Colossians 4:12

There are two pastors we want to study in this passage. The first is Epaphras the pastor of Colosse, and the second one is found in verse 17, Archipus. One man is viewed by Paul as being successful, the other as a failure.

We first hear of Epaphras in Colossians 1:7 where is says, “As you have been taught from the source of Epaphras, our beloved fellowservant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on behalf of you.” Nothing greater could ever be said for a pastor than this. God has not called any one of us as pastors to be brilliant, to be scintillating, to be celebrities in the human sense, to be successful by human standards, to be some kind of an unusual person in some aspect of life. God has called every pastor to be a plugger, to be steady, to be faithful. For the word “minister” in 1:7 we have the word diakonoj. As it is used here it refers to one of many many meanings, a pastor-teacher. it is used in the sense of being the servant of the Lord and therefore the chef for the congregation. He serves them doctrine.

Epaphras was called a minister in the scripture and “minister” is a correct term. Also, “pastor” is a correct term. “Bishop” is not really a correct translation of e)piskpoj. It means “overseer.” it indicates authority, nothing more. Epaphras was said to be in Colossians 1:7 a faithful minister. The reason is found in the aorist active indicative of the verb manqanw which means to teach. It means to be a prepared teacher, and that is much more important. This is a constantive aorist, it gathers into one entirety the faithful teaching, the plugging, of Epaphras — “as you have been taught.”

The doctrine of the pastor-teacher

1. Since every believer is a priest, as well as being born into the royal family of God, it is important to understand the system of authority authorised by God. The system authorised by God for spiritual growth and progress in the church is found in one surviving gift (originally there were apostles, there are none today). The only communicating gift inside the local church is the pastor-teacher. There is one specialised communicating gift outside of the local church, the gift of evangelism, but an evangelist has absolutely no authority in the local church.

a) There are two basic categories of authority in the Church Age: overt authority, which includes the divine delegation of authority to the royal priest in the form of the Word of God. The pastor-teacher is the communicator of the Word and therefore the overt authority in learning doctrine is the pastor-teacher; secondly, there is the inner authority which is the function of the believer’s soul with doctrine resident in the soul.

b) The function of the pastor-teacher brings together the two basic systems of authority: Bible doctrine transferred to the individual believer by means of pastoral teaching of the Word. he teaches the Word [his authority]; he teaches with authority.

c) Consequently, the pastor-teacher is a spiritual gift sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation, completely and totally apart from any human merit. Like everything else it is a grace operation.

d) The spiritual gift provides both the ability and the authority to communicate doctrine to the congregation — via monologue; there is no place for dialogue, no place for “sharing.” One person speaks, everyone else listens.

e) The gift of pastor teacher, like all spiritual gifts, is bestowed on the principle of grace and is bestowed at salvation. The gift is restricted to male members of the royal family and is based on the sovereign decision of God without regard to stereotype personalities. There is no such thing, therefore, as “surrendering to preach.,” or dedication to full-time Christian service. It is having a spiritual gift and being in a congregation where doctrine is taught, so that you grow up spiritually. And with spiritual growth comes the awareness of the spiritual gift. That is the only way anyone ever discovers his gift.

2. Nomenclature:

a) The authority of the pastor comes under the Greek word presbuteroj. Every pastor is a presbuteroj. “Presbyterian” is a transliteration of this word. It is translated generally by the word “elder” and there is only one in each local church. There may be fifty local churches in an area and therefore fifty elders. Unless a church has a pastor-teacher it does not have an elder, and there is no such thing as plurality of elders. There is only one “old man” and old man means the one in authority. Presbuteroj means the one who has the authority — 1 Timothy 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; James 1:5; 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1.

b) The function of the pastor — poimhnoj kai didaskolouj. The kai here merely hyphenates; it is “pastor-teacher.” This is taken from Ephesians 4:1. The literal translation: “and others, pastor-teachers.” This is a spiritual gift which emphasises the function and the authority. This is another authority word. This time it isn't “elder” or presbuteroj, it is “shepherd” .He is the shepherd-teacher. A pastor is a shepherd — with emphasis on the feeding ground. Every pastor is a shepherd with a flock.

Why don’t we have presbuteroj-teacher? For the simple reason that the old man sits up there and gives the orders — absolute authority, but the shepherd kicks butts! That is exactly what the teaching of the Word of God does. Sheep are very contrary and very stupid with no sense of direction. They are weak and helpless, always wandering off somewhere. Therefore they have to be kicked into line and kept in line. They have to be protected. That is the job of the pastor and all of this is accomplished through teaching.

c) E)piskopoj. It is translated bishop but it means an overseer. But that isn’t quite correct either. It means a policy-maker in a big estate. So e)piskopoj emphasises the pastor as a policy-maker. You can’t study the Word of God day in and day out without coming to firm conclusions about policy. Therefore the pastor is the policy-maker — Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7.

d) The administrative function of a pastor — diakonoj. This does not mean that he handles administration, it means that he gets people to handle administration.

3. The purpose of the pastor-teacher — Ephesians 4:12,13. “For the purpose of training and equipping the saints for combat” — the first objective is preparing the royal family for the angelic conflict. This is accomplished by teaching — “for the purpose of the vocation of the ministry” — with Bible doctrine as the inner dictator of the believer’s soul, with an altar of the soul established, the believer on the basis of that doctrine can find his area of ministry — for the purpose of the edification of the body of Christ, until we all [members of the royal family] have attained the goal [spiritual maturity; supergrace] because of the consistency of doctrine, and e)pignwsij of the Son of God” — no one ever loves Jesus Christ until they know Him, and you must have e)pignwsij of the Son of God before you can be occupied with the person of Christ — “with reference to a mature nobleman” — it is the objective of the pastor-teacher through the teaching of the Word to bring each one of his congregation to the point of being a mature nobleman — “to the standard of maturity which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” In other words, there is a standard that can only be achieved by maximum doctrine in the soul. The pastor is the communicator.

4. The function of the pastor-teacher — Ephesians 4:20,21, “But you [members of the royal family of God] have not been taught this manner in Christ, inasmuch as you have begun to hear him, and have been taught by him, since doctrine is in the Jesus.” The teaching of the Word of God therefore fulfills the principle of giving us the minds in Christ. With that in mind we have certain words, such as didaskw. It is always used of one person teaching a group, in a group. No one-on-one. The public assembly of the local church is the classroom in this dispensation. Note: There is no spiritual growth outside of the local church. Part of spiritual growth is the academic authority, and this is why no one ever grows up in any service organisation. No one is going to grow up apart from a local church. The pastor is the only communicator in the local church. The public assembly of the local church is designed by God to provide privacy for each member of the royal family. That is why it is set up this way. The local church may fail here but the principle of the local church is privacy. Privacy is the only way to learn. The only time that it becomes necessary not to give people their privacy is when they are troublemakers. Always a pastor must know his troublemakers. He must communicate [monologue] to a group. Personal time with members of the congregation is an intrusion upon the freedom and privacy of the priesthood and it results in pastoral dictatorship through personal coercion, bullying, overpowering salesmanship, and it violates the right of the royal priesthood to live his life as unto the Lord.

Notice two things that are missing. A pastor is not promoter and he is not a counselor. There is a legitimate place for counseling but he is definitely never a promoter and he does minimal counseling. 5. The appointment of the pastor-teacher. The pastor is appointed at the point of salvation, and only males. No one at the point of salvation is aware of it. The individual becomes aware of it as a result of spiritual growth. It is the function of the Holy Spirit to decide who gets the gift. The gift is bestowed on the basis of God the Holy Spirit determining how many people are going to be positive in any generation, where and how, and under what circumstances.

6. The principle of right pastor/right congregation is found in 1 Peter 5:2.

7. The concept of the pastor as the total product of grace is found in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Paul makes it very clear that it is a grace type of labour. Ephesians 3:7 Every pastor owes his ministry to the omnipotence of God, and that only. 1 Timothy 1:12-16 — the only thing that grace can use is a plodder: “faithful.” Spiritual growth is based upon consistent teaching, day in and day out.

8. There are many passages on the pastor: Ephesians 3:7-10; Colossians 1:23-29; 1 Timothy 2:24-26; 3:1-9; Titus 1:6-9.

9. The authority and concept of the pastor — Hebrews 13:7,17.

10. The reward of the pastor — Hebrews 6:10; 1 Peter 5:4. The wreath of glory is the exclusive decoration in eternity for the pastor-teacher. Remember that the reason for this particular award is faithfulness in studying and teaching. The soul is the battlefield in the angelic conflict, and if you are faithful in studying and teaching this issue will become clear. Doctrine was here before we came; doctrine will be here after we are gone. Evil was here before we came; evil will be here after we are gone. The issue with every member of the congregation, as well as the pastor: Are you influenced by doctrine? Are you influenced by evil? Notice that sin is not an issue. Sin was solved at the cross; sin is handled by rebound. The issue is doctrine versus evil. Doctrine is the manifestation of the genius of God; evil is the manifestation of the genius of Satan. David was influenced by doctrine and blessed; Saul was influenced by evil and cursed. Verse 12a: “faithful minister” — pistoj diakonoj.

Faithfulness

1. God requires faithfulness from all believers — Matthew 25:21.

2. Much more so does God require faithfulness from pastor-teachers, ministers.

3. God does not ask the minister to be sensational, spectacular, scintillating, but faithful.

4. The key to being a pastor is found in one word: plugging. The pastor-teacher must keep right on studying and teaching.

5. Pastors must be consistent and faithful to the assigned task of the ministry which is the communication of Bible doctrine to his congregation.

6. Every time a pastor stops for counseling he is depriving his entire congregation of Bible doctrine.

7. The self-centered, egotistical, haughty, insolent, supercilious member of the congregation who demands attention should get it — on his butt!

8. It is imperative that a pastor should avoid being sidetracked by the psychopathic, imbecilic, self-centred people who demand attention. When it comes to studying the Bible or teaching the Word of God the pastor must become a plodder.

“Epaphras who is one of you” — o( e)c u(mwn. We have e)k plus the ablative plural of the personal pronoun su. In the Greek the definite article is used for the pastor, the communicator, and the definite article usually becomes a demonstrative pronoun. But when it comes to the congregation the Word of God is consistent. The congregation is always described in terms of a personal pronoun, a plural personal pronoun. Every member of the congregation is important to the Lord and members of the congregation are entrusted to an under-shepherd, the pastor-teacher. Therefore, always remember that the pastor who bullies, the pastor who confuses his congregation, the pastor who gets one-on-one and pushes them around, the pastor who is a tyrant and not a true pastor, this man will be disciplined double by the Lord. The Romans had seized Epaphras but Paul says he is “one of your number,” or “one from among you.”

“a servant of Christ” — douloj which is a bondslave. The pastor is the douloj of Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of pastor-teacher -- Ephesians 4:11,12

1. Diakonoj connotes the principle of them pastor-teacher from the standpoint of service. It indicates that the pastor-teacher is in a profession, a very highly skilled, highly trained, and highly authorised profession; and that this profession of the communication of Bible doctrine requires a variety of types of training in order that the individual who possesses the gift will not have a stereotyped personality but will function under the principles which will be declared in this doctrine.

Diakonoj is used in a number of ways:

a) It is used always with authority in mind. Service, profession and authority are the meanings of diakonoj. Diakonoj is found in Romans 13:4 in a political sense for those who run a government, those who are rulers in a state, local or national.

b) The word is used in a general sense for every believer. Every believer is to be a professional in the sense of reaching the supergrace life. Being a believer is a full time job for everyone. All 24 hours of the day he is to be a professional as far as service for the Lord is concerned. Professional should characterise the believer’s life, and being a supergrace believer taking in doctrine consistently makes him a professional. 2 Corinthians 3:6;4:1; 6:3,18.

c) Sometimes the word refers to those who have some spiritual gift of administration, and in this administration they are to be professional in their function of the local church. Whenever diakonoj is used in that sense it is transliterated by the word “deacon.” A deacon is an administrator — Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8-13. He is an administrator under the pastor and his function is generally administration. The policy-maker is the pastor and whatever policy is made by deacons it is made within the framework of that which has been declared in the pulpit teaching of any particular local church.

d) The pastor-teacher has both authority and the communication of the Word of God. He must also be professional in the sense of being an accurate and correct student of the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:7,23; 4:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 6:10; Acts 6:4.

e) There is also an evil use of the word and that is Satan’s ministers — 2 Corinthians 11:15.

Generally speaking diakonoj when translated is translated “minister” but sometimes transliterated “deacon.”

2. There are other words by which the pastor-teacher is identified. Each one deals with the principle of authority and some function. There are three other words or phrases. The first deals with the authority of his person, the second with the authority of his policy, and the third the authority of his message. Each one has a word or a phrase attached. In each case authority is the principle.

a) The authority of his person is the word translated in the English Bibles “elder,” but in the Greek is presbuteroj. This is the person of the pastor in the sense of having the final authority in the local church. He is the elder or the ruler of the local church. This use is found in 1 Timothy 5:17,19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1.

b) The authority of his policy is usually found by the English word “bishop” and in the Greek is the word e)piskopoj — Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7.

c) The authority of his message is in the passage we have just observed where we have two nouns in the accusative plural joined by a hyphenated kai — pastor or shepherd-teacher, poimhn and didaskaloj. This is the authority of his message.

3. Some synonymous identifications. All three of the above words are used interchangeably. For example, in Acts 20:17,28 all three of these words are used. In verse 17 we have the pastors at Ephesus called presbuteroi. Then in verse 28 the pastors at Ephesus are called bishops, e)piskopoi, and that is the authority of their policy. Then they are also told in verse 28 to shepherd the flock, the aorist active imperative of poimainw which is the verb cognate to poimhn, shepherd in our passage. The same aorist active imperative is also found in 1 Peter 5:2.

4. The appointment of the pastor-teacher — 1 Corinthians 12:11, God the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation sovereignly bestows this spiritual gift. 1 Corinthians 12:28 confirms it, also Ephesians 4:11 where at the beginning of the Church Age pastors were appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is the Lord’s sovereign decision, it not a part of any merit of the individual.

5. The principle of right pastor, right congregation is taught in 1 Peter chapter 5, especially verse 2. Every congregation has a right pastor and every pastor has a right congregation.

6. The authority of that right pastor is a great principle — Hebrews 13:7,17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12.

7. The concept of the pastor as the total product of grace is taught in 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:7; 1 Timothy 1:12,16.

8. The reward of the pastor is found in Hebrews 6:10; 1 Peter 5:4.

9. There are many scriptures which document the existence of the pastor, the requirements, preparation, training, and all other concepts — Colossians 1:23-29; 1 Timothy 2:24-26; 3:1-9; Titus 1:6-9; Ephesians 3:7-13; 4:11,12.

One thing should be noted in some of these passages. No man has the right to function as a pastor-teacher if he is ruled by his wife, or ruled by any woman — his mother, his wife, his girlfriend, or any other dominant female personality in his periphery.

Verses 12 and 13 deal with the function of the pastor-teacher. What is his primary responsibility?

Verse 12 — the purpose of the gift of pastor-teacher. “For the perfecting” is the preposition proj plus the accusative of katartismoj. We have “for” two more times and it is not proj. The next two times we are going to see it as e)ij and e)ij. There is a reason for that. All of these three functions are not the same. We switch from proj to e)ij to show that the second function is really a specialised function for those who have the gift of pastor-teacher. They are not to be distinguished from other members of the congregation but they are in the congregation. And when you are fulfilling the teaching ministry to the congregation as a whole you are also fulfilling a special ministry to those who have the gift of pastor-teacher as specialists. So it is possible to train all members of the royal family in the local church and at the same time in the local church train certain members of the royal family who have the gift of pastor-teacher and are in the process of training. Therefore, for that reason verse 12 has three prepositional phrases. Proj plus katartismoj and then two e)ij prepositional phrases. Katartismoj means to train and equip for combat. The combat is the angelic conflict, the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. The combat takes cognisance of the fact that all believers in this dispensation are members of the royal family and living in the intensified stage of the angelic conflict it is extremely important for them to be trained for combat, to be trained for life. In effect, that is what katartismoj means, to train you to live as a member of the royal family on this earth. So training and equipping is the concept. This training and equipping comes through the teaching of Bible doctrine, not through counselling, not through church programs, etc. Proj plus the accusative here connotes a goal aimed at or striven for. It means to strive or to move toward the goal with conscious purpose. It should be translated, therefore, “For the purpose of training and equipping the saints for combat.” The genitive of relationship of a(gioj is used here for you and I as members of the royal family. While it is a plural and while it is a descriptive genitive it is used in the sense of indicating who is to be trained or which ones are to be trained by the pastor.