Morning Star Testimony - Sermon Notes

The Transition from the Outer Man to the Inner Man - by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 07/24/24

This message was originally recorded March 3, 2016.

My notes:

Death is God's provision for us to be free from what we are by nature in Adam - our deliverance from the kingdom of Satan to the Rule and Reign of God in Christ

As Doug is referencing 1 Peter 4:1, "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin", I'm reminded of Hebrews 5:8, "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Jesus didn't cease from sin through suffering - He was sinless. But the question arises, if He learned obedience through suffering, how might we learn obedience? Evidently, it's the same - it involves suffering. I've learned to appreciate times of suffering as the means to teach me obedience instead of chafing and complaining about whatever pain or causes of suffering I encounter. Though in my flesh I may think suffering to be negative and what I don't want in my life, here we see it is a very positive tool for God to bring me into obedience.

Similarly, death from the perspective of our old man is negative, but from that of the new man in Christ is the path to resurrection. Without death we can never experience resurrection. "That which is on resurrection ground in union with Jesus Christ is possible only through death. And so we look back on the cross on resurrection ground,  the cross is all positive plus.. and you pass through the cross and come out the other side; that cross is life."

"Death" means a separation from one's environment. Death in the spiritual sense is separation from God, separation from fellowship with God. The second death, the experience of eternal death, "means an eternal conscious separation from God; whereas life is a conscious communion with God." So many who reject the gospel believe that their eventual death is simply a loss of existence, a lie the enemy foists on unbelievers heading for an eternity of the consciousness of their separation from God and their loss of any hope of redemption.

We read in 1 John 3:9, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Who we are in Christ are incapable of habitual sin, because as members of Christ's body, identified and incorporated into Him. He cannot sin, neither can we when we are abiding in Him. The key is living by faith in abiding union with Him. When we do sin, we know we have forgiveness in Him. If we continue in sin, we face the potential ‘sin unto death’ – God removing us before we finish our course.

Whenever we experientially step out of who we are positionally in Christ back into the old man, we cannot help but sin and fall short of all potentiality of pleasing God. In that old man, we are under the rule of sin. "Everything that represents the rule of sin ended there in Jesus Christ, who is the 'last Adam'".

Our old man died in the last Adam when He was put to death on the cross. The old man was not resurrected; positionally he remains dead in the grave. It's when we step back out of our abiding union with Christ that we step back into that death, experiential separation from fellowship with God. "Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in a new creation quality of life. That's only on resurrection ground."

So how do we keep from experientially returning to the old man? "Crucifixion is the answer to the old man... Death is the answer to the old man... We are commanded to put off the old man." And how do we do that? We look back on the fact that we were crucified with Christ 2,000 years ago and choose to put off the old man and put on Christ, the new man, making no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14). We choose to act in faith to obey God rather than passively sliding down the slippery slope of sin and death. "The body ruled by sin is rendered unemployed by what? Co-crucifixion with Him. Co-crucifixion results in death with Him; and death with Him represents being co-buried with Him; co-entombed. If we experientially step out of Christ - that can never be done positionally because when we're in Christ, we are in Christ; but experientially if we step out of Christ into what we are by nature in Adam, we go back to the tomb."

 Let me share a personal testimony. I learned the hard way that God would not answer my prayers for many years to deliver me from sexual immorality, idolatry, pornography, etc. no matter how much I begged Him. He just wouldn't do it. I thought many times just how unfair it seemed as I've heard many others being delivered. Why not me? What's wrong with me???

I finally discovered what's wrong with me. It's the nature I was born with: sin - the old man - flesh. It's what's wrong with all of us. So why didn't God deliver me from sinning? He actually did, 2,000 years ago on the cross. He took me with Himself on the cross when He was made that sin. He died as sin - as the last Adam - as the old man - as sinful flesh. And after He died as me, He was buried, I along with Him. That's the end of the story of Adam, the old Adam, the sin nature, the flesh.

When Jesus was raised from the dead, it wasn't the old Adam that was raised. It was the second Man, the New Man, an entirely new race of humanity that came to life from that tomb and became a corporate man at Pentecost. This is how I discovered why Jesus won't deliver me, from my sins. He left that old man of me in the tomb. When I put off that old man with his sinful habits and put on the new man, I find I don't want to sin. Why? Because the new Man, the head of the new humanity I am a part of, doesn't want to sin. He only wants to do the will of His Father - our Father - and to please Him. In other words, when I'm living out from my flesh, the old man, in my sin nature, I want to sin. But as long as I'm experientially living in the realm of the new man, in Christ, I am delivered from sin – even wanting to sin. The old man will never be delivered from sin. It's all he knows; it's all he is. It's by living in the new man that I'm delivered from sin.

Back to the message: "Death is God's provision to be free from what we are by nature in Adam." And the life of Jesus Christ "is available in us to live to God."

Doug refers to a phrase from Dr. Henry Mabie, the "mid-death resurrection process". "The cross on one side is death; but the cross on the other side is resurrection." You can find a few of his writings on my Book Ministry website (about 1/3 down the page at https://www.bookministry.org/Bookstore.html).

Jesus tells us that we need to lose our soul-life "as it's anchored and rooted in Adam and that which is still ruled by the five senses... There has to be a transition from the outer man (i.e.: natural life governed by the soul) to the inner man" (the spiritual man governed by the Holy Spirit)."

As we consider the cross and the sufferings of Jesus, what seems to be such a negative in our lives, there's something very much related to that dying. "If I'm going to go on in the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10), I'm going to have to more and more come in to the power of His resurrection... The process is by being conformed to His death... The outer man becomes conformed to His death, so that the inner man can come forth in resurrection union with Christ." That's like the seed going into the ground. Its outer shell dies, and only then can life spring forth from its inner being.

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/3-13-16%2Bsunday%2Bassembly.mp3

Doug brings up the fact that if (when) we live experientially with Christ, we will enter into His sufferings. After watching Jamie Walden's recent message The Fraternal Order of Suffering: The Power and Purpose of Affliction! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wz_T29HJU&list=WL&index=1), I produced this short video Are We Avoiding Suffering??? (https://youtu.be/ArkS0Jopl9o) to challenge us as to what we are constantly trying to avoid. Is it something God is allowing in our life to bring us into something He wants for us? Consider also watching an amazing message on suffering by Art Katz: Gethsemane (https://bookministry1.s3.amazonaws.com/assemblies-2024/Gethsemane+by+Art+Katz.mp4) It's all about this:

(Col 1:24) Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

 

Resource mentioned: The Fabric of Time (I'm guessing this is the correct video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQFoqoWnQ60&t=549s)

 

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!

Facing the Last Days - Conclusion - by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 07/21/24

This message was originally recorded February 2, 2016.

My notes:

From 1 Peter 1:5 we see there is "a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." This speaks of "an eschatological time of crisis and opportunity." Doug has taught on this as the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:12), a time of blessing for those walking in righteousness and of judgment for those in apostasy. It is "a time of testing, but also a great opportunity." Also in 1 Peter 4:12 it is called "the fiery trial" and verse 17, "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God." To further the context of these references, we see the connection to the revealing - or revelation - of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7 cp. Revelation 1). It is the time of preparation for the rapture - also known as the day of visitation, "when God breaks in, He oversees the affairs and condition of God's people, and those on the side of Laodicea is judgment (on whom) He'll vomit out of His mouth; and those that are in the condition and the representation we see of Philadelphia, that will be exalted in due season."

In this message, Doug goes to the extreme in quoting and reading countless scriptures as he describes the last days prophecies pertaining to the church leading up to the rapture. "At the revelation of Jesus Christ, the day of visitation, it's going to result in an out-shining, an exanastasis (out-resurrection)... Philippians 3:11." Doug further explains the morning star arising in the hearts of individuals, and that prior to the rapture it will be a corporate experience related to the out-resurrection from the dead and the revelation of Jesus Christ in the church, His body.

"They are different facets of one spiritual reality... a living reality... The rising of Christ as the morning star in our hearts, that's the fulness of Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords in whom He is as the glorified Son of Man coming in power and great glory at His second coming. Subjectively, His second advent glory has to become a reality in the hearts of the church and the body of Christ." Speaking of "the rapture generation - there will be a surviving remnant who collectively will represent a company who have finished their course."

How did Peter make known the power and coming (literally: presence) of Jesus Christ? "Jesus had arisen in his heart as the morning star." This is the testimony of Jesus, 'making known His power and coming'. This is what shall be at the end of this dispensation of grace at the world's darkest hour in a corporate body, those who endure and survive to be rescued and snatched at the rapture. I like what Doug said about people coming into our assemblies, "So if somebody comes into our midst and is full-blown SRA-DID, and His (Jesus’) power and coming is made known, you think they're going to remain that way? How can they?"

The shaking coming on the church will result in that which remains, what cannot be shaken. It will be the testimony of Jesus in power and presence. "There's going to have to be something very radical happen in the body of Christ before the Lord returns for His church... and when all the shaking is done, there will be Philadelphia on one side, Laodicea on the other, and that which is not repented (of) will be vomited out of His mouth." This shaking will have a polarizing effect. Those in the church who are awake and in any other condition than Philadelphia will either repent and become overcomers, or will be taken out before they finish the race, "saved so as through fire", with less reward than what was their allotted portion (Acts 26:18). This is connected with the 'apostasy' that will occur prior to the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

There's nothing wrong with listening to truth - but if there's no transformation, it just remains intellectual knowledge. We need to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2) "by the washing of water with the word" (Ephesians 5:26) so it is not only objective information, but becomes subjective resulting in an experiential transformation until Christ is fully formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and we are conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), demonstrating the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the morning star arising in our hearts (2 Peter 1:16, 19), an out-resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11), etc. (as Doug clearly presents an almost endless list of scriptures that relate to the end of this age).

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/2-2-16+assembly.mp3

Doug indicates two of the following books by T. Austin-Sparks that he read to the assembly in February of 2016: Men Whose Eyes Have Seen the King (https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/000932.html) and That He Might Fill All Things (https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/001812.html). To listen to these messages, you will find them on the 2016 Archives Page (https://www.dougriggs.org/Ministry-Archives-2016.html - near the bottom of the page).

 

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!

 

Facing the Last Days - Continued - by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 07/17/24

This message was originally recorded January 31, 2016.

My notes:

As Doug opened this session, he was directing the beginning of the message to an individual there in our assembly - but it certainly relates to all of us. As he describes some of what the work of counseling SRA survivors required and the reality of Satan, he challenged the listeners, "God can only be a reality to you in the measure in which Satan is a reality to you... Can you think you can know God without knowing the adversary?" A statement we've heard along the way: "Satan is God's most unwilling servant." God uses Satan to test us - to see what we're made of - not that He needs to see it, but we need to see it. "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." (Deuteronomy 8:2)

Do we have an entitlement mentality that God owes us something? That just because we're Christians, is God obligated to keep Satan away? Job is our example of one who served God, even in the midst of an unbearable trial of affliction. How did he serve God? "By suffering... he never preached; he just suffered unfairness; falsely charged... he served God by suffering and enduring." Here's a great reminder to have before us:

"... if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him" (Romans 8:17), and "If we endure, we will also reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2:12).

Doug shared the motivation for why he worked with SRA survivors, "I want to see people become one person so the Lord has His place." It isn't about getting people saved. Most, if not all, that Doug worked with are Christians who were being robbed of their inheritance in Christ and God was being robbed of His inheritance in them. "How can He have His place if there's the dividedness either internally through fragmentation and trauma, or just a person who is not D.I.D. and they're divided in their heart. (They say) 'I'll give the Lord a little bit of time here, but the rest of my life is mine.' ... The whole motive in doing this work as an assembly as we've taken this on is to find a place for the Lord."

We've heard often Doug warning the church that judgment is coming, that judgment begins at the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). Why is that? "It has to begin with the house of God. Why? How could God judge the unrighteous unless He judges His people first?" So, what is the basis God judges His people? "The churches (Revelation 2 & 3) are judged according to the Man; that is the meaning of judgment, the measuring line of God is His Son." Doug has often warned us that whatever is not out from Christ will not survive either the fire here on earth (i.e.: 1 Peter 4:12), or the fire at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

We may think the word 'salvation' only pertains to what we receive when we first place our faith in Jesus Christ and receive Him as our eternal life. However, as we learn from Doug, the word is also used in the sense of a 'final salvation', that which we are looking for as the rescue and snatching out from this world what we know as the rapture. In fact, salvation can be seen as 'we were saved' (initial salvation); we are 'being saved' (sanctification / progressive salvation); and we 'will be saved' (upon our passing away or rapture).

When will the rapture happen? Is it a day on God's calendar? It will be when the fullness of the Gentiles is complete and the church attains to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; but there are other considerations that must happen before the rapture. Doug gave a series of messages called The Prerequisites for the Lord's Return (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtE2EQ9mIvN_Zdr9lQUf15rM3Hj2gWMoq). "There are moral and spiritual conditions that have to be in place before the rapture occurs."

1 Peter 2:12 warns us to keep our behavior excellent because the world is watching, and when they see immorality or other behavior not according to Christ, they take the opportunity to slander and mock the church. We see that in the downfall of spiritual leaders caught in immorality more and more as what is hidden in darkness is being brought into the light. As the day of visitation continues to unfold, we see it as "two-sided depending on where you are. If you're Laodicea, vomiting out of God's mouth, it's judgment; if you're Philadelphia, the answer is found in 1 Peter 5 verse 6, 'Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time.' At the revelation of Jesus Christ, there's going to be exaltation if you're on the side of Philadelphia. If you're on the Thyatira side, you're dead - the day of visitation, you're going to be dead. And if you're Sardis, you're shocked and unprepared. If you're Laodicea, you're vomited out of the Lord's mouth... if you go back to the Old Testament, it means you lose your inheritance, because the land vomited out its inhabitants because of idolatry."

So, what is this revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of the church age that is seen in a remnant? "There will be those moral features that are going to be the crescendo, the crowning of the suffering saints throughout the ages that will come into manifestation in terms of exanastasis (out-resurrection)." This will incite Satan to try to devour the man child (Revelation 12:4). "There's a holocaust coming to the body of Christ... it's coming! And you know what's going to survive? Philadelphia... those who are alive, the living ones, and the surviving remnant (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17) shall be caught up, snatched, taken out. Why taken out? (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17) Because 1 Thessalonians 1:10, He comes to rescue those from the wrath to come. It's a rescue. The devourer will come, and he will devour everything that's not according to Christ, and that's God's perfect way of judging anything and everything that is not according to Christ. What a perfect instrument there is, the accuser of the brethren, to search out and find anything in you and me that's not according to Christ. The adversary knows... he knows reality. So as God brings us more and more on to the ground and moral conformity to the person of Jesus Christ, like Jesus said, 'The prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.' That will have a final outworking in the body and bride of Christ at the end. The prince of this world will come, and there will be a company of people that he will find nothing in. And then the rapture will occur."

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-31-16+facing+the+last+days.mp3

Link to Discussion: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-31-16+discussion.mp3

Resource mentioned:

Men Whose Eyes Have Seen the King by T. Austin-Sparks

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

Art Katz: The Holocaust - Where Was God?

https://benisrael.org/product/the-holocaust-where-was-god/

Doug Riggs: The Day of Visitation (https://www.dougriggs.org/Videos.html#anchor_63)

 

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!

 

The Seed of the Woman – Individual & Corporate + by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 07/14/24

This message was originally recorded January 20, 2016.

My notes:

In explaining Christ as the seed of the woman as an individual and then the church incorporated into and identified with Him as our head, we not only have the seed of Christ indwelling us, but we as His body are that seed of the woman. It helps to have the revelation of the mystery of the Christ to understand not only the history of the world, but the future to come. Without this revelation, the eschatology of the church is confused with that of Israel and the nations. The seed war did not end with Jesus on the cross 2,000 years ago. Though Genesis 3:15 tells us Satan was crushed under the seed of the woman, we see that continues through the church age, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (Romans 16:20) Jesus did triumph over Satan and all rulers and authorities (Colossians 2:15), but that didn't end Satan's war against the seed. Since we know Satan cannot touch God, the church in Christ seated at the Father's right hand provides no ground with which the enemy can defeat us. It's only our uncrucified flesh that gives Satan opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy us.

 

In this session, Doug does a deep dive into the new birth. "No one was born again in the Old Testament. They had a faith relationship with God." This is only one of countless proofs in scripture of the unique calling of the church as distinguished from Israel. We were "'born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.' That's an organic relationship - a one Spirit relationship, where the Old Testament, the covenant believers, there was a faith relationship, but it wasn't organic. They couldn't say they were the seed of the Messiah; although, they carried that seed as the children of Israel."

 

"Jesus Christ is the seed (singular), and now there is this corporate representation of that seed being formed in us. Sin affects the development of that seed. It's contrary to that life; it brings death." That seed needs to grow in each of us individually as well as corporately until Ephesians 4:11-13 is realized. "This growth occurs by every joint that supplies. Every member of the body of Christ is to be a joint of supply, and the word 'supply' means 'abundant supply'... The measure of the stature of Christ that's formed in any individual will be the measure in which that proper functioning working will contribute to the growth of the body."

 

So how does the body of Christ attain its goal? "There is in Him now that which will be the capacity and the resource in resurrection as a High Priest to impart those perfections to the body of Christ through the Holy Spirit so that we attain the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." It's the resurrected Christ as the glorified Man imparting the fulness of His life in us that capacitates us to reach the fulness of Him who is filling us. "The seed in us is moving on a trajectory by stages, and that seed corporately will attain the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."

 

Getting back to the 'man child' (Revelation 12), Doug explains that as the time came for Jesus' crucifixion, it was Jesus' hour and it was also Satan's hour. This will also happen just prior to the rapture, "and that man child will have to be prepared. That man child is the summation of every believer that reaches maturity that will receive full reward; that will be the embodiment of the man child that's caught up to God and His throne... right in the middle of the tribulation."

 

Another prerequisite to the Lord's return to deliver Israel has to do with the full armor of God in Ephesians 6. "This is the armor that Jesus Christ returns in at the 2nd Advent. That means that this armor has to be appropriated and entered into in the body of Christ corporate from Pentecost to the rapture for Jesus to return." ... "Where does that armor come from? We're it!... The church has to become that first or He can't return." This reminds me of Hebrews 11:40, "God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they (Israel and believing Gentiles) would not be made perfect."

 

We learned from Doug's teaching over the years of the day of visitation, and judgment coming first to the household of God. "Prior to the rapture, there will be a final test. That seed of the woman (Jesus) went through the final test and had to face the powers of darkness. You think the church is not going to have to go through this? ... There's a net being drawn around the church now, and there's going to come a time when something's going to break out, and there is going to be a day of slaughter (James 5:5)... it's coming! ... There is an eschatological day that is uniquely and specifically evil that the church is to be preparing for."

 

The church that endures to the end, that survives the onslaught of the enemy, will in the evil day stand, 'having done all to stand' and will be rescued and snatched out at the rapture. That won't include those who don't repent and don't overcome at Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea. They won't survive the day of visitation, the evil day that Peter writes about.

 

Often Doug has taught on "the out-resurrection from the dead" (or "from those who are dead"). Here he explains it further as being "conformed to His death on earth; there's no more room for sanctification; I've finished my course... moral and spiritual conformity to Christ." Once this occurs, it will either result in passing on, martyrdom, or being caught up at the rapture to meet the Lord in the air. "Once a person finishes his course, it's more important for that person to be with God in the body of Christ there than here, even though it means loss to the family. It's more important for God."

 

Link to Audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-20-16+wednesday+assembly.mp3

 

Recommended: The Bright Morning Star - Series by Doug

https://studio.youtube.com/playlist/PLtE2EQ9mIvN99GaYVvnnnuPwdGIC5WIoO/videos

 

Watchman Nee: Sit, Walk, Stand

 

Age of Deceit: Fallen Angels and the New World Order

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/age-deceit-fallen-angels-new-world-order/

 

T. Austin-Sparks: That He Might Fill All Things

https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/001812.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!

Facing the Last Days - by Pastor Doug Riggs

by John Mark on 07/10/24

This message was originally recorded January 17, 2016.

My notes:

"This is the generation Jesus Christ is going to return to." Though some may say, "You've been saying that for decades..." “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:4) The Lord has been very patient. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) The technology required for a one-world government led by the Antichrist is now in place. The time is short. "The tragedy is that many in the church do not know this."

 

Once again, Doug seeks to correct those who believe we as Christians have Hebrew roots and should observe the Sabbath and other Jewish traditions. "The church is an entity that is not rooted in time; it has no Hebrew roots. It's rooted in eternity; it's rooted in Christ." It may be said of the Apostle Paul, a "Hebrew of Hebrews", that he had Hebrew roots - but he counted it as rubbish (dung KJV).

 

Doug explains the seed war first introduced in Genesis 3:15 which carries on throughout human history, the war between the seed of the woman, Christ - including the corporate Christ, the church - and the seed of Satan, ultimately culminating in the Antichrist. Since we have and are the seed of Christ, "Wherever the seed of Messiah is, there will be oppression; there will be darkness. And it's true today."

 

When we look at Revelation 12, there are varying ideas of interpretation that need to be adjusted so that we can better understand this passage. The "woman clothed with the sun..." is a representative of Israel, not the church as some teach. It seems this chapter, as much of Revelation, has many confused, so it's nice to hear a bible teacher who actually knows what it says so we don't have to say, "Well, this teacher says this, and that scholar says that. You will need to decide what you think." Over the years that Doug taught us the bible, we rarely heard his opinion on any of it. We heard its interpretation and many applications.

 

"And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth." Doug shines a lot of light on this that takes us back to Genesis 1:1 and 2. It didn't take God six days to create the heavens and the earth. "He created the heavens and the earth in one word - and they all came into existence." But after Genesis 1:1 and before Genesis 1:2, we can clearly see the fall of Lucifer and the third of the angels that fell with him, and God's judgment on earth. The planets clearly illustrate God's judgment when we look at the scarred pock-marked moon and the planets visible to us. Genesis 1:2 begins to describe the restoration of the universe and planet Earth, leaving the other unrestored planets as a witness to God's judgment. "He restored the earth for man; it's the same earth, but it had to be restored for man." Doug lets us know the "gap theory" is not a theory... it's a fact.

 

In this message, Doug expressed the battle he was going through to adequately teach the complex interpretation of Revelation 12 as it speaks of 'a woman', 'child', 'a great red dragon', 'a son', and 'a male child'. The Greek tenses are an important clue as to what our elder brother John is describing. As I try to condense and summarize this, I come up with the following: 'a woman' as being Israel; the 'child' is the seed of the woman, individually speaking of Jesus the Messiah - and corporately, the seed is the church, the body of Christ; the 'dragon' is Satan seeking to devour the Messiah (via Herod murdering baby boys after Jesus was born), Israel (via Nazi Germany), as well as the corporate Christ, the church (via SRA*); the birth of 'a son' is the re-birth of the nation Israel in 1948; and the 'child' who is to be "caught up to God and to His throne" is not speaking of the rapture, but of the church upon the completion of the judgment seat of Christ being snatched from the 2nd heavens up to the throne, completely and finally displacing Satan, along with the principalities and powers who are cast from the 2nd heavens to earth to carry out their agenda during the 2nd half of the tribulation as the church in union with her head judges them; and 'the woman' who flees into the wilderness is Israel at the midpoint of the tribulation as they discover Antichrist is not the Messiah, as they escape to Petra where God provides for their protection from the devastation occurring during the 2nd half of the tribulation. This is the simplified version and hopefully goes along with Doug's explanation. I apologize if I missed anything or skewed anything not exactly following Doug's much more advanced and specific teaching.

 

*Doug also makes the connection of 'the dragon' seeking to devour the seed of the woman, the church, to that which has happened to the survivors he ministered to so many years who's new birth identities were attacked, captured, and wrapped in death by Satan. You'll find much of that explained on the website in many messages, seminars, and counseling resources.

 

I smiled as I heard Doug say in this message that it being the beginning of 2016, "When we look on the landscape at the end of 2016, if we're still here, we're not even going to recognize America... you wait and see." We all can attest to this now mid-2024. This brings to mind what I began to think about while listening to part of a recent message by Jamie Walden on the coming judgment on America. It got me to thinking how so many teachers are warning about it but ignoring the warning that judgment will come first on the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). Since Jamie and others who do not have the revelation of the mystery confuse what is Israel and its eschatology with the church and what is coming to us, they mush together the idea the church will go through the tribulation which will include the downfall of the US. Rather than the church needing to repent of that which the Lord addresses in Revelation 2 and 3, they want America to repent and for the world to turn from its wickedness. It's a complete avoidance of the real issues facing the church. The sons of Issachar knew what Israel needed to do - but many of the modern ''watchmen" don't have a clue what the church needs to do. Who out there is teaching on the 'day of visitation' (1 Peter 2:12) or the fiery ordeal that is coming upon us for our testing (1 Peter 4:12)? This really accentuates to me the warnings that Jesus will come upon the church like a thief in the night, sudden and unexpected (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8; Revelation 2:16, 22-23; 3:3).

 

Another thought: Jamie was talking about Revelation 18 and the likelihood New York will one day be nuked ... and others warning of EMP nukes over America prior to the day of the Lord... and some warning the Internet will soon be down, especially not available to Christian ministries. I don't buy it at all. The Internet and all the computers, devices, cell phones, etc. will be necessary for the implementation of what the World Economic Forum is planning, including vax mandates, digital global currency, tracking, etc. The Antichrist needs all that in place for the mark of the beast to be a reality. So - forget about buying those EMP shields. (Besides... if you get one for your car and everyone else's car isn't driveable, just how long do you think you'll be able to keep it before you're carjacked at gunpoint?)... I digress... (and hope you don't mind.) Doug weighs in on this: "There will be no nuclear weapon strike America while the church is here... PERIOD! Why? Because Jesus Christ is head over all things to (the advantage of) 'the church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.'" (Ephesians 1:22-23)

 

Back to the message in progress: Jesus, who was sinless, tells us that Satan had no ground in Him ... no legal ground, authority, or access. "There will be a church in the end where there'll be no place for the devil... The adversary knows his tenure is up; it's done... When Christ in His church is fully glorified at the end of that judgment seat of Christ process, the first three-and-a-half years - right at that end, when Christ in His glory is seen in the church in the heavens, and there's no more place found for them, the great dragon is thrown down." "The glory of God in Christ in the church completely displaces Satan and principalities in the heavens, and from that moment on, that place is the domain of the church forever." This depicts the 'new Jerusalem' kingdom through which the rule and reign of Christ in His body is established.

 

So how does this apply to us now? Is there a place for Satan in us now? Wherever there's uncrucified flesh, there's a place; wherever there's dissociation, there's a place; wherever there's willful sin, there's a place."

 

So if Satan was cast down to the earth when he sinned, how is he now in the heavenlies and will be once more cast down at the midpoint of the tribulation? He "was exalted to the heavens when man sinned", whereby Adam, the representative man relinquished the right to rule planet Earth to him. This second time Satan is cast down to the earth, the next stop he will be bound for 1,000 years in the abyss at the end of the 7-year tribulation, and then, after a short time, the lake of fire forever and ever.

 

What is the revelation of Jesus Christ and its context in these last days? It is related to the rise of the morning star (2 Peter 1:19); the exanastasis (out-resurrection from among the dead) company (Philippians 3:11); the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:12); the bride without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27); and finally during the midpoint of the tribulation, that full, complete, and final revelation of Christ in and through His glorified body snatched to God's throne.

 

As for these final days of the church age, "We're going to be in for it in the days ahead. What's ahead for the church from right now before the rapture, it will be the church's darkest hour in all of history. But what church will it be dark for? Any church that's not Philadelphia."

 

Link to audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-17-16+sunday+assembly.mp3

Discussion followed where Doug further explains Jesus Christ as the seed of the woman, and the seed war coming to its culmination during the final days of the church age. He also mentions Ezekiel 38 & 39 that describes Russia invading Israel. Since this describes Russia’s defeat, this invasion cannot happen before the rapture (my take on this), as Russia, among other nations, will be used of God to destroy the strength of America (i.e.: Revelation 18).

 

Link to Discussion audio: https://dougriggs.s3.amazonaws.com/Assemblies/1-17-16+discussion.mp3

 

Recommended: The Blessed Hope (also on the Video Page at https://www.dougriggs.org/Videos.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!