Heart Surgery

 Heart Surgery

Jer. 17:9; Ps. 51:10; Ezek. 18:31 and Jer. 4:3-4

SUBJECT: Evangelism and Personal Work

THEME: It is vital we maintain a correct attitude toward God and His work. We must keep our hearts respectful, clean, compliant, and obedient towards the duties, tasks, and responsibilities of evangelism.

INTRODUCTION:

Even though the Word of God is incredibly clear on the Great Commission and personal evangelism, there is still a great deal of reluctance among believers to invest, involve themselves, and share their faith. 

Jeremiah 17:9, says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” You see our human nature is so fallible, broken, and deceptive…it cannot be trusted to respond to God or His priorities appropriately! We need to maintain or obtain the correct ‘heart’ posture to become responsive to the Lord. 

MESSAGE:

As God’s Servant, Look to Him to Help You Fix Your Heart

God can fix us with some much-needed heart surgery! We must humble ourselves before Him surrendering to His attention in the areas of inner cleansing, meaningful change, and holy sensitivity. Each of us must make this decision to avail ourselves entirely to the Lord. This may be more difficult for some of us, but it is an act of real faith in the forms of trust, commitment, and sacrifice. In such surrender we have these encouragements:

A. SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION IS WHAT DAVID PROVED

Ps 51:10, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

We must surrender to deep cleansing and real internal scrubbing! This is a plea for total inner transformation, recognizing that only God principally can forgive our past sins, fundamentally change our sinful nature, and restore our spiritual strength and vitality.

David wrote this psalm of repentance after being confronted by the prophet Nathan about his adultery with Bathsheba and his role in the death of her husband, Uriah. David reveals his realization that his outward sins were symptoms of a much deeper, internal problem—sin in the heart.

Please reflect on these leading ideas: 

• “Create in me a clean heart”: To “create” (bara in Hebrew) is to make something out of nothing—a power uniquely ascribed to God alone. David acknowledges his fantastic moral corruption and is requesting of the Lord God radical spiritual surgery! He is far beyond needing just a quick fix or a patch-up.
• “Renew a right spirit within me”: David asks God to restore and sustain his correct inner heart. Lord, please wash away inner guilt, wrong motives, and moral failures (Ps. 51:11-12, & 17). A “right spirit” is a steadfast, loyal, and willing attitude that aligns perfectly with God’s program and requirements.

Beloved, we can renew a right spirit within ourselves by humbly asking God to forgive us for our serious sin and by turning away from wrongdoing in the future. David is proof God acknowledges this type of approach to Him.

B. SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION IS WHAT EZEKIEL PROMISED

Ezek 18:31, Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

We must surrender ourselves to meaningful change and significant regret resulting in a God-honoring course of action—expressive revolution! We have a divine plea for repentance. It urges us to turn away from sin and embrace spiritual renewal to avoid spiritual death.

Understand this is God’s requirement and promise issued by His servant Ezekiel: 

• “Cast away from you all your transgressions”: The Lord is calling upon us to actively and completely reject past sins and rebellion. No excuses…full responsibility for our failures! This is not just feeling bad about our sin, or regretting the fact that we got caught or even mourning messing up our reputation or that of our family. God wants us to physically and spiritually put our sinful behavior away. That is the first condition.
• “Make you a new heart and a new spirit”: God wants a total inner transformation—heart surgery. Because out of the heart come our actions, a “new heart” entails a complete change in desires, thoughts, and attitudes, allying them with God’s ideas instead of sinful idolatry and wickedness. We must embrace God’s own power to help us live the right way!
• “For why will ye die, O house of Israel?”: God is expressing a heartbreaking, loving appeal to free will. He makes it clear that we do not have to face ruin in this life, and that our chastening or destruction is a result of our own choosing, not His desire. 

Beloved, all of this highlights the deep tension between human responsibility and divine grace. While a person cannot physically create a completely righteous heart on their own, God places the responsibility of choosing to repent and seek Him on us as individuals. Later God reveals that He will ultimately provide the power to achieve this transformation (Ezekiel 36:26). This is God’s promise to the repentant individual; a promise always demands our faith—believing God’s promise!

The very next verse (Ezekiel 18:32) emphasizes that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, underscoring that His ultimate desire is for people to turn away from destruction and live. (Unknown)

C. SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION IS WHAT JEREMIAH PERSCRIBED

Jer 4:3-4, For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4, Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

We must surrender ourselves to God-wrought holy sensitivity to God’s guidance and leadership. No longer indifferent, complacent, stubborn, or passive about God’s priorities! Meaningful advocacy, leadership, support, and involvement are now characteristic of such believers! God calls His people to perform inward spiritual renewal. He warns that unless we break up the hardened, overgrown “fallow ground” of our hearts and “take away the foreskins of your heart” or ‘circumcise’ themselves to remove inner spiritual uncleanness, God’s judgment will burn like an unquenchable fire because of our wicked motives and behavior.

God’s imagery carries a rich, historically based significance:

• “Break up your fallow ground”: In agriculture, “fallow” ground is hard, unplowed soil that has sat untilled for a long time. Spiritually, this represents a hardened, unreceptive heart that has grown complacent towards the Lord. God is saying to actively till the soil of our souls so we can receive His word. Plow it up! Plow your souls!
• “Sow not among thorns”: If you plant good seeds in overgrown areas, weeds will choke them out. God warns the people not to try planting good seeds of obedience or worship while leaving sinful distractions and worldly desires in our lives, as these will ruin any spiritual fruit.
• “Take away the foreskin of your heart”: Physical circumcision was an external sign of the covenant between God and Abraham’s descendants. Cutting away the heart’s “foreskin” applies that physical imagery to the inner person. So, God uses it here as a metaphor for an inward, spiritual transformation. This involves stripping away the pride, stubbornness, and evil intentions that shield our innermost being rendering us sensitive to the Lord’s will.
• “Lest My fury come forth like fire”: Because God is just, He cannot ignore wickedness. He issues a stern, urgent warning that sincere repentance is mandatory; if they refuse to change their hardened ways, His judgment will be an unstoppable, devastating fire.

Beloved, God-wrought spiritual sensitivity is still the unvarnished and undiminished requirement. The need is deep, internal change of heart rather than merely relying on external religious rituals is what the prophet Jeremiah prescribes to us.

CONCLUSION:

Beloved, we must humble ourselves before God surrendering to His attention in the areas of inner cleansing, meaningful change, and holy sensitivity.

“Heart surgery” is a powerful metaphor for divine revitalization, where God cleanses us of our sin and replaces a stubborn, sinful nature with a spiritually obedient heart. The scriptures repeatedly emphasize this transformative, spiritual work God performs in our lives:

• Ezekiel 36:26, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
• Psalm 51:10, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
• Romans 2:29, Paul talks about that sacred "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter".
• Acts 16:14, Paul noted that the Lord gently opened the heart of Lydia so she could attend to the things Paul was preaching.

These passages use medical and surgical imagery (like removing a heart of stone) to symbolize the inward change that happens deep within us through faith in the Lord and His Word.

In Christian evangelism an service, it is vitally important that we maintain a correct attitude concerning the work of God. It is necessary to keep our hearts clean and tender to what God would have to be done. Our Lord Jesus wanted the will of God and sacrificed Himself to see it done (Luk. 22:42; Matt. 26:39; Mk. 14:36; Matt. 6:10; 1 Pet. 2:15. 1 Thess. 5:18; 4:3)

This is how we can hear with our hearts and do again what is pleasing to God!

When We Become Cold Inside

When We Become Cold Inside

Jer. 17:9; Mk 16:14

SUBJECT: Evangelism and Personal Work

THEME: It is vital we maintain a correct attitude toward God and His work. We must keep our hearts respectful, clean, compliant, and obedient towards the duties, tasks, and responsibilities of evangelism.

INTRODUCTION:

Even though the Word of God is incredibly clear on the Great Commission and personal evangelism, there is still a great deal of reluctance among believers to invest, involve themselves, and share their faith. This perspective did not come from God…. 

Jeremiah 17:9, says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” You see our human nature is so fallible, broken, and deceptive…it cannot be trusted to respond to God or His priorities appropriately! 

God frequently refers to “heart surgery” as influential imagery pointing to spiritual rejuvenation, where He cleans our sin and replaces our stubborn, unenthusiastic, and sinful ‘hearts’ with spiritually compliant ‘hearts.’ As a result, we become far more spiritually minded then carnal minded.

When it comes to sacrificial service to the Lord…giving of ourselves, strength, gifts, skills, opportunities, and resources to God’s ministry…there is again excessive reluctance among God’s children. Maybe it is fear or a lack of self-confidence, but there is an incredible necessity for hardworking and steady Christian servants.

Additionally, there is an unsettling discomfort that grips the heart of the average believer whenever aggressive service to our Lord is dealt with. Maybe…we value our comfort and this world far more than we prize Him and eternity!

MESSAGE:

As God’s Servant, Use His Word to Examine Your Heart

We are susceptible to contracting various unhealthy heart conditions, but God’s word can be trusted to help us sort out our real condition. 

THE HARDEN HEART (Cold-hearted)

Mark 16:14, Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

Jesus appeared to His remaining disciples while they ate, rebuking them for their stubborn doubt and refusal to believe the eyewitness accounts of His resurrection before giving them the Great Commission.

• Jesus “Upbraided them” tells us Jesus firmly scolds and reproves them. The truth of the gospel was so full of evidence, that those first disciples should have been rebuked for their persistent unbelief.
• “Unbelief and hardness of heart” point to the disciple’s stubborn reluctance to trust that Jesus rose from the dead, despite reports from trusted witnesses.

This is the condition in which a Christian is unresponsive to the Word of God, the truth of God, the Will of God and the Things of God. We have refused to conduct ourselves in the fashion that God desires and has instructed us. We have allowed ourselves to become cold towards the Lord!

               1)   This Coldness Is Also Referred to as Blindness of Heart

Eph 4:18, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

This refers to the spiritual blindness, moral ignorance, and separation from God experienced by people who live apart from Christ.

                2)   This Coldness Can Also Be Referred to as Dullness of Hearing

Heb 5:11-14, Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12, For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13, For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

This is spiritual laziness and stagnancy, and failing to grow up in our understanding of God’s word.

Summarily hardness, blindness, and dullness all point to a cold-hearted—unreceptive, non-feeling, imperceptive, non-discerning, and an unwilling individual! Such people have deliberately closed themselves off from spiritual truths, compassion or empathy.

Beloved, we must Overcoming Our Mental and Emotional Doubts! The disciples’ initial skepticism highlights that they did not easily invent or hallucinate the resurrection; they required concrete proof before becoming bold believers. But they were rebuke for their lack of openness to the facts pointing to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God resurrected!

Also, we must make the Necessary Transition to God’s Mission! Again, our Lord Jesus scolds them for their hard hearts and refusal to believe those who saw Him risen. This rebuke clears the air of their doubt right before Jesus transitions into commissioning them to preach the gospel to the entire world. The immediate solution (Mark 16:15–18) is the Great Commission through the preaching the gospel. The execution will require their full investment of their entire selves…there was no room for doubts, insensitivity, and imperception. Beloved, coldness towards God had to go! God adequately addresses their spiritual doubts! 

Finally, all these conditions are the direct result of a weighted down heart, a choking heart and a harden heart!  Leaving us worried, overwhelmed, and cold-hearted! Consequently, we are stagnant, indifferent and inactive. We seriously stand in need of a thoughtful ‘heart’ surgeon. Somebody, go get the Lord Jesus!

Calling All Believing Church Women

 

“God's Place for Women During Church”

Spiritual Leadership in the Church Series

1 Tim 2:9-15

THEME: the church is to conduct its services with the women desiring God's order above the culture's preferences. 

RELEVANCE: Church services are to be focused on the Lord Jesus and the worship of God through Him! Instructions are shared to draw believers closer to the Lord as we together seek His honor and offer our praise. People believe God and chose Him when we live for His excellence or hype up His very real goodness and grace. Attention is designed with God in mind, not the church women or the external culture who may attend. The focus is not entertainment, but worship!

INTRODUCTION:

In these days of “Women’s Lib” and other feminist movements, the word “submission” makes some people angry and triggered. Some even accused Paul of being a “crusty old bachelor” who was anti-women. Holding to the inspiration and authority of the Word of God, we know that Paul’s teachings came from God and not from himself. A problem with what the Bible says about women in the church, is not with Paul (or Peter—see 1 Peter 3:1–7), but with the Lord who gave the Word (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Actually…we reveal the real problem is with us!

• The word “subjection” in 1 Timothy 2:11 has to do with “submitting” and “submit” as in Ephesians and Colossians.
• Ephes. 5:21-22, Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. [22] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
• Col. 3:18, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

• It literally means “to rank under.” Anyone who has served in the armed forces knows that “rank” has to do with order and authority, not with value or ability.

• A colonel is higher in rank than a private, but that does not necessarily mean that the colonel is a better man than the private. It only means that the colonel has a higher rank and, therefore, more authority.

• “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40) is a principle God follows in His creation. Just as an army would be in confusion if there were no levels of authority, so society would be in chaos without submission. Children should submit to their parents because God has given parents the authority to train their children and discipline them in love. Employees should submit to employers and obey them (Eph. 6:5–8, where the immediate reference is to household slaves, but the application can be made to workers today). Citizens should submit to government authorities, even if the authorities are not Christians (Rom. 13; 1 Peter 2:13–20). (W. W. Wiersbe)

• Submission should not be reduced to subjugation. Submission is recognizing God’s order in the home and the church, and cheerily following Him. When a Christian wife joyfully submits to the Lord and to her own husband, it should bring out the best in her. (To help this to happen, the husband must love his wife and use God’s order as a tool to build with, not a weapon to fight with—Eph. 5:18–33.) Submission is the key to spiritual growth and ministry: husbands should be submitted to the Lord, Christians should submit to each other (Eph. 5:21), and wives should be submitted to the Lord and to their husbands. (W. W. Wiersbe)

• The emphasis in this section (1 Tim. 2:9–15) is on the place of women in the local church. Paul admonished these believing women to give evidence of their submission in several ways.

 MESSAGE: 

The Call to Order Regarding Submission—Women (1 Tim. 2:9–15)

Having discussed the personal requisites of the men who lead in public prayer, the apostle now turns to the things which should characterize the women who are in the congregation at such a time. (W. MacDonald)

One position permits women to occupy a place of prominence and leadership in all public services. They have women preachers, choir directors, and officers. No position is withheld from them and, as a result, the women are not only prominent but we find that they become dominant in the church.^[1]

The other extreme position on this issue is taken by those who do not allow women any place at all in their public services. You never hear the voice of a woman in public in their meetings, not even in singing. I have had opportunity for good ministry among some of these folk, but believe me, they push their women to the background. I fear that they lose a great deal of talent and that the women could make a marvelous contribution if they were permitted to do so.^[2]

Unfortunately, some women find a husband's regard for personal appearance unacceptable and even offensive. Some women will even dress themselves correctly at work, but not for their own husband they claim to love.... In many cases a good husband is trying to protect and provide safety for the women he cherishes as his wife, but is often perceived as too controlling, insecure, or even narcissistic. It makes you wonder about her real motives or desires....

A. Submission Through a Modest Appearance (1 Tim. 2:9).

First, he states that they should adorn themselves in modest apparel….   

Commenting on the words, “in like manner,” Vincent says, “The writer’s thought is still running upon the public assemblies for worship.” The word “adorn” is kosmeō (κοσμεω). The noun is kosmos (κοσμος), the basic meaning of which is “an ordered system, an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order.” ^[3]

These terms stress not so much the absence of sexual suggestiveness, though it is included, but rather an appearance that is simple, moderate, judicious, and free from ostentation.^[4]

We have before us appropriate appearance for women's in church meetings. It is shocking, disturbing, and sexual what people will wear to church anymore. The emphasis presently is on modern fashion and the culture's dictates and not what God requires and specified. So, God gave these enduring guidelines for church meetings....   

           1. A Contrast Between Glamour and Godliness.

o   The Contrast Here Is Between the Artificial Glamour of the World and the True Beauty of a Godly Life. Paul did not forbid the use of jewelry or lovely clothes, but rather the excessive use of them as substitutes for the true inner beauty of “a meek and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:1–6). 

o   A Woman Who Depends Only on Externals Will Soon Run Out of Ammunition! She may attract attention now, but she will not win lasting affection in marriage. She will garner sexual interest presently, but no one will want her as a wife or trust her to influence their children and heritage! She has little or no capacity for pursuing the will of Christ for a godly home! Perhaps the latest fashion trends were tempting the women in the church at Ephesus, and Paul had to remind Timothy to warn the women not to get trapped.

o   Paul's Instructions to the Christian Women In Ephesus Must Be Understood in the Larger Contexts.

1.     These women were affected by their personal experiences within Ephesian culture. They would have struggled as much with cultural conditioning as we do. 

2.     Women were not being singled out, nor should these instructions be binding for nonbelievers outside of the church membership. Modesty and self-restraint are for everyone at all times, and these specific principles apply to the churches today.

3.     Possibly, some Christian women in the Ephesian church were trying to gain respect by looking beautiful rather than by becoming Christ-like in character.

4.     In addition, Paul may have been referring to particular styles in Ephesus that were associated with prostitutes in the local temples. Artemis (also called Diana) was the goddess of Ephesus (see Acts 19:28). The festival of Artemis involved wild orgies and carousing. Obviously, Christian women should not look like or even copy the styles of the prostitutes in the temple of Artemis.

o   While There Is Nothing Wrong with Christian Women Wanting to Look Nice, Each Woman Must Examine Her Own Motives.

o   Today's world places great emphasis on external beauty -- exceptionally perfect women stare at us from magazine covers. Beware, there is commercial value in manipulating women to prefer this immediate form of gratification.

o   Christian women, while they can dress nicely and take care of their appearance, must at the same time not let their appearance become all-encompassing, and they must not enhance their appearance merely for “sex appeal” or attention getting.

o   The idea that being an attractive woman is financially profitable is a well-documented phenomenon known in economics as the "beauty premium." Research consistently shows that physical attractiveness can lead to economic advantages, though it also comes with specific nuances and limitations.

o   The financial penalty for being below-average in attractiveness is often harsher than the premium for being above-average, resulting in significantly lower lifetime earnings.-- Daniel Hamermesh, author of Beauty Pays

            2. An Encouragement to Choose Attitudes Over Apparel.

o   The Word “Adorn” Means “To Arrange,” “To Put in Order,” Or “To Make Ready.”

o   A woman is to arrange herself appropriately for the worship service, which includes wearing decent clothing which reflects a properly adorned pure and chaste heart.

o   “By the use of this word, Paul indicates that the adornment of the Christian woman should be one in which order, not disorder, obtains. And this orderliness must not extend merely to the relationship of the various articles of wearing apparel to one another, but also to the relationship of that apparel to her Christian character and testimony. In other words, the apparel must be congruous with, fitting to, and consistent with what she is, a child of God.” --- Wuest, K. S.

o   The Word “Modest” (1 Tim. 2:9) Simply Means “Decent And Orderly.”

o   It is related to the Greek word from which we get the English word “cosmetic.”

o   A woman’s clothing should be decent, orderly, and in good taste for a church meeting and to pray to God.

o   John Chrysostom gives a definition of modest apparel which can scarcely be improved upon:

“And what then is modest apparel? Such as covers them completely and decently, and not with superfluous ornaments; for the one is decent and the other is not. What? Do you approach God to pray with broidered hair and ornaments of gold? Are you come to a ball? a marriage-feast? a carnival? There such costly things might have been seasonable: here not one of them is wanted. You have come to pray, to ask pardon for your sins, to plead for your offences, beseeching the Lord. ... Away with such hypocrisy!”

o   Women must seek an honest reflection of Christ, not the culture where she attends church. The general rule for both women and men emphasizes that both our behavior and dress must express our submission to and respect for Jesus Christ.

o   The word “apparel” conveys the idea of external appearance, principally in dress. It is deportment, as exhibited externally, whether in look, manner, or dress.

o   “Shamefacedness” Literally Means “Modesty, The Avoidance of Extremes and Attention Seeking.”

o   This is the feeling of a beggar or an unfortunate person in the presence of those from whom he seeks assistance, of a younger man toward an older man. Her basis is a fitting view of deficiency, inferiority, or deference—no she is not prideful and arrogant about her appearance. The word is a blend of modesty with humility, a healthy sense of shame and disgrace that does not require validation, confirming flattery, or feedback from others.

o   A woman who possesses this quality is ashamed to go beyond the bounds of what is decent, respectful, appropriate, and proper. It is the opposite of displaying her bodily charms or physical allures to garner attention or to secure interest. She carefully avoids a striking appearance or a shocking jaw dropping flirtatious unbelievable presence.  

o   She stirs clear of whatever would cause her to have a shameful look. Instead, she is rather unnoticeable, unremarkable, and discreet.

o   “Sobriety” Means “Having A Sound Mind and Good Sense.”

o   It describes an inner self-control—a spiritual “radar” that tells a person what is good and proper.

§  “Sobriety” speaks of the entire command of the passions and desires, a self-control that holds the reins over intense desires or cravings.

§  The “fruit of the Spirit” is “temperance,” “self-control,” the virtue of one who masters her desires and passions, especially her sensual appetites.

§  The Christian is not a robot and is expected by God to exercise self-control by a free act of his will, doing this however in the energy which the Holy Spirit supplies to the yielded Christian. It is a happy combination and interworking of the free will of the believer and the grace of God.

o   Sobriety says that a woman will be moderate in her dress.

§  On the one hand, she will not seek to attract attention to herself by expensive, conspicuous fashions. These might tend to provoke admiration or even jealousy from those who should be worshiping God.

§  On the other hand, she should avoid attracting attention to herself by wearing clothes that are drab or old-fashioned. The Scriptures seem to teach a moderate, middle-of-the-road policy regarding clothing.

o   Women's standard for dress was to be characterized by godly character. Paul's appeal here was to good taste and good sense within the culture.

            3. An Instruction to Place Priority on Character and Not Cosmetics.

Women believers were to “dress” their behavior in a manner that complemented rather than clashed with their character.

o   Ephesus Was a Wealthy Commercial City, And Some Women There Competed Against Each Other for Attention and Popularity.

o   In that day expensive hairdos arrayed with costly jewelry were an accepted way to get to the top socially.

o   However, women who worshiped in the Christian churches should not be given to ostentation, costly attire, and excessive adornment.

o   Neither was seductive or sexually suggestive clothing appropriate. They were not to detract from the worship of God by drawing attention to themselves.

o   This Is the Specific Practices That Were Causing Distraction and Discord in the Church.

o   Women in the first century often wove “gold, or pearls,” or other jewelry into their hair styles (“braided hair”) to call attention to themselves and their wealth or beauty.

o   The same was true of those women who wore “costly array” (expensive clothing). By doing so they would draw attention to themselves and away from the Lord, likely causing the poorer women to be envious.

o   Paul’s point was to forbid the preoccupation of certain women with flaunting their wealth and distracting people from worshiping the Lord.

o   Paul Admonished the Christian Women to Major on the “Inner Person,” the True Beauty That Only Christ Can Give.

o   Focusing solely on a woman's physical appearance can lead to superficial connections and blind spots regarding her true character. True attraction requires building a bond that extends far beyond the surface.

o   Paul did not forbid the use of nice clothing or ornaments completely. He urged balance and propriety, with the emphasis on modesty and holy character. The women in the Ephesian congregation were to show their holy attitudes with a modest outward appearance. Paul emphasized that their internal character was far more important than their outward adornment.

o   A carefully groomed and well-decorated exterior is artificial and cold without inner beauty. Scripture does not prohibit a woman from wanting to be attractive. Beauty, however, begins inside a person. A gentle, modest, loving character gives a light to the face that cannot be duplicated by the best cosmetics and jewelry in the world.

o   “It’s Getting Harder and Harder for A Christian Woman to Find the Right Kind of Clothes!” 

A church member complained one summer, “I refuse to wear the kind of swimsuits they’re selling! I simply won’t go swimming. Whatever happened to old-fashioned modesty?” 

Today’s women are being ‘played’ and CHURCH CULTURE is being influenced negatively! It is horrendous and unbelievable what people will wear to church anymore! The love for fast fashion, cosmetics, feminism, materialism, entitlement, freedom, and a general immaturity among young women renders the average person unworthy of marriage, motherhood, planning a future with, or any serious relationship. The average woman in our culture is almost a complete liability to a God-centered man in most respects, and in many cases she is not even interested in learning how to become a good profitable wife. She would rather pretend by selling her body (prostitution) or ‘tricks’, to make it appear she is financially thriving but is instead moneyless and ‘dry begging’ in the ‘streets’ and on social media. In a grasp for her ‘success,’ the worst of men (smooth talkers and flatterers) manipulate and use these delusional women! This behavior persists over years until the average woman is riddled with sexually transmitted infections and diseases, and promiscuously abused (used, forced, coerced, overpowered, or vulnerable). Finally, she is used up, ‘ran through,’ emotionally hardened—bitter, assumes a weird type of awkward masculinity (quirky off beat energy), too old now for any serious consideration, and still she remains fundamentally ignorant of what is really happening. Meanwhile industries surrounding female aesthetics, education, professionalism, politics, and equality will continue to profit and thrive off fast or easy female money—in the name of promise, equality, independence, and self-sufficiency! It is a grand scheme of fantastic manipulation built on her platform of victimhood! Contemporary women need to awaken to the reality that the only real hope is Jesus Christ for salvation and a promising future in Him beyond this world. Many women will sadly ignore this path navigating to their own destruction as a replacement for godly womanhood while still in ‘survival mood.’  

 

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^[1] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 438.

^[2] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 439.

^[3] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 45–46.

^[4] A. Duane Litfin, “1 Timothy,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 735.