Open up our Bibles to the Book of Acts, and we're going to be in the Book of Acts, Chapter 24. Now, we're not going to do a Christmas message right now, per se. We'll do that tomorrow night. But I want to say a few things about Christmas, and one thing that I have noticed during this time of the year is there's been a lot of sadness because of what's happened in our nation, the shootings there in Newtown, Connecticut, and the all the tragedy that happened there. And then, of course, on a more personal level for me, a little bit more personal is one of my good friends, Pastor Robert, in Tucson. Robert Furrow, his wife, Lisa, passed away this last week. She had lung cancer. And then this week, I heard one of the saddest things possible. Levi Lusko, who's a pastor up in Idaho, one of the Calvary Chapel guys up there, his five-year-old daughter passed away. She had an asthma attack and died in mom and dad's arms. And so it's been a really difficult time. And then Kenny just told me that last night in Pennsylvania, there was another shooting in the church. Someone came in and shot three people. So we live in very crazy, very volatile days. And you know, a lot of us have had some difficult things happen to us this last year. We've had some different struggles, things have gone on in our families, whatever. And you know, we really need the Lord in our lives. And we need the Lord in this nation so much. I found this prayer and I wanted to read it to you. Somebody wrote it just recently. And it says this, Dear Jesus, it is a good thing that you were born at night. The world It seems so dark. I have a good eye for silver linings, but they seem dimmer lately. These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated. The whole world seems on edge. Trigger happy, ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button push away from annihilation? Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were night shift workers. The wise men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod's jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence. Herod went on a rampage killing babies. Joseph fled and took Jesus and his wife to Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene. O Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won't you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We're looking for your light. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger. This Christmas, we ask you to heal us, to help us, to be born anew in us. Hopefully, this will happen from your children. And it's hard, you know, when you look at the world and all that's going on And all the difficulties that we live in the midst of, it's hard sometimes to see the good things. But we have so much to be grateful for. In fact, the fact that we can celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world is an amazing thing. And one of the things that is difficult when we're going through stuff is to see past the immediate to the end, to the end of the tunnel where the light of God is always shining. When we look at our story this morning, we know that Paul the apostle, He himself experienced the presence of the Lord in his life, the risen Jesus, the alive Jesus, to help him through everything that he went through. He was in a literal trial. He had been arrested, he had been falsely accused, and now he's been imprisoned. He's in jail, yet he's totally innocent. Now, last time we saw Paul on trial, With the high priest and some of the Sanhedrin had come they had brought a prosecuting attorney a high-powered attorney named Tertullus And they laid these false charges against Paul, but here was Paul's advantage And this is the advantage that we have as believers even today His advantage was this is that God was on his side he was filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit and Jesus had come to him in his jail cell and assured him. Look back at chapter 23, verse 11. An amazing event of Paul experiencing the Lord's presence literally. Acts 23, 11 says, But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome. So here they were trying to lynch Paul. trying to seek his life, trying to seek a guilty verdict. But the Lord had given Paul great comfort and assurance. And not only that, but the Lord gave Paul, in the midst of his circumstance, the Lord gave him wisdom. And as he was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit became his defense attorney. God gave him the words, and he convinced the governor Felix that he was not guilty, nor was he worthy of death. And so he had experienced the promise of the Lord coming true in his life. And that promise that we had looked at the last time where the Lord made a promise in Mark chapter 13 not to be afraid or not to worry beforehand what you're going to say if you're arrested or you're brought before kings or governors or whatever. He said, just say whatever's given to you at the time. And this is what Paul did. He was filled with the Spirit and the Holy Spirit spoke through him. Now I believe, as we look at Paul, this is what gave Paul strength constantly. Knowing that he had the Lord with him no matter what he was doing or what God called him to do. Knowing that the Lord was his strength and his shield. Knowing that the Lord was his defense, his attorney, his advocate. And it was because of that he won this case over this worldly wisdom-filled attorney named Tertullus. Now, notice the governor's conclusion, though, and we sort of pick it up this morning, and we pick it up in chapter 24 and in verse 22. But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, when Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case. Now, what Felix was basically doing here, guys, was putting the Sanhedrin and the high priest off. And he was basically taking a neutral way out by postponing a decision. He knew that Paul was innocent. Now we know that because of what we're going to see here in a second. He was being railroaded by a lynch mob. In fact, look forward to chapter 25, and we'll look at verse 25, which Felix has explained to King Agrippa about the situation a little bit later on. In chapter 25, verse 25, listen to what Felix says there. He says, But I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. So Felix basically says, look, I know he was innocent. So at this point, when he tells the Sanhedrin, I'm going to wait till I see us. One of the commanders that arrested Paul originally, I'm going to wait for him to come here and he can testify and then I'll make a decision. But what he was doing is he was playing the politician and politicians are good at pacifying people, aren't they? They'll often say what people want to hear with no intention whatsoever or no ability whatsoever of making any change. And so, in this case, that's what he was doing. He sort of puts them off. But notice the phrase there in verse 22. Very interesting phrase. But when Phoenix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the way. Interesting phrase there. We're told here that Phoenix knew about Christianity. He knew about the way he knew about this message of Jesus. Now, we don't know how he knows about the way. Well, why was it called the way anyways? Well, we know it was called the way because the believers of the first followers of Jesus. That's what they were labeled. They were labeled as the way. Today we're called Christians, but back then at the beginning, they were called the way. Why was that? Because Jesus, remember, his own words in John chapter 14, he had said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And so this is the basis of this term, the way. Now the two zillion or three zillion or five zillion dollar question is that we have is do we believe that ourselves? Do we believe that Jesus is the way? You know that either Jesus was lying or he was telling the truth. And if he was telling the truth, then there is no other way to heaven. There's not a multitude of roads. There's not a whole bunch of different religious systems that can get you to heaven. There is one door into heaven and his name is Jesus. That's what he was telling us. So if you want to ask the question, well, in the end, how am I going to get to heaven? Here's the answer. The answer is very clear. It's who you know. Do you know Jesus? And does Jesus know you as one of his own, as one of his followers? You know, it's not good enough that you go to church. It's great that you come to church. Church is an important part of us getting encouraged, getting equipped for the work of the ministry, getting built up. It's important to come and learn and to be taught. But it's not a matter of, well, do you go to church? Is that going to get you into heaven? No way. The thing is, is are you a follower of Jesus? Do you belong to Jesus? There's a lot of people that come to church week in and week out, but they're not really living for the Lord. They don't really belong to the Lord. They're not following the Lord during the week. If you look at their lives, if you could examine their lives, there's no difference between them and the heathens, them and the world. But they were in church on Sunday, right? So it's not a matter of that. Imagine meeting Jesus and someday we're all going to meet him, whether you believe or don't. I believe with 100% certainty that every single one of us, I don't care if you're an atheist or an agnostic or what you are, someday we are all going to meet Jesus. And you know what? Imagine meeting him someday and hearing these words from him. Depart from me, I never knew you, you evildoer, who are cursed into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Those are Jesus' exact words. There are going to be people that that's what he says to them. Depart from me. I never knew you. Now that would be the worst thing ever. You know there are two endings for every one of us. We're going to hear those words depart from me or we're going to hear come you who are blessed by my father into the kingdom prepared for you. And so we're either going to be we're going to be told to depart or we're going to be told to come in. Now the question arises as we look at this story is how did the governor have knowledge of the way we don't know that because we're not told in the story. We know that the gospel had at this point spread extensively throughout the, not only Israel, but throughout the Roman world. And Jesus, after he had risen and ascended, the apostles began to go out and to proclaim the gospel to people, the good news to people. And we know that literally thousands upon thousands of people had come to faith in Jesus Christ. So somehow along that, during this period of time, Felix had been exposed to the gospel. Now some think it may have been his wife Drusilla, because she was Jewish and her family really had a history with the things of the Lord. And I'll talk about that here in a little bit. It wasn't a good history, but she had a history. So after the trial is over, this high priest now, This high-powered attorney and some of the Sanhedrin go off on their merry little way without having Paul's head on the platter. Look what happens in verse 23 as we continue on. So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him. Paul was kept but not necessarily as a criminal. He was given a lot of freedom. He was given some liberty, and he was able to have his friends come and visit him, to bring him food, to bring him clothing. In fact, back then, you know, when you were in prison or in jail, you got the very, very, very bare minimum. But if you had good friends and you had people that could take care of you, and in this case, Paul probably did, they were able to come and give him stuff and take care of him. And Felix, we can see, treated Paul pretty well for the most part. But we know also that God had a job for Paul to do while he was there. And I believe it was part of God's divine plan and purpose that Paul be here at this time. Because God had a job for him to do. Folks, here's the thing. We have a tendency in life, don't we, to complain quite a bit. I'm not going to ask you if you're a complainer, but I can ask people around you and they would tell me whether or not you are. You know why? Because you complain to them all the time, right? But the thing is, we have a tendency to complain about our lot in life a lot of times or our circumstances. But why not better do this? Why not better say, Lord, here I am. Now, what do you have me? Would you have me to do? How can I best serve you? How can I represent you? How can I bring you glory? How can I bring you honor where you have me or in the circumstance that I'm in right now? Instead of complaining, submit to God. See, Paul was incarcerated, but the gospel was not incarcerated. And God used Paul while he was in prison to do some amazing things. You might say, well, my job's a prison. Well, where I'm at, you know, it's really hard. Well, maybe God wants to use you there. And maybe he has you there in order for you to be a light. Maybe your place of employment or where you're at is very, very dark. But maybe God wants you to be the light for him there. Maybe you think about this, and this was a heavy one to think about. Maybe you're the only gospel that the person next to you will ever be exposed to. Imagine that. You might be the only person that that person knows that is a Christian. You might be the only one that he ever knows or ever meets. And imagine that when you stand before the Lord, he said, you know, I had you working with Fred over there because I wanted you to tell him about me. But Fred perished because you said nothing. And I'm not saying that's literally going to happen, but think about it. What if you are the only Christian that somebody else knows? What kind of witness are you being? Are you really shining the light? Are you open to God using you to be a light where you're at? Now, the Roman guards who guarded Paul, I read this week, they were changed every six hours. Can you imagine being changed to Paul the Apostle? You know you're going to hear the gospel, right? Every one of those guys heard the gospel. Chained to Paul the Apostle. Now look at verse 24 as we continue. It says, After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now this is pretty awesome. The governor wants to hear what Paul has to say. Had not Paul been there, that would have never happened. But he was there and God had him there for a reason. So Felix brings his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish and he was a Gentile. And so here's this mixed marriage, which was unusual, pretty unusual back then, because normally Jews and Gentiles did not mix. They were not married normally. They were not unequally yoked. And if they were, there was a stigma attached to it. But a little bit of background about Drusilla, who was Jewish. She was the daughter. Now follow this line. Remember I said that she was familiar with or in some ways understood or was aware of the gospel. Follow this. Think about this. Drusilla was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. Who was Herod Agrippa I? Herod Agrippa I, her daddy, was the one who beheaded James, the apostle in Acts chapter 12. One of the early martyrs. Her great uncle, was the one who had John the Baptist beheaded. Because John the Baptist confronted Herod and Herodias about their unlawful marriage. And it was her great-grandpa who had all the babies in Bethlehem slaughtered in an attempt to murder the Messiah, or get rid of baby Jesus. So, Drusilla has a pretty tainted bloodline when it comes to the things of God. And she's not ignorant either. And also, this marriage that she's in right now with Felix is tainted. Why is it tainted? Because she is Felix's third wife. Felix had lured her, historians tell us, that Felix had lured her away from her husband, the Syrian prince. And so she dumped him and married Felix. And all this happened before she was even 20 years old. So she was about 19 at this time when she's married to Felix and this is Felix's third wife. I'm thinking Felix is an older guy and she's young and she's probably a fox or whatever they call her. What do they call pretty girls nowadays? I don't know. And she's, you know, she's a trophy wife, you know, and so he gets her as a trophy wife. So, when we look at their circumstances, and Paul begins to share the gospel with these two, these two are not exactly, you know, pure and white as the driven snow, not even close. But, neither were we, were we, when we heard the gospel. See, Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's what this whole message is about. The whole story of Christmas. In fact, when the angel comes and speaks to Mary and then to Joseph and says, look, you're going to name him Jesus. His name is Yeshua, the Lord of salvation, for he will save his people from their sins. Jesus himself, his name tells of his mission. He came into the world to save us, to save sinners. So a lot of us were not unlike Felix and Priscilla when we first heard the gospel message, when we first heard of the mercy that God was offering to us. He was offering mercy. He was offering pardon. He's offering forgiveness. And so a lot of us were tainted by sin. You know, I would have loved to hear Paul's full sharing. with Felix and Drusilla. We don't get the whole message. We just have basically three main points. We have to sort of fill in the blank or the details on our own, but the main subject that he spoke to them about was, of course, Jesus. Right? That's what we see at the end of verse 24. And he heard him concerning faith in Christ. Guys, the message of the Gospel is about a person. It is not about religion. It is not about joining a church or anything like that. It's not about rules. It's about a relationship. It's about faith in Christ. Jesus is salvation. Salvation is a person. And it's in knowing Him that we're saved. It's in knowing Him that we're forgiven. And so He focuses in on faith in Christ. Jesus is everything. He's who we celebrate. He's why we celebrate. He's the reason for the season. You know that we're not celebrating a day. There's a lot of argument today going on all the time. People jumping up and down. Oh, December 25th was was not his birthday. Yeah, they're probably right. But we don't know when his birthday is because it never tells us. Never tells us he was born April 20th or March 15th or anything like that. We're not celebrating a day anyways. We're celebrating a person. We're celebrating the Savior. That's who we're celebrating because he's salvation. And not only is he the reason for the season, he is a reason for all seasons. He's the reason that we live. He's the reason that we exist at all. Now, listen to some of the things that Paul discussed with the governor and his third lady. Look at verse 25. Now, as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. This verse gives us some insight into the basics of the gospel. We know that the focal point was Jesus. But now we know, as we look at this, why we all need Jesus, and this is what he was telling Felix and Drusilla. Here's why we all need Jesus, guys. Paul reasoned with them first about righteousness. Folks, if you want to know what righteousness is, look at the Ten Commandments or look at Jesus. And they're very straightforward. The Ten Commandments are very straightforward. You go through them one by one. Start to read them and go through them and study them and meditate upon them one by one. And you know what you will discover about yourself? That you are a lawbreaker. You have broken those commandments. Well, I've never committed adultery. Well, Jesus says, if you look at a woman lustfully, you've already committed adultery in your heart. Oh, I've never murdered anybody. Jesus says, if you hate somebody, you have murder in your heart. So it's not just, you know, the act. There's the inward things of the law. But when you begin to study the law, you see the righteousness that God has required of us, the standard. And you know what? None of us have lived up to it. We've all failed. You look at Jesus himself, he was perfect. If you want to get to heaven, that means you have to be perfect. But we know that we're not. We're not righteous in the eyes of God. His standard is perfection. And when I begin to look at the law, or I begin to look at Jesus, you know what I see? I see the real me, and I see that I am guilty, that I am a lawbreaker, that I am a transgressor, that I'm a sinner. I've broken the law of God. I've transgressed against the law of God. I'm not righteous in the eyes of God at all. Far from it. So I'm busted now. I'm convicted. Remember that old song? I don't remember who sang it, but it was a lady. She said, you're no good. You're no good. You're no good, baby. You're no good. Well, that's true. You are no good. You see, we're not good in the eyes of God. You might be good compared to Charles Manson. You might look pretty darn good. But compared to Jesus, you look pretty darn bad. Right. And so that's the thing. God has set a standard of righteousness. I have failed miserably. So have you. We've all failed to live up to that standard. So now what? The only thing I can say is this is oh, that's all I can say. Imagine when Paul got to that part, too, when when he was sharing, perhaps sharing the standard of righteousness with with Felix and Drusilla, and he gets to the part where he says, you know, the scripture says you shall not commit adultery. Or you know the scripture says, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. That must have been a little bit uncomfortable, don't you think? Some squirming in their throne seats as Paul was sharing. See, God has a standard of righteousness and not one of us has lived up to it. So what does that make us? It makes us sinners. It makes us lawbreakers. And you know what? God is no respecter of persons. These people were high up. It didn't matter. God is no respecter of persons. The next thing that we're told that He shares with them after He shares righteousness, He shares with them about self-control. Now, when you think about self-control and you start to evaluate what He must have said and what's the Bible say about self-control, you know what our main problem is, mankind's main problem is? We have none. We don't have any self-control. We are greatly deficient when it comes to self-control. We lack it. And the lack of self-control in our lives gets us into all kinds of trouble all the time. Because we can't control our thoughts. We can't control our tongues. We can't control our eyes. We can't control our fleshly appetites and the desires of the flesh. We can't control our anger. We can't control our jealousy or our envy. We don't control our actions. We can't control our emotions. We can't control our spending. Some people can't control their drinking or their drugs or they can't control what's happening in their relationship. So guys, what does self-control tell us? We have issues. We have big issues. We have issues with self-control, because we are fallen and we are sinful. And without self-control, we can't control our flesh. That's what's cool about the New Testament and the being filled with the Spirit and having the Holy Spirit, that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control. Only He can give us the ability to control our tongues. He's the only one. He's the only one that can give us the ability to control our appetites, our fleshly desires, our sinful desires. He's the one that can bring all that into check. So without self-control, what do we do? We just live out in our sinful lives. We're like a bunch of wild beasts. That's human beings. We're like barbarians without self-control, without the Holy Spirit. Or as Paul puts it in another place, that we live in passionate lust like the heathens who do not know God. Look around you guys. Do unbelievers have self-control? I mean, even us Christians struggle with it. And we have the Holy Spirit. But look around at the world. Do unbelievers have self-control? Very little, or if any. All you've got to do is listen to them talk. It's like, beep, every other word for some people. Right? Taking the Lord's name in vain constantly. Talking bad about people. Gossiping. Cursing people. Indulging in the things of the flesh. They have no self-control. And without self-control, what happens? Sin enslaves us. Sin rules us. That's why Jesus said, everyone who sins becomes a slave to sin. And only He can come and set us free from that slavery. So, He spoke to them about self-control. They had none. Right? Third, and this one's really heavy, Paul speaks to them about the judgment to come. This is part of the message of the gospel, guys. The gospel's good news. But you know what? There's bad news, too. There is a judgment that is going to come. And this judgment that is coming, every one of us are going to meet God someday, and every single one of us are going to stand there without anybody else, and we're going to give an account of our lives to the Creator, the Maker of the universe. And we're going to give an accounting. And we've already established that we're lawbreakers. We've already established that we're sinners. We've already established that we have a problem with self-control. But now we have to stand before God to be judged for our sins. You know what? I'm telling you right now, if we are judged for our sins apart from Jesus Christ, here's what's going to happen to us. We will end up in the lake of fire. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty, that's where we're going without Jesus. Because we will be judged based upon our own righteousness. And our righteousness, the Bible says, is as filthy rags. Literally, in the Hebrew, it's filthy menstrual cloths. Your righteousness is gross to God. My righteousness is gross to God. We have none. We're filthy. So how can we stand before a holy God and expect to make it into heaven when we are not righteous at all, not even close? The book of Ecclesiastes is amazing because in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, who writes the book, he lived, he was a total, if you might say, he was a prodigal son, one of King David's sons, but he became a prodigal. And this whole process of him writing the book of Ecclesiastes is about him going out and finding his, looking for at least, finding satisfaction in the world, apart from God. Everything he's trying to find is under the sun, apart from God. How can I find happiness? How can I find fulfillment? How can I find pleasure? And this guy went all out. He was the richest man in the world. He was like Donald Trump or someone, one of those guys. And he had Tons of women. He had a thousand women. He had as much sex as he wanted. He had wine. He had people to come and entertain him. He built amazing structures. The guy had everything that the world could possibly ever give to you. He had it and he indulged in it. And after the whole book is written throughout the book, he kept saying this to emptiness, emptiness, vanity, vanity. It's all meaningless. Because every time he tried to fill that void with something of the world that only God can fill, he came up empty every single time, just like we do. Just like we have many of us or some of you are still doing it. I'm going to be rich, or I'm going to make lots of money, or I'm going to have women, or I'm going to be powerful. And then you get it, and you're like still empty. What's up? Look at Hollywood. What a mess they're in. Right? They have a lot of money. They have fame. They have all this stuff. And their lives are a wreck. You know, here's the thing. Without the Lord, we cannot find fulfillment in this life. And Solomon understood that, and he came to the conclusion, and listen to his words. Turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, the book that he writes in his quest for fulfillment under the sun, apart from God, and listen to what he says at the end. And it's so enlightening, so mind-blowing. Here's what he says as he finishes off this letter. Read the letter on your own, but listen to what he says. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. He comes to this conclusion. He decides in the end, finally. He says, fear God and keep His commandments. For this is man's all. And then he says this. And I relate this to what Paul was telling Felix and Drusilla. He was reasoning with them about the judgment that was coming. Listen to what Solomon writes. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing. There are no secrets with God. He says, whether good or evil. This is what God is going to do someday with every one of us. There is a judgment that is coming. Turn with me to the book of Malachi, another example in the Old Testament book of Malachi, or the book of Malachi, as my friend calls it. Malachi 3, verse 16. Listen to this. Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. I like this. You know that God's listening to our conversations? Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. They shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, on that day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him." And notice this, then you will again discern between the righteous and the wicked. Another version says you will see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. Chapter 4, verse 1, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch, But to you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings, and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this, says the Lord of hosts." The book of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 says this, It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that, the judgment. This is what Felix heard from Paul. There is a judgment. Do not deceive yourself into thinking that you're going to die, and at the end you're just going to go back into the ground, and that's all there is. That is not going to happen. We are going to live eternally, either in glory or in flames. That's what's going to happen. And so, being that we know this, that there is a judgment to come, how ought we to be living? Think about this. Who is going to be the judge? Listen to this. Look at Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17 verse 31. We find out who's going to be the judge. 1731 Acts. It says this. We'll look at starting at verse 30. Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent. So the Gospel message is what? A commandment for all of us to repent. Everywhere no matter where you're at or who you are verse 31 because He has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in Righteousness notice by who though by the man whom he has ordained He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead who was raised from the dead Jesus Jesus is going to be the judge of Now, when Felix and Drusilla hear this, notice their response. We see the response of Felix. We're told here about his response. Listen to what happens. Look at the end of verse 25, or right after the judgment to come part. It says, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now, for when I have a convenient time, I will call for you. Literally, in the King James, it says that he trembled. In the Greek, it literally means that he trembled like an earthquake. He was literally shaking. Have you ever been that afraid when you are literally shaking? I believe he was convicted, and God's Word had him thinking, and he started to see his unrighteousness in the light of God's holiness, his coming accountability, and it equaled, for him, fear. He became afraid. I remember when I first heard the Gospel, I got afraid too. I got afraid when I realized when the Lord spoke to me and said, Joseph, here's what you're doing. Here's how you're living. Galatians chapter five, the acts of the flesh. He says in the list, all these sins. And I was doing almost everything on that list. Except for the homosexuality, I will say I didn't do that. Thank God. But everything else on the list, I was I was pretty much doing that or the orgy part. I didn't do that either, but everything else I was doing. And, you know, when I read that list, I saw I saw what it said at the end. Paul says, I warn you that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Man, I got afraid. Because I saw that I was headed to hell. That's where I was going. And you know what? If you're headed to hell, you should be afraid. Because it's not going to be this big party place like everybody lies and says. It's not going to be like that at all. Every time Jesus warned of it, He spoke of it in the most horrible terms possible. The most horrific terms possible. A place of utter suffering. Of complete aloneness. Of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Of constant sorrow. A place of separation. And so, when I realized that that's where I was headed, yes, I got afraid. You know what? You should be afraid of the judgment of God. I had plenty of things that I had done deserving of judgment. And when I finally responded to the Lord and I repented of my sins and I gave my life to Jesus Christ, I'll never forget that day. A huge burden came off of me and I realized the forgiveness of God, the mercy of God. And you know what? I crossed over that day from death to life, from sure judgment in hell to sure forgiveness and eternal life in heaven. And that's the good news of the gospel. We don't have to perish. We don't have to be judged and sent to the lake of fire. We don't have to. God is offering us forgiveness. But see, when Felix heard it, he trembled, but he didn't respond. You know what Felix did? He did what so many still do today, and maybe what some of you are still doing right now. He put it off, and he said, you know what? Later. Mañana. Not yet. Not now. Another time. And that's Satan's favorite tactic. You'll always say, hey, what's the hurry? There's no rush. And he'll do that in order to get a person to put off today what might cost them for eternity. None of us know if we have another minute from now. None of us know if we have tomorrow or next week. A bunch of people died this week, this last week. A bunch of people died this last year that I knew. They didn't go into 2012 thinking, this is it, this is my last year on the earth. None of them thought that, I'm sure. We don't know when the Lord is going to say, today's your day. But here's what happens. Instead of responding and repenting, what does He do? He procrastinates. And procrastination, when it comes to salvation, has caused many a soul to pass from this life unsaved and unforgiven. And they have been lost for eternity. Remember this, that God promises forgiveness to our repentance. But He has not promised us tomorrow to our procrastination. That's why 2 Corinthians 6, verse 1 and 2 says this, that today is the day of salvation. Now is the time. That's the message that we give. God wants us to know that He's offering to us the opportunity to change our lives, but it's got to be now. Don't put it off because you might not have another chance. So, from what we know in Scripture, Felix and Drusilla, we don't think, from what we know, they never repented and they never received Christ. They had a chance, they didn't respond, and they put it off. When they had the conviction of the Holy Spirit, He says, hey, the saddest words in the Bible almost, go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. You know what? God's not going to wait for your convenience. Oh, if God's convenient to me, then I'll live for him. I'll serve. No, we're called to surrender and live for him. And so, in essence, he puts Jesus off and he missed seven. And so look at verse 26 and 27 as we kind of round the corner here. Meanwhile, he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. So all of a sudden we start to see his heart. He keeps calling for Paul, but he's wanting to get money. He's greedy. Therefore, he sent for him more often and conversed with him. But after two years, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix, and Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, so he left Paul bound. As we look at this man's life, and we see that he put off the Lord, I want to encourage you today, don't do that. Make a commitment to Christ if you haven't made a commitment to Christ. If you're living a backslidden life, stop it and get back into a right relationship with the Lord. God has sent his son. We're celebrating the coming of Jesus, but he came to save us from our sins. That's why he came. But we have to receive him. We have to open up our hearts and allow him to be the Lord of our lives. And he will give us forgiveness and eternal life as a gift. Folks, you know, here's the crazy thing. Statistics on death are pretty impressive. 10 out of 10 people die. And, you know, most of us don't spend very much time contemplating where they're going to spend eternity. And we should. We get all caught up in the world and the things of the world and buying presents and doing all these other things, you know, seeking what our careers are going to be, who we're going to marry, you know, how much money we're making. And we forget that we're only here temporarily and we're going to spend eternity somewhere else. That's what we should be focusing in on. Listen to what Warren Wisby says of the strategy of hell itself against us concerning this idea of heaven and hell. Listen to this. He says this. A guy named Clarence McCarthy told the story about a meeting in hell. Satan called his four leading demons together and commanded them to think up a new lie that would trap more souls. I have it, one demon said. I'll go to the earth and tell people that there's no God. It'll never work, said Satan. People can look around them and see that there's a God. I'll go to them and say there's no heaven. Suggested a second demon. But Satan rejected that idea. Everyone knows there's life after death and they all want to go to heaven. You ever been to a funeral where any pastor has ever said, we really mourn the fact that so-and-so is in a worse place. You ever heard anyone? No, we always, oh they're in a better place. Doesn't matter how they lived, you know. And then he says, let's tell them there's no hell, said the third demon. No, conscience tells them their sins will be judged, said the devil. We need a better lie than that. Quietly, the fourth demon spoke. I think I've solved your problem, he said. I'll go to the earth and tell everybody there's no hurry. And see, this is what happened with Felix and his wife, Drusilla. So Paul reasons with them. He reminds them. of these truths that God has given to mankind. And he reminds him of the nearness of the judgment and the reality of heaven, the reality of hell, that you're going to meet Jesus someday, either as your Savior or as your judge. That's the reality. You know that 82% of all Christians got saved before the age of 19. What does that tell us? That the longer you wait, The longer you procrastinate, the less chance that you have statistically of being saved. My grandma gave her life to the Lord when she was 79 years old. Statistically, that is a huge miracle. Because the longer we wait, the longer we put it off, the less chance we're going to have statistically of getting saved and going to heaven. But where are you at this morning? Remember, we celebrate the coming of the Savior. Is He your Savior? That's what matters. Don't be destroyed by sin and damned eternally. Because that's what will happen to you without Jesus. There's no way you're going to make it to heaven by yourself. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word, Lord, in this time and we thank You for sending Jesus to save us from our sins. Not only to save us from the power of sin, but from the consequence of sin as well. We thank You that knowing Christ, Lord, gives us forgiveness and eternal life, and that heaven is our home. And Lord, now You have made us citizens of heaven because You purchased us, You bought us with Your own blood on the cross. Thank you, Lord, for taking our sins. And dying for those sins and being punished for the sins that we all committed. And we thank you for the mercy that you're offering to us and the pardon that we can be cleansed by your sacrifice and have eternal life. I want to give you the opportunity this morning. Keep your eyes closed and your heads bowed. If any of you are here and you've never made a commitment to Christ, you've never opened your heart and asked Him to come in to be your Lord and Savior. I want to give you that opportunity today to do that. No one's looking. Just keep your eyes closed and your heads bowed. Or if you're a prodigal son and you've drifted from God and you know you need to come back and you know that if you died right now, you know what? Maybe you're not going to make it. I don't know. Depends on your theology. The thing is, is we need to be living for God. We need to be right with God. And the only way to be right with God is to have Jesus Christ living in our hearts as our Lord and Savior. So I want to give you the opportunity right now just to say a prayer, to ask Christ to come in to save you, to forgive you. And so if you're here and you want to say a prayer, I want you just to slip your hand up and then I'm going to lead in the prayer to end. Is there anyone here that has never given their lives to Christ? I see your hand back there. Anyone else? Raise your hand where I can see it. If you want to give your life to Christ or recommit, I see your hand back there. Recommit your life. I see your hand down here. Anyone else? I see your hand back there, up here to my left, over to the right in the back. Anyone else? All right. You guys pray this prayer with me, and if you don't have a Bible, please stay after we'll give you one. But say this prayer and make it from your own heart and asking the Lord to come in and cleanse you. and to save you and to forgive you and to give you eternal life. To write you in His book and to seal you with the Holy Spirit. That's what we're going to pray, okay? So just pray this prayer with me. We can all pray it together. Let's all pray it together. Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross to pay for my sins. Lord, I am sorry. for all the hurt that I have caused. I'm sorry for the things that I have done that have dishonored You. Please forgive me, Lord. Today I acknowledge that I want to live for You. I ask that You would come into my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. Lord, change me and teach me how to live now in a way that honors You. I surrender my life and ask You to come into my heart. Fill me with Your Spirit now and teach me to be a disciple. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. God bless you guys who raised your hands. It's the greatest decision you could have ever possibly make. What you need to do now is just get a Bible, start reading, asking the Lord what He wants for your life. Because He's in charge, remember. When you surrender your life, you give your life to Him. And now He's in charge. Live for Him. Serve Him. Honor Him. Forsake your old life and begin to live for Him. It's the greatest decision you could ever make. God bless you guys. Come out tomorrow night. Invite some friends. Be a great time of praise and worship. I want to say something before we close, not to give these guys big heads, but these guys here put so much time and effort and work. I so much appreciate all you guys. They put a lot of hours into practicing and they don't get paid anything. Well, Tamara does, but it's really not that much. Can you tell? I'm just kidding. I'm just playing. I'm just playing with it. They're a blessing. She never wears dresses. Do you wear dresses? No? She never dresses like fancy dresses. She's a country girl. But we're so thankful for all these guys. And it's a blessing to be able to worship God and be a family and to love each other. All of us up here are imperfect, but we serve a perfect Savior. That's the greatest thing. God bless you guys. We love you.