The New Testament also shows us that among so many Marys, some stood by the cross watching and observing the Lord Jesus when He was being crucified. They saw the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. All the sisters have to see such a portrait of the crucified Lord Jesus. In other words, the sisters have to take a position which experiences the death of Christ.

Furthermore, you need to do something that makes the burial of the Lord Jesus so sweet. It must be that whenever you mention the name of the Lord Jesus, people can sense something so sweet. If you do not have such a love, although you may mention His name in the same way, there will be no sweetness. There is a big difference. In the New Testament there is no position assigned to the sisters for taking the lead or doing a big work or being a great speaker. Rather, the position which has been assigned to the sisters is to love Him, to follow Him, to minister to Him, to experience His death, and to make Him so sweet to everyone. He was the rejected One, the condemned One, the crucified One, yet to you He is the lovable One. Your portion is to experience the death of the Lord Jesus and to make the rejected Jesus so sweet to everyone.

Moreover, the sisters must discover something of the resurrection and be first to know the Lord’s ascension (John 20:11-18). The Lord’s resurrection was not discovered first by Peter, but by Mary. The brothers received the revelation from a sister. Mary saw the empty sepulcher and went to tell Peter. She didn’t teach Peter, but she did pass on the revelation. In the church we do not need the sisters to teach, but we do need the sisters to see the revelation and to discover some of the things related to the Lord’s resurrection life.

I am hoping that in the coming days many sisters could stand up in the meetings, testifying, “Hallelujah! This morning I saw the empty tomb! I saw something new of the resurrected Christ!” This would not be a kind of teaching, but a heavenly report. I would love to hear such a report. To me the best meeting is not a kind of teaching meeting but a meeting full of divine reports. I would love to hear such a sweet and divine report out of the mouths of all the sisters. The same report out of the mouths of the brothers would not be so sweet. But such a report concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus out of the mouth of the little sisters would be sweet to everyone. The sisters saw the resurrection first.

After the four Gospels we come to the stage of the church. In Acts there were no sisters taking the lead in the church, but they were praying. When the twelve were praying for ten days before the time of Pentecost, the sisters were also there. In Acts 12 the prayer meeting was even in a sister’s home. It did not say that Peter went to Andrew’s home where so many were praying but that he went to Mary’s home. All the sisters in the church have to learn to pray. If you see a problem, don’t talk about it and don’t gossip about it-pray. If Peter is thrown into prison, don’t talk-pray! You have to be so involved in the prayer and so burdened in the prayer, that even after your prayer has been answered, you would continue to pray. If you expect your local church to be strong, you must be praying sisters. You must not be gossiping and talking sisters, but praying sisters. We need the sisters to pray. Whenever you see that the church needs something, whenever you see some shortcomings, whenever you see something lacking in the church, don’t spread any rumors-pray. Stop the rumors by praying; even kill the rumors by praying. You must pray and pray and pray until Peter comes back. Pray to such an extent that even after the prayers are answered, you are still praying. This is so healthy. I do know that many of you pray, but I hope that more of you will learn to pray, and that those who pray already will pray more.

Romans 16 mentions so many laboring and ministering sisters, the first of whom is Phoebe. We need many Phoebes in the church. Phoebe was a deaconess in the church in Cenchrea. We need many sisters who will minister in the churches, serving to such an extent they would be called deaconesses.

In verse 3 we read, “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” In principle, the Bible usually mentions the man before the woman, but here is an exception. Paul did not say, “Greet Aquila and Prisca,” but, “Greet Prisca and Aquila.” It must be because Prisca was a very special sister.

Verse 12 says, “Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa....Greet Persis...who has labored much in the Lord.” In verse 13 there is the mother of Rufus. Rufus’s mother was also the mother of the apostle Paul. Do you know what this means? This means the mother of Rufus was always taking care of the apostle Paul as her own son. She was continually nourishing, cherishing, and caring for this single brother, the apostle Paul. She was actually the mother of Rufus, and yet Paul said she was also his mother because she took care of him.
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