After Acts 28

The Bible doesn’t tell us about Paul being released and what happened next, but from the writings of early Christian leaders it seems quite certain that Paul was released and was able to visit his “sons” in Colossae and his thousands of other children. But he was back in Rome again when Emperor Nero was inspired by Satan to try and kill off all the Christians there.

In 64 A.D. there was a long dry spell and a terrible fire burned a large section of the city of Rome. Accusations spread that Emperor Nero himself was responsible for the fire because it cleared the land for him to build himself a large, new palace. So Nero looked for someone else to blame and he decided to pick on the Christians.²¹  He publicly accused the Christians and had them arrested and killed. Thousands of them died terrible deaths at the hand of this ambassador of Satan.

It is reported that the Apostle Peter was sentenced to death by crucifixion, and that he complained that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Glorious Lord, and that after some debate the soldiers agreed to crucify him upside down – feet up, head down.

It is reported that Paul was killed by having his head chopped off.

It is known that Nero killed thousands of Christians though public execution. He had some tied to poles at night and burned to death as lamps to provide light to his palace grounds. There was a stadium in Rome that could seat 250,000 people.²²  Christians were brought there to be killed as sport. When one way of killing them became boring (gladiators, crucifixion), they found other ways to kill them – as a meal for lions, tigers and leopards. Then, when they realized these animals killed too quickly, they brought in other animals to give a better show, like bears, crocodiles and wolves who took their time at it. People had a sickening lust for violence.

Thousands of Christians were killed in this way. This would have been the end of Christianity if Christianity was just another man-made religion. But the Gospel is mighty; it is the force of the Kingdom of God. For every Christian shamed and killed, thousands of unbelievers witnessed their strength, joy, and “shalom” that could never be forgotten. These Christians in their intense pain were singing and praising their Saviour. The light of heaven shined on their faces and those who watched were convicted of their sin and separation from God. People turned to Christ, at the risk of their lives, faster than the emperor could kill them off. Nero was followed by other emperors who continued the attempt to wipe out Christianity. But they were powerless against the Kingdom of God and the Mighty, Mysterious Gospel. The spread of Christianity could not be stopped! It is still moving forward and will continue to do so until our King returns.