"I'll take that as a concession..."-Jeff
Well, Jeff, you are starting to bore us, with these cliches...
"Which was that it was to poor folks not yer buddy STP's false idea that they were Jerusalem saints who had sold everything."-Jeff
For the babes, sheep, not for Jeff, as he refuses to rightly divide the word of truth, refuses to recognize the divisions in the book, the most important being between the prophetic program, primarily dealing with the installment of the Lord Jesus Christ, by God the Father, as King of Kings, on earth, because of what He did 2000+ years ago, ruling with an iron hand, from Jerusalem, and the nation Israel, as His ministers, kingdom of priests, witnesses, "the head...not the tail...," who has an earthly inheritance, and unbelieving nations, on earth, and the fulfillment of the plan of "as the days of heaven upon the earth"(Deut. 11:21 KJV), the "gospel of the kingdom," vs. the mystery program, which focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ as "head of the body," and members of the body of Christ, as His ambassadors, stewards.......whose inheritance is in "heavenly places," and the gospel of the grace of God....
The command to sell all, leave all,... was given in the context of the impending time of "The Great Trib," the antichrist pursuing them, "Give us this day our daily bread..."(Mt. 6:11 KJV, Luke 11:3 KJV)....
Lord Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to sell all:
Command given: Mt. 19:21 KJV, Mk. 10:21 KJV, ;Luke 12:33 KJV, 18:22 KJV
Command obeyed: Mt. 19:27 KJV;Mk. 10:28 KJV;Luke 5:11KJV, 18:28 KJV, Acts 2:44-45 KJV,4:32-34 KJV
Penalty for disobedience-death-Acts 5:1-11 KJV
Do you have "...all things common...": Acts 2:44 KJV, 4:32-34 KJV , 3:6 KJV?
Well?
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46 KJV
Have you sold all your possessions? This is one of the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ, in simple, 6th grade English, Jethro- in the context of the impendingf "Great Trib:"
"Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Matthew 19:21 KJV
"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth." Luke 12:32-33 KJV
"Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Luke 18:22 KJV
Read it-"sell all that thou hast,"
Watch the spin..."He really did not mean that literally- He was merely ONLY attempting to teach/convey a spiritual truth", or, "that was before the cross and the resurrection"............No, he disciples did exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ said, both before and after the death, burial, and resurrection:
"before"
"Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" Matthew 19:27 KJV
Read it-"we have forsaken all,"
"Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee." Mark 10:28 KJV
"Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee." Luke 18:28 KJV
Read it-"we have left all"
"after"
"And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." Acts 2:44 KJV , Acts 2:45 KJV
Read it-"all things in common"
"Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." Acts 3:6 KJV
That is why Peter said "Silver and gold have I none;"-he sold it all, per direct orders, from the Commander In Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, the reason being in the context of the impending(at that time) "Great Trib." And thus, the directive to pray to God the Father, for His provisions, "Give us this day our daily bread," makes sense in the context of the "Great Trib," i.e., fleeing from the antichrist, and the remnant asking for deliverance, from the man of sin...
"but deliver us from evil:
Matthew 6 KJV
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
"And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." Acts 4:32-35 KJV
Read it-"all things in common"/They sold their homes, land.
Communism, folks. Anyone doing that today? I thought so. Watch the upcoming spin.....Watch.
Go, ahead, spinners.....Provide your analysis as to the merits of communism, i.e., "...all things common..." vs. "free enterprise"/"capitalism", per Acts 11:29 KJV ,"every man according to his ability...", " today. And we must "leave out "
"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." 1 Timothy 5:8 KJV
....since, obviously Paul had not read the previous cited scriptures. Why Paul?!)
Penalty for disobedience:death-Acts 5:1-11 KJV, per Numbers 15:29-31 KJV :
"Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him."
I expect each and every believer to "Produce your cause......bring forth your strong reasons...", as to why you do obey these commands, or, conversely, why you "....do not do the things which I say..."(Luke 6:46 KJV). If you do obey these commands, I would at least respect your intellectual honesty, and your consistency.
As Elijah of old demanded, and I likewise demand: "...How long halt ye between two opinions?..." (1 Kings 18:21 KJV)
And I do not expect "....And the people answered him not a word...." (1 Kings 18:21 KJV)
"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 RCO 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.
POTD=Post Of The Decade.
