---
title: Matthew 24:14
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-14/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-24-14.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 24:14
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 24:14

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

## JW Usage

JWs cite Matthew 24:14 as evidence that only the Watchtower is performing the worldwide preaching work Jesus commanded, making the organisation identifiable by this fruit. The verse is central to JW self-identity: door-to-door ministry across 240 lands is presented as the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy. The scale of the preaching programme is offered as proof that Jehovah's Witnesses are God's chosen channel.

## Protestant Usage

Colossians 1:23 — written before AD 70 — declares the gospel had already been "proclaimed in all creation under heaven." Paul considered Matthew 24:14 fulfilled in his own lifetime, before the destruction of Jerusalem. Worldwide preaching also predates the Watchtower by centuries: Protestant missionary societies, Catholic orders, Bible translation organisations, and underground church networks have all engaged in global gospel proclamation since the Reformation. Matthew 7:21-23 is the test Jesus actually gives for identifying true followers — "by their fruits you will recognise them" — and those fruits are the character qualities of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), not the scale of an evangelistic programme. Activity in Jesus' name (Matthew 24:14) is not the same as the mark Jesus himself gives for identification.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Christ's Three-Category Parousia](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/parousia-three-categories.md) — AD 70 / Present Reign / Future Return [Eschatology]
- [Name the Channel — Necessity Without a Referent](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/name-the-channel.md) — If the Bible requires a unified channel, the Bible must identify it [Authority]
- [9 Million Publishers — What the Number Does and Does Not Prove](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jw-8-million-membership.md) — Growth is evidence only if growth is the criterion [Epistemology]
- [What Is Your Gospel?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/gospel-definition-1cor15.md) — 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 / Galatians 1:8-9 [Salvation]