In this sermon, the preacher describes a situation where he had a planned sermon but felt a burden on his heart as he saw young people gathering for the meeting. He emphasizes the importance of hearing and obeying the word of God, as it brings joy to the heart. The preacher then shares his discomfort when he felt a turning in his heart and didn't know which direction to go with his sermon. He concludes by discussing the significance of Christian appearance and how it reflects our faith.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. If I were alone and I was studying my Bible and I found something exciting in the Bible, I would run and get my wife, like a little boy who found something special. Like a little boy who was out in the garden and maybe he found himself an Indian head. An arrowhead. And he picked that thing up and he looked at it and the first thing he thought about was, I'm going to go show my daddy what I found. He had to make a steady Christian appearance. No idea what I would find. I feel like I've been panning for gold. In the panning of the gold, I discovered many just precious gold nuggets in the sand. I would just like to share them with you. He takes his pen and draws. You just don't lose it. But I desire for you to hear it more than I desire to teach it, which means I'll do it. As I look back at my life and the experiences that God has made in my heart. Help me. Write it on the table of your heart. A few weeks ago, I said, Well, when I started out, I thought I knew what... And I've learned this. That when the Lord from heaven begins to inspire a message and lead through His Word, He many times also inspires an illustration, an easy way to take His Holy Word and make it clear for everybody. A week ago, on a Saturday evening, I went to a... I was there at the brethren camp meeting. I was asked several weeks ago to bring a message to the youth. Brother Denny, would you come and bring a message to the youth at our camp meeting? I showed up there, ready to go. Sermon in my Bible, all prepared. And I sat there in the front of that auditorium. And then all the people started to come in. And they had the auditorium set up in such a way that they had the first three rows here and the first three rows here set aside for the ladies, the young ladies, and the young men. So if you can just picture this with me. Here I sit, sermon in my Bible, ready to go. Know what I'm going to say. Burden on my heart. The direction that I think God wants me to go is all planned out. And I'm sitting there very quietly in a seat. And everyone starts to gather together for the meeting. And the young ladies and the young men started gathering in. And as the young ladies started to come in, they all seemed to come in this door over here. I don't know why. And all the young men came in this door over here. And I was sitting in a chair right over here. And they started to file in. There was probably 30, 35, maybe 40 young ladies that came walking through the door there. And as they walked through the door, my spirit began to breathe within me. As the things that I saw and the spirits that were manifest in the young lady that walked through the door. The clothes didn't seem right. The spirit that they had, it wasn't right. There were many, many small coverings. There was much puffing of the hair. There was thin materials and creamy materials, dresses. And the dresses were too short. And many times the legs were uncovered and see-through nylons were worn. And all these young ladies came through here. And, of course, this is what I'm here for. All these people are coming in here. And I'm to have a message and to challenge these young people to live for God. And they began to file in here. And, again, as I look upon that, I begin to take the temperature, so to speak. And I begin to realize just where these young people are as they begin to file in here. And my spirit began to grieve. And my heart began to ache. And there began a turning inside my heart. And I didn't know what to do. It's a very uncomfortable situation when you think you know where you're going. And you got the sermon all written out and everything is planned. And then you sit there in a service. And all of a sudden something begins to turn inside your heart. And you don't know which way to go. Should I go ahead and do what I was supposed to do? Or are you trying to tell me something else? And I just didn't know what to do. This five minutes before this, after all these young ladies filed in there with all their bouffant hairdos, with a little covering on the top and all this kind of attire, a young lady walked through the door. She stepped up in the door there. And she just stood in the doorway. And just looking over the area to see where she... I say this in the right spirit. She had on a dress that was long enough. She had on a dress that was loose enough. It covered her. And there was grace. And I'm telling you just as surely as if God Almighty moved in and He just threw a picture. That is Christian. She had a spirit. She had a meek and quiet spirit that you could sense. She had a meek and quiet spirit that you could see. She had a spirit of inner self-discipline. You could tell that young... You could tell she did what she was... What a contrast. For all these young... Then slowly with... Here it is. Lord, go ahead. I'll do what I'm supposed to do. Then I really... Beautiful. The material wasn't appealing. What was beautiful about this young lady? And she had on a pair of glasses. And I think she had somewhat of a sight problem because the lenses in her... She had the beauty of holiness. And in her home, she lived continually... To shorten it up and tighten it up and brighten it up. Why don't you shorten your dress? Why don't you look like the other girls? Why don't you tighten it up? Why don't you... On it goes every time it's time to make a new dress in her house. The battle is on. The pressure is on. Try her color. That young lady with real Bible conviction. God wants you beautiful. That's the title to a chapter in a book. It's a statement, but not... It's just a particular chapter in the book. And by twisting all kinds of scriptures, this lady proves that God wants... It's not wrong for you to desire that. That attractiveness. And it's okay to go ahead if the bar needs painting to paint it. And if you... And it doesn't matter. God paints the flowers beautiful, and God wants you to be beautiful. Might I say that nobody goes out and paints the flowers? We leave the flowers just exactly the way God made them, and I think we need to leave ourselves. But I do want to say, God wants you beautiful. There is a big difference. Let me share a testimony I shared before. When I went this far to Tennessee, I had no idea what modesty was. I had no idea. I walked into that church house. I walked into the back. Everyone was seated already. And I stepped into that room, and the Spirit of God just leaped inside my heart. Yes, He is. Christian young lady who lives by the... Very concerned. Disclosure by color and by form fit. How will God's people... That women adorned with shame-facedness. Now, these two verses right here, they are the... They were... It's as much... It's got just as much depth in it as John 3.16. And I would challenge any one of you ladies and any one of you men to see how far... There is a depth... Sometimes I think we pass over verses like this, and we'll take the verses like... And that we are... And there's depth in these two verses. There's depth in these verses. There's gold nuggets in there. I'm afraid that most people... Also, it's the Word of God. Did not mean lost. Modest did not mean covered. Modest didn't... Modest didn't mean the opposite of fancy, and modest didn't mean the opposite of... It didn't mean any of those things. Let me tell you what modest means. Orderly. Modest means decent. Modest means harmonious. Modest means moderate. Moderation. Modest means neat. Modest means... That's what modest means. As I studied in the Bible. Well, I must first modest... Boy, I'll tell you what. I find some things down in there that I've been... Orderly. Decent. Harmonious. Clean. Wash your hair. Modest means... Let me give you the Greek word. Apparel. Here's the Greek word. Probably won't mean anything to you. That's where the apparel... Stola. Vine's Expository Dictionary. New Testament Greek words. Vine says... Kata stola, or apparel, means... A loose outer garment. Here's this great commentator. Listen to what he says about the... Kata stola. That's a specific name... That's entitled to a specific type of dress... That the Grecians wore. And it's called a kata stola. We get our word stole from it. Listen to what Clark says. The kata stola is a Greek dress. It's a long piece of material... Which hung down to the feet... In front and behind... Girded with a belt. It had another piece of material... Which hung down to the waist... Loosely over the front and over the back. And it's called a kata stola. Clark also said this. What year did he write that commentary? Does anybody know? 1700? 1800? He said this. A more modern... The Grecian dress has never been invented. This was his estimation of the kata stola. The kata stola is a Greek dress. It's a long piece of material... It was girded with a belt. A belt that tied. And it had another piece of material... Which hung down... And they called it... Well, let me give you a little interpretation then. In life manner also... That the women adorn themselves in... Orderly... Decent... Harmonious... Moderate... Neat... Clean... Dresses... That comes down over the waist. Let the women adorn themselves... In this neat and clean... And orderly and presentable... In 1 Peter 3.3... The word apparel is also used. But it's a different word. It's a Greek word that says... Hemation. H-I-M-A-T-I-O-N. Hemation. And it means also... A loose-fitting outer garment. But there's something very interesting about this apparel. Let me read it to you. One is hemation. That's the one I just read you. The other is not. Brother Eric. And the other one is... Chiton. Hemation and chiton. Hemation is a loose-fitting outer garment. Chiton is a very close-fit... Tight-knitted... And the two went together. In Bible days they wore... A very tight... Hemation... A very loose... Let me read you some of it. Thrown over... Here's the definition of chiton. Chiton denotes the inner vest... Or undergarment. And is to be distinguished as such... From the hemation, the outer garment. The distinction is made, for instance... In the Lord's command in Matthew 5.40. If any man go to all with thee... And take away thy coat... Chiton... Undergarment... Let him have thy coat... Hemation... Outer garment also. That's what Jesus was saying. If any man go along and take your undergarment... You turn right around and give him your outer garment also. Another one. When the soldiers had crucified Jesus... They took his garment... Hemation in the plural... His outer garment... And the coat... The chiton... The inner garment... Which was without seam... Woven from the top throughout... The outer garments were easily divisible... Among the four soldiers. But they could not divide the chiton... Without splitting it... So they cast lots for it. It was sort of like a t-shirt... That you'd wear. Only heavier than that. And it was made by knitting. It was made by knitting. With one big long piece of string... It was knit together. And it had no seam in it. You just pull it down over your body. It was the chiton. It was the undergarment. Here's another example. Dorcas was accustomed to make coats... Chiton... And garments... Hemation. That is... The close-fitting undergarment... And the long flowing outer robes. Dorcas made both. Listen to this. A person was said to be naked... Whether he was without clothing... Or had thrown off his outer garment. And then it gives the example of Peter. You know, where the disciples... They wonder what happened to the Lord... And what things... And they decided... Well, let's just go back and go fishing. And they were out there in the fishing boat. And they fished all night long and caught nothing. And then the Lord stood by the bank. And as He stood by the bank... He told them to cast the net on the other side. And oh, it filled up with fish. And right away John said to them... It's the Lord. And as soon as Peter heard... That it was the Lord... He was naked. Now, he wasn't naked. He wasn't out there without any clothes on. He was out there with only his sheet on. And he quickly put his... All of us can learn from this. It seems very clear to me... That God never planned for our outer garments... To look like our undergarments. God never planned for the outer garments... To fit like the undergarments. May I just pay my respect to T-shirts... Out in public. That's an undergarment. If you were to stand in the presence of Jesus Christ... And you are out in the public with a T-shirt on... Then God would consider that you're naked. That you have your undergarment on. And you need to put your outer garment over it... And cover up your body. By the way, in the last example that we read there... It was told... The men wore an undergarment. The men were careful. They did not run around and see... What their body looked like. They did not do that. They covered their body. I'm not standing up here promoting that the men start... I am saying that the men need to make sure also... That their clothes fit the way they ought to fit. And they fit in a way that doesn't reveal the body. I think it's good for us also to dress on purpose. And when we go to get a pair of pants... We get the pair of pants so that it fits loosely. Loose-fitting garments, says the Bible. I don't think we need to buy a pair of pants... That fits so tight without a belt or a pair of suspenders... That we can just wear it without a belt or a pair of suspenders. We're supposed to have loose-fitting garments on. I don't think we need to go and buy a shirt... That's custom fit. That fits tight up here and tighter down here at the waistline. I think we need to buy shirts that fit loosely. I think when we wear a coat... We need to wear a coat that fits loosely. Not a form-fitted coat. Not a special tailored coat... That's going to show exactly the form of our body. But rather a coat that was made specifically to cover the body. That's right. I think that's in order. If it's in order for the ladies... It's also in order for the men. And I might say also if it's in order for the men... It's in order for the little boy. It's in order for us to sit our little boy down and say... Little boy, this is how men dress. We do this on purpose. We wear these kind of shirts on purpose. We wear them loose on purpose. You're going to wear this pair of pants this way on purpose. You're going to put this belt on... Or these suspenders on... On purpose. Because son, we wear pants that cover our body... Not to expose our body. I think that would be in order if we did that. That those Greek words were breathed out by us. They were breathed out. Holy men of God were moved... By the Holy Ghost. And those Greek words... Came out from the heart of God. In the Old Testament days... They wore basically the same thing. They weren't like today. They weren't as bold as they are today. In Old Testament days... They wore... They wore an apparel. But their apparel was very bright. And their apparel was very attractive. And their apparel was very rich looking. And their apparel would... They would go out of their way... To make sure their apparel had an attraction to it. A draw to it. Not only that... In the Old Testament days... The harlot would keep their apparel... But they would put a slit from the bottom of the leg... All the way up to the side... So that the harlot could bare her leg... And bare her thigh. In Old Testament days... There was such a thing as the attire of a harlot. When the fathers used to sit their sons down... And teach them out of the book of Proverbs... And warn them about that harlot... Who is out there in the middle of the night... Standing there on the corner... He used to say to his boys... Boys! There is such a thing as the attire of a harlot. When you see the attire of a harlot... You stay away! When you see the attire of a harlot... You run the other direction! When you see the attire of a harlot... You make as quick as you can... In the other direction from that! That's a bad thing! The men of God in the Old Testament... Would sit their boys down... And teach them out of Proverbs... To stay away from the harlots! Not only that... But the harlots were known... By the way they wore their hair! Listen! In Old Testament days... They didn't cut their hair! Women didn't cut their hair in Old Testament days! It was a shame to cut your hair! Even the harlot... It was a shame to cut her hair! If she were to walk out... With her hair cut off... The way ladies cut their hair off... Now today... If she were to walk out in the public... She'd be shamed by everybody! So... They didn't do that! They let their hair grow long! Their hair was just as long... As some of the ladies in this room! Long! Long hair! But ah! The harlot... She let it down! She stood on the corner... And she let it all down! And stood on the corner! It's pretty hard today... To give instruction to a boy... On the attire of a harlot! I mean everywhere you look... You almost have to tell the boy... That everywhere you look is a harlot! That's the attire of a harlot! That's the attire of a harlot! Stay away from that! Stay away from there! Stay away from this and this and this and this! Because everywhere you look... You see the attire of a harlot! Nevertheless... I think it's a holy... And a wise thing... Turn to Isaiah 47... Now there's a lot of... A beautiful lady... Who has come down... And sits in the dust... Oh, virgin daughter of Babylon... Sit on the ground... There is no throne... Oh, daughter of the cow... Thou shalt no more be called tender... The millstone... And grind meal... Uncover thy locks... Make bare the leg... Uncover the thigh... Pass over the rivers... Thy nakedness shall be uncovered... Yea, thy shame shall be seen... I will take vengeance... And I will not meet thee... Now just notice a few words... Let down thy hair... Make bare thy leg... Make bare thy thigh... And then the word nakedness... And the word shame... It seems to me... The context of these verses is saying... Graceful... And the way I'm going to make you naked... Is I'm going to bare your nakedness... And your... Do I want to display... For all the public to look... Shamefacedness... Shamefacedness is a... As opposed to a hard word... It... It means... It means shyness... It means the spirit of shyness... It's the opposite of boldness... A woman who is shamefaced... And shamefaced, remember, is a spirit... It's a spirit of shyness... A woman... Spirit of shyness... Will have a problem... Boldly facing... Talking... She'll have a problem... With that... She won't be able to do it... She'll quickly look away... When talking to men... That's what shamefacedness means... It's a soft word... It's a graceful... Lovely word... Let's look at another word... Sobriety... Now sobriety is not a soft word... Sobriety is a hard word... One soft one... One strong one... Sobriety... It comes from the same word... As God says over there in the... In 1 Peter 5... Be sober... Be vigilant... For your adversary the devil... Walketh about as a roaring lion... Seeking whom he may devour... That's what it means... Sobriety means... A habitual inner self-government... The inner spirit of self-control... Or inner strength... Sobriety means inner strength... It means a habitual self-government... Over the inner self... That's what it means... Their attitude... Their spirit... Their manifest... You can see them... You can sense them... Remember it said adored... And what is adored is seen... And you can see... Shamefacedness... And you can see... Sobriety... It's an expression... You can see the expression... Of that inner self-control... On the face of the lady... Who truly has the spirit of sobriety... And you can see... The expression of shyness... Or shamefacedness... On the face of the one... Who truly has the spirit of shyness... Or shamefacedness... You can see it... It's an ornament... One more word... A little further down... And that's the word... Good works... What shall I wear today? What shall I wear today? Let's see... Blue... Brown... What shall I wear today? Put on good works... Put on good works... That's one of the ornaments... What shall I wear today? I think I'll help a sister today... What shall I wear today? I think I'll sew a dress... For somebody who needs one... What shall I wear today? I think I'll nurse a child... What shall I wear today? I think I'll keep a home... For a husband... What shall I wear today? I think I'll be an encouragement... To my husband... What shall I wear today? I think I'll lift up the heart... Of one who's needing... What shall I wear today? Put on good works... One more word... Now we're going back to look at the word... Adorn... Because this is a key word... Adorn... You ready for this? Adorn... Adorn means... Decorate... Decorate a cake... Decorate a room... Adorn means... Decorate... Adorn means... To ornament... I think I'll put an ornament here... And I think I'll put an ornament here... I don't know what cosmetic means... Maybe? Seems like it would... Seems like it would mean... Paint... Cosmetic... That's what the word... Adorn means... By the way... Adorn is something that's done on purpose... It's a word of beauty... It's a word of beauty... And God put it there... You know what I think? I think God put that word there special... For you ladies... Because you ladies... You know how God talks to men? God talks to men and says... Get dressed... God talks to men and says... Put your clothes on... God talks to the women and He says... Adorn yourself... Isn't that interesting that God would use such a word to the ladies? Do you suppose God knew the ladies' hearts? Do you suppose God knew... And the ladies had it... It carries us... But... All the word that follows it... That's fine... But... We must sanctify our hearts... To know what God calls beautiful... And we need to see it as beautiful... So that it's like a beautiful ornament... And hang it on our... See? That doesn't mean that we're to go out... And find the prettiest, fanciest dress... It says we're supposed to get that which God calls holy... And which is holiest... And adorn ourselves with it... Just like the queen puts on her royal robe... Yes, he does... But his beauty... We don't need to be... We don't need to be in front of the mirror... We need to be in front of this mirror... So if you can look at the verse now... If you can look at it now... In like manner also... That women adorn themselves... With modest... Clean... Orderly... Apparel... That dress which hangs down... In the front and the back... And ties in the middle... And has something extra... That hangs over the front and the back... Let the women grace their body... With that moderated... Beautiful dress... That's what God's saying... And not only that... But God wants you with just as much care... Just like you decorate a cake... God wants you also... To be that concern... That you grace yourself with shame-facedness... And sobriety... And good works... And oh... If I could just get the picture... And maybe you're getting the picture better than I am... Because I'm not a woman... And I don't know quite how you feel... But I think I feel just a little bit... How do you feel? And how you're just turning around... And so careful that everything is just right... And all that... And that's all right and good... But let's make sure that what we're making is just right... Is just right according to the Bible... And not according to our natural ideas of what's just right... And once we find out what's just right according to the Bible... Let us with grace in our heart... And let us move forward... And adorn our bodies with those things... And just be glad... And know that we are dressed like the Queen... Because we are in God's body... Have you thought... What about dress for success? Aren't we supposed to dress for success? When I was in college they made us read a book... Called Dress for Success... And in that book they had the psychology of appearance... I mean it's a whole psychology... In the book they told you this... When it's time for you to go to the bank... And borrow a bunch of money to build your church... You wear a green suit... Because the banker will see you coming in with a green suit on... And you'll be able to more easily get money... Than if you had a black suit on... And believe it or not... Those preachers go out of that school... And when it's time to go to the bank and borrow money... They borrow a green suit... And they do it confidently... And they walk in there thinking... That banker is going to look at that green suit... And give them more money... Isn't that silly? In that book it says... If you're a man of authority... You need to look like a man of authority... There's a difference in colors of authority... And colors that are not of authority... If you want to be a man of authority... You should wear the darker colors... Wear yourself a white shirt... Wear yourself black shoes... Either a dark brown... Or a black suit... Or maybe one of these heavier plaid... Type suits... That's what you want to wear... Nothing else... If you're a businessman... And you want to be successful... And you want to have authority... Then that's what you need to wear... Don't wear all those bright powder blue suits... And don't wear all those... Slicey plaids... Don't wear those... You know what it also says? In this chapter... They tore it out of the book... In the college... And I'm glad for that... But it tells the young men... That if you want to get you a young lady... You wear all those bright colors... You get you a powder blue suit... And all the ladies will like you... You wear it to work... And all the ladies at work will like you for it... But we had to tear that chapter out of the book... Isn't that interesting? It says in the book... If you're a secretary... And you meet people... You need to dress... Being ready to meet people... You want to be soft... And you want to be bright... And cheerful... Wear yourself bright yellows... And make sure that your blouses... Are very thin... With lots of frill... And lots of lace on them... Because you're meeting the people... And you want to be a real hit... When you meet the people... So make sure that you dress for success... And put the frill on... And make your colors brighter... Because you're a personality... To be bright when you meet the people... If you want to be a successful secretary... That's the way you should dress... The psychology of dress... But what about dress for success? Do we need to follow any of that? Can we learn something from that? Or can we get rid of something from that? Well... I'm a bright sunshiny person... So therefore I want to wear how I feel... Well, let's see how that makes it up... Brother Andy? Brother Andy is a bright sunshiny person... I mean... When Andy smiles... He's got a bright smile... And clean when he smiles... Dress the way he feels? Does that make any sense at all? Well, why is it any different? It wouldn't hold out for the men... Would it? I showed up there for work for the first time... In a dark brown suit... And a navy blue suit... And I showed up there to go to work in the revival team... And I mean... That place was enthusiastic in there... Full of excitement and all this... And after about four or five days of me working there... Don't you have any bright blue? Don't you have anything that looks bright? This is exciting work here... We want you to be enthusiastic... Couldn't you have put on one of those... Oh, see how I can put one of those crazy things on... But that... We put on the other... Teach them anything about... And any other adoption of the Bible... Any other conviction of the Bible... Why don't we send our children down the same way and say... Dear boy... Dear little girl... We dress on purpose around here... We do what we do on purpose... We do it because the Bible says so... This is how we're going to look... And this is why... Wouldn't that be in order? I think so... What you'll get if you start teaching... Make my dress longer... Make it stronger... I want an argument that's given... God made the flowers beautiful... And attractive... And they draw attention... Why can't I? I've heard that one a lot... This is the night I had... We... We are not flowers... We are flesh... And the Bible says to make no provision for the flesh... And there is a difference... Between us and a flower... There is a difference... Maybe we can just shortly look at God's attitude... About natural beauty... In the book of Proverbs... Favor is deceitful... That word favor means charm and confidence... Favor... Charm and confidence is deceitful... And beauty... Natural beauty is vain... Or empty... Or foolish... I went to a meeting recently... And as most... The ladies... They were all standing in one corner... And here was a mama standing over there... The older ladies... Well covered... Long enough... Well covered... Loose enough dresses... And here stood their daughters... Right next to them... Shorter... Brighter... Tighter... Shorter and brighter and tighter... Than what mom had... Why should there be a different standard... For one standard? Why should we allow such a different standard in our home? From holy for daughter to wear it... In fact it's more holy for daughter to wear it... Let me read you one more thing that I... Let me read you some statistics... If maybe you're sitting there... What is he trying to pull? What kind of nonsense is he... In 1920... The police... In Sarasota, Florida... Took some women off the street... For going bare-legged... Imagine such a thing... Oh, but he does... Old-fashioned people... Boy, they don't know... They don't know what we know... A 1900... In the year 1900... A bathing regulation... Swimming regulation... For invaders... Wore a loose-fitting suit... Of wool... The women's suit... That they wore for swimming... Took seven yards of material to make... The skirt... And the trunks... Which were under the skirt... The boat went all the way down to the ankles... And socks were worn to cover the ankles... And canvas shoes were worn to cover the feet... Alright... Let me read you another one... In 1907... On the same beach... A few of the ladies got a good idea... That they would try to go swimming... Without their stockings on... Everything else was the same... The long swimming suit was the same... But they took their stockings off... Very slowly... And slyly... A bunch of the ladies took their stockings off... This is what happened... The police chief... Of that area... Made a rule... No socks... No swimming... There was no choice... And the ladies were forced... By the police officers... To put their stockings back on... If they didn't... They could not swim... By the way... Another one... In 1940... In 1940... It was the first time... That men were allowed... To discard their shirts... Up until that time... And all up until that time... You were considered nude... If you went outside... A man... If he went outside... With his shirt off... Now... It's considered normal... But God... Still considers it... Nudity... Alright... Enough on those statistics... I would like to share... Some principles... For you to consider... You ladies... As you're thinking... As you go to the store... To consider to buy a dress... I would like to give you some things... For you just to consider... We want to give you the principles... We do not want to tell you... What color to wear... We do not want to tell you... Exactly the style... That you should wear... But this is what... I would like to share with you... Just the principles... And you let God guide you... Through the principles... Principle number one... Material... When you go to the store... To buy material... Here are some things... For you to consider... Is it too thin? Can you see through it? Is it silky... And clingy? Is it thick enough to cover my body? Is it stiff enough... That when it lays over the contours of my body... Does it cover my body? Will this material help hide the shape of my body? Or... Will it accent the shape of my body? What am I getting at? Simply this... Some materials that you buy... They are made in such a way... That they cling to the body... Therefore... Accenting... Other materials are made in such a way... The stiffness of the material... The thickness of the material... That when they hang on the body... They cover the body... Rather than accent the body... You should consider that... When you're buying material... Also... Is the material that I'm buying... Modest? By that I mean the definition that we gave earlier... Moderation... Not an elegant material... And not a burlap sack... You can find the types of materials... That fall in the middle of that... That's what moderate means... That's what modest means... Not the most elegant material that you can buy... In fact... Just the other day... I saw a young lady... Who had a very... Modest dress on... In the sense that it was long enough... And it was loose enough... But the material that she had chosen... Made the dress look just eloquent... Just very elegant... So consider that... When you consider the material that you buy... Point number two... Or principle number two... When you're considering the color... When you're considering the color of a dress... Remember the principle of modesty... The principle of modesty is in the middle... What does that mean? It means... We're not going to wear all black dresses... But it also means... Not to wear a hot pink dress... So somehow... You need to discern... Where the middle of that is... You don't want all the bright dresses... Neither do you want all black dresses... God wants us to be... In the middle of that... Whether it be a print... Or whether it be a solid... The other day when we were in a store... Some of us couples were out... And we went out to have a bite to eat together... And afterwards we went into a fabric store... And we looked at some fabrics there... And there was a print there of very small dots... If you looked at it for about two minutes... It would give you a headache... They just seemed to... Come out of the material... In a way that bothered your eyes... Well, that's an extreme... On the other side of that... Would be the big prints... Like something that you would use... To make a curtain out of... Or maybe a cover to put on a couch... Can we not find something in the middle of that? Not the brightest yellow... Or pink... Or purple... A light purple with a pink flower... Or something like that... Can't we find something down the middle... Of that... And therefore... Fulfill modesty... If you have a whole bunch of bright dresses... You need to buy some darker dresses... If you have a whole bunch of darker dresses... You need to get some dresses that are a little brighter... Moderate... Is what God is saying... Point number three... Is it loose enough to cover and hide... The shape of my body? Is it loose enough... To hide... And cover... The shape of my body? That's what it's supposed to do... The dress you wear... Is supposed to hide... And cover... The shape... Of your body... Does it? Is my cape... Wide enough... That it covers... The shape... Of my body? As you look around... The Mennonite world... You see different... Several different types of dresses... Some of the ladies... Wear dresses with pleats in them... Other of the ladies... May wear dresses... Where it's gathered together... With somewhat of an elastic band in it... Now there's a reason for those pleats... And there's a reason for the gathering in the dress... Around the waist... It's supposed to be done that way... So that it covers the body... It breaks up the contour of the body... The outer garment... Should not fit... Nor look like... Undergarments... It should fit loose enough... That it covers the body... Principle number four... Is it long enough? The dress that I'm making... Is it long enough? Now I'm not standing here... Pushing that all the dresses... Go down to the feet... That is not my desire... But it seems very evident... From the things that we looked at... That God is concerned... About your legs... And God's concerned... That not every man see... Your legs... Is my dress long enough... To cover... My legs? That's something you need to consider... Point number five... The hose you wear... Now I think that... The type of hose you wear... Has a lot of variation to it... Depending on the type of dress you wear... If you wear a very long dress... Then you may be able to wear a thinner hose... But if you shorten that dress... Then you need to thicken the hose... Because God is concerned... About the way your legs look... To other men... The leg must be covered... Longer the dress... Thinner the hose... Shorter the dress... Thicker the hose... Those are some things you need to consider... When you go to buying things like that... Here's another... Number six... How about the shoes that we wear? How high is the heel? For example... How dainty are the shoes? Do they have a point on them? All these things work together... Let me give you an example... You can take... A very dainty shoe... Put a high heel on it... A couple of slits in the side... And put a thin... Black hose... On over that... And you have a leg that looks... The way it shouldn't look to every man around... Think about that... Does my shoe... And my hose... And the length of the dress that I wear... Does it make my legs look the way God would want them to look? Or are they covered? So you see the variables get in here... Longer dress... Different type of shoe... Smaller shoe... Daintier shoe... Thicker hose... You need to consider all those things... Nobody can stand up here and say... You'll do it this way... And this way... And this way... You consider all those things before the Lord... Another principle... What about your covering? When you think about your covering... Ask yourself this question... Is it so thin that you can hardly see it? Can you see your hair more than you can see the covering on your hair? Is your covering a sign or a covering? Does it cover enough of my head to be called a head covering? Or is it just placed on the back of my head? As we study the word covering... And you look back into the Old Testament... And when the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek... Why the same Greek word there in 1 Corinthians 11... Is the same Greek word that they used in the Old Testament... When they talked about the mercy seat being covered over with gold... Does your covering cover your head? These are some things you need to consider... Another principle... We are not out to make everybody in the room look like a river brethren... Or a horning Mennonite... Or a fellowship Mennonite... Or even an Amish... We are not out to set... We are not out set to make everybody look like any of those things... I do not have any problem if you want to look like a river brethren... As long as your river brethren dress fulfills Bible modesty... I don't care if you want to look like an Amish lady... As long as your Amish dress fulfills Bible modesty... Long enough... Etcetera, etcetera... Here is a challenge... Let me leave this with you... And then I will be done... A brother was sharing with me just the other day... He had been in a meeting where I brought a message about child discipline... And how you ought to go after the will of a young child... And set out to conquer that child's will... And do that child a favor... Now he heard a message on that... And he believed it... And he went away... And he went to his house... And he went to work on his little girl... And now he is rejoicing... They have a new little girl... She is quiet... She sits calmly... She does not fuss and scream anymore... And now he is rejoicing... Why is he rejoicing? Because he took God's principles... And he bowed his heart to them... And he got a blessing from it... May you do the same... I got a phone call at 3.30 in the morning this morning... From Katie... A lot of you know Sister Katie... She said... Brother Denny... I just had to call you... My heart was just overflowing... I am so blessed... Because I obeyed the Lord... And was baptized... She could hardly contain herself... Outside walking up and down in the cornfields... And out there in the lane by her house... Singing and rejoicing... Praying for the Amish people... Because of the burden she has... How come this lady is so excited at 3.30 in the morning... That she cannot sleep? I will tell you why... She heard the Word of God... And she obeyed the Word of God... And God filled her heart with joy... That is my challenge to you... Will you hear the Word of God today? Will you obey the Word of God today? God will fill your heart with joy... Let us kneel for prayer...