Transcription
In this spirit of worship, we're going to go ahead and take up the offering right now as our ushers get prepared. Let's go and pray over this offering. In the name of Jesus, God, we thank you for your presence through the opportunity to be in your presence once again. God, I pray that you will bless this gift and bless the giver in the name of Jesus. Continue to worship with us, church.
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All of my fear I will turn into grace. Shake off despair as I sing out your name. A victory dance. I will dance out in it. I will crush disappointment and break every chain. Oh Lord my will turn into shake of despair. this shout of victory. I will dance out in faith. I will crush this appointment and break every day here. I'll turn to this as I see our vtory. I will bless you every day. I will turn into
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I break every break every break every break every break every break Every day show me one thing you can do. Show me the mountain.
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I know that anything is possible. We're going to sing this one more time. How about we give him a shout of praise from here? As we sing this, why don't we lift them up, pray a little louder, and jump a little higher in Jesus name. All of my fear, I've been turning to praise. Take off despair as I sing out your name of victory dance. I will dance out with faith. I will crush this appointment and break every chain. I will turn it. I will shake off despair. As I sing out of victori
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and break every chain, hold on my They say I see I will push this appointment and break every chain. Hallelujah. Why don't you give him a praise right now? Hallelujah.
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Break every day. Break every day. Break every day in Jesus name. Break every day. Every day every day every
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show. is the way anything is possible. Show me why possible.
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He's the God of the great show. Show me why.
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Come on, somebody. If you believe we serve a God that's able to do the impossible, there's some miracles that need to be done around here. And I serve a God that's able. I wish someone would just pray the prayer of faith right now. I wish someone would just speak a word of faith. Come on, Jesus. Touch Teresa right now in that hospital room. Come on, raise her up, Lord Jesus. Come on, Lord. Go to that hospice room. Come on, Jesus. Come on, Jesus. You are able. There's nothing too hard for you. Hallelujah, Jesus.
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Come on, Holy Ghost. If we don't pray impossible prayers, we're not going to see impossible things happen. Someone's got to step across the line. Someone's got to say, "Hey, we are going to see the supernatural because we serve a supernatural God. We're going to keep knocking on the door. We're going to keep knocking on the door. We need to stop just settling for things. Somebody needs to keep knocking on the door because God is able." God is able. Oh, if you if you have a a need, will you just lift your hands right where you are? You have a need. If you're by someone with their hand le uh lifted, I don't ask God to touch them right now. Whatever the need is, maybe it's physical, spiritual, maybe it's in their family. Come on, Jesus. There is nothing that you cannot do. Come on, Jesus. There's nothing you cannot do. Oh, Holy Ghost. Come on, young people. You've got power when you pray. You're anointed when you pray.
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You're anointed when you pray. There's a fire in you when you pray.
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There's just something in the atmosphere. I just feel faith starting to rise. Somebody, you just stop praying about something that you need to pray again about. God's arm is not short that it cannot say. His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. Jesus do the work. Oh my heart.
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Oh. Oh. Hallelujah. Come on. Let deliverance come. Set the captive free. Set the captive free.
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Do you know that every service there's a line drawn in the spirit and you got to choose whether or not you're going to step across the line and tap into that supernatural flow? There's a line right now. You can believe me or not, but I've been in this thing all my life. I know exactly. Every time I don't step across the line, the next service, the line's a little bit further for me. And it takes a little bit work. And if I don't step next time, it's a little bit further. Every time you come to the house of God, you got to make up in your mind, I'm stepping across the line tonight. I'm I feel the Holy Ghost Jesus. Yes. Yes.
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Come on. Let God be true and every man a liar. Obey God all over. I know what night it is. I know it's Wednesday night. I know what I'm about to teach. But the Holy Ghost is doing something right now. I wish someone would obey God. I wish someone would let the gifts of the spirit flow. Jesus, that's it. Come on. You're tapping into another world right now. Come on. You're tapping into another world right now. Holy Ghost. If it's been a while since you prayed in the Holy Ghost, I encourage you to pray until the Holy Ghost starts flowing through you. I encourage you to pray until you be endued with power from on high. until the Holy Ghost. There's a difference in the atmosphere right now. There's a difference. I can't tell you exactly what it is other than the Holy Ghost is here and the Holy Ghost is working. Yes. Come on. Let it flow. Rivers of living water. Come on. There's something new happening right now. There's something Come on, let it go. There's something new happening right now. There's something new happening right now.
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Yes. Yes. I'm telling you, you can be healed. Not because I'm here, he's here. You can feel it. Something can happen in your thinking. Because Jesus is here. And where Jesus is, anything can happen. Oh, you're doing it. You're breaking through. How do I break through? You take a step further than you're comfortable with. That's how you break through. You take a step beyond your comfort zone. That's when you start walking in faith. That's when you start walking in faith.
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Come on Jesus. Come on. Holy Ghost. Oh, rivers of living water. Rivers of living water. Rivers of living water. Rivers of living water. Rivers of living water. Rivers of living water.
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Oh yes. Oh yes.
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Yes. Yes. Oh, there's just an uplift. There's just an uplift. Somebody's been fasting and praying. Somebody's been seeking the face of God. Somebody's tapped into another world. You can. That world's not out of your reach. That joy is not out of your reach. The peace is not out of your reach. Just go after it. Just go after it.
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Oh.
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Oh. Come on. Don't take God out of the equation. Don't take God out of the equation. Yes, that's the way it's going to be without God. But with God all things are possible. With God
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Musicians, go on down. Just get in there for another moment. Ah.
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Ah Jesus.
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>> Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus.
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Jesus.
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Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
>> We've got to trust God.
>> But trusting God is not just sitting doing nothing, saying God's going to do it. Trusting God is I'm going to put everything I've got into it, and whatever God chooses to do, I'm going to accept that, and I'm going to stand by God, and I'm going to stand on his word. But don't just sit back. Don't just sit back. Let God be God in your situation. There are several things that we're looking at and we're praying about and make sure you just speak faith over it every time. Don't allow doubt to come out of your mouth. Fear, don't let that be the driving force. Let faith be the driving force. God is able. God can do it. God's going to work it out. God's got it. Come on. You got to speak it because everyone else is speaking negative. Everyone else is talking about the reality of the situation. Well, the reality of the situation is my God is able. That's the reality. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. But I'm so thankful for just the refreshing that has come in here. I just feel that there are people. Does anyone else feel a little bit better right now than you did when you walked in here? I know I do. I was in that prayer room and there was one negative thing after another kept coming through my mind. One negative thing after another and I just started rebuking it and speaking faith. You you cannot allow the negativity of this world or the negativity of the enemy to dictate your mind, your heart, your spirit. You've got to know. You've got to know in whom you have believed. And when the enemy comes in like the flood, the spirit, the spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against it. Oh my lord. It feels good. It feels right. And I think it's time for some good teaching. What do you think?
>> Amen. Why don't you greet a couple people on the way back to your seat? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. God's good. And uh I'm excited about what the Lord has been doing in our church. Um, I will I do want to say uh just because I know people already are aware of this that um uh my aunt Jean uh so it would be uh my uncle Cherry's wife um uh the funeral was scheduled for this Friday, but uh because sister Teresa her daughter is in the hospital right now, they've actually postponed that until next Friday. So, I just want everyone to be aware of that uh as we go into this. And uh I think we're ready. We feel good in the Holy Ghost.
>> We're not going to leave the Holy Ghost. Um we're just going to be talking. If anyone's here for the first time, uh I hope that you come back and join us. Uh and uh let the joy of the Lord continue to grow in your heart and your mind. you have walked right into the middle of a series that we do uh once a year at this time uh that we take at least four weeks and talk about what the Bible says about our outward appearance,
>> what the Bible says about it. And um so we're going to be talking about that. We're going to be uh digging into that. We talked about it a little bit last week, this week. uh and next week and so on Wednesday nights. And so uh if this is your first time again, I just want you to to know that we're so happy you're here. And uh if you're new here, uh thank you for being a part of the uh of the Church of the Living God. You've come to an apostolic Pentecostal one God church and we're thankful that you are here. And I also just want to say, and if you don't mind repeating after me because I want you to understand this. Everyone say, "Pastor Jason,
>> Pastor Jason
>> is not condemning me."
>> is not condemning me.
>> Everyone say, "Pastor Jason,
>> Pastor Jason
>> is not trying to run me off."
>> Not trying to run me off.
>> Everyone say, "Pastor Jason loves me."
>> Pastor Jason loves.
>> And then say, "Pastor is teaching."
>> Pastor. And if you will keep that in your heart and your mind, I want you to grow in what the word of God has to say and why we do some of the things that we're doing. We introduced ourselves uh last week. Uh and so you will find a QR code here on the wall. Uh if there is a question that you have, uh you can send that in. We'll do our best to get to it. Some of them are the same and so we try to blend those together. if we don't get to it and you put your name on it, I will get to you personally if you would like for me to uh if we don't get to it. Um but we're just going to get started. So, Sister D, I'm going to hand this to you and uh let's get into the word of God. Hallelujah. So, my first question is a is a leading question. Souls Harbor is known for having great moves of God. like we just flow in the spirit. We're not going to be satisfied with anything less. Why do you think the spirit moves so freely here >> just like we just had just a moving of the spirit? Um I think it's important that we we do understand that there is a connection and some of the things that we're talking about not just tonight but the overarching mindset of living a a life of holiness of separation. Uh I think there is a a connection to that. Um there there's multiple scriptures and I won't take time to go through them all right now. Uh but uh you find where there is a sacrifice that the fire falls on the sacrifice. When you live a life of sacrifice, that's where the power of God is. Um we we've talked about this in the five love languages. They say to find out someone's love language, you see how they give love and how they give love is how they want to receive love. It's a great book for couples to read. I encourage you to read it. But if that is the case, which I believe it is, if you see how your spouse is showing love, that's how they want to receive love. Well, when you look at God, how he showed love is he sacrificed. And so if you want to speak God's love language, live a life of sacrifice.
>> Uh and that will get God's attention. There there was a church in this area uh that is no longer in existence. Uh but they uh the leadership of that church told me very plainly, "We have eaten together. We have um talked together. We've been together." and um and and it was very plain that they were determined to have Souls Harbor without any of the things that we're talking about tonight. And they're no longer around. They came and they went and because the truth of the matter is is without sacrifice there is no fire. There is no power. Uh and so I I encourage that in us. So the things that we're talking about seem like it's just a side issue, but as you live a life of sacrifice, of course that's, you know, we talk about this all the time, but that's prayer, that's worship, that's all the stuff, but all of it together creates the right atmosphere. If anyone else has anything to say about any of these things, please do. So the the first thing people know when they come to this church is that this is not an ordinary behaving church. We're we're all out there in our noise and in our emotions.
>> Yes, we are.
>> Um but there are other differences that they notice too about how we present ourselves. Um why is it important that there are these differences? Should there be differences? I I absolutely believe there should be a difference. Um we people should see us, talk to us and know that there is a difference both inside and out. Um in the word of God, if if you want to read uh first Peter 2:9 uh and we we're going to go through a few scriptures uh tonight. Go ahead. You can start there. But but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
>> If you've been called out of darkness into the light, why don't you take a moment and just thank God for it? I thank I'm so thankful for it. But but you see the the terminology that it's using. You're a chosen generation. You're a royal priesthood, a holy nation. That's important. We'll be talking about that as we go through. A peculiar people. From from the outset of the word of God, it tells us that we are peculiar. That means different. That something peculiar means it's set apart. And so that's who we're supposed to be. We're not supposed to just blend in with the world. That's why the Bible says, "Come out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you." And so these scriptures and others help us to understand that God has called us to be different,
>> to stand out, to be the light of the world.
>> And so we need to have that. Let me let's read a couple more. Um I I just um quoted I believe uh 2 Corinthians. So go let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6 beginning with verse number uh 19 and we're actually going to go all the way into the next chapter. So go ahead.
>> 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.
>> That's important right there.
>> You have of God you're not your own.
>> You're my spirit. No here he said your body. Our body don't just belong to us,
>> right?
>> It has been bought with a price. We're not our own. Next verse.
>> For ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.
>> Pause. In your body and in your spirit which are gods. Well, my body is mine to do with what I want to, but my spirit I give to God. Said no. in your body and in your spirit which are gods. Both of them belong to God. God cares about how we handle both of them. Next verse, please.
>> Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
>> Oh, this is such a good scripture. There's so much goodness in this having these promises. First of all, no, we've got promises from God that we need to hold on to. But he said, because you have these promises from God, again, all of this is important. Let us cleanse ourselves. God's not supposed to come down and and do all this stuff to us. We're to cleanse ourselves.
>> Well, if God wants it to happen, God will just do it. Cleanse yourself. The Bible says, "Cleanse ourselves of all filthiness again of the flesh and spirit."
>> Same thing. It repeats it over and over again. It's flesh and spirit. And then um it says this line which I think is very very important. Perfecting holiness
>> in the fear of God where only God is holy. We talked about that last week. I agree with it. But I can't perfect God.
>> Right?
>> If our attitude is God's holy, we have nothing to do with holiness. Then what you're telling me is we are supposed to perfect God. Anybody planning on doing that? We can't perfect God. What can we perfect ourselves? Because a holy God lives in us. We should live our lives in such a way that a holy God wants to dwell in us.
>> Oh, there's so much goodness here. Go ahead.
>> Uh, I love this. Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And as I just read that, it made me think of the scripture in Proverbs that says, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil."
>> So, if we're living in the fear of God, we're choosing to hate evil. We're not going to have a problem with this. It's going to help us out.
>> Amen. Go ahead. There's more scriptures on that, but I'll pass over. Go ahead.
>> Something that I've experienced when people are talking about um a Pentecostal church, especially one that holds on to old-fashioned holiness. We kind of just label it holiness.
>> And when we say oldfashioned, biblical.
>> Yes.
>> So old fashioned, it's biblical. That's right. So old fashioned, it's biblical, but we live in a religious world that do not know it's biblical because pastors don't teach it.
>> That's true.
>> It's amazing how many people have never heard the things that we've had the privilege of growing up hearing year after year. Um and something that I've experienced when when I've had it in an accusing way thrown at me, you make people feel judged when they come to your church. But I have not experienced that. The only people that I've experienced saying they feel judged are people who have a religious background already. And they did not walk into these doors with a hungry heart. They walked in with a knowledge. When people come in this place with a hungry heart, they do not feel judged. I don't care what they're wearing. They feel the presence of God and the holiness of God because that's all we actually care about.
>> Absolutely. And and that ties to the word of God. Th this scripture I I think it's important for us to memorize it and get in our hearts and it's simply talking about the um I I talked about it so much I totally forgot what the scripture was that I was about to quote and I'm praying it comes back to me. It's not I I'll come back to it later. But the word of God is something that when it gets in us, it should affect us. It should change us. We should not be afraid of it. I just remembered it. Great peace have they that love my law and nothing shall offend them. When people are offended by things, what you really learn is they don't have a true love for the law of God.
>> The law of God. And when you embrace it and say, "I want God's law in my heart," it doesn't offend us.
>> Is it possible for us to be out of balance? like either either too strong or too weak in external holiness. Um well, not in ourselves. I I think you know if we have convictions for ourselves, I think it's good. I think we could be out of balance if we try to put on other people what God has given us. Uh I think we can get in trouble there. There are something that we rarely talk about anymore and we should talk about more and that's called personal convictions. You know, I preach a church standard from the word of God, but that that's not the the top shelf. That's the baseline. As one scripture says uh that we actually went over, it's we one of the ones we was going to talk about in Romans 12:1, it ends as it says, "This is our reasonable service." And so that's a baseline. So for yourself, I think having a a standard that you and God have and say, "Well, everyone does this, but you say, "As for me, in my house, we're going to hold this standard." That's good, but you should not push that on other people. Uh you should also have a good attitude about it. I know people that that have a standard and they are rude, crude, mean jerks.
>> So mean. they are, you know, you like like they're so holy they can be mean to everyone that's not holy. You're not holy if that's your attitude. Uh and so you've got to have the right spirit uh with everything you're saying. I've got so much coming my mind, but I know we got more questions to go to. Any else want to comment on that or next question? Whatever y'all want.
>> I'm going to add to it. Go. She's you you uh read the scripture, blessed are they that u happy are they that love thy law. Uh David who we know is a praise we would call him a praise leader meditated not on praise day and night on the law the law
>> day and night. Yeah.
>> And you you end up being a praise a praise leader a praiser when you love the law. when you're in the law and when you're around and and you've got to be careful. You know, a lot of the negative things come based off the people you're around.
>> You know, when you're around negative people, it just gets on you. And there's a progression. The scripture that you're referencing is is Psalms uh 101, I believe. Um uh come on, Jason, pull up Psalms 101. Um you got it up there? If you don't, that's all right. As soon as it comes to me, then I'll start quoting it here in just a second. Blessed is the man. There we go. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor siteth in the seat of the scornful. You see the progression? You start walking around people negative.
>> You know, blessed is a man that walketh not around the counsel of the ungodly. When you start walking around ungodly things, the next thing you know, you're sitting in the seat of the scornful. That's where you are. It's a progression, you know. You you you just keep going deeper and deeper into it. Uh you uh standeth in the way of sinners, then sitth in the seat of the scornful. It's this progression. You're walking around things you shouldn't. Then you stop and stand. Before long, you're just sitting there. And so, you really need to pay attention of the people that are feeding you uh your thought process. You should be looking at it and in this way, not what do I have to do, what can I do to please God. It changes everything about your attitude and your spirit.
>> So tonight, um I want to ask about jewelry.
>> Okay.
>> Um why do you think jewelry is often mentioned when God's people drifted from him? And what did God have them do about their jewelry? Because we we find a lot of jewelry in scripture.
>> There is a lot of talk about jewelry in scripture and we'll talk about it in different ways. That's our main topic tonight is going to be that and and there are people like maybe this is your first time here. You're like I have never heard anyone talk about this. Well, it's in the Bible a lot. Uh and we're going to talk about it. Uh and uh here's the thing. Just like we were just talking about being judge judgy and all that stuff. There are some people that I have seen come to the church and they came for for uh months, sometimes five, six months just enjoying the presence of God. And then there was teaching and they felt like, oh, people are now judging me. When that's not the case at all. They were here for a long time. They didn't feel that. What's happened is this. They're judging themselves because now they have knowledge. This church does is not a judgmental church. I rebuke every judgmental spirit that tries to get in this church. We are not a judgmental church. We do judge. come to the second service. And I'm going to explain what the Bible says about judging because the Bible actually tells us we must judge. Even though people tell us not to judge, that's not biblical. Come to the second service. Um but anyways, uh and so people get get that that attitude. But when you get knowledge of the word of God, it's going to shine a light. And so now you got to decide what we're going to do with that light. Um, but let's let's go into the word of God just to kind of see um uh some scriptures about it. Uh what what you find often, especially in the Old Testament, and I may bring this up again later, but there's a give and take with jewelry in the Old Testament. It's kind of interesting. It's like God gives them jewelry, tells them take it out of Egypt, whatever the situation is, different things. God actually says, "Go get the jewel jewels." And that's for wealth is really what that's for. But nevertheless, you see it's almost like God kind of allows it and they go it pride and all kind of stuff gets involved and God's like, "Nope, you can't have it." And then then you find it where it kind of creeps back in and God pulls it away. You you see this give and take of it and we'll we'll read about some of it. But whenever God gets upset because the people of God, the Israelites have left him, he starts to paint them as as a harlot. I'm not saying people that wear jewelry are harlots, but God is trying to paint someone that is a harlot or something like that. And he always and given us the the understanding of them talks about that on them. All right? So, let's just read a few and and you'll understand what I'm saying. So Hosea 2:13, we'll start there.
>> And I will visit upon her the days of Balum, wherein she burned incense to them. And she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgot me, sayeth the Lord.
>> So when they forget the Lord, this is they always description are like this. They're decking themselves with earrings, earrings, with jewelry. They're putting all this stuff on. That is he's saying that is the direction they're going when they are forgetting the Lord. Uh again, uh Jeremiah, this is God saying, "You've left me." And he's painting them in a very bad light. Jeremiah 4 beginning with verse number 30.
>> And when thou art spoiled, what wil thou do? Thou, excuse me, though thou clothest clotheth thyself with crimson, though thou deckst thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair, thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
>> So, every time that they start leaving and God is describing them, they uh we'll get into makeup a little bit tonight as well, but but they they're wearing makeup, they're wearing jewelry. It's always the same thing. Uh Genesis, I I want to read these scriptures because the truth of the matter is is my opinion does not matter. The word of God is what matters. So, the word is more important than me talking. Genesis chapter 35 beginning with verse number three. and let us arise and go up to Bethl, and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak, which was by Sheckchum.
>> And so here you find Jacob. He's ready to get right with God. And when he's getting ready to get right with God, what does he do? He says, "Give me all the jewelry. We're going to bury them under the ground." Why? I'm coming to approach God. You find this continuously, this mindset throughout the word of God. Uh, one more in Exodus chapter 33 and 2. If anyone has anything to say about these, you're welcome to go ahead. And I will send an angel before thee. And I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and excuse me, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in the midst of thee. For thou art a stiff necked people, lest I consume thee in the way."
>> So God is saying, I'm so mad at y'all how you're acting. Your spirit is so messed up. I will not go up before thee. Otherwise, he's saying, "I'm not going into the promised land with you. I'll send an angel with you, but I ain't going." He's upset at them. And again, look at what it is that he connects with. Uh, let's continue next verse, please.
>> And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put on him his ornaments.
>> His ornaments, his jewelry. Every look at other translations. It It will say, "No one put on their jewelry." It actually spells out jewelry. That's what ornaments are. And so when when they begin to mourn and they realize God's not going, they didn't put them on. Why? Why didn't they put them on? Is that just something they felt or is God have something to do with this? Let's look at the next verse.
>> For the Lord had said unto Moses,
>> ah, they're doing that because God said something. Go ahead.
>> Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff necked people. I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
>> Go ahead. Next verse.
>> And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.
>> They stripped themselves of the ornaments. And so it is God that says, now put off thine ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do with thee. I don't even want to look at you. I don't want to go with you. And the thing that he points back to is the ornaments that they are wearing, the jewelry. And when you read this, uh, can you pull up this last verse, uh, in another translation? Let's do, uh, do you have the, um, ESV? Let's do it a couple different versions if you have it. If you can't do it, I know I'm I'm pulling audles on you, so let me know if I'm doing it. Is it working or not? I'll move on if it's not working. There we go. Uh, go read that.
>> Therefore, the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.
>> Onward.
>> Uh, pull up GW, God's word translation. They stripped it from from that moment onward. Go ahead.
>> After they left Mount Horeb, the Israelites no longer wore their jewelry.
>> I mean, I could go through more translations. When it says that they took off their ornaments for onward and no longer, what it's saying is they understood God was not just wanting them to do it for that moment
>> to get favor with God. They removed it and from that moment onward. They no longer wore jewelry. And so this is throughout the word of God. This is not a one-time thing. And so what would happen again is the people of God like when they came out of Egypt, God said, "Bring all that jewelry with you. It was wealth at that time. It was money." They didn't have dollars. And so it was the wealth that they were doing. God was saying, "I'm giving you something to start as you go into the promised land." Um, but when they handled it, they didn't handle it right. They kept doing crazy things with it. And so this was the the response of God. Anyone else want to talk about that before we go into the next area or any other questions? Go ahead.
>> When we look at the New Testament, so that what you the scriptures you just gave us were Old Testament.
>> Yes, I stay in the Old Testament.
>> That's enough.
>> Yeah.
>> But we do also find Paul and Peter talking about outward adorement. Can you talk about that?
>> Yeah. Well, see, you know, thank God we live in the dispensation of grace. Can I get an amen from somebody? Um and because of that uh we we understand that that we repent, we get right with God, God helps us, God makes a difference in our lives. Um but what you find is what we just read was Old Testament. But when you go into the New Testament, what you find is what would be considered the two primary apostles. Peter is the one that has the keys to the kingdom. Jesus gave to he's the one that preached on the day of Pentecost. Uh he he was the one that opened the door to the Jews, to the Samaritans, and to the Gentiles. He is one of the primary apostles. Another one that we would consider a primary apostle is Paul. Paul wrote most of the New Testament. He he was the primary apostle to the Gentiles. Even though Peter opened the door, Paul was the one that took it. And so these are the two main guys. And both of them take time and address wearing jewelry. Both of them take time to do that. And so let's look at that. First Timothy chapter 2, begin with verse number eight. We're going to read both of them and talk about it. I will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting and like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly array but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. And so what we find here is Paul talking to Timothy and he is talking about uh men lifting up holy hands. So he's bringing holiness into the the conversation in like manner also. So he's tying those two things together, these two verses together that women adorn themselves with modest apparel. We talked about that last week. You can go back and look at it. Shamefacedness and sobriety. Not uh we'll talk about this one a little bit when we talk about makeup because that's what makeup does. It's all about drawing attention. Uh but when it's talking about shamef faciness, it's talking about not doing that. Um that but the last part of this not with broaded hair or girl uh gold or pearls or costly array. And so you find the apostle Paul telling us that we should not be wearing gold, pearls, costly array. Gold was the precious metal of that day and it still is today. Um, however, the jewels, the precious jewel of that day was not diamonds. I don't know if they've learned to cut them at that point. Um, but it was pearls. Pearls was So, what it's doing is it's kind of hitting the big dogs, but he's saying this thing wearing jewelry, tying it also back to the Old Testament. So, this is the Apostle Paul that simply said that we shouldn't be wearing it. Also, Peter, uh, 1 Peter chapter 3, verse number three. Go ahead.
>> Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing gold or of putting on of apparel.
>> And so here we find the Apostle Peter. So first we had the Apostle Paul. Now the Apostle Peter is talking about we shouldn't be wearing gold. We shouldn't be doing these things. And so that is the attitude with with with both Peter and the Apostle Paul. And so the Old Testament, there's all kinds of scriptures uh where God is just saying, "Get it out of here." And when you get to the New Testament, you find uh the apostles just saying, "There's no reason to have it. Don't have it. Don't have this in in your life." And so both Old Testament and New Testament, you find the the same thing in agreement.
>> I'm going to tag on. You you did point out in 1 Timothy 2:9 it says in like manner also. And I'll I'll go back to Bishop's >> teaching. He would always say that means what's good for the goose is good for the gander. We're not saying men their only job is this. And women their only job is this. And like manner also means what the men are doing. Women also need to lift up holy hands without wrath. But also men should be adorning themselves in modest apparel and so forth.
>> Absolutely. Anything else need to be added to that?
>> What constitutes what constitutes costly apparel?
>> That's a great question. So costly apparel uh there's only one right answer for this and that it really depends on where you are and the situation. uh the poorest among us here in America. If you go to the some of places I've been overseas in third world countries, what we wear here would be considered costly array. Sister T is a man and because she is they deal with that there in Thailand. So what we have here and what they have somewhere else and so it is based off of where you are in the situation. But there are some things that are just ridiculous no matter what. Um, and so you need to pay attention to that. Don't allow yourself to be in that. Um, uh, you know, I I think we should we should wear, uh, uh, you know, good clothes, wear good, you know, quality things. And quality costs money. Uh, the shoes that I wear, um, I I have the two main shoes that I wear for church, I've been wearing since I was uh, 18 and 19 years old. I am now 48 years old. Same shoes. I just keep resoling them. Um because they they're a good quality shoe, but they're not flashy. They're not anything. They're just a good material that they're made of. So sometimes you may you may spend something, but if you're doing quality and it's not about the shine and the pop and the latest thing, you can actually do it. And so it it really does determine that. I guarantee you what I paid for those shoes, people have paid out the wazoo how much more for their stuff, but they just did a little bit through the years since 18 till 48. It's a it's a whole different ballgame. And so costly array I think depends on the situation you're in. Does that answer the question? Right. Okay.
>> We're talking about jewelry. Yeah. gold. So, traditional things like wedding rings, how does that fit into this? Does scripture distinguish something sentimental from jewelry?
>> Uh, no, it doesn't. Not at all. There is no scripture in the Bible that says um jewelry except wedding rings. It doesn't say that anywhere in the Bible. not one place the um the the the the a phrase that is often used is functional jewelry. That phrase is not in the Bible. It's nowhere in the Bible. Um and I I want to say this before I keep going into this. It it should never be our attitude that we are better than someone because of a stance that we take.
>> I believe we are better off because we are obeying the word of God. But if we ever have a attitude towards people like look at me and oh you're down there. That's just a wrong spirit to have. All right? With that said, there are people that I love that I'm close to um that that have had this concept and I've had conversations with them and I my question is is where is that in the Bible? Because the Bible says we are going to be judged in the last days by the word of God. So, where in the Bible does it say functional jewelry or wedding rings are different than other jewelry? Where in the Bible did God say you should have this for a token? It's not there. As a matter of fact, the opposite is true. And I want to bring us back with that thought in mind back to First Peter. We read in first Peter, I think we read verse three or five just a second ago. I think it was three. Uh, but we're going to read and what I would like for you to do, sweetheart, as you read, I want you to read it all the way down, but jump the one verse that we read earlier. Okay? So, one and two and then four and five. Go ahead.
>> Likewise, you wives, be in subjection to your own husbands.
>> Pause. I want you to start over. I want you to think in your mind every time it's talking about wives and husbands. Okay? Start at the beginning again, please.
>> Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be one by the conversation of the wives,
>> while they behold your chasteed conversation coupled with fear.
>> Jump to the next verse. 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. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.
>> So when you get to verse five, we're talking about the women uh the holy women. We're talking about uh how wives are subject to their own husbands. You go to verse one, it's talking about wives be subject to your own husbands. Verse two, it's talking about your chase conversation coupled with fear. Everything around this scripture is dealing with a husband wife relationship. Why would we decide that verse number three is not still dealing with a husband wife relationship? Why would we think that verse one, verse two, verse four, verse 5 is talking about our interaction between husband and wives? But three is a completely different conversation. It's not. So what does it say in verse three?
>> Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel.
>> And so it says whose adorning let it not be. This is in subject to how a husband and wife are interacting together. And so it says, "Let it not be the wearing of gold uh that that says we have a relationship going on here or the putting on of apparel." Verse number four, go ahead and read that one again.
>> But let it be the hidden man of the
heart. >> Now I Thank you, sweetheart. So um I'm gonna get in trouble for interrupting you all night long. Thank you. Hallelujah. Um, and so what we, this is what I have seen when I have talked to people that are saying, well, okay, I see that jewelry throughout the word of God that God says take it off. I don't want to look at you when you have it on. I see that both Peter and Paul says it, but but this is how I I think it I want it to be the hidden man of the heart. Not only Jory, but also the hidden man of the heart. That is what I have seen so many people read into the scriptures.
>> Well, yeah. Yeah, I know it says that, but it's not only jewelry. It's also the heart. That's not what this scripture says. It says in verse number three, let it not be the wearing of gold that says you're married, but let it be the hidden man of the heart. This said, the first one says, don't let it be this. The second one says, let it be this. And so the idea that we have gotten into so many different churches that yes, it is also that is not scripture. And so this is what I have said. I believe that a ring has become a circle crutch in our world. People wear a ring and they say, "Well, that says I'm married." And when you have something like that out there, you start feeling like you don't have to act like you're married because that says it for you. And what and and let me tell you in our world today, the ring's not helping marriages very much.
>> And that little ring can be slipped off. But if it's in your heart and you know what it makes you do, it makes you act like you're married all the time. It makes you like I do whenever I'm in a store or somewhere and someone says something to me. If we have more than just a quick hi, good to see you kind of a conversation, I'm going to say something about my wife and my children, they are going to know I'm married and I have kids and I'm happy.
>> Yes, I am. I'm happy about it. That is how but but see if I don't have that, I can start thinking, well, this is my crutch. I I'll just let this do the talking for me. That's not going to do the talking for me. Especially when the Bible says, "Don't let it talk for you. Don't let it be a part of it."
>> Can I hear an amen from the church?
>> Any other follow-up questions on that? I know we got other things to get into. Go ahead.
>> Not questions, but we in the United States have to focus on gold, but I've been in other countries. In Korea, they do not get married with a wedding ring. One of the the first two questions you're asked when you meet a brand new person in Korea is, "How old are you? Are you married? A straight up because they do not have any but they have uh there are the reason first Peter 3:3 mentions not just gold but it mentions plating of hair, wearing of gold, putting on of apparel because there are many cultures that literally change all of these outward things to be that circle crutch.
>> And and and so this is what I know, you know, people talk about, well in in in the Bible they had it. First of all, they did not have it. There's not any scripture that says that they had it. But also, I feel like I can prove they didn't because both Abraham and his wife and uh Jacob and his wife, they both had situations where they did something wrong where they lied. They both lied. What did they lie about? They both were going into a place where there was a king and they said to their wives, Jacob did this and Abraham did this. He they said say to this king, say to this person that you are my sister, you're not my wife. Say to them if if there was an outward thing that was accepted at that time that this says you're married, they would have said take off that ring so they'll think that you're not married.
>> But they didn't say that. They said say to them, but they found out they were married. And and if you can go to Genesis 26 and8, this is how you know that if someone is married because what's happening here is the king after uh uh uh Isaac has said about his wife Rebecca, I said Jacob earlier, Isaac has said about his wife Rebecca that she's my my wife. This is not it. The king looks out the window and this is what happens in Genesis 26 and8. And it came to pass when he had been there a long time that Aimilec, king of the Philistines, looked out at a window and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebecca, his wife.
>> That's how you know you're married. You sport with your wife.
>> Hallelujah.
>> That's how you That's how they knew. It wasn't, "Oh, I I I saw when you were away from me, you slipped the ring on your finger. I knew you were married." No, you acted like you're married. That's how I know you're married.
>> I'm telling you, if people would get rid of these crutches and put themselves in a position where they have to act like they're married everywhere they go, and everything they do, it would help so many marriages. It would blow your mind. [Applause] Also, if it was just to show that you're married and it is from this is what happened in the Old Testament. That's why God said, "I don't want to see you with it." There's something about jewelry that brings pride.
>> It just does for men and women. It just brings it. When you're really into it, it it brings it. And And it it's there. And I'm telling you, if it wasn't, it would always be just a simple wedding band. But it never stays there. It may start there,
>> but it always adds to diamonds and clusters and all this stuff.
>> It just keeps growing.
>> And I'm telling you, if you will go through the history when when when when the Protestant church broke away from the church uh the Catholic church, they these people were truly after something new. They were after God. They were wanting the word of God. when he nailed that that uh thesis to the to the the the door. I mean, he they were they were making big steps. And if you look at them, they preach exactly what I'm preaching. You go back to to when they came out, they were preaching against jewelry. I you can read their sermons. They were preaching about jewelry as as well as wedding bands and all of that. Of course, wedding bands came out of the Catholic Church.
>> That's why I said in the name of the in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
>> That's how they do it.
>> And so it it came out of there. But when the Protestant church came out, they did not do it. It wasn't until the 1700s. And the first Protestant church that allowed it back in was the Methodist church. They talked about it for almost 20 years. They finally did it in 1773. They finally put it in their articles that you can that that we can are going to allow wedding rings in. The following year, another denomination, I believe it was the Presbyterians followed the Methodist church. But it, guess what? It didn't stop with wedding bands. It started going to other things. And that's the same thing that's happening in some, God help me, churches that I love and I believe in. It started with a simple wedding band. Then the wedding bands got more elaborate. Then it's a class ring. Then it's a promise ring. And then it's this ring. And then it's that ring. Oh, there's a purpose to this ring. And then there's a purpose to that ring. And so it just keeps on building. And I'm telling you, it's not the path that we are going to go on in Souls Harbor. We're just not going to take the path. We're not going to condemn people. We're not going to make be mad at people. But neither if you see it in the scripture when you go if God moves you to another church should you lose your convictions about it. You should hold on to what the word of God teaches and don't let tradition lead you. [Music]
>> Almost started preaching there a moment, didn't I? Hallelujah.
>> What do we classify as jewelry? Like right now we have wedding bands that are silicone. We have the silicone bracelets. We have watches. You know, yo, I've seen people trying to do the silicone and stuff. I'm just like, listen, what are you doing?
>> Neither give place to the devil. Yo, why don't you go get your kids candy cigarettes, too? I mean, what are you doing? You know, just don't play with it. There ain't no reason to open that door.
>> That's how I feel about it.
>> That's That's the church standard. Exactly right.
>> Yeah, I'll address anything.
>> The the prodical son is a prominent Oh yes,
>> pro- jewelry I guess is a verse.
>> Well, people have used the prodical. Yeah, there's a couple of them and I think we should address both of them. Um well, there's a a few things that people have brought up. The two most prominent um most of them, let me just say this is Old Testament and and and and you see the give and take back and forth and God keeps saying, "Nope, take it. Get rid of it. I don't want to look at you." You see it back and forth. Old Testament. New Testament, you just have two apostles saying, "Don't do it." But what you find is uh people uh talk about the prodical son and I think it's worthy for us to uh take a moment and read that one. But before we do that, the other one that they use in the Old Testament is Genesis chapter 24 and verse 47. And what's happening here is uh Isaac um has someone going and getting a getting a wife for him. That's interesting just in and of itself, right? go get me a wife somewhere. Um, so she he goes and he's bringing back uh re Rebecca and and and this is what's said about it. And so I I I like to address these things and and I'll address anything. It don't matter to me. Uh Genesis 24 and 47. This is what first of all, God doesn't say to do this. Number one, no scripture said God said to do this. This is a a custom of that day. But I want us to see what it says. Uh Genesis 24 and 47. And I asked her and said,"Whose daughter art thou?" And she said, "The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milka bear unto him?" And I put the earring upon her face and the bracelets upon her hands.
>> Okay? And so this is a a again back in in the Old Testament, it went back and forth. That's very important. The first thing to understand. Secondly, this is not a wedding ring. If you're going with this, then you're going with a nose ring. It's not even an earring. That's a nose ring. study it out. It's a nose ring in her face right here.
>> And and and and and again, you go through different translations. It's a nose ring. And so, um and so we can if y'all want us to start talking about nose rings for marriage, we could talk about it. But at this point, he was giving wealth. This is a custom of what they would do to show uh how wealthy they are and how great everything's going to be. He is he is trying to woo her in to come with him to marry a man that she he she will never have seen until she goes. So he is just pouring all this stuff on her. So it's this right here was just a show of wealth of things that had nothing to do with saying this is sealing a marriage. That's not what this is. And again, uh, every scholar I've ever read says the exact same thing. It was not a wedding ring. It was a it was a overall token of having wealth. Later, God says, "Get rid of of of this stuff."
>> Um, so in the New Testament, this is the one they pull out in the New Testament. So, Luke chapter 15, there's a lot here, so let me just skip by it. This is when the um the prodical son, he goes out and he's he's away uh and he's living his life crazy and uh he's sold or he he wasted everything his dad gave him. He's now at the pig sty. He comes to himself and realizes my father's house. The servants have better stuff than this. He said, "I will arise. I will go back to my father's house. Uh, and I will say I'm not worthy to be thy son, but make me one of your hired servants. So, that's the story. So, understand that's his thinking. I'm coming to be a servant. I'm not worthy of anything. He's coming back with that mindset. When he comes back, starting in verse 22, go ahead. But the father said to his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found," and they began to be married.
>> Let's just thank God for that truth. I'm so thankful for the truth of the word of God. Listen, you may go out and mess up, but there's a father that loves you. When you come back, he's ready to wrap you up. We make mistakes, but my God, my God is so good.
>> So good. So, what is happening here in verse number 22? Um, understand his attitude. I'm nothing. I'm not worthy. I I read that whole passage. I I just make me a servant. Just make me something. And the father's saying, "What are you talking about? I'm restoring you." So he takes this and he puts the ring on his finger. What is that? What's that whole thing about? That ring, when you look at historians and you read the scholars and you hear what it's talking about, what what this is was the this uh symbol of the family. It's the family crest. It's that it it's when they would write a letter, right? and they would do the the um wax and then they would seal the letter, right? It was the family seal. What he was saying is, I want you to be able to do business for the family again. I'm restoring you so you are in full authority in this family. So, he gave him that. Now, here's the interesting thing about that. When you read about it, they didn't walk around wearing that. Why? Because if you're walking around and you've got the crest that's giving authority and power and you hit something and mar it now when you do the seal, it's not your family seal anymore. You've messed it up. So most of the time, unless it was a banquet or something that you're showing something off that I have authority in the family, it was less left at the desk. So when you're writing letters, they would put it on, they would seal it, and it was it was part of the authority. So that had nothing to do with, "I want you to start wearing jewelry."
>> It had everything to do with God speaking the language of the people of that day saying, "When that son came back,
>> oh, I wish a backslider would hear me." When that when that son came back, God gave him full authority to put God's mark on it. I'm telling you, when you come back to God, he's given you the authority to put his seal on what's going on. I feel the Holy Ghost right there. You are not less than. You are not some secondhand child. You've got the authority of the power of God in your life.
>> Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost.
>> Jesus, help me. All right. They said to do makeup later. I'll do makeup later. That's fine. You got some other questions for me?
>> I do. So, if I wanted to get baptized, do I need to remove my jewelry first? And what if my spouse is not a believer?
>> To get baptized?
>> No. To get baptized. Um I I believe if if your heart, okay, let's go back. What is the qualifications in the Bible when people got baptized? did not say anything about are you holy enough? Are you good enough? It simply said um the the only time you see that qualification is when the Ethiopian unic and Philip are in the desert and he asked here is water. What do hinder me? What would stop me from getting baptized?
>> The answer was do you believe in your heart?
>> That's right.
>> So there are many things that we will grow in later.
>> Yes. But if you believe, God will meet you at that belief if it's towards God.
>> So if my spouse is not a believer, do I have to remove my wedding band to be a good good standing member of the church?
>> That's a great question. That's a deep question. Um I would I would I would say you need to come talk to me. Let's have a discussion. Let's pray about it. Um, let's discuss and pray about God touching their heart and them real realizing it. I'm telling you, if you would treat that spouse and sport them
>> and you say, "This is how I want to show you my love and not that.
>> I'm just saying they would be like, I don't care about that at all."
>> But I I it is a great question. Whoever asked it, I'm very serious. Please come talk to me and we'll walk through it. You do not need to break up a marriage to pull something apart. Don't do that. Don't do that. Let's walk through it together in the mercies and the grace of God and God sees your heart and he will help you as long as you are moving in the right direction.
>> Go ahead.
>> Gotcha. Um h how do we address um like nasal or ear piercings for health reasons, migraines, that kind of thing? Bring that to me again.
>> So, so some people will get a certain part of their ear pierced or a certain part of their nose pierced to help with things like migraines,
>> medical issue.
>> I think God can touch you and heal you. I don't see any reason to have violate a one scripture to try to get something else. You stick with the word of God and God will bless you for it. Uh, you know, I had someone one time that was wearing a necklace because they had a life. They were wearing a gold necklace because they had they had this thing that would tell people what their issue was. Yeah. Like if they had a medical problem. Uh, and they were saying, "Well, I need this." And I simply said, "Does it have to be gold? Does it have to be a precious metal? Can it just be a a like a a army dog tag? Can it be something like that?" that. Now, I don't even think you should wear that just to do it. But if it's a true medical issue, there's a way to do it and still honor the word of God.
>> And I'm getting a lot of questions about watches. Where do you draw the line on a watch when it when it's clearly considered?
>> So, I've got a few if you want to come buy them later tonight. No, I don't. Uh, so, uh, to me, what what a watch is is it should not look like jewelry. It should not it should not appear to be jewelry. Uh th this is more common with ladies than men that the watch is like teeny tiny and it's got all this other stuff on it too. You you wouldn't even know it was a watch. It just looks like a bracelet. And I would say you shouldn't wear those. Uh it should don't let your good be evil spoken of. There's no reason uh for you to to have that. Uh I if you're going to have a watch, it should look like a watch. It shouldn't be all flashy and gold with diamonds and and you know gold and uh all that. It should be a just very simply a watch. Um and and I grew up with in in in my house with my dad um the pastor of this church at that time and uh watching him uh buy a belt that the belt buckle was like looked gold and him take it outside with spray paint and taping up the end and spray paint it to make sure he was not a stumbling block for somebody else. Uh even though it wasn't real gold or wasn't anything like that. I don't think we the Bible says abstain from all appearance of evil. If we find in the word of God that that something is evil in the sight of God that he keeps bringing up as when you're doing something wrong and he keeps painting you with that that brush. I don't think you need to mess with it at all.
>> So that would also apply to things like hair accessories that look expensive but they're actually just plastic.
>> Yeah. But even that, I've watched some of our precious ladies that that um some some sometimes we put hair pieces in that absolutely look like jewelry. I my my daughter had had a a piece that she and there's no one sweeter or precious or more holy than my daughter. She wasn't thinking about it, but it just looked like a row of a row of pearls and and stuff. And I just said, "Sweetheart, I I don't think that that you need to that's not a good representation of what the Bible's talking about. You should go that extra mile." My own mother was wearing a watch uh She was wearing a watch and I and I said, "So, I'm I'm I'm just saying I get in trouble a lot for things because listen, you either going to stand or you're not going to stand. You either got you either got to believe it or you're not going to believe it." And so, she was wearing something and and it was it didn't look it wasn't like gold, but it was just I'm just like, "Mom, that that's that's that's leaning in that direction." But she didn't hesitate. She just went right ahead and said, "Okay, I'm taking that back and I'm going to I'm going to do the right thing." She's coming now. See, no one else is doing this.
>> Sweetheart, what are you giving that mic for?
>> Thank you. Thank you, Sister Holly. Thank you so much. In my defense, [Applause] I didn't really like that watch. I only had it three days. And I I took it back and I said, "I don't want this watch after he said." And what it did is it had So it was entirely black. I normally wear all black watches because I don't want people thinking that I'm wearing a bracelet. But this one had a little diamond up here. I mean, it was you couldn't hardly see it. and a little one down there. And and he
>> it was blinding me when I saw it. Bl flashing.
>> Okay. So, I took it back. Yeah. Yeah. You don't need to be wearing these watches that they're covered up. The face is covered up. Why would you want that?
>> Y'all don't want her with a mic. I'm telling you right now.
>> Listen. where I got the Holy Ghost and and I got the Holy Ghost.
>> Holy Ghost.
>> Yes, I did.
>> Talk about it, mama.
>> So, when I got the Holy Ghost, I was totally changed. I mean, they could have told me anything. But that church did not believe. They did not talk about standards at all. And so all of the young people now my mother my mother dressed and and the women in in the church and they looked different but the young people we all just wore what we wanted. If we wanted to wear pants or if we wanted to wear tops that wasn't fitting that's what we wore. And so there was like three to six months, I can't remember what it was, but when I went to a church that taught standards, let me tell you, I walked in. I didn't want to go to church that night. I I've I've told you guys the story about me um getting the Holy Ghost, and I got the Holy Ghost. I mean, the Holy Ghost came on me. I didn't even remember walking up to the altar and when I came to I was laying on the floor with both hands in my in the air speaking in other tongues. Thank you. I got the Holy Ghost but they didn't teach anything and I just didn't know. And so three to six months later, whichever it was, I can't remember. And when I went into that church, I didn't want to go to church that night. I told my mother, "Mom, I've got homework. I don't need to go to church." My mother started crying. And I thought, "You're acting like you did before you got the Holy Ghost." Cuz I was a terrible child. I was terrible. I was raised with six older brothers. So, I had to fight for my life. And I was terrible to my mother, my father, everybody. I told my dad I hated him one time. And so he he whipped me. But but let me tell you, I didn't want to go to church that night and I I told my mom I I I've got too much homework. And so but my dad was home and we had a car. And so my mother said, "Oh, I wanted to go so bad to this revival." And they she'd never been to this church. And I said, "Okay, but as soon as church is over, I got to get home and get my homework done." Like that was so important. And so, and th this was 60ome years ago. And and I was in a Pentecostal church that baptized in Jesus' name. They didn't teach any standards, none. So anyway, when I walked into the Daniel's church, let me tell you, when I walked in there, I it was crowded there. It was full. There was no seats. And I seen there was one seat over here, and there was a man that got up and let my mother and dad sit over on the other side of the church. But when I walked in, my hands just went to my face and I just started crying and and balling and saying, "God, whatever this is in this church, that is what I want." And so, I mean, and and I can tell you a long story, but I'm not. Uh, but when I walked out of that church, you know, it was the 60s, so my dress was here. And when I got in the car, of course, I was speaking in tongues. I couldn't hardly quit. I told my mom, I said, "Mom, can you make me a longer skirt?" She went home that night. She made me a longer skirt. And then and uh so I didn't even tell her, but I rolled down the window. My I lived in California, so my window was probably already down, and we didn't have any air condition. And so we loved it. And so I took off my ring and I just threw it out of the window on my way home. And I didn't even know why I did that. I didn't know why I wanted a longer skirt, but the Holy Ghost was moving in me. I'm going to tell you it. It is real. It is real.
>> And we've got to hold on to it. We can't let go of it. Amen. Let's just stand and lift our hands together. Lord, in the name of Jesus, God, give us oldfashioned convictions, biblical convictions. Oh Jesus. [Music] Oh God, give us good old convictions, God. God, I want to love what you love and hate what you hate. Oh God, if your word paints it in any bad way, I say I don't want anything to do with it. Lord, give me Jesus. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Oh Jesus, I pray. Help us, God. Help us to love you above all else in Jesus name. in Jesus name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank God for convictions, church. We've got we've got to hold on to convictions. It can't be just, oh, someone said this. Someone does that for you. I want to please God. I want God to look at me and say, well done. I want God to look at me and say, you you worked hard. You pushed through the to the right things. I want God to be able to look at me and say that you want that in your life. Please God, please God above all else in Jesus name. I'm going to stay up here just for a moment. If anyone has any questions, please come up and uh ask me. I'll do my best to answer you. I love you. You are dismissed. Greet someone before you leave in Jesus.