Epaphrus

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A study of Epaphrus: Col 1:3-8; 4:12,13; Philemon 23; Acts 20:28.

TITLE: Qualification may not mean quality - or - A lamb in lambs clothing is a lamb. A wolf in lambs clothing is a wolf. A shepherd in shepherds clothing is a shepherd, unless he's a fink.

Let's consider church leadership for a moment or two. This applies well to church leaders - pastors or missionaries that you are considering.

Please take a moment and read: I Pet. 5:1-5; Acts 20:28

Let’s say that you want to buy a car. Let’s say that you have enough money to buy any car that you want. Let’s say that you are setting out to buy that car of your dreams. Let’s say you are standing before the car salesman and you are about to tell him just what you want him to order. Let’s do that for a moment and let ourselves be worldly for a moment.

Yes, I'm telling you to be worldly for a moment. ONLY A MOMENT!!!!

What kind of car is it? What color is it? The salesman has a list of all the possible options -- what are you going have him put on the car? What radio will you have? On one of the news magazines they showed cars with stereos in them that cost more than the car. What engine will you get? What color will you order?

Now that the dreaming is over let's think for a moment. If you had the money. If you had the desire. If you were committed to having this car would you accept delivery of a Maroon Chevette? NO! NO! NO!

If you were to set down a list of qualifications and desires for your church leadership would you settle for something less than you ordered?

You say no, but I believe that many churches today are accepting a standard that is much lower than they desire!! Or else their desires are far from Biblical.

The Word gives a great number of QUALIFICATIONS for church leadership and we all hear of these from time to time taught from Timothy and Titus, however the word also sets forth some Godly men as examples of some of the QUALITIES that these men should have.

I would like to explore some of these QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP with you. I'd like to look for a few moments at EPAPHRUS. NO IT ISN'T A SKIN RASH!!!

Epaphrus was a man of God that the Holy Spirit moved Paul to include in the Biblical record only so very briefly. He is mentioned only three times - only five verses deal with Epaphrus yet we are able to see within these few verses a real man of God.

INDEED, WE WILL SEE A NUMBER OF LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

Please turn to the book of Colossians.

This book was written by Paul during a stay in Rome under Roman guard.

It was written about the same time as Phileman, Eph., and Philippians.

Read Col 1:1-8.

QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP

1. Soulwinner: (vs 5)

The indications are that he had given these people the Gospel. He may have started the Church. Some think that he may have heard Paul when Paul was at Ephesus in Acts 19:10.

This does not mean that he MUST be at every visitation get together, it does not mean that he is the only soul winner in the church, it does not mean that he is to win souls from the pulpit. All of these are good things in and of themselves, but are not required.

I have known men that were excellent pastors and won souls only now and then, and I have known men that were excellent soul winners that would not have made good pastors. God fits the man for the job to which He calls him.

2. Teacher or discipler: (vs 7)

Discipler: (vs 5-7) (They knew Gospel, love, hope of heaven.)

We see here a pair of qualities which need to be used as a path to maturity for new believers.

Many of the evangelistic organizations today suffer in this area. They lead the person to Christ but never bother to teach them anything of the Christian life nor do they bother to lead or direct them to a sound church.

Recently a large campaign was held in Ireland. Instead of setting up a New Testament Church they turned the converts back to their Catholic or liberal denominational churches.

Indeed, in our churches today there is a real need in this area as well. I must wonder how differently my life might have been had I been discipled in any manner. The man that led me to the Lord gave me absolutely no information for my new life in Christ. He did not prepare me for anything. I went into the Navy for four years of typical sailor living, because I had no idea what the Christians life was to be like. I felt I should read the Bible, but started in the genealogies and that did not last long.

3. Faithful Minister: (vs 7)

One who placed the body of believers as important - always there to help - to minister to needs - not far off or unapproachable. Servant: (vs 7)

4. Servant: (vs 7) This man was a servant of Christ.

(From Exposition of Colossians and Philemon commentary by William Hendriksen; Grand Rapids; Baker Book House; 1964; p191) "A servant of Jesus Christ is one who has been bought with a price and is therefore owned by his Master, on whom he is completely dependent, to whom he owes undivided allegiance and to whom he ministers with gladness of heart, in newness of spirit, and in the enjoyment of perfect freedom, receiving from him a glorious reward."

This man was a servant of Christ "ON OUR BEHALF"

Some translations read "your" but the concept is the same. He served Christ to THEIR benefit. He wasn't in it for what he could get or be.

We met a man in Oregon that was planting a church. He was making his living pumping gas. He worked at the gas station and worked with the church for eight years. The church was his life and all that he did was to further the church. He was in it so that he could benefit those he ministered to. In this case Epaphrus was ministering to Paul in prison so he was benefiting Paul.

We have four qualities so far.

You might ask, "what is the difference between qualifications and qualities?"

Qualifications = "The act of qualifying, or the state of being qualified." (Funk and Wagnells)

Quality = "that which makes something such as it is: a distinguishing element or characteristic." (Funk and Wagnells)

We had a maroon Chevette. It had the qualifications to be a car but its quality was questionable. It had four wheels, a motor, a body, seats etc. but the dealer had it more in the first 90 days than we did. There is, you see a difference.

Let me illustrate the distinction that I am making, in another way. While in the service, I was the only experienced tech on the ship. Indeed the only tech. We received one day fourteen men just out of electronics school. Our ship was only allowed five or six men so I decided that I would have it made with this many men under me. Not so!! These men were qualified as techs -- they had passed all the tests at school indeed some of them were very high in their classes. However, the quality of workmanship was very poor --- in fact within a month the ship was a total mess electronically. We went into the yards for a few weeks and it took me every spare moment to get all of the problems cleared up. One fellow had spliced cables together for me but the unit did not work so I looked at it and found that he hadn't soldered the wires together.

QUALIFIED? YES - QUALITY? NO, NOT FOR MANY MONTHS!!!

5. Boastful of his church: (vs 8 "also declared unto us your love in the Spirit")

He had been speaking to Paul of his church and its GOOD POINTS!

We were in a small church in Bend, OR a few years ago that we have spoken of to many of our friends. It was a church that had an over abundance of talented, excited, dedicated people. I could mention the fact that they met in an upstairs, that it was too small, or the fact that they didn't have a piano but I didn't. The positive was what was on Epaphrus mind. Indeed if you read the rest of the book you will find that the church had problems which Paul addressed. He was excited about his church. He was telling others of his church.

Our church people today need to get hold of that one!! Dwell on the positive. Do you tell others of your church? Are you making declarations about the great people here? Or do you dwell on the problems?

Let's turn now for a moment to Col. 4:12-13 - Read it.

6. Local boy: ("one of your number") Why haven't we taken this idea to heart in our churches today? When we need someone to work with the youth we so often look outside our own assembly. Our church in Lexington, NE took one of their own on as their youth man. Why not? They are used to the pastor, they fit right into the fellowship, and the kids know them already. They are already accepted in the community. You know their life. Their doctrine - their faults!

The New Testament church operated for the most part on people from their own group. All church leaders came from within not from without.

Not only for youth workers but why not for pastors or elders as your church government dictates? Train the men of your church so that when the pastor moves on you have a homegrown replacement on line. Send him to college if you need to. (Some might argue that he might leave (There was a small town in NE years ago that had a student that wanted to become a missionary Doctor. The church trained him for medical missions and he returned to town and set up a practice.) - so what you've trained a man to serve God. Train another!)

You don't need to totally finance him but help as you can.

One church in Oregon that we've been to has laymen that are so trained by their pastor that they can, and do go out to fill the pulpit of churches without pastors. Their pastor is committed to training his people to do the work of the Lord as Eph 4 tells us to do!

7. Committed to Christ: (Bondslave - "servant of Christ" kj) He had placed himself at his Lords disposal for his Lords use.

Stephen in Acts 6:24 was a deacon. He soon was preaching and died at the hands of the Jews in chapter seven. He was sold out to serve Christ.

Paul seems quite impressed with this man.

Phil 23 "Epaphrus my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus"

Col 1:7 "minister of Christ"

"dear fellow servant"

Col 4:12 "Servant of Christ"

I fear that commitment is a passing thing in our society and in our churches.

I have in recent months heard of several men turning down churches because of financial deficiencies. Finances should be involved in deciding if God is calling you to a church but it should not be the deciding factor.

Someone in chapel where I taught mentioned a man that was leaving his church because he wasn't making enough. His salary was $48,000 a year.

8. Thoughtful: He knew that Paul was writing to them so he ask him to greet them for him. This shows a certain amount of feeling toward the people. Epaphrus must have liked the people and felt that he wanted to greet them. God is interested in men that are interested in their people - TRULY INTERESTED!!

9. Prayerful: Paul didn't need to mention this in his letter but he was impressed enough with Epaphrus prayers to encourage the people on with the fact that someone was praying for them. One of the encouragements we've had over the years is knowing that so many are praying for us!

We used to send out over 200 letters to enlist the prayers of the saints when we were missionaries - we needed it!

Paul, to the best of my knowledge mentions no one else as a prayer. He was impressed! By the way can you imagine going to prayer in a prayer meeting with this man and Paul present?

His prayer:

CONSISTENT: "always" - specific choice to do it on a regular basis. Luke 18:1 "Men ought always to pray and not to faint"!!

SPECIFIC: "for you" (from Bib Sac; p60; Jan-Mar 1979) I ran across something in a Theological Journal awhile back. "A story is told about an old pastor who every Saturday afternoon could be seen leaving his study and entering the church building by the back door, and about sundown he would be seen going home. Someone's curiosity was aroused enough to follow one day and watch through a window. It was in the days when the family pew was an institution of the church. The old pastor was seen to kneel at each pew and pray for every member of the family that was to occupy it on the Lord's day. WHAT A PRAYER LIST! He called each member by name as he poured out his heart to God for his flock. His was a ministry of power and his people reflected the grace of God on them. Blessed is that church which has such a praying Shepherd."

We need people committed to pray for the people that they minister to!

I ran across a quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon that relates well at this point. "The minister who does not earnestly pray over his work must surely be a vain and conceited man. he acts as if he thought himself sufficient of himself and therefore need not appeal to God. Yet what a baseless pride to conceive that our preaching can ever be in itself so powerful that it can turn men from their sins and bring them to God without the working of the Holy Ghost."

I was at a church near Portland, OR years ago where the pastor was preaching on commitment and in his invitation he mentioned that he had prayed for each one in his congregation before the service. That is the type of men we need in our pulpits today!!

I had spoken in a small town church in Colorado and the pastor insisted on filling my gas tank. He filled the tank and we talked for awhile at the station. We said goodbye and he started walking toward his house. I told him I'd take him home. He said, "No, I'd rather walk." I insisted - he said, "No I'd rather walk - I know the people along the way home and I like to pray for them as I walk by their house. Some of them are lost and I want to pray for them."

SINCERE: "striving" This word comes from the athletic arena - used of the athletes intense effort in reaching for the prize. Verbal form of "agony" used of Christ's prayer in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44) just before his arrest.

I watched the iron man triathilon a few years ago and they showed a woman that was near the finish line. She couldn't control her legs and couldn't walk so she got down on her hands and knees and crawled across the finish line - that is agony!

Daniel 9 probably is a prayer which involved striving - read it some time.

This term strive is the term we gain our English word "agonize" from. It was more than just a five minute quite time. He was agonizing over these people!

PURPOSEFUL: "that ye may stand" He was asking for Gods help in this for them.

It has been said, that if the church is ever going to be victorious it will have to learn to advance on it's knees. REPEAT PRAYER IS NEEDED TODAY TO SAY THE LEAST!

10. Concern: Note should be taken of Epaphrus great concern for his people. He was very concerned with their need of maturing.

11. Sincere: Paul knew that this man was on the level -- he wasn't just putting on a front to impress the folks.

Some Christians I meet today - church leaders - are so caught up in their airs that they don't listen to the answers you give them to their questions. This is quite evident when you answer the same questions twice in your first conversation.

I recently overheard a conversation between a leader and a not so regular attender. The leader would ask a question and in the middle of the answer the leader would be interrupted and then when he returned to listening to the man he would ask another question. The man had not finished his first answer. This went on for about four cycles and finally the man walked away. The leader was not at all interested in the man - only in pretending to be interested.

We had a missionary over for dinner. He would ask a question and as you paused between sentences of your answer he would ask another question on another topic. A couple of times I went back and finished an answer then answered the next question in the hope of his picking up on what he was doing. He didn't.

Some today feel a lull in the conversation is a mortal sin. Personally quiet is not all that bad at times indeed sometimes it is appropriate.

I recently heard of "Leather Man" in the eastern part of our country (Pennsylvania.) in the past. He was a man that never talked to anyone. He wore a heavy leather outfit and would not take help from anyone. He would eat from time to time when people offered. He had no known past and lived in caves in the wilderness. He never was known to speak yet people both children and adults would walk out to his camp and just sit with him by the hour. SILENCE IS GOLDEN AT TIMES!

In Alaska the one of the Indian tribes enjoy just sitting around in a circle in silence. They enjoy one another without talking.

12. I sense also that there is one more quality in this man. He was missions minded. He was on the forefront of missions. He was working with Paul and seemingly involved in church planting.

I fear many today fail to see past the ends of their own lives when they look at the harvest fields.

Few today are directing and leading their churches toward missions. Many are stunting their church’s growth and prosperity by stunting missions.

Missions is to be a vital part of all our lives. If you aren't praying for and supporting missions then you aren't in the mainstream of God's program - you are on the outskirts and many churches there are on the outskirts!

Epaphrus was a man of many qualities!

The book of Philemon (vs 23) tells us that he was a prisoner with Paul in Rome so we can see that he was committed to his Lord all the way.

As I review his qualities the two that stand out most are the qualities of prayer and concern for his people.

He was concerned about the people in his church as well as the people in nearby churches. The other churches mentioned are Laodicia and Hieropolis. These two cities and Colosse formed a triangle. They were only a few miles apart. (about 12) He had probably met these people - maybe had taught them indeed man have started the churches.

In Col 1:7 the term for deacon (minister) is use of Epaphrus. He evidently was a deacon at his church. History and tradition indicates that he went on to become an elder there at Colosse and later was martyred there.

I'm told that his name means "lovely" (from the Open Bible) A shortened form of Epaphroditus meaning "handsome or charming". A fitting name for such a man of God.

SOUNDS LIKE THE KIND OF GUY THAT YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE AROUND YOUR CHURCH! RIGHT?

So many church leaders today are qualified yet I wonder how many of them are of this quality. This was a layman and he had these qualities!!

One of the first elder qualifications is "if a man desire the office." Many church leaders are not there because they DESIRE the office.

We do not have prayer warriors in many of our pulpits today.

We do not have concerned men in many of our pastorates today.

When I told my father that I was going to become a minister he said, "Well I guess there's good money in that." At the time I thought yes,in the liberal denominations but not in the fundamental circles.

Today I feel that it is coming into fundamental circles.

I fear that the ministry is becoming an occupation to many young men. Not a bondslaves life of service for his Lord with his Lord's people but a job and career.

Peter gives a proper picture of an elder in I Pet. 5:1-4. Read it sometime.

Epaphrus had many qualities. Indeed these qualities should be aspired to by all believers, but they ought to be resident in all of our church leadership!

In the years to come I trust that you will look for

men of prayer

men of concren

men of service

men of Christ

men that are desirous of being a shepherd.

Recently I saw an interview of a shepherd here in the western U.S. They ask him of his life and he described the small wagon that he lived in month after month and the danger that he faced to protect the sheep. He spoke of the long months of crying over the loneliness before he finally got used to it. They ask him why he was a shepherd. His reply was this, "The sheep needed to be cared for and I chose to be a shepherd."

We need men in our pulpits and our board rooms that have chosen to be shepherds -- men that desire to care for the sheep.

May your future shepherds be so dedicated. May your future shepherds be so concerned.

Christ is pictured as a shepherd in the New Testament. May our shepherds be like our heavenly shepherd!

We must take our application one step further before we close.

If you were to compare YOUR life to that of Epaphras how would YOU compare?

Paul chose the term "SERVANT" for Epaphras:

(From Bib Sac; Jan-Mar 1979; p57) "The term proclaims the servant's unconditional surrender of himself to do his Lord's bidding. Such a one has learned to say,

"Oh, teach my will, my selfish will, To be completely thine.

"Oh, may I yield my all to thee; It is no longer mine.

"Oh, may my will, my stubborn will, Submissive be to Thine;

"The inward man obey with joy The law of love divine.

"No one who has not yet come to the place of full yieldedness of himself to his Lord will ever know the joy of fruitful service and effective intercession such as Epaphras knew. The yielded will lies at the basis of the God-used life."

If Paul were writing about you today could he use the term "servant" of you?

Can you in your own mind say, "My life is a God-used life."? If you can't say "Yes" then you need to spend time getting to know your Master and seeing what He wants you to do.

Some brief notes on Col 1.4.

The term translated faith is the normal term for faith used in the New Testament. Thayer mentions of faith, "conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the New Testament of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it" (Thayer)

1.6 fruit is "karpophoreo" meaning bear or bring forth fruit. This is not soul winning, though soul winning is a part of it. Fruit in the New Testament would probably have the thought of anything that a believer does that is beneficial to his Lord and God, be it soul winning, be it teaching, be it pastoring, be it counseling, be it helping someone out, be it janitoring at the church, be it going to work every day with the thought of serving God in whatever manner possible.

1.7 minister is the term "diakonos" which relates to the church office of deacon. The Lord set up a system of church government via the New Testament which ought to be followed.

Church government is in place for a number of reasons:

(1) to oversee the church business

(2) to oversee the flock of God

(3) to assist in protection of the flock

(4) to assist in the discipline of the flock

(5) to see to it that God's business is done in a Godly manner in His Church

4.12 servant is the term "doulos" which normally is translated servant. This is not "wife you serve me" servanthood, it is bought and sold servanthood. It is Christ bought, and your normal and reasonable service is to serve Him.

Laboring fervently is "agonizomai" which comes from the term we gain our term agonize from. Epaphras was not just working, he was agonizing for the people in prayer.