Those who are daily learning of Jesus Christ are fitted to take their position as laborers
together with God, and whatever their trade or business may be, they may exert their God-given
powers after the similitude of Christ's character while He tabernacled in the flesh. The young will
carry with them just the influence they received in their home life and school education. God
holds teachers responsible for their work as educators. They must learn daily in the school of
Christ, in order to uplift the youth who have had a lax training at home, who have not formed
studious habits, who have little knowledge of the future immortal life, for which the highest price
was paid by the God of heaven in giving His only-begotten Son to live a life of humiliation and
die a most shameful death, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."
God has given us a probation in which we may prepare for the higher school. For this school
the youth are to be educated, disciplined, and trained by forming such characters, moral and
intellectual, as God will approve. They are to receive a training, not in the customs and
amusements and games of this worldly polluted society, but in Christ's lines, a training which
will fit them to be colaborers with the heavenly intelligences. But what a farce is that education
obtained in literary lines, if it must be stripped from the learner if he is accounted worthy to enter
upon that life which measures with the life of God, he himself saved as by fire.
In the past, education has consisted in laboriously loading the minds of the students with
material which cannot be of the least value to them, and which will not be recognized in the
higher school. The teachers of the Jewish nation professed to educate the youth to understand the
purity and excellence of the laws of that kingdom which is to stand forever and
ever, but they perverted truth and purity. Though they said of themselves, "The temple of the
Lord, the temple of the Lord are we," yet they crucified the Originator of all the Jewish economy,
Him to whom all their ordinances pointed. They failed to discern the veiled mystery of godliness;
Christ Jesus remained veiled to them. The truth, the life, the heart of all their service, was
discarded. They held, and still hold, the mere husks, the shadows, the figures symbolizing the
true. A figure for the time appointed, that they might discern the true, became so perverted by
their own inventions, that their eyes were blinded. They did not realize that type met antitype in
the death of Jesus Christ. The greater their perversion of figures and symbols, the more confused
their minds became, so that they could not see the perfect fulfillment of the Jewish economy,
instituted and established by Christ, and pointing to Him as the substance. Meats and drinks and
divers ordinances were multiplied until ceremonial religion constituted their only worship.
In His teaching, Christ sought to educate and train the Jews to see the object of that which was
to be abolished by the true offering of Himself, the living Sacrifice. "Go ye," said He, "and learn
what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice." He presented a pure character as of
supreme importance. He dispensed with all pomp, demanding that faith that works by love and
purifies the soul, as the only qualification required for the kingdom of heaven. He taught that true
religion does not consist in forms or ceremonies, outward attractions or outward display. Christ
would have taken these to Himself if they had been essential in the formation of a character after
the divine similitude. But His citizenship, His divine authority, rested upon His own intrinsic
merits. He, the Majesty of heaven, walked the earth, shrouded in the robe of humanity. All His
attractions and triumphs were to be revealed in behalf of man, and were to testify to His living
connection with God.
Christ's prediction regarding the destruction of the temple was a lesson on the purification of
religion, by making of none effect forms and ceremonies. He announced Himself greater than the
temple, and stood forth proclaiming, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He was the one in
whom all the Jewish ceremony and typical service was to find its fulfillment. He stood forth in
the place of the temple; all the offices of the church centered in Himself alone.
In the past, Christ had been approached through forms and ceremonies, but now He was upon
the earth, calling attention directly to Himself, presenting a spiritual priesthood, and placing the
sinful human agent at the footstool of mercy. "Ask, and it shall be given you," He promised;
"seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." "If ye shall ask anything in My
name, I will do it. If ye love Me, keep My commandments." "He that hath My commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: . . . and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
him." "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love. If ye keep My
commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and
abide in His love."
These lessons Christ gave in His teaching, showing that the ritual service was passing away,
and possessed no virtue. "The hour cometh," He said, "and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is
a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." True circumcision
is the worship of Christ in spirit and truth, not in forms and ceremonies, with hypocritical
pretense.
The deep necessity of man for a divine teacher was known in heaven. The pity and sympathy
of God were exercised in behalf of man, fallen and bound to Satan's chariot-car; and when the
fullness of time was come, He sent forth His Son.
The One appointed in the counsels of heaven came to the earth as an instructor. He was no less a
being than the Creator of the world, the Son of the Infinite God. The rich benevolence of God
gave Him to our world; and to meet the necessities of humanity, He took on Him human nature.
To the astonishment of the heavenly host, He walked this earth as the Eternal Word. Fully
prepared, He left the royal courts to come to a world marred and polluted with sin. Mysteriously
He allied Himself to human nature. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." God's
excess of goodness, benevolence, and love was a surprise to the world, of grace which could be
realized, but not told.
That Christ, during His childhood, should grow in wisdom, and in favor with God and man,
was not a matter of astonishment; for it was according to the laws of His divine appointment that
His talents should develop, and His faculties strengthen by exercise. He sought neither the
schools of the prophets nor the learning received from the rabbinical teachers; He needed not the
education gained in these schools; for God was His instructor. When in the presence of the
teachers and rulers, His questions were instructive lessons, and He astonished the great men with
His wisdom and deep penetration. His answers to their queries opened up fields of thought on
subjects in reference to the mission of Christ, which had never before entered their minds.
The stores of wisdom and the scientific knowledge Christ displayed in the presence of the
wise men, were a subject of surprise to His parents and brothers; for they knew He had never
received from the great teachers instruction in human science. His brothers were annoyed at His
questions and answers; for they could discern that He was an instructor to the learned teachers.
They could not comprehend Him; for they knew not that He had access to the tree of life, a
source of knowledge of which they knew nothing. He ever possessed a peculiar dignity and
individuality distinct from earthly
pride or assumption; for He did not strive after greatness.
After Christ had condescended to leave His high command, step down from an infinite height
and assume humanity, He could have taken upon Him any condition of humanity He might
choose. But greatness and rank were nothing to Him, and He selected the lowest and most
humble walk of life. The place of His birth was Bethlehem, and on one side His parentage was
poor, but God, the Owner of the world, was His Father. No trace of luxury, ease, selfish
gratification, or indulgence was brought into his life, which was a continual round of self-denial
and self-sacrifice. In accordance with His humble birth, he had apparently no greatness or riches,
in order that the humblest believer need not say that Christ never knew the stress of pinching
poverty. Had he possessed the semblance of outward show, of riches, of grandeur, the poorest
class of humanity would have shunned His society; therefore He chose the lowly condition of the
far greater number of the people. The truth of heavenly origin was to be His theme: He was to
sow the earth with truth; and He came in such a way as to be accessible to all, that the truth alone
might make an impression upon human hearts.
Christ's contentment in any position provoked His brethren. They could not explain the reason
of His peace and serenity; and no persuasion of theirs could lead Him to enter into any plans or
arrangements which bore the impression of commonness or of guilt. On every occasion He
would turn from them, plainly stating that they would mislead others, and were unworthy of the
sons of Abraham. He must set such an example that little children, the younger members of the
Lord's family, would see nothing in His life or character to justify any evil deed. You are
altogether too particular and peculiar, said the members of his own family. Why not be as other
children? But this could not be; for Christ was to be a sign and a wonder from His youth, as far
as strict obedience and integrity were concerned.
Always kind, courteous, ever taking the part of the oppressed, whether Jew or Gentile, Christ
was beloved by all. By His perfect life and character, He answered the question asked in the
fifteenth Psalm: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He
that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." In
childhood and youth His course was such that when engaged in work as a teacher, He could say
to His disciples, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love: even as I have kept
My Father's commandments, and abide in His love."
As Christ grew older, the work begun in His childhood went on, and He continued to increase
in wisdom, and in favor with God and man. He did not take the part of His own family merely
because they were related to Him by natural ties; He would not vindicate their case in a single
instance where they had been guilty of injustice or wrong; but He ever vindicated that which He
knew to be truth.
Christ applied Himself diligently to a study of the Scriptures; for He knew them to be full of
precious instruction to all who will make it the man of their counsel. He was faithful in the
discharge of His home duties, and the early morning hours, instead of being wasted in bed, often
found Him in a retired place, meditating and searching the Scriptures and in prayer. Every
prophecy concerning His work and mediation was familiar to Him, especially those having
reference to His humiliation, atonement, and intercession. In childhood and youth the object of
His life was ever before Him, an inducement for His undertaking the work of mediating in behalf
of fallen man. He would see seed which should prolong their days, and the gracious purpose of
the Lord should prosper in His hands.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God." These subjects, Christ studied in His youth, and the universe of
heaven looked with interest upon the One who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame. By offering Himself to make intercession for the transgression of the
human race, Christ executed the office of priest. As a reward, He was to see of the travail of His
soul, and be satisfied. His seed should prolong their days on the earth forever. "Honor thy father
and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." By
His obedience to His father and mother, Christ was an example to all children and youth; but
today children are not following the example He has given and the sure result will be the
shortening of their days.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will." Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the covenant was made that
all who were obedient, all who should through the abundant grace provided, become holy in
character, and without blame before God, by appropriating that grace, should be children of God.
This covenant, made from eternity, was given to Abraham hundreds of years before Christ came.
With what interest and what intensity did Christ in humanity study the human race to see if they
would avail themselves of the provision offered.
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." These
words are an eye opener to all who will see. The knowledge of God is a knowledge which will
not need to be left behind when our probation closes, a knowledge which is of the most lasting
benefit to the world and to us individually. Why, then, should we put the word of God in the
background when it is wisdom unto salvation. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed
to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word
spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." We are neglecting
our salvation if we give authors who have but a confused idea of what religion means, the most
conspicuous place and devoted respect, and make the Bible secondary. Those who have been
enlightened in reference to the truth for these last days will not find instruction in the books
generally studied today, in regard to the things which are coming upon our world; but the Bible is
full of the knowledge of God, and is competent to educate the student for usefulness in this life
and for the eternal life.
Study carefully the first chapter of Hebrews. Become interested in the Scriptures. Read and
study them diligently. "In them ye think ye have eternal life," Christ said, "and they are they
which testify of Me." It means everything to us to have an experimental and individual
knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, "whom He hath sent." "For this is life eternal, that they
might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."--"Special
Testimonies on Education," March 23, 1896.