Be Clean and Change Your Garments (Genesis 35) - Pastor Bruce Mejia

Amen. Okay, we're in Genesis chapter 35 this evening.

Genesis 35 · chapter mention

I want to continue with our Thursday night Bible study.

I wasn't able to preach through this on Thursday because I was falling ill.

But of course I'm better today.

So I want to kind of go over this passage here and do some catch up on the

book of Genesis in chapter 35.

We have a continuation here of some of the events that took place in 34,

where you have Israel and his family, essentially dwelling in Sheikham.

And of course we know that that ended, it didn't end very well with them.

God did not intend for Israel and his family to live in Sheikham.

He wanted him to go to Bethel.

And we know that Bethel means house of God.

And of course we know that Jacob is kind of, you know,

he's halfway obeying the commandments of the Lord to leave the land of his

uncle to come back to Bethel.

But instead he ends up pitching his tent in Sheikham dwelling there.

And it causes a lot of problems.

You have his daughter, Dinah, going out to see the daughters of the land.

She ends up committing fornication, invoking the wrath and anger of her

brothers. They end up cunningly deceiving the men of Sheikham,

causing them to be circumcised, essentially stating,

if you become circumcised, we will intermarry one with another.

And of course they were lying.

They ended up coming upon them and slaying them and causing them to

have a bad testimony before the people of the land.

So it's a major mess here.

And of course this is kind of ruining it for Jacob.

And what this demonstrates to us in chapter 34 is the fact that, you know,

it's just worth it to just go all the way through and come back to the house of God,

go to Bethel.

Don't look for some alternative when you're trying to get right with God.

Just go back to church.

You don't have to dwell in Sheikham.

Don't go halfway and say, well,

I'm just going to start listening to preaching.

I'm just going to just be there online.

Just go to church.

Just go to the house of Bethel.

Go all in because at the end of the day,

you know, dwelling in Sheikham, though you're going in the direction of Bethel,

of Bethel, it's not necessarily the same thing, right?

So you have this situation here.

And of course, at this point, Jacob's pretty upset and he wants to move his family

and essentially go to Bethel as he was previously commanded.

And this is what we see in chapter 35.

Look at verse one.

It says, and God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there

and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto them.

When thou fled us from the face of Esau thy brother, then Jacob said into his

household and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are

among you and be clean and change your garments.

Let us arise, go up to Bethel and it 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.

So of course, God appears once again to Jacob to remind him, hey,

the original commandment was to go into Bethel.

That's where you need to go.

And of course, God is being gracious with Jacob here.

Jacob decides to get serious and he basically says, all right, it's time to

basically put my household in spiritual order.

Okay.

And I commend Jacob for this because even though he's an imperfect man,

even though he's made mistakes in the past, from here on out, he's trying

to make the right decisions, right?

And this is why he says to his household, all right, it's time to put

away the strange gods, it's time to be clean and change your garments.

Why?

Because we're going unto the house of God.

And this is important, right?

Because of the fact that Jacob understands that if he's going to go to

Bethel, he wants to make sure that his family is also right with God.

And you know what?

It's important for us folks to realize that, you know, obviously we are

responsible for our own actions, how we serve the Lord.

But if we are fathers, if we're husbands, we're also responsible

for the spiritual wellbeing of our families as well, right?

We need to make sure that as much as we're doing our best to get

right with God, we need to make sure that we make sure that our

families are also getting right with God as well.

Now, what does he mean by put away the strange gods that are among you?

Well, this kind of tells me that he kind of knows about Rachel's

false gods that she stole from her father.

If you remember a couple of chapters ago, she, you know, when

they're leaving, he ends up or they end up leaving in secret and

Rachel ends up stealing the idols from her father.

She hides it in her tent and of course her father comes

seeking for it.

She lies about it and Jacob's like, oh, what's my crime?

What have I done?

He's kind of playing dumb here.

But apparently, you know, he might have got a caught wind of

this later on or something where he understood like Rachel has

false gods.

These people have false gods and it's time to clean that up.

Okay.

Now, what does this teach us?

It teaches us that part of going to church, you know, is

cleaning up our lives.

You know, part of going to church is kind of examining our

personal lives and recognizing we need to put away the strange

gods which are among us.

Too many times people just treat church as like, well, I'm

just going to go there and learn something.

I'm going to go there and learn doctrine.

I'm there to be sent out to preach the gospel.

I'm there to go soul-winning.

I'm there to fellowship.

But let me just remind you, God also wants you to

clean up your life as well.

It's not just about fellowship.

That's great.

It's not just about learning doctrine.

I'm glad you know doctrine.

But the Bible tells us to be clean, to be holy.

And you know what Jacob is saying?

Hey, put away your strange gods, put away the sin from

among you, be clean and change your garments.

And these are great three points here that we're looking

at where he's basically telling them, Hey, if we're

going to go to the house of God, we're going to

construct an altar to worship the Lord.

We need to make sure that we are cleansed of our

unrighteousness.

Okay.

And you know what?

Anytime we come to church, obviously there's nothing

magical about this building.

There's nothing supernatural about these walls.

There's nothing supernatural about the chairs or the

ground or the ceiling.

This is office space.

Okay.

But at the end of the day, because we're meeting

here and because we are a church, there is a

supernatural element.

You know what God wants you to do?

He wants you to clean up your life when you

come here.

Obviously come as you are, but don't leave as

you were.

Right.

You know, a lot of churches are like, oh, come

as you are and just let them work it out.

And they need to get that ride and stuff like

that.

And I'm all for being patient with people.

You know that.

Okay.

I preached about that last week, but here's the

flip side of that coin is if you're in our

church, clean up your life.

Make sure that you are repenting of your

sin.

Make sure that you are taken inventory of your

spiritual life and that you're better today

than you were last week.

You're better today than you were last year.

You should, as Jacob says here, put away

the strange gods that are among you.

Now go to Colossians chapter three, if you

would Colossians chapter three.

Now look, folks, you know, I don't think

anybody here is, uh, you know, struggling

with idolatry or anything like that.

You know, a couple of years ago, we had a

lot of new Christians and they were

idolaters.

And this is why we had the idol burning

Sunday, whereby we almost burned down

the entire church because we didn't

really know how to control the fire.

But hey, we got the job done, amen.

And, you know, burned a lot of idols.

So I personally don't think there's a

lot of idolatry in our church.

I don't think there's any.

Now there might be, and if you have an

idol, you need to make sure that you burn

it in the fire, that you smash it, you

toss it, and you know, you know, retain

any idols from your grandma, from your

aunt, just because that's sentimental

value.

We need to make sure that we do, as

the Bible tells us in the New Testament,

to keep ourselves from idols, okay?

Even if you don't feel like you're

worshiping it, you know, it's like,

well, I don't really worship it.

I don't view it as deity.

It's just kind of like a heirloom,

you know?

It's something that my aunt gave me.

It just means a lot to me.

There's a little Virgin Mary that I got

going on.

Well, the Bible still considers that

idolatry, because it's an idol.

It's a false God in God's eyes,

and you're provoking the Lord unto

jealousy by, you know,

possessing that false idol.

So you say, what should I do with

it?

Break it, bash it, step on it,

toss it in the fire, just

completely get rid of it.

Just be Jerobail, amen.

Be Jerobail and toss that thing

down, throw it into the trash,

and get right with God and say, Lord,

forgive me of my idolatry.

I kept this in my possession for

sentimental value.

I'm not worshiping it, but in your

eyes, this is still idolatry.

So I repent of this and just

toss it into the fire, into the

trash or whatever.

You know, that's important to do.

But here's the thing.

I would think, I would gather to

say that no one here is really

struggling with idolatry.

You know, I don't think you have

like a Buddha in your house or

something like that.

You know, maybe some of you

Asians do, and if you do, you

need to go burn that fat,

you know, idol and destroy it.

I don't think there's a Virgin

Mary somewhere around here.

You know, I don't think people

struggle with that, but you

know the New Testament actually

defines for us what idolatry

is, and obviously we know that

it's referring to a false God,

but the Bible also gives us

somewhat of a secondary

application or definition of

idolatry, and that's basically

elevating money, right?

Covetiousness.

In fact, look at Colossians

chapter three and verse five.

It says, mortified therefore

your members which are upon

the earth.

Now, what does it mean to

mortify?

It means to kill it.

Okay.

Think of a mortician.

Mortify means to just kill it.

And when it says members,

it's referring to like our

physical body.

Why?

Because the works of the flesh

are made manifest, which are

these.

So this isn't saying you

literally have to saw off your

leg, saw off your arm,

pluck your eyeballs out or

something like that.

When it's referring to

mortifying the members of our

body, it's referring to the

works of our members.

Okay.

And he lists them.

He says, fornication,

uncleanness,

inordinate affection,

evil concupiscence, and I

want you to notice this,

and covetousness,

which is idolatry.

So we see there that the

Bible classifies idolatry not

only as the worship of a

false God.

It also classifies idolatry

as being on par with

covetousness,

being a greedy person.

Now, this particular sin is a

lot easier to hide than an

idol, right?

You know, an idol, you know,

it's pretty out in the open.

You have it on your dashboard.

You see it when you go

soul-winning or something like

that, you know, when you

visit a Buddhist home.

But covetousness, on the

other hand, it's like right

in here.

It's when you desire things

that God does not want you

to have or does not want

you to have at this moment.

And specifically, it's often

tied into money.

Because covetousness, another

word for covetousness in the

Bible is lust.

And when we think of lust,

we think of like sexual

desires, but lust just

simply means to covet

something that doesn't

belong to you, OK?

Or that God does not

intend for you to have at

this moment.

And consistently, covetousness

is often associated with

the desire to be rich,

OK?

And the Bible calls that

idolatry.

Now, don't misunderstand me.

It's important to have money.

Don't be a brokeie, amen.

Pay your bills, pay people

back, you know, make sure

you're taking care of your

family, be a blessing to

others.

The Bible says that money

answereth all things.

It's important to have money,

OK?

But here's the thing, the

Bible says we cannot serve

God and mammon, though.

And when you begin to serve

mammon, which the Bible

renders as money, at

that point, you're

committing idolatry.

Now, what does it mean

to serve mammon?

It means that you're

elevating money to the extent

where you're now excluding

the service of God, church

attendants or anything that

is spiritual.

You're basically putting the

spiritual things on the

back burner because you're

serving money, OK?

And look, you know, this is

a sin that can creep into

church.

And I would even say that

when you look at the sins of

1 Corinthians chapter five,

it's the sin that is very

hard to detect in a

church, OK?

You know, the other sins

are kind of easy.

A drunkard, you look drunk.

Right?

A railer.

We hear about it, right?

Fornication.

Hey, is this your girl

for you guys to live together?

OK, you guys are fornicated, OK?

You know, things of that

nature, you know, extortion,

we can see that covetousness

is more something that's

actually found in the heart.

But it does make its way out

into the into the mouth

because of the fact that out

of the abundance of the heart

the mouth speak.

And according to the Bible,

it's such a grievous sin

that it merits

excommunication if you don't

get it right.

Now, the Bible isn't

forbidding you to make money.

The Bible isn't forbidding you

to be to have a lucrative

business or to make money.

What it does forbid is to try

to bring that into the church

where you now view church

as a business whereby you

can make money, OK?

Or it forbids Christians

from coming into church

and only talking about money,

how to make money,

how much money you have.

You know, God is not

pleased when God's people

come to church and instead

of addressing spiritual

matters and things of that

nature, they elevate

covetousness.

And look, folks, obviously

people become covetous when

they begin to envy others

for the possessions, the money

and the things that they have.

So it's important for us

to realize that, you know,

you don't necessarily have

to be rich to be a covetous person.

You can be a brokey and be

covetous and be greedy,

become envious and it can

ultimately destroy your life.

This is what the Bible

refers to as having the love

of money, which is the

root of all evil.

What does the Bible tell us here?

It says that we need to

mortify the members

of our body covetousness.

So this is something that we

have to make sure that we

constantly put into check,

that we're not becoming

greedy people, that we're not

missing churches just to make

an extra buck, that we're

not spreading covetousness

and envy into the church

where all you do is talk

about your possessions,

how much money you have

and why are you so broke

and you don't have as much

as money as I do or anything

of that nature, that kind

of attitude is a wicked

attitude to have.

Now again, don't misunderstand

me, make money.

Make money, be someone

who is diligent and your

business is thriving.

That's great, but be modest

about the things that you

have, right?

And don't invoke covetousness

in others.

Look at 1 Timothy.

We're going to come back

to Colossians chapter three

in just a bit.

Look at 1 Timothy, if you

would, chapter six.

So Jacob says we're going

to go into Bethel,

but before we do so,

we need to make sure we get

rid of the idolatry

in our household.

They have physical idolatry.

You know what?

It's OK for you to say,

you know what?

We're going to start going

to church.

Let's start cleaning up

our lives a little bit.

OK.

And again, I do think

that when you come to church

and you leave exactly

as you were, you haven't

changed anything.

You know, that's kind

of in vain.

I'm glad you're learning

the Bible.

I'm glad you're learning

doctrine.

I'm glad you understand

replacement theology more.

I'm glad you're learning

the stories, but clean up

your life, though.

Like, get right with God.

Be holy as he is holy.

May there be changes

in your life.

And this isn't a message

to say, oh, a changed life

just automatically means

that you're a safe person.

No, but here's the thing,

folks, you have to put

in the effort to change

your life because God

commands you to.

He commands you to change.

He wants you to change

the way you think,

the way you act,

the way you talk,

the way you behave.

All these things

should change in your life.

Don't be a person

who comes to church

and you have all this baggage

with you, okay?

And look, there's

nothing wrong with baggage.

I came to church

with baggage.

You came to church

with baggage,

but can we shed

some of it off, though?

Can you leave some

of that drama behind,

though?

Can you stop being

a covetous,

can you stop being

a rebellious woman?

Can you stop being

a covetous man?

Can you stop being,

you know, filling

the blank, whatever it

whatever sin

that you're struggling with.

Let's shed some of that

stuff off.

You're like, oh, I thought

this was a place

where you just accept me

for who I am.

We do.

I mean,

not kicking you out.

I'm just saying,

I'm just, here's just

your weekly reminder

that you better be

growing in your faith.

And part of growing

is making sure

that you're putting away

the false gods

which are among you,

okay?

And not just remaining

the same person

year by year.

And look,

I'm not talking about

souling.

I think we know about

souling.

I think that's just

everyone kind of knows that.

We're souling church.

I'm not talking about,

you know, how well you know

anti-ence prophecy.

I know you know anti-ence

prophecy.

Let's just get into

the practicality

of the Christian life

where you're actually

growing in maturity

in your mind

and in your walk with God.

Okay.

Where, you know,

you're maturing

spiritually, emotionally,

mentally.

These are important things,

my friends.

Put away the gods

which are among you.

Look what it says in

1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

In verse 6 it says,

But godliness

with contentment

is great gain.

For we brought nothing

into this world

and it is certain we can

carry nothing out.

Having food and raiment

let us there with

be content.

So the Bible tells us here

that in order to make

spiritual gains,

in order to increase

spiritual, we need to make

sure we have contentment

coupled with godliness.

Meaning that

people in the world

learn contentment.

There's people who are

not Christians.

They know what it's like

to be content.

What God values is

that when you add to that

godliness,

they're content just

because, you know,

they understand the value

of just not being a greedy

person.

Whereas when it comes to

the Christian economy,

when you couple that

with godliness,

you recognize,

well, the reason I don't

want to be a greedy person,

the reason I don't want

to be a covetous individual

is because I'm looking

into the eternal.

I'm setting my affections

on things above,

not on the things of this

earth.

And this is why it says

that godliness with

contentment is great gain.

Verse nine says,

but they that will be rich

fall into temptation

and a snare

and into many foolish

and hurtful lusts

which drown in

destruction

and perdition.

So this is the will

to be rich.

So what happens when a

person wills themselves

to be rich?

They end up trying to

get rich fast.

Okay.

Lottery.

Or they just refuse

to work.

They rather just do

with the welfare system.

They don't want to really

put in any work

to receive provisions.

And he was notorious.

You know, a group of people

are notorious for this.

Now, I know what you're

thinking, but it's not them.

Believe it or not,

I'm not talking about

the people you think

I'm thinking about.

I'm talking about Jews.

Jews are notorious

for being on welfare.

I'm saying you just

research it.

You know, like 70%

I mean, someone can

fact-check this, but 70% of

like Jews in New York,

for example, are on welfare.

And you know, these guys,

it's so funny because

you know, these orthodox,

ascetic Jews or whatever,

you know, they're like,

they make their wives work,

have these jobs,

they have all these kids,

you know, eight, ten kids

or whatever, but they

make their wives work

and the men don't work.

You say, what are they doing?

They're too busy studying

Torah and Talmud.

And so then they get

welfare

to pay for all their stuff.

And you know, if they

have that many kids,

they're making bank

from the government.

You know, they're getting

all kinds of

kinds of food stamps.

They're getting all kinds of

financial aid

and government aid,

but they refuse to work.

But I mean, the fine irony,

though, they're basically

studying the Old Testament

the entire time.

You know, the Old Testament,

it tells them to work.

And yet they're just

not working.

They're just a bunch

of lazy Jews.

Okay.

And it's just, I thought

Jews were rich.

I thought like Jews had

a lot of money.

They do.

They do.

What did I just say?

I'm not saying they're

getting it by

righteous means, though.

You know, and this is why

sometimes you'll see videos

of people interviewing

Jews on the street,

these Hasidic Jews

and say like, oh, you

know, these men

and they'll say like,

what do you do for a living?

And they don't want to talk.

You say, why?

Because they don't do

anything for a living.

They don't work.

They're just lazy.

And, you know, they're drowning

in destruction and

perdition because of their

laziness.

Okay.

Now, obviously, I personally

believe there's certain people

out there in this world

that would merit some sort

of government financial aid.

If it's like some woman

who has kids, maybe her

her husband passed away,

whatever it may be.

You know, there's a

situation like that.

But not if there's like

both parents and you're

sending your wife off

to work while you yourself

are just studying Torah

all day long, you know,

just doing this all day

or whatever, while you're

studying the Talmud and how,

you know, all this blasphemous

teaching is godless.

Okay.

And so the point that I'm

making here is that, you know,

part of being a covetous person

is being a person who wants

without wanting to put in the

work to actually get it.

Because sometimes people are

just covetous not because

they're not supposed to have

the things that they want

because they're not willing

to get it in the right way.

Right.

For example, some people

want money.

It's not bad to want money,

but it's bad if you get it

through the lottery though.

It's bad if you get it

through theft, right?

It's not.

It's bad if you get it

through dishonest means.

And so look what it goes on

to say here.

First tennis is for the love

of money is the root of all

evil, which while some coveted

after, they have aired

from the faith and pierced

themselves through with many

sorrows.

But thou, O man of God,

flee these things and follow

after righteousness,

godliness, faith, love,

patience, meekness and so

forth.

What is Bible telling us here?

It's telling us that we need

to beware of covetousness.

Okay.

We need to mortify that member.

We need to make sure that

we're seeking the things

which are above.

Seek first the kingdom of God

and his righteousness

and these things shall be

added unto you.

And you know, obviously,

it's really easy to worry

about money.

It's really easy,

especially if you're going

through a tough time.

Super easy to worry about money.

That's one of the things

that just people worry

about the most.

It's just like,

what's going to happen?

Because things are so

uncertain.

We go through seasons

of uncertainty.

We don't know if we're

going to be able to make

ends meet.

We're struggling.

Whatever may be.

But this is why the Bible

tells us to, you know,

sufficient unto the day

is the evil thereof.

Like if you have enough

for today, that's part

of the evil of this world.

If you were fed today,

praise God, leave tomorrow

in God's hands.

You know, and you're

thinking to yourself like,

I feel like I've been

living like that the whole time.

Well, guess what?

You get to have your

faith increased in God.

And if you've had three

square meals, which I'm

just going to say

that most people here

have had more than

three square meals.

Okay.

Then God's taking care of you.

He's taking care of you.

He's taking care of the bills.

You know, I've not seen

the righteous forsaken,

nor his seed begging bread.

Never put money before God.

Okay.

Never put money before God.

Never put finances

before the Lord.

Never compromise your

convictions just because

you want to make an extra

buck.

Never just put church

on the back burner.

You know, the Bible

on the back burner.

Serving God on the back

burner just because

you want to make some

more money.

Right.

And quite frankly, in my

experience, some of the

wealthiest people I've met

are some of the most

faithful people to church.

They're the most faithful

people to God's service.

They're constantly

winning people to Christ.

They are serving God

and they have the right

mentality when it comes

to money.

They recognize like the

reason I even have this

is because God is just

providing it.

So why would I not

be faithful to God?

You know, the reason God's

even blessing me with all

these finances and all this

wealth is because of the

fact that I'm serving

him.

I'm being faithful to him

and you're keeping money

in its rightful place.

You know, a lot of Christians

don't think that way though.

Well, you don't understand

my situation.

Yeah, but you know, God

knows the situation though.

And you're not a novel

situation to God.

Many people have gone

through situations that

you've gone through.

And so it's there's

nothing new under the sun.

So we need to make sure

that if you are struggling

with the sin of

covetousness, you need

to chop that thing off.

Chop off the member

of covetousness in your life.

Confess it before the Lord.

Tell the Lord, I'm

a covetous person.

I am an idolatrous person,

which is covetousness.

And quite frankly, I know

that it's not right.

I want to repent of that.

I want to get that right.

Teach me contentment.

Help me to be content

in whatsoever state I am in.

No matter what I have,

help me to just be grateful

for what I have and not

to just throw away money

on frivolous spending

or whatever it may be.

And obviously, you know,

we need to on top of

that, we need to make sure

that we're just good stewards

of the money that we have, too.

Right?

I'm always broke.

Yeah.

But what are you spending

your money on?

That's that's that's

another thing.

You know what I mean?

Obviously, God expects us

to be good stewards

of the flocks that we have.

We need to, you know,

be diligent to know

the state of our flocks,

the Bible says,

and keep a budget.

And if you don't have

enough money to do certain

things, then don't do them.

Maybe in the future, you will.

But if the if the budget is tight,

you know, no fun.

OK, and look, here's the thing,

folks, is that you need to learn

to be creative and flexible,

creative and flexible.

You know, if you've got expensive

tastes, then you need to like,

you know, get a coupon

on whatever you're looking for.

OK, you need to find a deal

or something like that

because of the fact that God's

not against you having fun.

God's not against you delighting

and the things, you know, he's

giving us all things richly

to enjoy, but he's not

necessarily for you going

in the red for these things,

either. OK.

And so if you could afford it,

then do it.

I don't condemn anybody

for having fun if they got

the money to do it.

You know, why would you

condemn someone for that?

If that's if that's what

they could afford, they come

from money, then do it, right?

But here's the thing.

If if you're just trying

to keep up with the Joneses,

though, and you're just

frivolously spending your money

because you just want to have fun.

This is just what you want to do.

You know, you need to like dial

that back a little bit.

Be a little more flexible.

Be a little more content.

Hey, just go to the park instead.

You know, there's a free playground

that you can go to

and where your kids can go to

and they can have a whole lot of fun.

Oh, my kids won't enjoy that.

Then you need to teach them

how to enjoy the simple things in life.

OK. You know, it's nothing wrong.

Hey, let me just say this.

It's nothing wrong with going

to the Dollar Tree

for Christmas, amen.

No one, all right, no one agrees with me, you know.

Hey, I guarantee if I took my kids

to the Dollar Tree and said,

you guys have five bucks to spend each,

they would worship me for like an entire week.

They're like, no way, no freaking way, you know,

because you can get a lot of stuff.

You know, candy, you know,

toys that break in a week

and it's great because they break

and then you can just get rid of them.

Oh, those kids are so deprived.

Yeah, they are deprived.

I'm depriving my children of covetousness.

I'm depriving my children of greed.

Now, don't worry, kids, I'm not,

you know, you guys are doing Dollar Tree

for Christmas or whatever.

But you know what?

I want my kids to have low expectations, though.

Low expectations.

You know, I'm not trying to spoil my kids

because they're already spoiled

just being in a Christian home.

There's a lot of blessings that my kids get

just for being in a pastor's home,

a Christian home, you know,

having a mom and a dad and all these things there.

That's spoiled enough.

They get to experience things

that dad didn't experience growing up.

They get to avoid things that, you know,

dad didn't get to avoid growing up.

They don't know about certain things

of this world, right?

So they're very spoiled spiritually.

You know, they get to get fed.

They have all these things.

They have a church.

And so teach your children contentment

and don't spoil your kids.

And if you do spoil your kids,

at least make a quarterly or something like that.

You know, it's good to be good to your kids

and spoil your kids every once in a while.

But don't let it be a regular thing

because then you're going to cultivate

covetousness within that child.

It's going to raise their expectation.

And one day your finances might go down the drain

and they're not going to be happy about that.

Or they're going to expect to marry someone

who has that much bank.

They're like, I don't want no brookie,

but a broker is just someone who has a regular job.

To them.

You understand what I'm saying?

The point that I'm making here

is that you need to be aware of covetousness.

And here's one great way

to just tame covetousness in your life.

Don't expect anything.

Just don't expect anything.

Don't expect it so that when you get it,

you're just like, whoa, I promise you,

just do that.

Don't act like you deserve anything.

So that when you get it,

you're just like, man, this is awesome.

You know, last year,

you know, on my birthday, it was great.

I had a birthday, you know,

and the whole Star Wars thing,

I didn't expect that.

I love that.

It wasn't for you guys.

That was all for me.

And people were like, you like Star Wars?

Yeah, just look at this.

Yes, of course I like it.

I want to keep all this right here, you know?

And I didn't expect that.

I was grateful for it.

I was super, I didn't shut up about it

for like an entire week

because I don't expect it.

And you know what?

That keeps me content with the things that I have.

I didn't come to church and be like,

well, they better do something for me.

I mean, I'm a pastor here.

When I was going to give me a gift,

I can't believe no one gave me a gift.

I don't love me, you know?

On freaking believable.

Hey pastor, anything else?

Hey, some of you want to say?

Some of you want to give me?

You're going to just pocket check people or, you know?

I don't expect anything.

And I don't expect anything this year either.

I'm being 100% honest with you.

I don't because I want to be grateful

when I do get something.

I want to have gratitude in my heart and be content.

So even if I get a piece of candy,

and you know, sometimes the kids,

they'll come up to me from the church

and they'll give me a card that they made.

You know, something that they drew

and I'm being honest with you.

I'm super grateful for that.

Like anytime I come, I'm like, wow, thank you

because this means this person, this child,

spent time drawing something.

You guys are like, yeah, but how good was the drawing though?

You know?

I keep that stuff.

Because that means someone thought about me.

They made a card for me, they constructed it

and they thought about me.

That's important folks.

Be grateful for the things that you have.

And you know what?

Another thing that helps you with contentment

is just what if all that was taken tomorrow?

How would you feel then?

Or I think my son or my wife told me this,

this statement, it was very profound.

It was just like, you know,

what if you only had tomorrow

the things that you were grateful for today?

How many things would you thank God for, you know?

What if you only had tomorrow

the things that you're grateful for today?

Amen!

Then you'd be like, oh man,

there's a lot to be thankful for

because I don't want to miss any of this.

Yeah, exactly, you should thank God for those things.

Okay?

So being grateful, giving God thanks,

teaches us contentment.

And part of becoming a covetous person

is you're not really thinking about

the things that you already possess.

You're constantly thinking about

things that you don't possess.

But why don't you make a list of things

that you do have?

Oh, I got a husband.

Oh, I got a wife.

Oh, I got kids.

Oh, I got a home.

Oh, I got a working vehicle sometimes.

You know, oh, I got clothing.

I got a suit.

I got good health.

I got this, I got that.

You know, there's so much to be grateful for.

You know, this week,

I got food poisoning from oysters.

Beware of the oysters, okay?

And, you know, it was just not a pleasant week at all.

It was very painful.

And it was just, it was a misery.

I'll never touch, I'm going back

to the Old Testament laws

and I'm not touching shellfish, okay?

Unless they're like cooked.

And the thing is, we went with Brother Hyde

and Brother John and his wife.

And I remember, I got the oysters

and Katelyn was just like,

I don't eat those because of parasites.

He was like, she said,

and I remember thinking like, nah, come on.

And then I got it, you know?

You said, what's the point of that story?

Well, you know, obviously it was a miserable week.

But you know, I tried to look at the silver lining

and thought to myself, well, at least I lost weight.

You know, accelerated the cut, amen.

God, look at the silver lining and everything.

You gotta be grateful, you know?

Yeah, it was painful, but hey,

you know, I cut a couple of weeks off my cut right there.

You gotta look at the silver lining and everything.

This will teach you contentment in your life, okay?

Be grateful, make sure you work hard

for the things that you have.

That's another thing that will teach you contentment

because when you work hard for something,

then you realize like, this is very valuable, okay?

It's very valuable.

I worked very hard for this.

I'm not just trying to squander this away.

The Lord blessed me with this and I worked hard for it.

That type of stuff keeps you content

and keeps you away from covetousness.

Go back to Colossians.

So he says, therefore,

amortified therefore the members of,

which are upon the earth fornication

and cleanness and order and affection,

evil concupiscence, covetousness,

which is idolatry for which things sake,

the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.

Now, what else did Jacob say?

He said this, he said, you know,

make sure you put away the false gods which are among you.

Be clean, when we can interpret that in the New Testament,

is to be cleansed of all unrighteousness.

If we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, right?

So we put away from ourselves the sin,

the covetousness, we confess our sin,

but then he says this, and change your garments.

Isn't that interesting that he said that?

He's like, you know, and I don't,

I don't necessarily exactly know what he meant by that

in the immediate context we can speculate.

I don't know, maybe they were just like

dirty or something, I don't know, you know,

but he's telling them you need to change your clothing

before we get to Bethel, okay?

Now, what's the New Testament application to that?

Well, there's two.

Number one is that if you're putting off the idolatry,

that's synonymous with the old man.

And then what are we supposed to do thereafter?

Put on the new man, right?

So we take off the unrighteous garments,

put away from yourselves, change your garments,

put off the old man and put on the new man,

which after God has created in righteousness

and true holiness.

Look what it says in verse number eight here.

It says, but now he also put off all these,

anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,

filthy communication out of your mouth,

line out one to another, seeing that you have put off

the old man with his deeds

and have put on the new man,

which is renewed in knowledge

after the image of him that created him.

So what does this mean?

It means that when you come to church,

walk in the spirit, put on the new man,

put on the Lord Jesus Christ

and make no provision for the flesh

to fulfill the lustre of.

Meaning that we should intentionally

seek to walk in the spirit when we come to church.

Church is our weekly reminder

that we're supposed to be walking in the spirit, okay?

Now you may think to yourself, well, that's easy.

Yeah, but not many people do it, though.

Not many people do it.

And look, before I came to church today,

I was in the flesh.

I was extremely angry.

I got into altercation with someone

just over the phone with someone

who was harassing us or whatever.

And man, talk about malice and anger and wrath.

You know, just, I was very angry, you know?

And, you know, I didn't threaten him

or anything like that.

But in my heart, I did actually, you know?

I was just angry.

And honestly, I was majorly in the flesh.

I was very, very fleshly, I was very angry.

And, you know, but coming to church,

I realized like, man, I can't preach like that.

I can't come to church being angry

and having a heart full of malice and wrath.

I need to make sure that I check that at the door.

And I need to make sure I put off these things,

ask the Lord for forgiveness,

and put on the new man, you know what I mean?

And, you know, it's not just church

that you do that to, but it should be everywhere.

But church is that weekly reminder

that we're supposed to put off

all of these carnal aspects of our members,

mortify those members, and to put on the new man.

But here's another application

to changing your garments, okay?

And that is, you know, change the way you dress, amen.

Amen?

I mean, this is a New Testament teaching here.

This is a whole Bible teaching here.

So, you know, you have Jacob and he's just like,

hey, put away the false gods which are among you,

make sure you clean yourself up, and change your clothes.

Why?

Because you're going to the house of God.

That's why.

You're going to Bethel.

That's why.

And you know that the house of God is a great place.

It's a holy place.

It's the house of the Lord,

and you should have some respect

for the house of God, you know?

And, you know, obviously there is no New Testament

condition whereby it says you have to wear

a suit, shirt, and tie, and whatnot.

But you shouldn't seek to, like, do the least possible,

either though.

Like, what can I do to just be on the border?

You know what I mean?

Change your garments!

Like, change the way you look.

And look, folks, yes, I get it.

You know, God cares about the heart.

Yeah, we know that already, okay?

Calvary Chapel's been reminding us about that

for the last couple of decades.

God looks upon the heart.

Yeah, we know.

But you know what?

He also says to cleanse the hands, though.

He also wants you to clean the outside of the cup also,

and the platter.

You know why?

Because according to the Bible,

the Bible says ye are our epistles,

written in our hearts, known in red of all men.

That we're ambassadors for Christ,

we're representatives of the Lord.

And you know what?

You should change the way you look.

You know, for the guys, obviously,

you know, you need to make sure

that you wear your sundaes best.

Don't be a sloppy individual.

You're coming in a house of God.

You know, if you're going to the White House,

you would probably dress in a shirt and tie in a suit.

Because it's an important place, I would,

and I'm not even Fortron.

But I would dress in a shirt and tie in a suit

if I was going to the White House.

You know, and I know it's not like this now,

but before, when we used to go to job interviews,

we would wear a shirt, tie, okay?

It was very appropriate to do that.

It was basically expected for you.

In fact, even when I was applying at a restaurant,

we still wore a shirt and tie, okay?

I don't know how it is now,

because I've been pastoring for a while.

I mean, is that how it is now?

Or can you just dress in flip-flops and slip-ons or what?

And they'll guess, is that right?

Yeah, you can kind of wear whatever you want.

Because the standards are so low, right?

But back in our day, it was just like

you wore a shirt and tie.

You want to look professional.

You want to be respectable.

And here's the thing, dressing like that still

causes people to show your respect.

I don't necessarily look at someone in flip-flops.

Like, if you come to church in flip-flops,

I have a hard time taking you serious.

In fact, I'm just going to be honest with you.

I'm talking about dudes, okay?

I know ladies, they got the babies or whatever.

I don't know what kind of shoewear you should have,

but like when guys come in thongs and stuff,

thongs are flip-flops, okay?

That's what they're called, okay?

All right, grow up, okay?

That's what they're called, okay?

When guys come in thongs to church,

you know, it's just like, you don't have shoes?

Does this look like Cambodia to you?

Are we in the Philippines?

What is this, Southeast Asia?

Right?

Oh, I got my slip-ons.

This is in your bedroom.

Put on some dang socks on.

Some shoes.

Are you saying that I have to wear a shirt and tie?

Well, let me ask you, do you own a shirt and tie?

Oh, you do, okay.

So you bought that shirt and tie intentionally

for something that you thought was important, right?

Because you don't just accidentally buy a shirt and tie.

It's not just part of your wardrobe

because this is what you wear throughout the week.

You bought it for a particular occasion,

and that occasion apparently is important for you

in your mind enough that you would wear that there.

Well, guess what?

The house of God is the same way, my friends, okay?

Wear a shirt and tie when you come to church.

Now, look, again, you know,

if you're like, well, I don't really have that

philosophy, okay.

But just put away the thongs which are among you,

though.

Put away, what are those slip-ons called?

What do they call them?

Sliders?

Slides, is that what they are?

Put away the slides, put away the Yeezys,

put away whatever new footwear Kanye's come out with,

and just dress appropriately when you come to church.

This is not Calvary Chapel.

This is not a surfer church.

This is not a hippie church.

This is no sand here, okay?

We're not coming here to share the word of God.

We're not here just to share something,

just a little thought, a little 15 minute.

This is the house of God.

You're getting a higher caliber of preaching and doctrine.

Dress like it.

And look, again, this is not a dress coat

that I have here for anybody, okay?

You know, people often ask me like,

oh, is there a dress coat?

I see you guys are all wearing suits.

I tell them no, just wear clothing for sure, you know?

But here's the thing, most people who've come

to an independent fundamental Baptist church

know exactly what it is.

And look, over the years, I've seen people come to church,

dress down, and then progressively start dressing better.

I mean, that's literally what happened to me

when I came to church.

And keep in mind, BC, Pastor Mejia, okay?

Was pro club, amen?

You know, pro clubs that are so white,

they almost look blue.

They're almost like, no one knows what I'm talking about.

You know, you go to the Swabee,

get yourself a pro club on Friday

with your paycheck, and it's just clean, right?

Dickies, pro club, chucks, and Dickie pants,

that's how I came to church.

Yeah, high socks and all, okay?

Curve, you know, the curve on and everything.

Cool water sometimes.

And, but then I got there and I'm like,

oh, everyone's dressed different.

Like they have like suits on and stuff.

But the environment kind of communicated that, though.

Music communicated that, preaching communicated that.

So then I was just like, oh, I'm gonna go home

and I'm gonna change.

I'm gonna wear some like khakis,

some dress shoes, and a polo.

That's what I said.

I was like, I'll just do that.

Cause I didn't really have a suit.

So then I was just like, I'm gonna do that.

And then I got rid of the hairstyle that I had.

And I was like, you know,

I'm gonna change the way I got my hair going on or whatever.

And then after a while I was like, you know what?

I think I should dress in a suit.

Because everyone's just,

and no one told me like, hey,

you need to get yourself a suit.

No one told me that.

You know, I ended up getting a pinstripe suit.

Okay?

Like one of those, what are those called?

The pinstripe, the really wide,

the pachuko guys or what is it?

Zoot, almost like a zoot suit.

Cause I didn't know any better, you know?

You know, I was just like, with a little chain on it.

And, but I had a suit.

And then, you know, and then little by little,

but no one told me, I just, you know,

things are rather caught and taught, right?

And you know, I've noticed that here.

People come to church and you know what they do?

They change their garments.

Cause you know, one of the reasons why,

from my observation, is that people change the way they look

because they're like, well, there's a change inside.

And I kind of want to show

that there's been a change on the outside too.

I want to change who I am, right?

And I know when I got saved I was just like, you know,

I'm trying to leave a life behind.

I'm trying to like move on with my life

and serve Christ like I want to put on the new man,

which is a spiritual thing,

but I keep seeing over and over in the Bible

that God is also concerned with the outside of the cup

as well.

And I don't think God's just pleased with me

just continuously looking like a thug the entire time.

So I guess I need a change.

And I did.

And you know what?

I think that's a biblical thing.

Now look, if you want to dress down,

you can keep dressing down and come to church.

It's perfectly fine.

But you know, have some respect though.

You know, don't come waltzing in here

like you just got out of bed.

You're in some shorts and thongs.

And you know, you got just a shirt on

and you just look like you just came from the beach

or whatever.

And you just, it's so casual, you know?

There's a cavalry chapel across the street.

You should just go there.

You'd probably be the best dressed over there.

Do that, you know what I mean?

And you're like, oh, you're one of those guys

who wear a shirt and tie like would you paint or something?

No, I don't.

I don't, I don't.

It's when I come to church.

When I come to church, the house of God is important, okay?

And I think it's great when the men wear shirt and ties.

And in fact, I feel like it offers a level

or it presents a level of professionalism in the church.

People have told me that repeatedly

when they come visit our church.

Like wow, this is really, you know, it's very important.

And let's just be honest, how you dress

affects the way you behave too.

That's a fact.

That's a 100% fact.

How you dress ends up determining how you behave.

That's a fact, okay?

So that's for the men, okay?

You know, change your garments, men.

You know, make sure that you give it your best

and don't just lower the bar for yourself.

Make sure you change the way you look, why not?

But it also applies for the women.

Amen?

Amen.

Oh, snaps.

Yeah, this applies to the women as well.

It applies to both, but you know,

I saved the best for last, though, you know?

Because you know, obviously men can struggle

with certain ways of dressing.

Now they kind of look queer and stuff

and they need to change the way they look

and stop being so effeminate

and looking at all gain stuff for sure.

But one thing that just transcends

something over the generations

that people still struggle with

is women just struggling with how to dress.

That's a fact that just always happens.

That's why it's constantly has to be talked about.

Because women have this thing in their,

they just have this stronghold in their mind

that they just like to show off their bodies.

Even if they love the Lord.

Even if they just want to be right with God

and they're serving the Lord,

they're just that Eve in them, you know?

They just want to put on fig leaves or whatever.

They just want to wear fig leaves.

And you know what, change your garments.

Change your garments.

And look, this is something

that I'm not going to back down on.

You know, I am very patient with people

and I want people to grow in their faith

and I think that's great, right?

But you know, progress, progress.

You know, when I get it, you're like,

oh man, I've never worn dresses before,

worn pants my whole life.

You know, I'm just going to start

by wearing dresses at church.

Okay, you know, that's how you start,

then that's good, you know?

But grow, progress.

Don't cap yourself.

Don't, it may be like a personal conviction of yours.

Don't just do it just because we're watching or something,

just because the church is watching.

Do it because this is a personal conviction from the Bible.

Because it is a personal conviction from the Bible.

Dresses on women is a biblical standard, okay?

And you know what, like, it's a biblical standard.

It's very clearly laid out in the Bible,

but it doesn't matter how much you read it,

how much you quote it, how much you demonstrate,

women just struggle with that over and over again.

They just struggle with that.

And so, you know, change your garments, you know?

And here's the thing.

If you're like, well, I just don't believe

I need a dress like that.

Okay, but don't say that the Bible teaches that.

Because you're losing on that.

You're not gonna be able to demonstrate from the word of God

that it's okay for women to wear pants at any given time.

Doesn't exist in the Bible.

Come at me, show me.

Doesn't exist in the Bible.

You're like, oh man, but you know,

my husband's fine with it.

Well, if your husband comes to this church,

then sir, sir, you need to correct your wife

and help her with that.

You're the one in charge.

God left you in charge.

You're supposed to rule over that woman.

Tell her, tell her this is what the Bible says

is what we're doing, okay?

And if she ain't obeying you,

then you know what, there's bigger problems on that end.

You need to make sure that you control your marriage,

control your wife.

Yes, I said, control your wife.

You know, if my wife came to me and was just like,

you know what, I think I'm gonna start wearing pants.

I'll be like, you're funny.

You're funny.

Get back in the kitchen, you know.

That was a funny joke.

You need to make sure that you reign that in

and explain to her, look, this is what the Bible says.

I get that this is what I've allowed you to do

for so many years.

I get that I compromised in this area

and that I allowed you to do this,

but I'm growing in my faith.

I'm growing in my knowledge of the word of God

and I want you to grow with me

and therefore we need to put away

the garments that we have, okay?

And no more pants, no more pantalones.

No more pants, no more, you know,

what is that, the career pants or whatever it may be?

You know, none of that.

Oh, you fundamental Baptist.

I know we're just so biblical, huh?

Yeah, and look, folks, this is something

that everyone struggles, every church struggles with this.

So if you're a woman who just constantly wears dresses,

kudos to you.

If you're a woman who has this conviction,

you're like in the top 1%.

Telling you right now, you know.

Hey, hey guys, if your wife is one

who just has that personal conviction

to only wear dresses, buy her an ice cream after church.

Her a Coke or something, zero.

You know what I mean?

Praise her for that.

Because I'm telling you right now, it's rare.

But you know what, just because it's rare

doesn't mean it's like, oh, everyone else

does it differently.

Yeah, because everyone else is wrong.

That's why, bro.

Because everyone else is wrong,

because you know, either they just are unwilling

to change their garments and get right with God,

or they have a husband who's unwilling to change that.

Plain and simple.

Change your garments.

You know, and look, this is gonna happen

until the end of days.

It's gonna be a struggle for women until the end of days,

but I'm okay preaching about it

until the end of days too, though.

And I'm not gonna just be like, well, you know,

I don't wanna offend people,

and so I'm just not gonna talk about it.

No, cause you need to hear it.

And I don't want you to take my tolerance

or my kindness or graciousness or mercy for compromise

and say, well, you know,

because he doesn't wanna hurt my feelings,

then he's not gonna preach it,

and I'm gonna keep preaching on it.

That's what the Bible says.

Okay, well, how am I supposed to do certain things

with a dress on?

Well, what are you doing?

Are you cartwheeling or something or what?

You know, and here's my philosophy

and the philosophy of my wife

and the philosophy of my mother-in-law

who basically has worn dresses like 24-7.

You know, and that is if a certain activity causes you,

like you feel like you need to wear pants

for a certain activity,

maybe it's an activity you shouldn't be doing.

Yeah.

So like, you know, my daughters,

if there's certain activity, they're like,

oh, you know, we want to do karate or something.

How high you gotta kick?

Pretty high, you're not doing it.

Or kick low.

Leg kicks the whole time.

You know, and if it's too much, then you're not doing it.

You know, it's easy to just be like, no,

you're just not doing it.

Just don't do it.

And you know, women need to be told

no more often, actually.

Should I tell them?

No.

But, but no, that's it.

End of discussion.

You're not doing it.

I want to go horseback riding.

Well, if horseback riding, you know,

causes you to become immodest,

then one of two decisions you gotta make here.

Either one, sit on the side,

like one of those whatever,

back in the day ladies who just, you know,

ride it like that.

If that's too much, then drive a car instead.

Yeah, that's the philosophy I have.

And you know what?

Look, this is something that I even fight

with my kids sometimes.

Cause my girls don't, they're still little.

They don't know any better sometimes.

And sometimes it's just like, what are you wearing?

You know, go put on a longer dress.

You gotta sit right.

You know, sometimes I'm telling them like,

hey, you gotta sit right.

Put your legs down.

Put your dress over.

Cause they just don't know.

They need to be taught.

And look, if you allow a woman,

yes, I'm saying this correctly.

If you allow a woman to just figure it out on her own,

she will be modest.

That's a fact.

If you allow a woman, she's like, oh, you figure it out.

You got it.

No, they need guidance.

Women need to be told what to do.

By number one, their father,

or number two, their husband.

Amen to that.

You're like, what if I don't have either?

Well, I'm telling you right now.

I mean, you got me?

You'll always have me.

But it's a fact.

If you allow a woman to come up with her own standard,

I'm just telling you right now, it's no go.

They need a father, they need a husband

to tell her like, hey, not good.

You need to put away that dress,

put away those pants, put away this, that and the other.

This is what we're gonna do.

You're like, well, I tried to, but then my wife,

you know, she just fights me too much on it.

You know, I can't help you with that, you know?

What do you mean fights you?

What does that mean exactly?

Like she whoops you?

Like she knocks you out?

Does she bully you?

You know, I'm kind of foreign to that.

I don't know exactly how that works, you know?

I'm just telling you husband's like,

I'm just telling you what your responsibility is.

You got to figure out how to control your wife

and tell her like, this is what we're gonna do, okay?

Change your garments!

And look, guys, if you want your wife to change her garments,

you change your garments too.

Okay, if you don't like how your wife dresses,

then you know, you step it up too then.

And obviously she has to do what you told her to do,

even if you choose not to.

Just throwing that out there, you know?

In case you're one of the, you're just like,

well, you know, he says you have to change too,

so once you do it, then I'll do it.

No, no, no, if he tells you to change,

you got to change it, man.

No more booty shorts, okay?

Oh man, it's just, this is so hard for me.

Yeah, it's a hard pill for a lot of women to swallow for sure.

And again, you know, not everyone gets it right off the bat.

I get it, it's hard.

The culture has taught you certain ways.

You grew up a certain way, you know, it's just how it is.

I'm just telling you,

you just got to keep progressively growing.

And don't cap yourself when you grow, okay?

And I'm telling you right now, you think to yourself,

oh man, you know, he might be talking about me.

No, I'm talking about everyone, and every woman in here,

even those who successfully dress in a dress 24 seven,

every single week, they can tell you,

yeah, that was hard for me too.

It's a fact.

But we got to keep growing now, don't we?

We got to keep growing.

And so, you know, Jacob said,

make sure you put away the false gods which are among you,

be clean and change your garments, garments,

meaning clothing, why?

Because we're going to the house of God.

We're gonna serve the Lord.

We're gonna be before His presence.

And you know what?

He does care how we look.

How do you know?

Well, he told Adam and Eve, these fig leaves aren't enough.

It's a little bikini you got going on.

You know, it's not gonna work.

It's a little marijuana bikinis you got going on here.

It's not gonna work.

Okay, you know?

Basically, that's what happens when you,

I'm sure Eve's the one who came up with that.

She's like, we're naked, but I got it.

And Adam's like, I'm wearing this.

Little Speedos or whatever, you know?

And God came and he's just like, this is insufficient.

This is not covering the nakedness.

So you made them coats of skin

to sufficiently cover their nakedness.

Right?

So it's important for us to recognize that, yes,

you know, obviously God cares about the heart, okay?

He wants you to change your heart.

Absolutely.

Cleanse your heart, you sinners, and purify.

No, cleanse your hands, you sinners,

and purify your hearts.

You double-mind it.

He wants you to change how you are on the outside as well.

Don't remain a crack addict.

Don't remain a drunkard.

Don't remain a covetous person.

Don't remain a rebellious woman.

Don't remain an effeminate man.

Don't remain, you know, just a lazy slob.

Change.

And you don't have to change overnight.

You don't, and nobody here expects

for you to change overnight either.

You know, the only people who expect

for you to change overnight are those

who are just overcompensating

because they haven't changed, okay?

No one here expects for you to just change by next week.

You know what we expect?

Growth.

It's Christian growth.

It's Christian growth.

You know what Christian growth requires?

Me offending you sometimes.

Telling you how it is,

because you're not gonna get this at Calvary Chapel.

Calvary Chapel's okay with you coming in fig leaves.

Sandals is okay with you coming in fig leaves.

They hope you come in fig leaves.

The pastor's wife is in fig leaves, you know?

And so recognize the importance of that.

That's what we're getting from Genesis chapter 35

Genesis 35 · chapter mention

is when Jacob goes to Bethel, he's realizing,

and by the way, what do we see later on in the chapter

in Genesis 35?

Like what does God tell Jacob?

Hey, you're Israel, you're not Jacob anymore.

Didn't he tell him that?

And he already knew that.

But you know, Jacob just has that old man still with him.

And so God has to remind him,

hey, you're not Jacob anymore.

Dowshaw can be called Israel.

You know what this is?

This is me just reminding you,

hey, you're Israel, you're a safe person,

you're a child of God, this is God's standard,

this is how you need to view yourself.

You need to allow your identity

that God views you in to determine how you behave,

act, and dress, and think.

It's a fact, okay?

And so the sermon tonight is simply this.

Change the way you look every once in a while.

Grow in that area.

Don't be a covetous person.

Make sure you're being cleansed of sin on a regular basis.

And give those pants unto the Lord.

Go home and go to that altar.

That altar of pants you got going on there.

Though the jeans you got and just be like,

I've been saving these for a good day

because just in case I backslide.

It's just time to get rid of them, you know?

And throw them away.

And look, let me say this.

You're like, well, it's so expensive to buy clothes.

If it's really that hard,

I can't believe I'm saying this,

but I'm gonna say it all.

If it's really that hard, I'll help you get a dress.

A dress.

I'm just kidding.

I'll tell you right now, it's not that hard.

It is not that hard.

You know, don't make excuses.

Don't say there's a line

without a lion is in the streets.

You know, there's just no good clothes out there.

I don't wanna be Amish.

I just don't wanna look like that.

You know, at the end of the day, it's God's standard.

That's what the Bible says.

Don't follow the trends of mainstream Christianity.

They want you to set the bar as low as you possibly can.

That's great.

Father, we thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for Genesis 35.

Help us to be reminded that when we go to Bethel,