DAY 339 Read Acts 22 through 24.
Today's reading: Paul, having been arrested as a disturber of the peace, tries to quiet the disturbance by speaking to the angry mob. The Roman commander decides that the only safe course is to send Paul to the Roman governor.
Memory gem: "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" (Acts 24:25).
Thought for today:
Many a sermon has been preached about Paul before Felix; but should it not rather be called "Felix before Paul"? Before the interview was ended, Paul was the judge, and Felix, the governor, was condemned. Felix and his brother Pallas were servants of the emperor of Rome and had won great favor at court. For several years Felix had been the procurator of the Roman province of Judea, and the Roman historian Tacitus tells us in one of his bitterest sentences that "he wielded his kingly authority with the spirit of a slave, with all cruelty and lust."
Drusilla knew of the true God, though she had drifted away from obedience to His law of purity and righteousness. It was before this notorious couple--Felix and Drusilla--that the apostle Paul, by special appointment, spoke concerning the faith in Christ. "And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled" (Acts 24:25).
The apostle might have spoken of something else before these two notorious sinners. He might have spoken as a Greek philosopher, anxious to please his hearers. But no, he spoke of "righteousness" before an unjust judge; of temperance and self-control before this sinful self-indulgent pair; of "judgement to come" before these two who thought they could do anything without any moral obligation. Felix did not wish to be inconvenienced, to be troubled, to be distracted from his joys and sins. This man of perpetual compromise, this man with the habit of adjournment, adjourned Paul's case. He deferred it. But here before Paul he had adjourned his own case.
Let us leave Felix with the silence of ages, and look into our own hearts. What do we say? Are we still waiting for a convenient season? It will never be more convenient than right now.
Today's reading: Paul, having been arrested as a disturber of the peace, tries to quiet the disturbance by speaking to the angry mob. The Roman commander decides that the only safe course is to send Paul to the Roman governor.
Memory gem: "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" (Acts 24:25).
Thought for today:
Many a sermon has been preached about Paul before Felix; but should it not rather be called "Felix before Paul"? Before the interview was ended, Paul was the judge, and Felix, the governor, was condemned. Felix and his brother Pallas were servants of the emperor of Rome and had won great favor at court. For several years Felix had been the procurator of the Roman province of Judea, and the Roman historian Tacitus tells us in one of his bitterest sentences that "he wielded his kingly authority with the spirit of a slave, with all cruelty and lust."
Drusilla knew of the true God, though she had drifted away from obedience to His law of purity and righteousness. It was before this notorious couple--Felix and Drusilla--that the apostle Paul, by special appointment, spoke concerning the faith in Christ. "And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled" (Acts 24:25).
The apostle might have spoken of something else before these two notorious sinners. He might have spoken as a Greek philosopher, anxious to please his hearers. But no, he spoke of "righteousness" before an unjust judge; of temperance and self-control before this sinful self-indulgent pair; of "judgement to come" before these two who thought they could do anything without any moral obligation. Felix did not wish to be inconvenienced, to be troubled, to be distracted from his joys and sins. This man of perpetual compromise, this man with the habit of adjournment, adjourned Paul's case. He deferred it. But here before Paul he had adjourned his own case.
Let us leave Felix with the silence of ages, and look into our own hearts. What do we say? Are we still waiting for a convenient season? It will never be more convenient than right now.
RSS Feed
