Truth Magazine

By Harry R. Osborne

Is there any thought of modesty in this day and age? A few years ago, you could stay away from the beach and avoid the exhibitionism. Now it seems like you cannot go around the block without being confronted by someone in an outfit which used to be associated more with a porno-graphic movie than public attire. What in the world has happened to the concept of decency?

Like most movements towards shamelessness, the mass media has aided in the degeneracy. On the covers of a few recent magazines at the check-out stand in the grocery store, I have seen the following bold printed leads:

 “Is it lingerie or clothes? You decide!”

 “Clothing or lingerie, who cares? Its pretty!”

 “Summer’s Sexiest Clothes”

 “The good, the bad, and the see-through”

Is it any wonder we are surrounded by a bunch of Madonna clones in our time? An article by John Leo in U.S. News & World Report entitled “Haute porn, hard-core couture” chronicled the growing influence of pornography upon the fashion world. It is disgusting!

On magazine covers and television shows about the latest fashions in swimwear, the leads are all similar. They speak of “sexy,” “revealing,” “eye-catching,” “hot,” and “provocative” styles. A recent survey showed that the average span of fabric between the armhole and leg hole on a one-piece bathing suit is between four and six inches. It is clear they were not designed that way to facilitate swimming.

Some interesting poll results were reported in the December 1982 issue of Psychology Today. They asked people, “What is your primary reason for going to the beach?” Of the men, 69% said it was “to watch the opposite sex.” Of the women, 40% said it was “to be seen.” That which was being shown and watched is very obvious, given the attire typical of the beach.

The Bible clearly condemns such lustful displays. It instructs “that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame fastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment” (1 Tim. 2:9). Let us examine a few of the things said about that which characterizes “modest apparel” and that which conflicts with it.

Shame fastness

The Bible says the modest clothing that should be worn is associated with “shame fastness.” What does that mean? The original word from the Greek referred to a sense of shame or modesty which is rooted in the character. In other words, it is that inner decency which recognizes the lack of clothing to be shameful.

The word of God speaks of the lack of full clothing or “nakedness” as being shameful (Rev. 3:19; Isa. 47:3; 2 Sam. 6:20; Jer. 13:26). However, the Bible term “naked” does not refer to nudity, but a lack of needed clothing to protect one (Jas. 2:15-16). The book of Job speaks of one who “stripped the naked of their clothing” (Job 22:6). How could one strip the clothes off of a person who was already nude? Thus, the “nakedness” which is shameful is not just total nudity. Isaiah spoke of the uncovering of the thigh as resulting in nakedness being uncovered (Isa. 47:2-3). Since many modern fashions totally expose the thigh, how do you think God views them? “Shame fastness” is that which would cause one to blush if seen without being fully covered. It is a rare quality in our time! However, it is a quality demanded of those who would please God.

Sobriety

The Bible also says that modest clothing is associated with “sobriety.” The sobriety under consideration is not solely speaking of being free from intoxication due to alcohol, although that may be involved, but is describing a state of sound judgment. W.E. Vine makes these comments (Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, IV:44-45):

It is that habitual inner self-government, with its constant rein on all the passions and desires, which would hinder the temptation to these from arising, or at all events from arising in such strength as would overbear the checks and barriers which “shame fastness” opposed to it.

“Sobriety” would keep one from wearing that which is designed to be the “sexy,” “revealing,” “eye-catching,” “hot,” and “provocative” styles currently in fashion. It would see such as the “attire of a harlot” (Prov. 7:10). It is a needed characteristic today!

Clothing of the Rich

While “shame fastness and sobriety” are the allies of modesty, the New Testament depicts the clothing characteristic of wealth as that which opposes modesty. Paul cautions against being clothed in “gold or pearls or costly raiment” (1 Tim. 2:9). Peter warns “of wearing gold, or of putting on fine apparel” (1 Pet. 3:3). Were these writers merely prejudiced against the wealthy or is something else involved?

To answer that question, we need to find out what kind of clothing was the “costly raiment” or “fine apparel” of the New Testament time. This is not difficult since a great number of historical sources clearly and unanimously tell us about the fashions of the day. The following is an extended quote from Robert Collen ‘s book, East to Cathay: The Silk Road (pp. 44-46), dealing with the introduction of silk clothing into the first century Roman kingdom:

Silk in its natural state clung to the female form in a way that was infinitely more pleasing to the eye than Parthian banners. But Roman ladies did not stop at that. For one thing, there was not enough pure silk to go around at first. And, anyway, it was not sexy enough for those freewheeling days. So, they unraveled the close-woven Chinese fabric and rewove it into a flimsy gauze which left little to the imagination. So unlike Chinese silk was this Roman adaptation that the Chinese, when they eventually saw it, named it “ling,” assuming that Rome was growing a special product of its own. For the average Roman girl-watcher those were golden years, but the moralists raised a fearful outcry. “I see clothes of silk, if clothes they can be called,” wrote the philosopher Seneca (4 B.C. – A.D. 64), “affording protection neither to the body nor to the modesty of the wearer, and which are purchased for enormous sums, from unknown people.” Pliny told of garments that “render women naked.” Other writers waggishly referred to clothes “made of glass.”

Thus, the expensive clothes of New Testament times were the revealing clothes that lacked modesty. It was not a prejudice against wealthy people and the luxuries they could afford which caused the Bible writers to condemn “costly raiment.” It was the indecency associated with such clothing that caused it to be condemned.

Late in the first century, Clement of Alexandria spoke of the same silk fashions as “fabrics foolishly thin, and of curious texture in weaving.” He went on to speak of such as follows (The Instructor, II, XI):

For these superfluous and diaphanous (transparent – HRO) materials are proof of a weak mind, covering as they do the shame of the body with a slender veil. For luxurious clothing, which cannot conceal the shape of the body, is no more a covering. For such clothing, falling close to the body, takes its form more easily, and adhering as it were to the flesh, receives its shape, and marks out the woman’s figure, so that the whole body is visible.

Clement goes on to say that such clothing was associated with “vice” and not with “modesty.” The second century Tertullian described such as “garments which, light and thin, were to be heavy in price alone.” He referred to them as “prostitutionary garbs” appealing to “the pro-vocative charms of apparel.” Tertullian also noted that such clothing was the polar opposite of “modesty.”

In our time, the same is true. Modest clothing which covers the body is relatively inexpensive when contrasted with the price of the provocative styles in vogue among the fashion world. One could buy several decent changes of clothes for the price of one fashionable swimsuit. The centuries have changed, but the principles have not! Such fashions are no more tolerable to God today than they were when he condemned them through the New Testament writers. Let us not take our direction from the sinful fashions of our day, but from God.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 13, p. 10-11
July 7, 1994

By Jamey Hinds

“We love him because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). “By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us” (1 Jn. 3:16). “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son, the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:7-10).

God’s love is astonishingly indescribable. And, yet, his love is limited in that it cannot force anyone to be saved from their sins. Of course, that is the beauty of God’s love he has created us to be morally free in choosing right and wrong.

According to Mark, “Now as Jesus was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before him, and asked him, `Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, `Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, God. You know the commandments.’ … And he answered and said to him, `Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.’ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, `One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.’ But he was sad at this word, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions” (10:17-22).

Notice Jesus’ love for this man. But even his love was not enough to remove the requirements necessary to be pleasing to God: he had to make an individually responsible choice  a choice we all must make. “But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

There are those who deny the necessity of water baptism for the forgiveness of sins. And, yet, they proclaim their absolute faith in God’s incorruptible love. They often forget that his love is incorruptible and cannot simply disregard such things as the command to be baptized for the remission of our sins (Matt. 3:13-17; 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-14; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:21).

God’s love is magnificently beautiful and pure. It is most powerful and majestic. But it cannot, alone, save us.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 13, p. 9
July 7, 1994

By Derek Chambers

The phone call came late one night from one of the local brethren. “You should have seen it,” he said. “They were healing people with different afflictions.” “First they sang songs, then they preached a sermon, and then they healed people.”

So-called faith healers have been around for a long time in the United States. In eastern Europe however, they are quite a novelty. It was no surprise to me that this brother, who has been a Christian for just over a year now, was excited about what he saw. He knew from our previous studies that these things were not right but was fascinated by them just the same. Reluctantly, I decided to accompany my friend to the faith healers’ service the following evening. Earlier that day we studied the matter briefly. I wanted him to understand exactly what mendacity would be taking place.

Knowing the curiosity of Lithuanians and the mass advertising of the faith healers, I expected to find quite a crowd at the service. Instead there was only about 15 people. The service proceeded rather lethargically, with poor piano playing and little singing by the audience. The sermon was soft and empty with very few passages read. The American “pastor” ended his sermon by telling every-one to close his eyes, bow his head and pray. Then he offered an invitation. Anyone who wanted to be saved needed only to raise is hand. “Don’t worry, no one will see you,” he said. “Everyone’s eyes are closed.” About seven people raised their hands (my eyes weren’t closed). He called them forward and instructed them to hold hands and repeat a prayer. Then the “pastor” pronounced them saved Christians. The people themselves, however, didn’t seem much different. They didn’t seem joyful at all, only con-fused. They seemed to sense that something was missing in their “conversion.”

Then it was show time. There were going to be some real miracles they claimed. They spoke nobly of the previous night and all the healings that went on. They asked the family sitting next to me (whose son had been prayed for the night before) if their boy was any better. “No,” they said solemnly. Then the “pastor” asked the mother if she was better (as they had also laid their hands on her the previous night). “Not yet,” she said. “Well you’re looking better,” they claimed, “You’re smiling twice as much tonight.”

“Anyone who needs a healing, please come forward.” First forward was another man who had been there the night before. He had already been “healed” of having one leg shorter than the other (the oldest trick in the book). However, the real problem was that he had been in a car wreck and many bones had been broken. He walked with a terrible limp, a limp that was no better after their “healing.” He went forward for another “miracle” but nothing happened. “It will just take time,” they said.

The rest of the “afflictions” included nervous tension, stomach aches, weakness, cramps, another lady with one leg shorter than the other, and my friend who asked them to remove a mole. Naturally, all the problems were “cured,” except the mole. The following night another brother who attended their service informed me that they cured two more people with one leg shorter than the other, including the same lady I saw get healed of this same affliction the night before. (There seems to be a lot of people in Lithuania with one leg shorter than the other.)

The service finally came to a close and the small group in attendance left, seemingly disappointed and confused. It was not hard to see that the work of the faith healers had fallen flat. Ultimately, no one believed that any miracles had taken place and no one really thought they were saved. Fortunately I was able to talk to a few of these people and invite them to our worship and lectures. My Lithuanian brother who invited me to the service saw just what a farce the service was and did not return.

I would like to offer three suggestions of why the faith healers did not do well in Lithuania:

1. They preached a false plan of salvation. According to these men, all that is necessary for salvation is “accepting Jesus into your life.” Although repentance was hinted, it was not preached specifically and baptism was completely ignored. “Baptism is nothing,” one of the “pastor’s” wives was overhead saying. The people who were told they had been saved somehow didn’t seem to quite believe it. They had enough sense to know that raising one’s hand and repeating a prayer didn’t save one’s soul. Therefore they found no satisfaction in their salvation.” Acts 2:38: “And Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the same of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

2. Their worship was false. Instrumental music was used and the preachers applauded each other and everything else that went on. The prayers were spoon fed to the audience to be repeated and it seemed that one of the men was trying to pray in “tongues.” These men were sickeningly pretentious and their worship was just as wrong as it could be. John 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

3. The miracles were false. The men claimed that Jesus would work miracles through them, but there were none. There are some faith healers who can put on quite a show and fool you with parlor tricks but anyone could see that these men were all talk. Perhaps the people in the audience reflected upon the true miracles of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament  miracles which were certain, complete, and irrefutable. Jesus didn’t go around healing belly aches and moles. He restored sight to the blind, the lame were made to walk, the dead were raised. Matthew 11:5  “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

This group of faith healers is but one of the many groups of “miracle workers” in Lithuania. All of these groups boast of Jesus and the Holy Spirit working miracles through them. They also claim to know the truth because God reveals it directly to them, yet there are major doctrinal differences between all of these groups. In light of 1 Corinthians 14:33, how can this be? In claiming to proclaim the praises of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, the faith healers deny both. They deny the true miraculous power of Deity and the true revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. If what these groups preach is true, then the Holy Spirit failed to reveal “all things” (Jn. 14:26; 16:13) the first time around.

I am no longer worried about the Christians here in Lithuania being carried away by the doctrines and tricks of faith healers. With some very basic teaching anyone can understand how terribly erroneous these men are. Their efforts will continue with some minor success, but their works will be revealed in the last day. Rom. 16:18: “For such men are slaves, no to four Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 13, p. 8-9
July 7, 1994

By Randy Blackaby

The good reception given the preaching of the gospel in Kaunas, Lithuania this spring nearly demands a longer term effort and, ideally, the commitment of a preacher to a year or more of full-time evangelism in this city of 430,000 people.

As the accompanying article already has indicated, crowds at the Sunday lectures were steadily increasing as interested people returned week after week and additional students were convinced to attend.

Imagine getting 30 or more people to attend a meeting in this country by simply handing out tiny printed invitations in front of a local grocery store. That’s what is happening in Lithuania. These people will listen to an hour or more of lectures and then ask questions for two or more hours. The type of questions asked reflect both the confusion caused by centuries of Catholic tradition and an eagerness to learn more about what the Bible teaches.

After Bill Bynum and I left Kaunas May 3, Brother Thomas Bunting of Bergen, Norway took over the work. His son was to join him a week later. Recently, I have learned that Derek Chambers and Ivan Valdez will continue this spring’s effort through the end of June.

Steve Wallace already is planning to return this September and we are hoping more brethren from the United States will commit to three or four weeks each to keep the evangelism of this city alive well into the fall.

But beyond these initial forays into this once closed country, there is a critical need for a longer term effort, similar to the work being done in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, by brother Chambers and Jay Horsley. Are there brethren ready to accept such a challenge?

If there are conversions in Kaunas in the next few months there must be someone there to help these new Christians grow in the faith.

One thing we observed is that the window of opportunity doesn’t stay wide open long in these former communist countries. Already the denominations are beginning to flood into the region. We saw evidence of strong efforts by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostal groups. If the truth can be widely and repeatedly taught before the errors of these groups take a major hold, the cause of Christ will be greatly enhanced.

At present, evangelistic endeavors in Lithuania can be carried out inexpensively. For about $1,500 to $1,700 a preacher can spend an entire month preaching there. This includes air fare, hotel accommodations, transportation, meals, advertising, translators and rental of lecture rooms. This economy makes it possible for even smaller congregations to underwrite the shorter term efforts.

Eastern Europe is full to opportunities to preach the gospel. And, as quickly as things are changing in this part of the world, we don’t really know how long those opportunities will be present.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 11
June 16, 1994