Purple Cloth

Acts 15:36-16:15

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. – Acts 15:36-41

 

When we think of Paul, we usually think of him as the evangelist, missionary and church planter. But he did more than those types of things. He also did things to show care for the believers. As a matter of fact, caring for the believers was the first part of his second missionary journey. They eventually went beyond those regions in order to share the gospel in new places.

 

Why would they go back to see how the disciples were doing? First, because Paul was close to Jesus, he gained a desire for the things that Jesus desired. Paul told the Philippians, “For God is my witness how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:8). Second, he was obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commanded them to “make disciples” (verse 19). He described what making disciples meant when He said,

 

 …baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you… – Matthew 28:19-20

 

If they hadn’t been baptized already, then they needed to be. Paul and his team needed to teach them to obey what Jesus had commanded them as well. Whatever Paul and his team didn’t have time to do on the first trip they could do on the second. Third, multiplication was key in fulfilling God’s desire to see the whole world hear the gospel. In II Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy,

 

The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – II Timothy 2:2, NASB 1995

 

As you read through Acts and the rest of the New Testament, you will see the apostles and other church leaders doing varying activities at different seasons. In other words, Paul wasn’t always sharing the gospel every day. He was building up the believers and training them to do the work. From around 2018 to 2021, I was spending most of my time on campus sharing the gospel. But, as we started connecting with people who wanted to be trained and wanted to be in fellowship, more of my time is being spent training them to do the work. I’m still sharing the gospel quite a bit, but I’m training a lot more. Now that these disciples are sharing the gospel with family, friends, and roommates, they’re starting groups of their own. I disciple others in order to fulfill the goal of reaching the whole campus, not as something to do in addition to reaching the whole campus. Paul was doing the same thing.

 

Fourth, Paul was establishing churches and leaders of those churches. In Acts 14, it says that during their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. They were preaching the gospel. Luke then says in verse 21 that they went back to Lystra and Iconium. Some maps of that first journey don’t show them going back to those places. But they did. According to Acts 14:23, why did they go back? They appointed elders (or pastors) in all the churches in those towns. The churches were already in existence because of the work Paul and Barnabas did as they passed through the first time. Jesus taught about the church as well as the importance of godly, servant-leaders. That brings me to my next point.

 

Fifth, they were following what Jesus demonstrated. Jesus said to His disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). He invested His life in His disciples. He shared His life with them, not just information about God. Paul told the Thessalonians,

 

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. – I Thessalonians 2:8

 

I’ve tried to gather people to help with the outreach to the students. I'm not interested in gathering people who want to just give information about God, the gospel, or apologetics. I'm interested in gathering people who will give themselves. Jesus didn't just give information, and Paul didn't just give information. They both gave themselves.

 

Sixth, Paul wanted to help them have a more thorough understanding of the gospel. The letter to the Galatians was the first letter written in the New Testament. In that letter, Paul is clearing up confusion about salvation. A false gospel was being circulated in the region of Galatia. Paul said,

 

As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! – Galatians 1:9

 

I’m sure there are other reasons why Paul wanted to go back to the brothers to see how they were doing, but I wanted to highlight a handful of reasons.

 

In Acts 15, we read that Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement about taking John Mark. Apparently, John Mark had deserted them on a previous trip. Who was right: Paul or Barnabas? Those who say that mission is of the utmost importance would say that Paul was right. Those who say that the restoration of a disciple is of the utmost importance would say that Barnabas was right. Some would say that Barnabas should have submitted to Paul’s apostleship by not taking John Mark along. It’s possible that Paul was right, but we have to remember that he was human just like the rest of us. Maybe he acted too harshly out of frustration or out of a feeling of being hurt. No leader in the history of the church has ever been perfect.

 

He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. – Acts 16:1-5

 

It’s possible that Paul met Timothy’s mother and grandmother during his first trip. In I Timothy 1:2, Paul calls Timothy his “true son in the faith.” So either he led Timothy to Christ directly, or he led his mom and/or grandmother to Christ and they, in turn, led Timothy to Christ. In II Timothy 1:5,

 

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. – II Timothy 1:5

 

Either way, Paul had something to do with Timothy being a child of God. I’ve been able to lead people to Christ and disciple them. These people led others to Christ and discipled them as well. I began to wonder if we could see something like this happen within a year, not just years. This is one reason that I train people the way I do, with consistency and clarity.

 

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. – Acts 16:6-10

 

 God had closed the door to Asia. We have the advantage of reading the story from the future. They didn’t have this privilege. We can see how God was going to work in this situation. It would be nice if we could do this in our own lives when we hit a wall. We lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, for four years. I was leading a church that met on the campus of UNC-Wilmington. For a variety of reasons, I began wondering at year three if we were supposed to be there anymore. At first, I experienced the feeling of failure. But God helped me to eventually be at peace. I was able to get my worth out of my identity in Christ rather than ministry success. It’s one thing to share the gospel and serve the church in your extra time. I had invested so much of myself every day in a mission. I gave God everything I had: my time, my energy, my money, and my career. I didn’t just give up some spare time outside of my job and family responsibilities. I laid it all on the line.

 

Paul and his companions laid it all on the line as well. They didn’t hold anything back. They left it all behind and left it in the hands of God. They were human just like us. I’m sure they had doubts and questions. Rarely does anyone enjoy being at the front end of a change of direction. But they’ll find out shortly why God re-directed their path. If their faith were weak, then they would have given up. I appreciate people who have courage. I find a special camaraderie with those who are willing to take a risk for Christ. I love the body of Christ, but my close friends have been those who are willing to lay it on the line. These are my co-laborers. Not everyone in Paul’s life was a Silas, or a Barnabas, or a Timothy, or a Luke. He told the Philippian church about Timothy,

 

I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 2:20-21

 

I feel like I’m a real part of a community when we’re on the frontlines together. What happened between Paul, Barnabas and John Mark had to do with this same sense of community that Paul had. Whether or not Paul was right, he felt that John Mark was playing a different game than what he was playing.

 

Paul and his team dealt with numerous setbacks and discouragements. In one instance Paul had an illness while he was in Galatia. There were certain people who took care of him. In the process, these people came to Christ. Paul says to the Galatian church,

 

As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself. – Galatians 4:13-14

 

In 2001, I was at a leadership training project in Orlando, Florida, along with our other churches. My aunt had a heart attack and went into a coma. I left the project early to be with her and my family. The doctors weren’t sure if she would survive. While I was there, my uncle and his granddaughter, my cousin, were visiting from California. I shared the gospel with her, and she came to Christ. It was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to her. Now we’ll find out why God redirected their path.

 

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

 

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. – Acts 16:11-15

 

As I studied this, there were several things that stood out to me. First, they went to a place, and on a day, where and when they could find someone who was open to the gospel. It’s possible that there were not enough committed Jewish men in that area to have a synagogue. There needed to be at least 10 men in order to start a synagogue. So they went to a place where they thought Jewish people would be on the Sabbath: A river. Whether or not they really knew God, these people did have experience with the one true God. When I share the gospel, I’m not just trying to give information about the gospel. I’m finding who is a green-light type of person like Lydia. This would be someone who is open to learning more about the gospel and Jesus.  If they’re willing to meet back within a couple of days with me to start reading the Bible and they are reading the Bible themselves, then they are more than likely a green-light type of person. As I’m laboring in the gospel, I’m not just handing them something and then not being involved with them anymore. I’m completely for getting the gospel out to large numbers of people, but one of my main goals is to interact with them and find out who wants to know more. That was Jesus’ pattern.

 

In Luke 19, Jesus was passing through Jericho. We don’t read about the mass amount of people who heard, although I’m guessing He did share with numerous people. We don’t know exactly what happened. What do we read about? He stopped and talked with a person who was open, a green-light person, if you want to use such a term. I’ll give you a hint who he was: He was short, he climbed up a tree, and I’m not talking about an arborist. Immediately, Jesus aimed to be involved with Zaccheus and his family. He said, “I must stay at your house” (Luke 19:5). Later, we read that Zaccheus’s family had found salvation. In Matthew 8, Jesus was in Peter’s home. In Matthew 9, He was in Matthew’s home talking with “tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 9:10, 11). Who do you think Matthew hung out with? It probably wasn’t most of the Jewish population because they hated tax collectors. He was a Jew, working for the Romans, collecting money from Jews. It dawned on me this week that he probably hung out with tax collectors. I imagine that the guests in the home were invited by Matthew. In this situation, Jesus could talk more personally with those who wanted to know more. In Luke 5, we see how Jesus defined those who were “sinners.” This is the same story as Matthew 9. It says,

 

And Jesus answered and said to them [the Pharisees], “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” – Luke 5:31-32 [emphasis added]

 

The “righteous” were the Pharisees. Jesus wasn’t saying that they were righteous in God’s eyes. He was saying that they thought of themselves as “righteous” in God’s eyes. But they weren’t. If a doctor is offering a pill to cure someone of their disease, who would accept the pill along with whatever instructions the doctor gave? It would be the one who realizes that they are sick. They’re in need of a cure. The Pharisees were in denial. They didn’t think they were sick; therefore, they rejected any cure that Jesus was offering. They were a red-light type of person. The “sinners,” on the other hand, understood how sick they were and how desperately they needed a cure. Many would be a green-light, or maybe a yellow-light, type of person. It doesn’t mean that a red-light person will always be red or a yellow-light will always be yellow. But Jesus did invest Himself with those who were open. In Matthew 10, as Jesus sent His disciples on a mission, do you remember what He told His disciples to search for? It was the main part of their mission. He said,

 

Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. – Matthew 10:11 [emphasis added]

 

Their goal in mission, in evangelism, was to search for the open person and to be involved with them. So how does Jesus define this “worthy person”? Later on, Jesus gives the definition when He says,

 

As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. – Matthew 10:12-14

 

Jesus also said,

 

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me. – Matthew 10:37-40

 

This is the green-light person: the person who responds with peace; who listens to your words; the one who loves Jesus above all else and anyone else; the one who takes up their cross and follows Jesus; the one who loses his life for the sake of Christ; and the one who not only receives the message, but also receives the messenger. I think Lydia fits the definition of a “worthy person.” She was peaceful. God had opened her heart to respond. In Acts 16:14, it says that she was “listening.” She was in a culture of idols. She risked being mistreated for believing in one, true God, nevertheless Jesus Christ, who claimed to be “the way, the truth and the life…” (John 14:6). It appears that Lydia was probably willing to take her cross, to follow Jesus and to lose her life for the sake of Christ. She laid it all on the line. She also welcomed not only the message but the messengers. She urged them to come into her house to stay. Paul and his companions were doing exactly what Jesus said. They searched for the open person. They didn’t just give information about the gospel and then leave. They were following Jesus’ pattern and His command.

 

When I’m with our team doing outreach, one of my main goals is to find the “worthy person.” I will find that person who is open. I will talk to strangers and knock on doors if I have to. I will find the person of peace with the same intensity as my daughter, Sarah, looks for chocolate. I know as humans, even those who are open will have ups and downs. They’re usually not open to taking up their cross and following Jesus right away. Over a short period of time, I not only clarify the gospel with them, but I also help them understand what it means to follow Christ. They don’t have to understand everything that’s in all the gospels. They will understand more as time passes. But I will go through a certain set of stories so that they’ll understand enough about who God is and what it means to believe and repent. Because I am invested in them, we will have more time later to read more of the scripture.

 

God had opened Lydia’s heart. In Romans 3, it says that “no one … seeks … God” (Romans 3:11). God was doing the seeking. God sought after us in the same way. If someone is open to God’s truth, then He’ll find a way to get the gospel to that person. The same thing happened to Paul, the Ethiopian eunuch, and with Cornelius. He’s still seeking people today.

 

During these days in Acts 16, the color purple was worn by those with prestige or royalty. Thyatira was a place that was known for its purple dye production. Lydia would have been one of many people involved in this trade. But there’s a difference between the one who makes cloth with purple dye and the one wearing it. One process reserved for the finer clothes was made from sea snails. The other process reserved for common clothes was made with the root of a plant. In order to extract the dye from the snail, the shell had to be broken. In talking about the Messiah, Isaiah prophecies,

 

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5

 

Jesus was crushed so that Lydia could wear the color of royalty, the color purple. She was now a child of the King. She once labored to make purple cloth, but now she was wearing it.