Releasing in March, God’s Final Call – How the Book of Revelation Pulls Back the Veil on Current Events and Our Ultimate Future by Michael Youssef, is a recommend book based on the seven letters from Jesus to the churches from Revelation.

In this book, you will learn more about the book of Revelation, especially focused on those seven churches. These seven churches were located in Asia Minor and represent all churches, in all places, at all times. So this book speaks to us today with the issues going on inside the churches. You will learn the history of those churches, the issues, and the good that was also happening to those Christians following the way. You will be warned and encouraged!

A few of my highlights from the book:

Revelation is not only a source of comfort and encouragement for those who are determined to be faithful, but also a stern warning of coming judgment for those who compromise. God has given us a final call. Will we listen?
God transformed John’s punishment into praise, his isolation into revelation. Because John was “in the Spirit,” God swept him into the future to behold the end of human history.
The things that truly matter haven’t changed. Human nature hasn’t changed. The dynamics of church life haven’t changed. Satan’s strategy hasn’t changed. He still seeks to destroy the church Jesus founded.
One thing that becomes clear in these letters is that Satan attacks the church from multiple directions…
Satan has turned our education system into an indoctrination factory designed to turn young minds against the faith in which their parents have raised them.
Jesus wants his bride, the church, to look only to him, the faithful witness. We’re not to look to psychology, or to political ideologies, or to clever marketing techniques, or to worldly philosophies. The church must look to Christ alone.
The church in Smyrna was one of the only two churches – out of the seven – that received no word of rebuke or warning from Jesus. The other was the church at Philadelphia. The remaining five churches had to be corrected by Jesus for sins, errors, and failings.
When Jesus calls these Jewish opponents “a synagogue of Satan,” he doesn’t mean they worship the devil. He means they are unwittingly doing Satan’s bidding. They have been duped into carrying out Satan’s agenda.
Many churches do not preach the gospel. Many churches are designed for the care and comfort of the natural man and woman.
Discernment is the all-important ability to remain anchored in the truth, anchored in reality, anchored in godliness and righteousness. It is the ability to avoid drowning in a sea of confusion. It is the ability to prevent ourselves from suffering a calamity of consequences arising from unwise and undiscerning choices.
The only reputation you should be concerned about is your reputation with God. Don’t worry about what the world thinks of you.
Far too many churches have become Sardis-like, seeking the approval of the pagan culture. They use the world’s techniques to create an entertainment experience instead of a worship and evangelism experience. They water down the demands of the gospel and dispense cheap grace.
Those seven churches all faced challenges and persecution. Some of those churches were success stories, some were failures. Some earned the Lord’s praise, but five received stinging rebukes for their toleration of falsehood and sin.

GOD’S FINAL CALL by MICHAEL YOUSSEF is the best teaching on the second and third chapters of Revelation that I have either heard or read! The author gives us historical and geographical background on the seven churches, which helps us clearly understand each situation, and he encourages us to take Christ’s message to heart, both for our own Christian walk and the Church today.
This book really spoke to me and I cannot recommend this inspirational read, full of the truth of God’s Word, highly enough.
I was given an ARC of the book by NetGalley from Tyndale House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.