Sermon Tone Analysis

*“IF IT PLEASE THE COURT”*

 

*(I Corinthians 15:1-20)*

 

 

            */“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”/*

*/ /*

*/ /*

            A farmer was riding his donkey beside the highway, with his dog running alongside them.

As they trotted along a curve of the road, a car came around the curve at high speed, missed the curve, and ran into the farmer, the mule, and the dog, knocking the three of them into the ditch.

The farmer recovered after a long hospitalization, and sometime later, he sued the driver of the automobile for damages — and more.

The trial came to court, and the lawyer for the driver’s defense finally put the farmer himself on the witness stand.

The lawyer asked, “Sir, did you not tell the driver of the automobile /after/ the accident that day that you were perfectly O.K.?”  The farmer replied, “Well, I was riding my donkey down the highway, when a car came around the curve, ran off the highway, hit us, and knocked us down into the ditch ...”  “No, no,” the lawyer interrupted, “I didn’t ask for a long explanation.

I only want a Yes or No answer.”

And he repeated his question.

“Well,” answered the farmer, I was riding my donkey...” “No, no,” scolded the attorney, “I only want a /Yes/ or /No /answer!

Please answer Yes or No.”  “Well,” answered the farmer, I was riding my donkey...”  “No, no,” shouted the lawyer, and then he turned to the judge.

“Your honor,” he said, “Please instruct the witness to answer the question Yes or No!”  But the judge was wise enough to sense something.

“I think we should let the witness speak,” the judge said, so the farmer began again.

“I was riding my donkey down the highway, with my dog running beside us, when this car came around the curve, ran off the highway, hit us, and knocked us all down into the ditch.

The driver stopped his car on down the ditch, jumped out, and ran back to us in the ditch.

He looked at my mule, at my dog, and at me.

Then he ran back to his car and got a pistol.

He came back to us, took another look at my mule, and then /he shot him./

He took another look at my dog — and shot /him/, too.

Then he looked at me and said, “How do /you / feel?”

I answered, /“Mr., I never felt better in all my life!”/

You see, when you are investigating a story, it is necessary to /get all the facts/, and it is essential to /see the story, if possible, from the viewpoint of the people who were most involved in it./

Today, we are examining a part (just a /part/) of the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The text we will use is I Corinthians 15:1-20, which has the aura of the courtroom about it.

It sounds very much like an /official /presentation, even a /legal /presentation.

In short, it sounds considerably like /a lawyer’s brief.

/

 

            In the Bible, Jesus is called an “Advocate” (lawyer), and so also is the Holy Spirit (I John 2:1; John 14:16, 26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-11).

John 16:8 tell us that it is the work of the Holy Spirit as Christ’s Lawyer to convict criminal sinners of their sins, and bring them to admit that they are guilty as charged.

So the entire “Christian system” could be viewed as a giant law firm with two branches, one in Heaven and the other on earth.

Each branch is headed by a Master Attorney.

/Jesus /is /our Lawyer/ in /Heaven/, assigned to plead and win the case there for all sinners who trust Him.

His case in our behalf is perfect, and He has never lost the case of a single sinner who solidly put his cause in Jesus’ hands.

The /Holy Spirit/ is /Christ’s Lawyer/ on earth, assigned to plead and win /Christ’s/ case in the hearts of convicted sinners.

What a team, and what a work of salvation from death and danger they accomplish when we apply to “Heaven’s Law Firm” and place our case individually in their hands!

Our text is presented as a court case by a master lawyer.

In this case, the Apostle Paul is the lawyer (and he /was /a lawyer, a student and master of the law), and /you /are a /jurist/.

The developing case is presented before /you/, and you are finally asked to render a verdict regarding the purported resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Before we look at Paul’s case for the resurrection, let’s consider the duties of a jurist.

The first duty of a jury is that it must be unbiased.

Juries are carefully screened to secure the absence of any bias that would prejudice the juror’s judgment of the case.

It is unallowable, for example, for a jurist to take one look at an accused prisoner in the dock and decide there and then that because of the color of his skin he must be guilty (or /not/ guilty)!

To be unbiased in any case may be more difficult than it appears, and especially would that be true with regard to a possible resurrection from the dead.

A striking example of natural bias against the resurrection is that of Frenchman Ernest Renan who wrote a book, The Life of Jesus, in which he renounced the resurrection of Christ.

His reason?

By his own clear admission, Renan started his “investigation” with a presupposition, an overwhelming  bias.

He wrote, “There is no such thing as a miracle.

Therefore, the resurrection did not take place!”

Such an attitude would not be tolerated in a court of law, and would certainly disqualify Mr. Renan from a jury whose responsibility it is /to render a verdict/ about the resurrection /based on the evidence/ /that is offered/.

The first duty of a jury is to be unbiased when confronted with evidence.

The second duty of a jury is to /objectively /(as objectively as possible) /examine all of the evidence/ that is admitted to the court in the case at hand.

As we will see, there is much evidence presented regarding the resurrection.

The presentation we will consider presents a significant part of the evidence, but it is by no means exhaustive.

Every account of the resurrection in the New Testament compounds the evidence, and the resulting total case is impressive, indeed.

In this study, however, I will ask you to consider only the evidence presented by Paul.

Third, the jury is responsible to acknowledge what lawyers call the “standard of proof.”

Suppose you are involved in an automobile accident and, unfortunately, someone is injured.

You are then sued in court for damages and the court has to decide whether you have been negligent or not.

How does the court do this?

What would constitute proof of this?

In such a case, the decision is made on the basis of probabilities.

The court has to decide as to what is the most likely thing that happened.

“What is the most likely thing that happened” is a key question.

Fourth, the jury is responsible to reach a conclusion about the case in light of the evidence that is presented and the testimonies of pertinent witnesses.

This conclusion is presented as the jury’s verdict.

It is the responsibility of each jurist to cast his clear vote in forming the jury’s verdict.

Remember that Paul is the lawyer, his “case” for the resurrection is presented in I Corinthians 15:1-20, and /you are the jury./

Now, we will consider the lawyer’s case.

*I.

THE FOUNDATION* 

 

            First, we note the /Foundation /of his case for the resurrection.

Every lawyer operates by a recognized Standard of Law.

No worthy lawyer argues a case simply by his own whims and fancies — if he intends to win.

He “knows the book” and “goes by the book,” though he may follow his own unique style in pursuing and presenting his case.

He studies for long and laborious hours in law school to “learn the book” and the procedures by which he may operate according to it.

*The Scriptures*

 

            Paul also had a “Manual of Law.”

He also had “a book” which governed his practice and his presentation.

He identifies it twice in his opening remarks.

He speaks of “the scriptures” in verses  three and four.

The scriptures were Paul’s “law book.”

This law book was the theme of all of the New Testament speakers and writers, including Jesus.

The word “scripture” is used 51 times in the New Testament, and 14 of those occurrences are in the writings of Paul.

Paul used the word “written” 37 times in reference to the scriptures, and the tense of the verb he used indicates that he believed the scriptures to be inviolable, unchangeable, and infallible.

What were the “scriptures” to Paul?

They were the writings of the Old Testament (see Luke 24:44-45); the New Testament was still in the process of being written.

Indeed, this very statement of Paul’s case for the resurrection would become a vital part of the New Testament.