GREAT GODLY WOMEN

GREAT GODLY WOMEN 

Bill Boyd


        There were many great women in the New Testament church.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned for the last time in Acts 1:14 and with her were other women who were important in the life of Jesus.

In Acts 2 Peter quotes Joel reminding us that “daughters” and “handmaidens” would receive gifts of the Spirit, and we see this in the four daughters of Philip in Acts 21:9. 

Acts 5:14 says “believers were the more added to the Lord, both men and women,” and when Philip went down to Samaria they were baptized “both men and women”(Acts 8:12). 

Acts 8:3 and Acts 9:2tells us that women in the church endured persecutions along with the men. Dorcas was distinguished for her good works and almsdeeds, and Peter raised her from the dead (Acts 9:36-42).

John Mark’s mother, Mary, hosted a prayer meeting in her home in Acts 12:12- 17 and at that gathering was a damsel named Rhoda. 

Acts 16:1 and 2 Timothy 1:5 honors Lois and Euncie, the grandmother and mother of Timothy, both for their faith and how they passed their faith on to Timothy. 

Acts 16:14 tells of Lydia, a business woman, and a worshiper of God, who with the women with her were the first to receive the Gospel in Europe during Paul’s second missionary journey, and of her hospitality in hosting Paul and his company in Philippi.

When Paul preached in Thessalonica those who believed included “chief women not a few” (Acts 17:4), and among the believers in Berea were“honorable women which were Greeks” (Acts 17:12).

Most mocked Paul when he preached in Athens, but among those who heard was “a woman named Damaris.” From Corinth, to Ephesus, to Rome among Paul’s fellow laborers were Priscilla and her husband Aquila (Acts 18:18,26, and Rom. 16:3).

The mothers of Tyre brought their children to see Paul in Acts 21:4. There are many women commended by name in the epistles. 

        Some search the Scriptures for women preachers (Philip’s daughters in Acts 21:9?), women deacons (Phoebe in Rom. 16:1?), and even women apostles (Junia inRom. 16:7?), but it is not possible to demonstrate that women in the New Testament church filled the roles they filled in the same manner as men. Paul clearly distinguished between the role of men and women in the assemblies and in the positional leadership of the church in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and1 Corinthians 14:34-35. 

        Those who honor Paul’s distinctions are accused of relegating women second class citizens in the kingdom and demeaning their potential contributions, but far to the contrary, God honors women who serve with modesty, reverence, purity, reserve, and inward quietness (1 Tim. 2:9-11, 1 Peter 3:1-4). Men with titles and public roles receive a lot of attention, but God sees not as man sees and in God’s eyes the “greatest among you will be your servant” (Matt. 23:11). 

        I am convinced that faithful godly women have always been among the greatest in the church. You may not find them in the history books, but what of that, their names are written in heaven. 

                647 Finger Bluff Road 
                Morrison, TN 37357


 


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