70
The Voice in Speech and Song
The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed, the
shepherd and the sheep—with these Christ illustrated immortal truth.
He drew illustrations also from the events of life, facts of experience
familiar to the hearers—the leaven, the hid treasure, the pearl, the
fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on the rock and
the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest every mind, to
appeal to every heart.—
Education, 102
.
Carefully Chosen Locales for Discourses—The Redeemer of the
[106]
world sought to make His lessons of instruction plain and simple, that
all might comprehend them. He generally chose the open air for His
discourses. No walls could enclose the multitude which followed Him;
but He had special reasons for resorting to the groves and the seaside
to give His lessons of instruction. He could there have a commanding
view of the landscape and make use of objects and scenes with which
those in humble life were familiar, to illustrate the important truths He
made known to them.
With His lessons of instruction He associated the works of God
in nature. The birds which were caroling forth their songs without
a care, the flowers of the valley glowing in their beauty, the lily that
reposed in its purity upon the bosom of the lake, the lofty trees, the
cultivated land, the waving grain, the barren soil, the tree that bore
no fruit, the everlasting hills, the bubbling stream, the setting sun,
tinting and gilding the heavens—all these He employed to impress His
hearers with divine truth. He connected the works of God’s finger in
the heavens and upon the earth with the words of life He wished to
impress upon their minds, that, as they should look upon the wonderful
works of God in nature, His lessons might be fresh in their memories.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:579, 580
.
From the Known to the Unknown—In His teaching, Christ drew
His illustrations from the great treasury of household ties and affec-
tions, and from nature. The unknown was illustrated by the known;
[107]
sacred and divine truths, by natural, earthly things, with which the
people were most familiar. These were the things that would speak to
their hearts, and make the deepest impression on their minds.
The words of Christ placed the teachings of nature in a new aspect
and made them a new revelation. He could speak of the things which
His own hands had made, for they had qualities and properties that
were peculiarly His own. In nature, as in the sacred pages of the