How To Make Everyday Count - 1/4/26 - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

sure to subscribe, follow, and share

with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Amen. Take God's word tonight. Turn with

me to the book of Psalms. Psalm division

number 90. If you would please, when you

find your place, if you would stand.

Honor reverence for the reading of God's

word,

Psalm division number 90. And uh I just

want to say to you church, I hadn't

preached out in a while until here this

just this past week. Preached there in

that watch night service. And I was

telling somebody uh this morning, I love

Brother Howard and I love their church,

but I'll tell you what, there's nothing

like this place

>> and I love preaching here and I preached

in a lot of churches than my eight

years, a little over eight years of

preaching. And there's nowhere I'd

rather preach than here. And I'm so

thankful for that. There's some

preachers that pastor their church and

they have to endure it until they get uh

to go out and preach somewhere else. And

I'm thankful that it's not that way.

Amen. And God sure has been good to us

here. And if I could say anything to you

as your pastor, I don't know much, but

let's keep it that way. Amen. And keep

the liberty here and the presence of

God. And it sure was good to have sister

Donna back playing for us again tonight.

And Miss Melody's done such a good job.

I'm going to be I'll talk to them in the

days to come. Ain't it good to have

talent?

>> Amen.

>> In the house of God. And uh we're

blessed with that. Sister Amber and all

these ladies have stepped up and really

helped. And I appreciate that. I'm glad

Miss Donna's making a full recovery.

Amen. And you continue to pray for her.

The Lord will touch her.

>> And I sure appreciate each one of you.

I'll tell you this, it wouldn't be the

church without you. And we come in here

and I can sit and look at empty pews,

but without you, it wouldn't be wouldn't

be the church. Amen. And I appreciate

you. Psalm number 90, I want to read the

whole chapter tonight if I may. Uh just

17 verses here. We'll look at these.

They're pretty short. Let's read them.

Read them tonight. Verse number one,

Psalm number 90. If you found your

place, say amen. Amen.

>> Bible says here, Lord, thou has been our

dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

orever thou hast formed the earth and

the world, even from everlasting to

everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest

man to destruction, and sayest, "Return,

ye children of men. For a thousand years

in thy sight, are but as yesterday, when

it is passed, and as a watch in the

night, thou carest them away as with the

flood. They are asleep in the morning.

They are like grass which growth up. In

the morning it flourisheth and growth

up. In the evening it is cut down and

witherth. For we are consumed by thine

anger and by thy wrath are we troubled.

Thou has set our iniquities before thee.

Our secret sins in the light of thy

countenance. For all our days are passed

away in thy wrath. We spend our years as

a tale that is told. The days of our

years are three score years and 10. And

if by reason of strength they be four

score years, yet is their strength labor

and sorrow. for it is soon cut off and

we fly away. Who knoweth the power of

thine anger, even according to thy fear,

so is thy wrath. So teach us to number

our days that we may apply our hearts

unto wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long?

Let it repent thee concerning thy

servants. Oh, satisfy us early with thy

mercy that we may rejoice and be glad

all our days. Make us glad according to

the days wherein thou hast afflicted us

and the years wherein we have seen evil.

Let thy work appear unto thy servants,

and thy glory unto their children. And

let the beauty of the Lord our God be

upon us, and establish thou the work of

our hands upon us. Yay, the work of our

hands, establish thou it. Our father, I

come before you tonight and I ask humbly

that you would help me this evening.

God, I stand in a place where I cannot

stand alone and I do not want to stand

alone tonight. And Lord, I pray that you

would remove every sin from me, cleanse

me of flesh, God. And I pray you'd bind

the devil, and uh you would help us

tonight. Help us to uh receive with

meekness the engrafted word. Fill us

with thy spirit, cloak us in our

calling, and uh use us for your glory

and honor alone tonight. And I pray,

God, that you'll calm my nerves here for

just a minute and help me to preach this

tonight and share this truth with these

precious people that I love so much. And

God, I ask you that you would help us in

these days. Bless this year, God. have

your hand upon our church and save many

lost souls and get glory to yourself.

And we'll be sure to thank you for what

you do because you alone are worthy of

all glory and honor and power. And we

ask it all in Jesus name. Amen. Thank

you for standing. You can be seated this

evening. One of you boys over there, if

y'all don't mind, y'all step back there

and get me a water, please. I appreciate

it. Amen. I was looking here in this

text, praying about the service this

evening, praying what God would have us

to say. And uh I was thinking about

these verses now, it's been I guess it's

probably been 3 years since I preached

this. Actually, it's been 5 years. I

preached this January the 1st of 2021 on

a New Year's Day service. And I preached

it standing in the portico of a church

in Mount Air, North Carolina because of

COVID. Amen. And I remember preaching

this message and the Lord laid this

thought on my heart. We've come a long

way since CO. Hallelujah for that. Amen.

and uh it's going to be the next thing

that comes around. Amen. But I was

thinking about this text here and and

the thought is verse number 12. If you

notice verse 12, you've probably heard

this verse before. Notice what he says

there. He says, "So teach us to number

our days that we may apply our hearts

under wisdom." And I preached this this

little thought here on making every day

count or how to make every day count.

See, understand our life. James says

it's but a vapor that appearth for a

little time then vanishth away. And so

if we're given only a loted amount of

time, if there's a day of our birth and

a day of our death that God already

knows about both of them, we ought to do

our very best, dead level best to make

the most of the days in between.

Somebody say amen. And I was thinking

about this text. Now, you notice if your

Bible's got a heading in it over this

chapter, you'll note that this is a

psalm of Moses. Now, we think most of

the time of the Psalms, we think of

David. We think of Asaf. We think of

Solomon. We think of many people. But

most time when you consider the Psalms,

you don't think about Moses. But this

psalm really we believe to be the oldest

psalm that is recorded. God bless your

heart, my friend. Thank you. My sight

was going away while I was reading the

scripture.

>> And so this is a psalm of Moses. All

right. And Moses here in this text, what

this this time period in which this is

recorded is Moses is looking at the

children of Israel at the end of the

wilderness wanderings.

>> 38 years have passed more than likely

here and Moses is viewing the children

of Israel. He is looking upon them and

what is he seeing? He's seeing death.

You see, there was a generation that had

to die off completely before the

children of Israel could enter into

Canaan land. You think about this. Moses

was one of those Moses and those others

that refused to believe the command of

the Lord. They were all going to have to

die before Joshua and Caleb and the

children could enter into the land. And

so Moses is viewing here the children of

Israel. And he is seeing that they are

dying. He's seeing that their life is

being cut short. And in this chapter, I

want you to notice here, first of all,

by way of introduction tonight, the

Bible says in verse number one, Moses

says, "Lord, thou has been our dwelling

place in all generations." Now, I think

it's fitting to understand the context

that Moses is talking to a people who

are dwelling in tents in the wilderness.

They have no permanent abode. The place

where they were supposed to go, they've

not made it there because of their

unbelief. But even in the wilderness,

and I can say hallelujah for this

tonight. He looks at th that crowd of

people dwelling in tents and dwelling in

tabernacles and the ark dwelling in the

tabernacle in the wilderness. Amen. And

he looks at them and he says, "Though

we've got no dwelling place that's

permanent. Though we've got no place to

lay our head where we could stay for the

rest of our life, as soon as we die, our

children's going to go over." He said,

"But even in spite of that, Lord, you

have been our dwelling place throughout

all generations." Amen. And I can say

this, it does not matter where whether

where you pill pillow your head tonight,

God is your dwelling place. Amen. I

notice in this text, I would say first

of all, you know, the people of God in

verse number one, look what he says.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place.

Moses looks at the congregation of

Israel, some two million people probably

at this time they are in the wilderness

and he looks at them and he says, "My

family, the people that God brought out

of Egypt, delivered us out of bondage

and even while we were in Egypt, God was

still our dwelling place. And now here

in the wilderness in a place of

desolation where we're being fed with

mana and and we're being kept by the

power of God each and every day. God has

been our dwelling place. I wonder can

you say that of your family tonight?

That God has been your dwelling place. I

note not only the people of God but the

place that's in God in verse number one.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place,

the place where we reside. And that

brother preached there on this on that

past Wednesday night. He preached out of

Psalm 91 where he said in verse one, "He

that dwelleth in the secret place of the

most high shall abide under the shadow

of the almighty." And I'm glad tonight

as children of God, we have a dwelling

place that's in God the Father. Amen. We

are hidden under the shadow of his wing.

And I'll say that it's much better than

that. Amen. We're not under the shadow

of his wing in the day of grace, but

we're in his hand. Amen. And Bible says

if God puts them if he take puts us in

his hand no man's able to pluck them out

of my father's hand. And so there is the

people and there is the place. But then

there is the position in verse one.

Notice the text. Lord thou hast been our

dwelling place. Notice this in all

generations.

Now when you look at that thought

generations there, we would often think

there of the of the lineages or every

generation of man, every different

family from the grandparents to their

grandparents to their grandparents and

so on and so forth. But it goes beyond

that. That word generation is is not

just talking about people, but it's

talking about the literal revolving of

time. That you see from eternity past

unto eternity future that God is to be

our dwelling place. The revolving of

time. He said, "Lord, thou has been our

dwelling place in all generations." You

see, before Abraham ever left the of the

Caldes, and while the godly line of Seth

was still being raised there in that

land before God ever called Abraham out

unto himself, those men that followed

God, and the Bible says they began to

call upon the name of the Lord, every

one of them, Amen, regardless of where

they dwelt, their dwelling place was

God. And their position was in God the

Father.

>> Right?

>> Their dwelling place was God. And their

position here is in every generation

those that would call upon him were

close to the father. And I notice in

this text, you see Moses here is

pointing out to the father first of all

that he is their dwelling place. And I

notice verse number two. Look what he

says. Notice that first word of verse

two before. You see Moses begins to

remember. Now I want you to think about

this with me for just a minute. Who

wrote the first five books of the Bible?

Moses did. Right? And so when we think

about creation, when we think about the

history, Amen, that goes all the way

back to the Garden of Eden, Moses had

been inspired by God to record those

truths. And so hundreds of years after

uh Adam and Eve had already died, Moses

is pinning the truth of creation as well

as the truth of their historical lineage

and genealogy. And Moses goes even

before Adam, even before creation, and

look what he says in verse two. Before

the mountains were brought forth, or

ever thou hast formed the earth and the

world, even from everlasting to

everlasting, thou art God. You see, time

is just an island

>> in the sea of eternity.

>> And where you and I live tonight is so

small.

It is so small that our mind could not

conceive the smallalness of our day. You

say, "What do you mean by that?" Well,

as the size of an atom is to the size of

the state of North Carolina, that is the

size of your life in comparison with

eternity.

>> Right?

>> You say, "Preacher, how in the world

could you ever picture that?" Well, let

me just say this to you. Eternity is

forever.

>> Amen.

>> Eternity is forever. And I I really

believe I don't think it's going to be

too long before the Lord comes back.

Amen. And if this earth is in existence,

we know that it's been in existence some

67,000 years by the time chronology

that's in the Bible. And so 67,000 years

if God come backs to comes back

tomorrow, we we've got seven years of

tribulation, a thousand years of

millennial kingdom. And so really, I

mean, I'll be honest with you, I don't

know if this thing will ever last over

10,000 years.

I know y'all look at me like I'm crazy

right now,

>> but here's the truth. You see, eternity

has no boundaries.

>> Right.

>> From the beginning of all beginnings,

God has always been

>> right.

>> You see, and here's what we do. This is

what I'm preaching on tonight concerning

making every day count. Here's what we

do. You see, we we try to put God in

time.

>> We try to pack God into our schedule and

put God in time in our life. Well, God's

going to show up about the time I'm

about 25 after I've sewed my wild oats

and done what I wanted to do and going

to go on and live my own life. Then

God's going to show up and bail me out

and I'm going to get all right and

settle down and have a family. Then I'm

going to live out the rest of my days,

70, 80 years old and I'm going to die

and go to heaven.

You know, it'd scare you the read the

way a lot of people think that. Amen.

>> But here's the truth. You can't put God

in time. You're

>> right.

>> But I'll tell you what you can do. You

can put time in God.

>> Yes. Amen.

>> Say, "What do you mean, preacher?" Well,

time is in God.

>> You see, creation teaches us that

nothing happens without a cause.

>> What is that? The second law of

thermodynamics. Amen. There has to be a

cause. For every effect, there has to be

a cause. And so, when creation took

place, the causeless first cause was God

the Father.

>> Amen. Nobody caused him to exist. We

didn't conceive him. in our mind. Adam

didn't create him. Amen. The forefathers

didn't think him up. Amen. BUT GOD

EXISTED BEFORE THE WORLD EVER WAS. And

Moses says it in verse two. Before the

mountains were bought forth, OR EVER

THOU HAST FORMED THE EARTH, EVEN FROM

EVERLASTING UNTO EVERLASTING, thou art

God

>> perpetual

forever, eternity. God exists outside

the realm of time. And you say,

"Preacher, well, what does that have to

do with us living and making every day

count?" Well, if you're going to learn

how to make time valuable and used

properly in your life, you're going to

have to know the one that created time,

>> right?

>> Amen.

>> Yeah.

>> You see, Jesus interjected himself into

this world as a man born. He was God in

flesh. Amen. 33 and a half years he

lived on this earth. and he accomplished

what no man could do in a lifetime or

thousands upon thousands of lifetimes.

And you say, "Preacher, what does this

have to do with me making every day

count?" Well, I want to say three things

and I'll give you three more things and

I'll be done. All right?

In this chapter, Moses describes here in

the text number one, the wrath of God.

He says in verse number three, "Thou

turnest man to destruction, and sayest,

return ye children of men." You see,

because of sin, because of the

destruction, the defilement of the

children of Israel, God condemned them

and their sin and he caused them to be

destroyed in many places. Now, I'm not

talking about permanent destruction, but

they faced the consequences of their

sin. You can look at other nations, the

nation of Babylon, you can look back in

the days of Icabad and see and the days

of uh his name just left me. Amen. It's

not Icabad. You know who I'm talking

about. Amen. He built the tower of

Babel. Nimrod. Amen. Nimrod. You can

look at his days. You can look at the

days of Noah and you'll find that every

every nation that was destroyed by God

was destroyed because of their sin. He

says, "Thou turnest man to destruction

and sayest, return." Verse number verse

number seven, Moses says, "For we are

consumed by thine anger, and by thy

wrath are we troubled." the children of

Israel because of their unbelief and

their sin in the wilderness. They were

troubled by the wrath of God. Verse

number eight, our thou has set our

iniquities before thee, our secret sins

in the light of thy countenance. And

just to remind you tonight, there's no

sin that's hidden from the eyes of God.

>> Verse number nine, for all our days are

passed away in thy wrath. Notice this,

we spend our years as a tale that is

told. You see, their sin had brought

shortness of days. You say, "How is

that, preacher?" Well, you remember them

patriarchs? They lived to be over 900

years old,

>> right?

>> Methusela lived to be 969.

I believe it was Jared that lived to be

962. Adam lived to be 930. I I can't

remember all of them, but they lived

over 900 years. Why was that? Because

the curse had not come to a point they

were not so wicked, amen, that they

could not stand on this earth. What

happened? because of the sinfulness of

man, God shortened his days,

>> right?

>> Shortened it to 120 years. Find that in

the book of Genesis. And now Moses is

viewing a people that's not even living

that long. He says in our text, notice

what the Bible said in verse 10. The

days of our years are three score years

and 10. And if by reason of strength

they be four score years, yet is their

strength labor and sorrow, for it is

soon cut off and we fly away. Three

score years and 10 is 70 years. Four

score years is 80 years. And notice what

he says. He says if we live to be 80

years, he says that strength that we get

to make it those 80 years, it's labor

and sorrow. It's painful. It's

agonizing. Why? Because of the effects

of sin.

>> You see, IT'S THE WRATH OF GOD THAT'S

brought this upon us. The reason why

people don't live long is because of

sin. You say, "Preacher, is it their

direct sin?" No, not necessarily always,

but it's because of sin generically,

>> right?

>> Sin in this world has condemned the

human race to a short life.

>> I know we don't like to talk about that,

but it's the truth.

>> The wrath of God. Look what he says in

verse number 11. Who knoweth the power

of thine anger? He said, who can measure

the power of your wrath? Look what he

says. Even according to thy fear, so is

thy wrath great and heavy is the wrath

of God. You say, "Preacher, what does

this have to do with anything?" Well, if

you're going to have a clear view of

today and make every day count in your

life, you're going to have to have a

clear view of the wrath of God.

>> Right?

>> Say, "What is that, preacher?" Well,

when you sin, you're going to have to

realize there's punishment for that

thing.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. You're going to have to remember

God is holy and God is lovely and just

and merciful and longsuffering, but he

is also full of wrath and indignation.

HE'S A JEALOUS GOD AND HE WILL NOT LET

YOU continue in sin.

There's the wisdom of God in verse 12

down through verse 15 he says so teach

us to number our days. Verse 13 he says

Lord return. Verse 14 he says oh

satisfies early with thy mercy. He is

asking for everything that they need to

in order to continue. You know the

reason why we don't continue in this

life. The reason why our ministry is not

fruitful and our family is not faithful

is because we don't ask. You're

>> right.

>> You ask not. You have not because you

ask not.

>> And he says in this text verse 14, "Oh,

satisfy us early with thy mercy that

what? That we may rejoice." Hey, you

missing out on some joy?

>> Are you asking for it? I know this is

simple tonight, but this is the problem.

This is the indictment against the

church. We're not asking because we

think we're okay. THAT'S WHAT THE

LEADYIAN CHURCH AGE was described by. He

said, "We're you're rich and increased

with goods." He said, "But you know not

that you're miserable, you're poor,

you're blind, AND YOU'RE NAKED. WE'VE

GOT NOTHING WITHOUT GOD."

>> RIGHT?

>> He asked for the wisdom of God. He has

to understand the wrath of God. He has

to see the work of God. Notice verse 16

and 17. Let thy work appear unto thy

servants, and thy glory unto their

children. And let the beauty of the Lord

our God be upon us, and establish thou

the work of our hands upon us. Yay, the

work of our hands established thou it.

He asked for God to show them his work.

Verse 16. But he also asked for God to

bless their work.

You see, it was a turning point in my

life in the ministry when I realized

that this was the way I needed to pray.

Lord, show me what you're doing and then

help me to get involved in it.

>> Amen.

>> We don't we don't we don't know about

the the eternal. We don't know about the

will of God because we're not asking.

>> Right.

And I want you to notice this. All

right, I'm going get to the verse

tonight and I'll be done. Verse 12, the

summary of this entire text. Now, I've

got a whole message, and I've left out

everything that I preach in this message

to give you these three points tonight.

If you're going to make every day count

this year or for the rest of your life,

you're going to have to have three

things. And it's found in verse 12.

Verse number 12. It the key that unlocks

a fruitful Christian life is found in

verse 12. I would say number one tonight

when you consider this thought of making

every day count. Number one, there's

going to have to be a witness in your

life. Notice the first three words of

verse 12. What's your Bible say? So

teach us.

You know what we're we have a der of in

this land this day and time is a

teachable spirit. Good.

>> Young people know everything,

>> right?

>> I know. I is one of them.

>> Can't talk to them. They got it all

figured out.

I'll be the first to tell you I don't

know what I'm doing.

>> Amen.

>> If it wasn't for the grace of God, I

wouldn't be able to get up and go to bed

at night.

>> Right.

>> I'm saying in this text, he says, "So

teach us." So, first of all, there's the

witness. What is this witness? Well,

it's the witness of the spirit.

Notice that and notice the form in which

it said. It said as a request.

You I think about other scriptures. You

remember the disciples asked Jesus. You

remember what they said? Lord, teach us

to pray.

>> You know why people don't learn in this

day and time? Because they're not asking

for it.

>> Right?

>> There's not a request.

You see, I and this is something I've

learned from the older men of God that I

have been around in recent days. This is

what they've told me. They've said that

as time has went on, the questions have

gotten less and less and less. Church

members don't come to him and ask

questions. Church members only come to

him with conflicts and problems and want

the preacher to fix it.

>> You're right.

>> They don't ask questions. They're not

trying to learn. They're just trying to

get by. You're

>> right.

You see, the indictment against our land

in this day and time is we're we're so

full of knowledge, but we have no

wisdom.

>> We're so full of intellectualism that we

have no INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY GHOST.

HEY FRIEND, MEN AND WOMEN USED TO BE

MOVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

AND IT WAS WHAT DROVE THEM IN THEIR

LIFE. Many of them didn't have AN EIGHTH

GRADE EDUCATION, BUT THEY KNEW GOD AND

THEY KNEW THE BIBLE AND THEY KNEW WHO

JESUS WAS AND THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT LIFE

THAN YOU AND I DO. IN this day and time,

>> we've okayed EVERYTHING BECAUSE THERE'S

NO WITNESS IN OUR LIFE. You say,

"Preacher, how is it I'm saved and the

Holy Ghost lives within?" Well, you tell

me how is it that you're saved and the

Holy Ghost lives within and there's no

witness. I'll tell you why. You've

grieved him,

>> right?

>> LIVING IN YOUR SIN AND LIVING IN YOUR

SHAME, THE HOLY GHOST WILL NOT WORK

WHERE dirtiness is.

>> Right?

>> And if you're GOING TO MAKE EVERY DAY

COUNT, THAT'S THE FIRST PRIORITY. THAT

THE HOLY GHOST HAVE PRIORITY IN YOUR

life that he HAVE CONTROL. IT'S NOT

ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU have of the Holy

Ghost, but it's how much he has of you.

You're

>> right.

>> You see our minds so consumed. You see,

the Holy Ghost works in this this and

I'm going to give the next point away,

but he works in the will. You're

>> right.

>> He works in the will of man.

>> And here's what we've done. This is what

technology has done. Our will is so

distracted. You're right.

>> We are so influenced by the world. We

literally have people who make millions

upon millions upon millions of dollars

making videos and they call themselves

influencers.

>> And you know what it's doing to our

children? They don't have time to think

about God.

>> You're right.

>> The witness of the Holy Ghost, he's

quiet.

It's a still small voice. IT'S NOT IT'S

NOT LOUD and boisterous. The enemy, he's

loud and boisterous. And boy, when you

get saved, you'll meet him and he'll be

real loud in your life. Tell you you're

worth nothing and you don't mean

anything to this world and you might as

well just take your life. Nobody cares

about you anyway. That's the enemy.

Amen.

>> But I'll tell you this, the Holy Ghost

>> is quiet.

>> He's a perfect gentleman.

He's not going to beat down your door,

>> but he'll stand there and knock.

>> Yes.

>> You say, "Preacher, how is that the Holy

Ghost?" Well, notice John chapter number

14,

one of my favorite scriptures in all the

word of God. John 14. Listen to what

Jesus said. This this is in Jesus own

words.

Verse 25, John chapter number 14.

He said, "These things have I spoken

unto you, being yet present with you.

But the comforter, which is the Holy

Ghost, whom the Father will send in my

name, he shall teach you all things."

Now, doesn't that sound familiar to this

morning

>> and bring all things to your remembrance

whatsoever I've said unto you? The

reason people are wasting away their

life is because the Holy Ghost voice is

not being heard.

>> Good.

>> It's not because he's not speaking.

>> Amen. I really believe he's speaking in

this day and time. I believe with all my

heart, brother Matt, I believe God is

speaking through the Holy Ghost as much

as he ever has spoken.

But this is what I tell you. People not

listening.

>> You're right.

>> Because there's so many other voices.

There's more voices. There's more

influences. There's more impressions

that are made on people

in this day and time that the Holy

Ghost, he's just pushed aside.

John chapter 16 verse number 13 tells us

John 16 · chapter mention

the same thing.

Notice this. John 16

John 16:13

verse 13. Listen to what he says. Verse

number 13. How be it when he, the Spirit

of truth, is come. He will guide you

into all truth. For he shall not speak

of himself. Whatsoever he shall hear,

that shall he speak, and he will show

you things to come. You want to make

every day count in your life, you're

going to have to have the witness of the

spirit of God. He's going to have to be

able to speak.

>> You're right.

>> And you going to have to be able to

listen.

>> Yeah.

>> You know what that's going to require

you to do? Turn some things off. You're

right.

>> Take some time and set aside.

Here's what happens. All right. This I'm

guilty of this. Okay? You know, I told

my wife, we went on vacation there a few

weeks ago, and it really wasn't a

vacation. It was to look at a project.

Amen. For another ministry. Amen.

>> And I told my wife, I said, "Maybe we'll

get some time that I can spend with the

Lord and pray and recoup my mind." But

you know, here's what I'm finding.

Everywhere I go, there's something,

>> right?

Everywhere I go, every day, there's

something that comes up. I can have a

time set aside. I'm talking about a

period of time set aside to just do

that.

>> Y

>> and something comes up.

>> Y

>> and if something don't come up, I'll get

distracted because I got something else

on my mind.

>> Yeah.

>> And you know what? I spend more time

often times uh trying to get the the the

the mess of the week and and and the day

off my mind so I can just study.

>> You're right. It takes more time for me

to get the junk out than it does for me

to receive the truth.

>> And this is what I'm saying. This is

true for all of us. It's not just me.

Amen. It's not just me. And this is what

I know. If I if it's as much a struggle

for me and I'm having to get enough God

to preach to you three times, four times

a week,

how is it for you,

>> right?

>> When you don't have to you you're not

preparing for a Sunday school class.

See, here's the thing about it. This is

the reason why I want people to serve.

And I've never been this candid about

this. Amen. But I'm going to be tonight.

This is the reason why you need to

serve. David Jeremiah said this. I don't

agree with everything he does. Don't

agree with the Bible he uses. But he's

right about this. He said, "I believe

God called me to preach because he knew

if he hadn't called me to preach, I'd

never read my Bible like I should."

>> Right?

>> I'm convinced the reason why the

church's in a shape sense, people don't

read their Bible.

>> You're right.

>> They don't pray. They don't hear the

voice of God.

>> That's it.

>> I've blowed this sermon all to pieces,

but it's all right. The witness of the

spirit. Look what he says in verse 12.

So teach us when the Holy Ghost speaks.

This ought to be our response.

>> Right,

>> Lord. Whatever.

>> That's right.

>> Whenever, however, don't matter how long

it takes, I'll sit here until you give

me what you want me to have.

>> Good.

>> When we have that kind of resolve in

Christian people, we'll have revival.

>> Amen.

>> Notice not only the witness of the

spirit need to move. Notice the will of

the soul in verse number 12. So teach us

to number our days. Notice this, that we

may apply our hearts

unto wisdom.

So if you're going to make every day

count, number one, you got to have a

witness of the spirit. That has to do

with the divine instruction of the Holy

Ghost. But number two, you're going to

have to have a will in your life. The

will of the soul is going to have to be

directed.

In essence, there's going to have to be

some discipline.

>> You're right. That's right.

>> Oh, that's a dirty word,

>> but it's what's killing us.

>> You're right.

>> You see, discipline

is not going to the extreme.

Discipline is also not just getting

barely doing enough to just get by.

>> But discipline is is this. Lord, I want

exactly what you want for me. I'm going

to make sure that I give enough time.

I'm going to make sure that I clean out

my mind enough and I'm going to make

sure that when I sit down that there's

nothing else going to get in my way

until I get what you have for me in this

period.

>> Good.

>> And you know what? That's daily.

>> But here's the problem. Okay? You know,

preachers used to say this and I agree

with them. You know, we you can't thrive

off of four or three sermons a week. You

can't thrive off three hours of church a

week. You can't. Amen. That's right. But

the truth is people's not even getting

that.

>> You're right. cuz you're coming in here

and you've got your mind on your

workload. You got your mind on your

family issues. You got your mind on

everything else. And see, you've got to

learn how to leave that at home. You're

>> right.

>> You see, there was a day when saints of

God, they left some things at home

before they come to the house of God.

>> But now, we just bring it all with us.

>> And here's what we do. We'll spend the

whole service festering on it. We'll

miss everything the preacher said. We

can't shout on the song because it don't

help us. We're too focused on something

else.

>> You're right.

>> We can't shout on the song. We can't get

in on the preaching because we're not

listening.

>> Come on, preacher.

>> And then what we do is we come to the

altar and we say, "Lord, please help me

with this." And we lay it on the altar

and we walk away about three steps. We

turn around, come back right back, pick

it up again, and walk out the door with

it. You're right.

>> To bring it into the next service.

You're

>> right.

>> And so really, you're not even getting

three services a week.

You're right.

>> I'm saying this truth is this book's

only as good as when you receive it.

>> You're right.

>> And so it the will is involved. You see,

our will is what determines whether or

not we're going to do anything for God.

>> You see, it was the will of God that we

be saved. But after that, all right,

when God saves you and you allow him,

you when you submit to his will, you

know what happens?

Then he has to turn you. And you know

what? Your will has to become his.

You're

>> right.

>> And I think that's where we're missing

it. We We let God's will be done in our

life to save us.

>> But we're unwilling to allow his will to

take over our will.

>> Good.

>> Because if it takes over your will, it's

going to take over your schedule.

>> Amen. It's going to take over your

schedule. It's going to take over your

appetite. I'm not talking about food.

>> You're right.

>> Amen. It'll take that over, too. Amen.

If you get holy enough. You're right.

It'll take that over. Amen. But it's

going to take over. It's going to take

over your appetite for things of this

world. I heard a preacher and I was so

glad our young people got to hear this.

Okay. As oldtime man of God from up in

the mountains of North Carolina, Ash

County up there, Brother Jeff Brown. He

preached the other other morning there.

That service we went to afternoon, he

made this statement. Nobody can identify

with this. I'll be honest with you. All

right. But this old man of God, he's as

serious as serious can be when he said

it. And I told my wife, I sat there and

said amen to it because I agree with

him. This is what he said. He said from

the time he got saved and started

preaching, he said he he made this com

he made this comment. Now don't fall out

with me here tonight. I'm not saying

it's a sin to do what what he said, but

I'm telling you this is just the

character of this preaching. He said,

you know, he said, I've not had a desire

to go to another ball game from the day

that I started preaching.

He said, "Because I'm just satisfying

working and pastoring my church." That's

>> good.

>> He said, "I don't do anything

extracurricular." Cuz he said, "My life

is a ministry." Brother Ricky Graalley

was here preaching for us this fall. You

remember the touch of God is on that man

of God?

>> Absolutely.

>> He told me sitting in the truck over at

the hotel on Friday afternoon, this is

what he told me. He said, he said, "You

know, preacher," he said, "I don't have

a lot of hobbies." He said, "We don't,"

he said, "my we don't really." He said,

"We'll take uh, you know, two vacations

a year and we'll go out and make some

memories with our kids and grandkids."

And he said, "But we don't have

hobbies." He says, "Our hobby is the

ministry."

>> Amen.

>> It's the church. That's

>> right.

>> You say, "Preacher, that's radical." No,

it's just right.

>> That's right. You're right.

>> It's just right. You see, what it comes

down to is a thing of the will. Here's

what we've got in our mind. We we we've

some come so accustomed to the American

way of life that we've pushed all of

that out and we said, "Well, I got to

have this to satisfy this need and this

won't. I got to have this to satisfy

that need and that won't." What about if

we had to lose every bit of that?

>> Come on.

>> In order to have revival,

>> that's good.

>> I mean, real.

It's going to involve the will.

>> You're right.

>> If you're going to make every day count,

it's going to involve the witness of the

spirit. It's going to involve the will

of the soul. That word apply means to

enter or come in. Notice that in verse

12, that we may apply our hearts unto

wisdom. And so that means we're

literally placing our will

within. Notice the last thing and I'm

done. There is the witness of the

spirit, the will of the soul, and then

there is the wisdom of the scriptures.

Verse 12, that we may apply our hearts

unto wisdom.

You see this truth here in this text?

Basically what that's saying is the

phrase that we may apply our hearts

under wisdom that we may place our

hearts

in the word of God. Now when's the last

time you've been around somebody was

like that

their heart was the Bible, what it said,

what it's for, the gospel, the ministry,

and that's it.

You see, the cost of of making every day

count means that we're going to have to

put out everything else that doesn't

matter.

>> Good.

>> Let me ask you, how much do you do in a

day that makes no difference for

eternity? You're

>> right.

>> Oh, man. When I asked myself that this

question this afternoon, I about choked.

>> We're consumed.

>> We are.

>> And we used to be consumed with the

word.

>> Amen. You know what I'm finding the the

the further I go along and I love to

read now. I I love books and I love to

read. I I got a library. I've not even

moved it down here yet. I read most of

my books on my iPad or on my phone these

days and I got a whole library at home I

need to bring down here. But but I was

thinking about it this afternoon. You

know, it used to be a whole lot easier

to just just take a book and sit down

and read. Remember when I was in school,

I loved it. I just sit there for hours

and just read. But do you see any young

ones doing that in this damn time?

I can't tell you the last time I seen a

young with a book other than the Bible

in church.

>> Right?

>> I'm saying we've lost

the desire

for holy things.

>> Right.

>> I know it's I know it's a little bit

different tonight, but I'll say this. I

believe we're plowing the right road.

>> Yeah.

>> This is where we're missing it.

>> Right.

>> And this is what it comes down to. He

says here in the text that we may apply

our hearts unto wisdom. Now knowledge

and wisdom are two different things.

Knowledge is knowing what's right. But

wisdom is knowing what's right and doing

it.

>> You're right.

>> Here's what we've come to in this day

and time. We're full of knowledge. Have

no wisdom.

We know what's right. We know what we

ought to do. We'll say amen to the

preacher, but we'll walk out the doors

living in the very thing that the

preacher preached on.

>> You're right.

>> No wisdom,

no desire to apply the truths that have

been dealt to us. And and we have no

desire to submit because there's no

will. There's no discipline. And so the

lack is this. People are illiterate with

the Bible because they have no desire to

know it.

>> It's not because the preachers not

preached it. It's not because the Sunday

school teachers not taught it. It's not

because the songs don't sing to us the

blessedness of the scriptures and TEACH

US BIBLE DOCTRINE. IT'S BECAUSE WE DO

NOT HEAR IT.

>> RIGHT?

>> We don't want to hear it.

>> You're right.

>> We sit IN CHURCH WEEKEND AND WE COW and

we've GROWN A DEATH HERE. WE'VE GROWN

COLD TO IT BECAUSE IT doesn't amaze us

anymore.

If you're going to make every day count,

you're going to have to apply the wisdom

of the scriptures

to your life.

One writer said this.

He said, "You need he said to in essence

concerning this this thought of teaching

us to number our days, he said, you need

to improve time in time while the time

do last. For all time is no time when

the time is passed.

You need to improve time in time while

the time does last.

For all time is no time when the time

has passed.

One writer said, "What it means to

number our days. We number our days by

our daily prayers."

He said, "We not only number our days by

our daily prayers, but we number we them

by our daily obedience and daily acts of

love."

Doesn't that just sound like what I just

preached to you? You want to show God

that you love him, it's not going to be

you hugging on a brother or sister,

>> right?

>> It's not going to be you even witnessing

to a lost person. You're

>> right. I'll tell you, you want to show

God how much you love him, go sit in a

private place somewhere with your Bible

open and say, 'Lord, I don't care about

anything else that's going on.

>> I don't care what I miss. I don't care

what it costs me. Lord, I just want to

spend some time with you.

>> Amen.

I don't care if I feel you or see you or

anything like that, but Lord, I just

want you to know that I've come here in

this time at this moment to sit in your

presence. And I don't need anything. I

don't want anything, but I just want to

sit in your presence.

>> You want to make every day count,

you're going to have to have his wisdom.

It's going to come by the scriptures.

Let me say this to you. All right. The

method's very simple.

It requires the witness of the Holy

Ghost. And this is the wonder of the

Christian life. The spirit of God lives

within. He's there. Amen. Hallelujah for

that. He's there. If any man have not

the spirit of Christ, he's none of his.

And so, if he's not living within, that

means you're not saved. And so, you need

to get that part worked out first. But

if you're saved, the witness is present.

He's at home

>> and he's available. RIGHT.

>> YOU AIN'T GOT TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

WITH HIM.

>> RIGHT.

>> He's available and he wants to teach

you.

>> Yes.

>> But he'll only do it if you ask.

>> Right.

>> Teach us. So teach us to number our days

that we may apply our hearts under

wisdom. Every head bowed and every eye

closed. Let me ask you, do you want to

make every day count?

Do you?

This is what it's going to take.

Putting our schedules aside, putting our

plans aside,

putting all our ideas

and even our personal theology aside.

You know, I've got ideas and beliefs

about God that I that I have, you know,

that I can't necessarily say is Bible,

but you know, when I come to God, you

know, I have to come to him on the terms

of

Lord, I'm just going to trust you based

on what that book said.

And this is the final authority for my

life. So, let me ask you once again, do

you want to make every day count?

I'll say this. There's a private place

up here around the front.

You can come tell him maybe it's been a

while since you just come and sat in his

presence and said, "Lord,

I don't need anything.

Lord, I there's some things I want, but

I'm not worried about that right now.

Lord, you've been better to me than I

deserve.

Lord, I'd just like to come sit in your

presence. Hey, let me tell you tonight,

child of God, he's here in this place

tonight

and I'll give you the chance. This altar

is open tonight.

Do you want to come? Do you want to make

every day count?

Hey, this thing's real, friend.

And let me remind you once again, time

is just an island

in the middle of the sea of eternity.

Is so small in comparison.

Let me say this. You get to the judgment

seat one of these days,

you're not saved standing there before

Christ that you wish you would have

taken more days off and wished you'd

have done this on vacation and done that

and all you wish. What you wish you

would have done is done more for Jesus.

You wished you would have sat in a

private place a little longer. You wish

you would have said it in in the word of

God a little longer.

You wish that your attitude had been a

little better when the preacher or the

Sunday school teacher asked you to step

up and serve.

You'll wish that for your kids you would

have showed them a better way of living.

You'll wish that you'd have sat in the

presence of God just a few more times

and just told him that you love him.

Oh, but friend, you can start from this

day forward and do what you know you

need to do.

Oh, you can do it from now on.

I'll say this tonight. If you're here in

the place and you're lost, you can be

saved.

You don't have to die lost.

Father, I pray in Jesus name.

Lord, help us to bring our body into

subjection.

God, you've been so good.

Lord, I've watched you transformed lives

in this church in the last year,

God. And I'm confident I'm going to see

you change more lives in this coming

year.

But God, I know it's going to depend on

us getting right with you.

Cuz Lord, you only deal in declarations.

You don't make our decisions for us.

You give us the truth.

And you say, "Child, follow me."

You don't grab us by the arm and drag us

against our will.

But Lord, in love and mercy.

You say, "Child, I know what's best.

Just follow me. Just be obedient to me."

And God, I pray that you'd help every

heart in this place,

God, to make a conscious decision

to submit

to your will and way in your word for

their life.

Some are still praying, every heads

still bowed and eyes still closed

tonight.

I tell you church, we can't afford to

waste another service,

>> right?

>> We can't afford to come in here and just

get by.

I don't ever want to come in this place

and just preach a sermon just to get

through it.

>> Just to get it over with.

I don't want you to ever come and sit

here on a pew just to get it over with

and check a check a checklist for the

week.

I don't want church to be a drudgery. I

don't I want it I don't want it to be a

checklist for you. I want it to be

something that God put in your heart and

you're excited about it.

I'll tell you what, God wants it to be

that way for you, too. Hey, it can be

real,

but it comes down to how much you want

it.

>> Father, we pray once again,

thank you for your mercy and your grace

towards us.

Lord, there's many burdens on the heart

of your people tonight.

Lord, there's souls now, Father, that's

in my heart. Even as I stand here behind

this pull pit,

Lord, there was people here last year at

this time. It's not here no more.

Lord, some of them is out in sin.

Oh God, I pray you'd have mercy on them.

And Lord, I pray, Father, that Lord,

next year, this time, God, that

this same group still be here and be

faithful, but Lord, they'll be grown

more, they'll know more, they'll be

doing more

because Lord, I know that's the purpose

that you have for this church is to win

souls

and to glorify you.

Lord, I sure thank you for it. I thank

you for these people that are here and

for their faithfulness. Lord, I pray for

their burdens tonight that you would

help them.

Give them strength, mercy to carry on.

Lord, some still dealing with grieving,

lost loved ones, some dealing with

grieving those loved ones that's went

home to be with the Lord. Lord, I pray

that you'd help them and give them

strength.

And I pray you'd help us all to draw

near to you in this year. We make every

day count. Lord, I love you. I thank you

for that in Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you'd join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.