 God received with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls. God helped us to respond to you in faithfulness to obey you with fervency God from a grateful heart. Or if there's anyone here that has not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ has not abandoned their life of sin for Christ and turned and placed their faith and trust alone in Christ to save them. God please through your word by your spirit make them to come to know the weight of their sin. Make them to know that which is fitting for those professing godliness and may they turn to the only Savior the only mediator the only ransom and be saved. God for your glory for your worship for the good of their soul. God save souls for your namesake and we Lord as those who profess the name of Christ and may we be found faithful in living in such a way that gives testimony to the greatness the goodness the mercy the kindness the power of our Lord and Savior for your everlasting praise in Jesus name amen. All right our title this morning is fit for godliness this is part two in our sermon series that we're working through 1st Timothy chapter 2 and we are working through this passage from verses 8 to 15 and we've titled this sermon fit for godliness because we're examining here from Paul's exhortation to Timothy those things in the life which accord with someone's profession of faith such that they are fit for godliness and we get that primarily from verse 10. Now last week we basically looked at a foundation for what we're going to be talking about today and the weeks that come in this passage. The way that you dress expresses something and reflects something it is an outward expression if you will of an inward reality it reflects a deeper set of values that as Christians should reflect the values of Christ as found in God's revealed word. Through looking last week at adorning apparel those two words specifically we demonstrated from God's word God's view of this there is such a thing as showing yourself outwardly fit for godliness how you live how you dress even communicates this now remember last week our beautifully set table we got a table it is laid out and imagine all the place settings as we've talked about modesty propriety self-control not drawing attention to yourself in that sense humility not pride and in the middle of this set table we have a centerpiece that we find in verse 10 and verse 10 says this but behave in a way or conduct yourself in a way which is proper for women professing godliness with good works and we said that that is a challenge if you will a command from Paul to make sure that your profession your profession in Christ that word there meaning promise your promise of godliness is in accord is linked with every part of your life lived out you're to live in such a way that is fitting for women professing godliness with good works here to be fit for godliness and that we've said applies to men as well men you are to live in a way that is fitting for men professing or promising godliness with good works should be fit for godliness in other words if you're making a claim if you're making a profession of faith you're saying that you're a Christian you're a blood bought brother or sister in Christ then your whole life every aspect of your life must be brought under the reality of that claim or that commitment or that promise that you're making there is not a single aspect of your life that god is not concerned about even here as we see the way that you dress every aspect of your life god is concerned about it flows out of your heart and your nature now we've said that god is concerned with a heart that is biblically true but where in scripture god is concerned with outward expressions like dress like the word that we used last week deportment where god is concerned with those things god is concerned with that being an expression of the inward reality that rests in the heart god is concerned about your heart and in that concerned about the way that you express your heart in the way that you hear dress or act this is nothing new in scripture the bible says that you'll know them by their fruits you'll know them by their fruits although god looks at the heart it says in first Samuel he says in Ezekiel 36 that the nations will know that he is the lord when he is hallowed in you before their eyes in other words god is concerned with your outward testimony to an onlooking lost world concerned with your outward life your outward testimony in the sense that it reflects the power of a changed life the power of god to save a soul to transform a center he's concerned with his name and his glory and you claiming the name of christ claiming to be a christian are a walking testimony of his grace a walking testimony of his power a walking testimony of his attributes and we're to properly reflect that in the way that we live so here in last week in verse nine we looked at this issue of the outward expressions of those things what that communicates and in verse nine in first Timothy chapter two the bible says this in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing the verse addresses women specifically but man as we've said there's much here for you to apply much here in principle that would apply to you as well that you need to concern yourself with last week specifically looking at the concept of adornment or dress and apparel or the clothing with which you dress adornment we saw meant to adorn cos main meant to put or arrange in order to be in proper order apparel we looked at what that communicates the way that you dress what that communicates it either communicates modesty and dignity to conceal the body in other words or it demonstrates or communicates promiscuity or sexual availability and in that sense it's revealing the body what they said was shameful advertising so it's going to communicate one of those two things it means to put in order arrange things in order now remember Paul's primary concerns here as we move forward one he's concerned with sexual purity in the church women in Ephesus at this time were displaying themselves sensually and that is a problem causes distractions causes disruptions in the church and secondly it causes damage or a corrupt testimony of God and of God saving the sinner but to the second primary concern that Paul has here is the women drawing attention to themselves or enticing or distracting or simply for just good old-fashioned pride they just wanted to draw attention to themselves the effects of this is that it caused disruption in the worship of the church at Ephesus and it caused damage to their testimony as blood brought bought Christians God is obviously concerned with both but now keep in mind even though we are communicating regarding outward apparel the Holy Spirit is concerned primarily with the heart and even in expressing the reality that how you dress affects your testimony the Holy Spirit even chooses words that express that that is related to the inward heart of the person we look last week at that word katastale which means the inward restraining of behavior the inward restraint or the exercise of restraint specifically related to sexual immorality that in how you dress you express an inward restraint even though that word is talking about the outward clothing that they were wearing at the time there's a restraint in attitude a restraint in behavior deportment the word is that there's a restraint in your mannerisms in your manners in your behavior this is again closely connected this outward deportment closely connected with an inner set of values that we should have from the word of God now these two concepts we've got inwardly fit for godliness and outwardly fit for godliness these two concepts are intimately and inseparably linked you cannot have one without the other they simply don't exist without the other if you're strictly concerned with the outward you're legalist that's going to come from the right heart and it must come from the right heart we need to be concerned about the heart if the heart is right the hemline is right right it might be concerned with the heart of the hemline initially this is not unusual this concept in scripture is not unusual in the same way that possession of genuinely genuine saving faith is intimately and inseparably inseparably linked with the fruits of genuine saving faith in the same way here the outward is linked to the inward so now ask yourself in light of that truth does what you wear reveal worldliness or godliness that's an important point from this passage does how you conduct yourself this applies to men and women both does how you conduct yourself reveal worldliness or godliness does the way that you think your reasoning the way that you process and respond to scripture does it reveal worldliness or godliness you're to be in accord with your profession of faith fit therefore for godliness now we looked first point last week at outwardly fit for godliness let's dig into verse nine again this week and look at inwardly fit for godliness the second point here in our series inwardly fit for godliness here's what verse nine says in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing a verse nine goes on to say in modest apparel we looked at that word apparel last week word modest is very informative with how we're to understand this that's the word in greek cosmio it's interesting i love scripture in this sense there's a word play here remember last week to adorn cosmine now we're looking at modest cosmio you which are cosmine cosmio it's a word play the holy spirit uses if you're doing deep bible study you'll come across that it's just the wisdom of god in writing scripture but this word cosmio means appropriate or respectable appropriate or respectable so in what way appropriate look at our dress in what way are we to dress appropriately you're to dress appropriately in the sense this is a word that reflects the internal heart of the person you're to dress in the sense or be appropriate in the sense that your outward dress reflects the inward reality in other words that which is fitting for women professing godliness it's dressed that is appropriate to your profession of faith it's what appropriate or respectable means there we've made the point that when the heart is right everything else will fall in place it's the heart that god is concerned about therefore your dress is a reflection of your heart an outward expression of an inward reality cj mahaney is where we got that quote from uh in a discussion of biblical modesty said that you start by addressing the heart not the outline you address the heart right now three concepts in verse nine do just that three concepts from verse nine are going to inform us or give us understanding of what our hearts are to reflect here one shame facedness is a king james word in your new king james is translated propriety and your esv is translated modesty i love the king james word shame facedness it's an expressing of shame and we're going to talk about that at length this morning and unpack that the second concept given here in verse nine is self control you're to respond with shame facedness you're to respond with self control and the last word there is selflessness selflessness you're to dress you're to comport yourself you're to behave with selflessness now if you notice three s's right shame facedness self control selfless these are the three s's of biblical modesty according to god's word uh so consider every s before you dress it's a good way to think about it consider your s's before you dresses right um these s's are the way that you dress should reflect your heart it's going to be an expression of your heart all right so let's unpack this word shame facedness idos in the greek this is the first word we come across this word propriety in the new king james george night commentator said this the state of mind shame faceness is the state of mind or attitude of heart necessary for one to be concerned about modesty that attitude there that he's referring to is the attitude of shame now we need to get an understanding of this okay shame faceness is the state of mind or attitude of heart necessary for one to be concerned about modesty in that sense now it is an awareness or an understanding of the feelings of another maybe a brother or sister the lord himself an understanding or awareness about the feelings or opinions of another person in response to your own conscience okay in that sense if your own conscience let me give you an example your own conscience grieves you over something you say something you do a sin that you commit against the brother or against the sister your conscience in responding to the shame of sin would prevent that shameful act from happening again right it's that thought that understanding of your actions your thoughts your words your deeds that are shameful that precedes and then prevents a shameful act from happening so in that sense that shame is a healthy shame you've acted shamefully you feel the weight of that in your conscience you take into consideration what another brother what the lord thinks of that and it prevents you or keeps you from entertaining that shameful act again all right it's intended to keep you that shame that grieving conscience is intended to keep you from crossing a boundary from transgressing as the bible says or straying into an action that would be shameful that concept now if you think about it is necessary it is very necessary and very helpful in helping us to avoid situations which are shameful avoid situations which are sinful we need that pure healthy sensitive conscience to assist us in that okay now therefore modesty knows where that boundary is and because of the attitude of shame faceness or the attitude of shame modesty will keep you from participating or dressing in such a way that is immodest or shameful immodesty is shameful modesty is that which stays away from shame uh has the attitude of shame faceness now it's not shame ladies and being a woman guys it's not shame in being a good-looking guy or a muscular guy it's not shame and being a man but here it is shame specifically in enticing another person sensually or being a distraction or eliciting lust from a brother from a sister in the way that you conduct yourself in the way that you dress it includes here in verse nine both the inference to sexual enticement and the extravagance that is a distraction to the body all right now again in context and I wanted to understand this and how these two things fit together these concepts fit together because it's very important when it comes to understanding modesty in the context here a woman would be so grieved over even the possibility of enticing someone to lust or causing distraction in the body with the way that she dresses in other words placing a stumbling block before her brother placing a stumbling block guys before your sister or offending god you'd be so grieved over even the possibility of that that you respond to the possibility of that with great care with great fear of god such that you dress modestly can you see the connection between the possibility of shame you have the attitude of shame-facedness such that it keeps you from placing a stumbling block before your brother or offending god it is acting in that sense with prudence it is acting with good deportment and your behavior and your mannerisms jeff pollard says this i like this her dress ladies will not communicate sex pride or money but your dress will communicate purity humility and moderation it's a good way to think about it now guys again this can happen the same way for you your dress the way that you behave the way that you conduct yourself will not if you're a christian and you're living in such a way that is fitting for godliness you will not communicate sex pride or money but purity humility and moderation shame then if you think about it this way is a matter of the heart isn't it shame is a matter of the heart it's internal now that same attitude should govern all of your actions as a christian by that same attitude should be a governing force for all of your actions as a christian a fear a healthy biblical fear of offending or disobeying the lord a healthy biblical fear of laying a stumbling block before your brother causing him to stumble now think about this men and women both here we're specifically talking about dress but this applies doesn't it to your mannerisms to your speech the way that you joke or interact with one another your tongue james 38 says that the tongue is an unruly evil is your communication is your joking around is your interaction with the brothers and sisters or with lost people in the world is it flavored is that seasoned with a healthy fear of god with a healthy sense of shame facedness or is that something that would be worthy of shame or offensive to god or placing a stumbling block before your brother or sister think about the way that you jest or jab with a loved one blood brought brother or sister in christ um what about the exercise of your so-called liberties what would that think about it what would that social drink communicate to potential onlookers brothers and sisters in christ all all of what you perceive to be christian liberties are brought to be brought under the submission to the word of god under submission to these guiding principles that you will do nothing to bring reproach on christ or to put a stumbling block before your brother roman's 1421 says this it is good it is good neither to eat meet nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak to paul that liberty that he may have liked was not worth causing his brother to stumble and it never is if you're grasping on to some perceived liberty that you have and in that liberty you'll cause your brother to stumble you don't have a right to that liberty according to god's word submit your liberties to loving your brother it goes on to say in verse four chapter 14 that if you do it anyway and your brother is grieved then you're no longer walking in love can you see how unloving that is that's going to become very important that concept in the choices that you make ladies and guys with respect to how you dress and how you conduct yourself it is loving to submit yourself to problems that your brother may have with the way you dress the way that you talk or the way that you act or the way that you live goes on to say paul says do not destroy with your liberty the one for whom christ died we're to care for our brother we're to love our brother this certainly applies to dress so where does this godly this is godly this is biblical where does this godly sense of shame come from turn with me to genesis chapter 2 genesis chapter 2 where does this godly sense of shame come from genesis chapter 2 and let's look together beginning in verse 23 this is genesis chapter 2 verse 23 now god brings eve into the picture and right off the bat adam is smitten with eve i mean it's like love at first sight he is taken beside himself right now and so he breaks out into this this praise if you will of god's decision here ring to ring eve about in verse 23 and adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man verse 24 therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh verse 25 and they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed now in the beginning here before the fall nakedness was not shameful nakedness wasn't shameful god made them that way and he proclaimed everything to be very good there was no reason here for shame no reason here for humiliation so where did it all go wrong i mean what happened to take something from being good and right very good as god says no cause for shame no cause for humiliation and now for it to go so bad look down at chapter 3 verse 6 at this point sin enters the picture and as sin enters shame follows look at verse 6 so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate as she also gave to her husband with her and he ate then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together made themselves coverings here sin enters shame follows sin understanding of sin knowledge of sin attentiveness to sin sensitivity to sin all of that came through the fall here through their disobedience and with that understanding with that attentiveness to sin came shame came guilt came this conscience right came humiliation with sin comes that understanding of shame and humiliation right but look down at verse 9 now their response to this was to make themselves coverings they're in verse 11 they knew that they were naked they sewed fig leaves i'm sorry that's verse 7 they sewed fig leaves together they made themselves coverings literally there it means loin cloth or apron they made themselves coverings with fig leaves now we're going to find out this is small and insufficient for what needed to be done we'll see that as we go look at verse 9 now then the lord called to adam and said to him where are you so he said i heard your voice in the garden and i was afraid and this is interesting i was afraid because i was naked and i hid myself god calls out to adam adam and eve after the sin had made loin cloths for themselves then after when god calls out to adam he hides himself even covered with loin cloths because as adam said he was naked and i hid myself so god responds in verse 11 he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the tree of the of the tree of which i commanded you that you should not eat god goes right to his obedience right to the heart sort of steps over the whole issue of nakedness for a moment but here again adam even with the fig leaves sewn around him considered himself naked and he hid himself from god their own knowledge of sin brought shame brought humiliation instantly their thoughts reflected this awareness have you in your life if you're professing to be a christian has your conscience become dulled or insensitive to sin such that you don't feel shame anymore or that you don't feel this awareness of humiliation how your sin causes shame or how your sin offends god how your sin might be perceived by your brother or sister the world today we've heard this said before that forgotten how to blush the world today is in this downward slide from generation to generation of undressing itself in public and there's no shame associated with that there's no humiliation associated with that we revel in it the culture today revels in this we've forgotten how to blush we've forgotten how to be ashamed of sin you've got to cultivate a sensitive conscience with respect to your sin and you cultivate that by informing it from god's word we have to be sensitive to sin now look at what god did got this response on the part of adam and eve and we see them respond to this awareness this shame this humiliation in covering themselves with these loin claws but look at god's response in chapter three verse 21 god comes along he says also for adam and his wife the lord god made tunics of skin and clothed them now notice the contrast here they sewed fig leaves together to basically cover their private parts all right in response to their shame in response to their humiliation in response to their sin and even then still feeling uncovered still feeling naked they hid themselves still from god god comes along now doesn't make them fig leaf coverings he covers them with a tunic tunics of skin animal hide and he clothed it says there them literally means covered them now this tunic this was a shirt like garment it would have been close around the neck and it would have gone to at least below the knees men wore these oftentimes but just below the knee for the purposes of work so they could work in them if there were a situation where you're going to be in mixed company or for ladies they would wear them to their to their ankles to the ground it would have gone neck to knees at least neck to ground usually often for men working they were sleeveless ladies would have had long sleeves men often would have had long sleeves would have been made of linen mostly and would have laid next to the skin there would have been clothes even over that it was considered and called often in scripture a coat or a robe that's what those words mean it was a normal garment both men and women wore this garment and here made of animal skin this was not a fur bikini this was a coat a robe of animal hide from neck to knees at least okay and this was the normal the normal garment adam and eve covered their private parts god it is important to understand covered their bodies god concealed the body and that is in response to sin to shame to humiliation that's in a response to this attitude of shame faceness okay now this garment continued into the first century thousands of years even in the first century this was common remember the parable of the prodigal son and the father who coming off the porch to go and greet his son had to lift up his garment so that he could run and that was considered what shameful to do that for him to lift up his garment was shameful for a man going into battle he had to gird up his loins what did that mean he took that long garment often down to the knees and he had to wrap it up around him tie it in his belt so that he could fight so this thing wasn't getting tangled up in his legs this is a long garment this same word the same word the same concept is used of god clothing the priests in the tabernacle in the wilderness in exodus 28 he clothed them with this long floor length garment and then put a robe or a coat over them and it was that garment that the priests were to wear and even then gave them specific instructions that as they were walking up the steps into the tabernacle or walking up onto a platform to speak they were very careful to as the bible says to conceal their nakedness so someone would look up and accidentally see something they shouldn't see their nakedness would be revealed now when's the last time you thought about that as you were going up the stairs or going up an escalator in a skirt ladies it that's something that the god himself in his word calls shameful it's shameful the priests were clothed this way in revelation six those saints under the altar were given a white robe a white robe they're clothed in white linen robe again this is the standard here now why is this the standard we see this in god clothing adam and eve in god clothing the priests in god clothing the people of israel for all these thousands of years for god even giving this clothing to those saints under the altar in heaven in revelation six why is this the standard this is because the principle in scripture that we must if we're going to be faithful to god and faithful to god's word the principle in scripture that we are to to apply with respect to clothing ourselves is that clothing is for the purpose of concealing the body not revealing the body very clear from scripture clothing is to conceal the body not to reveal the body now you're not going to find in scripture a prescription for exactly how you're to dress where this kind of material where at this long not this long but this long make sure it covers here not here you're not going to find a prescription like that however scripture is extremely clear that our dress is very important to god as an outward expression of an inward reality and so how do you avoid then without specifics you got this principle how do you avoid then being immodest what do you do to keep yourself from a shameful situation of dressing immodestly well what you do is you look for principles in scripture and this is a good way to consider your bible study with your christian liberties you look for principles in scripture that communicate god's intention for these things specifically here for modesty and you apply those principles to what you do you're going to make decisions about your dress guys or gals you make decisions about your dress you apply principles from scripture you apply that to what you do you apply it to the decisions that you make so what is the principle here with respect to modesty it modesty is to conceal the body the body is to be covered not to be revealed now the reverse of this we can see also in scripture is also true and it helps inform our understanding of this it was shameful in scripture to uncover or even fail to cover enough the body we see that in multiple places in isaia chapter 47 verse 3 the bible says this isaia 47 3 your nakedness shall be uncovered yes your shame will be seen this was an act of god in judging the nation of israel and he uses this as an illustration and he ties dress with shame here again nakedness with shame in ezekiel 16 verse 37 surely therefore god says i will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure all those you loved all those you hated i will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness again in god's mind nakedness is shameful neom chapter 3 verse 5 behold i am against you says the lord of hosts i will lift your skirts over your face and i will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame again nakedness tied to shame now in the new testament when you removed this outer garment and you were just down to your inner garment literally the word that was used there was without clothes peter described himself when he took his outer garment off to fish described himself against john 21 described himself as naked simply getting down to his inner garment and that inner garment from nectonese and he considered himself still naked and this garment you got to understand would have covered them far better than the swimwear of today right and it was considered shameful it was considered naked to be in that garment alone consider this for a moment that which even today would be shameful to walk around in downtown or shameful to go into a store with or shameful to come to church with shameful to pump the gas in shameful to work in your yard in shameful to hang around with other people in in social settings is okay and is acceptable and even considered appropriate as long as you're on the sand near the water doesn't make sense right it's it's it's worldly reasoning you got to understand that our culture impacts the way that we think about these things many years ago you would have been arrested for indecent exposure for that which has become completely acceptable today you see the ledge from which we have fallen this is the downward slide of our culture this simply this idea is simply against what the scripture clearly reveals as being the principle here with respect to modesty that we are to conceal the body not reveal the body the fashion industry is not concerned with concealment the fashion industry is all about revealing the fashion industry's main objective you read their literature their main objective objective is to cultivate sexual attraction that is the purpose of their clothing for the most part is to cultivate sexual attraction by revealing it's exactly opposite exactly counter paul's concern with emphasis in first timothy chapter two especially here in verse nine is that the clothing that was being worn is sexually enticing and you go anywhere that's the clothing that you see first john 215 says that we're not to love the world or the things of the world we love the world the things of the world the love of the father is not in us it is a standing opposed to that which god loves okay i heard this quote brother reminded me of this from from paul washer that was an extremely good way to think about this if your clothing is a frame for your body then it is sensual and god hates it because it's shameful that if your clothing is a frame for your face or your clothing reflects godly character godly concern for god's glory and your brother's safety or your sister's safety men then that is clothing that god would be pleased with we have to consider these things as we consider scripture with respect to how we dress all right now consider this next this shame of revealing the body here are then the motivations for that people dress this way the fashion industry pushes this to draw attention to yourself and to entice to enlist it illicit a sensual response amen think about the effects that your dress has on ladies uh if you're wearing take your shirt off or you're wearing tight clothing this has an impact on the ladies too ladies am i speaking out of turn it has an impact on the ladies too you got your underwear hanging out of your pants underwear is underwear not outerwear or you're making you're making decisions with respect to how you dress that can impact ladies but ladies certainly this is tough for you this is something that really impacts the guys and i'm convinced that most women just simply don't understand the reality of how this impacts a guy just don't see it or don't understand it you have to take our word for it it has an impact okay and i want you to see the effects that your clothing choices have on men around you i saw this and i thought this was very uh appropriate for describing this and this is young man who like many men struggle in this area battling sin and wanting to serve the lord wanting to be faithful to the lord in this area here's what he says he's on a college campus each and every day on campus is a battle it's a battle against my sin a battle against temptation a battle against my depraved mind listen if you're in school young men uh you're on a campus old men if you're walking around and you're not battling this um you're not engaged in fighting this sin very very very likely you are deep in this sin already uh you need to be battling this is the right attitude to have it's a battle okay fight sin every morning he says i have to cry out to god for mercy for strength and a renewed conviction to flee youthful lust the spirit is faithful to bring me the renewal i need to prepare me to do war against my sin yet the temptation still exists i'm thankful god has created me to be attracted to women however campus is a loaded minefield there are girls everywhere and i'm guaranteed to pass them attractive girls as i walk to my classes to make it through the day unscathed i have to be actively engaging my mind praying quoting scripture listening to worship music or looking at the sidewalk many days it takes all four to be safe and imagine this guy you know walking around camp mumbling to himself with his head down it's like that kind of you know that guy it's like that he's just and i'm just trying to stay alive man you know i'm like trying to battle this in the thing women do not seem to fully grasp he says is that the temptation toward lust does not stop it is continual it is aggressive it does all it can to lead men down to death they have a choice to help or deter its goal sometimes when i see a girl provocatively dressed i'll say to myself she probably doesn't know that 101 guys are going to devour her in their minds today ladies that is the reality that is the unvarnished truth you dress provocatively that's the result that's that's the result but then again he says maybe she does know to be honest i don't know the truth the truth of why she chooses to dress the way she does all i know is that the way she presents herself to the world is bait for my sinful mind to latch on to and i need to avoid it at all costs now i've talked to ladies what are you thinking about when you take that shirt off the rack or you're trying on jeans or you're looking at a dress women know some women don't a lot of times when they're making choices about what they wear they know exactly what reaction that's going to elicit and they're looking for that reaction you understand that is godless that is sensual god hates it be careful consider the lord and consider your brother guys same thing consider the choices that you make with respect to dress and how that's going to affect those around you it says here it goes on for the most part the church serves as a sanctuary from the continual barrage of temptation towards sin however the church's members are not free from sin yet and there are girls those who are ignorant and those who are knowledgeable of men's sinful tendencies who dress immodestly i must confess that even church can have several minds scattered about to the girls who are ignorant please serve your brothers in christ and have your dad screen your wardrobe ask him how you can better choose holiness over worldliness he's a guy and he knows more about the temptation men's faith men face than you do and to the girls who don't follow the pattern of the world thank you a million times over you are following scriptures commands and are helping your brothers in the process despite all that godly men are doing to defeat the sin of lust they still need help and they need you to provide it it's a man struggling in this battle of sin here's another perspective i want us to understand this as christian women in the church you can be either a blessing or a distraction this man says as the second young man explains the one place where i might think i wouldn't have to face as much temptation is at church but this is not always the case when women that i'm friends with dress immodestly it definitely has a negative effect on our friendship when a woman dresses immodestly it doesn't make it easy to see her as a sister in christ there's a constant battle going on as i'm talking to her communication becomes more difficult because as i'm trying to listen to her i'm also trying to fight temptation i think some women aren't aware that even little things can distract guys a lot showing even a little part of their stomach now listen to this in terms of a trigger that a guy would have and receive with meekness the implanted word which they will save your soul showing even a little part of their stomach wearing bags that have straps that go between their breasts and so on it's even those little things that are problematic right i'm so grateful for the friendships god has given me with the godly women in my church i'm so appreciative of the sacrifices they make in order to glorify god and serve and care for the guys i heard of one girl who went shopping and really liked the shirt that she was trying on but then she thought no i can't do this to the guys that was the first time i'd ever heard of anything like that and it made me so grateful it is such a blessing to have friends who care for me enough to be selfless and to sacrifice what might look attractive in order to help me and other guys with sexual lusts when women dress modestly it's attractive and it makes me want to hang out with them more i think modesty is so attractive and helpful in friendships because it makes it easier for a friendship to be centered around god and for fellowship to be unhindered when your clothing draws attention to yourself or elicits a sensual response the attention is no longer on god the attention is on you and it's sensual and it's according to scripture it's shameful it's shameful this all needs to be wrapped into our understanding of shame facedness this first word propriety in your new king james modesty in your esv all of this informs our understanding of that word what should be your response how are you to respond to this what is the state of your heart concerning this right now this is clear this is definitive in scripture god intends to cover the body to conceal the body not reveal the body where's your heart right now with respect to that are you battling god in your mind and in your heart with respect to your self willed choices when it comes to your dress or will you humble yourself to god and honor god in the way that you dress honor god in your deportment your behavior your mannerisms is there an appropriate concern for god or is there more concern for your self-willed rebellion in this wanting to do what you want to do wanting to dress how you want to dress and not considering these things god is so concerned with this that he places scripture after scripture in the bible related to this think about this line of questioning for yourself or anyone else that you may need to talk to regarding this subject this is important to think about here's a good line of questioning number one do you young woman young man have at least somewhat of an understanding of the struggle specifically for ladies ladies here that men face with respect to lust do you at least have somewhat of an understanding of the struggle that men face with respect to lust the second question would be if you answer that in the affirmative i understand that men struggle with it number two do you believe then that you have some responsibility before the lord to ensure that you do not do anything to cause your brother to stumble and if you understand from scripture that's true and you do have responsibility for that then question number three do you believe then that what you are wearing adequately and faithfully reflects that understanding and responsibility you understand the struggle you understand the potential of the possibility for sin right then you understand from the word of god that i have to be careful not to place a stumbling block in front of someone else to cause them to sin you have that understanding you see that responsibility then put yourself under that principle is what i am wearing adequately and faithfully reflecting that understanding and my responsibility and in that you'll avoid this issue of shame with respect to immodesty it flows out of the heart of a sister out of a brother who loves the lord and loves his brother loves her brother all right it's important for this to be understood by fathers as well you have daughters that you need to be concerned about important for husbands because god has made you responsible for your wife and so you're to understand this for your daughters for your wife ladies if you're not sure ask your father ask your husband ask an older lady in the church husbands take responsibilities for your wife take responsibility for your daughters next in verse nine back in first Timothy chapter two here at the end of verse nine paul gets somewhat specific here and he gives specific examples of extravagance that causes a distraction in the church causes a distraction to your testimony to being fit for godliness and he gets specific at the end of verse nine he says that you with propriety and moderation he says don't dress with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing that's not giving you specific examples of jewelry or specific examples of hairstyles but it is more specific it's giving you an understanding of what he's talking about here well let us get specific with with with reference to this principle the principle in scripture is clothing is to conceal the body not to reveal the body okay so if we're to look at that principle and we're to begin to put things in place to apply that principle to what we dress here are going to be three things that you need to consider one consider the clothing that is intended to reveal body parts or to imply revealed body parts for example plunging necklines lowly buttoned shirts got your shirt unbuttoned too too too far showing cleavage short skirts notice that i'm not saying how short or how long you've got to apply these principles to the choices that you make but know that the purpose or the principle of god in scripture is to conceal the body not to reveal the body short skirts that reveal or short shirts that reveal the midriff reveal your back short skirts or dresses low rise skirts or low rise pants strapless that may reveal too much flesh sheer clothing of any kind meant to reveal the body now that's obviously or overtly revealing the body consider this point number two that which reveals the body through shape or through contour in other words really tight jeans tight pants workout clothes are chronic for this are you revealing the body or concealing the body point three or principle three to consider reeling revealing the body in such a way that gives rise to sensual imagination long slits in a skirt underwear or your bra showing underwear that should be underwear that it is turning into outerwear it causes people to think it causes sensual imagination um either outside like undergarments showing through your clothing or through sheer clothing you can see through the clothing and see underwear it should be underwear um underwear used as outerwear nowadays women wear bustiers like that was uh very provocative undergarment just a few years ago and now it's worn in public outwardly underwear is underwear not outerwear guys can do this too right guys are guilty of these things too these are things that you need to consider as you consider obeying the lord and this principle from scripture principle is that the body is to be concealed not revealed all right going on we have two more points in one minute we have inside of in verse nine the next issue to consider here is in verse nine is self-control the bible says in verse nine with propriety that's that word shame-faceness and moderation that word there moderation is self-control you got to consider every yes before you dress self-control means discretion or sexually prudent proverbs 11 22 says as a ring of gold in a swine snout so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion uh titus 2 12 it's translated soberly where the bible says for the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts that we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age galatians five the self-control is a fruit of the spirit here it forms a bookend of our passage it's mentioned self-control in verse nine and it's mentioned self-control in verse 15 they'll continue these ladies in faith love and holiness with self-control self-control is self-governance it's a mastery of your physical appetites or desires it's a vigilance or a diligence over those desires in other words here consider the the cause of this dress on the part of these ladies in Ephesus they wanted to draw attention to themselves they wanted to entice men sexually and that comes from the root of pride self-control is governing or mastering that appetite that you have in your flesh for pride say I'm not going to give into that I'm going to control that appetite and I'm going to live godly I'm going to be inwardly and outwardly fit for godliness and dress in such a way that is fitting for women who profess godliness with good works it's controlling that first Corinthians verse chapter 9 verse 27 Paul says I discipline my body bring it into subjection lest when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified it takes self-control the next issue here in verse 9 is selflessness he goes into specifics says not to dress with braided hair gold pearls or costly clothing what he's saying there is don't dress in a way that you are drawing attention to yourself and thereby distracting others in that sense you're being selfless in the way that you dress considering the lord considering your brother considering your sister here this is clothing that wealthy women in Ephesus used to exalt themselves the story about the emperor Caligula who had a wife his name her name was genia and genia dressed in a dress and this hairdo all stacked up on her head with jewels and stuff put in there and this dress with pearls and emeralds and jewelry hanging from this dress she would wear this dress all over the place and the dress was literally in today's dollar in today's dollars was a million dollar dress was a million dollars and she would carry with her the appraisal of the dress so that she could show people I'm wearing a million dollar dress you know I've got a million dollar hairdo I look like a million bucks literally it was just a it was a way to draw attention to herself to to to distract to fuel her pride her ego we're not addressed that way our dress should reflect humility should reflect prudence does this mean that you come to church drab or you wear your 15 year old sweats to everywhere you go or your frumpy house coat everywhere you go I gotta be in a coat it's my outer garment you know no it's not what this is saying the bible says well ordered well arranged so you're to take joy is it is it sinful to be beautiful no be beautiful be well arranged be well ordered you're to do that that shows honor to the Lord that's a it's a beautiful thing to do right to adorn yourself that way but what it's not saying is don't do anything sinful with it don't draw undue attention to yourself don't exalt yourself in your pride don't elicit other people sensually or sexually do that which is fitting for women professing godliness and good works you are to dress beautifully and to take care of yourself and ladies you're to do that for your husband husband you're to do that for your wife that's the right thing to do here this self-control and this selflessness is rebuked in four ways one hairstyles two examples of jewelry and then lastly expensive clothing hairstyles does it mean here ladies that you can't braid your hair no you can't braid your hair no it's not right you can't raise your hair it means these elaborate expensive hairstyles that again drew attention that exalted themselves in their wealth you think about it now you dress wealthily like that in an effort to exalt yourself draw attention to yourself immediately you divide yourself from the poor people in the church you can't dress that way from those women who are professing godliness who are really concerned about these things you divide yourself from them who think that you shouldn't dress that way because it's not in accord with God's word it causes division causes disruption in the body that's what it was doing here in Ephesus then he gives two examples of jewelry jewelry this time extravagant jewelry was epitomized by sumptuousness it was regarded as emblematic of shameful women uh juvenile said that there's nothing that a woman won't do who adorns herself with emeralds and circling her neck it's like it was a a symbol of shame right and then this expensive clothing drawing attention to yourself this can be done in many ways right if you walk through the mall and you see someone who is the goth thing going on right hair all kinds of different ways all kinds of different colors looks like one of those crazed rock stars with the face the face paint going on the nails the clothing the chains the tattoos it's just a way of drawing attention to yourself it simply is a fueling of pride it's simply a drawing of attention all of that is not in keeping with that which is fitting for godliness okay first Peter 3 verses 3 and 4 says this do not let your adornment be merely outward arranging the hair wearing gold or putting on fine apparel rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of god we've got to allow our definition or our understanding of beauty to inform be informed by god's definition or god's understanding of beauty here god tells you exactly what that is does it mean you can't wear jewelry absolutely not the principle here is don't draw attention to yourself undo attention to yourself don't feel your pride don't cause distraction or disruption certainly you can wear jewelry certainly you can braid your hair certainly you can have hairstyles it's nice just don't step over the bounds of transgressing against the lord with respect to the 3 s's shame-facedness self-control and selflessness consider every s before you dress in all things we are to adorn the doctrine of god with your godly life with your godly decisions with your godly choices avoid anything avoid anything that is shameful that which reflects a lack of self-control or that which draws attention away from the lord and places that attention on yourself we're to honor the lord in these things let's pray together father in heaven lord thank you god for the the pure simple clear teaching of your word on even this subject god which is so practical so appropriate to every day life and choices god and find us faithful or to submit ourselves entirely in all of these choices to our lord and to walk in a way that is worthy of the calling with which you've called us that is honoring to the lord that is a glorious testimony to those around us of your power to save of your glorious mercy and grace which transforms a wicked sinful heart that once was just running in debauchery with the current of this world but that now god is deeply concerned with holiness righteousness serving the lord and faithfully representing him as a child of the kingdom may we be faithful in these things lord protect us from hard heartedness with respect to these issues god protect us from pride self-will when it comes to these issues god author and it's got a humble heart to simply humble ourselves and to obey you and to show out of a grateful heart out of a transformed heart our love for you even in the way that we dress and conduct ourselves our mannerisms our behavior our deportment for your glory god as trophies of your grace who will forever worship you in eternity and for your great namesake among the nations we pray all these things and the blessed name of our great god and savior jesus christ amen