There are so many believers today who are burying their head in the sand and not realizing the danger of the day in which we live.
Listen, it happened in history before. I can stand here and recite history, but only you have to have spiritual eyes to see it and to understand it. Unless and until you see the falsehoods of today and the moral calamity that is leading us to a disaster, until you see the danger of the consequences of drowning of the truth, of compromising the truth, but God is calling you to be a repairer of the broken walls.
Thank you for making time in your day for this teaching from Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. In recent years, there has been such obvious increase in political and social, even spiritual divides in our culture. And sadly, many churchgoers have added to this volatile division.
You know what I mean. It seems like Christians are often better known for what they stand against than what they stand for. Well, up next, Dr. Youssef offers a challenge for 2025, a challenge for each one of us to be agents of change, inviting healing rather than adding to fuel the division. This is a message he's called Being a Change Agent.
Listen carefully as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this episode of Leading the Way Audio. In ancient times, city walls were of uttermost importance. The most important thing for a city was its walls. In fact, city walls represented protection. City walls spoke of strength of a city. City walls communicated an image of prosperity for the city. City walls defined a city. Not only that, but city walls, back in ancient times, is where all the social and the civic activities took place, particularly near the gate of a city wall. In ancient times, a city wall surrounded a city from every side.
Most often, cities are founded upon a hill, just like Jerusalem. And you could see the fences. Therefore, you could see those walls from every direction. City walls were built in a variety of ways.
Of course, in the very beginning, there were kind of mud and rubble and then brick and then stone. Some city walls were between 12 and 18 feet thick. In fact, modern archaeology have dug up and discovered that the ancient city of Nineveh, the walls around the city of Nineveh were so wide that two chariots can literally be riding side by side on top of that wall. That's how big that wall was. But as weapons and armories got more powerful, so did the construction of these walls. In fact, it became very common later on for cities to build two thick walls five feet apart and then they fill those five feet of space with rocks. That's how fortified these walls were. The Bible uses city walls in relationship to a personal life, in relationship to family life, in relationship to nations and cultures. One other thing I want to tell you about walls before I get to my text, okay?
Just be patient. One more thing. See, walls always had gates. You have to have gates otherwise you can't get in and out, okay? I mean, you always have gates. But gates were always the weakest point in the city walls. In fact, it's often called the Achilles heel of a city wall. And that is why strategic defense planners built towers often on the sides of the gate.
Why? To strengthen that Achilles heel of their defense system. When you understand that sin and temptation comes to us and attack us through our eye gates and through our mind gates, you'll understand what Solomon meant when he said, you go to that tower, the name of the Lord, you run into and you're safe. You're not going to run very far because those towers were right next door to the gate. Whenever you face temptation, whenever you face sin, whenever you face times of trial, they come to you through the gates of our mind and heart, you run to that tower and there you receive the strength. There you receive the power that you need to have victory over sin. Walls in the Bible are used as a symbol of a life that is protected.
I'm going to show it to you from the scripture. Walls in the Bible are used as a symbol of life that is secure and at peace. Walls in the Bible are used as a symbol of a life of purity, a life of safety, a life of serenity. Walls in the Bible used as a symbol for a well-being in the midst of a hostile, in the midst of a threatening environment. And therefore, the protection of these walls were very important.
In fact, they spared no expense to keep that wall safe. Not only that, but at the same token, the Bible also speaks of the fact that broken wall is a symbol of a life that's in chambers. A broken wall is a symbol of a life that's in turmoil. A broken wall is a symbol of a life that is continuously being threatened. A broken wall is a symbol of a life that is disconnected and discontented. A symbol of a life that is in deep trouble.
A symbol of a life that is sleepless and worried and anxious. No wonder when Nehemiah came back from exile and he inspected the city of Jerusalem and he looked at the wall and he saw the wall of the city totally broken and destroyed and he just sat there and he wept because it meant that Jerusalem is up for grabs. Then, by the power of God, he led the people to rebuild the wall and everybody was involved in the rebuilding.
The young and the old, the men and the women, everybody was involved in the rebuilding of those walls. Today, we are seeing broken walls all around us. Broken walls of individual lives. Broken walls in marriages and homes. Broken walls in children's lives and teenagers' lives. Broken walls in our society. Broken walls in our churches. Broken walls are everywhere.
And the symbolism here is extremely rich from the scripture. In ancient times, a wall of a city that is broken, it means that that city is vulnerable to enemies' attack. That city is vulnerable to foreign occupation. That city is vulnerable to wild beasts coming in and out.
That city was vulnerable to ravenous animals and no wonder we're seeing it happening today in real life. In fact, that is why the wall of Jerusalem, for example, was declared in Psalm 48 verse 12 as a symbol of God's faithfulness and protection. It wasn't the brick and mortar, but it was God who's protecting them.
And that's exactly what you read in the Bible again and again and again. That wild walls are symbols of protection. It is really God who protects. It is really God who guards. It is God who protects nations. It is God who protects cities. It is God who protects homes. It is God who protects individual lives.
Listen to me. Sin can destroy walls of our lives, but God can rebuild them again. City can devastate a life, but God can restore that life again. And that is why the Bible said, unless the Lord watches over the city.
Some translations said, unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Which brings me to the question, and it's a question that many faithful people are asking in these troubling times, in these difficult times. How can I be a change agent?
In fact, that is the title of my last chapter in the book, When the Crosses are Gone, because I felt that if it's not enough to curse the darkness, I wanted to light a candle. And I want to help God's people to become a change agent. How can I be used of God?
I know there are a lot of Christians saying, well, it's not me. I don't have this, and I can't have that. All you need you have in Jesus. And if you have Jesus, you've got everything. How can I be an instrument of change for good and for God?
And that brings me to my text. Now you can turn to Isaiah 58, verse 12. I'm going to be referring to the whole chapter, but let me focus on verse 12. Here's what the word of God said to God's people through Isaiah. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will rise up the age-old foundations. You will be called the repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings. Let me put this in a historical context. I always put my text in context. In many ways, our day in which we live today is very similar to the days of Isaiah.
It really is. You cannot read the Bible and escape it. In fact, the similarity is so frightfully clear that one has to be concerned because we know what happened to Israel.
Here's how it happened. King Isaiah came on the scene at the time, like many of our politicians. He campaigned for office of a king as a religious man. And when he got into office, pride and power extracted whatever little goodness he had in him. King Isaiah imposed faulty religious views upon the nation and he ridiculed the priests and the prophets and the faithful people of God.
Up to this point, prosperity and blessing has been Israel's stronghold, but then abuse and violence and rejection of God's covenant took them very fast on the road to destruction. And yet God in His mercy, God in His grace, He kept sending change agents, Jeremiah and Isaiah. And these change agents were not just there to do the job.
They were there to exalt God's people to be change agents. And that is the word spoken in the Lord through Isaiah, calling the people of God to be change agents. And it's like he's calling every one of you today who know the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's calling every one of us today to be a change agent. You cannot leave that job to the preachers. You cannot leave that job to pastors.
You cannot leave the job to somebody else. It is your call and God's call upon every one of you to be a change agent in our culture, in our society. I want you to hear me rather in this one. God did not save you so that you might sit in the pure salvation. God did not save you so that you might sit idly while society is rotting. Jesus said you are a salt and light.
He didn't say you're a salt and light if you feel like it or when you feel led to do it, you are a salt and light whether you like it or not. In the New Testament where all the believers are priests, we don't need anyone to intercede on our behalf. Every one of us is a priest in the presence of God. We are kingdom of priests.
And no one can say, oh it's not me, not me. God divinely raised his men and women, boys and girls for such a time. God divinely raised faithful children to be his voice in this time of rebellion and the time of turning away from God. God is speaking to his faithful remnant today as clearly as he can ever speak and he's saying you are going to be called the repairer of the broken walls.
Amen. Everyone must be involved in repairing of the broken walls. Every single person just like in the time of Nehemiah when every single person was involved. Some will go, some will pray, some will give, some will intercede, everybody will intercede. And you say, Michael, how can I be a change agent? First of all, if you're not able to see the danger in which we're in and the times in which we live, then the first thing you need to do, you need to cry to God and say, go open my eyes.
Open my eyes so I can see because there's something wrong if you can't see it. Ask the Lord. Listen, there are so many believers today who are burying their head in the sand and not realizing the danger of the day in which we live. Listen, it happened in history before. I can stand here and recite history, but only you have to have spiritual eyes to see it and to understand it.
We all read about roaring 20s, but only a spiritual eyes will realize that those roaring 20s gave way to the Great Depression. Can it happen again? Not related?
I don't think so. Unless and until you see the falsehood of today and the moral calamity that is leading us to a disaster, until you see the danger of the consequences of drowning of the truth, of compromising the truth, but God is calling you to be a repairer of the broken walls. So what should I do?
Isaiah 58, verse one, same chapter, actually gives you the answer, not me, the Word of God. He said, shout it loud. Don't hold back. Don't hold back. Don't hold back speaking the truth. Don't hold back on supporting those who are in the front line of preaching the truth. Don't hold back in sharing of your faith. Don't hold back in standing with those in the front line. Don't be intimidated. Don't have a defeatist attitude, but be of courage. Be a change agent because that's exactly what God wants a change agent to do, to speak loudly, to speak often, and to speak wisely. I am convinced that the greatest threat to the church of Jesus Christ today is the silence of God's people.
I am absolutely convinced of that. Our culture is changing at a dizzying and alarming speed. Our churches are departing from the truth in an overwhelming pace. Even believers are retreating back from the field of battle with a heartbreaking way. And back in the old days, Harvard and Yale and all those institutions, it took several generations to depart.
Now, it's not even taking one generation to depart. But the question remain, how can I be a change agent? Listen carefully, please. Instead of murmuring and complaining and moping and sulking about silly things, share the Gospel. Instead of joining the chorus of gossip of superfluous things, speak truth. Instead of being part of a holy huddle and the naysayers declare the mysteries of the power of God.
Instead of just saying how bad things are, give away the good news. My friend John Stott used to say, he says, Christians must be global minded with a global vision because we have a global God. In fact, Isaiah tells us about a couple of obstacles that a change agents were facing at that time.
When you see them, you realize nothing changed in time. Verse 53, first obstacle, Isaiah 58, three, is the dead religion and dead rituals that people were practicing at that day, at that time. It's like our day. Listen to me, a change agent, a repairer of walls, a mender of broken walls must speak the truth in love, must call sin, sin first in our lives. And then in the lives of others, we must call people to repentance, but we must repent first. We must have a lifestyle of repentance so that we'll be able to call others to repent. And we've got to stop calling sin a disease.
It's not a disease. It is sin and it can only be delivered from that sin and the power of that sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. The second obstacle that was creating a God in their own image.
Oh, have you seen it? Everybody has got a God. Everybody has a God that's created in their own image. They're creating a God that they could appease, creating a God in their minds who doesn't care about morality. They're creating a God in their minds who's not interested in their lives. They're creating a God who's not interested on what they do between Sundays. But the true God wants His people to be not entertained, but world changes. God wants His children to be a change agents.
Look at verse 6, to loosen the chains. God wants to use His children as a change agents to set people free from sin and bondage. God wants His children to be a change agents to set people free from the slavery of sin and from addiction. God wants to use you as a change agents to help open the blind eyes because God wants to set the captive free. He does it all through His change agents through you. He repairs the broken walls of lives and homes and churches, societies through repairs of walls.
You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings. See God made it clear to Israel. I mean again, you can't miss it. I mean you're reading the scripture again and again and again. It becomes monotonous and sometimes I just say, Lord, what incredible patience you have that victory would come when His change agents are willing to be repairers of broken walls. Throughout the nations, throughout the world, millions of people are waiting.
They're longing for someone to bring them the word that will set them free. Will you be that change agent? Will you be that change agent?
I know it's only a spiritually minded person will understand that all of the physical walls, all of the powerful walls cannot protect when there is a moral collapse, when there is a spiritual collapse. All the education in the world will not change a life. I'm not against education, believe me. I'm a beneficiary of education and that is why we need to cry to God to empower us to be a change agent. Will you accept Dr. Michael Yusef's challenge to impact those right where you live with the truth of the gospel?
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