Title: The Lord Who Opens People's Hearts
After spending a few days in Philippi, Paul and his companions were looking for a place to pray on the Sabbath when they met a woman named Lydia at the river outside the city gate (text verses 12-14). Lydia was a purple cloth merchant from the city of Thyatira in Asia Minor (verse 14). Lydia was a woman who served God (verse 14 of the text). The Lord opened Lydia's heart, who was listening to Paul, so that she obeyed Paul's words, and she and all her household were baptized (texts verses 14-15). Lydia urged Paul and his companions, “If you know me as a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” and they stayed there. In verse 40, the last verse of Acts 16, which contains today's text, "Two men (Paul and Silas) came out of prison and went into Lydia's house to meet the brothers and comfort them." do. The brothers of faith refer to the church members. Entering Lydia's house and meeting the brothers is a reminder that Lydia has opened her house for congregational gatherings. Lydia not only opened her heart, but also opened her house. This was the birth of the Philippian church and the first harvest of evangelism in Europe.
How precious the devotion of the Philippian church was to Paul can be seen better when compared with other churches. 2 Corinthians 11:8-9 “The things I received from other churches to serve you were stolen. And when I was with you, I lacked expenses, and I did not burden anyone, because the brothers from Macedonia made up for what I needed. I have taken care of myself and will be careful in everything that I do not burden you.” In verse 8, it is said that several other churches paid money, but it was actually referring to the Philippian church. “What I received from other churches was robbery.” One is a strong expression. Corinth was a wealthy city, but in Macedonia, thanks to a woman like Lydia, the Philippian church had a different situation, but it was very poor. However, it was said that it was robbery to collect money from the poor Macedonian region to serve the rich Corinthian church. In this way, the Philippian church was a special church to Paul.
Even if we look at Paul's attitude toward the Thessalonian church, we can clearly see what Paul's heart was toward the Philippian church. 1 Thessalonians 2:9: “Brothers, you will remember our toil and toil, and we preached the gospel of God to you day and night, so as not to be a burden to any of you.” But in the Philippian church, there was no need to do that. The Philippian church would not have let it go as Paul did with other churches. The Philippian church was like a resting place that always provided comfort, joy, and strength to the evangelist Paul. Behind him was a woman named Lydia. This is what the Lord did to make Paul, who was crazy about evangelism, follow the path of an evangelist to the end.
When we try to evangelize, the most difficult thing is to open people's hearts. There are many people who seldom open their hearts. So, sometimes I feel discouraged, I think it's a futile effort, and sometimes I feel like a chimney to give up. But today's text says that it is the Lord who opens people's hearts. This is where we need courage. It is not easy to open the hearts of worn-out people like these days. It's so hard to open the minds of those who say they know enough about Christianity. There are many people who close their hearts and do not want to open them, saying that they have experienced the church enough to experience it. But our Lord can open anyone's heart. If we keep in our hearts the names of the people we want to evangelize and pray earnestly and continue to pray, the Lord will open them. If we do not lose heart and continue to preach the name of Jesus Christ and announce the good news of salvation, the Lord Himself will open people's hearts and open the way for evangelism. I pray that all of us who firmly believe in the Lord and continue to boldly evangelize.