Below is an excerpt of the sermon…

First Corinthians 13 is the love chapter. Hebrews 11, the Faith Chapter. First Corinthians 15 is the Resurrection chapter.

Look down, if you will, for a moment in 1 Corinthians 15. And notice Paul is writing this great church at Corinth, located just right outside of Athens, Greece. I went to this church one time a long, long time ago. No one shook my hand. No one greeted me. Why? It’s just ruins. It’s just it’s you know, it’s just part of a building there. And that’s why. But 1 Corinthians 15:1 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;” The gospel is the death, burial, resurrection of Christ.

He said not only did you hear it, but you received it. And that’s why you’re here tonight. Not only you have heard it and maybe that’s why you’re listening tonight. Not only you heard the Gospel, but you received it. “And they said and wherein you stand by, which also you’re saved.” He said, when we receive the Gospel, there’s a word that describes us. We are “saved.” And then he gives just the very simple definition here in verse three. 1 Cor. 15:3 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”

So that’s basically, in a nutshell, the Gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It’s symbolized in baptism. It’s symbolized in the words we say when we baptize. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Buried in the likeness of His death, raised in the likeness of His resurrection.” So here is the Gospel. And then he says verse in 1 Cor. 15:4 “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:”

And so then he goes into who saw Him after He was resurrected. So, I want to speak on this subject tonight for a few moments. Rounding up the strays, rounding up the strays. Jesus is the Shepherd of our soul. So He’s always looking for the lost sheep and then the straying sheep and we’re the sheep of His pasture. And so maybe there’ll be something that’ll be said tonight that’ll be a help.

We’re going to pray and jump right in. Father, bless now the reading of Thy Word. Thank You for giving us details so we don’t have to wonder about the basics of Your death, why You died, Who You were, that You did rise from the dead. You’re coming again. What all that means for us. So, I pray that You would help us, and help us if we’re one of the strays, maybe physically, emotionally, spiritually, maybe no one knows it, but we’re astray from the Lord. Help us get back into the fold tonight and close to You. In Jesus name, Amen.

All right, here it is. Jesus only appeared after the resurrection to saved individuals. It’s interesting. You’ll never see in the scripture where He appeared to Pilate. He didn’t appear to Herod. He didn’t appear to the other thief that did not believe (I think he was dead by then). He didn’t appear to all these that marked Him; He didn’t chase them down.

He appeared to believers. The only people He appeared to were saved people. It’s like that statement we made this morning in church: “No amount of evidence is enough for someone who chooses not to believe the truth.” If they don’t want to know the truth, they’re never going to see the truth. It’s like that old that old story I tell. One of our kids (and they all claim it was the other one)—I came home and I said, “I’ll give a dollar to whoever rubs my feet.” I’m outsole when my feet hurt so bad. The kids were young, it started at a nickel and inflation went up to dime. It went up to quarter. Now it’s a dollar. Who wants a dollar to rub the man of God’s feet?” And one of my kids said, “Can I see the dollar first?” And so I’m thinking, you know, I am good for a dollar. You know, the old man is good for a dollar. And, “Can I see it first?”

And that’s how we are sometimes with the Lord. The Lord says, I want to reward you. Here’s My words. And we say, “Can I see the dollar first? Can I see how it turns out first?” And so, He tells us so much about the empty tomb. I’m going to rise from the dead. But it seemed like no one believed it because the place all these discouraged disciples should have been was sitting in front of the empty tomb. He set four times…He said in the Gospels, “I’m going to die, be buried and rise from the dead. I’ll be delivered to the hands of sinful man. I’ll die, be buried. I will rise again.” Then he even said “after three days.” But somehow, they lost hope. Somehow, they got discouraged. Somehow, they didn’t believe what He said or didn’t listen. Every one of the disciples should have been sitting in front of that empty tomb and seen him personally come out.

You say, Well, Pastor, “Why three days and three nights?” We don’t know why. You know, God’s got His own timing as to why it was. But He told them it would be three days and three nights. Why 40 years in the wilderness? Why 100 years to build the ark? God’s timing is always His timing. They were impatient and they were not there when it happened. No one saw Him come out.

But quickly, here’s who He appeared to, and we must hasten. He appeared to the fearful. The Bible says He walked through the door. He appeared in the room of the eleven disciples. He appeared to them. They were fearful.

He appeared to the frustrated on the road to Emmaus. And that’s a road we would go down on our Israel trip. It was two of His disciples. They said, “We just can’t believe this. And we thought he was the Messiah. We thought he was the son of God. And now he’s been crucified. And someone said his body’s not there.” There were there were frustrated. He appeared to them.