When properly conducted, church schools
will be the means of lifting the standard of truth in the places
where they are established; for children who are receiving a
Christian education will be witnesses for Christ. As Jesus in
the temple solved the mysteries which priests and rulers had
not discerned, so in the closing work of this earth children
who have been rightly educated will in their simplicity speak
words which will be an astonishment to
men who now talk of "higher education." As the children
sang in the temple courts, "Hosanna; Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord," so in these last days children's
voices will be raised to give the last message of warning to
a perishing world. When heavenly intelligences see that men are
no longer permitted to present the truth, the Spirit of God will
come upon the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation
of the truth which the older workers cannot do, because their
way will be hedged up.
Our church schools are ordained by God
to prepare the children for this great work. Here children are
to be instructed in the special truths for this time and in practical
missionary work. They are to enlist in the army of workers to
help the sick and the suffering. Children can take part in the
medical missionary work and by their jots and tittles can help
to carry it forward. Their investments may be small, but every
little helps, and by their efforts many souls will be won to
the truth. By them God's message will be made known and His saving
health to all nations. Then let the church carry a burden for
the lambs of the flock. Let the children be educated and trained
to do service for God, for they are the Lord's heritage.
Years ago school buildings suitable for
church schools should have been erected in which the children
and youth could receive a true education.
The lessonbooks used in our church schools
should be of a character to bring the law of God to the attention.
Thus the light and strength and power of the truth will be magnified.
Youth from the world, some even whose minds
have been depraved, will connect with these schools, and there
they will be converted. Their witness for the truth may be stopped
for a while by the false theories entertained by the parents,
but in the end, truth will triumph. I am instructed to say that
this kind of missionary work will have a telling influence in
diffusing light and knowledge.
How important that families who settle
where a school is located should be good representatives of our
holy faith!
Churches where schools are established
may well tremble as they see themselves entrusted with moral
responsibilities too great for words to express. Shall this work
that has been nobly begun fail or languish for want of consecrated
workers? Shall selfish projects and ambitions find room in this
enterprise? Will the workers permit the love of gain, the love
of ease, the lack of piety, to banish Christ from their hearts
and exclude Him from the school? God forbid! The work is already
far advanced. In educational lines everything is arranged for
an earnest reform, for a truer, more effective education. Will
our people accept this holy trust? Will they humble themselves
at the cross of Calvary, ready for every sacrifice and every
service?
Parents and teachers should seek most earnestly
for that wisdom which Jesus is ever ready to give; for they are
dealing with human minds at the most interesting and impressible
period of their development. They should aim so to cultivate
the tendencies of the youth that at each stage of their life
they may represent the natural
beauty appropriate to that period, unfolding gradually, as do
the plants and flowers in the garden.
The management and instruction of children
is the noblest missionary work that any man or woman can under
take. By the proper use of objects the lessons should be made
very plain, that their minds may be led from nature up to nature's
God. We must have in our schools those who possess the tact and
skill to carry forward this line of work, thus sowing seeds of
truth. The great day of God alone can reveal the good this work
will do.
Special talent should be given to the education
of the little ones. Many can put the crib high and give food
to the sheep, but it is a more difficult matter to put the crib
low and feed the lambs. This is a lesson which primary teachers
need to learn.
The eye of the mind needs to be educated,
or the child will find pleasure in beholding evil.
Teachers should sometimes enter into the
sports and plays of the little children and teach them how to
play. In this way they may be able to check unkind feelings and
actions without seeming to criticize or find fault. This companionship
will bind together the hearts of teachers and pupils, and school
will be a delight to all.
Teachers must love the children because
they are the younger members of the Lord's family. The Lord will
inquire of them as of the parents: "Where is the flock that
was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" Jeremiah 13:20.