Christian by Convenience

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. And now after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you to make an accusation should they have anything against me. Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, 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." 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." 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. 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. 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." At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favour, Felix left Paul in prison. So far from God's word.

Thank you, Tony. I want to focus, congregation, especially this morning on the last part of that reading from verses 24 through 27. Let me just read verse 24 from there a moment. "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. 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.'" It's interesting, brothers and sisters in Christ, that HSC matriculation studies in religion is a course that is quite popular in the nation's high schools, quite popular. I had some figures that I found for New South Wales. I couldn't find them for Queensland, but let me give you the figures for last year for New South Wales. There were a total of 15,121 students enrolled for HSC courses in religious studies last year in this state.

Now let me give you a comparison to put it in perspective. There were 4,627 less students enrolled in chemistry. So that for religious studies we've got 15,121, but for chemistry we have 10,494. Interesting figures. It reflects an astonishing interest in religion.

You see, we're talking only about a very, very small percentage of the population, just Year 12 students alone, young people of the age of 17 or 18, and that doesn't even include 17, 18-year-olds who did not do their HSC last year. What if that figure this morning, congregation, was representative of our population as a whole? It would mean that in New South Wales alone, we would have more than a million people studying religion. But that leaves us with some intriguing questions, doesn't it? Why are we then not seeing revival on a massive scale across our nation?

Why are not Christian churches throughout the nation's cities overflowing Sunday after Sunday? Why is it that you at work and at uni, or wherever you are, are still the odd one out when it comes to the Christian faith? Well, maybe this morning our text gives us some answers, brothers and sisters. It's a story about a man and a woman who were also very interested in religion. In fact, they were specifically interested in Christianity.

Our text this morning shows us a very, very disappointing outcome of it all. Felix, the Roman governor, together with his wife Drusilla, sent for the Apostle Paul to listen to him. They're especially interested in Paul's religion. You see, Drusilla, as our text tells us, is Jewish. She's been brought up on Moses and the prophets.

Felix, he's Roman, but he's learned some things about Judaism from his wife. And surprisingly, Felix already knows quite a bit about Christianity. If you look back in your Bible at verse 22, we read as follows: "Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the way, adjourned the proceedings." The way was a name for Christianity in its early days. And here it's said that Felix was well acquainted with the way.

Here is someone who is certainly not a stranger to Christianity, and he wants to learn even more, and so he sends for Paul to teach him some extra things about Christianity. Some have suggested that it was his wife Drusilla that encouraged Felix to send for Paul. She's the Jewess and she wants him to know more about this religion. But in any case, we've got two people who are quite interested in religion, who would be prime candidates if they were HSC students for the course in religious studies. And if there was an elective on offer, they would study Christianity as an elective.

And so Paul comes in and he makes the most of Felix and Drusilla's curiosity. And that brings us this morning to the first point that stands out in these verses, and that is that the word is heard. Earlier verses that we've sort of skipped over, but that Tony read for us, saw Paul giving his own story. Or if you like, Paul shared his testimony, why he happened to be here and how he had come to this point in time. But now these two want to know more about the way, and so Paul brings the word of God.

So the word is heard. Our text tells us that at the centre of Paul's message was the gospel of Christ. It was a message about Messiah Jesus. Paul spoke about faith in Him. That's always been the central thing in Christian preaching.

And month by month as we've studied Acts, we've seen it over and over again. But by believing in the doing and the dying and the victory of Jesus, we're saved. The word is heard, but the word that's heard is a message of Christ Jesus. Isn't it interesting, congregation, that in doing this Paul has a very good reformed sermon? You notice in your text how many points Paul had in his sermon?

How many points? Have a guess. Three. Every good sermon from a reformed pulpit has three points. Luke is giving us a quick summary, okay, and the three points he covered as he taught Felix and Drusilla.

Okay, verse 24 tells us what the overall theme was: faith in Christ Jesus. But Paul spoke about righteousness, point one; self-control, point two; and the third point, judgment to come. Okay, Luke doesn't tell us exactly what Paul says about each of those three things; it's only a summary. But this morning, friends, it's not real hard for us to work out what he might have said. We can very easily this morning fill in the gaps of this outline from Paul's letters, because these are three things that Paul deals with over and over in the epistles that he's written and that we have in the New Testament.

First, there's righteousness. And I can imagine Paul telling Felix and Drusilla what he wrote to the Romans, that the God of heaven and earth is a God who demands righteousness. He's a holy God who has set standards of holiness for us to live by. But the trouble is, as Paul says in Romans 3, there is no one righteous, not even one. And so, as Martin Luther discovered at the Reformation, God gives us righteousness by faith in Jesus. By His sinless Son, we have His righteousness attributed to us.

Secondly, there is second point, that self-control. And I can imagine Paul telling this couple what he told the Galatians, that self-control is not something that we are so good at producing in our own life, but that it's a fruit of the Spirit which comes as the Spirit of Christ takes over our lives. And congregation, that fruit has to be there. The gospel always has ethical implications. And so faith has to be seen at work in the behaviour of those who are the followers of the way.

Gotta see it in self-control. And then there's his third point, the judgment to come. And again, it's very easy for us this morning to fill the gaps. We can imagine Paul telling them what he told the Corinthians, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and that we are accountable for all the deeds we did and the words we spoke. And on that day, those who are unrighteous, those who are without self-control, will be condemned. But those who are righteous in Jesus and who show that fruit of the Spirit, they'll be saved.

And so the word is heard. It's presented in a very brief, concise package. The theme of that message that Paul brings, that word, is faith in Christ Jesus. And he works it out in those three areas: righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. So congregation, the word is heard, and now Felix and Drusilla will never ever be able to say, "But I didn't know."

Once you've heard the word, you're without excuse. You're without excuse. You've heard me mention it many Sundays when I've been here month by month, and you've heard it from me again this morning. So if you try saying to God come judgment day, "But I didn't know," God will say, "Well, there was that first Sunday in 2026, and Westy told you from the pulpit about faith in Jesus, about self-control, about judgment to come." I think it's especially appropriate for us to focus on the importance of the word being heard as we go into this new year.

We go into this new year as a church with a Reformation heritage. And we're going to have 51 more Sundays this year, God willing, when you're going to hear from them that same message. The word will be heard, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. You know, when Martin Luther nailed his challenges to the church door at Wittenberg, he set off a process that resulted in the word being heard once again, and it continued down through the centuries, right through to today and right through into 2026. Interesting, isn't it, that in Luther's day it was much like our own. Lots of interest in religion.

In Luther's days particularly, angels and saints and relics. Luther and Calvin and John Knox lived in a society that was ever so religious, but it was basically a religion in which the gospel had been effectively sidelined until God touched Martin Luther's life. And again the word was heard, the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. And our problem today is, friends, that in so many religious studies courses, that gospel word is marginalised or skipped over, or they're told it's just mythology, just compare it to other religions, they're all the same. Second thing that stands out in this passage is that when the word is heard, the heart is stirred.

Look at what it says in our text. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was alarmed. It's an older translation of verse 25 that reads, "Felix trembled." Now this morning, congregation, we know that our hearts are stirred for all kinds of reasons. After that, we had a beautiful sunset, my heart was stirred. Maybe if you saw it, your heart was stirred.

When the police pull you up because you've been speeding, your heart is stirred, isn't it? All sorts of things that stir our hearts. So why was the heart of Felix stirred? It's because of the power of the word. Where that word is heard, it touches our discomfort zones.

It makes us face up to things we don't like to face. That's why the church today needs to be busy with that word. Our deepest passions and our desires are exposed by that gospel word. It shows us what sin really is. It makes clear where we're going to end up if we continue on our sinful, selfish ways.

Here in our text, two students of religion got more than they bargained for, because Paul doesn't beat around the bush and talk in vague generalities. He doesn't just present a bit of innocuous comparative religion stuff about angels and crystals and other things. In an uncompromising way, he hits home with the deepest issues that really matter in life. And because of the power that there is in the word, the result is fear and trembling. When the word is heard, the heart is stirred.

The problem is that Felix now knows that he's got to deal with some things in his life, friends. He cannot just go on as if nothing has happened. There is, for example, let me mention this as an example, his relationship with his wife Drusilla. This morning we're blessed to know quite a bit about Drusilla, real gossipy stuff that today would make it into the tabloids. Drusilla is the kind of person whom the paparazzi would follow around today endlessly and hound her.

First of all, because she comes from nobility. There's royal blood in her veins. She was a princess, no less, the youngest daughter of King Herod Agrippa. And hey, talk about skeletons in the closet, it's enough bones there for a dinosaur. Her father had murdered the apostle James.

Her great-uncle had been the one who beheaded John the Baptiser. Her grandfather had killed the baby boys in Bethlehem. And now she's sitting here listening to Paul, and she's hearing this stuff about righteousness and self-control and judgment. Second thing we know about Drusilla is she must have been quite a looker. A foreign king had married her when she was all of 16 years old. And Felix was so smitten by her that he enticed her to leave her first husband and marry him.

In fact, Felix already had two other wives. That didn't seem to be a problem to him. At this stage in her life, she was probably no older than 20, and she's Felix's favourite wife of the three. Can you imagine what's going on in the mind of Felix while Paul is talking? Righteousness, and here is his beloved wife from that unrighteous Herod clan, and he himself has virtually stolen another man's wife. Self-control, spoken about to a man for whom two women were not enough.

And then on top of that, there was his greed. He was well known for, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us, he was a materialistic, greedy man. And we see it in the verses after our text, that he expects to be paid big dollars for Paul's release, a bribe no less. So come judgment day, this fellow Felix has got a few things to answer for. See, congregation, why the heart is stirred when the word is heard?

It's because the word forces us to scrutinise our lives. It challenges us to reassess our priorities. It makes us look at our lives not just in terms of the here and now and the material things, but in the light of eternity. Now of course this morning, and this is the wonderful thing that I tried to get across in my earlier segment with Hobbes and Calvin, there's also the good news. The word also has the power to heal and save, praise God for that. And we've seen that repeatedly month by month in the book of Acts. Chapter 16, some of you may remember when we were there, the word is heard and the heart of Lydia is stirred and she believes the gospel.

That same chapter, the word is heard in a jail in Philippi, and the jailer's heart is stirred, and he embraces the Saviour. And yesterday it happens, and we see it over and over. Not so long ago, I was here in church when we had a speaker from the Bible League with stories of the word being heard and hearts being stirred and lives being changed. Merle and I and some others could tell you this morning the good news stories from Crossroads students as we review their lessons and see the transformation that the word has brought in their lives. The word is heard and the heart is stirred.

We see it in the history of revivals. The word is heard and things begin to happen. The word calls for action; it calls for decision. It confronts us with our unrighteousness, with the issues of self-control and anger and lust and our gossip, stuff that we need to deal with, that we need to bring to the cross of Jesus in faith and repentance. This is where we need to ask some questions, congregation, about the thousands of HSC students studying religion.

Are these students really hearing the word about faith in Messiah Jesus? Because when the word is heard, we've also got to do something with it. When the word is heard, you cannot be a passive listener; decisions have to be made. I wonder whether this morning you're sitting in church and you're still trying to work out your own righteousness. A little bit like Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes, doing a few extra good things and then telling God how good you are in the hope He lets you off the hook.

Are you really living a self-controlled life? It's a good question to think about in 2026. Are you really ready, really ready, if this coming year you have to face your Maker and stand before Him? The tragedy of this story comes out in a third major theme in this text. The word is heard and the heart is stirred, but then the decision is deferred.

Felix says to Paul, "That's enough now. Go away. I'll call you again when I've got some spare time." Felix responds to the word. Everyone does; everyone must, in one way or another. But the response here, congregation, is really trying to silence that word, stall the moment of decision. "Paul, I'll call you again when it's more convenient." And sadly, it seems as far as we know that that more convenient time never came.

Sure, Felix had a lot more contact with Paul. Verse 26 though is very telling. It's no longer to listen to what Paul has to say about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Rather it's so that Felix can talk about some of his favourite theories and ideas; that seems to be the thrust of it. Maybe he even still loves to talk about religion, but not in gospel terms anymore.

You know, in Martin Luther's day there was great industry in religion, as I pointed out earlier, but with Luther, the word was heard, hearts were stirred, and many lives were changed. But there were also many, multitudes of them, who took no action, where the decision was deferred, and they died in their superstition and in their unbelief. Today, friends, many people in our society are interested in Christianity, and some are interested enough to study the subject for HSC matriculation. But how many of them are interested in that only on their own terms? They'll only do something about it if it suits them. Religion, sure, it's important, but I'll leave it until I get older when it's more convenient for me, because at the moment I just want to enjoy life.

I don't want too many rules and regulations. I don't want to think about God to whom I'm accountable. With Felix, the reasons for putting off a positive decision through the hearing of the word is not hard to find. Felix had mentally counted the cost, and he was not prepared to make the sacrifice. Felix considered his priorities, and right now the gospel of Jesus Christ was not priority number one.

I want to suggest two reasons why Felix puts off making the decision. First, his greed is a major problem. He wants to use Paul for his own gain materially. He's hoping Paul or his friends will pay a bribe for his freedom. And isn't it interesting, as we think about that, how unbelief makes people blind.

Didn't Felix listen to what Paul said about righteousness? How could Paul possibly bribe anybody if he knows that he's gonna be accountable to God for that? Secondly, Felix stalls because of his own position. He's got his job as a governor to think about, job security, and that's a political issue, a political statement, a status. And so we read at the end of the chapter that he leaves Paul in prison to please the Jews.

Maybe that's partly because of his domestic situation, his wife being Jewish, but undoubtedly it's also because he doesn't want the Jews complaining to Rome. The word is heard and the heart is stirred, but the decision is deferred. Why? This morning, friends, you've again heard the gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Maybe this morning your heart has been stirred. But I want to ask you, what are you going to do about it?

Maybe some of you are stalling on your decision to take a stand for Jesus. I want to say to you, why not accept the righteousness of Jesus that God wants to give you freely? Why not seek that self-control that comes as a fruit of His Spirit to bless our lives? Why not make absolutely certain this morning that you are ready for judgment day, that when you stand before your Maker, you know it will be all okay? Let me remind you once more that Felix did have frequent later discussions with Paul.

And I have no trouble accepting that they even discussed a bit of theology. But we do not read again that his heart was stirred by the word. When a decision is deferred, congregation, it hardens us. And it may be the last time that his heart was stirred by the hearing of the word. Scripture says to us this morning, now is the day of salvation, and the day of opportunity may not come again.

In fact, you know, deferring your decision is still a decision, isn't it? But it's a decision against the word, and so ultimately you are hardening yourself against it. You know, I find it interesting this morning that we are not told at all about the response of Drusilla. I think it's fairly safe to assume that she too made no attempt to respond positively to the word. And maybe part of the reason for that was her background from her family, that she was too hardened by the sinfulness of sin to be stirred by the word.

Maybe she agreed with her father's slaughter of James. Maybe she still smiled at the thought of John the Baptiser's head being brought in on a plate. Who knows? But what seems obvious, congregation, is that there was no response on the part of Drusilla. This Sunday, as we move into the new year, there's going to be a wonderful line of continuity, Sunday by Sunday hearing the word. It's a line that goes back right through the Reformation, which once again heard the word.

And then way back to this chapter in the book of Acts where Paul preached and where Felix too heard the word. And just as in Acts 24 and at the time of the Reformation, we this morning are being called to faith in Jesus. And you're gonna be called to that again and again in coming Sundays of 2026. The word's reminded us that God requires righteousness from us, but He gives it to us freely through faith. It's reminded us that self-control is part and parcel of the Christian faith, a blessing of God's Spirit, and that all of us who are seated in this auditorium this morning must one day stand before God to account for our lives.

Friends, if this morning your heart's been stirred by the word that you have heard, then make sure that your decision is not deferred. Let me lead you in prayer. Thank You, Father in heaven, that this morning our focus could again be faith in Jesus. Thank You for reminding us about those three things that Paul spoke to Felix and Drusilla about: righteousness, self-control, and judgment. And Father, may none of us leave here this morning without making sure that in all three areas we are aware of these things and have dealt with them through faith in Jesus.

We pray, heavenly Father, for Your blessing on the hearing of the word this morning. We ask that through Jesus Christ our Lord. In His name we say together, Amen.