Witnessing Well

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

WITNESSING WELL

Acts 24:22-27

22 Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. "When Lysias the commander comes," he said, "I will decide your case." 23 He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs. 24 Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. 27 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.

NIV

It appears Felix really did not want to actually arrive at a judgment as he kept finding some reason not to make his decision. But we see here he was acquainted with the Way. He knew about this movement that has been growing all over the Roman Empire and even in regions beyond. Now it could have been due to his wife being a Jewess or simply because he was the Governor and had many advisors who kept him informed of all the activity under his charge. But either way he wanted to hear more about the Way. Perhaps as we already noted his interest was pricked when Paul mentioned about the resurrection of the dead. Although we see that Felix and his wife had many conversations about faith in Jesus Christ and Paul was able to talk to him about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, which brought fear in Felix. Here we have the gospel in a nutshell, those who are saved are in and those who are not are out. It is also interesting that Felix was hoping Paul would offer him a bribe. This confirms the fact Felix did not want to judge the case because he did not believe Paul was guilty of the charges against him, but at the same time he did not want to anger the Jews bringing the charges. His course of action was more of self-preservation than of one of justice. Perhaps this is the reason Paul spoke about righteousness and self-control, understanding the heart of Felix through the gift of discernment as empowered by the Spirit. This could be our life lesson. Once again we learn that the words we use should be inspired by the Spirit in our conversations with those who need to know more about the Way. Many men can reason with great intellect using their human knowledge to argue their case. But it really does not matter our educational background, our amount of degrees or knowledge. What matters when it comes to discussion about faith in Christ Jesus is knowing the Spirit will inspire our words. The Spirit knows the heart of men, and sees the true need within and he will reveal that to us when needed. Some might be able to quote scripture, sighting chapter and verse, which serves mainly to show their great knowledge of scripture, but serves little to the need of the person hearing. We need to listen to the Spirit and simply speak the words needed of the heart and mind of those who we speak with. Paul’s interest was only in filling a need in the heart of Felix. Paul was not concerned of his own interest, other than to serve the Lord. This should be our goal as well. The secret of effective witness is to listen to the Spirit.