PRODIGAL SUN

 

                                                              June 2024

 

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

 

It has been nearly ten years since I started this article, and nine years since the first Prodigal was printed. Perhaps the upheavals going on in Christendom now needed to occur before this message as  a wake up call to the church went out. I truly see the chaos going on church wide as an opportunity to break out of the various doctrinal errors, and enter into the newness of God’s order. Man has placed his thoughts, prejudices, opinions, and culture so in conflict with God’s ways that God’s Presence rarely is sensed in our meetings. He has been replaced by emotions, traditions, agendas, and ritualistic forms.

 

As a sort of entry to this subject I want to share an event that occurred several years ago. I had been at a church service outside of Somerset, Pa. It had been an early service and I was headed north on Route 219 and just talking to the Lord. South of Johnstown I remember asking the Lord, “What are You doing in this area?” The Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, “Come and see” just as I got to an exit which I took. Within a short distance I was at place where there were two churches and I sensed to go into one which was a Baptist. The congregation was in a discussion concerning the governmental order of their denomination, having already determined it to be unscriptural basing that on Ephesians 3:7-16. That passage reads as follows; 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to Men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ-16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

 

At the time of the above I had been in a church that had adopted the what was called “Five Fold Ministry or governmental order of the church. The Pastor had been led into that truth some years before so I was able to share how we had been adjusting as a congregation. Looking back over the years there was no obvious ‘adjusting.’ Walking in God’s truth, His order, is simply being obedient to what is revealed in His Word. Neglecting the truths found in His word will always ultimately lead to disaster.

 

For this article I just want to mention the two most controversial gifts of Christ to the church. They are  apostles and prophets. My personal description of an apostle would be a pastor’s pastor. One of his giftings is the ability to bring a sense of oneness between numerous bodies, family adhesiveness to distant members. He is a sounding board for the local pastor and elders, especially in difficult matters. One of his duties is the ordination of elders within the local body who may be recommended by existing members or appointed by him as directed by the Holy Spirit. He should also be accompanied by a prophet to bear witness to the propriety of the ordination.

 

I need to note here that there are also times that the above doesn’t follow the script. One such instance is when Paul delegated the responsibility of appointing elders in various cities so that proper order may be maintained in the churches. See Titus 1:5. Paul also left Titus with a reminder of the qualifications required for the elders. Were those same qualifications insisted on today there would be fewer internal problems leading to the enemies entry into our congregations. If the apostolic and prophetic gifts were properly active the discernment of such would often expose the problems before they have time to take root and do harm to the body.

 

Due to the Church’s failure to recognize the fatherly oversight of the apostolic gifting, and word of the Lord through the prophetic, it is suffering from a loss of the fullness of Christ it may otherwise experience.

 

I totally understand why so many recoil or run from these giftings. They have been so perverted by so many seeking fame and fortune, or just by being seduced into that trap. Had they been held accountable from the first deviation, or twisting of scripture, much harm may have been averted. Scripture, in its entirety, is the only true safeguard of the Faith.

 

When one truly desires to see and experience the manifestation of the Holiness of God He first shows us our carnality. Our sin, although still lurking around, has been taken care of at the Cross. When it manifests we acknowledge the sin, ask for forgiveness, accept it, thank Him, and step back on the Road of Holiness. Paul, in his writing to the Corinthian church (1Corinthians 3:1-4) mentions envy, strife, and divisions as manifestations of their carnality, but the one that stands out most to me was found in verse 4. Paul writes, “For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? If we identify as anyone except a disciple of Jesus we are still carnal. As long as you classify yourself as a Presbyterian, Methodist, Independent, Catholic, Pentecostal, or whatever you are still carnal, and divisive in the Body of Christ.

 

Our nation crossed a line into wickedness from which there is no return. Do you not wonder why we have not won a war in over 60 years?  Yet, we were the most powerful nation on earth!? The church instead of standing for God’s Word, and a walk in righteousness, compromised God’s standards, and has now crossed into judgment. Unsaved and/or spiritually insensitive people have been overseeing much of the professing Body of Christ for so long that the truth of God’s Word is hidden from them. It is all summed up in Romans 1:28 which reads “And as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them up to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting.” There appears to be a marked digression between that and the preceding two verses in which God gives them up to their vile passions.(Homosexuality) A debased mind is one devoid of any decency, a step down from the prior two verses? The sexual identity issues and the bodily mutilations associated definitely come out of the realm of a debased mind.

BUT: Those in Christ should not be dismayed! All of these things must come to pass that ALL scripture be fulfilled. Yes, we will grieve as He did if we mature. Jesus wept over Jerusalem knowing what all was to befall it, but He faithfully fulfilled His purpose. NOW, it is our turn!

 

kenhayesfleming9@gmail.com                                                               Kenneth H. Fleming

www.wbcis.com                                                                                       502 Market Street

(814) 687-3707                                                                                        Fallentimber, Pa. 16639