Notes from Ladies meeting Monday 28 January 2019
Acts 16 verses 14 and 15
It was very providential that Paul found himself here in Macedonia. He was seeking God and thought he should have travelled eastwards but God closed the door to him. Then he had a dream of a man from Macedonia asking to come and help them. That brought him westward rather than eastward. That is how we come to have the gospel today. It developed from there on into Philppi. He found some women going down to the riverside as was their custom. There was one woman from a different area. She had travelled from far away - Thyatira. This city was renowned for its purple fabric. Her name was Lydia and she was "a seller of purple". She was a well to do woman, industrious and religious - "she worshipped God." She was from a different background, brought up in a different city. God brought her providentially to Philippi. As the apostle Paul found himself among this group of people, he spoke that day and as he did so the Lord opened Lydia`s heart. She became an ambassador for Jesus. God moves in mysterious way. Salvation is offered free and to all. Until the Holy Spirit comes into our lives we are closed to God. Maybe you have never opened your heart to the Lord, never responded to him, haven`t come yet in confession and repentance. Is the Holy Spirit living in you? It was no accident that God brought Lydia from Thyatira and Paul from the Macedonian region to Philippi. God wanted Lydia for himself. The Lord wants you for himself, to know him, to have that assurance that you are ready to meet the Lord. "She attended to the things which were spoken of Paul." She received what he was speaking of. The entrance of God`s word gives light. "Faith cometh by hearing the word of God." If we never heard it we would never know the plan of salvation, never accept the gift he offers. Lydia recognised she needed to take a clear open stand. She gave her life to Christ. Verse 15 "and when she was baptised and her household." Her family must have come to know the Lord as well. There may have been a period of time between the 2 verses. She must have gone home and told her family. You might be the first one in your family to take this step, to go home and maybe not fully understanding tell them "i have given my life to the Lord, I am born again". Whatever way you put it, it is not the terminology that does the work, it is the trusting of the heart and then taking a stand for Jesus. Lydia then said to Paul "if ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come into my house and abide there and she constrained us." She really wanted to have the fellowship of the Lord`s servants Paul and Silas. You get a great love for the company of the Lord`s people when you come to know Christ. A bond is built up between sisters and brothers in the Lord because we are part of the same family. What did she hear - she was listening and heard the good news of the gospel of salvation through the Lord. Isn`t it lovely that we have the privilege of that message today? So freely across our land today. Perhaps you have heard it at other times, you have become familiar with the pattern of the meeting but tonight is different. Somehow there is a stirring in your heart, there is a feeling, I have thought of this a lot but tonight I want to settle it, to be sure. I want to know that I am his. God brought these lives together by his providence. The Holy Spirit has brought our paths together by his providence. He knew you would be here and knew we would be here. Now we know he is here too.
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