55 Acts 16:11-15 Purple Peddling Proselyte

September 29, 2024

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: Purple Peddling Proselyte Text: Acts 16:11-15 FCF: We often struggle Prop: Because the Lord will build His church, we must faithfully follow His leading trusting Him for the results of our work. Scripture Intro: CSB [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 16. In a moment we will begin reading in verse 11 from the Christian Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. What a joy it was to have Eric and Cherie present what the Lord has been doing in their work. And the message that he gave last week beautifully dovetails with the message that has been at the heart of the book of Acts thus far. A message that will continue even today. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke have all prepared to embark on the evangelistic portion of their journey. Paul has received a vision of a man from Macedonia, begging them to come and help. In this second missionary journey there are some of the most memorable, powerful, theologically relevant, and amazing historical events that we have in the scriptures. The first of these, which we will see today, is one of my personal favorites. Today we will see the beautiful conversion of a Purple Peddling Proselyte. Stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Father, we are in awe of Your grace this morning. You have stretched forth Your mighty hand and extended peace to all men on whom You favor, and we happen to be inheritors here of that peace. We have known what it is to be Your enemy. And we are now beginning to understand what it means to be Your friend. Today we will look to Your word so that as our Friend You may speak to us and show us what is true and what is real. And that we might see it, believe it and obey it. Give us more grace through the reading and preaching of Your Word… for You have promised it will not return to You empty. We pray this in Jesus’ name… Amen. Transition: Let us get right into the text this morning. I am anxious to preach to you the story… of Lydia. I.) The Lord will build His church, we must faithfully follow His leading in making disciples. (11-13) a. [Slide 2] 11 - From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 - and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. i. Here we see the four-man mission team act upon the vision given to Paul by the Lord to go to Macedonia. ii. [Slide 3] Luke records their itinerary. iii. They put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace. The idea is that they did not have any other stops before arriving in Samothrace. iv. Thrace is another province in the Roman Empire. Samothrace is an island which is part of that province off its southern coast. v. No doubt Samothrace was a good port to send various ships from Macedonia and Thrace and Asia to their various destinations. vi. [Slide 4] From there they sailed to Neapolis vii. From Neapolis they went to Philippi. viii. Many translations add the word Roman here to clarify that Philippi is a colony of Rome and not of some other kingdom. ix. Luke also informs Theophilus that Philippi is the leading or primary city in the district of Macedonia. x. [Slide 5] But we need to unpack this to understand exactly what Luke is saying. 1. Macedonia was a province that was divided into 4 districts. Luke is probably saying that Philippi was the leading city within the particular district they were in. 2. But even when he says leading or primary city, the Greek word means “first” which can mean several different things. 3. Probably Luke intends that Philippi is first in order of honor. Why? 4. Philippi was formed by the Romans as a city comprised of military retirees. 5. As such it was granted the same status as cities within the Apennine or the Italian Peninsula. 6. What does that mean? 7. It was governed by the Roman senate. It had a proconsul from Rome. It was not subject to the Roman poll tax or the Roman land tax, and it operated under Roman law and Roman constitution. 8. Which is exactly what Luke is trying to say when he says Philippi was a Roman colony. Meaning… it had the same status as the cities near Rome itself. Therefore, it was highly honored and favored in the Roman empire. xi. As such it was no doubt quite affluent and well populated; a center for trade and culture. xii. It is here that the mission team will set up shop. And indeed, for several days they stay in the city. b. [Slide 6] 13 - On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. i. Normally, we see Paul go to the synagogue in a city to begin his ministry. ii. To the Jews first, as he says in the book of Romans. iii. However, in Philippi, we see them go outside the city and down to the river. iv. Here Luke says that they expected to find a place of prayer. Why is that? v. Traditionally it would take 10 Jewish men in order to form a synagogue in a city. vi. It is possible that this is the reason that the mission team expected to find a place of prayer there at the River. vii. However, it is just as possible that the status of this city as Roman colony might have prevented a synagogue from forming within the city limits. viii. Regardless of the cause, in cities in which there was no synagogue, Jewish women would go down to the local body of water, usually a river, and ritually wash themselves and prepare for the Sabbath and spend time in prayer. ix. This is why the missionaries expected to find Jewish people down by the river because there was no synagogue in the city. And so, Paul keeps his pattern of going to the Jews first. x. Having found the place of prayer, the four men sit down and begin speaking and we can infer that they were teaching the gospel. c. [Slide 7] Summary of the Point: Although we had a week break between verse 10 and verse 11, Luke’s primary point of teaching is the same or very similar to what he talked about last time and really what he has been talking about in the whole book of Acts. God is the one who providentially prepares both the missionary and the mission. Here, we see our Lord Jesus’ words proven true once again. He will build His church. The Spirit of Jesus has guided Paul and his team to Macedonia. He has led them into this district to proclaim the truth of the Word of God. And they have done just that. It is in their obedience that we draw our application. Since the Lord will build His church, we must faithfully follow His leading in making disciples. Just like this missionary team, we must be a tool ready for use in whatever way or place the Lord wishes to use us. Transition: [Slide 8 (blank)] The missionaries are faithful to preach and teach where the Lord has sent them. But what will be the results. Will they find any who have ears to hear? II.) The Lord will build His church, we must trust the Lord with the results of making disciples. (14-15) a. [Slide 9] 14 - A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. i. As the scene goes forward, Luke blasts us with all kinds of details. Each of these details provide for us some interesting clues as to who this woman is. ii. First, we find that Lydia is a God-fearing woman. 1. If the usage is consistent with what Luke has said previously, it is no doubt right to assume that this woman is a gentile who had converted to Judaism. 2. Since women cannot participate in the sign of circumcision, this would prevent her from becoming a true proselyte. 3. Nevertheless, she is as close to being a Jewish proselyte as she can be. iii. Luke also tells us that she is a dealer in purple cloth. 1. Since we will see later that she has a house and a household in the city, it strongly suggests that she is either widowed or divorced. If this were the case, Roman cultural norms would allow her to own her own business and conduct trade to provide for herself and her family and any other dependents she might have. 2. Being a dealer in purple cloth means that she had a business catering to only the wealthiest in the Roman empire. Purple dye was a very costly commodity at that time, which means any cloth dyed with it would be a costly cloth. 3. This probably means that she traveled often both to get cloth and to get dye, and that she probably provided quite well for herself. iv. [Slide 10] Luke records that she is named Lydia and that she is from Thyatira. 1. The name Lydia means “from Lydia” Which is the area called Asia at this time. 2. It was the very same district that Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go to before sailing for Macedonia. 3. It is interesting that the very first person Luke records Paul speaking with, is from that same area. 4. By Luke pointing out she was from Thyatira, it does two things for us. a. First, it specifies where in Asia she is from. She is from the city of Thyatira. b. Second, Thyatira was a city famous for its wool trade and purple dye. Hence there is a connection here to her purple trade. c. There is no indication as to what her situation was in Philippi. She has a home here, but is this a temporary residence or did she move here from Thyatira? We do not know. v. [Slide 11] Lastly, Luke records that she was listening to what Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were teaching. An interesting point with wonderful implications that we’ll explore later. b. [Slide 12] The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. i. This single statement by Luke is one of the most transparent looks we have available to us in all the New Testament to the inner workings of how God saves someone. ii. We know that God saves us and that we cannot do anything to save ourselves. In fact, the bible frequently tells us that our salvation is not of our own works. iii. And yet the scriptures implore us to repent and believe on Jesus. iv. To add further to the confusion of this riddle, the scriptures indicate to us that repentance and faith are both gifts of God. v. We see in other passages that no man desires to repent for they love their sin and that no man desires to believe because it is foolishness to gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. vi. Paul even says that no man seeks after God. And when he says this, he is simply quoting the Old Testament. Meaning men have always been this way. vii. So how do we put these things together? How can repentance and faith be gifts, how can God do all that is necessary for our salvation, how can man be unable and unwilling to repent and believe and yet God calls on us to repent and believe? viii. Is this some cruel joke that God is playing on us? Commanding us to do something we cannot do? ix. Remember what Jesus said, with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible. x. Somehow this tension is true on both sides without taking anything away from either. And right here in the story of Lydia we see how. xi. Paul and his team were preaching. They were doing what they could do humanly. xii. Lydia was listening. She was doing all she could do humanly. xiii. At this point… God does what is necessary to bring Lydia to salvation. xiv. He opens her heart. Another word we could put here… is regeneration. He gives her a heart of flesh that is soft and malleable instead of a heart of stone which is hard and unyielding. xv. Dead things don’t breathe. Hard things done bend. Closed doors shut things out. xvi. But God opened Lydia’s heart. He brought her to life. He birthed her anew. xvii. Why? xviii. So that she could respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. xix. The word translated respond here means to listen to the point of agreeing. It means to heed. xx. What are we to make of this? Could Lydia have responded without God opening her heart? xxi. Although Luke does not say it – the rest of the New Testament agrees. No. She could not have responded. For she was dead. Her heart was closed. xxii. But God made her alive so that she could respond in repentance and belief. Thus, the riddle is answered. xxiii. Salvation is all of God. Not in that we never do anything… but in that we can do nothing without God’s work happening in each individual… first. c. [Slide 13] 15 - After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. i. [Slide 14] And upon this verse, and almost this one alone, is built the entire belief that the infants of Christian parents ought to be baptized into the church. 1. Now I will grant that Luke shortcuts quite a bit here. 2. Luke almost states in passing that she and her household were baptized so he can get to her offer of her home. 3. We are kinda left wondering… wait what? What happened Luke? 4. Luke has consistently portrayed the order as repentance, belief, Spirit indwelling and then baptism. So much so that he should be able to short cut things for us expecting us to make the intuitive leap. 5. The last time we saw someone’s household be baptized, it was apparent that the Holy Spirit descended upon them first and then they were baptized with water. 6. In fact, the text said specifically that those who had received the Spirit were baptized. 7. Are we to ignore the context of the book of Acts to assume that Luke and Paul and Silas and Timothy baptized everyone there even if they did not have the Holy Spirit? Even if they did not possess saving faith? Even if they did not respond to the gospel? Even if they did not repent? 8. Literally every example we have had up to this point has been of people repenting, believing, receiving the Spirit of God, and then being baptized. 9. Is it more likely that the order doesn’t matter or is it more likely that Luke expects us to fill in the gaps of this story. 10. For me, it makes much more sense that Luke expects Theophilus to understand the order, since he’s seen it multiple times. 11. By saying that she and her household were baptized, Theophilus should, and so should we, assume that they too repented and believed on Christ like Lydia did. ii. If this is the case, what then is meant by the word household? Because if it includes infants, they either must be able to believe or they must have been baptized without possessing faith. There really isn’t a third option. 1. For us today, household would mean Father, mother, and children. 2. But in the 1st century, the term household could be applied much more broadly. 3. At this time the term household meant slaves, extended family, and others who stayed in your home or estate and depended on you to provide for them. 4. In other words, we do not need to import infant children into this, since the term household does not necessarily imply it. 5. if there were children included, it is reasonable to assume that they were of an age in which they were able to follow the same order as has been established already in the book of Acts. That they also repented and believed on Christ for salvation and were then baptized. iii. Having said all this there are two cautions I’d like to throw out to we Baptists… 1. First, is to humbly recognize that we are a minority heterodox position on this issue in comparison to greater Christendom. a. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Orthodox churches (Eastern and others), Lutherans, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Morovians, Nazareans, Methodists, Wesleyans and Congregationalist churches all practice infant baptism. b. Only Pentecostal, Baptist, and Bible churches object to infant baptism. c. What does that mean? It means that we should be humble about our opinion on this matter. d. I can’t see infant baptism in the scripture, but most of the church through most of the history of the church disagrees with me. e. Yes, Scripture is my final authority… but I must be cautious when I arrive at an opinion about scriptural interpretation that is shared by so few in all of Christendom. 2. Second, we must understand that not all pedobaptists are the same. a. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, The Orthodox church, and Lutherans all believe in a baptism which in some way contributes to the salvation of the soul of the one being baptized. b. But Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists, Wesleyans and congregationalist churches do not. c. The second group actually has some well-reasoned and logical arguments for why they baptize infants. I personally have not found them very convincing… but they are not trying to undo scripture. Instead, they are viewing infant baptism in light of scripture. iv. With these two cautions I have one final concluding thought on this issue. It is by no means bible, and it is not the official position of the church or even agreed upon by the Elders of our church, but it is my personal opinion and perspective about this matter. Therefore, I reserve the right to change my opinion in the future and you can ignore me completely if you wish