Acts 24:24-27

Sermon preached on October 22, 2006 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.newlifeop.org/.

There's a story told about Hugh Latimer, who was bishop of Worcester in England during the reign of Henry VIII. It is reported that on a certain New Year's Day he presented the king with a Bible, with the leaf turned down to the Hebrews 13:4,

"God will judge the adulterer
and all the sexually immoral."

That's pretty courageous. It was no wonder that he was twice imprisoned in the Tower of London during Henry's reign. Another time he was called to preach before Henry and his court and with great courage and he denounced the immorality of the court, just like John the Baptist had told Herod, he told Henry, (Matthew 14:4)

"It is not lawful for you to have her."

Henry VIII was enraged and demanded that Latimer retract his words the next Lord's Day. But on entering the pulpit the next Sunday, Latimer announced the same text. Then he paused and said:

"Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the King's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest; therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease! And then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence comest thou; upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God! Who is all present! and Who beholdeth all thy ways! and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully."

"Speaking thus, to the amazement of all the court, Latimer renewed his preaching with even greater zeal and strength. "O Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the Word of the LORD" (Jeremiah 22:29). All present were certain that Henry would have Hugh Latimer beheaded." (From Tom Stewart, http://www.what saiththescriture.com/
Fellowship/Edit_Courage.of.Latimer.html)

It was a very courageous and dangerous thing to do. But Latimer didn't lose his head. No, he was burned at the stake a few years later by Bloody Mary.

Where did Hugh Latimer learn to be so bold? It could very well have been from the apostle Paul. Try to put yourself in Paul's position. He is being given a chance to preach to the governor, to his judge, to the person who could set him free. What should he preach on? A great opportunity like this must not be squandered. What would be a good topic?

How about something like the first part of Romans 13, how governing authorities have been appointed by God and that whoever rebels against them is rebelling against God? Felix would like that topic and it would win Paul favor in his eyes. Perhaps it would endear Paul to him so much that it would win Paul's freedom.

Or Paul could have chosen to preach on one of the many miracles of Jesus. Perhaps Felix was like King Herod and was interested in miracles. From Luke 23:8 we learn that when Pilate sent Jesus to him, Herod

"was greatly pleased,
because for a long time
he had been wanting to see him.
From what he had heard about him,
he hoped to see him perform some miracle."

A great miracle of Jesus might have been a good sermon topic.

Or Paul could have preached on creation, how God created the world out of nothing and how human beings were made in the image of God. That wouldn't offend Felix and it would enable Paul to make some very important points.

Paul knew that Drusilla was a Jewess, so he could have chosen to speak about some great Jewish hero, like David before Goliath, and how God's power can do great things. There were many things that Paul could have preached on before Felix—but we see that he focused in on Felix and Drusilla and their behavior. Our text reads,

"Several days later Felix
came with his wife Drusilla,
who was a Jewess.
He sent for Paul and listened to him
as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.
As Paul discoursed on 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.'"

The great principle we see in our text is that

Paul preached fearlessly to the needs of his hearers.

I mentioned last time how Felix was corrupt and wanted a bribe from Paul. I told you how Felix and Drusilla were not pillars of morality, how Felix had stolen Drusilla from another man. He had no right to her. Thus Paul preached about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. He confronted Felix and Drusilla with their sin and showed them the danger they were in. John Stott writes, (Acts, p. 363)

"The lax morals of Felix and Drusilla help to explain the topics on which Paul spoke to them."

Stott continues,

"Most commentators relate 'righteousness' or 'justice' to the well-known cruelty and oppression of which Felix was guilty, and 'self-control' to the unbridled lust which had drawn and united him to Drusilla, which 'judgment to come' would be the inevitable penalty for their injustice and immorality."

When Paul stood before Felix and Drusilla he told them what they needed to hear. He showed them that their lives fell far short of God's standard, that they, like everyone else, were sinners and that they needed to repent because Jesus was coming again to judge them.

This shows us something about the preaching of the Word. What does God intend in the preaching of His Word to unbelievers? Paul shows us that

it's to bring people to repentance to Jesus.

Consider Paul's sermon here. Verse 24 tells us that Paul,

"spoke about faith in Christ Jesus…"

But back in Acts 9:15 you'll recall that just after Paul was converted, God told Ananias about His plans for Saul of Tarsus. He said,

"Go! This man is my chosen instrument
to carry my name
before the Gentiles and their kings
and before the people of Israel."

Here before Felix Paul is fulfilling part of that prophecy. Paul is before a governor of the Gentiles and His job is to proclaim the name of Jesus. That's what Paul is doing here—He is confronting Felix and Drusilla with Jesus.

This is significant. There are many references to Jesus in the New Testament relating to 'the Name' or to 'my Name'. The name 'Jesus' means 'Savior', and the name, 'Christ' means, 'Anointed One'. Jesus is the Savior of the world. He is God's anointed One who has come to carry out God's plan of salvation.

We are given a glimpse into the implications of this in John 3:18f. Notice how the 'name' is associated with light, with redemption. We read,

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already
because he has not believed
in the name
of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world,
but men loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light,
and will not come into the light
for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

If we look at the wider context of the Bible we see that Jesus has plans to redeem all things for His glory. He is the Chosen One who came to bring light and defeat the powers of darkness.

Note that well. Jesus did not come to somehow co-exist with evil and darkness. He did not come to win a partial and incomplete victory over it. Jesus' coming was not like that of the ancient Israelites into the land of Canaan. They didn't drive out the sinful people of the land like they should have. There was an intermingling that was sinful and wrong.

But the coming of Jesus was not like that. With Him there can be no compromise with unrighteousness. Light and darkness have nothing in common. They cannot co-exist. With Jesus the Kingdom of God came with power. Now He has sent us, His people out, equipped with the Spirit, to confront the darkness, to expose its evil, to overcome and vanquish it.

Thus when Paul stood before Felix and Drusilla he preached about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. He confronted their sins in a very clear and direct way. He did it so pointedly that Felix became afraid.

Paul was telling Felix and Drusilla that they needed to repent.

There's a very simple truth that we must never forget. It is that in order for people to turn to Jesus in faith, they need to turn from their sins. Faith and repentance go together. You can't have one without the other. Dennis Johnson writes, (Acts, p. 152)

"Repentance is a change of mind and attitude, a radical reassessment of Jesus and of one's own previous opinions and actions… It can be pictured as a 'turning'…"

Johnson goes on to use Stephen's speech in Acts 7 to illustrate this. The Jews had rejected Jesus and put him to death. To be saved, they had to reverse their opinion of Jesus and repudiate their ignorant and evil actions and turn from them. Referring to the effects of Peter's Pentecost sermon, Johnson says that repentance,

"implies a profound realization that we have done wrong and are in the wrong in relation to God. When people realized that the Jesus whom they had crucified was the one whom God had made Lord and Christ, they were 'pierced to the heart,' asking how they should respond to this terrible news (Acts 2:37). The answer was repentance, manifesting itself in baptism in the name of Jesus the Messiah, a public transfer of allegiance to the One whom they had opposed (v. 38)."

In order for people to be saved, they need to repent and turn to Jesus.

Yet, in many Christian circles today, especially in some of the church growth circles, there is a distinct downplaying of repentance. Faith in Jesus is prominent in their preaching and teaching, but repentance is not. It's like they're telling the world that they can have Jesus, and still hold on to their old allegiances and sins. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Paul didn't tell Felix and Drusilla merely to believe in Christ, without turning from their sins. No. You can't turn to Christ in faith if you don't repent of your sins. As John Murray wrote, (Redemption, Accomplished and Applied, p. 113)

"Saving faith is permeated with repentance and repentance is permeated with faith."

Repentance is essentially a charge in heart and mind and will. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. John Murray writes, (Redemption, p. 114)

"Too frequently in evangelical circles… the momentousness of the change which faith signalizes is not understood or appreciated. There are two fallacies. The one is to put faith out of the context which alone gives it significance and the other is to think of faith in terms simply of decision and rather cheap decision at that… The emphasis upon repentance and upon the deep-seated change of thought and feeling which it involves is precisely what is necessary to correct this impoverished and soul-destroying conception of faith."

R. C. H. Lenski writes, (Acts, p. 982)

"From Paul we may learn how to preach so as to convert. Only one blow ever goes home through the sinner's armor, and that is the blow of the law with the judgment to come delivered at the conscience with full force."

Paul's message before Felix and Drusilla was basically the same as that of John the Baptist and Jesus. In the Bible their preaching is summarized in the words, (Matthew 3:2 and 4:17)

"Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Paul's message was the same as Peter's on the Day of Pentecost, (Acts 2:38)

"Repent and be baptized,
every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

They told people that they needed to repent. That's what Paul was doing before Felix and Drusilla.

Now the second point I want to emphasize is that not only did Paul preach to the needs of his hearers, telling them that they needed to repent, but

he did so fearlessly.

He did not become afraid and compromise the message.

The world wants us compromise the preaching of the Word. In Jeremiah 11:21 we read how the men of Anathoth threatened the prophet Jeremiah. They said to him,

"Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD
or you will die by our hand"

They were going to kill him because he was bringing them God's Word.

That's what happened to John the Baptist. In Mark 6:17f we read,

"For Herod himself had given orders
to have John arrested,
and he had him bound and put in prison.
He did this because of Herodias,
his brother Philip's wife,
whom he had married.
For John had been saying to Herod,
It is not lawful for you
to have your brother's wife.
So Herodias nursed a grudge against John
and wanted to kill him."

She wasn't able to kill John the Baptist right away, but it wasn't too long before she figured a way to do so. Before too long she had John's head.

Paul knew about John the Baptist and what had happened to him. In light of this Paul's preaching before Felix and Drusilla is remarkable. He was absolutely fearless. He told them exactly what they needed to hear. Paul did this quite deliberately. As he said to his son in the faith, Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7,

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,
but a spirit of power,
of love and of self-discipline."

Then he charged Timothy with these words, (2 Timothy 4:1f)

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing and his kingdom,
I give you this charge:
Preach the Word;
be prepared in season and out of season;
correct, rebuke and encourage—
with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them
a great number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn aside to myths.
But you, keep your head in all situations,
endure hardship,
do the work of an evangelist,
discharge all the duties of your ministry."

Our society really doesn't want to hear about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. People don't want to be confronted with their sins. Thus evangelicals are not threatened with death, but with ridicule. Biblical preaching is portrayed as being narrow-minded, as being non-inclusive, as being irrelevant. Preachers are ridiculed and mocked.

In these ways and others the world exerts pressure on the church to water down God's message, to make it more palatable to them. Isaiah 30:9-11 describes the wicked people of Israel. It says,

"These are rebellious people,
deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen
to the LORD'S instruction.
They say to the seers,
'See no more visions!'
and to the prophets,
'Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!'"

We must not compromise with the world. We must not stop preaching about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come.

The third thing we see about Paul's preaching is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of hope.

Paul showed Felix and Drusilla how to be saved.

In verse 24 we see that Luke summarized Paul's sermon as being about faith in Christ Jesus.

You all know about good news, bad news jokes. They're one of my favorite types of jokes. I actually know one of them that isn't a good news, bad news joke, it's a bad news and really bad news joke. It's about a guy who goes to the doctor and after the doctor examines him the doctor says to him,

"I've got bad news and really bad news. Which do you want first?"

But the preaching of the gospel isn't like that. It's not bad news followed by more bad news—with no good news following. No. John Newton, who wrote the great hymn, "Amazing Grace" was a former slave trader who became a great preacher. He said that the point in all his preaching was,

"to break a hard heart and to heal a broken-heart."

Paul frightened Felix, but that's not all he did. He gave him hope. He spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. The gospel is good news. Paul's sermon to Felix and Drusilla could be summarized as bad news, more bad news, really bad news—followed by good news. The first bad news was that Paul spoke about righteousness. Felix and Drusilla were sinners. They were morally corrupt. They fell far short of God's standard. The more bad news was the fact that they both lacked self-control. They were slaves to their passions and sins. The really bad news was that there was going to be great judgment in which they would stand before God and have to give an account—after which they would be eternally condemned. The good news was that through faith in Jesus they could have righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to them. The good news is that through Jesus they could obtain the Spirit and gain self-control. The good news was that if they went to Jesus, they would not be condemned at the last judgment, but be vindicated because of His work and be welcomed into God's eternal kingdom.

If you're not in Jesus, you'll be lost. Go to Jesus. Find life in Him.

For Christians, what all this means for you is that

you should be seeking to apply the preaching of the Word to your life.

Listening to the Word preached is an awesome responsibility. Listening to preaching is not a mere intellectual exercise. It's not enough to think, "That was a good sermon," or, "The sermon today wasn't up to par," or, "The sermon today was too intellectual," or, "The sermon today wasn't intellectual enough." No. The Holy Spirit wants you to apply His Word to your life. And it's vitally important that you do so.

One the one hand it can affect where you will spend eternity.

From what we know Felix is suffering in hell right now because he didn't apply what Paul said to his life. He didn't repent of his sins and turn to Jesus. Like Felix you can suffer in hell's fires forever or you can go to Jesus and find eternal life in Him. The fate of your soul is at stake.

But you may say,

"But I'm already a Christian, I believe in Jesus, so it's not that important if I am rigorous in applying it to my life."

Not so. God wants to change you, to mold you so that He can better use you for His glory. In 2 Timothy 2:20 the apostle Paul wrote,

"In a large house there are articles
not only of gold and silver,
but also of wood and clay;
some are for noble purposes
and some for ignoble.
If a man cleanses himself from the latter,
he will be an instrument for noble purposes,
made holy, useful to the Master
and prepared to do any good work."

If you're not holy, you're not prepared for every good work. God won't choose to use you for certain works if you're still wedded to this world and its vanity. He wants you to become more holy, to become a better instrument in His hands. He wants you to do the works that He has for you well. He desires that you excel at doing His will so that on that last Great Day He will say to you, (Matthew 25:23)

"Well done,
good and faithful servant!
You have been faithful with a few things;
I will put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's happiness!"

You have a great responsibility to apply the truth of God's Word to your lives and so live to God's glory. Do it and do it well—to the glory of our great God.