Ordinances of Biblical Dress

Recently at Church Pastor preached a message on standards, specifically standards of dress. We both thought it was really good and different from the standard dress message you hear. I thought I would post my notes from that Wednesday night.

Ordinances of Biblical Dress



"Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things,

and keeo the ordinances, as I delivered them to you."

I Cor.11:2

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions

which ye have been taught, whether by word, or by our epistle."

II Thess. 2:15

Traditions: teachings or commands that are handed down.

Principles of Dress:

1. A Sense of Shame
I Tim. 2:9 "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness..."
Shamefacedness- a bashfulness, reverence, easily embarassed.
Adorn - To put in proper order, to decorate or trim
Modest - orderly, decorous, of good behavior
Apparel - costume, to put down
Gen. 2:25;3:6-11,21 Adam and Eve were unashamedly naked at first, then embarassed after the fall. Why? Their bodies were completely holy, no sin. There was nothing immoral, or unpure. But after the fall, the holiness left and they obtained bodies of sin. Thus nakedness became a problem because of unclean thoughts and actions. So they tried to fix it by making aprons.
Apron- a loin cloth
An apron didn't cover enough, God made them coats from a slain animal. Blood had to be shed for their sin.
Isaiah. 47:2-3 - nakedness was shameful Lev. chpts 18-20 - speaks of being modest within family
Ex. 28:42-43 - breeches were made to cover the priests nakedness under their robes.



2. A Distinction/Straightness
Deut. 22:5 "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 are abomination unto the Lord thy God."
Yes, people in Bible times all wore robes. But the robes for men and women were different and distinct. And they were commanded not to wear each others clothes. A woman was not to put on her husbands breeches, or his robe. And he wasn't to put on her robe, which would have been longer and automatically identified as a woman's robe. So yes, they both wore robes but there was a distinction between the two.

3.For Chastity
Proverbs 7:10 "And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot..."
There's nothing wrong with being attractive, wellgroomed and dressed, but it is wrong to dress seductively. Your dress ought to be holy, pure, and not give anyone opportunity for impure thoughts.

4. Keeping From Strangeness/Worldliness
Zeph. 1:8 "And it shall come to poass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punich the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel."
Lev. 19:28 - This goes for piercings and tattoos too.
Strange - like the world does

5. For Glory and Beauty
Ex.28:1-2 (Vs2)- "And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy borhter for glory and for beauty."
The clothing for the high priest set him apart to show glory to God.

Ps. 29:2b "...worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Holy dress should be part of our lifestyle and it is a part of our worship to the Lord.



6. Dispell Confusion
I Cor. 14:33, 40 -God is not a God of confusion, but a God of decency and order. Our clothes shouldn't look like we were confused when we put them on. Our God is one of order, design, and laws.

God Will Make a Way

I listened to a great message entitled God Will Make a Way When There is No Way by Dr. David Gibbs yesterday. What a great message! In it he gave five rules to follow if you want to see God make a way where there is no way. I thought I would list them.
Rules to follow if you want to see God make a Way where there is no way:
1. He’s put you exactly where He wants you, give thanks and praise for the trials as much as you do for the blessings in your life.
2. Strive to give God the glory more than you want relief from the trial. Make God look good.
3. Pray fervently, throw yourself into it.
4. Wait on the Lord. This is where faith develops. No hope-no faith. God is still moving and working when we are standing still waiting.
5. Take the next step of faith. Do what lies clearly ahead not just what is seen dimly at a distance.
It was a real encouragement. You can find it on sermonaudio.com, under David Gibbs.

Short Singles Post

Well, I wanted to post again on some things that the Lord showed me yesterday during church. I don't know why but it seems like all I've been posting on is for singles.

Anyway, yesterday Mr. Robinson gave a challenge in the evening and it didn't really have anything to do with being single but the Lord showed me something.

We always love the verse in Philippians 4:7 about "the peace of God" and we love when we have that peace. But he read the verse before to show how we can have that peace all the time.

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall

keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Phil. 4:6-7

The verse before starts out "Be careful for nothing;" basically don't worry about it, don't be anxious. Take it all to the Lord in prayer and be thankful at this time of your life. Yes, thankful that you are single. Mr. Tessin(Missionary to the Philippines) mentioned in singles Sunday School that if you aren't content and thankful now, being single, you won't ever be content and thankful being married. I thought it was so neat that the Lord showed me these verses later that night. So be thankful and content now in your single state. Then you get that wonderful, peace which passeth all understanding. I don't know, I thought it was neat how the Lord worked on this in my life while in Germany and now He is reminding me over and over about what He has taught me.

Message for Singles

Last weeks my pastor preached a really great message for singles and their parents. It was entitled Finding a Marriage Partner.

Ephesians 6:1-3

Some are making the process( immoral lifestyle, courtship, betrothal, dating, ect...) too big of a deal. We need to forget the process and stick to what the Bible says.

1. Build a good relationship with your parents. They are your authority given by God. If they are Christians, they really want the best for you. Heed their instruction by humble faith. Listen! Give parents the highest regard of counsel in your life . Prov. 1:8 - There's a problem with children not listening to their parents. Parents must spend time with their children, you must have a close relationship with each other.
2. Learn now the skills you will need to be a good husband and wife. Prepare now, not after. Learn the qualities now. *Ladies: Titus 2:4-5, Keep a good spirit of live- you set the spirit/tone of the home, keep laundry washed, make beds, clean dishes, clean the house, prepare meals, shop frugally, budget, keep garden sew, serve your dad and brothers, care for children, homeschool, clear up any debt, save money, keep your body clean and neat. *Men: Budget, work skills, house and car in good repair, pick up after yourself, show respect and consideration, provide security, clear up debt, get a house ready, ask your father and godly men for advice.
3. The man is the pursuer and not the woman Song of Solomon- the woman waits Proverbs- the strange woman seeks Issac and Rebekah- both were obedient and waited and God provided.
4. Commit your desire for a partner to the Lord. Psalm 37:5 Do you really believe the Bible? God has to bring it together, trust Him to take are of it. Don't be impatient! Keep busy serving and praying. Serving ought to dominate your life, not being anxious about the "who". Be content while you are single. Phil. 4:11 - Give everything to the Lord. Surrender it all to His glory.
5. Never consider an unbeliever fro a mate. II Corinthians 6:14-17- be resolved that y0u will not even consider it. Some say they are saved but they aren't. Do you have a fervent desire to serve the Lord? Don't start a relationship with someone less than that! I Corinthians 7:39 - only those who are saved. Father knows best!
6. Work with and through your parents Samson did, and so did Isaac and Jacob. Amnon didn't, instead he listen to his wicked friend. Pray together, it's a godly decision. It will affect your family for the rest of your life. Discuss it with each other frequently. Have a relationship with each other and be willing to let your parents have control. If they say "no" then drop it and trust them.
7. Keep the relationship pure ICor. 6:13 - God made each of us unique and to be saved for marriage. I Cor. 6:18 - Only a fool. Romans 12:1 - Not our minds, our bodies. Run away from any temptation . Watch what you put into your mind. Eph. 5:3 - not once among us I Thess. 4:3 - Abstain from fornication

Only a rebel fights against God's will. I Thess. 5:22 - What does it look like? Stay away from the wrong crowd, the dark. Stay chaperoned at all times. Keep your relationship pure. As a teen to fail this is to ruin your life, as a parent to fail it to ruin your children's life.

Finding Contentment

The other night we had our Aloha dinner singles activity and Dad gave the challenge about being used of God in this stage of our life. And the Lord had been working in my life lately about something anyway. He read us the verse in I Corinthians 13:11 where Paul says:

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:

but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

In this verse the word child doesn't refer to an actual child, it means an immature Christian. When we grow in Christ and slowly mature we become "men". This point, as singles, most of us have been raised in church and know what we are to be doing, we are the "men", and we need to not just sit back and watch all the older Christians do the work, we need to get busy. Because we are single we tend to have more time in our schedule that those that are married and have a family to care for. God's given us this time to serve Him without any strings attached. We don't have to worry about a spouse or children to take care of, just ourselves and anyone else we choose to care for.

Like I said, the past few weeks the Lord has been working in my heart, showing me His plan for me right now and slowly I was coming around to the fact that if the Lord wants me to serve Him and He wants me to do it alone, then I will. I am just like any other Christian girl, I want to find the one God has for me, settle down, get married and live happily ever after(now I know life isn't this way, but we tend to think it is). But after Dad's challenge, it hit me; I am single right now and need to be content until God says otherwise. There is no need for me to be wishing that things would just fall into place now. I realized on the way home that I wasn't doing that anymore. I didn't feel that way, I felt different...I am learning to be content in this area.

Philippians 4:11

"For I have learned, in whatsover state I am, therewith to be content."

Hebrews 13:5

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:"

Lesson from a Single's Activity

We had a singles activity last Thursday and Mr. Serafin(he hosted our activity at his house) gave a challenge that made a lot of sense and all of us singles deal with it.
Genesis one is the creation of the world, and how after everything that the Lord made He said, "it was good." And on the sixth day He said "it was very good." God created it all, it was perfect.
In chapter two the Lord created man, but there is an interesting thing mentioned in verse eighteen that, "It is not good that man should be alone;"(Vs.18) First God made everything and said it was very good and then He made man and said it wasn't good for him to be alone. So He brought a woman along in His timing, mind you, and it was all good again. God has someone for everyone, except for those who are serving the Lord in areas that a relationship doesn't seem to be the wisest. But we can know that it isn't good for most of us to go through life alone. Two heads are better than one. So much more can be done, when two people are serving the Lord together. Anyway, I thought this was interesting, hope is may have touch someone else's life.