Why did Jesus address his Apostles as a Little Flock? With Addition! 2nd Try! It is pretty well common knowledge today, that the Governing Body of the Watchtower Society's teaching is, that this 'little Flock' referred to by Jesus, was the entire 144,000 selected from this earth, by Jehovah, for offices as King Priests; to rule with the Christ for the Thousand year period. [Revelation 5:9,10;20:4] Now logically, is 144,000 a little flock? Now anyone who is able to reason logically, and sensibly, 144,000 is quite a large number to be reffered to as a 'Little Flock.' To me, at least, that sounds a little silly, to say the least. One needs only to delve deeply into this subject to learn, the Watchtowers interpretation of this scripture is seriously flawed; and I will go on to show exactly why that is. The scripture in question is worded thusly: "Have no fear, little Flock, because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32] It is interesting to note, that when the Christ instituted the memorial of his death, only the Twelve Apostles were with him in that room; none other of the heavenly calling were present with him at that time. Proof of that is found in these following three scriptures: [Matthew 26:20-28] [Mark 14:17-25] [Luke 22:14-30] Now, were you to have read those three scriptures through from beginning to end, you will see I have backed up what I have stated with scriptural proof, that cannot be argued. Getting to the reason for calling them a little flock; it should be considered that only the Twelve Apostles were referred to as 12 foundation Stones, with the Christ the head of the corner. So they were the foundation of Jehovah's new spiritual building, and none of the other of the heavenly calling were any part of that foundation; it took only the Twelve to form it. Paul gives us a description of this new spiritual building in the following words: "Certainly, therefore, you are no longer strangers and alien residents, but you are fellow citizens of the Holy Ones and are members of the household of God, and you have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone. In union with him you, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by Spirit." [Ephesians 2:19-22] So, from that we see, that it was only the Twelve Apostles that Jesus referred to as a little flock, as it says about other members of the heavenly calling; ''You are fellow citizens of the Holy Ones and members of the household of God' 'you too have been built upon the foundation of the Apostles, and prophets... together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit.' They were too, 'members of the household of God.' [Ephesians 2:19-22 This is why Paul could say the following, about the heavenly calling: "What! Do you not know that the body of you people is the [Temple] of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? Also you do not belong to yourselves, for you were bought with a price. By all means, glorify God in the body of you people." [1 Corinthians 6:19; 3:16,17] "Do you not know that you people are God's Temple, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the Temple of God, God will destroy him; for the Temple of God is Holy, which Temple you people are." So, one needs to walk very cautiously while around these true people of God; being very careful in the way that you may speak to them, or treat them, because Jehovah is watching over these ones very carefully; and will not take kindly any cruel treatment that might be dealt them. [Matthew 25:31-46] Something that Religious Cristendom, nor the Governing Body of the Watchtower Society is aware of, is, that none of them should partake of the emblems in celebration of the memorial of the death of Christ; that celebration was meant only for the 12 Apostles; we will remember that only the eleven were in the room when Christ instituted the memorial of his death; the covenant was made only with them; they was the ones who would, 'eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom, and sit on Thrones judging the Twelve tribes of Israel.' [Luke 22:28-30] Matthias would later be chosen to take the office of Judas Iscariot. Paul made that very clear, because certain ones were partaking of the emblems, but not approving themselves after scrutiny, then after doing that, and realizing they were not of the foundation, as the Twelve, they were not supposed to partake of that celebration. Notice what Paul told them, and remember he was talking to those of the heavenly calling, when he said: "Consequently whoever eats the loaf or drinks the cup of the lord unworthily will be guilty respecting the body and the blood of the lord. First let a man approve himself after scrutiny, and thus let him eat of the loaf and drink of the cup. For he that eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment against himself if he does not discern the body. That is why many among you are weak and sickly, and quite a few are sleeping in death. But if we would discern what we ourselves are, we would not be judged "... [1 Corinthians 11:28-31] They obviously, were not discerning, that they were not one of the twelve foundation stones; because only those of the Twelve could approve themselves after scrutiny, and most certainly they could partake of the emblems without being judged, after doing that; the reason being, they were the ones with the Christ when he instituted the memorial of his death; who was clearly told by the Christ: "However, you are the ones that have stuck with me in my trials; and I make a covenant WITH YOU, just as my Father has made a covenant with me for a kingdom that YOU [the little flock] may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel." [Luke 22:28-30] One might wonder, since there were only 'one body,' what was there to discern before eating and drinking? [Ephesians 4:4-6] They were all of the heavenly calling; so what was it they had to discern? That was the simple fact, that they were not all foundation stones; not of the little flock; with their names written in the heavens in a very special way. Note these next words: "The wall of the City also had Twelve Foundation Stones, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb." [Revelation 21:14] So, the little flock that Jesus referred to was not the entire 144,000; it was merely his Twelve Apostles, and I feel it safe to say, everyone will agree that Twelves is a small number as opposed to 144,000. Or, if you will, A Little Flock!" One other scripture that is a bone of contention are Jesus words at John 10:16 where we find Jesus telling us this: "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; [not of the little flock] those also I must bring, and they wlll listen to my voice, they will become one flock, [under] the one shepherd." [John 10:16] You will notice, Jesus never said, that there would be two flocks under the one shepherd, one earthly, one heavenly; Jesus was drawing a line of demarcation between the Twelve Apostles, the foundation stones, and all the other members of the heavenly calling; who were not of that fold, not foundation stones. Now, did it really take a rocket scientist to figure that one out? When a Religious Organization, such as the Watchtower Society, establishes a 130 year record of failed predictions and false prophecies, while telling us that they are Jehovah's Spirit directed organization; is it any wonder they do not understand the words of Jesus? Because, quite clearly they do not! I should add in summary, how long they were to celebrate the memorial of the death of Christ; Paul tells us: "For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the lord until he arrives." The disciples of Christ had asked him: "What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the system of things?" Those words of course are a dual prophecy, on the one hand, they were looking to the end of the Jewish system of things, on the other, it has application also to the complete end of our own system of things. But they were to continue taking the emblems until the Christ arrived at the end of their system of things; which occured in 70AD when general Titus leading the roman Army attacked the City of Jerusalem as foretold by Jesus; tearing up ten miles of forest land to build a wall of pointed stakes all around the city of Jerusalem. {1 Corinthians 10:11] He slaughtered one million Jews who had failed to heed the words of Jesus when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by encamped Armies to flee that city. [Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24] The Roman General, Cestius Gallus, in 66 AD made a thrust up to the Temple wall but was driven back by the Jews manning the wall; Gallus losing 6,000 of his Troops in the retreat and the majority of his war machine. That gave the Jews inside the Walls of Jerusalem the opportunity to flee into the mountains, as Jesus had warned them; those that failed to heed the warning given by Jesus paid with their lives when the Roman General, Titus attacked Jerusalem four years later, in 70AD tearing up ten miles of forest land to build that wall of pointed stakes foretold by Jesus; distressing them from every side. When Titus was through, one million Jews were put to the sword, and not a stone was left upon a stone of the Jewish Temple; exactly as Jesus had prophesied, it all came true. As it will on our system of things! Now we know, that Jesus never came as Jehovah's authorized reigning King in the first century; that event was reserved for the complete end of our system of things; the way that he did come though was being Jehovah's appointed judge, and prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, and having it all come true just exactly as Jesus had prophesied, in that manner he had come, or arrived. Recall they were to partake of the emblems until he arrived, at the conclusion of the Jewish system of things; notice the words of Paul respecting that: "Now these things went on befalling them as examples, and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the ends of the system of things has arrived." [1Corinthians 10:11] So the time for the judgment of the house of God to begin; as mentioned by the Apostle Peter: "For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God."] and if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, where will the unGodly [Man] and the sinner make a showing?" [1Peter 4:17] Concerning the Judging as done by the Christ, we read: "For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son." So the judgment passed on the Israelite Nation, came at the arrival of the Christ, at the conclusion of the Jewish System of things, that arrival shown by the fulfillment of all the words of Jesus against the Nation of Israel. [John 5:22] Bringing it down to our own day, we know the chosen ones would be on this earth, because they were mentioned by Jesus when he gave the composite sign of his coming, at Matthew 24:24. The Apostle John in his Revelation mentions the final calling, choosing, and sealing, of a remnant of the seed of the heavenly woman, sealed just prior to the outbreak of the great tribulation, so, very probably none of them even knew they was of the heavenly calling, up to that point in time, and in, that, the great tribulation had to be cut short to save their lives, none of them would have ever observed the memorial of the death of Christ, not themselves belonging to any organized religion on this earth; in the sense that they themselves was organized as an organization that belonged to Jehovah. They would know that Jehovah's Organization is now a heavenly organization, with the Christ directing all of its affairs by means of the Holy Spirit now in his hands ever since his ascension; from the heavenly spirit realn. [Acts 2:33] It's true they might have been seated in the pews of Babylon the great, the empire of false religion, but Jehovah would draw them out of there to his Son, so that they could gain free approach to him through his son. [John 14:6;6:44] [Revelation 18:4] [Revelation 7:1-4;12:17] [Matthew 24:21,22] But only being sealed for heavenly life, just prior to the outbreak of the great tribulation, how much would they have known about taking those emblems? Very probably, some, who may have applied themselves vigourously at study of God's word, would very probably have known enough not to touch those emblems, realizing that they themselves was not part of the foundation stones, not of the little flock. so not wanting to receive judgment to themselves would never have touched those emblems, as did, and does, religious christendom, on a regular basis, and the governing body of the watchtower society, once every year. Some would know better than to do that. Others may have come along more slowly at taking in knowledge, but Jesus in control of the true teaching instrument, the holy spirit, would be sure to enlighten them on the taking of the emblems, so that they too would refrain from taking such a course as that, in time. [John 14:26;16:13] [1John 2:27] Religious Christendom, as Well as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and their followers, have been without knowing it, eating and drinking judgment against themselves, by taking the emblems meant only for the little flock of Jesus followers; the twelve foundation stones of God's new building; none of them being of that particular body of believers. A heavy price will be exacted for that presumptuous action, when the due time comes, and, it will surely come! Make no mistake about that! Notice, next, how it came to be, these, 'other sheep' Jesus spoke about came on the scene at that time: Found in Jesus last prayer, prior to his ascension: 9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you . Notice something else Jesus Commanded His Eleven Apostles just prior to his ascension: 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."[Matthew 28:18-20] [NLT] Many today take these words of Jesus, as a reference to Baptism in a water Baptism similar to John's, but that is not the case at all; this Baptism was done by means of the Holy Spirit, and only done on those chosen directly by Jehovah as the Twelve Apostles were, for heavenly life in the Spirit Realm. Paul will fully explain this point: Not from the Jews alone, but also from the Gentile Nations. Note the following words of Paul: [Matthew 3:11] [Mark 1:8] [Luke 3:16] 3 "For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you? 3 The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. 4 By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. 5 This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power." {Ephesians 3:1-7] [HCSB] [Romans 11:13] [Galatians 1:11,12] Notice the paralell account in Luke about this very thing: 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.49 "And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven." [Luke 24:45-49] [NLT] Had this have been a Baptism in water, they could have started out immediately, due to the fact there was plenty of water in their area; but notice! Jesus instructed them to wait in the City of Jerusalem, until they were filled with power from on high. That outpouring of Holy Spirit was done after the ascension of the Christ, to his Fathers right hand at Pentecost at which point he received the promised Holy Spirit, and was able to pour out same. Peter will explain that, next: 33 "Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today." [Acts 2:33] [NLT] This was when the Apostles received the gifts of the laying on of the hands, by which means others of the Heavenly calling, not only from the Jews, but also from among the Nations were chosen; evidenced by these following accounts: 19 "While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them."No," they replied, "we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."3 "Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked. And they replied, "The baptism of John."4 Paul said, "John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus."5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied." [Acts 19:1-6] [NLT] Paul further explains this, as follows: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Christ, just as he chose us in union with him before the founding of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love. For he foreordained us to the adoption through Jesus Christ as sons to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, in praise of his glorious undeserved kindness which he kindly conferred upon us by means of [his] loved one. By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of [our] trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness. This he caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and good sense, in that he made known to us the sacred secret of his will. It is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. [Yes,] in him, in union with whom we were also assigned as heirs, in that we were foreordained according to the purpose of him who operates all things according to the way his will counsels, that we should serve for the praise of his glory, we who have been first to hope in the Christ. [The Little Flock] But you also [Other sheep] hoped in him after you heard the word of truth, the good news about your salvation. By means of him also, after you believed, you were sealed with the promised holy spirit, which is a token in advance of our inheritance, for the purpose of releasing by a ransom [God’s] own possession, to his glorious praise.That is why I also, since I have heard of the faith you have in the Lord Jesus and toward all the holy ones, do not cease giving thanks for you. I continue mentioning you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the accurate knowledge of him; the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he called you, what the glorious riches are which he holds as an inheritance for the holy ones, and what the surpassing greatness of his power is toward us believers. It is according to the operation of the mightiness of his strength, with which he has operated in the case of the Christ when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come. He also subjected all things under his feet, and made him head over all things to the congregation,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills up all things in all."[Ephesians 1:1-23] NWT] Due to the influence and false teachings of certain claimed believers today in the Christ, this issue has been seriously clouded, by teaching that these other sheep; the first to be gathered together in the Christ are of an earthly class of survivor, but as you have seen from all of the preceding all of those first gathered were of the Heavenly calling only. All having its beginning first in Jerusalem. There is no mention of an earthly class in the first century. The main reason being, all of the things in the Heavens had to be gathered first; of which there is a surviving remnant on earth when the Christ arrives in Kingdom Power; those ones he rescues from death at the height of the great tribulation. Some, of course are resurrected first! [Daniel 12:2] As evidenced from the following verses of scripture. [Matthew 24:19-22,24] [Revelation 7:1-4;12:17] [1Thessalonians 4:14-18] 2Thessalonians 1:6-10 Those of the earthly class appear on the scene after the Heavenly Government has come fully into Kingdom Power; due to Jehovah's promise to Abraham to, 'bless all the Nations of the earth, due to the fact that Abraham listened to the voice of Jehovah.`' This would take place after the Battle of Armageddon, with satan abyssed and put out of the way for the thousand year period. With all of that Heavenly Government now seated, the resurrection of all the human dead would begin, and very gradually a large crowd of the earthly class would begin to appear. [Daniel 12:1,2] [John 5:28,29] This would be the gathering of the things on the earth; but all accomplished under the direction of the Christ and his 144,000 underpriests. [Genesis 18: 18,19;22:17,18; 26:1-6] [Galatians 3:16] [Revelation 20:1-3-11-15] [Revelation 16:13-16] [Revelation 5:9,10;20:1-5] The Prophet Zephaniah will explain to us just why there are no earthly surviving sheep, alive after the battle of Armageddon. [Zephaniah 1:14-18] Not a happy note to end on, but that depends on your point of view. Writer: William James Parker E-mail: [email protected] ?? ?? 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and my glory is shown through them. 11 And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the man who was bound to be lost—so that the scripture might come true. 13 And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness. 14 I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16 Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world. 17 Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18 I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. 19 And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you. 20 " I pray not only for them, [The Little Flock]but also for those who believe in me because of their message. " [The Other Sheep] [John 17:1-20] [GNT] |
Why Did Jesus Address His Apostles As A Little Flock? Addition!
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