Surviving storms and shipwrecks, Acts 27

The story we are looking at today shows a godly man, a man chosen and used by God as an apostle, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, yet who suffers incarceration, deprivation, a nightmarish couple of weeks at sea in the midst of a major nor’easter, and ultimately ends up being shipwrecked and having to swim for land.  It’s an amazing account of hardship, but I hope that you will see why the Holy Spirit gives us this story in this passage.  I hope to show you that God allows His people to go through storms and even shipwrecks in order to use them for His glory.

Now this principle is contrary to practically everything you will hear today on Christian radio, or on so called Christian television, or from most pulpits in the modern evangelical church which seem to try to seduce people to the gospel by means of the enticement of a better life.  And I hope you will not just discard this message as another one of Roy’s rants about how dire everything is.  But I hope you will see that this is a Biblical principle that is illustrated over and over again in the Bible.  It is not something that only happened in Biblical times, but it is something that happens in our lives as well.  So it’s important that we understand that in the last days difficult times will come.  I hope you will consider 2Tim. 3:12 which says, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Or as Paul said in Acts 14:22, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

The point being, that you should not expect that the Christian faith guarantees you a life of comfort and ease and pleasure.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world.”  Jesus said in Matthew 5 that God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust.  So there are going to be storms in your life.  They are unavoidable.  And sometimes those storms  end up causing shipwrecks.  Many times they are beyond our ability to avoid either.  But what is important is to know that God is with us in the storm, even in the shipwreck, and He will preserve our soul and use it for His glory  if we trust in Him.

Now let’s consider something else that’s important to realize right at the beginning of the story, and that is God’s timing.  Paul was told by the Lord way back in chapter 23 vs.11, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also."  But here is Paul over two years later and he still hasn’t gotten to Rome.  He has spent the last two years languishing in prison.  A fairly nice prison by most standards of that day, but still a prison nonetheless.  Now he’s finally on a ship sailing to Rome, still under guard, and they get caught in this massive storm at sea, and eventually shipwrecked on an island. 

And what I think we can take from that is the principle of God’s timing.  The Lord said in Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”  God has His own time table.  And if we are not careful in considering his timing, we can easily out run God and end up finding ourselves in a mess. 

Now I emphasize that because many times Christians come to a point in their life where they want to know God’s will.  They may seek God’s counsel in regards to a decision that they are about to make.  They want to know God’s will, if He is with them or not, or will bless them or not.  And I want to emphasize that we have to be careful about judging things based on human timetables and what seems rational or natural to us.  God has His own timing and purposes.  It doesn’t mean we don’t plan or strategize, but we should not mistake the seeming silence of God as an indication of a green light.  Or neither should we suppose that God is not working simply because we don’t see immediate results.  What we have to depend upon is the word of the Lord.  In Paul’s case, 2 ½ years later he was still trusting in the word of the Lord that promised he would go to Rome even though it had not come to pass yet. 

Remember that Abraham was 75 years old when God promised to raise up a son from him which would result in a great nation coming from his loins, but he was 100 years old when Isaac was born.  And in similar fashion, Joseph was 17 when he was taken captive, but 30 when he was elevated to second in command over Egypt.   Thus Hebrews 6 tells us to imitate those patriarchs who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Now if we are going to go through these trials in such as way as to inherit the promises, and avoid the peril, then we must be careful to conduct ourselves according to the will of God, which is admittedly difficult to do as we just described.  It’s difficult because God’s will is not always determined according to human intellect or the way we would naturally suppose things to be.  So we are given this passage I believe to help establish some principles to guide us as we go through the storms and even shipwrecks of life.

First note that Festus decides that Paul is to go to Rome to  stand trial before Caesar, even though he admits that Paul has done no crime.  And so he determines that he will go by ship, and puts a Roman centurion in charge of his transport named Julius.  The centurion would have had 100 soldiers under his command.  And the text tells us that there were other prisoners on the ship as well as the author Luke and Aristarchus who accompanied Paul, so all told there were 276 people on board the ship. 

God’s providence allowed for Paul’s doctor as well as his friend, Aristarchus, to travel with him.  Though Paul was a prisoner, he had been given special consideration for the last couple of years, and it would seem that continued even aboard the ship.  The centurion Julius shows Paul kindness, even allowing him to visit other Christians in Sidon.  But notice vs. 3 says he allowed him to receive care.  It’s not unlikely that Paul was ill during this time.  That would account for Luke and Aristarchus traveling with him.  We don’t know what illness Paul had for sure, but we do know that the Galatians were willing to give Paul their very own eyes if possible.  So most commentators believe that because of that passage as well as others that Paul had a serious illness in his eyes that limited his vision. 

And that is a testament to God’s provision and care for our needs. Though Paul asked three times for God to remove this thorn in his flesh, yet God did not heal Paul, but He did give him a doctor and a companion to help him.  1 Cor. 10:13 promises that “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  I cannot overemphasize the fact that God a human touch to accomplish a divine purpose.  God desires to use us to comfort and strengthen and minister to one another.

Now at Sidon they were put on another ship and this is when they start running into trouble.   They already had contrary winds up to this point, but now the wind was really against them.  So much so that they finally find themselves forced to land at a port called Fair Havens.  Now it’s interesting to note this, because we have already determined that it was God’s will that Paul go to Rome, and yet at every step of the way he is being delayed, the wind was contrary, and they had difficult going.  

We have difficulty accepting such circumstances as God’s will, don’t we?  I have had similar experiences at 7:30 in the morning with contrary winds and bad weather just before church starts.  And I have asked myself many times what God’s will could possibly be in such a case.  There have even been times when we had to cancel services because of a storm.  I have to admit that at such times I have a hard time accepting that it is God’s will.  I tend to think in such times that Satan has won the day and we lost.  And yet we know that is not the case in Paul’s situation, even though it goes from bad to worse.  Just because it is God’s will does not mean that there will not be opposition or even delay.  That’s why we are told to persevere, to endure under trials.  Opposition is often more of an indicator of God’s will than fair winds, as we will see in a moment.

By the time they made port and waited for the wind to change it had become an unfavorable season for ship travel.  It was after the feast of atonement, sometime in mid October, and in that region the winter was considered a very dangerous time for sea travel.  And so Paul, who I think was under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, advises the centurion and the captain that he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to continue on.  Paul said, ““Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

But the centurion, though he favors Paul with some kindness, doesn’t think that Paul knows as much about seafaring as the captain does, and so he disregards Paul’s advice.  I get that from time to time myself.  I sometimes offer advice to someone in my church about a career choice, or marriage counseling, or financial advice.  And many times I think they feel that I don’t really know much about such things so they disregard my advice.  They may concede that might be able to teach the Bible, but for practical advice they will go to a trained counselor or advisor and listen to them.  I don’t think Paul claimed to be a sea captain, but I do think that he had the immeasurable advantage of the input of the Holy Spirit.  And in like manner, I may not be a trained counselor or advisor, but I do have access to the truth of the Holy Spirit and can relate godly principles set forth by Him in the word of God.  The Bible is practical advice.  It is our guide for daily life.  It is sufficient.

Now notice that they disregard Paul’s advice not necessarily because it isn’t sound, but because it’s contrary to their carnal desires.  They want to go to a more interesting, more comfortable winter quarters.   And this is the beginning of their trouble and of ours as well: when we turn away from godly counsel in search of counsel which conforms to our desires.  Paul would later warn Timothy about people’s tendency to do that in 2Tim. 4:3-5 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

But unfortunately, they failed to follow Paul’s advice.  And instead, when a south wind sprung up, thinking that this signaled fair weather and was a good omen, they set sail once again.  And of course, Paul is taken on board.  The Bible says no man is an island.  Your actions affect others.  Your decisions about where you will work or live or what you might do affect others.  And God will hold you accountable for the way in which your actions affected others.  As parents, your leadership affects your children.  Our thinking today  is too much influenced by pop culture, like the song by the Kinks, which says, “It's your life, And you can do what you want, Do what you like, But please don't keep-a me waiting, Please don't keep-a me waiting,

'Cause I'm so tired, Tired of waiting, Tired of waiting for you.”  So you have on the one hand the declaration that you can do whatever you want to with your life, but on the other hand another declaration of the impatience of waiting.  In other words, we want what we want, and we want it now.

So be aware that when you are pursuing something like a job or where to live, or marriage, that we don’t read favorable circumstances as an indication of God’s will.  As silly as it sounds, I know of several times when people interpreted a certain cloud formation as a sign from God, or a song they heard on the radio, or the sun came out from behind the clouds, and off they go to the races to do what they had already purposed in their mind to do, and were just looking for an excuse to do it.  For example; getting approved for that loan may not be an indication of God’s will.

How do we avoid such mistakes?  Simple; seek God’s word and then trust it.  Paul’s word was as a prophet of God.  And the centurion probably knew by experience that Paul’s word could be trusted as he had been with him in Caesarea for two years.  But  as Christians we are told we should lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths.

Well, the fair south wind that signaled good weather for the ship didn’t last long, and a nor’easter sprang up which made making any headway practically impossible.  I don’t know how many of you came down to the beach during the recent nor’easter we had a few weeks ago.  But if you did you realized the tremendous power of those storms.  They are every bit as dangerous as a hurricane, probably even more so in some cases because people aren’t expecting as much destruction as they can create. Ours lasted about 6 or 7 days if I remember correctly.  The one in this story lasted 2 weeks.  That is a tremendous storm, and quite a long time to be dealing with the effects of such a storm on a ship. 

Notice that Luke says that they gave up trying to sail the ship into the wind and allowed the ship to be driven along by the wind.  He says the same thing again in vs.17, that they let down the sea anchor after undergirding the ship with cables and let the ship be driven along.  I may be stretching it a bit here, but I cannot help but see the connection to a wrong choice leading to a situation in which you are no longer in control, but the situation is controlling you.  You find yourself caught up in this maelstrom of activity that is driving you. A good illustration is addiction.  I think that people caught in addiction are driven by something, perhaps even demonic presence that is driving them, hurrying them to destruction, not heeding any warnings, actually unable to do anything to stop themselves.  They may slow themselves down temporarily by dragging an anchor so to speak, but they are being moved inexorably to destruction. 

But it may not be something as obvious as addiction to drugs or alcohol.  Maybe it’s a decision you made in your career, and now you find yourself caught up in this rat race that is driving you and controlling you, and ultimately will destroy you either spiritually or physically. Or maybe it’s financial decisions which has obligated you and now controls you. We make such decisions thinking we are utilizing our prerogative for self control, self determination.  And for a while we tell ourselves we have it under control.  But sooner or later the situation which is not of God ends up controlling us.” Ephesians 2 tells us that Satan has designed the course of this world to control us, by getting us to indulge the desires of the mind and flesh.  The course refers to a river bed that controls the swelling river, sweeping everything along in it’s path to a particular end. That is what Satan designed the things of this world to do, to sweep us along in the path of destruction.

I just heard yesterday of an acquaintance of mine that was tempted at work and then caught up in the snare of adultery, and now is suffering the destruction as the truth has become known to his family.  Satan tries to convince us that we can make independent choices about our lives with impunity.  But it’s a lie and a trap and a snare and often impossible to get out of once he gets you caught up in it.

Well, the storm went from bad to worse.  The sun and stars could not be seen, and so the sailors lost track of exactly where they were.  For two weeks it was unrelenting wind, waves and rain.  Day after day, night after night it continued.  One night a few years ago I was tracking a hurricane on NOAA which has buoys strategically placed along the Eastern Seaboard anywhere from 26 to 70 miles or so off shore. These buoys supply real time information regarding wind speed, wave height and so forth.  And I’ll never forget seeing this one buoy reading off of Cape Hatteras late at night which was over 50 feet in height and just getting a mental picture in my mind of being out there in waves 5 stories tall in the blackness of the storm and breaking out in a cold sweat.  I don’t know how big the waves were during this storm depicted in Acts, but we cannot imagine the fear and despair of being lifted up to these tremendous heights and then crashing down into the depths of the sea as they went over them, wondering every minute if they will make it over the next swell. 

Well, you can imagine they couldn’t eat in those conditions.  So when they had gotten to the point that they had no more hope of surviving the storm, Paul stands in their midst and addresses them.  Now let’s not forget something.  There were three Christians on board that ship as well.  The centurion and the captain may have brought this on themselves by not heeding Paul’s advice, but God allowed Paul, Luke and Aristarchus to go through this storm with them.  And even Paul I think had been terrified by this storm. Acts 27:21-26 Paul said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. "Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.' "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. "But we must run aground on a certain island."

Notice the words, “God has granted you…”  That shows us that Paul had been praying.  He may have been frightened, but he answered that fear with prayer.  And God responded to his prayer.  And when the angel of God spoke to Paul, he reminded him of God’s earlier promise to bring him before Caesar.  That is where we find our comfort in the storm, ladies and gentlemen.  First we know that we have God on our side.  Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”  No matter where we are, no matter what time of night or day, we can pray to God and He hears us.  I like the fact that the angel of God was able to appear before Paul in the middle of the night, on a ship in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of a raging nor’easter.  The captain of the ship didn’t even know where they were, but the angel of the Lord had no trouble finding Paul.  The longer I live the more convinced I am that our prayers are a mighty weapon that God has given us. 

And furthermore the angel had said, "God has granted you all those who sail with you." Paul had been praying that the sailors and soldiers accompanying him would be spared as well as that his own purpose would be accomplished on this trip. God heard his prayer and granted him their lives.

This incident is given to us in order to show us the tremendous power that a man of faith exercises. I wish I could get this across to you today. I have a feeling that none of us, myself included, has any idea of the amount of power God has committed to us through the instrument of prayer. He does such mighty things if we will but ask him. Remember that James 4:2 says, "You have not because you ask not.”  God is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think. One commentator said that the church is really the secret government of earth, and that it has power to affect the current events which happen around us. We sometimes feel that we are helpless, drifting through our lives, waiting to get to heaven some day. But the Scriptures never portray a Christian that way. He is intimately related to the events happening around him and through God is able to exert great control over them. This is why James also says, "The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  (James 5:16). So God granted this one man, because of his prayer, the lives of the two hundred seventy-five individuals who sailed with him. They were spared because Paul prayed for them. I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.  If God gave Paul 276 people, then maybe I can count on Him to give me a couple.

And of course the other principle that we should learn from this is that in life’s most difficult circumstances, we can rely on God’s promises.  That is really the basis for our faith; the written promises of God.  Not faith in our feelings, or faith in our wishes, or faith in the size of our faith, but faith in what God says.  Let me remind you of what I spoke of last week.  Faith is not just accepting intellectually certain facts or knowledge.  Faith is trusting in that knowledge to the point of placing your complete weight upon them.  Trusting your life to the facts of the gospel.  That is faith.  Paul trusted in the word of the Lord.  He cast all his care upon the Lord.

Paul was exposed to the same peril as these other men, and yet God strengthened him with His word in the midst of the trial. God didn't take him out of it. The storm was no less severe for Paul than it was for anyone else. The danger was just as evident, the waves were just as high, the darkness just as intense, the apparent hopelessness just as great. Everything was the same except that God granted to him a promise, a secret knowledge that the others did not possess. He didn't lessen the trial but he gave an inward reassurance that enabled Paul to trust in God’s deliverance. This is the testimony of the Christian faith. It is a way for you to live and to act and react differently from those around you so as to bring glory to God.

As the story continues, it’s interesting to note that some of the sailors try to escape and Paul  said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”  I think that indicates that we if we are going to be delivered in these storms then we must commit wholeheartedly to deliverance by God.  In other words, we cannot be relying on human wisdom or ingenuity, and at the same time expect God to take care of us if something goes wrong.  That is not how God works.  We are told to “cast all our care upon Him, for He cares for us.”  To trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.  Some of the men wanted to go this way, and some that way, but no, Paul said, unless you all commit to the Lord’s way, you cannot be saved.

It reminds me of a popular song a few years back which had a line which said, “I will do down with this ship, I won’t raise my hands in surrender.  There will be no white flag upon my door…”  James said in James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” If God said it, then we need to commit to it, to obey it, and come what may, stay with it.  Go down with the ship if necessary believing in a God who can rescue you from the depths of the sea just as surely as he rescued Moses from the sea, or Noah from the sea, or even Jonah from the depths.  I will go down with this ship.  I won’t surrender my faith to human reason.  The worst that can happen to me is that God will have to raise me from the dead.

Well, they do go down with the ship.  On the fourteenth day, Paul encourages them to eat something so that they will regain some strength for what is coming.  He took bread and broke it and gave thanks to God.  There are some who see in that  indications of Paul leading the ship in communion but I think it’s simply a picture here of salvation. Paul’s message from God is the basis for their faith. They have to believe Paul and totally commit and trust in his word. And through God’s word Paul promises that not a hair of their head will perish.  Paul offering up thanks to God and breaking the bread is a picture of salvation.  Jesus is the bread of life that was broken for us, offered up for us, that we might receive eternal life.  And in that promise we have hope.  So these men were given hope by the faith that Paul proclaimed in God.

And in yet another metaphor of salvation, they throw all the cargo overboard.  They throw out their means of making a profit.  Everything is committed at that point.  They have abandoned all tackle, all extra weight, and even the cargo which was their sole means of making a living.  You know, God wants us to surrender everything to him, not only at salvation, but everyday, in every circumstance choose to trust God rather than rely on human resources. 

I’ve was looking at the original 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous the other day.  And number 3 is “I will make a decision to turn my will and life over to the care of God.” That’s what it AA requires as part of it’s 12 steps to sobriety.  Number one is to admit that you are powerless, out of control. Number 2 is to believe that only God can deliver you.  And then 3, commit your life and will to the care of God. Total commitment.  Full surrender.  There was an attractive young mother who attended our Christmas party a couple of years ago who had two beautiful little girls there all dressed up in little dresses.  I didn’t really know her at that point, but remember thinking how nice they looked.  But I found out later this woman was a heroin addict, and a month or so after our party she abandoned her children to go after the drug again.  I lost track of her not long after that.  But just yesterday I saw a post she had put on facebook that a friend of mine commented on.  And all she wrote was just three words in all caps; GOD I SURRENDER.   Listen, that’s what God requires for everyone, not just addicts.  He wants you to surrender everything and trust Him.

Well, that’s exactly what God required in our story.  The last thing these guys on board this ship had to throw overboard was themselves.  They ran aground as they hit the reef outside the island and the ship began to break up. The soldiers were going to do their customary duty and kill all the prisoners because they were afraid they might escape and they would be held accountable.  But the centurion by this point realizes that Paul is to be taken at his word and so he dismisses that order.  So some grabbed onto planks and whatever would float, and others who could swim jumped in as well and headed for the beach and by a miracle of God all 276 persons made it safely to shore. 

Listen, that is what God’s purpose is in bringing us through these storms and shipwrecks of life.  To come to the point of complete dependence upon God.  To cast your entire person upon the providence of God. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” And then to teach us to wait for the Lord.  To be patient, to wait for him and not run ahead with our plans.  Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”  And Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

And finally to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in believing that He will answer us and hear us.  Phil. 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  I have been in many storms and even a few shipwrecks in my life.  And I can vouch for the fact that your trust in God will not be ill founded.  Cast yourself on the mercy of God and He will sustain you.  He will never leave you, nor forsake you.  And in that confidence brought about by being in the will of God we are able to pray effectively for one another, pray for our children, pray for the unsaved, and have hope in the promise that God will give us souls, that not one hair of their head will perish. Trust in the Lord, commit your way to Him, for this is the path not only to salvation, but our sanctification, and one day our glorification. So that we might sing the words of this old hymn,

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

  we have already come;

'Tis grace hath brought us safe thus far,

  and grace will lead us home.

Almost persuaded by the gospel, Acts 25, 26

As you all are aware, yesterday was a major holiday that is celebrated in the United States.  Halloween, or as it was once known, All Hallows Eve.  Believe it or not, All Hallows Eve was originally a religious holiday.  When I was a kid, we just thought of it as a time to dress up in costumes. It was pretty harmless.  Unfortunately, today it seems to have gained an association with the dark side that I do not think is beneficial.  I won’t go so far as to say that I think that Christians cannot participate in some way, but I would say that we need to be careful with the things with which we associate or in some cases, glorify.

However, how many of you are aware that there was another holiday yesterday as well?  Any guesses as to the nature of that holiday?  It was Reformation Day.  It is celebrated as the day in 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses or objections to certain Roman Catholic practices and doctrine on the door of the church in Wittenberg. His act was credited with the start of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther’s theses began by criticizing the selling of indulgences, which were fees paid to elevate one’s loved one through stages of purgatory.  Luther declared that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Catholic doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. As the Reformation gathered steam though, the protestant position would eventually incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura and sola fide; or  by scripture alone, and by faith alone.

And it’s important to realize that Reformers made further distinctions when they spoke about faith. They spoke about faith as composed of three elements: in Latin; notitia, assensus, and fiducia.  Notitia means the content of faith, or those things that we believe. We place our faith in something, or more appropriately, someone. In order to believe, we must know something about that someone, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Assensus is our conviction that the content of our faith is true. You can know about the Christian faith and yet not believe it to be true. Genuine faith says that the content — the notitia taught by Scripture — is true.

Fiducia refers to personal trust and obedience. Knowing and believing the content of the Christian faith is not enough, for even demons can do that (James 2:19). Faith is only effectual if, knowing about and assenting to the claims of Jesus, one personally trusts in Him alone for salvation.  So in order for a man to have true saving faith, he must have all three; knowledge, assent, and trust.

Today we are looking at a man that had a certain degree of faith; primarily knowledge and a degree of assent, but he was lacking the crucial element of trust.  Paul himself said that King Herod Agrippa was an expert in all customs and theological questions of Judaism. Paul said in vs.27 that he knew that King Agrippa believed the prophets.  That was a reference to the prophetical books of the Old Testament who wrote concerning the Messiah.  So he knew the scriptures and he also had a position as king that gave him the authority to ordain who would be high priest in Jerusalem.  So we can fairly assume he assented to the facts of the Jewish religion concerning God as the scripture indicated. And yet we can also fairly assume from his answer in vs. 28  that Agrippa did not have saving faith. He said in vs. 28; “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.”  A better possible translation of his answer is “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  He is not a picture of someone who is on the cusp of becoming a Christian, but of someone who is backing away from the possibility.  But irregardless of how you translate it, by his own words he admits he is not saved.  Almost persuaded, but lost.

And I am afraid that there are many people sitting in evangelical churches like that today. People who have a certain knowledge about the gospel, and have given a degree of assent to the gospel, but they have not trusted the gospel by submission of their lives to Christ’s rule, and therefore they are not actually saved.  As I said last Wednesday evening at Bible study, trust is stepping out on the bridge of faith, believing that it will support you.  Not just seeing a bridge and thinking that it would probably hold you, but walking out on it.  That’s trust. 

Just this week, I was reminded of some people that have been in our church at one time or another, but no longer attend regularly.  And I found myself questioning, wondering if somehow I had failed to explain the gospel thoroughly enough.  Because from my perspective, I have to wonder if some of those people that came regularly for weeks, or months or even years are truly saved.  There is very little evidence today to suggest that some of them ever came to a saving knowledge of Christ.  And yet I feel that I preach salvation so explicitly and continuously so as to sometimes be offensive and even so people manage to come to church for a while, nod appreciatively from time to time, and then fade away without ever apparently coming to Christ.  They may take away enough knowledge about Christianity to feel educated, but never transformed by the truth of the gospel.  And that is a tragedy.

And so I want to use this text today to speak to the nature of true Christianity.  I want to cause each of you to really examine yourself.  If necessary, I want to make you uncomfortable and start asking questions that you really need to be able to answer.  And I do all this in hope that perhaps somehow God will open the eyes of the blind.  And just let me add this;  I was listening to an online seminary lecture the other day and the professor was saying the same thing that I am saying now, but to seminary students.  Men that already should have been saved.  Men that claimed to be called by God into the ministry.  He was urging them to consider the source of their salvation, to make sure of their calling and election.  He talked about an occasion when he presented that lecture to seminary students in the past and had someone approach him later and give their heart to God.  So please understand something;  even preachers, pastors, priests can be unsaved.  It’s possible to be very religious, to be a really nice person, to be absolutely sincere, and be lost.  Don’t rely on the fact that you have been in church all your life. Don’t rely upon some ritual like baptism or church membership. Don’t rely on some experience that you had in a time of crisis.  You need to understand what it means to trust in God.  You must be  born again into new life in Christ. 

Now that is my introduction and much of our time has already gone.  I do not plan on exegeting the text today.  It is a story, and we read the story. I’m sure you are able to follow a story without me retelling it.  But what I do want to do is in light of the text examine what is in fact a Christian.  What constitutes salvation?  And then I want to look at three examples of why people do not become Christians.

First of all, what constitutes becoming a Christian?  Well, the outline to the answer to that question is found in vs.18.  Five points to Paul’s message of salvation. Acts 26:18 “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”  This is the message that Christ gave the apostle to preach to the Jews and Gentiles.  This is the whole message of the gospel.

So first of all, there is the need to open the eyes of the blind. There is a need for eye opening truth.  Not just knowledge, but truth.  It’s possible to be puffed up in knowledge and yet somehow escape knowing the truth.  Paul as a Pharisee before conversion had great knowledge of the scriptures and the traditions of Judaism.  He studied under Rabbi Gamaliel.  That’s was equivalent to having a divinity degree from Yale.  Yet Paul equates it with being blind.  In fact, God also equated it with blindness, by striking Paul blind on the road to Damascus.  A blinding light came down out of heaven as Paul was traveling to persecute Christians and a voice called out to him, “Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting Me?”  And Paul had to ask “Who are you Lord?”  Paul was so blind that he did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and was in fact persecuting Him. 

This is the primary reason for the people I spoke about earlier that sit in church for extended periods of time, sometimes even years, and yet go away unsaved.  They have not had their eyes opened.  Paul said in Corinthians that is because the devil has blinded their eyes. 2Cor. 4:3 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

So the first thing you need your eyes opened to is the truth of the gospel.  You need to see it as the truth of God which is essential to life. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Son of God in Matt. 16, Jesus said, “because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”  So it is a miracle of grace by which God opens the eyes of the blind to see the truth. 

Secondly  it means that you have your eyes opened as to your sinful condition, the repugnancy of your sin, and that it is an affront to God and separates you from God.  It means that God shines a light on your sin, through the preaching of the word of God, that causes you to recognize your sinful condition and how desperately you need a Savior.  That is the light of the gospel.  That God saw man in his depravity and hopelessness and so He provided the means for man’s salvation by the substitution of Jesus Christ, who paid for man’s sin with His blood on the cross that we might be saved.   According to John 16:8, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” So the Holy Spirit convicts the blind of their sinfulness and need of a Savior.

The second fact of being a Christian according to Paul’s message in vs. 18 is that they have turned from darkness unto light.” If you look down at vs. 20, you will see that Paul summarizes his message by saying, “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.”  Notice that Paul equates repentance as turning.  That is what repentance is; turning away from sin.  Turning away from deeds of darkness to the light. In the Greek the word translated repentance is metanoia, which means a change of mind.  Repentance is described by F.F. Bruce this way, “"Repentance involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness."

Notice what Bruce says; repentance is the condition needed to accept forgiveness. It is the plow that breaks up the hard stony ground so that it may receive the seed of new life. Where there is no repentance, no turning away from sin, no contrition, then there is no forgiveness.  This I think is very often the culprit with those people that tend to fall away from the church.  I have to wonder if they have attempted to establish some sort of relationship to God based as a result of finding themselves in a predicament or crisis at some point in their life.  Maybe there was a time when they cried out to God to help them, and maybe God in His compassion did help them.  But they failed to understand what Romans 2:4 says, “that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”  So then when the crisis is past, their emotions respond to some new stimuli, and their relationship with God grows cold because they never truly turned away from sin to God and received forgiveness of their sins and a new life in Christ. 1Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

See, that new life in Christ is the third aspect of Christianity according to Paul.  To be transferred from the kingdom of dominion of Satan to the kingdom of God.  Now that simply means that you are a citizen of a new King. You live by a new creed, you follow a new constitution. You are no longer ruled by the old passions, no longer ruled by the lusts of the flesh, but you are ruled by the Sovereign of the Universe, the Lord Jehovah, the Almighty God.  Instead of being enslaved to sin, you become a servant of the Most High.  As Christians we have been called out of the world to live godly lives for the glory of Christ.  This is often the most telling evidence of a lack of true salvation.  This is where we not only believe, but we trust and obey, forsaking all that was before, and following after that which is new.

As Col. 1:13-14 declares; “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” That brings us to the fourth point of Paul’s message; “that they might receive the forgiveness of sins.” Now forgiveness of sins is first of all purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.  That is what makes it possible.  God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  Now that act of God predicates our forgiveness.  But how forgiveness is made efficacious for us is by repentance.  Listen to what Peter had to say in two different sermons regarding that principle. In Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Listen to that – how do you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?  Through forgiveness of your sins.  The Holy Spirit cannot indwell you until you become holy.  And if you don’t have the Holy Spirit then you cannot live holy lives, because He is the strength that God gives us to enable us to live holy lives.  Listen, the Holy Spirit is not a feeling or a force field to be experienced.  I sometimes hear people talk about feeling the Holy Spirit, that the air was thick with His presence or some such nonsense.  As if He is a force to be felt and then you can move in or out of that place.  The Holy Spirit is a person who dwells in you, He is the Spirit of Christ who lives in you, if you have been born again by the Spirit, and have been made holy by the transference of your sins to Christ and His righteousness to you.

Peter says again in Acts 3:19  "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”  That’s the new life found in Christ, a new spirit, a new heart, a new life.  And all of that comes from forgiveness, which comes from confession and repentance.

1John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Fifthly, Paul says the last affect of being a Christian is receiving an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Christ.  Now there is so much in that phrase that I cannot possibly address all of it in this message.  But suffice it to say that our inheritance is in heaven.  We are promised a citizenship in heaven, reserved for us, when we will receive the reward.  Now we received a deposit of that inheritance now – that is the Holy Spirit who has already given us new life, even eternal life.  But at the resurrection we will receive the full inheritance.  We will be changed into His likeness.  We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.  Furthermore we will rule and reign with Christ.  The church is the bride of Christ, and we will be seated at His right hand as co –inheritors with Him.  Pretty amazing stuff. 

But there is a practical, earthly application to this as well.  We are sanctified, Paul says, by faith.  There are two aspects of sanctification.  One is positional.  We have been set apart at the moment of salvation- our sanctification- which means we have been made holy.  But we are also to be holy even as He is holy, that is,  sanctified practically by walking in the Spirit, not according to the flesh, so that we might become conformed to the image of Christ. 2Cor. 5:7, 9 “for we walk by faith, not by sight—“  and then vs. 9,  “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”  And so we walk to please Him in all that we do, knowing that our inheritance includes receiving a reward when we see Him, as described in vs.10; [2Cor. 5:10] “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Now that is the message Paul received from Jesus directly as a result of His conversion.  And he summarizes what our response to that message should be in vs. 20,  that they should repent and turn to God, and do the deeds appropriate to repentance.  Now that is the response that is necessary for the gospel to be efficacious for you.  You can hear that message and agree to it on an intellectual basis.  You can acknowledge that it is true.  But to be saved you must trust and obey that message.  Repent, turn away from your sins, turn to Christ, and do the deeds of repentance. When you respond in that manner, then you are saved according to the gospel, and then there will be no uncertainty as to your salvation.  The problem is that this message is rarely preached in most ecclesiastical  circles today.  But don’t be deceived, this is the gospel, and the gospel hinges on repentance.

Now as Paul wraps up his message, there are people who responded as recorded in the text.  The first is that of Festus.  Vs. 24, Festus says in a loud voice, ““Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.”  Festus leaves little to the imagination as to his thoughts about the gospel.  He says it’s lunacy.  He recognizes that Paul is a greatly educated man, but he thinks that he has gone crazy in his learning.  He has become a fanatic.  And the fact that Luke emphasizes that Festus speaks loudly indicates that there must have been a measure of mockery in his response. 

The second response is that of King Agrippa.  Paul knows that Agrippa is familiar with the story of the gospel.  He knows that the King is familiar with the prophecies of the Old Testament.  And so Paul says to him, Acts 26:26-27 "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do."

And suddenly King Agrippa is put on the spot.  It was one thing to listen to Paul speak.  It may have thought it a certain measure of entertainment to hear him.  He may have been curious about the gospel.  But now suddenly the spotlight is upon himself and he is decidedly uncomfortable.  He wants to dodge the question.  He wants to avoid the light of the gospel.  It’s getting much too hot.  And so he says in an offhand or even sarcastic way, “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”

And Paul’s response is that he does indeed wish to persuade all of them of the necessity of becoming a Christian.  But let’s consider for a moment what stopped Agrippa short of salvation. Why did he almost become a Christian and yet turn away from the gospel in the end?  Well there are three possible answers to that question, and they are illustrated by three people that were there that day. 

The first stumbling block could have been the person sitting next to him - Bernice. She was his sinful, immoral companion.  She was actually his sister and he was reported to be living in an incestuous relationship with her.  He probably correctly realized that becoming a Christian would mean losing her and his other immoral friends. He was unwilling to make that sacrifice!  How many men and women come short of the kingdom of God because they love someone more than they must love God.  Adam chose to love Eve rather than obey God and he forfeited all that God had prepared for him.  I know more men that have fallen because of a woman than I can even count. Jesus said in Matt. 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  That is why it is so important that men especially be the spiritual leader in their homes.  Our allegiance must be to God above all else.

Then on the other side of Agrippa sat Festus, the governor.  A colleague, a friend, a person of consequence.  And someone who thought Paul was crazy. Perhaps Agrippa thought, "I can't become a Christian! Festus will think I'm crazy too!" And because he wanted the praise of men, he rejected Jesus.

And in front of Agrippa is Paul - a man Voltaire the famous 18^th century philosopher  called an ugly little Jew.  Paul, a man despised by his contemporaries.  A man with the reputation of a trouble maker.  No body seemed to like Paul.  And furthermore, he was a prisoner.  The fact that he was innocent of any crime may not have mattered.  Agrippa just sees a man in chains. So  Agrippa might possibly say, "Well, if I became a Christian, I might end up in chains like Paul!” Or at least he thought  I don’t want to associate with him! He will hurt my reputation.  If I  want to stay popular then I can’t be associated with people like that. 

Spurgeon said, "O that men were wise enough to see that suffering for Christ is honor, that loss for truth is gain, that the truest dignity rests in wearing the chain upon the arm rather than endure the chain upon the soul."

Well, unfortunately, King Agrippa’s only real legacy to the world was this tragic statement, made famous in the KJV; “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Such a sad and tragic statement.  To have come so close and yet still be so far, and to die without receiving the gift of salvation.  King Agrippa’s famous words were the basis for a hymn written years ago which I quoted from last week.  And I would remind us of them again this week as we consider the author of those words.

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;

“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;

  Seems now some soul to say,

  “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

  Some more convenient day

    on Thee I’ll call.”

Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!

“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last;

  “Almost” cannot avail;

  “Almost” is but to fail!

  Sad, sad that bitter wail—

    “Almost—but lost!”

I pray that is not a statement that is true of anyone here today.  The gospel message is so clear, so simple; repent, turn to God, and do the deeds appropriate to repentance.  Forgiveness has already been purchased and is waiting for you to trust and obey.

Be now persuaded, oh, sinner, hear!

Be now persuaded, Jesus is near;

  His voice is pleading still,

  Turn now with heart and will,

  Peace will your spirit fill—

    Oh, turn today!

Putting the gospel on hold, Acts 24

I don’t know about you, but I think a lot of people have a problem with procrastination.  Putting things off.  Speaking for myself, it’s one of the few things I am really very good at.  I put the “pro” in procrastination.  I’ve been working on renovating my bathroom for almost a year now.  Maybe longer.  I try not to think about it.  It makes me feel guilty.  I just tell my wife that God is using me to teach her patience.  My latest excuse is that I’m waiting for winter when I will need something to do indoors. 

But the truth is, I’m just a sorry procrastinator.  And while procrastinating on finishing my bathroom renovations may cause some irritation for my wife, there are other things which if we procrastinate in can really get us in trouble.  Things like filling up your gas tank (Randy), or filing your taxes, or paying a speeding ticket.  Some things you don’t want to procrastinate about.

I heard a fictional story about the devil and a group of his demons who got together to try to figure out some way by which they could deceive as many people as possible, and win the spiritual warfare against God. So Satan said that he would like for someone to volunteer to go to earth and to seek to win the victory for his kingdom. And one of the demons raised his hand to volunteer and the devil said, “Well, what are you going to do?” He said, “Well, I’m going to go to earth and convince them there is no God.” And the devil said, “That won’t work because the glory of God’s creation will  convict men  that there must be a God.” Another one raised his hand and said, “I will go to earth and convince them that there is no heaven.” And the devil  said, “That’s not really a good idea either because God has planted eternity in the hearts of men so that they will hope for heaven.”  A few other excuses were offered and summarily rejected and finally one demon then raised his hand, and he said, “I’d like to go.” And the devil said, “Well, what are you going to do?” The demon said, “Well, when I go down to earth,  I’m simply going to tell them that there is no hurry.” And the devil said, “That will work!  You’ve got the job.” That is the essence of procrastination.  That there is no hurry.  It’s not that urgent.  There is always tomorrow. It’s a strategy that has slain thousands and thousands of people for all of eternity.

Today we are introduced to a man that is a great example of someone that procrastinated and lost out on his greatest opportunity.  That man is Felix, a Roman governor to whom Paul has been sent to be tried.  This man was quite a sordid character.  His name however meant happy.  That’s another classic strategy of the devil by the way.  The world calling something freedom which ends up trapping you.  Calling something fun which kills you. Calling something true which is a lie.  Be wary of the devil’s schemes. Anyhow, Felix had been a slave at one point, but his brother’s political connections with the emperor of Rome had resulted in being set free and given political appointments which eventually landed him the job as Pontius Pilate’s replacement as the governor of Judea.  He was married to a beautiful Jewish woman named Drusilla who was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. Her father murdered the Apostle James. Her great uncle, Herod Antipas, slew John the Baptist. And her great grandfather, Herod the Great, killed all the babes in Jerusalem under 2 years old.  She had been married to another king in Syria when she was 15 years old, but Felix seduced her and made her his wife.  And Felix had already been married twice before her.

Now Felix as Roman governor is the acting judge of Paul’s case.  Paul has been sent to Felix by the Roman commander Lysias in Jerusalem in order to keep Paul from being assassinated by the Jewish leaders.  So our story picks up in chapter 24 with Paul’s accusers coming to make their accusations to Felix.  It’s interesting to me that the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin have come on short notice to make their case about Paul, and they hired a Roman lawyer named Tertullus to represent them.   They had their own lawyers, but they hire a Roman lawyer to present their case to a Roman judge.  It proves once again my point I made last week concerning the ancient proverb, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  Over and over again we see the Jewish religious leaders conspiring with their enemies, the Romans, in order to kill Christians.  False religion and politics make strange bedfellows, but it’s something we see presented over and over again.

So Tertullus starts out by flattering Felix in an obvious attempt to butter him up. This illustrates another aspect of false religion. Flattery is associated with false teachers.  They tell you what you want to hear in order to take advantage of you. Jude 1:16 says “These [false teachers] are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”  And so we will see that this  same man that flattered so effortlessly also lies just as effortlessly.  He brings false charges against Paul. 

The first charge he brings against Paul is that of sedition. He says, “we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world.”  The second charge is that of heresy; “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”  And the third charge was profaning the temple; “he even tried to desecrate the temple.”  Now that third charge is interesting in light of the unrest in Israel right now.  Just because of an unfounded rumor that Israel is going to try to take over the temple mount the Palestinians have been attacking Jews by dozens of stabbings over the last week or so and the whole region is close to erupting in war.  So the temple has always been a subject of tension, and no less so than in the days of Paul.  And it was obvious that Felix would understand this being the governor of Judea.

Now I don’t want to belabor the judicial proceedings here.  I want to move on to the latter part of the text and talk about Felix’s response to the gospel.  But let me summarize quickly what Paul’s defense was, because it left the Jewish leaders and their Roman lawyer speechless, from what we can tell in the text. 

First of all, Paul does not lower himself to flattery. Paul is not some servile, fawning servant of the court.  Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ.  I love the quote by Charles Spurgeon who said, “if God has called you to be a minister, do not stoop to be a king.” Paul is polite, even courteous as is expected behavior to a judge and especially to a governor.  And Paul says what is true and probably the only good thing that can be said of Felix, which is that he had been governor a long time.  That was a good thing for Paul, because it meant that Felix had to be familiar with Judaism, had to have some knowledge of Christianity, and would be familiar with Jewish history to some degree.

Then Paul said it had been only twelve days since he arrived in the city of Jerusalem and obviously some of those days have been spent out of Jerusalem in Caesarea. It’s apparent the apostle didn’t have time to raise sedition against the Roman Empire. So the apostle simply pleads there is insufficient time for this charge of sedition. There was no evidence for sedition.

The second thing that he responds to is the charge of heresy. And in verse 14, he says, “But this I admit to you, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets and have hope toward God.” So he points to his worshipping the God of their fathers. He points to his beliefs, his conduct. He says, “I believe all that is written in the law and the prophets; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”  So he says they believe in the same God and trust the same scriptures.  And then I love the fact that he throws in there again the statement which cost him getting punched in the face before:  I have a clear conscience before God and man.

Boy, I think if the majority of Christians could say that then there would be a different perception by the world in regards to Christianity, would there not?  The biggest complaint by the world is that the church is full of hypocrites.  People who claim one way and live another way.  Paul would tell the church later in one of his epistles, “be imitators of me.”  Can we say that as well?  Can we say that to our kids, to our wives, husbands, co workers?  Imitate me, because I imitate Christ.  Well, that should be our goal.  We are to be holy and blameless even as He is holy.  We are to live godly lives so that we do not bring reproach upon the name of Christ. 

The third charge was that of desecrating the temple.  And this is the one that had started the riot to begin with which caused Paul to be arrested.  So Paul carefully details how he purified himself in accordance with temple laws, how he came to bring alms to his nation, how he brought sacrificial offerings, and that at no time did he instigate a riot or uproar.  But the Jews from Asia who had caused the riot were not there at this hearing, and if they had charges to that affect they should have been present to make them.  He went on to say that the only thing he had done was to cry out “For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.” 

So in effect, Paul showed that the charges against him were bogus, they were without warrant, they had no witnesses of any crime.  And I believe that his argument fully convinced the judge because the text says that Felix had a more accurate knowledge about The Way.  He knew that what Paul believed did not constitute a criminal act.  But Felix was not an honorable judge.  He was looking at the situation and trying to figure out how he could profit from it.  And so he put them off, and said he would wait until Lysias the commander came before making a decision.  This was obviously a delaying ploy because Luke said in the last chapter that Lysias had written a detailed letter saying that Paul had done nothing wrong, but their disputes were solely about their religion.  So this is the first time we see Felix  postponing, procrastinating making a decision, in hopes of making some money off of the deal.

Then Felix orders that Paul be kept in custody, and yet given a certain amount of freedom so that his friends can minister to him.  Now that was a unique situation.  It’s interesting that God would allow Paul to languish in this sort of relaxed house arrest for two years under the remainder of Felix’s reign.  From a human perspective, this must have been the most unproductive time of Paul’s life.  Certainly this was a mistake for God to leave this great man in prison when he could have been establishing churches on foreign lands, and preaching to people all around the world.  And yet we must believe that in the sovereignty of God this was His plan for Paul, even though God’s purposes were not clear to us.

I have counseled people who are dealing with all sorts of issues in life, from marriage issues to drug addiction, and one constant element that I have to address is the matter of time, of waiting, of dealing with what seems like delays.  Time is one of the primary means by which God proves or tests a man or a woman.  I do not mean he tests you to see what you will do.  But what “ to prove” means is God uses time to sort you out, to refine you, to change you, to enable you to know Him more fully, more intimately.  To come to depend solely and fully upon God.  And unfortunately, many people fail that test by trying to circumvent it.  Young people especially are often in such a rush that they spoil God’s plan.  But God uses time to refine us, like a vineyard uses time to refine fine wine.

Dr. F. B. Meyer has written these words: "So often we mistake God, and interpret his delays as denials. What a chapter might be written of God's delays. It is the mystery of the art of educating human spirits to the finest temper of which they are capable. What searchings of heart, what analyzings of motives, what testings of the Word of God, what upliftings of the soul, 'searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of God signified.' All these are associated with these weary days of waiting which are, nevertheless, big with spiritual destiny. But such delays are not God's final answer to the soul that trusts him."

We aren’t privy to all that God did in Paul’s life during these two years. But we can be certain that it was not wasted time.  The years the field lies fallow produces a better crop in the future.  We do know that his letters to the Ephesians, the Colossians, the Philippians,  were all written after this. And in Philippians there is a passage which I think grew out of this situation. In the fourth chapter the apostle says, “Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13) Undoubtedly, Paul proved this truth while in Caesarea these two years.

One thing we are told concerning this time Paul spent in prison is the procrastination of Felix to the offer of the gospel.  It’s interesting to see the contrast between Paul and Felix.  Paul has to wait for two years.  God uses the time to refine him.  It is not wasted time, it’s time invested.  But Felix procrastinates for two years.  He wastes time. He hears the gospel from one of it’s greatest teachers for 2 years and yet he wastes that opportunity.  His procrastination costs him the greatest opportunity of his lifetime.

Well, it says that a few days after putting Paul under house arrest, Felix’s wife Drusilla comes to see Felix, and so he brings Paul out to speak to them together, to hear more about Christianity.  I think the text indicates there is a real interest on Felix’s part to learn about faith in Christ.  It was said about this Way that it was turning the world upside down.  And we can see from Felix’s response that Paul’s message really shook him up. 

But let me say something first about what Paul had to say.  A lot of people would have looked at this situation as an opportunity to restate your innocence and try to use this private audience to get released from prison.  After all, there is a lot more that you could do for the Lord out of prison, or so it would seem.  But Paul does not attempt to do that.  Or some people might have been more noble and said I will use this as an opportunity to get to know Felix and Drusilla.  Make friends with them, relate to them, and maybe if they see how nice I am and what a regular guy I am, then I will be able to introduce them to the gospel later.  But Paul doesn’t do that either.  Paul uses the opportunity to go right to the basic doctrines of the gospel;  righteousness, self control, and the judgment to come.  Not exactly how to win friends and influence people.  But exactly what was necessary.

You see, Paul had no illusions of the luxury of time.  He understood the urgency of the gospel.  He knew he was going to eventually go to Rome because the Lord told him.  But he didn’t know when or how.  All he knew was that right then he had the opportunity to preach the gospel to the governor and his wife and probably a palace full of court attendants.  And so Paul preached hellfire and damnation.  Not much “just have a relationship with Jesus” in that message. Because Paul knew that unrighteousness cannot have a relationship with God.

So he preached on righteousness.  What is that?  That is the standard of God.  It’s the law of God.  The law that condemns us to death.  The standard of God’s righteousness that we can never measure up to.  He preached on the righteousness which is counted to the believer on the basis of faith.  The faith of Abraham which was counted unto him as righteousness.  He preached on 2Cor. 5:21 which says, “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  He preached that Jesus died on the cross taking our sins upon Him, so that His righteousness could be transferred to us. 

And then it says he preached on self control.  Wow!  I like that.  Don’t hear a lot of messages today on self control, do we?  What is that mean?  I think he is talking about sanctification.  “The sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”  Hebrews 12:14.  And probably threw in a couple for Felix and Drusilla’s benefit about immorality such as 1Thess. 4:3-4 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.”  Bet that went over well.  And then to wrap up sanctification he probably closed with Rom. 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

And then Paul wraps up his message with a section on the judgment to come.  And maybe Paul quoted Jesus Himself on this one, perhaps Luke 12:2-5 "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”

Well, after Paul’s message it says Felix trembled in fear.  He became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.” This was the second time Felix procrastinated.  This time he was under conviction.  The Holy Spirit obviously shook him up.  But Felix says I’m going to wait to a more convenient day. 

You know, when a man refuses the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and rejects it, having received the ministry of the Holy Spirit that leads to trembling, when he begins to turn away from it, another thing begins to work in his heart; and that is his heart becomes hardened. And it becomes more and more difficult for an individual who has once received the conviction of the Holy Spirit and rejected it to turn to the Lord.

Not only does he make the tragic mistake of rejecting the Holy Spirit, but his greed springs up and sees this as an opportunity to maybe make some money off of Paul.  Perhaps he thinks that the churches will offer to buy his freedom.  So he brings Paul out from time to time to hear him more, but the Holy Spirit’s conviction fades away with each rejection until he no longer feels fearful.  He no longer feels the trembling in his soul.  He imagines that he has a more convenient day still in his future.   And little does he know that he will never get that opportunity again.  They say that the same fire that melts wax hardens clay.  It is a dangerous thing to reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Listen, today is the accepted day of salvation.  If you hear this call today, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you today, then it is not too late.  Simply call on the name of the Lord in repentance and faith and you will be saved from the wrath to come.  We used to sing this old hymn when I was a boy called “Almost Persuaded.”  I will close with a couple of verses from that hymn and then we will pray.  I hope that you will not wait another day.  There is no more convenient day.  Today is the acceptable day. 

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;

“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;

  Seems now some soul to say,

  “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

  Some more convenient day

    on Thee I’ll call.”

Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!

“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last;

  “Almost” cannot avail;

  “Almost” is but to fail!

  Sad, sad that bitter wail—

    “Almost—but lost!”

Be now persuaded, oh, sinner, hear!

Be now persuaded, Jesus is near;

  His voice is pleading still,

  Turn now with heart and will,

  Peace will your spirit fill—

    Oh, turn today!