Let us pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your gospel. We thank you for your Holy Spirit that dwells in your people. And Father, would you buy your spirit and dwelling your people? Take the word we hear today and use it to mold us and to shape us. Father, would you transform us? Would you renew our minds? And would you conform us to the very image of Christ Jesus, our Lord? Do this, Father, that your church would be a glorious witness in this world. Do this so that we, Lord, even us here today, would be a glorious witness to our friends, to our families, to make Christ known and glorify that name above every other name. Father, we ask this in that name, in the name of Jesus, name in. Open your Bibles to Acts 16. Our text today will be Acts 16 verses 11 through 15. As we continue our journey through the Book of Acts. Hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran straight course to Samothraise. And the next day came to Neopolis. And from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. And she was a seller of purple from the city of Thayatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And so she persuaded us. This is the word of the Lord. Here we see Paul has now traveled from Asia Minor to Europe. He crossed the Aegean Sea from Troas, and he sailed a two-day journey and landed at New City, or Neopolis. And then went up to Philippi, where they stayed. Luke tells us some days. And we looked and we saw that all the way that Paul and his party traveled, God was directing their steps. Last week, we talked about how God sometimes closes doors and uses closed doors to direct us. But the point is, the Lord guides us in our way. However, He chooses to do that. In verses 11 and 12, Luke writes that they sailed from Troas on the western coast of Asia Minor to the island of Samothraise. They spent the night there. And then the next morning, they sailed to Neopolis, or New City, on the eastern coast of Macedonia. From there, they traveled the short distance up to Philippi. Neopolis was the port city for Philippi, which was, as Luke tells us, a chief city of Macedonia and a Roman colony. When Luke writes that it was a chief city and a colony, a foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony, that phrase colony tells us something about this city. Philippi was on a road called the Ignatian Way. It was one of the great Roman roads. It ran from the Aegean coast in the east to the shores of the Adriatic in the west. So if we were traveling from the east to the west, we'd go from the GNC across the Greek peninsula. And we would come to the Aegean or to the Adriatic Sea. And so this was an east, west road. It was a road that connected the east and the west together, which is an important thing. It means that it was an important trade city as well as military outpost. This road that linked Philippi with the rest of Europe is significant. It made it strategic, not only in trade or militarily, but it made it strategically in spreading the gospel. This was a prominent city of Macedonia. We have a letter in our Bible. The book of Philippians is named for the inhabitants of this city. Philippi was a colony. The Romans divided all mankind into two categories. You were either a citizen or you were a stranger. If you were from Italy, you were a citizen. If you were from any place outside of Italy, you were considered a stranger. So an inhabitant of Italy was a citizen. An inhabitant of any other part of the empire was a stranger. The colonial policy, the reason a city was called a colony, the colonial policy abolished this distinction in terms of privileges. You may be a stranger, but if you lived in a Roman colony, you had the rights of a citizen or some of the rights of a citizen. The idea of a colony was that it was another Rome transferred to the soil of another country. So living in Philippi was like living in Rome in terms of the privileges you would have there. For instance, both classes of citizens were in possession of the same privileges. For example, the principle of which were you were exempt from scourging if you were living in a Roman colony. That was your home, even if you were a stranger, not born in Italy or not a citizen of the city of Rome. A colony was like living in Rome. So as a citizen of a colony, you were exempt from scourging. You were free from arrest except in extreme cases. So like many of our cities today, they had a no-bell policy. Getting trouble, you do something wrong. You don't go to jail. They just send you home and tell you to report to the authorities later. Except in Rome, if you didn't report to the authorities, they didn't just slap your hand or ignore it. You would be sorry if you did not obey the laws of Rome. They were also, they also had the right to repeal or the right to appeal from the magistrate to the emperor. This is what we saw with Paul. Later on as we continue through Acts, when Paul is getting ready to be beat, he asked his magistrates who were getting ready to flog him, to scourge him. Is it right for you to beat a Roman citizen and they stopped. They were fearful because you didn't do that to a Roman citizen. They were free from scourging. And so when Paul was arrested in Jerusalem when the crowd wanted to rip him apart and he was arrested, he eventually appealed to Caesar. He said, I appeal. I have a right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar and so he did. Philippi was a colony. If you live there, you have these rights. And the fact that Philippi was a Roman colony assured that its citizens had rights and privileges that others living outside did not have. In verse 13, Luke informs us that on the Sabbath day, they went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made and they sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Prayer remains a vital part of our life as the church. Prayer remains vital for you and for me and for the Lord's church. And it is in this place of prayer that the Lord, we will see, he opens the heart. This is what he did with Lydia. He opened Lydia's heart there and that was not coincidental. That was God's divine plan. It was there in the place of prayer that he would open her heart. And this is an important lesson for you and for me because prayer is not something we are meant to live without. Prayer must be a vital part of your life and the life of the church. And this is why Paul and the disciples went to where prayer was made on the Sabbath day. So Luke tells us it was the Sabbath. This would be the first Sabbath after they arrived in Philippine. Their Sabbath is our Saturday. And on the Sabbath, Paul and his companions went out of the city gate. They went outside the city through the gates down to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. This indicates for us that there was not a synagogue in Philippi. There were Jews in Philippi but there was no synagogue there. This could have been due to the fact that Philippi was a Roman colony and a military outpost. It is possible that they did not allow a synagogue to be built there. Could be why Luke notes that Philippi is a colony. We are not told the reason for the lack of a synagogue but we know there was no synagogue there because the Jews went to a place of prayer by the river. This was customary in cities that did not have a synagogue. This place of prayer would have been an open-air structure built to facilitate prayer and worship. Both Jews and Gentiles utilized such structures though each would have their own. This wasn't like a community place. This would have been a place built for Jews or it would have been a place for the pagans. This seems to be a place for Jews and proselytes and Gentile worshipers of God who gathered there for prayer. These places of prayer were typically established outside the city near water in this case near a river. The reason they were always built and located by water is because of the ritual washings that were prescribed in the law of Moses. They had to have water. They had, they would make provision for water in a synagogue. They'd have the things necessary for those purification rides and those rituals. In a place of prayer and that's the literal term for the Greek word here, in a place of prayer they would build it close to the water so that water was was handily available. The word used here to describe this place of prayer is the Greek word prosuke. This word is used to describe prayer itself. It's the same word that's translated prayer in your Bible. It is the same word used for instance in Acts 242 that describes the act of prayer of prayer. It's also used here in our text to describe the place of prayer. It describes here the place where prayer was conducted and in the place of prayer you are to seek God that he may open your heart to hear and to heed what the Spirit is saying to you and to his church. We know that now when Lydia and the women who are there were meeting they were meeting under the old covenant. They were meeting to live in a compatible way with the law of Moses. They had not to this point heard of Jesus Christ. They had not to this point heard the gospel. This is why God sent Paul there. In the place of prayer you will hear the Spirit as you immerse yourself in his word. As followers of Christ we are not to neglect the place of prayer. As believers you have both the opportunity and the means and the Lord does not honor laziness. You have the word at your fingertips. No word, no spirit and no ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. But if you know the word you will know the Spirit and you will know that you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying through his word. For his voice will be found in his word. Therefore go to the word and hear and heed the voice of God. Paul knowing there was no synagogue in Philippi, saw out the place of prayer that he knew would be there because this is what the worshipers of God did. They did not forsake prayer. They did not forsake gathering. They did not forsake worshiping even though they did not have a synagogue, a building within the city, they had a place outside the city where they could go, where they did go to pray and to worship their God. Paul knew that place would be there and so he saw it out. And it was in this place of prayer that he would preach the gospel upon arriving at the place of prayer. Luke tells us they sat down and spoke to the women who met there. So we see that God again sent women but not at the expense of men. The statement of Luke's in verse 13 may give us a clue as to why there was no synagogue in Philippi. Paul arrives at the place of prayer and they sit down and they speak to the women who met there. Only women that does not mean there were no men but Luke's narrative seems to indicate a lack of a male presence. So much so that Luke notes that they sat down and spoke to the women. Paul would not have done that ignoring the men if there would have been men there. Unless perhaps those men were slaves or maybe they weren't men of promise prominence. They weren't men who were leaders of the community. Those men seem to be absent in this narrative of Luke's and this seems to indicate at least the majority of those gathered for prayer. If not all at that time were women and Paul did not hesitate to give them the gospel. Now think about this. It's actually quite ironic that God gave Paul a vision of a man of Macedonia. Yet here is Paul now in Macedonia and his first recorded gospel encounter is not with a man at all but with a group of women. This is not accidental but very much God's divine providence. Just as God did with the resurrected Christ whose first witness was to women. So here God has orchestrated that the first to receive the gospel in Europe would be a woman, a group of women. God again sent women and he did so on purpose. It is true that the modern church has been sinfully feminized in many ways. That is also true for the culture at large. That is not initially the fault of women. It is the fault of men. Just as Adam did in the garden men by their own choosing have abdicated their proper place of authority. They have sinfully done this in the home, in the church as well as in the culture. The last Adam Jesus Christ took back that authority. It is hours today if we will walk in it. Men are still selfishly pursuing their own interest at the expense of the family, the church, and the culture at large for selfish convenience. Men have handed authority to women and women gladly took it because they often received no true affirmation for the vital biblical role they were to fulfill. The role that God had entrusted to them, those feminine roles began to be minimized and devalued as men gave more and more of their authority to women. God certainly did not devalue women or their ordained roles. Yet in many ways the culture began to do just that. It is often incorrectly alleged that the Bible degrades women. If you actually read your Bible you will see that God highly values women. You will see that Jesus highly valued women. He did anything but devalued and degrade them. He understood as God does because God created men and women, Jesus understood the role of a man and the role of a woman as should we as we read and study our Bibles. That devaluing of women and their roles and the resulting backlash has been catastrophic for the family, for the church, and for the culture. In scripture we see that God highly values women and we should take our cues from scripture when it comes to our attitude toward both men and women. In scripture we see God highlighting women not by default but by divine purpose. Women did then and continue to play a vital role in advancing the kingdom of God. We must never forget that and we must not have the knee jerk reactions we see in some segments of our society and even in the church. That have caused us to fall in the ditch on either side of the road. Today in much of the church we see a hyper feminization that seeks to place women in an exalted role above or equal to that of a man. On the other hand in response to this hyper feminization we have alt-right segments of the church and the culture at large that seems to have cultivated a real disdain and disrespect for women. That disdain in that disrespect is a hyper over correction that actually degrades women and some in that alt-right segment of the culture inside and outside the church used degrading jazz or satire to make their points all the while claiming to value women. But such disrespect cannot be veiled with humor or satire or even specific ministries that may focus on women. We are to value women the way God demonstrates he values them throughout scripture not with lip service but in word and indeed. And men I will tell you the best way you can value women is to take your proper place as a man that God has ordained for you. As man is the glory of God so woman is the glory of man. And there is no room for man or woman to use certain the purpose God created each to fulfill. Man and woman were created by God to compliment one another and never at the expense of the other. God did not just send any woman. He sent a certain woman. And this is how God works in our lives through divinely specific purpose never randomly ordered generalities. You are a meaningful specific not a wandering generality. Paul's first convert in Europe was a woman. His first recorded convert was a woman. In verse 14 we're introduced to Lydia the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe. When we consider the divine intervention and direction that God provided Paul throughout his journey from the time he left Antioch, Pasidia until he landed in Macedonia we can only conclude that God was directing Paul all along the way and he was directing Paul to meet this certain woman named Lydia. Now we see that God was directing Paul to Lydia who I believe was a Gentile woman who worshiped God. I think the designation Luke gives a woman who worshiped God indicates that she was a Gentile whether she was a proselyt or a God fear as Cornelius was called. Those terms are synonymous. A God fear a worshiper of God indicates a Gentile who had come to worship the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Luke tells us that upon arriving at this place a prayer a certain woman Lydia heard them. It was no less than the the divine providence that Lydia heard and that she was Paul's first convert on the European continent. Lydia Luke tells us was a seller of purple from the city of Thia Tyra. Lydia was a common name among Greeks and Romans. Interestingly Lydia was also the name of the providence that the city of Thia Tyra was in in Asia Minor. So Lydia was the name of a province. So like Taylor is in Williamson County or Taylor is in Texas Thia Tyra was in Lydia. And Lydia was also the name of this woman and she was also from Lydia. Isn't God funny? Luke tells us this Lydia was a woman who worshipped God. He also tells us that Lydia was a seller of purple which means she was a seller of purple fabric which was extremely highly valued in that day. Everyone who's been through my history class should be able to tell you how that purple fabric was turned purple and what they used to turn it purple. It was what? A snail, the Murat snail. And Thia Tyra was a city where this process of creating dye and dyeing fabrics Thia Tyra was the sinner for this. Even Homer writes about this city in ancient times as being a place where purple was made and distributed. And so Lydia being a seller of purple this royal purple that was worn by kings and emperors and people of great wealth and power. It was extremely expensive and highly sought after by those that had the means to purchase such a valuable item. The city of Thia Tyra was a sinner for the manufacture of this purple dye that is produced from that snail. I won't go through the process of how that dye was made but you can imagine it was pretty stinky. Those snails had to die and rot in order for that dye to be made. Lydia and the women with her were likely part of this guild, part of this group that were sellers of purple. Lydia would have been a woman of means and likely very wealthy and Luke's narrative seems to indicate that she was. We're told that she heard the message of the disciples. We're told that God opened her heart. The Lord alone opens the heart. You don't open your heart. God must first open your heart before you can ever open your heart to him or to anything of him. We're also told that the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. This is a powerful statement that we should not pass over quickly. The Lord opened Lydia's heart and that tells us something very important about the Lord and about our hearts. We cannot ourself open our heart. The Lord is the one who must open our heart so that we may heed the message of the gospel and believe. If our heart is inclined to the gospel and to faith, it is because the Lord has so inclined it, not because of anything we have done. Salvation belongs to the Lord. This is what happened to Lydia. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And if the Lord does not open our heart to attend to or pay attention to or respond to the Word of God, we may hear with our ears but we will not hear from a heart of faith. And this is where we must hear the gospel from. Not just our ears, not our natural ears, but from a heart of faith. This is why Jesus would say things like for those who have eyes to see or for those who have ears to hear. Of course, almost everyone had ears to hear, but did they have a heart to hear? People had eyes to see Jesus, but did they have a heart of faith to see Jesus by faith? To hear Jesus by faith. This is what happened to Lydia. God opened her heart to hear that she may heed the words spoken by Paul. The Lord opened her heart and in her response to what she heard, the Lord by his grace saved her. And the Luke tells us that Lydia and her household were baptized. Lydia, her household, her faithfulness, and her hospitality. This is what we see in verse 15. Luke gives us much information about this first convert in Europe. There are several firsts here. Besides Lydia being the first recorded convert in Europe, she and her household is also the first baptism recorded in Europe. This is the first record of specifically a household baptism. This is also the first record of a baptism by Paul. Though certainly not his first, it is the first baptism of record for the Apostle Paul. Her household, Lydia and her household were baptized. It appears that as soon as Lydia believed, she and her household was baptized. That baptism no doubt took place in the river where they were meeting or near the river they were meeting. Her house was not far likely in the city of Philippi. So it is almost certain that her entire household, including her family and even her servants, would have been baptized at that time. That would certainly include any children that were part of that household. Have you and your household been baptized? If not, may I ask what you are waiting on? God calls you and me to faithfulness. Baptism is a point of faithful obedience to the Lord. Christ commands you to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy and if you have not, then be baptized. Do you and your household in the name of the triune God? It may be the baptism of Cornelius and those gathered in his house could be considered a household baptism, but Lydia's is the first record of a specific household being baptized. There is no specific mention of a husband here. There is no specific mention of children here. The term household could imply both, but we may only speculate. If Lydia did have a living husband, he may not have been a believer as he was not shown to be present for prayer. The term household could refer only to Lydia's household servants and employees, but that seems unlikely as a household in its most natural sense includes family, otherwise noted. So the term household is all encompassing. I believe it encompassed her family and her servants as it did with Abraham as it is used consistently through the scripture. Whoever comprised her household by Luke's record, they were all baptized that day. Luke talks about the faithfulness of Lydia. When she and her household were baptized, after they were baptized, she begged Paul and the others saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. It seems that Lydia, herself, judged her baptism in the name of the triune God as a point of faithfulness. She was a worshiper of God. She had not yet been baptized in the name of the triune God. She did not know the God she worshipped was a triune God. But in the preaching of the gospel, she would have been introduced to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. She worshipped Yahweh, but did not yet know Jesus, her Messiah, Paul, introduced her to Jesus Christ, her Messiah. And upon the opening of her heart and heating the word, she immediately submitted to baptism as an act of faithfulness. For Lydia, after hearing the gospel, proceeding her baptism, she would have expressed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This faithful expression to the Lord would culminate in her baptism, but also that of her entire household. Luke specifically mentions Lydia's obedient faith. He does not mention the faith of her household. In light of that, it seems Lydia's household was baptized on the basis of her faith, not their own. When we understand the relation between baptism and our entrance into the covenant, we better understand why the faith of the head of a household allows for those under that headship to be baptized. Sometimes people say, well, if the baptized babies, why don't you go baptized? All of them you can find. Because we baptized them based on the faith of the head of that household of a parent, of a believing father or a believing mother. And we have a scriptural precedent and a scriptural command laid out for that. Paul says to the believing parent, one, if not both, your children are holy, believing parent. And even if you're the only parent that believes your children are still holy, that word holy means set apart. They're set apart. And their baptism doesn't mean that they become regenerated through that baptism. It means that they become members of the covenant. Now we can trust, and I do trust, that the children that I baptized, the children that are baptized here are children that are saved. David said, on your breast, on my mother's breast, I trusted in you. Who are we to say when God grants faith to a human being? It's not our place to judge that. But we are commanded to to to to baptize disciples. And we consider children of parents disciples that God has given to those parents. And here we have an example where a household was baptized based on the faith of this woman named Lydia. Now, the household is baptized based on the faith of the head, such as the case with infants and children. It is the faith of their head that makes them set apart and makes them candidates for baptism. The fact that Luke does not tell us her household expressed faith does not mean members of her household did not possess faith. They could have. I'm just saying Luke doesn't tell us. It does mean that their baptism was contingent on Lydia's faith. That seems to be what Luke is conveying here. Whatever the state of faith may or may not have been with each and every member of Lydia's household, we understand the concept of headship and the covenant. That gives us a better understanding of household baptism and faithfulness. You, mom or dad, you husband and wife, father and mother as the head of your household. If you have been baptized, I believe it stands to reason that you baptized your household. As the example we see here with Lydia. And the fact that Luke does not tell us doesn't mean there was not faith there. It's just he did not indicate that, but he did indicate she was baptized along with her household. And after her baptism, she says, if you have judged me faithful to the Lord, please come and stay with me. And we see not only her faithfulness, but we see her hospitality. Hospitality is a gifting that comes from God. We all are to be hospitable. But there are some who are gifted with hospitality. In ways others may not be. Don't feel bad about that. I believe Lydia had the gift of hospitality. After her baptism, she begged Paul and his companions saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And so she persuaded us, Luke writes, so Lydia persuaded them that informs us that Paul and all of those with him judged her faithful to the Lord. They accepted her offer of hospitality and went to her house and stayed with her. She no doubt had a house large enough to accommodate them all. And this also reinforces the fact that she was a woman of means with the resources to care for her guests. Well, Lydia had the gift of hospitality. You may or may not have that gift. That's okay. For you have the spirit of God and you have the love of God that's been poured into your heart. And so by God's grace, you can be kind and giving and hospitable to anyone for a necessary amount of time. You may show the love and the grace of God to others because it has been shown to you. And you may pour out his love through your life by his Holy Spirit who lives in you. You may not be gifted with hospitality, but you can be hospitable. Even if you do not open your home to have a group of strangers come and stay there for an extended period of time like Lydia did. Not everyone is called to the same level of hospitality, but everyone is called to be hospitable. And not everyone is called to the same level because not everyone is gifted the same. Therefore, don't compare yourselves to one another, especially with those who may be better suited and specifically gifted in certain areas, whether it's hospitality or any other spiritual gift. Be grateful for his grace that enables you to do whatever he may require of you. Be grateful that he and be faithful in all that he equips you for and calls you to do. Be grateful and be faithful in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so let us prepare to come to the Lord's table. Here is your charge, church. I want to specifically charge each man and woman here today. Men and women do not usurp each other's roles. Men walk more boldly and more courageously and the role God has ordained for you as a man. Man, you are the glory of God and the head of your household who represents Christ. Do not abdicate or abandon your authority to any person or to any sin. Women do the same, walk boldly and courageously with head held high and be thankful that God made you a woman and uniquely gifted you and equipped you for your role as a woman. God privileged you to bear and to produce life. And you are the glory of man. God built you to be such, not only for man's glory but for the glory of God and for the salvation of the world. More than ever we need men who embrace their manhood and women who embrace their womanhood and in the most biblical of ways as you walk humbly under his direction, prayerfully, faithfully and fully embracing the gifts and callings he has ordained for you. Know that you are bringing about the healing of the church and of our land as you advance his kingdom through your faithfulness to the Lord. God calls you to be faithful to him. Lydia invited Paul to judge whether she was faithful to the Lord. She was judged faithful. May you also be judged faithful to the Lord. As you are, encourage one another to be the same. Be the hands and feet and mouth of Christ and be his love personified to those around you and all he brings into your path. Therefore let the Lord direct you. Let him lead you to the place of prayer and guide him to open your heart to teach you faithfulness in all things and to give you the grace to walk accordingly. May your life honor him and his name and may you know the fullness of his joy in all things for your good and for his glory and amen. Let us sing our thanks to God. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. The Lord be with you.