True success in education, as in
everything else, is found in keeping the future life in view. The human family
have scarcely begun to live when they begin to die, and the world's incessant labor
ends in nothingness unless a true knowledge in regard to eternal life is
gained. He who appreciates probationary time as the preparatory school of life
will use it to secure to himself a title to the heavenly mansions, a membership
in the higher school. For this school the youth are to be educated,
disciplined, and trained by forming such characters as God will approve. If
students are led to understand that the object of their creation is to honor
God and to bless their fellow men; if they recognize the tender love which the
Father in heaven has manifested toward them, and the high destiny for which the
discipline of this life is to prepare them,--the dignity and honor of becoming
the sons of God,-- thousands will turn from the low and selfish aims and the
frivolous pleasures which have hitherto engrossed them. They will learn to hate
sin and to shun it, not merely for hope of reward or from fear of punishment,
but from a sense of its inherent baseness--because it is degrading to their
God-given powers, a stain upon their manhood. The elements of character that
make a man successful and honored among men—the irrepressible desire for some
greater good, the indomitable will, the strenuous exertion, the untiring
perseverance--will not be crushed out. By the grace of God they will be
directed to objects as much
22
higher than mere selfish and
temporal interests as the heavens are higher than the earth. "God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation," the apostle Paul writes,
"through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," 2
Thessalonians 2:13. In this text the two agencies in the work of salvation are
revealed--the divine influence, and the strong, living faith of those who
follow Christ. It is through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth that we become laborers together with God. Christ waits for the
co-operation of His church. He does not design to add a new element of
efficiency to His word; He has done His great work in giving His inspiration to
the word. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the divine word, are
ours. The object of all this provision of heaven is before us-- the salvation
of the souls for whom Christ died; and it depends upon us to lay hold on the
promises God has given, and become laborers together with Him. Divine and human
agencies must co-operate in the work. "Everyone that is of the
truth," Christ declared, "heareth My voice." John 18:37. Having
stood in the counsels of God, having dwelt in the everlasting heights of the
sanctuary, all elements of truth were in Him and of Him. He was one with God.
It means more than finite minds can comprehend to present in every missionary
effort Christ and Him crucified. "He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5. "He hath made Him
to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
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the righteousness of God in
Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Christ crucified for our sins; Christ risen from
the dead; Christ ascended on high as our intercessor-this is the science of
salvation that we need to learn and to teach. This is to be the burden of our
work. The cross of Christ--teach it to every student over and over again. How
many believe it to be what it is? How many bring it into their studies and know
its true significance? Could there be a Christian in our world without the
cross of Christ? Then keep the cross upheld in your school as the foundation of
true education. The cross of Christ is just as near our teachers, and should be
as perfectly understood by them, as it was by Paul, who could say, "God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14. Let
teachers, from the highest to the lowest, seek to understand what it means to
glory in the cross of Christ. Then by precept and example they can teach their
students the blessings it brings to those who bear it manfully and bravely. The
Saviour declares, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me." Matthew 16:24. And to all who lift it
and bear it after Christ, the cross is a pledge of the crown of immortality
that they will receive. Educators who will not work in this line are not worthy
of the name they bear. Teachers, turn from the example of the world, cease to
extol professedly great men; turn the minds of your students from the glory of
everything save the cross of Christ. The crucified Messiah
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is the central point of all
Christianity. The most essential lessons for teachers and students to learn are
those which point, not to the world, but from the world to the cross of
Calvary.
-
Godliness--Godlikeness--is the
goal to be reached. Before the student there is opened a path of continual
progress. He has an object to achieve, a standard to attain, that includes
everything good, and pure, and noble. He will advance as fast and as far as
possible in every branch of true knowledge. But his efforts will be directed to
objects as much higher than mere selfish and temporal interests as the heavens
are higher than the earth. He who co-operates with the divine purpose in
imparting to the youth a knowledge of God, and molding the character into
harmony with His, does a high and noble work. As he awakens a desire to reach
God's ideal, he presents an education that is as high as heaven and as broad as
the universe; an education that cannot be completed in this life, but that will
be continued in the life to come; an education that secures to the successful student
his passport from thepreparatory school of earth to the higher grade, the
school above.--Education, pages 18, 19.
REFERENCE
Counsel to parents,teachers and students
1913
by ELLE_ G. WHITE
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