Evangelism. Ellen G. White
of present truth before those who are ignorant of it. We should not be content to permit such a condition to continue.
There are many of our people who, if they would go out of the cities and begin to labor in these byways, and also highways, would recover physical health. I urge our brethren to go out as missionaries, two and two, to these country places. Go in humility. Christ has given an example, and the Lord will certainly bless (p.52) the efforts of those who will move out in the fear of God, bearing the message the Saviour gave to the first disciples, “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”—Manuscript 65, 1908.
Missionary Families for Towns and Villages—Brethren who wish to change their location, who have the glory of God in view, and feel that individual responsibility rests upon them to do others good, to benefit and save souls for whom Christ withheld not His precious life, should move into towns and villages where there is little or no light and where they can be of real service and bless others with their labor and experience. Missionaries are wanted to go into towns and villages, and raise the standard of truth, that God may have His witnesses scattered all over the land, that the light of truth may penetrate where is has not yet reached, and the standard of truth be raised where it is not yet known....
Jesus did not neglect the villages. The record declares that “He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”....
Now is it not the duty of some who are standing idle here (Battle Creek), to go where they can represent Christ and His precious truth?—The General Conference Daily Bulletin, March 20, 1891. (p.52)
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 (p.54) 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.” 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 (p.55) 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 (p.56) 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