Scriptural text: Acts 16:11-15, 40
1 Corinthians 1:26-30
The Gospel Encounters The Roman World (Acts 16:11-13). The Apostle Paul’s first encounter in the Roman Empire was in Philippi where a woman would be the first one to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. By past practice, whenever Paul entered a city for the first time, he went to the synagogue on the next Sabbath. Apparently there was no synagogue in Philippi, since he did not do this in Philippi. Instead of a synagogue, Paul and his party find a party of women meeting for worship outside the city beside the Gangites River. The place was called a “place of prayer,” which could simply mean an informal place of worship (verse 13). Paul and his party met with the women, and Paul was invited to speak with them.
Lydia Accepts Christ and Opens Her Heart and Home (Acts 16:14-15, 40). Lydia, a seller of purple, was a proselyte to the Jewish religion; as were probably all of the women that resorted thither. Lydia was a sincere worshipper of God, she was prepared to receive the heavenly truths spoken by Paul and his companions. Lydia was faithful to the grace that she had received, so God gave her more grace, and gave her now a Divine conviction that was spoken by Paul was true. She believed them and received them as the doctrines of God; and in this faith she was joined by her whole family by accepting Christ and were all baptized. She is insistent that Paul and his companions receive her hospitality. Lydia’s faith was accompanied by her good works. She opened her home, her purse, and her heart to the missionaries. In doing so, she became a co-laborer in the spreading of the Gospel.
God Calls Ordinary People into His Service ( 1 Corinthians 1:26-28). God did not choose philosophers, nor orators, nor statesmen, nor men of wealth, and power, and interests in the world, to publish the gospel of grace and peace. He best judges what men and what measures serve the purpose of His glory. Though not many noble are usually called by Divine grace; there have been some of such in every age, who have not been ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; and persons of every rank stand in the need of pardoning grace.
God’s Call Exudes Human Boasting ( 1 Corinthians 1:29-30). God’s design is to bring down the pride of man, and to produce everywhere a willingness to acknowledge him as the fountain of blessings and the God of all. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown – Whether we have little or much, none of us have any reason to boast.