LYDIA Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. God often works in ways we don t expect! Paul and Silas were experienced preachers of the Gospels. At the start of their journey, they had travelled north from Jerusalem, to Antioch, and then across to Galatia where Paul and Barnabas had established churches throughout the region. After the Galatian churches Paul and Silas reckoned they should go west, to the area known as Asia Minor. That made perfect sense because they had had already settled churches in the east and to the south was water (!) so, it seemed west was the direction to go! However, the Holy Spirit said, No, Acts 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, Okay, they had already been to the east, they couldn t go south because it was the Mediterranean Sea, and they were forbidden to go west The only other option was north We ll go to Bithynia! But, No said the Holy Spirit, 7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. By now, they must have been at the stage, Well, Lord, where do You want us to go?! It could have been quite confusing! North, south, east, and west the Lord seemed to be shutting all the doors! However, Paul knew he had been called into the work and, therefore, the Lord had something somewhere for him to do. They passed through a city called Mysia (v.8) to another city named Troas (Alexandria Troas), - just ten miles away from the ancient city of Troy. (Historically, this was a region from where the ancient Old Testament Hittites came from.) Now, Troas was a Greek city, - a free Greek city, - until Caesar Augustus made it a Roman colony. This is from where great people such as Helen of Troy, Homer, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates came. While in the city of Troas God eventually gave Paul the direction to take, 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. So this
2 party of missionaries, - consisting of Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, - were in Philippi. Philippi was named after the Greek Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. But, it was now a Roman city with all the privileges afforded by the Romans. They had their own self-government, they didn t pay tribute to the Emperor, and they had all the rights of Roman citizens. So, basically, here was the Gospel landing in a piece of Rome! It was a bit like what Gibraltar is to Great Britain. What an opportunity! Let s go straightaway into the marketplaces and preach the Gospel! No, instead, 13 on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. Probably the reason they didn t do anything until the Sabbath was because they always wanted to preach to the Jews first. Normally, they would have gone to a synagogue, but to have a synagogue you needed to have at least a quorum of ten men (a minian, or minyan) but there didn t seem to be sufficient men to have a synagogue, so the women met on the river bank. What a place for the Holy Spirit to take these servants of God in amongst a group of women! I don t mean to be offensive, but it would not have been the first choice of a male Jewish missionary team! Nevertheless, it was where the Lord had taken them, 13 on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. So, here is a group of women, in the open air, without a synagogue in which to worship and they are congregated on the banks of the river. There were no men to lead them, and no men to teach them. Yet, Paul found them praying. In particular, his concentration settled on one woman, 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God. Lydia was her name, but it was also the name of the area in Asia Minor where she came from from the city of Thyatira. By the way, coins are said to have been invented in the region of Lydia c. 7 th century BC. Anyhow, Lydia was a successful business woman, and she was almost certainly a Gentile who had converted to Judaism (Jewish proselyte), she worshipped God. She had turned from paganism, and from the idols of Thyatira. She was a good woman, - she had made a good decision. She would have been a good employer, with an honest reputation. She wouldn t have done anyone
3 any wrong and here she was in her own way, according to the Jewish tradition she had adopted, worshipping God. Now, let s back up a little. She was better than she used to be, - the word for worshipped (se,bomai) means revered. She revered, honoured, and respected the Name of God. That is how her Jewish faith taught her. This was a good woman! She had left paganism, - there were at least two dozen major deities associated with the district of Lydia, - and she had purposely turned her back on them, - the gods worshipped by many in the business world and she had chosen Judaism. She was a proselyte and that was a great step forward! But let s not rush She was a Jew trying to fulfil the perfect Law of God given to Moses, which she knew she never could do. She was happier as a Jew, though, than when she was a Gentile idolater but, at the same time, there remained something that was eluding her. How do we know that? We know that because she listened to Paul. As a Jew, - and he continued to be a Jew after he became a Christian, - he knew and he would have told her the Gospel. If Lydia was anything to go by, he was in the company of lovely and sincere women who loved their faith. However, from the beginning Paul would have shared with her about her need of salvation, Rom. 3:23 all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. It says, Rom. 3:10 There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Ah, but is that relevant to Lydia? Yes, granted, Lydia had turned from pagan idolatry, - from worshipping idols, - to seeking to know God, and she was a Jewess. She wasn t what she used to be but, by the fact she was listening to Paul, she was on her way along the next stage of the road to finding God. God knew where this woman was and that is why He brought Paul to find her. With all the directions Paul could have taken, the Lord brought him to the riverbank where Lydia was. God brought about the circumstances whereby she would come into contact with the Gospel and be saved. Yes, she was a Jew, and a faithful religious Jew at that but she wasn t saved. She was a good person, a beautiful, and upright but she wasn t saved until God s grace opened her heart and the Holy Spirit applied the Gospel 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened That is what the Lord
4 did to save her! He opened her heart to believe in Jesus, - He brought the light into her previously darkened soul. He brought Paul to where she was right into her circumstances so that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. She thought her religion was sufficient and she had made a change from paganism to Judaism but when Paul spoke to her she realised it wasn t religion she needed, but a personal relationship by faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. God had taken Paul all the way from Jerusalem, through many towns and villages along the way, - hundreds of miles and He had brought him to her along the riverbank in Philippi. That is what He does when He saves a soul. He pursues until He succeeds in what He sets out to do. He places within the sinner the desire to find Him, and the promise is Dt. 4:29 if thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. And this woman Lydia was a seeker, and God never turns away anyone who is searching for Him. And there is another interesting and very meaningful word here, 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us. Many people come into a place where the Gospel is being preached, and yet they don t hear. They don t hear how the message is for them. It has no interest to them. It s as quick as they can to get out and away but when God is working, that sinner hears. The message will not let go of them until they come to Christ. They might initially wriggle and squirm, but they will ultimately trust in Christ as Saviour. They will realise it was for them He died on the cross of Calvary It was for them His blood was shed. Like Lydia, they weren t bad people In fact, they were religious. They believed in God, they would attend church every now and again but when Lydia truly heard, the Lord opened her heart so that she believed in Jesus Christ as her Saviour. That is a great privilege It is a great privilege when you hear and learn and recognise Jesus died for you. Consider how many people never hear because their ears are blocked up with the enjoyments in life, or with their careers, or with their own pursuits they never hear and yet you heard. And you heard because God unblocked your mind so that you would understand and take it in that He sent His Son for you.
5 And notice how Lydia was saved, whose heart the Lord opened the Lord opened her heart. If He hadn t opened it, it would have remained closed. The picture is often drawn where Christ is standing on the outside of the door, where there is no handle and He is knocking helplessly, and He is waiting patiently for the one on the inside to open the door. But no, when it comes to the matter of the sinner s salvation, it is the Lord alone Who opens the door of the heart. The sinner on the inside cannot hear Him knocking because he/she is dead. They cannot get up and open the door because they are dead, spirituallyspeaking. It is Christ Who opens the door to the heart My salvation was not dependent on me, but it was all dependent upon Him! He is the One Who does the opening. Think of it He brought you to where you would hear the Gospel. He brought you to realise Jesus died for you, and He showed you how you must give your life to Him. Salvation is all of Him, and even when it comes to you asking Him into your life that is of Him also. God brought you to where you would hear the Gospel, He opened your ears that you would hear it and He opened your mind that you would understand it, and He opened your heart that you would receive it and believe it. How do I know I m saved? Paul saw a blinding light on the road to Damascus but it is not always so dramatic. For the most of us, it was a simple understanding that Jesus died on the cross to take away my sins, and by believing in Him, I claim Him as my Saviour. No flashing lights, no thundering trumpets just a simple confidence that, - as the Bible says, Acts 2:21 whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is what it takes, - calling out to Christ as Saviour, and receiving Him as your Master. But I don t feel any different There is no big change that has taken place in my life Well, look again at this woman. First of all, she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul, - what she heard she began to put into practice. She would have heard him speaking more about the Saviour. She would have heard him explain the Old Testament texts concerning the Messiah. He would have confirmed to her that Jesus was the One Isaiah and the prophets promised. And the more she listened, the more she wanted to hear and to learn. There was a change in her life, and the old things were replaced by the new. She had been searching That is what brought her from being a pagan to becoming a Jew but the journey was only complete when she believed in
6 Jesus. And immediately, she identified with Him for she was baptized. In front of her friends and colleagues, she witnessed to her new faith in Christ and then she took her Saviour back into her home, And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us and she wanted to be with God s people. She was saved, baptized, she witnessed, she brought her new faith into her home and into her work, and she wanted to be in the company of fellow-believers. The work of salvation had turned her into a new creation. Sometimes our salvation seems to come upon us so quietly, and we wonder if we are truly saved. You will actually see here perhaps something of that in the woman s statement, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. In other words, if you believe I am saved, and if you believe my salvation is real, come into my house, and abide there. There is a woman and everything about her belongs to the Lord! She was successful, and she was prosperous but everything she had, now belonged to her Saviour. There is no greater privilege than the privilege of belonging to the Lord Jesus and knowing He loved you so much that He died for you on the cross. Consider again how the Saviour found you the circumstances He put in place whereby you would come to know Him. Look back at the means by which He began His work, - it might have been through your parents or a family member, it might have been through a friend or a work colleague but as you look back on it now, you can see how God was working to bring you to salvation. To God be the glory, great things He hath done. Amen.