To be clear from the start:  THERE IS NO PASSAGE IN SCRIPTURE THAT EITHER COMMANDS OR ENCOURAGES BELIEVERS TO GO FROM DOOR TO DOOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL!

 

​​The J.W’s tell us on their website (as at 14/11/24) that Jesus told his followers to “make disciples of people of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) When he sent out his early disciples, Jesus directed them to go to the homes of the people. (Matthew 10:7, 11-13)

 

First of all, the Lord Jesus did not send all who followed Him out to preach.  The J.W's reference to Matthew 28:19-20 is particularly misleading.  In this passage, He is speaking to His eleven disciples alone.  He appeared to these men after His resurrection specifically to prepare them as His witnesses (see in previous page - 'Who Are The Real Witnesses')  The same is made clear in Matthew 10:5, where it says, "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions,".  The twelve are named in the preceding verses.

 

It's also made clear that large crowds followed Him: "When He came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him." (Matt. 8:1 also Matt. 12:15, Matt. 14:13 etc etc.)  Many followed Him, but He didn't send them out to preach. He only sent those that He chose for the task.

 

Secondly, they tell us: After Jesus’ death, first-century Christians continued to spread their message both “publicly and from house to house.” (Acts 5:42; 20:20) (JW.org 14/11/24)   However, it wasn't simply a case of 'first century Christians' continuing to spread their message.  We have to be aware that the message the Lord Jesus told His chosen apostles to preach before the crucifixion, was completely different to the message He commanded them to preach after His resurrection. 

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   THE MESSAGE

 

While the Lord Jesus walked the earth, His ministry was to the Jews, who were still under the old covenant law at that time.  He came to make them aware of the coming change, but He did not preach the new covenant.  He established the new covenant through His sacrifice and resurrection, then sent His chosen apostles out to preach it to the world. 

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The fact that His ministry was to the Jews is made very clear: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." (Matthew 15:24)  His message to the Jews of that time was a simple one.  He preached the coming of God's kingdom:  "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  'The time has come' He said.  'The kingdom of heaven is near.  Repent and believe the good news',"  The Lord Jesus was heralding the coming change by telling God's chosen people to repent.  A new and better covenant was about to arrive.  

The same is true for the preaching of His apostles at that time.  They were to preach the same message, and only to the Jews.  "These twelve He sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.  Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.  As you go, proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven has come near'." (Matt. 10:5-7) 

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So before the crucifixion, those He sent out to preach were told to preach a limited message to a limited number of people.  The disciples were only allowed to preach to Jews at that time, because the old covenant law forbade them from entering the house of a gentile. 

​Did the Lord Jesus tell them to go from door to door at that time?  No!  In Matthew 10, when Jesus sent out the twelve, they were told to stay at one house in each village.  

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Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.” (Matt. 10:11) 

 

Jesus also sent out others to preach before his crucifixion.  “The Lord appointed seventy two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” (Luke 10:1).  He gave them the following instructions;  “When you enter a house, first say, ‘peace to this house’.  If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.  Stay in that house eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.  Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:5-7). 

It is clear that before the crucifixion, those who were sent out were told to find a worthy person in each town or village and stay with that person until they left.  Jesus clearly said, “Do not move around from house to house.” And they were told to preach, "the kingdom of God is near." (Luke 10:9 and 11) .  ​

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After the resurrection, the Lord told His apostles to preach a dramatically different message, because the new covenant had been established through the Lord's death and resurrection. The restrictions of the old covenant law had been removed, and His apostles were told to preach the new message to all nations of the earth.  "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16) 

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“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18).  The Lord did not assign ‘specific territories’ or tell His apostles to knock on doors.  He simply told them,  “go and make disciples of all nations” and “Go into all the world".

 

The first time the apostles preached this new message was seven weeks after His crucifixion.  They didn't  preach the approach of God's kingdom any longer, but a message about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and salvation through His crucifixion and resurrection. "God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact....... Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:  God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:32 and 36) 

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This continued throughout their ministry. "Jews demand miraculous signs and gentiles look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles." (1 Cor. 1:22-23)

Then in the same letter, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead." (1 Cor. 15:14-15)​

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The message changed because the covenant had changed, and the apostle Peter made this change clear when he was preaching to those in the house of Cornelius; “He said to them, ‘You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile and enter his home.  But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.”  He went on to say, “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”  (Acts 10:34-35). ​

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   DOOR KNOCKING

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So, the apostles preached a different message after the resurrection, and they preached it to all nations, rather than exclusively to Jews.  The first question is: Did they, at that time, start going from door to door as the JW's claim? 

The Jw's claim: We follow the example of those early Christians and find that the door-to-door ministry is a good way to reach people. (JW.org 14/11/24). 

 

The J.W’s refer to Acts 5:42 as what they claim is an example of early believers ‘door knocking’.

It says, “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 5:42).       

Firstly; It's important to realise once again, that this verse is about the apostles alone, not other believers, and this is clearly established when the passage is read in context.  

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 “They called the apostles in and had them flogged.  Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.  The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing, because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 5:40-41)  We should also notice that the apostles were rejoicing because the suffered for "the Name"  and this name was clearly "Jesus Christ", not Jehovah. 

But does the term, “from house to house” mean what the J.W’s tell us?  No it doesn't!

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The term, "house to house" is used in other places, apart from Acts 5:42.  For example, "But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." (Acts 8:3).  It would be a huge assumption to think that a single man could go to every house on every street in Jerusalem dragging people out and putting them in prison. It's much more likely that he simply went to houses where he knew believers to be. 

 

Likewise, in Paul's first letter to Timothy.   It says, “Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house.  And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.”  (1 Tim. 5:13)  It says that these idle gossips and busy bodies go “from house to house”.  Do the J.W’s then assume that idle busybodies were dividing a city into specific territories, then knocking on every door on every street, in an effort to spread gossip?  Of course not!  They went to and from each other’s houses, gossiping and being idle.   

 

The apostles also went to houses where they were welcome, just as they did with the Jews, before the change of covenant.  And when the apostles visited a house, people would gather to hear them.

 

The difference between the way the apostles operated, and the way the J.W’s operate is simple.   The apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit (see Acts 8:39, 10:19, 11:12, 13:4, 16:6, 16:7, 20:22, 20:23). 

 

In Chapter 10 of the book of Acts, we read an example of how a true witness went “from house to house”.  But the houses weren't next door to each other - they were in separate cities.  The passage is about the salvation of a man called Cornelius, along with his family.  

While Cornelius was praying, an angel visited him.  “The Angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.  Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.  He is staying with Simon the tanner, who’s house is by the sea.” (Acts 10:4-6).  So Cornelius did as he was told by the angel, and in the meantime, the Holy Spirit was preparing Peter, who had a vision while he was praying:  “While Peter was still thinking about the meaning of the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you.  So get up and go downstairs.  Do not hesitate to go with them’.” (Acts 10:19-20)

Peter obeyed the Holy Spirit.  He travelled with the men from the house of Simon the tanner, to the house of Cornelius (“from house to house”). Then we are told, “Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people”.

Cornelius explained that he had been directed by an angel to send for Peter, and said, “ it was good of you to come.  Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us”.  It is clear that the Holy Spirit commanded Peter to go from the house of Simon the tanner, to the house of Cornelius.  So Peter told them about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and declared, “He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen - by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed to judge the living and the dead”  (Acts 10:41-42). 

 

The J.W’s are guided by other men, rather than the Holy Spirit, so they go knocking on every door in the hope that they might eventually find someone who will listen to their version of the message.

 

But there is no instance in the book of Acts where the apostles or other 'early Christians' went down streets knocking on doors. Furthermore, there is no teaching anywhere in the apostles letters that encourages other believers to go door knocking. This is easily proven by simply reading. 

 

It's important to note that at the beginning of their ministry, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, there were around a hundred and twenty believers with the apostles in the upper room (see Acts 1:15) but only twelve (when Matthias was added) were called witnesses and were commanded to preach.

 

When the apostles began to preach, it says, "Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd." (Acts 2:14)  

​At the end of this preaching, those who believed asked the question, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)  "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."(Acts 2:38)

We are then told; "Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." (Acts 2:41)

Then we are told about the daily lives of the new believers.  It says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:42)  As the passage continues, we learn that they sold their possessions and gave to the poor - they met daily in the temple courts - they broke bread together in one another's homes etc etc., but they did not go out knocking on doors to preach at any time!  If the apostles taught believers to go out door knocking, these people would have done it, because they were devoted to the apostles' teaching. 

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The Holy Spirit guided the apostles, and God prepared the hearts of those who were called to believe the message that they preached.  You will find this happened throughout the book of Acts.  Read about the salvation of Ethiopian in chapter 8 and Saul in chapter 9, or the jailer and his family in Acts 16.  In fact, read the whole book of Acts as many times as it takes to become familiar with it.  It was not the efforts of men that saved those who believed, but the work of God, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  

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     EVANGELISTS

 

There are those within the body of Christ who are called to go out preaching the gospel.  They are set apart by God: "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'.” (Acts 13:2) 

 

Not everyone who is called to believe is given such a ministry.  "It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service , so that the body of Christ might be built up." (Eph. 4:11-12)  God appoints "some" in these roles, for the building up of the rest. 

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Timothy was one such evangelist.  Paul, his mentor, wrote to him to encourage him in the use of his gift, but never once implied that Timothy should go knocking on doors, nor did he imply that other believers should presume to have the same gift.  "Do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:5)  Paul gives Timothy specific instructions because of his ministry as an evangelist. "set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and purity.  Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.  Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through a prophetic message, when the body of elders laid their hands on you." (1 Timothy 4:12-14)  

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It's clear, when this is read in context, that these instructions are for Timothy alone, not for the believers that he is interacting with.  "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me His prisoner.  But join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God." (2Timothy 1:6-8) 

 

Paul also wrote about his own ministry:  "And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher." (2 Timothy 1:11)  So it's clear that Timothy has a specific gift for preaching the word and spreading the true gospel.  Likewise, Paul has a specific gift from God as a herald and a teacher. 

 

He also wrote instructions that Timothy was to pass on to those within the congregation.  He gave separate instructions for men and women, for overseers and deacons, and the congregation as a whole.  For example; "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.  I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes." (1 Timothy 2:8-9)  So Timothy was to teach the believers how to live in accordance with God's desire.

This is made clear: "I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household." (1 Timothy 2:14-15)  As well as, "If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a faithful minister of Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 4:6)  So Timothy was to discharge the duties of an evangelist, and he was also to pass on instructions to the congregation about how to live their daily lives and interact with one another.  But within these letters, there are clearly no instructions to send believers out to knock on doors.    

 

The apostles' teachings about the daily lives of believers are consistent throughout their letters.  For example; "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." (1Thess. 4:11-12)  They (we) are not told to go out preaching. 

 

It is God's kingdom, not man's.  And His church is the body of Christ, with members who are gifted by Him, for His good purpose.  Our job is not to devise plans about how to build His church, but to have the faith to be obedient to His word in each day, and let Him achieve His purpose through that.  As the Lord Jesus said; "on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it." (Matt. 16:18)