We have been studying the doctrinal statement of the Bible Baptist Church. That is what we believe as a church, but not just what we believe, why we believe it, where these statements of belief come from in the Word of God. And most recently, we have studied the doctrine of the Trinity. We're not quite finished with that. One or two more weeks of lessons on that particular doctrine. from the Word of God, but we're going to take a bit of a break from regularly scheduled programming this morning. This lesson, though, will be along the same lines of what we've been studying because this lesson focuses on something that we believe and or practice and the reasons why from the Bible, a topic that I have intended to address for quite some time. Everybody's favorite topic, really. I mean, if you've seen the notes in the bulletin, you're already excited. It's the perfect day to have guests with us because we're going to talk about the Bible and dress codes. Did you know that our church has a dress code? That's kind of a rare thing these days. Most churches will advertise on their website, we don't have a dress code. And they just, I guess, hope that people don't really actually test that. because I bet there are some things people might come to church in that they would say, okay, you gotta fix that. I hope so, at least. Anyway, in your bulletin on the inside right-hand bottom corner is the dress code. And now, if you've been on any trips, you've seen this before. This isn't anything new, but we're gonna read it together. and then talk about it this morning, and again, from the Bible. And here's what we like for our church members to do for all church activities. This is not something we enforce at home. You've never seen Brother David or Brother James come to your house and take a look in your closet, and we're not going to, okay? This isn't something we enforce at home. This isn't something that we necessarily, like, hand to visitors as they walk in the door. We don't expect everybody that just comes to church to be aware of this or even to observe it when they're visiting, when they're attending. This is not something we make a big deal about. When's the last time you heard us preach a message or give a lesson? But it is something in the Bible. It is something having to do with the doctrine and practice of our church. So we're going to talk about it for a little while. this morning and everybody's going to survive. It's going to be okay. Here's our dress code. Boys here wear shirts. It's a blessing. Boys shall wear shirts with sleeves at all times. If shorts are worn for work or athletic activities, they will be at or below the knee when in a sitting position. Girls shall wear dresses or blouses and skirts. These must be at or below the knee when in a sitting position. No shirts or caps with unwholesome slogans or pictures or advertising unwholesome products will be worn. Undergarments will be fully covered. at all times. That's important and that applies for both. Now let me just check. It looks like everybody's okay so far this morning. Okay, but why do we have a dress code and why do we have that dress code, let me just start by saying this, this isn't something we just came up with. This isn't something that Brother James sat down and made up arbitrarily. This isn't something that we polled your parents and said, okay, you know, what kind of rules can we put in place just to make everybody miserable? Here's where it comes from. We're trying to do what's right by the Bible to please God. Let's start right there. We're trying to do what's right by the Bible to please God. And that ought to be the way that we approach every aspect of our lives, every decision that we make, every rule or standard or conviction that we put into practice, whether it's individually or as a family or as a church, Let that be the motive behind it. I just want to do what's right and pleasing to God. So in our lesson this morning, I've got two questions you can follow along with the notes on the back of your bulletin. And the first question is a simple yes or no question, but we'll give it more of a detailed answer. Does God care? Does God care? what we wear. Is clothing and apparel important to the Lord? Now here's the verse that you'll hear and it is in the Bible and it is true that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. That's 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 7 in the context of David being chosen as God's anointed the next king of Israel to take over for Saul and David was the youngest of Jesse's sons and there were other brothers who looked more kingly than David did and yet God chose David because God saw what was in David's heart. So it is true that God sees your heart. It's true that man can't see your heart. It's true that man looks on the outward appearance. And here's what I would say and this is somewhere else in the notes. I'm jumping a little bit ahead but that's okay. What you wear is not the most important thing in your life. Can we all agree on that? It is not the main issue. Your heart is the main issue. Let me express this on the board, just because I like to do this. Not most important. And your clothes and your dress code and your dress standards, that is not the most important thing, but not most important does not equal unimportant. Does that make sense? You can have more than one thing that's important and something might be the most important thing and something else might not be the most important thing but just because it's not the most important thing that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. That doesn't mean it's not important at all. Now to me that seems to be a simple concept But some people seem like they kind of trip up on this because their excuse for ignoring the things the Bible does say about some particular issue is, well, that's not the most important thing. I'm not saying it's the most important thing. I'm just saying, does God say anything about it in the Bible? Because I think that everything God says in the Bible is important on some level, okay? So 1 Corinthians chapter 6, let's answer the question, does God care what we wear? I submit to you that he does. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 19, the Bible says what? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own for you're bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods. A number of important principles here. Number one, we belong to God. That includes our body as well as our spirit and our purpose in what we do with our body and our spirit ought to be to glorify the lord because he's the one who's redeemed us and saved us and blessed us and and taken possession and ownership of our lives by virtue of the fact that he's the creator and by virtue of the fact that he's the savior we owe our lives to him and he has every right to tell us what to do including what kind of clothes to put on. That's fair enough from the verses in 1 Corinthians 6. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, God lives inside, and He wants us to glorify Him in everything, whether it's our body or our spirit. Look at verse number 18. The Bible says, Fornication. So here's a good principle. Here's a good rule. Don't let your appearance take you in that direction. Make sure your appearance takes you in the opposite direction. Okay. First Corinthians chapter 10. First Corinthians chapter 10. We are going to have to move quickly because there are a lot of references there in your outline. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse number 31. Whether therefore ye eat. How many of you enjoy eating? Got a couple honest people. Thank you, thank you. Got a couple honest people here. Most of us do that on a daily basis, right? You probably, you may have eaten already today, and if not, you can't wait till church is done already so that you can take in some food, whether therefore ye eat, and we all do, every day, or drink, and we all do, every day, or whatsoever ye do. Now eating and drinking, that is That is, I mean, just really basic functions of life. Those are things that we really don't even think about. Well, some of you do. Some of you are thinking about the next meal by the time that the meal you're on at the moment is done. I'm not looking at anybody, but my wife often does that. Whether for you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. We often don't put our eating in that context, do we? We put the eating in the context of, I want food and this tastes good. Right? I'm not condemning that. That would be a little bit hypocritical of me to condemn. But whether therefore you eat, have you ever thought, I'm doing this to glorify God? or drink, I'm doing this to glorify God, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Here's the point, 1 Corinthians 10 says our motivation in every aspect of our lives ought to be to bring God glory, down to our eating, down to our drinking, and the Bible says whatsoever, I would say that includes picking out your clothes. I would say that includes going shopping. I would say that includes getting dressed in the morning. I would say that includes making the decisions about what I will wear, what I won't wear, and all of those. Wouldn't you say? Whatsoever you do. That's a very broad category. So the answer to the question, does God care what we wear, is yes, because we ought to do everything to the glory of God. Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 17. Colossians chapter 3. and verse number 17, not my opinion. This is Bible this morning, Colossians chapter three and verse 17 says, similarly, and whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Are you a Christian this morning? Do you call yourself a Christian? Do you lay claim to that title? This verse then says that everything you say and everything you do ought to be attached to your Christianity. You ought to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. In every word and in every deed we are to remember that we are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and we ought to do those things and say those things which He would want us to do and He would want us to say. So this verse helps us answer the question that yes, God is interested in every aspect of our Lives. Look with me at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23 where the Bible says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. That's W-H-O-L-L-Y. Completely. Entirely. And I pray God your whole spirit, your attitude, your countenance, and soul, your mind, will, emotions, your whole spirit and soul, look at this, and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. So God wants complete sanctification in the born-again child of God. He wants your spirit sanctified. He wants your soul sanctified. But this verse says he wants your body to be sanctified. That body is the temple of the Holy Ghost we read from 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And if you go back to the Old Testament, God cared what the temple looked like. The temple was to be exceeding magnifical. God had specific instructions about how it was to be built and how it was to be decorated and how it was to be adorned because he cared about that. And God wants our spirit sanctified, our soul sanctified, our body sanctified. I would submit that that includes, he cares what we put on the outside of that Body, Romans chapter 12, the next verse, Romans chapter 12, verses one and two. Romans 12, verses one and two. Romans 12, one and two. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your spirits. A living sacrifice, that's what it says. That ye present your souls. It's not what it says. What does it say? That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. There's a slogan. You might have heard, my body, my choice. The people who say that aren't really Christians, right? You understand that people who say, my body, my choice, have a very unbiblical perspective. And yet some people who are saved but don't like God telling them what to do in some specific area of their life, they kind of take that approach, well, it's my body, so it's my choice what I put on it. The Bible says you present your body, a living sacrifice, to God. The Bible says, verse number two, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now we could cite many more references, but I believe that will suffice this morning to give a resounding yes to the question, does God care where? Now, is that the most important thing? Is that what he's most interested in? No, but there can be more than one thing that's important on some level. So, we know that God cares what we wear because in the Bible, which He gave us to teach us how to live and teach us not just about... I mean, if the Bible is just about how to go to heaven, why is it that big? Right? 1189 chapters, 66 books, over 30,000 verses. You can get saved by a gospel tract on a 3x5 index card. I mean, There's not that much in the Bible about how to go to heaven. A lot in the Bible is what we do on the earth. True? Okay, so God in those instructions included some things about how we dress and what we wear. Here's how I know that. Because the word clothes or clothe or clothed, either the noun form or the verb form, are found 194 times in the Bible. You can fill that in if you'd like. 194 times in the Bible, those words are mentioned. Clothing is mentioned 19 times. Clothing, 19 times. Raiment, 57 times. Apparel, 30 times. Adorn, twice. Okay, add all those up and that's a lot. It's not as much as some other topics, not as much as some other issues, but the Bible's not silent on the matter. Obviously, let me give you an example. I was reading my Bible recently and I came across the chapters in the books of Exodus and Leviticus about the garments that the priests were supposed to wear. And there is a lot of discussion on the priestly attire, and God had very specific instructions and directions. Now, what was the reason for that? Well, the reason they had special clothes is because those priests were to be separated and consecrated to the service of God. So what they wore was important because they were performing some act of service for the Lord, okay? Now, let's take that application in the New Testament because all of us are priests, and all of us are consecrated and separated to the service of God. Now, we don't have to wear what the priests in the Old Testament wore. We can rightly divide the scriptures well enough to recognize that, but But we read that and we have to come up with the idea that, okay, this is on some level important to the Lord. Now, he gave us some very specific instructions, but not a lot of specific instructions. Okay, come to 1 Timothy chapter number two. Here are some verses in the New Testament that directly address the issue. Now, there aren't a lot of verses in the New Testament that directly addressed the issue. And there are a few reasons for that. One of those might be because what God said in the couple places where he said something is very simple and straightforward. He doesn't have to elaborate on it a lot because what he says is very plain. and very clear. First Timothy chapter 2, verse number 9, and like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. Okay, so what does God want you to wear? He wants you to wear something modest. Simple enough. 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." Okay, so God wants our clothes as Christians to be modest. And the Bible never gives a specific definition of modesty in this passage. in the other passage. I think we all understand what modesty is, even if we might kinda squabble over the precise definition, but here's what Webster's 1828 says, and it applies. Modest means proper, restrained by a sense of propriety. It's what's appropriate. Modest means not bold, or forward. Modest means not presumptuous or arrogant, not boastful. Modest means not morally loose or lewd. Modest means moderate, not excessive or extreme, not extravagant. Look at 1 Peter 3, the companion passage, and we'll say much the same thing that 1 Timothy 2 did. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse number 3. 1 Peter 3 verse 3, who's adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and wearing of gold or putting on of apparel. So it's not wrong to braid your hair and it's not wrong to wear gold, otherwise it would be wrong to wear clothes and it's not wrong to wear clothes. It's not. Verse number 4, 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." So the Lord said the same thing in 1 Peter 3 as He did in 1 Timothy chapter 2. What He wants people to notice about you is your character. What ought to really stand out about you is your countenance, your spirit, your attitude, your good works. The first thing that people should notice is not, whoa, that's a little. You understand? Modest means you're not seeking to draw attention to yourself. You're not trying to get people, when they see you, you're not trying to get them to notice your skin. You're not trying to get them to notice your figure. You're not going for any of that. That's immodest. It's the opposite of modesty. the verses just say let the inward beauty come out and look it's not a sin. Here's what these verses teach us. This is important. It's not a sin to be pretty. Unless you're a boy. It's not a sin to look nice. It's not a sin to be attractive. God made you that way and he did so on purpose for some very specific reasons, right? None of that is sinful. There's just some boundaries, right? There's just some moderation that is to be exercised. God's not saying you gotta be Amish. That actually defies the principle of modesty, because when you see Amish people, the first thing you notice is what they're wearing. Right? It draws attention to themselves. Now, at least they cover up, and at least they're different from the world. They do have that going for them, but there is a balance here. And so God says in 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Peter 3, make sure that the inside is right. It's going to come out on the outside. Make sure people notice your character and your spirit and your attitude, but just be modest. But then the verses don't necessarily define what modest is. And that's how God does this in the Bible. He doesn't put everything about a subject or a topic all in one place. Have you noticed that? Because you know what he wants you to do? The Bible says, study. to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be shamed, or either dividing the work of truth." If you really want to know what God approves of, and if you really want for God to approve of you, He expects for you to put forth the effort to study. That means you don't just read two verses and have all the information you need. Jesus said in John 5.39, search the scriptures. In Isaiah 28.13, God said He put truth here a little, and there a little. where you've got to turn and read the whole Bible and run cross-references and put forth some effort to find out what it is that God wants you to do. We talked about this recently. What the Bible does is give us principles. The Bible doesn't even really give us a lot of specific rules. There are a lot of things that the Bible never directly mentions or addresses, but the Bible gives us everything we need to know to make the decisions we need to make in life. It's up to us to take the principles of God's Word and ask God for wisdom to put those into practice in our lives in the best way possible. Okay, so here's what we've done. We've taken what the Bible says, we've said we're going to have youth activities and we're going to get lots of young people together. And when we do that, here is the baseline level of expectation for the clothes that you wear. And again, we didn't come up with it. It wasn't arbitrary. We didn't just pull it out of nowhere. We tried to take the principles in the Bible And okay, we're gonna draw, you have to draw a line somewhere. Here's where we're gonna draw a line. But I wanna show you where that line comes from in the word of God. You can basically boil it down to three points. Where do we get our dress code? Okay, three points, you've got the blanks, you can fill them in. The first thing you have to do is cover your nakedness. Now that seems obvious, but we're going to define that specifically from the Bible. Cover your nakedness. The second thing is don't be a stumbling block. We're supposed to encourage one another, help one another, edify one another, not the other way around. And then the third thing is girls wear skirts. And we'll talk about that with a little bit of time. that we have, okay? So our dress code says, guys, if you wear shorts, we want them at or below the knee in a sitting position. The dress code says, ladies, those skirts that you wear or the dresses that you wear, we want those at or below the knee when in a sitting position. Where did that come from? Let's go all the way back to Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two, and gonna have to fly through this, try to keep up. Genesis two. Verse 25, here's the creation of man and woman, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God performs the first wedding ceremony, and the chapter concludes with this somewhat awkward statement, and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Okay, this is in innocence. This can somewhat be demonstrated by toddlers and infants. They can run around the house without a stitch, and they don't think a thing about it. And that was the condition in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world. There was no shame in their nakedness, but everything changed. In chapter 3, verse number 7, the eyes of them both were open, and they knew that they—it's like they didn't even know before, and they knew that they were naked, and so what did they do? They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron. From this point on in the history of humanity, in the Bible, there is shame associated With nakedness, you ought to be ashamed to not be appropriately covered. Now, people aren't ashamed. They should be. Even the people that think they look good should be ashamed to flaunt what the Bible defines as nakedness. Now, man's definition of nakedness and God's definition of nakedness are different. Adam and Eve recognized the fact that they were not appropriately clothed, and so what'd they do? They went for some aprons. They made some fig leaf aprons. God steps on the scene at the end of the chapter, and in verse number 21, unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. They thought they were okay. God said, no, that's not enough. God provided something more to clothe them because what they thought covered their nakedness didn't meet up to God's expectation. Let me read to you Revelation chapter 3. We've come full circle. Here's the last period of church history and we're in a similar situation. Revelation chapter 3 and verse number 17. the church at Laodicea, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked? I counsel thee to buy of me gold, chariot, and the fire, that thou mayest be rich, white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." Now, I think the people in Laodicea, they had clothes on. They didn't have enough clothes on to pass God's threshold. Even though they were clothed, God said, no, you're naked. You need some additional clothing to cover up. Exodus chapter number 28. Okay, so where is that line? How does God define being naked? Exodus 28. and verse number 40. We're in that passage where the priestly garments are being described. Exodus 28 and verse number 40. And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them for glory and for beauty, coats and girdles and bonnets. I'm glad I'm living in the New Testament. That's all I'm gonna say. Verse 41. And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him, shalt anoint them and consecrate them, sanctify them. They have been ministering to me in the priest's office. Thou shalt make them linen breeches. to cover their nakedness. Okay, so what do we have? We've got, in verse number 40, girdles and bonnets and coats, and now we've got breeches. I mean, these guys are decked out. But we're not going to go to the other passage. What was the purpose for the breeches? Well, the people were going to gather at different times of the year, and the priests were going to offer sacrifice And there's this passage in Exodus where they're going to have to walk up steps to the altar, and the breeches are underclothes so that when they walk up the steps and the people are looking up at these guys who are wearing coats and robes, so they're not exposed, they have to wear some breeches. It just makes really good sense. It's the same reason that we make our little girls, even though they're wearing a skirt or dress, they gotta wear shorts or leggings or something underneath because they just haven't quite learned how to make sure the dress stays covering everything underneath. So the priests had to wear breeches, but look at verse number 42. The breeches were to cover their nakedness from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach. Okay, so God said they've got to have breeches on so that they're not naked and the breeches have to cover their loins and their thighs. Look at Isaiah chapter 47. I'm not making this up, I'm just reading the Bible. Here's what God says is nakedness, Isaiah 47. In verse number one, Isaiah 47, and verse number one, come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground, there's no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind meal, uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea thy shame shall be seen. I don't have the time to put the passage in its context but here we find another instance of the definition, God's definition for nakedness because he said if you're going to cross a river and you're going to hike up whatever it is you've got on so that your thigh becomes exposed then you have uncovered your nakedness and you are showing something that is shameful. As I've already said in Isaiah 47. So what is God's definition of being naked? It's not that you're running around like a little bitty... It's that your thigh is uncovered. If your thigh is uncovered, God said you're naked. John chapter 21. John chapter 21. That's the reason for the whole at or below the knee in a sitting position. We're just trying to put the line where God put the line. Just trying to follow the Bible and please the Lord. John 21 and verse number one. Well actually, just skip down to verse 7. Peter and the guys are out fishing and Jesus shows up on the shore. And the Bible says in verse number 7, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, it's John, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. Okay, so Peter becomes a little embarrassed when he understands that God, Jesus, is present, and so he decides, I've got to cover up my nakedness, but notice what he covers his nakedness with. The Bible says in order to cover his nakedness, he put a coat on. Now, if this coat was all that I had this morning, that would still be problematic, right? Sorry. Let's not think about that. Let's think about Peter for a second. Because this is just my personal opinion, but I don't believe for a moment that Peter was out on the lake in his birthday suit. Right? I understand he's a fisher and they're kind of some rough characters. I don't think they're that rough. So when he had to put on a coat to cover his nakedness, what's Peter doing? He's out on the lake. He's on his boat. He's catching fish. And he's a go boy, just out in his pants or his shorts or whatever it is. But Jesus shows up and so he puts on his coat. and he jumps into the sea. Here's the point. We could cross-reference Ezekiel 28. Your thigh, that's nakedness. Your torso and chest, guys, I know it's chiseled and it's ripped and it's attractive, but God said just, just, just put a shirt on, okay? Or your Don't be a stumbling block is the second point. We don't have time to pursue it, but in Matthew chapter 5, the Bible indicates that men have problems with lust, but someone who incites that lust is partly responsible before God. for doing so. Matthew 5, if you look on a woman to lust after in your heart, you've committed adultery. The Bible says with her. If she's trying to get you to look, then she's participating in your sin. So here's the point with that. You can cover your nakedness and still be a modest if you want to. You can wear a skirt or a dress and still be immodest if you want to. Just don't want to. All right, here's the third point. Girls, what's this whole thing with girls wearing skirts and dresses? Why is that? What's the purpose for that? What's the reason for that? Why do we have that? in the dress code, okay? We can't turn to all these verses. Here's what Genesis 1, 27, and 5, 2, and 6, 19, and 7, 16, and Matthew 19, 4, and Mark 10, 6, they all say this, there's male and there's female. And God created them both very differently in many ways for a lot of reasons but society is so confused about that basic truth that there are two genders and they are making every effort to blur any lines or marks of distinction between the two. God made men. God made women. They look different. They act different. They think different. They relate different. They respond different. And God wants you to be able to tell the difference from a distance. Nobody ought to ever meet you or see you coming and have to play the guess my gender game. That's a very clear principle in the Bible. Then come to Deuteronomy 18. Deuteronomy 18, verse number nine. Deuteronomy 18, verse number nine. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations, of those nations. What would be some of the abominations? Child sacrifice, verse 10. Witchcraft, verses 10 and 11. All these things are an abomination unto the Lord, and because of these abominations, Lord thy God did drive them out from before thee. What does this have to do with clothes? Just hang on for a second. Deuteronomy 23. So it's an abomination to perform witchcraft, and it's abomination to offer child sacrifice. And that's why God expelled the Canaanites and gave that land to the Israelites. Deuteronomy 23, 17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel. That means what you think it means. Nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow. God doesn't want the money you made that way. Verse number 19, thou shalt not lend to thy brother upon usury. Verse number 20, unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury. Verse number 20, we don't have time to go through the rest of the passage here, but it's abomination to God to be a whore or to be a whore. a sodomite. Now, that was true when God gave the law, correct? You think that's still true today? Is it still an abomination to God to be a whore or a sodomite? I would say it is. You think it's still an abomination to God today to offer your child in sacrifice to idols? I would say so. You think it's still an abomination to God today to be a witch or a wizard or a necromancer? I would say it is. Deuteronomy 22, 5, you knew where this was going. Deuteronomy 22, 5, The Bible says, The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment. For all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. Now, okay, so Deuteronomy 22.5 just makes this principle clear. There are men's clothes and there are women's clothes and God doesn't want men to wear women's clothes and God doesn't want women to wear men's clothes because he thinks that's an abomination. He hasn't changed his mind about that. There are certain things in the law that were specific to the nation of Israel, things they weren't supposed to eat, ways they weren't supposed to plant their fields, some clothes that they weren't supposed to wear. But the phrase is different in those instances when it's specific to the nation of Israel and the Hebrews and the land of promise. The Bible says, for all those things are an abomination unto you. But in this passage and the other passage, it says these things are an abomination unto God. God's really serious about this. He doesn't think cross-dressing is okay. He's not in favor of drag. He doesn't want guys walking around in dresses. Right? Okay? By the same token, He doesn't want girls looking like boys. So, our dress code says we want our ladies for church activities to wear skirts or dresses. Let me just be completely, 100% candidly honest. I can't take a verse of scripture and show you 100% dogmatically that the definition of a woman's garment is a skirt. I do not have that verse. Fair enough. I cannot take a verse from the Bible and define Deuteronomy 22.5 as a dress. Now, I can take a lot of history. I can take a pretty good dose of common sense. I can take the signs on the stalls in the bathroom that help you figure out which one to go in. But I don't have a specific verse of Scripture. But how do we start? What are we trying to do? We're trying to take the principles from the Bible and use those principles to make the decisions that are right and pleasing to God, okay? So here's what we've done. Here's what I would encourage you to do on a personal level. As an individual Christian with a relationship to the Lord, Take what God says in the Bible and then go to God with a right heart, asking for wisdom, what is the best way that I can apply this principle? And that's the approach that led us to put in the dress code, we just want the guys to wear the pants and the girls to wear the skirts. Because it's the best way we can think of to make sure you know the difference and to set us apart from the world. Now, your parents might have that standard, and that makes it easy, because that just becomes an issue of obedience and honoring your parents, Ephesians chapter six, and God will bless you for it. Your parents might not have that standard, and that's none of my business. But you've got a relationship to God. You're hopefully saved and born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And what you are really wanting to do in every other area of your life is begin to make your own decisions. And so why not just go ahead and develop some of your own personal standards and convictions based upon what the Bible says. Let's just make sure that our heart's in the right place because Proverbs 4.23 says, if we keep our heart with all diligence, out of it are the issues of life. Make sure your basis and your decisions about this and everything else is wanting to please God by the Bible, not wanting to fit in with the world and not be quite so weird, because one of those approaches is gonna hold up really well at the judgment seat of Christ, and the other one isn't, okay? We survived, it's like once every 10 years. When you're an adult, I'll do this again with the next set of young people. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word this morning, the instruction that it gives us. Help us, Lord, really wanna know what it says so we can do it and we can please you. And thank you for loving us. In Jesus' name, amen.