I have more to say this morning than I possibly would be given time to say. Some continuation of some of the things I said last week, but I cannot help but feel that as a preacher of the Word of God, that I must be faithful to the Word of God in every facet of what it has to say. You know, undershepherds, if I might say so, are given a very difficult assignment by God. It isn't always easy to preach. Yet the word of God is very clear. When I say it isn't easy to preach, I mean that it is not always going to be pleasing. Paul says, if I please men, I cannot please God. So that it sometimes is very difficult to say the things that have to be said. You don't have to turn to this, but I might say that God's message to his preachers is very clear. In Hebrews, the 13th chapter, he says in the 7th and 8th verses, remember them, talking to the people of God, which have the rule over you. who have spoken unto you the word of God. Now, this is not some dictatorial rule. All it means is that they are the under-shepherds of the flock. And you have placed yourselves in a position where you listen to what the under-shepherd is. You believe he's been called of God. You believe he's there for your advantage and your gain. not only in salvation, but in every part of your life. And so he says, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation or their lives. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. In other words, the word that I preach is not affected by contemporary thinking. Jesus Christ has not changed one iota. That's what he's saying. Remember then that have the rule over you who preach unto you the word of God. They preach unto you Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. So the responsibility falls great. And then in the 17th verse, it says, obey them that have the rule over you. Now, again, this is not dictatorial. All it's saying is listen and follow it. Do something about it. Isn't that it? Be ye not hearers of the word only. What? doers of the Word, right? So that it says, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls. And I want to tell you, I watch for your souls with much burdened heart and prayer. If you don't think that I know the spiritual tenor of every family in this church, then you don't know your pastor. I know whether you are growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ or whether you are backsliding. This is part of the responsibility God has placed upon me. He says, they are those who are, what, responsible for your souls. As they that must give account, imagine, I have to give an account. that at least I have preached that which God has directed that I preach, that they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. And so the pastor is given a tremendous responsibility in the preaching of the word of God. Last week, I spoke to you somewhat of Luke 12, Jude 12, I should say, where, and I use the words without fear, how people are living today without fear of God, no thought of God, although the word of God says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There has to be within me, I still fear the Lord, I have not changed. I don't fear the Lord now concerning judgment for sin, that's past. The judgment for sin was taken care of on the cross of Calvary. I died with Christ there, now I'm alive with Christ. But I fear lest I should displease him. And this must be the mark of your life and my life. It's the beginning of wisdom. I know that I shall face the judgment seat, so will you. If you are redeemed this morning, every single one of you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they're good or bad, not whether they're sin, but whether they're good or bad. Sin is taken care of. You can't die twice for sin. You died once with Jesus Christ. So I spoke to you about that without fear last week, and I spoke to you about, in a general sense, a very general sense, of many of the things that were on my own heart. This morning I want to get down maybe a little more to some specifics, and with some special reference possibly to young people, and if I get to it, maybe to some parents too. Now I think you all know pretty much that I want to speak from my heart, and much that I say, if you would take it wrongly, you might say he's hurting me. But I think you all know that I love you very much. Paul had the same problem. Paul said, because I tell you the truth, do I love you the less? I love you the more. Therefore, there must be this dissemination of the truth of God to our hearts. And much of all that I do is in the direction of young people. May I say this very clearly this morning? I think my young people know that. I think I probably spend three or four times more of my effort and time with young people than I do with adults. who I believe, if they've come to Jesus Christ as their personal savior, should be growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ, should be the kind of parents they should be before God, and that in this day that we hear so much about young people, I would think that if there's one thing a parent would yearn for is that the pastor of the church and the deacons and the trustees might have a deep and holy interest in the young people that God has entrusted to their care. I think that all you would have to do is to look at the things that we do with our young people, that this church is open most, whether we have Brigade or Pioneer Girls, whether we have Junior Church or Primary Church, whether we have senior young people or junior young people, whether we have Challengers who are the older young people. Whether we have any of these, it is because we have a divine interest in young people. All you would have to do is to look at the budget to realize that we budget more than any church I know on Long Island to young people. There's not a church in all New York that we know of that budgets as much to the young people of this church as this church does. We have a divine interest in young people. We yearn for their hearts. We yearn for their souls. This is part of your pastor's life. I don't think any young person can deny that. So you should know that, first of all, we love you very deeply. Then you will also know from that that what I say to you and to all has no intention of in any way hurting you, but rather of helping you. That if I can find from the word of God something that may be of great assistance to your lives, Something that really will be important to every young person here this morning, that you will know then that it comes from a heart of love from your pastor. I will not be aiming my darts at anyone special. First, I want that known. But it will be about conditions that exist. I shall say what God says. and I will have to let it fall where it may. Now, beginning with that thought in mind, I want you to turn with me because I'm still considering the fact that the Lord is coming soon, that there are many that show no fear of the Lord's coming at all, that Christians, unfortunately, and I say this with great love, Christians, unfortunately, many, seem not to discern the end days, the times we're living in, and go along as though nothing has changed. You'll remember that in Peter it says the same thing. Peter says this, they are ignorant of, that a thousand years are as a day with the Lord and the Lord is not slack concerning his promises as some men think about slackness. And so God is very clear on the future, the judgments to come. I'm struck if I might say with young people today and the rebellions that are going on, I would say if the rebellions have a real purpose in them for a great change in our society that would greatly benefit us, this would be tremendous. But much of the rebellions today do not seem to have this at all in their content. It seems to be that there has been a libertine spirit that has been going forth as though anything goes. And as I listen to radio or television, I am deeply impressed with the fact that now more and more psychologists and psychiatrists, and I have many articles here about this, are saying that it's hard to understand what our young people are aiming at since the psychiatric clinics are becoming crowded with young folks of college age. It seems strange in this age we're living in that psychiatric help seems to be more needed than in any other age. We didn't know much about psychiatry before. Now, it seems that the first thing you do is run to a psychiatrist. May I read just a portion here in Proverbs 30, and then I'd like to take you over, if I might for just a little bit, over to a portion in Timothy. And I want to make this very clear, if I might. I'm not going to charge that all moral declension, all moral strain is due to our women. But I want to make it very clear that God in his word puts women in a very special place and has made them the recipients of power within their lives to make men moral. A man is as immoral as a woman allows him to be. The woman who is in the position God called her to is the one that draws to a high level of purity the heart of man. God made man the way he is. Now, don't get squeamish about the young people. They're either in one or two positions. Either they understand what I say or they don't, so don't worry about it. Sometimes people get upset. I want to tell you, children are 12 no more than I did when I was 18. And I want to make very clear that God has placed in women's hands the purity of man. I don't want to read the whole first seven chapters of Proverbs to you, but when you go home, you read the first seven chapters of Proverbs. Don't get squeamish when you read it. God speaks much about women and their tremendous effect upon the moral character of man. Now, if you would read with me in the 30th chapter, and here you remember maybe a few months ago I spoke of the 11th verse, there is a generation that curses their father and does not bless their mother. And certainly in these last days we're seeing some of that evidence. It's a dreadful thing. I listened to, probably some of you did, I forget when it was, but it was called Generation Gap on television. And I was really struck by some of the things the young people said. One girl says, my mom and dad are not educated and therefore they can't understand me. Well, if education was morality and purity, and education was culture, and education was everything else, I'd say you're probably right. But I want to tell you something. All the education in the world isn't going to have to do with what I want to talk about. And I want to say something. The educational institutions of this land are in bad moral straits at this time. When I can go to a local university over here where the police department of Nassau County tells me that over 75% are on marijuana, not far from here, and that immorality is so rife that you wouldn't believe it, the moral character of our institutions of higher learning is in bad shape. You know, it started very nicely. I can remember when I think it was Dartmouth or Harvard or one of these places where they finally consented to the youth rebellion and said, well, all right, it's all right to have a girl in your room provided there is the width of a book in the door. But of course, this was two years ago. It got to be a pamphlet. And now there are no requirements. If I were to ask some of you who've graduated from your colleges and universities, you can verify what I'm talking about. I can remember some of you coming to me from some of the secular schools, and beloved, I want to say this about Christian schools. Sometimes mothers and fathers think that all they got to do is take the child, send them to a Christian college, and everything is so beautiful and pure and holy, nothing ever happens to them. Don't you fool yourselves. You don't think that every boy and girl that walks into a Christian school is high and holy and pure and never gets into any…they have their problems. You've got to really pray, and you've got to let your young people know. I've had young people come to me and say, Pastor, I went to such and such a school, and I can't believe what I see going on. I have them come back to me. I have college young people come back to me and say, Pastor, listen, you're an oddball. What you preach. Why, we go to such and such a Christian college, and all I would have to do is to have you with me for a few days to show you what's going on. Well, let's let our young people know that there still are those companionships that you can develop in Christian colleges. I don't care where you go. You can come to this church and you still must develop your friendships, whether they're going to be of a high spiritual character or whether they're going to be of a low worldly character. Everyone must judge this. I don't judge you. You must place yourself in this position, whether you are growing in grace in the knowledge of Christ or whether you are going down. And you're not growing in grace. No matter where we go, we would find that. Franklin Avenue has no distinction in this area. I would pray that my people were close to the Lord and separated to the Lord. But, beloved, I have to say that it is the cultivation of friendships that really mean something, spiritually, that draw the heart upward. And every individual must pick your friendships to know whether you want the worldly crowd, whether you want the spiritual, whether you want your affection set upon things above, or as Paul says, whether you want your affection set on things on earth. It's up to the individual, it's up to the individual young person when they go to a school to find that group that really will draw them into a richer and deeper life. And I want to tell you that the flesh isn't that way. The flesh of every individual is looking for the lower course. Paul says, in my flesh there dwells no good thing. And so there can be that recession, that going downhill. And boy, when you know, when they say there's a generation that curses mothers and fathers, and I listened to that generation gap, and I heard them say, and so many of them said this, my father and mother, they are from the old time. I quote, I copied down what one of the girls says. She says here, my mother and father think sex is impure. I don't think sex is impure. Now listen, if God made sex, why is it impure? I enjoy my sexuality, and so do over 60 to 70 percent of the girls here at college. Agreed, sex is not impure. I agree with that perfectly. And God would be the last to say so. God made you the way we are. And he didn't make sex impure, he made sex pure and holy and good. And all that's wonderful and beautiful in life, but he ordained it, and the minute I say God made me and created me, every portion of me, he made me, then by every logical reason, if he made me, he should be able to tell me how I'm to use it. The minute I take it out of God's hands and use it as I please, I then am violating the very thing that God has given me so gloriously that is only to be part of married life. Now notice the next verse. There is a generation that are pure in their own eye. and yet is not washed from their filthiness. Isn't this one of the things we hear today? Pure in their own eyes. Listen to Newsweek. A new, more permissive society is taking shape. Its outlines are etched most prominently in the arts, in the increasing nudity of women. The frankness of today's films. This is Newsweek. In the blunt, obscene language used by young people. Of American novels and plays at El Asivius. and in the candid lyrics, and the pop songs, and the free dress according to style, and the franker advertising in newspapers and television. I'm continuing for Newsweek. Americans are concerned about the swiftness with which all old restraints are losing force. And it is noting that the end result is now seen by psychologists, psychiatrists, and social thinkers is absolute degeneration and decay. Now, you don't have to agree with me, but you got to agree with them. Now, beloved, may I say this, and I want to say this with a great deal of love, and I want to use the Word of God here, because really there's a spirit of uncleanness. I remember the book of Revelation says that there were three spirits of uncleanness that came upon the earth and swept through the earth. And I want to tell you there's a spirit of uncleanness in this world today that's unbelievable. Venereal disease in the United States is up 300% with all of our drugs. There's a 55% increase in insanity amongst the young. Don't let anybody tell you that the asylums are filled with people. How many of you have heard this kind of a phrase? Our insane asylums are filled with people who are religious fanatics. Put your hand up. How many of you have heard that? Yeah. Well, that's not according to the doctors. The doctors say the insane asylums are filled with people who had sexual problems. This is the world we're facing. This is that which is important for us to understand. Look at a country like Sweden. We're adopting, as someone as well said, Sweden's morals will soon be our own. They are. A woman in Sweden is Mrs. when he has a child. No marriage is necessary. You're a Mrs. when you have a child. All kinds of this type sin are up tremendously, not only in Sweden, but throughout the world. And there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, God says. and yet is not washed from their filthiness. Now, I want to tell you, the meeting in Woodstock is a good proof of this. All I heard about Woodstock was, weren't they so loving and nobody fought? Well, I want to tell you, they engaged in so much sex they didn't want to. This is truth. Read the true records of the whole thing and read of what went on at Woodstock. Unbelievable. This is what the world is facing. People tell me, you know, isn't it wonderful? See how well they got along. Now, beloved, it says here there's a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness. And as I said when I began, God, help me to be faithful to the Word. It's not easy to say the things I have to say, but they must be said. Libertinism is a muck. Broadway, we used to hear about, you know, how terrible it was here and there. Some little play came along that was disastrous. There was a day when you could walk along Broadway and you could walk along the streets of New York, and I want to tell you, you could discern the difference between a harlot and a pure woman. There was something about her that was decent and pure and holy, and her dress was in keeping with it. I just read, I believe it was in the New York Times, that you can walk Broadway today and you will not know the difference. between the harlot and the prostitute and the woman who is an absolutely fine woman. There'll be little distinction. They dress the same. They look the same. Very little difference. And I couldn't help, as I thought of that, if you would turn with me over to 1 Timothy, the second chapter, the fifth to the tenth verses. And I'd like to close with this portion. because it's so important. You know, over at Hofstra, they had a convention, or they had, as it says here, it lasted for a year long, a series on drugs, sex, and morality. And the speaker supported all three. That's what the newspaper says. Paul Krasner, editor of The Realist, 36 years of age, elder statement of all hippie, yippie groups, extolled the use of marijuana to all the students and jokingly approved of sex. As to morality, he said this, on a cosmic level, oh boy, there is no such thing as good and evil. But at the same time, you can make your own passionate human value judgments because the universe is without any meaning and individuals must supply their own morality. This is a whole year on this one subject, drugs and sex and morality. Now notice, I'll begin with the second chapter of 1 Timothy, the seventh verse, where again Paul says, where unto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth, verity. I will therefore that men pray everywhere, he speaks to the men, lifting up holy hands, clean hands, without wrath and doubting. And in like manner, remember I spoke about that generation that is pure in their own eyes, but God says it's not so. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety. Do you know what it means in Greek? with the blushing sweetness of a pure life." Modesty. Then it says, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly array. The reason Paul puts this in here is that the harlot of that day, this was her identification. braided hair, gold, costly jewels. This was the identification of the harlot, the wanton, the prostitute of that day. Now he says, I want you women to dress modestly. You'll never find in scripture anything about men dressing modestly. I looked the same as I did, I think, when I dressed, well, you know, same type suit as when I was 17. You never find in the scriptures anything about men dressing modestly. You find that God continually deals with women dressing modestly. Why? Why would God even mention it? Unless it was necessary to do so. And he asked women, dress modestly. We've become the slaves of fashion. If fashion, incidentally, I see that fashion may change some of you. I see that the new dresses are going to be between the knee and the ankle. And that within one year's time, you will not be able to purchase a mini dress of any character. Slaves of fashion. There won't be a dress manufacturer, it says, in New York, Paris, or London that will make one. What will you do? Slaves of fashion. He says, in the word, dress modestly. Why does God have to direct women to dress modestly, doesn't say anything to men? Because of the effect women's dress has upon man. Listen, beloved, I want to say this clearly. I can't believe that any girl or woman is so naive to think that the way she dresses either appeals to man and does something to that man's nature. She knows man by nature. God made man the way he is. He's aggressive. You want him that way. He's virile. You want him that way. But God made woman to temper him. And so he calls upon us and he says to every woman, dress modestly. Now you know when I say that, I'm not saying I'd like you to dress like the Amish people. Right? You know that when I say that, I'm not saying you should dress like the Mennonites. But I'm saying God says dress modestly. so that you understand man is made in a certain way, and he needs no publicity about your flesh. He's known about it for ages, and it didn't matter how you were dressed, he still wanted to find that woman that would be perfect for him, and he needed no advertising agency to tell him you were a woman. The word of God is clear. Dress modestly. Oh, God help me, forgive me, Lord, that I would ever hurt a soul or a heart, but I must say thy word. There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, but it's not true. You have directed us as to every portion of our Christian lives. And I'm assuming now that I'm speaking to Christians. I'm not talking about the world. The world won't understand this. It doesn't care. But are we as Christians, beloved, really the slaves of fashion? Are we? Because everybody else does it, do we do it? Is that the whole gist of the thing today? Everybody does it. Don't we hear that continually? I read an article by one of the men in the newspaper that struck me. This is by Sidney Harris. He says this, when a woman says you have to get along with the world as you find it, now this is from a writer in the press, she commonly means that she has given up trying to act in accordance with her own ideals and has begun to shape her ideals to conform to the acts of those around her. Do you want me to preach the whole word of God? Do you want me to say the truth as I find it in the Bible? How I plead with you young girls. You can't be this naive. You cannot be this foolish. So as you can say, I did not realize. Why have rates in New York City gone up 400%? Well, listen to the psychiatrist. They'll tell you why. The dress of women. Why are there more violent crimes of sex than ever before? Because of the nudity upon television and upon every area. You never have to fight with men about nudity. There's something about men that directs them and tells them. And you've hardly changed their dress. You've tried style changes. They've tried colors. They've tried everything. I still don't find, after all these years, that men are changing. But the Word of God is clear, and He just puts it very simple. He says, in like manner, that the women also adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety. not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but that which becometh women who profess godliness with good works. Oh, may I plead with you as your pastor. I know we're very style conscious. And as I said, I don't expect anybody to be Amish. I don't expect you to be part of the groups that dress in certain garb. I've been down to Lancaster, and I see them going through, and I see their carriages, and I see the gray carriage and the garb they wear and everything like that right down to the... I'm not talking about that, but I'm just talking about the dress of a woman. Did it be modest? Should I pass this verse up? Should I not say it does not exist? Should I pass up anything in the scripture, beloved, that might help us and that might especially help men? You can help every young fellow by dressing modestly. You know, the word of God really means where it says dressing modestly, it means dressing with good taste and not according to fashion. I'm thankful most of you dress with very good taste. I praise God. But oh, may I plead, please, no mini-minis around this place. I want to be very frank, please. And in the house of God, oh, let us be so careful. Do you know why originally women were supposed to wear hats? Because the beauty of a woman's hair was of such a character that it might take away from a man's attention to the word of God. Now, I don't say that your hair isn't beautiful anymore. But I say that in this generation we're in, that doesn't seem to matter anymore. Now it's other things completely. And men being men, God made you to put a restraining hand upon their human hearts. You want your men strong. You want them the way they are. But don't you want them in purity? Do you want second-hand goods? Is that what you want? I can't believe that. I believe that you still want purity. And so may I, just from the Word of God, simply lay it before you. I read to you about a pastor in the beginning and how Paul says, do I love you the less because I tell you the truth. Paul spoke this, you see. Do I love you the less? No, I don't love you the less. Paul Stiles in his day, remember, had that very, very character where they could tell who was the harlot and who was not the harlot. And today, may I say this, in my heart, I was to Word of Life this year. I'd like to keep you for a long time. I'm going to let you go. But I was to Word of Life this year, and Jack's heart and my heart, we prayed together. Our hearts were breaking. Why? Not only because of the young people and the problems moral in the ranch, where they go to 13 years of age, and on the island, but beloved, even in Christians who came to perform and to sing. and was sitting on the platform so much so that Jack had to speak to one of the girls and say, have you got another dress? And she looked arrogantly at him, I couldn't hardly believe it, and said, if you want to buy me another wardrobe, buy me one. Now this is what we're facing. Mothers, you set the example. Children, young people, just be discreet and chaste. Watch your dress. Would you put that verse as one of the key verses for your life? Dressing modestly with sobriety. What? You know you hardly ever see anybody blush anymore. Isn't that right? but that's what it means of blushing purity, blushing purity. May God touch your hearts this morning. I love you all very much, but I tell you the truth from God's word. Let us pray. Now, Father, I thank thee for this word and how I pray, Lord, that we might live by the word. We remember it says, be not hearers of the word, but doers. And this is so important, Father. Lord, we have so many wonderful young ladies and mothers and women in this church. Oh, God bless them. May they be examples to us as men of purity, chasteness, modesty. May they really be feminine, as God defines femininity. We pray, our Father, that you would bless each one. Bless us as men. Oh, Father, help us to honor purity. Give us a clean heart. We remember David's failure. We remember Samson's failure. We remember Abraham's failure. And you tell us every one of these were examples to us so that we should not fall into the same sins. Now, Father, we pray that you'd make us strong as men. Give us high and holy moral character. May Christ really live in us. Help us to look at our women with great purity and joy. God give us clean hearts. We remember David said, created me a clean heart. Oh God, God help us, help us to know our flesh. It's bent and help us to remember that Paul says, therefore crucify the lust of the flesh through the spirit of God, that we might be pleasing to him. Lord, put your hand upon us. Father, speak to this people, may they know that I preach the whole counsel of God and that I love them very much. And as we leave this place, Father, we pray that that word will sink into our hearts. We're seeing a world now where the doctors and the psychologists and the psychiatrists now are becoming deeply concerned. where social leaders are becoming deeply concerned, God help us. We who know Christ, we should have a deep concern, a holy concern for this world. And we pray that our lives will really shine for Jesus Christ in him alone. We pray this in his blessed name. Amen.