Spir Dynamics 1612(c)13 10/28/99; PPG 46, 218; Eph 109, 234, 647, 811, 840ff, 904
A. Introduction.
1. No believer can attain spiritual maturity and become an invisible hero or glorify God apart from postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation.
a. This means that no believer can read the Bible and attain spiritual maturity. The Bible is our textbook, but the gift of pastor(c)teacher is designed to communicate the specifics of the mystery doctrine that cause spiritual growth. Doctrine must be learned under authority, and that authority is vested in the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher.
b. No believer can read the Bible daily for himself and discover and learn the mystery doctrine for the Church Age, and understand the mechanics of the protocol plan of God. It must be taught through authority. Authority is always the key to teaching.
2. Postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation is defined as perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, resulting in spiritual momentum. Postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation cannot occur apart from the gift of pastor(c)teacher.
3. Since every believer is a royal priest and represents himself before God, it is necessary for him to understand the system of delegated authority whereby he receives his spiritual nourishment and which causes momentum in the protocol plan.
4. Every believer must take the responsibility for his own decisions. Therefore, the believer must make decisions with regard to his selection of his own pastor(c)teacher, and his faithfulness in learning Bible doctrine from that pastor(c)teacher.
5. Failure to take in Bible doctrine on a daily basis, to grow in grace and attain spiritual maturity, is directly related to the fall of the client nation to God. Therefore, the believer’s attitude toward the mystery doctrine as taught by his right pastor, whomever he is, becomes the major issue in the preservation of the client nation. 6. God has provided two systems of authority for the great power experiment of the Church Age. One is animate and one is inanimate.
a. The inanimate authority is the Word of God, with emphasis on the mystery doctrine found in the epistles of the New Testament. Since it is the Word of God that is alive and powerful, it is the responsibility of the pastor(c)teacher to communicate the Word of God, and not to spend his time in other activities.
b. The animate authority is the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher, whereby the individual believer becomes aware of his invisible assets and the available power to become an invisible hero.
c. Both the animate and inanimate authorities are linked together in the communication of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, whereby cognitive independence in Bible doctrine becomes the means of glorifying God in the unique Church Age.
d. The inanimate authority of the Word of God can be described briefly in the following manner. “God so supernaturally directed the writers of Scripture that without waiving their human intelligence, their individuality, their literary style, their personal feelings, or any other human factor, God’s complete and coherent message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship.” That is the Biblical principle of verbal plenary inspiration.
e. The spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher describes the animate authority in the royal family of God during this dispensation only. After the Rapture of the Church, there will never again be the function of the pastor(c)teacher on earth.
B. Definition and Description.
1. Definition.
a. Pastor(c)teacher is a spiritual gift provided by God the Holy Spirit at salvation for certain male believers only. It is found in all kinds of personalities. Do not try to associate the gift of pastor(c)teacher with a certain kind of a personality (sweetness, friendliness, kindness).
b. In every generation of the Church Age, the Holy Spirit provides X(c)number of men who possess the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher. Out of that X(c)number, certain categories exist.
(1) The male believer who never discovers that he possesses the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher. This is generally caused by ignorance of Bible doctrine, or malfunction in the perception of doctrine. For only through perception and metabolization of doctrine and resultant spiritual growth can any male believer become aware of the fact that he has the gift. This gift is not discovered emotionally, but rationally through the perception of doctrine. (While the emphasis of this study is on the pastor, most of the principles apply to the evangelism as well.)
(2) The male believer who discovers he possesses the spiritual gift, but upon discovery he is distracted.
(a) He can be distracted by romance or an early marriage. Once a man marries, he has other responsibilities, and he must consider someone besides himself.
(b) He can be distracted by success in business or in another profession. Success is stimulating and difficult to walk away from in order to prepare for the ministry. Of all the professions in life, it takes more time and more energy to prepare for the ministry.
© He can be distracted by having a family before he can prepare. It’s impossible to properly prepare for the ministry when you have a wife as well as children, with a few rare exceptions. In most cases, family obligation supersedes seminary attendance. However, God will honor the desire to prepare in those in such situations.
(d) He can be distracted by other obligations which prohibit proper preparation, like parents, children, friends, debts, etc.
(e) Preparation is everything. The ideal situation is to be a male and to be single.
(3) The male believer, who after discovering his spiritual gift, is in the position to prepare himself for the ministry and does so, but does not have the opportunity to use his gift.
(a) The demand for Bible(c)teaching pastors diminishes in time of apostasy. Therefore, when fully(c)prepared pastors are not using their spiritual gift in some way, this category of men stand in condemnation of the apostate generation. God honors this category of men in other functions of life. God can bless in many ways, not only in business and profession, but also in his relationships in life with wife, family, and friends. (b) In generations of great positive volition, there are not enough prepared pastors to meet the demand.
(4) The male believer, who after discovering his spiritual gift, prepares himself and eventually enters into some form of Christian service compatible with his gift. He can become the pastor in a local church, a teacher in a theological seminary or Bible school, a missionary, a teacher in a Christian or secular school, a teacher or administrator in a Christian service organization.
(a) Obviously, there is more positive volition among believers in some generations, and less positive volition among believers in other generations. Therefore, not all the men who have the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher or evangelism will function under their communication gifts in a time of negative volition.
(b) Nevertheless, a certain number of male believers in every generation will function under communication gifts as pastors of local churches, missionaries, professors, teachers, writers, or teach the Word through technology such as radio, television, audio and video tapes. © When positive volition reaches a low ebb, certain men with the communication gifts of pastor(c)teacher and evangelism will not function under their gifts. These men who have prepared themselves for the ministry are honored by God with special blessings related to their gift, even though they were denied by negative volition and apostasy from functioning under that gift. God honors their faithfulness in that way.
2. Description.
a. The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is the divinely(c)appointed vehicle for the communication of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age to every believer-priest.
b. The gift of pastor(c)teacher is a spiritual gift sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at salvation totally apart from any human merit or ability.
c. The gift provides the right for the pastor to go directly to the Canon and dig out divine policy himself, grow spiritually based on his personal study of the Word of God, and communicate doctrine in public after proper preparation. The royal family is, therefore, under the authority of their own right pastor to grow spiritually.
d. All kinds of people receive the gift. All kinds of preparation exist. No person or personality should be stereotyped as that of a pastor.
e. The pastor has the authority of an apostle, except that the pastor is limited to one local church. The gift is bestowed only on males. The pastor can abuse his authority by spiritual bullying or by not using his God(c)given authority. He is the final authority in the local church. God’s delegated authority is the pastor’s means of protecting the sheep.
f. Only with spiritual growth comes the knowledge that one has this spiritual gift.
3. Further Definition of “Pastor(c)Teacher.”
a. POIMEN or “pastor” means no one can teach Bible doctrine without the authority related to the spiritual gift. The “pastor” or “shepherd” had authority over the sheep and was generally smarter than the sheep. No one can teach without authority. The spiritual gift of pastor¦teacher carries authority with it, but the pastor must establish his authority through the teaching of the Word of God. In teaching Bible doctrine, the pastor has authority over the following categories.
(1) His congregation.
(2) Evangelists in his congregation who must learn in a non(c)face(c)to(c)face situation while on the go on the road and face(c)to(c)face while at home. All spiritual gifts must be fed by the pastor.
(3) Pastors who are not prepared themselves must learn from a pastor(c)teacher who is prepared. If a pastor is not properly prepared for the ministry, then he must have a pastor(c)teacher feeding him spiritual food in a non(c)face(c)to(c)face situation.
(a) A pastor is not prepared for the ministry unless he has been academically trained in the following areas: the original languages of the Scripture (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic), systematic theology, hermeneutics, and the historical background of the Old and New Testaments. A pastor without this academic training from a seminary is not qualified to interpret the Word of God independently; therefore, he must get help from another pastor or from books.
(b) So every pastor without proper preparation is dependent upon some pastor who is prepared, or else he will make a fool of himself until the Lord takes him home under the sin unto death. God uses prepared men. Lack of preparation means that pastors must have their own right pastor.
b. DIDASKALOS or “teacher” indicates his function. DIDASKALOS means to teach a group. One(c)on(c)one teaching or counseling inevitably becomes a system of legalism or bullying, whereby a pastor becomes arrogant, legalistic, and a self(c)righteous crusader rather than doing his job.
(1) There are three times when people must grow up.
(a) When they are born.
(b) When they are born(c)again by learning God’s plan.
© When they are married.
(2) The Bible contains a great deal of information for each of these categories.
(a) The laws of divine establishment, when followed, cause us to grow up as a human being, e.g., the authority and teaching of parents.
(b) The mystery doctrine for the Church Age, when learned, cause us to grow up spiritually.
© Many Biblical passages teach about marriage.
(3) So the noun DIDASKALOS means teaching under two traditional principles: face-to-face teaching inside the local church and non-face-to-face teaching outside of the local church. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians was non-face-to-face teaching of those believers the apostle had never met.
(4) Therefore, the noun DIDASKALOS is designed for the reception of Bible doctrine under the privacy of your royal priesthood. This is why believers gather in a group, in order to maintain their privacy in the reception of the Word of God. The principle of privacy can only exist in a group, never in a one(c)on(c)one situation, except in non-face-to-face teaching.
(5) As a royal priest, every Church Age believer has the right to his own privacy. He has the right of making his own mistakes as well as his own successes. We are each responsible for making our own decisions.
(6) The privacy of the priesthood in postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation is maintained in two ways.
(a) In teaching to a group.
(b) In non-face-to-face teaching.
c. Only the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher has both authority from God and ability from the spiritual gift to provide the necessary doctrinal information for the execution of the protocol plan.
d. While “pastor” emphasizes his authority in communication, “teacher” emphasizes his function. He is to study and teach, study and teach.
e. No pastor can teach what he does not know himself. Therefore, no pastor can lead his congregation to spiritual adulthood without providing the basis for postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation, which means consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.
f. The responsibility of the pastor is to study and teach. 2 Tim 2:15, “Be diligent, be single-minded [in studying] to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of Truth.”
g. What the believer needs to understand is the protocol plan, the ten problem-solving devices, his portfolio of invisible assets, and to learn the mechanics for the execution of God’s will, plan, and purpose. This will result in the believer advancing to the three stages of spiritual adulthood.
h. Therefore, the pastor must teach the truth of the Word of God, and not become involved in controversies or theological problems. The principle is that God honors truth; God honors His Word. Therefore, the power of God is in the Word of God. The positive statement of truth is far, far greater than all the apologetics in the world.
i. Pastors must never covet another man’s ministry. This is the blasphemy of rejecting God’s ministry designed for you. Never covet another man’s congregation. This is the arrogance of assuming that you are better than someone else.
j. As a pastor becomes prepared and faithful in teaching the Bible, God will provide the hearers. The pastor need not pressure anyone to come. God will send those who need a pastor’s ministry to that pastor. If God doesn’t promote you, you’re not promoted. God only promotes prepared people.
k. Most male believers with the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher are neither brilliant individuals nor original thinkers. As a pastor, you’re not even required to increase your I.Q., but you are required to be faithful in the principle of study and teach, study and teach.
l. Faithfulness in the function of the spiritual gift is required. This is why pastors must be pluggers, studying a line or two a day. God uses faithful men, not ignoramuses or genuine geniuses with so-called “break-throughs.” What most pastors call “break-throughs” are ridiculous anyway, and show evidence of inordinate ambition and inordinate competition rather than being under the ministry of the Spirit.
m. The pastor who is trying to reinvent the wheel is not prepared to function under the ICE preparation. That pastor needs his own right pastor to properly interpret and teach the Word.
n. The pastor involved in the numbers game is envious and has lost his perspective. The size of a congregation does not in any way indicate success or failure. The only person who knows who is a success and who is a failure in the ministry is God himself.
o. The pastor is not required to be the “best;” he is mandated to be faithful.
C. Communication Gifts.
1. Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, while constitutional for the people of the United States; for the pastor it’s life, liberty, and the pursuit of truth of Bible doctrine. Therefore, the responsibility of the pastor is to study and teach.
2. Only two communication gifts are extant today: pastor-teacher and evangelist.
a. Evangelism is a spiritual gift of communication designed for unbelievers. The evangelist has no authority in the local church; his function is outside the local church.
b. The gift of pastor(c)teacher is designed for the communication of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age to those who are in the Church.
c. The distribution of these two spiritual gifts to males only is the sovereign and grace decision of God the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.
d. God’s marvelous sense of humor is manifest in how He gives these spiritual gifts to all kinds of men, defying the casting director’s (most women’s) concepts of what such a man should be.
e. The pastor represents the most visible delegated authority that God provides in the Church Age. Therefore, a pastor should not lie down and let people run all over him and dictate to him; such a man does not belong in the ministry. The minister is answerable only to God.
f. Women can communicate and do so effectively because they are, by nature, great teachers. Most children learn more from women in the first years of their life than they ever do from men.
g. There is a place for pastors in seminary teaching, Bible school teaching and writing.
3. The discovery that one has this spiritual gift is a matter of postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation, i.e., a matter of spiritual growth. Once you discover you have this gift, you need not dedicate yourself to “full(c)time Christian service;” God the Holy Spirit already did so by giving you that spiritual gift at the moment of your salvation.
4. Part of the challenge of the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is found in Eph 3:9: “to make perspicuous what is the dispensation of the mystery which has been concealed from the ages by the God, the same One who created all things.”
5. This introduces the grace pattern of the spiritual gift. Don’t ever assume that the pastor is better than you are or more close to God.
a. Ministers often think “This is my ministry.” All pastors at some time are guilty of calling it “mine,” when in reality it is God’s ministry. God’s ministry plus God’s power equals the communication of Bible doctrine.
b. Therefore, the minister has no right to be discouraged or complain or malign others with the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher. One of the great problems in the ministry is that too many pastors spend their time maligning others, often in jealousy, or inordinate ambition or competition. Such modus operandi indicates lack of spiritual self(c)esteem plus lack of awareness that the ministry belongs to God and not to the individual communicating Bible doctrine.
c. In our generation at present, there are many men with the gift of pastor(c)teacher who will never function as such, but God will bless them in other functions of life, and they will stand in judgment against the believers of this generation for their negative volition toward Bible doctrine.
d. Today, men are graduating from seminary with no vacant pulpit and no opportunity anywhere. Some men have gone to the mission field where great opportunity exists today. Others have gone into other facets of Christian service. But many men with the spiritual gift will never function. But God honors the fact that they prepared themselves and fulfilled His will, and God will bless them in professions, businesses, and in other functions of life. The gift of pastor(c)teacher is not in demand at the present time because we are in a state of apostasy among believers.
6. So the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is the function of God’s grace policy to male believers and can only be fulfilled through the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, which means life in the divine dynasphere.
7. Since it is God’s ministry and not ours, God requires faithfulness on the part of the pastor, not compliance with human success standards.
8. That’s why in Mt 25:21, the Lord said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the happiness of your Lord.” Note that this is a future reward and blessing, and the basis for it is faithfulness in studying and in teaching. Many pastors will be ruling in the Millennium in a resurrection body, not because they had a big congregation or because they met the success standards of Madison Avenue, but because they were faithful in the function of the ministry.
9. Communication gifts are provided at salvation totally apart from human merit, human talent, or personality traits.
a. Even before one can do anything spiritually, his gift is provided.
b. Those with the talent of public speaking or dealing with people may only have a talent; it is not necessarily a communication gift.
c. God has a sense of humor; don’t ever try to second guess Him and outline an ideal personality profile for a pastor. For God has given the spiritual gift to all kinds of males.
10. The moment we are born again, all of us have a spiritual gift. Different spiritual gifts are like different members on a team, and every member is important. In fact, a pastor(c)teacher cannot function without others functioning in their spiritual gift, both visibly and invisibly. There’s no such thing as an unimportant gift. No pastor can function without the entire team backing him up.
11. Awareness of one’s spiritual gift requires consistent residence in your very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere, the place of the filling of the Spirit and momentum in the Christian life.
12. The believer with the communication gift will have arrogance problems apart from his own spiritual growth and orientation to the grace of God. Arrogance is always the #1 problem for us all, and it includes jealousy, bitterness, implacability, hatred, self-pity, guilt reaction, vanity, lies, maligning others, seeking “break-throughs” instead of teaching line upon line, trying to build a big empire and call it a church, etc.
D. Preparation for the Ministry.
1. Having the gift of pastor(c)teacher requires the greatest preparation of any function in life.
2. Awareness of the spiritual gift must involve both formal and disciplinary training for the function of the spiritual gift because of the principle that God uses prepared men.
3. Awareness of the spiritual gift does not require a so-called formal dedication to full-time Christian service. We are members of the body of Christ, male and female, and we are all in full-time Christian service.
4. What separates the pastor from all other forms of Christian service is first awareness of his spiritual gift, and secondly preparation.
5. There are four categories of preparation to be considered with regard to the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.
a. The disciplinary and responsibility preparation. To function as a pastor, one must have a strong sense of responsibility. He must have a stronger sense of self(c)discipline for the function of studying and teaching and writing. The gift of pastor-teacher demands that its recipient be a lifetime student of the Word of God. Self(c)discipline can be acquired in numerous ways, such as playing on athletic teams with a strict coach, military service, or studying under a strict academic curriculum.
b. The practical preparation can include many things such as military service, working under a tough boss or in some well-organized business. It includes anything that gives one an understanding of the importance of proper authority. Its result must be self-discipline and authority orientation, plus the proper organization of one’s life and one’s time, which demands right priorities in life.
c. The local church preparation. Prior to seminary, the believer must be faithful in some local church in his function, service, and attendance at Bible class. If the believer finds his right pastor, he should then enter the seminary with a good doctrinal foundation as a basis for his studies. Then he will be better motivated than most seminary students. By its very nature, seminary must be very tough academically. Therefore, good motivation must exist to work hard in learning the original languages and systematic theology, especially if you have no predilection for it. Faithfulness in the perception of doctrine is as far as some believers go in their preparation, which means they must be dependent upon good Bible teaching from a source outside of themselves. This is a hard road to take, because all too often lack of study of systematic and Biblical theology means lack of discernment.
d. The academic preparation. With few exceptions, no one is prepared for the pulpit without proper academic training. This means that the believer with the gift of pastor(c)teacher should go as far as he can academically. This includes not only high school and college, but also theological seminary and other graduate schools.
(1) To introduce a practical factor, academic preparation should be accomplished, wherever possible, in the state of single bliss. It is very difficult to go through seminary with a wife and/or children.
(2) Undergraduate work should include, if possible, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, speech, psychology, and philosophy.
(3) Seminary training should provide the tools with which to dig into the Bible for the rest of one’s life. That means being a very good student of Hebrew, Greek, systematic theology, Biblical theology, church history, missions, etc. Practical experience should not be emphasized at this time, for one will receive practical training for the rest of his life in the ministry. There is no substitute for the academic training.
(4) Many seminaries have a certain number of required courses which are tantamount to nonsense in preparation, but are excellent for the practice of poise and self(c)discipline, whereby you master a subject even though it is not even pertinent to becoming a pastor-teacher.
(5) The seminary that the individual attends must be orthodox in its doctrine and include the languages and systematic theology. If a young man with the gift of pastor(c)teacher enters a seminary that disagrees with his position on certain points, he should not argue with the professor unless invited (and be wary), and he should not try to take over the class or contribute in any way to the breakdown of academic discipline.
(6) If one enters a seminary where the rules seem silly or legalistic, he must comply with those rules. You should never argue with a school’s policy. You do not make your own rules and do not break the school’s rules. This is a part of academic discipline. You must accept the policy and academic discipline of the school you enter.
(7) Never enter a seminary with the preconceived idea as to what phase of the ministry you will eventually enter. Keep an open mind. Prepare yourself first, and then the Lord will lead you to becoming a pastor, missionary, Bible school teacher, seminary professor, evangelist, or a writer.
6. The spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is given to a certain number of male believers only. It is God the Holy Spirit’s sovereign decision, not a matter of human volition or dedication.
7. Through spiritual growth and momentum in the protocol plan of God, the believer becomes aware of his spiritual gift and so makes decisions related to preparation for the ministry.
8. Preparation for the ministry includes:
a. Awareness of the spiritual gift through momentum.
b. Undergraduate training in a college or university.
c. Military service or some other practical experience where the authority is especially unfair and the discipline is strict.
d. Theological seminary.
e. Sometimes a brief business or professional career.
f. Ordination by a local church.
g. Entrance into a field of service compatible with one’s spiritual gift and preparation, e.g., the pastorate, mission field, evangelism, teaching in a Bible school or seminary, becoming a writer (a more permanent field of communication than verbalizing doctrine).
E. What the Pastor Is and Is Not.
1. The purpose of the gift of pastor(c)teacher is to lead the believer to spiritual maturity, to execute the protocol plan of God through faithful and consistent Bible teaching. 2. Pastors are definitely not a group of spiritual giants or supermen. They are the beneficiaries of God’s grace, just as all other believers.
3. The gift and power of the communication of Bible doctrine is the provision of the grace of God.
4. Do not look to the pastor for a scintillating presentation; that goes with the gift of evangelism. A good evangelist will have twenty(c)five good messages. A good pastor(c)teacher will have anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 messages.
5. Therefore, an evangelist is often very spectacular in his message, in contrast to the pastor(c)teacher who often seems to be mediocre and even boring. This is because the pastor is faithful in teaching line upon line, precept upon precept, which means he must communicate many things that may not be of any interest to you at the moment. It is his responsibility to teach the whole realm of Bible doctrine.
6. Too many people are so involved in their own problems that they are not interested in learning about something totally unrelated to their own problems. But a pastor cannot cater to your problems. He must develop a baseline for everything in your life.
7. While every believer is in full(c)time Christian service, the ministry of the pastor(c)teacher is the basis for the most important function, i.e., postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation. That means the cognition of both doctrine and the mechanics for the execution of the protocol plan of God, resulting in the manufacture of the invisible hero in this great power experiment of the Church Age.
8. There is no believer who is “better than” another according to the Word of God. The pastor has a sin nature just like those in the congregation. The pastor is the recipient of God’s policy of grace just like all believers in the congregation who come under God’s grace policy.
9. The greatest enemy of the pastor is the arrogance complex of cosmic one. It not only includes numerous personal sins, but also such distractions to the ministry as self(c)righteous arrogance or crusader arrogance which includes Christian activism, civil disobedience, iconoclastic arrogance, and the subjectivity of emotional arrogance.
10. The second greatest enemy for the pastor is the temptation to use human power or ability or talent rather than the dynamics of divine power available in the omnipotence of all three members of the Trinity.
F. Divine Power versus Human Power in the Ministry.
1. Divine power does not coexist with human arrogance or human power. Human arrogance is the energy of human power. Divine power can only coexist with the believer inside the divine dynasphere where he has the utilization of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.
2. Even before he can teach it to his congregation, the pastor himself must learn to utilize the omnipotence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. God uses and promotes prepared men. A part of that preparation is humility, both enforced humility learned the hard way and genuine humility from spiritual growth. If God doesn’t promote you, you are not promoted.
4. So many pastors have misplaced authority problems. First, they have authority arrogance, the authority of human power, the “Pope Syndrome.” Divine power must never be confused with human authority. Such pastors demand face-to-face teaching for all believers in their geographical area.
5. Yet from the beginning of the Church Age, there was a tremendous amount of non-face-to-face teaching, illustrated by the epistles of the New Testament. They were written to churches out of sight of the apostle or pastor, in addition of a number of other non-canonical epistles. Paul preached to at least a dozen churches through writing, the only technology for that time.
6. Because God uses prepared men, non-face-to-face teaching has existed throughout the Church Age, beginning with Paul who wrote numerous sermons in letter form apart from the canonical epistles.
7. The real issue in face-to-face teaching is for the pastor to dig up his own congregation through evangelism and personal contact. Churches are always started through evangelism.
8. Pastors today have a tremendous tendency toward arrogance because they are not studying daily.
9. No ministry can be effective apart from enforced and genuine humility. The importance of the humility factor cannot be overstressed in the ministry.
10. In the history of the Church Age, there have been very few original thinkers. Most ministers should realize immediately that they are not original thinkers.
11. The minister should ask himself: “Who am I following?” Most ministers have a tendency to plagiarize, and to follow someone who impresses them. Just look at the books on the pastor’s desk, and that’s who he is following. Often they follow people who are inaccurate doctrinally, but they have no way of knowing that without knowing the original languages themselves.
a. If you’re following the wrong person as a pastor, you’re following false teaching. Add to that arrogance, and it’s a situation that cannot really be corrected apart from the Lord’s intervention in throwing him out of the ministry.
b. Of course, there are a number of liberal pastors who continue to function not under the authority of the Lord, but under the authority of some denomination, or under the people who accept their false doctrine.
12. Every pastor must constantly ask himself the question: “Is my ministry based on human power or divine power?” Divine power does not coexist with human power. The pastor should also ask himself: “Is my ministry one of inordinate ambition? Am I competing with someone else? Or is it a faithful function motivated by personal love for God and occupation with the person of Christ?”
13. Pastors who are always complaining about Christians who are leaving their congregation and being attracted to another pastor need to stop whining and get out and do their own evangelizing, and they need to study. God actually sends people to prepared pastors.
14. These pastors always complain about tolerance for liberals, but they arrogantly compete. For example, many do not understand dispensational theology, but they use it as a source of competition rather than a source of understanding.
15. Dispensational theology is the only theology that answers the question: “After salvation — what?” Therefore, it is necessary to understand dispensational theology is the only theology of the power of God.
a. But because so many pastors are anti-dispensational, they have no way of hooking up with the power of God. Therefore, they function on human power.
b. Only dispensation theology can explain the protocol plan of God in terms of execution and the manufacture of invisible heroes.
16. It is extremely important that pastors and congregations remember the importance of grace. Grace always begins at the cross. We start in grace; we must continue in grace. Very few people understand grace because very few pastors understand it, for they are always making an issue out of sins that shock them, or are crusading for something.
17. Face-to-face teaching versus non-face-to-face teaching is a false issue. The real issue is the power of God presented through the teaching of the Word of God, whatever the medium: written ministry, tapes, radio, T.V. The main point is: however you get your doctrine, be consistent! Find whomever is your right pastor and stay with him. Believers grow through perception and metabolization of Bible doctrine, not through a system of face-to-face teaching nor through a system of non-face-to-face teaching.
18. The true issue for the pastor-teacher is the communication of the will, plan, and purpose of God to believers, whether that communication occurs in face-to-face teaching, a written ministry, tapes, radio, television, or whatever.
19. In grace-to-face teaching, you hear your own pastor. In face-to-grace teaching, you hear others who are qualified in special fields. This means there is nothing wrong with hearing another pastor’s tapes on certain subjects not yet covered by your pastor.
20. Authority belongs to the power of God. The authority does not belong to the pastor. The pastor gets his authority through having a spiritual gift. The pastor’s authority comes from God by being delegated, and can be removed as rapidly as it was given! Authority in a congregation is based upon the pastor teaching Bible doctrine. Only as the pastor teaches Bible doctrine does he possess any power related to God and to His protocol plan.
a. Congregations are benefitted by divine power in doctrine. They are not benefitted by human power. Many pastors have great personalities, are dynamic speakers, and inspirational, but this is not the source of benefit.
b. Divine power is located in Bible teaching. It’s the Word of God that is alive and powerful.
c. The only reason that any pastor can ever be a blessing to you by the communication of the protocol plan of God is because he is the beneficiary of divine power.
21. How does the pastor dig things out of the Word? God the Holy Spirit is the key. The pastor must organize his life and determine to use his life properly, which means to constantly study day and night. But it doesn’t come just because he studies; it’s because of the ministry of the Spirit. No one can ever succeed in communicating the protocol plan of God for the Church Age apart from the ministry of the Spirit.
22. The minister needs divine power or he could never communicate the absolute doctrines of the Word of God, especially the mystery doctrines of the Church Age. Therefore, the following statement from Paul, the greatest believer who ever lived, although it applies to the ministry, can also apply to all of us. Ephesians 3:7, “through which Gospel I have become a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me on the basis of the function of His divine power.”
G. Biblical Terms for the Pastor.
1. Eph 4:11 uses two words from which we get our term “pastor¦teacher.” POIMEN means a shepherd, and denotes the pastor’s authority over a specific congregation, which is developed through faithful and consistent Bible teaching.
a. This category of the pastor’s authority cannot exist apart from positive volition plus genuine humility, objectivity, and teachability on the part of the congregation.
b. No minister of the Gospel can fulfill his primary mission of teaching the mystery doctrine of the Church Age apart from several factors.
(1) The possession of the spiritual gift.
(2) The proper preparation. B.B. Warfield said every man who goes into the ministry should have twenty years preparation for every year he serves in the ministry. There are many ways of preparing. Military service teaches one the concept of authority, and a pastor must be authority-oriented; for he is under the authority of God, and when he gets out of line, he gets double discipline where others only get single discipline. Therefore, the importance of his recognition of the invisible authority of God and the invisible authority of the Word of God. Therefore, he must be accurate in the teaching of the Word of God.
(3) Recognition of his spiritual gift.
(4) Intensive training is designed so the pastor can use the original languages and dig out things for himself daily. Therefore, the pastor must spend the majority of his time in studying and teaching the Word of God.
c. There are seven areas of sheep helplessness.
(1) A sheep cannot guide himself. A cat or a dog can be blindfolded and still find his way home. But a sheep has no sense of direction and is totally dependent upon the shepherd. A sheep can get lost in his own pasture or meadow. By analogy, the pastor guides through the teaching of the Word of God on a verse-by-verse, line upon line principle.
(2) A sheep cannot cleanse himself. A dog or a cat can lick himself or roll in the grass. But sheep remain filthy unless cleaned up by the shepherd. By analogy, the pastor must teach believers the rebound technique, which is how they recover fellowship with God and recover the filling of the Spirit.
(3) A sheep is a defenseless animal. Most animals have some form of defense, e.g., tooth, claw, speed, or camouflage. But the only protection the sheep has is the shepherd. By analogy, the pastor protects the sheep through the teaching of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age categorically. He presents to you your very own portfolio of invisible assets; he explains the protocol plan of God and how it is executed. He teaches the problem(c)solving devices and the significance of suffering, both in the realm of discipline and blessing. Through the communication of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, the protocol plan of God is executed. In any congregation, some believers become invisible heroes and not only glorify God, but are the basis for the preservation of the client nation. (4) A sheep is helpless when injured. A dog or cat can lick his wounds, and the saliva is therapeutic and expressive of his love for another who is wounded. But the sheep is dependent upon the shepherd to care for his wounds. By analogy, when we as believers are “injured” and suffering for one reason or another, we are dependent upon the pastor to communicate pertinent information. The pastor communicates the grace policy and grace mechanics to the sheep so that they can recover through the use of the problem-solving devices of the protocol plan, e.g., rebound, faith-rest drill, personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, or whatever is necessary.
(5) The sheep cannot find food or water for himself. Most animals can smell or detect water and find their own food. But a sheep must depend upon the shepherd for food and water. By analogy, the pastor communicates the mystery doctrine of the Church Age which is not only food for spiritual momentum, but the water of logistical grace for life support while the believer lives on earth.
(6) A sheep is easily frightened or panicked. In the time in which the Bible was written, the shepherd would calm the sheep by the use of his voice or with music. By analogy, faithful Bible teaching by the pastor prepares the sheep for any and every emergency or disaster in life. Fear, worry, and anxiety are removed as one learns the principles of Bible doctrine and how to deal with them.
(a) The more things in which you surrender to fear, the more things you fear.
(b) To the extent that you surrender to fear, you increase the power of fear in your life.
© The more things that acquire the power of fear in your life, the greater your capacity for fear, worry, and anxiety, so that eventually you become a loser without learning the pertinent Bible doctrine from whomever is your right pastor.
(d) As a loser, fear destroys your capacity for life, love, and happiness. Add arrogance to this, and you have the profile of a loser.
(e) Arrogance produces irrationality, self(c)deception, loss of personality identity, being divorced from reality, and mental illness.
(f) God has designed the protocol plan for winners. But the plan depends upon accurate communication of doctrine from whomever is your right pastor(c)teacher.
(g) The loser does not lose his salvation, but he has the wrong priorities in life, and spends his time in punitive suffering, including self(c)induced misery and the three categories of divine discipline.
(h) Arrogance, fear, panic, worry, anxiety, or irrational emotionalism are contradictions to the perfect plan of God, and are characteristic of the sheep who reject their shepherd.
(7) The sheep produces wool as a result of the care of the shepherd. By analogy, as a result of faithful and consistent Bible teaching on the part of the pastor, the believers produce the equivalent of wool, which is glorification of God through the execution of the protocol plan, through the distribution of escrow blessings for time, as a witness for the Prosecution in the rebuttal phase of Satan’s appeal trial, and through the impact of the invisible hero.
d. The second word in Eph 4:11 is DIDASKALOS, a noun used for one person teaching a group of people. The authority resides in the teacher while the congregation assembles to learn doctrine as students under authority. There is no effective teaching of the Word of God apart from authority. If you have the gift of pastor(c)teacher and you are arrogant, then the Lord will not use you. The man with this gift must be single-minded; the man must be humble; Bible doctrine must be more important than anything in life; he must go out of his way not to compromise doctrine.
e. The conjunction KAI is a coordinate conjunction, coordinating two nouns instead of subordinating them. So the correct translation is “pastor-teacher.” This is technically known as an hendiadys, in which two nouns are joined by a conjunction to express one idea. This is also the use of the Grandville(c)Sharp rule, in which a single definite article governs both nouns connected by the conjunction KAI, meaning that both nouns are talking about the same thing.
f. The public assembly of believers in the local church or its equivalent provides the classroom for postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation. The primary objective of such assembly is to learn. But learning, to be effective, must be accompanied by wisdom. Wisdom is the application of what you learn to life. Many believers get so far ahead in their learning that they fail to apply it to their living, and so a problem arises.
g. Every believer assembles under the privacy of his own priesthood, which allows him objectivity and gives him the opportunity of srealizing that everything taught comes from the Spirit, rather than being a direct attack upon him. The teaching is personal to him as an individual and he doesn’t have to think anyone is talking about him.
h. In personal application, the believer applies doctrine under the privacy of his own priesthood. In public application, the believer becomes the victim of gossip, maligning, and judging, and therefore does not grow spiritually because he is victimized. No one in the congregation has the right to apply doctrine or legalism to you. While the teaching is public, the application of doctrine must be private and self-imposed rather than the result of some form of spiritual bullying.
i. Under the royal priesthood, every believer must have privacy for objectivity in reception of doctrine and privacy in application, determining himself whether or not to live his own life as unto the Lord.
j. The purpose of the local church is spiritual, not social; it is to learn doctrine, not to invade your privacy. When the spiritual is fulfilled, the social falls right in line and becomes something that is wonderful. Making friends or fellowship in the congregation is optional and should follow rather than precede the principle of spiritual self-esteem, which is occupation with the person of Christ. Christian fellowship is a legitimate function which is most effective when believers have attained spiritual adulthood. Until spiritual adulthood is attained, the believer should have breathing space to be positive or negative, to succeed or fail, to be a winner or a loser on the basis of hearing Bible doctrine. 2. EPISKOPOS means guardian of the flock, overseer, supervisor, superintendent, and policy maker. It should never be translated “bishop” as in the King James Version. That term is stupid and gives rise to an ecclesiastical system never authorized by the Word of God. It is found in Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1-2; Tit 1:7; 1 Pet 2:25, 5:2.
a. Through faithful communication of the mystery doctrine pertaining to the great power experiment of the Church Age, the pastor becomes the guardian of the congregation in the sense that he is the chief policy maker for the local church. His policy making is based upon his teaching of the Word of God.
b. EPISKOPOS means patron, protector. In fifth century B.C. Athens, it meant a state official. It means rulership, authority, and establishing authority through doctrine, through truth.
c. Therefore, a pastor’s function is to establish a policy based on grace. Exceptions to this involve any in the congregation who destroy the privacy of others through gossip, maligning, judging, or somehow intruding socially upon others. In these cases, the pastor must function as a guardian to protect your privacy in relationship to the local church.
d. The pastor-teacher must delegate authority to those who are inculcated with Bible doctrine, those who have followed spostsalvation epistemological rehabilitation, those who have grace orientation, and those who have the spiritual gift that qualifies them for the board of deacons.
3. DIAKONOS means minister, servant, or waiter. The translation is minister; the transliteration is deacon. 1 Cor 3:5; Eph 3:7; Col 1:7, 23, 4:7; 1 Thes 3:2; 1 Tim 1:12; Heb 6:10; Acts 6:4.
a. This Greek noun was originally used for those who waited on tables and served food. It means a servant in the sense of spiritual power. A good translation is “minister” when it applies to the pastor(c)teacher.
b. This should not be confused with DIAKONIA, translated deacon, referring to those who administer in the local church.
4. PRESBUTEROS means “the old man” in the sense of being in the highest authority, commander, commanding officer, elder; it refers to the authority of the pastor. 1 Tim 5:17,19; Tit 1:5; James 5:14, 1:5; 1 Pet 5:1; 2 Jn 1; 3 Jn 1.
a. Every local church has only one commander. There’s no such thing as plurality of elders.
b. In Acts 20:28, Paul told pastors: “Be on guard for yourselves and for the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has made you guardian [EPISKOPOS] to shepherd [POIMAINO] the church of God which He purchased with his own blood.”
5. KERUXZ means a herald of the king, one who announces the policy of the king. 6. KERUSSO means to proclaim the plan and policy of the king. When the king is absent, the herald carries the authority of the king.
H. The pastor is the product of God’s grace.
1. Eph 3:7(c)8, “Through which Gospel I have become a minister according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me on the basis of the function of His divine power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace has been given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches [wealth] of Christ.”
2. 1 Tim 1:12(c)14, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has poured the power into me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent aggressor, yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly and in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was more abundant with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
a. The fact that Christ has “poured the power into me” means this gift isn’t something you develop on your own. No man is deserving of the gift of pastor(c)teacher.
b. A part of the preparation for the utilization of the spiritual gift is faithfulness. God uses those men who are faithful.
3. It takes God’s omnipotence to get a pastor to the pastorate and stay there regardless of how bad things become. 1 Tim 1:12-16 says the only thing that God can use in the pastor is His faithfulness in studying and teaching. This is motivated by His personal love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. The Pastor’s Authority.
1. Just because the pastor is a product of grace, this does not mean he has no authority and should be kicked around by others.
2. Heb 13:7, “Remember those who rule over you, who communicate the Word from God to you; carefully consider the issue of their way of life; imitate their doctrine.”
a. You “remember” pastors by attending Bible class, by praying for them, and by understanding that they have an abnormal life.
b. The issue of a pastor’s way of life is their Bible doctrine not their way of life. Are they faithful in studying and teaching the Word?
3. Heb 13:17, “Keep obeying those [pastors] who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will render an account. Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this [accounting] with happiness and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you.”
a. Pastors don’t rule over you in the sense of telling you what to do, but in the sense of teaching you what God expects from you and how to execute His plan.
b. You submit to the pastors’ authority in listening to their communication of doctrine.
4. Isa 54:17, “`No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment, you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,’ declares the Lord.” This is the pastor’s wall of fire from the grace of God.
5. The pastor’s authority is established on the basis of the teaching of Bible doctrine. Hence, the issue is not the man but the message.
6. Since the pastor’s authority is Bible teaching, his ministry does not violate the privacy of the individual priesthood. Therefore, under the mandate of 1 Pet 5:2, the pastor fulfills his responsibility.
a. 1 Pet 5:2, “Feed the flock of God among you, not from compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God.”
b. 2 Tim 4:2, “Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort [when warranted by context], and do this with all patience and teaching.”
c. 1 Tim 4:10, “For because of this [communication of doctrine], we work hard to the point of exhaustion, and we hang in there tough because we have confidence in the living God who is the Savior of all men.”
J. Principles of Interpretation.
1. The true object of speech is the impartation of thought. Pastors must speak or teach.
2. Language is a reliable medium of communication, designed to accurately express thought to be communicated. Therefore, the pastor should live in both the Word of God and in the dictionary. Slang won’t cut it. You must have a good vocabulary. In fact, Koine Greek was so limited that Paul invented words!
3. Usage determines the meaning of words. The function of words in Scripture depends on their association with other words.
4. The true object of interpretation is to apprehend the exact thought of the writer. One cannot interpret without understanding what he interprets. Therefore, there is no substitute for a masterful understanding of the original languages of Scripture. Because the only way to fulfill this hermeneutical principle is to do it from the grammar and syntax of the original language.
5. Truth must accord with truth. A statement of truth, which is apparently discrepant, can be harmonized only when all the facts are known. Often what appears to be a discrepancy is merely lack of information.
6. An assertion of truth includes that which is essentially exposed, and no more.
7. One cannot interpret without understanding what he interprets.
K. Faithfulness is required of the pastor.
1. There is no standard personality for the gift or function of pastor(c)teacher.
2. The only standard requisite is that every pastor, regardless of his personal popularity, speaking ability, the size of his congregation, or any other factor related to human viewpoint achievement, must be found faithful in teaching the Word. 3. Note that Paul found Epaphras, a pastor at Colossae, to be a “faithful minister.” Col 1:7, “Just as you have learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf.”
a. Paul recognizes Epaphras as a “minister of Christ,” and therefore an orthodox pastor-teacher, not a false teacher.
b. Note that Paul recognizes that Epaphras represents the entire ministry as he teaches at Colossae.
4. God does not require the minister to be eloquent, personable, sensational, or in any way famous by human standards of public relations. God requires faithfulness. There is no substitute for faithfulness in the ministry.
5. God’s praise to the pastor is related to his faithfulness. Matt 25:21, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things; I will make you ruler over many things.”
6. The profile of the pastor is grace, consistency in teaching, and faithfulness.
L. Paul’s Advice to the Pastor.
1. 2 Tim 2:23(c)26, “Avoid foolish and stupid speculations, knowing that they give birth to controversies. The servant of the Lord [pastor(c)teacher] must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged; with humility exercising disciplinary action toward those who are in opposition, so that perhaps God may give them a change of mental attitude, resulting in epignosis knowledge of doctrine, and come to their senses, and escape from the snare of the devil [cosmic involvement], having been held captive by him to do his will.”
a. The pastor is not to create controversies, but to communicate doctrine.
b. To be “patient when wronged” means pastors must avoid defending themselves against all sorts of gossip, maligning, and judging. Self(c)vindication is no vindication. The pastor’s job is to teach, teach, teach, and carry on. He functions under the principle that if God doesn’t promote you, you’re not promoted. He concentrates on teaching the Word of God and communicating.
c. The pastor must have humility and be free from arrogance. This includes recognizing that it is not his ministry, but the Lord’s ministry.
(1) Because of arrogance in the ministry, very little doctrine is being taught today.
(2) Pastors today do not understand Christocentric dispensations. Lack of cognition of them means lack of communication of things that are important.
d. Cosmic involvement is the tragedy of too many believers today, and explains our shrinking pivot.
M. The Purpose of the Pastor(c)Teacher.
1. The purpose of the pastor(c)teacher is covered from two viewpoints in the New Testament.
a. The objective mandate related to the three(c)fold purpose of the pastor(c)teacher is given in Eph 4:12, “for the purpose of equipping the saints for the accomplishment [work, production, occupation] of [Christian] service, for the edification of the body of Christ;”
(1) Christian service is the result of spiritual momentum, not the means of spiritual growth. No one grows because they are in Christian service; they grow by spiritual momentum from the spiritual life.
(2) There are four categories of Christian service.
(a) Christian service related to your spiritual gift.
(b) Christian service related to the royal priesthood.
© Christian service related to your royal ambassadorship.
(d) Christian service related to becoming an invisible hero.
(3) The result is the edification of the body of Christ, i.e., the editifcation complex of the soul with its seven floors:
(a) The first floor is the foundation(c)(c)salvation through faith alone in Christ alone.
(b) The second floor is dispensational orientation.
© The third floor is learning and using problem solving devices.
(d) The fourth floor is spiritual self(c)esteem, which is where we become aware our spiritual gift or begin using it. This is the status of cognitive self(c)confidence.
(e) The fifth floor is spiritual autonomy, which is cognitive independence.
(f) The sixth floor is spiritual marturity, which is cognitive invincibility.
(g) The seventh floor is the winner believer, the invisible hero, the one who glorifies God. This is the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.
b. The subjective mandate related to the communication of the mystery doctrine for the Church Age is given in 2 Tim 2:15, “Be diligent [study] to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of God.”
(1) The pastor must be so prepared that he is ready to analyze the Scriptures from the original languages.
(2) There are too many mistranslations and other problems that there is no way you can read your Bible and come up with a correct interpretation all the time. In fact, forty to fifty percent of the New Testament is so badly translated that many erroneous concepts have come from it.
(3) Therefore, it is the objective of the pastor(c)teacher not only to know the original languages, but to use them daily. This is a preparation without which it is impossible for a pastor(c)teacher to determine the accurate translation and interpretation of any passage. Pastors without this training are dependent upon other pastors who are so trained.
(4) Handling accurately the Word of God is the function of the pastor as he communicates the truth. It is the primary responsibility of the gift of pastor(c)teacher to study and teach, study and teach. This requires exceptional preparation for accurately handling the Word of God.
2. The pastor has secondary responsibilities related to administration of the local church, and a limited amount of counseling.
a. However, generally counseling is tantamount to putting band¦aids on problems, and is no substitute for the daily inculcation and practice of the ten problem(c)solving devices related to the protocol plan of God for the Church. By the use of these problem(c)solving devices, the believer is able to handle all of his own problems under the privacy of his own priesthood.
b. Counseling is analogous to the believer walking on crutches. The sooner the believer throws away his spiritual crutches, the sooner he can advance to spiritual adulthood. 3. The objective of the ministry is threefold.
a. To evangelize along with those who have the gift of evangelism and those in the congregation who witness.
b. The primary purpose is to communicate the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and the protocol plan of God. This answers the question, “After salvation, what?” c. To oversee the administrative function of a local church, not by doing any administration himself, but through the appointment of deacons who have administrative gifts. The pastor must ensure that the motivation of the deacons is compatible with the mandates of the Word of God.
4. Principles of the Ministry.
a. The pastor cannot teach what he does not know. Therefore, to study and teach is the primary function of the ministry. The pastor’s life is abnormal, and cannot be compared with the lives of other believers.
b. The pastor must avoid being diverted into Christian activism, or being distracted by involving himself in theological controversy. He only has time to communicate the truth; he doesn’t have time to argue with others.
c. The pastor must recognize the separation of church and state. Therefore, he must avoid using his pulpit as a political platform. To use the status quo of his country for illustration is legitimate. But in the interest of the separation of church and state, this can only be used as illustrative matter. The pastor does not take public political stands, nor does he permit politics to become an issue inside the local church. You are to learn doctrine, and from that doctrine acquire wisdom to guide you in how you vote and how you live.
d. The pastor must discourage crusader arrogance, including social engineering, so-called “Christian activism,” civil disobedience, the destruction of property, terrorism, etc.
e. The power of the ministry is in the communication of the Word of God, not in activism, theological controversy, or publicizing false doctrine; but in teaching the true mystery doctrine of the Church Age.
f. There is so much truth to be taught that there is no time for the pastor to be sidetracked by false issues and false doctrines.
g. The pastor has a sin nature like everyone else, and he is not necessarily better than anyone else in his congregation. Therefore, there must be the avoidance of role model arrogance, as well as unrealistic expectations. The pastor has no right to set himself up as a role model; his job is to communicate truth. It’s very clear from 1 Jn 1:8 and 10 that no one is perfect; all sin.
h. Role model arrogance combines with unrealistic expectations.
(1) Role model arrogance plus unrealistic expectation combine to form serious problems related to arrogance.
(a) The problem of a double standard, in which individuals justify their own sins and failures while condemning these sins and failures in others.
(b) The problem of self(c)righteousness inevitably results in crusader arrogance, by which self is promoted through judging, slandering, and maligning others. In the arrogance of legalism, people condemn the sins of others. By focusing on the sins of others, they ignore the fact of their own sins and failures.
(2) Role model arrogance plus unrealistic expectation combines to create a double standard in life.
(a) For example, a news reporter can fornicate, but a politician cannot. A layman can commit adultery, but a minister cannot.
(b) This arrogance permeates society so that society becomes weak, not living on principle.
(3) No one is perfect, including ministers, evangelists, and politicians. With Bible doctrine as the #1 priority in life, you can master the ten problem(c)solving devices and break out of this terrible pattern.
(4) Role model arrogance plus unrealistic expectation establishes false standards and develops a system of relative mores. These relative mores hinder the execution of the protocol plan of God. Today, born(c)again believers are simply people functioning under a system of mores which have nothing to do with God’s plan, will, and purpose for their lives.
i. Role model arrogance and unrealistic expectations destroy the focus of the Christian way of life, and they make three substitutions.
(1) Eyes on self is the double standard of self-justification and rationalization of one’s own sins while condemning the sins of others. Self(c)righteousness is one of the most awful sins of subjective arrogance, and can lead to mental illness.
(2) Eyes on people results in legalism, gossip, slander, maligning, and is another manifestation of self-righteous arrogance.
(3) Eyes on things, in which a believer’s arrogant frustrations causes him to resent others and the things that other people possess. Arrogant frustration results from seeing the wicked prosper while ignoring one’s own portfolio of invisible assets. Whether the wicked prosper is not an issue to you. The issue facing you is: are you growing in grace? Are you using the problem(c)solving devices?
j. Without an understanding of the original languages, the pastor is not qualified to interpret and therefore teach the Word. Instead, the pastor is dependent on others who are students of the original languages. Such dependence makes that pastor a member of another man’s congregation.
k. Most seminary students are not qualified to interpret the Word of God because of their ignorance of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek.
l. God uses prepared men. Lack of preparedness means the pastor must depend upon another pastor who is prepared. Therefore, unprepared pastors must have their own right pastor.
5. Who needs a pastor(c)teacher?
a. An unprepared pastor must have his own right pastor-teacher to feed him, so that he in turn can feed his own congregation.
b. The evangelist, both face-to-face when home in his own local church, and non-face-to-face teaching when on the road.
c. All Christians, the royal family in general.
N. Face-to-face versus Non-face-to-face Teaching.
1. Because God uses prepared men, non-face-to-face Bible teaching has come down to us from the beginning of the Church Age.
2. There are two traditional means of communicating the mystery doctrine of the Church Age that have existed since the first century.
a. Face-to-face teaching in the local church.
b. Non-face-to-face teaching outside the local church.
3. It is difficult for any pastor who suffers from arrogance and self¦importance to swallow the fact that non-face-to-face teaching is just as legitimate as face-to-face teaching.
4. There are some problems with face-to-face teaching.
a. There is the problem of concentration.
b. Privacy must exist. There must not be a one-on-one situation. Privacy is necessary so that you can receive the teaching of the Word of God as from the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
c. The distraction of Christian fellowship results in people emphasis taking precedence over God emphasis. This is a very serious problem in churches.
d. The pastor’s authority is often an issue.
5. Non-face-to-face teaching has its own problems.
a. There is the problem of making Bible doctrine a matter of convenience, rather than a matter of meeting a schedule.
b. There is the problem of making Bible doctrine #1 priority and being consistent. You must have the self-discipline and organized life to be consistent.
c. There is the problem of concentration and academic discipline.
d. There is the problem of authority as well.
6. The tradition for non-face-to-face teaching goes back to the first century and the early church.
a. Epaphras was the founder and pastor of a local church at Colossae, according to Col 1:7 and 4:12. However according to Phile 23, Epaphras was serving with Paul in Rome during Paul’s first imprisonment. This resulted in Paul ministering to the Colossian Church through non-face-to-face written messages during Ephaphras’ absence. The epistle to the Colossians is only one of a series of messages sent to them by Paul.
b. Epaphroditus may or may not have been the pastor at Philippi, but when he carried the Philippian epistle from Paul to that group of believers, he carried a series of non(c)face(c)to(c)face messages.
c. While the apostle John was teaching face(c)to(c)face in Ephesus, he was at the same time teaching at least two other groups in a non(c)face¦to(c)face manner. One such group was centered around an elect lady in 2 John; another group was centered around a man named Gaius in 3 John. Both these groups were probably in the Lycus Valley.
d. When John was banished to the Island of Patmos by Nero, he penned the book of Revelation, which is a series of non(c)face(c)to(c)face messages delivered to seven churches on a regular basis; i.e., to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
7. Face(c)to(c)face versus non(c)face(c)to(c)face teaching is really a false issue. The real issue is the presentation of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age so that believers can execute the will, plan, and purpose of God. However, this false issue is made an issue in the following cases.
a. The case of subjective arrogance includes both inordinate ambition and inordinate competition among the clergy.
b. Where a pastor covets another man’s ministry or his apparent success, he will be critical of that man’s non(c)face(c)to(c)face teaching. You should never covet another man’s ministry; this is the blasphemy of rejecting God’s ministry for yourself.
c. Where a pastor covets another man’s congregation, he makes a false issue out of non(c)face(c)to(c)face teaching. No pastor should ever covet another man’s congregation; this is the arrogance of assuming that you are better than someone else. Every pastor is given and assigned his own congregation by God, and he should never desire to go beyond the limits of what God has provided for him. If he does, he always gets into trouble. 8. Face(c)to(c)face teaching is the ideal way for the communication of the Word of God. But for several reasons, many persons can never be exposed to face(c)to(c)face teaching.
a. They are handicapped, or they cannot assemble with others due to such things as illness.
b. They have no doctrinal teaching in their peripheries.
c. They have been battered and bruised by church programs, by church fellowship syndromes, by legalistic bullying, by gossip and maligning, by slander and hatred, and other by(c)products of the so(c)called Christian fellowship system.
d. Therefore, such people have the right and privilege of non¦face(c)to(c)face teaching.
9. So God uses prepared men with the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher. God may use such prepared men in two ways.
a. Teaching a congregation face(c)to(c)face in the classroom of a local church.
b. Teaching non(c)face(c)to(c)face to others whose only hope of executing the protocol plan and glorifying God is from categorical teaching heard in a non(c)face(c)to(c)face manner.
10. In times of deviation from the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, and in times of apostasy among believers, non(c)face(c)to(c)face teaching is often the major thrust toward the execution of the protocol plan of God and the perpetuation of a pivot in the client nation.
11. The primary functions of doctrinal communication continues to be face(c)to(c)face teaching, where a group of believers have assembled in the local church under the ministry of a pastor. The pastor communicates Bible doctrine to a group of believers who, under the privacy of their royal priesthood, concentrate on that teaching and fulfill the principle of operation Z.
12. It is very important to remember that authority resides in the Word of God, not in the means of communication and not in the teaching of doctrine as such.
a. Authority belongs to God, and is only delegated to the pastor who is faithful in teaching the Word, or to the evangelist who is faithful in accurate communication of the Gospel.
b. Congregations are benefitted by divine power, not by human dynamics. Congregations are benefitted by Bible teaching, not by false teaching.
O. God’s Provision of a Pastor for each Congregation.
1. Eph 4:16, “Because of whom [Jesus Christ], the entire body, being joined together [baptism of the Spirit], and being inculcated [repetitious teaching of the mystery doctrine] by every joint of supply [pastor(c)teacher] on the basis of the operational power [omnipotence of Trinity], in measure, one [pastor(c)teacher] for each part [segment of believers].”
2. Every congregation or group of believers in a geographical area has been supplied with a pastor(c)teacher under the provision of logistical grace. This pastor may be present or absent, but he is the communicating authority regarding the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.
3. There are two ways to receive Bible doctrine from a pastor¦teacher.
a. Face(c)to(c)face teaching in the classroom of a local church.
b. Audio or video communication through mechanical means, comparable to the written epistles of the pre(c)canon period of the Church.
4. Every Church Age believer under logistical grace has his own right pastor to satisfy his need and desire for Bible doctrine.
5. Wherever positive volition exists, God provides a communicator under one of the two categories noted above.
6. First, there is a demand for the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. That demand depends on two factors.
a. The number of congregations or body of Christ groups in any given generation.
b. The percentage of positive volition among believers in that same generation. Many generations has many believers, but few are positive. In other generations, there are fewer believers but a larger percentage are positive. It is the positive volition that counts.
7. The result of God’s provision of communicators is the manufacture of invisible heroes through consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.
8. In times of apostasy, the demand for pastors is minimal. God honors and blesses those male believers who have the gift of pastor¦teacher, but do not have the opportunity of exercising that spiritual gift.
a. God provides pastor(c)teachers to cover the entire group of believers in any generation. But if few believers in a certain generation are positive, then the demand for pastor(c)teachers will be minimal, so that only a few men with the gift will actually function under their gift.
b. What happens to those men with the gift who are unable to function under it?
(1) They serve as a condemnation of that generation before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
(2) God provides for them special blessing because though they had the gift, the gift was not usable.
c. An excess of pastors without a ministry in an apostate generation will serve as the basis for the condemnation of that apostate generation at the Judgment Seat of Christ after the Rapture of the Church. (This principle is derived from the fact that our Lord told us that the positive generation of Ninevah will rise up to condemn the negative generation of the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. Therefore, there is historical judgment by analogy.) d. All positive volition in a given generation will be honored by the logistical grace provision of a pastor(c)teacher to satisfy the desire of believers to know the will, purpose, and plan of God.
e. No positive believer is ever left without the opportunity of hearing the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, utilizing their portfolio of invisible assets, divine power, and the ten problem(c)solving devices. This information is available in every generation.
f. Every segment of positive volition will have a prepared pastor to satisfy their need and longing to understand God and His plan, purpose, and will.
P. The Function of the Pastor.
1. Eph 4:16b says “he himself [pastor] causes growth in the body.”
2. The function of the pastor is to teach, to inculcate the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. This is the means by which the royal family of God not only orients to this dispensation, but is caused to grow and attain spiritual maturity. In spiritual maturity, invisible heroes are manufactured and God is glorified.
3. The pastor cannot teach what he does not know. Therefore, the pastor must know the following concepts.
a. Precedence for the Church Age is taken from the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, not from the Mosaic Law, and not from the dispensation of Israel. No pastor will be able to properly communicate the Word of God until he understands from where our precedence comes.
b. The believer must understand his portfolio of invisible assets. The pastor cannot fulfill his function unless he understands that portfolio and teaches it.
c. The unique divine provision for the Church Age must be understood by the pastor. Unless the pastor understands the unique features of the Church Age, he will not be able to cause growth in the body. The unique features of the Church Age include the following.
(1) The baptism of the Spirit, plus the resultant creation of the new spiritual species and the formation of the royal family of God.
(2) The unique availability of divine power.
(3) The indwelling of each member of the Trinity.
(4) The universal priesthood of every believer.
(5) The royal ambassadorship of every believer.
(6) The only dispensation that is determined by historical trends rather than eschatology.
d. The protocol plan of God and how it is executed inside the operational(c)type divine dynasphere must be understood by pastors. Pastors must understand mechanics.
e. Every pastor should understand the problem(c)solving devices for the Church Age, i.e., rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith(c)rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, +H or sharing the happiness of God, a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the person of Christ.
f. The pastor must understand the concept of spiritual momentum attained through suffering for blessing.
(1) Spiritual self(c)esteem plus providential preventative suffering equals spiritual autonomy.
(2) Spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing equals spiritual maturity.
(3) Spiritual maturity plus evidence testing equals glorification of God to the maximum in the great power experiment of the Church Age.
g. The spiritual impact of the invisible hero must be understood by the pastor in its five categories of personal, national, international, angelic, and heritage impact.
4. The pastor(c)teacher causes spiritual growth in one way only, and that is by communication, not by illustration or being an example. Every pastor has a sin nature and will fail. No one grows by seeing the example of the wonderful life of a pastor; there must be communication of doctrine. That’s the key to the spiritual gift.
a. There is no spiritual growth or momentum in the Christian life through program churches, Christian fellowship, or Christian service.
b. The only means of spiritual growth is the perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.
c. No believer advances in the Christian life through any form of works, or by following the example of some pastor, or by sacrifice, service, or interaction with other believers.
d. Spiritual advance can only occur through postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation.
Q. What happens to the men to whom God the Holy Spirit gives the gift of pastor(c)teacher? 1. Some male believers never recognize that they have the gift, for it can only be identified by spiritual growth, and they have none.
2. Some male believers recognize the gift, but negative volition toward doctrine ends any use of that spiritual gift.
3. Other male believers recognize the gift, but are never properly prepared to use it. They rush into a pulpit without seminary training or even human maturity. These pastors are a drag, troublemakers, legalistic, full of inordinate ambition and inordinate competition, and they teach false doctrine, beginning with spirituality.
4. Other male believers identify their spiritual gift as that of pastor¦teacher, and they begin a somewhat lengthy and often very painful function of preparation, to include military service, undergraduate work, and graduate work in theological seminaries and universities. a. What about those who discover they have the gift after they already have a family and job? It’s too late for them to go to seminary. However, God will still honor their discovery of their gift.
b. All too many men deprive their families and wives by attending seminary. Once a man marries, he has a responsibility to his family. The man who does not care for his family is worse than an unbeliever, the Bible says. So once you have a family, you cannot stop and prepare academically.
c. There are a few exceptions to this, but never where children are involved! To attend seminary while starving your family is not honoring to the Lord!
d. Therefore, anyone who even suspects he has the gift ought to remain single and not marry until his preparation is complete if possible. If not, it may work if his wife works while they are still childless.
e. The point is that once you begin preparation, that will be the key to your ministry. Remember that God uses prepared men, not unprepared men. It took Moses forty years to prepare for his job; it took Joseph fourteen years. God always uses prepared men, not unprepared men.
5. Of those male believers who are properly prepared, some never find pulpits in which they can communicate and express their spiritual gift.
6. Therefore, lack of placement is no reflection on the prepared person, but on the apostasy of that generation. Nevertheless, God honors their preparation and blesses them in the other activities of their life.
a. Often, in times of great national disaster, as in a war, God uses these men to step in the gap. It usually takes a war or great national disaster before an apostate generation to wake up. Once they do, there is a tremendous demand for prepared persons to teach the Bible.
b. Therefore, a prepared man with the gift should wait somewhere where he can continue his preparation under accurate Bible teaching.
7. Those prepared men without placement in pulpits will act as condemnation on that generation at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
8. Other male believers with the gift of pastor(c)teacher and proper preparation are placed in pulpits, and they cause spiritual growth through faithful teaching of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and the mechanics of the protocol plan.
R. The Profile of the Pastor Amplified.
1. God uses prepared men with the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher. Such prepared men become a major issue in whether a client nation survives or not. Such prepared men also determine the quality of missionaries in the mission field.
2. The spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is a matter of God’s grace. The function of the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is always a grace factor. Just as you are the beneficiary of God’s grace, so is the pastor. Remember that while the pastor has a spiritual gift whose authority resides in his communication of Bible doctrine, he is basically just another person like you are, and he is grace(c)out just as you are daily.
3. If God doesn’t promote you, you’re not promoted. If God doesn’t promote a pastor(c)teacher, he is not promoted.
4. God promotes under two conditions: the man is prepared, and the man is faithful in studying and teaching.
5. The Gospel ministry is a matter of God’s grace, more grace, and much more grace. No pastor earns or deserves the privilege and opportunity of communicating Bible doctrine. 6. God does require faithfulness. Faithfulness demands that the pastor(c)teacher become, above all things, a plugger.
7. Therefore, there are four rules related to the ministry.
a. God uses prepared men.
b. God uses faithful men.
c. God uses doctrinal men.
d. God uses mature men.
8. In finding God’s billet for the communication gifts, the gift of pastor(c)teacher functions under the three P’s
a. Preparation is a continual function.
b. Patience is a very important teaching aid.
c. Perseverance refers to teaching accurately and consistently, and repeating again and again and again. The objective of inculcation demands lots of repetition.
9. Scripture documents these principles.
a. Matt 25:21, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the happiness of your Lord.” God demands faithfulness from the pastor. He doesn’t have to be scintillating or some super personality. He must be faithful in studying and teaching and communicating Bible doctrine. It is far better to be a plugger than to be a scintillating rising and falling star.
b. 2 Tim 4:2, “Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Therefore, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience and instruction.”
c. Eph 4:13(c)16, “Until we all attain the objective because of the system from doctrine and by means of the epignosis knowledge from the Son of God, resulting in a mature believer to the measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, in order that we no longer be childish and driven out of control by every wind of false teaching..., but by teaching doctrine associated with virtue(c)love, that we may cause them to grow up with reference to the all things with reference to Him who is the head, even Christ, because of Whom the entire body being joined together in one body and being inculcated by every joint of supply [the function of the spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher] on the basis of the operational power in measure of one pastor(c)teacher for each part [the congregation], resulting in its edification by means of virtue(c)love.”
(1) Some believers are thinkers and some believers are doers. Every pastor must be a thinker and motivate his congregation to become doers. To become a thinker the pastor must become a student of the word of God.
(2) The pastor can motivate doers in two ways: the wrong way and the right way. The wrong way is motivation through the personality of the pastor. The right way is motivation through the faithful teaching of the word of God.
(3) The spiritual leadership of pastor or missionary must be based on the power of the word of God, not on the dynamics of personality. We cannot follow a personality; we can only follow the doctrine.
(4) “The objective” is spiritual maturity, the PLEROMA status (“the fullness of Christ”) of the invisible hero.
(5) The “system from doctrine” is postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation(c)(c)perception, metabolization, and application of New Testament Bible doctrine.
(6) “The all things” refers to the unique characteristics of the Church Age, the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, the unique spiritual life of the Church Age, the manufacture of invisible heroes, the glorification of God as the tactical victory of the Church Age.
(7) The spiritual gift of pastor(c)teacher is not only the means of inculcation of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, but the vital link in perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine as the only means of spiritual growth and glorification of God. Therefore, the pastor(c)teacher in this analogy is the “joint.” Therefore, the congregation is no stronger than the pastor.
d. “He who does not go forward goes backward.” A pastor can only stand in one place and teach. People will come and go. Their interest will rise and fall. People will have different concepts about what is important in their life. The pastor can only stand in one place and be faithful in teaching. God handles the people who come or don’t come; that is not the concern of the pastor.
e. 2 Tim 2:15, “Be diligent; study to present yourself approved to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of Truth.” It takes years of study to handle accurately the Word of Truth.
10. Therefore, the issue is not face(c)to(c)face teaching versus non(c)face¦to(c)face teaching, but the accurate communication of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, including the protocol plan, our portfolio of invisible assets, the ten problem(c)solving devices, and all the details necessary for the manufacture of invisible heroes.
S. The Problem of Christian Fellowship.
1. The problem of Christian fellowship originates from the trend to emphasize relationship with people over relationship with God. Therefore, people emphasis takes precedence over God emphasis.
2. Interaction with people becomes the criterion of the Christian way of life instead of the execution of the protocol plan and the glorification of God.
3. It’s not that Christian fellowship is wrong, but it is overemphasized so that today believers are not growing spiritually. Therefore, the emphasis on Christian fellowship is producing losers.
4. Christian Fellowship Principles.
a. Christian fellowship is never a substitute for fellowship with God.
b. Christian fellowship is never a substitute for learning Bible doctrine.
c. The execution of the protocol plan and subsequent glorification of God only occurs through the consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. You should be able to distinguish between learning doctrine and Christian fellowship.
d. Execution of the protocol plan and subsequent glorification of God does not occur through Christian fellowship.
e. God always provides a right pastor for positive volition.
f. No one is everyone’s right pastor.
5. There are two problems related to the myth of Christian fellowship.
a. The problem of unrealistic expectation.
b. The problem of role model arrogance. (See point 18.)
6. Unrealistic expectation is defined by people not being loved the way the want to be loved or treated the way they want to be treated. As a result, they develop an interposing frustration which destroys interaction in human relationship.
7. Unrealistic expectation becomes the motivation for at least three things.
a. Unrealistic expectation becomes the basis for selecting a local church that emphasizes fellowship, young people’s programs, etc.
b. Church hopping results as people continue to seek being treated and loved the way they want. In the demand syndrome, they demand that you love them though they are obnoxious.
c. They demand attention from a pastor or a group. This demand syndrome from arrogance means any interaction with people will be disastrous.
8. Unrealistic expectation is a problem in every human relationship, including marriage, friendship, romance, and Christian fellowship.
9. Role model is defined as the proper or customary function of a person. Society and people in general have assigned certain customary functions to certain activities in life. This includes such people as politicians, ministers, evangelists, husbands, wives, teachers, public servants, police officers, pastors, etc.
10. When anyone departs from the role model, he becomes the object of public reaction. Hence, he is condemned, judged, criticized, and maligned.
11. Individuals and society in general like to see everything in its proper place and resent any deviation or lapse.
12. Therefore, society in its arrogance has developed a double standard: one standard for the role model, and one standard for self. In this double standard, the individual excuses himself for his own sins, flaws, and failures, but he condemns the role model for these same sins, flaws, and failures. He is shocked because he is so arrogant that he doesn’t consider that he too sins.
13. Therefore, role model arrogance manufactures hypocrites and legalists, those who gossip, criticize, slander, and malign their victims.
14. Role model arrogance imposes impossible standards on others, ignoring the point of doctrine that everyone has an old sin nature and uses it, including pastors, evangelists, politicians, police officers, etc.
15. Role model arrogance manufactures hypocrisy in the clergy and legalism in the congregation.
16. The combination of unrealistic expectation and role model arrogance intensifies the problem of both the execution of the protocol plan and the problem of Christian fellowship. The intensification is two(c)fold.
a. The function of the double standard by which people justify self and condemn others.
b. The practice of legalism which distorts Bible doctrine in general, and Christian fellowship specifically.
17. You cannot change people.
a. You cannot change people to conform to your standards and expectations. Such an attempt only makes you miserable. (The exception is in the training of children.)
b. You cannot make a role model out of some person without becoming disappointed. Such disappointment will destroy you due to your subjective arrogance. The only true role model we should have is the one we develop in spiritual adulthood in our occupation with Jesus Christ.
c. All believers, including pastors and evangelists, are under one standard. Furthermore, all believers continue to possess the old sin nature and continue to sin after salvation and throughout the Christian life. God forgives one person’s sins just as quickly as He forgives another person’s sins, when the rebound technique is used.
d. You cannot change other people; you can only change yourself. This is done by the consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. Only by changing yourself can you avoid unrealistic expectation and role model arrogance.
e. You cannot change yourself through Christian fellowship, but only through perception of Bible doctrine. Your relationship with God is the major issue. When that is straight, then your relationships with people will fall into line.
f. Changing yourself is a matter of consistent postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation, from which comes the consistent use of the ten problem(c)solving devices of the protocol plan of God. There is no problem too great for these devices. The most dramatic change in the life of any believer occurs when he is using all ten of these problem(c)solving devices.
g. It is a combination of self(c)righteous arrogance plus crusader arrogance which seeks to change people by imposing on them a double standard. Therefore, frustration comes to the person involved in unrealistic expectation combined with role model arrogance. This combination always creates monsters, too many of which are believers.
18. Relationship with God must precede relationship with people. Christian fellowship is secondary to perception of doctrine. Christian fellowship is never a substitute for fellowship with God or for learning Bible doctrine. Christian fellowship is not the source of spiritual growth or momentum
19. Christian fellowship has seven great disadvantages.
a. It establishes wrong priorities in the Christian life through the influence of confused believers.
b. It is a distraction from Bible doctrine through preoccupation with romance or friendship.
c. It is the acquisition of legalism through association with legalistic and arrogant believers.
d. It involves anti(c)nomianism, therefore association with promiscuous believers, which is also distracting.
e. Using Christian fellowship as a dating bureau or a marriage pool is a distraction from growing in grace.
f. Christian fellowship often results in acquiring erroneous views of doctrine, or the ridicule of doctrine in a group of Christian believers.
g. Christian fellowship uses people as a crutch rather than learning and using the ten problem(c)solving devices of the Christian way of life.
20. Christian fellowship does have some advantages.
a. Lifetime friendships develop among positive believers while they’re growing in grace.
b. Encouragement from conversations among believers of like faith and practice.
c. Avoiding the outside problems of peer pressure when your fellowship is with relaxed believers.
T. Volition determines the pastor’s function.
1. The gift of pastor(c)teacher is designed to communicate the protocol plan of God in this Church Age, specifically, the whole realm of Bible doctrine. This is accomplished through the ICE principles; i.e., isagogics, categories, and exegesis. Learning under the ICE principle of communication is the only way believers can be edified enough to avoid these pitfalls.
2. Certain generations in the Church Age will be apostate. In these generations, men with the gift of pastor(c)teacher may even prepare thoroughly, but find no pulpit; and evangelists will not be heard.
3. Nevertheless, the existence of these spiritual gifts unplaced and unheard stand as a condemnation to that generation of apostasy. In such cases, God blesses the gift of pastor(c)teacher and evangelism in other ways. That means such men will find success in other areas of life.
4. In normal generations where positive volition exists, there are many outlets and many opportunities for the communication gifts: pastor¦teacher, missionary, evangelism, administration and teaching in Christian schools, or a written ministry.
U. The minister must communicate the mystery doctrine.
1. The emphasis of the ministry is related to grace. Eph 3:8(c)9, “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace has been given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make known to all what is the dispensation of the mystery which has been concealed from ages [theocentric dispensations] in the God who created all things.”
a. Jesus Christ is the creator; the mystery doctrine was concealed in Jesus Christ until the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.
b. The concealment of the mystery doctrine relates to the royal family of God in the Church Age only. This doctrine was not revealed until Christ received His third royal patent at the right hand of the Father.
2. Three categories of communication are important in presenting this mystery doctrine.
a. Momentum. There is no momentum in the spiritual life without the function of the pastor(c)teacher communicating specifically the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.
b. Mechanics. To understand the mechanics of how we live and how we advance and how we glorify God is extremely important.
c. Maturity. When we advance to spiritual maturity, we become invisible heroes. 3. The primary responsibility of the gift of pastor(c)teacher is to study and teach, study and teach.
4. All believers are dependent upon whomever is their right pastor for information about the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. From him they learn how to execute the protocol plan of God, how to become an invisible hero, how to glorify God, and how to meet the problems of life.
V. Problems of Ministers.
1. Many of the frustrations and complaints of ministers are related to lack of spiritual self(c)esteem. This means they have failed to attain spiritual adulthood.
2. There are three categories of spiritual adulthood.
a. Spiritual self(c)esteem is characterized by cognitive self¦confidence.
b. Spiritual autonomy is characterized by cognitive independence.
c. Spiritual maturity is characterized by cognitive invincibility.
3. Each stage of spiritual adulthood provides a category of suffering for blessing for the purpose of advancing one’s spiritual growth.
a. Providential preventative suffering provides fantastic areas of suffering for blessing to the one in spiritual self(c)esteem.
b. Momentum testing is provided for spiritual autonomy to advance to spiritual maturity.
c. Evidence testing is provided for spiritual maturity for the maximum glorification of God.
4. Too many pastors feel threatened and are consumed with inordinate ambition. They are willing to do anything to gather more people.
5. Some pastors suffer from the malady of the papal syndrome, which combines arrogance with power lust, resulting in ecclesiastical dictatorship instead of being teachers of the Word of God.
6. Some pastors have no congregation because they have violated a principle related to their spiritual gift. God uses prepared men.
7. Some pastors are dissatisfied with small congregations and lack of numbers. This gives them an inferiority complex which is nothing more or less than arrogance. A large number of small congregations well taught has a far greater impact than a few large congregations poorly taught.
W. The Common Sense Approach to the Pastor; How to Understand Your Pastor.
1. The more you know about the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and what it says about the pastor, as in our passage Eph 3:7-13 and 4:11-16, the better your attitude will be toward Bible doctrine and the greater your function in postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation.
a. In other words, without cognition of Bible doctrine, you cannot understand your pastor! You cannot understand what he’s doing or why he’s doing it; why he gets tough and hard-nosed; why he spends time explaining technical things which are boring to you, but very important.
2. The pastor is a male believer who has been graced out by a communication gift. More than anyone else, the pastor is the beneficiary of God’s grace.
3. The pastor is neither to be worshipped nor despised. He is really to be given a hearing as a teacher of the Word of God. You cannot understand unless you listen to the content and profit from it.
4. It should be noted that pastors come in all sizes, shapes, and descriptions, as well as multifarious personalities.
5. You have the option as a believer of accepting or rejecting the Bible teaching of a pastor. But God has not given you the right to malign or judge the pastor.
6. The pastor is no better or no worse than anyone else at his particular stage of spiritual growth.
7. The appearance or the personality of the pastor is not the issue. His authority is related to the content of his message; the Bible teaching. When you tamper with the ministry of a pastor, you invite the wrath of God on your life; not because the pastor is any better than you are, but because his spiritual gift is from God.
8. Any pastor’s ministry belongs to God. Therefore, God deals with his failures through the administration of double discipline.
9. If for some reason you discover that your pastor is not teaching Bible doctrine and you now realize that he should be, do not criticize him, even though he may be wrong in every possible way. Do not compare him with other Bible teachers, and don’t make trouble for him. It is not your responsibility. If you are led to leave his ministry, do so without making a fuss and without judging him.
10. However, be sure of two things before you change pastors.
a. Be sure that the fault does not lie with you or some arrogant flaw in you which has produced antagonism.
b. Do not criticize, malign, or judge any pastor whose ministry you have rejected. You really can’t afford it because the double discipline that was going to him is transferred to you. It isn’t worth it. You postpone God’s direct dealing with that pastor. Furthermore, this is the only way some pastors will ever receive blessing. For when God transfers their discipline to you for interfering (by your judging or maligning), He also increases logistical grace blessing to that pastor, even if he’s wrong. Remember logistical grace doesn’t work on the basis of your merit; it’s all based on the justice of God imputing to God’s perfect righteousness in both winners and losers. Many pastors are losers and they get a lot of blessing when others malign them and don’t let the Lord deal with them.
11. Every pastor is responsible to God, even if he has a hierarchy in a denomination over him. It is God who will deal with him.
12. Good doctrinal teaching brings out the best and worst in any congregation. For the mystery doctrine of the Church Age produces either response and spiritual growth or reaction and cosmic involvement.
13. There is no standard pastoral personality. To benefit from the ministry of any pastor, remember the simple principle: it’s not the man but the message. Therefore, avoid personality conflict with the pastor, for it is his doctrinal message that produces your spiritual momentum, not his personality.
14. The more a pastor grows spiritually, the more his congregation will be divided between positive and negative volition.
15. No pastor can teach what he does not know himself.
16. To be a faithful teacher, the pastor must have motivational virtue from personal love for God, not motivation from the approbation of the congregation.
17. The pastor must deal with his congregation professionally through impersonal love. He must never feel threatened by peer pressure. No pastor should ever regard numbers as anything. It is no disgrace to have a small congregation.
18. A pastor has no right to interfere with the privacy of the believer’s priesthood and tell them they cannot listen to another pastor.
19. God has called pastors to faithful teaching. This is the life of the pastor. It does not include counselling. The pastor is responsible to protect those being maligned or judged by others.
20. There is no such thing as a “plurality of elders.” There is one church and one officer at the top who runs the organization. But he is not to be a tyrant. He delegates authority and policy making authority to the deacons. It is not a dictatorship. In certain matters of administration, e.g., finances, the deacons are responsible to the congregation because they represent the congregation.
21. The pastor should never handle money or property matters of the church.
22. See the Doctrine of Role Model Arrogance.
X. The Function of the Pastor, Eph 4:20-21.
“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus.”
1. The pastor establishes his authority by teaching. He must have the proper spiritual gift, otherwise he cannot get the meaning out of the original language.
2. He must have the proper preparation: academic discipline, self(c) discipline, moral courage, academic honesty, and good study habits.
3. The royal family must have privacy to learn; therefore, the necessity of monologue in a group. The function of the believer’s soul is to learn. Every pastor teaches within the framework of his own personality. He is a super(c)student of the Word.
4. Personal time with members of the congregation is an infringement upon their privacy.
Y. Biblical Documentation for the Pastor, Eph 3:7-13, 4:11-13; Col 1:23-29; 2 Tim 2:24-26; 1 Tim 3:1-9; Tit 1:6-9.
Z. The Reward of the Pastor.
1. 1 Pet 5:4, “When the Chief Shepherd [Christ] appears [Rapture], you [faithful pastors] will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
2. Phil 4:1 personalizes this concept, “Therefore, my brethren, loved ones [congregation who is respected for their faithfulness], deeply desired ones, my happiness and my crown, keep on being stabilized [winners of the crow of righteousness].”
3. 1 Thes 2:19-20, “For who is our hope or happiness or crown of boasting [glory]? Is it not you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? [At the Judgment Seat of Christ, those who have attained spiritual maturity are the crown of glory for the pastor.] “For you are our glory and our happiness.”
4. Heb 6:10, “God is not unjust to disregard your occupation and the virtue(c)love which you have demonstrated toward His person [occupation with Christ], because you have ministered to the saints and you keep on ministering to them.”
5. No pastor’s ministry can be evaluated until the Judgment Seat of Christ. The basis for this reward is his faithfulness in studying and teaching Bible doctrine.
6. The pastor’s boasting or crown of glory is received because certain members of his congregation do two things by listening to his teaching of the Word.
a. They reach spiritual self-esteem.
b. They take the victory step to spiritual maturity, where they can receive their escrow blessings to glorify God to the maximum.
7. So the happiness of the pastor comes from the positive response of those faithful to the teaching of the Word of God. The pastor’s happiness is different from that of anyone else.
8. Protocol believers are the basis for the pastor receiving the crown of glory.
AA. Motivation of the Pastor-Teacher.
1. The pastor must be motivated by personal love for God. If you are motivated by love of people, you’ll never make it. That motivation may be good for other professions, but not for the ministry. The reason is because it’s very discouraging to watch people fall asleep or advance so slowly. So the pastor must be motivated by his love for Jesus Christ.
2. Today, most pastors are motivated by ambition and arrogance. Being a minister and doing it right is most difficult. So it requires the greatest love of the Lord; not emotional love, but personal love for God from knowledge of Bible doctrine. This doesn’t make the pastor better than anyone. But of everyone else, he must be the most saturated with Bible doctrine.
BB. Four Approaches or Four Laws of Logic.
1. Law of Identity or Affirmation. Everything is identical with itself, or is what it is. Therefore, we may affirm this of it. This is consistent with affirmative thinking, with which the Bible begins: “God is.”
2. Law of Contradiction or Negation. Everything is not what it is not, and we may affirm this of it. The Bible never confuses opposites. Law and grace are antithetical and always will be. So we learn to rightly divide the Word of Truth under this law.
3. Law of Excluded Middle. Of two contradictions, one must be true; the other false. If one is affirmed, the other is denied.
4. Law of Sufficient Reason. All continuous thought must be rationally connected. Therefore, you are to infer nothing without a ground or reason. The starting point in continuous thinking is the affirmation of some knowledge by which the mind is necessitated to affirm or posit. Logical reason must be followed by logical consequences. And the relationship between them is the logical connection consequence. This involves relationship between cause and effect, whole and part.
CC. More on Preparation. (4/25/76 Phil 2)
1. Preparation begins at the point of salvation, when the individual male believer receives from God the Holy Spirit the gift of pastor(c)teacher. The gift is given to male believers only. This is not in any way a slight to women, but an honor. As a responder, she cannot possibly be in accord with the principles related to authority for the gift of pastor(c)teacher
2. First there must be a cognizance of the resident gift to that male believer, sometime after salvation. Obviously, if he is ever going to prepare for the function of that gift, he must become aware of it. Such cognizance comes through the spiritual growth of the one with the gift. It takes doctrine for this awareness to occur. Constant positive volition toward doctrine and the daily function of GAP produces that initial spiritual growth which brings awareness of the gift.
3. Once awareness takes place, some very definite and specific preparation is called for. Every male who thinks he has the gift ought to consider: his age, his academic discipline potential, his predilection for languages, his family size, etc. The gift of pastor(c)teacher is not of any use to the person who has it, or to anyone else, without its proper exploitation, which means long preparation. The exploitation of the gift is to actually have a congregation, and to be teaching them from your own personal diligent preparation.
4. So special preparation means to get into a situation where you get treated unjustly and unfairly; and where you are under abusive strict discipline and are able to stick it out. If you do not have a mean cruel boss, you can get this from the military. This is necessary for the inculcation of discipline. And there is no proper exploitation of the gift without this. This special preparation doesn’t refer to academic discipline, but to tough, hard(c)nosed, strict discipline, which you must stay under long enough until it becomes a way of life. Tragically there are very few opportunities for such discipline. Therefore the military is the best place to receive this preparation.
5. Every pastor(c)teacher is regulated from above by the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that he must be self-regulating with regard to his study habits. This doesn’t just occur overnight, but requires special preparation. (Of course there are exceptions, but this is the general rule.) Large amounts of humiliation is healthy in the preparation of a pastor, and is the only way certain forms of discipline are inculcated. Above all people, the pastor must have humility and its resultant teachability.
6. Academic training is essential. No man can stand up and teach his students and have compassion for them, without having first been a student himself. It helps him to appreciate some of the problems of being on the receiving end. In addition, academic training prepares the individual to think, to utilize and to exploit the gift of pastor(c)teacher.
a. Academic training must not only emphasize the original languages of Scripture, but it must relate its subjects to good exegesis and orthodox systematic theology. You must be academically prepared! God uses prepared men.
b. Often many of the normal things in life must be neglected to fulfill the ministry. Seminary should prove to you that you are just beginning, that you must study all day and all night! But you can’t study to teach unless you are academically prepared.
c. It is not languages alone that prepare a pastor. The most important academic subject he must learn is systematic theology. For he must understand orthodoxy as it has been developed down through the scenturies for almost 2000 years. This is the most important class you get at seminary. If you have languages without doctrine, you know nothing. Therefore, to stay on the orthodoxy line, you must know the doctrine.
7. The combination of military training and academic work in the classroom should develop both good self-discipline and those necessary study habits through which the pastor continues his own spiritual growth as well as feeding the congregation. Everything depends upon the pastor’s study. Therefore, a man entering the ministry must recognize that all his life will be spent as a student. There never will be a time he is not a student, and he is constantly taking examinations every time he teaches.
8. There are two principles a pastor must remember.
a. God uses prepared men.
b. No pastor can lead his congregation beyond his own spiritual growth.
9. Preparation also involves inculcation in the field of honor and integrity. There is a special system of professional ethics for the pastor. Professional integrity demands that he continue studying and teaching. He must be faithful in the little things which eventually leads to faithfulness in the big things.
a. The pastor must be insulated against approbation lust, especially from the congregation. A pastor who preaches from the motivation to always please the congregation is never going to give them spiritual food. He is going to serve only desserts and lots of hot air. Such men make the mistake of preaching in accord with what would please their congregation. But a pastor must speak and teach to please God, not the congregation.
b. A pastor should have a wonderful sense of humor. He must be able to laugh at himself. He must be able to take legitimate criticism, appreciate it and utilize it. He must always do his job as unto the Lord. If God doesn’t promote him, he is not promoted. He must avoid self-promotion.
10. This concept is a general application to which there are exceptions. A man who doesn’t fit all these requirements need not get discouraged. For if he truly has the gift of pastor(c)teacher and keeps plugging consistently in Bible doctrine, God will use him and put him in the ministry. For if God wants him in the ministry, God will open up the means for his further training and preparation in whatever he lacks, and he will arrive in the ministry in God’s perfect timing.
DD. The pastor must be alert against certain techniques used constantly against Bible doctrine.
1. Name Calling Devices. This is a debater’s technique. If you can’t meet his argument, malign him. This even extends to belittling any doctrine you don’t understand. This is used by liberal theologians to discredit the Blood of Christ. So in this technique, you blaspheme doctrine and malign the pastor-teacher.
2. The Virtue Word. Here, some generality is used to sidetrack the investigation of Biblical evidence. It is used in speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ in a patronizing manner, e.g., “the wisest of men,” “the flower of humanity,” but still only a man (instead of recognizing Him to be the God-man).
3. The Transfer of Authority, Sanction, or Prestige. This is used to transfer from something respected or revered to an idea that would not be acceptable on its own merit. This is used to undermine the authority of the Scriptures.
4. Unwarranted Employment of Testimonials. This is bolstering up or tearing down a shaky idea by the testimony of someone greatly respected. The idea itself won’t stand on its own because it’s false doctrine, so get someone respected to say it’s true.
5. Unimpeachableness of United Opinion. This is using the opinion of the hoi poloi to bolster a false concept. Just because everyone is for it doesn’t make it right. The majority is rarely right.
6. Card Stacking. This is the employment of half-truths, mixed with statements of truth, to get a false doctrine accepted as the truth. This includes lifting out of context a partial statement and treating it as a complete statement.
7. The Band Wagon Theme. This is the trick of getting false doctrine accepted by the statement: “All scholars agree.” You rarely find two who agree! Or, “everybody is doing it.” This has the connotation of saying, “for the sake of unity, climb on the bandwagon and go with the crowd.” This trick is used by pastors who are more concerned with the program of their church than with the communication of doctrine.
The ICE Principle.
Bible doctrine must be taught based on three principles.
1. Isagogics is the historical setting of the passage.
2. Categories is the systematic theology developed from combining Scripture with Scripture.
3. Exegesis is the grammatical and syntactical analysis of the passage from the original languages.
FF. Distinctions related to the Authority of the Word of God.
1. Revelation comes from God.
2. Inspiration is the divine means employed by which doctrine is accurately transmitted to the writers of the Canon.
3. Illumination is the Holy Spirit’s enabling ability on the mind of the pastor-teacher, giving him the ability to communicate this doctrine.
4. Interpretation is the pastor’s verbal expression of Bible doctrine to his congregation. This also requires the filling of the Spirit.
5. If the pastor studies under the filling of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit provides the power of concentration, organization, and interpretation, provided he is a prepared person.
6. If the pastor teaches while in the divine dynasphere, the Holy Spirit provides the power of communication within the framework of his own individual personality.
7. All of this is so important as stage one of Operation Z.
GG. Accommodation Versus Communication.
1. The pastor either accommodates or communicates to his congregation. Like spirituality and carnality, this is a mutually exclusive situation.
2. Accommodation neutralizes the communication of doctrine, while communication of doctrine destroys the rapport built by accommodation to a congregation. The pastor is mandated by the Bible only to communicate.
3. Accommodation is patronizing the congregation. Communication is a blessing to the congregation. One hospital call could deprive an entire congregation of understanding a passage.
HH. Categories of Pastors.
1. There are three categories of pastors who cannot lead their congregation to spiritual maturity.
a. The cosmic pastor is distracted by some form of works, crusades, or social action, being very moral, arrogant, and self(c) righteous. He is ignorant of the plan of God, the Word of God, and has no common sense. The cosmic pastor lives in cosmic one and cosmic two and is totally disoriented to reality.
b. The baby or immature pastor has never learned Bible doctrine and so spends most of his time in the cosmic system. He does evangelize his congregation weekly, plus giving them little moral lectures and preaching against taboos. He high(c)profiles his own personality while low¦ profiling the Word of God.
c. The adolescent pastor teaches some truth, but is distracted by various forms of high profile. He is selling his own personality rather than teaching doctrine. This is done by visiting the sick, calling on the congregation, and conducting programs; therefore he doesn’t have the time to study. He has some truth, but it’s buried in his arrogance, inordinate ambition, programs, and gimmicks. He is ambitious for approbation. He can be a pseudo-intellectual, a crusader, a bleeding heart, self-righteous, a pleasing personality, or arrogant. He appeals to those who are negative toward doctrine.
2. The only pastor eligible is the mature pastor. Through his faithful Bible teaching, personal study, and avoiding high profile distractions, he advances in the divine dynasphere to gate eight and leads his congregation there. He is prepared academically, understands all the major issues in theology, and recognizes that the issue is not his personality but his teaching. He recognizes the principle of Jn 3:30, “He increases . . . I decrease.”
© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.