In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of media choices and how they can hinder the power and blessings of God in one's life. He believes that compromise in media choices is a major reason for the lack of revival and answered prayers among God's people. The preacher encourages the congregation to be discerning and selective in their media consumption, ensuring that it aligns with God's commandments. He emphasizes that media should not control one's life and should pass God's test of righteousness.

Amen. Matthew chapter 5, if you take your Bibles, Matthew in chapter 5, it's good to see a good crowd here tonight. It's a wonderful message in song. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb or by the word of their testimony. They leavened up their lives unto death. There is power in the blood, and not only in our securing our salvation, that'd be enough, but thank the Lord there's power to cleanse our conscience from dead works so we can serve the living God. And the blood of Christ answers the accusations of the wicked one and sends him running. And I'll tell you friends, thank the Lord for his blood. It cleanses our conscience so we can serve him, serve the living God effectively. There's another message, we won't get into that, but it's a great truth that has been a blessing to me. And the power of the cleansing power of the blood, the present tense cleansing power of the blood that we find in 1 John chapter 1. Matthew chapter 5 is going to be where we'll be tonight. And certainly a wonderful crowd. I don't know what you normally have on Sunday night, but it's wonderful to see everybody packed in here. I wonder what we were going to do when we dismissed the choir and the orchestra and then the little ones left and we somehow just filled in those cracks. So it's certainly is a blessing to see you here and being already faithful to the meeting. And I trust you're allowing the Lord to do a good work in your heart. Now tonight we're going to deal with something that's a little more on the difficult side of things. Sometimes the Lord leads you to preach a message, you say, oh Lord, not that one. Oh, they don't even know me yet. But so, well, anyway, it's one of those. Okay. So you just fasten your seatbelts and we'll hang tight and get through this tonight. But on a serious note, I really do trust it will be a blessing to you. It is one of those messages that does confront us with a need. And I trust that you'll allow the Lord to do that in your own heart and life. We're going to look at verse number 17. We're going to read down through verse number 19, right in the middle of what we commonly call the Sermon on the Mount. Three very interesting verses that are often overlooked. In fact, I don't know if I've heard many messages on these verses, though I'm sure those who preach through the book of Matthew deal with these, but let's deal with them tonight. I've entitled the message, How to be Great in the Cause of Christ. How to be great in the cause of Christ. I think you're going to be a little bit surprised when we read the verse and to find out what God says about this. Verse 17, think not that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore, based on what we just read, shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. It was a few years ago now, I actually was in the Atlanta area. I'll not say what church, but I was in the Atlanta area. I was, if I'm remembering correctly, I was in a Sunday school. It was an adult Sunday school and I was giving the lesson and in the lesson, I don't even remember exactly what I was preaching on, but in the lesson I dealt with this simple principle found in verse number 19. And after I presented that material, a lady came up to my wife afterwards and she said, that's it. She said, I've always wondered what it was about my Christian experience. Why it just, it just didn't work and why there was problems and why I just didn't see effectiveness. And she said, I see it now. She said, my problem is that I disobey God's least commandments. Friends tonight, how to be great in the cause of Christ is very simple. What God is simply saying, what will determine whether or not you will be great in God's cause or whether you will be least in God cause is something that we wouldn't initially expect. It is simply this, what you do with God's least commandments. Now folks, I don't know about you, isn't that a little bit of a stunning thought that the Lord gives us here? The thing that will determine whether you'll be greatly useful in God's kingdom, in his cause, and that that will determine whether you'll be very little used in God's cause is this, what you do with God's least commandments. Not his great commandments, but his least ones. In a moment we're going to get into why that is, but before we do that, let's just think about this for a moment. You know, as I read, I read Christian biographies of great men and women who've been used of the Lord, and you really see this borne out. I remember years ago a preacher was preaching who was greatly used of the Lord in our day, and as he was preaching, he was preaching to young people about the importance of decisions in their, in your youth. And while he was preaching to those young people, he gave a couple of personal illustrations that seemed so insignificant, to me they became phenomenally significant. The insignificance of a manner actually makes it more significant, because this is those little obediences that have great ramifications. Now if you're not with me yet, perhaps by the end of the message you will be, but I just want to relate a couple of the stories from this gentleman who was being used of the Lord. He said there were two incidences in his childhood that greatly shaped his childhood. One was, he was working and saved a lot of money because there was a novel that he wanted to buy. It was some Western novel, it was not a Christian novel, but it was some Western novel, this would be years ago. He got the money up, and he bought the novel, and that was back in the day, you know, it wasn't the Depression, but it was Jimmy Carter, remember those days? Okay, you know, when there was a recession, okay, and I forgot where I was, in the state of Georgia. Okay, I shot myself in the foot again. But anyway, it was back in those days, and money wasn't as prevalent, as plenty as it is today, and he worked hard, got the money, and bought this book, and he was reading the book, and he noticed that from time to time, there would be a curse word in the book, and God began to convict him, and he came to the point where he realized, I need to get rid of this book. He said he remembers walking over to the burn barrel, some of you know what I'm talking about when I talk about a burn barrel, okay. He walked over to the burn barrel, I had that book in his hands, and he remembers taking that book that he'd worked so hard to earn, and he remembers tossing it in the burn barrel. Something that seems fairly insignificant, doesn't it? But he points back to that was a very significant decision, and the thing that made it significant is its seeming insignificance. You see, our obedience to the big ones, you know, it was everybody's doing that. We're gonna see in a moment that our surrender and our dependence is really tested at the least commandments. There's another story told, he, and again, I'm not saying that if these haven't dawned on you, I'm just giving you, this is what God did in his heart as a young person, how God worked in his heart, but another story told, he talked about he was throwing newspapers, and all of a sudden, the local movie theater down the road began to advertise movies in that paper. Movies that, number one, he would never go see himself, and number two, he wouldn't want anybody else to see. And he thought about this, he thought about the fact, I am throwing newspapers worth advertisements that are helping people go see something that I would not want them to go and see. He was just a teenage boy, and back in those days, it was not like you could go out and get another job when you lost them. He knew that if he lost this job, that it would be significant, and so he thought about it, prayed about it, and he realized, I gotta quit this job. And he went back and quit the job based on the fact he did not want to throw movie ads in newspapers that he wouldn't want anybody to go see. Now, those decisions seem insignificant, but as he pointed out in that message, they shaped his life. Now, let's look at this. Why is this such an issue? I think of my own dear father, who's now with the Lord. At 14 years old, my father went to a very liberal Southern Baptist Church down in Miami, Florida. This was back when liberalism was making its inroads into the Southern Baptist Convention. Some of you are familiar with history, and my father's pastor was a man who is probably burning in hell right now. He did not believe in the blood atonement. He did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. My father's pastor was unsaved. By the way, you can't be saved and not believe in the blood atonement. You can't be saved and not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are critical. These are fundamentals. So, my dad grew up in a church like that, and when my grandmother, the praying woman I talked about this morning, when she found out about it, she left that church and went down to another church that was evangelical. In other words, they believed the gospel. But even that church was weak. It had weakness and whirliness issues. It was better than the liberal church, but it was certainly, even though the people were saved, there was a lot of compromise and whirliness, etc. Well, that's how my dad grew up. Really, he didn't know. He didn't know separated Christianity. When he was 14 years old, he was sitting in a movie theater on a Saturday afternoon, because that's what he did every Saturday afternoon. Up to that point in his life, he had never heard of anybody who thought it was wrong to go to see a movie. He was sitting in the movie theater, and God convicted him. It was like the Lord said, what are you doing here, Wayne? And it seemed like every excuse that he had, even when he pointed around the movie theater and pointed out deacons and pointed out other people in leadership in his church, that didn't seem to, the excuse didn't seem to work with God. You ever argue with the Lord and your excuses just don't seem to work? And my dad is a 14-year-old young man who knew of, did not know of separated Christianity, walked out of that movie theater, and he looked up toward heaven and said, God, I'll make you a promise, I'll never go back. He was 14 years old. When he made that promise, he knew of no Christian on planet earth who held a similar conviction. Even his own mother at that point didn't have that conviction. She did later, not long after. Now, I am convinced that that decision of my 14-year-old father was highly significant. Seemed insignificant perhaps to some, but its insignificance actually made it significant friends. See, where do we really see, test somebody's character, you test them on the little issues. That's where you test where somebody's got character. None of the big ones, everybody's doing the big ones. I'm talking about everybody who has a heart for God. It's those corners, it's those little compromises, it's those little accommodations, it's pushing off the voice of the Holy Spirit, and some of those little issues that really are the more significant. Why? Why are these least commandments so significant? Well folks, it is my contention that it is honestly at the least commandments where your your surrender is tested. Do you know your surrender is not by and large tested at the big ones? Thou shalt not kill. That's not where our surrender is tested. Our surrender is tested at the least commandments. We're going to explain what a least commandment is in a moment, but the reason least commandments are significant is they really manifest our surrender, and a person who is totally surrendered needs God to only speak once. You know what a least commandment is? I'm convinced the least commandment is one as a commandment that God only has to mention one time. You know some things in the Bible God repeats, doesn't he? Over and over again they become significant, and we all understand in the Bible that if God wants to emphasize something, He repeats it. That's how Revelation works. We understand that. So a least commandment would be something that's not mentioned that much. But think about it, parents. How do you know your child has really surrendered to you in obedience? When you have to speak three times? When you have to speak five times? When do you know your child has surrendered to your authority and is an obedient child? When he responds after one time. Don't you think God's the same way? Friends, it is at the least commandment where our surrender is genuinely tested. Okay, not only is our surrender tested, our faith is too. You know, if we believe the Bible from cover to cover, how many times does God have to say it before we believe it? Just one time. So it is that the little issues, and so it's seemingly insignificant, the ones that a lot of Christians say, oh that's not that big a deal. Yeah, nobody does that anymore. It is that, that is where our surrender is tested. That is where our faith is tested. And all of us know you will never be great in the cause of Christ, never, until you come to total surrender and total dependence upon God and His Word. See, total surrender and total dependence are the two issues, the two pillars on which usefulness stand. And that's why the least commandments are so significant. That's why they're the litmus test. That's why it determines whether or not we'll be little used in the cause of Christ or greatly used in the cause of Christ. It all determines on what we will do with God's least commandments. Now, don't get worried with this. We've kind of introduced the subject. Now let's exegete the passage in the sense of, let's kind of run through it. Let's start with verse number 17. Kind of get a flow into verse number 19. Look at, first of all, it says, think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Now, let's look at that word fulfill. And I'm going to do something that is very dangerous tonight. I'm going to read from a commentary. Now, when you read from a commentary and you mention commentator or commentary, many people reach for the pillows, okay? Just hang on for a moment, won't be long. But let's really understand, what does it mean when God, Jesus said, I didn't come to destroy the law of the prophets. I came to fulfill them. What was he after? Why was that significant? What is he trying to tell us? Okay, let's understand what the word fulfill is. Here's what one commentator has said about the word fulfill. It's a man by the name of Broadus, who's written a commentary on Matthew that's quite well known. Quote, the idea seems to be that the law is regarded as previously incomplete, not fully developed into all the breadth and spiritual depth of its requirement. And Christ came to make it complete. Okay, saying, okay, I think I'm getting it. Okay, let's go on to a guy named Alfred Plummer, who wrote this. He does not mean taking the written law as it stands and literally obeying it. That is what he condemns. Not as wrong, but as wholly inadequate. He means, rather, starting with it as it stands and bringing it on to completeness, working out the spirit of it, getting at the comprehensive principles which underlie the narrowness of the letter. You say, now, what are these two guys saying? Folks, it's real simple. What they're saying is this, that Jesus came by, primarily by his teaching and obviously backed up by his life. Jesus came to complete the law. In other words, the law, God gave us the law, but there's some principles. There's some spirit which undergirds the law, and Jesus has come to complete that. And somebody's saying, okay, now, what does that mean? Because many times, folks, unfortunately in our day, people turn this upside down and they go out the wrong window and they end up in error. So what does he mean here? Well, the way to understand it is, let's look at his own examples. Look, if you would, please, right down here at verse number 21. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. Now, if I asked you tonight to bow your heads and said, okay, how many of you out here have never killed anybody? Probably every hand would be raised. And we kind of walk out, take pride and say, yeah, that's one command I've done all right. I haven't killed anybody. But you know what, friends? Don't miss this. The Lord Jesus anticipates our pride and he goes to the root of it, and you're gonna read the next verse and everybody in this room is going to be condemned because he's going to deal with what the principles and the spirit that undergirds that command not to kill. Look at it. But I say unto you, 22, whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka, literally that's like stupid or blockhead, literally is the idea there, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. That is a very stunning verse. And what the Lord Jesus is doing is saying, listen, folks, you've heard not to kill. But he said, I'm telling you, don't even have hatred in your heart that spills forth with words that are intended to kill. And we stand condemned. And although we may have never literally killed anybody, we understand what it is to have anger and hatred well up in our heart. We understand what it is to say cutting, biting things that are meant to whittle someone down or literally to wound them deeply, to kill with our words. And the Lord Jesus, he is giving us by his teaching, and of course he backed it up by his life, the principles and the spirit on which the law stands. Now let's look at another example. That one doesn't get you. This one is another one. Look at verse 27. You have heard that said by them of old time, thou shall not commit adultery. You know, friends, tonight, and I recognize it would be inappropriate perhaps to do this in a public setting, and I wouldn't do this, but let's say tonight we bow our heads and I said, okay, how many of you have never committed adultery? I realized probably a great majority of the people, if not all, would raise their hands. And we might walk out of here and say, well, you know, I got that one down. But friends, I want to tell you, before it's over here, the Lord Jesus in the very next breath condemns us. Look at what it says. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And the Lord Jesus goes, don't miss this, what he's simply saying is, faithfulness to your spouse is not just in action, it is in thought. Listen, young person, if you're not married, faithfulness to your future spouse is not just in your action, it is in your brain, it is in what you think about. And the Lord Jesus cuts to the very core of the issue that purity is not just in what we do, purity is what we think. And so the Lord Jesus comes right at it. And folks, to be honest with you, you see, it's so easy for us to look at the Old Testament law and say, okay, thou shalt not kill you, I've got that one, thou shalt not kill you, I'm okay on this one. And Jesus comes along, says, oh no, you're missing something here. Here's the principles, here's the spirit that undergird what I'm saying here. This is it. And you know what we find today? People are trying to make the spirit of the law looser than the law, when actually the spirit of the law is tighter than the law. And folks, in a moment we're going to apply this a little bit more. Jesus said the action is just not the issue, the thought of it is. And you can take every media issue outlet we've got in the United States of America, and you could plug it in right here. And what God is simply saying is, you had better not be involved in media choices that are causing your brain to be unfaithful to your either future spouse or present spouse. And it's amazing to me, the Lord Jesus comes along and says, thou shalt not commit adultery, is his text, and then he takes it far deeper than most preachers will. There's a kind of a thinking today among evangelical circles, and I use this word very broadly, that well, you know, you know, if it's not there in black and white, you really can't preach on it. And you know what the Lord Jesus does, he said, what he's saying is, he said, you're missing the whole spirit of what I'm saying. You know, some say, oh, you can social drink, or you can smoke cigarettes, that's not in the Bible. And there's no verse that says, thou shalt not smoke camels. And, you know, of course, can you imagine that a verse in the New Testament Greek, thou shalt not smoke camels. You can imagine them looking at that and saying, boy, I didn't, well, you know, they wouldn't have had a clue. So what does the Lord do? The Lord gives us, he gives us principles, he gives us the spirit that undergirds the law, so that folks, as time goes on, we have enough of a brain to apply it to our lives. That's what he's doing. He announces text, thou shalt not commit adultery. You know, you have some people today, if Jesus had come and preached on thou shalt not commit adultery, and then started making application to what you think about, oh, they'd say, oh, you're going farther than the Word of God says. And know what he's saying is, no, I'm getting to the very thing that undergirds the Word of God. The very spirit, the very principles that undergird the command. And friend, I will tell you, when a preacher gets up and talks about watching bed scenes, and watching dirty internet sites, and watching immodesty on the DVDs, and watching some of the provocation in our day, he is completely in the spirit and the principles of the preaching of the Lord Jesus. And his text was, thou shalt not commit adultery. See, we forget that. So the Lord Jesus is giving us, very clearly, the principles. He's helping us understand what he came to do in his teaching. And obviously, his life backed it up, but it's his teaching that he fulfilled the law. He completed it. Now, let's look at the next verse, because there's another avenue he comes at. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle, showing no eyes pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Now, that's a different word, fulfilled. It means come to pass. And what the Lord is simply saying here is this. You know, you can go out, all of us can. We can go out, and we can live contrary to the Word of God. But what he's simply saying is, it will not work. You know, you can go out and look at all kinds. Be not deceived. God does not walk. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. In the Old Testament, the book of Proverbs, the back's lighter than heart, shall be filled with his own ways. His own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and shall be beholden with the cords of his own sins. And folks, let me just say this. Any of us in this room can go out, and we can choose the sin. But what God is simply saying is, it will not work. My Word will come to pass. See, any of us can disobey God's Word. We can fly in the face of Bible principle. We can do it our way. But God says, heaven and earth, okay, shall not pass away. My Word, to all my Word is fulfilled. In other words, everything God says is, you will not be the first exception. God's Word will be fulfilled. That's what he's saying there. Now, based on that, folks, let's go to verse number 19, because that's the centerpiece of what we're talking about tonight. It says, whosoever there is, therefore. So let's go back for a moment. Based on the fact that Jesus Christ came through his teaching in life to give us the principles and the Spirit that undergirds the law. And since everything God says is going to surely come to pass, and there's not any sin you can commit, there's nothing that you can do, choices you can make, and get away with it. In other words, God's Word will be fulfilled. It will come to pass. Since that, those are true. God says, okay, whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments and teach men so he should be called least in the kingdom of heaven. And folks, let me just say this. When you break least commandments by your example, you're urging other people to do the same. Father, when you compromise with what you watch on the television set, you have children who see the compromise and you teach them negatively. So God simply said, when we break the least commandments and we teach men so, we're gonna be least in the cause of Christ, but when we do God's least commandments and we teach men so, we'll be great in the cause of Christ. Now let's just stop for a moment and consider some things and then we'll look at a couple least commandments tonight. Now you know why I was nervous about this thing. Least commandments are controversial. They shouldn't be. Now let's just give you a couple of examples of least commandments. A few years ago, I was talking to a classmate of mine, I can't remember who it was, in my Christian school. He was talking about another classmate of mine, this is not first person, but another classmate of mine who has struggled spiritually ever since his high school days. And this other young man had said to this gentleman who I was talking to, he was talking about church attendance and he said this, he said, you tell me in the Bible where it says to be in church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night and he said then don't use Hebrews 1025. Well that's the whole point. That's the only, now I believe in spirit and principle, it's all throughout the Word of God, don't get me wrong, but where it's clearly stated it's only one time, Hebrews 1025. Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see your day approaching. God says the closer it gets to my coming, the more faithfulness to your assembly is mandated. Has there ever been a day that Jesus Christ's second coming was any closer than it is today? What he's saying is faithfulness is absolutely, it's important. We say, Richard, what does it mean to not forsake? Well if you're in Iraq and you don't come to church here at Calvary, you're not forsaking. If you're in jail and you don't come to church, you're not forsaking. If you're sitting home watching television completely healthy, you're forsaking. In other words, if you could be here, you're not providentially hindered, you could be here and you don't come well that's forsaking, isn't it? You know, as I've talked about, I've read a lot of Christian biographies. I have never read a biography of any man or woman who is greatly used of the Lord who is unfaithful to the assembly God had called them to. Never one. You can read it, you can read all throughout Christian biography and anytime you find a man or woman who is greatly used of God, you always find something that marks their life. They are faithful to the assembly of God's people that God has brought them to. Why? Because that's one of God's commandments. And if you break it, what it's indicating is you're not surrendered. The real issue is not attendance. The real issue is you're not surrendered. The real issue is you have not come to believe that everything God says is the best. Because if you really believe that God's way is best from cover to cover, then you'll do whatever He asked you to do. If you really surrender, then God only has to say it once. You say, okay Lord, reporting for duty. Okay, so that kind of helps us out. Give us a little bit of idea here. Okay, let's move on to another one. Please command it. A few years ago, my brother John, who's an evangelist, he's younger than I. Some of you may be familiar with my brother's ministry. It's kind of interesting. We're brothers, we grew up, we used to wrestle a lot, maybe get a few fistfights. And now every time my brother preaches, he always blesses me. It's just a really strange thing to have a younger brother who preaches with great blessing and power. But anyway, my brother John, we were having a conversation one time. He told me this story. A few years ago, he was in the state of Michigan. After the service, a gentleman walked up to him, a young man, and he began to debate to him on the subject of music. Well, my brother really wasn't interested in debating, so he just said, let's just so we know what you're talking about. You're talking about Christian music, but what does it sound like? And so the young man began to use worldly terms to describe the sound of his music. Well, it sounds like, and you know, etc., the different kind of music that's out there. And of course, he described it in worldly terms. And my brother John simply opened up Romans 12 to, and he says, well, what do you do with this verse? And be not conformed to this world. And you know what the guy said? The guy looked right back at my brother John, he said, well, that's only one verse. Do you need two? Well, in this case, I can give you two. In 1st Peter, it says, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts. In that case, there is two. But you see, do you see the mentality we've gotten into today? So, that gives us a little idea. Now, obviously, we've just kind of touched on a few, but let's just take it a little bit farther. Now, folks, there are a lot of least commandments we could deal with tonight. And what I'm going to try to do with the couple of least commandments that I'm going to deal with tonight, I'm going to try to pick ones that are not an interpretational battleground. There are some least commandments that we could bring up tonight that a good, good people would say, I disagree on your interpretation. Others would say, so I'm going to deal with ones where there's no interpretation problem. It's very obvious what God means. That way, our argument is, well, I just don't interpret it that way. We all know what it says. It's very clear what it says. Scholars agree on what it says. The issue is just one of obedience. So, let's just stick with the obvious ones. Can we do that tonight? Now, I'm trying to pick some hot-button ones because, you know, if it's, well, yeah, I got that one down. That's not the point. I want us to be challenged tonight. Now, let's go, if you would, please, to 1 Timothy chapter number 2. Hang on. Fasten your seatbelts. We are going into the realm of dress, particularly ladies' dress. Now, by the way, before we get into the deal with the modesty issue, which is found in verse number 9, let me just simply say this before we do so, because maybe you men are sitting back there and saying, okay, preacher, fire away. I'll let the ladies have it. How this was not for me, just let them have it. Okay? And I know how that is, men. It's kind of nice when I'm picking something that doesn't have to be your issue. But I'm going to be honest with you folks, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I hope it comes across right because it is my intent too. I will tell you that modesty on women is not primarily a feminine issue. The problem in the United States of America with ladies dressing immodestly is a male problem. You mark it. If fathers and husbands would do right, no preacher would have to preach on modesty. You mark this. 99.9, I'd say 100%, but just in case there's an exception. 99.9% time when you see a lady who is not dressed right, it indicates the failure of a man in her life. And I guarantee you the problem we're having with the proliferation of immodesty and provocation in our day, and certainly it is tragic because every year it gets worse, is primarily indicating a failure among men. And I will tell you the primary failure I'm convinced is not some lost guy down in the bar. The primary problem is God's people. See, we're the salt. So when we lose it, the whole world's in trouble. We can't expect lost people to be the salt. And by the way, isn't it tragic? Because sometimes they are even lost. People know what immodesty is. They know what appropriateness is. I remember years ago I was, I lived in Greenville, South Carolina. You say, how in the world did you move from the South to the North? It's called the will of God. Okay. Uh, that's what got me across the Mason Dixon line. Okay. Just want to make sure we keep that, uh, clear. And by the way, there is one great thing about Wisconsin. It's called summer. Uh, but anyway, okay. In fact, I will tell you this, our summers are better than yours. 70 degrees. It's just unbelievable. And in fact, I was down in Miami four to one morning and these kids were coming into school, 60 degrees. They're coming in huge parkas, sweatshirts. They were freezing. I just had this collared shirt on, no t-shirt, collared shirt on. I said, Hey kids, what's going on? This is a summer morning in Wisconsin. Just, I guess it's kind of relative where you are. But anyway, every place you live has, has a good three months and well, they have a bad three months too, but we won't go into that. Okay. Greenville, South Carolina. A few years ago, I lived there. I was listening to some talk guy on and Green Day had just come to town the night before. And most, most of you aren't familiar with Green Day, but it's a vile, just wicked, uh, a rock group. And I, I think it was grunge rock and that kind of thing back about 10 years ago. And I remember people calling in and they were saying, listen, I am not a religious person. I am not a church goer. But last night I walked out of that Green Day concert. You know, it's tragic when lost people sometimes have more sense than God's people do. I was on a website of a young man who I happened to know who was planning a church in Seattle, Washington, and he talked on the website on his blogs. He talked about listening to Green Day. You know, isn't it tragic when a man going to hell has more sense than a man planning a church in Seattle who comes from fundamental stock. I tell you what, folks, we've got problems. See, so, um, let's go here to first Timothy and chapter number two, recognizing that really this is our issue. Certainly we've got a problem with the world, but we have Christians got to look at this just for a moment. We won't take a lot of time on each of these, but we want to just start thinking, look at verse number eight, where the main verb comes. I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame, facelessness and sobriety. And I'm going to stop there because the last part of the verse is an interpretational battleground. I'm not saying that we were just for time. We're not going to deal with it. Let's deal with what nobody debates on what it means. And what the Bible teaches us here is first of all, it says, I will, therefore that is, it could be the ideas I command or I purpose. And what the Lord is doing here is he is giving us a command. So this is a commandment and it's what I would call the least commandment, but it is a commandment. Now, if you supply the main verb, then from verse number eight into verse number nine, which is grammatically what you need to do. Here's how we'll read. I will therefore in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. So whatever this verse means, it is not a nice idea. It is not my opinion. Whatever this verse means, you and I are being commanded to do it by our captain. It is a mandate from the master. It is a command from the captain. So what does it mean? Well, just for a moment, let's look at a couple other words and put it all together. Notice it says in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest note, the word apparel. Now, when we read the word apparel, we first of all think of the fact, well, this is talking about clothes and that is true, but commentators point out that this word apparel art and Gingrich furnished this definition, deportment outward as it expresses itself in clothing as well as inward and probably both at the same time. So the word apparel here is not just talking about clothes in a closet. Don't miss this. It is talking about how a lady carries herself. See, God is not just concerned about modest apparel. He is concerned about modest deportment. And I traveled in a ministry and we go into Christian schools. You know, every Christian school I've ever been in has a dress code. Did you know that they all differ? Some of them I like better than others. You see, the more conservative, the more I like it. But, you know, every Christian school has a dress code, but I will tell you, you can go into Christian school and it does not take you long before you can very clearly see which young ladies are headed down the Proverbs 7 route. Don't miss this, folks. Just by the way they carry themselves. Their interaction with the opposite gender, trying to be appropriate and careful, obviously here tonight, but I think you know what I'm talking about. That flirtatious spirit, cocking themselves like the Bible talks about there, the eyes, the lips, all of that, which is intended to draw in a way that is obviously inappropriate and wicked. And what the Lord is doing here in this first Timothy chapter two, is he is going after not just, he is not just going after the clothes we put on. He is putting, he's going after the heart. And I put it this way, young lady, either you are nurturing faithfulness for your future spouse, or you're a nurturing unfaithfulness. And at many times manifested on the way you carry yourself. And guys, it's the same way. It's a little bit different for young men. You either are nurturing faithfulness for a future spouse, or you are nurturing unfaithfulness for a future spouse. And what determines that is usually what's going on in your brain. Like Jesus talked about, whether you're fighting the battle to keep your mind for one, or you are allowing impurity to invade your mind. That deters tells you what's going on for a girl. The issue is a little bit different. The issue is this issue in a moment, we're going to deal with the word shame-faced. It is dealing with that inward quality of purity. Someone who is chased, and they communicated in the way they carry themselves, and in the way they dress. And it's simply put, the way a young lady dresses is basically, it is an advertisement. It is either an advertisement to wicked men, or it is an advertisement that to godly men. But young lady, you're not in between on this thing. Either you're saying I'm available, or you're saying, like the Bible says in the book of Solomon, I am a wall. You are either communicating I'm available, or you're communicating I'm a wall. Don't even think about it. Just by the way you carry yourself, and just by the way you dress. You're either communicating I'm waiting for the right one, and that's it. Or you're communicating the opposite. And that's what this verse of scripture is dealing with folks. And obviously in the world in which we live, we are seeing a decline on this. And I want to warn you, because I think it's extremely possible for God's people, if we're not careful, to become desensitized. You know Ted Bundy, the night he was executed, when he talked to psychologist James Dobson, he said that he could pick up a pornographic magazine, he said it was no turn on at all. You know, when you hear something like that, you know what it indicates? You know, a man would be a fool to listen to that, and say, oh there must not be anything wrong with pornography. A man would be a fool to come to that conclusion. You know what Bundy was saying? Bundy was saying, I've watched so much filth, I've looked at so much junk, I've looked at so much rotten garbage, that I am desensitized to obvious provocation. You know what he's saying? I'm in huge trouble. You know, people who can say they can go down to the beach, and watch people in modern beach wear, and not have any problem with wrong thoughts, do you know what they're saying? They're saying, I am in trouble. I have become desensitized. That's what they're saying. You know, to be honest with you gentlemen, the more you fight to keep yourself pure, and the more you keep junk out of your mind and brain, actually the more sensitized you are. The less immodesty is a provocation to you. See how far we've come in our culture? And we've allowed ourselves to become desensitized, and then we use that as an excuse to become further desensitized. Well, it doesn't bother me. Well, you ever heard of the fact that maybe it should? That the fact that you're not desensitized indicates that you're not sensitized indicates that you've got a huge problem? You know, if we went back to Puritan New England, folks, in a time machine, and we put a 14-year-old boy in that time machine, and you brought him back to the average mall in America, I want to ask you a question. Would he have a problem? He'd have an enormous problem. In fact, you mark this, you bring him to the average youth group, he'd have a huge problem. Why? Because he is going to be introduced to immodesty he has never seen before. Because from that point, he would have been completely, he would not have been desensitized at all. Now folks, this is where we're coming from, and the truth is, this is what I just absolutely, it's wonderful about how God set this up. You know, a little girl's born in the world, God gives in God's plan, I realize Sinmar's this, but a little girl's born in the world, God gives her a father. I'll never forget 10 years ago, 10 and a half years ago, when Stephanie was born, the doctor told us she was going to be a boy, so we were total shock, you know, it's a girl, it's a girl, what do you got, you got to be kidding me, it's a girl, okay, and as soon as they put that little baby in my arm, I was sold. I said, you give me all the ornery boys in the world, I wouldn't trade it for that one little sweet little girl. But I will tell you, when they put Stephanie Joy in my arms, every father knows what I'm talking about, something powerful took place. There was innate in my heart, a desire to protect that little girl, it was like she was fragile, I didn't even know how to hold her, you know, how do you hold a little girl, little boy, you know, just throw him around, I mean, get him used to, get him used to life, you know, they'll survive, but a little girl, and every father knows what I'm talking about, they put that first little girl in your arms, and something happens. You know what, friends, that's the way God made us. God gives a little girl, she's born into a home, she's got a father, it's in God's plan for that father to protect her, and then she gets married, that's God's plan for that husband to protect her, and I hate to tell you this, husbands, but most of the time we knock off first, your wife left, I guess women do better alone, but anyway, I don't know how I went there, but I'm going somewhere. You know, a lady is widowed, you know, God still has men to protect her, it's called the church. See, God has a plan, dear ladies, from the moment you're born, all the way to the moment you die, that godly men should protect you. Sin mars the model, folks, we all understand that, but just because sin mars the model doesn't mean there's a model, and I simply say this, that fathers, it is our responsibility to make sure when our ladies leave our home, they are dressed appropriately, because modesty is a God-given protection to protect women from wicked men, and you mark it in 2006, there's a lot of wicked men. You know what immodesty does? It leaves a woman vulnerable to wicked men. See, this is a big issue, and God's coming right at us, and he's saying, listen, don't you see, you need to adorn yourself in modest apparel, you need to carry yourself in a very chaste, appropriate manner. Young lady, you need to conduct yourself among young men in a way that says, I am keeping myself 100% for my future mate. You know, I tell young people, purity, it's really simple, we miss it. Purity is real simple. Okay, all you chemists out here, help me out. If you got pure gold, how many elements do you got? Isn't that amazing? Shock of shocks. So you know what a pure young person is doing? They are keeping everything for how many? One. Isn't that simple? Isn't that so simple? See, some young people say, well, you know, how far can I go? That is an absolutely stupid question. The answer is, how pure can I be? How much can I save for my future spouse? That's purity. You see, the idea, young people, if you're going to be pure, is keeping your body for one, it's keeping your mind for one, and it's keeping your heart for one. See, that's purity. It's keeping everything for one. You're not interested to have 15 million loves before you marry. You know, I'm convinced that God doesn't want you to have ex-boyfriends, young ladies. He wants you to have one. See, purity is keeping everything for one. And when you leave a little piece of your heart with 15 guys before you marry, you are the loser. See, purity is keeping it all for one, your whole heart, your whole mind. You see, all of us, when it comes to the mind, nobody would debate that. Nobody would say, well, it's okay to think dirty thoughts. Nobody would say that. We know that it is right for a young man to keep his mind pure for one. Why then is it a shock to us to think that we ought to keep our heart for one, for the girls and for the guys? See, so, so back again to this text, I just want to show a couple other things here before we move on. It says, in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety. The word shamefaced is an interesting word. It has literally the idea of the concept that a woman would have shame in her face if she knew that she inadvertently had caused someone to think wrong thoughts. It would horrify her. It would bring shame to her face. Do you know, folks, we have lost the ability to blush. Now, young ladies, I want to ask you a question, even older ladies, do you have this quality? One writer has put it this way. It's an innate moral repugnance to a dishonorable act or fashion. I mean, it's deep in you. Shamefacedness is inequality. Well, this is maybe a little test. You're walking down, you're walking down the mall, and again, I recognize, I don't know about your area, but the mall's in my area. You can hardly, you got to go in from the outside, get what you're getting and go, because if you go through the mall, you're going to be in, you're going to be in a morass. I don't have no idea what they are around here, but I give that disclaimer in case they're like where they are or are from my area. But anyway, let's just imagine you're walking down in a public arena somewhere, and there's some unsaved guys who are obviously, they have hair everywhere, you know, they have earrings everywhere but their ear, and they got these black leather jackets on, and they're walking down, they got these black shirts on with all these weird things all over it. And let's just imagine, young lady, that these guys started to show you inappropriate attention. They gave that universal whistle. And then they began to show inappropriate attention. I want to ask you, young ladies, would you like that? Or would that horrify you? Because if you would like that, you are not shamefaced. Shamefaced would blush at that. It would bother you. Now, I thank the Lord, I had a mother who was shamefaced. I remember one time, some guy called my mother with an obscene phone call. Now, you have to understand, my mother could have been Huldah the Prophetess, and my mother probably came out of the same mold. My mother, I mean, she, I mean, if there was such a thing as lady preachers, my mom could have been one. You know, people say, who's the best Van Gelder preacher? Hands down, it's my mother, okay? She's the best. So you have to understand context here. So this guy calls my mother, and I remember, I don't know why, I just happened to be observing my mother. She answers the phone, she says hello, and then her face just went red. And then I saw those, I mean, I saw those angry furrows, which I've seen on other occasions, but we'll not go into that. Those angry furrows that my mother had, that prophetic, you know, I don't want to explain it, you know, the fire started to burn. And then she said, you, she said to that guy, she said, don't you ever call me back again. And I said, you know, I mean, she lectured him, I don't know what she said, she said, don't ever call back again. And then boom, she slams the phone down. And she stood about it for about two hours. That's shamefacedness. Now I ask you, young lady, do you have that? Because God is commanding us, it's a least commandment, but God is commanding us to dress and carry ourselves in a way that is appropriate, that is modest, that is chaste, that says, I'm keeping myself for my future mate, I'm keeping my heart, I'm keeping my mind and keeping my body for just one. And, and that's that, that's my, that's where I'm going. And that's the idea, friends, of shamefacedness. Sobriety is self-control. You know what the lack of sobriety, you know what, I'm convinced with the very first part of a lack of sobriety begins, you know, it begins flirting. I used to think to myself, is there such a thing as appropriate flirting? Well, maybe a husband and wife, but that's the only thing I can think of. I don't know about you, but I think we kind of think flirting's cute. You know, let's see this little 13 year old and this other little 13 year old, and they're flirting with one another. And we think it's cute. I want to ask you, buddy, you let some guy come along and flirt like that with your wife and it won't be cute, will it? Now mark this down, friends, pardon the English, but if it ain't cute after you get married, it ain't cute before. I tell young people never do anything, you'd be ashamed to have videotaped and shown to your future spouse, never do anything. That you'd be ashamed to have videotaped and shown to your future spouse. And I will tell you, friends, it bothers me when married men flirt with other ladies that aren't their wives. It bothers me. But I will tell you, that didn't happen overnight. I can guarantee you, you know why they do that? Because that's what they did before they got married. You mark it, people who are flirts after they get married, they were flirts before they got married. And you know what they were doing? They were creating an appetite for many. Couldn't satisfy with just one. See, what God says really works. Adorn yourself with modest demeanor, a heart with shamefacedness, that inner quality, that innate moral repugnance to a dishonorable act or fashion. Let me ask you, young ladies, when you go in to shop for some clothes and you perhaps see a model or a picture of some inappropriate clothing, let me ask you a question. Does that horrify you or do you think, man, I wish I could dress that way? Because if you ask, if you think, man, I wish I could dress that way, you are not shamefaced and you are disobeying to Almighty God. A few years ago, Abercrombie and Fitch used to be an outdoorsman place. They had, how many of you are familiar with Abercrombie? At least, I'm not saying you go there, but you're familiar with it, okay. It used to be an outdoorsman shop. They had rugby shirts, all kinds of things. Then they made a calculated shift about 10 years ago to market to teenage sensuality. One of the most wicked ads I've ever seen in an airport was Abercrombie and Fitch. I will not even begin to describe it. It was vile. It was wicked. It was peeled off the walls of hell and that is not too strong. I want to tell you, to be honest with you folks, I would not go to Abercrombie and Fitch if you put a gun to my head. And I want to tell you, young people, if that's the kind of clothing you want to wear, you can market down, you are not shamefaced. It amazes me a clothing store advertises clothing by having models who aren't wearing very much. That doesn't make sense to me, but that's the world in which we live. So, so anyway, least commandment here. Okay, we spent too much time on this one anyway. I took my watch off. That was a bad deal, wasn't it? Okay, one more. One more. You're hanging with me. You say, preacher, you've ruined it. You've shot the crowd. They won't be back tomorrow night. Well, I remember one time it was Super Bowl Sunday and Sunday morning, my dad got up. You just had to know my dad and he got up in a big, huge smile. I said, folks, I'm so excited about tonight. He said, tonight, I get to see who in my congregation loves Jesus. Place was packed that night. Okay. Okay. We're having a good time. I'm having a good time. You're having a good time. Okay, here we go. One more. Okay. You said, preacher, this is getting heavy. One more and we're done. Go to Ephesians chapter five. Would you do that? Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five. And let's look at verses three and four. Ephesians chapter five. Look at verses three and four. And we're just going to look at one more least commandment. We spend a little bit of time on the modesty issue simply because it's such a huge issue today. Ephesians chapter five. Look, if you would, please, at verses three and four, it says, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh saints. God says there's three things that are not fit for believers. Moral failure, fornication, all aspects of sexual sin, all uncleanness. So folks, all uncleanness is including not just moral failure. It is including the road to it is all the sensuality, the passion and that leads to moral failure. That's all uncleanness. God wants us to make sure he's talking about all of it. And then he says, covetousness. Now, in this context, it's not just greed for the green stuff. It is greed for a cheap thrill, greed for a turn on. This would include pornography, internet pornography, anything that people go to for a cheap thrill. That is covetousness. It's greed for lust. God says those three things should never be even named among you as things that are fit for believers. Then he goes on almost like, oh, there's some more. Look at verse four, neither filthiness, that's vulgarity, dirty talk, nor foolish talking. That's the talk of fools. There are a lot of things that fools do when they talk, but one of them, mark it down. A fool is a person who takes God's name in vain. You mark it down. Anybody who takes God's name in vain is a fool. Because God says, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Of all the 10 commandments, the only one that says you do it, you will not be guiltless, which means you will be guilty is that one. To me, it's like a huge red flag and God is saying, don't break that commandment. It's important to God, friends, and yet I will tell you there's some dear believers out here. Undoubtedly, you may not turn on a bed scene, but you will turn on and you'll let some actor take God's name in vain and throw it through the air, and you don't even think about it. God says foolish talking, the talk of fools, nor jesting. Literally jesting is to turn well. It means taking something that's innocent, twisting it so it's dirty funny. It includes the dirty innuendo, the dirty joke, dirty humor, any kind of that at all. Anything that's funny, that's dirty. God says, let it not once be named among you as become a saints. Now, folks, you know what that means? Never one time should a Christian ever knowingly put on a television program where there's going to be immodesty, where there's going to be provocation, where there's going to be a bed scene, where there's going to be a dirty humor, where there's going to be dirty innuendos, where there's going to be filthy talk, where there's going to be God's name being taken in vain. Do you know in the movie King Kong that Jesus Christ's name was taken in vain 12 times? I want to tell you something, friends. I'm not interested in seeing King Kong. I don't care when it comes out on DVD. I don't care if you hand me the DVD. I'm not watching it. It took the name of the Lord Jesus that died on a cross. For me, it took it in vain 12 times. Why is it, friends? We sing Jesus is the sweetest name I know, and then we'll sit down and watch something where Jesus' name is taken in vain. It is pure hypocrisy, and God says not once. A few years ago, there was a blockbuster movie called Men in Black. The very first word of Men in Black is God's name being taken in vain. It is followed by 65 profanities before the credits roll. 66 times in one movie, God's name is taken in vain, and God says not once. I remember a few years ago, I was in Savannah, Georgia. A kid came forward. He said, Preacher, what are you talking about with this TV movie stuff? So I sat down. I showed him Psalm 101.3. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. By the way, I've done an intense study on Psalm 101 verse 3. You know what it means? I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. Just a shock. But anyway, that's exactly what it means. But anyway, I showed him that. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes, and I went over that. I went over here to Ephesians chapter 5 verses 3 and 4, and I said, there's six things that God should never one time should be named among you. I went through all the six things, and I went through it all. I said, never one time, you should ever one time turn on a TV program that you know is going to have something like this on it. Never once. And I'll never forget, the kid looks at me like I've got antennas, like I'm an alien, and he looks at me, and he says, hey preacher. He said, if I obeyed these verses, he said, I wouldn't be watching any television. You know, I didn't do it. I restrained myself, but I felt like going, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. You know what that means? Everything he was watching violated God's rules. And he knew it. You say, well preacher, what do you think? Do you think it's okay for a TV, for a Christian to have a TV? Well, I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to defer to the Word of God, but here's what God says. All things are lawful unto me. Oh, there it is. All things are lawful unto me, but I will not be brought into the power of any. If you cannot control your television, you have no biblical right to have it. We don't have a television for one reason. I can't control it. If you can, that's between you and the Lord, but I can't control it. You say, well, I saw some VCRs. Those are called education video units. Try to turn them on. You'll get fuzz. That's it. Now, if you have one, that's fine. I'm not saying, but if you don't control it, you don't have a right to have it. You know why? Because God says, not let, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. Let not, not once be named among you. You know, folks, I learned this long time ago when I used to watch television. If they can cuss once, they can cuss twice. Isn't that just shock you? So if we're going to obey Ephesians 5, 3, and 4, you know what that means? You know what it means. Let it not one time. And be named among you is that which is fit for saints. Folks, profanity is not fit for saints. You say, well, come on preacher. Hey, you're going to hear it in the workplace. You're going to hear it in the break room. You know, friends, the workplace in the break room is a far cry from the four walls of your home. You can't control what goes on in the break room, but you can control what goes on in your house. And that's why David in Psalm 101 says, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. He's giving his vows. He's basically saying in my sphere of influence, I'm making some decisions. His sphere of influence happened to be a kingdom for us. It may only be a house, but the same, this same folks, folks, the workplace is a far cry from your place. We have all these excuses, but God says, let it not one time be named among you. And I guarantee you friends, if you are compromising with media choices, you're going to do very little for the cause of Christ. I'm convinced that this is the big one, folks. I'm convinced if it were known that many times God's people, the reason there's no power, there's no revival, there's no blessing, there's no prayer life. There's no answered prayer. There's no movement forward is because compromise and media choices. I mean, it's just about anything that the world spits out somewhere along the line is going to violate one of those six on that list. Isn't it very few exceptions. I think the last movie I saw, or one of the last I saw was a video that my sister-in-law got from the library. This is back in the eighties. She put it in the VCR and she forced me to watch Anne of Green Gables. And yes, I did cry when Matthew died. That's such a stupid movie. Well, it doesn't make you cry the whole time. You know, friends, I go down the line of movies. I have not seen you name a movie. I probably haven't seen it. I'm talking about DVD. I haven't seen them. You know how much television I've lost in the last year? 10 hours. Maybe that might be a liberal estimate. Now, my point is, folks, this is going to shock you that you can, you can go, you can watch very little television and not watch a lot of popular things that are out there. And you can still be happy. You know, I've had a wonderful year. I know it's a huge shock, but I've had a wonderful year. See, so, so the point I'm making, folks, is, is God says on all of our immediate choices, they better, they better pass the test. Well, certainly you might be able to find something your family enjoys. We all understand that. But God says, number one, it can't control you. And number two, it's got to pass my test. And you know what, folks, that really limits, that limits what was produced in the thirties. There's not a whole lot out there. There's some, obviously, but there's not much. So let it not one time be named among you as become saints. Years ago, C.T. Studd was home, the famous missionary. He was home in England and somebody went by his house at very, in the middle of the night. And they saw, noticed that one of the lights was on his home. They noted it because they knew the famed missionary and they decided they'd ask him later in the day when they saw him. And they did see Brother Studd a little bit later in on the day. And the man walked up to him and said, Mr. Studd, he said, I noticed last night, I went through in the middle of the night and I noticed your light was on. What was going on? We could tell that C.T. Studd was a little bit reluctant to talk to him. He said, well, I was reading my Bible. But the man was very interested, so he probed a little bit more. He said, what do you mean reading your Bible? Well, C.T. Studd gave it a little bit more. He said, well, he said, I was looking for commandments. And that's still unsatisfying. So he probed a little bit more and finally C.T. Studd just said, OK, I'll tell you. He said, I was looking for commandments just in case there were some I was not obeying. Friends, we have lost that. How to be great in the cause of Christ. The thing that determines young person, mom, dad, the things that will determine whether or not you and I will be great or little in the cause of Christ is what we do with God's least commandments. For there, your surrender to Jesus Christ is tested and there your faith in the book is tested. God's least commandments.