Dress . . . An Issue of the Heart
Let’s look at a few scriptures before introducing our subject.
II Cor. 6:17 says, “Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” The Lord is saying that He wants us to be separate. This is not just some notion that someone on earth thought up. The Lord said that we are to be a separate people!
Let’s look in Titus 2. It says in verse 14, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
That has been the desire of the Lord, and that’s what He’s doing! He calls us to be His children, and I hope you don’t mind being peculiar, because that’s a distinguishing Bible mark of being a Christian. We are peculiar. To the world, we’re rather strange, to say the least! And the Lord meant it to be that way. He meant for us, so to speak, to stick out in a crowd, and we do! It also says that He wanted us to be zealous of good WORKS. Works is something that you do, is it not? It is something that is done on the outside that can be seen. Peter also said that we are a peculiar people, a holy nation. They recognized that in the early morning time, and we need to recognize that now. I believe part of the good works in the Christian walk is how we dress.
Let us consider the subject of why we teach on dress, and why we believe that this subject needs to be dealt with in the Church of God. It’s not something that we hear perhaps a lot of preaching on. I don’t believe, in a general meeting, I’ve ever taught or preached on this subject, but in the Church of God we do do it! We do teach on details. My purpose this morning is not so much to give instruction in a point by point way as to some of those different details, though, Lord willing, we may touch on some general areas, but we want to bring forward the idea of why we do teach on these lines.
Dress might sound like a “little” thing, but it’s causing a big stir. And we want to look into that. I will say this right in the beginning–we are fully aware and do believe that it is not by works of our own righteousness that we are saved. It is by the mercy of God, through the blood of Christ. Some people from without might be quick to charge the people of God with, “You believe because you dress that way, you’re holy.” No, we don’t believe that putting on a certain attire is going to make you holy at all. But we do believe that when you are holy in your heart that is going to cause something to happen on the outside. That doesn’t always happen, necessarily, just over night or a week later, but, by and by, someone that’s got a changed heart, will soon be seen making a lot of changes in the way they do things outwardly. Dress is just one of those areas.
Let’s look into Genesis. You will notice we don’t have to go very far into the Bible at all before we see the Lord dealing with dress. This is speaking of Adam and Eve, after their disobedience and fall. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Gen. 3:7.
Let’s look in verse 21. It says, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin, and clothed them.”
Now Adam and Eve made an attempt to design some clothes, and God rejected the design. The Lord God, out of heaven, designed some clothes, right away, to put a covering on Adam and Eve. I don’t know how big those aprons were. It would have been good to have a picture of both, wouldn’t it? But we know that the coat was a good COVERING–really thick, really plain, made out of skins. I don’t expect it came with any ornaments, frills, or lace. I don’t expect He asked Adam and Eve, “Is this okay?” (Especially Eve!) “Eve, is this okay; you want me to modify it?” No. “Eve, here’s your covering.” The idea behind the clothes is to be covered! A coat is a thorough covering for the body, and I believe that the Lord still wants people to wear “coats;” PLAIN coats. People are having a hard time, it seems, in our generation and down through history, but our generation is in a bad place concerning these matters, and they just do not want to put their “coat” on. They want fig leaves in one form or another, but God has ordained that we should be covered. If people would have stayed covered the way that they did from that point on, we probably wouldn’t even have to deal with this subject. But because of people’s hearts–that fallen nature–they didn’t keep their coats on as they should have.
Let’s look in the New Testament, in II Cor. 4. It was stated this week that, “In the Church of God, it doesn’t matter what subject we read on in the Bible, it just gives the children of God joy.” And, why shouldn’t that be so for a real child of God when it comes to dress? Why shouldn’t it bring joy to know the will of the Lord, and to be eager to fulfill that will? It ought to be that way, and for a true child of God, I believe it is that way.
II Cor. 4:16. We want to bring out a thought here. It says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
This scripture lets us know very distinctly that there is an outward man and there is an inward man. We have that inward man; we have that precious eternal soul. And then we have the outward man, which the Bible calls our earthly tabernacle, or simply put, it’s our body. Which part does the Lord get when we give Him our life? He gets it all. The way some people, especially in religious circles, act these days, you would think that all the Lord is interested in is getting the inward man. They are very wrong.
Let’s look at a few more scriptures. In I Cor. 6:19, the writer said, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” You are not your own! “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (vs. 20) Inward, outward–it is all God’s, and this scripture is calling us to glorify God, not only in our spirit, but we are to glorify God in our bodies.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Thess. 5:23.
We put a lot of emphasis in our preaching and teaching, and rightfully so, on being blameless in our spirit, in our soul. But do you know that our body is also to be preserved blameless? That’s going to involve whatever we do with our bodies. That’s going to involve being blameless in where we allow our body to go, the places we allow our body to take us, so to speak. That is going to involve what we put on our body. If it belongs to God, then everything that touches it, anything that pertains to it, is of interest to God, for it is His property. And we want to be able to say on that last day that, not only is my soul blameless, but my body is blameless before God. It’s been used in a holy manner, and is adorned in a holy manner.
Let’s look into I Peter chapter 3, starting in verse 1. “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear” (vs.2). See, they are beholding with their eyes their conversation, their conduct. It’s not just what’s in the heart. They’re beholding it with their eyes. “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair.” Peter is mentioning hair. “Of wearing of gold,” He’s talking about wearing gold. He’s naming some things out specifically. “Or of putting on of apparel” (vs. 3). No doubt, they dealt with the manner of apparel and the expensiveness of the apparel that they would wear and just the nature of all of it. The early morning church did deal with it. Peter said, don’t let it be the outward adorning, “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (vs. 4). When everything is said and done on this earth, it’s not going to matter to you or I one little bit what everyone else thinks about you. But in the sight of God, that we would have something of great price to Him.
Peter is bringing out in this scripture both the inward man and the outer man. Now, verse 3 is in the Bible. Verse 4–he didn’t just skip over and go to the hidden man, but he dealt also with the outward man. We see very plainly that Peter addressed certain specific things that he was concerned they should abstain from and not wear. He dealt with them concerning their hair. If you have seen pictures of the hair styles that some of the women had in the early morning time, it’s quite amazing. Some of those Grecian or Roman women had their hair so ornately braided, that it was like a sculpture on the top of their head. Sometimes that broiding or plaiting of the hair involved interweaving things into it, as most of us know. Interweaving fineries, or gold into it; just fancying up the hair and not leaving it plain, and Peter dealt with those things in his time.
Peter is giving instruction for both the inner and outer man. He was saying don’t do this with the outer, but be this way with the inner. If you misuse your body and adorn it in a way that is not pleasing to the Lord, I believe that can have a direct affect on the inner man. Have you ever seen anyone that really heads out a wrong way in dress, towards the spirit of the world, and they are hot and flourishing in the inner man, and they’re deep and they’re devout and they’re a woman or a man with just real fiery vision of the things of God and deep in the Word of God? Usually you don’t see the two come together. And I believe one will affect another.
Some people say that we should dress to make attractive the way. Peter just stepped right in and he said, “Don’t let it be the outward adorning.” He said don’t feel like you have to go win the Grecian or Roman people by dressing in a certain way on the outward man, but he said, “Let it be the hidden man of the heart.” Let it be that.
If a person overly concerns themselves with the outward, and they dressed in a way that seems a little more suitable to the world, it seems to me, that is not conducive to a holy temper. And again, I feel like this scripture bears it out. It is not a friendly influence on humility. It’s inconsistent. It is also inconsistent with simplicity. Remember that plain coat? He wants us to still have that consistency. We say we’re a plain people, that we live plainly, we live in simplicity. Now, if we’re dressing up to fit in with the world, I see no consistency in that. I feel like the simplicity and the plainness needs to follow through and apply in every thread of our life. Whether it’s inward, whether it’s outward, whether it’s something I wear, or something I do, that simplicity needs to be spoken of in all of it. If our heart is set on heaven, then why would someone’s clothes be set according to the course of the world? It’s inconsistent; it doesn’t fit.
Peter said, “Let it be the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit.” Do you know what meek means? It means to accept God’s dealings without disputing or resistance. I believe Adam and Eve accepted their new clothes without disputing or resistance. One of the reasons they did that, was because they were sufficiently humbled before God.
How can you have the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit and have loud and gay clothes? How can you have that ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit when the bright colors are there and the flashy fashions are there? How can that be? Again, it’s inconsistent.
When we teach on outward things, I’m convinced we are teaching on inward things. When we teach on outward things we are touching the inward man. Oh, are we ever touching the inward man! You go in some circles and teach on these simple scriptures, which we’re all quite familiar with, and I tell you what! I’d be dealing with something right now with some congregations if I were out there in certain religious circles. You would find out what kind of roots the outward clothes are really attached to.
People say, “well clothes are not a big deal.” You try to touch upon the issue of dress, you’re going to get some big reactions, sometimes violent reactions. How could it be such a simple, neither here nor there matter, when it seems to heat some people up so badly? Well, all we have to do is look at that thing and follow the string right on through, and I believe you’ll find it connected right to the heart.
I John chapter 2:15, 16. “Love not the world.” Love not the world! “Neither the things”–the things, the things–“that are in the world. If any man, [or woman] love the world,” Listen! Listen! “The love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,” including their fashionable clothes, “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the PRIDE of life, is not of the Father,” It is not of the Father! “But is,” I assure you just like the apostle did, it “is of the world” (vs. 16). The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–when it comes to worldly and immodest dress, which one of these categories does not get hit, so to speak? Which one of these categories does it not touch? The lust of the flesh–something the flesh goes after, the lust of the eyes–it just has a certain worldly appeal, and the pride of life–people dress in a certain way to fit a certain occasion or to fit into a certain crowd and it brings them a certain air. And, oh, how our clothes speak! Your clothes talk about you before you ever open your mouth! They speak very loudly about your values. Your clothes tell us something about your heart. People say, “Oh now!” It is so, and some people’s reactions tells on them.
Not only do your clothes allow an opportunity for your own flesh to work out the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, but your clothes can produce these areas of temptation for other people–most absolutely! You’d have to walk around with blinders on your eyes to not believe that.
I believe when we deal with dress, we are dealing with a moral issue! We’re not dealing with just fabric; we are dealing with a moral issue! That’s why the Church of God dares to teach on dress. If we could have it down on a piece of paper, and I know we can’t, we would be shocked and amazed at the people that are in hell because of the temptations that they fell under, because of somebody walking by dressed in a certain way. I don’t know the statistics, but this generation surely must get one of the prizes for their immodesty and their immorality. I wonder how many people have committed adultery because of the way somebody walked by them. I wonder how many people have committed fornication. I wonder how many women have been raped because of the way that they dressed their bodies. This is a moral issue! And it’s going to be a moral issue until our bodies leave this world! When it comes to these things, oh yes, the Church of God will teach on it! Oh yes, we must!
People think they have on a little skirt, or they think they have on a little pair of shorts, or they think they have on a pair of pants, etc., but what they’re really wearing is their heart on the outside saying, “I’m proud,” “I’m vain,” “I’m lustful.” “I’m rebellious.” That’s what they’re really saying with their clothes. People can say, “That’s not in my heart” all they want to, we can’t help but read their body language.
In the beginning of the 1900’s, some of the reformers imbibed a spirit of compromise and that half hour of silence began, and we’re seeing the effects of it in an amazing way today. Part of that silence also brought about a landslide of immodesty in dress–an absolute landslide. Now we are in a wonderful time of restoration in God’s church. And here, again, we see the consistency of God. Oh, thank the Lord, He has a people that are again putting their “coats” on! He has been teaching His people how to dress and giving an understanding of true modesty. And praise God, we love to have it so.
Out in the world, people like the idea of having a designer label on their clothes. How I trust that little vanity and pride of life isn’t walking around in our midst anywhere. When we go shopping, we’re not looking for a label. We’re looking for something that’s plain and simple and modest and covers. If I have a label on my clothes, I want the same one Eve had on hers–Approved of God.
Once in a rare while, the saints might go swimming, and it’ll be in a VERY private place, and it will be brothers with brothers and sisters with sisters. And when we go, do you know what our bathing suit looks like? It looks just like this–we are fully clothed, as at all other times. God has taught us modesty! The world says that’s crazy, but God says, “That’s modesty.”
When I was in my 20’s, I was in a bakery one day, and there was a gentleman in there about 65-70 years old. He came up to me, this elderly man, and here I am in my 20’s, and he said, “You remind me of my mother.” I felt so blessed, because I knew what he was getting at. I knew what he was sensing–that wholesomeness, that old-fashioned look. Back in the days when his mom was young, she would’ve had a hair-do like mine, because back then, not only the Christian people dressed like that; even the WORLDLY people used to dress much more modestly, too!
Get out the old pictures. It wasn’t just the Christians at the time that dressed like this. Women of the world did not walk down the street with their hair down and with their hair cut and curled. You did not see that. They had their hair up in a bun. And the woman that would have walked down the street with her hair down, would have been marked as disreputable. That’s less than a hundred years ago. Look what the silence has done. We put our hair in a bun now, and they think we’re crazy, but we are the normal ones.
I’ll tell you what is crazy. I’ve seen some crazy things. I’ve seen men out there in the world, they have no hair up on top at all, with a little fuzz around the sides, but when they turn around, what do you see? A ponytail hanging down! And he’s telling me I look funny? You go to town now and you will see young men and women with green or purple hair, with funny spikes sticking out of it all over the place. Who told them to dress like that? Surely, it’s the devil! And they think we’re crazy? There’s people walking around in public now, and I look at them and think, when I was a girl they wouldn’t have walked out of their bedroom wearing that. In fact, some of those things would not have even been worn in the privacy of their own bedroom. They don’t know the devil has stripped their clothes off them. The devil just stripped their common sense away. Who wants green hair? It doesn’t even look good. And when some of these people grow up, or get saved, hopefully, they’re going to look back to their years when they did these things, and they’re going to be so embarrassed at the things they did because it looks so foolish.
We are so normal the world just can’t stand it because they haven’t seen normal for so long. They forgot what it’s supposed to be like. If you’re around us a little while, you will find out we are really very normal and happy people. People look at us and they think, “You can’t look like that and be happy.” Praise the Lord! They don’t believe us, but it brings a wonderful liberty. Do you know why? Because through salvation, God has been cutting strings–things that were in the heart that used to be attached to the worldly clothes–He cut them all. So, we don’t have to put on our clothes, trying to go against something in the heart that’s fighting. We’re not going against lust, or vanity and pride, because it’s taken care of. It’s all gone. That gives us a wonderful liberty to do the will of the Lord, and we find great joy in doing it.
I Tim. 2:9, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel.” Did you hear that? Modest apparel! “With shamefacedness and sobriety;” not with these outward things, like “broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” It is Bible. Paul said, “Women, this is what you’re supposed to do.”
Paul said, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves,” and then he gave them some specific instructions concerning hair style, jewellry and expensive clothing. Why is it that so many so-called ministers today will not teach on outward dress? That’s part of the silence; part of the effects of that silence. There again, you can’t give the Lord your inward man and He not also get the outward man. He’s not interested in deals like that. Absolutely not.
You know, a person can be rebellious and it just not show up in every area of their life. They might appear to have a submissiveness in many areas of their life and do well in many areas. And it’s possible to have a rebellion, and it shows up in some people–I’m not saying all, by any means–but it shows up in some people just by their resistance to their coat. “Don’t you deal with me about gold; don’t you deal with me about my hair; don’t you deal with me about the apparel that I put on, or costly array. It’s my closet; this is my body.” Which other rooms of the house would you like to leave out in your consecration to God? Our salvation touches every single area of our life, none exempt. His thoughts are different than our thoughts, just like they were when Adam and Eve tried to design their own clothes. God had other thoughts, and God has other thoughts than what a lot of people are carrying around in their professing heads today.
Paul gave them some instruction on dress, and he said to be adorned with shamefacedness and sobriety. Again, how can someone say, “Well, I’m shamefaced and I have spiritual sobriety,” when there’s not a shamefacedness showing up in their clothes?
There are professing women that do wear dresses, but, oh those dresses! I was in a place once, and sat behind a woman, who arose, with lifted hands, to worship the Lord and went on to “prophesy.” She had long, painted nails, a face covered in make-up, and a tight, worldly dress. Her clothes spoke volumes–“I’m worldly; I’m vain. I’m very interested in what the world thinks.” Yet she was saying, “Thus saith the Lord” to this congregation of people. Where’s the shamefacedness in that kind of dress when there’s a slit up the side and it’s form-fitting? That is not shamefaced, and it does matter to God, and it does say something about a person. Again, that consistency, that precious consistency!
What does modest mean? The scripture says to wear modest apparel. Modest means it is unassuming. Listen to this word–it also means restrained. Oh, that’s not a popular word, but that’s part of what modesty is; it is having a restraint. It’s decent; it’s retiring in manner. This portrays a picture of going into the background, doesn’t it? It’s retiring; it’s not putting yourself up to be seen. It’s retiring in manner, and it is not excessive. Many people are obviously wearing what they wear to be seen and to present an image. When modest apparel is not in evidence, you be sure the shamefacedness and sobriety are lacking.
One man said, “Modesty in attire is the handmaiden of morality, and immodesty is the mother of immorality.” Someone with a modest spirit is going to try to conceal their body, and they want the worth of the soul to come out. If someone has an immodest spirit, whether in very overt ways, or in more subtle ways, it’s going to show up in little ways in which they dress. It will, because that spirit is going to come out, sooner or later, in some way or another.
I want to touch upon a few general areas. We teach the same standard for the adults as we do for the children, and I believe that’s important. I remember being at a place one time, and it was a professed holiness place and the women were somewhat modest for where they were and for the teaching they had, to a degree. I can appreciate that as far as some people have been taught and endeavored to measure to. But, in that particular place I remember the mothers looking like that, but their little girls had on dresses that came well above their knees, or just around the knees, and was loaded with flounces and lace and ruffles and little bows. You look at the mother and then at her little girl, and you have to say, “Is that the same family?” That is, again, inconsistent. Why should the mother wear a coat and the little girl have something made out of fig leaves? It’s inconsistent. And what’s that going to do to that little girl? You see, some of those little girls, you know what they like to do? They could come up to someone and say, “You see my new, pretty dress? Isn’t it pretty? Don’t you think I’m pretty?” You put that on a little girl, in whatever measure of immodesty might be there, and then, all of a sudden when they’re 13 or 14, you’re going to tell them, “Alright, here’s your coat,” and they may have a problem with it, because you’ve used all those growing up years planting pride and vanity in that little heart. You think, “Oh, that doesn’t matter; little children don’t think of those things.” That’s not so; they do. I remember years and years ago before I had hardly any understanding at all, someone had said something, and I made a comment to my mother, who’s not saved or professing at all. I said, “Well, I guess it wouldn’t matter on a child. A little child’s not going to be aware of what they wear.” My mother said, “Oh, yes, they are.” She said that even at a very young age, her girls were very aware of their clothing. That was a revelation to me at that time, many, many years ago. Why give the devil a quarter of a year? Why give him a three year span to work little roots in that heart? Pride is something that’s in the fallen nature as it is. It’s just there waiting to be fanned, and you put on some of these little fig-leaved garments and you are fanning something. It’s like putting a hot-house effect on that vanity and pride and something will grow in that little heart. Why would a mother want to do that to their child anyway? I can’t help but wonder if the mother is dressed up on the outside, hasn’t got it on the inside and is doing it only because it’s expected of her, and pretty soon here comes mother’s pride on little junior. See, our clothes speak and so do our children’s clothes. They speak a lot about the parents. That’s not fair to the child, to allow that while they’re little, and then when they are older to instruct them to be shamefaced and sober and to be deeply spiritual in their heart. Then they have all that pride and vanity and all those inward things to deal with that have been growing there all those years. You just made their endeavors to go forward in the Christian walk a little more difficult, because a lot of those roots are not removed overnight. When you’re dealing with some things that are planted in there a long time, it can take a process for the Lord to remove what you allowed to grow in there. We are supposed to be workers together with the Lord, are we not? Does that not include how we bring up our children? Oh, very definitely! The Bible charges us to train them up in the way they should go.
We do not want our girls to be tomboys. There’s certain things that little girls cannot do, and you know, that’s alright. In fact, it’s needful. People act differently when they are in a dress than if they were in pants. I’m talking about a woman or a girl now. You start carrying yourself differently when you start dressing like a woman, right down to the way that you sit in a chair. We don’t want the girls to feel like they can just sprawl around and jump around and not be careful. And so, the little girls conduct themselves sometimes slightly differently than the boys will do concerning their play.
I believe it’s very important in the time we are living in to address cross-dressing between the genders. When I came out of the world, this scripture was a revelation to me. “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” Deut. 22:5. I believe any thinking person will acknowledge, even out in the world, that it’s considered man’s attire to wear pants. The Bible declares very plainly that women are not to wear those things which pertain to men’s clothing, and neither are the men to wear things that look like women’s clothing. We are living in a time of extreme gender confusion with a lot of people. Spirits are working to a measure like they weren’t working even 25 years ago, and something is loose out there. It doesn’t surprise me as the decades go by and the women change their attire, and they start becoming more manly in their dress. I was thinking this morning, wouldn’t it be interesting to have a chart for each decade through the 1900’s, where women started out with long dresses, long sleeves, high collars and hair up in bun, and show after the years of silence, the change through every decade from then up unto the year 2000. It would be very interesting. Somewhere along the way, the buns came down and the women’s hair was loosed, and then as time went on, it was cut and curled. Then they got rid of the dresses, and they brought in pants. Now in more recent years, we are seeing some abominable things. We have men that don’t know they’re supposed to be men and women that don’t know they’re supposed to be women, and we have homosexuality becoming rampant. We have laws coming in that are horrendous! People don’t know what a family unit is any more. This didn’t happen overnight. As the devil always works, he likes to work by slow degrees, and people don’t know that they’re being made naked, not only of their clothes, but also of their morals. The devil brings them to a point where they don’t know, “Am I a man or am I a woman, and what kind of desires do I have and who should I be with?” People don’t even know what a family is anymore. God ordained a family; it’s a man, and it’s a woman and the children that He would give to them. And we’ve got laws coming in to this so-called Christian nation, where homosexuals are getting spousal rights. Men are living with men; women living with women, and they’re not ashamed of it. They don’t look like us in the way they dress either, because immodesty is the mother of immorality. We’re looking at such a rebellious generation, they don’t care what the Bible says. All of this decay has come in by slow degrees, and dress was involved in the whole thing all the way along. These people have no shame any more, and they’re walking down the streets. I used to live in what used to be considered a relatively conservative community. Now we see men with men on the streets and women with women, and they are not ashamed. They are renting apartments together and buying homes together.
“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” I Cor. 11:14. It’s a shame for a man to have long hair! “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering” (vs. 15).
You see these pictures that were painted, most of them through the dark ages, when people lacked so much spiritual understanding, representing Jesus with hair down to the shoulders, but the Bible says, “Doesn’t even nature teach you?” Nature should be enough to teach you that it’s a shame for a man to have long hair. I’ve seen pictures of coins, showing different Caesars, and they have short hair. Now we have men, like I said earlier, with their ponytails, and that have hair down sometimes as far as their waist. Now you assume, because it used to be this way not that very long ago, when you walk down the street, that the person in front of you with the long hair, was the woman. The one with the short hair was the man. And, of course, now they are all wearing pants, and when they turn the corner, lo and behold, you had them mixed up. I’ve literally seen women with crew cuts. Crew cuts on a woman! That gives her an entirely different look. And the man with his shaggy, long hair flowing down his back looks so unnatural. It’s rebellious. It’s against nature; it’s against the will of God. It’s devised by the devil! Oh, these men with women’s hair!
It’s madness; this world has gone mad! They don’t know what modesty is! They don’t know what it is to be feminine! They don’t know what it is to be manly! They don’t know who’s supposed to be what! That’s why we teach on these things. We teach on these things before a man grows his hair and gets a ponytail. We teach on these things so that clothes bear a distinction. There is a distinction between male and female, and God made it to be so, and wants us to keep it that way.
That’s why we teach, when it comes to shoes, that girls wear girls’ shoes and the boys wear boys’ shoes. My husband and I were having to look for shoes for him, and I went into a store. I thought I was looking in the men’s section; turned out I was in the women’s section. I could hardly tell the difference; it took me a few moments to realize, “Oh, this is the women’s section.” And it’s that way with different items of clothing. It could be a man’s, or it could be a woman’s. If the husband and the wife are the same size, they could just swap over, wouldn’t matter, but it is not supposed to be that way. There again, you follow the trail of these things; it doesn’t end with the outward things; it never does! We see these changes also in the work force. There were certain jobs that a woman took, and certain jobs that a man took.
Let’s follow that a little bit further. Like I said, then it goes on, and you don’t know what kind of person you’re supposed to be married to and having a relationship with. It didn’t happen overnight. It all started somewhere, and the scripture says in I Corinthians, “If a woman have long hair...” “Well,” says a woman with her hair cut half way up her back, “Is this long?” And someone else has their hair cut up here and they say, “Well, that’s long.” Someone else has it right up here and they say, “That’s long.” Let me give you a safe guide to know what long hair is for a woman. Let it grow just as long as the Lord lets it grow, and that will be long for you. Now, a woman in Africa, her hair won’t grow as long as some women from our culture here, but for them, that’s as long as the Lord lets it grow and for them that’s long hair in the sight of the Lord. And over here, as long as your hair will grow, will be long in the sight of the Lord. To me that’s safe.
Now some people will go on and try to use verse 16 and say, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” When he says, “We have no such custom,” he is not referring to the hair, but is dealing with the question that was presented further up in this chapter. The question was, “What about the veiling?” That was a custom of those women to wear in that time. That’s the custom he was talking about; he’s not talking about the long hair. The long hair is still in effect. The short hair for men, that’s still in effect. That is still the will of the Lord!
We are very careful people, and we need to be, in all these things. We need to be a discerning people, and be able to look at something, though it is just a tiny seed, and discern, what is this going to grow into? What is this “little thing” going to become? It will grow into something.
We don’t want to be too casual in our dress. That’s very much also the spirit of the world. Everybody is just laid back and casual and relaxed, even in offices now, where at one time you would see the business people in their suits, all dressed up. And that suit speaks, “I’m a business person, and I do serious business.” Clothes speak! It seems whatever the world is doing, you also find it in Babylon, either in full bloom, or in some measure. We don’t want casual dress coming in amongst us.
I remember about four years ago, I went to visit a Faith and Victory meeting. We drove by the building about seven minutes before it was to begin. No, even earlier than that when we first went by, and the building was all dark. And I thought, “Well, maybe we missed the night. Maybe this isn’t meeting night.” I think we crossed by there two times waiting for someone to come before we went and parked in there, and when we went back again it was just minutes before the meeting was to start. Within about two or three minutes before the meeting, they arrived. That already said something to me. When I went in there (and I love these people) this was I think mid-week meeting, a number of the men had on jeans. Some of their women had on jean dresses. Top buttons undone, very casual, and much to my surprise, the young man that took the prayer requests, got up, with hands in his pockets and wearing a casual, outdoor over-jacket. I don’t know that he had jeans on, but very casual, and the whole spirit of the place was casual. You know, I believe God deserves more respect than that. If you have an invitation to go visit the president, I assure you, you are going to care about what you wear! And I don’t think you’re going to go there with your jeans on or a jean dress. You would have your best dress clothes on. Now, who do we come here to worship? The King of Kings! What’s He worthy of? Our clothes either speak respect or disrespect, and we want to keep respect in the place where we worship because that is showing respect to God!
Do you know how these places start this way? I remember how it was when I was first saved, when for a short period of time I was with Anderson. It’s probably worse there now, twenty years later. But on Sunday morning the women have on a dress, of sorts, and Sunday evening they have on dress pants. In their mid-week meeting, again, they have on their dress pants. So, they make a distinction. Sunday morning, that’s formal, but the rest of the meetings, that’s all casual. Pretty soon, the gates are down, and then you have the jeans walking through the door.
See, it’s more than the clothes. It’s a spirit and an attitude that people are carrying, and that’s why we’re careful people. We say, “Don’t bring your sneakers to campmeeting; you leave them at home. We bring our best because we are serious about what we are doing, and we respect our Heavenly Father. We respect what we are doing here. These are solemn assemblies; we respect that.
Some people say, “Well, it’s not important what you wear, just as long as your heart is right.” So, does that mean it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as your heart is right? Why do people just apply that to dress? Why do they apply that so strongly when it comes to dress? I still say it’s because of the little strings that are tied to the clothes that go to the heart. “It’s not important what you wear as long as the heart is right.” You tell that to the president when you walk in for lunch. “I respect you.” You’re coming in your jeans and your tennis shirt and your sneakers. “I really respect you!” Your clothes spoke as soon as you came through the door, and everybody knew it.
Let’s look at James 2:18. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” Again, works–something outward. You know, those good works we’re supposed to be zealous of doing? He says, “Well, I’ll just show you my faith by the things that I do. I’ll show you what’s in my heart by the things that I do. I’m showing you what’s in my heart by the things that I wear.” It includes that, too; we can’t exclude that. And that’s on any line, whether it’s dress or anything else. We know what’s in our heart. If someone is in a certain place of entertainment or amusement in the world, we know why they are there. Because something in their heart produced that work to bring them there, and it’s the same with dress. We can show the world what’s in our heart by the way we dress because it’s just a natural product that is going to come out, by and by.
What did He say in Matthew 7, verse 20? “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Now, that is Jesus speaking, is it not? When I go to an orchard, and maybe it’s not the time of harvest yet, maybe it’s winter time, and I see this orchard full of trees. Now, I can look at those trees, and I don’t know what is inside those trees. I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen at harvest time, whether it is going to be an apple or an orange tree. I couldn’t tell you because I can’t look inside and see what’s in the heart of that tree, but as soon as that fruit pops out onto the outside–simple! It is an apple tree! It is an orange tree! Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.” By what comes out on the outside, you will know what’s in their heart. You just can’t help it.
I like what Finney said when someone was putting this argument on him. He said, “Your heart right? Then your heart may be right when your conduct is all wrong? Just as well might the profane swearer say, ‘It doesn’t matter what words I use, if my heart is right.’ No, your heart is not right, unless your conduct is right! What is outward conduct, but an acting out of the heart! If your hearts were right, you would not wish to follow the fashions of the world!” And I say, “Amen!”
People say, “Well, clothes don’t matter.” I’ve heard some of these young teenagers occasionally in the malls when they are with their parents shopping for their school clothes in September. It’s quite humorous and kind of sad at the same time. “Well, Mom, you know, I have to have these kind of shoes.” “Well, these other shoes look just as good, and they are half the price.” “No, Mom. It has to be these sneakers, with this label on it.”
Why is that? It’s part of the pride of life. You must fit in with a certain group and a certain status quo. You talk to a business man with an extremely important job interview to go to, and you can be assured that they are going to concern themselves with what they wear.
A police woman once said that her uniform was her “power suit.” She said when she puts in on, it speaks authority, and said that people respect her because of her suit. That same principle follows our clothes. You can gain respect by the way you dress, or you can lose respect by the way you dress. Our clothing speaks before we ever say a word. So, clothes may not matter to some people, but it does matter to God. He wants us to have a blameless body.
“In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6. We know what that is–anarchy. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” We have a religious world today that is full of this liberty of conscious teaching. They say it basically doesn’t matter what we do, “You just get all of your leadings from the Lord.” They apply this so much when it comes to dress. Some ministers, so-called, will say, “Well, I’m not going to dictate to people what they should wear.” What they are really saying is, “Let every man just do what’s right in his own eyes.” Now I’d like to ask a question to those professed ministers. When it comes to doctrine, do you let everybody just do what’s right in their own eyes? When it comes to outright sin, do you let everybody judge in their own mind what’s right in their own eyes? Because if you do, you’re going to have a mess on your hands. It is the job of the ministry to give the sense and the understanding of the Word of God to the people in a practical way, so they know how to go home and apply it. The same follows also when it comes to dress. I’d like to ask the question, why this special reserve when it comes to dress? Why? Why would they instruct in different areas, if they do, and yet, still they will not touch dress. In a lot of those circles, it is because they realize they are going to cause an offense.
We received a letter through the Gospel Trumpet a while back, from a gentleman who had been getting the Trumpet for a long time. He said, “Would it be possible for you to send some visiting ministers here to help us in our congregations?” He said, “We’re so tired of having so-called ministers come through, and they won’t speak out against anything. They will not speak out against dress. They will not speak out against worldly things. They will not specifically name things out. They’re so afraid of offending the people. We’re so tired of that.” He said, “Do you have some ministers that will tell it out and speak plainly?” This is a major problem out there. People will not name things out; they will not do it. I want to put the Bible right on them.
Isaiah 56:10, “His watchmen are blind.” They see the seed, but they don’t know where it’s going. “They are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” Babylon’s filled with dumb dogs! “You just all go get it yourself. Let God tell you directly, personally; or don’t you believe God can do that?” Surely, I believe God can do that, because He’s done that. But I also know that God has set the members in the body, and He told them to feed the people with understanding. He said He’d give them pastors that would feed the people with knowledge and understanding. Ministers don’t just give the Bible to everyone and say, “Go home, and just figure it all out yourself!” We deal with it; line by line, precept by precept. We expound on it, put it in practical terms, and it must needs be.
Some of these people that will not speak out concerning dress, don’t realize what they’re doing. In looking back to the Reformers, who seemed to have so much, we see they did not realize the far reaching effects when the issue arose concerning the tie, back in the early 1900’s. “Well, you mean, you think I’m not modest if I put on this little piece of cloth? You think I’m going to lose spirituality if I put on this little piece of cloth?” They made allowance for the necktie, because they thought some brethren might need it for certain business jobs, and they thought it might help to make more attractive the way and win a better class of people and bring them to the gospel, thinking it was a hindrance to them. Human reasonings; a “wisdom” that was sensual and devilish. You know, when the Reformers did that, I don’t believe that it was in their mind that after the tie, “I’m going to work on getting instruments into the church. And after the tie I’m going to get these women to let their hair down, and cut and perm it, and I’m going to get them to make room in the church for adultery . . .” If they were to see where that little crack in the wall went to, they would be shocked and amazed! It is because it was more than just a piece of material; it was a spirit working. It was a compromising spirit from the devil!
“You’re the anti-tie people?” Yes, we are! Superfluity is something excessive, unnecessary, not serving a purpose. You tell me what that piece of material hanging around a man’s neck does, other than hang there like an ornament and show your vanity and pride or your worldly concern for impression. It’s not socially acceptable to use it for a napkin when you go to a restaurant. You certainly better not blow your nose with it! You can’t write yourself little notes on it so you remember what to do during the day; you can’t do that! What purpose does it serve? Oh, it brought the people in, alright! A flood of people on the broad way. If you don’t believe that, just go look at that movement today! You wouldn’t know there was any profession of holiness in the place! Go to their campmeetings. They have on their shorts and their low-cut tops. And you get a dumb dog that starts to tell the people, “Well, that’s okay. You just get your leadings from the Lord concerning this matter, and if you think it’s okay to wear a narrow skirt on your dress, sisters, well, I’m not going to dictate to you.” That’s a dumb dog! He’s sleeping; he doesn’t know what’s going on in the spiritual realm. Some of them just love to slumber, but in the Church of God, we will bark when compromising spirits try to seduce the people.
The scripture says, “Watchmen.” We are watching because we know these things are going somewhere, and we know that it doesn’t just involve our clothes. Throwing away that tie did not just involve a tie; a piece of clothing. It was a spirit of COMPROMISE, and the devil has used–open up your eyes, people–the devil has used the avenue of dress to open up floodgates to all kinds of compromise! By slow degrees, look where these so-called holiness places have gone. You’ve got the pastor’s wife out there in a bathing suit! This is going on! Then they brought their instruments in. I tell you, it’s a moral issue, and it travels and some of these places are at the place where adultery is in their midst. They have people that are married the second and third time, while their first companion is still living. You say, “From a little tie?” I say, yes, because of the spirit that was behind it. Some of these places have gotten so bad that they are allowing homosexuality in their midst, and they’re totally asleep to the fact that it’s an abomination in the sight of God!
I love these people, but I hate that spirit, and I recognize that spirit. This “liberty of conscience” spirit will never stop with dress. The package deal will unfold as time goes on. You watch it by and by. Oh, there’s a whole truckload of stuff behind that. All you have to do is watch some of these movements down through the decades. The compromise is plainly evident. We’ve seen it unfold; let’s learn.
Some people claim you can’t teach any specifics concerning dress, because it’s not spelled out in the Bible. The Bible also does not say, Thou shalt not smoke a cigarette; thou shalt not drink beer; thou shalt not go watch a filthy movie. Yet, the principle for these things is all through the Bible. And you know, there are two witnesses. There is the Word, and the Spirit, and the two always agree. There are things that the Spirit speaks very expressly to us. The Spirit of God can take those principles in the Word of God, if we’re honest, and illuminate those things.
Rom. 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,” and here it is again, “that ye present your BODIES a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” This is talking about a real consecrated life, given over to God, and it includes our bodies. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Again, he’s telling us here, don’t be conformed to the world! Don’t feel like your going to win the people by conforming to the world. You might get more numbers, but it’s not going to be people that will have a heart in going all the way for God. It’s not going to be people that can stand up for truth in these last days. Do not be conformed to the world!
James said that the friendship of the world is enmity with God–enmity! And that’s just a friendship with the world, yet religious people are conforming to it. They are being taught how to dress by the spirit of the world, rather than the Spirit of God.
What motivates you when you dress? What motivates you, sisters, when you go buy your fabric? Always shop with the Holy Ghost, even when you pick out your buttons. Don’t be conformed to the world; don’t let the world dictate to you. What spirit motivates you when you select whatever it is you are buying? And I hope you’re picking it out because you need it, not just because you want it. The Lord’s work needs money! Don’t spend it on excessive clothes and costly array! You don’t need a new outfit every time you go to campmeeting. We don’t need a different outfit for every meeting. You can wear them two or three times in a meeting. Let’s not get into that Babylonian fashion game. They’re so busy with the outward man, they just aren’t dealing with the inward man, and it’s not flourishing as it should.
Walking on the edge is not a safe place to be, and you know, we can have a depth of experience in our heart, where we have no interest in seeing how close we can get to the edge and still get by. Did you know that? Do you know that’s what these meetings are all about, getting the depth in the heart! Out of the heart come all the issues of life. What you bring home in your shopping bags comes out of your heart. How do you pick your fabrics? It’s something that came out of your heart. Verse 1 in Romans 12 is talking about consecration, presenting your bodies to God, and many times we preach on that, and apply it to urging people on to a sanctified experience. And that’s good, and I believe there’s a key here. What did it say in Ezekiel 36:27? “And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall keep my judgments and do them.” You know, when you’ve got the Holy Ghost it affects your life in every way! When you see people that are constantly having a problem with dress and have a resistance to dress, watch. Over a period of time–and it won’t be just concerning dress, it’ll be other things, too,–it will prove out quite often they have a problem in their consecration to God. If the Holy Ghost is there and if He’s satisfying your soul; if you’re drinking of the living water and you’ll never thirst again; it will be as the song says, “I am drinking at the fountain where I ever would abide, for I’ve tasted life’s pure river, and my soul is satisfied. There’s no thirsting for life’s pleasures, nor adorning rich and gay, for I’ve found a richer treasure, one that fadeth not away.” If you have the Holy Ghost, it’s going to cause you to change the way that you do things. And again, it cuts all the strings, all those carnal strings of pride and vanity. You have to wonder about some people’s consecrations, where they continually have problems that show up in these different areas. You have to wonder about the root. Have they really got the depth of experience? The Lord made this way to be a joyful way, and He doesn’t mean for our clothes to be a drudgery, and they’re not. It’s a joy to do the will of the Lord, in every regard. Many people just don’t really have the depth of experience that they need.
Some people think we have to have a harsh, legalistic spirit because of the way we look. When you have the Holy Ghost, it makes all the difference. I realize you can take a group of people, perhaps Amish or groups like that, and yes, they actually require a uniform of their people. We don’t have a uniform. Our standard is modesty in apparel. We’re accused of having uniform; we don’t. And I realize they can wear those clothes and be void of salvation and be on the road to hell. We realize that. We realize the clothes won’t get you into heaven. We realize that there are people that can have a good, modest outward, and they’re going to die lost in the end. Our theme around here is not clothes. It’s rare that we have teaching like this in a meeting like this, but we do teach on it occasionally, and we don’t apologize for that at all! We’re not going to shun to declare the whole counsel of God. We’re not going to take our liberty and use it for an occasion to the flesh, like that liberty of conscious spirit is getting people to do. That’s what it does, it makes an occasion for their flesh.
I want to mention this, too, before we close. I believe someone could walk through these doors this morning, and maybe even a woman with a pair of jeans on and make-up on her face, and I believe it’s possible for a dear person like that to be saved and die and go to heaven. Maybe they’re newly saved; never seen a holiness person in their life. I hadn’t when I grew up. I had never seen a holiness person in my life, didn’t know any, didn’t know they existed, didn’t know there was such a thing, ignorant, very ignorant, and the Lord slowly brought us out of darkness. And as He did, He taught me to cover my body, as I was able to get a hold of it. I can have all kinds of patience and all kinds of mercy for people coming in. We heard last night about the diversity. We’ve got people that are coming in from all kinds of backgrounds in life. I love the spirit of the saints. They’re not looking down their noses. They’re not distant; they’re not offish. They’re not cold. Someone can come in dressed in any sort of a way, and it won’t matter. You will find a love, sincere and from the heart. It doesn’t matter what they look like; we love their soul. If they’re honest, the Lord will lead them along, but it’s not going to take ten or twenty years. We’re not talking about that, but understand what I’m saying.
When our children look on someone in the world, we don’t want them saying, “Oh, what an awful person. Look what they’re wearing!” We don’t want that. We want them to understand the principles concerning dress, by all means, but we want them to look on souls with a compassion. I know it’s deeper than the clothes, but the clothes are important to the Lord. They do have an effect; they do speak a language. They’re part of our personal testimony.
Let me close with something that John Wesley said when he addressed his people concerning modest attire. He said, “I want to see a visible body of people, who are standing examples of wisdom; patterns of doing all things, great or small, with an eye to God and eternity.” I believe John Wesley would be so thrilled to walk in here! He did good for his time, but, oh, he wanted to see a visible body of people that were standing examples! And I believe he’d fit right in in spirit in our midst. I believe he’d cheer this restoration work right on! I don’t believe he’d have a problem with the clothes; I don’t believe he’d have a problem with anything. He was trying to stir his people, and that’s hard to do, when they’re not gathered together into one and your dealing with Babylonian influences. But he desired to see a visible body of people that were holy in heart and in dress.
When we sang that song this morning, “My God, How Great Thou Art” and we sang about what He did to redeem our souls and the suffering that He was so willing to go through, I thought, “What is too much to do for the Lord?” People say, concerning dress, “Well, is that necessary? Is that really necessary? Do I have to go that far?” I’m not talking about people in our midst, but people without. It seems to me, that if He died and gave us this great salvation and prepared us a home in eternity, that we ought to be ever so willing. “Lord, show me in every area of my life what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.” Is that too much for Him to ask of us? Will we keep anything in reserve? Oh, God forbid! It talks in Zechariah about “Holiness unto the Lord.” Everything is “holiness unto the Lord” in Zion. And that is so concerning dress, too.
God bless you young people in particular, that are willing to hold up a banner of holiness to this world! Oh, I love you for it; I appreciate it! God appreciates it! It’s doing something! You see the young people walk around somewhere and the world can’t believe their eyes. And some of them might chuckle and some of them might laugh, but I believe there’s a lot of people out there that have a deep respect and a deep regard for such people as this. It is because your clothes are speaking a language, and what they’re saying is, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m not ashamed to be separate! I’m not ashamed to be peculiar and strange in the eyes of the world.” May God bless us all to keep holding up the truth and not let down in any way. The Lord has charged us with these things; we cannot let them slip, and may God bless us all in the carrying out of His truth. Amen!
Preached November 2000 in Oklahoma City, OK.
By Susan Mutch
|
