I want to direct you tonight
to words that we find in Acts chapter 16 the chapter that we
read Acts chapter 16 and verses 13 and 14 Luke writes concerning Paul and his companions. 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 on the Sabbath we
went out of the city, that was Philippi, 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 was spoken of Paul we read there in verse
13 of the women but then we're directed to a particular individual
a certain woman named Lydia and I want us to consider this woman's
experience a conversion the conversion of Lydia This morning we were
looking at those words in Matthew 16, verse 16, Peter's great confession
of his faith in Christ. When the Lord asked him, say,
Ye that I am, and thou, as the Lord God opens, his eyes opens,
his mind opens, His understanding opens his heart, so he makes
that great confession, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
God. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it unto him. It was a revelation that came
from God the Father. And here concerning this woman,
we're told it was the Lord who opened her heart. Whose heart
the Lord opened, it says. that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul how important his heart's work the wise man says keep thy heart
with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life what
of the hearts of man by nature suppose we were reminded of what
our natural hearts are in both of the hymns that we've already
sung in our praises to God in those hymns there's that acknowledgement
of the sinfulness the wretchedness of our unbelieving hearts we're
told how God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and every imagination of the thought of his heart was evil
continually. And it's said that that is a
remarkable Hebraism. Speaking of the state of the
hearts of men in that antediluvian world, the world before the floods,
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. and God visited a terrible judgment
on that ancient world of course he destroyed it by a universal
flood and spared the life, the family of Noah and Noah as it
were is really a second Adam because we're all descended aren't
we from Noah and yet man's heart doesn't change later in scripture
there in the Old Testament Jeremiah 17 you know the words the heart
is deceitful above all things it says and desperately wicked
who can know it I the Lord search the hearts and try the reins
to give to every man according to the fruit of his doings all
the hearts so deceitful above all things desperately wicked
and yet if we know anything of of real religion that must have
come into our very hearts. God deals with us as we are. He deals with our hearts. And
so it was with this certain woman named Lydia. She worshipped God, it said.
She heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. The words of the Lord
Jesus come to mind when He says in the Gospel, Behold, the kingdom
of God is within you. Oh, it's within. It's in the hearts that God must
do His gracious work. There must be such a fundamental
change made upon the people. Well, as we come to consider
these words in verses 13 and 14 tonight, first of all, to
say something with regards to the Word. that is being spoken. It says she attended unto the
things which were spoken of Paul. What was it that Paul was speaking
of? Well, Paul was speaking the word
of God. That's what Paul was about, that
was his ministry. to declare the words of God. And we see that later with regards
to the experience of the jailer. Here is Paul and Silas with him. They've been really unlawfully
arrested and thrust into the inner prison, their feet fast
in the stocks. It's midnight. And there they
are praying and singing praises unto God how remarkable at midnight
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and they didn't
praise or pray in vain because suddenly there's an earthquake
and the very foundations of the prison shaken and all the doors
opened well we read through the passage and then how This hard-hearted
jailer is also awakened and comes and inquires, sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And they give their answer, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house, and they spake unto him the word of the Lord. They spake
unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. This is what Paul is about. The
things spoken of Paul to the jailer were the same things that
he would have spoken to Lydia. And it is the words of the Lord. And even that poor girl who was
demon-possessed It was being taken advantage of by wicked
men. What does she say? Concerning
the words of these men, verse 17, these men are the servants
of the Most High God which show unto us the way of salvation.
Well, that was what Paul spoke about, the way of salvation. Again, if we go back to chapter
5 and verse 20, their message is described in this fashion
They speak the words of this life. The words of this life. What is this? This is the gospel. This is the good news. This is
the glad tidings of salvation. This is that message that Paul
has been separated to proclaim. and sent now on these various
journeys he's the apostle to the Gentiles he must take this
message this word of the Lord and proclaim it all over the
Middle East as it were that's his commission as he has received
it from the Lord God himself and so he goes preaching and
he's well aware of what the consequence of the preaching will be faith
cometh Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. He pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And the foolishness
of preaching certainly primarily has to do not so much with the
act of the preaching but the content, the subject matter that
is being preached. the foolishness of preaching
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ I determine not to know anything
among you says Paul to the Corinthians say Jesus Christ and him crucified
the person Jesus Christ the work and him crucified that was the
great message then that he went everywhere preaching and so let
us recognize here the importance of the words and the word of
God and we see something remarkable in this whole chapter as that
God is sovereign with regards to where his word is going to
be preached and who's going to hear the preaching of that word? Our God by his sovereign providence
governs all things. It's just a remarkable display
of divine sovereignty when we think about the way in which
God determines which people shall hear this message and those who
shan't hear the message. We read it, didn't we? Verse
6. Luke says, When they had gone
throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden
of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, that is, in that
part of Asia Minor at that time, after they had come to Mycenae,
they were said to go into Bithynia, but the spirits offered them
not. And they, passing by Mycenae, came down to Troas, and a vision
appeared to Paul in the night, there stood a man of Macedonia
and prayed and prayed him saying come over into Macedonia and
help us and after we had seen the vision immediately we endeavored
to go into Macedonia assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them even with regards to where
he is to preach This man is very much aware of the sovereignty
of God. And I think I've remarked on
a previous occasion, there is a sermon of the great Puritan
John Owen on this passage, in which he makes a statement that
the sending of the gospel to any nation, place or person,
rather than others, is the mere grace and good pleasure of God.
The simple sending of the gospel The fact that we're here tonight
and we're hearing the Word of God and we're hearing the Gospel
of the Grace of God, how remarkable that we few people here in Portsmouth
should desire to be gathered in this fashion. Why are we here?
Because God has ordained that it should be so and that we should
be hearing this message. It's a sovereignty of God then,
not just in the matter of who is going to believe that gospel,
but even who is going to hear that gospel. This is a Macedonian
call of course, the gospel coming over into Europe as it were,
at that particular time. And then when we think about
the office of preaching, I've already referred to those words
in Romans 10, that faith cometh by hearing. Hearing is so important. Yes, God addresses us by other senses. We can read the word, we see
the word, we read the word. But there's a special position
given to the proclamation of the message. Preaching is the
chief means which God has appointed in his dealing with sinners,
in bringing the gospel to them. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. As I said, it's principally the
content, the message, but it's also the act, the foolishness
of preaching. To save them that believe. Now, as I said, God is very gracious,
and certainly when he comes to his dealings with his people,
he comes to us not only through that sense of hearing, We know
when we come to that holy ordinance, the Lord's Supper, certainly
there is something to behold, something to see, something to
look at. The breaking of the bread, and all that that speaks
of, and the pouring out of the wine, the taking of the cup. Well there we see that God comes,
We don't only hear now, we have something to behold with our
eyes, something to touch with our hands, something to taste
with our tongues. It's God coming to us by all
these various senses. But now the vital thing as we
see it in scripture is very much that hearing because Christ does
draw near. He draws near in the preaching
of his word and in the preaching of his word he certainly deals
with us in a very personal fashion now isn't that what Paul is saying
in that 10th chapter of the epistle to the Romans verse 6 he puts
the question but the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down from above
or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ
again from the dead but what saith it what says the righteousness
which is of faith the word is neither even in thy mouth and
in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach." Oh,
it's the word of faith. It's that message that is being
proclaimed as God's Word is opened, as God's Word is expounded. And then again he goes on, doesn't
he, later in that chapter. He says, "...whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? That it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Or here we see so clearly that
the great thing in the preaching is that the Lord God himself
comes and speaks. And in a sense that's brought
out in that 14th verse, in that clause, "...as shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard." Now, the commentators
make the observation, which is quite correct really, that that
little word of, in a sense, is quite superfluous, because it
literally says in the Greek So said the commentators, how shall
they believe in him whom they have not heard? Now of course
they do hear of him. Christ is a subject matter of
the preaching, or should be. How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? But the force is much stronger
really. It says, how shall they believe in him whom they have
not heard? That's how close the Lord comes.
The Lord comes and speaks. My sheep hear my voice, he says,
doesn't he? They hear his voice. That was
the case, remember, of those at Ephesus. Ye have not so learned
Christ, if so be ye have heard him, and been taught by him. Oh, this is the office of preaching,
the importance of preaching. And this is why The Protestant
Reformers made so much of the preaching. It's the only office
God has ordained to save us by. It was very much the case here
in England, of course, but it was the case all over Europe.
And even Luther sees his chief, his prime responsibility to be
the exposition, the preaching of the Word of God. He was the
same with Calvin. And we still have, of course,
volumes of the sermons of these great men of God who were raised
up at that time. All the importance then of the
preaching. And this is what this woman attends
to. She heard us, says Luke, whose
heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. What Paul had to say, the words
that Paul spoke, she heard those words. Now what do we have here?
How does this relate to us? Well, two things. Is there not
here a warning to us? A very solemn warning. We are
not to despise the preaching of the Word of God. we must never
despise the preaching of the word of God and it can be despised
in so many ways and I'm afraid it is even in our day in so many
so-called churches they want entertainment more than preaching
they want musical items before preaching the emphasis is not
there upon the word and the preaching of the word and then suddenly
when we think of the language of the prophets think of the
words that we have there in the book of Amos in Amos chapter 8 verse 11 he
says behold The days come, saith the Lord
God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to
and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
O God forbid that we should ever despise that ministry, the preaching
of the Word of God. Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, it says in the New Testament, but so
much more exhorting one another as we see the day approaching.
When God's Word is open, when there's a preaching of the Word,
surely we should desire that that's where we want to be. We
want to be under the sound of that Word. And we want to experience
something of what this blessed woman knew when the Lord was
there. And it wasn't just a word that
was opened, it was her heart that was open to receive that
Word of God. There's a warning here. But there's
also encouragement, surely. Oh, there's encouragement to
us. We should desire that we might truly be in the Lord's house, on the Lord's
day, but more than that, to be where John was. He was there
on the Isle of Pat, must be don't want to be in exile, but surely
we should desire that with John we might be those who are in
the Spirit. I was in the Spirit, he says, on the Lord's day, and
heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. What does he
do? He hears his voice. I turned
to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to
his foot. So he gives this description
of the glorified Christ. Always in the Spirit. And he
hears the voice, you see. He hears a great voice. And what
does the voice direct him to? The voice directs him to the
glorified Christ in the midst of the seven candlesticks, the
seven churches. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And of the keys of hell
and of death. or there's encouragement. Might
He please the Lord? You see, when we gather for the
preaching, that Christ will be present. Has He not promised
where two or three are met together in my name, that I'll be there
in the midst? Or can we not anticipate that
the Lord will come? And in the preaching reveal Himself,
show Himself, and deal graciously with us. and utter those words
that he uttered to John long ago, fear not, fear not I am
the first and the last, I am he that liveth and was dead and
behold I am alive forevermore oh there's a word of God here
and this is so vital in the experience of this this woman, this certain
woman named Lydia but there's not only God's word There's also God's work. Whose
heart, it says, the Lord's opened. Whose heart the Lord's opened. All the necessity of God's work. What is all our coming together?
What is all our service? The readings, the preachings,
the prayings, praises, what is all that we do except the Lord
is in it. The wise man says the preparations
of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. It's all from the Lord. It's all together by the grace
of God. It's as it was for those at Thessalonica
when Paul reminds them, our gospel came not unto you in word only,
he says, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. We thank God for a godly form. All things are to be done decently
and in order. We want a proper biblical order
to our worship, but we want more than the mere externals, the
outward form. The kingdom of God is not in
word, Paul says to the Corinthians, but in power. It's in power. And what do we see when there
is that work of God? And when God comes and opens
the heart of a sinner? Well, there's a conviction of
sin. Or there's the conviction of sin. We've already remarked
on what our hearts are by nature. deceitful above all things, desperately
wicked, it says. Who can know it? We scarce know
our own hearts. Do I know my heart? What a sink
of iniquity is within our breasts. The hymn writer says, Lord, when
thy spirit descends to show the badness of our hearts, astonished
at the amazing view, the soul with horror starts. That's the
conviction of sin, isn't it, when the Lord comes. Out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts. The whole catalogue of wicked
things says the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are the things that
defile a man. It's not the outward thing, it's
not external washings. It's the heart of the man. And Paul knew it. Or this apostle
who is the preacher together with Silas and others on this
occasion, he knew it, didn't he? He pleased the Lord, he says,
to reveal his son in me. There was an inward work that
took place in that man. That's why he was brought to
feel himself to be of sin as the chief. that gospel worthy
of all acceptation is his that he has to preach it's a gospel
for sinners and he's a chief of all the sinners the greatest
of all the sinners what are we by nature? well you
know the scriptures and we can we can quote them and we do quote
them but I wonder sometimes, though we run them off the tip
of our tongue as it were, do we really understand what we're
speaking of, that carnal mind, that natural mind that we have
which is endlessly against God, which is not subject to the law
of God, says Paul, neither indeed can be. How piercing are the
words of Holy Scripture, what things whoever the law saith
it saith to them who are under the law were told that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God or therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified
in his sight by the law this is the ministry of the law is the knowledge of seeing and
that's the ministry there is a ministry of the law as well
as the ministry of the gospel. And when we read the New Testament,
do we not see how faithful these men were in making the distinction,
the difference? What is the ministry of the law?
It's that ministry of condemnation, it's that ministry of death.
It brings conviction, it stops the mouth of the sinner, he has
to plead guilty. All that law, it's holy, that
commandment, it's holy, it's just, it's good. nothing wrong
with the law of God but the law exposes us for what we are, it
shows us what we are it reveals to us our awful condition as
those who are in that state of alienation lost dead in trespasses
and in sins or there must be the conviction of sin when God begins to work, when
God begins to open the sinner's heart, whose heart the Lord opened. But we remember that God wounds
in order to heal. It's not all negative ministry.
It can't be all negative ministry. What's the purpose of God? God
is pleased surely to bring that poor sinner to
himself when he brings that sinner to a knowledge of himself he
will bring him into the liberties of the gospel the blessings of
the gospel he'll send forth the spirit of his son into the heart
of that sinner all because you are sons God has sent forth the
spirit of his son into your hearts That very heart that's such a
sink of iniquity. Oh, that's where God sends. And
in sending it, what does God do? He brings us into that assurance
that there is forgiveness, there's peace with God, there's acceptance
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Ultimately, what
is God doing? He is giving a new heart. Isn't
that the great promise of the covenant? The covenant of grace?
A new heart, he says. Also I will give you. A new spirit
I will put within you. I will take away the stony heart
out of your flesh. I will give you a heart of flesh.
All this comfort for the sinner, you see, that's the message of
the gospel. That's the covenant of grace. Yes, God shows us what we are.
and makes us to feel what we are and brings us to that point
where we are utterly cut off he turns us to destruction and
then he says return oh return you children of men oh there
is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode an offering and
a sacrifice the Holy Spirit's energies and advocates with God
there is the work of God here then she hears what's being said but
then this, whose hearts the Lord opened and then she attended unto the
things which were spoken of Paul well as we draw to a conclusion
I want to observe with you some four
marks of God's work in the heart of this woman. How do we see,
how do we discern God's work in the heart of the sinner? Four
things. First of all, when God begins
his work in the sinner's heart, there's a readiness to pray.
He has a readiness to pray. What does he say? On the Sabbath
we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made. And we sat down and spoke unto
the women which resorted thither and a certain woman named Lydia. She's one of that company. Why
are they there? Well, we're told they're at this
particular spot by the riverside because it's a place where they
come together to pray. They pray. Now, why was it that
Paul was at Philippi? Well, remember how he was very
much in providence, guided and directed by the Spirit of God. And God gives him that vision.
Verse 9, 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. Yes, it's a man of Macedonia
praying there in verse 9. But remember, Before they call,
I will answer. Whilst they are yet speaking,
I will hear, it says in Isaiah. and we discover that this man
is actually these women and amongst them Lydia on the
Sabbath day they go by the riverside to this place where prayer is
wont to be made and there's these praying women and amongst them
there's one upon whom the Lord is certainly going to have mercy
but here is the first mark, there's that readiness to pray, there's
that praying spirit Or when God's call becomes effectual, it's
evidence, is it not, because that sinner then is calling upon
the name of the Lord. There's a call of grace. And
where that's effectual, that sinner is brought to cry, to
call, to seek, to knock at the door of mercy. Now as there is
a readiness to pray, so there's also a desire to hear as we've said already with regards
to these women and certainly with regards to
Lydia they hear a certain woman named Lydia a seller
of purple of the city of Thyatira which worshipped God heard us
she heard But she doesn't just hear with her physical ear. She attended, it says. Whose
heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul. Now what does this word mean?
Literally, the word attended means to turn the mind to. She is turning her mind to what's
being said, she's listening. She's not just hearing there,
she's listening. She's intense on catching the words that are
being spoken. She's attaching herself to these
very words. These words are beginning to
hold sway now in her heart. Oh, there's such a desire to
hear. Is that how we come to the Word of God? We want to snatch
at it. We want to know that it's a word
for us. Oh, blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gate, waiting at the post of my door,
says wisdom. There in Proverbs chapter 8,
and remember it's Christ. Christ is heir, the wisdom of
God, in that 8th chapter of Proverbs. Then was I by him, was one brought
up with him, I was daily as delight, he says, rejoicing always before
him. He is the eternal son of the
eternal Father, and he says, blessed is that man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my door. There's that readiness to pray,
there's that desire to hear. And isn't there also here really
a spirit of worship? It says that the Lord opened
her heart. And the heart, the hard heart
of the sinner has to be opened up, broken up. Hosea 10, 12. Break up your fallow ground for
it is time to seek the Lord. till He come and rain righteousness
upon you all the fellow ground of the heart has to be broken
up and what is the consequence why that broken heart it's so
vital isn't it to real prayer so vital to real worship the
sacrifices of God we're told are a broken spirit a broken
and the contrite heart of God they will not despise all there
is a spirit of worship here in the heart of this broken hearted
woman the Lord has opened her heart and as there is that spirit
of worship so there's also real Christian fellowship she's baptized
she's baptized He's obedient, you see, to the words that he's
preached when the Apostle addresses the jailer. What does he say?
He's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he shall be saved. And then also, subsequently,
it's not just himself, it's also his house. And they're all believing,
he and all his, and they are baptised. That's obedience. That's obedience. To believe
and to be baptised. And then there's that spirit
of fellowship. Verse 15, when she was baptised
and her household, she brought us, she besought us saying, if
you judge me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house.
and abide there and she constrained us as she wants fellowship with
these men these who are the servants of the Most High God as she wants
to be in company with them and even at the end of the chapter
we see there's still that fellowship right at the end when they come
out of the prison they entered into the house of Lydia again
And when they had seen the brethren and comforted them, they departed."
Well, they departed. There's more preaching to be
done. Paul must be obedient to that call. He must go here and
there, hither and thither, preaching this great message of salvation. But here we see something of
the marks of one in whom the Lord is working, that readiness
to pray, that desire to hear, that spirit of worship, that
delight in Christian fellowship. Oh God grant that we might in
some measure then enter into the experience of this certain
woman. On the Sabbath we went out of
the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made and
we sat down and spoke 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. Amen.