Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading The Way. As you listen, you'll grow in your spiritual journey alongside Dr. Michael Youssef. Look around today. You'll quickly see the destructive influence and impact of idolatry. Yes, idolatry. That's when people or things are given the authority and position that God should have.

Today on Leading The Way, Dr. Youssef continues his series called Hope and Forgiveness in Times of Judgment, showing us just how Israel during the time of Hosea was steeped in idolatry and offered hope and forgiveness from God. Dr. Youssef shares practical words for living in 2026, living in a culture that encourages idolatry, much like Israel was experiencing during Hosea's time. Join me now in listening to Dr. Michael Youssef and today's teaching time on Leading The Way audio.

Dr. Michael Youssef: We have started a series of messages from the book of Hosea. We are seeing the similarity between his day and ours. We saw first of all how God is trying to reveal His heart to the people of Israel by getting Hosea to go through this miserable experience of marrying a woman who turned out to be unfaithful to him. And the more he loves her, the more unfaithful she becomes. And God says to Hosea, and to the people of Israel, and to us today, "This is your condition. The more I love you, the more I bless you, the more I give you, the more you get away from Me."

And what caused Israel to collapse right at the end of the time of the prophet Hosea are the very causes that are at work right now to destroy our society. I want you to look at them. There are three in number. Hosea 4, verses one to six. One, it's a deliberate rejection of the knowledge of God. Secondly, a loss of direction by the ministers of God, verses seven to 10. Thirdly, a definite abandonment of passion for God, verses 11 to 19.

A deliberate rejection of the knowledge of God. Look at verse six. Here's what God said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." As a result of this rejection of the knowledge of God, society is characterized by deception and dishonesty and lying. A book that was written by two authors entitled "The Day America Told The Truth," and the bottom line of that book is this: that 92% of Americans lie at least once a day. I pray to God that that's not true.

But here are the symptoms: deception, dishonesty, and lack of integrity, as part of the collapse of that society. Look at verse two. You know, people today tell a lie without batting an eye. I am told by my friends who are in the legal profession that in the courts of law, many a time people will stand up, witnesses will stand up and swear to God that they will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and as soon as they get on the stand, they lie. There was a day when a man's word was his bond. Today, man's word means nothing.

There was a day when marriage vows were meant for life. Today, only for convenience. There was a day when loyalty and commitment meant everything. Today, loyalty and commitment go down with the sun at the end of the day. And the reason for this collapse is because the knowledge of God was deliberately rejected. You know, when the Nazis rejected the knowledge of God, we ended up with barbarians who had PhDs. Education did not do them any good.

When the knowledge of God is rejected in the church, sentimentality, superficiality, entertainment will take their place. When the knowledge of God is rejected in the home, children will fill that vacuum with drugs and alcohol. Oh yes, please don't misunderstand me. We have more knowledge today than any other time in history. But not the knowledge of God.

In fact, more information has been generated in the last three decades than the previous 5,000 years put together. Oh yeah, we are up to our ears with knowledge, but not the most important knowledge of all, the knowledge of God. Somebody said that universities are full of knowledge. Freshmen bring little into it, and graduating seniors take none of it away. And thus knowledge is accumulating in the colleges and schools.

You know, I often tell my children, I say a college education never hurt anyone who's willing to learn something afterward. They say, "Why do you go to the expense, then?" Well, good question. I thoroughly love the old-timer who said, "You know, you don't have to listen to who's who to know what's what." And here's what God is saying to this generation. He's saying, "People are perishing for lack of knowledge. My people are being destroyed."

Secondly, the people are being destroyed because of the loss of direction on the part of God's ministers. Look at verses seven all the way to 10. The priests, said Hosea, who are to lead the people in the knowledge of God and in the knowledge of the word of God, they've lost their way. They've lost direction. The clergy are lost.

Jesus said of the clergy of His day in Matthew 15:14, they're like a blind leading the blind. Imagine when they get into a ditch. And that's what's happening in our society today. Look at verse seven of Hosea 4 and see if it does not describe our day today. It says the more clergy increase in number, the more they increase in wickedness, the more they increase in apostasy, the more they increase in their disbelief, the more they increase in their misleading of God's people.

There are more clergy in this country per capita than any other nation on the face of the earth. As they grow in number, they grow in apostasy. They grow in their departure from the truth of the word of God. And God said in verse nine, "Like people, like priest." Clergy who once thundered from their pulpits the gospel of Jesus Christ, today they whimper their doubt and their distrust of the gospel.

Clergy who once upheld the truth of salvation now preach sentimentality. Clergy who once declared the word of God, they now declare the word of man. Clergy who once sought the acceptance of God above everything else in the world, today they will do anything for popularity in the world. Clergy who once called sin sin, today they are calling it alternative lifestyle.

Clergy who once declared that the absolute inseparability between the justice of God and the grace of God, today they are preaching cheap grace and saying God is not going to judge anybody. Clergy who once fed the flock upon the word of God, the only thing they can and need to have, now they are preaching psychology and sociology. Clergy who once led people into the worship of God today are entertaining them in the name of God.

Clergy who once pointed to the holiness of God, to the righteousness of God, and to the majesty of God, they are now humanized God for the sake of relevance. Clergy who once spent hours pouring over the word of God, spending hours in the studies, they now spend their time on marketing strategies. And God is saying, if the priests who are supposed to lead by example are in such a mess, what do I expect from the people in the pews?

No wonder Israel was heading for that disastrous judgment of the Assyrian exile, the horrors of which I would never be able to even talk about from this pulpit of what happened to the apple of God's eye. But you see, God is patient and He calls and He lets His prophet speak and call and call and call to repentance, and finally when the day comes, God says, "I did everything."

In the New Testament, the Bible teaches that the fathers are the priests of their homes. And the priest's tasks are basically threefold. Number one is that they lead by example. Secondly, they are to teach in words. Thirdly, they are to intercede on behalf of those over whom they are serving. And my fellow fathers, I want to tell you, I know doing these things are not easy. They are hard.

But it is our job to instruct and to teach and to counsel our children. It is our job to lead our children. And when the priests in the days of Hosea neglected their responsibility, society fell apart. When the priests ceased to lead the people, they were destroyed. When the priests allow other experts to crowd them out, people suffered. When the priests do not lead, they will ultimately follow the enemy of God.

When the priests in the home do not take their spiritual responsibility seriously, the children will be lost. Societies collapse when a deliberate rejection of the knowledge of God takes place, when a loss of direction by the ministers of God takes place. And thirdly, when there is a definite abandonment of passion for God.

There's one thing you can be sure about. I want you to listen to what I'm going to tell you very carefully. You can be sure of this, some of you have seen it with your own eyes, I have. It is absolute certainty that when people cease to conform to the image of God, they will conform God to their image. You've seen it. It's happening all around us. People the world over, they want something or someone to look up to.

I have seen it in every corner of the globe. People the world over, they want to satisfy their inner hunger and their thirst by pinning their faith in something or someone. And this someone or something's very often is a pale approximation of the true God. They call him God. Listen to me, they call him God, but a god who suits their perception of God. A god who pleases them.

A god whom they can manipulate. A god who has no definite standards. A god who changes his standards when they do. A god who goes along with their whims and with their fantasies. A god who is amiable and easygoing. The kind of god they talk about is that god who is easily appeased and easily pacified. No wonder the prevailing philosophy today is that you have your god, I have my god.

You know what they're really saying in reality? In honesty, do you know what they're really saying, whether they know it or not? They're saying, "You are god and I'm god." Let's remember that the self-made man worships his creator. And he who falls in love with himself will have no rivals. Contrast this with Martin Luther, the great reformer, who in the midst of his war against the Pope and against all the corrupt church leaders, he said the following words.

He said, "I'm more afraid of my own heart than the Pope and the cardinals. I have within me the great Pope self." Self. But the problem is we wink at self's invasion of our lives. We rationalize it, of course. Nothing can make you lose your passion for God and for the kingdom of God like the god of self. Nothing can lead you to idolatry and cool your passion for the gospel like the god of self.

Nothing can take away your passion and your love for the lost than self-preoccupation. Look at verse 15. God calls Bethel, which means a house of God, he calls Bethaven. There's no such place as Bethaven. He said, "What is Hosea talking about? What's God talking about?" Bethaven means the house of vanity. Why? Why does God call Bethel, the house of God, he calls it the house of vanity? I want to tell you why. Listen carefully.

Because self-worship can take place in a beautiful church building. Self-worship can take place while you're going to church. Self-worship doesn't mind going through the religious pomp and ceremony, not at all. Self-worship can keep the outward symbols of Christianity. Self-worship can still use all the Christian lingoes. Self-worship, oh, can read the Bible. You see, the people of Israel in Hosea's day, they didn't just turn their back on God and said, "We want nothing to do with Yahweh." No, no, no, no.

They were too polite for that. They're too polite for that. They all went to the temple on Saturday morning and acknowledged their acquaintance to the Almighty, and the rest of the week they were worshipping Baal. And might as well on that temple would have written the words Ichabod, the glory of God has departed. See, when people think of idolatry and read about idolatry in the Bible, they think of Buddhism and Hinduism and all these people who are worshipping statues. No, no, no, no. It has nothing to do with that.

Idolatry was a word that God was speaking to His people Israel. He was not speaking it to the Canaanites and the pagans. He was speaking it to Israel. Idolatry is something that is in the heart of the believer. You must understand that idolatry is preeminently religious. It really is. The word idol literally means something carved or a carved representation of something else. And idolatry is the worship of any representation of God.

Do you know when Israel came out of Egypt, when Moses went up to the mountain and he got delayed and they all panicked and they couldn't wait for him and they didn't know what to do, finally they went to Aaron and said, "Aaron, here's our gold. We're going to melt it together. Make a bull so we can worship." Do you think they really want to worship a bull? They really want to worship an animal? No. They said, "God is a god of power. He's the one who brought us out of Egypt. That is a mighty, strong god. And what is mighty and strong in our minds is a bull."

So they made an image of a bull and said, "Ah, this is Yahweh. Let's bow to him." It's a misrepresentation of who God is. We have only one true representation of God, and His name is Jesus. Imagining God from any other human perspective is idolatry. Those who are running around referring to God as Mother God are idolaters. Because this is a human projection of God.

Those who are running around and saying that God is only love, He's only love, no judgment, they are idolaters. Because they want a god who pleases their emotions. Those who are running around and saying, "Jesus is one way, sure is my way, but and I'm thankful for that, but He's only one way among many others," they are idolaters because of their misrepresentation of the image of God.

Those evangelicals who are running around worshipping their pastors or evangelists or preachers, let me tell you, that is idolatry because at best these people are a false representation of God. Anything or anyone who occupies a high place in your life and in my life is idolatry and must be torn down. You say, "Well, I have been praying for God to tear this idol or that idol in my life." I want to tell you something. God is not going to answer that prayer.

Stop praying saying, "God tear down the idols in my life." He ain't going to do it. You know why? Because you put that idol there. And God is waiting for you until you tear that idol down. He's going to give you the strength for that idol not to come back, but you have to tear it down. God did not put that idol in your life, you did. And God is waiting. Somebody says, "But I've been praying for my son, I've been praying for my daughter, I've been praying for this and I've been praying for that. God is not hearing me."

Have you torn that idol in your life? And God is waiting and He's waiting and He's waiting until you tear down that idol. There was a time in my life when my idol was to accumulate academic degrees. I thought I'm going to be a great professor. What does God do? He get me to preach the simple gospel. Isn't He a great God? I didn't need all these degrees. It was just my insecurity. Idols in my life.

Whatever idol that you have built in your life, whatever it may be, only you know when you're naked before God and God speaks to you and tells you what idol that you have placed in that high place, whatever it may be. And until you're willing to say, "God, I'm going to tear this idol, help me never to raise him up again." God is waiting for you to do that before He orders the blessing. If the Holy Spirit has pointed his finger to an idol in your life, I want to beg you before God, destroy it now.

Tear it down now. God is more anxious to bless you than you realize, but God does not like to be crowded out. He does not like to be dethroned. He said, "I'm a jealous God." Will you do that today? Father God, only You know and we know each individually what idols we have placed in our lives. And we can pray for revival all we want and we can pray for this and pray for that. Oh God, we know it is only when we tear these idols down that You will come with Your special visitation.

Come Holy Spirit, strengthen every heart that decided to tear that idol down, whatever it may be. And we thank You for the strength that You're going to give us because You are a gracious and loving Heavenly Father. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): Hope and Forgiveness in Times of Judgment. That's the title of Dr. Michael Youssef's current series on Leading The Way. Maybe your life needs hope and forgiveness. You can start by reaching out to one of Leading The Way's pastors or counselors. They would be so happy to engage in a compassionate conversation. Begin by going to LTW.org/jesus.

Before we close out today's Leading The Way, here are several notes that our international team recently received through the Kingdom SAT. That's Dr. Youssef's 24/7 satellite programming to Arabic-speaking people worldwide. We thought that you would be encouraged to hear how the gospel is changing lives through Leading The Way.

Malika from Morocco wrote, "After watching the Kingdom SAT TV channel, I began questioning my understanding of Islam. I found Islam filled with contradictions prompting me to explore Christianity. I'm now on a journey to discover Jesus." Friends, the Leading The Way team in Morocco provided her with a Bible and materials to assist her in her search and explain the Christian faith.

Ali from Iraq writes, "After learning about Muhammad's life, I felt lost and realized I was living a lie. Finding Leading The Way's Dear God page gave me a relief and helped me discover the path to truth and love in Christ. I feared the consequences of leaving Islam, but I prayed to accept Christ and I am now a new person."

Aphrase from Sudan writes, "Watching the Kingdom SAT TV channel helped me find Christ. He liberated me from Islam. I now live for Christ. Thanks to your guidance, thank you for being a part of changing my life." Thank you for your prayers and your generous support of Leading The Way. Through your faithfulness, Dr. Youssef and the ministry teams are able to reach into this neighborhood and neighborhoods just like it all around the world with the gospel.

Dr. Michael Youssef: We stand at a crossroads of history, and we can walk through these doors of opportunities that God has opened for us, or we can do nothing. We have the choice.

Guest (Male): Leading The Way continues to embark on a bold vision to passionately proclaim the uncompromising truth of Christ in three strategic areas where the need is greatest and the doors are open. In North America, where only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview, we are delivering solid biblical teaching through every media platform available. We continue to pray for a spiritual awakening in the Western church, asking the Lord to mobilize believers to stand firm for uncompromising biblical truth in their homes, churches, and communities.

Dr. Michael Youssef: The answer, it is not frustration, but proclamation of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and holding that truth uncompromisedly.

Guest (Male): The Middle East is open and home to 68% of the world's unreached people groups. We are proclaiming the gospel in areas with the most need through our Kingdom SAT TV channel, outreach events, audio, printed, and digital content, and our strategically positioned field teams. We must take the gospel to those who have never heard it.

42% of the world's population lives in remote villages without gospel truth. Technology and language barriers have cut them off from the message. Your support will help us reach these isolated areas.

Dr. Michael Youssef: I made a vow to God that as long as He gives me a breath, that I will proclaim Him and His truth of His gospel until my dying day. Will you go through it with me?

Guest (Male): Join Dr. Youssef to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth in three strategic areas. It's the open door campaign. Learn ways that you can express your generosity with Dr. Youssef and Leading The Way when you call us: 866-626-4356. That's 866-626-4356. Or reach out online at LTW.org. LTW.org. This program is brought to you by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.