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. HER EMPLOYMENT. She was not "idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not." Trade is respectable, and nothing is so disgraceful as beggary and shabby gentility. The Jews always give their children a calling; and said that "he who brings up a son without a trade teaches him to steal." Seneca declared, "I had rather be sick than be idle." And truly has Dr. Watts said, "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." II. THE PLACE OF HER EXTRACTION. Thyatira was a great way from Philippi. How few die where they were born; or even settle where they were brought up. The events leading to their removal often seem very casual; and they are so as to the individuals themselves; but they are Divinely known and arranged. The Lord fixes "the bounds of their habitation," and with regard to His own people, the disposals of His Providence are in subserviency to the designs of His grace. The man says, "I will go into such a city, and buy, and sell, and get gain"; and he goes; and he finds there, though he never looked after it, "the pearl of great price." Many, when they look back on life, will know that, had it not been for such or such an occurrence, they would have remained in places where they might have been corrupted and destroyed. III. HER CHARACTER. She "worshipped God." She is, therefore, very distinguishable from the jailer. The grace of God is infinitely free: and accordingly, we sometimes find it operating on individuals the most unlikely; and even publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of God before Scribes and Pharisees. So when the apostle, writing to the Corinthians, enumerates a dreadful catalogue of sinners, he adds, "and such were some of you"; some, "but not all." Some talk as if they had a kind of advantage in having been converted from a state of profligacy. But sin is a bad business, and it is a mercy to have been preserved from it: and one peculiar advantage arises from having been moral before we became spiritual, namely, the avoiding of the injuries which sin does to others, by influence and example. IV. HER ATTENDANCE. She "heard us." What induced her to be there we know not; but she could say, "I being in the way, the Lord led me." It is well to be at the pool, "waiting for the troubling of the water." Whatever brings persons under the preaching of the Word is to be viewed with thankfulness, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Sin entered by the ear, and so does grace. Listening to the devil we fell, hearkening unto God we rise. "Hear, and your soul shall live." V. THE CHANGE SHE EXPERIENCED. "Whose heart the Lord opened." 1. Her heart therefore had been shut. Shut, as ice shuts up the water that it cannot flow — as the miser shuts up his compassion from the poor — as a door is shut to keep the house from the entrance of the owner. This is our Saviour's own image: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," etc. 2. The Lord opened her heart. Our state is such as to require the Almighty to "work in us, both to will and to do." Every saved sinner is "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." An operation is required, to effect which is above the power of education, example, and moral suasion. But nothing is too hard for the Lord. The heart is under His dominion and agency; and "what He has promised, He is able also to perform." VI. THE EVIDENCES SHE GAVE OF THE REALITY OF HER CONVERSION. 1. Her regard to the Divine teachings. "She attended," etc. 2. Her readiness to dedicate herself entirely to the Lord in a profession of His name. "She was baptized, and her household." A profession of religion, without the reality, is nothing; but we are not only to be Christians, but to appear such. "With the heart," indeed, "man believeth unto righteousness"; but "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Experience is necessary; but our "light is to shine before men," etc. And you will observe, she did this immediately, without reserve, and relatively as well as personally; devoting her whole family in the same rite; and thus saying, with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 3. The pressing solicitation she gave to the apostles. Evincing — (1) A desire for spiritual improvement, and to have her house further blessed. (2) Liberality. She was willing to "minister to the necessities of the saints"; and "given to hospitality."(3) Affection for God's servants. Like begets like, and attracts like. "By this we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love this brethren."(4) Pious fortitude. To perceive this you must remember that at this time Christians were a "sect everywhere spoken against." (W. Jay.) 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. |
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