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The Preaching Ezine (the newsletter of Preachology.com)

Hello,

Mark Hollingsworth here. Hope you are having a great week in the Lord.

2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

We continue with what Broadus said when speaking about the nature of eloquence. He asked the question, what is good preaching, or more generally, what is eloquence?

To continue what he said: "Eloquence is a serious thing. You cannot say that a discourse, or a paragraph, is very amusing and very eloquent. The speaker who is to deserve this high name must have moral earnestness. He may sometimes indulge, where it is appropriate, in the light play of delicate humor, or give forth sparks of wit, but these must be entirely incidental, and subordinate to a thorough seriousness and earnestness.

Theremin, in his useful little treatise, "Eloquence a Virtue," insists that eloquence belongs to the ethical sciences, the character and spirit of the speaker being the main thing. The theory is an exaggeration, but contains an important element of truth, as Quintilian already had partly observed when he said, "An orator is a good man, skilled in speaking."

I think what Broadus is saying is that to be an eloquent speaker one must first be a good person and be a serious person. We are not comedians, though we can be humorous, as long as that humor does not make us lose sight of the serious nature of the Gospel message.

2 Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

An expository sermon on the Resurrection:

The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:1-23
Verse 20: But now is Christ risen from the dead...

Introduction:

Notice the resurrection explanation by the Apostle Paul in that great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15.

I. The Salvation of the Resurrection.

In these verses we see the clear definition and presentation of the Gospel. This is the only way one is saved. It is the formula for salvation. Notice:

1. "Christ died."
A lot of people hung on a cross as a means of execution during those days, but only one was the Son of God. It's not just what he did, but who he was that makes a difference.

2. "For our sins."
He was our substitute. He paid the penalty for our sins.

3. "According to the Scriptures."
This was the fulfillment of God's Word and promise to send a Savior. This was ordained by God from the foundations of the world. This is God's plan of salvation...not man's, not religion's.

4. "He was buried and...rose again."
He died, He was buried, He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Oh yes, this is what makes His death different from all the rest. He didn't stay in the grave. God brought Him forth from the tomb to prove that He was who He said He was...the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the living Christ.

II. The Substantiation of the Resurrection.

In these verse we see the verification of His resurrection.

1. "Seen of Cephas."
2. "Seen of the Twelve."
3. "Seen of over 500 brethren."
4. "Seen of James."
5. "Seen of all the Apostles."
6. "Seen of Paul."

There are ample witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, though it is still a matter of trusting Him with your heart for salvation. The fact is, he rose from the dead whether we believe it or not. He said He did. Do you believe Him?

Paul says that it doesn't matter who saw Christ, what matters is that we did and we now preach the truth of a resurrected Savior.

III. The Subtraction of the Resurrection.

What if we subtracted the resurrection from the Gospel...from the plan of salvation? Would it matter?

According to these verses, it would matter greatly. In fact, Paul says that if Christ did not rise from the dead all is vain.

1. "Our preaching is vain."
Why would we even waste our time preaching if Christ did not rise from the dead? That's the proof and verification of the Gospel...the plan of salvation. We have nothing to preach if Christ lied about the resurrection. He is not our Savior.

2. "Your faith is also vain."
Who is there to trust in if Christ did not rise from the dead? God said he would rise, Jesus said he would rise, the Bible said he would rise. We have no one and nothing to put our faith in if Jesus did not rise from the dead.

3. "We are found false witnesses of God."
Those of us who have been preaching the resurrection of Christ, are false witnesses if, in fact, he did not rise from the dead. God is a liar, Jesus is a liar, the prophets are liars, the Apostles are liars and all preachers from the beginning are liars. How sad.

4. "Ye are yet in your sins."
If Christ did not rise from the dead, then our sins are not forgiven like we thought. The guilt is still there and the penalty must still be paid by you. You have not been forgiven of your sins and you still have them.

5. "They which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
Those we put in the grave and pronounced that they now resided in heaven with Christ, are not in heaven with Christ, if He did not rise from the dead. To perish is to perish and the grave is our final resting place. How cold.

6. "We are of all men most miserable."
Folks, if Christ did not rise from the tomb, there is no hope for us or anyone else. How miserable to know that what we believed is not true and what we hoped for is false. If there is no resurrection, then there is no savior and there is no salvation and there is no heaven.

IV. The Supposition of the Resurrection.

Boy, I'm glad Paul didn't stop there! He gave a pretty sad dissertation about what is would be like if Christ had not risen from the dead, but then he concludes with the fact that "Christ is risen" indeed.

1. "But now is Christ risen from the dead."
Here is the great hope. Christ indeed rose from the dead and is at the right hand of the throne of God, and He is the firstfruit of the resurrection. In other words, we who know Christ as our personal savior by faith, will rise as well at His second coming.

2. "For as in Adam all die."
We were born sinners, but when we put our faith in Christ and His resurrection, we were saved and forgiven of our sin and given a home in heaven.

3. "In Christ shall all be made alive."
Those in Christ will rise just like Christ did at the resurrection. This is our blessed hope. We have life now and we look forward to everlasting life with Christ at death or His second coming.

Conclusion:

I just recently added a "SiteSearch" page to my website. Take a look at the Preachology SiteSearch page for the great new opportunity to search my website for information or sermons or anything. You can also search the web from that page as well.

I also just added a "Preaching News" page to my website. This is a page that has a live newsfeed that updates you about Christian news across the world. It is from Google News and they collect news from over 4000 sources. There's also a place for you to share your news stories that might help all of us preachers keep up to date about what's going on in the US and the world.

Take a look at the Preaching News page to stay up-to-date on Christianity and the Preaching Ministry across the world. You very likely will get some great illustrations from these current event stories.

There are keywords under the title "Preaching News" that you can click and see the current news for that subject. The subjects are "Christianity, Christian Ministry, Preaching, Sermons, Preachers."

There are more outlines "Bible Study Outlines" page where I share my skeleton outlines and there are more outlines at the "Your Skeleton Outline Page" where you can share your great skeleton outlines with all of us.

I also just recently added some more material at preachology.com on the FREE SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS page. There is also new material at the YOUR SERMONS page. There's a sermon there by Joshua Hollingsworth from Arkansas. He has a great sermon on "False Teachers Hurt Christianity." See below.

Go to the... Free Sermons ...page to get the new sermons and come often because we will soon add more. Take a look. There are some new sermons there now.

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Click here to subscribe to...The Preaching Ezine.

YOUR SERMONS
Preachers, let's be an encouragement to other preachers by sharing our sermons and outlines and commenting positively about other preacher's sermons.

I love to read other preacher's sermons as devotionals for my own personal spiritual growth and also to get ideas for developing sermons of my own.

Go to the... Your Sermons ...page to submit your sermons and outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Skeleton Outlines ...page to submit your skeleton outlines and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new skeleton sermons there right now!

Go to the... Your Illustrations ...page to submit your sermon illustrations and be a blessing to other preachers. There are some new illustrations there right now!

Well, that's about it for now.

Do you have any comments, ideas, or feedback? I'd love to hear from you. You can either reply to this ezine or go to the form on the "Contact Me" page on my website and tell me what you think.

Yours for Powerful Preaching,

Preachology Home Page

I recently started giving E. M. Bounds' book, "The Preacher and Prayer" with the modern-day title, "Power Through Prayer" to those who subscribe to my newsletter, The Preaching Ezine. Many of you subscribed before this offer so I would like you to have the book as well.

It is one of my favorite books of all time. It is very thought provoking and spirit stimulating. Apply it and it will forever revolutionize your life and your preaching ministry.

Click here to go to the "Free Bounds Book" password protected page.

Use the password: freebook

Once there, you can download this great book by Bounds. It is an ebook in PDF format.

Download it now! I will change the password in a couple of days and then take down the page.

Make sure you keep your subscription to "The Preaching Ezine" up to date, with a good email address, because I am going to give you more ebooks in the near future that you will love.

Don't miss out!

Mark