First of all, I'd like to say
thank you to this congregation for your kindness and generosity
to me, to my wife, as you recently have expressed to us such a show
of your kindness and concern. I'm doing really well. For that,
I'm thankful. I love and appreciate your pastor
and his wife. I've known him and her a long
time. He's been a faithful, faithful
servant. He's been my friend. I love him. Brother Don Fortner
and his wife Shelby, I've known them a long time. I guess I've
known a lot of people a long time. But Brother Don's been
a dear friend to me and helped me. He's a pastor that I can
pick up the telephone and call him. I don't mind calling him
on his cell phone. I don't care where he is. If
I need him, I'll call him and he'll answer. And I appreciate
him. Thank you. for having us this
weekend. I pray the Lord bless these services. I heard Pastor Henry Mahan say
one time, he said, I'm here, got a set of notes, got a Bible,
but if God doesn't bless these services, it's just words, true
words. Good words. Faithful words. But unless God blesses them,
they just are not heard. Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Acts, chapter 24. Acts 24. The Apostle Paul is in jail. He's in jail, not as a prisoner of a Roman
government. He's in jail as the servant of
Jesus Christ. That's what he said. First verse,
Romans. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle. That's what God's people are.
They're servants. And Paul is here to preach. And he's got an opportunity to
preach by the determined counsel of Almighty God before a governor,
Felix and his wife, Drusilla. In Acts 24, In verse 25, we'll look at 25,
26, and 27 for just a few minutes. And the Scripture sets forth
that Paul preached before Felix and Drusilla. The Scripture says, verse 25,
he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. This was his message. He had
three points in his message. Here was the first point. He reasoned. He discussed thoroughly. He set forth righteousness. That is, that righteousness that
is of God. The righteousness of God is the
absolute only righteousness that is accepted by God. Not the best I can do, not the
best you can do. The righteousness of God. The
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness. We talk about that. We talk about
how men are doing all that they possibly can do. But righteousness that Almighty
God would look upon and say, this is my beloved son, well
pleased. He reasoned of temperance. self-control. Now, Felix is sitting there with
a wife that has, and Felix too, lived a life that's less than
exemplary. She left her husband, sort of
married Felix and Here they are listening to Paul
speak of temperance. That is, that a man that Almighty
God has called out of darkness is going to walk before God concerned. A believer doesn't walk. as man by nature walks. And all
of us here could start talking about how things used to be and
this, that, and the other. A believer is concerned. He walks before the Lord with
a concern for His honor. Scripture sets forth that they
walk honestly. They walk by faith. Walk in the Spirit. They believe
God. It matters. Does it matter to you how you
walk it? Don, it matters to you what men
think of you as a preacher of the gospel of God's free grace.
That Don Fortner, that Clay Curtis right there. I expect more out of them. They
expect more temperance. Any reason of judgment to come,
But a day was approaching in which all the books were going
to be opened. And the book. All men were judged out of the
books. And all that were found not written in the book. The book of life. The book of
Christ. All that were found to be not
written in the Lamb's book of life. We're cast into the lake
of fires and there's a judgment coming. Paul preached before
Felix and Drusilla. He preached that the righteousness
of Christ was the only righteousness accepted by God. He preached,
secondly, that those to whom this righteousness is imputed,
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, in newness of life. They walk
after Christ. They hunger after Christ. They
seek after Christ. Sinners? Sinners. They are more aware of it than
anybody else. And they grieve over what they
are. You know the most consistent
thing I've ever heard of about a regenerated saint of God is
that he realizes how inconsistent he really is. That's consistent. When he realizes how inconsistent
he is. And thirdly, that all men are
going to be judged according to him who is the righteousness
of his people. Well, as Paul reasoned before
Felix and Drusilla concerning these three things. Something happened. The scripture
sets forth that Felix trembled. He listened to what the Apostle
Paul was saying and he trembled. Man is without excuse before God. I'm going to tell you this, those
trees right out there, that sky up there leaves a man without
excuse. You don't have an excuse. You
have no excuse whatsoever to deny the Godhead. You have no excuse whatsoever
to refuse to bow to the Lordship of Christ. Man is without excuse. By the grace of God, we'll hear
the Gospel of God's grace. We'll set forth what we are by
nature, who God Almighty is, who Christ is, what He's done,
where He is now. We'll hear this. in the next
couple of days. And I'm going to tell you something.
We're all without excuse. You refuse to hear what He has
to say, you are without excuse. Why will a man not come to Christ? He's without excuse. Felix heard. Drusilla heard. I doubt not that they remember
right now that day Paul preached to them. Can you imagine remembering
the last time? It may have been the last time.
Can you imagine a man or a woman leaving this world and remembering
the last time they heard the gospel? I pray, and I mean this, I pray
that the Lord have mercy and save, call out in this meeting
some that He's everlastingly loved, known, known in Christ,
chosen in Christ. I pray God saves sinners. There was a man that heard the
gospel. Felix trembled. Paul couldn't have said anything
to these two or whoever, how many was there? There was nothing
that he could have said that was more important. I'm standing
here this evening just thinking to myself, what we're talking about, what
we're saying, what we're considering, There's nothing that's more important.
I got a call, or we called, while
I was coming up this afternoon. And someone in our family had
recently gone in, my brother-in-law's, recently had gone in for some
testing and found out that he had cancer. and got the results
back today and it was in the lymph nodes. I just took a deep
breath and I thought, you know, what's more important than what
we're talking about right here? Was it Hezekiah, Don, that the
Lord gave 15 more years to? The Lord told him he's going
to die. He turned his face to the wall.
The Lord told the prophet, He said, tell him I'll give him
15 more years. Those 15 years have been gone so long. What 15 more years? What 25 more
years? What 30 more years? If Almighty
God leaves a man, leaves a woman to themselves, He trembled. He trembled, terrified,
alarmed. He was fearful. But hearing the
gospel without the quickening power of God's Spirit reveals
that a man's conscience is cauterized, seared. But there was something else
that I noticed. in there that really struck me. It says that as he reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled
and answered. Verse 24 says that Drusilla was
there. She didn't say anything. Didn't say she trembled, didn't
say anything. This woman was a Jewess by birth
and religion, a Jew. Probably one that as the Scripture
sets forth in the parable of the sower when the sower went
forth to sow and he sowed the seed, the gospel. Some of it
fell by the wayside and the birds came. Some hear it and it's gone that
quick. Gone. Just gone. How long did I sit? Just gone. This woman, a Jewess, one by
birth and one by religion, came up in church. I wonder how many times she went
to the synagogue. I wonder how many times she heard
the Scriptures read. I wonder how many times she heard
the preacher would stand up and sit forth and read Scriptures. I wonder how many times. It just
got to a point to where Paul preached here, salvation is not
of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
of God. I've got some family members
that surely, surely, they have no interest No interest in the
Gospel. Surely, I could turn to 2 Thessalonians
2.13. I could read one verse of Scripture. And that Scripture, surely, that
one Scripture will cause them to hear. And there will be no
doubt in their mind. There's nothing that they're
going to... We're bound to give thanks to
You. Beloved brethren, beloved of the Lord, for God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief in the truth. And when they hear that scripture,
surely they'll be convinced. Not unless God Almighty blesses
it to them. The Apostle Paul A man blessed of God, sent of
God, taught of God, preached of righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come. Felix trembled and Drusilla sat
there and no mention. Obviously, they were vain in
their imagination. Every man, every woman has got
some hope. There's something. They've got
something. I'm as good as the next person. God's a loving God. He's not going to do that. I
don't even believe there's a God anyway. There's something which
they rest their eternal soul on and try to settle down. How does a man or a woman listen
to someone set forth truth of righteousness, temperance, and
judgment? No effect. How is that? They're
dead. Spiritually dead. But they were vain. And I just want to take for just
a minute and I'm going to sit down. But I want to take three
things from the things that Felix said that sets forth A man's
false assurance. Here's the first thing I know.
Showing how a man has got assurance, but it's a false assurance. This
is what he said. He trembled. And Felix trembled
and answered, and here's what he said. Go thy way for this
time. Now this is what he said. What
you're talking about really has no beauty to me. Go thy way for this time. Right now, I'm just not interested. I believe you believe what you're
preaching. I believe you're convinced of it. But oh, the difference. If you witness a miracle of God's
grace in regenerating power. The Lord Jesus Christ was walking. He was going through Jericho. Felix said, Go thy way to this
time. No time. No time. Blind Barnabas was sitting on
the side of the road. An old beggar. A blind beggar. And he heard that the Lord Jesus
Christ was passing by. And as he was passing by, the Spirit of God taught that blind beggar, your life, your hope, the Lord
Jesus Christ is passing by. And he cried out, Jesus, thou
Son of David, have mercy on me. And they tried to make that old
man be quiet. And it says, he cried the louder,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Felix would say, I don't have
time for you right now. Go your way. The Lord was walking one day. People were everywhere touching
it. It was a woman and she had an issue of blood. Twelve years,
spent all she had. She grew none better. She saw Him. And the Spirit of
God taught that woman. He had to have. That's the only
way she could see Him. A man by nature is blind. Many
looked on him, but she saw him. And you that believe, you see
him. The seeing eye and the hearing ear, believers possess that. She looked at him and she said,
if I could but touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. And she touched Him. And the
Lord said, Who touched Me? The disciples said, You mean
who touched you? A lot of people touched you.
He said, Virtue has gone out of Me. And the Scripture says, There
she was, and He looked at her, and He said unto her, Daughter,
be of good cheer. Every time I looked at Seth,
every time I saw good cheer, it was for the encouragement
of those that Almighty God had brought down and has shown them
something of themselves. Be of good cheer, thy faith hath
made thee whole. Felix trembled, but what did
he really think? He said, go your way. Go your
way. Here's the second reason. That's
the first thing I know. He had a false assurance. He
had no need of Christ. Go your way. Here's the second
thing he said. When I have a convenient season,
when I have a favorable time of opportunity, time not good right now for me. I'm busy. I've got a business. I've got
a business I've got to build. Right now, I just don't have
time for church. My wife goes, my husband goes,
we drop our kids off. We're thinking about dropping
them off for Sunday school maybe one day. When I have a convenient
season, listen, procrastination, There's nothing more than to call God a liar. Procrastination. Listen to this scripture. For
he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, in the day of
salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Procrastination. When I have
a convenient season. When I have a convenient time. When it's a little bit better
for me. A man that will tell God Almighty.
Listen. Anyone that will absolutely say,
I don't have time. I don't have time to come here.
This pastor, I don't have time to come here. That pastor right
there. These men that God has called out, set apart, taught. These men that prepare. These
men that are here on Wednesdays, Sundays. Let everything else go. But don't
shun hearing the Word of God. I just don't have time. When I have a more convenient
season, I'm going to be honest with you,
the only convenient season is established by Christ. That's
the only convenient season. Ezekiel 16 and 17, And when I
passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood,
I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood, Yea, I said unto
thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Now when I passed by thee,
and looked upon thee, behold, thy time, thy time, the time
of love, thy time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt
over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, The owl became
his mind. Six times in that two passages,
the Lord says, I did, I did, I did. I saw you the time was
right, the convenient time. When I have a convenient time,
the only convenient time is God's time, not yours. Here's the third. and final evidence
of false assurance, false security. I'll call for thee. When it's good, go your way from
now. When I have a convenient time,
I'll call. When I've done all I want to
do, when I've lived my life, when I've done what I want to
do, when I've done this, I'll call you. An unbeliever thinks that he's
going to be saved on his terms. He thinks he's going to be saved
whenever it's good for him. I doubt it. Before I die, I've
got some things I want to do. I've got some traveling I've
got to do. We're going to do this. We're going to do that.
I've got some money I'm going to make. Before I die, I'm going to make
my amends with God and I'm going to get everything right. I was
sitting in an office the other day and I was listening to these
three people talk. This gentleman said to this lady
sitting on the left here, he said, well you know, so and so,
he got in church. She said, really? Well, he said,
after he got sick, he decided it was time to go ahead and get
in church. She said, well, I'll tell you
one thing. She said, that's awfully good, because you know, the good
Lord needs to be here too. It is the most natural thing for
an unconverted sinner to think, I'm going to just act this thing
out the way that I want to whenever the time is right. I'm going
to call on the Lord. The carnal heart thinks it's
going to live forever. Noah preached 120 years. And
when God put him, and his wife, and his three sons, and their
wives, and those animals in that ark, the Scripture says, and
God shut the door. And it started to rain. And the earth opened up, water
came out, torrents came down, And I don't doubt for one second
that they started to call. Noah! Oh, we could read the story of
the foolish virgins, read the story of the ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptians
in the Red Sea, In closing, I want you to turn
to Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1. Procrastination. Proverbs 1, starting in verse
24. Because I called. Because I have
called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded. But ye have said it not, all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation,
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me. But I will not answer. They shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated
knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would
none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me
She'll dwell safely and she'll be quiet from fear of evil. Felix, he heard the Apostle Paul
preached. He trembled. But what he really thought was
evidenced in what he said. Go thy way for now and I have
a more convenient season. I'll call for you." But the last two verses never
bear out that he ever called to talk about his eternal soul.
Listen to what he said back in Acts 24, verse 26. He hoped also
that money should have been given him of Paul that he might loose
him. Wherefore, he sent for him the oftener and communed with
him. But after two years, Porteous
Festus came into Felix's room. It means another man took over.
And Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. The Scripture says that he told
him, he said, when I have a more convenient season, I'll call
for you. but never got there. It never was convenient. Felix never called to talk to
Paul concerning his eternal soul. Whenever Almighty God comes in
power, something's going to happen like
it did with the Philippian jailer Philippian jailer said to Paul,
sirs, what must I do to be saved? What's the evidence? What is
the evidence of salvation? Surely, surely there's evidence. What's the evidence? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and I shall be saved. Men and women leave this world
and perish. because they will not come to
Christ. No man, no woman is going to
stand before God and say, the reason that I perished is because
you didn't give me a new heart. That's what it's going to take.
Almighty God is going to have to give them a new heart. He's going to have to call them
out of darkness. He's going to have to give them eyes to see
and ears to hear. And they will bow. What if they don't? Whose fault
is it? It's their fault. I called. You wouldn't come. Almighty God saves sinners. The evidence of a new heart is
Christ is precious. His Word's precious. There's
some tonight, Scripture says where two or three are gathered
together, In my name, I'm in the midst of you. As I've said
before, surely there's two or three. He's here. And to all that believe
Him, Christ is precious. You'll sit there and you'll muse
upon the wonder of God's grace that He would show mercy to you
and call you out of darkness. and put you in His Son, where
brother Scott Richardson, my pastor, as he often says, where
Almighty God put a man. That's where God kept him. Kept him to the end. He that's
able to keep you from falling. Felix! It didn't matter to him. It didn't
matter. He heard a preacher. Go away. But let me read you Psalm 84.10. And this is the attitude of this
dear saint, David. But I'm going to tell you something.
Everyone that hears what I'm about to read can enter into
this and say the same thing. I'm thankful. Psalm 84.10. For
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather
be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the
tents of wickedness." Let me ask you, you that Almighty God
has given a heart for Him, a heart for Christ, what would you rather
have than what He's given you? You wouldn't give it up
for anything. I think about when the Lord came
to... It slipped my mind. Joshua. The man that wrestled with the
Lord. Jacob. Wrestled with Jacob. The day
began to break and the man, the Lord himself, said to Jacob,
he said, turn me loose. Jacob said, I? Not unless you
bless me. Turn me loose. I can't. I just can't. What's your name? He said, Jacob. Not anymore. Your name is Israel. Prince with God. What would you
give up for that? What would you take for that?
A lot of them heard him preach
and they wouldn't want to stay anymore. That's a hard saying.
He looked at his disciples and he said, will you go away also? Peter said, Lord, where are we
going to go? You've got the words of eternal
life. We're sure. You're the Christ. This man right
here told Paul, he said, you go away. And a believer said,
where you go, that's where I want to be. I want to be with you. You're my hope. You're my life.
You're my surety. You're my God. You're my husband.
You're my friend. You're my substitute. You're
my great priest. He is my all and end all.