1 Corinthians 15:1-12 Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand;… I. CHRISTIANITY IS BASED ON HISTORICAL FACTS, not on human reason or imagination; it is neither an ingenious hypothesis to account for any phenomena, nor a poetic myth to adumbrate any truth. It is based on facts. These facts are — 1. Personal. They are connected with a person, and that person is not Socrates, Plato, nor Caesar, but Christ. 2. Few. He "died," He was "buried," and He "rose." These facts are compendious facts, they imply many more. 3. Well attested (vers. 4-8). No facts on record are better attested than these. II. CHRISTIANITY IS DESIGNED FOR THE REMOVAL OF EVIL. 1. He "died for our sins." 2. It is to "put away sin" from the hearts, literature, institutions, customs, and governments of mankind; natural evil is but the effect of moral. 3. Philosophically, there is no system on earth suited to destroy man's sinful disposition and to change his heart, but Christianity; and, historically, nothing else has ever done it. III. CHRISTIANITY IS TO BE PREACHED WITH THIS DESIGN (ver. 2). Paul preached that they might be saved, but they could only be saved as they renounced and hated sin. Paul preached Christianity — 1. Convincingly, "which also ye received." They believed his gospel; then he must have convinced them by arguments. Christianity is to be commended "to every man's conscience." 2. Scripturally. He showed those facts in the light of the Scriptures, "according to the Scriptures." 3. Humbly, "born out of due time, .... the least of the apostles," etc. (D. Thomas, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; |
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