Lydia, First Recorded European Convert

"Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.’ And she constrained us…So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.” –Acts 16:11-15, 50 (NKJV).

It was an exciting, yet troublous time for the early church. Paul was on his second missionary journey. It was from AD 49-52. Paul and his companion, Silas, left Antioch of Syria. A good Bible map will have their itinerary clearly marked, and Acts 15:36 through 18:18 records what happened on that mission. As happens sometimes in today’s churches, Paul and Barnabas, when this second missionary trip was proposed, contended over Mark. Barnabas wanted Mark to go, but Paul did not want Mark because he had left them on their first missionary journey. Two teams went out: Barnabas and Mark to Cyprus, and Paul, with Silas as his companion, overland through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches they had established on their first journey. At Lystra, the disciple named Timothy, later to be called by Paul his “son in the gospel” (I Timothy 1:2), joined with the mission team and was circumcised on Paul’s advice, “for the Jews who were there.” What we call Paul’s “Macedonian call” occurred, a vision in which Paul clearly heard a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia to help us.” So they sailed to Europe, and it was at Philippi that Paul met up with Lydia and a group of women praying at the riverside, for there was no Jewish synagogue at that time in that city. There in that Sabbath gathering, where the women customarily met, Lydia listened to Paul’s message from God. On that Sabbath, Lydia was changed forever.

What do we know about Lydia? Certain abbreviated facts are given about her in Acts 16:14-15: She was a businesswoman, “a seller of purple.” She was from Thyatira, not Philippi (we can infer that she might have been on a business trip, or else she was a native of Thyatira and had moved to Philippi). She worshiped God (not idols). The Lord opened her heart (she listened and believed what Paul was teaching). She and her household were baptized. She had the spiritual gift of hospitality (she invited Paul and his team to her house).

We would like to know more about Lydia, this first recorded convert on the continent of Europe. But the Bible is silent about her following the two mentions of her in Acts 16—in the prayer meeting by the riverside at Philippi, her open heart, conversion, baptism and hospitality. But note, after the missionary team joined the women at the prayer meeting, they later met up with the slave girl, a diviner whose masters used her prophecies to earn them money. She followed them. Paul commanded the evil spirit in her to come out. Her owners did not like this because she was no longer valuable to them. They brought charges against Paul to the magistrates. The missionaries were beaten, imprisoned and put in stocks. But God’s Spirit is not bound nor is He hindered by prison walls. At midnight as Paul and Silas sang and praised God, a great earthquake shook the prison, doors were opened, chains were loosed. The jailer feared for his life, but the prisoners were still there, ready to witness to him until he cried out, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). We have the wonderful account of the Philippian jailer and his household being saved, of his ministering to the wounds of the missionaries and giving them food. The magistrates wanted the officers to release Paul and Silas secretly. Paul claimed their Roman citizenship, and the city rulers themselves came to release them. From jail they went into Lydia’s home, were received warmly and the believers encouraged. Imagine Lydia’s joy to have shown hospitality to the Apostle Paul! In Lydia’s case, we see how God the Father provides opportunities for salvation and a complete change in life. As Lydia sold “royal cloth” (purple), so she was royally received into the Kingdom.