Your Past, Present and Future

Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef introduces today's Leading The Way audio episode.
Dr. Michael Youssef: The kingdom of God is past, present and future. Salvation is past, present and future. The changing is past, present and future. The same thing with the book of Revelation. It's already happened. It is happening. It will happen.
Guest (Male): Like many people, you may be really very familiar with some parts of the Bible, and then there are other parts that you're very unfamiliar with. Consider, for instance, the book of Revelation. Reading Revelation can be overwhelming, especially when you see the text align with real-world events. A lot of people just avoid its pages, but get ready because up next, Dr. Michael Youssef begins a series of messages giving you a biblical, real-life look into the secrets and practical life wisdom found in this life-changing part of God's Word. So, let's listen as Dr. Michael Youssef begins his series, "An End Times Warning for the Modern Day Church."
Dr. Michael Youssef: Do you know why of all 66 books of the Bible, the book of Revelation is the only book in which there's a blessing associated with reading it and studying it? Not only one blessing, two blessings. They're almost like bookends. You find one blessing in Chapter 1, verse 3, and the other is in Chapter 22, verse 7. Now, I am personally convinced that because the Lord is true to His Word, the blessing will be ours. So, what is that message of Revelation? What is the core message of Revelation? Listen carefully. If you're taking notes, I'm going to speak a little slower so you can get it. It is really found in Chapter 1, verse 19. Underline Revelation Chapter 1, verse 19. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will come to pass. Past, present, future. What you have seen, what is now, and what will come. Please listen carefully. The concept of holding the past, the present, and the future together is one of the most important concepts in the Bible because you know and I know that somehow in our ordinary lives, you find people who are constantly living in the past. The past is holding them back with chains. The past, the past, the past. And they never make any progress because they're living in the past. Now, there are other Christians who live in the present. Just now, what is going to happen now, today, and that's it. No thought for the past or the future. Then there are others who are living for the future. It's the next thing, and they cannot even think about today and the days past and learn from the past errors or whatever it is. They're just constantly going for the next thing. The Bible teaches us very clearly that the past, the present, and the future must be held together if we are to live a balanced Christian life. From the past, we learn from those mistakes and grow through them. In the present, we walk with God today, and in the future, we expect with a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement of what's going to happen. All of this must be together. Let me explain to you what I mean from the Bible. The Bible teaches us that we were saved in the past the moment you said yes to Jesus. You're saved. That's past. We are being saved every day. We will be eternally saved. You see that? Past, present, future. The Bible also says that we changed in the past. I remember the day I gave my life to Christ. I mean, the sky was bluer, the sun was brighter. I mean, my whole life was turned upside down. So, I was changed. But I'm continuously changing. If I'm not changing every day in the present, then there's something wrong with me. The Bible said that we go from one point of glory into another. What's that mean? We grow into the character of Christ. But then we will be changed in the future. And that is the most glorious change of all because we will become perfect like Christ. Same thing with the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is past. It came with Jesus. In Mark 1:14, He said the kingdom of God is here. What is the kingdom of God? It's the rule of God in our lives. It's the reign of God in our hearts. So, the kingdom of God past with Jesus. The kingdom of God is now, here, reigning and ruling in our hearts every single day. And the kingdom of God is coming when Jesus reigns and rules with our own perceptible eyes. You see, the kingdom of God is past, present, and future. Salvation is past, present, and future. The changing is past, present, and future. The same thing with the book of Revelation. It's already happened. It is happening. It will happen. Amen? When it happens, it's going to happen with intensity for the future. The Bible talks about the great tribulation as a future time in which there will be severe persecution and suffering. And most people agree that it's a period of seven years. That's what the Bible calls the great tribulation. But I want you to think with me about the first-century Christians, these believers in Rome who were thrown into hungry lions. They were dipped in hot tar. The Nero persecution was so severe. If you lived at that time, wouldn't you think that this is the great tribulation? Fast forward today, headline news. If you're a Christian in Syria or Iraq and you watched as parents, your babies being crucified alive or beheaded or worse, wouldn't you think the great tribulation is here? And yet, the great tribulation will happen with far wider implication on a global, global level. So, it happened. It is happening and it will happen in the future. And that is why this book of Revelation, the word means revealing. In the Greek, it's apocalypse, which a lot of people think apocalypse now in the movies means disaster is going to happen. No, all the word means in Greek is the revealing or uncovering or showing us something that was covered and now it's uncovered. That's what revelation means. That is why this revealing book is a timeless book. It is a timely book. It is absolutely relevant today, as I'm going to show you in a minute. We can be absolutely sure that all of the prophetic events in the book of Revelation will come to pass with stunning accuracy, with the minutest detail fulfilled because God always, always, always keeps His Word. Just as He did in the Old Testament. All of the prophecies of Jesus' first coming in the Old Testament, they were fulfilled with meticulous detail, with stunning descriptions of exactly as it prophesied in the Old Testament. You read in the Old Testament before Jesus came to earth about His birth of a virgin in Bethlehem, about Him proclaiming the good news to the poor. You read about His power is going to restore sight to the blind, how He is being wounded for our transgressions, being crucified on a cross, being forsaken by the Father, and the death, burial, and resurrection. All in the Old Testament. They all fulfilled in meticulous details. All of these prophecies that were prophesied came to pass. And in the same way, the prophecies about Jesus' second coming, which outnumber the prophecies in the Old Testament about His first coming, they will be fulfilled with stunning accuracy. Everything we will study in the book of Revelation will come to pass. So, who is this John whom God used to open, to reveal, to expose this mystery? This is no other than the disciple who laid his head on Jesus' shoulder. This is no other than the man who gave us that great Gospel of John account of Jesus. This is no other than the man who gave us the three magnificent epistles. That John was privileged to be caught up in heaven and was shown that glorified, magnified, soon-coming Jesus the Christ. Question: why did Jesus reveal Himself this way to John? Good question. And the answer is really twofold. Listen carefully. The first reason is that the ascended, glorified, magnified Jesus wanted to send specific messages to His churches in Asia Minor. Some of these letters to these seven churches have condemnations to those churches. Others, commendations. In fact, five out of the seven churches, Jesus said and called them to repentance, just as our churches in the 21st century today need to repent. These letters, Jesus wanted to encourage, to correct the first-century church and the 21st-century church. We will see how these letters, those seven letters, you're not reading somebody else's mail. We're reading our own mail in these letters. The second reason why Jesus revealed all of this to John is to give us an outline of the future history, the future events. Even if they are veiled in symbolism and images, but nonetheless, they give us an outline. John himself in Revelation 22:10 and 12 believed that the Lord was coming soon. Probably he believed it was in his lifetime. Listen to what he said. "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book because the time is near. Behold, I'm coming soon." And you see, that led some of the skeptics who love to debunk biblical prophecy to say, "See? Poor old misguided, deluded John. He thought Jesus was coming back. Here we are 2,000 years later and He's not back." See, here's the problem. People fall into error when they fail to interpret the scripture by the scripture. And on this subject, if you interpret the scripture by the scripture, then you will hear what Peter said in 2 Peter Chapter 3, verses 3, 4, 8, and 9. Listen carefully. "In the last days, scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires, and they will say, 'Where is this coming He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.'" Here's what he continues. "Don't forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone come to repentance." Amen? Interpret the scripture by the scripture. How many times did Jesus say the return of the Son of Man will be a surprise? It'll be sudden and most people will not be expecting, say, for those who are alert and waiting for Him. That the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night. That the day of the Lord is coming. It's unexpected. Having said all of this, if you look around the world today, as I do, and you see how fragile the global economy is. And in Revelation 18, it tells us there'll be a global economic collapse. We wouldn't have understood that a few years ago. There's going to be a global economic collapse. So, you look at the fragile global economy. How the news from the Middle East where it all began and where it all will end. How the news from the Middle East now occupies all of the headlines. How Israel is living almost in total isolation in the world today. How Islamic jihadis are shattering the securities of even world powers that they literally kowtow to them. How the spirit of delusion seems to be covering so many people all over the world. How one clever world leader can put the wool over the eyes of billions of people and deceive them. It's so easy to see how it can happen, and it can happen anytime. And you cannot help but think that history is aligning with biblical prophecy. You cannot help but see that this great falling away of today, so many churches that once believed in the authority of the scripture, they believe it no more. That sin and the glorification of sin is accepted as a virtue. That the spirit of rebellion seems to be everywhere. That biblical morality is condemned as evil and that the practice of immorality is seen as good, even by many churches. Even in this country where we all did and I certainly did as a boy longing to come here as the world's rock and bastion of freedom, we are seeing how that freedom is slipping away from us globally. The picture is even worse. This vile surge by the jihadis against Christians or even their own fellow Muslims. The New Age movement that once was considered to be lunatic fringe has become mainstream and is promoted by entertainers, educators, and environmentalists. When satanic activities are accepted in some schools, can anyone doubt that we are living in the last days? In some sense, these events and these activities say to me, at least, that Satan is intensifying his activities because he senses that his time for the lake of fire is drawing near. One of Satan's ingenious deceptions is a movement in the West, in America and in Canada, in many mainline churches, even some evangelical churches, so-called evangelical churches, is called Chrislam. Where they're seeking to merge Christianity with Islam into one single homogeneous religion. There are some churches that are actually placing the Quran next to the Bible in the pews. There are some preachers who are preaching the words of Muhammad side by side by the words of Jesus. Many a church today have rejected the book of Revelation. And you know why. They want to worship a helpless babe in Bethlehem. They want to worship a helpless body hanging on a cross. They want to worship all of that, but not the risen, glorified, ascended, magnified King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Judge Jesus, who is revealed in the book of Revelation. That's why they reject it. They are disturbed by the thought that that same Jesus who hung helplessly on the cross is coming back to sit on the judge's bench, and He will judge every single human being that ever lived. He is the righteous judge. And so they want to get stuck of the Jesus they can manipulate and control. They don't want the powerful Jesus. But let me tell you what the scripture said. In 2 Corinthians 5:16, "Though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer." He's no longer on that cross. He is risen, magnified, glorified, and soon-coming King. And that is why the book of Revelation, of all the books of the Bible, presents us with a complete picture of the Christian faith. It gives us an awe-inspiring portrait of the glorified, soon-coming King Jesus. It gives us an awe-filled vision of the victorious King Jesus. It is a complete vision of who Jesus is and what He's going to do in the future. Listen very carefully, please. This is important. The book of Revelation completes our knowledge of Jesus. The book of Revelation completes our understanding of the Christian faith. The book of Revelation completes the gospel of salvation. It completes the past, the present, and the future. The book of Revelation, we see Jesus no longer hanging on a cross, but we see Him as the glorified Jesus in white and gold, with hair white as wool, with eyes blaze with fire, with voice like rushing river. We see Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega. We see Jesus as the beginning and the end. We see Jesus as the only one with the keys of death and Hades. That's why, that's why there is a special blessing for those who study the book of Revelation. They will have a complete picture of the whole gospel. Hear me out, please. In the Old Testament, you read the prophecies about Jesus coming from heaven to earth and Emmanuel, God with us. These prophecies, while we see them now and we study them and we're blessed by them, they mystified the rabbis in the Old Testament. Why? Because the Old Testament prophecy predicts that the Messiah would come as a king and judge, triumphant and victorious. But also prophesied that the Messiah would come, suffer and die. And the rabbis were mystified by that. How could there be two Messiahs? How can we have a Messiah who reigns and rules with power and one who's going to suffer and die? Even one prophet, you don't have to go to all of them, just one, Isaiah, gives us the both pictures. And you can understand their mystification. Isaiah Chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. "He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over His kingdom forever and ever." Great. And yet same prophet, not another one, same prophet, Isaiah Chapter 53, verses 4, 6, and 7. He said the Messiah will come and suffer and die. Let me read it for you. "Surely He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we consider Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, and yet He did not open His mouth. He was like a lamb to the slaughter, or as a sheep before her shearers in silence. So He did not open His mouth." Two pictures by the same prophet. A Messiah who will suffer and a Messiah who will reign and rule in power. Of course, in hindsight now 2,000 years later, we say, "Of course, they're talking about the same one. One is talking about His first coming, the other one talking about His second coming." But you see, to those rabbis, they did not see this, they didn't live in our time, and therefore they were debating all this stuff over and over. Some would, and then the populace would fall on one side or the other. Some would believe a Messiah who'd suffer, others would believe a Messiah who would reign victorious. I am so grateful for the book of Revelation because it reveals this mystery that mystified rabbis for years and years. Now, at this introductory message, I want to come clean with you. There are godly scholars and wonderful Bible teachers who disagree on some of the little details in the book of Revelation. But I think all of the godly Bible teachers will believe four things, and these are indisputable. First, that those who welcome Christ as their Savior and Lord here and now will be welcomed in heaven in His eternal habitation when He returns. Secondly, that Jesus will return as He promised. Thirdly, that He will be the judge and He will judge everyone who refused to accept Him as the only Savior and Lord in the whole world. And fourthly, when Jesus appears, those of us who love Him will be with Him. That's it. These are the indisputable facts about the book of Revelation. The question is, if Jesus returns this afternoon, will you be thrilled or afraid? Will you be terrified or will you be thrilled?
Guest (Male): Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for Leading The Way. So, how would you answer that question? Will you be thrilled or terrified? Did today's teaching from Dr. Youssef bring some questions to your mind about life and death and eternity? Well, if so, we want to invite you to speak with one of our compassionate pastors or counselors. To connect, just fill out a brief contact form when you visit LTW.org/Jesus. That's LTW.org/Jesus.
Guest (Female): My name is Irene and I get to listen to Michael Youssef on the radio in my car. And I just want to tell him thank you so much, Michael Youssef, for your faithfulness in teaching God's uncompromising Word. And I just want to pray for you, and I just want to continue to pray that God will bless your ministry immensely and that multitudes of souls will continue to be saved and reached through your radio program. God bless you. I love you. I pray for you. And I'm blessed to hear you each day. Thank you. God bless you.
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