A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XVI - II
"In the morning I, Paul, shared the vision I had that night with Silas and Tmothy... The vision was about a man from Macedonia asking us to come over.... We all agreed that the Lord wanted us to go to Macedonia... So we set off as soon as we were ready to do so.... It took us a fewdways to get to Philippi, the main city of Macedonia... But once we got there we got ourselvelves settled in... For we knew the Lord had ministry for us there... Today is the Sabbath day... Normally I would try and find a synagogue to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ with my Jewish brothers.... However, there is not a synagogue in Philippi.... That must mean there are not sufficient Jewish men to set up a synagogue....Silas, Timothy and I looked at each other... What should we do now?... We knew the Lord had called us to minister here in Philippi.... It then dawned on me that we should go to the river... For we may well find a group of women there who have gathered to pray... That is what we did... And we did find a group of women there praying.... I began to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ with them... They listened attentively... One in particular caught my attention.... I could see she was very open to my message... I proved to be right.... For afterwards she spoke to me.... It was clear she had understood everything... It was, therefore, only right that she should be baptised....We are now staying with her.... Her name is Lydia.... She is a business woman...We do not believe our ministry in Philippi has already ended... My prayer is that one day soon we will have a thriving church in Philippi that meets at Lydia's home... And for her to become part of the leadership team."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of Paul's ministry to a group of women, which was something he would have never done as a Pharisee....
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XVI - II
Paul, after having received his vision about a man from Macedonia asking him to come over, set out for Philippi as you can read in Acts 16:11-12
From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. From there to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
On the Sabbath day he went to look for a group of worshippers. His custom was to always visit the synagogue in every town that he went to. However, there was no synagogue in Philippi, which would have meant that there were not sufficient Jewish men in the city to set up a synagogue. Did that mean that the Holy Spirit had made a mistake by leading him to go there? Not at all for the Holy Spirit did have a group of worshippers in that city He had chosen for Paul to minister to. But these worshippers could not establish a synagogue according to Jewish Traditions because they were women. Nevertheless, these women loved God and wanted to come together for prayer and worship so they met at the river. And the Holy Spirit led Paul to these women as you can read in Acts 16:13-14
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
We may not realise the tremendous change that had taken place in Paul's life since his Damascus experience as you can read in Acts 9:1-5
Saul (Paul) was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jersualem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" "Who are You, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting," He replied.
Because of this real change, Paul was now willing to speak to these women at the river. Before his conversion, he had been a very zealous Phrisee as you can know from Philippians 3:5
"Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee"
And Pharisees did not communicate with women. But here we find Paul preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to a group of women. And the Holy Spirit used the words of Paul to touch the heart of at least one woman in particular; a business woman named Lydia. And that day she became a follower of Jesus. Moreover, she opened her home to Paul and his companions so they had a place to stay while ministering in Philippi as you can read in Acts 16:15
When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord. she said, "Come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Paul knew this ministry in Philippi had not yet ended. So every day he and Silas would go out and share the good news of Jesus Christ whenever they had the opportunity.
Read Part Three HERE
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