Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message.
Here's Adrian Rogers. I want to ask you a question. Do you have trouble with procrastination? Now don't look so pious.
Nod your head. I know I do. And starting tomorrow, I'm going to do something about it. Matter of fact, I think all of us are plagued with some form of procrastination. But some of us have a form of procrastination that is actually harming us and doing great damage to us.
But I want to tell you, dear friend, that procrastination is more than the thief of time. It is the grave of opportunity, and it may be the road to hell. Now, a great many people are listening to me today, and not everybody who listens to these programs are saved people. We want them to be saved, but even those who are unsaved, many of them will not be saved, and for three basic reasons.
Some will not be saved because they're just out and out sinners. I mean, they don't believe what I preach. They don't want to believe it. They hate God. They hate Christ. They hate the Bible. They hate the church. They don't intend to be saved.
Why? They listen. I don't know. But there's a second category of persons who will hear and not be saved. And these are not out and out sinners. These are self-righteous people.
They think the gospel is for the thief, the murderer, the prostitute, the pervert, the down and out, but not them because they're nice cultured people. They live good lives. They do good deeds. They're even religious. So, therefore, they don't see their need of being saved.
And I suppose they're a great number like that. But I believe that the largest categories are the category of persons who are lost and who will not be saved, who listen to a message like this, or those people who are what I would call procrastinators. They do not intend to go to hell. They sincerely intend that one day they will be saved, but not today. They put it off and refuse to receive Christ now, thinking that they will receive him later on. I believe that the sin of procrastination has blasted more dreams and blighted more lives and wrecked more careers and damned more souls than perhaps any other sin. I want to read a scripture to you that deals with a man who procrastinated, put off giving his heart to Jesus Christ, and in all likelihood is in hell today. Acts chapter 24 and verse 24. And after certain days when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
And as he, that is Paul, reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. And there's the postponement.
There's the procrastination. Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. For he hoped also that money should have been given to him of Paul, that he might lose him. Wherefore, he sent for him the offener and communed with him. But after two years, Portius Festus came unto Felix's room, and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
Now here's the setting. Paul is a prisoner at Caesarea, and the Roman judge is a man named Felix. And Felix has some religious proclivities and some inclinations.
He wants to understand the thing, the faith concerning Jesus Christ. It's not as though Paul pounced Felix. Felix actually called for Paul, and he said, Now, Paul, I want you to tell me about Jesus Christ, and Paul did. Paul preached a Christ-centered, pertinent message to this man.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit was so strong that Felix trembled like a leaf in a storm. He was right at the threshold of salvation, but then he did something that so many people do. He said, Now, Paul, go your way for time. When I have a convenient season, then I'm going to call for you. That is, Paul, I know you're right.
I'm under conviction, all of that, but I'm not going to do it now. I'm going to wait for a better time, what Felix called a convenient season. And so the devil trapped him, and so today he is in hell. I want us to look at three things today as we look at this passage of Scripture and we think of the problem with procrastination. I want you to see, first of all, as we consider Felix, I want you to see the sermon that convicted him. Now, when Felix called for Paul, he said, Paul, you tell me about Jesus. And I tell you, you drop a handkerchief and say preach, and Paul would be on the second point before it hits the ground.
And so here's what he said. He said, Now, Paul, tell me about Jesus. And I want you to see the sermon that Paul preached, and it was the sermon that convicted him.
Look in verse 25. And as he reasoned of righteousness, that was the first point, temperance, that was the second point, and judgment to come, Felix trembled. That was the sermon that convicted him. Now, Paul, like a good Baptist preacher, had three points in a sermon. And it was a sermon, number one, concerning righteousness, number two, concerning temperance, number three, concerning judgment to come. Now, all you have is the outline, but the Bible says Paul reasoned with him about these things. That is, Paul took each one of these points and Paul expanded them and reasoned with this judge about those things. Now, I suppose had you and I been there that day, we would have said, Now, Paul, you're before Felix.
He can set you free, and you're in danger if you're not set free of losing your life. So Paul, tone it down, flatter him a little bit, stroke him a little bit, don't punch your finger in his face, use all kind of courtesy, talk to him about your world travels, Paul, and talk to him about philosophy, and if he wants a little money, slip it to him, but Paul, be careful. Now, Paul didn't do that. Paul preached a rip-roaring message to this man so much that he trembled, you would have thought that it was Felix before Paul rather than Paul before Felix. You would have thought that Paul was the prosecutor and the judge, and Felix was the prisoner. Thank God for the apostle Paul, who did not hedge his message.
He did not trim his message. He preached to this man three things. First of all, I want you to see the righteousness that he revealed, the righteousness that he revealed. He said to this judge, Now, judge, I know perhaps you think that you're a good man, but let me tell you the standard, the standard that God has set. It is absolute righteousness, and I'm going to tell you something else, Mr. Judge. You may think that you're righteous because you've done a few good things, but he says to him, and I don't know that he quoted this scripture, but I imagine he may well have quoted Isaiah chapter 64, verse 6, All our righteousness is as filthy rags in his sight.
And he says, Now, judge, you're sitting there wrapped in your royal robes. You're sitting there in all of your opulence, but I want you to know that God sees you dressed in filthy rags, and the word filthy rags literally means the bandages that a leper might wear and then discard. Now, he says, Judge, that's not what God thinks of the bad things you do. That's what God thinks of the good things you do apart from Christ.
Your righteousness is as filthy rags in his sight, and you're never going to be saved by doing good deeds. And then he said, Now, judge, I want to tell you where righteousness is, and I don't know that he used this statement, but I imagine he probably did because he quoted it later in the Word of God in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, For God hath made him who knew no sin, that's Jesus, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And he told this judge that self-righteousness is nonexistent in God's sight.
I mean, it does, it prevails not in God's sight. And then he told this judge how the Lord Jesus Christ took our sins, carried them to the cross, and purchased forgiveness for us. Then I believe a third thing he told him was this. He surely told him this as he reasoned, that, Judge, the only way that that righteousness can become yours is by faith. I want to give you another verse from the apostle Paul that he used in another place, Romans chapter 4 and verse 5, and if that was in his heart, I'm sure he must have told Felix this, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Don't you believe Paul told him those things? Felix, your righteousness is no good. Felix, God has provided righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ who took your sins to the cross, died for you, and Felix, you're not going to get it by working for it. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And so, first of all, you see the righteousness that Paul revealed, the standard that Paul revealed, which is righteousness, and then secondly, you see the sin that Paul revealed. That's very interesting, because not only did Paul reason with him about righteousness, but about temperance. And the word temperance here literally means self-control.
Self-control. That's what it literally means. And if there was ever a man out of control, it was Felix. Felix was a sensual man. For example, the Bible says he was with his wife there, Drusilla. Do you know who Drusilla was? Drusilla was one of the most beautiful women who ever lived.
She was said to be the most beautiful woman of her day. She was one of the daughters of King Herod Agrippa, that murderous old king. You remember what happened to him in Acts chapter 12?
Well, worms ate him. Well, this was the daughter. This was the daughter of Herod Agrippa. She got married the first time when she was 14 or 15, but Felix had set his eyes upon her, stole her away from her husband, and took her to be his woman. But not only that, he was a politician. He was a man who had a fat job, and what buttered his bread determined his conduct. If you will read this story all the way through one more time, you're going to find out that one of the reasons that he talked with Paul, along with wanting to know about salvation, was he was hoping to get a bride. He was hoping that Paul would give him some money that he might release him. Now, no judge is supposed to do that.
I mean, it's obvious. Here was a man who was willing to take a bride, and as you study the entire character of this man, later on you see him pandering to the Jews. I mean, he crucifies his conscience for public opinion.
The Bible says he was willing to content the Jews. Not that he did it according to principle, but what I'm trying to say is, as you read this story, as you look at it, you see here was a man who did not understand temperance. Now, what Paul is saying to him, and I want you to follow Paul's logic.
Paul would have been a good lawyer. What Paul is saying is here, here's God's standard. It is absolute righteousness. The only righteousness that you can have, therefore, is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, here's your conduct.
You, my dear friend, are out of control. You are a sinner by nature, by birth, by practice, and by choice. And then the third thing he said, not only was there the standard that Paul revealed and the sin that Paul revealed, but the summons that Paul revealed. He said, righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Judgment to come. Now, here's what God demands. Here's what you are, and therefore there's a judgment coming.
You're going to face God. Now, you see, that's important for this man to understand this because here he was on the throne, high, wide, and handsome. He has all of this power. He has all of this pomp. He has all of this circumstance.
He has all of this luxury. And what Paul is saying to him now, Felix, don't judge by appearance. Don't judge by what happens now.
Judge by what is going to happen. You see, judgment is not now, it is coming. Don't ever get the idea that God judges an unsaved man now. He doesn't.
What do you say? Don't the unsaved get in trouble because of their sin? Anybody gets in trouble because of their sin. I mean, if you live a life of promiscuity, you may come up with a terrible, debilitating disease. You take drugs or drink, it's going to take its effect in your body.
You jump off a 10-story building, you're going to hit the ground. But that is not primarily the judgment of God. That's just the built-in judgment.
I mean, every kick has a kickback. That's just the built-in judgment. But the true judgment is coming. Judgment to come is what Paul said. One of the most terrifying verses, I believe, in all of the Bible is Romans 2, verse 5, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and the perdition of ungodly men.
What does that mean? There's a day of wrath coming. There's a day of judgment coming.
And people with hard hearts just simply store it up, they treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God that is coming. And so here's the preaching that Paul does. I mean, it's a stern sermon. He reveals a standard. He reveals a sin. He reveals a summons that judgment is coming. And so here was a man whose hands were filthy with the sins of the flesh, whose heart was in need of a savior, and Paul does not back down or let down. Well, when Paul finishes this sermon, look.
Look what happens in verse 25. Felix trembled. Now, why did he tremble? He wasn't afraid of Paul. Paul probably was there in chains.
He wasn't afraid of Paul. He was under Holy Spirit conviction. Thank God that the Holy Spirit of God does that. I would to God we had more trembling today because of our sins, because of the judgment that is to come, because of the righteousness that God demands. Felix trembled. What a wonderful time that would have been for him to have been saved. Wouldn't that have been wonderful if he said, well, now, Paul, right now, I want Christ as my personal savior. You remember that in Acts chapter 16, that's what the Philippian jailer did. The Bible says he trembled and he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved.
But here's what Felix does. He comes right to the threshold of salvation. He is under conviction of sin, but he says, now, Paul, wait a minute. Go your way for this time when I have a convenient season.
I will call for you. Now, there's a second thing I want you to see. Not only the preaching that convicted him, but I want you to see the pressures that confronted him, the pressures that confronted him. I've told you before from this pulpit that the devil never gives up anybody or anything without a struggle. Now, when the Holy Spirit of God moved in to convict him, the devil moved in to confront him. And the devil did not want Felix to be saved and so he begins to unleash all of the artillery of hell and there were three mighty forces that warred against this man's soul.
We think of them as the three enemies that all of us face, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now, you think about it. First of all, worldliness, the world warred on this man.
Think of it. Here he is down in Caesarea. He's down there in a place of prominence, a place of power, a place of position, a place of praise. He has it.
I mean, he's a big shot. Now, in order for him to get saved, he has to humble himself. He has to admit that he's wrong. He has to admit that he needs Christ. Hey, folks, there are a lot of people right here today who get under conviction, but the devil says, don't go down in the front and make a fool of yourself. Maintain your pride.
And so pride sits in the seat with every sinner. Now, we call that worldliness. And the world worked on him, but not only did the world work on him, the flesh worked on him.
I mean, remember, there's Drusilla. And there's the sensuous life he's living. There are the bribes that he's been getting.
There's the soft job that he has. There are all of the pleasures of the flesh that he might be asked to give up. By the way, dear friend, the only thing God will ever ask you to give up are the things that'll hurt you. That's all.
That's all. If it'll make you healthy, happy, holy, wholesome, God says, help yourself. The Lord thy God is the sun and the shield. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. But while the world worked on him and pressured him, and then the flesh worked on him and pressured him, but then, dear friend, that's when the devil worked on him and pressured him. You can read between the lines here and you can see how Satan is whispering in his ear and saying to him, now, Felix, hey, buddy, cool it. Cool it. You're acting emotionally. Just tell Paul that you'll think about it.
Just tell him it's not convenient right now to make that decision. There's an old story. It's an imaginary story of a convocation of demons who met to find out the best way to damn the souls of men.
They were having a strategy meeting, a planning meeting. One demon stood up and said, let's tell people there is no God, and if there's no God, they won't need to repent and get saved. And some said, that'll damn some, but that's not the best plan because the evidence for God is overwhelming. Another demon stood up and said, well, let's tell them that while God exists, the Bible is not true.
It's a bundle of blunders and a book of lies. Some applauded, but others said, well, that will damn some souls, but you know, inspiration for the Bible is so self-evident. There's the fulfilled prophecy. There's the wonderful unity of the Bible. There's the applicability of the Bible.
There's the everlasting qualities of the Bible and all of these things. And another demon stood up and said, well, let's tell them that Christ is not the Savior. Let's preach the Christ of good works.
Let's just humanize Jesus and make him, rather than a Savior, a model, a leader and tell people that they'll just be good and try and live a good life like Jesus lived and so forth. They'll be saved. And some of the demons applauded, but others said, now, wait a minute. Some will buy that, but the Holy Spirit of God convicts people that Christ is the Savior of the world, and people know that they're sinners, and they know that they need a substitute to die for them.
When they hear it, it just bears witness. And so finally, a chief demon, an archdemon stood up. And this chief demon said, let me tell you what to do. Admit that God exists. Admit that the Bible is the Word of God. Admit that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Even admit to people that they need to be saved, but just tell them not to do it today. And there was hellish applause.
The demon said, that is the best plan of all. Now, obviously, that's a fictitious story. None of us have sat in on the convocation of demons and listened to a business meeting. But as you study history and you study the Bible and the warnings of the Bible, you know indeed that souls by the bushels have been sent to hell because they have simply postponed the day of salvation. Here was pressure, real pressure upon this man. And so he simply says, Paul, not now, later.
All right, third point. First point, the preaching that convicted him. Second point, the pressures that confronted him.
All of you are going to feel these things if you're not saved. Third thing, the postponement that condemned him. The presumption, let me put it that way, that condemned him. Look, if you will, in verse 27. The Bible says here that after two years, Portius Festus came into Felix's room and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
What does that tell us? It tells us he never did get saved. He never did get saved. He says, I'm looking for a convenient time.
I'll hear you again. But he never received Christ. As a matter of fact, history tells us that he died a suicide. He died a suicide. He was down in Italy and he was looking into a placid lake, a clear lake, and he saw his reflection in that lake and evidently he began to reflect upon his life and the misery that was in his life and he plunged into that lake and drowned a suicide. You know, that's so ironic. Do you know what the name Felix means?
It means happy, happy. But he had no happiness. He had no joy. He continued day after day, week after week, month after month. It turned to years. He never received Christ, but he said, go your way for a time. When I have a convenient season, I'll call for you.
And he made three tragic miscalculations. All right? Number one, that convenience will come. That convenience will come. He had the idea that now is not the best time, that tomorrow is a better time. Tomorrow is not a better time and now is the best time and I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Dear friend, if you wait till tomorrow, you're gonna lose today.
Now think about it. We tell folks, hey, get right with God, you may die. Let me change that. Get right with God, you may live. You may live. And friend, you'll live with Jesus. Now I want to tell you, if there were no heaven, there is, but if there were no heaven. And if there were no hell, there is, but if there were no hell. I mean, if the Bible clearly said there is no heaven to be gained, there is no hell to be shunned, I would still want to be a Christian. I mean, if this life is all there is, surely I'd want Jesus right here.
I would. In this life, I would want the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't feel sorry for me because I'm a Christian. Being a Christian is not some penalty that you pay in order to get to heaven. I mean, in this life, there's joy and peace. In knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, you will lose today.
I mean, do you think Felix gained so much when he went for the world of flesh and the devil? It brought him no happiness. It brought him no joy. His life ended in misery. But my dear friend, listen, tomorrow may not come. Tomorrow may not come. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1 says, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Pistol Pete Maravich, one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived, was playing basketball, an athlete. Do you know what his last words were? I feel great. Great. I mean, you youngsters out here, you have the idea. Well, you know, I've got plenty of time.
No, you don't, my dear friend. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Here's a man saying, I feel great. Thank God he knew Jesus. Thank God he knew Jesus. Thank God he repented of his sin and stepped over to the other side. You don't know when you're going to die.
Don't have the idea that convenience is going to come. There's always the problem of sudden death. You say, well, I was in an automobile accident, but I got out alive. I was close to death, but I didn't die. You're closer to death now than you've ever been. Death lays his icy hands on the old man, and he dies.
We know that. But sometimes the young mother will kiss her helpless babies goodbye and step into eternity. And sometimes even a little child has to drop his toys and grapple with the iron strength of death. Friend, listen. People are dying.
Listen to your watch tick. One person dies a second, 60 per minute, 3,600 per hour, 86,000 souls a day, 30 million souls a year. Listen to these scriptures. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 15. Our days on the earth are a shadow, and there's none abiding. Job 7, verse 6.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. Psalm 39, verse 5. Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand breath. Psalm 102 and verse 3. My days pass away like smoke.
Psalm 102, verse 11. My days are like an evening shadow. I wither away like grass. Friend, how foolish Felix was to say, I'll wait for a convenient time. Convenience may not come. And then not only, dear friend, is it foolish to say, I'll wait for a more convenient season because you'll lose today and death may come suddenly. But, friend, Jesus may come at any moment.
I mean at any moment. Matthew 24, verse 42. Watch therefore, for ye know in not what hour your Lord doth come. You don't know. Just be ready at any moment.
Listen to this. Matthew 24 and verse 44. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.
Are you ready? I mean, if the trumpet should sound and Jesus should come right now, the Bible says be ready. Well, you say, I don't think he's coming today. That's the best sign I know of that he might, for the Bible says in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. I mean, he's coming like lightning, like a bolt out of the blue, not out of the cloudy sky, but out of a cloudless sky, like a bolt out of the blue. Our Lord is going to come. Well, what was his first tragic mistake?
That convenience will come. What was his second tragic mistake? That conviction will continue. He presumed, he presumed that conviction would continue. Here was a man trembling. Here was a man under Holy Spirit conviction. Now, I want to remind you that conviction was of the Lord, for the Bible says my spirit shall not always strive with a man. You can say no to God, and that conviction can pass away. Let me give you a scripture.
Hebrews chapter three and verse seven. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. If the Holy Spirit of God speaks to you and you say no, it will harden your heart. Every time you say no to Jesus Christ, your heart gets a little harder.
And there will come a time, dear friend, when your heart will be so hard that the Holy Spirit of God cannot and will not speak to you. Three times in Romans chapter one you read where God gave them up, God gave them up, God gave them over. Listen to this scripture in John chapter 12 and verse 37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
It's as though John is amazed. He says all of these miracles were done, yet they believed not on him. And then in verse 39 it says, therefore they could not believe.
Do you get that? Verse 37 says they would not believe. And then verse 39 says they could not believe. You see here Felix says, well, Paul, you go your way. When I have a convenient season, I'll sin for you. But the Spirit of God had convicted him.
He was trembling. And the Bible says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Don't get the idea that you can trifle with the Holy Spirit. Don't get the idea that you can just whistle and God will come running.
You can bandage your eyes and keep a bandage on so long that when you take that bandage off, you will be blind. My dear friend Felix made a mistake. Number one, that convenience will come. Number two, that conviction will continue.
I'll tell you his third mistake that he made. He felt that conflicts would cease, that somehow it would be easier later than it is now. The devil never gives up anybody or anything without a fight, but my dear friend, listen, there'll never be a better time for you to be saved than now.
Why? As the Holy Ghost says, today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your heart, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
When you say, I'm waiting on a convenient season, I want you to remember this. Tomorrow, you will have more sin to repent of. Tomorrow, you will have less time to repent in, and tomorrow, you will have a harder heart to repent with. Tomorrow, you will have less time to repent in. Tomorrow, you will have more sin to repent of, and tomorrow, you will have a harder heart to repent with. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your heart.
What was the mistake that Felix made? That convenience will come. That conviction will continue. That conflict will cease. Tomorrow, he just simply puts it off. He's hoping that tomorrow is going to be the time to come to the Lord.
It will not be so. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, and call ye upon him while he's near. The Holy Ghost says today. The Word of God says today. Experience says today. This preacher says, Come to Jesus today.
