Saving Lydia

Rev. Andrew Hunt, III

Walking through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Saving Lydia

, “So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

“So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

Luke’s account of Paul, Silas, and Timothy’s ministry in Philippi covers the rest of . It is by far the longest record of Paul’s activity in any European city or town. In previous chapters the focus has been on Paul’s public preaching in synagogues and town centers, but here we see that has changed a bit, it is now a pattern of individual encounters or evangelism with households.

Now we see Paul as he enters into the realm of personal evangelism. We see salvation here emphasized, rather than the kingdom of God or eternal life, as the message being proclaimed in this city. We see this also in , “Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” We also see this from the dubious admission for the young lady with a satanic spirit in

, “She followed Paul and us, crying out, “ These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

So, I think we can take from this that the Greco-Roman religion was familiar with the language of salvation, but they used it in a variety of ways, which Paul’s gospel would have challenged. These three stories in the verses 16:11-40 symbolize the kind of people encountered by the missionaries in this city. They also show the consequences of preaching the gospel across the spectrum of Greco-Roman culture and life.

Other people were no doubt converted, but Luke gives us only these examples, together with the households of Lydia and later the Philippian jailer.

Let us pray…

In his new book, “Get Real: Sharing Your Everyday Faith Every Day” (New Growth Press), pastor John Leonard hopes to recast the way we think about evangelism. He says instead of cornering victims to talk to, Leonard wants us to watch for those who could use a listening ear. Leonard thinks we should engage all people including our enemies; because this will make our Gospel-sharing efforts bear more fruit.

We all would like a clean, orderly, Christian life; but that isn’t always the case, that isn’t always real. As individuals, couples, families, and communities sometimes we go through ugly stuff. We really would like to avoid these messes because deep down we don’t believe Christianity makes a difference. We really would like avoid these messes because are afraid to admit that we doubt the Gospel can help — we believe that the gospel only works for good people who have their life together.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only antidote to all the problems in ours lives and theirs also.

Most of us are pretenders — pretending we are good Christians, pretending that our lives are together, pretending that we do not have challenges — but we have never truly let the Gospel into the dark places of our lives, and we avoid going into the dark places in others’ lives. Both inside and outside the church people are looking for real and honest relationships, not hypocrisy. The gospel of Jesus Christ offers an honest and necessary relationship with Jesus Christ himself the author of our salvation. This relationship is what saves us and it is what saved Lydia as well.

(1) Saving Lydia requires prayer

The passage opens with the missionary team of Paul, Silas, and Timothy in the port city of Troas. Troas was located across the Aegean Sea from Greece; it is on the western shore of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) near the site of ancient Troy. Now remember that The Holy Spirit, whom had closed all other doors of ministry for them, had directed the missionaries here. Now at Troas, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia, which is on the mainland of Greece, pleading with him to “come over to Macedonia and help us.” In response to the vision, Luke notes, , “…immediately they went to Macedonia, because they were compelled that God had called them to preach the gospel to them there.

Therefore because of God’s clear and compelling call they reacted by “…Setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace,” Samothrace which is an island in the Aegean Sea, approximately half way between Asia Minor and the Greek mainland. They stayed there overnight probably to avoid the great hazards of sailing at night.

“…And the following day to Neapolis, which is an another port city of Philippi. When the missionary team landed in Neapolis, Paul’s ministry finally reached Europe. The team did not stop to preach in Neapolis, but went “… on from there to Philippi,” Philippi was the eastern terminus for the great Roman highway known as the Egnatian Way. The Romans were superb road builders. The major routes were graded and paved making travel and commerce easier than ever before. The Egnatian Way extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Constantinople, the road was a major link between Italy and Asia it ran through Thessalonica and Philippi. Now “… Philippi was a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. As a Roman colony, Philippi had the right as a self-governing, independent government. They had the right of freedom, the right of exemption from taxes and the right of holding land in full ownership. The text tells us that “…they remained in this city some days.”

As we continue with the text it says, “And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer…” It was Paul’s custom in each city that he visited to preach first in the synagogue. As a rabbi and a student of the greatest rabbi of his time Gamaliel. Paul was assured of getting a hearing there. Remember to form a synagogue, required the presence of ten Jewish men who were heads of a household. Evidently Philippi’s Jewish community was too small to form a synagogue, so in such a place they would have instead a place of prayer. A place of prayer, under the open sky and near a river of a sea

Paul went first to a ‘place of prayer’ on the Sabbath, where he shared the gospel with the Jewish women and others who gathered there outside to the riverside.

Pastor, what is prayer?

The most basic definition of prayer is “talking to God.”

Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; prayer is a direct address to God. It is the communication of the human soul with the Lord who created our souls. Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus Christ to communicate their emotions and desires with God and to fellowship with God. Prayer can be audible or silent, private or public, formal or informal. All prayers must be offered in faith (), in the name of the Lord Jesus (), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (). Christian prayer in its full New Testament meaning is prayer addressed to God as Father, in the name of Christ as Mediator, and through the enabling grace of the indwelling Spirit of God.

This is what Lydia and the other women here were seeking, they were seeking a direct address and conversation with God. Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (). Worry about nothing; pray about everything. Prayer develops our relationship with God and demonstrates our trust and utter dependence upon Him.

The text tell us that missionaries sat down, which is the normal posture for teaching began to preach and teach to the women before them. The fact that Luke here only mentions women is further evidence of the small size of the Jewish community at Philippi. Lacking a man to lead them, these women met to pray, read from the Old Testament law and discuss what they had read. To be taught by a traveling rabbi such as Paul was no doubt a great blessing and a rare privilege. Isn’t it ironic the first people Paul preaches to in Europe were women? So many times Paul is falsely accursed of being a male chauvinist by those who reject his teaching of the role of women in the church.

, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

When Paul says, “I do not permit.” Paul is self-consciously writing with the authority of an apostle; rather than simply offering an opinion. Paul here is offering context for his apostolic instructions to the church for the ordering of church practice when the church is assembled together. Within that context, two things are prohibited: (1) Women are not permitted to publicly teach Scripture and/or Christian doctrine to men in church, and (2) women are not permitted to exercise authority over men in church. Women are allowed to teach other women, and children; both which are encouraged elsewhere in Holy Scripture.

, “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Then there is passage in on women teaching children.

, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” This passage does not speak to the role of women in leadership situations outside the church (e.g., business or government). The presence of the word or (Gk. oude) between “to teach” and “to exercise authority” indicates that two different activities are in view, not a single activity of “authoritative teaching.” But also to “Exercise authority.”

Since the role of pastor/elder/overseer is rooted in the task of teaching and exercising authority over the church, this verse would also exclude women from serving in this office.

Thus when Paul calls for the women to be quiet, he means “quiet” with respect to the teaching responsibility and exercising authority that is limited in the assembled church. Paul elsewhere indicates that women do speak in other ways in the church assembly (see ). See also .

Paul indicates that the prohibition is based on two biblical grounds, the first being the order of creation (Adam was formed first), and the second being the deception of Eve

In (v. 14), “Formed” (Gk. plassō) is the same term that the Septuagint uses in , , which evidently refers to creation (cf. ). Paul’s argument indicates that gender roles in the church are not simply the result of the fall but are rooted in creation and therefore apply to all cultures at all times. The meaning of this passage, however, is widely contested today.

We see in our text that Paul was not prejudiced against women but he was just the opposite. The Pharisees would not dared teach a woman and regularly thanked God is prayer that they were not Gentiles, slave, or a woman. But Paul’s ministry shows that he valued women; look at Phoebe, Priscilla, and now Lydia here. The very salvation made available to Lydia came to her through the opening of her heart through the place of prayer.

(2) Saving Lydia requires an open heart

tells us this, “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira,” Thyatira was located in the Roman province of Lydia, it is possible the “ Lydia” was not so much here personal name as it was her name in business; she may have been known as the “Lydia lady.” Thyatira, was the site of one of the seven churches of Revelation and was noted for it’s manufacturing of the purple dye and dyed goods.

Not surprising, Lydia herself was …a seller of purple goods…” Purple dye was made from the glands of the murex shellfish that were purplish red in color. Or it was made from roots of the madder plant, which was prohibitively expensive.

Because of this expensive only Royalty and the wealthy wore purple garments, and the selling of purple fabrics was a very profitable business. The fact that Lydia had a house large enough to accommodate the missionary team and the nascent church a Philippi indicates her wealth. There are a couple of things that stand out in the passage concerning Lydia’s conversion through prayer. First, Lydia was a worshiper of God. Her heart was not a seeking heart; but a heart sought after by God because she had turned aways for her pagan idolatry and turned to the one true and living God.

This phrase, “a worshiper of God” shows that Lydia, like Cornelius was a believer in the God of Israel.

So pastor what does it mean to be a worshiper of God?

Well, worship is an attitude. It is a spirit, something that happens on the inside of you. It is primarily an attitude of the heart. It comes from a heart that is so filled with wonder, so filled with praise, so filled with honor, awe, and gratitude for because of what God has done in their life.

To be a true worshiper of God we need to show total abandonment to God through our praise and adoration of Him. Being a true worshiper of God means becoming lost in our wonder, love, and adoration of Him, O’ come lets us adore Him!

In the words of Mary in , “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

We see here in the text this is Lydia’s first step of her spiritual liberation. Lydia is like all of us sinners; she did not seek God on her own until God sought her through prayer.

, “As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

not even one.”

, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

Saving Lydia required prayer and it required an open heart; her conversion shows that God will reveal the fullness of the gospel to those whom He causes to honestly seek Him.

, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

So Lydia was a worshiper of God but secondly, she was also a listener to God. Look at what the text says in , “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

Look at this brothers and sisters it is God who initiates, who calls, who directs and who choses. Jesus says, “ You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” These things I command you, so that you will love one another” ().

Remember there is no listening to God without the appropriate response. Jesus himself tells us what those who listen to him do and why people do not listen to Him in these two passages.

, “Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Then in , Jesus tells the reason people fail to listen to Him.

, “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

You see it was God who opened her heart to receive and believe the gospel and respond.

What does the Bible mean when it says that we will receive a new heart?" The Bible speaks often of the heart. The word heart can mean different things depending upon the context. Most often, the heart refers to the soul of a human being that controls the will and emotions. The heart is the “inner person.” The prophet Ezekiel makes several references to a “new heart” (e.g., ; ). An oft-quoted verse is where God says, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” So what does this mean? In , God is addressing His people, the Israelites, promising to one day restore them to the land God has given them and to a right relationship with Himself. God promises to gather the Hebrews from the nations where they had been scattered () and give them a new, undivided heart (verse 19). The result of their receiving a new heart will be obedience to God’s commands: ,“Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

This prophecy will be fulfilled in the millennium, when Jesus the Messiah rules from Zion and Israel has been restored to faith (). Someone whom God has given a new heart behaves differently. The human heart was created to mirror God’s own heart. We were designed to love Him, love righteousness, and walk in harmony with God and others. God desires that we choose to love and serve Him.

When we stubbornly refuse to follow God, our hearts, which were designed to communicate with God, are hardened.

God compares rebellious hearts to stone ().

A heart of stone finds it impossible to repent, to love God, or to please Him (). The hearts of sinful humanity are so hardened that we cannot even seek God on our own, and that’s why Jesus said no one can come to Him unless the Father first draws him (). We desperately need new hearts, for we are unable on our own to soften our hard hearts. A change of heart toward God requires a supernatural transformation. Jesus called it being “born again”. When we are born again, God performs a heart transplant, as it were. He gives us a new heart. The power of the Holy Spirit changes our hearts from sin-focused to God-focused. We do not become perfect; we still have our sinful flesh and the freedom to choose whether or not to obey it. However, when Jesus died for us on the cross, He broke the power of sin that controls us. Receiving Him as our Savior gives us access to God and His power—a power to transform our hearts from sin-hardened to Christ-softened. When we were separated from God with hardened hearts, we found it impossible to please Him. We tended toward selfishness, rebellion, and sin. With new hearts we are declared righteous before God. The Holy Spirit gives us a desire to please God that was foreign to us in our hardened state. says that we “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” God’s desire for every human being is that we become like His Son, Jesus. We can become like Jesus only when we allow God to rid us of our old, hardened hearts and give us new hearts. Saving Lydia required prayer, an open heart and faithfulness.

(3) Saving Lydia requires faithfulness

What if faithfulness?

Faithfulness is steadfastness, loyalty, dependability or allegiance; it is carefulness in keeping what we are entrusted with; it is the conviction that the Scriptures accurately reflect reality.

Biblical faithfulness requires belief in what the Bible says about God—His existence, His works, and His character. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit; it is the result of the Spirit working in us. But the Holy Spirit is also our seal of faithfulness. He is our witness to God's promise that if we accept the truth about God, He will save us. gives a long list of faithful men and women in the Old Testament who trusted God. Abel's understanding of God made his sacrifice real and authentic. Noah trusted God's word about the coming judgment as well as God's promise to save his family (). Abraham and Sarah believed against all evidence that they would have a child, that’s faithfulness (). Rahab trusted God to protect her family when the Israelites destroyed Jericho, that’s faithfulness (). Gideon's mustard-seed faith routed an entire army, that’s faithfulness ().

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" ().

Faith, or a faithful commitment to who God says He is, is basic to walking with God. As Jesus traveled, He responded to people's faith and curtailed His involvement where there was no faith (). Enoch understood that God rewards those who seek Him and trust Him with all their hearts.

We trust what God does because we trust Him, not the other way around. In other words, we trust God even when He is silent and we see no miracles. That is part of faithfulness. We know God is reliable, steadfast, and true. We are called to “walk by faith and not by sight.” The Old Testament saints also had faith in the invisible work of God (). Abraham never saw his descendants become “as numerous as the stars in the sky.” Moses never entered the Promised Land. And none of the Old Testament saints lived to see their Messiah. But they were faithful. They believed God would do as He promised. Faithfulness believes that God is who He says He is and continuing in that belief despite the quirks of life. Functionally, that means we trust what God says in the Bible, and not necessarily what the world or our own eyes tell us. We trust He will work out everything for good. We trust He will work His will in us. And we trust that our situation on earth is nothing compared to our future reward in heaven.

The only way we can have such faith is by the Holy Spirit's influence. He testifies to the truth and impels us to seek God. The Spirit makes us faithful.

Now in verse 15 the text tell us this, “And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “ If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

It was customary in the early church, to baptize immediately after someone’s conversion; they did baptized Lydia and her household in the river near the place of prayer. Baptism is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual truth and identification with Jesus Christ. It is an act of obedience and plays no role in a person’s salvation. After her baptism, Lydia urged the missionaries to accept her hospitality saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.

Do you understand that hospitality is required of all Christians?

, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

, Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

It was critical in the ancient world, where inns were often unsuitable for Christians to stay in. There were filthy, dangerous, expensive, and often little more than basically brothels.

A woman such as Lydia might have been head of a household in Greco-Roman culture because her husband had died or she was divorced, and less probably because she was a single woman of means. The invitation to come and stay in her house (or with her household) reflected the possibility that the missionaries might not yet consider her ‘a believer in the Lord’ (ei kekrikate me, ‘if you consider me’). She was quite insistent (parebiasato hēmas, she persuaded us), and so they accepted her hospitality and put her at ease. As well as acknowledging her conversion, this visit marked the beginning of a distinctly Christian fellowship in Philippi. Luke highlights the importance of this by concluding the narrative about Philippi with another reference to a meeting of the believers in Lydia’s house. Look at , “So they went out of prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.”

The importance of practicing hospitality, especially to encourage Christian ministry and fellowship, is stressed throughout the Bible. Lydia in her openhearted generosity, Lydia demonstrated the reality of her conversion.

There are two men by the name of Mephibosheth in the Bible, both in 2 Samuel. The less prominent one was a son of King Saul; David delivered him to the Gibeonites to be hanged in retaliation for Saul’s earlier slaughter of a band of Gibeonites (). The other Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, who was the son of King Saul and a special friend of King David. When Mephibosheth was five years old, his father Jonathan was killed in battle. Fearing that the Philistines would seek to take the life of the young boy, a nurse fled with him to Gibeah, the royal residence, but in her haste she dropped him and both of his feet were crippled (). He was carried to the land of Gilead, where he found refuge. Some years later, when King David had conquered all of Israel’s enemies, he remembered the family of his friend Jonathan (), and, wishing to display his loving loyalty to Jonathan by ministering to his family, David found out that Mephibosheth was residing in the house of Machir. So he sent royal messengers there, and brought Mephibosheth and his infant son Micah to Jerusalem, where they resided from that point on (). Later, when David invited the young boy to be part of his court, he entrusted the family property to a steward, Ziba. During Absalom’s rebellion, Ziba tried unsuccessfully to turn David against Mephibosheth. Upon the king’s return to Jerusalem, Mephibosheth vindicated himself and was allowed to remain in the king’s house ().

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