January 04th, 2025

Acts 16:13-15 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.
 
PAUL, Silas, Timothy and now Luke were in Philippi at the Lord’s command. It is likely they expected the Spirit would have a group of men waiting, as usual, at a synagogue to hear the gospel. But the circumstances were very different. There was no synagogue. No one welcomed them and invited them to speak. How would they begin the gospel preaching?
   The Lord showed them how. He brought to them Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. This means she was a Gentile who followed the Jews’ teachings of God. With grace and joy, the men began to speak to the women who had gathered there. This was not a casual conversation. They spoke the gospel message. Lydia and her household confessed Jesus.
   The simple act of the men speaking to the women is a significant mark of Jesus’ transforming love. Paul would have completely ignored them if he were still a Pharisee! Orthodox Jewish rabbis would look at Lydia and say, “It is better that the words of the Law be burned than be delivered to a woman!” The gospel transforms hearts into a unity of love for one another.
   Lydia had come from Thyatira in Asia Minor to sell her purple cloth. The evangelists had come from ministry in Thyatira and other towns. The Spirit had prepared Lydia’s heart to hear and the evangelists’ mouths to speak. Consider this: These two groups from Asia Minor began the first church in Europe. As all true churches, this church would be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:20)
   No formal building nor special order of worship was needed. The missionaries’ obedient call to go to Philippi, their true gospel preaching and a group of prepared women led to the baptism of new believers. This is the church fulfilling Jesus’ command: Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey all I have commanded. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.
   Yes, Jesus’ Spirit was with them because they obeyed Jesus. Much more is yet to happen in Philippi.