00:00:00.000 - 00:00:41.000

[ Silence ] [ Music ] He rose, he rose, he rose from the dead. He rose, he rose, he rose from the dead.

00:00:41.000 - 00:01:03.040

He rose, he rose, he rose from the dead. And the Lord shall wear my spirit gold. ♪ They crucified my Savior ♪ ♪ And nailed Him to the cross ♪

00:01:03.040 - 00:01:16.720

♪ They crucified my Savior ♪ ♪ And nailed Him to the cross ♪ ♪ They crucified my Savior ♪ ♪ And nailed Him to the cross ♪

00:01:16.720 - 00:01:43.380

♪ And the Lord shall bear my spirit home ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪

00:01:43.380 - 00:02:02.760

♪ And the Lord shall bear him by spirit ♪ ♪ And Joseph bent his body ♪ ♪ And laid it in the tomb ♪ ♪ And Joseph bent his body ♪

00:02:02.760 - 00:02:16.540

♪ And laid it in the tomb ♪ ♪ And Joseph bent his body ♪ ♪ And laid it in the tomb ♪ ♪ And the Lord took care ♪

00:02:16.540 - 00:02:30.440

♪ My spirit was ♪ ♪ Sister Mary, she came running ♪ ♪ And looked in for my Lord ♪ ♪ Sister Mary, she came running ♪

00:02:30.440 - 00:02:45.280

♪ And looked in for my Lord ♪ ♪ Sister Mary, she came running ♪ ♪ And looked in for my Lord ♪ ♪ And the Lord, she'll bear my spirit home ♪

00:02:47.480 - 00:03:01.060

♪ An angel came from heaven ♪ ♪ And rolled the stone away ♪ ♪ An angel came from heaven ♪ ♪ And rolled the stone away ♪

00:03:01.060 - 00:03:19.740

♪ An angel came from heaven ♪ ♪ And rolled the stone away ♪ ♪ And the Lord shall bear my spirit home ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪

00:03:19.740 - 00:03:47.580

♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ And the Lord shall wear a silver robe ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪

00:03:47.580 - 00:04:11.220

♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose from the dead ♪ ♪ And the Lord shall bear the spirit of the dead ♪ ♪ Spirit of love ♪

00:04:11.220 - 00:04:36.360

- He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken,

00:04:37.340 - 00:04:53.540

and he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him,

00:04:53.540 - 00:05:03.980

he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,

00:05:03.980 - 00:05:16.920

he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge,

00:05:16.920 - 00:05:33.180

shall my righteous servant justify many, he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a potion with the great and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong

00:05:33.180 - 00:05:44.980

because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors and bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

00:05:44.980 - 00:06:05.440

This word from 2nd Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, the eighth through the 12th verses is our text. This is the closing message in a series of messages which we have delivered from this particular passage of Scripture.

00:06:05.440 - 00:06:30.040

The subject of the message, the victims victory, the victims victory. Easter Sunday is a time when we celebrate the most significant festival on the Christian calendar. This is a day of all days.

00:06:30.040 - 00:07:03.320

It is the first day of the new creation. And as the preacher of the word of God, I am summoned to declare unto you the greatest of all mysteries, to announce the most profound and radical happening within the realm of human experience.

00:07:03.320 - 00:07:45.000

I'm compelled to speak to you concerning the reality of the resurrection. Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. That is the way the early Christians greeted one another. And I declare to you that it should be the greeting of the people of God in this day and every other day. For the story I have to tell is a story that the

00:07:45.000 - 00:08:20.160

church has been telling through the centuries. It is an incredible story. Those who first heard it thought it hard to believe, too good to be true. Many of them said that it's a myth, it's an old wives tale. In fact many of the Jews considered this whole matter one of blasphemy. Talk about the crucifixion of

00:08:20.160 - 00:08:44.540

God is blasphemy they said. The death of the deity. The Greeks considered the preaching of the gospel foolishness. And there are those today who find this greatest of all mysteries the reality of the resurrection difficult to accept. But But this is a story that the church has to tell.

00:08:44.540 - 00:09:06.860

It's a story that Isaiah spoke about almost 2,500 years ago in what he portrays as the suffering servant. One who is completely obedient to the will of God. One who does everything the Father wills.

00:09:06.860 - 00:09:15.700

The perfect servant. His is the life of perfect obedience to the will of the Father. In fulfilling the Father's will,

00:09:15.700 - 00:09:37.420

he willingly accepts the agony, the shame, and the pain of the cross. He is an innocent victim of historical circumstances,

00:09:37.420 - 00:09:53.380

despised and rejected. He's isolated from the main traffic of human relations. In fact, he is crucified outside the city on a skull-shaped hill called Calvary.

00:09:53.380 - 00:10:16.080

He is the ultimate manifestation of the divine in the flesh. Yet he appears as a defenseless victim of demonic forces. He is the living hope of the ages, yet he becomes a prisoner,

00:10:16.080 - 00:10:33.620

bogged down seemingly in the depths of despair. This is an incredible story. Who believes the report? You know, history has a way of persecuting innocent victims.

00:10:33.620 - 00:10:57.820

Pharaoh of Egypt commands that all male Hebrew babies be killed. Herod decrees that all infants be slaughtered. Yes, history has a way of crucifying the innocent.

00:10:57.860 - 00:11:14.140

And that not only happened in the long ago, it is happening over and over again in human experience today. So many people find themselves trapped

00:11:14.140 - 00:11:34.620

in the cycle of poverty. So many times we find ourselves victims of forces over which we have no control. So many times innocent people are blamed in order to cover up the sins of society.

00:11:34.620 - 00:12:00.260

Nero accuses the Christians of setting fire to Rome and initiates a bloody wave of persecution. Many times we find that the problems are blamed on the poor. Lack of education, lack of skills, lack of cultural development. poor and many times we say as a nation that's our problem. We select innocent

00:12:00.260 - 00:12:32.620

victims and proceed to heap on them our prejudices, our envy, our scorn. We place on them our griefs, our faults, our failures. We fail to face the issue. We seek to avoid and to evade responsibility we pass the book. That is what Pontius Pilate did in the first century. So the innocent victim is

00:12:32.620 - 00:13:07.120

vandalized, scandalized, and brutalized. The innocent victim is beaten with many stripes. Is there anyone here who knows the agony of suffering for situations that you did not create? Suffering for conditions over which you have no control, which you are not responsible? Children many times have been

00:13:07.120 - 00:13:31.000

deliberately given inferior education. Races have been deprived of basic freedoms, freedom of opportunity, freedom to work for decent wages, freedom to be yourself, freedom to engage in the pursuit of happiness. Who believes this? The kind of experience that I have been describing concerning the suffering

00:13:31.000 - 00:14:00.220

servant of history is related to the Good Friday experience. You see, Good Friday is the time when reverses come. You know, some people can come to church and say that everything is going all right, the Lord is all right, when and everything is going all right in their lives.

00:14:00.220 - 00:14:13.000

But when reverses come, they find themselves unable to make the adjustment. They not only turn against the church, they turn against God, they turn against people.

00:14:13.000 - 00:14:26.080

But Good Friday is when entrenched evil seems to conquer right.

00:14:26.080 - 00:14:58.080

Truth is on the scaffold and wrong on the throne. Good Friday is when righteousness is crucified. Those who claim to be witnesses of the truth do not speak a word in protest. Good Friday is when your friends forsake you in a time of trial.

00:14:58.080 - 00:15:33.080

Good Friday is when human structures that are designed to help us are used to hurt us. Good Friday is when the advocates of justice become instruments of torture. Good Friday is when praise is accompanied by persecution. Good Friday is when light is overshadowed by darkness.

00:15:33.080 - 00:15:57.960

Sundown comes at noon. There is no sign of sun, moon, or stars, For darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. That's Good Friday. Good Friday is when we say in our heart of hearts that I've done all I can.

00:15:57.960 - 00:16:24.960

I've really done the best I can and my friends misunderstand. Good Friday is that day when are canceled by criticism. Good Friday is when you pray to the Lord earnestly with all of your heart

00:16:24.960 - 00:16:51.560

and God is silent. That's Good Friday. Good Friday is that experience of ultimate despair and when When that comes, we ask God, "Why? Why did you permit this to happen to me?" And the innocent victim cries out, "Why?

00:16:51.560 - 00:16:59.960

Lord, why? I've done what you told me to do. Why has this happened? Why this cross?

00:16:59.960 - 00:17:23.480

Why am I being treated this way?" peoples of the world, innocent victims of imperialistic desires cry out today, "Why? Why?" And so those who are facing hardship and those who are oppressed, Jewish people want to know,

00:17:23.480 - 00:17:48.120

"Why can't we have a place to call home?" Arab refugees uprooted from their land and left as homeless victims cry out, "Why?" And those of us who find ourselves with ailments which we seem to find no cure and they go on and on and we hold on to God's hand and we ask why and circumstances in our lives

00:17:48.120 - 00:18:01.520

over and over again cause us to cry out, "Why? Why?" And Good Friday is that day of agony. Good Friday is that day of anxiety.

00:18:01.520 - 00:18:15.840

Good Friday is that time of frustration. Good Friday is that time of ultimate despair. And so, when we find ourselves with an incurable sickness,

00:18:15.840 - 00:18:34.520

something that we find no human remedy available, it's a Good Friday experience in our lives, and yet we find ourselves many times called upon to embrace suffering and shame

00:18:34.520 - 00:18:50.320

and to make the best of it. The truth of it is that Good Friday is followed with a day of silence. And so many times in our lives,

00:18:50.320 - 00:18:58.780

when things aren't going right, we'd like to have a solution right now. We'd like everything instant. Instant coffee, instant this, instant.

00:18:58.780 - 00:19:07.420

We want things to happen right now. We like to push a button. And if you push the button and the light doesn't come on, we get pretty vexed right away

00:19:07.420 - 00:19:19.380

because it's supposed to happen just like that. But life isn't like that. Many times we find the Good Friday experience followed by a day of silence.

00:19:19.380 - 00:19:39.200

And silence seems to spell defeat. That's so often the case. The defeat is evil's final word. The decision is made.

00:19:39.200 - 00:19:48.680

The judgment has been executed. It's been sealed. The victim is now in the tomb because, you see, the innocent victim is crucified.

00:19:48.680 - 00:19:59.160

He's dead. He's buried. The tomb is sealed. But there is another word concerning the innocent victim.

00:19:59.160 - 00:20:18.040

Because you see, this innocent victim has undergone such pain, we think of it in such a way of the violence that is inflicted upon us, the pain that's--

00:20:18.040 - 00:20:31.560

and the viciousness. You know life can be so vicious, so vicious. Seen that the forces many times that invade our lives can be so mean.

00:20:31.560 - 00:20:48.880

Like the little girl or the young girl who was listening to some reports and she said, "What committee is that?" They said, "The Ways and Means Committee." Said, "We'll put my daddy on that because he knows more ways

00:20:48.920 - 00:21:03.800

to be mean than you can think of. So it seems that if life often knows more ways to be mean than we can deal with and that's what happens to the victim that Isaiah describes.

00:21:03.800 - 00:21:20.220

This victim whose life is demonstrated in human history. Everything seems to have gone wrong but the truth of the matter is that he does it for other people. You know, it's one thing to just suffer for yourself,

00:21:20.220 - 00:21:36.980

and it's something more to suffer for others. For here, this innocent victim engages in vicarious suffering. Sanhedrin Court makes its ruling. Herod the King has his say.

00:21:36.980 - 00:22:02.020

Pilate the governor passes the word on the execution. The die is cast and the victim is sent to death row and death is administered, but that day of silence comes. And all during this time it seems that God has been silent. But God says Second Isaiah is doing a new thing. God

00:22:02.020 - 00:22:29.080

is at work. Whenever people suffer for goodness, God is at work. Whenever one is encouraged to triumph through tragedy. God is at work. Whenever it seems that we are waiting and nothing comes and yet we are waiting for a good purpose, remember that God is at work. "For they that wait upon the Lord shall

00:22:29.080 - 00:22:58.560

renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, those that wait on the Lord." So God saves through suffering. God glorifies his name through redemptive suffering. God is honored through humility. And so, interesting thing about this report,

00:22:58.560 - 00:23:23.800

Isaiah asks two questions. First of all he begins by saying who believes it? That's the question I want to ask here today. Who believes it? Who believes this report? And the next question he asks is who shall declare his generation? Those two questions and I leave them with you. Who believes that

00:23:23.800 - 00:23:42.360

And God is so great in your life that whatever is good and whatever is meaningful, that God can somehow be the victor in that situation. Who believes that? Who has some experience in life that when you found yourself in a tomb that was sealed

00:23:42.360 - 00:23:55.760

and somehow God opened the door of that tomb and God brought you out when you knew you couldn't have been brought out no other way? Who believes that report? That's what the prophet is asking.

00:23:55.760 - 00:24:06.240

Who believes that when you suffer and you are innocent, that God will give you the victory? Who believes it? Well, I believe it.

00:24:06.240 - 00:24:13.680

I believe it. I think that those of you here who believe it, you've been on the journey a long time, and you can say, I believe that report.

00:24:13.680 - 00:24:21.840

I believe that God is alive, because he is alive in my life. I believe it. I believe it.

00:24:21.840 - 00:24:38.440

And then the question is who shall declare his generation? It's not enough just to believe it. It's not enough just to come here on Easter Sunday and sing God's praises and put on our new attire.

00:24:38.440 - 00:24:56.800

But we have the responsibility to tell others about the goodness of God in the land of the living. That's good news that God demonstrates only in the lives of people in one century, but he demonstrates it for all

00:24:56.800 - 00:25:24.940

of the years to come. We invite you to come now to accept this risen Lord, to say that this suffering servant abides in my life, that Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith, and he guides me and he strengthens me, he delivers me. We invite you to come unite with the people of God, making a decision for Jesus

00:25:24.940 - 00:26:00.580

Christ, giving your life to him, accepting him as your personal Savior. We ask you to come now. The door of the church is open. Go ahead, drive the nails in my hand, laugh at me where you stand. Go ahead, and mark my name.

00:26:02.340 - 00:26:28.340

My love for you, feels the same. 'Cause I'll rise again. There's no power that can turn me on. Yes, I'll rise again.

00:26:31.340 - 00:26:59.520

♪ How can you be en-crowned ♪ ♪ Go ahead and mark my day ♪ ♪ My love for you is still the same ♪ ♪ Go ahead and bury me ♪

00:26:59.520 - 00:27:09.220

♪ Bury me ♪ ♪ And very soon ♪ ♪ I will be free ♪ ♪ Oh, because I'm ♪

00:27:09.220 - 00:27:17.080

♪ All power ♪ ♪ All power ♪ ♪ Is again ♪ ♪ All power in my hand ♪

00:27:17.080 - 00:27:23.700

♪ There's no power ♪ ♪ To break me ♪ ♪ And tie me down ♪ ♪ Yes, yes ♪

00:27:23.700 - 00:27:36.160

♪ 'Cause all power ♪ ♪ All power ♪ ♪ I'm not afraid ♪ ♪ No death can keep me in the ground ♪

00:27:36.160 - 00:28:04.860

♪ Just go ahead and say I'm dead and gone ♪ ♪ But you will see that you were wrong ♪ ♪ Go ahead and try to hide this love ♪ ♪ But one day you'll know that I'm the one ♪

00:28:04.860 - 00:28:17.620

♪ Because, because you know how I love you ♪ ♪ How I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, come and tell an earthen mind ♪ ♪ There's no power ♪

00:28:17.620 - 00:28:29.260

♪ Can't hold me down ♪ ♪ Yes, yes ♪ ♪ Is our arms ♪ ♪ Again ♪

00:28:29.260 - 00:28:43.200

♪ Death can't ♪ ♪ Just keep me in the ground ♪ ♪ Is our arms ♪ ♪ Again ♪

00:28:43.200 - 00:28:55.980

♪ There's no power ♪ ♪ There's no power ♪ ♪ On earth can't hold me down ♪ ♪ Around the world again ♪

00:28:55.980 - 00:29:22.820

♪ And just carry me in the ground ♪ [Music] [MUSIC] (saxophone music)

00:29:22.820 - 00:30:18.300

(jazz music) ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Music ]

00:30:18.300 - 00:30:33.120

(congregation murmuring) - Let's all say amen. - Amen. - Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]