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THE CONVERSION OF LYDIA
IN preaching the Gospel to mankind, every minister will not be alike successful; though every one may expect such a measure of success, as shall be a testimony from God to the truth of his declarations, and a seal to the commission with which he has been charged [Note: Jer_23:22.]. More especially may we hope to convert sinners unto God, if we are attentive to the calls of his providence, respecting the proper sphere of our labours. We may, like the Apostles, spread our net wide, and “toil all the night, and catch nothing:” but, if our Lord instruct us where to cast the net, we may hope to enclose a multitude of fishes. The commission given to the Apostles was, to “go and preach the Gospel to every creature:” yet there were particular places to which, at particular times, their attention was more especially directed. St. Paul, after going through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, would have gone into Asia and Bithynia; but he was forbidden by the Holy Ghost to go there [Note: ver. 6, 7.]; and was instructed by a vision to go over rather into Macedonia [Note: ver. 9, 10.]. There therefore he went; and there he met with the woman of whom our text speaks; and was the happy instrument of saving her soul alive. Her name, her occupation, her character, and the place of her nativity, are all distinctly noticed: she was called “Lydia;” and was “of the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple” clothes; and a worshipper of the true God. We forbear, however, to dwell on these circumstances, in order that we may consider more fully the means and evidences of her conversion:—
I. The means of her conversion—
Lydia was, by nature, like all the rest of mankind: her heart was shut against the truths of the Gospel: nor could she either receive or know them, because she possessed not a spiritual discernment. But the Lord “knocked, as it were, at the door” of her heart, and constrained her to open to him: he fixed her attention to the subject which Paul insisted on; gave her an insight into it; inclined her cordially to embrace the truth; and thus “subdued her to the obedience of faith.”
Now this is the way in which the work of conversion is always effected—
[We say not that every person is wrought upon as suddenly as she was; or that there are not many subordinate points in which the conversion of others may differ from hers: but we are sure that every natural man is blind to the Gospel of Christ [Note: 1Co_2:14.]; that both the sublimity of its doctrines and the purity of its precepts is offensive to him; that an effort of omnipotence also is exerted to overcome the reluctance of his soul; and that, till that influence is felt, he will hold fast his delusions, “confounding good and evil, sweet and bitter, light and darkness.”]
Nor can it be effected by any other means whatever—
[If good dispositions would effect it, or if human eloquence could effect it, she might have been converted without any such exercise of the Divine power; seeing that she was already “a worshipper” of the true God, and had Paul for her instructor. But we are expressly told, that the work of conversion depends not on any such circumstances, but that it is altogether the effect of a divine operation on the soul [Note: Joh_1:13.]. The Disciples, who had the peculiar advantage of our Lord’s instructions for above three years together, and that in private as well as in public, could not understand the most important parts of Scripture, till “he opened their understandings [Note: Luk_24:45.].” In like manner, there is yet a veil on the hearts of men whilst they read and hear the Scriptures; nor can any but God remove it [Note: 2Co_3:13-16.]. Hence it is plainly declared by our Lord himself, that “no man can come unto him, except he be drawn of the Father [Note: Joh_6:44-45.].” However humiliating therefore the truth may be, we are constrained to say, in relation to every man that is converted, that the work “is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy [Note: Rom_9:16.].”]
That a great and effectual work was wrought upon her will appear, whilst we consider,
II. The evidences of her conversion—
Here we are called to notice,
1. Her public profession of the faith of Christ—
[She was not ashamed to acknowledge the conviction that had been wrought on her mind; nor was she afraid to confess her faith in Jesus of Nazareth. Accordingly, she was, together with all her household, baptized immediately, in token that she had embraced the Christian covenant, and was become a disciple of the Lord Jesus. This, it is true, was not a decisive proof of sound conversion; because some submitted to the rite of baptism who had not received the grace of God in truth [Note: Act_8:13.]: but it was a strong presumptive evidence of her sincerity, inasmuch as it exposed her to all the obloquy and persecution, which were the common lot of Christians at that day. The insincere were deterred by these considerations from acting according to the dictates of their conscience [Note: Joh_12:42-43.]: but the upright uniformly and universally complied with them; and exerted their influence over their respective households, to bring them also by baptism into covenant with Christ.
In this, her example deserves particular attention: for though, on account of our having already received the seal of the covenant in baptism, we are not again to be baptized, yet are we to maintain the same fidelity as she did, and to shew, by the whole of our conduct, whose we are, and whom we have engaged to serve [Note: Rom_10:10.] — — —]
2. Her zealous attachment to the cause of Christ—
[She felt an ardent love towards him who had been the instrument of her conversion; and a most unfeigned desire to glorify her God, to whose grace alone she was indebted for all the blessings she had received. Hence she desired, and urged the Apostles, if they accounted her sincere, to come and take up their abode under her roof. This was attended, not only with expense, but with considerable danger too [Note: Act_16:22; Act_17:6-9.]: but she had counted the cost in every way, and was well content to pay it.
This was an excellent evidence in her favour: for this kind of love is particularly specified by God himself as one of those “things which accompany salvation [Note: Heb_6:9-10.]:” and in a very eminent degree it may be considered as “fulfilling the law of Christ [Note: Gal_6:2; Gal_6:10.].” Respecting the exercise of such dispositions under the Christian dispensation, and the consecration of all our wealth to the service of our God, the Prophet Isaiah spoke repeatedly [Note: Isa_23:18; Isa_60:9.]: and wherever the grace of God reigns in the heart, it will produce these effects in the life and conversation [Note: 2Co_8:7-8.].]
We shall conclude this subject with some reflections naturally arising from it:
1. How necessary in divine ordinances is the Lord’s presence!
[Of all the women who heard the Apostle at that time, we hear only of one who gave due attention to the things that were spoken by him: and the source of the difference between her and the others was, that “the Lord opened her heart.” To this source must we trace all the good that is done by the ministration of the Gospel [Note: Isa_53:1. Act_11:21. 1Th_1:5.]: whoever be the preacher, God alone is the author of the blessing [Note: 2Co_3:6-7.].]
2. How great are the obligations of those whose eyes are opened!
[Consider the change wrought on her at the time, and the effect of it on her everlasting state: what cause had she to adore and magnify the grace of God! So it is with all who are made monuments of Divine grace: they are indeed “brands plucked out of the burning;” and to all eternity must they ascribe their happiness, not to themselves, but unto Him that “chose them from before the foundation of the world,” and gave them to his dear Son, to be the trophies of his redeeming love [Note: Joh_15:16. Rom_9:16. Eph_1:4-6.].]
3. How anxious should we be to adorn the doctrine we have received!
[Lydia did not wait to have this burthen imposed upon her; she sought of her own accord, and that with great earnestness permission to bear it; yea, she accounted it not a burthen, but an honour and a joy. Thus it was with the Christians in the Churches of Macedonia [Note: 2Co_8:1-4.]: and thus should it be with us also. We should long and pant after opportunities of honouring our God: we should value nothing any further than it may be subservient to that end: we should account ourselves, and all that we possess, as the Lord’s property [Note: 1Co_6:20.]; and we should make it the one labour of our lives to “glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which are his.”]