Comments by Joan Boney
I'm reprinting Matthew 11 from yesterday because God gave me impetus to write more about prophets in connection with that which Jesus said in this chapter. Therefore some of you might have read the chapter before these additions were printed. For those who have already read the writing with these additions, it will be good for you to read it again.
Matthew 11
1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding
his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in
their cities.
2 Now when John had heard
in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And
said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
4
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised
up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he,
whosoever shall not be offended in me.
7 And as
they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John,
What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the
wind? 8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings 'houses. 9 But what
went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a
prophet. 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Malachi 4 ... 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth
with a curse.
Luke 3 ...3 And he
came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins; 4 As it is written in the book of
the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be
brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways
shall be made smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
A prophet comes warning you and correcting you. In Mt. 11, Jesus
is rebuking the people. What did you expect to see from John the
Baptist?
Jesus was THE PROPHET ... and Jesus spoke very strong words also
to those who were doing evil. He was always rebuking the scribes and
Pharisees. This is what prophets do. This is what they are set forth
by God to do. Read Jeremiah 1-3 ...
Jeremiah 1
4
Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee
in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
7
But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child:for thou shalt go to
all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt
speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces:for I am with thee to deliver
thee, saith the Lord. 9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my
mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy
mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw
down, to build, and to plant.
16
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17
Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee:be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee
before them. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city,
and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against
the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests
thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight
against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with
thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.
Jeremiah 2
5
Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that
they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become
vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of
the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of
deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of
death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt? 7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit
thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my
land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not,
Where is the Lord? and they that handle the law knew me not:the pastors
also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and
walked after things that do not profit.
11
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people
have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be
astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very
desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils;
they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
19
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall
reprove thee:know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter,
that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in
thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
20
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye
dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. 21 A
voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the
children of Israel:for they have perverted their way, and they have
forgotten the Lord their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I
will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the
Lord our God. 23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,
and from the multitude of mountains:truly in the Lord our God is the
salvation of Israel. 24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our
fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and
their daughters. 25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth
us:for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers,
from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the
Lord our God.
This is the work of a prophet in both the OT and NT church.
And
what was the end of John the Baptist on this earth? John refused to
approve Herod's adultery for Herod took his brother's wife for sex. As a
result, the wife had John beheaded. Mt. 14
The
main thing the church people and pastors try to do is stop the prophet
from speaking when they, the pastors and people, are doing evil in the
church ... By stopping the prophet from speaking in the church, they
"kill the prophet."
==========
Matthew 11
11
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist:notwithstanding he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of
John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and
the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law
prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias,
which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
16
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children
sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying,
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto
you, and ye have not lamented. 18 For John came neither eating nor
drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating
and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her
children.
20 Then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they
repented not:21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for
if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I
say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day
of judgment, than for you.
23 And thou,
Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to
hell:for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been
done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say unto
you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of
judgment, than for thee.
25 At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes.
26 Even so,
Father:for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All things are delivered
unto me of my Father:and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him.
28 Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.
==========
Comments by Joan Boney
When the people went out to the wilderness to see John the Baptist, they went out to see a prophet.
How could they think that prophet was going to come dressed in soft
raiment ... John is a prophet. Prophets don't come with flowery words
to make the people feel good about themselves.
When
I was attending a church in Dallas years ago, there would frequently be
someone stand up and speak "prophecy". It would be words that caused
people to get all emotional and get big smiles on their faces. And afterward I could never remember anything that person had said.
This is almost a sure sign their words were idle words and that person
just spoke a vision of his own heart which did not profit the people at
all.
Though today, NT Church, each person who belongs to God has Holy Spirit, God still uses prophets in NT church.
We see that by Ephesians 4 ... After Jesus was resurrected HE gave "gifts" to the church ... 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ:13 Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:14 That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Look at the example we are given of John the Baptist when the people came out to see him ... John said to them:
O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and
begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:for I
say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham.
9 And now also the
axe is laid unto the root of the trees:every tree therefore which
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
10
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11 He
answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to
him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12 Then
came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what
shall we do? 13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is
appointed you. 14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And
what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither
accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. Lk. 3
These are not soft words ... These are words to wake up the people.
John the Baptist did not say to them they were okay ... John showed them
their many sins. This is a prophet!