Felix leaves Paul in prison for two years, while hoping for a bribe from Paul to be released.

Acts 24:26-27

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.” Acts 24:26-27

“Meanwhile” refers to the time after Felix sent Paul away from him and said, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” Acts 24:25. During this time, Felix was hoping Paul would offer him a bribe to be released. For that reason, Felix sent for Paul more often, playing nice with him, “buttering him up”, and talking with him. I have experience with people who use flattery and smooth words hoping to solicit something from me. What they are hoping for is that I will give away the riches I have in Jesus Christ to be “set free”. Their version of being “set free” is to walk freely through the community while being driven along by the atheistic entity that replaces the conscience and spirit to give me what to think, feel, say, and do. Instead of being “set free”, this is the entity that gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

The Holy Spirit warns us about those who use the “buttering up” techniques to draw people away from Jesus Christ, “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” Romans 16:18

Two years had gone by, and the only thing Felix got from Paul was an earful of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us be like Paul, who after years of being exposed to flattery and smooth words, retained his faith in Jesus Christ. May we have the victory in the face of Satan’s version of the Holy Spirit, which is the beast with two horns like a lamb [Revelation 13:11-12], also known as the wolf in sheep clothing. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not persuaded by emotional appeals, but we are rooted in the Holy Spirit by the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ.

After two years, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. In those days, there were no two-year term limits. The Roman emperor chose who to place in power and who to remove from power, based on who best served the emperor’s goals. In today’s world, those in power are there because they serve the purpose of the goals of the United Nations. They serve the purpose of the United Nations to drive forward in becoming the undisputed one world government. This requires an atheistic person who is filled with smooth words and flattery while avoiding belief in the Living God, side-stepping the need for the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, and passing off human honor as the Holy Spirit. “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44

During the change of power, Felix left Paul imprisoned as a favor to the Jewish leaders. Paul’s life was now in the hands of Porcius Festus, who was appointed governor by the most brutal of all Roman Emperors, Nero! Behind all of this is the hand of God who said 1) “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Acts 23:11 2) “For I will show [Paul] how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:16 Nero brutally persecuted and slaughtered Christians to purge the Roman Empire of what he considered to be a plague. In Rome, Paul was executed under Nero’s command.

In today’s atheistic culture, the community and political leaders govern in harmony to the will of the masses of people. They detest Christianity and anything to do with a message that calls them sinners in need of Salvation through Jesus Christ. They want the Gospel of Christ, and everyone who shares the message of the Cross, to be kept out-of-sight and out-of-mind from their social network. Click here for a post on the extinction of Christian births from Revelations 12.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11