The Murderous Cypriot Communist Written August 6, 2025   Welcome back to IT'S IN THE BIBLE.  I'm Brother Billy. On today's program, we're honored to have a visitor from the earliest days of Christianity.  Please welcome Joseph from Cyprus. Thank you, Brother Billy.  Actually, Joseph is the name of several men in our young church.  To tell us apart, the Apostles call me Barnabas.  Acts 4:36~ And I'm told you're an especially zealous Christian. I do my best.  Against the enemies of the Lord, I always fight the good fight.  I've sworn to keep my spiritual fervor.  1 Timothy 6:11-12, Romans 12:11~ What's that symbol you've drawn on your robe, Barnabas? The Christian fish.  In Greek, “fish” is ICTHUS — an  acronym for Iesus Christ, God's Son, Savior. And what other symbol are you carrying concealed inside your sleeve?  Is that a wooden cross? It's a bronze dagger.                    A deadly weapon?  I thought Jesus was the Prince of Peace. No, Jesus said “Don't think that I have come to bring peace on the earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  And one can't be too careful these days.   Matthew 10:34~ Yes, IT'S IN THE BIBLE.  But you yourself would never use a weapon to kill another person, would you, Barnabas? Not unless that person was cheating.  I become very jealous if someone sins against my Lord.  I feel I must take on the role of being the Lord's retribution. Ahem.  Well, we've brought you here to discuss the time after the resurrection, when Jesus went to heaven. There were already more than a hundred believers.  Acts 1:12-15~ The twelve Apostles returned to the upper room in Jerusalem, correct? Only eleven Apostles.  Judas Iscariot had proved to be a traitor.  The Apostles had always been known as The Twelve, so Peter asked us to choose a twelfth, somebody who'd been a follower of Jesus throughout his ministry.  We nominated two men and flipped a coin; God chose Matthias as the replacement.  Acts 1:16-26~ So then did the reconstituted Twelve teach about the Lord? They did.  Every day we all met with the Apostles in the courts of the temple.  We were filled with awe at the many wonders and signs that they performed. And your numbers must have grown daily. Some folks at the temple turned a deaf ear, but many did believe, and our numbers grew to about 5,000.  Acts 4:4~And all of us were together and had everything in common.  We continued in fellowship by breaking bread in our homes, praising God with glad hearts.  Acts 2:42-47~ You say you owned everything in common?  But, but, that sounds like communism! Indeed, we were a community, and none of us in the community claimed that any of our possessions were our own. Nowadays we believe that every person should be allowed to keep his hard-earned possessions. We shared everything we had.  Acts 4:32~We sold our property and possessions, and we gave the proceeds to anyone who had need.  Acts 4:34-35~ “To each according to his need”?  That sounds like Karl Marx.  Communism is evil! I will agree that sharing everything doesn't always work smoothly.  For example, some of our group complained that the Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  Was it up to The Twelve to attend to this problem?  No, they wanted to proclaim the Word, not waste their time waiting on tables.  So to manage those administrative details, they appointed a committee of seven deacons, including a man called Stephen.  Acts 6:1-6~ I've heard of Stephen.  IT'S IN THE BIBLE. Yes, he performed wonders and signs, proclaiming that belief in Jesus would replace the Jewish customs dating back to Moses.  Acts 6:8-14~He pointed up to the sky and said, “Look!  I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”  The Jewish leaders heard their holy laws threatened, and they considered this blasphemy.  They took Stephen out and stoned him to death. What?  They killed the deacon?  That was terrible!  Did the general population agree with this dreadful execution? Yes, they did.  Even the future St. Paul was on the scene. The Bible tells us that he was called Saul then.  The mob removed their cloaks in order to throw the stones, and they put Saul in charge of those coats.  Acts 7:54-8:1~  But the mob didn't harm The Twelve.  The Apostles continued to preach.  Although they had delegated the routine food distribution to the deacons, they themselves still handled the larger matters.  When I sold a field I owned, I dutifully brought the money and laid it at the Apostles' feet.  Acts 4:36-37~ How generous of you. I was only obeying the rules of the community.  I was still present when a man named Ananias brought in another 400 shekels.  It seems that he and his wife Sapphira had sold a piece of property similar to mine, but they didn't report all of their income. They secretly kept back part of the money for themselves. That's correct.  Peter found out about this and confronted Ananias.  “How is it,” he asked, “that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?  What made you think of doing such a thing?” Ananias turned pale.  Peter continued, “You have lied, not just to human beings but to God!” I was angry.  I myself had given all my proceeds, but this greedy man had cheated!  I fingered the dagger concealed in my cloak. But before I could do anything, the Holy Spirit acted.  Ananias clutched his chest, fell down before us, and died! That miracle must have frightened everyone. Some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.  Good riddance. About three hours later his wife Sapphira came in, not knowing what had happened.  Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you and Ananias get 400 shekels for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that was the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?  Listen!  The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” Once again I grasped my dagger to do God's will, and this time I got my opportunity.  I stabbed that lying woman!  Twice!  She fell down at our feet and died. What?  You killed her?  That's not in the Bible!  No, I always thought it was the power of God that caused her death. No, I did it, but when Luke wrote about the incident he left out that detail.  He was afraid the unfavorable publicity might hamper our recruitment efforts.  It might look bad if people knew that one of us had intentionally killed another.  But that's what happened.  The young men came in, found Sapphira's corpse, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. How awful! Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about this.  And the community didn't have any more trouble with covetous selfishness.  Acts 5:1-11~ I can imagine!  But, Barnabas, I regret that I can't continue to provide a forum for a communist murderer like you. I'm only doing God's work.  People must never try to cheat the Lord! This interview is at an end.   Click here for the list of IT'S IN THE BIBLE interviews.