Soul Clothing

Again, we didn’t plan it this
way. Far from that. But even even in our mix up in
which passage was to be read at which juncture, God’s providence
is in that, because this is what a perfect lead in to our thoughts
this morning when Paul there in Philippians said only conduct
yourself yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,
that thought is essentially the same as what Peter is urging
upon his people repeatedly throughout the epistle of Peter. That our
testimony is at stake. How we live is important. It
is crucial. And we must give heed to how
we live because of the watching world. We came across the difficult
passage last week. I was thankful not to smell the
unmistakable odor of tar cooking in the foyer as I departed with
feathers on hand. I think I probably laid the groundwork
suitably that it wasn’t I that said these things, but Peter.
But there’s no doubt that I affirmed them and do. And so, I was pleasantly
surprised that God’s people received what God had for them last Sunday. We’ll come back again to this
passage this morning and essentially pick up the remainder of what
we began last week. We find ourselves in 1 Peter
3. Again, we find ourselves in this
stream, if you will, of submission. I call it a stream because we
have been tracing this thought for a number of chapters now. as Peter began urging upon us
to be submissive. And then he begins applying that
to set and specific groups. We saw when he applied it to
servants in verse 18 of chapter 2. Here in these passages, he
applies it to the woman and he will go on. We saw, I tried to
make a case last week that Peter will go on about these thoughts
of submission and submitting ourselves all the way through
chapter five when he mentions in passing the young men of the
church. As I recounted, And as I began
to look through a number of scriptures, I was absolutely overwhelmed
at not the fact that this is a unique thought in Peter, but
the fact and that doesn’t make it any less biblical if it’s
the only time in scripture that it’s stated. But the fact that
a theme or a thought or an encouragement or an admonition is repeated
makes it all the more crucial that we attend to it. And usually
points up that it was all the more a problem in the first century
church. Such is the case at hand. And so we took this kind of sweep
through Scripture. And I want to do that again for
a specific purpose. I want to have you go, first
of all, to the book of Ephesians. Paul there is concerned with
submission, and he mentions, as I reminded you last week,
that there is a sort of mutual submission that takes place in
the home. Nevertheless, wives are called
by name to be subjected, submitted to their own husbands. We pick
it up in verse So then do not be foolish, but understand what
the will of the Lord is. And even as I say that, I want
to pause and I want to back up two more verses to verse 15,
because he picks up the same thought that Paul just uttered
there in Philippians. Therefore, be careful how you
walk. Not as unwise men, but as wise,
making the most of your time because the days are evil.” Essentially
what Paul says there in Ephesians 5 is that, look, we need to be
careful how we live. Be careful how we walk. Not as
unwise men, but as wise. Why is that such an important
thing? Because of those who are watching. This is ever Paul’s
theme. Verse 17, so then, do not be
foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And
do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled
with the Spirit. And he goes on, and we pick up
all the way down in verse 21, he goes on to say, and be subject
to one another in the fear of Christ. And so, with all of us,
there is to be a mutual submission to one another. There is to be
a deference to one another. We are to prefer one another
above ourselves. We are to think more highly of
the other person than we do of ourselves. And if we did that,
there wouldn’t be the great conflicts that we find in the church. If
we were to live this way at home, there wouldn’t be this kind of
conflict in the home. And so Paul applies it, but in
applying it, and I point out again that he doesn’t even use
the verb. Depending on what translation you’re using, if you look down,
you’ll see in italics, wives be subject. That’s because in
the original, in verse 22, the verb isn’t there. He just says
wives to your own husbands. What is implied there is be subject. Paul will go on to underscore
this point. It’s not as if he leaves it out,
and it’s not as if he’s being vague there, and it’s not as
if you can find some reason why a wife isn’t supposed to be subject
in the mere fact that the verb is missing in that verse. Because
he goes on to say, the husband is the head of the wife. As Christ
also is the head of the church, he himself being the savior of
the body. But as the church is subject
to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands
in everything. And that pretty much covers the
ground, doesn’t it? In everything. Colossians, if you would turn
over to Colossians, just by way of review, All we’re doing is
observing the repetitiveness of the theme that God would have
us to understand, not only in the church, but in our homes
from Christ day forward. Colossians chapter three. where
he issues that grand command that covers every person, every
saint, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus. And so everything that we do
is to be done for the glory of Christ. I love To this day, I
came across in Isaac Watt’s readings years ago our motto. It’s been
our theme motto ever since, really, I graduated from seminary. I
co-opted this term. I borrowed it. And it’s been
mine ever since. For the honor of God, for the
glory of Christ, and for the salvation of the souls of men.
That encapsulates everything that we do. That is the motive,
or should be, of everything that we do. And that’s essentially
the thought there in verse 17. And immediately following that,
immediately illustrated as one of those many things that fit
into that little word, all wives. Wives, be subject to your husband
as is fitting in the Lord. And so what Paul says there is
that there is in the home an appropriateness to this Godly
submission of the wife to the husband Titus chapter 2 if you
would Titus chapter 2 Apparently the wives again are
having soon one of these Titus 2 T’s at least now they won’t
be without something to talk about When they gather this is
essentially what a Titus 2 T is to model and Older women, likewise,
and everybody always asks me, why are there only two groups?
You know, Barb was realizing the other day after her birthday
that somebody characterized her as being middle aged. And that
was distressing to her. But it’s even more distressing
if you look that Scripture only gives you two groups, two camps,
ladies. Older women, younger women, you decide. Older women,
likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious
gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,
that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands,
love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind,
being subject to their own husbands. Why? so that the word of God
may not be dishonored.” And you have in all of these, this grand
theme of submission in the home, which models itself to a watching
world to the glory of God. Right? That’s exactly where Peter
is. And now back, if you would, to
1 Peter 3, where Peter writes In the same way, you wives, be
submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are
disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by
the behavior of their wives as they observe your chaste and
respectful behavior. And let not your adornment be
merely external, braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, putting
on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with
the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious
in the sight of God. For in this way, in the former
times, the holy women also who hoped in God used to adorn themselves,
being submissive to their own husbands. Thus, Sarah obeyed
Abraham, calling him Lord, and you have become her children
if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.”
We, with great trepidation, entered into this difficult passage last
week, didn’t we? As we saw in that opening section,
chapter 2, verse 13, the exhortation where we are to be submitted
That is basically what Peter says there in verse 13, to all
people, that we are in various fears to submit ourselves for
the Lord’s sake. The Lord is the one that gets
the glory in this. It’s His cause. It’s His gospel
that is at stake. It’s our testimony that is going
to carry the day or ruin our testimony. Submit yourselves
for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” And then
he begins, as I said, this grand subject of applying this to various
groups. If we are to have a testimony,
he says, this is one of the surest means of having it. Whether you’re
at work with an unreasonable boss, as we saw in previous verses,
18 and following, or here, even in a home where you’ve got an
ungodly The surest way to have a testimony
abroad and the surest way to have a testimony in the home
is to be subject. When Peter says in the same way,
he points back, doesn’t he? He points back to the servants.
He points back to verse 13 and he says, look, this is just another
application. Peter was trying to guard against
the fact that Christianity brought a new mindset. Christianity brought,
in a very real sense, a liberation for women. Not the liberation
that we saw, if you’re old enough, in the 70s, all the way back
in the 1970s, when, you know, women’s lib came about. You know
what? Women’s lib, that whole approach
was passé. It was old news. God liberated
women a long time before that. Galatians 3 says, For all of
you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free
man. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in
Christ Jesus. And so in Christ, there is a
balancing of all things. Jews and Greeks, slave and free,
male and female. Women have been liberated in
a very real sense, spiritually speaking. But Peter was guarding
against the fact that they were going to take this mentality
and go too far. That wives having been converted
and elevated, as one said, from comparative servitude, they were
essentially considered slaves in that culture. They might be
tempted in this newfound freedom to encroach a little and to put
to the test the extent of their recent liberty. In other words,
they were going to begin to take control. And Peter says, be careful
of that mindset. We considered what it was for
a wife to be subject, submitted to her earthly husband. We saw, first of all, that it
is it is to be to her own husband. She is not subservient as a sex
or a gender. She is not subservient just by
virtue of the fact that she is a woman. It doesn’t make her
a lesser person. Peter softened by the Spirit’s
direction this rule in the home, this rule of subjection by saying,
it is to your own husband that you are to be subject and submitted
and to no other. Secondly, we noted the extent
of a wife’s submission was that even if any of them are disobedient
to the word, that is the extent of a wife’s submission. How far
do you expect me to take this, pastor? I expect you to take
it no farther than Peter says to take it. It’s one thing to
be submitted to a good and godly husband that you know absolutely
has your best interest at heart. But Peter says, you know what?
This principle works and this principle is enforced even if
any of them are disobedient to the word, whether it’s a passing
thing and they are believers who currently are disobedient
to the word or whether you take it even to the logical conclusion,
even if they are disobedient to responding to the gospel’s
call. If you’re married to an unbelieving
lunk. The passage applies. The passage
applies, even if any of them are disobedient to the word.
Sometimes people will, you know, ladies will say, you just don’t
know my life situation. I don’t need to. I don’t need
to. If you have married him, if God
has brought you into a marriage union, then you are to be subject. And that is the surest means
of turning his own heart to Christ. That is the surest means of reforming
your husband. of eradicating that foolishness
that he’s engaged in, whatever it might be. And that’s exactly
what Peter says, point number three. The goal of a wife’s submission
is that their husband may be won. That his heart might be
turned. And then he adds this little
thing, and this is really where we’re going to jump into this
next passage. Even if any of them are disobedient
to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior
of their wives. God is concerned about souls. God is concerned about the lost
that are out there. God is concerned about growth
and righteousness. Remember, Hebrews talks about
sanctification without which we will not see the Lord. God
is concerned about your growth in godliness. God is concerned
that you be conformed to Christ. And God is desperately concerned
about the home and that the home be sanctified. And that if the
husband isn’t a Christian, that the husband come to Christ or
that if the husband is engaged in some sinful foolishness, that
he be convicted and brought to Christ. And he gives the wife
this arsenal of weapons, this great means of converting him.
or reforming him. What is it? Her behavior. Her wordless, silent behavior. And I know, I know because I
talked to a number of you, I know that that’s difficult. You want
so bad to preach. You want so bad to rail and to
let him have it. When God says the surest means
of changing his heart and life is silence. Silence, at least in word, but
is a mountain of words and data preached to him as he looks at
your life. What Peter acknowledges is that
the Christian woman in that culture would find it very difficult
to preach her husband to heaven. If he’s not a Christian, or she
would find it extremely difficult correct him to the point of seeing
where he maybe begins to see the error of his way as a Christian
and humbles himself and confesses his sin. Peter says, you know what, you’re
going to have a difficult time doing that in this culture. And no
less than ours. No less than ours. Because of
the nature of man. Because of the nature of woman.
the dynamic of the relationship. And so, Peter says, let me give
you the surest means. The surest means of converting
his heart. Changing his mind. Of reforming
his ways. What is it? Your behavior. Your behavior. And with that,
Peter Peter says that they may be won without a word by the
behavior of their wives as they observe your chaste and respectful
behavior. And it’s in that context that
Peter says, let’s talk about your behavior a bit. Let’s talk
first about how you’re adorned, how you’re dressed up, how you’re,
if you want to use the old word, festooned. I love that old word. Let’s get festooned for church. What I want to look at this morning
is the ornaments of a woman of God. We’ve just finished Christmas
season, right? And we all have in our mind a
vivid picture of what ornaments are. You brought a tree into
your house and you stuck it in a bucket of water and you left
it alone. People would think you’re nuts.
But as soon as you put the first little ornament, the first string
of lights, if you like the icicles that seem to go everywhere but
on the tree, whatever it is you use, as soon as you begin to
dress up the tree, the tree takes on a different meaning and purpose
and image in the home. Christian women, don’t get me
wrong, Christian women are called to adornment. They are called
to dress themselves up. There’s nothing wrong with that,
as you’ll see in a moment. It’s just how they go about it
and what they do. So, let’s get into this passage. Christian women are called to
adornment. First of all, they’re called
to adornment beyond the visible. Look at verse 3. where Peter
says, and let not your adornment be merely external, braiding
the hair, wearing gold jewelry, putting on dresses. Now, if you’re
dressed in a dress this morning, aside from the fact that you
have cold legs, I don’t want you to panic and run out of the
sanctuary. If you’re wearing something gold, gold earrings,
gold necklace, I don’t want you to panic. If you happened to
braid your hair or put it in cornrows, whatever have you,
don’t panic. Let’s hear out what God has to
say on the matter. And I think in order to muddy
the waters even more to begin with, we’ll muddy them and then
hopefully we’ll clarify them as we go. I want you to turn
over to a parallel passage. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse
9. This verse says some of the same
things in even stronger ways. And in doing so, as I said, it
seems to muddy the water. It seems as if Paul and Peter
now are both against this gold jewelry, these braids, pigtails. I mean, what on earth is wrong
with pigtails? Let’s find out. Likewise, and
that puts Paul in the strain of a lengthy discussion of what
is going on in the church, how people are behaving in the church. That is his concern. It isn’t
so much how you dress when you go out on a Friday night and
date night with your husband necessarily. This is what’s going
on in the church. Likewise, I want women to adorn
themselves with proper clothing. And he begins to color that.
What exactly does that look like? Modestly, discreetly, not with
braided hair or gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather
by means of good works as befits women making a claim to godliness. Paul just says, you know what?
I want there to be some modesty. I want there to be some moderation.
In that culture, and it’s not unlike the one in which we live,
you had this tendency of people to go and to, especially in a
public setting such as this, to go to put on a show, to go
to be seen. And so they would do all of these
fancy things in order to be seen. This word adorn is taken from
the word cosmeo, from where we get our word cosmetic, which
means to arrange in order. And so in a very real sense,
he’s saying, ladies, don’t be afraid to arrange your face if
you need to. We understand that. To put it
in order, to put yourself in order and how you dress, to arrange
yourself in an orderly way. And that’s why I said a moment
ago, you are called to adorn yourself. It’s not just a matter
of permissiveness. I think it’s what God would have
you to do in many ways. This passage, if you’re back
in 1 Peter 3, this passage in 1 Timothy 2 doesn’t prohibit
wives from going on Friday afternoon to get a hairdo, from styling
your hair, curling your hair, having it cut in a certain way.
It doesn’t forbid you from putting a hair clip in. It doesn’t forbid
you from wearing jewelry or beautiful clothing. There’s nothing wrong
with that. And that’s why if you, depending
on which translation you have, I know the NAS added merely. Don’t let your adornment be merely
external. What he’s saying is that that’s
your only concern is how you dress and how you look and whether
people see you and how they see you when they see you and what
they see you to be. If that’s your only concern,
then your view of yourself is warped. Your view of God is off. And it must be fixed. It’s not
supposed to be your main concern, that’s not what you’re supposed
to be preoccupied with. One pastor said it is only that
and principally not to be their concern, let that not that be
solely or chiefly attended to. He’s not saying don’t do it.
And I think in saying that, he affirms that it is the wife’s
privilege and prerogative to dress herself up. But don’t only
do that. Nor is it to be anxiously sought
after, nor ever in order to allure and ensnare others. Now, there’s
a big check for our culture in this day. Ladies, what happens
in your minds when you put on what you put on? Do you put on
with a thought of, oh, I might catch some attention here. That’s
exactly what he’s pointing to. And this thing was written 500
years ago. Can you imagine what he’d say
today? He goes on. Nor ever in order to allure and
ensnare others or to fill with pride and vanity. I mean, don’t
we all struggle with that a little bit? I am going to be the best
dressed person at this gig. Everybody will see me and they
will notice. Right? We should crucify those
thoughts when they come. Nor should our dress ever be
indecent and luxurious, immodest and immoderate and unsuitable
to the age, character and station of persons. Now, we’ll come back
to this one repeatedly. I mean, we have a an unnamed, to be unnamed acquaintance
of our family, who saw fit to dress in a rather short red leather
skirt at the ripe age of 75. My question is, if a leather
skirt is ever appropriate, a red leather skirt is ever appropriate,
it certainly isn’t at the age of 75. And that’s why he says
it is unsuitable to the age. There are things that you grow
out of, right? You should. There are things that are unsuitable
to your character. There are things that are unsuitable
to your station in life. Don’t you always kind of wince
at people that just are trying to dress like someone they’re
not, right? They’re just trying to put on
some kind of show with their clothing. He goes on to say,
otherwise, other than those simple prohibitions, clothing is both
convenient and necessary. And a decent garb, neat and not
modest apparel is and what is suitable to the years and the
rank and the quality of persons is very commendable. The bottom line here is we’re
not supposed to spend all of the energy of our lives making
the outside beautiful. But you should see to it, ladies,
that the inside is adorned also. It’s not that he’s against braids.
It’s not that he’s against gold. It’s not that he’s against jewelry,
per se. But if that’s all you do. And
you think that by dressing up, painting the barn, so to speak,
that you’re going to fool everybody around you into thinking, oh,
there goes an important and godly woman. And there are cultures
in which that happens all the time. That merely to look the
part is to be the part. Not so, says Peter. One pastor
said, you are not to cheat the soul out of its gems and virtues
for the sake of making yourself outwardly attractive. Do you
get that? If that’s all you’re attending to is what you wear,
how you did your hair, what kind of accessories, Do I bring along
with it? If that’s all you’re concerned,
then you just cheated your souls out of what he calls the gems
and virtues. Wow. One pastor said it this way. There is nothing in Christianity
rightly understood which prohibits a woman from endeavoring to dress
well and look well. That’s why I said, you’re called
to this. There is nothing inherently spiritual in a plain, unattractive
garb. You get a lot of people, a lot
of these folks that totally dress down, right? As if dressing in
a drab color and plain and doing nothing with their hair and nothing
with their face, which needs something in some cases. There’s nothing inherently spiritual
in that. There’s nothing inherently spiritual
in a plain, unattractive garb. Christianity requires of a Christian
woman to make the best of herself. God, the creator, delights in
beauty, beauty of form and hue and outline and arrangement.
And surely he would have us, his creatures, delight in beauty
also. And surely anyone who shows a
marked inattention to the beauty of outward things shows himself
far out of harmony with God’s mind. Now, you can take it too
far, but you can certainly not go far enough, right? You can
certainly neglect those things to the dishonor of God and His
way. All he’s saying here is excessive adornment, preoccupation
with all that. If it doesn’t match what’s going
on in the heart, if the heart wasn’t attended to first, it’s
just an outward show that means nothing. And usually, It leans
to excess. You end up dressing more gaudily
than you ever should have in the first place in order to mask
something that is absent in the heart. That’s what he’s saying. Let not your adornment be merely
external. Christian wives aren’t to be
so curious and preoccupied, as one said, about trimming the
outward person Their great pain should be on their inward persons
to be adorned with the grace of God. But even the children
of the Lord are in hazard to offend him and others in the
matter of apparel when much time and money is spent. There is
much unsubdued pride and vanity ready to manifest itself in that
way. They forget that clothing is
given to make themselves ashamed in remembrance of their sin.
Isn’t that an interesting thought? He takes us all the way back
to the garden. He says, you know, there’s a purpose of clothing.
And if anything, it ought not be to puff up our pride and vanity. Every time we put on a stitch
of clothing, we should remember that we are yet sinners, that
we were part of a dreadful fall of creation. That’s the purpose
of clothing. And so you say, so help me here,
because I don’t know exactly where we’re going or how to navigate
these difficult waters. Do I braid or not to braid? Do
I curl or iron? Dresses or slacks? And you have churches that have
split over this. You have entire denominations
that have sprung up over the length of a woman’s hair, the
length of her dress, the style of her sleeves, what’s appropriate
here. To the Puritans we go. You know,
the Puritans just had a way of spelling things out. Now, there
are good ones and there are bad ones. And mind you, some of the
excesses or some of the ridiculous extremes came from some called
Puritans. But if you find one that is endeavoring
to be truly biblical, this thought was attributed to Calvin. I’ve
never seen it in his writings, but he said, where the Bible
speaks, we speak. Where the Bible is silent, we
too are silent. When you have a person, an individual
like yourselves, trying to live a life that way, when you have
a church that tries to live that way, when you have a Puritan
commentator trying to live that way, you’ve got a good thing.
To not go where God’s Word doesn’t say, but just stays with what’s
written and tries to read and understand what God has for us.
One Puritan said in giving us some some guidance here. To fix the
cut of the coat, and by that I take it to mean styles. Exactly. Does it have flared
sleeves? Is it long? Is it short? What have you. To
fix the cut of the coat, the shape of the hat is hopeless
and indeed a ridiculous task. He says for the elders of a church
or for a culture, for a community, for a denomination to set and
establish that kind of thing is ridiculous. It’s unbiblical. All that we can do is lay down
certain principles. And he gives six good sound principles,
ladies. Christian principles forbid all
dress which is not honestly procured. I’m not accusing any of you of
going out and stealing what you’re wearing this morning. What he
says, though, it’s rather interesting. If it’s not, if it’s dishonestly
procured, he goes on to describe that is that for which you cannot
pay. Hello. What he talks about here
is before we even had he’s talking about before they even had it
in their day, buying it on credit, buying it on time. If you can’t
pay for it, why wear it? Because by the time you do pay
for it, it’s worn out, right? Secondly, he says this dress,
the second principle here that he utters is dress that is immodest.
The apparel of a woman professing godliness should not be the attire
of a woman of the world. Now, that is a difficult statement. Which means that there are common
threads in what we wear. That at some point, the women
of the world take to an extreme that we can’t go. There are certain
styles that we ought not wear. There are certain fashions that
must be avoided just by virtue of the fact that when you put
it on, you look like one of them. That’s what he says. He goes
on. And when I first read this, I
had to read it like five times. Females sometimes wear a label
on which indecency and indelicacy are written. And then they appear
to be offended because observers can read. Do you get that? It is almost, they say, they’re
wearing a big sign on them that says indecent, immodest, And
then when they come across someone who happens to be able to read,
they take offense at the fact that he looked. Thirdly, he says, dress that
is inappropriate is dress that is unbecoming of your station.
We talked about this a moment ago. Costly attire is not forbidden
where the ability of the person is fully equal to its purchase.
If you could afford it, that’s fine. Just don’t push yourselves
into those ridiculous extremes just so you can have a certain
logo for dress, which requires an
undue consumption of time. That’s what we were laughing
about before church. How long does it take you to get ready
and how much effort and time goes into that? If you need the
time, put time into it. But it’s got to be reasonable.
Fifthly, he says, dress which is by nature extravagant and
attracts particular attention. The desire to court observation,
the ambition to be unique and noticed. The hope of being admired
is the essence of pride. Finally, he says, dress to be
avoided is dress which seriously occupies and absorbs the powers
of the mind. What he basically says here is
that, look, ladies, there is a ton of freedom out there. Check
your hearts. Who are you trying to please?
Is it the Lord? Is it your own godly husband?
Or is it the world and the world’s fashion sense, which is an oxymoron? Spiritually minded people, godly
women, should take great care of what their external behavior
is, how they dress, how they carry themselves. One said it
this way, that they must be holy in all manner of life, including
their dress. The outward adorning of the body
is often very sensual and suggestive. For instance, when it is immoderate
and above your degree and station in the world, when you are proud
of it and puffed up with it, when you dress with design to
allure and tempt others, when your apparel is too rich, curious,
when your fashions are fantastic, imitating the levity and vanity
of the worst people, and when they are immodest and wanton. I mean, maybe the next time I
see one, I’m just going to say, that’s a very wanton dress you
have on. And so he mentions these three
areas of the woman’s attire where it can happen. Braiding the hair,
wearing gold jewelry, putting on dresses. And insofar as he
goes, he doesn’t forbid any of those. He doesn’t forbid any of those.
But the Jews certainly knew a time When they failed to adorn their
hearts, they failed to dress up as it were their souls, and
they were dressing up only the outward body. Only what people
could see. Isaiah 3.16, or beginning in
Isaiah 3.16, is recorded this graphic description of what the
wives and women were dressing like in that society. Listen.
Moreover, the Lord said, because the daughters of Zion, what a
sad thing. It’s as if he says, the people
of your church, the daughters of Zion are proud
and they walk with their heads held high and seductive eyes
and they go along with mincing steps and tinkle the bangles
on their feet. Therefore, the Lord will afflict
the scalp of the daughters with scabs and the Lord will make
their foreheads bare. In that day, the Lord will take
away. And when you hear the description of the attire of that day. The
Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, check, headbands,
check, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses,
ankle change, chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, finger
rings, nose rings, check. Festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks,
money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans, veils. Is there anything
new under the sun? You know, people are dressing
and they’re saying, I just, you know, I want to be hip and up
with style. I don’t know what the word is. With it. I want to get a nose ring. That’s
old hat. At least 700 years old. It’s possible to be on either
end of the extreme. And the difficult part, ladies,
we know, is to craft your attire very carefully so that it’s not
just slovenly, because even that would tend to embarrass and discourage
your husband. You do still need to attract
a mate, but you need to do it in a godly manner, young ladies. One of the favorite proverbs
in our home that we just try to keep before both of our children
for obvious reasons. As a ring of gold in a swine’s
snout. I mean, there’s a beautiful image,
isn’t it? And when we talk about this at home, we go into graphic
detail about looking at a swine’s snout and putting that beautiful
gold ring. So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion. And
we talk about that too. And we have plenty of illustrations
in our modern day, don’t we? Practically every billboard,
practically every magazine cover, practically every television
show. Certainly living examples all around us all the time. You
can’t even go into a mall without seeing, just having sensory overload
on the way that people dress. All that Peter is saying here,
ladies, is that you dress carefully. Dress is unto the Lord. And when
you dress, make sure that that is secondary to what goes on
in your heart and life all throughout the week. I know in our own home,
we kind of poke tongue in cheek with people who make so much
of their bodies. They take vitamins and do exercises
and this and that and this and that. And they do nothing for
their soul. Nothing. They don’t go to church. They don’t read their Bible.
They don’t fellowship with God’s people. All they take care of
is their body, which one day will perish. Perish like the
grass on the ground. I love the way one pastor said
it. The aged woman should be sober. Autumn never trying to deck herself
in the flowers of summer. Isn’t that a beautiful way of
looking at it? nor cold and dreary winter, putting on what is not
natural, but all the splendors and glories of June.” He just
says, make it appropriate. Make it right and good and pure
and proper. There’s a second point. We’ll start here and then we’ll
pick up here next week. We’re looking at the ornaments
of a woman of God. Soul clothing, as one Puritan
called it. Christian women are called to
adornment, first of all, as we saw, which is beyond the visible.
That’s why he says, not merely. They’re called to an adornment,
secondly, which is beneath the surface. Look, if you would,
at verse four, where Peter says, but let it be the hidden person
of the heart. Well, who’s that and what’s he
doing in there? We’ll talk a great deal about
that next time. But essentially, what Peter urges
us here is the imperishable quality, ladies, of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. He’s the one
that you’re trying to please first and foremost. And if you
haven’t dressed the soul for God first, it doesn’t matter
what you wear on the outside, does it? Nothing can cover up
that deficiency. Nothing can mask that deformity
of heart that incorruptible or what you
might even call heavenly clothing or raiment is the hidden person
which manifests itself in a meek and quiet spirit. And that meek
and quiet spirit is really befitting of all Christians, isn’t it?
It’s not just women that are called to a meek and quiet spirit.
We’ll look next time at some of the great saints of the Old
Testament. Men as well, who manifested a
meek and quiet spirit. Didn’t Christ manifest a meek
and quiet spirit above all others? Wasn’t He perfect in that virtue? But He calls this grace, ladies,
incorruptible. Imperishable. The clothes that
you put on, some of you have probably suffered the difficulty
of moths, right? You have something, wool, and
the next thing you know you come and it has a hole in it. At first
it’s a small hole and you put it back in the closet thinking
nothing of it and you come back and now it’s a big hole, a large
hole. In my code it’s a vent, you know, right here. Whether it’s moths, whether it’s
time, It’s always a discouraging day for me when I look at my
favorite shirt and the cuffs are frayed, the collars are frayed,
and I know that it’s just days now from being confiscated. But what you put on in your heart,
that soul clothing is not corruptible. It beautifies the soul, as one
said, with the graces and virtues of God’s Holy Spirit. The ornaments
of the body are destroyed by the moth and perish in the using. But the grace of God, the longer
we wear it, the brighter and better it is.” Ladies, there
is something so much better than what you could get at any mall
or what the… I don’t even know the names of the hot stores in
town. But there’s something so much
better so much more pleasing to the eye of God than anything
that you could put on in an earthly sense. And we’ll pick that up
next time. Let’s pray. Our gracious God, we do live
in a difficult world, not unlike first century Christianity, when
so much of the pagan and ungodly world was influencing upon them,
some of whom had been saved out of this treacherous life of flesh
and lust. And Lord, we thank You that not
unlike that own time, we find our own selves in almost a constant
need of reforming our heart and lives and priorities. And that
must also include our dress. Lord, we would not be the kind
of people that take this too far and want to dictate to people
what they do and do not wear or how they wear it or how they
do their hair. So we pray for wisdom and guidance. We pray that your word would
be our guide to your own Holy Spirit dwelling within us would
prompt our consciences when we overstep in this regard, when
we need to correct, when we need to reform. And Father God, be
glorified, we pray, in using some of these godly women as
they reform their own lives. May they and their lifestyle
be convicting to their husbands to reform their own. Lord, we
thank You for this passage, rich and beautiful as it is. We pray
that You would use it in our lives for Your glory. It’s in
Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen. As many of you know, some of
the ladies have gotten together and you know what they do when
they get together and they decided to somehow try to bless the Frasco
family for all that they’ve done for us over the last year. This
originally started out as a night out and it has developed into
quite a bit more. Thanks for sending us away. We
are. And thanks for what you’ve done.
Go ahead and open that up and read it so that everybody can
understand. But we’re just trying to show some appreciation for
all that you’ve done for this church family. It’s a ranch. We bought them a ranch. You wonder
why we didn’t have any money. Wow. Well, thank you all. We can never. I mean, that’s
that’s why we do what we do, because we’re so thankful to
God for the privilege to serve in this capacity. So thank you
all for the added blessing. Read that part. I can’t read
it. Thank you for having a heart
like Jesus, that part. No, no. Oh, Ron or Barbara, grab
your boots, hats. You’re going to Lost Valley Ranch
for some much needed rest and relaxation. And as twice the
fun is twice as nice, we’re sending you away for two long weekends,
one in March for some couples quiet time and again in May for
a family retreat. I’ll pick out your horse ahead
of time. I’ll break him in. Thank you
all. That’s exceedingly generous. Thank you. you