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Hi david,
Not full time and not that often in the ways you do.
But the easy yoke does give some Spirit led opportunities to be useful to God at times.Anyway, you are missing my point, which I believe you realize. Let's say God demands that you not practice speaking in tongues, or whatever it is you do, which you believe is God ordained.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Hi david,
Your point always seems to “what if?”
Always anxiety about the possible future dangers.
I want to ask you a “why not”
Why not trust each day to the only One capable of ordering it for us.
It is meant to be His business.We are meant to mind our own business.
Hi David
Quote Funny.
Yes, but we're discussing the good news, the message that is to be preached in all the inhabited earth. How will this take place?Electronic Rumors?
Those can sweep the world in hours and spread across countries
by word of mouth in a couple of days.And the two billion people that don't have access to a computer, much less enough food to keep them full?
Quote Hi david,
Your point always seems to “what if?”
Always anxiety about the possible future dangers.
I want to ask you a “why not”
Why not trust each day to the only One capable of ordering it for us.
It is meant to be His business.We are meant to mind our own business.
Your refusal to answer the simple question: (Who would you choose to obey if you could only obey one–human government or God) reveals that you are still struggling with the most basic loyalties. It was misplaced loyalty that caused Eve to do what she did. How sad.
Just a thought here,
Did everyone in the days of Noah hear his message?
Did he travel far to preach it?
Those who heard it were not very responsive.
Maybee word of mouth carried some version of it far and wide, but wouldn't it have been like Chinese whispers, a little distorted by the time it got to the farthrest reaches of the earth?
Perhaps they had quite a modern civilisation (we can only surmise) if so they may have had worldwide media coverage of news events – the story of two of each kind of animal making their way to the ark might have gotten some attention, or maybee their arrival was so gradual that no one noticed…
Did everyone hear Noah's gospel? most likely not.
The Bible says that God changes not, neither do His ways.
Like I say – just food for thought…Amen ,
A moments work for God in His time and place is worth years of wasted purely human effort.
How many were touched by the few moments Phillip spent with the eunuch-an appointment arranged by God?Quote Just a thought here,
Did everyone in the days of Noah hear his message?
Did he travel far to preach it?
Those who heard it were not very responsive.
Maybee word of mouth carried some version of it far and wide, but wouldn't it have been like Chinese whispers, a little distorted by the time it got to the farthrest reaches of the earth?
Perhaps they had quite a modern civilisation (we can only surmise) if so they may have had worldwide media coverage of news events – the story of two of each kind of animal making their way to the ark might have gotten some attention, or maybee their arrival was so gradual that no one noticed…
Did everyone hear Noah's gospel? most likely not.
The Bible says that God changes not, neither do His ways.
Like I say – just food for thought…“You will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives” (Mt 10:23)
Jesus said this when he was sending out his twelve apostles, in twos, to preach in all the cities of Israel. It may have been, as in the case of the seventy evangelizers whom Jesus also sent out to preach, that the apostles were sent in advance of Jesus and that Jesus would later come to the places where they had preached. (Luke 10:1)
This, however, does not appear to be the thing referred to by Jesus in Matthew 10:23, namely, that he would personally, in the flesh, follow up his twelve apostles in the cities in which they had preached.It is evident that when Jesus gave his twelve apostles these preaching instructions, he was doing so for the years that would follow his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, never to come back again to the earth in the flesh. How is this evident? From the fact that Jesus spoke to the apostles about their being mistreated in the synagogues and being haled before governors and kings “for a witness to them and the nations.” (Matt. 10:17, 18) There is no record that such things occurred during the short preaching campaign in which the apostles engaged in Israel exclusively, after which they returned to Jesus and made their reports. At the time that Jesus gave them the above instructions, he plainly told them not to go to the nations or even to the Samaritans on this preaching campaign, but only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.”—Matt. 10:5, 6.
So it must have been because he looked ahead to their world-wide preaching among outside nations after his ascension to heaven that Jesus said to the apostles:
“You will be objects of hatred by all people [not merely Israelites] on account of my name; but he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. When they persecute you in one city, flee to another; for truly I say to you, You will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives.”—Matt. 10:22, 23.On the occasion of saying those words, Jesus gave the apostles, for the immediate preaching campaign, a local territory assignment. It took in the territory of Israel in Palestine, namely, Judea, Galilee and Peraea, and did not include Samaria. By covering this they would “complete the circuit of the cities of Israel.” So now Jesus used this temporary, limited territory assignment as an illustration of their final complete territory assignment. Before he ascended to heaven the resurrected Jesus made their territory assignment the entire world, for he said:
“All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore [everywhere in the earth] and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” (Matt. 28:18, 19) This enlarged their territory assignment beyond the borders of Israel, yes, beyond the borders of so-called Christendom and out into the so-called pagan world that does not belong to Christendom. Under Jesus’ instructions, his disciples were to undertake to complete the circuit of the whole inhabited earth, preaching the good news of God’s kingdom to all, to Jewish people, to professed Christian people and to all the pagan peoples.So I don't believe that every single person will be reached with the good news. However, a worldwide preaching work would take place.
MATTHEW 24:14
“And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”ROMANS 10:18
“Nevertheless I ask, They did not fail to hear, did they? Why, in fact, “into all the earth their sound went out, and to the extremities of the inhabited earth their utterances.””COLOSSIANS 1:23
“provided, of course, that YOU continue in the faith, established on the foundation and steadfast and not being shifted away from the hope of that good news which YOU heard, and which was preached in all creation that is under heaven. Of this [good news] I Paul became a minister.”Quote Just a thought here,
Did everyone in the days of Noah hear his message?
Did he travel far to preach it?
Those who heard it were not very responsive.These are interesting questions. No, they were certainly not responsive. “They took no note.” So the presence of the Son of man will be. People were too busy with the mundane, common things of life–eating, marrying, building houses, etc.
Noah was called a “preacher of righteousness.” He lived in a very wicked world.
“Did everyone hear his message?” “Did he travel far to preach it”?
I had thought he was busy working on the ark. While his very life was a message to those wicked people, they failed to hear. I don't know that he really travelled in his preaching.Needless to say, Jehovah is just and will not act wickedly or unfairly. People will be given a chance to hear the good news in some way and will be drawn to God if their hearts are pure and searching for truth.
I agree, He is just.
We also read in the book of Revelation that we rule and reign a thousand years on the earth.
Who over? It would be just of God to give those who never heard the gospel a chance to do so.
That is not an excuse not to use every opportunity given to preach the gospel.
But I also believe there is an economy with God, He knows how to reach those He wants to get to. Jesus waded through a sea of bodies to get to one man to heal him.
Philip was led to one man on his road home from Jerusalem to his country of origin, he did not preach to the rest of the people leaving as far as I read.Malocolm, what do you think of my post on page 11, of April 29th?
The one that has this scripture:
“Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving.” (Mt 10:7, 11-14)Quote Jesus went right to the people with the Kingdom message, teaching them publicly and in their homes. (Mt 5:1; 9:10, 28, 35) When he sent out his early disciples to preach, he directed them: “Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving.” (Mt 10:7, 11-14) Such ‘searching out’ would reasonably include going to the people’s homes, where “deserving” persons would heed the message and the disciples would find lodging for the night.—Lu 9:1-6. I think you are reading much into those verses you refer to. Mt 5:1; 9:10, 28, 35, 10:7, 11-14 I do not find statements that he went to every household systematically or that they did either. The statements he went into a house, usually refers to the place he stayed for the night, to lodge in, or where he had been invited to.
I don't see any statements that say he went from door to door. Also he went into a house and the people came to hear him. So there is your context for the coming into houses.
Jesus told them to enquire as to who was worthy and to approach them, now how are they going to do that? Ask men? Or ask God in prayer to direct them so that they act according to the economy of God.
He says in whatever house you enter there stay. That is not the same as saying attempt to enter into every house.Quote In the days following Pentecost 33 C.E., Jesus’ disciples continued bringing the good news right to the homes of the people. Though ordered to “stop speaking,” the inspired record says that “every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.” (Ac 5:40-42; compare Dy, NIV.) The expression “from house to house” translates the Greek kat́ oíkon, literally, “according to house”; the sense of the Greek preposition katá is distributive (“from house to house”) and not merely adverbial (‘at home’). (See NW ftn.) This method of reaching people—going directly to their homes—brought outstanding results. “The number of the disciples kept multiplying in Jerusalem very much.”—Ac 6:7; compare 4:16, 17 and 5:28. Interesting interpretation – I understand that they had to meet in each others houses as they were banned from publicly gathering to teach in the name of Jesus Christ.(Not that this stopped them) Jesus said let your light shine before men and I will draw them to you. The gathering from house to house was most likely to make it harder for the authorities to track them down. We read of Paul holding one such house meeting in which a young man fell asleep in the window and fell to his death. There were many people gathered. I do not find one single example of the kind of door to door witnessing you are putting forward here in the book of Acts. Surely if this was the pattern and modus operandi of the true Church there would be one recorded example of such a visit.
ACTS 20:20,21
“I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house.”
Then he goes on to say: “I THOROUGHLY bore witness.”MATTHEW 10:11
“Into whatever city or village YOU enter, search out who in it is deserving,”
What does “search” mean?Quote I do not find statements that he went to every household . . . The statements he went into a house, Quote I don't see any statements that say he went from door to door. Also he went into a house “every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.” (Ac 5:40-42; compare Dy, NIV.)
Commenting on Acts 20:20, Randolph O. Yeager wrote that Paul taught “both in public assemblies [demosía] and from house to house (distributive [katá] with the accusative). Paul had spent three years in Ephesus. He visited every house, or at least he preached to all of the people (verse 26). Here is scriptural warrant for house to house evangelism as well as that carried on in public meetings.”
In the Greek text the word “houses” (oikous) follows the Greek preposition katá and is in the accusative case, plural. On the use of this preposition katá with the accusative case the book A Greek Grammar for Schools and Colleges, by Hadley and Allen, says on page 256, under katá: “with accusative . . . in distributive expressions: katá phyla by clans, each clan by itself, katà dyo by twos, two by two, kath’ hemeran day by day.”
Says the book A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, by Dana and Mantey, D.D., on page 107, under the heading Katá: “(3) With the accusative case: Along, at, according to. Luke 10:4, . . . ‘Salute no one along the road.’ Also in the distributive sense: Acts 2:46 kat’ oikon, from house to house: Luke 2:41 kat’ etos, from year to year; 1 Cor. 14:27, katà dyo, by twos. See also Luke 8:1; 13:32.”
Quoting from still another Greek authority, that of Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament, by Samuel G. Green, D.D. (Revision of 1912 edition), on pages 248, 249, under katá, it says: “β?. With the Accusative. . . . 4. Of place or time, distributively, from one to another. Mark xiii.8: seismoì katà tópous, earthquakes in diverse places. Luke viii.1: diódeue katà pólin, he was journeying from city to city. So kat’ étos year by year, Luke ii.41; kat’ oíkon, at different houses, Acts ii.46, v. 42; katà pan sábbaton, every Sabbath, Acts xv.21;” and so forth.
To quote just one more authority, there is also the book A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, translated, revised and enlarged, by Joseph Henry Thayer, D.D.; on page 327, under the heading Katá, it says: “II. With the accusative: . . . 3. it denotes reference, relation, proportion, of various sorts: a. Distributively, indicating a succession of things following one another, α?. in reference to place katà polin, in every city, (city by city, from city to city), Luke 8:1, 4; Acts 15:21; 20:23; Titus 1:5,” and followed by a number of other references. Other grammars could doubtless be referred to to substantiate the distributive use of the Greek preposition katá with the accusative case as found in Acts 20:20.
Not only does the New World Translation render the phrase in question “from house to house,” but so also do the following translations: King James Version, American Standard Version, English Revised Version, Revised Standard Version of 1952, Holy Bible from the Peshitta, by George M. Lamsa, the New Testament in an Improved Version based on Archbishop Newcomb’s new translation, the New Testament, by Charles Williams, the Holy Bible, by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox, the New Testament, by F. A. Spencer, edited by Callan-McHugh, the Spanish Moderna Version. Also the Englishmen’s Greek New Testament with an interlinear literal translation, which, unlike the Emphatic Diaglott, has under the expression kat’ oikous in Acts 20:20 the interlinear reading “from house to house,” also A New Translation of the Bible, by James Moffatt, D.D., the Catholic Confraternity Translation of the New Testament, the New Testament in the Westminster Version, by Cuthbert Latty, Jesuit, also the Riverside New Testament, by William G. Ballantine.
Of interest here is the reference to Paul’s ministry by A. E. Bailey, in Daily Life in Bible Times: “Paul’s general practice was to work at his trade from sunrise to 11 a.m., . . . then from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to preach in the hall, . . . and then lastly to make a house to house evangelistic canvass that lasted from 4 p.m. to far in the night.”
Will anyone endeavor to argue that all these Greek grammarians, these Bible translators and this historian were one and all biased because they themselves were doing evangelistic work from house to house? Hardly!
Jesus Christ, the greatest Witness ever to walk this earth, taught his disciples that there was an urgency to the message they preached. They zealously responded to his order to “go.” (Mat 28:19,20) He knew that the most effective way to reach people with the good news was to talk to them personally in their homes. (Matt. 10:7, 12)
MATTHEW 10:7
“As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’”
MATTHEW 10:12
“When YOU are entering into the house, greet the household;”So we find that the apostles followed his divinely inspired direction to preach from house to house.—Acts 20:20.
ACTS 20:20
“while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house.”Once Jesus’ followers started their work, did he quit? No, indeed, for “when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he set out from there to teach and preach in their cities.”—Matthew 11:1.
Jesus also preached to people along the wayside, beside the sea, on a mountain slope, at a well outside a city, and in homes. Wherever there were people, Jesus preached to them.—Matthew 5:1, 2; Mark 1:29-34; 2:1-4, 13; 3:19; 4:1, 2; Luke 5:1-3; 9:57-60; John 4:4-26.
Jesus Christ set his followers an excellent example as an evangelizer. Regarding the ministry of Christ and his apostles, God’s Word states: “He went journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him.” (Luke 8:1)
What was to be the reaction to those who did not show interest in the message? “Wherever anyone does not take you in or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet,” departing in peace and leaving the consequences to Jehovah’s judgment.—Matthew 10:11, 14.
In faithful compliance with the Christian commission, Jehovah’s Witnesses are covering the earth with the Kingdom message. Thus, A. P. Wisse, a journalist in the Netherlands, commented: “They are different from other people. Part of this difference is the result of their zealous evangelizing. They view true Christianity not as a religion with cathedrals, with parishioners who each has his own fixed place and whose religion does not ask much more of him than to listen. They speak with Paul’s outspokenness to anyone who will listen.”
“Perhaps [the churches] are excessively neglectful about that which precisely constitutes the greatest preoccupation of the Witnesses—the home visit, which comes within the apostolic methodology of the primitive church. While the churches, on not a few occasions, limit themselves to constructing their temples, ringing their bells to attract the people and to preaching inside their places of worship, [the Witnesses] follow the apostolic tactic of going from house to house and of taking advantage of every occasion to witness.”—El Catolicismo, Bogotá, Colombia, September 14, 1975, p. 14.
When Paul was ‘teaching from house to house,’ was he visiting the homes of fellow worshipers of Jehovah, making shepherding calls on believers? No, fOR HE GOES ON TO EXPLAIN:
“I thoroughly bore witness both to Jews and to Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:20, 21)On Matthew 10:11, an objective consideration of Jesus’ instruction indicates that he was speaking about his disciples’ searching out people individually, either from house to house or publicly, and presenting to them the message of the Kingdom. (Matthew 10:7) Their response would indicate whether they were deserving or not.—Matthew 10:12-15.
This is seen in Jesus’ words at Matthew 10:14: “Wherever anyone does not take you in or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet.”
Jesus was speaking about his disciples’ making uninvited calls on people to preach to them. True, they would also accept lodging with one of the households that responded to the message. (Matthew 10:11) But the main thing was the preaching work.Because of the effectiveness of the house-to-house ministry, opposers in many lands have tried to stop it. In order to gain official respect for their right to preach from door to door, Jehovah’s Witnesses have appealed to government officials. Where necessary, they have gone to court in order to legally establish the right to spread the good news in this manner. (Phil. 1:7)
PHILIPPIANS 1:7
“It is altogether right for me to think this regarding all of YOU, on account of my having YOU in my heart, all of YOU being sharers with me in the undeserved kindness, both in my [prison] bonds and in the DEFENDING AND LEGALLY ESTABLISHING OF THE GOOD NEWS.”
Some 30 cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses came before the U.S. Supreme Court in the five-year period between 1938 and 1943. A USA Today article says: “So frequently did Witnesses raise core First Amendment issues that Justice Harlan Fiske Stone wrote, ‘The Jehovah’s Witnesses ought to have an endowment in view of the aid which they give in solving the legal problems of civil liberties.’”
By the end of the 80's, the U.S. Supreme Court had reviewed 71 cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses, two thirds of which were decided in their favor.
Much of these cases had to do with freedom to preach. If you go to law school in the U.S, you are required to study some of these cases.(John 14:2) House = Household – they didn't have houses in suburbs like we do today…
Acts 20:17 – This is the group Paul was talking to – who? The elders of Miletus and Ephesus.
ACTS 20:20
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,You could just as well translate this:
And how I held back nothing from you that would be profitable to you, but I showed you and have taught you openly and in your own households.
Fascinating David – but I'm not convinced.
ACTS 5:42
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.Likely scenario – they preach in the temple, many are interested and invitations follow to come and speak further of these things to their household.
You quote a lot of writers who all seem to agree with your conclusions that the pattern was to go systematically from house to house, blanket coverage of the gospel.Quote Paul had spent three years in Ephesus. He visited every house, or at least he preached to all of the people (verse 26). Here is scriptural warrant for house to house evangelism as well as that carried on in public meetings.” I don't know who Randolph O Yeager is but Acts 20:26 is not saying that Paul preached to all men, only that he is guiltless of their blood (Eze 33:6)
Simply put, he did not neglect to tell all of those he is addressing here everything that he could of the gospel.Quote Of interest here is the reference to Paul’s ministry by A. E. Bailey, in Daily Life in Bible Times: “Paul’s general practice was to work at his trade from sunrise to 11 a.m., . . . then from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to preach in the hall, . . . and then lastly to make a house to house evangelistic canvass that lasted from 4 p.m. to far in the night.” This is no more than crystal ball gazing – no one can state with absolute certainty that this was Paul's daily timetable. What scripture is the above statement derived from?
Quite so Malcolm,
Acts 20.20
“how I did not shrink from declaring to YOU anything that was profitable, and teaching YOU publicly and from house to house”
It almost certainly applies surely to Paul teaching christians, not evangelisation.Quote Acts 20:17 – This is the group Paul was talking to – who? The elders of Miletus and Ephesus. Quote ACTS 20:17-21
“However, from Mi·le´tus he sent to Eph´e·sus and called for the older men of the congregation. When they got to him he said to them: “YOU well know how from the first day that I stepped into the [district of] Asia I was with you the whole time, slaving for the Lord with the greatest lowliness of mind and tears and trials that befell me by the plots of the Jews; while I did not hold back from telling YOU any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching YOU publicly and from house to house. BUT I THOROUGHLY BORE WITNESS BOTH TO JEWS AND TO GREEKS about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.”Quote You could just as well translate this: And how I held back nothing from you that would be profitable to you, but I showed you and have taught you openly and in your own households.
κατ’ οικον, is distributive, ‘from house to house,’ and not merely adverbial, ‘at home.’ ”
So, no, you can't really translate it that way.A conference of religious leaders in Spain noted this:
“Perhaps [the churches] are excessively neglectful about that which precisely constitutes the greatest preoccupation of the Witnesses—the home visit, which comes within the apostolic methodology of the primitive church. While the churches, on not a few occasions, limit themselves to constructing their temples, ringing their bells to attract the people and to preaching inside their places of worship, [the Witnesses] follow the apostolic tactic of going from house to house and of taking advantage of every occasion to witness.”—El Catolicismo, Bogotá, Colombia, September 14, 1975, p. 14.
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