Women in white raiment

by John Lemley

So of Christian usefulness. The needle in Tabitha’s hand was a very small instrument, but the deeds it wrought, clothed the widows and blessed a church. The two mites of the poor widow were a little sum, but measured by their motive, they were perhaps the largest contribution ever made to Christian charity. It is said that a tract, from the hands of a servant girl, led to the conversion of no less than Richard Baxter. He awoke to a world of usefulness. Among the library of books he wrote was the “Call to the Unconverted.” It fell into the hands of Philip Doddridge. It led him to Christ. Doddridge, too, awoke to a world of usefulness. His “Rise and Progress” was the means of the awakening of William Wilberforce. A book of his writing led to the salvation of Leigh Richmond. He wrote the “Dairyman’s Daughter,” that fell upon the world like a leaf from heaven—all the fruitage of a single tract from the hand of a maid.

“What is that in thine hand?” the Almighty asked Moses while he kept Jethro’s flock in the back side of the desert, and Moses said, “A rod,” a shepherd’s staff, cut out of the thicket near by, with which he guided his sheep. Any day he might throw it away and cut a better one, but God said, “With this rod thou shalt save Israel.”

What is that in thine hand, Sarah? Three measures of meal with which I prepare my dinner. Hasten, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth, and angels shall sit at thy table to-day. What is that in thine hand, Rebekah? A pitcher with which I carry water. Use it in watering the thirsty camels of Eliezer, and thou shalt be an heir in the house of Abraham? What is that in thine hand, Miriam? Only a timbrel. Use it in leading the women of Israel in the song of triumph over Pharaoh’s hosts. What is that in thine hand, Rahab? Only a scarlet thread. Bind it in the window, and thou shalt save thyself and household. What is that in thine hand, poor widow? Only two mites. Give them to God, and behold, the fame of your riches fills the world. What hast thou, weeping woman? An alabaster box of ointment. Give it to God. Break it, and pour it on thy Saviour’s head, and its sweet perfume is a fragrance in the church till now. What is that in thine hand? A broom. Use it for God. A broom in the hand of a Christian woman may be as truly used for His glory, as was the sceptre of David. What is that in thine hand? A pen. Use it for God. Oh, matchless instrument! Write words of comfort and sympathy that shall echo around the globe. Oh, can you not find some poor soul to-day who does not know Jesus? Can you not tell some wanderer about the Christ? What is in thine hand? Wealth. Consecrate it now to God. What is in thy mouth? A tongue of eloquence. Use it for God. The tongue is the mightiest instrument that God ever made. What is in thine hand? A kindly grasp? Give that to some sad, desponding soul. We need grit and grace to use the common things in the ordinary way in the daily occupations of life. Consecrate the pen, the needle, the tongue, the hands, the feet, and the heart to Jesus. Our Lord gave dignity to labor; the sweat-beads of honest toil stood on His brow.

This is God’s way of working. He chooses to use the least things—even things that amount to nothing—to accomplish His work in the salvation of the race. Use your leisure. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort the wretched, spread the gospel far and wide. If you have nothing else, use your needle, and the garments will multiply, and the destitutes will be clothed. A poor girl who had nothing but a sewing machine, used it to aid a feeble church; all her earnings above her needs were given towards building a house of worship, and in a year she paid more than a hundred others richer than she. So you can do if you will. If you but knew it, you have Tabitha’s needle in your hand—the simple instrumentality with which to do good. When the pierced hand of our Lord is laid on consecrated needles, on the ordinary means within our reach, on wealth, on learning, on beauty, on culture, on every gift and grace in every relation in life, then the splendor of the millennial dawn will color the eastern sky with its crimson and gold.

From the beautiful home of Tabitha, in Joppa, the Sacred history runs on until Lydia, in the city of Philippi, is reached.

While at Troas, Paul had a remarkable vision in the night, of a man of Macedonia, standing before him and praying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” How Paul knew this man to be a Macedonian is not stated. Perhaps he may have frequently seen Macedonian seamen in Tarsus, his birthplace, which was a flourishing commercial city on the Mediterranean, or he may have recognized him by his speech or national dress. This man entreated him, in the vision, to cross over the sea from Asia into Europe, and come to the aid of the inhabitants of Macedonia. Paul had never been in Europe, and had no thought of going there. On the other hand, he had been delivering the decrees issued by the church council at Jerusalem, through the maritime cities of Asia Minor, and “assayed to go into Bithynia,” but was restrained by the Spirit of God. Being thus convinced, he embarked at Troas, taking with him as fellow-laborers, Silas, Timothy, and Luke.

After a rapid and successful voyage over the peaceful waters of the Ægean Sea, in a direct course to the north-west, they reached the island of Samothrace. The next day they proceeded to Neapolis, situated on the Strymonic Gulf, and a seaport of Thrace. From this point they continued their journey, probably, on foot. Following the ancient well-paved road up the steep Symbolum hills, until they reached the solitary pass through the mountains, at an elevation of 1,600 feet above the sea. Once through this lonely pass and a magnificent view is obtained of the plain in which Philippi is located, and of the Pangæus and Hæmus ranges, which close in the plain to the south-west and north-east. At one point on the summit of Symbolum one can look down into Neapolis on the sea, and into Philippi in the plain. From this point the Apostles descended to the plain below by a yet steeper road than the ascent out of Neapolis. At length, at the end of a twelve miles’ jaunt on foot, finds them in “the chief city of that part of Macedonia,” and they were quite prepared for a good meal and a night’s rest.

The next morning, being the Sabbath day, the Apostles began to look about the city for a synagogue. But there was no synagogue in Philippi, only one of those light, temporary structures, called proseuchæ, which was merely an enclosure without a roof, and was located on the banks of the swiftly-rushing Anghista (not the Strymon, as some writers have it), and so the Apostles hastened “out of the city” to the “river side,” to the proseuchæ, “where prayer was wont to be made.”

THE CITY BY THE ANGHISTA.