Redeeming Love Bible Broadcast
Join us as we explore the Word of God, the need for the Gospel, and its impact on the lives of believers and unbelievers. Artwork by Jonathan Riddle.
Redeeming Love Bible Broadcast
The Opened Heart (LIVE)
The story of Lydia in Acts 16 reminds us that salvation is never random. It is God’s design. Paul’s unexpected detour to Philippi led him straight to a woman whose heart the Lord was already opening. Their meeting was not coincidence but a divine appointment.
Lydia’s response - listening with humility, believing wholeheartedly, and showing immediate generosity - paints a clear picture of true transformation. And the same God who orchestrated that encounter is still arranging divine appointments today.
NEW BOOK! I'm pleased to say that we have completed a new book that has been years in the making. The Ten Shirot: Songs of Redemption looks at ten songs that were sung through pivotal times in Scripture. It's an examination of the redemption of Jesus, of worship, and of Scripture in a way that we believe you probably haven't seen before. Check it out at https://a.co/d/0a4KIooL .
The Redeeming Love Bible Broadcast is a ministry of Grace Baptist Tabernacle. We're located at 121 Arborside Lane in King, NC and we can be reached at welcome@gracebaptisttabernacle.org. Please continue to share these episodes, and please consider coming to visit our church. We are excited and expectant for you to come!
Ah well, bless God and amen. Hallelujah, he's alive and he's moving and he's speaking and just doing all of the things that the living God does, because he's the living God, he just naturally does them. Hallelujah and amen. Moving in every single life in the room here tonight and moving around the world. I want to welcome those who are new to the broadcast tonight now, in 81 nations and 566 individual cities around the world and we see some of you. It's been fun for me personally to watch places like Colorado and places like Frankfurt in Germany and watch it grow there over the years.
Speaker 1:And you know again, first and foremost, we need to praise the Holy Spirit, amen, and Jesus and the Father. We need to praise the Lord and be thankful to him and thank you for being a part of this, thank you for sharing it and spreading it and encouraging others to listen as well. And glory to God and amen. As always, get in touch with us. Let us know how we can be a ministry to you. Amen.
Speaker 1:And so tonight we are going to head back to Acts, chapter 16. Amen, and I want you to keep Romans 10, 17 in mind, because we're going to see Acts, chapter 16, open up Romans 10, 17. Tonight, and Romans 10, 17 says this. So, then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so Acts, chapter 16, with that in mind, we'll start in verse 14. And a certain woman and there's that word again over the past month, amen. A certain woman. That means she's a woman past month. Amen, a certain woman. That means she's a woman, hallelujah, amen. That's obvious. But she's also someone God wants to use in your life to show you something. So God wants to use this woman tonight to show you something in 2025.
Speaker 1:And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Now, this is in Acts, chapter 16. This is after, if you heard Sunday's message, this is after Paul received a vision from God and in that vision, the Holy Spirit expressly forbade him. They were forbidden to go into Asia and so, interestingly enough, they didn't go into Asia, but they kind of went south. They went into Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit didn't suffer them to go any further there. He gave Paul the vision in the night. Unquestionably, there's a Macedonian man saying come down here and help us. And so they took off from Asia Minor and they went, and now they're in the city of Philippi, which is in Macedonia. So they're where the Lord wants them to be.
Speaker 1:Now, the first thing that's interesting about this woman, lydia she's where God wants her to be too. Scripture makes it plain she's of Thyatira. If you pull out a map, philippi is about almost 200 miles northwest of Thyatira. She's a long way from her hometown and she's exactly where the Lord wants her to be. Paul is where he should be, and his companions, and then the Holy Spirit pulls her where he wants her to be.
Speaker 1:And I need to reiterate this the Holy Spirit is alive and working, and the Holy Spirit does this today. And this is how evangelism works. Practically speaking, it's all sorts of practical. You've got a living God who wants people to meet him, who wants people to encounter him, who wants people to hear his word, and he desires people to be saved. He's engaged.
Speaker 1:You might say he's invested. He gave everything he had. He's not giving anymore. He gave his blood, he gave his son, he gave his son, he gave his word, and he didn't stop there. From our perspective, that happened generations ago. The cross and the empty tomb. That happened generations ago.
Speaker 1:Now we've got the Holy Spirit, my friend, you're a vessel of the Holy Spirit. If you're born again, you're a vessel of the Holy Spirit. My friend, you're a vessel of the Holy Spirit. If you're born again, you're a vessel of the Holy Ghost. You are someone who God pours into and then you pour out. God pours into you and you pour out to them. God pours into you and you pour out to them. God pours into you and you pour out to them. God pours into. This is how it is. Hallelujah. So you got a living God. Hallelujah, do you act like that? That God is alive and that God is living and that God is in you and that you really are a vessel of the Holy Ghost? In every situation, in every time, in every interaction, in every moment, you are, you just are. God just made you that way. Hallelujah. So it's been well said. You know, birds gonna fly, fish is gonna swim, dogs gonna bark, cats gonna scratch, I mean. I mean, you know, we see it in nature. A born again person is gonna be a born again person. A spirit filled person will be a spirit filled person and a spirit filled person will see God doing this, and 98% of the time you're not even aware of it. And that's the interesting thing about Lydia. You can look at Cornelius. We got multiple chapters on that one.
Speaker 1:We don't have a lot of biography here for this woman. We know that she was of Thyatira. God pulled her to Philippi. We know that she worshipped God. She worshipped God and I'm going to say she worshipped God according to the light that she had, according to the revelation that she knew she worshipped God. There's no indication that she worshipped any of the pagan idols. There's no indication that she wasn't genuine here.
Speaker 1:And we know that they were at a riverbank when this took place. That's interesting as well. Why were they at the riverbank? We don't know particularly. Was there a synagogue? Was there a place where people gathered to pray? Was there a gathering place? We know that this was a Roman colony and it was rough. There may not have been one. And it's interesting that they're all women.
Speaker 1:And so Paul, if he followed what he usually did, he inquired where people worship the God of Israel. This is where he found them. And so he went. And it's interesting, he didn't preach, he spoke to them. He spoke to them. I mean this was sort of a more personal more. He spoke to these women who were there and Lydia heard us.
Speaker 1:Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God. This was more than physical listening and, my friend, god wants this for you tonight, especially if you're lost. God wants this for the church all the time. God wants this for his church all the time. God wants this for his people all the time. God especially wants this if you're not born again, if you're not saved. You need to have an interaction with God. This is more than and I pray and I want that for you tonight I want this to be more than listening to a podcast, because you just kind of physically listen to a podcast and if you notice what goes on, I catch myself and I don't think I'm crazy. At least that guy back there will tell me if I am.
Speaker 1:But you start to judge the podcast, you start to judge the song, you start to judge the TV show or the movie. All of a sudden you're the judge. Do I agree with this? Do I like this? Do I like this movie? Do I agree with what this person is saying? Do I prefer this kind of music? And you kind of start to build and a lot of people in America do this. With the technology we have, you start to build what I call an echo chamber. It's possible if you have the right technology.
Speaker 1:In America, you never have to hear anything you don't want to hear. You never have to see anything. You don't want to see Anything. That runs counter to you and your preferences. Never do that with the Word of God, never do that with the Word of God.
Speaker 1:And that's where this woman is a type and form for you. She heard, and it was more than physical hearing. What do I mean by that? Whose heart? The Lord opened back in verse 14. She wanted to hear the word of God. She legitimately had a heart that was humble. She had a heart that was humble. She had a heart that was hungry. She had a heart that was looking for God and the best she could do. She's with some other women and Scripture doesn't talk about them, but she's praying by the riverside. But she had a humility, she had a genuineness, she had a sort of a faith and it was at work.
Speaker 1:And so what did God do? God pulled Paul and his companions out of Asia. God put them where she was. God made a divine appointment and God made sure that it was kept Because, hallelujah, there's someone who will listen to me, who will listen to me. Hallelujah, there's someone who has a heart that is soft, who has a heart that is responsive, who has a heart that is hungry, who has a heart that I know will hear me, I know will believe me, I know will be born again. I just need to get my man from here to here and he needs to be my vessel, just like I called him to be, and pour out what I give him onto this woman at that moment in time.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, salvation belongs to God. Salvation belongs to God. Do you see it? All Paul had to do, all you have to do? Oh, my friend, don't pretend like salvation belongs to you. Don't pretend like you need to put all this pressure on yourself to say the right thing and talk to the right person. That's not what scripture tells us. You run a terrible risk of making a law to yourself, breaking that law, being disappointed, beating yourself up and letting the devil shut you up forever because you think you failed. Salvation belongs to God. He's the one who made it up. Belongs to God. He's the one who made it up. He's the author and the finisher. He provided the blood. Every day he's looking at people's hearts. Every day he's looking at his church. Every day he's looking for people who will actually be his vessels Christian.
Speaker 1:This takes a great deal of faith. It takes faith, it takes trust that God is really alive, that God's word is God's word and that God is really reaching these people and that God is really using you. That's where the faith comes in on your part. Before we even talk about them, before we even talk about people who are lost, dying and hell-bound and in their sin, we talk about their faith a lot, hallelujah. We talk about your faith first. You're the people right in this room and my brothers and sisters around the world. You are the people right now that the living God himself will personally use, personally, desires to use, to reach the people around this world. You're the light of the world. You're the salt of the earth. Notice how there's no option. God just made you that way and God just finished it. He's the author and the finisher of your faith. We're going to see that in glory. He's the author and the finisher of the faith of the lost, the people who are not yet born again.
Speaker 1:I know I'm in Romans, I'm in Revelation, but this all bears out, and this is a little succinct picture of the whole thing. Someone needs God. God takes his church Okay, they're ready to be born again over there, bam and you just get together Now there's a great deal to be said for preaching the words to people who won't hear it. There's a great need for that. But, my friends, we're talking tonight about someone who will. Are you that person tonight? You see God, whose heart the Lord opened. Paul didn't say any magic words.
Speaker 1:This is like in Cornelius' house, when the Holy Ghost fell on people, while, in this case, paul was speaking, the Lord opened this woman's heart. Her heart had been previously closed. Now the Lord, while Paul was speaking, opened the heart. He opened her heart while Paul was speaking. After everything I just described and all the travel and the geography and everything like that, that was all preparation.
Speaker 1:But now the big moment came and Paul spoke and the Holy Ghost came in and opened a woman's heart. Is that you tonight, my friend? You might fear God. You might, to the best of your ability, put away the idols and stuff like that and try to clean up your life and you fear God. And now God led you to this message About a woman who was in the same situation. She feared God and she worshipped him to the best of her ability. And now God is arranging for you to hear Jesus Christ in this message, to hear the fact that God has been drawing you, that God has been preserving you, and now it's actually time for you to meet him.
Speaker 1:You need Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:God knows that you need Jesus Christ. God knows that you need Jesus Christ. God is arranging this second for you to meet Jesus Christ. He's your Lord, he's your Savior. He's the one who put you together, who formed you. He's the one who not only knows you, he also loves you, and he loves you with a love that covers all of your sin, with a love that went to a Roman cross, with a love that bore the nails and died the death for you. He became your sin and he did this all because he wanted to. He did this all because he's holy. He did this all because this is who he is.
Speaker 1:He did this all and he's speaking to you because he wants you to be with him. He wants you to be saved from his wrath. He wants you to be born again. He wants you to be spirit filled. He wants you to be born again. He wants you to be spirit filled. He wants you to be full of the Holy Spirit. He wants you to live a life that's filled with the Holy Spirit. He wants you to live a life of joy and a life of hope and a life of peace, and he wants you to be a peacemaker. He wants you to be with him. He wants to bear his fruit in you. This is his desire for you, my friend.
Speaker 1:This is why he arranged for you to hear this message. Will you stop right now and call upon the name of Jesus that you will be saved. Yield to him tonight, call upon him tonight. Glory to God. Hallelujah. His heart, the Lord opened and she attended. Oh, my friend, this isn't an academic word, Don't hear that academically.
Speaker 1:She had such a disposition in her heart and when Paul was speaking, she didn't miss a word. She did not miss a word, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. You might say she wanted to, and so she had to. Hallelujah. She did not miss a word of what this man was saying. She listened to the word of God like it's the word of God. She listened to the word of God like it came from the throne room itself and, bless God it did. Paul didn't give Paul. Paul gave Jesus, just like the father gave Jesus. Paul gave the Lord to this woman and she had such a disposition of heart.
Speaker 1:We don't see her arguing. We see that other places in the book of Acts People argued. We don't see her saying you know, go away and come back some more convenient day. We don't see that. We don't see her questioning the way Paul was dressed. We don't see her questioning his tone of voice. We don't see her wondering what denomination he really is. He doesn't sound like a Baptist. I bet he's a closet Pentecostal. We don't see her. Okay, I'm going to put him in my playlist because I kind of sort of like what he's saying. We don't see.
Speaker 1:No, the word of God, the word of God, and God gets all the credit Again. All Paul did was go there and see her and open his mouth. God did the rest. A good old song. I was thinking you know he'll take care of the rest. If you don't know that it's Keith Green, look him up. He'll take care of the rest.
Speaker 1:And that's what God did in this woman's life? You trace back everything. Who gave the blood in the first place? God who called Paul on the mat. God who gave them the vision to go in the mass. God who did Lydia just by her conscience, who gave them the vision to go into Mass. God who did Lydia just by her conscience. Desire and worship God who loves everyone. God who loves her. God, and who got this all together? God, do you see a theme here? If you're lost tonight, god is calling you and God is drawing you and church, god is looking for you to have somewhat of a revival and that revival is to put the weight off your own shoulders and trust who God Obey, who God Love. God Walk after Him. Do you see the theme here? Hallelujah, amen and bless God.
Speaker 1:Here's one of those instances. I wish there were more detail. Amen when she was baptized and her household. This meant she got baptized and I bet they left the riverbank and went back to her house and between her and Paul they evangelized the whole house. Between her and Paul they preached to the whole house. She was wealthy, she was a woman of means, she had a household. There's no mention of a husband. I'd be interested Again. I wish there was more detail. I wish we knew what the other women at the river bank were thinking. Are they in this number? Were they members of her household? We're not sure. But the point is for tonight they went back and they witnessed to the whole household. They preached to the whole household, they spoke to the whole household, the whole household got saved and baptized. And then watch this Spurgeon spoke that after this she became an enthusiastic Christian and when she was baptized in her household she besought us saying look at this, if you've judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.
Speaker 1:She constrained us. This was passionate. She constrained us with passion. She valued Paul's judgment on this whole situation. She valued his judgment, she wanted his judgment. She treated him as a loved, respected, honored man of God. She had, I believe, more than a human thankfulness that this man had been a vessel and that this man had come and that this man had obeyed God and that this man had spoken the word of God to her Faithfully and he had done all those things. And so she wants covering, she wants an authority, she wants an apostle. If you judged me faithful to the Lord, see, she didn't just say come into my house. She said if you've judged me faithful, then come into my house and abide there.
Speaker 1:I'd say she supported the ministry, she helped the ministry with a practical need. And the word abide, that indicates some time passed, see, I bet while the Philippian church was being built by the Holy Ghost. See, paul was not a church planter, but the Holy Ghost was building a church, but the Holy Ghost was building a church. I bet this was the home base for Paul and for his team. It was a destitute region, it was an economically hard region, it was a. And this woman opened her home, opened her food, opened her food, opened her water, opened her resources to the apostle, to the man of God who had come and spoken the word to her. Oh, she became an enthusiastic Christian, my friend. And from here God built a church in Philippi, from the apostle and the men who had gone with him, and from this woman and her precious household. The Lord built a church in Philippi. It was the Lord who did it, it wasn't Paul who did it, it wasn't Lydia who did it, no, it was the Lord who built up that church. And so hallelujah and glory. And so chapter 16 goes on Amen.
Speaker 1:But for tonight I want to have a time of invitation in the house, if our musicians would come forward. My friends, you've heard of a living God. You've heard of a living God who loves you and draws you. You've heard of a living God who speaks to you, and he speaks to you in love, and he speaks to you words that build you up and not tear you down. What he's looking to tear down in your life is the works of the devil. What he's looking to tear down in your life is the work of the devil. That's keeping you heavy, that's keeping you in bondage, that's keeping you silent, that may be keeping you lost tonight, but oh, my friend, if the Lord's opened your heart, I'll say it again Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, trust the Lord Jesus Christ, put yourself on the Lord Jesus Christ, put yourself on the Lord Jesus Christ and let those words come out of you.
Speaker 1:Ask him to save you, ask him to be born again, ask him to be saved, ask him to apply his blood to you and forget all of your sin. Ask you to make everything about you new. Hallelujah and amen, if you speak that out of a faithful heart. He's never yet turned away a single person, and he's not going to start with you. He will not turn away someone who believes him in sincerity and church. My, my, my, what a word this is to you as well, and not only this church, but brothers and sisters in 81 nations around the world, and no matter where you are, the word of God is the word of God, no matter what language you speak.
Speaker 1:The word of God is the word of God, no matter who you are. The Lord, he's the same today, yesterday and forever. And he knows you and he knows that the people right around you, they need Jesus. He knows where he put you, he knows where you are right now, he knows the situation of your church and he wants you to be a willing vessel to pour into you every single day and for it not to stop there. Too often we let it stop there. Too often we just tend to focus on our own needs, we tend to focus on our own situation, we tend to focus, in some cases, on surviving day to day and we forget so many promises of the Lord. When we do that, he pours into you and then His design is for it not to stop there but to keep on pouring. His design is for it not to stop there but to keep on pouring, not to keep on pouring, to keep on pouring, to keep on pouring. And it's a good old illustration.
Speaker 1:I don't know who the first guy who did this was. He said look at the Red Sea, there's one way in and there's no way out, and it's dead. Nothing can really live there. Some cases you don't know how stagnant you are Because God's been pouring in, god's been pouring, god's been pouring. You haven't been pouring out. So God's telling you today trust me and pour out and you watch what I do in them and you watch what I do in them and you watch what I do in you and I guarantee you you won't be the same in 48 hours. If you start pouring out now. You won't be the same tomorrow. You're going to see God move. You're going to be blessed, people around you are going to be blessed.
Speaker 1:So believe the Lord tonight, my friend, and thank you again for being here this evening. Thank you again for those of you who are listening and for those of you who are sharing, for those of you who are liking and commenting and, you know, reposting all of this. Continue to do that. Subscribe to us. That helps us on the social media. Continue to share these, use these Amen, hallelujah, not only for yourself but for others, and reach out to us, get in touch with us, send us mail. Send us email, send us text messages, give us phone calls, and I can't wait to meet you in person.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to see you walk through the doors and be here in person. You need that. It's not God's design for you to just listen to a live stream. There's nothing like being here in person, and I recognize that. Yeah, I've talked to some. It's legitimately hard to find a church in some places. You have one here who wants to meet you. So step out in faith. Understand that I'm not just making this up when I say you're welcome and expected and take that step and walk through these doors. Take that step and join this church. Take that step and be here in person and I'll tell you what the Lord will bless you in it. And so thank you, and may he continue to richly bless us. Amen.