God Our Fortress - Part 2 — Erlo Stegen

God as Rock, Fortress, and Deliverer

We ask you, Lord Jesus, to once again reveal yourself in our midst. Lord, we pray that our coming to church won't just be churchianity, which confuses many people, or which is just the habit of many people, but let it rather be a meeting with the Lord, that we might live here being changed by your grace, Lord.

Amen. So that's 2 Samuel, the 22nd chapter, verse 2. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. And going on to verse 3, the God of my strength, in him I will trust. My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my saviour, you save me from violence.

At the end of verse 3, it says, my saviour, you save me from violence. There's much that can be said about this, and I just branch out on one point regarding clothing. A certain girl came, I had mentioned as I was speaking regarding the braided wigs that girls put on to extend their hair length.

She said to me, Pastor, since I've come here, my head is itchy, it burns. It seems like this which I'm wearing on my head is like a fire on me. And she said also, my navel ring, because you find it's now fashionable that they wear halter necks that come down, not so low, but the belly button shows.

She said, before I came here, I had just pierced my navel. She said, I have such an itchiness around my navel. She said, I also wear pants. She said, I don't know what it is, but since I've been wearing them, I'm troubled by lesbianism.

I have an overwhelming attraction to the female sex. She said, when I wear a skirt, I feel normal, but when I wear these pants, it just seems to arouse within me this raging lesbianism. Now, there is a fortress which is spoken of here in the Bible.

Now, in this text which we've read, our Saviour extends His saving power even into the domain of our clothing. Yes, it is said that God doesn't look at the outward, He looks at the inward. But it was John Bunyan who said, the outward depicts the inward.

Fashion, Sexual Messages, and Moral Influence

And we examined the history of all of this, all of these different things. Mary Quant began the fashion. She began the miniskirt fashion. She is known as the high priestess of fashion. She is the one who began the miniskirt fashion.

She said she designed the miniskirt so that it would be a statement, an announcement that women are available for sex in the afternoon. Shall we repeat that? She is saying that this is a statement, a fashion statement, where women say to the opposite sex, I'm available for sex in the afternoon.

And then she was asked what type of character should the women of today be. She replied that the women of today should be a sexual creature.

That's all. A woman must be a sexual creature.

A woman must be a sexual creature. This is something from way back in 1964. Now some may not know what this means and the symbolism of it, but I believe that in the heart you can find such an influence.

In other words, even if they don't know the origin, nevertheless it resides in their hearts. Even though it is true that a woman is not the same as a man, in the sense that a woman is not easily touched by a visual harassment in comparison to a man.

A female might not feel anything. Although we do live in a time of perversion and of sexual promiscuity poured out by the devil upon this world. There was the case, and somebody mentioned that, or testified that as a wife not feeling loved and treasured by her husband, she put on tight trousers in order to attract the opposite sex, only to provoke him to see her as more desirable.

Not only trousers, clothing. To the point that her husband took note of it and said,.

Don't you notice that other men are looking at you? And she said, that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be provocative so that you would, because you do find that some wives feel that they are not treasured by their husbands.

So clothing does play a very important role. Even though the statement, as I've already quoted, God doesn't see the outward, he sees the inward. Even though there is truth in that, the one who stands by that from beginning to end, and that is their sole argument, that is a plain lie.

That's just a blatant lie. Satanic. To make use of that word. And that word is A to Z. The Bible can be the strongest weapon in the hands of godless people and worldly people.

The Lord's response to Satan was yes, it is said like that, but it also says, in other words, that's just one side of the argument. You can read from right at the beginning of the Bible. Right from the very creation of Adam and Eve.

When she had eaten of that forbidden fruit, she took it and went to her husband that he too should partake.

She took it and went to her husband that he too should partake.

The Fall, Sin, and the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Some try and make it out to be as if that was sexual sin, that it was sex. It's not the case at all. That is an argument that is ridiculous. This was the fruit which they partook of, which God said they should not touch for it is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord's response to Satan was yes, it is said like that, but it also says, in other words, that's just one side of the argument.

God had already married them. They had already been commanded to procreate and to reproduce. But this was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Something which Satan made use of in trying to provoke a question saying, did God really say, is it really like that?

Maybe God really knows that you'll become wise if you eat of this fruit. And so in taking of it, her eyes were opened and she brought sin into this world. There was also another tree in the garden and that was the tree of life where God said,.

If they eat from that tree, they won't die. Now just imagine if God wouldn't have chased Adam and Eve out of the garden, we'd have this wicked people. They wouldn't die and live forever. What a terrible curse that would be.

It's good that this sinner has got to die, that his wicked ways stop in this world.

God having seen this was greatly disturbed. Adam and Eve patched together some fig leaves. The fig tree being very symbolic in the Bible of being spiritual. The fig tree speaking of the nation of God and of the people of God.

Adam and Eve patched together some fig leaves. The fig tree speaking of the nation of God and of the people of God. The fig tree speaking of the nation of God and of the people of God.

Sorry, a previous point I'd forgotten was that they attempted to be critical. Satan wanted them to criticize God in what he had said. Now it's surprising, it's ironical that they didn't use something more practical for covering like a banana leaf.

Much easier to sow and put together. But instead they chose something of a biblical symbolism, the fig leaf. Very difficult to patch together, but something which provided more of a religious covering for them.

A person who is promiscuous and dresses provocatively doesn't try and defend themselves using arguments from the world, from paganism. No, they will rather use arguments from God himself and they'll get it from the Bible.

Male Accountability in the Family

And then God said, Adam where are you? Notice men that God doesn't come asking the woman where she was. And this also sets the pattern that God holds the man accountable in the family. Even if your wife is off the road and your family is off the road, you are the one who is accountable before God.

He comes and asks you first.

And if your wife does wrong, it's your responsibility. So the men that just bow to their wives and say yea and amen are doomed and damned. Because God will say, why is your wife like that?

And it's your failure, your sin, your shortcoming.

Even raw heathens, when they are at a beer party and the woman maybe has had too much and she starts laughing and joking and acting as she shouldn't do, the men and the headman won't address the wife.

He'll tell the husband, take care of your dog and that men will be punished. That's the heathen. I'm not treating women underfoot. But I'm speaking in the presence of God. You husband are guilty if your wife doesn't behave as she should behave and dress as she should dress.

Even the responsibility of the children is on the men's shoulders. So men pray that God will make men out of you.

So men pray that God will make men out of you.

Marriage, Authority, and Submission to Christ

Now you can understand, when my wife died and she said, the king is coming, the king is coming, I felt like jumping. And I said, oh God, you've wiped away my tears and my heart so that my wife could leave me and this world saying, the king is coming.

She was meeting the king and the king was coming her way. I said, thank you, Lord. That's like a crown on my head. I needn't have another crown in heaven. That's enough. I know what it is to be a man and to be married.

And be conscious of the fact you are responsible for that person. And I was married to a teacher. And you know what teachers are like. They've just got children in front of them. And students. They tell them what to do.

They're like nurses. Is there a nurse here? No nurse, not even one. Lift your hands. No nurse. How poor we are. Right at the back. Right at the back. A man. Oh. Is that a woman or a man? A lady. A lady.

A lady.

If you marry a nurse or a teacher you need to reckon with what type you're married with.

You must reckon with that. You need godly authority. Otherwise that person can sit on your head. Now I'm not saying this to strengthen you foolish men. Some men. I praise God that I'm not a woman. If I have to be married to such men.

They want a woman to obey. And they behave like babies and stupid people. If you want your wife to bow to you. You must be able to bow to Christ. Otherwise you've got no right to expect that she'll bow to you.

And I teach the women. If your husband doesn't tell you what God tells you. Don't listen to him. He is a man.

He is old. The divine teachings work against him. He has a wife. The divine teachings are done on women. But he has no wife. He doesn't like wife. What does he do when he doesn't have a wife? He confesses his love to his wife.

If your husband tells you to go and steal a chicken, don't obey him. Of course you need to answer in the right way. If your husband tries to forbid you to go to a service, you need to seek a way to get there.

So the accountability is upon the shoulders of the husband, the man in the home, if his wife does not live in a biblical way and the children. But let me leave that and continue with our subject.

Spurgeon said, do not be a slave of fashion. London obtains their fashions from Paris. And Paris from hell.

Biblical Teaching on Clothing and Holiness

And so, the Bible speaks much about clothing.

If it would be true what the young girls tell us, God doesn't look at the outside, he just looks at the inside. Why didn't God allow Adam and Eve to go around naked? Because he doesn't mind. They could have gone around naked.

But he created them in his own image. Not the animals and men.

When he created you, Eve, he made you in his image. You are not made just like a beast, not like a cow that goes around in its naked form showing around its udders. You are not made like that. If you are a cow you can do it.

And if you feel that you are of monkey descent, you can do it as well. Only go to the doctor and ask him to stitch on a tail at the back because you are not exactly as your forefathers and great great great mothers.

Do it completely. If you really are just a result of evolution, then do it properly. Get the tail, go and live in the forests and eat the bananas with apes. But if you are really created in the image of God, then you as a man start by looking at how your wife is clothed.

Clothing tells us volumes. Of course, let the girls and the wives and widows dress as should be appropriate, as is attractive, and as is glorifying to God. If you do wear a dress and you say alright I'll wear a dress but you make it so tight, you are in the same boat as the one who wears very tight jeans.

Oh Mary lover, that you think sex openly.

So Mary Quant's emphasis, the gist of it was let your message, your clothing be a sexual message, let it be provocative to the opposite sex, let it be a statement about your sexuality all the time. We are very concerned.

There is much complaint about the awful violence, the terrible attacks and the rape statistics.

We've got to have the death sentence again. But very few people ask why. I don't speak about the murderers on the farms, rape, etc.

Some girls do put themselves into vulnerable positions because of their provocative clothing. A certain well-known preacher in America who publicly spoke about clothing and about the bikini type of fashion, the clothing that the Quants would have promoted, two particular girls fought against this preacher and they said no.

They even went to church with their bikinis. This morning just before I came to the service I was reading in the book of Proverbs and I was so inspired I felt like I could start preaching about what I find there immediately in this sermon.

Proverbs, Harlotry, and the Consequences of Rebellion

Just read about the harlots, how they dress, and how they bring down men. These two girls went into a divine service with their provocative clothing. They were adamant that they would persist in their own clothing.

And they did. They persisted. The first one was followed around by males like flies cling to dung.

Boys were around the girls all the time.

It didn't take long, she fell pregnant like a beast of the field and had an illegitimate child.

Zulu is a very good language. You can express things so nicely. A cow doesn't fall pregnant and then one uses that word and the Zulus understand that.

The second girl came to a prayer meeting wearing tight jeans. You know what jeans are like. When they buy them brand new, they're already washed out. They're made like that.

The rebels of 1960 went against everything that's good and decent. So they started with the jeans. You know what they like?

They like the jeans. So you found that those fashions, any manner of rebellion, any statement of resistance against authority, and so in the 60s it was the decade of rebellion. Jeans that are made like it's a motor mechanic who's been under a car, they're made to be withered and washed out.

And be torn purposely so that it's in tatters. You are familiar with that, aren't you? She wore such jeans, the type that is very low slung, hipsters, torn and worn already. At the back, low down it was written, smile.

Jesus loves you. Do you like that Christianity as well?

Look, I don't want to make you angry. I like to be friends with you. And I don't say that you should wear decent clothing. If you don't like to wear it, write on your backside, smile. Jesus loves you.

What's the ring in your navel?

Lust, Adultery, and Accountability

But one day she arrived in an awful state at the prayer meeting. She was bleeding, she had been hurt. She said a boy along the way tried to violate me. I was fortunately able to escape. God says to the men especially, if you look at a woman lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart.

Do you see what God says to men? How God will judge the men? Jesus said if you look at a woman lustfully, you have already committed adultery with her. If you go, woman, dress in a purposefully provocative way in order to pull and attract the desire of the opposite sex.

Jesus, do you think that God will judge men so severely as we mentioned and let you off the hook? You, woman, you are also guilty or accountable. You find that the clothing with women, it's not just the problem of it being from the bottom so high but also so low from the top.

A certain deacon of another certain denomination, one of his duties in the church being passing around the collection plate going from pew to pew, went to Went to his minister of that church and said, Reverend, I'm resigning my post as deacon.

I don't want to be stumbled any longer. As I pass the plate around and I see the women dressed with these low cut dresses that are so vivid and so clear, I don't want to have a stumbling block. Now you, Eve, why do you do it?

What is your intention? Is it that you're a widow and you're after other men you're trying to be inviting? We mentioned during the youth conference as well about the slit skirt and how you find some that will wear a deep slit from the back or from the side or the front.

We excuse you if you just are ignorant and you've grown up with it being the norm and you think, well, the obvious reason is because of the practicality of walking. You can't walk like a dove where you've hardly got any leg movement because the skirt is so tight at the bottom.

Now, there was a service not so long ago where the girl was the chorus leader leading the singing. She had a slit in her skirt, this long slit going right up, and she didn't know that this is a fashion statement, the originators of which said, this means that you are stating to the men, come, I'm available, brother.

Don't worry, I'll come to you. You can live in hope. She'll come to you.

On the side slit, meaning I'll follow you, in the front, I'm ready and available. There. My wife told me this, that after a service right here, that at that very door she noticed that as a child of a co-worker was exiting, she had a slit in her skirt where the wind blew and blew the skirt up that it revealed right up the thigh.

Her leg, when she walked, could be seen right up. Are you amazed? God doesn't look at the outside. He just looks at the heart. That is the language of prostitutes. And you know what a prostitute is. And if you dress accordingly, you are one at heart.

This body is the temple of the Most Holy God. Women, wives, teach your daughters how to dress. They are to dress as unto the Lord, with Jesus in their hearts, being the temple of the Holy Spirit. They're not to dress in order to provoke the opposite sex, but as unto the Lord.

We are told when this fashion started, they noted that the shorter the mini-dress, the cheaper the girl was.

So I hope that you men, if you leave today, it won't be necessary for me to tell you again concerning dress.

Look at your wife and ask, is that how a married woman, who is the temple of the Holy Spirit, should dress? And if it's not, you preach to your wife. Open the Bible. There are many verses that speak clearly about this.

Distinguishing Men and Women According to Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy 22,.

In Deuteronomy 22,.

In verse 5, A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment for all who do so are detestable to the Lord your God.

There's always got to be a difference between a man and a woman.

From the top, from the head, right to the bottom. These days it is difficult to distinguish. You'll find you can walk down a street and ask whether the person comes from the front or you see them from the back.

It's difficult to distinguish in these days of unisex, is this a male or a female. In 1964, when the miniskirt fashion began, The statistics of rape incidents went up by 68 percent there. In the United States, that was by 68 percent.

In England, it increased by 90 percent. That just shows you, statistically, what it implies. In Genesis 35, verse 2,.

In Genesis 35, verse 2, So Jacob says to his whole household and to all who were with him, Put away your foreign gods that are among you,.

And now listen to what the foreign gods say.

Purify yourselves and change your garments.

They should wash themselves as well. When jeans arrive, they say, People are told, don't use deodorant. Don't wash your hair. So it's rebellion against everything that's pure and clean and good.

Cultural Rebellion and Spiritual Clothing

I was quite happily contented with the thought that, Well, all this will never come to Africa. This is just the depravity of the West. But I apologize, I was mistaken. I didn't think that black Africans would be so easily deceived.

In Johannesburg, in a certain newspaper, A group of men wrote a letter to the editor, Complaining, saying, you women, our fellow African women, Why do you dress like this? You're doing it far worse than the European women.

You got it from the whites.

But now you're more extreme than what they are. At the same time, I want to tell you, You can dress decently. But if you're not dressed spiritually, And Christ is not alive, You will go to hell with your good clothing.

You might say, but I dress so well. You'll still go to hell if you don't have the Holy Spirit, The Lord Jesus Christ, ruling in your heart. I'm drawing to an end. Do you remember how one of our co-workers Used to work for a prostitution ring?

Recruiting Girls into Prostitution

It was in Hamburg. In Germany. There's a certain red-light district called St. Paul Street. And it's named after him. And this is a red-light district. This is a prostitution area.

One of the worst prostitute places in the world. And it's called St. Paul.

Now, as part of the ring, He would go on a recruitment drive To try and find cheap young girls. He would frequent discos to try and look for girls. Now, the German law states That you're not to be sexually involved with a girl under the age of 18.

Whether it's still like that, I don't know. But years past, it was.

He would just confront a girl in the disco and say, You're 14, aren't you? And provocatively, she would say, No, what do you mean? I'm 18. And then he would know their age. But I forgot to tell you a little detail before that.

When he would go in And do a surveillance check on the girls, Firstly, He would look at the type of shoes they wore.

Isn't that interesting? What has a shoe got to do with it? But the first thing he did, He looked at the shoe the girl was wearing. And that told him, Alright, yes or no. Just imagine. A shoe. What has a shoe got to do with it?

But he said, A shoe reveals Whether it's a moral girl or not. And then he would provoke the girl and say, You're 14, aren't you? No, I'm 18. She would squeak.

And then he would say, Tell me. How's the old man at home? Hey! If she would object in the slightest way And say, don't speak like that about my father, He would drop her like a hot potato. And look for someone else.

But should she say, Yes, the old man is a pain in the neck. Then he would ask, how's the old lady? And she would answer, She's as bad as the old man. For him, she was caught, She was already in the net, And he would be able to get her.

Into a brothel working for him. Do you see how the family is important?

Family as God's Shelter and Protection

Do you see how the family is a protection? Mother, father, grandparents, It is a shelter provided by God for the children. So, you children who still have a mother who's alive, Or a father, Thank God for your parents, Because they are a shelter, Like a covering, an umbrella, That is covering and protecting you.

The children who are still alive,.

They are a protection for them. And the old man, he would be able to get them Into a brothel working for him. So, you children who still have a mother who's alive, Thank God for your parents,.

Because they are a shelter for you. Jesus is our Saviour. He is our fortress, our shelter. Obey Him, live for Him, And you'll be saved eternally. Mary Quant and her type said, We want to break all taboos, Whatever form or fashion we want it to be completely, To break all the norms, From the top and the bottom.

We want to bring about total liberation and freedom. That is a hellish freedom. It doesn't go with heaven. Shall we pray? Lord, teach us, according to your word, How we should walk, how we ought to live.

Prayer for Holiness and Transformation

Even in our clothing. That your glory, that heaven's glory would be upon us and be evident in us. Speak by your Holy Spirit. Teach your people, O Lord, how they ought to live. That the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ And the holiness of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit would be evident.

Amen.