Genesis 2:21-24, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the
flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made
He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken
out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall
cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
The Lord chose to compare a family with the Trinity. In so
doing, He called the head of the family, the man, after His own name, Father.
We pray, "Our Father, Which art in Heaven." Then He likened the son
or children in the family to His own Son, the second named Person in the
Trinity. Hence, we have in the family a person who represents God the Father,
and we have a person who represents God the Son.
By process of elimination, we come to realize who represents the Holy Spirit in the family. There is only one person left, and that's the lady. That means that you--the woman, wife, mother-represent the Holy Spirit. If you would like to find your duties in life, just find in the Bible what the Holy Spirit is supposed to do. He comforts; so does Mother. He teaches; so does Mother. He instructs; so does Mother. He leads; so does Mother. Think of all the ministries the Holy Spirit has in the world. He's the unseen One; so is Mother. He is the one who gives the others attention; so does Mother. If you want to know what your duties are in the family, all you have to do is find out the duties of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, for you are the Holy Spirit of the home.
By process of elimination, we come to realize who represents the Holy Spirit in the family. There is only one person left, and that's the lady. That means that you--the woman, wife, mother-represent the Holy Spirit. If you would like to find your duties in life, just find in the Bible what the Holy Spirit is supposed to do. He comforts; so does Mother. He teaches; so does Mother. He instructs; so does Mother. He leads; so does Mother. Think of all the ministries the Holy Spirit has in the world. He's the unseen One; so is Mother. He is the one who gives the others attention; so does Mother. If you want to know what your duties are in the family, all you have to do is find out the duties of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, for you are the Holy Spirit of the home.
The week of creation began. First came the light. After the
light, God made the firmament. Then God lit the starry hosts of the nighttime
in their constellations. Then God made the fishes of the sea and then all the
tribes of the animal kingdom. Now creation's week is almost finished and all is
prepared for God to make man. God did make man in His own image.
All that God had made before man was made for man. The stars
of the nighttime were placed in the heavens for the enjoyment of man. The herbs
and grass of the field were placed there for the nurture and health of man. The
water was placed there for the refreshment of man. The sun in the noontime and
the moon in the nighttime were placed in the heavens for man. It was marvelous.
Every tree that grew was pleasant to the sight. Rivers
flowed peaceably between verdant banks in Eden's garden. Every sound was a
melody and every scene was a delight. There was no war to unrest the breast of
man. There was no sickness to cause in his heart a fear of death. The leaf
never withered. The wind never chilled. No perspiration moistened man's brow.
There was no profanity to cause discomfort to his ears. There was no weariness,
no heat, no cold. No blossoms were ever smitten by a tempest.
Man had not yet learned to sigh and to weep. This was the Garden of Eden. God had made it and the entire universe for one person--man! No withering frost to chill the rose and no shadow of guilt was ever felt in the heart of man. For Adam there were choirs of birds to sing. Man had everything he would need, it seemed, in this ‘Edenic’ bliss and yet something was missing!
Man had not yet learned to sigh and to weep. This was the Garden of Eden. God had made it and the entire universe for one person--man! No withering frost to chill the rose and no shadow of guilt was ever felt in the heart of man. For Adam there were choirs of birds to sing. Man had everything he would need, it seemed, in this ‘Edenic’ bliss and yet something was missing!
Adam needed someone to share with him these beauties. Adam
needed someone to whom he could say, "Look at the stars! Aren't they
pretty?" Adam needed someone with whom he could share the joys of the
beautiful garden. He longed for communion with a kindred soul, one whose wants
and joys were like his own. The virgin world was cold and blank. Adam needed
somebody, and God made her, and here she comes dressed in all the beauty for a
human being to possess.
Milton said of Eve, "She was adorned with all of heaven
and earth that they could bestow upon her to make her amiable." Grace was
in her steps. Heaven was in her eye, and every gesture possessed dignity, poise
and love. Perfection was stamped on her. The sons of God shouted for joy, the
morning stars sang together, and Eden was transformed. Now Adam has what he
needed. Someone wrote, "The earth was sad, the Garden wild, the hermit
sighed, till woman smiled." The work of Omnipotence was finished.
Notice, woman was not taken from man's head to lord over
him, nor from his heel to be crushed by him, but this magnificent creation of
Omnipotence was taken from man's rib, near his heart, so she could be loved and
protected by him.
The winds are a thousand times more refreshing now that she
is here. The flowers are a thousand times more fragrant now that she is here.
The birds are a thousand fold more melodious, the trees are more beautiful, and
the fruits are more delicious. The sun is brighter, the moon is more lovely,
the stars are closer, the animals are tamer because she is here. There she
is--Miss Universe! She was created because all of the perfection of the Garden
of Eden did not give to Adam what he needed.
There she stands with the beauty of Sarah as she made
Abraham her lord, with the courage of Deborah as she stood beside Barak in the
battle against the enemy, with the depth of Hannah as she prayed for and reared
her son, with the devotion of Rizpah as she vowed to protect even the dead
bodies of her own, with the royalty of Esther as she stood before the king and
spared a nation. There she is with the grace of Lydia, the poise of Mary, the
humility of Phoebe, the friendship of Dorcas, the faith of Rhoda, the ambition
of Salome, the worship of Mary, the care of Martha, and the praise of Mary
Magdalene. There she stands, our Miss Universe, with the patience of Anna, the
loveliness of Rachel, the love of Jochebed, the gentleness of Elisabeth and the
spirit of Lois. Wrapped up in all these personalities is what you ought to be.
Take all the good from all the good women of the Word of God and there, dear
lady, is what God intended you to be.
Who could have guessed that in the midst of Eden's
loveliness, innocence and peace where angels guarded the gates of the garden
and where peace, love and joy prevailed, who could have looked at this
magnificent creature of God's omnipotence and ever thought that evil could find
an entrance! In the loveliness of this woman is also the potential for
ugliness. In her joy is the potential for sadness. In her grace is the
potential for selfishness. In her humility is the potential for pride. In her
submission is the potential for rebellion. In her faith is the potential for
doubt. Though she is lovely and though all the good qualities of all the women
in the Bible are potentially hers, there is another potential that she
possesses. She bears in her breast the potential of Michal, who hated her
husband and laughed at him because he got happy and shouted when the ark of the
covenant came back to God's people. She can, if she chooses, possess the rebellion
of Jezebel, who fell and with her took a nation. She owns the seed of the
selfishness of Athaliah, who could kill her own grandchildren for her own
rights and privileges.
It's difficult to imagine that this beautiful queen of the
Garden of Eden, the one who filled every need of Adam, could possess in her
breast the hatred of Herodias, who had John the Baptist's head served in a
platter! It's hard to believe that she could be a soiled Rahab, who could sell
her body to the hands and lusts of wicked men. It's hard to believe that this
beautiful one has the potential so that her feet could carry her to Moab with
Naomi. It's hard to believe that these lips could possess the potential of
lying as did Sapphira. There behind her smile dwells the possibility of hatred
and the disposition of Abigail.
Ladies, it is up to you, as it was to Eve, to decide, for
there is in your breast all the loyalty of Sarah, the loveliness of Rachel, the
tenderness of Mary, the servitude of Martha, the patience of the mother of Christ
(His earthly mother), and the gentleness of Rebecca. There is also a bit of
Jezebel, Athalia, Michal, Abigail and the others. It is up to you to decide.
Whether it be good or bad, there is one thing that woman
always does; she determines the spirit and the atmosphere of any place where
she is present.
Woman was not made to till the soil, she was not made to
build the house, she was not made to steer the crane, nor stack the brick, nor
hew the stones, nor build the road, nor head the state, nor lead the church,
nor reap the harvest.
It is woman's job to determine the atmosphere while the soil
is being tilled. It is woman's job to determine the atmosphere while the house
is being built. Though it is not her job to steer the crane, it is her job to
make happy the one who steers the crane. It's not her job to stack the brick
nor hew the stone; it's her job to make a wonderful spirit and atmosphere while
the brick is being stacked and the stone is being hewn. It's not her job to
build the road, nor head the state, nor lead the church, nor reap the harvest.
Everywhere woman has ever been, it has been her job to provide the spirit of
atmosphere while man does his work and changes the course of history.
Woman can make Eden a paradise if she so chooses, or she can
curse everything in it, as she did. She can make an ark a lifeboat and the Nile
River a nursery if she wants to, or she can curse her husband in Job's ash
heap. It's her choice! She can ruin a nation as did Jezebel or she can change a
house into a church as did Priscilla. She can make a preaching service great by
giving all or ruin one by withholding some as did Sapphira. She can fill the
house with Mary's ointment or she can fill it with Michal's hatred. She can
save a nation as did Esther or she, like Jezebel, can destroy one.
Ladies, I don't think you understand completely how the
atmosphere is determined by you.
Much of the atmosphere of Hyles-Anderson College is caused
by the lovely young ladies who grace our hallways. Our college was made
basically for God's men. When I was in Los Angeles, California, praying all
night one night, God didn't give me a burden and say, "You need to start a
college and turn out some young ladies." My burden was for God to send us
some young men who could go across this country with the fire of God in their
breasts and change this country, build churches, call America back to God and
fight evil, but we could not have done it had it not been for the marvelous
spirit that permeates our campus caused by the sweetness of the "Holy
Spirits" of our campus who make it so much sweeter.
We have some fine young men in our high school who play
football and basketball, and who are the officers of the classes, but our high
school this year has an amazing spirit. Do you know one reason? A group of
young ladies determine what it's like.
Woman's spirit determines the tranquility of the home, the
spirit of the office, the unity of the church, the reputation of the preacher,
the health of her husband and the joy of her children. She's not the one whose
name is put in the headlines of the paper. She's the one who makes man have a
delightful place to be. 'It is her spirit, her attitude, her disposition.
The little song is true: "Sometimes I'm happy,
sometimes I'm blue; my disposition depends on you!" That's the way it is.
You can make your church a marvelous place. You ladies can determine the spirit
of your church more than menfolks can, for your spirit determines the spirit of
the menfolk. I wonder how many preachers have gone to church and bawled the
people out because of some discontent they received from their wives concerning
the church while they were home. I wonder how many preachers have kept churches
tranquil and serene because of the tranquility they received at home.
Any time a woman is present, she determines the spirit and
the atmosphere many times more than does the man. Though she's not the head,
she's the neck that determines which way the head looks. Though she's not the
arm, she's the fuel that gives it strength. Though she's not the strong cedar
of Lebanon, she's the myrrh that makes fragrant the atmosphere. Though she's
not the pillar of the temple, she is the altar of incense that makes everything
fragrant within its walls. Though she's not the harvest gatherer, she is the
lily that makes the gathering of the harvest more beautiful as she graces
herself in the field.
Woman is the flower on the communion table. She's the honey
at the banquet table. She's the Holy Spirit in the home, the unseen power.
Man worked before woman came, but man worked harder after
she came. Man ran before she came, but man ran faster after she came. Man
jumped before she came, but man jumped higher after she came. Man was good
before she came; man excelled after she came.
Some women are not listed in the Bible by name--the
Shunammite woman, the little maid that pointed Naaman toward the man of God,
the widow who gave two mites, the widow at Zarephath, and others. You see, the
honest truth is, though you're not made to have your name in the headlines,
break the records, win the wars and fight the battles, God made you for a
specific purpose.
Jesus is the One we exalt in our preaching here, but the
Holy Spirit gives us power to exalt Him. The Father is the One Who is the great
omnipotent God, but the Holy Spirit is the One Who causes our attention to turn
toward Him. The Gospel gets people saved, but the unseen power of the Holy
Spirit is felt in the services, His power causes folks to walk the aisle; His
power causes Jesus to be more lovely; His power causes God to look more
omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent; that power causes the church to go out
and bring more folks to Christ and draw folks to Calvary; that power is the
unseen One, the Holy Spirit! And that's what you are! You're the
determiner--the unseen one.
When I was a boy my mother used to sing to me in some tune
that you would not recognize, for she was possessed with the same musical
talents with which I am obsessed! She used to rock me on her knee and sing,
"Brighten the corner where you are; brighten the corner where you are;
someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar if you brighten the corner
where you are!" As she sang it, my father was probably out drunk. We lived
in a little two-room shack. Light came from a kerosene lamp, and heat came from
a wood stove which was too often empty because we had no wood to place in it.
Mother did not know the story behind the song,
"Brighten the Corner." Years ago a little lady, Ina Duley Ogdon, was
given a beautiful voice. Someone asked her to sing a concert tour around the
world. She had anticipated the day when she could cover the globe and carry the
bright light of Christ through her voice. She had signed the contract; the date
had been set for her journey to begin. Just days before her departure, she
found her father was taken seriously ill. No one else could care for him; only
she! With some bitterness and much disappointment she cancelled her worldwide
trip to use her voice to sing the praises of Christ and shine His light around
the world!
Ina Ogdon looked at her aged father and saw him as he was
nearing death. She realized that she could not take her trip. Her bitterness
changed to joy, her disappointment changed to gratitude as she sat down one day
and began to write, "Brighten the corner where you are; brighten the
corner where you are; someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar if
you brighten the corner where you are!"
What the soloist could not do with her journey she did with
her sweet spirit as it went from her heart to her mind, from her mind to her
pen, from her pen to the paper, from the paper to the hymnbook, and from the
hymnbook to the whole world! Not just in her lifetime did she brighten the
world, but she will do so as long as the song is sung!
That's your job--brighten your corner! The atmosphere of the
office is determined more by the spirit of the secretaries than that of the
bosses. The atmosphere of the home is determined more by the mother and wife
than by the father and the children.
Man looks to you first to see in what kind of mood you are
now. Your husband comes home at night and one of the first things he wants to
know is, "What kind of a mood is she in tonight??' His evening is
brightened or saddened according to your mood! Why? Man doesn't determine the mood
of the house; you do! You are the Holy Spirit of the home.
You won't get the praises man gets. You won't get your name
in the paper like he does. You won't get your name honored like he does, and
you won't be as big, as strong and as much of a leader. He is the Father, the
children are the Son, but you are the Holy Spirit. The whole atmosphere
wherever you are is determined by you.
Did you know that God has made it so that your spirit can
overwhelm the spirit of man? He is stronger than you as far as your body is
concerned. Your emotions could never do it, because there is more emotional
stability in a man than in you, but there is one place where you can always
overpower your guy or any guy and that is your attitude, the spirit, the
atmosphere!
Sometimes your home is happy; sometimes it's blue. Its
disposition depends on you.
Sometimes the place you work is happy; sometimes it's blue.
Its disposition depends on you.
Sometimes your school is happy; sometimes it's blue. Its
disposition depends on you.
Sometimes your church is happy; sometimes it's blue. Its
disposition depends on you.
If your church doesn't have a good spirit, it's more your
fault than the man's. I like this building. I helped to build it. I love it. I
think it's the prettiest building in the whole world and I wouldn't trade
anyone's building for it. I love this pulpit. It's the same pulpit I had in the
other building; we just put some new wood on the outside of the pulpit. When we
meet here Sunday morning, it doesn't matter about the building, and all of my
training and planning for the services doesn't matter if the Holy Spirit is not
here! It doesn't matter what kind of a guy you've got or what kind of kids you
have, if the Holy Spirit is not there.
That's what it's all about. It's your job to comfort. Dad's
not a very good comforter; in fact, he's a weak comforter. Dad's a horrible
spirit-determiner or atmosphere-determiner. He waits on you.
Not many years ago, I think it was in the state of Georgia,
a mother and a child fell into an open well. The mother was beneath the child.
She held the child up above her and cried for help. For hours that mother was
there, just holding her arms up, holding the child above her. When the rescuers
came, they found the child was alive, but the mother was dead. They took the
mother's body to the funeral home. The funeral director came to the family and
asked, "How shall we bury her?"
The family said, "What do you mean?" The director
said, "What shall we do with her arms? "
They said, "What do you mean, 'do with her arms'?"
He said, "Her arms are locked in position above her
head. We'll have to break the bones to put them across her breast."
The family said, "Bury her with her arms up." As
the people came by to view her body at her service they looked at her face, but
her arms were raised out of the casket, and that's how she was buried.
That's the way it ought to be. Lady, your job is to keep
lifting up those who are yours. Your guy and all guys are symbols of the
Father; your children are symbols of Jesus Christ; you are the unseen and often
forgotten, overlooked, unpraised, but always necessary Holy Spirit!
Think about the songs we sing. "Holy Spirit, breathe on
me." "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down."
Compare your purpose to the jobs of the Holy Spirit: teach, lead, comfort,
encourage, strengthen, help.
I'll be honest with you. I think you ladies got the long end
of the stick. Preachers get on their faces and say, "0 God, give me the
fullness of the Holy Spirit." I think I may get the men to demonstrate to
God. We got short-changed in all of this. We're going to start our own men's
ERA. We build the wall, but you decide whether we smile or frown while we build
it. We build the city, but you decide whether we have normal blood pressure or
high blood pressure while we build it. We are the ones who build the churches,
but you are the ones who decide whether we have tranquility or frustration
while we lead. It's up to you.
Why don't you say, "My church is going to have a new
spirit because of me"? Some of you ought to meet your preacher before he
walks out to the pulpit Sunday morning and encourage him. Do what some of our
college girls did as they formed a little honor guard behind the platform and
began to sing for me about loving the Preacher.
The next time you are prone to think, "I'm not very
important; nobody appreciates me," remember that you are the one in the
family that typifies the One in the Trinity that nobody appreciates either. His
job is as the spotlight that is covered by the bushes or the ravine, but it
shines upon the building so that all may see the building. 'Tis your job to be
the unseen one, that comforter, that Holy Spirit.
Take your Bible, look up the term Holy Spirit, and find all
He does. Then resolve that you are going to do what He does. Go alone
somewhere, bow your head, lift your heart to God, and say, "0 God, I'm so
thankful that You made man in the image of God the Father, and I'm so glad that
our children symbolize God the Son, and I'm so glad that You made me a woman,
something that the earth had to have, something that paradise could not
replace, something that could not be satisfied by the breeze of Eden, the taste
of the fruit, the fragrance of the flowers, nor the gentleness of the
wind."
The earth had to have you, lady, just as the church has to
have the Holy Spirit.
Get on your knees and say, "Dear God, I am satisfied
with my lot in life. I am glad You made me a woman in the image of the Holy
Spirit. I yield myself to promise You that everywhere I go the flowers will be
a little prettier, their fragrance a little sweeter, the sun a little brighter,
the wind a little more gentle, the smile a little broader, the shoulder a
little straighter, and the arm a little stronger because I'm present."
You're somebody! You are God's Holy Spirit in the family. It
matters not what else you do--that's your job. It matters not what else you
accomplish. That is your job.
Mrs. Evans conducts these Christian Womanhood Spectaculars.
To you she seems like a mighty strong willed person. I don't see her that way.
I see her as, "Whatever you say, Preacher." "Preacher, you know
what's best." "Preacher, you're the wisest." "Preacher, I'm
dumb compared to you." That's what it's really all about.
You carry with you two little dispensers. One dispenser is
filled with the most marvelous fragrance and one is filled with a bad odor. You
have the potential for making everything around you sweet or foul. We can't
overbalance you. There is no way we can. You give me ten gossipy ladies in a
church, and I'll chase off any preacher in America! Churches aren't split by
men; they are split by women. Wounds in churches aren't healed by men; they are
healed by women!
One day I was teaching a class in a college in Texas many
years ago. I was driving down the highway coming home, and the cutest little
"cat" came across my path. It was black and white. It was a polecat
or a skunk, and I tried to miss him. I didn't! Not a bit of his Chanel No. 5
touched me, but do you know that for weeks everywhere I went people said,
"Whew! My! What's that odor?" There was no way around it.
You have that potential. It's up to you.
The Russell Andersons and we were in Nassau, Bahamas. I was
standing in a big department store and I heard something behind me going,
"Psst, psst, psst." I thought, "What is that--gas
escaping?" Then I felt something trickling down my neck, and Russell
Anderson had taken a little sample perfume bottle and absolutely washed my hair
in it. For weeks everywhere I went people said, "Ah!" My deacons
said, "Ohhh!"
You have both in your personality!
There Miss Universe stands with power enough to complete the
perfection of the Garden of Eden or to let the serpent find his way into her
heart and destroy and curse all in the garden.
You have that power too. It's up to you which one you
choose. You are the mood-determiner, the atmosphere-determiner, the Holy Spirit
of the family.