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“Your Leader Is One, the Christ”The Watchtower—2010 | September 15
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Christ Initiates the Preaching Work
9, 10. How did Christ direct matters with regard to spreading the good news of the Kingdom?
9 Right from the start, Jesus personally directed the worldwide preaching and teaching activity. He established the order in which the good news of the Kingdom was to be transmitted to the inhabitants of the earth. During his ministry, he instructed his apostles: “Do not go off into the road of the nations, and do not enter into a Samaritan city; but, instead, go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’” (Matt. 10:5-7) They did this zealously among Jews and proselytes, especially after Pentecost 33 C.E.—Acts 2:4, 5, 10, 11; 5:42; 6:7.
10 Later, by means of holy spirit, Jesus extended the Kingdom-preaching work to the Samaritans and then to other non-Jews. (Acts 8:5, 6, 14-17; 10:19-22, 44, 45) With a view to promoting the spread of the good news among the nations, Jesus acted personally to move Saul of Tarsus to become a Christian. Jesus instructed his disciple Ananias: “Rise, go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. . . . Be on your way, because this man is a chosen vessel to me to bear my name to the nations as well as to kings and the sons of Israel.” (Acts 9:3-6, 10, 11, 15) “This man” became the apostle Paul.—1 Tim. 2:7.
11. How did Christ by means of holy spirit expand the preaching work?
11 When the time came to expand the work of Kingdom preaching among the non-Jewish nations, heaven directed Paul on missionary journeys in Asia Minor and on into Europe. Luke’s account in Acts states: “As they [Christian prophets and teachers in the congregation in Syrian Antioch] were publicly ministering to Jehovah and fasting, the holy spirit said: ‘Of all persons set Barnabas and Saul apart for me for the work to which I have called them.’ Then they fasted and prayed and laid their hands upon them and let them go.” (Acts 13:2, 3) Jesus had personally called Saul of Tarsus to be His “chosen vessel” to bear His name to the nations; hence, this new impetus to the witnessing work came from Christ, the Leader of the congregation. Jesus’ use of the holy spirit to direct the work became unmistakably clear during Paul’s second missionary trip. The account states that “the spirit of Jesus,” that is, Jesus by means of holy spirit, guided Paul and his traveling companions in the choice of their itinerary, and a vision led them to move on into Europe.—Read Acts 16:6-10.
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“Your Leader Is One, the Christ”The Watchtower—2010 | September 15
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15 By means of holy spirit, Jesus would eventually extend the witnessing work to the ends of the earth. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus told his disciples: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8; read 1 Peter 1:12.) Under Christ’s direction, a tremendous witness was given in the first century.—Col. 1:23.
16 But Jesus himself indicated that this work would continue into the time of the end. After commissioning his followers to preach and to make disciples among all the nations, Jesus promised them: “I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:19, 20)
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