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Pastoral Ministry
of the truth forces conviction upon the soul. Both the educated and
the uneducated have need to be addressed in the plainest, simplest
language. The advocates of truth should learn from the World’s Re-
deemer, and pattern after the greatest Teacher the world ever knew,
who spake as never man spake.
Although the language of Christ was simple, the most educated
were charmed with His manner of teaching, and the uneducated were
always profited by His discourses. He used illustrations gathered from
the customs and experiences of daily life, and whenever His hearers
looked upon the familiar things of nature, the words of Christ were
recalled to the mind. He drew illustrations from the birds of the air,
the lilies of the field, from the shepherds of the flock, and various
things of common occurrence in daily life. Thus were the lessons of
Jesus made simple for the comprehension of the people. Instruction
of the greatest importance was bound up in the smallest compass,
and was so clearly stated that no one needed to misunderstand. The
scribes and the Pharisees alone complained of finding it difficult to
understand His teachings; but the reason of this was that they were
filled with prejudice, and were determined to misconstrue His words.
The common people heard Him gladly, for to the poor the gospel was
preached, and many bore testimony to the fact that “never man spake
like this man.”—
Sabbath-School Worker, January 1, 1895
.
The purpose of both illustration and the incarnation is to
teach the unknown through the known—In Christ’s parable teach-
ing the same principle is seen as in His own mission to the world.
That we might become acquainted with His divine character and life,
Christ took our nature and dwelt among us. Divinity was revealed in
humanity; the invisible glory in the visible human form. Men could
learn of the unknown through the known; heavenly things were re-
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vealed through the earthly; God was made manifest in the likeness of
men. So it was in Christ’s teaching: the unknown was illustrated by
the known; divine truths by earthly things with which the people were
most familiar.—
Christ’s Object Lessons, 17
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Positive Versus Negative
Ministers must both encourage the obedient and warn the dis-
obedient—Would that every minister might realize the sacredness of