[0:00] Now, what's your busiest day of the week? You probably think that mine is Sunday. It's the only day minister to work, isn't it? But it's not actually. The busiest day of my week is the same day as the busiest day of your week.
[0:15] And it's tomorrow. Because tomorrow is always going to be the day, isn't it? When you get all those things done that you never got round to doing today. And of course we know, don't we, that tomorrow never comes.
[0:29] I'll get down to it one of these days, we say. But one of these days becomes none of these days. And it actually never happens. And that is what Felix did with the gospel.
[0:40] Can you just look at verse 25? 25 are the little numbers on page 934. And the apostle Paul, as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, go away to the present.
[0:56] To the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. That's what Felix said. The fancy word for it is procrastination. I like that word. I like the sound of it, don't you?
[1:07] To procrastinate. To put off to tomorrow what ought to be done today. You're a terrible procrastinator you can say to someone tomorrow. And that's what lots of people do when it comes to the Lord Jesus.
[1:19] It's not that they reject it outright. They're not against him, they'd say. It's just they've never got around to do anything about it. They just keep putting it off. Of course, not everybody's got the same advantage as Felix did.
[1:33] Felix had the apostle Paul, who's probably the greatest preacher that Christianity has ever had. And he had the apostle Paul as his private chaplain for two whole years. He had the gospel explained to him by the best gospel preacher who's ever lived.
[1:48] And if he didn't understand it, well all he had to do was press the replay button, didn't he? Which he did frequently. Look at verse 26. At the same time, well it says at the end of the verse, isn't it, so he sent for him often and conversed with him.
[2:00] He says tomorrow. Many are. Tomorrow. Well I've got a more convenient time but there is never a more convenient time than right now.
[2:12] And so tonight, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you, whatever your relationship is to the gospel of the Lord Jesus, to right now give full attention to what is happening. Because you are under the sound of the word.
[2:25] And God is speaking to us through his word. Somebody has said that the past is history, the future is mystery, the present is a gift. And that is why we call it the present, which is a bit corny, isn't it?
[2:38] I quite like it to have got past it. So let's make the most. Let's make the most of this present moment. It is God's gift to us. And if you're not sure where you stand in relationship to the Lord Jesus, seize the moment.
[2:51] Carpe diem, is that right? Seize the day. Make this the night when you sort it out. So all I want to do is I want to consider three things about Felix, all beginning with M. The man he was, the mistake he made, the message he missed.
[3:05] The man he was. Let me introduce you to this man Felix. He named himself. He chose his own name according to Acts from Biblical Literature. He was a slave who gained his freedom.
[3:16] And he took a new name, Felix, which means in Latin, happy. But I don't think he's a very happy man at all when you read about him. It's often the case, isn't it, that those who appear most happy on the outside are often inwardly sad.
[3:31] Some of the greatest comics that there have ever been are often the saddest of people. It's a strange phenomenon, isn't it? So who is this man? What kind of man was Felix? Felix, secular history, knows him as Felix, the procurator, the governor, the governor of Samaria and probably Judea.
[3:49] He was Pilate's successor. The procurator of Palestine, the man in charge, as far as the Romans were concerned. So he knew all about Jesus. From a job like that, you couldn't possibly know about Jesus.
[4:02] Look at verse 22, it says, isn't it, but Felix having a rather accurate knowledge of the way. Do you notice that? That's the description of Christians in those days.
[4:15] They were known as the way. He'd been properly breathed when he took over as the governor of Palestine. There was no way that he could not have known about the way because by this time in mystery, there's probably tens, twenty, thirty thousand people who would become Christians.
[4:31] That's what they think by Acts chapter 6. So he would have known about Christians. He would have access to the official records of the crucifixion and the empty tomb. And Paul says to his immediate successor, Festus, in chapter 26, these things were not done in a corner.
[4:47] It's all on the public record. It's all in the newspapers. It's all in the public domain. And as procurator of Palestine, Felix was responsible for public order. But he didn't do a very good job at the verses 1-3 of Paul's trial before Felix in chapter 24.
[5:02] The Jews arrived, don't they, in record time with their lawyer, Tertullus. And he sounds like a lawyer, doesn't he? Look at verse 1. After five days, the high priest and the house came down with some elders and it spoke from one Tertullus.
[5:16] They laid before the governor that case against Paul. And they say this. When he'd been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, since though, through you, we enjoy much peace and since by your foresight and most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation in every way and everywhere.
[5:37] We accept this with all gratitude. But to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. Now that is what is called flannel, isn't it?
[5:48] Isn't that what it's called? It's lawyer's talk. There's a lawyer, and obviously it's the front and the back side. But that's what you paid him for, isn't it? It's the blatant rewriting of history.
[6:00] It's enough to make any Jew choke on his cornflakes because the reality was very different. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that Felix was the worst ruler that Judea ever had.
[6:12] Tacitus, the Roman historian, writes to him as a master of cruelty and lust to exercise the powers of a king with the mind of a slave. In other words, there was nothing noble about him. There was nothing about this man, Felix, that commanded respect or loyalty.
[6:25] He was mean, he was corrupt, he was cruel. So mean and so corrupt that eventually his superiors, very soon after, summoned Felix to Rome. And Felix kept his life but lost his job.
[6:40] Nero sacked him. Fancy being sacked by Emperor Nero for being cruel. He was summoned by Nero for his crimes against humanity when the guy was, well, that is the kind of man he was.
[6:56] There's a saying, isn't there, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and Felix demonstrates that here. You see in the way he deals with Paul in verse 19. They ought to be here before you to make an accusation.
[7:11] Should they have anything against me? But there are no witnesses in this court case. So the case should have been thrown out straight away. Roman law took it very seriously. If your original accusers didn't turn up in court, if the original accusers were absent, it should be thrown out and that was the case here.
[7:30] The Jews turned up with their lawyer, who's obviously a very good lawyer judging by those opening remarks, to try and get the judge on his side, but there's no case to answer. There are no witnesses and the original accusers are not in court.
[7:42] And so Felix should have thrown the case out of court and set Paul free. And not only that, Paul has been handed over to the Romans on trumped up charges. He's an innocent man.
[7:54] There's three S's, lots of alliteration tonight. Sedition, sectarianism, sacrilege. Three words we hardly use. Sedition, sectarianism, sacrilege.
[8:05] Don't worry if you don't understand them. Basically, they say Paul's a troublemaker. He's a rim leader. He's a desecrator of temples. These are the sort of charges that were brought against Paul.
[8:16] Now I'm not going to go into it. You can read Luke's transcript of the court case if you want in these chapters. And Felix knows that. But instead of acquitting Paul, he adjourns the case indefinitely.
[8:28] So look at verse 22 he puts Paul on remand. It's just on page 934. Felix having a rather accurate knowledge of the way he put them on. Saying when Lysias, the tribune, comes down, I will decide your case.
[8:42] But as far as we know, Lysias never arrives. And as far as we know, Felix never sends him. And so for two whole years, two whole years, an innocent man is kept under arrest without trial.
[8:55] So that is Felix, the man in charge of law and order, the procurator. Now let's move on to Felix, the procrastinator. Felix, the procrastinator, his mistake.
[9:06] We've seen the man, let's see the mistake. And again, it's a mistake many people make. Let me quote to you Pink Floyd, the song Time. Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day.
[9:21] Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way. Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown, waiting for someone or something to show you the way. Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain.
[9:35] You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you'll find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
[9:45] So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
[9:59] Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.
[10:10] The time is gone, the song is over. Thought I had something more to say. Now that's the mistake Felix made. Waiting for someone to show you the way. And somebody did come and show Felix the way.
[10:22] In verse 14, Paul manages to get his testimony in in the midst of the trial and it's interesting. He says in verse 14, if you can see it on page 933, but this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect.
[10:37] See what he's saying? He's saying, they call us a sect but I follow the God of the Jews. As a Christian, I haven't exchanged one God for another Felix. I believe the same God that they believe and I follow the God of the Jews as a follower of the way as a Christian.
[10:54] The way is an interesting term because it comes up again and again in this chapter. I've thought about it this week. What a weird thing to call people, the way.
[11:06] But what's the question that comes up in your mind, that springs to your mind when you think of the way? It's this, where are you going? Which way are you going? It's a title, isn't it, that begs a question, the way.
[11:18] And Jesus, of course, in John's Gospel, if you know anything about the Bible, he said, I am the way, the truth and the life. There's no way to the Father except through me. Jesus is the way. Chinese have got a proverb, haven't they?
[11:30] The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. And so if you want to come to know God, if you want to come to know the God of the Jews, if you want to come to know the God of the Bible, if you want to come to know God as your Father, then Jesus is the way and that's the first step you must take.
[11:46] And Felix was well acquainted with that, wasn't he? That's fine too. Lots of people reject Christianity without knowing anything about it, but Felix knew a lot about it. He was well acquainted.
[11:58] He knew a lot about it. With the way he'd researched it. He'd be briefed on it. He'd have Paul explained to him the way of salvation. He knew the gospel. In other words, he endured the starting gun, but he didn't run.
[12:13] He knew the way, but he didn't start on it. And instead he stalled, he prevaricated, he procrastinated. Look at verses 24 and 25. This is out of court now, isn't it?
[12:23] Verse 24, he's out of court. He's back. And Felix has put him on remand. After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sang for Paul and she'd have to speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
[12:38] He's been shown the way of salvation. Faith in Christ Jesus is the way. He was being urged to run for his life, and again and again it was explained to him this way of salvation, but he never set out.
[12:50] Look at verse 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'll summon you. Now that word is very, very strong.
[13:05] Very, very strong in verse 25. Do you see that Felix was alarmed? He was afraid. He was trembling in his boots. He was quaking.
[13:17] He heard Paul preach about faith in Jesus and he trembled. Felix trembled, but he didn't turn from his sin. He trembled, but he didn't trust in Jesus as the way to go on his Savior.
[13:29] He was convicted, but not converted. He knows the way, but he never sets out on it. Instead, he procrastinates. He prevaricates. Do you see what he says? That's enough for now.
[13:40] Don't call me. I'll call you Paul. When it's convenient, I'll send for you again. So instead of listening to the voice of his conscience, which was screaming at him, he stifles it.
[13:52] And again and again for two whole years until it's silenced altogether. Why would anyone do that? For two whole years, he hears this message until it's silenced in his conscience.
[14:04] Now why would anyone do that? And there are three reasons hinted at in the passage, and they are interesting because we'll all be familiar with him. Because the three things that are stopping Felix from going on the way, from exercising faith in Jesus Christ, are the things that will damn him and stifle his conscience.
[14:22] And the three things that Paul warns about are actually the same three things Paul warns leaders about in 1 Timothy chapter 3. Three temptations for leaders in God's church, yeah, but three temptations also for leaders in society.
[14:36] What are they? Money, sex and power. So let me show you that. 2 Timothy is 25 and 26, and we get the reason he was stalling.
[14:48] As he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and becoming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present. When I get an activity, I will summon you. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent him off to and conversed with him.
[15:03] Now again, if you were listening when Rachel read, you'll notice that Paul let something slip in verse 17. Do you see that? Just a look at the page. Now after several years, I came to bring arms to my nation and to present offerings.
[15:18] Now if this was a Disney cartoon, you would hear the cash register tingle at that and Felix's eyes would roll around and there would be dollar signs wouldn't there on Felix's eyes.
[15:33] How many have stifled their consciences and ruined their souls for the love of money? And what can money buy? It's not convenient right now to be a Christian.
[15:43] I know if I become a Christian, it's going to cramp my style. There would be decisions that I've got to make that I just don't want to make. How many have stifled their conscience for the love of money? And the apostle says it's the love of money.
[15:54] Money is a neutral thing. It's a neutral thing, but we just can't help loving the stuff, can we? It's the love of money that is the root of all evil and you don't have to have money to love it. Think of all the people who are in hell tonight because of the love of money.
[16:08] Think of Judas. Judas Iscariot. He betrayed the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. It's hardly anything. What motivated him to betray Jesus?
[16:20] Well the Bible says very clearly that Judas was a greedy man. He was the treasurer of the twelve and he liked to put his hand in the till and he used to spend what was put in the treasurer's account for himself.
[16:32] And 30 pieces of silver is not very much to damn yourself with for eternity. It's not a lot of money you've got to hell with. But Judas did. 30 pieces of silver and he sold his soul.
[16:45] The New Testament talks about a man called Demas. Demas was one of Paul's colleagues. He was a church worker. He travelled with Paul. Can you imagine how exciting that was? And in 2 Timothy Paul says Demas has forsaken me having loved this present age.
[16:59] Loved the world. And Demas has forsaken. He's gone back into it. He's gone back into making money. He's been blinded by Satan into thinking this world is the only world that matters.
[17:14] And the only thing that matters in this world is to be comfortable and well off. And so he's forsaken me. He's abandoned the gospel. Think of the rich young ruler in Luke chapter 18. You cannot help but love the man in Luke 18.
[17:27] He's earnest. He comes running to Jesus. It's not a philosophy class at Oxford University. It's not a cool, detached, theoretical discussion. He's a man who's concerned about his soul.
[17:38] And he falls at Jesus' feet. And he says, what must I do to inherit a eternal life? How can I get to know God? How can I get into heaven? And Jesus says, well, what you have give to the poor.
[17:51] That's not the 11th commandment. Jesus is simply dealing with this man's need. It's not that he's rich that's the problem. It's not that he's got money that's the problem, but that money has got him.
[18:03] And Jesus says, you're going to have to deal with that. With that idolatry in life, you can't be saved otherwise. And we're told that the man goes away sad and Jesus lets him go. Reason number one, and it may be that this is one of the reasons in your life why you're not taking Jesus seriously in your life.
[18:20] It's the love of money. Reason number two is right by his side and her name is Drusilla. It says in verse 24 that she was his wife, but in fact, she was somebody else's wife.
[18:33] Felix had had three wives. Two of them were called Drusilla, which I would have thought would be very confusing. But apparently he'd taken this woman. She belonged to someone else.
[18:43] He fancied her, so he took her. And it's a sort of smash and grab mentality, isn't it, that sadly we know only too well. You know, it destroys relationships.
[18:57] And it destroys families and children. Never mind what self-control and judgment is. Just go for it. Don't worry. Don't let a preacher spoil your fun. Don't let a Christian upbringing, cramp your style. Fly away Peter, fly away Paul, come again another day.
[19:10] It's not convenient right now. And of course, it's not. It's never convenient, is it? If you're involved in that kind of lifestyle, it never will be. Felix was not prepared to change his lifestyle.
[19:22] There were things I just don't want to let go, he would say. It's what the Bible calls the pleasure of sin. And we've got to be honest, and we are going to be honest as a Christian preacher and say there is pleasure in sin.
[19:35] Living to please yourself. Living independently of God, there is pleasure in that, but the Bible says it is for a season. And the devil says to you tonight, he says go for it, eat, drink and be merry.
[19:51] For tomorrow you die. Live for now, eat, drink and watch telly. Live for the moment, you deserve it. That's what every advert says. You deserve it, you're worth it. Spoil yourself, there's pleasure in sin, but there's only for a season.
[20:06] Do you know what the psalmist says? The Bible says there is pleasure at God's right hand forever more. And what is at God's right hand? Jesus is at God's right hand.
[20:20] But Felix prefers through the letter Jesus. Reason number three is in verse 27, and it's the most damning of all. He keeps chanting for Paul for putting him off. Do you see that verse 27?
[20:35] So the tribune came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman citizen? And he said, yes. The tribune said, I bought the citizenship for a large sum. Sorry, I'm in the wrong chapter. I thought that wasn't there.
[20:46] Verse 27. Good grief, what's happened? Right. Verse 27. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. That is probably the best name in the whole of the Bible system.
[20:59] Can you imagine what he was called in the school playground? Porcius Festus. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to give him a favor to the Jews, Felix left him in prison.
[21:13] Because he wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left him in prison. He showed the case. Why? Because of his career. He wanted to protect himself.
[21:24] And he wanted to desperately cling to power. And he must have known which way the wind was blowing. You cannot read second history and not think it was not going to be very long that after this there was going to be a massive civil war and the Romans have got to clamp down and Felix is largely responsible for civil unrest in Palestine.
[21:40] He must have known which way the wind was blowing. And he's desperate to cling on to his job, desperate to find favor with the Jews so he wouldn't get in trouble with the superiors. Isn't that ironic?
[21:52] Here he is, he's willing to shrug off the claims of almighty God but he's desperately bowing and scraping the man. He's a man pleaser and not a God fearer.
[22:04] And is that you? Is that me? For as long as you care more for what people think than what God says, you're never going to move from where you are.
[22:17] For as long as you care more for what people think than what God thinks you're lost. It's not convenient now Paul. It doesn't quite fit in with my lifestyle, with my career, my promotion plan. He's not the first and he won't be the last.
[22:28] And you can't help thinking those who know the story of Pharaoh. The man who faced Moses and he wouldn't let God's people go. And ten times God sends these plays and comes into Pharaoh's life in a really dramatic way and it says Pharaoh hardened his heart and he hardened his heart and he hardened his heart and he stifled his conscience and he stifled his conscience and he stifled his conscience and until in the end God hardened his heart and gave him over.
[22:56] Think of Pontius Pilate, Felix's predecessor. Do you remember what he did? In front of the crowd he got a bowl and he washed his hands because he thought he could wash his hands of the whole affair of Jesus.
[23:08] He thought he could wash his hands of Jesus and every Sunday there are people who confess what you have confessed he suffered under Pontius Pilate. Reminding themselves that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate.
[23:23] You cannot wash your hands of Jesus. Listen to Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin wrote to a friend called J.D. Hooker in 1868. And Hooker had been to see and been to listen to Hamlet's Messiah and Darwin wrote this.
[23:38] He said I'm glad you are at the Messiah. I should like to hear it again but I dare say I should find my soul too dried up to appreciate it as in olden days.
[23:51] For it is a horrid bore that I am a withered leaf for everything except science. Charles Darwin looking back at earlier days when his heart was softer and his conscience was active realising that those days are probably gone.
[24:05] I've hardened my heart. It's such a horrid bore that I am a withered leaf for everything except science. He's sold his soul for science. We've looked at the man and I hope we've learnt something about the mistake that he made.
[24:21] He postpones. He puts off to tomorrow what he ought to have done that day and he fails to understand this that to not decide is in fact to decide. Have you got that?
[24:31] to not decide about the Lord Jesus is in fact to decide when it comes to the gospel. Hardening his heart, resisting his conscience, putting off to tomorrow what needs to be done today.
[24:43] And that is such a dangerous game to play. and if your plan it's a pretty hellish place this earth and so it is sometimes isn't it?
[25:18] It's easy for me who's lived a pretty charmed life in a decent country not to appreciate that for some people life is a real hell.!
[25:29] But even in the most hellish spots on earth, even tonight, in the most hellish spots on earth, there is always some extenuating circumstances, isn't there? There's always someone trying to improve something.
[25:41] There's always a red cross, isn't there? Or medicine sans frontier, there's an emergency, a relief organisation that will come and try and make the situation matter. But imagine living in a world where there's none of that.
[25:53] Where you're cut off forever from every source of good. There's no goodness anymore. There are no friendships anymore. And friendship is a good thing that comes from God. There are no friends in hell. Let's learn from the mistake Felix made.
[26:08] Let me share with you finally the message that he missed in verses 24 and 25. Paul here gives us three reasons why Felix should have believed in Jesus. Every time Felix sent for him it was the same message.
[26:21] Imagine that for two years the same sermon every second year. And it's about faith in Jesus Christ. And you have it there in verse 25. I feel like it's the fleshing out of that.
[26:32] There are the reasons that Paul marshalled to persuade Felix to go down the way of believing in Jesus Christ. He reasoned with him about righteousness and about self-control and coming judgment.
[26:48] Now I don't know if that echoes in you. If you're a Christian you know your Bible at all. That's what we're told is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit does. So in John's Gospel when the Holy Spirit comes he will convict of righteousness self-control and judgment to come.
[27:04] That's the Holy Spirit's ministry. And so Paul is preaching to this man and the power of the Holy Spirit and he's reasoning with him. And he's pleading with him about rightness. And self-control and judgment to come.
[27:14] Now how brave is that of Paul? How much Felix needed to hear that message and Drusilla for that matter? And they needed to be told right from wrong didn't they?
[27:26] And they needed to be reminded that it is God's world and that it is God who determines what is right and what is wrong. That's not your choice Felix. It's not my choice and not yours and it's certainly your public opinions.
[27:39] And the way you are living Felix and Drusilla is not right in God's sight. Actually it is wrong. And they need to be challenged on self-control. And you may be the great governor of Palestine, Felix, but actually you can't govern yourself.
[27:55] And you might even be able to acknowledge what you're doing is wrong, but you can't stop it, Felix, can you? And you might be able to see what is right, but you can't do the right thing because you're not in control of yourself. Neither are you or I.
[28:07] And that is the desperate thing about the human condition, isn't it? It's not just that we make mistakes, like making mistakes in an exam, we fail the exam so we take the research six months later.
[28:19] We are controlled. We can't control ourselves. We are controlled by sin. And sin is a power in our lives that destroys us. And this proud couple need to be told that and they need to be reminded of it.
[28:32] And they need to be told the judgment to come. Now you've got to give credit to Paul. You might hate Christianity, you might hate the apostle Paul, but Paul told his judge, you will be judged.
[28:43] Isn't that something? I had an Oscar story of saying that this week. He told this proud, arrogant man who would be playing God with other people's lives that one day, very soon, you will have to face God himself.
[28:58] And the truth is, tonight, as much as you may not like it, so will you and I. And there's no escape from that. death, there is no escape. It's no good as many people say, or think, well, when I'm dead, I'm dead.
[29:12] No, you're not. Look at verse 15. If you look at verse 15, Paul says there's going to be a resurrection, there's going to be a resurrection of the righteous, the just, and the unjust.
[29:26] That's what Christians and Jews are in common. You say, we both believe the same thing, there'll be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, and that is why faith in Jesus Christ is so important tonight.
[29:38] Because there is no other way that you can be right with God. Jesus is the only way that you can be right with God. And that is the message that this man missed. Jesus comes to you this evening in the gospel that I'm trying to preach to you and he's saying to you, take my righteousness.
[29:56] Jesus is the only one who got it right. And he comes to you and he says to you, you can take my rightness and I'll take your wrongness. The Apostle Peter said he died the just for the unjust, he died the right for the wrong, the innocent for the guilty, take my rightness and I'll take your wrongness.
[30:17] And it's too good to be true isn't it? There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ's lives. Romans 8. Whoever believes in him, John says, in his gospel, whoever believes in him, Jesus Christ is not condemned and has eternal life.
[30:33] Whoever does not believe is condemned already. So people say, well let's just wait and find out when it's too late when judgment day comes, isn't it? And it will be too late then. And you need to find out now, tonight, what's the verdict going to be?
[30:48] And the amazing good news of Christianity in the gospel is that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can hear and now know what the verdict is going to be on your life on the day of judgment. And so you don't have to fear. Not guilty.
[31:01] What a weight to be lifted off your shoulders. You can live the rest of your life knowing that on judgment day, God is going to say about you, not guilty. Isn't that wonderful?
[31:14] That is the gospel. Don't you see how urgent it is? And it's something that we need to decide right here, right now. There's a story about Satan.
[31:24] I'm not sure if it's from the scripted letters or not. It's a famous story. The story is Satan gets together some of his top demons and they have a bit of a brainstorm about how they can do a better job of destroying the human race.
[31:37] And so they have this little get together, I think there were four of them, and they have this brainstorming session, and the question is how can we capture more people for hell? One of the demons says, well let's tell them that there's no God.
[31:49] Satan says, well that's not going to do. Everyone knows that there's a God, everyone knows that, they just suppress their truth, they deny it, they push it down. It's no good telling them that there is no God, because deep down inside they won't believe it.
[32:02] Well clearly the second demon says, well why don't we tell them that there's no heaven? Satan says, well everyone wants to go to heaven, don't they? Haven't you noticed that? That's true, isn't it? Every food I take, everybody wants to go to heaven.
[32:15] Everyone goes to heaven, people want to believe. Well the third demon says, well let's tell them there's no hell. Well that won't work either, because everyone has got a conscience, and even though they try and stifle it, they know that they're going to be judged, people know that there's a right and a wrong, isn't it?
[32:32] The first word it seems to me that kids speak in the playground is that's not fair. Everybody's got a sense of justice. Okay, says the fourth demon, why don't I go and tell them there's no hurry.
[32:44] brilliant, says Satan. No hurry, no worries mate, she'll be all right. Billy Graham, an American evangelist, he came to London many times in the last 50 years, probably preached to more people in the world than anyone else has in history, and he came to London in the 1970s and he was interviewed on the BBC.
[33:10] On the interviewer, who was very sceptical of this man's Christian faith, asked him this question how many converts are you expecting in this message, Dr Graham? And expecting Billy to say the figures hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands, or expecting to maybe even for Billy to be a bit more spiritual and pious to say well we'll have to leave it up to God.
[33:32] But what big Billy said was this, just one, just one, if we can make one real convert, it would have been worth coming across the Atlantic.
[33:46] In fact he said if I can just win you to Jesus Christ, it would be worth coming. And of course the interviewer immediately changed the subject, which is what people do.
[34:00] And it's what Felix is doing, and it's what you will do as soon as I finish. You'll go on to other things, you'll go home to supper, supper, you'll watch the telly, you'll forget.
[34:14] There is no time like the present to sort these things out. And if you're not sure of where you stand in relationship to Jesus, now is the time to sort it out before you leave.
[34:26] Between you and the Lord, now is the time. The problem with Felix is if he'd put his faith in Jesus, he would have been safe.
[34:40] But he didn't, he put his faith somewhere else. Do you know where he put his faith in? He put his faith in tomorrow. What a silly thing to do because tomorrow never comes.
[34:52] Tomorrow never comes. But Jesus Christ is coming, you can be sure of that. This man that God raised from the dead is coming again, the judge of the living and the dead.
[35:03] So let me plead with you tonight, let me plead with you tonight, do not make the mistake of Felix. Do not keep putting off till tomorrow what needs to be done today.
[35:20] Augustine, the famous saint, has said this, God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but he hasn't promised tomorrow for your procrastination. So tonight, if you will come to God, and you will say sorry, and you will ask him to forgive you, and you say to him, I realise I've messed up, and there is lots and lots of mess to sort out, but I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he has died for my sin, he paid the punishment for my sin, please, God forgive me, he will forgive you.
[36:01] But he hasn't promised tomorrow for your procrastination, today is all you've got. Today, why there is still cause today, says the psalmist, harden not your heart. Let's bow ahead to him.
[36:13] Thank you.