Morning Star Testimony - Sermon Notes

“Prepare a Way for the Lord” by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 05/22/24

Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, the Second Man - The Ultimate Destiny for Man – Part 8 by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 05/19/24

This message was originally recorded January 15, 2014, the last in a series of 8 messages.

My notes:

Doug begins this installment with a challenge to us that when we share the gospel of salvation with people that we don't miss "the biggest and in the Bible". That and includes 'an inheritance'. We are not saved just so we can go to heaven. Once we're delivered from the dominion of Satan to God, there's an inheritance to be gained. Initial salvation is a free gift that requires absolutely no works on our part; but the inheritance is received only by conquest. Salvation is not unto fire insurance; salvation is unto an inheritance. For Israel, it is a physical land flowing with milk and honey; for the church, it's the unsearchable riches of Christ. He IS our inheritance; but He must be gained (see Philippians 3:8 & 2 Thessalonians 2:14). The inheritance is something we can not gain with our own power and effort. It is because of "the second Man" who declared, "It is finished"; it is His work that we appropriate that gives us our inheritance. "That inheritance is wholly predicated on the name that Jesus inherited," the name above all names. Doug explains how He inherited that name.

Hebrews teaches us that Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant; "the better sacrifice... the better hope... the son of man that has obtained all that God originally designed for us as man... fully [having] been realized in Him."

"God's intention is not only that the dominion of the earth but the entire universe be subjected to man." The first Adam failed; the last Adam obtained it as man and for man, the corporate new man in Christ. It won't be long before we actually see this in the soon-coming Millennial Kingdom. God's intention and purpose has been since before the creation of man to crown him with glory and honor. "We are the potential vice-regents that are being prepared to carry out the original thought and purpose of God."

"God is completely singular in His focus. 'I want every redeemed person to be filled with the fulness of God; I want every redeemed person to attain the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; My desire is that every redeemed person I'm able to crown with glory and honor. And anyone, for whatever reason, [who] is not in a place where they receive that which I desire to give them, will shrink back in shame at My coming."

The perfection of Christ as the second man is transferable to us. "Jesus Christ as man completes God's goal as man for man... Every day that He woke up, He had obedience to the Father first in mind, knowing that He's the template for many sons to be brought to glory... His obedience would become that which could be imparted and mediated by Him as the High Priest through the Holy Spirit for the perfecting of the many sons."

Doug takes us on a journey to understand the biblical term 'perfection'. This term can be better understood as being mature, complete, lacking nothing (i.e.: James 1:4), and therefore is not used in the sense of "sinless perfection". If we are mature and complete in the Lord, it doesn't mean we cannot sin - but we won't want to sin as we abide in Christ. We lay aside that old humanity and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14). "We need to allow Him, the Creator, through Jesus Christ, to bear us along to perfection." It's not something we can do on our own. Jesus is the one who mediates and carries us through to His perfection - maturity, completeness, fulness. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, the second man, "is the prince leader, the originator, and the consummator of our faith; the power of that faith by which we also walk."

 Link to today's audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-15-14+Wed.+Assembly.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!

 

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Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, the Second Man - Perfected Through Suffering – Part 7 by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 05/15/24

This message was originally recorded January 12, 2014, the seventh in a series of 8 messages.

My notes:

“Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” Speaking is not only that which we say, but we speak volumes by what we do. As "a picture is worth a thousand words", so also is that which people see in us in our actions and living. God spoke through His Son not only in words, but in and through His life. His life expressed the Word of God as He was and is the Word of God, "God's speaking with finality with the abiding results of that speaking in the person of His Son. So, the Son is the final speaking of God."

"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. Not 'truth and grace'; 'grace and truth'. We can't know truth unless we've experienced grace; we can't experience grace until we know how utterly wretched we are apart from God."

"So what is coming; there is no way we can grasp what the final shaking of Christianity is going to be... that which is called 'Christianity' is shaken down to the very foundation to see if it's built upon Christ - if it's according to Christ, or if it's the accretions* of man and tradition and denominations... It's ‘the day of visitation’." [I had to look up the definition of "accretion": the process of growth or increase, typically by the gradual accumulation of additional layers.]

Doug explains in detail the fact that Christianity is incompatible with Judaism, and those who want to go back to those types and shadows were not only facing God's consuming fire and judgment coming soon (70 A.D.), but we are facing it today in the coming day of visitation. Christians be warned. Ezekiel 33 speaks of God's appointment of watchmen who see judgment coming and are tasked with warning the people. "But there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death... If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life." (Ezekiel 33:4) Doug also applies this to those clinging to their "denominational doctrine that defines them as a denomination that is extraneous to Christ is going to be shaken."

"'God wouldn't judge America! We're friends of the Jews!' And we have been a haven to the Jews, but there's this entitlement that Christians in America are something special and separate from that which would represent what God has done in other nations, like China to purge His people from anything other than that which is according to Christ." Judging from what we are currently seeing on the news, being 'a friend of Israel' seems to be waning. If that continues, and it will, it will seal the doom of America. "God will not spare America!" "Hebrews 12:25 says that (judgment) that happened then (70 A.D.) is a harbinger of a final global shaking that's going to confront so-called 'Christianity' in preparation for the Lord to come."

So, what is the destiny of man? Jesus in His humiliation as Son of Man was crowned with glory and honor in His resurrection. We, in union with Him as the Second Man will attain to that same destiny when we one day (soon) will be crowned with glory and honor. "The fact of man's obvious failure is contrasted with the accomplishment of Christ's work which is the potential fulfillment of man's destiny through humiliation, exaltation, and now the redemption of man."

As I'm listening to Doug reading extensively from this theological treatise, I'm hearing how he is so excited in what is presented and how much it was ministering to him in his understanding of the letter to the Hebrews. This may be a real stretch for some of us, especially me, but I'm reminded of the early days under Doug's pastoral teaching - at least I'm getting 5% of what he's teaching. That's better than 0% and no teaching at all. After reading a passage, Doug comments, "That's loaded! That's gold right there!" ... reminding me of Revelation 3:18: "buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich." Much of this is about the sufferings of Christ that were required of Him to learn obedience. We require the same. "The discipline (child training) through which Christ reached perfection is that through which He brings His people. That which is appointed for them He also accepts, for both He and they are of one Father." When it comes to suffering, we should remember that "in all of our afflictions, He was afflicted." (Isaiah 63:9)

Resource Mentioned: Paul Hattaway: Back to Jerusalem 

Link to today's audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-12-14+Sunday+Assembly.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!

 

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Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, the Second Man - “The Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ” – Part 6 by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 05/12/24

This message was originally recorded January 5, 2014, the sixth in a series of 8 messages.

My notes:

"Christ Himself as a person can be measured; and He's measured by the fullness of God... Jesus is the one who fully contains and holds that which the heavens can't contain."

Why did God create such an immeasurable universe? Doug shares one reason: "So He could have an illustration of His faithfulness to Israel... 'If man can measure the heavens, then I'll break my promise that I made that I would establish you (Israel) as head of the nations, and that there would be a descendent of David who would rule and reign.'" Those who err in the doctrine of 'replacement theology' should take note.

Were we to try to contemplate "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ",  the measure of Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe, we might begin by observing the faintest touch of its reality as we consider the countless constellations of countless stars that blanket the night sky. "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." Therefore, man is without excuse, and in scriptures, called "stupid", those who say there is no God.

"The boundaries of God; He is boundless, but if they could be seen, they're in the boundaries of a glorified Man." In this session, Doug is more relaxed as he takes us on a journey into the vast ocean of the heavens, contemplating the incomprehensible measureless creation and all put there by a God we can barely imagine as to His power and might, His boundless creativity and genius sense of artistic grandeur. Jesus "upholds all things by the word of His power"... this entire universe, not only as God, but as the Man in glory.

The church is the body of Christ, the corporate new creation, the temple (dwelling) of God in Christ. "Is this temple going to contain the Lord? The heavens can't contain Him; the universe can't hold Him. Will this temple hold Him? Absolutely! You look at that temple - the bride - the city... you look at that, and you'll see all there is of God in ever increasing measure... The church, which is His body, is the fullness of Him (Ephesians 1) who fills all in all [or by means of all]." He is doing the filling, but we are included in that work because we are inseparably connected to Him as the head of the body.

"Religion is the greatest enemy of mankind - deception that Satan can bring upon a people is religion." "All the way along, the writer to the Hebrews dismantles everything that would allow the Hebrew Christians to go back to a system that was a shadow and didn't hold the substance of the reality... You better move on, or you're going to face judgment." Doug and I had several conversations about how very well-meaning and sincere Christians who believe they are deepening their understanding and relationship with Yeshua Hamashiach. In reality, they are turning back to the types and shadows where the veil still exists that keeps Israel blind to realizing who their Messiah is. Not only is it going backwards, but it is setting them up for judgment if they don’t move on into the reality of Jesus. We are not Jews any more than we are Gentiles, we who are in Christ. Isn’t Christians of Jewish bloodline trying to find their ‘Hebrew roots’ quite like Gentile Christians looking for our pagan roots.

As Doug challenges us to press on in our spiritual journey, Christ being fully formed in us and us being conformed to the nature and character of Christ, he adds: "Spiritual warfare is not an issue of the authority of Christ. It's more about how much do we correspond to the nature of this One. How much of that nature is formed in us?... The more of that nature that becomes our possession - you don't see spirits manifesting that much anymore. They are terrified."

Link to today's audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-5-14+Sunday+Assembly.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!

 

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Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, the Second Man - “It is Finished!” – Part 5 by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 05/08/24

This message was originally recorded December 29, 2013, the fifth in a series of 8 messages.

My notes:

Why would those Christians who were addressed in Hebrews want to go back to Moses, the law, and the types and shadows of the old dispensation and not go on to perfection which is accomplished in the work of Christ on the cross? Why are Christians today doing the same thing, those caught up in a 'Hebrew roots' movement? The writer to the Hebrew Christians warned of the imminent judgment which came only a few years later when the entire Jewish system was destroyed and millions lost their lives, including born-again Christians who returned back to the law and their Jewish traditions. As the Word is as much alive today as it was when written, the warning still stands. Christians today who are not looking to Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of our faith, but back to the old covenant meant for Israel and not the church, are in danger of judgment - losing their lives before they finish their course. They are not in danger of losing salvation - but are in danger of the judgment of God who is described as 'a consuming fire', and not only that, but the loss of rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. Doug said: "If we really see the Lord, we will fear as Christians more than anything else, standing before Him at the bema seat, and not have every aspect of our life having been brought into correspondence with Himself."

While we still have breath, we still have the opportunity to finish our course and attain full reward, that which God wants to give to each of us. "Past failures is not going to determine whether Christ will be fully formed in us or not; it's what we do from this day forward with the time God has given us. That's what matters. Are we stewards - good stewards - responsible stewards of the time that He's given us?"

The first Adam failed to attain the fullness God intended for man. It took the second man, the Lord from Heaven, to reach that goal. It is only through this last Adam who became a life-giving spirit that we in Him have the opportunity to attain to this fulness. Jesus is the originator, the leader, the one out ahead of this new creation who also brings us to completion as we cooperate with Him, abiding in Him as He abides in us.

"The identity, attributes, and characteristics of the old man (the outer man; the first man) in contradistinction to the new man (the inner man; the hidden man of the heart; the second man) - those who are spiritual vs. those who are natural - these are the definitions of the two humanities."

Once again Doug addresses those swayed by the drawing back to the law in the Hebrew roots error. This is not from a disdain for our brethren so misled, but for the error itself. "The sheer power of logic crushes to the ground anyone who would want to go back to the law. Anyone wanting to go back to Judaism, you have no logical explanation for your heresy, for your departure from the fact that Jesus Christ has fulfilled every single type. [If] you go back to that - you are apostatizing, and you should fear falling into the hands of the living God, born-again Christian." For further teaching and correction of this error, I recommend the 3-sessions Doug gave in 2020 on The Hebrew Roots Movement (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtE2EQ9mIvN8ZhL-tb7lvNbquXDLE7sJa).

Personal note: We should clearly see from the word of God that there is a great 'fiery judgment' coming to brothers and sisters in Christ who are caught up in this. Were I to observe people heading for a life-threatening accident they may be unaware of, I would feel it very important that I warn them even if they erroneously thought I was being critical or judgmental. I recently discovered I was born 1/4 Jew. However, I do not call myself a "Messianic Jew" - I wouldn't even if I were born 100% Jewish. There is no Jew in Christ - nor Gentile. We are a new creation - a new species - neither Jew nor Gentile. It's a critical point of this entire series of messages, that Jesus is the last Adam, the second man. "As the second man, He's not a Jew. As the last Adam, He was a perfect Jew, and He died as a Jew. But, as the second man, He is a new creation."

"You need to make the transition, you Hebrew Christians! If not, there's the certain fiery judgment that you can expect to come upon you... You're going to die; " This doesn't only apply to first century Christian. It applies equally in these last days, especially what we've come to know as 'the day of visitation' where this is not the only error and deficiency being dealt with as the bride prepares herself and will soon be raptured ‘without spot or wrinkle’. The term wrinkle speaks of age, and to the degree we are adhering to the old aged covenant, we are not manifesting the new creation life in Christ.

In this message, Doug elaborates on the real meaning of who Jesus is as the mediator between God and man. Instead of a common belief that there's a God up there full of wrath and fury ready to punish all our disobedience, but there is Jesus pleading for us, we discover something very different. The mediation occurred 2,000 years ago on the cross while we were in the sleep of death. Rather than me trying to explain it, I believe you'll enjoy Doug's way-better examination.

As you will hear, there are portions of the message that are very difficult to understand due to a very poor recording. I did what I could to clean it up.

Recommended resource: Erich Sauer's In the Arena of Faith (https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/in_the_arena_of_faith.pdf)

Link to today's audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/12-29-13+Sunday+Assembly+%231+edited.mp3

Link to Doug’s notes on forerunner, author, and mediator:  https://www.dougriggs.org/Bible_Study_Notes.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!

 

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