In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of not wasting time and being motivated to make a difference in the world. He encourages the audience to seek a pastor who will challenge and convict them rather than just entertain them. The speaker shares personal stories of how his own life was transformed by his faith in Jesus and his dedication to hard work. He also highlights the urgency of spreading the message of Christ and calls for the church to rise up and take action in these critical times. The sermon references Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Jesus' words in John 9:4 to emphasize the need to work diligently while there is still time.

When I first gave my heart to Jesus, 34 years ago, I read a scripture that changed me for the remainder of my life. 34 years ago, I read one scripture, and it so affected me. It was like this rain of word coming alive inside of me. And it shocked me. And it's one of the reasons that Jerry and I have been able to accomplish so much over the years. Some of you that are watching at home, we've been in your nation. Many people have come up to me over the years and have said this, Why do you work so hard? Why do you work the way you work? Dave Reaver, who works hard, travels all over the place. While he was visiting at the Brownsville Revival, he was just astonished that I was preaching every single night of the week for 5 years. Preparing a brand new message every single day. Dog tired, because the services lasted from 5 to 7 hours, each one. Then get up in the morning, prepare another message, go that night, do it again. Many of you know who Bill Wilson is. Bill Wilson in from New York to minister to our kids. He said, how many kids are you going to have? And I said, a lot. He said, but they don't know me. I said, Bill, it doesn't matter. We have a lot of kids. When Bill came down, I had 10,000 kids waiting on him in a city park. And he was just blown away by these 10,000 kids. Where do you get 10,000 kids? You get them by working. Going door to door. Banging on doors. Going into the neighborhoods. Advertising. It's work. It's hard work. And so immediately after I received Christ, and those of you in Teen Challenge, let me tell you something. Teen Challenge is like a boot camp for Jesus. Once you graduate, you keep moving forward. You don't go backwards. There's nothing back there, man. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus came to give you life and life in abundance. And that's why many of you feel so good right now. Because you're off the drugs, you're off the lifestyle, you're off the crime. You got a clear conscience. Keep it that way and get to work for Jesus. Now you say, well, Pastor Steve, you've been in the ministry. Everybody's in the ministry. Look at me. Everybody's in the ministry. It doesn't matter what kind of work you do. You can do all kinds of work. And that's all fantastic. But you work, and that's your bread and butter. But the bottom line is you serve the Lord. And you volunteer in the church, and you do things for God. Is anybody paying attention today? You make time for the things of God. And so I want to share with you this scripture. And those of you listening at home, if you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you online, you're listening by computer online, you can find all kinds of Bibles. Read the Word of God, but write this text down. Many of you may have heard it before in Psalm 90, verse 10. Turn there with me. Psalm 90, verse 10. Psalm 90, verse 10 says this. The days of our lives are 70 years. And if by reason of strength, they are 80 years. Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. And verse 12 says this. Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Okay, when I first read that, I was 22 years old. I was 22. Now, I don't know how old you are. Some of you are past 80. Some of you are past 70. Some of you are 65, 68. It makes no difference. See, you can live long. You can live longer than 80 years. And so, you may live longer. But eventually, should the Lord not return, you're going to go up in the rapture or you're going to go the other way. Okay? And so, eventually, you're going to die. Everyone's going to die. And so, this may not affect you the way it affected me. But it affected me in a major way because I had wasted a lot of years. Look at me. Wasted the prime of my life from like 10 and 11 all the way to 22 years old. I had wasted on drugs and alcohol and crime and jail and just wasted on relationships. Wasted my life. Now, you may say, well, that's not me. I'm not wasting my life. Just pay attention, okay? Because every one of us in this room can do better. And everyone that's watching at home can do better. Now, I've entitled this, The Days of Your Flesh. The Days of Your Flesh. Now, for the young people here, let me give you another scripture. Ecclesiastes 12 verse 1 says this, Remember now the Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh. Why is it that most young people, after they leave high school and leave the home and go off into the world, something like 90% of them never return back to Christianity. They get sucked into the world. Why? They never ever knew the Creator of their youth. They never ever got to know Jesus. That's why we're so into relationships. And I'm fine with churches that have ping pong tables and pool tables and games and stuff like that. But you can't grow youth with games. They got to have encounters. And they got to hear about sin. And they got to hear about sexual sin. And they got to be pricked in their conscience and make a decision that they're going to live for God and they're not going to live in sin. How many are agreeing with me right now? That's the way it is. I used to speak in high schools all the time. They would bring me as a pastor, as a preacher, into high schools. And I preached to 1,000, 1,500, up to one of them was 3,000 students at the same time. And it was shocking to me, but they wanted me to talk to the students. I couldn't talk about Jesus, but I could talk about my transformed life. And I could talk to them about the dangers of wasting their lives. And so, these scriptures, among many others, began to shape the man who became Steve Hill, the evangelist, the pastor. Ecclesiastes 9, verse 10 says, Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave where you will go. What did Jesus say? I must work while it is day, for the night comes when no man can work. Jesus knew that his days were numbered. That he had 33 years on this planet. And he had a job to perform. And so, he didn't have time to build a church. He didn't have time to build a tabernacle. He didn't have time to do this and to do that. He was heading towards the cross. Heading towards Calvary. I can feel his presence on this, folks. Now, the days of your flesh. When you mention flesh, most people think of, you know, sin or the fleshly man. Or they'll think of the flesh of an animal. And most of the time when you see flesh in the Old Testament, that's what it's talking about. But in the New Testament, when you talk about flesh, you're talking about that carnal nature. That carnal nature. That constant tug of war between God and you. Martin Luther said, my greatest problem, it's not the church. He said, it's the great pope, me. Martin Luther said, my biggest problem is me. We're the ones. We are the ones that tug in war with God. We are the ones that say, you know, I want to do this. I want to do that. This is where I want to go. This is what I want to do with my life. And you know, and those of you listening at home, pay attention to this. You know how quick life can go by. I'm 56 now. And 56 to many people is young. But let me tell you, I'm 14 years away from 70. 14 years, you say, well that's 14. 14 years is like from the Brownsville Revival to now. Just like that. Now I'm planning on living to 180, but that's different. You know, it doesn't matter. It's still 14 years. Some of you are 70 and above. Take heed to these scriptures. I pray that you live a long life. And I pray that you're following the will of God in your life. Jesus said in Mark 14, 38, Watch and pray, lest you enter in temptation. For the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. These scriptures have been the driving force in me. When Jerry and I first got married, we worked like dogs in the ministry. She worked in a girl's home. I worked in a men's home. Then we started youth pastoring. The first thing we did is we took a city and we mapped out the city and blocked it off into little bitty squares. Gridded the city. And I said to the board of directors of the church, As the youth pastor and evangelism pastor of this church, we are going to visit every single home in this city, the city of 100,000. Every single home. I'm going to make sure that everyone in this city knows Jesus loves them and has a plan for their life. This wasn't part of my job description. And he looked like I was on the moon. But Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. And so what was I to do? Go after the lost. So we did that. And then worked in another church. Then we went down to Mexico. And I cried my eyes out as we met so many people that didn't know the Lord. And before long we were in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica we were there to learn Spanish. And we discovered how hard it was going to be to learn Spanish. So Jerry and I had our little home. Had a little puppy dog. Had our little classes that we went to. And we realized we're not going to learn Spanish. There's no way. It's too hard in the classroom. So we packed up all our stuff and we moved in to a home where they didn't speak any English. We just lived with the Costa Ricans. And people called us crazy. And they said, why are you doing that? And I said, because I want to preach in Spanish. And within five months I was preaching in Spanish. What was that? Why? And as soon as we hit Argentina they said, take a year to get to know the culture. I said, what? A year to get to know the culture? They said, don't start a church right off. Take a year to get to know the culture. I said, I can't take a year to get to know the culture. I'll get to know the culture by planting a church. So we immediately planted a church. And then another one, and then another one. At one time we had three churches going up at the same time. The actual buildings going up. Why? Because I've numbered my days. I've numbered my days. And I want to get as much done as I can while I'm here. And if God gives me another 30 years I am going to burn the candle on both ends. I'll never burn out. I don't know what burning out is. When you're working for Jesus, you can't burn out. When you're working for man, you will always burn out. Man will always let you down. Jesus will never let you down. So what's Steve Hill going to do during the days of his flesh? Everyone in this room, you've got to answer that question. I don't know what you came to hear today. But we are in critical times in the United States of America. And it's time for the church to arise. We've had enough fun. We sang a few minutes ago. I'm sorry for what I've made worship. We worship, worship. Can't wait for the latest CD to come out. The newest this, the newest that. Oh, I just love that song. So do I. It's wonderful. But what are we going to do? Do we spend two, three, four decades of our life memorizing Christian songs? And never win a soul to Jesus? Never get involved in the youth ministry or the outreach ministry, the prison ministry? You all here? I'm extremely happy. I just want to drop a word in your heart, okay? While preparing this message, I knew that there would be a strong temptation to wander off my God-given path. And pursue side issues. That would be relevant to today's subject. In every sermon preparation that happens, you can so easily get off track. But I know this is so important to preach on. Jesus is my example, and he never, ever wandered off the path. How many have had Jesus Christ change their life? Raise your hand. You know what you did? You yielded yourself to the Lord. Your flesh bowed. When I gave up smoking, drinking, and partying, my flesh died. And I was one of those, when I first came to Christianity, I didn't know what any of this terminology meant. You know? And I remember when a man in Teen Challenge, a young guy goes, My old man's dead! Glory to God! And another guy goes, I killed my old man tonight at the altar! I had never heard those terms before. You know, talking about the flesh. Man, what a violent group. But you know, many of you know here, and I love studying the great men and women of old. And I just did this just for my own personal knowledge. But George Whitefield shook the world. He died at 56 years of age. Jonathan Edwards. You know, sinners in the hands of an angry God. The sermon I carry everywhere I go. I'm never without it. The greatest sermon that's ever been preached outside of the Sermon on the Mount. As far as the most recognized sermon in the world. Sinners in the hands of an angry God. Shook America. He died at 55. John Wesley, 88. Susanna Wesley, 73. Richard Baxter, 76. Robert Murray McShane, my favorite pastor of all time. 29 years of age, he died. Leonard Ravenhill, who mentored me, 86 years old. Charles Spurgeon died at 58. Dwight L. Moody, 62. Here's a man, when he was 19 years old, he was working in a shoe shop. And a man, a Sunday school teacher came in, led him to Jesus. And Dwight L. Moody became one of the most incredible men of God that this nation's ever seen. And Europe has ever seen. As a matter of fact, when he went to Europe, they had to build buildings to hold the crowds. He had the largest Sunday school in the history of America. Abe Lincoln went and spoke at his Sunday school. Dwight L. Moody, awesome. Awesome man of God. It's amazing how much he accomplished. 62 years of age. Ira Sankey, he is song leader. 68 years. William Gurnall, if you've read The Christian in Complete Armor, David Wilkerson gave me that book. And it will absolutely transform you. The Christian in Complete Armor. William Gurnall wrote that back in the 1650, around 1650. 62 years of age. George Mueller, the great orphanage in England, died at 42 years of age. David Brainerd, the great missionary to the Indians, died at 30. John Flavel, one of my favorite writers of all time, lived back in the 1600s. 64 years of age. Matthew Henry's commentary, 52 years. Then some contemporary people that we'll recognize. Bill Bright, 82 years of age. And I was at his deathbed in his apartment in Orlando. Many of you remember this. They called me down there. And I was down at his deathbed in Orlando. And his bed was covered with books. And covered with projects. And he looked at me and he said, We've got to plant 2 million churches. And I said, Brother Bill, rest. He was on oxygen. And had all these books he was writing. They were all over his bed. Here's a man who knew how to number his years. Number his days. He knew that he had to get something done in his life. Billy Joe Dougherty, 57 years of age. Oral Roberts, 91, lived long. John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, died at 60. Freda Lindsay is 95 years of age. Keith Green died at 29. What about you? How much time do we have? Do you care? Does it matter? It does to me. Because when the Lord comes back for me or when He calls me home, I want Him to see me working. Making a difference. It's amazing how people have caught what I'm talking about. And they grasp the urgency. Many of you that are in business, you're in business so you can give to the work of God. And as you're in the work of God, you're pouring into the work of God, God blesses your business. Why? Because the only thing that matters is His kingdom. His kingdom. Church planting. People being saved. People being nurtured. A lady came to me one time and she had $7 million she was about to inherit. And I asked the pastor, I said, is this for real? He said, yeah, they're about to inherit $7 million. And the Lord said to me, He just spoke to me clearly, don't touch it. And so I sat with her and her sister and another person in the back room. And they said, Brother Steve, we're about to get $7 million and we want to give the large portion of it to a ministry. And they said, we just want some counsel. And I said, whatever you do, give that money to a ministry that's winning souls. Don't give that money to just a feeding program. Don't give that money to just a place that purifies water. Because what's going to happen is, yeah, they'll live. Then they'll die and go to hell. Or they'll live and become Muslims. Or they'll live and become Hindus. You give the water with the gospel. We used to do all that kind of stuff, bring all the medical ministries in and all these doctors. And at one time we had 4,000 people standing in line to be ministered to by these doctors. And no one could get through the line without receiving Christ as Savior. Every one of them, man. And it wasn't hounding them, we were asking every single one of them, do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? We're going to minister to you either way. But do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Confrontational. And the doctors rejoiced that here we were, missionaries that really wanted to do what we were supposed to be doing. And that was the whole purpose for them coming down there, was to see the kingdom. Why? They wanted their life to matter. How many here you want your life to matter? It's difficult. It's hard. It's hard crucifying the flesh. I said it's hard crucifying the flesh. Back in the days of Genesis, the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years. And then it's been reduced down to 70 or 80. I'm surprised God hasn't reduced it to 30. Why? We waste time. Now I've got a lot of pages here. I'm just going to flip them and just share a couple things with you. Then we're going to close this service. I believe I've gotten the majority of my point across. This is what motivates me. See, if you're looking for a pastor who's going to stand up and just tickle you, you don't need that. You can watch that on TV. Okay? I want people to speak to me. I want to be spoken to. Okay? And we get the e-mails of people that they write back and they say, Your message changed my life. Turned me around. It convicted me. Did this, did that. There may be people in this room, you don't know the Lord, you've never known the Lord, or you've backslid. I want you to know in just a few minutes, you're going to have the opportunity to receive Christ. And you can start doing something positive in the days of your flesh. I'm concerned. I'm not talking about getting to heaven. You only get to heaven through the blood. Somebody say amen. I'm not talking about, but I don't want to just get to heaven. What is that? Just get to heaven. That's like having an employee in your business that just does his job. I don't want someone that just does his job. I want someone who excels in their job. I want somebody that does more than their job. I want somebody who doesn't clock out at 5 o'clock. That's not always looking at their watch, wondering what time it is, when's lunch, when's my break. God's looking for people that'll work for him, that'll do something for him. We spend most of our lives warring with the desires of the flesh. You know that. We're like a bunch of animals. What did you just call me? Hey, we've got two dogs, and we take them for walks. Young people, listen up. We take them for walks, and we live in this neighborhood where there's like 1,000 dogs, and they'll see each other. And they always remind me of young people. They remind me of the youth. They look at each other, and they'll go, And I'll see guys, they'll look at a girl, and they'll go, Then our dog will start jerking at the chain. You know, jerking at it. Got to get close. I'm talking about pulling that thing, man. And I go, Heel. Heel. Mia. One of their names is Mia. Sit, sit, sit. So sometimes we let them get a little close to each other. And then they start sniffing. And I'm not even going to go there, all right? And they go, That really reminds me of young people right there. That's flesh. Lust of the flesh. Spend our lives, man, feeding the flesh. Oh, I just got to share a couple things here, guys. It's early, and I just, I'm, I just, Some of you may have heard these facts before, but these facts continue to shock me. We spend $394 billion every year in America, $394 billion on restaurants, $27.6 billion on pet food, $15 billion on bottled water, $145 billion on gadgets, tech gadgets, $32 billion on gambling, $13 billion on cosmetic surgery, $12.5 billion on plastic surgery. We give about $60 billion to charity.