"The Adornment that Attracts" Pt. 1
1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:
6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Intro: The first six verses of this chapter are very difficult for the American church to embrace much less accept. As a matter of fact most American Christians chose to ignore these verses altogether but can we? I think not! First off, what would surprise the reader in the first century would be first and foremost that Peter is addressing women at all. Earlier Peter talks about slaves, we find in the Roman world slaves had no rights -- they were considered objects - Women are treated in a similar way. Women, generally have no rights. In fact they were considered the property of their husband, or of their father. A woman was under the father's power, the father had full power over the woman even life and death; when she married, this power passed to her husband. She was completely at his mercy. Cato wrote: 'If you were to catch your wife in an act of infidelity, you can kill her with impunity without a trial.' The attitude of the Romans was this: no woman should make any decision for herself. That is pretty stark stuff isn't it? With that prevailing attitude in mind, it is surprising that Peter even addresses women. But he does -- for they are equals in Christianity as we see in Gal 3:28. But don't think for one minute that Peter has a different attitude about men for in verse 7 he includes the menfolk in his exhortation about adornment. Second, let me make sure that we understand what kind of adornment we are talking about and where it's at. Peter is speaking of spiritual adornment and he tells us where this adornment is at. It is in the "inner man of the heart" What can we find in this passage to learn about adornment that is attractive? I am going to focus on just three things although there are many more here.
I. Adorn yourself with submissiveness-passivity
So Peter does address women.... he will address men next. Understand, a woman in Roman society would take whatever religion her father or husband practiced. She might have her own cult on the side, but the family religion was the husbands or the father's. Then Christianity comes along -- and women, independently, make a decision for Christ, even if no one else in the family has, even if the husband has not. Some of you know what this is like, being the only one in a family who is a believer. So now the woman has experienced this empowering freedom she enjoys nowhere else. She comes to church as an equal among others; she is even given authority; She knows full well her hope is in Jesus Christ; She knows that Jesus Christ values her, and honors her. So the woman places Jesus Christ first in her life, over the husband's religion, over the husband's demands upon her. Before she was completely subject to a man, now she is, free, and completely subject to God. This attitude just blew the minds of the Romans. It was beyond imagination that a woman would defy the culture, her husband and place Jesus Christ first. This was just a screwball notion. So Peter addresses these women as independent moral agents (remember, he is concerned with behavior) -- and he says, 1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husband's so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
a. Your Sovereign
Search the pages of the Bible all you will; study history all you please. And you will find one truth that stands out above some other truths. What is that truth? The truth that the spiritual life of a nation, city, town, school, church, or home never rises any higher than the spiritual life of women. When women sag morally and spiritually, men sag morally and spiritually. When women slump morally and spiritually, men slip morally and spiritually. When women take the downward road men travel with them. When women are lame morally and spiritually, men limp morally and spiritually. The degeneracy of womanhood helps the decay of manhood. Dr. R. G. Lee from "Payday Someday"
You cannot submit yourself to your husband until you have submitted yourself to God!
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God...
b. Your Spouse
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
When this Roman husband found out that his wife had become a Christian he probably went ballistic! How is she supposed to react? She is to seek to influence him by the way she behaves. Many Roman husbands came to the Lord as a result of the change that they saw in a Christian wife! A pagan wife would seek to use physical attraction, external adornments and all her feminine wiles to influence her husband, in other words manipulation. But this is not how God wants a Christian woman to behave, especially if she has an unsaved husband.
c. Your Success
Her unsaved husband might be won to Christ based on her conversation (behavior). As he observed her from day to day, and saw the change in her, he would respect her "religion" and quite possibly embrace Christianity.
II. Adorn yourself with sanctity-purity
Let me tell you that there is nothing more attractive than purity, especially in a woman! Her behaviour is to be "chaste" conversation coupled with fear.
BLESSED ARE THE PURE
ILL - A couple of years ago we went to Ottawa as my wife Joanne had some work to do there, so Thomas and I tagged along to check out our nation's capital. One of the places we visited was the historic Canadian mint -- where money is made -- and we had a tour but unfortunately no free samples. One of the things we saw, secured behind some very thick glass, was a specially-produced coin. In 2007, the Canadian mint produced 5 special gold coins, each weighing 100kg, with a face value of $1 million dollars. That's right, a million dollar coin. Don't try to put that in the soda machine...Why? It was designed as a showcase of a technological breakthrough that allowed the Canadian mint, already a world leader in the refinement of gold, to achieve a never-before level of purity -- 99.999% pure. Less than 10 parts per million of other elements. The guides were quite excited to tell us about the mint's incredible accomplishment of "five-nine" gold, and bragged about this incredible purity. There is something appealing about purity. Whether in our gold or our drinking water, the idea of "purity" is appealing to us. Now what about our hearts?
(From a sermon by Steven Simala Grant, Blessed are the Pure in Heart, 4/15/2011)
a. The purity of her manner
1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
b. The purity reflected in her modesty
1 Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
I'm not going to speak about what unsaved women are wearing these days, that is not the context of this passage but I do have something to say about how many Christian women are dressing these days and what I observed concerns me a great deal. I believe that there ought to be a difference in the way Christian women dress especially when they come into the house of the Lord. Call me old fashioned but when you come to God's house have some respect for the place you are in (the Lord's), in whose presence you are in (the Lord's) and whose you are (the Lords)! What we are witnessing today can be described best in one word. It is the word "too." We are seeing too much of the female anatomy! Too much leg and thigh, too many see through fabrics that leaves no doubt about what lingerie you have on, too low cut that reveals too much cleavage, too tight that is designed to accentuate every curve...and I could go on. Let me tell you ladies something. It is more difficult now for men to keep a pure thought life than it ever has been before and some Christian women, by the way they dress aren't helping the cause at all.
c. The purity of her mouth
Again, you can call me old fashioned but I can remember a day when there was a difference in the way that women talked compared to men. And I'm not just speaking about vulgar language either. What comes to mind when we talk about a meek and a quiet spirit? Here's what one commentary (Jameson, Fausset and Brown) says:
(meek and quiet) -- meek, not creating disturbances: quiet, bearing with tranquillity the disturbances caused by others. Meek in affections and feelings; quiet in words, countenance, and actions [Bengel].
Does that describe you tonight or not?
(Psa 147:6) The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
(Mat 5:5) Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
III. Adorn yourself with serenity-peace
a. The person of peace
There is a reason that some folks don't have peace. Either they don't know the Prince of Peace of they have sin in their lives which has robbed them of their peace!
Psalms 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
ILL - In the NT, the word for peace means "to reconcile or join." Some missionary Bible translators were working very hard to find a word for peace in a particular tribal language. At last, a native who was working with them found a combination of words that captured the concept--"a heart that sits down." When the heart sits down with Jesus--when we join with God through his Son--there is peace.
b. The producer of peace
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
ILL - "One day a young minister was being escorted through a coal mine. At the entrance of one of the dim passageways, he spied a beautiful white flower growing out of the black earth. 'How can it blossom in such purity and radiance in this dirty mine?' the preached asked. 'Throw some coal dust on it and see for yourself,' his guide replied. When he did, he was surprised that the fine, sooty particles slid right off the snowy petals, leaving the plant just a lovely and unstained as before. Its surface was so smooth that the grit and grime could not adhere to it." [--Bible Illustrator Deluxe 3.0, CD-ROM, "Clean in a Dirty Place." Omaha, Nebraska (Omaha: Quick Verse, July, 1986, number 23.].
Such is the picture of a Disciple of Jesus who lives a holy life. He or she is empowered by the Holy Spirit to live as pure a life in this sinful, corrupt, immoral, vile, evil, wicked world just as the flower could "blossom in such purity and radiance in that dirty mine."
c. The pursuit of peace
1 Peter 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
"Ensue" is old English word that means to pursue. So we are to desire peace, covet peace, embrace peace, live peaceably, and adorn ourselves with the fruit of peace.
Conclusion: RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE HEART
ILL - A CHINESE PROVERB: "If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."
PRESIDENT IN YOU
ILL - As someone aptly stated, "Jesus does not just want to be resident in you, He wants to be president in you." Ah, yes! When we relinquish our struggles, and find our rest in Christ, then the winds of the storm may blow, but we find ourselves fixed upon the Rock.
