Today we are continuing through our series through the book of Acts. A few weeks ago we looked at the story of Paul returning to Jerusalem. This was a goal of his life, he wanted to go there to share the gospel with his people. But when he got there he was mis-judged, falsely accused and arrested. Paul tries to take advantage of this opportunity to share his testimony, but they cut him off. It was his best chance to share the gospel with them, he took it and they refused to listen. There are many lessons we can take from this. The first is that sometimes the best way we can share the gospel with someone is to tell them what God is doing in our lives. Next, even if we share it doesn’t mean that they will listen. We can’t make them listen all we can do is take the opportunities that God gives us and trust that His word will never come back void. Finally, in life we will face difficulty. God didn’t promise us a life with out it, but what He does promise us is the same thing that He did for Paul, He was with Paul through the trials that He faced and He will be with us through whatever life will throw at us as well. The next day the Roman soldiers bring Paul back to the Sanhedrin and have him placed on trial, Paul has a night to prepare so he takes the time to ready a defense that he thinks will again give him a chance to share the gospel. But they won’t listen to him. But in the riot and chaos that ensues he is able to show his true character. He is able to show grace under fire. Despite and early mistake, Paul gives a shows the discipline and humility to apologize and give a proper response. In a situation that could have resulted in his death, Paul instead is able to survive and go to a new venue. Then even though he has desired to preach in Jerusalem, he is willing to follow God, when God tells him that he must go to Rome and preach there as well.
I. The Accusations
So now we come to chapter 24, Paul is with the local Roman governor Felix and once again he is on trial. It is going to be the religious leaders verse Paul in a neutral court. Here is what is interesting, despite the fact that they were supposed to be on God’s side, despite the fact that their accusations were based on misjudgments made about Paul the religious leaders came prepared to win their case. It wasn’t about the truth it was about winning. We read that five days have passed and the high priest Ananias, in case you’ve forgotten he and Paul weren’t exactly on the best of terms, Ananias comes down to Caesarea with some elders and they took with them a lawyer. Ananias believed in stacking the deck he was willing to have Paul put on trial when he was the judge he had already made up his mind about Paul’s guilt, now when it’s a supposedly fair trial he brings not just a team to make his case, but a hired gun to try and ensure that he gets the verdict he wants.
So Tertullus, the lawyer, begins by complementing Felix, the governor. Look at verse 2, “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.” It sounds so nice doesn’t it? But the goal was to manipulate Felix into doing what they wanted done. Look at the words, “a long period of peace.” What was the crux of their argument in so far, and what was to come. Paul is causing unrest and unless you put him down, there will be no peace. So he sets the stage by saying, Felix we know you want peace that’s what we admire most about you. It is almost pure manipulation.
Then he presented the facts as he saw them, but it was really a mix of slander and insults. Verse 5, “We have found this man to be a trouble maker.” The words are loimon, it means “Pest” or “Plague”. In other words this man is a disease that infects the people, he is a cancer among us and also kinounta staseis which means agitator. Because of what he had done in the temple, of course you remember that what he had really done was participate in the proper cleansing rituals to go into the temple along with four other men and also pay the expenses for all of them all to show respect for the temple. He had done the exact opposite of what they said, but that didn’t stop them from slandering him anyways. They had an agenda, why let the truth get in the way of what they wanted to do.
Then he accuses him of being the leader of the “Nazarene sect” in our translations, but the real word was Nazoreans, it was a deliberate word, it was used to paint a picture of a heretical sect without the Messianic overtones. What he is doing there is trying to move this from a religious debate to a political one. See he understood that a Roman governor was not likely to care about religious disputes, Jews were usually left to settle those on their own, but he would likely get involved if it was political and might be aimed at Rome.
So he tries to manipulate Felix, then he slanders and lies about Paul. Then the religious leaders joined in with these accusations, but it is interesting because according to Luke it was all allegedly done. Look at verse 9, “The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.” The term there is “phasko” it means allege. In other words what they said, was yeah he allegedly did all these things. Understand, allege means people say he did it, people think he did it, but we can’t prove that he did it. So what they have really done to is to bring Paul to trial with the Roman governor, with no proof. In order to prove what Paul had done, they were dependant upon Paul himself. Look at verse 8, “By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”
They still didn’t get who Paul was. It was true that Paul was preaching that salvation was by grace because of what Christ, had done. But that didn’t mean and still doesn’t mean that we can then do whatever we want. It means that when we accept Jesus as our Lord, we have the promise of eternal life, it means that our sins are forgiven because He has already paid the price, but it also means that we are called to live a holy life because He is holy. Being a Christian is to be a Christ follower, to do our best, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to live like Him. Jesus didn’t just try to keep the Law, He fulfilled it, He is the only one who did. So here they are literally waiting for Paul to hand himself, and all they have really done is give him a chance to testify. You know exactly what he wanted to do in Jerusalem.
II. A Targeted Testimony
So Paul steps up to speak, he gives what I call a very targeted testimony. Paul also begins by complementing Felix, he was seeking to relate. Look at verse 10, “when the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: ‘I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense.” It was the expected opening, it was similar to that of Tertullus, but there is a distinct difference. Tertullus was trying to manipulate Felix, Paul is just wanting the truth to be heard. So he references something that is true, just how long Felix has been a judge, he does this to find, common ground. You’ll remember that a few weeks ago when we went over elements of a good testimony, step one was finding common ground. That is what Paul is doing here. As a judge Felix would have respect for the law. Paul is saying that he has respect for the law. He just wants to tell the truth and he believes that the law will exonerate him.
So he tries to find common ground and then next Paul declares his innocence. Verse 11, “You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.” It’s a blunt statement, they can say whatever they want but the truth is what the truth is. Its been 12 days, if I’m such a problem where are all the riots. If I’m such a trouble maker who was I arguing with? They’ve made all these accusations but they can’t prove anything because it’s not true, accusations don’t make reality.
Then after declaring his innocence Paul moves to his confession. The religious leaders were right in one sense. Paul wouldn’t miss this opportunity to share about Christ, but rather then do it in an offensive way, rather then state what they assumed to be the truth, Paul is eloquent. When he does make an admission, it is not to clear his name but to preach Christ. Look at verse 14, “However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and what is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in god as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.” He ends with the defense that he had started with before these men. I have a clear conscience. See this time it was at the end of an accomplished mission.
His goal was to take this opportunity to declare his faith in Christ and that is what he did. Not just that he believed in Christ but who Christ really was. You understand to this Roman governor, but also to the High Priest and the religious leaders he was saying who Jesus was. See they were all worried about their position, they were reacting the way that they were because they were feeling threatened, by Paul and by things that they didn’t understand. Paul was telling them, Jesus is a fulfillment of all that you’ve believe, He’s not a threat, He is the better way. You’ve believed in the promise, He is the fulfillment of the promise. Listen that applied to them and the law but that applies for us today. People talk about the promises of God, some think that it’s just to good to be true, but what Paul was saying then still applies, perhaps the greatest promise that God ever made Christ fulfilled. He paid the price for our sins so that we could enjoy life with God not just when we die but right now. Paul was given an opportunity to preach Christ and he took it. Here in what most believe is Luke’s condensed version of the trial we can see that he took it. He delivered his message with everything that he had. That is all that we can do as followers of Christ. We can’t make people accept Jesus, all we can do is take the opportunities that God gives us to share Him. That’s what Paul did.
III. The Impact of Procrastination
Tragically what we see next is the impact of one of the most common of human weaknesses, procrastination. Look first at verse 22, “Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. ‘When Lysias the commander comes,’ he said, ‘I will decide your case.’” He stalls, this should have been an open and shut case, but he doesn’t make a decision. This keeps going, look at verse 24, “Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.” Felix listened to both sides, they had time to prepare and present their cases. He had the authority to rule on the case and yet he doesn’t why not? Felix is obviously impacted by what Paul has to say. Look at verse 25, “As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’ He listens to Paul, he here’s what he has to say, he becomes afraid at the thought of judgment, but he doesn’t act on it. It’s like a lot of people. We know what we’re supposed to be doing but we put off doing it. It happens in life it happens with Christ.
Felix knows what he should do, but he puts off making a decision. He knows that at the very least he should let Paul go. Look at verse 23, “He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.” Even after he is afraid, he doesn’t act either way, he doesn’t let Paul go and he doesn’t convict him either. It’s what happens when someone procrastinates, they get stuck in limbo and it effects the people around them too.
Here’s the thing both in our lives and here in the life of Felix, there really were no good excuses. Here’s the thing about procrastination, when we do it we have all kinds of excuses don’t we? I mean, I just need to take a break for a few minutes. You know compared to everyone else I’m doing alright. We mean to do so much, and sometimes there’s just not enough time to get everything done.
So what do we do? We make a list of priorities, what are the things that have to be done. There are things in this life that we have to do, things in life that we need to do, things in life that we want to do, and things in life that would be nice if they get done. If you’re trapped in a period of procrastination, the thing to do is not to try and get everything done at once, it’s to make a plan and start getting some of them done. Get the important things that have to get done right now done first, start working on them. If it’s a big project you may not get it done right away, but start working on it. Do you know how every seemingly impossible task that’s ever been done was accomplished? Someone started to work on it. The longest journey is completed one step at a time.
Figure out what you have to do first and then get it done. Next find a balance as you’re doing it. They’ve discovered this with dieting, if there are foods, that you really love, don’t stop eating them completely because if you do at some point you will probably go back to eating them, a lot, no just cut back on them, don’t over indulge, you find a healthy balance between what you love and what’s good for you. The same thing with your time, find a healthy balance between what you must do and what you want to do. And then get it done. It may be that you find that some things that have been on your to do list for a time, drop off, that’s ok, what you have to do is get the main things done. If the main things are getting done then the little things suddenly aren’t as big,
Unfortunately for Felix there is one main thing that we all must do, we all must make a decision about Christ, either we will follow Him or we will reject Him. That is the point that Paul brings Felix to. He was afraid of the thought of judgment, but he doesn’t accept Christ and if you know Paul you know that when Luke writes that he discoursed about righteousness, he presented the gospel. He told Felix everything that he needed to know to be a Christian, but Felix kept putting it off.
Here’s the thing about procrastinators, when we procrastinate, we make excuses and some times people make excuses for us. The issue is that here, there really were no good excuses. I mean think of the actions that Felix took and the possible motive behind them. We’re told at the end of verse 26 that Felix “sent for him frequently and talked with him.” He talked to Paul all the time, maybe this was because he just needed to understand right, wrong, it says in verse 22, he was “well acquainted with the Way.” He knew what was going on here, by the way, that means he understood that Paul’s argument was not what the religious leaders had said, therefore he was innocent, so he’s keeping an innocent man in prison and he’s not accepting the gospel. But it’s not because he didn’t understand.
Maybe you might think it’s because of his wife. After all verse 24 tells us that that his wife Drusilla was a Jewess. Maybe he was afraid to make a decision because he was afraid of what his wife would think maybe they had a religious agreement. But that wasn’t the case. She had been married before but at 16 she left her husband to become Felix’s 3rd wife. So at this point she’s 20 on her second husband, he’s got two other wives, these two are not exactly a picture of moral virtue. In fact Nero who was not exactly the most moral or sane Roman emperor eventually recalled Felix and was going to have him executed but his brother pleaded with the emperor for mercy. So it wasn’t a concern about previous religious beliefs.
Maybe he didn’t issue a verdict because he really was waiting for Lysias to help him make a decision, maybe the whole judgment thing was new to him. But that wasn’t the case, he’d been governor for over five years, he’d been serving as a judge for at least that long, and probably longer because he would have heard lesser cases as he moved up the ranks. He was experienced as a judge, he knew exactly how to make a verdict and how to make a decision. But he didn’t do it. That is the tragic part.
He never made a decision, or so he though. When you don’t make a decision for Christ, you automatically make a decision to reject him. The most important thing that Felix had to do in his entire life, was to accept Christ, and he never did it. It says that two years passed and Felix was succeeded, but it never says that that he accepted Christ. By never choosing to accept the Way, he rejected it. It’s an either or, there is not middle ground, there is no neutral. Either you become a follower of Christ or you don’t. If you never have done it, if you’ve been putting it off, don’t make the tragic mistake of Felix, stop procrastinating and accept Jesus today.
