We are a nation of people whose minds are largely controlled by what we see on TV, hear on the radio, and read in the popular magazines. "The News Media," we call it. We need to always remember that the News Media constantly operate by the rule: "Bad news is good news." They never report about the 10,000 decent people who go about their business, but always report about the single deranged individual who robs a bank or commits murder. The same is true for religious news, as far as the national media is concerned. They never report about the 10,000 decent pastors repected and loved by their churches. But the media delights in exposing the few immoral ones. Likewise when it comes to the Christian Faith. The 1% of Christian heretics get 99% of the press exposure. Usually around Easter the media find a heretic, and plug his/her latest book about the impossibility of the resurrection. (Illustrate with Newsweek, 1996)

But for 2000 years the story of the Resurrection of Jesus has moved billions of hearts, and won countless numbers to Faith. This morning I would like to underline some of the reasons that Christians believe in Jesus' Resurrection.

I. We believe in Jesus' Resurrection because it was prophesied hundreds of years ahead of time in the Old Testament.

A. Luke 24:13-27

B. Psalm 16:9-10

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption."

C. Jesus taught that the Old Testament story of Jonah was a prophecy about Himself: Matthew 12:38-40

"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

II. We believe in Jesus' Resurrection because He Himself predicted it ahead of time.

A. John 2:18-22 "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."

B. Luke 9:20-22 "He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day."

III. We believe in Jesus' Resurrection because it was well documented.

A. We have the four accounts in the four Gospels. All different. Yet all pointing to the resurrection as an actual historical event.

B. We have the Apostle Paul's list of eyewitnesses of the risen Christ: I Cor. 15:1-8

IV. We believe in Jesus' Resurrection because the Holy Spirit has created Faith in us, and it is no longer possible for us to doubt:
All of I Corinthians chapter 2.

Conclusion: Unbelievers doubt the resurrection. There are a few heretics that get a lot of press around Easter time for attacking the resurrection. But we believe because:

1. The Old Testament predicted the resurrection of Jesus.
2. Jesus Himself predicted His resurrection.
3. The New Testament documents the historical truth of the resurrection of Jesus.
4. The Holy Spirit speaks irresistably to our hearts, and makes us believe in the resurrection of Jesus.
Praise God! He is Risen!