Gospel Motivated Modesty - Part B
Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 3:1-4
Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter
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Sermon Series: Spiritual Exiles
Message: Gospel Motivated Modesty
Airdate:10/14 –10/15/26
Programs: 2378 and 2379
Well, as we wrap up that offering, I want to welcome and greet into our teaching time our wonderful brothers and sisters at our Cedar Lake campus and at at our Hoover Portage campus. Good to be in God's word together here as a church. And one of our core values here at Bethel is the unapologetic preaching of God's word. And what that means for us is that if God says it, we say it. K?
God says it, we say it. Unapologetically is what it says, and then we try to apply it to our life. That's easy when there are there are truths that are sort of palatable. They feel right. They feel sort of normal.
The challenge is when we are dealing with something where God's word swims against the current of culture, swims against what sort of feels normal to us. And the passage that we have in front of us today is one of those. I'm warning you. It's one of those. Where God what God says and what culture and what feels normal to us are diametrically opposed to one another.
This will be a test, I think, for our hearts regarding where our authority really lies. So with that said, we're in First Peter three. Our series continues. We're preaching through First Peter. And the context for this these verses, verses three and four, is especially critical to realize that Peter is writing to Christians who are in a context where there is hostile Christianity or hostility towards Christianity all around them.
And they're struggling with how do I live out my faith? How do I live as a Christian around people that don't religiously believe at all what I believe? I mean, Christianity says there's one God, one Lord, one savior, one way, and his name is Jesus. And the pluralism of the first century Greco Roman world said the opposite. There are many gods and there are many ways.
And so Christianity just religiously was in conflict with the culture around them. Not only was it religiously in conflict, it was also morally in conflict. If you read through first century Roman history, you will find that that culture was highly sexualized, highly sensualized. In fact, as an example, read the accounts of the cities of Corinth and Pompeii, and you will find a level of sexual promiscuity that would even make our culture blush. If you look at, for example, the statues of Rome, and maybe you've seen these if you go to the art center in Chicago or maybe you've seen them in your history books, the the the highly idealized human form, very smooth, very perfect.
The the men and the women in various levels of dress or undress. The women in particular presented in very sexualized, very alluring ways. It gives you a sense of what it was like to live in that culture. So in the midst of a very sexualized culture, you have these Christian women who heard the gospel, now married to an unbelieving husband who didn't believe, and they're asking themselves, how do we, like, present ourselves when the culture sees us as sexualized objects when it's just all around us that we are to flaunt our sensualities. How do we do this?
And how do I do this in a way that my husband, who doesn't believe, might actually come to believe? Is this about me gussying myself up and him becoming a Christian from it? Or what do we do? Peter writes then to this very issue. And what we're gonna find here is that Christianity is freedom from obsession about external appearance.
Christianity is freedom from the obsession about my identity being in my looks. Or for women, and dear sisters here, the sexualizing of your appearance for acceptance by men or others. It is freedom from that. So that's where we're going here today. It is freedom to allow the beauty of Christ, that Christ likeness to be formed within you and for that to be your source of beauty.
And this is where Peter is going now. So let me read First Peter three verses one through four, and then we'll get into it. Here's what God's word says. “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. When they see your respectful and pure conduct, do not let your adorning be external, the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry or the clothing you wear.”
“But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” Alright. Our focus today is on verses three and four. And you'll notice in both of these verses, the word that is repeated is that word adorning. Okay?
Adorning in verse three is not to be external. Adorning in verse four is to be internal. And so we see from this that the adorning that is primarily in view here is not the clothes or jewelry or hair per se, or you could read this to be like a command not to wear anything. Clearly, he's not saying that. The adorning in view is what a woman looks to as the source of her worth or the source of her identity.
We find here that there is a reason that this is important. And the one who defines what real beauty is, at the end of verse four, is God himself. Why should a woman assess herself by internal categories? Because in verse four, this is what is in God's sight very precious. Okay?
So the hair, the jewelry, and the clothes in God's sight, not so precious. The internal qualities of a woman's beauty in God's sight, very precious. This is what God really highly values. So we find then in these verses, there's something and the Bible often does this. There's something not to do, and there is something to do.
So notice what not to do. Don't assess your worth, your beauty based upon popular garnishing of beauty. And in the Roman world, the Roman women highly valued beauty aids. There's three that are listed. Notice what they are.
And this is shocking. Hair, jewelry, clothing. First century women. So different than today. Don't you think?
I mean, what were they thinking back then? Being all about their hair, their jewelry, and their clothing. And obviously, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Because here we are two thousand years later, go to the mall, look at a magazine or whatever. What is what are the categories, generally speaking, that women are marketed to and that women are attracted to?
It typically has something to do with their hair, something to do with their clothing, something to do with jewelry or fashion, whatever it might be. The Roman women rivaled culture today in terms of their obsession with externals and the market that was available to them. And if we had more time, we thought about putting them up. I'm not going to. But if you look at pictures, for example, of first century Roman women and the very elaborate hairstyles that they had and the jewelry that they had, we realized that we're not talking about a culture really that different than our own.
I mean, they had their own Armani. They had their own Calvin Klein. They had their own Ralph Lauren. They had their own fashions. They had their own sense of style.
And these in the Roman word world were really, really important to these women. And like anything that is really highly valued, it was also expensive. So guess in that culture who the women were who could really garnish themselves. It was the wealthy women who had the money and the means to spend on their external beauty. As an example of this, listen to this is a first century Roman writer who writes about this very subject.
So this is two thousand years ago. He says this. This is Juvenal is his name. There is nothing that a woman will not permit herself to do. Nothing that she deems shameful.
When she encircles her neck with green emeralds and fastens pearls to her elongated ears, there is nothing more intolerable than a wealthy woman. Now what is he saying there? What he's saying there is that the lavish clothes and the lavish jewelry and the lavish cosmetics communicated in that culture that this was a woman of means. This was a wealthy woman. This was a sensual woman.
This was a desirable woman. And that woman that walked around there in whatever city, Corinth or Rome, wherever, was a woman that was being noticed. The men would notice her, and the other women would notice her. And she liked it. She loved the attention that her externals drew to her, And the wealthy woman was able to do that.
So what was the Christian woman then to do in a culture where this is what all the women were about? This is where all the focus was, was on those externals. And we find that Peter he he doesn't say here, don't do your hair, don't wear jewelry, and don't wear clothing. Okay? That's not what he is saying.
Rather, he is undermining the obsession with those things. The obsession with externalities that says that my worth is in what I wear. My worth is in my body. My worth is in my attractiveness to men. My worth is in the value of the things that I put on in terms of jewelry.
That is not, in God's sight, precious. These are not things to be an ultra priority. So women, what he's saying is do your hair, but don't find your value in your hair. Wear jewelry, but don't think it adds anything to your value. And wear clothing, but remember, you are much more than what you wear.
And the reason for all of that is because God defines what is valuable. And in God's eyes, hair and clothing and jewelry mean nothing. He doesn't value any of that. He doesn't look at that woman walking through Corinth all gussied up and say to himself, wow, look at her. She's so much more valuable because of the external things that she's wearing.
God looks at the heart. God looks at the internal person. And beauty there is what He really values. Now this is not to say that God doesn't value beauty. And as many of you know, this is a hot subject for me and a favorite one.
And if you read through the Bible, you'll find that there are women who are noted for their beauty, like Abigail and Tamar and Bathsheba and Esther, all said to be very beautiful women. Or you read Song of Solomon, and there is a kind of celebration in Song of Solomon regarding female attractions. So the Bible is not, like, prudish about beauty or feminine beauty at all. But it notes it. It doesn't idolize it.
In fact, many of the women that I mentioned in the story, their beauty led to tragic consequences in their life. So the focus of scripture regarding feminine value and feminine beauty revolves around the internal. It is about character. It is about virtue. It is about Christ likeness being formed within that woman in ways that is on display for others.
Now I'm gonna keep saying this. Peter doesn't say women don't adorn yourself. He doesn't say that. I don't want anybody to think that that's what I'm saying even in in trying to exposit this. He is calling Christian women to pour their energies not into the external, but into the internal and to cultivate that inner self.
Now here's a couple verses, Old Testament verses, that get at this distinction between the outside and the inside. Here's Proverbs eleven twenty two. This is one of my favorite verses. “Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” Isn't that nice?
So next time you see some woman, know, walking walking down the street, obviously, all about the external just go. Proverbs 31. “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” And you see that distinction there, don't you? Charm, okay.
Beauty, it goes. But where is the real value in a woman? It is in her heart being in a kind of trusting relationship with God. And so if this is the way that God sees it and if this is the way that scripture sees it, don't you think this is the way that we ought to view feminine worth and value? Not based upon the garnishes of the exterior, not based upon the shape and the form, but rather based upon those internal qualities that are so attractive in the eyes of God.
And if that is the case, what can we say about obsession with appearance? Or what do we say about a woman who dresses in a way that emphasizes certain physical features for the purpose of her own attention and her own self glory? And here is where, in principle, this not only is a passage for the Christian wife married to the unbelieving husband, but for every Christian woman and, frankly, every Christian man as well. The Christian woman is a woman who has discovered the real source of beauty in the entire world, which is not in jewelry, hair, fashion, but in Jesus on the cross, dying in her place. This is a woman that her identity now and her sense of worth is not wrapped up in her bank account, her children, her husband, her looks, her it's in Christ.
I see myself in relationship to God and acceptance from him by virtue of what Jesus has done for me on the cross. That is now the defining value in my entire life, and it shapes how I look at all these other things. I don't let culture tell me what's important. I look at myself the way that God sees me. And in God's eyes, it is not that outside, it is the inside that matters.
And she lives in a way that as she allows that Christ likeness to be on display, to win her unbelieving husband to saving faith. And so towards that end, what should she do? Where should she pour her energies into? Look at verse four. But let your adorning, let your sense of worth, sense of value, sense of beauty, be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.
And right now, I just wanna read quickly the parallel passage. Peter is not the only one that writes about this. Here is the apostle Paul in First Timothy two nine and ten. He says this, “likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness.” What are they to clothe themselves with?
“Clothe themselves with good works.” Okay. So we're talking about adorning here. And adorning is the woman's sense of beauty, her own worth, her own value. It's where her attention is for her sense of attractiveness.
And what God is saying here is that all of that actual lasting valuable beauty. It is all nonphysical. It's totally nonphysical. Dear sisters, did you hear that? It has nothing to do with the shape of your body.
It has nothing to do with the form of your face. It has nothing to do with your height, nothing to do with your weight, nothing to do with your hair or the expense of the clothes that you wear or the value of the jewelry that you wear. It has nothing to do with that. And why are we glad it has nothing to do with that? What happens to all those things?
They all perish, don't they? They all perish. Now amazingly, I was actually able to get a picture, and this is a little creepy, but I have a picture, a recent picture from inside Elizabeth Taylor's casket. And I wanna put it on the screen right now. Actually, I'm not gonna do that.
I don't have to. Right? Why? What does she look like right now? Elizabeth Taylor, I think, you know, hailed around the world, especially in her prime as a very externally beautiful woman her whole career, the diamonds, the jewelry, the clothing.
What does Elizabeth Taylor look like right now? What is the lasting value of that beauty? How about all the jewelry? Maybe she's, you know, bejeweled in her casket. How does that look?
That corpse with diamonds all over it. Right? What's the lasting value? There isn't any. And that is the point for Christian women.
It didn't mean anything actually when she was living either. What has death revealed? It's revealed the fleeting nature of all of that focus and all of that attention and all of that value. It didn't mean anything when she was living. It doesn't mean anything when she's dead.
And this is why I think the gospel is freeing for women who are obsessed with their bodies and obsessed with their looks and obsessed with all of these external things. The beauty that the Holy Spirit can produce in you is a lasting beauty. It is a lasting value. It is a it is eternal. So to ask you, which would you choose?
Beyoncé beauty or eternal beauty? Jennifer Lopez beauty or eternal beauty? Because what do you know about Beyonce beauty and Jennifer Lopez beauty? Time will take it away. It would be very foolish to find your meaning in it.
There is a beauty that is available to every single Christian woman. It has nothing to do with your social status. It has nothing to do with your clothing. It has nothing to do with the body form that God gave you. What does it have to do?
Peter calls it here gentleness and a quiet spirit. When was the last time you saw a feature on the front page of a magazine, gentleness and a quiet spirit? You never see that. Right? It's always what?
It's always the beautiful face. It's always the photoshopped body. It is always the presentation that this is the thing that matters for you women. Peter says it doesn't matter. In God's eyes, there is great value in these things.
And when I say that it is internal, it doesn't mean it's invisible. It is very visible to the people around you. It is very visible to that unbelieving husband who might be drawn to faith, but it is internal. It flows from our hearts, from who we are. So can I just ask this question?
Is it possible that Bethel Church could be a church where we're like the one safe haven for women. We're the one place, and every biblical church being this as well, the one place where in this church, we don't care what you look like. We don't care. We don't care about your weight. We don't care about whether by the standards of our culture, you're attractive or not.
A place where you can come and the focus regarding you is the work that God is doing in you. Can we be that kind of church? And men, can we view our sisters that way as well? Right? Now listen.
If that is the case, that the church is a place where we don't care about that, would that not also free the women in the church from feeling a need to flaunt anything physical about them? Material, fashionable. If in the church those things don't matter, and when you're a part of a church faith community, it's not valued anyway, now the women don't have to present themselves in the church in any kind of a externals are important to me kind of way. Now what would you call that understanding of the gospel that I am accepted by God and in the church where I am free from having to flaunt myself? What would you call that?
Here's what the Bible calls it. The Bible calls it modesty or what I'm calling gospel motivated modesty. And this is not about your hemline. It's not about the fit of your clothing first. Modesty begins in the heart.
And the Christian woman finding her identity in Jesus and the Christian man as well. So let's talk about what is gospel motivated modesty. And I'd like to talk about it by talking about its opposite. What is immodesty then? What is the opposite of gospel modesty?
Here's my definition of immodesty. Immodesty is the self focused motivation that uses the external to draw attention to self. It draws or allows attention to one's physical beauty outside the confines of marital intimacy. You know, God gave all of us a body. Have you noticed that?
We all have a body. And when God made the human body in Genesis, he called it good, didn't he? And part of that good body that God made is the sexuality that God gave to each of us. We are male. We are female.
That is all part of God's good plan. And as part of God's good plan, He gave power, especially visual power, to the sensualities of the female body. He gave that as a gift, largely to men, I think. But he gave that as a gift. Those powers, those sensualities, those sexual places, God reserved for the spouse, for the husband, or for the wife.
It is reserved for marriage. Immodesty then is when I use the sensual visual powers that God gave to me reserved for marriage, and I use them in public. I use them for selfish purposes. So hear this. Modesty and immodesty, where does it come from?
It comes from the heart. It comes from why I am presenting myself the way that I am presenting myself. So how should we feel, for example, about the woman who's walking down the street or walking in the mall or, you know, hopefully not, but in the church, walking down the and she is all garnished up. She's all gussied up. You know the look.
Right? She's walking. She's looking in a way seeking to draw attention to herself. How should we feel about that woman? Here's how we should feel about it.
We should feel sad. We should feel sad for that woman. She has objectified herself. She is living in a kind of superficial way. She's seeking relationship based upon things that are fleeting and things that are gonna go away.
Remember, Marilyn Monroe killed herself. Marilyn Monroe killed herself. Modesty begins in the heart, and it begins with humility. It begins with the humility that the gospel requires and the gospel produces. Why do I say that?
Because the gospel is that all of my efforts to make myself acceptable to God based on external things that I do, external righteousness, all of that in the eyes of God is like filthy rags. My attempt to sort of earn the acceptance of God based upon who I am as a sinner will do me to hell. I can't make myself accepted by God. The gospel is that God accepts me based upon what Jesus has done for me, dying on the cross for my sins. It has nothing to do with me.
It has nothing to do with my worthiness or my appearance. God accepts me on on the basis of Jesus. And I think justification, which is that declaration of righteousness, that acceptance that God gives to us, is the path of freedom for the woman here who is all about body image and suffers with eating this or that and all the things that right now in our culture women are devastated by. The freedom from that is to properly understand that I am accepted by God, free of all of that because of what Jesus has done. And that identity is in who I am in Christ.
That's what it means to be a Christian. And that humility is the basis of modesty. In fact, C.J. Mahaney says that. Modesty is humility expressed in a person's dress. So what is modesty all about?
Modesty is all about him. Modesty is all about him. Modesty is when my heart motive is that everything in my life, I want to be to the glory of God. Everything from my inside to my outside, the way I present myself, all of that, I don't want it to be about me. I don't want this to be like drawing attention to me.
I want my everything to be all about him. So Peter says here, your hair won't evangelize your husband, but your attitude might. Your jewelry won't attract attention to God, but your gentle and trusting spirit will focus on internal loveliness. And then your husband who doesn't believe or maybe your neighbor, your coworker might look at the kind of life and character and priorities that you have, and they might say to themselves, maybe there is something to this Christianity because I see something in you. So countercultural.
Alright. So on the basis of all of that, I have some beauty tips. Beauty tips from Pastor Steve. For all of the dear sisters here and frankly for all of the brothers as well. So here's a couple beauty tips.
Number one, ask the right questions. Whenever you talk about appearance, you have legalistic people who want to know specifically the rule, the line, the inch, where it goes, and all of that so that I can feel self righteous about this and look down on people that are breaking the rule. Alright? So if you come running up to me after this service and say, enough about the heart. I wanna know actually the line.
K? Go to another church. They're out there for you. It's not what we're about. K?
At the same time, have people on the other end of the spectrum, many of them former legalists, who are so repulsed by that that they don't want they they wanna say that how I present myself doesn't matter at all. And these kind of verses, they're like, why is that in there? God doesn't care about that. They're repulsed by it, and we don't want that either. And I can imagine all the what about this or that's questions from a message like this.
I'm gonna run to the bathroom as quick as I can when I'm done. Most of these issues stem from asking the wrong questions. So I wanna give you some of the right questions to ask as you are thinking about how you present yourself. Number one, what is my heart motivation in this? Why am I doing, wearing, styling what I am wearing, doing, styling?
What is my real motivation? And is some of that me? Secondly, who is being promoted by this? Gospel motivated modesty wants everything in the life to be promoting the good work of God in my life. Gospel modesty doesn't want to magnify me.
Thirdly, how will this affect others? How will this affect others? You know, we live in community with other people. And sisters, I just gotta say, I really don't think you understand how the male mind works. Most of you don't.
What you think often is cute and trendy and boutique oftentimes reveals body parts that don't turn your brother's thoughts to God. And since this is such a struggle for we men, could you love us enough to on the safe side? Or another way to say this, men shouldn't have to eye bounce when they go to church. We shouldn't have to deal with that. Now our sinful carnal hearts still do, but our sisters can help us in this by not giving not adding fuel to the fire that is already burning.
Now that is not to say that frumpy is beautiful or that, you know, ugliness is godliness. Something like that. We're not saying that. And I think we also have to acknowledge that God has made women, has wired you for adorning and for beauty, and the world is a better place because of it. So be fashionable without being sensual, and keep those sensual powers under wraps, and then unleash them on your husband.
That's my favorite line in the whole sermon right there. A guy I like wrote a whole book on this. Tim Challies wrote a book on modesty. Here's one little quote. Modesty wants God to be noticed.
And what that means for us then is that when I or when you are considering maybe that new outfit or that new hairdo or that new tattoo or that new whatever, to ask, is this going to draw attention to me? Is this about me? Or is this something that I can wear to the glory of God? And where is it gonna take other people's thoughts as they see it? So that it's one thing to be culturally appropriate, and I would encourage that.
It's another thing to be culturally obsessed. And our culture is obsessed with externalities, isn't it? Big time. So I think the goal really for dress for us and style is that it really ought to just be a nonissue. K?
Ought to be a nonissue. To go unnoticed because it is neither ultra stylish or ultra not stylish. So, like, if you leave here and or we say, okay, everybody. From now on, we're gonna dress like we're in the seventies. To me, that's a different kind of legalism.
Right? That's not what we're talking about here. Here's an application just for me in in in my life, and that is frankly what I wear when I preach. Did you know for years, I wore a coat and tie every single Sunday? That was kind of the culture.
It was kind of the expectation, but cultures and things change over time. I've changed over time with that. Frankly, I don't really care that much, but I don't want anybody here to think that I care that much about external stuff like that. I don't want any of you leaving here talking about what I'm wearing. Who cares what I'm wearing?
I want the content of the message to be what people are talking about when they leave. So I I dress rather non noticeable. Maybe you've noticed. But I don't want to create a culture here where that kind of stuff is super important because I know in the eyes of God, it's not important at all. So we wanna keep the main thing the main thing, to focus on the things that God values, and to not focus on things that in the end and in eternity mean nothing at all.
Here's my second beauty tip, and that is that we need to teach our sons and daughters about this very early. You know, if God doesn't look at the outward but rather looks at the inward, what does that say then about where a parent's priorities should be? And I feel this especially for the daughters that are growing up in our church because they're growing up in a culture today that objectifies them as sex objects for men. And porn, is rampant right now, huge problem in our culture, obviously does that. But even normal accepted youth and teen culture does it as well.
For example, sexting right now is a huge problem in the teen culture. Sexting is young people taking pictures of their private places and sending those photos to other people. You say, why would they do that? It's simply the logical outcome of an ideology where my worth is in my appearance. This is why Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, for example, you could have predicted this years ago.
Eventually, they're gonna take all their clothes off in front of a camera. And whatever sort of young lady right now is kind of becoming popular, she's eventually going to do it as well. They all do. Why? Because their identity and their worth is based upon their appearance.
And eventually, it leads them inexorably to the conclusion that I now must put all of this on display. So parents, how are you gonna raise your kids to value what God values in a culture that values what God doesn't value. And I have a little tip that I'd like to throw out to you. Celebrate what God celebrates. Don't celebrate what God doesn't celebrate.
Now as an example of this, here we are with what's the end of May. Right? We're coming off of prom season. All the local high schools have their proms. You know, I'm thankful there are many, many exceptions to this.
But over the years, I have just been dismayed to see young ladies in our church and families in our church wearing outfits clearly designed to show off their body. And I see the photos, and I'm like, really? And then on top of that, the parent posts the picture of their immodestly dressed daughter for everybody to see. Can I just say, I haven't been a teen boy for a long time, but with that much cleavage showing, what is that teen boy on the date supposed to be thinking about? Teen boys don't need any help to think about that anyway.
Right? And then there it is on display. Now, Steve, are you saying that Facebook and the dresses are the problem? I'm not saying that Facebook and immodest dresses are the problem. They are symptoms of the problem.
Once our daughters find their worth from boys in their appearance and in their sensuality, they will continue to seek that approval in increasingly sensual ways. And that battle starts long before prom season in what we celebrate in our sons and our daughters and how we form their identity about where their real worth is at. And I wanna say, you know, health is important. We need to be stewards of our our bodies and to take care of our bodies. And so being healthy in all those categories ought to be something that we steward.
But our body is not our identity. And we need to help our children find their worth in the things that are internal and are eternal and are the fruits of the gospel, in things like a beautiful attitude and a beautiful kindness. Post about that on Facebook. Celebrate that. Reward that in the home.
And moms, listen. Model Christian modesty for your daughters, and maybe they will catch on. And regarding sons, if I could just add this, I think we need to help our sons form character based love. The culture is gonna tell them over and over again, the only thing that matters in the woman that you either date or that you marry is whether she looks good on your arm. Is she an appealing sexual object?
And the culture is just gonna keep saying that. Who is going to tell that son that that doesn't matter in the end? Who's gonna form that? It's not gonna be the school, and it's certainly not gonna be the media. It has to be the parents.
And in a supplemental way, it has to be the church. Nobody else is saying that around here, are they? The church has to say it and to help sons understand that. Dads, be careful how you speak of women. Be careful how you speak about mom.
And be careful about the things they see your eyes enjoying. So I would encourage you to praise mom for her spiritual and character qualities. Praise the sisters for their spiritual and character qualities, and then pray a lot. Here's the third tip. I'll just say this briefly, It's to realize that for every beautiful woman, for every beautiful face, for every beautiful figure, for every desire for that beauty, what we really are wanting is the ultimate beauty.
And the ultimate beauty is not Marilyn Monroe. It's not Elizabeth Taylor. It's not Jennifer Lopez. It's not Beyonce. They are pale beauties in comparison to the beauty of Jesus Christ.
And I came across a quote. I just wanna read this. It says it so well. Listen. This is from a Puritan, Thomas Vincent, Love for the Unseen Christ.
He writes this. How passionately are some foolish men in love with external beauty which they see in some women? The exact symmetry of parts and the calmly proportion of the body, the amiable features, and the lovely mixture of colors in the face, the beauty of the eyes and their spirit, their quick and graceful motions and amorous glances. Glances. How does this ravish the hearts of some fond lovers?
Although most the beautiful body in the although the most beautiful body in the world is no better than painted clay, dirt, and corruption enclosed in a fair skin, which sickness will cause to look pale and wane. Death will quite mar and spoil. But the amiableness and the beauty of Christ is more transcendent and permanent and therefore a more fit object for your love. Christ is fairer than the children of men. He is all fair without any spot, altogether lovely, without any blemish or deformity.
So the church then gathers. And what are they all about? They're all about him. They're all about that beauty and the beauty that we see in one another, Christ likeness formed in us. That's the beauty to be obsessed with, and I hope that God creates a gospel motivated modesty here at Bethel Church.
Amen? Amen. Amen. Let's pray together. As we go to prayer after first service, I had a woman come up to me and said to me, thank you.
That message describes me. A year and a half, I had a gun to my head, but now she's found freedom in Christ. And as we go to prayer, I just especially for dear sisters here, in bondage to a culture obsessed with externalities, evaluating yourself, comparing yourself. May you find freedom in a love and an acceptance given by God that will never fade or spoil. God, I pray that you would, in our day, help us help us.
So many men in our culture entrapped and obsessed with the external beauty of a woman, her body, her sensualities. So many women eating this, not eating that, running after this, buying that, thinking that somehow these things define her worth. God, in a culture so broken, may the church be a kind of of rescue, a place of freedom, a place where what matters is what's valued. God, I pray for families. I pray for young women, young men.
Shape our hearts and minds around what is true and not around what is false and fleeting. And I pray that this freedom would be enjoyed and celebrated in the church. To you be all the glory now and forevermore. And God's people said,
* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.
