Today, I'm going to invite you to join me in
the book of Matthew, chapter 27, if you can.
Matthew 27 and verse 62. The verses I'm going
to be reading today, I'm not going to expound
on them, but what I'd like to do is sort of set
the stage, set a backdrop for some things that
God has placed in my heart to share with you
this afternoon. But this is a very important
scene, pivotal moment. In the story of the Gospels,
it reads this way. Matthew 27, verse 62. On the
next day, which followed the day of preparation,
the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
together to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember,
while he was still alive, how that deceiver said,
After three days I will rise. Therefore, command
that the tomb be made secure. until the third
day. Lest his disciples come by night and steal
him away and say to the people, he has risen
from the dead. So the last deception will be
worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you
have your guard, go your way, make it as secure
as you know how. So they went and made the tomb
secure, sealing The stone and setting the guard.
Now, not going to get into all the details of
this passage, but what I want to point out to
you is that these events, this conversation,
this scene in the text, it happened on the Saturday.
It happened on the second day. Amen. And that's
a very important moment. And so what I want to
preach today, a very simple word, that Saturday.
It's not the end. Saturday, someone say Saturday.
Say, it's not the end. I'm going to invite you
to pray with me right now. I just want to allow
God to do what he wants in this place today.
Amen. I believe that somebody is going to leave
this place transformed. They're going to leave
encouraged. They're going to leave restored in
their spirit in the name of Jesus. Come on, help
me pray today. Father, we love you today, God.
we thank you for your presence that we feel so
beautifully here god you didn't have to come
lord but you came and you are in our very midst
now god and we know god that now that you're
here and we're here we're not just here god just
to have a good time but to be to to be encouraged
for your word to enter our hearts, God, and be
planted in our spirits today, Lord. So I pray
that you would anoint the hearing of all that
are here today, God, that they could receive
this word in Jesus' name, Lord. And I arrest,
I come against every spirit, every opposing spirit
of doubt, of fear, of confusion, and we bind
it and we cast it out right now in the name of
Jesus, God. And we ask right now, anoint my lips
of clay, Lord, that I can preach. word with power
and authority. In the name of Jesus Christ, we
pray. Can somebody say amen? Amen. You may be
seated in the presence of the Lord. Jesus said,
destroy this temple, and in three days, I will
raise it up. Amen, somebody. Somebody say amen.
And when we reflect on that statement, our minds
naturally jump to the bookends of that promise.
Friday, the day that he died, and Sunday, the
day that he rose. And no doubt, Friday and Sunday
are the mountain peaks of the gospel story. Friday
is the day of suffering. Amen. When the lamb
was slain and the price was paid. And Sunday
is, of course, a day of shouting and celebration.
When the stone was rolled away and death was
defeated. Can somebody say amen? And we rejoice
and we focus in on those bookends of the gospel
story, Friday and Sunday. But between Friday's
cross and Sunday's empty tomb is Saturday, a
day of silence when For a brief moment, all hope
seemed to be lost. And this is what I have come
today to preach a little bit about. Because while
we will tend to gravitate towards the Friday
or the Sunday, we as a people of faith must consider
the message of Saturday. Because indeed there
is... oftentimes a pause between the pain and
the power. You see, the day after Friday is not
Sunday, it's Saturday. Someone say, it's Saturday.
We cannot just skip to Sunday as much as we'd
like to. But in the minds of many believers,
the gospel is just a two -day event, not three
days. We tend to skip Saturday and just go straight
from the crucifixion to the resurrection, and
for good reason. Why not just skip to the end?
Just, you know, fast forward to the good stuff,
right? Where Jesus conquered death and overcame
hell, death, and the grave. You know, why not
just skip past all the stuff in between? Let's
just get to the good part where we win. And I
think in the minds of many believers, when we
begin to think about the story of the gospel,
and of course, when we come to this part of the
year, when we make special emphasis, in celebrating,
commemorating, and preaching this message about
his resurrection that we do tend to focus on
the cross and we go straight to the resurrection.
But there is something about that day in between.
There is something about that Saturday that needs
to speak to us today. There is something about
that in -between day that God wants to, because
he didn't say in two days. You know, he said
in three days. Someone say in three days. He
said in two days. Now, if he wanted to, it could
have just been like an overnight stay if he wanted
to do it that way. You know, he could have just
checked in one day and checked out the next.
But there is something about the narrative of
the gospel. There is something about the story
that we need to look at that day in between.
There's something about spiritual Saturdays that
I think we find. just a little unnerving, a little
unsettling. I think there's a reason why we just
go from Friday to Sunday, because there's something
about that Saturday that makes us a little uncomfortable,
if I could just be real with you here today.
Somebody say, go ahead. There's something about
that. It's not, you know, it's one of those things
where it's not quite. the finished product of
Friday, and it's not quite the victoriousness
of Sunday. It's kind of like somewhere in between.
Saturday feels like you're in limbo a little
bit. It's an in -between period. It's a transition
period. It's a period where you're not bound
anymore, or you're not where you used to be,
but you're not quite where. you want to be. It's
kind of in the middle of the story somewhere.
It's those passages, and you know, some of you,
if you've ever started a book, you know, it's
easy to read maybe the first two chapters, and
then if you get a little impatient, you just
want to get to the end. You know, I just want
to know, how does the story end? And sometimes,
you know, we don't want to go through, because
it's the middle part of the story. It's the middle
part of something that can be a little bit of
a drag, or be a bit discouraging, or there might
be some twists and some turns and some things
that we don't quite want to deal with. There's
something about that. Saturday feels like you're
in limbo. It feels like you're not quite where
you want to be. And it was that Saturday in the
story of the gospel that I came to preach about
today. This is why I came to preach about Saturday.
It's kind of a, now this is Sunday, but I'm going
to preach a Saturday message if that's all right.
Amen. And hallelujah. And we need to talk about
Saturday because it's Saturday where people tend
to give up. Amen. It's Saturday where people
don't throw in the towel on Friday and for certain
they don't throw in the towel on Sunday. But
it's those Saturday moments in life. It's those
Saturday seasons in our faith where we are most
tempted to question God's plan in our life. Amen.
We are most tempted to question what God is doing
in us. It's in those Saturday seasons of our
faith and our life where we start to wonder what
God is up to. It's that pause between promises.
It's that middle of the miracle. It's the silence
between it is finished and he is risen. And so
if you will allow me today, I'd like to preach
just for a few moments about what to do in a
Saturday. How many of you would like to know
what to do in a Saturday season? Come on, turn
to somebody and say, it might be Saturday. It
might be Saturday. Saturday is that period of
time between the word spoken and the promise
received. Saturday is that time between the prophecy
given or the prayer prayed and the prayer answered
or the prophecy fulfilled. First thing I want
to tell you today about a Saturday season is
that you ought not to, don't confuse. Silence
with stillness. Somebody say amen. You know,
on Friday, Jesus was real talkative on Friday.
He was saying a lot on Friday. In fact, Scripture
records at least seven sayings from the cross.
Even on the cross, Jesus was still talking. Amen.
Still speaking. Still preaching. He was dying
and he was still saying, Father, forgive them.
For they know not what they do. Amen. On the
cross, he said, I thirst. On the cross, he even
made sure that his mama was going to be taken
care of. You know, took care of business on the
cross. And on the cross, you know, he even told
one of the thieves that was next to him, today,
you're going to be with me in paradise. I mean,
he was talking to him. On Friday. He was speaking
on Friday. And he was talking to people. And
not just that, but there was a lot of activity
on Friday. Things were in motion. Stuff was happening.
Even the earth was shaking on Friday. Oh, my
God. There was a, I don't know if it was like
a 7 .0 or an 8 .0 or maybe even something greater
than that. But the earth shook on Friday. Even
creation says, man, I got to say something about
what's going on here. The graves opened up on
Friday. Imagine that. The graves, people just
got up out of the grave and started walking around
on Friday. The veil in the temple was torn on
Friday. Blackness covered the sky. I mean, Friday
was loud. It was loud. It was dramatic. It was
really loud. It was active. But then came Saturday.
And all of a sudden, you could hear a pin drop.
On Saturday, everything stopped. Not a word from
God. No whisper from heaven. It felt like nothing
was happening. I mean, from one day to the next.
All the drama, all the noise, all the messages,
everything that was happening on Friday. The
very next day, it was silent. And a hush broke
out among Jerusalem and among the followers of
Christ. And it was in that moment that they began
in the stillness of that night or in the quietness
of that day, the disciples' faith began to waver.
And everything they thought they knew started
to wobble a little bit. It was not on Friday,
but it was on Saturday where they started getting
together behind closed doors and started talking
among themselves and trying to figure out what
God was doing. doing, it was on that Saturday
that they began to feel like maybe God had forgotten
about them and maybe things were going to take
a turn for the worse. It was on Saturday where
they began to feel the weight of the silence
and say, man, have you ever felt like God? Right
now would be a really good time to hear a word
from you, Lord. I don't know if you've ever been
in a place like that where you say, man, Lord,
right now, I mean, if ever I needed to hear a
word, today would be a good day. Lord, have you
ever been in a place like that? The Lord, even
if you just whisper something to me, send me
a little paper airplane from heaven, God, and
I'll catch it. I just need to hear from you.
I need something. I'm hungry. I'm desperate.
And so the disciples of Christ were feeling like
that. But little did they know that in the silence,
Jesus was, can I preach this like I want to?
Even in the silence, Jesus was not still. Jesus
was at work. Hey, let me tell you something.
That in the unseen realm on that Saturday, Jesus
was, maybe he was silent, but he was not still.
The Bible says that God was active in the unseen
spiritual realm. taking care of business, doing
things in the supernatural. We read in Ephesians
chapter 4, it tells us that before he ascended,
he first descended into the lower parts of the
earth, and he was declaring victory to the spirits
in the underworld. And there's a lot of other
theories and things that we can glean from Scripture
that tell us that on that Saturday, Jesus was
still active. and doing things and turning things
around and preaching and working. Let me just
encourage somebody here today, just because you
don't see him, just because you may not feel
him, just because you don't understand what's
going on in your life, I wish I had a witness
today. It doesn't mean that God is not still
moving. Come on, is there somebody here today?
Come on, I'm talking to you today. It doesn't
mean that God is still not, he is still working.
He is still moving. I may not be able to see
it, but my God is not dead. He is alive. Come
on, I wish I had somebody today to give him some
glory and some praise. This afternoon, I've come
to encourage you today that even if you're going
through a period of silence, you may not be able
to understand it all, but God is still moving,
and he's moving on your behalf. Come on and clap
your hands and give God some praise today. Hallelujah!
Somebody shout hallelujah. He's still working.
And just because he's silent doesn't mean he
isn't moving. You know, he's still sovereign.
He's still in control. Hallelujah. Come on. Hallelujah.
He's still proving like we were singing a few
moments ago. He's still moving. He's still proving
just how great he is. Hallelujah. Come on. Were
we just singing those lyrics or do we really
mean it? Do we really believe it? Hallelujah.
And he may not be always. You know, God doesn't
have to. tell you everything he's doing come
on now somebody talk to me I said God doesn't
have to tell you everything God doesn't owe you
a memo on Monday morning with his weekend itinerary
God doesn't owe you an update every once a week
telling you while I'm working he doesn't work
for you God doesn't have to tell you anything
but it's your job to keep believing keep praising
him brother keep thanking him God I may not understand
it all I may not be able to see it with my natural
eye but I know Oh, that's still working. Come
on now, folks. You know, we treat God like he
owes us. God doesn't owe you no explanation.
He can do whatever he feels. Tell somebody he
can do what he wants. He doesn't owe you an explanation
for nothing. There are things, brother and sister,
you're not going to get an explanation for until
we get there. And then when we get there, you
can call a meeting with God. and ask him to help
me understand what, and then you'll understand.
Oh, God doesn't owe us nothing. We just have
to trust him and say, trust him. I haven't heard
the Lord, and I'm waiting. You may not understand
it all, and if he tells you something, he may
only give you bits and pieces. Whoo, my Lord.
And say, just trust me with what I told you.
Did I not tell you that in three days I will
rise? So why are you so confused and distraught
and worried on this Saturday of your life thinking
that I don't love you, thinking that I forgot
about you? No, it's all part of the process.
You got to remember what he told you. He said,
I'm going to do it. It's coming. So don't mistake
his silence for stillness because God's still
moving. Someone say, he's still moving. He's
still moving. Number two, let fear go, but let
peace in. Ooh, my Lord. I'm going to preach now.
Praise be to God. I feel this in my spirit today.
Come on, someone say, let fear go. And say, let
peace in. Saturday. was a day where fear began
to creep into the hearts of Jesus' followers.
And they started questioning things and they
just couldn't quite understand what was going
on. And there's a scene in John chapter 20 that
kind of gives us a glimpse, a window into the
type of fear that was gripping the hearts of
Jesus' followers. In verse 19, as they were coping,
listen, they were coping with the death of Jesus.
They were trying to, I mean, even though he said
this was going to happen. They were still trying
to make sense of what was going on. And all of
a sudden, this wave of fear started just taking
over them. So now, the Bible says, then on the
same day, at evening, being the first day of
the week, when the doors were shut, when the
disciples were assembled, watch this, for fear
of the Jews. You say, what were they so afraid
of? They were afraid that what happened to Jesus
might happen to them. They were afraid that everything
that they believed might just turn out to be
a lie. They were afraid of what could happen.
Now, their whole world has been turned upside
down. Amen. Everything they thought they knew
was just in disarray. They were distraught. They
were heartbroken. Think about this. Their teacher
is gone. They had just spent three and a half
years with this man of God. They called him their
master. He provided for them. He was their teacher.
He taught them. He was their Lord. They worshiped
him. And so he was everything for three and a
half years. Think about it. He was the payroll.
He was the counselor. I mean, he was everything.
Their world revolved around Jesus for three and
a half. Are you following what I'm saying? So
all of a sudden, he's here today. And he's gone.
And so let's not be so harsh with the disciples
here. Let's not be, man, I would have believed.
What's wrong with those guys? They got no faith.
No, you got to put yourself in their position.
Everything now has been flipped upside down.
And now they're in a state of panic because their
leader, their redeemer, their champion has just
been killed by their enemies and has been buried.
And they don't know what to do. And so now they're
all huddled. behind closed doors, and they're
comparing notes, and they're talking to each
other. You know, did you expect that? I didn't
expect this to happen. What are you going to
say? And they're all trying to, like, trying
to figure out what's going on, and how did we
get here, and maybe, and I'm just, can I just
use your imagination? Is that all right? Hallelujah.
Maybe one is, and I gave up three and a half
years for this, you know. I could have been,
you know, a journeyman fisherman by now, you
know. Imagine all the money I left on the table.
I don't know. You say, how could that happen?
Bible says that Peter went back to fishing. Obviously,
they had other things that were on their mind.
And they were probably just saying, what's going
on? And they were dumbfounded. And I gave up
three and a half years for this. And this is
where we're at. And now we're next on the list.
And they're huddled behind those closed doors.
And they're scratching their head. Oh, Lord,
now what's going to happen? Now what are we going
to do? Now how are we going to get, how are we
going to go back home and explain this to our
family members? They're going to be laughing
at us. They're going to be saying, hi, we told
you. that whole thing was just a joke they're
going to be crying they're going to be saying
this and that about us and they were paralyzed
by fear behind closed doors and they didn't know
what to do. And I've come to tell you that that's
how we feel sometimes when God does things that
doesn't make sense in our lives. When things
happen not according to your plan and your timeline,
do we begin to wonder perhaps God has moved on
and perhaps it's not going to happen the way
we thought. Fear is our natural response to not
understanding the silence. God. Fear is what
begins to happen and when we start to feel like
maybe it's over and maybe God's not coming for
me now the disciples were there and they felt
like their hopes had hit a brick wall but this
is what I love about the Lord is that God himself
stepped in to the middle of where they were I've
come to tell you today that even if you've got
just a little bit of faith maybe you're holding
on to the very last last bits of faith for your
future, for your ministry, for your family, for
your marriage, for your home, for your mind,
whatever it is that God wants to do. If that's
all you've got left, then we serve a God. that'll
take whatever you have. We serve a God that'll
allow that fear to grow. I've come to tell you
today that the voice of fear is not greater than
faith, but that faith is greater than fear. Somebody
clap your hands and let's give the Lord a round
of applause today. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you
for the faith. Come on, come on. Let's worship
him for a few moments. I feel this in the Holy
Ghost. I feel something about to break loose
in this house today. I feel something about to
happen in this place. Come on, if you've got
the Holy Ghost, begin to worship him. I feel
something about to break in this house. This
is what I love about Jesus. Put the next scripture
up. What I love about the Lord is the Bible.
Bible says that Jesus came and he stood in the
midst of them. And he said, peace be with you.
What I love about God is that God will step into
your Saturday season. God will step into your
spiritual funk. God will step into your fear.
God doesn't throw you away. Come on now, somebody.
God doesn't throw you away. He steps into your
confusion, into your fear, into your pain. And
he says, peace. Please be with you. He said,
how many of you need God to step into your life?
I need him to step into some places. I need him
to step into some places. And, you know, there
are times where you need to unlock the door.
Sometimes we take that verse where he stands
at the door and he knocks. You know? If Jesus
stands at the door, there's some of you would
never get your blessing and healing because you
just keep the door locked. His knuckles are starting
to bleed for how many times he's been knocking
in your life. Oh, my Lord. That's another message
for another day. Praise God. But I don't know
about you, but there's been times in my life
where God just exercises his right to just be
God. It says, look. You're too wrapped up in
your own little world right now. I'm going to
have grace on you because you don't know I've
been knocking and you haven't been letting me
in. So do you know what God will do sometimes?
He will override whatever defense mechanism you
have placed in your life and say, this is as
close as I'm going to allow this to get to me.
This is as close because I don't want, because
what we don't want is the fear. We don't want
to be disappointed. What if I open it up and
what if it's the Roman guards? It's not Jesus.
What if I leave the door? And so sometimes God
will override. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
He's not going to do this all the time because
he is a gentleman. But sometimes God will override
just like he did here. The Bible says in this
scene, the doors were locked. Everything was
locked. The blinds were closed. You know how
when people, unless it's Amazon, you know when
people come, you close the blinds? But when Amazon
comes, you open the blinds, baby. Say, hey, we're
home. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. UPS. Amen. I saw
a meme the other day. The only people that can
show up to my house unannounced is UPS, FedEx,
and Amazon. Everyone else, you got to send a
text message first. Hallelujah. But sometimes
Jesus don't send a text message. He just shows
up. He just shows up. And I'm so glad that how
many of you are today, my God, come on, help
me up here, brother. How many of you are there
just sometimes that God will just show up and
he don't wait for you to get your act together?
Oh my God. I'm going to mess with some of your
minds today. Because some of you think. I got
to get my act together. I got to get my business
together. I got to get my life together. I got
to get everything sorted out. So that God will
love me. And accept me. I've come to tell you
today. That God will step into your world. Even
when you. Oh I wish I had a witness today. God
will step into your Saturday season. Even when
you don't have it figured out. Even when you've
got problems in your life. Even when you've got
doubts. And you've got fears. We serve our God.
Come on, I wish I had. Is there a testimony?
Do I got a witness in the house of the Lord today
that God will step in? Come on, love them today.
Come on, thank them today. I'm so glad there
have been moments in my life where I may have
been a little shut down. There have been times
in my life when I wasn't ready. But the grace
of God stepped behind, closed doors. and he said
I still love you I'm willing to interrupt your
schedule I'm willing to interrupt your Sunday
I'm willing to interrupt your life so that I
can save you come on somebody love him today
is there a witness today oh is there a witness
today he found me behind I know, I know, I know.
Maybe some people say, well, I was perfect all
my life. God bless you. There's a special place
for you in heaven, I guess. But for the remainder
of us and the majority of us, God had to find
us in our place. Oh, some of you all act like
you were looking for him. You were not looking
for him. He found you. my God. You were the sheep
that went astray. You were the one that lost
your way and he found you. He found you and he
found me. Is there anybody grateful that he found
you? I wasn't looking for him. He wasn't on my
radar. I didn't know where he was but thanks
be to God that he knew where I was. Come on.
Somebody love him. Somebody Worship him. Somebody
magnify him. Somebody glorify him. I've come
to tell you, it might be Saturday, but Saturday
is not the end. My God still got a plan and a
purpose for it. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Come on, I'm waiting on somebody right now. Thank
you, Jesus. Did he step in on time? Did he step
in when you needed him? Did he step in in the
late night hour? In the midnight hour? Thank
you, Jesus, for stepping in. Oh, come on. Come
on, somebody just clap your hands. Come on, hallelujah,
hallelujah. Come on, hallelujah. Come on. Come
on, say in the spirit right now. Hallelujah.
My last point today is you got, if you, I feel
something in the Holy Ghost. I come to announce
to somebody today what to do when you're in a
Saturday in your life. I come to tell you, keep
on believing. Somebody shall believe it. keep
on believing because sunday i said sunday i said
sunday sunday is coming sunday is coming sunday
sunday is coming I wish somebody would praise
him like Sunday is on the way. I wish somebody
would magnify him like Sunday is on the way.
Your resurrection is on the way. Your power is
on the way. Your miracle is on the way, brother.
Your blessing is on the way. I wish you would
close your eyes. Forget about your neighbor.
Throw your hands up. lift up your voice and shout
to the Lord with the voice of triumph thank you
Jesus come on somebody hallelujah hallelujah
hallelujah hallelujah yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord
come on somebody begin to pray somebody begin
to flow in the Holy Ghost. Somebody begin to
flow in that anointing. That anointing is here
right now. That anointing is here right now.
Get your eyes off of me. It ain't about me. Get
your eyes on Jesus. The anointing is in this
place. The anointing is in this place. I wish
somebody would just let the Holy Ghost let it
move on your brother. Let it move on your sister.
Let the Spirit of oh hallelujah Come on, brother.
Come on, sister. Hallelujah. We're going to show
the devil that he's a liar today. We're going
to remind the devil that he's a liar. I reject
every lie. I turn back every curse. I denounce
every deception and confusion. My God is for
me. And if God be for me, who can be against
me? I will rise. It's Sunday. It's on the way.
It's on the way. Why don't you stand up on your
feet and give the Lord some glory in this house.
Why don't you stand up on your feet and let the
devil know I'm not giving up on Saturday because
Saturday is not the end. Where is my help today?
Somebody needs to step out of your aisle. Call
the devil the liar. and say i'm not giving up
i'm not quitting i'm not selling out i'm not
calling it quits come on search come on hallelujah
oh god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
hallelujah some of you are about to miss it you're
about to miss it not because god doesn't want
to do it you're letting the other stuff cloud
your mind you got to block that out block that
out right now in the name of jesus don't let
that fear don't let in the spirit God is not
done here yet God's about to ruffle your feathers
he's about to step behind your closed walls today
in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus in
the name of Jesus hallelujah Come on, hallelujah.
Something is happening. Something is happening.
Hallelujah. Something is happening. Yes it is.
Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. I've
come to make a prophetic declaration in this
place today. I've come against every lie. Every
fear. Every falsehood. Every deception. Every
false emotion. Everything that the enemy has
tried to discourage you with. And stop you with.
And sideline. I come against it right now by
the authority of the Word of God and the power
that's in the name of Jesus. And I loose you.
And I loose you right now.