Mistakes of a Convicted Man Acts 24: 22-27
But when Felix heard these things, having 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. 23 So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to for-bid any of his friends to provide for or visit him. 24 And 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. 25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you. 26 Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. 27 But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.

We enter our text from a terrific background of events that leads us to a place where a man named Felix has to make crucial decisions about the Gospel he has heard from the Apostle Paul.

In Acts 23 we find that Paul was imprisoned by a Roman Commander in an attempt to prevent the Jewish leaders from executing him for preaching the Gospel. Through some very interesting events Paul is transferred from Jerusalem to Caesarea and into the custody of Felix, the regional Roman Governor, under the guard of some 470 Romans troops during the night.

Because of the serious accusations made against Paul and partly from his own curiosity Felix allowed Paul to explain what had happened to him and of the work Christ had done in his life. During the process Felix was convicted by the Holy Spirit and could have accepted Christ into his life as Paul had done but instead he made critical mistakes while God was working in and bringing him close to a decision for Christ.

As we enter this story we should define the conviction that came upon Felix as he listened to Paul’s witness. This type of conviction takes places in the conscience and produces guilt and condemnation because of sin. In John 16 Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit’s work after He (Jesus) returns to heaven, …when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Being convicted by the Holy Spirit is a necessary element in finding the salvation Christ has come to bring us. It is not comfortable to realize we fall far short of what God desires of us because of our sin. The word conviction cannot be used with any sense of affirmation or hope unless we are speaking of the type that God brings to our conscience. When convicted by the Holy Spirit He invites us to repent of our sins and to come into the right type of relationship with God described in Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit

Felix made some tragic mistakes that are often repeated as people experience the conviction of God that invites them to salvation. As we pick up the story of Paul before Felix we first see that

Felix Stopped the Decision Making Process (Verse 22)
The first verse of our text (22) tells us during his time with Felix Paul described Christianity to him. Paul was there not by accident or by human fate. God strategically put him in Felix courts. God is no respecter of persons and just had He had entered into Paul’s life, who once hated Christ; He wanted to do the same for Felix. God wanted Felix just as He did Paul. The bible clearly tells us The Lord… is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We see something in Felix’ decision making we often see as God speaks to people of their need of Him. Felix did not want to decide about Paul without the input of Lysias the Roman commander who had sent Paul. Felix heard Paul but he wanted the comfort of another’s opinion. The Gospel has never been the message of the world and the world has a wrong opinion of it. It is no more popular today to live by Gospel as it was in Paul’s day.

The Apostle John described Jesus and His message of salvation as life and light and says that He came into the world but that world rejected Him. When God speaks to a person about living for Him they too can find an ally in the world. In the church service when the Gospel is being preached or when some one is witnessing to another about Christ a person can be very close to salvation but if they so choose they can stop the process as they rally the support of the (lost and dying) world around them.

The Bible presents the world as a lost place without a true message about God. Many a person who has been close to finding Christ has at the last moment veered away to hear the world’s thoughts about the matter. Jesus spoke of this when He said; Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.

How sad to be so close to salvation and trade the truth for a lie. Some who
felt a real pull on their hearts for God in a church service or after someone witnessed to them hurried home to watch television or got with friends in order to hear some comforting distracting message and it worked to their demise. How sad to come close and then hold off in order to feel comfortable with others who know nothing of Jesus.

Felix held off in making a decision about Paul because he wanted to confer with Lysias and how sad it is to think of having the invitation of God and then make a decision of going as the world goes. We see yet another action from Felix that is often the same of someone under conviction by God

Felix Waited for a More Convenient Time (Verse 25)
Verse 25 says Now as he (Paul) reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.

Many are close to a relationship with God but never enter into it because the timing isn’t convenient. Felix was in the middle of a great political career; he was already the governor of the region with probable further aspirations. He may have thought as many do when they hear the Gospel, I really do believe that, but I cannot be a Christian now - later on I will. We do not read that Felix ever made a decision for Christ and neither do many who reject the Gospel for the sake of convenience and timing.

There is something important to understand about God’s timing. It is flawless and perfect in every circumstance. In Galatians 4 we read that when the time was right God sent His son into the world to redeem it. Why did Jesus come into the world when He did? Why not earlier? Why not later? Why? Because God new exactly the best time for the Savior of the world to enter it so His message would have the best opportunity to reach it.

This we can bank on – when God speaks about anything, especially our need of salvation the time is right to regard what He is saying. Satan’s big trick is to convince that now is not the time or the place to respond to God, later on maybe but not now. There is plenty of time. Hell is filling up with people who thought they ought to be a Christian and would one day become a Christian but not now.

It is difficult to understand but God was before time. Time was created by God. Time bows to God. Time is a servant to God. When God speaks to us we can be certain that His timing is perfect. God wants to save us in the middle of our careers because He has plans for us now. God wants to save us in the middle of our family raising days because he has plans for us now. God wants to save us when we are well or when we are sick because He has plans for us now.

Later in his ministry, after this episode of imprisonment, Paul wrote to people who had a tendency to put God off. To the Corinthians he wrote,
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For God says: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Felix traded the day of certainty for him for a day of convenience. There is no record that he ever made it to God. Felix first mistake in dealing with the conviction God brought to him was that he stopped the processes of coming to a decision; his second mistake was that he waited for a more convenient time. We read yet of a final mistake in his time of conviction

Felix Decided to Please the World Around Him
27 But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.

Allegiance is an interesting word meaning: loyalty or devotion to some person or cause or the act of binding yourself intellectually or emotionally to a course of action. Felix possessed an allegiance to the systems of the world around him and to his own success in that world.

The Gospel when presented and received will challenge a person’s allegiance. The great battle of the human heart is always between the things of the world and the things of God.

Jesus used a word we rarely hear of in our modern culture. He used the term mammon to describe the pursuit of things the world sees as valuable. It could mean money or a pursuit of influence that may recoup something of value. In pursuing a course that he thought would in some way prosper him Felix decided to leave Paul in prison and consequently his Gospel message as well when he was relieved of his duties as the governor and replaced by Porcius Festus.

On the idea of mammon Jesus said, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. In the presence of conviction we must always make a choice. From that choice we find the love of life or something to despise. The Gospel some have learned to love and others to despise was first presented to as a matter of choice.
By leaving Paul in prison and for Festus disposal Felix hoped to gain something of value from the Jews. He hoped to do better for himself than what the plans of God held for Him. What a terrible trade!

A terrible trade yes for Felix but it is the same trade a person who is under the conviction of the Holy Spirit makes when they reject God. When a person rejects the tug of heart given by the Holy Spirit they are saying to God I prefer the world and what it can provide for me. In other words they hold in their hands the balance of their lives. On one hand is the call and perfect plan of God along with all that His grace will afford them. On the other hand is what they think the world can offer. The prodigal son is not the only one who traded something of real value for the something of no value.

Perhaps Jim Elliot, who gave his life on the mission field in 1957 for the sake of the Gospel, said it best when he said "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Felix thought this temporary life was something He could keep and so He traded away the Gospel for it and as is the case for all who do he lost it all. Remember that Jesus said, For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

Conclusion
In Felix’ rejection of the Gospel we find a man saying no during the process that God had chosen to draw him for the purpose of salvation. Conviction is a necessary element of salvation. A person cannot be saved unless first invited and God uses the process of conviction in the extension of His invitation.

Felix made crucial mistakes during his conviction and invitation process. He stopped the process of what God wanted for Him by desiring the counsel and comfort of the world around Him. He wanted to postpone what was urgent by waiting for a more convenient time. Instead of receiving the work of God in his life he chose to please the world.

Don’t make the mistakes Felix did for the scripture tells us today is the day of salvation.