Acts 24:26-27 He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: why he sent for him the oftener… It is a wonderful characteristic of the Bible that all its characters are still with us. The men of the Bible were types. I. FELIX WAS SATED WITH FLATTERY; no man dare say one critical word to Felix. Are there not men whose minds are narrowed and perverted by always living in the sickly atmosphere of adultation? I am distinguishing in my own mind between just appreciation and foolish idolatry — between the praise which is due to character and the hypocrisy which is offered to mere position. II. FELIX WAS INTERESTED IN RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS. That Felix is still alive — the bad man who likes to go to church once a day, who likes to spice his life with religious metaphysics and controversies. Who can explain it that a man, whose life is wholly given to the earth, should, now and again, desire to hear a prayer, listen to a discourse, and have his "views"? What a contradiction is man! III. FELIX LIVED IN SIN: he did not dabble in it, he was no retail criminal, yet he sent for an apostle to speak "concerning the faith in Christ." It is not only possible, it is the daily use of men. Herein we are to some extent all in the same condemnation. Only yesterday we shattered every commandment of Heaven, and today we are — outwardly at least — standing at heaven's gate! There is hope in. this contradiction. Do not let us take wholly the black view of it. We can look at the sin until we see Felix turning into a devil; or we can look at him, sending for Paul, until we see spots of whiteness even on the black disc of his character. IV. FELIX WAS MORALLY IMPRESSIBLE. He trembled. Then there is hope of him. Are there not such men amongst us who never hear a sermon without weeping, men. who like it the more when it wrings their conscience and turns them white with fear? There is a possibility of becoming too familiar with that kind of emotion, of measuring services by its presence. Marvellous that we like to be vivisected We call the preacher faithful, and, having paid him the compliment, we go to repeat the sin he has rebuked. V. FELIX WAS OPEN TO BRIBERY AMIDST ALL THIS CONFLICT OF EMOTION. He, perhaps, did not know that it was criminal, as we understand that term. Men become accustomed to crime until they repeat it as a kind of virtue. It is the custom of the trade; it is always expected that it should be so. We do not always take the bribe in the form of money, and if the act were isolated, we could detest it. Paul was often sent for, but Paul never suspected the design. Evil be to him who evil thinks. Paul might receive the invitations as expressive of a real desire to know more about these religious mysteries. VI. FELIX WAS KIND TO PREACHERS (ver. 23). Some of the most generous friends I have ever had have been men who made no profession of religion and who yet liked to come to church, and who loved the preacher with even a fond affectionateness. Herein the preacher has an infinite advantage over other men. VII. FELIX WAS PROCRASTINATING (ver. 25). It was not a rude dismissal; there was a longing for the very whip that scourged him. The procrastinating man is in every Church. He dose not mean to give it up; he says, "I will return in the evening." Conclusion: In Felix I see that double action which is so characteristic of every man, which excites the observer, and indeed, excites the subject himself. Sometimes the good is uppermost, and then the bad, and then again the good; and we say, looking on, "Which will win?" Let us this day, in God's strength, so act as to give joy in the presence of the angels of God over many a sinner that repenteth. Left to ourselves, the struggle can only go one way; aided by Christ, it is still a struggle, but a struggle that must end in victory. (J. Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. |
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