A Note About the Holy Spirit and Women:
The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost on the whole church, men and women. Peter makes it clear when he quotes from the prophet Joel that men and women will prophesy or speak the word of God.
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17,18)
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, not is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).
Every believer no matter their ethnic background, economic condition, or gender has the privilege of serving in God’s kingdom.
One Lord, one body of Christ, one message. All of the members of the body work together to take the Gospel of reconciliation and peace to the world. There are a number of places where the gifts of the Spirit are listed (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11-13; and 1 Peter 4:11) but in no place does God tell us that any of the gifts are for men only. All of the gifts or graces were given to every believer.
In our last lesson we looked at the life of a deacon that Paul commends to the Church – Phoebe. This week we will learn about the lives of some women who were leaders of the early house churches – Mary, the mother of John Mark, Lydia, Nympha, and Chloe.
Mary, Mother of John Mark
And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. (Acts 12:12)
There are six famous Mary’s in the New Testament. Four of them, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary of Magdala, Mary of Bethany, and Mary the mother of James and John, are named in the Gospels. There are stories of these women and many others who followed and served Jesus while He was on earth in previous postings (spread out from January through May, 2014). Two other Mary’s are mentioned in the book of Acts – Mary, the mother of John Mark, and Mary of Rome.
Mary the mother of John Mark is one of those remarkable women in the New Testament who are mentioned only once. But just as in the story of Anna the prophetess, Luke gives us enough details in this one verse to know and understand much about this courageous woman.
Since this house is referred to as her house, and not her husband’s, she was probably a widow. She was also wise enough to run her own household. Luke tells us that many were gathered in Mary’s house in Jerusalem, so we know that it was a large house. Mary must have been wealthy and well known to the disciples. They used her home as an early house church. Here the believers could also gather to pray or use Mary’s home as a refuge when the persecutions began, which happened quite soon.
Herod put Peter in prison. After his remarkable escape which you can read about in Acts 12, Peter went to the home of Mary, the mother of his friend John Mark. Mary must have been a very courageous woman. She was aware of the persecution of the Christians, and had no doubt heard about the martyrdom of James. She knew that she risked arrest and imprisonment for helping the followers of Christ. In spite of possible grave danger to herself, she opened her home as a place for believers to meet and encourage one another.
The believers were praying there when Peter came. They knew it was a miracle. Mary trusted God to take care of her as she served Him by aiding the believers in the early church. She knew what was the right thing to do and she bravely faced whatever might come her way to follow the Lord.
Lydia, First convert in Europe
“A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening: and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
Lydia fills a remarkable place in the history of the expansion of the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus told His followers to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world. In the Old Testament, God had been mostly dealing with His Jewish children. But now, God wants His story of love and salvation to go to everyone, even Gentiles. God’s dealing with Lydia is just one story that illustrates God’s plan for the ages.
Another thing that changed with the coming of Christ and the Holy Spirit was that now women would be involved in the work of ministry as well as men.
When Paul and Luke arrived in Philippi they went to the synagogue first as was Paul’s
usual practice. But in God’s providence, there wasn’t one in Philippi. They stayed there for some days, and on the Sabbath they went outside of the city to a riverside looking for people at a place of prayer that they were told would be there. God led Paul, Luke and the others to speak to the women who were gathered by the riverside. Even though there were only women there, Paul knew this was God’s will and he began to preach.
A woman named Lydia was listening. God “opened her heart” and she became a believer. Lydia and her whole household were baptized. She was so grateful for her salvation that she immediately opened her home in hospitality to Paul and the disciples traveling with him. Like Mary the mother of John Mark, Lydia was a very courageous woman. She took the risk of opening her home to the disciples willingly. Even while Paul and Silas were in prison, she continued to use her home for the place of meeting for the new little church where all of the new believers met for fellowship and prayer.
That is where Paul and Silas went when they left the prison. By this time, many others were coming to Christ. The first church in Europe started in Lydia’s home. In a few years, Paul would write an epistle to these Christians who continued to do well in love and service to God. (See Paul’s epistle to the Philippians.)
Lydia is a remarkable example of a gifted, generous woman. As women we can all be encouraged by her graciousness, hospitality, sacrificial love for the brethren, servant attitude, and especially her love for her Savior Jesus Christ. We can be thankful that her story is included for us in the New Testament. It is further evidence of the new place for women in service in the Kingdom of God.
Nympha and Chloe
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. (Col. 4:15)
For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. (I Cor. 1:11)
Nympha and Chloe were house church leaders. In the early church, female church leaders exercised the same authority as male leaders. They had the same social standing and were granted the same respect and honor. They were in charge of all that went on in their homes including the worship services. There is no mention in Acts or in the writings of the early church historians that the women were subordinated to men who were present in their homes. These women were probably better educated and it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that they could read the Scriptures as they became converts to Christianity. They would be in a better position to teach the gospel than anyone who was less educated, including men.
But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work (I Thess. 5:12-13).
When Paul was giving these instructions to the Thessalonian Christians, he was referring to their church leaders which at that time were house church leaders, including women like Mary, Lydia, Priscilla, Nympha, and Chloe. Later Paul began to refer to the house church leaders as episkopoi which means overseers/bishops. “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons” (Phil. 1.1). We know that Lydia was in charge of her house church and so Lydia was among the first overseers/bishops of the early church.
At Pentecost all believers were filled with the Spirit. This included women and they began to serve in the Kingdom of God along with the men doing whatever they were called to do. This is still true today – women can follow the example given us by the women in the Bible to serve however they are called with faithfulness and courage.
