Action (Reaction or Response)

There is an amazing verse in the Word of God found in Ezekiel 8:14 “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” These women were actually at the door of the temple of the Lord, practicing their idol worship! The audacity of these woman to come to church to commit abominations before the Lord! Surely, we are not guilty of such sins today, are we?

The next chapter, Ezekiel 9, is a solemn prophecy that will take place at the end of time. It tells us that all those who are not sighing and crying for the sins around them will be cut down with the slaughtering weapons. The Spirit of Prophecy writes that “the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their prayers arise in behalf of the church, because its members are doing after the manner of the world….The day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land.” {CET 186.4}

What are the abominations for which we should be sighing and crying, if we want to receive the seal of God? How are the church members “doing after the manner of the world”? Are we practicing something similar to what we read about in Ezekiel 8, where the women came to church to perform their abominations?

Is there a particular open and blatant abomination that is being committed weekly at our worship services? Are some of the women of the church worshipping an idolatrous god in the presence of the Most High? How are the women following the world, right in our church services?

"The house of God is profaned by the dress of professedly Christian women of today." {3SM 244.1} If you look around on Sabbath morning, you can see, right in our midst, women worshipping the goddess of fashion! There are several ways this is done. But one of the most common ways is for women to wear seductively immodest clothing. This is not a private sin—it is open sin. It brings into the holy assembly a vile atmosphere, polluting the minds of male worshippers. This abominable sin seems to be totally accepted by the members. Where is the sighing and crying over this highly visible sin?

The earnest sighing and crying that reaches God's ear comes from hearts that are filled with the love and mercy of our Lord. Their love for the wayward leads them to faithfully intercede on their behalf. There is no spirit of judgmentalism or superiority, but rather a fervent desire that all may be enraptured by the beauty of God's holiness, and experience it in their own lives. The Holy Spirit alone can lead His children to intercede for others with the spirit of meekness and humility, as they recognize their own need.

We need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to the seriousness of this matter. Now is the time when we need to prepare our hearts to receive the seal of God. Let us raise the standard, making sure we are heart to heart with the Lord in His desire to prepare a pure and holy people for His soon return.

Why is this such a big deal?

Have you ever had someone talk to you about your appearance (dress, jewelry, makeup, etc.) in such a way that you became angry? So angry, in fact, that it made you feel like you wanted to rebel even more? Shorter skirts, tighter clothes, perhaps more make-up or jewelry, and so on.

Our dress and appearance is one of the most sensitive and volatile subject ever to be addressed to Seventh-day Adventist women! Why is this such a big deal to us as Christian women?

This subject is such a big deal because is strikes at the root of a temptation which is especially powerful for women: “Pride and extravagance in dress is a sin to which woman is especially prone.” {RH, December 6, 1881 par. 5} Men's most powerful temptation is looking on a woman to lust after her. Women's most powerful temptation is to dress and behave in such a way that it leads men to lust.

This powerful temptation of pride in dress to which women are especially prone can easily turn into a cherished sin if we are not watchful and prayerful. A reaction of anger can indicate that this message strikes at a cherished sin. We generally don't get angry over things like this unless we have a strong internal conflict going on.

God wants to help us to see our cherished sins, so we can let them go. He wants us to ask Him for a humble, teachable spirit, so that we can prayerfully search these matters out, and hear what God is wanting to say to us. May the Lord help us all to listen to His sweet Spirit.

From ANGER to ANGUISH

God's marvelous love is able to transform our hearts when we give Him permission. What a beautiful miracle it is when God turns angry hearts into repentant hearts. We experience spiritual anguish of soul as we become filled with intense love for God and others. First of all, God gives us the sensitivity that appreciates the anguish that Jesus suffered for us:

"By every sin Jesus is wounded afresh; and as we look upon Him whom we have pierced, we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin." {DA 300.3}

Anguish of soul enables us to experience heartfelt repentance and a sensitivity to sin. Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9 shows that he had anguish of soul. He poured out his heart with bitter tears and weeping, both for his own sins and the sins of his people. God wants us to see things from His eyes, and to feel the pain that we have caused Him by our rebellion. When we come to hate what God hates, and have on the eye salve of discernment, we will see these things clearly. Anguish is borne out of love. Listen to the anguish our dear Sister White felt:

“ I feel the most intense anguish for our youth.” {ST, April 21, 1890 par. 4} “ I am filled with pain and anguish as I see parents conforming to the world and allowing their children to meet the worldly standard at such a time as this.” {5T 78.1} “As I saw the dreadful fact that God's people were conformed to the world, with no distinction, only in name, between many of the professed disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus, and unbelievers, my soul felt deep anguish. I saw that Jesus was wounded and put to an open shame. {4bSG 19.3}

We need to ask ourselves, Have I felt that anguish? That is where God wants to bring us. When we behold Jesus on the cross, that anguish will come. Sister White relates, “…Jesus, the King of glory, who gave his life to redeem them, wore a crown of thorns. This was the way their Master's sacred head was decorated. He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ‘He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.' And the very ones that profess to be washed by the blood of Jesus, can dress up, and decorate their poor, mortal bodies, yet dare to profess to be the followers of the holy, self-denying, humble Pattern. Oh, I wish that all could see this in the light that God sees it, and showed it to me. It seemed too much for me to bear, to feel the anguish of soul that I felt as I beheld it.” {4bSG 21.1}

This anguish at our sinfulness is key to our final struggle at the very end. We are told:

“A day of heart-rending anguish is before us.” {RH, August 27, 1861 par. 3} “The humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which will be expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings…. The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God." {RH, January 11, 1887 par. 11}

This is serious, dear sisters. We need to be praying that the Lord will take away all rebellious anger, and put that deep soul anguish in its place, anguish at the realization that we have caused many to stumble because of our pride of dress. Only God can remove our pride, and give us heart unity with Him. Our God-given anguish will be mingled with sweet peace as we rejoice with joy unspeakable in the comfort and love of the Holy Spirit.

The Laodicean Message

Dear sisters, here are some paramount questions: What is the Laodicean Message, the message God gives His church right at the end of time? What causes the shaking? How does God seal us, just before the four winds are loosened? And what does all this have to do with the Modesty Movement? These answers will become clear as you study these things with a willing heart. For a study on this topic, please click here.

As we follow God's way, we will be governed by principle, not by feelings, whim, or impulse. These principles are carefully and comprehensively delineated in the Bible as well as in the writings of Ellen G. White.

What does it mean to accept the robe of Christ's righteousness? What is the spiritual effect of such a decision? This is very important for each one of us to understand. Accepting the required robe of righteousness, without which is no salvation, is actually accepting the character or the mind of Christ. It means to accept Christ's thoughts and feelings in place of ours. He wants us to bring every thought and feeling into obedience to Him. This surrender of the will means that we are giving up our right to make moral choices apart from Him. We have subordinated ourselves to His choices for us.

This is how even our appearance in dress becomes an integral part of the Laodicean message in Revelation 3. When He gives us His robe of righteousness, He gives us His righteous character. And since we have given up our right to make moral choices on our own, the process is greatly simplified. We have given Jesus the authority over our wardrobe. We allow Him to choose our raiment for us.

This is what being a remnant woman is all about. We take our decisions regarding our appearance to Jesus. We ask Him, Lord, what would YOU have me wear? We include Him in our shopping trips, in our daily clothes selections. We say, Lord, not my will, but Thine, be done. Not what I want to wear, but what YOU want me to wear. This solves a host of problems. The issue is settled. We will put His glory at the very top. He will show us what pleases Him. He will provide, and He will guide.

Sin and Nakedness

As was mentioned earlier, Satan knows our “hot button” and he knows that this matter is of great concern to God. Bigger than we ever imagined. It is very closely intertwined with our salvation experience. Lest you think we're being legalistic, please hear us out.

We're in this mess of wickedness because of SIN. What is the first thing Adam and Eve did after they sinned? “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Genesis 3:7

They saw that they were naked, both literally and spiritually, because they lost their robe of light, the righteousness of God. So they tried to fix their problem. But they didn't do it right. God had to provide proper clothing. They needed coats, not aprons. and God provided ample covering to cover their physical nakedness.

God also provided for their nakedness of soul as well. In order to provide Adam and Eve with their coats of skin, a lamb had to be slain. The rich symbolism of the sacrifice of Christ for their sins was driven home to their hearts. As they wept over this death that their sins caused, their hearts were broken in contrition. Then they gratefully accepted the coats as a gift from God.

And it is the same experience we must have every morning as we kneel before the cross and sense the enormity of our sins. We gratefully acknowledge Christ's sacrifice in our behalf, and accept His robe of righteousness in our morning devotional time. God uses the symbol of a white robe to represent our need of His righteousness instead of our filthy rags.

Just like Adam and Eve, we are still naked today, lacking that robe of light, the glow of God's glory. So we need physical clothing to cover us. God promises He will provide us with literal clothing to cover our physical nakedness, and He offers us His invisible robe of righteousness to cover our nakedness of soul. When we willingly put on Christ's inner clothing, covering our spiritual nakedness, His Spirit leads us to clothe ourselves with modest apparel outwardly.

In the Bible, nakedness is symbolic of sinfulness. Satan knows that modest outward apparel symbolizes that we have accepted Christ's robe of righteousness. If he can get Seventh-day Adventist sisters to parade around in the vain immodest fashions of the world, those who see us will wonder about our profession. Thus, our light is snuffed out and our witness is silenced. We become lukewarm professors, having a form of godliness but not the power. See How Naked is Naked for more on this topic.

Our Clothes are Talking

To see our churches filled with immodestly dressed women must make Satan thrilled. It reveals our inward nakedness. That's the Laodicean message; we're naked and don't even know it. We are wearing our own fig leaf clothing instead.

It may be that many of us think we're modestly dressed when we are not. We've accepted the fashions of the world without question or hesitation. We just follow along with the crowd and feel totally comfortable. We look at each other to determine what is modest. We don't seek out what God says is modest.

What we wear reveals what is in our hearts. Wherever we go, our appearance announces who we are. We are either declaring our commitment for Jesus, or we're giving a mixed message, just by the way we dress. We can't get around this. That's why our choice of apparel greatly affects our Christian experience.

As we clothe ourselves in literal modest clothing it should be a reminder of our spiritual nakedness without Christ's robe. It should remind us of our need to cover ourselves outwardly. If we don't see the need for the inward clothing we won't want outward modesty. And if we don't see the need for outward modesty, we won't want the inward clothing. They go together.

Dress reform is not the curse many of us have been deceived into thinking it was. But it is a deep spiritual blessing that will connect us with Jesus in a way that we could never experience with fig leaf clothing.

As our eyes are opened to our spiritual need, our own hearts become willing to be clothed with righteousness and humility. We will gladly clothe ourselves with the modest apparel that reflects the internal righteous clothing. It will cease to be a burden, but will become a delight.

It is our prayer that as you discover what God says about modesty, your heart will respond with willing submission.

Before you attempt to put on the outward clothing of modesty, it is very important to make sure your heart is clothed with God's gift of righteousness and humility. That way you won't become a self-righteous Pharisee looking down on those who do not yet understood this truth.

Fashion is Fickle

It matters not what the world thinks about how you look. The people of the world are so fickle. If you showed up dressed in today's fashions 5 years ago, fashion experts would wrinkle their noses at your attire in distaste, not knowing that it would soon be “in style!” If you dress today in perfect fashionable style, in 2 years those same people that admired you today would look disapprovingly at your out-of-date outfit. This ridiculous concept is described in Laver's Law:

Laver's Law states that fashions have a timeline and this is the way it is considered when it is worn before or after time: -

Indecent - 10 years before its time
Shameless - 5 years before its time
Daring - 1 year before its time
Smart - when it's in style
Dowdy - 1 year after its time
Hideous - 10 years after its time
Ridiculous - 20 years after its time
Amusing - 30 years after its time
Quaint - 50 years after its time
Charming - 70 years after its time
Romantic - 100 years after its time
Beautiful - 150 years after its time

The only way you can be admired by the world is to “obey” fashion. But at what a cost!

So why should we care what fashion conscious people think about our clothing? We're not saying we should try to be out-of-date. We should choose clothing that is not “fashionable,” meaning that it's not something that will be glaringly out-of-date in a short while. Plain, modest, feminine, and healthful doesn't need to be “in-style” or “out-of-style.” The less “stylish” it is, the less chance that it will be “out-of-style” in a year or two. Modest clothing with tasteful design, feminine beauty, suitable colors, quality fabric, that is well-fitted, appropriate and healthful, will transcend the folly of changing fashions. God's glory can shine from a godly woman with such attire.

The warped vision of the people blinded by fashion declares a “fashionable” dress to be “old-fashion” and unacceptable in just a brief span of time. What was beautiful suddenly becomes ugly. But let fashion declare, after many years, that it's “in-style” again, and suddenly it's beautiful again! This is unreasonable. Sisters, our eyes are not to be focused on fashion's folly!

SUMMARY

In practical terms related to our dress, that means we will say, “God, I admit that of myself, I am incapable of choosing clothing that will glorify You. Therefore, I give You the full authority to choose my attire for me. I willingly lay aside all my pride and selfish desires, and accept what You declare is pleasing to You.”

If we are not willing to pray that prayer, can we truly call ourselves Christians?

In matters of modesty, daily surrender is required. Since our outward appearance reflects our hearts, lets deal faithfully with our hearts until our dress is pleasing to the Lord. Let's not make excuses for our vanity, pride and selfish desires, for that is loving the world. And you know what God thinks about that!

This web site is not here to condemn anyone, but to encourage all our Seventh-day Adventist sisters to move toward modesty. May the Lord help us to truly seek the inward adorning, which will shine out to all who see us.

Will the followers of Christ seek to obtain the inward adorning, the meek and quiet spirit which God pronounces of great price, or will they squander the few short hours of probation in needless labor for display? The Lord would have woman seek constantly to improve both in mind and heart, gaining intellectual and moral strength that she may lead a useful and happy life,--a blessing to the world and an honor to her Creator. {RH, December 6, 1881 par. 7}

If we will accept Him into our hearts and give Him the right to rule our lives, then we will please Him in our appearance. May the Lord draw us into His loving embrace every morning, so we may abide there throughout the day!