Prayer: The Secret Weapon of Evangelism - Life of Paul Part 84

Okay, how about taking a Bible if you brought one and let's open to Acts chapter 24.

We're continuing in our study of the life of that great man, the Apostle Paul. And I think many of us here remember the name Zoe Baird. Just in case you don't, let me tell you about her. In 1993, President Clinton nominated her to be America's first female Attorney General. Ms. Baird was a very competent Connecticut lawyer. Her husband was a faculty member at the Yale Law School. She had served in the Carter Justice Department. She had served as the head of General Electric's legal department. And then she was also serving as the Chief Counsel for Aetna Life Insurance Company. At first, Ms. Baird seemed like a shoe-in.

In fact, in January 1993, when the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on her nomination, there wasn't one single senator on the committee who was on record as being against her nomination. But right in the middle of the nomination process, there was a surprise revelation. And that is that Ms. Baird had hired two household employees, a driver and a nanny, and had failed to pay the Social Security and the unemployment taxes for those two workers, commonly referred to as the nanny tax, and reported on Schedule H of your 1040, just so you know. And what's worse, they were both illegal immigrants. Well, she went back and apologized. She said she had left the immigration issues regarding these workers to her husband and that frankly, she'd never even heard of the nanny tax. And I'm afraid it was too little, too late. Senators began publicly to speculate how they could put a person as the head of the Justice Department who had this little understanding of immigration laws and tax laws.

The public outcry was deafening. And this whole thing became affectionately known as Nannygate, if you remember. And in February of 1993, Ms. Baird withdrew her nomination. Now you know, the question that all of this raises is, do we think Ms. Baird might have been telling the truth? I mean, is it possible she really had never heard of the nanny tax? I think that's entirely possible.

Friends, before Nannygate, I think a lot of Americans had no idea that they were obligated to pay these taxes for their caregivers, their gardeners, their babysitters, their cleaning ladies, their other household workers. I think it's very possible she'd never heard of it. And so then how sad is this? That here's a lady who missed an incredible opportunity to become Attorney General of the United States because of some information she didn't even know about. Well, today we're going to talk about a guy in the Bible, his name is Felix, who also missed a great opportunity. He missed the opportunity to have eternal life and to go to heaven. But the difference between this man in the Bible, Felix and Ms. Baird is that Felix knew everything he needed to know in order to grab that opportunity.

And in spite of that, he still didn't grab it. And we want to talk about so how what really happened with him? And then like, what difference does that make in our life today?

And that's our plan. So let me give you a little background to Acts 24. Before we dig in, remember that here in the beginning of Acts chapter 24, the it's the summer of 57 AD. And the Apostle Paul is in jail in Caesarea.

Let me show you a map. Caesarea was the Roman headquarters of the Middle East. It was located 70 miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. And Paul was in jail here for his own safety.

The Jews have tried to kill him twice in the last week, once on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then in a secret assassination plot in Jerusalem. And so the commander of the Jerusalem garrison, a tribune there, Roman tribune, decided for Paul's own safety, he needed to get him out of town. So he sent him to Caesarea to Governor Felix and said to the Jewish leaders, if you want to bring charges against Paul, you go up there to Caesarea and you see Felix. And so that's where we left off. And I want to begin here in verse one of chapter 24.

So look with me. Five days later, the high priest Ananias came to Caesarea with some elders and a lawyer named Tertulus. And they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. And after Paul was brought in Tertulus, the lawyer began to present his case before Felix. Here's how he opened his his opening argument. He said, Since we have through you, attained much peace, and since by your Providence Felix reforms are being carried out for this nation, we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere.

Most excellent Felix, with profound gratitude. But that I might not weary you further, I beg you to grant us by your beneficence a brief hearing. Now, may I interpret for you what this lawyer just said? What he just said was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

That's what he just said. And what makes it worse is that what he said wasn't even true. Let me tell you a little bit about Governor Felix. Antonius Felix was appointed governor of Judea by Emperor Claudius.

He served from 52 to 59 AD. He was a former slave who had risen to power thanks to his brother, Paulus, who was a very influential man in the court of the Emperor Claudius. But according to both Josephus the historian and the Roman historian Tacitus, Felix was a brutal man and a ruthless man. Tacitus summed up Felix's life with these words and I quote, Felix exercised the power of a king with the mind of a slave.

End of quote. In fact, the truth is the Jews hated him. They despised him with a passion.

And they're the ones in 59 AD who are going to send a group to Emperor Nero in Rome and convince Nero to remove Felix from office and exile him from the empire. They hated this guy. So what that means is everything this lawyer said was just lawyer speak.

There wasn't a bit of reality in it when he praised Felix for being such a friend of the nation of Israel. It was lawyer speak, which still goes on today here in Washington, which is still why we love these people, love these lawyers so much. In fact, I got a little, I got a little riddle for you. Do you know why New Jersey got all the toxic waste dumps and Washington DC got all the lawyers? You know why?

The answer is because New Jersey got to pick first. I love that. That's one of my favorites. God. Well, let's go on. Verse five. And we have found this man, this is Tertullos. Now he's going to bring his actual charges against Paul.

Here's what the lawyer says. We have found this man, Paul, to be a real pest and a person who stirs up riots among Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene heresy and even tried to desecrate the temple.

So we seized him and we were about to, we were about to judge him according to our law. Yeah, they were beating him to death on the Temple Mount. When Lysias, the Roman commander came along and took him out of our hands and ordered us to come before you by examining him yourself, we're sure you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we're bringing against him and all the Jews joined in the attack. Now, Tertullos makes three charges against the apostle Paul. Number one, that he was a pest who made trouble everywhere he went. Number two, that he was the ringleader of the Nazarene heresy, which is how Jewish people referred to followers of Christ at the time of Paul. And finally, number three, that he had violated the sanctity of the Jewish temple. Frankly, friends, from a Roman point of view, none of these charges made a hill of beans worth of difference. Felix could have cared less about any one of these charges. In fact, as the tribune, the Roman tribune in Jerusalem wrote Felix, he said, Acts 23, I found Paul to be accused over questions about the Jewish law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment.

Well, in the next 11 verses, the apostle Paul gets to defend himself and let me summarize them rather than reading all those verses to you. Paul says this, number one, he says, I am not a pest. I'm not a troublemaker. In fact, in Jerusalem, I was minding my own business. I wasn't even bothering anybody. I wasn't preaching.

I wasn't doing anything. It's in the temple minding my own business. Number two, I am most certainly, Paul told Felix, a follower of the way, the Christian faith, but we're not a heresy.

Actually, we believe everything that's written in the Old Testament. And finally, he said, I want you to know I never violated the sanctity of the temple. A bunch of Jewish people from Ephesus wrongly accused me of bringing a gentile in and look around, Felix, they didn't even come.

They're not even here today to present their evidence because there is no evidence to present. Verse 22, then Felix, because he was well acquainted with the way, put Paul's accusers off saying, when Lysias, the tribune, comes from Jerusalem, I will decide your case. Meanwhile, Felix ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to give him some freedom and to allow his friends to visit him and tend to his needs. Felix suspended the hearing at this point, I think because he knew there were no charges. However, he didn't release Paul for two reasons. Number one, he didn't want to offend these Jewish leaders whom we understand now didn't like him anyway, so we didn't want to make a matter. And number two, he was hoping is verse 26 is going to tell us he was hoping Paul was going to bribe him for his freedom.

Number verse 24. Some days later, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and they listened to him as he spoke to them Paul did about faith in Jesus Christ. And as Paul discoursed on the subjects of righteousness, self control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, That's enough for now.

Go away for the present. And when I find it convenient, I'll send for you again. At the same time, Felix was hoping Paul would offer him a bribe. So Felix would send for Paul often look at this and converse with Paul.

When two years have passed, Felix was succeeded by Portia's Festus as governor. But because Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison. Now as we said earlier, the reason that Felix was replaced is because the Jews went to Emperor Nero and got him thrown out. In fact, he would have been exiled from the empire. We're told by Tacitus had it not been for the intervention of his brother, his influential brother. And the Bible tells us that he left Paul in jail to do the Jews a favor.

And we understand why now. We understand that that makes perfect sense that he would try to mollify their anger and not make them any madder by turning Paul loose. So he left him in jail. So here we are at the end of Acts 24. Now it's now the summer of 59 A. D. Two years have passed, and Paul is still in jail as he has been for the last two years in the city of Caesarea.

But he's not going to be there for long. And we'll talk about that next week when we continue. Now that's as far as we want to go today, but it's time for us to ask our most significant question. And so are you ready? Are you ready? Now this almost was going to be the last time you got to do it in here, but it's the third from the last time you're going to get to do it in here. So make it worthwhile anyway.

Are you ready? One, two, three. So what? Right. You say, Lon, so what?

Say, all right, whatever. But so what difference does any of this make to me? Well, let me see if I can help us understand that. Friends, did you notice here in Acts chapter 24 how many times the Bible tells us that Felix heard about Jesus Christ and how many times he was challenged to believe in Christ?

Let me go back. Look, first in verse 22, the Bible tells us that Felix was already well acquainted with the way even before the apostle Paul spoke to him here in Acts 24. You say, Well, how did he learn about Christianity? I don't know. Maybe he learned about it from his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Maybe as a good if he was a good governor, smart governor. Maybe when he came first as governor, he he made it a point to familiarize himself with all the religious turns and twists in Israel.

I don't know. But the Bible is clear that Felix already knew who Jesus Christ was before he ever met Paul. Then look at verse 24 and 25. The Bible tells us here that Paul had a private audience with Felix and his wife, Drusilla, where he talked to them about righteousness, self control and the judgment to come. And Felix became frightened. I mean, it's obvious that Felix was understanding what Paul was telling him about the afterlife and his need for Christ.

And finally, look at verse 26. Here, the Bible tells us that over the next two years, Felix would send for Paul often and converse with him. Now, what do you think they conversed about? I mean, knowing the apostle Paul, do you think they talked about financial planning, IPOs, world politics and the desalination of the Mediterranean Sea?

I don't think so. Knowing the apostle Paul, I can guarantee you no matter where the conversation started, I can guarantee you where it ended. And that is what Paul challenged in this man that he needed Jesus Christ. And without Jesus Christ, the ramifications in eternity were going to be terrible for him. I can guarantee you that.

And that went on for two years. Friends, the point I want you to see, you say, Yeah, what does this tell us, Lon? You know what it tells me is that Felix was an arrogant, foolish man.

Well, that might be true. But friends, the point I really want you to see here is that information alone is not the secret to bringing people to Christ. Did Felix have information?

Are you kidding? Two years of talking to the apostle Paul one on one? You don't think he had some information about Jesus Christ? Oh, my gosh, he had more information he knew what to do with about Jesus Christ. If information alone is what it took to bring you to Christ, this man would have come to Christ.

But he didn't, because it's not just about information. You know, in 1983, my wife and I, I went to Israel for my very first time. And it was just Brendan, me and another couple who took us treated us to the trip were a wonderful couple.

And one of the things we did when we were Israel is we were staying in Jerusalem, and we decided to go to Masada down on the shores of the Dead Sea, about an hour and a half drive. And so we rented a private Israeli tour guide. And we rode in his car. Now, three people sat in the back, somebody had to sit up front next to him. And so everybody voted that I should sit up front next to him. So I did.

So we're riding along, we got an hour and a half ride down and back, hour and a half back. And so as we're riding along, eventually, this Israeli tour guide turns to me and says, So what do you do for a living? And so I said, Well, I'm a pastor of a church. And I said, but I'm Jewish. And he said, Why?

What are you talking about? And I said, No, I'm Jewish. I believe Jesus is the Messiah. He said, What evidence could there possibly be to support a conclusion like that?

Well, that's why they put me in the front seat. And so I began talking to this guy, I went through Isaiah 53, and Psalm 22, and everything I could think of from the Old Testament, you know, what's interesting, he had an answer a different way of explaining every single one of those verses in the Bible. Finally, I said, All right, all right. What about Daniel chapter nine, I said in Daniel chapter nine, if you do the math, that's there, you will come up with the exact year that the Messiah was killed as 32 to 33 ad, who can you think of in 32 to 33 ad that died here in Israel, who could have possibly qualified as the Messiah other than Jesus Christ? He said, Well, I'm sure there must be another way to explain Daniel nine than that. I said, We're not explaining it. This is not theology. All we're doing is multiplying and subtracting.

That's it. He said, Well, I'm going to go talk to my rabbi. And I'm sure my rabbi has got another way to explain it. I said, Friend, unless your rabbi is going to redefine the laws of mathematics, there is no other way to explain it. And then he said this to me, he was he was a little upset. He said, he said to me, and I quote, even if my rabbi doesn't have another explanation for Daniel nine, I'm still never going to believe in Jesus ever.

Now, let's stop for a moment. Was this man's problem information lack of information? Dude, I had given him more information in that hour riding in the car than 50 people needed to come to Christ. In fact, I got to tell you, when I came to Christ in 1971, you could have taken everything I knew about Jesus and it wouldn't have filled a thimble and I came to Christ because the secret to come into Christ is not information. It only takes a tiny bit of information to come to Christ.

What it really takes is a heart that's ready to do business with God. And this guy's problem was not ignorance. It was stubbornness. This guy's problem was not in his head.

It's tour guide. It was in his heart. And Felix had the exact same problem. Friends, this is what I want to talk to you about today. This is how this relates to you and me. Many times when we are seeking to bring people to Jesus Christ, we often put the focus on the wrong place and we need to understand that. So often we just try to give them more and more information. We give them evidence that demands a verdict. And when they read that, then we give them more evidence that demands a verdict. And we give them tapes and CDs and books and tracks and we try to get them to listen to Billy Graham on the radio or the television.

Now there's nothing wrong with any of that. But folks, what I'm trying to tell you is that the secret to people coming to Christ is not lack of information. The problem is not in their head.

It's right smack dab here in the middle of their chest. And what people really need is a heart that's been prepared by the Holy Spirit, a heart that's ready to humble itself before God, a heart that's ready to repent before God, a heart that's ready to yield to the lordship of Jesus Christ in their life. And the only way to produce that kind of heart change in a person is through prayer. How are we going to convince successful, powerful, sophisticated, affluent, educated Washingtonians that they're spiritually sick, that they need to humble themselves before God, that they need to yield control of their life to Jesus Christ?

The answer is, we're not going to convince them. Only the Holy Spirit himself can convince a person of that. And how do we bring the Holy Spirit's power to bear on people's lives? We do it on our knees, friends.

We do it in prayer. You know, when I came to Christ in 1971 and I started hearing Christian hymns, you know, Fanny Crosby, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, you know, stuff like that. You know, I knew those melodies. I listened and I went, my gosh, I know this song. But we didn't sing those songs in the synagogue. I mean, I knew I hadn't learned in the synagogue.

So I tried to figure out where have I heard this song. And as I scroll back in my memory, I remembered we had a lady, an African-American lady named Coralee Goodman, who came as a domestic worker for us when I was two months old. She worked for my family until after I left for college. And if you want a picture of what Coralee looked like, she looked like Butterfly McQueen, who played mammy on Gone with the Wind. That's kind of what she looked like. So you got a mental picture of Coralee right now. And I can remember as I thought back, I could remember as a little kid while she was ironing or while she was making dinner, I could remember her humming these melodies.

I did not know the words, but I knew the tunes. And so I thought, I'll bet you she's a Christian. So I hitchhiked from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where I was, took my dog, Noah, 85-pound German shepherd, and we hitchhiked up to Portsmouth, Virginia. And I found Cora's house and I knocked on the door and she came to the door and peeked through the little, you know, curtain there and closed it right back up. Now you got to remember, I had a big afro out to my shoulders.

I had love beads and a tank top, motorcycle boots and a little goatee and an 85-pound German shepherd at the door. And she looked out and she didn't even come to the door. So I knocked on the door again and I yelled out, I said, Cora, it's Lonnie.

That's kind of what they call me back then. But anyway, and she came to the door and she opened it, left the chain on still, but she opened it. And I said, she said, what are you doing here? And I said, open the door.

And she did. And I said, I came here to tell you, I've given my life to Jesus Christ. And she went, what? I said, I'm coming to tell you, I gave my life to Jesus Christ. And she said to me, you know, she said, I've been praying for you and your family for 21 years. She said, but honey, I never thought I'd see the day you come to Christ.

True story, true story. And I was bad. I was bad. Well, I came in, I spent several days with her and you know, I thought while I'm in town, I ought to get my grandparents and my aunt and uncle and all my friends together there and all my Jewish friends and tell them about Jesus. Well, now she wasn't sure that was such a great idea, but I was sure it was. I was about three weeks old in the Lord.

And I was sure that once I explained to them all these truths about Christ, that I understood that they were going to line up, you know, to get saved. And so I went off to this meeting and they say, how to go? Not so good.

Not good at all. I came back from the meeting like a little puppy dog with my tail between my legs and she sat me down and I'll never remember what Coralee Goodman said to me. I'll never forget rather what she said to me here.

I do remember. I'll never forget what she said to me. She said, and I quote, she said, honey, she said, don't be discouraged. She said, you don't talk people into following Jesus. You pray people into following Jesus.

That's an incredible comment. You don't talk people into following Jesus. You pray them in the following Jesus. Coralee Goodman went to be with the Lord in 1975. In 1976, my dad came to know Christ a week before he died. In 1989, my only sibling, a brother came to know Christ and he's still walking with Christ today. And in 1992, my mother, the week before she died, gave her life to Jesus Christ.

This lady prayed my entire nuclear family into the kingdom of God. Now, Coralee Goodman could not read. She could not write. She could not drive an automobile.

She could not even spell her own name. She made an X, but this woman could pray and she prayed my whole family into the kingdom of God, friends. And I'm here to tell you that the most powerful evangelism that takes place is evangelism that's done in partnership with prayer.

I believe nobody ever comes to Jesus Christ except that somebody is focusing the power of the Holy Spirit on them through prayer. Now, for me, it was Coralee Goodman. As far as I know, she's the only person that prayed for me for those 21 years in my family. For you, it might have been your mother or your father, your brother or your sister. It might have been your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your husband, your wife, maybe one of your own children.

It might have been somebody at work or somebody in the neighborhood. But if you're here today and you're a follower of Christ, I can promise you there was somebody out there praying for you and focusing the power of the Holy Spirit on your life. And that's why your heart became ready to do business with God. And folks, now it's your turn to do it for somebody else. You say, well, I understand what you're saying.

I do. But you know what? You don't know the people that I'd like to see come to Christ. They're hopeless.

They're hopeless. You know, I could have 100 people praying for these people and it wouldn't make any difference. Friends, don't tell me that.

I don't want to hear that. I prayed for my dad seven years. I prayed for my brother 19 years. I prayed for my mother 22 years. And there was nobody who looked more hopeless than my family. And yet, you know what? All three of them came to Christ.

Don't tell me anybody's hopeless. Remember what Jesus said? Luke 18. He said, Jesus told a parable whose point is that we should pray at all times and never give up. Jesus died on the cross for that person that you're thinking about. Jesus wants that person to come to Christ a lot more than you do. And Jesus is more anxious to answer your prayer than you are willing to pray it.

As long as that person is breathing, let me tell you, it's too soon to quit praying for that person. Now, inside the bulletin we gave you, I want you to pull this out, is a little yellow insert. It says on the top my top 10 list.

You say, yeah, Lon, what in the world is this? Well, friends, what this is is I want to challenge you to write down 10 people, the 10 people that you most want to see come to know Jesus Christ. You know, I did this years ago. I have a top 10 list. And let me tell you who's on my list. Number one, my father. Number two, my mother. Number three, my brother.

You know what's been interesting to watch over the last 34 years as I've been able to go down and check them off? My dad, my mom, my brother. And friends, if you'll write some people down here and you'll stay faithful in prayer for them, I promise you in the years to come, you're going to be able to take this list and go down and check people off this list because they're going to come to Christ. Put this thing on your refrigerator, on the mirror in your bathroom, on your desk at work, and pray diligently for the Spirit of God to get these people's hearts prepared to do business with God.

And you watch what happens. Now I want to give you a moment right where you sit to start thinking about who are you going to write on this list. And if you've got a pen and you want to start writing people on the list, some of you know already who you want to write on this list. I want you to take a minute right now and you can get started doing that. While you're doing that, let me say to those of you who are here that are not followers of Christ right now, somebody's praying for you or you wouldn't be here today.

I can promise you that. And you may not realize it, but somebody's praying that you become the answer to their prayer, that you come to Christ. And if you're here today, let me challenge you to seriously consider doing business with God. Friends, how sad is it that Felix had all that information and I would suspect missed heaven?

How sad is that? Friends, we don't want that to happen to you. We want you to take the information you've got and to turn it into usefulness in your life by coming to know Christ. And I hope you'll think about that.

Now, I know you haven't had time to fill this whole list out in a couple of minutes, but friends, don't go home and just throw this thing away. Don't go home and just forget about it. There are people's lives at stake and our prayers are the key. So I want you to go home and before the day's over, that's my challenge to you, you know, sit down and at some point during the day, take ten minutes and say, I'm going to put ten names on here and I'm going to pray for these people every single day on the way to work. I'm going to pray for them during my lunch hour. I'm going to pray for them before I go to bed at night and I'm going to hold them up and ask the Holy Spirit to deal with them until they come to Christ. Either they're going to stop breathing and that's why I'll pray, I'll stop praying for them or I'm going to stop breathing and that's why I'll stop praying for them. But those are the only two reasons I'll ever stop praying for them.

And you watch what happens. Prayer is the secret weapon of evangelism. Let me close with a quote from the famous British preacher S. D. Gordon. Here's what he said and I quote. He said, the great people of the earth are those who take time and pray. They don't have the time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important, very important and pressing but still less important and less pressing than prayer.

Isn't that an amazing quote? And I know you don't have the time to pray. Nobody does. Friends, people who pray take the time to pray. They make the time to pray and that's what I'm challenging you to do.

Make the time to pray for these people and you watch what the Spirit of God does in their hearts. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for the people who prayed for us who know Christ here today. Some of us had godly moms and dads. Some of us had brothers and sisters who came to Christ before us. Some of us had wives or husbands who prayed us into the kingdom of God.

Or people at work. Whoever it was, Lord, thank you for those people and that they didn't give up on us as unlikely as we were candidates to come to Christ. Now grant that we might learn from that and that we might do the same for others. Father, as we fill out these top ten lists and agree to pray for these people, may the result be that hundreds and thousands of people end up coming to Christ because we're using the secret weapon of evangelism.

Not information, but prayer. Lord Jesus, honor these prayers we're going to pray by convincing and convicting the hearts of these men and women we're going to write down on these lists. That they need Jesus Christ. And Father, we look forward to being able to go down this list and check off names who've come into the kingdom of God. Give us that joy, Lord, as a reward for the commitment of our prayers. Make us bulldogged in our commitment to pray for these people. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.