[Sermon preached Sabbath, February 6, in Oakland, Cal.]
(Concluded.)
EGW
As men and women who profess to believe the truth for this time, we have no right to place ourselves in any wrong relation to God or his cause. We have a work to do for the Master, a work to do for the rising generation. We can not afford to send our children to the public schools. This has been presented to me for years. For years we have been establishing schools, but they are not perfected yet. There are some who think that we must pattern after the schools of the world if we would give our youth a complete education. What we need to give them is a complete education in that Book which assures us of that life that measures with the life of God. If we will obey his commandments, we shall live. This is the Book of books. It is to be the great study book for all who profess the name of Christ. RH March 25, 1909, par. 1
My brethren and sisters, do not neglect your children. Teach them that they have souls to save or to lose. Teach them to come into right relation to God. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It was because of such a training as this that Daniel and his fellows, when they were taken captives to Babylon, were able to stand the test. They had received the education that God gives, and he was able to make right impressions on their minds. RH March 25, 1909, par. 2
Do not fold your hands, and find fault with God, as did the class of worshipers the prophet Isaiah brings to view. They said, “Wherefore have we fasted, ... and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” This class of professors makes no sacrifice for God, although for them he has made the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, sending him to our world that they might be sanctified and made holy, and that by learning to represent the character of Christ, they might bear a living testimony to all with whom they associate. We must take a higher standard than this. RH March 25, 1909, par. 3
I read in books that come to me how we must attain to a higher education, but these writings do not interpret what is meant by “higher education.” What is higher education?—It is coming into unity with Jesus Christ. It is being made one with God. It is bringing God into mind and heart. Unless we have Christ in the life, we can not reveal him. To learn to humble self, to subdue self,—this is the higher education. Higher education,—the education which we should have, is that which proceeds from God and imparts a knowledge of what saith the Lord. It is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus,—to preach as he preached, to work as he worked. RH March 25, 1909, par. 4
“Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold of it.” This is Bible sanctification; this is the higher education. When we make the Bible our book for study, and give to our students a knowledge of the Word of God, there will be no need to ask the question, Have they the higher education? What we need is an acquaintance with God, who “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” RH March 25, 1909, par. 5
We do not half serve God. We do not honor him as we should. We have a name to live, but O, so many of us are dead! We need to study the Word, and see if we are preparing to meet our Lord when he shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. I want to stand in right relation to God. I have been in his work since I was sixteen years old. I do not want to fail now. RH March 25, 1909, par. 6
Everywhere there is missionary work to be done, and every soul of us should have an active part in it. It is astonishing to see how fields are opening everywhere. Workers are calling for means to carry on the work. Many students from our schools are going out and educating themselves in the languages, and opening the Scriptures to peoples of other tongues. This is an excellent work, just the work the Lord would have them do. RH March 25, 1909, par. 7
We need to become students of prophecy. We need to labor for every one that possibly can be helped. Now while there is opportunity, let us get the light before the people. There will never be a more favorable time for work than this; for the judgments of God are coming upon the earth more and more. We need Christians at this time, and to be a Christian means to be Christlike. RH March 25, 1909, par. 8
Speaking of those who have joined themselves to the Lord to serve him, God says, “Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” This is what we want. The Lord receives too little glory from the lips of any of us, but much of complaint. Shall we not change in this respect, and begin to offer praise and thanksgiving to God? Let us begin to do the works here brought to view. Let us bring the poor that are cast out to our house. Let us lay no yokes or burdens upon the people. Let us come to God with humble, lowly hearts, with tongues sanctified, and brain powers sanctified. If we will do this, there will be praises to God offered in every congregation. The songs of thanksgiving and joyful praise will be heard coming from happy hearts, and men will know that we enjoy the true religion of Jesus Christ. RH March 25, 1909, par. 9
There are just two classes of people brought to view in the Word of God. With which class are you standing? If all were brought together in heaven with their different temperaments unsanctified, what kind of heaven, think you, would we have? Do we not want to be transferred from this school below to the higher school above? There Christ will walk and talk with his people, and open to them the scriptures they do not understand. There we shall pluck the fruit of the tree of life. We shall see the King in his beauty, and behold his matchless charms. There will be no contention there; then let us not have it on earth. We are to begin here to obtain the higher education. We are to learn here to guard the lips, to govern the words. Christ gave his life for us, and he wants us to give our lives to him,—lives that are sanctified, soul, body, and spirit. Shall we not let our righteousness, as Isaiah has said, “go before” us? Then the glory of the Lord will be our rereward. RH March 25, 1909, par. 10
How few there are who praise God! But this is part of our higher education. In this life we are to learn to honor him by offering our praises and thanksgiving to him. It is only those who on earth have learned to glorify God that will be given a place in the courts of glory. If we are translated, we shall be translated just as we are. We are to be made perfect in this life; in this life our tongues are to be sanctified, our thoughts purified. Then let us take up this work of education now. Let us do those things that we shall wish we had done when the time comes that our work is finished. RH March 25, 1909, par. 11
I long to hear the voice of thanksgiving to God. I long to hear praises offered to him. I long to see happy Christians. Let us seek the Lord while he may be found. Let us bring Christ into our family circles. Let us invite the joy of the Lord into our homes and into our hearts. How much glory we could bring to God if we would consider that Christ died on the cross to make it possible for us to come into right relation to him in this respect. He worked out a perfect life amid the fiercest opposition that could be instituted against him. Then shall we not make earnest endeavors to be Christians? Should we not, when we meet to worship God, offer praise from hearts filled with thanksgiving? We have everything to praise God for. He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” RH March 25, 1909, par. 12