Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Welcome to a special episode of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef from the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Youssef recently spoke at a Leading the Way Awake rally, hosted by Tremont Temple, an historic church in the center of downtown Boston, where local students, businesspeople, and families were challenged by a message from God's Word at complimentary events.

It was an exciting evening. In fact, an exciting weekend as Dr. Youssef and the Leading the Way team, along with partner organizations, clearly delivered the gospel of truth. And the main event with Dr. Youssef was so electric, so inspiring, that we wanted to share it with you, because we know that you too will be encouraged by this special Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Glad you're here. We believe that tonight, we started in Boston this whole tour for a reason. This is the place of the birth of the first Great Awakening. And by faith, we're going to believe that it will be the birth of the third Great Awakening. Amen.

As I've done all over the globe, I open the word of God because I have no message other than what the word of God says. As many of you know, there has been a great deal of chatter in the social media about the end times. But for me personally, I found a great deal of comfort in looking at the word of God and seeing our Lord and Savior himself said about the end times.

Jesus told us that this world as we know it will come to an end. That was his promise. Jesus also told us to look for some signs in both Matthew 24 and 25, in two chapters. These signs, he said, will be happening immediately prior to his return.

When Jesus returns, it will be a great day for the believers. It will be a day of rejoicing for the believers. Or it will be a day of judgment for those who have not surrendered their lives to him. That is why we're praying that today will be a time all across America for the elect of God to wake up and be ready for the return of Christ.

Jesus said that one of the signs of the end times, before his return, is that there are going to be wars and rumors of wars. You say, "Well, there have always been wars and rumors of wars." Yes. Another sign he said is there will be inflation and scarcity of food and famine.

Another sign he said is that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached around the world as testimony to all nations, then the end will come. In Matthew 24. And this is happening right now. Jesus calls these signs labor pains, just like what happens in the life of an expectant mother immediately before the baby is born.

When a baby is about to be born, there are labor pains. Now, as I said, there have always been wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes. But what happens prior to the birth of the baby, as Jesus told us, is that those labor pains increase in frequency. They increase in intensity and we're watching that right now.

One of these labor pains our Lord Jesus said would be an increase in selfishness and self-centeredness and oh my goodness, are we not seeing that now. There will be an increase of falsehood and deception and it's all around us. AI, of course, is playing a major role in this deception. People are believing lies and looking at somebody talking and speaking and acting as if he's real when the person is not real.

There's an increase in the number of earthquakes and floods and natural catastrophes. There will be an increase in the loss of value of money. And he gives us one of the clearest signs immediately before his return in Matthew 24:36 when he said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be prior to the coming of the Son of Man."

For in the days of Noah before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up until the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing about what was about to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be—that's Jesus talking, not me—at the coming of the Son of Man.

Beloved, this is the clearest sign. This is the clearest sign that we are coming to the end of time. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days prior to the coming of the Son of Man. What were the days of Noah like? Well, the Bible tells us. We don't have to guess, and we don't have to look at history books; the Bible tells us.

They were days of loss of morality. They were days of increased hatred, lust, and bloodshed. They were days of an increase of moral depravity. Today we are watching Western morality in the Western world; the decadence is now invading every corner of every city in the world.

The total focus is self. And in Genesis chapter 6 where the event of the flood has taken place, the Bible tells us about those days of Noah. Here you're going to find in Genesis chapter 6, particularly verse 5, what it was really like. I'm going to read it to you.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become, and every inclination of thought was only evil all the time. We are watching in the news, seeing with our own eyes, places like England where they gave us the English Reformation, they gave us Spurgeon, they gave us John Wesley—now decadence.

And two groups of people, the militant Islamists and the socialists—the leftists, Marxists—are now in an unholy alliance. And they can arrest people who preach the gospel in the streets of London, but if somebody is proclaiming falsehoods in the streets of London, the police give them an escort. Now we are seeing things that I never thought I'd dream of seeing.

We are watching in the news around the world how wickedness and evil are prevailing. We are seeing worldwide corruption, debauchery, and greed. We are seeing pornography has invaded every corner of the globe. Here in the West, we're seeing some powerful politicians who are trying to destroy the innocence of our children. Every single day we see it in the news.

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. In Second Peter chapter 3, verse 3, Peter warns us that scoffers will be saying, "Where is that return of Christ?" They have been saying this for many years. And yet all of these signs that Jesus gave us are happening right now.

As I view what is happening around the world, I see some people also in the grip of fear. They're in the grip of fear of food scarcity, fear of the so-called climate change, fear of nuclear weapons, and fear of random asteroid collision. I see it in the news all the time.

But those who have placed their whole faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation have nothing to fear. Absolutely nothing to fear. In fact, we look forward to that day. We look forward to that day because Jesus our Savior, when he comes on that day, it's going to be a day of rejoicing.

In fact, Jesus said when you see these things, lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing nigh. The Bible says, "Therefore there is no condemnation upon those who are in Christ Jesus." And that's our anchor. We fear not, but we rejoice in the coming of the Son.

That motivates us to tell every family member, to tell every friend, to tell every neighbor to come and believe in Jesus now. The time is urgent. The time is now. Because the ones that are going to be redeemed are not those who claim to be religious, not those who pretend to be religious, and not those who hope they'll be good enough for God. Only those who have received Jesus Christ as their only Savior and Lord will be redeemed.

And this is the call for waking up America. When you place your whole trust in Jesus, you will not fear. You will not experience anxiety, and if you do, it's only momentarily. You cry to Jesus and the Holy Spirit will come and redeem you from worries and anxiety.

The opposite is true. You will be at peace in the midst of world turmoil. You'll be joyful in the midst of the world's sorrow. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the return of the Son of Man.

Now let's look closely at the days of Noah. I want you to look closely with me, please. First of all, those days were categorized by population growth. Genesis chapter 6, verse 1 says humanity began to increase in number. Well, you say, "What's wrong with that?" There's nothing really wrong with that per se. There's nothing wrong with population growth per se. God blessed humanity and said multiply and increase.

But here's the problem: the increase of the population brings about an increase in moral decadence and sin. And that is the problem. For example, in 1972—just think about that—there were 3.8 billion people in the world. In 2023, there are over 8 billion people in the world.

I know you hear in the news that we're facing food shortages around the world and the globe is suffering, and Bill Gates now wants us to cull the population of the world and get rid of some. During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw riots in the stores over paper towels. But food riots, I see them all over the world right now.

In the book of Revelation, it tells us that at the end times, food will become scarce and expensive. You read it in Revelation 6:6. I heard a voice: two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not destroy the oil and the wine. What does that mean? It means according to the Global Network Against Food Crisis, the world food situation is beyond crisis.

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Not only was there a population increase, but the Bible tells us that there was an unprecedented increase in knowledge. Genesis 4:17 tells us prior to the flood, there was an increase in knowledge. They were building a civilization without God.

Knowledge in itself is good, right? There's nothing wrong with knowledge per se. The technology that built Noah's Ark, we are told, rivaled an ocean liner now. So they had an increase in knowledge; they had a feat of engineering at the time.

Today we have an unprecedented increase in knowledge. Let me explain this. Prior to 1900, knowledge doubled every hundred years. By the end of World War II, knowledge was doubling every 24 years. In the beginning of 2020, knowledge was doubling every 13 months. And now with AI, knowledge will be doubling every few hours. Literally.

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days prior to the coming of the Son of Man. Now some of you might ask, "But isn't an increase in knowledge good?" It's a good thing, yes; there's nothing wrong with knowledge per se. But knowledge without godliness, my friends, and godly wisdom is extremely dangerous.

In fact, now we have knowledge that the coronavirus was the result of knowledge gone bad. Scientists in China were experimenting with an enhancing of genetics, but they ended up killing millions of people around the world. Knowledge without godly wisdom produces arrogance, it produces greed, it produces selfishness, it produces pride, and it produces wickedness.

And that's exactly the social and spiritual conditions in the days of Noah. The book of Genesis tells us the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become, and every inclination of thought was evil. So not only was there an increase in population and increase of knowledge, but thirdly, there was a total disconnect from reality.

And Jesus said in Matthew 24:38, as it was in the days of Noah before the flood swept that population, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. You say, "Well, what's wrong with that?" They were oblivious to reality. They were oblivious to the message that Noah was preaching.

They were oblivious to the fact that they were going to be swept away in a matter of years. And the thing that literally sometimes breaks my heart, especially for my friends and neighbors to whom I'm witnessing and they're refusing to accept Christ, the Bible says that when Noah and his family entered the ark, it didn't say Noah shut the door or Noah closed the door. It says God shut the door. Oh my goodness.

That's how it is going to be in the last days. There is something else that's so disturbing about the last days. When Noah's population refused and rejected his message of salvation, they lost their physical lives. But on the coming judgment, with the return of Christ, these people who rejected him and refused to believe in him are going to spend all of eternity suffering and in torment. And that is why I never joke about hell because real people are going there.

Some of you might be asking, "What is wrong with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage?" Nothing at all. That is not the point that Jesus is making. They were partying all night as they are doing in every major city and every town now. They were oblivious to the coming danger.

They were disconnected from reality. They were divorced from reality. They were thinking that life was going to go on like this forever. Food and drink now has become an obsession all over the world. Food and drink has become our focus, our master instead of our servant.

Like the days of Noah, our priority has been turned upside down. Look around you and see how many people are focusing on the wrong priority. What about marrying and giving in marriage? Today people enter and exit marriage for purely selfish reasons.

The institution of biblical marriage and the strength of the family is the cornerstone of any healthy society. But sin has destroyed our attitude toward biblical marriage and family. Today people talk about the marrying of any two people, or any three people even. That is a perversion of God's blueprint for marriage.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter in Second Peter chapter 2, verse 5, says that God did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on the ungodly people, but protected Noah and his family. Why? Because he was a preacher of righteousness. That's what the Bible says.

And Peter continued and he says that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Do you believe that? The Lord knows how to rescue people. Today when you place your whole trust in Jesus Christ and receive him as your only Savior and Lord, you bow to him as the master of your life. When you receive Jesus as not only the one who died on the cross for you, but the one who redeemed you and is going to take you to reign and rule with him forever.

When you do that, he will rescue you from the dangers that are awaiting the world and take us to heaven. What does it mean that Noah was a preacher of righteousness? Well, does it mean we are all going to be preachers? No, that doesn't mean that at all. Don't miss this, please. Even when people were mocking Noah, his faith never wavered.

Even when people stood mocking his message, he stood strong and would call them and plead with them to come and be saved. Even when people could not see any sign of rain and said, "Noah, you're getting old, you're hallucinating, we don't have rain in this part of the world," Noah placed his entire hope in the promise of God, in the word of God.

The masses ignored Noah's warning to save themselves from the coming judgment at the cost of everything. I pray tonight that no one within the sound of my voice would ignore the call of God. Wherever you are in your journey—and we all are at different places—make tonight a historic night, a turning point in your life. Can I get an amen?

The Bible says, "Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Today is the day because tomorrow cannot be guaranteed. God is calling you to escape from sin and guilt. He wants to deliver you from addiction, depression, and anything else that you are suffering from.

God wants to set you free from fear and anxiety. God is calling you into joy and peace that only can be found in Christ. God wants to assure you that he wants you to spend eternity with him in heaven. Will you respond? Will you respond?

Jesus' message in Matthew 24 is very clear: do not make the mistake that the people in Noah's day made. Don't make the mistake and say, "Maybe tomorrow, maybe sometime." Don't make that mistake; be wise and respond to his invitation.

Wake up before it's too late. Jesus said, "What profits anyone to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" I'm here only for one purpose, and that is to issue a wake-up call.

The devil is going to tell you that you've got plenty of time. You don't have to do it now. You don't need to be religious. You're a good person; you're good enough for God. But that's a lie from the pit of hell. Don't put it off. Don't push the snooze button and go back to sleep. It could be your last wake-up call.

I made a decision to follow Christ about 60 years ago. I was 17 years old. And in the last 60 plus years, I've faced some dark days. I've faced tough times. But not once did I ever regret my decision to follow Jesus.

For he gave me peace in the midst of trouble. he gave me light in the midst of my darkness. He gave me joy in the midst of sorrow. He protected me and guarded me. He has encouraged me along life's highway, and he wants to do the same with you.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef as he passionately proclaims uncompromising truth on Leading the Way. As you listen today, perhaps spiritual questions came to mind. Well, we would like to invite you to speak with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor to explore those questions. You can begin that conversation today by filling out a short contact form at ltw.org/jesus.

This episode featured content from a special event Dr. Youssef hosted at the historic Tremont Temple in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. Awake rallies like this one are being planned for additional cities in coming months and years. It's Dr. Youssef's passion to lead the way for God's church and people to experience a great awakening of revival and hope amidst a worldwide spiritual crisis.

Learn ways to stand with Dr. Youssef, expanding the gospel impact of Leading the Way when you call 866-626-4356. And the website to give securely is ltw.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.