Patterning After the Master Evangelist

Study Christ’s Methods—If ever it has been essential that we understand and follow right methods of teaching and follow the example of Christ, it is now.—Letter 322, 1908.

How He Met the People—If you would approach the people acceptably, humble your hearts before God, and learn His ways. We shall gain much instruction for our work from a study of Christ’s methods of labor and His manner of meeting the people. In the gospel story we have the record of how He worked for all classes, and of how as He labored in cities and towns, thousands were drawn to His side to hear His teaching. The words of the Master were clear and distinct, and were spoken in sympathy and tenderness. They carried with them the assurance that here was truth. It was the simplicity and earnestness with which Christ labored and spoke that drew so many to Him.

The great Teacher laid plans for His work. Study these plans. We find Him traveling from place to place, followed by crowds of eager listeners. When He could, He would lead them away from the crowded cities, to the quiet of the country. Here he would pray with them, and talk to them of eternal truths.—The Review and Herald, January 18, 1912.

In the Synagogues—By the Seaside—Christ “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness.” Matthew 4:23^L. He preached in the synagogues because thus He could reach the many who gathered there. Then He went out and taught by the seaside and in the great thoroughfares of travel. The precious truths that He had to proclaim were not to be confined to synagogues....

Christ might have occupied the highest place among the highest teachers of the Jewish nation. But He chose rather to take the gospel to the poor. He went from place to place, that those in the highways and byways might catch the words of the gospel of truth. He labored in the way in which He desires His workers to labor today. By the sea, on the mountainside, in the streets of the city, His voice was heard explaining the Old Testament Scriptures. So unlike the explanations of the scribes and Pharisees was His explanation that the attention of the people was arrested. He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. With clearness and power He proclaimed the gospel message.—Letter 129, 1903.

Methods Peculiarly His Own—He attended the great yearly festivals of the nation, and to the multitude absorbed in outward ceremony He spoke of heavenly things, bringing eternity within their view. To all He brought treasures from the storehouse of wisdom. He spoke to them in language so simple that they could not fail of understanding. By methods peculiarly His own, He helped all who were in sorrow and affliction. With tender, courteous grace, He ministered to the sin-sick soul, bringing healing and strength.

The Prince of teachers, He sought access to the people by the pathway of their most familiar associations. He presented the truth in such a way that ever after it was to His hearers intertwined with their most hallowed recollections and sympathies. He taught in a way that made them feel the completeness of His identification with their interests and happiness. His instruction was so direct, His illustrations were so appropriate, His words so sympathetic and cheerful, that His hearers were charmed. The simplicity and earnestness with which He addressed the needy, hallowed every word.—The Ministry of Healing, 22-24 (1905).

Jesus Studied Faces—Even the crowd that so often thronged His steps was not to Christ an indiscriminate mass of human beings. He spoke directly to every mind and appealed to every heart. He watched the faces of His hearers, marked the lighting up of the countenance, the quick, responsive glance, which told that truth had reached the soul; and there vibrated in His heart the answering chord of sympathetic joy.—Education, 231 (1903).

Appeal of Fallen Humanity—In every human being, however fallen, He beheld a son of God, one who might be restored to the privilege of His divine relationship.—Education, 79 (1903).

Simplicity, Directness, Repetition—Christ’s teaching was simplicity itself. He taught as one having authority. The Jews looked for and claimed that the first advent of Christ should be with all the representations of glory which should attend His second advent. The great Teacher proclaimed the truth to humanity, many of whom could not be educated in the schools of the rabbis, neither in Greek philosophy. Jesus uttered truth in a plain, direct manner, giving vital force and impressiveness to all His utterances. Had He raised His voice to an unnatural key, as is customary with many preachers in this day, the pathos and melody of the human voice would have been lost, and much of the force of the truth destroyed....

In His discourses Christ did not bring many things before them at once, lest He might confuse their minds. He made every point clear and distinct. He did not disdain the repetition of old and familiar truths in prophecies if they would serve His purpose to inculcate ideas.—Manuscript 25, 1890.

He Charmed the Greatest Minds—Although the great truths uttered by our Lord were given in simple language, they were clothed with such beauty that they interested and charmed the greatest intellects....

To give a true representation of the tender, loving, pitying care exercised by His Father, Jesus gave the parable of the prodigal son. Though His children err and stray from Him, if they repent and return, He will receive them with the joy manifested by an earthly father in receiving a long-lost son who in penitence returns.—Manuscript 132, 1902.

The Children Understood—Christ’s way of presenting truth cannot be improved upon.... The words of life were presented in such simplicity that a child could understand them. Men, women, and children were so impressed with His manner of explaining the Scriptures that they would catch the very intonation of His voice, place the same emphasis on their words, and imitate His gestures. Youth caught His spirit of ministry, and sought to pattern after His gracious ways by seeking to assist those whom they saw needing help.—Counsels on Health, 498, 499 (1914).

He Reset Gems in the Framework of Truth—In His teachings Christ did not sermonize as ministers do today. His work was to build upon the framework of truth. He gathered up the precious gems of truth which had been appropriated by the enemy and placed in the framework of error, and reset them in the framework of truth, that all who received the word might be enriched thereby.—Manuscript 104, 1898.

He Reinforced the Message—Christ was always ready to answer the sincere inquirer after truth. When His disciples came to Him for an explanation of some word He had spoken to the multitude, He gladly repeated His lesson.—Letter 164, 1902.

He Drew by Love—Christ drew the hearts of His hearers to Him by the manifestation of His love, and then, little by little, as they were able to bear it, He unfolded to them the great truths of the kingdom. We also must learn to adapt our labors to the condition of the people—to meet men where they are. While the claims of the law of God are to be presented to the world, we should never forget that love, the love of Christ, is the only power that can soften the heart and lead to obedience.—The Review and Herald, November 25, 1890.

He Restrained Truth—The great Teacher held in His hand the entire map of truth, but He did not disclose it all to His disciples. He opened to them those subjects only which were essential to their advancement in the path of heaven. There were many things in regard to which His wisdom kept Him silent.

As Christ withheld many things from His disciples, knowing that then it would be impossible for them to comprehend, so today He withholds many things from us, knowing the limited capacity of our understanding.—Manuscript 118, 1902.

In Personal Interviews—The work of Christ was largely composed of personal interviews. He had a faithful regard for the one-soul audience; and that one soul has carried to thousands the intelligence received.—The Review and Herald, May 9, 1899.

At the Feasts—When invited to a feast, Christ accepted the invitation, that He might, while sitting at the table, sow the seeds of truth in the hearts of those present. He knew that the seed thus sown would spring up and bring forth fruit. He knew that some of those sitting at meat with Him would afterward respond to His call, “Follow Me.” Ours is the privilege of studying Christ’s manner of teaching as He went from place to place, everywhere sowing the seeds of truth.—Manuscript 113, 1902.

Christ’s Follow-up Plan—Christ sent out His disciples two and two, [See also pp. 72-74, “Two and Two.”] to go to places to which He would afterward follow.—Manuscript 19, 1910.

Was Christ’s Way Right?—The Majesty of heaven journeyed from place to place on foot, teaching out of doors by the seaside, and in the mountain. Thus He drew the people to Him. Are we greater than our Lord? Was His way the right way? Have we been working unwisely in maintaining simplicity and godliness? We have not learned our lesson yet as we should. Christ declares, “Take My yoke of restraint and obedience upon you, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”—Letter 140, 1898.

Molding and Correcting in Christ’s Service—The work of the disciples needed molding and correcting by tenderest discipline, and by opening to others a knowledge of the word they themselves had received; and Christ gave them special instruction in regard to their course of action and their work. In His own life He had given them an example of strict conformity to the rules which He now laid down for them. They were not to enter into controversies; this was not their work. They were to reveal and advocate the truth in their own characters, through earnest prayer and meditation revealing personal experience in genuine Christianity. This would be in decided contrast to the religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were to call the attention of their hearers to greater truths yet to be revealed. They were to cast the arrow, and the Spirit of God was to guide the shaft into the heart.—The Review and Herald, February 1, 1898.