Saturday, May 16, 2015

Footsteps of Paul: Felix Trembles

And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul,
and to let him have liberty,
and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.
And after certain days,
when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess,
he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

And 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.

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.
But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room:
and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
Acts 24:23-27
"So violent and cruel had been the course of Felix that few had ever before dared even to intimate to him that his character and conduct were not faultless. But Paul had no fear of man. He plainly declared his faith in Christ, and the reasons for that faith, and was thus led to speak particularly of those virtues essential to Christian character, but of which the haughty pair before him were so strikingly destitute. He held up before Felix and Drusilla the character of God--His righteousness, justice, and equity, and the nature of His law. He clearly showed that it is man's duty to live a life of sobriety and temperance, keeping the passions under the control of reason, in conformity to God's law, and preserving the physical and mental powers in a healthy condition." Acts of the Apostles p.423 E.G.W.