Gathering of the followers of Jesus Christ outside the world capital.

Acts 28:12-16

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

And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days. From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli…” Acts 28:12-13

If you look to the left of the map, towards the middle, you can see Malta, the place of the atheistic culture of humanism, as described in the posts on Acts 28:1-10. That is where the ship with the figurehead of the “Twin “Brothers” departed, as described in the post on Acts 28:11. Then you see Syracuse to the northeast from there, then Rhegium northeast of there, then Puteoli, which is almost due North from there.

 “There we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. Acts 28:14-15

“There” refers to Puteoli, which is southeast of the world capital of that day, Rome. That is where Paul, Luke, and one of their friends ran across other Christians. This shows how far the Gospel of Christ traveled from Jerusalem, and in a very short time. Today, we see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has traveled to every continent around the world. But we are also aware that Christianity is not welcomed to join today’s culture which is atheistic. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are left behind miles southeast of the culture of the global government. What is left of Christianity in today’s world is gathered outside mainstream society, as Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

From Puteoli, the journey continued to escort Paul to Rome to be imprisoned for enabling the spread of the Gospel of Christ throughout the Roman Empire. The Jewish leaders were the instigators behind his arrest. With Paul was Luke and one of their Christian companions. On their way to Rome, the Roman escort stopped at places called the “Apii Forum/Forum on the Appian Way” and “Three Inns”. There, even more Christians gathered to meet Paul, and he was encouraged and gave thanks to God. Those two places were still southeast of the world capital of that day and would be the last that Paul would fellowship with a gathering of Christians before his imprisonment in Rome, and eventual execution.

“Apii Forum” and “Three Inns” were two places of economic and social importance. This describes the social/economic agenda of the atheistic culture we live in today. People in today’s culture are considered reformable, or “born-again”, through social integration and economic prosperity [digital currency]. Christians are expected to gather and join in the atheistic social/economic community, before being integrated into the community culture, which is global. This means corruption of the Spirit by abandoning Christ and fellowshipping with atheists, which means living for the values of this world and shunning the Holy Spirit. Today’s culture lives for the entity that replaces the conscience and spirit to give people what to think, feel, say, and do. This entity gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through people as they are groomed to the mark of the beast.

The social/economic agenda is very much a part of behavioral modification. The goal is to modify people’s behavior by social approval and worldly gain [digital currency] for behavior that adapts to the atheistic culture. Negative feedback is given through social disapproval and a lack of worldly gain against behavior that shuns the atheist culture of today.

“Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.” Acts 28:16

When Paul arrived at Rome, to be imprisoned, the Romans kept Paul isolated from the other prisoners and kept him in what we call “solitary confinement”. Paul was under the guard of a Roman Soldier. Today, we hear a lot about the prisoner/guard ratio in jails and prisons around the nation. There seems to be far more prisoners than guards to guard them. With Paul, there was one prisoner, one guard. In the general population of prisoners, there was one guard for many prisoners. In other words, Paul was kept under very close watch.

Paul was kept in solitary confinement for two reasons, both out of an “abundance of caution”, 1) Paul was a very persuasive and Holy Spirit filled person who had the potential of “stirring up” the prison population, as deemed by the Roman prison officials. 2) Paul had to be prevented from spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, which the Romans suspected that Christianity was responsible for stirring up a lot of trouble within the Roman Empire.

In today’s world, Christianity is kept in “solitary confinement”. That is to prevent the Gospel of Jesus Christ from spreading through the atheistic culture of today, out of an “abundance of caution”, of course. Our message is not one of social/economic reform as the pathway to salvation, but is according to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 16:19-21 And also, “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

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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