A Tale of Two Women

And then God opened her heart to the point where she finally responded in faith. This is a wonderful verse about the sovereignty of God in the process of salvation.

Taking a person who is dead in trespass isn't sin, but taking this person and by his grace, opening their heart to be able to hear and respond ultimately to the gospel of Christ, the ability to respond to the gospel. Ladies and gentlemen, was not created by you. It was the process of a gracious God who pride your dead are open.

Salvation is an act of God. And he offers it to us as a gift. In the Book of Acts, we read of two women who have very little in common.

One is a wealthy businesswoman. The other is a dirt poor demon possessed girl. But the one thing they have in common is that they both need the savior. And so do you. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. We're continuing through our Vintage Wisdom series from the Book of Acts.

And we come to a lesson today entitled A Tale of Two Women. Our Bible teacher, Stephen Davey, is going to open God's word to you and explore the gospel and how the gospel comes to those who desperately need it.

Here's Stephen with today's lesson.

Eighty five years ago, the floating cities set sail on its maiden voyage from England to New York City. It's got a lot of attention in this anniversary year. The most luxurious vessel ever built by man because of its double haul and sixteen watertight compartments. It was considered unsinkable. It was April 14th. I have read on Sunday when the Titanic approached the North Atlantic ice fields traveling too fast, trying to set a speed record trans-Atlantic record. They found themselves heading straight for a small mountain of ice. Orders were given to turn to port, and they did just in time. Contrary to popular opinion, to avoid a head on collision. And yet that may have been unfortunate because beneath the surface that iceberg went to work and like a knife through hot butter, it sliced an opening and that double hull. Not even an inch wide, but 300 feet long. A lady by the name of that a heart was recently interviewed. And the reporter whose article I read a few days ago, she told the story of that horrific night where she is a seven year old, was quickly loaded onto one of the 20 lifeboats that the ship carried, way too few lifeboats. But when you're unsinkable, you don't need them.

Women and children were given the order to board first, and that's all that made it, among others. She said that that night revealed the character of people probably like nothing else could. Some people knelt and prayed. She said some people joined hands and began to sing hymns. Others who were more cowardly. Men who had heard the order come that only women and children could board a lifeboat, slipped back in the state rooms and donned women's apparel to try to fool those crewmen and make their way onto the lifesaving boat. The Titanic sank, claiming 1500 lives.

The story behind that story that is not as well known is that there was another vessel 20 miles away known as the Californian.

This large vessel was capable of saving all those who would drown. The trouble is, as the Titanic sent out its distress signal. Time after time after time again was never heard because the radio operator at the Californian had fallen asleep on duty. By the time the message received was received, it was too late to save.

But a few in acts Chapter 16, A Cry for help comes across the Aegean Sea. It came from Europe, a continent mired in idolatry, barbarians roaming the German forests inundated with self serving mankind.

And the call for help came in the night. To someone who happened to be listening. And we looked at that call.

But let's go back to verse nine where this man is standing and appealing to Paul and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. Like a flare fired in the darkest night. This call comes to the apostle, and immediately he knows that it is God's design for him to form a rescue party and head for Europe. In fact, the next verse, verse 10, said when he had seen the vision. Immediately we saw it to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

History would be made because of that verse eleven. Therefore, putting out to sea from TRO as we ran a straight course to Sambath race and on the day following the apples and from there to fill a pie. This would be the first city on European soil that he ministers to. He said it was a leading city in the district of Macedonia. It was also a Roman colony. And we were staying in this city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer. And we sat down and began speaking to the women who would assemble these verses, by the way.

Tell us a lot about the spiritual condition of by Jewish law required that if any village or city was inhabited by at least 10 Jewish men, that these men were under obligation to form a synagogue.

The fact that this place of prayer was by the river out in the open reveals that there then are less than 10 men of Jewish origin, or perhaps worse yet, ten men of Jewish origin faith less to the God of Israel to form a synagogue. Furthermore, once you arrive at the place of prayer, I was struck and perhaps you were as well that only women have assembled.

No, man, this sends us a rather strong message about Paul.

He was a former Pharisee and his attitude toward women had remarkably changed because of the gospel. It's significant that the first people Paul ever preached to in Europe were women. Jay Vernon McGee once quipped, Evidentally the man from Macedonia was A woman needs to understand that in this culture, women were not ministered to the scriptures to like men were. In fact, the rabbis of Paul's day look down on the female gender and they would actually write. And we have copies of this writing where the rabbis taught, quote, It is better that the words of the law be burned than delivered to a woman. The Pharisee and Paul was a former Pharisee, would rise each morning. And through his daily ritual, he would eventually pray the prayer that Paul probably prayed as a former Pharisee. God, I thank thee that I was not born a gentile, a slave or a woman.

What changed Paul's attitude toward women? The Gospel of Jesus Christ. You read his writings and you discover that women are given honor and dignity. It is the Bible and its teaching that does that compare us to countries without the gospel? And you will see women occupying the roles of beasts of burden enslaved to reproduction.

So as Paul arrives in Europe and goes down to the riverside, you don't see and repack his bags and give some kind of lame apology and walk away. Once he discovers that only women have appeared, it says that he sat down. That's the form that a rabbi took. He sat down and began to teach, deliver the gospel to these faithful women whom God will use to impact their city.

I might dare say that in most cities, it is the women who belong to God that make any impact at all.

You could make the same cry today that you could make back and fill a pie. Where are the godly men?

Well, they weren't here. And so he delivers it to the women who were ready and open.

Those first 14 and a certain woman named Lydia from the City of Fire, Tira, a seller of Purple's fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening. Now for the Expositor. You don't appreciate a sentence like that because there's too much in it to really go very far without slicing it up. Let's stop just long enough to deal with the volume of information that we're given about this woman. She was a dealer in or a seller of purple fabrics. This job, you need to understand, was as lucrative as any business in America. That's lucrative. Purple dye applied to fine linen would be like owning the microchip. Patton first find computers. That's because the purple dye was extracted from a shellfish and it would take a thousand shellfish to come up with one gram of purple dye. So this was incredibly expensive clothing. You could call this. The Lexus of Wardrobe's purple garments would be worn by the emperor packed. Every Roman senator had his customary white toga. And it was trimmed in purple.

Private citizens wore their purple to reveal their immense wealth to the adoring coveting populace. Lydia was evidentally the middle man. Here she is, the broker in the operation that stretches all the way back to Asia Minor and into Europe. And she was immensely wealthy. Discovered as well, by the implication that she is capable of inviting four men to live on her estate. She has enough servants and food and accommodations to handle that, just like that. She had profited tremendously by this industry. But the text also tells us that she wasn't happy. With all that she had because she was a worshiper of God, he could render that a God, Thierer. That's a special term that appears in the New Testament for the Gentile that had abandoned the idolatry of their countrymen and followed after the one and only God of Israel. They really weren't gentile and they really weren't Jew. They were sort of caught in the middle, but they knew that this wasn't satisfying. They knew that the Jews followed the true God. And so in the light they were given, they became God Ferrer's. And so here you have this wealthy wallman meeting in a very primitive setting, perhaps sitting on the ground with other women praying to the God of Israel.

And the last part of verse 14 tells us, as Paul was speaking and teaching, that she was listening and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul Craig. Craig first versus scripture.

The verb tense here tells us that Paul spoke several times to her, that it wasn't at the first meeting that God opened her heart. It was after several meetings and then God opened her heart. To the point where she finally responded in faith.

This is a wonderful verse about the sovereignty of God and the process of salvation, taking a person who is dead in trespasses in sin, a person who can not respond to external stimuli, but taking this person and by his grace, opening there are hard to be able to hear and respond ultimately to the gospel of Christ, the ability to respond to the gospel. Ladies and gentlemen, was not created by you. It was not your process. It was the process of a gracious God who pride your dead heart open.

This verse tells us that even before Lydia believed God was behind it all, opening your heart in order that she might believe and I want to say this. If your heart doesn't respond to the word, if there isn't any impulse within you that finds interest in the words spoken by Paul and all of these epistles, if you can take his church or leave it, if you can take God or leave it, if there is no inward motivation to serve Christ and his church.

No desire to honor him. You may be spiritually dead. That is, there are no signs of life. And you ought to be terrified enough to get on your knees and beg God to open your heart, because as you look at your life, there are no vital signs of spirituality and you can open your heart.

You can't wake up one morning as say, I think I believe God has to do that.

Maybe you need to beg him to notice the first phrase, a verse fifteen.

It tells us then that she not only believed, but she and her household had been baptized. I noticed the latter part of verse 15.

She urged us, saying, if you judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. And she prevailed upon us. Now, that tells us that Paul first declined. No, we really shouldn't do that.

We don't want to impose. No, you you stay.

He's probably kind of woman that when she had her mind made up. Things happen. And so she prevailed upon them and her house became the base of ministry for the work of God as it began to multiply from filipacchi on into European territory.

I find it interesting here that this woman was willing to connect her business success with the propagation of the gospel.

Her home, which was the thriving corporate center of her business. Now becomes part and parcel with the work and ministry of this evangelistic team. Her resources are now at the disposal of Paul and his team. I had to, as I read this, just ask the question, where is the president of the companies in this city? In this country? Where where are the CEOs? Where are the owners of businesses have made this connection. Lidia's saw the connection. And her business became the base of operations.

In reaching into Europe now, the text goes on to introduce us to another woman involved in a lucrative business. Her business was involved with the underworld. However, literally the world of demons and divination. Look at verse 16. And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl having a spirit of divination met us who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune tellers.

Now there are a number of of good expositor and commentators who believe that her masters were actually priests from the local temple.

The Temple of Apollo. I'll throw my hat in the ring with him because of the word in the Greek text. Divination translated. Their divination comes from the Greek word Puth Syma, which transliterated gives us the word python. The spirit of divination can be rendered the spirit of Python. And this, of course, then opens the door to what we've come to learn. This practice of religion that was part of Greek mythology.

Apollos supposedly spoke through the python that guarded the special sanctuary or the oracle of Delphi. And in this day, Romans didn't do anything without predictions of the future.

And so anybody who is able to predict the future in Paul's day was called someone who was led by the serpent. Can you imagine that?

I believe, as in this day, those who supposedly could tell the future were indeed being led by and are being led by the serpent.

Now, notice what she's doing for 17.

She's following after Paul and us. And she kept crying and saying, these men are our bond servants of the most high God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation. Now, what's wrong with that? My first glance was that sounds like great free advertising. Here's someone who's known throughout the community for predicting the future. Now she's she's basically saying, you have arrived on our Soyland shores, servants of the most high God.

She's saying, listen to them, they're proclaiming to you a way of salvation that isn't the truth. They are proclaiming the way of salvation. And to those Europeans, she's suggesting they just take this way and stuff it in the bag with all the other ways and maybe they'll be saved one day.

So this isn't free advertising. Far from it. Finally, Paul had enough for a team. She continued doing this for many days. Can't get rid of this scale. Paul was greatly annoyed. And turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out at that very moment.

But when her masters saw that their hope of prophet was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities like Luke. Sense of humor here. Verse 18, he says the demon came out itself and literally the demon exited. And he uses the same word in verse 19 or mass, or saw that their hope of prophet had exited. Demon exited, their hope of prophet exited. Same word. Now they really get agitated. It's OK for her to run around. Day after day after day after day. So these are service of the most high God. And listen to them. They're proclaiming a way of salvation. But now they're bothered. And they will haul these men into court, as we'll see in a moment. And they will be beaten and placed in the jail.

So they get agitated when their prophet exited.

Up until then, it was OK. We're gonna have to leave our story at this point.

But for now, let's take a close look at this narrative and make application by way of studying the contrast between those led by the serpent and those led by the spirit. First of all, what we can pull from this passage is that those led by the serpent had a blindness to spiritual significance.

Here's Paul exercising power over Apollo.

This is this is front page news, and he mentions his power in relation to this name. Jesus Christ. If you had been the master of this girl and you knew the demon was gone and the ability to predict the future, that's saying that the God that these men were following is more powerful than your God wouldn't wouldn't you stop and ask what's going on here? Who is this? Jesus Christ.

Never hear that. They never ask a question. Why?

Because those who follow the serpent cannot receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to them. Neither can they understand them, for they are spiritually discerned.

First Corinthians, chapter two.

Those, however, by contrast, who are led by the spirit. There is an acceptance of truth as observed in what happens next. Lydia Lady Lydia Duart. I'm sure the stairs of her country meant as she walked into that river with her purple gowns on. What an odd sight. But she openly accepted the truth that led her to salvation. And now she's identifying with those who are saved in this outward way.

Next, those who are led by the serpent. There is a greedy clutching no matter what it does to others.

We don't care about the servant girl. We don't care that we're wasting and ruining her life.

We don't care about these strangers. Haul them off to court and beat them and throw them into into prison. Do away with them.

We don't care. Yet, Lydia. By way of contrast, a very wealthy woman exemplifies sharing. For the sake of others, here's my home, my food. A servant is for those led by the serpent. They deceitfully cloak their true motives.

Look at verse 20 when they had brought them to the chief magistrate. They said, these men are throwing our city into confusion. Being Jews, they just sort of insert that and are proclaiming customs, which are not lawful for us to accept or to observe.

We are being Romans, just like the serpent. These followers of the serpent disguise their true motive under the garb of national pride. We're concerned for the customs of the Roman emperor.

The truth here is nothing more than crass greed. Their heart was in their wallet and Paul had picked our wallets clean.

Christianity is tolerated until it adversely impacts profitability and then it is no longer acceptable. In contrast, however, those led by the spirit have an honest confession and honest character before others.

Finally, those led by the serpent have their citizenship in and loyalty to Earth. Remember I mentioned earlier that Phillip High was a Roman colony. We don't have a lot of time. But let me just tell you that that meant they promoted the Roman way of life.

They gave Rome a loyal base abroad. This was the European base, at least near the coast for Rome.

The colonists were proud ambassadors of the Roman way of life.

They honored the Roman emperor. They followed Roman law. They were proud, as these men say here, to be Roman. Their allegiance was to Rome with the highest hope was to advance in the kingdom of Rome. They are among the colonists of Rome.

Those who are led by the spirit have their citizenship in and their loyalty to it.

You know what that means.

Paul would write to the Philippians Church in chapter three, verse 20. He would say, your citizenship is in heaven.

Moppet translates it, Our colony is heaven. What that means is that those led by the spirit give honor to the Emperor of Heaven. We advance the cause of heaven.

We are proud to be ambassadors of heaven. Our greatest honor will be to be given responsibility in the Kingdom of Heaven.

But it has everything to do with the one that you are following, and so in the final chapter of this episode of the Falletta in charge, Paul writing to Christians, mind you, says to them, listen, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is gracious, whatever is of good reputation.

If there is excellence in any of those things, ponder these things in the next verse says practice these things. He's telling believers, make up your mind. Will you be led by the alerting siren sound of the serpent and live for the colony of Earth? Or will you follow the voice that the spirit of God and live for the Kingdom of Heaven?

Thanks for joining us today for this powerful lesson from the Book of Acts. This is Wisdom for the Heart. And we've gone back to our archives to bring you this vintage wisdom series. Stephen first taught these lessons to the church. He pastors many years ago. But the truth is still relevant today. I hope you were encouraged by today's lesson and that she'll be with us in the days ahead as we continue through this series. Our next lesson in the series will be tomorrow. But between now and then, we'd love to interact with you. Wisdom for the Heart is on social media, and that's a great way for you to follow what's happening in our ministry and be aware of any special offers. We'd also love to hear from you if you have a comment or a question for Stephen or if you want to send him a note of encouragement, you can write to us at Wisdom for the Heart, P.O. Box three seven two nine seven. Raleigh, North Carolina, two seven six two seven. I hope we hear from you. We have a staff and volunteer team in the office to answer your phone calls if you'd like to call and speak with us directly.

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