In the sermon titled 'The Resurrection of Christ: The Testimony of the Scriptures,' David Green emphasizes the foundational importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Christianity. The sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul logically and precisely lays out evidence for the resurrection, highlighting its critical role as a core doctrine of faith. Green discusses the testimony of the church and the Scriptures as key witnesses to the resurrection. He underscores that the resurrection message has been preached worldwide, changing lives and proving that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. The sermon stresses that Paul, even in his logical reasoning and bold preaching, relied on the authority of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to validate his message. Green warns against straying from Scriptural foundations, highlighting the pattern of being sent by the church and the Holy Spirit, rather than self-appointed preaching. The sermon cites instances from the New Testament where Jesus, Peter, and Paul used the Old Testament to affirm Christ's resurrection. Green concludes by urging believers to deliver the Word of God with authority, not as mere ink on paper, but as the living Word that brings salvation through Christ.

So we'll take our text from verses 3 and 4. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And so today, today our sermon is on the subject of the testimony of the Scriptures. The testimony of the Scriptures. In this 15th chapter here in 1 Corinthians, Paul's focus is on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And like Paul always is in all of his writings, he's very logical. He's very precise in laying out his evidence. Whether he found himself writing to the churches or standing before the Sanhedrin, whether he was called upon to defend a faith in his appeal to Caesar. Paul was bold in what he said and how he said it. No matter who his audience was, whether they were philosophers, whether they were lawyers, whether they were the religious people, He was sure of what he believed and why he believed it.

And Paul knew that the idea, the truth, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational to all of Christianity. And as we've seen when we went through the book of Acts some time ago, it was probably about 2022, 2023, I think somewhere along in those years, We went through Acts on Wednesday night. When we studied the life of Paul in that time period, wherever he went, wherever he preached and taught the resurrection of Christ, essentially where the gospel was preached, Because you can't preach the gospel without preaching the resurrection of Christ. But wherever this was preached, it caused a big stir amongst the Jews and among the pagans as well. And so here in this text, he's bringing this out.

He's bringing it out with evidence. Last week, we looked at the testimony of the church. You might think of this as if the resurrection of Jesus is on trial. Or you might think of this as someone says, well, what is the evidence that Jesus really is raised from the dead? So Paul begins bringing out witnesses.

The first witness was the testimony of the church. And we looked at that. The Corinthian church was the first witness as a body of born-again believers whose lives had been changed. That was proof that Jesus was raised from the dead. And in that message, If you recall, I even brought this out to our day, that the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church is living proof of this fact as well.

And for 2, 000 years, all over this world, on every continent, This message has spread as men and women have been willing to live and even die for Jesus. Proof, positive, that Jesus died, was buried, and he rose again. Lives changed and people saved and all of those things and we see that repeated time and time again. And that's a great witness but that's not all. We also have the testimony of the Scriptures.

And Paul brings that up. He says, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That He was buried, that He rose again. That he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Paul says, I received it.

I'm not just making this up. I'm not just giving you something new. I'm not just a philosopher like everybody else with a story to tell. He says, I received it, but from where? Let's not lose focus on this because there's so many in our day.

Like so many in his day. Every group that loses focus from the foundation of the scriptures, they go shipwrecked with the gospel. They go shipwrecked with the faith. It happens every time. Go with me to Romans chapter 10, if you will.

Romans chapter 10, as he laid it out to the Church of Rome. Romans 10, beginning verse 11. It says, for the scripture says, whoever believes upon him will not be put to shame. There he is again, quoting scripture. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on him.

For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how will they believe in him whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher and how will they preach unless they are sent just as it is written how beautiful are the feet those who proclaim good news of good things. However, they did not all heed the good news for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report. So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the hearing and hearing by the word of Christ." There's a clear pattern given here. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.

This is a direct quote from Joel 2 32 which says it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be delivered. And so there's a clear message that's given here that Jesus is Yahweh. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. What's he says? How will they call on Him of whom they have not believed, and how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard.

There's got to be the gospel message presented. They've got to hear the gospel. That's why when he went to Corinth, he delivered this message. But also the question is asked, how will they hear without a preacher, and how will they preach unless they are sent? Oh, let's not miss this either.

There are way too many freelance preachers in our world today. There were too many in his day as well. And even though you can find an example of it in church history, and maybe even we can point to an example of it here or there in the Bible, it doesn't mean that it's the way things ought to be. Acts 13, 1 through 4 gives the pattern there. The Holy Spirit, the the Holy Spirit, the Church.

Well, let's go over there for just a moment. Acts 13. Acts 13, verses 1-4. Now there were at Antioch in the church that was there prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Linnian, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, They went down to Solution, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And so we see the Holy Spirit sending them, calling them, sending them. We see they've been sent by the church, the Holy Spirit working in and through the church. That's the pattern.

There may be some great orators, some great speakers, Praise God, some great gospel preachers who are doing some good things through podcasts and even out on the streets and at abortion clinics and other places. But they need to understand that there is a pattern. There is a pattern. They need to be working in and through a proper church. There is a biblical way of doing things.

If they're preaching the true gospel, we praise the Lord for it, but they need to understand that being self-appointed or daddy called or mama called or grandpa called or whatever it may be, isn't good enough. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, when he wrote to the church of Corinth, he said to them, and he was pretty fired up about some of the things that were going on there. But in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. What does that tell me? That even Paul, as great of a man as he was, he was willing to submit to the authority of the Scriptures.

Not only for the message, but also we see in Romans and in Acts, he was also willing to submit to the Scriptures as to the methodology. He submitted to the church authority. He submitted to the way in which he operated in his conduct. Three things are laid out that we must not miss here. He didn't want the Church of Corinth to miss these things and we must not miss it either.

In this passage in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, in this glorious passage verses 3 and 4, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. So number one, if you're taking notes, you can jot these things down. Number one, Christ actually died. He really did die. He didn't just pass out from the pain.

He didn't fall into a trance. It wasn't someone else who died. You know, the Gnostics claimed that. Later, the Muslims did. Did you know if you go and talk to a Muslim, they will tell you that it wasn't Jesus who died, that it was Judas Iscariot?

My Bible says Jesus died, Christ died according to the scriptures. That's important. Jesus actually died. Jesus actually died. Number two, He died for our sins.

It's right there in the text. I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures. He died for our sins. His death was a vicarious substitutionary death. He died for our sins.

Don't miss that. That's important. He died for our sins. If he didn't die for our sins, you and I are lost forever. There's no hope.

And then thirdly, He was buried. He was raised on the third day. How did Paul know this? What was his authority for it? According to the scriptures.

According to the scriptures. Twice he repeats that in his text. Two times. For emphasis. Paul was not just writing something new.

The scriptures. The scriptures of the Old Testament and what was written of the New Testament up to that time, clearly told and even foretold these facts. The facts of Christ's death, His burial, His resurrection. And when Paul writes that he delivered them, that's exactly what he did. When he says to the Church of Corinth, for I delivered to you.

This is what he had done and this is what he did everywhere he went. He delivered this message. This is the reason why he became public enemy number one all around the Roman Empire. This is why he got beat up. This is why people hated him, because he was bold about it and he preached it.

This is what he did and this is what every preacher, every pastor, every person who handles the Word of God in any capacity needs to do. Anybody who stands before any group of people to proclaim the truth of Christianity, to proclaim the truth of God's Word, this is what needs to happen. In fact, when you come together for church, this is what you want to expect. If you, whether you assemble a Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, or you go to another church, when you walk into that building, visit with that group of people, you ought to expect that you're that you're going to hear the Scriptures. A man is going to present the Word of God to preach the Word.

You see, Paul brought with authority not his own philosophy, not his own opinions, not the stories of the news or the politics or the goings on of the current world. Of the current world. And I said, well wait a minute preacher, I can show you in Acts where he quoted from the poets and so on and so on. Yes he did that, but he he did that, but he did that to reach the lost. His message was the message of Christ, and his textbook was the Scriptures, And that ought to be for all of us.

We deliver the Word of God. We ought to deliver the Word of God. We ought to deliver the Word of God. Sorry. What I'm trying to say is, all of us ought to deliver the Word of God, no matter whether we're a preacher or not, whether we're a pastor or not, whether we stand in the pulpit every week or not, we ought to deliver the Word of God in such a way that those who oppose us can only slander us, but they can't find anything to say against us in our preaching or teaching.

That's the way it was with Paul. Paul says here, I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Then He was buried and then He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The Old Testament was the Scriptures primarily of the New Testament churches.

That's what he was primarily referring to here in this letter. It was all the Jews and the early churches had in those days. The New Testament was just barely being written. The evidence for the resurrection was found in those ancient writings. Let's see some of this in action as we go through the pages of the New Testament.

Hear what Jesus had to say to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24 verses 25 through 27. Verse 25-27 And he said to them, O foolish ones, in slow of heart to believe, in all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory. Then beginning with Moses with all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. So as as he was there on the road to Emmaus, he began at Moses, beginning at Genesis, and going through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy.

Going through the prophets, the rest of the Old Testament, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. Over in Matthew chapter 12, when the unbelieving Jews asked for a sign of Jesus' Messiahship, look at how he responded there. And there. Matthew chapter 12 verses 39 and 40. But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign, yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." of the earth. You see, he brought out from the scriptures about himself. If we If we go into the book of Acts, the day of Pentecost, thousands were saved. Peter was preaching that day. Let's not forget about that.

People talk about the day of Pentecost, a lot of times it's the spying of tongues And all of that gets all the attention. But Peter was preaching, and when he was preaching, he wasn't just rambling like so many preachers do. He was preaching the Word. He was preaching from Psalm 16. Acts chapter 2.

Chapter 2. Verses 25 through 31. Verse 25-31 For David says of him, I saw the Lord continually before me, because he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover my flesh also will live in hope, because you will not forsake my soul to Hades, nor give your Holy One over to see corruption.

You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you, regarding the Patriarch David, that he who both died, was buried in his tomb is with us to this day. So because he was a prophet, knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on his throne. He looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ.

He was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did his flesh seek corruption. This Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses." You see, Peter took that text of Psalm 16 and he said, This can't be about David. David's dead. His body's in the grave. We're all witnesses to this.

This text, Psalm 16, is about someone else, the resurrected Christ. When Philip came to that eunuch in the desert, that eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53. The eunuch didn't understand what in the world was going on there. Philip didn't say, oh you need to put that away, that's Old Testament stuff. We're in the New Testament, New Covenant.

Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me understand something. There's some preachers today that would do that. That's not what Philip did. Look what Look what happened.

In Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 8, verse 30, Verse 30, Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. Acts 8 and verse 30, and said, Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, Well, how could I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was this, as a sheep is led to slaughter. As a lamb before it sure is silent, so he does not open his mouth.

In his inhumiliation his judgment was taken away. Who will recount his generation for his life is removed from the earth? Eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you earnestly of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else? Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture he proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him.

So Philip heard this man preaching, sorry, heard this man reading from Isaiah and preached to him Jesus. When Paul, the same Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians, when Paul was before King Agrippa, Notice what he said there in Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26. Verses 22, 23. Verses 22, 23.

Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here bearing witness both to small and great stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place that the Christ was to suffer, that as first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So whether Paul was before the Corinthian church or whether he was before the pagan King of the Romans, whoever he was before, it didn't matter, he was using scripture. That's what he means when he says, stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place. When Paul penned these words from our text there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And he wrote, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried, then he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

This was very important, very important to the church at Corinth. It's very important to us. The scriptures, even the Old Testament scriptures are a testimony to the fact of our Lord's resurrection. Jesus, Peter, Paul, Philip, all of these men of the New Testament, and all the others they quoted from or referred to Old Testament passage over and over and over again passages that foretold Christ would come and he would die. He would be buried and he would raise again from the grave.

Again from the grave. And so clear, in fact, so clear, that the Jews who had lived their whole life handling the Old Testament scriptures. Look what Jesus said to them in John chapter 5 verses 39 and 40. John 5, 39 and 40. He said to them, You search the scriptures because you think, that in them you have eternal life.

It is these that bear witness about me. You are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life." He told them, he said, you're searching the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that bear witness about me. They missed the point. As they were searching the scriptures, guess what they were doing?

They were being very legalistic about everything. They were finding this law and that law and this thing and that thing. They were making some other religion about it that was much different than what it should have been. Jesus said to them, Jesus said to them, it is these that bear witness about me and you're unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. Paul says to the church of Corinth twice when speaking of the gospel, including the resurrection, according to the scriptures.

This great emphasis is given. We stand on the Word of God. Yes, the church was a witness to these things, but It's not just the church alone that is the witness. You see, the church can sometimes get things wrong. Paul is an apostle.

He dared not go against the word of God. And so he says that He delivered to them, as of first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. When he wrote to Timothy, he told him, preach the Word, you see. The Word of God. It is the Word of God.

What is the Word of God? What is the Word of God? Not just ink on paper. Some people read the Bible and read it over and over again, and they miss it. Like those Jews of old.

I used to work with a guy. I worked with his wife, but he would sometimes come into the place I worked, and He had a King James Bible and a Strong's Concordance. And he knew the Bible pretty well. But you know what he was? He was an atheist.

And he would want to argue all the time. He knew the words. Question isn't, do you know the Word of God? As much as it is, do you know the God of the Word? Do you know Jesus?

Do you know the living Word? The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us? The one who Paul is who Paul is talking about here, who, as he put it, died for our sins according to the scriptures. The one who was buried was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures. Do you know him?

There is much evidence that he did what he said he would do. And we rejoice in the testimony of the scriptures. We rejoice in the testimony of the church. Praise God for these witnesses. Praise God that we serve a living Savior.