All of us have seen warning signs. These indicators tell us to be alert about potential dangers nearby. God desires that everyone be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So, He includes warning signs in His word, the bible, which help us avoid fatal, spiritual dangers. In Acts 24, the apostle Paul spoke about faith in Christ Jesus to a man named Felix. Paul “reasoned about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come”. However, Felix did not believe Paul’s gospel message. If we look carefully, Felix will act as a brightly coloured warning sign about pits into which people fall while listening to sermons.
Felix fell into the pit of not wanting to listen to difficult truths. We all want to hear nice things. We want to hear good news not bad news. So, often times when we hear truths we don’t like, we simply switch off our brain. Felix told Paul to “go away” and many people say the same thing to the reality of sin, God’s holiness or the doctrine of hell. Felix warns us of the danger of ignoring difficult biblical truth.
Second, Felix fell into the pit of listening to Paul in order to get money from him. We read that, “[Felix] hoped that money would be given him by Paul [;] so he sent for him often and conversed with him”. Many people go to church today for the same reasons. They go because they think that God will bless them financially if He sees them at church. Others believe that they’ll always have good health or their prayers for a job promotion will be answered as long as they physically attend a worship service. No wonder Felix was never saved! He didn’t want to be. He wanted treasure on earth not treasure in heaven. Felix warns us that it is possible to listen to preaching for the wrong reasons.
Third, Felix fell into the pit of thinking that he could be saved any time he wanted. We read that “when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus”. This means that after two years, God took away Felix’s opportunity to hear the gospel. We do not know when we will die. We do not know when we will hear our last sermon about Christ. We must believe in Christ today while salvation is near! We must not keep putting off a decision about eternal life. Who knows when that opportunity will be gone? Felix warns us that salvation will not always be ours to have.
Perhaps you didn’t realise that listening to a sermon could be so dangerous. How do we respond when someone preaches the gospel to us? Do we pay attention…even to the parts that we don’t like? Do we listen in order to know how to love Christ and serve him or do we listen for some personal material benefit? Do we listen eagerly…knowing that we must soon appear before Christ in judgment? Be alert. Look at the warning sign named Felix and trust in Christ today for the forgiveness of all of your sins.
— Allen Beardmore