Two women

1. Not long ago I was sitting at lunch with a man not long ago and he wanted a little information about the Bible.

2. He wanted to know the story about a man who had two wives.

3. This was the story of the guy who had an ugly wife and a pretty wife.

4. He wanted to know the name of the ugly wife.

THE STORY HE WAS REFERRING TO IS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS, GENESIS 29.

a) Jacob had been working for Laban and Laban had two daughters.

b) Jacob said he would work for seven years if Laban gave him Rachel.

c) Rachel was the younger daughter, and she was a very attractive lady.

2) We heard the Scripture reading (Gen. 29:16-21).

3) Rachel was “beautiful and well favored.”

4) The text does not say Leah (the older daughter) was ugly.

a) It does say her eyes were “tender” (verse 17).

b) Translators differ on how they interpret the word “tender.”

c) Some convey an idea such as “weak.”

d) This could mean Leah’s eyes lacked luster and pizzazz.

e) Other versions indicate her eyes were very pretty.

f) If this second idea is correct, it would seem her best physical asset was her eyes.

5) Whatever the exact point is, Leah was not as physically attractive as her sister.

6) This morning our lesson is about personal attractiveness.

7) In our world beauty is admired, praised, sought, and even evaluated.

a) Beauty pageants have been around for a long time.

b) Men comment on the looks of women and women on the looks of men.

8) Beauty can come from physical features, but it can also come from the inner person.

9) 1 Pet. 3:4 refers to the “hidden man of the heart.”

10) Some of the worst looking people in the world are the nicest people we will ever meet.

11) Some who are praised for their outward beauty have beauty that is literally skin deep.

12) Corruption, inconsideration, and wickedness are cloaked by an attractive shell.

13) If we want to be the people of God (and therefore among the saved), we need to be interested in beauty.

14) God wants beautiful people.

a) We know this to be true because the church (people) are called God’s “bride” in Eph. 5:25-27.

b) How many women want to be show up on their wedding day and be an ugly bride?

c) How many men want to see an hideous bride marching down the aisle towards them?

d) Beauty in the eye of the beholder is important, and in the spiritual realm, the beholder is God.

15) In the physical realm most take at least a few steps to keep themselves looking halfway respectable.

16) We may check our hair, clothes, nails, etc.

17) Are we as concerned about beauty in the spiritual realm?

a) There are some things we can do that will make us obnoxious and quite unattractive.

b) There are, if you will, “beauty killers” for Christians.

c) These are not hard to list.

d) I have randomly selected some of the practical portions of the Ephesian letter.

e) All these verses deal with basic Christian living.

f) As the verses are read, think about how Christians will be with and without the listed qualities.

18) Eph. 4:2 refers to God’s people as being lowly and meek.

19) We might generally define these two words as “humble” and “gentle.”

a) Few people appreciate someone who is not humble.

b) Think of the person who brags, boasts, and rants about all he or she has done.

c) Boasting is not beautiful.

d) Unkindness is also not beautiful.

e) There are several ways in which we can miss out on being gentle.

20) How many of us have ever heard someone say, “You should have seen the way he/she looked at me?”

21) The point being made was that someone received a look was hateful, harsh, mean, hostile.

22) Not long ago I stopped at a car lot and was introduced to the sales manager.

23) I looked into that man’s eyes and seemed to see a look that said, “I will try to cheat you every way I can.”

24) He didn’t have a friendly look and didn’t follow through with some early negotiating.

25) We can be beautiful in our facial gestures to others or we can be very unattractive.

a) Beauty and gentleness come together in other areas of life as well.

b) We see them combined in how we speak to others.

c) There can be beauty in our tone.

d) Beauty and gentleness may be found in the way we construct our words.

e) We can strive to be people who have beautiful speech (words of grace and comfort).

f) Or we can have speech that is as poisonous as a rattlesnake.

26) Not long ago I heard a group of men talking about another group of men.

27) The group was asking if a certain man was accustomed to swearing.

28) One fellow spoke up and said, “he doesn’t talk that way.” A man was known for his speech.

29) Our words form a big part of making us beautiful or ugly.

a) Biting words, criticism, sharpness, and acid-like responses are blemishes on a Christian’s character.

b) This kind of speech is not being gentle.

c) Along with looks and words, there are our actions.

d) We may not say anything or look at anyone, but as the old saying goes, actions can be louder than words.

e) People can do things that result in their having a hideous spiritual appearance.

30) If we are part of God’s bride (the church), this is not acceptable.

31) God wants His people to be without spot, blemish or any such thing (Eph. 5:27).

32) We should look at our lives on a regular basis—what we are thinking, saying and doing.

33) We can also look at specific instances in how we interact with people and do some self-evaluation.

34) Was our behavior beautiful, ugly, or somewhere in the middle?

35) Also from Eph. 4:2 we find the quality of “longsuffering” (patience).

a) Being patient will make people beautiful.

b) It makes parents beautiful to their children and children to their parents.

c) It makes employees beautiful to their employers and employers to their employees.

d) It applies to teachers and their students…in virtually every aspect of life this quality applies.

e) When was the last time we had our patience tested? Was it this morning getting ready for services?

f) Was it yesterday when we did not have to go to work?

g) Perhaps we were tested in this way multiple times this past week.

36) As we look back to some of the latest tests, were we beautiful or ugly?

37) Did we mar the image of Christianity or display what this way of life is really like?

38) Another important quality is found in verse 14 of Eph. 4, and this verse will be read – READ.

a) How many of us have never witnessed an adult who acts like a child?

b) Most of us have, and it is not a pretty sight.

c) By the time a person is in their 20’s, there should be some maturity.

d) After hitting the 30’s, people are half way to retirement—they are no longer children.

e) People in their 40’s often have some very significant responsibilities in the secular world.

f) In the 50’s-60’s, we have many men and women who are involved in making and enforcing laws.

g) We expect (and rightly so) adult thought and behavior from adults.

39) Responsible, mature behavior from adults is a beautiful thing.

40) Childish behavior from adults is very unattractive.

a) A classic illustration of this is a parent at a little league game.

b) A parent’s child does not get a fair shake and out goes the dad to rough up the umpire.

c) Or, the mother berates the referee by hollering from the stands.

d) Adults can behave like children. Paul knew that. God knows that.

e) Be no longer children, Eph. 4:14 says. In the context this relates to miraculous gifts.

f) We also find a secondary point of application: adults should behave as adults.

g) When things are not fair, right or the way we want, we will handle them as adults.

41) A bunch of beauty secrets are found in Eph. 4:31 – READ.

a) There is a type of anger that is like a rage. We have seen bitterness in the lives of people.

b) Malice and slander are in the world.

c) We see these things on television when political candidates run for office.

d) Most Americans when they see these sins say they are “turned off.”

e) Anger, accusations, railing, bitterness…all these sins make people ugly.

f) God wants His people to be beautiful so He said, “put all these things away.”

42) When it comes to beauty, there are some things people would like to put away.

43) It may be a few extra pounds—many believe that shedding some pounds would improve their looks.

44) Others would like to put away a facial feature that is not to their liking.

45) Others might like to put away some type of hair problem.

46) God says that in the spiritual realm, we need to address some beauty problems.

47) All the sins listed in this verse make men and women unattractive; we are to therefore get rid of them.

a) What God wants of us is found in Eph. 5:2 – READ.

b) “Walk in love” – three simple words. What do these words mean?

c) It means we have a life filled with love.

d) From what we think, to what we say and do, there are continuing expressions of love.

48) Bring forward a person who has flawless beauty but no love and most will see the beauty is only skin deep.

49) Such a person is nothing but a façade.

50) Bring forth a person who is marred almost beyond recognition but overflowing with love.

51) Such a person will be respected, honored and love.

52) As God’s people we want to be beautiful.

a) We want to be beautiful in our homes.

b) We want to be beautiful neighbors.

c) We want to be beautiful in our schools, our social outings, and our places of work.

d) We also want to be beautiful in the place where we worship.

53) What if God took a copy of our church directory and went through it name by name?

54) With a red pen God made a notation by each name: beautiful, ugly, or average.

55) How would God rate our spiritual beauty?

56) God’s judgment would be based on factual data—it would not be an arbitrary selection.

57) Over the last month have we been beautiful, ugly, or average?

58) What about the last six months and the last year?

59) Eph. 5:16 says “redeeming the time.” Time is running out for each one of us.

60) If we have not put much time and effort into spiritual beauty, how much longer will we wait?

61) If we used to keep ourselves up (spiritually speaking) but have slacked off, is it not time to repent.