In a September 2015 morning worship talk entitled Jehovah Blesses Obedience, Anthony Morris III commented on what he considered to be irrefutable scriptural evidence for there being a first century governing body. Is this really the case? Did the apostles and elders in Jerusalem form a governing body that directed the preaching work in all the congregations? Did, as Anthony Morris suggests, Jehovah’s blessing of the work depend upon strict obedience to this body? What do the scriptures show?

Two outstanding examples of preaching, mentioned in the book of Acts that could help us to answer this question are Philip who is called the evangelizer (Acts 21:8) and the apostle Paul. How much of a role did the apostles play in their ministry?

Philip the Evangelizer

How did Philip become an evangelizer?

Acts chapter 6 tells us that trouble arose in the Jerusalem congregation.

There was a complaint made:

Now in those days when the disciples were increasing, the Greek-speaking Jews began complaining against the Hebrew-speaking Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. (Acts 6:1)

The problem came up before the apostles of Jesus Christ, What did they do?

So the Twelve called the multitude of the disciples together and said: “It is not right for us to leave the word of God to distribute food to tables. 3 So, brothers, select for yourselves seven reputable men from among you, full of spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them over this necessary matter; 4 but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-4)

And so there were seven who were recommended and the first two were Stephen and also this Philip and then others.

Now we find with regard to this Philip, that he left this job of’ taking care of tables at Jerusalem, and he went down to Samaria. Then when he was down there in Samaria he preached and performed many signs and wonders. And it was because of the work that he did down there and afterward that he became known as an evangelizer. Now, who made Philip an evangelizer? Witnesses would say the apostles of course, it couldn’t be any other way! But was it?

Well read the account: Let the Bible speak for itself.

Saul, for his part, approved of his murder. On that day great persecution arose against the congregation that was in Jerusalem; all except the apostles were scattered throughout the regions of Ju·deʹa and Sa·marʹi·a. 2 But devout men carried Stephen away to bury him, and they made a great mourning over him. 3 Saul, though, began to ravage the congregation. He would invade one house after another, dragging out both men and women and turning them over to prison. 4 However, those who had been scattered went through the land declaring the good news of the word. 5 Now Philip went down to the city of Sa·marʹi·a and began to preach the Christ to them. (Acts 8:1-5)

It was because of the persecution that was stirred up by Saul of Tarsus that the record says all the disciples, all the members of the Jerusalem congregation, were scattered from the city except the 12 apostles. And so Philip, as one of the refugees, went down to Samaria and he preached just as the Bible says all the others who were scattered went preaching. And Jehovah was especially with Philip and he established a congregation there, and it was only later when the apostles heard about this, that they dispatched two of the members of the apostolic body to go down there and see that they had the holy spirit of God imparted to them. (Acts 8:14,15)

And then after that what happened? It was Jehovah’s angel that sent Philip on an assignment:

However, Jehovah’s angel spoke to Philip, saying: “Get up and go to the south to the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gazʹa.” (This is a desert road.) (Acts 8:26)

And he went down there on that assignment from Jehovah’s angel and that was when he had the encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch and baptized him. (Acts 8:27-38)

After the baptism, did he receive another assignment from the apostles perhaps through a letter? No. He was quickly led away by God’s spirit. And he went down there to the Philistine seacoast and up the coast to Caesarea where he settled down. (Acts 8:40)

He ended up having four daughters that prophesied and he was there as an evangelizer when the apostle Paul came on that boat trip back to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:8,9)

That’s how Philip became an evangelizer. No governing body of apostles and older men in Jerusalem was involved.

The Apostle Paul

Then something happened right after that. The Lord Jesus Christ took direct action without consulting any man or body of men on earth. He, as head of the congregation, met Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor, on the road leading to Damascus. He stopped him! And chose Saul to be an evangelizer, to carry the message not only to the Jews but also to all the gentile nations.

Blind, they took Saul to Damascus where he came in contact with a disciple named Ananias who was able to restore his sight. Who was it that directed Ananias to look for Saul? Was it the governing body in Jerusalem? No. It was the Lord Jesus in a vision. (Acts 9:10-19)

So he preached there in Damascus, confounding the Jews there and proving logically that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 9:20-22)

Three years later, due to a plot by the Jews to have him put to death, the disciples helped him escape and he went to Jerusalem. On arriving he made efforts to contact the disciples there but they were all afraid of him. Then the account tells us that Barnabas took him to the apostles. But Paul, tells us that he saw only Peter, with whom he spent fifteen days, and also James the brother of the Lord,” not the apostle James. The eleven others were apparently busy elsewhere. (Gal. 1:18)

And when another plot was laid against his life, this time by the Greek speaking Jews the brothers, not the apostles, arranged for him to go to Tarsus. (Acts 9:30)

Later, after the persecution that arose over Stephen, Barnabas was sent to Antioch because of reports of successful preaching there. But who sent him? Was it the apostles? No. Barnabas was sent, not by the apostles but by the congregation in Jerusalem. (Acts 11:22)

While there in Antioch he went to Tarsus to look for Paul and brought him to Antioch. (Acts 11:25,26)

Interestingly, the record states that it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence, not from some decision made at headquarters, called, not Jehovah’s Witnesses but, Christians. Paul became a member of the Antioch congregation. During his stay there prophets came down from Jerusalem. One of them named Agabus prophesied of a great famine that was about to occur. So the disciples determined to put together a relief ministry to send to the brothers in Judea. And it was decided to send it by Barnabas and Saul. But this direction did not come from or receive the approval of any governing body in Jerusalem. (Acts 11:27-30)

After the carrying out the relief ministry, they returned. (Acts 12:25)

Acts chapter 13 reports there were prophets and teachers in the local congregation. But there is no indication that these received their appointments from some centralized governing body in Jerusalem. (Acts 13:1) As they were publicly ministering, the holy spirit spoke to that congregation and said, “Of all persons set Barnabas and Saul apart for me for the work to which I have called them”. This direction came directly from heaven not through some earthly channel of communication. (Acts 13:2)

So they laid their hands upon Paul, or Saul, and Barnabas and sent them forth as a number of translations read … ‘sent them forth.’ And then they went forth by the holy spirit operating through the Antioch congregation, and they went out on their first missionary assignment.

So, the Lord Jesus Christ was acting as head of the congregation and taking action directly, without consulting anybody here on earth what he could do or what he could not do. And he acted in that way with regard to, Saul and Barnabas. And they were both apostles of the Antioch congregation. And so they went out on the work and had great success, and in course of time they completed their first missionary tour, and where did they go … where did they report? (Acts 14:26)

They went back to Antioch, and the account says they related things in detail to them, to this congregation that had committed them to the undeserved kindness of God for the work that they had performed. So there’s where they reported. So the record also says, now they stayed in Antioch not a little time.

Acts chapter 15 relates how it was necessary for Paul and Barnabas to go up to Jerusalem. Well, what’s the matter? What brings them up to Jerusalem? Is it the body of apostles and older men of the Jerusalem congregation that have summoned them up there and said, ‘Look here. We have heard that you two men have gone out on a missionary tour … and you finished it, and you haven’t come up here to Jerusalem to report to us. DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE? We’re the Counsel of Jerusalem! Do you two recognize the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you don’t come on up here in a hurry, we’re going to take disciplinary action against you.’ Is that what the account says? Well, if they had acted that way toward Paul and Barnabas, because they reported to the congregation by means of which the holy spirit had sent them out, then this Counsel of Jerusalem, of apostles and of other elders of the Jewish congregation would have put themselves above the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. [The wording of this portion was specifically selected from a talk given by Frederick Franz in 1975 during a Gilead graduation ceremony.]

But that isn’t what occurred. Jews came down from Jerusalem and stirred up the congregation by saying with authority that the Gentile Christians ought to get circumcized, and it troubled the the brothers so much that the Antioch congregation sent Paul and Barnabas up to Jerusalem, to have a council brought together to settle the issue. If Paul’s letter to the Galatians is describing this visit it was fourteen years later. (Gal. 2:1)

Actually whether or not it is the same visit, how Paul describes those he met with is very insightful. Did he view them as having authority over him and his work?

I went up as a result of a revelation, and I presented to them the good news that I am preaching among the nations. This was done privately, however, before the men who were highly regarded, to make sure that I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 Nevertheless, not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4 But that matter came up because of the false brothers brought in quietly, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we enjoy in union with Christ Jesus, so that they might completely enslave us; 5 we did not yield in submission to them, no, not for a moment, so that the truth of the good news might continue with you. 6 But regarding those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me, for God does not go by a man’s outward appearance—those highly regarded men imparted nothing new to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the good news for those who are uncircumcised, just as Peter had been for those who are circumcised— 8 for the one who empowered Peter for an apostleship to those who are circumcised also empowered me for those who are of the nations— 9 and when they recognized the undeserved kindness that was given me, James and Ceʹphas and John, the ones who seemed to be pillars, gave Barʹna·bas and me the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the nations but they to those who are circumcised. (Galatians 2:2-9)

“Those highly regarded men imparted nothing new to me”. Does this sound to you like something you would hear any faithful Witness say today about the governing body?

I went up as a result of a revelation –

About this statement, Albert Barnes comments:

“Not for the purpose of receiving instruction from the apostles there in regard to the nature of the Christian religion. It is to be remembered that the design for which Paul states this is, to show that he had not received the gospel from human beings. He is careful, therefore, to state that he went up by the express command of God. He did not go up to receive instructions from the apostles there in regard to his own work, or to be confirmed by them in his apostolic office, but he went to submit an important question pertaining to the church at large. In Act_15:2, it is said that Paul and Barnabas went up by the appointment of the church at Antioch. But there is no discrepancy between that account and this, for though he was designated by the church there, there is no improbability in supposing that he was directed by a special revelation to comply with their request. The reason why he says that he went up by direct revelation seems to be to show that he did not seek instruction from the apostles; he did not go of his own accord to consult with them as if he were dependent upon them; but even in a case when he went to advise with them he was under the influence of express and direct revelation, proving that he was commissioned by God as much as they were.”

Consider what happened when these men from Jerusalem arrived:

But after quite a bit of dissension and disputing by Paul and Barʹna·bas with them, it was arranged for Paul, Barʹna·bas, and some of the others to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem regarding this issue. (Acts 15:2)

Why the dissention and disputing? Paul was not known as being disrespectful toward those in authority, especially if it was divinely constituted. (Acts 23:2-5) One would think that if he recognized that there was an authoritative source in Jerusalem for solving this issue there would be no need for dissension and disputing with these men. All Paul would have had to say is take it up with the governing body. Surely they would have received the same instructions from Jesus that Paul had, namely that circumcision of the Gentiles was not necessary for their salvation. Obviously Jehovah’s blessing was already on his ministry, why should he now have to go back and tell the Gentiles after having been baptized that their salvation was now in jeopardy if they do not get circumcised? It should be obvious from these facts that Paul recognized no governing body in Jerusalem. Neither was Jesus using it as his channel for directing the work. The problem resided in Jerusalem because of a strict legalistic Jewish mindset that was difficult for the brothers to let go of. For that reason, and that reason only, Jerusalem was the place where it needed to be settled.

What was the makeup of this council? Did it consist of the 12 apostles and a few elders serving as a governing body? No. (Acts 15:6,12,22)

It was an assembly or a convention that consisted of the apostles, all the elders and the entire congregation of Jerusalem. And THEN it was, for the first time, when they were arguing in favor of Christians from the Gentiles not having to be circumcised like Jews … it was THEN that Paul and Barnabas told what God had done by means of them in the Gentile world. And THEN it was that this convention got the report. And, of course, being sent by the congregation at Antioch, they had to come back and report and advise the congregation of the settlement of the question, or the decision that was made by the convention there at Jerusalem. Then they went back to Antioch, which had sent them forth to make known the decision. It was the entire convention, not just the apostles and older men that sent along two men, Judas and Silas, with them. And so they delivered the report from the convention and there was great rejoicing among the Gentile believers. Calling this important meeting a council is misleading. The Bible describes those in attendance as a multitude. (Acts 15:12)

And this is the only decision reported in the Bible that this convention was ever convened to decide upon. Now time passes, and Paul and Barnabas are at Antioch. And what occurs now? Well, did they receive an assignment from Jerusalem for their next move? The account says after some days Paul says to Barnabas “Above all things, let us return and visit the brothers in every one of the cities in which we published the word of Jehovah to see how they are.” (Acts 15:36)

The two men, Paul and Barnabas, agreed on this matter. They didn’t think it was necessary to send a letter to some headquarters in Jerusalem to ask permission. But then, the matter of accompaniment came up. Who would they take with them? Barnabas was in favor of John Mark. But Paul didn’t want him, because he had left them in Pamphylia in Asia Minor and had not gone along with them to the finish of the first missionary tour. So Paul didn’t have any confidence in Mark for the time being. And they had a great altercation, as you know. And it resulted in a split! And Barnabas took along Mark, and it proved to be a good choice, because afterwards Paul even came to appreciate the faithfulness of Mark. (2 Tim. 4:11)

But what about Paul? Well, he chose Silas, or Silvanus, as his companion in his missionary tour. Toward the close of the fifteenth chapter of Acts it says that they went through Syria and Cilicia after he had been entrusted by the brothers to the undeserved kindness of Jehovah. What brothers? The apostles? No. All of this happened in Antioch. So it was the brothers of the Antioch congregation. (Acts 15:35) So again the Antioch congregation is being used to send out missionaries.

And so, as we examine this account of these two outstanding missionaries recorded in the Bible, we find that they were sent out especially by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, a fact which the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society itself recognizes.