Morning Star Testimony - Sermon Notes

This was originally recorded on January 22, 2017.

Resource Assigned: He That is Spiritual by T. Austin-Sparks (http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/he_that_is_spiritual.html)

My notes:

"The power of God is directly proportional to the holiness of God being a functional reality in our life." (Taken from Doug's opening prayer)

"New birth does not produce spiritual men. At new birth, we are still governed by the soul, that is, the mind, emotion, and will." The soul needs "to be circumcised and to come into union with Christ in His death, so that the soul, instead of being an instrument of sin, the soul begins to be the bondslave of the human spirit in union with the Holy Spirit... The inner man (the spiritual man) can only be released through the subjective and experiential work of the cross."

Back in the 70's, when the Lord really woke me up to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, my Mom warned me about getting too worked up being a Christian. "Getting too heavenly minded will make you no earthly good." Doug corrected that satanic lie, "Only to the degree that he's heavenly minded is he of any earthly good to God."

"God's triumph on the cross is the crucifixion of the old man on that cross in the Person of our other self, our great and glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the last Adam and the second Man."

Jesus gives us the example of a spiritual man in exanastasis (out-resurrection from among the dead - Philippians 3:11) prior to His death on the cross and resurrection, ascension and glorification. The Apostle Paul stated his desire to attain this kind of resurrection before his life ended. Jesus "in a body that's resurrected by not glorified, was in out-resurrection."

When the Son of God took on the humanity of the first Adam, He took on a dead humanity. Jesus’ life of 33 years was a day-to-day moment-by-moment out-resurrection from among the dead. His death on the cross took dead Adam into eternal death. His spiritual and physical resurrection brought into existence that which was completely new in species, the new man, the second man, the last Adam. This life of out-resurrection from among the dead is what we are called to. "To the degree we've reached exanastasis state in our status and in our constitution, Jesus Christ as the morning star has risen in our heart."

2 Corinthians 5:15 says that Jesus died and rose again on our behalf. It's obvious He died for us - in our place - taking upon Himself the judgment of God against the entire human race guilty of sin. But it includes Him being raised from the dead on our behalf. Doug asks, "What do we know about that rose-again life?" - then explains, "It was not until He was glorified that the Holy Spirit was given to make possible to us His inner life that represents who He was as a heavenly Man in union with the Father during the incarnation."

We know that Jesus, when born as man, was different from the rest of humanity. We all are born with the sin nature of Adam passed down through our fathers. It is not passed on through our mothers, therefore Jesus, having a human mother but fathered by God through the Holy Spirit, did not have a sin nature. However, He did have an outer man, a soul, and therefore He had a soul-life, but it was not governed by the sin nature. But "the inner man, that spiritual man, continued to come into ascendency as the outer man died; and there's no sin in His outer man, but it's the soul-man in Him. That soulical life in Jesus Christ died - daily - died. And there's no sin."

Over the years we've heard from Doug the importance of the revelation of the mystery unveiled to Paul and given to the church. However, how many, especially pastors and bible teachers, can adequately explain this revelation? Is it that Gentiles will be saved? Is it that the church replaces Israel as God's people? Is it that America is the church's promised land? Is it that we are no longer under law but grace? NO!!! Not any of these! "If we do not understand the mystery of the Christ that Paul was commissioned to proclaim, our apprehension of God and His purpose, and the age in which we live is deficient."

Effective spiritual warfare requires spiritual maturity. Doug challenges Michael Lake's teaching about our need to appeal to a "divine council" when confronting principalities and powers in the heavenlies. "We (the church) are seated with Christ in heavenly places. In union with Him, we are the divine council. Whether we are functioning in that realm and in the authority of that realm, that's another matter." This kind of warfare requires that we "are grounded in the eternal purpose of God" (Ephesians 3:1-11; 1:9-11).

"Jesus Christ, as the last Adam, is the first man to be born again. When He was born again, He was born again as the second man; begotten from the dead; firstborn from the dead; born again from the dead... He's the prototype of that which represents who we are as those who have been born again." No one under the old covenant was born again. When Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again, this would not be possible until after Jesus' death and resurrection. This explains why it was such a strange concept for him to understand, though he was "the teacher of Israel". "And every time someone is born again, they're brought into the abiding results of the new things that have come" in and by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is the source from where all these new things come. As Jesus could not live His life apart from complete dependence on His Father, neither can any of us live the Christian life apart from the enablement and power of God in Christ. As Jesus "learned how to live out from God as man" even as we learn to live as God intended man to live.

God "releases Satan incrementally to touch anything in us that is not out from God... When you get in the hands of Satan, and he is touching that which is still uncrucified in us, it's nothing but sheer misery." This helps to remind us we need to "change our man". Instead of living out from the old man, we live out from the source of God in Christ - in the new man wherein the enemy has no ground. "There's a cross that separates the old from the new... the setting aside of that old humanity."

In Luke, Jesus spoke of the fact that "no one puts new wine into old wineskins. "In other words, the church is not going to become a 'Messianic church.' It will have no 'Jewish roots'; it will have no 'Hebrew roots.' It will only have its roots in a second man." Our roots are in the new species resurrected Man in glory, not in any way linked to or generated from the old species of man in the grave. "The law that was given by God at Mount Sinai ... could make nothing perfect; it took a perfect Man." "We fulfill the legal requirements of the law, not because we're under that law, but through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we manifest the nature of God, which is obedience to that law." The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). "Free" means we are not ruled by the Law nor are we under it's dominion. "Only by understanding the mystery of the Messiah, the mystery of the Christ - what Paul calls, 'my gospel', or 'the mystery of the gospel' - would liberate them from the bondage remaining in these old wineskins." "Everything that represents who you are in your Judaism, and who you are in your 'Hebrew roots' ends at the cross."

"The greatest enemy to mankind is religion - in all forms -  Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Mormonism, all 'isms. True Christianity is not an 'ism; Christianity is a Person."

"That which is still under the rule and the dominion of the soul can be actuated and accessed by Satan himself. And if it's a dissociated soul-realm, he's got free access... That soul that is not under the government of the Holy Spirit in union with the human spirit in ascendency is the playground for the adversary... If we're living out of the life of the soul, if we're striving, that means we haven't entered His rest. If we enter His rest, we're living in union with the Heavenly Man... The work of the cross is God's way to secure for Himself and for you that which defines you in your eternal destiny... The solemnity of the bema seat of Christ will determine the measure in which Jesus Christ will be seen and manifest in each one of us individually forever."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-22-17%2Bsunday.mp3

Link to Transcript: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2017_01_22+He_That_Is_Spiritual.pdf

Link to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-22-17%2Bdiscussion.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!

This was originally recorded on December 4, 2016.

My notes:

Jesus learned obedience through suffering. I've been learning, especially over the last year or so, that if that's how He learned obedience, how much more will God use suffering in my life to learn obedience. I came to realize that I have an entitlement mentality - that I deserve a carefree, pain free, happy life in Jesus. After all, I'm a child of the King! Realizing this, I'm learning that I really don't deserve this at all, and I should not expect anything less than what Jesus encountered on His path to glory. As for Jesus, "The crowning of His life as a Man is the cross. That's the highest place of moral and spiritual ascendency; it is the high ground of His humanity before His resurrection." Doug adds, "The Holy Spirit is not going to take a different course with us than He took with Jesus as Son of Man. He is the pattern; He is the way in which we come into the place of exaltation... Without the cross, there is no exaltation."

Do people who don't know the Lord need bible studies mostly? Doug explains, no! They need to see Jesus. As the song goes, we may be the only Jesus people get to see. Seeing Jesus in us is more effective than telling people about Jesus. The "testimony of Jesus" is much more than words. How do people see Jesus? In the members of His body. As Jesus fell into the ground and died, His life multiplied into the corporate body of Christ, the church. As we follow Him and take the path He took, we as His seed fall into the ground, our opportunities to die to self as we accept our cross. This produces fruit. We may see the cross as going down, but that's not the way Jesus saw it. "The cross is an exaltation. He's been exalted by the Father as the sin-bearer. 'If I be exalted up from the earth on that cross, I will draw all men to Myself.'"

Prior to the cross, Jesus said that the ruler of the world was coming, but he had nothing in Him. "If we're abiding in Jesus and He is abiding in us, the prince of the world will come, and he'll have nothing." "Uncrucified flesh ... is a feast for the adversary; God will do nothing to stop it. Why? Because it's on the other side of the cross; it belongs to the adversary."

As members of the body of Christ, we are called to follow Jesus. As He suffered, we are called to suffer with Him, not in the sense of dying for our sins, but yielding our soul-life as an offering to God as Jesus did during His entire life. Speaking of the race set before us in Hebrews 12:1, "The word "race"... it's the ag?n ... it's the agony; there's a conflict... There's a conflict serving the Lord; there's opposition." "The closer we get to the cross and being identified with Christ in His cross, we will come into the shadow of death."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/12-4-16%2Bsunday.mp3

TRANSCRIPTION: Thanks to the labor of love from a dear sister in Australia, this was prepared for those who’d like to follow along: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/2016_12_04+The_Cross-the_Pathway_to_Ultimate_Exaltation+-+transcription.pdf

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!

This was originally recorded on November 30, 2016.

My notes:

If one believes in the imminency of Christ's return, than one must believe in a pre-day of the Lord rapture. Otherwise, "you're looking for some other signs that will be associated (with) or accompany the day of the Lord." The signs in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 lead up to the second advent, not the rapture of the church. Doug corrects those who misunderstand the example of the one in the field taken. They are taken out to judgment, not taken up in the rapture. The one left is the believer who enters into the Millennial Kingdom. This is consistent with the parable of the sower (Matthew 13) "where the angels come and they take out of the world the unrighteous, and the wheat, or the righteous, go into the barn, or the Millennial Kingdom of Christ." The contexts of these passages in the Gospels is about Israel, not the church. The church was at that time a mystery, a sacred secret, only to be unveiled through the Apostle Paul years later (see Romans 16:25,26; Ephesians 1:9-11; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:24-27). The rapture of the church is before the judgment on Israel and the nations. "You can't be looking for Jesus Christ and be looking for the antichrist."

People accuse those of us who believe the rapture will occur before the day of the Lord, as being heretical. Paul describes those who don't understand the pre-day of the Lord rapture are under deception, "the same level of deception as Satan deceiving the woman in the garden." That's serious.

I remember many years ago Doug teaching on John 3:29 about the bride and the bridegroom, equating it to Adam and Eve being created at the same time. However, Eve was not manifested until later. She was hidden in Adam and only later taken out from his side and presented to him as his wife. Such a beautiful and romantic picture of the church, chosen IN Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) to be presented to Him at the rapture once the bride has made herself ready.

Doug also corrects the error in assuming the 10 virgins mentioned in Matthew 25, the invitation to the celebration of the wedding of the Lamb. "Those are the attendants to the wedding feast. That's not the church." Notice, there's no bride mentioned. "Why? She's hidden. She's part of the mystery." Only years after the death and resurrection of Christ do we discover who the bride of Christ is.

The questions that needs to be asked is, "Is the Bridegroom going to have a section of His bride have to go through the great and terrible day of the Lord? That would be the Bridegroom not judging the whole body of Christ (because most of the body of Christ is in heaven)." Is it so that "God's going to have the last generation of the church go through a part or all the tribulation, so the Bridegroom can judge His bride? The bride would have to go through that time of that which is specifically designated in the prophets as God's judgment against Israel and the nations?"

One of Doug's memorable sayings was, "It's real; but it's not the truth." The Thessalonians were suffering persecution and tribulation. That was real; but what was the truth? Were they in the day of the Lord? No! They were in tribulation, but not THE 7-year tribulation. We will see that in the coming months - tribulation coming on the church. We need to be knowers of the time (1 Chronicles 12:32) so we can tell others in the church what they should do. People who don't understand this eschatology get the "mark of the beast" confused with what we need to be looking out for. We won't be here - so it's impossible for any Christian to take the mark of the beast and be damned for eternity. Yes, God judges His people, but the judgment we as the church have gone through and will go through is not the same nor the level of what is coming for Israel and the nations. Besides, to misunderstand this is to misunderstand eternal security of the believer. If we are born again, in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, we cannot do anything (i.e.: taking the mark of the beast) to lose the gift of God given to us at our new birth.

Doug taught us there a huge difference between the day of the Lord and the day of Christ (see Philippians 1:6,10; 2:16) - they're not the same. However, "the day of God" (2 Peter 3:12; Revelation 16:14) is synonymous with "the day of the Lord".

We need to remember when we read the word "salvation" in the scriptures, these don't all mean the exact same thing. There is initial salvation; when we receive Jesus Christ as God's gift of eternal life. There's progressive salvation, "being saved"; that's the course and journey we are on to obtain our inheritance in Christ and for Christ to be fully formed in us. Then there's final salvation; that's the Lord's return to snatch up His church, His bride. "It's the culmination of the body of Christ coming to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; believers growing up into Christ in all things... When God sees Christ fully formed in His church, we're out of here."

Once one has the revelation of the mystery of the Christ, "It's so clear; you're never going to be shaken by anybody saying the church is in the tribulation." Otherwise, "You're not grounded in the word."

Take note that this was recorded in November 2016, way before Covid. Giving a hypothetical appeal from the "aliens": "By the way, if you take this mark that has the DNA-upgrade, you shall not die, and you shall be disease-free." Those that take the mark will be those who "did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Because of this, "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false (literally the lie)." Doug defined "a deluding influence" to be "a supernatural energizing that leads to error".

Doug describes the imagery of a Jewish wedding to depict details that parallel those of the rapture. You may want to watch a beautiful video narrated by Kevin Sorbo called Before the Wrath (https://www.beforethewrath.com/) that does an amazing job depicting a Galilean wedding.

Speaking of the rapture of the church, "Before the Lord returns for the church, the church will be in a place where when Jesus returns, He literally rescues us from the wrath to come." This goes with 1 Thessalonians 5:9, speaking of the day of the Lord, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." Doug clears the confusion of those who believe the rapture will come for those who are ready, but those who are not will have to go through some period of time to get purged during the 7-year tribulation and then get raptured. In a sense "partial rapture" is correct, but it is only the part of the church that is alive and those who survive the day of visitation that will all together at the same time be seized by force and rescued by the Lord at the rapture. No Christian will go through any part of the day of the Lord. That's reserved for Israel and the nations. "When the body of Christ is raptured, the whole body of Christ meets together with the Lord." Those who died before the rapture will be raised first; then those who are alive and survive.

"We're not going into the day of the Lord. Read Zephaniah Chapter 2. It's a day of gloom and thick darkness."  The doctrine of the rapture is called "the blessed hope" and is something that brings comfort to those looking for our Lord to take us home. "You can't comfort someone if you're looking for antichrist - you’re looking for the signs." The day of Christ (the rapture) is not the day of the Lord (that refers to Daniel's 70-th week, 7-year tribulation).

Doug not only contended earnestly for correct and accurate doctrine, but always included the importance of the experiential application that applies to our conduct. God doesn't have a certain date on a calendar marked "Today!" for when He will send His Son to fetch His bride. We must attain to what is required for the bride to have made herself ready. He isn't coming back for a bride who is covered in dirt and chasing after other paramours. She is to be without spot (sins) and without wrinkle (old humanity - living in soul-life). The story of the 10-virgins (Matthew 25) is an application (not the interpretation) of the distinction between those who will be ready when the bridegroom comes, and those who are not. This is about Israel and who will be prepared for His return (2nd Advent), but it applies to the church. Our conduct and readiness for the Lord's arrival to take us home is much more important than knowing when it will happen. If you're one of the remnant who survives and is still alive, you're outta' here - even if you believe in a mid-trib, post-trib, pre-wrath, partial rapture, or no rapture at all. But it would help if we are all of the same mind, looking for the blessed hope and the morning star arising in our heart. Remember, the morning star announces the promise and expectation of the soon-coming sunrise.

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/11-30-16%2Bwednesday.mp3

Recommended resource:
The Future Foretold by John Mark (https://bookministry1.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/The+Future+Foretold.pdf)

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!

This was originally recorded on October 5, 2016, Doug’s message along with a discussion.

My notes:

Many times we hear Doug read scriptures that include the phrase "the knowledge of God". He expands it to "the epign?sis, the full knowledge of God". The idea of this term includes full, complete, mature, correct, precise and correct knowledge. This Greek term is not the same as gin?sk? or gn?sis, other words translated as knowledge that do not include the epi prefix. The word gin?sk? includes the concept "to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of; be aware of, feel, have knowledge, perceive, to understand.” The term gn?sis contains the idea of general intelligence, understanding; the general knowledge of our faith; includes a deeper and more enlarged knowledge, and moral wisdom. Additionally we find another word translated "know", eid?, includes the idea to perceive with the senses, discover, observe, to see, look, inspect or examine. An example of this is the unclean spirit crying out, "I know who You are—the Holy One of God!" (Mark 1:24)

Each term is so important, but to lump them together hides their important distinctions. For example: "This is eternal life, that they may know (gin?sk? - learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of) You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3) Having such knowledge, we are to "grow in the grace and knowledge (gn?sis - intelligence, understanding) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Taking it a step further, we are not merely invited to know our Lord in a general way, certainly not knowing about him, but to know Him in a full, mature, and complete way. Thus, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge (epign?sis) of God and of Jesus our Lord." (2 Peter 1:2) This is the word used in Paul's amazing prayer in Ephesians 1 for "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge (epign?sis) of Him."

For those of us who read the scriptures and want to know what terms are used in the original language, I recommend the Blue Letter Bible website: https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/2pe/1/4/s_1157004. I believe Doug used it often.

That's a rabbit trail... I hope it sheds some light where it will be useful. We've been so privileged and blessed to have had Doug teaching from the original languages. It's like turning black and white images to vibrant color. Getting back to Doug's message:

How do we become a partaker of the divine nature? As we put off the old man, what and who we are in the Adamic nature, we put on the new man in Christ, making no provision for the flesh. We do this by faith, and faith is not a passive feeling. Faith implies obedience. Becoming a partaker of the divine nature brings us into fellowship with our Lord, who is light, and with others walking in that light. Partaking of the divine nature and walking in fellowship with God and one another manifests the intrinsic eminence, moral virtue and excellence of God in Christ. This is where "the glory and nature of God can be progressively seen in our lives." Effective spiritual warfare requires us to be partakers of the divine nature.

Doug clears up the confusion we might have when it comes to the aspect of the fruit of the spirit that includes self-control. "Have you ever tried to exercise self-control? Try it; it never works." This self-control isn't us controlling ourselves. "There is a dominion available to us that operates from within. We have to be mastered by another Master." That's us yielding to the control of the Holy Spirit who rules from within us. "Self is controlled by God... It's a self that is under the control ... under the dominion of God."

When Doug quoted from Romans 5 where it uses the Greek word dokim? (for approved character), it reminded me of the judgments leveled in Romans 1 against so much of what we see today, that "God gave them over to a depraved (adokimos) mind." The prefix (a) negates the word dokim?, so it's the opposite of what God gives us when we persevere in tribulation. Just look at the news. There's ample proof our world is under this judgment. Not convinced? Check out Rachel Levine, the transvestite US Assistant Secretary for Health, who is also an Admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps; not exactly "a character that has been tested and stands approved". How about the insanity of the presidential race between the two candidates? The whole Covid fiasco reflected (and continues to reflect) world-wide insanity with the ineffective forced social distancing, masks, and lockdowns. It makes us want to cry, "Maranatha!!! Come, Lord Jesus!!!"

We've heard the phrase 'the testimony of Jesus'. The Elder John in the last book of the Bible mentions it three times. Doug explains, "The measure in which we are making known the power and coming of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:16), that's the measure in which the testimony of Jesus is actually in evidence in our lives." It's not something we work up or come up with. "When you speak the truth, something is happening in them. There's something coming forth more than just words." For Peter, this was the difference between being an eyewitness to being a partaker of the divine nature.

Speaking of the world we live in - the world system, Doug reminds us, "Everything here according to 2 Peter Chapter 3 is reserved for fire. Nothing will be saved." We'll see some of this occurring in the soon-coming judgment, the day of the Lord (7-year tribulation), and then, ultimately, when this universe is burned up and a new one established.

I recently watched a new movie, "God's Not Dead; In God We Trust". It's a political action message to get the Christians to vote in the coming election. For me, it was disconcerting, considering the fact that elections are seriously rigged, proved scientifically but dismissed by the powerful narrative that to say so makes one a conspiracy nut. This country is not run by an electorate; much (or most) of what we see in the news and politics is not the truth; Satan is the god of this world; ...etc. I'm reminded of the difference between Abraham and his nephew Lot. Abraham looked "for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Lot chose Sodom. When the angels came to Sodom to extricate Lot, he "was sitting in the gate of Sodom". That's the place of government. The governing council conducted their court and administrative duties at the city gate. Perhaps Lot thought he could influence them to do better - to tone down their sin - to act like good, righteous people. Perhaps he was a politician - even holding political office. Lot was called "righteous" (2 Peter 2:7), "oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men". That sounds like the actor portraying a pastor running for Congress in the movie.

So what's the conclusion? Abraham made the right choice; Lot didn't. To make matters worse, on the precipice of Sodom being destroyed, as he escaped with his wife, she demonstrated where her heart was by turning back. "Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:32). Where is our heart? Hoping America returns to its Christian foundations? ... or looking for the blessed hope, our exodus from this dark and squalid place where we are sojourners? Are we looking off and away unto Jesus, or looking back and wishing we could stay here and make it better? I'm voting for Jesus - not Trump - not Harris.

I don't mean to dissuade anyone who believes God is leading them to be involved in civil government. That's between you and the Lord. I'm just wanting to make sure our eyes are open, at least a bit, to the fact that this nation (and others) are under God's judgment and the day of the Lord is ever so close. Doug sums it up: "How do we hasten the coming day of God (2 Peter 3:12)? By becoming a partaker of the divine nature."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/10-5-16%2Bwednesday.mp3

Link to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/10-5-16%2Bdiscussion.mp3

Recommended resources:

Doug's series: Jesus Christ - the Bright Morning Star (https://www.dougriggs.org/Videos.html#anchor_95)

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!

This was originally recorded on September 25, 2016, as the second message that day, along with the discussion that followed.

My notes:

I’m a bit stymied as to give a clear title to this message. Doug covers many topics, as you’ll discover. I just figure I need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ to be able to receive what God wants to impart through this important teaching.

Doug reminds us of the distinction between the day of Christ and the day of the Lord: the former, the rapture; the latter starts with the 7-year tribulation culminating in the 1,000-year millennial kingdom. In the Hebrew mindset, the day begins at night.

Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is synonymous with putting on the armor of light... the divine nature. In doing so, we put off the old man, making no provision for him. I've been focusing in on that in my own spiritual journey - evaluating the seemingly unimportant things that eventually lead to falling back into the pattern of the old man. When I recognize those things and stop them, falling back isn't happening as much as in the past.

As we present our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices, this has much to do as to how we make ourselves available to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Intercessory prayer on their behalf is different from praying for them; it involves travail and suffering. We enter into the sufferings of Christ. "You're stretched out before the Lord for the realization of that which you know is His will." This is our calling as priests. "We have the ability, as ambassadors of God, to represent God to others and to mediate something of God to them which they don't have." Moses is an example of one who represented God to the people and the people to God. This was the responsibility of the priests under the Old Covenant. Jesus is the mediator between God and man, and this is one way He accomplishes it - through His body. "Priesthood means the more you come into oneness with Jesus Christ as the great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, then we become in the place of functioning as the blesser."

Doug clears up the error taught that the church replaced Israel as God's chosen people, termed 'replacement theology'. Yes, the church has replaced Israel as God's ambassador to the nations - but it is limited to this church age dispensation. Once we're gone, this is transferred back to Israel. We don't inherit the blessings (and curses) of Israel. "We have our own spiritual blessings. We, the church, 'have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ' (Ephesians 1:3). Those are beyond anything that God promised Israel."

Speaking of demon possession versus God possession, "If people can be demon possessed, why wouldn't Christians want to be God possessed? The more possessed you are by God, the more free you are to choose for God."

Speaking of the 'greater works than these shall you do', Doug explained these works will find their ultimate fulfillment during the day of visitation. This time period prior to the rapture of judgment on the household of God will not just be doom-and-gloom. As the morning star arises in the hearts of the surviving remnant, we shall see the overcomers overcoming! This will also occur in the surviving remnant during the tribulation - "... the ability to do heroic deeds" - "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits" (Daniel 11:32). It will be the manifestation of the works of God in and through His people. "That's what we're called to. That's what it means to be first a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood."

In the previous message I posted last, Doug was speaking about predestination and election. In this message, he explained, "The called are the elect; and the elect are the called... Calling takes place at conversion while election takes place in eternity past." An explanation T. Austin-Sparks gave that really helped me understand the way these two concepts actually work together is that the terms predestined, foreordained and elect refer to those who have become saved, born again; and election pertains to the corporate church - what we were chosen for and unto. You may want to read The Danger of Coming Short by T. Austin-Sparks, especially the section 'Predestination' - 'Foreordination' - 'Election' (https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/002966.html).

Speaking of the 'danger of coming short', in the passage of Hebrews 10:26-39, which speaks of coming judgment on the household of God (i.e.: at the end of the church age), the warning mentions those who 'shrink back' in shame at the Lord's coming; conversely, a "wide entrance" is for those who finish well (those who will receive full reward, "Well done, good and faithful servant"). Doug, reading from notes from the Net Bible: "We must not neglect our responsibility (verses 5 and following), yet the enabling and credit is God's (verses 2 - 4)."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/9-25-16%2Bsunday.mp3

Recommended resources:

Segulah, God’s Peculiar Treasure  article by Allan Halton (https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/segulah.pdf)

????????? Segulah. Greek N.T. word equivalent: ?????????? (periousios) (https://biblehub.com/thayers/4041.htm)

Michael Lake: The Sheeriyth Imperative: Empowering the Remnant to Overcome the Gates of Hell (https://amzn.to/4d9DQnn)

Doug's series: Jesus Christ - the Bright Morning Star (https://www.dougriggs.org/Videos.html#anchor_95)

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!