Bibles to Acts chapter 16. Acts 16, our focus will be verses 6 to 15, specifically the conversion of Lydia in Philippi. I'm actually going to start reading in chapter 15, however, beginning at verse 36, so you may follow along. Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.
Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus.
But Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystrum and Iconium.
Paul wanted to have him go on with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. Now, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days.
Ministry at the Riverside on the Sabbath
And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God.
The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful in the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she persuaded us. Amen.
Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the God breathed word. And we pray now that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive these things. May you encourage us.
May you build us up in our most holy faith. And again, may you bring conviction to those dead in their sin and awaken them to their state before a holy God. and their necessity or their need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Guide us by your spirit, illumine our minds and hearts, and again forgive us and cleanse us from all sin and everything that darkens our understanding. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, the section that I read begins the second missionary journey of the apostle Paul. There are several recorded in the book of Acts. There are three specifically. And then we conclude there's a fourth one after Paul gets out of prison at the end of the book of Acts.
But here in Acts chapter 15, we see a bit of a dissension between Paul and Barnabas. And people often wonder who was in sin? Who did God bless? I don't think either were in sin, but rather sometimes good men disagree.
And the particular dispute was over John Mark, who, according to the chapter 13 and verse 13, had abandoned the missionary enterprise and returned to Jerusalem. And I say abandoned, I doubt he became an apostate or a God-hating rebel or a wretch or anything like that, but he left them on their own. So Paul, coming to the second one, doesn't want to take John Mark. He doesn't want a duplication of what happened previously.
The end of Paul's life, he speaks favorably of John Mark. They obviously reconciled and everything was great. But here, this becomes the predicate for Paul and Silas being sent out with reference to the second missionary journey. So this starts at chapter 15, verse 36. and ends at chapter 18 and verse 22.
It takes up the time frame of probably AD 49 to 52. And so what you have here is Paul going from place to place, preaching the gospel, making disciples and founding churches, and then calling upon those churches to elect and appoint and ordain elders in those churches for the maintenance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in terms of proclamation and instruction in fulfillment of the Great Commission. Now, we all have heard of Lydia. We've all heard of this particular convert here in the city of Philippi.
It is intriguing that the church in Philippi began with this woman who was a businesswoman, a slave girl, as the next passage mentions, and then the Philippian jailer. God, in His grace and in His mercy, takes a handful of people that nobody would have ever thought would begin to make something awesome, and God does something awesome with it. His grace is excellent. His grace is powerful.
His grace is most blessed. So as we come here to the second missionary journey, basically it takes place and includes Derbe, Lystra, Phrygia, and Galatia, sites visited on the first journey. In addition, God leads Paul to Macedonia, starting from Troas. He goes to Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and finally Corinth before returning to Antioch.
So, it was quite extensive and quite comprehensive and quite a blessing, not only for Paul, but for those who heard his ministry. So, as I said, we're going to pick up verses 6 to 15 under two specific considerations. First, the Macedonian call for help in verses 6 to 10, and then the conversion of Lydia in Philippi in verses 11 to 15. But notice with reference to this Macedonian call for help.
For those of you who were not with us at the 930 hour, we had a presentation from Mr. Rick Posma about Word and Deed Ministries. I read Psalm 67. Hopefully missions is in our minds, missions is in our hearts.
And I think it's appropriate for us to focus on this Macedonian call for help. Notice that the apostles conclude what that help entailed. It was the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the blessed emphases of word and deed is food, it's shelter, it's clothing, it's schooling.
But the primary emphasis is the gospel of grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is precisely what we find in this Macedonian call for help. You see an emphasis on God's sovereignty.
The Macedonian Call for Help
Notice in verse 6, now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. I love the way that Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, emphasizes the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the church, in the ministry of evangelists. in the ministry of the missionaries and over the entire missionary enterprise. This is not because everybody in that region was necessarily reprobate and so therefore they're not going to get the gospel. No, at this particular time in the juncture of redemptive history, the Spirit forbid them to preach the Word in Asia.
Verse 7, after they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. Again, the active agency, the operations and power of, and the presence of the Spirit in the action of Christ from the right hand of the Father doing this through His church. In fact, if you look back to Acts chapter 1, specifically at verse 1, Luke tells us what his purpose is in writing the book of Acts. Verse 1, the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
The Gospel of Luke records all that Jesus began both to do and teach. The book of Acts continues to tell us all that Jesus did and taught. He does it by His Spirit, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, in the life and ministry of the church, and here specifically with the Apostle Paul, as the spotlight seems to fall on him in the later half of the book. So the spirit forbids them to go to particular areas, but then notice this Macedonian call in verses eight and following.
So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. There are several visions recorded in the book of Acts. This one specifically for the apostle Paul.
He has this vision, this communication by God to him.
Cessationism and the Sufficiency of Scripture
Now, we have the written word, we have the completed scripture, so there's not visions for us today. If you want a vision, I would suggest you read your Bible. You want a word from the Lord, I would suggest you read your Bible. You want to know what the Lord said, I would suggest read your Bible.
Don't shimmy up Mount Sham and expect there's some sort of a vision or some sort of direct revelation from the Most High. You've got direct revelation from the Most High, most likely sitting in your lap. We need to master the book of God. It is the great Word of God that was given by inspiration of the Spirit of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
So don't go looking for visions, don't go looking for prophesying, don't go looking for tongues, but rather read your Bibles, pray, ask God to give you the Spirit so that you understand that truth. So then notice what they conclude, as I've already mentioned, in verse 10. Now, after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
The Gospel Reaches Europe
Now, Macedonia had been a world power under Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great four centuries earlier. Since 168 BC, it had been a Roman province. The Greeks regarded the Macedonians as barbarians, except for the royal family. But they shared the same gods as the Greeks.
Philippi became its principal city during the Roman period. Essentially what you have here is the gospel going to southeastern Europe. You have the gospel moving throughout the then known world under the preaching of the apostles through the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus took 12 men and He said, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded.
And lo, I am with you till the end of days. I am with you till the end. So he starts off with his omnipotence. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
And he ends with his omnipresence. I am with you while you engage in this particular task. And so the apostles get this vision and the apostles conclude it's not food that they needed to mass it on. It wasn't, you know, more schooling that they needed in Macedonia.
Again, all absolutely noble and wonderful things. But what did they primarily need? They needed the preaching of the gospel.
The Gospel as the Church's Primary Mission
Therefore, we concluded in that vision where that man is saying, come over and help us, we concluded that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. It's the blessed reality, brethren, if we don't have a lot of resources, we still have the gospel. Remember that scene in Acts chapter 3, that lame man went to beg and to ask for alms, and he held out his hand. He begs from Simon Peter.
What does Peter say? Silver and gold, we don't have. That may just be the reality. Silver and gold, we don't have.
But what we have, we give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. You see, brethren, the church is always about evangelism. The church is always about missions.
The church is always about the Macedonian call. The nations of this world have the same fundamental need that every nation prior and every person ever has had. It is sin against a holy God is the problem, and the remedy is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The church brings that message of healing.
The Conversion of Lydia in Philippi
So then notice the conversion of Lydia and Philippi in verses 11 to 15. They arrive at Philippi after verses 11 and 12, or according to verses 11 and 12. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we're staying in that city for some days.
Now, Philippi was named after Philip. Philip II, King of Macedon, and father of Alexander the Great. Philippi was the famous location of the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC between Mark Antony and Octavian against the assassins of Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Cassius. So it is a notable place.
It was a foremost city in that colony. In terms of the province of Macedonia, Philippi was a big get. The gospel doesn't always only ever go to the big gets. It goes everywhere, right?
That's the glory of the gospel. I remember several years ago there was a somewhat famous pastor in Seattle and basically the emphasis was always only ever on the big cities. You get the big cities for Jesus and then it all flows down to the smaller towns. I don't get that emphasis in Acts.
I don't get that emphasis at all. I get wherever there are sinners, there's a need for gospel preaching. Wherever there are sinners, there's a need for godly churches. Wherever there are sinners, there's a need for sinners to be called to repentance and faith.
If they happen to be big cities, great. If they happen to be tiny cities, great. If they have people in them that need salvation, seems to me the book of Acts says wherever those people are, you go, you listen to that Macedonian cry for help, and you respond by concluding that we needed to preach the gospel there. And so they come to Philippi and then notice the ministry on the Sabbath day, specifically in verses 13 to 15.
And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. And we, and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now, for those who have read the book of Acts, you'll know that one of the common strategies of Paul, one of his common tactics was when he went into a city, he would go into the synagogue. He would there be able to preach Christ as Messiah.
That's why he'd get kicked out of synagogues from time to time, because obviously the unbelieving Jews didn't want to hear that this Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the Messiah. But you see what else Paul had access to in terms of those who heard the word in the synagogues were not only Jews who had some idea of Messiah, again, did not agree that Jesus was that Messiah, but there were God-fearing Greeks. In fact, Lydia is described as a worshiper of God. And usually what that means is they're Greeks or Gentiles who knows something about Yahweh of Israel.
They are intrigued They are interested. They are curious. They are those who wonder after this God who, according to the Old Testament scriptures, made the world and all things in it. This God who governs all His creatures and all their actions.
This God who promised the sending of His own Son in order to save His people from their sins. So there were Gentiles that found themselves in synagogues because they were interested in the God of Israel. So Paul's tactic and strategy was genius. You need a good audience?
Go to a first century synagogue. There you're going to get Jews who need to hear about Jesus so they can believe and be saved. And you're going to hear, or you're going to be able to speak to God-fearing Greeks, God-fearing Gentiles, those who also need to hear about Jesus and be saved. Interesting.
She's called a worshiper of God. Intriguing. Yes. Her heart was closed to the truth as it is in Jesus.
I think what we're supposed to observe here is that, you know, the light of nature makes known there is a God. The light of nature makes known that that God should be worshiped, that God should be glorified, that God should be honored and praised. The only way of access to that true and living God is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when she's in this state, categorized by an inspired apostle as a worshiper of God, that's a general identifier, that's a general category.
It didn't describe the condition of her heart. She needed to be born again. She needed to be effectually called out of darkness into marvelous light. She needed to confess saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is precisely what we find here.
And believe you me, as I've come to this passage, I realize there's a lot of us in here that will disagree on what it means for her to have her household baptized. I get that. I understand that. We could debate that for hours, I'm sure.
I don't want to make this a time to debate on who was in her household, though I probably will mention a couple of things. This woman was saved. This woman was conquered by grace. This woman understood what it was now to be forgiven of her sins, to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus, to have a righteousness imputed to her and received by faith alone.
She started that day, devout as she may have been, curious as she may have been, interested in the God of Israel as she may have been. She was destined for hell. But in God's grace and in God's mercy, the Spirit forbid the apostles to go into Asia. The Spirit forbid the apostles to go into Bithynia.
The Spirit had specific sights set upon this woman, upon the slave girl that follows, and upon this jailer. Why? Because there's a church to be planted in Philippi. It's not that the Spirit was done with Asia, done with Bithydia, but in the redemptive plan and purpose of God, this is the trajectory.
She started the day as a God-hater, even though generally accepted as a worshiper of God. She ends the day as a God-lover. She ends the day washed. She ends the day justified.
She ends the day sanctified. She ends the day opening her house to Christian missionaries and having them stay with her. It's a beautiful story of God's grace in the midst of this riverside. So Paul would go to the synagogues.
Most likely there wasn't a large enough Jewish population in the city of Philippi to sustain a synagogue. And so what happened? The people that were Jews or the people that were Gentiles interested in the God of Israel would meet at the riverside and there they would pray and there they would probably encourage one another, similar to what we would do if we didn't have a church to go to on a Sunday. We'd gather together and hopefully we'd mutually edify one another.
We'd pray, we'd sing, we'd encourage, we'd look to scripture. That's the scene. That's what's happening in this particular situation.
Lydia: Worshiper of God, Closed to Truth
So then notice the specific conversion is emphasized in verses 14 and 15. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshipped God. The city of Thyatira was well known for purple dye.
That dye would either come from shellfish or the juice of the madder root. Don't ask me what a madder root is. It's probably some sort of a root they've identified as a madder. That's my expert opinion here.
What's the point of the narrative? She's a businesswoman. A lot of people assume she's either widowed or single because it doesn't mention a husband, but that is an assumption. We know that she's a businesswoman and she's well-to-do.
She has her own household. Again, interesting if she is married because usually the household would be identified by the husband, but we don't want to go beyond where the spirit is authorized. She could have been single. She could have been divorced.
But she definitely was a woman that was somewhat successful in terms of her business trade. Now, a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira. And here's that emphasis on who worshiped God.
She was most likely a Gentile interested in the God of Israel. So she would go where there were persons talking about the God of Israel. This is how she finds herself at the riverside on this particular Sabbath day, and she just haphazardly runs into the Apostle Paul. Huh.
I've often said that if you ever open the door and there's a lion standing on your porch, repent. God often in the Bible uses lions to kill people. Okay, just a piece of friendly advice. But if you happen to find yourself at a riverside on the Sabbath day in Philippi, and Paul shows up, same advice, repent.
And the one God is sending a lion to destroy you. The other God is sending the apostle of Jesus Christ to tell you the words of everlasting life. You see the mercy and the grace and the kindness of God. You see it in its larger context of sovereignty.
Don't go here. Don't go here. I've got something specific for you over here. And to get that ball rolling, I'm going to give you a vision.
This Macedonian man is going to call out for help. And lo and behold, you're going to get to this riverside. You're not going to find that man in particular. You're going to find a handful of women.
Isn't that intriguing? How many men would have stopped and given the gospel to this handful of women that were sitting by the riverside on the Sabbath day? This has God all over it. It is conspicuous, a conspicuous display and demonstration of his absolute sovereignty and power and glory.
Again, he's building a church. Jesus made that promise in Matthew chapter 16. I will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it. How do we think that's gonna happen?
He's gonna part the heavens and drop huge buildings into certain metropolises and then fill them with bodies? No. He's going to send Paul to the riverside on the Sabbath day in Philippi to a handful of women. And then he's going to have Paul followed by an annoying, obnoxious young slave girl that is demon-possessed.
And then he's going to have Paul actually thrown in prison. And the Philippian jailer is going to want to kill himself. But Paul cautions him and says, don't do that. The man falls before Paul and Silas.
He had enough wherewithal to realize that earthquake wasn't because of these other guys. It was because of Paul and Silas. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
You see the power of God. You see the glory of God. You see the mustard seed growth of the kingdom of God. It doesn't just get dropped down in mass upon the nations.
You see what we have seen in the 2,000 year history of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Twelve men in the first century turned the world upside down. What's been happening ever since? The world is being turned upside down.
The Lord Jesus Christ is plundering the kingdom of Satan. There is a transference happening as the gospel is preached from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And I say that to emphasize that sovereign grace isn't confined to Philippi in the first century on the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. That grace is there.
That grace is available. That grace is powerful and effectual to save to the uttermost everyone who draws nigh to God through Jesus Christ in faith. The Lord blessed this particular meeting, which many would have called happenstance or, you know, accidentally or by fate. No, it was divinely appointed such that Paul would bring the gospel to her.
So verse 14, now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. We'll consider that emphasis on the sovereign grace of God in that He opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul in just a moment.
What Paul Preached to Lydia
What were the things spoken by Paul? It doesn't say it here, does it? I'd argue it most certainly does. Everything else Paul says in the book of Acts?
Everything else Paul says in his epistles? Do you honestly think that as Paul has a chance to kick this can, he's not talking about Jesus? He's not affirming that as an unconverted Jewish rabbi, I understood the supremacy, sovereignty, and glory of God? I understood that from the very beginning in Genesis chapter 3, 15, that God announced that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent?
I read about Abraham taking Isaac up to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him. I read Isaac's question, where's the sacrifice? And Abraham's response, the Lord will provide. I read the prophets.
I was very keen on and familiar with the suffering servant of Yahweh according to Isaiah 53 and the other three servant songs of Yahweh in Isaiah 42 and 49 and 50. The Apostle Paul told her, I understood all this, but it wasn't until that road to Damascus that I got, as it were, the key to understand it, to realize that Jesus Christ is the yea and amen of all the promises of God, beginning in Genesis 3.15, carried by farther steps to the full discovery of this new covenant blessing in our Lord of glory. What did he speak to her? He spoke to her, Christ in Him crucified, Christ in Him resurrected, Christ in Him glorified and thrown at the right hand of the majesty of God on high, Christ coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead in the way of salvation by God's grace through faith in that Christ for everlasting life.
That's exactly what Paul spoke to her. If you ever read that, I wonder what Paul said. Again, let me just tell you, repent, because that's a foolish question. What do you think Paul talked about when he was chained to Roman soldiers?
The weather? The Canucks? The modern political scheme going on under Nero's realm? No, he talked about Jesus Christ, His life of perfect obedience to the Father's law, His death as a sacrifice and a substitute on the cross at Calvary, and His resurrection again the third day.
Those things that sinners desperately need. See, we need to be cleansed in His blood. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We need to be washed.
We need to be forgiven. We all find ourselves in that Psalm 130, 3 and 4 situation. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.
We all find ourselves in that position of having sinned against God. All we like sheep have gone astray. There is none righteous, no not one. There's none who fears God.
So we need His blood to cleanse us, to wash us, and to purge our sin away. But we need His life as well. We need His perfect obedience to that law. For you see, when God does deal with us, when God does open our hearts the way he does with Lydia, when we, by God's grace, look to Jesus Christ in faith, we're not only forgiven, washed in his blood, but we also get his righteousness.
It's given, or the technical term is, imputed to us and received by faith alone. In other words, we're cleansed in his blood and clothed in his righteousness. And that is precisely the emphasis of the apostles words to Lydia at the riverside on the Sabbath day in first century Philippi. That is still the emphasis that ought to be listened to as the gospel is preached.
That is still the emphasis that ought to be had in every pulpit that ever stands in the name of the most high. It ought to be the emphasis with every missions organization, with every missions agency, with every effort to reach the sinner. What are we telling them? You need Jesus.
You need by grace to believe on Him, to be forgiven of your sins, and to receive that righteousness by which you'll enter into the presence of God. You need to say, at some level, by God's grace, fowl I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. That's the great emphasis, and that's what we see in the apostles' words.
We don't have to wonder, what did Paul talk about? We've got much of the New Testament to know with absolute certainty what Paul talked about. And when Paul talked about it, know what God does.
Sovereign Grace and the Means of Preaching
He opens Lydia's heart to receive that message. He graciously enables her to believe that gospel.
Sovereignty Does Not Strip Away Hope
And it's here that people say, well, when you underscore the absolute sovereignty of God, you kind of strip hope away from man. Let me ask you, where is there more hope? In the free will of God hating rebel sinners, or in the free grace of a God who is in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. He not only opens her heart, he opened a bunch of other people's hearts in the first century.
He opened a bunch of people's hearts here. He opens a bunch of people's hearts elsewhere. In fact, the scriptures tell us that in heaven, there is such a multitude that no man can number from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Far from stripping away hope to emphasize God's absolute sovereignty and glory in the saving of sinners, it's the very foundation of it.
It's the very basis of it. I can tell all sinners everywhere believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved with utter certainty because Jesus says all that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. Or this Jesus who praises the Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, but you did reveal them unto babes, for thus it was well-pleasing in your sight.
Never let the emphasis on God's absolute sovereignty chase you from the cross, and never get into the mindset of, you know, am I elect? Am I predestined? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
I say that with absolute authority on the Holy Scriptures. Paul says that to this Philippian jailer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. He doesn't say, okay, Philippian jailer, go back to your house and figure out if you're elect.
Go figure out if you're predestined. Go figure out if you've got an E sort of etched in your back. No, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. God is glorious.
God is gracious. And may I just go one step further. You've got here in 1614, God opening our heart to heed the words spoken by Paul. In Acts 13, on the first missionary journey, you have a statement about all those who were appointed to eternal life believed, Acts 13, 38.
You know what some people do? They conclude thus, well if God's appointed, who will believe? And it's God who opens up the heart, then it really doesn't matter what we do. It really doesn't matter the means that we use.
In fact, we don't need to use means because if God opens their heart, he's going to do it whether they're in a church, whether they're on a bus, whether they're on Mount Sham, wherever it might be, he's going to do that. The same scriptures, the same section, the same trajectory. Belief on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, Acts 16.31. Or what about in Acts 14?
This one's like smack dab in the middle of two statements that affirm absolute sovereignty. Notice in 14.1, now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. If you didn't have 1338, you didn't have 1614, you might conclude it was the efficacy of the apostolic preaching that actually brought salvation, because that's what the text says. It says, they so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed.
If you just took that statement and separate it from those other statements, you might be a flaming Arminian and say, well, it's all based on how good Billy Graham can preach. It's all based on how good so-and-so can preach. We know that's not the case. The God who is purposed to save is the God who is purposed the means by which He saves.
This is very much spelled out in 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 21, for since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through what? through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. It's beautiful. So when you read Lydia here, you see God's sovereign grace.
You see the use of means. You see Paul hearing, seeing this Macedonian call for help, traveling a long way to get to this particular city, this foremost city in this province of Macedonia. And he happens upon these handful of women. And he speaks the truth about Jesus.
And by God's grace, she believes that truth. She heeds it. And then note the response.
Baptism as the Reflex of Saving Faith
She wants to be baptized. It's beautiful. It is a beautiful statement of the simplicity that you find in biblical sacraments. Notice in 1615, and when she and her household were baptized, she begged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.
So she persuaded us. I did say I was going to make a comment or two about our household. Not all households have infants. I'm sorry, if Paul showed up at my house tonight and he baptized my household, there would be no infants.
If it had come 30 years ago, there'd have been a handful of infants. 35 years ago, the text is silent. Just like I said, we can't affirm that she was single. We can't affirm that she was widowed. We can't affirm any of that.
We can't necessarily affirm she had infants here. But whoever she did have here were converts. Look at verse 40 in Acts 16. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
They were now brethren. Whoever occupied her household were brethren. So they were baptized because they, by grace, believed the things that had been spoken by Paul. They could have been servants.
They could have been siblings. They could have been older children. But it follows a particular pattern that you see in the book of Acts that follows our Lord's great commission. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations.
How do we do that? By preaching the gospel to them, calling them to believe and repent. Once they, by grace, believe and repent, what do we do? We baptize them in the name of the triune God.
Once we do that, then what? We teach them to observe all that the Lord has commanded. The promise, lo, I'm with you always, even at the end of the age. You see that recurring theme throughout the book of Acts.
You see belief, then baptism. Belief, then baptism. Belief, then baptism. So to import the idea that her must have been infants here, you're going beyond what scripture says.
So probably I should stop now. I don't want tomatoes to start being thrown my way. So it's a friendly debate, but it's something to think about. It's obviously an intramural debate.
I got a lot of brothers on my shelves that are Paedo-Baptists and I love them and I esteem them and I praise God for them. When it comes to the simplicity of the text, when she and her household were baptized, she then begged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she persuaded us. Blessed, beautiful conversion of this sister, Lydia.
Application
Well, in conclusion, in terms of the missionary enterprise, what's the Macedonian call for help? We concluded that we should go preach the gospel to them. I'm not against food, shelter, clothing. I'm a big fan of food, shelter, and clothing, by the way.
I love them. Pretty well committed to each of those. The emphasis in terms of gospel missions is gospel missions. Christ and Him crucified.
Jesus is the help that the Macedonians needed. Jesus is the help that the nations of the earth need. commenting on Psalm 67 that I read out at the outset of worship. John Calvin says, the Psalm 67 contains a prediction of Christ's kingdom under which the whole world was to be adopted into a privileged relationship with God. See, we hear that and we say, wait a minute, whole world?
Just listen to the text and love it. You understand we're always quick to fight. I don't think everybody in the whole world. Calvin is saying that the hope of the gospel is so glorious and the plan and purpose of God is so extensive that we can actually say whole world.
Let's just enjoy what he says. Or C.H. Spurgeon. Despite the gloomy notions of some, we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
For this glorious consummation, we agonize in prayer. Neither of the men are universalists, neither of the men have abandoned particular redemption, but both of the men understood the power, the efficacy, and the glory of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and the purpose and plan of God to save a great multitude that no man can number. Let's listen to Spurgeon here, for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer. I would suggest, secondly, what we see in terms of God's sovereignty is conspicuous throughout the passage.
Don't go here, don't go there, but rather go there. And when you speak that word to this particular woman that is in need, God will open her heart and cause her to heed the things that Paul had spoken. And then we see the reflex of this. How do we know she's a genuine believer?
How do we know those in her household, later identified as brethren, are believers? Because they get baptized. They obey Christ, make disciples, baptize those disciples. That's a command. that assumes compliance and obedience on the part of the conquered sinner, that one who has believed should be baptized, that one who has believed should publicly identify with the Lord of glory, that one who has received the inner regeneration by the Holy Spirit who has been forgiven of sin, who has received this righteousness of Jesus, ought to identify and show symbolically and externally and in an outward fashion what the Most High did in their hearts.
It's a beautiful testimony of what God's grace is and what it's all about. And then I would suggest thirdly, in terms of baptism, baptism didn't save her. It was the message of the gospel, specifically Jesus. The fact that God opened her heart to heed the words of the apostle.
But baptism is that reflex to those who by grace believe the gospel. And it is a blessing. It's a good thing. It's unfortunate.
I'm a Baptist pastor. I've had this debate and fight and argument for 30 years now. It's sad. that, and I'll do it tomorrow, or if you call me tomorrow and you want to debate, I'll do it. But it's just sad.
It takes away something of the beauty and the blessedness of it. To watch our sister this morning, publicly confess faith in Jesus Christ, to say, this is what the Lord did for my soul, to forgive me, to cleanse me in his precious blood, and to give me a righteousness by which now I can enter into the presence of God. And I'm gonna show that to all of you by obediently following my master and going into that water, being immersed and coming back out again. We should just rejoice in that.
We should just celebrate sovereign grace in that. We shouldn't clap for her as if this is some accomplishment on her part. We shouldn't say, Taya, great job, great wisdom, great altar call. No, great God, great mercy, great grace, great Christ.
That ought to be the attitude that is demonstrated when we come to the blessed waters of Christian baptism. And I want to encourage our sister. I don't know where she is. I can't see her right now.
Oh, I see her back there. Hopefully this day will be a great reminder to you throughout the history or the subsequent history going forward of God's grace and goodness to you. Be encouraged, be blessed, be built up, and be strengthened. And for any and all who are here that haven't come to the Lord Jesus, in case you missed it, I want to tell you one last time, come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and He will receive you.
Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your ordinances, and we thank you for your church. We thank you ultimately for your son, stationed at the right hand of God Most High, where he builds his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. We thank you for this addition into our membership of Thea.
We pray for your blessing upon her and upon our church, that we would be upright, that we would be faithful, that we would be persevering, that we would in fact hold one another accountable with reference to our common confession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And may you be glorified. May this water today show forth the power of God Almighty in the salvation of another sinner. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.