Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
If you want to know the work of a prophet of God, consider Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1 (4-10)
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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.
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
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.
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
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.
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.
*****
When God ordains a minister, God puts HIS words into the mouth of that minister that HE sends. It is as if God HIMSELF is speaking to us.
*****
Many ministers are not ordained by God nor sent by God.
Jesus said one of the signs of the last days would be these counterfeit ministers and fake Christians.
Mt. 24 (3-5)
And as HE (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Many will come saying, "Jesus is Lord", and because they say that, they will deceive many.
Jeremiah 1
(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
(5-7) Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 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?
(Prophets are sent to the church.)
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?
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.
Jeremiah 2
(11) And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Both Israel and Judah were problems. Prophets often see terrible things among the people who are supposed to be of God.
Jeremiah 3
(14) O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
People think they can do things in private, hiding. How foolish. God sees, even in darkness.
But we corrupt ourselves by those things that are unprofitable so we make ourselves unworthy of the calling of God by partaking of such.
The apostle Paul explained:
I Cor. 10
(23) All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient (needful/profitable): all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
I Cor. 3 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.
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
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.
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
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.
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.
*****
When God ordains a minister, God puts HIS words into the mouth of that minister that HE sends. It is as if God HIMSELF is speaking to us.
*****
Many ministers are not ordained by God nor sent by God.
Jesus said one of the signs of the last days would be these counterfeit ministers and fake Christians.
Mt. 24 (3-5)
And as HE (Jesus) sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Many will come saying, "Jesus is Lord", and because they say that, they will deceive many.
*****
Jeremiah 1
(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
(5-7) Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 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?
(Prophets are sent to the church.)
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?
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.
Jeremiah 2
(11) And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Both Israel and Judah were problems. Prophets often see terrible things among the people who are supposed to be of God.
Jeremiah 3
(14) O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
People think they can do things in private, hiding. How foolish. God sees, even in darkness.
But we corrupt ourselves by those things that are unprofitable so we make ourselves unworthy of the calling of God by partaking of such.
The apostle Paul explained:
I Cor. 10
(23) All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient (needful/profitable): all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
*****
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
*****
Jeremiah 4
(1) If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto ME: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of MY sight, then shalt thou not remove.
(14) O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
(22) For my people is foolish, they have not known ME; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jeremiah 5
(1-2) Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
(3) O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? THOU hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; THOU hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
(7) How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken ME, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
(9) Shall I not visit (judge) for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
(11) For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against ME, saith the LORD.
(These are things prophets, appointed by God, see in the churches today as the scriptures are cast aside, in part, so the congregation can be approved in their sins, but not in God's sight.)
(20-31) Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Fear ye not ME? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at MY presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in HIS season: HE reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
For among MY people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Shall I not visit (judge) for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
*****
Jeremiah 6
(17) Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
(19) Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
Jeremiah 7
8-10 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before ME in this house, which is called by MY name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
This is so much like what I see in churches today who think they can call Jesus Lord and somehow that gives them the right and freedom to do abominations. They have no respect for scripture and no real fear of God in them.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, MINE anger and MY fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Jeremiah 8
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
(10-11) ... for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
(17) For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 9
1-9 Oh that My head were waters, and MINE eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of MY people!
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave MY people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not ME, saith the LORD.
Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know ME, saith the LORD.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of MY people?
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
Shall I not visit (judge) them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not MY soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
*****
(13-15) And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken MY law which I set before them, and have not obeyed MY voice, neither walked therein;
But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth ME, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 10
1-3 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain:
10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at HIS wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
12-15 HE (God) hath made the earth by HIS power, HE hath established the world by HIS wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by HIS discretion. When HE uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and HE causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; HE maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of HIS treasures.
Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
Jeremiah 11
9-11 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear MY words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken MY covenant which I made with their fathers.
Prophets grieve over the sins they see among the people who are said to be children of God. Prophets carry messages to such, just as Jeremiah did. And they know the grief of Jeremiah.