The Doctrine of the Resurrection Kathryn Kuhlman

And Father God, we thank you for having given Jesus. We thank you, Jesus, for loving us enough to come and give your life and shed your blood that we might have life eternal. The greatest tragedy of modern religion is the loss of a driving faith in the indestructibility of the human soul. Present -day Christians still observe Easter, recite ancient creeds, sing resurrection hymns, but collectively little do they feel that great motivating force. that should cause them to face the sins of this materialistic world with a fearless hope. The constant impact of the worship of things, the continuous flattery of the human ego, which lifts reason above divine revelation, and the successful revival of the cult of the golden calf. have given force to the leadership of Lucifer and have almost won the day for the triumph of belief in death. The social implications of the doctrine of eternal death are greater than we realize. Many modern college students have emerged from a pagan classroom fully propagandized to sneer at Christian doctrine as a mythical fabrication created from psychological escape complexes with catchphrases of a liberalism so broad it believes in little or nothing ringing in their impressionable ears. The faith of our fathers that gave America her strong heart has been thoroughly debunked. Eventually, the man on the street also becomes a skeptic, not by process of reason, but from the general debunking infiltration. The total result? is that no longer do we believe in life, but in death. Since death is our end, a future judgment is of no consequence. Thus, if there's to be no day of reckoning, if no bills need to be paid, if no debts must be settled, well then, let's get away with what we can while we may. There's no final day of judgment, no time of settling our bills. Live for today, forget tomorrow. And that's the modern theory of most of our young people. Morality without God is like guns without bullets. International ethics without personal responsibility can never save us from the atomic bomb. Only Christ's love in men's hearts can do that. Only the new birth experience can do that. Only the faith in the deity and divinity of the very son of the living God can do that. Let's not be foolish. Wishful thinkers. If there is to be a new day in American thinking, there must be a revival in the basic Christian belief in God's judgment of man and a survival of human personality. Jesus, the resurrected savior of mankind, must again become the assurance of everlasting life. Otherwise... to the millions of bereaved, we can offer no other consolation than a sad shaking of the head and our embarrassed mumblings of sympathy. Is there anything worse than to see a person who does not truly believe in... immortality, trying to offer comfort to a bereaved friend. The sadness of one standing before the casket of a loved one with no assurance of life after death. But praise God, the church has the truth about immortality. The Word of God gives us the truth regarding immortality. Those of us who've been born again, who have accepted the truth, who have accepted the Word of God, know there is life beyond the grave. We have a way of communication, and we're beginning again to teach our truth to the spiritually strong. whose sons are not dead, but are alive. Everything in the future depends on this basic doctrine. It is far more important for world peace, social security, and racial compatibility than... Pacts and political promises and intellectual explanations of humanistic theories. The world needs this hope in the divine son of the living God. Then it needs promises from our political leaders. Humanity needs this hope and faith. in the Son of the Living God and in the Word of God more than it needs atomic power and pacts and promises. Because in dealing with the subject of life after death, we're talking about the deepest of motivations. If we really believe that we're put here, to prepare for eternity, and that our acts will be judged, we will probably decide to start living for that day now. Living for something more than the material. Living for something more than just the taking of a life. Than just for... that which the material can afford us. Otherwise, why worry about ideals? Otherwise, why worry about morals and moral standards? I know, this is blunt, but it is human and realistic. It usually takes a war or some other tragedy to make most of us question the scientific intellectuals who've told us that all death lies with the death of the body. When thousands of telegrams begin to reach out across a nation with the fatal opening line, we regret to inform you. And when the personal effects are sent home, then we start to think. Only several days ago, I stood in a mortuary before a bereaved family. I held in my hand that telegram that had been sent by the United States government. We regret to inform you. I held with it the young 20 -year -old Marine's last letter to his mom. Dear Mom, How are you? Everything's... Going all right for me. Little did he know it was the last letter that he'd ever write. Little did he know. Have you stood before a grief -stricken mother? Have you stood before a grief -stricken father? A young brother, 17 years of age? And try to comfort them? If you yourself did not have hope beyond the grave? Hope in the promise of the Lord? Oh, sure, beloved. Many debunking intellectuals and destructive... liberals have little to offer those families whose sons have not returned or whose closest earthly companions have died. They can be graciously sympathetic. They can recite memories of how fine the young man was. But believe me, that is a little tangible aid to heartbroken people. What does that debunking intellectual have to offer? What does that destructive liberal have to offer? What does that modernistic preacher have to offer in that moment? Yet, there is something to be offered. There is a concrete belief, a definite and constructive strength to be received. And the Church of the Ages has a doctrine that is absolutely indestructible. A doctrine of faith. that you can absolutely stake your very life on. I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. With that... sentence begins the triumphal entry of a casket. Life after death. And that casket only holds that which goes back to the earth from whence it came. But there is no power that can destroy Destroy the soul, for the soul of man is eternal. But Jesus said, I am the resurrection, the life. And he that believeth in me, though he be dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And Christianity rests upon that. If it is a fact, it's the greatest event that ever happened in history. It offers the greatest hope to all who cherish the idea of a life of continual growth with those whom we have loved. It makes primary the surrender of everything to Christ the King. It threatens the one who would deliberately deny him with being cast out into utter darkness. Yet, if the promise is false, Christianity is the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated upon the human race. It makes Christ himself a character who is unparalleled in the history of the deliberate lie. It makes millions of Christians throughout history. their sufferings and their sacrifices, the most devilishly deceived block of hopeless humanity that was ever known. These words sound like an extravagant exaggeration, but they're not. Christ either rose from the dead or he did not. And any silly compromise between the two positions is not Christianity. Just how that event took place and with what resurrected body he presented himself, we do not know. How can we know? And why should we know? We probably wouldn't understand if we did know. And in addition, we would forfeit the benefits of faith if we demanded that we understand. I'm willing to rest the case on the fact that there are certain mysteries in things of the spirit which cannot be rationalized any more than a human love can be redeemed. to a test tube analysis. The resurrection of Christ must be accepted if we would be Christians. Christianity rests thoroughly on the fact that Jesus must have risen on the third day. It is the only reason to account for the miraculous change of attitude on the part of the scattered, banned, defeated, and bedraggled apostles. Pause a minute. Consider something. If, when the women visit the tomb on Easter morning, it was not found to be empty, then they must have lied. Having watched their brave vigil at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, cause to believe that they would bear false witness three days later. I don't believe it. They were not that kind of women. Furthermore, the lie, had it been one, would have been quickly contradicted by a visit to the tomb. For the evidence certainly would have been obvious. Just consider some of these things. The oldest report of the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion is found in St. Peter's first epistle to the Corinthians. It was concise air conviction as it states, 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 Scripture. and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. There it is. He was seen 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 have fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen by me also, as of one born out of due time. Now remember something. This was written... in the early 50s of the first century, probably 25 years after the actual event, when a great many eyewitnesses were still alive. Accounts of the resurrection also appear in four Gospels. Paul has many other references. And certainly, the resurrection was the center of his teaching. There are other references in the New Testament. And on the whole, testimony comes from eyewitnesses, those who actually saw him. What are you going to do with the testimony of those who saw him after he was resurrected? St. Paul bases his whole faith upon the truth of the resurrection. If Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so they also which are fallen asleep in Christ will God bring with him. There's no question where Paul stands. He goes so far as to assume that already his readers are convinced of the fact and that he is therefore able to build his argument upon it. You know, it's interesting to note what a challenge the empty tomb was to the Roman authorities. All they needed was to produce the body to disprove the seemingly wild resurrection statement. That's all they had to do. Just produce the body. It was necessary only to bring in the barest clue of the remains. To crush... the enthusiasm of the small group of Christ's followers. But the authorities failed utterly. They could not bring forth one evidence, not the smallest, to disprove his resurrection. After all of the debunking of the resurrection has taken place, the final and most difficult hurdle is the witness of the 500 brethren at once. Believe me, not all of the 500 could have been hypnotized. The Acts of the Apostles concludes, He showed himself alive by many infallible proofs. And St. Peter declares that God raised up Jesus from the dead and then clinches it by saying, We did eat and drink with him. St. Peter says that he was seen for many days. These witnesses were convinced. These witnesses were satisfied that the risen body was real. and that it had been identified. I have in me a conscious knowledge of a spiritual life, as positive as the consciousness of physical being. The star of Bethlehem is in my sky of hope, and his returning. is a conviction as surely as can be wrought in the realm of the senses by the strongest evidence. This inner awareness that he is God, and that I shall one day hear the shout, Behold, he cometh, is the anchor of my life. And I would not exchange my hope, I would not exchange my faith in him and his word for a title deed to the whole world. To all who do not experience this inner awareness, my final word is just this. Let the evidence speak to your intellect. Let conclusive... argument, force your final decision, and then follow the torch of faith, which neither intellect nor reason can go, then you too will join your testimony with the testimony of the centuries.