
5. It is not surprising that critics of Christianity have zeroed in on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If they can cast doubt upon it, they can destroy Christianity entirely. But, as best-selling author Paul Little once said before he died, “After 2000 years, no one is going to ask a question that will bring Christianity crashing.”
6. If you apply the same tests to the resurrection as you would to any other historical event, you come away concluding that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Only those who do not want to believe it come to another conclusion, and must wrench the arm of historical research to do it.

2. The Lord’s Day.
1. The Lord’s Day is Sunday, the first day of the week; the day especially associated with the Lord Jesus Christ to celebrate His resurrection from the dead. Clearly the early churches assembled on Sunday, the Lord’s Day (1 Cor. 16:2).
2. The divinely-inspired apostles, by their practice and by their precepts, preserved the Lord’s Day for meeting together for meals, for worship and spiritual instruction, for giving offerings for the ministry, for concentration on spiritual disciplines.
3. The Lord’s Day is not the original Sabbath. Why was it changed?  In the New Testament the converted Jews changed their time-honored seventh day to the first day of the week—the Lord’s Day.
4. What is the cause of this tremendous effect? The resurrection of Christ Jesus was the cause for this great change in the day of worship.

3. The Christian Church
1. The Christian Church is a glorious effect; what is its cause?
2. Once again, the resurrection of Christ is the obvious answer. If the resurrection did not occur, how can one account for the transformation of Jesus’ discouraged and defeated disciples into dynamic, joyful people willing to suffer and die to preach a risen Savior? Why didn’t they save themselves by recanting the story, or salve their conscience by a death-bed confession of the deception? How did this message gain so many adherents among people who had contact with the events spoken of and would have detected falsehood? (For example, in 1 Corinthians 15:6, Paul refers to more than five hundred people who saw the risen Jesus and were still living more than twenty years later).
3. When the risen Christ appeared unto the discouraged disciples and revived their faith and hope, they went forth, under the all—conquering faith in a risen and ascended Lord preaching His gospel. All over the world people believed on Christ, assembled to study the Scriptures, to pray, to worship Christ, and to extend His kingdom in the souls of men. It is the resurrection of Christ that inspired and empowered these endeavors.

4. The New Testament.
1. If Jesus Christ had remained buried in the grave, the story of His life and death would have remained buried with Him.
2. The 27 books of the New Testament describes the birth of Jesus Christ, His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven. It also contains the teachings Christ has given His Apostles for the churches, as well as prophecies of the end of this age. The New Testament embodies the new covenant of which Jesus was Mediator sealing it with His atoning death (Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 9:15). The second half of the Bible has been use by spiritually sensitive Christians for nearly two thousand years.
3. The New Testament is an effect of Christ’s resurrection. It was the resurrection that put heart into the disciples to go forth and tell its story. The New Testament is the book of the resurrection.

B. Testimony:

1. The number of witnesses (1 Cor. 15:3–9).
1. The resurrection of Christ is a historical fact clearly verified by over five hundred witnesses.

1.      Surely this is sufficient to establish a fact of evidence in any court of law.

2.      The sheer number of eyewitnesses, more than five hundred, should cause doubters to stop and think before dismissing the Resurrection accounts of a few followers. All these people saw him at one time, and at the time of Paul’s writing, most of them were still alive.

3.      The resurrection story was undisputed, so far as we know, twenty-five years later!

2. Paul could invite his readers to check his facts if they doubt his words.

2. The credibility of the witnesses.
1. The value of the testimony of a witness depends much upon his character; if that is discredited, then the testimony is rejected. Scrutinize carefully the character of the men who bore witness to the fact of Christ’s resurrection. They are unassailable on ethical grounds.
2. “No honorable opponent of the Gospel has ever denied this fact. Their moral greatness awakened an Augustine, a Francis of Assisi, and a Luther. They have been the unrivalled pattern of all mature and moral manhood for nearly two thousand years.” --Evans, W. 1998, c1974. The Great Doctrines Of The Bible
3. The nature of the fact witnessed (Luke 24:36-48).
1. Christ’s resurrection is fully stated in each Gospel record.
2. The apparent differences in the testimony of the witnesses to the resurrection may be clarified with a correct knowledge of the manner and order of the appearances of Christ after His resurrection.

4. The lack of motive for perjury.
1. Every one of them (except one) died a martyr’s death for his loyalty to the story of Christ’s resurrection. What had they to gain by fraud? Would they have sacrificed their lives for what they themselves believed to be a lie?

b.      The first disciples had scattered like quail before hunters when Jesus was crucified. Some had gone back home to Galilee. But now, they could not be silenced. What made the difference?

c.       If the resurrection could have been refuted, would thousands of Jews have risked being cut off from family and regular Jewish society?

C. Experience: (1Cor. 15:17)

1. Paul’s (15:8-11).
1. Some have debunked this Resurrection appearance as simply the pious vision of believers seeing with the eyes of faith. But Paul could have cited the testimony of two for whom that was not true, James, the half brother of Jesus, and himself. Like Paul, James probably came to faith (cf. John 7:5 with Acts 1:14) because of an appearance of the resurrected Christ (Acts 9:3-6; 22:6-11).  –Walvoord, J. F. 1983-c1985. The Bible Knowledge Commentary
2. But one of the greatest witnesses of the Resurrection was Paul himself, for as an unbeliever he was soundly convinced that Jesus was dead. The radical change in his life—a change which brought him persecution and suffering—is certainly evidence that the Lord had indeed been raised from the dead.  –Wiersbe, W. W. 1996, c1989. The Bible Exposition Commentary
2. Corinthians’ (15:1-4, 12-20)
1. 1 Cor. 15:17, And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
2. If there is no resurrection, then Christ was not raised. If He was not raised, there is no Gospel to preach. If there is no Gospel, then you have believed in vain and you are still in your sins! If there is no resurrection, then believers who have died have no hope. We shall never see them again!
3. The conclusion is obvious: Why be a Christian if we have only suffering in this life and no future glory to anticipate? (In 1 Cor. 15:29–34, Paul expanded this idea.) The Resurrection is not just important; it is “of first importance,” because all that we believe hinges on it. –Wiersbe, W. W. 1996, c1989. The Bible Exposition Commentary   
3. Ours
1. Christ has saved us, our sins are forgiven, and He is changing our lives daily!
2. How Do I Know He Lives?

How do I know that Christ has risen?

What proof have I to give?

He touched my life one blessed day,

And I began to live.

How do I know he left the tomb

That morning long ago?

I met Him just this morning,

And my heart is still aglow.

How do I know that endless life

He gained for me that day?

His life within is proof enough

Of immortality.

How do I know that Christ still lives,

Rich blessings to impart?

He walks with me along the way

And lives within my heart. –A Treasury of Bible Illustrations