20:20Acts 20:20

Paul spoke these words to the elders of Ephesus called to him at Miletus, appealing to their own knowledge of his life among them from the first day he came into Asia.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1 To keep back nothing profitable means to withhold no useful and beneficial truth, but to show and teach fully and openly what hearers needed, both in public preaching and in homes from family to family.MC 27.3+4 That full teaching declared all the counsel of God, testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance toward God whose holy law reveals sin and guilt, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood alone cleanses and whose merits pardon and restore the believer.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+4 It is the binding pattern for gospel work, that ministers and every converted believer must not rest on public preaching alone but follow it with personal house-to-house labor, entering homes to converse, pray, read and explain the Word simply, and instruct seekers.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+4 Done in humility and Christlike love, this fireside work often does more good than public effort, adds converts, strengthens workers, and in the close of earth's history becomes the most essential means to warn the world and prepare people for Christ's coming.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+4

Paul called the elders of Ephesus to him at Miletus and appealed to their own knowledge of his manner of life from the first day he came into Asia.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1 That life was service to the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears and with temptations and trials coming from the lying in wait of the Jews.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+4 It met continual opposition, with popular feeling stirred against him, mob attacks with insult and abuse, and every effort to destroy his labor, yet he persisted in humble personal ministry.MC 27.3+4 He held back nothing useful or beneficial to his hearers, but showed, explained, and taught the truth fully both publicly and from house to house.MC 27.3+4

Alongside earnest labor in teaching the Scriptures he worked with his hands as a tentmaker, working day and night so as not to be chargeable to any for support.Ms 93, 1899, par. 6–8+2 He suffered hunger to relieve the necessities of others, shared his earnings, and helped fellow workers, as an all-round minister and Christian gentleman of the highest type.Lt 103, 1900, par. 19–22 His example shows that honorable manual toil in any line cannot be degrading, does not shame ministry or lessen influence, is not inconsistent with true greatness and elevation of human and Christian character, and need not make a man coarse and rough and uncourteous.Ms 93, 1899, par. 6–8+2 Ministers are not obligated to do in all respects as Paul did in this self-support.Lt 103, 1900, par. 19–22 At Corinth the same teaching held that ethnic and circumcision distinctions did not prevent Jews and Gentiles from sharing equal standing as children of Abraham, and this message angered his opponents.AA 389.2–390.2

To keep back nothing profitable is to withhold no useful or beneficial truth, but to openly show, explain, and teach fully what hearers needed both publicly and from house to house.MC 27.3+4 That withholding nothing was thorough work, joining public labor with private labor in earnest care and humility, even with humble persistent ministry amid tears and trials, and by that thoroughness churches were established.MC 27.3+3 In its connected testimony it called both Jews and Greeks to repentance toward God because His law had been broken and to faith toward Jesus Christ because His death provides cleansing from sin.SLP 198.2–199.2+2

That full showing and teaching was the declaring of all the counsel of God, testifying to Jews and Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1 By that complete declaration Paul was pure from the blood of all men.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1 Upon that ground stands the charge to take heed to self and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made overseers to feed the church of God purchased with His own blood, guarding it because grievous wolves would enter in after his departing to seek lost, perishing souls.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1 The faithful minister therefore serves with humility, keeps back nothing profitable, and shows and teaches the saving truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified publicly and from house to house, so that by declaring the whole counsel he is pure from the blood of all.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+1

Thorough teaching of that kind requires searching the Scriptures so teachers can share all of God's counsel with those they meet.Ms 102, 1893, par. 18+1 It gives people the truth without adding personal ideas or hiding God's precepts, and gives learners instruction suited to their maturity.ST Dec 25, 1893 It makes Christ and Him crucified stand out clear and prominent in every discourse, testifying repentance toward God and faith toward Christ, reproving, rebuking and exhorting with longsuffering and doctrine.Lt 9, 1892, par. 25–29 It does not please men, nor bury truth under many words, novelty, drollery, or strife about words, but sanctifies the Lord in the heart.Lt 9, 1892, par. 25–29

The verse joins two forms of instruction together, teaching publicly and teaching from house to house in homes and families.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+4 It defines home missionary work as keeping back nothing profitable, and sets the pattern ministers are to follow by not only preaching but going from house to house to become acquainted with the different families, whether converted or still without God and without hope in the world.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+2 Public discourses in the house of God must be followed by personal labor, visiting people in their homes and speaking helpful, encouraging words to them, a work far more effective than preaching alone and essential for the well-being of the people of God.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+2 House-to-house work and Bible readings in families give access to people seeking truth, so that through Scripture, prayer, and faith workers teach them the way of the Lord, and the warning is given clearly and plainly in public assemblies and in personal, home-to-home work.7T 38.1+2 A Bible teacher should therefore be able to present the truths of God's word clearly in public and do effective evangelistic work from house to house, preparing students for both forms of service through trained gospel workers who visit families, talk and pray with them, and direct people to the truths they need.STB 567.3+2

House-to-house work means entering homes to become acquainted, converse, talk and pray with families, sing, read and explain the Word simply, give Bible readings, and instruct those seeking faith, sometimes meeting several families together.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+4 It is a pastor's duty to visit each family, teach, talk and pray with them, care for their spiritual welfare, and thoroughly instruct those seeking to understand the faith.ASCOP 13.3–14.1+2 Such a visit is not fulfilled by withdrawing to read or write, for time spent in private reading and writing gives the household no benefit and neglects this duty.4T 266.2–3+1 Ministers are to open the Scriptures with families and pray with them rather than limiting labor to preaching from the pulpit, as workers do when giving Bible readings and praying with interested people in their homes.IRCUP 4.1+2

Public preaching alone is not enough and must be followed by personal labor, with long discourses shortened so they do not weary the people and exhaust the strength needed for visiting.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+3 About half the time given to preaching should go to close house-to-house work, which often does more good than a public effort.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+2 Withholding nothing beneficial means teaching publicly and visiting people in their homes to warn each person so each may be presented perfect in Christ, for preaching from the desk is futile unless supported outside the desk by actual contact that brings the minister into close sympathy with them.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+1 This personal work blesses others and is a means of grace to the minister himself, whose spirituality always declines when he neglects it.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+1 One who shuns or neglects house-to-house work by claiming lack of adaptation, or who sends helpers to visit while staying behind to receive reports, is guilty of sore neglect that injures soul-saving and must receive careful and prompt correction, since failure here comes from faithlessness and narrow ideas and plans.ASCOP 11.1–12.1+1 Teaching Scripture and praying with families must be joined to preaching, for omitting this work makes preaching largely unsuccessful, while the home becomes a place where people are taught to welcome God's love into family life with the Holy Spirit's indwelling power helping in the work.STMW7 46.1–2+1 Ministers are to preach publicly and teach from house to house in places that have not yet heard instead of hovering over churches already raised up, planning wisely as faithful stewards and doing aggressive work in new fields, preaching in season and out of season and raising up companies of believers here and there in the highways and byways.Ms 68, 1904, par. 10–11+1 Working in this way is working in Christ's lines with the Lord working with them to fulfill His promise, reviving the message in their hearts and bringing encouragement, and done in the meekness of Christ this house-to-house labor has the angels of God working with it.Ms 68, 1904, par. 10–11+1

The same public-and-private pattern appears in Apollos at Corinth, who reasoned with Jews publicly and privately from prophecy that Jesus was the Messiah Paul had preached, so that Paul planted the seed of truth and Apollos watered it.ST Apr 3, 1884

Paul's teaching from house to house testified to both Jews and Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.Ms 107, 1898, par. 20+4 He withheld nothing beneficial but taught fully in public and in homes, calling all to turn from sin and to trust in Christ.SLP 198.2–199.2+3 That testimony was repentance because God's law had been broken and faith because Christ's death provides cleansing from sin.SLP 198.2–199.2+2 It is the pattern of presenting Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour to those outside the faith, that they may turn from idols to serve God.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+1

Repentance toward God is required because sin is transgression of God's holy law, which must still be kept as in Eden.SLP 198.2–199.2+3 The broken law reveals sin, guilt, and condemnation, arousing the conscience so sinners feel their need of repentance.SLP 198.2–199.2+3 Like a schoolmaster it shows hearers wherein they are guilty, calls attention to the broken law, and points out their need to return to loyalty to God.SLP 198.2–199.2+2 Repentance is sorrow for sin and turning from violations of every principle of God's law.Ms 40, 1894, par. 19+1

Faith toward Christ looks to Him as sacrifice, surety, mediator, advocate, and Sin-bearer whose blood alone cleanses every stain.SLP 198.2–199.2+2 Through His merits and imputed righteousness the repenting believer receives pardon, stands acquitted before God, and becomes a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King, an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.Ms 40, 1894, par. 19+3 The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, and lay sins upon the Sin-bearer who came to take away the sin of the world.6MR 8.1–3+1 Seeing Christ's perfect character reveals defects in one's own character and leads to seek cleansing and change through Christ's merits.Ms 72, 1901, par. 9–12+1

There is no saving or pardoning power in the law itself, no one is saved by law, and only Christ the Redeemer has power to save the lawbreaker.SLP 198.2–199.2+4 The law has no power to save or pardon the transgressor but brings the repentant sinner to Christ by pointing to the remedy for sin.SLP 198.2–199.2+2 Christ came to draw people to repentance, and His love revealed at the cross draws sinners to repent and grasp His power.6MR 8.1–3+1 Faith in Christ does not cancel God's law but upholds it and produces obedience.SLP 198.2–199.2+1 Through repentance and faith believers are freed from sin's condemnation and enabled by Christ's grace to obey, keep the commandments unto life, return to loyalty, and follow Christ's example.SLP 198.2–199.2+2

That house-to-house warning presses a higher standard of being cleansed from all unrighteousness through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.Ms 31, 1886, par. 9+2 It calls sinners to see their true condition as Paul himself did when he saw his true condition.Ms 31, 1886, par. 9+1 The warning is urgent because no one living in transgression and rebellion against God will be allowed to enter the gates of the holy city or be admitted to the courts above when Christ comes, and no rebel will enter heaven.Ms 31, 1886, par. 9+1 Paul taught the true gospel that gives honor and dignity to God's law, unlike invented gospels that substitute the commandments of men for the commandments of God.ST Feb 24, 1898 Repentance toward God is the first requirement because His law has been broken, and the sinner must be converted and led to Christ as the only remedy for sin and trust Him as personal Saviour.SLP 198.2–199.2+2

Acts 20:20 sets the pattern ministers must follow, keeping back nothing profitable but teaching both publicly and from house to house, not preaching from the desk alone but doing well-directed personal labor in homes.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+4 That labor means going from house to house to become acquainted with the different families in the church, whether converted or still without God and without hope in the world, visiting people in their homes, warning each person so each may be presented perfect in Christ.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+2 Those who know the truth are not to spend undue time only on those who already know it but are to carry the message to others outside the faith, especially those with no interest in religious things, visiting them and presenting Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour unto repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+1 Public discourses in the house of God must be followed by personal labor, visiting people in their homes and speaking helpful, encouraging words to them, for it is by actual contact that the minister helps people and comes into close sympathy with them, a work far more effective than preaching alone and essential for the well-being of the people of God.Ms 63, 1898, par. 1–2+1

A pastor's duty is to visit each family, and to visit families in general, to teach, converse, talk and pray with them, to look after and care for their spiritual welfare, and to give thorough instruction to those who want to understand the faith and to those seeking to learn it.ASCOP 13.3–14.1+4 A visit is not fulfilled by withdrawing to read or write, and a visit spent in private reading and writing gives the household no benefit and neglects this duty.4T 266.2–3+1 Preaching from the desk is futile unless supported outside the desk, and preaching without this contact is largely futile, while close work with individual souls in earnestness and humility brings many to a knowledge of the truth, imbues souls ready to die with the Spirit of Christ, keeps churches from dying for want of the right kind of labor, and educates church members into a deep and living experience that brings their thoughts into subjection to the divine will.ASCOP 11.1–12.1+1 Persistent, wise labor from house to house and within the home, with earnest care for people and instruction in the way of life, is therefore required and not confined to public preaching.4T 262.3

This personal work blesses others and is a means of grace to the minister himself, whose spirituality always declines when he neglects it, injuring the work of saving souls.ASCOP 11.1–12.1+1 A minister who shuns or neglects house-to-house work because he claims he is not adapted to visiting, or who sends helpers to do the visiting while he stays behind to receive reports, is guilty of sore neglect that must receive careful and prompt correction, and no such excuse avails.ASCOP 11.1–12.1 Public preaching must be short so it does not weary the people and use up the time and strength the minister needs for the personal labor that should follow, going from house to house to labor with families and call their attention to eternal truths in the Word of God.Ms 14, 1887, par. 16 Failure to do it comes from faithlessness and narrow ideas and plans, while done in the meekness of Christ it has the angels of God working with it.Ms 14, 1887, par. 16

House-to-house labor does not belittle a minister of the gospel to engage in it, even though he be eloquent and highly favored and God has manifested Himself to him in a wonderful manner, for Paul did this work with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations by the lying in wait of the Jews.MC 27.3+3 Visiting families to talk and pray with them is valuable missionary work and gospel ministry equal to preaching, and people suited to it should not be diverted into preaching when that leaves this needed work undone.MC 29.1 The intelligent, God-fearing, truth-loving canvasser occupies a position equal to that of the gospel minister, for canvassing is most precious ministry and an important missionary field, and going from house to house is laboring in the same manner as canvassing to carry truth to the people.CEv 15.3+1 Personal, household outreach is thus an essential part of ministry, not a task to leave chiefly to preachers, and humble, persistent personal ministry amid tears and trials shows that carrying the gospel from home to home is a worthy way to serve.MC 27.3+2

Canvassing gives ministers a varied experience that preaching alone cannot give, and this humble, personal ministry through canvassing is work ministers can do.Ms 122, 1899, par. 85–87+1 House-to-house canvassing follows Paul's pattern of personally meeting people, sharing truth, and helping them, and this work can deepen the worker's knowledge of Scripture and skill and learn to win souls for Christ and win people to Christ.6T 321.1+1 It carries Christ's fragrance to people in personal conversation, blessing others and the worker, and includes visiting homes and speaking about the truth when opportunity offers.RH Apr 28, 1904 Canvassers can do this house-to-house work, as a line of work for reaching people alongside the gospel ministry, more successfully than any others.Ms 36, 1900, par. 3

Doing both together, proclaiming truth to great congregations in public and teaching from house to house, is double missionary work carrying the gospel ministry in fields nigh and afar off.Ms 82, 1904, par. 5–6 Those who labor in both ways are to be sustained from the tithe, and in no case are their salaries to be cut down.Ms 82, 1904, par. 5–6 The standard is Paul's example of serving the Lord with all humility as the standard of duty for a Christian minister, keeping back nothing profitable but showing and teaching both publicly and from house to house.Lt 3, 1892, par. 34–38+1 Ministers must not take an easy, comfortable course or merely copy another minister, but must examine themselves to learn the meekness and lowliness of Christ and follow this thorough, personal labor for souls, seeking the meekness and lowliness of Christ, not praising their own works but drawing attention to the sanctifying grace of God revealed in His Word, living a life of dependence on Christ after seeking the Lord with heart and soul, to be worked by the Holy Spirit with the Lord's cooperation in city work carried forward intelligently and solidly.Lt 3, 1892, par. 34–38+1

The house-to-house mission belongs not to ministers alone but to every converted person where he is, while ministers go to those who have not heard.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+2 Humble lay believers without ordination, extensive education, or ministerial office can carry truth to friends and neighbors, meeting real needs in homes that a minister may not reach as well.9T 35.2+2 Women are to serve as Bible teachers, young men and women are to take up personal labor, and husband-and-wife teams with children are to settle in suburbs and unworked settlements to work their neighborhoods through books, papers, tracts, literature, and Bible readings.9T 35.2+2 Those who know the truth are not to spend undue time on those who already know it but are to visit those outside the faith, especially those with no interest in religious things, presenting Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour with love that proclaims the message powerfully unto conversion.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+2

Labor is to press into new fields, nearby unworked cities, highways and byways, and places that have not heard, rather than hovering over raised churches or moving where a large church already exists.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+2 Ministers are to plan wisely as faithful stewards, preach in season and out of season, seek access to homes, become acquainted with people, and raise up companies of believers here and there, working in Christ's lines with the Lord working with them to revive the message in their hearts and bring encouragement.Ms 68, 1904, par. 10–11+2 Young men should begin with humble house-to-house labor rather than being petted in established churches, and such labor can succeed with little expense and God's blessing even where tent meetings are too costly or cannot be held.Lt 158, 1896, par. 21+2

After public efforts and camp-meetings workers must remain together as a mission family, as many as funds allow, and follow up interested people rather than pull up stakes for another meeting lest impressions be lost.Ms 7, 1900, par. 14+2 Tent services are to continue as long as advisable after two or three weeks of camp-meeting, with workers visiting homes, reading and praying simply, explaining the Word, sometimes meeting several families together in a little reading circle.Ms 146, 1901, par. 17+2 Visiting to explain truth more fully in contrast to error establishes new believers who are not familiar with the Word against confusing ministers who misquote and wrest the Scriptures, and done earnestly, vigilantly, and perseveringly as by those watching for souls who must give an account, it brings many more sheaves from the seed sown in public.Lt 18, 1898, par. 17–18+2 This searching for souls and hunting for the lost sheep by Bible readings, colporteur work, selling tracts, and a mission home educating workers in every line preserves good impressions, brings people to take their position on the Sabbath, gathers converts into organized churches, and wins many who then join the force of workers, as when fifty embraced truth after Stanmore and seventy-five were organized into a church.9T 120.2+3

Methods include opening the Bible from house to house, giving Bible readings, watching hearers' faces, praying and singing with families, reading and explaining Scripture simply so they receive light, hope, and courage, and teaching them the way of the Lord through Scripture, prayer, and faith.7T 38.1+3 Workers are to distribute books, papers, tracts, and literature judiciously, circulate the publications, add a room for lessons, secure worship places, minister to the sick in their necessities to win love, walk five or six miles to reach people, and canvass every settlement before branching farther.9T 35.2+3 Every soul receiving divine illumination is to impart it with earnest Bible study and zeal in spreading the light that blessed his own soul.PMMEP 30.3+2

Medical missionary workers who treat the sick in homes gain access to many hearts and reach people who otherwise would never hear the gospel.STB 328.2+1 Visiting homes for practical treatment opens doors closed to other effort and makes their house-to-house ministry a means of reaching otherwise unreached souls.STB 328.2+1

Bible teachers must train students to present truth both publicly and from house to house as thorough preparation for each one's adapted line of service.STB 567.3+2 Faithful work for Christ requires both open public effort and personal work in homes, and those trained for service must be taught how to do both under thorough, disciplined preparation.Ms 70, 1904, par. 9+2 A Bible teacher should be able to prepare students for both forms and to present the truths of the Word clearly in public and effectively from house to house.STB 567.3+2

No Spirit-directed worker entering any place to do this work should be hindered, and all possible efforts should reach every place.6MR 63.2–3+2 The work must move solidly and wisely under the sure guidance of the Holy Spirit, not hastily dividing workers and means or making large outlays in new places before started interests approach perfection.6MR 63.2–3+2 Instruction against diverting means into new channels does not forbid this personal house-to-house labor.6MR 63.2–3+1

The work is to be done in a Christlike, earnest, wise, kind manner, withholding nothing beneficial, calling people not only to hear the word but to practise it and share it, with angels cooperating, the Holy Spirit working lives, and God's blessing making truth powerful to save.SBAWP 37.4+3 Done fireside by fireside in love and in the meekness of Christ, with short public preaching that does not weary people nor consume strength needed for visiting, it awakens interest in present truth, meets real needs, deepens knowledge of God, prompts heartfelt prayer, wins people to Christ, and can exceed public discourses in value.8T 82.2–83.1+3 Those engaging in it go forward in the Lord's name with heavenly angels as companions and power to resist the enemy's attacks, and the Saviour blesses those who do it, using many gifts in the work of saving souls in which all who can should take part.Lt 108, 1901, par. 11+2

Workers must not spare themselves but sow truth everywhere, following Christ who did not spare Himself, watching for opportunities to sow seeds of truth wherever people may be.RH Jun 14, 1906+1 They must not hide light under a bushel with narrow, contracted plans but bring forth light and set it on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, where house means God's world.RH Jun 14, 1906+1

Near the close of earth's history this is the most essential, privileged work to warn the world of the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and to prepare people for the marriage supper of the Lamb.Lt 18, 1907, par. 2+2 It is to give God's last warning swiftly to high and low, rich and poor, in highways and hedges, through multiplied thoroughfares of travel and the press, with Bibles and publications in many languages, literature distributed on trains, in streets, on great ships plying the seas, and through the mails, serving as canvassers with larger books, as evangelists, and as physicians learning medical missionary work, and it must not be neglected for commercial interests in food factories, food stores, and hygienic restaurants that absorb the mind.RH Jan 25, 1906+2 In cities it is solid, necessary work to be carried forward without delay because the end is near, requiring many wisely directed Bible workers with consecrated publishing and sanitarium workers each acting a part, as in Nashville and the cities and towns in its vicinity, laboring intelligently in the Lord's way to press the work ahead.Lt 18, 1907, par. 2+2

Faithfulness brings thousands to rejoice, adds converts, strengthens working forces, forms symmetrical character, blesses the worker, and keeps the treasury supplied through unselfish use of means and earnest efforts including circulating publications to let light shine to those in darkness.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+3 Public preaching followed by house-to-house labor wins many who after conversion join the workers and help others accept truth.Lt 108, 1901, par. 11+2 Neglect leaves large portions of the vineyard uncultivated and souls lost, leaving the silent worker accountable when meeting them before the bar of God.Ms 63, 1898, par. 10–13+1

Each one must act on individual responsibility without waiting to be urged by responsible agents, coming into line to present truth from house to house to souls starving for the bread of life.Ms 55, 1907, par. 2+2 This means seeking the Spirit most earnestly in prayer, breaking up fallow ground of the heart, becoming familiar with the Bible, refusing precious time for indulgence while neglecting souls, doing kindly, interested heart work for neighbors, talking truth at every fireside where access can be gained in love for Christ and souls, and with watchfulness in one's own home laboring for conversion of children and neighbors.Lt 171, 1897, par. 13+2 Now is the most favorable time to work, trusting results with God though toiling is hard and the work moves slowly, thanking God that it moves at all.Ms 55, 1907, par. 2+2