Morning Star Testimony - Sermon Notes

This message was originally recorded May 1, 2016.

My notes:

"If Jesus in His unglorified state, prior to His death on the cross and resurrection, (that it) was possible to be with the Father in this way (in abiding union with Him), then (it is) His desire that we would come to know what it meant for Him as man on earth to be with the Father."

A couple messages ago, Doug spoke on the transition between the outer man and the inner man. "Between the outer man and the inner man, there's a cross. The cross to the outer man is death; the cross to the inner man is life."

"In Philippians Chapter 3 we discover the passion of the apostle Paul. It is profoundly simple and yet at the same time comprehensive. Paul's passion is to 'know Him'. With this goal we see what motivated and made Paul. To this end he pursued the prize that he might possess that for which he was taken possession of by Christ Jesus. To Paul, this passion is perfection. To us, this passion should mark our life and give us the focus to press on until the end."

"I press towards the goal for the prize - a prize must be won in combat... it's a contest.. it's there inherent at new birth, but it's that which is the potential of the new birth being developed in us, so that Christ-life is a life that is given to us at new birth, is ever reaching upward."

"As that outer man is being subjected to the work of the cross, there's the release of the life of Jesus, and that life becoming manifested in our mortal flesh... The new covenant life of Jesus is released as death works in us."

As I listen to this message, I'm struck by the wall-to-wall scriptures Doug uses to make his many points. Towards the conclusion, he pronounces a very strong warning to pastors who are oblivious to the satanic infiltration in the church and are not addressing it. So many of the messages I've been reposting have warned of the shaking soon to come on the church - the day of visitation - the fiery ordeal that comes suddenly - the vomiting out of the lukewarm church-goers where Jesus is nowhere to be found. Having been asked to remove myself from several churches who didn't want someone affiliated with Doug and Morning Star Testimony Church - those with experience with spiritual warfare - I know and understand Doug's frustration. These 'pastors' didn't want their congregation's feathers ruffled. I often think about what will happen when Satan is let loose in these head-in-the-sand gatherings. Unfortunately, for too many, it will be too late.

Note from last post:

I received this email from a listener:

“Doug asks the question: "Is perfection capable in this life?" "Yes, absolutely! We can attain perfection experientially in this life; and we'll still have a sin nature - but the sin nature will not be ruling. It's there; but by living by the life of Another, perfection has been attained.”

I guess I need more clarification on “perfection” in light of verses like this: (1 Jn. 1:8,10) “If we say that we have no sin (nature), we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . . . If we say that we have not sinned (personal transgressions), we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

I know that when sin (as in 'the nature') is not ruling, we are not sinning, but it appears that even the best of those presented to us in scripture have times in their lives (however brief) when the flesh gets a temporary foothold.  I would have placed moral sanctification in the category of "maturity" because obedience would be the primary characteristic of that person's life; but I had always relegated complete sinlessness to the life to come.  But I'm open to learning new things all the time; I personally am a great distance from "perfection" in that sense:)

Here was my reply, as I'm thinking some others may have had the same question:

Thanks for your email. I'll do my best in answering your questions. First (and foremost), Jesus lived that perfect life. As we know, none of us can do that. Apart from Him, we can do nothing, and our righteousness is like filthy rags. So to suggest we can live a life of perfection on our own would amount to lunacy. The only one who can live the Christian life, and that includes sinless perfection, is Jesus Christ. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Therefore, in Christ, and only in Christ are we able to live out that righteousness. As members of His body, we can achieve no other perfection (maturity, completeness, fulness). In Christ, as we abide in Him, and He abides in us, experientially we are living the sinless life of Jesus Christ in spite of the fact we still have our original sin nature held in abeyance. When we are experientially living out from the source of Christ as our life, the self-life (sin nature) that was crucified 2,000 years ago remains dead, lifeless, and unemployed in the tomb. When we step out of Christ back into that old man, we discover we can do nothing but to fall short (i.e.: sin; miss the mark). If the sin nature is in ascendancy and ruling, we sin; if we are living by the life of Jesus, that is the perfection attained 2,000 years ago on our behalf. Jesus not only died for us; He died as us - fallen, sinful Adam. He died to sin; therefore, we in Him died to sin.

Those you speak of who allow the flesh to 'get a temporary foothold' are not living the perfect, sinless of Christ. If they continue in sin, they risk dying the sin unto death - or at least enough discipline, a scourge when necessary, to get them back in fellowship and communion with the Lord. For us, before we reach glory, sinlessness is potential and attainable only as we abide in Christ. We "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude." (Phil. 3:14-15) Perfection is maturity, completeness, and the fullness of Christ in our lives. It should not be termed 'sinless perfection' in the sense we cannot sin; we know we all have that capacity. But in Christ we have the capacity to not sin as we attain maturity.

When you confess you are 'a great distance from "perfection"', in actuality, you are already right there in Christ, in His perfection. Quit looking to yourself for perfection. We need to be "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith".

I hope this helps - at least a little.

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/5-1-16+assembly.mp3

Link to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/5-1-16+discussion.mp3

Resources mentioned:

Loving the Way Jesus Loves by Phil Ryken

The Cross, the Church, and the Kingdom by T. Austin-Sparks (https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/cross_the_church_and_the_kingdom_the.html)

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 message was originally recorded April 17, 2016.

My notes:

Doug speaks of Jesus inheriting a more excellent name, and how that applies to us, the members of His body. "We're not born again just so we can have a ticket out of hell into heaven. Jesus didn't die on the cross only to redeem us, although He did; but we've been redeemed unto an inheritance... And how do we enter into our inheritance? By attaining a name that is a part of our union and communion with Jesus Christ as the royal heir of all things... He is the one who has received as Man the full inheritance that God has determined from all eternity - that which will result in man being crowned with glory and honor." However, there is a condition - it's not automatically obtained by all members of the body of Christ. There's an "if indeed" attached. "If indeed we suffer with Him, in order that we may be glorified with Him." "It's the big 'if' of Hebrews: 'if you hold fast'. 'If'... it's all about the inheritance."

"All that put their faith in Christ are redeemed; but not all will reign as kings. Kingship is an attainment... That which manifests the bride of Christ is a part of overcoming. All (Christians) are redeemed, but not all will manifest in those bridal garments the holiness and the dignity of kingship as the complement of the King. That is an attainment... Our justification - our salvation - is absolutely a secure issue. This has to do with the reign... has to do with the name... and we are here on Earth to inherit a name, and that name is His name."

Ever since the creation of man, God intended man to rule as kings over the earth. When Adam disobeyed God, he forfeited his right to rule and reign over the earth to Satan by turning from submission to God to yielding to the lie of Satan that man could be like God apart from dependence on God. Many generations later, Jesus on the cross wrested that right and authority to reign from Satan, defeating him and publicly triumphing over him. However, the title deed to the earth has not yet been officially transferred. That will happen during the 7-year Tribulation when Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes the scroll and breaks the seal. He has been waiting for the completion of His bride - His body - the fulness of the Gentiles and the church attaining the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. At the judgment seat of Christ, mid-way through the Tribulation period, the church completed and glorified will be 'caught up to the throne' (Rev. 12) and the ruling and reigning over earth with Christ begins through the completed corporate New Man, man as God intended man to be, to rule over His creation. "It's not to angels that God has submitted the inhabited earth to come... but to man." (Hebrews 2:5-8)

Additional notes on Revelation 3:10: "Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." In this message, Doug addresses the fact that the world is about to go through a testing that will prove its preoccupation with self-improvement and advancement without God - that this world is home with no desire for a heavenly home. As this letter is written to the church, and the warnings we read in these seven letters are for believers who need to repent, we should also consider the fact there are Christians who consider earth their home and are not looking for a deliverer to take them to their heavenly home. The risk is we could lose our crown (vs 11). Unbelievers don't have crowns, only believers. But if we do not pass this test that is coming prior to the 7-year tribulation, what Doug has taught on often, the day of visitation coming upon the church (1 Peter 2:12), we face the threat of loss of reward and not surviving to the rapture. The new more excellent name is for overcomers, not those who make earth their home. This warning would compare with 1 Peter 4:12-19: "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... For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God."

Revelation 3:12: "I will write on him the name of My God... My new name" - As this message is about inheriting a more excellent name, Doug concludes with this promise written to the overcomers of the church in Philadelphia. "'I will write on him', Jesus says, 'the name', the manifest nature and character 'of My God'. That name will become your name to whatever degree Christ was formed in you in this life... a name that's been given 'above every name'. That name will be imparted to you in the measure of which Christ has been formed in you in this life, and at the bema seat of Christ, the Father will crown you because of the virtues of Jesus Christ that will be formed, and you'll be a part of that royal crown of Christ."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/4-17-16+sunday+assembly.mp3

Link to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/4-17-16+discussion.mp3

Resources mentioned:

Erich Sauer: The King of the Earth (https://amzn.to/3YwUmKO)

3 Messages by Lance Lambert:

What is the Prize? (https://christiantestimonyministry.com/tape-page.php?id=2638)

Attaining the Prize (https://christiantestimonyministry.com/tape-page.php?id=2642)

Overcoming (https://christiantestimonyministry.com/tape-page.php?id=2645)

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!

To opt out of receiving these emails, please reply with a request to unsubscribe.

This message was originally recorded April 4, 2016.

My notes:

Doug continues his theme of the transformation we take from the outer soulical man to the inner spiritual man. "The word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, divides soul and spirit, and that makes a way for the outer man and what we are in our soul-consciousness to pass from the outer man into the inner man through the veil of the flesh that has been rent, and into the most holy place... And now, as a High Priest, He (Jesus) is there to mediate what He has gained as Man for us."

"There has to be the eyes of the heart opened to be able to see Jesus in His humanity as the one that is actually veiling the Godhead... how that humanity has to become our life. The humanity is the medium - the vessel - for the impartation of the very life of God that He lived as Man here on Earth."

Hebrews speaks of Jesus' flesh being a veil. However, "In Jesus, there's no veil between Him and the Father. But His flesh represents a veil between the generation from which He came and who He was as Man."

So what is the flesh of Jesus Christ? Vine's Dictionary defines it as "the holy humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ in the totality of all that is essential to manhood."

The perfected life Jesus lived in the flesh qualifies Him as mediator to impart His resurrection life into us. Naturally we don't recognize we need that life until we realize that ‘apart from Him, we can do nothing’. "The Lord's strategy is to continue to weaken and break us down so that we can't even live in the natural apart from Him. That veil (in us) gets thinner and thinner and thinner until the veil is rent within us... And the veil represents that which is over the hearts of mankind, and especially the Jews in this generation, that was between Jesus Christ and their hearts - there was a veil, and that veil represented the Old Covenant - living by rules; living by principles... There are no principles that will help anyone live the Christian life. Why? Because Jesus Christ IS the Christian life."

What is "the testimony of Jesus"? "The testimony of Jesus in Revelation 1:9 is this: the Word has become flesh in His members... To whatever degree the Word has not become flesh in us in our humanity, the testimony of Jesus is not there."

As we consider the differences in glory ("star differs from star in glory" - 1 Corinthians 15:41), what we become here in time is reflected in who and what we are in eternity. (Note: I was so pleased to hear JD Farag refer to this in his recent message on Daniel 12 – he’s finally getting it!)

"There is a correspondence between the future spiritual body and the degree of glory, to the degree that the spiritual man becomes a spiritual man in this life. To the degree that the Word becomes flesh in us will be the degree that there will be a spiritual body that will adapt and manifest that spirituality in the ages to come." "Your intimacy with God is in the measure in which Jesus Christ has actually been formed in you and people can see Jesus in you." This is the testimony of Jesus... Jesus in expression through His body, the church. "Evidence of a spirit-filled life is an evidence of Christ manifesting His life."

Doug asks the question: "Is perfection capable in this life?" "Yes, absolutely! We can attain perfection experientially in this life; and we'll still have a sin nature - but the sin nature will not be ruling. It's there; but by living by the life of Another, perfection has been attained... What does it take to live a life of godliness? It takes Christ! ... God manifest in the flesh! That's who He is to be - God manifested in our flesh... revealed in the flesh in His church. And when that is a completed testimony - taken up in glory."  

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/4-3-16+sunday+assembly.mp3

Link to Discussion that followed: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/4-3-16+discussion.mp3

Resources mentioned:

Spiritual Fruitfulness by T. Austin-Sparks

https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/spiritual_fruitfulness.html

Doug's assembly reading/commentary (Spiritual Fruitfulness): https://www.dougriggs.org/Ministry-Archives-2016.html (half-way down the page)

Disciplined by Grace by J.F. Strombeck

https://www.dougriggs.org/disciplined_by_grace.pdf

Maj. Ian Thomas: The Saving Life of Christ

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 message was originally recorded March 20, 2016.

My notes:

As Jesus walked this earth as man, completely dependent upon the power of God, so He continues in His resurrected glorified state to be as dependent. This resurrection life we are called to is to be as Christ’s, completely dependent on the power of God in Christ manifested in us by and through the Holy Spirit. It takes the triune God for us to live the Christian life. As we are weak without this power of God, and Jesus, "as Man, He is just as weak now as He ever was… completely dependent upon the Father."

As I listen to many pastors and teachers, it seems like they have one goal for everyone they preach to: receive Jesus as your Savior. Some go a step further and add as the goal an obedient life (i.e.: do this; do that; don't do this; and don't do that). The ultimate goal seems to be to avoid hell and go to heaven – then tell everyone you can about Jesus – oh, and by the way, read your bible and pray every day... that's about it.

Few that I've heard use the Old Testament as a teaching tool to explain the goal we should be pressing on to. For Israel, it began with the Passover - the blood of the spotless lamb applied to the doorpost that insured deliverance from the death angel. Then, passing through the Red Sea was that which insured deliverance from Egypt (today: the world). Then the goal was to conquer and occupy their inheritance, the land of Canaan. That required dispossessing the formidable giants (today: principalities and powers) and taking the land by force. That was their goal. What a huge disparity between Israel's goal and that of the church. We in the church are mostly not taught there even is an inheritance other than a mansion, a harp, and a halo. Salvation is not the inheritance. It’s only the beginning of the journey to conquer the land.

So, why should we take the Old Testament teaching so seriously. After all, isn't it really just history? That was then; this is now? "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." (1 Corinthians 10:11) If we blow off the Old and try to follow the New, we'll never really understand the goal of the church - our inheritance - very different and so much greater than that of Israel. The few bible teachers I can reference who taught us this are C.H. Mackintosh; T. Austin-Sparks; and Doug. "There is a goal; there is an end; there's a consummation for each one of us from the moment of new birth until glorification, there is a divine goal... God perfected the Author of our salvation through suffering. And so, there's absolutely no other way we can be perfected." "The goal of Hebrews is that we become perfect (mature; complete) in the perfected One, Christ."

"As we are brought into conformity to His death through sufferings, this is the only way in which Christ, who is our life, can become more and more in evidence. There's no other way." "That in us which has not experientially died yet - in Him it's dead, but it hasn't experientially died in us, that is a painful process."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/3-20-16+sunday+assembly.mp3

Link to Discussion that followed: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/3-20-16+discussion.mp3

Resource mentioned: March 20 Day by Day with T. Austin-Sparks (you can sign up for these daily emails): https://bookministry.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/march-20/

Brennan Manning: Our Call To Participate In the Healing Ministry of Jesus Christ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IsQy0t6n0U)

C.H. Mackintosh: Notes on the Pentateuch (drop down the page about 1/3 to find it on my website - https://www.bookministry.org/Bookstore.html)

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 message was originally recorded March 16, 2016.

My notes:

In this message, Doug mentions the often incorrectly interpreted scripture about the two grinding at the mill, and one is taken. The one taken is not referring to the rapture, but taken into judgment, and the one remaining goes into the millennial kingdom. This was the same correction I heard Doug teach way back in the late 70's that the Lord used to open my ears to hear Jesus as my Shepherd speaking through Doug. How grateful I am that God shut my mouth and opened my ears those many years ago.

Doug speaks of a time Satan was cast out. "The flesh - the old man is the interface between Satan and this world - the old man... When God dealt with sin in the flesh, that is, what we are in Adam, Satan is cast out." This occurred 2,000 years ago, but the means of casting Satan out of our lives now goes back to that principle that the only ground Satan has in us is that old man (flesh). When we put that off and put on the new man in Christ, Satan loses his access in us. Satan, as "the prince of the power of the air rules this world through that which is the unregenerate man. He can also have rulership and authority over uncrucified flesh in Christians. The cross is God's only provision for that which is uncrucified flesh practically to be dealt with, and to whatever degree that has occurred in our lives, Satan is out."

"God not only dealt with sin, but when He dealt with sin, when He dealt with the old man, when He dealt with the flesh, He dealt with Satan." - "As we face the end leading up to the rapture, when the prince of this world comes corporately to the body of Christ, that which is not Philadelphia is going to be his. He will devour it." This past weekend we heard the news that the 1st Baptist Church building in Dallas was burned to the ground (the original structure). No one was injured or killed, but I was thinking about this. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. God allowed him to destroy the building. I believe it is a portent of more destruction to come on the organized institutional church. God graciously spared lives, but that won't continue if we understand what the warnings to the church are.

In the Gospels we read of the time prior to the cross when Jesus said His hour had not come yet. He also said that Satan had no ground in Him. "Satan, and all of his instruments, could not take His life. That same Christ is in us. We can't be removed from this earth unless His hour in us has come." Additionally, Psalm 90:12 speaks of the number of our days along with Job (14:5), “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You (God); and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass."

In this session, Doug is bringing up many of the positional truths revealed in the scriptures, especially those related to who we are in Christ. We died with Him; we were buried with Him; we were raised with Him; we ascended and were seated with Him, etc. Though these are true, we must by faith come into the good of all these experientially as our personal reality. When we fail to appropriate positional truth, we falter and fail in living the resurrection life secured for us in Christ. To better understand all this, Doug often recommended The Complete Green Letters by Miles J. Stanford (https://www.wob.com/en-us/books/miles-j-stanford/complete-green-letters/9780310330516/CIN0310330513G?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwqf20BhBwEiwAt7dtdaKvrQwpfDIRyBjdDOPOielxulKeB1tLQ170Imvhv2kKhQTAgg7wihoCY7YQAvD_BwE)

Doug mentions Watchman Nee's book, Sit, Walk, Stand, and describes the three steps that are so important in our Christian walk: 1) positional truth (Ephesians 1-3) - we need to know who we are in Christ before we can walk: "where are you seated?"; 2) our conduct - appropriating by faith these truths (Ephesians 4-6:9) - "as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God" (1 Thessalonians 4:1); 3) once we know who we are in Christ and walk it out in obedience, "having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:10 ff).

We are challenged to not only learn about Jesus Christ, but learning Him (Ephesians 4:20). "Learning Him is much more closer to communion and union with Him than learning about Him."

What is 'experiential sanctification'? It is "continually becoming what we already are in Christ". This is why knowledge of positional truth is so important. We cannot effectively live the Christian life without faith. ("As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" - Colossians 2:6) Where does faith come from? "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) The word of Christ declares what is true of us, and by faith we recon it to be true in us and appropriate it in our conduct and obedience. "There is the carrying out by faith (experiential sanctification) of that which is already true of us" (positional truth). We are to put off by faith what Jesus put off 2,000 years ago as us (the old man, Adam, the sin nature); and we are to put on by faith the new man, what Jesus became in resurrection as the head of the new creation, with us as members of His body. "In Him as the second Man is the fullness of that which represents our potential perfecting."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/3-16-16%2Bwednesday%2Bassembly.mp3

Additional Resource mentioned: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/3-16-16%2Bwednesday%2Bassembly.mp3

Eric Ludy's The Blanket Carriers https://vimeo.com/158713792

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!