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Song of Solomon chapter 7 verse 1 reads, How beautiful are thy feet, with shoes, O prince's daughter, The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a cunning workman. Now, I just preached a few weeks ago, if you remember on Sunday, about the feet. And if you remember that sermon, I showed how throughout the Bible the feet are associated with the Gospel. Even when Jesus is washing the disciples' feet, there's some imagery there of the Gospel. But one of the things that comes up over and over again with the feet is that the feet are associated with soul winning. Because he talks about in Romans chapter 10, Behold how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. It's interesting that this concept comes up exactly the same way in Song of Solomon 7 1. It says, How beautiful are thy feet, with shoes, O prince's daughter. And of course, the Bible tells us that we should be having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. The shoes in the Bible represent being prepared to preach the Gospel, being prepared to go preach the Gospel. And the reason why the feet and the shoes are always associated with preaching the Gospel to every creature and going is because they're not going to come to us. You know, that's why this is a soul winning church. We don't just say, well, we just have services and if the lost come in, we'll get them saved. No, we're going to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that God's house may be filled. We're going to go find them. But the Bible says here, how beautiful are thy feet with shoes, and this is speaking to a woman. Now, if you would go to Acts chapter 2 in the New Testament, Acts chapter 2. Because we know that beautiful feet in the Bible, whether it's Isaiah 52 7 or whether it's Romans 10, are associated with a soul winner, where the Bible says how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel. And this woman in Song of Solomon chapter 7, yes, she had beautiful feet physically, but the symbolism of there is that she had beautiful feet in shoes because she had her feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, representing a woman who is a soul winner. Now, there are a lot of people who think that soul winning is just for men. You know, they don't think it's for women. I've been to a lot of churches where the men do the soul winning, but there are very few women in the church who do any soul winning. And one thing that's great about our church is that we, from the beginning, have had a lot of ladies out soul winning. And that is how it should be in a Bible believing church. A lot of people get this attitude that says, well, soul winning is just for the men, and it's okay if I, as a lady, don't do any soul winning at all. But look what the Bible says in Acts chapter 2 verse 16. It says, But this is that which was spoken by the prophet, and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my what? Handmaidens. What is the gender of the handmaidens? These are women. It says upon my servants and on my handmaidens will I pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. Now obviously we know that the Bible teaches that a woman should keep silence in the church, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, 1 Corinthians 14 tells us. The Bible tells us, Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. If she will learn anything, let her ask her husband at home. It is a shame for women to speak in the church. That's what 1 Corinthians 14 teaches. That's what 1 Timothy chapter 2 teaches, but when it comes to outside of the church, it's of course every woman's job to preach the gospel to every creature, and the word prophesy means preach. And you say, oh well Deborah the prophetess, that proves that women should be preaching in church. No it doesn't, because the prophesying of women takes place outside of the church. First of all, they prophesy and preach unto their children, because the Bible talks about in Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman chapter, the prophecy that his mother taught him in verse 1 of that chapter. So women have a role of preaching the gospel to the unsaved, outsold women, they have a role of preaching the gospel to their own children, they do not have a role of getting behind the pulpit in a New Testament church and saying anything. Because in church, the Bible teaches that men are supposed to be the leaders in the church, the pastor should be a man, the deacon should be a man, and the people who are doing the speaking and the teaching in the church should be men, and that ladies should not be teaching. But out there, you say, oh I just want to be a woman preacher so bad. Well show up at soul winning, and you can be a woman preacher, female preacher. But look, the Bible here is saying, I'll pour out my spirit and your daughters shall prophesy. I'll pour out my spirit upon the handmaidens, and he is saying here that that scripture was fulfilled at the day of Pentecost. Why? Because in chapter 1, the Bible says that they were all with one accord in one place. It says the number of names together were about 120, and it says they were there with the women, and including the women it was 120 people. Well in chapter 2, it tells us they were all with one accord in one place, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, they all began to preach the gospel in other tongues or other languages as the spirit gave them utterance. It was not gibberish or falling on the ground, but rather 17 specific languages that are listed in verses 9 through 11 there. They preached the gospel, they were out giving the gospel to the lost, and the Bible says it was a fulfillment of the prophecy that the daughters would prophesy and that the handmaidens would prophesy. So this shows women soul winning at work in the Bible, it's a great example of it. Go to Philippians, we'll see the same thing in Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. So when God tells us, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, when God tells us, you know, go ye therefore and teach all nations, that's not just saying I want the men to do that, but you know what, the women can just ignore commands to open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Look what Paul said in Philippians chapter 4 verse 2, it says, I beseech Euodius and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord, and I entreat thee also true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Look, it says that these women labored with him in the gospel. It doesn't say that they labored with him in the nursery or by babysitting or by running a Christian school. No, it says they labored with me in the gospel. They were there preaching the gospel. And if you remember Aquila and Priscilla were two that were used by God to speak with Apollos and expound unto him scriptures and so forth. Look, it's okay for women to go out and use the Bible and give the gospel, knock on doors, preach this gospel to the unsafe. In fact, it's not just okay, it's commanded. Now obviously men and women are different. Obviously we know that women are the weaker vessel. Men are stronger than women, that's an undisputed fact. Also we know that our lifestyles are different. You know, men and women do not live the same life. For example, you know, men don't go through this thing of being pregnant, giving birth, nursing a newborn. So obviously there are physical issues that can sometimes prevent women from going out soul winning that don't really affect men. Obviously if you just gave birth, you know, the Bible tells you that you need to rest and recover and all that. And obviously there are concerns with a newborn and there are times when it's hard for women to go out soul winning. But women need to make this a priority to get out soul winning when they can. You know, because, yeah, there are events of life, you know, pregnancies or illnesses or you know, and even men could be affected by ailments, illnesses, injuries, but you know what, if it's a priority though, you'll get it done because honestly, I understand, you know, taking breaks, being laid up to have children. And see in this church, women have children every couple of years. You know, in a lot of churches it's like a one-time deal or a two-time deal. You know, my wife has had seven children, okay. So obviously this is something that just kind of keeps happening over and over again. It's kind of a recurring pattern. But you know what though? My wife needs to be out soul winning, you know, and she does go soul winning. And I believe that ladies, and when I say there's a difference between men and women, you know, ladies might not go out and do the long hours that men do also, just because of their more delicate nature. I understand that. And you know, some women do go out there and do the long haul and that's even better. That's great. But you know what? I'm not saying be like the men or I'm not saying, you know, you need to be out there even if you're nine months pregnant and it's 115 and you're not, you know, it's 115 degrees outside and you're nine months pregnant, get out there and go soul winning for three hours. That's not what I'm saying. You know what? When you're not nine months pregnant and when it's not 115 out, you can go out soul winning for an hour, you know, or two hours or whatever you can do, 45 minutes, a half hour, you know, if you're not in the phase where you have your full strength after having a child. I'm just saying, you know what, it's between you and God. But don't just have this excuse, oh that's for the men. I'm not going to tell any man in this church how much to go soul winning. I'm not going to tell any woman in this church how much to go soul winning. But you know what, don't make an excuse that says soul winning is for men because that is not a biblical doctrine. And many great soul winners have been ladies and there are great lady soul winners in our church that get a lot of people saved. And you know what, you ladies should look to them as a role model and learn from them and go soul winning with them. And honestly, just, I just strongly believe in ladies being out soul winning as well as men. Are there differences physically? Sure. Are there differences in lifestyle? Absolutely. But don't just write it off and say I don't need to do it. No, get out there and do it. And you know what, the great thing is, it's not like you're going to be the only lady that's going. You know, Friday night is a time when the ladies go. But there are ladies that go to the other soul winning times too. We had a lady out soul winning on Wednesday soul winning. You know, most of the soul winning times have at least one or two ladies. So there are plenty of partners to choose from. If the times don't work for you, find a lady that lives near you. Get out and do some soul winning. Be safe about it. Obviously we're not saying, you know what, you need to go to the worst ghetto. You need to go soul winning there at night. Obviously, you know, we men can maybe handle the worst ghettos or, you know, most of our soul winning times there are men and women going. So the men can be right across the street, you know, in case they need, in case, you know, somebody starts swinging, you know, and somebody needs to protect. You know, not that that almost ever happens. I mean, it's so rare that there's ever any danger involved. But you know what? Obviously, we need to be safe and think about those things. And so many ladies in our church are carrying guns concealed anyway that it's probably not even an issue, right? I mean, there are more ladies in this church carrying concealed weapons than men in most churches. I mean, honestly, it's like, it would take, it takes like two hands just to count all the ladies in our church that carry a weapon. So they're probably fine. They'll probably protect us on soul winning, you know what I mean? So anyway, I just wanted to cover that because that's, you know, it's important. It needs to be said because, you know, I don't want you to just tune out when you hear preaching on soul winning. And you know what, ladies? You might say, well, you know, my situation prohibits me from getting out door to door. You know, I just, I can't get there. I can't get to that time. You know what? Ladies have a lot of other soul winning opportunities that aren't just door to door. Just like we as men have other opportunities where we're at work and we can give a, I mean, I've had a lot of coworkers say, and it's great because then you can disciple them and you see them every day and you can keep talking to them. But you know what, ladies? A lot of times you have opportunities to give the gospel when the milkman shows up. You know, yes, we have a milkman that comes to our house. I know you don't. I know that 99% of people don't. We're not living in the 50s. But believe it or not, but the water delivery guy, you know, that brings the bottled water, the milkman, you know, people that show up for whatever reasons, homeschooling groups, you know, PE groups, science class groups, you know, whatever, the homeschooling groups. And you say, well, I'm not into that. Well, you know, whenever you come into contact with people, whether it's your neighbors, you know, whether you're, you know, whatever. I mean, there are going to be times when you talk to people that aren't saved. And you know what, if I weren't going out door to door, I would dead sure really be on the alert for those type of opportunities so that I could be a soul winner. Now I think going door to door is the best way to get people saved. You're going to get the most people saved that way. That's what I believe. And I, you know, but it's great to supplement that with other soul winning opportunities as they come. And especially if you're someone who can't get out door to door a lot or a lady that isn't really in that stage, you know what, there are opportunities that all of us pass up. You need to tune in and pay attention to those and be alert about those. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter. You know, I'm sure it's great, the pedicure or whatever women do to their feet to try to make them look good. But you know, if you want to have beautiful feet in God's eyes, it's because you're a soul winner. And I believe that this passage has that as an underlying meaning. Now what's interesting too is if you finish the verse in Song of Solomon 7-1, it says the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. So he's talking about how beautiful her feet are and how beautiful her legs are and he says that they're the work of the hands of a cunning workman. You know what's interesting? Whenever the Bible talks about soul winning, he says he'll make you a soul winner. Like a cunning workman that will fat you and say, well that's just not me. Well if you follow him, he'll make you a fisher of men. And not only that, but Jeremiah tells us the parable of the potter and that God is the potter and that we are the clay and that he will form us and fashion us into the image of his son. And look, if he's forming and fashioning you into the image of his son, he's making you a soul winner because that's what he was. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. So again, we see another parallel here with the beautiful feet, that they're made by a cunning workman, by God who will form and fashion us in his image. Now, the other thing we see from this when he says the work of the hands of a cunning workman, and then he goes on to describe other parts of her body, thy navel is like a round goblet which wanteth not liquor, thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies, thy two breasts are like two young rose that are twins. Go to Psalm 139, because the Bible here is saying that her feet and her legs are so beautiful and that they are the work of the hands of a cunning workman, and in fact, that is quite literally true. That's not even just a metaphor. That's not even just symbolic. I mean, they really are the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Look what the Bible says in Psalm 139 verse 13. This is David speaking. For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Not just a genetic accident, not just DNA combining and just randomly certain genetic traits are coming out and it's all just a science equation. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that he was fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee. When I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect. He's talking about the matter or the substance that he's made of. Even basically the nutrients or the elements in the earth that went into the food that went into his mother that basically eventually became, it's basically saying God was there for every part of that process. I mean God is all knowing. He can count the sand by the seashore, he calls all the stars of heaven by name even though to us they are innumerable. He knows the hairs of our head, the hairs of our head are numbered, and so he actually is part of this process of forming and fashioning mankind from the food going into your mother's mouth as it was processed and metabolized and the body used that food as building blocks to form and fashion the child in the womb. It says that he was curiously wrought. It says in verse 16, thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect. Unperfect in the Bible means incomplete. So he says he saw my substance yet being imperfect or incomplete and in thy book all my members were written, members means body parts, which in continuance were fashioned, meaning that God did not just start a genetic ball rolling or just start a ball rolling with the seed hitting the egg and he just kind of got it going and just took his hands off and let nature run its course. No it says that the body parts were in continuance fashion, meaning that God continued to form and fashion throughout the nine months pregnancy. He fashioned each body part in continuance and then it says that all his members were ridden, the substance being yet unperfect, it says they were in continuance fashion when as yet there was none of them. Meaning that when certain body parts didn't even exist yet, because if we were to look at a picture of the blastocyst, which later becomes the fetus, you know these different terms that are scientifically used for the stages of the development of that living child, you know in the real early stages, you know, it's what the world would call a blob, right? It starts out round, it starts out a blastocyst, okay? And they would just look at that and just say, ah, it's just a blob, but God said even when the members or the body parts weren't there, even when there weren't fingers, he's still fashioning. Even when there wasn't a beating heart, he's still fashioning it. And then, you know, you start to see the head kind of take shape as you look at a progression of this and you start to see the hands and then slowly the fingers become distinct and different body parts are being added. It doesn't just start out with all the body parts and just grow. It starts out a round thing, the blastocyst. And you know, it's funny because even in the book of Job, he talks about being fashioned in the womb round, okay? So it starts out just round, microscopic. But then the different members are fashioned in continuance. So look, life begins at conception and the Bible teaches that it says that women conceive seed, meaning that conception takes place when the seed is present, when the seed touches the egg, not like modern dictionaries are starting to change the definition of conception to implantation, which takes place 7 to 14 days after fertilization. No, biblical definition for conception is fertilization because it talks about conceiving seed. Unless you're reading the NIV, it completely takes that out, but if you're reading the King James Bible, you know, they conceived seed and therefore life begins at conception. Fertilization, when that seed hits that egg, even though it's just a round single cell or double cell or quadruple cell as it multiplies, it's alive. It's a human being that is being formed and fashioned by God. God makes us in the womb. He didn't just make Adam and Eve and then they procreated. He makes all of us. He made me. He made you in the womb. He formed and fashioned us to the way He wanted us to be. You say, well if that's true, then everybody would come out perfect. Everybody would come out, you know, looking fantastic and being completely healthy. Okay, what about a man who was born blind? In John chapter 9 and 10 that story is found and that man who was born blind, it says he was not born that way as a result of anyone's sin, but he says he was blind for the glory of God. So God might have a reason why He allows one to be born with Down syndrome or one to be born blind, one to be born deaf, and you know, many in the world will say abort it. And they have all these tests now where you can test the child in the womb to make sure there's going to be nothing wrong with it because you know, if there's going to be something wrong with it, let's just end the pregnancy right now. And you know what, I don't even think that you should even take those tests because if you find out there's something wrong, are you actually going to just abort it anyway if it has something wrong? No. You say, well, there's other reasons to get that, well, whatever. I don't believe in doctors 90 some percent of the time anyway. But anyway, you know, they're a bunch of quacks in my mind. You know, that's what we, and I'm not saying they all are because obviously there are good doctors out there, okay, but you know what, a lot of modern medicine is quackery and for one reason, for one reason, well, okay, two reasons, because you guys are so right, you're even more right than what I was going to say. Yeah, the love of money, the root of all evil, you know, the pharmaceutical industry, yeah. But the reason I was going to say is because they go to school and are taught that there's no God because every single doctor went to medical school and pretty much every single medical school is part of the godless public school system or part of a private school system that's based off of the godless system and they teach evolution, they teach the Big Bang, they teach that we're all animals. So basically they're going into it with just a completely wrong foundation that God did not create the body. Therefore, you know, the body can't heal itself, the body, you know, has all these mistakes in it that we need to fix and they don't really let nature take its course like that. They don't take a naturalistic approach because they believe it's all random and that they need to step in, they're smarter than God, they need to step in and fix things that aren't even broken. You know, they want to fix problems that weren't even there in the first place, okay. So therefore, you know, I'm skeptical of a lot of doctors and medicine for that reason. I would go to the doctor if I needed it, you know, if I'm in that bad of a situation but if I'm healthy I just don't go to the doctor. They the behold need not a physician. So what I'm saying is that these tests are out there and doctors are out there and they'll guarantee you this child will not survive. This child isn't going to see the light of day. Let's just go ahead and just terminate this now. Let's just go ahead and do the DNC now but let me tell you something. I've heard people say, you know, oh, this pregnancy is not viable. This is never going to come and then the baby's fine. Oh, this baby is going to die anyway and for your safety we just need to just clean it out because, you know, this could hurt you. You know what? Take it with a grain of salt. Get a 25th opinion, you know, because honestly it's been so many times that they've been wrong about these things and you just trust that and just abort it. But even so, you know what, if I have a child that has Down syndrome, I'll praise God for it. I'll thank God for it. And I can say, oh man, I wish this child would have never been born. I wish it would have been a miscarriage. Look, God could use a person with Down syndrome for His glory. First of all, people with Down syndrome can be saved because obviously they're at a lower level of comprehension, they're at a mentality of a young child. They're basically just a perennial child. You know, if you talk to people that are adults with Down syndrome, they basically act just like a little child because they're developmentally disabled, they have a slow maturity so they might be 20 years old physically but they're 7 years old in their mind and in their mentality. But you know what, a 7 year old can be saved. And so I've known people that had Down syndrome that were saved and I've even known someone who had Down syndrome that was a soul winner. And by the way, my grandpa got saved as the result of a 5 year old boy giving him the Gospel. My grandpa got, I mean, who knows if my whole family on that side would even be saved. If my dad would have been saved or his dad would have been saved if it weren't for a 5 year old boy. Because my grandpa and grandma had moved into a new neighborhood, a new area, and they hadn't found a church and they had a list of churches that they were going to try and Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park was not on the list. You know, they were checking some different churches and this 5 year old boy came down the street and gave the plan of salvation to my grandpa, quoted him the Romans road, and he didn't get saved right then and there with the 5 year old boy, but he was so blown away by it, he was so impressed by that, he said, let's try this church. He went and visited the church a couple days after he visited the pastor and a deacon came to my grandpa's house, gave him the Gospel, got him saved. So there's a 5 year old boy used by God to get my grandpa saved. And you know what, God could use people with Down syndrome to plant a seed like that, to give the Gospel, maybe even to win somebody to Christ all the way. With God all things are possible, and God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise because His strength is made perfect in weakness. Who are we to sit there and say, oh we don't want blind people to exist, we don't want deaf people to exist, we don't want Down syndrome people to exist, we don't want the handicapped, we don't want the lame. But God loves everybody that's born into this world, whether they are handicapped or whatever, and they all have a shot at being saved, and they all can be used by God, praise and honor. And by the way, I knew another person whose child had Down syndrome and that's why the parent got saved. Because before that they had no interest in the things of God, no interest in church, they had a child with Down syndrome and it basically made them re-evaluate their whole life, you know, because they had lived kind of a life that was based on them. Now all of a sudden they're looking at things in a different way and it caused them, just that event, just caused them to seek after God and just to want to know more about God in the Bible and they ended up getting saved. So you don't know what God's doing, you know, and so don't tamper with what God does in the womb. God opens the womb, God closes the womb. I'm not going to tamper with it. You know, and especially once a child has been conceived, don't tamper with it. You know, and there are things that people do to end a pregnancy even without, you know, going out and getting abortion. You know, people have literally tried to eat things and drink things that they know could cause them to miscarry the child. You know, and that is wicked, that's ungodly, and you know what, if you're doing it on purpose, it's murder. Abortion is murder, the doctor is a murderer, the nurse is a murderer, and the woman who goes in and says, abort my child is a murderer. Quit sugarcoating it, call it what it is, it's a human being, you're a murderer if you've had an abortion. You say, do you hate me, no, but repent and get right with God and admit it and confess it as a sin and quit trying to downplay it. Well, it's not as bad as if I would have, you know, taken a gun and shot somebody. You know, you're right, it's worse because you're killing someone who's even more innocent. I mean, how can you downplay that? But anyway, it says, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them, verse 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I'm still with thee. So God loves and cares about the individual, doesn't He? And He takes the time to fashion us. Now look, when we go to Song of Solomon chapter 7, it talks about how her body is the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Now you might feel that there's something about your appearance that you don't like. For example, you might be taller than you'd like to be or shorter than you'd like to be or whatever, you know, imperfections you have about your body or your appearance. But you know what, if that's how God made you, who's to say, you know, what is beautiful and what is not? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You know, you might look at some great soul winner's feet and say, you know, his feet aren't that beautiful. You know, and I'm not going to take off my shoes and show you my feet, you know, and I'm not saying I'm the greatest soul winner, but I am a soul winner and I can take off my shoes and I can show you, you know, a really messed up toenail that fell off. Who's ever had your toenail just completely, your big toenail just completely fall off? Yeah, well, you know, it happens. And I had one of my toenails just completely fall off. But you know what, they always come back. And the human body is an amazing thing. There are people who have lost them many times, you know. I was once responsible for somebody losing a toenail. And their wife said, like, oh, it's not going to come back. I said, it's going to come back. Just chill out. Your husband's foot is going to look normal again someday. Just get over it. And of course, it grew back perfectly. But when it first comes back, it looks a little gnarly. And then after it comes all the way back, then it looks great. But you know what, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everybody's got imperfections. Casser Anderson had a toenail that fell off. You know, that doesn't look good. You know, everybody else has issues with their appearance, whether it's their face, whether it's their body, whether it's their hair, or lack of hair, or whatever it is that they feel like, you know, they don't like about the way they look. But you know what, we need to get a biblical view of our appearance and the appearance of others. Let's get a biblical view. And a biblical view says that, you know what, God made me the way that I'm going to be content with the way I am. You know, God made me with brown hair, God made me 5 foot 11, God made me built a certain way. I mean, praise God for it. This is who I am, and I'm this way for a reason. I mean, I knew a guy who was very short, and he was short his whole life, and he hated being short, but you know what, he met his wife and she was really short. And he said, you know what, maybe this is why I was short, because God ordained, you know, or planned that, you know, maybe we wouldn't have hit it off if I weren't also her same height. You never know. And you know what, honestly, I'm 5 foot 11 right now, but when I was growing up, I was always the shortest kid in the class, always. And I hated being short, and I was made fun of and called shrimp, you know, and other things, you know, for being short, for being small. And I hated it, but you know what, I thank God now that I was short. You know, and eventually I became normal white man height. But you know what, I'm thankful for being short, because you know what, I'm sure that it taught me a lot of things about humility. Taught me what it, you know, because it's good, you know, being made fun of, being ostracized or teased, you know what, at least it makes you feel like, well, I'm not going to treat other people that way, because I don't like being treated that way. You know, and here's the thing, what if God would have just created me just a great looking guy and the perfect height and athletic and good looking and a great personality, you know what, I might have been so prideful and arrogant just because everything's going my way all the time, I'd get all lifted up in spirit, and you know, I might have married the wrong person and gone into the wrong career and just gone into a life of sin and just gratified myself. I mean, you don't know why God made you the way that he did, but I promise you God made you the way that he did. You know, I guarantee whether, no matter what, and I don't like, but you know what, maybe your spouse would have never even married you if you were made differently, if you didn't have the imperfections that you have. You don't know what God's doing, just trust the Lord, get a biblical view of your appearance and say, God made me, quit altering your appearance, dyeing your hair and you know, just tattooing and piercing it and just, you know what I mean, just trying to make yourself look different, just caking on a bunch of makeup so you can just look totally different. You know how I like my wife? With no makeup. That's the way that God made her. That's the way I like her. In fact, that's not just the way I like her, that's the way that I demand her to be. When we first got married, and I'm not, look, I'm not preaching against you if you wear makeup. You do what you want in your house, but in my house, that's the rule that I have in my house. And I can make whatever rule in my house that I want. And so I'm not saying it's a sin to wear makeup, because I'm not saying that the Bible specifically commands you not to wear makeup, you know, but my wife doesn't wear makeup because I don't allow my wife to wear makeup. I don't allow my, I will never allow my daughters to wear makeup as long as they're in my house. You know, Jezebel painted her face, you know. But anyway, I'm saying one time, we got married, and one time my wife put on makeup. And I just, I looked at my wife and just said, you're never going to wear makeup again. And I, and then I walked in the bathroom and just took all the makeup and just threw it in the trash. And just, and just said like, you don't wear makeup. She's like, okay, you know. She didn't really, she didn't really wear it that much in the first place. It was just something that she wore every once in a while. But I just said, no, you know, you don't need makeup. And by the way, makeup is filled with, usually filled with harmful chemicals. See what you have on my complexion is bad. Yeah, that's because you wear makeup. Because honestly, you're putting all these chemicals and preservatives and, and you know what, be careful because some makeup, and look, I know I sound, I'm going to sound like a lunatic when I say this, but you know what? It's true. So I'm going to tell the truth. There are literally, and I'm not saying all makeup, but do the research. There is a lot of makeup out there that is a made with human foreskins in the makeup and aborted fetuses in the makeup. And you can just say like, oh, you're a psycho. You're crazy. Look it up. Huge amounts of makeup. And I'm not saying this is one time a batch from China contained this. I'm saying there is an, there is an industry that takes human foreskins from circumcised babies and uses them to make foundation. Okay. Look it up. It's true. And you know what? Just be thankful that your pastor is willing to sound like a lunatic to tell you the truth. Okay. So you know, you need to be careful what you're putting on your face. Okay. And a lot of it is unhealthy and a lot of it is giving you a worse complexion because you're putting all these chemicals and clogging up your pores and putting all this junk on your face, you know, and painting your face. Look, I talk to most men, I talk to most men and they agree, I like my wife without makeup. I mean, only one amen on that? Let me say it again. I talk to most men, most men, okay, and they say that I like my wife without makeup. Alright, that was better. I'm just kidding. But honestly, and you know, I'm sure there are men out there that like their wife better with makeup, but the vast majority of men that I talked about, they're like, yeah, I know, I don't know why my wife wears makeup. You know, so honestly, ladies, I think that women wear makeup more because of other women than they do because of their husband. You know, it's more like to fit in with other people. I don't, I mean, this is just my opinion. I'm just telling you that I like the way that my wife looks, the way that God made her, the way that she gets out of bed in the morning, you know, and so, and by the way, you know, I'm the one, I'm the one who looks at my wife. She doesn't stare at herself in the mirror all day, so she's going to look the way I want her to look. You say, well, you don't have the right to tell your wife. I have the right to tell my wife to do whatever I want. It's called being a man. It's called being the husband. It's called let the wives be in subjection under their husband in all things. So if the husband says, I don't like the way that you look in makeup, or I just don't like makeup in general, or I think makeup is stupid and unhealthy, or I just think that you look great the way that God made you, imagine that, the way that God made you. I mean, look, you don't see men wearing makeup, right? Do we all just look awful? I mean, do we all just look like monsters or something? I mean, I know we don't look as good as the women, but come on, do we look that bad? I mean, come on, just keep it real, is my opinion. But anyway, I love the way that my wife looks because I like what God made. And you know, a lot of this thing of, oh, let's change the way we look. No, be content with how you look. Accept who God made you. And also get a biblical view of the appearance of others. Not thinking that everyone has to fit a Hollywood mold of this is what everybody has to look like and dress like and be like. No, no, no, just realize, you know, God made us all, He made us different, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And what is beautiful to one might not be beautiful to another and vice versa. Let's keep reading because this comes out in the passage. It says thy navel is like a round goblet. Now you know, there are two kinds of navels in this world, right? What are they called? An innie and an outie. Now does this woman have an innie or an outie? I mean, if your navel's like a goblet, right? And it says it's like a goblet that wanteth not liquor. Now liquor, when we use the word liquor, we mean booze. We mean alcohol. But actually the word liquor at that time, it just means liquid. It just means any drink would be a liquor. And you know, you can look that up in dictionary and see that that's what it means. But it says her navel's like a round goblet which wanteth not liquor. So if your navel is to the point where you could pour liquid into it, you know, that's not an outie. That's an innie belly button, okay? But anyway, you say are you going to make a whole doctrine out of that? Well, let's keep reading. Because in the next phrase of the verse it says thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. Now here's the thing. If you were complimenting a woman today and you say, you know, I just love your belly, it's like a heap of wheat, okay? You know, this might not be seen as a compliment to a lot of people, okay? Because today there's kind of an unrealistic expectation of the way women are supposed to look because basically the look that today is seen as beautiful or attractive amongst women is basically for a woman's stomach to be completely flat, right? No belly, no heap of wheat, no round goblet full of liquor, okay? Just a completely flat stomach, right? And I mean, even today you'll see advertisements with women with like a six-pack. Like washboard abs, right? I mean you'll see women, you know, abs of steel, you know, and it's like a washboard, flat stomach, flat abs. Okay, well guess what? When women are pregnant, that's definitely not what their stomach looks like. But even when ladies are not pregnant, they might not necessarily have that flat washboard look. But look, in the next verse it says, thy two breasts are like two young rows that are twins. Later on, he says, now also, in verse 8, halfway through the verse, it says, now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of thy nose like apples. So he's describing this woman and he says that, you know, her belly's like a heap of wheat, her two breasts are like two young rows that are twins and they're like clusters of grapes. You know, you can't have it both ways, guys. But today, basically, the view that the world puts out is that, you know, basically that there's going to be substantial breasts and a flat stomach. Well, let me explain something to you. You know what, and I'm not trying to be graphic, I'm preaching the Bible. I'm not just, well pastor, pastor, how dare you talk about breasts. Well, the Bible, this is what the Bible, what am I supposed to preach on Song of Solomon chapter 7? I mean, this is what the Bible is saying, I'm preaching the Bible. And honestly, do you know, you want to know a huge major component of what real breasts are made out of. It starts with an F and it ends in a T. Fat. Anybody can tell you that breasts are predominantly made of fat. This is why women have a higher percentage body fat than men. Part of it is because their breasts are very high in fat. So let me just explain something to you. If a woman loses weight, they get smaller. If a woman gains weight, they get larger. And here's the thing. You say, no, no, no, pastor, I see all these really thin, really slender, flat stomached women and they have these great big breasts. Let me explain something to you. They're fake. They're not real. I'm not even kidding. It's not real. It's fake. I mean, look, the statistics are that there's like, I think it's like what, some huge number. Does anybody know the percentage of women that go out and become altered in that way? Does anybody know? Where's my wife? She'll know. She's a, what percentage of women, do you know? You're just embarrassed to tell me. I'm just going to make something up then. 25%, no, I'm just kidding, just kidding. But anyway, I don't know, but I know that it's millions and millions. I mean, my wife, listen to this, my wife had like, she brought home like a homeschool magazine or I think it was like a free publication that just tells you all the family events in the valley, you know, where you can take your kids to like educational opportunities. And it was a magazine geared toward parenting and homeschooling. I picked up the magazine and every other page was like a plastic surgery ad. And then I was in California and I was waiting in a waiting room for some kind of a form that I needed to get notarized or whatever. And I'm looking through a magazine and it was a thing geared toward moms and it was just like plastic surgery, plastic surgery, plastic surgery, plastic surgery. And look, it's just not going to happen, guys. This really slender, you know, you're going to have to choose what's important to you guys. You know, and look, not everybody likes the same look. And that's why there's a lid for every pot. You know, God created all men differently. He created all ladies differently. And you know what? Some men are attracted to very thin women. Other men would like a more endowed woman. But look, God made us all different. Don't get this warped view of, well I want to find this woman that just, you know, she just has, you know, just flat stomach, abs of steel, really slender, she runs 10 miles every morning. You know, guys, her chest isn't going to be there. It's going to be gone. If you're willing to sacrifice that, then go for it. And you know what? There are guys that they like a thin woman and I'm not down on you if you're thin. You know, just like I'm not down on you if you're larger. Look, I'm only married to one woman. And that's the only woman whose body I'm interested in. And you know what? I love the way my wife looks. And I couldn't be happier with the way she looks. But you know what? There's people out there that look at their wife and they're not happy with the way that their wife looks. And that's sad. And a lot of it is just through social engineering. It's not even that their wife isn't attractive. It's not even that their wife has something wrong with her, isn't beautiful. It's just they've been socially engineered to be looking for something that they saw on TV that's fake, that's not real, or something that they saw out in public that's fake, that's not real. And you know what? Women who have been altered and had their breast implants or whatever, they're not even able to nurse children anymore. Did you know that? They can't even use the breast for what they're even created for because they've been tampered with them that way. I have an understanding of it. Again, I'm not an expert on this. I mean, I got an email from somebody saying, I'm thinking about quitting. I literally got this email. I get a lot of emails. I got an email from somebody who said, I go to an independent fundamental Baptist King James only soul winning church and I'm thinking about quitting the church because my pastor's wife just got these implants. Oh my goodness, I don't blame you. I mean, I'm just being honest. I would quit that church. I would find somewhere else to go to church. I'm just, look, we live in a weird society and do you see how it even infects God's people? When even the pastor is allowing his wife or maybe even encouraging his wife or at the very least he's allowing her to go out and do this mutilation, this augmentation or whatever. You know, just be happy with who you are and you know what? Love your wife and love your wife's appearance and understand, you know what? If your wife is thin, understand that hey, a lot of men think that thin women are very beautiful and that's in fact what our society promotes the most is a really thin look. If your wife is more full figured, you know what? Just praise God and just say, hey, you know, there's pros and cons to everything. So we need to get, you say, I don't think you should preach on stuff like that. Well, you know what? I don't think our society should brainwash everybody to have an eating disorder. You know, and expect women to be like men and have six pack abs. I don't want my wife to be that strong. I mean I like the fact that my wife is very strong because she is actually very strong. But you know, I don't want her to become just this body builder, you know what I mean? I mean I'm glad that she's strong because she carries the kids around all day and she works really hard and so she's pretty strong and I mean she has great endurance. But let me say this though, I like her the way she is. I don't want her to get all buff or something and I don't want her to have six pack abs. If I want to look at six pack abs, I'll go look in the mirror, you know? Some of you will get that later, but anyway, you know, I don't want to look at that on my wife. I'd rather, you know, I'd rather look at that navel that's like a goblet, you know what I mean? But anyway, let's not go too far into that. But anyway, you know, this is great teaching of the Bible. I mean look, you know what we're doing? We're taking what the Bible actually says and expounding it and applying it to the day that we live in and I think this is profitable. But let's keep reading, thy neck is as a tower of ivory. Probably not a compliment in 2013 necessarily, but you know what, like I said, beauty's in the eye of the beholder. Some people might like that look. Thine eyes are like fish pools in Heshbon. By the gate of Bethrabim, thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon. You say, oh man, my nose is, I wish I had a smaller nose, I wish my nose looked like Michael Jackson after ten surgeries. Look, if your nose is like a tower, Solomon thought that was the coolest thing. Okay, that's what he's praising right here. So it says, we should look toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like caramel and the hair of thine head like purple. The king is held in his galleries. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love for delights. This thy stature is like to a palm tree, just referring to the fact that she's tall because palm trees are very tall. Thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said I will go up to the palm tree. I will take hold of the boughs thereof. Now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of thy nose like apples. You know, smell your wife's nose, see what it smells like. Anyway, and the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved that goeth down sweetly causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. Now I gotta hurry, I'm almost out of time, but I want to talk about a few more things in these last verses because there's some great teaching in these last verses. It says in verse 10, I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me. I've already covered this in previous weeks, but that possessive mentality of a woman seeing herself as belonging to her husband, you know, that's going to cause him to have more desire toward you when he feels possessive of you. And the wife should feel possessive of her husband. That's why it said, I am my beloved's and you know, he is mine, I'm his. It goes both ways throughout this book. But look at verse 11. It says, come my beloved, let us go forth into the field. Let us lodge in the villages. Let us go up early to the vineyards. Okay, now you say, what's the point of that? Well, this is showing kind of like a getaway for the husband and wife, right? They're going to go out in the fields, they're going to go to a village. That's like going to a different town and spending the night because hey, let's lodge in the village, hey, let's go out in the field, hey, let's get up early and go to the vineyards. So we see that the husband and wife are spending some quality time together. But what's interesting about this is that if you study the book of Song of Solomon, all the seven chapters we've seen so far, and especially these verses here, we see that a lot of their special time together is outdoors. You know, they're going out in the field. They're going into the garden in chapter 6. It talks a lot about them eating fruit. And you know, today when we think of a husband and wife going on a date together or spending time together, what do we think of? Going out to dinner. Go out to dinner. Go out to dinner. And you know what the problem with that is? Number one, when you go out to dinner, usually the food you're eating is not as healthy as what you would eat at home. Because let me tell you something, restaurants cost the same now as they did when I was a kid. And you know what's gone down? The quality. Seriously. I mean, you'll go to restaurants that used to be pretty good and you're, ugh, gross, you know. The quality's gone down. Most restaurants, unless you're eating at like an organic restaurant or you know, just a high end restaurant, which you know, is it going to be expensive, right? Most restaurants you go to, even, and you might even say, no, no, it's a fancy restaurant. Even fancy restaurants though. A lot of them are using a lot of GMOs and just a lot of low quality ingredients. And they're really polishing the apple, but it's a conventionally grown apple, alright, that's got pesticide residue. And what I'm saying is that, you know, going out to dinner is not the healthiest option, number one. Number two, it's expensive and you may not be able to afford it. So then you think like, oh man, my husband can't take me out to dinner, oh we can't go out to dinner. And then wives can become disgruntled. And then husbands can become irritated like, oh man, I'm trying to build a relationship with my wife, trying to have some quality time with my wife and it's costing me a fortune. Now I'm not saying that going out to dinner is bad. We go out to dinner, but we go out to dinner rarely. But you say, oh, you don't spend time with your wife. News flash, there are ways to spend time with your wife that don't involve going out to dinner. You know, and people just think that the only way to have fun is to go out to eat, spend a bunch of money, you got to pay the tip, you got to pay for the meals, you got to pay the drink, and your wife's always going to order dessert, you know, so you got to pay for that. And then she'll order dessert and then just put it in a box and not even eat it, you know, take it home. But the thing is, I just had to get that off my chest, but what I'm saying is there are other ways to have fun without just going out to dinner, spending a bunch of money. You know what you could do? You could have a picnic. And it's probably even more fun. And you live in Arizona, half the year, I mean, there's great weather, it's dry, it's sunny, it's cool, you can go out and we're just getting into that good season, the paradise. We're coming out of Inferno and going into, we're coming out of Inferno and going into Paradiso right now. So what I'm saying is that you should think about the fact that, okay, I'm poor, let's not waste my money out to dinner that I don't even have anyway in the first place, go into some junky restaurant where we could make better food. You know, one of the things that my wife and I do, and you know what, you say, oh, but some of the food you take picnicking is expensive. It's still way cheaper than going out to dinner. I don't care what you're bringing, I mean, no matter what you bring. But one of the things that we like to bring is we get these little fresh mozzarella balls. Who knows what I'm talking about? We'll get like fresh mozzarella balls in oil, in olive oil, cherry tomatoes in oil, right? We'll just put like a little Tupperware with like cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls in olive oil, and then just like a baguette sliced up, right? And then we just have a picnic like that where we just have a piece of white like baguette bread. You can put like oil and basil, you know, you've got to put basil on, I don't know how to make it. I mean, my wife makes it. But I'm sure there's salt, pepper, and basil involved, okay, you know, in whatever Italian seasoning. You know, you could make something like that and bring grapes on the side. You know, and look, in Song of Solomon, they're eating a lot of fruit, you know, they're eating a lot of healthy stuff they're eating. They're not just going, oh, let's go get a burger and fries every single Friday night or every single night or, you know, burger and fries, burger and fries, you know. They're basically having fruit, they're having fresh fruits and vegetables and things. And I'm all for eating meat and eating bread and all those things. But you know, you can have a picnic, you can have the mozzarella and the tomatoes and the breads and it's more romantic and everybody's happier and it costs less and you get the fresh air and the birds and everything, you know. So I'm just saying, you need to think outside the box. Go on a little hike with your wife, you know. Go out into the field. Go to the villages, you know. Go into the vineyard. Take a walk, I mean, take a walk. You could probably have just as much enjoyment with your wife going out to dinner. Just, instead of going out there, just take a walk. Just take a walk through the neighborhood. Take a walk through the park. You know, go to Kiwanis Park. There's that little lake there and there's paddle boats and you can have a picnic. I'm just saying, be a little more creative than, you know, okay, let's go to the Outback again. Let's go to Chili's again. You know what I mean? Just get outside that box, you know. My parents used to go to Chili's every Friday night. They're divorced now, all right. Anyway, I'm just saying, think outside the box. It's really not funny, but anyway, think outside the box. You know, you can have fun without having to go out to eat every single time. There's other ways. And by the way, and you know, there's a lot in these passages about flowers and fruit and you know, these are the things that are romantic. You know, in chapter six, he's gathering lilies to give to his wife. You know, giving her flowers, giving her fruit. That's another thing. Gather the flowers. Then you don't have to pay for them either. But anyway, what I'm saying is, you can have a good time with your wife just by going up early to the vineyards, verse 12. Let's see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth. There will I give thee my love. So look, this is a romantic outing, just checking out the plant life. Just going into the vineyard, going into the gardens. The mandrakes give a good smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, oh my beloved. That's the power I had to have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this chapter and thank you for the very practical things that we can learn from it. Just you know, so often when we read the Bible, we just miss what's right there on the surface. You know, eat fruit, go out in the field, have a picnic, walk through the vineyard, go hiking, whatever. Compliment your wife's appearance. The body types that he lists there, you know, that's what he found attractive. Help us to learn these truths and apply them to our lives. Help us to just renew our minds, get out of this worldly, sinful mindset and get a biblical view of all things, and then help us to also follow the spiritual application that we found in verse 1 of being a soul winner, whether we be man or woman. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.