A More Convenient Time

Introduction

Human beings are good at procrastination. We like doing things when it is convenient for us to do them and we would rather do things we enjoy. I remember seeing a bumper sticker as I was driving down the road that said, “I would rather be fishing.” If we can get away with it we are going to put off things we don’t want to do for some time.

Wives, you ever have this happen where you’ve asked your husband to do something but he keeps putting it off and putting it off. We had a plumber come in a work on our pipes underneath our sink because the flow of the water was coming back up from the dish washer. The pipes hadn’t been installed correctly. In the process the hose coming from the spray nossel in the sink was attached to the pipes with a zip tie. The problem with the zip tie is that it doesn’t allow much movement of the sink hose. I was going to fix it, but I honestly keep forgetting. In the moment, I choose to do something else. I put it off to a more convenient time.

In our text, we are going to see a man who procrastinated making a decision that he could not afford to put off any longer.

Most of this text is about Paul first official trial. The purpose of this trial is merely to get Felix to look into the case in more detail, but the Jews hire a professional lawyer to argue this case. Tertullus (vs 1) is most likely a gifted Roman lawyer since his name is Roman and later in the text he doesn’t identify with the Jews. He comes in and he is a smooth operator. He begins by flattery in vs 2-3 and then lays out the case against Paul. Here Paul is being accused of:

dissension vs 5

being a leader of the Nazarenes, a group of insurrectionists vs 5

profaning the temple vs 6

In vs 7-8, Tertullus makes a claim which may have been his first mistake. He claims that Lysias refused to let them deal with Paul according to their law and stole Paul out of their hands. Felix had already received Lysias account of the events and he is going to believe the Roman commander over the Jews.

Paul then makes his defense and argues pretty well. In some ways we see that Paul was so gifted of a speaker that he could go toe to toe against the best of the Roman orators. Paul’s defense is on 5 grounds:

He hasn’t had enough time to cause any trouble. His total time in Jerusalem was 12 days. vs11

He claims they did not find him creating dissension in the temple. Paul didn’t go to defile the temple, in fact, Paul went there to be purified in the temple. vs12

The burden of proof is on them and the accusers aren’t even here. vs 13 This claim could have had the whole case thrown out because by law the accusers must show up.

He admits to being a Christian but he is not a member of the Nazarenes vs 14

He points the case back to a dispute over Jewish law vs 14

Paul then gives his account of the events in vs 17-21

In vs 22, we see that Felix actually had a better understanding of Christianity than the Jewish priests did. Wanting to please the Jews, he delays the trial. In the end we find out that it is delayed by two years. But Felix continues to have private conversations with Paul. Our main text today is going to be in vs 24-25.

Felix and his wife Drusilla meet with Paul to talk about Christianity in more detail. As I studied this text I couldn’t help but notice the parallel with John 16:7-11 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” And so this passage is going to help interpret the meaning of these three things.

Of Righteousness

When Jesus spoke of Righteousness, he linked it to Himself. Righteousness refers to conforming to God’s standard of justice, law and morality. Psalm 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, And holy in all his works.” God is righteous. He sets the standard for what is right. Unlike the gods of the pagans, our God doesn’t commit fornication with women, lie, steel, cheat. God is Holy and perfect.

Righteousness refers to a standard- A standard is something that you use to measure whether something. If it passes the standard then it is acceptable. When I went into police academy, I applied at two different departments. One was more suburban and paid better, but in their entrance exam you had to do 100 situps in a specified time. The standard required you to go all the way down and lay flat or the situp didn’t count. Well I struggled with keeping my shoulders down when I did my situps so they wouldn’t count. In the end, I failed the fitness exam for that department and was not accepted into their police academy. For the second one, I had learned my lesson and so I did all my situps correctly and was accepted. God has a standard of righteousness and that standard is His own holiness. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” We have all fallen short of reaching God’s standard.

Righteousness is also about justice, law and morality. For the nation of Israel, God had given them the Mosaic law but they could not keep it and so fell short of God’s standard. But according to Romans 2:14-15 “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)” even those who do not know God’s law have the moral law written on their hearts. Everyone knows it is wrong to murder and to steal. Some men repress this knowledge but down deep inside they know it is wrong. Even tribes that glorify killing know murder is wrong because when someone kills their tribal members they go get revenge. If it isn’t wrong you don’t exact revenge on someone.

Many of us think that we are pretty good people because we don’t do a lot of the things that we know are wrong. Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” We think ourselves to be good people because we don’t do bad things, but God sees the heart. In Matt 5:27-28 “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Sin is more than our mere actions, it is the attitudes and intentions of our hearts.

So we can only conclude that there is only one who is righteous and that is Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” What Felix needed to know was that God is Holy and righteous and man is not.

Of Temperance

The word temperance focuses in on our behavior. Another word for temperance is self-control. Man does not exercise self-control when it comes to the sin they want to commit. James 1:14-16 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.” You know why you sin the way that you do. It is because you want to. You might say well I felt like I couldn’t control myself and you might be right. That lack of control is because you have developed a habit of giving in to your sinful desires over time.

How does a drunk become a drunk? It starts with one drink, but he thinks he can control himself; so its all good right? He continues to choose to drink, one by one and eventually he develops a sinful habit that he feels he cannot overcome.

All sin can develop the same addictive habits. You every try to stop worrying, or being selfish. We develop habits or what the bible calls strongholds of sin because we lacked the self control to say no to the sin when it was developing the habit.

In Jesus words, he said the Holy Spirit would reprove the world of sin because they don’t believe on Jesus. The lost person has no hope but to choose to serve sin. Paul said in Romans 6:16-17 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” That word yield means to surrender. You give in to the demands of your fleshly desires and it becomes your master.

Jesus is the only solution to your slavery to sin. If you would escape one master, you must flee to another.

Of Judgment

Because God is righteous, God must do what is right. One of those words in the definition of righteousness was justice. Gen 18:25 “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God will deal with sin. It may not be when we think that he should, but all sin will be dealt with. God would not be a good God if He didn’t.

Could you image God letting Adolf hitler off the hook? How about the man who raped your daughter? Or the person who killed your son? How about the woman who stole your identity? Should we let them get off without paying for their crimes? A judge who did that would be an unrighteous judge.

Heb 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” All men will face judgment someday and all sin will be judged. A lifetime of good cannot erase the guilt that even one sin incurs. James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Can a murder erase his guilt of murder by feeding the poor the rest of his life? No, all the good in the world cannot erase your sin.

We already know what the verdict will be when we face God as our judge. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Sin brings death, always. Rev 20:14-15 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” The bible teaches that there is a lake of fire. This is not a figure of speech. It is not an allegory for a bad time. This is not life here on earth. You think life now is bad, this is worse. The bible describes literal fire, weeping, gnashing of your teeth. But the greatest torment is being separated from God. The one and only thing that can satisfy you being forever out of your reach.

This message rocked Felix. In vs 25 it says that he trembled. Trembled speaks of a stronger emotion than even fear. It is the I’m going to run or wet my pants type of terror. Felix and Drusilla’s marriage was the result of sinful practices. Drusilla had been promised in marriage by her lower royal father to Epiphanes the Son of Antiochus of Commangene, but he refused to practice Jewish customs. She was then given away in marriage at 14 to the King of Syria. Eventually, Felix seduced Drusilla to leave her husband, run away and marry him. As sexually deviant as all this was; it was also against Jewish law for her to marry a Gentile.

Felix and Drusilla has broken God’s law, were guilty and stood to face judgment. But this wasn’t all that Paul preached to Felix. If that was it, there is not hope.

Of the Faith in Christ

Back in vs 24, it says that Paul spoke concerning the faith in Christ.

Acts 16:30-31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” We cannot meet God’s standard of righteousness because we are all sinners. But this verse teaches that our faith in Jesus is counted as righteousness. So our only hope of salvation is faith in Jesus Christ.

I feel it is necessary to define faith for you because people think faith is magical pixy dust. Faith comes from a word that means to trust in. Faith is placing your trust in Jesus that He will save you if you ask Him.

Gal 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Faith is not something you do; rather it is placing your trust in what Jesus has done for you. So many churches add something to faith, but in this verse Paul tells us that it isn’t the things you do that save you.

Baptism does not save a person from hell. Baptism is merely a picture of the salvation we already have. If you haven’t already been saved, you shouldn’t be baptised.

Going to Church does not save you, faithfully worshipping God does not save you. Judas did all this and he was still called the son of perdition.

In Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” says that if our salvation were something we earn then it is a debt God owes us.

Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

If you are going to be saved, you must repent of your sins, say I’m wrong and God is right about my sin, and then place your faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your sins.

Conclusion

(send Luke out for children)

Salvation is an important decision to make and it isn’t the one you want to procrastinate about. It needs to be settled today. In Heb 3:7-11 “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” This is the second warning in Hebrews given to people who thought they were Christians but failed to place their faith in Jesus Christ. You are not guaranteed a tomorrow.

People have a strong aversion to using scare tactics to get people to get saved, but this is exactly what the author of Hebrews is doing. He is saying don’t be like the Jews who hardened their hearts, but deal with God today. There does come a point when God gives up dealing with a person and that is it.

Felix hardened his heart even though he was terrified of God’s judgment. And hear his response, “Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season, I will call for you.”As far as we know, Felix never got saved. Do not put off dealing with your salvation.

In a moment we are going to be partaking of the Lord’s supper. This ceremony is only for Christians who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It is a serious ceremony. In 1 Cor 11, Paul said that there were Christians who had died because they did not take this ceremony seriously. The had willful, unconfessed sin in their hearts when they partook. I am asking you this morning, Do not partake of the Lord’s supper if you are not saved. Please come down the aisle during the invitation and come talk to me about how you can be saved today.