So this is going to be a very, very thorough Bible study.
I'm not going to spend much time for you to basically flip through the passages.
If you do want the text, if you do want the Bible verses, I'm more than happy to send
it your way.
So if you want to contact the church, give me your email address or whatever other way.
I'm happy to send you notes so you can do your own study at your own pace in your own
time.
But look at Acts chapter 1 verse number 1.
It says,
The former treatise having made O Theopolis, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
until the day in which He was taken up.
After that, He, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom
He had chosen.
So we talk about, of course, the ascension of Christ after His resurrection.
But notice what it says in verse number 3, it says,
To whom also He showed Himself alive, so He showed Himself alive, after Christ's resurrection,
He went showing Himself amongst other people that He was alive, after His passion, that's
after His crucifixion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
So after Christ's resurrection from the dead, for the next forty days, He would show Himself
to different disciples.
And the Bible says these are many infallible proofs, the title for the sermon tonight is
Many Infallible Proofs.
Now can you please, you don't need to stay there in Acts anymore, please go to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
As I said, I'm not going to have the time to allow you to flick through the different
passages, but I would recommend, if you want to get the most verses, if you possibly can,
I would recommend have one finger in 1 Corinthians 15, and another finger or bookmark or something
in the book of John.
Now I do have other references, but I'm going to get most of my verses from these two books.
1 Corinthians chapter 15 and the book of John.
Now if you look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse number 13, 1 Corinthians 15, 13, why are these
many infallible proofs?
Why is the resurrection of Christ so important?
Verse number 13 says,
You know what the Bible is saying here?
If Christ is not resurrected from the dead, what I'm doing right now, preaching God's
Word, it's in vain.
It's empty.
It's worthless.
It's not going to help you if Christ does not rise from the dead, and your faith is
also in vain.
Your faith in Christ is meaningless unless Christ resurrected from the dead.
Look at verse number 15,
Now notice the next verse, 17, this is the most important part,
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.
So if we did not have the crucifixion of Christ, even if Christ bore all our sins on his body,
but he remained dead, we would still be in our sins.
The victory over sin had not yet been completed until he resurrected from the dead.
This is why it's so important that we believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ,
otherwise you're dead in your sins.
You know what's interesting here?
Notice in verse number 15, if he did not rise from the dead, we would be false witnesses.
Now there's a cult out there called the Jehovah Witnesses, and they don't believe that Christ
rose from the dead.
They'll say, well, he just rose spiritually.
It wasn't a bodily resurrection.
You can check that for yourself.
They don't believe they call themselves Jehovah Witnesses, but what they truly are in accordance
to this passage are Jehovah false witnesses.
False witnesses because they denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith.
You don't have the resurrection, you don't have Christianity, okay?
And yet you're dead in your sins.
You're not saved if you do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, as I said, we're going to be focused between John and 1 Corinthians 15.
So again, keep your finger there in 1 Corinthians 15.
Go to John chapter 2 verse 19, please.
John chapter 2 verse number 19.
Why else is the resurrection so important?
John chapter 2 verse number 19, because we put our faith in Christ.
We put our faith upon Christ's words.
We put our faith upon Christ's works, and of course, his death, burial, and resurrection.
And what did Christ say here in John 2 19?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up.
Christ, he of course, speaking about his body, it says in verse number 20, Then said the
Jews forty and six years, was this temple in building, and will thou rear it up in three
days?
But he spake of the temple of his body.
Christ prophesied that if his body was to perish, that in three days he will be risen
from the dead.
And so this is a prophecy, this is a promise, these are the words of Christ, and if he did
not rise from the dead, okay, talking about his body, then your faith would be in someone
that did not accomplish what he said.
Christ would not have fulfilled what he had spoken.
And then how can we put our faith upon someone that did not rise from the dead, whose own
words testify against him?
And so once again, Christ said no, he's speaking about his body that's going to be risen, which
is why Jehovah's Witnesses is a false religion, a cult, okay, that is not even close to Christianity.
But back in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse number 1, 1 Corinthians 15 verse number 1,
let's just start here, it says 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,
so we're saved by this gospel, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
ye have believed in vain, now we already saw what that believe in vain is, it's not believe
in that he rose from the dead.
But I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures, yes, that's true, okay, that's part of the
gospel.
And then we have verse number 4, and that he was buried, okay, that's the next part
of the gospel, and that he rose again the third day, this is the third part of the gospel,
the third day according to the scriptures.
And so when we talk about preaching the gospel or believe in the gospel, what we believe
in is this, that he died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again from
the dead.
But notice what it says now here, it says in verse number 5, now we have these infallible
proofs, now we have this time where Christ will come and show himself as a resurrected
Saviour, the resurrected Lord to his disciples, it says in verse number 5, and that he was
seen of Cephas.
Who's Cephas?
You guys know?
Peter, yeah, Peter, okay, Cephas, then of the 12.
Notice that Paul has given us an order or chronology of people who saw him, when did
they see him, who saw him afterwards, this is not just some random order, this is a proper
order here that Paul has given us.
He was seen of Cephas, then of the 12, okay, after that, so notice it's the chronology,
the order, after that he was seen above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part
remained unto this present but some have fallen asleep, after that he was seen of James,
so that's the fourth one there, then of all the apostles, there's the fifth one there,
and last of all he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time, so Paul saw him
as one born out of due time, so we have six there, we have six appearances of Christ that
are mentioned there in 1 Corinthians 15.
Now let me just quickly say, those are not the only times where Christ showed himself
as a resurrected body, okay, but those six times that Paul has listed for us are correct,
they did take place, and they did take place in that order, but as I said there were other
times where Christ appeared to his disciples.
Now why is this important?
Once again, because our faith is based upon this, upon his resurrection, and I remember
earlier in my Christian life when I was like a teenager, even my early 20s, I was trying
to pierce together, you know, the appearances of Christ after his resurrection, and I really
struggled, and I found some difficulties of, you know, looking at the different gospels,
looking at the book of Acts, looking at 1 Corinthians, and piercing it together, well
I've pierced it together now, but when I would look online for some help, I also found that
this is, you know, the chronology of his appearances is one thing the atheist, or God in the eyes,
used as well to claim there's some type of contradiction in the scriptures.
And so I want to cover some of that today, maybe you've been faced with that thought,
maybe there are, you know, some people have said there's contradictions in the scriptures,
well there isn't, you know, once you look at all the passages together, it's consistent,
it's perfect, you know, it's better than perfect in fact, okay?
So let's go back to John chapter 20 verse number 1, John chapter 20 verse number 1,
let's remember what took place in the morning of the resurrection, which was the first day
of the week, John chapter 20 verse number 1, the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene
early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Now if you watch, I don't know if you've ever seen some of those Hollywood productions
of Jesus and his resurrection, the ones I remember, I do remember seeing Mary Magdalene,
okay, come alone to see the sepulchre of Christ, to see the grave of Christ.
But what you learn here, and I guess they take this here from the book of John, because
Mary Magdalene is mentioned here, but when we do further study, Mary Magdalene did not
come alone, in fact she came with many other women, okay?
But John just sees a fit to reference Mary Magdalene, it's kind of like, you know, if
we were in church, and someone wrote, you know, I saw Pastor Kevin enter the church,
that would be correct.
And then someone else wrote, where I saw the sepulchre of the family enter the church.
Say well hold on, one said the sepulchre of the family, and one said I saw Pastor Kevin,
is that a contradiction?
No, they're just detailing different things.
And so, you know, so what you'll find when you look at all the different Gospels, sometimes
they just focus on different details of the resurrection of Christ.
And here we're focused upon Mary Magdalene, okay?
Now she comes to the grave, the stone is rolled away from the sepulchre, so she's alarmed,
right?
She's alarmed and she needs to let people know, look at verse number two, and she runneth
and cometh to Simon Peter.
Now as I told you, Mary's not alone, she's coming with other women, but she alone ran.
The other women stayed, and I'll prove that to you later, the other women stayed at the
sepulchre, but Mary Magdalene runs alone looking for Simon Peter, and to the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, that's John speaking about himself, so she's gone to find Peter and John,
and saith unto them, they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and look, this
proves that she's not alone, and we know not where they have hid him.
So she referenced we, so she is with other ladies here.
Now let me just show you some of the other ladies that she's with.
I'm going to read to you from Luke 24 one.
It says, now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, again plural,
they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain
others with them, and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and they entered
in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus, and it came to pass, as they were much perplexed
thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
Now I do believe before, I don't believe Mary Magdalene saw these two angels in the
shining garments.
I believe she already took off and ran to find Peter and John, but the other ladies
stayed behind, and they saw these two angels in shining garments.
Now let me just show you some other passages here.
Matthew 28 verse number one says, and in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward
the first day of the week, Mary, sorry, came Mary Magdalene, which we know that, came Mary
Magdalene, then it says, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre, okay?
So we know that another woman that she was with was another Mary.
Mary was a common name in that time.
You might say, who was that other Mary?
Well Mark chapter 16 verse number one says, and when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene
and Mary the mother of James, that's the mother, that's Mary, mother of James, and Salome,
we have another name there, another lady, and Salome had brought sweet spices that they
might come and anoint him, and very early in the morning, the first day of the week,
they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
You notice how if you start putting all these gospels together, it starts to formulate a
picture of all the people that were there.
And I'm also going to read to you from Luke 23 verse number 55, because it wasn't just
these three ladies, there was many more.
It says, and the women also which came with him from Galilee.
So when Christ, you know, came into Jerusalem, there were others following him, other disciples
coming from Galilee, well all the women that were disciples, followers, you know, listening
to Christ's teaching that came from Galilee, they also, they all came to the sepulchre.
It says, followed after and beheld the sepulchre and how his body was laid, and they returned
and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
And then in Luke 24 verse 10, we have another name mentioned there.
It says it was Mary Magdalene, and then it says and Joanna, now we have another woman
Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, who we've already seen, and other women, right,
so there's again the priority, that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
So I just want to show you, you know, when we look at Christ's appearances after his
resurrection, his first appearance is the hardest one to work out, okay?
Because we have all these different events that take place on the very early hours of
the morning, when Christ rose from the dead, but I want you to again, get into your mind
what took place.
Mary Magdalene, a whole bunch of ladies from Galilee, you know, Mary the mother of James,
Salome, Joanna, those are the names that we know, they all turn up to anoint the body
of Christ, they notice that the stone is rolled away, Mary, you know, freaks out, she goes,
she runs off, she looks for Peter and John, the other women stay there, and two angels
are paid to those women.
Okay, I hope you're following that right now.
So let's just remember now, Mary's running off to find Peter and John, so you should
be in John, look at John 20 verse number 3, John 20 verse number 3, let's see what took
place when Mary Magdalene found Peter and John, verse number 3 says, Peter therefore
went forth, and that other disciple, again that's John, and came to the sepulchre, so
these guys run, okay, and they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter, so
John's a faster runner than Peter I guess, and came first to the sepulchre, and he stooping
down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and see if the linen
clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes,
but wrapped together in a place by itself, then went in also that other disciple, which
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed.
So they believed that Christ, this is it, Christ said he's going to rise from the dead,
here it is.
It says in verse number 9, for as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise
again from the dead, then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
So I want you to notice that the men, Peter and John, did not see Christ, okay.
They went to the sepulchre, it's empty, they go back home.
Alright, now look at verse number 11 please, let's keep going.
The first person to see the resurrected Christ is Mary Magdalene, okay, and I'll show you
soon.
Christ appears to Mary on her own in these early hours, and then he also appears to the
other group of women, okay.
So I don't want any lady to feel like they're not important to God, okay, in fact it was
the ladies that got to see the resurrected Christ first, praise God, what an honour.
But you know sometimes it can be a little bit confusing, did Christ appear to the group
of ladies or Mary Magdalene first?
Which of these?
Well I put it to you that the first one was Mary Magdalene, and I'll explain to you why.
Look at John 20 verse 11, but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.
So Peter and John have already headed back home, Mary stays at the sepulchre weeping,
and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeeth two angels
in white sitting.
So now she sees the two angels, remember, the other women saw them before, but now she
sees them.
And the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid him.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus stand in, and knew not
that it was Jesus.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?
Whom seekest thou?
I don't know what, you know, Christ, I don't know if he's a little bit sarcastic, they're
having a joke, right?
I mean of course she's looking for him, you know, whom seekest thou?
She supposed him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him thence,
tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Jesus saith unto her, Mary.
She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to
my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and
your God.
So I want you to notice that Christ appears to Mary, and I'll prove to you soon why she's
the first.
But notice that Jesus says, Don't touch me.
Okay, why?
Because he's not yet ascended to the Father.
And then he tells Mary, Go and tell them that I'm going to ascend to the Father.
Okay, look at verse number 18.
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had
spoken these things unto her.
All right, so we have the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene.
And remember Christ says, Don't touch me, okay, don't touch me because I'm not yet ascended
to the Father.
All right, now I'm going to read to you from Matthew 28, and verse number 8.
Matthew 28, verse number 8, now we're addressing the other ladies, okay.
So we have the other group of women, they stay at the sepulchre, Mary runs off to find
Peter and John, and I assume at this point the other ladies have gone to find the other
disciples because they're not in the picture here with Mary Magdalene and Christ the first
time.
But Matthew 28, verse 8 says, And they departed quickly, that's the ladies, after they saw
the vision of the angels, and they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great
joy and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail!
And they came, now look at this, and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped
him.
Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,
and there shall they see me.
All right, so notice that Christ appears to the group of the ladies, you know the other
ladies that are there, and he allows them to come and worship him, in fact they come
and hold his feet, they come and touch his feet.
Now Mary Magdalene was not allowed to touch his feet, why?
Because he had not yet ascended to the Father, okay.
Now if Christ is allowing them to touch him, what took place?
Christ must have ascended up to the Father, where now it didn't matter, he's come back,
okay, and we'll soon see why he ascended to the Father, we'll understand all that later,
and the ladies are allowed to there worship him and touch him by his feet.
The other commandment that he tells them, Go to my brethren that they go into Galilee,
we'll soon see later on why they have to go to Galilee, and there they shall see me, because
one of Christ's appearances will be in Galilee.
So the first appearance of Christ was to Mary Magdalene, okay, before he ascended to the
Father, then he did that, he comes back, he shows himself to the larger group of ladies
on their way to talk to the disciples, and he allows them to worship him, so the second
appearance is to the larger group of women, that's Mary, you know the mother of James,
Salome, Joanna, and whoever else that was in that group.
Now I'm going to read to you from Hebrews chapter 9, you might be saying, Why did Christ
have to ascend to the Father?
This all took place I guess very quickly, but we learn about this in Hebrews chapter
9 verse 11, which says, But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by
a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
building.
You see, Christ in heaven, God in heaven has a tabernacle.
Now the Old Testament tabernacle was in place before the temple, and that was the place
where they had the Ark of the Covenant, that's where they would do the sacrifices, and of
course the blood of the bulls and the goats and the sheep was sprinkled upon the mercy
seat, okay.
Now again, they, those sacrifices were just a picture of Jesus Christ.
What we learn here, there is another tabernacle, not on the earth, but a tabernacle in heaven,
okay, not made with hands, it's not made by man, it's made by God, okay.
So that's, it's wonderful because we learn the pictures of the Old Testament was a foreshadowing
of a greater truth.
And then it says in verse number 12, neither by the blood of goats and calves, so that
tabernacle in heaven was not sprinkled by the blood of goats and calves, it says, but
by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us.
And so this process after Christ's resurrection, he would go back to heaven to the Father,
he would take his blood, okay, and that blood would be sprinkled upon the, what do I say
there, upon the, in the holy place, okay, it would be sprinkled there, and that would
be the eternal redemption for us.
Christ's blood is still in heaven, Christ's blood is still showing that he has redeemed
us from all our sins, okay.
So that's the picture there.
Once Christ did that job, then he returned to the earth, met the other larger group of
ladies and they were able to worship him and touch his feet.
All right, so now we have number one, number two, that's the most complicated ones.
The other ones are pretty easy to put together, okay.
Now in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 5, you may recall that order that was there.
Mary Magdalene was not mentioned, neither is that group of ladies mentioned.
Again, is that a contradiction?
No, it's not a contradiction.
I just said to you that our authors will focus on different groups of people at different
times, okay.
But everything, when you put it all together, it is perfectly consistent.
When you look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 5, it says, and that he was seen of Cephas.
Again, who is Cephas?
Peter.
So the third person that saw Jesus Christ resurrected was Cephas, was Peter, okay.
Now here's what's interesting.
We don't have any other references in the Bible that tell us the story of Christ appearing
to Peter alone.
We don't have that anywhere else except in 1 Corinthians 15.
Now that's, of course, that's true because all the Bible is the Word of God.
It's just for whatever reason, God did not see fit to contain that story in any of the
Gospels, okay.
Now let's see what the fourth group is.
I want, for the men that are here, my live stream team, I want you to start putting it
together in your brains.
If we have time, we'll do a bit of a trivia to see if you guys can work out the appearances
from start to finish, all right.
So a bit of a test afterwards, okay.
Okay.
Now Luke 24, 13, I'll just read it to you.
We have the fourth group of people that Christ appears to in Luke 24 verse 13.
It says, and behold, two of them, so it's actually two, two disciples, two of them went
that same day to a village called Emmaus which was from Jerusalem about three-score furlongs.
And then I'm going to read verse number 18.
It says, and the one of them whose name was Cleopas, so we know one of the names of these
two, one is Cleopas, answered and said unto him, that's unto Jesus, because Jesus appears
to them.
You might know the story, Christ appears to them, but they don't realize it's Jesus.
It's kind of like Mary Magdalene, you know, doesn't realize that Jesus is Christ, she
believes it's the gardener, right.
And then it says, are thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?
Has thou not known the things which are come to pass therein these days?
Because Christ is wondering, hey, what's going on?
Why are you guys downcast?
They were downcast because Christ had been crucified, they did not know that Christ was
resurrected and so Christ is coming and asking that question and they're saying, don't you
know what's taking place?
And this was the big news across Jerusalem, the crucifixion of the Messiah.
And then it says in verse number 30, and it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them,
he took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them and their eyes were opened and
they knew him and he vanished out of their sight, okay.
So the fourth appearance of Jesus Christ, bodily resurrected appearance of Christ was
to the two traveling to Emmaus and one of those is Cleopas, okay.
That's the fourth group.
Now, I'm going to keep reading in verse number 32.
So after this takes place, after they see Christ and I realize it's Christ, he's resurrected,
he vanishes.
Well, it says in verse number 32, and they said one to another, did not our heart burn
within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures?
And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered
together.
So they go and find the eleven disciples.
Christ has not yet appeared to the disciples, right?
I mean, he's appeared to Peter, we already know that, but to the group of the disciples.
He hasn't appeared to them yet.
They found the eleven gathered together and them that were with them saying, now notice
the next words I'm going to read, saying, the Lord is risen indeed, because they saw
the Lord, and then they say, and have appeared to Simon.
Who's Simon?
Peter.
It's another name, right?
Peter, Cephas, sorry, Simon, Peter, Cephas, it's all the one guy.
And what are they saying?
They say, saying the Lord is risen indeed, we saw the Lord and have appeared to Simon.
So we have the order correct, because we said that the Lord had already appeared to Simon.
Even though we don't have the story that took place, we have a second confirmation here
that he had appeared to Simon Peter, okay?
So the fourth appearance of Christ is to the two traveling to Emmaus.
Now I'm going to keep reading, verse number 35, Luke 24, 35, it says, and they told what
things were done in the way, and that he was known of them in breaking of bread, and as
they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, peace be
unto you.
So they're saying, we saw Christ, and they go to the disciples, and they told them, and
then Christ appeared.
They see Christ again, but with all the other apostles, okay, with the 11.
And so the fifth appearance of Christ is to the apostles, and if you remember the story,
Thomas was not there.
Remember doubting Thomas, he was not there that first time.
So this is Christ's fifth appearance, resurrected appearance, but it's the first appearance
to the apostles as a larger group.
Now I want you to remember that.
Even though it's the fifth appearance, it's the first appearance to the larger group of
the apostles.
You need to remember that, okay, because this is where, you know, Christ haters would point
that there are contradictions in the Bible, all right.
It says in verse number 37, and they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that
they had seen a spirit.
This is important, okay.
They thought, man, we're seeing a spirit, we're seeing a ghost.
And he said unto them, why are you troubled?
Why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
He goes, behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
He says, handle me and see, he says, touch me, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones
as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
Again the Jehovah false witnesses, they claim that he wasn't a bodily resident.
You know what they say about this?
Even though it's so clear, Christ is saying, I'm flesh and bone, touch me, handle me.
You know what they say?
They kind of like borrowed a body, and then went back into the spirit form, okay.
Why because they're not saved?
Why because they're wicked people, okay, false prophets, false witnesses.
But I want you to notice there that the fifth appearance is the apostles without Thomas,
but it's the first appearance to the apostles as a group.
Now you're probably still in John, so look at John chapter 20 and verse number 24.
John chapter 20 and verse number 24.
So this is talking about the same event that we just read in Luke, but in John 20, 24 it
says, But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
So we've seen five appearances of Christ, and all these five appearances are on the
same day of his resurrection.
So all these five, same day, from the early morning, the ladies, and then he's appeared
himself, and at the end of the day, he's appeared to the apostles as a whole.
But Thomas was not there.
Now look at verse number 26, John 20, 26.
So Christ's next appearance says here, And after eight days again, so eight days go by,
and then Christ appears once again, and after eight days again, his disciples again, those
are the apostles, were within, and Thomas with them, now Thomas is with them.
Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto
you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach here thy finger, and behold my hand, and reach here thy hand,
and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
So now we have the sixth appearance of Christ, and the sixth appearance is to the apostles
with Thomas, right?
The fifth appearance was with the apostles without Thomas, the sixth appearance is the
apostles with Thomas, which is also the second appearance to the apostles as a group.
Okay?
Hope you're following along so far, okay?
Sixth appearance, but second appearance to the apostles as a group.
Now look at John 21, please.
John 21, verse number one.
I hope you're enjoying the Bible study, I know it's a lot to take in, and I like the
Bible study from time to time, you know?
Just to dig in deep into the scriptures and try to put it all together.
And then, you know, if anyone mocks, you know, these appearances of Christ, you know, hopefully
you study it out and you've got the answers, and you can knock back those foolish thoughts.
But John 21, verse number one says, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to
the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise, showeth he himself.
So who's the appearance now?
Again, the disciples.
Which disciples?
The apostles.
Because he's doing that again.
This is going to be Christ's third appearance to the apostles as a group.
It says in verse number two, there were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and
Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples.
So you can see it's the group of the apostles there.
Verse number three, Simon Peter saith unto them, I go fishing.
They saith unto him, We also go with thee.
They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore.
But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
And then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat?
They answered him, No.
And he said unto them, Cast net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.
They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, that's John, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.
Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him,
for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea.
So we have the seventh appearance of Christ.
This time when the apostles are fishing, all right?
And what is this also?
This is also the third appearance of Christ to the apostles as a group.
Why do I keep saying this?
The first appearance as a group, the second appearance to the apostles as a group, now
the third appearance, okay?
This is why.
Because if you look at verse number 14, drop down to verse number 14, it says, This is
now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen
from the dead.
So people will look at this.
Look at this passage here of Christ appearing to his disciples that are fishing and say,
Well, the Bible says this is the third time.
And they'll say, But there are other passages, other times where Christ has appeared.
In fact, this is Christ's seventh appearance.
And yeah, you know what, if you haven't thought it through, you're going to be like, Yeah,
I mean, I saw, I read other seven appearances there.
And the Bible is now saying this is the third time.
And you could think it's a contradiction.
But notice the third time is to a specific group, the group of his apostles.
The Bible is perfectly consistent here.
Okay, there's, you know, it's God's Word.
How can there be any contradictions?
You know, when people claim there are contradictions, it just shows how stupid they are.
That's it.
Okay.
And even if you don't have an answer to the so called contradiction, they're still stupid.
Okay.
It just requires time and effort and Bible study, the Holy Spirit of God guiding you
to show you how to put it all together.
I'm going to read to you from Matthew 28, verse number 16 now.
Remember when Christ appeared the second time to the group of ladies, he told the ladies,
told the disciples to go to Galilee, and that he'll show himself to them.
Remember that one?
Well, now we're going to read about that event.
Matthew 28, verse number 16.
Matthew 28, verse number 16 says, Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee.
Why?
Because the ladies, right, see, Christ has used for the ladies, you know, he's given
them clear instruction to tell the disciples, and what they did.
And now the disciples are listening to what was said by Christ, they went away to Galilee
into a mountain where Christ had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.
Then Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power, and this is Christ given the Great
Commission, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you, and lo, I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world, Amen.
So this is one time when Christ gives the Great Commission.
This is not the mount when Christ ascended to heaven.
This is not it yet.
Okay.
The mount when Christ ascended to heaven, that was the Mount of Olives that's in Jerusalem.
This is in Galilee.
Okay.
This is a separate mount.
Okay.
And we can see that, you know, the 11 disciples were there, but so were other people.
So were other disciples that had followed the instruction to go and see Christ.
In fact, we get told the number of disciples that went to see Christ.
And that's not found in the book of Matthew, but it is found in 1 Corinthians 15.
So if you got 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse number six, 1 Corinthians 15 verse number
six, it says, after that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater
part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep.
So when did Christ appear to 500 brethren at once?
It was here in Galilee, in the mount there, the mount in Galilee, okay, and they saw
him.
It was the 500, at least over, okay, above, over 500 brethren at once saw Jesus Christ.
So we can understand why the message of Christ was so powerful.
Why, you know, 2000 years later, we're still worshiping Christ, we still love Christ, we're
still preaching his gospel, because we had all these witnesses who saw Christ, who said,
you know what, I'm willing to die for Christ.
I saw him.
I saw the resurrected Christ.
Many, you know, many infallible proofs we've received.
We've seen him to the point that they were so committed at what they had witnessed, they
were willing to lay down their lives to preach the gospel and spread it across the world.
And I praise God for that.
And you know what, what are we doing when we preach the gospel?
We're witnessing Christ as well.
We're going forth preaching the same message that these other disciples saw.
All right, so the eighth appearance, eighth appearance of Christ is when the over 500
disciples saw him in the mount in Galilee.
All right, now you're still there in 1 Corinthians 15, I think.
Look at verse number seven, we get the next one.
It says, after that, he was seen of James.
And again, this is kind of like the Peter situation.
That's all we know.
In fact, the Peter situation had more, because the other two disciples confirmed that Peter
had seen him.
But this is all we have.
Okay, after that, he was seen of James.
So the ninth appearance of Christ after his resurrection is to James and James alone.
Look at the second part of verse number seven, and then it says, then to all the apostles.
So please go to, oh, you don't have to go there, I'll just quickly read to you if you
can, if you want.
But Acts chapter one, verse number seven, Acts one, seven, this is when Christ ascended
to heaven.
This is when he was in the Mount of Olives.
Okay, it says, again, then of all the apostles, when all the apostles went to the Mount of
Olives and saw Christ ascend up to heaven, in verse number seven, it says,
And it said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father
hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So Christ, once again, given the Great Commission, this time, just before he ascends up to heaven.
Verse number nine says, And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken
up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel.
So we have the two angels appear once again.
So the 10th appearance, brethren, of Christ was Christ's ascension from the Mount of Olives.
So we've got 10 so far.
Now we're not, we're near the end, we're near the end, but we've got 10.
And there's a total of 12, 12 appearances of Christ after his resurrection.
Now some argue 13, but it's 12, and I'll show to you why soon, and who they were, okay.
But 1 Corinthians, sorry, let me just make sure I've got, oh yeah, okay, Acts 7, sorry
about that.
Next appearance is found in Acts chapter 7, verse number 54, and you may recall the story
of Stephen.
Stephen, one of those first deacons, and he's the first martyr, the first Christian martyr
as well.
In fact, Paul, the apostle Paul, before he was saved, was instrumental in participating
in the death of Stephen, but it says in Acts 7, 54, And when they heard these things, they
were cut to the heart when they heard the preaching of Stephen, and they gnashed on
him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory
of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens
opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
So before Stephen dies, he sees Jesus Christ standing there at the right hand side of God.
So there's another time where someone else has seen the resurrected Christ, and this
is after Christ ascended to heaven.
So the 11th appearance is to Stephen.
Now in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 8, when we look at the order that Paul has for us in
that chapter, it says, And last of all, he was seen of me, of who, Paul?
Of me also, as one born out of due time.
Who's the last to see the resurrected Christ?
Paul.
Okay.
Have you ever had someone say to you, I've seen Jesus.
I've had a vision.
I saw him.
I've had that.
You know, we go Lord to the Lord soul winning.
I've had that said many times.
Okay.
On the Sunshine Coast, there's a lot of Charismatics, a lot of Pentecostals, and they've all seen
Jesus apparently.
Okay.
Not according to the Bible.
According to the Bible.
And last of all, no one else, this is the last, okay, he was seen of me also as one
born out of due time.
You know, he can see himself out of due time, like Stephen.
Okay.
These were visual appearances of Christ, not visions, appearances, literal appearances
of Christ after his ascension to the Father, which is why he refers to himself as one born
out of due time.
So the 12th appearance of Christ is to the Apostle Paul.
And I'll quickly read to you when that takes place in Acts 9-3.
This is before he was saved, when he was persecuting the church and his name was Saul.
It says, And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus.
And suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth
and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do.
Now verse number 7 proves this is not just some vision, Paul saw him in his body.
Paul was physically in his body, this isn't just some spiritual vision, because it says
in verse number 7, And the men which journeyed with him, which journeyed with Paul, stood
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
So this literally took place, this physically took place.
They heard the voice, but they didn't see anything.
But Paul saw the resurrected Christ as one born out of due time.
So the 12th appearance of Christ is to the Apostle Paul, and he's the last.
That's very clear.
Someone says to you, I've seen Jesus, Jesus appeared to me, you know, it was a devil.
That's what they saw.
They saw or they just lying to you and they're making that up.
When are we going to see Christ?
When all eyes shall see him, when he returns, when he comes back in the clouds at the time
of the resurrection of the rapture.
Now some people say, well, there is a 13th, and they consider the Apostle John in the
book of Revelation.
You might know that story of John, where he was speaking to Christ and Christ tells him
to write the book of Revelation for the seven churches of that time.
Well, this is why it's not counted, because in Revelation chapter 1 verse number 10, John
says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a
trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Of course, that's Jesus Christ speaking.
But notice what John says, he wasn't in his physical body when he saw this, when he heard
the voice of Christ and when he saw him, he says, no, I was in the Spirit.
So what John experiences in the book of Revelation, his body is still on the earth, but spiritually
God has transported him into heaven, and there he is communicating with the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there's the 12, there's the 12 appearances of Christ after his resurrection, and again,
if you go through 1 Corinthians 15, you look at all the other passages, they're perfect,
they align perfectly.
And I would expect that, why?
Because the Bible is written by God, it's God's word.
If we were having church service, I've used this illustration before, I think, but if
we were having church service, and we had different families coming at different times,
and then there's four of us here in this room right now, let's say my name's Matthew,
Matthew Mark, Luke and John, and we're going to write now about the events of who walked
into the church building, who was first, and which family was second, and who was third.
And we're all there together, I guarantee you, if we were to write that, after everyone
turns up to church, there's going to be inconsistencies.
I guarantee you, I guarantee you, we're going to be like, no, no, that family came, no,
that family came first, and we're just not going to be sure.
You know what?
We've got these things written for us, okay?
By some that were eyewitnesses of Christ, others that were not.
And they compile the stories together, we have Paul, who gets saved long after Christ
was already ascended up to heaven, and we put all these things together, and guess what?
They're perfectly consistent, okay?
Perfectly compatible, why?
Because it's the word of God, that's why.
I know we say turn to the book of John, turn to that book, that book, but really, when
we turn to all these books, we're just turning to God's word, okay?
God is the author of his word.
And so, you know, we started with that passage there in Acts chapter 1, which said, to whom
also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs.
You know what?
And when we do the research, when we do the study, it truly is infallible, okay?
It is perfect, you know?
And this should give you further confirmation.
If you're already kind of struggling a little bit in the Bible, this should just further
reinforce, you know, strengthen your faith in the word of God, you know, in his resurrection,
and it should give us that boldness to be able to go there and be witnesses of Christ's
resurrection, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
All right, now, what time is it?
Eight o'clock.
Okay, we're good with time.
All right, now with the men that are here.
And if you're online, I guess you can participate, okay?
Now let's try to work out from 1 to 12, okay, the order of Christ's appearance.
All right, I'm not sure how you guys are going to go, but let's see.
All right.
Now, the guys that are here for the live stream Dream Team, all right, let me see.
We'll see how good they are.
We'll see if they really are the Dream Team.
Maybe they're not.
Okay.
So, guys, what was the first, sorry, who did Christ have pizza first?
And if you know the answer on YouTube and you feel like typing it in, please go ahead
for a bit of fun.
All right.
Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene, he did it right.
Ramsden got it right.
1.2 Rams.
All right.
I'm not going to keep the points, all right.
You know what?
The thing online, there's like a 10-second delay.
So anyway, I'm sure you guys can still participate, all right.
All right.
The second appearance of Christ, to whom?
To whom was it?
Cleopas.
No.
Tim said Cleopas.
No.
Peter.
No, not Peter.
Mary, Mary the other Mary.
The other Mary and all the other women.
Yes, that's right.
Remember, Christ and Mary Magdalene could not touch him, but the other ladies could.
Okay.
So that was the second appearance.
What was the third appearance?
Cleopas.
No.
Peter.
Cephas.
All right.
Man, you guys, you guys, did you guys pay attention?
You know, one of the pastor's qualifications is apt to teach.
I think I failed.
All right.
See how we're going.
The fourth one.
The fourth appearance of Christ, to whom?
To the two men.
Yeah.
The two traveling to Emmaus.
Cleopas.
Cleopas being one of those men.
All right.
Extra points for the name.
All right.
Maybe I did a good job.
All right.
The fifth appearance to...
Peter and John.
No.
Peter.
Where did you say Peter?
Tim.
No, no, no.
To the apostles without Thomas.
Remember the two Cleopas, they were like, wow, we saw Christ.
Then they ran to the apostles and they saw him again.
Without Thomas.
That's right.
So the apostles without Thomas.
That's the fifth appearance.
What's the sixth appearance?
The apostles with Thomas.
Awesome.
Tim got that right, by the way, for the online listeners.
Tim's doing a good job.
All right.
The seventh appearance.
Yep.
The apostles that were finishing.
The third appearance of the apostles as a group.
That was the seventh appearance of Christ, which was the eighth appearance?
Yep.
To the over 500.
500.
No, that's good.
500 in the Mount of Galilee.
That's the eighth appearance.
The ninth.
You might forget the ninth.
James.
Oh, wow.
Well done.
Okay.
Yeah.
The ninth appearance was to James alone.
The 10th appearance.
Jeff and Paul.
Five men.
Not Paul.
Stephen.
No, we did 500 already.
Stephen.
No, not Stephen.
Probably one of the most important ones.
Peter.
The ascension to heaven.
When you ascend up to heaven on the Mount of Olives.
That was the 10th appearance.
The 11th appearance?
To Stephen.
To Stephen and the 12th?
Paul.
The apostle Paul.
And the 13th?
John.
All the Charismatics.
All the Pentecostals.
11th appearance.
Wrong.
All right, brethren.
I hope that was a help.
I hope that helps you do a good Bible study.
If you want my notes, if you want all these passages to do your own study in your own
time, I know I went through this very quickly.
Please contact me.
I'm more than happy to send them your way.
Let's pray.