Trembling at God's Righteousness — Joshua Daniel

Felix Trembles Before the Coming Judgment

Now, dear friends, you know, in the 24th chapter of Acts, if you will please turn to the 24th chapter of Acts, St. Paul is standing to defend himself before the Roman governor and his wife. And from verse 22, 24th chapter of Acts, And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.

And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. 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 reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go your way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for you. So, while Paul waited for his trial, there was an occasion given when the governor wanted to review some of those things which concerned the faith of Jesus Christ.

Preaching Christ Without Apology

Just think of that. What was declared, you know, from Galilee to Judea, now in the highest circles of the land. And, you know, carefully being heard by the governor and his wife. And Paul, instead of, you know, being a supplicant or a mendicant, you know, a beggar, you know, taking the role of one who says, Yes, I am guilty that I have brought about this upheaval in Jerusalem by holding fast to this faith.

There's no sense in which an apology was offered. You know, when I look at modern preaching today, it is so apologetic. You know, we must somehow cover up for this and cover up for that. And, you know, we need to pat this man.

Even the very fact you have any big meetings before the message is given. Oh, my. What a lot happens. There must be half a dozen people who must be applauded, appreciated, thanked. This man brought this chair.

This lady who were the place, you know, the vacuum cleaned the place. And this brother generously presented these lights. After all that, I'm, I call it Tommy Rot. Rubbish. You know, the preacher stands up after people are quite weary and some of them are ready to sleep.

And this is how things go on in the Christian world. And I am shocked. They will not come to the point. What is the point? The point is Jesus. And what is my purpose? What's the purpose of that whole meeting?

To lift up Jesus from the word go, it should be Jesus. Not what I think. And this is the chairman. He has his remarks to make. I remember a meeting in London in a hotel. And they said that's the only temperance hotel that was still existing in London.

That is no drink. And what was his name? That famous member of parliament for many years was the chairman. And I was supposed to be the speaker. After I had spoken, the presiding person said, now the chairman's remarks.

You know what this member of parliament said? I should get his name. So famous. Yes. Cyril Black. Honorable Cyril Black. He said after a message like that, I have nothing to say. Nothing should be said.

So the meeting closed. Do you see my dear friends, the whole point of it is Jesus. So what do we do when we come to a retreat? You know, I was saying, learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart. And I added, there are so many things to learn of our Lord.

But he mentioned these two cardinal qualities. I am lowly in heart. Very well. I would like to see how many of you went and prayed, Lord, make me more humble. Let me have you see your hands. Yes, I see a few.

Well, now my dear friends, it doesn't register, does it? I am here at this retreat. Why? Because my parents brought me. See, we have so many young people in this camp. If that's all the reason why you're at this retreat, I can tell you what the sequel will be in your life.

I can write it on a piece of paper and give it to you. You treat the things of God so lightly and you'll be gone with the wind. That's it. And there'll be no escape. See, friends, the point is we are focusing on Jesus.

The Word of God Must Produce Conviction

Why did not Paul go into a long story and spin a great big case in his own defense for his immediate release from prison or custody? Why? Paul, as Paul spoke of righteousness and temperance and judgment to come, Felix trembled.

I've seen strong men trembling. I've seen crowds broken. Well, the Word of God has to be so presented in the power of the Holy Spirit just as it is. Then, you know, the king will come down, step down from the cross, from his throne like in Nineveh.

Today, we don't seem to have such presentation of the Word of God and not even an attempt to do so, which is very sad. And we call it the Word of God. Anything seems to go for the Word of God. And if a man stands in the pulpit and all that he can think of is the various translations of this particular phrase and the original words in Greek and that kind of punditry, what good does it do to the man on the street?

Here, Paul knows what to speak to the governor, and he was speaking of righteousness. The Bible tells us in the 15th chapter of Psalms, this is a psalm, of course, which all of you must know by heart.

What? And it's, he that worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart, and he that doeth these things shall never be moved. That's the conclusion, you know. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Second verse, he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. You know, I meet a lot of people, and I'm shocked that they will not speak to the person concerned, but they will speak about him to somebody whom it does not concern at all.

That seems to be a very heathen practice. I can understand heathen people, you know, they don't have the courage to speak the truth. I can understand that, but I cannot understand the fellow who says he's a believer.

Pardon me. All that he can do is to go around behind a person's back and talk. Why? Haven't you got the honesty to be able to talk straight? Don't you love that person and want to tell the truth to that person?

It's so simple. I like to go get straight to the point. After a few introductory words, I like to get straight to the point. Of course, I care. I don't want that person to be, you know, getting into a lot of trouble.

So, I want to tell him exactly his what I want to say to him. Now, that you can make that a personal habit. It took me a little while to make it my personal habit just to go straight and speak the truth and never say things which you would not be willing to say if that person were present in the room.

I only say things which I would tell the person straight. Now, you know, my dear friends, that engenders a lot of trust and you can trust such people. You can say to them, tell me the truth. Some people say to me, if you don't tell us, who will?

So, you better tell us. You rebuke me. I am ready to receive it. Well, I don't just want to go around rebuking this person and rebuking the other person. No, no, no. But that attitude which says, I want to know the plain truth.

Righteousness in Personal and Public Life

So, here is St. Paul, not beating about the bush here. He spoke of righteousness. Yes. Come on, let's speak of righteousness in Britain today. Righteousness in the shopping areas. Let's get shoplifting out of Britain.

You know, one of the saddest, very awkward sights that I saw was in Oxford Street. I was waiting to catch a bus or something. Here came, you know, from one of those big stores, security men. Here was a Muslim woman with those, with a flowing guard and they seized her, you know, and then she protested.

They literally, you know, normally I don't like anybody being manhandled. I step in or at least I like to. Whatever it is, they dragged her off into the shop. Evidently, they had caught her on the cameras.

You know, most of these big stores have got a whole bank of monitors. Every aisle is being monitored. Shocking. You see, my dear friends, and then you hear of this scam and that scam and this person is accused of purveying favors to the other person and it's all a system of accusing one another.

You know, it's very hard to accuse anybody who says, come on, examine everything, examine my books. Here's my bank account. Here it is. Come on, go ahead. If you think I have hidden some gold somewhere or smuggled something, come.

Bring one of those big diggers and dig up the place. You know, you don't feel like touching a person like that. No righteousness. Now, what is Christian truth? And if the preaching of the word of God does not produce righteousness, righteousness, this is my plain duty to my children, to my family.

This is my plain duty to society. I can't be a tax cheat or a tax thief. You know, I went to see the commissioner of income taxes. It was a very comic situation. You know, he was going to study the, he was scrutinizing the accounts of the fellowship and with so many centers and so on, it's an enormous thing.

And therefore, I went to explain to him how the whole thing is done on a basis of sacrifice. So the commissioner, when I, when he saw me enter, he stood up at his desk and offered me the chair and he would not resume his seat.

He stood like a schoolboy. Then I said to him, I won't be comfortable until you sit down. You see, who am I? I'm nobody. But they at least know me, know me by reputation. You know, we are just about a hundred yards in front of the income tax offices.

Well, you see, that's righteousness. Just fancy the commissioner of income taxes says standing up like a schoolboy before an ordinary preacher like me and nobody. Why? Righteousness. Righteousness exalts a nation.

And here was Paul as he declared the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the righteousness that comes from following Jesus. Well, the governor trembled. You know, in Deuteronomy, the second chapter, God said to his people, way back in Deuteronomy, the second chapter and the 25th verse, this is what God said.

This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the whole heaven who shall hear report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you. They will hear, you know, God's righteousness ought to make people tremble.

All the philosophies that people have espoused and declared, all the religions in the world cannot and have never produced that practical righteousness that is just normal when the Lord Jesus touches any person or any community.

But, you know, we have seen how things have changed greatly in Britain. Some of you may be surprised that it was very difficult to lose anything in London. If you lost an umbrella, it would turn up. You know, it was difficult to lose anything in London and London has changed so much.

But the truth of God is meant to make men know their place before the living God. They shall hear report of you and shall tremble. If you turn to Psalm 99 and the first verse, this is what it says, the Lord reigneth.

The Fear of God and the End of Arrogance

Let the people tremble. You see, this trembling has ceased because of hypocrisy amongst those who say, oh, yes, I am a Christian. The very validity of that statement has lost its force. It's sickening.

I like to tell people, you know, I'm a Christian, by which I want them to know that my dealings are straight and people, when they hear me talk to them, they believe me. They believe my words. My dear people, when this trembling ceases at the awe of God, you know, recently I came up with a situation when I was speaking about the awe of his presence and one girl evidently got very upset.

The next thing I hear is she is a patient now. I was speaking about the awe of God that we are not to play in God's presence. You know, today there is a lot of arrogance with a little education, with a little money, with a little acquisition or possession.

There is coming to people a great accretion of arrogance. Now, I wondered, you know, I like to be very, very clear about some of these statements and words. Arrogance. I said, does the Bible have arrogance in it?

Sure enough, back then they could not translate the Bible or Isaiah 13th chapter without utilizing that word, Isaiah 13 and verse 11. I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity.

I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. My dear friends, God can do it in a moment's time. It only takes a tsunami, you know, and where will the inhabitants of this island flee? This very week, two days ago, they had a tsunami again and there is a mounting count of the dead.

Excuse me. I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. You know, Britain has come to a very dangerous pitch of haughtiness, just arrogance. We don't care for God.

It's all right. The funeral of Princess Diana excited a lot of sentiment and people were exposed for the first time in their lives to a church service and, of course, the reading of God's word, which the prime minister did pretty well, you know, although I don't know how the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians fits the scene or the occasion.

You see, if I had a say in the matter, I would have said, now, that won't be the portion to read on an occasion like this. A warning has to be given to the whole nation that God is not to be played with, playboy or no boy, but you see, that has come and it has gone.

Now, you may say, I am nobody. What am I going to make the nation tremble? You know, did not Nebuchadnezzar spend a sleepless night when Daniel was in the lion's den? Yes, he did. The rulers need to spend sleepless nights with a sense of alarm.

I really don't know what would have happened to the finances of Britain if the North Sea oil had not been discovered. Empire was gone. Markets were lost. Manufacturing was in decline. The survival of the nation was at stake and God has been very gracious to this nation.

You can see it in history. He has been very gracious to this nation, giving them a freedom, a religious freedom and you and I should not lose nor allow this freedom to get abridged. You know, I do not know if you can stand on the street and preach.

I suppose the police will ask you to move along because the prisons are full, you know. Hard to take in another guest of her majesty. Well, you know, my dear people, I will cause the arrogancy of the people to cease.

That's what God says. Then again, he says in Proverbs 8th chapter in the 13th verse, surely you will know this verse. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy and the evil way and the froward mouth do I hate.

You see, my dear friends, we had better take this to heart. I am continually declaring at every opportunity that is given to me how I am seeking to be humbler and humbler and I have every cause to be humble.

Maybe you think you have no cause to be humble. Let me tell you I have every cause to be humble but how sad it is when we become incorrigible. Nobody to correct us and people who attempt to do so, if they do attempt it, will get hurt or bitten.

Temperance and the Coming Judgment

Oh, my dear people, here is Paul executing his plain duty and he spoke of temperance, you know. We are told that a man who seeketh the crown, you know, a first place in a race is temperate in all things.

There is a moderation, there is a temperance that is necessary. This body of ours craves for a lot of things. Excess eating, for instance, you know. Oh, people are getting fat as frogs. I see them maneuvering their way through doorways.

I don't see how that presents a beautiful sight. It doesn't. But, you know, people haven't got the candor to be able to say that unless it is a little child who pipes up, oh, the fat lady, you know. That's not very nice to be able to say so because there is a disease.

Obesity can be a disease. Well, in that case, we ought to be very sympathetic. But, you know, the fridge door is swinging all the time and how does the mother know that the child is back? I heard the fridge door at one o 'clock at night.

My dear friends, if that's all you care for is the fridge in the home, I want to tell you that's a poor kind of home. It's the mother in the home. It's the dad in the home. It's the love in the home. I'm safely back home.

There is comfort in the home. There is peace in the home. But, as Paul preached about temperance and the judgment to come, I remember a man in Wales who presided over one of my meetings. He said to me, I do not know how long it has been since I heard a message on judgment and the return of Jesus.

What? How does the Bible close? Let us see what the last two verses say. And you certainly ought to know this. He which testified these things said, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

What an expectation. My Lord is going to come for me. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So, the Bible closes with a ready heart. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Come. Surely I come quickly.

The Danger of Deferring Obedience

Well, when the governor heard these things, he trembled. But, tragic words followed. He said, I will hear you at a more convenient time. You know, that one statement which has been the downfall of many.

Convenient time. When I feel like it, obedience to God is not to be deferred that way. You know, my dear friends, and here last Sunday, you know, I had to see some very needy people. A stranger, a lady, quite young, said to me, I've just been diagnosed with cancer.

And the doctors have told me I have two months. And she said, pray for me. There seemed to be in her, stranger though she was, a certain expectation. A short while ago, another had been healed who was in a similar condition.

Of course, that's only what the Lord can do. You and I cannot do that. However, there is not going to be a convenient time for some people. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. Let us pray.

Let us tell God, Father, I dare not defer obedience. I dare not look for some convenient time. You have said this is the hour. Now is the accepted time. Here I am. Let not arrogancy be found in me. You say that you hate arrogance, that you will cause the arrogance of the evil people to cease.

You can swiftly bring all our arrogance to an end. Give us that humbleness of heart to just love you and give you all the force of a life that is totally committed to you. Gracious Lord, do this we pray.

Do it in every one of us. For the eye has not seen, nor ear heard, how great things you have got and how peculiarly you have preserved this nation. Lord, how much love and mercy you have bestowed on this nation.

And now when the nation begins to speak in terms of Muslim and non-Muslim inhabitants, as though that is the only option before the people. Loving Father, we pray that you will put an end to this rot, this decline, this moral degeneration.

Bring the nation to its senses and the court may tremble. Lip service to God may cease. Oh, my Father, we are nobodies, a bunch of nobodies, but you are somebody. Oh, Lord, our God, before your judgment arrives suddenly and irrevocably, I pray and ask you that we might waken the nation.

Lord, give us grace, feeble as we are, small as we are. Oh, how I wish everyone here would be a little David. Oh, hear our prayer and help us, we ask in Jesus' holy name. Amen.