Once again, Catholicism is explained, and its "doctrine," by its absolute refusal to rightly divide the word of truth, as usual-following Peter, and the gang, in early Acts, not recognizing dispensational differences, divisions....
The authority of the 12 under the prophetic kingdom program-explaining "early Acts"
"And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city." Isaiah 1:26 KJV
A King, ruling a kingdom, on earth=land. And just when did the preceding happen? It hasn't. Thus, by rightly dividing(everyone divides), the following scriptures make sense in a millennial, 1000 year framework, i.e., and just who are those princes ruling in judgment, these that will be in "The city of righteousness"? :
On earth-the 12:
"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Mt. 19:28 KJV
"And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22:29-30 KJV
And this explains the following scripture, when viewed in context of the 1000 year millennial kingdom,and the preceding verses with respect to "judgment"/serving as judges(all the apostles), where the Jews will be "the head, not the tail", and have privileged status. The following scripture has been used by the Roman Catholic Organization to justify priests "forgiving sins"- apostolic succession, Peter is "the vicar of Christ", the "pope"=the head of 'the' church on earth, as Peter's alleged successor......
And this has resulted in "protestants" doing little more than ignoring these verses, these clear statements, preferring to "water them down" with nonsensical reservations and/or apologies. And thus, those who refuse to view the Holy Bible dispensationally perform mental gymnastics in explaining this verse away,by "spiritualizing" them, or dismissing them("Well, it does not really mean......."
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Mt. 16:19 KJV
"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 18:18 KJV
"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." John 20:21-23 KJV
No, the answer is dispensational(this is a biblical word, and a good one at that) and concerns the position which the 12 and other apostles will have in the promised, literal, earthly millennial kingdom according to prophecy-AUTHORITY:
"And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22:29-30 KJV
The 12 were were to be the official rulers of Israel on earth in the Lord Jesus Christ's kingdom. An official must have authority! Mt. 21:43 KJV stresses that the kingdom was to be taken away from them then ruling Israel-the apostate, unbelieving Jewish leadership:
"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Mt. 21:43 KJV
And to what "nation" was this earthly kingdom to be given?:
"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32 KJV (not he body of Christ, which is never referred to a "nation").
We learn from:
"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Mt. 19:28 KJV
...that authority in the kingdom was to centralized in the 12. And we learn from Matthew 16:19 KJV that the Lord Jesus Christ chooses Peter as the chief of the 12, and personalizes this authority in him:
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19 KJV
And hence, this explains the early Acts occurrence of Peter :
"And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)..." Acts 1:15 KJV
"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:37 KJV
Thus Peter personally, and "the little flock" represented by the 12, were given divine authority. Mt. 18:18-20 KJV is not a "prayer promise", but identifies what would constitute a quorum for official action. And this authority extended to the remission of sins per John 20:21-23 KJV. And how could this authority be put into the hands of "fallible", sinful men?:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26 KJV
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." Jn. 16:13 KJV
"But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak." Mt. 10:19 KJV
"But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." Mk. 13:11 KJV
"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." John 20:22 KJV
Remember, per Acts 1:3 KJV, the Lord Jesus Christ taught his followers for 40 days his specific instructions="Boot Camp" for 40 days
Again:
"To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:... Acts 1:3 KJV
Realized at Pentecost:
"And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Acts 1:4-5 KJV
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:4 KJV
"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." Acts 2:32-33 KJV
"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 KJV
(vs. Paul's instruction in this dispensation: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;..." Ephesians 5:18 KJV)
And Ezekiel 36:27 declares regarding this:
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." Ezekiel 36:24-28
Thus, they were fully equipped for such an authoritative position, being endued with "power from on high", and thus "100%/no error" capable of executing the authority the Lord Jesus Christ placed in their hands, including JUDGMENT. And this explains the official action Peter took in the "absence of the King" in Acts 4/5.
Another infallible action-choosing the successor to Judas per Acts 1-Matthias. And this explains the urgency of choosing, by divine "lot", Matthias to replace Judas-12 apostles for 12 thrones set up in the millennial kingdom.
Remember this verse, which many just seem to "punt":
"Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:..." Romans 14:8 KJV
That is, the Messiah, the Christ came to confirm the promises made to the Jews-not the body of Christ(which was not in existence at that time). The 12 were given the honor of being the vessels by which Israel would get back on track, to fulfill their calling as a "nation of priests"(Ex. 19:5-6 KJV; 1 Peter 2:5-9 KJV; Rev. 1:6 KJV, Rev. 5:10 KJV-the body of Christ is never referred to as a "priesthood", despite the Roman Catholic Organization's claims to the contrary; the only "priesthood" ever recognized by the LORD God on earth pertained/will pertain to the nation of Israel), ministering to them so as to show them how to make known the Messiah to the world-this particular mission had no reference/application to any so designated "Christian" "the" Church.
And thus, this is the "back drop" to what was happening in the "early Acts" period, as the apostles were given the privileged task, the "Great Commission",in the absence of their Messiah, to persuade, convict, convince Israel first, and then all nations(gentiles). They were not only given the spiritual gifts, the "power from on high" of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this task, they were given the authority to "forgive"/"judge" "sins"/"offenses" in the absence of the Lord, and this authority was given and promised to them by this same Lord. And this authority as "judges" would continue right on into the promised,prophetic program's millennial kingdom. The apostles, as the "little flock"(Luke 12:32 KJV), had the kingdom given to them; and just as the Lord Jesus Christ forgave sins, as he had been given by the Father the power to execute judgment(John 5:22 KJV-judgment is delegated),they were given this authority as well. .
This prophetic program has been put on hold temporarily, with the raising up of the apostle Paul(who was not, nor ever will be, one of the12), and the introduction of the mystery program (a discussion of this here, in one thread, is not appropriate), and thus the spiritual gifts, including word of knowledge, raising the dead, tongues, prophecy........(all of which they also did) have ceased, and the "judging/remitting" of sins. However, when the prophetic program resumes, with its corresponding privileged status of Israel, and the Lord Jesus Christ returns to set up his 1000 year millennial reign on earth, from His throne, His "throne of glory", the apostles, the "little flock", will be in that kingdom, on earth, in their resurrected bodies, fulfilling their honored/privileged role as kingdom officials, with full designated power and authority for judgment.
And this explains why the command to "sell everything" in early Acts, if understood in the context of the prophetic program. The impending "Great Tribulation" grew near, and the advent of "...the days of heaven upon the earth..."(Deut. 11:21 KJV). Had the Jews accepted the apostles's testimony of the coming millennial kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ would have returned after the Great Tribulation, established His millennial reign, and established universally the "socialism/communism" as depicted in early Acts. The 12 and "the little flock" of the Messiah's followers did begin to carry out their "Great Commission"-they did "the things" which their Master told them to do(Luke 6:46 KJV). They did sell all their belongings and distribute to the needy(Acts 2:44- 45 KJV; Acts 4:34-35 KJV). They did go forth without material provision/posessions, so that Peter could say, infallibly, "...Silver and gold have I none..."(Acts 3:6 KJV)-they sold it all. They spent hours in the temple and ceremonially observed law.(Acts 2:46 KJV, Acts 3:1 KJV, Acts 5:42 KJV, Acts 21:20 KJV). They required water baptism for the remission of sins, and miraculous signs, per Mark 16:17, did follow those that did believe(Acts 2:4 KJV, Acts 3:6-11 KJV, Acts 5:12-16 KJV; Hebrews 2:3-4 KJV...........). By reading Acts carefully, you can observe how carefully and meticulously they obeyed every command of their "Great Commission"-they fulfilled Luke 6:46 KJV. And this included selling all-it was not an "option", or a "suggestion", nor was it based on their "intent." Ananias and Sapphira sold a possession, , and yet "kept back" a "part" of the land they sold. Their "intent" was judged with death.
Rightly divide the word of truth, or you will end up being a "Catholic," "Church of Christ-er," "7th Day Advent-ist,"................................=lost.
