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Last week, we ended with Paul being transported from the custody of Lysias the tribune to the custody of Felix the Governor
And how God displayed his Providence in all of that…and how God always works either through miracles or providence
Well, the end of , we see that Paul is being held in Herod’s praetorium, and Felix is going to give Paul a hearing when his accusers arrive
Which happens 5 days later....the high priest Ananias, some other elders, and a certain man named Tertullus…the spokesman
Tertullus starts to lay the case out before Felix against Paul in verses 2-8
Paul is a plague
Paul stirs up riots among all Jews throughout the world
Ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes
Tried to profane the temple
The irony here is that the high priests and elders were the ones who were doing these things.....they would stir up riots and dissension among the people when Paul arrived
They were actively profaning the temple
Paul Speaks
As the text moves on, Paul defends himself....you know, it’s one of those “he said they said thing” going on here…and it’s up to Felix
But Paul responds to their claims that are false and he lets Felix know:
They didn’t find me disputing or stirring up a crowd
They can’t prove it
I actually worship the God of our fathers, THEIR GOD, and believe everything laid down in the Law and the Prophets
I showed up in Jerusalem: purified, without any crowd or uproar, presenting my offerings to God
Closes with verse 20, “Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council” and continues to say, “other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day”.
A couple things:
Notice…Paul stood his ground…sometimes Christians think because God is sovereign and providential that they just have to go with the flow, that’s kind of how I think…but Paul stood his ground, and that’s okay, because he had done no wrong.
Also notice…Paul dripped the gospel through his defense…again, Paul never put down the gospel of Jesus…it’s like he literally couldn’t go more than 2 minutes without talking about it!
I wonder what our impact would be if we were the same way
Felix’s Decision, or Indecision
Now, as God providentially ordained, Felix the governor, a governor known for his extreme greed, knew a good bit about Christianity....known as “The Way” back then....so he knew what Paul believed, and it was an interesting thing to him Christianity was
And here is what Felix “decided”, reading verses 22-27
“ 22 But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.”
24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” 26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
So Felix, the great governor decided this, to not decide anything!
He states that he was going to wait for Lysias the tribune to come with his version of the story, and adjourns the court and moves Paul to military custody…meaning Paul had considerable freedom while under house arrest and friends and family could come visit without any fear
So here’s the thing....Lysias was never going to come, he’d already given his report, he’d already stated that he saw the whole thing as a matter of Jewish law, not Roman, and that according to roman law, Paul should be freed
Felix the Governor agreed
So why didn’t he free Paul? He was too worried about the outcome of doing the right thing…of upsetting the Jews whom there were many of, and who could make his life ruling them terrible
So Felix the governor chooses to delay
But I also think there was another reason for Felix the Governor to delay....look at verse 22 with me again, “But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off”
Felix was interested in Christianity…I really believe that…mainly because verse 24-28 says this,
“24 After some days Felix came with his (third) wife (whom Felix had stolen from her husband) Drusilla (the youngest daughter of Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter in ), who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” 26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.”
Notice there that Felix sent for Paul to hear him speak about Jesus Christ
Felix was interested for some reason in this…maybe he just found the story amazing, maybe he loved hearing about Jesus, maybe the resurrection amazed him....but I think Felix was searching.
Verse 25 told us that Paul reasoned with Felix and Drusilla about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgement
And Felix gets alarmed, or terrified at what Paul was saying and sends Paul away from him
What alarmed Felix do you think? I think it was the understanding of what God required (righteousness and holiness) and Felix understood that he didn’t meet the requirement…
But notice his response, he sent Paul away
But why I think he was searching is because verse 26 then tells us he sent for Paul often and conversed with him....and if you keep reading....he did this for 2 years!!!!!!!
Again…he was never going to make a decision, so he just left Paul on house arrest for 2 years!
But for 2 years, Paul had an opportunity put before him by God to share the Gospel with a very powerful man…and I guarantee you Paul took every opportunity with both hands…because that was who Paul was....a man sold out to the gospel of Jesus Christ, as we have seen countless times over and over
So What?
So let me ask you this.....if you were Paul, how easy would it have been to get bitter over Felix’ delaying of the case…this is Paul, who wanted to and needed to get to Rome!
Jesus told him he would get there, and now he’s stuck here in Caesarea on house arrest!
It would have been very easy to get angry, to get agitated, to make a deal with Jesus even saying I’m done until you get me out of here!
But he didn’t....for 2 years, Paul reasoned with Felix, it’s thought he possibly wrote some of his letters (nt books) from here, and he just trusted God
How about you? What would you do? Are you committed to the gospel of Jesus that you’re willing to do anything, be anything, face hardship for the sake of the gospel?
Secondly, how about this
Felix the governor was interested in Christianity, he wanted to know about it, he talked about it....kind of like some of us in here right?
We’d all say we are interested in Christianity, we want to know about it, we talk about it
But Felix the governor as far as we know never gave his life to Jesus…Im pretty sure Luke would have mentioned that
Felix was even alarmed by the coming judgement and the standard that needed to be met....again, just like some of us in here
So let me ask you this…have you moved from interested to committed follower of Jesus?
Or are you like Felix the governor....refusing to make the decision to trust in Jesus?
Because let me be perfectly clear....it will not matter one iota how much you are interested in Jesus and “the Way” when you stand before him at judgement if you haven’t put your faith and trust in Him
Don’t let your greed and lack of self-control for the things of this world stop you
Don’t let your non-chalant attitude stop you
Don’t let those around you stop you
If you have been....choose today whom you will serve. Give your life to Jesus....
I picture it like this:
Paul, a prisoner, under house arrest
Felix the governor, super wealthy with every luxury in the world
I see both of them in the picture, and I envision Paul sitting there with complete joy and comfort knowing he was saved by Jesus
And I see Felix, the holder of earthly goods, alarmed and continuing to pace back and forth because deep down he knows it’s all worthless
Don’t be felix…be like Paul