Repentance - Session 5

This is the fifth of seven messages Pastor Doug Riggs gave in his interviews with GeorgeAnn Hughes in her podcast, The ByteShow recorded November-December 2011.
Here are my notes:
o Doug begins by addressing concerns about the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 and what was expected to be a shift in the spiritual realm and the convergence and confluence of pagan prophecies, entering into a realm of ‘higher consciousness’ that ultimately will bring about the new world order during the 7-year day of the Lord (tribulation).
o “You can have orthodoxy in terms of correct doctrine without moral correspondence to Christ and His character.” It’s not just sins we need to repent of – but every way in which we are falling short of Christ being fully formed in us, and us being conformed to His nature and character.
o Doug makes it a point to address secret and hidden sins that are hindering our walk and fellowship with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. There is no shortage of appeals to repent in the Scriptures, and the point is that to ignore them is to in the end lose full reward and the full inheritance God intended for us. What will happen in the day of visitation to those of us who haven’t repented? See the warnings to Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea.
o “Not all believers are overcomers (in the sense in which they are presented in the Book of the Revelation). An overcomer is one who is rewarded for their faithfulness.”
o Doug helps us understand the difference between ‘the Lamb’s book of life’ and ‘the book of life’ by taking us back into the Old Testament to see how the term that is found in Revelation is used and to be understood. To have our name blotted out of the book of life means we die in the wilderness and not allowed to obtain and enjoy the inheritance God meant for us to have. It does not mean we lose eternal life or lose our salvation. It means we lose our inheritance that God meant for us to enjoy for eternity.
o “The book of life is all of God’s provision for a person to go from the Exodus – that is, from the Passover lamb – through the wilderness – into the land of Canaan, to dispossess the enemy and to come into the possession of their inheritance.”
o Doug reminds us that righteousness is “conformity to the revealed will of God in thought, word and deed.”
o “There is a temporal judgment upon those who do not repent of their idolatry.”
o All who receive Jesus Christ as Savior, who are born again, have eternal life promised to them. However, not all who are born again obtain full reward nor a full inheritance. Salvation is a gift received by faith. Our inheritance is obtained by conquest and cooperation with God as He takes us through the sanctification process which includes suffering, conflict, perseverance, obedience, faithfulness, and purity.
o “There will be in the last generation those that are a Philadelphian character, same as we see those that are commended at Thessalonica, in contradistinction to those who died the sin unto death at Corinth, they will go right through to the rapture. They’ll be among those who are alive and survive at the coming of the Lord.”
o Doug corrects those who wrongfully interpret Revelation 3:10 “I also will keep you from the hour of testing…” as a pre-tribulation rapture passage. It is not. “This is a promise to a Philadelphian remnant.” This passage, “that hour which is about to come upon the whole world”, is referring to the day of visitation and not the 7-year day of the Lord (tribulation).
o As we listen to these and many other messages by Doug, he goes through a tremendous number of scriptural references to make his point. He challenges the listener: “When I quote scriptures – when I make statements – I’m giving the word of God, and I’m not through them. It’s up to you who are listening to follow through.” People need to know what Doug has been teaching over 40 years isn’t Doug’s teaching – it’s his faithful and persistent explanation of truth as found in the word of God, and not something he came up with.
o Speaking of the day of visitation, “There will be believers that will not be alive and survive unto the coming of the Lord; their names will be blotted out from that book of life – believers! – they’ll be in heaven, but they’ll be ‘saved so as through fire in contradistinction to what we see in 2 Peter 1, ‘a wide entrance’ into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ – two extremes: full reward vs. loss of reward and the inheritance.”
o Though the passage in Revelation 3:20 (“Behold I stand at the door and knock…”) is often used in evangelism, He’s talking to the church – Jesus is on the outside of the church knocking, seeking to gain entry and to have fellowship with His body – His bride. How many churches and church services even know if Jesus is in their presence – or if He’s on the outside?
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