Behind every movements there needs to be financial supporters. This is true in politics, sports clubs, social clubs, secret organizations, sect and cultic religions … why ought it not to be true in Christianity? I have known some wealthy people who have ploughed millions into Churches, missions and other Christian organizations. One in particular has sustained mission, rural and township work for decades. Often God enriches some to care for His vineyard. Why not? After all non-Christian organizations are sponsored by their supporters! We saw that Barnabas was such a sponsor of God’s people earlier in Acts. Today we come across another one … an unlikely one. Please read:
Ac 16:11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
1) Redirected by the Holy Spirit, the missionaries arrived in Philippi. They sailed from the seaport at Troas (modern Turkey) to Samothrace … a Greek Island in the North Aegean Sea off the Thracian Coast. (It’s difficult to pinpoint as it is a region in the southeast Balkans, bordered by the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, the region of Macedonia and the Balkan Mountains.) From there they continued by sea to Neapolis and then moved inland to Philippi. Today Philippi is known as the municipality of Filippoi, located near to the original city in East Macedonia, which today is Greece. This city was an important Roman City in Paul’s day, to the point of being a “mini Rome” in culture and architecture.
2) Did you miss something very important? Read the following verse from yesterday:
Ac 16:10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Maybe read the following verses to see if you get it:
Ac 16:7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
Did you see the “we” and “us” in verse 10? Before in verses 7 and 8 we have “they” mentioned three times. Luke is the human author of the Book of Acts. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this historical account of Church expansion from Jesus’ Ascension through to Paul’s incarceration in Rome. It seems as though he joined Paul, Silas and Timothy at this point of Paul’s second missionary journey. Before this point he relied on his talking to the other characters for information. From here on he is a firsthand witness.
3) Finding a place of prayer. They remained in this city for a few days. Because the city did not have a synagogue … a place where Paul could preach, on the Sabbath Day they looked for a suitable place of quietness to spend time in prayer as a missionary team.
There were very few Jews in Philippi. Ten men would qualify to have a synagogue … and at times women could even substitute for men … yet in this case, they could not reach ten. Their search took them outside of the city to the banks of the River Gangites. Here they found a few women of Jewish and Gentiles birth, worshipping the God of the Jews. Wasting no time, the missionary team sat down with these women. They were a group of men and they sat down with a group of women so there was no crossing any forbidden boundaries as in one man sitting down with one woman. But notice what they did … they “began to speak to the women”.
Knowing the burning Gospel flame in Paul’s heart, what do you think they would have spoken about? Yes … Jesus! They seized the moment. O that we would be like this and use every opportunity to tell people about the Lord Jesus and the free grace He offers through His Gospel. May I mention it again? Our problem today is that we don’t have urgency in our hearts! And the lack of urgency is because we tend to enjoy living here on earth too much. You see, if we grasp in our hearts that Jesus could come back at any moment … or that we or those we could talk to about Jesus could die at any moment … it would change our perception from lacking urgency and being lethargic to being on fire and jumping into action.
Would you mind me being extra provocative? When last have you shared Jesus with someone? I am not asking whether you prepared a mini sermon or a carefully worked out talk … I’m asking when last you told someone that life is short, eternity long and being without Jesus will result in an eternal damnation … and offering them Jesus and His substitutional death to escape God’s punishment of hell! Pray for divine appointments to share the Gospel. If you want to serve Jesus in this way and you ask Him, He shall open the door for you.
4) Meeting a business woman.
Ac 16:14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira.
Because her name was Lydia and came from Thyatira, some think that this territory was part of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. Those coming from Thyatira were famed for their skill in manufacturing purple dye, extracted from the juice of the Madder Root. This root grows up to a meter or more in length and 12mm thick. It is a source for red dyes known as Rose Madder or Turkey Red. This dye produced in the first century lasted until the end of the nineteenth century when chemical dyes replaced it. Lydia’s business was trading in this dye and cloth already colored. Historians tell us that Philippi hosted a guild of “purple merchants” … of which Lydia would have been part.
5) God converting a business woman.
Ac 16:14 who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
She was a god-fearing Gentile from Thyatira. She was obviously part of a synagogue in her home country. In grace, God softened her “Jewish” heart to the Gospel message. He saved her together with members of her household (which would include the ladies with her … her employees and family). They were baptized. There is no telling how long after their conversion this was … but as soon as she and her household were incorporated into the visible family of God, she invited the missionaries into her house, saying:
Ac 16:15 “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”
No one prompted her … this was spontaneous … or was it? It was of the Spirit. The Lord who opened her heart to the Gospel opened her heart to open her home for the Lord’s work. Do you have a story to tell like this? Once Jesus opened your heart to the Gospel, did He open your heart to use your resources for His purposes?
Our Father, Your workings are amazing. You stopped the missionary team from going into the heart of Turkey and relocated them to Philippi in Greece … and amongst other things, they needed to be at that river on that Sabbath Day to share the Gospel with Lydia and her staff and family. There you saved their souls and inclined Lydia to become instrumental in Paul’s ministry. O God, do these things again and again … even in our lifetime, using us. Amen.