8/15/78

DOCTRINE OF COMMUNICATION

A. Definition and Description.

1. We have communicators of doctrine in the Old Testament and New Testament. We do not hear the voice of God, not since 96 A.D. on the isle of Patmos. In the Old Testament, the voice of God was heard by those who had the gift of prophet. Also men were taught by angels. Then the written word of God was communicated. The Old Testament communicator received his information from three sources: God, angels, and the Canon.

2. Until Moses there were no communicators. Moses was as unique to the Jewish age as Paul was to the Church Age. No one ever starts out as a communicator. Moses had both the office and gift of prophesy. Those with the office of prophet were official communicators of doctrine only. Those with the gift of prophesy did something else but also communicated doctrine and received direct revelation from God, e.g., Daniel, David, Solomon.

3. During the time of the early church, 30-96 A.D., Paul had two sources: God directly and the Old Testament Canon. He became the greatest source of doctrine in the New Testament. There was also the temporary spiritual gift of knowledge (gnosis) which was academic knowledge of the content of doctrine which would be contained in the New Testament Canon before it was written.

4. After the Canon is closed we have only one system, the pastor- teacher. The pastor-teacher has two sources: his pastor-teacher, and the education to dig out information from the Canon itself.

5. In the Tribulation there will be a new system. The 144,000 Jews will teach the word of God; Moses will be resuscitated along with Elijah to teach doctrine; and angels will teach again.

B. The communication system at present is not direct from God; it comes through the pastor-teacher.

1. You can’t read the Bible for yourself and get what God intended for you to fully understand.

2. A pastor-teacher has a spiritual gift sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at salvation. It is not earned or deserved. The spiritual gift provides both the authority and ability to communicate. All types of personalities have the gift and not all are eloquent, but they do communicate and you do understand. Everyone has a right pastor-teacher.

3. Baptism doesn’t help communicate doctrine, only the Lord’s table does this, which is why it is the only ritual left in the Church Age.

4. There is no such thing as “surrendering to preach.”

C. You discover the gift of pastor-teacher by persistent study of God’s Word. Through growth it becomes apparent to you that you possess the gift. Also accompanying spiritual growth, you have a lot of discipline. You try a lot of things at which you’re good and never succeed. You learn by a lot of knots on the head.

D. There are five New Testament Greek words used for the communicator.

1. PRESBUTEROS means old man, elder; a title for authority, commanding officer. Only one man has the authority; there is no such thing as plurality of elders in a local church, or assistant pastors.

2. POIMENAS means shepherd; connotes provision; pastor. Those who receive the doctrine are students under strict academic discipline.

3. EPISKOPOS means to look over the situation, the guardian of the system. It is an administrative term in the sense of policy making.

4. DIAKONOS means servant; administrative function of serving the Lord.

5. LEITOURGOS means sacrifice at the altar. There is unique sacrifice involved in the communication of doctrine. A pastor’s sacrifice means that he can never be quite human. He doesn’t live a normal life. The demands of study and communication preclude normal living. For example, Paul as an ultra supergrace believer should have had a billion dollars, but he couldn’t enjoy it since he had no time. The pastor-teacher is chained to the Bible; therefore, he lives a sacrificial life. Generally a communicator will always be historically obscure. He forgoes success in some other normal realms of life.

E. The Purpose of a Communicator, Eph 4:11-12, 13, 14-17. “For the purpose of training and equipping the royal family for combat; for the purpose of the vocation of the ministry, for the purpose of the edification of the body of Christ; until we all attain the goal, because of the consistency of doctrine and the full knowledge of the Son of God, with reference to a mature noble man, to the standard of maturity which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

1. If no one is saved because of the work of the evangelist, then there is no need for the gift of pastor-teacher. Therefore, evangelists are more important than pastor-teachers.

2. If there are no pastor-teachers doing their job, then there are no believers with momentum glorifying Christ. __________________________________________________________________________

R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

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