Procrastination

Have your Bibles with you today. Won't you truthfully if you would acts chapter 24 will go to be looking at verses 24 and 25 a promise you we will be back on the life of David next week with the Lord has been deal in my heart about the subject and I wanted to do. I wanted to preach this today, so bear with me.

Acts chapter 24 starting verse 24. After some days Felix came with his wife Priscilla, who was Jewish and he sent for Paul and heard them speak about faith in Christ Jesus as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control, and the coming judgment. Felix was alarmed, frightened, and said go away for the present I get opportunity.

I will summon that with me as we got our Lord prayer heavenly father.

There many in our congregation. Right now they're suffering with a cousin disease. We pray for Jeff and Annette Brown their sons Tony and Robert pray for Dale and Christine Powell for Barry Bailey's son Zachary.

Pray for Dale that she be with hers and she is ministering to her family only father.

We especially pray for Kim, Rayford and her family today is they have experienced the home-going of Martin. We ask heavenly father that you give to that family peace that passes all understanding. Let them know that Martin is with you and will be with you forever heavenly father I pray that you would have mercy on our world and lift this covert off of us. Heavenly father, you inspired the apostle Paul to say these words that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for approval for correction and instruction in righteousness. Your word is always true and is always relevant to passage it.

We are dealing with today is super relevant. Our culture is hearing the truth. Ignoring and mocking the truth and taking scriptural injunctions to repent and putting them on the back burner their lives is no sense of urgency is no fear of death. No fear of the judgment of God.

We look at Felix today. Help us to see and understand the spiritual lunacy of procrastination in the area of repentance open her eyes to see it. Our sales and open our miles that we might share the truth with others Lord Jesus you are the one who said unless we repent we shall all likewise perish. May we live like we believe that in waiting, may we believe it because you said that is true or announced in the holy and wonderful and precious name of Jesus that we pray. Amen may be seated. I have a question for you today. The answer to that question is found in God's holy word. If God has called us to repent. If God has called us to repent, then, is a dangerous for us to procrastinate. Doesn't matter if we quench the Holy Spirit of God's conviction in our lives here in acts chapter 24, the apostle Paul is been taken into custody by the Roman authorities and the Roman procurator Felix has come to Paul and and is is ready to hear my out and listen to what he has to say and we need to remember that the procurator Felix is a weasel. He stole another man's wife in order to move up the political ladder and now he's decided to hear Paul's case and Paul… This is an opportunity to preach the gospel and what is he doing pages rares back and let's lose verse 25 says that he reason with him but they about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was not expecting that Felix was expecting Paul to plead for mercy and asked to be let out of prison and then he might extort him in and get some money out of nothing. That's not what Paul did Paul preach the gospel and he called Felix to repent and to believe in the Scripture says that when that happened, Felix was alarmed.

Some's translation say it better than that Felix was frightened and he said to Paul, just go away and then I will call you back in a convenient time. People do you see that you see what's going on there as procrastination that is delaying repentance and let me tell you it's dangerous. Felix died not long after this, and he died without Christ. It is terribly unwise to believe that you can come to repentance. Whenever and wherever you decide that's not the truth. You can't and we need to understand that because millions across our world today are doing that very thing. For I went in the ministry.

I worked and associated grocers mutual and had the privilege of starting a Bible study layer like let me do that. During the lunch hour and people would bring their lunch and we'd sit together in a in a big room and and we had this Bible study people eat their lunch first was one guy will never forget instead to bring a bag of lunch each day he brought a large jar of marshmallow cream. I mean the kind that you make chocolate fudge out of and he brought this big jar and a spoon and he'd sit there and eat the whole jar, but while we were having a Bible study. By the end of the study. Such a sugar hobbies talking so loud you could and inside fast he could hardly understand what he had to say but but I was watching this guy and it seemed to me after couple days that he might be under conviction, and so I ask you message. Are you ready to repent and trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and he said I'm not ready for that back couple weeks later you still come into the to the Bible study and I ask you again are you ready European and he said nobody set I made a decision and I said what is that he said I'm to get saved. December 15 and I said what he said yeah I'm going to say December 15 I was six weeks ahead I see what you talking about peace and well, I've got some wild oats to so when I got some see in that I think I might need to enjoy and then when I get that done, then I will get saved I'll get saved on December 15 I said are you nuts I said you don't even know the Jubilee year December 15. Powell of Solomon seven and Psalm 27 verse one, but is not on sale for tomorrow.

For thou knowest not. What a day will bring forth innocent. Besides that, if the spirit of God is working on your hard nail.

You don't know that he will be working on your heart.

Then it is too dangerous for you to do this, he would not listen. December 15 came he came and sat down. He said well I did it I said you did what VA said. I got down on my knees this morning. I asked Jesus to forgive me and save me a seat. Did he said yeah and stayed on for about two more weeks and then he just got up and walked out of the Bible study never came back and wouldn't talk to any of us about why was leaving and went right back to his sinful lifestyle fix most people who delay repentance won't say it exactly like that have the very same mindset hour appeared Sunday, but it will be on my schedule. It will be on my terms, it will be one good and ready. That is deception. I want you know it is under deception because repentance is not something that we work up in the flesh. Repentance is a gift from God and focus is so important that when the Holy Spirit of God is talking on us and showing us our sin and in commanding us to repent that we buy out to that tug and we follow the Lord and we genuinely repent today. I want to look at for dangers of delaying and repentance. Number one is the hardening of the heart and the Scripture that I'm to use. There is Jeremiah 7 verse 25 to 26.

I will read at a moment, but wanted to share with you first. What I think probably the best biblical illustration of a hardened heart that we have in the Scripture, and that is the Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Moses. You can read his story and exit chapter 4 through Exodus chapter 14 and in that story you will see 15 different times that the Scripture says that the Pharaoh's heart was hardened, sometimes this is the Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Sometimes it says that the Lord hardened his heart, so which was it. It was both. It was both.

What does it mean that the Lord hardened his heart. Is it mean that the Lord reached down into his heart forced him to sin and caused him to do evil, absolutely not. It means that when he rejected the conviction of the Holy Spirit that God removed his hand the restraining grace off of him and let him just do what is wicked heart wanted to do a call that passive hardening.

Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 25 to 26. Is this from the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day I persistently set all my servants the prophets to them day after day, yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear but stiff in their neck, they did worse than their fathers. Jeremiah 19 verse 15 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I bring it upon this city and put all its towns all the disaster that I pronounced against it because they have stiff in their neck, refusing to hear my words and then in the New Testament the writer of Hebrews uses Israel as an example of what not to do with your heart and in verses Hebrews 3 verse 7 to 11. He says this therefore is a Holy Spirit sales today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart is in the rebellion.

On the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was provoked with that generation, and said they always go astray in their heart they have not known my ways as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. It is possible to delay repentance so long that your conscience become seared and with the spirit of God begins to try to speak to your conscience, that conscience is so he figured, and so hardened that you you feel nothing going on down in your soul, and a friend of mine's father was an atheist father lived on the Avenue in California.

He lived here and he and his father got cancer. I found out as a very fast spreading cancer and so he said I'm going to California to try to witness to my dad is in the hospital and were given them long to live. So he went to California and he sat down beside the bed with his dad and for two hours he witnessed doing. He shared his testimony with his dad.

He withdrew a gospel presentation going. Verse by verse with his dad. He told him about the glories of heaven in the horrors of hail peach states reminded his daddy said that you got children you got grandchildren that if you die, they will never get to speak to you, ever, ever again.

His father said. I know you don't understand, he said, but I'm an atheist.

I have lived as an atheist and I will die as an atheist, and he said just to be honest with you, had no emotion about this at all.

He said I just don't care. AAA said I just want to die and ended all in his son said to them, dad, you can't ended all for your just going to move from the temporary to the eternal. This man died not long after that he died lost in my friend said I think I better understand what Jesus was talking about 20 feet taught talk about the unforgivable sin and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You can reject Christ over and over and over again and gets so calloused that you come to the point where you don't care about God you don't care about the things of God and you don't even care about your eternal state.

I believe that the vast majority of people in this congregation are true believers going to heaven when they die. I think there's some of you that are here right now some of you here right now that don't know the Lord and you think you do you believe with all your heart, that your saved, but there's never been any genuine repentance. There's never been a true turning to the Lord in faith brothers and sisters.

If the spirit of God is drawing you to Christ convicting you of sin, then by all means quit putting it all and come to know Jesus as your Lord and as your Savior danger number two godly seasons of mercy might pass and may pass the man at my Bible study was under mistaken impression that he can repent on his own schedule.

I want you to know that's untrue.

We are dependent on God. Seasons of mercy a person is not going to repent until God does that work in his heart that drawing work. That's why the that the the drawing of God just can't be ignored and the more they are ignored, the greater the your judgment is going to be in Ecclesiastes 3, King Solomon chaired a very very important concept on the subject of Providence and he said this, there is an appointed time for everything under heaven. A time to be born. A time to die. A time to plant a time to harvest.

A time to build up a time to tear down a time to laugh at a time to cry.

He could have easily added these words time to repent and a time for judgment.

Isaiah said it this way since the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and unrighteous man his thoughts when he returned to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 49 eight thus saith the Lord in a favorable time I've answered you in a day of salvation I have helped you and then it was by hard experience that King David learn the lesson of true repentance.

David had Weiland and unforgiven sin for nine months and finally God so dealt with his heart. David couldn't stand it any longer and he repented genuinely repented and turned from his sin turned of the Lord, and God did such a mighty work in his life. David wrote these words in Psalm 32 verse six therefore let everyone who is godly prey to Vienna time when they'll millions be found in all of life.

There's a time to act and there's a time when it's too late. But that's true. The farmer farmer tries to plan his tomatoes in October and is too late. That's true with the cattlemen cattlemen done collecting and harvest the hay up for his scales during the spring and summer and fall any weights in winter comes and when winter comes, there's about 6 inches of snow on the ground. It seems the cows out. But it's too late. What when there's a repairman whose work work so machinery and he knows that if he gets the machinery in time before there's too much deterioration he can do something at the time can come when it's just too late adopter is the same thing. Dr. Mike treat a person that has cancer and if the transition time. He may be able to operate get rid of it but if the whites too late in the cancer spread all over his body is too late. The apostle Paul was very aware of these this issue with time for it was Paul who said, now is the time of decision today is the day of salvation. Felix was a crook as corrupt a politician as you could ever find that he was an extortion or pay would extort money out of people. He did it so often that Nero finally had to call the man on the carpet in the right said to me if this doesn't stop them have to take you out of office.

He was married to. Agrippa's daughter. She had been married three times before that she was even 20 years old yet. PEA married her stealing her away from another man, Charles Spurgeon said she was a voluptuous woman and she was used to being lusted after.

So what subject is Paul talk about. To these two preachers own righteousness, the need to be perfectly sinless before a holy God, which none of us can do. He talks about a self-control about being very careful with your desires and your appetites and then he moves on to soon certain coming judgment. Felix was afraid Felix knew that his life was filled with sin.

He knew that he never given repentance a second thought before and now Paul is sharing with him that he needs to repent and then he needs to come to the Lord if he doesn't do that it's going to be too late. Paul is calling Felix to repent now.

Please let me know that delaying repentance is definitely God. Seasons of mercy come and go as God sees fit. They can't be anticipated in ordinary fashion. We cannot wait for more auspicious time or shun the still small voice of God as he speaks to our hearts is true for individuals. I think it's also true for churches. Mark Parsons is the pastor of St. Andrews PCA church in Sanford, Florida.

The church at RC Sproul founded pastor for a number of years now Burke Parsons is the pastor they are in that church is a beacon of light to that area of our world today. Great church.

Somebody asked first. Burke Parsons said the church is St. Andrews.

He said it's an ordinary church about that.

He didn't didn't mean that it was a boring church. He met that it was a church that functioned by the ordinary means of grace.

What is that that means this is the primary goal in your church, the, the, the preaching of the word prayer in the administration of the sacraments, which are the Lord's supper and and baptism. He said that's how the church needs to function.

He said we are not about activities.

We are not about programs.

We are about the ordinary means of grace. He said our church is a PCA church who got bad this coming he said we've got Bible church people coming.

They said we've got Dutch reformed people coming and said we got Presbyterians coming and said you asked him why are you coming to this church and their answers this because here we get Bible man when he said that I wanted to just jump up and absolutely shout he went on to explain how so many churches today are letting the culture dictate what they do. The cultures pushing the church to to step away from the gospel and to pre-social justice books the Bible doesn't take social justice. The Bible teaches biblical justice in the end that is so so important. We are not to be obsessed with rice, ethnicity, or social status.

We are to be obsessed with Christ who builds character into the heart does that mean that racism and prejudice are not important. Yes there important are sinful but you can't beat them outside of Jesus Christ. The power the Holy Spirit and and genuine repentance. Churches think they can disobey the word and become woke God can honor that we take something God is not going honor that what is God honor in the present time. God honors the ordinary means of grace in the past.

From the time of the book of acts until today. God has honored the ordinary means of grace and I want you to know that in the future.

From now until the time that Jesus Christ returns God is going honor the many ordinary means of grace, people listen to me is Bible Bible Bible and if we get away from that.

I promise you we will fail may always be said of Grace Church Harrisburg. We are ordinary we preach the word, we pray, we administer the sacraments, the Lord's supper baptism and we sing Psalms and Stan and hymns and spiritual songs, God, seasons of mercy come and go as true for individuals is also true for churches. We cannot procrastinate.

We cannot delay repentance point danger number three.

Circumstances may place you beyond hope none of you will beyond code right now that can quickly change once again. Proverbs 27 verse one says must not myself up tomorrow.

For thou knowest not. What a day shall bring forth and we don't know what our future holds. You may live years and years from now, but you may have something to happen in your life that changes everything about you until the day that you die. I've known so many people that have been living a normal life doing what they wanted to all of a sudden have a stroke and that stroke affects their mind in such a way, they are never the same again.

I've known people that have been in car accidents and in that car accident. They had a head injury is affected their thinking, and they were never the same again.

I was in a Bible conference this week up in Gastonia going back and forth each day, Tuesday morning and left early and was headed down Highway 49 and got to know about when the Hardee's is in the though the light. The traffic light was out and it was just, blinking yellow back-and-forth is a guy that was right in front of me that just, looked around and pulled out into the and into the intersection and when he did this guy came flying.

I mean, he had been doing 80 miles an hour came flying through that intersection. If that guy told both cars and I don't know if anybody was hurt or not, but if I had been one second earlier. That would've been me, but we just don't know.

I think a rosemary spittle used to be a member here at our church. She was in Charlotte. She walked into a parking lot and a robber came up to her, hit her on the head and did minimal damage that she had to live with until the day she died. But it's the truth of the matter is we just don't know. Do you remember the story of Nebuchadnezzar and how he took the warnings of God lightly and Daniel chapter 4 goes like this.

Therefore, a king may my advice be pleasing to you breakaway nail from your sins by doing righteousness and trim your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity. But 12 months later, the king was walking on the roof of this palace reflecting is this not babbling the great, which I myself had built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my Majesty. While the word was in the king's mouth voice came from heaven saying king Nebuchadnezzar to use his declared sovereignty has been removed from you and you will be driven away from mankind, your dwelling place will be with the beast of the fields you will be given grass to eat like cattle and seven periods of time. Years will pass over you until you recognize that the most high is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes.

Immediately, he became a madman and live like a beast's hair growing like the eagle feathers and his nails like birds, clause that situation, God strangely and very graciously and wonderfully called Nebuchadnezzar and took to to himself gave him another opportunity.

This time Nebuchadnezzar repented and it was glorious. Ecclesiastes 912 sales. Moreover, man does not know is time like fish caught in a treasured net and and birds trapped in a slayer so the sons of men are ensnared in the evil time and it suddenly falls on them. I think about Paul is telling the people in Thessalonica in first Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 334, warning them about what to do and how to get ready for the second coming of Jesus.

He says while they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like the labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, is the day would overtake you like a thief, but it's the warning here is a warning to all of us to not be presumptuous. We don't know what a day will bring forth my danger. Number four was this sudden and premature death may occur. It was said of Abraham that he lived 175 years and breathed his last, and then was gathered to his people now can we count on a similar and do we know it's going to work that way for us. I know a pastor is in the faith word movement, and he goes to Psalm 90 where it says that an average life of the believer will be 70 years. The general principle he made a promise from God. And he tells people that if you are Christian you don't live to age 70. Then you just don't have enough think that's what's wrong with you. You just don't have the faith that you should. But such a problem. I said that's very interesting, totally messed Jesus died when his 33 so will draw Jesus did not have enough faith and he saw another note he sent Jesus chose to die different. I said what about us Stonewall Jackson, my friend Harry Reeder said it Stonewall Jackson is the most disciplined Christian that he never studied his life. He died at age 39 when he was shot a few days later died of pneumonia. So what about David Brainerd, the great missionary to the American Indians who died of tuberculosis 2029. So what about Robert Marie McShane, who died of a sickness when he was 29 great great theologian. So what about Charles Spurgeon and now Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, who all died in their mid-50s. I said what about playing religious and spiritual light weights and he said all know that spiritual light weights. I just didn't understand faith. I said are you kidding me this man had a mom who was in her mid-50s, and she found out she had cancer. It was a fast spreading cancer. They told the hospital she did have long to live.

He came, he sat down beside his mother's and mother's. The terrible testimony said if you die before your 70 and all that produces even have the faith that you should have if you had faith, then you'd lived at least to your 70 years old woman died three weeks later. In the last three weeks of her life. Her absolute hail because she was so guilt ridden because she felt like she didn't have the faith to defeat that cancer is are some stipulated number of years that God has promised us know. Can you presume that you live to a ripe old age. No, many have praise God for that many godly godly people and died suddenly and died a sudden death and die when they were young we can presume that we can have a long life.

We may die the day and we need to be ready and prepared for team Bell Shatzer team Bell Shatzer was king of Babylon, and he's a very wicked man. He threw a party and huge party and invited all the political big shots in the political bucket. He mucks and rolled them at all and and say we don't have this party. It's gonna be great brought in the line the liquor and then he brought in the the golden vessels. The drinking vessels. If they had stolen from the temple of Jehovah and they did that just to mock Israel's God answer doing that, all of a sudden, out of the blue appears a hand. I was nowhere and writes a message up on the wall. Many, many tackle you Farson. Scripture says that his joints went loose that he just began to shake and tremble even know what in the world that was all about fast. Does anybody know what this he is. Nobody needs a call. Daniel Daniel came in and says God will give us the message and got to give them the message through Daniel and what he say hey said what's been written here is is this you have been weighed in the balances and you have been found wanting.

And this day Bell Shatzer you will die in the Medes and the Persians will take Babylon today.

That night that evening during that party, the Medes and the Persians went through an aqueduct came into the city took the city of Babylon completely took over from the Babylonians and Bell Shatzer was keeled. Think about Ananias and Sapphire Ananias and Sapphire got up one morning thinking everything was great.

Everything was running smooth until I met Peter. Peter rebuked them that day for their hypocrisy and for lying to the Holy Spirit. Both of them fell over dead just like that on that one day and the Scripture says that the whole church fear came upon the whole church and all those who heard that Proverbs 29 one, says a man who hardens his heart. After much reproved, will suddenly be broken and that without remedy. RC Sproul said the following about Felix's delayed repentance.

He said here was Paul speaking to his captor about the last judgment about righteousness. What happened if the apostle Paul came and talk to you about righteousness, self-control. In the last judgment. We like to make plans with landlord going to do tomorrow next week and next month we have plans for our children and grandchildren.

We think about what our lives will be like 10 or 20 years from mail. Where will you be and what will you be doing 100 years from now the consideration of that provokes in your soul nothing but absolute joy idea being in heaven with her Savior and departed loved ones, your brothers and sisters in Christ. Statistically, some of you reading this book will 100 years from mail the inhale because you will fail. On the day of judgment. I can think of nothing more terrifying than that. What happened to Felix. He became terrified. The last thing he wanted to think about was facing God is the last judgment. However, he did not ask Paul about the remedy. The gospel he told Paul to stop talking. You do not want to hear another word but nagged adding the text says he kept coming back for further considerate conversations with the apostle. Truly, Paul never changed his tune that we can put calluses on our consciences. We can do everything in our power to suppress and repress the word of God. But we cannot destroy it. We can flee from it. We can silence those who deliver it. But in Shakespeare's Hamlet, understood conscience does make cowards of us all.

Felix had much to be afraid of what a tragedy. Felix had the world's brightest theologian evangelist explaining to him the things of Christ and yet he said go away. I don't want to hear anymore delayed repentance. Felix died not long after this for over 2000 years he's been inhale and I want you to know that every single day. He thinks about Paul's conversation with him. He remembers Paul not begging to get out of prison, not begging for him to have mercy on Paul. Paul just preaches to him, the gospel he talks to him about the need for righteousness is perfect sinlessness before God that none of us. None of us could ever attain, and that he goes to Jesus and he talks about Jesus and how Jesus did live perfectly without sin.

How you live absolutely without sin, and he did that in order that he might go to the cross and be our substitute and take RCN for us so they could take RCN and give us his righteousness budget policy and if you reject that payment.

If you reject that payment you worse will suffer forever in eternal hail. Felix trembled feeling shut over that the convention was painful but he said wait a minute.

My pleasure, my sin, my stuff is too important. I can't give that up in today's inhale will be there forever, but the worst thing about hail will be memory if you're here today and you don't know Christ and you die without Christ. You remember the sermon and every day they would remember Paul's gospel people are close with this. Do not delay repentance come to Jesus. Now is the time to come to Jesus. Jesus said he who comes to me I will in no wise cast out the spray heavenly father, we often quote some hundred 19, 105 says that word is a lamp to my feet and a light my path. These verses next 24 to be a mighty spotlight. They remind us that repentance is a command not a suggestion, we know that repentance is a gift. It's a work of the Holy Spirit, not a work of the flesh, so we throw ourselves on your mercy and plead with you to give us a humble broken repentant heart and is this passage warns us, may we refuse to delay repentance, may we respond correctly to conviction and may he use I repentance to produce spiritual fruit in our sales and others. We love you Lord, thank you for loving us for us in the holy and precious name of Jesus that we pray. Amen