Acts 24:22

Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered, "Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do more cheerfully answer for myself. You may ascertain that it was no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship, and they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting a crowd, neither in the synagogues nor in the city. Nor can they prove the things which they now accuse me of.

But this I confess: according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the Law and the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

Now, after many years, I came up to bring alms and offerings to my nation, in the midst of which some of the Jews of Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with any uproar. They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. Or else those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council, unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, concerning the resurrection of the dead. I am being judged by you this day.

When Felix, the governor, heard these things, having a more accurate knowledge of the way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, "When Lysias, the commander there in Jerusalem, comes down, I will make a decision on your case." He commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty. He told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for him or visit him.

After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. As Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, "Go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I'll call for you." Meanwhile, he also hoped that money would be given to him by Paul.

By Paul, that he might release him. Therefore, he sent for him more often and conversed with him. But after two years, Festus succeeded Felix, and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.

Lord, as we stand here today, we ask that You would direct us, just as Jesus promised that You would do. Give us the Spirit of truth, who would guide us in all truth and teach us all things. Lord, we accept that Your word is useful for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that we, who are Your people, would be ready for good works—the good things that You prepared beforehand that we should walk in.

So God, as we stand here today, as we sit to study Your word in a moment, would You, by Your Spirit and by Your living word, transform us? Lord, make it possible for us to be bright, shining lights in a dark world as we go about our week this week. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

But when Felix heard these things—the testimony that Paul now brings and gives before him there in Caesarea in about the year fifty-eight A.D.—after hearing from the Jewish leaders, the high priest, the Sanhedrin, and their chief counsel, a very good orator, it says he had a more accurate knowledge of the way. He adjourned the proceedings and said, "When Lysias, the commander, comes down, I will make a decision on your case."

Paul, in verse fourteen, as he was giving his declaration before the governor Felix, acknowledged and even confessed. In a courtroom scenario, when the defendant stands up and says, "I confess," you can be certain that everybody in the room went, "Oh, what's he going to say?" He said there, "I confess that according to the way which they call a sect in Judaism, I worship the God of my fathers." Many early Christians, especially in Judea, acknowledged or at least professed that they...

Were followers of the Way. We believe in some way that this was connected to the words that Jesus spoke in John chapter fourteen, verse six, when he said to his disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me." The Jewish individuals of the city of Jerusalem and the region of Judea labeled them Nazarenes. They said they were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Yet Paul and other apostles, other followers of Jesus, said, "We are followers of the Way," according to the way which they called a sect.

So I worship the God of my fathers. When Felix heard this, it says he had a more accurate knowledge of the Way. He adjourned the proceedings, which is interesting. It raises some questions, because how did Felix, this Roman man—history tells us he was a Roman freedman, which means he was formerly a slave—come to have this knowledge? Somehow, because of something he did, he and his twin brother were freed. Not only were they freed, but they were given a position, perhaps as slaves. They served in some capacity within the Roman Empire and earned a name for themselves to the point that he was set free and changed his name. His name was not originally Felix, but here this Roman former slave, now becomes the governor of the region of Judea. It’s a pretty phenomenal story, if you ask me.

He changed his name to Felix, and as he was in that region of Judea, he began to serve as governor around AD 52. He served from AD 52 until right around AD 58 to 60; historians don't know for certain. But here, this Roman former slave had an accurate knowledge of the Way, having a substantial understanding of the things related to Jesus of Nazareth and those who followed him, saying, "We are followers of the Way." The New Living Translation translates it this way: "Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way."

You wonder, how did this Roman former slave, now governor of Judea, become quite familiar with the Way? Somehow, in some way, he knew a substantial amount about the things of Jesus of Nazareth and about the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Maybe it had something to do with his wife, Drusilla, who we are told in this passage was a Jewish woman. History has some interesting things to say about Felix and Drusilla, which we will consider as we go through this text today.

One of the key things to note about this woman, Drusilla, is that she was in her early twenties, possibly around 20 years old at this point in time. She was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. This may not seem significant if you are not a student of the Bible, but King Herod is a well-known figure. In fact, there were many King Herods, as the family of Herod continued to rule in Judea for a very long time.

Drusilla is specifically the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I, who is mentioned in the Book of Acts. He appears in Acts chapter 12. If you turn there, you will find a very interesting event that took place in Acts chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. This passage tells us that Herod, Drusilla's father, began to harass some members of the church when she was only six years old. This was around the year 44 A.D., and since she was born in 38 A.D., she was in Jerusalem with her family at that time.

In Acts chapter 12, verse 1, we learn that King Herod Agrippa I began to harass the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, those who were known as followers of the Way. Verse 2 reveals that he went so far as to take hold of James, the brother of John. You may remember James and John as fishermen from Galilee; their father was Zebedee. They were in close relationship with Jesus and were part of His core group, which included Peter, James, and John.

In Jerusalem, King Herod laid hands on James and had him put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded further. Picture this: Drusilla, at six years old, is in Jerusalem. Her father is the king over the region of Judea, and there is a group of people within Judaism—followers of Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimers of the Way. One of them, James, apparently became a thorn in Herod's side. Herod had him killed, and the people he ruled were pleased with this action. In fact, it was politically advantageous for him, so he thought, "If I kill these individuals..."

Followers of the Way, the people that Herod was ruling, liked him better. So, he decided to proceed further and seized Peter, the apparent leader of this group of followers and proclaimers of the Way in Jerusalem. Drusilla was six years old at the time and was privy to these sorts of things.

He captured Peter and put him in prison. Acts chapter 12 tells us that in the middle of the night, while Peter was bound in prison, an angel of God showed up and actually had to poke him to wake him up. "Hey, Peter, wake up." Peter woke up, and the angel said, "Come on, we're out of here." God miraculously sprang Peter from jail, and after he was freed from that cell, he went into hiding, as Acts chapter 12 tells us.

The next morning, when Herod sent for word to bring Peter, he was probably going to have a very public execution because this polled really well. Word came back to him saying, "Hey, Peter's gone." Herod was so mad that he sent a search party to try and find Peter. They couldn't find him, so he brought the guards who were watching over him and had them publicly executed because they didn't do a very good job.

Then, Acts chapter 12 tells us that Herod went back down to his seaside home in Caesarea. If you go with us to Jerusalem, we will visit the ruins of Herod's palace in that area of Caesarea, which is absolutely beautiful. Acts 12 goes on to say that on a certain day after those events—after he killed James, after he began to harass the Christians, and after he sought to persecute Peter—he put on his royal garb, his good-looking clothes, and went out before the people of Caesarea. He sat down to give a great speech, and they were all there anticipating it. While he was sitting before them, they were chanting, "It's the voice of a God and not a man."

In that moment, the Bible says that an angel from heaven came down and struck him, and he died. He died not long after that moment, for blaspheming God, for harassing the church of Jesus Christ, and for persecuting those followers of the Way. I wonder how that must have impacted or affected young six-year-old Drusilla. You see, she had some knowledge of the Way.

She knew something about these things. So, on this day, a number of years later—14 years later—when she was married to Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, maybe it was that Felix came home after a long day at work. He walked in the door, and Drusilla asked, "How was work today, dear?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. The high priest came down from Jerusalem with some of the members of the Sanhedrin. They came again. They've got some guy that they've got a problem with. His name's Saul of Tarsus. He's one of those followers of the Way. You know, that old thing you used to tell me about."

"Really? A follower of the Way, you say? I think I'd like to hear from him."

We are told in this passage of Scripture that on a certain day, not many days after that, Felix called Paul in for a private hearing—a sidebar, if you will. This was not part of the normal proceedings of the hearing. It had nothing to do with what he was being charged with by the Jewish Sanhedrin, but he wanted to know more about the Way.

Point number one on your sermon guide, if you have it handy in your bulletin: you can be acquainted with the Way and not know the Way, capital W-A-Y. You can be well acquainted with, familiar with the Way, and not actually know the Way. You can have family members who are followers of Jesus. You can even attend a church and hear teaching on the Scriptures. You can be content and satisfied with your understanding and knowledge of these things, and yet not actually know the Way.

You see, the Way is not just a body of information. The Way is not just a thing; the Way is a person. In John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said, "I am the Way." You can know followers of Jesus. You can know how they live and what they believe. You can have some sayings of Jesus even filed away in your memory banks. You may even have an accurate picture of some of the things that took place in His life, but at the end of the day, that's not sufficient. You can know all of those things and yet not know Him.

Felix didn't know Jesus. He knew about Him, but he didn't know Jesus. However, he apparently felt comfortable with his knowledge about these things. So, as verse 23 of Acts 24 says, he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty.

Paul could go in and out of the Roman praetorium in Caesarea. He had access to leave, but he was not allowed to leave the city of Caesarea because his trial still stood. He had one of those first-century ankle bracelets on to ensure he didn't escape. However, his friends, co-laborers, and companions were given the opportunity to visit him and provide for him.

Felix was comfortable and happy with his familiarity with the Way. Interestingly, his name, Felix, which he chose for himself after being set free as a former slave, means "happy." So, you could literally call him Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy was content with his position, and he commanded that this follower of the Way, Paul, be held loosely at liberty until he could hear from Commander Lysias. Felix wanted Lysias to come down and share his perspective on what was happening with Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle, while he was in Jerusalem. However, after some days, Lysias never came down to share his views with Felix.

In verse 24, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith of Jesus. Felix and Drusilla knew some things about the Way, but they wanted to hear what Paul had to say about it. They were particularly interested in hearing about the faith that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, which is what the followers of the Way were proclaiming. They expressed their desire to hear Paul speak privately.

As they gathered together, they likely sat Paul down in their own home. It may have just been Felix, Drusilla, and Paul, perhaps with some of Paul's companions, like Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, who was with Paul during his time in Caesarea. Maybe Timothy was there as well. You can envision them gathered together, not in a formal courtroom hearing, but seated in their Roman home in the city of Caesarea to discuss the faith of Jesus.

Felix and Drusilla made it clear to Paul that they did not want to hear about the case or what had happened in Jerusalem. Instead, they wanted to hear about Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul believed to be the Messiah. Paul then began to answer them, as noted in verse 25.

Now, as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment that is to come, we see the perfect three-point sermon. The Greek word for "reasoned" here is "dialegamai," from which we get our word "dialogue." As Paul sits down and speaks back and forth with these two individuals—Drusilla, a Jewish young lady who history tells us was ravishingly beautiful, and a former Roman slave who had risen through the ranks to become the governor of Judea—it seems like the perfect opportunity. They wanted him to share with them about the faith of Jesus Christ.

Paul agreed, saying he wanted to dialogue with them about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment that is to come. It was light dinner conversation: righteousness, self-control, and the judgment that is to come. In fact, we are further told in Acts 24:26, just a few verses later, that this was not a one-time meeting. It seems that Felix heard from Paul a number of times over the next two years. He conversed with him often, even though his motive in conversing with him was not pure. Felix wanted to solicit a bribe from the Apostle Paul in exchange for his release. His typical approach to leadership in Judea was to say, "Give me some money, and I'll let you go."

This was the first meeting of many that would occur over the next two-year period, as Paul sat in limbo, waiting in the praetorium in the Roman city of Judea called Caesarea. So, Paul, Felix, and Drusilla sat down to speak about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment that is to come. Paul acknowledged that Felix would likely prefer to hear about Jesus of Nazareth, but he wanted to talk to him for a moment about righteousness.

The reality is that Felix and Drusilla were not righteous people. However, that is not saying much, because as we sit here today, none of us are. We know from Romans 3:10, a verse that Paul penned just a short time before he would have sat with Drusilla and Felix, that there is none righteous, no, not one. We all have fallen short of the glory of God.

We all have sinned, and so there is none righteous, no, not one. But for this couple sitting before Paul, it was manifestly evident that they were not righteous. How so? Well, again, history helps us here. Drusilla was Felix's second wife. She became his wife when she was only about 15 years old, and he was in his early 40s. This was the talk of the town, no doubt.

Felix was not Drusilla's first husband; she had been married at a young age to someone with whom she apparently did not have a great relationship. At just 15 years old, she left her husband for Felix, who was captivated by her amazing beauty. He found a way to seduce her using a magician from the island of Cyprus named Simon. Simon helped him persuade her to leave her Jewish husband and marry a pagan governor of Rome. And she did.

Now, a number of years later, they married around 53 AD. This was about 58 or 59 AD when these events were happening in the city of Caesarea. They had been married for a period of time, and Drusilla was now in her very early 20s. There they sat before Paul, and he said, "I want to talk about righteousness. I want to talk about doing the right thing. Not just doing the right thing; I want to talk about self-control," which apparently they were lacking.

Don't you just love the Apostle Paul? He went right for it here. Every single one of us sitting here today has had an experience similar to this before. Maybe it's with a family member, a co-worker, a neighbor, or someone we are sitting down with for a meal—someone we know is living in an open, immoral lifestyle. Yet, as we sit with them, the elephant in the room is their sin, their unrighteousness, their lack of self-control, and we are so tempted to tiptoe around it. "Oh, isn't the weather so nice today?"

We can all identify with this in some way, but not the Apostle Paul. He went right for it. "Yep, I know that you guys are the talk of the town. Yes, I know, Felix, you seduced this young, beautiful lady to be your wife and to leave her husband."

I know you're an adulterer. I recognize that you're cruel in your leadership, cavalier in your personality, and carnal in your morality. I acknowledge that this is the case.

As we sit down today, and you want me to tell you a little bit about Jesus, let me start just a few pages before the whole story about Jesus coming and dying on a cross. Let's talk about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.

Previously, Felix had heard the prisoner Paul standing before him just a few days before, as he declared to Felix, the chief priest, the Sanhedrin, and their chief orator, Tertullus. Paul stood there and said, "These people that are trying me, these people that are accusing me, we believe the same thing. We accept that there will be a resurrection." In Acts 24, verse 15, it states that there will be a resurrection of the dead. There is coming a day when all of us will die, but there will be something that comes after that—a resurrection of, as Paul says, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous. That day will come.

This being so, Paul says in verse 16 of Acts chapter 24, "Because I believe that there is coming a day when the just and the unjust will stand before God after this life, I myself always strive to have a conscience that is pure before God and man."

When Paul said those words in that room, the religious leaders, the chief priest, and the Sanhedrin probably all thought, "Yeah, we believe in a coming resurrection. We have a pure conscience before men as well." Religiously, they lived a good life. However, for that Roman governor sitting on the seat there in Caesarea, when Paul said, "I strive to live with a pure conscience before God and men," that man had no pure conscience whatsoever.

Now, Paul sits down with him a few days later and says, "I want to talk with you about righteousness, self-control, and the fact that there is a coming judgment." There is a day coming when the just and the unjust will appear before God, essentially asking this man, "Are you ready for that?"

But Felix and Drusilla knew nothing about righteousness and self-control. If we're honest today and willing to accurately look at ourselves in the mirror of God's Word, we would say that we also are lacking in these areas. Apart from God, we would have no righteousness. Apart from Him working in us, we would have no self-control. The Bible says that you and I, as Christians and followers of Jesus, have been clothed in a righteousness that is not our own. We could not stand before God in our own good works because we would be obliterated for our sinfulness.

Yet, as 2 Corinthians 5 tells us, Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ. As we are clothed in Him, we have His righteousness upon us. Therefore, if we look at ourselves introspectively or in the mirror of God's Word, we must acknowledge that we do not possess any righteousness. We trust in and hope for His righteousness accounted to us.

From the earliest times, we have seen this truth. Back in Genesis 15, verse 6, it states that Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. However, it is not just righteousness that we lack; we also lack self-control. The fact is, none of us, in and of ourselves and in our fallen state, have any self-control. We are at the total whim of our bodily desires and appetites, always led about as slaves to those things.

Paul says in the book of Romans that if it were not for the work of the Spirit of God in our lives, we would have no self-control. How do we know this? Galatians 5 tells us that one of the fruits of the Spirit, one of the evidences of God's Spirit being in us, is self-control.

So, Paul says to Felix and Drusilla, "I want to talk with you about righteousness. I want to talk with you about self-control." This is important because he needs to discuss the coming judgment.

Point number two on your outline: You can hear the truth of the Word and not know the Word of Truth. John's Gospel informs us in the opening verses, John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, that Jesus is the Word of God. He is the Logos of God. In John chapter 1, verse 14, it says...

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Not only is Jesus the Word, but John chapter 14, verse 6 says He is the way and the truth. You can know about these things that are written in the Bible. You can even hear them preached week in and week out, as Felix did, because he had an expert preacher by the name of Paul the Apostle. The guy who wrote Romans, the guy who wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus—go down the list. The guy who wrote all of these was Felix's personal pastor for two years.

You can know and hear the truth, but never come to an actual relationship and experiential knowledge of the Word and truth that is Jesus. Paul sat down with Felix and Drusilla, and he wrapped up the truth about righteousness and self-control, putting a beautiful bow on top of it about the judgment that is to come. What was Felix's response? What was his reaction? It says Felix was afraid. He answered, "Go away for now, and when I have a convenient time, I will call for you."

This teaches us, point number three on your outline: you can be afraid of God and not fear the Lord. The fact is, there are a lot of people in churches all over this nation and throughout the world who are afraid of God. In fact, that's one of the reasons that compels them to want to go to church. They think, "If I go to church, maybe I'll appease Him, so that on that day when I stand before Him, everything will be okay," because they are afraid to stand before a holy God.

Eighty-one percent of Americans, as I said last week and a couple of weeks before that, polled in 2003, said they believe that there is some life after this. They believe in something called the resurrection. Many of those 81% of Americans who say they believe in these things are actually afraid of God. As Paul talked about the coming day of judgment,

Felix, a former slave who had pulled himself up to great privilege and position, was a carnal man, lacking righteousness and self-control. When he hears about the coming judgment that awaits in the next life, he becomes afraid. Yet, his fear does not compel him to bend the knee in reverence toward the Lord Jesus Christ. He says to Paul, "Go away. When I have a convenient time, I'll call for you to finish this hearing." Consequently, Paul is taken from the proceeding.

You see number four on your outline? You can be the judge of a nation, but you will one day be judged. Our privileged position in this life will matter very little when we stand before God on that day of judgment. You can be in an awesome position; you can have moved through the ranks of success, from being at the bottom of the barrel as a slave in the Roman Empire to being at the top as the governor of Judea. Yet, on the day of Christ Jesus, when you stand before Him, even if you held that position your entire life, it will be meaningless.

Here, Felix, the judge of the nation of the Jews in the region of Judea, had power and authority over them. With his word, one's life could be taken. He hears from Paul, a representative of the Judge of judges, who gives testimony about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. Felix is fearful and tells Paul to go away, saying, "When I have a convenient time, I'll call for you."

As far as we can tell from both the Scriptures and his own testimony, a convenient time never came for Felix or for Drusilla. In fact, we are told in the last verse of this chapter that Paul was kept as a captive in Caesarea for two years until Felix was replaced by Festus, another governor who would come. Paul, in our next passage of Scripture, will appear before Festus.

But we're not told the details of that. The details are actually filled in by secular history, which tells us that the Roman Emperor Nero had heard so much bad news about this guy Felix and his terrible leadership over Judea that about two years after his initial meeting with the Apostle Paul, he was removed from his post. He was recalled to Rome to stand trial before Nero, an earthly judge.

We are told in the last verse that he didn't release Paul because he wanted to procure the favor of the Jews. Why did he want to do that? Well, he knew that he had treated the Jews of Judea in a terrible way. Now, he was going to stand before the Roman Emperor Nero, hoping that maybe he would get a good testimony from these individuals, despite not ruling well for about eight years. So, he decided it was politically advantageous to keep Paul in prison, even though Paul had done nothing wrong.

A convenient time never came for his wife, Drusilla. Almost exactly 20 years after this meeting with the Apostle Paul, where he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, secular history records that Drusilla, now in her 40s, was at a gala in an Italian city with her son. It was there, on August 24, 79 AD, that Drusilla was one of only three individuals named who were in the city of Pompeii on the day a rumbling was felt from a great volcano called Mount Vesuvius.

She, along with hundreds of other people, was encapsulated in a pyroclastic blast of ash and superheated gas, frozen in time. You can see the pictures of the casts that have been made of the people who were frozen. One of those is Drusilla, literally. A convenient time never came.

For a period of time, she and her husband had a private meeting with the Apostle who penned the Gospel of Grace, the Book of Romans. Yet, it seems as though they only stopped at the fear of God, afraid of standing before Him one day, and never really had a chance to go deeper.

To do what they ought to have done, we must recognize that we are not always presented with convenient times. There are plenty of people who go to churches and never really bend the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They may be looking for a future time, thinking, "I'm not quite ready yet. I'll wait for a convenient time," but the convenient time never comes.

This story challenges us with four important realities. First, we can be well acquainted with the way. We can know a lot about the Bible and yet never know Jesus. Secondly, we can hear the truth of the Word of God week in and week out from an expert orator like Paul. I am not equating myself to him, but we can hear it constantly preached to us and yet never fully come to the place where we know the Word of truth, Jesus Christ.

We can be afraid of God and never bend the knee in reverence towards Him, acknowledging Him as Lord. Lastly, we can hold a privileged position in this life, and yet that won't matter much on the day of judgment. I realize this is not your typical Mother's Day message, but I think it's an important thing for us to hear.

Perhaps today you realize that you don't actually know the way, the truth, and the life. You know about it; you might have even memorized that verse. However, the words that precede it, where Jesus tells His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled," resonate with you. You might say today, "My heart is troubled." But Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will return one day to receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

One of His disciples said, "Lord, we don't know what you're talking about. Where are you going?" Jesus replied, "You know where I'm going, and you know the way." Thomas said, "We don't know the way." Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me."

Perhaps you would say today that you know about these things, but you don't know Him. You don't know Jesus. Maybe you would confess that you're afraid to stand before God as judge one day, but you have not yet bent the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Might I encourage you to do what Drusilla and Felix apparently never did on this day?

So, I'm going to ask Rich and the worship band to come back up. I'm going to ask you to stand with me.

As we close in prayer and conclude with a song, I want to ask you to take a moment to reflect: Have I bent the knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, or am I just afraid to one day meet Him? It may be that today is your convenient time.

Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the opportunity to come before Your Word. Your Word, which is living and powerful, cuts deep. It reveals the thoughts and intents of our hearts—things that we may not expose to others. Your Word lays those things bare and open before You, the one to whom we will one day give an account.

So, Lord, I pray that as we stand here, if there is anyone in that place who realizes and acknowledges for the first time that they know about who You are but do not know You personally, that they have never entered into a relationship with You or asked You to be their Lord, would You draw them by Your Spirit?