The Most Dangerous Word Series

INTRODUCTION: What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done? I know for me the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done was to go swimming in some of the most shark infested waters on earth! It was a total rush! Some people thrive on danger… the adrenaline junkies. Las Vegas has rides on top of the highest building in the city. The car goes to the edge of the building and over the edge! People scream and hold their heads in their hands. As soon as the ride is over – they want to go again! If you’re an adrenaline junkie, you’ll think its great fun, if not you’ll think it’s totally nuts!

BACKGROUND: The Bible is an amazing collection of stories, stories of adventure, and intrigue, and often times danger… stories like the 12 spies sent to Canaan, David and Goliath, and Esther, people who put their lives on the line for the benefit of others and ultimately the glory of God. But there is another “danger” to be found in the Bible and it’s found in a single word… the most “dangerous” of all words. The word is one of the easiest to speak, and one of the most fatal in its effect, it shines like a mirage in the desert, deceiving with a false promise… It’s the word that shines like a beacon, leading fools to their ultimate destruction; it’s without a doubt Satan’s favorite word… Tomorrow!

FELIX’S TOMORROW

• “Tomorrow” is without a doubt the most common reason people put off the start of a relationship with Christ!

• This is exactly what happened with a man of immense power and prestige when presented with the opportunity to embrace Jesus, his name is Felix, and we read his story in Acts 24:22-25

• Paul is known as a great preacher, and scripture records many of his great sermons, but the one he preaches to Felix and Drusilla has to be one of the best…

• He was preaching as all preachers must preach… “as a dying man to dying men.”

• History tells us about this couple, Drusilla, though named after Drusus, the sister of Caligula by her father Herod Agrippa I, was a Jew, who though married to another man, had shacked up with Felix

• Now living in such a situation, you would think the last person you’d want to hear from would be a preacher, but they call on Paul, to hear about the faith (vs. 24)

• His sermon had three points (after 2000 years some things never change) (1) righteousness, (2) temperance, and (3) the coming judgment

• Righteousness – undoubtedly their wicked past rose up to condemn them, and for Drusilla, no doubt the actions of her father, which led to his untimely, and agonizing demise (eaten by worms)

• Temperance - or what we would call self-control, this had to hit the couple hard, abandoning their spouses, and entering into an adulterous relationship, and then the thrilling climax…

• The coming Judgment – Paul didn’t leave that part out, which unfortunately so many preachers would today. If Felix and Drusilla were expecting 30 Minutes of feel-good entertainment, they were in for a rude awakening - Paul preached not only to the times but also to the eternities

• They now sat in judgment over others, but one day they would sit and be judged, by the ultimate authority – Christ himself at which we read that Felix was alarmed or “trembled”

• This pagan encountered the living God, and was in place were repentance and salvation was available but then we read his response (vs. 26-27) For Felix it was always tomorrow

• Then he “ran out of tomorrows” it’s a lesson for all of us. It’s never safe to say “tomorrow” when God says today!

THE RICH FOOL’S TOMORROW

• Our second character of the morning is a man of whom Jesus spoke about in a Parable (Luke 12:13-21) thought they are Parables this preacher believes them to be accounts of actual events…

• This person was materially blessed by God; his land “produced plentifully” (vs. 16) so much so that he announced that he had “many tomorrows,” years’ worth in fact, to enjoy his many things

• He paid no heed to the futility of tomorrow (James 4:13-17)

• The night passed and the tomorrow dawned, it was one of those tomorrows that the rich fool counted on so much, but all that his tomorrow brought to him was death… the end of tomorrow!

• He was going to be all he could be…tomorrow

• He was going to do all that he could do… tomorrow

• He was going to enjoy all that he could enjoy… tomorrow… how often do we say the same?

• Though we should plan and prepare for tomorrow, those tomorrows don’t negate out todays