The Standard

let's go to the word of the Lord together Amos chapter number seven verses seven through eight I love my wife I'm thankful she's here and I'm looking forward to hearing her and Dr Johnson speak tomorrow and I believe they're going to be a help you're going to find out in the morning why I am as normal as I am is because she spent a lot of years working on me heard just like the Lord she's still working on me amen man to make me what I ought to be and our rooms our room the accommodations the wonderful gift basket the beautiful card that was so awesome and touching just thank you so much for everything I want to say this before I read this scripture I'm only with you for two nights okay I don't have time to waste and I want God to move tonight they say the first night of conference is a throwaway because people don't get touched and we're just trying to get all loosened up I believe we can change what they think about conferences tonight and we can have a move of God on the first night but I'll tell you what it's not dependent on it's not dependent on the word it's dependent on our response to the word so if I preach bad just respond to the word and God will touch you Amos chapter 7 verses 7 through 8 the Bible says thus he showed me and behold the Lord stood up on a wall made by a Plumb line with a plum line in his hand and the Lord said unto me Amos what seeth thou and I said a Plumb line then said the Lord behold I will set a Plumb line in the midst of My People Israel and I will not again pass by them anymore with the help of the Holy Ghost I've got two sermons that build one upon another and they were given to me earlier this year before I'd ever known I was going to be here and God began to deal with my heart and I want to minister under the help of the Holy Ghost on this subject tonight the standard the standard look at your neighbor and say the standard amen we're an Apostolic church we believe in the power of prayer I wonder if we could put our Bibles and our devices to our side and I wonder if you could lift your hands in your voice and pray over the remainder of this service Lord I Thank you for allowing us to be here in this place tonight God we thank you for your spirit that we've already felt but we believe there is more yet to come I pray right now God that where our mindsets will tap into what you're wanting to do that we'll be able to dive headlong into the spirit that is working in this place tonight God I don't want a shallow move I want to be on the deep end tonight God I want your Holy Spirit to move in this place to change lives and hearts God oh Lord be with us tonight God and we'll be careful to give you praise and glory for it all come on why don't you praise the Lord tonight as you're being seated God bless you as you're seated tonight to our wonderful sound man who has the second hardest job in the church behind pastoric and almost it's almost as hard if I could get a little bit more in the monitors I really appreciate it if you were to travel to the Royal Society in London England you would find one of the oldest learned Society fellowships in the world it's known for its research its advancement and its preservation of scientific facts it held its first meeting in November of 1660 with a group soon after that meeting receiving Royal approval and within its archives lies some of the most well-known and well-researched scientific discoveries there are papers that show diagrams of scientific measuring tools and motors and other early technical technological advancements in their Halls on their shelves you'll find weight measurements that are known the world over for their exactness so much so that they're actually used in zero anger calibrating tools that measure such things across the world but nestled in the archives sitting on a shelf in a wooden box is something known as the standard yard it was created in 1853 by Edward trout and William Sims and with much input from the fellows of the royal society and its predecessor was destroyed in 1843 by fire this long rectangular instrument has no marks on it it has no writing on it has no numbers has no ways that would denote it from any other piece of metal it is encased in a wooden box with the word standard yard engraved on its lid it sits upon a system of brass rollers with four points of contact to ensure that the instrument does not become bent or disfigured this system of rollers is suspended in the middle of the box to make sure that if the Box were to tilt or the Box were to fall or someone where to drop the box that what's stored inside the standard itself could never be damaged it only has one purpose and that is to Define what a yard is if a brother could help me out thank you this was created by individuals looking at the standard yard this one thing created 170 years ago is stored it's admired it's used because it sets a standard for the measurement of the yard Millions if not billions of yardsticks have been created since then all because someone somewhere decided to set a standard for the future that was to come my mom is a seamstress she made my my sister's wedding dress she's made all kinds of things ties and all kinds of other things and I can remember being a young boy and watching my mother as she would lay out a pattern and as she laid out her pattern she would take a yardstick made of metal she would lay it on the fabric and with the fabric marker she would begin to jot out the moments and the times and the places for which she should make a cut or when the cut should turn in and as she did this over time she knew that every cut she made from every pattern that she'd ever bought if she measured it correctly it would fit exactly why because she had something that was not based on opinion but was based on a standard in the medical field I worked for several years we had what we called the standard of care standard of care dictates that every person that walks through the door should get the same level of care there was a standard that was set before that everyone that worked at that hospital that worked in the medical field had something to live up to did it work every time no but if subpar care was given if something didn't measure up they could always look back to the standard you see because where there are no standards chaos ensues do you want to know why our world is in the chaotic state that it's in tonight do you want to know why everything that you see on the news is happening why because there is no standard of behavior or action in our world today just a few months ago the city of Memphis was in turmoil as a man was killed in police custody and riots ensued and I know it's a sensitive issue tonight and and I'm not looking to get political I I don't want to do that but I think for us to look back and say that one life taken is not atrocious that if we cannot look at lives being lost every day to drug addiction and think to ourselves that God did not ordain it to be so we have to question how we're measuring our standard of living just a few weeks ago just a few hours West of here an atrocious act took place why because somewhere along the way a standard of Life of behavior of living of of believing had eroded away to the point that people begin to even question their very identity there's more people addicted to drugs prescription non-prescription today than any other time in our nation's history why because the standard is falling one prominent psychologist said that he wrote that we are currently living in the most depressed generation in history why we no longer look to the standard there's a mental health crisis in our world and people act like they don't care why because there's no longer a standard children as young as five-year-olds five years old or they're questioning their their gender and their sexual orientation before their minds can even be formed to comprehend such things why the standard is following apart morals have been eroded people exhibit hate and contempt for their Common Man each and every day why hey no longer look to a standard there's no longer a standard of life there's no longer a standard of living there's no longer a standard of caring there's no longer a standard of believing you see the world is peddling a message to you sitting on these pews tonight and if you think because you're an adult that it's not trying to inch its way into your life I would tell you that you are sadly mistaken it's gripping the minds and hearts of people of all ages then they tell you you can live however you want to live and you can act however you want to act and it'll be okay why because the standards disappearing even though science will tell you that that's not true even though the Bible will tell you that's not correct the world promises an alternative life that will bring freedom but what you find when you get there is more pain it's more hurt it's bondage you find yourself becoming a Slave instead of a son or a daughter We compare ourselves to each other we look at our Instagram friends and what they're doing and we change standard of how we should act of decisions we should make well they're doing it surely it's okay and we forget the words of Paul to the church at Corinth for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves but they measuring themselves by themselves comparing themselves among themselves are not wise when our standard of life when our standard of living when our standard of behavior is other people your life could be lost young lady let me be someone that tells you and encourages you tonight that the standard of life that you have to live up to is not what other people say about you it's not the measurement of beauty that you see on the television screen or you see on your Instagram and all those girls getting all those likes because they're wearing things that they really shouldn't be wearing let me tell you tonight that's not the standard young man it's not what other young men think about you this standard's not a hashtag it's not a real it's not a tick tock video it's something that's alive it's something that is breathing it's something that sharper than any two-edged sword even to the dividing asunder of soul and of Spirit and the joy and the marrow when we compare ourselves to the world you want to know why you're so broken because you don't see the Brokenness you're comparing yourself to now I feel the Holy Ghost in This Place tonight let me tell you the reason why you don't have any peace is because you're comparing yourself to people that when they lay down on a bed at night they wish to God they had something it's a broken standard it's dysfunction I know Hey listen our pastor a church it's not perfect there's young ladies that come to our church that that morning their parents got mad because they were going to church and held a knife to their neck they don't compare themselves to The Standard they compare themselves I'm gonna put my aisle to dysfunction you see when dysfunction becomes your standard of function you'll find that no matter what you do no matter who you talk to no matter where you go no matter how many times you you take that pill or you hit that joint or no matter how many times you you drag off the vape pen or you put the CBD oil that's that's you're trying to take a broken system and apply it to a life that was meant to be made whole I want to tell you tonight I want to tell you tonight that if we're not careful dysfunction will become our standard and let me be the first to tell you I'm a man that has Hang-Ups faults I've fallen I've been defeated more times than I could count I'm not the standard any man of God that is worth their weight in salt will tell you he's not the standard his grade and as mighty as those men and women of God are that have built churches as beautiful as this one and change the world in the lives of people they will tell you they're not the standard if your aim is this pulpit I'm going to tell you your aims should be much higher because this pulpit's not the standard but there is something that is behind the sacred desk that is found in the offices of men and women of God that have done great things for the Lord it's marked up it's pages are tattered it's God highlights and and sticky notes and its pages are falling out there's a standard that is much better than anything that the world could offer and before you get your mind thinking that I'm talking about a dress code tonight I'm not preaching on a dress code you your pastor you need to set that at your church I'm talking about a relationship that will Define the outward man I'm here to tell you tonight there is a firm foundation that you can build your life on that is designed to bring you up out of the muck and the mire of a dysfunctional world and somehow some way I can't explain it I can't I don't know exactly how it works but it takes dysfunction and it creates a standard of living it's the word of God it's a standard set forth by God himself he would tell Timothy that Paul would tell Timothy that it is God breathed divine it's something that was given to us to be like Amos said a Plumb line I believe that he was talking about when he said those words the word manifest In the Flesh in Christ Jesus there's something in between these Pages tonight that will give you a life abundance there's something within this wonderful sacred document tonight it's more than historical it's more than all of those things the world will try to tell you that it is it's a Divine thing and it wants to move on you tonight it's more than a god it's more than an instruction manual it's the standard it's the measurement Paul would say in Hebrews 4 it's quick it's powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing asunder oh to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart what do you mean the Bible says that the heart is wicked Above All Things who could know it oh but the word does you want to know what it's like to feel you I know you know what it's like to feel pain and anguish and anxiety you want to know what can help you tonight I'm not telling you to go home and throw your way your medication before we get there I'm I'm too smart for that I'm not going to be one of those people tonight but you want to know that what can bring you peace when you sit down and you look into the psalms about how a man named David was walking through a valley of a shadow of death one time and he said yea though I walk through the valley of the Shadow I will fear no evil he said my life has been created in dysfunction so let me find the thing that can bring function into it he said it's a lamp and to my feet and a light into my path did you know that a lamp is for close proximity but I lied is to shine the way sometimes the lamp will be right here and you can only see what the next step you need to take is but all of a sudden hold on a minute God how did you know I was so concerned about my future and all of a sudden the lamp turns into a light and it shines the way you know what it said of Jesus had a great light has now shown in darkness and the Darkness come I believe he was speaking about Jesus that he could be the lamp into our feet and the light and to our path he said Thy word David said Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee he said wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking Heat according to Thy word Jesus said man shall not live by by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Paul tells Timothy I said it already but I'll say it again all scripture is given by inspiration of God if you look at what the Greek says it almost gives us the connotation that it was God breathed he spoke it and it was so and it's profitable for Doctrine for for reproof correction instruction and righteousness that the man of God May be perfect Isaiah the prophet said this the grass withereth the flower faith the word of God shall stand forever it sets the standard by which we measure Our Lives it's the Plumb line it's the standard yard it's the weights it's the things that we calibrate are lives by I'll tell you what I huh Bishop told me I could take my Liberty if you struggle with holiness you got to find yourself in the word I'm going to tell you pastors if you're older than me let me talk to you for a second as Paul said like you're my dad if you're my age let me talk to you like you're a brother and for everybody younger like you're my children if we expect rules we are nothing more than a school for Pharisees holiness is not about what I tell them to do it's about what relationship dictates that they do Paul told them in Romans he said you've been yielding yourself servants your members servants to unrighteousness but I would that you yield your members servants to righteousness unto Holiness let me tell you what standards are the outward dress it's righteousness it's not something we could ever put on or Adorn ourselves in that could make us more like God it's righteousness only God get to dictate the Holiness that we see and I'm all about tradition I'm all about tradition but if we're not careful the Pharisees never saved anybody it's the apostolic world we turn the world upside down that's what Paul wrote follow peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord first Peter went all the way Peter wrote his first epistle he went all the way back to the Book of Leviticus and he said but as he which hath called you is Holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation I believe it comes out in what we look like but I believe it also comes out in how we Act let me tell you who's not the dictator of my actions my brother or my sister I want to tell you who is not the person who dictates how I behave it should not even be myself it should be the word of God and whatsoever ye do do it heartily as unto the Lord knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance he said the be doers of the word and hearers only he said only let your conversation or actions be as it becometh the gospel I'm hurrying I'm hurrying I'm hurrying I believe it's the Holy Ghost too many people have weighed in your God there's so many thoughts going through my head if I don't push them away I'm going to get in so much trouble tonight we need an Apostolic hermeneutic brother Nate we need something that wasn't derived at the hands of trinitarians we need something that was birthed in the heart of apostolic individuals let me tell you we've gone to a place now where we are educated enough to dive into the word of God and tease out the finer points I'm sick and tired of somebody telling me that I gotta listen to a man that couldn't even get his hands on the Oneness of God but that's neither here nor there those men didn't understand Acts chapter 2. they didn't understand the Fulfillment of the Holy Ghost David prophesied therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoice Isaiah prophesied for his stammering lips in another tongue will he speak to this people Jesus even said it he that believeth and is baptized that's the wrong scripture he says in Mark 16 and 17 he says that these signs shall follow them that believe in my name it goes on they'll lay hands on the sick and they will recover they'll drink a deadly thing and it will not harm them they'll pick up snakes on accident we don't do that for real okay that's an accidental thing and if you want to talk to me about that we can explain how that was a prophecy of Paul getting bit and shaking it off in the fire okay if they pull out snakes I'm out but he said they shall speak with new tongues oh to get to this place Luke 24 and 49. we said Terry oh until you be endured Acts chapter 1 and verse number eight but ye shall receive power Acts chapter 2 1 through 4 and when the day of Pentecost you want to know what God was doing you see he came down in the Book of Genesis and he confounded a language and people walked around in dysfunction and he was saying I'm going to give you my spirit Luke chapter 4 or John chapter 14 he said that the the comforter which is the Holy Ghost it'll come to you for the Erickson has said I it will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance he was saying I'm giving people hope people that were once in darkness I'm going to give them a light people that were once in dysfunction I'm going to bring some healing to take of that moment and when the day of Pentecost who's fully calm they were all in one place with one Accord and suddenly there came a sound from heaven Ezekiel speak to the Four Winds win prophesy I was no accident it's a picture of Acts 2. because bones that were dry boned his bone and flesh and sinner and they stood up a great Army and it filled the house where they were sitting and suddenly there appeared under them cloven tongues life as of a fire and it's set upon each of them it's the standard it takes my dysfunction brother Hammond in it and makes it functional it's the Holy Ghost and as the Holy Ghost comes and overflows out of the abundance of the heart as my heart overflows with the spirit of God I look at my parents that were drug addicts for the carpenter not mine literally if they're watching y'all were good people look at him and I think wait a minute I can I can overcome it is that Jay my friend and it takes my dysfunction makes it functional but Jay you've seen some stuff haven't you I grew up with him I know it's I'm not going to tell a story it's his to tell but I know his story his family's here and you my dad called this week back bragging on you he said he weedeated my my uh bank and he didn't even have to and then he said and he baptized his son his past week I'm gonna tell you if you knew his life you would know there was a time where this neighborhood was broke but then all of a sudden the Holy Ghost came and God said you know what I can fix it the Holy Ghost can fix it it can it could take a standard that was busted that was falling apart at the scenes and I I can lay it on the word of God and and I can become new in it as we stand to our feet young man let me tell you let me tell you standard is not what your friends tell you it's not Mike Todd dear God it's not Joel Holstein it's not TD Jakes and Stephen furtick no they're men that wish you had I wish they had what you had some of them knew it some of them left it it's not a custom suit I'll be honest with you I'm a big boy off the rack don't work you know looks like an apple on two sticks sometimes or a peach shapes and it's not about the custom suit it's not the 400 shoes I love collecting Bibles that's an expensive Bible but it's not about the cool Bibles either it's about the word of God it's not what you see at conferences this generation I feel so bad for you you see conferences on your Instagram oh that must be what it's like no that's a fleeting moment compared to the rest of your life and much less eternity I wonder if we could lift our hands just for a second I want us to feel after the Lord together can we do that just for a minute