SUNDAY - AUGUST 2, 2026 "A Missed Opportunity" Acts 24:22-27

Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.

Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 a.m.

You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service.

We hope you enjoy.

God bless.

As you turn there, many of you will know this and you understand this phrase when I say a Kodak moment.

The reason you you know that is for the 20th century, the Kodak Company, I mean, they dominated cameras, especially film cameras.

Some of you don't know what a film camera is.

But they dominated the the film camera in industry to the point that, I mean, it it became like like here in the South when we call uh a drink a Coke, we don't necessarily mean a Coke.

If you said a camera, it's Kodak.

If you bought film, it was Kodak.

I mean, it was so synonymous with that.

It'd be interesting that you'd be interested to know in about 1975, a young man who worked for Kodak introduced to the company the first digital camera.

It was not a digital camera like we would have today, especially not on your phone, right?

But it was a digital camera.

It was big, it was bulky, it weighed about eight pounds, it wasn't gonna be something, but but but the technology was there.

But the higher ups at Kodak were afraid that it would put their film aspect of their company out of business, so they kind of shelved the idea.

And while Kodak did not begin to uh develop this technology, other companies did.

And then around 2012, the Kodak company had to file for bankruptcy protection.

What a missed opportunity.

What a missed opportunity because of fears, because of other things that they were worried, afraid of.

Who knows what all went into it, but but what a missed opportunity.

You know, we have missed opportunities all the time.

In our passage today, the governor of the province, Felix is his name, he is going to miss an opportunity to respond to the gospel.

And when we say respond to the gospel, we you you understand that he is going to miss the opportunity, that the gospel message is going to be presented to him.

He is going to come under conviction, and he is going, but yet he is going to miss that opportunity.

I pray for us that we will not miss opportunities.

Opportunities to, as Acts 1.8 tells us, and we've talked about a whole lot.

If you look at Acts 1.8, it says, you will be my witnesses.

After the Holy Spirit is, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria until the end of the earth.

I pray that we won't miss opportunities to be his witnesses.

And when we say that, understand what we mean.

When we say opportunities to be witnesses, here's what we witness: we witness God working in our own lives.

We witness, we have front row seats to God offering salvation to us.

For him, we have front row seats to the Holy Spirit convicting us in the opportunity that we have to respond to him.

As we do that, we are being witnesses, and then we have the opportunity to be witnesses, to proclaim the message of Scripture, to proclaim the Jesus of the Bible to the world around us.

And I pray that we will not miss those opportunities.

That we will be witnesses to the kingdom of God.

So today in our passage, what we want to explore is how Felix missed opportunities.

An opportunity and opportunities to respond to the gospel.

And hopefully, in our exploration, we will understand maybe how we can avoid missing some of the same opportunities.

So if you're able this morning, I invite you to stand with me as we read from Acts chapter 24.

Acts 24 · chapter mention

We'll start in verse 22.

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 Driscilla, 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 coming judge 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 succeeded by Portius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you for today, and we thank you for this opportunity that we have today.

The opportunity that we have to hear the gospel today.

The opportunity that we have to see you as you have revealed yourself through your word.

God help us to not miss the opportunity.

Jesus, it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

So let's remember from last week what what is happening.

Paul is has been sent away from Jerusalem to Caesarea to stand before Felix, the governor, who lived in Caesarea.

And last week what we saw is the Jews accuse Paul, and Paul make his defense against those accusations.

Now where we find ourselves today is Paul has summed up, he has finished his defense, and now Felix has the opportunity to speak and has the opportunity to do something.

But what what I find, the first thing I find really interesting about this passage is we see indecision by Felix.

We see him not making a decision.

Here's what he says, but Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, which we'll get to in just a moment, he put them off.

So he put off making a decision, saying, When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.

The problem is Lysias has, as far as we can tell from Scripture, he has no intention of coming to Caesarea.

None.

Really, what he has done, Lysias has already done this.

He has sent a written document saying what Paul's accused of back in chapter 23 of Acts.

In chapter 23, verses 26 down through verse 30.

Here's what he wrote to Lysias.

Claudius Lysius to his excellency, or what Lysius wrote to Felix.

Claudius Lysius to His Excellency, the governor Felix, greetings.

This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned he was a Roman citizen, and desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council.

I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to stay before you, to state before you what they have against him.

So so here's here's what Lysias says.

Look, I've I I saved him, I I asked him questions, best I can tell.

Only thing he's being charged with is things against the Jewish law, but nothing that deserves imprisonment, nothing that deserves death or anything like that, but they're trying to kill him.

So here's what I'm doing.

I'm sending him to you for you to question, and I'm also gonna make his accusers come for you to question.

Lysias has wiped his hands off it.

He has sent him to Felix.

He has no plans to come to Caesarea.

But Felix trying to, I guess, be in good with both sides, or at least not upset the Jews too bad, says, just I'm gonna wait a little bit.

I'm gonna talk to Lysias in person.

I'm just gonna wait.

Then we see even more some of this indecision that he has by what he does with him.

In verse 23, he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody, but anybody that wants to come see him can come see him.

I mean, this is really not prison.

He's not really in jail.

I mean, yeah, he can't go anywhere, he can't do anything, but but anybody anytime can come see Paul.

There's just indecision here in the life of Felix.

There's just some indecision that he seems to be trying to please both sides, to placate both sides, to make them not upset either side.

And in doing that, he's really gonna make both sides upset.

Both sides are gonna are not getting what they want, and so he is upsetting both sides.

So we see him showing some indecision, but in that indecision, he begins to have curiosity.

In the next couple of verses, we see this curiosity take place.

It says, after some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak.

So what's gonna happen in in his cut in his curiosity, he is going to speak with Paul.

He is gonna come with his wife, Drusilla.

Now we've not seen her name before, but but we know her.

History reveals to us who Drusilla is.

Drusilla is the daughter of Herod Agrippa the first, whom we met way back in Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 12, you can go and look this back up, but in Acts chapter 12, there was a Herod, and remember that the Herods were Jewish leaders that Rome appointed over Judea to kind of placate the Jews.

Acts 12 · chapter mention Acts 12 · chapter mention

So it was a Jewish person reigning over them.

Now the Jews really didn't like them because it wasn't who was supposed to be reigning over them, but Agrippa was there.

He is reigning over them.

Agrippa I, back in Acts chapter 12, he puts on this armor, this gleaming, shining armor, and the sun shines on it, and the people come out and they call him great and all these kind of things, and he he blasphemes the name of God.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

And if you remember in Acts chapter 12, he is taken out.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

He is killed.

Peter has stood before him.

Peter has talked to him.

He does these things.

So Drusilla, being a Jew, she knows about Jewish things, but she's kind of familiar with the way of Jesus.

But she has encountered some of his followers.

Maybe that is why when it says back up in verse 22, he had a rather accurate knowledge of the way, it could have been from Drusilla.

Many commentators believe that the driving force behind Felix's curiosity, the thing that drove him to want to know more about the way was his wife Drusilla.

And whether she was the driving force or not, here's what we know that happened.

Felix wanted to speak with Paul, and what we know happened is Paul spoke with Felix.

The two of them got together, they summoned Paul, and here's Paul standing before them.

There's a couple of things I want us to see that we can know about with Paul.

One is he spoke with Felix about faith in Christ Jesus.

It tells us he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

We knew that about Paul.

If Drusilla was a driving force or not, we're unsure.

We do know that when Paul was summoned, what he was going to say.

We know that because it's what Paul has done every time.

Every time he has stood before anyone, he has presented a message and spoken about faith in Christ Jesus.

And what we see here, first of all, is that not only did Paul speak, but Felix listened to him.

He heard him.

He heard what he had to say.

Look, this was this was this was not like when you meet somebody on the road and you see them out there and you say, Hey, how's your mom and Nim?

Good, good.

And you really don't care, you're just being polite.

It's not what Felix is doing here.

Felix is not just being polite and giving Paul an audience.

Felix is curious.

He wants to know what is being said, what Paul is proclaiming.

He wants to know what is being said.

So it's so interesting that Felix wants to hear, but the second thing is that Paul speaks.

Now I know that we've talked about every time Paul has been given a chance, he has spoken the gospel message, and he has.

But for a moment, can we understand that Paul was human?

Can we stop there?

Let's not make him into this superhuman, this superhero that never.

Can we understand that Paul was a human and understand where he is?

He has been being held in custody for not doing anything wrong.

He is being held in custody by Felix, who doesn't think he's done anything wrong.

He has been held, being held in custody as a Roman citizen, having been convicted of nothing.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be in custody, yet here he is.

Now, put yourself in his place for a moment.

Would you speak to Felix?

Would you, would you want to, would you, would you speak?

I don't know.

I'm just gonna be honest.

I don't know.

I got to be pretty mad.

And and and and we have not spoken to people for less.

So here he is, and and he comes and he has this opportunity to speak, and he does.

It really reminds me of the letter that Paul wrote Timothy right at the end of his life.

In 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 5.

2 Timothy 4:1–5

Here's what Paul writes to Timothy.

I charge you in the presence of God and Christ and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.

Listen, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you.

Always be sober-minded, enduring suffering.

Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Now hear verse five again.

This is where Paul is.

Paul is not when when Paul writes this letter to Timothy, it's not like this abstract concept that Paul's writing to Timothy about.

Paul has been there, he's experienced this very thing.

Hear verse five again.

As for you, always be sober-minded.

Listen, enduring suffering.

Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Paul is enduring suffering, doing the work of an evangelist, fulfilling his ministry.

He is being a witness to the kingdom of God.

He is proclaiming what God has done in his life.

He is proclaiming who God is, even as he endures suffering.

He is fulfilling his ministry.

Now I can imagine that he doesn't want to speak.

I could imagine just in his humanness, he would go, I'm not talking to him.

He is holding me here for no reason.

Yet he is here he is.

When the opportunity arises, he is ready.

He is ready to reprove and rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

So Felix came and he spoke with Paul.

Paul spoke with Felix about faith in Jesus Christ and then listened to how he spoke to Felix.

In verse 25, and he reasoned.

And he reasoned.

As we've seen Paul throughout the book of Acts, this word has been used a lot to describe what Paul did.

In the synagogues, Paul reasoned with the Jews.

At the Areopagus, Paul reasoned with the people.

On the streets, in the marketplaces, Paul reasoned with people.

The reason he reasoned with people is because faith in Christ is reasonable.

It's reasonable.

So what Paul is doing, what we see him doing here is he is taking opportunity, and we've talked about this.

This is not Paul preaching at somebody.

This is Paul is sitting down and having a conversation with Felix and Drusilla about faith in Jesus Christ, what it looks like, what it does in your life, how it affects your life.

Paul is reasoning with them.

I'll say it again.

Listen, the gospel message is confrontational.

Do you know why it's confrontational?

Because in the gospel message, we have to recognize that we are sinners and have messed up, and who wants to do that?

I don't like to admit it.

But I do.

We have to understand and recognize that we are sinners.

Matthew in Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

And this is the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gives, Matthew 5 through 7.

And Jesus talked about righteousness a lot in that sermon.

But let's focus, let's look at Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 through 20.

Matthew 5:17–20

Hear what Jesus says.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, neither Not an iota, not a dot will pass from law until all from the law until all is accomplished.

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Now here verse 20.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Amen.

You want to talk about being righteous?

And Jesus calling people to be righteous?

Here it is.

He didn't come to abolish the law to do away with it.

We try to make a distinguishment between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament.

He is the same God.

The righteousness that he called for in the Old Testament is the same righteousness that he calls for in the New Testament.

He has not changed.

He does not change.

Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, he came to fulfill the law because the requirements of righteousness do not go away.

That's why he even says, your righteousness must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees.

Do you know why it had to exceed the scribes and the Pharisees?

Because they were unrighteous too.

The most righteous people that you could meet in that day were unrighteous as well.

Their righteousness must exceed that.

So Jesus, he sits down and he reasons.

He reasons with Felix.

He reasons with Drusilla about righteousness and the requirements of righteousness.

But then it says about righteousness and about self-control.

Well, here he's talking about a decision that has to be made.

Because here's the gospel message.

There was a righteous requirement in the Old Testament.

There was a righteous requirement for Felix.

There is a righteous requirement for you and I that we have not met.

Not a single one of us.

But here's the message.

Here's the good news.

Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

Here's what that means.

He kept it perfectly.

He perfectly kept the law.

And because God is a good and loving God, he is a just God that is going to keep that righteous requirement.

But because he is also a good and loving God, he sent his son Jesus not to abolish the law, to fulfill the law, to keep it perfectly.

So that then he could fulfill that righteous requirement on the cross.

He could die on the cross, taking upon himself the punishment that you and I deserve because our righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus lived, he kept the law perfectly, he died taking upon himself the wrath of God.

Then he arose.

Now he has defeated our sin.

He has defeated death, and he gives to us and he offers to us life.

And the self-control that he is reasoning with Felix about is the opportunity that we have to follow him.

To say, I believe in Jesus.

And while I'm excited about that, also a little fearful.

Not because I'm worried about where I'm going to go, but because I'm going to have to give an answer for my life.

And for those who have not believed, it is going to be a lot different.

It is going to be way different.

So he reasons with them about righteousness, about self-control, about choosing to follow Christ and about judgment.

About the judgment.

So we've seen Felix be indecisive.

We've seen him be curious.

But now we're going to see him deny this message.

Here's what it says that he does.

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.

So this went on for two years.

Summon Paul, talk to Paul, send him back, summon Paul, talk to Paul, send him back, summon Paul, talk to Paul, send it back.

For two years, this happened.

But when things got hard and he got alarmed, instead of stepping in and saying, God, what are you saying to me?

He sent him away.

John Polehill, he says this about Felix's opportunities.

He was at the point of conviction.

That's where the alarm came in.

He was at the point of the conviction.

That's why he's alarmed.

That's why he wants to get out of the room.

Listen, that's why when we share the gospel and someone starts changing the subject on us, guess what?

They're being convicted.

They're trying to get out of there.

That's the same reason why when you're being convicted, you try to get out of there as quick as possible.

It's conviction.

He was at the point of conviction, but here's what he says.

But he was never willing to go beyond the point and take the leap of faith.

In the end, his greed, his lust, his desire to preserve his power carried the day.

Can I say this?

Add to his list, his pride carried the day.

So he denied, he missed the opportunity for two years to respond to the gospel.

So now, church, we have to understand what we are going to do.

The challenge for us is to be witnesses, to be a witness of the kingdom of God.

Listen, we must be part of the kingdom of God.

We must be in the kingdom of God.

So this morning, you have the opportunity, hear me.

Your righteousness must exceed the scribes and Pharisees, and I promise you it doesn't.

It doesn't.

And there's a righteous requirement, and God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross and to take your punishment on himself, arise and give you life.

And if you have not believed in him, you don't have life and you're not part of the kingdom.

Because the requirement has not been fulfilled.

If you have, if you have done that, listen, understand the call is still the same, that we need to live in that kingdom, and we can't do that without the good news of the gospel and that without Jesus working within us.

We need him.

And we need to be proclaiming Jesus of the Bible.

And may we not, may we not wind up like those in Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Listen to what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on evidence of two or three witnesses.

How much worse punishment do you think we will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, and again the Lord will judge his people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Paul reasoned with Felix.

And Felix heard the message and trampled underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ.

He walked away.

And he will have to answer.

Hear me.

This is a message for unbelievers.

If you walk away, you are trampling underfoot the sacrifice that Jesus made for you.

You don't have to be fearful to fall into the hands of the living God when the righteous requirement has been fulfilled.

You can fall into the hands of your loving God.

For us believers, it's a fearful thing.

When we try to do this on our own and we live like we are in lives of disobedience, even though he has called us to follow him.

When we are living in those lives of disobedience, hear me, we are trampling underfoot.

The message of Hebrews is a message to believers.

May we not do that.

May we repent and fall into the hands of our loving God who is alive.

I don't know where you are today.

But if you have never trusted in Christ for your salvation, I pray that today will be the day.

I pray that this morning you will recognize that you need a Savior and His name is Jesus.

And you will come running to Him.

For those of us who have trusted but are living lives of disobedience, who need to fall into His harms, I pray that this morning you will seek repentance.

Listen, we're going to be down front here.

David Hunter and I will be down front to receive you.

We would love to pray with you.

There were counselors who will take you out and share with you how you can trust in Christ.

If you need to follow him for the first time this morning, I pray with you will.

But for those who need to repent, we would love to pray with you, or you can come kneel at these steps and cry out to God in this off-store time if you're looking for a church home.

Because hear this.

We don't have to do it by ourselves.

Right before he tells us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, right before that, you know what he says?

Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, because we can do this together.

If you're looking for a church home, I pray that you will join us here at DeSoda Hills.

However, God is leading you, respond to Him today.

Don't miss the opportunity.

Let's pray.

God, I thank you for today, and I thank you for this opportunity that we have.

The opportunity that we have to respond to your call.

Help us to hear you.

Help us to respond to you.

Help us not to miss the opportunity.

Not only to respond for salvation, but God to respond in repentance.

To respond by proclaiming the kingdom of God.

Work in our lives as only you can.

Jesus is in your name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at DeSotoHills.com.