In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the fleeting nature of life and the importance of making every day count. He shares a personal reflection on how time seems to be passing quickly as he approaches 60 years of age. The preacher also references a vision from the book of Daniel, suggesting that the fulfillment of this vision is happening in the present day. He urges the congregation to be prepared for the coming of Jesus and to prioritize their relationship with God over worldly distractions.

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight for the Holy Spirit and what we're experiencing in this service tonight. How close you are. Lord, I don't think we've ever had a day that we love you more than we love you this Sunday. Sunday night, right here in Times Square. Right in the middle of Broadway. The afternoon matinees have all shut down and all the dancers have wiped the paint off their faces and now many are out drinking and many are snorting their coke and taking their crack and others, Lord, who say, is this all there is to it? And they wonder, even though I'm on Broadway, my time is being wasted. Is this all there is to life? We thank you, Jesus, that here in this church, in this theater tonight that you've raised up, there are people who are making their days count. That it's not wasted time. O Holy Spirit, I pray that you take the words that you've implanted in my heart and take it, Lord, and implant it in the hearts of all your children tonight. Lord, I bind every evil, hidden spirit that would try to stop the word from penetrating. We take divine authority in the name of Jesus over every opposition. Lord, let it be easy to preach tonight. Let the words flow. Let it flow, God. And give us a receptive heart. Let us hear in the inner man. O God, we need you. We don't want to pray church. We don't want to just come here and have another meeting. We want to meet God. We want to meet Jesus. We want our hearts broken, Lord. We want to know we've been in the presence of Almighty God. Hallelujah. Lord, open our hearts. Open our ears. And open our minds. Lord, preach through me above my ability. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I came across the scripture last week. And I couldn't put it out of my mind. All day long it just kept coming back and coming back. And it's as if the Holy Spirit said, David, this verse is for you. I want you to make it the rule and the authority of the rest of your life. And I want you to go to Psalms 90. Psalms 90. And I want to read that verse. I just could not get it out of my mind. All week. For a whole week. It just. Have you ever heard a song and it sticks in your mind? And you replay it and replay it and you can't stop singing it? Well, I couldn't stop repeating this verse. Psalms 90 verse 12. Psalms 90 verse 12. So teach us to number our days. Teach us to number our days. That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. All right, look this way please. This is Moses. The prayer of Moses. And he's the man who prayed this prayer. And he's no doubt looking back. Now he's an older man and he's looking back over all of the troubles of Israel. He's met a people who were greatly blessed of God. Who'd seen such miracles. Left Egypt with such high hopes. A land awaiting for them that was promised. A land flowing with milk and honey. And he's thinking now of all the wrath of God that had fallen upon those people. He's thinking of the people that are being turned away because of their rebellion and stubbornness. He's thinking of Korah, Abiram, and Dathan, others. The ground had opened and swallowed them in the prime of their life because of rebellion. And he's thinking to himself, what was the purpose of their living? Why were they here? Why did they go through all this suffering? Why did they come this distance and then allow rebellion to destroy them? And he's thinking, what wasted lives? He's looking at the children of Israel. And if you look at chapter 90 verse 9. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale that is told. In other words, our lives are a book being written. We talk about being an open epistle. We talk about, Lord, I want to be an open book, read every page of my life. Believe it or not, you and I are writing a story. It's all being recorded. And Moses is thinking about this. He says, I'll read it to you again very slowly here. All our days are passed away in thy wrath. These should have been days of dependency. Days of reveling in the glory of the Lord. Thanking Him for the daily matter. Marveling at the cloud by day and the fire by night. Evidence of God's presence. And to see the enemies falling on all sides. They should have been able to look at their shoes that seemed to have grown with their feet. They had one pair of shoes that took them all through this time. They should have been able to see all the evidence of God's mercy and grace and begin to thank Him. Instead, the wrath of God fell upon them because of moaning and complaining. And then, toward the end, this great man of God says, Thou carryest them away as with a flood. They're all like sheep. He's speaking of the children of Israel he'd been leading. In the morning they're like grass which grows up. And in the morning it flourishes and it groweth up. But in the evening it's cut down and it withers. And so we spend our years as the tale that is told. The children of Israel now are under a divine wrath of God because of the rebellion. God says you're not going to enter in. Now it's the last chapter of their story. If you had a book and you were to write the story of the children of Israel that came out of Egypt, all those 20 and under, the name of the book would be The Wasted Days and Lives of the Delivered Ones. The Wasted Days, the Wasted Lives. And the last chapter, the last paragraph of the book on Israel and their rebellion against God reads like this. They turned back into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness. Their whole senses from 20 years old and on upward. They wandered 40 years in that wilderness until everyone died. Their carcasses wasted in the wilderness. Moses is talking to the Lord. In essence he's arguing so to speak. Lord, they all wasted away. They appeared for a season and they flourished. And now they're gone. You cut them down. They're gone. And they're going back in that wilderness and they're going to waste away and one by one they're all going to die. What's the purpose of their living? What were they here for? What kind of waste is this? And that's when he says, Oh Lord, teach us to number our days. It's based on him looking back over this. They appeared like grass. They flourished for a moment. They were cut down and then withered. Have you ever mowed a lawn, a grass lawn? Have you ever had a lawn mower? No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't even know I'm talking about. You live in the city. Anybody know what a lawn mower is here in Manhattan? Suppose I'm out there mowing the grass and I pick up, it's laying there and it's withering. I pick up a handful of grass and I pick up a blade and I start talking to it. A lot of people in New York do that. And I pick up that blade of grass and I say, Blade, what was your life all about? Just a moment ago you were flourishing. You were green. You had roots. You drank in the rain and here I came. I'd cut you down if I didn't. My wife said I wouldn't get supper. And I cut you down and now look, you're withering and you're gone. What quality of life did you have while you existed? Was it worth it all for the little time that you lived? You were dirt green and now you're cut off. You're withered. You're going to die. You're going to be burned. You're gone. Was it worth it? You say, well, that's silly. In 1 Peter 1.24 I read, For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower thereof falls away. You know, the Bible says our life is like a vapor that appears and is suddenly gone. Have you ever been out on a cold day and huffed and puffed and you saw the vapor? It's there and suddenly it's gone. In comparison to eternity, in light of eternity, our life is just a breath. It's a vapor. It's a blade of grass that flourishes for a moment. It cuts down and it's withered and it's gone. That's this physical body. It's absolutely wasted. Most of civilization is just that. Most of society is just that. You see all of these people, the multitudes, and they're like blades of grass. And the Scripture says death is going to come and cut them all down. And they're going to go to the ground and they're going to wither. And the question is, what was the purpose? Why were they here? My wife and I just returned from a few days in Florida for vacation. We were in St. Petersburg, Tampa area, and then over to Orlando. And, of course, all I saw in St. Petersburg, it's a beautiful city, all I saw were black horses going up and down because there were so many retired people dying. And you saw these long, I said, honey, I never want to live here. My goodness, look at all the horses. My wife and I have a hobby. It's called people watching. All you wives, you go to a restaurant, you don't eat the food, you're just looking. My wife is addicted to people watching. She tries to figure out what kind of work they do, whether they're divorced or married or they're happy. And 99 times out of her, she's wrong. But we went to Epcot Center while we were there. And we did, most of the time, sit on benches doing our thing. How many times can you ride one of those little things? And we're sitting there just enjoying watching people. But it hit me so hard, like a thunderclap. All these people, the multitudes going by, you couldn't find many happy. Very few smiles, especially at the end of the day, when they're getting on the tram, going to the automobiles. Everybody has that long look. And after all of this trying to find happiness and peace, I got to thinking, most of these people don't know Jesus. Most of them are going to die. They're going to be lost. And if you went up to 99% of these people and say, are you ready to meet God? Do you know Jesus? The majority of them say, well, I don't want to talk about it. I'm alright in my own way. I've got my own religion. They don't even want to hear, they don't want to talk about it. And yet the Bible makes it clear that they're like grass, and they're going to be cut down and withered. And you know, I saw people, many of them, if you would sit and listen to them, they're talking about Social Security, they're talking about their aches and pains. And I saw many people who live, elderly people, who are living for their evening meal out, the big things about me. And they're talking about the food. And they're talking about the weather. There's no eternal value. There's no eternal hope. And the majority of them are waiting to die. And it gets a hold of you. God, what's the reason? What's the purpose? There's no divine purpose. There's nothing divine about it. They're living for this day. They have wasted, many of them absolutely wasted their time, wasted their days. He said, even if by strength we could live four score years, 80 years, He said, it'd still be vanity, it'd still be a whiff of smoke. Oh, folks, how quickly life is changing now. My wife's mother is 90, I think 94 years old. And she told Gwen, when she's in her 60s, she says, honey, when you're in your 60s, time goes so fast. And when you get in your 80s, it slows down. You get in your 90s, it crawls. Well, for me right now, at 58 years of age, time is just speeding by. I don't know if you've noticed it. Do any of you young people notice that time goes fast? No, you're in school, I know. He said, no. How old are you? 12, I thought, 12, time is dragging. Can't wait for Christmas, can't wait for the holidays. Everything slows down. Well, for me, it's going so fast, I can't keep up with it. We went off for 10 days rest, and at the end I said, honey, I thought we just got here yesterday. Where'd that 10 days go? How many have seen time go a little faster for you? Anybody see? Oh, look at all the elderly people raising their hands. Take, for example, Donald Trump. Now, here's a billionaire with the world at his feet. He's got a $35 million yacht. He has a $15 million penthouse. He's got a private 727 jetliner. He's got an airline. He owns the shuttle. He has a string of hotels. He's got three children. He has a pretty wife, and evidently that's not enough. Because overnight, that empire is beginning to crumble. But I want you to take a good look the next time you see his face in the picture, because he boasted two days ago in the paper, he's trying to explain why women were attracted to him. He says, because I'm six feet two, I'm good looking, and I have a good body. And he said, I've got power. Well, I'll tell you what, buy one of those newspapers, listen to the quote, and put it away, said the Lord, Terry, for 15, 20 years. And then come back and take a look at a man whose face would be puffed out. You'll see a man who may be bankrupt. You will see a whole different story in just a few short years that all changes. It's all gone. It's all gone. It's all over. Let them enjoy it while they can, because it's all grass. And it's going to be cut down, cast into the fire, and burned. I had a man tell me, he was in my office, he had just driven down the highway there where Trump keeps his yacht, and had a helicopter up there, and he was telling me, he says, well Steve, I drove down there today, and I looked at that yacht, and I got so mad, I got so mad at that man having all that money, and I have so little. He said, I'm telling you, I wanted that yacht, I wanted that. He was angry that Donald Trump had all that money. Folks, don't envy Donald Trump, pray for him. And all the others like him who thought money would buy happiness, now you know he doesn't have it. Those people cry themselves to sleep, except when they're drunk. That's speaking in particular of Donald Trump, but those in that same field. A few months ago, I'm talking about how quickly things change. Drexel Burdum was one of the great houses here of wealth on Wall Street. They had 10,000 employees, they had a hotshot trader named Milliken, who last, the year before, made $500,000 worth of bonuses, a half billion, 500 million, a half billion dollars in one year bonuses. And I'll tell you what, down at the Drexel, at Drexel Burdum's headquarters, a big glass castle down there, these young executives, their little bags came like royalty. They raced in and out of that lobby like royalty. They were boasting about their condos in Aspen, Colorado. Their wives knew $35,000 fur coats. They were talking about their third and fourth homes in Italy and Switzerland. They were boasting about their multi-multi-thousand dollar bonuses. They thought it would never end. Drexel Burdum was the number one junk bond house in America. And they were riding high. Their parties were something to behold, costing multiplied millions of dollars. In fact, the newspaper said that their men acted and lived like royalty. Last week it all came down with a crash. Americans' worth, value, money-wise, is going down the tubes. And last week, I don't know if you caught it or not, it was in the newspaper, there was a picture of those same executives. They couldn't even get out of the lobby because they had security forces down there and they had to line up and be checked. And one man said, last week we owned the city, this week they treat us like common criminals. And it was something to behold the look on the faces of those businessmen as these security guards that they wouldn't even give the time of day to just a week before are now saying, you can't move, get in line, buster. Overnight, most of them lost half their wealth because it was in stock with the company. And now Drexel Burnham is bankrupt. I think we have a lady in the choir, don't we, that lost her job. You just lost a job from Drexel Burnham. We're praying you another job. Amen. Hallelujah. Lord, do it. Give her another job. She doesn't want to be with this bankrupt people anyhow. Drexel Burnham, last year the number one, that was a house of grass. A house of grass. It's been cut down, it's gone, it's withered. We're also witnessing some awesome changes in the world, aren't we? You know, President Bush was asked the question, what does it mean? What's the meaning of all these changes in Eastern Europe and Russia? He said, I don't know. He said, it's absolutely astounding. He said, it's unbelievable. Who could imagine such changes in such a short time? He doesn't know. Gorbachev doesn't know because he's just a pawn in God's hand. He's doing exactly what God's stirring up his heart to do. But you see, a lot of people are asking, what's the meaning of all these governments crumbling, the communist governments that are crumbling? Let me talk about that for just a minute. Daniel was called to interpret a dream for King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar saw a huge image of four parts. The head of this huge image was made of gold. Its breast and its arms were made of silver. Its belly and its thighs were made of brass. The legs and the feet were made of iron and the toes were made of clay. And there was a bit of mixture toward the bottom, but the toes were made of clay. And I'm not going to get into the prophetic meaning of all of these different empires. All we've got to know is that at the end, the last government, the last society, the last part of this great image, ten toes made of clay. And there's mixture. There's iron and there's clay. That's all that's holding up the whole superstructure of history. All the historical, from Nebuchadnezzar on down, Cyrus, all of these empires. There's going to be one final empire. It's going to be divided, according to Daniel. It's going to be part iron and part clay. Now, keep in mind that there was an iron curtain and that the flag of Russia is the iron hammer and the iron circle. And keep in mind that this is a young nation and it has been a nation of clay. An absolute nation of clay, but it's not just America. It's the whole final society, the last government. And Daniel began to interpret this dream for Nebuchadnezzar. And he said, the feet of this image, O king, in your dream, there were ten toes made of clay. And he said there was a mountain and a big stone was formed, made without hands. And it came rolling out of the mountain and it fell and it crushed the toes and the feet of that great image and it fell and it crumbled. Do you know who that stone is? It is Jesus. In fact, if you go to Daniel with me, if you will please, I want you to just see this before... I just want to touch on it before we go any further. Daniel, the second chapter. Second chapter of Daniel. You'll see clearly that we're living in a day when the fulfillment is being fulfilled right before our very eyes tonight. We are seeing the fulfillment of Daniel's vision. And I want you to go to Daniel 2 verse 41 to begin to read. And he's speaking, interpreting, speaking to Nebuchadnezzar. And whereas thou sawest the feet and the toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom. That's the last kingdom before Jesus comes. We're living in that time. God shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure. Brother, sister, look at me. Daniel's right. This dream is sure. It's certain. The interpretation thereof shall come to pass in the last days. A stone will come rolling down out of the cosmos. A stone. The kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. And that kingdom is going to break every other kingdom. And these kingdoms are being broken before our very eyes. That stone fell in Romania and overnight it was changed. It fell in Moscow and overnight it's changed. It's rolling all through Russia now. All the satellites of Russia. It's rolling a mighty stone. It's crushing everything. It rolled right over the iron curtain. It's going to turn and roll over the bamboo curtain. Brother, sister, China's going to be wide open. Tibet's going to be open. Every Chinese country's going to be open because the stone is rolling. The kingdom of God is going to remove everything that stands in the way of the gospel being preached to the world before Jesus comes. All the walls are coming down. The stone is rolling. It's rolling. It's amazing. You can go right down here near Wall Street and you can buy, for four dollars now, you can buy a brick from the iron curtain. They're selling those bricks all over the world. The Lord crushed it so good enough He splattered it all over the world. Gorbachev is... God stirred Cyrus, a heathen king, and caused the children of Israel to go back to their home country. And the reason God is rolling, that stone is rolling and crushing everything in sight, because over a half million Jews already have either left or planning to leave and return from these countries they couldn't leave till now. The doors are open to the gospel. The doors are open to the Jews to go back. Back. In fact, you can find that in Isaiah 51 if you want to turn there with me. Isaiah 51, and you'll see why those curtains are coming down, those governments are collapsing. Isaiah 51, verse 17 beginning to read, Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which is drunk at the hand of the Lord, the cup of His fury. You've drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and you've wrung them out. There's none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth. Look on down, verse 20. This is how the Jews have been treated behind their own curtain. Thy sons have fainted. They lie at the head of all the streets as a wild bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted and drunken, but not with wine. Thus saith the Lord, the Lord thy God, that pleadeth the cause of His people. Behold, I've taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury. Thou shall no more drink it again, but I will put it into the hand of them that afflicted thee, which have said to thyself, bow down, that we may go over. In other words, God's saying, they walked all over you, now I'm going to tear the walls down. And the cup of trembling you've been drinking, I give it to them. And these governments are trembling. They're drinking the dregs of this trembling right now. Every communist government, even yesterday, you heard it. The Cuban dictator now is absolutely beside himself, and now he's talking about having some openness and another party to rise up in Cuba. Brother, sister, it's not going to be more than a year or so before there'll be open doors to Cuba, and there'll be revivals all over Cuba, there'll be a revival coming to Cuba, because God's tearing down all the walls. You can kiss goodbye to Noriego, kiss goodbye to Castro. Goodbye Castro, because the stone is rolling. You know what the Lord is saying to his bride? Get ready, because I'm tearing down all the walls. It's high time to awake. Trim your lamps, get a good supply of oil, and make every day count now. Make every day count, because time is short. Now I asked the Lord in prayer this week, Lord, how do I make my days count? I'm getting up close to 60 now, and you said if you promised me 70, and if by good health, and I don't have much of that, so I'll be satisfied with 70. But I began to really search my, oh God, I want every day to count. I don't want to waste any time. How can I do that? You see, first of all, it's the common belief among many Christians that the way to make your time count best is become a sacrificial missionary, a sacrificial offering of your physical life, and go maybe to China, or to Belgium, Congo, or South Africa, where they're having turmoil, and go to some troubled spot, or some poverty-stricken nation, and spend your life. The idea is that a missionary who goes to a far-off troubled spot has a greater quality of life, that his time counts more, and that his days mean more to him than those of us who live here in America. Now, first of all, let me tell you, we've been commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And there is a special joy, there's a special unction that God gives those who give themselves as missionaries. And we've been sending missionaries out of this church around the world, and we're praying for many, many more. Our purpose is not to hold people. Our purpose is to conform you to the image of Jesus and ask you to go into all the world and preach the gospel. But just going to some exotic country or some troubled spot will not give you quality of time in itself. I've met many missionaries who are not making their days count. In fact, the Bible says many, many will come in the last days saying, Lord, we've done mighty works, cast out devils, healed the sick. But the Lord said, you wasted your life, you wasted your time, I didn't even know you. They were so busy working for Jesus, they didn't take the time to know Him. They didn't know Him, they worked for Him, but didn't know Him. I know a lot of people like that. They'll go anywhere, do anything for anybody, they'll give the very clothes off their back that they don't know the Lord. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. No, it's not in going someplace or doing something great or special that gives the meaning to your time. It can, but that in itself will not do it. Well, there are others who believe that they can make their days count if they spend all their time subduing the lust of the flesh. And Pastor Bob dealt with that very well this morning. In fact, their whole time is in this struggle to get victory over some overwhelming lust or passion, something that's in their heart and they struggle and struggle and they bite the bullet. And if they get victory through one day, they go for all their waking hours, say 12, 15 hours, and they didn't fall. They feel good, they feel religious. They feel very spiritual. I made it through another day, hallelujah! They feel good. If they fail the next day, they lose their religion, they lose all their hope and they say, it's all over, here I go again, sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, confess. And some people spend all their time fighting sin. That's all they do, they fight sin. Now, beloved, we are to resist the devil. There is a resistance, but that is the work of the Holy Spirit through a surrendered, repentant heart, willing to obey, willing to do your part. Yes, there is a part. But there are so many people who really are not getting to know the Lord, they are really not going into this direction of counting their days properly, because just making it through without some failure in your life, that in itself does not make your time count. There are a lot of good people in this world. They don't smoke, they don't drink, they don't curse. In fact, you'd have to dig awful deep to find anything to refend you. But see, that's not the greatest offense. The greatest offense is that we do not believe in the power and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, victory over sin is possible. It's commanded. And you should not have to be fighting sin all your life. There should be a time you enjoy the fellowship of the Lord Jesus, and you'll be able to look the whole world in the eyes and say, I've been set free. I've been set free. Now, like Bob said this morning, the devil will come at you all kinds of ways, but you've got a wall of fire around you, and you've got the glory of Jesus with you. There should be a time where you're not having to drag into church with your head down. You shouldn't have to be talking about the terrible battle you're going through. There ought to be a joy in your heart and a victory in faith in Jesus. But you see, that in itself is not making your days count. Some think, of course, if they had very great discipline in Bible reading and prayer, if I could just become a great Bible reader, if I could just dig in there and know the Word more and pray more, it's almost like paying taxes, paying dues. Well, I owe it. In fact, if I do that, God will do something for me. If I read so many scriptures a day, if I pray half an hour, an hour a day, and we do it out of guilt, we do it almost as though we were forced into it through guilt, or condemned in it. Brother or sister, you could read this Bible all day long and if your heart wasn't in it, you're not making your days count. You could pray until you have no more strength left. You could pray for hours and hours and hours and have no meaning to it whatsoever. In fact, it could be an abomination to the Lord because your heart is not in it. So, that in itself is not the way to make your days count. Now, what is it then? Here it is. The secret of making every day count is to develop a yearning heart for Jesus. A heart that pants after the Lord. Oh, this hit me this week. David said, As the heart of the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. David had a craving for the Lord. Every waking hour, he was longing, yearning, looking, reaching out to the Lord. That's how David made his days count. Alright, let's get into it right now, just as quick as we can. What is a yearning, panting heart? What do I mean by a yearning, panting heart? First of all, it's a heart that cries out from the innermost. There's a cry in this heart. Lord, You're all that I want. You're all that I need. Thank You for my house. Thank You for my family. Thank You for providing a job. Thank You for my health. But oh Lord, this isn't reality. You're the reality. You're all that I want. You're all that I desire. And every waking hour, hundreds of times a day, your heart magnetically is pulled toward Him. And you begin to reach out and long and say, Jesus, You're the one I want. You can walk through Epcot Center and say, Oh Lord Jesus, how sad these people are. It's nice. It's a good day. I enjoy having my wife with me. It's nice to have a day out, a little rest and recreation. But Lord, my heart's not here. It's with You. Oh Lord, the flowers are beautiful. The spring, the birds. But my heart's not here. My heart's with You. David cried out, Oh God. Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee. As in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. David said, I pine for You, oh Lord. I'm longing for You because nothing satisfies me down here anymore. And I tell you what, the more you start yearning for Jesus, the less this world will attract itself to You. It will not be attractive to you anymore. The measure of your yearning will be the measure of the decline of the spirit of this world in your life. As you keep yearning, the world's hankering begins to fall away. Hallelujah. David said, My soul longeth. It even faints for the courts of my Lord. My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God. See, the yearning heart, all day long, countless times, it comes back to thinking upon Him. Now, folks, David said, My heart is like a deer that pants after the water. I'm constantly panting. David said, When I wake, I'm with You. David said, When I'm on my bed at night, I meditate upon Your greatness. And then through the day, he said, Many times a day I call upon You. David's the head of a nation. He's got ambassadors coming from nations around the world. He's got a family. This man leads armies out into battle. This man writes poetry. This man plays instruments. This man is a man of many talents, many interests, very busy man. But see, he doesn't have to just kind of wait till he finds a little half hour in the day he can squeeze in for his Lord. And he squeezes the Lord in as if he made an appointment. Lord, I can put You in here at 4.30 to 5. Lord, after all the days done, I've got from 12 to 12.30. You see, all day long, no matter what David's doing, there's the Queen of Sheba, or rather, there's an ambassador from Ethiopia. He's standing there, and he's talking to David, and David's listening with one ear. But he's got his heart reached out, and he says, Lord, I don't know what this brother wants. Whatever it is, I'll do my best. But oh Lord, my heart's with You. My heart is with You. He goes about doing the best he can. He's faithful, he's just, he's kind. He does a good day's job. But he's constantly yearning, reaching out to the Lord. That's why God said he's a man after my own heart. That's when he chases me. He's after me night and day. He doesn't give me any rest. Every time David turns around, there he is, coming at me. There he is, his heart is reaching out. More and more, this has been my experience. Lord, what a joy it's been to wake up in the morning, go in the bathroom, don't look at the mirror, but get up singing, Jesus, I love You, I long for You this day, because everything I see around here is going to burn, and my life is just grass, and one day I'm going to be cut down, one day a black horse pulls up here, I don't know where it will be for all of us. We'll be laid out, and everybody will be saying, well, he loved the Lord, there's a man of God, or there's a woman of God, and we'll thank God that they finally made it. But oh, brother, sister, until then, I want every day to count, and the way the day counts is that I develop the discipline of a yearning, reaching, panting heart. My heart pants! My heart pines! Lord! Jesus! I need You. The yearning heart has a desire to be disentangled with the world, and all the things of the world. Abraham was a rich man. He'd be a rich man today by our standards. In fact, he was told, everywhere you set your foot is yours, on the land. But you see, Abraham had a yearning heart. He was yearning all the time for Jesus. When he walked around and set his foot, he said, well, that's another three feet of real estate that's mine. That's another fifty bucks in my pocket. That's another yard and a half. Ten acres. Send his sons this way, you get fifty acres this way. He wasn't even thinking of acres. He wasn't thinking of all the cattle. He's a busy man. He can go out with an army and rescue lot. This is a man who has all the business to care for, and yet this man had a heart for Jesus, and that's true by the Lord's own testimony. Jesus said, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced, and was glad in it. Abraham saw my day. He saw me. He looked for a city whose builder and maker was God. He didn't want the real estate down here. He wasn't attracted by all of the wealth that he had. It meant nothing to him. He just so loved God, God just started pouring the blessings upon him. His heart though, constantly reaching out to the Lord. He saw my day and rejoiced in it. Abraham is faithful to me because he yearns after me. Thank God for that yearning heart. Abraham confessed he was a stranger and a pilgrim on earth, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. And I'm afraid a lot of us are going to miss out because we're not strangers. We are not pilgrims. We have dug down our roots. We're down here now thinking about how we're going to make it better. We're trying to dig down. Folks, why are you digging down when it's all going to burn? Why are we digging? Why are we taking roots? Why can't we live as Abraham where our bag's packed? He said, I am passing through. I'm a stranger down here. I'm an alien. Well, so what country are you from? I'm from Zion. The Lord said when he counts up all the names, some will sound from Ethiopia. I'm from Per. And they'll name all their names. He said there'll be a remnant who said these were born in Zion. Folks, I thank God that my citizenship is in holy Zion. That's going to be my eternal home. That's the city whose builder and maker is God. Hallelujah. That's a people washed in the blood who have nothing left but a yearning heart for Jesus. Oh, we have a lot of people who are panting today. They're panting after cars. They're panting after homes. They're panting after money and security. They're panting after all kinds of furniture and things. Their lives are cluttered. They're panting. Yes, they're panting. But David said my heart pants after God. After the Lord. Hallelujah. I've got to confess to you that's one of my battles. I have to confess that you can go into a mall. Well, I'm not a mall rat. You know what a mall rat is? Goes to the mall every day. Spends all their time. They even do their jogging in the mall. They're called mall rats. You don't have them here in Manhattan. But, you know, you see things and there's a tendency to reach out and just take things that we don't need. I've got more stuff that I don't need. Man, three-fourths of the stuff I have is junk. I don't need it. I can't tell you why I bought it. And I'm ashamed I wasted the money. And I've got to pray every day that I don't do it again. And some of you women have a disease. It's called sopping. You know, seriously, if we spent more of our time in a day yearning after the Lord, maybe it would combat some of that stuff that comes out of us. Now, I'm not preaching at you, honey. My wife's learning just like I am. You know, a yearning heart desires to depart and be with the Lord where He is. You know, people think that's morbid. That's not morbid to me. Paul said he had a desire to depart and be with Christ. He said, for I'm now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Now, folks, I don't like to fly. I hate to fly. You know that. I hate it as much as television. Jesus said, lo, I am with you. That was dumb. Forgive me, Lord. And I got on the plane yesterday. And I sat back and I said, Lord, I have a desire to be with you. And I meant it. It didn't matter to me anymore. And I think He's given me victory over that fear of flying. And I'll tell you why. Because more and more I can say I'm ready to be offered. See, when I was younger, so much I wanted to do yet. And now I just want to know. I want to know Him. I want to yearn and hunger after Him. Peter, you listen to his words. He said, looking to and hasting, earnestly yearning for the coming of the day of the Lord. He was constantly yearning and looking for it. Before I close, I've got to say this to you. Listen closely. A yearning heart is so important to God, He's going to do whatever is necessary to guard it. He'll do whatever He has to do to bring you there and then to guard it. Now, if you truly love the Lord tonight, you've got a heart for God. He's not going to give you any rest until He brings you into this discipline of the yearning heart. Now, here's how He does it. First of all, He'll create a need if we don't have a need. A lot of people don't have a need. They have all the money they want, they have everything, and they don't have a need. But God has a way of creating need. You know, that's because my God shall supply all your need. Oh yeah, there's another side to that. He'll create a need. I'll supply a need in you for me. It's been the history of God's people that when they're blessed, they forget the Lord. But just when wax fat or kicked, thou waxen fat and you've grown thick, thou are covered with fatness. Then He forsook God which made Him, and lightly esteemed the rock of His salvation. God has ways, though, of creating need. God said to Israel, I'll hide myself from you for a while. He hid His face from Israel, and I will see what their end will be. I will heap mischief upon them. And sometimes that mischief falls into our life, things that we don't understand, and God's knocking on the door, slapping the wrist out of love, saying, hey, come back. I'm going to show you how empty it's going to be. I'm going to show you how futile it is. Let's see what you do when you don't have My presence with you. He said, I'll never leave you forsaken. There's a sense of His hiding. He said, I'll just try to see where you're going to take yourself, to see if you want to come back in hunger and thirst after Me so that your needs can be met. And the second thing that He does to guard this yearning heart and to bring it into discipline is to disquiet the heart, disquiet the heart. David had something come on him indescribable. He couldn't explain it. He loved the Lord, he was seeking the Lord to a measure, but there was something happened to David. He said, O my soul, why art thou disquieted within me? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? You'll find it three or four times, David saying, what's happened to me? There was an indescribable thing that hit him. He didn't know where it came from. He didn't know the cause of it. He said, O my soul, why do you feel like you do? Why is this emptiness? You love God. Why this emptiness? Why this disquietness within you? And you'll find David reaching out to God. But you know, God allowed that in David's life. God permitted that in his life because I call that disquietness of the soul His magnet. It's a magnetic pull. And some of you know what I'm talking about. You go along, you love the Lord, but you're not really diligent. You're not reaching out. You're not yearning after Him. Your life gets so busy and so complicated. And suddenly you realize you've been neglecting Him even days on end. Or you come to church and all. But you realize that your heart's not been yearning. And there'll be something hit you you can't explain. There'll be a loneliness you can't explain. And you'll be saying like David, O my soul, why are you disturbed? Why are you disquieted within me? And that's God, that upside-downness of God's working. Where God is magnetically trying to pull you back. He's trying to show you what it would be without Him. And He's trying to say come back to the yearning heart. Come back to the longing. And then you hear this. Teach us to number our days that we may delight ourselves in the Lord. Number our days that we may seek after wisdom. What is wisdom? That's Jesus. He is our strength and He is our wisdom. That we would seek after Him. And there's a warning I want to give before I close. When this disquietness comes upon us. And it is God trying to bring us back. And I tell you, God will do everything within His power. To bring you back to that searching, seeking, hungry, thirsty heart. Where you're reaching out to Him. Because that's the secret of pushing everything else out of your life. He doesn't do it because of some selfish purpose even though He's a jealous God. He does it because He knows that's the health of our countenance. He knows that's the security against the inroads of Satan in our lives. To be able to walk through life, through hell itself, through everything that's thrown at you at the job. And have a heart every waking hour that yearns after Jesus. But there's a warning. There's a warning. When that restlessness comes. You should be able to say to Him, Uh oh. Lord I hear you. I hear you. I'm coming. And go right into the secret closet. Or stop even if you can't get into the secret closet. Say, Jesus stop it right now. And just start beginning to think upon the things of the Lord. Begin to reach out. You can be on the bus. You can be on the subway. You can be anywhere. And let your heart just set yourself in right there. And start reaching out and say, Oh Lord this is not my home. This world is passing. I'm just passing through. And begin to disengage yourself. Disentangle yourself. And begin to reach out to the Lord. And if you don't. Your heart will turn to despair. That's when despair and depression comes in. Because God called you. Magnetically trying to pull you back. And you didn't respond. So He just has to give you a little more rope. And you go into despair. Until you hit rock bottom. And I'll tell you He's still there at rock bottom. I've had a saying. You know. You hit rock bottom. You bump into the Lord. And finally God will make you sick and tired. Of everything in your life that stands in the way. He'll make you so sick and tired. You get so wrapped up in doing. You've just got to have something. And you get it. And there's going to be such joy. And it makes you miserable. And every way you look. Nothing satisfies you anymore. Your heart's disquieted. And nothing you touch seems to satisfy anymore. Because the Lord's saying. I'm the only one that's going to satisfy you. I'm the satisfaction of your life. Give me your yearning heart. I'll give you all that you need. To live for me in this last day. This past week. While on vacation. Into the wee hours of the morning. It was just a joy. Even just laying on the bed finally. And I'm not boasting. But till the wee hours of the morning. Do you ever know what it's like to just lay in bed. And so focus on Jesus. And let your heart reach out to Him. You say something like this. Lord. It's not very long now. And I'm going to be with you. It won't be long now Lord Jesus. Till you're everything in my being. I'm going to be with you. All this world is passing away. What's Disney World? What's Epcot? What's New York? It's all going to be ashes. It's all going to be gone. But Lord Jesus. You're the reality. And to reach out. You can just reach out and touch Him. And He's there. And then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. It's that reaching that's the highest form of prayer. It's that yearning that pleases the Father more than anything else. Do you want to make your days count? Spend your days yearning. Longing. Pining after Jesus. I'm so hungry for Him. I'm so pining for Him right now. Oh I went to God. He could take me this moment. I could say with Paul for your sake it's better that I remain. Because I still feel I have a job to do. And I love my beautiful wife Gwen. But I would part with her just like that for a moment. Because He's my joy. He's my life. He's my all in all. She knows that. And I expect that of her. Hallelujah. Because over there we won't be marrying. We'll know each other but not as husbands and wives. We'll know each other in a way I'm sold beyond all that. But I tell you what's going to happen. He's going to satisfy this yearning once and for all. They that hunger and thirst shall be filled. Hallelujah. And when I get to glory I'm going to be full. Because I'll be able to look Jesus in the face and say, Master, I've spent my days, my last days I spent yearning after you. I woke up hungry. I disciplined myself. And I kept working at it until more and more that hunger grew and grew. Until people could see it. Until it changed my life. Until you were so, the picture of you so filled everything else. Everything looked insignificant in comparison. I could look in your face and have such a longing to be with you. Everything else pales. Isn't that what you want? God, give us a yearning heart. It's not going to happen by accident. You're going to have to make the discipline. Oh, God, I'm going to bring every thought into captivity, the obedience of Jesus. And you can start right now. Get on your feet with me, please. You can start right now. I want you to close your eyes and raise your hand and say, Jesus, give me a yearning heart after you. Give me a heart that longs and hungers and thirsts after you. Fill my heart with you, Jesus. Lord, do that for this people tonight. Fill this house with a yearning, a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness. A hunger after you, Jesus. You're all in all. Lord, this world is grass. Life itself is grass. It's passing away. But, oh, Jesus, we live forever with you. Ever and ever in eternity with you. Hallelujah. Now, the balcony here on the main floor. If your heart's been dry and empty and lonely, you say, Brother David, I do want the Lord. I know in my heart I want him. I'm reaching out to him. But all the devil's tried to destroy that love, destroy that. I don't know if you've neglected the Lord or not, but something's been standing in the way. Why don't you come down here tonight and confess it and get it out and say, Jesus, put in my heart a yearning for you. Wherever you're at, up in the balcony here on the main floor. Father, in Jesus' name, send conviction. There's some here tonight, Lord, that don't know you at all. Others, Lord, that have grown cold and dry. Others, Lord, that have been drifting from you. Lord Jesus, others have been attached to the things of this world. They're all wrapped up in some problems and financial matters. And it's distracted them from you, Jesus. They're distracted tonight. Oh, Holy Spirit, come and speak to hearts all over this building tonight. Lord, we want to see people come and get things right with you tonight. Hallelujah. Now, up in the balcony at the main floor, just listen to me, please, while I speak the mind of the Holy Spirit. I really believe there are people here tonight that need to open up to the Lord Jesus, because in reality, your heart's not been opened where it should be. It's not been opened to the moving and the dealing of the Holy Spirit. And I want you to follow these that are up here right now while the choir is singing in just a moment. Up in the balcony, go to any one of the stairs, either side, come down any aisle, and maybe say, we're going to believe God for a miracle in your heart tonight. Is there, are you one of those who has that cast-down, disquieted heart? And you say, there's a disturbing inside of me, David. But there's a disturbance in me, and I want God to take that disturbance out. I want Him to settle my spirit. I want Him to touch me tonight. Come and join these that are here. As the lowly deer that is poor The water so my soul will add to Thee You alone are my heart's desire You alone are my hope to worship You You alone are my strength, my shield To You alone are my spirit healed You alone are my heart's desire And I long to worship You As the lowly deer that is poor The water so my soul will add to Thee You alone are my heart's desire And I long to worship You You alone are my strength, my shield To You alone are my spirit healed The conclusion of the tape.