I had to get that out of my system.
Turn back to Acts 24. What we have here is Paul's message to the governor. Paul's message to the governor. If the governor, I was trying
to say Kentucky, but if the governor of North Carolina walked in here,
would I change the message? Would the message change? The
president walked in here, would the message change? If any dignitary
walked in here, the message is the same. They got to take their
seat with the rest of the senators. I got before God. Before God,
we're all on the same level. Same level by nature. By nature. Now we have before us three persons. Felix, the governor. Drusilla,
his adulterous wife. His 18-year-old adulterous wife.
And Paul, the prisoner. We have the message given by
Paul. which concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. Felix wanted to
hear this message of this thing of faith in Christ. And you would have thought that
Paul would give some flattering words like Tertullius did. You'd think he'd give some flattering
words in order to obtain his release. Here's his opportunity. Think about where this man is
standing. Here's his opportunity to gain
release, but instead, he deals honestly with Felix. He deals honestly with the Word
of God. His release becomes the last thing on his mind. The first thing on his mind is
to glorify God. And I believe the second thing
is the salvation of that man he's talking to. He desires that
man's salvation. I believe any true preacher called
of God, when he stands in the pulpit, desires the salvation
of the hearers. I would to God that He would
save everyone in here. I do. If it be His will. If it be His will. And Paul deals
with the governor, of Judea as He would any lost sinner. There's
no difference. No difference. It's evident that Paul did not
count his life dear unto himself. He said that in the book of Acts
earlier. He said, I count not my life
dear unto me that I may finish my course. That's the pinnacle of discipleship,
is when you come to the point that your life doesn't matter
anymore. It doesn't matter anymore. Paul
counted everything as loss for Christ's sake, and he aimed at
the salvation of his hearer. He aimed at their salvation. Priscillius was with him. And Paul preached to his audience.
Now listen. And I want to learn this. I want
to learn this. This came out to me as I was
studying this. I don't want to preach before
a congregation. I want to preach to the congregation. I want to be able to preach to
you. The unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. And Paul preached
to his audience even if it was the governor. The message is
the same. All are lost. That's the way
we start out. That's the way we start out.
There's those of you in here that believe the gospel of God's
sake. And there's some of you in here that's lost. I'm convinced
of that. I'm convinced of that. There's
some that's lost. And there's some that's saved. It's in every
crowd. It's in every group. Every group. When it comes to
preaching the gospel, everyone starts out on the same level.
sinners in need of mercy. That's what I need. I need mercy.
I need mercy this morning. I need grace this morning. I
need the saving grace of God this morning. I need it. Now
let me give you a brief history of these two people that Paul
is preaching to. Now Felix at one time was a slave. He was a slave. And he was freed
by Claudius Caesar. And he rose to power through
much corruption. He basically served Claudius
Caesar's lust and flair. Whatever he wanted to do, this
guy got it done. No matter how dirty it was, he
got it done. And so he was promoted to governor
of Judea. Politics don't change, does it? Politics never change. And Drusilla
was his adulterous wife. It says she was Jewish, and I'm
sure she was interested in what Paul had to say about this Jesus
who's to be the Messiah, because she was brought up and taught
about that. And she's the daughter of Herod Agrippa the Great, the
same one that was eaten by worms, fell down dead and was eaten
by worms. She was the fiance of Antiochus, But after her father
died, he dropped her. He didn't want to marry her.
So she married a king, a king named Aziz, A-Z-I-Z. And when she met Felix, she was
drawn away from her husband, and she went to be the wife of
Felix. It's nothing but an adulterous
affair. That's all it is. That's the brief history of those
two people Paul's preaching to. Now they came to the judgment
seat, and they sat down, and Felix
calls for Paul. Both were curious to hear Paul,
to hear what he had to say about this Jesus Christ, about the
resurrection, because Felix had more knowledge, he had perfect
knowledge that way. He knew something about this,
especially being governor of Judea. But he also wanted some
money out of Paul. He was hoping that Paul would
pay him off and he'd release him. I'm sure that he thought that
this was going to be entertaining. It's going to be interesting,
you know. It's like people want to talk about Armageddon and
the end of time. They get scared and curious and
it's interesting. And I'm sure they thought it
was going to be interesting to hear about this. They take their
seats in the judgment seat, not realizing they would be the ones
on trial. It's going to get reversed. And after certain days in verse
24, chapter 24, and after certain days when Felix came with his
wife, Drusilla, which was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him
concerning the faith in Christ. Paul preached the gospel to this
man. He preached the gospel to his wife. Little did this man
realize that the preaching of the gospel that he heard that
day would be a savor of death unto death to him. Little did
he realize it. He became gospel hardened. Listen
to 2 Corinthians 2.15-16. Paul said, for we are unto God
a sweet saver of Christ. Every time we stand to preach,
something happens. We talked about that this morning.
There's going to be a hardening or there'll be a softening. Grace
will either break you or it'll harden you. Or you'll harden
what you do. It's like the sun. Like the sun
shining on that clay. It's going to either harden it,
take it out of there, and you can soften it. Put some water
on it, moisten it. That's the grace of God. We are
unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved and in
them that perish. To the one we are the saver of
death unto death, and to the other the saver of life unto
life. And who's sufficient for these things? I'm not sufficient
to stand here and handle such matters of life and death." Paul
goes on to say there that God is our sufficiency. He enables
us to preach the Gospel in the power of His Spirit. But it has
its effect. Every time it's preached, the
Gospel has its effect on every hearer. Every one. It proved
to be a saver of death unto death to Felix and Drusilla that day. When they heard Paul preach, They love their sins too much
to turn to Christ. That's what happens if God leaves
you alone. You love your sins too much.
It's like cords that's got a hold of you. Now Paul began to preach
to them about Jesus Christ. He began to preach, no doubt,
that He's the Messiah, the One that was promised, the seed of
the woman. He preached Him out of the Old Testament because
that's what they were aware of. That's what they had. No doubt
he took some of the types out of the Old Testament, the Passover
lamb, the high priest, the tabernacle, and he preached Christ from them.
He preached Christ to them. He preached what he did. He fulfilled
all these types and pictures. That Passover lamb is Jesus Christ. That tabernacle is Jesus Christ. He preached Christ to them out
of the Old Testament. And he preached where he is now.
He's risen. He's not dead. Jesus Christ is
risen. He's seated at God's right hand.
And he's the judge. All judgment has been committed
to the Son. He's the judge. And in preaching Christ, Paul
reasoned. He preached to them about righteousness,
temperance, and judgment. He had a three-point outline. Paul, listen, Paul got personal
with his audience. He didn't just give them a good
outline. He met them where they lived. That's what he did. He met them
where they lived. He talked to them about where they lived. We do not have A message of generalities,
but of truth. You know, no one's been born
of God by preaching generalities. The Scripture says we're begotten
with the Word of truth, not generalities. And Paul got real truthful with
them. Be thankful. Be thankful when God sends a
man that'll be absolutely honest with you out of the Word of God.
that He'll tell you the truth. No matter how offensive it is,
tell me the truth. Tell me the truth. Remember that
woman at the well? You know what she said when she
went back to town? Come see a man which told me everything I ever
did. She said, this man has told me
everything I ever did. In that short conversation, the
Lord revealed Herself to herself. And us who preach. Let this ever drive us in preaching.
Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. I don't want to ever lose that. I don't want to ever just stand
up here and give a Calvinistic outline. I don't want to do that. Now Paul says he reasoned, he
preached righteousness, temperance, and judgment. Righteousness,
he preached the need of it, the demand of it, God's demand of
it, and how we obtained it. I have no doubt he did. Temperance
is self-control, it's moderation, it's self-denial. And judgment,
judgment, the fact of it, the promise of it, and the place
of it. He preached those things. And
I have no doubt that Paul started with righteousness and he started
with God who is righteous. God is righteous. God is holy. God demands what He is. God demands
holiness. Listen to these scriptures. 1
Peter 1.15, But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye
holy in all manner of conversation. In 1 Peter 1.16, because it is
written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. When I read that, my first thought is to run to
Christ because God demands holiness. And the only place I'm going
to find it is in Jesus Christ. Only place. And when I read that,
I pray, Lord, help me to be. what You said for me to be holy. Listen. In Psalm 11, for the
righteous Lord loveth. He loveth righteousness. He loveth
righteousness. His countenance doth behold thee
upright. In Psalm 33, He loveth righteousness
and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. But the Lord loveth righteousness. God cannot accept anything short
of righteousness and holiness. It is written in the Scriptures,
it must be perfect to be accepted. Felix, God said it must be perfect
to be accepted. Paul says in Romans 10, Brethren,
And this shows you the heart of Paul. My heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them
record, they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant. Now listen. They being ignorant
of God's righteousness. First, they being ignorant of
God's strict character. God is righteous. They'd be ignorant
of that. And when you're ignorant of that,
here's what happens. You go about to establish one
of your own. And you bring it to God, like
Cain did, and said, here, this is good. I worked on this. I produced this. And they were
ignorant. They were so ignorant of God's
holy character and righteous character that they went about
to produce one of their own and give to Him. It's got to be perfect to be
accepted. Paul preached the need of this
righteousness. Felix, there's none righteous,
no, not one. Not one. He points out to Felix
that he's an unrighteous man. Felix knew he was a crook. You
know, I think a crook knows he's a crook. And he knew he was a
crook. He knew he abused his power as
governor. Felix, God put you there, and
you have abused your power. He knew he extorted money from
the poor, and he knew he lived in lasciviousness. He knew his
life. He knew it. His life, in this
short period of time, his life passed before him as Paul preached
the gospel to him. God has a way of making that
happen through the preaching of the gospel. There were so
many times I heard Henry preach, and I thought it was just like,
how did he know that? Especially when I was younger.
When I was younger, I'd heard the gospel when I was a baby
in Christ, it was like he was reading my book or something. God has a way, through the preaching
of the gospel, to make your life pass before you. And you see
what you are. You recognize what you are. Felix
was the one being judged that day, not Paul. Not Paul. All priests that, and I'm sure
he reminded Felix that the Scripture says, he that rules among men
must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And Felix knew that didn't
match him. God made him know it. He made
him to know it. All that Felix know that he was
unrighteous before God, all stand before God naked. That's how
we stand before God, by nature. Nature. Secondly, his second
point was this. Temperance. Here's what this
means. Self-control, it means to exercise
self-restraint in appetites and behavior, especially in sensual
appetites. Because that man was given to
it. He was given to it. And Felix being the governor
was out of control. And the lady sitting beside him
was proof of his sensual appetite. That was another man's wife sitting
there. Everyone, including Felix, the
governor, including the governor, everyone will be held accountable
for every thought, every word, every action done in his or her
body. Everyone. Listen to Ecclesiastes
12, 13, 14. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Fear God, keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. Now listen, for God, know
this, know this, for God shall bring every work into judgment
with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether
it be evil. Paul wrote of mortifying the
deeds of the flesh. He said in Romans 8, for if ye
live after the flesh, if that's your life, if you walk after
the flesh, you will die. And that's not just saying you'll
die, because not all of us die. You're going to perish. If you through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the flesh, he said you live. How? Through
the Spirit. Through the power of God's Holy
Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh. Paul in one place. Paul said
this. He said that he kept his body
under subjection. Let me read it to you here in
1 Corinthians 9. Listen to what Paul said. This is the apostle. This is the one who counted everything
lost for Christ's sake. This is the one standing there
in prison for the message. Not for something he did wrong,
but for the message he preached. But Paul said, But I keep under
my body, and bring it into subjection all its appetites. That's what
he's talking about. Lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway. Should be a castaway. That's
just mysterious language, isn't it? The Apostle Paul. He said, I keep my body under
subjection. You know why? Because every believer in here
has the same nature that you had before God saved you. You
still have those same temptations. You still have those... Well,
matter of fact, it's worse. It's worse. Because the spirit
and the flesh strive against each other, fight against each
other. That old man fights you. He still wants to do what he
wants to do. Like Donnie said, I still have one leg that wants
to go dancing. You've still got it. And Paul had it. Paul had the same nature. And
Paul says, I keep my body in check. I keep the appetites in
check. I don't make provisions for this
flesh to fulfill the lust of it. He said, I don't do that.
I don't do it. Lest when I preach to others,
I may end up being a castaway. Proverbs says this, He that is
slow to anger is better than the mighty. And he that ruleth
his spirit, he that has control over his spirit, then he that
takes a city. Another proverb says, a man who
has no, and I'm gonna paraphrase this, a man who has no control
over his spirit, over himself, is like a city whose walls are
broken down. Broken down. Now thirdly, third
point. Here's the fact of judgment.
Judgment. God has given many examples of
judgment throughout history. Adam cast out of the garden. By one act of disobedience, God
cast him out. The flood, eight souls were saved,
but millions upon millions drowned. Killing the firstborn in Egypt,
Sodom and Gomorrah burned them up. And he said he did it as
an example. It was an example of those who
should have to follow. and Calvary, when God's wrath
fell on His Son. When God's wrath fell on His
Son. It's written in Hebrews 9.27,
it is appointed unto men who wants to die after this judgment. It's real. Turn over to Revelations chapter
20. I want you to read this. God has pulled back the curtain,
and God is allowing us a glimpse into heaven. into the future. In Revelation 20. And I saw a great white throne,
and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books
were opened, And another book was opened, which is the book
of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire." That's real. That's real. That's not a fairy tale. It's
not a fairy tale. It's real. And it says at the end of this,
at the end of this, Felix trembled. He trembled. You know, there are examples
of men who trembled at God's word, who had a fear of God,
but yet they died lost. King Saul did. King Saul expressed
a fear of God. He died lost. Pharaoh, Pharaoh did. The devils. The devils believe,
the Scripture says the devils believe and tremble. They shake. They shake. They tremble. And yet none of them are saved.
None of them. Many examples of men in the Scripture
that tremble and yet perish. There is a fear that does not lead to salvation.
There's a slavish fear of God that does not lead to salvation. What happened here is the message
struck his conscience. What was left of it. The Holy
Spirit applied the Word in judgment. The Law is written on the heart
of everyone when they come into this world. But if that's as
far as it goes, that will not save. It's like
the thorny ground here. He heard the Word, but because
of the cares of this life and the riches of this life, he said
it choked the Word and it brought forth no fruit. That means it
was dead. It produced nothing. Where can
a sinner like me find this righteousness that God demands? I'm no better
than Felix. How can I be righteous? How can
I obtain this righteousness that God demands? Well, God has provided a righteousness
for sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul preached
Christ to him. He didn't try to straighten Felix
up. That's not the point. Felix,
you're the governor. You need to act better than that.
You need to govern better. You need to quit your lascivious
ways. You need to straighten up. You're
the governor. No, you need Christ, Felix, just like I do. The righteousness
that God demands, God has provided in His Son. There it is. There it is. He has provided this righteousness
by the obedience of Jesus Christ to the law. He honored the law
and He magnified the law and made it honorable. I've dishonored
it all my life, but this man, this man Felix that's named Jesus
Christ, he's God's son. And He kept the law and He provided
the righteousness by which sinners like me and you can be saved,
can be accepted of God. You can straighten up all you
want to, Felix. It ain't going to do any good. It's not going
to do you any good. Listen to Romans 10 verse 4.
For Christ is the end, is the goal of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. Felix, do you believe what I'm
telling you? Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe
on the Son of God? Do you believe? Felix, this righteousness is
imputed when by the grace and power of God a sinner believes.
Felix, do you believe? Do you believe? In Romans 4,
talking about Abraham, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised, and what God had promised, God was able also to
perform. And therefore, it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Abraham believed God. Felix,
do you believe God? Do you believe God concerning
Jesus Christ? Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and heavy laden, I'll give you rest." Do you believe that? Do
you believe He will? Do you believe He can? This righteousness is obtained
by the grace of God through faith. Now how can I have self-control?
Let me wind this down. Temperance. Temperance. When I've got a nature that's
wild as can be, I do. You do too. Mom and dad can tell
us, tell about it. And they did too, and their mom
and dad can tell about them too, all the way back to Adam. How can I have any kind of temperance? Scripture says, for the grace
of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. Grace. Verse that starts with
grace. Grace. Sin shall not have dominion
over you. You're not under the law, you're
under grace. Now listen to this. I read this
to you earlier, but if you live after the flesh, you'll die.
If that's your life, you're going to die. But if you're through
the Spirit, through the sanctifying work, which is in regeneration, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit,
It is through Him and by His power that we are able to have
some temperance, self-control. You're not given to this flesh
no more. You're not given to it. If you're
given to this flesh, you're lost. You're lost. And how can I not be condemned?
How can I, this judgment I just read you about, it's happening,
I'm telling you, it's as sure as I'm standing here, it's gonna
happen. God says in Isaiah, look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Christ said, come to me, all
you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest. Felix is trembling. He's fearful. I mean, this man, his knees are
knocking together. Like Belshazzar, when that hand
was writing on the wall, it says that his knees knocked together.
This man is visibly shook. Felix looked to Christ. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look to the Lamb of God. He took my judgment. Judgment
was passed on Him. And everyone who looks to Him,
judgment is over with. Where the fire is burned once,
it will not burn again. It will not burn again. What was Felix's answer? The Gospel can melt your heart
when you hear it. It'll do one or the other. Felix
said, verse 25, Go thy way, Paul. He was so shook up. He said,
and I have no doubt he's faced with this, love of sin or love
for Christ. And he had no love for Christ
and he sure couldn't let go of these sins. And he knew he was
going to have to do something about this adulterous affair
he had going on. And he chose sin. He chose sin. And he said, Paul, go thy way. For this time, when I have a
convenient season, I'll call for thee. God is not
at our convenience. We better mark that down. He's
never at our convenience. Listen, this man never repented. Do you know what happened to
this man? Not too long after this, Felix committed suicide.
He killed himself. That's how he ended. But he heard
the Apostle Paul preach the gospel and the power of God's Spirit
so much so that he was shaking. The Word of God says this, now
is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. That's it. Look to the Lamb of
God. In Him I have righteousness.
In Him I have the power. Sin shall not have dominion over
me. He gives His power over this flesh. And in Him my judgment's passed.
It's gone. Alright.