THE FIRST CONVERT IN EUROPE (ACTS 16:9-16)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_en Grammar Bible (English)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Bah Tatabahasa Alkitab (Indonesian)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Esp Biblia de Gramática (Spanish)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Tag Gramatika Bibliya (Filipino)
https://bible.ryl.hk Chinese Bible (Chinese)
Said a minister to his young people: "I want you to spend fifteen minutes every day praying for missions; but I warn you, it will be a very costly experiment." "Costly?" they asked in surprise.
"Yes, costly," he answered. When Carey began to pray for the conversion of the world, it cost him himself, and it cost those who prayed with him very much. ”
David Brainerd prayed for the dark-skinned savages, and, after two years of blessed work, it cost him his life. Two students in Mr. Moody's summer school began to pray the Lord to send forth more laborers in His harvest, and lo! it is going to cost our country five thousand young men and women who have, in answer to their prayer, pledged themselves to the work. You will find that you cannot pray for this work and withhold your labor, or your money, or your life itself."
Saul the persecutor of Christians from Acts chapter 7-8 became Paul the proclaimer of Christ from Acts chapter 8. It was in his travels that Paul became a leader, evangelist and missionary extraordinaire. In his first missionary Saul trip changed his name to Paul (Acts 13:9) in Cyprus (Acts 13:4) on his first stop, specifically in the second city of Paphos (Acts 13:9) after departing Salamis (Acts 13:5), possibly to use his Roman name in his overseas ministry to the Gentiles. Paul suffered munch on his first missionary journey, from persecution (Acts 13:50) to assault (Acts 14:5) and stoning (Acts 14:19). On his second missionary journey, without Barnabas, Paul risked more by crossing the ocean instead of ministering to the shore cities, but met a godly lady to partner with his team – a first female partner in his missioanry journeys.
God’s mission and mandate for the church is unchanged: make discples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20). How are you involved in God’s work in the world? Who have you taken and trained to be on your team? Why is the mission possible and what is the worth?
Recognize the Vision
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath 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. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, 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.
Once a man rose in one of his meetings to give his experience. “I have been for five years on the Mount of Transfiguration,” he said.
Instantly Mr. Moody interrupted him by the sharp question, “How many souls did you lead to Christ last year?'
“Well, I don't know,” answered the surprised man.
“Have you led any?” then came sternly from the preacher.
“I-ah-don't know that I have,” said the man.
“Then,” snapped Mr. Moody, still more sternly, “we don't want that kind of mountain-top experience. When a man gets so high that he can't reach down and save poor sinners, there is something wrong.”
Acts is a book of visions, that occurs only once elsewhere in the Bible (Matt 17:9) but 11 times in Acts, twice in this chapter (vv 9, 10). Earlier in the book Ananias (Acts 9:10), Cornelius (Acts 10:3) and Peter (Acts 10:17, 12:9) all had vision, but for Paul it was a first (v 9), a far and foreign vision to distant cities and diverse cultures.
In the vision was a Macedonian man. According to a website, the travel from Troas (Acts 16:8) to Samothrace (v 11) was 70 miles by sea, and from Samothrace to Neapolis (v 11) was 70 miles on land, and Neapolis to Philippi was another 10 miles. The abrupt, adventurous but arduous trip to Samothrace was seven to eight hours long through scary, shaky, stormy waters. Bascially the traveler has to be fit, fresh and fearless, not frustrated, fatigued or frantic. My pastor in Hong Kong told how faint, helpless and miserable he was on a book cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. He and his wife was sick, stressed and stuck.
Help (v 9) is an imperative; it was a strong, sure and stirring plea, reaching Paul’s ears reducing his sleep and redirecting his course Help can be in the form of aid, assistance, advice, ability or availability. This chapter begins the “we” (vv 10, 11, 12, 13 thrice, 16 twice) passages in Acts, which means the author was involved. The Greek verb “seek/endeavor” (v 10) occurs 117 times in the Bible but only once is it qualified by the adverb “immediately/at once” here. It’s been said, John’s gospel is The Evangelist of the gospels and Luke is The Historian, but the verb “evangelize” never appeared in the gospels of Mark and John’s gospel and only once as a quotation in Matthew’s gospel (Matt 11:5), but ten times in Luke’s gospel and the record-breaking 15 times in the Bible in the book of Acts. Paul seent he vision, but he did not decide by himself. In his team were Silas (Acts 15:40) and young Timothy (Acts 16:1) who just joined the duo and, of course, Luke the Gentile writer and doctor. The trip was too precious, problematic and punishing without a doctor, a historian and a Gentile companion on board.
Require the Visit
12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath 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. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
It’s been said,
“When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”
“When you come to a dead end, don’t cry because it’s time for you to take another direction.”
“When Plan A does not work, fall back on Plan B.”
“When Plan A Does Not Work... ...keep calm take a deep breath and remember: the alphabet for sure has one or the other letter left for you.”
“When there are bumps on the road we hang in tight but keep on driving.”
“Keep calm and plan on.”
“If life throws you a few bad notes, don’t let them interrupt your song.”
Upon encountering the unknown and those unlike and unmet, Paul and company had a change of strategy not not of heart in faraway Philippi. Unlike in previous places before crossing to Europe where Paul entered the synagogue to meet fellow Jews (Acts 13:14, 15:21) on the Sabbath, he did not have the advantage of a captured audience in the form of a synagogue, a building or a club to meet the Jews who were scattered all over Europe, wary of standing out and stoking envy After a few days there (v 12) he figured out there were Jews gathered by the river outside of the city for prayer. They were attractive targets to Paul because they were pious, practicing Jews.
Even the audience had changed. Suddenly in Acts women played an important and critical role in the advance of the gospel in Europe. Previously women were separated from men within the synagogues Paul was preaching. No individual woman stood out in the early church in Acts before the venture into Europe, even though they were everywhere, from women praying in the upper chamber (Acts 1:13-14) to widows who were neglected in food distribution (Acts 6:1) before the persecution, to women persecuted by Saul (Acts 8:3) and women converted by Philip’s preaching (Acts 8:12). In Europe besides the praying women in Philippi (Acts 16:13) and the praying, wives in Tyre (Acts 21:3), the chief women in Thessalonica (Acts 17:4) and the honourable women of Berea (Acts 17:12), there were also outstanding individuals such as Europe’s frist convert Lydia (Acts 16:14), the low-key Damaris (Acts 17:34) and spousal team of Priscilla (Acts 18:2).
Lydia was from Thyatira, where in classical times, according to Wikipedia, “it was famous for its dyeing facilities and was a center of the purple cloth trade. Among the ancient ruins of the city, inscriptions have been found relating to the guild of dyers in the city. Indeed, more guilds are known in Thyatira than any other contemporary city in the Roman province of Asia.”
Reap the Value
15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, 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.
A Sleep Etiquette Survey was conducted, asking 2000 British homeowners how to behave as a host and a guest overnight, found that 50% of house guests feel that hosts are failing to provide for them adequately when staying overnight, with 88% for those 18 to 24 years old expressing dissatisfaction, in contrast to those 46.5% for those above 55.
Complains from guests about their hosts:
40% of fail to clean room before guests arrive
40% fail to change bed sheets before guests arrive
11%, feel inadequate pillows prevent them from sleep in comfortably
Annoying habits of house guests:
31% leave their belongs all over the place
26% not helping with the cleaning
21% constantly want to be entertained
19% of hosts believe guests should leave room clean and tidy
2% going through host's things
2% dominate the remote control
https://www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/sleep-etiquette/
Two things stand out grammatically in this verse. First, “stay” is an imperative, a command, but in this case it is more a plea, a petition and a persuasion. It can be translated as remain (Matt 11:23), tarry (Matt 26:38), dwell (John 1:38), endure (John 6:27) and continue (1 Tim 2:15). Lydia’s attempt was so admirable because there were at least four people in the team – Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke. Of course, it is not just about housing but also hosting; not just lodging but laundry; not just cover but cooking. There was no indiction she had servants, but household. It means it was a collective effort, Definitly it was out of thankfulness for salvation, trust and tenderness.
The verb “persuade” (parabiazomai) is translated traditonally as constrain. It occurs only one other time for the two Emmauus travelers who “contrained” Jesus to abide with them for it was toward evening, and the day is far spent (Luke 24:29).
There were at least three reason she needed to “persuade” them. First, it was not just Paul, but Paul and at leas thtree partners. It was a lot to do. Second, she was a lady, but this was offsetted by the household’s presence. Third, they did not want to take advantage of new believers, but she asked them to “stay” with an imperative.. And he went in to tarry with them.
Conclusion: Women are front and central to ministry and missions. Have you underestimated, undervalued and understated their partnership, participation and prayers? Do you tally, treat and thank them for their serivce and support?
Do you acknowledge, appreciate and applaud the members of your team? Have you asked God show you where your experience and effort are most needed? Are you willing to leave your comfort zone and launch into the deep?
