Acts 24:25 KJV 1900

And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

HOW FELIX BECAME A FOOL

Seeing John Wesley coming along the street one day, a man straddled the pavement and said to him: 'I never get out of my way for a fool.' But I always do,' replied Wesley, as he stepped aside into the gutter.

A red-hot evangelist, dressed in a morning coat and striped trousers, and wearing a topper, walked down a busy street in London one day. As he approached, people walking in the opposite direction from him read with amusement, smiles and jeers, the words he had had printed in large letters on a card fixed to the ribbon of his hat. The words were—`A fool for Christ's sake.' When he passed, they turned to have another look at the man they thought to be a religious maniac, and could not help seeing the card on the back of his topper which read, `Whose fool are you?'

'Answer a fool according to his folly.'

The Apostle Paul was on trial before Felix, the governor of Judah.

This session was a special session so Felix’s wife Drusilla, a Jew, could hear Paul, because Paul at this time had became quite famous.

The whole session exposed Felix as being a fool of fools.

Three things that was a fact.

THE DISTURBANCE OF FELIX

Disturbance - the interruption of a settled and peaceful condition.

“As he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled”.

The word “trembled” is spoken of by A. T. Robertson as “becoming terrified.”

Indeed Felix, though a governor, and spoken of as “noble” , had much to terrify him in regards to judgment.

He was a very cruel man.

A historian said, he exercised the authority of a king with the spirit of a slave, which was a way of saying he was beastly cruel.

He had persuaded his wife, Drusilla, to leave her husband and marry him (she was married to the king of Emesa), and he had arranged for the assassination of the Jewish high priest.

He was a fool in conduct, for he was neither righteous nor temperate so judgment which would come heavy upon him and the prospects caused his trembling.

Josephus said, His unconcerned wife, perished with their son in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

A fitting end for the adulteress.

THE DELAYING BY FELIX

Delaying - make (someone or something) late or slow.

“Go thy way for this time.”

What a tragic statement.

Conviction gripped his heart, but he delayed taking action.

Felix did not want to deal with the most important matters of life at that time.

Only a fool thinks like that.

No one gains by putting off eternal issues.

Delay leads to damnation.

Procrastination can put you in perdition for eternity.

Perdition - a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death.

It is insane to put off losing the misery of sin to gain the blessing of salvation.

Many are like Felix, however, whose high position was doomed in a couple years.

(Hollywood, sports stars, Politicians, the rich and famous and some of us...

THE DELUSION OF FELIX

Delusion - a false belief or judgment about external reality.

“When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

Felix was under the delusion that he could wait for a convenient time to deal with these vital matters.

Only a fool thinks success is built on convenience.

No war was every won because of convenience.

No business every succeeded on convenience.

No athlete excels because of convenience.

No student gets good grades because of convenience, and no soul will get into heaven because of convenience to do right, to take care of spiritual matters.

You may wait forever for a convenient season spiritually.

Though Felix kept Paul in prison for some two years in hope of gaining money (bribe) and to please the Jews who hated Paul and the Gospel, he never found a convenient time to address his spiritual needs.

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If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage! Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.

Felix was put out of office in a couple years, then he never had opportunity again to hear or heed the Gospel.