Not Yet | Acts 24:22-27

Welcome to Sermon from the Way of George K City of Less and Saints in Kansas City.

Good morning, good morning.

How are we doing?

Good.

Um, I am going to be reading the scripture today, and I'm reading Acts 24, 22 through 27.

Right, Zach?

Okay, perfect.

Um, so if you guys will stand with me for the reading of the word.

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 Jesus Christ.

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 Aphestus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

Welcome everyone.

I was gone for one week and I forgot how the microphones worked, Lana.

Nah.

Hey, it's great to be here.

Um if we haven't gotten the chance to meet yet, my name is Zach Shimmer.

I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here at the Way Church.

That is my last name.

You're correct.

Yeah.

That is how you pronounce it, too.

It's what I've been told by my dad.

So, yeah, it's great to be here though.

Got a little trip to Oklahoma with my wife and daughter last week, and so it's great to be back.

Um we love this church and love what the Lord's doing here and love all of you.

Um if this is your first time here, welcome.

We're glad you're here.

We'd love for you to plug in and become a part of our Way family.

It's a sweet, sweet family here at the Way Church.

People from all walks of life, from all sides of the train track, and we're just doing life together, figuring out how this deal goes.

Um one thing I wanted to take note, make note of, um, right in the middle, we have our friend Rachel, who just got back from Indonesia.

Let's give it up for Rachel.

She went, if you remember, if you were here a few weeks ago, she uh went on a mission trip, a short-term trip to Bandun, Indonesia, and she just got back yesterday because she was like the, this is what Roman said.

I'm I'm quoting him.

She was shipwrecked like Paul in Indonesia.

She got, there was volcano eruptions in Indonesia, and as a result of the smoke and all that, she got stuck for an extra like what week?

Almost week in Jakarta, Indonesia, one of the most populous cities in the whole world.

And yeah, she made it back after flight delays and cancellations, and so we're glad to have you back.

I wasn't sure if Rachel will be here today because um, you know, I'd be tired after that much traveling.

Um, but she's here, and either next week or the following week, we'll get to hear a little update from her on what the Lord is doing through our ministry in Bonzu and Indonesia.

So that's that.

Welcome back, Rach.

Proud of you.

Yeah, one more round of applause for Rachel.

All right, so we're gonna jump right in.

We have some ground to cover in the text.

If uh this is your first time here with us, uh, we've been walking verse by ver verse by verse through the book of Acts.

And it's been a sweet time.

Our series is entitled Living by the Spirit and Following the Way, and that is what the book of Acts, the early church, is showing us how to do.

Um, but before we dig into Acts 24, verses 22 through 27, I want to ask you a question.

Acts 24:22–27

I actually saw this on my computer last night.

Um, does everybody know what I'm talking about when you see that like a software update on your phone or on a computer that shows up and it says, Do you want to install the update now?

Or there's an option that says remind me later.

Everybody know what I'm talking about?

Who in here, let's be honest, who here in here most of the time clicks remind me later.

Everybody, that's a bunch of hands.

Here's what I want us to notice.

I don't think that ever once we've decided like consciously, hey, I'm not going to update my phone.

Hey, I'm not going to update my computer.

Like, we're not consciously against a software update.

Fair?

It's just like, hey, we're not going to take the time, we're not going to deal with that.

It's not, hey, I've weighed all of the options and I refuse to update.

You know, we have we have the same thing with Pro Presenter in the back.

We're not updating ProPresenter.

Um maybe we've weighed the options on that, Madeline.

Maybe we haven't.

But like 400 times in a row, we've clicked Remind Me Later, Remind Me Later.

Or maybe there's a drop down that says remind me in a week.

And that's the thing about clicking that now button.

It's a decision.

It's a decision.

It just doesn't feel like one.

And with that, I want to pose a question, a more serious question to us this morning.

How many times?

How many times have you hit remind me tomorrow on Jesus?

How many times?

No way.

No way.

Some of us have.

I would say I have before.

Now, no, most of us, we're in church on a Sunday.

Most of us have never outright said no to Jesus.

But oftentimes we may have said, not now.

Not this season.

Maybe when things settle down, I'll be obedient to what Jesus has asked of me.

Maybe when I get a chance, I'll say yes to what Jesus is asking of me.

And I think that that's exactly what we see in this passage from Acts 24.

Today we're going to meet a man who heard the gospel from the Apostle Paul, who heard it face to face, repeatedly, for two whole years.

And he never once said no, he just said, not yet.

Not yet.

And so, just to give a little context, let's set the scene.

Last Sunday, Pastor Roman walked us through Paul's trial before Governor Felix.

He did an excellent job.

I was watching digitally from Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

And what he walked us through was a hired prosecutor that called Paul a plague.

He staked everything on the resurrection.

And so today, what we see the trial's over, both sides have made their case, and now the judge has to rule.

And surprisingly, he doesn't.

There is no ruling, there's no verdict that's passed down today.

And that's what today's passage is it's the verdict that never comes.

Luke gives the stall of the trial, essentially, its own scene, its own section of text.

And then the author Luke, he does something that he almost never does.

He skips two years in one single verse.

So Felix, who we we talked about last week, Felix, we talked about he, Roman talked about how he was a former slave.

He was freed by the emperor's family.

His brother had the ear of Nero, which is how a man born in chains and bondage ended up governing Judea.

The Roman historian Tacitus sums him up in one sentence.

He exercised the power of a king with the mind of a slave.

Another Roman writer and historian called him the husband of three queens.

And then the Jewish historian Josephus says he hired the assassins who killed the high priest.

So this dude, that gives us a little context of what Felix is all about.

He took what he wanted, he bought and sold justice.

He wasn't exactly a just ruler.

And he stayed exactly like one favor ahead of the consequences.

So that's the man.

That's who Paul is standing in front of in this section of text.

And here's what makes this passage so unsettling.

Felix is not hostile to the gospel.

He is not hostile to the gospel.

He's interested.

The text says that he's even informed, he's moved, he's afraid, and he asks for more.

But he never takes a step.

He never takes a step.

And that's what we're going to look at today.

And so, with that, here's our big idea this morning.

Our big idea is this.

You can know the way, you can feel the fear of God, and still never take a step with Jesus.

So there's three things that we're going to look at this morning with that.

One, we're going to look at how the governor knew.

Two, we're going to look at the sermon that nobody ordered.

And then thirdly, we're going to look at two years of tomorrow.

I'll pray and then let's dig in.

Heavenly Father, we love you, we praise you.

We thank you for bringing us here today to dig deep into your word, to sing songs of worship, to fellowship together, to pray together.

And Lord, I ask that this morning that you would move in our hearts, that you would move in this room, that your word would come alive as we dig into it, Lord.

God, your scripture says that your word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.

So I pray that today, Acts 24, 22 through 27 pierces our hearts.

We love you, Lord.

Thank you for sending your son Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.

It's in his mighty name we pray.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Alright, it's really bothering me that my shoe came untied, so I'm gonna tie it real quick.

Sorry.

Alright, we're good.

Point number one.

The governor who knew.

The governor who knew.

Acts 24, verses 22 through 23, the word says, 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.

Acts 24:22–23

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.

So, right off the rip, I want us to pay attention to what we see right there in verse 22.

Felix has a rather accurate knowledge of the way.

Felix, he does not have a vague knowledge of the way.

Felix, he has not, um, he doesn't know rumors about the way of Jesus.

No, the text says, the author Luke tells us that Felix had accurate knowledge, rather accurate knowledge of the way.

So Felix, he had governed the region that they were in in this text for about five years.

The church had been in Caesarea, his own capital before he got there and stepped into leadership.

Remember, earlier in the book of Acts, Philip the Evangelist lived in that city.

Cornelius the centurion was converted in that city.

And so Felix, he knew what the way was.

He knew what it taught.

And he'd probably had believers in his own household staff.

And remember, he's got a letter in his desk drawer.

Remember two weeks ago, Claudius Lysius, the commander in Jerusalem.

He wrote Felix a letter that said, This man is charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment.

So the verdict is sitting in his own desk in his own office.

So what does he do?

He says, When Lysias comes down, then I'll decide.

Spoiler alert, Acts 25 through 28.

Lysias doesn't come down.

Read the rest of Acts.

There's no Lysias that returns.

He was never sent for.

So what I would propose is that what Felix is doing is stalling.

It sounds, as we read it, like due process, but it's actually a man who knows the answer, and he doesn't want to say it out loud because he doesn't want to compromise his own reputation.

Because costing him, because saying it out loud would cost him something with the people in the room, with the people who are following him.

So the delay is strictly for his own convenience.

And I want us to sit right there for a second because I think that this is one of, if not the most common spiritual condition that we see in our day and age.

Oftentimes, in our cultural moment, it is not hostility to the gospel.

I don't meet many people in Kansas City who are angry at Jesus.

I know there are some, but overarchingly, for the most part, it's not hostility that we run into.

Now, there are places across the globe where they encounter some hostility and persecution.

But I would say that it's not yet here today.

It's increasing for sure, but oftentimes for us, it's not hostility.

Oftentimes, what we're encountering is people who grew up in church, who grew up around it.

You know, that they know the songs, they can quote a verse or two.

They think that Jesus was probably a pretty good guy, that he was a good moral teacher.

These people have rather accurate knowledge of the way.

And what I would propose to you this morning is that there are some of us in here today that that is true of us.

We have rather accurate knowledge of the way, but we're not living it out.

We haven't taken one step down the road of following the way of Jesus.

And to challenge you this morning, here's out here this.

Now look at verse 23.

Because there's there's grace in that verse.

There's grace in that verse that I want us to see.

Felix, he knows Paul is innocent.

And I think that that's why he loosens the chains.

He says to grant Paul some liberty.

He doesn't dare acquit him, so he keeps him under guard, but he loosens the chains and chains and then says, none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

So do you know what that means?

What it means is that for the next two years, somebody from the church in Caesarea walked up to the governor's palace with bread for the Apostle Paul.

That somebody brought a blanket to him when it got cold, that somebody sat with him and prayed with him while he was in bondage.

The author of this book, Luke, he's probably there.

He shows up on the boats later on in chapter 27.

Philip's family is right down the street.

What it is, is two years of somebody showing up.

It's two years of the local church in Caesarea showing up for the Apostle Paul while he is in bondage.

And that's how God keeps a man, keeps him grounded, keeps him in the joy of the Lord in the midst of suffering and bondage in a season where there's no verdict.

Paul is not kept with a miracle.

He is kept by friends who keep bringing bread to the palace, who keep him fed and nourished and without need.

And church, some of us are that person in bondage that needs to be cared for.

My encouragement to you, if that is you, is that you receive it, that you accept that brother or sister praying for you, interceding on your behalf.

But then some of us are that friend to somebody.

My encouragement to you, if that is you, is to keep going.

Keep going.

Point two, the sermon that nobody ordered.

The sermon that nobody ordered.

Verses 24 and 25, the text says, 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.

So, first of all, we need to know who Dr.

Drusilla is.

She is a Herod.

Her father was Herod Agrippa, the king from Acts chapter 12, who executed James and threw Peter in prison and dropped dead in his silver robes.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Her great-grandfather is Herod the Great, who remember at the beginning of the Gospels, killed the babies in Bethlehem.

Her great uncle killed John the Baptist.

And she's young, probably 19, 20 years old.

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that she'd been married off years before that as a teenager to a king in Syria.

And then Governor Felix saw her, wanted her, and sent and hired a magician to take her out of her marriage so that she could be married to Felix.

She leaves her husband, she left her faith, and she married a Gentile ex-slave that's twice her age.

So that is the couple that is in front of Paul right there.

Felix and Drcilla.

And here's what is remarkable about this section of text.

They send for Paul.

They send for Paul.

Verse 24 a Herod asks to hear about Jesus.

And the author, Luke, says that Paul spoke to them about faith in Christ Jesus.

That's the whole sermon.

That's the content.

Jesus, crucified and risen, trust in him.

That's the sermon.

But look at what Paul talks about within that.

Verse 25, he talks about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment.

Now let's read the room that Paul's in.

He preaches righteousness to a judge, to Felix, who sells verdicts, who's willing to compromise himself for favor.

He preaches self-control to a couple whose marriage started with a magician and a divorce.

He preaches the coming judgment to the man who is currently refusing to render one.

So do you see what's happening here?

Paul is the one in chains, and somehow, by the end of this conversation, by the end of these two verses, the judge is the one who's on trial.

And let's be honest here.

Like if I don't know about you guys, maybe I'm alone in this.

If I'm Paul, I'm tempted to go easy in this situation.

This man.

Holds his freedom.

This is a private audience with the governor, with the one who can set him free in a worldly sense.

And that's a conversation that most of us, that most people never get.

In this situation, my guess is I'd be inclined to keep it friendly, to talk about hope and peace and how Jesus makes you a better person.

You don't bring up the governor's righteousness, the governor's sins.

You don't bring up his marriage.

But the apostle Paul, he keeps it real, right?

He preaches the truth in love.

And we should be encouraged by that to also preach and speak the truth in love.

Why does the Apostle Paul do this?

Well, he's he loves them too much to be polite.

Do you love your brother and sister enough?

Too much to be polite?

Maybe it is your blood sibling, you know, your sister by blood, or maybe it's your brother or sister in Christ.

Either way, it works.

That's funny.

Here's the thing, politeness, it would have kept Felix comfortable.

But love told him the truth and pushed him into discomfort.

And that's a word for some of us in the room today who are more afraid of losing access to someone than we are of them losing their soul.

And the Apostle Paul speaking the truth in love, it works.

Look at Felix in verse 25.

The text says, Felix was alarmed.

Felix was alarmed.

Another version of the Bible says that Felix trembled.

The word that Luke uses is the same one he used for Cornelius when the angel showed up, and for the women at the empty tomb.

And so what this is is real God-shaped fear.

It's God-shaped fear.

The governor of Judea is shaking on his own couch.

He's trembling because a prisoner said the word judgment.

And then he says the sentence that this whole passage turns on.

Go away for the present.

When I get an opportunity, I will summon you.

Think about that.

He's asking for an opportunity when he's standing smack dab in the middle of one.

And if I can just be honest and transparent with you this morning, I know this moment.

I know this moment from the inside.

For for so many years of my life, I lived that.

Not now, maybe later.

You know, I grew up, I went to a Christian school.

I, you know, went to the Bible classes.

I had a rather accurate knowledge of the way.

But constantly, day by day, I said, not yet.

Maybe when I'm older, maybe when I'm an adult, maybe when I have my life together a little bit.

Even when I was as an early 20s, something, when I was at rock bottom, lost in sin and darkness, my mom would get me to go to church with her on occasion.

I'd hear the gospel clearly preached.

And still, it was not yet, maybe later.

Not yet, maybe later.

And here's the thing: when the gospel is proclaimed, when the truth is proclaimed, it gets loud, right?

Yes.

Maybe you've been there too.

You know what Felix knew in verse 25, what I knew in my heart of hearts.

I knew that it was true.

I knew who Jesus was.

I knew what I was, a sinner lost in darkness.

But most days I did exactly what Felix did.

Not today.

When I'm done having fun, when I'm done living as a, you know, just foolish teenager, foolish college student.

Maybe when things settle down, maybe when I've got my life a little more together, maybe when blank, whatever it is for you, insert it there.

So often we press that remind me tomorrow.

Not now, maybe later, Jesus.

Well, we never be a people who say, not now, maybe later, Jesus.

There's a theologian named Augustine, and he speaks to this well.

1600 years ago, a young Augustine, brilliant, ambitious, living with a woman that he wouldn't marry and chasing a career that he couldn't stop chasing, prayed what I would argue is one of the most honest prayers that most people ever pray.

And he wrote it down later in his book that's effectively like a biography called Confessions, and he said this: Give me self-control, but not yet.

Give me self-control, but not yet.

And then he tells us why.

He was afraid that God would answer him too soon.

He wanted the disease satisfied, not cured.

And that is Governor Felix's prayer.

That was mine for so long.

And I would bet some money that it's somebody else's in this room as well, right now.

Well, here's what happened to Augustine.

Years later, in a garden in Milan, he's weeping, and he finally said the other sentence.

He said, How long?

Tomorrow and tomorrow, why not now?

Why not this very hour?

It's the same word.

He just took the not off of it.

And that afternoon he became a Christian.

It's a crazy story of his conversion.

He um I'm paraphrasing from memory, but he uh was in his garden and he heard a little boy um reading saying something along the lines of like just picking up the word and reading it, and he re opened his Bible to a verse and chapter in Romans about sexual immorality and all this stuff that he was living in.

And in that moment, he turned from his sin and turned to the Lord Jesus, and he became one of the greatest theologians throughout history.

So, let me tell you what Augustine and Felix in this passage teach us.

They teach us that it's that the fear does not save us.

The fear doesn't save you.

Felix was afraid, and he stayed the same old Felix.

He trembled, he went to bed, and he woke up the same man.

Here's the thing conviction is not conversion.

Feeling it is not the same thing as following it.

You can be moved every single Sunday in this room, as Ashton leads us incredibly in worship, and we dig deep into God's word, and you can still drive home out of here unchanged every single week.

Here's the thing.

It is a door.

You don't live in it.

Either you walk through it or you do not.

So are you gonna sit and stay in the fear?

Are you gonna walk through it to what the Lord Jesus is offering you?

Felix, he felt the fear and he heard only the problem.

The spirit of God was pointing at the solution.

And the solution was being proclaimed right there in the room by the man who was in chains, saying, faith in Christ Jesus.

That was the solution for Felix.

That is the solution for us today.

Faith in Christ Jesus.

I want to say one more thing here, clearly, gently, plainly, because Paul said it to a governor and to a member of the Herod family, and so I think I owe it to you as well.

For a lot of us, the real reason for our not yet, it has a name.

It's not an intellectual sort of not yet.

No, it's the word in the middle of verse 25.

Self-control.

It's a relationship that you know you shouldn't be in.

It's a habit that you know you shouldn't, you should not continue to live into.

It's an audience that you'd have to disappoint.

Maybe it's a family member that you'd have to disappoint.

And somewhere in you, you've decided that, hey, I will deal with Jesus after I deal with that thing.

Hear this.

Paul, he did not tell Felix to fix his marriage and then come talk about Jesus.

He told him about Jesus right there in the middle of it.

Righteousness, self-control, judgment, and faith in Christ.

All at once, right there in the mess.

So God, he's not waiting for you to clean yourself up first.

He says, come as you are.

He's asking you to stop saying not yet about it.

Point number three in our final point.

Point two is a lengthy one.

I apologize.

Okay, I won't.

Point three, two years of tomorrow.

Two years of tomorrow, verses 26 and 27.

Read this.

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 Porseus Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

So we first see why Felix keeps calling Paul back for two years straight.

Verse 26 tells us it's a little ugly.

He's fishing for a bribe.

Back in the trial, Paul had mentioned that he'd come to Jerusalem bringing money to the poor.

Felix heard that.

This man has access to funds.

So he keeps the case open and he keeps the conversation going, hoping that Paul will get the hints and buy his way out of custody.

But Paul never does.

In all likelihood, he could have.

He's got friends with resources coming and going to care for his needs every single day.

It's like one envelope is brought and he walks.

And he sits there for two years instead.

Because the man who preached righteousness to the governor is not going to purchase his freedom from him and thus compromise his own righteousness.

That is a man of integrity.

He's holding to and showing integrity when nobody is watching.

When the shortcut is right there in front of him.

But look at that phrase right there in the end of verse 26.

He sent for him often and conversed with him.

Often.

Felix sent for Paul often for two whole years.

Church.

Felix is the most gospel exposed pagan that we read about in the book of Acts and maybe in the entire scripture.

He heard Paul.

Think about it.

We've looked at how long Paul stayed in these different cities where he planted churches.

Felix, he heard Paul more than the Athenians did.

He heard Paul more than the Ephesians did.

He heard Paul more than most of the churches that Paul had planted.

He, in effect, had the Apostle Paul on retainer.

Private, one-on-one, knee-to-knee sermons.

Anytime he wanted.

And he liked it.

I think he probably genuinely did.

He likes the conversations.

He liked having Paul around.

And we all know people like this.

Maybe you are a person like this.

Maybe you've got a pastor friend or a Christian friend that you like spending time with.

Maybe you've got a church podcast or a Christian podcast that you put on in the car.

Maybe you've got a really good Bible app streak going.

Maybe you got a boyfriend or a girlfriend who is a Christian.

You like being near it.

But here's the thing proximity to Jesus, it feels like progress toward Jesus, but it's not.

C.S.

Lewis in his book, Screwtape Letters, he imagines a senior demon coaching a junior one, and the old demon gives this advice.

The safest road to hell is the gradual one.

The gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

That's verse 26.

No dramatic rejection, no fist in the air, just two years of interesting conversations.

And not yet, after not yet, after not yet, after not yet.

Two years of not yet.

That's crazy.

And then verse 27, two years later, new governor.

And here's Felix's last act in office.

His one recorded action toward Jesus in all that time.

He says, desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

And so this the word in the Greek for favor is the same word used for grace.

So Felix spent his last day in Judea buying favor with men.

And the price was an innocent man's freedom.

He had the grace of God explained to him in his living room for two years, day after day after day.

And he traded the grace that was offered him for favor with the crowd.

And it didn't even work.

History tells us that the Jews from Caesarea followed him to Rome and prosecuted him anyway.

He traded the grace of God for the favor of men, and he lost both.

Here's the thing.

Here's the fact of the matter.

Nobody stays neutral for two years.

Not yet is a decision.

Not yet is a complete sentence.

It always costs something, and it always costs somebody.

It costs Paul two years, but it cost Felix everything.

Now to say a word about Paul, he's the other man in this passage.

We've read so much about him, but he says very little in this text.

Two years, no verdict, no words from Paul recorded.

The God who moved 470 soldiers to get him to this city two weeks ago leaves him here in Caesarea, in prison.

Same God, same promised, who promised.

You must testify in Rome.

And for two whole years, Rome is a word of promise.

And Caesarea, where he's sitting as a jail cell.

So some of you are in that place.

You are in a year that God isn't narrating, He's not speaking, you can't hear what all you have is the promise you're holding on to from two years prior.

And I want us to see Paul, who's in this room, still preaching to a man who never responds, still refusing the shortcut, still being fed by the church, still trusting in a promise that is showing no signs of coming to fruition.

There's no movement.

And here's the thing: living by the Spirit, it doesn't always look like a breakthrough.

Sometimes it looks like two years of faithfulness in the unknown.

Ashton, you can come begin to close us.

So here's the gospel.

I want us to lean in here.

Felix is not the first Roman governor to look at an innocent man, to know he's innocent, and to hand him over anyways to do a crowd a favor.

There was another one.

We talk about him every week.

His name is Jesus.

And then the governor, Pilate, he looked at Jesus and he said, I find no guilt in him.

Three times he said it.

And then Mark, he writes it down, wishing to satisfy the crowd, he handed him over.

So Felix's favor kept an innocent man in chains for two years.

But Pilate's favor put the only truly innocent man ever in history on a cross.

And here's what I need you to see: the thing that made Felix tremble, the coming judgment.

The Lord Jesus walked into that coming judgment first.

The judge of all the earth stood in front of a corrupt judge.

He received the verdict that we deserved.

He took the judgment to come and he took it now.

On a Friday, outside Jerusalem, on a Roman cross, in a place called Golgotha.

And then, three days later, he rose from the dead, which is why Paul can say that God has fixed a day where he'll judge the world by a man he has appointed, and he's proved it by raising him from the dead.

So listen, the Bible says that every one of us is appointed to die once, and after that comes judgment.

That's the part that scared Felix.

He was right to be scared.

But the same sentence keeps going.

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time.

Once for sin, then he comes back.

Which means for everyone who trusts in him, for everyone who trusts in Christ, the judgment to come has already come.

The judgment for the Christian came at the cross, so there's nothing left for you but the day you see Jesus' face.

Felix was afraid of a judgment that he could have escaped just by trusting the prisoner who was in front of him.

Here's the difference between Felix and Jesus and Paul and it's the whole sermon.

Felix said, not yet.

Felix said, when I get the opportunity.

But the Lord Jesus, praise God for this, he never says that.

Jesus never says, not yet.

Not once.

The scripture says, today, if you hear his voice, it says, now is the day of salvation.

Jesus never says later.

He says today.

So let's bring this home.

Two people in this room that I want to talk to.

First, those of us who are well informed, well informed about the way.

You know the way of Jesus.

You know your scriptures.

You went to Bible college.

Your mama took you to Sunday school growing up.

You could probably preach preach this message.

You've been around it your whole life.

Or you've been around church stuff for a while.

And you say that you're on good terms with Jesus.

So, to ask you the same question that was essentially posed to Felix Are you informed?

Or are you following him?

Are you informed about Jesus or are you following Jesus?

There's a difference.

There are two different things.

And only one of them is a relationship.

You can have all the head knowledge in the world and still lack the relationship.

Felix could have passed a test on Christianity.

But he never once walked the road.

So don't let accurate knowledge be the thing that keeps you from him.

Don't be the most gospel-informed person in the building who leaves the same way you came in.

Second, to the one who is afraid.

Maybe you felt something this morning.

Maybe you feel it right now.

Maybe you feel the same thing that Felix felt.

And I know exactly what that sentence in your head is because it was mine for so long.

Not now.

Not here.

Maybe when things calm down, maybe when I fix the thing.

Family, hear me.

The fear is not the enemy.

The fear is a door.

The Spirit of God is standing in it and pointing at the solution, and the solution is King Jesus.

Felix hit that not yet, that remind me later button for two whole years.

He never got the tomorrow he was waiting for.

You don't got to clean it up first.

You don't get the marriage shorted and the bank account right and the habits handled, the hurt handled, and then come.

Paul preached it all at once in the mess to a governor and a Herod.

And that's how every one of us got in here.

We came with the things still on us.

And so maybe that's you today.

Maybe you're holding on to a secret that's keeping you sick.

Whatever it may be, I'm asking you to respond to what the Lord is doing in your life.

I'm asking you to take a step.

Be it a step of honesty, be it a step of trust in the Lord Jesus.

Do not delay.

Do not say, remind me tomorrow.

Do not say not yet, but say today.

So let's pray.

We'll close and pray, and then we'll close and worship.

And while we pray, if you're the one who's been hitting not yet, you don't have to leave this room without telling somebody.

You can talk to me, I'll be down here at the front.

You can come pray at the altar and leave it at the foot of the cross.

Whatever it is for you, take a step.

That's how following the way starts.

Let's pray.

Lord, we love you.

We praise you.

We thank you for the ways in which you've come to us, in which you've worked on our behalf when we don't see it, when we don't realize it, when we know just how much we need you, just how lost we are without you.

Lord, I pray that today we would be a people who do it afraid, who we take that first step afraid, in the midst of fear, that we would take a step towards you, take a step of action, take a step of obedience, take a step of faith.

Lord Jesus, you were so, so good to us.

We submit to you, we praise you for dying for the forgiveness of our sins.

Would you write that reality on our hearts afresh today, Lord?

We love you, we praise you.

It's in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening.

Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.

in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.

Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.