Seven Dooms Revealed, Part 01

Guest (Male): Dr. Michael Youssef beginning another encouraging Leading The Way.
Dr. Michael Youssef: I know probably some of you are going through a hard time right now. And you probably looking up to heaven and saying, how long, O Lord? When will you answer me, Lord? The Lord’s word today for you is this: hold on. I’m on my way.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. He is the author of more than 50 books, and his newest is called *An Unholy Alliance*. It’s available at ltw.org, or you can call us at 866-626-4356. You can get details about getting your copy. Now it’s such a timely read as we approach the upcoming elections across our nation. So give us a call at 866-626-4356 and ltw.org. In this episode of Leading The Way, Dr. Youssef takes you into the pages of Revelation to see that the often misunderstood words in this book of the Bible are so valuable, so relevant for you today. So listen with me now as Dr. Michael Youssef begins.
Dr. Michael Youssef: Here in the book of Revelation, I hope you’ve turned already with me to chapter 5 and 6 and 7. We come to see this divine event as a reality. It’s in the future, but he paints a picture for us as if it’s happening now. From Revelation chapter 5 all the way to chapter 19, we find ourselves having a front seat from which we are watching the culmination of history. We’re watching the ultimate judgment of evil and sin in the world. We’re watching the ultimate justice of God comes about, righting the wrong. These judgments are in groups of sevens: the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. The question is this: do these upcoming catastrophic events frighten me? And the answer is absolutely not. Absolutely not. Nor should it frighten any of us who know the Lord Jesus. As these events draw closer and closer, I personally become more thrilled in making every minute of my life count to prepare for that great day. Far from being afraid, Jesus said in Luke 21:28, "When these things begin to take place, stand up, lift up your heads because your redemption draws near." Now, this is one of the most exciting times to be alive, at least as far as I’m concerned. And today we look at these events beginning of chapter 5. John sees the Lord on the throne. There, a scroll in his hand. The scroll is sealed with seven seals. And that scroll contains a secret. It contains vital information. It contains very important information. Don’t miss it because that’s really the key to the book of Revelation. That is the key. John hears an angel proclaiming loudly, "Who is worthy to break these seals and open the scroll?" And John begins to weep and weep and weep. Why? Why is John weeping? Because he knows what is written on that scroll. What was written on that scroll is none other than the future of humanity, the future of planet Earth. What’s inside that scroll? It was the title deeds to planet Earth. As I tell you all the time that you must interpret the scripture by the scripture, where is a precedent in the Bible, in John’s Bible, the Old Testament, about this? But why did John react in such weeping fashion? Because John understood the precedent of that script. And it’s found in the book of Jeremiah chapter 32. Now imagine with me, visualize with me. Judah is in absolute chaos. It’s been defeated by the Babylonians. They decimated Jerusalem. And disaster is; people are dying of famine and dying of sword. Soon Israel is going to follow suit. They too are going to be taken captives into Babylon. In the midst of this chaos, the Lord tells Jeremiah something that absolutely does not make sense. He says to Jeremiah, "Go and buy a piece of land." Why would God do this? Only when Jeremiah obeyed did he understand this. Jeremiah buys the piece of land from his cousin Hanamel. And he places the title deed for the land in a clay jar. That was the safest thing back then. Because you put it in a clay jar and you bury it, that’s as good as a safe. And so he takes the title deed and he buries it to preserve it for a long time. What did this deed represent? It’s not just a piece of land. No, no, no. It represents something far bigger than just a purchase and a title deed. It represents the promise of God, Jehovah, that he will bring his people back from the Babylonian exile in 70 years' time. That represents the promise of God. That’s why it was important to Jeremiah. And John understood that this scroll that no one was found worthy to open is the title deed to planet Earth. And this is God’s promise that this title deed that was handed over by Yahweh himself to Adam. And by his disobedience, by his rebellion against God, by him not obeying the voice of God, Adam literally handed that deed, the title deed of the Earth, he handed it to Satan. And Satan, though he’s defeated on the cross, he lost his power over the believers, but he’s still roaming the Earth. 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls him the god of this world, the god of this world system. And he will remain the god of this age until the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why is John weeping? Why does he weep? Because no one is found worthy to open the scroll. As long as this title deed remains closed, Satan is roaming the Earth creating havoc. Revelation 5:5, one of the 24 elders called out to John. He said, "Don’t weep, John. See the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David? He has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." And when John looks, he does not see a lion. He sees a lamb. And as if he’s been sacrificed. A lamb with seven horns and seven eyes and seven spirits. Remember, seven is the number of perfection. The seven horns represent or speak of his perfect power. The seven eyes speak of his perfect knowledge and perfect wisdom and perfect understanding. And the seven spirits speak of the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit. Who is the lamb? Jesus. He’s the only one who conquered death. Jesus is the only one who’s worthy to open those seals. Jesus is the only one who by his death and resurrection earned back the deeds from the grasp of Satan. Remember this in the wilderness. Satan said, "I’ll give it to you, just bow to me." And Jesus said, "No way, buster." Rough translation, but you get the meaning. He said it: "I’m going to get it, but I’m going to get it through the cross in obedience to my father." Well, if he’s the lamb of God, why did this one of the 24 elders say the lion? He said the Lion of Judah. Because the very lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins is also going to be the Lion of Judah who will execute judgment upon the Earth. And if you do not receive him as the lamb of God who forgives your sins, you’re going to have to face him as your judge, as the Lion of Judah. When the lamb took the scrolls, the elders and the angels fell down and praised him. Verse 8, the angels and the elders are holding golden bowls. What’s in them? The prayers of the saints. They’re not clay jars, they’re golden bowls. Beloved, God keeps your prayers in golden bowls. When you are discouraged and you’re ready to give up praying, I want you to remember this. Remember that your prayers are kept in golden bowls. This is how much our Lord values our prayer. This is how much our Lord loves our prayer. This is how much the Lord treasures our prayers. And while they were holding golden bowls, they were singing a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll." I guess now we come to perhaps the most somber part of Revelation: the opening of the seals of the scroll. Now I’m absolutely convinced we’re closer to that day than any other time in history. Think with me, please, of the incredible growing satanic influence throughout the world. Think of how even believers accept things that they would not have accepted only 30 years ago. Think of the environmental movement that turned into a religion and the worship of Gaia, the Mother Earth. Think of the growing number of pastors who are abandoning biblical authority. Think of the Islamist barbarism toward the Christians everywhere. Think of all the debts of the world. Think of the interdependence of the economic system worldwide. It would not have made sense only 100 years ago in the book of Revelation chapter 18 when it talks about a complete worldwide collapse. Think about all these things and more that I wish I had the time. And I have to believe we’re getting close. Chapter 6. This is the heart of the book of Revelation. John watches as the lamb opens the first of the seven seals. Beloved, this is a very dark period in human history. The darkest ever. The breaking of the first seal of the seven sets in motion a period of time known as the Great Tribulation. Some of you might be surprised that the period of the Great Tribulation, those seven years, are not mentioned in Revelation for the first time. It’s in the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel chapter 9, particularly, Gabriel tells Daniel in verses 9:25, 26, and 27, he gives him three groups of sevens. The first two sevens, they were fulfilled with meticulous details. They were fulfilled with meticulous accuracy. This third seven period, seven years, is in the future. In Daniel 9:27, here’s what he said, listen carefully: "He, the Antichrist, will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. In the middle of that seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." The very person that Daniel talks about as the Antichrist is the same one that John talks about as the beast, and we’ll look at that in a couple of messages. It’s the same one that Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 with precision. When the lamb opened the first four of the seven seals, the Great Tribulation sets in motion. That is a global event. I know there are some people across the world who are living in tribulation right now, but this is going to be a global event. No one will be able to escape it. These four seals are represented by four horse riders. With the first seal comes the rider of a white horse, symbolizing the promise of false peace. The Antichrist is going to pose as a man of peace, as a champion of peace. Who knows, he may even win the Nobel Peace Prize. We don’t know. Satan is a counterfeiter and he knows that only Jesus is the Prince of True Peace. So he sent this emissary of his, a master diplomat, a persuasive leader, who pretends to be all for peace. But because he’s a deceiver, that pretension will not go on forever. Talking about this, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "While people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come upon them suddenly." The false man of peace wears a false crown and he makes false promises of peace. Naturally, it follows after that deception the second horse rider, the second seal. And this one is fiery red because he’s going to unleash war like the world has ever known before. The third seal unleashes a rider of a black horse. That represents famine, economic collapse, riots in the streets, disorder everywhere. The rider of the black horse has a pair of weighing scales in his hand, symbolizing the scarcity of food. The fourth seal unleashes the rider on a pale horse, and pale is the color of death. And it’s natural with all the starvation and chaos and death. Death will follow. But this is not just an earthly death, not just physical death, but eternal death as well. Because he said Hades follows. That’s the eternal judgment. Let me repeat, none of this troubles me or troubles my heart. None of it. None of this makes me face the future without confidence. None of it. None of this shakes my firm belief that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Romans 8:35, 36, and 37: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or hardship, persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us." Amen. The fifth seal, chapter 6 of Revelation, the fifth seal is broken and the martyrs begin to cry out, "How long, O sovereign Lord, until you judge the inhabitants of the Earth and avenge our blood?" And here comes the Lord’s answer. He said, "Just a little longer. Hold on. Judgment is on its way." We do not see life and death from God’s perspective. We look upon death as terror, but God is delighted when one of his saints arrive into the doors of heaven. That’s why the scripture said, "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints." From God’s perspective, death of the believer means that he or she have successfully completed their mission. I know probably some of you are going through a hard time right now. And you probably looking up to heaven and saying, how long, O Lord? When will you answer me, Lord? The Lord’s word today for you is this: hold on. I’m on my way. Can you say that with me? Hold on. I’m on my way. The sixth seal that the lamb breaks, earthquake shakes the very foundation of the Earth. I mean this will make the tsunamis, the worst of tsunamis we’ve ever seen and the worst of earthquakes like a Sunday school picnic in comparison. The sun will turn black and the moon will turn into the color of blood. The stars are going to be falling. I mean everybody panics when one asteroid is coming to Earth and everybody panics and worries. This will be thousands of them. Every mountain and island is dislocated. On that day, the Bible said that the powerful heads of states and the kings and the rulers, they will be terrified. But there’ll be nowhere for them to hide. Yet in spite of this, even in the midst of this horror, those who are rebellious against God are not even going to think about asking for forgiveness. Instead, they’ll be thinking about "where can I hide? Where can I hide?" And they’re going to be crying out to the rocks, "Hide us from the face of the wrath of the lamb." After the sixth seal comes an interlude. It’s in chapter 7. The seventh seal will have to wait. We’ll look at it in next message because there’s an interlude. Now, I’m not creating it, it’s just happened the Bible does it. Meanwhile on the Earth, there are still 144,000 faithful witnesses for Christ. These faithful witnesses are sealed with the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Well, Ephesians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 1:22 tells us that all of the elect of God are sealed by the Holy Spirit. That sealing is for ownership. This is the mark that you are bought with a price, that you don’t own yourself, but you are owned totally and completely by the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid for you by his precious blood. He owns you. Now again, the number 12 represents completion. So if you multiply 12 by 12,000, you get a complete number, hence 144,000. This is a symbolic number meaning none of the elect of God is going to be lost. Amen? None of the elect will be lost. Meanwhile, the rest of chapter 7 tells us about what’s going on in heaven. Oh man, I love that. I love to get to the parts about heaven. It’s a beautiful scene, a multitude from every nation, every tribe and every language, standing before the throne of God and the lamb. And they were wearing white robes, symbol of purity. Because the only purity we have, beloved friends, is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not our own. Because they washed those robes in the blood of Jesus Christ, the only purifying power. They are praising God and saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb." Do we really, really understand what it means to gather on the first of the week to worship? Do we really understand what that means? A Pulitzer-winning author by the name of Annie Dillard, she was writing and speaking about Sunday morning services and she asked the question: "Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sorts of power we blithely invoke?" And then she continued, she said, "The churches are like children playing on the floor with chemistry sets, mixing up batches of TNT to kill a Sunday morning." When we gather together and go through the motion of worship but fail to realize the awesome power of God that’s being released in worship. Did you know that God really doesn’t like going through the motions of worship? Read about it. Isaiah. It’s an offense to him. He wants us to worship in spirit and in truth. One of the elders tells John that these faithful people who came through the pain and the suffering of this earthly life, they are the ones. Why? Because God seals his elect. Let me tell you something, no matter what happens, we know that he’s going to protect us. He’s going to seal us until he takes us all the way home. That’s the deal. He doesn’t save us today and not save us tomorrow and not save us for eternity. Once he writes your name in the Book of Life, he writes it with his blood, not with a pencil and eraser. And that is why we are sealed. And here again, finally, he gives us another paradox. The Bible is filled with paradoxes. The lamb becomes a shepherd. Just like God becomes a man, the master becomes a slave, the king becomes a servant. And now the lamb is our shepherd. Is he your shepherd?
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Dr. Michael Youssef: We said, "Never forget," but look what happened. 25 years after 9/11, Islamists have gained a stronger foothold in America and in many nations around the world. In my book, *An Unholy Alliance*, I expose the most unexpected ally of radical Islamists in the West. Motivated by a deep love for Muslim people, I also outline a path forward for both the world and the church. Get your copy of *An Unholy Alliance* right now as my expression of thanks to you when you give a gift of any amount in support of this program and the worldwide ministry of Leading The Way. Order *An Unholy Alliance* today at ltw.org. That’s ltw.org.
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