Acts 24:17-27 Faith Defines You!

Acts 24:17-27  After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.  I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this.  There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance.  But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me.  Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin—unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.  Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings.  When Lysias the commander comes, he said,  I will decide your case.  He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.  Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish.  He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.  As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, That’s enough for now!  You may leave.  When I find it convenient, I will send for you.  At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.  When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

In the above verses, Paul is concluding his defense against the charges that the leading priests have placed before Felix, the Roman governor of Judea.  Paul is upset that the Jews from the province of Asia who caused the mob who tried to kill him in Jerusalem were not present in the court room.  Only the leading elders of Jerusalem were presenting these false charges against him that he is a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world.  He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.  (Acts 24:5-6)  Paul does admit he created a disturbance within the Sanhedrin, separating the Pharisees against the Sadducees when he shouted, It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.  Paul, a Pharisee, caused division within the council by stating something the Sadducees did not believe: the resurrection of the dead.  He said that on purpose to get himself out of a jam with the Sanhedrin council.  And it was a successful ploy, divided the Sanhedrin, causing Paul to be set free for a while.  But now Paul is in the courtroom of the Roman governor, facing the Sanhedrin again, attempting to have the charges dropped.  Felix was well acquainted with the Way.  He knew Christianity was spreading everywhere and that it was a scourge to the rulers of Judea.  Felix as a former slave himself probably was well informed about news that circulated within the common people of Israel.  He knew of the WAY, probably found it interesting and maybe even compelling, but he was not a Christian.  He was so interested in the Way that he brought his wife Drusilla to hear Paul’s explain the essentials of Christianity.   Paul talked to them about faith in Christ Jesus as the way to eternal life.  Paul’s presentation troubled Felix.  As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, That’s enough for now!   The truth of the Way became too real to Felix; it troubled his soul.  He became convicted by the Spirit that he needed to make a decision about Christ being the Son of God.  Even though his soul was troubled by what he heard that day, he kept in contact with this prisoner, Paul.  He sent for him frequently and talked with him.  He also thought that Paul might offer him a bribe in exchange for his freedom.  In this scenario of Felix being troubled by the validity of the Good News, we see him interested in Christianity but not willing to make a decision about faith in Jesus Christ and his redeeming work on the cross.  Felix understood well that a commitment to Jesus would cost him everything he held dear in his life, maybe even his wife who is a Jew.

The daily routines in life usually absorb any thought about eternal life.  Some people are very concerned about interjecting a god of some sort to help them function more successfully in performing the duties of living, asking their gods to make life easier and more successful.  They pray for their safety, their security, their health.  However many people are atheists, for them a god is not possible, a figment of people’s imagination, a need only for the very weak in society.  Regardless, being spiritual or not, the God of the Bible says that a judgment day will come when all people must give an account on how they lived their lives.  Daily routines and activities are necessary, an integral part of living, but there will be a time when these things will pass away, and a time when God will reveal himself as the judge of all people’s lives.  Jesus tells us that a day will be coming just like the day before the flood, when people will be involved with the activities of life. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark.  Then the flood came and destroyed them all.  The righteous judgment of God will come when the Son of Man returns to earth. In Lot’s time, People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.  But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  (Luke 17:26-29)   Judgment will come someday on all people, no one will escape this day.  Felix was more concerned about his present life and what was necessary to live it successfully than thinking about what will happen to him for eternity.  For him weighing his present life to eternal life, the scale fell on making his present life successful, prosperous and healthy.  Tomorrow is tomorrow, but today is today.  Important issues and activities must be considered more important than the next life, the necessity of living today outweighs tomorrow.  Jesus came from the Father to accentuate tomorrow in our lives.  He came to give eternal life to all who seek him by faith; trust him in their present lives and in the salvation plan that God has given people through his Son, Jesus Christ.  When God brings his Son back to earth again a day of reckoning will occur.  On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them.  Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot’s wife!  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.  I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”  (John 17:30-36)  On that day the activities and the intricacies of life will not matter.  What will matter is your position in Christ: are you IN CHRIST or outside of Christ?  Faith in Christ’s work on the cross will determine if you are in or out of Christ.  He alone has eternal life; He alone is the only human acceptable to God, for He never sinned.  No corruption lay upon his life.  Therefore all who trust in his work of redemption HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, for Christ is eternal.

For most people a more convenient time to know Christ never comes.  They are inundated with the concerns of this world.  Yes, in someways they are concerned about their future, but mostly focused on this world.  How will their lives end?  When will their lives end?  How much future do they still have to live as they desire?  They are spiritual to a point, as was Felix; he was interested in the Way, but never committed himself to the redeeming work of Christ.  The Bible calls this lukewarm, neither hot or cold, just interested in spirituality, not committed.  Jesus says, you must lose your life for his sake.  A lukewarm life will never enter the kingdom of God.  Your present day success, prosperity, and well-being have deceived you.  God sees your life differently, as He said to the Laodicea church in their lukewarmness, do you not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelations 3:14-17)  We must assume that Felix never found a more convenient time to know God’s redemption plan for him.  He had too much of Lot’s wife in him, looking back to his old life.  By holding onto this life, Felix missed the chains of this life falling off.  Paul had chains, but his life was free, eternally free, not bound by the finiteness of this life.  But Felix was tethered to this world.  Real peace he will never know.   Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:5-7)  He would never know one of God’s attributes: Peace,the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.  He would never know the voice of God inside him and the warmth of the Holy Spirit on his soul.  This  presence of peace God promised to those who dedicated their lives to Christ.  When Jesus was born, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”  (Luke 6:14)  God’s favor rests on those who favor Christ above everything on earth.  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.  Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.  And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.  (John 5:24-27)  Two will be grinding grain, one taken the other left behind; two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.  A day of judgment will come, a separation will come between the sheep and the goats, the righteous and the unrighteous.  Felix probably did not ever find his way to Christ in faith; he stayed in the category of those on the fence.  Friends around this breakfast, fix your life completely in Christ and his eternal destiny for you.  You are not straddling the fence, living lives looking back to this world.  No, you are the ones taken to be with God.  You have found the peace of God in and through Christ.  Therefore, The Lord says to you, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  (John 14:26-27)  Amen!