THE
STRENGTH OF THE CHRISTIAN POSITION
The media repeatedly tells us in a dizzying
barrage that Christianity is not from God. Mere men, we are confidently told,
account for the religion we practice. There were no supernatural manifestations
in olden days, and Jesus most certainly wasn’t God’s Son. THEYARE WRONG!
What the secular mentality does not want to
acknowledge, we will now see. Consider the strength of the Christian position.
The content of its powerful realities are awesome to behold!
THE WITNESSES
1. Eyewitnesses
a. The
Apostles (Matt. 10:2-4; Acts 9:1-9; Acts 2:32).
b. James,
Jude, the Lord’s brothers, and a host of additional witnesses (Matt. 13:53-56;
I Cor. 15:1-8).
2. Trustworthy
Witnesses.
a. Their
stories had to agree with what multitudes had witnessed (Jn. 18:19-21).
b. Even
those in Jerusalem could not disagree with the facts (Acts 2:22).
c. The
Apostles were willing to die rather than deny what they had seen and
heard—would they have died for what they knew was a lie (Jn. 21:18-19; Acts 4:5-20)?
3. Jesus
had backed up His claims with miracles and through His resurrection from the
dead (Jn. 4:26; 5:17-18; 9:16; 12:9-11; Mk. 14:60-63; Jn. 20:26-28).
PROPHECY
1. Isaiah
53.
2. Psalm
22.
3. Micah
5:2-5a.
4. Zechariah
12:10.
5. Exodus
12:46.
6. The
odds against eight of the prophecies about Jesus to having occurred by chance
would be ten to the seventeenth power—the number of one-and-a-half inches
squares needed to cover every land area of the earth.
7. The
odds against forty-eight of these prophecies being fulfilled by chance would be
ten to the 157th power—the number of atoms in a trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion, billion universes the size of our own!!!
8. Jesus
fulfilled them all (Lk. 24:44)!
INQUIRIES BY SKEPTICS
1. The
British journalist and lawyer named Frank Morrison set out to write a book
exposing the Resurrection.
a. He
became a believer.
b. “He
concluded the Resurrection had “A deep and profoundly historical basis.”
2. Simon
Greenleaf, credited with helping Harvard Law School first receive a reputation
for excellence, was a man who scoffed at the Resurrection.
a. The
London Law Journal said that Greenleaf knew more about the laws of evidence
than “all the lawyers who adorn the courts of Europe.”
b. As
a Jewish skeptic he became convinced that the Resurrection was an actual
historical fact.
c. He
became a believer in Christ.
3. William
Ramsey of Oxford University, an atheist and one of histories greatest
archaeologists, set out to discredit the book of Acts.
a. He
concluded that Luke was one of the most accurate historians who ever lived.
b. He
came to believe that Jesus was the Christ.
We have only briefly covered a few of the
points of evidence a Christian can bring forth to establish the strength of the
Christian position. We have nothing to fear from those who assault the religion
founded by the Christ!
____________________________________________________________________________
A STUDY EXERCISE
1. The
Apostles were willing to die as a consequence of preaching Jesus and His
Resurrection. Men do not _______for a _________.
2. The
preaching of the Apostles had to agree with what the ________________ had
_______________________.
3. Isaiah
_______ and Psalms ________ are convicting ________________ about the life of
Christ.
4. Many
learned skeptics who made honest inquiry into New Testament truths wound up
becoming ____________ in _______________.
5. ____________
_______________ became convinced that the book of ___________ was accurate.
6. Jesus
fulfilled prophecies from the Law of __________, the ________________, and the
_________________.
Edwin
1/7/01
Return to "Sermon Outlines" Page