Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to ask you a little question.
If you came out of the supermarket one day and saw somebody walking towards you in greasy coveralls with a dirty rag stuffed in his pocket, would they make you nervous? Probably not because by their appearance they look like a mechanic. If you were walking into the post office to get your mail, and somebody wearing a baseball cap, t-shirt and some cutoffs opened up the door for you, would you be worried? Probably not, because they look like a tourist. If you were walking to your car late one night, and saw some men dressed up in leather jackets with chains around their neck and hair down to their back, would they make you anxious?
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Many times the clothes that people wear can give off an appearance of evil. The things that you wear can cause great concern in the lives of others. When we begin to follow Christ Jesus, we should never take on an appearance of things that are genuinely accepted in society as being associated with wicked practices. When we become a Christian, we must cast off the sinner that we were in our past, and completely rid ourselves of everything that we used to be, which includes the way that we speak, the way that we act, and the way that we present ourselves in public.
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22
We are not supposed to judge according to the appearance, but anybody who claims to follow Christ Jesus, is not supposed to take on the appearance of what is evil. This means that your appearance should not replicate or resemble something that a lot of people would consider evil, or is associated with evil in this world. The other day I was speaking about tattoos and how they are completely forbidden in the Old Testament. They represent something evil, especially to those who are Jewish. Tattoos have been used in many heathen religions, and you cannot follow Christ and the ways of the heathen. They are also an appearance of evil, as they have been associated with all types of gang activity and wicked rebellious behavior.
Imagine an eighty year old woman walking down a back alley somewhere, and carrying a big bag of groceries. All of a sudden, a man drives by very slowly on a chopper, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, leather chaps, and a torn up muscle shirt sporting his tattoos. This would make a lot of conservative women nervous, especially if she was all alone. The man might claim to be a Christian, but if that’s the case, why would they dress like that? All it is, is outward evidence that they never really gave up the past life from which they came. Take it from somebody who knows. When I became a believer I was absolutely ashamed of some of the things that I used to wear. One of the first things that I did was completely change my outward appearance. Many people who claim Christianity will claim that they don’t have to change how they look, but the truth is, yes, they do. The Apostle teaches that we must abstain from the appearance of evil.
There have been people who at one time during their life were caught up in the gang life, drugs, selling themselves, racketeering, and all kinds of other sinfulness that they rejected in order to become a Christian. I’ve met people who used to live in the bars, but when they became a believer, they despised that life so much that they refuse to go near one anymore. When we become a Christian, you should feel shame about the wicked way that you have lived your life. All of the rebellious clothes, the nose and ear piercings, and all of the long hair has got to go, because if you cannot change your appearance, you will never change anything else in your life. You have to hate the person that you once were, and put him completely to death.
“What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.” Romans 6:21
Remember that when a woman becomes a Christian, she is commanded to wear modest apparel. She too must change in her public appearance.
1 Timothy 2 ⁹ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; ¹⁰ But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
All those fancy designer clothes, expensive head turning makeup and hairdos, and even the false eyelashes have got to go. Women must learn to be plain and simple when they are out in public. Nowadays in many of these false churches, the women look no different than those who you would find in a bar on a Friday night, or meet in a Las Vegas nightclub. Some of them are even teaching God’s Word which is absolutely forbidden. They are shameless, rebellious, and infatuated with themselves rather than Jesus. When a woman dresses modestly, the things they wear will not be noticed or stand out, free from any taint of what is lewd or salacious. A Christian must be different from the world, and if you can’t tell the difference between her and a weekend party girl, it’s because she never really came out from the world in the first place. It’s no wonder why you can’t even go to a public beach, because many of the women there who profess Christianity wear less clothing than the unbelievers. True believers in Christ would be convicted in their hearts and completely ashamed of that exhibitionist behavior.
1 Peter 3 ³ Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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:
Remember that we are called to be separate from the world, and this also means in your appearance. We used to live like the world, act like the world and dress like the world, but now we must undergo a complete transformation. A new man in the heart, will become a new man in appearance too. Sometimes when an army is defeated, the soldiers will take their uniforms and burn them. The old sinful man that we were so many years ago, is like a faded leather jacket that finally gets thrown into the dumpster. That life is over and gone, and a new man must emerge, taking on the image of Christ, and abstaining from all….
……Evil Appearances
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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