The Resurrection of Christ, Is It True? — Peter Brandon

The Scriptural Witness to Christ’s Resurrection

Now our reading tonight comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and we're going to read from verse 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and we're going to read from verse 1. Moreover brethren I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which also ye have received and wherein ye stand.

By which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas then of the twelve and after that he was seen of five hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present but some have fallen asleep.

After that he was seen of James and then of all the apostles and last of all he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles that I am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon 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. Therefore whether it were I or they so we preached and so ye believe.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead and if there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain.

Yea and we have found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised and if Christ be not raised your faith is vain ye are yet in your sins and they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. Now the Lord will bless to us the reading of his precious word.

The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ’s Claims

I think it's true to say that in the old country many people are beginning to rethink Christianity mainly because the permissive society is certainly bringing serious problems to our nation and some people are beginning to say something like this perhaps it's because we've left religion all this is coming upon us but when they come up to the story of the Lord Jesus they find problems and over and over again I've heard people saying this can you really believe in that virgin birth stuff can you really believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God can you really believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.

And so when they start rethinking they have these serious doubts now that's what I want to deal with tonight is the resurrection really true. Now first of all I'm going to start right from the beginning I'm going to look at the claims of Jesus Christ and I would admit they are outstanding unrivaled claims.

He claimed to be the son of man that meant a perfect matured man he claimed to be the son of God and that meant in every single detail co-equal with God this does not mean to say that he had two natures in one body like two persons living in one body he was the son of man son of God in the harmony of one body one glorious person Jesus Christ.

Now when other people heard this there was a three fold action as we have today. First of all there were those that listened to him and when they heard the Lord Jesus and his claims they said the man is mad he has a devil.

I'm quoting from John 10. Now I think immediately we can eradicate that. Now why the sermon on the mount is reckoned even by those who are critics to be the most balanced form of oration that we have in literature.

And therefore it would be impossible for someone with a serious neurosis to give such an oration. So we can eradicate that immediately. Then the intellectuals that were members of the Sanhedrin at least most of them and the Pharisees and the Sadducees Jewish religious people when they listened to the Lord Jesus they said the man is not mad but he is an imposter.

That means he was a con man and they believed it so much they put him on a cross. And when they placed him on the cross they threw this penetrating challenge at him. If you are the son of God demonstrate your divinity and come down from the cross and we will believe you.

Now according to history and these effects the Lord Jesus stayed on the cross and he died. Then there were a few disciples mainly uneducated and when they heard Jesus Christ they swore their allegiance to him and they called him Christ the son of the living God.

And I must admit when his death came the bottom of their world fell out and they were addicted men. Now if I stayed there ladies and gentlemen I would have to confess honestly that the weight of evidence would fall upon the religious people that said he was an imposter.

Historical and Apostolic Evidence for the Resurrection

But I am not stopping there. The Bible makes it quite clear that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and he raised him from the dead in a way in which no other man has ever been raised from the dead he was raised from the dead with an endless life making the resurrection as far as the Bible is concerned absolutely unique.

Now these are the issues at stake. Paul makes it quite clear if there is no resurrection all our preaching is vain that means rubbish. Then he says all our faith is vain that means rubbish. And he says the preachers of the gospel they are false witnesses.

That means religious liars. Now that's what the scripture says. But if it's true it's the most revolutionary thing that the world has heard. Let me put it to you like this. If God is manifested in the flesh lives among us and demonstrates that divinity by the words that he speak and by the miracles that he performed and the prophecies that he made and then dies upon a Roman gibbet and is raised again from the dead.

If that's true forget my excitement. It's the most transforming message that the world has ever heard. It makes Christianity absolutely unique. If the resurrection is not true then what I am saying tonight and I'm going to use a very strong expression it's a damnable lie.

So can you see the issues at stake. That is why when you become a Christian and you trust the Lord Jesus if you believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus it will transform the whole of your life. You can't be a mediocre Christian and believe that otherwise you haven't really got it.

Scriptural Proof of the Resurrection

Now first of all I want to give you the proof of the resurrection. Then I want to show to you the purpose of the resurrection. It won't take me long. And then I want to give you the proclamation of the resurrection.

First of all the proof. Paul says this and note Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So he was giving us textual proof.

Now here is the textual proof of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. There are 99 direct prophecies in the Old Testament clear as crystal concerning the death of Christ. There are 16 clear references in the Old Testament concerning the resurrection of Christ.

There are 24 references to the ascension of Christ meaning he goes back to heaven. There are teams of illustrations of the death of Christ in the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament. In fact it was Lord Denning who said just 10 years ago publicly one of our greatest judges that there is more textual evidence of the resurrection of Christ than the battle of Waterloo.

Think of that. Secondly he gives to us in the scripture historical proof. Now what are they? There are 24 manifestations of the historical proof of the resurrection in scripture. I have chosen 3 the proof of the great clouds.

Now those of you who have studied Greek myths and especially Greek idolatry will know this that we cannot claim that the resurrection of our leader is unique. Some of the Greek gods supposedly were resurrected but when you look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ it is absolutely unique.

Now why? When you read of his resurrection you read of him coming through the great clouds. Now that's totally unique so that when they looked into the sepulcher it appeared that the great clouds were all around the body of the Lord Jesus that he had come through them.

Secondly he came out of the grave without the stone being removed. Now I am quite sure of this dear friends that simple fishermen could not have fabricated that story. Secondly if the Sanhedrin wanted to completely obliterate the flow of Christianity they could have done it in 10 hours.

If there was no resurrection they knew exactly where the tomb of the Lord Jesus was and all they had to do when they could see Judaism beginning to be rocked by the preaching of the resurrection was to unseal the tomb take out the body of Christ place it on a cart parade it through the streets of Jerusalem and simply say look ladies and gentlemen there is the dead body of the Christ and that would have silenced Christianity once and for all.

But they didn't. Why. Because they knew they couldn't find the body it was missing. And then lastly the transformation of the apostles before the Lord Jesus died and during his trial they all forsook him and fled.

So in one way they were a defeated crowd. When he was raised from the dead they were completely transformed. Now I know what someone is saying. I can almost hear the ticking of someone's mind. Hallucination will do it.

That's right. I have actually seen people transformed by an hallucination. But this is what people will not do that have an hallucination. Over one million of the first century Christians were boiled to death because of their faith in Christ.

They were thrown to the lions some of them literally pulled to pieces. And whilst they were actually being tortured by their enemy they were praising God. Now my dear friends you don't die like that for an hallucination.

You die like that because you know that your master is in the glory and you are going to see him. Then what about this critical evidence. If you were alive in the first century and someone said to you who is the last person you would ever imagine to be a Christian.

You would say without hesitation Saul of Tarsus. He was a man who actually heard the gospel preached by the apostles. He seemed to weigh up the evidence and in his mind he was saying something like this Jesus Christ was an imposter.

We were right to crucify him. The resurrection is a damnable lie. That man on the Damascus road received a mighty revelation of Jesus the son of God and that man was converted. And that critic has given to us two thirds of the new testament.

But that's only the beginning. In the 18th century there were two brilliant men one called Gilbert West the other called Lord Littleton and they could see Britain being shaken by a mighty revival under the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley.

And they got together and they said we've got to stop this revival. They both went to Oxford and gave themselves six months research. Lord Littleton was going to destroy the fallacy of the resurrection and West was going to destroy the fallacy of the conversion of Paul.

Both those men after six months research met and both of them became Christians. And you can read their books in any library the logic of the Damascus road and the evidence of the resurrection. But more a man by the name of Morrison came out of the last war and he said something like this Christianity has been on the go for 2 ,000 years and after 2 ,000 years we've had two world wars.

What is it doing? We need a new philosophy again. He went to Oxford and had six months research and he could see that if he could destroy what he said the fallacy of the resurrection the whole of Christianity would collapse.

And so it would. And after six months research he wrote the book who moved the stone and you can read that in any book shop and it's a masterpiece on the evidence of the resurrection. Now for any of you dear friends that have doubts and I have sympathy for you there are actually now 24 books that have been written in the last 15 to 20 years on the evidence of the resurrection.

You get them, read them and you will find there's absolute reality in it. And then last of all I want to give you the experimental evidence. This is what the bible says it's the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelling you now in case you didn't get that let me explain it was according to Romans 1 the spirit of God that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead.

The Resurrection Life Through the Holy Spirit

Now this is what it's saying the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the dead because of the spirit of holiness that was in him dwells in believers. So they have a resurrection now. Can we see that in the world today.

Now I'm not going to take you to the western world because as you all know in the west it's the lowest form of Christianity in the world. But I'm going to take you right into Russia and I'm going to take you right into China.

During the communistic days Russia literally spent billions on atheistic literature. What were they doing crucifying the Christ again in China. And those of you who have read the little red handbook will know that they spent billions trying to bring atheism into the country and to obliterate Christianity.

That's where you have the two great rivals hundreds are turning to the Lord in Russia. Just recently before I came here the Chinese government actually said that a hundred million Chinese people have become Christians in the last twenty years, can you see the point years ago they put him on the cross, God raised him from the dead and when people persecute it it's raised, you can't crucify the truth it would always be resurrected and that's why the resurrection of Christ is a wonderful fact.

The Resurrection Changes Defeat into Victory

Now someone might say what does it all mean, well first of all let me give you an illustration to show you the beauty of the resurrection, I don't know if you are interested in history, but when I was at school we used to have a history master and he was brilliant he could make history live mind you he trained us with a boxing glove and you lost contact with him, you gain contact with the boxing glove and I shall never forget him telling us about the battle of Waterloo when the whole of Britain was hanging in the balances.

Wellington was fighting the great Napoleon Bonaparte and then a flagship flagged the news Wellington defeated and the whole of Britain went into depression. Scores of business people committed suicide.

And then three days later another message was given that corrected the first, Wellington defeated Napoleon and the whole of Britain went into jubilant joy beloved. When you stand at the cross and see the dead saviour you seem to say Jesus defeated.

But when you go to the resurrection and see that he's been raised from the dead. This is what you say Jesus defeated sin death and the devil and he is victorious. But then you might say but what's the purpose of all this is Jesus Christ a risen China cabinet saviour of Costa.

Christ’s Purpose as Savior of Sinners

The Lord Jesus the Bible says is able to save fully and completely all that come unto God by him. You see my dear friends the scripture makes it quite clear that when the Lord Jesus came into the world he came into the world not to give us a new religion not to give us a new philosophy.

But he came into the world to be a saviour. And this is what the scripture teaches. This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation. Everyone can accept it that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Now that's the apostle Paul. Now listen to the way the apostle John puts it. The father sent the son to be the saviour of the world. Then remember the message of the angel to Mary and to Joseph thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.

And notice what the Lord Jesus said about his coming. The son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. So he came into this world according to the scriptures to save sinners. Now why do sinners need to be saved.

I have no doubt in saying this to you dear friends that the greatest plague on earth is sin. Let me give you some illustrations that took place just before I came here. A lovely little girl came home her dress all torn and that girl had been mugged and she will be broken for a good part of her life.

That's evil. A man comes home and he sees a letter he reads it and goes deathly white. His wife left him. That's evil. An old lady walks the street at 8 o 'clock and she feels something on her head very heavy and she loses all her money.

She too is mugged. All this just before we came here hundreds and thousands of young people in the gutters of our streets in London in shop windows all on drugs evil. You see dear friends it's the person that can deal with sin has the pulse or his finger on the pulse of the problem.

But you know I'm sure of this that every one of us here tonight we all agree that evil and sin is the great plague in the human race. But what about our own. Who hasn't got a bad temper. Who doesn't tell lies.

Who doesn't get irritable. Who doesn't gossip. You see my dear friends none of us can point the finger. The old book is right when it says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now here's a fact if you've got a shocking temper it's no good going to the dentist and opening your mouth and saying could you take my dentist.

Could you take my temper out. Do you know what he would say. Can't touch it. It's too deep rooted. You see all of us we know this that we've got sin and we were born in sin. And that's why Jesus came into the world to grapple with the matter of sin so that men might be saved.

Penal Substitution and the Finished Work of the Cross

But you see there was no easy way in which God could remove sin. It meant that the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross and on that cross he had to bear our sins in his own body on the tree. It meant two things.

A substitute bearing our sins or we bearing the eternal punishment. And when Jesus hung upon that central cross according to the holy scripture he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God.

And when he had completed that work he said with a mighty voice finished. And thus the great work of sin bearing was complete so that God could be righteous and at the same time forgive the sinner. And when God raised him from the dead oh I love this.

He raised him from the dead so that he would never die again. And that glorious being is in heaven. And this is what the scripture says. Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.

Eternal Salvation and Victory Over Sin

Now let me tell you something about that salvation. When the Lord saves a precious soul he saves that soul immediately from the guilt of sin so that soul will never be in damnation. And he does that immediately.

Secondly because we all have a sinful nature and we are prone to sin he is up there in heaven with mighty power. He gives a person that saves the holy spirit so that he can live above the gravity of sin.

But he is there to save us day by day from the power of sin. That means when the temptation comes you look up and you quietly say Lord help me. And he is there to lift you out of the power. And then the moment the Lord Jesus gets his hands upon you and saves you he has saved you eternally.

You can never be lost. Isn't that wonderful. He says I give unto my sheep eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands. But then I can almost hear someone saying you are like all the preachers.

You build a castle in the sky. But how do we get to it. How do we get saved. Well friends its simple. Now it seems to me every time I tell people that Gods way of salvation is simple they seem to switch off and say this is a con.

No its simple. All salvation is simple. What would you think of someone that is drowning in the sea and you dive in to save him. And you say Fred copy my example and do the breast stroke. What would he say.

Bleh bleh bleh can't do the breast stroke. You see he needs someone to save him. What would you think if a doctor came to you and says I have a circ cure and told you to run 5 miles when you were almost deathly ill.

Well you would say if I could do that I wouldn't need you. He's got to help you. Now my dear friends you can't raise your little finger to save yourself. And so the scripture says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Therefore when a person gets saved he slips away from the preacher. He gets to his little room where its quiet. He looks by faith at the Lord Jesus and he quietly says this. I believe that you died for my sins.

I believe that God has raised you from the dead. I believe your word is correct when it says everyone that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and he gets down by the Lord and he calls upon the Lord to save him and then the Lord saves him.

Confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord

But there's something extra. Now here it comes if thou shall confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. Now I do not believe a person gets saved until he is willing to make Jesus Saviour and Lord.

Now why. When God raised him from the dead he took him back to heaven and God made him Saviour and Lord. And therefore when you become a Christian you make the Lord Jesus the Saviour and the Lord of your life.

Before you were saved you controlled your life. Now he controls it. Just before I came here the sister called me to take me to a house meeting where we were going to have a cup of coffee and preach the gospel in a home.

And when I saw the size of her car four wheel drive I was a little afraid. So when I got in the car and dear friends I've often been in a car with some drivers where I've learned that scripture or the meaning of it pray without ceasing.

And I looked at this sister and the moment she grabbed that steering wheel she knew what she was doing. Brilliant driver and I had complete rest. Why. Because of her competence. Now when you make Jesus Christ Lord you tell him to come into the driving seat of your life and he takes hold of the steering wheel and he controls you and he controls you by this book and praise God he never has an accident he never blunders.

So when you become a Christian you make him Saviour and Lord. Now perhaps someone might be saying as a man said to me not long ago he said that's alright for you people. Good you're doing a good job but not for me that kind of stuff is not for me.

The Universal Lordship of Christ and Final Judgment

Now friends this is what the word of God says wherefore God has highly exalted him the Lord Jesus and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The word of God says this as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God so that every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. The word of God makes it quite clear because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead he is inescapable and unavoidable.

Every single person will meet him and we're going to meet him as a saviour or we're going to meet him as a judge. And therefore dear friends it's not optional. Oh the tragedy of thousands of people standing before the great white throne and seeing the one that I've preached tonight with wounded hands and ribbons tied.

And yet they rejected him neglected him. I feel tonight. Dear friends there might be someone sitting there tonight and you're beginning to say this it's time I sought the Lord. Yes right. Now at this moment you know one of the loveliest things after you've preached the gospel is to see someone staying behind sitting in the seat and quietly saying this I would like to be saved and to come alongside and show them the way to trust the Lord Jesus and then to get up and leave them with the Lord Jesus.

And then they come to you afterwards and grip your hand and say I've trusted Christ tonight and the Lord has saved me. That's the greatest joy in life. Wouldn't it be lovely if someone did that tonight.