During the time of the apostles, the assemblies sold all their possessions and properties,
They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. (Acts 2:45 [NLT])
Which coincides with these passages,
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10 [ESV])
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 [NIV])
For the LORD, who is high and lifted up, looks upon the humble, but the proud he does not know.
(Psalm 138:6 [JB2000])
Because selling all possessions and properties is an act of humility, which relates to how the Ninevites fasted and put on sackcloth, as acts of humility,
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah's warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. (Jonah 3:5 [NIV])
Because in addition to repentance, which means to stop sinning,
But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. (Jonah 3:8 [NIV])
Humility is the way to seek the mercy and favor of God, hence,
Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
(Jonah 3:9 [NIV])
He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed. (Proverbs 3:34 [NIV])
This is why Jesus Christ said this,
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 19:21 [NIV])
When Jesus heard his answer, he said, "There is still one thing you haven't done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 18:22 [NLT])
Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21 [NLT])
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." (Luke 12:15 [NIV])
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24 [NIV])
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
(Luke 16:13-14 [NIV])
Because although there are various acts of humility that have and could be done to seek the mercy and favor of God, such as fasting, putting on sackcloth, or even sitting on ashes, selling everything is the ultimate act of humility that Jesus Christ has required of all who wish to be his disciple, hence,
So therefore every one of you who does not give up all that he himself possesses, is not able to be My disciple. (Luke 14:33 [BLB])
Which is also why he described the kingdom of heaven using this parable,
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. (Matthew 13:44 [NLT])
And why he also said this,
but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:19 [NIV])
And also why he said,
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:25 [NIV])
And also why it is said here,
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10 [NIV])
And even why the women of the assemblies were told to not wear jewelry nor wear expensive clothing,
likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, (1 Timothy 2:9 [ESV])
Because as opposed to selling everything as the way to become humble, the way of self exaltation is having an abundance of possessions. This is also why the great false Roman catholic church and her daughter churches and denominations that were birthed by her are all figuratively called prostitutes in Revelation,
Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. (Revelation 17:15 [NIV])
The name written on her forehead was a mystery: babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. (Revelation 17:5 [NIV])
Because it relates to all these false churches selling themselves to the world to have wealth and authority. And so, at an appointed time, these sayings will become fulfilled,
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matthew 20:16 [NIV])
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:12 [NIV])
In which case, this appointed time begins at the second coming of Jesus Christ, that he will exalt those who humbled themselves, and humble those who exalted themselves,
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. (Matthew 16:27 [NIV])
"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. (Revelation 22:12 [NIV])
Because in a similar manner that even the Israelites were first humbled in the wilderness for forty years before taking possession of the promised land,
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8:2 [NIV])
God has appointed the time before the second coming of Jesus Christ as a time to be humble, to then receive exaltation when he returns,
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
(1 Peter 5:6 [ESV])
Which is even why those who are dead will rise from their graves at his coming,
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2 [NIV])
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16 [NIV])
Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:25 [NIV])
To receive the exaltation, first by received new bodies that are immortal and glorified that radiate light,
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:52-53 [NIV])
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:43 [NIV])
And also by receiving authority to rule over nations on the earth,
To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-- (Revelation 2:26 [NIV])
"'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' (Luke 19:17 [NIV])
For as opposed to the Israelites who inherited a small plot of land, those who belong to Jesus Christ at his coming will inherit the entire earth, hence,
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5 [NIV])
And as rulers of the entire earth, will also receive authority to judge the world, hence,
Or do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! (1 Corinthians 6:2-3 [NIV])
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4 [NIV])
This is also why, before Jesus Christ was glorified and given authority to rule over heaven and earth,
that one 'will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery' --just as I have received authority from my Father. (Revelation 2:27 [NIV])
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18 [NIV])
H first came in the form of a servant,
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:7 [KJV])
To demonstrate the humility that all who follow him must first be, before receiving the exaltation of glorification and authority that he later received, after first being humble. This is also why it is said that God has chosen the lowly things of the world,
God chose the lowly things of this world... (1 Corinthians 1:28 [NIV])
And that not many who were chosen were first wealthy,
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. (1 Corinthians 1:26 [NLT])
Because God has chosen those who are humble to confound and bring to nothing those who are high and lofty,
For God has chosen the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and he has chosen the weak of the world to shame the mighty. And he has chosen those of low descent in the world and the rejects and those who are nothing, to nullify those who are, That no one will boast before him.
(1 Corinthians 1:27-29 [ABPE])
This is also why those who follow Jesus Christ are called sojourners,
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 2:11 [NIV])
By faith he sojourned in the land of the promise, as in a foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the joint-heirs of the same promise.
(Hebrews 11:9 [BLB])
Because a sojourner only has and takes what he needs until he reaches his destination, in which case, after selling all properties, those of the assemblies either went city to city to preach the gospel,
Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. (Luke 10:5-8 [ESV])
Or lived in temporary dwellings, which is why even Paul rented a house for a time,
And Paul stayed a whole space of two years in his own hired house, and gladly received all the ones entering to him, (Acts 28:30 [ABP])
And assembled in these temporary houses to break bread and commune,
You greet the brethren in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly in his house! (Colossians 4:15 [ABP])
and the assembly at their house. Greet Epaenetus my beloved, who is a first-fruit of Achaia for Christ! (Romans 16:5 [ABP])
and to Apphia the beloved, and Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the assembly at your house. (Philemon 1:2 [ABP])
And were not worried about having the basic needs of food, water, and clothes,
Do not then be anxious! saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what should be worn? (Matthew 6:31 [ABP])
Because in all selling their possessions and properties, they all then abounded in money to then give freely as each had need, which is why none of them lacked in anything,
that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:34-35 [NIV])
Since God will always provide for the needs of his people. This is why there is also a Proverb that reads,
Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, (Proverbs 30:8 [NASB])
