In the 16th chapter of the book
of Acts, from verse 9, we read the following. And a vision appeared
to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia
and prayed to him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help
us. And after he 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. Therefore, loosing from Troas,
we came with a straight course to Samaphrasia, 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 abide in 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. 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. Now in this account,
we note several things. First of all, Paul and Silas
come to Philippi, they come to Macedonia because of the vision
that Paul sees in the night of a man who stood and said, come
over into Macedonia and help us. And they believed rightly
that this was the Lord calling them to preach the gospel unto
them. So they went to Macedonia and
they went to the chief city of Macedonia, Philippi, and came
to this riverside on the Sabbath day. where prayer was wont to
be made, and sat down and spake unto the women which resorted
there. And we read this account of a
certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Phaetira,
which worshipped God, who heard them, who heard their speech,
who heard their preaching, and whose heart the Lord opened that
she attended unto the things which were spoken of poor. So
they are called of God to go to this particular place where
this particular woman was with the gospel and God opened her
heart. Now note that she is singled
out. we read that they went to the riverside where prayer was
wont to be made and they sat down and spake unto the women
which resorted thither and a certain woman named Lydia a seller of
purple of the city of fire Tyre heard them and her heart was
opened by the Lord a certain woman she singled out she singled
out in the account and she's singled out in the Lord's purposes. She's chosen the Lord's purpose
to bring His disciples, the Apostles, to that place on that day with
the Gospel and the Lord's purpose that this woman, Lydia, should
hear that Gospel and her heart should be opened. She was chosen
of God in particular We do not read that the disciples came
and preached to the women who were gathered and all their hearts
were opened. We do not read that they all
responded but we read of a certain woman amongst those women who
gathered there whose heart the Lord opened. Now in this we see
the sovereignty of God in salvation We see his electing grace, that
he had his love set upon this woman. Here was a chosen vessel
of grace, and God would save her. God would open her heart
to the truth, and God led his preachers to her with the gospel,
and brought her to them on that very day, and opened her heart,
and she believed. and was baptized. His dealings
with her are particular. He knew her from before the foundations
of this earth. He worked throughout her life. He brought her pilgrimage, her
journey, her circumstances of life up to this point that she
should hear the gospel. and he ensured he opened her
heart. He ensured her heart was opened
to believe the truth. There is nothing general about
this. There are those who believe in universal salvation. There
are those who believe in the free will of man to choose to
accept God's grace or reject it. There are those who propound
an Arminian view of salvation, who, faced with a passage like
this, do all they can to undermine it. So they say that Lydia here
is presented as an example to us of God's dealings with all. God opened her heart, but God
desires to open the hearts of all. God tries to preach the
gospel to all and open all their hearts and have everyone believe. But how weak such a position
is when presented with the facts of this passage and the account.
God specifically prevented the disciples from going into certain
places. They were forbidden of the Holy
Ghost to preach the word in Asia we read in verse 6. They might
have gone one way, God said no, you'll go in this way. He didn't
send them everywhere. He didn't send the gospel message
universally to as many places as they could possibly visit.
He sent them to a particular place at a particular time that
a particular person should hear. And they were specifically called
to Macedonia through this vision in the night that they Believed
was the Lord calling them with the gospel to go to Macedonia,
to go to Philippi to preach the gospel in that place. And there
in that place the Lord already had been working in the life
of this person Lydia and leading her towards the truth and brought
her to the very place where they came with the gospel that she
should hear. Not only this, but she is singled out amongst the
women who gathered at that riverside. We do not read that the disciples
came and spake unto the women and their hearts were opened
and they attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul, but
we read that Lydia's heart was opened. And Lydia's heart wasn't
opened simply by being there and of her own will opening her
heart. We do not read simply that Lydia's
heart was opened, but we read that Lydia's heart was opened
by the Lord. whose heart the Lord opened that
she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. The
Lord specifically opened Lydia's heart to hear and to believe
in the gospel which they preached. There's nothing universal here. If God desired that all men should
believe, And if God tries to open the hearts of all men and
women to believe, then the wording in this account would be very
different. We would hear that all those who gathered and who
heard the disciples preached, responded. We'd hear that their
hearts were opened. Or we'd hear that the Lord sought
to open their hearts. Or that the Lord did open their
hearts. But no, we read of one in particular whose heart the
Lord opened. We also read that her heart was
opened. It was effectually opened. The Lord opened her heart. The
Lord didn't attempt to open her heart. The Lord didn't desire
to open her heart. The Lord didn't seek to persuade
her if she willed to believe. But the Lord opened her heart. You know, Minyan, will tell us
that the Lord desires everyone to believe. But there's no desire
expressed here. There's no attempt of God here
to save this woman. There's an effectual calling,
an effectual opening of her heart. The Lord opened her heart. Whose heart? The Lord opened.
He did it. He wrought it. He saved her,
effectually. There was no coercion. There
was no trying to persuade Lydia. But he opened her heart and he
saved her. In particular, a certain woman. A certain woman. God's purposes, his dealings
with men and women, are particular. They're specific. Women are mentioned
in this passage, but one woman, a certain woman, is named and
described as having her heart opened. A certain woman named
Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Fyatira. We don't read specifically whether
this woman is a Jew or a Gentile. We know she's of the city of
Phyrethyron. We know she was in Philippi here.
She may well have been a Greek. She may well have been a Gentile.
But she could also have been a Jew. For there were Jews living
in these places. We don't read whether she's Jew
or Gentile. And in a sense, the Holy Spirit
has left that specific out of the account on purpose. Because
here is a woman is presented to us as a particular example
of a woman who is saved by grace, as a figurative picture of the
Bride of Christ, who is called from both Jews and Gentiles. All God's people have their hearts
opened to hear the words of the Gospel. All God's people are
brought to believe And God's church is called after the four
corners of this earth, both Jews and Gentiles. A certain woman. She is a seller of purple, we
read. Now this is a fine cloth. Purple
is used to make fine garments for the rich and the wealthy. and the well-to-do. We read through
the scriptures of those that wore purple and they were very
often the rich or the royal, the kings. This is the finest
of garments. Now in that Lydia is a seller
of purple we may deduce various things about her as a person.
We may, many have commented and may deduce that she was reasonably
well to do or reasonably successful in what she did, that she should
be in the trade of selling purple. But that's not really why the
Holy Spirit tells us this. There's something about what
she traded, what she was a seller of, that is of note. She sold
purple, this fine garment, used this fine cloth used to make
the finest of garments for kings and queens and the rich as a
picture of the clothing that the finest wore as a picture
of clothing fit for a king as a picture of a garment of righteousness
We read of purple in the scriptures in several places. In Luke's
gospel where we read of the rich man and Lazarus who both die
and Lazarus goes to glory, goes to Abraham's bosom. The rich man's in torment. We
read there that there was a certain rich man which was clothed in
purple and fine linen and fed sumptuously every day. And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus. This rich man was clothed in
purple. We also read in Proverbs in chapter
31 of the virtuous woman. The virtuous woman is described
in one of the things that is used to describe her is how she's
dressed. She make of herself coverings
of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. So to be well clothed and to
be well clothed as a virtuous woman before God is to be clothed
in purple. Because purple is a picture of
fine garments and of righteousness. In Revelation 17, however, we
read of a very different woman and her garments. John there
wrote that he was, he carried me away in the spirit into the
wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast,
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet color. and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth." Oh, what a different woman this
is than that described in Proverbs 31. Yet this woman here is also
dressed finely, dressed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold
and precious stones and pearls. Yes, purple is a fine garment. Finally, we also read of how
Christ himself, on the day on which he was crucified, was mocked
by the soldiers, clothed in purple. Mocking him as the king of the
Jews, whom he said he was, and whom the Pharisees and the scribes
accused him regarding. The soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple
robe. They derided him as this king
whom they would slay. Yes, purple speaks of fine clothing. Clothing for kings. But we see in the examples we've
mentioned of how the wicked rich man who died and went to hell
was clothed in purple, and how That woman from Revelation named
Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations
of the earth, how she was clothed in purple. And in this we see
that though purple speaks of a fine garment and fine clothing,
and though it's a picture of righteousness, there is that
righteousness which comes from below and there is that righteousness
which comes from above. There are those like that rich
man who clothe themselves in fine garments to be seen by others
and to receive glory and honour of men in their own pride and
arrogance. whose righteousness is a self-righteousness
of their own. They're clothed and bedecked
in their own works and their own glory. Oh, how great I am! Oh, how good I am! Oh, how righteous
I am! Look at me, O world! And yet
when they come to stand before God, and he strips them bare,
God says of their purple, and their scarlet and their gold
and their fine linen, that it is but filthy racks. All that
they gloryed in, all their own goodness, all their own fine
linen that they arrayed themselves in to be seen of man. Not the
physical, but the spiritual. All their self-righteousness,
all their purple, he rips off from them as filthy rags. It's
filthy rags. Oh, how self-righteous we are
by nature. Oh, the self-righteousness of
man, how he seeks to approve himself before God and other
men through his own works and his own deeds, for his own glory. We clothe ourselves in what we
believe to be fine linen, purple, but in God's eyes it's but filthy
rags. And when the soldiers arrayed
Christ with a crown of thorns and a purple robe, dressing him
as a king in fine linen, spiritually speaking, they took the purple
from sinners and put them upon Christ. and arrayed him in the
righteousness of his people, the self-righteousness of his
people, the sins of his people. He, as it were, became their
substitute and was clothed with their best, which in God's eyes
was filthy rags. He was bedecked in their He bore
their sins and he was led away to die. Because when God looked
upon what Christ bore, he judged him as a sinner. He judged him
for the sins that he bore upon his own body on the tree. God
saw the purple on his son. God saw the sins, the wickedness
the self-righteousness of his people. Purple may be, but purple
that brought glory and praise unto them, and shook its fist
in the face of Almighty God. Filthy rags in God's sight, and
God condemned him, and God slew him, and his blood was shed. Yes, his blood was shed. Those
filthy rags which Christ was robed in as he bore the sins
of his people, those sins of self-righteousness which he took
away and he suffered for, it's those sins that slew him. But
he suffered that he might clothe that people again. He put himself
under the very righteousness of God in judgment that he might
clothe them again. He shed his blood that he might
wash them clean of their sins and clothe them again with another
robe, with another cloth, with another righteousness. That he
might wash them in his own blood. and take away their filthy rags
and clothe them with a true purple robe with a perfect righteousness
with the very righteousness of God that he might take that filthy
sinner and make her to be a virtuous woman as described in Proverbs
that he might take fine linen and purple and array her in it
Yes, God's justice demanded another righteousness, a perfect righteousness,
a perfect robe. It demanded the very righteousness
of God. Now Lydia was a seller of purple. In type and figure, she traded
in the clothing of righteousness. But she didn't have this righteousness. Lydia, we read, worshipped God. Certain woman named Lydia, a
seller of purple of the city of Phaetira, which worshipped
God, heard us. She was a religious woman. She
worshipped God. She came down to that riverside
in the city where prayer was wont to be made. She was diligent. She was zealous. She was religious. And she worshipped according
to the knowledge she had. She knew there was a need for
righteousness. But she did not know the righteousness
of God. She sold purple, she traded as
it were in righteousness. But her worship was worship in
the flesh. And her own purple and her own
righteousness could never save her. Her trading in purple could
not satisfy the justice of a righteous God. Like the Jews, of whom we
read in Romans and elsewhere, like the Jews, she was devout. She worshipped God. She was zealous. She went about thinking to establish
a righteousness, a righteousness according to the law, a righteousness
of her own. She prayed often, but like them,
she stumbled at the cross. She stumbled at the righteousness
of God. With the knowledge she had of
God and his worship, she did not know Christ in the gospel. Not until this day, when God
sent his servants to Macedonia, to Philippi, to the Riverside,
to Lydia, with the Gospel, with the message of Christ, with the
message of the righteousness of God, and another purple, another
garment, another clothing, and God opened her heart. Do you trade in purple? Do you trade in righteousness?
Do you go to a river? Do you seek to worship? Do you
seek to attain unto heaven and unto glory? But is it in your
own effort? Is it in your own strength? Is
it with a knowledge which is ignorant of the righteousness
of God? You know much. but you don't
know the gospel. You know much, but you don't
know Christ. Certain woman named Lydia, seller
of purple, of the city of Phaetara, which worshipped God, heard us. Heard us. We've spoken of the
who, Lydia. What happened to Lydia? The gospel
was brought to her at the riverside, and she heard. She heard. Now she didn't just hear the
outward words. There were other women gathered
there. If the disciples, if the apostle was preaching, there
were many who heard. But only some heard. Only Lydia. is called out in this passage
as hearing in the sense that that hearing led to her heart
being opened and she attended the things which were spoken
of Paul. She heard inwardly. She heard inwardly in her heart
and that hearing brought faith within. to believe. Hearing comes
by the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. You will never believe except
you hear. You will never hear except God
brings the message of his grace by the gospel. Oh, she might
have known much in the past. She might have known the scriptures.
She might have had access to the scriptures or heard the Jews
in the synagogues declaring things. She might have been a Gentile
who was proselytized, who became a Jewess. She might have heard
what they had to say concerning the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. She might have known many things.
Or she may have been a Jew living in this place who knew those
things. But there came this day when she heard more than she'd
ever heard before. Now you might know much. You
might have read the scriptures. You might have heard people preach.
You might know many things. But it can all be in the outward
ear and you don't know Christ. You don't know his particular
redemption. But there comes a day when God
speaks through his gospel and speaks through the scriptures
by the Spirit of God in a way that you've never heard before.
And suddenly what's in this book takes on a different meaning.
No longer do you continue to trade in your own righteousness. No longer do you continue to
weave your own righteousness and array yourself in your own
purple. But now you discover that what
you thought was so fine is filthy rags before God. What you thought
was so good is so wicked. What you thought was serving
God was serving self. And what you thought would save
you will in fact damn you. And here you find that there's
another way of salvage. That another must take your so-called
righteousnesses, another must bear your iniquity, another must
die the death that you deserve to die, another must be slain
in your place, and his blood must be shed in order that you
should be clothed again in true righteousness, in the finest
of linen, in another kind of purple, The purple dye from which
purple cloth was made at that time was extracted from the blood
of a creature. Purple was made through blood
and the death of another. And in this we see again that
purple as a picture of righteousness points us to righteousness exacted
through justice. through the slaying of another
and the shedding of blood to atone for sin. And it's that
sort of righteousness that Lydia needed and of which Lydia heard. Her heart was opened when she
heard the gospel. Her heart was opened by the preaching
of the gospel. Her eyes were opened by the gospel
to the righteousness of God, which is revealed therein. As
Paul says elsewhere, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation, for therein is revealed
the righteousness of God from faith to faith. What brings the
faith to believe in this righteousness? and in this salvation and in
this Saviour, the revelation of the righteousness of God within
the Gospel does. Her heart was open to it, to
the purple that she needed to be clothed in, to the salvation
that she needed. Her heart, the Lord, opened. Except the Lord came upon her
that day with that message and that gospel. Naturally speaking,
her heart would have remained shut. We do not read that Lydia
opened her heart. We read that the Lord opened
it for her. And he opened it for her through
the word that she heard. Have you heard this word? Do
you know that salvation was God? that he must open your heart,
that he saves sinners, that he sends the gospel to them, that
he leads them to the truth, that he comes to them by the riverside,
and he takes their self-righteousness and clothes them again in another
purple, another garment, a garment created through the shedding
of blood, through the shedding of blood. of God's outside, Jesus
Christ. Where did this come about? It
came about by the riverside. On the Sabbath we went out of
the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made. A
riverside. There's much significance regarding
where Lydia was. It's not simply that the women
came to the riverside, perhaps to wash. It's not that they came
to the riverside simply to pray. But God uses this river to remind
us of what the river speaks of. When God led Israel through the
wilderness out of Egypt, he brought them first through the Red Sea. and delivered them from the hands
of the Egyptians who perished in Nazi. He then led them through
the wilderness for 40 years until he brings them to the brink of
the promised land and Joshua led them through Jordan. Now that river Jordan was as
a river of death but God led them through dry shod. And so
often when we read of rivers, we're reminded that to pass from
death unto life, from this world unto the next, from time into
eternity, we must pass through a river, a river of death that
we might live. Before Moses led the people out
from Egypt, God sent plagues upon Egypt. And one of the plagues
was to turn the waters of the Nile into blood. And in that plague that he sent,
God sent a message unto Egypt and to Israel and to this world,
that if we're to be saved, we must pass through a river whose
waters become blood. Yes, he came to a riverside.
We read of rivers in various places. John 7, 38, Jesus says,
he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. Rivers of living water. Revelation 16 verse 4 we read,
and the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and
fountains of water and they became blood. As in Egypt, in that day of Moses,
John saw this picture of an angel who poured out a vial upon the
rivers and the fountains of water and they became blood. Notice
again, the connection here and elsewhere between rivers and
blood. Rivers of death and rivers which
have water of life. There's only life to be given
unto God's people because it's preceded by death. Because Christ
died, because there was a fountain of water Because there was a
fountain of blood that came from his side, forthwith came thereout
blood and water. Because of that fountain, because
of that river, as it were, that flowed from his side, a river
of blood, so he could bring life, water, salvation, rivers unto
his people. And so Christ can say of them,
he that believeth on me, as the scriptures have said, out of
his belly, out of his side, shall flow rivers of living water. Later in the book of Revelation,
we read of the city of God, of near Jerusalem, above, And we
read, And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb. A pure river of water of life,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the
midst of the streets of Italy, on either side of the river,
was there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree, were
for the healing of the nations. And what a picture of a river
we see there, a river of life, proceeding from the throne of
God. Now we've seen that there are
rivers like Jordan, through which spiritually the believer must
pass as a river of death from whence flows life. As pictured
in baptism, Lydia, when she heard and when her heart was opened,
was then baptized and her household. And in her baptism, she was confessing
her death, burial and resurrection with Jesus Christ. She was confessing
how she was plunged into the waters of death with Christ and
how she rose up again from the waters out of the river of everlasting
life. In her baptism, we see the water
she's buried in and the blood that cleanses her. How connected
are the waters and the blood? How right then that when Christ's
side was pierced, forthwith came therefore blood and water. Blood to atone, blood to cover
like purple with righteousness, and water of the Spirit of God
to bring life and salvation. These scenes we see in Revelation
of the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne
of God are what this scene of Lydia by the riverside with the
apostles is pointing us towards. Note how the apostles speak and
preach. And so the women here, they sat
down. 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 the seller of purple of the city
of fire Tyre which worshipped God heard us. They came out of
the city by a riverside and sat down at that place where prayer
was want to be made. And here in Revelation we read
of the city of God and the throne of God where God is sat down
and the river of water of life proceeding out of that throne.
And the picture we see of these apostles preaching unto these
women is a picture that takes us to see spiritually God on
his throne. sat down having wrought salvation,
sat down having offered up his life in the person of his son
Jesus Christ, sat down glorified upon a throne by a river which
flows out of that throne, bringing salvation. The whole scene brings
these scenes in revelation interview. Here's the Lamb of God on His
throne, preaching His gospel. Here's the pure river of the
water of life proceeding out of it, which brings the word
of that gospel unto the church. And here's the women and a certain
woman, the Bride of Christ, gathered into that place to heal. And the woman, the church, The
bride gathered unto the Lamb of God on His throne. Hears His
word. The river flows into and out
of her. The blood washes her. And her
heart is opened. And figure this is what is presented
to us. What's presented to us. A glorious
picture of the Gospel preached from on high. From a throne. to the chosen bride of Christ.
A pure river of life flowing into the very heart of the woman. He that believeth on me as the
scripture have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. The heart is opened. The rivers
of life flow in. And they flow out from those
we love him. because he first loved us. We
believe because he opened our hearts. Our hearts go out to
him because he's poured water of life within us. We drink. We drink of this life. We drink of this river. We drink
of this blood. And out of our heart flows forth
life. Flows forth water. Close forth
the living water of this river of life. And of our heart, close
forth love unto him who first loved us and gave himself for
us. Lydia heard, and the Lord opened
her heart, and she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul, and she was baptized. And she followed them and constrained
them and said, come into my house and preach. Come and live in
my house. Lydia was at Philippi. If you
read the letter that Paul subsequently wrote to the Philippians, you'll
see how these truths, how this setting flows forth through that
letter. You'll see Christ, the mighty
King, the King of Kings, humbling himself and coming down into
this world condescending to walk before men being made a man and taking on the rejection that
he must endure and the suffering of death but you'll read how
God has given him a name above every name now he has lifted
him up and how before him all men will bow the knee and worship. They'll be brought before him,
they'll be brought before his throne upon which he sits in
this city, in this glorious city above from whence the river of
life flows. I want to picture this river
as the water of life. the preaching of the gospel flowing
from the throne of God, which goes forth as a consequence of
that river of blood, which went forth from Christ's side when
he was slain in the place of his people, in their place, in
the place of a certain woman. He saw her through time from
the very beginning. and her name was upon his heart
and he came into this world for Lydia and for all those whom
Lydia represented for the bride of Christ her name was on his
heart a certain woman and he went to the cross and his heart
felt the condemnation of God because of her sins, because
of those filthy rags, because of that purple which she traded
of her own making. He felt the condemnation. He
was crushed and his blood was shed because he loved her. She was in his heart. His heart
was opened under her. And as a consequence, having
done all to save her, having shed his blood, having given
up his own life, having drunk the cup of God's wrath to the
dregs, when he rose on high and sat down upon his throne, sat
down by the river, he sent his preachers with his gospel to
Macedonia, to Philippi, to the riverside where prayer was wont
to be made, to the women to Lydia and he caused her to hear and
opened her heart and she believed. She believed. Oh, how God rules
the hearts of those whom he loves. In Proverbs 21 verse 1 we read,
the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of
water. He turneth it whithersoever he
will. God can cause this river to turn
to the left hand and the right hand. And he can turn your heart
this way and that. But if you're to believe in Jesus
Christ, if you're to know what it is to be clothed again, if
you're to know what it is to be delivered from your sin and
their condemnation, God will send the river unto you and he
will speak unto your soul and he will open your heart. Have you heard as Lydia heard? Have you seen what Lydia saw?
Has God led you to this place on this day? And a certain woman
named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of fire Tyre which
worshipped God heard us whose heart the Lord opened. Oh may God open the hearts of
dead sinners like Lydia, that like her they might hear and
believe and follow Him. Amen.