The Kingdom of God and the Coming Shaking - by Pastor Doug Riggs
by John Mark on 06/19/24
This
message was originally recorded August 16, 2015.
My
notes:
Tribulation
doesn't only refer to the 7-year day of the Lord. See John 16:33; Romans 2:9;
Romans 5:3; 8:35; 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; Revelation 1:9; 2:9, 10; 2:22.
Tribulation includes aspects of trials, suffering, judgment, and shaking, and
all these the church has or will encounter prior to the day of the Lord – and
certainly during the day of visitation. If you've been listening to Doug's
messages for any length of time, this will be review, but oh, so important to
consider and to have it fresh in our minds.
Doug
continues to remind us of the upcoming shaking that will come, first to the
church, and then to the world (i.e.: the tribulation). "Anything that is
earth-bound. If it's of earth, it's going to be removed. All denominations are
going to be removed before the rapture. There will be no denominations, there
won't even be church buildings. They're going to be gone... Everything that
represents division, it's going to be gone." All that which does not align
with the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17 will be removed prior to the Lord
coming for the church. For those saying Jesus might come any minute now do not
understand this judgment and shaking yet to come on the church before we meet
the Lord in the air.
In 1
Thessalonians and 2 Peter, the phrase "like a thief" is used to
describe the beginning of the day of the Lord (i.e.: the 7-year tribulation).
However, in Revelation 3:3 there is a warning to the church: "if
you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what
hour I will come to you (literally: upon you)." This is later
described in verse 10, "the hour of testing, that hour which is about to
come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." Both
these verses warn that there is coming a time when many (most?) in the church will
be asleep and will be caught unprepared when judgment (the shaking) comes. This
idea of the church going through such a period of shaking is as far as I know
never taught by anyone today but Doug (and T. Austin-Sparks). The Apostle Peter
warns, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which
comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to
you" (1 Peter 4:12). No doubt the church is about to be terribly
surprised. The thief comes when least expected and with no warning. Remember,
"the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy". God will use
Satan to remove that in the church which is not according to Christ, that which
represents schism and division, as well as unrighteousness and conditions
warned of in Revelation 2 and 3.
Next
time we hear "Jesus can come any minute", we should remember this
warning clearly set out throughout the scriptures. "He will judge anything
that has spot and wrinkle (see Eph. 5:27); spot - defiled by sin; wrinkle
- anything that can die, anything that's old that's a representation of the old
creation Adam... the natural man, anything Adamic, anything that can find its
roots in Adam." "What cannot be shaken? That which is according to
Christ", the new man, the last Adam, the second Man.
Speaking
of kingdoms, Doug refers to the really great revelation in the Book of Daniel
that tells us the kingdom of the Antichrist will be crushed by the Kingdom of
God in and through the body of Christ - that's us, the church. This is another
proof text the church will be in heaven during the Tribulation and the end of
it when God crushes Satan under our feet.
Recommended: Erich Sauer - In the Arena of Faith
(https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/in_the_arena_of_faith.pdf)
T. Austin-Sparks - Stewardship of the Mystery - Volume II,
(https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/stewardship_of_the_mystery_volume_2_the.html)
and then Volume I
(https://www.austin-
sparks.net/english/books/stewardship_of_the_mystery_volume_1_the.html)
Link
to Audio:
https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/8-16-15+Sunday+Assembly-2.mp3
Maranatha!
John Mark
...hereby committing this unto the
providential care of the enthroned Head of the Church; whose Name is
blessed forevermore, Yeshua Mashiach - Jesus Christ!