Shaken, Not Saved
Have you ever had an experience that has left you a bit shaken? Losing a loved one? Been involved in or seen a terrible accident? When someone close to us has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness? — all of these experiences can shake us up.
How about when God’s word shakes us up? He will use His word to speak to us directly, Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God’s word always has a purpose and as a result we are left shaken (conviction)
Many times in the Bible God uses these "Shaking Experiences" to get peoples attention and as a result lives were changed. The Apostle Paul’s life was changed after he was shaken up on the road to Damascus, and as a result was saved.
The Philippian jailer was left shaken after the jailhouse was rocked by an earthquake, through this shaking the jailer believed and was saved. Like Paul’s experience, this was a good shaking.
However, not all the shaking experiences in the Bible led to salvation for example, Felix the judge, who we will look at tonight. He was shaken, not saved?
Act 24:24-25
Paul’s in trouble again with the Jews. They’ve been trying to find a way to kill him, they tried to get the Roman Government to execute him for blasphemy, and they wouldn’t have except they had a small problem. Paul was a Roman Citizen so he was protected a bit by their legal system; so Paul is brought in front of the Governor Felix.
Verse 22 tells us that Felix is well acquainted with the Way, or the Christian Faith as he had dealt with the conflicts between the Jews and the followers of Jesus, he had come to understand the conflict and the beliefs and claims of the Christians.
Who is Felix? - He was a cruel ruler whose name brought terror to his people. With the help of the Syrian troops under his command in Caesarea, he crucified thousands of Jews and Gentiles. He was a greedy man and was motivated by his desires, he was not a just man and would take bribes from prisoners.
Drusilla was nineteen years of age when she came with her husband Felix to hear Paul. I have no doubt she was somewhat acquainted with the teachings of Christ. Her father was king Agripa I who killed the apostle James in Acts 12. Her great-uncle, Herod Antipas, had killed John the Baptist at the request of his wife’s daughter. Her great-grandfather, Herod the Great, killed many innocent children of Bethlehem in his unsuccessful attempt to destroy the baby Jesus.
Felix and Drusilla would do anything to gain power and maintain their lifestyle. They were unjust, irreligious, and immoral—unafraid of God and man. They knew Paul was innocent of any crime, but Felix refused to set him free because he was hoping for something.
In verse 26 we read, "He hoped"—that word is elpizôn, meaning continuously hoping, daily hoping—"Felix was hoping that he would be offered a bribe in return for Paul’s release, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him."
Act 24:24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul,
Why had Felix called for Paul?
1 It may have been out of curiosity. He knew of the gospel, verse 22 indicates this. Many people in our day visit a Bible preaching church out of curiosity. They see the life of one of its members; they notice a change in the life of a family member or old friend. They want to know what happened.
2 It may have been out of boredom (or to keep the misses happy?) It was something new and different and would pass the time away. How many people go to Church to keep their spouse happy? (Phil & Carol)
3 It may have been for material gain. Verse 26 seems to indicate this possibility. Felix may have thought the early church would pay to get Paul released.
4 Or was it because of a hungry heart? They may have longed in their soul for a better way of life, they may have had conviction for the way they were living their life and had thoughts of God, eternity, and judgement. Some people search for the answers, they know that there is something more than this life.
I. Message
Here is Paul, who is innocent coming before the man who had the power to release him. Paul could have easily been tempted to argue for his release but he wasted no time at all. At every opportunity he preached Christ, the latter part of verse 24 says and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,
Reasoned here means “to mingle thought with thought; to discuss; to preach” Paul used his time with the man who held Paul’s freedom in his hand to give him a good old fashioned gospel message. He didn’t tell them something just to make them feel good about themselves; he gave them the truth, God’s truth, both barrels.
Righteousness: It refers to the state of being right, it’s what God is and man isn’t. What Paul is talking about here to Felix is either doing right or being counted as right in God’s eyes. God is righteous and man is unrighteous. Man is a sinner and stands condemned in the eyes of a righteous God. Felix is brought face to face with the fact that he is a lost sinner in need of a saviour, Romans 3:23. No man has the righteousness needed to stand before the presence of a holy God.
Felix had two choices; first he could try and get to Heaven through his own righteousness, however, in Isaiah 64:6 we are told that our righteousness is like filthy rags. The second choice is to go through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ; you see God’s requirement is for perfect righteousness, which can only be achieved through Jesus. God bridged the gap between His own holiness and man’s sinfulness through the person of His Son, Jesus, on the cross. Only the righteous would get to be with God and the only way to become righteous is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Temperance: The Greek is eng-krat’-i-ah, Gr- self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites). We have seen the kind of person Felix was, he was a Roman governor, a corrupt politician, he had a powerful office, he was a man of the world, and Paul talked to him about self-control.
Paul mentions temperance (self control) 4 times in the New Testament, but he also writes frequently about sanctification or holiness and blamelessness. These are related to self-control. Saved people have a responsibility, self control and discipline needs to be demonstrated in our lives. God deals with us as responsible people, so he requires us to be in control of ourselves. We must conduct ourselves in the way God has instructed us to walk: Ephesians 2:10 says For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Talk the talk but walk the walk.
There is a certain lifestyle Christians are to live, a certain conduct we are to maintain. Most of us have the discipline to get to work every day, and get there on time. We have enough self-control to get the job done, to churn out the work, to meet the deadlines. We should use the self-discipline we have in other areas of our lives and apply it to spiritual matters. We let other things get in the way of our praying and reading our Bible regularly, we can’t seem to get to church on a regular basis. Discipline is defined as "Doing what we ought to do when we ought to do it," this should be applied to our spiritual lives and service.
Judgment to come: Felix knew a lot about judgment. Paul had stood before the Roman governor for his case to be judged, but Paul was not a man who minced his words. He took this opportunity to let Felix know that there was a higher authority and One to whom all people great and small would give account for themselves.. 2 Cor 5:10 says For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad. No one is going to escape the judgment to come, “For we must ALL appear…” That day the One who is our Saviour would become our judge and Paul let Felix know.
The thought of a public examination before our Lord should be a wake up call for us all. Yet few, if any, ever give it a second thought. Paul declared, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). The mere thought of this judgment should help us to live a life of holiness and obedience unto God.
Think of it. How will we stand in that day? Will we approach Him with confidence or will we stand before Him red-faced and embarrassed over a life of waste and neglect? It is something that we as Christians will all have to do. Are we ready to appear before the judgment seat?
II. Effect
Verse 25 tells us “Felix trembled.” He heard God and trembled. He didn’t deny what Paul preached neither did he outright reject it. He didn’t laugh, he didn’t sneer, he didn’t cry. He trembled and he trembled with conviction. God had spoken to his soul. Sin had found him out and he trembled.
Felix knew that everything Paul was saying was true. Here was a man, who was married to another mans wife, whose very name means pleasure, living his life with the attitude of eat, drink and be merry. He was a lost sinner who had the opportunity to listen to Paul preach and the effect of God’s word made him tremble.
But sitting beside Felix was his wife Drusilla. It is interesting to see that she is a Jewess but she had forsaken her Jewish beliefs. She knew her lifestyle was wrong, she knew according to the Old Testament Law that she was living a life of sin. Now here’s what I am getting to. We have seen the effect on Felix, he trembled, but the scripture says nothing about his Jewish wife. Had she hardened her heart against the truth that Paul’s preaching had no effect on her whatsoever?
What a tragic situation to be in when your heart is hardened that much, we see no effect on Drusilla, but Felix trembled, so what did he do about it? Did he fall to his knees and ask Christ into his heart? Did he plead for God’s mercy? What was his response?
III. Response – Verse 25
Felix did not deny Gods word or outwardly reject it. All he did was put the decision off until later. Why did he put it off? No reason is given in the text. This is a bad move. This is like flying an airplane and being confronted with a warning light and then switching off the warning light and ignoring the problem, or when the oil light comes on in the car. I ignored that light once and it cost me a new engine. If you ignore the warning light of Jesus Christ it will cost you your soul and an eternity in hell.
People often say that they have plenty of time for religion when they are older. How tragic it is when their lives are snatched away early in life without accepting Christ as their Saviour because they were like Felix and put the decision off.
So why did Felix put it off?
It may have been due to Drusilla’s presence. She may have discouraged him, I wonder how many people have put off the most important decision they will ever make in their lives because of what their spouse might say or because of what their friends might think? Had Drusilla not been there it may have been different.
Was it the fear of change? People don’t like change. Felix would have to be clean and honest. He knew that he would lose his job if he became a Christian. He knew that salvation is free but there would be a cost to him to surrender his life to Christ. Many people say that they will get saved when they get their life straightened out.....IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. That’s not how it works. You can’t get your life straightened out in order to be saved, when you accept Christ He’ll do the straightening.
People hate to give up the course they have set for their lives. Felix, like Pilate, and many others, had set courses for their lives which they did not want to change. People who set fame, riches, pleasure, etc.. as goals for their lives often find it hard to accept Christ. RICH YOUNG RULER!!!
Felix belongs to that vast group of people that come very near to doing something worthwhile and yet come short. Many like Felix feel the power of Jesus yet never dare to rise to follow Him. He had the opportunity to become a Christian, he knew; he heard, yet he turned away.
So we have seen Paul preach a Message. The Effect of that message made Felix tremble, and Felix’s Response to the message was to put his decision off until a more convenient time. What would happen when Felix died?
When studying for this sermon I read this about death and thought of Felix.
Sooner or Later Everyone Runs Out of Time
Much sooner than you can anticipate, you will be the silent guest at your
own funeral. No doubt there will be relatives and friends present to mourn
for you whom you haven’t seen in years. After the preacher delivers a
message in your memory, you will be taken to the graveyard, given a final
farewell and buried.
The retirement that you spent your life working for will be gone forever.
Remember the new car that you worried about scratching? Its new owner just
wrecked it! The newlyweds bought your house and have redecorated the room
that you had at last decorated to your liking. Your personal belongings have
been sorted and some discarded. The dog is making a bed out of your favourite
old coat. Other clothes of yours that no one could wear or did not want have
been boxed and given to OXFAM. Your personal treasures that were valuable
only to you-the carefully preserved flower, the lock of hair, the torn
picture, the stained postcard-have been burned as rubbish.
You attended a number of funerals in your lifetime, but for some reason you
just never expected to be lying in the casket yourself. Sure, someday, but
not that particular day. "Maybe tomorrow," you always thought, "but not
today." You remember telling the Lord each time you thought your time was
close, "Not this time, Lord. Not today. Maybe tomorrow."
Sooner or later, everyone runs out of time. Paul states that everyone has an
appointment with death and then the judgment (Heb_9:27). The only time that
you can decide whether or not your death will be a blessing is today while
you are alive. Today is the day of salvation (2Co_6:2). Today is the day to
do the Lord’s work. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your
might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working, nor
planning nor knowledge nor wisdom" (Ecc_9:10).
Sooner or later, everyone runs out of time but no one runs out of eternity.
Doesn’t it make more sense to spend your time preparing for that which will
not end, rather than squandering your time trying to hold on to that which
will not last?
"Careless soul, O heed the warning,
For your life will soon be gone;
O how sad to face the judgment
Unprepared to meet thy God."
Will you be prepared on the day that you run out of time?
