CONVICTED, BUT NOT CONVERTED
Acts 24:22-27
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Louie and his wife were listening to the radio when they heard the weather report: "A snow emergency has been declared. You must park your car's on the odd-numbered side of the street." So Louie got up and moved his car.
2. Two days later -- same thing. "A snow emergency has been declared," blared the radio. "Park your cars on the even-numbered side of the street." Louie got up and did what he was told.
3. Three days later: "There will be a foot of snow today. Park your cars on the..." and then the power went out. "What should I do?" a confused Louie asked his wife.
4. "This time," she said, "why don't you just leave the car in the garage?"
B. TEXT
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.” 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. 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. 25 As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid [KJV – “trembled”] and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. 27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.
C. THESIS
1. The setting is Herod’s palace in Caesarea. The walls of this palace have witnessed many bloody scenes. It was here that Herod passed the sentence of death upon his own 2 sons. And many other Jews were brutalized in this place and the screams of believers have echoed often, only to be suddenly silenced.
2. The gates of its great Throne Hall swung open, and in walked a man named Felix, the Governor of Judaea. He’s wearing a royal robes, and he can best be characterized by the words “cruel” and “covetous.”
3. Felix’s life is a worldly success story: He was born a slave, but later freed by Claudius Caesar, and eventually worked his way up to Governor of Judaea. The Roman historian Tacitus said, “He exercised the authority of a king, with the spirit of a slave.” He murdered the high priest and committed many other crimes.
4. Walking in behind him was his wife Drusilla. She came from a very wicked bloodline: daughter of Herod Agrippa I, the one who had the Apostle James put to death. It was her great grandfather, another Herod, who attempted to kill the baby Jesus by having all the infants in Bethlehem slain in cold blood. She was said to be the most beautiful woman on earth in the 1 Century.
5. This morning we’re going to look at a man who was so close to salvation that he trembled under the power of the Holy Spirit, yet his experience didn’t translate into having his name written in heaven.
6. Let’s look at why that was, lest any of us get that close, but miss it!
I. THE BOLDNESS OF PAUL
A. BOLD BECAUSE HE WAS AT FELIX’S MERCY
1. Picture This: On one side you have the governor of Judea, a Roman Procurator and his wife, and on the other side, you have a Prisoner, powerless to save himself, whose life might be forfeit.
2. This Ruler had wide powers & was extremely willing to put the prisoner to death in order to please the Jews.
3. Does Paul try to defend himself or win him over? Did he preach a TV evangelist message on “Being a better You?” No! He preached his best sermon on “How Your Sins Will Send You To Hell!” (Paul was gutty; he had grit and wouldn't back up a bit!)
4. ILLUS. there was a preacher on the Kentucky frontier. He was told to moderate his preaching because Gen. Jackson was present in the service. During the sermon he said, "If Gen. Jackson doesn't repent, Gen. Jackson will go to hell!" Jackson's response was, "I wish I had 1000 men like you!" (God does too!)
B. APPROPRIATE SERMON
1. This was the right message for Felix and Drusilla. He was bold!
2. Paul took them to Mt. Sinai and taught them the Ten Commandments! I’ve had a lot of people tell me, "I like hard preaching. I like you to step on my toes." But when I preach on their pet sin, they say, "Preacher, you're getting personal!"
3. It’s important that we tell it straight. "Speaking the truth in love..."
II. WHAT MADE FELIX TREMBLE?
You have a poor prisoner standing before a powerful monarch. The prisoner is hindered by several disadvantages:
1. He is in chains; and a nobody.
2. He is in a prisoner's garb/ uniform. (Even the Corinthians were quoted as saying, "His presence is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.")
3. He has a bad reputation -- stirring up sedition/strife throughout the Empire.
WHY SHOULD FELIX TREMBLE AT HIM? Felix was used to threatening men who stood before him.
A. BECAUSE PAUL SERVED A GOD BIGGER THAN FELIX
1. Paul had faith in a God bigger than Felix Who was in control of both the entire world, and Paul's life in particular.
2. Paul was unafraid of death or punishments, so he wasn’t hindered in “telling it like it was.” His lack of fear spoke to Felix.
B. BECAUSE PAUL SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD
1. Hebrews 4:12
a. "QUICK"/ "ALIVE". The Bible is not a dead letter. It's not the word of a man, president, or King, but of God. The voice that speaks to us from the Bible is the voice of God. Felix heard the voice of God speaking through Paul.
b. "POWERFUL" (energas) -- full of power to achieve results.
c. "SHARPER THAN A 2-Edged Sword" -- "piercing... to dividing." As Paul wielded the Truth, Felix couldn't dodge its logic and power. As in Acts 5:33, Felix was "cut to the heart" or as the Greek says, "they were sawn in two."
2. He Preached the Law; “RIGHTEOUSNESS, SELF-CONTROL, AND THE JUDGMENT TO COME.” He preached:
a. The Creator God; God’s nature as holy and His absolute standard of right and wrong;
b. Man’s violation of God’s standards; Accountability – We must stand before God and give an account of our lives and our sins; and
c. Lastly, the penalty for those who disobey – hell.
3. We see sin differently than God does:
a. We call it a weakness, but God calls it wickedness…
b. We call it Accident...God calls it Abomination
c. We...Disease; God...Drunkenness
d. We...Over-active hormones; God...Lust
e. We...Chemical dependency; God...Addiction
4. God just calls sin, sin.
C. BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS CONVICTING HIM
1. As Paul preached, Felix was ushered into the presence of God. The Holy Spirit illuminated Felix’s mind to eternal life. He recognized his lost condition and saw his sins exposed.
2. This was his moment; the Spirit of God was playing on his heart as a harpist upon a harp – wooing him to the cross.
3. God had predestined that Paul speak to him and salvation was within his grasp!
4. What made Felix tremble? It was the violent warfare in Felix, between what he knew he ought to do (to gain heaven), and what the world was telling him to do.
D. TRUE & FALSE REPENTANCE 2 Cor. 7:8-11
1. Many young men and women tremble when they stand before a judge, but this is not repentance, but sadness for having gotten caught.
2. Some people tremble when they think of hell, so they think of getting saved to escape it. But if there were no hell, they would like to continue to live in sin. Again, that kind of sorrow is not repentance.
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE REPENTANCE
a. “True Repentance” is sorrow felt because we realize we’ve sinned against God. We usually think a crime done against man is worse than a crime against God. If I were to tell any of you, “You are a sinner,” most of you would reply, “Yes, that is true;” but if I were to say to a man, “You are a criminal,” he would be ready to knock me down. Why? Because we consider sin against man worse than sin against God; but this is not true, and only when we see sin against God as heinous as that against man do we begin to find “godly sorrow.”
b. “True Repentance” is associated with a believing faith, for this sorrow causes the person to yield himself to Christ. If you feel bad about sin, but not lead to trust in Christ, it’s not true repentance! Repentance that does not go to the cross, is a repentance which can’t find the forgiveness found only in Christ!
c. “True Repentance” is a repentance leading to a “change of mind;” that’s what “metanoia” means. It’s not just a change about a sin, but a change about everything. A man is so sorry for having done wrong that he thinks differently now of all wrong-doing. He thinks differently of his entire life; and his mind is made up, God helping him, to live just the opposite way to that in which he has formerly lived.
d. It leads to deliverance from sin, for the text says, “Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation.” Now, what is salvation? Some people think that it means being saved from hell. That is the result of salvation; but salvation means being saved from the power of sin, and being saved from the tendency to sin, as well as being saved from the punishment of sin. That is a blessed sorrow which leads us to such a change of mind that the bonds of sin are snapped, and we become free men in Christ Jesus, saved with an everlasting salvation.
III. THE RESPONSE OF FELIX
A. FELIX CONVICTED, BUT NOT CONVERTED
1. Think how close Felix was! He was privileged to hear the Gospel by one of the greatest spokesmen of all time!
2. He saw God’s holiness and his sinfulness clearly before his eyes.
3. He understood the Gospel and knew salvation was within his grasp.
4. The Holy Spirit illumined his mind and wooed him to Christ.
5. He was so close, he was at the very Gates of Heaven, and could see some of the Glory of God shining out. This was the closest to heaven Felix ever got!
B. WHAT KEPT HIM BACK?
1. FEAR OF DRUSILLA’S SCORN. If he should convert, what would Drusilla say? “Aha! Two madmen! Is Felix also mad?”
2. LOVE FOR POSITION & HONOR. His pomp, his wealth, and power – he didn’t want to lose them!
3. HE LOVED HIS IMMORAL LIFESTYLE. Pleasure was his 2nd greatest love, after power. He wouldn’t let it go.
C. PROCRASTINATION
1. "When I have a convenient season I'll send for you."
2. "Convenient" = favorable to one's comfort, easy, absence of that which annoys.
3. Procrastinate: a. To postpone taking action. b. 2 yrs later – not saved.
4. What happened to Felix? History tells us he was “recalled” by Caesar, and would have been executed, except his brother interceded for him. But he was a miserable man. A few years after this event in our text, he committed suicide, drowning himself in a lake.
5. Felix was similar to many today who:
a. Attend Gospel Churches, listen to serious preaching...
b. Maybe even shed a tear -- but they would do the same watching a touching movie.
c. They think the sermon is good, and agree with Christian beliefs. They compliment the preacher -- but they would compliment a baseball player to!
d. YET AS CLOSE AS THEY GOT, THEY ARE NOT SAVED!
6. If you do not take action, if you don’t surrender your life to Jesus Christ, you won't be saved!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A woman came to Dr. Chalmers one day and said, "Dr. Chalmers, I cannot get my husband to come to the Savior. I've talked and talked to him but it's no use." The Dr. said, "Let me talk with your husband by myself and I will see what the Lord shows me."
2. One day he met the husband and engaged him in conversation; "You have been bothered a good deal about the matter of your soul’s salvation, haven't you? Suppose I tell your wife that you don't want to be talked to about the matter for whole year, how will that do?"
3. The Scottish man hesitated a moment and replied, "Well, I don't think it would be safe to put off the matter for a whole year. Something might happen! I might die before then."
4. "Yes, that's possible," replied the doctor. "Suppose we say six months?" The husband didn't think that even that would be safe. "Well, then, how about three months?"
5. After a brief hesitation the husband replied, "I don't think it is safe to put it off at all." They knelt together & in a few moments the husband was radiantly saved.
B. ALTAR CALL
1. None of us are getting out of this world alive. In spite of medical marvels, the death rate is still 1 per person! And our loved ones are closer to their appointment now than they’ve ever been!
2. Jesus could return at any moment. Matthew 24:42, “Watch therefore: for you do not know the hour your Lord is coming.”
3. It’ll never be easier to be saved than it is today…why? Because, tomorrow you’ll have more sins to repent of, less time to repent in, and a harder heart to repent with. Ill.—demon convention / topic: how to keep people from getting saved. Ideas: Tell them there’s no heaven / no hell / or, “no hurry”!
4. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. We need to lovingly compel our loved ones to come to Christ.
