When I Have an Opportunity
October 8, 1871, Preacher D.L. Moody addressed a congregation in Chicago. His sermon was on Pilate’s question: What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ? Moody said to the congregation… “I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your minds during the week, and next Sabbath we will come to Calvary and the cross, and we will decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.”
The sermon concluded and they sang the invitational song: Today the Saviour calls… for refuge fly. Moody told them to take a week, the song said “today.” The Great Chicago Fire was already burning and years later Moody said: “I have asked God many times to forgive me for telling people that night to take a week to think it over.” He never saw that congregation again.
The preacher told them to take a week. In Acts 24 it runs the other way. The preacher (Paul) is in chains, and the man in charge (Felix the governor) says he will take time to consider Jesus.
Paul spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Felix became afraid and replied: “Leave for now, but when I have an opportunity I’ll call for you.”
In the South we say: “When I get ‘round to it.”
Felix’s opportunity was right in front of him in chains the entire time. It was a man talking to him about Jesus. Yours is a page doing the same thing… and it is in your hand right now.
There is no doubt that the risen Jesus is calling you.
The opportunity you are waiting for is the one in your hand… and the risen Jesus is calling you to himself today.
The high priest comes down to Caesarea with a hired lawyer and a list of charges nobody can prove. Then Paul says, “But I admit this to you: I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way.” Paul says they called it a sect. He calls it the Way.
Paul then moves to the resurrection… “there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous” (Acts 24:15). Saying plainly what the true charges are: “Today I am on trial before you concerning the resurrection of the dead.”
The same thing Jesus said, everybody comes out of the grave (John 5:28-29). The question is not the truth of the resurrection… that is a settled reality. The real issue is resurrected to what.
The charge sheet says Paul is a troublemaker. The real charge is that Jesus is alive and everyone will be raised… righteous or unrighteous… and will stand before him. Not a set of scales weighing our good and bad deeds, but a personal judge. God has set a day to judge the world by a man he appointed, and he proved this man’s worthiness as judge by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31). The empty grave is the gospel for friends and a warning to everyone else. And everyone reading this already knows which side they are on. So did Felix.
The Judge who will stand over us all stood in your place first and was judged for your record so that you would never be judged by it.
Acts 24:22, Felix was well informed about the Way. And the first thing he does is put it off. He sends for Paul several days later and Paul speaks to him about faith in Christ Jesus. Paul speaks about righteousness… to a judge who would not make his own judgment. Self-control… to a governor. The judgment to come… to a man who stands as a judge over others. Yet Felix delays his decision.
Hear it the way Felix heard it. Paul tells you about a coming judgment… and a Judge who is Jesus, a dead man who walked out of a grave. The grave is the proof. God raised him, and that is how you know he has the right to judge you (Acts 17:31).
Felix became afraid. The kind of fear that grips you when the Spirit of God presses Jesus close to you. Not God trying to scare Felix or being hard on him. Hard and scary would be leaving him alone in his sins. What is truly scary and fearful is not believing, but being moved and not moving. Waiting for a “better” opportunity.
You know the moment too. A line in a sermon, a verse in your reading, and it is about you. And we cannot get to the next verse fast enough. That is Felix. When Jesus moves that close it is not to condemn you. The condemnation was taken by him on the cross. Jesus moves in close to us to call us to himself.
Acts 24:26, Luke says Felix sent for Paul often… hoping for money. He kept the preacher close and the Savior at arm’s length. After two years Festus replaced Felix and because Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor he left Paul in prison.
Well informed but not transformed. Felix heard often about Jesus… and became afraid after hearing. Felix is a man with a standing appointment to hear the gospel. Like most of us… Felix got plenty out of it yet was afraid and delayed. Felix called for Paul over and over to hear more. Hearing is not coming to Christ. Getting something out of it is not the same as coming to Jesus.
Paul had already written this to the church in Corinth.
For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Felix said, “when I have an opportunity.” Paul says now is the acceptable time. Felix’s opportunity and Paul’s acceptable time… it is the same word in the Greek. And look at who the verbs belong to: I listened. I helped. Today is not about you working up enough nerve… Today is about God helping you.
Today is enough… not delaying for a better opportunity. Felix the judge was afraid to allow himself to be judged. The judgment has passed from us to Jesus. He was nailed to a cross in the place of sinners… Felix’s sins, your sins, my sins. He was condemned so the ones who come to him will not be.
I have said Felix’s line: not now… maybe later… when I get ‘round to it. When things settle down. They never settle down.
We want comfort and control, things on our terms. For many of us, comfort does not mean an easy life. It means one thing we will not let Jesus touch… the apology we owe, the confession we keep rescheduling, the conversation we will have with him when things settle down… while we keep coming and keep hearing.
Felix got used to hearing and routine can feel like peace. Fear set in once on Felix and he delayed. Luke never tells us he got another chance.
So, this week when the fear rises… it is not an interruption. It is the acceptable time. The time to call on Jesus today. Call on the One who was judged for that very thing in your place. He is alive, and there is nothing left for you to pay.
Your opportunity is the one in your hand… and the risen Jesus is calling you to himself today.
Consider this: You will stand before Jesus one day. He calls you today to come to him… to turn from your sin and trust the Judge who was judged for you and walked out of the grave.
I know you might have “prayed the prayer” years ago. Coming to Jesus is not praying once… Jesus is a person you come to over and over. Felix had the information and the appointment but he never had Jesus. We come to him today not only for salvation but for a Savior who holds us securely. John 6:39, The Father’s will is that Jesus will never let us go.
Now is the acceptable time. He is listening… and he helps.
Source: the sermon “When I Have an Opportunity” (Acts 24:1-27) preached at Red River Baptist Church on October 4, 2026.