00:00:00.000 - 00:00:40.000

[ Silence ] [MUSIC] Every day he shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is King. He is Lord, He is Lord, He is risen from the dead.

00:00:40.000 - 00:01:10.200

♪ And His law ♪ ♪ Every deed shall come to every tongue's content ♪ ♪ As Jesus Christ is born ♪ It's Friday, but Sunday's coming.

00:01:10.200 - 00:01:39.800

When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher

00:01:39.800 - 00:01:58.680

and departed. Matthew 27, verses 59 and 60. That was on Friday. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began

00:01:58.680 - 00:02:16.580

to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven

00:02:16.580 - 00:02:47.540

and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. And the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

00:02:47.540 - 00:03:12.660

He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Verses one, two, five, and six of Matthew chapter 28. It's Friday, but Sunday's coming.

00:03:12.660 - 00:03:40.700

Friday is the day of the crucifixion. It was a long, hard day. Jesus had been up all night on Thursday. He had gone from the upper room to Gethsemane.

00:03:40.700 - 00:04:10.900

There he was arrested and went to face trial, the charge of blasphemy before the Sanhedrin court. On Friday he is brought before the Roman governor for his judicial opinion. He faces Herod.

00:04:10.900 - 00:04:39.580

On Friday he is falsely accused and unjustly condemned and the verdict is to crucify him. It's Friday. The cross is prepared and Jesus is compelled to carry his cross. He stumbles and falls underneath the heavy load.

00:04:39.580 - 00:04:57.500

It's Friday. Simon of Cyrene is summoned and compelled to carry the cross. It's Friday. It's a day of suffering.

00:04:57.500 - 00:05:27.380

Jesus' hands and feet are nailed to the cross. cross is placed in the ground on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary outside the city of Jerusalem on a public highway where passers-by could easily witness the terrible humiliating event. It's Friday. And to add insult to injury

00:05:27.380 - 00:06:02.560

the two murderers are crucified with Jesus. One is placed on each side. Jesus is the man in the middle. The righteous and the wicked are crucified together. It's Friday. Suffering and shame are on parade. It's Friday. Wrong is on the throne. The chief priests have stacked the cards against Jesus. Caiaphas and Annas,

00:06:02.560 - 00:06:33.280

the high priests, have had their way. It's Friday. Pilate has acquiesced to pressure from his subjects, those whom he regards with contempt. It's Friday. Judas, the treasurer of the apostolic band has betrayed his master for 30 pieces of silver, it's Friday. Simon Peter who was regarded as the president of the group

00:06:33.280 - 00:07:05.400

has denied his Lord three times, it's Friday. Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness to people, it's Friday. The Sun hides his face and the moon and the stars seem to vanish from the heavens. It's Friday. It's the time of the most tragic event in human history. It's the day when the innocent and the righteous

00:07:05.400 - 00:07:39.400

one must suffer. Well, it's a time when a man who is completely innocent suffers disgrace and a man who is altogether righteous suffers defeat. It's Friday. Goodness is crucified by the forces of evil. It's Friday. It's the day that Christ died. It's Friday when God is crucified. It's Friday. An agonizing

00:07:39.400 - 00:08:13.760

cry ascends to the vaulted skies. It's finished. It's Friday, a time when we celebrate the end of the work week in our world. Friday. Friday. And for years I would listen to my wife say, "Thank God it's Friday." And those are words that express the sentiment of weary workmen in the world.

00:08:13.760 - 00:08:29.000

When the work week is over, thank God it's Friday. Friday marks the end of the struggle. Friday is the end of toil and suffering. Friday means that the work is done.

00:08:29.000 - 00:08:49.840

It's Friday. And while the voice from the cross cries, "It's finished!" There are those at the State House and those who are located at the Temple. There are those who represent the Sanhedrin Court who breathe a sigh of relief because

00:08:49.840 - 00:09:15.520

they too say it's over now, it's Friday. The humiliation, the persecution, the tragedy, it's all over, it's finished, it's Friday. cherished hope of the centuries is buried and placed in a sealed tomb. It's Friday. You know Friday is an unusual day. It's a day when when life reaches its breaking

00:09:15.520 - 00:09:47.040

point. Friday. When the enemy seems to have complete control. Friday is when we cry out in the night and receive no answer. Heaven is silent. It's Friday. But Sunday's coming. This Friday that I'm describing is called Good Friday and you may ask what's good about it. Well this Friday is good when one suffers

00:09:47.040 - 00:10:10.040

evil for the cause of goodness. It's good when our suffering is redemptive. It's It's good when the innocent suffer for the guilty. It's good when the righteous atone for the sins of the transgressors. It's good, then.

00:10:10.040 - 00:10:46.240

You see, the strength of character is determined by how we handle our Good Fridays. I think Kipling expresses this idea with poetic genius when he says, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.

00:10:46.240 - 00:11:16.920

If you can wait and not grow tired by waiting, or being lied about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good or talk too wise. If you can dream and not make dreams, you're a master. If you can think and not make thoughts, you're aim.

00:11:16.920 - 00:11:41.520

If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same. If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you've gave your life for, broken and stoop and build them up with worn out tools.

00:11:41.520 - 00:12:00.700

If you can do this, then Friday is a good Friday. It becomes good Friday. And I thank Kipling for those insights about life. But there are many who have somehow looked

00:12:00.700 - 00:12:13.860

at the good Fridays in their lives. We can look back and we see it being foreshadowed in the life of Job when everything seemed to have just gone wrong.

00:12:13.860 - 00:12:34.420

He lost his wealth, he lost his family, he lost his health. And in the midst of it, when he was told by his wife curse God and die, he said to her, "You talk like a foolish woman." And he cried out on

00:12:34.420 - 00:13:03.020

that dark Friday in his life, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." It's Friday, but Sunday's coming. Yes, Friday is a day of crucifixion. It's the day of the silence of God, Friday. It's a day of suffering and shame. It's a day of persecution and humiliation.

00:13:03.020 - 00:13:23.680

It's the day Christ died. It's Friday, but Sunday's coming. You see, Friday is the kind of day that we like to avoid. Jesus prayed saying, "Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass."

00:13:23.680 - 00:14:00.440

Friday comes anyhow. It's an awful day. Everybody has it. It's a sad day. It's Friday. Friday is what we may call in our own experience a bad day. Friday. It's Friday. But Sunday's coming. Joseph of Arimathea, after it is declared that Jesus has died, he's given up the ghost, he arranges to have his body placed in a new tomb

00:14:00.440 - 00:14:39.120

shortly before sundown. And there is nothing more, it seems. There is no word from the tomb there is guarded silence, the tomb is sealed, soldiers are stationed there to safeguard Friday's victory and they're the preservers of the status quo. But Sunday's coming. I've talked a little about Friday but let me say a word about

00:14:39.120 - 00:15:07.800

about Sunday. You see, Friday may be terrible and it may have all of its pain, but Sunday's coming. And you see, Sunday is set apart from all other days. It's a day that's hallowed and sanctified by the Lord God Himself. Sunday's coming. Or we have Monday. The little nursery rhymes say there is, you

00:15:07.800 - 00:15:41.240

know that Monday, Monday's child has fairer face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of wool, Thursday's child has far to go, and Friday's child is loving and giving, but Saturday's child has to work for a living, but the child that is born on the Sabbath day is

00:15:41.240 - 00:16:13.920

fair and wise and good and gay. It's Friday but Sunday's coming, Sunday. That that day that is something special about Sunday. Sunday is unique. Sunday's coming, that's the time when the heavenly angel of light pushes back the curtain of the night and announces that a new day dawns.

00:16:13.920 - 00:16:50.920

Sunday's coming. That's the day when the earth quakes and leaps for joy because it celebrates the miraculous power of God. Sunday is coming. That's the day when the Lord Jesus Christ comes forth from the grave and walks the highways of human history as the risen crucified Lord. He was crucified but he's

00:16:50.920 - 00:17:07.480

He's risen now, Sunday is coming, and Sunday is the day that indicates that God rules in the fullness of his power. Sunday is coming. That's the day that a great celebration occurs.

00:17:07.480 - 00:17:31.220

It's Sunday. The women come to the tomb and they come there weeping with their spices to anoint a dead body, but as they get there and discover that Jesus Christ is risen, that their sorrow is turned into joy. Sunday is coming. Weeping may endure during the

00:17:31.220 - 00:18:05.060

night, but joy comes in the morning. Sunday is coming. Sunday honors the new creation. Sunday is a day of renewal. Sunday is a day of rest. Sunday is a day of reconciliation. Sunday is a day of restoration, for the stone is rolled away. So let's take heart today when when we find ourselves carrying the heavy

00:18:05.060 - 00:18:28.940

burdens on the Fridays of our lives, take fresh courage because Sunday is coming. Sunday's coming when the angels come from heaven and rolls back the stone and not only rolls back the stone, but the angel sits upon the stone. You know that's good news, that lets you know that God not only has control of it and only

00:18:28.940 - 00:19:04.600

conquers it, but he more than conquers, he sits upon the throne. It's Sunday that is sure to come. That's the son's day. Friday we suffer disappointment. Friday we suffer from disease. Friday we may suffer from defeat, but Sunday's coming and I'm glad. I'm glad, I'm glad that no matter how dark may be the frightens in our lives, I'm

00:19:04.600 - 00:19:30.540

glad that Sunday's coming when the wolf will lie down with the lamb. Sunday's coming. Justice may prevail, but there is a time when justice will roll down like waters in the midst of all of the injustice of our world. The time will come when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty

00:19:30.540 - 00:20:00.060

stream. Sunday is coming. There's a time, there is a time when the dead shall rise. There comes a time when we shall pull off this mortality and put on immortality. Sunday is coming. There comes a time when the wicked will cease from troubling and the weary will be at rest. Sunday's coming. Sunday's coming.

00:20:00.060 - 00:20:26.800

They tell me that the slaves, you know, had a hard time. They had to work many times from sun up to sun down and they had to do a great deal more than should have been expected, but one of the things that gave them hope and encouragement all during the week was that they knew that Sunday was coming and that was a day of

00:20:26.800 - 00:20:55.020

rest, that was a day of renewal, Sunday was coming. And there was a preacher who took a crown that he made up of thorns that he'd gathered around from the neighborhood and he put him on the altar he put that crown that he made on the altar and he used it for Palm Sunday and he thought about it Easter Sunday

00:20:55.020 - 00:21:19.500

morning that he still had that crown up there and he thought he'd better hurry to the church and remove that crown of thorns because it was Easter celebrating the triumph of Jesus Christ over the grave. But before he got there, some had already gathered and as he came in he looked and he saw that the crown had

00:21:19.500 - 00:21:47.580

flowers that were blooming in it. That even though there was a fog that was there, that the flowers were blooming in the crown. So no matter, no matter, no matter how miserable may be our lives, that there's always hope in knowing that Sunday is coming. Friday with all of its suffering comes, but Sunday comes also.

00:21:47.580 - 00:22:15.220

And that's the time when John got a vision of God and all of the glory and all of the future happiness that's stored up for the saints of God. In the midst of all of the persecution, John said that I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and the heavens opened, and I saw Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, seated on the

00:22:15.220 - 00:22:30.260

throne in heaven. Sunday's coming. And so, when my thoughts go back, and I think about the things of this life and all of the experiences that may happen to us. It strengthens me to know, and it ought to

00:22:30.260 - 00:22:57.780

strengthen every one of us to know, that Sunday's coming. No matter how difficult may be the decisions that you face, no matter how dark may be the night, Sunday is coming. And praise God that Sunday comes. There's nothing, all of the demons in hell, the devil himself with all of his angels can't keep Sunday from coming

00:22:57.780 - 00:23:23.820

because God somehow will always push back the darkness and God will always lift the stone and God will always give us the grace to carry on because Sunday is coming. And the good news is that he lives, he lives in the midst of all of the difficulties, in the midst of all of the dangers, in the midst of all of the

00:23:23.820 - 00:23:53.860

entrenched powers of evil, goodness still reigns, freedom still will triumph in the earth, Sunday is coming. We invite you to come now. If you believe the good word and behind every good Friday, the Sunday's coming. You can trust God that Sunday's coming. You can commit your way into the Lord.

00:23:53.860 - 00:24:19.900

If you trust that word, we invite you to come, accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Who believes the report? That's the glorious experience of Easter to make a change to say that I'm a new preacher in Christ. I'm gonna trust in him and walk in a new way because Sunday is coming. I invite you to come now.

00:24:19.900 - 00:24:41.380

(music) [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] [Music]

00:24:41.380 - 00:25:11.380

[Applause] (Music) [MUSIC] [Music]

00:25:11.380 - 00:25:28.380

(Music) (music) [Music] I hear your voice again, I hear your voice again.

00:25:28.380 - 00:26:05.380

I see you there, I see you, I hear your voice again. The cross will find my healing, it always will. Be with me, be with me as my Jesus leads me. He walks with thee and dwells with thee,

00:26:05.380 - 00:26:31.380

For love has never wavered. He lives, he lives, salvation to you calls. You ask me how I know he lives. ♪ In the end, we are dead ♪

00:26:31.380 - 00:26:51.340

♪ But hope will come ♪ ♪ And hope will come to me ♪ ♪ I'll stand by you ♪ ♪ I'll hold my heart close to you ♪

00:26:51.340 - 00:27:09.880

♪ I'll be your friend, I swear ♪ I know I need you, baby You're the love of my life I'm dying for you, baby

00:27:09.880 - 00:27:23.480

You're the love of my life I miss you, baby I need you, baby I need you, baby

00:27:23.480 - 00:27:52.480

We must be brave and trust in the God that's there for you. For He is the King of the nations, and He is the Lord of all. ♪ You and me, we're gonna have a good time ♪ ♪ We're gonna have a good time ♪

00:27:52.480 - 00:28:10.920

♪ We're gonna have a good time ♪ ♪ We're gonna have a good time ♪ ♪ The lost and the free ♪ ♪ The lost and the free ♪

00:28:10.920 - 00:28:56.660

♪ My heart was bound by faith ♪ [ Music ] Let us pray. Almighty God, our gracious Heavenly Father, strengthen us in that hope of Easter, that

00:28:56.660 - 00:29:30.860

certainty that in the midst of all of the dark Fridays we face, that Sunday is coming. grant that we may work looking forward to that day when every day will be Sunday and Sabbaths will have no end. Grace, mercy, peace be with you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

00:29:30.860 - 00:29:40.860

[BLANK_AUDIO]