Turn back to Acts, Chapter 24.
Acts, Chapter 24. I titled the message, Felix Trimble. We have before us three persons. We have Felix, the governor. Drusilla, his wife, and Paul,
the prisoner. And then we have a message given
by the prisoner. Now you would think that the prisoner would give
some flattering words to the governor, wouldn't you? that the prisoner, whose life
is on the line. Felix, that we know as believers,
and we know from reading all this, that Paul's life is in
the hand of God. But Felix, coming in to take his seat, he
fully believes that this man's life is in my hands. He probably
expects Paul like Tertullus did, give some flattering words, grovel
around, try to get out of this trouble. That's what you would
expect. But instead, the prisoner puts
the governor on trial. That's what ends up happening.
He shoots at the governor's heart. Paul is not concerned. He's really
standing here not concerned about his life, but the life of that
man and that woman who's sitting in front of him. I believe Paul truly desired
their salvation. What could be greater than God
to save the president, I mean truly save the president, the
governors, the governor of Kentucky? Governor of the other states.
Wouldn't it be something if God saved the Congress? If he saved those men, what would
this country be like then? What would it be like then? Paul
truly desired this man's salvation. Who is Felix? Who is Drusilla? Let me give you just a little
bit of history here. Felix was a slave. This man was
a slave at one time. But through his cunningness and
his willingness to do whatever dirty deed needed to be done,
Caesar, Claudius Caesar, freed him. And this man rose through
the ranks. He placated to every whim that
Caesar had. And he came up through the ranks,
went up that corporate ladder, so to speak. He was a wicked
man, and he was given to extortion. I mean, this man was given to
extortion. And he would do whatever it took
to get in Caesar's back pocket. That's who this man is. And Caesar
promoted him to governor of Judea. He promoted this slave to governor
of Judea. As you see at the end of the
chapter, he ended up removing him. He ended up having to be
removed. He was such a rotten person that Caesar had to finally
remove this man from office. Sooner or later, If you let a
snake get close enough, it's going to bite you. Caesar kept
him just a little too close and finally he had to, he caused
him so much trouble, he finally had to just dethrone this man. Who is Drusilla? She was a Jew. She was a Jewish woman, had Jewish
parents. She was the daughter of Herod, Agrippa the Great. That's who she was. The same
one that was eaten by worms back in Acts chapter 12. She's his
daughter. That's who she is. And she was
the fiance of Antiochus. But after Herod died, Antiochus,
he dropped her. He didn't marry her. He was not
going to submit to the Jewish right of circumcision. And he
just dropped her. So after that, she married a
king named Zesus. He was king of the Ammonites. But after she married him, Felix
came along. And he wooed her away from her
husband. And she became Felix's wife. That gives you a little light
when Paul stood before these two people. He didn't try to tone down his
message. He didn't try to just cover a
certain doctrine. Paul preached to their heart. Paul took his message and he
made it fit the congregation he was preaching to. That's what
he did. So now they come to the judgment
seat. They sit down, they call for
the prisoner to be brought in. Bring Paul in. Felix and Drusilla
are curious to hear about the Messiah. I know her being a Jew,
believing that the Messiah is coming, I'm sure that Felix said,
you'd be interested to hear this. This man's interesting. I'm sure
they found Paul to be interesting. And they thought he would be
entertaining. Not convicting. They thought
he'd just be entertaining. So they wanted to hear what Paul
had to say. So they take their seats. Paul in chains, he's brought
in, stands before them. He takes his place there standing
before them. And as it says here in verse
24, And after a certain days, when Felix came with his wife
Drusilla, which was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning
the faith in Christ. When Paul began to speak to the
governor, how would you speak to a governor? Paul spoke to him in Christ.
He spoke to him of faith in Christ. When he began to speak to them,
he began to speak of a person named Jesus of Nazareth. Paul did not stand there trying
to defend himself. He stood there exalting, exalting
the name of his Savior, of his Lord. Paul knew who was in control
of this thing. He knew who was in control of
what was going on. And he stood there and he preached
to them, God incarnate. Now you know Felix being a Roman,
he worshipped many gods. He worshipped whatever came down
the pike. Whatever would help promote his
position. That's what he believed. That's
what he worshipped. Then Paul began to preach to
them this God-man, this God and man in one person. He began to
preach, this is the God of Abraham. This is the Lamb. This is the
seed of the woman. And Drusilla, being a Jew, she
knew what he was talking about. She knew it. This one who was
crucified, who was rejected, is the Messiah that we have been
waiting on. He's the Messiah that God promised
would come. He's come. He has come. The Messiah whom the Jews look
for has come. And he's died. He has come into this world,
he lived, and he died. I have no doubt he preached to
them substitution. The necessity He preached the
necessity of this man coming, living, and dying for sinners. He preached to them substitution,
the necessity of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
place of sinners. And then he preached to them
that he's risen. This one who is the Messiah,
this one who is the promised Messiah, this one who has come
and died, is not dead. He is not dead. He is risen from
the dead, and He has ascended back to the Father, and there
He sits, ruling and reigning over all. He is the judge over
all. Felix, you think you're a judge? This is the judge. This is the
judge. And he sits there also, he makes
intercession for transgressors, for sinners. And he commands
all men everywhere, even you, Felix, and you, Drusilla, he
commands all men everywhere to repent and believe on him. And then Paul began to reason,
it says here, with him of righteousness temperance, and judgment. There's three things I think
he reasoned with him here. Righteousness, his lack of it,
his need of it, and God's provision of it. He reasoned with him of
these things. Felix, you are not a righteous
man. You're not a good man. This is
the prisoner. telling the governor, you're
not a good man. You're not nearly as good as
you think you are. Paul pointed out to Felix that he was an unrighteous
man. That he had no righteousness. And no doubt he pointed out his
lascivious way of life. I have no doubt that he pointed
that out to Felix. You have lived in lasciviousness. You have fulfilled the lust of
your flesh. On every turn, you've taken advantage
of your office. You've taken advantage of your
office. You have extorted money from poor widows and the fatherless.
You have way overtaxed people. You have taken from people what
didn't belong to you at all. Way overtaxed them. You've made
yourself rich at the expense of the poor. Paul points out here who he is.
He doesn't generalize. I'm telling you, Paul's not generalizing
here in front of this man, this governor. He's telling him who
he is. You're an extortioner. That's
who you are. He tells him how that as a governor,
he has abused his powers. The scripture says, he that rules
among men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Felix, you have abused your powers
as a governor. And I have no doubt he tells
them that God, the true and living God, the only God there is, has put you in that seat. He's
the one who sets up and brings down. He's the one who makes
and puts men in positions of power. He's the one who brings
them down. And Felix, God put you there. God made you the governor, and you've used it for your gain. Felix, God demands perfect, absolute
righteousness. He demands it. He demands perfect
righteousness, and He will accept no less. God Almighty will accept
nothing less than absolute Perfect righteousness, Felix, and you
don't have it. We don't have it either. Unlike the idols, the idol gods
that Felix worshipped, who are no gods at all. It's easy to
please a god that doesn't exist, doesn't it? That's easy to do. But Felix, I'm talking to you
about a god that is. The only god that is. I'm talking
about you, Felix, about the living God and his demand for righteousness. And Felix, you've lived one of
the most ungodly lives in Rome, especially considering the position
that you're in, taking advantage of it. But Felix, there is a
righteousness provided by this man, Jesus Christ. This
Nazarene, this man has provided, he has
established by his obedience in his life and in his death,
he has established a righteousness by which God can save sinners. Felix, there is a righteousness.
You don't have it. You can't produce it. But there is one, and it's established
by this man, by his obedience in life and death. And it's reckoned,
it's imputed to everyone that believes on it. Paul's driving at his heart.
He said, Felix, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that
jailer said, what must I do to be saved? He said, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Felix, believe
on him. You'll have that righteousness
that's of God. He preached to Felix his lack
of righteousness, his need of righteousness, and God's provision
of it in his son. God has provided us with a righteousness
that he will accept. And it's to everyone that believes. And then secondly, he drove at
his heart here. He spoke to him of temperance.
Temperance. That word means self-control. That word means self-discipline. That's what it is. That's what
it means. You know, throughout all of Paul's writings, he spoke
of mortifying the deeds of the flesh. We still have that old
man with us. But as we grow in grace and knowledge
of Christ, we grow in temperance. We grow in everything. Paul preached
to him temperance. And listen, I thought about this
last night. Paul did not preach before Felix. He preached to Felix. I thought
last night, I don't want to preach before the congregation. I want
to preach to the congregation. I think there's a difference. I believe there's a real difference
in just preaching before people and preaching to the people.
Communicating the gospel to them. That's what Paul's doing here.
He's communicating the gospel to this man. Paul was not worried about what
Felix would do to him. Like Pilate, he said to our Lord,
don't you know I have the power to crucify you and the power
to release you? Paul knew, he knew, that Felix
couldn't do anything to him unless God allowed it, let him do it. And he wasn't worried about what
Felix was going to do to him. Here's what Paul wrote in one
place. Woe is me if I preach not the
gospel, whether it be to the governor or to a pauper. Woe is me if I preach not the
gospel. God's the final judge. God is the last one every man
and woman will stand before. Paul also pointed out to Felix
and Drusilla, this is a brave message. This is a strong message
to these two people. He pointed out to them, you're
living a sinful life, a wretched life. Paul pointed out to them,
and I believe he did this, he pointed out to them when he spoke
to them of righteousness and temperance, that their marriage
was nothing, nothing but an adulterous affair. That's all it is. Remember,
John the Baptist did that and he got put in prison for it.
He told Herod, he said, it's not right for you to have your
brother's wife. They didn't hold back. They told
the truth. God's not going to save men and
women by lie. You've got to tell the truth.
You've got to tell the truth. And he's, Paul, saying here that
your marriage is nothing but an adulterous affair. That's
all it is. That's all it is. He preached to him righteousness
and When a man is born of God, he
becomes temperate in all things. He does. Greater is he that's
in you than he that's in the world. The world is known by
its lack of temperance. It's known by it. If it feels
good, do it. If it looks good, buy it. If it tastes good, eat it. I'll
tell you this. The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. That's what Paul wrote to Timothy.
The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness. That's what it teaches. Then
thirdly, Paul winds up his message with judgment. As Paul stood before Felix to
be judged, Paul lets Felix know that there
will be a judgment, that there is coming a judgment that is
far greater than this one, Felix, far greater than this one. And
it will be a just judgment. It will be a righteous judgment.
There won't be a kangaroo court going on. And it won't be left
up to the jury. There won't be a jury. It'll
be God. It'll be the just and holy God.
It'll be the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who He is. I believe Paul
pointed out that there was coming a day in which God would judge
the world in righteousness by that man, Jesus Christ. He's the righteousness of God's
people. But he's also the judge. He's
going to be the judge, the scripture says, of the quick and the dead.
This man, Jesus of Nazareth, who is despised and rejected,
crucified, he's risen again, he's the judge. Felix, this man's
the judge. He's the judge. And every person
is going to stand before his judgment seat. Every person. And that message that Felix heard had a real effect
on him, not savingly, but it says Felix trembled. Felix trembled. A man may be totally depraved But not always totally stupid,
because he understood what Paul said. He understood what Paul was saying. He didn't believe it. Not with
the faith of God's elect, he didn't believe it. But he understood
this, that he has lived a wicked life. And he understood that
he had no righteousness. And he understood that there's
going to be a judgment. He understood that. He didn't believe it, but
he understood it. And the Holy Spirit awakened
his conscience. He didn't give him a new heart.
Scripture says the devil believes he trembles, doesn't he? He's
not saved. Well, here, Felix trembled. He believed what Paul was saying,
but he didn't receive it. He wasn't given a new heart to
receive it in. He didn't bow to Christ. He didn't fall in
love with Christ. The Holy Spirit sent the Word
and power to Felix, but not in a saving manner. And here's what this shows us.
This shows us how dead sinners are. Even with powerful conviction,
even with being confronted with truth, Felix couldn't leave his sins. Being totally convinced that
what you're saying is true. And he trembled. But he couldn't let go. He could
not bow to Christ. He would not bow to Christ. I
think he knew the implications of that. He knew the persecution
that Christians were suffering. He knew. This man knew he'd have
to give up his lascivious way of life His extortion and all
of that. He knew that. And bow to Christ
and fall in love with Christ and follow Christ and get in
line with these Christians, these Nazarenes, sect of the Nazarenes.
And although he believed what Paul was saying here, he believed
what he was saying here, he couldn't let go. Couldn't
let go. I tell you, God has to reach
in and give a man a new heart, doesn't he? That's why our Lord said, you
must be born again. You must be born again. Because the natural man just
cannot let go and fall at his feet and trust him. And then
here's his excuse. Go thy way! Go thy way. This is enough. Okay,
we'll put an end to this. We've got to put an end to this
meeting. I bet you when he probably raised
his hand and said, Paul, go thy way, he'd probably be shaking
like this. I bet he was just shaking. He says he trembled. He was just trembling. It had
such an effect on him. Isn't that like the wayside hearer
and the parable of the sower? You've got all those hearers.
There's different types of hearers. Well, here's one here. Convinced
of it. Believe he's telling the truth.
And he stops. He said, go thy way. Stop. Stop. Stop your preaching,
Paul. Stop your preaching. When I have
a more convenient season, I'll call for you. When it's convenient for me to
be saved. When I get a little older, and everything seems to die down,
I'll call for you. When I need you, if I get in
trouble, I'll call for you. I'll call for you and I'll get
saved. He never did do that. Not with
the interest of hearing more about Christ. He called for him, he said, more
often because he hoped to receive some money. You see that extortion
coming out there? Paul pointed out, this is who
you are. And then he called for Paul more often trying to get
money from him, trying to extort money from him. Blind as a bat. But you know,
not too long after this, he committed suicide. Not too long after this,
he committed suicide. I imagine after he was dethroned
by Nero, Nero dethroned him, he couldn't take not having that
power. He couldn't take not having that
glory and that say-so and people, ooh and ah, when he walked around.
And he committed suicide. This man took his own life. But
Paul, go your way. And when it's convenient for
me, I'll call him. Sinners are never saved on their
terms or times, are they? Never. Never. The scripture says now is the
accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
What makes a person think that there will be another time? Why
would a person think that God would even send the gospel to
them again? You may die on the way home. I jotted this down yesterday.
When is it convenient to be saved? When? Right now. Now, under the sound
of the gospel, the command to believe and repent is right now. There is no tomorrow in preaching
the gospel. It's now. Now. Most people think
that when they grow older, they will so-called get saved. They'll
let the Lord save them. This has come from today's preaching. Won't you let God save you? Well,
not today. Maybe tomorrow or maybe next
week I got some things I would like to do. And this was kind
of half of my style. What I'd like to do. You know,
that's Felix. He didn't want to give up what he was doing. He
didn't want to give up that lifestyle. He loved it. He loved darkness
rather than light. Most want to sow their wild oats
when they're young or chase their dreams And they see the gospel
as being contrary to that. Count the cost, our Lord said.
He that loves this life will lose it. And they think, well, you know,
when it's a little more convenient, then I'll call for you, Paul. People think when they grow older,
It'll be a more convenient time. They'll have time then to be
a Christian, be a believer. But like Felix, that day never
comes. Not for most of them. That day
never comes. Let me read you Proverbs. I think it's a very
sobering message in that portion of Scripture. Over here in Proverbs
chapter 1. That's like the next chapter.
He preaches to King Agrippa. And he said, there it is, Paul
preaching before another king there, King Agrippa. And he said,
Paul, almost thou persuades me to be a Christian. Well, that almost doesn't count, does
it? Almost doesn't count. Look in verse 22 of Proverbs. Listen to this, and I'll close
with this. How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity,
and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit
unto you, I will make known my words unto you, because I have called and you
refused. I have stressed out my hand and
no man regarded, but you have said it not, O 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 comes upon you. Then shall they call upon me,
but I will not answer. They shall seek me early. You
see that people get in trouble. They want to run to the church
and make a profession or try to get things right. They shall
seek me early, but they'll not find me. that they hated knowledge and
did not choose the fear of the Lord. Felix was faced with this, and he loved darkness rather
than light. 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. They prosper and they think,
well boy, I'm blessed, I must be living right. No, that's no
sign you're living right, that's for sure. No sign you're right
with God. But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely. Oh, he that
comes to me, believes on me, worships me, Harkens to me, that
man will dwell safely forever and ever. Really. And shall be
quiet from fear of evil. I'll end it with that.