A Heart The Lord Opened

Q: What does the Bible say about how a sinner is saved?

A sinner is saved when the Lord opens their heart through the preaching of the gospel. According to Acts 16:14, Lydia’s heart was opened by the Lord as she heard the gospel preached by Paul. Salvation is not based on any work of the flesh or law; instead, it is a divine act of grace where God chooses certain individuals to receive faith in Christ. The gospel must be heard, and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that a sinner is given the capacity to receive the message of salvation. This demonstrates the sovereignty of God in the saving process, as He orchestrates the circumstances for each individual to hear the gospel at the appointed time.

Q: How do we know God chooses certain people for salvation?

The Bible teaches that God elects certain individuals to be saved before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5 states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This demonstrates God's sovereign grace in salvation. It refutes the idea that salvation is left to chance or human decisions. If it depended on human wisdom or initiative, no one would be saved, as our sinful nature prevents us from seeking God. Hence, the assurance of God's electing grace reassures believers that their salvation is grounded in God’s sovereign choice, not their own actions or decisions.

Q: Why is the preaching of the gospel important for Christians?

The preaching of the gospel is essential because it is the means by which God opens hearts to believe. The preaching of the gospel is crucial because it is through this means that God saves His people. Romans 10:17 says, 'So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.' God has ordained that the proclamation of His word be the instrument through which He opens hearts to receive the message of salvation. In Acts 16, Lydia was present where the gospel was preached, and her heart was opened to believe. Thus, Christians are called to preach the gospel to spread the saving message of Jesus Christ, confident that God will call His elect to Himself.

Q: How does God open a sinner's heart?

God opens a sinner's heart through the Holy Spirit using the preached word of God. When the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit is at work to open the hearts of the hearers, as exemplified by Lydia in Acts 16:14. The term 'open' implies giving life to the soul, which indicates a work of regeneration. This process is not due to any merit or action from the sinner but is solely by God's grace. When the Word is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit grants the capacity to understand and accept the truth of the gospel, leading a sinner to genuine faith in Christ. Thus, the opening of a heart is a miraculous act of God, demonstrating His power and mercy.

Q: What should baptism signify for a believer?

Baptism signifies a believer's public confession of faith in Christ and obedience to His command. Baptism is an important outward sign of an inward reality. It represents a believer's identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, as indicated in Romans 6:4. While baptism itself does not save, it is a command from God for believers to publicly declare their faith in Christ. In Acts 16:15, Lydia was baptized after the Lord opened her heart, which demonstrates her commitment to follow Christ and her desire to publicly confess Him. Therefore, baptism serves as a testament to God’s saving grace and the believer’s new life in Christ.

I invite your attention this evening to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16. I can tell you once again, it is a great delight for me to be here with you to worship our Lord together. And I especially look forward to the next time. I say that with fear and trembling, but also anticipation. I've titled the message tonight, A Heart the Lord Opened. And after I'd finished my notes and was sitting down to relax yesterday evening, I got a call from a man who asked me this question. How, or how do you put it? When, this is way, when, is a sinner saved? How does that happen? How does it happen that a sinner is saved? Do they have to be a certain age? Do they have to be baptized? When is it that a sinner is saved?

And he wasn't asking a smart-aleck question. I wish I had more people ask questions like that. And I was able to tell him. And I thought, I wish he listened to my message from Danville tomorrow night, because here in our text is an example of when a sinner is saved.

How is it that a sinner is saved? I took my title from verse 14 that says, a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened. Now that word open means to open the soul. and to give life to the soul. And I want that to be true of you and me. And when we leave here tonight, I want to know, has the Lord opened my heart? I want you to know, has the Lord opened your heart? Well, how does the Lord do that? Well, let's look and see. Let's go back to verse one of chapter 16.

Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewish and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews, which were in those quarters for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

Now Paul did not have Timothy circumcised because that's what it takes to save a person. This is not how a person's heart is opened to be circumcised. No work of the flesh, no work of the law can ever open our hearts and give us life. Paul, they just had a whole, if you go back in the past chapter, they just had a whole conference about this. The first Bible conference that they held was to decide, does a man have to be circumcised in order to be saved or not?

And they determined clearly he does not. But here's why Paul, he had a little bit of wisdom here, had Timothy circumcised. to avoid resistance from the Jews that they would run across, you know, down, down the road. And that's just wise. Take a problem out of the way if you can, before it ever becomes a problem, just take it out of the way.

But now if somebody come up and demanded, Paul, you have to have Timothy circumcised or he's not saved. You have to have Timothy circumcised or we can't listen to him preach. Well, Paul never would have done it. In Galatians chapter two, that's what happened with Titus. The Jews wanted Titus to be circumcised because they said, a man can't be saved unless he's circumcised.

And Paul said, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Because the works of the flesh, if we do any work of the flesh like that, that puts us back under bondage to all of the law. Now, why would you do that to somebody if you care about them? You wouldn't do it. And that's what, that's what Paul did. He just, he wouldn't do that.

So here's, here's Timothy traveling with him on this missionary trip in verse five. So were the churches established or verse four, excuse me. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for the key that were ordained of the apostles and elders were, which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily.

And when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. For they were come, after they were come to Mysia, they say to go into Bithynia, but the spirit suffered them not. But they passing through Mysia came to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

There stood a man in Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately they endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord, had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

You know, Paul wanted to go preach in Asia. He thought, this looks like a good place to go preach. But the Holy Spirit said, no, don't go there and preach. Same thing happened in Bithynia. He thought, this looks like a good place, you know, we can go preach. Holy Spirit said, no, don't go there. And he sent him here to, over to Macedonia. He sent him there on purpose.

And you know, when the Lord sends his gospel to a place, he's always sending his gospel to a place where the sheep are found, both lost and saved sheep. And when the Lord sends his gospel to a place, I'm telling you, we ought to pay attention because the Lord's going to save someone. I don't know who, but he's going to save someone. When he sends his gospel to a place, he's going to show mercy to some sinners.

And verse 11 says, therefore, loosing from Troas, We came with a straight course to Samo Thracia, 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 riverside, where prayer was wont to be made, and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. Now here, a group of ladies were gathered together on the Sabbath day down by the riverside to worship God, to pray, to read the word.

And they didn't have a temple to go to in that city. There had to be a certain number of Jews, probably a certain number of Jewish men in a city before you could have a temple there. So they didn't have enough Jewish men or people or whatever, so they could have a temple. So they didn't have a priest. They'd have a priest to offer sacrifices. They didn't have a priest to read the word.

But these ladies, I love this about them. They did not let that stop them from worshiping God. They did the best that they could, and they probably got together under some shade trees to pray and to worship. And here they are gathered together, and Paul and Silas come up.

Maybe one of the ladies asked them, do you have a word for us? Somehow, Paul and Silas had the opportunity to preach Christ to those dear ladies. Now, I wonder what they told him. I wonder what they told him. Well, it had to be the Old Testament Scriptures, didn't it? It had to be the types and pictures and prophecies of the Messiah, things all these ladies would have been familiar with. And Paul started talking to them about the woman's seed, and their ears perked up.

They, I know that. My wife, Janet, used to teach three-, four-, and five-year-olds. And she'd go through a certain number of lessons in a year and then she'd repeat them. And then when she starts repeating them, invariably one of the four or five year olds said, Oh, I know that one. I know that one. These ladies, that's what they were thinking. I know that one. Their ears perked up.

Paul talked to him about the Passover lamb, how Israel was delivered from Egypt and through the blood of that Passover lamb slain and applied on the doorpost. He talked to him about Isaiah 53, that lamb led to the slaughter, silent and their ears perked up.

And then Paul had to tell those ladies, the Messiah has come. The woman's seed has come and he crushed Satan's head at Calvary. The Passover lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. That mighty, victorious, conquering Savior you read about at the end of Isaiah 53, He's come. And let me tell you who He is. He's Jesus of Nazareth. He's the Son of God.

The Lamb slain to take away the sin of the world. Jesus of Nazareth is Zechariah's fountain that's open for sin. That's the gospel that the Lord uses to open the hearts of His people. It's the gospel of Christ that gives us a need for Christ and causes us to look to Him and run to him. And Lydia is the example of that. First of all, Lydia was a certain woman. Verse 14 says, and a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira. She was there worshiping God. She's a certain woman.

Now, the only way salvation is possible for any sinner is if they're a certain sinner. A certain center that Almighty God chose to say before the foundation of the world. Think about what false religion tells us. If the Lord left salvation up to chance, you happen to run into the gospel, you happen to believe. If God left salvation up to chance, no one would be saved. No one ever would be saved. And I'm thankful God did not leave salvation up to men, for us to try to find our way to God.

You know, if we'll take the first step toward him, then he'll do the rest. Or if we come to him, no one can stumble around in the dark and find God. Look at Job chapter 11. It's just such an indication of our dead nature that we think so highly of our dead selves that we think we can stumble around in the dark and find God. Job 11 verse 7. Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It's as high as heaven. What canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. No man can search all that out. No man can search that and find out God.

So we're thankful, aren't we? God did not leave the salvation of his people up to chance. And here's the other big thing false religion tells us. False religion is up to our decision. Can I have my heart open by deciding to let Jesus into my heart and be the ruler of my life Our dead nature, this is what the scripture tells us now, cannot and will not decide to come to Christ for salvation. We will not have salvation on God's terms.

Our Lord told the Pharisees two different things. He said, you cannot come unto me. Then he said, you will not come unto me. And both are true. We will not come to Christ because we cannot come to Christ. Our sinful nature does not have the capacity to come to Christ, to believe on Christ.

So I'm thankful. I don't have to stand up here and tell y'all, now salvation's up to your decision. And now I somehow got to talk you into making the right decision. If that's the way sinners are saved, you and me may as well just go on on. But that's not the way God saves sinners.

Sinners are saved because the father elected certain people and exact people, people that he chose by name to save through the obedience and the sacrifice of his son. He gave those people, those certain people, those exact people to his son to save, and the son, knowing they'd be fallen in Adam, knowing their fallen nature, knowing how the filth and the depth of the debt of their sin, the son took him anyway. And he agreed in the fullness of time to come as a man and put their sin away. He came to obey the law for them, to give them a perfect righteousness. And he agreed to be slaughtered by his father, to put away the sin of his people.

And the Holy Spirit comes to those certain people. And He reveals Christ to them through the preaching of Christ. And it draws them to Christ, gives them faith in Christ. And they come running to Christ because He's their only hope. And you know how I'm sure all that's going to happen? God's going to see to it. God's going to see to it. He's going to see to it that the gospel crosses the path of those people at the exact moment God determined before eternity, and before creation.

He's going to cross the path of those people with the gospel, and he's going to give them faith to believe it at the exact moment he determined before to do it. And you might not catch this at first in our text, but that's exactly what happened here. This is how our God works things.

Lydia is not from around here. She didn't live in this town. You know where she's from? She's from a town, it says up here in verse 14, Thyatira. I had to look this up. You know where that's at? It's in Asia. Paul wanted to go to Asia and preach. Well, Lydia lives in Thyatira. Let's just send Paul to Asia. He'll preach in Thyatira and Lydia will believe. Lawrence said, no, don't go there. Yeah, I've got a sheep there, but don't go there. You go down here to Macedonia. And the Lord brought Lydia.

She's out selling purple. She's probably traveling all over the place, selling purple cloth and purple thread and all this stuff. And it just so happened that the day Paul and Silas came to town, Lydia was in town too. And it's a weird coincidence. Lydia had no idea about these ladies meeting down here by the riverside, but she just went down there. She heard about them. She went down to see, you know, is there anything to this, you know? And she met the apostle Paul. who preached Christ to her.

I'm telling you, only God can make that happen. And he does it because grace finds the bullseye every single time. This is our confidence in preaching. This is our confidence in gathering together as a body to preach the gospel and to our town, to this place, because I know this. I know this. Yeah, I know there's people aren't going to believe it, but I know for certain grace is going to find the bullseye every single time. Sooner or later, all of these certain men and women are going to be brought to Christ.

God's going to see to it. The second thing I see about Liddy here is this. She was seeking the Lord where he could be found. There wasn't a temple there. She couldn't go there. But she heard about some women gathering together, reading God's word, and gathering together to pray. And she thought, I'm going to go there and worship. I'm going to go there with them. Now, I know this.

I can't find God on my own. I can't make myself have faith in Christ. I wish I could tell you how many years I wasted trying to make myself believe Christ. I can't give myself faith in Christ. I can't figure out salvation. I can't figure out who God is. I can't do anything to get God to save me.

But I know this, if God is going to be pleased to save me, if he's going to be pleased to open my heart, you know where he's going to do it? where the word is read, where the word is preached. You find a place where God's word is preached, where man is not trying to get something from you. He's trying to preach Christ to you and point you to Christ from this book. And you be there to listen. I mean, every single time the doors are open, you be there begging God for mercy, begging God for forgiveness, begging God to give you ears to hear.

Because I know this, if God's gonna save me, it's gonna be under the preaching of the gospel. And that's what Lydia did. She went to where the gospel was being preached. She knew where God was being worshiped, and she went there, because if she's gonna meet God, that's where it's gonna be, where the gospel is being preached. And that's what Lydia was doing, down there by that riverbank.

And it's just not a great big surprise, is it, that somebody's seeking the Lord's founding. You know why it's not a big surprise? Because the Lord told us, in the day you seek me with all your heart, you're going to find me. And you know who put that need in your heart to seek Him? God did. Salvation's all of the Lord. If you're one of those certain people, you're going to seek the Lord.

Now before the Lord takes me home, y'all might get tired of me saying this, but I'm going to keep saying it. You don't come. There's no one yet ever came to the Lord seeking salvation because they knew they were one of these certain people. No one yet ever came to the Lord because I know I'm one of the elect.

Everybody who ever comes to Christ for salvation comes to him because they're a sinner and they need a savior. They need a righteousness and he's the very righteousness of God. They need mercy and he's the one that delights to show mercy. They need cleansing from the filth of their sin, and His blood cleanses us from all sin. They come begging for mercy, begging for salvation, begging for forgiveness, and the Lord saves them.

And you know what they find out right quick? Oh, I came to the Lord because He loved me with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness as He's been drawing me. I came to Christ because He is the one drawing me to Him. You seek the Lord. You beg him for mercy and you'll find him. I can say that to you on the authority of this book. Then number three, when was Lydia's heart opened? I already touched on this.

It's when she heard Christ preached. Remember that word open means to open the soul and to give life. And when Lydia was hearing Christ preach, when Paul must have been talking to them about those Old Testament types and pictures and saying the Messiah has come, the seed of the woman has come, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, she heard, she heard. And it says there when she heard the things which were spoken, it doesn't just mean she heard them. The word means to be endowed with, to be given the faculty of hearing.

God gave her the ability to hear the gospel with ears of faith. The Holy Spirit gives sinners ears to hear and a heart to believe, a heart that needs Christ. I never knew I needed Christ. I heard him preach, did you? I never knew that. She heard and she came. The Holy Spirit gave her new ears and a new heart, and she trusted Christ.

Now again, the Lord's the ones in total control of this thing. He sends the gospel to where his sheep are, and he gives them ears to hear and a heart to believe. And I'm so glad that that's in the Lord's hand. I mean, I'm glad I don't have to look for some mark in somebody's forehead to figure out, well, if you're one of the elected, then I'll preach to you. If you don't have it, I'm not gonna preach to you. God's gonna see to it. We just preach to anybody that'll come listen, and I promise you this, Sooner or later, God's elect are going to believe. They're going to believe on Christ.

And the Lord opened her heart, it says. The Lord opened her heart. I'm so glad that the Lord does not wait on us to invite him into our hearts. You know, the Lord, if he's coming into your heart, he's going to tear the door off the hinges. I mean, and he coming in and he's sitting down on the throne of your heart.

But I tell you the other thing, the Lord has no unwilling servants. That's true. If you're the Lord, he's going to conquer you. I mean, he's going to conquer you, whatever it takes, he's going to conquer you, but he's going to make you willing in the day of his power too. And when the Lord comes in your heart, Oh, he sets up to rule, and you're going to be so thankful.

Remember when the Lord met Zacchaeus? He told Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, you come on down, Mr. Tree. Come on down here. Let's talk. And he told Zacchaeus, today, I must abide at your heart. And Zacchaeus, thank you, Lord. Come on in. Come on. I'm going to throw a big feast, you know. The Lord didn't wait to be invited, did he? But Zacchaeus sure was overjoyed he came. That is the case with every believer. When the Lord opens the heart, he rules in that heart, and he reigns in that heart, and you're glad it's so. You're glad it's so. Now, here's the fourth thing.

When the Lord opens a heart, that sinner is going to confess Christ publicly. Verse 15 says, and when she was baptized in her household, she besought us saying, if you've judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us.

At first, the believer, God opens our heart. He gives us faith in Christ. He gives us a love for Christ. We see him, we know him, we trust him. We're going to confess Christ and believe in baptism. Believer's baptism is a confession. It's the way the Lord commanded us to confess our faith in Him. That when Christ died, He died for my sin. I know He died for the sin of a number no man can number, but He died for my sin.

And when He died, I died in Him. I died to the law. I died to God's justice. I died to the demands of God's justice. I died in Christ. He died because of my sin. He was buried and put under the ground because of my sin. But thank God he rose again the third day. He rose again because his sacrifice put my sin away. His sacrifice justified me. And when he arose, I arose in him.

He is my life. Now, this is part of my conversation. I had this man on the phone. Baptism doesn't save you. You can be saved. You can go to heaven and never be baptized. I know the example we always use is the thief on the cross. But let me ask you something. If the Lord's opened your heart, I mean a miracle of God's grace that He opened your heart. He's given you spiritual life. He's given you faith in Christ. You see Him. You believe Him. You have just such confidence in Him.

Why wouldn't you be baptized? Why wouldn't you confess that the Lord has done the greatest thing that could ever happen to any son of Adam, that he opened your heart and gave you faith in Christ? Why wouldn't you confess him? I know baptism doesn't save, but it has to be important for the life of a believer.

You know how I know that? The Lord commanded us to do it. And his commandments are not grievous. What? a wonderful commandment to be able to confess union with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a commandment. But second, we confess Christ in our daily walk, in our conduct, in our interactions with each other, in our interactions with people out in the world.

If you really believe that Christ died for you, he saved you by his grace, you're going to be a gracious person. If Lord's been merciful to you, you'll be a merciful person. If he's been kind to you, you'll be kind. If Lord's shown you compassion, you'll show others compassion.

We all wish it'd be better. We all wish I'd show that more, but you will be because you're following Christ. Lydia gave herself to the Lord. And then she gave herself to those men that came preaching the gospel to her. She said, Y'all come stay with me. You stay at my house. You don't have to worry about money for food. I got you. I have you food. I have you a nice bed. She given herself to serve God's people. That's how we serve. If you want to know how to serve God, help one another, help one another. Look at second Corinthians chapter eight and we'll close here. Second Corinthians chapter eight. Paul here is talking about the grace of giving. Verse one of second Corinthians eight.

Moreover, brethren, we do, we do you to wit. We want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How then in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded under the riches of their liberality for to their power, their ability to give. He said, I bear record. Yay.

And beyond their power, They were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift to take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. They gave more money than they should have given. It seemed like they were given more than they have. This doesn't seem like a wise financial move, but that's what they did. And here's why, verse five.

And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord. They gave all of themselves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. And that's, you know, we confess Christ in baptism once, but we confess Christ in our daily walk every day, don't we?

Every day. I hope we can see. The Lord's opened my heart. The Lord's opened my heart. And if he has, let's run to him. Let's run to him. Let's cling to him and be determined to serve our generation by preaching the gospel in this place, by holding up Christ so that sinners will come to you. All right. I thank you. Lord bless you.

A Heart The Lord Opened

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about how a sinner is saved?

How do we know God chooses certain people for salvation?

Why is the preaching of the gospel important for Christians?

How does God open a sinner's heart?

What should baptism signify for a believer?

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A Heart The Lord Opened

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about how a sinner is saved?

How do we know God chooses certain people for salvation?

Why is the preaching of the gospel important for Christians?

How does God open a sinner's heart?

What should baptism signify for a believer?

Sermon Transcript

About Frank Tate

Comments

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