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New Holland horse auction Click on photo to enlarge
"The Foundation Of Christ’s
Resurrection"
(Part 2)
Message summary: The resurrection of Christ was a vital New
Testament doctrine and foundational to apostolic preaching. Today the resurrected Christ lives within believers by His transforming power. Does He live in your life? Is the truth of His resurrection merely familiar or is it foundational to your life?
“He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are
witnesses” (Acts 2:32). “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). “But God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 13:30).
This week we are examining resurrection truths from each of the five major sections of the New Testament. Yesterday we took a brief look at a familiar verse in Matthew concerning the first witness who declared “He
is not here; He is risen, just as He said” concerning the risen Christ (Matthew 28:6).
The Book of Acts records the history of the early church following the resurrection of Christ. The prologue introduces the book with the following words, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was
taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).
The "first book" is the gospel of Luke. Theophilus is a name that means "lover of God". It may
be used here in a literal sense identifying a person's name or it may be generically referring to all who love God.
Today we will look at several of the references to the resurrection in the book of Acts, the history of the early church. The early church was birthed out of the eyewitness experiences of the first disciples or apostles. These verses affirm the centrality of the
resurrection of Christ.
There are three prominent preachers in the book of Acts:
1) Peter delivered the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost. He denied the Lord some 53 days earlier but now he stood up boldly proclaiming the Gospel of the resurrected Christ. While standing with the other eleven apostles (Acts 2:14) Peter stated, “This
Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32). Being a witness to the resurrected Christ was a requirement concerning the apostle who would replace Judas (Acts 1:22). This demonstrates the centrality of Christ’s resurrection in apostolic preaching.
2) Stephen explained and defended the gospel in the longest sermon recorded in the book of Acts (7:2-53). He didn’t get to finish
though. In boldly proclaiming the Gospel he got up to the point concerning Christ’s death when he was violently interrupted (see Acts 7:51-54). However he still testified to the risen Lord who appeared to him during the most intense and final testing of his life when he was being stoned: “full of the Holy Spirit, [Stephen] looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God'" (v. 55,56). Jesus Christ was not dead in a tomb but alive, standing at the right hand of God.
3) Paul, formerly called Saul, witnessed the resurrected Christ in dramatic fashion at his conversion recorded in Acts 9. The risen Lord appeared to him. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he [Saul] said, “Who are you, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts
9:5,6). Paul of course went on to become an apostle and in his first recorded mission sermon preached concerning Christ, “But God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 13:30). Paul’s parting words to the Athenian philosophers was to declare that God had “fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man Whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
The resurrection of Christ was a vital New Testament doctrine and foundational to apostolic preaching. Today the resurrected Christ lives within believers by His transforming power. Does He live in your life? Is the truth of His resurrection merely familiar or is it foundational to your life?
Daily prayer: Father, we need the strength and boldness that comes through the indwelling resurrected power of Christ to proclaim, defend, and live the Gospel message day in and day out. It’s unlikely that we’ll be tested like Stephen, but we will be put to the test of defending our faith
before unbelievers in this hostile world where the majority by far lack faith. We feel inadequate for the task, but we walk in the resurrected power of Your Holy Spirit and look to You for courage, compassion, and clarity in the message You have commissioned us to share with unbelievers. That which we cannot adequately express, or clearly explain is provided in the Scriptures which we can share with those we reach. Not only do we thank You for the inspiration of the Scriptures, but we are so
grateful that we have easy access to the Word. Help us not to neglect the reading and meditation of Your Scripture.
Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Because He Lives"Watch on YouTube Church Choir and congregation The conclusion from our service last Sunday (includes transition from sermon).
Yesterday was Easter Monday, the day after Easter Sunday (of
course). For most people it's just a regular day, back to work and school. But for the Amish and Mennonites in our area it is a very purposeful day off. Early in the morning I drove our neighbor's boys down to the river where they were so excited to go fishing. We spent the day with our friends Jesse and Anna Ruth and their three younger children; the older children were at Youth Groups. Brooksyne, Anna Ruth, and the two youngest children went to a thrift shop while Jessie and I went to a
horse auction in New Holland. Click on photo to enlarge
The steel-wheeled tractor is used by a certain branch of Mennonites. The purpose is to discourage using the tractor as a vehicle. I saw a Mennonite dad and his son get off this tractor after they bought a horse at the auction and were loading it to transport back to the farm in the trailer. When I waited for the thrift shop for the girls the very loud tractor (as you can imagine with
those wheels) drove by on the way back to the farm. So much for staying off the roads!
Click on photo to enlarge
The Lapps wanted to go into city to eat so we went to the Souvlaki Boys Greek Restaurant where the children were especially fascinated by the video playing with scenes from Greece. When I took them home two ponies that Jesse had
bought only a couple hours earlier at the auction were already transported to the pen in the Lapp barn. Click on photo to enlarge
Local readers: On Saturday April 11 Bible teacher Del Tackett will present an "Understanding Our Times and the Biblical Path Forward" seminar here in Lancaster County. See here for information.
Here's a very interesting video teaching Tackett has that will build your faith if you care to take the time to watch. "Is Genesis History?"
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