Postponing Commitment

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2018 · 8 April 2018

Let us look further at Acts 24. Felix was a man who had a great opportunity to be saved but postponed it and forfeited it. Here at our church, are concerned with studying the Word of God and examining every verse. Because 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable." And so we expect the Spirit of God to teach our hearts from this Bible passage.

This deals with this man Felix who was the Roman governor assigned to Judea. The Apostle Paul was on trial before him. Paul had been accused of certain crimes, but all of them were false charges. They had been conceived by some Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Paul because he was a threat to their theological security. So the case finally found its way to the governor of Judea, named Felix.

And we not only see Paul and the example of his life, we also see God at work. This deals with the legal aspect in the trial, and also the personal aspect of Felix. Few people have had the privilege of having the Apostle Paul in their house for two years. With all of Paul’s brilliance, and all that God could do through him, and all that Felix heard and was exposed to, he should have made the right decision. But instead he rejected it.

There are three parts of the trial: the prosecution, the defense, and the judgment or verdict. The prosecution was discussed in Acts 24:1-9, the Jews accuse Paul of three things: First, he is an insurrectionist who stirs up Jews against Rome, which is not true. Secondly he is accused of sectarianism, he was a religious heretic being a member of the Nazarenes. Thirdly he is accused of profaning the temple against God.

All those charges against Paul are false. But Paul expected this. Throughout the history of the church, we learn not only biblically but historically, that Christians who live holy lives in Satan's world will always have to contend with false accusations. Matthew 10:16 says, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." Jesus says that when we begin to confront the world with the truth, there is going to be hostility.

Matthew 10:17-18 says additionally, "But beware of men." Your biggest problem will be people. He doesn't say, "Beware of Satan." We know that Satan is working behind the scenes. "Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils and scourge you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.”

Verse 19-20, “But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” That is the promise of divine inspiration, and that belonged to the apostles. In other words, He would give the Gospel writers recall of all that Jesus said, accurately.

Verse 22, "You shall be hated of all for My name's sake." Notice the reason for this hostility is not because the person is a bad person; it's because of Jesus Christ. So since Satan is controlling the world, and since he is so strongly against Christ, the system that persecutes the believer is really persecuting Christ. "You will suffer for My name's sake. It is because of the hatred for Me, they will also hate you."

Now, Jesus says in verse 26, "Don't fear them, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known." In other words, don't be afraid of fake news, because there will come a time when judgment will be done and proper rewards will be given and we will know the truth of who deserves reward and who doesn't. Don't fear, God will be make everything right at the end.

Verse 27, "Whatever is going on in darkness will be revealed in light, whatever you've heard in secret, you speak out boldly. What you've heard in your ear, you shout from the housetops because, in the end, God will vindicate and truly reward." Verse 28. "Don't be afraid of those who kill your body, but be afraid of God who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

God knows everything immediately. Anything that exists, He knows. He doesn't count and He doesn't discover truth; He has instant knowledge of everything even before it happens. Now, we should expect trouble and believe that God still will take care of us. You need to be willing to pay the price. Do not be surprised when you get false accusations. Satan attacks Christ through those who call themselves Christians.

Luke 6:22 says, "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.” Have you ever been alienated, ostracized? "And when they criticize you, speak evil of you. He says, "When all that happens, blessed are you, for the Son of Man's sake." They're doing it because they hate Jesus.

Now look at the defense in Acts 24. Paul, having heard their false charges of sedition, sectarianism, and sacrilege against him, decides he will answer them when he is asked to by Felix in verse 10. He replies first to the accusation of sedition. Verse 11 says, I haven't done anything to cause a political revolution. It's only been 12 days since I arrived, and seven days were in the temple purification and five of them I've been here in Caesarea.

Verse 12, when I was in the temple, they didn't find me disputing with anyone, I wasn't inciting a crowd in the synagogue or the city. 13 Neither can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.” The world's perspective is always reversed. They accused Paul, but the man who ought to have been accused was Felix, for his corruption. And the Jews, in turn, for their corruption as well.

In verse 14, he answers the second accusation, that he was practicing religious heresy. He says, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.” I do worship according to Christianity. But in fact, I consider myself, in the truest sense, a Jew. I worship the God of my fathers, and believe the Law and Prophets.

Verse 15, “I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” In other words, "I am committed to the facts of Judaism right down the line. They are the heretics." The implication is that they're not worshiping the true God; they don't believe all things in the Law and Prophets, and they don't believe in the resurrection. So Paul indicts them.

The third accusation was sacrilege. They accused Paul of profaning the temple and was blaspheming God. He replies to that in verses 17 but notice verse 16, “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” I have a clear conscience; I have not created a riot, I have not gone into a heresy, and I have not blasphemed God.

Then he replies in verse 17, “Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation.” He explains his motive. It wasn't to blaspheme God. I came simply to bring alms to my nation." Alms means money for the needy. Remember he had collected that money from all the Gentile Christians, and he was bringing it to give to the Jewish Christians as a sign of love.

Verse 18 says, "Whereupon certain Jews from Asia," Asia Minor, a Roman province where Paul had preached at Ephesus for three years, "Found me, purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult." Believe me, if he had done what they accused him of, bringing a Gentile into the inner part, there would have been a hassle going on. They just jumped on him and tried to kill him on the spot. They hated Paul.

Verse 19-20 says, “They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. 20 Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council.” In other words, "If there was a hassle going on in there, you ought to get some of the people who were in the hassle to come here and give testimony. So where are your witnesses?

The only thing they could come up with, in verse 21, “unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’” The only thing they can accuse me of is making an issue out of the resurrection. Of course, it's only a theological discussion, no issue for a court. And Felix knew this, because he received a letter which explained it.

Claudius Lysias, sent this letter along which said, "Felix, this guy hasn't done one thing to break the law. It's only a theological issue between the Jews." What Paul says in giving his testimony is, "I have a clear conscience. My life is blameless." Matthew 10:16 says, “Be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves.” Then you are a rebuke to all those who would accuse you.

So that's the prosecution and defense. The only thing left is the verdict, or the judgment. Part three. What is the only possible verdict that could ever be rendered? Innocent. There are no witnesses, right? The preliminary hearing held at the Jewish Sanhedrin had no conclusion at all, and the only issue involved in the whole thing is theological. What does Felix do? He knows that the Jews have perjured themselves.

But Felix was afraid. What was he afraid of? Well, he has a Roman citizen on his hands, and Roman citizens had certain rights, but he had a worse problem. He had a lot of Jews on his hands who were very angry, which can cause revolutions. Remember Pilate? The reason that Pilate finally allowed Jesus to be crucified is that he wanted to pacify the Jews because he was afraid he'd lose his job if he couldn't rule well.

Verse 22, “But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.” Lysias knew more of Christianity than the accusers did. But Felix, having a more perfect knowledge of the Way, knew what he should have done. But he just permanently postponed his decision.

Verse 23, “So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.” The history of Paul's trial before Felix just ends there. It's the record of a trial, the record of a man before a pagan judge, being accused by Jewish accusers, but who is innocent. Paul is a holy man, and they can't find anything wrong.

How do we see God in this passage, aside from Paul? We don't know of any sermon that he preached or anything that he wrote there. This may have been a furlough. He had been chased all over for long enough. He needed a rest. Besides, he had so much accomplished in his lifetime and he worked so fast, he probably had only a few years left.

Let us look at Felix in verse 24, “And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.” Felix may have been exposed to Christianity through Drusilla. If, in fact, she was the daughter of the Herod Agrippa of the New Testament, then he would have been very familiar with the beginnings of Christianity.

Paul gave him the content of the Gospel. He told him Jesus was God, born of a virgin, lived a miraculous life, died on the cross for the deliverance from sin, and rose the third day from the dead. Verse 25, “Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

Every person is required to respond. That is the Gospel, you must conform to it or be judged. Paul talked to Felix about his sin, and that he had not lived up to God's standard. The ultimate end is judgment to come. This is the usual pattern for evangelism; one-to-one. Then you say, "But because we cannot live up to that standard, Jesus Christ took your penalty, paid your judgment, and offers you His righteousness by faith."

But what happened? When you keep resisting, your heart becomes harder and harder. A habit starts out as a little silver thread that a child can break, and it soon becomes a cord that a giant can't sever. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:2, "Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation." Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.” Rejection is a guy saying, "I'm coming," but he never comes.

Verse 26, “Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.” Felix wanted a bribe. "The love of money," Paul says to Timothy, "Is the root of all kinds of evil." He thought that Paul brought all this money to Jerusalem, so he probably had some left.

Verse 27, “But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.” Felix was replaced because there was a big riot in Caesarea and Felix put it down with such violence that the Jews managed to get him recalled from Rome. He turns Paul over to Festus, and we'll see next what Festus tries to do with him.

Some of you have probably thought about receiving Jesus Christ but you've never done it. You've said, "I'm going to do it someday. When I have time." But you never have time and you're lulled into the deceitfulness of sin to think there ever will be. Do not harden not your heart. Come while you still have the opportunity to receive Christ. Let's pray.