Acts 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
At Philippi Paul and his companions went outside the city on the Sabbath to a riverside place of prayer and spoke to the women gathered there, among them Lydia, a seller of purple from Thyatira who worshiped God, whose heart the Lord opened so that she gave heed to the message. She received the truth gladly, and she and her household were converted and baptized, and she urged the apostles to make her house their home. Her opening shows that God makes the truth powerful to save by opening the heart to receive the word of life, and His Spirit enlightens only those who are willing to be enlightened. The work was wholly successful through cooperation between God and the human agent, with Paul declaring the whole counsel of God and all that was essential for her to receive, and God exercising His power to lead her soul in the right way. An opened heart is meek and receptive to God's word, and the Lord prepares such hearers in answer to united prayer, fervent confession, and close personal labor that brings truth into families and homes. God still goes before His workers wherever there is an opening and makes hearts ready to hear and heed, so they are to move into new places and trust Him to open doors and hearts for the spoken truth.
Setting and Conversion
The work heard by Lydia took place at Philippi, the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony, where Paul and Silas and Timothy, accompanied by Luke, had come over into Europe to preach the gospel. That preaching was in direct obedience to the imperative call of the Macedonian vision, admitting of no delay, by loosing from Troas with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi.
On the Sabbath Paul and his companions went out of the city to a riverside place of prayer and spoke to the women who resorted there. Among them was Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, who heard them with her heart opened by the Lord so that she attended to the things spoken by Paul. She responded to what Paul taught and received the truth gladly.
She and her household were converted and baptized. She entreated the apostles to make her house their home, welcoming them in and offering them a place to stay.
Connected with that work at Philippi, Luke remained and labored there for several years in double service as physician and gospel minister. As a true medical missionary he did his medical part and then prayed for the Lord's healing power to rest upon the afflicted. His medical skill opened the way for the gospel message to gain access to hearts and opened many doors for preaching among the heathen.
How God Opens Hearts
The opening of Lydia's heart shows that divine grace cannot work together with iniquity, and that the Spirit enlightens the understanding only of those who are willing to be enlightened. The Lord opened her ears and heart so that she gave heed to the message spoken by Paul. Her conversion reveals cooperation between God and the human agent, and that cooperation makes the work wholly successful. Paul's part was to declare the whole counsel of God and all that was essential for her to receive, and God's part was to exercise His power as the God of all grace and lead her soul in the right way.
God alone can make the truth powerful to save, by opening the heart to receive the word of life. That divine work outlines the gospel preaching to be done in all parts of the world, in which those who work in God's order are laborers together with Him. An opened heart is receptive to God's word, and meekness makes the mind ready to receive it. Meekness likewise opens the heart to receive God's word and to learn from Jesus. The opening of Lydia's heart was the work of the Holy Spirit as Christ's representative, who wherever the disciples went in Christ's name opened hearts and doors for them and opened fields of labor to be worked. Those thus helped were of one mind and felt their resources must be taxed to the utmost of their ability, because a work lay before them to preach Christ and Him crucified through the whole world.
The Lord opens and prepares the hearts of hearers to attend to and receive the preached message in answer to united prayer. When ministers and laborers seek the unity of the Holy Spirit, confess their sins, and pray together with fervor before speaking, and then speak with the meekness and grace of Christ, their words reach the people as the Spirit flows forth to hearts in fervent, melting zeal and the powers of heaven make souls ready for the reception of truth. The opening of the heart to attend to what Paul spoke happens when truth is brought close to people by personal labor. Teaching truth in families and drawing close to those labored for brings cooperation with God and clothing with spiritual power, with Christ guiding the work and entering houses with workers, giving words that sink deep into the hearts of listeners, while the Holy Spirit opens hearts and minds to receive rays coming from the Source of all light.
The Lord opens hearts so people can hear and heed the truth, and God can prepare listeners as messengers enter new places and present the message. The work of messengers is to speak to those in darkness and trust God to make hearts receptive, which supports sending messengers to new places where people are ready to listen. God goes before workers wherever there is an opening and opens the hearts of some to hear the truth spoken. Therefore workers must move out and enter new places to seek souls not yet enlightened, rather than going over and over the same field of labor, and when entering new places they should go two and two to uphold one another whenever they can do so consistently and without neglecting other places. The Lord opens people's hearts so they will attend to the gospel message, and the Lord Jesus likewise opens the hearts of those visited in home missionary work and makes lasting impressions on their minds.
As the Lord opens hearts to receive truth, God likewise opened the minds and hearts of members of the Diet, even those opposed to the Reformation, helping prepare the way for the work ahead. The Lord opens hearts to receive the truth, and those in Maitland who welcomed the campers were believed to have been moved by the Holy Spirit, with the expectation that the Lord would bless them by opening their hearts to receive the truth. The Lord opens and softens the heart to attend to the word of God and the word of life that is spoken, so that patients who hear the word in a sanitarium chapel may thereby be led to accept Christ as the healer of the soul and the Healer of the soul. Wherever there is a sanitarium there should be a church where patients and helpers can assemble to worship God and hear that word. The Lord opens a person's heart to receive truth, and God can shape the mind without human power while honoring those who cooperate with Him. When the Spirit works on an afflicted person's mind and that person seeks truth, the physician should point them to Jesus as the sin-pardoning Saviour, and God's light leads many to respond while deception and error are swept away.