Illustrations, Symbols, and Figures of Speech

Well-Chosen Illustrations -- Jesus was the greatest teacher the world ever knew. He presented truth in clear, forcible statements, and the illustrations He used were of the purest and highest order. He never mingled cheap symbols and figures with His divine instruction, or sought to pander to curiosity or to gratify the class that will listen simply to be amused. He did not bring sacred truth down to the level of the common, and the comical illustrations that some ministers of the gospel use were never uttered by His divine lips. Christ did not employ illustrations that would create amusement and excite laughter.-- RH Aug. 6, 1895.

Nothing Comical for Mere Attention -- In the instruction of the divine Teacher, there was no illustration used that would leave the least shadow upon the tablets of the soul. His words were of the purest and most elevated character. He never stooped to utter that which was comical, in order that He might attract an audience.-- RH Aug. 6, 1895.

Illustrations of Common Things -- Jesus

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illustrated the glories of the kingdom of God by the use of the experiences and occurrences of earth. In compassionate love and tenderness He cheered and comforted and instructed all who heard Him; for grace was poured upon His lips that He might convey to men in the most attractive way the treasures of truth.-- CT 240.

Spiritual Lessons From Nature -- The Great Teacher brought His hearers in contact with nature, that they might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things; and as their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to interpret the spiritual teaching of the scenes upon which their eyes rested. The parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He delighted to gather the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of daily life.

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.-- Ed 102.

Carefully Chosen Locales for Discourses -- The

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Redeemer of the 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.-- 2T 579, 580.

From the Known to the Unknown -- In His teaching, Christ drew His illustrations from the great treasury of household ties and affections, and from nature. The unknown was illustrated by the known;

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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 Old Testament Scriptures, divine, momentous truths are revealed; and in His teaching, Jesus laid these open before the people, bound up with the beauty of natural things.-- CT 178, 179.

Figures and Symbols -- For His own wise purpose the Lord veils spiritual truths in figures and symbols. Through the use of figures of speech the plainest and most telling rebuke was often given to His accusers and enemies, and they could find in His words no occasion to condemn Him. In parables and comparisons He found the best method of communicating divine truth. In simple language, using figures and illustrations drawn from the natural world, He opened spiritual truth to His hearers, and gave expression to precious principles that would have passed from their minds, and left scarcely a trace, had He not connected His words with stirring scenes of life, experience, or nature. In this way He called forth their interest, aroused inquiry, and when He had fully secured their attention, He decidedly

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impressed upon them the testimony of truth. In this way He was able to make sufficient impression upon the heart so that afterward His hearers could look upon the thing with which He connected His lesson, and recall the words of the divine Teacher.-- FE 236.

The Worker's Model

Christ Our Example -- What Christ was on this earth, the Christian worker should strive to be. He is our example, not only in His spotless purity, but in His patience, gentleness, and winsomeness of disposition. His life is an illustration of true courtesy. He had ever a kind look and a word of comfort for the needy and the oppressed. His presence brought a purer atmosphere into the home. His life was as leaven working amid the elements of society. Pure and undefiled, He walked among the thoughtless, the rude, the uncourteous; among unjust publicans, unrighteous Samaritans, heathen soldiers, rough peasants, and the mixed multitude. He spoke a word of sympathy here and a word there.-- GW 121.

A Representation of Heaven -- The Saviour of the world would have His colaborers represent Him; and the more closely a man walks with God, the more faultless will be his manner of address, his deportment, his attitude, and his gestures. Coarse and uncouth manners were never seen in our Pattern, Christ Jesus. He was a representative of

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heaven, and His followers must be like Him.-- 4T 405.

An Exemplary Sermon -- The Sermon on the Mount is an example of how we are to teach. What pains Christ has taken to make mysteries no longer mysteries, but plain, simple truths! There is in His instruction nothing vague, nothing hard to understand.

"He opened His mouth, and taught them." Matt. 5:2. His words were spoken in no whispered tones, nor was His utterance harsh and disagreeable. He spoke with clearness and emphasis, with solemn, convincing force.-- 7T 269.

Pattern for Every Worker -- In His work of ministry for the sick and afflicted, Christ stands before the world as the greatest Medical Missionary the world has ever known, and the pattern for every Christian missionary worker. He knew the right word to speak to each sufferer, and He spoke not only that which brought healing of body, but conviction of soul and spiritual enlightenment. He brought to the understanding of those who sought Him a knowledge of self, and of the soul's highest need.

Christ's discourses were the spiritual explanation of His ministry for the afflicted.-- MM 194.

No Mere Sermonizing -- Christ is the minister's Model. How directly to the point, how well adapted to the purpose and circumstances, are Christ's

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words! How clear and forcible are His illustrations! His style is characterized by simplicity and solemnity. Throughout the teachings of Christ, there is nothing to justify the minister in the relation of humorous anecdotes in the pulpit. The lessons of Christ should be carefully studied, and the subjects, manner, and form of discourses should be modeled after the divine Pattern. Oratorical display, flashy rhetoric, and fine gestures do not constitute a fine discourse. . . . He did not sermonize as men do today. In intensely earnest tones He assured them of the truths of the life to come, of the way of salvation. -- RH June 23, 1891.