Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2222
“Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple, from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” Acts 16:14.
We may laudably exercise curiosity with regard to the first proclamation of the Gospel in our own quarter of the globe. We are happy that history so accurately tells us, by the pen of Luke, when first the Gospel was preached in Europe and by whom, and who was the first convert brought by that preaching to the Savior’s feet. I half envy Lydia that she should be the leader of the European band! But I feel right glad that a woman led the van and that her household followed so closely in the rear.
God has made great use of women and greatly honored them in the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Holy women ministered to our Lord when He was upon the earth and since that time much sacred work has been done by their patient hands. Man and woman fell together—together they must rise! After the Resurrection, it was a woman who was first commissioned to carry the glad tidings of the risen Christ. And in Europe, where woman was, in future days, to be set free from many of the trammels of the East, it seems fitting that a woman should be the first Believer. Not only, however, was Lydia a sort of first-fruit for Europe, but she probably also became a witness in her own city of Thyatira, in Asia. We do not know how the Gospel was introduced into that city, but we are informed of the existence of a Church there by the message of the ascended Christ through His servant, John, to “the angel of the Church in Thyatira.” Very likely Lydia became the herald of the Gospel in her native place. Let the women who know the Truth of God proclaim it, for why should their influence be lost? “The Lord gives the word; the women that publish the tidings are a great host.” Woman can be as powerful for evil as for good—we see it in this very Church of Thyatira, where the woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, sought to seduce many from the Truth. Seeing, then, that the devil employs women in his service, let those women whom God has called, by His Grace, be doubly earnest in seeking to prevent or undo the mischief that others of their sex are working. If not called to public service, all have the home-sphere wherein they can shed forth the aroma of a godly life and testimony.
If the Gospel does not influence our homes, it is little likely to make headway among the community. God has made family piety to be, as it were, a sort of trademark on religion in Europe, for the very first convert brings with her all her family! Her household believed and were baptized with her. You shall notice in Europe, though I do not mean to say that it is not the same anywhere else, that true godliness has always flourished in proportion as family religion has been observed. They hang a bell in a steeple and they tell us that it is our duty to go every morning and every evening into the steeple house, there to join in prayer. But we reply that our own house is better for many reasons—at any rate, it will not engender superstition for us to pray there. Gather your children together and offer prayer and supplication to God in your own home!
“But there is no priest.” Then there ought to be! Every man should be a priest in his own household and, in the absence of a godly father, the mother should lead the devotions! Every house should be the House of God and there should be a Church in every house. And when this is the case, it will be the greatest barrier against priestcraft and the idolatry of holy places. Family prayer and the pulpit are the bulwarks of Protestantism! Depend upon it, when family piety goes down, the life of godliness will become very low. In Europe, at any rate, seeing that the Christian faith began with a con-
verted household, we ought to seek after the conversion of all our families and to maintain within our houses the good and holy practice of family worship.
Lydia, then, is the first European convert, and we will review her history as far as we have it in Holy Writ. Towards her conversion, four things co-operated, upon which we will speak briefly. First, the working of Providence. Secondly, the working of Lydia, herself. Thirdly, the working of Paul. And fourthly, the working of the Holy Spirit.
I. First, notice THE WORKING OF PROVIDENCE. When I was in Amsterdam, I visited the works of a diamond-cutter where I saw many large wheels and much powerful machinery at work. And I must confess that it seemed very odd that all that great array of apparatus should be brought to bear upon a tiny bit of crystal which looked like a fragment of glass. Was that diamond worth so much that a whole factory should be set to work to cut its facets and cause it to sparkle? So the diamond-cutter believed. Within that small space lay a gem which was thought worthy of all this care and labor. That diamond may be, at this time, glistening upon the finger or brow of royalty! Now, when I look abroad upon Providence, it seems preposterous to believe that kingdoms, dynasties and great events should all be co-operating and working together for the accomplishment of the Divine purpose in the salvation of God’s people. But they are so working! It might have seemed preposterous, but it was not so, that these great wheels should all be working for the cutting of a single diamond. And it is not preposterous, however it may seem, to say that all the events of Providence are being ordered by God to effect the salvation of His own people, the perfecting of the precious jewels which are to adorn the crown of Christ forever and ever!