May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the Acts of the Apostles chapter 16 and we'll read verse
14. The Acts of the Apostles chapter
16 and reading verse 14. And a certain woman named Lydia
a cellar 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." Perhaps I'll just read a little
section that refers to this occasion, and that really starts from verse
11. down to verse 15 and it's about obviously Paul and Silas
as they were traveling and we're told therefore loosing from Troas
we came with a straight course to Samothrosia and the next day
to Neapolis 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 And on the Sabbath, we went out of
the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. And
we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 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. 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." This little account is really
a wonderful testimony of God's sovereign grace. And we see how
the Lord ordained that Paul and Silas should be found in this
place of Philippi, this part of Philippi. And as we read together
in the 16th chapter, they'd been forbidden to go to Bithynia. They'd intended to go off to
Bithynia But we're told the Spirit suffered them not. And what happened? And the Lord appeared in a vision
to Paul in the night. And he tells us there stood a
man of Macedonia and praying him saying, come over into Macedonia
and help us. And it's very important to recognize
and to notice that when Paul received this word this message,
he didn't dilly-dally. We're told, 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. And so it was, and so it came
to pass. But in one sense, We might imagine
that Paul was going to stand up before a great multitude and
preach the gospel, but no, it wasn't to be so. It was in a
very different way. And we're told in the 13th verse,
and on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where
prayer was won't to be made. And of course, this word won't
means is customary. It was the customary place where
prayer was to be made and we're told and we sat down and spake
unto the women which resorted thither. So we can imagine I
believe that Paul and Silas here by the riverside on the Lord's
Day, sat down and speaking to the people that had gathered
together for prayer. It would seem it was probably
a group of women who had come together to pray, and the apostle
was able to preach to them in this position. We assume he was
sitting down and talking in a very normal way, and he declared the
great and glorious truths of the gospel and what an effect
it had upon Lydia. We're not told of anybody else
being affected and we see surely here the sovereign grace of God. This woman who would appear to
be a reasonably wealthy woman because she'd come from Thyatira
which was a prosperous town a good many miles away but she'd come
she was a seller of purple we're not told where that was a purple
dye or where that was purple yarn but nonetheless she was
a seller of this purple she was effectively a merchant and also
she had her own house so she wasn't a poor woman but it was
the purpose of Almighty God to come and to open her heart to
receive the words which the Apostle Paul spoke and that is a great
and wonderful blessing because many people have heard the Word
of God and their heart has not been opened and they've never
received the truth of God. They shut their eyes and shut
their ears so that they did not hear the grand and glorious truths
of the gospel. But this woman, by the grace
of God, we're told, this woman, a Sarah Purple of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us. whose heart the Lord opened.
And the result of that was she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. That really means that she took
heed to the things which she heard from the apostle Paul. Well, how many people today take
heed of the things that they hear preached, the Word of God
preached. I remember years ago when I was
a lad, I was living in London then, and we heard Leonard Broome
preach, I think it was at Bethel Luton, and he made this comment. He said there's tons of grain
goes over this pulpit cushion. What he meant by that was The
preacher preached many good and sound words, the word of life. And he said, and how much fell
into good ground, how much never benefited. And surely that's
true today. What a mercy though, if we have
Lydia's in our congregation, if we have those who hear the
Word of God and receive it and take heed to it. It's not forgotten. It's not ignored. They recognize
it. They treat it as the Word of
God. They treat it as the Word of
Life. They treat it as the message
from Almighty God. You see, God is sovereign grace
and mercy. has ordained the preaching of
the Gospel. The Lord has ordained that. It's
given often to ignorant people to declare the great and glorious
truth of the gospel. Not ignorant in the things of
God, but perhaps ignorant in worldly things, but blessed indeed
with a wonderful favour of God and being wise to salvation. When the apostle wrote to the
Corinthians, he spelt it out So very clearly he tells us in
the first chapter and verse 17, For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, not clever
oratory, no, not wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. Again, I read the account of
somebody years ago in the time of J.C. Philpott, who used to
love to go and hear Philpott, not for the truth, but for the
words that he spoke, because he was so eloquent in the use
of words. Well, the Apostle Paul wasn't
interested in having eloquency in words, and he tells us what
preaching is and what preaching was. the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness how true that is today but unto
us which are saved it is the power of God now that will separate
true believer from a false believer that will separate a congregation
as to those who love to hear the preaching of the cross and
that really means Christ crucified. That's what it means. Do you? Do I love to hear? Do we rejoice
to hear the preaching of the cross? Is it the joy and rejoicing
of our heart? Do we sit there with a mind which
is trying to find fault and trying to work out reasons why we shouldn't
listen? and why we wish the preacher
would speak more interestingly and come out with a load more
anecdotes. Well you can't benefit long-term
on anecdotes, nothing wrong in anecdotes, but some preaching
is all anecdotes and no doctrine and no truth. My friends that
would not feed the soul. You and I need to be very concerned.
that we hear this great and glorious preaching of the cross which
is foolishness to some but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God and the Apostle goes on he says for it is written
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of this prudent Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? That's
a good lesson to learn. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Are you thankful
for that? Well, I am thankful that although
it's often classified as the foolishness of preaching, people
will say, why do you want to listen to that rubbish? Well,
it's not rubbish to the living Church of God. And it wasn't
rubbish to this woman, Lydia. What was it? It was life to her
soul. Oh, bless God tonight. if you
and I have the wonderful evidence that it's life to our soul and
then he expounds it and he says for the jews require a sign and
the greeks he got the wisdom that's what they wanted it was
a natural requirement it wasn't a spiritual desire it wasn't
a god-given desire it was a natural one but he says we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness
but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God well clearly to this woman
Lydia that's what it was to her power of God, because it changed
her. She was a new creature. The Holy
Spirit had descended upon her. She'd come from a wealthy town,
but by God's grace she was here, and by the wonderful favour of
God, he had ordained that Paul should be directed to this very
spot by the riverside. the very spot where she was to
come, the very spot where she would hear the great and glorious
gospel of God. And so we're told, because the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God
is stronger than men, for you see your calling brethren, how
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty Not
many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the things which are wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should glory
in his presence." Well, it's a very wonderful statement that
is. And I remember reading about
that very wealthy woman, Lady Huntington, who was a gracious
lady, who was blessed with much wealth and she spent it very
wisely. And but remember that she said
on one occasion that she was very thankful for one letter
in the Bible and that letter was M because it says not many. It didn't say not any. therefore she could come in with
that and be thankful for that wonderful truth. Well we can
bless God then for these things, for the truth of these things.
When I was looking up it's a little bit about Thyatira. I came across
this verse in the Revelation Revelation speaks about the seven
churches in Asia and Thyatira was one of those churches at
that time. It's no longer to be found or
seen but it was then and this is what the Apostle John was
spoken to and wrote down in the 24th verse of the second chapter
of Revelation. But unto you I say and unto the
rest in Thyatira as many as have not this doctrine and which have
not known the depths of Satan." Well, you see, there are many
people who don't know the depths of Satan. It's a blessing when
God shows us the evil of our own heart, which declares to
us the work of Satan and the depths that Satan can lead us
into. our thoughts, thankfully perhaps
not actions, sometimes it may be words and actions, but in
our thoughts, the depths of Satan, he is a very evil and a very
cunning foe. We are no match for him, but
what a blessing it is to have a right spiritual understanding
like this woman Lydia and to know that Christ has died and
rather has risen again, who has conquered the devil and put him
to death. And we're thankful for the great
work of salvation. And so we have this statement
here of Lydia, the Sun of Purple of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened and she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Well, if
her heart was opened and that's what the Word of God tells us.
It was opened to receive the Word of God and the effect of
that opening of her heart also opened her ears and also opened
her lips and she was able therefore to hear the truth of God and
she was able also to pray and to speak the truth of God. The Lord, you see, opened her
heart. What a mercy that is. If you and I are blessed with
this wonderful favour, that God has opened our heart to receive
the Word of God. And it's therefore entered through
our ears, into our mind and into our heart. What a blessing that
is. You know, only you can tell whether
that's occurred in your life. And I can only tell if it's occurred
in my life. But it's a great blessing if
the Lord has done that. And we're told that it was the
Lord. You see, the Lord applied the word. That's what happened. The Holy Spirit applied the word
of the Apostle Paul. Paul preached many sermons. You
can read that when he went to Athens and he was there by himself,
he went out into the marketplace and he reasoned and preached
many sermons, especially on Mars Hill. And there weren't very
many conversions, but there were some. whose heart the Lord opened. Well, what a blessing if our
heart has been opened, and all of us must have our heart opened
to receive the Word of God, to accept the great truths of the
Gospel, if we are to be amongst those who are truly born of the
Spirit, and those who one day, by the grace of God, will be
found in glory with the Saviour, whose heart the Lord opened. Through the first years of preaching,
Lydia had heard the Word of God. And so today, can we look into
our hearts and have the evidence that the Lord has opened our
hearts to receive his word now if that is so there is one thing
which will be very evident and that's this the Lord Jesus Christ will mean
something to us is it nothing to you All year
that passed by was spoken by Jeremiah. And my friends, what
does Christ and Him crucified mean to you and to me today? And what will He mean to you
and to me as we pass through this year, this new year, which
we've just commenced? Oh, Christ Jesus, What does he
mean? Indeed have we been blessed? Have we taken heed to the good
news of the gospel? Has it come to us? Well it will
only have come to us if we have been blessed with a spiritual
need, and we will only have been blessed with a spiritual need
if the Holy Spirit has shown to us we have a need. And that will mean that the Holy
Spirit has shown to us that we are a sinner in the eyes of a
holy God. And we won't be able to just
dispense with our sin. We won't be able to just brush
it aside as something of no import. We'll realise that our sin condemns
us by a holy God to eternal punishment in hell. That's a very solemn,
very true word. And that's what sin does. And
remember, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. None of us, nobody that's ever
been born apart from the Saviour, has been sinless. Everybody needs
sin forgiven. Everybody needs the glory of
salvation. Everybody needs to have had their
heart opened to receive the great and glorious truths of the Word
of God. It is important that we have
these things, that we know these things. It's easy to say, well,
I really am not sure. I really don't think I really
know these things. And yet you see people are being
content to carry on, to carry on aimlessly, hoping somehow
in the end, before they die the Lord will look upon them. Well
of course we hope that is true and we pray it may be true but the great need is to have
the evidence of it and to have the desire in our hearts and
indeed to give the Lord no rest until we are assured of our salvation. People tend to shy away from
assurance, but it is a blessed privilege and it is a blessed
truth. We should remember what the Apostle
Paul said when he said, I know whom I have believed. All of God's people need to know
who they have believed. They have believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ as the only one that can save them from their
sin. We need to examine ourselves. The Word of God encourages us
in that, doesn't it? examine yourselves to see whether
we are in the faith or not it's a good exercise it won't be a
waste of time examine yourselves test yourselves
look back in your life what has God done for us well here was
Lydia she had the evidence that God had indeed blessed her, which
worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, and she
attended unto the things which were spoken by the Apostle Paul. You see, there was an effect,
the effect of the Gospel. What a blessing that is. Have
we had an effect in our lives? Has Jesus Christ been made precious
to us? Or is he just an historical name? You see, many people today take
the name of Christ on their lips without any conscious realization
that what he truly means to them. And it's a very easy name. but you see to the Church of
God, to the true believers, it is a very important and a very
blessed consideration to know that by the grace of God you
and I are redeemed. Now the Apostle Peter, as I often
quote and I'm not ashamed of quoting it and I'm happy to quote
it again, because the Apostle Paul, Peter tells us in his first
letter, his first epistle, the first chapter, he comes down
to the 18th verses and this is what he says. For as much as
ye know, well this woman Lydia knew this, for as much as ye
know, ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold. It couldn't be purchased couldn't
be purchased. Remember Simon the sorcerer thought
he could purchase the gift of God. These things are not purchasable,
they are given. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received
by tradition from your fathers, but with a precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish, and without spot. Now if you're a needy sinner,
this will be music to your ears, this will rejoice your soul,
this will encourage you to believe that you are redeemed, as the
word tells us, redeemed with a precious blood of Christ, without
spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him
do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave
him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Well, tonight, my friends, let
us examine our life, our spiritual life, and see whether the Holy
Spirit has brought us to this wonderful condition, this wonderful
position, that by the grace of God we've been able to hear the
gospel, take heed to the words of God, and have been blessed
to our soul so that we know indeed that we are bought with that
price, and that price indeed is the precious blood of Christ. You see this separates between
true religion and false religion as to what value you and I put
on the cleansing power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymn writer uses that word,
it's a lovely word, invaluable blood. You and I cannot put a
value on it simply because we cannot recognize how long eternity
is, because it is forever, and therefore this invaluable blood
sets us in that place of safety to be found with Christ eternally
in glory. Well, my friends, what a mercy
then, if the Lord indeed has come and has blessed us like
he did Lydia, and like we read in the end of the Gospel of Luke,
24th chapter of Luke, beautiful chapter, speaks about the two
on the Emmaus road. And this is what it says. Then
opened he their understanding, they might understand the Scriptures. Well, praise God, if God has
opened our understanding. You see, their understanding
was not opened. They'd been there when Christ
was crucified. They had some vague idea that
it was a very important thing which had occurred, but it was
only when Christ came alongside to them and preach that glorious
Gospel to them, that their understanding was enlightened. And the same
thing you and I need today. We need the power of the Holy
Spirit to open our understanding and to reveal to us the importance
of a crucified Saviour, and to know that the Blessed Lord was
crucified for us, that he died that sin atoning death, that
agonizing sin atoning death, to have some right understanding
of the cost of our salvation. You see this will put things
in a right perspective. It will make sin then more hateful
as we realize the cost of our sin was to the Saviour. Well
what a mercy then to be found in Christ, in Christ eternally
safe and to be blessed therefore with this wonderful knowledge.
And so here was Lydia. Now what we notice is it had
a good effect upon her. It had a good effect upon her
and we can read what that effect was. She attended, that means she
took heed, under the things which were spoken of Paul and when
she was baptized. That was one of the effects that
the Lord brought upon her by his Holy Spirit. Quite clearly
the Apostle Paul had spoken of the baptism in his preaching. And there have been many who
had been called by grace, many had been converted, many who
had believed and were baptized. And so here was this woman. She was baptized. That's the
first thing. we read about her and indeed
it's the first thing we read about many believers in the Word
of God. In fact if you read through the
New Testament you will find they believed and were baptized. There wasn't a great long testimony. Somehow today people have got
into the habit of expecting a great long testimony. My friends, the
Word of God doesn't require it. God doesn't require it. It's
a very simple statement. As the apostle spoke to the Philippian
jailer, you remember later on in this chapter, because the
jailer came and he cried out, what must I do to be saved? What had occurred? He was convicted
of his sin. What must I do to be saved? What
did the Lord say? Sorry, Paul said, believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So what happened? He took them the same out of
the night, washed their stripes and was baptized. He and all
his straight way, they all believed. in the Lord Jesus Christ and
they were all baptized. God-given faith to believe. Oh my friends, tonight do we
possess God-given faith to believe? If we do, what reason we have
to rejoice and to praise God because it is his work, it's
the glorious work of grace the free unmerited favour to unworthy
sinners and therefore may he enable us to take up our cross
and follow him. That's the great wonderful favour.
It's a blessed privilege to follow the Saviour. His wonderful example
we find in his life. The first thing that occurred
really when he was revealed to John the Baptist that he suffered
himself to be baptized. And there was a glorious voice
from heaven, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Well, that was the wonderful
effect it had upon this woman Lydia. She was baptized. And of course, it didn't stop
there, you see. She desired to do good. desire
to help the saints of God and she says if you judge me to be
faithful to the Lord come into my house and abide there and
she constrained this so obviously they may have needed a bit of
persuasion but she constrained them to come into her house to
entertain them, to feed them, to look after them. We can say,
well, what was it? Well, in a simple word, it was
this. The love of the brethren. The outworking of that love,
love to Christ, brought love to the brethren and a desire
to do that which he could. And as we came to the the very
end of that 16th chapter that we read, where Paul and Silas
had been delivered out of prison, the magistrates had come and
let them out, and we read in the very last verse, this is
what we read, and they went out of the prison and entered into
the house of Lydia. There was an open door quite
clearly for these blessed Christians, Paul and Silas. And so they entered
in to a house. And when they had seen the brethren,
they comforted them and departed. Well, we should be very, very
thankful that we have a very blessed and very simple account
of this woman, Lydia, and how glorious it is to see the great
work of God in her heart. And my friends, it's equally
great and glorious to see the great work of God in sinners'
lives today, to see the wonderful conversion, the wonderful blessing
of Christ being precious, of the willingness to take up their
cross and follow the Lord, the willingness to be found serving
Him and in serving the evidence of their love to the brethren.
Well, as we go forth into this year, may we know the wonderful
favour and blessing of Almighty God, and rejoice that we have
such a statement as this. And a certain woman named Lydia,
a Sarah of Perth, 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. Amen.