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outside of the cup and of the platter, but within there full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. And at the end of my sermon this morning is the outward appearance, the outward appearance. I'd like to pray before we get going with it. Father thank you for your word, thank you for, well the teachings you give us Lord, the clear teachings you give us, and the principles and the standards that you'd like us to... So like I said this might be a bit of a toe-treader at times, and you know so be it right, I'm going to preach the word of God from behind this pulpit. There's some truths that I want to preach about today and some standards etc, but it's one of those truths, the outward appearance is one of those truths in the Bible where there are extremes on both ends of the scale with this topic okay. So on one hand you've got those that focus massively on the outward appearance, they worry more about what's on the outside okay, so for them it's just well how do I look on the outside, who cares about the inside, they don't even need to know what's going on the inside, how do I look, let's make sure I look good in front of everyone else, how they appear, how holy they look to other people, there are people that sadly that is probably one of the most important things in life to them and in their Christian life and around other Christians, but then you've also got the opposite, those who say things like God only cares what's on the inside, often whilst outwardly showing rebellion to God okay, and there are ways outwardly that you can clearly show that you're in rebellion to God where it doesn't sound like the inside's going too well then either, and as is also often the case okay, the truth, the right way is somewhere in the middle okay, always is with the, or usually is with these things, you've always got extremes, the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle, see if your outward appearance is all about uplifting yourself to others okay, if that's what it's about, it's about impressing those around you, well the inside clearly needs work okay, because you've got issues on the inside then, but on the same hand if your outward appearance is contrary to God's commands, well then the inside clearly needs work as well doesn't it okay, if your outward appearance is contrary to how God wants you to be, then the inside needs work, and there's a truth with this okay, if your outward appearance is good, it doesn't mean that the inside is necessarily good okay, so you might look good on the outside, that doesn't mean the inside's good okay, however if your outward appearance is bad, when being measured by God's standards that is, then the inside is definitely a problem too, it's definitely something that needs work here okay, so if you get what I'm saying right, the outward appearance doesn't mean everything's fine, but if the outward appearance is bad, well then there's stuff that definitely needs work here, and just to add though okay, just to add this quickly, if you're unsaved or maybe you're not unsaved, maybe you're new to the Word of God, maybe you're new to biblical preaching okay, think of this sermon as helping you to understand what God does and doesn't care about on the outside, then it's up to you to respond okay, so this isn't, I'm not sitting here thinking right, I need to smash, you know, smash some people that are new to the Word of God, new to biblical preaching, new to some of these truths okay, no, but you know, it is my duty to show you what God does and doesn't think we should, you know, how he wants us to appear on the outside, but ultimately it should be a reflection of what's on the inside. Look down at Matthew 23, it says in verse 25, Matthew 23, 25, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within there full of extortion and excess, thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also. So the title is the outward appearance and point number one and the first couple of points can be pretty quick okay, who cares about the outward appearance, so question number one you could say who cares about the outward appearance and you will have heard different flavors of Christians saying that God looks on the inside, that God only cares what's in your heart and of course God does look on the inside okay, God does care what's in your heart but to say that he then discounts the outward appearance is absolute nonsense okay it really is. Here in Matthew 23 Jesus Christ is preaching against the hypocritical religious leaders of the day, they're false prophets and what do false prophets have fake exteriors okay so he's preaching against their fake exterior, he says in verse 25, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within there full of extortion and excess, so they look good on the outside but these guys are full of extortion and excess so they're ripping people off and excess would be probably just indulging in sin in various ways okay, he said thou blind Pharisee cleanse first he said first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also, so there are a few interesting words there aren't there in that verse he didn't say cleanse only that which is within did he, he didn't say forget the outside cleanse the inside I don't really care what the outside looks like, he said to cleanse that first he said focus on the inside first that's what we should be focusing on that the outside of them may be clean also, so the goal is that we focus on the inside and the result is that then the inside and the outside is clean yeah, yeah I think everyone would hopefully agrees with that when you see that there, so who cares about the outward appearance well God cares about the outward appearance isn't he, he's just said cleanse that first so that the outward is also clean God cares about the outward appearance now these guys are blind okay he said that they're blind he said he said they're thou blind Pharisee but he's using them as a bad example for those that are listening he's actually preaching to the squires of Pharisees here not what I could see from the beginning of the chapter where it says then to make Jesus a multitude and to his disciples but he's preaching against these false prophets to people that he wants to respond to the message he's using them as a bad example for those that want to hear the message right he said in verse 27 won't woe unto you scribes of Pharisees hypocrites for ye are like unto whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness so he agrees that they appear beautiful outwards doesn't he they appear to be beautiful on the outside so there is an appearance on the outside God can see what it looks like on the outside he said in verse 28 even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within ye full of hypocrisy and iniquity now what appears beautifully outwardly according to this appearing to be righteous so the appearance of righteousness is a beautiful outward appearance right yeah that's what he said ye even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men and he just said in the verse before which indeed appear beautiful outward that's what he's talking about and as we go through today okay you're going to see some standards that God has that show whether or not you're attempting righteousness basically we're going to see verses from both the Old and New Testament that show that God has outward appearance standards he does you can't escape that okay and instead of going through them all now okay just to prove this first point this point is getting proved throughout the sermon okay so if at the end of the sermon you're like God doesn't care about the outward appearance well then you I don't know what to do okay okay but we're going to see that he does but like I said however the inside is more important the outwards should be a reflection of the inside and it and like I said I'm not going to go through them all now we're going to go through this as we go through the sermon this this point is going to be well and truly proved by the end of it Matthew 23 said in verse 25 let's look at that passage again woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they're full of extortion and excess thou blind Pharisee cleanse first sat which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also well once you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for your like unto white sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outwards but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity the title is the outward appearance point number one is who cares about the outward appearance clearly God does a point number two why does God care about the outward appearance then why does God care about the outward appearance well firstly because you have the outward appearance should be a reflection of the inside like I've already mentioned okay it should be showing what's going on on the inside unless you're just a fake and you're just trying to be fake on the outside he said in verse 26 now blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also now just be clear again okay working on the inside is more important I just want to keep making this gig I don't want people to go away for this time and go I really need to look at outside okay work on the inside is important but a result of the inside being worked on will be an improved outward appearance that's that's what we clearly see in that passage there and we're going to see it as we continue a result of working for example on that rebellious spirit on working on what sadly a lot of people have is a rebellious spirit will be an outward appearance it does it show open rebellion to God's commandments won't it yeah if you're if you're if you're working on that rebellious spirit the outward appearance should be a lack of rebellion a result of wanting to please God which is something we should all be working on in our Christian life we'll be trying to avoid displeasing him with our outward appearance wouldn't it a result of putting God up here in your life which God should be up here in your life shouldn't it yeah if that should be what's going on in the inside is on the inside I know that God's up here that's how we should be right well therefore putting your standards up here should be something that we do as well shouldn't it that would be a result of that but there are other reasons to said in verse 28 even so you also outwardly appear right son to men but within you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity so of course the scribes and Pharisees were fakes you know on the whole okay they focused on the outward appearance instead of the inward however God does want us to appear righteous unto men but not because we're pretending to not because our goal is to appear righteous just to men but because it glorifies God it glorifies him it shows our respect it's it sets us apart for the right reasons it can be a testimony to the power of the Word of God could be a testimony to God to our love of God and wanting to follow how he wants us to live how he wants us to behave turn 1st Corinthians 6 1st Corinthians chapter 6 obviously keep a finger here we're going to be coming back here where we're reminded that we're temples of the Holy Ghost so if you're saved if you've put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to have paid for your sins you put your faith in that death, burial, resurrection to have paid for all your sins past, present, future sins you've trusted Christ for salvation the the second that happened that you put your trust in Christ you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise okay the Bible says talk about Christ who have you also trusted after that he heard the word of truth the Gospel of your salvation whom also after that you you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise so you you if you're saved you have the Holy Ghost inside you you have the Holy Spirit you have God living inside you God is living within you and he said in verse 19 in 1st Corinthians 6 what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God in you not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's and aside from abstaining from fornication which is the primary sort of subject here in this passage there are other ways that we can glorify God in our bodies and there are other ways that we can also do the opposite and not glorify God in our bodies 2nd Corinthians 6 3 that of Turner says giving no offense in anything that the ministry be not blamed so we don't want to offend in anything we don't want the ministry to be blamed and that's not talking about preaching the word of God um that's not talking about just preach the word it's not like okay the ministry is someone who's preaching if if look it's not just talking about giving no offense when preaching so it's not saying oh well you know when you preach the word of God you've got to you know make sure you don't offend anyone no look the word of God's going to offend okay but what that's talking about is that well goal shouldn't be to just cause offense that's not our goal and with that there are ways we can do it for example if I was up here preaching with a Baphomet t-shirt on okay just say I did just say I I didn't come up here in the suit today I just had my my Baphomet t-shirt I don't have a Baphomet t-shirt so I did I had my Baphomet t-shirt on what would people say about this church what would people coming in here say what would people watching online people coming into this church say about what would they say about similar churches even God one of those soul winning churches you know you see it the pastor there he wears he wears a t-shirt with Baphomet on the front of it so obviously I think everyone here would agree that there is there are standards aren't there there are things that would cause offense that would cause offense to the ministry to to proper King James Bible Bible believing Bible preaching soul winning churches people are desperate to blame the ministry of reconciliation okay you start to learn that pretty quickly people want any reason any excuse any way to blame churches which are out there so winning they're looking for anything right of finding fault in us because then when they find fault in us what they're really doing they're finding fault in the Bible they're finding fault in a Bible believing Bible preaching gospel preaching church so they're desperate for anything and our outward appearance in various of in various ways is one ways one way that they do that so how we behave on the outside is something that they can observe and grab and use to then blame ultimately God really because that's what it comes down to turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 where we're not only told but we're actually pleaded with we're pleaded with by God through the apostle Paul to be a good testimony he's pleading with us he says in Romans chapter 12 Romans 12 and verse 1 Romans 12 1 he said I beseech you so he's not saying I tell you I command you and look he commands us to live right to live holy be holy for I'm holy but here he's beseeching he's pleading really he's saying look just please I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercy of God that you present your bodies your living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service so look having a wash wearing appropriate clothing hair and even speech isn't exactly much to ask is it really is it I mean it's like that I mean that's that's a bare bare minimum he said it's your reasonable service to be holy acceptable unto God I'm not even going to go into all like the different sins and everything else which is obvious yeah just some clear outward appearance stuff or is looking exactly like your favorite trend in the world too important for you because for some people that's too important it's like nah forget all that this sounds unreasonable it sounds unreasonable to try and look and act and behave how God wants me to he said in verse 2 and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God so if I was standing up here with a pink mohawk anyone think that that's a good and acceptable and perfect will of God anyone I had a pink mohawk one of the real high top ones as well yeah so I'm not just saying it was a little bit like shave everyone's oh I'm not sure well I just said like a high top pink mohawk everything else shaved up the side would you be going well what's the what's the problem is that God's good and acceptable and perfect will or am I trying to be conformed to at least some version of this world I'm trying to be conformed oh no you might go well not many people are like I saw a guy down the road with a pink mohawk I might have seen that and thought that's a good look yeah okay but why not why not so can someone give me a chapter and verse on pink mohawks anyone you can't can you where's the chapter and verse on pink mohawks oh it must be all right then because that's what people try and do they go well show me a chapter and verse on whatever because if not it's all fair game now even without a chapter and verse everyone I'm guessing here unless you're just a bit shy to put your hand up and go no I have been thinking about the pink mohawk okay most people here probably agree right so if I give you a chapter and verse for other things you'll definitely agree won't you if I give you the chapter and verse for other things surely you'll do it because with the pink mohawk I reckon everyone here is agreeing anyway and I ain't got a chapter and verse for pink mohawks okay I looked I couldn't find it I did word searches pink I tried mohawk just wasn't coming out all I came up with was not eating you know hawk and that was the old testament archery law you want to eat hawking some hawk all right okay but but you know the principle I would go with okay would be that the pink mohawk is to be seen of men though isn't it it's attention seeking it's ultimately prideful isn't it it's a hey look at me haircut right and james 4 6 says but he giveth more grace wherefore he said god resisted the proud but giveth grace unto the humble so there is a there is a principle there but we know that just because we know if you're reading the bible you know that's probably quite a clear principle there you'd be amazed there are people out there be like what's the problem there'll be some liberal churches out there where people are turning up with pink mohawks and other just and that's probably like that's the least of it right okay but he said back in matthew 23 back in matthew 23 he said it like this in verse 25 well on to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites so you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they're full of extortion excess now blind Pharisee cleans first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also well onto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for your like unto whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness even so you also outwardly appear right sentiment but within you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity the title is the outward appearance point number one was who cares about the outward appearance and the answer is god okay point number two why does he care about the outward appearance well because it shows what's on the inside it glorifies god and it glorifies the ministry ultimately yeah if we get the outward appearance right again just a reminder as a reflection of the inside and point number three though okay and this is a long point that we're going to go into now what does god care about with the outward appearance okay so what is it exactly that god cares about and look i could go through a hundred things today i'm going to just focus on some obvious stuff today and just to remind you again okay it should be a result of wanting to please god of wanting to cleanse first that which is on the inside but we see that cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also so if we're responding to the word of god and the inside is saying yeah i want to live how god wants me to live i want to get my standards right i want to behave in a good way i want to be a good testimony to to god to a believer to soul winning to to the king james bible to all the things that we believe we stand on in this church then hopefully therefore the outside will be a reflection of that and and like i said aside from obvious sin i'm not going to go into that i'm going to start with something that's just obvious here that's clear here i believe on the topic of cleansing let's just start with that you said in verse 25 why don't you scribes of Pharisees hypocrites if you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter but within they're full of extortion excess thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also so yes the clean cup and platter are symbolic of the outward appearance okay but god wants us to be clean doesn't he god wants us to be clean turn to genesis chapter 35 and of course there are those with manual jobs okay mums can get dirty running around after kids especially especially if you're running around after boys they just seem to find everything dirty and filthy and everything else to to to get into usually but if there are a couple of obvious places to be clean okay if if there were look aside from your job aside from the stuff you're doing at home aside from when you're manual i'm not saying you have to be one of those people that say oh i wouldn't touch that because it looks a bit dirty okay especially you know you shouldn't be like that but if there are a couple of obvious places it would be in the house of god and went out representing the god wouldn't it so when you come into the house of god and when you go out to represent god we should be clean shouldn't we shouldn't we yeah i i believe we should look at genesis chapter 35 and it says in verse one in genesis 35 and god said unto jacob arise go up to bethel and dwell there and make there an altar unto god that appeared unto thee when thou fled us from the face of esau thy brother so bethel by the way literally means the house of god so i mean god made it even easier first for anyone who doesn't get the clear pictures we see with bethel in genesis being so many pictures and and and teachings about going to the house of god how we behave when we go to the house of god etc jacob is being told to go to the house of god on the back of what seems to be a pretty godless time for the family okay with the chapter before with dina and sheikham and they've just slaughtered a whole kind of a whole family village whatever you want to call it over this kind of this mess whether his daughter dina's gone out to hang around with the children with the with the women of the land and ended up you know fornicating with this guy she ends up you know the brothers get upset get annoyed end up slaughtering them all it's just an absolute mess okay at this point in their lives so after this he's told straight on the back of this god says to him go up to bethel and dwell there he said get out of here and you need to go to the house of god you need to go and dwell there okay and make there an altar unto god and we're also commanded to go up to bethel okay and this is how we should respond he says it says in verse 2 then jacob said unto his household and to all that were with him put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments so jacob said get rid of your idols okay he said get rid of your things that are more important than god's house on a sunday he said get rid of that stuff trash it bin it whatever it is it's more important than god get rid of it that's what idols are they're things we put above god he said get rid of them get rid of your live football plans on a sunday he said get rid of them you know maybe look maybe there was a local derby it was jerusalem or maybe then it was salem versus ephrata yeah bethel heaven it's like i don't care if that's what he said get rid of that yeah i don't want you watching the locals i don't want you watching local football you need to get to the house of god yeah and maybe he said he said get rid of your sunday exercise routine you know i bet there are a lot of people out there don't go to church on a sunday or maybe you know they minimize what they do do when it comes to church because sunday is when it's gym day or when it's running day or when it's sports day or he said get rid of that stuff that stuff shouldn't be above god should it god should be up here he said get rid of your family feast because sundays for a lot of people traditionally is feast day isn't it that's the day when we eat till we're full up and you know and people are like lying on the sofa comatose after they've stuffed their faces on a sunday because that's sunday lunch day he said get rid of all that stuff yeah have a wash and change your clothes so get rid of it all get rid of the strange gods and be clean and change your garments and for me that should be standard when coming to god's house be clean and change your clothes that's what i believe okay now that that means okay and let's put it in modern terms that means have a shower a bath use some soap get clean and put on some clean clothes and this might you might sit there going look this is a bit this is going a bit basic now yeah look i'm not i'm not trying to be mean okay but we've had people in the past that have sadly just just failed at basic hygiene okay and you come into the house of god so if you come to the house of god the obvious starting point would be make sure i'm clean before i come to the house of god wouldn't it yeah that should be something and make sure i put on some clean clothes cover the house god oh well wait a second we shouldn't judge people for what they wear no no we're not looking at people going wow he's got an amani suit if i see someone with and no offense someone has got an amani suit on but if they did i'd probably look at them go what a waste of money you should have gone and got the cheapo from marks and sparks or even or even even cheap you could have gone there's just a supermarket you got the own brand yeah you wasted your money on the amani suit okay but that's not what we're talking about we're just talking about wearing something clean because everyone if you can't afford a washing machine you can clean something in your bath or if you can't afford the bath you clean something in the sink i have some clean clothes make an effort to come to the house of god right same with your body right we should just be clean and again i'm not trying to have a go at people but here's a checklist just and this some people might just need this right because look different people come from different backgrounds and raise different ways come from different cultures and everything else here's a checklist for come to the house of god wash your whole body brush your teeth yeah that's a good thing you don't want people stinking up morning breath in your face on a morning at church put on some clean clothes pretty simple right don't put on the nasty old stuff that you you wore for the whole week before don't put it on that you wore for the last month before just clean clothes wash body brush teeth okay now does it mean that we'll all survive someday without smelling like a sewer no you know some people are gonna get you're gonna kick up a bit okay sometimes especially it can be stressful sundays yeah it could be a long day sometimes you'll be that soul winning you've had a real stressful one you come back you're thinking man i'll probably smell a bit all right okay and when that happens i generally just keep my arms a bit closer to myself okay that can happen okay however and some fabrics can be bad i don't think any of the guys notice this especially some fabrics just smell a bit more don't they you know for whatever reason sometimes the cheaper clothes do stink a bit more okay there is a there is a truth there but here's the thing is that at least in the mornings if you come in in the morning and you're stinking then you probably there's either you didn't wash yourself or you didn't put on clean clothes and if you did all that and it's still all deodorants a good fallback as well and i'll use that anyway but some people have issues okay whatever okay but you get what i'm saying right you come to the house of god and i often use this example of people because people get a bit upset about this stuff yeah they're like i should just walk in the church in what i rolled out of bed in and should come in like the school mum in her in her pajamas you know with her slippers on what's the problem yeah well the problem is that you're coming to the house of god and here jacob is clearly giving his household and uh well he's giving him an order here he said not just to his house at all that were with him so he just said look anyone coming with me you put away the strange gods be clean and change your garments now some people go well what type of clothing okay well he said change your garments now it might just have been to put on clean clothing but are we to believe that everyone here was dirty do you think that the whole household everyone here was just caked in filth and dirt and was just p would have had you know had to peel off their clothing because it was stuck to them i don't think so i think it was to change from day to day clothing change out of the day-to-day clothing and make some sort of effort for church he said he said to all of them be clean and change your garments now i'm sure there were some people there that had some clean clothing on i'm sure there's some people there that maybe just had a wash but he said be clean and change your garments and i think it was to make some effort for for going to the house of god and just to be clear on this okay we're not here raising eyebrows if you don't have a suit on okay honestly we're not okay i'm not looking at people going you don't have a suit on you must be you know so disrespectful we're not if you don't have a sunday dress on ladies we're not i'm not standing here you know making a little note going home with my wife going thing we both didn't have a dress on today look like what she probably wears every day can you believe it okay that we're not we're not into that sort of thing okay we're happy to have you here as long as it's decent okay as long as you're dressed decently okay in terms of it's not you know something that would be an offense to people okay we're happy right but let me put it another way if i was up here preaching in that baphomet t-shirt people that have an issue wouldn't they yeah understandably i'm sure most people here probably would walk straight out and be like what's up with this guy if it wasn't some sort of uh some sort of prop to preach from you know you soon soon after a few minutes of preaching it hasn't been meant to be you probably get up what you're doing and understandably right because there are standards aren't there so everyone agrees there's a standard what about if if i what about if i got up here in in joggers and a vest i got the guns out made sure i did some press ups before a few bicep curls got a bit vascular yeah that's what looked really good yeah get up here i've got my joggers on i've got my vest top on you would all understandably be a bit shocked when you be like what is going on there now say you'd never come in here before in uh before in your life so so it's not because you've already seen me wearing a suit and there's a difference you've just never come in here you walk in a church and the preacher's wearing a vest and a pair of jogging bottoms most people here would wonder what on earth is going on wouldn't they most people here probably would turn straight back around and walk straight back out like here's the pastor and i come up with my vest and my joggers and my nike max's oh hello you'd be like what on earth right yeah because there are standards people have standards now what about if i was in skinny jeans and a skin tight top again i reckon i'm not going to ask for a show of hands here but i reckon that still the vast majority of people in here would be like what on earth why is he preaching up there behind the pulpit in skinny jeans and a skin tight top please don't imagine it okay where's your line because everyone has a line i think we're proving everyone has a line don't they yeah everyone has a line so how about the song leader so forget me because yeah well okay he's preaching the world he got how about some leader how about junior let's let's get junior now you can start imagining junior and he's up here in skinny skinny jeans a skin tight top and he's got his cap on backwards although i went for the cap i just went for the cap backwards what do you think you'd be like i don't know about this this is a bit weird this is a bit it's not very it's not very respect it's not very reverent is it it's not really reverent worship agreed yeah yeah standards okay well that's the song leader okay what about the ushers what about you come to go into this church and the ushers standing out there with let's come up with a new one the ushers there with a leather jacket okay uh the old james dean look he's got a skin tight white t-shirt leather jackets and blue jeans and a little bit turned up at the bottom and he's got and he's got a pair of plimsolls on again let's be honest a lot of people here would have issue with that wouldn't they oh you're so wicked no because you have standards because you're coming to the house and gone you expect some respect don't you don't you now what your standards are again i'm not going to go to a verse go with this exactly what you got to wear but there are standards right and here's the thing though okay so aside from those what about the congregants coming from for an audience with the king you're and no i'm not talking about myself okay we're coming here to hear the word of god aren't we to be in the house of god where god is amongst us where we're gathered together and god is amongst us and we're coming here to hear his word preached to reverently worship him i would say probably a bit of an effort wouldn't go far amiss with it it would it would be expected don't you think just some sort of effort now what what that effort is well god knows doesn't he so again i'm talking about what's on the inside so what's on the inside will then be manifest on the outside maybe maybe what you wear yeah is you changing your garments if god knows that you've changed your garments so good on you maybe he knows it yeah that's not what they wear every day of the week and look i don't know what that is that no you don't have to go out and buy a suit i mean what what's that what's the limit because you might go on past tabular hands and got a three piece suit on where's the bow tie you know so look there's it's look god knows if look i don't i don't knock about the house in suits you ask my family they don't get up in the morning and put a suit on so for me this is a change of garments to come to the house of god and i don't think that's too much to ask for god but again it's not of all of our church but it's something to think about isn't it what's on the inside what how do we feel when we come to the house of god but again wouldn't that extend to soul winning times now we have a rule here which is collars when you're soul winning some people don't like that i'm sure some people i should be able to sell win in my in my graphic tee and you know in my shorts and everything else it's like well look you can you know and you can you know if if you can you can dress down if you want but we do have a rule of collars yeah it can be a polo shirt or something but we just think we try to look respectable we're ambassadors for christ we represent the lord look however churches do it that's up to them they're in different countries different cultures different heat different temperature and everything else how we do it in england is we go out and we try and look respectful when we so win we're ambassadors for christ aren't we if you're an ambassador for a nation i don't see many ambassadors around the world in the world for example going out in in you know in in the string vest and the and the board shorts to go and have an important meeting about you know about something which is much less important than eternal life okay and you know what you get treated a bit differently when you're dressed smarter as well by the way but beyond soul winning okay beyond that just don't be an attention seeker okay don't be an attention seeker in whatever you do so we're not no one's trying to i think get attention in a suit but in the same way you know whatever you want to wear it's just what's on the inside you want to like change your garments for for church but how about um how about the ladies as well how about the ladies so do we have a dress code so again no but there are some principles that god wants you to have in mind and look if i tread on toes here i don't really care i'm going to preach you what the word of god says what i believe the word of god says so turn to first timothy two first timothy chapter two which is a very clear scripture where where god sets out the importance of the outward appearance okay so god sets out the importance of our outward appearance in many places like i said you're just going to see that as we go through this in first timothy two and verse eight it says this first timothy two eight i will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting he said in like manner also so in like manner being that having holy how basically being holy okay in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame face sickness and sobriety not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array but which becometh women professing godliness with good work so the key point here is that women wear modest apparel or clothing isn't it okay that's a clear point modest now let me give you some dictionary definitions for modest because some people think well does it mean this does it mean that i would say it means a whole lot number uh number one okay so definition number one properly restrained by a sense of propriety hence not forward or bold not presumptuous or arrogant not boastful as a modest youth a modest man number two not bold or forward as a modest maid the word may be thus used without reference to chastity so it's not necessarily about chastity the blushing beauties of a modest maid is an example number three not loose not lewd so the example is mrs ford the honest woman the modest wife number four moderate not excessive or extreme not extravagant as a modest request modest joy a modest computation and you could apply all of those really like i said not arrogant boastful bold not lewd not excessive not extravagant he said in verse 9 in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame face in this and sobriety not with broidered hair or gold or pearls across the array so that's not what adorns them that's not what beautifies them yeah they can wear the jewelry sure they can wear that stuff yeah they're broid the hell whatever that you know and that seems to be actual sewing things in their head if they want to do that stuff they want to wear that stuff but it's not what adorns them it's not what they're trying to beautify themselves with but it's with the modest apparel it's with shame face in this and sobriety so you don't have to get fashion tips from the armish okay you don't have to cover every millimeter of skin like the muslims it's just not showing off or looking like a harlot okay it's pretty simple it's not actually that complicated turn to deuteronomy 22 and this is biblical terminology by the way in case you're wondering why i use the word harla proverb 7 10 says behold they met him a woman with the attire of an harlot and subtle of heart just because this wicked world okay has in very recent history decided it's good to look like a prostitute that's what a harla is that doesn't mean god thinks that god hasn't changed his mind because now we have just girls everywhere i mean literally uncovering their bums that is ridiculous i mean here i think it's i think essex is as bad as i guess maybe it's not maybe it's everywhere in the uk but i know when we had a you know our recent visitors from the us they were saying it's worse here than anywhere they've seen and i mean just unbelievable right well but does that mean that god wants us to behave like that oh it's our standard what the world does do we just kind of lower our standards because the world's standards have plummeted or do we go by god's standards well we need to understand what god's standards are don't we now remember that that romans 12 2 said and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and accepted perfect will of god so we don't need to conform to the world with clothing standards let's see what what god would expect now something that i want to explain okay for those who get confused by this okay is that what is it about the skirts and dresses because some people and i want to explain this and again you know a lot of people just don't know this stuff because people haven't preached this stuff for years because standards have massively changed so i want to explain this just so you understand what the word of god says about this um deuteronomy 22 5 okay there's another verse where the outward appearance is shown to be important to god just another one of those verses deuteronomy 22 and verse 5 says the woman shall not wear that which potateth unto a man neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so of abomination unto the lord thy god now of course this applies to all these freaks and you know and and whatever you want to i don't even know what they call them now what's the latest terminology for for geezer birds men that dress like women i mean it's freaky but on the same hand women that dress like men and and there are some pretty butch disgusting looking women out there where you're double taking was that man or was that a woman invite i mean that is that's an abomination that is a disgrace but there this applies to other things as well i've made the point before if i turned up here in a skirt or a dress if i was preaching now in the sky if you hadn't seen me i'd started up here for whatever reason then i walked out now and i was in a skirt or a dress and i include a kilt by the way that's always okay because he's got a bit of scottish blood in him that's all right you know he's just he's wearing a skirt but it's it's a tartan one look kilts used to be blankets they just they're just over years they turned into a mini skirt which happened to interestingly time with our world's blurring of the genders yeah over the last you know however many hundreds of years maybe but okay if i turned up here in a skirt or a dress you wouldn't be too happy would you again i think but i possibly get lynched at the least you'd probably turn turn around and leave right well what's the equivalent for a lady because throughout even fairly recent history trousers were never worn by women okay they were even illegal did you know that oh that was horrible you know those horrible misogynists of the past oh i just can't believe that was your standard that was normal okay now again i'm not getting on people if look it's up to you we don't have a rule on that or anything i just want to explain to you why you're going to see a lot of women here in skirts and dresses down to the knees okay i'm going to explain it uh i'm going to explain it for you so total wise i chapter 47 let me give you another one and please don't get an image here okay i'm not going to use myself because i'm feeling a little bit in the spotlight here okay say one of the men here turned up in a pair of skin tight leggings anyone think that would be okay skin tight leggings shirt tucked in no put your hand up if you think that's all right okay because i'm going to kick you out i'm kidding i'm kidding you can disagree we'll just laugh at you okay okay okay what about guy here walks in yeah one of the men here comes in he's in the skin tight leggings but he's got a fairly long shirt and it's it goes down to the top of his thighs is that okay anyone think that's okay what if he does it anywhere what if he's out in the street is that okay okay now what if he was in the leggings but he had some shorts down to the knees you see some sports people do that probably most people would say yeah maybe it's a bit weird that these guys like to wear leggings but whatever maybe some chafing issues or you know something to do they think that it's going to help their sports performance or something yeah however just because they're covering maybe like down to the bottom of their their buttocks yeah you wouldn't go well that's okay because you're still looking at some skin tight thigh and you're thinking that looks freaky right yeah agreed well why because the thighs are nakedness that's why because the bible teaches the thighs are nakedness look at isaiah 47 isaiah chapter 47 isaiah is preaching of judgment coming to the caldeons of babylon he says this in verse one of isaiah 47 and verse one come down and sit in the dust oh virgin daughter of babylon so he's preaching his judgments coming to them he says sit on the ground there is no throne oh daughter of the caldeons for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate take the millstones and grind mill uncover thy locks make bear the leg uncover the thigh notice he makes this point of uncovering the thigh pass over the rivers thy nakedness shall be uncovered yea thy shame shall be seen i will take vengeance i will not meet thee as a man now it's not just women either by the way so in case you're going okay right well thighs nakedness for women yeah i kind of get that i'm sure a lot of men understand why the thighs nakedness for women excess 28 42 you don't have to turn it says of the priest's attire and thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness this is men from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach he didn't say just the loins he said for the loins to the thighs being covering the thighs okay so the thighs of nakedness and like i said most people i think would agree with that like i said if i was here and uncovering my thighs you would think yeah that looks a bit it looks a bit creepy at the least it looks a bit naked and it's the same it doesn't suddenly change when it's women contrary to what the world does out there and due to body shape okay there are two options when a woman puts on a pair of trousers these are two options either they're immodest and they highlight her body her body shape so either that she's dressing immodestly and and and showing her nakedness and usually they're tight around the thigh and everything else or they're so baggy that you can't tell where she's a man or woman option one or option two which one do you want to go with and because some because oh no no because they're female trousers you're not female trousers are they're tight they're tight and they're not much different to wearing a pair of leggings and if a woman is and anyone here thinks that that's modest walking around a pair of underwear and look that's just reality now look i'm not trying to get at people here okay i've got nothing and look i've got nothing against leggings either but they're undergarments they need a skirt or dress over the top so why because you're just showing your body and it's not modest now by the way Deuteronomy 22 wasn't just about winning the house of god either was it okay so look again if if your whole thing is well okay we're in the house of god i'll put my skirt and dress on but when i go home straight in the trousers and everything else well look then you ain't sort it out on the inside because it ain't about just when you come to the house of god he said it's an abomination he said it's an abomination to cross dress a clean inside would hopefully result in someone not wanting to be an abomination to god in both ways it's the same way i ain't walking around in my short shorts when i'm outside of the church because i consider that i consider that nakedness and you know what i change on this a lot and i'm not trying to give myself an example but i i'll get look i'm i'm sure i've got plenty of work to do in many areas of my life we all do okay we're all sinners right but you know what i i used to coach tie boxing and if anyone knows anything about tie boxing they wear some pretty short shorts like shorts like they look a bit queer it's quite a tough sport but it does look a bit queer so but you know what i did as soon as i i understood this as soon as i read my bible i was like yeah i could see that thighs are nakedness i heard it preached i compared it with scripture i was like yeah i can see that how can i how can i be saying to my family to my daughters to my wife look i don't want short skirts and all this stuff how can i and then go to work oh well it's all right because i'm at work and put on the old short shorts rolled up because it makes my legs look a bit stronger well i just wore long shorts how people even sometimes comment aren't you hot in those longer shorts like yeah but you know i don't want to i don't want to show my thighs they look like a queer really i look like some sort of some sort of rent boy in a pair of short shorts god doesn't want me to look like that so look whatever the fashion is for that sport and and i think that should be pretty that that hopefully should be you know i think a lot of men here would be the same okay so i'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal here i'm just trying to explain that even in something like that even when it's like it's not that i'm just hanging around down the short shops like that that was something for a sport where people wear them like that i was like no that's not right and with my son who does tie boxing he wears a pair of cycling shorts under his shorts down to his knees so that he's able to kick or he wears longer shorts when he trains depending on depending on what we've got at the time but he covers up those sides okay so he said it's an abomination okay a clean inside like i said would result in that now turn to first corinthians chapter 11 and if you're sitting there go how would i do this look you know what it's pretty simple okay it's pretty easy and throughout history women just wore skirts just they wore leggings sometimes for things like riding and things like that sometimes with horses and they just put a skirt over the top okay or a dress over the top um and and here's the thing just last bit on that just because i know that people find this stuff hard okay but look the reality of it is we're in a day and age where the lines are so blurred it isn't now a more important time than ever to make it clear that that where the lines the different the different way we dress the different genders the different ways we behave isn't it oh no no because oh because the world says that that's okay now who cares what does god say well turn to first corinthians 11 because we're going to see another example on the same way where he wants us to define to show that difference he so god cares about defining the sexes it says in verse 13 judging yourselves is it comely that a woman pray unto god uncovered we're in first corinthians 11 13. now some people look at this and go oh okay he's talking about veils berets little woolly hats perched on your head anyone ever been in the church like that before okay quite a few okay where they've looked at this and they've gone better get the hats on okay i mean it's just so bizarre okay do you know why i know that it's not talking about hats because you might go how do you know that if some people try and say how do you know that the head being covered i'll tell you how i know because i bothered to read the next verses verse 14 says does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him but if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a what a covering so clearly the covering is the hair is the long hair and we're being told through the apostle Paul here that a woman praying without the covering of her hair is uncombly he said earlier in the chapter that she might as well just have it all cut off he said in verse six for if the woman be not covered let her also be shaun but if it be a shame for a woman to be shaun ashamed let her be covered for a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image of glory of god but the woman is the glory of the man so it wouldn't make sense any of this if jesus looked like the effeminate catholic inspired joke would it how on earth what a hypocritical bible if jesus really had long flying locks if jesus really did wear a dress like some of these people trying to pick to me none of this would make sense but you know what because that's all a lie because jesus was in the image of god and we've just seen here that that for as much for a man indeed ought not to cover his head or we've just seen a covering his long hair for as much as he's in the image and glory of god so no that's a load of nonsense don't get sucked in by that okay that's not cool so as much as for a woman yeah the bible teaches that a woman shouldn't have you know shouldn't have basically the buzz cut yeah shouldn't have the old you know nowadays some of them think it looks really cool and to have this like you know man's haircut and everything else if a man has long hair it's a shame that's what verse 14 says it said in verse 14 does not even nature itself teach you don't even need the word of god to tell you this we know deep down that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him so maybe you're being conned by the swati sorry the sweaty and swati warriors of hollywood yeah maybe you've watched that and you've seen every warrior's got this like sweaty locks across his face and stuff i mean how would you even fight how are you gonna fight when it's all in your eyes yeah you know what i mean it's a load of nonsense now don't get me wrong i'm sure cultures of the past yeah some of them probably had long hair and did weird effeminate stuff like that that's not how god wants him us to have it i'll tell you what samson samson when they go oh well you know about cutting the hair that was a nazirite vow okay samson made a nazirite vow and it was to not and you know what it was it to do it was also not to shave it off okay but regardless the men of the bible weren't running around with long sweaty locks in their faces okay god cares about hair length clearly here doesn't he but what they want to do is try and push and promote it because it's the opposite to what god what god wants the world is always inside out upside down he cares about the outward appearance he doesn't want men to look effeminate and he doesn't want women to look masculine it's pretty clear isn't it i mean he said if any man seemed to be contentious you want to argue about it we've got no such custom neither the church to god you can argue all you like but we don't act like the gender line blurring weirdos out there okay we're we're a house of god here we we we act we want to try and act and get right with how god wants us to behave and how god wants us to appear he clearly cares about appearance doesn't he but why because it shows that we care about what god wants because that's a bit of a test of yourself because some of these things are hard for people some of these things are strongholds sometimes the trousers can be a stronghold for some women i'm sure for some scots out there that the the kill thing is a stronghold and i'm and i'm sure for some the hair length is a stronghold now some will go well how long is too long for a man or how short is too short for a lady well if you're wondering if you're sitting there going i don't know if my hair is growing a bit long just cut it off better be safe than sorry isn't it why sit there going well i just don't know you know if it's starting to become a covering over your head it sounds like it's too long if if you're if women out there it's getting so short it's no longer recovering it sounds like it's too short pretty simple and that's what god wants and i'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news to anyone that feels that this is really hard for them but that's just what the Bible says no we're not sitting in here we're not doing it the ushers aren't looking out for haircuts on the way in okay they're not looking out for you know women dressing in certain ways on the way unless they were literally came in obscene okay then sure but that hasn't happened yet and hopefully never will but look it's up to you guys what you want to do but it's between you and god isn't it and and i'm preaching this because look it does matter to god and it does show what's on the inside especially once you've started seeing it and you're seeing it spelled out you're seeing it in the word of god you know what it's quite liberating as well you know a lot of women they find it so hard at the beginning and then eventually they realize actually going around with my bum on show everywhere with my thighs on show everywhere with people you know just knowing that i everywhere i go the way the world dresses is that i've got to basically show my show my my curves and show everything else once they realize they don't have to do that it actually is quite nice it's quite nice to not have to dress not feel like they have to dress like that to fit in and it's ridiculous dressing like that to fit in when god makes it so clear and lastly i want to mention today when it comes out with appearance okay we're nearly done is how we talk okay how we talk turn to ephesians chapter 4 when i read colossians 3 8 you turn to ephesians 4 and i'm going to read colossians 3 8 colossians 3 8 says but now you also put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth ephesians 4 we're looking at verse 29 i just read colossians 3 8 which said to put off filthy communication out of your mouth ephesians 4 29 says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good for you to redefine it may minister grace unto the hearers and look because the world deems certain words as rude and certain as not okay we don't have to go overboard with this okay so with that okay some people question salvation with this stuff i knew a guy a pastor of a church who is a repent of your sins who basically was talking about people he said you should hear how they talk i mean are they even saved he said to me what on earth he took and this guy was clearly you know in hindsight eventually it came out that he is a work salvationist but there are people that think that they think well if you'll say how would you ever use foul language okay no we don't have to go overboard look there's much worse things than not being able to control your tongue sometimes and saying something which the world deems is a swear word and on that as well i'm going to use biblical words as i see fit so i'm not going to have the world tell me that biblical words are swear words and you're going which words are you talking about bloody for example yeah and i'm going to look how could i if you could it should use those words behind a pulpit well how would i read the bible otherwise piss it's in the bible yeah hell it's in the bible they're biblical words however okay however a lot of rude words okay in inverted commas and what the world deems as rude words okay aside from the biblical words are often toilet talk or anatomy or even worse aren't they let's be honest that that's what they generally are which is why they're considered rude words because they're either talking about things which are unclean or they're talking about things parts of the body which you don't really need to just add in as a random adjective in the middle of your conversation or they're talking about actions of the body which usually aren't things that you just want to suddenly just just bring up in the middle of a conversation for no reason and those of you that know the words i'm thinking about you think like yeah that doesn't really fit with most of the times it's being used really it had nothing to do with the conversation you know and it's like suddenly it's a word that's got nothing to do with it now do you think that's the outward appearance of god wants from his people is it look you can go overboard and be like someone's completely wicked because they they didn't control it no i'm not going to go that far but what i would say is that that's something we should all make an effort with isn't it we should try and try and at least talk in a way that doesn't offend people is it edifying because we've said let no corrupt communication proceed out your mouth at that which is good for the use of edifying look some of those adjectives sometimes there's extreme situations maybe you think this is edifying i would probably question that okay does it minister grace unto the hearers but worse than that yeah worse than that okay so that's one thing and that's something that look some people will be better with than others some people will blurt out things more than others but i would say that that's something that we should try and control because it just doesn't make us it ultimately is that is that the outward appearance god wants and are people then criticizing the word criticizing the message criticizing god's people because our mouths are just full of you know all sorts of words that they consider to be very rude if someone is offended by those words why are we using them do you really need to yeah we could go i don't care i'm going to say what i want but is that how we should be no where possible again i'm not going to stop using biblical words because i'm reading the bible and preaching the bible but you know what in front of certain people in certain situations i'll probably be careful i probably would avoid using the word piss why because it's going to offend them now not if i was reading i wouldn't go right i'm going to cut this bit out of the bible but just because some people do if someone gets offended by saying if someone here gets offended by something and it's got nothing to do with the bible you're going to probably try you should try and avoid offending them shouldn't you so we should be aware of that because people do still get it does because it does hurt you sometimes sometimes it feels disrespectful doesn't it i don't know if you how about if you've been out with your kids and you're around you're with your kids you're on the train you're on the bus you're somewhere and someone's just effing and blinding right by your kids and is it because you're thinking my poor little kids is because your kids are probably some of them a lot of the time they would have heard that how about with your wife and you and it might be a pride thing but you get offended why because you think that's disrespectful you're using those words it doesn't matter whether they've heard them before it doesn't matter whether you think they're going to repeat them or not you're basically using language and talking about things and vulgar things and stuff in front of me because you're basically saying i don't care and i'm going to use it anyway and that's disrespectful and and it's not and and we shouldn't be like that with anyone should we really yeah but worse than any of that worse than that by the way it's taking the name of the lord in vain okay so you know what you show me someone that f's and blinds and i i much prefer to be around that than someone that's that's using the lord's name as a swear word that every other word is an at least in vain and oh my you know and for the purposes of this sermon oh my god and all those things people say or or or worse they're just going using jesus's name like he's some sort of swear i mean that's that's offensive that is offensive isn't it and that's what and then we as christians and sadly there are believers that do that stuff and and that that is that's much worse from the excess 20 verse 7 says thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain that's a pretty strong warning isn't it that's a strong warning don't take the name the lord in vain he's not some swear word he's not a name that you just use because you can't think of anything else he's not a name to swap for what the world considers a rude word you'd be better to use a rude word than god's name and that sounds serious doesn't it he said for the lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain a lot more serious than whatever's on the world's rude list right now okay so however clean language is still an important part of the outward appearance wouldn't you say it's still an important part of the outward appearance back in matthew 23 we're just going to finish off of matthew chapter 23 it says in verse 25 actually 23 25 says but woe unto you woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites if you make clean the outside of the cup of the platter but within they're full of extortion excess okay so this sermon again just to remind you i really just want to hammer this point as well this isn't about forget everything else i just want to look good in front of people it's not it's about assessing yourself and thinking like do i want to please god or not do i want to try and live how god wants me to live do i want to be what god wants me to be or am i looking at this and going yeah but i'm going to make an excuse i'm going to kick it you know that's what it's about isn't it what's on the inside he said within they're full of extortion excess our blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter that the outside of them may be clean also why aren't you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for your like unto white sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within you're full of hypocrisy and iniquity so yeah don't be a hypocrite however he did say that that if you cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter the outside of them may be clean also the title was the outward appearance point number one was who cares about the outward appearance the answer is god point number two who why does god care about the outward appearance it shows what's on the inside it glorifies god glorifies the ministry and point number three what does god care about with the outward appearance and we've looked just for now at hygiene at clothing at hair length at speech to name but a few and it starts with the inside but let's not neglect then the outside right okay let's let's bear in mind how god wants us to live and want to live in the right way and want to behave and want to act and want to appear outwardly in the same and the right way and on that we're going to finish it away father thank you for your word thank you for um well the the the the clearance structure you give us some things like this lord you know things such as you know being clean being dressing you know appropriately um lord having our hair appropriately speaking appropriately lord and help us to get right in this help us uh everyone here not to be offended by your word lord and not to you know feel that people are you know looking at them in a in you know down on them if they're you know maybe either maybe new to this sort of thing or maybe they just don't really care about this sort of thing you know haven't done until now and help everyone to just be convicted lord that we just want to we want to be like you want us to be lord and and you know not to not to let the world influence us to them be more likely to rebel against your word help us to live right but help us to to you know with that make sure it's because what's on the inside is is what we're trying to correct we're trying to not be rebellious we're trying to be you know more in line with how you want us to be lord that we want to put you up there put your word up there put your standards up there lord and um and get that right and that will then hopefully show on the outside too lord help us to um to to get out this afternoon and get people saved with the soul winning and into return for the proverb series this evening