Evangelism - Ellen G. White - E-Book
SONDERANGEBOT

Evangelism E-Book

Ellen G. White

0,0
1,99 €
Niedrigster Preis in 30 Tagen: 1,99 €

oder
-100%
Sammeln Sie Punkte in unserem Gutscheinprogramm und kaufen Sie E-Books und Hörbücher mit bis zu 100% Rabatt.

Mehr erfahren.
Beschreibung

In "Evangelism," Ellen G. White presents a profound exploration of the principles and practices that underpin effective evangelistic outreach. Written in her characteristic clear and accessible style, this book weaves personal anecdotes, scriptural insights, and theological reflections to inspire readers to engage in the mission of spreading the Gospel. White articulates the urgent need for a heartfelt approach to evangelism, emphasizing the transformative power of personal testimony and the importance of community in nurturing faith. Set against the backdrop of the late 19th-century religious revival, her work reflects the growing emphasis on social responsibility and personal piety during this era. Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was a prolific author and a passionate advocate for health reform, education, and humanitarian work. Her life experiences as a religious leader and her strong commitment to scriptural authority deeply influenced her writings. "Evangelism" is born from her desire to equip believers with the tools necessary for sharing their faith, stemming from her own experiences of witnessing the transformative impact of spiritual outreach and community engagement. For readers seeking to deepen their understanding of evangelistic methods and their theological underpinnings, "Evangelism" serves as an essential resource. White's insights will inspire both seasoned ministers and laypeople alike to embrace their role in the mission of the Church, fostering a renewed commitment to living and sharing the Gospel within their communities. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes. - The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists. - A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing. - An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text. - A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings. - Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life. - Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance. - Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.

Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:

EPUB

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Bewertungen
0,0
0
0
0
0
0
Mehr Informationen
Mehr Informationen
Legimi prüft nicht, ob Rezensionen von Nutzern stammen, die den betreffenden Titel tatsächlich gekauft oder gelesen/gehört haben. Wir entfernen aber gefälschte Rezensionen.



Ellen G. White

Evangelism

Enriched edition. Insightful guidance for effective evangelism and spiritual connection
In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience.
Introduction, Studies and Commentaries by Wesley Montague
Edited and published by Good Press, 2022
EAN 4064066456023

Table of Contents

Introduction
Synopsis
Historical Context
Author Biography
Evangelism
Analysis
Reflection
Memorable Quotes
Notes

Introduction

Table of Contents

Evangelism calls ordinary believers to carry an extraordinary message with prayerful urgency and practical wisdom. Written by Ellen G. White, a prominent voice in the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist movement, this volume distills decades of counsel into a portable guide for those who would share faith faithfully and effectively. It addresses not only what to say but how to be—attentive, compassionate, disciplined, and responsive to the Spirit’s leading. Its counsel is both spiritual and strategic, insisting that inner life and outward method cannot be separated. The result is a book that speaks to character, message, method, and mission in one integrated vision.

This work endures as a classic of practical ministry because it bridges devotional conviction and tested experience. Rather than offering theories untethered from life, it assembles guidance shaped in the crucible of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century mission, camp meetings, and community outreach. Within the literature of Christian practice, it stands out for its breadth, its moral seriousness, and its insistence on kindness and order. Generations of ministers, Bible instructors, and lay workers have treated it as a standard reference, returning to its pages for counsel on preaching, personal work, and team organization. Its longevity stems from a focus on principles that transcend passing techniques.

Ellen G. White (1827–1915) wrote across a lifetime of service that helped define the spiritual and organizational character of Seventh-day Adventists. Her writings sought to lift minds to Christ, call the church to mission, and reform habits in light of the gospel. Evangelism gathers her counsel on outreach and witness, presenting a coherent picture of how message, messenger, and method interact. Readers will not find a single, linear narrative; rather, they encounter a carefully arranged body of instruction that aims to inspire, correct, and equip. The book is concerned with real people in real places, and with the ethical responsibilities of those who address them.

Compiled and published in 1946, after the author’s death, the volume draws from letters, manuscripts, and articles written over many years. Its editors arranged brief, pointed selections by topic, allowing readers to consult counsel on preparation, public speaking, city work, literature distribution, visitation, appeals, follow-up, and team relations. The compilation format preserves the contemporary voice of the original counsel while ensuring thematic clarity for students of ministry. Because the materials span different times and settings, the book offers a cross-section of experience that deepens its usefulness. It invites thoughtful application rather than rigid imitation, urging workers to exercise patience, judgment, and prayer.

At its core, the book teaches that the effectiveness of evangelism rests on spiritual authenticity. Workers are encouraged to cultivate humility, diligence, and a teachable spirit, to pray earnestly for wisdom, and to ground every effort in Scripture. The call to share faith is inseparable from the call to embody it, so character formation and consistent conduct receive sustained attention. The message must be clear, Christ-centered, and hopeful, while the manner must be courteous and sensitive to conscience. These convictions anchor the many practical counsels that follow, ensuring that technique never overshadows the transforming center of the Christian proclamation.

From public proclamation to private conversation, Evangelism explores the varied pathways by which truth reaches hearts. It treats the craft of preaching, the structure of meetings, and the art of making appeals that respect freedom while inviting decision. It gives attention to house-to-house labor, Bible studies, small-group settings, and the wise use of printed literature. The counsel recognizes that follow-up is not an afterthought but part of the evangelistic process, requiring organization, mentorship, and patient instruction. Throughout, the book balances breadth with specificity, outlining habits, preparations, and safeguards that help a team labor together with clarity of purpose and unity of spirit.

Special concern is shown for work in towns and cities, where complexity and diversity demand flexibility. Evangelists are urged to understand local conditions, avoid needless controversy, and meet practical needs with practical help. The book encourages cooperation between public efforts and quiet personal ministry, and it commends community-minded initiatives that build trust. Health outreach, education, and family support are presented as complementary avenues for service rather than distractions from preaching. Such counsel reflects a holistic vision: people are best reached when kindness, competence, and consistent care accompany the spoken word, and when workers adapt methods without diluting message or compromising integrity.

The style of the book mirrors its purpose: concise, earnest, and direct. Short segments make the counsel accessible and memorable, while the topical arrangement invites focused study. The language presses for action yet cautions against haste, emphasizing preparation, order, and self-discipline. Because the selections originate in specific historical moments, they carry the texture of lived ministry—tent meetings, camp gatherings, and expanding congregations—while still highlighting enduring principles. Readers encounter a voice at once pastoral and prophetic, practical and devotional, one that unites the life of prayer with the labors of planning, persuading, and persevering.

As a classic within Adventist literature, Evangelism has shaped training, informed policies, and guided countless local initiatives. Ministers and lay leaders have relied on it when forming evangelistic teams, planning meetings, and addressing pastoral questions related to follow-up and church organization. It has also served as a bridge between generations, allowing newer workers to hear counsel first given in earlier settings and to test their own strategies against time-proven wisdom. Its ongoing use in study groups, ministerial reading circles, and leadership development reflects the book’s steady contribution to the culture of mission and the shared vocabulary of service.

In the broader landscape of religious writing, the book exemplifies a genre that blends devotion with method, doctrine with practice. It stands alongside other works of pastoral counsel in presenting a comprehensive vision of ministry that is both spiritual and logistical. Its influence rests less in literary flourish than in moral clarity and practical coherence. By insisting that message, messenger, and method be aligned, it offers a paradigm many have adopted or adapted: begin with prayer and Scripture, respect the conscience, work as a team, and labor with patience. These are not dated techniques but enduring coordinates for faithful witness.

Contemporary readers will find the book strikingly relevant. Urbanization, pluralism, and accelerating change make careful listening, cultural sensitivity, and ethical consistency more necessary, not less. Evangelism speaks to these needs by emphasizing respect, simplicity, integrity, and the long view of discipleship. It encourages leaders to train others, distribute responsibility wisely, and measure success by transformation rather than spectacle. In a time of abundant methods and rapid trends, its steady counsel helps readers differentiate lasting principles from temporary fashions. The result is a resource that strengthens conviction while refining practice, equipping readers to serve thoughtfully in complex contexts.

Ultimately, this is a book about hope communicated with care. It portrays evangelism as a sacred trust that unites message and manner, faith and planning, courage and kindness. Its themes—Christ-centered proclamation, prayerful dependence, ethical conduct, teamwork, adaptability, and perseverance—continue to resonate because they speak to the heart of service in any era. Evangelism remains compelling not only for what it teaches about reaching others, but for how it summons readers to personal integrity and disciplined compassion. In its pages, contemporary workers find both a standard to aim for and a companion for the journey of mission.

Synopsis

Table of Contents

Evangelism by Ellen G. White is a topical compilation of counsel on how to conduct gospel outreach. Drawn from letters, articles, and manuscripts, it presents a coherent manual that begins with the biblical commission to carry the message of Christ to all people. The opening emphasis defines purpose, scope, and urgency, stressing that evangelism unites proclamation of doctrine with practical ministry and Christlike character. The material frames success as dependent on divine guidance rather than human display, and situates evangelistic labor within the larger mission of preparing a people for Christs return. This foundation sets the sequence for subsequent instruction on workers, methods, and organization.

The book next addresses the worker, outlining qualifications essential for lasting results. It highlights personal consecration, habitual prayer, Bible study, and reliance on the Holy Spirit. Counsel includes humility, kindness, and integrity, coupled with disciplined habits, healthful living, and careful speech. Family life, moral purity, and fair dealing are presented as part of the witness. Attention is given to unity among laborers, avoidance of rivalry, and cooperative planning. The guidance is practical, calling for punctuality, thorough preparation, and adaptability to circumstances. Emphasis remains on reflecting the character of Christ so that the messenger does not obscure the message.

A section on the substance of the message explains how to present truth clearly and progressively. Instruction begins with Christ, the love of God, and the reliability of Scripture before advancing to distinctive doctrines. The counsel recommends simplicity, restraint, and careful sequencing, avoiding needless controversy early in an effort. It warns against speculation and time setting, and urges accuracy in handling prophecy and doctrine. Preachers are encouraged to uplift the cross, teach repentance and faith, and connect belief with daily living. The approach aims to secure conviction through Scripture, conscience, and the Spirit rather than pressure, argument, or sensational techniques.

Personal labor is treated as indispensable. The compilation details house to house visitation, Bible readings, and spiritual conversations that respond to individual needs. Bible instructors, including trained women workers, are urged to cooperate with evangelists in giving studies and cultivating interests. Guidance covers prayer in the home, tactful questions, listening, and follow up that builds trust over time. Special attention is given to children, youth, and families, encouraging simple explanations and patient teaching. The aim is to win confidence through kindness and practical help, opening doors for the message. Records of interests and systematic revisitation are recommended to consolidate decisions.

Public evangelism receives extensive attention. Counsel addresses selecting suitable venues, whether halls, churches, tents, or camp meetings, and maintaining order, cleanliness, and reverence. Sermons are to be concise, clear, and well structured, with careful diction and earnest appeals. Music should be elevating and supportive, not distracting. Workers are advised to collect names, offer literature, and connect public presentations with personal visitation. The book outlines the value of series formats, progressive topics, and closing appeals that invite thoughtful response. Practical cautions include avoiding debate, cultivating courtesy toward opponents, and preserving dignity in manner and dress to keep focus on the message.

Strategic counsel is given for laboring in cities and new fields. The material describes the challenge of dense populations, diverse cultures, and prevalent skepticism, recommending thoughtful planning and perseverance. Centers of influence, such as reading rooms or small service outposts, are proposed as gateways for acquaintance and service. Where feasible, outpost bases near cities are suggested for health and economy while workers enter the city daily. Instruction includes adapting methods for immigrants, the poor, and the affluent, showing respect for all classes. It emphasizes breaking down prejudice through benevolence and courtesy, entering homes, and building relationships that prepare communities to receive public efforts.

Printed materials and media are presented as vital auxiliaries. The counsel recommends judicious use of tracts, periodicals, and books to precede, accompany, and follow public meetings. Colporteur evangelists are encouraged to circulate truth filled literature with professionalism, persistence, and prayer. Practical instruction includes selecting content, canvassing methods, and coordinating with local churches for follow up. Literature tables, mailings, and correspondence courses extend the reach of the message. With new technologies, radio is noted as a platform for dignified, Scripture based broadcasting that awakens interest and directs listeners to personal study and local laborers. All media use is to be truthful, respectful, and mission focused.

Medical missionary work is described as an entering wedge that opens doors to gospel truth. The book outlines health instruction, temperance advocacy, simple treatments, and practical relief for the sick and poor. Cooking schools, hygiene education, and community services demonstrate disinterested benevolence. When available, sanitariums and treatment rooms can serve as centers where physical and spiritual needs are addressed together. The counsel urges cooperation between medical workers and gospel laborers, so that help offered leads naturally to Bible study and discipleship. Balance is emphasized, avoiding extremes and ensuring that health reform supports, rather than eclipses, the central themes of redemption and obedience.

Organization and follow through conclude the volume. Guidance covers teamwork between ministers, Bible instructors, lay members, and administrators; training and mobilizing the church; and maintaining simplicity in plans and finances. Counsel opposes waste and debt, commending economy and accountability. Instruction on appeals, baptismal preparation, and church membership underscores thorough teaching, personal conviction, and clear standards. New believers are to be nurtured through classes, fellowship, and service opportunities, guarded against discouragement and isolation. The closing emphasis reaffirms that effective evangelism combines proclamation and practical kindness, proceeds in orderly steps, and depends on the Holy Spirit to produce enduring, Christ centered results.

Historical Context

Table of Contents

Evangelism is a curated compilation published in 1946 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Ministerial Association, drawing on Ellen G. White’s counsels written between the 1840s and 1915. Although issued in the mid-twentieth century, its setting is the nineteenth-century North Atlantic world, especially the United States in the era of revivalism, westward expansion, industrialization, and urbanization. The book distills guidance forged amid the social ferment that birthed the Adventist movement and later propelled it overseas. Its recommendations assume itinerant preaching, camp meetings, tract distribution, and medical-missionary work as practical responses to a rapidly changing society shaped by technological innovation and mass migration.

Geographically, the material grows out of early Adventist centers in New England and upstate New York, consolidation in Battle Creek, Michigan (1850s–1890s), and later institutional hubs in Oakland, California, and the Washington, D.C. area after 1903. It also reflects White’s residence in Australia (1891–1900), where she encouraged educational and evangelistic initiatives at Cooranbong and Sydney, and her later years at Elmshaven near St. Helena, California. The intended field of action widened from small-town and rural America to global cities, ports, and colonial frontiers. Thus, the book’s counsel engages diverse contexts—Protestant America, the segregated U.S. South, and mission fields in Europe, Africa, and the South Pacific.

The Second Great Awakening (c. 1790s–1840s) reshaped American religion through revivals, camp meetings, and innovations in popular preaching. Figures like Charles G. Finney in the 1820s–1830s “burned-over district” of upstate New York promoted protracted meetings, lay participation, and moral reform linked to abolitionism and temperance. Camp gatherings such as Cane Ridge, Kentucky (1801) modeled mass religious mobilization. Evangelism reflects this inheritance by emphasizing public appeals, itinerancy, and organized volunteerism. White’s counsel on systematic visitation, altar calls, and the use of song and testimony channels the revivalist repertoire into disciplined, long-term strategies suited to expanding denominations and urban environments.

The Millerite movement (1831–1844) and the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844, decisively shaped Ellen G. White’s ministry. William Miller, a Baptist lay preacher from New York, argued that Daniel 8:14’s “2,300 days” pointed to Christ’s return “about 1843,” later fixed by Samuel S. Snow’s “seventh-month” message to October 22, 1844. Under the organizational energy of Joshua V. Himes, the movement held large conferences (e.g., Boston, 1842; Exeter, New Hampshire, 1842), issued papers like Signs of the Times (Boston, 1840), and deployed charts and tracts. After the predicted date passed, adherents faced public ridicule, economic loss, and deep spiritual crisis remembered as the Great Disappointment. In western New York on October 23, Hiram Edson reported insight that the prophetic “sanctuary” related not to Earth’s destruction but to Christ’s heavenly ministry, reframing expectation. In Portland, Maine, the young Ellen Harmon experienced visions from late 1844 that encouraged a scattered remnant to continue mission. Her subsequent marriage to James White (1846) and contact with Joseph Bates linked her to Sabbatarian Adventists who adopted the seventh-day Sabbath in the late 1840s. Evangelism repeatedly returns to lessons learned in this crucible: rigorous biblical teaching to avoid sensational date-setting, transparent public communication, resilience after disappointment, and the strategic use of publishing and conferences to manage mass religious interest. The book’s warnings against speculative preaching, its insistence on Christ-centered proclamation, and its endorsement of orderly, compassionate follow-up mirror the Millerite arc from exuberant revival to chastened, organized mission.

Organization of the Sabbatarian Adventist movement unfolded between 1848 and 1863. Conferences in New England and New York (1848–1850) forged common doctrine and methods; Present Truth (1849) and the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald (1850, Rochester; moved to Battle Creek, 1855) sustained cohesion. The denomination chose the name Seventh-day Adventist in 1860, incorporated publishing assets in 1861, and formed the General Conference on May 21, 1863, in Battle Creek. Systematic benevolence (1859) and later formal tithing funded mission. Evangelism mirrors this institutional turn: it emphasizes orderly congregational planting, trained leadership, and administrative supports—press, schools, and health institutions—that stabilize revival gains.

Adventist publishing and literature evangelism became engines of expansion. The Review and Herald Publishing Association in Battle Creek (incorporated 1861) and Pacific Press Publishing Association in Oakland (organized 1874) issued papers such as Signs of the Times (begun 1874) for public audiences. The International Tract and Missionary Society arose in the 1870s to coordinate volunteer distribution, while the colporteur system professionalized door-to-door book sales in the 1880s–1890s across North America and abroad. Evangelism draws from this experience by recommending tracts, newspapers, and books as advance agents for public meetings, means for lay participation, and durable teaching tools in regions hostile to Protestant preaching.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) forced new religious-ethical decisions. With the Enrollment Act of 1863, federal conscription raised questions about combatancy. In 1864, U.S. authorities recognized Adventists as eligible for noncombatant classification upon certification, reflecting conscientious objections to bearing arms while endorsing compliance with law and humanitarian service. White’s wartime statements decried slavery and counseled members to avoid partisan bitterness, pay taxes, and serve the wounded. Evangelism transmits this civic posture: it instructs workers to show respect for government, maintain peaceable relations, and focus on moral reform and salvation while refusing to compromise conscience in matters of violence.

Reconstruction (1865–1877) and the rise of Jim Crow (formalized by disfranchisement laws in the 1890s and Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896) structured race relations in the South. Violence, sharecropping debt, and segregated public life shaped African American communities. In 1894, James Edson White launched the Morning Star mission steamer on the Mississippi River, organizing schools and churches among freedpeople; the Southern Missionary Society followed (1895). Adventists navigated legal and extralegal hostility while advancing literacy and health. Evangelism preserves counsel for laboring in the South: avoid inflaming racial animus, adopt self-supporting industries and schools, and combine gospel teaching with practical uplift under repressive conditions.

Religious liberty contests over Sunday legislation surged from the 1860s to the 1890s. The National Reform Association (founded 1863) campaigned to amend the U.S. Constitution to recognize Christian principles, while the American Sabbath Union (1888) sought nationwide Sunday rest. Senator Henry W. Blair’s federal Sunday Rest bills (1888–1890) triggered hearings where Adventist A. T. Jones argued for separation of church and state. Adventists faced arrests under state Sunday laws, notably in Tennessee and Georgia in the early 1890s. Evangelism integrates this history by warning against coercive religion, urging tactful defense of liberty, and advising believers to work peacefully within the law while witnessing to conscience rights.

The temperance movement matured into national prohibition. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU, founded 1874, led by Frances Willard) promoted abstinence, women’s activism, and social purity, while the Anti-Saloon League (1893) executed focused political lobbying that yielded the 18th Amendment (1919) and the Volstead Act (1920). White supported temperance lectures, petitions, and local reforms from the 1870s onward, advocating abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics. Evangelism draws on this milieu by encouraging cooperation with temperance initiatives where conscience permits, depicting sobriety as an entering wedge for moral suasion, and linking personal reform to community health and receptivity to biblical teaching.

Health reform and medical missionary work anchored Adventist public service. Following White’s 1863 health emphasis, the Western Health Reform Institute opened in Battle Creek in 1866, later becoming the Battle Creek Sanitarium (1877) under John Harvey Kellogg. It pioneered hydrotherapy, diet reform, and preventive medicine, treated thousands annually, and after a devastating fire in 1902 rebuilt on modern lines. Disputes in the early 1900s over control and doctrine notwithstanding, the model spread globally through sanitariums, treatment rooms, and visiting nurses. Evangelism leverages this history by urging integration of medical relief with preaching, training of gospel medical workers, and practical ministries that open skeptical communities to spiritual appeals.

Educational reform supplied trained laborers for mission. Battle Creek College opened in 1874; later re-established as Emmanuel Missionary College (1901) at Berrien Springs, Michigan, it would become part of today’s Andrews University. In Australia, the Avondale School for Christian Workers (Cooranbong, 1897) embodied self-supporting industry and rural campus ideals. Oakwood Industrial School (Huntsville, Alabama, 1896) trained Black students amid segregation. Curricula emphasized Bible, health, teaching, and canvassing. Evangelism reflects these developments by urging the establishment of schools to prepare Bible workers, colporteurs, and medical missionaries, and by recommending education methods adapted to local economies and cultural barriers.

Global missions accelerated after 1874. J. N. Andrews sailed to Switzerland that year, establishing a publishing base in Basel; workers reached Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Germany in the 1870s–1880s. The missionary ship Pitcairn launched in 1890 from San Francisco to the South Pacific, facilitating work in Polynesia. In southern Africa, Solusi Mission near Bulawayo opened in 1894, one of the first Adventist land missions on the continent. White’s decade in Australia (1891–1900) supported expansion across Australasia. By the early twentieth century the church counted tens of thousands of members worldwide. Evangelism translates these experiences into counsel on cross-cultural sensitivity, language acquisition, literature, and self-sustaining institutions.

Industrialization and urbanization transformed the mission field. Between 1860 and 1910, U.S. urban populations soared as immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe crowded into tenements; labor conflict punctuated the era (e.g., Haymarket, Chicago, 1886; Pullman Strike, 1894). Reformers founded settlement houses like Hull House (1889). Disease, overcrowding, and poverty complicated evangelistic access. Evangelism addresses city work systematically: it advocates urban centers of influence, healthful restaurants, reading rooms, and short, targeted series; recommends avoiding sensationalism; and calls for social relief and personal visitation among the poor and working classes as pathways to durable congregational life.

New technologies altered religious communication. The transcontinental railroad (1869) enabled itinerancy; the telegraph, and later telephone (1876), coordinated campaigns. Printing advances—from steam presses to the linotype (patented 1886)—lowered costs and multiplied tracts, books, and newspapers. Adventists innovated with large tents for seasonal meetings; their first denominational camp meeting convened in Wright, Michigan, in 1868, spawning a network of annual gatherings across North America and abroad. Evangelism recommends tents, halls, and camp meetings; endorses visual aids, song, and choirs; and urges nimble use of periodical advertising, postal canvassing, and coordinated schedules to reach heterogeneous, mobile urban populations.

As a social critique, the book contests coercive religion, alcohol’s social harms, racial oppression, and indifference to the urban poor. It exposes the perils of conflating national identity with Protestant orthodoxy by recalling abuses under Sunday laws and urging defense of minority conscience. Its medical-missionary model condemns neglect of public health and celebrates preventive care and equitable access. By advocating temperance and family stability, it indicts the nexus of liquor, vice, and exploitative commerce that preyed on immigrant and working-class neighborhoods.

Politically, the work challenges both laissez-faire individualism and sectarian triumphalism. It envisions voluntary moral reform, honest citizenship, and service-oriented institutions as the proper Christian contribution to the common good. Counsel on laboring in the segregated South recognizes systemic injustice while calling for practical uplift and nonprovocative tactics, thus implicitly critiquing Jim Crow. Guidance on noncombatancy pairs loyalty to law with refusal to kill, questioning militarized nationalism. In sum, its strategies expose the century’s fissures—class divides, racial hierarchy, public-health inequities—and propose patient, organized, liberty-respecting evangelism as a corrective within a plural, modern society.

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was an American religious author and a central figure in the formation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Writing and speaking across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, she became known for devotional, educational, and health-related counsel that helped shape a global Protestant movement. Her extensive corpus—addressed to ministers, families, educators, and lay readers—sought to nurture practical piety grounded in Scripture and expectancy of Christ’s return. Both admired and debated, she remains one of the most widely read American religious writers, with translations circulating far beyond the denomination she helped to organize.

White grew up in New England in a Methodist milieu and experienced a life-altering childhood injury that curtailed her formal schooling. As a teenager she engaged with the Millerite revival, which anticipated Christ’s imminent return and culminated in the “Great Disappointment” of the mid-1840s. In that same period, she reported visionary experiences that, together with intensive Bible study, oriented her ministry. Aligning with Sabbatarian Adventists, she urged believers to sustain faith, reexamine prophetic interpretation, and adopt disciplined Christian living. Limited classroom education led her to self-directed reading and public speaking, shaping a plain yet earnest style that resonated with working people and revival audiences.

From the late 1840s onward, White traveled widely to encourage scattered Adventist groups and to support emerging publishing ventures. Collaborating closely with James White, a key organizer and editor, and interacting with early leaders such as Joseph Bates, she helped consolidate a movement from a loose network into a church with mission, governance, and periodicals. Her testimonies—first circulated as letters and tracts, then compiled—combined pastoral exhortation, biblical reflection, and practical advice. She regarded her role as a messenger, not a creed-maker, and consistently pointed readers to Scripture as ultimate authority while offering counsel on spiritual growth, church order, and public witness.

White’s best-known books include Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, The Great Controversy, Christ’s Object Lessons, Education, and The Ministry of Healing, along with multi-volume Testimonies for the Church. She also produced two Old Testament–focused narratives, Patriarchs and Prophets and Prophets and Kings, and a volume on the early Christian church, The Acts of the Apostles. Written mainly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these works blend devotional application with storytelling and moral instruction. Readers valued their Christ-centered emphasis, accessible prose, and practical spirituality, while recognizing that many volumes were compiled and edited from previously published articles, sermons, and correspondence.

Recurring themes in White’s writings include the nearness of Christ’s return, the Sabbath as part of Christian discipleship, character formation through grace, and the “great controversy” motif—portraying a cosmic conflict between good and evil that frames human history. She advocated health reform, temperance, and a largely plant-based diet, linking physical habits with moral and spiritual clarity. Her educational philosophy emphasized whole-person development—mental, manual, and moral—integrating faith with rigorous study and service. Across genres, she urged reliance on Scripture, personal prayer, community responsibility, and practical benevolence, seeking to make doctrine experiential and ethics actionable for families, congregations, and institutions.

Institutionally, White’s counsel spurred the creation of schools, publishing houses, and sanitariums that gave Adventism a durable infrastructure. She supported organizing a formal denomination in the early 1860s and encouraged mission expansion across North America and abroad. In the late nineteenth century she spent extended periods in Europe and Australia, where she promoted educational and medical initiatives, including the development of training centers that shaped church leadership. Her influence was instrumental in Adventist health systems and in the vision for a medical college at Loma Linda. As her books were translated, her ideas circulated globally, contributing to Adventism’s distinctive blend of evangelism, education, and health outreach.

In her later years, White resided in California, continued writing, and oversaw the compilation of earlier materials into cohesive volumes. After her death in 1915, a trustee organization now known as the Ellen G. White Estate preserved her manuscripts and facilitated publication and translation. Scholars and church members have examined her methods, including her use of contemporary sources, within broader discussions about religious inspiration and authorship. Today her works are read devotionally within Adventism and consulted by students of American religious history. Their enduring influence is seen in educational and health institutions, missionary initiatives, and in ongoing conversations about faith, practice, and the interpretation of Scripture.

Preface

(5)

Section 1 The Challenge to Evangelism

Proclaiming the Message

(15)

Ever-Widening Influence of the Gospel

(19)

The Need of Evangelistic Workers

(21)

Section 2 The Metropolitan Masses

In the Shadow of Impending Doom

(25)

Increasing Difficulties

(30)

The Call for a Speedy Work

(33)

Special Opportunities for Evangelism

(35)

Surveying the Needs of the Large Cities

(36)

Problems Peculiar to Metropolitan Evangelism

(38)

The Promise of an Abundant Harvest

(43)

Section 3 Smaller Communities and Rural Areas

The Highways and Byways

(45)

Rural Workers

(48)

Section 4 Planning for the Public Campaign

Patterning After the Master Evangelist

(53)

Planning an Expanding Evangelism

(59)

Moving Forward by Faith

(61)

Evangelism of the Highest Type

(66)

The Evangelist and His Team

(69)

Advantages of Two and Two

(72)

The Evangelistic Site

(74)

The Outpost Centers

(76)

Planning Sectional and Suburban Meetings

(78)

Planning for a Permanent Work

(79)

Finance and the Budget

(85)

The Business Management of the Campaign

(91)

Section 5 Organizing for Evangelistic Meetings

Methods and Organization

(93)

The Evangelistic Company

(96)

Importance of Prayerful Counseling

(97)

Unity in Diversity

(98)

Allowing for More Than One Man’s Method

(103)

The City Field Training School

(107)

Reviving and Organizing the Church for Service

(110)

Relationship of Evangelist and Pastor

(116)

Guarding Against Overorganization

(116)

Section 6 The Public Effort

Our Present Truth Message

(119)

Arresting Public Attention

(122)

Successful and Impressive Advertising Methods

(128)

The Evangelist in Publicity

(131)

Avoiding Display and the Sensational

(136)

Guarding Proper Approaches

(139)

Platform Decorum, Announcements, and Preliminaries

(145)

Interest-Holding Features

(148)

Inquiry and Question Meetings

(151)

Getting Acquainted With the People

(156)

Printed Sermons And Literature

(159)

The Debate

(162)

Section 7 The Message and its Presentation

Spirit and Manner of Presenting the Message

(168)

The Evangelistic Sermon

(174)

Christ the Center of the Message

(184)

Prophetic Preaching that Arrests Attention

(193)

Restraining Without Obscuring Truth

(199)

Truth-Teaching Devices

(203)

Stories, Anecdotes, Jesting, and Joking

(206)

False Tests and Man-Made Standards

(211)

Section 8 Preaching the Distinctive Truths

Heralding the Second Advent

(217)

The Sanctuary Truth

(221)

Presenting the Law and the Sabbath

(225)

Meeting Sabbathkeeping Problems

(237)

Preaching on Nonimmortality

(246)

The Message of Christian Stewardship

(249)

Presentation of the Spirit of Prophecy

(255)

Presenting Health and Christian Standards

(260)

The Ordinances

(273)

Section 9 Clinching the Interest

Preaching for the Final Decision

(279)

Appeals and Altar Calls

(283)

Helping Souls to Be Converted

(286)

Gathering in the Interested

(292)

Methods of Clinching Decisions

(295)

Meeting Prejudice and Opposition

(301)

Baptism and Church Membership

(306)

Binding Off Thoroughly

(321)

Length of Effort and Closing The Campaign

(326)

Determining the Success of Meetings

(328)

Section 10 Establishing and Holding New Converts

Follow-up Methods

(334)

Integrating New Believers into the Church

(340)

Pastoral Evangelism

(345)

Responsibility of Spiritual Laymen to New Converts

(351)

Helping New Believers to Win Souls

(353)

Guarding New Members Against Error And Fanaticism

(357)

Reclaiming Backsliders

(367)

Rebaptism

(372)

Providing Church Buildings

(375)

On to New Fields

(381)

Section 11 The Work in the Large American Cities

New York

(384)

Boston and New England

(389)

Cities of the East and South

(394)

Cities of the Central States

(402)

The Western Cities

(403)

Section 12 Heralding the Message in Other Continents

Sounding the Message in Europe

(407)

England and Its Cities

(414)

The Cities of Northern Europe

(419)

In Southern Europe

(423)

Working the Australasian Cities

(425)

Section 13 Personal Work

The Need for Personal Work

(429)

House-to-House Visitation

(431)

Winning Families

(435)

Evangelistic Visiting

(437)

Ministers Giving Bible Readings

(439)

Learning the Art of Personal Work

(442)

Prejudice Broken Down

(445)

Working for the Aged

(446)

Ellen G. White’s Experience and Methods as a Personal Worker

(447)

Section 14 The Bible Instructor

Bible Teaching the Objective

(456)

Personal Workers and Wise Counselors

(458)

Searching for the Lost

(461)

Women in Evangelism

(464)

Both Men and Women Called to Bible Work

(469)

The Gospel Visitor

(470)

Women in Public Ministry

(471)

Training and Background

(474)

Bible Instructor’s Qualifications

(477)

Bible Work Techniques

(481)

Lessons from the Master Teacher

(486)

Results of Bible Work

(488)

Adequate Wages for Women Workers

(491)

Cautions to the Bible Instructor

(493)

Section 15 Song Evangelism

The Ministry of Song

(496)

Music in Evangelism

(500)

The Singing Evangelist

(504)

Emphasis in Congregational Singing

(507)

The Music Personnel

(508)

Timely Cautions

(510)

Section 16 Medical Evangelism

An Entering Wedge

(513)

The True Objective of Medical Evangelism

(516)

Relationship to Gospel Ministry

(519)

Simplicity of Method

(524)

An Antitobacco and Temperance Message

(529)

Medical Evangelism in the Cities

(532)

Institutional Evangelism

(536)

The Consecrated Physician and the Missionary Nurse

(543)

Balancing Cautions

(547)

Section 17 Laboring for Special Classes

Working for All Classes

(552)

Reaching Men of Means and Influence

(554)

Ministers of Other Denominations

(562)

Laboring for the Middle Class

(564)

Working for Fallen Humanity

(566)

The Stranger in Our Midst

(568)

Reaching Catholics

(573)

A Large Harvest from the Jews

(577)

Child Evangelism

(579)

Those in the Tourist Centers

(584)

The Street Meeting

(586)

Section 18 Dealing with False Science, Cults, Isms, and Secret Societies

Satan Gains Foothold Through False Doctrines

(589)

Miracles Not a Test

(594)

False Sanctification and Holiness

(595)

Pantheistic and Spiritualistic Theories

(600)

Various Forms of Spiritualism

(602)

Fanaticism and Extremism

(610)

Misrepresentations of the Godhead

(613)

Secret Societies

(617)

Combating Erroneous Teaching

(623)

Section 19 The Worker and His Qualifications

The Spirit of the Ministry

(628)

The Graces of Culture and Kindness

(636)

Application to the Work

(644)

Concentrating on the Main Task

(655)

Health and Health Principles

(657)

The Voice of the Gospel Worker

(665)

Personal Appearance of the Evangelist

(670)

The Evangelist’s Wife

(674)

Maintaining a High Moral Standard

(678)

The Internship Period

(682)

Calls to and Transfers of the Evangelistic Worker

(687)

Section 20 The Message Triumphant

When the Loud Cry Sounds

(692)

The Reason for the Delay

(694)

Power for Finishing the Work

(697)

Present Hour of Opportunity

(701)

Speedy Triumphant Climax

(706)

Evangelism

Main Table of Contents
Preface
Proclaiming the Message
Ever-Widening Influence of the Gospel
The Need of Evangelistic Workers
In the Shadow of Impending Doom
Increasing Difficulties
The Call for a Speedy Work
Special Opportunities for Evangelism
Surveying the Needs of the Large Cities
Problems Peculiar to Metropolitan Evangelism
The Promise of an Abundant Harvest
The Highways and Byways
Rural Workers
Patterning After the Master Evangelist
Planning an Expanding Evangelism
Moving Forward by Faith
Evangelism of the Highest Type
The Evangelist and His Team
Advantages of Two and Two
The Evangelistic Site
The Outpost Centers
Planning Sectional and Suburban Meetings
Planning for a Permanent Work
Finance and the Budget
The Business Management of the Campaign
Methods and Organization
The Evangelistic Company
Importance of Prayerful Counseling
Unity in Diversity
Allowing for More Than One Man’s Method
The City Field Training School
Reviving and Organizing the Church for Service
Relationship of Evangelist and Pastor
Guarding Against Overorganization
Our Present Truth Message
Arresting Public Attention
Successful and Impressive Advertising Methods
The Evangelist in Publicity
Avoiding Display and the Sensational
Guarding Proper Approaches
Platform Decorum, Announcements, and Preliminaries
Interest-Holding Features
Inquiry and Question Meetings
Getting Acquainted With the People
Printed Sermons And Literature
The Debate
Spirit and Manner of Presenting the Message
The Evangelistic Sermon
Christ the Center of the Message
Prophetic Preaching that Arrests Attention
Restraining Without Obscuring Truth
Truth-Teaching Devices
Stories, Anecdotes, Jesting, and Joking
False Tests and Man-Made Standards
Heralding the Second Advent
The Sanctuary Truth
Presenting the Law and the Sabbath
Meeting Sabbathkeeping Problems
Preaching on Nonimmortality
The Message of Christian Stewardship
Presentation of the Spirit of Prophecy
Presenting Health and Christian Standards
The Ordinances
Preaching for the Final Decision
Appeals and Altar Calls
Helping Souls to Be Converted
Gathering in the Interested
Methods of Clinching Decisions
Meeting Prejudice and Opposition
Baptism and Church Membership
Binding Off Thoroughly
Length of Effort and Closing The Campaign
Determining the Success of Meetings
Follow-up Methods
Integrating New Believers into the Church
Pastoral Evangelism
Responsibility of Spiritual Laymen to New Converts
Helping New Believers to Win Souls
Guarding New Members Against Error And Fanaticism
Reclaiming Backsliders
Rebaptism
Providing Church Buildings
On to New Fields
New York
Boston and New England
Cities of the East and South
Cities of the Central States
The Western Cities
Sounding the Message in Europe
England and Its Cities
The Cities of Northern Europe
In Southern Europe
Working the Australasian Cities
The Need for Personal Work
House-to-House Visitation
Winning Families
Evangelistic Visiting
Ministers Giving Bible Readings
Learning the Art of Personal Work
Prejudice Broken Down
Working for the Aged
Ellen G. White’s Experience and Methods as a Personal Worker
Bible Teaching the Objective
Personal Workers and Wise Counselors
Searching for the Lost
Women in Evangelism
Both Men and Women Called to Bible Work
The Gospel Visitor
Women in Public Ministry
Training and Background
Bible Instructor’s Qualifications
Bible Work Techniques
Lessons from the Master Teacher
Results of Bible Work
Adequate Wages for Women Workers
Cautions to the Bible Instructor
The Ministry of Song
Music in Evangelism
The Singing Evangelist
Emphasis in Congregational Singing
The Music Personnel
Timely Cautions
An Entering Wedge
The True Objective of Medical Evangelism
Relationship to Gospel Ministry
Simplicity of Method
An Antitobacco and Temperance Message
Medical Evangelism in the Cities
Institutional Evangelism
The Consecrated Physician and the Missionary Nurse
Balancing Cautions
Working for All Classes
Reaching Men of Means and Influence
Ministers of Other Denominations
Laboring for the Middle Class
Working for Fallen Humanity
The Stranger in Our Midst
Reaching Catholics
A Large Harvest from the Jews
Child Evangelism
Those in the Tourist Centers
The Street Meeting
Satan Gains Foothold Through False Doctrines
Miracles Not a Test
False Sanctification and Holiness
Pantheistic and Spiritualistic Theories
Various Forms of Spiritualism
Fanaticism and Extremism
Misrepresentations of the Godhead
Secret Societies
Combating Erroneous Teaching
The Spirit of the Ministry
The Graces of Culture and Kindness
Application to the Work
Concentrating on the Main Task
Health and Health Principles
The Voice of the Gospel Worker
Personal Appearance of the Evangelist
The Evangelist’s Wife
Maintaining a High Moral Standard
The Internship Period
Calls to and Transfers of the Evangelistic Worker
When the Loud Cry Sounds
The Reason for the Delay
Power for Finishing the Work
Present Hour of Opportunity
Speedy Triumphant Climax

Preface

Table of Contents

Evangelism, the very heart of Christianity, is the theme of primary importance to those called to herald God’s last warning to a doomed world. We are in time’s closing hours, and the Advent message, proclaimed to make ready a people prepared for our Lord’s return, must swell to a loud cry reaching the uttermost parts of the earth.

Since the early days of the work of Seventh-day Adventists[1], the Spirit of prophecy instruction placing special emphasis upon the principles and practice of soul winning has been given to guide in an expanding work. Some phases of evangelism have been delineated in nearly all the Ellen G. White books. Through the years, in the Review and Herald, Signs of the Times, and other journals, articles from the Lord’s messenger have given impetus to a growing evangelistic ministry. Individual evangelists were also, from time to time, favored in receiving instruction and warning regarding methods that should characterize their labor. Occasionally groups of evangelists and denominational administrators were addressed by Mrs. White, and these addresses often embodied much helpful counsel. But these periodical articles, special testimonies, personal counsels, and addresses are not generally available today. It is to make this full body of timely instruction accessible to our present greatly enlarged Seventh-day Adventist evangelistic force that there is now issued this comprehensive, topically arranged (p.6) compilation. Devoted exclusively to the all-important subject of evangelism.

This volume not only sets forth the well-established guiding principles which should mold the work of the evangelist and Bible instructor but also presents a wealth of minute counsel regarding the application of those principles. As a compilation of the precious instruction which the Lord has given all through the years, it is a veritable handbook of evangelism for the Advent movement.

In bringing together and arranging in logical order many statements from various sources, it was found that certain general lines of instruction were repeatedly set forth. In the effort to place before the reader all that contributed to the subject, without presenting undue repetition, only paragraphs or groups of paragraphs were selected. In some cases repetitious sentences were dropped from even the brief excerpts used, and in each case the deletion is indicated. Great care has been exercised, however, to present statements of sufficient length to give the correct setting for the counsel.

An endeavor has been made to make each section a complete treatment of the subject presented. In so doing there accrues a certain degree of unavoidable repetition of thought which emphasizes the instruction. As an aid in making ready reference to the key statements in this volume, side headings appearing in bold type have been supplied by the compilers. A source credit appears at the close of each excerpt, and as a further aid to the reader, there is given the date of writing, in case of the manuscript quotations, or the date of first publication in the case of other reference.

A knowledge of the time of the utterance sometimes (p.7) serves as a helpful guide to the application of the counsel, for our work must be conducted under changing conditions. And although in some instances it may not be possible to employ in minute detail methods advocated in earlier years, yet the basic principles enunciated or illustrated in these earlier counsels will today be a guide to safe and fruitful methods. Principle is changeless, though its application may call for an adjustment and adaptation to meet present conditions. We present a concrete illustration of this point.

The reader will find frequent mention of the camp meeting, and counsel as to its conduct. In the seventies Seventh-day Adventist camp meetings attracted very large non-Adventist week-end attendance, with congregations ranging from half church members and half non-Adventists to the unusual ratio of fifteen non-Adventists to one church member. In the nineties very successful evangelistic camp meetings held in the suburbs of large cities lasted from two weeks to a month. Such meetings were of large soul-winning potentiality. Many statements commending such meetings and giving instruction regarding their successful conduct were penned through those years.

But times have changed; the camp meeting has become a gathering almost exclusively for an enlarging church group. The non-Adventist throngs attracted in earlier years by the camp meeting are now reached more effectively through the tent or hall meeting. Nevertheless, the principles guiding to successful methods in the evangelistic camp meetings serve safely and well in leading to fruitful methods in present-day evangelism.

The instruction in this book is restricted almost entirely to the evangelistic work of the minister and the Bible instructor. The voluminous counsel in (p.8) regard to lay evangelism, set forth so fully in other E. G. White productions, also guidance on literature evangelism which fills such an important place in our work, are not repeated here because of space limitations. Likewise, medical evangelism, treated so fully and well in Ministry of Healing, Medical Ministry, and Counsels on Health, is not dwelt upon except as it relates to the public presentation of the message. Much more might be included on the qualifications of the evangelist, but the quotations on this topic are here limited to such points as have a direct bearing on his special work.

This volume is now sent into the field with the conviction that its appearance will mark a definite advance in methods of evangelism. Its constructive, up-to-date counsel, its timely cautions, its views of the triumph of the message, will, we believe, constitute a “blueprint,” guiding an evangelism that will reach its glorious climax under the loud cry of the third angel.

The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications.

Proclaiming the Message

Table of Contents

Christ’s Teaching Commission—Christ’s last words to His disciples were: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” Go to the farthest bounds of the habitable globe, and know that wherever you go My presence will attend you....

To us also the commission is given. We are bidden to go forth as Christ’s messengers, to teach, instruct, and persuade men and women, to urge upon their attention the word of life. And to us also the assurance of Christ’s abiding presence is given. Whatever the difficulties with which we may have to contend, whatever the trials we may have to endure, the gracious promise is always ours, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”—Manuscript 24, 1903.

The Message a Living Force—In the commission to His disciples, Christ not only outlined their work but gave them their message. Teach the people, He said, “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The disciples were to teach what Christ had taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament, is here included. Human teachings is shut out. There is no place for tradition, for man’s theories and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by ecclesiastical authority are (p.16) included in the commission. None of these are Christ’s servants to teach. “The law and the prophets,” with the record of His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be given to the world....

The gospel is to be presented, not as a lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. God desires that the receivers of His grace shall be witnesses to its power.—The Desire of Ages, 826 (1898). The Church Entrusted With the Message—We are now living in the closing scenes of this world’s history. Let men tremble with the sense of the responsibility of knowing the truth. The ends of the world are come. Proper consideration of these things will lead all to make an entire consecration of all that they have and are to their God....

The weighty obligation of warning a world of its coming doom is upon us. From every direction, far and near, calls are coming to us for help. The church, devotedly consecrated to the work, is to carry the message to the world: Come to the gospel feast; the supper is prepared, come.... Crowns, immortal crowns, are to be won. The kingdom of heaven is to be gained. A world, perishing in sin, is to be enlightened. The lost pearl is to be found. The lost sheep is to be brought back in safety to the fold. Who will join in the search? Who will bear the light to those who are wandering in the darkness of error?—The Review and Herald, July 23, 1895.

The Present Crisis—We should now feel the responsibility of laboring with intense earnestness to impart to others the truths that God has given for this time. We cannot be too much in earnest.... Now is the time for the last warning to be given. There is a special power in the presentation of the (p.17) truth at the present time; but how long will it continue?—Only a little while. If there was ever a crisis, it is now.

All are now deciding their eternal destiny. Men need to be aroused to realize the solemnity of the time, the nearness of the day when human probation shall be ended. Decided efforts should be made to bring the message for this time prominently before the people. The third angel is to go forth with great power.—Testimonies For The Church 6:16 (1900).

Evangelism Our Real Work—Evangelistic work[2], opening the Scriptures to others, warning men and women of what is coming upon the world, is to occupy more and still more of the time of God’s servants.—The Review and Herald, August 2, 1906.

Speeding the Message—As a people we greatly need to humble our hearts before God, pleading His forgiveness for our neglect to fulfill the gospel commission. We have made large centers in a few places, leaving unworked many important cities. Let us now take up the work appointed us, and proclaim the message that is to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger. If every Seventh-day Adventist had done the work laid upon him, the number of believers would now be much larger than it is.—Testimonies For The Church 9:25 (1909).

The Call for Earnest Work—If our ministers realized how soon the inhabitants of the world are to be arraigned before the judgment seat of God, to answer for the deeds done in the body, how earnestly they would work together with God to present the truth! How earnestly they would strive to lead men to accept the truth. How untiringly they would labor to advance God’s cause in the world, proclaiming in word (p.18) and deed, “The end of all things is at hand.”—Letter 43, 1902.

Amid Confusion of Last Days—The words of Jesus Christ are spoken to us living down here in the close of this earth’s history. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” The nations are in unrest. Times of perplexity are upon us. The waves of the sea are roaring; men’s hearts are failing them for fear and for expectation of those things that are coming upon the earth; but those who believe on the Son of God will hear His voice amid the storm, saying, “It is I; be not afraid”.... We see the world lying in wickedness and apostasy. Rebellion to the commandments of God seems almost universal. Amid the tumult of excitement with confusion in every place, there is a work to be done in the world.—Manuscript 44, 1900.

Planting the Standard in Dark Places—Satan’s armies are many, and God’s people must spread over all the world, planting the standard of truth in the dark places of the earth and doing their utmost to destroy Satan’s kingdom.—Letter 91, 1900.

The Highest, Greatest Work—The Lord designs that the presentation of this message shall be the highest, greatest work carried on in the world at this time.—Testimonies For The Church 6:11 (1900). More Rapid Advancement—In this country and in foreign countries the cause of present truth is to make more rapid advancement than it has yet made. If our people will go forth in faith, doing whatever they can to make a beginning, and laboring in Christ’s lines, the way will be opened before them. If they will show the energy that is necessary in order to gain (p.19) success, and the faith that goes forward unquestioningly in obedience to God’s command, rich returns will be theirs. They must go as far and as fast as possible, with a determination to do the very things that the Lord has said should be done. They must have push and earnest, unwavering faith.... The world must hear the warning message.—Manuscript 162, 1905.

Ever-Widening Influence of the Gospel

Table of Contents

Belting the Earth—Everywhere the light of truth is to shine forth, that hearts now in the sleep of ignorance may be awakened and converted. In all countries and cities the gospel is to be proclaimed.... Churches are to be organized and plans laid for work to be done by the members of the newly organized churches. This gospel missionary work is to keep reaching out and annexing new territory, enlarging the cultivated portions of the vineyard. The circle is to extend until it belts the world.—Letter 86, 1902.

North, South, East, and West—From town to town, from city to city, from country to country, the warning message is to be proclaimed, not with outward display, but in the power of the Spirit, by men of faith. And it is necessary that the best kind of labor be given. The time has come, the important time, when, through God’s messengers, the scroll is being unrolled to the world. The truth comprised in the first, second, and third angels’ messages must go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; it must lighten the darkness of every continent and extend to the islands of the sea....

Let there be the wisest planning for the success of the work. Decided efforts should be made to open (p.20) new fields in the north, the south, the east, and the west.... The fact that the presentation of the truth has been so long neglected should appeal to our ministers and workers to enter these fields and not give up the work until they have clearly given the message.—Manuscript 11, 1908.

Unchecked by Barriers or Obstacles—Truth, passing by those who despise and reject it, will triumph. Although at times apparently retarded, its progress had never been checked. When the message of God meets with opposition, He gives it additional force, that it may exert greater influence. Endowed with divine energy, it will cut its way through the strongest barriers, and triumph over every obstacle.—The Acts of the Apostles, 601 (1911).

A Substantial Work—The work that the gospel embraces as missionary work is a straightforward, substantial work which will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.—Letter 215b, 1899. An Influence That Deepens and Widens—The influence of these messages has been deepening and widening, setting in motion the springs of action in thousands of hearts, bringing into existence institutions of learning, publishing houses, and health institutions; all these are the instrumentalities of God to co-operate in the grand work represented by the first, second, and third angels flying in the midst of heaven to warn the inhabitants of the world that Christ is coming again with power and great glory.—The Review and Herald, December 6, 1892.

Proclaim Message in New Fields—We have a most solemn, testing message to give to the world. But too much time has been given to those who already know the truth. In the place of spending time on those (p.21) who have been given many opportunities to learn the truth, go to the people who have never heard your message. Hold your camp meetings [Note.—Seventh-day Adventist camp meetings of earlier years were great evangelistic agencies drawing large, attentive, non-Adventist audiences. In the frequent mention of camp meetings in this volume the context clearly indicates that it is the tent meeting of large evangelistic potentialities that is usually referred to. See pages 82, 83 for statements describing such meetings.] In cities where the truth has not been proclaimed. Some will attend the meetings and receive the message.—Letter 87, 1896.

New Places the Best Places—The places in which the truth has never been proclaimed are the best places in which to work. The truth is to take possession of the will of those who have never before heard it. They will see the sinfulness of sin, and their repentance will be thorough and sincere. The Lord will work upon hearts that in the past have not often been appealed to, hearts that heretofore have not seen the enormity of sin.—Letter 106, 1903.

If Truth Had Been Aggressively Proclaimed—There was spread out before me city after city in need of evangelistic labors. If diligent effort had been given to the work of making known the truth for this time in the cities that are unwarned, they would not now be as impenitent as they are. From the light that has been given me I know that we might have had today thousands more rejoicing in the truth if the work had been carried forward as the situation demands, in many aggressive lines.—Letter 94a, 1909.

The Need of Evangelistic Workers

Table of Contents

The Harvest Is Great—The solemn, sacred message of warning must be proclaimed in the most difficult fields and in the most sinful cities, in every place where (p.22) the light of the great threefold gospel message has not yet dawned. Everyone is to hear the last call to the marriage supper of the Lamb....

Countries hitherto closed to the gospel are opening their doors, and are pleading for the Word of God to be explained to them. Kings and princes are opening their long-closed gates, inviting the heralds of the cross to enter. The harvest truly is great. Eternity alone will reveal the results of well-directed efforts put forth now.—Gospel Workers, 27 (1915).

Ambassadors for Christ—Ministers of God, with hearts aglow with love for Christ and your fellow men, seek to arouse those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Let your earnest entreaties and warnings pierce their consciences. Let your fervent prayers melt their hearts, and lead them in penitence to the Saviour. You are ambassadors for Christ, to proclaim His message of salvation.—Gospel Workers, 35 (1915).

A Hundred Workers Where Now Is One—Time is short. Workers for Christ are needed everywhere. There should be one hundred earnest, faithful laborers in home and foreign mission fields where now there is one. The highways and the byways are yet unworked. Urgent inducements should be held out to those who ought now to be engaged in missionary work for the Master.—Fundamentals of Christian Education, 488 (1903).

A Wise Distribution of Men—For the accomplishment of all that God calls for in warning the cities, His servants must plan for a wise distribution of the working forces. Often the laborers who might be a power for good in public meetings, are engaged in other work that allows them no time for active ministry among the people. For the conduct of affairs at the various centers of our work, those in responsibility (p.23) must endeavor, as far as possible, to find consecrated men who have been trained in business lines. There is constant necessity of guarding against the tendency to tie up at these centers of influence men who could do a larger and more important work on the public platform, in presenting before unbelievers the truths of God’s Word.—The Review and Herald, April 7, 1910.

The Highest Calling