Saturday Is Not the End

Today, I'm going to invite you to join me in

the book of Matthew, chapter 27, if you can.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 27:62

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

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

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

John 20 · chapter mention

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.