Women in white raiment

by John Lemley

When, in the presence of God, lowliness of heart has become, not a posture we assume for a time, but the very spirit of our life, it will manifest itself, as it did in Lydia, in all our bearing towards others. The lesson is one of deep import. The only humility really ours is not that which we assume in our devotions to God, but that which we carry with us in our ordinary conduct. The insignificances of the daily life are the importances of eternity, because they prove what spirit really possesses us. It is in our most unguarded moments we really show what we are. To know the humble woman, to know how the humble woman behaves, you must accept her hospitality as the Apostles accepted the hospitality of Lydia, and follow her to her home, and into the common course of daily life.

Humility before God is nothing if not proved in humility before men. It was when the disciples disputed who should be greatest that Jesus taught the lesson of humility by washing their feet. And this heavenly grace runs all through the epistles of Paul, the spiritual father of Lydia. To the Romans he writes, “In honor preferring one another.” “Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to those that are lowly.” “Be not wise in your own conceit.” To the Corinthians he said, “Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not provoked.” These are all the gracious fruits of humility, for there is no love without humility at its roots. To the Galatians the Apostle writes, “Through love be servants one of another. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” To the Ephesians, immediately after the three wonderful chapters on the heavenly life, he writes, “Therefore, walk with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love;” “Giving thanks always, subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” To the Philippians, “Doing nothing through faction or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, each counting others better than himself. Have the mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbled Himself.” And to the Colossians, “Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, even as the Lord forgave you.”

It is in our relation to one another, that the true lowliness of mind and the heart of humility are to be seen. Our humility before God has no value but as it prepares us to reveal the humility of Jesus to our fellow-men. Let us cultivate this beautiful gem of divine grace, which was developed in such a marked degree in the life of Lydia, the first European Christian.

But we hasten on in our narrative, and gather up in a group, as one would gather a handful of flowers, those Women in White Raiment so briefly mentioned in the Sacred records as not to give us enough of their history to write upon.

Among these are the unnamed four daughters of Philip the evangelist, who lived at Cæsarea. These daughters ranked high in the early church. They possessed the gift of prophetic utterance, and who apparently gave themselves to the work of teaching. Though no record is left us of their work, we may well believe their distinguished accomplishments brought them into contact with many people of that busy seaport city on the Mediterranean, where people of all nations came and went.

Phœbe of Cenchrea, one of the ports of Corinth. She must have been a woman of influence, and worthy of confidence and respect. She is not only commended by Paul, but was also a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea. On her was conferred the honor of carrying the letter of Paul from Corinth to Rome. Whatever her errand to Rome may have been, the independent manner of her going there seems to imply (especially when we consider the secluded habits of Greek women) that she was a woman of mature age, and was acting in an official capacity. She was not only a woman of great energy, but possessed of wealth. She evidently was of great service to Paul, and he had confidence in her integrity, for he writes in the very letter of which she was the bearer to the Romans, “I commend you unto Phœbe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea.”

Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, who had fled from Rome, in consequence of an order of Claudius commanding all Jews to leave Rome. She, with her husband, came to Corinth. In the days of the Apostle, Corinth was a place of great mental activity, as well as of commercial enterprise. Its wealth and magnificence were so celebrated as to be proverbial; so were the vices and profligacy of its inhabitants. But it was just the kind of city Paul delighted in carrying the gospel to. Where vice abounded he would have grace much more abound. Here Priscilla became acquainted with Paul, and they abode together, and wrought at their common trade of making the Cilician tent. This woman, while taking stitches in the haircloth out of which the tents were made, could also conduct a theological school with no less apt a student than that of Apollos, already noted for his eloquence, and who was “mighty in the Scriptures.” But Priscilla, as she heard this eloquent young man, at once discovered there was something wanting in his ministry. It seemed to her that Apollos knew only the baptism of John. She knew of a more excellent way, and so while she was setting stitches, she “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” O, for more Priscillas, versed in heavenly lore and skilled to impart it! Priscilla is certainly a noble example of what a woman in the ordinary walks of life may do for the church.

CORINTH, THE GATE OF THE PELOPONNESUS.

Eunice, the mother, and Lois, the grandmother of Timothy, are beautiful examples of women in the home. These women had such unfeigned faith in the gospel, and so ably instructed Timothy in the Scriptures, that this home scene made a deep and lasting impression upon Paul, and later on, in one of his epistles to Timothy, he writes, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, ... I put thee in remembrance (of this excellent home-training, and by reason of its superior advantage) that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee.”