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And turn over to 1st 
Thessalonians chapter 5, First 

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Thessalonians chapter 5. 
And I'm going to introduce what 

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I really want to talk about next
week. 

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And I'm going to lay some 
groundwork here with some 

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passages from God's Word. 
And, and hopefully this will be 

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something that you understand a 
lot of you have asked questions 

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about our dress standards. 
Why do we have dress standards? 

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Why? 
And, and, and by the way, 

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everybody has dress standards, 
right? 

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And not just standards of dress,
but standards across all, you 

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know, all areas of life. 
We have standards in music, we 

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have standards in, in our 
behavior. 

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We have standards in so many 
different things, right? 

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And for our, for our church, we 
have come to the conclusion, I 

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guess if you want to call it 
that, that, that to be involved 

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in, in ministry here in our 
church, that we have certain 

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dress standards that you have to
uphold. 

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And we ask that men dressed in a
way that looks masculine. 

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And certainly, you know, when, 
when you're serving in a 

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position of ministry that you 
wear a suit. 

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Ladies, obviously we ask that 
ladies wear a skirt that falls 

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below the knee when they're 
serving in ministry. 

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And of course, then as, as far 
as that goes, and, and, and this

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is not something that you have 
not heard before, most of you 

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know this, but we ask that you 
hold that standard at any church

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function as well. 
And then I highly recommend and,

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and highly suggest that you keep
that standard across all areas 

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of your life because it's the 
matter of consistency and what I

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want to do tonight. 
I've, I've had a lot of you that

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have asked questions about this.
Why do we do this? 

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And I think it's only fair that 
I give you from the Bible why we

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have this standard, right? 
By the way, you know, we say 

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dress standards and everybody 
automatically thinks, oh, you 

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know, pants and everything else,
every church has dress 

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standards, right? 
No matter where your dress 

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standards fall, that's the 
question where do, where do you 

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draw the line on those dress 
standards? 

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Right. 
But I don't think that most 

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churches would have somebody up 
singing in front of the church 

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in a bikini, right? 
Because they have a standard of 

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what is allowed in dress. 
Now, their standards are very 

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low in a lot of other ways, 
right? 

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We've chosen to to raise our 
standard a little bit higher, 

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not because that makes us better
or we look down our nose at 

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everybody else, but because I 
think that's what we find in 

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God's word. 
So there is, there is a constant

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assault on what I believe to be 
an important expression of 

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Christianity. 
I'll tell you this, my wife was,

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this was a few years ago now, 
but my wife was walking into 

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Walmart and of course she wears 
skirts everywhere. 

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And so another lady was walking 
out of Walmart and she was in a 

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skirt and she looked at my wife 
and she said, I know my girl's 

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Pentecostal. 
And my wife was like, no, I'm 

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not, I'm not Pentecostal, but 
you know, but what, what I mean,

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what is, what does that say 
about the Pentecostals? 

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Everybody knows that they have a
certain standard. 

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And when she looked at my wife, 
the first thing that she thought

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was that that lady's 
Pentecostal, right? 

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Not I bet she, you know, you 
know, works, you know, in the 

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red light district or something 
like that. 

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It's not what she thought when 
she saw the way my wife was 

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dressed, right? 
She thought that Lady goes to 

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church and I'll bet because 
she's wearing a skirt, she's a 

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Pentecostal right? 
Now obviously that wasn't the 

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case, but our appearance as 
Christians matter and it's part 

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of our testimony. 
It's part of the representation 

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of who we are to the world. 
And I want to give you the a 

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reason from God's word rather 
than just an emotional 

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explanation of, of our dress 
standards, but of dress 

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standards in general. 
That's that's necessary to help 

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us stand against the spirit of 
the age. 

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There's no doubt that that that 
most of Christianity is moving 

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away from Christ, not closer to 
him, right. 

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And I want to help you formulate
your standards related to your 

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appearance standards that are 
not driven by me or standards 

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that are driven by you and your 
fear or your carnality or even 

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your pride. 
I want to help you formulate 

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standards that are driven by 
your desire to reflect the 

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holiness of Christ and your love
for him. 

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That's that's where all of this 
comes down to. 

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And along with that, I want to 
make sure that you understand 

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that how we look is not an 
isolated thing. 

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It, it, it does not make a 
spiritual in and of itself. 

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I think there is a, there was a 
mindset maybe even 2034 years, 

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40 years ago in independent 
Baptist circles in particular, 

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that if you dressed a certain 
way that you have yet you had 

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attained to a certain level of 
spirituality. 

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And that's not the case. 
It's not the case. 

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But I also want to help our 
young people in here because 

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when we go on our youth 
activities and things, we, we 

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require that our young men and 
our young ladies dress modestly.

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And, you know, I mentioned this 
to our young men, Hey, when we 

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go, you know, we were, we stayed
in an Airbnb together. 

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Yeah. 
And not running around in the 

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house with no shirt on, right? 
Not running around in your 

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little short shorts, right. 
Same thing for the girls, but 

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that they'd be modest, right? 
And and everything that we do, 

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we ought to be modest. 
So what I want to do is lay out 

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some of these these principles 
tonight. 

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And I want you to, I want you to
understand these things, OK, 

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Obviously it's required to serve
in ministries of our church, but

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I want you to understand why we 
have these standards, not just 

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that. 
Well, the pastor said we have to

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do it. 
So that's what I'm going to do 

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if I want to serve in the 
ministry, I want you to 

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understand it. 
I want you to come to those same

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conclusions yourself. 
This is not, I'm not preaching 

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at you tonight, all right? 
I'm just giving you an 

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explanation of why we hold to 
the standards that we hold to. 

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I found this on Facebook a while
back and I saved it because I 

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wanted to use it with this, with
this lesson, with this message. 

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But a girl bought an iPhone and 
when her father saw it, he asked

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her what was the first thing you
did when you bought that phone? 

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And she said, well, the first 
thing I did was I put an anti 

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scratch screen protector on the 
front of the screen. 

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And he said, well, why was that?
Did somebody force you to do it?

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And she said no, nobody forced 
me to do it. 

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He said, well, don't you think 
it's an insult to the 

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manufacturer for you to put a 
anti scratch sticker on the 

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front of that screen? 
And she said, no, I'm doing it 

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to protect it. 
In fact, they actually recommend

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putting a cover on the iPhone. 
And he said, well, did you cover

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it because it's cheap and 
because it's ugly? 

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And she said, no, I covered it 
because I didn't want to get 

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damaged and I and I didn't want 
to decrease the value of it. 

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And she said, in fact, I 
actually bought a case that goes

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around the entire phone. 
And he said, well, did you buy 

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that? 
Did you buy that case for it 

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because you thought your iPhone 
was ugly and you wanted to cover

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it? 
And she said, no, I didn't do it

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because it was ugly. 
In fact, I like the case. 

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I think it makes the phone look 
better. 

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And the father looked at his 
daughter and he said, Yet if I 

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had to ask you to cover your 
body in the same way, would you 

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have just as readily done that? 
And she was silent. 

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I saw I found this Dear girls, 
always do remember that indecent

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dressing and exposure of your 
body effects others perception 

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of your great value and in many 
cases causes them to lose 

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respect for you. 
I did a, I did a big series, a 

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long series on this back in 2022
and 2023. 

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I think I did 15 messages on 
this. 

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It was the first time I'd ever 
taught through it. 

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So I went all the way back to 
the beginning about why we do 

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this and I talked about a lot of
different principles that we 

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find in the Word of God. 
And then in 2024, I did this 

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again. 
I took the same series and 

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instead of doing 15 messages, I 
think I did 5. 

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All right. 
And I'm going to take that same 

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exact series and I'm bringing it
down to 2 messages. 

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I just want to give you the 
explanation of the brief 

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explanation of this tonight. 
If you want more understanding 

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of these things more in deep 
principles from the Word of God,

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and certainly I'm going to give 
you some of those tonight and 

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next week, then I highly 
recommend you go back and do it.

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I got with brother Josh. 
I made sure that that was in a 

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in its own folder, if you will, 
or in a playlist on YouTube so 

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you can find it easily. 
But if you want to go back and 

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watch that, I think would be 
helpful to do that. 

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But I'm going to summarize those
lessons tonight. 

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And you know, the purpose of 
this, of doing this is certainly

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not to make you mad. 
I hope you'll listen to this 

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with an open heart and an open 
mind. 

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And I know this is one of those 
things that gets people upset 

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for some reason. 
I don't know why when you start 

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talking about people's 
wardrobes, people get mad and I 

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don't know why. 
I don't know why. 

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Because the whole purpose of why
we have the standards that we 

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have when it comes to dress, 
when it comes to music, when it 

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comes to everything, is because 
we are just trying as much as 

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possible to be as close to the 
word of God as we possibly can 

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be. 
And this lesson tonight and next

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week is simply meant to help you
understand why we have the 

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standards addressed that we do. 
Many of you have asked about it,

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and so I want to give you an 
explanation from the Bible. 

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Now, there's a couple of things 
that you need to understand as 

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we get into this. 
And the first one is that your 

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appearance does matter. 
Your appearance matters 1st and 

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simplest. 
We have to accept that our 

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appearance is addressed in 
Scripture, and this is maybe in 

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a very, very Broadway here in 
First Thessalonians, chapter 5, 

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I had you turn there. 
The Bible says in verse #22 

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abstain from all appearance of 
evil, abstain from all 

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appearance of evil. 
That means there are things that

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you can do that may not be evil,
but they look evil, right? 

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And so if we're to abstain from 
the appearance of evil, then 

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appearance does matter whether 
that is is your dress, whether 

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that is you're holding a can of 
non alcoholic Bud Light in your 

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hand, right? 
Oh, I can drink this. 

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It's not alcoholic, but it looks
like it. 

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It's got the appearance of evil,
right. 

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I can do a lot of things that 
may not necessarily technically 

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be wrong, but it has the 
appearance of evil. 

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All I'm saying is our appearance
is addressed in in God's word. 

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Turn over to First Samuel 
chapter 16. 

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If God speaks about it, then we 
should study it, we should learn

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it, we should try to understand 
it, and we should apply it to 

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our lives. 
So we should realize that our 

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appearance is the way that 
others see our Christianity 

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first. 
Now you can have a woman who is 

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as modest as could possibly be 
and is not even saved, has no 

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00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,880
desire to live for the Lord. 
And you can have a lady who is 

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not modest who has a desire to 
live for the Lord. 

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It's the heart that matters the 
most. 

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00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,320
But the Bible says this in First
Corinth. 

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Sorry, First Samuel chapter 16, 
verse #7 The Lord said unto 

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Samuel, look not on his 
countenance or on the height of 

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his stature, because I've 
refused him. 

208
00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,720
For the Lord seeth not as man 
seeth. 

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For man looketh on the outward 
appearance, but the Lord looketh

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on the heart. 
Now that's an important 

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principle there. 
God's looking at our heart, and 

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00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:30,880
the heart is what matters the 
most. 

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But what does man use to judge 
what's in our heart, the way we 

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look, right? 
Like it or not, most of the 

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world makes a judgment call on 
the basis of how people look, 

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00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,160
how they act, how they behave, 
what's visible to them prior to 

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actually getting to know that 
person in question. 

218
00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,400
Right? 
If I don't know, who should? 

219
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Who should I pick on tonight? 
Josh. 

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Josh came in dressed in all 
black with black eyelids and 

221
00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,280
combat boots and wearing leather
straps down his arms that were 

222
00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,640
tied up tight, right? 
And he had a leather vest on and

223
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everything else was black. 
You could reasonably assume that

224
00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:19,160
Josh was a goth, right? 
Or trying to dress as a gothic 

225
00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,280
person dresses right now. 
You don't know that Josh 

226
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,880
actually serves in the sound 
booth and that Josh actually 

227
00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,400
sings in the choir, and that 
from time to time Josh gets up 

228
00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,200
and preaches, right? 
You wouldn't know that just by 

229
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,200
looking at him because he's a 
goth, right? 

230
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,560
I mean, he's got, he's got 
everything black, right? 

231
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,440
And I may find out later on. 
Wow. 

232
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:41,920
I didn't realize that Josh 
serves in the sound booth and 

233
00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,640
Josh sings in the choir and Josh
does all of these things at 

234
00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,000
church. 
I just didn't. 

235
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,240
I didn't know who Josh was when 
I first met him. 

236
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,720
But what did you judge him by 
when you first saw him? 

237
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,360
The way that he was dressed, 
right, And his outside 

238
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,200
appearance. 
And so as a Christian, I should 

239
00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,960
not be primarily concerned with 
what people think, but I should 

240
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,840
be aware that how I look and how
I act and how I sound and how I 

241
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,520
behave does produce an effect on
those people around me. 

242
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,720
And I want that to be a godly 
effect. 

243
00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,480
I want people to look at me and 
I get this a lot. 

244
00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,640
I've been in, I've been in, I, I
grew up in church, so I, I've 

245
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:24,040
got the Christian look down, I 
suppose you could say, but I get

246
00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,440
all the time people ask me if 
I'm in the military, you in the 

247
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,440
military. 
I want to say yes so I can get 

248
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,600
the discount, but I don't. 
I try not to lie too much, but 

249
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,680
I've never actually said yes, 
I'm in the military just to get 

250
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:38,960
a discount. 
But, you know, people expect 

251
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,520
people in the military to look a
certain way, right? 

252
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,640
And they expect Christians to 
look a certain way. 

253
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:49,760
If I came in with long shaggy 
hair, right, or maybe a Mohawk 

254
00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,880
with long shaggy hair, and I am,
and I am just, you know, wearing

255
00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,040
anything and everything, 
nobody's going to look at me and

256
00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,520
say, I bet you that guy's a 
Christian, right? 

257
00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:02,760
I want people to look at me and 
I want them to think that when 

258
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,240
they see me, right? 
And it's different guys, you 

259
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:11,040
know, guys dress, you know, I 
mean, listen, for the most part,

260
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,920
men are not running around in 
skirts yet, all right? 

261
00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:16,720
It's not going to be long. 
Mark my words. 

262
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,240
It's not going to be long. 
It's not societally accepted 

263
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,480
yet. 
But it will be the same way that

264
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,000
society has accepted women 
wearing pants when it 

265
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,080
traditionally belonged to men, 
right? 

266
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,800
But I want somebody to look at 
me and say, I bet you that's a 

267
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,000
Christian. 
My wife wants somebody to look 

268
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,400
at her and say, I bet you that's
a Christian, right? 

269
00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:39,040
Now you speak without saying a 
word to somebody. 

270
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,960
So when you come up, all right, 
listen, you see somebody tell me

271
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,040
who I'm talking about. 
Black pants and shoes, white 

272
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:54,120
shirt, black tie. 
You didn't even have to think 

273
00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,440
about it because they represent 
the Mormons well, right? 

274
00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,080
The the girls do the same thing.
They represent the Mormon shirts

275
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,240
well, but you don't even have to
think about who they are. 

276
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,240
That's a Mormon, or in some 
cases that's a Jehovah's 

277
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,120
Witness, right? 
That's what everybody thinks 

278
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:11,480
when they see people who are 
dressed up. 

279
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,440
It's sad that nobody thinks. 
I bet you that's a Baptist, 

280
00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:19,000
young lady, right? 
Or I bet you that guy's a 

281
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,760
Baptist. 
Nobody thinks that anymore. 

282
00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,800
They used to. 
They used to. 

283
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,440
We've moved away from it, but 
all I'm saying is your 

284
00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,680
appearance does matter and God 
looks on the heart. 

285
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,560
Yes, and the heart is the most 
important, but you are judged by

286
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,080
what you look like on the 
outside before somebody gets to 

287
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,920
know you. 
Turn over to Mark chapter 1. 

288
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:49,360
I I want to reveal Christ in me 
the hope of glory, but before I 

289
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,040
ever get a chance to do that 
with my words, I have to be 

290
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:56,000
conscious that I can either help
or hinder that based on what 

291
00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:00,000
others see when they look at me.
And I believe that addressing 

292
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,640
the Christians appearance is 
needed now more than ever in our

293
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,280
country. 
It's very evident that in 

294
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,680
America we have a declining 
Christianity paired with a 

295
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,280
growing paganism. 
And the Bible says in Mark 

296
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,080
chapter 1 and verse #15 And they
come to Jesus and see him that 

297
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:20,880
was possessed with the devil and
had the legion sitting and 

298
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:26,840
clothed and in his right mind, 
what happened when this guy was 

299
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,640
walking through the tombs, 
cutting himself? 

300
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:31,120
Did I give you the wrong 
passage? 

301
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,120
I don't know. 
I have Mark 115. 

302
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,200
Somebody can find it. 
Was it Mark 515? 

303
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,280
Mark chapter 5 and verse 15? 
I'm sorry about that. 

304
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,360
I'll read it again if it's the 
same. 

305
00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,520
And they had come to and they 
come to Jesus and see him that 

306
00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,440
was possessed with the devil and
had the legion sitting and 

307
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,640
clothed. 
And in his right mind, this is 

308
00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,160
the story of the the maniac of 
Gedera. 

309
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,680
He's walking through the tombs, 
cutting himself. 

310
00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,200
But the amazing thing to me 
about it, the Bible says that he

311
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,800
was naked. 
He was running through the tombs

312
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,760
naked. 
And what is one of the first 

313
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,360
things he did after he got 
saved? 

314
00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:09,760
He put his clothes back on, 
right? 

315
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,880
He covered himself up. 
What's one of the first things 

316
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,680
that Adam and Eve did after they
realized that they were sinners?

317
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,400
They covered themselves up. 
They realized that they were 

318
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,280
naked, right? 
And so when a person 

319
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,800
individually or a society 
corporately is operating under 

320
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,240
the influence of the devil or 
the effect of or the effect of 

321
00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,680
Christ, it's evident in their 
appearance, right? 

322
00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:37,640
I don't understand how a 
Christian could go down to the 

323
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,200
beach and take all their clothes
off and think that God's going 

324
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,680
to be pleased with that, right? 
I think inherently, I think 

325
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,440
inherently, you know, as a 
Christian, that is not right to 

326
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,480
do that, right? 
And why is it that you have to 

327
00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,360
get all the way down to the 
beach before you take your 

328
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,800
clothes off, right? 
I say this often, you know, 

329
00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,360
it's, it's accepted for you to 
go down and be practically naked

330
00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,280
on the beach. 
But if I walked into somebody's 

331
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,440
bedroom and they were dressed 
the same way, they would scream 

332
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,040
and call the police and call me 
a pervert and everything else, 

333
00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,280
right? 
Because it's not normal, just 

334
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,880
because it's accepted does not 
mean that it's normal. 

335
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,440
And just because society says 
it's OK to go to the beach and 

336
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,319
take all your clothes off does 
not mean that it's OK to go to 

337
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:23,920
the beach and take all your 
clothes off. 

338
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,359
It's the devil's influence, and 
it's a lack of influence of 

339
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,320
people who know Christ as their 
savior. 

340
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,560
And what do we find in America 
today? 

341
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,800
A lot of that exact same thing. 
Undeniably, we are growing 

342
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,840
weaker as a society when it 
comes to a sense of modesty, 

343
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,480
right? 
It used to be that women would 

344
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,320
very rarely never go out of the 
house in something that was 

345
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,080
revealing, or if they did, you 
know what part of society they 

346
00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:53,080
belong to. 
Right now, they wear yoga pants 

347
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,680
that leaves very little to the 
imagination. 

348
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,320
And everybody's OK with it 
because everybody does it. 

349
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,400
And even Christian ladies run 
around in these yoga pants with 

350
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:07,280
every outline of their body 
visible for everybody to see. 

351
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,440
Those are not things for the 
world to see. 

352
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,480
Those are things that were 
designed for your husband. 

353
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,800
And that's it. 
You shouldn't even be running 

354
00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:16,400
around in those things in the 
home. 

355
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,240
Your kids don't need to see 
those things either. 

356
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:24,440
And so these activists that are 
that are increasingly advocating

357
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,280
for the right for women to run 
around topless and everything 

358
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,720
else. 
And it's going to happen. 

359
00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,200
It's going to happen if God, if 
God does not intervene and send 

360
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,040
a revival or if God doesn't come
back first. 

361
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,760
It's going to be OK in society. 
It's not yet, but it's getting 

362
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,040
closer and you're seeing it. 
It's all, it's all starting with

363
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,040
your Hollywood people and your, 
you know, your award shows and 

364
00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:47,120
all of these other things. 
They're getting more and more 

365
00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,520
naked with all of those things. 
And it's not going to be long 

366
00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,240
before they have no shame doing 
it period in society and Walmart

367
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,320
and everywhere else. 
I don't know what we're going to

368
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,640
do when we get to that point. 
But the way Christianity is 

369
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:00,360
following the world, it's not 
going to be long before 

370
00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,800
Christians are doing the same 
thing, right? 

371
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,360
And you think, oh, no, that'll 
never happen. 

372
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:10,680
It's happening, it's happening. 
Local governments, these pride 

373
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,280
parades where everybody goes out
there and the whole crowd's full

374
00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,280
of people are literally 
completely naked and they look 

375
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,880
the other way because, well, 
this is just their expression of

376
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,000
who they are. 
That's it's OK for them to do 

377
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,360
that, right? 
That's what society is doing. 

378
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:26,720
That's where society is going. 
And obviously they could go on 

379
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,480
and on. 
But I want you to see this turn 

380
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,680
over to Ezekiel chapter 22. 
What we see is the cultural 

381
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,000
captivity of American 
Christianity. 

382
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:41,280
That's what we're seeing. 
Contemporary Christianity to 

383
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,800
contemporary American 
Christianity, which is by far 

384
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,920
the largest faction of 
Christianity, has been built to 

385
00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,600
be like the world. 
And so it is. 

386
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,840
They might be a few steps behind
where the world is at, but they 

387
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,800
are following the world straight
to hell. 

388
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,120
And the Bible says in Ezekiel 
chapter 22 and verse #26 her 

389
00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:07,840
priests have violated my law and
have profaned my unholy things. 

390
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,320
They have put no difference 
between the holy and profane. 

391
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,160
Neither have they showed 
difference between the unclean 

392
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,360
and the clean. 
If that does not sound exactly 

393
00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:24,280
like where we're at in America, 
well, you look at what goes on 

394
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,800
in most of these large. 
Contemporary Christian churches 

395
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,440
and you can't tell the 
difference between the clean and

396
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,240
the unclean. 
Listen, that's why we have 

397
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,800
standards in music, right? 
Unless you pay very close 

398
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,840
attention and try to hear the 
word Jesus, or try to hear the 

399
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,280
word faithful or some of these 
other Christian terms that we 

400
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,280
throw around, you can't tell the
difference between the holy and 

401
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,480
the profane. 
You can't tell the difference 

402
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,280
between the clean and the 
unclean. 

403
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:56,000
And when we follow the world in 
the way that we dress, because 

404
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,920
this is the is what the world is
saying is acceptable. 

405
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,320
And when we follow modern 
contemporary Christianity into 

406
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,760
what they say is acceptable as 
they follow the world, then we 

407
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:09,520
are There is no separation 
between what's holy and what's 

408
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,320
what's profane and between 
what's clean and what's unclean.

409
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,600
There ought to be something 
different about us. 

410
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,720
If there's nothing different 
about us, then what are we 

411
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,400
offering? 
A lost and dying world? 

412
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,360
Why would they want what we have
if we are just the, the, the 

413
00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:29,080
awkward backward, you know, 
brother, that's, you know, 

414
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,560
younger brother. 
Why, why would, why would they 

415
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,200
want that? 
Right? 

416
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,760
You're weird to them because 
you're 2 steps behind where they

417
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,720
are. 
They don't want what you have 

418
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,240
unless you're very different. 
And the Bible says they're 

419
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,640
peculiar does not mean that you 
have to be weird. 

420
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:49,600
It means that you should be 
different. 

421
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,240
We ought to be offering the 
world something different in the

422
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,600
way that we look, in the way 
that we talk, in the way that 

423
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,480
our music sounds, in the way 
that we do church, in the way 

424
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,320
that we do everything. 
There ought to be something 

425
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,840
different about us. 
And as American contemporary 

426
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,160
Christianity gets closer and 
closer to the world, and as we 

427
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,680
get closer to the time of Jesus 
Christ coming back, there ought 

428
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:13,080
to be an even more marked 
difference between us that is 

429
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,800
not Christianity. 
And just because they call it 

430
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,080
Christianity does not mean that 
we have to keep following them 

431
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,600
in that direction. 
Oh, you guys are still. 

432
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,400
You're still back in the 1950s. 
You're still in the old blah, 

433
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:25,720
blah, blah. 
I'll take it. 

434
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:28,320
You know what? 
You're the one that's changing, 

435
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,040
not me. 
God didn't change, the Bible 

436
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,360
didn't change. 
The world changed, and 

437
00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:36,160
Christianity changed to follow 
the world. 

438
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,520
I don't need to be like you to 
feel accepted. 

439
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,240
I have one person that I'm 
looking for, for his acceptance,

440
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,840
and if he's not pleased, then 
I'm not pleased. 

441
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,360
If he is, then I am, and that's 
all that should matter to us. 

442
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,440
But something's changed in the 
last 30-40, fifty years, because

443
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,560
we certainly don't dress 
modestly like we used to. 

444
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,840
And believe it or not, it wasn't
the Bible that changed. 

445
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,040
And I think what's happening as 
a result is that the American 

446
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,840
church looks more and more like 
the world, all with barely a 

447
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,320
blush that anything is amiss. 
And it's sad that we've gotten 

448
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,720
to that point, but it falls on 
us then to change back into the 

449
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,600
conformity with the word of God.
I don't care if I'm conformed to

450
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,720
the world. 
I don't care if I'm conformed to

451
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,760
American Christianity. 
I want to be conformed to the 

452
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,240
word of God. 
That is my standard. 

453
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,240
That's my standard. 
So there's been a turn over to 

454
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,760
Proverbs chapter 4. 
This is I think where things 

455
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,200
have gotten off a little bit in 
the last 30-40, fifty years 

456
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,600
because there's been an 
incorrect, or maybe I should say

457
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,480
an over emphasis on dress 
standards and past generations 

458
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,480
in some churches and some Bible 
colleges and schools. 

459
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,360
And what's happened then is 
there's been an overcorrection, 

460
00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:52,840
if you will, and many of the 
younger people that grew up 

461
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,480
often in the independent Baptist
movement and the Bible says in 

462
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,840
Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23,
Solomon told us, keep thy heart 

463
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,640
with all diligence for out of it
are the issues of life and God. 

464
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,240
As we, as we read through 
Matthew chapter 567, the 

465
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:13,280
Beatitudes and, and all of the 
Sermon on the Mount, the whole 

466
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:18,320
emphasis that that Jesus was 
emphasizing was the heart. 

467
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:23,120
And the heart matters first, 
foremost and always, but not 

468
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,200
necessarily how long your skirt 
is. 

469
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,120
But God tells us that and God 
does tell us that some things 

470
00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:30,040
are weightier than others, 
right? 

471
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:34,600
How you, how you share the 
gospel, if it's a genuine gospel

472
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,160
presentation or just a shallow 
quick prayerism is different 

473
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,480
than if your skirt is long 
enough or not, right? 

474
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,400
There are some things that are 
weightier than others, and when 

475
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,080
colleges and ministries made 
conformity to outward appearance

476
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,440
equivalent to good Christianity,
they were wrong. 

477
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,280
But what that did was it 
produced an overreaction the 

478
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,360
other way that says that 
appearance does not matter at 

479
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,120
all. 
And all the sudden people are 

480
00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:02,520
getting grace and they're 
finding out that there's grace 

481
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,400
with Christ and I can do 
whatever I want to because all 

482
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,240
of it is covered under grace. 
That's a ditch on the other side

483
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,560
of the road, but both of them 
are ditches, right? 

484
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,080
We need to bring it the car to 
the middle of the road, if you 

485
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,240
will. 
The solution to an incorrect or 

486
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,680
wrong emphasis is not no 
emphasis. 

487
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,880
We still need to teach what the 
Bible says about our appearance,

488
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,280
even if somebody else previously
or presently in some cases, miss

489
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,800
applies and misuses it. 
Turn over to second Timothy 

490
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:36,400
chapter 4. 
I'll tell you this, most pastors

491
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:41,160
in most churches are afraid to 
discuss this idea. 

492
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,880
Anytime pastors are afraid to 
touch an issue, there's a 

493
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,800
problem. 
And I'll be the first to say 

494
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,600
that this is not an easy thing 
for me to do. 

495
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,440
Most people don't want to hear 
this today. 

496
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,200
So the natural thing is to 
attack the messenger. 

497
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,640
And I don't particularly care to
put myself in that position. 

498
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:01,600
But pastors, the Bible says in 
Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 

499
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,280
#2 are called to preach the 
Word, be instant in season, out 

500
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:10,160
of season, reprove, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering 

501
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,760
and doctrine. 
I've told you this many times 

502
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:17,080
before, I'm going to answer to 
the Lord for what I preach and 

503
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,320
I'm going to answer to the Lord 
for what I don't preach. 

504
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,360
I'm going to answer to him from 
my silence. 

505
00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:25,240
And as the statement goes, 
silence, silence is golden, but 

506
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,040
sometimes it's just yellow. 
And that's what that's that's 

507
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:29,280
what's happened in a lot of 
places. 

508
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,880
Well, I just, I can't touch that
issue because people are not 

509
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,760
going to like it and I'm not 
preaching it or teaching it. 

510
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,640
And that's really what I'm doing
tonight is teaching this. 

511
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,720
I'm not teaching it because I'm 
trying to make you mad or trying

512
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,760
to make you upset or anything 
like that. 

513
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:45,120
But I have to be willing to lose
friends no matter what. 

514
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:47,040
It doesn't, it doesn't mean it 
just has to be standards. 

515
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:48,440
I have to be willing to lose 
friends. 

516
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,800
I have to be willing to lose 
even people in this church. 

517
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,640
And I would, I, I hate the 
thought of that, but I have to 

518
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,520
be willing to do that if I'm 
going to preach what God wants 

519
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,840
me to preach and if I'm going to
teach the things that God wants 

520
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,200
me to teach. 
And so before we get into the 

521
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,880
details of what a conviction and
what a standard is, and that's 

522
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,160
kind of your base. 
That's, that's, that's what you 

523
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,760
determine where you draw those 
lines, how we apply those 

524
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,480
things. 
I, I, I want to just conclude by

525
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,480
saying a couple things. 
Number one, this, this subject 

526
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,320
needs to be studied. 
It needs to be taught, it needs 

527
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,040
to be discussed, it needs to be 
applied. 

528
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,720
And maybe this is the first time
that you ever heard or this idea

529
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,960
of dress standards, or maybe 
you've heard that concept, but 

530
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,120
you've never heard an 
explanation of why it's 

531
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,400
necessary to follow modesty in 
this way. 

532
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,280
It's not the end all be all of 
Christianity, but it's an 

533
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,120
important issue that needs to be
studied. 

534
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,200
And I believe that that we as a 
church, we've, we have, we have 

535
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,000
set this as our standard. 
And I believe that if you're 

536
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,880
going to follow that standard in
order to be able to serve in the

537
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,400
ministries, you need to 
understand why we have the 

538
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,800
standard that we have. 
And so as the Lord sees my 

539
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:58,080
heart, my desire is just simply 
to edify and simply to teach and

540
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,320
simply to help you understand 
why we do these things. 

541
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,960
Our, our goal ought to be to 
love the Lord supremely with all

542
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,640
of our hearts and, and, and then
to embrace the importance of 

543
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:08,600
making that visible in our 
appearance. 

544
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,400
If you love the Lord with all 
your heart, number one, you're 

545
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,680
going to have a desire for the 
appearance to match what your 

546
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,040
heart is. 
But #2 you're going to want to 

547
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,080
be as close to, to, to what a 
Christian should do and, and be 

548
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,720
and the way a Christian should 
dress as you possibly can. 

549
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,160
And so I want you to listen as 
we go through this to what the 

550
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,000
Bible has to say before you draw
your automatic conclusions. 

551
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,680
It's the next step in in getting
closer to the holiness of God, 

552
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:39,320
closer and as close as we can 
get to his word, as we possibly 

553
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,200
can get. 
And I believe I know your 

554
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,320
hearts, you would say that you 
want to be as close to God as 

555
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,840
you possibly can be. 
So I'm not saying that this is 

556
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,760
when you finally get this idea 
of dress standards down, that 

557
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,880
you finally arrived at what a 
good Christian really ought to 

558
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,560
be. 
But my whole point is our goal 

559
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,120
ought to be as close to Christ 
and as close to his Word as we 

560
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,480
possibly can be. 
And when you find out that maybe

561
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,080
there's some things that I can 
do that maybe some things that I

562
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,760
can change to get a little bit 
closer to him, I think that your

563
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,680
desire ought to be to do that. 
So let me jump into this 

564
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,240
tonight. 
I'm just going to touch two 

565
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,120
quick things tonight. 
And then I'm going to talk in a 

566
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,120
little bit more deep detail 
about this next week, about what

567
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,240
what the, what the applied 
convictions and what the applied

568
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,040
standards are. 
But I need to, I need to take a 

569
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,120
step back and talk to you about 
what a conviction is, because a 

570
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,600
conviction is how we arrive at 
anything that we do, what we 

571
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:38,800
wear, what we listen to, how we 
speak, right? 

572
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:45,120
You have convictions against 
cursing, most of you, right? 

573
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,840
You don't curse because you 
believe that it's wrong to 

574
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,560
curse, right? 
Those are just words that 

575
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,680
somebody made-up, right? 
But you have a, you have a 

576
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,680
conviction against saying those 
words, right? 

577
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,040
Why? 
Why don't you curse? 

578
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,240
You have a conviction against 
drinking alcohol, right? 

579
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:05,880
You don't drink because you know
it's wrong. 

580
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:08,880
But why? 
Why do you? 

581
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,040
How did you arrive at that 
conviction? 

582
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,600
And then what's your standard? 
There are some people who say, 

583
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,520
well, a little bit of wine is OK
or a little bit of beer here and

584
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:18,440
there is OK as long as I'm not 
getting drunk. 

585
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,280
But that means you may or may 
not have a conviction. 

586
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,880
But no matter what, you've set 
your standard very, very low 

587
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:26,600
when it in relation to that 
conviction. 

588
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,080
So I want you to understand 
tonight what what a conviction 

589
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,960
and what a standard is and how 
we get to that that spot. 

590
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:34,920
So let me give you just a quick 
definition of what a conviction 

591
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,720
is. 
Very Simply put, it is something

592
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,640
that I am convinced about. 
That's what a conviction is. 

593
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,560
The dictionary defines the word 
conviction as quote, a strong 

594
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:48,600
persuasion or belief, the state 
of being convinced. 

595
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,440
So conviction applies to 
something that is firmly and a 

596
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,920
seriously held belief. 
When we're Speaking of the 

597
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:57,920
things that we're convinced 
about, we're speaking in the 

598
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,880
context of our doctrines and our
practice. 

599
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,480
But what becomes important then 
is how you arrive at the things 

600
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,160
that you become convinced about,
right? 

601
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,200
A conviction. 
That's the line that we've 

602
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:10,920
drawn. 
And that's honestly how some 

603
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,720
people have come to different 
conclusions about convictions 

604
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,040
and ultimately standards that 
arise from those convictions. 

605
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,360
There are a few right ways and 
there are a few wrong ways to 

606
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,880
arrive at those convictions. 
And I'll say this, first of all,

607
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,240
you're a pastor ought to be 
respected, but you should not 

608
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,840
let your pastor form your 
convictions. 

609
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,920
Now, my job as your pastor is to
help lead you toward those 

610
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,480
convictions and help lead you 
toward the word of God. 

611
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,400
But if your conviction is only, 
this is what my pastor says we 

612
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,240
do, then you don't have a 
conviction. 

613
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,200
Your pastor has a conviction 
that you follow. 

614
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,480
You need to have your own 
convictions because there may be

615
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,760
a day when I'm no longer the 
pastor of this church. 

616
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,560
God could move me somewhere 
else. 

617
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,120
God could Take Me Home. 
I don't, I don't know. 

618
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,720
But if there's ever a day when 
I'm not the pastor of this 

619
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,560
church, if those convictions 
were not yours, then the moment 

620
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,880
I'm gone, all of those things go
away, right? 

621
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,840
You ought to have a conviction 
against contemporary Christian 

622
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,000
music. 
That whether I'm here to enforce

623
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,560
the standard that we have with 
contemporary Christian music or 

624
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,120
not, this church ought to go 
forward singing the old hymns, 

625
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,040
singing about things that are 
pleasing to the Lord, not 

626
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,280
contemporary Christian music, 
Not because I said it or that 

627
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,000
was the standard that that 
pastor had. 

628
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,200
He's gone. 
Now we've got a new pastor in 

629
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:26,560
here. 
You ought to do it based on 

630
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,960
conviction because you are 
convinced that contemporary 

631
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,360
Christian music is against the 
word of God. 

632
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,200
That's that's why you hold those
standards. 

633
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,720
That's why you have that 
conviction and you ought to have

634
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,240
your own convictions. 
Now, I hope you'll listen to the

635
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:40,440
things that I have to say about 
it. 

636
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,360
I hope you'll follow me as I 
follow Christ. 

637
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,360
And I hope that that you'll be 
convinced of the same things 

638
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,520
that I am convinced of from 
God's Word. 

639
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,360
But my point is, is if all 
you're doing when it comes to 

640
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,400
your convictions is listening to
what I say you should do and 

641
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,640
listening to the what I say you 
have to do in order to serve in 

642
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,360
one of these ministries, then 
you don't have a conviction. 

643
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,400
And you're going to flop and, 
and, and flail around the second

644
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,720
you're no longer in this church 
or I'm not here. 

645
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,720
And you need to have convictions
for yourself. 

646
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:12,600
If the reason you have that 
conviction is because your 

647
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,520
pastor told you to have it, then
you've arrived at your 

648
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,720
conclusion for the wrong reason.
And you don't have, you don't 

649
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,360
have convictions. 
You need to be in the Word of 

650
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,960
God. 
You need to be following up with

651
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,400
what's taught from the Word of 
God to make sure that you're not

652
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,080
just convinced by my words, but 
that you're convinced by the 

653
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,360
Holy Spirit. 
And that's what I've said from 

654
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,600
the beginning and probably will 
say many, many more times that 

655
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,800
it's, it's, it's not my job to 
convince you and to try to teach

656
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,240
you, convince you of what I'm, 
what I'm trying to teach you 

657
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,240
here. 
It's my job to present what I 

658
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,120
see in the Bible as leading us 
toward more Christ likeness, 

659
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:50,960
toward more allowing the Holy 
Spirit to do the work in our 

660
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,960
lives. 
That's my job is to lead you to 

661
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,080
those things. 
But the Holy Spirit has to be 

662
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,920
the one that convicts you, 
because if the Holy Spirit 

663
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,680
convicts you, it's very 
different then somebody 

664
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,240
convinced, you know, convincing 
you of an argument. 

665
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,360
Somebody, if I can convince you 
to change because of what I said

666
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:09,840
and it has nothing to do with 
the Holy Spirit, then somebody 

667
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,000
else can come along behind me 
and convince you of something 

668
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,199
else. 
If the Holy Spirit does the 

669
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:17,320
convincing and the Holy Spirit 
does that convicting, then it 

670
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,679
doesn't matter who's here in 
this spot. 

671
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,520
You're going to do what's right 
because the Holy Spirit gave you

672
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,719
that conviction. 
So just because the world 

673
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:29,400
changes the standard does not 
mean that my convictions change 

674
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:31,840
to match that standard. 
A conviction is something that 

675
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,679
does not change. 
That's a hard and fast line that

676
00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:39,719
you come to from God's Word. 
Society has changed dramatically

677
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:43,960
in the last 50 years, maybe a 
little bit longer, maybe 75. 

678
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,800
I don't think that people who 
are alive 100 years ago would 

679
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,600
recognize this country if they 
came back. 

680
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,880
It's so different and it's 
changed dramatically, even even 

681
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,880
over the last 10 or 15 years. 
And yet the Bible has not 

682
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:00,520
changed. 
In 2000 years. 

683
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,080
We have the same Word of God, 
the word of God that they had 

684
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,320
100 years ago and 200 years ago 
and 500 years ago. 

685
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,360
We still have today. 
Nothing has changed in God's 

686
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,560
Word. 
So why are we moving away from 

687
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:16,400
it? 
Why is society changing? 

688
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,040
Why is Christianity changing? 
It's not God's word that 

689
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,400
changed. 
It's us. 

690
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:24,240
We're the ones that have 
changed. 

691
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,880
Just because the world says 
something is acceptable now that

692
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,880
50 years ago was not acceptable 
does not give us the license to 

693
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,240
change our convictions. 
A conviction is something that 

694
00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:38,040
does not change no matter who 
says it or no matter what the 

695
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,680
world, what the world says. 
By the by the very nature of 

696
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,360
what a conviction was, if it 
changes, it wasn't a conviction,

697
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:47,000
right? 
A conviction is a hard and fast 

698
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,040
line that does not move. 
And if my conviction is based on

699
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,320
what the Bible says, and it 
doesn't matter what society says

700
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:57,400
is acceptable, it doesn't matter
what my thoughts are or anything

701
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,520
else, my convictions and 
therefore my standards are not 

702
00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:04,200
going to change. 
I mentioned this a little bit 

703
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,920
ago. 
You would probably, First off, 

704
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,080
think I was joking, but 
secondly, probably be appalled 

705
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:17,560
if I came in here dressed in a 
dress with makeup on and high 

706
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,800
heels and prancing around the 
stage, right? 

707
00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:22,280
You would think it was a joke. 
And when you realize that I 

708
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,080
wasn't joking, you would 
probably have a cow, right? 

709
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,400
And, and, and most of you would 
probably get up and leave 

710
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,360
because society has not said 
that a man prancing around in a 

711
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:41,600
dress is acceptable yet, right? 
But 50 or 100 years ago, there 

712
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:45,120
were things that were not 
acceptable that are acceptable 

713
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,480
now that all the sudden the goal
posts moved and now we've 

714
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:51,120
changed it and now it's OK for a
woman to put on a skin type pair

715
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:55,200
of jeans when that wasn't 
acceptable 50 years ago because 

716
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,960
society said it wasn't 
acceptable, right? 

717
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,840
All the sudden the goal posts 
moved. 

718
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,760
Did the word of God change in 
those last 50 years? 

719
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,240
Did your conviction change in 
the last 50 years? 

720
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:13,360
Wasn't a conviction if it did, 
or have we moved closer and 

721
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:17,200
closer and closer to the world 
because that's what they're 

722
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,760
saying is acceptable? 
I think that's the case. 

723
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:23,640
So it becomes ultimately 
important that we read the 

724
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,880
Bible. 
We can't just use ignorance as 

725
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,960
an excuse for a lack of 
conviction, right? 

726
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:34,200
If a police officer pulls you 
over and he says any, any 

727
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:36,560
particular reason why you ran 
through that stop sign back 

728
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,840
there and you say, oh, I didn't 
realize that a stop sign meant 

729
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,840
that you had to stop. 
Nobody's ever told me that 

730
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,280
before. 
Well, you know what he's going 

731
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:46,440
to say? 
Well, sorry, that's the rule of 

732
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,000
the road. 
That's an easy ticket, right? 

733
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,120
Because it's a rule. 
Just because you don't know that

734
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:54,560
the rule exists does not mean 
that you get a pass. 

735
00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,520
The police officer's not going 
to say, OK, well, I'll give you 

736
00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:59,800
a pass this time. 
But when you see a red, a big 

737
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,040
red Octagon sign that says stop 
on it, you have to come to a 

738
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,360
stop. 
All right, I'll give you a pass 

739
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,880
this time. 
No, ignorance is not an excuse. 

740
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,600
So when you say, well, I didn't 
realize that I shouldn't be 

741
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,080
doing that or I didn't know that
I shouldn't be doing that. 

742
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,640
God, sorry, I just didn't know. 
He's going to say, I gave you 

743
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:21,240
everything that you needed to 
know about how to live the way 

744
00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:24,480
that is the most pleasing to me.
Just because you ignored it or 

745
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:26,400
just because you didn't know it 
was there, because you never 

746
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,160
read it, does not mean that you 
get a pass. 

747
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:30,800
And so when it comes to our 
convictions and all of those 

748
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,000
things, it's absolutely 
necessary to study the word of 

749
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,480
God so we can arrive at the 
right principles, so we can 

750
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:39,400
arrive at the right doctrine, so
we can arrive at the right 

751
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,400
convictions and therefore have 
the right standard. 

752
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,720
So it becomes important to be in
a church that holds to the word 

753
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,840
of God regardless of political 
influence, regardless of 

754
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,520
political correctness or 
influence by culture or, you 

755
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,480
know, whatever they're trying to
set as the standard today. 

756
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:58,800
The convictions that we arrive 
at based on the word of God are 

757
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:01,160
extremely important because 
that's how we arrive at our 

758
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,760
standards. 
Now, let me tell you what a 

759
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:07,800
standard is, and we'll be done. 
Turn over to Proverbs chapter 4.

760
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,440
In the typical dictionary, 
there's as many as 10 

761
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,080
definitions on what a standard 
is. 

762
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,400
But in the context of what we're
talking about here, I think the 

763
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,160
most appropriate one, the most 
appropriate definition that we 

764
00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,680
find in the dictionary is 
something set up and established

765
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,680
by authority as a rule for the 
measure of quantity, weight, 

766
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:32,520
extent, value, or quality. 
A pound has to stay within 

767
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:36,240
certain boundaries, right? 
A pound has to be 16 ounces or 

768
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:40,120
it's not a pound. 
If it's 17 oz, it's not a pound 

769
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:43,240
anymore. 
It's a pound in an ounce, right?

770
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:45,600
Or maybe there's another unit 
for it, right? 

771
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:50,400
There's, there's 12 inches and a
foot. 

772
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:54,040
If it's thirteen, it's not a 
foot, it's bigger, right? 

773
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:56,800
They don't make some rulers that
have 12 inches and some that are

774
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:00,360
12 and 1/4 and some that are 12 
1/2 and some that are 11 3/4 and

775
00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:02,120
just as long as you get close to
that. 

776
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,760
No, there's a standard, right? 
That's what a standard is. 

777
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:11,520
It's a hard and fast measure, if
you will, A guideline that's 

778
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:13,600
going to help me judge or 
determine whether or not 

779
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,320
something is acceptable. 
All right, If I'm trying to get 

780
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,120
something that's exactly 1 foot 
long, I'm going to get a 

781
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,280
yardstick. 
I mean a ruler. 

782
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,200
And if I lay that ruler down 
next to that thing, if it's 

783
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:26,640
longer than that, it's not a 
foot. 

784
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,000
If it's shorter than that, it's 
not a foot. 

785
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,760
Only when it matches up exactly 
to that standard is it a foot, 

786
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,600
because a ruler is a standard 
measurement, right? 

787
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:42,120
So in this context, then, here 
is what I would give you as a 

788
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:45,120
definition of standards. 
They're rules that I institute 

789
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,720
in my life that help me abide by
my convictions. 

790
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,840
And if you think about it like 
this, your conviction is a line 

791
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:53,840
that you're not going to cross, 
right? 

792
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,720
If I were to cross this line, I 
am convinced that I would be 

793
00:40:57,720 --> 00:41:01,640
sinning, right? 
I'm convinced that I would be 

794
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:05,920
sinning if I crossed this line. 
So I don't think anybody that's 

795
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:08,800
in here would disagree that the 
Bible says that women in 

796
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:12,840
particular is who it's addressed
to should dress modestly, right?

797
00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:17,040
Modesty is that conviction. 
A woman ought to be modest. 

798
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,520
So how do I define what modesty 
is? 

799
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,360
There's people who define 
modesty in different ways, 

800
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,120
right? 
Some would say that you have to 

801
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,640
wear a skirt that goes down 
below your knee to be modest. 

802
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,640
Some would say that as long as 
your pair of pants that you're 

803
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,080
wearing is a little bit loose, 
then it's modest. 

804
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:38,760
Right. 
So what's modest? 

805
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:42,040
How do you define that? 
Well, we have that conviction. 

806
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,560
Women are to be modest. 
Women are to dress modestly. 

807
00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:50,960
So I set my standard far enough 
back from that conviction so 

808
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:52,360
that I don't break that 
conviction. 

809
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:53,200
Right. 
OK. 

810
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,240
The Bible tells men that they 
should have short hair, right? 

811
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,160
If a man have long hair, does 
not nature itself teach you? 

812
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,160
The Bible says that if a man 
have long hair, it's a shame 

813
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:04,440
unto him, right? 
So my conviction is that a man's

814
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:11,040
hair should be short. 
What is short, right? 

815
00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:15,280
What's short? 
I mean, my hair is short, right?

816
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:17,640
But so is Brother Paul's, right?
I can go shorter. 

817
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:26,240
Yeah, he can go shorter, right? 
Is it long? 

818
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:30,120
Only if it's down to the middle 
of your back or if it's resting 

819
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:31,520
on your shoulders. 
What's long? 

820
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:33,440
Right? 
Where is that? 

821
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,320
Where is that? 
Where do where do I cross that 

822
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,000
line? 
And that I break that conviction

823
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:41,960
and it becomes a sin. 
You know what I do? 

824
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,840
I set a standard to keep me from
crossing that conviction. 

825
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:50,680
So the standard is for men, 
especially in our church, we 

826
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:53,040
have the standard that your hair
should be off your ears and off 

827
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,000
your collar. 
If your hair creeps down a 

828
00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,240
little bit farther and it's a 
little bit lower than your ears,

829
00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:00,200
or if it's sitting on your 
collar just a little bit, are 

830
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,080
you in sin? 
Well, I don't know. 

831
00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:05,520
It depends on what long is, 
right? 

832
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:09,320
That's the conviction. 
So I set a standard, and the 

833
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:14,000
higher I set my standard, the 
farther away I get from that 

834
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:16,600
line. 
So that even if I were to give a

835
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,560
little bit on that, I'm not 
going to cross that conviction 

836
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,800
and be in what I would consider 
to be sin, because I've set that

837
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,760
conviction line based on the 
word of God, right? 

838
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:29,720
So I have my standard here. 
And if I'm talking about my 

839
00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,040
line, I don't put my standards 
right on the line of conviction 

840
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:35,760
because then to break that 
standard just a little bit would

841
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:37,280
be to fall below that conviction
line. 

842
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:39,240
And then I believe that I'd be 
in sin. 

843
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:43,920
So I set my standard higher than
my conviction so that I have a 

844
00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,440
little bit of room to play with 
in there, right? 

845
00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,440
And if somebody has hair that's 
a little bit longer than mine, 

846
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:52,360
I'm not going to go up to them 
and say you're in sin, cut your 

847
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,960
hair, right? 
My standard is high when it 

848
00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:59,360
comes to the way that I cut my 
hair, right? 

849
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:03,080
I want to be as far away from 
that line as possible. 

850
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:05,320
That doesn't mean I need to go 
shave my head and be bald in 

851
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:07,160
order to not have long hair, 
right? 

852
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:13,560
But I do have standards that 
I've set so that I don't cross 

853
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:15,920
the thing that I'm convinced 
that if a man has long hair, 

854
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:20,240
it's a shame unto him, right? 
So standards are what I set to 

855
00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:23,080
help me keep from breaking my 
convictions. 

856
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:25,560
Think about it this way for just
a minute. 

857
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:28,520
Let's say that I believe with 
with all my heart that high 

858
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:31,800
fructose corn syrup is bad for 
you, right? 

859
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:36,040
It's bad for your body. 
If you believe that, if you're 

860
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,640
convinced of that, we could 
label that as a conviction, 

861
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:41,920
right? 
High fructose corn syrup is bad 

862
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:43,760
for you. 
That's my conviction. 

863
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:49,280
So it would make sense then that
I would institute in a rule in 

864
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:53,320
my life that I'm not going to 
drink Coke or Doctor Pepper or 

865
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:56,120
Mountain Dew or any of those 
other thousand carbonated 

866
00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:59,040
beverages that have high 
fructose corn syrup in them, 

867
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:02,880
because my conviction is that 
that stuff is bad for you. 

868
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:07,160
So the standard is that I'm not 
going to drink any of that pop 

869
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:09,320
soda, whatever you want to call 
it. 

870
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,400
I grew up in the Midwest. 
I call it pop, but most people 

871
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:13,400
don't have any idea what that 
is. 

872
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:15,560
By the way, if you go into a 
store, if you go into a 

873
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,280
restaurant, the menu says pop on
it. 

874
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,760
By the way, it doesn't say soda 
or coke or whatever you want to 

875
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,000
call it. 
But that's, if that's my 

876
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,560
conviction, then I'm going to 
set a standard that I'm not 

877
00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:27,160
going to drink any of that 
because I don't want to. 

878
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:28,520
I don't want to break that 
conviction. 

879
00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:30,080
Think about it like this, all 
right? 

880
00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:32,720
I've climbed the Grand Canyon, 
I've been to Pikes Peak, I've 

881
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:34,520
climbed Pikes Peak a couple 
different times. 

882
00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:36,320
I've been to Niagara Falls a 
couple times. 

883
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:40,680
I've seen some of these really, 
really dangerous places, right? 

884
00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:42,880
Do you know what they have 
everywhere? 

885
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,200
Fences that keep you from 
walking over the edge of that 

886
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,400
Canyon, right? 
So why did they set a fence? 

887
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,200
Why does it matter? 
You should be able to get all 

888
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:55,280
the way to the edge of that 
thing, and you should be able to

889
00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:57,800
dangle your feet over the edge 
if that's what you want to do, 

890
00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:00,800
right? 
Well, they are setting the 

891
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:04,360
conviction for you, right? 
So what they're doing is they 

892
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,240
are here's the line. 
OK, This is the Canyon. 

893
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:09,040
This whole center thing is the 
Canyon. 

894
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:12,560
Do they put the fence right on 
the line? 

895
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,720
Because you know what stupid 
tourists do all the time? 

896
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:20,240
I got to get the best shot 
possible. 

897
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:23,360
Look at me right. 
And they have to get that 

898
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:26,880
selfie. 
No, they set the fence back away

899
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:30,120
from the edge of that Canyon 
because they know that people 

900
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:31,960
are going to be stupid and they 
know that they're going to step 

901
00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:35,600
over that boundary and they're 
protecting you from yourself, 

902
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,280
right? 
And that's exactly what we're 

903
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,520
doing here. 
This, this is the conviction to 

904
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:44,800
step over. 
This would be spiritual death, 

905
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:47,680
right? 
I'm stepping into sin if I step 

906
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:51,200
over that conviction line. 
But I would be really foolish if

907
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:56,040
I put my fence right on the edge
of that line so that if I just 

908
00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,320
stepped over a little bit to try
to get a better view or 

909
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:01,080
something, I'm going right over 
the edge, right? 

910
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:05,720
I want to be as far away from 
that edge as I possibly can be. 

911
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,760
Now, I could also, you know, if 
the Grand Canyon's in Arizona, I

912
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:10,960
could put my fence in Indiana, 
and that'd be kind of dumb, 

913
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:13,560
right? 
Which is where you get your 

914
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,400
Amish and all of those kind of 
things, right? 

915
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:19,080
I mean, those are standards that
they've said they've just set 

916
00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:21,840
the standard so far back that it
doesn't even make any sense to 

917
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:23,200
have them set where they are, 
right? 

918
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:26,880
But I'm going to set my standard
far enough away from that 

919
00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:31,200
conviction line that if I were 
to cross that line even just a 

920
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:35,880
little bit, I'm OK, right? 
And here's what you have, OK? 

921
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,560
I said every church has a 
standard, right? 

922
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:42,280
With everything, some churches 
take their music all the way up 

923
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:43,840
to that edge. 
Now most of them are in the 

924
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:46,200
Canyon and they're in. 
The reason that sounds like it 

925
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,520
does is because the drums and 
everything else are bouncing 

926
00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:50,320
down the Canyon. 
That's why it sounds like that, 

927
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:55,400
right? 
But at the same time, there are 

928
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:57,640
some music that we wouldn't do 
in our church. 

929
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,840
But I wouldn't necessarily say 
that it was wrong if somebody 

930
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:03,960
else was doing that. 
That's just closer to the edge 

931
00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:06,920
than I want to be because I 
don't want to cross that 

932
00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:09,480
conviction line. 
I don't know exactly where that 

933
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:11,600
is. 
I don't know exactly where you 

934
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:14,160
crossed the line. 
And now that music is wrong. 

935
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,040
But I'm going to set my standard
way back here just to make sure 

936
00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:20,600
that I'm safe. 
Because the last thing that I 

937
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,280
want to do is cross over that 
line and sin and do something 

938
00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:27,440
that's displeasing to the Lord. 
Do something that's not holy, do

939
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:29,760
something that's not Christ 
like, because I wanted to get as

940
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:31,480
close to that line as I possibly
could. 

941
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,280
So I set my, I set my, my 
convictions. 

942
00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:38,760
These are all based directly on 
the word of God. 

943
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:43,200
And then based on what I read in
God's word, I set my standards 

944
00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:46,160
farther back away from the edge 
of that thing just to make sure 

945
00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:48,760
that I'm not getting anywhere 
close to that edge. 

946
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:51,800
And that's what I'm saying. 
Every church has their standard.

947
00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:53,960
Some have their music standards 
right here. 

948
00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:57,320
Some have them here, some have 
them here. 

949
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:01,560
We set ours a little bit higher.
I'm we're back here doesn't make

950
00:49:01,560 --> 00:49:05,200
us better. 
It just makes it more safe. 

951
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:07,880
And that's exactly what we're 
talking about when it comes to 

952
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:11,000
dress standards too, right? 
Some people put their dress 

953
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,840
standards right in that line. 
You step over that, now you're 

954
00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:17,280
in sin because it's immodest. 
Now you're in sin because you've

955
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:19,400
crossed that biblical line of 
modesty. 

956
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:24,560
I don't know where exactly that 
line is, but I set a standard 

957
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:28,120
because I want to make sure that
I don't cross that line. 

958
00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:32,280
I want as a man and, and, and I 
want from my wife and for my 

959
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:35,000
daughter and for the ladies in 
this church to be modest. 

960
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,280
I don't want you to cross that 
line and end up in a place where

961
00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:41,880
you're disappointing your Lord, 
where you are, where you are 

962
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:45,320
crossing that line from holy to 
profane, where you're crossing 

963
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:49,280
that line from clean to unclean.
So do we have some room to give?

964
00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:53,520
Probably we do, right? 
I don't want to get into the 

965
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:55,680
weird territory where I'm 
setting it on the other side of 

966
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:58,240
the building just for the sake 
of setting a standard so high 

967
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:00,840
that it's impossible to reach 
right. 

968
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:03,680
But I want to set, I want to set
my standard far enough back from

969
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:06,720
that edge that I don't want to 
cross that modesty line because 

970
00:50:06,720 --> 00:50:09,600
that's my conviction. 
And to cross that line of 

971
00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:14,760
modesty would be a sin against 
God because it's in His Word. 

972
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:16,800
And that's why I set that line 
where I did. 

973
00:50:17,720 --> 00:50:21,200
So are our standards higher than
a lot of other churches? 

974
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:23,800
Yes, they are. 
It's not set higher than other 

975
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:25,720
churches so that we can say, 
look at us, look what we're 

976
00:50:25,720 --> 00:50:27,240
doing. 
It's set higher than other 

977
00:50:27,240 --> 00:50:29,880
churches because they've decided
that that's where they're going 

978
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:33,160
to set their standard line. 
And they're allowed to do that 

979
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:34,680
because they're their own 
individual church. 

980
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,720
But for us, I want to be as far 
away from that line as I can be 

981
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:41,160
while also being in a in a realm
where I can actually talk and 

982
00:50:41,160 --> 00:50:45,160
work with people, right. 
I mean, most people don't give 

983
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:48,080
the Amish the time of the day 
because they're their own little

984
00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:50,720
entity way over here somewhere. 
And by the way, they're, they're

985
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:52,600
totally different because 
they're depending completely on 

986
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:54,400
their works and everything else 
for their salvation. 

987
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:57,520
But I'm just saying, if we took 
a, if we took a standard of the 

988
00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:00,320
Amish when it comes to our 
dress, we have to wear a bonnet.

989
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,760
And you can only wear black and 
you can only do this and you can

990
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:05,080
only do that. 
And, and I'm saying that you can

991
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,720
get to the point where you are 
regulating the Holy Spirit right

992
00:51:07,720 --> 00:51:10,880
out of everything, right? 
And then you're no different 

993
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:13,240
than the Pharisees and the 
Sadducees and everybody else in 

994
00:51:13,240 --> 00:51:15,120
the Old Testament where they 
were doing it just for the sake 

995
00:51:15,120 --> 00:51:17,800
of being able to say, look what 
we're doing, right? 

996
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:21,800
That's not why we do it. 
We do it because there's the 

997
00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:24,480
conviction line. 
I'm setting my standards back 

998
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,280
here because I don't want to 
cross that. 

999
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:30,440
I don't want to be immodest. 
I don't want to be displeasing 

1000
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:34,760
to the Lord. 
Proverbs chapter 4 and verse #14

1001
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,960
enter not into the path of the 
wicked and go not in the way of 

1002
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:44,720
evil men. 
Avoid it. 

1003
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:50,720
Pass not by it, turn from it and
pass away. 

1004
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:59,320
Now let me bring up one point. 
As we close tonight, we have our

1005
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:03,640
conviction line, right? 
This line is a conviction that 

1006
00:52:03,640 --> 00:52:06,720
is based on God's Word. 
This is God's line, right? 

1007
00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:15,160
This fence back here is a man 
made fence, right? 

1008
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:19,280
Those are those are fences that 
we put there as a way to keep 

1009
00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:20,680
ourselves from crossing over 
that. 

1010
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:24,040
But I'll tell you this, if you 
never go over the fence, then 

1011
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:25,720
you certainly can't go over the 
edge of the Cliff. 

1012
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:30,320
And I want that line to be as 
far back as it can possibly be 

1013
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:34,080
so that I'm pleasing to the Lord
in every aspect. 

1014
00:52:34,080 --> 00:52:36,800
And and I'm bringing very 
general tonight because I'm 

1015
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,040
trying to explain to you what a 
conviction is and a standard is.

1016
00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:42,600
I'm going to get a little bit in
more detail when I'm talking 

1017
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:45,600
about our dress standards next 
week. 

1018
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:47,680
And there's a lot more to this. 
There's a lot of principles that

1019
00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:50,600
we find in God's word and I and 
if you're, if you're interested 

1020
00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:54,080
in, I would be, I mean, I think 
it would be very helpful for you

1021
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:56,600
to go and watch some more of 
that series that I did before. 

1022
00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:58,920
I'm I'm only kind of touching 
the surface with a lot of these 

1023
00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:03,160
things. 
But all of that to say that 

1024
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:06,120
there are times when the 
deceitfulness of sin is so 

1025
00:53:06,120 --> 00:53:09,920
strong that we've got to set 
that fence farther back because 

1026
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:15,080
it's deceptive and it and it and
it looks maybe not so dangerous,

1027
00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:19,080
but it's very dangerous. 
And it looks like maybe we could

1028
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,120
get a little bit closer to that.
It would be fine. 

1029
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:24,040
But then somebody steps over 
that line and they disappear 

1030
00:53:24,040 --> 00:53:27,480
down that precipice. 
Set that standard far enough 

1031
00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:34,520
back from the edge and make a 
make a decision not to step over

1032
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,080
that line. 
And there's no way that you can 

1033
00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:39,200
fall down into that Canyon. 
That's that's my whole point 

1034
00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:42,280
when it comes to this thing. 
So the next week I'm going to 

1035
00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:47,360
discuss 2 aspects of dress that 
help us define our standards. 

1036
00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:50,040
And ultimately it's the reason 
why we have the standards that 

1037
00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:52,200
we have in our church. 
I'll just give you those two 

1038
00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:53,760
principles that we're going to 
talk about next week. 

1039
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:56,040
It's modesty and distinction. 
Those are the two principles 

1040
00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:59,200
that we find in God's word that 
help us to define where we put 

1041
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,680
our standard. 
You've got the conviction. 

1042
00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:03,120
We know that women should be 
modest. 

1043
00:54:03,120 --> 00:54:04,560
We know that even men should be 
modest. 

1044
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:06,520
And there's, by the way, 
there's, there's principles for 

1045
00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:09,640
men too when it comes to the way
that we dress, right? 

1046
00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:12,000
These skinny jeans and these 
tiny little shorts that 

1047
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,480
everybody's wearing. 
And you know, those are not, 

1048
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:16,120
those are not that's, that's not
modest. 

1049
00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:18,920
Doesn't matter. 
I mean, oh, men can be mod. 

1050
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,840
Men can't be modest. 
Men can't be immodest. 

1051
00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:24,320
That's only for the women. 
No, men can be immodest. 

1052
00:54:25,280 --> 00:54:28,920
And we ought to be modest too, 
right now, where we draw that 

1053
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:32,080
line, where we draw that line is
what our standard is. 

1054
00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:33,960
How do you arrive at that 
standard? 

1055
00:54:34,720 --> 00:54:36,800
That's what we're going to talk 
about next week when it comes to

1056
00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:38,360
dress. 
The two principles that we 

1057
00:54:38,360 --> 00:54:42,760
follow when it comes to where 
that standard is, is modesty and

1058
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,280
distinction, and we'll talk 
about that next week. 

1059
00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:47,520
All right, let's pray. 
Father, again, we thank you so 

1060
00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:49,680
much for your goodness to us. 
We thank you for an opportunity 

1061
00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:52,320
that we've had to to discuss 
some of these things tonight 

1062
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:54,280
from your word. 
I pray that it's been a help. 

1063
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:57,560
I pray that that that nobody's 
confused.