Europe’s First Convert

Acts 16:11-15

Neapolis - the modern Kavalla - was the seaport of Philippi. Philippi had a long  history. Once it had been called Crenides which means "The Springs." But Philip of Macedon,  the father of Alexander, had fortified it as a barrier against the Thracians and had given it his own name. At one time it had possessed famous gold mines, but by Paul's time these were worked out. Later it had been the scene of one of the most fought battles in the world, when Augustus won for himself the Roman Empire.

Philippi was a Roman colony. Roman colonies were usually strategic centers. In them Rome planted little groups of army veterans who had completed their military service. They wore the Roman dress, spoke the Roman language and used the Roman laws no matter where they were. Nowhere was their greater pride in Roman citizenship than in these outposts of Rome.

In Philippi there was no synagogue from which to start. But where the Jews were unable to have a synagogue they had a place of prayer and these places of prayer were usually by the riverside. On the Sabbath Paul and his friends took their way there and talked with the women who met in that place. 

The extraordinary thing about Paul's work in Philippi is the amazing cross-section of the  population that was won for Christ. Lydia came from the very top end of the social scale; she was a purple merchant. The purple dye had to be gathered drop by drop from a certain shellfish and was so costly that to dye a pound of wool with it would take the equivalent of $150 in our money. Lydia, wealthy woman and merchant prince that she was, was won to Christ.

Her immediate reaction was to offer the hospitality of her house to Paul and his friends. When Paul is describing the Christian character he says that the Christian should be "given to hospitality"(Romans 12:13). When Peter is urging Christian duty upon his converts he tells them, "Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another"(1Peter 4:9). A Christian home is one with an ever-open door.

Questions to Ponder:
Should we try to win a cross-section number of people to Christ?
Have you won anybody to Christ lately?
Do you practice Christian hospitality with an ever-open door?

In His Service,
Terry Phillips