Before we can touch upon the ministry of the sisters, there are two principles that we must understand. If we do not understand these two principles, we will never be able to know what is the ministry of the sisters.
The first principle is this: the grace and the gift of God know no partiality. In other words, so far as the grace of God is concerned, there is no difference between brothers and sisters.
Turn to Galatians 3:26-29.
For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.
There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.
And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.
Here you find that we all are God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are made sons of God. The reason is that we receive the life of the Son.
Whether you are male or female, man or woman, brother or sister, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, the life that you receive is the life of the Son. We have the same life, the life of the Son; therefore, we are all sons of God.
I remember on one occasion when our dear brother Washington told another brother, “Go and tell some brothers concerning this and that.” The brother asked, “Whom do you want me to tell—male brothers or female brothers?”
Because we are all brothers.
Now, brothers and sisters, sometimes we say, “Brothers’ gatherings,” and the sisters may feel that they are left out. But no, because we are all God’s sons. The life that we receive is the same life; it is the life of the Son. Therefore, we are all brothers. Whether you are male or female, you are brothers.
As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. We have not only received the life of Christ within us, the life of the Son within us, but as we are baptized, we have all put on Christ.
So whether it is that which is within us or that which is clothed upon us, it is the same life; it is the same Christ. That is the reason why there is no Jew nor Greek, no bondman nor freeman, no male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.
Where does that oneness come from? It is because there is no Jew nor Gentile, bondman nor freeman, male nor female. It is Christ Himself, and because of that, we are one.
If it is not in Christ, we cannot be one. Outside of Christ, you have all these differences: Jews and Greeks, bondmen and freemen, males and females. But in Christ, all these distinctions are laid aside. It is Christ Himself.
We are all of Christ. We are all Abraham’s seed. We are all heirs according to promise. So, brothers and sisters, so far as the grace of God is concerned—and when we say the grace of God, it refers to life—there is no male and no female. We are all one.
There is no reason why a man, or a brother, should receive more of the life of Christ than a woman, or a sister, can receive. A sister is not in any way inferior to a brother so far as the grace of God is concerned.
Oftentimes we find that sisters seem to have more of the life of Christ than many brothers. When you come to this area of grace, it is equal—no partiality. The sisters can receive the grace of God as much as the brothers, and the brothers can receive the life of Christ as fully as the sisters.
There is no reason why brothers must be inferior in spiritual life to sisters. Unfortunately, brothers are often so involved in the things of the world that they may be a little behind some sisters, but there is no reason why. So far as God is concerned, He gives His grace to brothers and sisters equally.
Now, this is not only true of the grace of God; it is also true of the gift of God. Probably we think that the grace of God is equal, but the gift certainly cannot be equal. But, dear brothers and sisters, if you read the Word of God, you find that so far as the gift of God is concerned, there is no partiality.
God’s gifts come to brothers and sisters alike. There is no reason why brothers must be more gifted than sisters.
You know, in the natural realm, women are not less gifted than men. So, in the supernatural realm, there is no reason why sisters should be less gifted than brothers. We find in history sisters who were very gifted—more gifted than many brothers.
In Acts 2, when Peter and the eleven stood up to explain what had happened on the day of Pentecost, he quoted the prophet Joel. Acts 2:17-18 says:
And it shall be in the last days, saith God,
I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams:
Yea and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days
Will I pour forth of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
Here you find that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the people, He was poured out upon all flesh. Both sons and daughters prophesied. Both bondmen and bondwomen prophesied. There is no difference so far as the gift of God is concerned.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the one hundred and twenty, there were women there. There were certain women and Mary, the mother of Jesus. These women received the gift of the Holy Spirit just as much as the men. They prophesied just as the men prophesied. They spoke with other tongues, magnifying the Lord and telling of the great things of God, just as the men did on the day of Pentecost.
There is no difference. There is no partiality.
Why? Because the gifts that God gives are all manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, you find that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to the members of the body as He pleases.
The Holy Spirit will not give the gift of hearing to the eye. He will not make a mistake and give the gift of seeing to the ear. He gives the right gift to each and every member of the body of Christ. But that is not partiality.
Every member of the body of Christ receives a gift that is special to him or her because of his or her place in the body of Christ.
If you are an eye, you receive a special gift of the Holy Spirit: the gift of seeing. If you are an ear, you receive a special gift from the Holy Spirit: the gift of hearing. Whether it is seeing or hearing, these are manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit manifests Himself through all the members of the body of Christ, because we are members one of another. We are different members of the body of Christ. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit gives, He gives differently and specially. The gift is special, but not partial.
Will the ear say to the eye, “Because I do not receive the gift of seeing, therefore my gift is inferior”? You cannot do that. There is no sense of inequality there.
As the Holy Spirit gives gifts to the various members of the body of Christ severally, distinctively, and specifically, there is absolutely no sense of inequality involved. So far as gift itself is concerned, there is no such thing as inferior gifts and superior gifts.
So far as a gift’s contribution to the church is concerned, there may sometimes be some difference. But the gift itself is no different, because all gifts are manifestations of the same Spirit—the Spirit of God.
So, dear brothers and sisters, remember: so far as the grace of God is concerned, there is no difference. We can receive the grace of God just as much. If there is anything lacking or behind, the problem is with us; the problem is not with God.
The same thing is true with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He gives specifically, but equally. If you feel in any sense inferior, or even superior, the problem is with you; it is not with the gift.
So I think this is the first principle that we have to understand very clearly.
Then the second principle: in God’s creation, whether it is the old creation or the new creation, there is a divine order. God ordained and placed in creation, both the old and the new, His divine order.
The reason He put such a divine order in creation is because He has a work to accomplish.
If the divine order is not recognized, not only can the work of God not be accomplished, but there will be an overthrow of God’s government and authority. It will create chaos and confusion. So we need to recognize this principle of divine order.
In 1 Corinthians 11:3, we read:
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ;
And the head of the woman is the man;
And the head of Christ is God.
Here you find a divine order, and this divine order is patterned after Christ and His relationship to God. We all know from Philippians 2 that the Son is equal to the Father. His equality with the Father was not something that He was trying to get; it was His from the very beginning.
The Father and the Son are one. So far as Their life is concerned, They share one life; They share one Spirit. In essence, They are one. There is no inferior or superior between the Father and the Son. They are completely one.
But in order that God’s work might be done, God desired to do the work of redemption. In order that this work could be done, the Son volunteered to take a lower position. It was not something forced upon Him. There was absolutely no sense of inequality there.
Because They are equal, one of Them could volunteer to take a lower place. He emptied Himself.
He poured out from Himself the glory, the honour, and the position that belonged to Him. He laid these things aside and took upon Himself the form of a servant, even the likeness of men. Being found in the likeness of a man, He humbled Himself and put Himself under the authority of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the beauty of the life of Christ on earth. As you read the Gospels, you find that throughout His life on earth, though He was the Son of God, He always put Himself under the authority of the Father.
One thing that He said often was, “I can do nothing of Myself.” He could not even say anything by Himself. He said what He heard His Father say, and He did what He saw His Father doing. He said, “My hour is not yet come,” because His hour was in the hand of His Father.
Throughout the life of our Lord Jesus, you find that He took a lower place. He recognized His Father as Head, and He offered Himself as the body.
You remember Psalm 40:
Sacrifice and offering Thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast Thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of me:
I delight to do Thy will, O my God;
Yea, Thy law is within my heart.
Here you find our Lord Jesus offering Himself, as the body, to God the Head. What is our body? A body is that which carries out the will of the head.
Throughout the life of our Lord Jesus, this explains His life. His whole life on earth was not an attempt to do His own will or carry out His own desire. Never. Throughout His life, it was His Father’s will. He was the body; He was not the head. God was the Head. Now, that is divine order.
Why is there such a divine order? Because there is a work to be done, and that work could never be done if the Son did not volunteer to take a lower place. By the cooperation of the Head and the body—the Father and the Son—the work of redemption was accomplished. How beautiful and glorious it is.
It never comes into the mind of God that He is superior. It never enters into the mind of Christ that He is inferior. The whole sense of inequality is simply not there. It is another relationship.
Christ is willing to be the body, and the Father is willing to be the Head.
It is not easy to be the Head. It is not easy for the Head to decide that He must give up His only begotten Son, that He must crush Him on Calvary’s cross. That decision is not easy.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find how divine order begins. Divine order begins with the Godhead.
This divine order continues in human creation. When God created man, He created male and female. Why did He create male and female? Why should there be such distinctiveness between male and female? Why could He not create mankind as a unit?
There is a reason.
Unless He created male and female, and unless the male and female kept the order that He put there, they could not cooperate and fulfill the purpose of God’s creation of man. They were to complement each other. They were to supplement each other. They were to work together as a team, as a unit.
As they work together under the divine order of God, God’s work will be done by them. But if they do not keep the divine order, if they do not cooperate in that order, there will be chaos and confusion. That is the way sin entered into the world.
Do not think that because there is redemption, because there is a new creation, God has done away with that divine order. There is a teaching which says that in the old creation there was an order: God made man head and woman body. But in the new creation, when the redemptive work of Christ is done, the order is done away with.
Brothers and sisters, that is false.
On the contrary, you find that in redemption God has reinstated the divine order that He ordained. Redemption does not do away with it; redemption recovers it. Redemption brings us back to the beginning of God’s purpose.
When we look at this world today, we find disorder. Since the time in the garden of Eden when that order was upset, disorder has been a symptom of the world. You do not see divine order in the family. You do not see divine order between men and women. It is chaos, ruin, and disorder everywhere.
But, dear brothers and sisters, in the church, in the new creation, this is where divine order must be recovered.
Remember, there is no sense of inequality. I think the sense of inequality comes from the enemy. He tried to inject that sense into the mind of the woman as well as the man: to make men feel that they are superior, or to make women feel that they are inferior.
The superiority complex and inferiority complex have caused so much trouble in this world. Women try to compete with men, and men try to put women down. You find chaos and confusion created in families, in society, in nations, and in the world.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we thank God that through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus, He is recovering us to the beauty of divine order.
So far as spiritual life is concerned, there is no inequality. Brothers and sisters share the same life. They can enjoy the Lord, know the Lord, and have the Lord just as much as one another. Sisters can be as spiritual as brothers, and brothers can be as spiritual as sisters.
Yet, because there is a work to be done, God has a work to be done. This work cannot be done if brothers and sisters do not keep that divine order.
He wants man to be head of the family. He wants woman to be the body of the family. What will the head do if it does not have a body? What will the body do if she does not have a head?
It is by the cooperation of the head and the body in the perfect divine order that you find the purpose of the family accomplished. Wherever the divine order is established, you see that family is beautiful.
The same thing is true in the church. Wherever in the church men take their place according to divine order and women take their place according to divine order, then, when they work together, the church is built.
Do not think that it is easier for brothers to take the place of head, or that it is harder for sisters to take the place of the body. It is equally difficult. So far as our natural inclination is concerned, probably many men would rather be the body and not the head, and many women would rather be the head and not the body. That is natural, because everything is upside down.
But, dear brothers and sisters, it takes the grace of God to make a man take the place as head and to make a woman take the place as body. We need the grace of God eagerly.
If this divine order is kept, it is the most beautiful thing that you can witness upon the earth. Not only is it beautiful, but it is powerful. Why? Because there will be the building up not only of families, but of the body of Christ.
These two principles are fundamental principles. We have to understand and accept them before we can touch upon the ministry of the sisters.
Let me reiterate:
I presume that you have received these principles, and now we can proceed.
So far as the ministry of sisters is concerned, there are two opposite schools.
On one extreme, there are people who think that a woman should have absolutely no part in anything public. Her ministry should be confined to younger women and children. She should not speak; she should be silent. She should learn in quietness. She should not do anything in the presence of men.
If men are not present, she can do many things. But if men are present, she must be quiet. That is one school.
There is another school on the other extreme: the liberation of women. They say, “Since Christ has set us free, we are free indeed. Therefore there is no male and female. Women can do just as much as men. They can not only minister; they can administer.”
In other words, they can be involved in government, administration, and teaching with authority. Anything that men can do, women can do.
Therefore, it is a total liberation. You find women elders, women pastors, women apostles, and what do you not have?
Where people believe that women’s ministry should be restricted and limited, what is the result? You find bondage. You find a legalistic spirit entering into the assembly life. In the meetings, more than half of the body is paralyzed, because women cannot pray.
Unfortunately, there are often more women than men in the church. So if women cannot pray, you find that the body has already been paralyzed, and the other half tries to carry the whole body. What a weight it must be. No wonder the prayer meeting is so heavy.
Then, of course, a sense of superiority begins to develop among the brothers, and gradually they become tyrants, ruling over the sisters—sending them to the kitchen.
I remember years ago one sister complained, “There is nothing for us to do in the church but in the kitchen.”
But if you go to the other extreme, you find liberty—everyone can do what he or she pleases. Probably you will find a lot of activity and many emotional outlets, but do you know what happens? You discover that there is often shallowness and superficiality. There is nothing deep.
Brothers and sisters, I personally believe—though I know I am treading on very delicate ground—that there is a divine order. If you exercise within the order, it is beautiful. If you exercise out of order, it creates confusion.
This is not something to argue about. If you accept it, accept it. If you do not accept it, do not argue.
Oh, brothers and sisters, I see the beauty of the whole thing. It is not that brothers should try to put sisters down, nor that sisters should try to lift themselves up in spite of brothers. Whenever that happens, you find a mess; there is a tug-of-war.
No. If there is that kind of spirit in the church, how can the church be built?
You find a beautiful spirit when brothers, with fear and trembling, look for the grace of God that they may function as head, giving themselves completely in love and sacrifice. It is not easy.
And sisters, equally with fear and trembling, look to the Lord that they may really serve as the body, giving themselves fully for the Lord.
There should be no sense of inequality, no idea of superiority or inferiority. Everyone should try to function as fully as possible, but each within divine order. Brothers and sisters, how beautiful!
Not because sisters are told, “You shall be silent,” but because sisters delight to be silent. That makes all the difference.
I feel that the whole matter of the ministry of sisters has become so distorted because people approach it legalistically. If you approach it in a legalistic way, brothers and sisters, you destroy the whole thing.
It has to begin with the right spirit. We must all approach it with a right spirit. Not only must sisters have the right spirit; brothers must have the right spirit.
What I would like to do in this paper is simply go through the Bible, not tell you my own opinion. I would like to go through the New Testament. There is too much in the Bible concerning the ministry of sisters, so I have no time to go back to the Old Testament. I will confine myself to the New Testament.
Let us go through the New Testament and see the ministry of the sisters as we find it there. That is the ministry of the sisters today—nothing less and nothing more.
The New Testament record begins with the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We may call it the pre-church period, or the time of preparation for the church.
In the record of the Gospels, you discover three women who stand out distinctly. Not only were men involved; women were deeply involved, equally involved, if not more involved.
There was Zacharias, a priest, and he had a wife, Elizabeth. They were both godly. They walked in the ordinances and commandments of God blamelessly.
It was through Elizabeth that John the Baptist came into the world. God used Elizabeth to bring in John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah.
Then there was Mary, the virgin. Of course, we should not neglect Joseph. Oftentimes, when we speak of Mary, we are liable to overlook Joseph. Joseph is equally commendable as Mary. It was not easy to be Joseph.
But Mary was so pure before God that God was able to choose her, to favour her with the womb of the Holy One. Christ was born to Mary. What understanding she had concerning the way and purpose of God.
Then you find the third woman, Anna the prophetess. She was a widow, eighty-four years old. She lived in the temple and served God day and night with fasting and prayer.
Sometimes we think that in the temple there were only males, because only males were priests. According to the Old Testament, only the males of the tribe of Levi, of the family of Aaron, entered into the temple to serve as priests. Sometimes people feel that the temple was a male place.
No, you find women in the temple. Even in the time of Moses, you find women who waited at the entrance of the tabernacle. It was their mirrors that made the brazen laver.
Here you find Anna. She lived in the temple; she did not leave the temple. She served the Lord day and night with prayer and fasting. When the child Jesus was presented to God and entered the temple area, she spoke to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem concerning the Messiah.
That is what Anna did: she prophesied.
Then you come to the time when our Lord Jesus began His public ministry. It is true that when He chose the twelve apostles, they were all men. There is a reason for that, because they would be more involved with public ministry.
Yet, in the days of our Lord in the flesh, there were not only male disciples. There were many women who followed Him.
Luke 8:1-3 says:
And it came to pass soon afterwards, that He went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of God, and with Him the twelve,
And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary that was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
And Joanna the wife of Chuzas Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto them of their substance.
Brothers and sisters, how could the Lord fulfill His ministry on earth without these women? These women ministered to the Lord and to His disciples with their substance.
Among these women, you remember Mary and Martha. No one served the Lord more diligently than Martha, and no one knew the heart of the Lord more than Mary. The Lord loved them because they loved the Lord.
When our Lord was arrested, His disciples scattered. But all the way to Calvary, Luke 23 records that many women followed and wept. They were not ashamed to confess the One who was considered a criminal of the state. They went after Him.
Mary anointed the Lord before He was arrested. A few women took spices and ointments on the first day of the week, seeking to anoint the body of the Lord. On the day of resurrection, it was the women who carried the news of the risen Lord to the disciples.
The Lord said, “Go and tell My brethren, that they may go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me.” The women carried the news of the resurrection of our Lord. Women were very much involved in the work of God.
When you come to the book of Acts, you find that after our Lord had risen and ascended, one hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. Acts 1:14 says:
These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.
Among the one hundred and twenty, there were women. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there. The women, as well as the men, gave themselves to continual prayer.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the one hundred and twenty, the women, as well as the men, received the Holy Spirit. They spoke with other tongues. They magnified the Lord and spoke of the great things of God to those gathered around them.
But it was Peter and the eleven who stood and addressed the crowd. It was not because the women did not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was not because the women did not magnify the Lord or tell the great things of God to the people. They did.
But when it came to the formal public address, it was Peter and the eleven who stood. It was simply a matter of divine order.
Women were very much involved in the early church. In Acts 5, when the church had its first problem, it involved not only a man, but a man and woman—Ananias and Sapphira. As a couple, they consulted together in trying to deceive the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 6, the widows of the Hellenistic Jews were being overlooked in the daily ministration. The women were very much involved.
After Stephen was martyred, Saul began to enter into every house, dragging away men and women and putting them into prison. We do not know how many women and children were among the believers in the church in Jerusalem.
On the day of Pentecost, three thousand were added. There must have been women among those three thousand. Then five thousand were added, and there must have been women among those five thousand. The Lord added to the church both men and women. Women were dragged away and put into prison just as men were. They suffered as much as the men for the sake of Christ.
Peter travelled around, and in Acts 9 he was in Lydda. At Joppa there was a certain woman disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is Dorcas. She was full of good works and almsdeeds.
Acts 9:36 says:
And there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.
She became sick and died. The disciples sent for Peter, and all the widows stood by weeping and showing him the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter prayed, and she was raised from the dead.
There you find in Joppa a woman disciple. What good work she had done. Women were not unnoticed in the early church. There are specific women mentioned in Scripture.
When you come to Acts 12, you find that Peter was arrested. But the angel came, opened the iron gate, and Peter came out. After he came out and realized that he had been set free, he had to think where he should go, because there were many prayer meetings going on.
There were so many believers in Jerusalem, and when Peter was arrested, they all prayed for him. They could not pray in one house, so prayer meetings were going on in many houses. Peter had to think for a while where he should go.
He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Here you find a woman who gave her house to the Lord and allowed the saints to meet there. That was a place of worship. Very much involved, very much involved.
Then you come to Paul. God chose him, and on his first missionary journey he went out with Barnabas through the Galatian region, including Iconium and Lystra. In Lystra lived two very famous women: Lois, the grandmother, and Eunice, the mother of Timothy.
We do not know when Lois and Eunice came to the Lord. We do not know whether they were among the first believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost. But we do know that these two women knew the Lord, loved the Lord, and brought up Timothy in the admonition and discipline of the Lord. What a good work they did. Oh, that mothers would do such good work.
In Acts 16, God called Paul from Asia into Europe. The first city was Philippi, and the first one saved there was a woman—Lydia, a seller of purple.
Purple at that time was expensive clothing, so she must have been a wealthy woman. She was from Asia, from Thyatira, and had a business in Philippi. She must have been a very capable woman.
After she was saved, she pleaded with Paul and his associates, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.”
The ministry of Lydia began the moment she was saved. How she must have ministered to Paul and those who travelled with him.
In a sense, this gave the church in Philippi its special spiritual atmosphere. Paul appreciated that very much. When he wrote to the Philippians, he said, “From the first day until now,” you have worked together with me in the gospel. Perhaps Lydia began it all.
From there Paul moved on to Thessalonica. Acts 17 says that some believed and joined themselves to Paul and Silas, including “of the chief women not a few.”
In the church in Thessalonica, there were chief women, not a few. These were not ordinary women. In the eyes of the world, they must have been talented women, women with ability, influence, and means. Not a few of them came into the church in Thessalonica.
Then Paul went to Athens and was able to speak only once on Mars’ Hill. He was not given a second opportunity. Yet some people came to the Lord, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
The Holy Spirit took note of that woman. There must have been something special there.
When you come to Acts 18, you meet a famous woman, Priscilla. Paul came to Corinth and met a couple there, Aquila and Priscilla. They had been driven out of Rome and had come to Corinth. Paul stayed with them because they had the same trade: tentmaking.
I sometimes wonder whether Aquila and Priscilla were among those people in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Perhaps they went home and were already believers. I do not know. But at least Paul stayed with them.
When Paul left Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila went with him. Notice that Priscilla’s name is placed before Aquila’s name.
The Holy Spirit is very careful. When the family is mentioned, it is Aquila and Priscilla, because in the family that was the order. But when speaking of their work in the journey, evidently both joined Paul in the work, and perhaps Priscilla was more of a fellow worker with Paul in the work than Aquila. That is the reason her name was sometimes placed first.
Whenever the church in their house is mentioned, you find Aquila and Priscilla. But otherwise, you often find Priscilla and Aquila.
When Apollos came to Ephesus, they were there, and there was a church in their house. Acts 18:26 says:
And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately.
Why does it say Aquila and Priscilla? This is my personal belief: I believe Priscilla was a teacher. God gave her the gift of teaching. I believe it was Priscilla who actually instructed Apollos, but it was Aquila and Priscilla together. Why? Because Priscilla was under the covering of her husband. That is all. She was not uncovered; she was covered by her husband.
That couple must have been very dear to Paul, and not only to Paul, but to the early churches. Wherever this couple went, a church was raised up.
When Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:19:
The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Prisca salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
Because the assembly met in their house, Aquila’s name was placed first. The church in Ephesus met in the house of Aquila and Priscilla.
When you read Romans 16, you find Aquila and Priscilla in Rome, and again there was an assembly in their house. When you go to 2 Timothy 4, Paul writes to Timothy in Ephesus, and you find Aquila and Priscilla there. Wherever they went, God used this couple to raise up an assembly. Wonderful.
Of course, God used Aquila. But, in a sense, perhaps Priscilla was more used spiritually in the building of the churches. Wonderful.
Romans 16 is almost like an honour roll. In that honour roll, you find how many sisters are mentioned.
First of all, Romans 16:1-2 says:
I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae:
That ye receive her in the Lord, worthily of the saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever matter she may have need of you: for she herself also hath been a helper of many, and of mine own self.
Here you find this dear sister, Phoebe. Probably Phoebe brought Paul’s letter to the Romans from Paul to the church in Rome. She must have had some business to attend to in Rome. What a woman.
She lived in Cenchreae, the seaport of Corinth, and she had business that required her to travel all the way to Rome. In those early days, travel was very difficult, especially for a woman travelling on business to the capital of the world.
Paul calls her “a servant of the church which is in Cenchreae.” The word may be rendered deacon or deaconess—a servant in an active sense. Evidently, Phoebe was very actively involved in the church at Cenchreae. She may have been a deaconess.
We know that the work of deaconesses was to take care of the sick and poor, to visit martyrs and those imprisoned for the sake of Christ. Many were in prison at that time, and women did that work. They went to prison to comfort and bring supplies to the martyrs. They also instructed those who wanted to believe in the Lord and supervised the care of female believers.
Phoebe was one of such ministers, most likely a deaconess. Paul said, “Receive her in the Lord worthily of the saints.” The word “receive” is more than merely receiving her physically or giving her hospitality. It has the sense of opening your heart to her.
Why? Because she was used to help people in a spiritual way.
Paul said that she had been “a helper of many.” The word “helper” has the sense of a patroness or protectress—not merely one who helps, but one who serves as a patron.
In Roman society, you had patrons who were wealthy and influential. They patronized artists and other people. People looked to them for help. Phoebe was a patroness, a protectress. She helped many people. She even helped Paul.
What a ministry of a sister.
Sisters, do not think that all your ministry is insignificant. Not at all. This sister served in the church in such a way that she was a patroness.
Then in Romans 16:3, Paul says:
Salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus,
Who for my life laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
You find Prisca named first because it concerns the work. When it comes to the work, you find that Prisca was perhaps a more intimate worker with Paul than Aquila. They were fellow workers who risked their lives for Paul.
Then Paul says:
Salute Mary, who bestowed much labour on you.
And later he says:
Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord.
Salute Persis the beloved, who laboured much in the Lord.
These were all women. These women laboured in the Lord and laboured much in the Lord.
Paul also says:
Salute Rufus the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
And again:
Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints that are with them.
Brothers and sisters, you find that the Lord takes note of sisters. The Lord not only takes note of brothers; He takes note of sisters. These women are especially mentioned to show us how much they were involved.
The church cannot be built if women do not function as they should. The work of God cannot be done if women do not fulfil their ministry.
We must work together as one, according to the grace and gift that God has given to us, keeping the divine order and working together. I believe this is God’s will.
I have not told you specifically what the ministry of the sisters is. I leave it with you and the Holy Spirit.
Our heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that there is no partiality in the gift and the grace of God. How we praise and thank Thee that we are all one in Christ. There is no male and female.
But how we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast an order in the church and in the family. O our Father, help us to praise and see the beauty of it through working together, that we may do the work that Thou hast called us to do.
So, our heavenly Father, do give us the right spirit, that we may all be before Thee. May we know by Thy Holy Spirit in what way we shall minister, and how we may all fulfil our functions in the body of Christ.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.