Sermons and Talks, vol. 2

Chapter 18—Light to Go Forth From Avondale; Holy Spirit on These Grounds

Manuscript 66, 1899

[Extracts from a talk given by Mrs. E.G. White at the opening of College Hall, Avondale, Australia, April 13, 1899.]

School work is a work of partnership. Those who have come to this school with an earnest desire to make of themselves all that it is possible, by the help of the Lord, may be assured that One who is mighty in power will link up with them and teach them the way of the Lord. But those who have come here for their own amusement, who do not put their minds to the task of securing a right education, will lose much. They will miss the mark entirely. 2SAT 135.1

We are fitting for heaven, the higher school. We expect to see a company of workers raised up in this school who will win souls to Christ because they are laborers together with God, because it is their greatest desire to spread the knowledge of truth. This was Daniel's object, and we read that God gave him knowledge and understanding in all learning and wisdom. 2SAT 135.2

Light is to go forth from this school to place after place, reaching to Queensland and the regions beyond, to Sydney and Melbourne. If every student will put his mind to the task, deciding that he will make of himself all that God designed him to be, he will receive great light and rich blessing. God desires students to receive an education that will enable them to see the possibilities and probabilities within their reach, to see what they may become by cooperating with the great Teacher. 2SAT 135.3

He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” You may go to this place and that place in search of amusement and self-gratification, but when these are found, what real happiness do they bring? Christ says, “Come unto Me ... and ye shall find rest.” This promise was uttered by lips that never lie. We have the positive assurance that by coming to Christ, we shall find rest. This rest each student may have if he will give to the Saviour the powers of his being. 2SAT 135.4

Students, you can be servants of God. It is possible for you to win the crown of life which fadeth not away. Set your aim high. Instead of indulging in frivolity and cheap talk, speak sound words, words which will be a blessing to those who hear them. Enter the school of Christ. Take firm hold of Him who is mighty, who will lift up for you a standard against the enemy. Close the windows of the soul earthward, against the malarious atmosphere of doubt, and open them heavenward that the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness may shine upon you. 2SAT 135.5

God loves children and youth. He greatly blessed Joseph in Egypt. He passed by the aged Eli, who had neglected to train his children in ways of obedience, and to the child Samuel communicated what should befall Israel because of their wickedness. Every student may hold communion with God. Every student may know what it means to be taught by the Holy Spirit. 2SAT 136.1

God longs to have you reach after Him in faith. He longs to have you expect great things of Him. He longs to give you understanding in temporal as well as spiritual matters. He can sharpen the intellect. He can give tact and ingenuity. All that we have God gave us, and in return He expects us to lay ourselves at His feet. He will accept this offering, and will sanctify every power of mind and body. 2SAT 136.2

Students, do not disappoint your Creator. Do not think that you have come to school to do very much as you please. Do not allow your mind to be filled with lightness and trifling. Keep yourselves in the channel of light. Consecrate yourselves to God. He will accept all who put away the evil of their doings. Your parents are watching your progress with intense interest. Do not disappoint them. Make them happy by following a right course. Make a covenant with God by sacrifice. He will accept your offering, and make you vessels unto honor. 2SAT 136.3

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[Extracts from discourse given by Mrs. E. G. White in the Avondale Church, March 25, 1899.] 2SAT 136.4

“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” [Romans 12:1]. 2SAT 136.5

The Lord says this because He knows it is for our good. He would build a wall around us, to keep us from transgression, so that His blessing and love may be bestowed on us in rich measure. This is the reason we have established a school here. The Lord instructed us that this was the place in which we should locate, and we have had every reason to think that we are in the right place. We have been brought together as a school, and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds, unseen by human eyes; that the Lord God is our Keeper and Helper. He hears every word we utter and knows every thought of the mind. 2SAT 136.6

No one will be forced into the kingdom of heaven. Those who do not wish to enter show it by their actions. It is because we want to enter this kingdom that we have established a school here, and have called for the youth to come. We desire that they should be educated and trained aright, that they may learn what they should do in order to keep the intellect unimpaired. As we look at the world we know that iniquity abounds. Very little that is of God and heaven can be seen. We desire to bring all of heaven we possibly can into our homes, into the church, into the school, and we desire that the Lord shall see in us no perversity, no stubbornness, no disobedience. 2SAT 137.1

God has given each of us talents upon which to trade. To some He has given ten talents, to others two, and to others one. He expects us to use wisely what He has given us. By exercise our talents may be improved, and as they are improved, we are given more upon which to trade. 2SAT 137.2

We are to strive most earnestly to place mind, soul, and body in the best condition for God's service. When the lawyer asked Christ what he should do to inherit eternal life, Christ said, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” The lawyer said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” “Thou hast answered right,” said the great Teacher, “This do, and thou shalt live.” [See Matthew 19:16-18.] 2SAT 137.3

It is because we desire you to learn of God and His law that we have established a school here, and students are to understand that they must be obedient. They are to place themselves under the rules and regulations of the school. As soon as they persist in introducing into the school practices which the school was established to separate from students, they will be separated from the school, because we have not consented to engage in this expense; we have not hired hundreds of pounds to establish a school here to bring together students who will carry out wrong practices. 2SAT 137.4

No child need think that because he has been allowed to rule at home, he can rule here. Suppose we should let students come in to sway things in their own way, what kind of a school would we have? How could we train men and women to be missionaries? Every student who enters this school must place himself under discipline. Those who refuse to obey the regulations can return to their homes. 2SAT 137.5

We desire to bind the students to our hearts by the cords of love and kindness, but [with] strict discipline. Love and kindness are worth nothing unless they are united with the discipline which God has said should be maintained. We call upon every student who has a knowledge of God to exert an influence on the Lord's side. We desire you all to be in the Lord's army. We desire you to stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel, to fight manfully the battles of the Lord. We want you to put on the whole armor of righteousness. We want you to gain everything that Christ suffered so much to make it possible for you to gain. 2SAT 138.1

Courting is not to be carried on in the school. That is not what you are here for. We are here to prepare for the future life, where we may see the King in His glory, where we shall have that life which measures with the life of God. If we do not live in harmony with the law of God here, we shall never see His face. The disobedient can never enter the city of God. The Word of Inspiration declares, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” [Revelation 22:14]. 2SAT 138.2

I wish to say to everyone here today, You can be a laborer together with God. As you seek to help and bless those who come to the school, you stand under the protection of God. But those who exert an influence which encourages disobedience and vice stand under the displeasure of God. He knows all about their course, and He will arrange matters so that they will not stay long at the school unless they are converted. But we very much desire that they shall be converted. We want this school to be a place where God can abide in answer to our prayers. 2SAT 138.3

We need to ask ourselves the question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Christ gave His own life that the transgressor of the law should not suffer the penalty of the law, that as our Redeemer He might stand before the Father with pierced, uplifted hands, and say, “Lay their sins on Me. I am responsible for them. I will bear their transgressions. I have graven them upon the palms of My hands.” The sinner may be pardoned if he accepts Christ as a personal Saviour. There is only one condition—the acceptance of the robe of Christ's righteousness. 2SAT 138.4

“I beseech you therefore, ... by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice” [Romans 12:1]. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20]. When this is done, we shall expect to see every promise of God fulfilled. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” [Romans 12:2]. If we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we shall be an obedient people, because we shall keep the windows of the soul opened heavenward. Thus we may have the light, the peace, the joy of heaven. 2SAT 138.5

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice ... which is your reasonable service.” God requires us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. If there are those in the school who desire to indulge habits against which we have been working for the last thirty years, we would say to them, You are here to learn how to give up those things which destroy your vitality, or to separate from the school. The Lord of heaven marks every deceptive act. When the children of Israel came to Ai, they went out against the city with full confidence in their own power. But the record says that they fled before the men of Ai. “Wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water” [Joshua 7:5]. 2SAT 139.1

Joshua was in deep distress at this calamity. He fell upon his face to the earth, and said, “O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 2SAT 139.2

“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.... Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you” [Joshua 7:8-13]. 2SAT 139.3

Those now being educated in this school should go from it to educate others. They are to eat, drink, and dress to the glory of God. We shall not keep here those who say, I am not going to keep the rules. They can return to their homes if they are not willing to come into order. Let not the teachers think they are doing the students a kindness by allowing wrong to go unrebuked. We should stand where the Lord will not need to say to us, “Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.”—Ms. 66, 1899. 2SAT 139.4