_whole visible church_ from destruction. What Human voice first
proclaimed to Mary that she should be the mother of our Lord? It was
a woman! Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias; Luke 1, 42, 43. Who united
with the good old Simeon in giving thanks publicly in the temple, when
the child, Jesus, was presented there by his parents, "and spake of
him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem?" It was a
_woman_! Anna the prophetess. Who first proclaimed Christ as the true
Messiah in the streets of Samaria, once the capital of the ten tribes?
It was a woman! Who ministered to the Son of God whilst on earth, a
despised and persecuted Reformer, in the humble garb of a carpenter?
They were women! Who followed the rejected King of Israel, as his
fainting footsteps trod the road to Calvary? "A great company of
people and of _women_;" and it is remarkable that to _them alone_, he
turned and addressed the pathetic language, "Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and your children." Ah! who
sent unto the Roman Governor when he was set down on the judgment
seat, saying unto him, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man,
for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him?"
It was a _woman!_ the wife of Pilate. Although "_he knew_ that for
envy the Jews had delivered Christ," yet _he_ consented to surrender
the Son of God into the hands of a brutal soldiery, after having
himself scourged his naked body. Had the _wife_ of Pilate sat upon
that judgment seat, what would have been the result of the trial of
this "just person?"

And who last hung round the cross of Jesus on the mountain of
Golgotha? Who first visited the sepulchre early in the morning on the
first day of the week, carrying sweet spices to embalm his precious
body, not knowing that it was incorruptible and could not be holden by
the bands of death? These were _women!_ To whom did he _first_ appear