career of zealous activity in the Christian ministry, a career that lasted for about thirty years. During that time he let the light of truth shine wherever he traveled. The record of his career shows him to have been a very fruitful minister.

16. Explain the procedure Paul followed when preaching in new territory and why it was effective.

¹⁶ Whenever Paul entered new territory, he made it a practice to concentrate his preaching in towns that were commercial centers. Ephesus, Thessalonica and Corinth were such places. They were centers to which people in the vicinity came to do business and through which trade routes passed to distant places. Ephesus, for example, was on the imperial highway from Rome to the East, and Corinth was located on an isthmus where ships unloaded their cargo to be transported to other parts of Greece. This was a safer practice than risking a voyage around the storm-lashed capes at the southern tip of Achaia. Such places were ideal for Christianity to establish a foothold in new territory. The Jews and non-Jews in these places who became Christians carried the truth to neighboring cities, to the hinterland and to distant places on the trade routes.

MINISTRY NOT LIMITED

17. What evidence do we find in the first century that Jesus’ arrangement for making all believers preachers was a wise one?

¹⁷ The rapid spreading of Christianity showed the wisdom of Jesus’ arrangement for having all believers preach. In a short time Christians could be found all over the vast Roman Empire. The Christian writer Tertullian revealed this when arguing with the pagans of his day. He wrote: “Men proclaim aloud that the state is beset with us; in countryside, in villages, in islands, Christians; every sex, age, condition, yes! and rank going over to his name. . . . We are but of yesterday, and we have filled everything you have—cities, islands, forts, towns, exchanges.” That all of them participated in the ministry is indicated by what was written by the pagan writer Celsus. He mocked Christianity because, according to the historian Augustus Neander, “labourers, shoemakers, farmers, the most uninformed and clownish of men, should be zealous preachers of the Gospel.”

18, 19. (a) How did the early Christians take what Jesus said about confessing union with him, and what did he mean by this expression? (b) What other command did Jesus give regarding the ministry, and to whom does it apply?

¹⁸ All who exercised faith took seriously what Jesus said about confessing union with him. “I say, then, to you, Everyone that confesses union with me before men, the Son of man will also confess union with him before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8) To be in union with him a person had to believe the truths Jesus taught and had to follow his example of preaching those truths to others. The person who was unwilling to show by activity in the ministry that he was united with Christ in beliefs and purposes showed a lack of love for him. Why should he acknowledge that person before God and the angels as being a member of his body, his congregation?

¹⁹ After Jesus’ resurrection and before his ascension, he gave a command to his eleven faithful apostles that was not limited to them alone. It applies to all Christians. He said: “Go therefore 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, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) This the apostles and all who became followers of Jesus during the lifetime of the apostles did. They rejoiced in every opportunity to make disciples whom they could train to teach others.

20. Explain how preaching became a rare thing among professed Christians.

²⁰ Some time after the death of the apostles and those who had been close to them, the professed Christians of that time began to become apostate. Ecclesiastical orders were established, and preaching ceased to be the activity of all who professed the Christian faith; it became the exclusive prerogative of a clergy class. Note what the Bible encyclopedia by M’Clintock and Strong says about this: “When ritual ceremonies came to supersede not only the practice, but the very idea of evangelization, it is not surprising that preaching itself became a ceremony, and at length a rare and infrequent ceremony. Not merely laymen, but even presbyters of the Church were inhibited from preaching, except by special permission of bishops; while many of the bishops, who had arrogated to themselves the exclusive right of preaching, either through ignorance or indolence practically abandoned the custom.” The custom today for a clergy class to do the preaching and for the common people to remain silent comes from these apostates rather than from Jesus Christ.—Acts 20:29, 30.

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY TODAY

21, 22. Why is it still necessary for Christians to engage in the ministry?

²¹ Although we are removed from Jesus’ day by more than 1900 years, the Scriptural commands for Christians to preach have not been changed. They are still binding. Being a Christian still means letting the light of Scriptural truth shine out for the benefit of others. The need for the Christian ministry is just as great today as it was in the first century despite the fact that about 30 percent of the world’s population professes to be Christian. The unchristian actions of the greater number of these professed followers of Christ reveal that true Christianity has not touched their hearts. As with ancient Israel, God can say of them: “This people have come near with their mouth, and they have glorified me merely with their lips, and they have removed their heart itself far away from me.”—Isa. 29:13.

²² The professed Christians of Christendom need to be taught the basic truths of the Scriptures. They need to be told the good news of God’s kingdom; they need a hope created in them for world peace and just rule by means of the kingdom of God. They are like the unfruitful Israelites who suffered from a spiritual famine. Although they profess to be Christians, they are in need of true Christians coming to them with nourishing spiritual truths. There are such Christians today who are doing that very thing.—Amos 8:11.

23. Who today realize what a Christian’s responsibility is, and how are they like the early Christians?

²³ Realization of the responsibility that rests upon every Christian to engage in the Christian ministry spurs Jehovah’s witnesses to teach the truths of Christianity “publicly and from house to house” as the apostles did. (Acts 20:20) In 194 lands they are following the example of Jesus by going among the people and preaching to them wherever they can be found. Like the early Christians, they train those who respond to the good news of the Kingdom to teach still others. Thus all who come within the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses are encouraged to participate in the Christian ministry. It matters not if a person can spend only a few hours a month in the ministry. He can still obey Jesus’ command to preach. These modern-day Christians take to heart what the apostle Paul said: “For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.”—Rom. 10:10; 2 Tim. 2:2.

24. How does the preaching by Jesus and his apostles compare with that done by the clergy today?

²⁴ Many professed Christians react unfavorably to the contention made by Jehovah’s witnesses that the Christian ministry is for all Christians. They are content with a clublike arrangement in which a clergyman preaches to them, and they remain spiritually inactive. That is not what Christ purposed for his followers. That is not the Christian ministry. He did not confine his preaching to just his apostles, with their doing nothing but listening. Unlike the pagan teachers of Egypt and Greece who had their groves and porticoes where they spoke to sympathetic listeners, Jesus spoke in public places to people who were not all followers of him. Some were hostile. Later, when congregations were formed, the apostles did not attach themselves to various congregations and confine their ministry to those gatherings of believers. They continued to preach to people outside the Christian organization, setting an example for all who became dedicated Christians. They provided good leadership that helped to maintain the spiritual vitality and health of the various congregations. This pattern of upbuilding Christian activity is just as necessary today as it was in the first century.

25. (a) Why can it be said that the Christian ministry in the form that Jesus began it has not passed away? (b) What is the fruitage of the ministry today?

²⁵ The Christian ministry that Jesus began has been revived by Jehovah’s witnesses. People of all races and nationalities are being given the opportunity to learn of the marvelous things Jehovah has purposed for mankind. Because all in the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses are urged to engage in the ministry and because this arrangement has God’s blessing, a great crowd of people is being brought into Jehovah’s organization. These people of good heart recognize the Christian ministry as their responsibility and as a divinely provided means for keeping spiritually alive. They know that it is vital for their salvation as well as for those to whom they preach. By means of it they praise God through Christ. “Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.”—Heb. 13:15; Matt. 24:14.

Mature Ministers Can Aid Others

“Feed my lambs. . . . Shepherd my little sheep.”—John 21:15, 16.

1. Why is Jesus an example we can safely follow?

IN THE suffering that Jesus Christ endured because of keeping integrity to God and in the keen interest he manifested with regard to making known his Father’s purposes, he set a fine example for all who would become his followers. They could safely model their lives after his, because he did what was right in the eyes of God. In the third year of Jesus’ ministry, Jehovah voiced his approval of him by saying