Men and Women of Steel and Velvet

As you know, brethren, we are living in difficult times. There are wars in other parts of the world, and dangers. And society is also attacking things like the sexes. When I was growing up, we just knew, too. Men are women. Now, it's a multiple of different varieties, of which many times they are being taught in the school, and kids are confused. And especially in the press, they question what is a person. They had a Supreme Court Justice who asked, can you define what a woman is? And they wouldn't do it. So, what does it take to be the right man or woman before God and others? Thankfully, God gave us many examples of what I have come to call men and women of steel and velvet. They were like steel on the inside, with strong wheels and minds toward the good things. And they were velvet on the outside, loving, kind, compassionate. This is a biblical guide to show us how to rear children and grandchildren, and how to become more like God wants us to be. It's never too late to make changes, and we will greatly profit from it. Let's begin with a quote that I've never forgotten by the famous American poet Carl Sandberg. He gave an address before the joint session of Congress back in 1959, marking the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

He said, Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock, meaning on the inside, and soft on the outside as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind the paradox, the conflict, of a terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect. And the incomparable Abraham Lincoln, born 150 years from that moment, is an approach, if not a perfect realization, of this character.

Anybody who studied the life of Abraham Lincoln would recognize. He went through a civil war, was one of the toughest periods of American history. America could have split into two parts, and yet, with his will, strength of will, and prayer, and coming close to God, because he was a very dedicated man of God. You can basically say he was educated reading the Bible, first of all. And yet, he was a man of velvet on the outside. For each of us, whether male or female, there is a time to show the velvet qualities, tenderness, and big-heartedness.

And there is a time to show the attributes of steel on the inside, firmness and resoluteness, and never-give-up attitude. It reminds me of one of the biblical personages, Jacob. When he fought all night with God, who materialized, he wanted to test Jacob, what he was made of. And Jacob never gave up, even when God was going to be sunlight, and Jacob was going to see God's face, and that couldn't happen. And so he took the leg and pulled it out of the joint, and Jacob still hung up, hung in there, and hung to him to the point where his name was changed from Jacob to Israel.

He that prevailed before God, and Israelites, as they have that heritage, the spiritual heritage, through God's Spirit, they acquire a certain never-give-up attitude. And we see through God's Spirit, it's one of those fruits of God's Spirit to courage, valor, self-discipline. When evaluating the virtues of Abraham Lincoln and those qualities of steel and velvet, the author Aubrey Andelin, who wrote a book, Man of Steel and Velvet, which I'm inspired by a lot of that for this message, he says, as far as virtues of steel and velvet, Christ stands alone.

None can be compared to him. However, in a modest way, other great men have left a mark that will not be forgotten. Such is Abraham Lincoln, who was described by Carl Sandburg as possessing qualities of steel and velvet. Lincoln demonstrated then and now how a person can possess both a will of iron and a heart of tenderness.

Nothing deterred the President during the American Civil War from his noble cause, keeping the United States united and securing the freedom for slaves. And few persons have ever endured more criticism and detractors than Lincoln, yet he was no more a man of steel than one of velvet. So a logical question arises. How can we tell when is the right time to apply the velvet qualities and when should we exercise those steely characteristics? After all, if the velvet approach is used when the steel approach would have been much more appropriate, we can end up having a colossal failure on our hands.

In fact, one of the virtues that made Abraham Lincoln such a great President, he's one of the four faces on Mount Rushmore. How many of you have been able to see Mount Rushmore? Wow! That's a lot. I think that should be on everybody's bucket list. Wouldn't you agree? Abraham Lincoln is one of those four. He knew when to apply the steel and when to use the velvet approach in each situation. Also, true godly character can be defined as doing what is biblically the right thing at the right time and for the right reason.

You can do the right thing for the wrong reason or at the wrong time. You need to have all three coordinated. When we look at that steely characteristic, this does not mean having a hard-headed stubbornness. It does not mean that at all because that steel in the system is not for doing our own will and trying to just push through because I'm the center.

No, you're doing it for someone else or doing it for God. That's the difference in the Bible. It's not based on being self-centered but being other-centered. Interestingly, we can see in the Bible that God is developing men and women of steel and velvet right here in this congregation.

He addresses each one of us. He challenges each one of us to seek to develop these two attributes in ourselves a lot better. In Hebrews 11, we see some of the examples. We'll just focus on one of them. Let's go to Hebrews 11 because these are the men and women of steel and velvet. We see women in the Bible that had tremendous courage and yet they were also kind and compassionate. Hebrews 11, we're going to focus on Abraham, a man of steel and velvet. In Hebrews 11, verse 8, it says, by faith, faith can be defined in the Bible as obedience to God's laws and trusting in the sacrifice and grace of Jesus Christ.

You need both. You can have all the grace in the world. You're not keeping God's laws. That's not going to work. You can keep all of God's laws and not have grace or trust in Christ's sacrifice. That's not going to work either. You need both. It says, by faith, because he was obedient and yet he trusted in God's ability to develop righteousness in him, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.

And he went out not knowing where he was going. He trusted in God and he obeyed God and he paid a very steep price for that, leaving everything behind, starting anew, not knowing where he was going. Continuing in verse 17, it says, by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, we're going to be tested many times to see how we react to things, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac, your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

And he was willing to do that and as the knife was plunging downward, God stopped him. But he knew obedience to the farthest degree. Now, that's a man of steel, a man inside who was willing to say no to everything else to obey God. And yet, he was also a man of velvet. Let's go to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13, in verse 7. It says, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. Verse 8, So Abraham said to Lot, Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen.

For we are brethren. It's getting to be pretty heavy, the conflict. Verse 9, Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. Now, this goes against all the rules because Abraham was the senior. He was the head of this whole clan. He was a patriarch, not Lot. You take this place, I'm going to take the best land. No, he showed that selfish, self-centered attitude that was not in him. He showed he was other-centered, not self-centered. And he goes on to say, And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, there before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Like the Garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zor. Water was so precious at that time. And here you had the Jordan River, just had all the irrigation you needed in that land. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated from each other. Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent, even as far as Sodom.

But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. And the Lord said to Abraham, After Lot had separated from him, lift your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And so God was pleased with that attitude where Abraham sacrificed what could have been his own right to do. And then God said, Don't worry, I'm going to give you everything one day. You don't have to worry about fighting with Lot in that way. God loved to see that compassionate attitude that Abraham showed during his life.

Let's go to another example. A woman in the Bible of steel and velvet. You see, it doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman. These two attributes should be in all of us. She is Esther, Queen Esther. She was a young lady that showed her steel and velvet qualities when facing the greatest test of her life, which included the possible extermination of her people, the Jews. It was up to her to save them. A young girl, probably still a teenager or early twenties.

Notice in Esther, the book of Esther, so we have in this Bible, not just books about men, but women as well. God considers a woman equally as far as the spiritual heritage they will have one day.

We go to the book of Esther. Go to chapter 2, verse 15. When she was first brought to this palace and trained to be a possible queen, it says verse 15. When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abbehail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go into the king, she required nothing but what was Haggai the king's eunuch, the custodian the women advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins. She set the royal crown upon her and made her queen instead of Vashti. The king made a great feast, the feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants, and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king. So what did she have? She was beautiful on the outside, but she was also beautiful on the inside. She was modest, she was respectful, she was mature in that sense of thinking about others and being able to impress. Even a king that deals with so many people, he saw that she had the qualities. She was following God, and she was putting God in her life. God was opening the doors to bless her.

Now, there comes a time when she had to go before the king because her people were going to die. They were going to be killed, all of the ones in the Persian Empire, which included, at that time, just about everywhere in the Middle East.

And so she had to come before the king uninvited. It says in Esther 9 that she came before the king, and she could have been executed at that moment. She fasted three days before she came before the king, and she found grace. And so it says, verse 5, at the end of this, when she was given grace again, it says, Now, they weren't the ones that were attacking. They were defending themselves and did what they pleased with those who hated them. And all of these enemies of the Jews, instead of killing the Jews, they were destroyed.

It goes on at the end. It says in chapter 10, It says, Verse 29, it says, And speaking peace to all his countrymen.

Verse 29, it says, The daughter of Abathai with Mordecai, the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm the second letter about Purim, which was the day that they were protected. And so here's this young lady, putting God first, asking for that wisdom, fasting three whole days. I wonder how many persons have gone through that. She wanted to be close to God, trusting in Him, and as a result, the Jewish people were saved. If you want to read a thorough account of a woman of steel and velvet, of strength and gentleness, firmness and compassion, let's go to Proverbs 31. Here's the ideal description of a woman of steel and velvet. Be a good study to just go in and read and see each one of the verses, whether it's steel or velvet. Proverbs 31. Verse 10.

It says, Who can find a virtuous wife, for her worth is far above rubies? That's one of the great blessings when you find a woman of steel and velvet following the way of God. The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain. He doesn't have to be at home. He doesn't have to be supervising her. She is a woman of steel, of a will that he can trust she's going to carry out the functions and her role. So he will have no lack of gain. He can focus on other things because his wife is faithful, dedicated. She does her part. Her husband does his part. They work as partners and work together. The husband supervises, but they're working as a partnership. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. This is part of the velvet qualities that she has. She doesn't attack him. She doesn't disrespect. She does have the ability to talk and to bring out her point of view. But it says here she does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands. Again, there are many jobs for a woman that are not pleasant, but she's willing to carry it out. She is like the merchant ships. She brings her food from afar, tries to save money, see what the best deals are, not go to the most expensive places and doesn't care whether things are much more expensive or not. She takes care of the wallet. Verse 15, she also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household. She's got chores to do, responsibility. She has to be there doing her part and a portion for her maidservants. She's thinking about her crew, and we can say it's part of the household, too. She considers the field and buys it. From her profits, she plants a vineyard. She's able to invest money and get a good return out of it and reinvest it. She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms. She's involved here. Not just a little, dainty person that doesn't do much and just stares at the mirror all day. No, she is tough on the inside. She gets things done. She perceives that her merchandise is good. She sells things, and her lamp does not go out by night. She stretches out her hand to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle. She's talented, acquiring abilities. She extends her hand to the poor. Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. That's the velvet quality that it talks about. If we go down here a little further, verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. At the end, it says, Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Her children, verse 28, rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her. You see, whether you were born a man or a woman, these are roles that we can carry out in our lives. To have the balance, not just be all hard and strong-willed in a wrong sense. You need to have the right strength of will, but you need to have also that velvety touch, that tenderness, that femininity that's so beautiful to men. It says in verse 30, Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing. It's not going to last forever.

The outside will wear out, but a person on the inside, if they cultivate, if they're beautiful on the inside, they will always be beautiful on the inside. It doesn't matter what age.

But a woman who fears the Lord, that means deeply respects his laws, his way of life, she shall be praised, give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. She's going to be well-known, respected, talked about, because she gives a good example.

So we see again Esther was that type of person, and there are many other biblical examples as well. I'd like to go to the last one. The perfect example of the man of steel and velvet is Jesus Christ. Notice his velvet qualities in Matthew 11, verse 28 through 30. Matthew 11, 28 through 30. Was he a harsh taskmaster? Was he just on people all the time? No. He said, come to me, all of you, who labor and are heavy laden, who have a lot of troubles and difficulties. Come to me, he says, and I will give you rest.

Jesus Christ owns the universe under God the Father. He has all the power. And he says, come to me, ask me, walk with me, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. The yoke has to be, yes, it's a yoke of obedience, but it's a yoke of having the best boss in the universe who looks out for you. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

He's not trying to burden us. He's trying to remove the burden. Yet Christ displayed his steely side when dealing with the unscrupulous money changers in the temple. Notice Matthew 21, verse 12 and 13. Matthew 21, 12 and 13. It says, then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. So Christ was not this weakling. He was strong on the outside, too. He was a man that was working away with his hands, skilled laborer and skilled artisan, but at the same time, he was also very dedicated to God. And he saw this temple and how they had made it into this casino type of place where the money changers were just stiffing the poor pilgrims that were coming in and they were overcharging them for changing their money.

And he just said, This is not what God the Father intended. So it showed his courage, his willingness to step up to the plate. Time and space don't permit us to go through all the examples in the Bible that are found in Hebrews 11, but we can go back in Hebrews 11 for a moment to see the men and women. of steel and velvet that we can become if we dedicate ourselves, if that's one of our goals in life.

Most people don't have these types of roles because they don't read the Bible in this way. We do. We read the Bible to apply it in our lives because this is God's instruction manual. Notice what it says in Hebrews 11 in verse 32. It says, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon and Brac and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions like the case of Daniel, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead, raised to life again. And so we see women and men following this example. There are persons such as Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Ruth, David, the prophets, as we have read, and many men and women of the New Testament Church. This would make a profitable Bible study for young men and women who want to develop these qualities of steel and velvet.

The question is, do we want to become a man or a woman of steel and velvet? This is what God wants from us, what He wants us to become. To conclude, the two qualities of steel and velvet are mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16, verses 13 through 14. He starts out with the steel, the inner part of us. He says, watch, which means be aware of world events, be aware of your spiritual state, stand fast in the face, in the faith, which means you have to be strong.

He says, be brave, be strong. And then here's the velvet part. Let all that you do be done with love. The two great qualities, and that's what God is calling us to do, the men and women of steel and velvet.