Thus Paul the prisoner urged upon Jew and Gentile the claims of the divine law, and presented Jesus, the despised Nazarene, as the Son of God, the world’s Redeemer. The Jewish princess well understood the sacred character of that law which she had so shamelessly transgressed; but her prejudice against the Man of Calvary steeled her heart against the word of life. But Felix, who had never before listened to the truth, was deeply agitated as the Spirit of God sent conviction to his soul. Conscience, now aroused, made her voice heard. He felt that Paul’s words were true. Memory went back over the guilty past. With terrible distinctness came up before him the secrets of his early life of lust and bloodshed, and the black record of his later years,—licentious, cruel, rapacious, unjust, steeped with the blood of private murders and public massacres. Never before had the truth been thus brought home to his heart. Never before had his soul been thus filled with terror. The thought that all the secrets of his career of crime were open before the eye of God, and that he must be judged according to his deeds, caused him to tremble with guilty dread.{LP 243.1}

Derved bad Paulus indstændigt jøderne og hedningerne at tage den guddommelige lovs krav, og viste Jesus, den foragtede nazaræer, som Guds Søn, verdens Forløser. Den jødiske fyrstinde forstod godt denne lovs hellige karakter, som hun så bramfrit overtrådte; men hendes fordomme imod Golgatas mand, stålsatte hendes hjerte imod livets ord. Men Feliks, som aldrig før havde lyttet til sandheden, var dybt foruroliget idet Guds Ånd overbeviste hans sjæl. Den samvittighed, der nu var vækket, gjorde hendes stemme hård. Hun følte at Paulus ord var sande. Minderne kom tilbage over den skyldige fortid. Hemmelighederne om hans lyster og blodsudgydelse i hans tidligere liv kom frygteligt klart frem, og den sorte optegnelse for tidligere år – tøjlesløshed, grusomhed, rovlyst, uretfærdighed dyppet i blod fra private og offentlige massakre. Sandheden har aldrig før kommet ind i hans hjerte. Hans sjæl har aldrig før været sådan fyldt med rædsel. Med tanke på alle hans forbryderiske løbebane i hemmelighed, var åben for Guds øjne, så han måtte dømmes efter hans gerninger, få ham til at skælve af skræk for skyld. Tanken at alle hemmelighederne i hans forbryderiske løbebane var åbne for Guds øjne, og at han måtte dømmes efter hans gerninger, fik ham til at skælve af skyldig ærfrygt.