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‘Felix trembled.’
Act_24:25
He would first speak of sin. No doubt he knew that Felix was what even the world would call a bad man, by which would be meant a man not living up to the light of his conscience; and he must have been a very bad man to have ‘hoped that money should have been given him of St. Paul, that he might loose him.’ Felix stood to St. Paul in the relation of a judge. In that capacity he was utterly unworthy of his position. He would prostitute the sacred cause of justice for his own venal purposes. His judgment-seat was corrupt! You are no longer surprised, then, that when the Apostle reasoned of ‘judgment to come’ he touched a raw place, even in the hardened soul of the tyrant. ‘Felix trembled.’ He saw the greatness of his sin, and though he repented not, he ‘trembled.’ He saw—can we doubt it?—the spotless purity of God painted by the Apostle in vivid contrast to the baseness of his own character, and though the ‘goodness of God’ did not in his case ‘lead to repentance’ (Rom_2:4), he felt a twinge, and ‘trembled.’ More than all, he heard, doubtless for the first time, of that terrible but just judgment to come, which must one day be his portion, and which would, unless he repented, bring about such a terrific retribution for his misconduct in the judgment-seat; and hearing all this, can you wonder that he winced under the castigation and ‘trembled’?
Following this line of thought, I would bring you, first of all:—
I. Face to face with your own sin.—Until a man has fairly faced this great enemy there is little hope of ‘reasoning’ with him with any success, either about judgment to come or anything else. I grant that to one who is pure-minded the recollection of past sin causes mental pain of the most acute description; I know also that the feeling of being awakened to sin for the first time comes as a shock, often so severe as to make a man most intensely miserable for days or weeks, or even more. It is undoubtedly an awful thing to discover ourselves as being rebels against God, despisers of His goodness, wanton rejecters of His mercy. But I will tell you what is more awful still. It is—Not to feel your sin! The poor sinner just roused to a sense of his miserable state may indeed with reason feel great dejection, but the man who ought to tremble is you who are still unconscious of your peril, you who have remained so long insensible to every argument that has been addressed to your mind, and to every effort that has been made with a view to rescue your perishing soul. It is to you that I speak, and that not in anger, but in love, when I say—Face your sin!
II. Felix was brought by the Apostle’s reasoning face to face with God.—Not only his sin troubled him, but he felt a passing tremor of awe at the revelation of God’s goodness contrasted with his own wickedness. Now, to face God is the solemn duty to which I now call you. It is a fiercer ordeal even than the last, that of facing your sin. But it must be done. All religion has this object, to bring men face to face with God. Shrink not from the ordeal. Make it your business to seek out God. In every means of grace you may find Him. In the Holy Eucharist He specially manifests His Presence, and to this great Sacrament I lovingly bid you, and suggest to you that the spirit in which you should come to that Feast of Love is best expressed in the Psalmist’s words,’ Thy face, Lord, will I seek’ (Psa_27:8).
III. But if you will not face your sin, nor seek unto God, then I can only reason with you as St. Paul reasoned with Felix, and leave you to a profitless trembling at the fear of judgment to come. The certainty of that judgment is established beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil by almost every book of Holy Scripture. How terrible a trial it will be, even for those that pass through it in safety, Jesus Christ has Himself declared. Prophets and apostles, saints and doctors of the Church, martyrs and confessors, priests and holy laymen, have all combined in different ages to force upon men this great question, ‘Are you ready to face the Judgment Day?’
—
Rev. J. H. Buchanan.
IllustrationA priest one day watched from his sacristy the people as they came into church. One face arrested his attention. It was that of a man who plainly bore the mark of Cain upon his brow. Sin, shame, and woe were all plainly revealed in the lines of that face. “I will seek him after service,” said the good priest to himself, “and see if I can help him.” Service ended, the man of God went into the porch and awaited his friend. He approached. But only by his clothes could he be recognised. The face was not the same. Every trace of shame and woe was gone. An air of calm and manly humility lit up the features which had been so dark. “Nevertheless, I will speak to him:—Friend, a word with you if you will. Step in here. When you came into church you were miserable. Is it not so?” “Even so, sir, very miserable.” “And now you are happy? Is that so?” “Very happy, sir, very happy.” “And may I ask what has wrought the change in so short a time? “The priest’s kindly manner bespoke confidence, and the other replied, “Sir, I have been during the last half-hour face to face with my sin, and I have found strength to resolve to go forth and fight it. Hitherto I have been afraid of it. Now, I begin to think it is afraid of me. Pray for me, that I may overcome.” ’
‘Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.’
Act_24:25
I. The folly of trusting to external circumstances.—We are all apt to give too much weight—whether to help or hindrance—to external circumstances. It is a testimony to true religion that almost every one will say, that he hopes and means some day or other, to be, if not very religious, yet certainly more religious than he is now. But, then, all fancy that by and by they will be in a position which will be more favourable to make a beginning They will be holier; or, their anxieties will be fewer; or, their temptations will be less; or, their religious advantages will be greater; or, their associations in life will be more fitting. So their state of mind will be better prepared. They picture a certain future, which wears a sober, and almost a religious, aspect; and then they call that ‘a convenient season.’
II. It is the Holy Spirit Who calls.—It is the felt willingness of God to receive us; it is the ‘still small voice’ consciously heard within—it is the drawings of the secret, constraining power, which is the operation of the Spirit of God upon the conscience and the affections—these make the ‘convenient season.’ Where these are, everything is sure to be ‘convenient’—God will make it ‘convenient’—how unlikely soever it be. Where these are not, there will be an ‘inconvenience’—an utter impossibility. Remember, if the Spirit is now striving, the ‘convenient,’ the most ‘convenient,’ the one ‘convenient,’ perhaps the only ‘convenient season’ of life is come.
III. The danger of procrastination.—It needs no other proof that ‘now’—that emphatic ‘now’ that God has written before your eyes, so awfully and so solemnly—your ‘now’ is here! No man can say that the Spirit will work in him at any given time. Felix might think, ‘I will send for Paul another time.’ But he would not have the wish to send for St. Paul unless the Spirit put it in his heart; and, if even he did send for St. Paul, could he command that the Spirit would come too? And yet, if St. Paul came, and the Spirit did not come, what use is it? We are, most of us, so accustomed to have the good Spirit always acting on our hearts, that it is very difficult for us to imagine a time when He shall not act. No man can say that a year hence, or a day hence, or an hour hence, the Holy Spirit will lead him to God and enable him to repent. All religious procrastination is an insult to the Holy Ghost.
—
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration‘The Hindoos believe that the waters of the Ganges possess such attributes, that he who drinks of that stream must enjoy eternal life. Two pilgrims who had come from afar reached the river together, and one ran down at once to lap the waters; but the other stood on the bank and said, “I am in no hurry; you go back home to-morrow, hut I am about to build my but here, and shall spend all my life here, and drink whenever I please.” He built his hut, and every day would say to himself, “I shall be here to-morrow, and shall drink then.” He lived there for years, and died without tasting the Ganges, as he always put off till the morrow his opportunity.’