 Hey man, I just love this chapter, so, you know, a lot of you might have been reading this chapter as we're reading it and you're just like, oh man, all these details, but you know, here's the thing, I'm an engineer and I don't know how many times I've told younger engineers that if you want to be a good engineer, you've got to pay attention to detail. You know, you can't design something and, you know, get it 90% of the way there and then you lose some, forget some detail or it's just not going to work. I mean, you might not have done it at all and one thing I love about this chapter is just if you just look at the incredible detail that God is putting into this chapter, this, look, this is instructions from God on how the priest is supposed to look here, okay, and you say, well, you know, I'm not a priest, well, we're going to get to that tonight, okay, I'm going to prove to you tonight without shadow of a doubt that the Bible does teach that you are a priest, so we're going to talk about that tonight, that's not the point of this morning's sermon, but first of all, you know, this idea, we're going to talk about dress standards this morning and I want to talk about dress standards and all the ladies are like, ah, here we go, but listen, I want to talk about dress standards this morning from a little bit different angle. I want to go through what the Bible says about dress standards, first of all, and then I want to show how dress standards, they apply to both men and women, okay, and that even today, even today, many, many ladies, and I've talked to them, the girls in my family about this many times, ladies will say, well, you know, the dress standards in the Bible are mostly applying, you know, to women and they mostly affect the women, that is not the case and I'm going to show you that this morning, that dress standards and what the Bible says about it affects men and women and look, it may cause more problems for men actually in the Bible. So that's what I want to take a little bit of different take on this, but we look at what the Bible is saying here in Exodus chapter 28, God is giving very specific details, so this idea, first of all, God cares what you look like, he doesn't care like what you look like from your body's standpoint, but he cares what you wear. I mean, God cares about the clothing that we wear and the Bible says it, it's so serious here that twice in this chapter, it says, look, it's important that the priest looks like this or it will dishonor me, that's not what it says, or he will die, the Bible says. The Bible here is saying that you must get all these details on the priest or he'll go in there and he'll die. I mean, it's pretty serious. So this, I mean, this idea that God doesn't care what we wear or come as you are is not in the Bible. I mean, this, this God that people have made up and just turned into liberalism, you know, the God is very specific on how he wants people to dress and what they want, what he wants us to wear. So let's look at Exodus chapter 28. Let's first look at three aspects. There's basically three basic criteria that we as believers can look at in the Bible that can kind of tell us what God wants, you know, when he looks at the clothing that we wear. Okay, now look at Exodus 28 and verse number 40. So first of all, overall just the overall idea of the chapter is that there's a lot of detail that God is giving here. So God cares about the details. Okay, God cares about the details. But specifically, I want you to look at verse number 40. The Bible talks about, you know, our clothing number one should cover our nakedness, the Bible says. So the question is, what is our nakedness? What is that? What does that mean? What is that defined as? The Bible says, And for Aaron's sons, thou shalt make coats and thou shalt make for them girdles and bonnets shall be made shall thou make for them for glory and for beauty. And it shall put them and thou shall put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him and shall anoint them and consecrate them and thou shalt and sanctify them and they may minister unto me in the priest's office. Verse 42. And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness. Now it defines what your nakedness is from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach and they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons. So basically, the Bible here is defining for us what our nakedness is. And it's our loins, which is our, you know, our midsection down to our thighs. So your thighs are your nakedness. Verse 43. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons. When they come into the tabernacle of the congregation and when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place that they bear not iniquity and die. And it shall be a statute forever unto him and his seed after him. So first of all, a few things here, you know, the priest dressed this way to honor the Lord to cover it, you know, it says to cover their nakedness, it defines for us what their nakedness is. We're going to talk about how you're a priest tonight. Okay, so, you know, these things apply to you. Turn to Isaiah chapter 20. Let's talk about this idea of nakedness and your nakedness. So now we've seen in Exodus 28 what your nakedness is. It's basically, you know, your, your, your midsection down to your thighs is what the Bible calls your nakedness. Look, I don't care what people say today and how they define things today. This is what the Bible says. This is what the Bible says nakedness is. Go to Isaiah chapter 20 and look at verse number one. So what does the Bible say about nakedness or being naked? Look at verse number one. The Bible says this, it says, in the year that Tartan came unto Ashtad when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and fought against Ashtad and took it at the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amos saying go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins and put off thy shoe from thy foot. This is one of the, the, the more, you know, epic, I guess, commands to one of the prophets. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians, prisoners and the Ethiopians, captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia, their expectation and Egypt their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, behold, such as our expectation, whither we flee for help to deliver the king from the king of Assyria and how shall we escape? So the Bible here is saying, turn to Revelation chapter 16. The Bible here is saying Isaiah was, was commanded to, you know, walk around, you know, with his buttocks uncovered to prophesy what was going to happen to these people, because they were going to be led away this way and in this naked fashion. And it was, it was to be shameful to them. It was to shame them. The Bible says that being naked is shameful. Look at Revelation 16 and verse 15. The Bible says, behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked. And they see his shame. So the Bible here is saying that if you're naked, that's a shameful thing. And we could go into verse after verse after verse about how the Bible is, is, you know, it talks about being naked is shameful. If you remember in 2 Samuel chapter 10, David's men went to the children of Ammon to make peace. And the children of Ammon, you know, thought they were spies. So they cut off half their clothes and shaved off half their beards. And it was, they did that to shame them. And it was such a big deal that David actually went to war against that nation because he shamed, they shamed his men in that way. So look, the Bible says that being naked is something that, you know, over and over it talks about, you know, if, if you see your brother naked, you know, because he's poor and he doesn't have clothes, you're supposed to give him clothing. It's about being, you know, the poor are naked. And, and it's a shameful thing to be naked. So the Bible teaches that being naked is, is something that you don't want to be. Okay? So first of all, you know, we need to cover our nakedness. That's one thing that the Bible talks about our clothing should do. The second thing, turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. And this one is addressed towards women in the Bible. The 1 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse number 9. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse number 9. This is talking to women in this particular verse. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 9, the Bible says, in like manner also that women adorn themselves, that mean dress themselves in modest apparel with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which become with women professing godliness with good works. So I understand that this is talking about jewelry, gold, pearls, broided hair. I understand this, but the main point is here that the Bible is saying, and particularly to women, because this isn't really something that men really struggle with, but the main point here is that Bible, the Bible is saying that you should not wear clothing to just specifically draw attention to yourself. You should not draw attention to yourself with what you wear. And look, it's not about, your clothing is not about, hey, get everybody to look at me. Get everybody to look at me. Turn to Proverbs chapter 13. Now ladies, especially single ladies, young ladies, you may think in your life that, okay, well, I want a young man to notice me and I want to end up getting married. And I'm obviously going to need to have people know that I exist in order to meet somebody. I mean, this is how young ladies think. I know. I mean, I've talked to my wife and my daughter about these things. And look, young ladies, they want to be noticed if they want to meet somebody, end up getting married. But look, the Bible says that there's a right way and a wrong way to do this. Look at Proverbs chapter 13 and verse number 11. It reminded me of this verse when you think about how you should get attention from somebody and how you shouldn't. First Timothy chapter 2 says, you shouldn't be drawing attention to yourself by what you're wearing. Or in the case of today, you know, what you're not wearing. Okay, look at Proverbs chapter 13 and verse number 11. It reminded me of this verse, wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished. But he that gathereth by labor shall increase. So you know what the right way to draw attention to yourself is, is by having good character. By having that meek and quiet spirit that the Bible says that a young lady should have. But look, that's not the fast way. Right? That's, that's a way that, that takes some, some labor and you have to, people have to get to know you and they know your character. But this is the way to, you know, draw attention in the proper way to yourself. It's through your character, young ladies. Not through what you're wearing. You know, I mean, look, turn to Proverbs, flip a few verses back to Proverbs chapter 7. And look at verse number 10. Now, there's two sides of this coin. There's the, there's the young lady who is, who has good character and is trying to draw attention to herself through her character and her, her spirit and her humbleness. And, and then there's this lady in Proverbs chapter 7. Look at verse number 10. The Bible says, and behold, there met him, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot. Okay? And now, the next verse is really the teller here. Because this woman who is trying to draw attention to herself through what she's wearing or what she's not wearing in this case, the attire of an harlot and, and subtle of heart. Subtle means that she has a, she has a bad heart. She has a, a sneaky heart, a divisive heart. So this woman is the opposite of someone who is a meek and quiet and humble spirit. She's, and then in the next verse it says that she's loud and stubborn. So this is the opposite type of woman and she's the one that is trying to draw attention to herself through what she's wearing or what she's not wearing in this case. Now turn to Ruth chapter 3. Now if you remember Ruth in the Bible, the Bible says that Ruth is, you know, she was a very, a woman of very high character. She was a very hardworking woman. She was a very humble woman. She was a very spiritual woman. Look at Ruth chapter 3 in verse number 11. Now Ruth actually approached a man in the Bible and asked this man if he would marry her. And this is what the Bible says that the man says to her and, and it's, it's exactly how things should be with a young lady or a, a woman that is looking to get married or looking to find someone to marry. Look at Ruth chapter 3 in verse number 11. The Bible says this is Boaz. He's responding to Ruth after she's asked, you know, him to marry her. And, and now my daughter, fear not, I will do the all that thou requirest for all the city of my people know that, you know, that you look great with what you wear. No, that's not what he says. He says that all the people, though, know that thou art a virtuous woman. The Bible says that, that everybody knew the character of Ruth. And that is why, that is what made Boaz just, I mean, right away, he's like, of course I'll marry you, you're a virtuous woman. Everybody knows this. That is the right way. And that is what 1 Timothy chapter 2 is speaking against. It's saying, hey, this, ladies, this is not how you draw attention to yourself. You don't draw attention to yourself through what you're wearing or what you're not wearing or whatever. You draw attention to yourself through your character. You should draw attention to yourself. Look, that's the right way. But you know what? It's not the easy way. It's not the easy way. It's more work. But it's not, you know, the cheap and easy way is never the right way. Is never the right way. And look, here's another thing. The cheap and easy way will attract the wrong type of man anyway. If you think, oh, I want to get the attention of these young men, or I want to get the attention of these, you know, boys or whatever through what I'm wearing and I'm going to wear this and that will draw people's attention. That is going to attract the wrong type of boy or young man to you. Because you are looking, you are looking for a boas. You are looking for a boas who is not looking for the cheap and easy solution. He is looking for the virtuous woman. That's who you're looking for young ladies. And that is how you do it. You do it the Bible way. Not the cheap and easy way. And then you'll, you know what? Then you'll get the boas result. If you do things the Bible way, it will always work. Always. Next. So we see that the Bible says clothing, we should cover our nakedness. It is shameful, the Bible says, to be naked. Look, that applies to men and women. The Bible says that clothing should be modest. That you should not wear clothing to draw attention to yourself. Look, I shouldn't do it either. I shouldn't be up here with a purple suit and a top hat and a big chain and being like, you know, I mean it would be, it would, it would draw attention. Why would I want to draw attention to myself and not the word of God? I mean it's the same concept for men and women. So we see, we cover our nakedness. We wear modest clothing. We're not to just draw attention to ourselves through what we are wearing, but through our character. That's how you draw attention to yourself and that's how you'll get the right, the right results. The third thing is this. Clothing should be gender appropriate. Turn to Genesis chapter one. Genesis chapter one. So clothing should be gender appropriate. The Bible is very specific about this and let me just clear some things up. There are two genders, folks. There are not 150 genders or whatever the latest count is. There are two. There are two. The rest, the rest is folly. The rest is confusion, the Bible would say. The rest, as Romans one would say, is unnaturalness. That's what the Bible says. That being said, I mean I saw, I saw, I worked by an elementary school. I mean just a, just a, just a rabbit trail here. I worked by an elementary school and I saw these kids, they couldn't be six, seven, eight years old. Walking across the street as I'm at a stoplight and I see these kids going out across street and I'm seeing kids and they, and some of them got blue hair and you know, and I don't even know what that means now but I know it's not good. Okay, and I'm just like, you know, I guess it makes sense if we have all this confusion and unnaturalness in the world today that it's going to pass on to the next generation. I guess it makes sense. It's sad but I guess it, you know, it makes sense that it would happen that way. I saw a billboard driving to work the other day that said children define who we are. What in the world? It's in, it's in Fresno here. It says children define who we are. I mean, look, that's a stupid nice little statement that most people look at and they're like, oh, children define, no, we define who they are. It's exactly wrong is what that statement is. We define who our children are. Why are we here? Why are we a family-integrated church? Why are we sitting here preaching what the Bible says to our children? Because we define who they are. Because the child left to himself, hello. I mean, this is what happens folks when people just completely stop understanding what the Bible says. It's just complete confusion out there today. Okay, back to clothing should be gender-appropriate. Genesis chapter 1 and verse number 27. This is like Christianity 101. It's not even Christianity 101. It's like Christianity, you know, for dummies right here. So God created man in his own image and the image of God created him, male and female created he then. Okay, so look, now turn to Deuteronomy chapter 22. There's male and there's female. I don't care how many words you make up. I don't care, you know, what, you know, weird theories you come up with. That's what the Bible says. That's what's true. Deuteronomy chapter 22, look at verse number 5. This is very specific in the Bible and it's some pretty strong language here. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 22 and verse 5, the woman shall not wear which pertaineth unto a man. And now we get the other side of it. Neither shall a man put on a woman's garment. For all that do so are confused. No, it says all that do so are abomination to the Lord, thy God. That means God hates it. I mean, abomination is something that God hates. Okay, look, all that do so are abomination unto the Lord. Now look, it says that the woman should not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, and the man should not wear that which pertaineth unto a woman. Now look, this is why, you know, we believe and preach and teach in this church that women should wear skirts and dresses and men should wear pants. It's from the Bible. That's what the Bible says. Now look, I mean, just read you an encyclopedia article, nothing to do with the Bible, on the history of women wearing pants in the encyclopedia Britannica. Okay, this is not a biblical document, all right? The Bible says this. It says in the Bible, the encyclopedia says this. In some cultures, pants have been common garments worn by women for centuries and millennia. That means thousands of years. In some cultures, this is not the case in Western society. Don't forget that, Western society. I'm going to do a whole Bible series. I'm going to do a series on Western culture and how it all came from the Bible. But listen to what the encyclopedia says. In the United States, women typically wore long skirts. While there were some women who championed pants in the 19th century, pants as an acceptable everyday clothing option for women didn't truly catch on until the mid-20th century. That means like the 1950s, folks. So that means in the United States, the culture here that was defined on Western culture was basically against women wearing pants before the mid-20th century, around the 1950s. So you say, what is Western culture? So like I said, I'll do a whole sermon series on Western culture and its basis in the Bible. But let me just give you a couple examples. The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia has the words on it, proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto the inhabitants thereof. That's Leviticus 2510. You're not going to see Leviticus too much in society today. When Presidents of the United States raised their right hand to take the oath of office that they're not your agoneration, they placed their left hand on the Bible. Okay? Why does the Bible appear in all these places? Because it is the central and foundational book of Western culture. The Bible. So that is where, you know, this idea look, this idea that women wore dresses and men wore pants. It came from the Bible. It came from a man's garment versus a woman's garment. It came from Deuteronomy 225. That's where it came from and it was accepted in Western culture until we started just leaving the principles of the Bible in every way in the mid-20th century. I mean, the Bible is the central influential influence of Western civilization and we're moving away from it by the way in every single aspect. I mean, women wearing pants even back in the 50s, it was a counter-cultural movement and if you read about it, it was pushed by generally by three forces. There was three groups pushing the women wearing pants group. It was feminist, the women's rights movement. It was homosexuals, you know, people wanting to cross dress. Look it up. These are the people that were pushing it and then it was women entering the workforce. You know, this was one of the results of World War II. All the men went to war in World War II and the women went to work. You know, have you seen Rosie the Riveter? You remember that that billboard or that poster? You know, the men went to war and the women went to work and what happened was the men came back from war and the women stayed in the workforce. That's why real wages in this country haven't gone up for 40 years because when you double the supply of something, you know, we could get into economics on this. But the point is that these were the three forces. So are these good forces? These are bad groups every single one of them. So we're moving away from the Bible folks. We're moving away from, you know, defined Western culture. I mean that's, but here's the thing. We advocate women and girls wearing skirts only because here's the thing. We don't move. As everybody else moves this is why we're a fundamentalist church. We stick to preach and practice and we'll always preach that we're going to, we should practice the principles in the Bible. I don't care how far society gets away from us. See a lot of churches think that, you know what, if I'm just to, everybody's moving this way and as long as I'm just to the right of all the people moving this way we're good. That's how, that's how conservative churches today operate. But here's the thing. We don't move. We don't move. We stick to the foundations in the Bible no matter what, no matter how far away everybody else gets. That's why, you know, a Bible preaching church is just going to seem more and more and more extreme as time goes on. Because as people move away from the principles of, look, Western culture that are based on the Bible the people that stick to the Bible they're just going to be like what? They're creating their own God. They're creating that God has this weird opinion that he, you know, just, God does not change. The word of God does not change. So look, I can't imagine what women are going to be wearing in 10 years. I can't imagine. It's moving so fast. But look, sermons like this, and this is kind of where we're going to get a little bit different. That's the three, those are the three foundational principles that guide what we should wear. Men and women we should cover our nakedness. We should dress modestly. And we should wear gender-appropriate clothing. You've heard all this before. The Bible says it, so we follow it. And we preach it. Okay, so sermons like this, but women think, you know, this generally applies to women, women think. You know, men, suits and ties, it doesn't stand out, but let's keep on the gender identification clothing just for a minute. You know, especially women will say this generally applies to us because, you know, pretty much this has been how men dress you know, for a hundred years. What I'm wearing right now. Just a tie, a jacket, and a pair of pants. That hasn't really moved, but here's the thing. There's a flip side of this for men as well. While typical men's fashions like suit and tie may be the same, the equivalent of women becoming like men is men becoming like women. And that is happening. That is happening. Turn to 1 Corinthians 6. The exact same thing as women start dressing like men. Men are also starting to dress like women. Look at 1 Corinthians 6. And the Bible says, Know ye not that unrighteousness shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate. Turn to Jeremiah 51. It says, look, it points out the sin of being effeminate. Look, men, if you act and you dress and you look effeminate, the Bible calls that out as a serious sin. Okay? I mean, look, it's a big deal. Turn to Jeremiah 51. And in Jeremiah 51, it actually says that men becoming effeminate, men becoming more like women is actually a judgment on a nation. Men becoming effeminate is actually a judgment on a nation. Look at Jeremiah 51 and verse 30. The Bible says, the mighty men of Babylon have foreborn to fight. Okay? So maybe they just don't like to fight. Maybe they're just peaceful men. They have remained in their holds. Their might have failed. They became as women. They have burned her dwelling places and her bars are broken. Look, this is happening today, folks. I mean, if you don't see this happening today, you're not open in your eyes. Men are becoming effeminate today. Men are not to act or to dress like women. Period. And look, here's the thing. It's the exact same thing that's happening. Men, women are turning into men and men are turning into women. And I mean, here's the thing. Men and women in general, as we talk about all these things, the covering of your nakedness, the wearing modest clothing, and the wearing gender-appropriate clothing, you don't want to be on the line on these things. I mean, you don't want to be like, well, how close can I get to not really acting like or being dressed like a woman? Hair length standards are the same thing. The Bible says women should have long hair and men should have short hair. Look, do you understand? You have to kind of look at these things in the Bible and kind of understand what God is thinking. God wants women and men to look differently. Because he knows that as people, we're going to blur these lines. And so clothing should cover your nakedness, be modest and be gender-appropriate. You don't want to, you know, how short can I have my hair? Well, I mean, why do you want to like, how long can I have my hair? You know, should I grow my hair out and you know, is this too long? Or, you know, why do you want to be on the edge of these things? Okay, God is very serious about these commands. He cares that men and women look differently and he cares what we wear. Look at the detail of Exodus 28. So here's what I want to really, like, get across this morning. That was part one. It's just a basic study on how God wants us, wants our dress to look like. As men and as women. He wants us to cover our nakedness, be modest and be gender-appropriate. It's very clear. But let me ask you this this morning. And this is where the sermon is going to get different than any sermon you've heard like this. How do you go about your life with everyone else not even adhering to any of these standards? Okay, what about everybody else? Women will hear a sermon like this and they'll be like, yeah, it's easy for men. It's easy for men because wearing pants is just what men have always done. You know, but women today wear pants. So that's kind of a different thing that I have to do. But listen, I'm going to prove to you this is not that easy for men. When you start thinking about, you know, what other people in the world are doing, and the applications of dress standards might be easy for men. But I mean, here's the thing, being effeminate, I mean, even being effeminate, that's something that most men that we hang around don't struggle with, okay? You know, I mean, you're not going to see me out like walking by a pair of capris and being like, oh man, I really want to buy those. You know, it's just not going to happen, okay? It's not something that men struggle with. Maybe like women struggle with the pants and skirt issue. I get that. But here's the thing, it's not that easy for men because men need to care about what other people are doing in this situation. Turn to Matthew chapter six. It is women's styles that are driving further and further towards nakedness. That is true, okay? So the woman who is going to be biblically dressed and appropriately dressed, yes, she is going to be going against more of the cultural style of the day. I get it, okay? She should do that, but I get it. She's going to be going more against that than what the man typically would have to do, okay? Look at Matthew chapter six. But the men still have things to watch out for here. Look at verse number 22 of Matthew chapter six. The body says this, the Bible. The light of the body is the eye. If they're in the IB signal, that whole body shall be full of light. But if they're in IB evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in the IB darkness, how great is that darkness? Turn to Job chapter 31. Here we are told to watch out for things that we see. Here the Bible is saying that the eye, what you see can lead your body into darkness. The Bible is saying that's pretty serious. Look at Job chapter 31 in verse number one. What we see can affect our whole body. You say, I'm just looking at it. That's not what the Bible teaches. What you see can and will affect your body. And I'll explain that to you in a minute. Look at Job chapter 31. Job said in verse number one of Job 31, I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? Notice right there. Notice what he said there. He said, he didn't say I made a covenant with my eyes. Why there should I look upon a maid? He said, I made a covenant with my eyes. And why should I think upon a maid? Because what he is saying is, and what Matthew chapter six is saying, is that what you see with your eyes, and here's where men have a problem much more than women. Let's be real. What you see with your eyes will cause you to think about things and will cause your body to do things. And look, the thought of foolishness is sin. So what you see with your eyes can make you sin in a thought. And then worse can make you do sin. Turn to Matthew chapter five. So the Bible is teaching us here that what we see can control what we think and what we think can control what we do. So if you want to control this, you need to be careful what you see. If we just back this thing up and be logical about it. Look at Matthew chapter five. So men, while they may not be as counter cultural in what they are wearing today, men are in danger of judgment. The Bible is saying they're in danger of judgment. Matthew chapter five verse 28 says, Jesus says, But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman till lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Look, adultery is a serious sin. The Bible is saying if you look on someone and you think lustful thoughts, you've committed adultery in your heart. The Bible says, look, that's serious. So women, you say men have it easy, but not really. The downside for men is that while women have to make more choices that are counter cultural, like I said, I'm not tempted every day to go out and buy yoga pants or whatever. I mean, it's not something I struggle with. And it's not something that most normal men are going to struggle with, like dressing like a woman. But men are literally in judgment every day. They're literally in danger of judgment every day as they operate in a society that is shunning the Bible. Because the Bible teaches that we, us men, we're going to be out there. We're going to be among unbelievers. We're going to be among people. I mean, look, you think about the marketing, you think about the internet. I mean, trying to protect your eyes is, you know, you think, and those of your family is a full-time job. Trying to protect your eyes and those of your family is a full-time job. I mean, everything trying to sell you stuff is taking advantage of this weakness that men have. I mean, electronic devices, the internet. Look, if you don't have control, men, dads, if you don't have control of the electronic devices in your house, and I mean full and complete control, you're an idiot. Because the internet is full of marketing and tricks and traps to try to catch you and try to catch your family, the young men that you're trying to raise into this type of thing. Because it is such a temptation. But you better find out a plan to get the devices in your home under control. And I mean complete control. And it's going to take some time. It's going to take some thought. It's going to take some effort on your end. So how? So that is, look, that's the downside for men. Okay, so men need to be careful about these things. These dress standards, you know, how other people are shunning dress standards can affect men and it can affect your family. So you have to be careful because, you know, you're in danger of judgment, the Bible says there, and what you see can lead you into sin. Just don't forget that. So here's the part two of the sermon. Here's the part two of the sermon. How do you practice this in your life? How do you practice this in your life? The dress standards, I mean, and I've heard many sermons on dress standards. Women, you should dress like this. Men, you should dress like that. No problem. No problem. It's pretty clear. Okay, that part is pretty clear. But how do you practice as we hold, as we hold to these standards, as we get our family squared away and we hold to the biblical dress standards? Where do you go? Where do you not go? I mean, because there's a spectrum here. And I'm going to give you my personal opinion and what I do in my family and you take it or you leave it. Okay, but here's a spectrum on the things that we do and the things that we don't do because of what the Bible says about dress standards and what the Bible says about what we should see and what we shouldn't see. There's a spectrum on one side. It's because, you know, just because others don't follow the Bible, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to go anywhere. That's one side. Okay, one side is that, you know, ungodly people, are you telling me that ungodly people should dictate where, you know, I can and can't go? That's one, one spectrum. That's the spectrum over here. And the other side is this, you know, just go nowhere that there's nakedness. So have a nice day being literally locked in your house. You see the problem that we end up practically in here because you say, you know what, I'm not going to go anywhere that there's nakedness. You're not to lock yourself in your house. But on the other end, on the other end of things, you know, it's like, we should just be able to go anywhere because ungodly people were dressed appropriately and no matter what ungodly people, you know, should just not dictate where I go or where I don't go as long as we're dressed appropriately. It's fine. Turn to Galatians chapter five. I'll give you my philosophy here. This is my philosophy. And I think it's biblical. Okay, I think it's biblical. Everybody's going to draw these, no two families are probably going to draw these lines in exactly the same place. Okay, let me say that. But here's my philosophy. No matter what decision you make in your Christian life, you do want to say that you're walking in the spirit, don't you? I mean, the Bible says that we should walk in the spirit. We should not walk in the lust of the flesh. We should not be in the flesh. We should be instead in the spirit. I mean, I had a conversation about this. This is a conversation we talk about a lot in our house. And that's another thing. As your kids get older, talk about these things. You should be able to talk about these things as you get older. Because look, when your kids are young, do what I say because I say so. When your kids get older, you want them to understand why you do the things that you do. Hey, why are we doing this? Why don't we go here? Why do we go here? You know, why are we doing the things that we do? You want them to get, you want to get that buy-in as they become teenagers, as they become young adults. I mean, you want them to understand that. Look at Galatians chapter 5 and verse number 14. The Bible says this, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So walking in the Spirit is the opposite of fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Right? That's the opposite. And it equates that to, you know, loving your neighbor. Thinking of others. And we talked about this in detail on Wednesday night. So this is how I make standards decisions in my family, right here. Okay, you say it's not, you know, one spectrum would say it's not fair that I can never go to a lake. But what I asked myself is, and I talked about this the other day with the kids, we were talking about this, and basically my question I asked myself is, would I take my wife and daughter to this place? Would I take my wife and daughter to this place? Because you will not see situational ethics in the Bible, by the way. You will not see, you know, a situation in the Bible. So is this a place where only me and my friends would go and I would never take my wife here? Look, there's a problem there because situational ethics is not in the Bible. So look, that's what I asked myself, am I being respectful? Would I be, you know, that's my criteria. Would I take my wife and daughter to this place? Am I protecting and respecting my family by being at this place? And give me some specific examples, kind of mentioned a lake there, but here's one, here's, I'll give you some specific examples. A place is that I would not, I do not go because they do not fit, they do not meet that level. I would never join a gym. I would never join a gym. You say what? Can I be in shape? Can I exercise? Am I supposed to be unhealthy just because I'm a Christian? Get a gym at home. I mean, I have a gym at home, go on hikes, go jogging. You know, there's other ways to solve this. Look, I would, I mean, many people disagree with this, you know, specific one right here, but I mean, I would challenge them. Would you walk into, look, I was a member of a gym 15 years ago. In Dallas, Texas, I was a member of a gym. I can't imagine what women are wearing to a gym today. I can't even imagine it because it was, it was near, it was bad then. And is it getting better or is it getting worse? It's getting worse every single day. Would you, here's the question. Here's the question, men, dads, would you walk into a gym with your appropriately dressed wife and daughter or daughters? Would you do that? And the answer is unequiv- is no, let's be real. I mean, would she feel, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. Would she feel comfortable there? 1 Corinthians chapter 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and look at verse number 9. The Bible says, but take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. Look, you can cause people to stumble. I mean, you are, you are holding your family to these standards. I mean, don't put them in situations that could cause them to stumble. They could cause them to question, you know, the standards that you say you believe. Here's another example, you know, warm beaches. That's why I love the Central Coast. I love the Central Coast because it's cold. It's cold out there and you're generally not seeing people in swimming suits everywhere. So, I mean, it's great. I mean, public swimming pools, water parks, you say, what? I can't go down a water slide? You know, look, busy lakes in the summer. Look, there's a certain crowd folks that hangs out at the summer lake. Marina or whatever. I mean, it's just, you got to ask yourself these questions. Would I take my, I mean, you got to scout areas out. You got to kind of know, you got to kind of get yourself, you got to kind of get yourself a circuit. You got to scout areas out. I mean, there's been many places that we've gone we didn't know. We're like, okay, we can't go back there. We're not going to go there again. And then we, we work the circuit, but then you get yourself a circuit of places that you can and can't go. It's kind of like in COVID land or whatever we want to call what happened last year, right? I mean, we kind of got ourselves a circuit to keep a normal life. Okay, these people are staying open. This restaurant's still open. So we could go and just kind of stay normal. It's the same thing with dress standards. You get yourself a circuit. Like you got to scout areas out and there may be some trial and error there. Okay, I mean, we have a list of restaurants. We have a list of restaurants that we will go to and ones that we won't go to. You know, and we take all kinds of things into account like TV, music, and yes, what the weight staff is wearing. I mean, it applies there as well. You know, you must define these lines, but the idea is that you don't want to cause anyone in your family to stumble and you want to respect to treat them. You know, I mean, have some respect for your wife and your daughters. And here's the thing. You'll hurt your boys. If you go to beaches and all these different places that I've listed here and you take your boys there, that it's okay to go there, you will hurt them. You will expose them to things that they should not be seen. And what you're doing by exposing them to that is you are telling them that it's okay. You're telling them that it's okay. You're making a hypocrite of yourself. It's exactly the same as being around people drinking. You're like, I would never want to raise my kids drinking. So why would you go to a bunch of parties where there's people drinking everywhere? Well, dad doesn't drink. I don't care. We go to these parties. There's people drinking all the time. You would never do that as a biblical parent. It's the exact same thing. Because what you would be doing is you're like, kids, drinking is bad. That's why your mom and your dad don't drink. And then you just constantly go hang around people drinking. It would make no difference that you didn't drink. Just drink yourself. It would make no difference because what you're showing them is what you actually believe. It's the same thing. If you go and you expose your boy, you're like, boys, women should be dressed like your mom and your sisters. And this is appropriate. This is what the Bible teaches, that ladies should dress like this and not like you see in the world. And then you're constantly just going to all these places where women are running around in their underwear, which is the exact same thing as bathing suits. Where they're just running around naked. What you're telling them is that you don't care. You don't really believe those standards. And then you're exposing them to that. And then they're going to develop all kinds of other problems that's going to bring them into judgment in their life. It's going to bring them into judgment in their life. They're going to have all kinds of issues and probably ruin their own marriage. I mean, it could get, I mean, be horrible judgment, adultery. It's serious. You're exposing them to sin is what you're doing. And by exposing them to sin, you're making light of it. You say, man, this is hard. I mean, look, I know if you want the right results, you have to follow what the Bible says. You're like, but that's not what every, I don't care what everybody else is doing. Look at what the world is producing. Seven year olds with blue hair. I mean, come on. I mean, just look at the results. You can't do what everybody else is doing or you will get those results, folks. Look, you're making light of sin. You would cause the ladies to stumble. I mean, these decisions, and look, these decisions, men, you have to make these decisions. You can't just think about this. You have to make decisions in your life, in your family, of places, things you will and won't do. I mean, it's your job, men, husbands, fathers, to protect your family and strengthen their walk, not break it down. It's your specific job. So ask yourself, ask yourself with the lines that you're drawing. Ask yourself with the lines that you're drawing. Does this protect my family? I mean, look, I'm constantly drawing new lines. Don't feel bad if you're like, oh, I haven't drawn all these. Look, I'm constantly drawing new lines. We made a new line just the other day. We were at no surrender later in the evening at like 9.30 or something like that. And there's all kinds of inappropriate shows on the TV screens. And we're like, we can't go. Look, a lot of you don't think about this because your kids are really small. Your kids might be infants, one-year-olds, two-year-olds, whatever, but look, as they get older and pretty quickly, you have to start thinking about these things because you can't unsee things. We're like, you know what, we're probably not going to go back there unless we have a private room in the back. So I mean, these are just lines that you constantly have to be drawing in your life. And look, I mean, every family may draw separate lines. Generally, though, they should follow these principles. Generally, they should follow these principles. If you're going to public swimming pools and you're going to gyms and you're going to things like this, you're just ignoring some principles. I'm sorry, but you are. And you're going to cause people in your family to stumble. And it's not just your kids. Men, you can cause, look, women are to be strong, but they are the weaker vessel to you. You could cause your wife to stumble, too. So it is super important, men, that not only do we learn these standards and we follow these standards, but you know what? And especially, look, especially as the ladies in our lives, our wives and our daughters, especially, you know what? They're kind of counter-cultural. They're kind of bucking the status quo. Can we help them out? I mean, can we help them out? I mean, they're bucking the status quo. When they go out, they might look different than other people when they're at events and other things like that. They may stand out more than you. Jeans and t-shirt kind of goes, you know, is kind of timeless. But here's the thing, folks. You know, they're bucking the status quo. They're kind of counter-cultural, according to what our culture is doing today. They're the weaker, what's helping out? Let's help our families out. It's a good thing that we're following the Bible, but we need to strengthen our families, men. So there's a lot here for men. There's a lot on this topic for men. It's not just preaching for the ladies. There's a lot here for men when it comes to judgment and when it comes to protecting your families. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.