In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the seriousness of a murder trial and the importance of proper attire in court. He uses this analogy to highlight the gravity of spiritual matters and the need for believers to be dressed appropriately in their faith. The preacher urges the congregation to prioritize their eternal salvation over personal honor or pleasure. He also encourages them to be examples of modesty and plainness in their dress, reflecting their commitment to God. The sermon concludes with a reminder that the condition of one's heart is ultimately in God's hands, and believers should strive to have a heart that is turned towards Him.

Hello, 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, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Let's pray together. Amen. Lord, we thank you for that sweet heavenly love. That's who you are, Lord. Father, I just lift up my prayer to you this morning. I confess to you, God, I need you. Lord, I'm afraid this morning. Afraid, Lord, that I might not represent you rightly to the people that I have to give an account for. Lord, I'm afraid that somebody, some little lamb might get offended. So, Lord, I'm afraid. I need you, Lord. And I come to you by faith, Lord. Thank you for that encouraging verse up on the back of the wall this morning. Lord, make me a fountain of your life today. Jesus, we want to hear from you today. That I could just melt out of the picture, Lord. And we could sit in heavenly places with you, Lord. That you could speak as only you can speak, Lord. And that we would be changed more into your likeness by having gazed at you again. So, Lord, take my words. You know, I have things written on the paper here, Father. But I pray that I give you all authority and right, Lord, to just order things as you see it. I want that, Lord. And I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Greetings to everyone here this morning. In the name of Jesus. This message today is part two of a message that I shared three weeks ago, I believe it was. And it's one that I have, I guess I found it difficult to prepare for. Found a little, I've had something in the pit of my stomach for two or three days. And it's one of those things that has caused me to cry out to God for his blessing. About a month ago at our last brothers meeting, we had a beautiful meeting. One of the things we talked about was the subject of modesty. And had a very good discussion. Very free discussion. And several of the brothers who were maybe more new to the fellowship said, can we have some teaching on that? I'd love, you know, we'd love to have some teaching. I haven't heard any teaching on that subject. And so I made a note of that and purpose that if God would give me a message that I'd like to do that. So three weeks ago, I shared that I felt like I had to have two messages because of what the Lord put in my heart. One more of a the word for it. One practical message and one that's more doctrinal or the background attitude message. And I didn't think I could do that in one time. So the last message was focused on that. The attitude. Because that has everything to do with modesty, with clothing, with pleasing God in this area. And we hadn't taught on it here, I think, for several years. And for those of you visiting, this is not something we teach on every week. But it is in the Bible, praise God. And it's something that should be taught, I believe. There's always been people, a people, who have taken literally the Bible's command for simple, non-adorned, modest clothing. True or false? Has there ever been a time since the days of Christ where there was not a people on earth who literally believed those commands in the Scriptures concerning this? I don't believe there's ever been a time. Somewhere throughout the ages of history, there was a people, maybe several peoples or many peoples, but there was a people who just believed the Word of God, who just took it for what it said and purposed that I'm just going to do what it says. And if you're like me, living in 2009, sometimes you feel like a weirdo. Sometimes you wonder if, you know, you're way off base even. And I just want to say, if you want to get the full understanding of what this message is about, you should really listen to that first message also. Because our culture is so anti-modesty, humility, that everything seems to come against us. And it's in the air that we breathe, the atmosphere. We talked about that last time. And I just want to say, if you want to get the full understanding of what this message is about, you should really listen to that first message also, if you didn't hear it. Because you're not going to get the right balance of Scripture. So, I did want to say that. I'm going to go over a little review today, but I don't want to have to do a lot of that. So don't be ashamed. Don't let the devil make you feel ashamed that you're different. There's always been people that were different. It's nothing new for people of God who take His Word literally to have to face, even from other believers, criticism. You're going too far. You don't have to be that radical. It's always been that way. I took comfort. I went in council with my older brother, John, John Wesley, this week. You know, he went through kind of the same things that we go through. So sometimes it's nice to have some history. And I took comfort in going to his writings. I have, I think it's seven books that have all his writings in it. And sometimes I like to see what he had to say on subjects. I think he could be very welcome here from where he was coming from. Probably in his own church, they'd kick him out. They'd never let him in. The church he started, the Methodist church. But you know, I hope and I do believe that he could be welcome here to come and speak to us. So, there's always been somebody on the earth who's taken God at His Word. You just said, Lord, I'm just going to believe the simple face value of what you wrote. I'm not ashamed to be in that number. I'm glad to be in that number. In fact, that's the crowd I want to be with. That's the crowd I'd like to be with whatever age I was born in. All right. I want to share just a little quote from from John Wesley to start with here. This is strong material. I'm going to warn you right away. So hang in there. Don't kick me out of the pulpit before I'm done, because I do want to explain a little bit what he says. Don't turn the mic off. But it's strong meat. And that's the way this man preached. He had a message on what was called on obedience to pastors and powerful message. He's speaking on Hebrews 13, 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your soul. They that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief. For that is unprofitable for you. And that word obey there. I used to think it was just the same thing as children. Obey your parents in the Lord. But it's actually a different word. It's actually a word that means if you look it up there in the Greek, it means to open up your heart to allow yourself to be persuaded, to allow yourself to be persuaded, to not put up a wall, not put up a block, to open your heart up to this man who someday is going to give account for your soul before God. And to let there be an opening there to hear and to allow yourself to be persuaded. And that's the spirit that I would beg for this morning. To have that kind of a heart to hear. I care for your soul. I have to give account to God. And he's going to say this maybe a little bit stronger. But if I read it all, you'd see that he understands the same thing about that word. But listen to what he said. I would now apply myself in a more particular manner to you who desire me to watch over your souls. Do you make it a point of conscience to obey me for my master's sake? To submit yourself to me in all things indifferent, things not determined in the word of God, in all things that are not enjoined nor yet forbidden in scripture? Are you easy to be entreated as by men in general, so by me in particular? Easy to be convinced of any truth, however contrary to your former prejudices. And easy to be persuaded to do or forbear any indifferent thing at my desire. You cannot but see that all this is clearly contained in the very words of the text. Hebrews 13. And you cannot but acknowledge that it is highly reasonable for you to do so to do. If I do employ all my time, all my substance, all my strength, both of body and soul, not in seeking my own honor or pleasure, but in promoting your present and eternal salvation. If I do indeed watch over your souls as one that must give account. Do you then take my advice, I ask in the presence of God and all the world, with regard to dress? I published that advice above thirty years ago. I have repeated it a thousand times since. I have advised you not to be conformable to the world herein. To lay aside all needless ornaments, to avoid all expense, to be patterns of plainness to all that are around about. Have you taken this advice? Have you all, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, laid aside all those needless ornaments, which I particularly objected to? Are you all exemplarily plain in your apparel, as plain as Quakers, so-called, or Moravians? If not, if you are still dressed like the generality of people of your own rank and fortune, you declare hereby to all the world that you will not obey them that are over you in the Lord. You declare an open defiance of God and man that you will not submit yourself to them. If I were now called to give an account of you, it would be with groans and not with joy. And sure, that would be unprofitable for you. The loss would fall upon your own head. Perhaps you will say, this is only a little thing. It is a mere trifle. I answer, if it be, you are the more inexcusable before God and man. What, will you disobey a plain commandment of God for a mere trifle? God forbid. Is it a trifle to sin against God, to set His authority at naught? Is this a little thing? Now, I could go on. It is powerful stuff. If you read it all, you get the heart that I shared with you. It is not me commanding or us or this church demanding of these things, but it is rather men that love you, that watch over your souls, that someday must give account to God. I will give an account to God someday for what I share. And it is saying, I am going to open up myself. I will allow you to persuade me. You care for my soul. And that is what it means to come under authority. Open yourself up. Here. So I pray that we can have that kind of a spirit. Just an example of my own life. You know, when we came here 15 years ago, we moved here. We did not really do it right. We did not contact anybody from the ministry. We just knew a brother at church and we just moved from Colorado. And we just felt the Lord was leading us to be here. And after a time of six months or however long it was, we were convinced of that. This is our place. This is our tribe in the kingdom of God. This is where God wants us to be. And so there came a point where we asked to be members, become members. And we shared our testimony in the front here. And after that time, a brother, right after that, a dear brother came up to me and he said, You know, Brother Paul, we do not really believe in wearing wedding rings and gold and diamonds and things like that. Which we had on when we shared our testimonies. And I guess I was not aware of that or I am not sure what. But I kind of caught me off guard. And I said, oh, I said, OK, well, you know, help me to understand. And he he shared with me that, you know, the scriptures talk about not wearing gold. Very clear scripture there. My background, where I came from, it was it was a sign that you were married. And it was a we didn't view it as a status thing ourselves. But I could see, OK, the Bible does say that, you know, you're not supposed to wear gold. And my wife and I, we took that home, you know, and discuss that in the following week. And we said, you know what? We don't exactly see it that way this point. But the Bible does say that. And that that is a valid interpretation of scripture. This is where God's called us to be. We know that this is where we're supposed to be. And we didn't say it in these words, but we allowed ourselves to be persuaded. If this is where God wants us, we can we can agree with that. We can be persuaded of that. Today, I'm persuaded. It's not something that is I do just because the church does it. I'm persuaded. But there was a point where I allowed myself to be persuaded. And that that is the spirit, I think, that is pleasing to the Lord and what he's saying about it here in Hebrews. You know, when you know some places where God is calling you to be, allow yourself to be persuaded. All right. Just briefly here in review of the last time. First point, God wants us to focus on inward beauty, not on outward beauty. It's in the text of the main text that we read. First Timothy, chapter two, first Peter, chapter three. You want to get your turn to those two texts, maybe, and you can be ready there. It's quite interesting and revealing that in these two texts, the main text that we would use to talk about clothing and adornment and so forth. Both of those texts do not emphasize clothing outward. They emphasize the inward. We'll read here in first and first Timothy. He says in verse chapter two, verse nine and like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, gold pearls or costly array. But which becometh women professing godliness with good works. The point one that we see here is that God's God wants us to focus on the adornment that comes from his spirit in us. That's the beautiful thing. OK, first Peter, chapter three and verse three. Who's. We'll start in verse one. Likewise, you wives be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation or the way of living of the wives while they behold your chase conversation coupled with fear. Who's adorning? Let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible. Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. That word great price, it means it's extremely expensive in the sight of God. Extremely expensive. You want to have some expensive ornaments. These are the most expensive right here because you can't buy them with money. You can get them on your knees. You can get them by dying to yourself. All right. So that was our point. One of the main points of the last message was God's not focused on the outward. He wants us to focus on the inward. I don't want to talk about clothes next week. I don't want to talk about clothes a month from now. I don't want to focus on that. You know, even sometimes with our plain, plain desires, we can make that something that's a big deal to us where we're focused on it. We're thinking about a lot and we're talking about it all the time. I don't believe that's God's will. I believe it's his will that we understand the principles. We've received the truth of doctrine. We discover what it means to be modest, what it means to be simple, plain, unadorned. We embrace that and then we go on and serve God in the weightier matters of his work. So that's an important point. Number two point from the first message, Jesus was not outwardly beautiful or attractive. Jesus was not outwardly beautiful or attractive. That's from God's word. God chose to come to earth in a package that was not beautiful. That's Isaiah 53. He had no form or comeliness about him. There was no beauty in his countenance that we should desire him. He was like a root out of dry ground. Forget all the pictures you may have seen of Jesus in a book. Tall, dark and handsome. Long hair. That's not who he is. But he was the most beautiful person that ever walked on the earth. Because this beauty shone through this ordinary body that he had. This plain face that the Bible says nobody was impressed with. In fact, they even despised him and looked down on him. But there was a glory in him that came out of him. There was a glory in him that was more glorious and beautiful than any other person. That's the will of God. That's the emphasis. We talked about being cool. Could we say that we established that there was not a cool bone in Jesus' body? Amen? Where is Jesus' body today? We. For we are members of his body. Of his flesh and of his bones. Are there any cool bones in his body today? He didn't have a cool bone in his body. Are there any cool bones in his body today? You know, we are called... If you're there in 1 Peter, let's just look at chapter 2. Let's see, is that chapter 1 or 2? Chapter 2. Look at this high calling that we've been given. Chapter 2, verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We are supposed to show forth the praiseworthy virtues of Jesus Christ. That is our high calling. Coolness does not do that. Coolness does not show forth the praiseworthy virtue of humility of Jesus. Of simpleness. That's a challenge to us this morning. We talked about how coolness is the... basically is the love of the world. Wanting to be loved by the world. What the world calls cool is what they love, right? So when we give in to that thing, that pressure that we feel, it's real, it's around us, to want to be cool somehow, we are... I lost my train of thought there. We are not showing forth his glory like we're supposed to. One of the reasons that we want to be cool is we're looking for identity. The world wants to be cool because they need identity. They want to belong, they want to be accepted. There's no better identity than being in Christ. And if we are thoroughly immersed in that fact that I am in him, I am a member of his body and I am of his flesh and of his bones. I don't need any better identity than that one. It's good enough. I'm accepted in the beloved. Praise God. Let the other thing go. So what... I said this was going to be a more practical message. Coolness. Would Jesus pull his pants down and have them hang way down on his hips? Would he do it? That's cool. But that's not like him. Jesus wouldn't do that. Alright? What about things like moose? Would Jesus put moose in his hair? Can you imagine him, you know... Judas, can you hand me some moose out of the bag? The crowd is gathering and I want to be ready for them. It's vain. It's empty. It doesn't fit. The last message I put on these sunglasses, these really cool sunglasses, and I wish I could have taken a picture of all your faces right at that moment. I thought about doing it again this morning because I just wanted to see it again, but you were just absolutely blown away. And it did not fit, did it? Cool sunglasses don't fit. We're not representing who he is to the world around us. And I also think of things like goatees. I can't picture Jesus with a goatee. I just can't picture him doing all this grooming and long sideburns. Can you picture Jesus doing that? I can't picture it. It's not who he is. And those are some of those vain things that want to get our attention on the outward. I shared a quote from Adam Clark last time. I'll just read it again. I believe he lived in the 1800s, commentator on the Bible. He said, When either women or men spend much time, cost and attention on decorating their persons, it affords a painful proof that within there is little excellence and that they are endeavoring to supply the want of mind and moral good by the feeble and silly aids of dress and ornament. It's like there's a direct proportional thing here. In the two verses, the two scriptures we read here talks about don't wear gold, jewels, adornment. Do wear good works, a meek and quiet spirit. It's like there's a direct proportion. If we're focused on that outward stuff, the inward stuff is going to be down here. We only have so much energy, effort, ability to do that. The question is, is it what you do? Is it because you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself? Or is there some other motive? God knows our hearts this morning. God knows why you have on what you put on today. God knows if you looked in the mirror and you thought about how this is going to impress somebody today. God knows your heart. If he speaks that to you and you know that, let's take it to heart. Listen to what Brother John said. The wearing of gay and costly apparel naturally tends to breed and increase vanity. By vanity I here mean the love and desire of being admired and praised. Do we make our choices with that love and desire to be admired and praised? Some of you may have done that this morning, I don't know. If so, I want to challenge you. Is that the right word? Admonish you? You're focused in the wrong spot. How about things like these hairstyles that want to come in with the sisters? Some groups, I'm not sure which all they are, but they're covering and they have their hair sort of fall out and be styled. And it's a fashion, it's a style. Are they doing that because they love God with all their heart and they just want to be more pleasing to Jesus? Or what is the motive? There's another motive. And like I said, this motive is like, this is where it's at in this whole matter. Where's your heart turned? So we want to build conviction in our lives in this area, like every other area. Conviction comes from God's word. It doesn't come from anywhere else. When I see something in the word of God and it's plain and clear to me, it's a conviction now. Right? And so we want to use God's word to build that. Let's look at First Timothy 2.9. We've already been there. What does the Bible say about it? Observation. What does it mean? Interpretation. How do I apply it in my life? Application. Those are the three steps of coming to God's word for conviction. First Timothy 2.9. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. First word I want to look at, and we did talk about this last time, is the word kosmos. It's the Greek word used to describe adorn. What does that word say to you? Kosmos. It speaks about, to me, it speaks about the celestial order. The stars, moons, sun, planets, everything in perfect order. Everything working seasonally. The amazing way they can predict these things, the eclipses and the showing of the different planets that we can see and things like that. Kosmos means order, arrangement. God's saying you have a kosmos about you. What does it revolve around? This solar system revolves around the sun. There's an order. Everything occurs the same way. Does your kosmos revolve around the sun? S-O-N. Does that affect every choice you make in life? Every decision you make, is that your kosmos? What orbits around you? The parts of your body, the clothes that you wear, the things that you, the glasses you put on, or the way you do your hair. That's your kosmos. It says something about you. You order that kosmos, nobody else does. And what is that kosmos revolving around? Is it self? How I can be pleased, or be loved? Or is it how can I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength? You know, I got this world book encyclopedia. It talks about clothing. It's kind of interesting to see what the world has to say about it. The world says about clothes, people communicate by means of the clothes they wear. Their clothes may tell others who they are, what they're like, how they feel. And what they'd like to be. That's the world. Clothes tell something about people's beliefs and feelings. Their personality and their general approach to life. People who want to belong to a certain group, usually dress in a style similar to that of the people in the group. Through their choice of clothes, they tell members of the group that they share their attitudes, beliefs and way of life. That's the world. Sometimes, you know, the world is wiser than we are in some of these things. They understand. They're not afraid to say the fact. Your clothes mean something. It's not just, it doesn't mean anything. You've heard people say things like, well, you can be just as humble in fancy clothes as you could be in plain clothes. I don't think it's true. But it is true that somebody can be dressed plain, not be humble. We know that. But clothes matter. Clothes tell who we are. It tells the world, right from the first view that they get of us, who these people are, what they're about. And I like the, let's see if I still have it here. I like what the Salvation Army has written about their clothes. You know how they have their salvation clothes? Like their soldier clothes. This is really interesting. The Salvation Army, I think I got this off their website. What does their uniform stand for? Number one, a commitment in the war against evil. Number two, is a personal testimony to the wearer's own Christian faith and practice. Three, signifies the availability of the salvationist to anyone needing a helping hand and a listening ear. I like that. They wore their clothes. They had their outfit for a reason. And I'm sure many of them may not follow that, but I like to take that for my own clothing. I've made a commitment in the war against evil. I'm not going to be part of it. I'm not going to add to it. I'm not going to make men lust by showing my body. As a personal testimony to the wearer's own Christian faith and practice, I'm serving the Lord. I'm not going to follow the world's fashion. Three signifies the availability of the salvationist to anybody who needs a helping hand and listening ear. I hope that we can have that sort of spirit and that sort of attitude about us in our clothing, in our plain clothing. That people would not feel intimidated, but rather they'd say, hey, these people are humble. Maybe I could talk to them about something. All right. And so the cosmos, what revolve, what do you revolve around? What what's your center of your life, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God in the 15 years that I've been here, the standard that we've always had for modesty has been modesty without question. Not close, not even close, just without question, says in like manner that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. We're going to look at that. Those words, they're modest. What does it mean? What is modest apparel mean? OK, the word there for apparel is the word Katastole, which is the name of a Greek garment, specifically Greek garment that was double layer. There was a stole underneath it, Katastole on top, it was a double layer garment. And Adam Clarke said about that, he said, a more modest and becoming dress than the Grecian was never invented. It wasn't a great measure revived in England about the year 1805 and in it, simplicity, decency and elegance were united. But it soon gave place to another mode in which frippery, frippery and nonsense once more prevailed. It was too rational to last long and too much like religious simplicity to be suffered in the land of shadows in a world of painted outsides. So it's a double layer of garments. I like that. That's what it talked about when it said apparel. And so, practically speaking, you know, a double layer of garment or garment should cover the body and some of the practical applications, OK? If you can see undergarments through, through your clothing, that's not modest. That's not modest. It's not modest if you can see things through your clothing, it's not modest if you can see things through your clothes. What is that doing? That's, well, I'll tell you what it does to me anyway. It makes me be drawn to that. I noticed that there's a line here, you know, and man, isn't that, isn't that the truth? Isn't that the way we're wired? There's just something about it. This way God made us in a good way, but we so perverted it. So sisters, you know, that's that's a good thing there. It's not modest if you can see things through it, if you can see your underclothes. It's not modest if certain types of dresses. I've noticed that you can kind of see, see through the side sometimes that it's not really modest that way. Those are things you have to watch out for. Some materials really clingy and it clings to your body and that's not modest because you can see the form. So you have to have certain materials, you know, not get those clingy ones that that stick to your body. So I've noticed that there's a lot of things that are not modest, things are like seat that are see through even, you know, I've had some of my my daughters sometimes have had dresses that the material was just a little bit see through. They didn't mean anything by that. But when I saw it like in a certain light or something, I said, I can see through that. That's not that's not all right. So it's something that covers in simple terms what, you know, what was the problem in the beginning? We talked about who invented clothes last time. We got two different answers, Adam and Eve and God. Well, they both did. Right. Adam and Eve invented the first skimpy, inadequate clothes and God invented the first covering clothes. And Adam and Eve invented the second covering clothes and it's been the same ever since, hasn't it? We need God to help us get the right clothes on. Amen. So from the beginning, if you if you go through the Bible and you do a study on nakedness, you often will find that word mixed with the word shame, nakedness, shame, nakedness, shame. And it says in Exodus 32, 25, remember when Aaron and they all had a big party when Moses was gone? Unbelievable when I read that. But it says that Aaron had made them naked unto their shame. Yeah, they just went wild. They just lost it. I mean, here they were serving the Lord. Moses went to get the commandments and they just he made them naked unto their shame. Revelation three, 18, remember the Church of Laodicea, Jesus said that the shame of nakedness do not appear. So naked public nakedness, public nakedness is shameful. According to the word of God, it's shameful. And so I clothes need to cover the body. There's some I've noticed some Amish type dresses that are cut like way, way low. You can see a lot of the back and the and the body, the upper body. That to me, that doesn't fit the bill of what God is saying of covering. Because that make what does that do that draws you to this beautiful body? Bodies are not wrong. Bodies are not shameful. I didn't want to say that. You know, some people raised up in plain background seem to think that there's something dirty and shameful about your body. That's a lie of the devil. Your body is not shameful. Public nakedness is shameful. So don't don't go down that other road. So these are some of those type of things. OK, what about these? Sometimes I see Christian ladies dress in these dresses that they have little slits coming up the side. You see what I'm talking about? They're like skirts and they sort of open up a little bit when they walk. That is wicked. When I see a lady walk by like that, I mean, I just I want to see her legs. I'm drawn to that. It's wicked. It's wrong. Thank God none of you do that. Let's look at the definition of the word modest. Modest means first in the Greek there means orderly and fitting something that's orderly and it fits fits the occasion. All right. This this subject here can have a lot of different points. One thing is neatness and cleanness. Is it befitting to the Lord Jesus when we look sloppy, when we are dirty? It's not. I saw a sister, a dear sister that I really love and appreciate her testimony, not from this congregation. I saw her in a store a while back and she probably had been working in the garden or something. I don't know what all she had a bunch of little children with her and she's getting ready to have a baby. And the front of her dress was all dirty in the store. And, you know, this is nothing against her as a person. Like I said, I love her. But yet I thought as I saw that it just kind of made me a little sad because it made me think, you know, there's a lot of people that might see her and think the wrong thing about her because they might think she's a slob or that she's, you know, these these plain people are kind of sort of scuzzballs or dirty, whatever the term you want to use. And it just struck me, you know, we need to be clean. That's an area that I've failed in some and my family has. So in fact, we ran out of pants for my for one of my my younger sons there this morning and wasn't sure what to do. We found some blue jeans that fit him and were clean, but I thought it's not going to work. But we got out the rag and did some wiping real fast. And so I give my confessions this morning. Amen. We're not perfect, but we're striving. Amen. Yes. Neat and clean. It doesn't show Jesus to others when we're looking dirty, disheveled. It's one thing if you're on a job, you know, and you're hot and sweaty and that's we understand that. That's but let's let's try to represent the Lord in that area. OK. Ecclesiastes says, let your garments always be white. Ecclesiastes nine, eight. You want to look up the scripture. OK. Suitable and proper clothes. That's that's another word for modest. It means something that fits the occasion. We talked a lot about this at the brothers meeting, especially about like coming to church on the Lord's Day on Sunday. And what is fitting? What is proper? Do we dress the same on the Lord's Day as we do for the church picnic? Should we know why not? Why shouldn't we? It just doesn't fit on the church picnic. There's certain activities that we're going to be doing that some clothes work better for that. We're not planning to do them here today and on Sundays. So clothes should be modest. Clothing these clothes that fit the occasion and like, OK, for myself, I really like carpenter pants. I wear about four or five days a week. I'm a carpenter. I like those little hammer things they have. I can put my hammer down in there. They got a little pocket here. I can stick my other my utility knife in. I don't like carrying all those big bags like some people have, you know, so I just put it on my pants and I like that. But I've never needed a hammer in church except for I think one time I did children's lesson where I had to break something up. And that time I just put it in the box. So that's an example to me, a practical example, you know, clothes that fit. So I guess that's it. We're not going to be doing any construction here on Sunday, so we won't be needing those. I guess cargo pants would fit in that category, too. I don't know how much cargo you need on a Sunday morning. Maybe if you have, you know, concordances and Bible helps and notepads and multicolored pens and all that kind of gear. Maybe you need them then. OK, I'll grant you that if you need all that gear. Praise the Lord. You're going to be a student of his word. Amen. I would not look down upon that at all. But they're all empty. Maybe you don't need so many. Amen. OK. The world understands this principle. Ruben shared at our brother's meeting about this this court case in Lancaster City, there was a murder trial. And this reporter showed up to the trial with shorts on. OK, he's got his notepad. He's got his shorts on. The judge rebuked him publicly and kicked him out. He said, what do you think this is, a playground? This judge who sits on the bench, this is my courtroom. This is a murder trial. This isn't a playground. You don't come in here with short pants and think you're going to take notes of what's going on here. He said, go home and get dressed. The world understands that you don't come to my court if you're not dressed right. And that fellow walked out of there, his tail between his legs. Probably he got a lesson from the judge. The world understands that. Well, what is that? Is that important? Yes, it is. This is serious stuff. This is life and death. You're going to go to jail for 30 years. You're going to take the death penalty. You killed somebody. You don't we're not going to have this mass mixed multitude in here. This is serious. This is this is a we're trying to determine what the truth is and it makes a difference. If we all came in here dressed like we were going to the church picnic. Do you think it would make a difference in the attitude that we had? I've heard of churches. I've never seen it. But we're preachers walk up with flip flops, shorts and Hawaiian T-shirts on and not in Hawaii. I don't see how you could take that real serious. I mean, what do you you are dressed like that and you have the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ to share with sinners and saints who are eternally lost or saved that that just does not fit. So flip flops, I don't I don't believe should fit here either on a Sunday morning. It does matter how you're dressed. If you come dressed in your good clothes. If you come dressed in your good clothes, you're saying something. God, I'm here. You're somebody important, Lord. The body of Christ is something important. It's not just a casual thing. You know, when I was a boy, I was raised in the Catholic Church. I like to come casual to church because I just I didn't really care a lot for it. And I didn't want people to think I was too serious about it. So I like to wear as casual as my parents would let me, because somehow that kind of undermined anything serious that might happen there or or the fact that I'm really into this at all. So by wearing casual clothes, it's really a statement that says, you know, I'm not really into all this and I don't want to look like I'm too serious about it. Wearing clothes that are good clothes, neat and, you know, befitting clothes. That does bring an atmosphere here also. It says we're seeking the King of Kings. We're here to worship God. It's something important that's going to happen here today. And I'm not saying this as a rebuke to everybody that we're not doing this, but rather as a strengthening of what we have. And maybe there are some who do those things, but OK. Another point about fitting, the Bible says very clearly in Deuteronomy chapter 22, 5. It's an abomination for men to wear things that pertain to a woman, women to wear things that pertain to men. And it's a clear distinction between men and women. God wants a clear distinction. This is a man. This is a woman. That falls into that category of modest. So there are some ladies who I've heard, Christian ladies, who say, well, pants, you know, can be as modest as a dress. But can they be as modest as a dress taking it like this? Pants are what men wear. OK. So clothes that are fitting. I know in my own high school, we went through a period of liberality. It was a private Catholic school where before I came there, everybody had to wear ties and shirts and nice clothes to school. So four years I was there, they didn't allow it or they let it go. And then they brought it back in because they wanted to raise up their standards. Even academically, it makes a difference. And somebody shared at our brothers meeting that in California and I think even in Lancaster, they're starting to wear uniforms in school because why? It makes a difference for those children. If I have a uniform on, I'm here for a purpose. There's a reason for it. That's why they do it in a lot of these third world countries, too. They understand that. All right. OK. Speaking about the clear distinction to the Bible is very clear about hair. It's a shame for a man to have long hair. How long is long? How about modesty without question? It's a shame for a woman to have her head uncovered, the Bible says, we believe that. Another term, well, let's keep speaking about covering the body. There should be nothing about you, sisters, that invites a man to think about your body. Nothing about you. And for some of you, you might have greater challenges than that because of the way your body is shaped. You may have to take different measures to make your form not so noticeable. But that is Christian modesty. That is loving my brother as I love myself. If you have a form that is one of those bodies that men, like they say, men drool over, what does Christian modesty do? If you have one of those bodies, young men, if you have got mighty arms and strength, what does Christian modesty do with that? We know what the world does, right? Hey, if you've got it, show it. You're crazy if you don't flaunt it. I had a worldly guy tell me that once about this certain talent I had. He said, you ought to take, you ought to use the best advantage out of that thing. You ought to, you know, really, that's the way the world thinks. If you've got good muscles, man, you've got to show it. What good are they if nobody sees them? Wouldn't it be nice to have your wife be pleasantly surprised? She didn't know. She had no idea. Wow. Praise God, that's humility, isn't it? And that ties right in with all of this. The humility to take my muscles and cover them up. Jesus wouldn't flaunt his. take my pleasing form, my lovely body, and make it covered in such a way that the men don't really know about it. And they're not drawn to explore or look any closer because I'm humble. I'm willing to save that body for the one that God's going to give me. And he'll be pleasantly surprised to praise God. Amen. Humility, clothes, dresses that come too tight. You know, that really come tight at the waist. That's one of the ways that you can accentuate the body. Clothes that are too tight around the breasts and too tight, period. Loose clothing is better. That's why we've never promoted wearing skirts and blouses here. It's because of the tendency that that has to be fashionable and also display the body more. Do you want me to be practical? All right, another definition. I don't think I read the Webster's definition yet, 1828. Modest means to be restrained by a sense of propriety, not forward or bold, not presumptuous or arrogant, not boastful, not excessive or extreme, not extravagant, but moderate. So, not excessive or extreme, forward or bold. Okay, really bright clothing doesn't fit. That's not modest. I remember I went to this charismatic church in Colorado one time and this preacher was boasting about his yellow sport jacket and how it made him stand out. He had on this bright yellow thing. I mean, it did. He walked into the thing. It was like, oh, there's somebody. And he was actually like boasting about it. And I just, oh, that's not modest. So, not bright stuff that just makes every eye go to you, that's modesty. If you're in the back of the church and I'm up here, I shouldn't just look back and all of a sudden see you. And that can happen if there's like really big patterns. Sometimes that does that way. But if you're sitting in the midst of a big crowd or maybe something really colorful that just grabs your eye, that's not modest. It shouldn't be that attention is drawn to you as you're sitting in the midst of the congregation. It shouldn't be like there's a big attention coming your way because of a pattern of clothing or a brightness. Let it be the countenance of God, of Jesus Christ. Amen. You can you can draw as much gaze or blessing from that if it's the Lord Jesus shining through you. One word on on missions. I was really blessed to be in some meetings recently where we talked about missions and discussed the idea of contextualization. Do you how many people you know what that means? Raise your hand. OK, good. I didn't know. The idea of bringing the gospel to people in a way that's in that they understand and that's in their context, that's a good term. However, I think sometimes we here in America especially, we think or we we want to think we're influenced to think that like going into LCM. We should dress like them to to contextualize, you know, to make it so they can hear what we have to say. And that's not what it means talking, hearing the missionaries share what what is real contextualization. They shared real contextualization is is when you die, it's not it's not I get to be a little less modest so I can win them to the Lord. Or that type of thing, but rather you're laying down your life, things like and I was really blessed by this. I heard one of you young men got rid of his really nice car and bought a more of a beater. Now, do you think that was a death or a life that was a death that you want to contextualize like that? Praise the Lord. Amen. Do all you want. If you want to walk and ride the bus instead of having a car in the city, that's a way to identify. I was asking Ruben last night, he mentioned, you know, sitting out on your porch. I can testify that's a death because we used to sit out on our porch there and it wasn't like I really love to do this. It's dirty, foul language, kind of rank, but it is the way you meet some people and your neighbors. That's contextualization that's dying, that's things that hurt things that you really don't want to do. That's what real contextualization is about. So let's not let's not go that other way where we sort of use it as an excuse of why I can be more liberal. That is not at all what Emanuel has meant when he's talked about it. I know. And it's not what our missionaries do either. So it's good to just have that line clearly drawn that we understand. And we do want to contextualize to them and identify, but not not in losing the principles of modesty. I'm sure there's lots of things more I could talk about and we should go back to the scriptures here. First, Timothy, we've talked about adorning ourself, our cosmos, the world that's around us with modest apparel. Now, with shame, facet, this and sobriety. Now, there again, speaking of an attitude for the sisters, that's not a bold looking right gazing into your eye, but rather there's maybe a looking and turning away a humility, a down cast eyes. That's all part of the cosmos. And with sobriety, not crazy and foolish. A lot of times when you see worldly girls, what do they do? They're just like, wow, laughing, slapping each other on the back. And that's not modest, not with broided hair, gold or pearls or costly array. It's very simple. We are not the only people who ever interpreted those words literally. OK, again, John Wesley, we just read what he said, not with curled hair and the rest of the verses there. These four are expressly forbidden by name to all women. There is no exception. Professing godliness and no art of man can reconcile with the Christian profession. The willful violation of an express command. That's what John said. Matthew Henry said, here's a charge that women who profess the Christian religion should be modest, sober, silent and submissive as becomes their place. They must be very modest in their apparel, not affecting gaudiness, gaiety or costliness. You may read the vanity of a person's mind in the gaiety and gaudiness of his habit because they have better ornaments with which they should adorn themselves with good works. Amen. And then the first message I shared talked a lot more about that. One quite one thing I wanted to share with you, too, from John Wesley again, that he is the the ultimate authority, but he's a man who stood up for the truth. This is again, this is strong medicine. So hang on speaking here to to. He was speaking on obedience to parents here, but he puts this in at the end of it. He said, I have one more word to say to parents, to mothers in particular, if in spite of all the apostle can say you encourage your children by your example to adorn themselves with gold pearls or costly apparel, you and they must drop into the pit together. But if they do it, though you set them a better example, still it is yours as well as their fault. For if you did not put any ornament on your little child that you would not wear yourself, which would be utter distraction and far more inexcusable than putting it on your own arms or head. Yet you did not command them to obey you from their infancy and teach them the duty of it from at least two years old. Otherwise, they would not have dared to do anything great or small, contrary to your will. Whenever, therefore, I see the fine dressed daughter of a plain dressed woman. I see it once the mother is defective, either in knowledge or religion. Either she is ignorant of her own or her child's duty, or she has not practiced what she knows. I cannot dismiss the subject yet. I am pained continually at seeing religious parents suffer their children to run into the same folly of dress as if they had no religion at all in God's name. Why do you suffer them to vary a hair's breadth from your example? Why they will do it. They will. Whose fault is that? Why did you not break their will from their infancy? At least do it now. Better late than never. It should have been done before they were two years old. It may be done at eight or 10, though, with far more difficulty. However, do it now and accept that difficulty as a just reward for your past neglect. Now, at least carry your point, whatever it costs. Be not mealy mouthed. Say not like foolish Eli. Nay, my children, it's no good report which I hear of you instead of restraining them with a strong hand. But speak, though, as calmly as possible, yet firmly and peripherally. I will have it so. And do as you say. Instill diligently into them the love of plain dress and the hatred of finery. Show them the reason of your own plainness of dress and show it is equally reasonable for them. Big defiance to indolence, cowardice and foolish fondness. And at all points carry all events, carry your point if you love their souls. And if you love their souls, make and keep them just as plain as yourselves. What would we say if John preached here this morning? What would we say to him? He said those words to us himself. How would we receive him? It is our job. And I think that needs to be balanced with loving relationships that have the hearts. We have the hearts, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. He turneth it with or so ever he will. When you have a heart, you can turn it. And so I want to balance that statement that he just made, because if you think it's just I'm going to go home and crack a whip, you're going to be sadly disappointed. If you don't have if you have not won a heart, but let's do let's rise to our duty as parents. And I read that especially for the benefit of of you who have young children. And maybe you think it's, you know, these things aren't really issues. And well, when they get to be youth, I know it's going to be tough. But, you know, there's not a whole lot I can do about it right now. No, now's the time when you are building. To where their hearts want to follow you, they want to they embrace your values, your values of their values, because they see the truth of it. They see it's it's right. That takes teaching. Instruction and sometimes correction. And love all those good things. So let's bow our heads and I'd like to pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the life of Jesus. That is our example. We thank you for your grace in all that you do for people. God, I pray that you would help this congregation to continue to show forth his praiseworthy virtues in all areas, Lord, the way we eat and drink, the way we dress, the way we do business, everything, Lord, that we can be appraised to you on this earth. Father, God, I pray that there's some here who maybe I said things that are that cross their grain or that they don't agree with. Father, I pray that they could allow themselves to be persuaded to open up their heart to know that I care for their soul. I'm going to give an account for their soul someday and father, that they could receive that. Oh, God, we could all open our hearts up to your authority. Bless this message, Lord, and make it and take it for your name and your glory. In Jesus name, Amen. Of instruction and let her not go. Keep her, for she is thy life. We have received rich instruction this morning. I say amen to this message. I appreciate the beautiful balance of the first message and this one. And I can say my heart has been blessed and encouraged. And I thank you, Brother Paul, for laboring in the word and God giving you the grace to share it with us. I feel we have been loved. It wasn't harsh. It was loving. It was. It was right. So I thank God for that. Few other verses in Proverbs that we might look at here, instruction. And be wise and refuse it not. I just want to plead with you this morning, as Brother Paul shared as well, if you're maybe wrestling a bit. And. Hear instruction, be wise and refuse it not. Don't just go write it off. He that refused his instruction despises his own soul. But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Be wise today. Let us be persuaded. I remember when. Janice and I were seeking for spiritual life and. Vitality and reality in our walk with God, having been a bit. Discouraged with a lot of emphasis on outward. And church regulations and rules. But a lack in the inward reality in our own hearts, I won't say it was that way for everybody in our church setting. But, you know, there was there's a tendency for the pendulum swing. Anybody know what I'm talking about? If we're in a church where everything is regulated for us and and legislated and rules. But there's a lack of a true life of Christ within. And then when we find Christ in the true life of Christ, there is a real tendency to despise those things and say, well, I'm free in Christ. And that didn't do anything for me to save me. And so that must all be wrong. And and there's a tendency for a reaction swing. Well, as Janice and I were seeking the Lord and walking, walking through and trying to find spiritual men and women that we could find spiritual food. I remember we were attending a certain Bible study of varied denominations or peoples. And I remember a testimony a lady gave. She was testifying how she's free in Christ now, and she had now taken off her head veiling. But she said, you know, something strange, funny sort of happened. Now, when I walk in the streets of Evita, men notice me in ways they didn't before. They will whistle, they will blow the horn, they will shout something out, and that caught my attention. So anyway, I have a quote here also from a book I'd like to just quote. It's called The Rise and Fall of Christian Standards, and I haven't read the whole book, but I would recommend from what I've read, but let me just read this. It is absolutely true that dressing up the outside does nothing to purify the inside. The heart must first be washed in the blood of Jesus. Once cleansed, however, why would we continue to adorn ourselves in the rags of those who remain dead in their trespasses and sins? Hallelujah, let us not mar, let us not veil the glory of Christ with an adornment that is unbefitting the new creature in Christ Jesus. I want to open it up here this morning. Maybe some brothers have some word of testimony that can be a blessing. Raise your hand, we can be edified together, amen. Hands on the brother's side. Okay, Eve. I want to thank God. This has been a thrill to my soul. I have not always been at this place. I would have been one of those that would have got angry at your message, Brother Paul. I would have been one of those that would have gotten angry at your message, Brother Paul, maybe two, two and a half years ago. We were headed the other way. And I'm thankful that we had a Godly family come into our life and show us a better way. We're thankful to God for that. So I would just be the first to amen what our brother has shared and some of the strong words that John Wesley wrote down. These are things that we were taught in the Amish Church. They would say some of these things. And I know that my Amish bishop would just love to be here this morning and hear this message. He would have been saying amen if he would have had that liberty too. So, yeah, I'm thankful. And I just want to encourage those that are saying this is radical, this is not right, that I would encourage you to examine your hearts. I had to do that. And it took me a while to get to where I am. And we're not arrived. We still have many things that we're working through. And I want to remember the scripture in Isaiah where Jesus, he was, how did we hear? He was not, there was nothing good to look on, on him. And when he was born, there was no fancy clothes put on him. He was wrapped in just a simple white, the Dutch word would be vinno. So may we remember that. May I remember that. Thank you. Thank you, Eve. Amen. I want to say amen to the message and very much appreciate it, Brother Paul, especially the spirit that it was taught in. Yes, very special to my heart. A word of encouragement to those who may be resting or struggling with it. I want to also just testify that there is a real freedom when you come to that place where it doesn't really matter what the other crowd says. But that, you know, when you come to a place where your heart is to please the Lord, that brings real freedom. And I want to encourage anyone here. It's not just young people, but there's adults, I believe, who also are not free in their heart and their spirit to live for God and him alone. But thank you, Brother Paul. So appreciate it. May it bless. Amen. Steve. Yes, I can say amen with all of that as well. I was so encouraged again, just the simple practicality of it. I had to think of a little quote I noticed that a local business recently said, when you're 20, you're worried about what people think of you. When you're 40, you don't care what people think of you. And when you're 60, you realize that people weren't thinking about you at all. And so I just there's actually a local conservative pastor was waiting on me there and he asked me, you know what, where I fit there. And I said, well, you know, I'm not either one of those. I guess I really don't fit anywhere. And that just gave a little bit of discussion. It's kind of a blessing just there just to realize that, yes, we don't fit here. We this is not our home. And we we you know, we're not here to try to fit in. I just so appreciated that emphasis in Paul's message about just not needing to fit, not having to be conformed to things around us. And also was, I think, just yesterday while I was on the road, I was listening to the Bible on tape and and just meditating on some things there that I never really had noticed before. In the book of Ezekiel chapter chapter forty four, where it talks about the requirements of the priest and just the whole chapter there is very interesting. But there was several things that kind of stuck out to me. Verse 18, it says they shall have linen bonnets or bonnets or in the New King James version says turbans upon their heads and shall have linen breeches upon their loins. They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. And just I think just the picture of cleanliness and decency or whatever of the priest. And in our dispensation, we are a nation of priests. We're not just it's not just the priest. But anyway, another thing that I saw then was in verse 20. It says neither shall they shave their heads nor suffer their locks to grow long. They shall only pull their heads. Pull is spelled P-O-L-L. And in the New King James version, it says they should be neatly trimmed. So I just was kind of blessed by that thought there and how God really does speak on these things. It really, you know, there's little things in the in God's word that just are so inspiring when you just see some of this and you see that God does care about how we look and how we present ourselves and who we represent. So God bless you, brother Paul. Thank you for that. I know there's a lot of other practical things that we could talk about. And I I think it's I would just encourage the fathers to sit down with their sons and their daughters and and discuss these things. And just with their children, just instructing them in those ways. God bless you, Timothy. I'm very blessed to hear a good practical message like this, along with the principles and basis very clearly established. A thing that I've noticed in both of these passages in first Peter and in Timothy is that there's a likewise or in a like manner in Peter here. He's talking about how Christ was reviled. He didn't revile again. He was humble. He lowered himself. He gave himself for our sins. And in the then he says in like likewise, he wise says verse two, while they behold your chase conversation, the being won by the conversation of the wives is the point there. And then in Timothy also is talking about the glory of the church being seen that he would have all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Praying, he says there, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. And then he says in like manner, it has helped me majorly to see that the God's point here is he wants his name glorified. Not not us. So that's our our aim and our goal is to glorify him, that all men might be saved in this matter in the back. Yes, I want to just add my word of appreciation for the message and also the spirit in which it was given. Thank you, Brother Paul. I wanted to add a positive word. I've noticed in Scripture that there are so many commands where God wants to communicate his heart to us. But in order to communicate his heart to us, he first has to counter something which the world hands to us or something which our flesh hands to us. And I've noticed that the more carnal my outlook is or the more I wrestle with a particular area, then I tend to view God's command in that area as being negative. There are so many verses in Scripture where God says not to do something and then tells us what he wants us to do. And the things with which I don't struggle, I think of as positive commands. For example, the Bible tells us, be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, because that's never ever been an issue for me. I've never once thought of that as a negative command. I've always thought of the positive, which says be filled with the spirit, which is the point of that verse. And I was thinking about these verses in 1 Peter where God is actually not telling us not to adorn. He's telling us to adorn. And he's telling us what type of adornment to have. Saying that the women should not have a corruptible adornment, but rather the beautiful adornment of a meek and quiet spirit. And I think we only have to focus on the negative as long as we must to get rid of our own carnality. And then it's positive. And God wants us to be adorned with an aura which attracts people to Christ. And I just want to give that positive word that that is what God wants for us. And as soon as we can get beyond the negative, it can be positive. And I just want to give a word of blessing to any and all of our sisters who carry that adornment. You have a beauty beyond anything that the world has to offer. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord. His commandments are not grievous, but joyous. And they're for our benefit and safety. Yes. Where is it? I don't know. Yes. Well, thank you, brothers, also for the comments. Kind of just clench this. And thank you, Brother Paul. We know that detailed regulation doesn't produce Christ. And we also know that everybody doing what their flesh tells them to do doesn't produce Christ. So we have to have teaching. We have to have application. And I might just add one thing. I know Brother Paul can't say it all. In a way, it doesn't even fit. But I asked my family several questions. I said, do we understand how what we're doing influences the people we love the most? The people in our church. In Romans 14, it gives two great principles. One is lordship. We're individually responsible to Christ as Lord. But the other principle is love. That we are concerned about our influence. And that really, I think, helps us many times to apply these things. We become aware of that as love and concern for other people. This kind of shrivels our concern for ourselves. Amen. Thank you, Brother. I've phrased that this way. First and foremost, I represent Christ. Secondly, I represent my church body, church family. Is the other mic somewhere else? OK, Brother Lester. I was very blessed with the message. Something was going through my mind this last week. What gives us, you know, in the first chapter in John, it says, As many as received him, them gave he power to become the sons of God, even those that believe on his name. In another verse, I didn't look it up then. I think it's in Proverbs somewhere. You read it. It says, By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. And what can cause us to lose that fear is if we have the fear of man, which bringeth his snare, as that verse up there on the board says. And we don't have the fear of God. But by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. That was going through my mind this last week. And just, you know, something that can depowerize us from having that strength in God is if we do not forgive other people their trespasses. We need the fear of God in order to see that. And I was just thinking of that as Paul was going over this. If we have the fear of God, we start washing the cup on the inside. Putting the emphasis on the inside and then the outside becomes clean. Amen. Thank you, Brother Lester. I think I'd just like to sort of conclude a bit here. We know, we have seen plenty of example that it doesn't produce Christ to try to force it or law it upon people. Amen. We've seen that. But then as Brother Dwight said, the other, where every man just does what is right in their own eyes, that doesn't come out right either. And we have plenty of example of that. Amen, brethren? I mean, sometimes I wonder how has the Christian church so lost their way on this teaching? You know, and it grieves you. Because, I don't know, maybe I appreciate what Brother Paul shared about contextualization. Maybe some people don't understand that and they're trying to be like the world, to win the world. But, you know, there's a ditch on either side, brethren. Let us seek to walk in the Spirit and to apply the Scripture to our lives in a beautiful practical way of a testimony that is a sweet savor of Christ. And we're not Pharisees. We're not dirty on the inside but trying to make the outside appear something that it's not. But we have that beautiful balance of a true heart that is walking in grace and truth. I would like to also just say, I want to encourage us as fathers and mothers to apply the practicals in our home. We elders don't want to be making these applications. We do want to share the word like Brother Paul said. We do want to give enough of application that it can be grasped and understood. But we don't want to come and dictate your home. So please, fathers and mothers, apply these practicals in your home, in your own life and in your family life. But let us also be open for reproof and for instruction and correction.