The Word is Our Standard

We see in Hebrews 2:2For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard.

How shall we escape if we neglect this wonderful salvation? What is salvation? Well, it's Jesus. You want to see what salvation looks like? Look at Jesus. When you get saved and filled and sanctified, look at Jesus because He said, ….behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. You're coming into the image of Jesus. That was God's plan from the beginning.

Let me just point out a few verses to give you the flavor of this teaching and then the Good News at the end. It says in verse Luk 21:10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; (That certainly sounds a little like our time.) 11 and there shall be great earthquakes, (that certainly sounds like our day, doesn't it?) and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. (Again, this sounds like warnings for our day and the days that are coming, right?)

Verse 25 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; (We're certainly seeing that) and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. (and they have been shaking.)

And verse 34 But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting(Overindulging in things of the world), and drunkenness (Not seeing things in reality.), and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: And it will; it is coming as a snare, the Lord has shown us.)

35 for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. We know that there are those who dwell in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, by abiding in His Word and Spirit. But this is going to come upon those that dwell on the Earth; they're earthly bound.

36 But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. What do we need to do to be counted worthy to escape? Well, one verse that comes to me is Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; And we know that this means that we need to have the renewed mind of the Word. We need to agree with the Word when it speaks about what is sin and what is our sin. And we need to agree with the Word when it speaks about justification through faith and the blood of Jesus when we repent of our sins. If we don't repent of our sins, we don't really get that.

So …let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, Justified means accounted righteous. To escape all these things, you have to be accounted righteous, and you have to agree with God. Some people because of their pride, they pervert and twist the word, or they just don't apply the Word, so they neglect their salvation. That thou mightest be justified in thy words. (Your words have to justify you so that you can have God's benefits.) And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment,

Is judgment coming upon the world? Everybody that really, truly knows God knows that it is, and that it's here now. So, we need to escape. We need to be justified by our words by agreeing with God, by being humble enough to say, “Yes, Lord, this is right and I am wrong, and I have sinned; and I need you. And I thank You, Father for Jesus bearing this curse upon Himself.” Now, in willful disobedience, you don't have any benefit of the Passover Lamb because if we sin willfully after we receive a knowledge of the truth, there remains no sacrifice for sin; Heb 10:26. So don't sin willfully; if you do sin, do it in failure. But don't do it willfully.

Also, you probably know this by heart: Rom 10:10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (See something has to start in the heart. You have to believe; you can't be self-deluded and grow in your salvation, which is, as we said, Christ in you.)

… and with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That is in the thoughts of your heart you believe unto righteousness; believing what God says about you and what He says about your future. Now the devil has to change this in some kind of a way in your mind about your circumstances. He has to get you to believe something else because salvation is sure if you do this. He has to pervert the Truth. Many people act as though they believe they're under the authority of the devil and are not justified in that. And if you know that you're not under the authority of the devil, why are you not walking out from under there? Because faith without works is dead, right? You have to get up and walk in the light by faith in God. Amen

We see in Rom 12:2 And be not fashioned according to this world: In other words, don't be molded by the world around you, the circumstances, the curse that was passed down to you. Don't be molded by anything but the Word of God. The Word of God gives you authority over all the power of the enemy. People who are not taking that authority are just going around in a circle in the wilderness, not getting to their promised land. So, He says, … And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,… Now let's see, God says if you're transformed, it’s because your mind is renewed. So if you renew your mind, you'll be transformed. Just to pound the point home.

If you're not being transformed, your mind mind isn’t being renewed. Are you believing with your heart? Are you confessing with your mouth that Jesus is your Savior? If you're not continuing to renew your mind, you're not continuing to be transformed. If in some area of your life you're not transformed, you haven't repented and believed. You have not renewed your mind. You have not said, “God, You are right here, this is truth.” Are you seeking out your own salvation with fear and trembling? The Holy Book is what God renews your mind with and with that, you are transformed.

He says …that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. In other words, we can't say that we abide in Him unless we walk as He walked. If we want to walk as He walked, we have to have a renewed mind. We have to repent and believe. Concentrate when you read the Word and do not quickly pass up any point where your conscience convicts you. That's how you renew your mind. Repent means change your mind, believe what God says to believe. Well, it really is always simple so us children can receive it. People have to make it complicated to not understand it, and the simplest of minds can understand it. It's a gift from God, He draws us unto Himself. The theologians couldn’t understand it but the fisherman and tax collectors could.

So what is our warfare? Our warfare is to renew our mind and not accept the things that have been programmed in there through our history, through our sins, through what was passed down through our parents and through demonic bondages. The devil seeks to and must convince us of something other than the Word of God in order to take authority over us. When you see somebody that stays under the authority of the devil, they are not repenting, they are not believing the Word. We see that, …with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. They are not acting on the Word. They are not being transformed because they're not believing and confessing the Word. There is a stronghold.

We are told in 2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (Yes, and many Christians get caught up in warring according to the flesh. And God doesn't give any victory there. We have to go by the rules, right? And the rules restrain us from fleshly warfare. The spiritual man has dominion, not the flesh. So we have to fight a spiritual warfare.) 4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds).

Strongholds are places where the enemy has dominion. Where he has not been routed out; he has not been attacked with the Word and cast out. A stronghold is a place where Satan rules because of ‘reasonings or imaginations’ that are against God because the next verse says,)

5 casting down imaginations.. There is all kinds of reasonings that are against the Word of God, that the devil has put there in order to protect his ground. He does not want you to renew your mind. If you do, he loses his house! So he has to convince you that those reasonings are reasonable and to be accepted. Those imaginations that are against God have to be accepted by you to give the devil this stronghold. He wants to have this control in your house.

All who receive the Holy Spirit as they did in the book of Acts with gifts will have power and discernment over the devil and his demons to destroy those strongholds. It was expected of those who got saved to be filled with the Holy Spirits power.

Back to our text …Casting down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. There it is, carnal worldly thinking and dead religion will keep us from knowing our rights and the devil will be sure to take advantage of that. So be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The devil wants, at all costs, to keep you from knowing about your authority over him. Luk 10:19-20 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. But he has to deceive you out of this authority because he has no legal right to keep that ground if you know this. That ground was given to you by Jesus Christ. You ‘behold Christ in the mirror’ by faith, right? The Israelites took that ground as they put their trust in God and they lost ground when they put their trust in themselves. The old man took over the promised land or kept it, and he had no legal right to it.

Verse 6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full. Jesus said, ‘get the board out of your eye so you can see clearly to get the moat out of your brother's eye’. Be careful, don't let the devil distract you into judging other people because there's unforgiveness, criticism and every foul work there. People that get caught up in that do not grow, they fall away. That's the way God generally treats people who judge and criticize and slander and so on. They always fall away. Always, without exception.

And 2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, (There’s as many Jesus’s out there as there are Christian religions.) or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him. God demands repentance. He demands that we hold strictly to the Word so that we cannot be deceived. We should say, “the sum of thy word, is truth” Psa 119:160, so that we cannot be deceived.

We can be continually transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, if we'll continually repent. If we’ll continually change our mind, we’ll be transformed by the renewing of the mind! So we have to hold to the Standard, and that is the sum of thy Word; not just a little bit here and a little bit there. We see all kinds of doctrines made-up that way.

Now I’m going to Pro 4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; And the years of thy life shall be many. 11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness. (Seek wisdom, seek knowledge, and be seeking to have a transformed mind. The renewed mind is most important.) 12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened; (In other words, your steps will not be conformed or limited. You have a lot of freedom when you are full of the Word of God. But there's a lot of bondage when you're not full of the Word of God and you cannot be trusted by God, so He limits your walk. We walk into a large place the Bible speaks about when we walk into the freedom of Jesus Christ.)

12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened; And if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. (Yes, people who stumble are in darkness, so get out of the darkness, get into the Light, get into the instruction of the Lord.) 13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: Keep her; for she is thy life. Notice, instruction from the Lord, instruction from a wise Father like Solomon. The words of Solomon which he taught to his sons. Don't be talked out of the Word of God by deluding spirits because they cater to your flesh.

And 14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, And walk not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on. 16 For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. Yes they are continually on their beds calculating how they can come against their enemies or how they can answer, or retaliate, or how they can criticize or destroy someone else, because that's what the devil does. He has to program you.

But you have to be programmed by the Word of God. The restraint of the Word of God puts you on your cross. But these people can't sleep because they're continually thinking about what they can do to someone else because of their competition, jealousy, or anger.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness. When a person is partaking of that, they are not partaking of the clean Bread of the Word of God. It's the bread of wickedness. When you're giving your mind over to Satan to speak to you against other people, that is the bread of wickedness.

…And drink the wine of violence. Wine is intoxicating. The violent and the people who retaliate, they feel a high when they’ve been vindicated by their own violence. But they're killing themselves and they don't know it.

18 But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, They are seeing more and more light until the perfect day comes, which is when the sun is straight up and there's no shadows. And it says, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. There’s no shadows, it’s all Light. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble. Yeah, you can look at the people who are overcome by wickedness and you think, ‘how foolish.’ But they can't see it. They think they are wise. They don't even know at what they stumble.

20 My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Hear them; not just know them. People like to know them, and they think they’re something because they know them. But it’s only if you hearken are they going to do you any good. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; David said, “I will put no evil thing before my eyes.”

Keep them in the midst of thy heart. When they are in the midst of thy heart, they are life! Your ‘thoughts’ is what He's talking about. Again, being transformed by the renewing of your mind. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. Notice, a renewed mind is a healthy flesh. The flesh is where you get chastening from the Lord. The things that hurt, things that come against your flesh are chastening. And many of God's people are under chastening of the Lord for their sins and for their rebellion against the Word. But a person who has a renewed mind, can have healthy flesh.

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. Life comes out of your own heart when it is renewed with the Word of God. They are life unto those that find them. That's His Word, the Word of God! You want life? The renewed mind is the way be transformed; that's Life. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

A condition is in 24 Put away from thee a wayward mouth, And perverse lips put far from thee. As we read earlier, …with the heart believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. If we confirm the Word in our hearts, if we confess Him before men, Who is the Word, we will have Life. But a wayward mouth speaks out of an evil heart; a heart that's not transformed. Just as the words of Life come out of you as Life and brings Life to everything around you, like the river in the Book of Revelation that brought Life. Pro 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. So a wayward mouth brings destruction and death and perverse lips put far from thee, 25 Let thine eyes look right on, And let thine eyelids look straight before thee. In other words, don't get them out of the path of life; fill them with scripture.

And it says in Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear: What does regard mean? It means to give heed to, to have respect of, to listen to. What is iniquity in your heart? Well, again, we're talking about those thoughts that defile a man. Giving heed to these thoughts in your heart that are not of God. The devil keeps many people in bondage and they've been that way from their youth because they had the sins passed on from the parents through their blood. Demons get passed on from their inheritance, or sins they received later. These demons rule and they reign from these high places and from these strongholds. The only way they can be taken down is repentance and faith through confession. They don't have a right there. Jesus took away their rights to be there.

If you regard iniquity in your heart, these evil thoughts and reasonings that are against the word of God, then the Lord will not hear you. That's what He says in that verse. In other words, He doesn't forgive you. You don't have forgiveness because you're following, listening to, heeding, hearkening to the devil. Jesus said that If you're not for Him, you're against Him.

Now we're still talking about, how are we going to escape? We cannot neglect our salvation. We're talking about the manifestation of this salvation. And then we read in Ecc 1:15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. Wow, there must be a lot of it, right? Wanting means falling short of. And Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? Who can straighten it out? No one but Him! So therefore what we have to do is have the renewed mind which is His mind. Then He can straighten it out. Psychiatrists can't straighten it out.

This reminds me of a time when Michael and I were building a table and everything looked real good until the last board for the tabletop. And when we put the last board up against the nice straight boards, we could tell there was a gap in the middle, it touched on both ends, but there was a gap in the middle. And so it is when you're around people that are straight and somebody ‘crooked’ gets around them; he sticks out like a sore thumb, doesn't he?

And how can you take that board if you've only got just so much to cut on there because you don't want to lose the width of the whole tabletop right? You only have so much to cut so you can take that board and stick it in a table saw. And if the board is longer than the guide of the saw is wide, and you run it through there, it'll just put the same curve right back in it. You’ll just put the same bow right back in and you stick it through there until you don't have enough wood left to use your tabletop.

So the only way to correct it is to go back to the standard. Unless you have a guide on your saw that's twice as long as the board you can't cut a curvature, or the warpage out of that board. And that's because the guide slips up into it, it gives way to the warpage. It goes into the warpage, so it just follows around it. Then you cut the warp in it again. So what you can do is you can get a straight board as a standard.

Now we know Who the straight Board is. It's Jesus! He is our Standard. If you don't go by the standard, no matter what you do, that's going to be a crooked table. And Jesus is our Standard; He is straight. If you want know what straight is, what right is, you look at Jesus. Now you can take a straight board like Jesus and you can lay it on top of that other board and use it as a straight edge and mark it and then cut it with a saw and it will be straight. If not, it's going to be crooked, there's nothing you can do about it. You've got to go back to the Standard, just exactly like we're reading here in Proverbs, and reading in Romans. You must go back to the Standard.

If you build a house and you don't start by squaring the house, everything in the house will be crooked. Because you're laying things up against things that are crooked, they will all become crooked. If you have a nice square wall and you throw a piece of plywood up there, or you throw a piece of sheetrock up there, it's going to fit, and the next one will fit and the next one will fit. Otherwise, you're going to spend an awful lot of time and money cutting things to fit a house that’s not square and it'll drive you crazy. It will be a waste because you did not square it from the beginning and keep it square as you went, right?

A square is a standard. You can build many things on the sand, but if you haven't laid it on the Standard, which is the Rock, it's never going to be right and it will not hold up to the problems of life, the troubles, the tribulations; it just will not hold up. You can use a Plumb Bob to find out what is upright. We know what upright means to us, right? It means righteous; it means right, and pure.

You could use a Plumb Bob and it always is going to tell you the truth as long as there's gravity, it's going to tell you the truth. But you've got to use a standard. If you don't go back to the standard, everything you build on it will be crooked. Your house will be crooked, your table will be crooked, and everybody will look at that and know you don't know what you're doing.

So, we have to get back to the Standard. If you've got a problem, if you've got something crooked in your life, you've got to go back to the Standard. You've got to change your mind; you've got to be renewed in your mind so you can be transformed. And each one of us is a house that's being built. And some of us are master craftsmen and some of us are not because they don't know the principles of going back to the Standard, Who is Jesus.

And one thing we have to do in order to renew our minds so that we can go on is make sure that we're thinking on the right things. Paul tells us how to think in Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,… Now, is it true? How do you know it's true? Have you ever had a thought in your mind about a brother? Is it true? How do you know it's true? Did you go by the rules? Did you receive it not unless you had two or three witnesses, as the Bible commands? Is it the Word of God? Is it in agreement with the Word of God? If it’s “no”, it's not true. The word of God lays down the rules. If you don't go back to the rules, you're building a crooked house and everything you put on it after that is going to be crooked. Nothing is going to be right.

…whatsoever things are honorable, Is it honorable? Is your thought honorable? Is it a good thing? Is it something you could say openly without being embarrassed? Well, maybe it's not honorable then. Are you saying something behind somebody's back that you wouldn't say to their face? Well, then you're not honorable. You're crooked. …whatsoever things are just, So are your thoughts justice; is it God's justice? Is it the world's justice? Is it right? Is it correct?

whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely (God says a lot of lovely things about us in His Word.), whatsoever things are of good report (You remember the guys that brought back the bad report about the Promised Land? They made the heart of the people fail. They spoke the word of the devil. They didn't bring back the faithful report of what God said about it and they're still not doing that. They don't believe you can even take the Promised Land and those guys are all going to die in the wilderness.)

… if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (He wants us to meditate on the good things. As we've said before, you can always tell the bad things by knowing the good things, but you can't study enough of the bad things to know all bad things. It would take you too many lifetimes. But the good is the Standard, that's what we need to keep in our minds. That's what we need to know and know it well, because anything that doesn't measure up to the Standard is wrong.)

9 The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you. You'll live in peace. Praise be to God! The things that you see in the apostle Paul, mimic; he is showing us the Standard. Now, the devil doesn't want you to think on all these things. Because you're renewing your mind when you do. You're casting out thoughts that are those strongholds he put there, when you think on these things.

So now I’m going to Jas 4:6-12 But he giveth more grace. (We need more grace, don't we?) Wherefore the scripture saith,God resisteth the proud, (Proud people will not speak in agreement with God's word, because it's humbling.) but giveth grace to the humble. (We need to humble ourselves to the Standard. Like laying that crooked board up to a straight one, it’s the crooked one that needs to be fixed. Now you can take that same crooked board and use it for a standard but the whole tabletop will be crooked. They'll all fit together but you've got a crooked top. It doesn’t measure up to the Standard and so “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”. If you copy the crooked, then you've lost the Standard and it's corrupt. It's not worth having.)

7 Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Why does he flee? Because he has no authority if you submit to God. If you let Him straighten you out, if you receive His straight thoughts, His good thoughts, the devil will flee because he has no authority and he knows it. Sadly many Christians don't know the Gospel and that the devil has no authority when you submit to the Standard.)

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. (This actually means two-souled. There's the soul of the flesh (worldly thinking), and then there's the soul of the spirit. A person cannot quite walk straight when they're double minded. They need to spend more time in the Word, to give them a Standard so they can be renewed in their minds, be transformed by the Word.)

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: (That sounds like repentance to me.) let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you. 11 Speak not one against another,brethren. He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, (He's not receiving those good thoughts.) speaketh against the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judgest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who art thou that judgest thy neighbor? Don't let critical thoughts into your mind. Don't let jealousy, wrath, slanderous thoughts come into your mind against someone else that has no foundation because you haven't submitted to the Standard. You have no right to think things that have no biblical foundation. The devil puts them there on purpose because he wants to defile you. And speaking of defilement, you know that according to the scriptures, if a person is defiled, they cannot partake of the Passover, which means they cannot escape. Passover is when the death angel passes over you because you're living under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now I’m going to Mar 7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, (It's what's in your heart that really counts here.) and goeth out into the draught? This he said, making all meats clean. (No matter what you've heard about having to abstain from certain meats, that's the doctrine of demons according to the scriptures. The parable there means to not partake of unclean animals, beasts, all their false natures and so on. Jesus made it plain. He's talking about what goes into the heart, that defiles a man or what comes out of the heart, that defiles him.)

20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed (Thoughts that are contrary to God's Word.), fornications, thefts, murders,adulteries (If you hate your brother, you're a murderer, Jesus said. And adulteries, if you lust after someone in your heart, you've committed adultery, right?),

22 covetings, (Desiring something that's not yours.) wickednesses, (that covers a lot, doesn’t it) deceit, (People who love to dwell on deceit do so because it permits them to do whatever they want and live after the lust of their flesh.) lasciviousness, (which is a license to do excess, what you want, to overindulge in things.) an evil eye, (an eye not single on the things of God.) railing, (People who rail against people do so from anger, unforgiveness and criticism.) pride, (It doesn’t let someone repent, they’re good enough like they are. They're maybe proud of their heritage from their natural parents, which is foolishness. That's the next word.) foolishness: 23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.

So how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Amen. I tell you God's word is awesome! I mean, if you don't love it, ask Him to make you love it! Because it's for your own good that you spend time with the Word of God.

I’m going next to Luk 6:39 And he spake also a parable unto them, Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? (That's like taking a crooked board to use for a straight edge.) 40 The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. (You got to make sure your Teacher is the Lord, Who is the Word, and it’s Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and Paul and Peter. Make sure these are your teachers, and if you’re listening to anyone who’s not teaching what's there, you're getting away from the Standard; you'll never be perfected. You'll never be transformed, and you will not escape as we've seen.)

41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, (These are people who are critical of other people, judgmental of others, correcting others when they're doing the same themselves.) cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. (You must have the Standard in you before you can pass it on. If anybody uses you as a straight edge, are you going to corrupt the whole building, the whole table? Many of these went to Bible school and they’re corrupting everybody. Just like the rest of the Pharisees that they were born from.)

Luk 6:43 For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; (Again your life proceeds from the thoughts that are in your heart.) and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (So we got to get back to the Standard and lay the right foundation and the foundation has got to be right. Not the sinking sand of man’s ways.)

Here's a good word about standards in Amo 7:1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts (That sounds like the army that destroyed God's people in Joel 2. It represents demon forces that have come against God's people to take away their fruit and blessings.)in the beginning of the shootingup of the latter growth; (You know how a nice rain causes the grass to suddenly shoot up? Well, that's because it just loves that nitrogen. You can water it with your hose for a week and you won't get that result. This latter growth is at the time of the latter rain, which we’re about to receive.) and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. (We have certainly seen the King's mowings. He’s been cutting down the grass and Peter said, ‘All flesh is as grass.’ So this fruit is going to come after the King's mowings and He’s been cutting down the flesh!)

2 And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? For he is small. (In other words, ‘There's a lot of flesh, Lord, and if he eats up that flesh, there won’t be anything left.’ Well, some people are small in God. And if their flesh gets eaten up, there's nothing left. We have to be gradually transformed by the renewing of our minds.)

3 Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith Jehovah. (Well, that was the first threatened judgement.) 4 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land. 5 Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease,I beseechthee: how shall Jacob stand? For he is small. 6 Jehovah repented concerning this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah. (That’s the second threat, answered by mercy.)

7 Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall (A wall is separation from the world outside, it represents sanctification or holiness. It means a renewed mind.) made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. 8 And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. A Plumb line is this, you put a Plumb Bob on the end of that line and you hold it up and it shows you what's straight up and down because the Plumb Bob hangs down by gravity; it is a law. It tells you according to the law what is upright. That's what a plum line and the Bible does.)

Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; (In other words, He's going to check them out to see if they are upright, perfectly upright according to the law, which is the Word. It's a Standard. You know when God relents a few times, He delays judgment a few times so fruit can be born. He can hold up the Standard and say, “Nope they're still crooked. It's time to tear this thing back down to the foundation. It's on sand anyway, so we'll tear it back down and start all over.” Well, that can be major, major judgment. Continuing He said, I will not again pass by them any more; (meaning I'm not going to pass by them with judgment anymore. It's coming now. I'm going to judge according to the Word. That's what He says in His Word; every man is going to be judged according to the Word.)

9 and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. Well, Jeroboam is the guy that factioned Israel away from the House of David. He is the critical, angry, judgmental leadership of Israel when they fell into their apostasy and started worshipping the golden calf instead of God in His Temple in Jerusalem. That represents a lot of people out there, a lot of Judases and a lot of people that are judging other people. They themselves are crooked and Jeroboam made everybody else crooked. He made the whole House crooked and they were full of faction, full of railing and full of rebellion and warfare against the House of David.

Now I’m going to share some revelations that confirm the importance of how we should build a sure Foundation.

A Sure Foundation

Lorrie Deeter 01/09/2009 (David's notes in red)

While being still before the Lord, I drifted off to sleep: A group of people appeared to be in a classroom seated at desks. As I watched I saw different people as teachers standing over each one. I looked down and saw a group of people sitting, holding in their hands each a different book. I looked closer and saw the faces of the teachers who were standing over them, on the cover of the textbooks. (The poor apostate Christians are coming into the image of their false teachers rather than Christ, as 2Co 3:18 demands: But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.)

I looked around the room and in a far corner were cubicles. I walked over to them. As I looked, in each one sat a single person, alone, reading a bible; in another praying and in another being still, each having a bible. (Representing those teachers getting a personal revelation from God’s Word to lay a good foundation.) I was saying, “What is this, my Lord?” A person then stepped out of the cubicle and walked to the group of people seated at the desks. The textbook was gone from the people seated at the desks and now placed in their hand was a ruler to each person. The cubicle person began to open the Bible and was sharing what the Lord had given. (Those who study the Word and fellowship the Lord individually, without the teachers of men, are blessed by their Lord to bring direction to those trained by false leaders.)

All of a sudden the people seated became angry and began pointing (Accusation/Judgment) with one hand while hitting the person on the hand with their rulers (With what measure you judge it shall be measured unto you). As I continued to watch each person come from the cubicles to the seated people, each time they were rejected from the people seated at the desks. (Those of denominational mindsets.) The people from the cubicles returned after being rejected with Bibles, returned each time to and remained in their cubicles; some were ushered out of the room. (The righteous are judged and rejected of the apostates. Judge not lest ye be judged.)

All of a sudden, I heard raging wind and I looked and saw a gathering tempest in the middle of the classroom. Very quickly it was picking up everyone and everything becoming more powerful by the second. (Judgment on those who reject the true messengers of the Word.)

Then it began to spit things out. It was pulling shelves off walls, as nails were pried loose. Everything was pulled from its place, desk and chairs thrown to and fro. Then I saw some people fly out of the storm and thrown out to the outside and they were no longer in sight. The storm continued to spit everything out -- the teachers and the textbooks until only those with the Bibles remained in the eye where it was calm. (Those founded on the Rock of the Word are safe.)

I then heard this spoken forth: "REST! Rest in the eye of My storm! Be anxious for nothing! Do not be shaken! I AM doing a SWIFT SIFTING! Plant your feet in righteousness, For lo I Am with thee always".

The wind picked up but there was silence inside the storm. Then I looked and the middle of the room and the floor started to buckle as though there was something underneath it. It started to crack. (As Jesus said the storm comes to those on the foundation of shifting sand.) The surface of the floor looked like matte linoleum. The cracks started to spread to the corners as though it was being torn from the underside of the surface. (These are like the wind and waves that destroyed the house built on sand that Jesus spoke of.)

Then I saw the sharp tip of something silver beginning to pierce through. It twirled slowly like a corkscrew and as it came to the surface it was a large screw. When this giant screw was all the way through I noticed all of the fresh soil around its base it burrowed through. (It came from beneath like hell.) Suddenly, many smaller machines sprung out of the ground around the screw and in the distance. They circled the screw. The machines opened up and multitudes of bats flew out and covered the sky. (These are creatures which live in darkness and do not have eyes to see.) Then this was spoken: "Demons of Doctrines". (This represents the destruction of those whose foundation is based on the shifting sands of Demon Doctrines instead of the Word.)

Then I saw a LARGE rod, and then a LARGE staff come above the storm. (The shepherd's guidance and protection of the sheep in the midst of the storm.) The whirlwind picked up and everything in its path was destroyed. I looked at all of the debris that littered the ground. The surface of the floor was destroyed. The linoleum was scattered in large and small pieces. The parts of the machines that had been destroyed by the storm also lay scattered. Then I looked and saw a large rake that came through and cleared all of the debris to the side and then it was gone.

The Holy Spirit spoke forth again: "Once more I will turn the soil, for these are they whose foundation is not built upon Me, says the Lord".

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (The Word) Luk 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Upon waking up this was spoken forth: "Those who speak falsely in My Name and are carried about by doctrines of men shall be spewed out of My tempest!"

Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Isa 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Isa 32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Escaping Judgment By Abiding in Christ

Gordon Borneman 03/23/2012 (David's notes in red)

Last night I had a dream. I was walking/hiking in a mountainous area on the West Coast. The ocean was just on the other side of some rocky peaks to my left. There were some peaks of lesser height above me and also one ultimate high peak in this set of mountains. Just then I saw a tsunami wave crest the lower peaks and water rush over those into the high meadow below them. In that high meadow, I had a white stucco house (house of the Lord) to run to, even though it was in the path of that water.

I was not in the path of the water, but after it flooded the meadow, it would have drained off, coming right back at me. I started running to the house. I got to the house in no time (indicating it's not a physical place, but a spiritual house always with the saints). I reached the door, got inside the house, then looked out the window to see a giant sea rush of dark grey water blanketing the meadow and the house was right in the path. The grey sky reflected in the surface of the massive, dark grey water surge. The doors were closed and I took notice of the many foundation bolts in the treated wood floorboards that anchored the house to the foundation (a properly-built house of God is firmly anchored to Jesus Christ).

The water hit the house hard and began to rise to near the top of the windows. No water got into the house at all. The walls were open on the inside, showing the studs (not always plush inside the house of God, but always safe) and I ran around to check all of the seals at the floorboards and they were holding. I felt a particular emphasis on the anchors to the foundation as the key to safety. None of the water got into the house at all. I did not see much of any of the floor plan of the house and it was small and simple.

I knew in my spirit this dream was from God and shows our safety amidst the flood of the end times inside of God's house, a clean house made of white that is firmly anchored to our Lord Jesus. (The safety of the white house represents abiding in Jesus Christ, the secret place of the Most High of Psalm 91. Psa 90:1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust.)

I have pondered this with the Lord more since the dream. I think this is much more general judgment than an actual tsunami. It is the woes and judgments on the world -- "the end will be as a flood", for example. The emphasis on this dream is more about the house of God and protection therein. The water came over the lower peaks, but not the highest peak. There was a mountain there in the range that the water could not reach (likely spiritual Mount Zion). Within the house of the Lord, we were completely safe.

It may not always be extremely plush or massively comfy, since all was laid open (nothing hidden), rather than finished drywall inside. This agrees with other UBM dreams in which people were at a camp and one says to another, "I don't think I can stay here". I.e., It's not comfortable to the flesh to be there. That's the nature of the cleanness, the whiteness of the house. The meaning is interlinked with the open walls within and all is seen, nothing hidden in darkness or closed behind walls. Emphasis was placed on the soundness of the floorboard anchors to the foundation.

The house was in a very high meadow, relative to the highest peak, with some peaks higher than the house, but not the highest peak. The water came with speed and it was like a wave cresting against a rocky shoreline. It was the speed of the water, along with the total volume that splashed it over these lower peaks. Even when rushing to the relatively humble house of God and building speed on the downhill, there was not enough power behind that wave to overtake that little white house in the high meadow. There are two senses of these lower peaks:

1. Those lower peaks are kingdoms of the world overtaken with judgment, even who were part of the range of mountains right by Mount Zion.

2. Those lower peaks may be those organizations which are their own kingdoms trying to usurp the power of the saints on Mount Zion by attaching themselves to them. But these have not the power of Mount Zion and are still overtaken.

This little white house in the high meadow reminds me of protection of the Israelites in Goshen during the 10 judgments of Egypt where, after the first four judgments, the judgments could not overtake the Israelites safe in Goshen. These judgments destroyed the great empire of Egypt, but Goshen was spared and preserved.

When I started to run for the house, I was not in the direct path of the water. But after the water hit the house, it would come back toward me soon. It was better to run into the refuge and fortress, even when it was in the direct path, rather than be outside trying to stay out of the way of the water. (Many may be in the direct path of terrible judgments but eating all of the Passover Lamb; the Word of God is our deliverance, as it was in Egypt. They had to abide in their house for this disaster to pass over. Jesus is our house. 1Jn 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. Notice that modern religions will not be a covering, only the original Word received will deliver.)

The House That Stood

Michael Boldea - June 2012

On April 11, 2016, I had this short dream.

…I have always found fasting to be a great bringer of clarity, and given the times and the seasons that are upon us, who among us couldn't use a little more clarity? The first day of the fast, I had picked my brother Sergiu up from the airport in Chicago, brought him home, and gone to bed, when I had a dream.

I dreamt I was walking down a street, but to the left and the right of me everything was utterly destroyed. If not for the foundations sticking out of the earth, one would not have known anything had once stood there. I have seen the aftermath of earthquakes while living in California in the '80s; I have likewise seen the aftermath of tornadoes live and in person, and this looked like neither of the two. The best way I can describe it is that the entire street seemed to have been razed. From trees, to homes, to fences, everything had been flattened and annihilated.

The street curved to the left, and as I followed it turning the corner, I was surprised to see a house standing a couple hundred yards ahead of me on the right. There was nothing special about the house. A single story home, with a porch and a porch swing, once painted white by what I could gather, but having taken on a charred look. I quickened my pace, as even in my dream this seemed odd and surreal, and as I approached the house I heard what could only have been prayer coming from inside. This was no typical prayer. It was passionate, and fervent, and the only time I remember having heard prayer like this, is when we would have prayer nights in our home in Romania during the Communist occupation.

(My note: This reminds me of seeing a report in CA where a fire had swept through an area and the top of a mountain where there was a circle of homes. All were burnt to the ground but one. When the reporter put his mic in front of the owner asking why their house was untouched, he probably wished he hadn’t. The woman spoke boldly saying. This is God’s house and we have prayer meetings here or something close to this.)

This was anything but a restrained prayer gathering, and the voices coming from inside the house were praising God, and giving glory to Him. I stood just short of the front step, and listened to the prayers coming from within the house, until in my dream, I woke up. As I awoke from my dream within a dream, the man I have grown accustomed to seeing was standing at the foot of my mattress.

"Do you understand what you've just seen?", he asked without prelude.

"I believe I do", I answered somewhat confidently. The man gave me a look one might give to a slowwitted individual and said, "Perhaps in part", then reached out and touched my shoulder.

Suddenly I was back on the same street, and I realized this only because of the house with the porch swing, now a pristine white. It was the only thing that was the same as in my previous dream, because now there were trees, and homes, up and down the block. It looked and sounded like a typical neighborhood, but above the din of chirping birds and barking dogs; I could hear prayer coming from inside the home with the porch swing. It was the same kind of fervent, passionate prayer I had heard on the previous occasion. I strained to hear what they were praying for, but I could only hear snippets from time to time. As I made to climb the first of three steps, I was back in my bed, with the man standing patiently by my mattress.

"Now you understand", he said, "Tell them not to fear, but to draw close to the Father in whom is shelter from the storm, and protection from destruction". I then woke up, disoriented, wondering for a while if this was yet another dream within a dream. Realizing that it was not, I knelt beside my mattress and started to pray.

I have not released a dream or a vision in two years, and if not for the specific instruction "tell them" I would have been hesitant in releasing this dream as well. As I explained in a recent radio interview, the reason why I have not released any visions or dreams is because many within the household of faith have become, for lack of a better term, prophecy junkies. At every gathering, at every meetings, there is always the inevitable "What's the Lord been showing you lately?" as though He hasn't shown us enough, or as though His word is not clear enough.

I specifically asked permission of God to withhold what He was showing me for a season, and have single-mindedly focused on preaching Christ, and Him crucified wherever I was asked to preach, because our safety, our shelter, and our protection is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Savior and King.

Our refuge, our shelter, our place of safety is not a geographical location; it is in the arms of Jesus, in the will of God, in fellowship and intimacy with Him. If we are walking in the will of the Father, then we have nothing to fear. If we are being obedient to His word, His guidance, and His leading, then wherever He will guide us will be a safe place, and wherever He will lead us will be a place of shelter. Our safety is found in obedience. If God has told you to go to a certain place, then do as He has commanded. If however God has not spoken, then be at peace where you are, for God is able to protect you in the midst of the storm.

It is time to draw closer to God than ever before, to come before Him in prayer, and fasting, in righteousness, and purity of heart. The day draws near when we will behold the miracle working power of our God firsthand, when we will see what our God can do, and glory in His omnipotence.

(Psa.18:25-30) With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show yourself shrewd. For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks. For You will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

(Psa.25:4-5) Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.

Judgment on Apostate Ministries

(David’s Notes in red and Joyce in Green)

First let me share a little background to this dream I received in 1992. I was in New Orleans sharing my faith and making disciples when I noticed that a lot of people could not grasp or see the real, living Jesus. After a long day of sharing my faith and running into this wall of apathy, I prayed under my breath, "They just don't get it".

That night I was given this dream:

I was in a black cast-iron helicopter, seated with Jesus. I was surrounded by total PEACE. I was there to observe what was happening below. In the air were other black cast-iron helicopters, also. (The helicopters were cast-iron, strong and shielded. This represents the protection afforded those who are seated with Christ in heavenly places. They will witness the judgment but not be affected by it. The helicopters are "in the air" for our battle is not against flesh & blood but principalities and powers, rulers of the air.)

To my right was a skyscraper that resembled the Bank One Tower in downtown Fort Worth. I looked down and noticed several tornadoes sprouting on the ground, growing in numbers and growing in intensity. I looked again at the skyscraper. The skyscraper began to shatter. (The skyscraper represents man-made prosperous mega churches; towers of Babel. Those who try to reach to the heavens without Jesus, the foundation they build on is SELF.)

Some of the shattered glass came into the helicopter and into my mouth and on my arm. I spit out the glass and wiped the glass from my arm. (Joyce: Jesus showed me in 1992 that 8 years later these ministries would briefly influence me. The shattered glass represents their easily shattered false teachings. The shattered glass went in my mouth because I spoke these false teachings, but later spit them out. The glass was on my arm because my works were influenced by these teachings. The megachurch ministers are being bribed as we speak to join into a corporate false prophet to trap the harlot body into the U.S./U.N. Bablon DS Tower of Babel.)

I looked down again and there was a theological seminary building. (I used to live down the street from the Southwestern Baptist Seminary so I recognized it as a theology building.) Jimmy Swaggart ran out of the building and down the stairs. He was running as if he was very frightened. (Some megachurch leaders will discover the trap they and their followers have been led into as their rights are taken away and the mark of the beast approaches.) (Fear of judgment coming to apostate teachers and their false doctrines that are taught in the prosperous religious institutions of man.) He was wearing a nice shiny suit and he got into a green Mercedes Benz. (The Mercedes represents materialism, and the color of the car is green, which represents money and envy.)

The wind took the Mercedes and it was being blown around in a circle very fast. (They will be very disoriented because of their lack of understanding and the judgments to come.) The earth split open and the Mercedes crashed into the uprooted earth. (Just as the "earth opened its mouth" and swallowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram because they were usurping the authority of the truly ordained servants of God.)

I then looked down and saw BLIND EYES on a man who was running without shirt and shoes. (The blind eyes represent the ministers to whom it is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. The lack of a shirt represents the ministers who have not put on the Lord Jesus Christ's teaching and works. Having no shoes says that they have not been shod with the preparation of the true gospel of peace. They and their lukewarm churches are BLIND and NAKED.) The man was yelling, "The occult! The occult!" (As in Jesus' day, the apostates will blame their problems on the true servants of God, who to them are always of the devil. However, their judgment is from God and only through the mouth of God's servants.)

End of dream

You see the judgments are on the false teachers, false doctrines, religious institutions, prosperity preachers and those who have profited at the expense of the blind, lukewarm sheep. Jesus answered my prayer with understanding in 1992. The apostates "just don't get it".

An interesting confirmation is that the skyscraper in the dream was across the street where I worked in 2000 in Ft. Worth. A tornado hit downtown Ft. Worth and that skyscraper was shattered and stood condemned for years. The glass came into our building and we had a lot of damage. I picked that glass off my desk and carpet for months. Things that make you go, “Hmmm”!

My prayer: Father in the name of Jesus give us a love for Your Word. A desire to be holy before You. A desire to please You and You alone. Lord, give us this gift, we desperately need it! Lord, judgment is at the door and we need a Passover. Yet many, many of your people are defiled by their thought life, and they deserve no Passover. They're defiled by what comes out of their mouth and what is in their feet as far as the way they walk. I ask You to give everyone a respect for the foundation, a respect for the Standard, which is Jesus Christ and what is upright. Everybody should fear the Plumb-line. Everybody needs to fear to be straight up and down with God. Lord, we ask You to give Your people a deep, deep respect for the Word of God, so that they can be transformed by their renewing of their mind, so that they can escape all these things and to stand before the Son of man. Lord give us that grace to escape all these things that we see coming upon the world. Lord we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

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