I have some matters which I wish to present before you in regard to education. The teachers in
our schools have great respect for authors and books that are current in most of our educational
institutions. All heaven has been looking upon our institutions of learning, and asking you, What
is the chaff to the wheat? The Lord has given us the most precious instructions in His word,
teaching us what characters we must form in this life to prepare us for the future, immortal life. It
has been the custom to exalt books and authors that do not present the proper foundation for true
education. From what source did these authors obtain their wisdom, a large share of which does
not deserve our respect, even if the authors are regarded as being wise men? Have they taken
their lessons from the greatest Teacher that the world ever knew? If not, they are decidedly in the
fault. Those who are preparing for the heavenly abodes should be recommended to make the
Bible their chief book of study.
These popular authors have not pointed out to the students the way that leads to eternal life.
"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." John 17:3. The authors of the books current in our schools are recommended
and exalted as learned men; their education is in every way deficient, unless they themselves
have been educated in the school of Christ, and by practical knowledge bear witness to the word
of God as the most essential study for children and youth. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom." Books should have been prepared to place in the hands of students that would
educate them to have a sincere, reverent love for truth and steadfast integrity. The class of studies
which are positively essential in the formation of character to give them a preparation for the
future life should be kept ever before
them. Christ should be uplifted as the first great teacher, the only-begotten Son of God, who was
with the Father from eternal ages. The Son of God was the great teacher sent into the world as the
light of the world. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The Father was represented
in Christ, and the attention in education must be of that character that they will look to Him and
believe in Him as the likeness of God. He had a most wonderful mission to this world, and His
work was not in a line to give a full relation of His personal claims to deity, but His humiliation
was a concealment of His claims. This is why the Jewish nation did not acknowledge Christ as
the Prince of life; because He did not come with display and outward appearance, for He hid
under the garb of humanity His glorious character.
The human family was to consider Him in the light of the holy Scriptures, which were to
testify of the manner of His coming. Had He come, displaying His glory that He had with His
Father, then His pathway toward the cross would have been thwarted by the purpose of men, who
would have taken Him by force, and made Him king. He was to close His life by making a
solemn oblation of Himself. Type was to reach antitype in Jesus Christ. His whole life was a
preface to His death on the cross. His character was a life of obedience to all God's
commandments, and was to be a sample for all men upon the earth. His life was the living of the
law in humanity. That law Adam transgressed. But Christ, by His perfect obedience to the law
redeemed Adam's disgraceful failure and fall.
The prophecies are to be studied, and the life of Christ compared with the writings of the
prophets. He identifies Himself with the prophecies, stating over and over again, They wrote of
Me; they testify of Me. The Bible is the only book giving a positive description of Christ Jesus;
and if every human being would study it as his lesson book, and obey it, not a soul would be lost.
All the rays of light shining in the Scriptures point to Jesus Christ, and testify of Him, linking
together the Old and New Testament Scriptures. Christ is presented as the author and finisher of
their faith, Himself the one in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered. "For God so loved
the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life."
What book can begin to compare with the Bible? It is essential for every child, for youth, and
for those of mature age to understand; for it is the word of God, the word to guide all the human
family to heaven. Then why does not the word from God contain the chief elements which
constitute education? Uninspired authors are placed in the hands of children and youth in our
schools as lesson books -- books from which they are to be educated. They are kept before the
youth, taking up their precious time in studying those things which they can never use. Many
books have been introduced into the schools which should never have been placed there. These
books do not in any sense voice the words of John, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world." The whole line of study in our schools should be to prepare a people for the
future, immortal life.
Jesus Christ is the knowledge of the Father, and Christ is our great teacher sent from God.
Christ has declared in the sixth chapter of John that He is that bread sent down from heaven.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of
life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will
give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The disciples did not comprehend
His words. Says Christ, "It is the Spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life."
It is of immense importance, in the light of the lessons of Christ, that every human being
should study the Scriptures, that he may be convinced in whom his hopes of eternal life are
centered. The Bible should ever have been made the great, grand book of study, which has come
down to us from heaven, and is the word of life. Should that book which tells us what we must
do in order to be saved, be set aside in a corner, and human productions be exalted as the great
wisdom in education? The very knowledge children and youth need to obtain for usefulness in
this life, and that they may carry with them in the future life, is found in the word of God. But
this is not encouraged and presented before them as the most essential knowledge, and as that
which will give the most correct information of the true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath
sent. There are gods many and doctrines many. There are maxims and commandments placed
before our youth as the commandments of God. It is impossible for them to understand what is
truth, what is the sacred, and what is the common, only as they understand the Scriptures, both
Old and New Testaments.
The word of God is to stand as the highest educating book in our world, and is to be treated
with reverential awe. It is our guidebook; we shall receive from it the truth. We need to present
the Bible as the great lesson book to place in the hands of our children and youth, that they may
know Christ, whom to know aright is life eternal. It is the book to be studied by those of middle
age, and those who are aged. The word contains promises, warnings, encouragement, and
assurances of the love of God to all who accept Him as their Saviour. Then place the holy word
in their hands. Encourage them to search the word, and they will in so doing find hidden
treasures of inestimable value to them in this present life, and in receiving Christ as the bread of
life they have the promise of eternal life.
The lesson book, the Bible, contains the instruction of the character they must have, the moral
excellence of character which must be cultivated, which God and heaven require. "Blessed are
the pure in heart: for they shall see God." "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord." "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we
shall see Him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is
pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law. And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin."
This all-important knowledge is to be kept before children and youth, not in an arbitrary,
dictatorial manner, but as divine disclosures, which are of the highest value to secure their
present peace, quietude, and rest of mind in this present world of turmoil and strife, and as a
preparation for the future, eternal life in the kingdom of God, where they shall see God, and
know God and Jesus Christ, who gave His precious life to redeem them.
Christ came in the form of humanity to live the law of God. He was the word of life. He came
to be the gospel of salvation to the world, and to fulfil every specification of the law. Jesus is the
word, the guidebook, which must be received and obeyed in every particular. How necessary that
this mine of truth be explored, and the precious treasures of truth be discovered and secured as
rich jewels. The incarnation of Christ, His divinity, His atonement, His wonderful life in heaven
as our advocate, the office of the Holy Spirit,-- all these living, vital themes of Christianity are
revealed from Genesis to Revelation. The golden links of truth form a chain of evangelical truth,
and the first, and staple, is found in the great teachings of Christ Jesus. Why, then, should not the
Scriptures be ennobled and exalted in every
school in our land? How little children are educated to study the Bible as the word of God, and
feed upon its truths, which are the flesh and blood of the Son of God! "Except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh
My blood [that is, continues to receive the words of Christ, and practice them], hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." "And he that
keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He
abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us."
There is necessity for every family to make the Bible the book of their study. Christ's sayings
are pure gold, without one particle of dross, unless men, with their human understanding, shall
try to put it there, and make falsehood appear as a portion of truth. To those who have received
the false interpretation of the word, when they search the Scriptures with the determined effort to
obtain the very marrow of truth contained in them, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of their
understanding, and the truths of the word are to them as a new revelation. Their hearts are
quickened to a new and living faith, and they behold wondrous things out of His law. The
teachings of Christ have a breadth and depth to many which they have never understood before.
The doctrines of grace and truth are not really understood by the larger number of our students
and church members. Blindness of mind has happened to Israel. For human agents to
misconstrue and put a forced, half truthful, and mystical construction upon the oracles of God, is
an act which endangers their own souls, and the souls of others. "For I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall
add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if
any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book." Rev. 22:18, 19. Those who, by their human construction, shall make the Scripture to utter
that which Christ has never placed upon it, weaken its force, making the voice of God in
instruction and warnings to testify falsehood, to avoid the inconvenience incurred by obedience
to God's requirements, have become signboards, pointing in the wrong direction, into false paths,
which lead to transgression and death.
The testimony of the Alpha and Omega in regard to the punishment for making nonessential
one word spoken by the mouth of God, is the fearful denunciation that they shall receive of the
plagues that are written in the book; their names shall be taken out of the book of life, and from
the holy city.
How many can truthfully answer this question, What is the essential education for this time?
Education means much more than many suppose. True education embraces physical, mental, and
moral training, in order that all the powers shall be fitted for the best development, to do service
for God, and to work for the uplifting of humanity. To seek for self-recognition, for
self-glorification, will leave the human agent destitute of the Spirit of God, destitute of that grace
which will make him a useful, efficient worker for Christ. Those who desire only to glorify God
will not be striving to bring their supposed merits into notice, or striving for recognition, or for
the highest place. They that hear the call of the world's Redeemer, and obey that call, will be
recognized as a distinct, self-sacrificing, holy people.
If the students in our schools will listen for the purpose of hearing and obeying the invitation,
"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," they will be living epistles, known and read of all
men. "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The youth are in need of educators who shall
keep the word of God ever before them in living principles. If they will keep Bible precepts ever
as their textbook, they will have greater influence over the youth; for the teachers will be
learners, having a living touch with God. All the time they are inculcating ideas and principles
that will lead to a greater knowledge of God, and earnest, growing faith in their behalf in the
blood of Jesus, and the power and efficiency of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to keep them
from falling; because they are constantly seeking the strongholds of a healthful and well-balanced
Christian experience, carrying with them qualifications for future usefulness, and intelligence,
and piety. The teachers see and feel that they must labor not to dwarf and taint the minds of their
associates, with a sickly half-religious service. There is need of separating from our educational
institutions an erroneous, polluted literature, so that ideas will not be received as seeds of sin. Let
none suppose that education means a study of books that will lead to the reception of ideas of
authors that will sow seed and spring up to bear fruit that must be bound up in bundles with the
world, separating them from the Source of all wisdom, all efficiency, and all power, leaving them
the sport of Satan's arch-deceiving power. A pure education for youth in our schools, undiluted
with heathen philosophy, is a positive necessity in literary lines.
The well-being, the happiness, of the religious life in the families with which they are
connected, the prosperity and piety of the church of which they are members, are largely
dependent upon the religious education that the youth have
received in our schools.--"Special Testimonies on Education," June 12, 1895.