Acts 24:25 ... "And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, 'Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you.'"
After Paul's arrest in the Temple and the aborted hearing before the Sanhedrin the following day, he was transported by the Romans to Caesarea. Five days later a Jewish delegation came down to place formal charges against Paul. The apostle defended himself well against this inimical group with the result that Felix, the Roman governor, postponed any decision until the centurion from Jerusalem should come and give testimony about what had happened in the Temple. Paul was then placed under the guard of a Roman officer, but allowed the privilege of receiving visitors. Several days later, Felix and his wife Drusilla decided to hold a private hearing with Paul.
When Paul was brought before this couple and permitted to speak, he "discussed righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come." It is significant that, rather than attend to the needs of his own personal security, the apostle turned his attention to the spiritual needs of the pair who sat before him. He directed his words to the matter of righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come. His words hit home, for there was nothing Felix and Drusilla needed more to hear and consider than these grave matters. They were quite devoid of righteousness and self-control; in fact, their conduct had been a public spectacle of the opposite. He was completely unscrupulous and willing to hire thugs to murder his closest supporters if they displeased him. Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa, the king who had beheaded the apostle James and imprisoned Peter, was first married to the King of Emesa, but had yielded to the seduction of Felix to forsake her husband to marry him. This couple became very uncomfortable as they listened to Paul's pertinent message, especially when he related everything to the final accountability in the judgment.
When the inner tension became so great he either had to repent or cancel this disturbing meeting, Felix chose the latter. At once he exclaimed, "Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you." What a frightful decision this was that Felix made, for there is no record that he ever obeyed the gospel of Christ and obtained release from his lifetime of sin. The more convenient time that he supposed he would have never came to him or his wife. This ancient politician is a prototype of the countless individuals who have come face to face with God's will for human life, and seeing it is contrary to what they enjoy and desire, decide they will turn away from the moment of truth to find what they think is comfort in the deception of sin.
Because of the hardening effect of sin, (Heb. 3:13), it is dangerous to circumvent the opportunity to become a Christian. The growth and influence of sin in the heart will make it less sensitive to the appeal of the gospel and less likely to renounce that sin in submission to Christ's call. The "more convenient time" to obey the gospel is the first occasion when your heart indicts you as guilty and challenges you to seek redemption. Thus we are told in II Cor. 6:2, "Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation."
