Prayer Works Bible Study: March 24, 2024

Something to Consider for Holy Week

The Church is in danger of forgetting the holiness of this week in which Jesus, our Lord and Savior, gave His life so that we could be saved and enter in to communion with God. There is no Christian without Christ. However, as churches across America begin gearing up for "Easter" the day is treated more as the biggest day for raising funds and counting attendees, rather than remembering the holiness of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection.

What does the 21st century church look like? Jesus warns us in Mark 11:12-25 when He sees a fig tree but found no fruit, because it wasn't the season for figs. The fig tree looked like there would have been fruit on it, which would have been a miracle, but upon upon closer examination, there was no fruit, and Jesus cursed the fig tree so that it could no longer deceive anyone by appearing to have fruit.

The Word says, "Be ye holy as I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). We often skip over this word, "holy," and when we do, we cheapen it. Therefore, be mindful and prayerful throughout this week. Study and meditate on Jesus' prayers that are recorded in John 17. In these scriptures, we learn how Jesus prayed to God the Father for Himself, for His Disciples and for all of us as believers.

Treat this week with significance. Don't just breeze through it.

This is the beginning of the Holy Week. And you know we were just talking earlier on but when you read the story of this particular week in the Scriptures. It seems like the people who were living in that time, they were preparing for it, right.

You could see there was preparation that something is about to happen. But they did not have a reference point. They have no idea, they some people believed in who Jesus was. Some were trying to figure out whether He is the guy.

Some people were in between, some were fighting Him. So it's not like there was consensus and agreement that, hey, this week here is significant, something is about to happen, but yet there was some preparation going on.

Now on the other hand, we have reference point because we know, because of what happened and who Jesus is now, and the power that He was carrying and everything that transpired right after that, we have reference points.

But then it seems like we don't prepare. We prepare physically, I mean we do all the necessary lights, extra parking, right, all these things we do.

Get more chairs and it seems like ever since I moved to this country, it seems like the culture that's around Easter in this church in this country is that this is the time the church adds to its numbers.

This is the time we get more membership. This time, when we invite everybody to come to church, uncle so and so everybody shows up, right and it becomes more about getting people saved, which, by the way is part of the process.

But is it really about that? Last year, we saw a lot of churches all across this country do spend so much money on Easter. There's so much money spent by churches on Easter than any Sunday.

And if it was really about that then, for all these years and years, we have done Easter where's the results? Right. It seems like the results and what's and the effort that's put in. doesn't really kind of match.

Because slowly I believe the church is in danger or forgetting why it exists. There's a reason why this is called a Holy Week. That there are things that are supposed to be in place, holy sacraments.

In order to make sure that it really represents what it should represent. So, this Sunday, this coming Sunday, you're going to see a lot of productions. And lot of productions in churches about Easter.

And most of it is to get people excited. Oh my God, did you see how many people who got saved? And we tally numbers, right. And it seems like for me, Easter is now almost geared for people who are not saved.

Like, yeah, let's bring people who are not saved. Bring someone to change who is not saved so they can get saved on Easter. But then when you're really going to start looking at what salvation is people don't need to get saved at church.

Really, a lot of people have actually found Jesus either on some place, somewhere in their bedroom while their and Wallace free just shows up. You know, this whole idea of nine souls were saved, 10 souls were saved, right.

It actually started in 1981. Billy Graham and really, it's accidentally on purpose because they were just trying to figure out how many people showed up to a camp meeting. So, they can report numbers on TV.

And ever since then, this thing kind of took off his legs and now everybody is like, oh, we had hundred people saved in church. And it becomes something we put on our yearly reports, right.

We put our yearly reports. This is how much money we spend, this is how much money can people at church? These are many people who were saved and this is how many people attended our Easter services.

And yet, in all these years I've been in this country, you realize there is one significant element that's missing, it’s the holiness of the day. The remembrance of it of the day. When Jesus says eat of me drink of me.

Do this as often as you can and remembering what I did but then you realize a lot of people don't even know what Jesus did. Because if you really, if we, I'm gonna show you once we go see these five things that took place when Jesus died.

And that in itself kind of captured the significance of this incredible week. John 17, John 17, where Jesus lays 3 prayers. Nobody in the scripture, there's nothing point you can hear of Jesus, what He actually said in prayer except John 17.

John, 17, is when you actually hear the words of Jesus. What He said in prayer. The Lord's Prayer was Him teaching us how to pray. But in John 17, where He prays for Himself, prays for the disciples, then he prays for you and I, that happened in the Holy Week.

 And the Holy Week is so important, it takes most of the Gospels. Let's go to Mark chapter. I want to show you something what the church looks like 21st century church.

And the reason I'm speaking like this is I want to solicit and I want to encourage you as believers, to really we can start as a small group right now to put the significance of Holy Week back to what it actually should be and triumphantly, it can spread.

 So let's go to Mark Chapter 11:12-25. I want to show you what the church looks like. The next day, as they were leaving Bethany Jesus was hungry. You know where Bethany is where Martha and Mary, Lazarus, this is their hometown.

Jesus was hungry. So he's leaving a city and probably He's coming from their house. Then the scripture says, He was hungry. If you read some, translation says he became hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf.

He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves. Here's a key component of this scripture because it was not in season. He sees a fig tree, it's got green leaves and he goes to examine so He could find something but there was nothing.

The reason there was nothing is because it was not the season. There's a lot there, why is then a tree that is out of season in winter has leaves. Because it looks like a miracle, it looks like a church.

It looks like there is something there. Even though we know it's out of season, but there is potential. This must be a miracle because if you see a green tree in a whole entire forest during winter where every tree is bare and there's one with leaves.

You surely will go and examine and say I think this might be something, but upon examination Jesus finds that no, there's nothing why? because it was not in season for figs. Then He said to the tree may no one ever eat from you again.

And his disciple was heard him say it. You look like a church everything lines up but upon really examination. And this is not just physical church, this is us. Upon really looking at you, you look like, you sound like, your words.

Everything that comes out of your mouth, your prayer, your way, your talk it sounds like. But you know what let's really examine you and then apparently upon examination, there are no figs.

Then Jesus says you are pretentious, may no one ever eat from you again. Verse 15, On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began. So mind you, He's still hungry, right, He’s still hungry.

He then entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling drugs and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

And as He told them, He said it is not written, is it not written that My house will be called a house of prayer of all nations, but you have made it into a den of robbers. Isn't it amazing that all across United States, almost every church is selling merchandise?

Almost every church has a clothing line. And this week the church across America is going to sell more things, this week. All across America, the church in America is going to sell more things this week and raise more money this week.

So, Jesus comes and pushes everybody. The chief priests and the teachers of the Lord heard this and began looking for a way. Can you imagine being killed because you said my Father's house will be a House of prayer, not a den of thieves and robbers.

And then the high priest says oh, He has to die. The chief prestigious law and began looking for a way to kill for, but they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

When evening came, Jesus and these disciples went out of the city in the morning as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said Rabbi look.

The fig tree you cursed has withered. Jesus then goes on and had a whole entire lesson on faith. I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will happen.

It will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

 Whatever you ask. Now we then take this same scripture and then apply it to the way we want. Whatever you ask, whatever you ask but then we don't forget that prior to all this, if you abide in me.

In other words, if you follow my statutes and you walk in, step with the Holy Spirit, that means whatever you ask, you're going to ask the right way. But we have a problem of asking things that are outside of our jurisdiction.

 And then when we don't get what we hope we should get, we then say God isn’t answering prayer. But He’s like, no, there's one thing you missed. If you abide in me first. Then the spirit that searches all things can now help you to pray the right way.

Doesn't the scripture say the spirit prays within you? This is what the American Church looks like. Looks like a tree, sound like a church, take communion, offering all the necessary sacraments are held in our churches.

But the element of holiness is missing. Be holy for I am holy. I heard somebody last week say if it doesn't sound like God, then it's not God. If it doesn't feel like God then it's not God.

So, holiness is important, and it matters. It's a command, be he holy, for I am holy. But these people, these people, these people we are reading about they had no reference point.

They had no idea they were trying to figure out who Jesus was. We on the other end, we know. We actually have their stories to look back at. We know that we should not be trading in church, we know that.

Because we have, it's right here. But what do we do, we then skip over this in chipping holiness and make it like it's a maybe. Yet the whole entire gospels actually dedicated more chapters on this particular Holy Week.

This year they have no reference point, we have a reference point. And the reason I'm speaking like these guys, I want all of us from here on was until the Lord Jesus comes, or until we go on home to glory.

To start treating this week as it rightly deserves. This week, not Sunday, not Easter Sunday. This whole entire week we need to treat it with significance with the level of importance because it is.

Easter is now just a breeze through. Where we show off what we are capable of doing. We do everything except invite the Holy Spirit. I remember growing up the week leading to Easter Sunday was fasting week.

Friday was all night prayer going into Saturday. Then you go home early morning was church on Sunday and you are church on Sunday from 8:00 in the morning until 3:00 PM. There was no lights, no production, but it was word after word about the importance of Jesus Christ dying on the cross.

And the pulpit was revealed. Was sacred, back then in my where my mother we used to go to church. People who used to sing worship they used to sing worship on the on the bottom of the pulpit.

Because they consider that a sacred place where God speaks from. Yet this week the church in America is going to make more money than any other week. Any other week this week.

And if you listen, if you watch, I watched a bunch of church services today. Just breezing through past different churches. And just hearing what's going on. If I'm telling you guys, listen to me there's a spirit, there's a spirit that's behind everything that's going on.

Because when you actually hear, thank God I'm here remembering this. Almost every church is saying prepare a special gift for Jesus for Easter. Just track. Just go on YouTube and listen to any church.

Almost every church is pushing people prepare special gifts for Jesus. Not prepare your hearts, not prepare your mind, not read your scriptures and wait on the Lord. No, prepare your pockets for a special gift for Easter.

Now how much money, how much money can we give Jesus for Easter? For dying on the cross, how much money? How much? You see I'm privileged to be a pastor and to have had conversations with other pastors and to have heard the language that's used as it pertains to the aftermath of Easter.

And I'm telling you, it's the American culture. And I'm talking about family too, because my family is full of pastors. And I'm telling you I've heard the language, it's almost like everybody is bragging.

How many people got saved, how many, how much money was in offering in tithes and offering. Everything else becomes secondary. This is the culture of the American Church.

But when you start really when you really stop and ask yourself how much money can I really raise to thank Jesus for saving me from a life of hell. How much but yet we do this stuff.

And then we in the process of all this, we forget, we forget. I know people who, if they don't hit their targets financially for these churches on Easter. They considered Easter was a failed job.

And I'm not talking about stuff that that here say. I'm talking about what I've heard and it's happening. So, then you wonder why Sunday comes. Everything is in place. People are in place, music is in place, lights are in place, parking lot is full, churches, some are renting auditoriums and arenas this week, right?

To have everybody shows up to be in the same place, everything is in place except the one most important ingredient, the Holy Spirit. And people go and live, come back home, tired, exhausted from Sunday.

Nobody I could ask you right now guys to just show you what I'm talking about. This really saddens me. I would ask you right now. Do you remember last year's Easter or do you remember the previous year and the year before that Easter.

Or do you remember one Easter that you could say man, the Holy Spirit is showed up in the place and my God we saw the hand of God. Because we are slowly surely removing the Holy Spirit out of the way.

And I want all of us to embrace the idea that this week I have to be working in step with the Holy Spirit. So I can just commemorate this Jesus who saved my soul from an internal place of hell.

And there's no prize for that because it is a gift. There's no amount of money for that, it's a gift. It's a gift but oh boy, 21st century church. And you know why this happens, you know why all this stuff is happening on the cross?

 It is because we are not taking time to learn. We're not taking time to study. We're not taking time to really understand. So now if you're waiting on somebody, I'm just going to tell you whatever I need to tell you and what are you going to do?

You're just going to believe because, well, you don't know. So, the honors is not on me. It’s not on the pastors, on the bishops, the honor is on all of us to have a clear understanding. Let me find this scripture in Samuel.

You gonna all right, here's Samuel 3. Listen to this, So, Samuel, remember Samuel is now being handed over to the High priest Eli. Because his mother made a covenant and the promise that when you give me this son, he's gonna have to go stay with us.

So now he's staying with Eli. So the boy Samuel, ministered before the Lord and Eli in those days the word of the Lord was rare, rare. There were not many visions. Think about it, there were no visions the word of the Lord was rare.

Hardly anyone was getting any visions. One night, Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. Samuel was lying down in the House of the Lord, where the Ark of the God was.

Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered here I am and he ran to Eli and said here, here I am you called me but Eli said I did not call you go back and lie down. So he went and lay down again.

The Lord called Samuel and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said here I am. You called me my son Eli said I did not call you go back and lie down. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord.

Samuel did not yet know the Lord, but at the beginning of this chapter he says he was ministering under Eli. He is ministering, but he doesn't know the Lord. The word of the Lord listen to this guys, the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

Ministering, but the word has not been revealed to him. Lord, calling him, he can hear His voice but doesn't understand because the word of the Lord has not yet revealed to him. So, this week I want us to keep I want to be careful about how we treat this week.

Let's be prayerful. Let's be, please be mindful of hearing from the Lord. Let our heart be meek. Let's watch our mouth this week so that when Sunday rolls around we feel like we're in step with the one who rose on Sunday.

Here's why this week is so important. Five things that happened after Jesus died on Friday. And you can find all this in Matthew 27:51, there was a massive earthquake and the rocks were split.

This was the response of nature to a great event. Verse 52, the graves were opened and many bodies of these Saints who had fallen asleep were raised. Not people Saints. Not everybody got the privilege to get up.

But the Saints rose up people who saw them walked on the streets like, yeah, didn't we bury so and so Billy Graham years ago said, yeah, I just saw him walk down the road. Now look and they were coming out of the graves after his resurrection.

They went into the holy city and appeared to many. This was God's direct response to the accomplished work of the cross, so the first one is nature responding. The second one is God responds.

Verse, 45. Darkness over all the lands from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Versus 54, There was the proclamation of who Jesus was from the Centurion. Surely if anyone ever doubted there He is surely the son of man.

Five things this took place this week in order to show us how incredibly important this week was. These are significant miracles, significant responses. So, if you want to ask if you want to stop and just ask us what our response should be.

We should at least mirror that, I know we might not experience the same thing, but in terms of reverence, in terms of magnitude, in terms of our gratefulness in terms of our acceptance, in terms of our giving back spiritually.

We should mirror that. That's how important this week is. So, as we start today moving forward until next Sunday, next Sunday this time. We're going to have a communion, everybody make sure you get your little juice. Oh, and Calvin just sent another one.

The curtain was split, the veil was split in the temple when Jesus died to signify that, hey everybody, you are now welcome to enter in. That's what this week should really be about. That man I was once distant and I was once a stranger.

I was not allowed anywhere near the veil. But surely that veil got torn and now I can enter in. So,if then that's the case Sunday should be a day we should all enter in, right, that should be the day we all were like, yeah, man, let's commemorate what was done 2000 years ago.

We are going to enter behind the veil. This is not about numbers, it's not about numbers. Because you know the problem that we are having right guys, is that what happens, what happens and I'm telling what happens on Easter.

People who are living a sinful life are waiting for Easter as the day they go to church and give their life to the Lord. Now most of it is actually a mind thing rather than a spirit thing. Because we know Easter is coming just as much as you and I know Easter is coming.

So, we start preparing physically. Get this, get there, like get flowers, let's do that, right. Because we know it's coming it's human nature. Somebody else who lives in this world, pretty much everybody knows when Easter is.

Because nobody is going to work. So they're all like, yeah, Easter I gotta go to church. I'm going to make it right with the Lord, right. So they come on Easter with this mind thing that says I'm going to make it right with the Lord.

Now when they show up they don't encounter Christ. They encounter lights, they encounter happy moments, they encounter meal after service, they encounter special gifts, they encounter all these arguments that we put in place because it's Easter.

So now when they leave, they are walking away thinking oh I'm saved now. Holy Spirit was not involved in any of it, was not part of the saving. So now if you just confess with your words, but you don't confess until the Holy Spirit ministers unto your heart.

We all have been saved. We know what we're talking about that until that the Holy Spirit comes in here and ministers to you, you're like, oh, man, I gotta get saved. But what we have done right, we talked about this at the beginning of this year, we've made salvation this easy way.

It's not easy, it's not that easy. How is it easy, because we say so or it's because the Holy Spirit cause if we don't know what the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit works with the human being, to give them to that place where they commit their life to the Lord, how do we know how easy that is? right.

So let's change the way we look at this week and the way we look at Easter. This is not a happy moment. This is like man I mean, I can lift my hands anyway anytime and enter into His presence.

Where there is centuries of people who couldn't do that. And now this has been accorded to me and now, on that particular day when this happened, we don't enter in. So, we can't wait for Sunday this week, starting tomorrow, starting today.

You know creating special, just creating special moment in the day where it's just you and the Lord. And just enter Him to say man Lord now I can just jump in. So think about it for people who spend years and years not hearing from the Lord.

And they wish they could have heard from the Lord. And God was silent for 400 years. Now we on the other side, we know that but we have this opportunity to enter in any day, anytime, any moment.

We can just like, yeah, I'm in but yet we don't place a level of significance and importance into that. Do you know why smoke machines started going into churches because someone went to a conference and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit.

And there was a fog in the church because they wanted that they threw him a smoke machine to create or let's create. How many times you've heard these words, let's create an atmosphere. How? How do you create an atmosphere?

That's not our duty as the Holy Spirit is due to create an atmosphere. And then we can just bask in it. But we are so how arrogant are we in our crazy thinking that we can create an atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to operate in.

Rather than to put ourselves in His feet at His mercy and request for Him to create a presence for us to enter in. But Oh my God, 21st century church we have become so arrogant that we think we can control and manipulate and create this.

And God is saying hey that's not your job. This is why the Holy Spirit doesn't show up. Because it's like, yeah, coming to that that's not my party, that's your party. So this week in our own time, in our own time go with your heart, that's open and ask the Lord.

I just want to bask in your presence, cause it's my desire. It's my desire because I know I've been afforded this opportunity. To do as such, it's not with my own doing somebody had to die for this. So here I am, Lord, will You kindly indulge me?

That's how we should treat this week up until Sunday, right. Because these five things, that's what we were shown especially the last one that veil. The veil tearing up that whoo that's what we should go for, that.

So, let's be mindful this week. Treat it with reverence, treat it with reverence. You know, today when we get off, find your scriptures for this week. If you don't know where to go, stay in John 17.

Just stay John 17 all week, just stay in John 17 and be intimate with Jesus. Amen. All right, 6:51. I think I managed to get there. And I'm grateful to the Lord I was sneezing for nonstop for 20 minutes before I got on this call.

And I was just wondering how this is going to happen but I made it, God is good. I love you all. Jessica good to see you. Thank you for that, this week I'm on it, I'm looking forward to and I'm gonna stay right there and hope I can find something different every day when I go in there.

John 15 so yeah, perfect. Yes, and then this is it, this is it, this this is, this is it. This is what enables us to do all this, this is it. This is the thing this year. There's no anything else other than, this is it.

And we have to treat it with care and reverence, like a newborn baby. So, enjoy this week, seek the Lord, meet with Him I've got my own little plan waking up. I'm gonna be waking up extra morning this week and we're just going to stay with the Lord. All right, let us pray. We recorded this right, Yes. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before You. We are incredibly appreciated of what You did years ago, the challenges, the difficulty that You went through in this particular week. You experienced hard things.

That no man could ever possibly endure, except You had to come from heaven to go through this so that we in 2024 can enter behind the veil and experience the glorious glory of our Father.

So, we lift our hands, and we offer a heart of gratitude and say Lord how awesome are You to us. So, as we enter into this week may Your spirit guide us in every step that we take as we consider You and as we think about You as we may commemorate You.

I pray, Lord, that meet us, show Yourself strong so we can have this tangible experiences that we can share as memorials of how incredibly wonderful You are. Thank You for Your goodness and Your mercy towards us.

Be with all of us, our families, our children, extended families and everything that we do and may this week be blessed because of Your spirit in us. We thank You, we honor You in Jesus name, Amen.

Next week, Sunday get crackers you know, whatever you want to have for communion and I'm going to teach briefly on communion, then we'll take communion and keep it moving.