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| Please read Christ's instruction to the lawyer, recorded in Luke 10:25-28. "A certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." This lesson outlines the duty of all. {1888 1516.1} |
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| In response to Christ's instruction Nicodemus said, "How can these things be?" Christ answered, "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" The same question might be asked of many who are holding responsible positions as teachers, physicians, and ministers of the gospel, but who have neglected the most essential part of their education, that which would fit them to deal in a Christlike manner with human minds. {FE 517.4} {RH, November 7, 1907 par. 8} |
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| The scribes and the Pharisees often offered their prayers in the market places and in the streets of the cities. Christ called them hypocrites. In every age men have prayed "that they may be seen of men." . . . When Christ sees in His disciples errors that are liable to lead them astray, He always instructs them in the right way. He does not give an admonition without also giving an instructive lesson showing how to remedy the error. After instructing His disciples not to use "vain repetitions" in their prayers, in kindness and mercy He gave them a short sample prayer in order that they might know how to avoid imitating the prayers of the Pharisees. In giving this prayer, He knew that He was helping human infirmity by framing into words that which comprehends every human need. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought," but Christ's instruction to us is clear and definite. {TMK 261.4} |
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| "We know not what we should pray for as we ought," but Christ's instruction to us is clear and definite--"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." {20MR 272.1} |
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| Christ did not design that his words should return to him void. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," he said to the large multitude that pressed around him, "but my words shall not pass away." He himself wrote nothing; but the Holy Spirit brought all his words and acts to the remembrance of his disciples, that they might be recorded for our benefit. Christ's instruction was given with the greatest clearness. There was no need for any one to misunderstand. But the scribes and Pharisees, determined to resist him, misconstrued and misapplied his words. The utterances which were the bread of life to starving souls were bitterness to the Jewish rulers. {RH, May 18, 1897 par. 6} |
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| When we are willing to have our own minds unsoldered, and resoldered by the melting influences of the Spirit of God, we shall understand with new enlightenment Christ’s instruction to us as recorded in the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of John. Oh, how great are the possibilities that He has placed without our reach! He says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.” He promises to come to us as a Comforter to bless us. Why do we not believe these promises? That which we lack in faith we make up by the use of drugs. Let us give up the drugs, believing that Jesus does not desire us to be sick, and that if we live according to the principles of health reform, He will keep us well. { 19MR 51.2 } |
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| While Christ’s field of labor lay among the Jews, he instructed his disciples to go forth to those without the camp, bearing to them the message of a Saviour’s love. Frequently the people of other nations came to him to be healed, or to make some request for their relatives and friends. They listened to Christ’s instruction, and as they heard his words of truth, they were deeply impressed. These people represented the great human family, who knew not God or the truth, but who felt a soul-longing for something they had not. In speaking words of hope to these weary, unsatisfied souls, in healing their infirmities, Christ was setting an example to be followed from one end of the world to another. He was speaking and acting for humanity at large. He was giving a message to those who would afterward become his disciples. In the few years of his work he must set forth the object of his mission, and lay the foundation of the work that was to be taken up by his disciples. He must show that his work was to set souls free from the slavery of sin. And, altho generation after generation would pass away, his lessons of practical service would be repeated by his witnesses. He was to ascend to heaven, but his work was to be carried forward with greater power than before, because he and his Father would co-operate in doing greater things for his people than they had seen while he was among them. { ST December 16, 1897, par. 8 } |
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| Christ's instruction at this time had reference directly to the short journey the disciples were about to make, but He looked beyond this, and saw the work that lay before them, after His betrayal and crucifixion, when by the experience of the day of Pentecost they would be fully prepared to do their work. He lost sight of the beginning of their mission, of their trial trips, when He could be with them, to correct any errors that might appear in their manner of labor, to encourage them to bear trials, and to show them how to meet repulse and derision. He saw before them a broader missionary field, which after His ascension they were to enter as missionaries for Him, in which they would meet fierce opposition and persecution. {ST, July 25, 1900 par. 2} |
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