Would you turn with me to the
book of Acts chapter 24. The Apostle Paul has given his defense
before the Roman governor Felix. And Felix has shown some kindness
toward Paul. He did it actually for the wrong
reason. It says in verse 26, he hoped also that money should
have been given him of Paul, that he should lose him. Felix
was a thief, but he was a man in control. He was a governor. But ultimately, the kindness
that Paul was shown was because God had purposed that Paul would
have some liberty to be able to visit with some folks. Now
we find in this passage starting in verse 23. I'm going to look
at verse 23, 24, and the first half of 25. We find Felix, the
governor, and Drusilla, his wife, with an audience with Paul. 23 says, and he commanded, that
is, Felix, a centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty
that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister
or come unto him. And after certain days, when
Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for
Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he
reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." I'm going to stop right there. The Apostle Paul was in prison. He had been in prison now for
a couple of years. And he was there, absolutely,
and you know this, by the providence of God. Almighty God had ordered, you
think, why would God leave a man like Paul in prison? Surely he could have been doing
more good. out and about preaching. See how foolish we are. Why are any of us where we are
in the state that we are in? What we are brought to is to
bow to the good pleasure of God. Paul would say, as David said,
it is good that I have been afflicted. It's good that I'm in this jail.
This is where God put me. Well, I'll tell you this. Felix and Drusilla were given
an indescribable privilege. They were getting ready to hear the gospel of God's grace. Any man, any woman that sits
under the sound of the gospel, that privilege is immeasurable. That privilege right there is
priceless. You take whatever you think would be profitable
for you to be doing at this hour right here. There is nothing in this world
that is more profitable than to be sitting under the sound
of the gospel. This is the greatest privilege
that you will ever have. They were getting ready to hear
the only message that the Spirit of God blesses to the salvation of God's elect. This is the only
message that gives any comfort whatsoever to fallen but regenerated
creatures. This is the only comfort they
have. Everything else passes away. Everything else fades into
nothingness. Everything else is temporal.
This is life. This is bread. This is drink. This is food Christ. You know what's wonderful? Is
that He's real. He's real. Someone might say,
well, sure, He's real. Let me tell you, when the Spirit
of God teaches you that, Paul said, this is not a cleverly
devised fable. This is real. I've said before, He's here this
evening. He thought it honorable to be
here tonight. He thought it honorable. And
how thankful we are to be in His presence. Two or three have
gathered, I'm convinced of this, in His presence. This message that Felix and Drusilla
was about to hear, was one that sent not to those that are worthy
in themselves, but to the unworthy. I've heard someone say, and rightly
so, the righteous see themselves as vile and in need of hearing
this message again. The vile see themselves as righteous. and really see no need in it.
You that see yourself in need of hearing. I'm going to take
Paul's outline. What I'm going to do is I'm going
to preach the message that Paul preached. I'm going to use his
outline. This makes it very, very settling in my mind. This is what he did. Felix and
Drusilla came. Felix was a man, the Scripture
says, verse 22, that had more perfect knowledge of that way.
He knew some things. He had heard some things about
the Gospel before. There had been some that the
Lord had raised up and had caused to cross the path Felix, he heard
of it, he knew of it. Drusilla, history tells us, according
to the writings of Josephus, Josephus was a historian, a Jewish
historian. And according to Josephus, Drusilla,
she was married to another man and just left him to marry Felix. Just left him and took up with
this woman. She was the daughter of Herod
Agrippa, the one eaten by worms. Everybody started praising him
and saying, oh, that's not the voice of a man. That's the voice
of a god. God killed him. Worms ate him up. That was her
daddy who did that. Why Felix wanted to hear Paul? Felix wasn't a believer. Why
he wanted to hear him? I don't know. Maybe he wanted
to amuse himself. Maybe he wanted to prove to the people how cunning
he was, how wise he was. I've got this guy exactly where
I want him. I've got my thumb on this fellow right here. I
can do anything I want to with you, Paul. You're mine. Maybe Drusilla decided to come
that day. Maybe she wanted to hear the
man that was preaching to God that had slain her daddy. Maybe she wanted to sue their
own conscience. I don't know. I don't know why.
But I will tell you this. Based upon the Scriptures, neither
Felix nor Drusilla were ever called out of darkness. Next
week, Lord willing, I'm going to pick up there where it says
Felix trembled. Pick up at that point. But suffice
it to say, it's not recorded Felix or Drusilla, wherever,
converted. And write this down. Heaven and
earth are going to pass away. God's going to burn up this,
what we're looking at. We looked at that last week.
But I'll tell you one thing that will never pass away. The Word
of God. And you write this down. They
still remember this message today. They still remember. Paul preached. They wanted to
hear, the Scripture says, concerning the faith in Christ. Who is He? Jesus of Nazareth, God. God in
the flesh. What did He do? He came into
this world. The messenger, the angel of the
covenant, God's Lamb, He came into this world. the Savior of
His people, the everlastingly loved, the elect, the chosen,
those that God Almighty had set His affection on. In Him, in
Christ, He came into this world and as a man, He obeyed God perfectly. The man, Christ Jesus, made Himself
under the law, born of woman, made of woman, made under the
law, subject to the demands of the law, and fulfilled every
jot and tittle of the law, obeyed it perfectly. I was thinking about this the
other day. Growing up, it's not a lot from
his birth until he was 12 years old. There's nothing recorded. First mentioned after his birth
is 12 years old when he was in there reasoning with the doctors. But you think about this. I think
about my kids when they were growing up. I could I could use myself real
easily, but I'll think about my kids growing up. And how? as they grew up and how depravity
became very evident in them. Liars. Every one of us liars. Just selfish. Don't share nothing. Just, you know, depraved kids. Take them and spank them. Teach
them. Tell them. You children, listen
to me. Nobody wants to be around disobedient
children. Other children and other adults,
they don't want to be around them. Unruly children, you don't
want to be around them. You find out somebody is coming
over your house, the kid is unruly, you think, oh, I wish they'd leave their kids
home. I was thinking about Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming
up. Never. Whatever was recorded
or not recorded of Him, here's what I know. At no point, at
no time, in word, thought, or deed, at no point did He ever
sin against God. As a child, grew in wisdom and
stature and in wisdom and in favor with God and men. Faith in Christ. Who is He? Where
is He now? I'll tell you where He is. He
is exalted in the heavens, sitting at the right hand of the great
and mighty Jehovah, ever living as our great High Priest to make
intercession Well, Paul, come preach to us. That's what Felix and Drusilla
said. And the Scripture says that he had three points. Here
was the first one. He reasoned of righteousness.
This was the first thing. First point. Paul told this couple
what God requires, and that's holiness. What does God Almighty
require in a man to stand before Him, accepted by God, what is
the best you can do? Righteousness. Holiness. Now let me tell you what Paul
told them. He said, let me just inform you that man in his best
state, is altogether vanity. There is none righteous. No,
not one. Born in Adam, there is none good. None. He was honest with them. And you have no ability to produce
it. There is nothing that you can
do to produce or maintain a righteousness before God. He preached Christ. He preached
faith in Christ. It's what he said. Christ, God,
Man. One. The Lord Jesus Christ. He came into this world and established
the righteousness that God accepts. Absolute obedience. And that righteousness, Paul
said, is imputed, it's charged to all that God Almighty. Who does God Almighty impute
the righteousness of Christ to? How do you know the ones that
He imputes righteousness to? It's believers. How do you know
that God has imputed righteousness to you? Well, let me ask you
this. Do you believe that Almighty
God demands righteousness? Do you believe that you cannot
produce what God demands? Do you believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world and that He alone has established
a righteousness before God that God gives to those, imputes to,
charges to those that God has chosen unto salvation. Do you
believe that? God has imputed righteousness
to you. He has imputed righteousness to those that believe. Not that
their belief, dear friend, is the reason that God imputes righteousness. Oh no. You believe that God has
imputed righteousness to you. Belief is the effect of life,
not the reason for it. Nobody is saved because they
believe. God gives life, and then you
believe. And your belief, your faith,
it's the evidence Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
It's the evidence of things not seen. Do you see the righteousness
of God? Do you see it? I can see the
effects of it. Faith is the evidence of things.
Paul preached, reasoned with them of righteousness. He told them the only fit righteousness
that God accepts is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
he established, first of all, the standard by which God is
going to accept a man. We're accepted in the Beloved.
Not accepted on our own word. Not accepted on our self-righteous.
We're accepted in Christ. Here was his second point. He
reasoned of temperance. Actually, the word means self-control. But I'll tell you the very heart,
the heart of this word, it's actually continence, and this
is it, sexual self-control. That's the very heart of it.
Here was Felix and Drusilla, and they were very dishonorable
in their marriage. And Paul stood there. They wanted
to hear. They said, won't you come preach
to us, Paul? Let's hear what you've got to say, Paul. Okay. I'll tell you. This is the message. He preached of righteousness
and temperance, self-control. Life imparted to a regenerated
sinner manifests itself. a desire, there's a nature, there's
life that causes, guides, that directs a man to long after honor. Honor. I want you to turn with me to
Mark 8. Mark 8. You listen to these words
now. You talk about some weighty words.
I've read these words over and over and over. And let me tell
you something. There's no way in the world,
there's no way in the world that you can get around. These words
mean just exactly what they say. When He had called the people,
I'm sorry, of Mark 8, verse 34. When He had called the people
unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever
will come after Me. Alright, now let me ask you this. Do you long to follow after Christ?
Here's the question. Do you long to follow after Christ?
Whosoever will come after Me. Let him deny himself. Let him deny himself. First of
all, deny that I have the ability to reconcile myself back to God,
that I have the ability to please God. This is what he's saying. You say no to yourself. Whosoever
will come after me, let him deny himself. I tell you this, a believer
will deny himself before he'll deny Christ. He'll say no to
salvation. Deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. Let me tell you what the cross
is right there. The cross here is whatever Satan,
sin, self, whatever, tempts you to do. in disobedience before
God. Now, I'm not talking about the
establishment of a righteousness. I'm not talking about an establishment
of righteousness. God's people are righteous. But
I will tell you this, there is within every one of us an old
man. Now, you know that. And that old man that is never
reformed, that old man is never changed. What's flesh is flesh.
You know that. What is born of the flesh is
flesh. It's not changed. Paul said it's
a body of death. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Now, don't try to kid yourself
in thinking there's absolutely no possibility that I would ever
do anything that would be disrespectful before God. You that believe,
don't ever tell yourself there is no possibility because I'm
a believer, because I'm born in Christ, because I'm born again. Therefore, there's no possibility
I'll tell you this The passions of this old man are continually,
because of the body of death, flamed to try to get me to war
against me, warring against the law of my mind, ever trying to bring me down
in subjection to rebellion before God. Don't ever think that you
cannot fall. Paul says in Romans 6, 19, For
as ye have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanness and
to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members, servants,
to righteousness unto holiness. He preached of temperance, self-control. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians
9.27. 1 Corinthians 9.27. Here's a passage
of Scripture that I've read many times. And if I be correct, and I believe
I am, Paul says, But I keep under my body, and bring it unto subjection,
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway. Now that word castaway there
is actually reprobate. Now, Paul the Apostle, Now this
is all concerning self-control. The warring within. The fighting
within. You go every day. Don't tell
me that you don't go every day. You're at work. You're at school.
You're here. You're there. Don't tell me every
day that you don't war every day. That there's not a fighting
every day to maintain honor. There's a war going on. And I
know it's going on because it goes on in me. And the Scripture
bears this out. These two natures strive one
against the other. They are not in agreement. There's
a new nature that loves God and longs and serves God and doesn't
sin. And there's an old nature that
doesn't do anything but that. And they're contrary. Now, Paul
the Apostle, was a man that the Scriptures bears out, was a chosen
vessel of God. He was a man that the Scripture
reveals God had set apart to preach to Jew and Gentiles. Paul
the Apostle says, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day." Paul was assured of God's grace to him, God's mercy
to him, God keeping him. God would keep him. Well, what
was Paul talking about when he said, I keep unto my body and
bring it unto subjection lest it By any means, when I preach
to others, I myself should be a castaway. I'll tell you exactly
what it is, and I'm going to make good on this statement with
another Scripture. Paul, knowing that the tendency
is there, the old man is there, the tendency is there, that wars
against the new man that causes him or would strive to cause
the new man to fail and stumble. and be a reproach before others. Paul was careful. He said, I
keep under my body and I bring it to subjection. The cross that
he would bear, the burden that he was bearing here, he's talking
about, if any man will follow me, let him take up his cross. Deny himself. There's things
that come up every day and I'm telling you, you're going to
have to say no. No. No. No. That's not right. Paul was
fearful about being a reproach or a reprobate in the eyes of
men and them looking at him and saying, I knew there was nothing
to that. He called himself a preacher. You ain't no different than anybody
else, man of God. Who do you think you're kidding,
Paul? I keep my body under subjection. Let me ask you this. Do you think
that Paul would have said, lest I should be cast away out of
the sight and the grace of God, if he would have said, but I
keep my body I keep under my body and bring it in subjection.
Less that after I preach to others that I should find myself to
be a castaway, do you mean to tell me that Paul would be able
to keep his body under subjection to keep him from being cast out?
If he wasn't cast out, then what that would have been is, he said,
the reason I wasn't cast out because I kept my body under
subjection. I kept myself. And that's not
what he's saying. I keep my body under subjection,
lest that after I've preached to others, I should be a reproach
and appear to be a reprobate in the eyes of others and cause
others to say, there ain't nothing to that gospel. There's nothing to it. You that
believe, you absolutely despise the thought of bringing reproach
to the God that you serve. I'm going to make good on what
I just said. I pray I can. 2 Samuel 12. 2 Samuel 12. I'll tell you one
thing. If there was ever a good reason,
if Paul would have been saying, I keep my body under subjection
lest that after I preach to others I'd fall into sin, I'd fall into
sin. I'd keep my body under subjection,
lest that after I preached to others, I should find myself
unfaithful and God cast me out. I'll tell you what, if that's
the case, then David would be gone. David would be gone. King David. Why? Because he didn't
keep his body in subjection. I'll tell you that. He fell into
sin with Bathsheba." 2 Samuel 12, 7. Nathan the prophet had been sent.
He sent to David and told David a story about a little lamb that
a man had. This rich man had a bunch of
lambs. A friend of the rich man came
into town. The rich man took the poor man's
one lamb. He took his lamb. David said, You tell me who that
guy is and so help me, I will take him out. Paraphrasing. And Nathan in 2
Samuel 12, 7 said unto David, Thou art the man. Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. I gave thee thy master's
house, thy master's wives into thy bosom, gave thee the house
of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little,
I would moreover have given unto thee much of such things." And
the Scripture says in verse 14, how be it? Because by this deed,
and here's what Paul, here is the reason that Paul says, I
keep Keep my body under subjection. Striving, striving, striving. This temperance that Paul was
preaching to Drusilla and Felix about. Honor. It's a battle. It's a battle. It's a war. How be it because
by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die. David was not cast out because
he fell into rebellion. If that was the case, I'm going
to tell you something. There wouldn't be a believer sitting
here tonight that had any hope. That's not the case. Paul said,
I keep my body under subjection, striving, warring, fighting,
lest that after I've preached to others, I should cause the
enemies of God to blaspheme and say, you're no different. You guys are no different than
anybody else. There's no difference in you. The very thought of being
disrespectful before Him grieves a believer. I don't want to be
disrespectful. He preached of righteousness.
He preached of temperance, meaning God gives a heart that this old
nature wars against and strives against and wants to bring down. There's a battle. We're not robots. God Almighty has given a believer
a heart that longs to be honorable before God. And here's the third
point. He reasoned of judgment to come. God demands holiness and Christ
is the only holiness, the accepted Savior. He's our sanctification. God gives a regenerated man a
heart that believes and follows after Christ. Have you stumbled since you believed? You better answer yes if you're
going to be honest. Is it a big deal to you? Yeah,
it's a big deal. It's a big deal. To think that
I would bring dishonor to Him who has everlastingly loved me,
this is what makes the grace of God such a wonderful, wonderful
message. He said, I will, those that come
to Me, I will in no wise I'll never, I'll never, I'll
never cast you out. A man that's come to Christ,
can he ever be lost? No. No. But can he bring reproach
to the name of Christ? Yes. Yes, he can. Yes, he can. Paul said, I keep my body under
subjection. God gives a regenerated man a
heart that follows after Him. Paul said to Felix and Drusilla,
all that have not, that righteousness that is given
by God, the righteousness of Christ, evidenced by temperance. It's an evidence. Temperance
is an evidence. A man, Carl, that just acts like
it's no big deal, there's something wrong. There's something wrong. A man that acts with just disrespect. Disrespect before God and disrespect
for men. Something's wrong. God's people are temperate. with disrespect, just unchecked. No grieving, no remorse. Something's wrong. I'm just telling
you something's wrong. If it be not there, there's one
thing that's left. Judgment. All that kiss not the
sun. All that will not have this man
to rule over them. Suffer. the eternal wrath and
judgment of Almighty God. In that day, every man is going
to think or say, what think ye of Christ? Paul preached what
every God-called preacher preaches. Righteousness. God demands righteousness. Secondly, men are made new. There's evidence of a new man. There's evidence of a new heart. Old things are passed away. A
man born of God doesn't walk like he did before he knew God.
He doesn't walk that way. He follows after holiness. That's
scriptural. But without that, Judgment. Wrath. Let me ask you this. What think
ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Is He your only hope? Is He God's salvation to you? Do you long to walk after Him
in honor? to establish a righteousness. You know I don't mean that. I'm
not talking about walking to establish a righteousness. I'm talking about the evidence
of an established righteousness. I don't want to be honorable
before my wife in order to try to make Myself, anything other
to her than honorable. I'm not going to try to be honorable
in front of her and dishonorable behind her back. I don't want
to. Why? Because I love her. Because I
love her. I do what I do because I love
her. I don't want to bring reproach
to her. I don't want to embarrass her. I don't want to. I don't
want to. Why? Because I have a heart for
her. Don't you understand that? Righteousness, temperance, judgment. That was his message. May God
Almighty bless this message to our hearts for Christ's sake.
Amen. Gary, would you listen?