The Word Made Plain

Tony Clark: God bless you. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. We are thrilled to have you here with us to worship our Lord and to study the Word of God. And then we are going to talk about, you know, just how to have a biblical response when it comes to elections. Many of you are going to be all in your feelings and all that. I am going to bring you back, bring you back down and get your head right. Get your head back right. We are just going to get our heads right. You know, and make sure that we are responding in a biblical fashion, and that is my heart's desire to do just that.

All right, let's dive into the Word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 24. We are going to be looking at verses 22 to 27 as we continue our verse-by-verse study through the book of Acts and looking forward to within the next couple of weeks or so to get back to going through the Old Testament in the book of 1 Samuel. Looking forward to that as well. I believe God has a word for us today.

Father, we pray that we would have ears to hear that word today, that you would remove any distractions from us, oh God, that we might be able to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls. And so God, I pray for these your people here, those who are watching online. Oh God, I pray that you would touch them as well with your word. Lord, don't allow anything to hinder us from hearing your word and doing your word in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 24, looking at verses 22 to 27. The title of this message is The Nation of Procrastination. The Nation of Procrastination. Now, I Googled the greatest nations in the world and it listed the obvious ones: America, Canada, France, and Germany. But what shocked me was that Switzerland was listed as the number one best country to live in for the fourth year in a row.

I just say this is not right. Switzerland is not the greatest nation. The greatest nation is procrastination. That is the greatest nation. Procrastination is defined as the action of delaying or postponing something. We will be introduced to someone who is going to procrastinate after hearing the truths of Christianity. You will have to ask yourself whether you are procrastinating concerning things in your spiritual life.

Concerning your spiritual condition, concerning getting right with God. Oh, I tell you this pandemic has knocked everybody off kilter. Concerning their spiritual walk with God. There is no one who can say, well, you know, during the pandemic I have actually grown closer to God. I do not believe that. I talked to pastors who have all struggled. So we have to ask ourselves, are we going to continue to procrastinate concerning our spiritual condition with God, concerning getting things right with God?

So this is what this message is going to be focusing on. Now, by way of background, in verses 10 through 21, we saw how Paul was brought before the Roman governor Felix. Ananias, the high priest, and the elders brought with them this hotshot lawyer named Tertullus to finally close the case on Paul. When it was time for Paul to speak up, he did not even have a defense attorney because he was so sure that the case against him was bogus. He answered each of the three accusations against him that left them, meaning his accusers, left them speechless.

Now it is time for Felix to speak. He has heard both sides of the issue. He heard both Tertullus give his case and he heard Paul. Now it is time for Felix to speak. Look at verses 22 and 23.

But when Felix heard these things, having a more accurate knowledge of the way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, "When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case." So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

Now, after Felix heard Paul's side, I love how Luke, the author, puts in verse 22 how Felix had a more accurate knowledge of the way. This is probably through his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish according to verse 24. No one at this time could claim ignorance of Christianity because by this time it had grown rapidly into the thousands, perhaps even by the hundreds of thousands of people were brought to faith in Jesus Christ.

Surely a group this size would alert the Roman authorities of its existence. So yes, Felix did have a more accurate knowledge of the way. And so, according to verse 22, he adjourned the proceedings. The Greek word for adjourn is anaballo, and it was a legal term for dismissing a hearing. Felix could have made his decision on the case right then and there, but he knew that this could cause some unrest with the religious leaders that he was trying to impress.

So he delayed by saying that he would wait until Lysias the commander came down. Then he will make his decision on the case. Now, this was not true because Claudius Lysias already told him in a letter that he thought Paul was innocent in Acts 23 and verse 29. Felix used this excuse to stall on making a decision.

Let me pause right here and say that there are many people who are pausing from making a decision concerning your spiritual walk and where you are spiritually with the Lord. Many, this is a part of the procrastination that I am going to get into later on. There is always a pausing. Okay, I am going to start reading my Bible in January. Now here we are, you know, towards the end of the year, you still have not picked it up.

Well, I promise, I am going to read through the New Testament by this day, or I am going to read through a book of the Bible this day, and there is always a delay. There is always a delay in making that particular decision. Oh, it is part of the symptoms of procrastination. We will get more into that in a minute. So according to verse 23, Felix told the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but let him have liberty for the purpose of allowing his friends to take care of his needs.

According to Acts 21 verses 8 through 14, Paul had a lot of friends in Caesarea, including Philip, the evangelist. They were allowed to visit Paul, which also shows that Felix believed that Paul was innocent as well, but he did not want to make trouble with the religious leaders. As we can see here, Felix knew a lot about Christianity and its teachings, but knowing about a subject does not equate to embracing that subject. In other words, knowing about the Bible does not equal to embracing and accepting what it says.

It is one thing to know about Jesus, but it is totally a different thing to accept him as Lord and Savior. I am reminded of in the gospels in Mark chapter 12 and verse 34, one of the scribes, scribes were considered experts in the law of Moses, asked Jesus what were the two greatest commandments. After Jesus told him to love God and to love people, he responded to Jesus by saying, "You have spoken well. To love God with everything within us and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more than all of the Old Testament burnt offerings and sacrifices." Listen to what Jesus said. Jesus answered, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

Notice that he did not say, "Great answer. You are in the kingdom of God because of your knowledge of God." No, no, he said, "You are not far from the kingdom." On another occasion in John chapter 13 and verse 17 for you note-takers, Jesus told his disciples, "It is one thing to know these things, but blessed are you if you do them." James 1:22, "Be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves." Oh please, dear people, don't miss this, especially online. Don't miss this.

In other words, we can deceive ourselves if we think that we are okay with God because we may come here to church or especially online and hear God's word taught and even embrace the teaching, but don't obey what you hear. This is the condition of the governor Felix's heart. He had a more accurate, notice, knowledge of the way, but it never moved him to embrace Christianity.

Luke 12 and verse 48 is a powerful verse. He says, to whom much is given, much more will be required. And watch this, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. We will be judged by and accountable to God by how much we know about him and his word, but not only what we know about him intellectually, but how much of it that we lived out.

John Maxwell talked about in one of his books. He said, as Christians, we are already educated far beyond our level of obedience. Meaning that there are people who know a whole lot about the Bible, but they don't live up to that knowledge that they know of the Bible. So he says, we are, we are educated far beyond our level of obedience. And Felix will be judged harsher by having a more accurate knowledge of the way.

What about us? We too, especially here in America, will be held accountable for the knowledge we have about God and the Bible. Nowadays, I mean, you know, it was understandable earlier on. It was very understandable. No one could, you know, go to church. We just said, okay, all right, you know, we just got to do what we got to do. No.

But now churches are open. We don't, we don't have any excuse now. We don't have any excuse, not a legitimate one. And here it is. We are going to be held more accountable here in America. I mean, churches on every corner, we got TV, we got radio, we got Christians talking. America will be held more accountable for the knowledge we have about God and the Bible.

And those of us who have, watch this, a more accurate knowledge of the way will be held to a higher standard. And this is why James 3:1 says, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that you shall receive the stricter judgment. And so too it is with Felix. Look what he says there in verse 24.

And after some days, when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was, I was going to say Part of Parliament Funkadelic, with Boosilla. I am sorry, I am sorry. I digress. I digress. I digress. Whenever I see Drusilla, I just think Boosilla. I just think. I am sorry. I just digress now.

After some days when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now, it is obvious that Paul left an impression on Felix because according to this verse, some days later, Felix, this time with his wife Drusilla, sent for him and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now, Drusilla was a very interesting young lady. I, and I say young lady because she was approximately 16 years old when she became the third wife of Felix.

His first wife was the granddaughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Felix and Drusilla had a son who was killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24th, AD 79. You have heard of Pompeii. Her son was killed in that particular eruption.

From manuscripts, it is believed that it was Drusilla who really wanted to hear more about Christianity, being Jewish, like verse 24 says. So she urges her husband to meet with Paul. It is believed that Felix, struck by her renowned beauty, used a magician to lure Drusilla from her first husband, the king of Emesa, who was located, which was located in Syria.

Now, I debated whether to even mention this or not. She was known for her incredible beauty even at 16 years old. Incredible beauty. Ladies, men will go after what they want. He used some magician. I don't know, I don't know what he was doing with that, to lure her away.

No doubt men were they were after her because of her incredible beauty. Ladies, men can get caught up and you can use that incredible beauty that you have and your physical characteristics to lure any man away from his wife. And men, we have to be careful because of our power of persuasion with our words, and we can lure some woman away from her husband.

Because we, women love to hear how they look. They love to hear how they, they are perceived. They love to hear good things about them. If you get some slick talking brother or something, I am telling you, he can lure you. It does not matter who you are.

And this woman, other manuscripts talked about how, you know, she knew her beauty. And, and, and how men came after her because of that. And just be very careful because no matter how strong you think you are men, our weakness, our kryptonite is women. That is all to it. You can think you are all that and a bag of chips.

But I am just going to tell you, you are stronger than David? David was a man after God's own heart. Show me anybody else in the Bible that was said about. David. David was the man. Well, you know, Pastor, I don't have to worry about that. I am old now. David was 50 years old when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. 50.

Well, I am strong, Pastor Tony. So was Samson. See, Satan will always raise up a Delilah. He will always raise up a Bathsheba. He will always do that because he knows, he knows us. He has been at this thing for 6,000 years. He knows mankind.

And it is, you know, and we have to be very, very, very careful how ladies, how you accentuate your physical beauty because it can be a stumbling block. Now I am not saying you have to go around with a like a potato sack on and looking like a hot mess. I am not saying that. I am not, I am not, I am not saying that at all. You cannot help your, your beauty, your, you cannot help that.

But all I am saying is just be very careful that you don't use that power that you have. There is a power that women have over men. You don't use that power to lure a man away. And guys, especially for those of you who have the gift of gab, that you don't use that to flatter a woman because a woman loves to hear how she looks. That is it. Ladies, you just got it bad when it comes to that. You love it.

And especially, it is like, you heard the heavenly choir sing if someone said, it looks like you lost weight. It is like you went to heaven for that moment. I mean, losing weight, it is like you won the lottery. You just got that bad. And men, we just, we just don't care. We, we, I mean, you know, ah. So what? You are okay. You are not a teenager anymore. So what? You gained some LBS. So what? Like me, you got the COVID-19 pounds. Okay, so what? We don't care.

You are depressed. What is wrong with you? I am gaining all this weight. I just. And thus, men, we are just like, oh, we are so over that. And we don't care. We love you the way you are. We don't care. Some guys do. Some guys fool around and, you know, Look at that. All right, you are going to eat that? Look at that. Put on a couple LBS there.

That is something you never say, men. You are a, you are a terrible, as my son would say, you are a terrible human being if you are saying stuff like that to your wife. So we just got to be careful. Drusilla was very, very a very beautiful woman and, and she knew how to use that beauty in a negative way. Look at verse 25.

Says, "Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you." Now, I want you to notice the aspects of the faith in Christ that Paul reasoned with them about. The Greek word for reason is dialegomai. It is where we get our English word dialogue from. It means a discussion, a dialogue. It was not a sermon. He had a discussion with them about the Christian faith. A back and forth, a give and take, a Q&A about the Christian faith.

When was the last time you reasoned with someone about the Christian faith? First Peter 3:5 says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your heart and always be ready to give every man an answer, the reason of the hope that lies within you with meekness and fear." And this is what Paul was doing. Felix and Drusilla asked Paul for a reason of the hope of Christianity, and he had a dialogue with them.

Are you ready to do this with those around you? What if at the job that, you know, you are keeping social distancing, you got that mask on. Someone said, "You know what, I just, you know, I remember before the Rona, you said something about Christ. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?" Are you ready to reason with them, have a back and forth?

Are you ready? And so many people don't reason with people about the faith because they are afraid that they may ask something that they cannot give an answer to. Just say, "You know what? Oh, hey, that was a good one. Okay, I am going to get that answer. We will get back with you tomorrow's break. You will be ready. I am going to." Or do you just, "Oh, I just don't want. I don't want to look stupid." Oh, so now it is about you and how you look.

I thought it was about Christ. We are not going to know all the answers. There are 31,104 verses in the Bible or 31,173, depending upon what version you are looking at. 1,189 chapters. I mean, you are not going to know it all. You are not going to know it all. You just keep reading, keep studying and just, you know, and say, okay, I am going to get back with you tomorrow and you are going to get that answer and get back with them.

But when was the last time you reasoned with someone? This is why we have, you know, evangelists, evangelism classes, we had foundation classes. All this before the Rona. We tried to do it online, but, you know, folks fool around, you know, ah. You know, we tried, we are offering this stuff, you know, you still got to take it. We are offering, offering this stuff. Every fourth, every fourth Thursday of the month, you know, Colonel Mason is taking a whole group of folks.

And they are just going out on the street around our neighborhood, right here, our church neighborhood and just talking to folks. Every time they go out, they are leading folks to Christ. They are talking to atheists, Muslims, you name it, agnostics. They are talking to all kind of folks, but because they know how to talk to people about the faith. They are leading these folks to Christ. All the time praying with folks.

And they are just going around the neighborhood here every fourth. Now, God willing, November, they will not be doing it on the fourth because folks will be filling up on turkey. Fourth Thursday of the, they are going to do it on the third Thursday. And you just going, you can just go out. Just go out and just see what they are doing, see how they do it. And, you know, we are not, they are not going to like, oh, we got a newbie here. Let's put them out there, you know, to the wolves. No. You know, I just listen to what they are saying, you know, praying as they are talking.

It is a great thing. Great thing. Great thing to do. But you need to know how to dialegomai. You need to know how to dialogue with people about the Christian faith. You just need to know how to do that. Now, what aspects of Christianity did Paul reason with them about? Notice the second part of verse 25. He says, righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come.

Now, this is the same thing Jesus said the Holy Spirit will come into the world to do in John 16 and verse 8. When he says, "And when he," referring to the Holy Spirit, "has come, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." See, Christianity is more than just some theological views and cute catchphrases. Too stressed to, too blessed to be stressed and, and all these kind of little catch. Christianity is more than just cute catchphrases and some theological views.

Christianity confronts our lives and the way we are living them. Paul probably told them what he would later tell the Corinthian believers in 2 Corinthians 5:21. He says, for for he, referring to God, made him, referring to Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.