Atos 24

Atos 24

Spurgeon - Thou sayest, ‘Another time.’ How knowest thou that thou wilt ever feel again as thou feelest now? This morning, perhaps a voice is saying in thy heart, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’ Tomorrow that voice will be hushed. The gaieties of the ball-room and the theatre will put out that voice that warns thee now, and perhaps thou wilt never hear it again. Men all have their warnings, and all men who perish have had a last warning. Perhaps this is your last warning.” God today is pulling the reigns tight to check you from your lust; perhaps, if to-day you spurn the bit, and rush madly on, he will throw the reigns upon your back, saying, ‘Let him alone;’ and then it is a dark steeple-chase between hell and earth, and you will run it in mad confusion, never thinking of a hell till you find yourself past warning, past repentance, past faith, past hope.” DON'T CALL ME I'LL CALL YOU! Charles Swindoll quips "Note Felix’s key phrase, the battle cry of the procrastinator: “when I find time.” Will summon (3333)(metakaleo from metá = change of place or condition + kaléo = to call) means to call from one place to another. In the middle voice (reflexive) the idea Felix would personally summon Paul to himself. Used twice in the Septuagint (Lxx) Hosea 11:1, 2. Summon implies the exercise of authority and the sense of a demand, not just a suggestion. Metakaleo - called(1), invite(1), invited(1), summon(1). Acts 7:14; Acts 10:32; Acts 20:17; Acts 24:25 Larkin insightfully writes "Felix uses procrastination to stay in control of his own destiny. He will determine when and to what extent these matters are considered in the future. How often does fear hide behind a busy schedule? How many have fooled themselves into thinking that by not deciding they have truly "kept all the options open" and at a convenient time in the future they will give the claims of Christ the serious attention they deserve? Actually indecision is a decision--a choice to remain where we are, outside God's saving grace, with the condemnation of the judgment to come our only prospect (Jn 3:18, 36). (IVP Commentary) Felix the Prototypical Procrastinator - Procrastination: to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done; to put off doing something until later; to keep delaying something that must be done. A procrastinator is a person that puts off tomorrow what needs to be done today Wikipedia - Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline.[1] It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing it might have negative consequences.[2] It is a common human experience involving delay in everyday chores or even putting off salient tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner. Jack Andrews - Having an emotional experience at church is not what saves a person. Being under conviction is not salvation! Felix was under conviction and was terrified. Felix responded wrongly—he procrastinated—he put off for tomorrow what he could have and should have done right then! When God is dealing with your soul it is then the time to get right—we should not procrastinate. We should not say to ourselves that I will go home and think about it—I will take care of that later! Edward Young said, “Procrastination is the thief of time.” An English proverb states: One of these days is none of these days. Warren