All right, so last week we were looking at this trial of Paul when he was before the governor, the Roman governor Felix in Caesarea. Just quick review, it had only been 12 days since Paul had arrived in Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey. Remember he was rescued by the Roman soldiers from the mob that was attacking him in the temple. He identified himself as a Roman citizen to avoid the flogging by the centurions. And then the Tribune had him testify before the Sanhedrin. But when the Tribune learned that there was a plot to assassinate Paul, he loaded him up with a small army and sent him to Caesarea overnight to deliver him to the Roman governor Felix to stand before his accusers there. After he'd been there about five days, the high priest Ananias and some of the elders came with their smooth-talking lawyer guy to lay out three accusations against Paul. In a nutshell, they said he was breaking Roman law by stirring up riots, that he was a heretical ringleader of the illegal sect of the Nazarenes, and that he had planned to violate the temple, but they caught him just in time to keep him from doing it. Paul answered each of those three accusations, saying that first he hadn't started any riots, he had been in the city for a few days, and he hadn't even had any disputes with anybody. There was nothing of the sort going on. He did confirm that he is, in fact, a follower of the way, but that it was no heretical sect, rather it's the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. where God had given the Jews the hope of the resurrection when the Messiah came. Finally, he said, he had no intentions of defiling the temple. In fact, the reason he had been in the temple at all was because he was completing a purification, following the regulations of the temple, not defiling it. Paul concluded this by pointing out that they hadn't brought any witnesses, they provided no evidence to support their accusations, and he had already stood trial before the Sanhedrin, and they couldn't come up with anything consistent to condemn him about either. Basically, that whole thing with the Sanhedrin fell apart when he said that he believed in the resurrection of the dead, like the Pharisees, and then they and the Sadducees were fighting with each other. Basically, it concludes with this, at best, Felix, this is an in-house debate, a doctrinal thing that shouldn't have been brought before you in the first place. That brings us through verse 21 in Acts 24. That gets us to that point where Paul kind of finishes his defense before Felix in Acts 24-21. Now, last week we looked at the couple of verses after that, 22 and 23, and we're going to start there this week with those verses. So, if you want to read along with me, this is our new text for today. It's in Acts 24, starts in verse 22, and we'll go through the end of the chapter, just, what, six verses. Acts 24.22 it says, But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off, saying, When Lysias of the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody, but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Lord, I thank you again for our gathering today around your word. I thank you for the things that you've shown us and taught us, Lord. I've been so appreciative of what we've seen in the book of Acts, the last few chapters about the example of Paul and how it is that he was so opportunistic in the gospel that he was focused even in difficult circumstances on bringing glory to you, testifying to the lost, seeking after the salvation of those who might be called into your kingdom. But here today, Lord, we see a different example. One that is like one of the worst ones we could ever imagine following. A guy like Felix here who wasted a great opportunity. It's like the opposite of Paul. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see in this a warning for ourselves about the sin of delaying and putting things off. Lord, I pray that you would help us in understanding these things, paint the picture for us as you have so often through the history here about what you've done in the past and how it should be applied to us in our lives. Let's thank you for the time together, for the passage we get to look at today in Jesus' name, amen. All right, we noted this last week that I think it's just really interesting that Luke noted this in verse 22, that Felix had a rather accurate knowledge of the way. Remember, he had been the governor there in Judea for several years at this point. There were thousands, probably tens of thousands of Christians in Judea, not just in Jerusalem, but scattered all over the place. There was surely a church there in Caesarea where he spent most of his time, where he resided. We noted last week that Felix must certainly have taken note of all the activities of the Christians, what they believed, how they lived, how all this stuff operated. Like I said, in Caesarea, there was almost certainly a church because remember the guy that was there that we know, Philip, Philip the Evangelist, lived in Caesarea with his daughters. It's almost certain that he was a leader of a church. We know that he was one of the first seven appointed along with Stephen and some others earlier in the book of Acts when the apostles in Jerusalem appointed seven to lead and to help in the church. And Philip was at least one of them. We'll see this shortly, I read it a minute ago, that concerning Felix, he was married to a woman who was a Jewess, who evidently had some interest in the way in Christianity in some kind of way. In this time, in this location, probably almost everybody who was Jewish at this time knew some family or friend who had converted to Christianity. at this point. And so this was probably a topic that was often discussed amongst the Jews, and surely the same with his wife and with Felix himself. In all of these things, verse 22 says, Felix had a rather accurate knowledge of the way, so he put off the Jews. He put them off. He decided not to settle Paul's case. And he said instead to the Jewish guys there, that when Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. And we could look at this and conclude that Felix really did want to have more information. He really did want to hear from Lysias. Because they said, ask, ask, you know, do a little investigating, you'll find out that we're telling you the truth. And Paul basically said the same thing. Do a little investigating, you'll find out that they're not telling the truth about me, right? These accusations are false. Maybe we could read this like, well, yeah, Felix probably did want to talk to Lysias, but we know something that the high priest and the elders didn't know. Right? That when Lysias had sent Paul to Felix with the small army escorting him, that he had already provided this testimony to Felix in the letter that he wrote and sent with Paul. Acts 23 verse 28. part of the letter that Lysias wrote to Felix, he says, and desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, Lysias says, I brought him, Paul, down to their council. I took him to the Sanhedrin. And verse 29 says, I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. So I don't think that Felix is wondering at all what Lysias thinks about it. Lysias has already told him. And I think Felix should probably see that what Paul was saying was true anyway. I mean, the Jews showed up with their smooth talking lawyer guy, but they didn't bring any evidence. The guy had spoken eloquently about Felix's greatness, but brought nothing to support the accusations he was making against Paul. I mean, they hated Paul to be sure. Anybody could see that, but that wasn't to be the subject of the court case. And I think Felix was seen through that. Paul hadn't done, as Lysias said to Felix, Felix has already figured out that Paul hasn't done anything wrong and worthy of any kind of punishment in the Roman court, let alone the execution that they wanted to have against him. But yet Felix didn't set Paul free, did he? He said it was because he was waiting for Lysias, but there's no evidence that he ever even summoned Lysias to ask him any questions. In fact, we just read in that last verse of the chapter that Felix did nothing with Paul's case for two years, until after he was replaced. And even then, when he left office and turned it over to Festus, Felix left him in prison. So why did Felix put him off? Why did he do that? We said this last week, that according to verse 22, it was because he had a rather accurate knowledge of the way. I full on think this, that Felix was intrigued by Paul. And Felix was a guy who thought that he could do anything with anybody, anytime. And rather than have a court jester, he wanted to have a preacher for a while. who he could listen to, that he was interested in, who had something new to discuss with him. He might have been one of those guys like in Athens where they like to sit around and talk about the newest thing all the time, except for he had the power to keep Paul. Why did he keep him? Not because he wasn't sure what to do with his case, but because he had a rather accurate knowledge of the way. He didn't have any concern for righteousness or justice. History tells us that about Felix. He kept Paul so he could learn more about him. You read this in verse 23, that he gave orders to the centurion that Paul should be kept in custody, but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. I mean, he didn't release Paul, partly because he didn't want to overly upset the Jews, so at least they could go back to Jerusalem and think, well, at least Paul's not free. But he wants to hear more from Paul, so he orders the centurion to keep him in custody, but give him liberty. Let him have his friends come visit him whenever they want. You remember where Paul had been being kept for the five days after he arrived there before the high priest and the elders arrived? He was being kept in the Praetorium, which was one of Herod's old palaces that was really Felix's residence. I mean, we assume that's where Paul continued to stay, but honestly, probably not bad accommodations for a prisoner. And surely he was actually visited often. I mean, Philip and his daughters are right there. There's other Christians in the city. Remember that he traveled to Jerusalem in the first place with a bunch of brothers from Macedonia and Achaia, from Galatia, from Asia Minor. Remember they were taking the offering to the poor saints in Jerusalem? That's why they went there. All these guys traveled with him. Most likely these guys came, followed Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea and spent some time with him there, at least on their way back to their churches. We assume that Luke himself probably spent most of the two years with Paul there, in Caesarea because we read when Paul finally set sails for Rome after the next time that he speaks before Festus and Agrippa and Bernice and these guys later in the next chapters. When they finally set sail for Rome, Luke is with him again. So, you know, Paul probably had plenty of visitors. With Jerusalem a day and a half, two days away, Antioch maybe three or four days away, it's most likely that there were lots of people who came to visit him after he was imprisoned there. I mean, wouldn't you want to go see Paul if you could? So we kind of assumed that all that was happening. But Luke doesn't tell us anything about any of his friends who visited him, any of the stuff that he talked to them about, anything. Luke doesn't tell us anything about how they attended to his needs or anything else. The one that we hear that Paul actually spent time with was Felix. You see that in verse 24? After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. Now here we finally meet Felix's wife Drusilla. We've mentioned her before. I think last week I said this, that she was a daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. That makes her a great-granddaughter of Herod the Great, the Herod who was in power when Jesus was born, the one who commanded all the male children under two years old in Bethlehem to be slaughtered, that's her great-grandpa, right? Drusilla's father, Agrippa I, is the Herod that we read about in Acts chapter 12, who was struck dead by the Lord when he stood before the people and they said, the voice of a God! And he thought, yes! And God struck him dead because he refused to give glory to God. Of course, that was after he had James the Apostle martyred, killed, executed with the sword, and had imprisoned Peter. He had probably a fairly accurate understanding of the way, given that he led one of the persecutions against the Christians in Jerusalem. That's Drusilla's dad. Where does Felix get all this information from? Oh, lots of places for him to get information from. Said this last week that Drusilla was married to a Syrian king when Felix seduced her and stole her away from him. She was 15 when he did that. And then he made her his wife. She became Felix's wife, and actually not his first, but his third wife. So this is Drusilla. Now, although Felix had a rather accurate knowledge of the way, he still wanted to hear more from Paul. See that? Get that clearly, right? He sent for Paul and wanted to hear him. A few days after the trial was over and the members of the Sanhedrin left, Felix sent for Paul so he and his wife Drusilla could hear Paul speak about faith in Christ Jesus. Think about that from Paul's perspective. As opportunistic as Paul is, he is now being invited by the governor to come and speak to me about faith in Christ Jesus. He didn't have to try very hard in this one. In this one, the Lord opened the door up and Paul is just there to walk through it. Can you imagine having an open door with this type of guy? If you were here last week or can listen to this, Felix was demonstrably one of the worst governors in the history of Rome's occupation of Judea. He was cruel, treacherous, corrupt. He had no respect for people or even for the law, really. Now, he doesn't quite follow the pattern of the Philippian jailer where he says, Paul, what must I do to be saved? But, he says, I'm curious about faith in Christ Jesus. Would you like to come and speak to me about that topic? Paul says, no thanks, I got other stuff to do, right? Obviously not. There's no indication that Felix wanted to do anything with the information, but he wanted to know more. Specifically, he wanted to know this, what it meant to have faith in Christ Jesus. Like I said last week and earlier, Felix was, I think, extremely intrigued by Paul. He knew that Christians had a strict moral code, they had faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy. I mean, surely Felix had heard stories about some of these Christians who were willing to face persecution and even death rather than give up that profession. His own father-in-law had murdered one of the twelve. He knew that they were willing to stand even against that. He now has the opportunity to hold one of their most renowned teachers in custody and to hear about his faith in his own words. I think that's what he liked. He wanted that. I mean, he had just seen Paul stand toe-to-toe with the high priest and not even flinch. That kind of conviction for a guy who has no conviction, can be pretty interesting, pretty intriguing, pretty enticing, kind of an attractive thing that I want to find out more about. And this is, I think, what's going on here. That conviction of Paul is potentially why he summoned Paul and sat down with his wife to hear what Paul had to say about this faith that he professed. See, in verse 25 we read this, "...as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control in the coming judgment." This is what Paul began preaching or teaching, reasoning through these topics. This is where Paul began to present the Gospel to Felix. Now, we don't know specifically what he said, but these are the three broad categories, right? Righteousness, self-control, coming judgment. We can take a pretty good guess about what Paul would have said about these things by noting the kinds of things that Paul wrote in his letters to the other churches and pastors about these very topics. It gives us the opportunity to grab our Bibles, loosen up the pages, turn some pages to see these things kind of in a Bible study format about what might have Paul said about these topics. And that's what I want to do now. So you need to have your Bible, kind of get it ready a little bit. We're going to flip around a little bit for some verses for a few minutes. But in speaking about righteousness, I'm sure that Paul spoke of sin and how far short we fall. I think about passages like in Romans 3. Let's see here, Romans 3. If you see in verse 10, we read this, that it is written, none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. A little later in that same chapter, Paul writes in verse 23, Romans 3.23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I mean, you could see Paul starting there right away, right, Felix? Neither you nor I are righteous. None is righteous. All of us have sinned. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. But if we're going to stand before God, we have to be acceptable. We have to have a righteousness. But we don't. So what can we do? We can't fix our problem on our own because we're not righteous. But there is one who was. Jesus the righteous. He's the one who had no sin. He's perfect. He's holy. He was righteous. And here, Felix, is the first place where faith comes in. Philippians 3, verse 9. Paul wrote this to that church that I think applies directly here. It says, "...be found in him," you should be found in Christ, "...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ." The righteousness from God that depends on faith. You see, Felix, there's a connection between what we believe or who we believe in and our righteousness. We can't have a righteousness of our own, but by faith in Christ, you can have a righteousness that's from Him, a righteousness from God that's given to you by grace. back in Romans 3, a little bit longer passage that includes verse 23. But if you start in Romans 3 and verse 21, you can see Paul standing or sitting with Felix and Drusilla telling them this, that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. Romans 3 that's verse 21 of 22 and on the righteousness of God through faith in in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are then justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over the former sins. But this is a righteousness to be received by faith. Jesus didn't have any sin of His own, so He didn't have the condemnation of death for His own lack of righteousness, but just as was predicted by the prophets, He actually gave His life as a ransom for His people. He did that. He died the death that I deserved as a propitiation by His blood, turning away God's wrath from me. for my lack of righteousness. And how do we receive that payment on our behalf? It's to be received by faith. See there in verse 22 again, Romans 3? The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. But what is that faith? That faith is not simply an empty intellectual belief. It's not a statement that we make alone, but it's something that's accompanied by a new allegiance to Christ as Lord. It's about self-control that comes with a new birth, right? Righteousness, you don't have any, but you need some. You can get it by faith in Christ, but it's a kind of faith that is going to require you to humble yourself and to be self-controlled, to lead a new life in Him. In 2 Timothy, verse 1, Paul wrote this to the pastor Timothy, 2 Timothy 1.7. He said, For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power, and of love, and of self-control. It's what you get with the spirit. New life. A new life that's not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. I mean, that's the power of the Christian life, right? To put to death the things of our old nature and to live self-controlled and upright lives in this present age. Basically what he wrote to Titus in chapter 2, verse 11. Titus 2.11 reads like this, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. This is what we have in the Gospel is the command of self-control. If you want that righteousness, you must live by faith in Christ. And faith in Christ will cause you to live this way, to renounce your ways and to control yourself, to purify yourself for Christ, to train yourself in these ways for our great God and Savior Jesus Christ in whom we profess faith. Now, now, if you have this, once you have this a new life of faith in Christ, you can't continue in your sins any longer. Romans 6, he writes about this. Verses 12 and 13. Paul wrote, let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for righteousness, but present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. See the connection? Self-control and righteousness and how it has to do with faith? If you have faith, faith in Christ means that you're not going to present yourself to sin anymore. This is the life of faith in Christ. One that not only trusts Him to provide the righteousness we need to be acceptable to God, but also gives us a new life that's dedicated to self-control, so that sin no longer will be master over us. Lastly, Paul talked about the judgment that's to come. One day we're all going to stand face to face with the judge of all the earth. Paul himself said something similar to this when he was preaching in Athens. In Acts 17, verse 30, Paul said this when he was preaching, "...the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Who's the judge of all the earth? The one that he's raised from the dead. The one in whom the Christian professes faith. There's a day appointed for the judgment, and God's not overlooking it anymore. Felix, He's let you go for a while, but know this, there's a judgment day coming when Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead, will judge the whole world. In Romans 2, verse 16, Paul says that it will be on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. What's this? There's a day, according to the gospel, this gospel that Paul's preaching about faith in Christ, there's a day when everybody will be judged righteously by Christ. Now, Jesus is the one who will review our case, down to the details of the secrets of our hearts, but more than that, He's also the dividing line that determines whether we're saved or lost. What you do with the gospel determines your eternal destiny. Felix, do you trust in Christ or reject Him? Because in Romans 8.1, Paul wrote this, that there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. See, faith in Christ is the difference between being set free or being condemned. But that faith has to be the living and active faith in Christ. Without obedience of the faith commanded by God, then that day will not end well. Paul also wrote stuff like that. 2 Thessalonians 1.8, he warned of a day and flaming fire when Christ will return to inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the wrath that is to come, Felix, will be on you if you reject the Lord Jesus and don't have faith and trust in Him. Felix, the good news about faith in Christ is that you can have His righteousness credited to you and escape the condemnation of that judgment if you have an authentic faith that's accompanied by self-control and a new life lived for Christ. Acts 24.25 tells us that as Paul reasoned about these things, righteousness and self-control in the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I'll summon you. I mean, obviously Paul pressed the gospel to Felix and Drusilla, that your sinners who need to repent and turn to Christ Jesus in faith or the judgment that will come will fall on you. I mean, Paul we have seen over and over again. Paul is no theoretical teacher, is he? Paul is a preacher with great conviction who demands the response of faith. That is surely what he did here. He himself has a testimony of what the faith looks like. I mean, he shared it often in these chapters of Acts, his own testimony. We can assume that he may have shared it again with these guys right here. Luke just didn't write it out. I mean, he surely would have shared it if he thought it helpful and appropriate. Paul's never a guy who stood above everybody pointing condemningly at the sins of others. He continued to be amazed in his own life that as the chief of sinners, the Lord had saved him. I think that comes out in his preaching over and over again. And what he wanted from the people he was preaching to was that same response. He knows it's necessary for Felix to turn from trusting in himself and his own wisdom in order to be saved. We can only assume that he might have pressed Felix with something like he did a couple chapters later. We'll see in a couple chapters when he's before Festus and Agrippa making another defense. At one point, Agrippa says, Paul, you're out of your mind, right? And then in Acts 26.26, Paul says this to Agrippa, you know about these things. And I am speaking boldly to you, for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped your notice. For this has not been done in a corner, King Agrippa. Do you believe in the prophets? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian? And Paul said, Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I, except for these chains." That's Paul's interest, right? He surely did the same sort of stuff with Felix. And we know that Felix was affected, right? But what Luke says the effect on Felix was that he was alarmed. Not that he was intrigued. Not that he was excited to go and get baptized. But he was alarmed. It probably means he was concerned. Concerned that Paul might be right. He was scared that if this is true, then I'm not headed in the right direction. That would be a frightening thought. An alarm can be a good response to the gospel if it leads someone to seek relief from their concerns by turning to trust in Christ Jesus. But alarm at the message of the gospel can also lead a person to just seek to calm their fears in the world, to find something to distract them, some other thing to take their mind off of it, whatever. Fortunately, this is what seems to be happening here with Felix. For as he was alarmed, he said, go away. Go away for now. When I get an opportunity, I'll summon you." You remember there were some in Athens, after listening to Paul, who said something similar? In Acts 17.32, after Paul was done preaching, when they heard the resurrection of the dead, some mocked him, but others said, we will hear you again about this. Felix seems to have that same sort of reaction. Now, with those guys in Athens, we have no evidence that Paul ever preached again there, that they didn't get a second opportunity. They had one shot, they gave it up, they didn't respond in faith, and they maybe never heard the gospel from Paul again anyway. But that's not so with Felix, is it? See verse 26? And at the same time he hoped that money would be given to him by Paul, so he sent for him often, and conversed with him. And when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. For two years, Felix sent for Paul often to converse with him." Now, based on what we know of Paul, do you suppose that they were just talking weather and the Olympics and stuff? I mean, you have to assume that most, if not all, of these conversations centered on the Gospel. I mean, Paul said, I desire to know nothing except for Christ and Him crucified. I have no reason to have a conversation with anybody about anything other than that. This is Paul's thing. Maybe sometimes they chatted about other things as Felix tried to lead the conversation, but we know that Paul would have been trying to be opportunistic to bring the conversation back to Christ, right? We don't see in these verses any indication that Felix ever did anything with his alarm, that he felt that first time that Paul told him about faith in Christ. I mean, they surely talked again about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment. about faith in Christ. But for the most part, Felix, this verse tells us, was primarily hoping that Paul would try to bribe him to get out of prison. I mean, that's not the craziest idea if you think about it. Felix was pretty used to getting bribes. And it's probably true that the Jewish leadership around there were bringing him bribes pretty regularly when they wanted him to do stuff for them. I mean, Paul's clearly one of the leaders of the way, right? And we all know that these religious guru guys are in it for the money anyway. So even though he sort of looked shabby, he probably had a nice thick bank account somewhere, and a safe in his yacht, and his private jet, right? So all he's got to do is just offer Felix the private jet, and Felix will let him go. Because that's how the religious leaders are. Why wouldn't he just buy his way to freedom? Felix probably would have let him go for the right amount, maybe not even that much. But I'm guessing it might have been pretty tempting for Paul, actually. Evidently, Luke knows that this was going on. Paul probably did too. Felix might just have been the kind of guy who said something like, aren't you going to bribe me? I mean, he's not hiding his unrighteousness in any way, according to history. But here's Paul, think about Paul for a second. He's locked up in Caesarea for two years. As far as we know, he never preached to anybody during that time other than Felix. Now his friends probably came and maybe he met with them and he was able to sit with some believers and encourage them and be encouraged by them. Maybe they sat and had some prayer meetings and some Bible studies or something like that. But we don't know anything about anything that Paul did during these two years other than talk to Felix. We don't know that he ever wrote anything. like he did in his Roman imprisonment. If he did, those things are lost to history. Paul is probably sitting there kind of getting a little antsy. I mean, especially because of what happened the night before he was removed from Jerusalem. Remember what that was? He was in the cell and the Lord Jesus appeared and stood by him and said, what? You're going to go and be a witness for me in Rome the way that you have been here in Jerusalem. Two long years. Paul's sitting there going, Jesus, when are we going to get to Rome? All I got is this guy who wants a bribe, who wants to listen to me, but he never really does anything with what I tell him. What are we doing here? Was Paul just wasting his time there? Oh, you have to know Paul, right? Maybe the Lord gave him a little bit of a break that he appreciated, maybe, but he's not just talking to Felix, he's talking to the centurion that Felix assigned to take care of him. He's talking to the other people around, whoever he could get a chance with, the Christians who came to visit him, all over the place, Paul's doing that sort of thing. It was evidently enough, this here, that Paul was content in where he was and what he was doing. But after two years of this, something changed. Felix left. History tells us that Felix didn't leave. Emperor Nero recalled him. Felix had been accused of leading a slaughter of some people there in Caesarea and plundering their property. He used the pretext of them starting a riot, then he took the Roman soldiers in there and burned their houses down and stole all their stuff or something. Porcius Festus replaced Felix when Nero summoned him to Rome to come and answer for those accusations. Now, most think that Felix is probably guilty, but just as he got the appointment of governor in Judea because of his brother's friendship with the emperor, it seems that his brother got him off to where he wasn't executed for this, but he never came back, as far as we know, to Judea. This is the last we see of Felix. Before we leave him there, we read that he kept Paul in prison because he wanted to do the Jews a favor. That probably had everything to do with the accusations against him. It's probably likely that Felix had murdered a few Jewish guys and he was using Paul as a kind of a pawn in a game. If you don't stop this accusation of me that I killed some of your friends, I'm going to let Paul go. And then you guys will have Paul to deal with again. You want that? Then how about you shut up? I think this is the kind of guy that, maybe I'm the twisted one because I think like this, right? This is how, this is I think how Felix is thinking because it says that he left him in prison to do the Jews a favor. I mean, he's got Paul. I'm curious about listening to him, but hopefully he'll give me a big bribe. That's always good for me. And if he doesn't, then I'll just use him against the Jews sometime in the future. I'll just hold on to him as a tool I can use against them. I mean, think about what he did. First he puts the Jews off, and now he puts Paul off. Like I said last week, he's just a consummate politician. Whatever's most beneficial to him and his position at any given moment, that's what Felix does. And yet, he does have this interest in Paul. I mean, there was something more going on than him just hoping for a bribe or keeping him as a pawn for his game. He's interested in what Paul believes and is intrigued by the conviction with which he lived his life. But he never really seemed to go any further with the Lord than being temporarily alarmed by the truth. And Felix provides for us here a distinct object lesson that we can't miss. It's evident in the one thing that Luke quoted Felix as saying when he was alarmed in verse 25. When he was alarmed, he said, Go away! When I get an opportunity, I'll summon you. You heard it in my prayer in the beginning here. I kept coming back to this theme of Paul. From Acts 21 all the way through 23, even in this. That Paul is characterized in this time, in my opinion, by sort of one big theme. Remember what I keep saying? It's the theme that kept striking me about how opportunistic Paul was. He's always looking for the opportunity. What's my next opportunity to spread the gospel? He's no different in this chapter. He was surely opportunistic with Felix, as often as he could converse with him. But Felix, considering Felix, you got to see Felix as the antithesis of Paul. He's the negative of Paul, the opposite. If Paul was about seizing every opportunity, Felix was all about wasting them. He's a lesson about wasted opportunity. There may be no single person in all of biblical history who wasted so much opportunity. He's second. Judas Iscariot is first. Three and a half years with Christ beats two years with Paul. They're both about wasted opportunity though, aren't they? Can you imagine having Paul the Apostle all to yourself whenever you wanted to talk to him about anything whatsoever for two full years? I mean, he's arguably the best theologian and evangelist in the history of the church aside from Christ Jesus himself. And Felix has him in his house with him for two years. He talked with him pretty often, but there's no evidence at all that he was saved. I mean, what an opportunity that he wasted. For weeks, I've been encouraging us to study Paul as a great example, always opportunistic, to seize every advantage for the kingdom. But today, I have to encourage us to be warned about Felix. He's also an example. An example of warning. to not waste the opportunities we're given, particularly the opportunities we have to repent and turn to Christ in faith. Remember what Paul was preaching to Felix and Drusilla that first day? Like me, you're a sinner without any righteousness to please God. But you can have the righteousness of Christ Jesus credited to you and escape the condemnation of the judgment. if you turn to Him and trust Him with an authentic faith that's accompanied by self-control and the repentance of a new life lived for Him. I mean, if that message alarms you today, do not put off the opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus for another day. Three different places in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 3, we read these things. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, but exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And as it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." Through Paul, Felix heard the voice of God calling him to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus every time he met with Paul. And every time, all evidence indicates that Felix hardened his heart against that message. Oh, he was interested. He was intrigued. He was hopeful that maybe Paul would pay him a bribe. He was holding on to Paul so that he could use him to his advantage someday in the future. But he never responded in faith, did he? He never got saved. All that opportunity wasted. What about you? If you hear the voice of God calling you to faith in Christ Jesus today, don't waste the opportunity and put it off. Felix got more than one chance, but you might not. Those guys in Athens, I don't think, got another chance. I think they had one chance. How many chances are you going to get? I don't know either. You might not get two years with Paul. You might only get one chance right now today. So don't harden your heart. Don't waste the opportunity and allow your heart to become hardened. Today is the day of opportunity for your salvation. Do not be Felix and waste it. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this, for giving us an example in these things. One in Paul that we can follow, that we can be encouraged by, that we can try to emulate. And another example, one in Felix, that we should at all costs avoid, that we should never want to be satisfied to be like Felix, to hear things that are interesting and tickling to our ears, enticing to our intellects, things that are interesting and stuff, but never to come to faith in the way that we should. Lord, help each of us never to only be alarmed by the gospel, but to be alarmed to such a degree that we are driven to you, that we seek you, that we come to you and ask you for the relief that our soul needs and the forgiveness of our sins that comes through faith in Christ Jesus. I thank you that we know this gospel and have this gospel that we could preach, that you have for many of us saved us from our sins and didn't leave us in the hardness of our heart. Lord, I pray that you would not allow any, any who hear this today to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, but rather to turn to you and to come to you in faith. Lord, I thank you for the, for the, the opportunity of preaching this today. I pray it wouldn't be a wasted opportunity for any of us. This praise you and thank you for this in Jesus name. Amen.