1 Timothy chapter number 2. Let's begin down with verse number 9. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. And we'll just go on, but I suffer not a woman to teach, and there's a comma there, not a period. I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. This evening I told you, and if you hung around for it, it's your own fault, because I warned you, but I told you we're going to preach on modesty tonight, modesty. It is one of those subjects that is becoming ever, ever, ever less popular and ever, ever, ever more necessary in the world in which we live. And I'm going to go ahead and say this evening that this is not only and it's certainly not limited to those of the world, but I'm preaching to Memorial Heights Baptist Church. I'm not singling anybody out, but I'm preaching to everyone alike, all. Modest apparel. I want to preach tonight on modesty. Please put your seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked positions and buckle up and hang on. We're going to go and preach tonight. We're going to have fun doing it, but we are going to preach tonight. Let me just begin by asking you a question. Does it matter to you what the Bible says? Does it matter to you what the Bible says? If it doesn't matter to you, and there's a lot of people in this world that it doesn't matter to, but if it doesn't matter to you what the Bible says, then I've got nothing for you. The only thing I can say is maybe a few little practical things that you'll hear, but if you care what the Bible says, the Bible's not silent on this subject, so let's deal with it tonight. I want to make a few open or a few introductory remarks, a few open statements. And one of these things is that when you begin to get up and to teach on modesty, there are some people that have a knee-jerk reaction, automatically say, wait a minute, preacher, what are you doing? I thought that we were under grace and that we're not under the law. And so I'm going to go ahead and say to you, amen. We are saved by grace. We're kept by grace. And we are under that new covenant. But I've got news for you if you didn't know this. God's plan is now and always has been that His children dress in modest apparel. That was true under the old covenant, and that's true under the new covenant. These things have not changed. People say, well, you're legalist. I've preached something like this before, and in preaching it, somebody said, well, you're just a legalist. And that's all right. They want to say that. Others have said you're an antinomian. And that's all right, too. So in other words, I've been hit out from both sides, and antinomian means you don't believe there is no law. You don't believe in the law. So one person accuses me of trying to put people under the law, and somebody else says you don't believe in the law. So I equally offend both sides. That's all right for me. I'm just kind of interested in and want to try to preach what the Bible has to say about it, no matter what's so popular, what people have to say. Listen, let's say this evening, it has been said, it has been re-said, and it has been wrongly said. that it doesn't matter what's on the outside. That's the modern idea, that people come out and say, well, it just don't matter what's on the outside. God doesn't care about your clothes. And I'm sorry, but that's not true. That is an overstatement. Now, if you were to ask me, does it matter more what's on the inside or what's on the outside? I'd say what's on the inside matters more. But I cannot concede that God's Word says in multiple places This is the way that a child of the king should dress and then try to say that God doesn't care about what you wear. It doesn't matter to God how you dress or what you wear and don't wear. It matters. And the idea that we're under grace grants people the license to do whatever they want is wrong. It is dead wrong. Liberty is not a license to sin. There are some women who would say, you don't dare try to tell me how to dress. It doesn't matter. And I'm going to say a lot of what is so-called Christian culture today jumps right up and say, God doesn't care about what you wear. It matters. It matters on Sunday, and it matters on Monday, and it matters on – do I have to give you the whole – it matters every day. God's standard is and has been modest apparel throughout all of time. That is the way God's worked. The New Testament standard is modesty. The Old Testament standard is modesty, and we'll get into defining that pretty soon. Now, we all know We're going to get into some stuff. We're going to have fun. And I'm not going to sit up there on you and worry about what the preacher is going to say. We're going to preach the truth and have fun doing it. But now listen, there are some men that go crazy over this thing. And I try to be pretty practical, and we'll get into that a little bit more. Some people, I've seen them run to the extreme, to one end or another on this matter. People are prone to fall into a ditch on one side of the side of legalism or antinomianism. They're prone to fall in the ditch of either side. They really are. I'd like to stay in the middle. See what happens when you stand in the middle, people swing mud at you from both sides, you know, but that's okay. That's all right. Listen, the New Testament standard is modesty. Men may go overboard. Men may say it doesn't matter, but that's not true. And other men may say you have to dress the way I say you have to dress, but I'm not going to do that either. The Bible determines what's modest and what is not. I'm going to go ahead and say this as well. The reason why men or women, I like that, men or women dress immodestly. It's not a clothing problem. It's a heart problem. You know sinners are going to act like sinners and sinners are going to dress like sinners. And we need to just go ahead and expect that. But the reason people dress immodestly, the problem is not the clothes, the problem is the heart. And you can make up all the rules you want to make up. And I know a man one time who literally, God help, I'm not trying to be, he literally, when his wife or his daughters would buy dresses, he'd put a tape measure to see how far they were off the floor. I'm going to tell you something now, you know, that's a little bit off the deep end if you ask me. I think that's a little bit of, but at the same time, you and I need to realize it's not a clothing problem, it's a heart problem. What makes Men or women won't address him modestly, okay? Here we go. Often I've heard sermons that were supposed to be about modesty, and it turned into being about a 35-minute tirade on women and bridges. And I just don't have much patience for that. I just don't. All right? I'm going to make some open statements here, some, you might call them inflammatory, but I'm going to make some introductory statements. One of the reasons why this matters is because it's so incredibly practical. The Bible is a practical book, and it gives practical instruction on everyday life. And I don't think that it is a stretch to say That the reason why this book deals with modesty and why primarily it deals with women in modesty is because men, and I'm going to ask you men to be honest tonight a little bit, if men are attracted or drawn more by visual eyesight than women are. That's just a fact. The Bible deals with the practical nature of men and women. Men are more, you fill in whatever that word is, and I'm trying to find an appropriate word, attracted by visual stimuli than women are. And that's why the thrust, not the totality, but the thrust of what God has to say about this is aimed towards women, not to the exclusion of men, but primarily to women. This is practical. And I will say this, young or old, modest apparel should be the way that we dress. Let me go ahead and make some friends here tonight. I don't care if you're eight, 18 or 80, you ought to dress in modest apparel. Here, I'm going to ask you men to be honest about something. I have thought a lot of times that it would be good for women if they could have the mind of a man for about one day. Because if they did, Many of them, I say most of them, wouldn't dress like they do. They wouldn't let their daughters dress like they do. But then as I thought, I said, if them women had our mind, they'd never marry us. You understand? They'd find out just how twisted we really are, and they'd never marry us. You listen to me. I don't care if you're eight or eighteen. You need to dress modest. I like women who dress their age. Can I say that or not? I like women who age gracefully and dress appropriately. I don't blame eight, nine-year-old girls for running around half naked. I blame her mom and daddy for letting them. If you ladies knew how twisted men are, and how very, very twisted other men are, you would not allow your daughters to dress in an inappropriate and an immodest way. I don't know how much plainer I can say it than that. I delivered the mail for year upon year upon year. And you know what I learned? Apparently, the sun doesn't shine in the backyard. Do you understand where I'm going? Why is it that when ladies want to sunbathe, they have to lay out in the front yard and do it? And I'll tell you why, because they know. They know. And young ladies learn this at a young age. But if I dress in such a way, it will draw the attention of man. I'll never excuse some low-down dirty man who allows his mind or hands to go somewhere it shouldn't. But I'll say this, cover it up and it will help. Cover it up and it will help. Does the sun not shine in the backyard? It shines. You men, are you going to stand with me this evening? If I say this, you don't have to lie to man's shoes. It's already lit. Is that practical enough? Now the Bible's pretty practical and it deals with some of this. You know this if you are of any age at all, the way I look at it and the way I tell my wife and my daughter, you don't have to lie to me and excuse, it's already lit. You can either add fuel to the fire or you can help put it down or put it out by the way you dress. If you think that just because I'm the preacher, you know I delivered mail And I have seen the cover of hundreds and hundreds of magazines. And you understand where I'm going with this, right? You can't stand in the grocery store line without seeing them. Every day, day upon day, I saw the most scantily clad pictures of women. And if you think because I'm a preacher that doesn't mean anything to me, you lost your mind. I didn't leave the preacher at home and I didn't leave the man at the door. There's simply some square footage that ought to be reserved for the home. Is that plain enough? There's some parts that only the spouse should ever see. I've been in the pulpit, and I'm going to make it plain. I've been in the pulpit trying to preach God's Word while staring at me were parts of a woman that should have been covered up. Now I have seen, I was at a Bible conference one time and it was crowded and I was sitting right here at the Bible conference and this woman was sitting on the front row and her skirt was so short I could see her undergarments. Anybody want to try to tell me that's modest? You want to try to declare that has any place anywhere let alone in the house of God? I ain't going to say it brother, but I thought about saying it. Modesty will help men and women keep their eyes and minds where they belong. Some women are so naive that you may think that the way you dress would never stir the minds of men. But listen, you don't have to be Barbie Doll to get the attention. You understand? You don't. I don't know how plain to be, but I tell you this. Here's some Bible language. Sometimes we as men have the strength of Joseph when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him and we just take off running. And then there are other times we're like David up on the palace roof. You with me? Don't get mad at me. I'm only trying to help. Don't let your daughters. I don't care how old they are. I don't understand the idea that I'll let my daughter wear this when she's five, when she's six, when she's seven, and then when she gets 15 or 16, I'm not going to let her do it anymore. I don't understand that. I'm the lead. I took these two daughters of mine shopping right before school started. I've never seen the likes of it. I've never seen it. I guarantee you that modesty is not on the mind of clothing manufacturers. Do you know how hard it is to try and find modest apparel for young women? It's not easy. I'm telling you, I took these girls shopping. And I want to hear, are you ready for this? They had clothes out there for sale that had less fabric in them than this handkerchief right here. I've seen people come out in public, had on less clothes than this right here. That ain't modest and I don't care who you are. I believe there's an appropriate way to dress in different places and different times, but some of the skirts and shorts that they put out for sale, they're a mock and it's a ridicule. God help her. My dad used to say things as if I had a girl dressed like that, I'd put enough stripes up and down her legs, she'd cover them up. How's that for playing? Amen, brother. Preach it. Modesty is God's demand. It is practical. Amen. It's just practical. It makes sense. Amen. Don't stick your head in the sand and say it doesn't matter what I wear. Yes, it does. Amen. It matters. When you come into God's house, does it matter whether or not you're dressed in such a way that men tend to keep their eyes off of you rather than putting their eyes on Christ? Do not allow these women on the cover of these magazines to serve as your role models. I'll go ahead and make some friends now. You know them women on the cover of them magazines? They're about as real as Betty Rubble. They've been sucked up and pushed out and blown up and airbrushed and everything else to make them look like something they're not. That's the truth. And what happens is us men go googly-eyed looking at that and you go home and look at your wife and you say, that's not real, boys. Listen, that's not real. That's not real. And you try to put your wife up against something like that. It's not fair to her. It's not judicious. It's not holy. cover of Vogue, Cosmopolitan or Sixteen Magazine. On the cover of Sixteen Magazine, the way they let young girls dress? These Jezebels need to cover up. Is that plain enough? Let me come across it this way. Let's be as practical as the Bible will allow. As it is obvious that men are more attracted by sight, and in that reason God specifically addresses women and how they are to adorn themselves, I'm going to say this, I don't believe your dress has to drag the ground like the mudflaps on a big rig in order to be modest. I don't think it does. But I don't think it ought to be so short that you spend more time trying to pull it back down than you ever spent pulling it up. Have you not seen, I've seen women, if you're that uncomfortable, cover it up. I know women don't wear that stuff because it's comfortable. I got some ladies, some attractive young nieces of mine that run around the house talking about it. It's freezing in here. I think, bless God, put some clothes on and you wouldn't be cold. You run around with 90% of your body hanging out and barely aching about it being cold. What do you expect? I ain't talking about any church, but maybe I should. I don't believe you've got to dress like a Mennonite in order to be modest. But I don't think you've got to dress in such a way that draws attention to yourself. I don't want to be vulgar, and I don't want to be ugly, but there are some things that ought to be just reserved for home. I admire godly women who will not only dress modestly, But they will insist that their daughters dress modestly and go to the necessary steps and trouble to see that they dress modestly. And it's not easy to find. Some of these things that they call dresses up there at the mall, that's not a dress. Girls pick them up and say, can I wear that for a dress? I say, no, you wear it for a skirt and you put a blouse on the top. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but yeah, some of this stuff. The way it is anymore, the question is, how low can it go and how high can it come? I don't believe it ought to be the standard of God's children. I try to be practical, try to be reasonable. I know everybody likes to be attractive. I know everybody. I guess whether you're 17 or 75, you like the idea of being attractive, of people saying you look nice. But if you're interested in being attractive in the biblical sense, dress modestly. Young ladies, in particular, don't let this world declare unto you how to dress. They will mislead you. The idea that you need to let it all hang out is not attractive in the sight of Christ our God. There needs to be In a marriage, in a relationship, there needs to be some attraction. There needs to be some fire there. There needs to be some desire, one for another, for your spouse. But some of these things need to be reserved for the home and for the marriage bed. The Bible says that marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled, but adulterers and whoremongers, God will judge. Some of these things that I've seen need to be covered up and put up. I'm not trying to move America, and people say, you're trying to move America back to the 1930s. Well, in some ways, we'd be better off back in the 1930s. And listen, I'm not saying that you have to get out there and mow your lawn and do your dishes and do all this other stuff in a dress or a suit. I'm not. So I'm saying be practical. This book is practical. I'm going to come out of here to the other side. So I get burned up with preachers. You ought to do this and you ought to do this and you ought to do that. And beat up women about what they wear and don't wear. And then turn around on Monday and they get out there in the yard and they mow the lawn in a pair of shorts and no shirt. I don't have much patience for hypocrisy. I've heard preachers get up and brag on the Amish and the Mennonites. There they are! The standard of modesty. And while what they dress and while they wear does cover and hide things, when you're known for what you wear, that's not modest. Do you understand what I'm saying? We're not to be known for what we wear. Whether it's too little or with them who dress in black and white or whatever it is, and while I appreciate their modest apparel, we're not to be known for what we wear. We are to be known for who we belong to and whose we are. Now here it is. What does the Bible say? What is modest? Well, I tell you, if you turn to the world for the definition of modesty, you'd never find it because I think the world lost it if it ever had it. The world tells young men and young ladies to just share and bear it all. You don't have to dress modestly. I've heard women say, I've worked hard for this body, and I'm going to show it off. Well, go ahead, bless God. Go ahead. If that's what you want to do, then you'll stand before God and give an account one of these days. What does the Bible say? Well, look what it says right here. That's all just fun. We're just having fun. Verse number 9 says, In like manner also that women Adorned themselves, listen, in modest apparel. What does that word modest mean? That means orderly or of good behavior. They adorned themselves in modest apparel. You know, I don't want to play the game, how short is too short? Why stand on the fence? How low is too low? How high is too high? I don't want to play that game. Why not just be safe and dress modest? Why not just say, when I come to God, and I'm talking about every day, and I believe modesty is a rule every day, but in particular in the God's house, I don't want to compete with the glory of my Savior. I don't want to dress in such a way that would detract others from being able to worship Him. That's what modest apparel is. It is good behavior, that word shame-facedness in verse number 9, that they adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame-facedness. I know this is old-fashioned, but that idea is bashfulness. I have never been and never will be good with loud, boisterous women. I never have gotten along. My wife's not that way. My mother wasn't that way. Women who want to push men around and say, I'll do what I want and I don't care what you... I just have never been good with that. The idea is a woman is to be shamefaced in this. The idea is bashful. The idea is that she has her eyes looking down. It's not... And listen, we'll get into this. If you haven't had fun, come back next Sunday night. We're going to deal with the head covering up. Amen. Let's go. Next Sunday night, I'm going to preach on the second veil. There's been some questions. We're going to deal with that. Don't worry about children of Israel. They're okay. We'll go back to them. But that idea that we try to put women under man is not true. The idea that a woman is less than a man, that's not true. That is not at all what we say. It's not what we believe. It's not what I teach. It's not at all according to this book. But the Bible does say, That a woman is to behave or conduct herself in a bashful way. Not a bold and boisterous way, but a bashful way. With the idea, not looking down as if she is inferior to a man, but that she doesn't want to detract from her Christ or draw attention to herself. The word sobriety means with soberness or sincerity. In verse number 9, that she considers women I'm not going to leave you men out of this because I'll get at you here before this thing is over. And all the women said amen. So, women, the way that you dress is teaching other young ladies what's okay and what's not okay. You're teaching by what you wear or maybe what you shouldn't wear. Verse 10. And the key to verse number 10 is that word becometh. But which becometh women professing godliness. In other words, verse number 10 is saying, right, woman is to dress, the woman is to dress in modest apparel with shamefacedness. That word becoming means that which is appropriate for a woman that professes godliness. Not, I'm trying to come up with a very appropriate word, Not in an inappropriate, letting-it-all-hang-out manner, but in an appropriate or fitting manner as women that profess godliness with good works. Does that mean that you have to dress like the 1800s? That's not at all what I mean. That's not what I mean. But I am saying that you, by your dress, do not lay a snare for another. You do not draw attention to yourself. I say what my old dad, my dad used to say this. He said, listen, it's good to dress up. Dress up. He used to say it's a good idea to put a little fresh paint on the old barn door every once in a while. Dress up. There's nothing wrong with everything right with dressing up and looking good. But don't dress in such a way that it draws attention to you. Every one of us had been through church services where somebody or somebody's was dressed in such a way that you couldn't help but notice it. Look at it. That's not modest apparel. That is not that which is appropriate or becoming of a woman professing godliness. If you are a child of the king, why not dress like it? If you haven't had enough fun, let's get a little bit more the Bible has to say about this. 1 Peter, chapter number 3. 1 Peter, chapter number 3. 1 Peter 3, the Holy Spirit inspires these words here to be said. 1 Peter 3, verse number 1. Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, They also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wise, while they behold your chaste, that word conversation means lifestyle, while they behold your chaste manner of life or conversation coupled with fear. Now notice, 1 Peter 3 says, Who's adorning? Let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." Now let's go on and read what the book has to say. In the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and not afraid with any amazement." If we were to pull a few things out of this verse, I want to have it out of this particular portion that deals with modesty. The Holy Spirit does not forbid, and I've heard men say that it does, and they need to read the book. The Holy Spirit does not forbid the wearing of gold or the braiding of hair. I wish men would just read sometimes, okay? It says, notice what it says in verse 3, who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of the padding of the hair, and that just means braiding of the hair, or the wearing of gold. And I've heard men say, you see that? The Bible says a woman shouldn't braid her hair. A woman shouldn't wear a wedding band. A woman shouldn't wear gold. They don't bother reading the rest of the verse. Because the rest of the verse said, in the wearing or putting on of apparel, I guess that means you want to run around naked, if that's what it means. I mean, why don't men be consistent? The idea is found in verse 4. The idea is not that you got your hair all dolled up in such a way that everybody on earth talks about it and you got so much gold hanging off of you. Here we go. I don't think God's children ought to be eaten up with tattoos and covered up with it. I don't think you ought to be covered up in body piercings. I've seen people, they've got so much metal in them, when they try to go through a metal detector, somebody has to contact Homeland Security. That is not modest apparel. That is what the apostle is talking about in this. It is not the gold. Anybody remember Mr. T from that TV show, Mr. T, and all of that? What do you remember about him? All that gold that he wore. And that is what he is saying here. It's not that the Holy Spirit forbids prettying your hair up, or that He forbids the wearing of gold, or the wearing of costly apparel. The Holy Spirit doesn't forbid that, but that's not to be who you are. Your clothes don't make you. It is to be, verse 4, your adorning. That which people should know about you, it should be that it is the hidden man of the heart. that which is not corruptible, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." In other words, you are not to be an open spectacle by what you wear. Your clothing doesn't show forth your bold and lewd attitude. I saw a lady while we were at the airport coming down the, whatever it is, down the hallway there in the airport with a foul shirt on. You know, all that tells me is that's just a foul woman. Because that's what the book talks about right here. That tells me that it's a rebellious woman that says, I'll not have this man rule over me. I'll do what I want to do, whether or not the Bible demands that it's wrong or not. We're not to be bold and boisterous. In our apparel or in our attitude, women should be known for their modest apparel, but what they should really be known for is that's a God-fearing woman. That's a woman that loves the saints and serves the saints. That's not a woman who's got 37 nose rings and body piercings. That's not a woman that's covered up with earrings from the top and doing circles around her earlobes. That's not modest. I know that's not popular, but it's not modest. I have a personal preference about some things. I don't know why people want their earlobes stretched out so big you can slide a silver dollar through them. I don't know why people want to do that. I don't know why people want to cover themselves up with tattoos. I don't understand it. These folks need to realize one of these days you're going to get old. What was here is going to be down there. Gravity will take a toll. You want to know what modesty is? The apostle here gives some examples. Modesty is that hidden man of the heart. When I come into God's house, it's not just about being in God's house. It's about being in the world. I'm not interested in drawing attention to myself. I don't want people to know who I am. I want them to know who my Lord is. That's what modest apparel is. Fifteen earrings and five nose rings is not modest. I'm going to make some blanket statements that always go over real well. If you wear your clothes so tight that it looks like a balloon stretched over a basketball, that's not modest. If you've got a slit in your dress that runs all the way from Dan to Bear Sheba, that's not modest. If every wrinkle that you have can be counted and named, that's not modest. I'm going to go ahead and lay out the tiger house rule. Tiger House rules is, and I may have to come down a little on this, and that is that it's below the knee before you sit down. I don't have to tell you what happens after you sit down, do I? You say, well, wait a minute. You know, I like looking pretty. Well, if you had the mind of a man, you might think again. And I believe modesty is good for every day. Every day. I think the child of God ought to dress modestly every day. I'm not telling you how to, you know, I'm not telling you. I'm just saying you ought to dress modestly in the workplace. You think I go home and I mow the lawn and the soot and tie? I don't. I started to say something, but it would be more gross than funny, so I'm not going to say that. But I'm not going to dress in such and such a way either. I think there's an appropriate way to dress in God's house, in the workplace, at home. There's an appropriate way to dress. I'm just going to deal with this and I'm going to move on because, you know, it's getting time to quit. I think God's children who care about what God's Word has to say should realize how they can injure their testimony and cause another brother to see because of what they wear and I think in particular when we step in God's house. You have to dress up. Y'all know on Wednesday night I usually dress down a little bit but I'm going to say in the Lord's house and particularly on the Lord's day in particular on the Lord's day. I don't see anything wrong with dressing up a little bit. This always goes over real well but you know this is not the Waffle House it's God's house. And people wouldn't walk in the White House wearing this or that. Why walk in God's house that way? I'll be practical. You know, I had a guy I was holding a meeting for a church one time. The guy, he came to me, he said, look, he said, I have to, if I'm going to be here, I have to come straight from work. The guy was a diesel mechanic and he'd come in covered in grease and dirt and soot, left head to toe and he looked rough. I'd rather him been there and dirty and not been there at all. You understand? I really had. And so I try to be practical. I really do. But be modest. And then dress up. This is just for a sidebar. Deuteronomy 22 verse 5 is that verse that men just love to jump up and down on about a woman and where is that which pertains to a man. I've asked, I don't know how many preachers, they jump up on these women in britches, Deuteronomy 22.5, you know, a woman wearing that which pertains to a man. I said, can any of y'all tell me what Deuteronomy 22.6 says? Ain't one of them yet been able to tell me what it says. They want to beat women up over what I think is a misinterpretation of the verse. Now, for whatever it's worth, and I'm just going to mention this because it always questions Deuteronomy 22, 5 talks about a woman wearing that which pertains to a man is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. I really think the verse has to do with what we call cross-dressing. That's really what I think it has to do with. Now, I wish people would stop and think, when Moses was standing on Mount Sinai, it's not like he was looking down at a Levi Strauss plant. Men who want to try to go back and pull out certain Old Testament laws. I mentioned this whenever I came over here in Louisville, Colorado, and most of you all looked at me like I was crazy. But in the Bible, you were forbidden from wearing a mixture of clothing. You couldn't have a shirt that was made of cotton and polyester. And that was some of those Old Testament laws. And I've heard men stand up in the pulpit and got on a cotton shirt and leather shoes and polyester jacket and beating up women for not following Deuteronomy 22.5. As if what they have on doesn't matter. I don't have much patience for men who are inconsistent in these things. And I believe a woman ought to wear women's clothing. And I believe a man ought to wear men's clothing. If you don't think a woman should wear, and you don't allow your wife or children to wear slacks, that's your business. Have at it. Okay? And if that's your conviction, that's fine. But be consistent in what you say. And I go ahead and say this, too. Here you go, men. I'm tired of this double standard that exists in our churches. For men who want to jump up and down and say, I'm sick and tired of the way women dress when they come to church anymore. I'm sick and tired of these women not dolling themselves up and doing what's right anymore. And the whole time that man is standing there in a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt. Now if you want to jump on women for not doing what you think they ought to do, set an example for yourself or be quiet. I don't know how much plainer and meaner I can be in one night. I just, I don't have much use for this doubles. I had a man standing there lecturing me and here it is on women wearing slacks in church. And the man standing there in a pair of raggedy blue, in church, in a pair of raggedy blue jeans and a t-shirt beating up on women. I said, go buy a mirror and then come back and talk to me. I'll make some friends with the women before it's over with. I ain't going to get run out of here. Modesty honors God, and that's why everything we do, whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as under the Lord. And I'm closing. Favor is deceitful. You know what the book says? Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. What are you known for? Men dress modestly, and that's not an exclusion of men. Men should dress modestly. They should. But what are you known for? How short your skirt is. how low your blouse is, how much skin you have, how many earrings you have, how many tattoos you have. And you know, I realize, and you know me, you know, I'm not talking about, God may say somebody's covered up with all that stuff, and that's there. You understand? It ain't going to just magically wash away at the new birth. It's there. I don't think God's children are going to be running out and getting them, but you know, I'm old-fashioned, I guess. But what are you known for? God has given you, and I say, men, if God has given you a wife that cares about the book and what it says, you better love her, because they are few and far between. There's a good reason why the Proverbs said, Who can find a virtuous woman? An old preacher I heard one time says that if men would be honest, the Bible says, Who can find a virtuous woman? And man says, Who wants to? Oh, yeah, that'll preach. While it may seem like I've been hard or not, I'm going to tell you, For the most part, for the most part, I'm not excluding the MHBC. That's who I'm preaching to tonight. For the most part, our women are to be praised for their honor and devotion to this book. But in closing, this is it, I am closing, I really am. You've got to give people time to grow. Get people off your potter's wheel and stop trying to make them what you think they should be. You have to give people time to grow. We had a lady in Tennessee who began to come to our church services. And when she started coming, she came in the first time in a pair of blue jeans and a ratty old shirt. And we loved her and hugged her just like she was anybody else. And by the time we left there, God had saved her. She was dressing beautifully, wearing a head covering. I'll make some friends. We'll have fun next week. And it was like, it was a whole, give people time to grow. I'm not going to, I'm not going to strong arm for you. I'm not going to strong arm and do what I think you ought to do. But you got to give people time to grow. And I don't care what that is. You didn't get to the top of the spiritual mountain overnight and neither will anybody else. Give people time to grow on their own.