Leading The Way

Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef is standing by, ready to help you see that the Book of Revelation is remarkably significant for today. It's next on Leading The Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Those seven churches represent the complete picture of the condition of all churches throughout history. It doesn't matter what time you've lived in, it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go, every church will come under one of the seven categories. And that is why Revelation is for today. The Book of Revelation is for today.

Guest (Male): In the pages of Revelation, it's easy to get lost in the dramatic, prophecy-laden end times content. But up next on Leading The Way, Dr. Michael Youssef reveals how the last book of the Bible is also packed with practical words from Jesus himself for 2026.

Growing up in the Middle East, combined with his Bible school and seminary training, and of course, years of pastoral service, gives Dr. Youssef unique perspectives on biblical teaching. And he's ready to bring the mysteries of Revelation into the light. Let's listen together as Dr. Michael Youssef continues his series called An End Times Warning for the Modern Day Church.

Dr. Michael Youssef: The Book of Revelation opens with a prologue. And the opening of that prologue, you saw in verse three, where there is a specific blessing to those who not only read it, but heed it. In fact, there is another one at the end, like two bookends, two blessings, one at the beginning, one at the end, for everyone who studies and reads and heeds the Book of Revelation.

In his greeting to the churches, the Lord Jesus pronounces grace and peace. In all the writings of the New Testament, grace and peace. Have you ever asked yourself why none of them would write peace and then grace? Have you ever thought about that? Because no one can ever have the peace of God before receiving the grace of God.

Until you receive the grace of God, you cannot have peace of God. Only the grace of God through Jesus Christ could give you peace, even in the midst of turmoil, even in the difficult times of life. And so John goes on to describe Jesus as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Why does he call Jesus the faithful witness? In fact, he is the faithful witness par excellence because he is the one who came from heaven to reveal the Father, and therefore his testimony is true. In John 14:9, he said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." Jesus is the firstborn from the dead.

You see, even the people that Jesus raised from the dead, they rose in their normal bodies. But Jesus is the only one, the first one, who rose from the dead in a glorified body. He's the first, but then we will follow. For we, too, will rise in glorified bodies.

Those who worship Jesus, those who love Jesus, those who cannot wait for Jesus to come back, they will be in a glorified body. We're not going to be dismembered spirits floating around or angels on the clouds. No, we will have glorified bodies just like Jesus' body after the resurrection. That's why he is the firstborn. He's the first one. We will follow.

Verse five, he said he's the ruler of the kings of the earth. Look around you today. You don't find too many kings and rulers of the world bowing to Jesus, but make no mistake about it, they will. All of them will. All of them will. Even if they think they're mighty and powerful, they will bow their knees to Jesus.

The day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Whether they like it or not, they're going to do it. Still we are in verse five. Jesus loves us and he has freed us from our sins by his blood. Listen carefully, please. I know we sing about the blood of Jesus.

I know we can imagine the blood of Jesus on the cross, and the symbol of the communion wine reminds us of the blood of Jesus. And even believers, we believe in the power of the blood of Jesus. But John saw with his own eyes that blood dripping from the cross as he alone stood there by the cross. He saw with his own eyes how the holy and righteous blood of Jesus stained the earth.

He saw with his own eyes. He watched Jesus as he bled to death while all the others fled and ran away. John watched Jesus' last drop-to-drop from his holy body, drained from his body, his mangled body. And if John lived to be a thousand years old, he will never forget that blood dripping from the cross.

And so John says, remember, it is only the blood of Jesus that can save you. It is only the blood of Jesus that can set you free. It is only the blood of Jesus that can break the chain of addiction and the chain of sin. Try it. Every time you're faced with temptation and you're about to wander off into the far country, you're turning against the Lord and his word and want to sin, try to plead the blood of Jesus.

You will experience it. Every time you're in trouble, plead the blood of Jesus. Every time you feel rejected and unloved, claim the blood of Jesus. Every time you feel guilt and shame, plead the blood of Jesus. For he bled to death so that he might set us free from the power of sin.

And when he sets us free, he makes us into priests. No longer do we need to go to a priest for confession. We no longer do we need to go to a priest to intercede on our behalf like they did in the Old Testament, for the door to the throne room of God is wide open for us to come in and come out any time, any moment. For we now are priests. We can come straight to the high priest.

Verse seven, here John quotes the prophet Daniel. And Daniel prophesied not only about Jesus' first coming, but he also prophesied about Jesus' second coming. He said in Daniel chapter seven, "Look, he is coming with clouds." Now, let me stop here because I remember when I was a kid, I used to think that Jesus must be going to come back on a cloudy day, kind of riding on the clouds.

It has nothing to do with the clouds as we know them. In the Bible, the word clouds means large, vast numbers of people, the throngs of people. That's what the clouds in the Bible are. In fact, Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we are surrounded by such great cloud of witnesses. What is he talking about?

He is talking about the myriads of people whose faithful witness has been recorded in the scripture in order to encourage us, in order to help us be obedient to Christ, in order to motivate us to keep on keeping on. So that's what the cloud means. He's going to come with all the wonderful saints who have gone before us, who are there with him now.

When he returns, oh, what a throng of people who have gone ahead of us will come back with him. With him, there will be a vast number of the saints who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, but they have died and gone and joined the church above. No wonder John then quotes the book of Zechariah, Zechariah 12:10.

Every eye will see him. Everyone who pierced him, and all the people of the earth will mourn. What is he talking about? Is he specifically referring to the people who pierced his hands and his feet and his side? They too, but when he's talking about those who pierced him shall mourn, he's talking about everyone who have rejected Jesus Christ as the only Savior.

For every time a person rejects Jesus, he's piercing him. Every time one person takes the name of Jesus as a swear word, he's piercing him. Every time those in authority forbid the mention of the name of Jesus publicly, they are the ones who pierce Jesus. Everyone who covered the crosses in chapels, in colleges, in campuses, all over the place that they were designed to worship Jesus, but out of shame, they're covering them.

They are piercing Jesus. Everyone who mocked his name, everyone who ignored his name, they are the ones who pierced him. And they're going to mourn. And they're going to mourn for eternity. And they're going to mourn for three reasons. They will mourn for their blindness. They will mourn for their refusal to receive Jesus as their only Savior and the Lord of life.

They will mourn over rejecting Jesus and rejecting the witness of their friends and their neighbors who were telling them about Jesus. They will mourn over squandering the precious opportunities that they had in this life to come to Jesus. They will mourn for being misguided into thinking that there are many ways to God, there are many ways to heaven, and there are many ways to salvation, when Jesus said there's only one way, it's him.

Secondly, they're going to mourn over their mistreatment of Jesus. They will mourn for using his name as a curse. They will mourn for mocking the good news of the gospel. And thirdly, they're going to mourn over their souls. They will regret the choices they made and the results of which they will not be able to change. The wages of their sin, once the door is shut.

For years, I have been intrigued by something in the Book of Genesis about Noah's Ark. You see, Noah and his sons for 120 years pleaded with people, begged people, come into the ark, enter the ark before it's too late. And then the Bible said God shut the door. I've always been intrigued why didn't Noah shut the door, why didn't one of his sons shut the door? Why is God the one who had to shut the door?

Listen to me very carefully, please. Because God is a decisive God. God will not be persuaded by people's plea once judgment day has come. God is a righteous and just God, and he will not be persuaded to change his mind after they've repeatedly turned him down. Because I can only imagine from a human point of view, from an emotional point of view, if Noah or his boys are looking out and seeing their friends perishing in the flood, and they would say, "Daddy, please open the door," and act out of emotions, he would want to open the door.

But God does not act that way. God does not react in a purely emotional level. God kept on the door open for 120 years, pleading with them. Through Noah, he entreated the people to come and be saved. He is patiently waiting for people for 120 years, and now he's patiently waiting for anyone here who does not know him to come while the opportunity is here. Because once the door is shut, it is shut forever.

Look with me, please, at verse 10. John tells us he was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And then John heard a loud voice like a blast of trumpet. Of course, it was the voice of Jesus saying to him, write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches. Why seven churches? Why not eight and why not six?

You see, the Bible makes it very clear that the number seven is a number of completion, it's the number of perfection. And that is why Jesus gives John seven messages to the seven churches. Those seven churches represent the complete picture of the condition of all churches throughout history.

It doesn't matter what time you've lived in, it doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go, every church will come under one of the seven categories. And that is why Revelation is for today. The Book of Revelation is for today. It is relevant today. And when John heard that voice, and he turned and he saw the seven golden lampstands.

Among the seven golden lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. I'm going to come to that in a minute. What are these golden lampstands? Each lampstand represents each of the seven churches. A lampstand has one purpose, and that is to shine the light of Jesus into the darkness of this world.

For any church to be a faithful church, must have an overriding call and purpose, and it is to shine the light of the gospel in a dark world. And when the church ceases to be the light in a dark world, Jesus dispense with it. He dispense with it. In John 8:12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

And then in Matthew 4:14, he said, "You are the light of the world." What does that mean? It means that we are to shine the light of Jesus Christ in the dark areas of the world, even if it's the only thing we do. Why? Because light sends darkness fleeing. Light brings understanding and awareness of the truth.

Light attracts people. Light enables people to see what is real and what is true. And therefore, a faithful church must be a lampstand. The tragedy takes place when the church looks like, acts like, and believe like the world. And while Jesus is patient, he may even wait for tens of years, but he will not wait forever.

And that is why the church in Ephesus was threatened by Jesus that he is about to come and remove its lampstand. Now, beloved, you know and I know that there are thousands of churches throughout Europe today and North America whose lampstand has been removed, and they are nothing but museums now.

Look again at verse 13. John said one like the Son of Man. That's always a remarkable thing for me. This is the disciple who laid his head on Jesus' shoulder. But these are the words also used by the prophet Daniel when he saw the pre-incarnate Christ. What does it mean, like the Son of Man?

Listen carefully. It means that he is the one who has all authority and all power in his hand. That Jesus that John saw, glorified, magnified in heaven, is the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem of Judea, is the same Jesus who was crucified outside of Jerusalem. He is the same Jesus, but he is no longer known according to the flesh.

He is now glorified, magnified, transfigured. He is now transcendent. And we, beloved, must see him that way. Look at the description of the Son of Man. He's dressed in robes reaching to his feet. What are these robes? Well, if you are saved, these are the robes of the high priest who stands in intercession on behalf of all the believers.

But if you have rejected Jesus and you're not saved, these are the robes of the judge, for he will be judge for all eternity. Secondly, the golden belt around his chest. Ephesians 4:6:14 tells us that this belt is the belt of truth. That belt speaks of the fact that Jesus and only Jesus is the truth, the whole truth, and there can be no truth away from Jesus.

And because he is the truth, therefore he has all the power and the authority and the strength. And then it says, number three, that he has hair as white as wool. The whiteness of the wool represents his purity, his holiness, his righteousness. And his eyes are like a blazing fire, which speaks of the Lord's penetrating eyes, that he can see all things all the time.

Even in the time when you think you're in secret and nobody can see you, he can see you. Number five, his feet are like fine brass. Now, some translations said bronze, glowing in a furnace. The molten brass speaks of God's judgment. God's judgment described as grapes thrown into the winepress of God's wrath.

His brass feet will trample the grapes of God's wrath, for he is the judge of the world. Number six, his voice is like the sound of rushing water. Even in his earthly life, even in his human flesh, the Lord Jesus spoke with power, spoke with authority. Even the teachers of the law, he said, "Who is he? Forgive sins? Only God forgives sins."

Yeah, he's God in human flesh. He called out to the rotting body of Lazarus. He said, "Come out of the tomb," and he walked out. He called out to the demons that possessed and harassed and caused horrible suffering for those whom they possessed. He said, "Come out," and those demons came out flying.

Long before Jesus was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, he said, "Let there be light," and then the sun and the moon and the stars all took their place in the orbits. And he will do that again. He will call and everything he says will happen. Number seven, he holds the stars in his right hand. What are these stars? These are the seven messages to the seven churches.

Number eight, his mouth comes a sharp double-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is sharper than two-edged sword. It penetrates even dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. You see, that's what the word of God does.

And because the word of God is so powerful, Satan distracts the believers from reading it and believing it and obeying it. He really does because it is a sword that pierces his heart, and he doesn't want you to have that sword. Finally, his face shines like the sun. John, of course, was not the only apostle who was blinded by the brightness of the face of Jesus.

Paul, on his way to Damascus, he was knocked down to the ground with the brilliant light of Jesus' face, so much so that his companions had to guide him to the city. So the question is, when John saw the glorified Jesus, what did he do? Did he put his head on his shoulder like he did in the upper room? No.

Did he embrace him like he did many times? No. This is the glorified Jesus now. John was stricken. He was stunned. He put his face to the ground as though dead. For the first time, he saw the glorified Jesus in all of his majesty, glory, and power. And at that moment, John's feet became like Jello and his legs were like rubber bands and he fell to his face at the feet of Jesus.

Now, beloved, this is the awe and the reverence by which we must approach Jesus. We live in the time where people treat Jesus like the little pal down the street. I'm talking about Christians now. When I hear people glibly use the word awesome, totally awesome. And I just said, "Stop!"

That movie? Awesome. That pizza? Awesome. That experience? Awesome. No, no, no, no. Let me tell you something I hope you never forget. Since awe belongs only to Jesus, and Jesus alone, awesome is a word should be used for Jesus. It should only be used when you have experienced truly the presence of God. Only the glorified Jesus is totally awesome.

And so the question is, when will we see the glorified Christ return? The Bible makes it very clear, only the Father knows the time. But we need to live every single day as if he's coming back today.

Guest (Male): You've joined Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, author of more than 50 books written to grow readers in their faith and guide them toward a biblical understanding of life and culture. And his most recent is called An Unholy Alliance, and it's one that you for sure do not want to miss.

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