We're truly rags to riches stories,
aren't we? Beautiful Eric If you would open
your Bibles with me this morning to the book of Acts chapter 16
And once you get there just hold your place there. I want to Talk
to you just a few minutes And then we'll look at our text,
Acts chapter 16. You've heard me say a few times
now that I love the terminology used in scripture when it speaks
of certain men and certain women. You've heard me say that I love
that term. The word certain is a distinguishing
word. It's a distinguishing term. It distinguishes between one
and another. I have grown to be a little impatient
lots of times in buying gas because of people buying lottery tickets. It takes so long and those little
rub-off things, my, stand there for ten minutes trying to pay
for your gas with somebody hoping to win five dollars. And I'm
not condemning that. But let me give you an illustration. Any number can place the lottery,
but only a certain number wins it. It's a distinguishing number. And that's what scripture does
when it uses that terminology, certain men and women. Certain men and women. It means
not just any man or woman, it means not every man or woman,
but certain men and women. And I know that seems elementary,
and I mean for it too. Because it distinguishes God's
favor of one over another. And people say, that's not fair. It is when God Almighty does
it. Doesn't He have a right to do
with His own? Is it not lawful? We looked at
that in Sunday school. I think of a certain man in Matthew
17 who one day came before the Lord and he bowed and he said,
Lord my son, he's in bad shape. He said he wallows on the ground,
he throws himself in the fire, he throws himself in the water
and tries to drown himself. And Lord, the disciples, they
prayed for him and they tried to heal him, but they couldn't. And the scriptures tell us that
this certain man went home happy because the Lord of glory made
him whole. Then in Luke 8.27 there was a
certain man in Gadara who was well, well known among the inhabitants
there because he lived in the tombs and he often broke the
chains that they bind him with and he cut himself with rocks
and he was a crazed man, a mad man. But he was a certain man. He was a certain man. And the Lord Jesus caused the
demons to flee from him and go into the swine. And the next
thing we see is the people in town coming by, seeing him there
clothed and in his right mind, begging Christ to take him with
him. He was a certain man. And then one of my favorite stories
and scriptures in John 5, 5, there was a certain man that
had had an infirmity for 38 years and he lay at the pool of Bethesda. I've pictured that in my mind
many times, all these sick and dying people laying around that
pool because there was a superstition or a belief that every so often
an angel came down and stirred that water and the first one
that was able to get in it would be healed. And here they all
lay. Most of them couldn't move. This
certain man couldn't. He'd had an infirmity for 38
years and he confessed. When Christ said, will thou be
made whole, he confessed and he said, Lord, I don't have anyone
to put me in the water when it's stirred. He didn't have any ability
at all to help himself. And you and I are in the same
condition. We can't help ourself. We can't
save ourself. We can't do anything for ourself. Spiritually, why? We're dead
in trespasses and sin. I think myself that this man
said, I can't work my way. I can't get into that water.
Therefore, I have no man to put me in. Therefore, I lay here
like I have for 38 years. But I can almost see what happened
before this. I see Christ possibly even stepping
over sick people to get to this certain man. To only one man this day did
He say, Will thou be made whole? All the hundreds of others that
laid there. This was a certain man. This was a man chosen by
God before the foundation of the world. This is a man that
God had made his own. Certain men and women. And I
might add here at no extra charge and say to modern day religion,
you don't have to ask a paralyzed man over and over if he wants
to be made whole. You ask Him, will I be made whole
when He's whole? If He can make me whole, I'll
take that right now. You don't have to beg, you don't
have to plead with a dying man to take the only cure available
for his dreaded disease. He's going to take it. He's going
to say, give it to me now. And so it is with men and women
When the Lord Jesus Christ visits them in sovereign mercy and grace, they see their only cure is Christ
Himself. And they say, I must have Him. I must have the cure, the remedy
for what's eventually going to kill me, sin. And this man the Lord made whole. In Mark chapter 5, there was
a certain woman which you're familiar with, which had an issue
of blood for 12 years. And that's another story I can
just see in my mind's eye, the throng of people upon the Lord
as they followed Him through the streets, on His way to J.R.'
's house. And this poor woman bowed over,
crippled over from this issue of blood, made her way somehow,
someway through that throng of people. With this on her mind,
if I could but just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made
whole. What faith she had in Christ. And friends, if I could but receive
a touch from him, or touch his garment, if I could see with
the eyes of faith my need of him, I'll be made whole. And
God's got to show it to me. Now let me ask with this woman
in the issue of blood, you think about this. Was it her touch? Or was it the one she touched
that made the difference in her healing? It was the one she touched. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? God does. What have we received that wasn't
given to us? Nothing. It's all been given
by God. And if we received it, how can
we glory? We can't. God gets all the glory.
He gave the gift. You see, friends, this is not
a hard gospel to understand. It's just that men by nature
don't want this man to rule over them. They will not have a sovereign
God. I welcome the thought that he
who loved me and gave himself for me does all things well. Many say you're in good hands
with Allstate. I say, oh, you're in better hands
with the God of the Bible. That's where I put my faith and
my trust, by His grace. Anyway, this woman came in this
press of people, and she touched the hem of his garment, and Scripture
says, straightway, immediately, The fountain of her blood was
dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that
plague. Now we all need a touch from
the Master's hand. We're all plagued with the same
disease called sin. Our blood too, like this woman,
is polluted with the fallen blood of our natural father Adam. Our heart beats after wickedness
and God takes out that old stony heart and puts in a new one.
We got blood issues and we got heart trouble, but we have the
great physician who can take care of both. I think about the story of this
woman, this certain woman, and how Christ, he stopped in his
tracks when he felt this virtue leave him. And he turned around
to see her, scripture says, that had done this thing. And the
Gospel of Mark tells us that Christ healed her before he ever
saw her. When virtue left him and she
was healed, then he asked who had touched him. Now do you think
for a moment the Lord didn't know? He knew this woman before
the foundation of the world. He and his great providence was
right at this spot, this day, walking at exactly the right
speed where this woman could get to him and touch his garment. But friends, this is to show
us that first Christ must do a work in us before we ever see
the beauty in Him. She then fell down and when He
said, Who touched me? She came before Him and she fell
down and Scripture says she worshiped Him in fear and trembling. I can see her there just shaking,
can't you? Knowing, Scripture says, what
was done in her. And when I think about what the
Lord has done in me, He didn't have to. He could have passed
me by and been just as holy and just as He is. Nothing in me that would cause
His intervention. Nothing in me that would cause
Him to look. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? It's sovereign grace and mercy
that makes the difference. Certain men and women. You hear today, certain men and
women. And the scriptures full of them.
whom Christ came to save and not one of them will ever be
lost. So, today I want to talk to you
just briefly about another certain woman. A woman named Lydia. Look at our text, Acts 16. Verse 14 says, "...and a certain
woman named Lydia." Now there are many things that we have
in common with Lydia when it comes to our salvation. God is sure to do certain things
on purpose in saving His elect. Her conversion was obviously,
as we'll see, brought about by providential circumstances. You
see, she was a businesswoman. She made her living in the city
of Thyatira by selling purple, by selling material, clothing. But just at the right time, we
find her in Philippi, where Providence had also brought
A man by the name of Paul, a messenger of the gospel. Now, that may not seem like a
big deal, but I want to show you something. I want to show
you the providential hand of a sovereign God. Look at verse
9. A vision appeared to Paul in
the night. And there stood a man in this
vision of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia,
and help us. And notice what the Apostle Paul,
what it says in verse 10, And after he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavored to go to Macedonia. Someone once
said that God's providence is the handmaid of God's grace. And it led Lydia to the place
where grace would be shown at the time grace had appointed. God Almighty gave the Apostle
Paul a vision and with divine purpose sent him to exactly where
he would meet this certain woman and preach the gospel to her. I know that doesn't surprise
many of you as you look back upon your life when you didn't
know the Lord and you see providentially how He moved and worked and caused
you to cross the path with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's able to call a ravenous
bird from wherever to accomplish his will. He destroyed nations
to save one of his own. And the Apostle Paul was sent
in the fullness of time to preach for a sheep named Lydia. Now let me show you a couple
things that I hope will be a blessing to you, they were to me. Look
at verse 12, and from thence to Philippi, In other words,
these men, after Paul received the vision, they immediately
endeavored to go to Macedonia, and from thence to Philippi in
verse 12, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia. Now here they are where Paul
had been called to go, and this is in a colony, and we're in
that city, and notice this, 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 we spake
unto the women which resorted thither." Notice, though, that
Paul had been abiding certain days. Think about that for a
moment. Paul gets to where God sends
him, and then he abides. The passage doesn't say that
they were in that city preaching certain days, does it? It doesn't
say that they were in that city baptizing certain days or healing
certain days. It said, no, they were there
abiding. God told the Apostle Paul to go. He went as soon as
he could. And then when he got there, God
caused him to sit and wait for a while. Just abide. Rest. What were they doing? They were
abiding. They were just waiting on God. I wish I could learn to wait
on God. I get so impatient. I want it right now. God forgive
me. Teach me to be patient. God had
sent them there and they just waited on Him to direct them.
Patience is truly God-given. And then the scripture says,
and the Sabbath came, and they went out of the city by the direction
of God to a place of prayer, and they sat down and began to
talk with the women there. Now, I don't know how many ladies
were present this day. Scripture doesn't tell us. But there were women who resorted
there. These women who seemed to have
been Jewish women met there to attend some type of public prayer. You see, there was no true worship
of a true God in the city, in the synagogues. These women were, I believe,
they were looking for a temple, not made with hands. Paul wrote the second letter
to Corinth and he said, For we know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and
a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. I believe
these women were looking for that temple. These women endeavored to worship
and pray the best they knew how. And who happens to be among these
women, these worshippers, these ones who are seeking more truth? One of the Lord's chosen. A certain
woman named Lydia. Did Paul accidentally stumble
upon Lydia? No. Was Lydia just a lucky woman? No, sir. I think not. It was ordered so by God before
the foundation of the world. And thus it must come to pass. Grace was preparing Lydia's soul
for the blessing of eternal salvation. Grace prepares the heart prepares the heart which grace
has marked for its home. A certain woman, verse 14, 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 Lydia did not know
the Savior, but being a Jew, she knew many truths which may
have been excellent stepping stones to a knowledge of Christ.
I don't. God providentially can cause
things to lead from one thing to another, but the truth of
the matter is that she was an object of God's love. He had
set his affection on her before he ever visited her with the
gospel. Her conversion took place by
the use of certain means. On the Sabbath day, she went
down to a place, a place of prayer, where prayer was wont to be made,
Scripture says. I believe these women were genuinely
seeking the truth about Christ. And there she heard the gospel
and was converted. Children of God never neglect
the means of grace. God has ordained that men be
saved through the preaching of the gospel. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God. Who did it please? It pleased
God. by the foolish of preaching to save them that believe." Paul came one day and he said,
in my speech and my preaching, it wasn't with enticing words
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. If sinners ever hoped to obtain
mercy and eternal salvation, they'd be wise to find a place
where God speaks to men in truth through one of His preachers. Now, two words stand out clearly
in verse 14. Heard us. She heard us. And God makes us to hear. You
can preach a message of grace and one man can hear every word
and another man can hear every word and yet by the grace of
God only one really might hear. But she heard us. She heard the
message of the gospel. She heard the message of Christ. She heard us. Lydia heard. She heard with the hearing of
faith. God had prepared her heart to receive and you know what?
She heard. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Now notice the words, whose heart
the Lord opened. Lydia didn't open her own heart
and neither did I. I can't open my own heart and
ask Jesus to come in. You know what? Her prayers did
not open it. The Apostle Paul did not open
her heart. Who opened her heart? God did. The Lord himself must open the
heart to receive grace. to receive mercy, to receive
eternal life. Christ alone holds the key to
the door of man's heart. And listen, he's not knocking
and begging to come in. He alone can open the door and
get admittance for himself. Someone once wrote, he who is
the heart's maker is the heart's master. He made this heart. I can't give
it to Him. It belongs to Him already. And
He takes out that wretched thing and puts in one that lives and
pans to be in His will. That loves the Lord Jesus Christ. That's God's doing. There's never
been a man that changed his own heart. God does the heart transplant. The great physician does. They glorified God because God
does, in the scriptures, people glorified God because God did
the opening of the blind eyes. And He gave hearing to the deaf
ears and He opened our dumb mouths so that we might praise Him. Well I want to show you three
things which evidence the fact that the Lord had opened Lydia's
heart. First, notice that Lydia believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It says she attended to the things
which were spoken by Paul. She believed and she trusted
in the Lord Jesus Christ as her all and in all. Paul had declared
Christ to be both Lord and Savior. No sooner had he spoken these
words than her heart was opened. In her heart, Lydia bowed to
Christ, trusting Him alone as her Savior. And as sinners, if
we're ever to be saved, my friends, we must do the same. Secondly,
her faith itself displayed obedience to Christ. As soon as she believed
on Christ, she was baptized. I find it no coincidence that
they were down by the river. It's a sweet sign of a humble
and broken heart when the child of God willingly obeys a command
which is not essential to salvation. Salvation, I mean, baptism is
not essential to salvation. It's an outward profession of
what God has done inwardly. But yet, a child of God, if the
Lord saves them by His mercy and by His grace, they willingly
obey His command. A command obeyed which is not
forced upon them. by a selfish fear of condemnation. I'm amazed at the lengths people
go to just to baptize somebody. And one old preacher told me
one time, I was raised in a free will Southern Baptist Church
and every week I heard, God's trying, God wants to, won't you
let, and let God, and you know, you saved one minute, you lost
the next, you need to dedicate, you need to rededicate. And I
had an old preacher tell me one time, he said, he said, how many
times have you been baptized, boy? I said, about three. He
said, well you can be baptized in every pond and creek in Kentucky
and Tennessee till the tadpoles and the frogs know you by name
and it won't do you a bit of good if you don't know Christ. But when I and God revealed Himself
to me and I saw what that meant to identify with Him in His burial
and in His resurrection of life. I wanted to be identified and
so did Lydia and so did you. True faith is always, you can
write this down, true faith is always obedient faith. It just
is. Where there's true faith in Christ
as Savior, there's also a willing obedience to Christ as Lord. And the third evidence that the
Lord had opened Lydia's heart is love. Love. When the Lord opens the heart,
these three graces will always appear. Faith, obedience, and
love. Lydia's love for Christ manifested
itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. Love to the
saints has always been the mark of true conversion, love of the
saints. Our Lord said, by this all men
know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one for another.
John said, we know that we've passed from death to life. People
all the time, I don't know if I'm saved or not. Well, let me
give you a good sign. Do you love the brethren? You'll
know that you've passed from death unto life because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. I am so thankful. that it seems
so apparent to me that we genuinely love one another here. That's
a gift of God, just the same as grace and salvation and mercy
is. Why? We have the same Lord. We
all dug out of the same old pit and dunghill. We can't talk about
each other without talking about ourselves. So what do we do? We just love one another. We
encourage one another. We help one another. In our heart there is faith in
Christ. There's obedience to Christ and
there's love toward Christ and His people. That's evidence that
follows believers. You can write it down. It's because
the Lord has opened your heart. If the Lord has opened your heart,
you're saved. No one can do what God can do
and no one can undo what God has done. Do you see this morning
what Lydia saw? She saw Christ and Him lifted
up. I can just see the Apostle Paul
now opening the Scriptures, searching the Scriptures, showing Lydia.
You see that Ark of Noah? That was Christ. Do you see that manna out in
the wilderness? That was Christ. Do you see that
rock that followed? It brought forth the water of
life. That was Christ. Lydia said,
I see. I see by His grace. The Lord Jesus and Him crucified. She didn't only see that He was
crucified, Gary, she saw that He was crucified for her. There's a lot of people in this
world that know that the Lord Jesus was nailed to a cross. But I know that while He was
on the cross, I was on His mind. God revealed that to me. God
showed me that He hung there for me. That was my due sentence. That was my due justice. That
was my condemnation. That was my death. and Christ
stood in my place." That's what Lydia saw this day. Oh, do you see that God demands
a perfect righteousness and that your righteousness is filthy
rags? If you do, God has shown it to
you. Do you see that God is infinitely holy and you are infinitely sinful? If you do, it's because God has
revealed it to you. Do you see that there's only
one way to be reconciled to God? And that is in the substitute.
The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. What think ye of
Him? The one and the only way. There's
only one way. Christ made that plain when He
said, I am the way. There is no other way. I am the
truth. I am the life. And no man cometh
unto the Father except what by Me. Friends, if you come to church
to be told how to live, then you're in the wrong spot. I can't
even convince myself to live right, much less anyone else. God's got to do it. We're here to worship the God
with whom we have to do. We're here to bow to Him and
praise Him and worship Him and thank Him that He saved us when
He could have passed us by and still been holy and righteous. But God in justice saves the
wretched and He Himself becomes our sacrifice, our mediator. Oh, that I may have Him. He's
the way. He's the way. Let's pray together.