Acts 24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go your way for this time… Felix sent Paul back and adjourned the subject of religion because — I. HE DID NOT WANT TO GIVE UP HIS SINS. There was Drusilla; if he became a Christian, he must send her back to Azizus, her lawful husband — the case with many practically today. Tonight, some of you will have to decide between unlawful amusements and eternal salvation. Delilah sheared the locks of Samson; Salome danced Herod into the pit; Drusilla blocked up the way to heaven for Felix; and unless some of you repent, you shall likewise perish. Yet I fear some of you will say, "Don't be so precipitate. I have a few tickets yet that I have to use. I have a few engagements that I must keep. Go thy way for this time." I know that it is easier when you are in a boat to pull with the stream, but what if, tonight, you should be within a few yards of the vortex? Turn your boat around, and, as with a death grip, pull for your eternal life, crying, "Lord, save me, I perish!" II. HE WAS SO VERY BUSY. In ordinary times he found the affairs of state absorbing, but those were extraordinary times. The whole land was ripe for insurrection. And so some of you look upon your goods, profession, memorandum books, and you see the demands that are made upon your time, patience, and money, and while I am entreating you about your soul and the danger of procrastination, you say, "Go thy way for this time," etc. Oh, Felix, you might better postpone everything else, for do you not know that the upholstering of Tyrian purple in your palace will fade, and the marble blocks of Caesarea will crumble, but the redemption that Paul offers you will be forever? and yet you waive him back to the guard room. III. HE COULD NOT GIVE UP THE HONOURS OF THE WORLD. He was afraid he would compromise himself. Yet what were those honours worth when in two short years they were torn from him, and when he disappeared covered with infamy? Conclusion: Have you never seen men waiting for a convenient season? I say to a boy, "Seek Christ." He says, "No; wait until I get to be a young man." I say to the young man, "Seek Christ." He says, "Wait until I come to mid-life." I meet the same person in mid-life, he says, "Wait until I get old." I meet the same person in old age, and he says, "Wait until I am on my dying bed." I am called to his dying couch; and yet he whispers, "I am — waiting — for — a more — convenient — season" — and he is gone! I can tell you when your convenient season will come. It is now. Do you ask me how I know this? I know it because you are here; and because the Holy Spirit is here; and because the people of God in this church are praying for you. Now is the best time, as it may be the only time. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. |
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