Quote from Forum Archives on September 26, 2003, 9:31 am

Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>

 

 

               SERMON TO MAKE A MAN TREMBLE

 

Introduction

1.   In one church there was a push made to get rid of the preacher.  In
     the business meeting, one brother spoke in favor of changing
     preachers by saying, "He's been here for several years and preached
     many sermons, and right now I can't remember even one of them."  An
     older and wiser brother spoke up and said, "I've been married for
     over 50 years and I've sat down to meals my wife cooked thousands
     of times.  Right now I can't remember the menu of even one of those
     meals, but somehow I think I received nourishment from every one!"
2.   Preaching is like this.  There were times that I cannot remember
     what I spoke about a week earlier, let alone expect the people to.  But I
     believe in the power of the word of God to nourish us and change us
     when we are regularly exposed to it.  So I keep preaching.
3.   There are, however, a few sermons I have heard that stick out in my
     mind.  One or two of them are my own, but most of them have been
     preached by others.  But I have noticed that what makes for a
     memorable sermon is usually my own situation as much as what the
     preacher said.
4.   This leads me to wonder about the lasting effects of Paul's sermon
     on Felix.  According to Acts 24:24-25, Felix sent for Paul and
     heard him speak about faith in Christ in terms of righteousness,
     self-control, and the judgment to come.  During Paul's sermon,
     Felix became frightened and sent Paul away.  I hope that at some
     later time Paul's sermon bore fruit, but we do not know.
5.   What we do know is that Paul preached a sermon that made the Roman
     governor of Palestine tremble.  I wonder what Paul said that had
     such an effect?

 

I.   PAUL DISCUSSED SELF-CONTROL

 

     A.   This was a bold stroke.  Felix had climbed his way to this
          high position, having the favor of the Emperor Claudius.
          Tacitus, a Roman historian, said of Felix that he "maintained
          the royal law with a servile disposition by means of all sorts
          of cruelty and greed" (History, V. 9) (from  Loshe, The New
          Testament Environment, p. 47).  Here was Felix, Roman gover-
          nor, politician, powerful official, man of the world, and Paul
          talked to him about self-control!
          1.   Paul mentions self-control a few times in his writings,
               which we will come to.  But also Paul writes frequently
               about sanctification or holiness and blamelessness.
               These are related to self-control.  Saved people have the
               responsibility to be holy people.  Self-control and
               discipline are to be channeled to this end.
          2.   The natural and required outcome of righteousness through
               grace by faith in Christ, is to live a life in harmony
               with righteousness:  "I, therefore, the prisoner of the
               Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the
               calling with which you have been called" (Eph. 4:1).
               Righteous people are to have lives characterized by
               righteousness, and this takes self-control.

 

     B.   God deals with us as responsible people, so he requires us to
          be in control of ourselves.  We must have faith in Christ and
          become Christians, then we must conduct ourselves uprightly in
          the way God has instructed us to walk:  "For we are His
          workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
          prepared beforehand that you should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
          1.   I read about Mike Singletary (perennial All-Pro, two-time
               NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and member of the Super
               Bowl XXV Dream Team).  He "played" football with great
               intensity and churning, crunching hits.  He is not an
               imposing man--barely six feet tall and weighing about
               220.  How is he great?  Discipline.  In his biography,
               Calling the Shots, he says that in watching game films he
               often runs a single play fifty to sixty times, and that
               it takes him three hours to watch half a football game,
               which is only 20 to 30 plays!  Because he watches every
               player, because he mentally knows the opposition's
               tendency--given the down, distance, hash mark, and time
               remaining, because he reads the opposition's mind through
               their stances, he is often moving toward the ball's
               preplanned destination before the play develops.  This is
               not a stroke of luck or extraordinary talent; it is
               discipline (from R. Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly
               Man, p. 14).
          2.   Paul used an analogy from athletics to make this point:
               "And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-
               control in all things.  They then do it to receive a
               perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  Therefore I
               run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a
               way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and
               make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to
               others, I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor. 9:24-
               27).
          3.   In particular, Paul calls for self-discipline in matters
               of godliness:  ". . . discipline yourself for the purpose
               of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little
               profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since
               it holds promise for the present life and also for the
               life to come. . . . For it is for this we labor and
               strive" (1 Tim. 4:8-10).

 

     C.   There is a certain life-style Christians are to live, a
          certain conduct we are to maintain that is defined in Scrip-
          ture which is "inspired of God and profitable for . . .
          training in righteousness; that the man of God may be ade-
          quate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
          1.   Most of us have the discipline to get to work every day
               and to get there on time.  We have enough self-control to
               get the job done, to churn out the work, to meet the
               deadlines.  Some of us have discipline to read regularly,
               to keep up with what team is playing when and on what
               channel and to arrange our schedules accordingly, or to
               stay up on all the sales in the stores and take advantage
               of them.  Some of us even have enough self-discipline to
               exercise regularly and to regulate our nutrition.  And
               all of this is commendable.
          2.   But what should concern and disturb us, even cause us to
               tremble, is that we don't use the self-discipline we
               practice in other areas and apply it to spiritual
               matters.  We let other things get in the way of studying
               the Bible, preparing for Bible classes, and praying
               regularly.  We can't seem to get to the services for
               worship on a consist basis and get there on time.  We
               don't practice self-control to the extent that we train
               ourselves to take advantage of opportunities for spiritu-
               al growth, encouragement, and evangelism.  To put it in
               short, some of us are flabby and lazy when it comes to
               spiritual matters.  And with most of us it is not a
               matter of opportunity or ability, but a matter of self-
               control.  Discipline has been defined as doing what we
               ought to do every time we ought to do it, and this should
               be applied to our spiritual lives and service.
          3.   In our day of permissiveness and promiscuity in which a
               premium is placed on leisure and pleasure, and all the
               forms it may take, not unlike Felix's day in the Roman
               Empire I might add, we must be especially concerned with
               self-control.  Some of us let anger get the best of us
               and our tempers flare out of control.  It is permissible
               in our world to use alcohol, drugs, and sex
               recreationally.  Most people in the world have little
               concern for the way they dress, what they watch, where
               they go, and what they do.  But as Christians--because we
               are Christians, we must learn how to perfect holiness in
               the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1), and that means we cannot be
               lazy or indifferent about these matters.
          4.   Spiritual growth, health, and effectiveness is not a
               stroke of luck or the result of extraordinary talent.  It
               is a matter of self-control.  Only as we diligently walk
               by the Spirit and live by the Spirit, set our minds on
               the things of the Spirit by learning Scripture, sow to
               the Spirit by laboring and striving in the matters of
               godliness, will we bear the fruit of the Spirit which is
               . . . self control (Gal. 5:23).

 

II.  PAUL DISCUSSED JUDGMENT TO COME

 

     A.   Felix knew a lot about judgment.  Paul himself had stood
          before the Roman governor for his case to be judged, and many
          others had as well.  But Paul was not a man who minced words.
          He took this opportunity to let Felix know that there was a
          higher authority and One to whom all people great and small
          would give account for themselves.
          1.   Paul knew, and made Felix aware, that there would be a ".
               . . day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the
               secrets of men through Christ Jesus" (Rom. 2:16).  As he
               boldly said in another place, "For we must all appear
               before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
               recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what
               he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10).
          2.   Because of this Paul issued a call for repentance, even
               to the men of Athens, ". . . God is now declaring to men
               that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed
               a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
               through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished
               proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Acts
               17:30-31).

 

     B.   Felix is going to be there and so am I and so are you.  There
          will be a judgment day and no one will be absent.
          1.   On that day the One who is now our Savior will then be
               our Judge.  In Him there is eternal life, without Him
               there is no hope.
          2.   Paul might have said something similar to this as he
               spoke to Felix:  ". . . the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
               from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
               dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and
               to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
               And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction,
               away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
               His power" (2 Thes. 1:7-9).
          3.   God wants us to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).  Jesus died so
               that we might be saved, but on judgment day, people who
               are without Christ will be lost eternally.  "For the
               wages of sin is death," but this is only half the story;
               "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
               Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

 

Conclusion

1.   I'm guessing that it was when Paul came to this point in his speech
     that Felix trembled.  He had heard Paul speak passionately about
     righteousness through faith in Christ.  He had been made aware of
     his personal responsibility before God and the need for self-
     control.  Finally, he was brought face to face with the prospects
     of judgment followed by eternal life or eternal destruction.
2.   It was enough to make a powerful, worldly man tremble.  But,
     tragically, not enough to motivate him to be baptized into Christ
     and become a Christian that hour.
3.   As you might guess, I have often thought of what I could say to
     move people to faith and obedience, and to cause us to be strong in
     the Lord.  I have prayed for the boldness to say what I need to say
     to present the gospel of Christ effectively, and many of you have
     prayed for this as well.  But it occurs to me that I can say
     nothing more than to explain faith in Christ--righteousness, self-
     control, and judgment to come, then I must leave it with each
     person to do with it what they will.
4.   Someone once asked, "Is the sermon finished?"  The reply was, "No.
     The preacher is finished, but the sermon has just begun."  And this
     is a true statement because the sermon depends not only on what the
     preacher says but also on what we do with the truth declared.  And
     this is where we are right now.  I am finished, but what will you
     do about faith in Jesus Christ as it relates to righteousness,
     self-control, and judgment to come?  I must leave the results to
     you.

 

 

 

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