Amen, so quite an amazing story here with Joseph when you think about it.
If you remember leading up to this, Joseph has been in the prison, he's been persecuted,
he's been sold into slavery by his brethren.
So we've kind of seen that downward slide for his story.
He's kind of at the low point really where we left him off last week where we left him
in chapter 41.
And then just in a day's time immediately Joseph is exalted and lifted up and it's now
in this chapter put second only to Pharaoh throughout all the land of Egypt.
He's given a wife and over the next seven years, that first seven year period of plenteousness
he has two children and here he is in middle age and his life is going very well for him.
And it's just an amazing story when you think about if you really put yourself in Joseph's
shoes and really get an understanding of what it must have been like to have gone through
these trials and then from one day to the next just be made this great ruler in the
most powerful country at that time.
It's really quite an amazing story and I'll talk a little bit more about that at the end
and make some application there.
But of course we are all probably very familiar here with the story about the dream, the butler
if you remember has been in prison with Joseph previously.
Joseph interprets the dream for him that he's going to be restored and then of course when
he is restored he forgets about Joseph and then it says there in verse one and it came
to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed to behold he stood by the
river and he has this dream about the kind right the seven fat-fleshed kind and the seven
ill-favored kind and the ill-favored eat up the seven good and fat-fleshed and he's wondering
what does this dream mean right he's trying to figure this out what happened what's going
on here and he turned and the butler you know remembers his fault and says you know
when I was in jail there was in Hebrew who could interpret dreams and he of course gives
him the interpretation and makes him ruler second in the kingdom but you ask yourself
you know what's a kind what is a kind well kind you know is probably some kind of cow
right I don't know that's how I always imagined it if you kind of search that word you'll
find that it's associated with a you know there's a kind in a bowl there's what the
Bible calls the butter of kind so it's a milk giving animal it's a mammal right so
basically you know I don't know that it's like a Holstein or a Jersey cow like we have
today but it's some kind of a cow basically but so let's go ahead and close the word part
no just kidding at least you got that figured out tonight that's our Bible study what is
a kind defined right but no in all seriousness though it is an amazing chapter because of
the fact that Joseph is exalted and I kind of want to just focus on just a couple verses
and I know it's a really long chapter and it's it's one we're all pretty familiar with
and it's pretty straightforward you know Pharaoh has a dream about the kind Joseph interprets
it he's right and they go about basically carrying out his orders you know and gathering
in all of the grain and all the corn so that they would be able to withstand in the seven
years of famine so it's pretty straightforward right but there's a couple details in here
that we could actually get a little bit of application out of it this evening and when
Joseph is first brought out of the prison and to be brought to Pharaoh it says there
in verse 14 then Joseph sent and called Joseph and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon
so they're very quickly getting him out right and he shaved himself so he's cleaning himself
up right he's shaving himself he's probably taking a bath he's changing his raiment because
they're not really too concerned with you know how you smell and how you look apparently
in prison like the worst that is probably the more they like it because it's not it's
not club med down there it's not sandals it's supposed to be you know a place of affliction
so obviously they're not too worried about hygiene as much as they're going to be in
the king's court right so when they're coming into the court of Pharaoh or what we might
call a king right he's cleaning himself up that's the first thing they do they shave
him and they change his raiment and they came into Pharaoh and really the application I
want to make tonight is you know we ought to care about our appearance how we look we
ought to care about how we present ourselves in our dress and just in our you know our
physical attributes obviously some of those things are beyond our control but as far as
just you know looking respectable I think that's an important thing that's something
that we could learn out of this chapter even the Egyptians you know the heathen here they
understand this it's just a kind of a common concept in the world that you know if you
if you look respectable you're probably going to act respectable if you look respectable
you're going to be treated with respect and I think that's something that you see here
in the story I mean it's giving us this detail right why is the Bible telling us what they
did with Joseph before he brought him to Pharaoh it seems like a kind of just a benign just
kind of you know unimportant detail oh by the way he cleaned himself up and put on some
fresh clothes right well the Bible wants us to take note of that it wants us to notice
that hey when you come into a certain place when you stand before certain people you know
you should care about the way you look you should care about the way you know you dress
yourself you should care about your hygiene and you should care about your outward appearance
right we should want to be respectable when he's coming for the Pharaoh he doesn't want
to look slovenly he doesn't want to look like a slob he wants to look like somebody who
has put some effort into the way he looks because it's it's a sign of respect you know
we show up to work you know if we stand before some dignitary before somebody of great power
and importance you know the way we present ourselves says something to them right a lot
of obviously a lot of communication is nonverbal and a lot of people are going to pick up just
by the way you look they're just going to look at you the way you dress the way you
present yourself is going to say a lot about what you think about that person it's going
to say what a lot about what you think about that place okay so this is an important thing
to understand now let me just start by saying that the appearance does matter okay because
today a lot of people have this idea even in Christendom that the way you look just
doesn't matter at all there's and that's just not true Jesus emphasized you know cleaning
that which is without if you want to go over to keep something in Genesis 41 go over to
Matthew 23 Matthew chapter number 23 this is something that Jesus more than once brought
up to the Pharisees right more than once at one point he tells them you know you are whited
sepulchres outward you appear beautiful but within you are full of dead men's bones so
obviously you know the outward appearance isn't the most important thing but it's not
something we should disregard and have no respect for okay it is something that matters
and I understand as has been said you know many a black heart has been veiled by a white
vest and I understand that people can just put on a front people can look a certain way
but as the Pharisees within are full of corruption and rottenness again Jesus brings this up
in verse 25 Matthew 23 woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you may clean
the outside of the cup and platter but within they are full of extortion and excess so the
problem is not that they're just emphasizing the outside only it's that fact that they
haven't emphasized that which is within it's the hypocrisy that he's calling out there
you know you look good on the outside but within you're full of what extortion excess
you're corrupt you're full of dead men's bones okay now Jesus doesn't say and make
the outside match the inside he's saying fix up the inside so that it matches what's on
the outside right that's what he says in verse 26 thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that
which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also so you say
you need to clean up that which was then right because from within come all these sins become
fornications adulteries thefts covetousness murders evil thoughts all these things come
from within he's saying hey it's great that you got the outside down but let's clean up
the inside okay so the point I'm trying to make is is that the outside matters now what's
probably more important is what's on the inside I mean the Pharisees kind of got all the outside
stuff nailed down but the problem is what was within the on the inside that's real the
real work is that's the hard part of the Christian life it's easy to just kind of put
on a show it's easy to just kind of look a certain way act a certain way talk a certain
way try to convince people that you are a certain way but if you're not that if that's
not what you're really like within then it's hypocrisy okay but that's not to say that
one is is not important obviously the inside is important that's not to say the outside
is not important because it is okay I mean it was important enough for Joseph that when
he stood before Pharaoh they say hey before we take you out of this dungeon and standing
before the Pharaoh the ruler of our nation we're gonna clean you up we're gonna we're
gonna shave you we're going to wash you we're gonna clothe you because we're gonna have
respect under Pharaoh's court we're gonna have respect onto this man and the power that
he has and we're gonna show that respect just just by the way that you look okay that's
really the easier part isn't it it's the things that we say and the things that we
think and feel that really require the work that's not to say we shouldn't put effort
in the outside if it need it needs it now I want to talk about men's and women's appearance
a little bit tonight because the appearance does matter okay absolutely it does go to
Leviticus chapter 19 go to Leviticus chapter number 19 now obviously we don't want to put
too much emphasis on the outside for instance when Elijah goes to or Samuel rather goes
to anoint the next king of Israel after Saul and he goes to the sons of Jesse he sees Eliab
and says surely the Lord's anointed is before him he's saying this is it this is the guy
this is the next king and there's and the reason why he thought that Eliab hasn't said
a word is just based upon Eliab's appearance that's the only thing that has caused Samuel
to say the Lord's anointed is before him he's just looking at as the Lord said his
stature he makes this statement surely the Lord's anointed is before him but the Bible
says the Lord said unto Samuel look not on his countenance you know don't look at it
at his features don't look at the look on his face don't look at his stature don't look
at his countenance or on the height of his stature because he's got this kingly look
right he's this big guy apparently because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not
as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart
now why is it that man looks on the outward appearance because man cannot look on the
heart none of us can look in the heart of another individual and tell them what's in
there the only thing we have to work off of is the outward appearance okay so obviously
we don't want to just you know give too much credit to the outward appearance but we don't
want to go to the other extreme and just say well the outward appearance doesn't matter
because it does I mean it's making an impression here on Samuel even though he's wrong even
though the Lord had to correct him but is he is it really at the very least we can learn
that you know just by looking at him he's thinking well this guy looks like a king meaning
there's a way a king looks right Pete this is just human nature when we just look at
people because we can't look on the heart and we see what they look like we look at
the way they hold carry themselves their countenance their stature the look on their face the way
they dress the way they take care of themselves you know we make judgments based upon that
that's just human nature and even in Joseph's day they're like before you go before Pharaoh
let's shave you and get you cleaned up and God does give commandments about men's appearance
okay and I want to focus on one particular aspect of a man's appearance here because
of the fact that it says they shaved him right and obviously that's referring to his face
they're shaving his beard they're shaving you know he's probably been in prison he's
probably you know you've all seen the stereotypical jail guy he's got the big long beard where
he's just been down there for a long time I don't know that was that bad if it was bad
enough they were like we got to take care of that we got to clean that up okay and I
want to kind of park it on this point about beard specifically because of the fact that
there has been thing of it in the past where if you had a beard that was considered kind
of unkept or you were not you know presenting your best self outwardly right but when we
read the Bible God gives commandments about beards and we see that actually many men of
God including Christ himself had a beard right because this is something that you see even
in a lot of Baptist churches over the years is you could not it was like forbidden to
have a beard okay now I can kind of see where they're coming from a little bit because of
the fact that you know it does matter how you present yourself right and if the world
is kind of saying hey the clean-shaven look is the professional corporate look that we're
going that that that people want to see and you'll still see that today like I'm sure
in corporate America and big businesses you know you don't want to have the big beard
right they're probably going to want you to be clean-shaven so a lot what happened though
is a lot of churches kind of adopted that same philosophy and they pattern themselves
after you know the business world okay and obviously you know I don't that's not really
something I'm trying to do here I'm not really interested in patterning myself after the
world and their standards obviously you know but you know I do think that there's some
merit to it for example we wear suits right we wear a suit and tie behind the pulpit okay
now look that's not a hard fast rule for everyone that steps on the platform but you know my
rule here is is that if you're going to get behind this pulpit and you're going to lead
songs or you're going to be going to be you know preaching or doing anything behind the
pulpit you know ideally you would be wearing a you know a button-down shirt with a collar
and a tie I'm not going to go so far as say you have to have a suit coat although you
know that would be nice too right now can I point you to a scripture that says hey this
is what thou shalt wear suit and tie it's not there right but it's just a tradition
that we've kind of adopted and I think it's a good one I think when we come to the house
of God you know we should try to present ourselves at least from behind the pulpit you know in
a certain way try to look like we're taking it seriously you know if I had gotten up here
tonight in board shorts and flip-flops you'd call me Rick Warren right if I got up here
in a Hawaiian shirt and just dressed real casual you probably would think this guy's
not taking his job very seriously and that's why we take the time to put on the suit to
put on the coat to put on the tie because we want to project seriousness to people because
this is a serious job we take it seriously we take the preaching the Word of God seriously
we take conducting the services of the house of God seriously now look there's been times
you know where I've been running late you know I was a song leader in Tempe for many
years and or I would read scripture and there's been times where you're running late you're
getting out of work on a midweek service where you know it's just you can't get all
dudded up and I don't think it's that big of a it's not like the end of the world if
you come to church in a t-shirt if you come to church and you're not dressed to the nines
it's it's not like that big of a deal I'm not judging anybody tonight that and there's
several of you by the way who've chosen to show up in God's house and didn't have the
decency and I'm just kidding right because I've been there I know what it's like to get
out of work and just you know maybe you have just a clean shirt to throw on on the in the
in the truck or the car or whatever and obviously we don't want to become you know a pharisaical
we don't want to become dogmatic about how people look when they come to church right
but you know we do at least from the pulpit want to project seriousness we've we professionalism
because that is kind of and we do that by how by the suit the tie because that's the
world's kind of their standard right but you know they also have the standard a lot of
times in these places where you can't have the beard and for a long time they even in
Baptist churches they would say you're gonna preach no beard no facial hair whatsoever
okay but you know that's just not biblical now look if that's a standard a church has
if I were to go to a church where that was the pastor's standard and he wanted me to
do some kind of a pulpit ministry whether it's leading song or reading scripture and
he said hey and by the way no beards behind the pulpit I'd shave the beard just out of
respect just because that's the custom there okay just out of respect for the pastor for
his rules you know if the problem I would have is if he's trying to start telling me
that it was a sin to have a beard or something like that because now you're starting to teach
for the doctrines of God the commandments of men okay now you're starting to teach vain
tradition as you know doctrine okay and it's because you can't find it in fact there's
more case for having a beard than for not if you want to take if you want to go there
if you want to go let's go to the scripture and see what it says you could probably make
a better case for having a beard which means all you unbearded guys here tonight are in
sin I'm just kidding just totally kidding you can't and you can't hold it against some
people because some people you know they don't grow the beard it's just not genetically there
okay where'd I have you go you're in Leviticus 19 look at verse 27 you shall not round the
corners of your heads neither shall thou mar the corners of thy beard and in order to mar
your beard you got to have one right just and this is you know to the God's people towards
the Levites you should not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead how about this
nor print any marks upon you while I'm there let me park it for a minute and talk about
tattoos right and I know this is a this is a real crowd pleaser these days to bring up
tattoos right because everyone and their grandmother has one like literally like there's grandma's
walking around today with tattoos and all these girls you see walking around with the
nose ring that walking around looking like a like a sketch pad are all going to be you
know grandma's one day and they're all going to look like a box of melted crayons one day
walking around it's bizarre but the Bible and the Bible is very clear that you cannot
print any marks upon you how you know what is that if it's not a tattoo tell me what
that is if it's not talking about tattooing yourself because tattooing is not some new
thing it's not something that the God didn't see coming oh I didn't think about that right
it's something that he that have been doing for since you know the beginning of time practically
they've been taking needles and taking ink and poking their flesh for a very long time
and making marks on their bodies and God is saying in Leviticus 19 you shouldn't do it
and people say well that's the Old Testament well you know the things that are not specifically
done away in the New Testament like the new moons the Sabbaths the the meats the diverse
offerings the the Levitical priesthood basically those things still apply okay God's not going
to reiterate everything in the New Testament that still applies from the Old Testament
he's just going to say well in the New Testament here's the things that are done away the holy
days the new moons the blowing of trumpets the Levitical priesthood right there being
a change in law there is of necessity a change of the priesthood also okay but everything
else still applies do you really want to reread Leviticus again do you really want to reread
Deuteronomy again in the New Testament just like I know I just got done having you read
that you know in those first few books let's go over that all over again in the how about
we just take what God has specifically said has been done away in the New Testament and
everything else still applies like oh I don't know murder you know the punishment for murder
the punishment for rape do we do we want to well that's Old Testament too incest you know
let's get rid of that looking on you know the nakedness of your next of kin that's all
Old Testament okay so people make that argument well you know you know that Leviticus 19 27 or
28 rather that's just Old Testament yeah but because God doesn't need to repeat himself
he doesn't need to say everything twice okay and he makes it pretty clear here you know there's
making you should not make any clings for your flesh for the dead right then you have the comma
there nor it's kind of like a second commandment print any marks upon you whether it's for the
dead or not for the dead don't print marks upon your body they're permanent and they do not go
away and everyone thinks oh today we'll just have them removed later we'll go get laser treatment
yeah good luck with that enjoy that go pay thousands of dollars and I've known people
that have gotten gotten it and they've shown me like photos where like yours your skin is
like basically bubbling up like you go blister yourself and attempt to get rid of this thing
and they were so painful they quit they just stopped they said I can't do it because it was
actually more painful than getting the tattoo here's one just stop getting tattoos if you
already got them and if you've never gotten one don't do it again I'm not mad at people that have
tattoos I'm not angry with them not upset with them you know we all make mistakes but you know
the Bible you didn't know this when you did that probably hopefully you weren't just openly defying
the Word of God when you got that tattoo of some long-haired Jesus on your forearm or something
right that's the best one we get Bible for people get Bible verses tattooed on them it's like there's
a maybe you should get this one tattooed on you right on your forehead and get it backwards so
every morning when you look in the mirror you know you see if you remind yourself oh yeah don't print
any marks in my body right don't make any marks in my flesh that maybe that's the one that they
should be printing across their you know they're on their bicep or whatever okay so you know that's
another aspect you know our appearance matters you know we got this I mean God what's the point
of him saying don't pretty marks upon you is he worried about HPV is he worried about you catching
some disease or something no he's worried about the way you look he doesn't want you to look like
the heat then he doesn't want you to look like the world he wants you to look a certain way okay
it's more about how you don't look more than anything he doesn't it's the way he doesn't want
you to look don't look like a sailor don't look like the barbarian don't look like you or some
Samoan or something like that like you've just got all these huge sleeves and everything all
over you don't look like these things the tattoos and you know I was starting in on the beards we
kind of took a little side route there look go to the Leviticus 21 Leviticus 21 you know there's
nothing unbiblical about having a beard okay and when I heard this thing this is Ezra 9 I rent my
garment and my mantle and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard and sat down a stony
so even Ezra has a beard and he's pulling the hair out of it so obvious so obviously it's not
just like these little five o'clock shadow but he's got a beard that you could actually grab and
pull out right that sounds pretty painful how about Psalms 133 beholding how good and pleasant
it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious ointment upon the head
that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard that went down into the skirts of his garments
okay so if you're gonna have a beard you know use beard oil apparently right have the precious
ointment the oil to kind of smooth things out right but again Aaron had a beard right Aaron
was was the high priest the first high priest Aaron has a beard okay and God is speaking of
it very you know in a good light here you know the oil the precious ointment upon his head ran
down the upon his beard right which I commanded he not have right no he's saying this is a good
thing if you look at Leviticus 21 look at verse 5 thou shall not make any baldness upon their
head neither neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard right so and people have
wondered you know what exactly is this about marring I think it's you know we don't want to
do like if you're gonna have a beard don't do like the prince thing basically I've heard that
and I and I tend to agree with that like rounding the corners where you're doing like these like
queer designs or whatever you're doing like the thin line or something like that if you're gonna
have a beard have a beard right and there's nothing in there about a goatee either don't
be one of these guys that goes is there any goatee guys in here okay I can get away with this all
right wait we got the goatee guy you know if you can grow it grow it right hey goatees good though
you're cool but you know what I'm talking about like don't do like the prince stuff you got and
I'm not talking like a prince like a king you know Prince the performer I'm sorry the artists
formerly known as Prince right where he's doing like the real thin lines and he's like shaving
it back guys know I'm talking about that's kind of what I'm thinking he's talking about here don't
do these weird designs in it you know grow it grow it you can let it grow out but obviously we
don't want to get it just you know completely out of control that's why they kind of cleaned
up Joseph right they shaved him okay but that's not to say that having a beard is somehow
unbiblical or not allowed because you see it all the time in the scripture what else have we got
here how about Elijah he was an hairy man right and he was girt with a girdle of leather about
his loins okay so obviously it's it's not talking about you know his body he's wearing clothes
they're talking about the fact that he had a beard right he was a hairy man how about Jesus
in Isaiah chapter 50 it says I gave my back to the sminers and my cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair and that's prophetic of Christ you say well I still don't think a guy should have a
beard well Jesus did you know and again if if if a pastor wants to impose that rule and say guys
behind the pulpits or whatever or they want to say you know men shouldn't have their beards they
should they should look cleaned up that's fine you can have that opinion you can even have that
standard for your pulpit whatever I'm not I don't have a problem with that it's when you cross a
line though when you start saying it's sinful that somehow it's ungodly that somehow it's displeasing
to the Lord because the Lord has the I have a problem that because the Lord had a beard is the
Lord ungodly right I mean he's giving his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair okay and look
at this wasn't just being you say well back then they you know it's like they couldn't shave beards
it's like come on they shaved Joseph you know we're in Genesis and even the Levitical priests
were told to not you know shave their head or to let their locks grow long they were told to have
like you know just a normal haircut meaning which means that they could have shaved their head which
means that you know they had razors right we see Samson getting his head shaved so it's not like
you know everyone had a beard back then because no one had come up with the invention of a straight
razor or a pair of scissors these are not exactly we'd have to wait for Elon Musk to come along or
something like that you know or Isaac Newton to come along and go like figure out how to put a
bolt between two shears you know it's not exactly you know earth-shaking technology that we're
talking about here it's sharpening a blade basically so again you know I'm just talking a
little bit tonight about our appearance because it does matter you know the way we look is important
we should try to look respectful we should try to present you know a you know professional appearance
in certain settings and obviously there's a time and place to kind of let your hair down right
there's a time and place to not be so concerned about these things relax probably at home is a
place for that right but we're going out in public and you know gonna be interacting with people you
know we should care about the way that we look now as uncomfortable as that might have been about
men's appearance it's gonna get a little bit more uncomfortable here because we're talking about
women's appearance because the Bible does talk about our appearance and I know we're talking
about Joseph and I just spent some time picking on the guys a little bit here about their appearance
and and beards and whatnot but you know this is a particular one this particular point when it
comes to women is really a point of contention quite often and you can kind of understand
because the fact that if you would go to Deuteronomy 22 because of the fact that you know women tend to
care about the way they look more than men okay in fact some people have said and I tend to agree
with them it's kind of a common a popular sentiment when men care a little bit too much about their
appearance it's kind of effeminate it is right if you're and I'm not saying guys shouldn't care but
it we can a guy can go too far with it you know if you're taking longer than your wife to get ready
you might want to check that right you might want to look into that okay but you know women you know
they tend to take this maybe this give me a little bit more contentious just because of the fact that
they tend to care a little bit more about their appearance you're there and do first your
Deuteronomy but let me just read you from 1st Corinthians chapter 11 death not even nature
itself teach you that if a man have long hair right so there's another thing if men grow their
hair long and again well it's what's long the Bible doesn't say this is what's long and this
is what's short and I'm glad it doesn't because then people would try to find that line they would
they would write it okay and people have different takes on that you know some people will say well
that's too long the fact is you know most people probably know when it's too long you know or at
least somebody else could probably tell you when it gets started getting shaggy I you know a good
standard again I'm not and I'm not gonna sit here and say this is what everyone must do but you know
when your hair as a man is getting over your ears that's kind of a real common standard that's
probably too it's probably too long at that point okay is there anybody here have I offended anybody
else tonight okay right but that's probably a good standard is to just keep it off the air and you
know but again maybe some people would say hey if it comes down over the ear a little bit that's not
too long when it starts touching the shoulder as a man I don't know anybody that wouldn't agree
that's way too long okay when you as a man are like combing it like a woman okay if you find
yourself flinging like doing this I can't do it right I can't make these effeminate gestures
because I'm just too masculine right if you're doing like this as a man you know if you're
having to curl it behind the ear you know if you're having to put in a ponytail if you're
if you have a brush at home okay it's too long it's too long you know if other men are complimenting
your beautiful hair it's too long you know and that's whenever I see a guy long hair I just
always imagine him in the morning doing that it's just like oh man like how could you how can you as
a man look yourself in the mirror and be doing this you know I had sisters I have I've got
daughters like I've seen I know how they do like you got to you got to work on that it doesn't just
stay like all nice and untangled you got it you got to keep that those those long flowing hair
up right there's some and they do with long hair that's what he's doing if you as a man own a
scrunchie okay and then here's another one that's real big the the man bun right and the man buns
just long hair bun you know put up right look unless you're a samurai get rid of it right and
even then the samurai should probably take that katana blade and you know what I mean there's a
lot of there's a what was the saying I heard lots of lots of top knots but not very many samurais
okay that does not make you a samurai it doesn't make you a vicious you know feudal Lord in Japan
just because you have long hair up in a bun okay if you if you were a man are doing these things
it's too long okay but I you know I even think for me if I get it when I start when it gets on
the ear it's like it's time for a haircut now with me personally we all know how my hair grows it
doesn't come down it goes out like this okay so even now it might be I wait till it the back of
the hair the neck touches the front right when this when this is just one solid ring of hair
and look Elijah was a hairy man okay so I can get away with it me that's what I'm do about every
six to eight weeks depending on how the schedule is right then we'll get in there and start all
over again but we all know when it's too long there's some there's some points when it's too
long it's like that you look like a woman if I if I look at you from the back and I can't tell
what I'm looking at it's too long okay but here's one Deuteronomy 22 verse 5 the woman shall not
wear that which pertaineth unto a man and this is the Word of God that I'm reading tonight the
woman shall not pertain that which wear that which which pertaineth unto a man meaning there
is a specific garment that belongs unto a man neither it says shall a woman put on a woman's
garment shall a man put on a woman's garment and notice the way this verse ends this is this is an
important verse and people just say oh it's not that big of a deal God doesn't really care that
much about we look well you know he took the time in the Levitical law to write this out and then
and look a lot of God's commands when we don't keep them are upsetting obviously you know the
transgression of the law is sin but not every one of them brings about this kind of reaction for all
that do so our abomination unto the Lord thy God and look there's some things that God says you
know that is an abomination that action that deed is an abomination but he says of this that those
that do it not the doing of it but them that do it they are an abomination to him that's a serious
verse and obviously it's it's talking about cross-dressing and that's a huge topic today
isn't it that's a really important doctrine today we can't preach this enough really it has to be
brought up you have to talk about it as a pastor I mean it's in the Word of God first of all whether
or not it was taking place or not in our society doesn't matter it's in the Bible we need to preach
it but how relevant is this verse today when it comes to our appearance that men should not be
wearing women's clothing and it's you know it's so bizarre that that would make people nervous
because the world we're living in that's but that's the backwards Twilight Zone world we're
in right now or if I got up and preach that people would get upset well who are you to say that he
can't raid you know his mother's closet that him and his sister can't share clothes that he can't
go to the women's section and pick out an outfit and look this is everywhere today it's everywhere
today it's you know when I grow up there was like one guy that we heard did it like on the weekend
at the fag bar across from the sewer treatment plant like literally across the street from the
sewer treatment plant that's a whole nother story right there okay that talked about ironic right
that's where the fags were at their bar sidetracks you know right next to the train depot and
literally the sewage treatment facility in the city that's where they all had their because
they're just you know I don't want to be too graphic you connect the dots on that one okay
but we also well there's the one guy we never saw him in drag but you know he did like the thing
with the I you know did the I got his had the high eyebrows like a woman had the long hair and he
wrote his bike and everyone's like that guy is a tranny we've seen him at other times and and it
was like the one and it wasn't a small town it was a city but everyone knew on our bus and we
saw that guy on our school bus coming home he would be riding his bike around something there
goes the tranny look now it's everywhere there goes a tranny there goes a tranny there goes a
tranny there goes a tranny you mean transsexual no I mean transvestite I mean abomination in the
sight of God because that's what the Bible says okay that's what I'm talking about and it's
everywhere today so you know why is our appearance so it's such a big deal to God because God wants
a distinction between the genders how about that you know maybe it's important for a man to you
know not look like a woman to keep the hair high and tight you know maybe it's important that we
don't look like the heathen marking up our bodies and you know making cuttings in our flesh you know
piercing ourselves look make it look like we got into a fight with a BB gun and lost make it look
like we took a dot you know a header right into a tackle box came up just really stuff jangling
everywhere maybe it's important we don't look like that like a some heathen barbarian maybe
it's important today that men look like men and women look like women look and everyone agrees
with me on that point don't they yeah these guys should be walking around dressed like women yeah
I meant but wait a minute wait a minute the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man
either and whoever does that is an abomination the Bible says and that's when it gets quiet
that's when it gets real quiet even in Baptist churches because that's you know because we're
so used to that now what what we all agree that if a man put on a dress that he would be cross
dressing that he'd be dressing like a woman so pray tell what is it that a woman can put on that
would make her look like a man pants there I said it pants slacks britches or as the Bible calls them
breeches that's another dumb argument that's out there oh it's such a dumb argument they didn't
even have pants back then even though the priests were told to wear breeches which is an old form
and way of saying britches or what we would call today pants slacks you know the Bible says that
that's a that's a man that is a man's look if pants aren't a man's garment what is you then
come tell me what it is it's it's pants and the and look women wearing pants is a is a new
development it's that's within recent history I mean even just back in the 50s there it was
women were not allowed to wear pants in like public schools there you know certain institutions it
forbade it there was a time in this country where it was illegal for a woman to wear pants why
because of this verse right here friend that's why and women wearing pants I mean that's a recent
about where do you think they got the saying well she wears the pants and that in the family what
do you think that means well I see who wears the pants in that relationship it means that's he's
she must be like the man cuz the man's an authority right that there's another subject
we had just broached right just in the Bible teaches that women are to be subject under their
own husbands the men are to rule over their wives and men wear pants so that's the saying well she's
the man in the family she is the rule of the family she wears the pants in the family she's
the man in the family go to Isaiah chapter 47 Isaiah chapter 47 you know and this is why my
and look whatever people do in their home that's their business I'm never and look if I ever run
into like a lady church member out in public and she's wearing slacks or pants or jeans or whatever
I honestly like I I've been so brainwashed and I've been so just numbed to this I there's been
times I don't even notice you know and then later I'll be like oh that's why they must have been
acting kind of nervous or something right oh there's the preacher I'm in my pants look if
ladies come here in pants I don't care I I still believe that Deuteronomy 22 is is true I believe
they're wearing that which pertains unto a man and I and I get it you know and that's pretty
strong language all that do it an abomination of Lord people need to let that sink in and I'm not
gonna just jump down someone's throat like you're an abomination how dare you you know walk in here
with that I'm not gonna obviously people need to learn and grow and into these things I get that
and if you know some people some ladies just decide never to get on board with this you know
that's between them and God and I'm never gonna go to somebody's house and try to dictate how you
run your life and how you dress and any or anything like that but I am gonna preach the
Bible that's why we came here tonight right to hear what the Bible has to say that's why I came
here tonight to tell you what it says and it says that men and women should not be wearing the
opposite genders garments okay you know the Bible says that you know we should cover our nakedness
you know and I'm not gonna I got to move along for the story here but you know God wanted the
priests to wear breeches under even underneath their priestly garments to cover their nakedness
from the loin unto the thigh meaning this area I know I'm behind the pulpit for basically from
your hip to the top of your knee the Bible calls your thigh nakedness okay that needs to be covered
up how about that for appearance there's another one that's not very popular you know that's kind
of what I like why I like living here in Tucson away from water because where I'm from there's
beaches everywhere and it's this crazy thing whenever people get around and get around water
all of a sudden everyone just thinks it's perfectly normal to walk around in their underwear oh it's
a swimsuit it's underwear no you don't wear that to bed you wear this one in water and you wear
this one you know underneath your clothes yeah but they're they cover the same amount of clothing
a lot of these bathing suits cover less than underwear you know and they're showing off the
buttocks the thigh all of it and the Bible calls that nakedness look at Isaiah chapter 47 verse 1
come down and sit in the dust Oh virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground there is no throne Oh
daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shall no more be called tender and delicate take the millstones
grind meal uncover thy locks make bear the leg uncover the thigh pass over the river she's
talking about hike up your skirt lift up your dress and cross the river and in the process
of doing that right you're gonna make bear the leg and you're gonna uncover the thigh thy nakedness
shall be uncovered these are these are connected verses so he's saying here that when you bear the
leg when you uncover the thigh you are uncovering your nakedness that's why I don't believe we should
be wearing clothes that expose the thigh okay God cares about your appearance and God cares about
the things you put on your body you know most everyone's gonna agree about tattoos well what
about your clothing and it's just Bible thy naked should be uncovered thy shame shall be seen he's
saying it's a shame to have your nakedness seen now look it there there are people walking around
young ladies walking around they have no shame no shame you go to these campuses around town and it's
like you can't even look over there my goodness and it's like you know they get up off a seat
it's like you want to spray it with Lysol like I don't even want to sit down in some of these
places I'm serious it's disgusting I know it's kind of funny but it's true it's like can you
like when you get up can you take out a little Clorox wipe and wipe that off for the rest of us
where your bare butt was just making contact with a public seat it's disgusting your bare bottom is
in out in public you're just setting it down where everybody else has to sit it's gross what's the
difference between that and a toilet seat but this is what's going on oh who are you oh you
you stick in the bud you old-fashioned Baptist oh you you caveman you knuckle dragging bronze
age book believing Neanderthal oh yeah well at least I have enough decency to not put my bare
butt on public seating not to mention just walking around just flaunting I'm one I'm tempted to use
just very strong language right now my bare butt there I didn't do it and just just look at my in
look and look you can't even it's now it's like you their butts are hanging out their literal
butts are hanging out you know used to be like preachers you have to preach against like the
cutoffs right back in the 70s and or the or the Daisy Dukes at least they at least those covered
up your butt at least they came up like half you know halfway down the thigh it was still nakedness
because the thigh is still exposed but now it's like now girls are wearing that they can it they're
like they're like shorter than Daisy Dukes they're like coming up like over the cheeks are hanging
out it's disgusting and it's shameful and what does that say when you just have an entire
generation just generation of young people growing up that just like they don't think anything of it
well they're just they have no problem with their shame being seen I mean it's a it's beside that
just being ungodly beside it just being shameful I mean it's a it's a public health hazard in my
opinion it's gross you look women ought to be more concerned with adorning the inward man I know I
got to move along here you know and the Bible talks about if you would just go back to Genesis
37 the Bible talks about women you know adorning themselves in modest apparel in 1st Timothy
chapter 2 in like manner also women adorn them that women adorn themselves in modest apparel
with shame-facedness with sobriety now the broided hair or pearl or costalry but that which
become with women professing godliness with good works that's what the Bible says women that's what
they should be adoring themselves with shame-facedness sobriety modest apparel
peril that doesn't draw attention so how about this let's just take the nakedness factor out of
you know I can't even call them booty shorts because the there's they're not accentuating the
booty they're bearing the booty right how about we just take the nakedness factor out of it that's
you're gonna tell me that's modest in the sense that it's not drawing attention to that part of
your body and sometimes you just wonder if are these girls just stupid like they don't know how
the minds of men work and look this you could say I even this even goes for like you know the
leggings the yoga pants those are immodest and you look those cover every inch of the leg but
they're still immodest because of the fact that they cling and they they draw attention they they
let me just let some of the women in on how some guys think okay and I this is this isn't something
I came up with this is something I've heard was told to me when we were out skiing one time and
the women were skiing around in the tight spandex they called it miracle fabric right that's what
guys call it look it's a miracle why do they call it because it leaves very little the imagination
because you can see all the lines and the curves and everything it's not modest and and you're
telling me something that women don't know that they're drawing attention to themselves when they
do that when they go to the gym you know to work on their booty they're doing all their booty
exercises in their spandex they're trying to draw your attention to that that's immodest look it's
not nakedness it's covered but it's still a modest because modesty is saying I'm not trying
to draw attention to myself that's what shame-facedness is you would not you're you'd be
ashamed to draw attention to yourself just through your physical appearance how about you know even
if you want to apply it you could apply this to Muslims who walk around in the burka you know the
full that's not modest or even you know how about the fundamentalist Mormons and others like them
that look like they are something out of like you know the frontier when they're wearing there's you
know these just these these plain dresses they just when they're just jumping out in a crowd
like they just stand out because they're they look like they're from a little house in the
prairie or something right they're dressed they don't dress sometimes look you can dress
modestly and and and and not as a woman and not stand out and be tastefully dressed as a woman
today and still maintain all these things you know my wife and children my daughters they do this you
know they don't they wear skirts and dresses but you know they don't they don't stand out in a
crowd either the other one's going like wow how religious how holy are they
they're just look like normal people they look like people used to look like everyone looked
not even 75 years ago how all women were dressing women ought to adorn themselves in in in modest
apparel it says let it not be the outward adorning the plating of hair the wearing of
gold the putting out of apparel you know trying to draw attention with all of the you know what's
the word accessories right the Bible says favor is the feet full deceitful and beauty is vain but
a woman that fear at the Lord she shall be praised now I got to move on I do want to wrap this up I
know I'm kind of already out of time but just very quickly I want to point this out here this this
next point in Genesis 37 you're there in Genesis 41 but if you remember in Genesis 37 G Joseph at
the Bible says was sold into Egypt at 17 years old right so at 17 years of age he's being sold
into slavery by his brethren and he is then if you look at Genesis 41 verse when it came to pass
after the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed a dream that's when he's brought out
of prison so the question is you know how long did Joseph spend in prison okay well from the
time he's 17 and then in this chapter in verse 46 of Genesis 41 it says Joseph was 30 years old
let this sink in this is an important point I should probably just preach it on Sunday at night
but I'm gonna just try to make this point real quick Joseph has been in prison for or he's been
in Egypt rather for 13 years and we just read it like that it just goes by for us like that
but you know that's that's twice as long more than twice as long as this church has even been
in existence right 13 years right that you know they're half year and we will be halfway to 13
right in other five or six months we'll be there that's how long he's been in Egypt now we know
he's been in prison at least two years right because it was a full two years later after
the butler got out that he remembers his his fault and tells Pharaoh about him and he's
brought up and cleaned up and put before Pharaoh right but that doesn't mean that's the old he
only spent two years in prison the Bible doesn't tell us how long he spent in prison but I I am of
the opinion that he spent more time in prison than he did in Potiphar's house because he really was
Potiphar's house the Potiphar's wife was trying to she press him swore she spoke unto him day by
day doesn't say week by week month by month month by year by year so I think it was actually
probably a very short time frame I mean just just kind of thinking about it realistically how long
does it take to get sold into slavery travel down into Egypt then be sold into Potiphar's house I
mean several months so he's 17 so at the early or the latest he's probably like 18 years old maybe
somewhere in there when he's in Potiphar's house and I don't think it was that much longer where
he's being trying where his Potiphar's wife is trying to seduce him and that whole thing takes
place and he's cast into prison you know it wouldn't surprise me if Joseph was in prison
for like 10 years just sitting in prison that whole time I firmly believe he spent way more
time in prison than he did in Potiphar's house that's just that's just my opinion though you
could say no it was only two years of prison the rest of the time I spent Potiphar's house he spent
you know all those other years there you know I don't believe that I believe he spent most of his
time in prison now think about spending let's just say let's just you know let's just say it
was like half that like he spent like let's just say he spent like seven years in prison
approximately right it's 13 years in total right say half of that was spent in prison that's a long
time look seven years or six and a half years that's a long time to do anything I've been
pastoring this church for six years you know as deacon and now pastor and let me tell you it feels
like an eternity I was just looking at a video from two years ago today and it was like this was
not as gray as it was just two years ago and like I made that joke the other day I was like the
ministry will age you by like a decade and it's true right but so do a lot of other things you
know six years a long time seven years is a long time just you know it can in some ways it can go
by really fast like when you're having a good time things go by pretty quick don't they it's
like oh man times already up you know that roller coaster ride it's over really you stand in line
for you know an hour and it's over in like ten minutes or less right and it seems even quicker
because you're having a lot of fun right but how much longer does time go on when you're somewhere
you don't want to be doing something you don't have to do or don't want to do you know every
every minute you're looking at the clock it's only five minutes have gone by only one minutes
gone by only two it's like it's like an exercise to not look at the clock right you probably guys
probably feel like that every service but you probably you think of that right now right you're
like man when's it gonna end but I mean think about Joseph sitting there for seven years that's
a really long time now I want to just look at Genesis chapter 41 verse 50 and and it says and
unto Joseph were born two sons were born before the years of the famine because he's given the
wife which asked nath his wife the daughter of pot pot of Fira priests of on bear unto him so
again life's really good but let's not we love this part of the story but let's not forget where
he just was and this is why you know I I think Joseph has just become in the last several weeks
my favorite character in the Old Testament just from reading this story really thinking about it
really did it used to be Moses who I still really love but I mean the more you understand it kind
of put yourself in Joseph's position the more you just are kind of this kind of just is an amazing
story the guys sitting in prison and it gets even more amazing when his brethren in the next few
weeks and we look at the next several chapters where he's reunited with his family and how he
entreats them and everything that takes place there but he's sitting here in prison for it I
I think it's it could be as much as ten years right in total maybe even longer but maybe shorter
but however long you're in prison it's too long no one wants to be there but notice what Joseph
says here and Joseph called the name the firstborn Manasseh for God he said hath made me forget all
my toil and all my father's house and the name of the second called the Ephraim for God hath caused
me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction I love Joseph's attitude I mean if anyone has any
reason to be bitter and jaded and angry and upset over their mistreatment it's Joseph what is Joseph
done that's wrong nothing nothing he's done nothing wrong he's had integrity he's been
nothing but obedient he's been nothing but blessed of God and yet he suffered all this
time in prison he's been betrayed by his own brethren his own family has turned on him sold
them into Egypt he's falsely accused cast into prison I mean if anybody had an excuse to just
throw in the towel and walk away and say this isn't worth it it's Joseph and yet when when
from one day the next he's brought out of prison he's given and eventually given this wife and he
has these children he's he's had these a 30 something year old man now it's early 30s and
he's having children and he's names them these things and he says God has made me forget and he's
saying God has caused me to be fruitful and I think that's an important equation there that's
an important recipe you want to be fruitful in your Christian life there's gonna be some things
you need to just forget there's gonna be some things you're just gonna you have to let the
past be in the past and not look behind you and I've got a lot of scripture on this but it's
getting late just go over to Philippians chapter number three we'll end there Philippians chapter
number three you know he went through all these trials and he went through all these afflictions
and yet when he came out he says God's made me forget and then he was able to say because I have
forgotten God has made me fruitful you want to be fruitful you got to forget look at Philippians
chapter 9 verse 13 brethren I count on myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are
before so what would you call reaching forth and those things before reaching on laying hold as he
told Timothy on upon eternal life laying up as he is Paul admonished Timothy to admonish those that
had wealth in first Timothy that they lay up in store for themselves that they a good treasure
against the rat the date the time to come that they lay hold on eternal life that they get a
heavenly vision right that they think they consider an heaven right what would you call that that
attitude that you'd call that being fruitful right that would be living a fruitful life if
you're living for eternity if you're living for the future if you're living for heaven if you're
laying up in store treasures in heaven where moth and rust not corrupt obviously you're living a
fruitful life but how do you do that you have to forget there's some things you just have to put
out of your mind and just forget not Harbor resentment not Harbor bitterness not hotter anger
not Harbor you know a disappointment not Harbor guilt about past sins or think mistakes you've
made just let those things go if you want to be fruitful you have to so I love about Joseph he
goes through all these things and he's able to just say well God's called me to forget what do
you mean God caused you forget you spent your bet you know your youngest years your youth your
20s were set in prison as an innocent man what do you mean you're gonna forget well I'm gonna
forget because God has exalted me and it goes back to what I said in the beginning about Joseph he
was able to face all these things because of the vision that was given to him at the very beginning
of the story where he knows that God eventually is gonna see him through but it took some time
didn't it wasn't overnight and now we're just getting into it where God is gonna start to bring
that vision to pass where he is gonna have his you know his family come and basically be subvert
sub for subservient to him to grow he'd come to him and he's gonna sustain them they're gonna bow
down his feet that's what the vision was the she's bowing down before him the Sun Moon and
Stars making obeisance that was the vision that God gave him at the beginning and that's why I
believe that Joseph was a man of faith all the way through and he can endure anything why because he
had a vision and that's what we need if we're gonna make it in the Christian life and if you
want to be fruitful you have to put these things behind you you have to forget those things which
are behind if you're gonna press toward the mark you know we need to look unto Jesus the author and
finish of our faith who for the joy that was set before him despised the the cross despise who
endured the cross despising the shame right you have to you have to have a vision you have to look
forward if you're gonna run the Christian life you can't run it like this looking back forget
those things what you're behind forget those past mistakes forget those sins forget those
hangouts Frank that those bitterness and Evy and all those things just leave them back there let
us lay aside every weight in the sandwich that so easily beset us Jesus said no man having put his
hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God if you're gonna put your hand on
the plow on the Christian life and you know break up some follow ground and actually produce
something in your Christian life you have to keep your eyes forward and that's what I see with with
Joseph he's saying look God made me forget and for that reason I could say that God has made me
fruitful so you know that's a whole sermon right there in and of itself maybe I should have spent
more time on that rather than ragging on everybody about the way they look but that needed to be
preached too I need to be preached let's go and closing the word prayer