From him there is no liberality to dependents, no communication to the poor. And yet such people call that their own money, which they guard with jealous labour, shut up at home as if it were another’s, and from which they derive no benefit either for their friends, for their children, or, in fine, for themselves. Their possession amounts to this only, that they can keep others from possessing it; and oh, what a marvellous perversion of names! they call those things goods, which they absolutely put to none but bad uses.

Cyprian of Carthage. 1886. “The Epistles of Cyprian.” In Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, translated by Robert Ernest Wallis, 5:279. The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” – Luke 12:16-21

“And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 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. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. [LAnd they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” – Luke 18:18-27

Trust Jesus! Only He can save you from the blinding pursuits of things that money can buy! He has been opening the eyes of the blind for the last 2000 years. He can be trusted and believed to overcome the wickedness of the world.

“BEHOLD MY SERVANT, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: HE SHALL BRING FORTH JUDGMENT TO THE GENTILES. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and THE ISLES SHALL WAIT FOR HIS LAW. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee FOR A COVENANT OF THE PEOPLE, FOR A LIGHT OF THE GENTILES; TO OPEN BLIND EYES, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: BEFORE THEY SPRING FORTH I TELL YOU OF THEM.” – Isaiah 42:1-9

Isaiah 49:6 + Acts 1:6-8 + history = Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah enlightening the nations to the ends of the earth just as He and Isaiah predicted before it had come to pass.

Jesus is worthy of your trust for the last 2000 years and running. Trust his interpretation of the Scriptures, Trust His interpretation of yourself and the world around you and thou shalt be on a good road God bless…

“Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” – John the Baptist

“This is My Son in whom I am well pleased” – The Father of His only begotten Son

Eternal life is a relationship with God. Jesus is the only Christ who fulfilled His own prediction that His message would spread worldwide. By doing this, He also fulfilled the earlier prophecies in Scripture. That gives us good reason to trust the words of the Bible, where those predictions came from and were fulfilled — unlike the ‘Jesus’ taught by Marcion, the Gnostics, or other groups.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” – Jesus John 17:3

Do you have eternal life? Do you have a relationship with this Christ and with this God? If not then you do not have eternal life. I want you to have it and so I speak plainly in love and so God bless you as He opens your heart to Himself by the preaching of His Word!

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – Matthew 28:18-20

And boy was He not a kidding!

P.S. – remember to not let the “tares” keep you from becoming a “wheat” nor from Christ Himself and eternal life! He did claim that people would do bad things in His name and that even false Christ’s would spring up and so don’t let this become your excuse to not trust and obey your Savior. He told you hypocrisy would be and that didnt keep the disciples from follwoing Jesus just because there were some pharisees and sadducees and hypocrites etc etc etc. And besides: how many Christians at the time of say the crusades were not involved with the crusades as opposed to being involved. It is never fair to a group of people nor to Christ Himself (who forewarned of these things) to make all of Christianity into one lump of “tares” at the expense of the “wheat” and of Christ Himself. Is this how we are to judge other groups and if not then why do we judge Christ and His kingdom as such?

“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Matthew 13:24-30

Don’t be a “tare” and God bless you in Jesus name Amen!

https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtNQ_d02cb813-6816-4f49-b51c-7fb0ecb42061