Title Undetermined Life / Acts 24-24-27
Contents
If you go to any company or government office, there is a filing cabinet on the desk of a person in charge such as a manager or a manager, and there are two types of records. One is ‘undefective’, which contains documents that have not been processed, and the other is defective, which contains documents that have already been paid. As soon as the person in charge goes to work, he or she should review the documents that are still open, and order the corrections to be made and the changes to be made.
It's the same with how people live. It means to live life by dealing with the pile of problems that we ought to solve one by one and moving them from undefective to defective. People who do a lot of these things are called people who work a lot, people who do little are called people who do little, and people who do not do much are called people who do nothing. And a person who can't do anything can be called an 'unfinished life' in other words.
In today's text, the story of Governor Felix who is presiding in Caesarea is found. This man is an unsolved life. It should be a beneficial time for us to examine ourselves as we meditate on the Word today. Then why did he end up with an indefinite life?
1. It is because the task entrusted by the state is left unsolved.
Felix was the governor of Caesarea, sent by the Roman Empire. If so, then the governor's duty is to be faithful to the work he has been assigned to do. One of the governor's duties is to judge. In other words, we need to set up a discipline so that honest people are not unfairly harmed while preventing the tyranny of the wicked by dealing with cases accusing people fairly and quickly.
However, Felix abandoned his duties as governor. In other words, although Paul was imprisoned on account of the Jews, he put Paul's trial on hold for two years until he resigned as governor, and then left the place pending. This cannot but be his great mistake. Because the state did not carry out the duties entrusted to it.
Why didn't Felix do his job? There are several reasons why people are not very good at taking on heavy responsibilities.
The first is that it is incompetent.
He likes to fight and covets a big place, but because he doesn't have the ability to handle it, he can't fulfill his responsibilities and only pollutes his seat.
You should be careful not to commit such a shameful thing by greedy for seats without knowing your own fraction.
Second, it is indecisive.
A person who doesn't intend to work on his own, only looks at other people's eyes and meets their feelings, will not do anything.
Felix was not only incompetent, but also indecisive. Therefore, the trial of Paul the Child Pile was postponed to only look at the Jews.
Third, because it is selfish and computational.
Instead of trying to promote the public interest by doing things properly, they pursue only their own interests, and they fail to do what they ought to do.
In other words, he thought that if Paul was judged, his innocence would be found, and if found not guilty, he would have to release Paul, and if he released Paul, the Jews would be offended, and as a result there would be nothing to his advantage The trial, which should have already been completed, had been postponed until today.
Therefore, everyone should strive to faithfully carry out the duties entrusted to me by the family, work, society, and the church. So, in this aspect, you have to make sure that your life is not unfinished.
2. Because he left the repentance commanded by his conscience open.
Felix had put Paul on hold for the past two years, but often called for an interview with Paul. Because it had two ambitions.
The first was to please his wife Durusilla Silas, and the second was to see if Paul could give him money or valuables.
Paul, who sees through this black heart, deliberately gave a sermon on righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come whenever he met the Bellis couple. Felix was an immoral man who had already married the third woman, Drusilla, after two women. In other words, he fell in love with the beauty of Drusilla, the wife of King Aziz of Emensa, and succeeded in seducing Drusilla by bribing Simon, a magician from Guburo.
Dursilla was the same. She is the daughter of Herod Agrippa I, who murdered the Apostle James, and married her second husband, Aziz. It was a woman. Therefore, these couples were equally intemperate, licentious, and unrighteous people.
However, he was also very greedy for water and had a habit of secretly coveting bribes.
‘Felix’ was originally a slave and became a free man thanks to his older brother ‘Fala’, who was loved by Nero. After that, he became a governor. He should have thought that he would be satisfied with his situation, but greed made him forget the fraction.
Therefore, Paul emphasized righteousness, temperance, and judgment in order for the couple to repent. They must have had a remorse of conscience as they listened to Paul's sermons. And you may have heard the command of your conscience calling for repentance. However, he shunned repentance and stayed away from Paul by saying, “Go to the ten directions, and I will call you again when there is time.” So even repentance was put on hold.
Why do people withhold repentance while listening to the dictates of their conscience?
First, because of the guts that I am not the only sinner; second, because of despair that the sins are too great to repent and the time is already too late; It is because of the shallow scheme of trying to find out if there is any other way, and fifthly, because no one can hear anyone because of pride.
But only in repentance, as Sexpeare said, 'A postponement leads to a dangerous end', which is very meaningful.
Therefore, if you have any remorse and hear the cry of your conscience calling for repentance, do not put it off until tomorrow. Because it is easy to leave repentance open forever if done wrong.
3. It is because they have left unanswered until the final repentance.
According to the custom at the time, when the governor took office, a model prisoner was specially appointed and released. Therefore, although it was late, Felix had one last chance to release Paul even now. But Felix was never mentioned in the Bible again after he left the governorship, leaving this last chance undefeated.
The Jews accused Felix of liking bribes, but of being incompetent in his administration and cruel in his treatment, and so Felix was summoned to Rome. Felix, who was dismissed, fortunately escaped death thanks to his older brother, but Felix, who was dismissed from the position of governor, lived a humble life in the future, leaving his life unsolved and leaving forever, so his life became an unsolved life.
Unfinished life, this is the epitome of a failure life. Humans never came to this world to be idyllic, nor were they born on this earth as a tourist. It was born with a mission as a premise. Therefore, if a person does not deal with any of the things that need to be done or the problems that need to be dealt with and leaves unfinished business, he is not able to say that it is a life of failure.
So don't be like Felix. In order not to be like Felix, you need to pay special attention to the following three points:
First, you must do your job well as a member of the family.
In order to do well in the duties that society has entrusted to me, I must first fulfill my duties to my family well. Husbands lead their wives, wives lead their husbands, parents lead their children, and children lead their parents to Jesus.
If a Christian truly believes in judgment and the afterlife, he will have to lead my beloved family to Jesus first. In this regard, it should not be an open life, but a successful life.
Second, we must not delay repentance.
As S. Smiles said, people do not put off until tomorrow what they are going to eat today, but they do well to put off until tomorrow what should be done today. Don't put off today's work until tomorrow. This should be especially true of repentance.
Have you ever heard a command from your conscience calling you to repent? Never think of putting it off until tomorrow. You must obey now.
Otherwise, you will be eternally unhappy with an eternal unfinished life.
Third, we must not ignore our last chance.
In 2 Corinthians 13:5 it says, “Examine yourselves, whether ye are in the faith, and prove yourselves, do you not know for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, otherwise you are rejected.”
What is the answer? If the answer is no, this is the last chance for a fresh start, so you should grab it and start it quickly.
Dear saints,
In order to live as a successful person of Christ like the apostle Paul, not as an unfinished life like Felix, we must not miss the opportunity given to us. When we hear a message urging us to carry out our mission, please do not delay our responsibilities and act immediately. Even when you hear the voice of your conscience calling for repentance, do not delay and repent immediately. Even when we hear a voice calling for obedience, we must obey immediately like Abraham. So, like the Apostle Paul, I pray in the name of the Lord that you may receive praise and rewards for doing well when you stand before the Lord by living a successful life.