The Reflection of Holiness

welcome everyone midweek bible study while you're digging your bibles out you're getting your thank you ian so much while you're digging out your ink pens handouts this uh lesson tonight will conclude our five lessons on holiness foundation block of holiness of course there's a million and eight things that we could write about that we could go over suffice it to say i will do my best tonight to try to help us if you'll let me all right now to ask you last week if you'll recall to pray that the lord would help us give us clear understanding amen so we're going to need that tonight would you pray with me one more time lord we need you let our hearts and our minds tonight god receive from you help us lord as we search deeper into your spirit god and your presence lord and your purpose for the church in this hour more than ever before lord we've got to be found being faithful to you in holiness god loving you and serving you in everything in jesus name amen if you need to make some more copies feel free all right uh don't forget announcements of course this weekend saturday there's a sever a few folk going to do an outreach that's a great thing and then sunday we're back here amen looking forward to that next wednesday night we will begin a new series on the second coming everybody say let's go home that begins next week excited about that and believe it or not guess what we are almost to the holidays thanksgiving and christmas and then 2022. who to thunk it huh who to thunk it but we aren't there yet let's go to hebrews chapter 12 we're going to read this has been our anchor verse for the last several weeks i do hope tonight that you will make some notes according to your interest and and as the lord speaks to you amen i believe god can honor you with his voice hebrews 12 and 14 lord gonna read this out loud you ready guys everybody read with me follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the lord follow peace and follow holiness now our walk with god is constantly and continuously in a motion many times we're moving forward hopefully all the time and then there are occasions that we stop and stand still and then heaven forbid there are the occasions where we have to for whatever reason we backtrack anybody know what i'm talking about life's always motion in the flesh your job your school your family whatever you're responsible for uh you you can't simply be where you are and sit there forever sooner or later you'll i don't know have to use the restroom so you have to get up and move uh you'll be ready for that snack you know when the next hour comes because you you pass the one for this hour you know so whatever you're constantly moving right it's the same thing in the spirit the lord doesn't want us to sit still in the spirit follow me for just a bit tonight the same way with the word of god how many believe the bible's alive come on it is a live text that's how you read today something said you read tomorrow something said the next week you with me that said that spirit that's represented in that word it is also in our relationship with god the word of god speaks and that is how we draw closer to the lord we picked up a few weeks ago in our study about that true holiness is simply your reflection of the relationship that you have with god it's it's how things are moving in that relationship right as you grow you learn and you learn as you grow what pleases and what displeases god and so you now have to in your spiritual walk you have to pick up spiritual tools to use right if you're going to change the oil in your car you will not need a saw most likely you may not need a blood pressure cuff well until after depending on what kind of car you got right logan but you need tools to do it correct you're with me it's simple right it's the same thing in your spiritual growth the bible in fact even gives us many explanations of tools that we have name some tools we have in the spirit prayer what else what else come on somebody else the word yes what else yes what else worship certainly what else come on spirit yeah come on armor certainly we're given that aren't we what else oh that's all that's about it oh there's hundreds of things right you may not consider friendships and relationships with your brothers and sisters in the church that's a tool are you with me those are things you can use now here's the here's a point i'm making as you grow in god you are going to have you're going to have to establish methods and means and beliefs and systems that you follow and that you understand and you'll need to learn how to use those tools okay i have several tools in my garage and i know how to use some of them i'm pretty good at some of them and some of them i simply have there because they were bequeathed to me that's the old english term for the day it's getting to me i didn't steal them but here's the point it all has a purpose now the challenge of course stay with me the challenge is of course is when someone asked me where that tool is see i know where the tools that i use all the time are i've got two black cases they snap they roll it's easier for me to carry them in and out i know what's in those but then i've got bags and boxes and toolboxes and crates and i've got drawers and i've got other tubs and i've got things my wife for an example she'll occasionally step into the dark side of the garage and try to find a screwdriver and once she's gathered her wits about her and ran screaming into the house i put together her her little tool box but i couldn't find mine one day so anyway you know how nice it goes i'm just saying here's the point you learn how to use those in the flesh in the spirit listen to me you've got to learn how to access those things you are growing you are maturing your life is changing if you are at the same place today spiritually as you were 20 years ago something is the matter you're not growing you've got to see fruits now because of that when you came to an altar you repented of your sins things happened in your life what are some of the ways that we demonstrate our relationship with god number one influence or inward changes and influences what are some inward changes that happen in our relationship when we start a relationship with god inside attitude very good someone else thoughts very good someone else temper yeah what else how you look at others certainly what else pay ooh patience nobody wants on that one someone else yeah the the hearts condition there's a bunch we could talk about because they're they're inside you know it's like the beginning remember the first lesson draw me a picture of god all of you in but that's inside stuff that's like and it's hard now here's one outward changes and influences name some of the outward changes that happen when god begins to work in your life countenance what'd you say the way you act yeah but with someone else the way he talks certainly someone else wait dress what else your relationships certainly what else peer groups yeah someone else places you go yeah what else odors huh what things change inward we just came up with about a dozen and things change outward we just came up with about a dozen now of course there's plenty more if you were to sit and think about it here's the thing in every case there will be manifestations of the relationship with god that will be seen in your life inward and outward you will you'll see those things the spirit of god will move and it will manifest itself in your life how does the spirit of god manifest itself in your life so somebody tell me or maybe even demonstrate to all of us what is a way that the spirit of god demonstrates itself in your life jesse is there something we need to know about walmart right outside let's say let's call it that other places no come on what what happens somebody demonstrates to us what it means to have that manifestation in your life what is it come on has it been that long the old timers used to demonstrate it how has it been that long why why does the old timer guilty of doing this and shouting and running and and and dancing and before the lord and running before the lord had they lost their mind or was was that a demonstration of what god was doing in their lives i mean i'm asking do do we still participate in that today okay self-examination when's the last time you did that's a fair question if we're certain that there are n-word changes and we are certain there are outward changes then we need to be certain that there will be manifestations of those brother gibson a few months ago did an excellent job talking about the gifts in the ministries and we want those but if if i may the pastor i love you how do you expect to be used in one of those gifts when you won't yield yourself just to love and worship god like you used to i really i know that that a lot of folk look at me and strangely because when i preach or when i i come to church man i just i'm out that's just what it is and i don't know if it embarrasses all of you like it does me that's why my wife's got her eyes closed a lot of times say lord jesus fight my eyes no no i'm not true that's why i sweat through my suit i'm not doing 40 percent guys there'll come a time when my health may fall apart and i won't be able to but now while i have the strength in my body there will be a manifestation and guess what it is the spirit of god in my life and i am doing it in the flesh i know old timers used to be afraid they just in the flesh they just showing out well you better believe they're in the flesh if you saw their spirit do that you'd all run out the door it is manifesting itself okay let's start let's go i'm watching my clock i'm okay y'all okay with me driving the clock tonight you notice there's only one here and there's nowhere else in the room ain't that cool i get to see it y'all don't anybody here remember the time you received the gift of the holy ghost lift a hand how did you act anybody emotional what'd you do cry what else danced what else shouted what else ran jumped up and down why did you do those things why why did you have to he was happy couldn't contain yourself y'all with me listen to me if you are walking in the flesh your flesh is going to demonstrate that same thing it's called a nightclub go out through it all the time it's called a friday night football it's called winning the lottery you better know it ain't one of us in here to win a million dollars and go ah one million dollars yes it's good it's good that's good who mean yeah now a millionaire i know who would act that way come on y'all think it's foolish because you know it ain't true but our dear minister of music get up here and say come on won't you lift your hands come on just love the lord and it's all they can do is if if i am lying somebody tell me there's going to be manifestation of your relationship reflection you want to know how much activity god put into it let there be light i don't think he went you know like oh i don't know yeah go ahead go ahead diddy i don't think so i think the entire universe knew light was about to happen and when it did it went push i didn't say sun i said light boom there it was on all this energy i don't think for one moment that a fish just kind of came out of the water and went whoo no i do stay with me hold on to me i'm talking holiness tonight okay when you follow jesus you will think and act differently heaven forbid that someone would have to convince you that you're apostolic and that your worship needed to mirror that see if your relationship with somebody is truly there you will demonstrate it in all walks in all types of ways it'll come out in in the way you look the way you dress the way you talk where you go it'll show up stay with me our conversation changes because the love of jesus is working in our lives and so we we don't want to say those things that we know are mean and hurtful and spiteful so it changes conversation your desires for recreation change you know i used to go spend hundreds of dollars doing this but now i don't feel it i don't want to it's not what i do anymore um there there is no denying a spiritual change in your life a lot of the most not all but most of your old habits will even diminish there are some things you will have to put down you will have to make a choice and put it down you will have to make a choice and put it down i know when you receive the wonderful gift of the holy ghost god did not go to your house and clean out all the trash you had to go home and you had to decide good bad or ugly right wrong evil good you had to decide and i hope that if you received the wonderful gift of the holy ghost that you did go home and have a clean house a little bit more than just sweep the floor but you got rid of some old habits and some old lifestyle things some old ways some old books some old movies some old things that had been holding you bound maybe you're the one of the ones that had to go home and dump out 50 bottles of alcohol down the drain or you had to go and take pockets or bags full of drugs and burn them out in the field somewhere or flush them down or take them somewhere to get it going you had you knew in your life something changed and you god helped deliver you from something i have watched a drunkard sober that quick i have watched that with my own eyes i've watched drugs out of a person's body then boom in their right mind instantly but i'm telling you the drugs in the backpack they carried coming into that place they had to choose what to do with it a choice was made y'all hang on tim we're talking holiness tonight new paths are established when you are walking holy and your reflection is showing god go with me if you were to john chapter 8 verse number 34. john 8 34 says this jesus answered them saying verily verily i say unto you whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin the 35 and the servant abideth not in the house forever but the son abideth forever verse 36 we all know this you ready for dear sin if the son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed if you have been delivered and and set free made free this a work has happened in your life there is a power that is unmistakable and that power of freedom you will not be able to deny it listen to me god will loose you from the bands and the bonds of sin and if something in your life had you bound god would can remove that desire that heartbeat i gotta have that drink i gotta have that drug i gotta have that smoke i gotta have that thing i gotta do that whatever god will break that loose and he'll he'll come and he'll take up residence in your heart in your life now things are different because if he makes you free guess what indeed means without doubt you are going to be free if that's the case then sin has been dealt with the price has been paid the gavel has fallen remittance has happened remission of sins is there and the spirit of god now takes up residence how many are thankful for the spirit of the lord god then we need to always allow that spirit to work in our lives all right when we speak of holiness we are connecting the heart of man to the heart of god if he is holy and we need to be holy we need help being holy don't we in our lives we need help is anybody here good come on are you good i'm sorry southern anybody here i saying that wasn't you but without god what are you isn't it interesting you can be full of the holy ghost walking with god baptized in the name of jesus at church every week and sin can still come and try to stop you and quelch you and push you to the ground and humble you and destroy you you got to let the spirit of god do a work in your life and it will manifest itself we're talking holiness the edifying listen the edifying and the perfecting and the work is for the saints and that is done through ministry ministry god gave the body of believers a system for growth for learning and for maturing and it's called the ministry ephesians talks about it and it's called five-fold apostles and prophets and somebody else sam apostles and preachers pastors and teachers are you ready one more time somebody else loud ready what's the purpose in that for the edifying for the perfecting for the growth for the education now hang on to me it is 7 33 on our wednesday night bible study over the last several weeks i have tried my best to declare to you how holiness in this generation and culture is now more necessary than it ever has been the church that you're a part of there is order and there is a system there god gives pastors the ability to pastor shepherd a congregation now listen carefully the reason that i tell you that is because a pastor shepherds his congregation the way god leads him i as a pastor and trying to follow god i make mistakes i hit the floor i mess up i get up i keep moving i try everybody believe that other pastors with their herds if you will can i call it that with their sheep can i call it that with the ones that are in their church see it they have to do what they do for theirs and it's not always the same you hear me it's not pastors in on the mission field they do things different than we do here they don't have to much worry about coming to the church an hour and a half early to turn on all the lights and to get the air conditioner or the heat going they simply have to walk in and flip a switch with a light bulb the heat's not going to be there nor the air they may have to kick the windows open so guess what they just set up church a little different they also have cultural things where they live how how they do things in that culture we've seen it firsthand also the lord was gracious enough to us to allow us twice to travel and be in almost all of the 48 continuous states and hold services while we're on deputation so we have seen from the mains to the floridas to the californias to the washingtons and every place in between how it is and it's a little different i call it flavor a flavor of holiness now some places you don't have to worry about some things like you do other places i noticed for an example while we were traveling and the churches that little cities we'd be in up in the north region man there's a bar on every corner of some type because it's cold outside they go inside and they drink but you go to the west coast and it's all sunshine in 75. it's a little different look you go to florida it's a whole different look you go into a tourist town pastors are struggling although there's 50 million people in that town 99 of them are travelers so they're in and out they don't come and stay stay with me it's all it's different chattanooga is where the lord god allowed us to come and called us to be and so this is where i'm at my job here is to help edify the body perfect the saints and work in the ministry until the lord calls otherwise part of that is then is i have to help the church members know how to be holy how to walk up right before god how to embrace the things of god that's what my wife's doing she's trying to be that and help with that and mold that reason i tell you that is if you have moved in from another church from another area do not call that pastor and ask him what he thinks about it and then call me and ask me what i think about it flip a coin and say which one's better which one more adheres to what i want to do i'm gonna reach for your soul if you'll let me now stay with me for just a bit if you'll allow me i'm gonna speak to you for just a moment first corinthians chapter 11. this is about spiritual order you will notice that you everybody in this room if you've known me for any time at all you will notice i don't stand up here behind this podium and say thou shalt thou shalt not you must and you must not i will give instruction inspiration and i will try my best to edify and to work to try to help you grow and mature and many times if you'll come to me with a situation think about how i usually respond to you what do you think have you prayed about it has god given you some direction is god speaking into your life well i've prayed about it and god ain't saying nothing okay then this is where i would go if i were you and i might give you a verse or give you a book or give you some kind of resource to go to and there are the occasions then that i would even step out and say you know what this is wrong and what you're doing is going to destroy you and if you don't fix this i'm telling you you are not going to turn out right there are even times as a pastor listen carefully that god will not use the pastor with the gift of of a word of wisdom or word of knowledge god will simply impart to the pastor for somebody 99 99 and a half percent of the time if there's things spiritually going on in the church i can i can i can see them i can't explain that to you if i have ever come to you and say hey is this or this or is this or that and you look at me like oh god put that on my life or my heart or my mind or my spirit to come and help share with you listen carefully i went through all that i have tonight to let you know this that when it comes to holiness in 2021 we need holiness now more than ever what has happened in the last 20 to 30 years in our nation is there has been a diminishing of distinguishments between male and female the last 25 to 30 years i can ask this question in this group of people and we're all from 11 12 13 years old up to yeah and i could ask you what does a lady look like what is the appearance of a lady a lot of you would say i'm not sure why but i do know why i'm just not sure why well go look at the bathroom and the dirt that she's got a triangle on and i'm like i ain't never seen a lady buddy i get what you're saying i get what you're saying i understand what you're saying but here's my point in the church there is a reason for distinct distinctions of male and female god created it that way male female in his image listen to me the dress designers the the clothing designers the folk that make up all the stuff from how you ought to dress or what's out there on the market for you to buy listen to me carefully i am 99 sure they do not consult their bible when it comes to that dress code they consult what the flesh and how much they can show and get away with it are we all okay growing up enough in here there are two things you need to understand men are attracted visually what they see women are attracted emotionally what they feel and what is happening in our culture what has begun many years ago that has now come to this point now is if they are the enemy himself is trying to confuse the emotions of women and trying to confuse what men see because if you can do that he can distract you and destroy you listen to me carefully when you come into the church house and you dress a certain way men or women you need to know that you are causing people to see things hear me you can have sleeve length down to your wrist and even to your tips of your fingers you could have skirt linked down to the floor and not be able to see your shoes but if it's so tight you can't hardly breathe you are not doing yourself any favors hear me men you can act like you're all that in a box of cracker jacks if you will and you can act like you're emotional you will try to woo and sway the emotions of a female and all you're doing is lying to her because in your mind you have no desire whatsoever to connect with her all you're trying to do is be something for her so that you can get her in a position to where she has to compromise her values now i'm not realized i'm not just talking to teenagers i'm talking to adults here because our world has not set an age limit and as much i'll ask it this way name me right now anybody that feels like you can name me one television show on any station that is holy and wholesome name one besides planet earth by the bbc name one huh what is it thank you i was hoping somebody bring it up what does that demonstrate what is it demonstrating and how is it demonstrating it hollywood's version anybody here ever stooped to watch the movie noah why do you laugh because what nowhere even not even two percent correct but there are there are folk in our world that claim to be christian and go to a church they'll watch that movie they won't read the account and all of a sudden no this is what god's about come on name me a program that comes out on on the internet that is uplifting and encouraging you can't watch the news andy even that is questionable i can tell you why who's opie's mom never says is that a bad thing no but it's never a dress which does what to the person imagination i had somebody one time trying to argue with me saying the office why y'all laughing you don't know about that y'all know about that oh you all must know about that name name a song hey oh i'm gonna help somebody today i'm gonna help somebody tomorrow turn on your j103 and i want you to listen in an hour's time how many times jesus is sung about in those songs the name jesus has spoken the number one song last year in christian music didn't even have the word jesus in it king and country did he have the word jesus in it what's the lord laura daigle don't even use the word jesus says she doesn't and everybody now is going through their mind coming so let's say you're like me you don't read hang on to me i love you i'm trying to i'm trying to help you just because they say it's christian does not mean it's christ-like in any way pastor you're saying it's legalism no i'm telling you if you don't have a relationship and a reflection with god you're going to fall for the lies and the tricks of the enemy because he does not love you he does not want to warmly embrace you and smooch you on your jaw and make you feel ooey and gooey it is not in him to do good it is in him to steal to kill and destroy and he will do that a million times over if we let him and i'm talking about in the church see we'll we'll look outside the door and we'll see how bad it is and we'll stand behind the glass and we'll look out there and the whole time our reflection of who god is is under question first corinthians talks about spiritual order you need to read first corinthians chapter 11. i put it all in here and then it got to like nine pages and i said no that's lazy on their part they need to get their own bibles out first corinthians chapter 11. some of you are going to be so offended when you read that because you're going to think pastor's telling me i have to be submitted to a man if you're a lady he's saying that i got to dress this way or look that way what is i'm not saying anything i'm telling you get the word and the word will speak to you i've had so many times people offended at me because i read a verse of scripture to them and i can't declare loud enough i did not write this i can tell you where you can get understanding about it it's called an altar you can bury your face in the rug for a little while say lord help me understand and i need to be submitted help me to understand that there needs to be order in my life god is a god of order agreed starts in genesis 1 order and all the way to where we are today listen the greatest tool the enemy is going to use is the same thing he's always used did not god say he wanted you to be happy nowhere in your scripture does it say be thou happy why not doesn't say it why doesn't it say that to what and it could change if you had a million dollars would you be happy and then tomorrow what would it be well i wish i had two i mean here we go you know buyer's remorse you go buy that car like man that's cool i'm happy now and then the guy pulls up next to you and his has rims on you're like you know i didn't want the ones with rims anyway and then you're not mad now you're not happy again happiness is not the guarantee can he make you full of peace and joy and love yes he can do that first corinthians 11 that is your homework you read it do not read through it quickly do not allow some other version of it you get the best one you know how and you read it and you pray god help me to understand order the second one i put here is first timothy chapter 2 how you present yourselves to others how you act in front of others pastor i was hoping to come tonight you tell me this and the thou and thou shalt not and rule number three and rule number nine is no i can tell you this because it's my position as pastor there are certain requirements that i have put into place for certain things in the church as far as positions are concerned if you're going to be a helper in a class or if you're going to be on the stage doing music or or singing or if you're going to be in a position that people see you or whatever or that you're involved or you're ministering and so forth there are degrees of growth and maturity that you have to attain and reach for that it's true on your job nobody's going to hire you to come in and own the company yeah we're looking for somebody we can give this company to it's a 47 billion dollar company yeah you look like the right one no what will they do first do you even know where the mop closet is you go down there and you mop the floors for a couple years and then you work into this one then you work into that one then you work into that one if you hang on to me i'm reaching for you i love you if you're hired in as management in a job what are you going to have to deal with what besides that what are you going to deal with what are you going to do brother gibson when you were hired in his management what is worst thing you said man what'd the last guy do because you come in and pick up somebody else's stuff i know i have never heard anybody that was righteous and holy before god come in and say what was god thinking he's perfect in all of his ways he's righteous and all he's just in all the things that he does and you cannot complain about him he is not unfair to you he does not treat you worse than he treats someone else these young guys come to me and say pastor i got a call and i've good go clean the bathroom good drag a mop around a while vacuum floors clean windshields clean windows pick up trash white bottoms that's what i had to do you know what i learned i learned humility and understanding god if i spend the rest of my days here this is what i'll do because i will make heaven my home with this call on my life y'all hang on to me i love you see we get we get this culture this generation folk want to come in they want to just kind of move into place and and just have arrived and now everybody's just desperate got to have that you know we don't know where you i don't know how we never survive without you and the truth of the matter is this friend come in at the low place and let god live the call of god will always make a way for itself when i told my pastor i had called god on my life you know what he said to me good i was looking for workers okay what do i need to do yeah you said it set up chairs how many yes i need you here an hour early and i need you to stay an hour late turn on everything make sure the air of the heat's fine the lights are working if there's anything's not working you get it right and when everybody's gone you need to be the one to lock up okay yes sir you better believe it and every time i'd hear somebody say to me you know what you just need to go ask the pastor how you can be used well i did many times you know what he said i got something just for you no no listen to me sometimes it was that ucky gross stuff now for those of you who don't know this ladies restrooms are dirtier than men's it's true it's true some say no it ain't true yeah i've cleaned them i i still still do occasionally uh you know i just this is just let me give you all that ocd stuff coming out right you may know what it's like to to preach in a nursing home where they can't even understand you in a prison where all they're looking at you like you could they could just breathe and you dead in a minute or on the street where nobody's looking nobody's listening but you got to preach pastor you're talking weird that's missionary stuff yeah is this not a mission field turn your neighbors it's a mission field so first timothy how how we present ourselves to others listen if you think for a minute that you can wear the fashions of the world into the church you have missed it the world's position is they want to be very exquisite they want to entice and they are trying to distract you huh so i have people all the time ask me questions then what should i wear how should i wear you pray and ask god to lead you i will tell you this men i want y'all listen to pastor for me i love you i'ma reach for you don't you listen to me there is no way in this world that you would expect your or let your wife walk out of the house with anything on that she wants to wear showing and exposing everything is it you wouldn't want that would you why not do what you don't want everybody all right so you expect her to dress a certain way she goes and she buys clothes to wear i know i had my wife and my daughter man it was sometimes the biggest struggle i had no idea you could buy a size zero i don't know what that meant i mean like nothing thread i don't know no it's like this big i'm like well who wears that my wife said exactly i'm gonna buy eight of them and just because it's just so i don't know what do i know drawn are you with me no i don't i don't understand that and it was a great challenge my lovely wife would spend all this time she finally found a couple of stores where she could buy the dresses and skirts that she felt like was good for her to wear and she'd buy them and every time she buy them her first question was does this bring too much attention to me it doesn't mean it had to be from b and it had to be all ugly and have have googly gaps hanging off of it that looked nasty she says i'm a representative of my husband therefore i will dress this way have you ever seen her dress out of sorts anyone hang on if i expect her to have a standard of how she presents herself with her dress how she presents herself i should have the same for me men i'm gonna ask you a question y'all mad at me yet don't get mad would you be okay if your wife walked out of the house with a pair of shorts on halter top men now why are you wearing shorts oh you want her to look holy but you don't want to look holy pastor are you saying that it's unman i'm saying you better pray and check yourself because that little thing like that much material on the bottom of your leg that's hairy and showing off to everybody might keep you out of heaven because an attitude comes along with ain't nobody gonna tell me what to do i'm reaching for you the distinction between male and female in the world has been pushed away there are now men that wear dresses why is that a shock women they'll wear men's clothes that don't shock nobody you know why because the enemy has won that one he has blanked out the distinctions oh well now that's cultural is it you know things do change with time right i say this a lot of times we don't ride horse and buggy to church anymore i'm thankful for a car that's got air conditioning and heat aren't you we also don't wear tunics to church anymore hallelujah although in that day it would have been super convenient because if you came to the church house what was what would they do at the gate before they'd let you in it's i'm on bible scholar where you at say it i'd rather be a door keeper in the house of the lord what were the doorkeepers for checking for circumcision to make sure you are in the covenant nobody wants that job i'm telling you listen to me but in that day you would have been stoned on the spot and killed because you weren't allowed in the presence of god god's had a people and god said you're going to demonstrate to the world who you are they will know you by the way you dress and the way you act they will know you by the kind of hair you have a nazarite what was the pledge of a nazirite what did he not do why it was a covenant that he made i will take the pledge of a nazarite and anybody and everybody that saw a man with uncut hair instantly knew he was a nazirite why he gave himself 100 completely to the things of god he said his own rules and his own laws according to the laws of god we all know one of them his name was samson sampson said i will not let a razor touch my head was he going contrary to the teachings no he was following his pledge did god honor it yes why oh y'all getting deep with me now because god honors the commitment to him that's why whether you're in north tennessee or south tennessee whether you're in the northern part or the southern part or whether you're in another country whatever it is you have to have regulations and rules and things that you live by that guide you daily on how you present yourself as the reflection of who god is john 4 20 4 you worship him in spirit and in truth listen to me carefully there's a whole mind set in our 2021 mentality that says i can just go to a church and worship the lord and feel good and dress any way i want present myself any way i want and it has to be accepted because god only looks at the heart are you with me come on how many churches you know of like that and all the while the only thing that's connecting them to the blessing of god is what one thing his name his name he is bound to his name and his word but when it comes to them making commitments to god if the pastor or the one that's been placed in their life to help them be free and free indeed or to tell them look you can't come in here looking that way or acting that way or being that way what would they do most likely take an offense walk away and go find them another place that they can that's why when they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears it's the teachers that are trying to scratch and say i want to hear you like me i want to hear you appreciate me and i want to hear you applaud me pastor what are you saying what i'm telling you is when you've got spirit and truth working in your life it will lead you to make right choices and good decisions here's one that you can ask yourself when it comes to your the way you dress and the way you present yourself does this bring glory and honor to god don't be lazy don't be lazy these are men's clothes so i'll wear them these are women's clothes so i'll wear them no matter what they look like don't be lazy do your homework figure it out come on if you're married you need to have that conversation with your spouse honey i do not want to embarrass you so i will set guidelines for the way i dress and the way that i act around people you would expect nothing else of that one that you have a relationship with it's the same with god stay with me i'm watching the clock here and then ephesians 4 1-16 there is a purpose for the ministry that works in your life to edify to lift up i challenge you as soon as you can spend some time in these four portions of scripture read them take time to get your concordance out your dictionary out pastor are you just talking legalism trying to tell me the rules and the what and what not no i'm trying to help you with your relationship because if god is truly working in your life you will yield to the instructions that he's given you kids young folk teenagers don't you be mad when mom and dad say no you're not wearing that no you're not going there you're not going to act that way they're trying to help you all right last one doctrine that's a body or system of teachings relating to a particular subject that's what a doctrine is a teaching there are doctrines in all things in life agreed how you work what you do church there's doctrine there's teachings some will ask you ready some will ask about hair length what's long enough what's too long is it okay to cut hair is it not okay to cut it it's in these scriptures that i just gave to you first corinthians read it but but but what does it really mean i mean that that's that's new testament stuff but that was specifically speaking to a church exactly it was teaching them that god has already given us by nature what is needed when it considers when it's concerning our hair it says for a woman not to cut her hair she cuts her hair it's a shame to her she might as well shave it off now what's going on in our culture the distinguished distinguishment between male and female now they're trying to blur that line to where nobody can really know that way they can establish who they are so therefore there's 58 different pronouns you can call yourself and it has to be acceptable there are some times that you have to set your foot down no it does not this is my house we're going to serve god there's more than a few times that again with my kids that i um all right i'm going to tell you now you're not going to win doesn't mean they were perfect i know they messed up just like i did growing up but i figured out very early on you know i had a lot of convictions growing up and i really didn't understand them you know i'm telling my code i mean they were there because my parents you know and but that was okay i graduated high school i went to the military went away come back now i'm a home man i was responsible for 40 50 million dollar piece of equipment i had weapons you know i'm a man i can do this and then i met this lady and i'm like she stands for something wait wait wait wait wait where she said we were engaged she said how do you feel about tithing i said i have a tie no no no tithing when i was growing up in high school i had a job so i'd pay my tithe if i felt like it i didn't understand the concept of it and she says to me what do you think about it and i as a good male figure in her life brother duran i simply said i don't know how do you feel it's good on dakota it keeps you have a lot of trouble and she said well i don't know but i think that we should i said me too i was gonna say that too that's just one example and we established that and we started doing that a lot of different things in our lives we just we figured it out here we go i don't know let's try it there's some things that we had to say you know what that's wrong we had a television this was old school television and vcr it was like a 20 inch grit big old heavy thing we moved to tulsa oklahoma it was in our living room i worked with school 7 30 to 3 30 monday through friday i was in a aviation school five days a week i worked three nights a week church on saturday and sunday church wednesday night if i could make it we was involved in church things okay you see i'm saying very busy so we get home and that television will put us asleep about every night we turn it on to sit down and watch something and eat supper and an hour later we'd wake up and go to bed you don't have to nod like you understand it's just what we did and god began to work on our lives he began to work in me things began to happen in my life and i said sweetheart i'm tired of going to bed tired with this thing we don't have time to go anywhere do anything because by the time we get here we've worked all week we're exhausted we're like oh so we unplugged it we set it in the closet of our bedroom and said we're gonna give it two weeks after the first week during that week we were riding bikes playing tennis going for walks never figured out how we had time to sit watch it into the second week we decided you know what we're not even going to get it back out we're going to sell it so this was back before internet you had to like put an ad in the paper family calls we need a tv and a vcr so come get it they came they said well what do you always say we're pentecostal we are too but we're called bad to costals i said okay whatever that is are you gonna buy it or no they bought it things begin to change we begin to examine our home look at what was in our home set some rules and some guidelines listen to me carefully i just asked you for a few moments ago name something good that's on that thing and you couldn't name anything so why would you have it because i'm gonna tell you something again i love you and we have a screen at home and we can watch things we can put a dvd in we can stream some things we can i can hook my phone if i can figure out how to do it and get it up there so i can watch okay you're with me we can figure that out if i need news i can go on to doo doo doo doo.com or not but this is what i found out that's what i found out she and i married we couldn't control the thing although we said we were when we sold it all of a sudden we had these freedoms and liberties we didn't realize what we had something very interesting happened about seven years into our marriage we'd already gotten rid of that we had already we were life was good but god sent us the most beautiful little fella and that little boy came into our lives and he took all our time and then about two years later we're still in therapy for this one this sweet little girl came into our lives listen carefully i am 100 convinced that if she and i had not gotten rid of some things it would have had a negative impact on those kids you think i'm lying parents i love you i love you but just because it's tough raising kids does not mean you stick entertainment in front of them that's video they don't understand the difference they don't and you can justify it by saying well i just need some peace and quiet same thing my parents needed same thing that we needed because well they're only this big i'll take it away from them as they grow older no you won't they'll demand it more well we're living in a different age we're living in a different culture and you know things are better now i asked you name something good name one of the kids i had no idea blue's clues was what it was i went to men's conference a few weeks ago what'd he say the songs on blue's clues now are written by a homosexual who is writing enticing little boys and it's on blue's clues and i'm wrong i'm reaching for you some of y'all need victory in your lives and in your home but you can't get it because you got you won't live holy you can't come to an altar and expect god to come in and smack you and then you go home and do things you do and expect god just going to overlook you've got to make some tough choices yeah how many times did i read are you my mommy you might remember that book anybody are you my mommy little bird trying to find you know i got the crane okay go home and get it check it out the library oh how many times i read that book to my kids i don't how many times i read different books to them because it was costly but i was determined determined somehow someway god i need you to lead me cause i'm sure gonna mess this up i'm sure we'll mess it up there was a lot of things that my kids didn't understand when they were when we were trying to raise them dad why can't we go to this place because we're not going there but why all my friends are well we don't go there come on brother drawn but dad is the same here sorry buddy some of it i couldn't explain i didn't have bible and verse for it i simply had god i need you to help me with this listen to me my wife's told just the whole church i know i know your lady she's mentioned it if she ever threatened our children she was not going to stop that threat stay with me you do that again i'm gonna i'm gonna whip you or i'm gonna discipline her i'm gonna take that away guess what she did it back of the store she'd have to set it down push the cart all the way to the front to get to the bathroom to go in and set things right not convenient i've said this many times my grandparents went to church five six times a week my parents three four times a week we go now twice if we're lucky what do you think your kids are gonna do what do you think i mean don't lie to yourself what do you think they're going to do by the time and by the time they have kids what's going to happen church is going to be outdated and undone and the buildings are going to be used for something else because although i am certain my grandparents said no we have established these guidelines and i am certain that my parents said we have established these guys and i know my wife and i established it yet here we are and the lord's wondering if you're going to be holy if you want to see him peace and holiness now i told you tonight was going to be a challenge for me let me challenge for some of you because i am i am i have already convinced myself and i pray that i'm wrong that some of you will have me for snack after church tonight and you may not ever say anything to anybody about how you feel right now about what i'm telling you about how you dress and where you go and what you look like and what you do with your children but if that spirit gets in you you might as well open your mouth and scream it because that spirit will stop the move of god it will women do this men lift holy hands wherever you are without does that mean fighting no that means you don't have to dicker with anybody you don't have to try to arm wrestle someone you simply say i am a child of god i do this because this relationship's here the bible gives a lot of reference to what ladies how they should present themselves and dress and their hair and embroidered hair and so forth right men how should you dress you ask me i'll tell you men are considered to be one of their home the what the who the priest go read what the priest had to wear and apply i love you the reason this challenge tonight is because the culture outside is trying to come inside if that ever happens we will lose the move of god i asked you at the beginning of this and i'm done stand with me how did you know how do you know if the spirit of god's moving because you move you worship with exuberance when the power and the presence of god is moving your flesh and your mind and your body you're just loving god you're just worshiping and loving him and the anointing of the lord is in you you're teaching the next generation this is what church is i like it some of the kids sitting in here right now under the sound of my voice you despise church because mom and dad hadn't done a good job trying to help you understand the power of the family of god in your life and in their lives don't ever drag your kids to church say come on we're going no you we get to go we're going to go and love god you may have to say with a stern voice and the enemy may be right there saying yeah right but you could set precedence this is what we do this is how we do it this is who we are i'm done i would hate it for this doctrine this teaching this holiness reflection to get to this generation and we consider it to be non-essential not important and whether whether by purpose or not allow it to slip through pray with me lord we love you jesus i love you thank you for your word lord that leads us thank you for the power of your spirit lord that speaks plead your blood right now lord over these precious people your church lord i pray that a passion for truth and hunger for worship and true worship and spirit and truth god would over overtake the church that we would make the tough choices and decisions loving and serving you lord would be a privilege and a joy not a heartache and a pain i know there's a struggle lord it's flesh and spirit i know that there are questions it's it's what humans do god but i also know there is victory if we will simply reach to you lord i'm asking you for strength tonight god to make right choices and good decisions pray for every heart lord every home every family every child every baby lord in this church god that you would anoint give a hunger lord and a passion for the things of god help us lord to make right choices concerning our dress concerning our attitude concerning how we present ourselves help us god to take the time to study lord and to to realize where where these things come from lord and to better understand that there is victory through the blood of jesus i need you lord i i need you lord i need you jesus i need you come on would you lift your hands to the lord before you go home would you love him jesus we so need you lord we so need you jesus come on somebody open your open your heart to prayer right now jesus jesus come on somebody draw draw closer to it work past the distractions of the age work past it make some decisions make some choices establish who you are what you believe what the scripture says stand on it build on it let it make it last for generations to come somebody say in jesus name i love you all i would not hurt you for the world but my fear is that somehow someway if we don't set some boundaries and lines and limits and understandings and scriptural teachings a generation's coming behind us that won't won't know it won't be their fault i love you guys thank you for being here tonight please go look up those scriptures if you have questions specifically about things i'll be glad to try to help answer if i can we're back in here this weekend loving the lord serving him come on with joy we're going to come in saying god we want to be holy we want to be like you we want to draw near to you and next week we'll start talking about his coming i love you guys shake hands be friendly go with god greet one another be safe going home lord bless you guys