[0:00] Come together around God's word, let us seek his blessing upon his word. Let us pray. Eternal and ever-blessed Lord, as we come into thy presence through this act of worship, we seek, O Lord, that it may please thee to grant unto us of thy grace to enable us to humble ourselves and to take that place that belongs to us at thine own foodstool and confession of our sins, in need of our repentance, that we would turn away from our sins and that we would seek the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
[0:51] We give thee thanks for the provision that thou hast made for us in and through him, that we are able to come with boldness and with confidence to seek forgiveness, to seek thy mercy and to seek thy grace to help us in our time of need.
[1:11] We acknowledge thine own sovereignty over us, acknowledging that our times are in thine own hands, that thou art the one who ruleth in heaven and in earth, and that thou art working out thine own eternal purpose to the glory of thine own name.
[1:32] We give thanks, O Lord, for that redemptive plan that has been unfolded for us through thy word and especially through thy Son, Jesus Christ, and that has been proclaimed throughout the world in the preaching of the gospel.
[1:49] And so we pray that the gospel may go forth in the power and demonstration of thine own spirit, in convicting and converting and in the building of thine own church.
[2:02] Bless our community, we pray thee, every home and every family, that thou would meet with them at their point of need. Remember those who may be feeling lonely this evening hour, those especially who are confined to their own homes.
[2:20] We pray that thou would be near to them and that they would be assured that if they put their trust in thee, that thou would never leave them nor forsake them.
[2:33] We remember our young people and our children and pray that thou would raise up a generation that would fear thine own name. Remember those who are ill.
[2:45] O Lord, that thou would meet with them at their point of need. And those who mourn, we pray that thine own comfort would be their portion.
[2:56] Bless thy people. Grant to us that we may be faithful witnesses for thee in this world. And we pray, O Lord, for those who are indifferent and careless regarding their eternal destiny.
[3:12] We pray that thou would come on a day of thine own power and through thy spirit that thou would convict them of their lostness, convict them of how they are by nature, that they are sinners under the wrath and condemnation of God.
[3:29] And we pray, O Lord, that through thy spirit thou would enlighten their understanding to come and see the great provision that thou hast made in thy grace and in thy love to meet with the needs of sinners such as we are, enabling them to embrace that provision by faith so that they may come to know thy salvation and the joy of thy salvation.
[3:56] We pray, O Lord, that thou would bless all communities throughout our islands and our nation. O Lord, that thou would remember us in compassion and in pity.
[4:06] And that thou, O Lord, would turn us once again unto thyself. For we are dependent upon thee. For without thee we can do nothing.
[4:20] We pray, O Lord, that thou would grant wisdom to those who have set up an authority over us, that they may look to thine own statutes, to thine own law, to thine own word.
[4:32] And we pray, O Lord, that thou would bless all thy servants who have gone forth with the gospel at this evening hour, that they may know the unction of thine own spirit upon them.
[4:44] We ask, O Lord, that thou would continue with us now for the moments that we are here together. And all that we ask with the forgiveness of our many sins is in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[4:57] Amen. We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 24. And after five days, Anais the high priest descended with the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullius who informed the governor against Paul.
[5:21] And when he was called forth, Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
[5:42] Notwithstanding that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou would ashear us of thy clemency a few words. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who also hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to our law.
[6:10] But the chief captain of Lysias came upon us and with great violence took him away out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.
[6:27] And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. Then Paul, after that, the governor had begun unto him to speak, answered, For as much as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself.
[6:46] Because that thou mayest understand that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship, and they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues nor in the city, neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
[7:04] But this I confess unto thee, that after the way, which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing your things which are written in the law and in the prophets, and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
[7:27] And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men. Not after many years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings, whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude nor with trump, who ought to have been here before thee, and object if they had ought against me.
[7:53] Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me while I stood before the council, except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, touching the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question by you this day.
[8:11] And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, when the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
[8:24] And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
[8:43] And as a reason 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.
[8:56] He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might lose him, whereof he sent for him the orphanage and communed with him. But after two years, his festus came into Felix's room, and Felix was willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
[9:16] May the Lord bless unto us the reading of that portion of his word. Let us read again from verse 22.
[9:28] And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, When you see us, the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
[9:39] And he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jew, as he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
[9:58] And as a reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, and season I will call for thee.
[10:10] He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might lose him. But off he sent for him the offener and communed with him. The beginning of this whole last journey of Paul actually begins in chapter 21 of this book, and especially with his capture in Jerusalem.
[10:35] Paul is received warmly by the Christians at Jerusalem. James and the elders openly praise God for what he has done through Paul's ministry among the Gentiles.
[10:49] However, conflict erupts for Paul when Jews from Asia see him at the temple, and they begin to accuse him. We read, Of course, this was a distortion of the facts, but they are successful in creating a riot.
[11:31] And all the city was moved, and all the people ran together, and they took Paul and threw him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were shut. They were putting Paul's life in danger.
[11:44] He would actually have been killed if it were not for the intervention of the chief captain or commander of the Roman troops. But we read this, And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar, who immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down unto them.
[12:07] And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating off Paul. The Roman captain was a man by the name of Claudius Lysias, who became a key player in the events until Paul is sent to Caesarea.
[12:30] Paul is arrested. He's bound with two chains, possibly attaching him to a shoulder on either side. And the Roman captain was interested to learn of Paul's identity and to find out more about the charge that was brought against him.
[12:50] He demanded who he was and what he had done. But because of the uproar of the people, the captain demanded that he be brought to the castle. And the captain inquired of Paul, Art thou that Egyptian which before these days made an uproar and led us out into the wilderness 4,000 men that were murderers?
[13:15] This story is a story of a false prophet from Egypt who came to Jerusalem in 54 AD and who led a multitude of people to the Mount of Olives, promising that they could march in and take the city when the walls fell down at his command.
[13:37] And Felix, the Roman governor, sent troops against them and many of them were killed and captured. But the Egyptian false prophet escaped.
[13:48] And now Claudius, the chief captain, is inquiring if Paul was the Egyptian having returned back to Jerusalem.
[14:01] But Paul gave him his credentials on hearing that he was allowed to speak and he was allowed to address the people.
[14:12] However, during that address, there was another uproar among the people wanting to kill him. So in chapter 22 we read that they were crying out, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not food that he should live.
[14:28] And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the chief captain again intervened. And he commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging and that he might know whereof they cried so much against him.
[14:48] And as they bowed to him, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?
[15:00] And the centurion told the chief captain and on hearing that Paul was a Roman citizen, the chief captain approached Paul to see whether it was true.
[15:14] And the captain said, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. That is the freedom of being a Roman citizen. But Paul said to him, But I was freeborn.
[15:24] Which meant that the captain had bought his Roman citizenship, but Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. And in that sense, actually Paul outranked the captain.
[15:38] The captain made Paul to appear before the Sanhedrin, which we have recorded then in chapter 23. This meeting becomes quite violent again when Paul claims to be on trial because of the hope of the resurrection from the dead.
[15:57] You see, there were Sadducees there that do not believe in the resurrection. There were Pharisees who believed in the resurrection. So a division came within the Sanhedrin body.
[16:12] And there was some violence. And again the captain comes and he rescues Paul once more from a Jewish attack and brings him back to the castle.
[16:24] But something interesting happened during that night because the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision promising to bring him safely to Rome to testify about him in that city.
[16:41] However, the Jews did not relent their opposition against Paul and so he faced another threat upon his life as they planned to set up an ambush.
[16:53] And the captain, upon hearing of their plan, makes every effort to bring Paul before Felix, the governor, in Caesarea. And on arriving at Caesarea we find that a nice high priest with some of the Jewish elders and a lawyer by the name of Tertullius was to present the Jewish case and defend their charges against the apostle Paul to the Roman governor.
[17:20] Tertullius was an orator and he could use his flattery or sweet talk to try and win over the Roman governor. He brought three charges against Paul.
[17:34] He brought a personal charge. He said that he was a pestilent fellow. And then he brought a political charge, a mover's addition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
[17:46] And he brought, of course, a doctrinal charge who hath gone about to profane the temple. In summing up, Tertullius hinted that Claudius Lysias should have been there personally and had not just sent the Jewish leaders to present the case.
[18:07] But there is no indication given to us why the chief captain was absent at this time. And after Tertullius presented his case and charges, Felix simply nodded his head as a signal for Paul to speak.
[18:25] Now, Paul did not flatter Felix but acknowledged him to be a man of experience and knowledge. And from verse 10 to 21, Paul began to answer all the charges that Tertullius had brought against him.
[18:41] And in summing up, Paul says that if he had done anything evil to the members of the Jewish council, it was this that he reminded them of the doctrine of the resurrection.
[18:56] Else, let the same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me while I stood before the council, except it be this one voice that I cried standing among them, touching the resurrection of the dead, I am called and questioned by you this day.
[19:18] Now, we are told here in verse 22 that when Felix heard these things, what Paul had been saying, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, when Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
[19:44] Now, let us take note of this for a moment. Felix had more perfect knowledge of these things. He already knew about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[19:58] He had knowledge of that way. That is what the gospel was called in the early days. It was known as that way or the way because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.
[20:16] But the writer says that this man, Felix, already knew about the whole thing. And you may ask, well, how did he know? Well, Luke, the writer, gives no indication to us of how Felix was so acquainted with the way.
[20:34] But we do know that Christianity was making significant progress within the Roman Empire so that its beliefs and practices could in some measure be known by those who was in high places of power.
[20:52] But there is something else. We also come to know that his wife, Drusilla, was a Jewess. In fact, her family tree is quite interesting.
[21:05] She came from a royal but a dysfunctional family. Drusilla was the youngest of three daughters born to Herod Agrippa I, who was the grandson of Herod the Great, who sent soldiers to slaughter all the baby boys, two and under, trying to make sure that Jesus would die.
[21:29] But Drusilla left her first husband to marry the Roman governor, Felix. And Drusilla had become his third wife.
[21:41] Now, as a Jew, as a Jewess, Drusilla would probably have known about the stoning of Stephen, which happened before she was born, and the matthotum of James at the order of her own father.
[21:58] I'm sure that she would have been told about all those things. She knew all about these people who were beginning to turn the world upside down by preaching a gospel or the gospel.
[22:13] Now, some days later, however, Felix with his wife, Drusilla, summoned Paul for a hearing. There was no legal reason for Drusilla to be present at these hearings, so she must have been curious about what Paul had to say.
[22:38] We read, after certain days, when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ and as a reason of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come.
[22:56] Paul boldly proclaimed the gospel without watering it down at all to please his audience.
[23:08] It is up to the messenger to deliver the message. What God does with the truth we speak is God's business. Our duty and our obligation and our commission is to deliver the message that God has given to us through his word.
[23:30] The results of that are his. The gospel has power to reach in the hardest hearts when presented without shame and without apology.
[23:44] Paul wrote us, we noted, I think, this morning in Romans 1, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
[24:02] And so here we find that Paul proved his confidence and his boldness concerning the gospel when he preached to Felix and Drusilla.
[24:14] Paul stood before this man and the man knew the way because possibly his wife had heard something about the way and she would have told him about the way.
[24:29] Her family had been so involved within it. But also, it says that Paul spoke of his faith in Christ and reasoned with him out of the word of God as he spoke to this great man, Felix, about three things, about righteousness, temperance, or self-control and judgment.
[24:57] And Paul gives three compelling reasons why they should repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's look at this briefly.
[25:10] First of all, Paul preached concerning the faith in Christ. The faith in Christ. You may ask, why is it written in this way as the faith in Christ and not simply faith in Christ?
[25:28] Paul did not begin by saying put your faith in Christ, although I am sure that this is the crucial point to which he is leading, but what is written here is that he spoke concerning the faith in Christ.
[25:46] In other words, he gave to them the contents of the gospel. He gave them all the gospel. He told them that Jesus was God.
[25:58] He told them that Jesus was born of a virgin. He told them that Jesus died on the cross for the deliverance of sin. He told them that Jesus rose on the third day from the dead.
[26:10] He told them all the facts of the gospel. That all it's, that is the content, that is the faith.
[26:22] He would have given them the whole embodiment of truth. He preached concerning the faith faith in Christ.
[26:34] Then we are told that he reasoned with them of righteousness. Now, this righteousness may be in connection with human behaviour rather than with our standing before God.
[26:50] But, whatever way we take it, it uncovers our sin. Whether we take it as a right human behaviour or as we take it as our standing before God, it both, they uncover our sin.
[27:09] Today's sin is a word that has been dropped out of our language as well as its notion and its concept. Now the world talks about mistakes and weaknesses and inherited tendencies and false errors but never sin.
[27:31] We live in an age when it is wrong to say that people are sinful. They may be weak and they may have faults but it is not accepted to say that they are sinful.
[27:46] They are only immature or underprivileged or frightened or more particularly people will say they may be sick. But what the Bible brings before us is that God demands righteousness.
[28:02] He demands the right human behaviour but he also demands righteousness as our standing before him. And the good news is that the same God who demands righteousness has provided our righteousness for us.
[28:21] He has provided our righteousness for us to all those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who can only be saved through the righteousness that is made available for sinners by the finished work of Christ on the cross.
[28:41] And here as Paul preached to Felix and Roussilla about the faith in Christ reasoned with them of righteousness.
[28:53] I'm sure there that he would bring them to the cross where Jesus died, where Jesus suffered. And you know all the physical sufferings of the Lord, how he was beaten, how he was spat upon, how he was mocked and bruised and whipped before he even got to the cross.
[29:12] How weak he must have been in body. He was there hanging between heaven and earth, but my friend, there was something more going on than all that physical sufferings.
[29:23] There was something invisible. For as we saw in past weeks, God was taking the sins of all those who will trust in him, their secret sins, their known sins, sins that not even the nearest and dearest knows about.
[29:38] God lifted them all and poured them upon his son. He gives them the sins of his people so that he can give to them his righteousness.
[29:55] And so I'm sure that as Paul reasoned with them of righteousness, it was not only of right human behavior, but he would also bring them to understand that they needed a righteousness to stand before God and that righteousness is a righteousness that has been provided by God in his love, in his grace, and in his mercy.
[30:24] And that righteousness has been provided only by our sins being imputed to a substitute the beloved son of God, Jesus Christ.
[30:38] Our sins imputed to him, reckoned to him, so that his righteousness could be reckoned to us. Well, the question is, were your sins placed upon Jesus?
[30:53] And was his righteousness given and reckoned to you? But those who receive this righteousness is to lead righteous lives.
[31:05] They are to lead a right human behavior. They are to lead righteous lives. They are to be found in a right behavior.
[31:16] And I'm sure that when Paul reasoned about righteousness, he took both together and reasoned with Felix and Drisola.
[31:29] Secondly, he talked to them about temperance, which is basically self-control. Now, this was something for Felix and Drisola, because Felix had been struck by her beauty.
[31:45] She was under 20 years of age, and he took her away from her first husband, who was his own brother, to be his third wife.
[31:58] You know, when God created man, all the natural desires and cravings that belongs to our nature was in their rightful place.
[32:10] But when man sinned, the natural desires and cravings that were good in and of themselves acquired an evil bias.
[32:21] Instead of man being able to control his desires and cravings, they began to control man. That is why we get those feelings and desires and cravings that decide us and prompts us and stimulates us and urges us to commit acts of sin.
[32:45] Where do they come from, we may ask. Well, David says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
[32:55] what we experience is that we cannot help ourselves. We cannot stop. It is something that is ingrained within us.
[33:07] And therefore, this requires in our lives temperance. It requires self-control. It requires discipline in our lives.
[33:19] And so Paul here brings before Felix not only the matter of righteousness, that is, to have a righteousness by which we can stand before God and to have a righteous behaviour in life.
[33:33] But he also says we need discipline in our lives. We need self-control in our lives. We need to control our desires and our cravings.
[33:46] things. And then thirdly, he talked to him of judgment. Talked to him of judgment.
[33:59] The word of God says, as Paul said to the Greek philosophers, he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
[34:14] whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Do you know how you can be sure that one day you will be judged for your sin?
[34:31] How can I be sure tonight that one day I will be judged for my sin? God the Father hath raised the judge from the dead.
[34:45] The empty tomb is an assurance to us that one day we will be judged because God the Father hath raised the judge from the dead.
[34:58] If he did that you can be sure that he will not miss the appointment with you for judgment. The empty tomb speaks of many things but among the things is this the day of judgment.
[35:17] The empty tomb says to us that Jesus is the sinner saviour but it also says that Jesus is the sinner judge. We will all appear before his judgment seat but praise God if you trust in Jesus he will be there as your saviour judge and that makes a tremendous difference for the sinner.
[35:46] When Felix here was informed of the essence of faith, when he was informed of righteousness, of right behaviour, when he was informed of temperance or self control and judgment, what do we read?
[36:03] we read that his heart was moved. He was terrified. Felix trembled and answered, go thy way for this time when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
[36:23] Maybe there are some of you this evening and when I'm talking about your sin judgment, maybe your heart is moved. Maybe God is speaking to some of your hearts and you wish you could just shut him out.
[36:39] Maybe you are feeling uncomfortable and you wish that you could shut him out, but you cannot. Maybe you wish you could plug your ears, but you cannot.
[36:51] You may be smiling, grin about it and try to wipe it away and pretend that there's nothing going on, but God knows better. And perhaps you have to nearly hold your hand to stop it shaking tonight because of the fear that the gospel brings to you of your sin and of judgment.
[37:16] Maybe you tremble, maybe it leaves you very uncomfortable, maybe there is a trembling within you as you hear of God's judgment.
[37:32] Maybe you will go home tonight and you will put your head on the pillow and you just can't forget all about this. It's going round and round.
[37:44] Maybe you will cry torturing me, my sin, things that I thought I'd forgotten in the past, they are coming back now to haunt me. maybe you are saying that it is never again to come to a gospel meeting.
[38:01] Perhaps you are saying never again will I come to church. Felix trembled when Paul explained to him the gospel and when he reasoned to him about righteousness, temperance and judgment.
[38:23] He trembled. It affected him. Has the gospel ever affected yourself? You see, the frightening thing about this meeting here with Felix and Trisola is that you notice it does not say that Trisola trembled.
[38:48] Felix and Trisola was there as Paul preached to them but only one trembled and that was Felix.
[39:00] Trisola was not affected and the thing is she was a Jewess. She was one who was brought up with the oracles of God.
[39:12] She would know something about the gospel yet she did not tremble.
[39:25] You know my friend, if the gospel affects you, whether it be in soul or body, listen, thank God for it. Thank God for it.
[39:37] Thank the Lord that your heart is soft enough to be affected by the gospel. But remember that is not salvation. To tremble is not salvation.
[39:53] As we find out in the case of this man Felix, he trembled but it was not salvation. See, I fear in the sight of God that there are many people tonight under the gospel and they will leave the meeting more or less the way that they came in.
[40:14] I cannot say that they will leave the meeting the way they came in because I think we alluded to this in the morning that the person hardens the heart and the heart hardening process goes on continuously.
[40:31] But you may be touched. You may be touched. Drusilla stood there and took it all and she went out without a thought. Well, is that yourself?
[40:43] Do you leave a gospel meeting without a thought of what was said or what was presented to you? Felix was informed, his heart was moved, but here this their wills was unmoved.
[41:05] Both their wills was unmoved. Their will remained disobedient to the claims of the gospel.
[41:16] Felix was under conviction. He was moved because of his sin. He was moved and touched. But what you see what he turned around to Paul and said, when I have a convenient season, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
[41:39] This is your own attitude to the gospel. I'll put it off. I'll do something about it at a later time, some other time in my life.
[41:50] It's just not convenient for me tonight. I would have to throw up all my career prospects, maybe the job that you are in, maybe it's a habit that you have that you had to give up.
[42:04] And you are saying to yourself tonight, how can I give this up and follow Jesus? That would destroy all my own plans.
[42:17] Felix trembled. Felix was convicted of his sin, but he was not converted. Do you see what he did?
[42:29] The very last verse tells us. He kept Paul in prison for fear of the Jews. Maybe you are here this evening and it will be your friends that will keep you from salvation in your continued wild lifestyle.
[42:44] You know many people in hell could testify to you this evening that there was a time when they trembled. They were like Felix, they were under conviction, but the conviction passed away and they missed the opportunity to be saved.
[43:00] there was a story once told about a meeting in hell. Satan called his four leading demons together and commanded them to think up a new lie that would trap more souls.
[43:19] The first demon said, I have it, I'll go to earth and tell people there is no God. God. Satan said, that'll never work. People can look around them and see the creation and see that there is a God.
[43:36] The second demon said, I'll go and tell them that there is no heaven. But Satan rejected that idea for he says, everybody knows there is life after death and they want to go to heaven.
[43:50] The third demon says, let us tell them that there is no hell. but Satan rejected that idea for he said, their conscience tells them that their sins will be judged.
[44:01] We need a better lie than that. And quietly the fourth demon comes and he said, I think I have solved the problem. I will go to earth and I will tell them that there is a God.
[44:17] And I will tell them that there is a heaven. And I will tell them that there is a hell. but I will tell them there is no hurry.
[44:29] Plenty of time. And Satan said, that's the perfect plan. Tell them that there is a God.
[44:39] Tell them that there is a heaven and a hell. But tell them there is plenty time to consider and think upon those things.
[44:52] And here his feelings. A man who trembled under the gospel of God. Convicted but not converted.
[45:02] He says, at a more convenient season, go your way. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
[45:13] you see here, we read that he hoped that money should have been given of Paul, that he might loosen his covetousness.
[45:25] He had a heart problem and the heart problem was sin. He had to deal with that. But for Felix, poor Felix, you know, a man so close, convicted, and yet he fell short of salvation.
[45:44] And we read here something quite interesting in verse 26. He says, when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. And then in verse 26, at the end, it says, whereof he sent for him the oftener and communed with him.
[45:59] Now that is interesting. Yes, he had a covetous heart. He was hoping that Paul would give him money and would set him loose. But I am sure that every time he was sent, Paul would say something to him regarding the gospel.
[46:15] But we don't read that these other visitations caused Felix to tremble. And surely that is proof of what we have said. Surely that is proof of what we have said.
[46:30] You know, we find a people who may have trembled under the gospel, but as they come, Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath, their heart hardens and it has less effect upon them.
[46:45] There is a saying which says, familiarity breeds contempt. And you know this, familiarity with the gospel breeds contempt.
[46:58] We are all, everyone here tonight is familiar with the gospel. And you know that might be the snare and trap that shall destroy your soul.
[47:10] Familiarity breeds contempt. Oh, my friend, now is the accepted time and now is the day of salvation.
[47:20] salvation. It is said that D.L. Moody was preaching in the city of Chicago. And that particular night he drew his largest audience yet.
[47:32] And his message was, what will you do then with Jesus who is called the Christ? At the end of the service he was tired and he concluded his message with a presentation of the gospel and a concluding statement which said, now I give you a week to think that over.
[47:52] I'll give you a week to think over that. What will I do with Jesus who just called Christ? That night, that very night, there was the great charcutta fire and in the aftermath hundreds were dead and over a hundred thousand were homeless.
[48:13] And without a doubt some would have heard Moody's message and they probably some would have died in the fire. Reflecting upon the way that he closed the message that night, he remorsefully said that he would have given his right arm before he would ever give an audience another week to think over the message of the gospel.
[48:38] You see, what the Bible says is, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Not, we'll think about it later or consider it later.
[48:51] No preacher of the gospel will tell his audience, think about your relationship with Christ at the end of the week or next week or next month or next year on a few days time.
[49:02] No, now think about your relationship with God. Now think about it. For now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
[49:17] Remember Felix, he heard the gospel, he trembled and yet he was lost. He was lost.
[49:29] Drusilla, a Jewish, she knew something of the gospel, she knew something about Jesus, she knew something about God and yet she never trembled.
[49:40] she never trembled. Oh, what effect has the gospel upon yourself? I hope that it does affect you, but I hope that you are not happy and pleased and satisfied to remain just affected by the gospel until you by faith trust and accept Jesus Christ into your life as your saviour.
[50:09] that is salvation. Trusting in Christ, leaning upon Christ, following Christ, whichever way you want to put it, it is a trusting and giving yourself to live for Christ.
[50:27] That is salvation. May the Lord bless our thoughts. Let us pray. eternal and ever blessed Lord, we give thanks to thee for the gospel, for the gospel that proclaims to us that we are sinners in need of salvation, a gospel that declares to us that thou in thy grace and mercy hast made a provision for us, whereby our sins can be forgiven, whereby we can have peace with God, we can be reconciled to God.
[51:06] We can know the mercy and the love of God. And we pray, O Lord, that as that declaration is being made this night, that it may go forth in the power and demonstration of thy spirit to the hearts of our people, and that our people would not put it off, would not say to themselves that they will consider it in a few days time, or later on in life, but that they would consider it right now, for now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.
[51:43] We ask, O Lord, that thou would help us and protect us during the coming days. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore.
[52:00] Amen.