Peter; who had murdered his own wife; who had put to death every
good man whom he could seize, simply for being good; who had
committed every conceivable sin, fault, and cruelty that can disgrace
a man, while he made the people worship him as God. He saw that
great Emperor Nero hunted down by his own people, who were weary of
his crimes; condemned to a horrible death, hiding in a filthy hole,
and at last stabbing himself in despair; and so judgment came on him
likewise; while the very heathen felt that Nero was gone to hell,
leaving his name behind him as a proverb of wickedness and cruelty
for ever.
So Felix, if he were alive, saw judgment come. And yet more: he
saw, if he were alive, such a time follow as the world has seldom or
never seen--civil war, bloodshed, lawlessness, plunder, and every
horror; a time in which men longed to die and could not find death,
and, instead of repenting of their evil deeds, gnawed their tongues
for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven, as St. John had
prophesied in the Revelation.
Yes, if Felix lived only ten years after he trembled at St. Paul's
words, he saw enough to show him that those words were true; that
there was a God in heaven, whose wrath was revealed against all
unrighteousness of men; who was coming out of his place to judge the
earth, and punish all the tyranny and pride and profligacy and luxury
of that Roman world.
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