5-24-19
Dear Jeanne:
In your previous letters to me, you mentioned how you do fine during day but at night get lonely.
We all go through these things.
But there is a way to be helped.
If we will remember to turn to God in prayer each time this happens and to pour out our heart before God, He will help us.
I could see you were failing to do that each time you feel lonely because you spoke of the problem to me and perhaps to others. By speaking this way of our problems and troubles we show the trouble to others but fail to show the victory as we overcome through God. We can help the faith of others when we overcome the problem through prayer and then share how God helped us. If we only tell the problem, we can drag others down with us and our problem. Instead we want to build the faith in God in a true action and presentation.
I wanted to encourage you in the faith in God and in doing the scripture which tells us to cast our cares on God and to bring all our concerns to God for by doing that we live as victorious Christians, then in sharing such with the church after our victory in the matter.
I Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon Him; for HE careth for you.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
***
There is often fear in not having anything scheduled ... "How will I get through the day ... or night."
I often ask God to fill my day ... or my afternoon. And HE does and before I know it, that day is over.
I encourage you to pay close attention to this subject and each time you feel loneliness or dread of the evenings, or dread of any other thing, that you do what Paul said and pray by faith that God will help you and depend on Him and after gaining victory this way, strengthen others who are going through the same problem for we all go through these things and encourage one another.
***
You mentioned the "qualifications" set forth for the office of apostle.
You did not cite scripture in your note, but I felt you must be speaking of the following since I know of no other place in NT where such are mentioned.
The apostles and elders were trying to replace Judas among the 12 apostles.
Peter set out the guidelines.
Acts 1:15-17 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Peter then set out the qualifications for that "one" who would replace Judas and work with the original apostles:
Acts 1:21-26 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection.
So the person replacing Judas would have to have been with Peter and the other apostles from the baptism done by John through the day Jesus was taken up into the clouds into heaven.
That was accomplished with the appointment of Matthias to be the 12th apostle and company among the original apostles, doing the work of apostle, keeping order in the churches and purity in the church doctrine, for this is one of the major things apostles do in the work appointed them.
*****
Then after Jesus arose, HE gave other apostles to work in the church.
Ephesians 4:8 When HE (Jesus) ascended up on high, HE led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
11-15 And HE (Jesus) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
(The apostle Paul was one of those appointed to apostle/teacher after Jesus arose, for when Judas was replaced, Paul was out persecuting Christians and Paul would not fit the qualifications set by Peter in Acts 1 for apostle. Paul had not companied with the other apostles from the baptism of John to the ascension of Jesus. During that time Paul was not even born again and Paul was trying to capture Christians and have them put in bondage and even killed.)
Consequently Paul was not the last apostle but one of the first apostles appointed by Jesus after Jesus ascended into heaven.
***
In Paul's day, there were church people who thought Paul could not be an apostle.
We know this because of that which Paul wrote in the following.
I Corinthians 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
11-15 And HE (Jesus) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
(The apostle Paul was one of those appointed to apostle/teacher after Jesus arose, for when Judas was replaced, Paul was out persecuting Christians and Paul would not fit the qualifications set by Peter in Acts 1 for apostle. Paul had not companied with the other apostles from the baptism of John to the ascension of Jesus. During that time Paul was not even born again and Paul was trying to capture Christians and have them put in bondage and even killed.)
Consequently Paul was not the last apostle but one of the first apostles appointed by Jesus after Jesus ascended into heaven.
***
In Paul's day, there were church people who thought Paul could not be an apostle.
We know this because of that which Paul wrote in the following.
I Corinthians 9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.
***
An apostle works with scripture and church doctrine. (Acts 15)
A question arose in the early church in those days. Did the Gentiles have to be circumcised after they believed in Jesus? The apostles and elders met together to discuss the issue.
James presented his decision which the group followed.
Acts 15:13-19 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
Known unto God are all HIS works from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
***
In today's church where doctrines of Christ from Bible have been omitted completely, twisted into other doctrines, or completely spoken against, a NT apostle will stand up against those perversions in the church when he sees such. He will go to the pastor to present the true doctrine. He will take true doctrine to the elders of the church group when possible. He will try to turn the group back to the truth of the Bible by the Holy Spirit.
Known unto God are all HIS works from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
***
In today's church where doctrines of Christ from Bible have been omitted completely, twisted into other doctrines, or completely spoken against, a NT apostle will stand up against those perversions in the church when he sees such. He will go to the pastor to present the true doctrine. He will take true doctrine to the elders of the church group when possible. He will try to turn the group back to the truth of the Bible by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gave apostles to the NT church to deal with such matters. Jesus never removed these apostles and prophets which HE gave to the church after HE ascended into heaven.
Many churches have tried to remove apostles and prophets so they can go forward without godly correction.
This is the end-time antichrist working in today's churches ... removing scripture, changing scripture ... eliminating godly ministers who are set in the church to keep order and Bible doctrine.
Paul told us this would happen.
Paul said:
Acts 20:29-30 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
***
Antichrist is in full bloom today in the churches. This sets the stage for the return of Jesus, for the apostle Paul told us Jesus could not return unless the falling away came first and antichrist appeared in the churches.
II Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (of the Lord) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
***
A major way to recognize antichrist and apostate churches today is by removal and changing of doctrine in the church today, such as the following.
Matthew 5:32 Jesus said: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
The apostle Paul said the following is "the commandment of the Lord" for the church.
I Corinthians 7:10-11 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
Almost all churches today have eliminated these rules from the church and approve the opposite to these instructions given for the church by Jesus and Paul.
This is the apostasy in the church.
***
Jeanne:
You have judged apostles by your own thinking and have even read scripture by your own thinking and by previous church doctrine, which blinds you to the truth.
You have judged apostles by your own thinking and have even read scripture by your own thinking and by previous church doctrine, which blinds you to the truth.
You fail to overcome through God in each personal matter. This is recognized by others through your speaking.
I urge you to repent before God and to set aside your judgments and to clear yourself before God before you end your life on this earth.
I urge you to tend to your personal business by taking every troubling idea to God and allowing Him to present HIS truth or to help you in other ways ... having faith in God and solving the matter through faith in God.
I don't know if you can see this but I present it in hopes that your eyes can be opened by God.
Love, Joan
*****
My cousin, a member of Church of Christ group since childhood, sent me an attack against NT apostles but quoted no scripture in her letter and spoke vaguely concerning the Bible "qualifications" for apostle and said other translations of Bible agreed with the translation she was using.
But she gave no scripture and listed no qualifications ... just an attack showing herself to be against me.
***
I can think of no statement of "qualifications" for apostle in NT except for the statement made by the apostle Peter in Acts 1, which I covered entirely in my letter to my cousin which is printed above.
I was very upset last night and this morning with her apostle qualification statement which failed to cite any specific qualifications or scriptures from Bible.
I prayed repeatedly over this matter last night and this morning and finally wrote the above letter to this cousin.
She is failing to live as a Christian in that she is disturbed and fails to take the matter to God in prayer to be settled by God and she ends up telling others about her problem. This is the way the world lives.
We who believe in God should take our concerns to God in prayer and be settled by God and then present the solution or comfort given to us by God.
I had sent several general writings from our blog on this subject to Jeanne.
Apparently Jeanne became offended with my first statement on blog: Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
She did not take on the office of prophet and attack prophet, although the church she attends, Church of Christ, would not approve of/nor recognize prophets either.
(This strange church group has even eliminated the word "pastor" from the ministry and calls their own men ministers, refusing to use the word pastor which is used in the Bible. I have no idea what their reasoning away of pastor might be.)
***
Church doctrine often blocks a person from seeing the truth of the Bible.
I doubt my cousin even read the blog itself, which I printed 3 paper copies of 3 blog writings, which we printed and sent to her by US Mail, since she has no internet capabilities, and if she did read any of the messages, I doubt she was able to see what she was reading and how she was violating ways of God by her speaking of her problems.
In my prayers, previously and last night, I have prayed that God would reveal to her before she dies (she is 96), that HE sent me to do this work and to deliver these messages to the church to prepare the church for the return of Jesus.
In the Bible, Jesus often divided the believers from the unbelievers in that the believers were those who believed HE, Jesus, came down from God ... the unbelievers did not believe the words Jesus spoke to be from God.
***
Before writing this letter to Jeanne, and while praying for God to restore me from her attack, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a scripture which showed me what to do concerning my cousin.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.
I knew I was to give answer, in depth, to Jeanne's apostle attack. (printed above)
*****
Last night, while grieving over Jeanne's attack, I was, of course, talking fervently to God ... praying for God to forgive Jeanne for she has no idea what she was doing in attacking me and this office of apostle.
I was also asking God to reveal to her that HE sent me to do this work and the work is of HIM.
And I was begging for God to restore me and to stabilize me.
I reminded God of how He took me into heaven twice and merged me into the body of Jesus and how it was HE who told me HE had set me into body of Christ as an apostle and how it was HE, God, who taught me to do the work of apostle which I have faithfully done along the way for the past 40-years, leaving no messages given me undone, going to numerous pastors, and individuals, to bring correction that they might repent and change direction.
I told God how hard this attack from Jeanne was on me, even though I know how weak Jeanne is in things of God and how she displays little, or no, spirituality by God's Spirit.
In fact, Church of Christ group has for decades eliminate any mention of the Spirit of God from their congregation and printed materials, taking off those words which pertain to the Holy Spirit.
One of their favorite scriptures to quote is from Acts 2:32 and they quote that scripture in writing and speaking in the following way. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.
They omit this part of the scripture: "and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Here is what Acts 2:38 really says:
***
That church group, and many other church groups also, try to eliminate one of the greatest gifts ever given to the church, The Holy Ghost, The Holy Spirit of Jesus who lives in each believer.
For it is by the Holy Spirit that we know the things of God and the will of God.
I Corinthians 2:10-11 for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
***
They, the Church of Christ group, damn themselves and their own church group with their perverted doctrines as the omit the Holy Spirit from their teachings.
But I don't want my cousin damned by the Church of Christ doctrine, so I speak to her truth of God from Bible and pray that God will open her eyes before she dies.
***
Make no mistake ... In the perverted churches, both they and their followers will die and suffer damnation.
That is what we read in I Thessalonians 2.
vv. 7-12 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
***
With the second coming of Jesus comes judgment. And that judgment then is eternal judgment.
II Corinthians 5:9-11 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of HIM.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;
II Corinthians 5:9-11 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of HIM.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;
*****