Elders & Teachers — Frank Sona

Paul’s Charge to the Ephesian Elders

Book of Acts chapter 20, Acts chapter 20. I would like to actually pick up where Brother Brody left off. I would like to encourage the elders here and yet in doing so that also means encouraging future elders too.

So nobody's left out. So Acts chapter 20 and we'll look just for connection at verse 13. And we went before to ship and sailed unto Esau's, there intending to take in Paul. Now obviously Luke is writing, he's speaking.

For so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. That's interesting. It's about a 20 to 30 mile journey. He's going to walk this. He's going to go on foot. Paul wants to be alone. There are things that are heavy on his mind.

I hope you spend time alone with God. And so as he goes here, we're going to notice now verse 14. And when he met with us at Esau's, we took him in and came to Middilene, and we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios, and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trigillium, and the next day we came to Miletus.

For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted if it were if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church.

And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house.

In other words, what Paul taught them in private was the same as what he taught them on the platform. He goes back to the day when he first arrived, he is going to the present day. You need to be aware of men that will teach something in private that they will not teach on this platform.

There's a great danger with that. Paul says, I'm free from that. I don't speak out of both sides of my mouth. And it says, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Perseverance and Faithful Ministry

And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

And now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

The Responsibilities of Overseers

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the little flock, tender the little flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.

Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified, separated, that's what we've been hearing.

I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the word which," that's the should see his face no more.

And they accompanied him onto the ship.". This is quite a passage where the Apostle Paul has heavy on his heart the future of the work in Ephesus. He has labored for three years, he has toiled night and day, he has shed tears, he has experienced heavy loss, he has had heavy weight, and now as he is prepared to leave this assembly that he has seen planted, men that he has seen rising up through the ranks as it were, to take the oversight, the leadership thereof, his heart goes out to them.

What is the future going to be? What's going to happen? He looks at this little company, and in tenderness and yet truthfulness, he warns these men about what is just on the horizon. He says, I don't know necessarily what will happen to me except that bonds and afflictions await, but I do know this, that there are things that are going to come in here.

And he warns these men faithfully. Now, when we speak to men that are overseers, elders, shepherds, and there are different words because of different functions, different aspects of what these men that are God-given to the assembly for the preservation, for the guidance, for the leadership, for the direction of the assembly, it tells us a little bit about them.

I know we have their qualifications in 1st Timothy 3 and in Titus chapter 1, but you can get little pictures, whether you go back, as Brody has been saying, to the Old Testament and look at shepherds that significantly were despised by the Egyptians.

Elders as Shepherds of God’s Flock

And remember this, when you read your Bible, your Bible is God-given to you as a spiritual book to unfold spiritual truth. So when you read it, ask yourself, why did the Egyptians despise shepherds? Did they not like sheep?

Did they not like that job? Did they think it was beneath them? There's a spiritual significance. And so men who guide and lead the sheep, lead the flock, they are of very, very high importance to God.

It is the highest calling, really, because it is attached to the highest authority, to shepherd God's flock. They are referred to as Presbytery, and that is in the plural, because the idea is that there should be a plurality of elders, a plurality of shepherds.

There are dangers when men rise in singularity in terms of power. Assemblies can be decimated. Assemblies can be destroyed. They will be taken control of by one man, and that is to the ruination of that company.

There is to be a plurality of men. That both enables proper teaching, varying aspects of shepherding, but also it guards against as preservation for those men themselves. Not only is the Presbytery mentioned, there is the idea of the elder, and that's the aspect of his maturity, that he is an older man, not a novice, not a person who lacks experience.

And that experience, especially, is in the things of God, not just life. There are men that have a lot of experience in life, but they have very little experience in the things of God. And then there are younger men that do have a lot of experience in the things of God.

And there is a level of maturity, and those men need to be encouraged, need to be... There should not be a disconnect between overseers and the flock. Them that are among you, know them that are among you.

And so there should be this connection, this interaction, to know the sheep, to spend time with them, to care for them, to put your arm around them, to embrace them, to lead them. Yes, lead them by example, but that example is not merely impact, it's influence.

It's moving among them. Do you know the sheep? Before I get into this passage, I just want to ask a few questions. Do you know the sheep among you? It will mean you will have to sacrifice yourself. It will mean you will have to spend time with them, to know them.

If the only time you really know them is in the meeting, that's a sad lack. There's hardly any time for interaction. There's hardly any time to get to know them, to care for them, to tend the flock. Paul was warning and telling these men to do just that.

Mutual Care Between Elders and the Younger Saints

The other side of the coin is, let me just say this, younger men and women, I am sure that the overseers in your assembly, it's a difficult job. Don't make their job harder. Don't make it more difficult.

Encourage them. Tell them you appreciate them. Let them know. Let there not be a separation and a distinction between the young and the old. Work together. And so as we look at this, there are a number of statements we hear sometimes, even by, and younger ones don't make it difficult because I hear sometimes people say, and it's almost a statement like, well you know as far as the younger ones, and some that come, we're just glad they're here.

We're just glad they're here. Maybe they come in and there's an absolute casualness and there's very little appreciation. There's very little grasp upon the holiness and the importance of what you've been brought into.

Now that can go back to leadership. Failure to impress individuals and teach that of the sacredness of the company, of the value of the company. Paul reminds these elders of the pricelessness of that assembly, the preciousness of it, that it was purchased with the blood of his own son.

The blood of Christ paid for that company. That that assembly cost him as much to save your soul as to establish that testimony. The price is the same. It is inestimable. It is beyond our ability to understand.

The Assembly as God’s Sacred Dwelling Place

This city of Ephesus had several aspects to it. One of them was banking. In fact, Paul is going to use a number of pictures here. He's going to use at least four, possibly five pictures as he unfolds to these elders the importance of what he's speaking to them about.

He's going to go into the realm of banking. He's going to go into the realm of zoology as he speaks about sheep and wolves. He's going to go into the realm of construction, and he's talking about building for God, the administration, as he speaks to these elders.

But to say to people in an assembly, well, we're just glad they're here. Now we can say that in a gospel meeting for the unsaved, and we are just glad they're here because they're unsaved. But think about what people are saying, and I'm going back to a time.

I remember a conference. There were a number of young people that came in, and they kind of came in. They looked like they just came out and got out of bed, and their shirts were all untucked, and they came in.

A couple of them came in with sandals, and a couple of them came in with... And I was looking. I was shocked, I'll be honest with you. I said to one of the elders afterward, I said, did you... Would you not say anything to them?

I mean, look at how they came in. They disrupted. They came in late, number one. Secondly, they came in... They looked like they were ready to go... What did you say? Walmarts? Okay, Walmart, you know, and they looked like they're ready to do that, and I said, did you...

I said, would you not say anything? You know what he said? We're just glad they're here. I said, really? Let me ask you a question. You work for the ambulance, and you have a job opening for a paramedic.

Life-and-death situations can be encountered. This is serious work, and so you're ready to go. You're a little short-handed, short-staffed. The ambulance door opens, in comes this fella, plops himself down on the bench, looks around at all the equipment, and looks, and you say, what are you here for?

He said, I just wanted to come. I'm just here. Just here for the ride. Is that paramedic that works there, that is going to encounter life-and-death situations, is he gonna say to that fellow, or that woman, hey, I'm just glad you're here.

We got a need. I know you don't know what you're doing, but just glad you're here. You'd say, that would be ludicrous. Ludicrous. Let me take you back just for a minute to the tabernacle. When you go to the building of that tabernacle, the building of the dwelling place of God, get the hint?

Similarity, picture, the dwelling place of God, the assembly. You know what it says about the people that built and were involved in the construction and involvement of the tabernacle? It says, all those that were willing-hearted and wise-hearted.

Willing-hearted and wise-hearted. In other words, these people wanted to build for God. They weren't just going along for the ride, and there was an aspect of wisdom in what they were to do. And when they didn't know necessarily what to do, they had men like a Moses, and an Aaron, and an Aholiab, and a Bezalel, who were able to guide, and oversee, and watch the building of that dwelling place for God.

Because you know why? It wasn't about what they wanted, it was what God wanted. And there was a seriousness and a sacredness to all that they were doing, because this was God's. And when it comes to the assembly, it's God's.

It's not ours. The word unique was used a number of times yesterday, and there is a uniqueness about God's assembly. There is that which it is given to us, the pattern of God's assembly is given to us in our New Testament.

There have been men that have said that there's no pattern to the New Testament. I strongly, strongly, and scripturally disagree with that statement. There is a pattern given to us. We are not left up to ourselves.

We are given a workable, spiritual template of how to function, of when to function, of where to function. We are given the specificity of the roles of the females and of the males. We are told about the breaking of bread, the preaching of the gospel.

We are told about headship, lordship. We are told about the within and without. We are not left to ourselves. And as Paul leaves these elders, he has taught them, he has poured out his heart to them, because the Lord has poured his heart into them, as to what to do as he departs.

Old Testament Models of Faithful Leadership

There are a link with at least five people in this section as Paul speaks to them. There are men almost that are called out of the Old Testament, that are brought to the forefront as Paul brings before these men, men of old, men that bore the same stamp of care and concern about the things of God.

And so as he reaches back, you can notice this, it's a picture of Joshua. We have a picture of Joshua here, don't we? As Joshua is leaving, he calls the elders, doesn't he? He assembles the elders together.

Chapter 23. It's a picture of Joshua here. We have a picture of Jeremiah here, don't we? Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet. And as the tears stream down Jeremiah's face, as he thought about what had happened to his people, Paul says, I cease not to warn you with tears, night and day.

It's a picture of Jeremiah here. It's a picture of Joseph here, isn't it? Joseph is brought from the Old Testament, as Paul speaks and he says, with temptations. There were temptations, temptations to compromise, temptations to satisfy the Jew, temptations to just let go of things, to not be so straightjacketed, to be more open, to make the assembly be a more open place.

You know, I was, we were going down the stairs there and that door over there, you got to get that door fixed, that door, right? I was holding it a long time before. There's a doorstop on the bottom. There's no doorstop on the bottom, you know.

So, just telling you, there's no doorstop. And the door, what happens is the door just swings. There's nothing to stop it, right? Just swings easily, open, closed. You know, there's assemblies like that.

There's no doorstop on them. And the doors just swing open and closed and anything comes in and everything. And people think that that's good. I can't even use this example that much here. I was going to try, but you don't, do you lock your doors when you leave your houses?

I do. I know they don't where I am. But you know what? You do lock your doors. You want to go into that store, that has all the fancy watches and the jewelry and the furs. And you see those stores, right?

And that store is locked up at night, right? You know why? There's valuable things inside. There are the most valuable things here. The things of God. Make sure you put a lock on things. Make sure you don't make the mistake of Hezekiah, who opened his doors and showed them all that was inside and just let them see.

Listen, we were hearing about a beauty that's inside the assembly. It needs to be preserved. And so Paul speaks to them about his temptations, reminds him of Joseph. He reminds us, doesn't he, on these men of Elijah and with Elisha.

He says, you shall see my face no more. And as we think of Elijah, who's going to leave and that mantle was going to be passed on to an Elisha, that they're going to see him no more. We're reminded of a Samuel who, when he says, I am free from covetousness.

Interesting, Samuel, when Saul and his servant came, Samuel didn't take anything from them. He gave to them. There was no covetousness. Paul is the model servant. He is the model shepherd. He is the model preacher.

And as we look at him, just a number of things I want to notice with you here. I want you to notice that Paul now, as he speaks to these Ephesian elders, he calls them outside the city. He has been alone.

It's been heavy on his mind. What is he going to say? How is he going to put it? And as he calls these men together, they meet on an Asian beach. He points out to the Mediterranean. He's going to go. He's going to leave them.

And they are surrounded. They are vastly outnumbered. They are such a small, insignificant company by the world's standards that at any moment, humanly speaking, they can be swallowed up. There's the Temple of Diana.

Great is Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians. We were hearing about the pillar and ground of truth yesterday. The assembly as the pillar. The pillar? Well, there was that Temple of Diana, and it had over a hundred pillars all around it.

Magnificent structure. And the people would cry out, great is Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians. And the whole world worships her. The whole world worships her. You know what happened? When God and the gospel and the testimony of Christ and that little assembly came in, there was something established there that one day would be seen throughout the whole world.

And the Temple of Diana would crumble. Listen, brethren, sisters, God's assembly, what you are part of, is today the divine showcase for God's truth of testimony in this world. It is absolutely special.

It is priceless. There is nothing like it. And he has allowed us and wanted us to be part of it. And as Paul speaks to these men, he is comparing the silversmiths. They were handling silver. He says, you know what you men are handling?

Gold. I was thinking of that when Brother Brody was speaking about the Israelites that came out of Egypt. There was one time they were, their hands were involved and they were handling mud and slime, and they were making bricks for Pharaoh.

And God takes that out of their hands, and he redeems them. And there as they're leaving Egypt, they're going to build for God, and he puts into their hands gold and silver and precious things. They had never handled these things before.

They were of such value. Think of what had been exchanged, what they had held in Egypt, and now what they hold in their hands because of their link with God and the dwelling place that he's bringing them to.

Can you see it? The value of God's assembly? The value of the dwelling place? Where he is? But make no mistake about it. While Matthew 18 and 20, and I appreciate what our Brother Brody has said, it is not a promise, it's a fact.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. But that presence is predicated upon obeying the authority of his name. And where the authority of his name is not kept, there are many places that his presence is not known anymore.

Can you see now why Paul is speaking to these elders? Because entrusted to them is the leadership, the preservation, the guidance. It's often been said, and it's true, beware of a non-teaching oversight, or the assembly will rise no higher than its overseers.

There is something to be said for that. And men are responsible for what is taught and what should not be taught in an assembly. We are living today, again, especially with the internet and the availability of ministry, even from men, and I have to say it, men that are connected with assemblies.

I'm not trying to trash, I'm simply stating truth, that there is content that is available very readily and easily to individuals, even in connection with assemblies, that should not be given on platforms.

I have read of ministry with adult content. What are we doing? Adult content on an assembly platform, and we're not shocked. We've lost, today, because of society, we've lost the ability to blush. What does an assembly exist for?

An assembly exists to be a testimony to the name of the Lord Jesus and the truth of the Word of God. There is a sacredness, there is a witness, there is a testimony. And so Paul is speaking to these men.

Counting the Cost of Maintaining the Assembly

He speaks about the cost of what they're going to have to bear. Now, there's two aspects of cost. There is initial cost and there are ongoing costs. There's initial cost. When you were saved, when I was saved, we had to count the cost.

There is a cost, but you don't just end there. While salvation is complete, as the Proverbs states, 23 -23, buy the truth and sell it not, that there is an initial cost, but then there are ongoing costs.

You live in your homes, and there was an initial cost to build that house, but there's ongoing costs to maintain it, to keep it going. There are ongoing costs to the assembly, to maintaining it, to preserving it, to making sure that right teaching is done, right food is provided.

It will mean sacrifice of time. It may, it may certainly can mean sacrifice of relationships. It will mean that men will have to spend time in their Word, in the Word of God, on their knees before God.

It will mean separation from what is popular. It will mean at times having to shut your ears to the general popular teaching of all around us and listen strictly and entirely to what God is saying in His Word, and not buying into the fact that bigger is better, or brighter is better, and not looking at the fact and saying, well, this isn't working, and I know we've been doing this this way for so long, but maybe there's a new method.

The gospel we preach isn't working, so let's try to do this, and let's try to do that, and maybe we'll have a movie night, because we can get a lot of people in here with movies. Yeah, you could, but that's not the gospel, and that's not preaching the gospel, and that's not God's ordained method that's been entrusted to the assembly and to us to carry out, and so Paul warns them again.

There's a consumer mentality that's working its way into us because we're so shaped by the environment around us, so that the assembly, I've heard one person say, he said, well, the assembly is a, it's the community church of the area.

Well, it should be local testimony, but when we say it's the community church, we put into the minds of people the wrong thinking. Some say, well, it's like a convenience store. It should be convenient.

Do you know how many things have been sacrificed and compromised because of convenience? A convenience store, because you know what happens? When we think that way, then the assembly, instead of being for God, becomes something for us, and when we start thinking that way, then it becomes subjective.

What's good for you might not be as good for her, and what's good for him and what that family likes may not be what the Johnson family likes. Oh, there's no Johnsons here. Johnson family, no, but you understand what I mean.

It becomes a matter of being subjective, and it's all about me, and how many times have you heard people leave assemblies and go other places because they're not getting anything from it? I didn't get anything out of that.

Well, what did you give to that meeting? What do you give to that company? What do you pour into that assembly? The assembly is a place of spirituality. It's a place where Christ is Lord, and if we take Christ and spirituality out of the midst, you know what we have?

Just a thing. We've taken the heartbeat, the pulse out of what the assembly is, and so Paul reminds them. He says, that's why you need pastors. That's why you need shepherds. That's why you need elders.

Pastors, elders, shepherds who see the danger, who recognize the direction. They care about the diet. They recognize the possibility of wolves coming among, and wolves can come in various ways. There's the direct attack, and there's the disguised attack.

Shepherds Who Defend the Flock

There's the direct attack, a wolf that comes in just to rip apart the flock. Thank God for men like a David who can stand. Remember when he speaks about the lion, and the bear, and he defended that flock from them.

Men who will have to stand. Listen, dear overseer, dear shepherd, I tell you this too to encourage you. To do your job properly, you will have to be a David, and you will have to stand against those forces, and it's not easy.

It's not easy, and sometimes people cave in, and they think, I don't want to be unliked. I would like to be their friend. Listen, being an overseer is not a matter of being their friends. I say it carefully.

It's a matter of being their guides, and I know my children. They didn't always like what I did when I had to channel them, and guide them, and all. I remember one time, one of my children, they were gonna, some of your children probably done this, and he was gonna leave home, and I said to him, well, I said, okay, you're gonna leave tonight.

He says, yes, I am gonna leave. I said, okay, well let me help you pack. I said, if you're really intent on leaving, let me help you pack. So he kind of looked at me, like, okay, all right, you know, and then I told him, I says, you know, mom's making macaroni and cheese tonight.

I said, you're still leaving? Well, he says, maybe I'll leave tomorrow, okay. We had a talk, and he says, well, I'm still mad at you, dad. I'm still mad at you and mom. I says to him, calling him by name, I said, look, I said, I'm not asking you to love me, but I am expecting you to obey me.

Obey them that have the rule over you. Their authority, their guidance, their leadership is centered from the Word of God, and it's hard, and as Paul is speaking to these men, there's no doubt his love was communicated to these men.

He loved these men. He had poured his life into these men, and to the assembly too. He leads them by influence, lead by influence. He warned them of their perils. I'll leave you with three perils, and then just a few preservations very quickly.

Three Perils Facing Elders

He says, after my departure, that's interesting, after my departure. In other words, these wolves, these forces, they wouldn't dare come in when Paul was there. They knew better, but take advantage of the weakness.

Take advantage of the opening, and that's what Satan will do, especially among overseers. He will work through the weak link. He will work through the one that has more open leanings, more open tendencies, less convictions.

I know we don't like to hear these things, but these are real issues, and he will divide. God speaks about separation, and that's a good thing. He separated the night from day, separates the false from the true, separates us from religious systems, from worldliness, and so on.

That's separation. Satan wants division. That's different. Divide the overseers. I remember one man, he was a preacher years ago. He said this, he said, he said, overseers need to be aware of three spirits.

He said, first of all, he said, you need to be aware of the spirit of strife, strife among, to divide. He said, you need to be aware of the spirit of the servant. Sometimes preachers get in there, and we meddle, and that's not a good thing either, and he says, and you need to be aware of the spirit of the spouse.

I think they call it the petticoat oversight. Isn't it interesting, when these men come, you don't see their wives coming. Now, I know a man can be disqualified from overseership because of his wife, because there are qualifications for the spouse, too, but at the same time, there are times when there are things that you, as overseers, will have to keep back from your wives, and that's not because you're mean or you don't love them.

That's because you do love them, and you want to protect them. There are perils here. Three things here. Notice, we have a peril of wisdom that can depart. Paul is warning them so that he can educate them, so he can give them and equip them with wisdom.

You remember in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and was it verse 5, and it's interesting where this verse is placed. Is there not a wise man among you? And you know where that's placed? It's placed just before the section where the questions that they have are written to him.

In other words, they couldn't answer the questions, and so they're having to write to Paul. Can you answer these questions? Is there not a wise man among you? Men of wisdom need to be raised up. We need wisdom today more than any other time.

There are difficulties coming in. Is there not a wise man among you? How to handle certain issues? How to handle certain individuals? How to handle certain problems? To have insight. What does it say of the men of Issachar?

That they were men of understanding? Men that knew what to do? Men that had understanding of the times? We need that. How are you going to get that? Discernment. Discernment to see the dangers that are not only present, but they're coming down the road before they arrive.

It is very difficult to handle dangers once they're there. That's why I would encourage overseers to spend time even and discuss the Word of God together. Discuss key critical issues together, because if they come in and you're not prepared, you will have a danger and a tendency to be biased one way or another, especially when it involves family.

Have your stands based on the Word of God and be prepared before they happen. And when you're taking other men, again just a suggestion, taking other men on to the oversight. You know we use the word, it's an interesting word, it's a good word, to groom a man.

To groom him from coming on. I know there are sometimes men that, what will happen is a man will just sit in with the brethren and he'll sit there with the oversight meeting. You know what's a good, let me just get a little suggestion, and I'm not an overseer, but I've observed, ask them questions.

If there are men that you see have that in their heart, there's a shepherd heart, a shepherd care, ask them what they think of certain issues. Let them know a certain situation. Say, you know, what do you think of this?

And see how they respond. Take them along on a visit. Visit the saints with them. See how they respond. And of course before all that, they should be men of exercise. Men that are there, men that are, I was listening, you know, if it comes down to the fact that at conference platforms, you know I was thinking, on conference platforms, do you know how many times we encourage the saints to attend the meetings, not miss meetings?

That's pretty pathetic, isn't it? If that has to come from a conference platform that we have to encourage, to attend the meetings, do they have to attend you to go to work? Do people have, does your boss ever sit down and say to you, you know, you've missed a lot of work, let me just encourage you to come to work a little more, right?

Would you do that? But it's the assembly, it's okay. Have we reached that level, really? To be encouraging, sacrifice, spirituality, commitment, conviction, participation, to put spiritual weight into what is of God's.

Worldliness and the Loss of Spiritual Distinctiveness

And so he warns them, wisdom is departing. Worldliness is dissolving as well in terms of the assembly. Our distinctive is lost, our power, we were hearing about power. Worldliness has a way of dampening and sapping our power.

And when we become like the world, when we listen to the world, when we look like the world, when we dress like the world, you say, oh here we go again, dress and, no, you know what? I'm not singling that out, but I am telling you this, based upon what the Word of God does say, and the Word of God does teach about how we should dress.

It does teach about, for you sisters, modesty, a godly apparel. You know what the word, actually, the thought means? It's the idea of the cosmos, the arrangement of your clothing, the arrangement of your wardrobe, the presentation of yourself.

You know what it's saying? That it's part of a whole package. It's not just one thing. It's the entirety of your world. It is the tenor of your life. So when we talk about all these other issues and single them out, keep in mind it's part of a whole package.