Timothy joined Paul and Silas in Lystra and then Luke joined the group in Troas. The group realized that God was calling them to Macedonia so immediately they set sail from Troas for Samothrace. The next day they went on to Neapolis. From there they traveled on to Philippi. There they met 2 women. One “was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira”. (14) The other was “a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.” (16) Both of these women teach us the importance of having our hearts opened by the Lord. The Lord opened Lydia’s “heart to respond to Paul’s message” and she believed in the Lord and was baptized. (14) She was so overwhelmed with joy that she invited them to her house and showed hospitality to the group. On the other hand, the fortune teller seemed to recognize the evangelism of Paul, but in reality she didn’t. That was because she didn’t have a relationship with Christ nor was she saved. Therefore, having our hearts opened is so important so today let’s look at 3 aspects of the Lord opening our hearts.
I. Lydia who had her heart opened by the Lord
First let’s look at Lydia who had her heart opened by the Lord. Paul who had been led by the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia first went to Philippi, which was the major city in Macedonia. This was the way Paul always evangelized. He always went to a major city and then from there went to large cities, then smaller cities, and then towns, and then villages. The capital of Macedonia was Thessalonica. Paul probably chose Philippi because it was only around 10 Km. from Neapolis where the ship had landed. Not only was it near Neapolis, but it was a major city and it was a “miniature Rome,” under the municipal law of Rome and governed by two military officers, the duumviri, who were appointed directly from Rome. Philippi was established by the King of Macedon, Philip II so the city was called Philippi. In 41B.C. Mark Antony and Octavian were victorious in the final battle. They released some of their veteran soldiers, and colonized them in the city. In 30 B.C. Octavian became Roman emperor, reorganized the colony, and established more settlers there gradually making it into a “miniature Rome”. For Paul who was striving to evangelize in Europe, this “miniature Rome” was a town that he really wanted to evangelize in.
After staying their several days, on the Sabbath they went outside the city gate to the river where there was a place of prayer, “sat down, and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.” (13) At this time, there was barely a Jewish community and there was no synagogue. Those Jews present met by the river, a common meeting place in the absence of a synagogue. If there are 10 Jewish men, they could build a Jewish synagogue, but the Jewish population was so small that there was no synagogue. In verse 13 men are not even mentioned. Paul spoke to the Jewish women. This shows us how strong the Roman influence was in Philippi and how small the Jewish population was.
Therefore, the meager Jewish population met at a place of prayer down at the river every Sabbath. It was to this group of women that Paul spoke. In the group of women there was a woman named Lydia “who was a worshiper of God.” (14) To be called a “worshipper of God” meant that she was not Jewish, but she believed in the one and only God which the Jews believed in, and she worshipped God every Sabbath. She probably entered the Jewish faith while she was in Thyatira. Even though she was probably extremely busy as a business woman, she made the worship of God the center of her life. This day too was the Sabbath so she took the day off and went to the place of prayer and worshipped God. She desired to worship God and that is why she went to the place of prayer. It was this desire to worship God that led her to Paul.
Paul “sat down, and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.” (13) This “worshipper of God” Lydia listened intently to what Paul was saying and “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” (14) This is a really important thing. There were other women there. Everyone there probably believed in the God of the Old Testament. They all prayed. They all heard the message. However, the person who was saved by the message was only the person whose heart was opened by the Lord and responded to the message. Even though all heard the same message, not all believed. Only those who had their hearts opened by the Lord were saved.
This “opened heart” (14) is the same as “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” in Luke 24:31 and “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” in Luke 24:45. In other words, for a person to really understand the Word of God, our hearts need to be opened when we read the Bible and listen to the sermon. The Bible was written by God’s Spirit in order to tell us about God. Therefore, to understand it we must ourselves read it and listen to messages and at the same time have God open our hearts to it. Those who have their hearts opened to God, receive new grace daily from God as they read the Word of God.
We often say that we meet the Lord in worship. By this we mean that we understood the message of the Word of God that was being preached. Our eyes are opened and we realize that the passage is about Jesus Christ. For example it is the experience like Joseph who slept using a stone for a pillow. When he woke up, he proclaimed, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16, 17) It is to know that God is here. It is like the experience of the 2 disciples on the way to Emmas when they recognized Jesus. We too when we hear the sermon or read the Bible we come to the realization that this is Christ or Christ is our savior. It is times like this that our hearts have been opened by the Holy Spirit. We need to seek to meet the Lord and be touched by the Lord’s hand as we read the Bible and listen to the message.
Jesus told the parable about the sowing of the seeds to teach about this type of heart. In this parable Jesus is teaching us that sometimes the Word of God is snatched right out of our hearts. In other cases the Word of God never takes root so that person is o.k. for a short time, but when problems or persecution comes, that person falls away. For others their hearts are hard and the things of this world keep the Word of God from taking root and bearing fruit. The word of God which is planted in good soil grows up and bears much fruit, 10 times, 30 times and 100 times over. (Matt. 13:19-23) In other words, the way we listen is of very big importance.
When the word of God is spoken through the message and there is “response” in our hearts, the Lord will always work and will open our hearts. In other words, a person that hears a message and is not moved at all has a heart that is closed hard. That type of person needs to pray for the Lord to break up their heart until the soil is soft. Our hearts need to be soft when we hear the Word of God. Then God will work and save our souls.
II. “A believer in the Lord” (vs. 15)
When the Lord opened Lydia’s “heart to respond to Paul’s message”, Lydia “and the members of her household were baptized.” (14, 15) For Lydia who worshipped the one and true Jewish God, and who had entered the Jewish faith to be baptized meant she believed that Jesus was the Savior that they had been waiting and waiting for. Even if a person believes in the all powerful God of the Old Testament, if he doesn’t believe that the Messiah is Christ, then that means that he really doesn’t believe in the God of the Bible.
John 10:30
John 12:44
We must believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved. To believe in Christ means to believe that Jesus is Messiah. Lydia accepted Christ as the Messiah, her Savior. Not only that, but she led her whole family and those who worked in her home to Christ, and they were all baptized.
After the baptism she said to Paul, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord…come and stay at my house.” (15) She said “If you consider me a believer” because it means that Lydia too would be taking part in the ministry of sharing the Gospel and that she too like Paul would be making many sacrifices and facing many troubles.
Paul did not from the beginning make plans for going to Europe. Therefore, he probably didn’t have all the money he needed for the trip. When he went to Corinth he made tents to support himself. Lydia realized the greatness of the Gospel and therefore, she too wanted to live for the Gospel. She wanted to be a part of the ministry of sharing the Gospel and help Paul who led her to a wonderful salvation. She did this by being hospitable to Paul and the missionary team.
This wasn’t just an emotional commitment for a moment. We can see that Lydia’s commitment continued by Paul’s words in Philip. 1:5. Lydia’s service came from love and dedication that sprang up from belief in Christ. “From the first day until now” (Philip. 1:5) Lydia continually shared in the ministry of the Gospel. It wasn’t just a one time commitment. She must have been overflowing in joy as a result of being saved. This was the root of the Philippian evangelism and as a result a great Church was built up.
Today we often hear people complain that the church is full of women only and there are few men. However, women have always been a huge strength in the Christian church. Women have supported and help up the church. For example, Romans 16:2, 4, 13. Probably Lydia too helped Paul but understanding him, co-operating with him, by being like a mother and friend to him. She was someone who lived a life of a beautiful faith.
However, in the Church being a man or a woman makes no difference. Both men and women can be considered as believers and help and minister. They both can dedicate themselves and help set the foundation of the church and help build up the church.
III. Being touched by God’s love (vs. 16-18)
Paul evangelized in Philippi for some time after Lydia was saved. During that time another amazing episode occurred. Another time when Paul and the team were going to the place of prayer they met “a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.” (16) This girl followed Paul and team, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (17) This happened not just one day, but “She kept this up for many days.” (18) Finally Paul got so frustrated with her that he cast the spirit out of her. The question is why Paul cast out the spirit. It doesn’t seem like what she was doing was bad. She was shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (17) That’s the purpose that Paul and the team came to Philippi to do. Especially when you consider that Philippi was a “miniature Rome” so probably no one was really interested in what Paul was saying. Therefore, it would seem to be to Paul’s benefit that a good fortune teller would be shouting to everyone, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (17) More people would be apt to listen to Paul. Therefore, you would think that Paul would be happy for her help. However, Paul cast the spirit out. Why did he do that?
1. “Paul became so troubled” (18) The girl who had a spirit was so loud and disturbing. What she was saying was not wrong, but why she was saying it was wrong. Satan wasn’t concerned with the contents. He just wanted to disturb and disrupt Paul. If what she was doing was right, then she herself should have believed in and followed Christ. However, in her heart she had no intention of doing so. This proves that her words were not from the Holy Spirit, but from Satan. In this age, this is one thing that we must be careful about is the thinking that if the contents are good, then no matter who says it or for what purpose they say it, it is good. Doctrine needs not only to be correct, but the motive of the person who is speaking it is also important. If the person is not following his own doctrine, then it can’t be doctrine at all.
2. As long as a heretical fortune teller is spreading, “the way of the Most High God”, those who hear her would assume that “the Most High God” was a god, not the God of the Bible. In fact, the name “the Most High God” was used for Roman and Greek gods. “Salvation” was also talked about in Greek and Roman religions. Therefore, the fact that this girl followed Paul and team, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (17) could have been a source on confusion making people think that Paul was preaching about other gods.
Therefore, what the slave girl who had a spirit was saying was not wrong, but it was a big problem. It was because what she was saying had no content to it. She had no salvation. She did not open her heart to the Lord. When she said, “the Most High God” (17) her meaning was much different than Paul’s meaning of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lydia was the same. Before she was a “worshipper of God”. Before she met Paul she believed in the God of the Old Testament, the creator of heaven and earth. However, just knowing about God wasn’t enough. There was no salvation. In order to be saved, she had to have her heart opened by Jesus Christ. She had to believe in Jesus Christ. We receive the Christian faith by meeting Christ and being touched by him. There are a lot of people who say that they believe in god. The difference in believing in god and having faith in Jesus Christ is when we have a relationship with Christ believing that Jesus died for me on the cross, paying the price for my sin. Jesus rose for me. That’s how much Jesus loves me. When Lydia entered the faith, the reason she dedicated herself and wanted to minister so much came for the realization that Jesus loved her so much and died for her. Therefore, she was overflowing with thankfulness and was willing to give herself and her home to the Lord.
Romans 5:7, 8
God loves us so much that he was willing to die for us sinners. Therefore, we should be willing to give ourselves and our home to the Lord who loved us so much that he died for us on the cross and touched our hearts.
Lydia was touched by the love of Christ. We have been touched too. We are really changed when we realize how much Christ has done for us. When we realize that Jesus died on the cross for us and loves us then we will be changed and be willing to give are all to Christ. May the Lord open our hearts. May the grace of salvation from the love of the Lord’s cross be abundantly upon each person here today. Then our lives will be completely new.