Good people need Jesus / Bad people need Jesus

Acts 16:13-19

Who needs Jesus? Today we are going to drive home one singular point: People need Jesus.  When you get right down to the truth of it, all of us have weakness, cracks in the armor, blemishes and faults.  Jesus is the only hope of Eternal Life.  Without Jesus, every man and every woman is lost.  This is the tale of two very different hearts.  It is the tale of two women.  One was upper class, the other lower class.  One was a wealthy merchant, the other a filthy slave.  One was a worshiper of God, the other a pawn of a demon.  Yet we’ll discover that the Good News is for people of every class, stripe and creed. 

Good People Need Jesus 13-15

Lydia was a woman of Prayer 13

13 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. 

Philippi did not have even 10 Jewish males to create a Synagogue.

Without a Synagogue women met down by the river to pray on the Sabbath.

Lydia was outstanding woman 14

14  Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God.

She was an outstanding businesswoman from Thyatira – she sold purple cloth

She was probably a widow 

Only very wealthy citizens wore purple

Lydia was the outlet for this trade in Philippi

Lydia was a worshipping woman 14

Why would Paul evangelize a woman who worshiped God? 

'You must be born again.'  

Lydia had her heart opened to the things of the Lord

14 The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15  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." So she persuaded us.

She was baptized.  Baptism is a public statement of faith

Her household followed her example and trusted Christ

She invested her life in the work of the Kingdom.

When the Lord opens your heart, he also opens your house

Bad People Need Jesus 16-19

16  Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

She was an unnamed slave girl

She was demonized and sinful

Possessed - ἔχω means controlled and dominated

Divination - “Pytho” the serpent oracle at Delphi

A Pythoness gave involuntary predictive utterances

She was exploited

Her owners got rich off of her sad condition

They wanted to keep her demonized

She was annoying 17-18

17  This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." 18  And this she did for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed,

To allow unwanted PR was to associate him with the occult.

To confront her meant bringing down the wrath of her owners.

She needed Jesus

18 turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.

Paul commanded the demon to leave in Jesus name.

Demons are only subject to Jesus the King of Kings

Those mired deep in sin can hardly believe that Jesus wants them

The evil in people makes us call them “unredeemable.”

It is not the goodness of man that can save him or badness of man that makes us unsavable, it is only the grace of God and the power of the Savior that can save us.  Mankind was born with one sad destiny, plain and simple.  It doesn’t matter how bland or bad your sin is.  What matters is if you as a sinner are born again; if you are repentant, if you have put your faith and hope in Jesus Christ.  Good people need Jesus.  Bad people need Jesus.