A few weeks ago, I bought a set of dominos for my grandkids. It was a game that I loved to play as a child but I had two problems. I couldn’t remember how to play the game (being a ten-year-old at that time was a minute ago) and the instructions were printed in such small letters, even with reading glasses and a flash light, I couldn’t see to read the instructions. What we ended up doing was setting the individual dominos on their ends at the kitchen table and making a train or a snake then pushing the first and watch them fall one by one. Now that you have that picture in mind, have you ever thought about the things that needed to happen for you to hear the gospel? Do you realize had the Apostle Paul not obeyed the call from the Macedonia Vision, the gospel wouldn’t have come to Europe. Christianity was birthed in the Middle East, specifically Israel. But the early Christians began obeying the last command of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. Paul on his missionary journeys, sharing Christ and starting churches, took the Great Commission to heart. Each step of those missionary journey’s, another domino would fall, and the gospel would be taken farther and farther. When the gospel reached the shores of Europe it put in motion what we have today; Christians all through Europe and ultimately here in America, where you and I heard the good news of salvation.
Acts 16 is the chapter that tells us about a special lady. The early part of the chapter gives a wonderful context of how the Holy Spirit would close one door and open another. She was the very first person to accept Christ in Europe that we know of in the Bible. Her name was Lydia. What do we know about this lady, the first domino to fall to Europe? Let’s read Acts 16:13-15, “And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman 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. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, if ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.”
We know her background. She was living in Philippi but she originally was from Asia Minor. The name Lydia is Asiatic in its origins and the city of Thyatira is a well-known city in what we know today as Turkey. Isn’t it amazing how God brings people together? Paul wished to go into Asia and was forbidden by the Holy Spirit, but on the banks of this river God brings a person from Asia into Paul’s life. Don’t miss this truth. God will bring people into our paths for the gospel to be presented to them by you and me.
Why was she in Philippi? Business! Lydia was a “seller of purple.” Thyatira was known for dyes. The water around the city was very good for the dying process. Purple was considered the color for royalty, so wealthy people wanted to be decked out in that royal color. Seeing opportunity, Lydia began a successful business, selling to the elite population of this Roman colony and to those traders who were into exports. Philippi was a colony of Rome which meant special privileges. It was also a hub of commerce on what was known as the Roman Highway. This highway was dual purposed. The military used this road for its maneuvers but it was also used for business travel. Philippi was just the right fit for this wise business woman. No doubt she was thriving economically. She had a large house and people in that house that worked for her. People were coming and going constantly and business was booming for her. When Paul and merry band of missionaries landed they headed to Philippi and without a doubt took this Roman highway in search of the lost.
What about her beliefs? Our text tells us that “she worshipped God.” That means she had converted to Judaism. She would have been considered a ‘proselyte Jew.’ That is a person that wasn’t born into the Jewish race and religion, but chose to become a follower. What this tells me is that she had thirst to know the true God. She wasn’t content with paganism of Thyatira. She wanted more. People that are searching will find the Lord. On this specific Sabbath Day (16:13), we find Lydia with a group of ladies by a riverside. They are at the riverside because Philippi had no synagogue. There weren’t enough Jewish men in the city to form a synagogue. A Jewish group in a specific location had to have at least ten adult males before a synagogue would be formed or sanctioned by the Jewish authorities. Paul began speaking to these ladies and the Lord opened Lydia’s heart. You and I don’t always understand the workings of God in the hearts of people. John 3:8 is a classic verse. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” The Lord opened Lydia’s heart and she became the first convert, that we know, in Europe. She became totally immersed in the work of God after being saved. She was baptized immediately. How convenient that a river was there for the baptismal ceremony. Not only did she get saved and baptized, but her household did also.
(Let me take a moment for a side bar. What is household salvation? This is the belief that when the father or mother get saved the children get saved because of the parent. They are saved by proxy. This is a belief that is prominent in Covenant Theology. There isn’t any scripture for this belief. God has no grand-children. People read into the phrase “her household” the meaning they wish. That is called eisegesis (pronounced I-so-gee-sis) which means to “draw in.” We don’t get to read into the Bible what we want it to say. We are to “draw out” of the Bible (exegesis pronounced x-o-gee-sis) what it says and nothing more. “Household” in the passage could mean children but not necessarily. We see nothing in the Bible about her having a husband. Perhaps she did, but we can’t assume it. Personally, I take “household” to mean the people that work in her business. To me this could include a couple of strong men for heavy lifting and some ladies for the delicate work of dyeing the linens for those royal robes. I can’t be dogmatic but neither can those that claim her kids were saved because of her salvation. If it is indeed a reference to her own children, they would have been old enough to understand the gospel and be saved. Mother’s influence may have persuaded them but they had to be saved personally.) Side bar over.
Also, she immediately wanted to be a part of spreading the gospel to others. She desired to help the man of God and his team. She opened her home and constrained them, she urged them to stay with her at her house. They could rest, eat and sleep at her house. Evidently it was a big house and she was willing to take of her means to assist in the gospel being preached in other parts of the world. No doubt, she was a charter member of the Philippi Church. Lydia, the seller of purple, is someone I look forward to seeing in Heaven.