Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)
Ms 76, 1897
True Education
NP
July 8, 1897
This manuscript is published in entirety in SpM 56-59.
Education, as it is conducted in the schools of today, is one-sided, and therefore a mistake. As the purchase of the Son of God, we are His property, and every one should have an education in the schools of Christ. Wise teachers should be chosen for our schools. Teachers have to deal with human minds, and they are responsible to God to impress upon those minds the necessity of knowing Christ as a personal Saviour. But no one can truly educate God’s purchased possession unless he himself has learned in the school of Christ how to teach. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 1
I must tell you from the light given me by God, I know that much time and money is spent by students in acquiring a knowledge that is as chaff to them, for it does not enable them to help their fellow men to form characters that will fit them to unite with saints and angels in the higher school. In the place of crowding youthful minds with a mass of things that are distasteful, and that in many cases will never be of any use to them, a practical education should be given. Time and money is spent in gaining useless knowledge. The mind should be carefully and wisely taught to dwell upon Bible truth. The main object of education should be to gain a knowledge of how we can glorify God, whose we are by creation and by redemption. The result of education should be to enable us to understand the voice of God. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 2
The earth is corrupt and dark and idolatrous, but amid the darkness and corruption a pure, divine light, the Word of God, is shining. But although we have known the truth for many years, little advancement has been made by those who have been given light. Whose plan was it to produce that class of books that have been patronized in our schools? It was the plan largely of men who had not the experience of Moses and Joshua and Daniel, and the other prophets and apostles, who endured the seeing of Him who is invisible. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 3
Seeing God by faith gives a conception of the divine character, the perfection of heaven. But to place in our schools the books that have been placed there as standard books is an offense to God. In this age, as never before, when the two great forces of the Prince of heaven and the prince of hell have met in decided conflict, our youth need instruction in Bible principles. Like the branches of the true Vine, the Word of God presents unity in diversity. There is in it a perfect, superhuman, mysterious unity. It contains divine wisdom that is the foundation of all true education; but this book has been treated indifferently. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 4
Now, as never before, we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3.] If this is the price of heaven, shall not our education be given on these lines? Christ must be everything to us. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.” [Isaiah 9:6.] What a foundation is here laid for the faith of those who shall live in all ages. When Christ ascended to heaven, He ascended as our Advocate. We always have a friend at court. And from on high Christ sends His Representative to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The Holy Spirit gives the divine anointing to all who receive Christ. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 5
This is the great subject that underlies all true, sanctified education. When this is made the theme of our conversation, no idle common talk will fall from our lips. Jesting and joking are heard because the soul-temple is unsanctified and unholy. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 6
God, the everlasting Father, gave His only begotten Son to the world, that all who come to Him might have everlasting life. And in this gift He opened to us a channel of the richest and most inexhaustible treasures. This sacred theme should be the food of our minds. With this bread of life we should satisfy our soul hunger. If we do this, we cannot hunger for worldly excitement or grandeur. Our religious experience is of exactly the same quality as the food we give our minds. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 7
The Lord’s anointing was upon Christ. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,” He declared, “because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” [Isaiah 61:1-3.] 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 8
“And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” [Verse 4.] This work is given to all who return to their loyalty by keeping God’s commandments. “For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 9
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” [Verses 8-11.] 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 10
These words of Inspiration present before those who claim to believe present truth the work that should now be done in educational lines. This work should be of the same character as Christ’s work; for “we are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Christ worked in a way altogether different from that of any other teacher. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 11
The truths contained in the Scriptures are grand, elevating, uplifting, ennobling. If the lost image of God is restored in this world, these truths must be cherished. They are graced with such simplicity that they could not possibly have originated in any human mind. A sower from a higher world went forth to sow the world with the seed of truth. This higher phase of education only is able to prepare students for the higher school, where Christ and God will be the teachers, and where, throughout eternity, we shall learn how best to magnify and glorify God’s name. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 12
Men that are not burdened to learn Greek and Latin may yet possess a most earnest zeal to prepare in this life to receive life eternal, and enter the higher school, taking with them the result of their studies in the schools of this world. When they reach the heavenly school their education will have advanced just in proportion as in this world they strove to obtain a knowledge of God and the world’s Redeemer. And just in proportion to the advancement they have made in seeking God and His righteousness will they be rewarded in the future immortal life. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 13
The scheme of redemption is not a common study. Had it been, so many souls would not have been disloyal to God. Commencing with the apostasy and the gospel presented to Adam and Eve in Eden, and tracing down prophetic history, the Word of God unfolds the plan of redemption, gathering fresh and increased evidence, until the fulness of the time came, and then Christ made His advent into the world. In Christ the Deity was represented. He was the great Instructor in divine philosophy. He came without display, having no outward glory to stimulate mere admiration, and possessing no earthly riches. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 14
When Christ came to this earth, the traditions that had been handed down from generation to generation, and the human interpretation of the Scriptures, hid from men the truth as it is in Jesus. The truth was buried beneath a mass of tradition. The spiritual import of the sacred volumes was lost, for in their unbelief men locked the door of the heavenly treasure. Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people. Truth looked down from heaven to earth, but nowhere was revealed the divine impress. A gloom like the pall of death overspread the earth. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 15
But the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevailed. He opened the seal that closed the book of divine instruction. The world was permitted to gaze upon pure, unadulterated truth. Truth itself descended to roll back the darkness and counteract error. A Teacher was sent from heaven with the light that was to lighten every man that came into the world. There were men and women who were eagerly seeking for knowledge, the sure Word of prophecy, and when it came, it was as a light shining in a dark place. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 16
As a golden treasure truth was entrusted to the Jewish nation. The Jewish economy, bearing the signature of heaven, was instituted by the great Teacher, Jesus Christ. In types and shadows important truths and mysteries that needed an interpreter were veiled. The shadow pointed to the substance; and when Jesus came to our world, it was to let spiritual light shine forth. Hear, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth! The appointed Instructor was no less a personage than the only begotten Son of God. God was revealed in Christ. He made plain the treasures of truth. He displaced the rubbish that had been piled on the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, declaring Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He who made the world, and made man, made also the Sabbath, and gave it to man to keep holy. 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 17
“The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak thou unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:12-17.] 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 18
God’s standard of character is His law. Satan said, I will tear down this standard, and will plant my own standard in its place. This he has tried and is still trying to do, that God’s standard may be eclipsed or seen through a glass darkly. The Jews did not see it, and that is why they crucified Christ. The Christian world do not see it; and that is why they refuse to acknowledge the law of God. In so doing they make themselves accountable for the sins that destroyed the inhabitants of the old world by a flood, that brought fire and brimstone upon Sodom, and that destroyed the Jewish nation. Shall those to whom God has given wonderful opportunities and great light follow in the tread of those who rejected light to their ruin? Shall those to whom God has entrusted wonderful truth remain on the low level of the teachers of this generation? 12LtMs, Ms 76, 1897, par. 19