The Vesture of the Soul

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Let's open our Bibles this evening. I have two texts and we'll read them and then we're going to read Revelation, the first chapter and verse 12 and 13. The title of the message tonight, if you're taking notes, is The Vesture of the Soul. [00:00:34] The Vesture of the Soul. Now we'll read one of the texts. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. In the midst of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girded about the paps with a golden girdle. [00:01:07] Now it was said of Florence Nightingale during the war that she was walking through the long room of wounded soldiers. And these men were, before they got there, they were cursing, they were moaning, they were grumbling, they were complaining. They were selfish, they wanted help, they wanted attention. and here comes Florence Nightingale. [00:01:40] And as she walked down the aisle and there she smiled and with a smile on her face and a cheerful word and a comforting word and down the row she went to each of these wounded soldiers. And one of them, as she walked by, tugged on her arm, said, Man, are you Jesus? But here we have one likened to the Son of Man. All right, now we'll turn now to the second text, and there we'll read a few more verses, and that is in 1 Timothy 2, and verse 8. [00:02:27] 2 Timothy 2, then verse 8. I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting Now we're not accustomed to doing that, we're not accustomed to praying like this And I toyed with the thought of having everyone raise their hands and taking this verse literally Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting I decided not to and here's why I think the emphasis here is on the condition and not the posture. [00:03:02] The emphasis is on the condition, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. In like manner also that women adorn themselves with modest apparel, with shamefacedness. In the Greek, sisters, this might be interesting to you. With shamefacedness, in the Greek it would give the thought with downcast eyes, or else with a holy reserve. [00:03:38] Not like the woman there in Proverbs 7. With shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. The vesture of the soul. Now this is going to be an unusual revival meeting sermon. [00:04:08] Now there's this encyclopedia, Britannica says this, James Labor, and he's writing not from a Christian perspective, but from a study of how society relates to personal etiquette in our wardrobe or our clothing. And here's what he says. Clothes are the vesture of the soul. Clothes are the outward expression of what you are in your soul. [00:04:47] And of course, a biblical example of that would be in Luke, the 8th chapter. There was the demoniac of Gadara, and his attire, or his lack of attire, certainly told you was an indicator, was an index of his heart, wasn't it? Now, John Mark, brother, young man, up here on the front row, would you mind standing just for a minute? [00:05:26] I am going to put you on the spot. I didn't know this young man. I still don't know him very well. But here's what I've gathered by observing him. I notice that he has a calm, serious demeanor. I notice that he is careful to keep his top button buttoned. [00:06:04] I've noticed that his hair does not reflect the styles of the day. I've noticed that on several evenings he's wore his suit coat. I've noticed that in many ways he is not trying to disassociate himself with the people of God. He's identifying with the people of God. I think, you can be seated, Brethren. [00:06:36] Clothes, James Labore says, are the vesture of the soul. Now that's interesting coming from a non-Christian, isn't it? Or from a worldly, I don't know, maybe he was a Christian. But at least from a background different than ours. Now, let's analyze this scripture here in 1 Timothy 2 Verse 9 In like manner also that women adorn themselves with modest apparel [00:07:10] Now, we would think that that might mean discreet Not flashier, not But in the original word, it carries with it the idea of consistency. Did you know that? If you look it up in the Strong's, it would give the idea that in like manner also that women adorn themselves in consistent apparel. [00:07:47] Dress in a way that is consistent with your Christian profession. That's the way that I would understand this scripture's meaning. Now, if you would just back up and look at verse 8, if this makes sense, this interpretation of this scripture. In like manner, verse 8, may your hands, may they be holy, may they be consistent with the act of prayer. May they be holy hands, consistent with the act of prayer. [00:08:23] Verse 9, may you dress in a way that your externals are consistent with your Christian profession. In modest or consistent apparel. Now Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. And we can betray our profession of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can betray our profession of the Lord Jesus Christ with sharp, ugly words. [00:08:59] Where is it? See it there in verse 8. Without wrath. We can betray our profession of the Lord Jesus Christ with inconsistent behavior. We can betray our profession of the Lord Jesus Christ with our attire. So our text, verse 8, would say this to me, May your hands be holy and consistent with the act of prayer. [00:09:30] and may your attire be consistent with your profession. Now, is it possible to wear a Christian garb and have that garb hide a cold and carnal heart? Is that possible? Amen, it is. You know it and I know it and everybody with any sense knows it. Now, we have people who call themselves Christians who've done that, haven't we? [00:10:07] Who've used their wardrobe to hide a cold and a hard and an insincere heart. Now, here's another question. We have people who call themselves Christians who've been gluttonous, haven't we? The question I'm asking, should we back away from eating because there are some who call themselves Christians who overeat? I don't want to. [00:10:40] All right, second question, should we cease teaching and preaching and following the Christian principles in attire because some hypocrites have abused it? Absolutely not. I know it is very possible to overemphasize the externals and neglect hard issues. Absolutely. Absolutely. But the answer to that situation is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, like we used to say, but to emphasize both the externals and the internals. [00:11:29] Now, somebody said, if the heart is right, that's all that matters. I disagree. I say, if the heart is right, then everything matters to me. The way I talk, the way I act, the way the car that I drive, the vehicles, the work that I do. Even my wardrobe matters if my heart is right. Now, how important is this issue? [00:12:05] I am not a clothesline preacher. But I think we simply need to address the issue from time to time because the Bible addresses the issue. And I don't think we need to apologize for it. And I am certainly not tonight addressing this issue because I think you're failing. Please understand me. Close, convey messages. Now, before Rose and I were Christians, we were very, very worldly. [00:12:44] We used to love to go to the movies. We used to enjoy. There's nothing we would enjoy more than going to the movies on a Sunday evening. Movies last from one and a half to two hours, so they have a limited time. Often time, a movie will span 40 years, a 40 year span. So what a character wears helps to establish, see they only have an hour and a half's time to work with. [00:13:26] So what a character wears helps to establish that personality's role in that movie. You understand what I'm saying? So you've got in the movie, you've got some bad guys. In a movie, you've got some good guys. In the movie, you've got the tender lady who's in trouble. And you've got a hero there that's going to rescue her and all that foolishness. [00:13:57] But you've got an hour and a half to span maybe up to 30 or 40 years time. And so the movie producers, those people know that. And so they have a man who understands the human mind and understands the wardrobe and knows how to get the right effect out of what a person wears So the bad guy looks like a bad guy. And the good guy looks like a good guy. And the hero looks like a hero. And the coward looks like a coward. They can do it with clothes. They can do it with his hairdo. [00:14:32] Now, there's a man, and this is a supposed expert of James Mallory, said teaching people how, in his book, teaching people how to dress for success. He says this, I can design a person's wardrobe to elicit just about any effect. I can, if you want someone to look like a successful businessman, I can dress him to communicate that message. If you want him to look honest or sexy or however, I can dress you to convey that message. [00:15:04] Lawyers know that too. And they can take an old criminal who's just an old bum, they can get him out of prison in an hour's time, Take him and get his hair done right and put him a little makeup on and get him an expensive suit coat And he can sit down on the bench in front of that judge and look like a pious fellow who teaches Sunday school And he can be a dirty old bum who you wouldn't want, he was not safe to be on the streets But there he sits and the jury looks at him and says that's a fine upstanding fellow [00:15:38] You can do that with clothes, you can do that with your hair Now, our clothes make a difference, I'm trying to establish. I'm trying to establish that clothes are not neutral. They're not neutral. Clothes, what we wear, makes a difference how we are viewed by others. Now listen to this. Clothes make a difference on how what we feel about ourselves [00:16:11] Now if you would turn back to Numbers the 15th chapter There we're in verse 37 We won't turn to it because of time But there we can see that the Lord gives instructions for the children of Israel And they were to have a distinct wardrobe with a blue fringe on bottom You read it sometime But I won't tonight because it's Saturday night But it was not necessarily for a witness to those around them. It was for them. If you'll notice that in that scripture. It was for them to look at and it was to remind them and it was to help them to remember that there's a God in heaven by their own word group. [00:16:56] Now, do you think that there was some time Israelites that was attempting to go whoring and away from God and they had their mind on a certain sin and they looked around them and they have in mind to slip off and do a certain sin and they look down and they see this word room and they're reminded there's a God in heaven. Do you think that ever happened? I think it did. I know of one young man who told me this. [00:17:27] He said he was anticipating a certain sin and he went in, but before he went in he took off his spenders. Because he felt that that was a reminder to him. He took off his spenders before he went to purchase what he wanted to purchase. Now public schools have been experimenting with uniforms for a long time And I'd like to read to you something that came out of the USA Today [00:17:59] Long Beach, California school system This was something they, a test that they took And it said they rated ten categories of problems within their school system Each category showed a marked improvement after the uniforms were brought in Vandalism showed the least improvement Sexual offenses the most improvement Now, this is not claiming, they went on, this writer went on to say [00:18:29] This is not claiming that decent clothing has the power to change the heart It is rather saying that indecent clothing incites the evil tendencies of the heart Now, I thought that was very, very, very, very interesting there Now, our text says, let's look again at 1 Timothy 2, that our attire be consistent. And it's urging us there, specifically urging the sisters, that their attire be consistent with their Christian profession. [00:19:06] Now, there are some biblical principles that should guide our attire. Number one, purity of heart. Purity of heart should be the principle that guards our, one of the principles that guards our attire. Now the first text that I read, Revelation 1 verse 13, John's vision of Jesus, I don't know if you noticed him, but he was clothed down to the foot. [00:19:38] It was a down costume. 1 Timothy 2 verse 9 In modest apparel The word apparel, the root word is down It's a costume that comes down And I can translate all of this in 1 Timothy 2 In this way A holy, I think I said it before A holy reserve Minimizing the sexual appeal Concealing lines and curves that accentuate the human body [00:20:11] Garments that are full and loose and sufficient density to cover There is so much nudity and suggestive posturing in our day I feel that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to be a haven of rest Where we can go and not have to guard and jerk our heads aside at certain sites. Sisters will never understand, I do not think, how that men are stirred. [00:20:51] They are stirred in a different way than sisters are. Men are stirred by sight and sisters will never understand that. But husbands and fathers, you do understand that. And as husbands, and as I mentioned last night, in the home, as priests of the home, we are responsible to guard that. Daughter, please daughter, you best put some gathers in there. Please daughter, make your skirt a little looser. Please. [00:21:28] And again, they may not understand it, but if they'll respect you, they'll... I think this is not a double standard for the brethren and differ from the brethren and it would be for the sisters. And again, I feel that brethren, even though sisters may not be stirred by sight, I believe there should be that same mutual respect that we should not clothe ourselves with tight fitting clothing that reveals our body. [00:22:04] That's why I think we should be very, I do not think that the church of Jesus Christ should promote t-shirts and sport shirts and those tight jeans that accentuate the body. We should not be looking for a double standard from our brethren to our sisters. Moderation should be another biblical principle that should guard our attire. Moderation is inner strength and self-control. Moderation would be refraining from the latest worldly innovation. [00:22:38] Now our text speaks to a fad that Paul was addressing here. Apparently there was a fad here of taking gold and pearls and braiding that into their hair. Did you see that? That was a fad. And Paul addresses it. And likewise, I do not think that we should be afraid as a people of God to address issues as they come up. We address them and we face them and try to face them together. [00:23:09] There are ever-changing styles. Hollywood, Paris, ever-changing styles. Why? I have some reasons written down, some things that I think would probably appeal to the world and the carnal. First of all, a desire to be different, a desire to be novel, a desire to be noticed. Now, we don't have, we're not necessarily faced with the styles of Paris and the styles of Hollywood, are we? Not really. [00:23:44] But, may I say this, I feel that we are, we are bothered and we are affected by the latest beachy styles. Yes, we are. And I think even though we don't face the Paris thing and the Hollywood thing, but I think that the motivation is ever the same. And that is the desire to be noticed, the desire to be novel, the desire to be first, [00:24:14] the desire to be cool, the desire to be with it. Now in Isaiah 3 verse 16, there it can read there about the haughty daughters of Zion. We won't take time to read that, but you really should. But you just look of all the things that they were hanging on themselves in Isaiah 3, those haughty daughters of Zion. You know what? They could have saved themselves a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of time in front of the mirror [00:24:48] if they would have rather just made a sign like this and hung it upon themselves because this is really what they wanted. Please look at me. Please. Somebody notice me. Somebody admire me. Bells on their toes and things around their neck and things on their bracelets. This is what they want. They could have saved themselves a lot if they could have got a few pieces of typing paper and hung one in front and one in back. Moderation is the inner strength and self-control and refraining from following the... [00:25:33] You know, look at me. This is what the haughty daughters of Zion were saying. Look at me. Look at me. We don't want that. As people of God, we want the world to say, as they observe us, there is one likened to the Son of Man. There is one likened to the Son of Man. How beautiful. Moderation is the inner strength and self-control from refraining from following the latest innovations. Has anybody ever seen a soft blue stop sign? [00:26:12] Has anybody ever seen a light brown stop sign? What color are they? Red. Why? Why are they red? That's why stop signs are bright and loud colors because they call attention. Look at me. You need to stop here. Look. Look. And I think by the authority of the scriptures, Revelation 12, verse 3 and 9, Jeremiah 4, verse 30, Revelation 17, 4, [00:26:50] Remember that there are certain colors that are associated with harlotry. There are colors that are saying, look at me, and try to grab the attention of the opposite sex. And it's the colors associated with confusion and harlotry. Our attire should reflect principles of simplicity. meekness and stewardship, shunning ornaments, non-essentials, vanity, carnal display and jewelry. [00:27:35] We are not tonight promoting that we make ourselves unattractive at all. All, what we are promoting and what I think the scripture is promoting, that we focus the attention on the inner man of the heart. Now, I read an article. No, no, no. Brother Aidan Gingrich told me this. As he said, there was once a woman who had a young Christian lady, young Christian maiden or wealthy couple, a society couple had a young Christian maiden working for her about the age of these girls here. [00:28:21] She was a maid in that house and she helped serve and cook for this worldly wealthy couple. They were planning on having a tea party and she said, now Mary, we want everything just right, we're having society people, we want everything just right at this tea party. And he said, Mary, you're a bit plain. And here I'm going to set some makeup and some eye shadow and some blush and lipstick in your room. And Mary, for that party, I want you to apply some of this. We want things right. [00:29:03] This party was on a Wednesday. This was on a Monday evening. But Mary cried out to the Lord, Oh God, you know I need this job. And Mary fasted all day Tuesday. Mary fasted all day Tuesday. Wednesday. Wednesday morning, the morning of the tea party, she prayed to the Lord and she went out to meet her, the lady. And there was the lady getting the table all ready and the goblets and all that and she looked up and she said, Mary, you're beautiful this morning. [00:29:53] We're not promoting physical unattractiveness. We're promoting tonight true beauty, the beauty of the heart. I tell my girls, I've had four of them, I tell my girls, and I'll tell you girls tonight, that real beauty, real classiness, whether it be in dress, whether it be in building, real classiness is simple. Real classiness is simple. [00:30:26] When you start adding the little bells on your sleeves and across your capes and all that and all that stuff, that's gaudy. That's cheap. Real beauty is simple. Real beauty is classy. It's very simple. Through beauty the heart don't need it. And young man, when you go looking for a wife, you look for one who is emphasizing the true beauty of the heart. [00:31:03] Principles of simplicity, meekness, stewardship, shunning, ornaments, luxury, vanity, bright and loud display, carnal display, jewelry. Make up Luke 16 verse 19 There we have a rich man in hell This man had a bunch of problems The dogs had more sympathy than he had [00:31:34] But it's noteworthy that the charges, the only two charges that were leveled against him Involved his appetite and his dress Now that's noteworthy What part does the church of God play in our choice of attire? It is a promoter of uniformity. It is a teacher and an indoctrinator of the scriptural teachings of this thing of our attire, of consistency. [00:32:14] It's a promoter, as I mentioned, of uniformity. Philippians 3, verse 16, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. This will involve a necessity of setting some perimeters, whether you write them down or it's a spoken, whether it's a verbal agreement. But it does involve facing things together and setting some perimeters. And we ought not to be ashamed of. And I'll tell you this and I'll try to say it as nice as I can. [00:32:49] If we don't do it as a church, if we're not willing to sit down as a body of believers and face this thing of where are we wanting it to go with our attire, I'll tell you who's going to lead out in it. The more adventuresome, the less sanctified, and the less careful and the immature are going to lead out in this. Am I right in that? So why should they? I don't think that's their responsibility. [00:33:21] I think it's, I think, you know whose responsibility I think it is? I think it's responsibility of leaders in these row of old timers right here. That's who I, who's responsible. I think it's a responsibility of us sitting down together as a body of Christ and setting some perimeters on where we want to go. It is not true. It is not true that if our heart is right, everything on the outside will right itself. That is not true. [00:33:55] It sounds good, but it's not true. Regeneration, being born again, is of utmost importance. But where we end up on this thing of attire is going to be a matter of a couple different things. Number one, it's going to be a matter of who indoctrinates us, who's going to be teaching us, and secondly, it's a matter of who we're going to associate with. That is going to influence where we're going to end up with this thing of our attire. [00:34:25] Now, when Rose and I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of 19, we were unmarried. And the majority of my wardrobe and of her wardrobe was, I'm ashamed to say it, faded blue jeans and t-shirts, the tighter the better. In fact, on my wife's 18th birthday, now listen to this, I got her a pair of bib overhauls for her birthday. [00:35:05] Now, we could have found a group, we could have found a church and maintained that same war group and not had to change one iota. Am I right, Daniel? Think I could have found something like that? I know I could have. All right. We didn't, though. We looked around. We found a conservative group that said, like Moses did, come along with us and we will do the good. [00:35:41] And a church that set some perimeters. Do Rose and I feel shackled? Do Rose and I long? Do we feel oppressed? Do we feel pushed down? Do we feel stifled? Do we feel like... I had a friend of mine that was teaching, a preacher friend of mine, that was living near an Air Force base, And the ladies of the Air Force Base, the ladies of these soldiers, of these pilots, invited this brother to speak to them about the Anabaptist faith. [00:36:27] And they said, bring your wife along. And so he said he'll accept this challenge. He said, I'll come and share the best I can, and I'll bring my wife along. And so he gave a talk on the Anabaptists. He gave a talk on some of the, what we would say, the cardinal doctrines of our faith. And then afterwards he opened it up for some questions and then they visited. And here come these women and gathered around this Anabaptist sister and asked her about this pattern of dress and some of the things. [00:37:05] And they said, wait, you mean, you mean that, you mean that, that, that the pattern of your dresses in your church are all the same? Yeah. Yeah, there's, you know, there's, we allow, there's freedom and there's, we're allowed different colors. We're allowed some slight variations, but yes, basically, it's a cake dress. Basically, the pattern's the same. And you know what one said? very wistfully. [00:37:39] That would be freedom. That would be freedom. You know why? Because there's competition to look the sharpest, to look the smartest, to look the most novel, to look the most different. There is competition. There is pressure. Such freedom. It eliminates a lot of questions. Such freedom. It allows us to focus, go on and focus on better things than what on earth am I going to wear, how am I going to make this next dress. [00:38:16] It allows us to focus on better things and more important things. That's freedom. The world, we ought not to be afraid of traditions. We have become very fearful that somebody is going to call us traditional. We do not need to be afraid of traditions. The world has traditions. The world is way more traditional than the people of God. You know that? Now you tell me, what on earth this old necktie does that has any use at all? [00:38:51] You tell me. You tell me, why on earth anyone want to paint up their toenails red? You tell me. You tell me, why on earth anyone want to hang some earrings on their ears for? Now, there was a young man that I talked to at Lowe's the other day, and he had on his nose a ring. And a very nice young man, and I said, you know what I told him? I'm almost ashamed of it. I said, young man, we used to do that to our old boar hog at home. [00:39:26] We used to ring it. Now why did they do that for? We do not need to be shamed of biblical applications based upon scriptural principles. Now some exhortation in closing. Number one, parents, if you want to maintain anything for the next generation, you dare not be a sissy parent. [00:40:04] And mom and dad, you be the one to say no. I've heard this already and it just about makes me sick. I've heard that somebody has said, well you try it. You try it. You know, mom, can I do that? Can I get away with this? Dad, you try it. As the preachers don't say anything, well, it must be all right. Oh, my word. Mom and Dad, you get some convictions. You get some convictions. Have some things around there like this. [00:40:35] Have some things in your home like this. Personal appearance in the light of God's word. Have some things, where's that other one? By A.D. Wenger and George R. Bronk on personal appearance and the consistent attire for Christians. Have things like that and read things like that and develop some convictions. Because it's not safe, we dare try to ride along on the coattails of the church. For the preacher is preaching, isn't it? [00:41:07] Preach and teach Christian attire. Brethren, it may in this thing of Christian attire, it may even, I'm getting this from a book I read last night by faithfully George R. It may even mean that we may need to cut some fellowship ties to maintain a simple, meek shunning of ornaments and all that. Now, brethren, as I mentioned, I feel that this thing is not a double standard for brothers and sisters. [00:41:51] I feel that sometimes the sisters may feel pressure to get a little bit mod, a little more fancy, trying to keep up with you, brethren. And I'm just going to mention a few things if you don't mind, Daniel. Here's some things that might help our sisters. If they would see a consistent, decent haircut from the brethren. [00:42:24] Not changing every couple of years where it looked like a burr. And then down, swooping down over their eyes when they peek out. But a consistent, decent, I think you brethren ought to be setting the pace on this saying of our appearance, of a Christ-like appearance. Something else, brethren, let your sideburns grow long, so long that they meet down here in the middle. [00:42:55] Now I gave a challenge to someone here this week About growing some whiskers I said, alright brother, let's put out a fleece I said, let's put out a fleece, brother You get you, you just tell the Lord And we'll make a covenant with the Lord I'm going to go, Lord, I'm going to go into my bedroom And I'm going to fast about this for two days. [00:43:29] And we're going to ask the Lord, Lord, if you want me to grow a beard, I want you to show it to me. Now you leave your shaver out in the bathroom. Lord, if you want me to grow a beard, you show me. And you come out of there in two days, and if those whiskers are starting, we'll take that as a sign. If they're not, then you remain smooth-shaven. And I think, brethren, we ought to get serious with our beards when we have them. [00:44:03] And those little shadowy things that look like a two-day growth, let's get serious. If we're going to grow wisterias, let's grow them seriously. Shun modern and worldly beards. I'm starting to see those goatees. I wouldn't permit it. I wouldn't permit it. Brethren, wear your trousers loose. Avoid those t-shirts and those pullover shirts. I had a brother tell me this. [00:44:38] I'd have been ashamed to say it. It was another community. He said he and his wife went to Walmart. His wife was a little distance behind him and he got to the checkout counter first. But the woman, but the checkout, the clerk seen that they were together. And you know what the clerk asked him? He said, is this a problem? Oh, what do you mean? Your wife's a Mennonite. [00:45:12] Is this a problem? Does this cause problems between you, her being a Mennonite and you not? Do you think that's a possibility that people might think that? I think it's a very real possibility. And I think we ought to take note of that. And as I mentioned, there are some things we can do. Because brethren, if this thing is going to land on the sister's side, we're not going to maintain. [00:45:48] And we're going to go down like George R.'s Franconia Conference, just as worldly as they can be today. And if we're ever going to, if this thing is going to be reversed, we need to get serious on this thing of what does the Scripture say? It's not about look at me. But we want, friends, we want those ungodly who are looking on to say there is one likened to the Son of God. Well, that's not much of a revival meeting sermon, but I felt that I had to deliver my soul.