Portraits of 2 Women

The passage opens with the missionary team (Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke) in the port city of Troas.

Troas was located across the Aegean Sea from Greece, on the western shore of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) near the site of ancient Troy.

The missionaries had been directed there by the Holy Spirit, who had closed all other doors of ministry for them (16:6–8).

While at Troas, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia (on the mainland of Greece), pleading for him to “come over to Macedonia and help us” (16:9).

In response to the vision, Luke notes, “immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (16:10).

The Liberated Woman (vv11-15)

There are three aspects of Lydias conversion that stand out.

She was a worshiper of God.

Hers was a seeking heart, and she had already turned from pagan idolatry to worship the one true God.

The phrase a worshiper of God shows that Lydia, like Cornelius (Acts 10:2), was a believer in the God of Israel.

She had not yet, however, become a full proselyte to Judaism.

Lydia’s seeking was the first step of her spiritual liberation.

Yet she, like all sinners, did not seek God on her own until He sought her.

She was willing to Listen

Many hear the sound of the life-giving message preached without really listening to it.

They are like Paul’s companions on the Damascus Road, who, although they heard its sound, “did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking”.

She listened with faith to the saving gospel.

She did so because the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Remembering God’s sovereignty in salvation is the foundation of a proper perspective on evangelism.

Salvation does not depend on clever evangelistic strategies, or the skill of the preacher, or a masterful presentation.

It is not a human work at all; it is God’s work.

The Content was Clear

The most important element of any gospel presentation is clarity of content.

To present the gospel clearly requires invoking the power of the Spirit and leaving the results to God.

The Enslaved Woman (vv 16-18)

As the church took root in Philippi, Satan moved to attack it.

Here, as in Samaria (8:9ff.) and Cyprus (13:6ff.), was the clash of light and darkness.

He sought to infiltrate the church or to crush it with persecution.

Both avenues of attack would prove unsuccessful.

This hapless tool of Satan kept following after Paul and the others, crying out at the top of her voice, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

This was a subtle and dangerous attack, a bold attempt to infiltrate a deadly tare among the wheat, because what the demon-possessed girl was saying was absolutely true.

The demon even used biblical terminology.

The term Most High God was an Old Testament designation of the God of Israel (Ps. 78:35; Dan. 5:18)

She also spoke of the way of salvation.

The father of lies speaks the truth when it suits his purposes, disguising himself and his emissaries as angels of light (2 Cor. 11:13–14).

Some of his most effective and diabolical work is done in the name of Jesus Christ.

He often uses a little truth to ensnare people in a false system of religion.

Since the demon-possessed girl was agreeing with the Christian preachers, the natural assumption would be that she was part of their group.

She would then have been in a position to do unspeakable harm to the cause of Christ.

These two women typify all of humanity.

Everyone is either liberated by Jesus Christ or enslaved by Satan.

The only path to freedom is that followed by Lydia—of seeking God, listening to the gospel, and having a heart opened to respond by the Lord.

Those who do so will not be disappointed, for the Lord Himself promises in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”