Godly Modesty

I want to address a topic today. It's been around for a long time. It's been debated and discussed in the church over the years. The issues that drive this topic are not minor issues. Some way they are, but most ways they're not. They're very definitely will affect your relationship with God and will affect your relationship with one another. I think over the years we've all understood that our attitude is what is critically important. It is the attitude that we're going to be looking at, mainly today. In Proverbs 23 and verse 7, I think it gives a key note about what we want to look at as far as the heart and the attitude is concerned.

Proverbs 23 and verse 7, This is talking about an individual. Maybe you invite you over to the house, they're having a feast. Eat as much as you want to, he says. Drink as much as you want to. But in his heart he doesn't really mean it. And so it says, as he thinks in his heart, so is he. So a person can say one thing, their actions can say another, and yet it's the heart that really is what God looks at.

Notice the good news translation of this verse. Come on and have some more, he says, but he doesn't mean it. What he thinks is what he really is. So, brethren, what we think, what goes on in our minds, our attitude is what counts. So I want to address an aspect of our physical life that we're all faced with. And my real goal is to discuss our attitude toward that and how we should be thinking about it. In the sermon today we're going to talk about godly modesty, the subject of modesty. And I'm not directing this just at the ladies, because modesty is a topic that all of us are confronted with, and that we all need to make sure that we measure up to what God tells us.

I'm not here to try to give you a rigid dress code. In the past we've gone through those phases, we know, two inches above the knees, six inches below the knees. You can't wear this, you can't do that. That's not what I'm talking about. My intent today is to discuss the Scriptures, ask some penetrating questions that you personally will have to answer in your own life, in your own attitude, in your own heart, in your own approach on how you approach it.

It's not my intent to offend anybody or to hurt anyone, but I want everybody to think and to consider what God says in His Word. When it comes to approaching a topic like this, or any topic where there could be various viewpoints on a particular subject, I think there's an overall underlying principle that we need to think about, and that is, we need to try to think as God does, not as man does. What does God think about this? What is His viewpoint? What are His standards? What are His values? That should be our goal.

We're not out to preach a yardstick religion, as I said, but the basic question that we should all address and think about is, what does God really think? Does God even care about this? Is this a topic that He cares about? Does He even say anything about it? Is it something that we should be concerned about?

So we want to take a look at Godly modesty, and we want to define what modesty really is, so that we're all on the same page and we know what we're talking about. It's been a book written in the last decade. It's drawn a great deal of attention. It was written by a college student at the time. Her name was Wendy Shalit, S-H-A-L-I-T, and it was a book titled, A Return to Modesty, Discovering the Lost Virtue.

As we heard in the sermonette, a society can go so far astray that eventually the majority of people have no idea what is the right value, what is the right thing to do, or the wrong thing to do in a given area. She makes the case in the book that immorality and immodesty are clearly linked together. We live in a modest society that has become immoral. So one could ask the question, did the immorality lead to the immodesty, or did the immodesty lead to the immorality, or does it go both ways?

The majority of college students who come to college have had at least one sexual experience before they enter into college. The majority of the rest have a sexual experience while they're at college, along with many others. So the book, dealing with a return to modesty, talks about how we need to have respect for one another, and we need to have respect for ourselves.

You find that it is contrary to God, to God's word, to dress immodestly, and this would include men as well as women. Now you ask yourself, do men dress immodestly? And the answer is yes, they do, in our society today. The Bible is clear on the need to dress in a modest, in a right manner. The point of this book, if I could summarize it in one sentence, is that modesty is either a way of life with you, or it's not.

It is to be a way of life. Now we find in the Scriptures very clearly that Christianity is a way of life. Modesty is a part of that way of life, and it should be a way of life with us. Your dress simply reflects who you are inside. It is a reflection of what's going on in here, in the heart, in the mind, in our approach, in our attitude. A hundred years ago, it was easy to spot somebody who was immodest.

Actually, a hundred years ago, if you remember, pictures of people going swimming looked like they had their long-handled underwear on. They had almost up to here fellas dressed up in these swimming outfits, and so were the ladies. In fact, they almost looked like they were fully clothed when they jumped in the water. Compare that today to the speedos that the fellas wear, and the bikinis that the girls wear. Very little left to the imagination as to what we see taking place today.

Women were expected to cover their bodies, and so were men. If not, they were considered immodest. It was just the way it was. In fact, you can go to England even today. You'll see men out digging ditches with ties on, many times with jackets on. They're getting away further from that, but over the years it's amazing how they have kept that. Another book, titled Let's Talk Modesty, by Stacy McDonald, has this to say. One of the most controversial topics among Christian women today is the topic of Christian modesty.

Why is something that is commanded in the Scriptures even questioned by God's people? Why would it even raise question? How could we, as a Christian nation, have degenerated so far in such a short period of time? Less than 100 years ago, women would have been arrested for wearing what some ladies would unflinchingly wear to worship services today. Not just in public, but in church. To our degradation, modesty and femininity are no longer common, or in some cases, but not even desirable.

So, basically, the main point she's making here is, if something is clearly commanded in the Scriptures, why is there a controversy? Why would there even be a discussion about it? And then she mentions that modesty is no longer common, but of greater concern, is that it is not even desirable today. People don't even want to be modest today. To be considered prudish or modest today is the death knell for a social life for many youth. For many young people, that would be death knell.

So, what is the world's viewpoint when you begin to talk about the world society around us? How do they view this topic? Well, there's some questions one might ask, and I think many times that are asked. How much can I get away with before it's considered wrong, or considered a sin? How many articles of clothing may I shed before it's considered wrong?

How tight is tight? How short is short? And how low is low? Those are all questions that are asked. Now, from the Christian viewpoint, the Christian worldview, the right question should be, what is the best that I can give to God today? How does God want me to dress? Another question would be, who is my body made for in this physical spirit? Should I expose it to everybody? Should I cover myself for my future mate, or for my mate, you know, who you're married to at that time? You know, the term modesty only appears in one verse in the English translation of the Bible. It comes from the Greek word kosmios. This is from the Greek word kosmos, which refers to the orderly arrangement of the planets and the stars. Now, in 1 Timothy 2, verse 8, we read this. I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubt. In like manner, also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. So women are asked to be dressed in modest apparel with propriety and moderation. Not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Notice some of the words here, modest. Again, it's the Greek word kosmios. It means well-arranged, seemly, modest, living with decorum, a well-ordered life. It's used in the Septuagint of Solomon's Proverbs where it says that they were set in order. They were arranged in proper order. Propriety in the Greek is a lorin, a letting down, a garment let down, a dress, a tire. Literally, it means to cover. That one should be covered, not uncovered. Now, strong gives the definition of propriety. A sense of shame or honor, modest, bashfulness, revenge, regard for others, respect. And so it implies that one would have respect for themselves and respect for others. Webster's dictionary gives this definition. Modest, not vain or boastful. So you see, it covers not only dress. But when you use the term modest, it applies to both men and women. Not vain or boastful, unassuming, not forward, but not shy or reserved, behaving, dressing, and speaking in a way that is considered proper. Or decorous, decent, moderate, or reasonable. Not extreme, quiet, humble in appearance, style, not pretentious, chase. So the word chase comes in there also.

Now, in verse 9 again, I want you to take notice. King James' version translates this verse this way. In like manner also, the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame-facedness and sobriety.

Shame-facedness again means very modest or shy. And sobriety means serious and sedateness. The ESV translation translates verse 9. Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair, goals or pearls, or a costly attire. And then the eulogy translation in verse 9. I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing, not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair, or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things that they do. Now let me just add, back at this time women would wear these big, expensive hairdos. They would put what were known as towers in their head. They would be sometimes silver, gold, like a birdcage almost sitting on top of their head. And they would intertwine or work their hair in through this. And then they would have jewels hanging off of it, and gold and silver. And somebody would come walking down the street, if they went this way, they'd fall over. But they'd walk down the street, and the first thing you would see is, wow! Look at that! You'd see this tremendous hairdo. You'd see all the jewels, and they'd walk by, and their body would admire this. Well, again, that was just simply drawing attention to themselves in that way. This is why he's talking here about...it's not wrong to have a gold necklace or earrings or to wear jewelry. Ezekiel 16 talks about how God dressed his bride. If you go back there and read it about ancient Israel, and he certainly dressed her up and gave her jewelry. But this is talking about some of the extremes that they went to. And the first thing that you would see would be that. The first thing that you would see in a Christian woman, ask yourself the question, should be, why? Well, let's go over to Titus 2, and verses 4 and 5. Well, we'll begin in verse 3. Titus 2, verse 3. The older women, likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chase, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. So the older women are to teach the younger women how to be discreet and chase. The word discreet in the Greek means to be careful about what one says or does, to be prudent.

Greek word means of a sound mind, sane. So be discreet, be of a sound mind, curving one's desires and impulses, self-control, temperate, sober-minded. So it's talking about how a person controls themselves. They don't just give in to every impulse, but they have this self-control and temperance. Chase means to be pure, decent, or modest in nature or behavior, restrained and simple in style, not ornate. Pure implies being chased through innocence and in absence of seductive influences. Modest and decent are both applied to propriety and behavior, dress, bearing or speech, and exhibiting of morality and purity. So it's talking about purity, being chased, being innocent, not giving the aura of trying to be seductive. Now, this comes from the family of Greek words like hagenos or hagenae, hazamai. It means pure, chase, and modest. The Living Bible translates to verse 5. Let me read the Living Bible. The ladies are to be sensible and clean-minded, spending their time in their own home, being kind and obedient to their husbands, so that Christian faith cannot be spoken against by those who know them. So the question comes down to when somebody speaks of you, what do they speak of? Somebody sees you, what is the first thing they think of? Do they think of your personality, your character, your good works, the fruits of the spirit? Well, no, she's always dressed a certain way. What is the appearance? Well, let's go back to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, verse 3. And we find Peter, likewise, giving some instructions on this topic. In verse 3, he says, Do not let your adornment be merely outward. It doesn't say that women cannot dress up to themselves, but it says, don't let it merely be. That's not the only thing. Merely the outward, arranging of the hair, the wearing of gold, or putting on a fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, the converted person, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. So what is beautiful in God's sight? A gentle and a quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. Now, Peter, basically, is giving the same instructions that the Apostle Paul did. He tells them to adorn themselves with a meek and a quiet spirit. So both of them are giving the same direction, same instruction. Now, we live in an age and a time where people think, well, I have freedom to do what I want to do. Nobody can tell me what to do. Have you ever had somebody, when you mention something maybe isn't the correct way? Well, who are you to tell me what to do? This goes on all the time at school. A teacher might send home a report card. Somebody might be suspended. And instead of the parents supporting the teacher, well, they can't do that to you. And then all at once, they're backing their children. Today, it seems like no one can say anything to another person. Well, when it comes to the Christian community, Christian community, people talk about grace. They talk about freedom. And as a result, they believe that Christian freedom gives them the right to wear anything they want to do. And nobody else has the right to tell them what to do. However, Galatians 5.13 mentions something else. Galatians 5.13, we read, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty.

Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. What is true Christian liberty? Well, when you are forgiven, you're baptized, your sins are forgiven. You've been freed from those, from that death penalty. We're also freed from being enslaved as slaves to Satan the devil. And then God gives us His Spirit to help us overcome this world and society around us. But Paul very clearly is saying, don't use liberty. Don't think that you have liberty. Therefore, you can use that as an opportunity for the flesh to do anything that you might lust after.

Anything that the flesh might want to do. That's not what liberty is all about. And so they misuse the term Christian liberty. In fact, Paul in 1 Timothy 2.14 mentions, Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into the transgression.

Now, I'll hasten to add Revelation 12.9, he says, everybody's been deceived. But he's pointing out something specifically here. And to tie it in with what goes on today, women have been deceived into thinking that they should be able to dress any way they want to, without bringing any unwanted attention or violation upon themselves. They should be able to dress in any provocative way, and it's the man's fault if there's a problem.

He's just a dirty old man. Not my problem, it's his problem. It could be both of their problems. But this is some of the reasoning. M. Scott Peck, M.D., in the book, The Road Less Traveled, states, mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs. Most people do not live in reality. Reality is facing life realistically, the way it truly is. Your finances, the way they are. Your spiritual condition. How are we before God? Our relationship with our mate, with others. We look at it in reality. The reality in this case is that all males, all you men, that includes me, all males, are stimulated by sight, and many are stimulated to lust by provocative clothing.

Now, the ladies need to realize that. And he's just making a point that anyone who's married knows, and all of the ladies should know. The word provocative, or provoke, means to incite, to stir to action, or feeling, to give rise, to evoke, to bring about deliberately, to induce. And so you find that too often today in our society that people dress in a way that is very provocative, and it is something that can lead, especially a lot of young individuals, to actions that they should not have.

Dana Griesch, in an article in Christian Parenting today, makes this comment. She deals with young women and trying to help young women to understand how men think. She says she helps girls understand how the male mind works by teaching them the Gestalt theory. Gestalt is an approach to counseling, and they don't tell you everything. They want you to figure out for yourself the answer. So a Gestalt therapist will lead you part way, but then he wants you to come to your own conclusions. She relates how graphic designers employ this theory to control the length of time a person looks at an image by using an incomplete image to draw the viewer's attention. Completing the incomplete intrigues the human brain, so a person will always pursue to finish the unfinished picture.

We'll always try to fill in the details of the unfinished picture. When a male sees a girl walking down the street or at a church function, wearing tight fitting or suggestive clothing, his mind will want to complete the picture. A low cut blouse, a tight t-shirt, a long slit in a long skirt or other suggestive or scanty attire, are just enough of the peak at the body to cause a guy to finish the picture.

They have proven that it's more enticing to not see everything as opposed to just nudity. That leads more to the imagination. This woman is trying to get across to women. When you dress this way, you are automatically going to attract males. That's just the way that the male mind works. Romans 14, verse 13, gives a principle that we need to think about. Romans 14, verse 13, Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.

Anything we do, how we dress, our actions, what we say, whatever we do, we should be very careful about not putting a stumbling block before somebody else.

Then, in Matthew 5, 28, we read, I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her is already committed adultery with her in his heart. So it's wrong for a man to look on a woman and lust after her. Christ said, that's adultery. It's also wrong for a person by their dress if they know that they're dressing in a way that would be provocative to put a stumbling block before their brother or someone else. So what should a Christian see when they see one another? Or you think of somebody who's a Christian. Should they see someone trying to tempt and lure others? Is that what they should see? Should we see clothing that represents a man or a woman of character? When we look at somebody, should we not see that their clothing, I'm not talking about how expensive it is, but I'm talking about how their dress, that it represents a man or a woman of character? Should they not see an individual who has the fruits of God's Spirit, and see a person who's filled with love and joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? So I think we need to understand, the bottom line is that modesty is truly a matter of the heart.

What are we thinking when we see each other? If we cannot see beyond the clothing, then there's a problem. Who has the problem? Probably both have the problem. The one looking and the one wearing. Our clothes say something about us, whether we like it or not. It does say something about us. What is in the heart of a person will always impact their decision-making, and their decision-making will impact what we wear. So it is important that we address the matters of the heart first. Monasty is an attitude and a way of thinking that exhibits the virtues by which we believe. As a member of the Church of God, we all have moral standards and values that should be based solidly on the Word of God. That's the foundation that everything is based upon. But society, and especially the fashion industries, the entertainment media, teaches different moral standards, do they not? Sometimes they don't have any standards. There are no moral standards. And everyone is free to choose what he wants to do. If modesty is only thought of as someone's specific standard, then there is no advantage to being closer to that standard as opposed to being right on the edge.

So there has to be a standard, and that standard God sets.

So you go out and you want to buy clothes, and you want to be modest. What are some of the questions one should ask themselves as they go to purchase clothing? Well, one, am I buying this because I want to attract sexual attention? Is that the reason why I'm buying this? Am I trying to be more like the world and less like Christ? It might be another one.

Does this expose me? What is Sabbath dress? Is this something that could be worn on the Sabbath? You'll find that some of these questions that I brought up address the heart issue. The heart issue is addressed when you ask the question, am I buying this because I want to attract sexual attention? The attitude issue is addressed when I'm trying to be more like the world and less like Christ. And we need to realize also, we need to define what the word nakedness means. Some of us may think we know what that means, but what does the word mean when it's used in the Scriptures? Back in Romans 12, beginning in verse 1, we read here a couple of verses that talk about our standards, where they should come from. Paul writes, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So we're told we're not to conform to the world, to its standards. We're not to look at something like the Hollywood entertainment scene, which practically has no standards, and use that as our gauge, our guide, that that's not what we go by. In 1 John 2, verse 16, we find that all that is in the world, so this gives us the standards for the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. The world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. So if we do what God says, we will abide forever. Are we willing to give up eternal life for the world, its standards, its way? You might remember when Moses was in Egypt, he was in Pharaoh's house, he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter, he was a general in Egypt, he had everything you could think of, he had as many women, if he wanted them, that he could. And yet he fled Egypt, the Bible says, because he did not want to experience the pleasures of sin for his season. He didn't want to go along with that. He doesn't say that sin doesn't bring pleasures, but that's temporary. It's not long-lasting, it doesn't bring the lasting blessings that a person wants. Sometimes many of our young people sell out to the world, and their dress, perhaps their moral standards and languages, and we need to be very careful in those areas. In Romans 14 and verse 21, we have another principle again about offense. We read it as good neither to eat meat or drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. So we have to understand this basic principle. We could offend a brother by our dress, by how we dress. Is it always the fault of the other person who has an evil mind? That person has an evil mind, the proverbial dirty old man. Well, many times it is, but it's not always, and we need to be careful. There are two issues that really need to be understood. One is intent, the other is the fruit.

Intent deals with what is in your heart. What is your intent? What did you intend to do? Women are not responsible for the evil thoughts of men and other women.

But if the intent is to arouse, then you are responsible.

To cause someone to stumble, again, is a serious offense. Fruit, even if your intent is not evil, if someone stumbles at your dress, then your fruit is still bad. So you have to be careful. We need to be discreet in whatever we do. Discretion, or discreet, is another term for modesty.

It simply means to be careful in what you do or say. The quality of being discreet, distinct, separate. The quality of being prudent, being careful in what one says is what one does. So we need to be discreet in our actions and everything that we do. 1 John 3.18 tells us that we are to show love and everything that we do. That God is love and that we are to demonstrate that. So, again, we should be thinking of others. We should have an outgoing concern for them. But let's notice the book of James 3.17. James 3.17.

Here we find the wisdom that comes from God. All of us desire that God would give us godly wisdom, godly understanding. We read that the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable and gentle, willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. So we find that wisdom is going to lead a person to be pure in mind and thought, in actions, peaceful, gentle. But let's focus on the term willing to yield. It's unusual to find people today who have that attitude, who when something is pointed out, simply say, well, thank you. I appreciate that. But everyone, as I mentioned earlier, seems to become defensive. Or sometimes people will say, how dare you try to tell me how to dress or what I should be doing. You have no right. Where is the teachable and yielded attitude? To say, well, I really appreciate what you said. Thank you. I'll work on that. Because, again, we have found that it doesn't work to try to dictate some type of a strict code, but there are living principles that the Bible gives. Even though God is foremost concerned about the inward man, He's also concerned about our appearance. Clothes and appearance do send signals. In Revelation 16, verse 15, we find that the Bible uses clothing as a metaphor for what we're like inside, for our character. In chapter 16, verse 15, it says, And so you find being naked in shame being connected. And this is talking about public nakedness here. That here is someone who thinks he has garments on, the righteous garments, and he doesn't. And his nakedness, his carnality is exposed. In Revelation 3, verse 8, Revelation 3, verse 18, It says, Nakedness is described in a spiritual sense in the Bible, always associated with shame. Now, is it wrong to be naked before your partner, your mate? I should say, the person you're married to. Because people have partners today that they call, and they're not married to them. But to your mate? Well, certainly not. That's where God created that to be displayed. Not flaunted before everybody else in the world, but before your mate. So, it is clear that God did not want nakedness as a part of society.

Now, God's view of dress, you'll find that when you look into the Scriptures, that God, very much, when it comes to his servants, when it comes to his servants appearing before him, is very concerned about how we dress. Some claim that God doesn't care. But if Aaron's sons had taken that approach, they would have been dead. If Aaron had taken that approach, he would have been dead. God designed clothes, guess what, to cover. Not to draw attention to, but to cover the sexuality of both the man and the woman. When Adam and Eve had sinned, God killed an animal, took the skins, and made clothing for them. Now, there wasn't anything wrong with them being naked before each other, but God, once they sinned, they began to have certain thoughts about their own nakedness. And so God showed them how to go ahead and have clothing. Elizabeth Elliot aptly stated, in Let Me Be a Woman, quote, The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of a Christian. But the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of a woman. The fact that we're a Christian makes us a different kind of a man, or a different kind of a woman.

Webster's World Dictionary defines a modest when it's in reference to clothing or dress as decent, pure, not displaying one's body. One is not displaying the body. Clothing that is too tight or revealing on either male or female violates the intent and use of the body that God has given us. How many times have you been in a mall and you see these young fellows walking around holding their jeans up? And they'll pull them up and they'll walk along and all at once, they begin to slide down and you see this much of their underwear. I don't really care to see their underwear, but they have pink polka dots, they have black, you know, you've got green, you find that people have all kinds of types of underwear, and then they'll pull it up. And I've seen young people walking along, one hand holding their pants. Why don't they get a rope or a piece of baling wire or buy a belt or something? You have to hold their pants up. But that's not being modest. One of the big problems that we have in the church, if I could just state it, without offending anybody, is cleavage. You see too much. Too much is exposed. And it's exposing the self in a wrong way. Most men are taller than most ladies. And when a lady is dressed in a way that she exposes part of her anatomy, the area where there is cleavage, and a man can see that, or he's talking to her, and he's got to look up here, or he looks at the top of her head. I've carried on many conversations, never taking my eye off of another person's eye, because you let your eye drop down, and you've got to come back up. Well, that's not right. And that should not be in Sabbath services. Clothes that are too short, too tight. These type of things are not what we should be wearing.

When it comes to Sabbath dress, you might remember that the priests were given explicit instructions in the Old Testament. Let's go back to Exodus 28, verse 41. Exodus chapter 28.

And we'll read here beginning in verse 41. Or verse 40. Aaron's sons, or for Aaron's sons, you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them, and shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. So why did they wear these? Well, it was for glory, it was for beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons with him, and you shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me as priests. Well, you say, I'm not a priest, I'm not going into the temple. Well, let me tell you something. You are the temple. We are, according to Peter, a spiritual priesthood today, to show forth the glory and the virtues of God. You might say, well, I'm not sanctified as a priest. Well, yes, you are. Have you ever heard of the word sanctification in the New Testament? Have you ever heard the word that we are God's elect? What does that mean? Well, it means we're set apart. The church, the ecclesia, the called-out ones, you and I are the separated ones of God. We've been separated from this world. We've been separated from society to be a different people. To live a different life. And so they were sanctified. And they were consequently able to enter into the temple. You and I are the temple today, each one of us individually. And collectively, as a church, we are. And you shall make, verse 42, For them, when in trousers, to cover their nakedness, They shall reach from their waist to their thighs. And they shall be for Aaron and his sons when they come into the tabernacle. And so very clearly, he wanted to make sure that they were dressed properly. The Bible warns us to appreciate holiness and to act accordingly, and how we do dress. It is appropriate to dress up for services when we worship the great God of the universe. How would you dress if you were to go visit the president? How would you dress if you went to visit the queen of England? How would you dress if you went to visit the governor? How would you dress if you went to visit the almighty God of the universe? You see, that's exactly what we're doing today. The Bible very clearly in Leviticus 23 talks about holy convocations. It talks about commanded assemblies. It talks about appearing before God on his feast days, on the Sabbath. And we appear before God. These are commanded assemblies. He's here in our presence, and we worship Him. Men in our dress, women in their dress, should honor God. The idea of Sabbath dress is found in the Scriptures. There are certainly principles all through the Bible. We could cite probably a dozen different Scriptures that tie in with this. But let's just notice one in Matthew 22, verse 11. Matthew 22, verse 11. Christ gives a principle. You remember this is talking about the merchant or marriage here that a king had for his son. And went away, came back, had this marriage supper. And the king, in verse 11, came to see the guests. So here all the guests were invited. So if you were a guest, could you come in any old way you wanted to? Well, notice. He saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. And the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. During Christ's day, it was expected that one would wear a wedding garment to a wedding.

How much more should we wear proper Sabbath garments to appear before God Almighty? And normally for men, that means to wear a suit and tie for ladies, dress, skirts, things that are nice, that would appear before God. Let's notice in James 2. James 2 and verse 2. Sometimes this scripture is quoted to show, it doesn't matter what you wear when you come to church, but that's not what this scripture is talking about at all. In verse 2, If there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and fine apparel, he's got a $200 tailored suit, he's wearing $900 Italian slippers, he's got chains, he's got rings on, and he's got all of this, he comes in, and wow, immediately you are impressed by this fellow. And there should also come in a poor man, and he's got filthy clothes on.

And it goes on to say, And you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes, and say to him, Well, sit here in a good place. You say to the poor man, Well, you stand there, or sit at my footstool. Have you not shown partiality? Have you differentiated between the two among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? See, you begin to judge the person by what? Outward appearance, by dress, by how expensive their clothing might be. Well, this isn't talking about when you come to church just wear any old thing you want to. We've always said that when somebody comes to church, they should wear the best they have. And their best is a good pair of jeans and a shirt, make sure it's iron, press, clean, come to church. And, you know, you are acceptable before God. That's the best you have. We've found over a period of time that people will realize that, well, maybe I should dress up a little more, and even those who don't have it can go to Goodwill, consignment shop, and perhaps find an old suit. When I went to Ambassador College, I had one old suit, and that was it. I had a gray suit with pink stripes in it. And the reason I had that, we had a house fire, burnt everything we had down. House, all of our clothing, we were given a lot of, you know, community got together and gave us a lot of things. And out of that, there was a suit to fit me. And so I wore it four years at Ambassador College. And until somebody had compassion on me, gave me a sports coat, that was it. In fact, I wore it on a baptizing tour, because that's all I had to wear. And you wear what you have to wear. Well, we all do that, but what we need to realize is that we should strive on the Sabbath, and we appear before God to dress, and to dress in a way that would be pleasing to Him. Still standard for people to dress up, and we even have dress codes at our youth camps. You can't come to summer camps or winter camps, dress any old way you want to. There are codes that you have to have. Many schools have a dress code. In the corporate world, many businesses have a dress code, and people think nothing of it. Yet, today we see church services in the world where people can come dressed any old way they want to. There was an editorial in the Chicago Sun Times a few years ago that I think describes part of the problem we see today. Year after year, a handful of suspicious-looking characters who call themselves clothing designers issue their commands. Wear your dress short and wear boots and look like a hooker. Everybody goes out and buys it that year. Now dress like a gypsy fortune teller. Now look like a farmer's wife. Now wear spiked heels. Now show your thighs. Every time the pimp's of fashion give the word, all those enlightened female persons obediently trudge to the clothing store. And they buy them. That's exactly what happens every year. You have the new lines come out. Most of us don't go and buy a Dior dress or something of this nature. We don't have the money. But there are those that they market these to hundreds of thousands and millions of people who want to stay up on the styles. What many do not realize is that many of the designers of clothes are gay.

And you have gay designers who produce the latest styles. Gay men will design clothes that are so tight for men that they will emphasize the male anatomy so that they can look, quite frankly. That's what they're doing. And then they will sometimes produce clothes and when you look at it you say, would a woman ever think about wearing that? Because they want to make women look shabby. They have no respect for women. And so they come up with that.

I will admit that it's extremely difficult in our society today for many of our young ladies to find clothes that are modest. It's not as easy. You used to be able to do so.

In some areas of the world, you know, they ask different stores, can you begin to stock clothing for Mormons? Now, the stores know what you're talking about when they say for Mormons, because the Mormons try to dress in a proper way, in fashions. But, you know, something that's not so extreme. It takes harder work. You've got to look. You might even have to alter, do some of your own sewing. But eventually, you can find clothes that will be modest.

In talking about being slaves to today's fashion, columnist Mona Charon, the Jewish World Review, said this. My family and I recently spent a day at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. My wife and I have been there more than once in Williamsburg, Virginia. The young ladies visiting the attractions were often dressed in the way that, frankly, would lead people from other countries to conclude that roughly 20% of our female population is engaged in prostitution. A bikini top with shorts was common attire, even on very overweight girls, which is bad enough, but does not fall in the 20%. She wasn't counting these in the 20%. Another little fashion touch adds salaciousness. Many of the girls we saw had opened the button on their very short hip-hugger shorts, pulled the zipper about halfway down, with their shorts unzipped and forming a narrow to their privates, and a bikini or tube top. They walked around, or about us, as unselfconsciously as you would like. Not thinking anything about it.

She goes on to say that many people today take pride in teasing or tempting with their bodies, but are outraged if they receive negative attention. If somebody ogles them or says something, they become outraged. Though it's often done in the name of freedom, many teens and adults are unwittingly slaves to today's fashion industry.

So, does that mean that we have to return to the 19th century standards? Women wear clothes, wear the collars up to here, and you're dusting the ground as you walk along. Is that what women have to wear? No, that's not what we're talking about. We need to practice modesty and discretion in all aspects of our lives, because it's pleasing to God. We need to make sure that our example and dress and our language is correct.

We need to, as a church, and we need to, as parents, be teaching our children what modesty is like and what appropriate dress is like. We don't all dress alike. God is the author of variety. It doesn't mean that everybody has to dress exactly alike. When you look at the creation, you look at birds as an example, look at all the variety of birds, look at all the variety of colors. God is the author of variety. So individual tastes, attributes in selecting clothes, that's why we have such a variety. But they should all be in modest taste.

So we need to be able to work together, not yield to the pools of society and the pressures of society. We need to be able to do what God says. So I would say, in conclusion, every Christian should strive for modesty and discretion.

You need to ask yourself the question, wherever you go, how would you feel if Jesus Christ sat down right next to you right now? How would you feel about your dress? Would you feel okay, or would you feel ashamed? We know that, basically, we dress better here, but what if we were someplace else and nobody else around to see us? How would we feel if Jesus Christ appeared? In modest appearance, disobeys God's commands, puts us at risk, puts our character into question, tempts others, and we delude ourselves. Responding to God's call, we are to be holy. God has called us to be holy, to represent His kingdom, to battle against the cruel and the vulgar things in society, to help us to have a healthy view of ourselves and others. We should respect ourselves enough to dress in an appropriate way and to respect others. So it sends a message also, if we dress in a proper manner, that we should be respected and we expect to be treated honorably.