... Dr. Michael Youssef:
These are unprecedented days. This is an unprecedented crisis. I know we want to hear
a word of hope in the midst
of this devastation. Let's hear God and hear
what he has to say in the midst of the crisis. My natural inclination
is to ask the question, "Lord, what do you want
to teach me?" announcer: Now, a special
message by Dr. Michael Youssef, "A Biblical Response
to the Current Crisis." ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Youssef:
Whenever there is a crisis, whenever we face a crisis of
global proportion like the one we are facing right now,
there are all sorts of opinions and information. And some of that
information is false, some of it's true,
but rumors start flying. I know you already heard this
a million times. This or these are
unprecedented days. These--this is
an unprecedented crisis. This is a pandemic like
we have never experienced in our lifetime. And it's all true. But my purpose today is not
to rehash the information that you're hearing about when
you're hearing from television, you hear it from the media
all day long. No, my natural inclination,
and I know that it is a natural inclination of all
Bible believing Christians, is to ask the question, "Lord,
what are you teaching us?" What is God teaching us
in the middle of this crisis, in the middle of
this global panic? What is God saying
to his people? What lessons that he wants
his people to learn from this? It is important that we ask
that question. In times of crisis,
whether it be personal crisis or be family crisis,
or it be national crisis, or be like today
a global crisis, wherever we are,
whenever you get to a crisis, you must always ask
the question, "God, what do you want
to teach me?" These inexplicable times
in which we live, there's only one place where
you can find an answer to these questions, and it is
in the infallible Word of God. And the Prophet Joel
was speaking to God's people during his time, during one
of the toughest economic crisis that Israel has ever faced. And you read chapter 2
and you think there's an invading army
coming in. But no, no, he's not talking
about the foreign army invading. He's talking about locusts
that are coming into the land. The coronavirus is threatening
a global devastation. Fear and panic during that time,
in which God's people were facing those kinds of situation,
the Prophet Joel speaks of this invading army of locusts
that is invading the land. This is not a devastating war,
but it's a devastating tiny, little insect. Army of locusts. We are in a modern replica
of what the Prophet Joel and the people of God were
experiencing at that time. Coronavirus or Covid-19
is a tiny, little virus. You can't see it with the eyes,
and yet it is sweeping across the globe not just
in a specific location, but globally,
150 countries plus. So, the question in both
situations at the time of Joel, as in our time,
what is the word from God? What is God speaking to us? What is God saying to us? What does God want us to learn? Please hear me out on this one. When you hear or read
the Prophet Joel, particularly chapter 2,
I know that there are some people,
some people who are at the sound of my voice
are not going to like it. They're not going to like it. Why? Because most of us want to live
in denial of reality. Most of us want a quick fix. We want to be told
that science can save us, that our ingenuity will save us. Listen to me, I know we want
to hear a word of hope in the midst
of this devastation. I know that we want to find
a silver lining in this cloud. I know that I want somebody
to discover a breakthrough. And believe me when I tell you
I pray every single day that God supernaturally somehow
gives us a breakthrough. But listen, let's hear God
and hear what he has to say in the midst of the crisis
before it gets worse. Let's heed God's Word,
lest our trouble is multiplied. Let's accept God's medicine
that is worthy of the name. Now, I don't want you
for a moment to think that I'm an unfeeling person. Forty years of retirement saving
has been devastated. The question is, I'm saying
this to show you that I am not made of stone, I'm not made
of metal, I have a feeling too. I have a stake in this too. But I've also learnt that
the quicker we learn the lesson that God has for us, the quicker
we get to the victory side. The first thing Joel warns us
of is this. This crisis and whatever crisis
we're facing is a minuscule example of the crisis going
to be in the day of judgement, the dreadful day that
the Bible talks about. This is God's loving
wakeup call. This is God's loving warning. This is God's
gracious invitation to everyone at the sound
of my voice. This is God's
merciful alarm bell, for if we are not prepared
to deal with a small virus, what are we to do when
we face the day of judgement? Let me read you verses 1 and 2,
Joel chapter 2. "Blow the trumpet in Zion.
Sound the alarm in my holy hill. Let all who live
in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is
coming and is close at hand." Verse 2, "A day of darkness
and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading
across the mountain, a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old nor ever will be again
in the ages to come." First of all, he wants us
to view every crisis, every crisis, not just
this crisis, but every crisis, especially the one because
we're in the middle of it, he wants us to view that
as a dress rehearsal. This is a dress rehearsal of the
day of judgement that is coming, of the big and dreadful day
that's coming. He's reminding us that
the big one is coming. He said, "Don't waste
this crisis. Don't waste
this dress rehearsal. Don't waste these warning signs.
Don't waste God's alarm bells. Let them be a reminder
of the day that is coming when God will shake everything
there is to be shaken. Prepare yourself
for the big one." How, how? How would you prepare? He gives us two ways,
two ways by which we prepare. First of all, it's my own words,
not the Prophet Joel, he's saying tear away the idols
out of your heart, don't tear your hair out. And secondly, he says
lead others to worship and bow down to the living God,
don't join in their panic. Don't fret like they are,
but instead let them see your confidence in your God. First of all, he says tear
the idols out of your life, not your hair. I know we have a saying
when we're having a hard time, a difficult day, say,
"I'm tearing my hair out." You see, in Israel,
there was a tradition, and the tradition was when
a person is in deep grief, is in deep mourning, would be
actually tearing his clothes. You see it all the time
in the Old Testament, and he tore his garments,
and he tore his garments. But like all traditions,
some would go through the motions of tearing
their garments without inner transformation. They went through
the outward appearance, but they did not
inwardly change. After all, it is much easier to
go through the outward motions. It's much easier to just be
willing to do anything to get out of the crisis
for the time being. And that is why the Prophet Joel
said in times of crisis, it is your heart that needs
radical change, not your circumstances. It is your heart that
needs transformation, not the economy. It is your heart that needs
complete surgery, not your situation. Look at verses 12 and 13. Look again, verses 12 and 13. "'Even now,' declares the Lord,"
meaning it's never too late. "'Even now,' declares the Lord,
'return to me with all of your heart,
with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your hearts
and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, and abounding in love." So, instead of looking at the
current crisis and blissfully, as some probably do, say,
"Where is God? Where is God? Why doesn't he do something?" Accept this as his loving
warning to you, and to me and to all of us,
so that we may repent and turn to him
before it's too late. What is this rending of the
heart that he's talking about? What is this repentance
that he's talking about? Oh, it is the acknowledging,
the confessing, the forsaking of all that
has become an idol for you and for me. Our greatest need today is
to acknowledge and to confess that we have placed our hopes
on money and possession, that we have placed all of
our hopes on credit cards and borrowing money that
we could never pay back. We have placed our concerns,
it's more for on status symbols, not the glory of God. That we have spent more time
in front of the television instead of being
in the Word of God. That we are spend more time
entertain--on entertainment and on sports than sharing
the gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbors. But God wants us to be serious
about acknowledging these idols, then tear them out by repenting,
and forsake them. If we don't voluntarily turn
and tear those idols out, God is going to help us. He will take them out. God is going to do this out
of love and compassion for us. God is telling us to turn to him
while we still can. Have you ever asked yourself
the question, where was Jesus when he was
praying to the point of sweating blood,
literally blood coming out while he was praying? No, that did not happen
in Pilate's hall of justice. No, it did not happen even
on his way to the cross. No, it did not happen
during the trial, but it took place in
the garden of Gethsemane. Hebrews 5:7 tells us,
"There he offered prayers and supplications with vehement
cries and tears to him who's able to save him." Perhaps if you and I were there
watching him praying with blood, tears, sweat of blood,
if we witnessed that out of agony,
we'll probably say, "Wow, if he's broken
like this here in the garden of Gethsemane
in prayer like this, what is he going to do
when he faces the real crisis of the cross?" Here is a fact, at the time
of the cross, Jesus walked to the cross
with courage while all his disciples fled
and left him alone. Have you ever thought
about that? Why? Listen to me,
I want to tell you why, because he was already prayed up
in the garden of Gethsemane. He was totally prepared. After spending time with God,
he faced the crisis with confidence. He took notice of that
big one before it happened. A lifestyle of repentance,
a lifestyle of idol tearing from our lives will make you face
any crisis in life with calm and confidence. A lifestyle of repentance
will not cause you to fear any challenge in life. A repentant lifestyle will
make you not even fear the day of judgement itself,
the big one. In fact, you will welcome it,
you will face it with confidence, why? Because you have already been
tearing away the idols from your life,
and you're already delivered from the day of judgement,
and you're ready. You're ready
for any eventuality. You're prepared. Joel is saying that somehow,
somewhere in God's economy, in his sovereign plan,
in his sovereign character, he responds favorably
to genuine repentance. You see it throughout
the Scripture, not just here. Secondly, lead others to come to
know and worship the living God. Don't get into the frenzy
of fretting like they are because they're going
to look at you and say, "Well, you're just like
in the same boat as I am." If you read verses 15, 16,
and 17 of Joel chapter 2, you would say, you would say,
"Well, this was just for the leaders of the church." And I think you'll be right,
you'll be exactly right. Leadership that does not lead
by example is not worthy of the name. It's not worthy of the name. In the New Testament, of course,
the Bible tells us that all the believers
are priests. We are a kingdom of priests,
and that is why those verses are important to everyone
who's listening to me right now, everyone. They are important to pastors,
yes, they are important to moms and dads, yes. They're important to
Sunday school preachers, yes. They're important to
small group leaders, yes. They are important to everyone
who's a priest, called to be a priest to intercede
between the world and God. Listen to the words
of Joel again, "Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly. Bring together the elders,
gather the children, those from the nursing--
nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom
leave his room. Let the bride leave
her chambers. Let the priests so minister
before the Lord, weep between the temple porch
and the altar. Let them say,
'Spare your people, O Lord.' Don't make your inheritance
an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say
among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" I was hoping to bring
a shofar 'cause, when they say a trumpet,
that's translated into English, but it's a shofar that is blown. But it was a Jewish tradition
in times of crisis to sound the shofar
on these special days. It served the purpose
of assembling of God's people. God looks down and he may
see us all scattered all over the nation,
all over the state, all over the city, all over
the world, but he sees us. We can call a fast,
we can sound the trumpet. And it's supposed to call
the people to gather together in unity. They are together,
together in humility, to humble themselves in prayer
and in fasting in rededication of their lives. If God is saying anything today,
he is saying to us believers in every area
of your responsibility, sound the alarm,
sound the alarm. Remind the people
of the shortness of time before judgement comes. Don't get sucked in with the
soft proclamation of the gospel. Don't fall in the trap
of soothing talk and positive thinking preaching. The time of smooth talking never
adequately forewarns people of that dreadful day
that is coming. Call upon him. Throughout the Scripture,
this has been the longing of God's heart. You see it over and over again, particularly in
the book of Hosea, it vividly reveals to us
the brokenness of God's heart when he sees his children
turning after other things and forsaking him. And God says, "Look at Hosea,
look how brokenhearted he is when his wife Gomer is running
after other men and being unfaithful to her husband." He said, "Look at him,
look how heartbroken he is." And now, that's how I feel
when my children, when my people forsake me
and focus on everything else
in life except me. I've redeemed them." God is saying, "This is how
I feel about my children when they forsake me, when they place
their affection and their time and their money and their energy
on other things." And maybe someone is watching
who--to whom this message, which is to believers,
is premature because you have not come
to Jesus Christ confessing your sin,
repenting of your sin, and receiving him
as your only Savior and Lord. You haven't come
to first stage yet. You need to do that now. You need to do that today. Today, today, you can
surrender to him. Today, you can say, "I am sorry
I've been into religion, I'm sorry I've been involved
in all kinds of rituals, but now I receive Jesus as
my only Savior and Lord. Lord Jesus, I have lived
for self. I know I cannot save myself. Lord Jesus, you are the only one
who died on that cross so that I may live eternally
with you in heaven." You can pray that prayer
right now and mean it with all of your heart,
and the Lord Jesus says that he will come
and dwell in you by the-- in the person
of his Holy Spirit. You have his word on it. You have his word on it. ♪♪♪ announcer: If you've just made
a decision to accept Jesus into your life, or if you would
like to speak to someone about making this decision,
please visit ltw.org/jesus. Dr. Youssef would love
to hear from you. announcer: Never before has
our nation been so divided, so distracted, so prone
to seeking our own way. Yet for the believer,
we are called to a hope that does not disappoint. Join "Leading The Way's" newest
initiative, Awake America, a call to God's people to pray
for a spiritual awakening like we have never
witnessed before. We are asking Bible-believing
Christians all over the country to join us as we pray in
our neighborhoods, our cities, and on our campuses,
pray that God will bring salvation and revival
to our land. During this Easter season,
will you partner with "Leading The Way" by joining this growing movement
to awake America? Together, we will proclaim the uncompromising truth
of Christ. To join with us
in this critical mission, go to www.ltw.org
and sign up today. female: My family came
to America from Iran. In 1972, I was only a year old,
they came here for school. My family had finished high
school and went to college here, and they eventually
decided to stay here. And when I was about 11, my mom,
she was always religious, but she became very religious
as far as the Muslim faith. That's when she started
to cover herself, wear the veil,
and that was enforced. The prayers were enforced. We would go to Friday night
prayers and the mosques, and everything just
changed overnight. It was very difficult
because my family, my mother, my parents,
would force it on me. I just knew that
that was not for me. I didn't know who Jesus was. I didn't know nothing. I have a long commute to work, and I always listened
to the news. And one day I said I'm tired
of listening to the news, so I just flipped through
the AM station and that was the first time,
almost two years ago, I listened to "Leading The Way." I do recall just
being blown away. I forgot I was in traffic.
I forgot I was even in my car. First thing that really got me
with Dr. Michael Youssef was his passion. The way he said his messages,
the way he conveyed it, then you start listening
to his messages. It was pure truth,
and he gives you so much hope. I wouldn't have made
my decision, I know I wouldn't have made
any decision to convert if it wasn't for
"Leading The Way," absolutely not. I could sit here
and say thank you for forever and it's still not enough. He introduced me to Jesus. Dr. Youssef: Every knee
shall bow at the name of Jesus and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. female: Before it's like feeding
a starving person. These people that don't know
the Word need to know the Word. And even people that
don't have it in their heart, they're just hardcore Muslims,
you don't know what the power of the Lord can do
that can change their heart. And I'm just so blessed that
he's chosen me from the family I come from, from the background
I come from. I still don't know
why he's chosen me, but he's chosen me. I love him so much for coming
into my life. I would do anything for him. He's so kind, and I just wish
that people would know who he really is. ♪♪♪ announcer: If you've just made
a decision to accept Jesus into your life, or if you would
like to speak to someone about making this decision,
please visit ltw.org/jesus. Dr. Youssef would love
to hear from you. announcer: Passionately
proclaiming uncompromising truth, "Leading The Way"
with Dr. Michael Youssef thanks you for your faithful
support through your continued
prayers and gifts.
