Acts 16:13 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… I. THE CHARACTER OF LYDIA, PREVIOUS TO THE APOSTLE'S ARRIVAL. This will, in a considerable degree, account for that absence of intense feeling by which her conversion was distinguished. You are not now invited to look on the rough Roman soldier, or the dissolute vagrant. But Lydia stands before you, marked by the mildness of her sex, the native pliancy of the Asiatic character, and the respectability of her standing in society. For you find that she was a woman of Thyatira, a Lydian city, and a respectable householder in Philippi. And her employment, as a seller of purple, was calculated to produce a certain degree of morality and gentleness; for trade has a tendency to repress open profligacy, and to remove moroseness of temper. And the peculiar branch of commerce, which engaged Lydia's attention would tend, by bringing her into contact with her superiors, to foster a submissive and obliging disposition. But the most important fact of her early history is her proselytism to the Jewish faith — she "worshipped God." It cannot hence be inferred that she was really pious, for in chap. Acts 13 we find that those individuals at Antioch, characterised by the same term, and called in our Bibles "devout women," were among the violent persecutors of Paul and Barnabas. Many of these proselytes were, doubtless, like the Jews themselves, but professors of the tenets of Judaism. Yet the religious profession of Lydia will prove that she was to a certain extent instructed in the writings of the Old Testament; and the narrative shows her to have been an attendant in assemblies for Divine worship. And this knowledge, and this attention to the rites of religion, would give an aspect to her mind, very different from that of her depraved neighbours. The ruggedness of the heathen character would be thus worn away, and the law, as the forerunner of the gospel, would have "prepared the way of the Lord, and made straight in the desert a highway for our God." Lydia then, at this period, although unchanged by the Holy Spirit, may be described as moral, amiable, industrious, domestic, and instructed in the leading principles of religion. II. THE SCENE OF HER CONVERSION. And in this there is much to harmonise with the characteristic of her conversion itself. Lydia is not roused beneath the strong arches of a prison, by an earthquake, like the savage jailer. But time, and place, and employment, all tell of tranquillity. III. THE MANNER OF THE DIVINE OPERATION. We have not time now to enlarge on the sentiment, that an immediate Divine influence is necessary for the conversion of a soul, although this is sufficiently established by the present history. "It is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure"; and then listen to the language of Jesus Christ, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." But we have here to advert particularly to the gentle manner in which the Spirit affected the mind of Lydia. This is implied in the word "opened." The hearers of Peter, on the day of Pentecost, were pricked to the heart." The hearts of others are represented as "broken." Indeed, the convinced soul sometimes reminds us of a city taken by storm: the bars of iron are cut asunder — the gates are battered down — the assailants pour in like a torrent. But the heart of Lydia was opened like the gate of Peter's prison. Now, there are two circumstances recorded in the narrative that will illustrate the mildness of the Divine agency. 1. The first is that the preaching of the gospel was the instrument of Lydia's conversion. The Spirit in His saving influences always affects the mind by bringing it into contact with truth; and, indeed, with that portion of truth which He has been pleased to communicate to man in the Scriptures. "Of His own will begat He us by the word of truth." This is the sun of the moral world. "The law of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." But light does not always strike the eye from the same point: sometimes the sun pours on it his direct effulgence; at others, the rays reach it through all the varieties of reflection. And thus the truth is not always communicated to the mind in the same manner. It impresses one man amid the silence of meditation; another, while perusing the Bible; it smites a third in the rebuke of an enemy; it came to Paul in a voice from heaven. But the more common manner of conveying to the mind the truths of revelation is by the preaching of the gospel. 2. The other circumstance to which we allude is that the operations of the Spirit did not interfere with the calm exercise of Lydia's mental powers. The influences of the Spirit, indeed, never supersede the employment of the intellectual faculties; for then man would cease to be responsible. But in the early stages of some conversions, there is but little calmness in the employment of these. The feelings are too much agitated to allow of close attention to the various bearings of truth. Imminent peril occupies too large a space in the field of vision to permit the presence of other objects. But such was not Lydia's case. "She attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul." Her heart was engaged with his discourse. While Lydia heard that Christ was "bruised for our transgressions," she felt that she was a transgressor. True, she had been industrious, amiable, moral. But now she perceived that religion required much more than outward decency. She began to feel the meaning of the Psalmist's prayer; "Create in me, O God, a clean heart." She saw that the anxieties of business, and the cares of a family, had interfered with supreme love to God. And Lydia received the testimony of God. She saw its extent, embracing time and eternity; the character of man, and the nature of God — and she received it all. IV. THE SUBSEQUENT CONDUCT OF LYDIA, as according with the gentleness which we have noticed as predominant in her history. She was not called, like the apostle to whose language she had listened, to raise her voice in the public assembly, or to expose her life in perilous journeys. But there was a little congregation to whom she could introduce the word of truth — her household. It is evident that Lydia discharged her duty to her family, for they too were baptized. And mild as Lydia appears in the centre of her family, regarded by its members as the instrument of their own conversion, she is not seen in a light less amiable, when performing towards the apostles the rites of Christian hospitality. Mark with what urgency she pleads with Paul, her father in Christ, to come, with his companions, beneath her roof; till, constrained by her grateful importunity, these holy men became her guests. And so closely was Christian friendship cemented by their brief intercourse, that we find Paul and Silas, as soon as they were released from prison, hastening to the house of Lydia, to share with their anxious hostess the joy of their deliverance. And her considerate regard to the temporal wants of the apostles was not limited to the transient attentions of hospitality. Read the Epistle to the Church at Philippi and you will find that, at the introduction of the gospel into Macedonia, this Christian society alone ministered to the necessities of the apostle. Twice at Thessalonica and once at Corinth did this Church aid, by its pecuniary contributions, the mission of Paul among the heathen. And from whom do you suppose this liberality originated, but from Lydia, the first fruits and centre of the Philippian Church? Such is a rapid sketch of Lydia's conversion. And surely it is not less illustrious for being distinguished by a placidity which among men would be esteemed incompatible with the production of a mighty effect. The operations of God must not be estimated by a human standard. Feebleness is restless, omnipotence is calm. Look on its noblest works. When the sun was formed, was there the accumulation of materials, or the toil of labourers, or the clang of machinery? No. "God said, Let there be light," and the glorious orb existed, blazed, and threw abroad its infant rays amid the songs of the sons of God. And how was that more marvellous work, the spirit of man, produced? God "breathed" into the beauteous clay "the breath of life, and man became a living soul"; and the eye beaming with intelligence opened upon the tranquillity of Paradise. And then, think of the incarnation of the Son of God. No earthquake shakes the mountains — no trumpet summons the nations — no chariot of fire cleaves the air; but the glory of a single angelic messenger shines around a group of shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. In the application of this subject we might observe — 1. That the conversion of the moral and the amiable is frequently attended with comparatively small degrees of mental excitation. This consideration may console those who resemble Lydia in their character and in the manner of their conversion. 2. That a calm entrance upon the Christian life will not necessarily interfere with decision and activity in the Church of God. In the full prospect of persecution Lydia professed her faith, and identified herself with the cause of Christianity. 3. That attention to the public ordinances of religion should ever accompany dependence on the Spirit of God; nor should we absent ourselves from a service because thinly attended, or inferior to others in excitement. 4. Finally, we observe, that natural excellence of character will not render conversion unnecessary. If it would, why was it needful that the Lord should open the heart of Lydia? (T. C. Everett.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
    |