I don't know how many of you
looked that up when Mike mentioned it, but rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Turn with me back to the book
of Acts, Acts chapter 16. Our text will come from verse
14 of Acts 16. Here we read, a certain woman
named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened And she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Just a few points from this passage
of scripture this morning. And the first is this, the Lord's
providence in bringing Lydia and Paul together. This is a certain woman named
Lydia. And it says she was a seller
of purple. Apparently, she was a businesswoman. And she was traveling, traveling
on what would appear to be business. And she was from the city of
Thyatira. But on this particular day, at
this particular time, at this particular place, She finds herself
in Philippi. And if I looked at it correctly,
it would appear she traveled over 300 miles to be at this
place. And in our day, 300 miles really
isn't much. You think about that in the absence
of a car or a train or a plane, probably rode on some kind of
animal or walked, but over 300 miles. In my mind, I wonder, did she
think I'm just here on business, doing what she did all the time? With the Lord in his providence,
is going to bring her under the sound of the gospel. I can think of many, many circumstances
and many of us that the Lord took from one place and brought
us to another. And we thought maybe it was for
maybe a particular person, maybe for a job, maybe any number of
things. But the Lord in his mercy used
that particular situation to bring us under the sound of his
word. And that's what God is going
to do for Lydia here. He's going to bring her to the
same place as one of his chosen messengers. And of all places
on the riverbank, there on the riverbank, Look at verse 13,
it says, 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 there. Lydia and Paul, this is no, I
guess what I'm trying, this is no small thing. Seems kind of
simple, right? She's traveling on business.
She goes down to the riverbank where some of the folks are praying. But she's brought to this particular
place where the gospel is going to be preached to her. You know,
over in the book of Luke, the Lord Jesus Christ, he had entered
and he was passing through Jericho. And there was a publican, of
all things, a publican there named Zacchaeus. And Zacchaeus, he sought to see
Jesus. He sought to see a man named
Jesus. You know, the Lord Jesus went
about healing folks and declaring the gospel. I imagine there was
a natural interest in seeing these things. So he desired to
see Him. Don't know what he'd heard about
a man named Jesus, but he desired to see Him. Don't know what Zacchaeus's
real intentions were other than to see this man. Scripture says
he sought to see Jesus. And I guess most remember that
story Many of us probably heard it from the time we were little
children, that story of Zacchaeus. He was a wee little man. I think
that's how the song goes. He was a wee little man. Well,
Zacchaeus climbed up in that tree to see this man as he passed
by. He was little in stature, so
he climbed up in the tree to see him. And in verse 5 of Luke
19, We read that when the Lord Jesus came to the place, there was something special about
that place. That tree that he was going to
climb up on, it put him right at the place, right where the
Savior was going to pass by. Think about that. That place
determined from all eternity. He came to the place. And he looked up, and he set
his eyes on Zacchaeus. And he said unto him, he knew
his name, he said, Zacchaeus. That's how he calls his sheep,
isn't it? He calls them by name. Zacchaeus, make haste and come
down, for today I must abide in thy house. And don't you know Zacchaeus
made haste and he come down out of that tree at the command of
our Lord. The Lord said, this day, not tomorrow, not a few months
down the road, this day is salvation come to thy house. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing
if he was pleased to speak the same thing to one of his sheep
today? this day. Maybe he'd be pleased
to speak to one of his sheep and say this, this day is salvation
come to thy house. Lydia had been brought to the
riverbank. In the same manner, she had been
brought to the place. That was the only place. on that
day, at that time, where she could be, where she was gonna
hear the gospel preached. Turn with me back to Ezekiel
34. Ezekiel 34. Look at verse 11, Ezekiel 34,
verse 11. Thus saith the Lord God, behold,
I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out as a
shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he's among his
sheep, his sheep that are scattered You know, he knows every one
of his sheep. He knows where they are, and
he's going to seek them out. He's going to find them. He said,
I'll seek out my sheep, and we'll listen. Listen here. I'm going
to deliver them. I'm going to deliver them out
of all places where they've been scattered in this dark and cloudy
day. He goes out. He goes out, he
seeks out his sheep and he finds them and he brings them to himself. And at the same time that this
seller of purple, this particular lady, Lydia, at the exact same
time that she's brought to that riverbank to pray, the Apostle
Paul is going to be brought to the exact same place Just as the Lord Jesus Christ
must pass through Samaria, Paul's gonna pass through Philippi.
And if you look back, if you look back at the beginning of
this chapter, you'll see that Paul too traveled a great distance. He started at Derby, and then
if you read through there, there were several stops until he came
to Philippi, which was the chief city of Macedonia. I tried to
look at those stops and add them up, but again, it was a great
visit. It looks like it was over 500
miles, again, to be brought to this place. Almighty God orders and directs
all things after the counsel of his own will. Every one of
those steps of Paul and Lydia charted, guided by Almighty God. And that journey brings him here,
here to the riverbank, where these women were meeting to pray.
The Lord sends Paul there. just at the right time, just
at the right place. And in Romans 10, beginning with
verse 13, we read this, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on him of
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear? without
a preacher. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it's written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Their paths are going to cross. Almighty God's going to cross
the path of one of his sheep, and he's going to reveal his
gospel to them no matter where they are. You think about this. Zacchaeus,
he was up in a tree, and yet the Lord came to him
precisely where he was. Bartimaeus was out there on the
roadside begging. and the Lord passed by. That thief, of all people, a
thief, dying on the cross, there he hangs. I imagine his mother cried a
lot of tears for him, right? Probably a lot of people were
glad to see him hanging on that tree. And yet that's the place he has
to be, to be right beside our Lord as he hung on the tree. And the gospel's revealed to
him. Salvation's come to his house. We'll read here a little
bit about that jailer. Sat down there in the prison.
Lord's gonna send his messenger to him. And here, Lydia, she's
down there by the riverside. Our Lord said this in John 6,
39. He said, this is the Father's
will which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing. He's not going to lose one of
his sheep, not one. And he's going to raise them
up again at the last day. Well, here's the second point. There's two people in this chapter.
Two people in this chapter that the Lord is pleased to save. And there's a great contrast
between them. In verse 14, we see a certain
woman named Lydian. But don't stop there. If you
read on down to verse 23, you'll see that he's also pleased to
save this Philippian jailer. Look back at verse 9 and 10.
It said, a vision appeared to Paul in the night. And there
stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, come over
to Macedonia and help us. Help us. What kind of help is
that? We'll read on. It says, after
he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to, listen,
not dig ditches or plant crops or bring water, bring living
water, but assuredly the Lord had called us to preach, the
gospel to them. To both Lydia and Paul, or Lydia
and this jailer, Paul is going to preach the gospel. Now see
the contrast here. Lydia, she's down there by the
riverbank praying. I just imagine that being just
quiet, peaceful. There they all sat down to just
the river, the water flowing beside them. She's described
as a woman that worshiped God. And she went to the place where
prayer was wont to be made. Our Lord said this. He said,
my house, my house should be called the house of prayer. That seems to be the right place
to go, doesn't it? Paul says, we sat down and we
spake to the women which resorted there. Spake to them. He preached the gospel to them. And then if we read on down,
we'll see that jailer. And that's quite a different
set of circumstances. He's in the middle of all places. Paul and Silas are going to be
placed in the middle of a prison. surrounded by felons and criminals,
all sorts of wicked men that had been condemned by a judge
and sentenced to the care of this jailer. And where Lydia, we read, was
a woman of prayer, she was a woman that worshiped God, there's no
indication that this man felt any need or had any desire to
worship God. In fact, he was prepared to take
his own life. But you know what? He's one of
God's sheep. And he is going to hear the gospel. Acts 16 verse 32, he spake unto
him. Paul spoke to him. Paul spoke
the word of the Lord to him. He preached the gospel to him.
And I tell you, I wish I had an outline. I wish I had an outline
of both of those messages. Word for word. But it's not shared here. But I tell you, even though it's
not shared here, it's revealed. His gospel is revealed throughout
His Word. Preaching the gospel is declaring
the truth. It's declaring the truth. And
these truths should ring clear in every message. The truth about Almighty God. Who he is. You know, I would
say the majority of the churches in this community and around
this, listen, not just limited to here, but around this world,
the God of the Bible is not declared. Men speak of a God who has no
hands but your hands. A God who has no feet but your
feet. A God who wants to save you but
cannot apart from your will. They declare a false God, a weak
God, a helpless God, a disappointed God whose hands are tied. Because he can't convince man
to do what he wants him to do. They pray unto a God that cannot
say. That may be the God of this world. That may be the God of man's
imagination. But that is not the God that
is declared in his word. He is the eternal God. These first four words of scripture,
in the beginning, God. He's the great I am. He's the God of all creation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All
things were made by him. And without him, Without him was not anything
made that was made. He's the God of all grace and
mercy. He told Moses, he said, I'll
be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and I'll show mercy to whom I'll
show mercy. He's just and he is righteous
in all that he does. Listen to just a few verses of
scripture. In Ezekiel 18, 20, it says this,
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. In Exodus 34, 7, it says,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. He's a sovereign God. It's in
him that we live and move and have our being. I don't doubt for a minute, Paul
declared the truth about who God is. This gospel declares
not only the truth about God, but it declares the truth about
man. Listen again to just a few scriptures
that tell the truth about who man is, about what man is. It
says, there is none righteous, And before there can be any objections
to that, he says, no, not one. None that understandeth, none
that seeketh after God. They're all going out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. It's an open sepulcher, an open
grave. With their tongues, they've used deceit. The poison of asp
is under their lips, their mouths full of bitterness and cursing.
What is that? Murmuring, complaining, finding
fault, gossiping, backbiting. Feet, swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. The way of peace, they have not known. And there's no fear of God. No
fear. Listen, a man who does not know
God, a man who does not know who God is and who doesn't know
anything about himself, there's no fear in his eyes. Job said
this, when I saw the Lord, once I've spoken it, I will not answer. Yea, twice I'll proceed no further. John said, when I saw the Lord,
I fell at his feet like a dead man. Wouldn't it be something if we
left here today knowing something about the truth
about who and what we are? That I'm a sinner, empty, broken. destroyed, and that he would take every
false foundation which we stand or lean on, and he would just
take those things away, sweep them away, and leave us with
this plea, this same plea of that publican of old, this cry,
this prayer, God be merciful to me. the sinner. This gospel, it declares the
truth about God, it declares the truth about man, it declares
the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, God in
human flesh. That one who came to this earth
and suffered and died on the cross to save his people. from their sin. Turn with me
to Hebrews chapter 10. But this man, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, henceforth
expecting till his enemies may make his footstool, for by one
offering, one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
came into this world to save sinners. And he was successful in that
endeavor, wasn't he? He accomplished the work given
him by the Father. He finished it. He said to the
Father, he said, I finished the work you gave me to do. He declared it for man to hear
it as he hung on the cross. He said, it is finished. And in Romans 10 verse 9, God's
word declares this, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from
the dead, God was satisfied with his offering, he raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. This gospel declares the truth
about salvation. Salvation. Deliverance. Salvation from sin. Salvation,
listen, it's not by the deeds of the law. It's not by man's
doing and dying. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. It's not by a decision. Definitely not by our decision. It's not through ordinances,
keeping of the laws, keeping of holy days. Salvation is not
by signing up and joining the church and getting your name
on the roll. Salvation is of the Lord. And it is in Christ
and Christ alone. Nothing we do, nothing we don't
do. Salvation is of the Lord. Almighty God, the Lord of heaven,
listen, he chose us in Christ unto salvation. He redeemed us
by the blood of his son and he calls forth his people, calls
forth his sheep through the preaching of the gospel. And though the circumstances
surrounding this conversion of Lydia and the jailer were quite
different, One thing was consistent, one thing did not change, one
thing was needful, the gospel was preached to them. Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians
1, we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
unto the Greeks foolishness, but to them which are called,
both Jew and Greek, Christ, the power of God. Christ, the wisdom
of God. Paul's gonna bring, the Lord's gonna bring Paul and
Lydia together. Gonna cause their paths to cross,
and his gospel is gonna be preached. Last point, we read that the
Lord God opened Lydia's heart. Back in our text, it says, the
Lord opened her heart to attend the things which were spoken
of by Paul. The Lord opened her heart. Only he can. He must take out that old stony
heart and give us a new heart. Oh, that he would open our hearts,
that he would open our hearts, that he would cause us to receive
his word. He has to, only he can. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God. their foolishness to him. He
can't know them. They have to be spiritually discerned. God must open the heart. God must reveal himself to a
dead sinner. Has he opened yours? Has he been pleased in mercy
to open your heart? You know, there were some things
There were some outward things here seen in Lydia when the Lord
was pleased to open hers. What were they? Quickly here.
It says she worshipped God. She worshipped God. You know
to worship Him is to ascribe all greatness, all power, all
majesty to Him. We read that just a little bit
ago. Mike sang that. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in Him always. Rejoice in the greatness of His
power. Rejoice in His person. Rejoice
in Him as our substitute. Rejoice in the power of His blood.
How powerful is that blood? It cleanses us from all sin. Rejoice in his righteousness. We don't have a righteousness,
but he does. And he makes his people the very
righteousness of God. We rejoice in his grace. We rejoice
in his love, which never fails. Rejoice in his providence. which works all things for the
good of his people. Rejoice in his intercession. He ever lives to intercede on
the behalf of his people. What else do we see here when
Lydia's heart was open? It says this, she heard us. She heard the word. He that hath an ear to hear,
Here's the command, let him hear. The seeing eye, the hearing ear,
where do those things come from? The Lord made both of them. She attended, she didn't just
hear, she attended to the things spoken. I looked that up. Listen, she was brought near. She was brought near to the word. She was attentive. She was given
to those things which were spoken. She was in agreement with them. I'm guessing there was a time,
I know this, there was a time God's word told me I was a sinner.
I didn't believe that. But then the Lord revealed that.
The Lord made that clear. Suddenly, listen, she had an
interest in his word. The Lord gave her that interest.
She was devoted to the message. She just couldn't get enough
of it. She had to hear it, huh? Was there a time for you when
you had absolutely no interest in this gospel? And then a time when the Lord
was pleased to reveal it, and you just, you gotta hear it,
you gotta have Him, you gotta have Christ. A time when God in His mercy
was pleased to open the heart. And now we rejoice to hear it.
Must hear it, must feed on His word. The Lord opened her heart. She heard. She attended to the
things spoken. And then last, it says this,
she was baptized. Same was true of that jailer.
A desire to confess Christ, a desire to be identified with him and
his people. A public profession of faith. A picture of his death, burial,
and resurrection. We died with Him. We died in Him. And we're risen
to walk in newness of life. The Lord opened her heart. She worshiped God. She heard. She attended to the things that
were spoken. And she was baptized. I pray
He'd open our heart. Cause us to see Him. Rest in
him and him alone. All right, Isaac, come lead us
in the closing.