Most Americans are fixated on time.  We worry about having enough time.  The truth is that there are many ‘time wasters’ in most of our lives, which we may or may not be aware of, but no one feels like they have enough time.  I was deeply struck by a comment in Gordon MacDonald’s book, Ordering Your Private World.  He said he did a study of saints from times past and discovered 2 critical things about them all.  First, he was struck by “a certain large leisure which went hand in hand with a remarkable effectiveness.  They never hurried; they did comparatively few things, and these not necessarily striking or important; and they troubled little about their influence.”  And second, “they were free from self-regard as from slavery to the good opinions of others.”  I don’t see this in my life or in many of the lives of Christian leaders today.  This is what I see with most Christian leaders today– a ridiculously busy speaking schedule, teaching schedule, and travel schedule, which seems to leave little time for personal reflection, for family or for self.  If I were honest with you this morning, I would tell you that I struggle a lot with setting up and using my time, even though I have a system in place to help me.  I know in my mind the truth of the text we are looking at this morning, but have struggled to implement it.
How about you?  How do you do organizing your time?  Do you feel like you don’[t have enough time?  Do you struggle with God’s timing?  I heard a man say one time, that God has given everyone of us 168 hours in a week, and He has given us enough time to do what He has asked us to do.  I believe this is a biblical statement.  How did Paul deal with all the demands of life?  What was his view of time?  The text will show us today that Paul entrusted each moment of each day to the Lord, never fretting about what to do, but simply living each moment by faith, looking for ways to preach the gospel.  Let’s look at how he got to this place of trust.

I. Faithfully preaching the gospel in all circumstances. 

Let me set up the context.  Paul has been faithfully preaching the gospel, even in the midst of opposition and persecution.  The Jewish leaders see Paul as a threat, so have tried to find a way to kill him, but the Lord has prevented this from happening through one of his relatives overhearing the plot to kill him by an ambush.  The Roman leaders do not want his death on their hands, so go through extra precautions to have Paul extradited to Caesarea.  Paul is sent to appear before the governor of the region, Felix, who had been appointed by the emperor to serve in this capacity.  Felix had much authority, but not much character as we will see.  He seems to be primarily motivated by what will help him look the best in the eyes of the emperor.  He wants to please people under him so that there are no bad reports which might come to the emperor, and hinder his continued political advancement. 

Although Felix desired to please people, he also knew that he could not violate the Roman law he was sworn to uphold or that would look very bad for him.  He hears the Jewish lawyer who was prosecuting Paul on behalf of the Sanhedrin, and then listens as Paul makes his defense for himself.  Being a skilled orator, Paul does not flinch from doing this on his own.  Paul ends his defense with a very provocative statement– his shouting that he is on trial because of his view concerning the resurrection from the dead.  This idea apparently intrigues Felix, because he wants to keep him to speak with him further.  He does not really make a decision, but puts off the decision until he can better understand the Way– the Christian faith, and verify what happened from an impartial person, the commander of the region.

It seems that if Felix had a back bone and character, he would have released Paul because no one ever found him guilty of any charge.  But because he wanted to please the Jews, and because he wanted Paul to bribe him, he kept Paul in prison.  We aren’t really told a lot about Paul’s response to Felix’s decision, only that Felix brought Paul before him and his Jewish wife again to hear more about Christ and the resurrection of the dead.  He listened until Paul began to speak about judgement of God to come.  He seems curious and even drawn to the gospel, but this changes when he becomes afraid of the judgement of God, so he stops Paul’s preaching at this point.  Have you ever felt this before God– a fear of being in His presence or a fear of the judgement of God?  This seems to be the response of many people as the Word of God is preached throughout the Bible.  The sermon which God used to start the Great Awakening in America was, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” by Jonathon Edwards.  We should, in fact, fear the awesome presence of Almighty God!!  We will stand before the judgement throne and give an account for what we have done with what God has given to us. 

One biblical example of how people respond to the presence and might of God is found in Exodus 20:18‑20, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance  and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’”

When fear strikes Felix, he stops Paul’s preaching.  Apparently, Felix was still interested on some level, for he often invited him back to speak further about the gospel.  Paul has a very different perspective.  His life is on the line, but he seeks to preach the gospel at every opportunity.  Paul’s mantra must have been, ‘Keep sowing seed!!’  He preached to kings and governors.  It didn’t seem to matter.  He continued to proclaim the gospel every chance he got, seeking to persuade them to believe.  When he was finished speaking with King Agrippa in the next chapter, the king chided him as to whether Paul was attempting to convert him to the Christian faith in such a short time.  Paul did not resist this idea.  Paul replied to him, “whether a short time or long time, I pray to God that you would become like me, except these chains.”  Paul’s fervent desire for any who would listen is that they would come to true faith in Christ.

This seems to be an important biblical principle– keep sowing the seed.  Time was no issue to Paul here.  He simply looked for every opportunity to proclaim the gospel.  A missionary went to SE Asia to preach the gospel to a certain tribe, at the call of God.  After learning the language and customs of the people, he would stand at the place workers passed every evening to get home from the fields where they worked and preached about Jesus Christ, who died and who was raised from the dead.  For weeks, he would go to the same place and preach the gospel, knowing that his responsibility was to proclaim the gospel, and it was God’s responsibility to give men faith and to receive the gospel.  In time, one man stopped on the way home and asked him why he continued to preach when no one responded.  The missionary shared with him that the love of Christ compelled him to preach so that some might be saved from eternal damnation.  That night, the man invited the missionary home, and as he and his family listened to the preaching of the gospel, they all came to faith in Christ, which was the beginning of the church in this village.  Soon, this man joined the missionary in preaching to his co-workers, and many people began to come to Christ.

The gospel has not changed.  We too, who know Christ, are called by God to sow the seed of the Word everywhere or anywhere we have the chance!  If there is anyone here this morning who is not certain– 100% sure– that you have eternal life, I would bid that you listen to the gospel again for yourself.  Jesus Christ...

II. Waiting in faith. 24:27

I don’t know how this simple, short verse strikes you, but think about it for a moment.  “When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.” (Acts 24:27).  I don’t know how you evaluate 2 years, but 2 years is a long time to me.  What is God doing?  Think about how many people Paul could have reached in the 2 years as he languished in prison.  I mean, from a human point of view, we think, “What a waste!!”  Was God still in control for these 2 years?  Maybe God took a break for 2 years, and was too busy with other things to attend to Paul’s needs? 

Of course, we don’t believe any of these things is true.  We tend to think in terms of efficiency– what is the most strategic and efficient way to do this?  But God has a very different standard than human efficiency.  Why is this?  How should this influence our thinking about time?   Think about it:  what a trial 2 years in prison would have been to this burning missionary of Christ to suffer such a tedious period of inaction! It seems like a mystery to us!  Where is God in all of this?  Have you ever felt like this?  The truth is that God is still at work.  He is not responding in man’s ways, but His ways are so much higher than our ways.  In situations like these, we are left with little else to do than to pray and to trust Him.

This is the way we tend to think about time and our importance– a few years ago, I was speaking with a pastor friend of mine. This pastor was struggling to take time off, because things at the church were so busy.  One of the elders came up to him and said, “Jim, you know I love you.  Bear with me for a moment as I speak a truth into your life.  Do you see that bucket of water over there.  If you were to leave the church, the amount of time you would be missed in God’s economy is the same amount of time it would take for the water to fill back into the hole you would leave if you stuck your arm in that bucket of water and pulled it back out.”  This was a bit sobering for my friend, but also true.  Do you know how much God needs me?  None.  Zero Zilch.  Even less than that.  God doesn’t need anyone here to accomplish His plans.  There is no one here who cannot be replaced.  God delights to use us, but He doesn’t need any of us.  This was certainly one of Paul’s lessons during this period.  Even Paul was not essential to God’s plans. 

The other thought is this.  God’s agenda is always much larger than our agenda.  He is working in many ways, in many hearts and lives all around us.  Sometimes the things which happen to us aren’t all about us, but are about working in the lives of people all around us through our circumstances and struggles.  I was talking with a Christian brother who was sharing with me how prayer for his family in a time of crisis was the beginning of a new prayer ministry in one of the churches which had prayed for his family.  God allowed for difficulty to linger because He was at work to build His Kingdom through the difficulties of the family.  People who loved them and were near them, reached out to them, which taught these Christians how to pray for others in a manner they had never done before.  God used this training ground for prayer to build a prayer ministry in a whole church.  By the time God healed the person, a whole church had been changed.  In Paul’s case, many Bible experts believe that Luke wrote his gospel and part of the book of Acts during these 2 years Paul spent in jail.  This is an informed guess, but it makes a lot of sense as you look at the chronology of Paul’s life.  Perhaps Paul needed some time set aside for prayer and study to refresh him– what we might call a sabbatical.  In Paul’s case, it is a forced sabbatical, where Paul cannot leave the house, but others can come in and learn from him and supply his needs.  Certainly, Paul wrote letters to churches and prayed for churches in the surrounding area.  I am also certain that Paul shared the gospel with those who were guarding him, as he did in Philippi.  We aren’t told all the reasons God left Paul in prison for 2 years, so we have to believe that God had His perfect purposes for this time period.  No where else– in no other letters does Paul complain about the waste of time it was sitting under arrest in Caesarea, with nothing to do.

Do you remember when Dan Baumann was here, sharing with us about what God did in his life while he was in prison in Iran?  Dan told us that his godly mother was praying, “Release Dan, Lord, when you are finished with the purposes you have in mind to do while he is in prison.”  Dan joked about this– “No, mom, don’t pray like that!”  But the Lord answered his mother’s prayer, and Dan matured in his faith, Iranian guards heard and responded to the gospel, and God was glorified.

This theme fits with the theme from a couple of weeks ago as we talked about God’s sovereignty and control when circumstances looked and felt out of control.  I really believe that we need to let go of control ourselves, and to ask God to have complete control of everything in our lives.  As we lay down control, the Spirit of God has greater opportunity to work in and around us.  Are you in a season of waiting right now?  It may be waiting for a new job; or it may be waiting for healing to come, or it may be waiting for a relationship to heal or be established...  In any of these things, we need to take a cue from Paul and rest in the certainty that God is in control, that He has a perfect plan, which is better than anything we can think of, and that He will lead us through this time as we wait upon Him in faith.  “I trust you God...  I will choose to delight in you no matter what the circumstances...  I will wait until I hear your voice and then I will respond.”  This seems to be the clear pattern of the Scriptures.  How are you doing?  And how can we come alongside you in this journey of faith as you wait for God’s time?

As we respond to the Word of God this morning, I would ask you to reflect on your view of time.  Is God calling you to be more efficient with your time?  I doubt it.  More likely, He is calling on you to enter into His peace, and to get on His timetable, which is perfect.  I don’t usually know His time table, until I make time to pray, to search the Scriptures and to wait upon Him in faith.  He is a very patient God, and wants for the fruit in our lives to ripen fully before He will harvest it.  So lay down your need for God to act now.  Declare your trust in Him alone, and in His timing instead of yours.  When you sense God is ready to do something, jump in and join Him so you get to take part in the blessing!  In the meantime, keep sowing the seed of the gospel.  Not all seed takes root in the heart, but some of it will, so that we get to be used by God to harvest the seed after God has made it grow in a person’s heart.  Growth takes time, so never stop sowing and watering seed.  God will do the rest.

Time...  It all belongs to God.  Will you choose to lay down all your time before the Lord today?   Will you sow the seed of His Word even as you wait for God’s timing?

III. Testifying about the dead man Jesus who was made alive.

\ The last thing I would like to touch on, which we will pick up again in coming weeks, is the thought of Paul proclaiming the resurrection from the dead.  This seems to be more of a focus through the last chapters of Acts than the cross of Christ.  Christians in our day tend to focus on the cross and what God accomplished there on our behalf.  This is crucial, of course.  We have already talked about this.   But I rarely hear preachers speak or focus upon the resurrection.  Why is the resurrection from the dead so important to Paul’s preaching?