CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 24:24. When Felix came, or Felix having come, not to Cæsarea, after a temporary absence, but into the place of audience (Hackett), rather than into the prison (Holtzmann). Drusilla.—Sea “Homiletical Hints.” As a daughter of the first and sister of second Herod Agrippa she could hardly have been unacquainted with the main facts of the history of the new society of Christians. “She must have known of the death of James and of the imprisonment of Peter
(12), and may have connected her father’s tragic end at Cæsarea with the part he had taken in persecuting the preachers of the faith of which one of the chief preachers was now brought before her” (Plumptre).
Acts 24:25. Righteousness.—Including the duties man owes to man, as well as those man owes to God—i.e., the obligations of both tables of the law. Temperance.—In its widest sense of self-control.
Acts 24:26. That money should have been given him.—Possibly he had an eye to some of the gold referred to by Paul in Acts 24:17. Greed of gain in the very act of administering justice was the root of evil in his weak and wicked character.
Acts 24:27. After two years.—Lit., when two years were fulfilled, Felix received as successor Porcius Festus (A.D. 60 or 61), who suppressed the outrages of the bandits or robbers, and restored tranquillity to the province, but died in the second year of his office (Jos., Wars, II. xiv. 1). To him Felix, with characteristic baseness, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, or desiring to gain favour—lit., to deposit a favour with the Jews, which should not be without return; “an investment in iniquity” (Plumptre) which did not turn out well (see on Acts 24:2)—handed over Paul as a prisoner. How these two years in Cæsarea were spent by the apostle can only be conjectured (see “Hints” on Acts 24:27).
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 24:24-27
Paul’s Interview with Felix and Drusilla; or, a Great Discourse and What Came of It
I. The magnificent auditorium.—Herod’s palace at Cæsarea, which the great Idumean had constructed for himself as a residence when at the height of his glory, but which was now occupied by the Roman procurator as a mansion for himself and a barracks for his troops. “A wonderful building, with bloody recollections. ‘Many phantoms glided through the empty rooms.’ Here had Herod uttered the death-sentence upon his sons. Here was their betrayer, the ruthless Antipater, imprisoned. Before these gates, for five days and five nights, had the complaining Jews lain and besought Pilate not to desecrate their temple. Here had Herod Agrippa breathed out his hypocritical soul, and before his windows had the crowd, howling and weeping and kneeling, lain in the dust and prayed for the soul of the pious (!) king. So adhered numerous historical images to this place, and from the days of Herod downward blood stuck to every stone.” (Hausrath, Der Apostel Paulus, p. 458). In a marble hall attached to this palace was a sermon about to be preached such as seldom is poured into the ears of men, and least of all into those of powerful state dignitaries. No doubt the eloquence of the preacher was stimulated by the aforesaid terrible reminiscences, of which he was not entirely ignorant—rather of which he was fully cognisant.
II. The distinguished hearers.—
1. Felix. The Roman governor, whose character on its worst side was also perfectly understood by Paul (see on Acts 23:24). Its hideous cruelty and rapacity, which caused him to be pronounced by Josephus the worst ruler that ever swayed the destinies of Judæa, and even after his deposition to be followed by his quondam subjects to Rome with bitter complaints against his administration, were so notorious that Tertullus was obliged to hide their loathsomeness by fulsome flattery (Acts 24:2). Its shamefaced profligacy had intruded into the palace hall, and stared on the apostle with unblushing countenance.
2. Drusilla. Felix’s wife, whose evil reputation was hardly less than his own. The daughter of the first Herod and the sister of the second, Drusilla—diminutive of Drusus—had been married at an early age to Azizus, King of Emesa, who, in order to obtain her hand, had become a Jewish proselyte and accepted circumcision; but her fascinating beauty having inflamed the libidinous desires of the Roman procurator, he employed the services of a Jewish magician named Simon, to proceed to Emesa and seduce her from her husband. In this unholy errand the magician, whom some have endeavoured to identify with the sorcerer of Samaria (Acts 8:9), proved lamentably successful; and “the daughter of Herod Agrippa, who had much to endure at the hands of her sister Bernice on account of her beauty” (Hausrath, Der Apostel Paulus, p. 459), having deserted her lawful husband, became the third wife of Felix, who had formerly been a slave, but was then the governor of Palestine.
III. The fearless preacher.—Paul, who at the request of Drusilla had been fetched up from his place of confinement into the judgment hall. As a Jewess she could not have been entirely ignorant of the new sect of Christians that had arisen in the land. As a daughter of Agrippa I. she may have been desirous of hearing one of the chief preachers of those Christians whom her father had persecuted, and with whom, in some way, she may have connected her father’s death. But from whatever motive summoned, Paul, when he appeared, evinced no timidity. Having the Lord upon his right hand (Psalms 16:8), he presented as valiant a front as David did to his enemies, or as Daniel did before Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:19-27) and Belshazzar (Daniel 5:22-28), or as afterwards John Knox of Edinburgh did in the presence of Queen Mary of Scotland. The man who had fought with wild beasts at Ephesus (1 Corinthians 15:32), who had confronted the mob from the castle stairs in Jerusalem (Acts 22:1), who had bearded the Sanhedrists in their Star-Chamber (Acts 23:1), and who had already appeared before the representative of Roman law and majesty (Acts 24:10), was not likely to quake at the sight of a beautiful adulteress.
IV. The alarming sermon.—
1. The theme of it was generally “the faith in Christ Jesus,” which would doubtless lead Paul to dilate upon the main facts and doctrines of the gospel, and in particular upon the death and resurrection of Christ, pointing out how in both the truth of His Messiahship was confirmed. In this the apostle furnished a noble example to all preachers who, whatever the rank or character of their hearers, should resolutely determine to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). The faith in Jesus Christ is the highest need of the human soul, in whatever sort of body that soul may be enshrined.
2. The application of it brought the noble Christian orator to closer quarters with the consciences of his hearers.
(1) He spoke to them of righteousness—that awful demand for upright and holy living, both toward God and toward man, which the Divine law, familiar at all events to Drusilla, demanded, which the consciences of both proclaimed to be just, and which the faith of Jesus Christ declared to be indispensable to all who would partake of the Messianic salvation Christ had come to introduce among men; perhaps pointing them to the gracious provision in the gospel, by and through Jesus Christ, for first bestowing upon men and then reproducing within men that righteousness of the law which no man could furnish of himself (Romans 3:24-25; Romans 8:1-4).
(2) Next he reminded them of temperance or self-control, that sacred chastity or mastery of the lower appetites and passions which religion in general, but especially the faith that is in Christ, requires of its devotees (Titus 2:11), but of which the illustrious pair before him were sadly wanting. That the apostle had a powerful ally in the bosoms of his bearers need not be questioned.
(3) And finally, he lifted up his hearers and himself to the judgment to come, that overwhelmingly awful tribunal before which all men—kings and princes no less than common men, judges and prisoners alike—must one day stand (Revelation 20:12-13)—a tribunal over which that Jesus of whom he spoke should preside (Matthew 25:32; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10), at which the secrets of all hearts should be laid bare (Romans 2:16), and from which impartial awards should be made to every man according as his works should have been (Romans 2:6).
3. The effect of it. What impression this weird sermon from a weirder preacher had on those who heard it, and for whom specially it was intended, is only recorded in part. What Drusilla thought of it the pen of inspiration has not revealed. Did the remembrance of her first husband recur to her? or the revolting character of her present wickedness disturb her? Did the gleaming fires of the impending judgment-day startle her half-dead conscience within her, fast-bound in the cords of lustful sleep? Or, did she hear as though she heard not? Did she steel her bosom against the soul-piercing words of the Lord’s servant? Did she drown the still small voice that whispered within her bosom and wooed her to better things? These are questions to which no reply can be given. So far as Drusilla is concerned an unbroken silence will encompass her until the trumpet of the great day shall sound. But for Felix no such doom has been reserved. How he felt, as the weary, weather-beaten missionary of the Cross, becoming animated as he warmed to his theme, and fixing on his listener that intense look which was so characteristic of the apostle (Acts 23:1); how Felix felt, as the unearthly words echoed through his spirit, and raised up before his imagination ideas that were awe-inspiring in their ghostly grandeur;—how he felt, and what he said, has been set down in burning letters that he who runs may read. Felix trembled at the picture which this strange man—with a solemn eloquence which held him spellbound—had painted on the canvas of his soul. He could see the great white throne, with the Judge whose eyes were like a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14); he could see the assembled multitudes, and himself among them, undistinguished by any earthly greatness, in all the hideous nakedness of his guilty soul; he could hear the booming of the thunders and the glancing of the lightnings which proclaimed the commencement of the business of that awful assize; and as he realised the wickedness of his past and present life—its utter lack of righteousness, and horrible defilement through lust—he grew terrified with that terror which ever seizes on the guilty when their wickedness is on the eve of detection, and said “Go thy way, for this time; and when I have a convenient season I will call thee unto me.”
V. The pitiful conclusion.—It ended in three sad things.
1. Delay. Felix had some shadow of excuse for procrastination in the preceding instance, when Paul defended himself before his, bar—this, namely that he had been unexpectedly summoned in Providence to decide between Paul and his accusers, and might naturally plead that he wished to be better informed before delivering judgment. In this case no such ground for putting off existed. Felix was called to decide in a matter which affected himself alone, and for which the materials lay at hand. For him the clear duty of the moment was to repent and humble himself before God, to separate himself from the beautiful but wicked woman at his side, to break off his flagitious courses in life, and turn to God in righteousness and holy obedience. But, alas! he deferred again, as he had deferred before—he put off giving judgment between himself and God, as he had previously delayed pronouncing a verdict between Paul and his prosecutors. He would settle his own case, as he had promised to settle Paul’s—at a more convenient season. In Paul’s that more convenient season would arrive when Lysias should come down; in his own, when he should have more inclination or leisure to turn from dalliance with the fair creature by his side and think of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Let it be noted that, as in Paul’s case no reason remains for believing that Lysias ever came down to Cæsarea, so is there good ground for holding that for Felix’s own case the convenient moment never arrived.
2. Resistance. Felix, it appears, had frequent interviews with his prisoner, but never again allowed his peace of mind to be disturbed, or his better nature to be aroused. Rather, he strenuously fought his convictions down. He fell back upon the evil demon of cupidity within his breast, called up into the field the spirit of avarice to do battle against the spirit of repentance and righteousness that had been temporarily awakened in him. “He hoped withal that money would be given him of Paul.” He never proposed to Paul the question of the Philippian gaoler—“What must I do to be saved?”
3. Rejection. Whatever promise of good may have been in Felix’s soul, when he trembled under Paul’s preaching, it ultimately died away. Felix decided neither Paul’s case nor his own, but left the brave apostle, whom he knew to be innocent, to languish in prison for two whole years; and when at length, his own reign of iniquity coming to an end, he was recalled by his imperial master, he still delayed doing justice to the servant of Jesus. Thinking to ingratiate himself with his much-abused subjects, and hoping to shut their mouths against him at the bar of Cæsar—in which, however, he was deceived—he left Paul in bonds.
Learn—
1. The possibility of hearing the gospel without being saved.
2. The danger of trifling with one’s convictions of sin.
3. The wisdom of deciding for God and Christ at the earliest moment.
4. The probability that opportunities for being saved, once neglected, will not return.
5. The almost certainty that he who deliberately turns from the light will stumble on and down into deeper darkness.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 24:24. The Character of Felix.
I. An unjust ruler.
II. A licentious voluptuary.
III. An inveterate procrastinator.
IV. An avaricious money-hunter.
V. A crafty promoter of his own interests.
VI. An unprincipled trampler on the rights of others.
Drusilla, the Wife of Felix.—A woman—
I. Of highly exalted birth.—The daughter of kings. Noble parentage, when good, is an incalculable blessing, and entails great responsibilities. Noblesse oblige.
II. Of ripe personal beauty.—Her loveliness the ruin of both herself and Felix. Physical grace and elegance—a precious gift of Heaven—not always prized as such, but often bought and sold, like meat upon the shambles.
III. Of deeply depraved character.—At the moment when she heard Paul living in open sin, being the runaway wife of one man and the adulterous paramour of another.
IV. Of manifestly trifling disposition.—No reason to think she was in earnest, either in sending for or listening to Paul; probably actuated by no higher motive than to see the distinguished preacher (compare Luke 23:8), or to gratify her curiosity about the new faith, or to while away a few leisure moments in her frivolous and wicked life.
V. Of palpably seared conscience.—Sitting beside her husband, whose innermost soul quaked beneath the searching words that spake of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, she heard unmoved. At least, she evinced no sign that the arrow of conviction had reached her womanly breast. Fast asleep in the depths of sin, her soul heard not the awakening voice of truth.
Paul before Felix.—The scene introduces us to four things:—
I. A celebrated preacher.—Paul. After Jesus Christ, who “spake as never man spake” (John 7:47), no nobler representative of the Christian ministry has ever appeared in the world or the Church. When he stood before Felix, three virtues shone forth conspicuously in him.
1. Unwearied zeal in embracing every opportunity to advance the cause of his Master. Seldom have circumstances been less favourable for the exercise of the preacher’s gift than were his that day in Cæsarea—hardly even when confounding the Jews who dwelt at Damascus (Acts 9:22), fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus (Acts 19:31; 1 Corinthians 15:32), or addressing his countrymen from the castle stairs in Jerusalem (Acts 22:1); and yet, no sooner was he invited than he began to pour forth the wondrous story of his crucified and risen Lord.
2. Unflinching courage in shaping his discourse to suit his hearers. Not to please, but to profit; not to flatter, but to rebuke; not to lull into drowsy stupor, but to awaken from the trance of spiritual death. And yet he flinched not an instant in his task. Not a quaver of fear, though possibly more than one of affection, was heard in his oration. Like Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:27), he told out his message without trepidation.
3. Irrepressible hopefulness in despairing of no man. Paul not ignorant of the characters of Felix and Drusilla, yet, when invited to discourse to them about the faith of Christ he declined not, on the plea that such sinners were beyond the reach of mercy or inaccessible to the power of grace.
II. A pattern discourse.—
1. A sermon on the right theme—the faith that is in Christ Jesus. This held the place of honour in all Paul’s preaching, whose unvarying subject was Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
2. Intensely practical in its contents. With such topics did it deal as “righteousness, temperance, judgment to come”—topics too often absent from modern ministrations.
3. Directly personal. Shaped so as to meet the characters, rebuke the sins, and arouse the torpid spirits, of his hearers.
4. Eminently rational. Paul reasoned, declaimed not, but pressed home upon his listeners arguments which flooded their intellects with light, touched their hearts with emotion, and stirred within their conscience the voice of truth and right.
III. Illustrious hearers.—
1. Persons of high rank. No better or more valuable in God’s sight than people of obscure position. Equally with these in need of salvation. Often more so.
2. Notorious sinners. Less heinous offenders are still transgressors in the sight of Heaven and such as require to be called to repentance and faith.
3. Deplorably indifferent. So are multitudes of those to whom preachers are called to present the gospel. The number of those who truly long for salvation, and thirst after righteousness, is few.
IV. Disappointing results.—
1. Only one of Paul’s hearers impressed. Only Felix—not Drusilla; and yet she, having been a Jewess, ought to have possessed a better understanding of Paul’s message than her husband had, while, having been as wicked as her husband, she had as much cause for trembling as he. So it often happens under the ministry of the gospel. One is taken, the other left; one touched, the other unmoved.
2. That one only impressed, not improved. Felix convicted, not converted; merely trembled, did not turn. This also a not unusual phenomenon under a faithful ministry. Souls are alarmed who do not eventually prove to be saved.
3. The impressed one trifled with, but did not embrace, the gracious opportunity which came before him. Felix, had he fostered the convictions awakened in his soul, might have been recovered from his sinful condition; but he procrastinated, allowed his better impulses to subside, and was lost. So thousands permit their day of merciful visitation to pass, to their everlasting hurt. “The Holy Ghost saith, To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart” (Hebrews 4:7).
The Faith in Christ Jesus.—Is—
I. Heavenly in its object.—Directing its look, not to the historical, but to the crucified and risen Christ—the Christ whom Paul preached.
II. Reasonable in its character.—Capable of being set forth in such terms as to command the assent of the understanding and judgment. So Paul presented it to Felix.
III. Holy in its demands.—Though not requiring righteousness and temperance as grounds of justification, insisting upon these as indispensable to salvation.
IV. Alarming in its operation.—Awaking in the souls of them to whom it is presented conviction of sin and fear of judgment.
V. Saving in its results.—When accepted in humility and penitence, trustfulness and obedience, it issues in the blessing of complete redemption from the curse and power of sin.
Acts 24:24-25. A Preacher such as Paul (before Felix) should be—
I. Ready for every call to preach that presents itself in providence.—Paul interposed no objection when Felix sent for him, declined not the invitation preferred him to expound the principles of the gospel, but heartily embraced the opportunity to advance his Master’s cause. Semper paratus should be the minister’s motto.
II. Courageous in facing every audience on whom he looks.—This he will be if he preserves a lowly estimate of himself, conjoined with an exalted idea of the Master he serves and of the message he bears, as well as a lively sense of that Master’s presence.
III. Evangelical in the truths he proclaims.—The proper business of the pulpit is neither to teach science or philosophy, nor to disseminate the elements of ordinary knowledge, but to publish the everlasting gospel.
IV. Direct in the manner of his teaching.—A good sermon, besides having a good text and good matter, should be appropriate and personal—not in an offensive and impertinent, but in a heart-searching and conscience-touching, sense. Preaching that lacks point in front, and has no push from behind, is not likely to result in conversions.
Paul, Felix, and Drusilla; or, Three Phases of Conscience.
I. The courage of a good conscience.—Exemplified in Paul, who reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, before the adulterous pair. Compare John the Baptist before Herod (Matthew 14:4).
II. The alarm of a guilty conscience.—Illustrated in Felix, who trembled as the vision of a judgment-day arose upon his mind’s horizon. Compare Herod, the Baptist’s murderer (Matthew 16:2).
III. The insensibility of a hardened conscience.—Exhibited in Drusilla, who heard, unmoved, the heart-searching words of Paul. Compare the behaviour of her sister Bernice (Acts 26:30). Both instances of that most awful psychological phenomenon—a conscience past feeling (Ephesians 4:19).
Acts 24:25. Convenient Seasons—
I. Are always present to those in earnest about religion.—To such as are
(1) convinced of their own guilt and sin;
(2) alive to the necessity and importance of salvation;
(3) aware of the uncertainty and shortness of life.
II. Never come to those indifferent about religion.—To those who are
(1) in love with sin and its pleasures (Titus 3:3);
(2) blinded by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4);
(3) unconscious of their perilous condition.
Acts 24:26. The Love of Money, as Exemplified in Felix.
I. Rooted, presumably, in his corrupt and unprincipled heart.—Mammon, the god of this world (Matthew 6:24).
II. Fostered by his wicked life.—For his personal extravagance and licentious indulgence he needed money, and this need kept the demon of avarice awake.
III. Obstructive of higher impulses.—It stifled his conscience, hardened his heart, destroyed his soul. It prevented the entrance into his soul of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
IV. Productive of other sins.—In Felix’s case it led to procrastination or trifling with his own highest interests; to the infliction of injustice on Paul, by continued imprisonment; to the practice of hypocrisy, in pretending to commune often with Paul about the faith, when secretly “he hoped that money would be given him of Paul.” “The love of money is the root of every kind of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).