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Title: Education
Author: White, Ellen Gould Harmon
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Education" ***
_EDUCATION_
“_That our sons may be as plants grown up
in their youth; that our daughters may be as
corner-stones, polished after the similitude
of a palace_”
[Illustration]
_Education_
_BY
ELLEN G. WHITE_
“_The knowledge of the Holy is
understanding_”
_Pacific Press Publishing Company_
_OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA_
_NEW YORK_ _SAN FRANCISCO_ _LONDON_
_Entered According to Act of Congress in the year 1903 by
MRS. E. G. WHITE
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.
All Rights Reserved_
_Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England_
[Illustration]
_TO
PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS_,
_all pupils in earth’s preparatory school,
this book is dedicated.
May it aid them in securing life’s greatest benefits,
development and joy in service here,
and thus a fitness for that wider service,
the “higher course”
open to every human being in the
school of the hereafter._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_CONTENTS_
_Page_
_FIRST PRINCIPLES_
_Source and Aim of True Education_ _13_
_The Eden School_ _20_
_The Knowledge of Good and Evil_ _23_
_Relation of Education to Redemption_ _28_
_ILLUSTRATIONS_
_The Education of Israel_ _33_
_The Schools of the Prophets_ _45_
_Lives of Great Men_ _51_
_THE MASTER TEACHER_
_The Teacher Sent from God_ _73_
_An Illustration of His Methods_ _84_
_NATURE TEACHING_
_God in Nature_ _99_
_Lessons of Life_ _102_
_Other Object Lessons_ _113_
_THE BIBLE AS AN EDUCATOR_
_Mental and Spiritual Culture_ _123_
_Science and the Bible_ _128_
_Business Principles and Methods_ _135_
_Bible Biographies_ _146_
_Poetry and Song_ _159_
_Mysteries of the Bible_ _169_
_History and Prophecy_ _173_
_Bible Teaching and Study_ _185_
_PHYSICAL CULTURE_
_Study of Physiology_ _195_
_Temperance and Dietetics_ _202_
_Recreation_ _207_
_Manual Training_ _214_
_CHARACTER-BUILDING_
_Education and Character_ _225_
_Methods of Teaching_ _230_
_Deportment_ _240_
_Relation of Dress to Education_ _246_
_The Sabbath_ _250_
_Faith and Prayer_ _253_
_The Life-Work_ _262_
_THE UNDER-TEACHER_
_Preparation_ _275_
_Co-operation_ _283_
_Discipline_ _287_
_THE HIGHER COURSE_
_The School of the Hereafter_ _301_
_SCRIPTURAL INDEX_ _311_
_GENERAL INDEX_ _315_
_FIRST PRINCIPLES_
“_We, reflecting as a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are transformed into the same
image from glory to glory_”
_Source and Aim of True Education_
“THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY
IS UNDERSTANDING;” “ACQUAINT
NOW THYSELF WITH HIM”
[Sidenote: _What Is Education?_]
Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. There is
need of a broader scope, a higher aim. True education means more than
the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a
preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being,
and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the
harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual
powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world,
and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.
[Sidenote: _Its Source_]
The source of such an education is brought to view in these words of
Holy Writ, pointing to the Infinite One: In Him “are hid all the
treasures of wisdom.”[1] “He hath counsel and understanding.”[2]
The world has had its great teachers, men of giant intellect and
extensive research, men whose utterances have stimulated thought, and
opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored
as guides and benefactors of their race; but there is One who stands
higher than they. We can trace the line of the world’s teachers as far
back as human records extend; but the Light was before them. As the moon
and the stars of our solar system shine by the reflected light of the
sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world’s great thinkers
reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gleam of thought,
every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world.
[Sidenote: _The True “Higher Education”_]
In these days much is said concerning the nature and importance of
“higher education.” The true “higher education” is that imparted by Him
with whom “is wisdom and strength;”[3] out of whose mouth “cometh
knowledge and understanding.”[4]
In a knowledge of God, all true knowledge and real development have
their source. Wherever we turn, in the physical, the mental, or the
spiritual realm; in whatever we behold, apart from the blight of sin,
this knowledge is revealed. Whatever line of investigation we pursue,
with a sincere purpose to arrive at truth, we are brought in touch with
the unseen, mighty Intelligence that is working in and through all. The
mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite
with the Infinite. The effect of such communion on body and mind and
soul is beyond estimate.
[Sidenote: _Education in Eden_]
In this communion is found the highest education. It is God’s own method
of development. “Acquaint now thyself with Him,”[5] is His message to
mankind. The method outlined in these words was the method followed in
the education of the father of our race. When in the glory of sinless
manhood Adam stood in holy Eden, it was thus that God instructed him.
In order to understand what is comprehended in the work of education, we
need to consider both the nature of man and the purpose of God in
creating him. We need to consider also the change in man’s condition
through the coming in of a knowledge of evil, and God’s plan for still
fulfilling His glorious purpose in the education of the human race.
[Sidenote: _God’s Purpose for Man_]
When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical,
mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. “God created man
in His own image,”[6] and it was His purpose that the longer man lived,
the more fully he should reveal this image,—the more fully reflect the
glory of the Creator. All his faculties were capable of development;
their capacity and vigor were continually to increase. Vast was the
scope offered for their exercise; glorious the field opened to their
research. The mysteries of the visible universe—the “wondrous works of
Him who is perfect in knowledge”[7]—invited man’s study. Face-to-face,
heart-to-heart communion with his Maker was his high privilege. Had he
remained loyal to God, all this would have been his forever. Throughout
eternal ages he would have continued to gain new treasures of knowledge,
to discover fresh springs of happiness, and to obtain clearer and yet
clearer conceptions of the wisdom, the power, and the love of God. More
and more fully would he have fulfilled the object of his creation, more
and more fully have reflected the Creator’s glory.
[Sidenote: _Marred and Restored_]
But by disobedience this was forfeited. Through sin the divine likeness
was marred, and well-nigh obliterated. Man’s physical powers were
weakened, his mental capacity was lessened, his spiritual vision dimmed.
He had become subject to death. Yet the race was not left without hope.
By infinite love and mercy the plan of salvation had been devised, and a
life of probation was granted. To restore in man the image of his Maker,
to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote
the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his
creation might be realized,—this was to be the work of redemption. This
is the object of education, the great object of life.
[Sidenote: _Love the Basis of Education_]
Love, the basis of creation and of redemption, is the basis of true
education. This is made plain in the law that God has given as the guide
of life. The first and great commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind.”[8] To love Him, the infinite, the
omniscient One, with the whole strength, and mind, and heart, means the
highest development of every power. It means that in the whole being—the
body, the mind, as well as the soul—the image of God is to be restored.
Like the first is the second commandment,—“Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself.”[9] The law of love calls for the devotion of body, mind,
and soul to the service of God and our fellow-men. And this service,
while making us a blessing to others, brings the greatest blessing to
ourselves. Unselfishness underlies all true development. Through
unselfish service we receive the highest culture of every faculty. More
and more fully do we become partakers of the divine nature. We are
fitted for heaven; for we receive heaven into our hearts.
[Sidenote: _Revelation of God_]
[Sidenote: _Nature’s Teaching Insufficient_]
Since God is the source of all true knowledge, it is, as we have seen,
the first object of education to direct our minds to His own revelation
of Himself. Adam and Eve received knowledge through direct communion
with God; and they learned of Him through His works. All created things,
in their original perfection, were an expression of the thought of God.
To Adam and Eve nature was teeming with divine wisdom. But by
transgression man was cut off from learning of God through direct
communion, and, to a great degree, through His works. The earth, marred
and defiled by sin, reflects but dimly the Creator’s glory. It is true
that His object-lessons are not obliterated. Upon every page of the
great volume of His created works may still be traced His handwriting.
Nature still speaks of her Creator. Yet these revelations are partial
and imperfect. And in our fallen state, with weakened powers and
restricted vision, we are incapable of interpreting aright. We need the
fuller revelation of Himself that God has given in His written word.
[Sidenote: _The Standard of Truth_]
The Holy Scriptures are the perfect standard of truth, and as such
should be given the highest place in education. To obtain an education
worthy of the name, we must receive a knowledge of God, the Creator, and
of Christ, the Redeemer, as they are revealed in the sacred word.
[Sidenote: _Individuality_]
Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power
akin to that of the Creator,—individuality, power to think and to do.
The men in whom this power is developed are the men who bear
responsibilities, who are leaders in enterprise, and who influence
character. It is the work of true education to develop this power; to
train the youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men’s
thought. Instead of confining their study to that which men have said or
written, let students be directed to the sources of truth, to the vast
fields opened for research in nature and revelation. Let them
contemplate the great facts of duty and destiny, and the mind will
expand and strengthen. Instead of educated weaklings, institutions of
learning may send forth men strong to think and to act, men who are
masters and not slaves of circumstances, men who possess breadth of
mind, clearness of thought, and the courage of their convictions.
[Sidenote: _Character_]
Such an education provides more than mental discipline; it provides more
than physical training. It strengthens the character, so that truth and
uprightness are not sacrificed to selfish desire or worldly ambition. It
fortifies the mind against evil. Instead of some master passion becoming
a power to destroy, every motive and desire are brought into conformity
to the great principles of right. As the perfection of His character is
dwelt upon, the mind is renewed, and the soul is re-created in the image
of God.
What education can be higher than this? What can equal it in value?
“It can not be gotten for gold,
Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
It can not be valued with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
The gold and the crystal can not equal it;
And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls;
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.”[10]
[Sidenote: _The Highest Ideal_]
Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His
children. 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.
[Sidenote: _The Preparatory School_]
He who co-operates with the divine purpose in imparting to the youth a
knowledge of God, and moulding 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 can not be completed in his life, but that
will be continued in the life to come; an education that secures to the
successful student his passport from the preparatory school of earth to
the higher grade, the school above.
_The Eden School_
“HAPPY IS THE MAN THAT
FINDETH WISDOM”
[Sidenote: _A Model School_]
The system of education instituted at the beginning of the world, was to
be a model for man throughout all after-time. As an illustration of its
principles a model school was established in Eden, the home of our first
parents. The garden of Eden was the schoolroom, nature was the
lesson-book, the Creator Himself was the instructor, and the parents of
the human family were the students.
[Sidenote: _The Students_]
Created to be “the image and glory of God,” Adam and Eve had received
endowments not unworthy of their high destiny. Graceful and symmetrical
in form, regular and beautiful in feature, their countenances glowing
with the tint of health and the light of joy and hope, they bore in
outward resemblance the likeness of their Maker. Nor was this likeness
manifest in the physical nature only. Every faculty of mind and soul
reflected the Creator’s glory. Endowed with high mental and spiritual
gifts, Adam and Eve were made but “little lower than the angels,”[11]
that they might not only discern the wonders of the visible universe,
but comprehend moral responsibilities and obligations.
[Sidenote: _The Schoolroom_]
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the
man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow
every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of
life also in the midst of the garden.”[12] Here, amidst the beautiful
scenes of nature untouched by sin, our first parents were to receive
their education.
[Sidenote: _The Teacher_]
In His interest for His children, our heavenly Father personally
directed their education. Often they were visited by His messengers, the
holy angels, and from them received counsel and instruction. Often as
they walked in the garden in the cool of the day they heard the voice of
God, and face to face held communion with the Eternal. His thoughts
toward them were “thoughts of peace, and not of evil.”[13] His every
purpose was their highest good.
[Sidenote: _Course of Study_]
To Adam and Eve was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and
to keep it.”[14] Though rich in all that the Owner of the universe could
supply, they were not to be idle. Useful occupation was appointed them
as a blessing, to strengthen the body, to expand the mind, and to
develop the character.
[Sidenote: _Original Research_]
The book of nature, which spread its living lessons before them,
afforded an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. On every leaf
of the forest and stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in
earth and sea and sky, God’s name was written. With both the animate and
the inanimate creation,—with leaf and flower and tree, and with every
living creature, from the leviathan of the waters to the mote in the
sunbeam,—the dwellers in Eden held converse, gathering from each the
secrets of its life. God’s glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds
in their orderly revolutions, “the balancings of the clouds,”[15] the
mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,—all were objects of
study by the pupils of earth’s first school.
The laws and operations of nature, and the great principles of truth
that govern the spiritual universe, were opened to their minds by the
infinite Author of all. In “the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God,”[16] their mental and spiritual powers developed, and they realized
the highest pleasures of their holy existence.
[Sidenote: _Other Schools_]
[Sidenote: _Purpose of Training_]
As it came from the Creator’s hand, not only the garden of Eden but the
whole earth was exceedingly beautiful. No taint of sin, or shadow of
death, marred the fair creation. God’s glory “covered the heavens, and
the earth was full of His praise.” “The morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy.”[17] Thus was the earth a fit
emblem of Him who is “abundant in goodness and truth;”[18] a fit study
for those who were made in His image. The garden of Eden was a
representation of what God desired the whole earth to become, and it was
His purpose that, as the human family increased in numbers, they should
establish other homes and schools like the one He had given. Thus in
course of time the whole earth might be occupied with homes and schools
where the words and the works of God should be studied, and where the
students should thus be fitted more and more fully to reflect,
throughout endless ages, the light of the knowledge of His glory.
_The Knowledge of Good and Evil_
“AS THEY REFUSED TO HAVE
GOD IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE,
THEIR SENSELESS HEART
WAS DARKENED”
[Sidenote: _A Test of Loyalty_]
Though created innocent and holy, our first parents were not placed
beyond the possibility of wrong-doing. God might have created them
without the power to transgress His requirements; but in that case there
could have been no development of character; their service would not
have been voluntary, but forced. Therefore He gave them the power of
choice—the power to yield or to withhold obedience. And before they
could receive in fulness the blessings He desired to impart, their love
and loyalty must be tested.
[Sidenote: _Only Evil Withheld_]
In the garden of Eden was the “tree of knowledge of good and evil....
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat.”[19] It was the will of God that Adam and Eve
should not know evil. The knowledge of good had been freely given them;
but the knowledge of evil,—of sin and its results, of wearing toil, of
anxious care, of disappointment and grief, of pain and death,—this was
in love withheld.
[Sidenote: _Insinuation of Distrust_]
While God was seeking man’s good, Satan was seeking his ruin. When Eve,
disregarding the Lord’s admonition concerning the forbidden tree,
ventured to approach it, she came in contact with her foe. Her interest
and curiosity having been awakened, Satan proceeded to deny God’s word,
and to insinuate distrust of His wisdom and goodness. To the woman’s
statement concerning the tree of knowledge, “God hath said, Ye shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die,” the tempter made
answer, “Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.”[20]
[Sidenote: _Reason versus Faith_]
Satan desired to make it appear that this knowledge of good mingled with
evil would be a blessing, and that in forbidding them to take of the
fruit of the tree, God was withholding great good. He urged that it was
because of its wonderful properties for imparting wisdom and power that
God had forbidden them to taste it; that He was thus seeking to prevent
them from reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness.
He declared that he himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a
result had acquired the power of speech; and that if they also would eat
of it, they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence, and
enter a broader field of knowledge.
While Satan claimed to have received great good by eating of the
forbidden tree, he did not let it appear that by transgression he had
become an outcast from heaven. Here was falsehood, so concealed under a
covering of apparent truth that Eve, infatuated, flattered, beguiled,
did not discern the deception. She coveted what God had forbidden; she
distrusted His wisdom. She cast away faith, the key of knowledge.
[Sidenote: _Sight versus God’s Word_]
When Eve saw “that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat.” It was grateful to the taste, and, as she
ate, she seemed to feel a vivifying power, and imagined herself entering
upon a higher state of existence. Having herself transgressed, she
became a tempter to her husband, “and he did eat.”[21]
“Your eyes shall be opened,” the enemy had said; “ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.”[22] Their eyes were indeed opened; but how sad
the opening! The knowledge of evil, the curse of sin, was all that the
transgressors gained. There was nothing poisonous in the fruit itself,
and the sin was not merely in yielding to appetite. It was distrust of
God’s goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority,
that made our first parents transgressors, and that brought into the
world a knowledge of evil. It was this that opened the door to every
species of falsehood and error.
Man lost all because he chose to listen to the deceiver rather than to
Him who is Truth, who alone has understanding. By the mingling of evil
with good, his mind had become confused, his mental and spiritual powers
benumbed. No longer could he appreciate the good that God had so freely
bestowed.
[Sidenote: _Results of Sin_]
Adam and Eve had chosen the knowledge of evil; and if they ever regained
the position they had lost, they must regain it under the unfavorable
conditions they had brought upon themselves. No longer were they to
dwell in Eden; for in its perfection it could not teach them the lessons
which it was now essential for them to learn. In unutterable sadness
they bade farewell to their beautiful surroundings, and went forth to
dwell upon the earth, where rested the curse of sin.
To Adam God had said: “Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.”[23]
[Sidenote: _Results Manifest in Nature_]
Although the earth was blighted with the curse, nature was still to be
man’s lesson-book. It could not now represent goodness only; for evil
was everywhere present, marring earth and sea and air with its defiling
touch. Where once was written only the character of God, the knowledge
of good, was now written also the character of Satan, the knowledge of
evil. From nature, which now revealed the knowledge of good and evil,
man was continually to receive warning as to the results of sin.
In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the
first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact
that every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life
depended, bore the seeds of death.
[Sidenote: _The Lost Kingship_]
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the
lower creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal
to God, all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this
dominion was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had
given entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only
the life of man, but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest,
the grass of the field, the very air he breathed, all told the sad
lesson of the knowledge of evil.
[Sidenote: _Restoration through Christ_]
But man was not abandoned to the results of the evil he had chosen. In
the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of
redemption. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,” God said,
“and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel.”[24] This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our
first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and
the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of
the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could
not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to
Satan could be regained through Christ.
[Sidenote: _The Gospel in Nature_]
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it
speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears
testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich
and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off
their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to
spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power
is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness
and holiness of truth.”[25] Thus the very objects and operations of
nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the
messengers of hope.
As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His
children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake
the evil, and inviting them to receive the good.
_Relation of Education to Redemption_
“THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE
OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE
FACE OF JESUS CHRIST”
[Sidenote: _Communion with God_]
By sin man was shut out from God. Except for the plan of redemption,
eternal separation from God, the darkness of unending night, would have
been his. Through the Saviour’s sacrifice, communion with God is again
made possible. We may not in person approach into His presence; in our
sin we may not look upon His face; but we can behold Him and commune
with Him in Jesus, the Saviour. “The light of the knowledge of the glory
of God” is revealed “in the face of Jesus Christ.” God is “in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself.”[26]
[Sidenote: _The Highest Revelation_]
“The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, ... full of grace and
truth.” “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”[27] The
life and the death of Christ, the price of our redemption, are not only
to us the promise and pledge of life, not only the means of opening
again to us the treasures of wisdom: they are a broader, higher
revelation of His character than even the holy ones of Eden knew.
[Sidenote: _Power through the Gospel_]
And while Christ opens heaven to man, the life which He imparts opens
the heart of man to heaven. Sin not only shuts us away from God, but
destroys in the human soul both the desire and the capacity for knowing
Him. All this work of evil it is Christ’s mission to undo. The faculties
of the soul, paralyzed by sin, the darkened mind, the perverted will, He
has power to invigorate and to restore. He opens to us the riches of the
universe, and by Him the power to discern and to appropriate these
treasures is imparted.
[Sidenote: _Co-operation with Christ_]
Christ is the “Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world.”[28] As through Christ every human being has life, so also
through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light. Not only
intellectual but spiritual power, a perception of right, a desire for
goodness, exists in every heart. But against these principles there is
struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the eating of the tree
of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man’s experience.
There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he can
not resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his
inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one
power. That power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man’s
greatest need. In all educational effort should not this co-operation be
the highest aim?
The true teacher is not satisfied with second-rate work. He is not
satisfied with directing his students to a standard lower than the
highest which it is possible for them to attain. He can not be content
with imparting to them only technical knowledge, with making them merely
clever accountants, skilful artisans, successful tradesmen. It is his
ambition to inspire them with principles of truth, obedience, honor,
integrity, and purity,—principles that will make them a positive force
for the stability and uplifting of society. He desires them, above all
else, to learn life’s great lesson of unselfish service.
These principles become a living power to shape the character, through
the acquaintance of the soul with Christ; through an acceptance of His
wisdom as the guide, His power as the strength, of heart and life. This
union formed, the student has found the Source of wisdom. He has within
his reach the power to realize in himself his noblest ideals. The
opportunities of the highest education for life in his world are his.
And in the training here gained, he is entering upon that course which
embraces eternity.
[Sidenote: _The One Foundation_]
In the highest sense, the work of education and the work of redemption
are one; for in education, as in redemption, “other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” “It was the good
pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell.”[29]
Under changed conditions, true education is still conformed to the
Creator’s plan, the plan of the Eden school. Adam and Eve received
instruction through direct communion with God; we behold “the light of
the knowledge of His glory” in the face of Christ.
[Sidenote: _The Teacher’s Aim_]
The great principles of education are unchanged. “They stand fast
forever and ever;”[30] for they are the principles of the character of
God. To aid the student in comprehending these principles, and in
entering into that relation with Christ which will make them a
controlling power in the life, should be the teacher’s first effort and
his constant aim. The teacher who accepts this aim is in truth a
co-worker with Christ, a laborer together with God.
_ILLUSTRATIONS_
“_Whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning_”
_The Education of Israel_
“THE LORD ALONE DID LEAD HIM;
HE INSTRUCTED HIM, HE KEPT
HIM AS THE APPLE OF HIS EYE”
The system of education established in Eden centered in the family. Adam
was “the son of God,”[31] and it was from their Father that the children
of the Highest received instruction. Theirs, in the truest sense, was a
family school.
[Sidenote: _The Family School_]
In the divine plan of education as adapted to man’s condition after the
fall, Christ stands as the representative of the Father, the connecting
link between God and man; He is the great teacher of mankind. And He
ordained that men and women should be His representatives. The family
was the school, and the parents were the teachers.
[Sidenote: _Conditions_]
The education centering in the family was that which prevailed in the
days of the patriarchs. For the schools thus established, God provided
the conditions most favorable for the development of character. The
people who were under His direction still pursued the plan of life that
He had appointed in the beginning. Those who departed from God built for
themselves cities, and, congregating in them, gloried in the splendor,
the luxury, and the vice that make the cities of to-day the world’s
pride and its curse. But the men who held fast God’s principles of life
dwelt among the fields and hills. They were tillers of the soil, and
keepers of flocks and herds; and in this free, independent life, with
its opportunities for labor and study and meditation, they learned of
God, and taught their children of His works and ways.
[Sidenote: _The Training in the Wilderness_]
This was the method of education that God desired to establish in
Israel. But when brought out of Egypt there were among the Israelites
few prepared to be workers together with Him in the training of their
children. The parents themselves needed instruction and discipline.
Victims of lifelong slavery, they were ignorant, untrained, degraded.
They had little knowledge of God, and little faith in Him. They were
confused by false teaching, and corrupted by their long contact with
heathenism. God desired to lift them to a higher moral level; and to
this end He sought to give them a knowledge of Himself.
[Sidenote: _To Encourage Faith_]
In His dealings with the wanderers in the desert, in all their marchings
to and fro, in their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, in their
peril from heathen foes, and in the manifestation of His providence for
their relief, God was seeking to strengthen their faith by revealing to
them the power that was continually working for their good. And having
taught them to trust in His love and power, it was His purpose to set
before them, in the precepts of His law, the standard of character to
which, through His grace, He desired them to attain.
[Sidenote: _Surroundings at Sinai_]
[Sidenote: “_The Strength of the Hills Is His_”]
Precious were the lessons taught to Israel during their sojourn at
Sinai. This was a period of special training for the inheritance of
Canaan. And their surroundings here were favorable for the accomplishing
of God’s purpose. On the summit of Sinai, overshadowing the plain where
the people spread their tents, rested the pillar of cloud which had been
the guide of their journey. A pillar of fire by night, it assured them
of the divine protection; and while they were locked in slumber, the
bread of heaven fell gently upon the encampment. On every hand, vast,
rugged heights, in their solemn grandeur, spoke of eternal endurance and
majesty. Man was made to feel his ignorance and weakness in the presence
of Him who hath “weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
balance.”[32] Here, by the manifestation of His glory, God sought to
impress Israel with the holiness of His character and requirements, and
the exceeding guilt of transgression.
[Sidenote: _A Symbol of God’s Presence_]
But the people were slow to learn the lesson. Accustomed as they had
been in Egypt to material representations of the Deity, and these of the
most degrading nature, it was difficult for them to conceive of the
existence or the character of the Unseen One. In pity for their
weakness, God gave them a symbol of His presence. “Let them make Me a
sanctuary,” He said; “that I may dwell among them.”[33]
In the building of the sanctuary as a dwelling-place for God, Moses was
directed to make all things according to the pattern of things in the
heavens. God called him into the mount, and revealed to him the heavenly
things, and in their similitude the tabernacle, with all that pertained
to it, was fashioned.
[Sidenote: _The Pattern in the Mount_]
So to Israel, whom He desired to make His dwelling-place, He revealed
His glorious ideal of character. The pattern was shown them in the mount
when the law was given from Sinai, and when God passed by before Moses
and proclaimed, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”[34]
But this ideal they were, in themselves, powerless to attain. The
revelation at Sinai could only impress them with their need and
helplessness. Another lesson the tabernacle, through its service of
sacrifice, was to teach,—the lesson of pardon of sin, and power through
the Saviour for obedience unto life.
[Sidenote: _The Gospel in the Tabernacle_]
Through Christ was to be fulfilled the purpose of which the tabernacle
was a symbol,—that glorious building, its walls of glistening gold
reflecting in rainbow hues the curtains inwrought with cherubim, the
fragrance of ever-burning incense pervading all, the priests robed in
spotless white, and in the deep mystery of the inner place, above the
mercy-seat, between the figures of the bowed, worshiping angels, the
glory of the Holiest. In all, God desired His people to read His purpose
for the human soul. It was the same purpose long afterward set forth by
the apostle Paul, speaking by the Holy Spirit:—
[Sidenote: _The Human Temple_]
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”[35]
[Sidenote: _Building the Sanctuary_]
Great was the privilege and honor granted Israel in the preparation of
the sanctuary; and great was also the responsibility. A structure of
surpassing splendor, demanding for its construction the most costly
material and the highest artistic skill, was to be erected in the
wilderness, by a people just escaped from slavery. It seemed a
stupendous task. But He who had given the plan of the building stood
pledged to co-operate with the builders.
“The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel,
the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and I have filled
him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.... And I, behold, I have
given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and
in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they
may make all that I have commanded thee.”[36]
[Sidenote: _An Industrial School_]
What an industrial school was that in the wilderness, having for its
instructors Christ and His angels!
In the preparation of the sanctuary and in its furnishing, all the
people were to co-operate. There was labor for brain and hand. A great
variety of material was required, and all were invited to contribute as
their own hearts prompted.
Thus in labor and in giving they were taught to co-operate with God and
with one another. And they were to co-operate also in the preparation of
the spiritual building—God’s temple in the soul.
[Sidenote: _Organization_]
From the outset of the journey from Egypt, lessons had been given for
their training and discipline. Even before they left Egypt a temporary
organization had been effected, and the people were arranged in
companies, under appointed leaders. At Sinai the arrangements for
organization were completed. The order so strikingly displayed in all
the works of God was manifest in the Hebrew economy. God was the center
of authority and government. Moses, as His representative, was to
administer the laws in His name. Then came the council of seventy, then
the priests and the princes, under these “captains over thousands, and
captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over
tens,”[37] and, lastly, officers appointed for special duties. The camp
was arranged in exact order, the tabernacle, the abiding-place of God,
in the midst, and around it the tents of the priests and the Levites.
Outside of these, each tribe encamped beside its own standard.
[Sidenote: _Sanitary Regulations_]
Thorough-going sanitary regulations were enforced. These were enjoined
on the people, not only as necessary to health, but as the condition of
retaining among them the presence of the Holy One. By divine authority
Moses declared to them, “The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy
camp, to deliver thee; ... therefore shall thy camp be holy.”[38]
[Sidenote: _Diet_]
The education of the Israelites included all their habits of life.
Everything that concerned their well-being was the subject of divine
solicitude, and came within the province of divine law. Even in
providing their food, God sought their highest good. The manna with
which He fed them in the wilderness was of a nature to promote physical,
mental, and moral strength. Though so many of them rebelled against the
restriction of their diet, and longed to return to the days when, they
said, “We sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the
full,”[39] yet the wisdom of God’s choice for them was vindicated in a
manner they could not gainsay. Notwithstanding the hardships of their
wilderness life, there was not a feeble one in all their tribes.
[Sidenote: _The Divine Guiding_]
In all their journeyings the ark containing the law of God was to lead
the way. The place of their encampment was indicated by the descent of
the pillar of cloud. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle,
they remained in camp. When it lifted, they pursued their journey. Both
the halt and the departure were marked by a solemn invocation. “It came
to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and
let Thine enemies be scattered.... And when it rested, he said, Return,
O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.”[40]
[Sidenote: _Music and Song_]
As the people journeyed through the wilderness, many precious lessons
were fixed in their minds by means of song. At their deliverance from
Pharaoh’s army the whole host of Israel had joined in the song of
triumph. Far over desert and sea rang the joyous refrain, and the
mountains re-echoed the accents of praise, “Sing ye to Jehovah, for He
hath triumphed gloriously.”[41] Often on the journey was this song
repeated, cheering the hearts and kindling the faith of the pilgrim
travelers. The commandments as given from Sinai, with promises of God’s
favor and records of His wonderful works for their deliverance, were by
divine direction expressed in song, and were chanted to the sound of
instrumental music, the people keeping step as their voices united in
praise.
Thus their thoughts were uplifted from the trials and difficulties of
the way, the restless, turbulent spirit was soothed and calmed, the
principles of truth were implanted in the memory, and faith was
strengthened. Concert of action taught order and unity, and the people
were brought into closer touch with God and with one another.
[Sidenote: _Purpose of God’s Discipline_]
Of the dealing of God with Israel during the forty years of wilderness
wandering, Moses declared: “As a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy
God chasteneth thee;” “to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what
was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments, or
no.”[42]
“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He
led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth
abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord
alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”[43]
“He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. And He brought
forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness; and gave them
the lands of the heathen; and they inherited the labor of the people;
that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.”[44]
[Sidenote: _Facilities in Canaan_]
God surrounded Israel with every facility, gave them every privilege,
that would make them an honor to His name and a blessing to surrounding
nations. If they would walk in the ways of obedience, He promised to
make them “high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in
name, and in honor.” “All people of the earth,” He said, “shall hear
that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of
thee.” The nations which shall hear all these statutes shall say,
“Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”[45]
[Sidenote: _God’s Law Taught_]
In the laws committed to Israel, explicit instruction was given
concerning education. To Moses at Sinai God had revealed Himself as
“merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth.”[46] These principles, embodied in His law, the fathers and
mothers in Israel were to teach their children. Moses by divine
direction declared to them: “These words, which I command thee this day,
shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up.”[47]
Not as a dry theory were these things to be taught. Those who would
impart truth must themselves practise its principles. Only by reflecting
the character of God in the uprightness, nobility, and unselfishness of
their own lives can they impress others.
[Sidenote: _Object Lessons_]
True education is not the forcing of instruction on an unready and
unreceptive mind. The mental powers must be awakened, the interest
aroused. For this, God’s method of teaching provided. He who created the
mind and ordained its laws, provided for its development in accordance
with them. In the home and the sanctuary, through the things of nature
and of art, in labor and in festivity, in sacred building and memorial
stone, by methods and rites and symbols unnumbered, God gave to Israel
lessons illustrating His principles, and preserving the memory of His
wonderful works. Then, as inquiry was made, the instruction given
impressed mind and heart.
In the arrangements for the education of the chosen people it is made
manifest that a life centered in God is a life of completeness. Every
want He has implanted, He provides to satisfy; every faculty imparted,
He seeks to develop.
The Author of all beauty, Himself a lover of the beautiful, God provided
to gratify in His children the love of beauty. He made provision also
for their social needs, for the kindly and helpful associations that do
so much to cultivate sympathy and to brighten and sweeten life.
[Sidenote: _The Annual Feasts_]
As a means of education, an important place was filled by the feasts of
Israel. In ordinary life the family was both a school and a church, the
parents being the instructors in secular and in religious lines. But
three times a year seasons were appointed for social intercourse and
worship. First at Shiloh, and afterward at Jerusalem, these gatherings
were held. Only the fathers and sons were required to be present; but
none desired to forego the opportunities of the feasts, and, so far as
possible, all the household were in attendance; and with them, as
sharers of their hospitality, were the stranger, the Levite, and the
poor.
[Sidenote: _Journey to Jerusalem_]
The journey to Jerusalem, in the simple, patriarchal style, amidst the
beauty of the spring-time, the richness of midsummer, or the ripened
glory of autumn, was a delight. With offerings of gratitude they came,
from the man of white hairs to the little child, to meet with God in His
holy habitation. As they journeyed, the experiences of the past, the
stories that both old and young still love so well, were recounted to
the Hebrew children. The songs that had cheered the wilderness wandering
were sung. God’s commandments were chanted, and, bound up with the
blessed influences of nature and of kindly human association, they were
forever fixed in the memory of many a child and youth.
[Sidenote: _The Paschal Service_]
The ceremonies witnessed at Jerusalem in connection with the paschal
service,—the night assembly, the men with their girded loins, shoes on
feet, and staff in hand, the hasty meal, the lamb, the unleavened bread,
and the bitter herbs, and in the solemn silence the rehearsal of the
story of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the grand
march from the land of bondage,—all were of a nature to stir the
imagination and impress the heart.
[Sidenote: _Feast of Ingathering_]
The Feast of Tabernacles, or harvest-festival, with its offerings from
orchard and field, its week’s encampment in the leafy booths, its social
reunions, the sacred memorial service, and the generous hospitality to
God’s workers, the Levites of the sanctuary, and to His children, the
strangers and the poor, uplifted all minds in gratitude to Him who had
“crowned the year with His goodness,” and whose “paths dropped fatness.”
By the devout in Israel, fully a month of every year was occupied in
this way. It was a period free from care and labor, and almost wholly
devoted, in the truest sense, to purposes of education.
[Sidenote: _Ownership of Land_]
In apportioning the inheritance of His people, it was God’s purpose to
teach them, and through them the people of after-generations, correct
principles concerning the ownership of the land. The land of Canaan was
divided among the whole people, the Levites only, as ministers of the
sanctuary, being excepted. Though one might for a season dispose of his
possession, he could not barter away the inheritance of his children.
When able to do so, he was at liberty at any time to redeem it; debts
were remitted every seventh year, and in the fiftieth, or year of
jubilee, all landed property reverted to the original owner. Thus every
family was secured in its possession, and a safeguard was afforded
against the extremes either of wealth or of poverty.
[Sidenote: _Special Provision for Education_]
By the distribution of the land among the people, God provided for them,
as for the dwellers in Eden, the occupation most favorable to
development,—the care of plants and animals. A further provision for
education was the suspension of agricultural labor every seventh year,
the land lying fallow, and its spontaneous products being left to the
poor. Thus was given opportunity for more extended study, for social
intercourse and worship, and for the exercise of benevolence, so often
crowded out by life’s cares and labors.
[Sidenote: _A Key to Present-Day Problems_]
Were the principles of God’s laws regarding the distribution of property
carried out in the world to-day, how different would be the condition of
the people! An observance of these principles would prevent the terrible
evils that in all ages have resulted from the oppression of the poor by
the rich and the hatred of the rich by the poor. While it might hinder
the amassing of great wealth, it would tend to prevent the ignorance and
degradation of tens of thousands whose ill-paid servitude is required
for the building up of these colossal fortunes. It would aid in bringing
a peaceful solution of problems that now threaten to fill the world with
anarchy and bloodshed.
[Sidenote: _Recognition of God’s Ownership_]
The consecration to God of a tithe of all increase, whether of the
orchard and harvest-field, the flocks and herds, or the labor of brain
or hand; the devotion of a second tithe for the relief of the poor and
other benevolent uses, tended to keep fresh before the people the truth
of God’s ownership of all, and of their opportunity to be channels of
His blessings. It was a training adapted to kill out all narrowing
selfishness, and to cultivate breadth and nobility of character.
A knowledge of God, fellowship with Him in study and in labor, likeness
to Him in character, were to be the source, the means, and the aim of
Israel’s education,—the education imparted by God to the parents, and by
them to be given to their children.
_The Schools of the Prophets_
“THEY SAT DOWN AT THY FEET;
EVERY ONE SHALL RECEIVE OF
THY WORDS”
[Sidenote: _Perils from Heathenism_]
Wherever in Israel God’s plan of education was carried into effect, its
results testified of its Author. But in very many households the
training appointed by Heaven, and the characters thus developed, were
alike rare. God’s plan was but partially and imperfectly fulfilled. By
unbelief and by disregard of the Lord’s directions, the Israelites
surrounded themselves with temptations that few had power to resist. At
their settlement in Canaan “they did not destroy the nations, concerning
whom the Lord commanded them; but were mingled among the heathen, and
learned their works. And they served their idols, which were a snare
unto them.” Their heart was not right with God, “neither were they
steadfast in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave
their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a time turned He His
anger away.... For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that
passeth away, and cometh not again.”[48] [Sidenote: _Parental
Indifference_] Fathers and mothers in Israel became indifferent to their
obligation to God, indifferent to their obligation to their children.
Through unfaithfulness in the home, and idolatrous influences without,
many of the Hebrew youth received an education differing widely from
that which God had planned for them. They learned the ways of the
heathen.
[Sidenote: _Schools as a Safeguard_]
To meet this growing evil, God provided other agencies as an aid to
parents in the work of education. From the earliest times, prophets had
been recognized as teachers divinely appointed. In the highest sense the
prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the
people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given
also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called
to instruct the people in the works and ways of God. For the training of
such a class of teachers, Samuel, by the Lord’s direction, established
the schools of the prophets.
[Sidenote: _Teachers and Students_]
These schools were intended to serve as a barrier against the
wide-spreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual
welfare of the youth, and to promote the prosperity of the nation by
furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders
and counselors. To this end, Samuel gathered companies of young men who
were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the
prophets. As they studied the word and the works of God, His life-giving
power quickened the energies of mind and soul, and the students received
wisdom from above. The instructors were not only versed in divine truth,
but had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the
special endowment of His Spirit. They had the respect and confidence of
the people, both for learning and for piety. In Samuel’s day there were
two of these schools,—one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the
other at Kirjath-jearim. In later times others were established.
[Sidenote: _Industrial Training_]
The pupils of these schools sustained themselves by their own labor in
tilling the soil, or in some mechanical employment. In Israel this was
not thought strange or degrading; indeed, it was regarded as a sin to
allow children to grow up in ignorance of useful labor. Every youth,
whether his parents were rich or poor, was taught some trade. Even
though he was to be educated for holy office, a knowledge of practical
life was regarded as essential to the greatest usefulness. Many also of
the teachers supported themselves by manual labor.
[Sidenote: _Course of Study_]
In both the school and the home much of the teaching was oral; but the
youth also learned to read the Hebrew writings, and the parchment rolls
of the Old Testament Scriptures were open to their study. The chief
subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the
instruction given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. In
the records of sacred history were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. The
great truths set forth by the types in the service of the sanctuary were
brought to view, and faith grasped the central object of all that
system,—the Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world. A
spirit of devotion was cherished. Not only were the students taught the
duty of prayer, but they were taught how to pray, how to approach their
Creator, how to exercise faith in Him, and how to understand and obey
the teachings of His Spirit. Sanctified intellect brought forth from the
treasure-house of God things new and old, and the Spirit of God was
manifested in prophecy and sacred song.
[Sidenote: _Results_]
These schools proved to be one of the means most effective in promoting
that righteousness which “exalteth a nation.”[49] In not small degree
they aided in laying the foundation of that marvelous prosperity which
distinguished the reigns of David and Solomon.
[Sidenote: _David and Solomon_]
The principles taught in the schools of the prophets were the same that
moulded David’s character and shaped his life. The word of God was his
instructor. “Through Thy precepts,” he said, “I get understanding.... I
have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes.”[50] It was this that
caused the Lord to pronounce David, when in his youth He called him to
the throne, “a man after Mine own heart.”[51]
In the early life of Solomon also are seen the results of God’s method
of education. Solomon in his youth made David’s choice his own. Above
every earthly good he asked of God a wise and understanding heart. And
the Lord gave him not only that which he sought, but that also for which
he had not sought,—both riches and honor. The power of his
understanding, the extent of his knowledge, the glory of his reign,
became the wonder of the world.
[Sidenote: _Greatness of Israel_]
In the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel reached the height of her
greatness. The promise given to Abraham and repeated through Moses was
fulfilled: “If ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I
command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His
ways, and to cleave unto Him; then will the Lord drive out all these
nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and
mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet
shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the
river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast
be. There shall no man be able to stand before you.”[52]
[Sidenote: _Intermingling with Idolaters_]
[Sidenote: _Apostasy_]
But in the midst of prosperity lurked danger. The sin of David’s later
years, though sincerely repented of and sorely punished, emboldened the
people in transgression of God’s commandments. And Solomon’s life, after
a morning of so great promise, was darkened with apostasy. Desire for
political power and self-aggrandizement led to alliance with heathen
nations. The silver of Tarshish and the gold of Ophir were procured by
the sacrifice of integrity, the betrayal of sacred trusts. Association
with idolaters, marriage with heathen wives, corrupted his faith. The
barriers that God had erected for the safety of His people were thus
broken down, and Solomon gave himself up to the worship of false gods.
On the summit of the Mount of Olives, confronting the temple of Jehovah,
were erected gigantic images and altars for the service of heathen
deities. As he cast off his allegiance to God, Solomon lost the mastery
of himself. His fine sensibilities became blunted. The conscientious,
considerate spirit of his early reign was changed. Pride, ambition,
prodigality, and indulgence bore fruit in cruelty and exaction. He who
had been a just, compassionate, and God-fearing ruler, became tyrannical
and oppressive. He who at the dedication of the temple had prayed for
his people that their hearts might be undividedly given to the Lord,
became their seducer. Solomon dishonored himself, dishonored Israel, and
dishonored God.
[Sidenote: _National Overthrow_]
The nation, of which he had been the pride, followed his leading. Though
he afterward repented, his repentance did not prevent the fruition of
the evil he had sown. The discipline and training that God appointed for
Israel would cause them, in all their ways of life, to differ from the
people of other nations. This peculiarity, which should have been
regarded as a special privilege and blessing, was to them unwelcome. The
simplicity and self-restraint essential to the highest development they
sought to exchange for the pomp and self-indulgence of heathen peoples.
To be “like all the nations”[53] was their ambition. God’s plan of
education was set aside, His authority disowned.
In the rejection of the ways of God for the ways of men, the downfall of
Israel began. Thus also it continued, until the Jewish people became a
prey to the very nations whose practises they had chosen to follow.
[Sidenote: _God’s Plan Unchanged_]
As a nation the children of Israel failed of receiving the benefits that
God desired to give them. They did not appreciate His purpose or
co-operate in its execution. But though individuals and peoples may thus
separate themselves from Him, His purpose for those who trust Him is
unchanged. “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.”[54]
While there are different degrees of development and different
manifestations of His power to meet the wants of men in the different
ages, God’s work in all time is the same. The Teacher is the same. God’s
character and His plan are the same. With Him “is not variableness,
neither shadow of turning.”[55]
[Sidenote: “_For Our Admonition_”]
The experiences of Israel were recorded for our instruction. “All those
things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”[56] With us, as
with Israel of old, success in education depends on fidelity in carrying
out the Creator’s plan. Adherence to the principles of God’s word will
bring as great blessings to us as it would have brought to the Hebrew
people.
_Lives of Great Men_
“THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS
IS A TREE OF LIFE”
[Sidenote: _Results of True Education_]
Sacred history presents many illustrations of the results of true
education. It presents many noble examples of men whose characters were
formed under divine direction; men whose lives were a blessing to their
fellow-men, and who stood in the world as representatives of God. Among
these are Joseph and Daniel, Moses, Elisha, and Paul,—the greatest
statesmen, the wisest legislator, one of the most faithful of reformers,
and, except Him who spoke as never man spake, the most illustrious
teacher that his world has known.
[Sidenote: _Joseph_]
In early life, just as they were passing from youth to manhood, Joseph
and Daniel were separated from their homes, and carried as captives to
heathen lands. Especially was Joseph subject to the temptations that
attend great changes of fortune. In his father’s home a tenderly
cherished child; in the house of Potiphar a slave, then a confidant and
companion; a man of affairs, educated by study, observation, contact
with men; in Pharaoh’s dungeon a prisoner of state, condemned unjustly,
without hope of vindication or prospect of release; called at a great
crisis to the leadership of the nation,—what enabled him to preserve his
integrity?
[Sidenote: _Perils of Prosperity_]
No one can stand upon a lofty height without danger. As the tempest that
leaves unharmed the flower of the valley uproots the tree upon the
mountaintop, so do fierce temptations that leave untouched the lowly in
life assail those who stand in the world’s high places of success and
honor. But Joseph bore alike the test of adversity and of prosperity.
The same fidelity was manifest in the palace of the Pharaohs as in the
prisoner’s cell.
[Sidenote: _Joseph’s Early Years_]
In his childhood, Joseph had been taught the love and fear of God. Often
in his father’s tent, under the Syrian stars, he had been told the story
of the night vision at Bethel, of the ladder from heaven to earth, and
the descending and ascending angels, and of Him who from the throne
above revealed Himself to Jacob. He had been told the story of the
conflict beside the Jabbok, when, renouncing cherished sins, Jacob stood
conqueror, and received the title of a prince with God.
A shepherd boy, tending his father’s flocks, Joseph’s pure and simple
life had favored the development of both physical and mental power. By
communion with God through nature and the study of the great truths
handed down as a sacred trust from father to son, he had gained strength
of mind, and firmness of principle.
[Sidenote: _The Crisis_]
In the crisis of his life, when making that terrible journey from his
childhood’s home in Canaan to the bondage which awaited him in Egypt,
looking for the last time on the hills that hid the tents of his
kindred, Joseph remembered his father’s God. He remembered the lessons
of his childhood, and his soul thrilled with the resolve to prove
himself true,—ever to act as became a subject of the King of heaven.
[Sidenote: _Training for Service_]
In the bitter life of a stranger and a slave, amidst the sights and
sounds of vice and the allurements of heathen worship, a worship
surrounded with all the attractions of wealth and culture and the pomp
of royalty, Joseph was steadfast. He had learned the lesson of obedience
to duty. Faithfulness in every station, from the most lowly to the most
exalted, trained every power for highest service.
At the time when he was called to the court of Pharaoh, Egypt was the
greatest of nations. In civilization, art, learning, she was unequaled.
Through a period of utmost difficulty and danger, Joseph administered
the affairs of the kingdom; and this he did in a manner that won the
confidence of the king and the people. Pharaoh made him “lord of his
house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind his princes at his
pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom.”[57]
[Sidenote: _Secret of Joseph’s Greatness_]
The secret of Joseph’s life Inspiration has set before us. In words of
divine power and beauty, Jacob, in the blessing pronounced upon his
children, spoke thus of his best-loved son:—
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
Even a fruitful bough by a well;
Whose branches run over the wall;
The archers have sorely grieved him,
And shot at him, and hated him;
But his bow abode in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; ...
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee;
And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lieth under; ...
The blessings of thy father have prevailed
Above the blessings of my progenitors
Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his
brethren.”[58]
Loyalty to God, faith in the Unseen, was Joseph’s anchor. In this lay
the hiding of his power.
“The arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.”
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Daniel_]
[Sidenote: _Perils in Babylon_]
Daniel and his companions in Babylon were, in their youth, apparently
more favored of fortune than was Joseph in the earlier years of his life
in Egypt; yet they were subjected to tests of character scarcely less
severe. From the comparative simplicity of their Judean home these youth
of royal line were transported to the most magnificent of cities, to the
court of its greatest monarch, and were singled out to be trained for
the king’s special service. Strong were the temptations surrounding them
in that corrupt and luxurious court. The fact that they, the worshipers
of Jehovah, were captives to Babylon; that the vessels of God’s house
had been placed in the temple of the gods of Babylon; that the king of
Israel was himself a prisoner in the hands of the Babylonians, was
boastfully cited by the victors as evidence that their religion and
customs were superior to the religion and customs of the Hebrews. Under
such circumstances, through the very humiliations that Israel’s
departure from His commandments had invited, God gave to Babylon
evidence of His supremacy, of the holiness of His requirements, and of
the sure result of obedience. And this testimony He gave, as alone it
could be given, through those who still held fast their loyalty.
[Sidenote: _A Test of Character_]
To Daniel and his companions, at the very outset of their career, there
came a decisive test. The direction that their food should be supplied
from the royal table was an expression both of the king’s favor and of
his solicitude for their welfare. But a portion having been offered to
idols, the food from the king’s table was consecrated to idolatry; and
in partaking of the king’s bounty these youth would be regarded as
uniting in his homage to false gods. In such homage loyalty to Jehovah
forbade them to participate. Nor dared they risk the enervating effect
of luxury and dissipation on physical, mental, and spiritual
development.
Daniel and his companions had been faithfully instructed in the
principles of the word of God. They had learned to sacrifice the earthly
to the spiritual, to seek the highest good. And they reaped the reward.
Their habits of temperance and their sense of responsibility as
representatives of God called to noblest development the powers of body,
mind, and soul. At the end of their training, in their examination with
other candidates for the honors of the kingdom, there was “found none
like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.”[59]
[Sidenote: _Foremost among Students_]
At the court of Babylon were gathered representatives from all lands,
men of the choicest talents, men the most richly endowed with natural
gifts, and possessed of the highest culture this world could bestow; yet
amidst them all, the Hebrew captives were without a peer. In physical
strength and beauty, in mental vigor and literary attainment, they stood
unrivaled. “In all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king
inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians
and astrologers that were in all his realm.”[60]
[Sidenote: _The Unrivaled Statesman_]
Unwavering in allegiance to God, unyielding in the mastery of himself,
Daniel’s noble dignity and courteous deference won for him in his youth
the “favor and tender love” of the heathen officer in whose charge he
was. The same characteristics marked his life. Speedily he rose to the
position of prime minister of the kingdom. Throughout the reign of
successive monarchs, the downfall of the nation, and the establishment
of a rival kingdom, such were his wisdom and statesmanship, so perfect
his tact, his courtesy, and his genuine goodness of heart, combined with
fidelity to principle, that even his enemies were forced to the
confession that “they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as
he was faithful.”[61]
[Sidenote: _Heaven’s Ambassador_]
While Daniel clung to God with unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic
power came upon him. While honored by men with the responsibilities of
the court and the secrets of the kingdom, he was honored by God as His
ambassador, and taught to read the mysteries of ages to come. Heathen
monarchs, through association with Heaven’s representative, were
constrained to acknowledge the God of Daniel. “Of a truth it is,”
declared Nebuchadnezzar, “that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of
kings, and a revealer of secrets.” And Darius, in his proclamation “unto
all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth,”
exalted the “God of Daniel” as “the living God, and steadfast forever,
and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed;” who “delivereth and
rescueth, and ... worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth.”[62]
* * * * *
By their wisdom and justice, by the purity and benevolence of their
daily life, by their devotion to the interests of the people,—and they,
idolaters,—Joseph and Daniel proved themselves true to the principles of
their early training, true to Him whose representatives they were. These
men, both in Egypt and in Babylon, the whole nation honored; and in them
a heathen people, and all the nations with which they were connected,
beheld an illustration of the goodness and beneficence of God, an
illustration of the love of Christ.
[Sidenote: _A Noble Life-Work_]
What a life-work was that of these noble Hebrews! As they bade farewell
to their childhood’s home, how little did they dream of their high
destiny! Faithful and steadfast, they yielded themselves to the divine
guiding, so that through them God could fulfil His purpose.
The same mighty truths that were revealed through these men, God desires
to reveal through the youth and the children of to-day. The history of
Joseph and Daniel is an illustration of what He will do for those who
yield themselves to Him, and with the whole heart seek to accomplish His
purpose.
[Sidenote: _The World’s Greatest Need_]
The greatest want of the world is the want of men,—men who will not be
bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men
who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is
as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the
right though the heavens fall.
[Sidenote: _Self-Discipline_]
But such a character is not the result of accident; it is not due to
special favors or endowments of Providence. A noble character is the
result of self-discipline, of the subjection of the lower to the higher
nature,—the surrender of self for the service of love to God and man.
The youth need to be impressed with the truth that their endowments are
not their own. Strength, time, intellect, are but lent treasures. They
belong to God, and it should be the resolve of every youth to put them
to the highest use. He is a branch, from which God expects fruit; a
steward, whose capital must yield increase; a light, to illuminate the
world’s darkness.
Every youth, every child, has a work to do for the honor of God and the
uplifting of humanity.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Elisha_]
The early years of the prophet Elisha were passed in the quietude of
country life, under the teaching of God and nature and the discipline of
useful work. In a time of almost universal apostasy, his father’s
household were among the number who had not bowed the knee to Baal.
Theirs was a home where God was honored, and where faithfulness to duty
was the rule of daily life.
The son of a wealthy farmer, Elisha had taken up the work that lay
nearest. While possessing the capabilities of a leader among men, he
received a training in life’s common duties. In order to direct wisely,
he must learn to obey. By faithfulness in little things, he was prepared
for weightier trusts.
[Sidenote: _Faithfulness in Little Things_]
Of a meek and gentle spirit, Elisha possessed also energy and
steadfastness. He cherished the love and fear of God, and in the humble
round of daily toil he gained strength of purpose and nobleness of
character, growing in divine grace and knowledge. While co-operating
with his father in the home duties, he was learning to co-operate with
God.
The prophetic call came to Elisha while with his father’s servants he
was plowing in the field. As Elijah, divinely directed in seeking a
successor, cast his mantle upon the young man’s shoulders, Elisha
recognized and obeyed the summons. He “went after Elijah, and ministered
unto him.”[63] It was no great work that was at first required of
Elisha; commonplace duties still constituted his discipline. He is
spoken of as pouring water on the hands of Elijah, his master. As the
prophet’s personal attendant, he continued to prove faithful in little
things, while with daily strengthening purpose he devoted himself to the
mission appointed him by God.
[Sidenote: _Singleness of Purpose_]
When he was first summoned, his resolution had been tested. As he turned
to follow Elijah, he was bidden by the prophet to return home. He must
count the cost,—decide for himself to accept or reject the call. But
Elisha understood the value of his opportunity. Not for any worldly
advantage would he forego the possibility of becoming God’s messenger,
or sacrifice the privilege of association with His servant.
[Sidenote: _Test of Faith_]
As time passed, and Elijah was prepared for translation, so Elisha was
prepared to become his successor. And again his faith and resolution
were tested. Accompanying Elijah in his round of service, knowing the
change soon to come, he was at each place invited by the prophet to turn
back. “Tarry here, I pray thee,” Elijah said; “for the Lord hath sent me
to Bethel.” But in his early labor of guiding the plow, Elisha had
learned not to fail or to become discouraged; and now that he had set
his hand to the plow in another line of duty, he would not be diverted
from his purpose. As often as the invitation to turn back was given, his
answer was, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee.”[64]
[Sidenote: _The Supreme Gift_]
“And they two went on.... And they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took
his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were
divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto
Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.
And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon
me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see
me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it
shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked,
that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and
parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
“And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more; and he took
hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also
the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the
bank of Jordan; and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he
also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha
went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at
Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.
And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before
him.”[65]
Henceforth Elisha stood in Elijah’s place. And he who had been faithful
in that which was least, proved himself faithful also in much.
[Sidenote: _Fruits of Practical Training_]
Elijah, the man of power, had been God’s instrument for the overthrow of
gigantic evils. Idolatry, which, supported by Ahab and the heathen
Jezebel, had seduced the nation, had been cast down. Baal’s prophets had
been slain. The whole people of Israel had been deeply stirred, and many
were returning to the worship of God. As successor to Elijah was needed
one who by careful, patient instruction could guide Israel in safe
paths. For this work Elisha’s early training under God’s direction had
prepared him.
[Sidenote: _A Lesson for All_]
The lesson is for all. None can know what may be God’s purpose in His
discipline; but all may be certain that faithfulness in little things is
the evidence of fitness for greater responsibilities. Every act of life
is a revelation of character, and he only who in small duties proves
himself “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,”[66] will be honored
by God with weightier trusts.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Moses_]
Younger than Joseph or Daniel was Moses when removed from the sheltering
care of his childhood’s home; yet already the same agencies that shaped
their lives had moulded his. Only twelve years did he spend with his
Hebrew kindred; but during these years was laid the foundation of his
greatness; it was laid by the hand of one little known to fame.
[Sidenote: _His Mother’s Teaching_]
Jochebed was a woman and a slave. Her lot in life was humble, her burden
heavy. But through no other woman, save Mary of Nazareth, has the world
received greater blessing. Knowing that her child must soon pass beyond
her care, to the guardianship of those who knew not God, she the more
earnestly endeavored to link his soul with heaven. She sought to implant
in his heart love and loyalty to God. And faithfully was the work
accomplished. Those principles of truth that were the burden of his
mother’s teaching and the lesson of her life, no after-influence could
induce Moses to renounce.
[Sidenote: _In the Schools of Egypt_]
From the humble home in Goshen, the son of Jochebed passed to the palace
of the Pharaohs, to the Egyptian princess, by her to be welcomed as a
loved and cherished son. In the schools of Egypt, Moses received the
highest civil and military training. Of great personal attractions,
noble in form and stature, of cultivated mind and princely bearing, and
renowned as a military leader, he became the nation’s pride. The king of
Egypt was also a member of the priesthood: and Moses, though refusing to
participate in the heathen worship, was initiated into all the mysteries
of the Egyptian religion. Egypt at this time being still the most
powerful and most highly civilized of nations, Moses, as its prospective
sovereign, was heir to the highest honors this world could bestow. But
his was a nobler choice. For the honor of God and the deliverance of His
downtrodden people, Moses sacrificed the honors of Egypt. Then, in a
special sense, God undertook his training.
[Sidenote: _The Lesson of Defeat_]
Not yet was Moses prepared for his life-work. He had yet to learn the
lesson of dependence upon divine power. He had mistaken God’s purpose.
It was his hope to deliver Israel by force of arms. For this he risked
all, and failed. In defeat and disappointment he became a fugitive and
exile in a strange land.
[Sidenote: _Training for Leadership_]
In the wilds of Midian, Moses spent forty years as a keeper of sheep.
Apparently cut off forever from his life’s mission, he was receiving the
discipline essential for its fulfilment. Wisdom to govern an ignorant
and undisciplined multitude must be gained through self-mastery. In the
care of the sheep and the tender lambs he must obtain the experience
that would make him a faithful, long-suffering shepherd to Israel. That
he might become a representative of God, he must learn of Him.
The influences that had surrounded him in Egypt, the affection of his
foster-mother, his own position as the grandson of the king, the luxury
and vice that allured in ten thousand forms, the refinement, the
subtlety, and the mysticism of a false religion, had made an impression
on his mind and character. In the stern simplicity of the wilderness,
all this disappeared.
[Sidenote: _Alone with God_]
Amidst the solemn majesty of the mountain solitudes, Moses was alone
with God. Everywhere the Creator’s name was written. Moses seemed to
stand in His presence, and to be overshadowed by His power. Here his
self-sufficiency was swept away. In the presence of the Infinite One he
realized how weak, how inefficient, how short-sighted, is man.
Here Moses gained that which went with him throughout the years of his
toilsome and care-burdened life,—a sense of the personal presence of the
Divine One. Not merely did he look down the ages for Christ to be made
manifest in the flesh; he saw Christ accompanying the host of Israel in
all their travels. When misunderstood and misrepresented, when called to
bear reproach and insult, to face danger and death, he was able to
endure “as seeing Him who is invisible.”[67]
Moses did not merely think of God; he saw Him. God was the constant
vision before him. Never did he lose sight of His face.
[Sidenote: _Power through Faith_]
To Moses faith was no guesswork; it was a reality. He believed that God
ruled his life in particular; and in all its details he acknowledged
Him. For strength to withstand every temptation, he trusted in Him.
The great work assigned him he desired to make in the highest degree
successful, and he placed his whole dependence upon divine power. He
felt his need of help, asked for it, by faith grasped it, and in the
assurance of sustaining strength went forward.
[Sidenote: _Results of His Training_]
Such was the experience that Moses gained by his forty years of training
in the desert. To impart such an experience, Infinite Wisdom counted not
the period too long or the price too great.
The results of that training, of the lessons there taught, are bound up,
not only with the history of Israel, but with all which from that day to
this has told for the world’s progress. The highest testimony to the
greatness of Moses, the judgment passed upon his life by Inspiration,
is, “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom
Jehovah knew face to face.”[68]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Paul_]
[Sidenote: “_An Hebrew of the Hebrews_”]
With the faith and experience of the Galilean disciples who had
companied with Jesus were united, in the work of the gospel, the fiery
vigor and intellectual power of a rabbi of Jerusalem. A Roman citizen,
born in a Gentile city; a Jew, not only by descent but by lifelong
training, patriotic devotion, and religious faith; educated in Jerusalem
by the most eminent of the rabbis, and instructed in all the laws and
traditions of the fathers, Saul of Tarsus shared to the fullest extent
the pride and the prejudices of his nation. While still a young man, he
became an honored member of the Sanhedrin. He was looked upon as a man
of promise, a zealous defender of the ancient faith.
In the theological schools of Judea, the word of God had been set aside
for human speculations; it was robbed of its power by the
interpretations and traditions of the rabbis. Self-aggrandizement, love
of domination, jealous exclusiveness, bigotry and contemptuous pride,
were the ruling principles and motives of these teachers.
[Sidenote: _A Leader in Persecution_]
The rabbis gloried in their superiority, not only to the people of other
nations, but to the masses of their own. With their fierce hatred of
their Roman oppressors, they cherished the determination to recover by
force of arms their national supremacy. The followers of Jesus, whose
message of peace was so contrary to their schemes of ambition, they
hated and put to death. In this persecution, Saul was one of the most
bitter and relentless actors.
In the military schools of Egypt, Moses was taught the law of force, and
so strong a hold did this teaching have upon his character that it
required forty years of quiet and communion with God and nature to fit
him for the leadership of Israel by the law of love. The same lesson
Paul had to learn.
[Sidenote: _The Vision of the Crucified_]
At the gate of Damascus the vision of the Crucified One changed the
whole current of his life. The persecutor became a disciple, the teacher
a learner. The days of darkness spent in solitude at Damascus were as
years in his experience. The Old Testament Scriptures stored in his
memory were his study, and Christ his teacher. To him also nature’s
solitudes became a school. To the desert of Arabia he went, there to
study the Scriptures and to learn of God. He emptied his soul of the
prejudices and traditions that had shaped his life, and received
instruction from the Source of truth.
His after-life was inspired by the one principle of self-sacrifice, the
ministry of love. “I am debtor,” he said, “both to the Greeks, and to
the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” “The love of
Christ constraineth us.”[69]
[Sidenote: _Craftsman_, _Preacher_, _Missionary_]
The greatest of human teachers, Paul accepted the lowliest as well as
the highest duties. He recognized the necessity of labor for the hand as
well as for the mind, and he wrought at a handicraft for his own
support. His trade of tent-making he pursued while daily preaching the
gospel in the great centers of civilization. “These hands,” he said, at
parting with the elders of Ephesus, “have ministered unto my
necessities, and to them that were with me.”[70]
[Sidenote: _Sympathy and Insight_]
While he possessed high intellectual endowments, the life of Paul
revealed the power of a rarer wisdom. Principles of deepest import,
principles concerning which the greatest minds of his time were
ignorant, are unfolded in his teachings and exemplified in his life. He
had that greatest of all wisdom, which gives quickness of insight and
sympathy of heart, which brings man in touch with men, and enables him
to arouse their better nature and inspire them to a higher life.
Listen to his words before the heathen Lystrians, as he points them to
God revealed in nature, the Source of all good, who “gave us rain from
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and
gladness.”[71]
[Sidenote: _Mastership_]
See him in the dungeon at Philippi, where, despite his pain-racked body,
his song of praise breaks the silence of midnight. After the earthquake
has opened the prison doors, his voice is again heard, in words of cheer
to the heathen jailer, “Do thyself no harm; for we are all
here,”[72]—every man in his place, restrained by the presence of one
fellow-prisoner. And the jailer, convicted of the reality of that faith
which sustains Paul, inquires the way of salvation, and with his whole
household unites with the persecuted band of Christ’s disciples.
[Sidenote: _In Advance of His Age_]
See Paul at Athens before the council of the Areopagus, as he meets
science with science, logic with logic, and philosophy with philosophy.
Mark how, with the tact born of divine love, he points to Jehovah as the
“Unknown God,” whom his hearers have ignorantly worshiped; and in words
quoted from a poet of their own he pictures Him as a Father whose
children they are. Hear him, in that age of caste, when the rights of
man as man were wholly unrecognized, as he sets forth the great truth of
human brotherhood, declaring that God “hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” Then he shows
how, through all the dealings of God with man, runs like a thread of
gold His purpose of grace and mercy. He “hath determined the times
before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should
seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though
He be not far from every one of us.”[73]
Hear him in the court of Festus, when King Agrippa, convicted of the
truth of the gospel, exclaims, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a
Christian.” With what gentle courtesy does Paul, pointing to his own
chain, make answer, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all
that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am,
except these bonds.”[74]
[Sidenote: _A Strenuous Life_]
Thus passed his life, as described in his own words, “in journeyings
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”[75]
[Sidenote: _The Joy of Service_]
“Being reviled,” he said, “we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it;
being defamed, we entreat;” “as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor,
yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all
things.”[76]
In service he found his joy; and at the close of his life of toil,
looking back on its struggles and triumphs, he could say, “I have fought
a good fight.”[77]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Satisfied with Their Choice_]
These histories are of vital interest. To none are they of deeper
importance than to the youth. Moses renounced a prospective kingdom,
Paul the advantages of wealth and honor among his people, for a life of
burden-bearing in God’s service. To many the life of these men appears
one of renunciation and sacrifice. Was it really so? Moses counted the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. He
counted it so because it was so. Paul declared: “What things were gain
to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all
things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
refuse that I may gain Christ.”[78] He was satisfied with his choice.
[Sidenote: _The Abiding Greatness_]
Moses was offered the palace of the Pharaohs and the monarch’s throne;
but the sinful pleasures that make men forget God were in those lordly
courts, and he chose instead the “durable riches and righteousness.”[79]
Instead of linking himself with the greatness of Egypt, he chose to bind
up his life with God’s purpose. Instead of giving laws to Egypt, he by
divine direction enacted laws for the world. He became God’s instrument
in giving to men those principles that are the safeguard alike of the
home and of society, that are the corner-stone of the prosperity of
nations,—principles recognized to-day by the world’s greatest men as the
foundation of all that is best in human governments.
The greatness of Egypt is in the dust. Its power and civilization have
passed away. But the work of Moses can never perish. The great
principles of righteousness which he lived to establish are eternal.
[Sidenote: _With Christ_]
Moses’ life of toil and heart-burdening care was irradiated with the
presence of Him who is “the chiefest among ten thousand,” and the One
“altogether lovely.”[80] With Christ in the wilderness wandering, with
Christ on the mount of transfiguration, with Christ in the heavenly
courts,—his was a life on earth blessing and blessed, and in heaven
honored.
Paul also in his manifold labors was upheld by the sustaining power of
His presence. “I can do all things,” he said, “through Christ which
strengtheneth me.” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created
thing,[81] shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[82]
[Sidenote: _Life’s Recompense_]
Yet there is a future joy to which Paul looked forward as the recompense
of his labors,—the same joy for the sake of which Christ endured the
cross and despised the shame,—the joy of seeing the fruition of his
work. “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?” he wrote to the
Thessalonian converts. “Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord
Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy.”[83]
Who can measure the results to the world of Paul’s life-work? Of all
those beneficent influences that alleviate suffering, that comfort
sorrow, that restrain evil, that uplift life from the selfish and the
sensual, and glorify it with the hope of immortality, how much is due to
the labors of Paul and his fellow-workers, as with the gospel of the Son
of God they made their unnoticed journey from Asia to the shores of
Europe?
What is it worth to any life to have been God’s instrument in setting in
motion such influences of blessing? What will it be worth in eternity to
witness the results of such a life-work?
_THE MASTER TEACHER_
“_Never man spake like this Man._”
_The Teacher Sent from God_
“CONSIDER HIM”
“His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.”[84]
[Sidenote: _Heaven’s Best and Greatest_]
In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest.
He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the
innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the One chosen to reveal in
person to humanity the knowledge of God.
[Sidenote: _The Perfect Ideal_]
Through Christ had been communicated every ray of divine light that had
ever reached our fallen world. It was He who had spoken through every
one that throughout the ages had declared God’s word to man. Of Him all
the excellences manifest in the earth’s greatest and noblest souls were
reflections. The purity and beneficence of Joseph, the faith and
meekness and long-suffering of Moses, the steadfastness of Elisha, the
noble integrity and firmness of Daniel, the ardor and self-sacrifice of
Paul, the mental and spiritual power manifest in all these men, and in
all others who had ever dwelt on the earth, were but gleams from the
shining of His glory. In Him was found the perfect ideal.
To reveal this ideal as the only true standard for attainment; to show
what every human being might become; what, through the indwelling of
humanity by divinity, all who received Him would become,—for this,
Christ came to the world. He came to show how men are to be trained as
befits the sons of God; how on earth they are to practise the principles
and to live the life of heaven.
[Sidenote: _Results of False Teaching_]
God’s greatest gift was bestowed to meet man’s greatest need. The Light
appeared when the world’s darkness was deepest. Through false teaching,
the minds of men had long been turned away from God. In the prevailing
systems of education, human philosophy had taken the place of divine
revelation. Instead of the heaven-given standard of truth, men had
accepted a standard of their own devising. From the Light of life they
had turned aside to walk in the sparks of the fire which they had
kindled.
[Sidenote: _Pretense for Reality_]
Having separated from God, their only dependence being the power of
humanity, their strength was but weakness. Even the standard set up by
themselves they were incapable of reaching. The want of true excellence
was supplied by appearance and profession. Semblance took the place of
reality.
From time to time, teachers arose who pointed men to the Source of
truth. Right principles were enunciated, and human lives witnessed to
their power. But these efforts made no lasting impression. There was a
brief check in the current of evil, but its downward course was not
stayed. The reformers were as lights that shone in the darkness; but
they could not dispel it. The world “loved darkness rather than
light.”[85]
[Sidenote: _Formalism; Materialism_]
When Christ came to the earth, humanity seemed to be fast reaching its
lowest point. The very foundations of society were undermined. Life had
become false and artificial. The Jews, destitute of the power of God’s
word, gave to the world mind-benumbing, soul-deadening traditions and
speculations. The worship of God “in Spirit and in truth,” had been
supplanted by the glorification of men in an endless round of man-made
ceremonies. Throughout the world, all systems of religion were losing
their hold on mind and soul. Disgusted with fable and falsehood, seeking
to drown thought, men turned to infidelity and materialism. Leaving
eternity out of their reckoning, they lived for the present.
[Sidenote: _Human Rights Disregarded_]
As they ceased to recognize the Divine, they ceased to regard the human.
Truth, honor, integrity, confidence, compassion, were departing from the
earth. Relentless greed and absorbing ambition gave birth to universal
distrust. The idea of duty, of the obligation of strength to weakness,
of human dignity and human rights, was cast aside as a dream or a fable.
The common people were regarded as beasts of burden or as the tools and
the stepping-stones for ambition. Wealth and power, ease and
self-indulgence, were sought as the highest good. Physical degeneracy,
mental stupor, spiritual death, characterized the age.
[Sidenote: _Misconception of God_]
[Sidenote: _Evil Unrestrained_]
As the evil passions and purposes of men banished God from their
thoughts, so forgetfulness of Him inclined them more strongly to evil.
The heart in love with sin clothed Him with its own attributes, and this
conception strengthened the power of sin. Bent on self-pleasing, men
came to regard God as such a one as themselves,—a Being whose aim was
self-glory, whose requirements were suited to His own pleasure; a Being
by whom men were lifted up or cast down according as they helped or
hindered His selfish purpose. The lower classes regarded the Supreme
Being as one scarcely differing from their oppressors, save by exceeding
them in power. By these ideas every form of religion was moulded. Each
was a system of exaction. By gifts and ceremonies, the worshipers sought
to propitiate the Deity, in order to secure His favor for their own
ends. Such religion, having no power upon the heart or the conscience,
could be but a round of forms, of which men wearied, and from which,
except for such gain as it might offer, they longed to be free. So evil,
unrestrained, grew stronger, while the appreciation and desire for good
diminished. Men lost the image of God, and received the impress of the
demoniacal power by which they were controlled. The whole world was
becoming a sink of corruption.
[Sidenote: _The Power of a New Life_]
There was but one hope for the human race,—that into this mass of
discordant and corrupting elements might be cast a new leaven; that
there might be brought to mankind the power of a new life; that the
knowledge of God might be restored to the world.
Christ came to restore this knowledge. He came to set aside the false
teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him.
He came to manifest the nature of His law, to reveal in His own
character the beauty of holiness.
[Sidenote: _With the Love of Eternity_]
Christ came to the world with the accumulated love of eternity. Sweeping
away the exactions which had encumbered the law of God, He showed that
the law is a law of love, an expression of the Divine Goodness. He
showed that in obedience to its principles is involved the happiness of
mankind, and with it the stability, the very foundation and framework,
of human society.
So far from making arbitrary requirements, God’s law is given to men as
a hedge, a shield. Whoever accepts its principles is preserved from
evil. Fidelity to God involves fidelity to man. Thus the law guards the
rights, the individuality, of every human being. It restrains the
superior from oppression, and the subordinate from disobedience. It
insures man’s well-being, both for this world and for the world to come.
To the obedient it is the pledge of eternal life; for it expresses the
principles that endure forever.
[Sidenote: _Demonstration of True Principles_]
Christ came to demonstrate the value of the divine principles by
revealing their power for the regeneration of humanity. He came to teach
how these principles are to be developed and applied.
[Sidenote: _Simplicity_]
With the people of that age, the value of all things was determined by
outward show. As religion had declined in power, it had increased in
pomp. The educators of the time sought to command respect by display and
ostentation. To all this the life of Jesus presented a marked contrast.
His life demonstrated the worthlessness of those things that men
regarded as life’s great essentials. Born amidst surroundings the
rudest, sharing a peasant’s home, a peasant’s fare, a craftsman’s
occupation, living a life of obscurity, identifying Himself with the
world’s unknown toilers,—amidst these conditions and surroundings,—Jesus
followed the divine plan of education. The schools of His time, with
their magnifying of things small and their belittling of things great,
He did not seek. His education was gained directly from the
Heaven-appointed sources; from useful work, from the study of the
Scriptures and of nature, and from the experiences of life,—God’s
lesson-books, full of instruction to all who bring to them the willing
hand, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart.
“The Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the
grace of God was upon Him.”[86]
Thus prepared, He went forth to His mission, in every moment of His
contact with men exerting upon them an influence to bless, a power to
transform, such as the world had never witnessed.
[Sidenote: _Sympathy_]
He who seeks to transform humanity must himself understand humanity.
Only through sympathy, faith, and love can men be reached and uplifted.
Here Christ stands revealed as the master teacher; of all that ever
dwelt on the earth, He alone has perfect understanding of the human
soul.
“We have not a high priest”—master teacher, for the priests were
teachers—“we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted
like as we are.”[87]
[Sidenote: “_He Suffered Being Tempted_”]
“In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor
them that are tempted.”[88]
Christ alone had experience in all the sorrows and temptations that
befall human beings. Never another of woman born was so fiercely beset
by temptation; never another bore so heavy a burden of the world’s sin
and pain. Never was there another whose sympathies were so broad or so
tender. A sharer in all the experiences of humanity, He could feel not
only for, but with, every burdened and tempted and struggling one.
[Sidenote: _What He Taught, He Was_]
What He taught, He lived. “I have given you an example,” He said to His
disciples; “that ye should do as I have done.” “I have kept My Father’s
commandments.”[89] Thus in His life, Christ’s words had perfect
illustration and support. And more than this; what He taught, He was.
His words were the expression, not only of His own life-experience, but
of His own character. Not only did He teach the truth, but He was the
truth. It was this that gave His teaching power.
[Sidenote: _Power to Win Hearts_]
Christ was a faithful reprover. Never lived there another who so hated
evil; never another whose denunciation of it was so fearless. To all
things untrue and base His very presence was a rebuke. In the light of
His purity, men saw themselves unclean, their life’s aims mean and
false. Yet He drew them. He who had created man, understood the value of
humanity. Evil He denounced as the foe of those whom He was seeking to
bless and to save. In every human being, however fallen, He beheld a son
of God, one who might be restored to the privilege of his divine
relationship.
“God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through Him might be saved.”[90] Looking upon men in their
suffering and degradation, Christ perceived ground for hope where
appeared only despair and ruin. Wherever there existed a sense of need,
there He saw opportunity for uplifting. Souls tempted, defeated, feeling
themselves lost, ready to perish, He met, not with denunciation, but
with blessing.
[Sidenote: _Salutation of Blessing_]
The beatitudes were His greeting to the whole human family. Looking upon
the vast throng gathered to listen to the sermon on the mount, He seemed
for the moment to have forgotten that He was not in heaven, and He used
the familiar salutation of the world of light. From His lips flowed
blessings as the gushing forth of a long-sealed fountain.
Turning from the ambitious, self-satisfied favorites of this world, He
declared that those were blessed who, however great their need, would
receive His light and love. To the poor in spirit, the sorrowing, the
persecuted, He stretched out His arms, saying, “Come unto Me.... I will
give you rest.”[91]
[Sidenote: _Perception of Man’s Possibilities_]
In every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw men as
they might be, transfigured by His grace,—in “the beauty of the Lord our
God.”[92] Looking upon them with hope, He inspired hope. Meeting them
with confidence, He inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man’s true
ideal, He awakened, for its attainment, both desire and faith. In His
presence souls despised and fallen realized that they still were men,
and they longed to prove themselves worthy of His regard. In many a
heart that seemed dead to all things holy were awakened new impulses. To
many a despairing one there opened the possibility of a new life.
Christ bound men to His heart by the ties of love and devotion; and by
the same ties He bound them to their fellow-men. With Him love was life,
and life was service. “Freely ye have received,” He said, “freely
give.”[93]
[Sidenote: _In the Secret Place of Power_]
It was not on the cross only that Christ sacrificed Himself for
humanity. As “He went about doing good,”[94] every-day’s experience was
an outpouring of His life. In one way only could such a life be
sustained. Jesus lived in dependence upon God and communion with Him. To
the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty, men
now and then repair; they abide for a season, and the result is manifest
in noble deeds; then their faith fails, the communion is interrupted,
and the life-work marred. But the life of Jesus was a life of constant
trust, sustained by continual communion; and His service for heaven and
earth was without failure or faltering.
As a man He supplicated the throne of God, till His humanity was charged
with a heavenly current that connected humanity with divinity. Receiving
life from God, He imparted life to men.
[Sidenote: _The Scope of His Teaching_]
“Never man spake like this Man.”[95] This would have been true of Christ
had He taught only in the realm of the physical and the intellectual, or
in matters of theory and speculation solely. He might have unlocked
mysteries that have required centuries of toil and study to penetrate.
He might have made suggestions in scientific lines that, till the close
of time, would have afforded food for thought and stimulus for
invention. But He did not do this. He said nothing to gratify curiosity
or to stimulate selfish ambition. He did not deal in abstract theories,
but in that which is essential to the development of character; that
which will enlarge man’s capacity for knowing God, and increase his
power to do good. He spoke of those truths that relate to the conduct of
life, and that unite man with eternity.
Instead of directing the people to study men’s theories about God, His
word, or His works, He taught them to behold Him, as manifested in His
works, in His word, and by His providences. He brought their minds in
contact with the mind of the Infinite.
The people “were astonished at His teaching;[96] for His word was with
power.”[97] Never before spoke one who had such power to awaken thought,
to kindle aspiration, to arouse every capability of body, mind, and
soul.
[Sidenote: _For All Men and All Ages_]
Christ’s teaching, like His sympathies, embraced the world. Never can
there be a circumstance of life, a crisis in human experience, which has
not been anticipated in His teaching, and for which its principles have
not a lesson. The Prince of teachers, His words will be found a guide to
His co-workers till the end of time.
To Him the present and the future, the near and the far, were one. He
had in view the needs of all mankind. Before His mind’s eye was
outspread every scene of human effort and achievement, of temptation and
conflict, of perplexity and peril. All hearts, all homes, all pleasures
and joys and aspirations, were known to Him.
He spoke not only for, but to, all mankind. To the little child, in the
gladness of life’s morning; to the eager, restless heart of youth; to
men in the strength of their years, bearing the burden of responsibility
and care; to the aged in their weakness and weariness,—to all, His
message was spoken,—to every child of humanity, in every land and in
every age.
[Sidenote: _Life’s True Valuation_]
In His teaching were embraced the things of time and the things of
eternity,—things seen, in their relation to things unseen, the passing
incidents of common life and the solemn issues of the life to come.
The things of this life He placed in their true relation, as subordinate
to those of eternal interest; but He did not ignore their importance. He
taught that heaven and earth are linked together, and that a knowledge
of divine truth prepares man better to perform the duties of daily life.
To Him nothing was without purpose. The sports of the child, the toils
of the man, life’s pleasures and cares and pains, all were means to the
one end,—the revelation of God for the uplifting of humanity.
[Sidenote: “_God with Us_”]
From His lips the word of God came home to men’s hearts with new power
and new meaning. His teaching caused the things of creation to stand out
in new light. Upon the face of nature once more rested gleamings of that
brightness which sin had banished. In all the facts and experiences of
life were revealed a divine lesson and the possibility of divine
companionship. Again God dwelt on earth; human hearts became conscious
of His presence; the world was encompassed with His love. Heaven came
down to men. In Christ their hearts acknowledged Him who had opened to
them the science of eternity,—
“Immanuel, God with us.”
* * * * *
In the Teacher sent from God, all true educational work finds its
center. Of this work to-day as verily as of the work He established
eighteen hundred years ago, the Saviour speaks in the words,—
[Sidenote: “_The First and the Last_”]
“I am the first and the last, and the Living One.”
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”[98]
In the presence of such a Teacher, of such opportunity for divine
education, what worse than folly is it to seek an education apart from
Him,—to seek to be wise apart from Wisdom; to be true while rejecting
Truth; to seek illumination apart from the Light, and existence without
the Life; to turn from the Fountain of living waters, and hew out broken
cisterns, that can hold no water.
Behold, He is still inviting: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me,
and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said,” out of
him “shall flow rivers of living water.” “The water that I shall give
him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal
life.”[99]
_An Illustration of His Methods_
“UNTO THE MEN WHOM THOU
GAVEST ME, I HAVE MANIFESTED
THY NAME”
[Sidenote: _Training of the Twelve_]
The most complete illustration of Christ’s methods as a teacher is found
in His training of the twelve first disciples. Upon these men were to
rest weighty responsibilities. He had chosen them as men whom He could
imbue with His Spirit, and who could be fitted to carry forward His work
on earth when He should leave it. To them, above all others, He gave the
advantage of His own companionship. Through personal association He
impressed Himself upon these chosen co-laborers. “The Life was
manifested,” says John the beloved, “and we have seen it, and bear
witness.”[100]
Only by such communion,—the communion of mind with mind and heart with
heart, of the human with the divine,—can be communicated that vitalizing
energy which it is the work of true education to impart. It is only life
that begets life.
[Sidenote: _The Family School_]
In the training of His disciples the Saviour followed the system of
education established at the beginning. The twelve first chosen, with a
few others who through ministry to their needs were from time to time
connected with them, formed the family of Jesus. They were with Him in
the house, at the table, in the closet, in the field. They accompanied
Him on His journeys, shared His trials and hardships, and, as much as in
them was, entered into His work.
Sometimes He taught them as they sat together on the mountainside,
sometimes beside the sea, or from the fisherman’s boat, sometimes as
they walked by the way. Whenever He spoke to the multitude, the
disciples formed the inner circle. They pressed close beside Him, that
they might lose nothing of His instruction. They were attentive
listeners, eager to understand the truths they were to teach in all
lands and to all ages.
[Sidenote: _From the Common People_]
The first pupils of Jesus were chosen from the ranks of the common
people. They were humble, unlettered men, these fishers of Galilee; men
unschooled in the learning and customs of the rabbis, but trained by the
stern discipline of toil and hardship. They were men of native ability
and of teachable spirit; men who could be instructed and moulded for the
Saviour’s work. In the common walks of life there is many a toiler
patiently treading the round of his daily tasks, unconscious of latent
powers that, roused to action, would place him among the world’s great
leaders. Such were the men who were called by the Saviour to be His
co-laborers. And they had the advantage of three years’ training by the
greatest educator this world has ever known.
[Sidenote: _Types of Character_]
In these first disciples was presented a marked diversity. They were to
be the world’s teachers, and they represented widely varied types of
character. There were Levi Matthew the publican, called from a life of
business activity, and subservience to Rome; the zealot Simon, the
uncompromising foe of the imperial authority; the impulsive,
self-sufficient, warm-hearted Peter, with Andrew his brother; Judas the
Judean, polished, capable, and mean-spirited; Philip and Thomas,
faithful and earnest, yet slow of heart to believe; James the less and
Jude, of less prominence among the brethren, but men of force, positive
both in their faults and in their virtues; Nathanael, a child in
sincerity and trust; and the ambitious, loving-hearted sons of Zebedee.
[Sidenote: _To Come into Unity_]
In order successfully to carry forward the work to which they had been
called, these disciples, differing so widely in natural characteristics,
in training, and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of
feeling, thought, and action. This unity it was Christ’s object to
secure. To this end He sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The
burden of His labor for them is expressed in His prayer to the Father,
“that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,
that they also may be one in Us; ... that the world may know that Thou
hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”[101]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _His Closest Companions_]
Of the twelve disciples, four were to act a leading part, each in a
distinct line. In preparation for this, Christ taught them, foreseeing
all. James, destined to swift-coming death by the sword; John, longest
of the brethren to follow his Master in labor and persecution; Peter,
the pioneer in breaking through the barriers of ages, and teaching the
heathen world; and Judas, in service capable of pre-eminence above his
brethren, yet brooding in his soul purposes of whose ripening he little
dreamed,—these were the objects of Christ’s greatest solicitude, and the
recipients of His most frequent and careful instruction.
[Sidenote: _John_]
Peter, James, and John sought every opportunity of coming into close
contact with their Master, and their desire was granted. Of all the
twelve their relationship to Him was closest. John could be satisfied
only with a still nearer intimacy, and this he obtained. At that first
conference beside the Jordan, when Andrew, having heard Jesus, hurried
away to call his brother, John sat silent, rapt in the contemplation of
wondrous themes. He followed the Saviour, ever an eager, absorbed
listener. Yet John’s was no faultless character. He was no gentle,
dreamy enthusiast. He and his brother were called “the sons of
thunder.”[102] John was proud, ambitious, combative; but beneath all
this the divine Teacher discerned the ardent, sincere, loving heart.
Jesus rebuked his self-seeking, disappointed his ambitions, tested his
faith. But He revealed to him that for which his soul longed,—the beauty
of holiness, His own transforming love. “Unto the men which Thou gavest
Me out of the world,” He said to the Father, “I have manifested Thy
name.”[103]
[Sidenote: _Fellowship_; _Transformation_]
John’s was a nature that longed for love, for sympathy and
companionship. He pressed close to Jesus, sat by His side, leaned upon
His breast. As a flower the sun and dew, so did he drink in the divine
light and life. In adoration and love he beheld the Saviour, until
likeness to Christ and fellowship with Him became his one desire, and in
his character was reflected the character of his Master.
“Behold,” he said, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. 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.”[104]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Peter_]
The history of no one of the disciples better illustrates Christ’s
method of training than does the history of Peter. Bold, aggressive, and
self-confident, quick to perceive and forward to act, prompt in
retaliation yet generous in forgiving, Peter often erred, and often
received reproof. Nor were his warm-hearted loyalty and devotion to
Christ the less decidedly recognized and commended. Patiently, with
discriminating love, the Saviour dealt with His impetuous disciple,
seeking to check his self-confidence, and to teach him humility,
obedience, and trust.
But only in part was the lesson learned. Self-assurance was not
uprooted.
Often Jesus, the burden heavy upon His own heart, sought to open to the
disciples the scenes of His trial and suffering. But their eyes were
holden. The knowledge was unwelcome, and they did not see. Self-pity,
that shrank from fellowship with Christ in suffering, prompted Peter’s
remonstrance, “Pity Thyself, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee.”[105]
His words expressed the thought and feeling of the twelve.
So they went on, the crisis drawing nearer; they, boastful, contentious,
in anticipation apportioning regal honors, and dreaming not of the
cross.
[Sidenote: _Rebuke That Reclaims_]
[Sidenote: “_I Have Prayed for Thee_”]
For them all, Peter’s experience had a lesson. To self-trust, trial is
defeat. The sure outworking of evil still unforsaken, Christ could not
prevent. But as His hand had been outstretched to save when the waves
were about to sweep over Peter, so did His love reach out for his rescue
when the deep waters swept over his soul. Over and over again, on the
very verge of ruin, Peter’s words of boasting brought him nearer and
still nearer to the brink. Over and over again was given the warning,
“Thou shalt ... deny that thou knowest Me.”[106] It was the grieved,
loving heart of the disciple that spoke out in the avowal, “Lord, I am
ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death;”[107] and He who
reads the heart gave to Peter the message, little valued then, but that
in the swift-falling darkness would shed a ray of hope: “Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.”[108]
[Sidenote: “_When Thou Art Converted_”]
When in the judgment-hall the words of denial had been spoken; when
Peter’s love and loyalty, awakened under the Saviour’s glance of pity
and love and sorrow, had sent him forth to the garden where Christ had
wept and prayed; when his tears of remorse dropped upon the sod that had
been moistened with the blood-drops of His agony,—then the Saviour’s
words, “I have prayed for thee; ... when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren,” were a stay to his soul. Christ, though foreseeing his
sin, had not abandoned him to despair.
If the look that Jesus cast upon him had spoken condemnation instead of
pity; if in foretelling the sin He had failed of speaking hope, how
dense would have been the darkness that encompassed Peter! how reckless
the despair of that tortured soul! In that hour of anguish and
self-abhorrence, what could have held him back from the path trodden by
Judas?
[Sidenote: _Not Alone_]
He who could not spare His disciple the anguish, left him not alone to
its bitterness. His is a love that fails not nor forsakes.
Human beings, themselves given to evil, are prone to deal untenderly
with the tempted and the erring. They can not read the heart, they know
not its struggle and pain. Of the rebuke that is love, of the blow that
wounds to heal, of the warning that speaks hope, they have need to
learn.
[Sidenote: “_Tell Peter_”]
It was not John, the one who watched with Him in the judgment-hall, who
stood beside His cross, and who of the twelve was first at the tomb,—it
was not John, but Peter, that was mentioned by name in the first message
sent to the disciples by Christ after His resurrection. “Tell His
disciples and Peter,” the angel said, “that He goeth before you into
Galilee; there shall ye see Him.”[109]
At the last meeting of Christ with the disciples by the sea, Peter,
tested by the thrice-given question, “Lovest thou Me?” was restored to
his place among the twelve. His work was appointed him; he was to feed
the Lord’s flock. Then, as His last personal direction, Jesus bade him,
“Follow thou Me.”[110]
[Sidenote: _The Lesson Learned_]
Now he could appreciate the words. The lesson Christ had given when He
set a little child in the midst of the disciples and bade them become
like him, Peter could now better understand. Knowing more fully both his
own weakness and Christ’s power, he was ready to trust and to obey. In
His strength he could follow his Master.
And at the close of his experience of labor and sacrifice, the disciple
once so unready to discern the cross, counted it a joy to yield up his
life for the gospel, feeling only that, for him who had denied the Lord,
to die in the same manner as his Master died was too great an honor.
[Sidenote: _A Miracle of Miracles_]
A miracle of divine tenderness was Peter’s transformation. It is a
life-lesson to all who seek to follow in the steps of the Master
Teacher.
* * * * *
Jesus reproved His disciples, He warned and cautioned them; but John and
Peter and their brethren did not leave Him. Notwithstanding the
reproofs, they chose to be with Jesus. And the Saviour did not, because
of their errors, withdraw from them. He takes men as they are, with all
their faults and weaknesses, and trains them for His service, if they
will be disciplined and taught by Him.
[Sidenote: _Judas_]
But there was one of the twelve to whom, until very near the close of
His work, Christ spoke no word of direct reproof.
[Sidenote: _An Element of Antagonism_]
With Judas an element of antagonism was introduced among the disciples.
In connecting himself with Jesus he had responded to the attraction of
His character and life. He had sincerely desired a change in himself,
and had hoped to experience this through a union with Jesus. But this
desire did not become predominant. That which ruled him was the hope of
selfish benefit in the worldly kingdom which he expected Christ to
establish. Though recognizing the divine power of the love of Christ,
Judas did not yield to its supremacy. He continued to cherish his own
judgment and opinions, his disposition to criticize and condemn.
Christ’s motives and movements, often so far above his comprehension,
excited doubt and disapproval, and his own questionings and ambitions
were insinuated to the disciples. Many of their contentions for
supremacy, much of their dissatisfaction with Christ’s methods,
originated with Judas.
[Sidenote: _Not Conflict, but Healing_]
Jesus, seeing that to antagonize was but to harden, refrained from
direct conflict. The narrowing selfishness of Judas’ life, Christ sought
to heal through contact with His own self-sacrificing love. In His
teaching He unfolded principles that struck at the root of the
disciple’s self-centered ambitions. Lesson after lesson was thus given,
and many a time Judas realized that his character had been portrayed,
and his sin pointed out; but he would not yield.
Mercy’s pleading resisted, the impulse of evil bore final sway. Judas,
angered at an implied rebuke, and made desperate by the disappointment
of his ambitious dreams, surrendered his soul to the demon of greed, and
determined upon the betrayal of his Master. From the Passover chamber,
the joy of Christ’s presence, and the light of immortal hope, he went
forth to his evil work,—into the outer darkness, where hope was not.
[Sidenote: _Love Unfailing_]
“Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who
should betray Him.”[111] Yet, knowing all, He had withheld no pleading
of mercy or gift of love.
Seeing the danger of Judas, He had brought him close to Himself, within
the inner circle of His chosen and trusted disciples. Day after day,
when the burden lay heaviest upon His own heart, He had borne the pain
of continual contact with that stubborn, suspicious, brooding spirit; He
had witnessed and labored to counteract among His disciples that
continuous, secret, and subtle antagonism. And all this that no possible
saving influence might be lacking to that imperiled soul!
“Many waters can not quench love,
Neither can the floods drown it;”
“For love is strong as death.”[112]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Warning to the Eleven_]
[Sidenote: _Goal of Worldly Wisdom_]
So far as Judas himself was concerned, Christ’s work of love had been
without avail. But not so as regards his fellow-disciples. To them it
was a lesson of lifelong influence. Ever would its example of tenderness
and long-suffering mould their intercourse with the tempted and the
erring. And it had other lessons. At the ordination of the twelve, the
disciples had greatly desired that Judas should become one of their
number; and they had counted his accession an event of much promise to
the apostolic band. He had come more into contact with the world than
they, he was a man of good address, of discernment and executive
ability, and, having a high estimate of his own qualifications, he had
led the disciples to hold him in the same regard. But the methods he
desired to introduce into Christ’s work were based upon worldly
principles and were controlled by worldly policy. They looked to the
securing of worldly recognition and honor,—to the obtaining of the
kingdom of this world. The working out of these desires in the life of
Judas, helped the disciples to understand the antagonism between the
principle of self-aggrandizement and Christ’s principle of humility and
self-sacrifice,—the principle of the spiritual kingdom. In the fate of
Judas they saw the end to which self-serving tends.
[Sidenote: _Results of Christ’s Training_]
For these disciples the mission of Christ finally accomplished its
purpose. Little by little His example and His lessons of self-abnegation
moulded their characters. His death destroyed their hope of worldly
greatness. The fall of Peter, the apostasy of Judas, their own failure
in forsaking Christ in His anguish and peril, swept away their
self-sufficiency. They saw their own weakness; they saw something of the
greatness of the work committed to them; they felt their need of their
Master’s guidance at every step.
[Sidenote: _Self-Distrust_]
They knew that His personal presence was no longer to be with them, and
they recognized, as they had never recognized before, the value of the
opportunities that had been theirs to walk and talk with the Sent of
God. Many of His lessons, when spoken, they had not appreciated or
understood; now they longed to recall these lessons, to hear again His
words. With what joy now came back to them His assurance:—
“It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him.”
“All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.”
And “the Comforter ... whom the Father will send in My name, He shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.”[113]
[Sidenote: _The Teacher of Truth_]
“All things that the Father hath are Mine.” “When He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.... He shall receive of
Mine, and shall show it unto you.”[114]
The disciples had seen Christ ascend from among them on the Mount of
Olives. And as the heavens received Him, there had come back to them His
parting promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world.”[115]
[Sidenote: _Faith’s Assurance_]
They knew that His sympathies were with them still. They knew that they
had a representative, an advocate, at the throne of God. In the name of
Jesus they presented their petitions, repeating His promise, “Whatsoever
ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.”[116]
Higher and higher they extended the hand of faith, with the mighty
argument, “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who
is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us.”[117]
Faithful to His promise, the Divine One, exalted in the heavenly courts,
imparted of His fulness to His followers on earth. His enthronement at
God’s right hand was signalized by the outpouring of the Spirit upon His
disciples.
[Sidenote: _The Final Preparation_]
By the work of Christ these disciples had been led to feel their need of
the Spirit; under the Spirit’s teaching they received their final
preparation, and went forth to their life-work.
No longer were they ignorant and uncultured. No longer were they a
collection of independent units or of discordant and conflicting
elements. No longer were their hopes set on worldly greatness. They were
of “one accord,” of “one mind and one soul.” Christ filled their
thoughts. The advancement of His kingdom was their aim. In mind and
character they had become like their Master; and men “took knowledge of
them, that they had been with Jesus.”[118]
[Sidenote: _A Work That Shook the World_]
Then was there such a revelation of the glory of Christ as had never
before been witnessed by mortal man. Multitudes who had reviled His name
and despised His power confessed themselves disciples of the Crucified.
Through the co-operation of the divine Spirit the labors of the humble
men whom Christ had chosen, stirred the world. To every nation under
heaven was the gospel carried in a single generation.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: “_I Am with You Alway_”]
The same Spirit that in His stead was sent to be the instructor of His
first co-workers, Christ has commissioned to be the instructor of His
co-workers to-day. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world,”[119] is His promise.
The presence of the same Guide in educational work to-day will produce
the same results as of old. This is the end to which true education
tends; this is the work that God designs it to accomplish.
NATURE TEACHING
“_Consider the wondrous works of Him
who is perfect in knowledge_”
_God in Nature_
“HIS GLORY COVERS THE HEAVENS;”
“AND THE EARTH IS FULL OF
HIS RICHES”
[Sidenote: _The Pervading Life_]
Upon all created things is seen the impress of the Deity. Nature
testifies of God. The susceptible mind, brought in contact with the
miracle and mystery of the universe, can not but recognize the working
of infinite power. Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce
its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An
unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens. A
mysterious life pervades all nature,—a life that sustains the unnumbered
worlds throughout immensity; that lives in the insect atom which floats
in the summer breeze; that wings the flight of the swallow, and feeds
the young ravens which cry; that brings the bud to blossom, and the
flower to fruit.
[Sidenote: _Universality of Law_]
The same power that upholds nature, is working also in man. The same
great laws that guide alike the star and the atom, control human life.
The laws that govern the heart’s action, regulating the flow of the
current of life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence
that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only
in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action. For all the
objects of His creation the condition is the same,—a life sustained by
receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the
Creator’s will. To transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to
place one’s self out of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord,
anarchy, ruin.
[Sidenote: _Nature’s Witness_]
To him who learns thus to interpret its teachings, all nature becomes
illuminated; the world is a lesson-book, life a school. The unity of man
with nature and with God, the universal dominion of law, the results of
transgression, can not fail of impressing the mind and moulding the
character.
[Sidenote: _The Child’s Teacher_]
[Sidenote: _Opportunity for Nature Study_]
These are lessons that our children need to learn. To the little child,
not yet capable of learning from the printed page or of being introduced
to the routine of the schoolroom, nature presents an unfailing source of
instruction and delight. The heart not yet hardened by contact with evil
is quick to recognize the Presence that pervades all created things. The
ear as yet undulled by the world’s clamor is attentive to the Voice that
speaks through nature’s utterances. And for those of older years,
needing continually its silent reminders of the spiritual and eternal,
nature’s teaching will be no less a source of pleasure and of
instruction. As the dwellers in Eden learned from nature’s pages, as
Moses discerned God’s handwriting on the Arabian plains and mountains,
and the Child Jesus on the hillsides of Nazareth, so the children of
to-day may learn of Him. The unseen is illustrated by the seen. On
everything upon the earth, from the loftiest tree of the forest to the
lichen that clings to the rock, from the boundless ocean to the tiniest
shell on the shore, they may behold the image and superscription of God.
So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed
where this wonderful lesson-book shall be open before him. Let him
behold the glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon the
shifting canvas of the heavens, let him become acquainted with the
wonders of earth and sea, let him watch the unfolding mysteries of the
changing seasons, and, in all His works, learn of the Creator.
[Sidenote: _Antagonistic Forces_]
In no other way can the foundation of a true education be so firmly and
surely laid. Yet even the child, as he comes in contact with nature,
will see cause for perplexity. He can not but recognize the working of
antagonistic forces. It is here that nature needs an interpreter.
Looking upon the evil manifest even in the natural world, all have the
same sorrowful lesson to learn,—“An enemy hath done this.”[120]
[Sidenote: _The Interpreter of Nature_]
Only in the light that shines from Calvary can nature’s teaching be read
aright. Through the story of Bethlehem and the cross let it be shown how
good is to conquer evil, and how every blessing that comes to us is a
gift of redemption.
In brier and thorn, in thistle and tare, is represented the evil that
blights and mars. In singing bird and opening blossom, in rain and
sunshine, in summer breeze and gentle dew, in ten thousand objects in
nature, from the oak of the forest to the violet that blossoms at its
root, is seen the love that restores. And nature still speaks to us of
God’s goodness.
[Sidenote: _Thoughts of Peace_]
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts
of peace, and not of evil.”[121] This is the message that, in the light
from the cross, may be read upon all the face of nature. The heavens
declare His glory, and the earth is full of His riches.
_Lessons of Life_
“SPEAK TO THE EARTH, AND
IT SHALL TEACH THEE”
[Sidenote: _Christ’s Object Teaching_]
The great Teacher brought His hearers in contact with nature, that they
might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things; and as
their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to
interpret the spiritual teaching of the scenes upon which their eyes
rested. The parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of
truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how
He delighted to gather the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of
daily life.
[Sidenote: _Adapted to Every Hearer_]
The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed,
the shepherd and the sheep,—with these Christ illustrated immortal
truth. He drew illustrations also from the events of life, facts of
experience familiar to the hearers,—the leaven, the hid treasure, the
pearl, the fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on
the rock and the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest
every mind, to appeal to every heart. Thus the daily task, instead of
being a mere round of toil, bereft of higher thoughts, was brightened
and uplifted by constant reminders of the spiritual and the unseen.
So we should teach. Let the children learn to see in nature an
expression of the love and the wisdom of God; let the thought of Him be
linked with bird and flower and tree; let all things seen become to them
the interpreters of the unseen, and all the events of life be a means of
divine teaching.
[Sidenote: _Unity of Law_]
As they learn thus to study the lessons in all created things, and in
all life’s experiences, show that the same laws which govern the things
of nature and the events of life are to control us; that they are given
for our good; and that only in obedience to them can we find true
happiness and success.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Law of Ministry_]
All things both in heaven and in earth declare that the great law of
life is a law of service. The infinite Father ministers to the life of
every living thing. Christ came to the earth “as he that serveth.”[122]
The angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation.”[123] The same law of service is written
upon all things in nature. The birds of the air, the beasts of the
field, the trees of the forest, the leaves, the grass, and the flowers,
the sun in the heavens and the stars of light,—all have their ministry.
Lake and ocean, river and water-spring,—each takes to give.
[Sidenote: _Gaining by Giving_]
As each thing in nature ministers thus to the world’s life, it also
secures its own. “Give, and it shall be given unto you,”[124] is the
lesson written no less surely in nature than in the pages of Holy Writ.
As the hillsides and the plains open a channel for the mountain stream
to reach the sea, that which they give is repaid a hundredfold. The
stream that goes singing on its way leaves behind its gift of beauty and
fruitfulness. Through the fields, bare and brown under the summer’s
heat, a line of verdure marks the river’s course; every noble tree,
every bud, every blossom, a witness to the recompense God’s grace
decrees to all who become its channels to the world.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Laws of Growth_]
Of the almost innumerable lessons taught in the varied processes of
growth, some of the most precious are conveyed in the Saviour’s parable
of the growing seed. It has lessons for old and young.
“So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and
grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the
ear.”[125]
[Sidenote: _Divine Agency in Growth_]
The seed has in itself a germinating principle, a principle that God
Himself has implanted; yet if left to itself the seed would have no
power to spring up. Man has his part to act in promoting the growth of
the grain; but there is a point beyond which he can accomplish nothing.
He must depend upon One who has connected the sowing and the reaping by
wonderful links of His own omnipotent power.
There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil; but unless
infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no
return. The showers of rain must refresh the thirsty fields; the sun
must impart warmth; electricity must be conveyed to the buried seed. The
life which the Creator has implanted, He alone can call forth. Every
seed grows, every plant develops, by the power of God.
“The seed is the word of God.” “As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and
as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so
the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth.”[126]
As in the natural, so in the spiritual sowing; the power that alone can
produce life is from God.
[Sidenote: _Sowing in Faith_]
The work of the sower is a work of faith. The mystery of the germination
and growth of the seed he can not understand; but he has confidence in
the agencies by which God causes vegetation to flourish. He casts away
the seed, expecting to gather it many-fold in an abundant harvest. So
parents and teachers are to labor, expecting a harvest from the seed
they sow.
[Sidenote: _God’s Covenant for the Harvest_]
For a time the good seed may lie unnoticed in the heart, giving no
evidence that it has taken root; but afterward, as the Spirit of God
breathes on the soul, the hidden seed springs up, and at last brings
forth fruit. In our life-work we know not which shall prosper, this or
that. This question it is not for us to settle. “In the morning sow thy
seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.”[127] God’s great
covenant declares that “while the earth remaineth, seed-time and
harvest ... shall not cease.”[128] In the confidence of this promise the
husbandman tills and sows. Not less confidently are we, in the spiritual
sowing, to labor, trusting His assurance: “So shall My word be that
goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.” “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him.”[129]
The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life,
and the development of the plant is a figure of the development of
character. There can be no life without growth. The plant must either
grow or die. As its growth is silent and imperceptible, but continuous,
so is the growth of character. At every stage of development our life
may be perfect; yet if God’s purpose for us is fulfilled, there will be
constant advancement.
[Sidenote: _Conditions of Growth_]
The plant grows by receiving that which God has provided to sustain its
life. So spiritual growth is attained through co-operation with divine
agencies. As the plant takes root in the soil, so we are to take root in
Christ. As the plant receives the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, so
are we to receive the Holy Spirit. If our hearts are stayed upon Christ,
He will come unto us “as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto
the earth.” As the Sun of Righteousness, He will arise upon us “with
healing in His wings.” We shall “grow as the lily.” We shall “revive as
the corn, and grow as the vine.”[130]
[Sidenote: _Fruit-Bearing_]
The wheat develops, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full
corn in the ear.”[131] The object of the husbandman in the sowing of the
seed and the culture of the plant, is the production of grain,—bread for
the hungry, and seed for future harvests. So the divine Husbandman looks
for a harvest. He is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts and
lives of His followers, that through them He may be reproduced in other
hearts and lives.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Lesson in Child-Training_]
[Sidenote: _Natural Development_]
The gradual development of the plant from the seed is an object-lesson
in child-training. There is “first the blade, then the ear, after that
the full corn in the ear.”[131] He who gave this parable created the
tiny seed, gave it its vital properties, and ordained the laws that
govern its growth. And the truths taught by the parable were made a
reality in His own life. He, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory,
became a babe in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless
infant in its mother’s care. In childhood He spoke and acted as a child,
honoring His parents, and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways. But
from the first dawning of intelligence He was constantly growing in
grace and in a knowledge of truth.
Parents and teachers should aim so to cultivate the tendencies of the
youth that at each stage of life they may represent the beauty
appropriate to that period, unfolding naturally, as do the plants in the
garden.
[Sidenote: _Simplicity_]
The little ones should be educated in childlike simplicity. They should
be trained to be content with the small, helpful duties and the
pleasures and experiences natural to their years. Childhood answers to
the blade in the parable, and the blade has a beauty peculiarly its own.
Children should not be forced into a precocious maturity, but as long as
possible should retain the freshness and grace of their early years. The
more quiet and simple the life of the child,—the more free from
artificial excitement and the more in harmony with nature,—the more
favorable it is to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Miracle of the Harvest_]
In the Saviour’s miracle of feeding the five thousand is illustrated the
working of God’s power in the production of the harvest. Jesus draws
aside the veil from the world of nature, and reveals the creative energy
that is constantly exercised for our good. In multiplying the seed cast
into the ground, He who multiplied the loaves is working a miracle every
day. It is by a miracle that He constantly feeds millions from earth’s
harvest-fields. Men are called upon to co-operate with Him in the care
of the grain and the preparation of the loaf, and because of this they
lose sight of the divine agency. The working of His power is ascribed to
natural causes or to human instrumentality, and too often His gifts are
perverted to selfish uses, and made a curse instead of a blessing. God
is seeking to change all this. He desires that our dull senses shall be
quickened to discern His merciful kindness, that His gifts may be to us
the blessing that He intended.
[Sidenote: _Partakers of the Life of God_]
It is the word of God, the impartation of His life, that gives life to
the seed; and of that life, we, in eating the grain, become partakers.
This God desires us to discern; He desires that even in receiving our
daily bread we may recognize His agency, and may be brought into closer
fellowship with Him.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _We Reap What We Sow_]
[Sidenote: _Life’s Harvest, Character_]
By the laws of God in nature, effect follows cause with unvarying
certainty. The reaping testifies to the sowing. Here no pretense is
tolerated. Men may deceive their fellow-men, and may receive praise and
compensation for service which they have not rendered. But in nature
there can be no deception. On the unfaithful husbandman the harvest
passes sentence of condemnation. And in the highest sense this is true
also in the spiritual realm. It is in appearance, not in reality, that
evil succeeds. The child who plays truant from school, the youth who is
slothful in his studies, the clerk or apprentice who fails of serving
the interests of his employer, the man in any business or profession who
is untrue to his highest responsibilities, may flatter himself that, so
long as the wrong is concealed, he is gaining an advantage. But not so;
he is cheating himself. The harvest of life is character, and it is this
that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come.
The harvest is a reproduction of the seed sown. Every seed yields fruit
“after its kind.” So it is with the traits of character we cherish.
Selfishness, self-love, self-esteem, self-indulgence, reproduce
themselves, and the end is wretchedness and ruin. “He that soweth to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”[132] Love, sympathy,
and kindness yield fruitage of blessing, a harvest that is imperishable.
[Sidenote: _Increase from Sowing_]
In the harvest the seed is multiplied. A single grain of wheat,
increased by repeated sowings, would cover a whole land with golden
sheaves. So widespread may be the influence of a single life, of even a
single act.
What deeds of love the memory of that alabaster box broken for Christ’s
anointing has through the long centuries prompted! What countless gifts
that contribution, by a poor unnamed widow, of “two mites, which make a
farthing,”[133] has brought to the Saviour’s cause!
* * * * *
[Sidenote: “_Freely Give_”]
The lesson of seed-sowing teaches liberality. “He which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully.”[134]
The Lord says, “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters.”[135] To sow
beside all waters means to give wherever our help is needed. This will
not tend to poverty. “He which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully.” By casting it away the sower multiplies his seed. So by
imparting we increase our blessings. God’s promise assures a
sufficiency, that we may continue to give.
More than this: as we impart the blessings of this life, gratitude in
the recipient prepares the heart to receive spiritual truth, and a
harvest is produced unto life everlasting.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Life through Death_]
By the casting of grain into the earth, the Saviour represents His
sacrifice for us. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,”
He says, “it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit.”[136] Only through the sacrifice of Christ, the Seed, could fruit
be brought forth for the kingdom of God. In accordance with the law of
the vegetable kingdom, life is the result of His death.
So with all who bring forth fruit as workers together with Christ:
self-love, self-interest, must perish; the life must be cast into the
furrow of the world’s need. But the law of self-sacrifice is the law of
self-preservation. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting it
away. So the life that will be preserved is the life that is freely
given in service to God and man.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Symbol of the Resurrection_]
The seed dies, to spring forth into new life. In this we are taught the
lesson of the resurrection. Of the human body laid away to moulder in
the grave, God has said: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in
incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown
in weakness; it is raised in power.”[137]
[Sidenote: _Nature Study Made Practical_]
As parents and teachers try to teach these lessons, the work should be
made practical. Let the children themselves prepare the soil and sow the
seed. As they work, the parent or teacher can explain the garden of the
heart, with the good or bad seed sown there, and that as the garden must
be prepared for the natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the
seed of truth. As the seed is cast into the ground, they can teach the
lesson of Christ’s death; and as the blade springs up, the truth of the
resurrection. As the plant grows, the correspondence between the natural
and the spiritual sowing may be continued.
The youth should be instructed in a similar way. From the tilling of the
soil, lessons may constantly be learned. No one settles upon a raw piece
of land with the expectation that it will at once yield a harvest.
Diligent, persevering labor must be put forth in the preparation of the
soil, the sowing of the seed, and the culture of the crop. So it must be
in the spiritual sowing. The garden of the heart must be cultivated. The
soil must be broken up by repentance. The evil growths that choke the
good grain must be uprooted. As soil once overgrown with thorns can be
reclaimed only by diligent labor, so the evil tendencies of the heart
can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of
Christ.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Obedience to Law_]
[Sidenote: _Development of Character_]
In the cultivation of the soil the thoughtful worker will find that
treasures little dreamed of are opening up before him. No one can
succeed in agriculture or gardening without attention to the laws
involved. The special needs of every variety of plant must be studied.
Different varieties require different soil and cultivation, and
compliance with the laws governing each is the condition of success. The
attention required in transplanting, that not even a root-fiber shall be
crowded or misplaced, the care of the young plants, the pruning and
watering, the shielding from frost at night and sun by day, keeping out
weeds, disease, and insect-pests, the training and arranging, not only
teach important lessons concerning the development of character, but the
work itself is a means of development. In cultivating carefulness,
patience, attention to detail, obedience to law, it imparts a most
essential training. The constant contact with the mystery of life and
the loveliness of nature, as well as the tenderness called forth in
ministering to these beautiful objects of God’s creation, tends to
quicken the mind and refine and elevate the character; and the lessons
taught prepare the worker to deal more successfully with other minds.
_Other Object Lessons_
“WHOSO IS WISE, AND WILL OBSERVE
THESE THINGS, EVEN THEY SHALL
UNDERSTAND THE LOVING-KINDNESS
OF THE LORD”
[Sidenote: _The Ministry of Healing_]
God’s healing power runs all through nature. If a tree is cut, if a
human being is wounded or breaks a bone, nature begins at once to repair
the injury. Even before the need exists, the healing agencies are in
readiness; and as soon as a part is wounded, every energy is bent to the
work of restoration. So it is in the spiritual realm. Before sin created
the need, God had provided the remedy. Every soul that yields to
temptation is wounded, bruised, by the adversary; but wherever there is
sin, there is the Saviour. It is Christ’s work “to heal the
broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, ... to set at
liberty them that are bruised.”[138]
[Sidenote: _A Suggestive Figure_]
[Sidenote: _Only Love Can Restore_]
In this work we are to co-operate. “If a man be overtaken in a
fault, ... restore such a one.”[139] The word here translated “restore”
means to put in joint, as a dislocated bone. How suggestive the figure!
He who falls into error or sin is thrown out of relation to everything
about him. He may realize his error, and be filled with remorse; but he
can not recover himself. He is in confusion and perplexity, worsted and
helpless. He is to be reclaimed, healed, re-established. “Ye which are
spiritual, restore such a one.” Only the love that flows from the heart
of Christ can heal. Only he in whom that love flows, even as the sap in
the tree or the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.
Love’s agencies have wonderful power, for they are divine. The soft
answer that “turneth away wrath,” the love that “suffereth long, and is
kind,” the charity that “covereth a multitude of sins,”[140]—would we
learn the lesson, with what power for healing would our lives be gifted!
How life would be transformed, and the earth become a very likeness and
foretaste of heaven!
These precious lessons may be so simply taught as to be understood, even
by little children. The heart of the child is tender and easily
impressed; and when we who are older become “as little children;”[141]
when we learn the simplicity and gentleness and tender love of the
Saviour, we shall not find it difficult to touch the hearts of the
little ones, and teach them love’s ministry of healing.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Perfection in Little Things_]
Perfection exists in the least as well as in the greatest of the works
of God. The hand that hung the worlds in space is the hand that fashions
the flowers of the field. Examine under the microscope the smallest and
commonest of wayside blossoms, and note in all its parts the exquisite
beauty and completeness. So in the humblest lot true excellence may be
found; the commonest tasks, wrought with loving faithfulness, are
beautiful in God’s sight. Conscientious attention to the little things
will make us workers together with Him, and win for us His commendation
who seeth and knoweth all.
[Sidenote: _The Rainbow_]
The rainbow spanning the heavens with its arch of light is a token of
“the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature.”[142]
And the rainbow encircling the throne on high is also a token to God’s
children of His covenant of peace.
As the bow in the cloud results from the union of sunshine and shower,
so the bow above God’s throne represents the union of His mercy and His
justice. To the sinful but repentant soul God says, Live thou; “I have
found a ransom.”[143]
“As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the
earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke
thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My
kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My
peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”[144]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Stars_]
The stars also have a message of good cheer for every human being. In
those hours that come to all, when the heart is faint, and temptation
presses sore; when obstacles seem insurmountable, life’s aims impossible
of achievement, its fair promises like apples of Sodom, where, then, can
such courage and steadfastness be found as in that lesson which God has
bidden us learn from the stars in their untroubled course?
[Sidenote: “_Not One Faileth_”]
[Sidenote: “_I Will Help Thee_”]
“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,
that bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by names by
the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one
faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid
from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not
known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there
is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and
to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” “Fear thou not; for
I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen
thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of My righteousness.” “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand,
saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”[145]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Palm-Tree_]
The palm-tree, beaten by the scorching sun and the fierce sand-storm,
stands green and flourishing and fruitful in the midst of the desert.
Its roots are fed by living springs. Its crown of verdure is seen afar
over the parched, desolate plain; and the traveler, ready to die, urges
his failing steps to the cool shade and the life-giving water.
The tree of the desert is a symbol of what God means the life of His
children in this world to be. They are to guide weary souls, full of
unrest, and ready to perish in the desert of sin, to the living water.
They are to point their fellow-men to Him who gives the invitation, “If
any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.”[146]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _River and Brook_]
[Sidenote: _Unrecognized Toilers_]
The wide, deep river, that offers a highway for the traffic and travel
of nations, is valued as a world-wide benefit; but what of the little
rills that help to form this noble stream? Were it not for them, the
river would disappear. Upon them its very existence depends. So men
called to lead in some great work are honored as if its success were due
to them alone; but that success required the faithful co-operation of
humbler workers almost without number,—workers of whom the world knows
nothing. Tasks uncommended, labor without recognition, is the lot of
most of the world’s toilers. And in such a lot many are filled with
discontent. They feel that life is wasted. But the little rill that
makes its noiseless way through grove and meadow, bearing health and
fertility and beauty, is as useful in its way as the broad river. And in
contributing to the river’s life, it helps achieve that which alone it
could never have accomplished.
The lesson is one needed by many. Talent is too much idolized, and
station too much coveted. There are too many who will do nothing unless
they are recognized as leaders; too many who must receive praise, or
they have no interest to labor. What we need to learn is faithfulness in
making the utmost use of the powers and opportunities we have, and
contentment in the lot to which Heaven assigns us.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Little Creatures of the Earth_]
“Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the
air, and they shall tell thee; ... and the fishes of the sea shall
declare unto thee.” “Go to the ant; ... consider her ways.” “Behold the
birds.” “Consider the ravens.”[147]
[Sidenote: _A Lesson of Trust_]
We are not merely to tell the child about these creatures of God’s. The
animals themselves are to be his teachers. The ants teach lessons of
patient industry, of perseverance in surmounting obstacles, of
providence for the future. And the birds are teachers of the sweet
lesson of trust. Our heavenly Father provides for them; but they must
gather the food, they must build their nests, and rear their young.
Every moment they are exposed to enemies that seek to destroy them. Yet
how cheerily they go about their work! how full of joy are their little
songs!
How beautiful the psalmist’s description of God’s care for the creatures
of the woods,—
“The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;
And the rocks for the conies.”[148]
He sends the springs to run among the hills, where the birds have their
habitation, and “sing among the branches.”[148] All the creatures of the
woods and hills are a part of His great household. He opens His hand,
and satisfies the desire of every living thing.[148]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Eagle_]
[Sidenote: _Above the Clouds_]
The eagle of the Alps is sometimes beaten down by the tempest into the
narrow defiles of the mountains. Storm-clouds shut in this mighty bird
of the forest, their dark masses separating her from the sunny heights
where she has made her home. Her efforts to escape seem fruitless. She
dashes to and fro, beating the air with her strong wings, and waking the
mountain echoes with her cries. At length, with a note of triumph, she
darts upward, and, piercing the clouds, is once more in the clear
sunlight, with the darkness and tempest far beneath. So we may be
surrounded with difficulties, discouragement, and darkness. Falsehood,
calamity, injustice, shut us in. There are clouds that we can not
dispel. We battle with circumstances in vain. There is one, and but one,
way of escape. The mists and fogs cling to the earth; beyond the clouds
God’s light is shining. Into the sunlight of His presence we may rise on
the wings of faith.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Other Illustrations_]
Many are the lessons that may thus be learned. Self-reliance, from the
tree that, growing alone on plain or mountainside, strikes down its
roots deep into the earth, and in its rugged strength defies the
tempest. The power of early influence, from the gnarled, shapeless
trunk, bent as a sapling, to which no earthly power can afterward
restore its lost symmetry. The secret of a holy life, from the
water-lily, that, on the bosom of some slimy pool, surrounded by weeds
and rubbish, strikes down its channeled stem to the pure sands beneath,
and, drawing thence its life, lifts up its fragrant blossoms to the
light in spotless purity.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Teach Children to Observe_]
Thus while the children and youth gain a knowledge of facts from
teachers and text-books, let them learn to draw lessons and discern
truth for themselves. In their gardening, question them as to what they
learn from the care of their plants. As they look on a beautiful
landscape, ask them why God clothed the fields and woods with such
lovely and varied hues. Why was not all colored a somber brown? When
they gather the flowers, lead them to think why He spared us the beauty
of these wanderers from Eden. Teach them to notice the evidences
everywhere manifest in nature of God’s thought for us, the wonderful
adaptation of all things to our need and happiness.
He alone who recognizes in nature his Father’s handiwork, who in the
richness and beauty of the earth reads the Father’s handwriting,—he
alone learns from the things of nature their deepest lessons, and
receives their highest ministry. Only he can fully appreciate the
significance of hill and vale, river and sea, who looks upon them as an
expression of the thought of God, a revelation of the Creator.
[Sidenote: _Nature a Key to the Bible_]
Many illustrations from nature are used by the Bible writers, and as we
observe the things of the natural world, we shall be enabled, under the
guiding of the Holy Spirit, more fully to understand the lessons of
God’s word. It is thus that nature becomes a key to the treasure-house
of the word.
[Sidenote: _Study Similitudes_]
Children should be encouraged to search out in nature the objects that
illustrate Bible teachings, and to trace in the Bible the similitudes
drawn from nature. They should search out, both in nature and in Holy
Writ, every object representing Christ, and those also that He employed
in illustrating truth. Thus may they learn to see Him in tree and vine,
in lily and rose, in sun and star. They may learn to hear His voice in
the song of birds, in the sighing of the trees, in the rolling thunder,
and in the music of the sea. And every object in nature will repeat to
them His precious lessons.
To those who thus acquaint themselves with Christ, the earth will
nevermore be a lonely and desolate place. It will be their Father’s
house, filled with the presence of Him who once dwelt among men.
_THE BIBLE AS AN EDUCATOR_
“_When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when
thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee._”
_Mental and Spiritual Culture_
“BY KNOWLEDGE SHALL THE
CHAMBERS BE FILLED WITH ALL
PRECIOUS AND PLEASANT RICHES”
For the mind and the soul, as well as for the body, it is God’s law that
strength is acquired by effort. It is exercise that develops. In harmony
with this law, God has provided in His word the means for mental and
spiritual development.
[Sidenote: _Effort in Bible Study_]
The Bible contains all the principles that men need to understand in
order to be fitted either for this life or for the life to come. And
these principles may be understood by all. No one with a spirit to
appreciate its teaching can read a single passage from the Bible without
gaining from it some helpful thought. But the most valuable teaching of
the Bible is not to be gained by occasional or disconnected study. Its
great system of truth is not so presented as to be discerned by the
hasty or careless reader. Many of its treasures lie far beneath the
surface, and can be obtained only by diligent research and continuous
effort. The truths that go to make up the great whole must be searched
out and gathered up, “here a little, and there a little.”[149]
[Sidenote: _A Perfect Whole_]
When thus searched out and brought together, they will be found to be
perfectly fitted to one another. Each Gospel is a supplement to the
others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a
development of some other truth. The types of the Jewish economy are
made plain by the gospel. Every principle in the word of God has its
place, every fact its bearing. And the complete structure, in design and
execution, bears testimony to its Author. Such a structure no mind but
that of the Infinite could conceive or fashion.
[Sidenote: _Intellectual Discipline_]
In searching out the various parts and studying their relationship, the
highest faculties of the human mind are called into intense activity. No
one can engage in such study without developing mental power.
And not alone in searching out truth and bringing it together does the
mental value of Bible study consist. It consists also in the effort
required to grasp the themes presented. The mind occupied with
commonplace matters only, becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. If never tasked
to comprehend grand and far-reaching truths, it after a time loses the
power of growth. As a safeguard against this degeneracy, and a stimulus
to development, nothing else can equal the study of God’s word. As a
means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any
other book, or all other books combined. The greatness of its themes,
the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery,
quicken and uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can
impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous
truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts
of the Infinite can not but expand and strengthen.
[Sidenote: _Spiritual Development_]
And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the
spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such
fellowship find his real life and development. Created to find in God
his highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the
cravings of the heart, can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. He
who with sincere and teachable spirit studies God’s word, seeking to
comprehend its truths, will be brought in touch with its Author; and,
except by his own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of his
development.
[Sidenote: _Range of Style and Subjects_]
In its wide range of style and subjects, the Bible has something to
interest every mind and appeal to every heart. In its pages are found
history the most ancient; biography the truest to life; principles of
government for the control of the state, for the regulation of the
household,—principles that human wisdom has never equaled. It contains
philosophy the most profound, poetry the sweetest and the most sublime,
the most impassioned and the most pathetic. Immeasurably superior in
value to the productions of any human author are the Bible writings,
even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely
greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand
central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a
new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved
principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.
[Sidenote: _The Central Theme_]
The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the
whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the
human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the
sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the
Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their
foreheads,”[150] the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible
is the unfolding of this wondrous theme,—man’s uplifting,—the power of
God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[151]
[Sidenote: _An Infinite Field_]
He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study.
He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure-house of God’s
word.
The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science
that is the study of the angels and of all the intelligences of the
unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and
Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of
the Infinite,—“kept in silence through times eternal;”[152] the science
that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout endless ages. This
is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no
other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul.
[Sidenote: _Truths Life-Begetting_.]
“The excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that
have it.” “The words that I speak unto you,” said Jesus, “they are
spirit, and they are life.” “This is life eternal, that they should know
Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send.”[153]
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word
of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a
promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it
the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature, and re-creates
the soul in the image of God.
[Sidenote: _Life-Sustaining_]
The life thus imparted is in like manner sustained. “By every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God”[154] shall man live.
The mind, the soul, is built up by that upon which it feeds; and it
rests with us to determine upon what it shall be fed. It is within the
power of every one to choose the topics that shall occupy the thoughts
and shape the character. Of every human being privileged with access to
the Scriptures, God says, “I have written to him the great things of My
law.” “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and
mighty things, which thou knowest not.”[155]
[Sidenote: _Possibilities of Companionship_]
[Sidenote: _Not a Stranger_]
With the word of God in his hands, every human being, wherever his lot
in life may be cast, may have such companionship as he shall choose. In
its pages he may hold converse with the noblest and best of the human
race, and may listen to the voice of the Eternal as He speaks with men.
As he studies and meditates upon the themes into which “the angels
desire to look,”[156] he may have their companionship. He may follow the
steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to His words as when He taught
on mountain and plain and sea. He may dwell in this world in the
atmosphere of heaven, imparting to earth’s sorrowing and tempted ones
thoughts of hope and longings for holiness; himself coming closer and
still closer into fellowship with the Unseen; like him of old who walked
with God, drawing nearer and nearer the threshold of the eternal world,
until the portals shall open, and he shall enter there. He will find
himself no stranger. The voices that will greet him are the voices of
the holy ones, who, unseen, were on earth his companions,—voices that
here he learned to distinguish and to love. He who through the word of
God has lived in fellowship with heaven, will find himself at home in
heaven’s companionship.
_Science and the Bible_
“WHO KNOWETH NOT IN ALL
THESE THAT THE HAND OF THE
LORD HATH WROUGHT?”
[Sidenote: _Harmony of Nature and Revelation_]
Since the book of nature and the book of revelation bear the impress of
the same master mind, they can not but speak in harmony. By different
methods, and in different languages, they witness to the same great
truths. Science is ever discovering new wonders; but she brings from her
research nothing that, rightly understood, conflicts with divine
revelation. The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each
other. They make us acquainted with God by teaching us something of the
laws through which He works.
[Sidenote: _Evolution of the Earth_]
Inferences erroneously drawn from facts observed in nature have,
however, led to supposed conflict between science and revelation; and in
the effort to restore harmony, interpretations of Scripture have been
adopted that undermine and destroy the force of the word of God. Geology
has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the Mosaic
record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required
for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate
the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation
are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or
even millions of years.
[Sidenote: _Bible Record of the Creation_]
Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony
with itself and with the teaching of nature. Of the first day employed
in the work of creation is given the record, “The evening and the
morning were the first day.”[157] And the same in substance is said of
each of the first six days of creation week. Each of these periods
Inspiration declares to have been a day consisting of evening and
morning, like every other day since that time. In regard to the work of
creation itself the divine testimony is, “He spake, and it was; He
commanded, and it stood fast.”[158] With Him who could thus call into
existence unnumbered worlds, how long a time would be required for the
evolution of the earth from chaos? In order to account for His works,
must we do violence to His word?
[Sidenote: _Changes at the Flood_]
It is true that remains found in the earth testify to the existence of
men, animals, and plants much larger than any now known. These are
regarded as proving the existence of vegetable and animal life prior to
the time of the Mosaic record. But concerning these things Bible history
furnishes ample explanation. Before the flood, the development of
vegetable and animal life was immeasurably superior to that which has
since been known. At the flood the surface of the earth was broken up,
marked changes took place, and in the re-formation of the earth’s crust
were preserved many evidences of the life previously existing. The vast
forests buried in the earth at the time of the flood, and since changed
to coal, form the extensive coal fields, and yield the supplies of oil,
that minister to our comfort and convenience to-day. These things, as
they are brought to light, are so many witnesses mutely testifying to
the truth of the word of God.
[Sidenote: _Evolution of Man_]
Akin to the theory concerning the evolution of the earth, is that which
attributes to an ascending line of germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds the
evolution of man, the crowning glory of the creation.
When consideration is given to man’s opportunities for research; how
brief his life; how limited his sphere of action; how restricted his
vision; how frequent and how great the errors in his conclusions,
especially as concerns the events thought to antedate Bible history; how
often the supposed deductions of science are revised or cast aside; with
what readiness the assumed period of the earth’s development is from
time to time increased or diminished by millions of years; and how the
theories advanced by different scientists conflict with one
another,—considering all this, shall we, for the privilege of tracing
our descent from germs and mollusks and apes, consent to cast away that
statement of Holy Writ, so grand in its simplicity, “God created man in
His own image, in the image of God created He him”?[159] Shall we reject
that genealogical record,—prouder than any treasured in the courts of
kings,—“which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”?[160]
[Sidenote: _The Divine Working in Nature_]
Rightly understood, both the revelations of science and the experiences
of life are in harmony with the testimony of Scripture to the constant
working of God in nature.
In the hymn recorded by Nehemiah, the Levites sung, “Thou, even Thou,
art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all
their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and
all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all.”[161]
[Sidenote: _The All-Embracing Providence_]
As regards this earth, Scripture declares the work of creation to have
been completed. “The works were finished from the foundation of the
world.”[162] But the power of God is still exercised in upholding the
objects of His creation. It is not because the mechanism once set in
motion continues to act by its own inherent energy that the pulse beats,
and breath follows breath. Every breath, every pulsation of the heart,
is an evidence of the care of Him in whom we live and move and have our
being. From the smallest insect to man, every living creature is daily
dependent upon His providence.
“These wait all upon Thee....
That Thou givest them they gather;
Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good.
Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled;
Thou takest away their breath, they die,
And return to their dust.
Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created;
And Thou renewest the face of the earth.”[163]
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds;
And the cloud is not rent under them....
He hath compassed the waters with bounds,
Until the day and night come to an end.”
“The pillars of heaven tremble
And are astonished at His rebuke.
He stilleth the sea with His power....
By His Spirit the heavens are beauty;
His hand hath pierced the gliding serpent.
Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways;
And how small a whisper do we hear of Him! [Sidenote: “_Who Can
Understand?_”]
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”[164]
“The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.”[165]
[Sidenote: _A Personal God_]
The mighty power that works through all nature and sustains all things
is not, as some men of science claim, merely an all-pervading principle,
an actuating energy. God is a spirit; yet He is a personal being, for
man was made in His image. As a personal being, God has revealed Himself
in His Son. Jesus, the outshining of the Father’s glory, “and the
express image of His person,”[166] was on earth found in fashion as a
man. As a personal Saviour, He came to the world. As a personal Saviour,
He ascended on high. As a personal Saviour, He intercedes in the
heavenly courts. Before the throne of God in our behalf ministers “One
like the Son of man.”[167]
The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, declares of Christ that
“all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is
before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”[168] The hand
that sustains the worlds in space, the hand that holds in their orderly
arrangement and tireless activity all things throughout the universe of
God, is the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.
[Sidenote: _Omnipresence; Omniscience_]
The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in
heaven;”[169] yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an
intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His
hand.
“Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,
Who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the
earth!”
“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;
If I make my bed in the grave,[170] behold, Thou art there.
“If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me,
And Thy right hand shall hold me.”[171]
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways....
Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I can not attain unto it.”[172]
[Sidenote: “_A Father unto You_”]
It was the Maker of all things who ordained the wonderful adaptation of
means to end, of supply to need. It was He who in the material world
provided that every desire implanted should be met. It was He who
created the human soul, with its capacity for knowing and for loving.
And He is not in Himself such as to leave the demands of the soul
unsatisfied. No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere
abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this
life of struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to
believe in law and force, in things that have no pity, and never hear
the cry for help. We need to know of an almighty arm that will hold us
up, of an infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that
is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in
His word revealed Himself.
[Sidenote: _Mysteries in Nature_]
He who studies most deeply into the mysteries of nature will realize
most fully his own ignorance and weakness. He will realize that there
are depths and heights which he can not reach, secrets which he can not
penetrate, vast fields of truth lying before him unentered. He will be
ready to say, with Newton, “I seem to myself to have been like a child
on the seashore finding pebbles and shells, while the great ocean of
truth lay undiscovered before me.”
[Sidenote: “_Through Faith We Understand_”]
The deepest students of science are constrained to recognize in nature
the working of infinite power. But to man’s unaided reason, nature’s
teaching can not but be contradictory and disappointing. Only in the
light of revelation can it be read aright. “Through faith we
understand.”[173]
“In the beginning God.”[174] Here alone can the mind in its eager
questioning, fleeing as the dove to the ark, find rest. Above, beneath,
beyond, abides Infinite Love, working out all things to accomplish “the
good pleasure of His goodness.”[175]
[Sidenote: _The Divine Teacher_]
“The invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are ...
perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power
and divinity.”[176] But their testimony can be understood only through
the aid of the divine Teacher. “What man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”[177]
“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all
truth.”[178] Only by the aid of that Spirit who in the beginning “was
brooding upon the face of the waters;” of that Word by whom “all things
were made;” of that “true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world,” can the testimony of science be rightly interpreted.
Only by their guidance can its deepest truths be discerned.
Only under the direction of the Omniscient One shall we, in the study of
His works, be enabled to think His thoughts after Him.
_Business Principles and Methods_
“HE THAT WALKETH UPRIGHTLY
WALKETH SURELY”
[Sidenote: _Business Man’s Manual_]
There is no branch of legitimate business for which the Bible does not
afford an essential preparation. Its principles of diligence, honesty,
thrift, temperance, and purity are the secret of true success. These
principles, as set forth in the book of Proverbs, constitute a treasury
of practical wisdom. Where can the merchant, the artisan, the director
of men in any department of business, find better maxims for himself or
for his employees than are found in these words of the wise man:—
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings;
he shall not stand before mean men.”[179]
“In all labor there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to
penury.”[179]
[Sidenote: _Every-Day Maxims_]
“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” “The drunkard and
the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man
with rags.”[180]
“A talebearer revealeth secrets; therefore meddle not with him that
flattereth with his lips.”[181]
“He that hath knowledge spareth his words;” but “every fool will be
meddling.”[182]
“Go not in the way of evil men;” “can one go upon hot coals, and his
feet not be burned?”[183]
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.”[184]
“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.”[184]
The whole circle of our obligation to one another is covered by that
word of Christ’s, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them.”[185]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Financial Safeguard_]
How many a man might have escaped financial failure and ruin by heeding
the warnings, so often repeated and emphasized in the Scriptures:—
“He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”[186]
“Wealth gotten in haste shall be diminished; but he that gathereth by
labor shall have increase.”[187]
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and
fro of them that seek death.”[188]
“The borrower is servant to the lender.”[188]
“He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it; and he that hateth
suretyship is sure.”[188]
“Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the
fatherless; for their Redeemer is mighty; He shall plead their cause
with thee.” “He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he
that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.” “Whoso diggeth a
pit shall fall therein; and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon
him.”[189]
[Sidenote: _Basis of Confidence_]
These are principles with which are bound up the well-being of society,
of both secular and religious associations. It is these principles that
give security to property and life. For all that makes confidence and
co-operation possible, the world is indebted to the law of God, as given
in His word, and as still traced, in lines often obscure and well-nigh
obliterated, in the hearts of men.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Best Capital_]
The psalmist’s words, “The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than
thousands of gold and silver,”[190] state that which is true from other
than a religious point of view. They state an absolute truth, and one
that is recognized in the business world. Even in this age of passion
for money-getting, when competition is so sharp, and methods are so
unscrupulous, it is still widely acknowledged that, for a young man
starting in life, integrity, diligence, temperance, purity, and thrift
constitute a better capital than any amount of mere money.
* * * * *
Yet even of those who appreciate the value of these qualities and
acknowledge the Bible as their source, there are but few who recognize
the principle upon which they depend.
[Sidenote: _Stewardship_]
That which lies at the foundation of business integrity and of true
success is the recognition of God’s ownership. The Creator of all
things, He is the original proprietor. We are His stewards. All that we
have is a trust from Him, to be used according to His direction.
This is an obligation that rests upon every human being. It has to do
with the whole sphere of human activity. Whether we recognize it or not,
we are stewards, supplied from God with talents and facilities, and
placed in the world to do a work appointed by Him.
To every man is given “his work,”[191]—the work for which his
capabilities adapt him,—the work which will result in greatest good to
himself and to his fellow-men, and in greatest honor to God.
[Sidenote: “_Be Not Anxious_”]
Thus our business or calling is a part of God’s great plan, and, so long
as it is conducted in accordance with His will, He Himself is
responsible for the results. “Laborers together with God,”[192] our part
is faithful compliance with His directions. Thus there is no place for
anxious care. Diligence, fidelity, care-taking, thrift, and discretion
are called for. Every faculty is to be exercised to its highest
capacity. But the dependence will be, not on the successful outcome of
our efforts, but on the promise of God. The word that fed Israel in the
desert, and sustained Elijah through the time of famine, has the same
power to-day. “Be not anxious,[193] saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink?... Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[194]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Tithing_]
He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an
obligation. Of all that we acquire He claims a specified portion. The
tithe is the Lord’s. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of
the land or of the fruit of the tree,” “the tithe of the herd or of the
flock, ... shall be holy unto the Lord.”[195] The pledge made by Jacob
at Bethel shows the extent of the obligation. “Of all that Thou shalt
give me,” he said, “I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”[196]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,”[197] is God’s command. No
appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple
honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that
which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”[198] If
honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not
recognize our obligation to God,—the obligation that underlies every
other?
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Ministry_]
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation, not only
to God, but to man. To the infinite love of the Redeemer every human
being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food and raiment and shelter,
body and mind and soul,—all are the purchase of His blood. And by the
obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ has bound us to
our fellow-men. He bids us, “By love serve one another.”[199] “Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me.”[200]
[Sidenote: “_I Am Debtor_”]
“I am debtor,” Paul declares, “both to the Greeks and to the barbarians;
both to the wise and to the unwise.”[201] So also are we. By all that
has blessed our life above others, we are placed under obligation to
every human being whom we might benefit.
These truths are not for the closet more than for the counting-room. The
goods that we handle are not our own, and never can this fact safely be
lost sight of. We are but stewards, and on the discharge of our
obligation to God and man depend both the welfare of our fellow-beings
and our own destiny for this life and for the life to come.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Profit and Loss_]
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” “Cast thy
bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” “The
liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered
also himself.”[202]
“Labor not to be rich.... Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is
not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an
eagle toward heaven.”[203]
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that ye meet withal it shall be measured to you
again.”[204]
* * * * *
“Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all
thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy
presses shall burst out with new wine.”[205]
[Sidenote: _The Best-Paying Investment_]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the
field.... And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a
delightsome land.”[206]
“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then
I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her
increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your
threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto
the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in
your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, ... and none shall
make you afraid.”[207]
[Sidenote: _Security for Deposit_]
“Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow.” “Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and Thou wilt not deliver
him unto the will of his enemies.” “He that hath pity upon the poor
lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him
again.”[208]
He who makes this investment lays up double treasure. Besides that
which, however wisely improved, he must leave at last, he is amassing
wealth for eternity,—that treasure of character which is the most
valuable possession of earth or heaven.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Insurance_]
“The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall
be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days
of famine they shall be satisfied.”[209]
“He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the
truth in his heart; ... he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth
not;” “he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands
from holding of bribes, ... and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he
shall dwell on high; ... bread shall be given him; his waters shall be
sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the
land that is very far off.”[210]
God has given in His word a picture of a prosperous man,—one whose life
was in the truest sense a success, a man whom both heaven and earth
delighted to honor. Of his experiences Job himself says:—
[Sidenote: _A Successful Career_]
“In the ripeness of my days,
When the secret of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me; ...
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the broad place,[211]
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed....
“For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me;
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, and him[211] that had none to help him.
“The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy;
And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.”
“The stranger did not lodge in the street;
But I opened my doors to the traveler.”
“Unto me men gave ear, and waited.... [Sidenote: _Its Crown of Honor_]
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that _comforteth the mourners_.”[212]
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with
it.”[213]
“Riches and honor are with Me,” declares Wisdom; “yea, durable riches
and righteousness.”[214]
[Sidenote: _A Fruitless Venture_]
The Bible shows also the result of a departure from right principles in
our dealing both with God and with one another. To those who are
entrusted with His gifts but indifferent to His claims, God says:—
“Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but
ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye
clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes.... Ye looked for much, and, lo,
it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.”
“When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when
one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the
press, there were but twenty.” “Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of
Mine house that is waste.” “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.”
“Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is
stayed from her fruit.”[215]
[Sidenote: _Gains That Impoverish_]
“Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, ... ye have
built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have
planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.” “The
Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that
thou settest thine hand unto.” “Thy sons and thy daughters shall be
given unto another, ... and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing
for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine
hand.”[216]
“He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst
of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”[217]
The accounts of every business, the details of every transaction, pass
the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises
with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong.
[Sidenote: _The Audit_]
“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of
judgment and justice, ... marvel not at the matter; for He that is
higher than the highest regardeth.” “There is no darkness, nor shadow of
death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”[218]
“They set their mouth against the heavens, and ... say, How doth God
know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” “These things hast thou
done,” God says, “and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them
in order before thine eyes.”[219]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Witness Never Silenced_]
“I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying
roll.... This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole
earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side
according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that
side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts,
and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of
him that sweareth falsely by My name; and it shall remain in the midst
of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the
stones thereof.”[220]
Against every evil-doer God’s law utters condemnation. He may disregard
that voice, he may seek to drown its warning, but in vain. It follows
him. It makes itself heard. It destroys his peace. If unheeded, it
pursues him to the grave. It bears witness against him at the judgment.
A quenchless fire, it consumes at last soul and body.
* * * * *
“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”[221]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Question of Questions_]
This is a question that demands consideration by every parent, every
teacher, every student,—by every human being, young or old. No scheme of
business or plan of life can be sound or complete that embraces only the
brief years of this present life, and makes no provision for the
unending future. Let the youth be taught to take eternity into their
reckoning. Let them be taught to choose the principles and seek the
possessions that are enduring,—to lay up for themselves that “treasure
in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither
moth corrupteth;” to make to themselves friends “by means of the mammon
of unrighteousness,” that when it shall fail, these may receive them
“into the eternal tabernacles.”[222]
All who do this are making the best possible preparation for life in
this world. No man can lay up treasure in heaven without finding his
life on earth thereby enriched and ennobled.
“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come.”[223]
_Bible Biographies_
“WHO THROUGH FAITH SUBDUED
KINGDOMS, WROUGHT RIGHTEOUSNESS,
FROM WEAKNESS WERE MADE STRONG”
[Sidenote: _A Faithful Delineation_]
As an educator no part of the Bible is of greater value than are its
biographies. These biographies differ from all others in that they are
absolutely true to life. It is impossible for any finite mind to
interpret rightly, in all things, the workings of another. None but He
who reads the heart, who discerns the secret springs of motive and
action, can with absolute truth delineate character, or give a faithful
picture of a human life. In God’s word alone is found such delineation.
No truth does the Bible more clearly teach than that what we do is the
result of what we are. To a great degree the experiences of life are the
fruition of our own thoughts and deeds.
“The curse causeless shall not come.”[224]
[Sidenote: _Retribution_]
“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; ... unto the
wicked, it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be
given him.”[225]
“Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts.”[226]
Terrible is this truth, and deeply should it be impressed. Every deed
reacts upon the doer. Never a human being but may recognize, in the
evils that curse his life, fruitage of his own sowing. Yet even thus we
are not without hope.
[Sidenote: _Experience of Jacob_]
To gain the birthright that was his already by God’s promise, Jacob
resorted to fraud, and he reaped the harvest in his brother’s hatred.
Through twenty years of exile he was himself wronged and defrauded, and
was at last forced to find safety in flight; and he reaped a second
harvest, as the evils of his own character were seen to crop out in his
sons;—all but too true a picture of the retributions of human life.
But God says: “I will not contend forever, neither will I be always
wroth; for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have
made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I
hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and
restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.... Peace, peace to him
that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will
heal him.”[227]
[Sidenote: _Gain through Loss_]
Jacob in his distress was not overwhelmed. He had repented, he had
endeavored to atone for the wrong to his brother. And when threatened
with death through the wrath of Esau, he sought help from God. “Yea, he
had power over the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made
supplication.” “And He blessed him there.”[228] In the power of His
might the forgiven one stood up, no longer the supplanter, but a prince
with God. He had gained not merely deliverance from his outraged
brother, but deliverance from himself. The power of evil in his own
nature was broken; his character was transformed.
At eventide there was light. Jacob, reviewing his life-history,
recognized the sustaining power of God,—“the God which fed me all my
life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all
evil.”[229]
The same experience is repeated in the history of Jacob’s sons,—sin
working retribution, and repentance bearing fruit of righteousness unto
life.
God does not annul His laws. He does not work contrary to them. The work
of sin He does not undo. But He transforms. Through His grace the curse
works out blessing.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Levites_]
Of the sons of Jacob, Levi was one of the most cruel and vindictive, one
of the two most guilty in the treacherous murder of the Shechemites.
Levi’s characteristics, reflected in his descendants, incurred for them
the decree from God, “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in
Israel.”[230] But repentance wrought re-formation; and by their
faithfulness to God amidst the apostasy of the other tribes, the curse
was transformed into a token of highest honor.
[Sidenote: _A Curse Transformed_]
“The Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant
of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him, and to bless
in His name.” “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave
them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before
My name.... He walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many
away from iniquity.”[231]
The appointed ministers of the sanctuary, the Levites received no landed
inheritance; they dwelt together in cities set apart for their use, and
received their support from the tithes and the gifts and offerings
devoted to God’s service. They were the teachers of the people, guests
at all their festivities, and everywhere honored as servants and
representatives of God. To the whole nation was given the command: “Take
heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest
upon the earth.” “Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren;
the Lord is his inheritance.”[232]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Report of the Spies_]
The truth that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he,”[233] finds
another illustration in Israel’s experience. On the borders of Canaan
the spies, returned from searching the country, made their report. The
beauty and fruitfulness of the land were lost sight of, through fear of
the difficulties in the way of its occupation. The cities walled up to
heaven, the giant warriors, the iron chariots, daunted their faith.
Leaving God out of the question, the multitude echoed the decision of
the unbelieving spies, “We be not able to go up against the people; for
they are stronger than we.”[234] Their words proved true. They were not
able to go up, and they wore out their lives in the desert.
[Sidenote: _By Faith to Conquest_]
Two, however, of the twelve who had viewed the land, reasoned otherwise.
“We are well able to overcome it,”[234] they urged, counting God’s
promise superior to giants, walled cities, or chariots of iron. For them
their word was true. Though they shared with their brethren the forty
years’ wandering, Caleb and Joshua entered the land of promise. As
courageous of heart as when with the hosts of the Lord he set out from
Egypt, Caleb asked for and received as his portion the stronghold of the
giants. In God’s strength he drove out the Canaanites. The vineyards and
olive-groves where his feet had trodden became his possession. Though
the cowards and rebels perished in the wilderness, the men of faith ate
of the grapes of Eschol.
[Sidenote: _One Evil Cherished_]
No truth does the Bible set forth in clearer light than the peril of
even one departure from the right,—peril both to the wrong-doer and to
all whom his influence shall reach. Example has wonderful power; and
when cast on the side of the evil tendencies of our nature, it becomes
well-nigh irresistible.
[Sidenote: _Decoys of the Tempter_]
The strongest bulwark of vice in our world is not the iniquitous life of
the abandoned sinner or the degraded outcast; it is that life which
otherwise appears virtuous, honorable, and noble, but in which one sin
is fostered, one vice indulged. To the soul that is struggling in secret
against some giant temptation, trembling upon the very verge of the
precipice, such an example is one of the most powerful enticements to
sin. He who, endowed with high conceptions of life and truth and honor,
does yet wilfully transgress one precept of God’s holy law, has
perverted his noble gifts into a lure to sin. Genius, talent, sympathy,
even generous and kindly deeds, may thus become decoys of Satan to
entice souls over the precipice of ruin.
This is why God has given so many examples showing the results of even
one wrong act. From the sad story of that one sin which “brought death
into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden,” to the record of
him who for thirty pieces of silver sold the Lord of glory, Bible
biography abounds in these examples, set up as beacons of warning at the
byways leading from the path of life.
* * * * *
There is warning also in noting the results that have followed upon even
once yielding to human weakness and error, the fruit of the letting go
of faith.
[Sidenote: _One Failure of Faith_]
[Sidenote: _Loss to Elijah_]
By one failure of his faith, Elijah cut short his life-work. Heavy was
the burden that he had borne in behalf of Israel; faithful had been his
warnings against the national idolatry; and deep was his solicitude as
during three years and a half of famine he watched and waited for some
token of repentance. Alone he stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Through
the power of faith, idolatry was cast down, and the blessed rain
testified to the showers of blessing waiting to be poured upon Israel.
Then in his weariness and weakness he fled before the threats of
Jezebel, and alone in the desert prayed that he might die. His faith had
failed. The work he had begun, he was not to complete. God bade him
anoint another to be prophet in his stead.
But God had marked the heart-service of His servant. Elijah was not to
perish in discouragement and solitude in the wilderness. Not for him the
descent to the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the presence of
His glory.
These life-records declare what every human being will one day
understand,—that sin can bring only shame and loss; that unbelief means
failure; but that God’s mercy reaches to the deepest depths; that faith
lifts up the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Discipline_]
All who in this world render true service to God or man receive a
preparatory training in the school of sorrow. The weightier the trust
and the higher the service, the closer is the test and the more severe
the discipline.
Study the experiences of Joseph and of Moses, of Daniel and of David.
Compare the early history of David with the history of Solomon, and
consider the results.
[Sidenote: _David_]
David in his youth was intimately associated with Saul, and his stay at
court and his connection with the king’s household gave him an insight
into the cares and sorrows and perplexities concealed by the glitter and
pomp of royalty. He saw of how little worth is human glory to bring
peace to the soul. And it was with relief and gladness that he returned
from the king’s court to the sheepfolds and the flocks.
[Sidenote: _In Training for the Throne_]
When by the jealousy of Saul driven a fugitive into the wilderness,
David, cut off from human support, leaned more heavily upon God. The
uncertainty and unrest of the wilderness life, its unceasing peril, its
necessity for frequent flight, the character of the men who gathered to
him there,—“every one that was in distress, and every one that was in
debt, and every one that was discontented,”[235]—all rendered the more
essential a stern self-discipline. These experiences aroused and
developed power to deal with men, sympathy for the oppressed, and hatred
of injustice. Through years of waiting and peril, David learned to find
in God his comfort, his support, his life. He learned that only by God’s
power could he come to the throne; only in His wisdom could he rule
wisely. It was through the training in the school of hardship and sorrow
that David was able to make the record—though afterward marred with his
great sin—that he “executed judgment and justice unto all his
people.”[236]
[Sidenote: _Solomon_]
The discipline of David’s early experience was lacking in that of
Solomon. In circumstances, in character, and in life, he seemed favored
above all others. Noble in youth, noble in manhood, the beloved of his
God, Solomon entered on a reign that gave high promise of prosperity and
honor. Nations marveled at the knowledge and insight of the man to whom
God had given wisdom. But the pride of prosperity brought separation
from God. From the joy of divine communion Solomon turned to find
satisfaction in the pleasures of sense. Of this experience he says:—
[Sidenote: _The Pride of Prosperity_]
“I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I
made me gardens and orchards; ... I got me servants and maidens; ... I
gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and
of the provinces. I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the
delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all
sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me
in Jerusalem.... And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them,
I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my
labor.... Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and
on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and
vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. And I turned
myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can the man do
that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.”
[Sidenote: _Unsatisfied_]
“I hated life.... Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the
sun.”[237]
By his own bitter experience, Solomon learned the emptiness of a life
that seeks in earthly things its highest good. He erected altars to
heathen gods, only to learn how vain is their promise of rest to the
soul.
[Sidenote: _The Late Return_]
In his later years, turning wearied and thirsting from earth’s broken
cisterns, Solomon returned to drink at the fountain of life. The history
of his wasted years, with their lessons of warning, he by the Spirit of
inspiration recorded for after-generations. And thus, although the seed
of his sowing was reaped by his people in harvests of evil, the
life-work of Solomon was not wholly lost. For him at last the discipline
of suffering accomplished its work.
But with such a dawning, how glorious might have been his life’s day,
had Solomon in his youth learned the lesson that suffering had taught in
other lives!
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _God’s Witnesses_]
For those who love God, those who are “the called according to his
purpose,”[238] Bible biography has a yet higher lesson of the ministry
of sorrow. “Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am
God,”[239]—witnesses that He is good, and that goodness is supreme. “We
are made a theater unto the world, both[240] to angels and to men.”[241]
[Sidenote: _Accusation from Satan_]
Unselfishness, the principle of God’s kingdom, is the principle that
Satan hates; its very existence he denies. From the beginning of the
great controversy he has endeavored to prove God’s principles of action
to be selfish, and he deals in the same way with all who serve God. To
disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His
name.
It was to give in His own life an illustration of unselfishness that
Jesus came in the form of humanity. And all who accept this principle
are to be workers together with Him in demonstrating it in practical
life. To choose the right because it is right; to stand for truth at the
cost of suffering and sacrifice,—“this is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.”[242]
[Sidenote: _The Testing of Job_]
Very early in the history of the world is given the life-record of one
over whom this controversy of Satan’s was waged.
Of Job, the patriarch of Uz, the testimony of the Searcher of hearts
was, “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man,
one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.”
Against this man, Satan brought scornful charge: “Doth Job fear God for
naught? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and
about all that he hath on every side?... Put forth Thine hand now, and
touch all that he hath;” “touch his bone and his flesh, and he will
curse Thee to Thy face.”
The Lord said unto Satan, “All that he hath is in thy power.” “Behold,
he is in thine hand; but save his life.”
Thus permitted, Satan swept away all that Job possessed,—flocks and
herds, men-servants and maidens, sons and daughters; and he “smote Job
with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.”[243]
[Sidenote: _Misconception of Adversity_]
Still another element of bitterness was added to his cup. His friends,
seeing in adversity but the retribution of sin, pressed on his bruised
and burdened spirit their accusations of wrong-doing.
Seemingly forsaken of heaven and earth, yet holding fast his faith in
God and his consciousness of integrity, in anguish and perplexity he
cried:—
“My soul is weary of my life.”
“O that Thou wouldst hide me in the grave,
That Thou wouldst keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past,
That Thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me!”[244]
“Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard;
I cry for help, but there is no judgment....
He hath stripped me of my glory, [Sidenote: _Hath God Forsaken?_]
And taken the crown from my head....
My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me....
They whom I loved are turned against me....
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me!”
“O that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come even to His seat!...
Behold, I go forward, but He is not there;
And backward, but I can not perceive Him;
On the left hand, where He doth work, but I can not behold Him;
He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I can not see Him; [Sidenote:
_Faith’s Assurance_]
But He knoweth the way that I take;
When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”
“I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And that He shall stand up at the last upon the earth;
And after my skin hath been destroyed, this shall be,
Even from my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I shall see for myself,
And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.”[245]
[Sidenote: “_So Was It unto Job_”]
According to his faith, so was it unto Job. “When He hath tried me,” he
said, “I shall come forth as gold.”[246] So it came to pass. By his
patient endurance he vindicated his own character, and thus the
character of Him whose representative he was. And “the Lord turned the
captivity of Job; ... also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had
before.... So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his
beginning.”[247]
* * * * *
On the record of those who through self-abnegation have entered into the
fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, stand—one in the Old Testament and
one in the New—the names of Jonathan and of John the Baptist.
[Sidenote: _A Faithful Friend_]
Jonathan, by birth heir to the throne, yet knowing himself set aside by
the divine decree; to his rival the most tender and faithful of friends,
shielding David’s life at the peril of his own; steadfast at his
father’s side through the dark days of his declining power, and at his
side falling at the last,—the name of Jonathan is treasured in heaven,
and it stands on earth a witness to the existence and the power of
unselfish love.
[Sidenote: _The Unwavering Witness_]
John the Baptist, at his appearance as the Messiah’s herald, stirred the
nation. From place to place his steps were followed by vast throngs of
people of every rank and station. But when the One came to whom he had
borne witness, all was changed. The crowds followed Jesus, and John’s
work seemed fast closing. Yet there was no wavering of his faith. “He
must increase,” he said, “but I must decrease.”[248]
Time passed, and the kingdom which John had confidently expected was not
established. In Herod’s dungeon, cut off from the life-giving air and
the desert freedom, he waited and watched.
There was no display of arms, no rending of prison doors; but the
healing of the sick, the preaching of the gospel, the uplifting of men’s
souls, testified to Christ’s mission.
[Sidenote: _Fellowship in Sacrifice_]
Alone in the dungeon, seeing whither his path, like his Master’s,
tended, John accepted the trust,—fellowship with Christ in sacrifice.
Heaven’s messengers attended him to the grave. The intelligences of the
universe, fallen and unfallen, witnessed his vindication of unselfish
service.
[Sidenote: “_There Hath Not Risen a Greater_”]
And in all the generations that have passed since then, suffering souls
have been sustained by the testimony of John’s life. In the dungeon, on
the scaffold, in the flames, men and women through centuries of darkness
have been strengthened by the memory of him of whom Christ declared,
“Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater.”[249]
* * * * *
“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, ... and Samuel,
and of the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness
were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of
the aliens.
[Sidenote: “_Through Faith_”]
“Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection; and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented
(of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received
not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they
without us should not be made perfect.”[250]
_Poetry and Song_
“THY STATUTES HAVE BEEN
MY SONGS IN THE HOUSE OF MY
PILGRIMAGE”
[Sidenote: _Poetry of the Bible_]
The earliest as well as the most sublime of poetic utterances known to
man are found in the Scriptures. Before the oldest of the world’s poets
had sung, the shepherd of Midian recorded those words of God to Job,—in
their majesty unequaled, unapproached, by the loftiest productions of
human genius:—
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Or who shut up the sea with doors,
When it brake forth; ...
When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
And prescribed for it My decree,
And set bars and doors,
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
“Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,
And caused the dayspring to know its place?...
“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? [Sidenote: _The
Earliest Poem_]
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all.
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof?...
“Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail?...
By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the water-flood,
Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;
And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?”
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?”[251]
[Sidenote: _From “Song of Songs”_]
For beauty of expression read also the description of spring-time, from
the “Song of Songs”:—
“Lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs,
And the vines are in blossom,
They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”[252]
And not inferior in beauty is Balaam’s unwilling prophecy of blessing to
Israel:—
“From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East;
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel. [Sidenote: _An Ancient Prophecy_]
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations....
“Behold, I have received commandment to bless;
And He hath blessed, and I can not reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel;
The Lord his God is with him,
And the shout of a King is among them....
Surely there is no enchantment against[253] Jacob,
Neither is there any divination against[253] Israel;
Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel,
What hath God wrought!”
“He saith, which heareth the words of God, [Sidenote: “_The Vision of
the Almighty_”]
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty: ...
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the riverside,
As lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.”
“He hath said, which heard the words of God,
And knew the knowledge of the Most High: ...
I shall see Him, but not now;
I shall behold Him, but not nigh;
There shall come a Star out of Jacob,
And a Scepter shall rise out of Israel....
Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion.”[254]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Sacred Song_]
The melody of praise is the atmosphere of heaven; and when heaven comes
in touch with the earth, there is music and song,—“thanksgiving, and the
voice of melody.”[255]
Above the new-created earth, as it lay, fair and unblemished, under the
smile of God, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy.”[256] So human hearts, in sympathy with heaven, have
responded to God’s goodness in notes of praise. Many of the events of
human history have been linked with song.
The earliest song recorded in the Bible from the lips of men was that
glorious outburst of thanksgiving by the hosts of Israel at the Red
Sea:—
[Sidenote: _At the Red Sea_]
“I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He is become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”
“Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power,
Thy right hand, O Lord, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
“The Lord shall reign forever and ever....
Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath triumphed gloriously.”[257]
* * * * *
Great have been the blessings received by men in response to songs of
praise. The few words recounting an experience of the wilderness journey
of Israel have a lesson worthy of our thought:—
[Sidenote: _Unsealed by Song_]
“They went to Beer; that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses,
Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”[258] “Then sang
Israel this song:—
“Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
The well which the princes digged,
Which the nobles of the people delved,
With the scepter, and with their staves.”[259]
How often in spiritual experience is this history repeated! how often by
words of holy song are unsealed in the soul the springs of penitence and
faith, of hope and love and joy!
[Sidenote: _With Praise_]
It was with songs of praise that the armies of Israel went forth to the
great deliverance under Jehoshaphat. To Jehoshaphat had come the tidings
of threatened war. “There cometh a great multitude against thee,” was
the message, “the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with
them other beside.” “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the
Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered
themselves together, to ask help of the Lord; even out of all the cities
of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” And Jehoshaphat, standing in the
temple-court before his people, poured out his soul in prayer, pleading
God’s promise, with confession of Israel’s helplessness. “We have no
might against this great company that cometh against us,” he said;
“neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.”[260]
[Sidenote: “_The Battle Is Not Yours_”]
Then upon Jahaziel a Levite “came the Spirit of the Lord; ... and he
said, Harken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou
king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor
dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours,
but God’s.... Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves,
stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.... Fear not, nor be
dismayed; to-morrow go out against them; for the Lord will be with
you.”[261]
[Sidenote: _Victory_]
“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness
of Tekoa.”[262] Before the army went singers, lifting their voices in
praise to God,—praising Him for the victory promised.
On the fourth day thereafter, the army returned to Jerusalem, laden with
the spoil of their enemies, singing praise for the victory won.
Through song, David, amidst the vicissitudes of his changeful life, held
communion with heaven. How sweetly are his experiences as a shepherd lad
reflected in the words:—
[Sidenote: _The Shepherd Psalm_]
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters....
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”[263]
In his manhood a hunted fugitive, finding refuge in the rocks and caves
of the wilderness, he wrote:—
[Sidenote: “_In the Shadow of Thy Wings_”]
“O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee;
My soul thirsteth for Thee; my flesh longeth for Thee,
In a dry and weary land, where no water is....
Thou hast been my help,
And in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.”
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
Who is the health of my countenance,
And my God.”
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?”[264]
The same trust is breathed in the words written when, a dethroned and
crownless king, David fled from Jerusalem at the rebellion of Absalom.
Spent with grief and the weariness of his flight, he with his company
had tarried beside the Jordan for a few hours’ rest. He was awakened by
the summons to immediate flight. In the darkness, the passage of the
deep and swift-flowing stream must be made by that whole company of men,
women, and little children; for hard after them were the forces of the
traitor-son.
In that hour of darkest trial, David sang:—
[Sidenote: _Songs in the Night_]
“I cried unto the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me out of His holy hill.
“I laid me down and slept;
I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,
That have set themselves against me round about.”[265]
After his great sin, in the anguish of remorse and self-abhorrence he
still turned to God as his best friend:
“Have mercy upon me, according to Thy loving-kindness;
According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my
transgressions....
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”[266]
[Sidenote: _Yearnings for Home_]
In his long life, David found on earth no resting-place. “We are
strangers before Thee, and sojourners,” he said, “as all our fathers
were; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no
abiding.”[267]
“God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”
“There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:
God shall help her, at the dawn of morning....
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.”
“This God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even unto death.”[268]
With a song, Jesus in His earthly life met temptation. Often when sharp,
stinging words were spoken, often when the atmosphere about Him was
heavy with gloom, with dissatisfaction, distrust, or oppressive fear,
was heard His song of faith and holy cheer.
[Sidenote: _The Saviour’s Song_]
On that last sad night of the Passover supper, as He was about to go
forth to betrayal and to death, His voice was lifted in the psalm:—
“Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same
The Lord’s name is to be praised.”
“I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He hath inclined His ear unto me,
Therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
“The sorrows of death compassed me,
And the pains of hell gat hold upon me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord:
O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yea, our God is merciful.
“The Lord preserveth the simple;
I was brought low, and He helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my
feet from falling.”[269]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _In the Last Crisis_]
Amidst the deepening shadows of earth’s last great crisis, God’s light
will shine brightest, and the song of hope and trust will be heard in
clearest and loftiest strains.
“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open ye the gates,
That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
Whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.
Trust ye in the Lord forever;
For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”[270]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: “_With Singing unto Zion_”]
“The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion;
and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”[271]
“They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together
to the goodness of the Lord; ... and their soul shall be as a watered
garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.”[272]
* * * * *
The history of the songs of the Bible is full of suggestion as to the
uses and benefits of music and song. Music is often perverted to serve
purposes of evil, and it thus becomes one of the most alluring agencies
of temptation. But, rightly employed, it is a precious gift of God,
designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes, to inspire and
elevate the soul.
[Sidenote: _Power of Song_]
As the children of Israel, journeying through the wilderness, cheered
their way by the music of sacred song, so God bids His children to-day
gladden their pilgrim life. There are few means more effective for
fixing His words in the memory than repeating them in song. And such
song has wonderful power. It has power to subdue rude and uncultivated
natures; power to quicken thought and to awaken sympathy, to promote
harmony of action, and to banish the gloom and foreboding that destroy
courage and weaken effort.
[Sidenote: _A Means of Education_]
It is one of the most effective means of impressing the heart with
spiritual truth. How often to the soul hard-pressed and ready to
despair, memory recalls some word of God’s,—the long-forgotten burden of
a childhood song,—and temptations lose their power, life takes on new
meaning and new purpose, and courage and gladness are imparted to other
souls!
The value of song as a means of education should never be lost sight of.
Let there be singing in the home, of songs that are sweet and pure, and
there will be fewer words of censure, and more of cheerfulness and hope
and joy. Let there be singing in the school, and the pupils will be
drawn closer to God, to their teachers, and to one another.
As a part of religious service, singing is as much an act of worship as
is prayer. Indeed, many a song is prayer. If the child is taught to
realize this, he will think more of the meaning of the words he sings,
and will be more susceptible to their power.
[Sidenote: _The Angels’ Song_]
As our Redeemer leads us to the threshold of the Infinite, flushed with
the glory of God, we may catch the themes of praise and thanksgiving
from the heavenly choir round about the throne; and as the echo of the
angels’ song is awakened in our earthly homes, hearts will be drawn
closer to the heavenly singers. Heaven’s communion begins on earth. We
learn here the keynote of its praise.
_Mysteries of the Bible_
“CANST THOU BY SEARCHING
FIND OUT GOD?”
[Sidenote: “_Canst Thou Find Out God?_”]
No finite mind can fully comprehend the character or the works of the
Infinite One. We can not by searching find out God. To minds the
strongest and most highly cultured, as well as to the weakest and most
ignorant, that holy Being must remain clothed in mystery. But though
“clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are
the foundation of His throne.”[273] We can so far comprehend His dealing
with us as to discern boundless mercy united to infinite power. We can
understand as much of His purposes as we are capable of comprehending;
beyond this we may still trust the hand that is omnipotent, the heart
that is full of love.
[Sidenote: _Ground for Trust_]
The word of God, like the character of its Author, presents mysteries
that can never be fully comprehended by finite beings. But God has given
in the Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine authority. His own
existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are established
by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant.
True, He has not removed the possibility of doubt; faith must rest upon
evidence, not demonstration; those who wish to doubt have opportunity;
but those who desire to know the truth find ample ground for faith.
We have no reason to doubt God’s word because we can not understand the
mysteries of His providence. In the natural world we are constantly
surrounded with wonders beyond our comprehension. Should we then be
surprised to find in the spiritual world also mysteries that we can not
fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the weakness and narrowness of the
human mind.
[Sidenote: _Mysteries Evidence of Divinity_]
The mysteries of the Bible, so far from being an argument against it,
are among the strongest evidences of its divine inspiration. If it
contained no account of God but that which we could comprehend; if His
greatness and majesty could be grasped by finite minds, then the Bible
would not, as now, bear the unmistakable evidences of divinity. The
greatness of its themes should inspire faith in it as the word of God.
[Sidenote: _Simplicity and Adaptation_]
The Bible unfolds truth with a simplicity and an adaptation to the needs
and longings of the human heart that has astonished and charmed the most
highly cultivated minds, while to the humble and uncultured also it
makes plain the way of life. “The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not
err therein.”[274] No child need mistake the path. Not one trembling
seeker need fail of walking in pure and holy light. Yet the most simply
stated truths lay hold upon themes elevated, far-reaching, infinitely
beyond the power of human comprehension,—mysteries that are the hiding
of His glory,—mysteries that overpower the mind in its research, while
they inspire the sincere seeker for truth with reverence and faith. The
more we search the Bible, the deeper is our conviction that it is the
word of the living God, and human reason bows before the majesty of
divine revelation.
[Sidenote: _Limit to Comprehension_]
God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of His word shall be
ever unfolding. While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,”
“those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our
children.”[275] The idea that certain portions of the Bible can not be
understood has led to neglect of some of its most important truths. The
fact needs to be emphasized, and often repeated, that the mysteries of
the Bible are not such because God has sought to conceal truth, but
because our own weakness or ignorance makes us incapable of
comprehending or appropriating truth. The limitation is not in His
purpose, but in our capacity. Of those very portions of Scripture often
passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to understand
as much as our minds are capable of receiving. “All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God,” that we may be “thoroughly furnished unto all
good works.”[276]
[Sidenote: _Inexhaustible Riches_]
It is impossible for any human mind to exhaust even one truth or promise
of the Bible. One catches the glory from one point of view, another from
another point; yet we can discern only gleamings. The full radiance is
beyond our vision.
As we contemplate the great things of God’s word, we look into a
fountain that broadens and deepens beneath our gaze. Its breadth and
depth pass our knowledge. As we gaze, the vision widens; stretched out
before us we behold a boundless, shoreless sea.
Such study has vivifying power. The mind and heart acquire new strength,
new life.
[Sidenote: _Tested by Experience_]
This experience is the highest evidence of the divine authorship of the
Bible. We receive God’s word as food for the soul, through the same
evidence by which we receive bread as food for the body. Bread supplies
the need of our nature; we know by experience that it produces blood and
bone and brain. Apply the same test to the Bible: when its principles
have actually become the elements of character, what has been the
result? what changes have been made in the life?—“Old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.”[277] In its power, men and
women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced
selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the
profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan, have been
transformed into the image of God. This change is itself the miracle of
miracles. A change wrought by the word, it is one of the deepest
mysteries of the word. We can not understand it; we can only believe, as
declared by the Scriptures, it is “Christ in you, the hope of
glory.”[278]
A knowledge of this mystery furnishes a key to every other. It opens to
the soul the treasures of the universe, the possibilities of infinite
development.
[Sidenote: _Pledge of Eternal Growth_]
And this development is gained through the constant unfolding to us of
the character of God,—the glory and the mystery of the written word. If
it were possible for us to attain to a full understanding of God and His
word, there would be for us no further discovery of truth, no greater
knowledge, no further development. God would cease to be supreme, and
man would cease to advance. Thank God, it is not so. Since God is
infinite, and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, we may to all
eternity be ever searching, ever learning, yet never exhaust the riches
of His wisdom, His goodness, or His power.
_History and Prophecy_
“WHO HATH DECLARED THIS FROM
ANCIENT TIME? HAVE NOT I THE
LORD? THERE IS NO GOD ELSE”
[Sidenote: _The Earliest of Annals_]
The Bible is the most ancient and the most comprehensive history that
men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth, and
throughout the ages a divine hand has preserved its purity. It lights up
the far-distant past, where human research in vain seeks to penetrate.
In God’s word only do we behold the power that laid the foundations of
the earth, and that stretched out the heavens. Here only do we find an
authentic account of the origin of nations. Here only is given a history
of our race unsullied by human pride or prejudice.
[Sidenote: _Philosophy of History_]
In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall
of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The
shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his
power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn
aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and
counter-play of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of
the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of
His own will.
[Sidenote: _Distribution of Races_]
The Bible reveals the true philosophy of history. In those words of
matchless beauty and tenderness spoken by the apostle Paul to the sages
of Athens is set forth God’s purpose in the creation and distribution of
races and nations: He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to
dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before
appointed and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the
Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.”[279] God
declares that whosoever will may come “into the bond of the
covenant.”[280] In the creation it was His purpose that the earth be
inhabited by beings whose existence should be a blessing to themselves
and to one another, and an honor to their Creator. All who will may
identify themselves with this purpose. Of them it is spoken, “This
people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.”[281]
God has revealed in His law the principles that underlie all true
prosperity both of nations and of individuals. “This is your wisdom and
your understanding,” Moses declared to the Israelites of the law of God.
“It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life.”[282] The
blessings thus assured to Israel are, on the same conditions and in the
same degree, assured to every nation and every individual under the
broad heavens.
[Sidenote: _National Prosperity_]
The power exercised by every ruler on the earth is Heaven-imparted; and
upon his use of the power thus bestowed, his success depends. To each
the word of the divine Watcher is, “I girded thee, though thou hast not
known Me.”[283] And to each the words spoken to Nebuchadnezzar of old
are the lesson of life: “Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine
iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of
thy tranquillity.”[284]
[Sidenote: _The Source of Power_]
To understand these things,—to understand that “righteousness exalteth a
nation;” that “the throne is established by righteousness,” and
“upholden by mercy;”[285] to recognize the outworking of these
principles in the manifestation of His power who “removeth kings, and
setteth up kings,”[286] —this is to understand the philosophy of
history.
In the word of God only is this clearly set forth. Here it is shown that
the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the
opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is
not found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity
with which they fulfil God’s purpose.
[Sidenote: _Object of Government_]
An illustration of this truth is found in the history of ancient
Babylon. To Nebuchadnezzar the king the true object of national
government was represented under the figure of a great tree, whose
height “reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the
earth; the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in
it was meat for all;” under its shadow the beasts of the field dwelt,
and among its branches the birds of the air had their habitation.[287]
This representation shows the character of a government that fulfils
God’s purpose,—a government that protects and upbuilds the nation.
[Sidenote: _Babylon the Great_]
God exalted Babylon that it might fulfil this purpose. Prosperity
attended the nation, until it reached a height of wealth and power that
has never since been equaled,—fitly represented in the Scriptures by the
inspired symbol, a “head of gold.”[288]
But the king failed of recognizing the power that had exalted him.
Nebuchadnezzar in the pride of his heart said: “Is not this great
Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my majesty?”[289]
[Sidenote: _Its Oppressive Power_]
Instead of being a protector of men, Babylon became a proud and cruel
oppressor. The words of Inspiration picturing the cruelty and greed of
rulers in Israel, reveal the secret of Babylon’s fall, and of the fall
of many another kingdom since the world began: “Ye eat the fat, and ye
clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed; but ye feed not the
flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed
that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken,
neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have
ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye
ruled them.”[290]
[Sidenote: _Retribution_]
To the ruler of Babylon came the sentence of the divine Watcher: O king,
“to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee.”[291]
“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,
Sit on the ground; there is no throne....
Sit thou silent,
And get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms.”[292]
“O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures,
Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.”
“Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldee’s excellency,
Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
“I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water;
and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of
hosts.”[293]
[Sidenote: _Rise and Fall of Nations_]
Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted
to occupy its place on the earth, that it might be seen whether it would
fulfil the purpose of “the Watcher and the Holy One.” Prophecy has
traced the rise and fall of the world’s great empires,—Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of
less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each
failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied
by another.
While the nations rejected God’s principles, and in this rejection
wrought their own ruin, it was still manifest that the divine,
overruling purpose was working through all their movements.
[Sidenote: _Vision of the Cherubim_]
This lesson is taught in a wonderful symbolic representation given to
the prophet Ezekiel during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans. The
vision was given at a time when Ezekiel was weighed down with sorrowful
memories and troubled forebodings. The land of his fathers was desolate.
Jerusalem was depopulated. The prophet himself was a stranger in a land
where ambition and cruelty reigned supreme. As on every hand he beheld
tyranny and wrong, his soul was distressed, and he mourned day and
night. But the symbols presented to him revealed a power above that of
earthly rulers.
[Sidenote: _The Guiding Hand_]
Upon the banks of the river Chebar, Ezekiel beheld a whirlwind seeming
to come from the north, “a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself, and
a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of
amber.” A number of wheels, intersecting one another, were moved by four
living beings. High above all these was the “likeness of a throne, as
the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne
was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” “And there
appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their
wings.”[294] The wheels were so complicated in arrangement that at first
sight they appeared to be in confusion; but they moved in perfect
harmony. Heavenly beings, sustained and guided by the hand beneath the
wings of the cherubim, were impelling these wheels; above them, upon the
sapphire throne, was the Eternal One; and round about the throne a
rainbow, the emblem of divine mercy.
As the wheel-like complications were under the guidance of the hand
beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of human
events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations,
He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of the
earth.
[Sidenote: _A Place in God’s Purpose_]
The history of nations that one after another have occupied their
allotted time and place, unconsciously witnessing to the truth of which
they themselves knew not the meaning, speaks to us. To every nation and
to every individual of to-day God has assigned a place in His great
plan. To-day men and nations are being measured by the plummet in the
hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding
their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His
purposes.
[Sidenote: _Fulfilment of Prophecy_]
The history which the great I AM has marked out in His word, uniting
link after link in the prophetic chain, from eternity in the past to
eternity in the future, tells us where we are to-day in the procession
of the ages, and what may be expected in the time to come. All that
prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has
been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all
which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order.
The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the
word of truth. In the prophecy uttered when sentence from God was
pronounced upon the last king of Israel is given the message:—
“Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; ...
exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn,
overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose
right it is; and I will give it Him.”[295]
The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, “It shall be no more,
until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.”
[Sidenote: _Signs of the Times_]
That time is at hand. To-day the signs of the times declare that we are
standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our
world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s
prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and
rumors of wars.... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes,
in divers places.”[296]
[Sidenote: _On the Verge of a Crisis_]
The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and
statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men
and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events
taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless
relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that
is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that
something great and decisive is about to take place,—that the world is
on the verge of a stupendous crisis.
Angels are now restraining the winds of strife, that they may not blow
until the world shall be warned of its coming doom; but a storm is
gathering, ready to burst upon the earth; and when God shall bid His
angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen
can picture.
[Sidenote: _The Final Scenes_]
The Bible, and the Bible only, gives a correct view of these things.
Here are revealed the great final scenes in the history of our world,
events that already are casting their shadows before, the sound of their
approach causing the earth to tremble, and men’s hearts to fail them for
fear.
“Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and
turneth it upside down, and scattered abroad the inhabitants
thereof; ... because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse
devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate.... The
mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy
of the harp ceaseth.”[297]
[Sidenote: “_Destruction upon Destruction_”]
“Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.... The seed is rotten under
their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down;
for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle
are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep
are made desolate.” “The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth;
the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all
the trees of the field, are withered; because joy is withered away from
the sons of men.”[298]
“I am pained at my very heart; ... I can not hold my peace, because thou
hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled.”
“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they
trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was
no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo,
the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were
broken down.”[299]
[Sidenote: “_Time of Jacob’s Trouble_”]
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the
time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”[300]
“Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about
thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation
be overpast.”[301]
“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,
Even the Most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”[302]
“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down
thereof.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” [Sidenote: “_Our God
Shall Come_”]
“He shall call to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people; ...
And the heavens shall declare His righteousness;
For God is judge Himself.”[303]
“O daughter of Zion, ... the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of
thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that
say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know
not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they His counsel.”
“Because they call thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man
seeketh after,” “I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee
of thy wounds, saith the Lord.” “I will bring again the captivity of
Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places.”[304]
[Sidenote: _“He Will Save”_]
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us:
This is the Lord; we have waited for Him,
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“He will swallow up death in victory; ... and the rebuke of His people
shall He take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken
it.”[305]
“Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see
Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken
down.... For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord
is our king.”[306]
“With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for
the meek of the earth.”[307]
[Sidenote: _The Reign of Peace_]
Then will the purpose of God be fulfilled; the principles of His kingdom
will be honored by all beneath the sun.
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;
But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
And thy gates Praise.”
“In righteousness shalt thou be established:
Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:
And from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”[308]
[Sidenote: _Study of Prophecy_]
The prophets to whom these great scenes were revealed longed to
understand their import. They “inquired and searched diligently; ...
searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify.... Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now
reported unto you; ... which things the angels desire to look
into.”[309]
To us who are standing on the very verge of their fulfilment, of what
deep moment, what living interest, are these delineations of the things
to come,—events for which, since our first parents turned their steps
from Eden, God’s children have watched and waited, longed and prayed!
At this time, before the great final crisis, as before the world’s first
destruction, men are absorbed in the pleasures and the pursuits of
sense. Engrossed with the seen and transitory, they have lost sight of
the unseen and eternal. For the things that perish with the using, they
are sacrificing imperishable riches. Their minds need to be uplifted,
their views of life to be broadened. They need to be aroused from the
lethargy of worldly dreaming.
[Sidenote: _A Lesson for To-Day_]
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the pages of Holy
Writ, they need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly
glory. Babylon, with all its power and its magnificence, the like of
which our world has never since beheld,—power and magnificence which to
the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring,—how completely has
it passed away! As “the flower of the grass,” it has perished. So
perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only that which is
bound up with His purpose, and expresses His character, can endure. His
principles are the only steadfast things our world knows.
It is these great truths that old and young need to learn. We need to
study the working out of God’s purpose in the history of nations and in
the revelation of things to come, that we may estimate at their true
value things seen and things unseen; that we may learn what is the true
aim of life; that, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity,
we may put them to their truest and noblest use. Thus, learning here the
principles of His kingdom and becoming its subjects and citizens, we may
be prepared at His coming to enter with Him into its possession.
[Sidenote: _The End Is at Hand_]
The day is at hand. For the lessons to be learned, the work to be done,
the transformation of character to be effected, the time remaining is
but too brief a span.
“Behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is
for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: There shall none of My
words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be
done, saith the Lord God.”[310]
_Bible Teaching and Study_
“INCLINE THINE EAR UNTO
WISDOM; SEARCH FOR HER
AS FOR HID TREASURES”
[Sidenote: _A Bible Student_]
In childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus studied the Scriptures. As a
little child, He was daily, at His mother’s knee, taught from the
scrolls of the prophets. In His youth the early morning and the evening
twilight often found Him alone on the mountainside or among the trees of
the forest, spending a quiet hour in prayer and the study of God’s word.
During His ministry His intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures
testifies to His diligence in their study. And since He gained knowledge
as we may gain it, His wonderful power, both mental and spiritual, is a
testimony to the value of the Bible as a means of education.
[Sidenote: _Stories for the Little Ones_]
Our heavenly Father, in giving His word, did not overlook the children.
In all that men have written, where can be found anything that has such
a hold upon the heart, anything so well adapted to awaken the interest
of the little ones, as the stories of the Bible?
In these simple stories may be made plain the great principles of the
law of God. Thus by illustrations best suited to the child’s
comprehension, parents and teachers may begin very early to fulfil the
Lord’s injunction concerning His precepts: “Thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest
in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up.”[311]
[Sidenote: _Object Lessons_]
The use of object-lessons, blackboards, maps, and pictures, will be an
aid in explaining these lessons, and fixing them in the memory. Parents
and teachers should constantly seek for improved methods. The teaching
of the Bible should have our freshest thought, our best methods, and our
most earnest effort.
[Sidenote: _Family Study_]
In arousing and strengthening a love for Bible study, much depends on
the use of the hour of worship. The hours of morning and evening worship
should be the sweetest and most helpful of the day. Let it be understood
that into these hours no troubled, unkind thoughts are to intrude; that
parents and children assemble to meet with Jesus, and to invite into the
home the presence of holy angels. Let the services be brief and full of
life, adapted to the occasion, and varied from time to time. Let all
join in the Bible reading, and learn and often repeat God’s law. It will
add to the interest of the children if they are sometimes permitted to
select the reading. Question them upon it, and let them ask questions.
Mention anything that will serve to illustrate its meaning. When the
service is not thus made too lengthy, let the little ones take part in
prayer, and let them join in song, if it be but a single verse.
To make such a service what it should be, thought should be given to
preparation. And parents should take time daily for Bible study with
their children. No doubt it will require effort and planning and some
sacrifice to accomplish this; but the effort will be richly repaid.
[Sidenote: _Personal Influence and Example_]
As a preparation for teaching His precepts, God commands that they be
hidden in the hearts of the parents. “These words, which I command thee
this day, shall be in thine heart,” He says; “and thou shalt teach them
diligently.”[312] In order to interest our children in the Bible, we
ourselves must be interested in it. To awaken in them a love for its
study, we must love it. Our instruction to them will have only the
weight of influence given it by our own example and spirit.
[Sidenote: _Abraham an Illustration_]
God called Abraham to be a teacher of His word, He chose him to be the
father of a great nation, because He saw that Abraham would instruct his
children and his household in the principles of God’s law. And that
which gave power to Abraham’s teaching was the influence of his own
life. His great household consisted of more than a thousand souls, many
of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from
heathenism. Such a household required a firm hand at the helm. No weak,
vacillating methods would suffice. Of Abraham God said, “I know him,
that he will command his children and his household after him.”[313] Yet
his authority was exercised with such wisdom and tenderness that hearts
were won. The testimony of the divine Watcher is, “They shall keep the
way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.”[313] And Abraham’s
influence extended beyond his own household. Wherever he pitched his
tent, he set up beside it the altar for sacrifice and worship. When the
tent was removed, the altar remained; and many a roving Canaanite, whose
knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham His servant,
tarried at that altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah.
No less effective to-day will be the teaching of God’s word when it
finds as faithful a reflection in the teacher’s life.
[Sidenote: _Original Study_]
It is not enough to know what others have thought or learned about the
Bible. Every one must in the judgment give account of himself to God,
and each should now learn for himself what is truth. But in order to
effective study, the interest of the pupil must be enlisted. Especially
by the one who has to deal with children and youth differing widely in
disposition, training, and habits of thought, this is a matter not to be
lost sight of. In teaching children the Bible, we may gain much by
observing the bent of their minds, the things in which they are
interested, and arousing their interest to see what the Bible says about
these things. He who created us, with our various aptitudes, has in His
word given something for every one. As the pupils see that the lessons
of the Bible apply to their own lives, teach them to look to it as a
counselor.
[Sidenote: _Beauty of Thought and Expression_]
Help them also to appreciate its wonderful beauty. Many books of no real
value, books that are exciting and unhealthful, are recommended, or at
least permitted to be used, because of their supposed literary value.
Why should we direct our children to drink of these polluted streams,
when they may have free access to the pure fountains of the word of God?
The Bible has a fulness, a strength, a depth of meaning, that is
inexhaustible. Encourage the children and youth to seek out its
treasures, both of thought and of expression.
As the beauty of these precious things attracts their minds, a
softening, subduing power will touch their hearts. They will be drawn to
Him who has thus revealed Himself to them. And there are few who will
not desire to know more of His works and ways.
[Sidenote: _Purpose in Study_]
The student of the Bible should be taught to approach it in the spirit
of a learner. We are to search its pages, not for proof to sustain our
opinions, but in order to know what God says.
A true knowledge of the Bible can be gained only through the aid of that
Spirit by whom the word was given. And in order to gain this knowledge
we must live by it. All that God’s word commands, we are to obey. All
that it promises, we may claim. The life which it enjoins is the life
that, through its power, we are to live. Only as the Bible is thus held
can it be studied effectively.
The study of the Bible demands our most diligent effort and persevering
thought. As the miner digs for the golden treasure in the earth, so
earnestly, persistently, must we seek for the treasure of God’s word.
[Sidenote: _Thoroughness and Concentration_]
In daily study the verse-by-verse method is often most helpful. Let the
student take one verse, and concentrate the mind on ascertaining the
thought that God has put into that verse for him, and then dwell upon
the thought until it becomes his own. One passage thus studied until its
significance is clear, is of more value than the perusal of many
chapters with no definite purpose in view, and no positive instruction
gained.
[Sidenote: _Unwholesome Literature_]
One of the chief causes of mental inefficiency and moral weakness is the
lack of concentration for worthy ends. We pride ourselves on the wide
distribution of literature; but the multiplication of books, even books
that in themselves are not harmful, may be a positive evil. With the
immense tide of printed matter constantly pouring from the press, old
and young form the habit of reading hastily and superficially, and the
mind loses its power of connected and vigorous thought. Furthermore, a
large share of the periodicals and books that, like the frogs of Egypt,
are overspreading the land, are not merely commonplace, idle, and
enervating, but unclean and degrading. Their effect is not merely to
intoxicate and ruin the mind, but to corrupt and destroy the soul. The
mind, the heart, that is indolent, aimless, falls an easy prey to evil.
It is on diseased, lifeless organisms that fungus roots. It is the idle
mind that is Satan’s workshop. Let the mind be directed to high and holy
ideals, let the life have a noble aim, an absorbing purpose, and evil
finds little foothold.
[Sidenote: _A Shield from Temptation_]
Let the youth, then, be taught to give close study to the word of God.
Received into the soul, it will prove a mighty barricade against
temptation. “Thy word,” the psalmist declares, “have I hid in mine
heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “By the word of Thy lips I
have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”[314]
[Sidenote: _Comprehensive Study_]
The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with
scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and to
see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its grand
central theme, of God’s original purpose for the world, of the rise of
the great controversy, and of the work of redemption. He should
understand the nature of the two principles that are contending for
supremacy, and should learn to trace their working through the records
of history and prophecy, to the great consummation. He should see how
this controversy enters into every phase of human experience; how in
every act of life he himself reveals the one or the other of the two
antagonistic motives; and how, whether he will or not, he is even now
deciding upon which side of the controversy he will be found.
Every part of the Bible is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable. The Old Testament no less than the New should receive
attention. As we study the Old Testament, we shall find living springs
bubbling up where the careless reader discerns only a desert.
[Sidenote: _Daniel and the Revelation_]
The book of Revelation, in connection with the book of Daniel,
especially demands study. Let every God-fearing teacher consider how
most clearly to comprehend and to present the gospel that our Saviour
came in person to make known to His servant John,—“The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things
which must shortly come to pass.”[315] None should become discouraged in
the study of the Revelation because of its apparently mystical symbols.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
liberally, and upbraideth not.”[316]
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time
is at hand.”[317]
[Sidenote: _Continuous Study_]
When a real love for the Bible is awakened, and the student begins to
realize how vast is the field and how precious its treasure, he will
desire to seize upon every opportunity for acquainting himself with
God’s word. Its study will be restricted to no special time or place.
And this continuous study is one of the best means of cultivating a love
for the Scriptures. Let the student keep his Bible always with him. As
you have opportunity, read a text and meditate upon it. While walking
the streets, waiting at a railway station, waiting to meet an
engagement, improve the opportunity to gain some precious thought from
the treasure-house of truth.
[Sidenote: _Results of Study_]
The great motive powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love; and it is
to these that Bible study, rightly pursued, appeals. The outward beauty
of the Bible, the beauty of imagery and expression, is but the setting,
as it were, for its real treasure,—the beauty of holiness. In its record
of the men who walked with God, we may catch glimpses of His glory. In
the One “altogether lovely” we behold Him, of whom all beauty of earth
and heaven is but a dim reflection. “I, if I be lifted up,” He said,
“will draw all men unto Me.”[318] As the student of the Bible beholds
the Redeemer, there is awakened in the soul the mysterious power of
faith, adoration, and love. Upon the vision of Christ the gaze is fixed,
and the beholder grows into the likeness of that which he adores. The
words of the apostle Paul become the language of the soul: “I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord; ... that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and
the fellowship of His sufferings.”[319]
[Sidenote: _Streams of Blessing_]
The springs of heavenly peace and joy unsealed in the soul by the words
of Inspiration will become a mighty river of influence to bless all who
come within its reach. Let the youth of to-day, the youth who are
growing up with the Bible in their hands, become the recipients and the
channels of its life-giving energy, and what streams of blessing would
flow forth to the world!—influences of whose power to heal and comfort
we can scarcely conceive,—rivers of living water fountains “springing up
unto everlasting life.”
_PHYSICAL CULTURE_
“_Beloved, I wish above all things that thou
mayest prosper and be in health, even as
thy soul prospereth_”
_Study of Physiology_
“I AM FEARFULLY AND
WONDERFULLY MADE”
[Sidenote: _Importance of Physical Culture_]
Since the mind and the soul find expression through the body, both
mental and spiritual vigor are in great degree dependent upon physical
strength and activity; whatever promotes physical health, promotes the
development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character. Without
health, no one can as distinctly understand or as completely fulfil his
obligations to himself, to his fellow-beings, or to his Creator.
Therefore the health should be as faithfully guarded as the character. A
knowledge of physiology and hygiene should be the basis of all
educational effort.
[Sidenote: _Disregard of Principles_]
Though the facts of physiology are now so generally understood, there is
an alarming indifference in regard to the principles of health. Even of
those who have a knowledge of these principles, there are few who put
them in practise. Inclination or impulse is followed as blindly as if
life were controlled by mere chance rather than by definite and
unvarying laws.
[Sidenote: _A Cause of Failure_]
The youth, in the freshness and vigor of life, little realize the value
of their abounding energy. A treasure more precious than gold, more
essential to advancement than learning or rank or riches,—how lightly it
is held! how rashly squandered! How many a man, sacrificing health in
the struggle for riches or power, has almost reached the object of his
desire, only to fall helpless, while another, possessing superior
physical endurance, grasped the longed for prize! Through morbid
conditions, the result of neglecting the laws of health, how many have
been led into evil practises, to the sacrifice of every hope for this
world and the next!
In the study of physiology, pupils should be led to see the value of
physical energy, and how it can be so preserved and developed as to
contribute in the highest degree to success in life’s great struggle.
[Sidenote: _Teaching Physiology_]
Children should be early taught, in simple, easy lessons, the rudiments
of physiology and hygiene. The work should be begun by the mother in the
home, and should be faithfully carried forward in the school. As the
pupils advance in years, instruction in this line should be continued,
until they are qualified to care for the house they live in. They should
understand the importance of guarding against disease by preserving the
vigor of every organ, and should also be taught how to deal with common
diseases and accidents. Every school should give instruction in both
physiology and hygiene, and, so far as possible, should be provided with
facilities for illustrating the structure, use, and care of the body.
[Sidenote: _Nature’s Laws Divine_]
There are matters not usually included in the study of physiology that
should be considered,—matters of far greater value to the student than
are many of the technicalities commonly taught under this head. As the
foundation principle of all education in these lines, the youth should
be taught that the laws of nature are the laws of God,—as truly divine
as are the precepts of the decalogue. The laws that govern our physical
organism, God has written upon every nerve, muscle, and fiber of the
body. Every careless or wilful violation of these laws is a sin against
our Creator.
How necessary, then, that a thorough knowledge of these laws should be
imparted! The principles of hygiene as applied to diet, exercise, the
care of children, the treatment of the sick, and many like matters,
should be given much more attention than they ordinarily receive.
[Sidenote: _Influence of the Mind on the Body_]
The influence of the mind on the body, as well as of the body on the
mind, should be emphasized. The electric power of the brain, promoted by
mental activity, vitalizes the whole system, and is thus an invaluable
aid in resisting disease. This should be made plain. The power of the
will and the importance of self-control, both in the preservation and in
the recovery of health, the depressing and even ruinous effect of anger,
discontent, selfishness, or impurity, and, on the other hand, the
marvelous life-giving power to be found in cheerfulness, unselfishness,
gratitude, should also be shown.
There is a physiological truth—truth that we need to consider—in the
scripture, “A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.”
[Sidenote: _Cheerfulness; Gratitude_]
“Let thine heart keep My commandments,” God says; “for length of days,
and years of life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” “They are life
unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” “Pleasant
words” the Scriptures declare to be not only “sweet to the soul,” but
“health to the bones.”[320]
The youth need to understand the deep truth underlying the Bible
statement that with God “is the fountain of life.”[321] Not only is He
the originator of all, but He is the life of everything that lives. It
is His life that we receive in the sunshine, in the pure, sweet air, in
the food which builds up our bodies and sustains our strength. It is by
His life that we exist, hour by hour, moment by moment. Except as
perverted by sin, all His gifts tend to life, to health and joy.
“He hath made everything beautiful in its time;”[322] and true beauty
will be secured, not in marring God’s work, but in coming into harmony
with the laws of Him who created all things, and who finds pleasure in
their beauty and perfection.
[Sidenote: _Right Physical Habits_]
As the mechanism of the body is studied, attention should be directed to
its wonderful adaptation of means to ends, the harmonious action and
dependence of the various organs. As the interest of the student is thus
awakened, and he is led to see the importance of physical culture, much
can be done by the teacher to secure proper development and right
habits.
[Sidenote: _Position_]
Among the first things to be aimed at should be a correct position, both
in sitting and in standing. God made man upright, and He desires him to
possess not only the physical but the mental and moral benefit, the
grace and dignity and self-possession, the courage and self-reliance,
which an erect bearing so greatly tends to promote. Let the teacher give
instruction on this point by example and by precept. Show what a correct
position is, and insist that it shall be maintained.
[Sidenote: _Respiration_]
Next in importance to right position are respiration and vocal culture.
The one who sits and stands erect is more likely than others to breathe
properly. But the teacher should impress upon his pupils the importance
of deep breathing. Show how the healthy action of the respiratory
organs, assisting the circulation of the blood, invigorates the whole
system, excites the appetite, promotes digestion, and induces sound,
sweet sleep, thus not only refreshing the body, but soothing and
tranquilizing the mind. And while the importance of deep breathing is
shown, the practise should be insisted upon. Let exercises be given
which will promote this, and see that the habit becomes established.
[Sidenote: _Training of the Voice_]
The training of the voice has an important place in physical culture,
since it tends to expand and strengthen the lungs, and thus to ward off
disease. To insure correct delivery in reading and speaking, see that
the abdominal muscles have full play in breathing, and that the
respiratory organs are unrestricted. Let the strain come on the muscles
of the abdomen, rather than on those of the throat. Great weariness and
serious disease of the throat and lungs may thus be prevented. Careful
attention should be given to securing distinct articulation, smooth,
well-modulated tones, and a not-too-rapid delivery. This will not only
promote health, but will add greatly to the agreeableness and efficiency
of the student’s work.
[Sidenote: _Healthful Dress_]
In teaching these things a golden opportunity is afforded for showing
the folly and wickedness of tight-lacing, and every other practise that
restricts vital action. An almost endless train of disease results from
unhealthful modes of dress, and careful instruction on this point should
be given. Impress upon the pupils the danger of allowing the clothing to
weigh on the hips or to compress any organ of the body. The dress should
be so arranged that a full respiration can be taken, and the arms be
raised above the head without difficulty. The cramping of the lungs not
only prevents their development, but hinders the processes of digestion
and circulation, and thus weakens the whole body. All such practises
lessen both physical and mental power, thus hindering the student’s
advancement, and often preventing his success.
[Sidenote: _Cleanliness, Sunlight, Ventilation_]
In the study of hygiene the earnest teacher will improve every
opportunity to show the necessity of perfect cleanliness both in
personal habits and in all one’s surroundings. The value of the daily
bath in promoting health and in stimulating mental action, should be
emphasized. Attention should be given also to sunlight and ventilation,
the hygiene of the sleeping-room and the kitchen. Teach the pupils that
a healthful sleeping-room, a thoroughly clean kitchen, and a tastefully
arranged, wholesomely supplied table, will go farther toward securing
the happiness of the family and the regard of every sensible visitor
than any amount of expensive furnishing in the drawing-room. That “the
life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment,”[323] is a
lesson no less needed now than when given by the divine Teacher eighteen
hundred years ago.
[Sidenote: _Knowledge Put to Use_]
The student of physiology should be taught that the object of his study
is not merely to gain a knowledge of facts and principles. This alone
will prove of little benefit. He may understand the importance of
ventilation; his room may be supplied with pure air; but unless he fills
his lungs properly, he will suffer the results of imperfect respiration.
So the necessity of cleanliness may be understood, and needful
facilities may be supplied; but all will be without avail unless put to
use. The great requisite in teaching these principles is to impress the
pupil with their importance, so that he will conscientiously put them in
practise.
[Sidenote: _The Body God’s Dwelling-place_]
By a most beautiful and impressive figure, God’s word shows the regard
He places upon our physical organism, and the responsibility resting on
us to preserve it in the best condition: “Know ye not that your body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and
ye are not your own.” “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall
God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”[324]
Let pupils be impressed with the thought that the body is a temple in
which God desires to dwell; that it must be kept pure, the abiding-place
of high and noble thoughts. As in the study of physiology they see that
they are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made,”[325] they will be
inspired with reverence. Instead of marring God’s handiwork, they will
have an ambition to make all that is possible of themselves, in order to
fulfil the Creator’s glorious plan. Thus they will come to regard
obedience to the laws of health, not as a matter of sacrifice or
self-denial, but as it really is, an inestimable privilege and blessing.
_Temperance and Dietetics_
“EVERY MAN THAT STRIVETH
FOR THE MASTERY IS TEMPERATE
IN ALL THINGS”
[Sidenote: _Plain Living; High Thinking_]
Every student needs to understand the relation between plain living and
high thinking. It rests with us individually to decide whether our lives
shall be controlled by the mind or by the body. The youth must, each for
himself, make the choice that shapes his life; and no pains should be
spared that he may understand the forces with which he has to deal, and
the influences which mould character and destiny.
[Sidenote: _Prevention of Intemperance_]
Intemperance is a foe against which all need to be guarded. The rapid
increase of this terrible evil should arouse every lover of his race to
warfare against it. The practise of giving instruction on temperance
topics in the schools is a move in the right direction. Instruction in
this line should be given in every school and in every home. The youth
and children should understand the effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other
like poisons, in breaking down the body, beclouding the mind, and
sensualizing the soul. It should be made plain that no one who uses
these things can long possess the full strength of his physical, mental,
or moral faculties.
[Sidenote: _Causes of Intemperance_]
But in order to reach the root of intemperance we must go deeper than
the use of alcohol or tobacco. Idleness, lack of aim, or evil
associations, may be the predisposing cause. Often it is found at the
home table, in families that account themselves strictly temperate.
Anything that disorders digestion, that creates undue mental excitement,
or in any way enfeebles the system, disturbing the balance of the mental
and the physical powers, weakens the control of the mind over the body,
and thus tends toward intemperance. The downfall of many a promising
youth might be traced to unnatural appetites created by an unwholesome
diet.
[Sidenote: _Stimulating Diet_]
Tea and coffee, condiments, confectionery, and pastries are all active
causes of indigestion. Flesh-food also is harmful. Its naturally
stimulating effect should be a sufficient argument against its use; and
the almost universally diseased condition of animals makes it doubly
objectionable. It tends to irritate the nerves and to excite the
passions, thus giving the balance of power to the lower propensities.
Those who accustom themselves to a rich, stimulating diet, find after a
time that the stomach is not satisfied with simple food. It demands that
which is more and more highly seasoned, pungent, and stimulating. As the
nerves become disordered and the system weakened, the will seems
powerless to resist the unnatural craving. The delicate coating of the
stomach becomes irritated and inflamed until the most stimulating food
fails of giving relief. A thirst is created that nothing but strong
drink will quench.
[Sidenote: _Self-Control the Safeguard_]
It is the beginnings of evil that should be guarded against. In the
instruction of the youth the effect of apparently small deviations from
the right should be made very plain. Let the student be taught the value
of a simple, healthful diet in preventing the desire for unnatural
stimulants. Let the habit of self-control be early established. Let the
youth be impressed with the thought that they are to be masters, and not
slaves. Of the kingdom within them God has made them rulers, and they
are to exercise their Heaven-appointed kingship. When such instruction
is faithfully given, the results will extend far beyond the youth
themselves. Influences will reach out that will save thousands of men
and women who are on the very brink of ruin.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Diet and Mental Development_]
The relation of diet to intellectual development should be given far
more attention than it has received. Mental confusion and dulness are
often the result of errors in diet.
It is frequently urged that, in the selection of food, appetite is a
safe guide. If the laws of health had always been obeyed, this would be
true. But through wrong habits, continued from generation to generation,
appetite has become so perverted that it is constantly craving some
hurtful gratification. As a guide it can not now be trusted.
[Sidenote: _Nutrient Value of Foods_]
In the study of hygiene, students should be taught the nutrient value of
different foods. The effect of a concentrated and stimulating diet, also
of foods deficient in the elements of nutrition, should be made plain.
Tea and coffee, fine-flour bread, pickles, coarse vegetables, candies,
condiments, and pastries fail of supplying proper nutriment. Many a
student has broken down as the result of using such foods. Many a puny
child, incapable of vigorous effort of mind or body, is the victim of an
impoverished diet. Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, in proper
combination, contain all the elements of nutrition; and when properly
prepared, they constitute the diet that best promotes both physical and
mental strength.
[Sidenote: _Selection; Combination_]
There is need to consider not only the properties of the food but its
adaptation to the eater. Often food that can be eaten freely by persons
engaged in physical labor must be avoided by those whose work is chiefly
mental. Attention should be given also to the proper combination of
foods. By brain-workers and others of sedentary pursuits, but few kinds
should be taken at a meal.
And overeating, even of the most wholesome food, is to be guarded
against. Nature can use no more than is required for building up the
various organs of the body, and excess clogs the system. Many a student
is supposed to have broken down from overstudy, when the real cause was
overeating. While proper attention is given to the laws of health, there
is little danger from mental taxation; but in many cases of so-called
mental failure, it is the overcrowding of the stomach that wearies the
body and weakens the mind.
[Sidenote: _Regularity in Eating and Sleeping_]
In most cases, two meals a day are preferable to three. Supper, when
taken at an early hour, interferes with the digestion of the previous
meal. When taken later, it is not itself digested before bedtime. Thus
the stomach fails of securing proper rest. The sleep is disturbed, the
brain and nerves are wearied, the appetite for breakfast is impaired,
the whole system is unrefreshed, and is unready for the day’s duties.
The importance of regularity in the time for eating and sleeping should
not be overlooked. Since the work of building up the body takes place
during the hours of rest, it is essential, especially in youth, that
sleep should be regular and abundant.
So far as possible, we should avoid hurried eating. The shorter the time
for a meal, the less should be eaten. It is better to omit a meal than
to eat without proper mastication.
[Sidenote: _A Social Season_]
Meal-time should be a season for social intercourse and refreshment.
Everything that can burden or irritate should be banished. Let trust and
kindliness and gratitude to the Giver of all good be cherished, and the
conversation will be cheerful, a pleasant flow of thought that will
uplift without wearying.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Benefits of Temperance_]
The observance of temperance and regularity in all things has a
wonderful power. It will do more than circumstances or natural
endowments in promoting that sweetness and serenity of disposition which
count so much in smoothing life’s pathway. At the same time the power of
self-control thus acquired will be found one of the most valuable of
equipments for grappling successfully with the stern duties and
realities that await every human being.
Wisdom’s “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are
peace.”[326] Let every youth in our land, with the possibilities before
him of a destiny higher than that of crowned kings, ponder the lesson
conveyed in the words of the wise man, “Blessed art thou, O land,
when ... thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for
drunkenness!”[327]
_Recreation_
“TO EVERYTHING THERE IS
A SEASON”
[Sidenote: _Recreation; Amusement_]
There is a distinction between recreation and amusement. Recreation,
when true to its name, re-creation, tends to strengthen and build up.
Calling us aside from our ordinary cares and occupations, it affords
refreshment for mind and body, and thus enables us to return with new
vigor to the earnest work of life. Amusement, on the other hand, is
sought for the sake of pleasure, and is often carried to excess; it
absorbs the energies that are required for useful work, and thus proves
a hindrance to life’s true success.
[Sidenote: _Physical Inaction; the Child_]
The whole body is designed for action; and unless the physical powers
are kept in health by active exercise, the mental powers can not long be
used to their highest capacity. The physical inaction which seems almost
inevitable in the schoolroom—together with other unhealthful
conditions—makes it a trying place for children, especially for those of
feeble constitution. Often the ventilation is insufficient. Ill-formed
seats encourage unnatural positions, thus cramping the action of the
lungs and the heart. Here little children have to spend from three to
five hours a day, breathing air that is laden with impurity and perhaps
infected with the germs of disease. No wonder that in the schoolroom the
foundation of lifelong illness is so often laid. The brain, the most
delicate of all the physical organs, and that from which the nervous
energy of the whole system is derived, suffers the greatest injury. By
being forced into premature or excessive activity, and this under
unhealthful conditions, it is enfeebled, and often the evil results are
permanent.
[Sidenote: _Outdoor Life for Children_]
Children should not be long confined within doors, nor should they be
required to apply themselves closely to study until a good foundation
has been laid for physical development. For the first eight or ten years
of a child’s life the field or garden is the best schoolroom, the mother
the best teacher, nature the best lesson-book. Even when the child is
old enough to attend school, his health should be regarded as of greater
importance than a knowledge of books. He should be surrounded with the
conditions most favorable to both physical and mental growth.
[Sidenote: _Physical Inaction; the Student_]
The child is not alone in the danger from want of air and exercise. In
the higher as well as the lower schools these essentials to health are
still too often neglected. Many a student sits day after day in a close
room bending over his books, his chest so contracted that he can not
take a full, deep breath, his blood moving sluggishly, his feet cold,
his head hot. The body not being sufficiently nourished, the muscles are
weakened, and the whole system is enervated and diseased. Often such
students become lifelong invalids. They might have come from school with
increased physical as well as mental strength, had they pursued their
studies under proper conditions, with regular exercise in the sunlight
and the open air.
[Sidenote: _Mental Effect_]
The student who with limited time and means is struggling to gain an
education should realize that time spent in physical exercise is not
lost. He who continually pores over his books will find, after a time,
that the mind has lost its freshness. Those who give proper attention to
physical development will make greater advancement in literary lines
than they would if their entire time were devoted to study.
By pursuing one line of thought exclusively, the mind often becomes
unbalanced. But every faculty may be safely exercised if the mental and
physical powers are equally taxed, and the subjects of thought are
varied.
[Sidenote: _Moral Effect_]
Physical inaction lessens not only mental but moral power. The brain
nerves that connect with the whole system are the medium through which
heaven communicates with man, and affects the inmost life. Whatever
hinders the circulation of the electric current in the nervous system,
thus weakening the vital powers and lessening mental susceptibility,
makes it more difficult to arouse the moral nature.
Again, excessive study, by increasing the flow of blood to the brain,
creates morbid excitability that tends to lessen the power of
self-control, and too often gives sway to impulse or caprice. Thus the
door is opened to impurity. The misuse or nonuse of the physical powers
is largely responsible for the tide of corruption that is overspreading
the world. “Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness,” are as
deadly foes to human progress in this generation as when they led to the
destruction of Sodom.
Teachers should understand these things, and should instruct their
pupils in these lines. Teach the students that right living depends on
right thinking, and that physical activity is essential to purity of
thought.
[Sidenote: _Gymnastic Exercises_]
The question of suitable recreation for their pupils is one that
teachers often find perplexing. Gymnastic exercises fill a useful place
in many schools; but without careful supervision they are often carried
to excess. In the gymnasium many youth, by their attempted feats of
strength, have done themselves lifelong injury.
[Sidenote: _Tendency of Sports_]
Exercise in a gymnasium, however well conducted, can not supply the
place of recreation in the open air, and for this our schools should
afford better opportunity. Vigorous exercise the pupils must have. Few
evils are more to be dreaded than indolence and aimlessness. Yet the
tendency of most athletic sports is a subject of anxious thought to
those who have at heart the well-being of the youth. Teachers are
troubled as they consider the influence of these sports both on the
student’s progress in school and on his success in after-life. The games
that occupy so much of his time are diverting the mind from study. They
are not helping to prepare the youth for practical, earnest work in
life. Their influence does not tend toward refinement, generosity, or
real manliness.
[Sidenote: _Football and Boxing_]
Some of the most popular amusements, such as football and boxing, have
become schools of brutality. They are developing the same
characteristics as did the games of ancient Rome. The love of
domination, the pride in mere brute force, the reckless disregard of
life, are exerting upon the youth a power to demoralize that is
appalling.
Other athletic games, though not so brutalizing, are scarcely less
objectionable, because of the excess to which they are carried. They
stimulate the love of pleasure and excitement, thus fostering a distaste
for useful labor, a disposition to shun practical duties and
responsibilities. They tend to destroy a relish for life’s sober
realities and its tranquil enjoyments. Thus the door is opened to
dissipation and lawlessness, with their terrible results.
[Sidenote: _Parties of Pleasure_]
As ordinarily conducted, parties of pleasure also are a hindrance to
real growth, either of mind or of character. Frivolous associations,
habits of extravagance, of pleasure-seeking, and too often of
dissipation, are formed, that shape the whole life for evil. In place of
such amusements, parents and teachers can do much to supply diversions
wholesome and life-giving.
[Sidenote: _Simple Habits in Earlier Ages_]
In this, as in all things else that concern our well-being, Inspiration
has pointed the way. In early ages, with the people who were under God’s
direction, life was simple. They lived close to the heart of nature.
Their children shared in the labor of the parents, and studied the
beauties and mysteries of nature’s treasure-house. And in the quiet of
field and wood they pondered those mighty truths handed down as a sacred
trust from generation to generation. Such training produced strong men.
In this age, life has become artificial, and men have degenerated. While
we may not return fully to the simple habits of those early times, we
may learn from them lessons that will make our seasons of recreation
what the name implies,—seasons of true upbuilding for body and mind and
soul.
[Sidenote: _Outdoor Occupations_]
With the question of recreation the surroundings of the home and the
school have much to do. In the choice of a home or the location of a
school these things should be considered. Those with whom mental and
physical well-being is of greater moment than money or the claims and
customs of society, should seek for their children the benefit of
nature’s teaching, and recreation amidst her surroundings. It would be a
great aid in educational work could every school be so situated as to
afford the pupils land for cultivation, and access to the fields and
woods.
[Sidenote: _The Teacher’s Co-operation_]
In lines of recreation for the student, the best results will be
attained through the personal co-operation of the teacher. The true
teacher can impart to his pupils few gifts so valuable as the gift of
his own companionship. It is true of men and women, and how much more of
youth and children, that only as we come in touch through sympathy can
we understand them; and we need to understand in order most effectively
to benefit. To strengthen the tie of sympathy between teacher and
student there are few means that count so much as pleasant association
together outside the schoolroom. In some schools the teacher is always
with his pupils in their hours of recreation. He unites in their
pursuits, accompanies them in their excursions, and seems to make
himself one with them. Well would it be for our schools were this
practise more generally followed. The sacrifice demanded of the teacher
would be great, but he would reap a rich reward.
No recreation helpful only to themselves will prove so great a blessing
to the children and youth as that which makes them helpful to others.
Naturally enthusiastic and impressible, the young are quick to respond
to suggestion. In planning for the culture of plants, let the teacher
seek to awaken an interest in beautifying the school-grounds and the
schoolroom. A double benefit will result. That which the pupils seek to
beautify they will be unwilling to have marred or defaced. A refined
taste, a love of order, and a habit of care-taking will be encouraged;
and the spirit of fellowship and co-operation developed will prove to
the pupils a lifelong blessing.
[Sidenote: _Encourage Helpfulness_]
So also a new interest may be given to the work of the garden or the
excursion in field or wood, as the pupils are encouraged to remember
those shut in from these pleasant places, and to share with them the
beautiful things of nature.
The watchful teacher will find many opportunities for directing pupils
to acts of helpfulness. By little children especially the teacher is
regarded with almost unbounded confidence and respect. Whatever he may
suggest as to ways of helping in the home, faithfulness in the daily
tasks, ministry to the sick or the poor, can hardly fail of bringing
forth fruit. And thus again a double gain will be secured. The kindly
suggestion will react upon its author. Gratitude and co-operation on the
part of the parents will lighten the teacher’s burden and brighten his
path.
[Sidenote: _A Safeguard against Evil_]
Attention to recreation and physical culture will at times, no doubt,
interrupt the regular routine of school work; but the interruption will
prove no real hindrance. In the invigoration of mind and body, the
fostering of an unselfish spirit, and the binding together of pupil and
teacher by the ties of common interest and friendly association, the
expenditure of time and effort will be repaid a hundredfold. A blessed
outlet will be afforded for that restless energy which is so often a
source of danger to the young. As a safeguard against evil, the
preoccupation of the mind with good is worth more than unnumbered
barriers of law and discipline.
_Manual Training_
“STUDY TO WORK WITH YOUR
OWN HANDS”
[Sidenote: _Labor a Blessing_]
At the creation, labor was appointed as a blessing. It meant
development, power, happiness. The changed condition of the earth
through the curse of sin has brought a change in the conditions of
labor; yet though now attended with anxiety, weariness, and pain, it is
still a source of happiness and development. And it is a safeguard
against temptation. Its discipline places a check on self-indulgence,
and promotes industry, purity, and firmness. Thus it becomes a part of
God’s great plan for our recovery from the fall.
[Sidenote: _Dignity of Labor_]
The youth should be led to see the true dignity of labor. Show them that
God is a constant worker. All things in nature do their allotted work.
Action pervades the whole creation, and in order to fulfil our mission
we too must be active.
In our labor we are to be workers together with God. He gives us the
earth and its treasures; but we must adapt them to our use and comfort.
He causes the trees to grow; but we prepare the timber and build the
house. He has hidden in the earth the gold and silver, the iron and
coal; but it is only through toil that we can obtain them.
[Sidenote: _Co-workers with God_]
Show that, while God has created and constantly controls all things, He
has endowed us with a power not wholly unlike His. To us has been given
a degree of control over the forces of nature. As God called forth the
earth in its beauty out of chaos, so we can bring order and beauty out
of confusion. And though all things are now marred with evil, yet in our
completed work we feel a joy akin to His, when, looking on the fair
earth, He pronounced it “very good.”
As a rule, the exercise most beneficial to the youth will be found in
useful employment. The little child finds both diversion and development
in play; and his sports should be such as to promote not only physical
but mental and spiritual growth. As he gains strength and intelligence,
the best recreation will be found in some line of effort that is useful.
That which trains the hand to helpfulness, and teaches the young to bear
their share of life’s burdens, is most effective in promoting the growth
of mind and character.
[Sidenote: _An Essential Discipline_]
The youth need to be taught that life means earnest work,
responsibility, care-taking. They need a training that will make them
practical,—men and women who can cope with emergencies. They should be
taught that the discipline of systematic, well-regulated labor is
essential, not only as a safeguard against the vicissitudes of life, but
as an aid to all-round development.
[Sidenote: _Idleness Degrading_]
Notwithstanding all that has been said and written concerning the
dignity of labor, the feeling prevails that it is degrading. Young men
are anxious to become teachers, clerks, merchants, physicians, lawyers,
or to occupy some other position that does not require physical toil.
Young women shun housework, and seek an education in other lines. These
need to learn that no man or woman is degraded by honest toil. That
which degrades is idleness and selfish dependence. Idleness fosters
self-indulgence, and the result is a life empty and barren,—a field
inviting the growth of every evil. “The earth which drinketh in the rain
that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom
it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth
thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to
be burned.”[328]
Many of the branches of study that consume the students’ time are not
essential to usefulness or happiness; but it is essential for every
youth to have a thorough acquaintance with every-day duties. If need be,
a young woman can dispense with a knowledge of French and algebra, or
even of the piano; but it is indispensable that she learn to make good
bread, to fashion neatly-fitting garments, and to perform efficiently
the many duties that pertain to home-making.
[Sidenote: _Knowledge of Common Duties_]
To the health and happiness of the whole family nothing is more vital
than skill and intelligence on the part of the cook. By ill-prepared,
unwholesome food she may hinder and even ruin both the adult’s
usefulness and the child’s development. Or by providing food adapted to
the needs of the body, and at the same time inviting and palatable, she
can accomplish as much in the right as otherwise she accomplishes in the
wrong direction. So, in many ways, life’s happiness is bound up with
faithfulness in common duties.
Since both men and women have a part in home-making, boys as well as
girls should gain a knowledge of household duties. To make a bed and put
a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a meal, to wash and repair
his own clothing, is a training that need not make any boy less manly;
it will make him happier and more useful. And if girls, in turn, could
learn to harness and drive a horse, and to use the saw and the hammer,
as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better fitted to meet the
emergencies of life.
[Sidenote: _Honor to the Toiler_]
Let the children and youth learn from the Bible how God has honored the
work of the every-day toiler. Let them read of the “sons of the
prophets,”[329] students at school, who were building a house for
themselves, and for whom a miracle was wrought to save from loss the ax
that was borrowed. Let them read of Jesus the carpenter, and Paul the
tent-maker, who with the toil of the craftsman linked the highest
ministry, human and divine. Let them read of the lad whose five loaves
were used by the Saviour in that wonderful miracle for the feeding of
the multitude; of Dorcas the seamstress, called back from death, that
she might continue to make garments for the poor; of the wise woman
described in the Proverbs, who “seeketh wool and flax, and worketh
willingly with her hands;” who “giveth meat to her household, and their
task to her maidens;” who “planteth a vineyard, ... and strengtheneth
her arms;” who “stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, ... reacheth
forth her hands to the needy;” who “looketh well to the ways of her
household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”[330]
Of such a one, God says: “She shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of
her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”[331]
[Sidenote: _First Industrial School_]
For every child the first industrial school should be the home. And, so
far as possible, facilities for manual training should be connected with
every school. To a great degree such training would supply the place of
the gymnasium, with the additional benefit of affording valuable
discipline.
[Sidenote: _Schools for Manual Training_]
Manual training is deserving of far more attention than it has received.
Schools should be established that, in addition to the highest mental
and moral culture, shall provide the best possible facilities for
physical development and industrial training. Instruction should be
given in agriculture, manufactures,—covering as many as possible of the
most useful trades,—also in household economy, healthful cookery,
sewing, hygienic dressmaking, the treatment of the sick, and kindred
lines. Gardens, workshops, and treatment-rooms should be provided, and
the work in every line should be under the direction of skilled
instructors.
[Sidenote: _Learning a Trade_]
The work should have a definite aim, and should be thorough. While every
person needs some knowledge of different handicrafts, it is
indispensable that he become proficient in at least one. Every youth, on
leaving school, should have acquired a knowledge of some trade or
occupation by which, if need be, he may earn a livelihood.
[Sidenote: _Financial Outlay_]
The objection most often urged against industrial training in the
schools is the large outlay involved. But the object to be gained is
worthy of its cost. No other work committed to us is so important as the
training of the youth, and every outlay demanded for its right
accomplishment is means well spent.
Even from the view-point of financial results, the outlay required for
manual training would prove the truest economy. Multitudes of our boys
would thus be kept from the street-corner and the groggery; the
expenditure for gardens, workshops, and baths would be more than met by
the saving on hospitals and reformatories. And the youth themselves,
trained to habits of industry, and skilled in lines of useful and
productive labor,—who can estimate their value to society and to the
nation?
[Sidenote: _Agriculture_]
As a relaxation from study, occupations pursued in the open air, and
affording exercise for the whole body, are the most beneficial. No line
of manual training is of more value than agriculture. A greater effort
should be made to create and to encourage an interest in agricultural
pursuits. Let the teacher call attention to what the Bible says about
agriculture: that it was God’s plan for man to till the earth; that the
first man, the ruler of the whole world, was given a garden to
cultivate; and that many of the world’s greatest men, its real nobility,
have been tillers of the soil. Show the opportunities in such a life.
The wise man says, “The king himself is served by the field.”[332] Of
him who cultivates the soil the Bible declares, “His God doth instruct
him to discretion, and doth teach him.” And again, “Whoso keepeth the
fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof.”[333] He who earns his livelihood
by agriculture escapes many temptations and enjoys unnumbered privileges
and blessings denied to those whose work lies in the great cities. And
in these days of mammoth trusts and business competition, there are few
who enjoy so real an independence and so great certainty of fair return
for their labor as does the tiller of the soil.
[Sidenote: _The Teaching to be Practical_]
In the study of agriculture, let pupils be given not only theory, but
practise. While they learn what science can teach in regard to the
nature and preparation of the soil, the value of different crops, and
the best methods of production, let them put their knowledge to use. Let
teachers share the work with the students, and show what results can be
achieved through skilful, intelligent effort. Thus may be awakened a
genuine interest, an ambition to do the work in the best possible
manner. Such an ambition, together with the invigorating effect of
exercise, sunshine, and pure air, will create a love for agricultural
labor that with many youth will determine their choice of an occupation.
Thus might be set on foot influences that would go far in turning the
tide of migration which now sets so strongly toward the great cities.
[Sidenote: _For the Unemployed_]
Thus also our schools could aid effectively in the disposition of the
unemployed masses. Thousands of helpless and starving beings, whose
numbers are daily swelling the ranks of the criminal classes, might
achieve self-support in a happy, healthy, independent life if they could
be directed in skilful, diligent labor in the tilling of the soil.
[Sidenote: _Training for Professional Men_]
The benefit of manual training is needed also by professional men. A man
may have a brilliant mind; he may be quick to catch ideas; his knowledge
and skill may secure for him admission to his chosen calling; yet he may
still be far from possessing a fitness for its duties. An education
derived chiefly from books leads to superficial thinking. Practical work
encourages close observation and independent thought. Rightly performed,
it tends to develop that practical wisdom which we call common sense. It
develops ability to plan and execute, strengthens courage and
perseverance, and calls for the exercise of tact and skill.
[Sidenote: _Benefit to the Physician_]
The physician who has laid a foundation for his professional knowledge
by actual service in the sick-room will have a quickness of insight, an
all-round knowledge, and an ability in emergencies to render needed
service,—all essential qualifications, which only a practical training
can so fully impart.
[Sidenote: _To Minister, Missionary, Teacher_]
The minister, the missionary, the teacher, will find their influence
with the people greatly increased when it is manifest that they possess
the knowledge and skill required for the practical duties of every-day
life. And often the success, perhaps the very life, of the missionary,
depends on his knowledge of practical things. The ability to prepare
food, to deal with accidents and emergencies, to treat disease, to build
a house, or a church if need be,—often these make all the difference
between success and failure in his life-work.
[Sidenote: _Students Self-Sustaining_]
In acquiring an education, many students would gain a most valuable
training if they would become self-sustaining. Instead of incurring
debts, or depending on the self-denial of their parents, let young men
and young women depend on themselves. They will thus learn the value of
money, the value of time, strength, and opportunities, and will be under
far less temptation to indulge idle and spendthrift habits. The lessons
of economy, industry, self-denial, practical business management, and
steadfastness of purpose, thus mastered, would prove a most important
part of their equipment for the battle of life. And the lesson of
self-help learned by the student would go far toward preserving
institutions of learning from the burden of debt under which so many
schools have struggled, and which has done so much toward crippling
their usefulness.
Let the youth be impressed with the thought that education is not to
teach them how to escape life’s disagreeable tasks and heavy burdens;
that its purpose is to lighten the work by teaching better methods and
higher aims. Teach them that life’s true aim is not to secure the
greatest possible gain for themselves, but to honor their Maker in doing
their part of the world’s work, and lending a helpful hand to those
weaker or more ignorant.
[Sidenote: _Accuracy and Thoroughness_]
One great reason why physical toil is looked down on is the slipshod,
unthinking way in which it is so often performed. It is done from
necessity, not from choice. The worker puts no heart into it, and he
neither preserves self-respect nor wins the respect of others. Manual
training should correct this error. It should develop habits of accuracy
and thoroughness. Pupils should learn tact and system; they should learn
to economize time, and to make every move count. They should not only be
taught the best methods, but be inspired with ambition constantly to
improve. Let it be their aim to make their work as nearly perfect as
human brains and hands can make it.
[Sidenote: _Masters of Labor_]
Such training will make the youth masters and not slaves of labor. It
will lighten the lot of the hard toiler, and will ennoble even the
humblest occupation. He who regards work as mere drudgery, and settles
down to it with self-complacent ignorance, making no effort to improve,
will find it indeed a burden. But those who recognize science in the
humblest work will see in it nobility and beauty, and will take pleasure
in performing it with faithfulness and efficiency.
A youth so trained, whatever his calling in life, so long as it is
honest, will make his position one of usefulness and honor.
_CHARACTER-BUILDING_
“_See that thou make all things according to
the pattern showed to thee in the mount_”
_Education and Character_
“THE STABILITY OF THY
TIMES SHALL BE WISDOM AND
KNOWLEDGE”
[Sidenote: _Character the Highest Aim_]
True education does not ignore the value of scientific knowledge or
literary acquirements; but above information it values power; above
power, goodness; above intellectual acquirements, character. The world
does not so much need men of great intellect as of noble character. It
needs men in whom ability is controlled by steadfast principle.
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.” “The tongue of
the wise useth knowledge aright.”[334] True education imparts this
wisdom. It teaches the best use not only of one but of all our powers
and acquirements. Thus it covers the whole circle of obligation,—to
ourselves, to the world, and to God.
[Sidenote: _Outlook for the Youth_]
Character-building is the most important work ever entrusted to human
beings; and never before was its diligent study so important as now.
Never was any previous generation called to meet issues so momentous;
never before were young men and young women confronted by perils so
great as confront them to-day.
[Sidenote: _Perils in the Schools_]
[Sidenote: _Rivalry_]
At such a time as this, what is the trend of the education given? To
what motive is appeal most often made?—To self-seeking. Much of the
education given is a perversion of the name. In true education the
selfish ambition, the greed for power, the disregard for the rights and
needs of humanity, that are the curse of our world, find a
counter-influence. God’s plan of life has a place for every human being.
Each is to improve his talents to the utmost; and faithfulness in doing
this, be the gifts few or many, entitles one to honor. In God’s plan
there is no place for selfish rivalry. Those who “measure themselves by
themselves, and compare themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
Whatever we do is to be done “as of the ability which God giveth.” It is
to be done “heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of
the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve
the Lord Christ.”[335] Precious the service done and the education
gained in carrying out these principles. But how widely different is
much of the education now given! From the child’s earliest years it is
an appeal to emulation and rivalry; it fosters selfishness, the root of
all evil.
Thus is created strife for supremacy; and there is encouraged the system
of “cramming,” which in so many cases destroys health and unfits for
usefulness. In many others, emulation leads to dishonesty; and by
fostering ambition and discontent, it embitters the life, and helps to
fill the world with those restless, turbulent spirits that are a
continual menace to society.
Nor does danger pertain to methods only. It is found also in the
subject-matter of the studies.
[Sidenote: _Pagan Authors_]
What are the works on which, throughout the most susceptible years of
life, the minds of the youth are led to dwell? In the study of language
and literature, from what fountains are the youth taught to drink?—From
the wells of paganism; from springs fed by the corruptions of ancient
heathendom. They are bidden to study authors, of whom, without dispute,
it is declared that they have no regard for the principles of morality.
And of how many modern authors also might the same be said! With how
many are grace and beauty of language but a disguise for principles that
in their real deformity would repel the reader!
[Sidenote: _Fiction_]
Besides these there is a multitude of fiction-writers, luring to
pleasant dreams in palaces of ease. These writers may not be open to the
charge of immorality, yet their work is no less really fraught with
evil. It is robbing thousands upon thousands of the time and energy and
self-discipline demanded by the stern problems of life.
[Sidenote: _False Science_]
In the study of science, as generally pursued, there are dangers equally
great. Evolution and its kindred errors are taught in schools of every
grade, from the kindergarten to the college. Thus the study of science,
which should impart a knowledge of God, is so mingled with the
speculations and theories of men that it tends to infidelity.
[Sidenote: “_Higher Criticism_”]
Even Bible study, as too often conducted in the schools, is robbing the
world of the priceless treasure of the word of God. The work of “higher
criticism,” in dissecting, conjecturing, reconstructing, is destroying
faith in the Bible as a divine revelation; it is robbing God’s word of
power to control, uplift, and inspire human lives.
As the youth go out into the world, to encounter its allurements to
sin,—the passion for money-getting, for amusement and indulgence, for
display, luxury, and extravagance, the overreaching, fraud, robbery, and
ruin,—what are the teachings there to be met?
[Sidenote: _Perils in the World_]
Spiritualism asserts that men are unfallen demigods; that “each mind
will judge itself;” that “true knowledge places men above all law;” that
“all sins committed are innocent;” for “whatever is, is right,” and “God
doth not condemn.” The basest of human beings it represents as in
heaven, and highly exalted there. Thus it declares to all men, “It
matters not what you do; live as you please, heaven is your home.”
Multitudes are thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that
license is liberty, and that man is accountable only to himself.
With such teaching given at the very outset of life, when impulse is
strongest, and the demand for self-restraint and purity is most urgent,
where are the safeguards of virtue? what is to prevent the world from
becoming a second Sodom?
[Sidenote: _Anarchy_]
At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only
divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast
combinations for the enriching of the few at the expense of the many;
the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their
interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the
world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French
Revolution,—all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle
similar to that which convulsed France.
Such are the influences to be met by the youth of to-day. To stand
amidst such upheavals they are now to lay the foundations of character.
[Sidenote: _Foundation of Character_]
In every generation and in every land the true foundation and pattern
for character-building have been the same. The divine law, “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, ... and thy neighbor as
thyself,”[336] the great principle made manifest in the character and
life of our Saviour, is the only secure foundation and the only sure
guide.
“The stability of thy times and the strength of thy happiness shall be
wisdom and knowledge,”[337]—that wisdom and knowledge which God’s word
alone can impart.
[Sidenote: _God’s Commandments_]
It is as true now as when the words were spoken to Israel of obedience
to His commandments: “This is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations.”[338]
Here is the only safeguard for individual integrity, for the purity of
the home, the well-being of society, or the stability of the nation.
Amidst all life’s perplexities and dangers and conflicting claims, the
one safe and sure rule is to do what God says. “The statutes of the Lord
are right,” and “he that doeth these things shall never be moved.”[339]
_Methods of Teaching_
“TO GIVE PRUDENCE TO THE
SIMPLE, TO THE YOUNG MAN
KNOWLEDGE AND DISCRETION”
[Sidenote: _Memory Training_]
For ages education has had to do chiefly with the memory. This faculty
has been taxed to the utmost, while the other mental powers have not
been correspondingly developed. Students have spent their time in
laboriously crowding the mind with knowledge, very little of which could
be utilized. The mind thus burdened with that which it can not digest
and assimilate is weakened; it becomes incapable of vigorous,
self-reliant effort, and is content to depend on the judgment and
perception of others.
Seeing the evils of this method, some have gone to another extreme. In
their view, man needs only to develop that which is within him. Such
education leads the student to self-sufficiency, thus cutting him off
from the source of true knowledge and power.
[Sidenote: _Inability to Discriminate_]
The education that consists in the training of the memory, tending to
discourage independent thought, has a moral bearing which is too little
appreciated. As the student sacrifices the power to reason and judge for
himself, he becomes incapable of discriminating between truth and error,
and falls an easy prey to deception. He is easily led to follow
tradition and custom.
It is a fact widely ignored, though never without danger, that error
rarely appears for what it really is. It is by mingling with or
attaching itself to truth that it gains acceptance. The eating of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil caused the ruin of our first parents,
and the acceptance of a mingling of good and evil is the ruin of men and
women to-day. The mind that depends upon the judgment of others is
certain, sooner or later, to be misled.
[Sidenote: _Reason and Faith_]
The power to discriminate between right and wrong we can possess only
through individual dependence upon God. Each for himself is to learn
from Him through His word. Our reasoning powers were given us for use,
and God desires them to be exercised. “Come now, and let us reason
together,”[340] He invites us. In reliance upon Him we may have wisdom
to “refuse the evil, and choose the good.”[341]
[Sidenote: _Individual Development_]
In all true teaching the personal element is essential. Christ in His
teaching dealt with men individually. It was by personal contact and
association that He trained the twelve. It was in private, often to but
one listener, that He gave His most precious instruction. To the honored
rabbi at the night conference on the Mount of Olives, to the despised
woman at the well of Sychar, He opened His richest treasures; for in
these hearers He discerned the impressible heart, the open mind, the
receptive spirit. Even the crowd that so often thronged His steps was
not to Christ an indiscriminate mass of human beings. He spoke directly
to every mind and appealed to every heart. He watched the faces of His
hearers, marked the lighting up of the countenance, the quick,
responsive glance, which told that truth had reached the soul; and there
vibrated in His heart the answering chord of sympathetic joy.
Christ discerned the possibilities in every human being. He was not
turned aside by an unpromising exterior or by unfavorable surroundings.
He called Matthew from the toll-booth, and Peter and his brethren from
the fishing boat, to learn of Him.
[Sidenote: _A Present Need_]
The same personal interest, the same attention to individual
development, are needed in educational work to-day. Many apparently
unpromising youth are richly endowed with talents that are put to no
use. Their faculties lie hidden because of a lack of discernment on the
part of their educators. In many a boy or girl outwardly as unattractive
as a rough-hewn stone, may be found precious material that will stand
the test of heat and storm and pressure. The true educator, keeping in
view what his pupils may become, will recognize the value of the
material upon which he is working. He will take a personal interest in
each pupil, and will seek to develop all his powers. However imperfect,
every effort to conform to right principles will be encouraged.
[Sidenote: _Application_]
Every youth should be taught the necessity and the power of application.
Upon this, far more than upon genius or talent, does success depend.
Without application the most brilliant talents avail little, while with
rightly directed effort persons of very ordinary natural abilities have
accomplished wonders. And genius, at whose achievements we marvel, is
almost invariably united with untiring, concentrated effort.
The youth should be taught to aim at the development of all their
faculties, the weaker as well as the stronger. With many there is a
disposition to restrict their study to certain lines, for which they
have a natural liking. This error should be guarded against. The natural
aptitudes indicate the direction of the life-work, and, when legitimate,
should be carefully cultivated. At the same time it must be kept in mind
that a well-balanced character and efficient work in any line depend, to
a great degree, on that symmetrical development which is the result of
thorough, all-round training.
[Sidenote: _Simplicity_]
The teacher should constantly aim at simplicity and effectiveness. He
should teach largely by illustration, and even in dealing with older
pupils should be careful to make every explanation plain and clear. Many
pupils well advanced in years are but children in understanding.
[Sidenote: _Enthusiasm_]
An important element in educational work is enthusiasm. On this point
there is a useful suggestion in a remark once made by a celebrated
actor. The Archbishop of Canterbury had put to him the question why
actors in a play affect their audiences so powerfully by speaking of
things imaginary, while ministers of the gospel often affect theirs so
little by speaking of things real. “With due submission to your grace,”
replied the actor, “permit me to say that the reason is plain: it lies
in the power of enthusiasm. We on the stage speak of things imaginary as
if they were real, and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they
were imaginary.”
The teacher in his work is dealing with things real, and he should speak
of them with all the force and enthusiasm which a knowledge of their
reality and importance can inspire.
Every teacher should see to it that his work tends to definite results.
Before attempting to teach a subject, he should have a distinct plan in
mind, and should know just what he desires to accomplish. He should not
rest satisfied with the presentation of any subject until the student
understands the principle involved, perceives its truth, and is able to
state clearly what he has learned.
[Sidenote: _Mastery of Fundamentals_]
So long as the great purpose of education is kept in view, the youth
should be encouraged to advance just as far as their capabilities will
permit. But before taking up the higher branches of study, let them
master the lower. This is too often neglected. Even among students in
the higher schools and the colleges, there is great deficiency in
knowledge of the common branches of education. Many students devote
their time to higher mathematics, when they are incapable of keeping
simple accounts. Many study elocution with a view to acquiring the
graces of oratory, when they are unable to read in an intelligible and
impressive manner. Many who have finished the study of rhetoric fail in
the composition and spelling of an ordinary letter.
A thorough knowledge of the essentials of education should be not only
the condition of admission to a higher course, but the constant test for
continuance and advancement.
[Sidenote: _Language_]
And in every branch of education there are objects to be gained more
important than those secured by mere technical knowledge. Take language,
for example. More important than the acquirement of foreign languages,
living or dead, is the ability to write and speak one’s mother-tongue
with ease and accuracy; but no training gained through a knowledge of
grammatical rules can compare in importance with the study of language
from a higher point of view. With this study, to a great degree, is
bound up life’s weal or woe.
[Sidenote: _The Chief Requisite_]
The chief requisite of language is that it be pure and kind and
true,—“the outward expression of an inward grace.” God says: “Whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things.”[342] And if such are the
thoughts, such will be the expression.
[Sidenote: _Habits of Speech_]
The best school for this language-study is the home; but since the work
of the home is so often neglected, it devolves on the teacher to aid his
pupils in forming right habits of speech.
The teacher can do much to discourage that evil habit, the curse of the
community, the neighborhood, and the home,—the habit of backbiting,
gossip, ungenerous criticism. In this no pains should be spared. Impress
upon the students the fact that this habit reveals a lack of culture and
refinement and of true goodness of heart; it unfits one both for the
society of the truly cultured and refined in this world and for
association with the holy ones of heaven.
[Sidenote: _Gossip; Cannibalism_]
We think with horror of the cannibal who feasts on the still warm and
trembling flesh of his victim; but are the results of even this practise
more terrible than are the agony and ruin caused by misrepresenting
motive, blackening reputation, dissecting character? Let the children,
and the youth as well, learn what God says about these things:—
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”[343]
In Scripture, backbiters are classed with “haters of God,” with
“inventors of evil things,” with those who are “without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful,” “full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity.” It is “the judgment of God, that they which commit
such things are worthy of death.”[344] He whom God accounts a citizen of
Zion is he that “speaketh the truth in his heart;” “that backbiteth not
with his tongue,” “nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.”[345]
[Sidenote: _Expletive, Exaggeration_]
God’s word condemns also the use of those meaningless phrases and
expletives that border on profanity. It condemns the deceptive
compliments, the evasions of truth, the exaggerations, the
misrepresentations in trade, that are current in society and in the
business world. “Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; and whatsoever
is more than these is of the evil one.”[346]
“As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man
that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am not I in sport?”[347]
[Sidenote: _Innuendo_]
Closely allied to gossip is the covert insinuation, the sly innuendo, by
which the unclean in heart seek to insinuate the evil they dare not
openly express. Every approach to these practises the youth should be
taught to shun as they would shun the leprosy.
In the use of language there is perhaps no error that old and young are
more ready to pass over lightly in themselves than hasty, impatient
speech. They think it a sufficient excuse to plead, “I was off my guard,
and did not really mean what I said.” But God’s word does not treat it
lightly. The Scripture says:—
[Sidenote: _Hasty Speech_]
“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a
fool than of him.”[348]
“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken
down, and without walls.”[349]
In one moment, by the hasty, passionate, careless tongue, may be wrought
evil that a whole lifetime’s repentance can not undo. Oh, the hearts
that are broken, the friends estranged, the lives wrecked, by the harsh,
hasty words of those who might have brought help and healing!
“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword; but the tongue of
the wise is health.”[350]
[Sidenote: _Cherish Self-Forgetfulness_]
One of the characteristics that should be especially cherished and
cultivated in every child is that self-forgetfulness which imparts to
the life such an unconscious grace. Of all excellences of character this
is one of the most beautiful, and for every true life-work it is one of
the qualifications most essential.
[Sidenote: _Humility; Dignity_]
Children need appreciation, sympathy, and encouragement, but care should
be taken not to foster in them a love of praise. It is not wise to give
them special notice, or to repeat before them their clever sayings. The
parent or teacher who keeps in view the true ideal of character and the
possibilities of achievement, can not cherish or encourage
self-sufficiency. He will not encourage in the youth the desire or
effort to display their ability or proficiency. He who looks higher than
himself will be humble; yet he will possess a dignity that is not
abashed or disconcerted by outward display or human greatness.
It is not by arbitrary law or rule that the graces of character are
developed. It is by dwelling in the atmosphere of the pure, the noble,
the true. And wherever there is purity of heart and nobleness of
character, it will be revealed in purity and nobleness of action and of
speech.
“He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the King
shall be his friend.”[351]
As with language, so with every other study; it may be so conducted that
it will tend to the strengthening and upbuilding of character.
[Sidenote: _History_]
Of no study is this true to a greater degree than of history. Let it be
considered from the divine point of view.
As too often taught, history is little more than a record of the rise
and fall of kings, the intrigues of courts, the victories and defeats of
armies,—a story of ambition and greed, of deception, cruelty, and
bloodshed. Thus taught, its results can not but be detrimental. The
heart-sickening reiteration of crimes and atrocities, the enormities,
the cruelties portrayed, plant seeds that in many lives bring forth
fruit in a harvest of evil.
[Sidenote: _From the Divine Point of View_]
Far better is it to learn, in the light of God’s word, the causes that
govern the rise and fall of kingdoms. Let the youth study these records,
and see how the true prosperity of nations has been bound up with an
acceptance of the divine principles. Let him study the history of the
great reformatory movements, and see how often these principles, though
despised and hated, their advocates brought to the dungeon and the
scaffold, have through these very sacrifices triumphed.
Such study will give broad, comprehensive views of life. It will help
the youth to understand something of its relations and dependencies, how
wonderfully we are bound together in the great brotherhood of society
and nations, and to how great an extent the oppression or degradation of
one member means loss to all.
[Sidenote: _Accounts_]
[Sidenote: _A Useful Training_]
In the study of figures the work should be made practical. Let every
youth and every child be taught, not merely to solve imaginary problems,
but to keep an accurate account of his own income and outgoes. Let him
learn the right use of money by using it. Whether supplied by their
parents or by their own earnings, let boys and girls learn to select and
purchase their own clothing, their books, and other necessities; and by
keeping an account of their expenses they will learn, as they could
learn in no other way, the value and the use of money. This training
will help them to distinguish true economy from niggardliness on the one
hand and prodigality on the other. Rightly directed it will encourage
habits of benevolence. It will aid the youth in learning to give, not
from the mere impulse of the moment, as their feelings are stirred, but
regularly and systematically.
In this way every study may become an aid in the solution of that
greatest of all problems, the training of men and women for the best
discharge of life’s responsibilities.
_Deportment_
“LOVE DOTH NOT BEHAVE
ITSELF UNSEEMLY”
[Sidenote: _Courtesy_]
The value of courtesy is too little appreciated. Many who are kind at
heart lack kindliness of manner. Many who command respect by their
sincerity and uprightness are sadly deficient in geniality. This lack
mars their own happiness, and detracts from their service to others.
Many of life’s sweetest and most helpful experiences are, often for mere
want of thought, sacrificed by the uncourteous.
Cheerfulness and courtesy should especially be cultivated by parents and
teachers. All may possess a cheerful countenance, a gentle voice, a
courteous manner, and these are elements of power. Children are
attracted by a cheerful, sunny demeanor. Show them kindness and
courtesy, and they will manifest the same spirit toward you and toward
one another.
[Sidenote: _Rules of Etiquette_]
True courtesy is not learned by the mere practise of rules of etiquette.
Propriety of deportment is at all times to be observed; wherever
principle is not compromised, consideration of others will lead to
compliance with accepted customs; but true courtesy requires no
sacrifice of principle to conventionality. It ignores caste. It teaches
self-respect, respect for the dignity of man as man, a regard for every
member of the great human brotherhood.
[Sidenote: _Overestimating Conventionalities_]
There is danger of placing too high a value upon mere manner and form,
and devoting too much time to education in these lines. The life of
strenuous effort demanded of every youth, the hard, often uncongenial
work required even for life’s ordinary duties, and much more for
lightening the world’s heavy burden of ignorance and wretchedness,—these
give little place for conventionalities.
Many who lay great stress upon etiquette show little respect for
anything, however excellent, that fails of meeting their artificial
standard. This is false education. It fosters critical pride and narrow
exclusiveness.
[Sidenote: _Consideration for Others_]
The essence of true politeness is consideration for others. The
essential, enduring education is that which broadens the sympathies and
encourages universal kindliness. That so-called culture which does not
make a youth deferential toward his parents, appreciative of their
excellences, forbearing toward their defects, and helpful to their
necessities; which does not make him considerate and tender, generous
and helpful toward the young, the old, and the unfortunate, and
courteous toward all, is a failure.
Real refinement of thought and manner is better learned in the school of
the divine Teacher than by any observance of set rules. His love
pervading the heart gives to the character those refining touches that
fashion it in the semblance of His own. This education imparts a
heaven-born dignity and sense of propriety. It gives a sweetness of
disposition and a gentleness of manner that can never be equaled by the
superficial polish of fashionable society.
The Bible enjoins courtesy, and it presents many illustrations of the
unselfish spirit, the gentle grace, the winsome temper, that
characterize true politeness. These are but reflections of the character
of Christ. All the real tenderness and courtesy in the world, even among
those who do not acknowledge His name, is from Him. And He desires these
characteristics to be perfectly reflected in His children. It is His
purpose that in us men shall behold His beauty.
[Sidenote: _Best Treatise on Etiquette_]
The most valuable treatise on etiquette ever penned is the precious
instruction given by the Saviour, with the utterance of the Holy Spirit
through the apostle Paul,—words that should be ineffaceably written in
the memory of every human being, young or old:—
“As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”[352]
“Love suffereth long, and is kind;
Love envieth not;
Love vaunteth not itself,
Is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly,
Seeketh not its own,
Is not provoked,
Taketh not account of evil;
Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,
But rejoiceth with the truth;
Beareth all things,
Believeth all things,
Hopeth all things,
Endureth all things.
Love never faileth.”[353]
[Sidenote: _Reverence_]
[Sidenote: _For God’s Presence_]
Another precious grace that should be carefully cherished is reverence.
True reverence for God is inspired by a sense of His infinite greatness
and a realization of His presence. With this sense of the Unseen the
heart of every child should be deeply impressed. The hour and place of
prayer and the services of public worship the child should be taught to
regard as sacred because God is there. And as reverence is manifested in
attitude and demeanor, the feeling that inspires it will be deepened.
Well would it be for young and old to study and ponder and often repeat
those words of Holy Writ that show how the place marked by God’s special
presence should be regarded.
“Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,” He commanded Moses at the burning
bush; “for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”[354]
Jacob, after beholding the vision of the angels, exclaimed, “The Lord is
in this place; and I knew it not.... This is none other but the house of
God, and this is the gate of heaven.”[355]
“The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before
Him.”[356]
“The Lord is a great God,
And a great King above all gods....
O come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
“It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise;
Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”[357]
[Sidenote: _For His Name_]
Reverence should be shown also for the name of God. Never should that
name be spoken lightly or thoughtlessly. Even in prayer its frequent or
needless repetition should be avoided. “Holy and reverend is His
name.”[358] Angels, as they speak it, veil their faces. With what
reverence should we, who are fallen and sinful, take it upon our lips!
[Sidenote: _Reverence for God’s Word_]
We should reverence God’s word. For the printed volume we should show
respect, never putting it to common uses, or handling it carelessly. And
never should Scripture be quoted in a jest, or paraphrased to point a
witty saying. “Every word of God is pure;” “as silver tried in a furnace
of earth, purified seven times.”[359]
Above all, let children be taught that true reverence is shown by
obedience. God has commanded nothing that is unessential, and there is
no other way of manifesting reverence so pleasing to Him as obedience to
that which He has spoken.
[Sidenote: _Respect for Superiors_]
Reverence should be shown for God’s representatives,—for ministers,
teachers, and parents who are called to speak and act in His stead. In
the respect shown to them He is honored.
And God has especially enjoined tender respect toward the aged. He says,
“The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of
righteousness.”[360] It tells of battles fought, and victories gained;
of burdens borne, and temptations resisted. It tells of weary feet
nearing their rest, of places soon to be vacant. Help the children to
think of this, and they will smooth the path of the aged by their
courtesy and respect, and will bring grace and beauty into their young
lives as they heed the command to “rise up before the hoary head, and
honor the face of the old man.”[361]
* * * * *
Fathers and mothers and teachers need to appreciate more fully the
responsibility and honor that God has placed upon them, in making them,
to the child, the representatives of Himself. The character revealed in
the contact of daily life will interpret to the child, for good or for
evil, those words of God:—
[Sidenote: _Interpreters of God_]
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear Him.”[362] “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort
you.”[363]
Happy the child in whom such words as these awaken love and gratitude
and trust; the child to whom the tenderness and justice and
long-suffering of father and mother and teacher interpret the love and
justice and long-suffering of God; the child who by trust and submission
and reverence toward his earthly protectors learns to trust and obey and
reverence his God. He who imparts to child or pupil such a gift has
endowed him with a treasure more precious than the wealth of all the
ages,—a treasure as enduring as eternity.
_Relation of Dress to Education_
“IN MODEST APPAREL.” “THE
KING’S DAUGHTER IS ALL
GLORIOUS WITHIN”
[Sidenote: _The Teacher’s Rival_]
No education can be complete that does not teach right principles in
regard to dress. Without such teaching, the work of education is too
often retarded and perverted. Love of dress, and devotion to fashion,
are among the teacher’s most formidable rivals and most effective
hindrances.
[Sidenote: _A Burden in the Home_]
Fashion is a mistress that rules with an iron hand. In very many homes
the strength and time and attention of parents and children are absorbed
in meeting her demands. The rich are ambitious to outdo one another in
conforming to her ever-varying styles; the middle and poorer classes
strive to approach the standard set by those supposed to be above them.
Where means or strength is limited, and the ambition for gentility is
great, the burden becomes almost insupportable.
With many it matters not how becoming, or even beautiful, a garment may
be, let the fashions change, and it must be remade or cast aside. The
members of the household are doomed to ceaseless toil. There is no time
for training the children, no time for prayer or Bible study, no time
for helping the little ones to become acquainted with God through His
works.
There is no time and no money for charity. And often the home table is
stinted. The food is ill selected and hastily prepared, and the demands
of nature are but partially supplied. The result is wrong habits of
diet, which create disease or lead to intemperance.
[Sidenote: _Source of Temptation_]
The love of display produces extravagance, and in many young people
kills the aspiration for a nobler life. Instead of seeking an education,
they early engage in some occupation to earn money for indulging the
passion for dress. And through this passion many a young girl is
beguiled to ruin.
In many a home the family resources are overtaxed. The father, unable to
supply the demands of the mother and the children, is tempted to
dishonesty, and again dishonor and ruin are the result.
[Sidenote: _Fashion and Public Worship_]
Even the day and the services of worship are not exempt from fashion’s
domination. Rather they afford opportunity for the greater display of
her power. The church is made a parade-ground, and the fashions are
studied more than the sermon. The poor, unable to meet the demands of
custom, stay away from church altogether. The day of rest is spent in
idleness, and by the youth often in associations that are demoralizing.
At school, the girls are by unsuitable and uncomfortable clothing
unfitted either for study or for recreation. Their minds are
preoccupied, and the teacher has a difficult task to awaken their
interest.
[Sidenote: _A Counter-Influence_]
For breaking the spell of fashion, the teacher can often find no means
more effective than contact with nature. Let pupils taste the delights
to be found by river or lake or sea; let them climb the hills, gaze on
the sunset glory, explore the treasures of wood and field; let them
learn the pleasure of cultivating plants and flowers; and the importance
of an additional ribbon or ruffle will sink into insignificance.
[Sidenote: _Higher Aims_]
Lead the youth to see that in dress, as in diet, plain living is
indispensable to high thinking. Lead them to see how much there is to
learn and to do; how precious are the days of youth as a preparation for
the life-work. Help them to see what treasures there are in the word of
God, in the book of nature, and in the records of noble lives.
Let their minds be directed to the suffering which they might relieve.
Help them to see that by every dollar squandered in display, the spender
is deprived of means for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and
comforting the sorrowful.
They can not afford to miss life’s glorious opportunities, to dwarf
their minds, to ruin their health, and to wreck their happiness, for the
sake of obedience to mandates that have no foundation in reason, in
comfort, or in comeliness.
[Sidenote: _Taste and Neatness in Dress_]
At the same time the young should be taught to recognize the lesson of
nature, “He hath made everything beautiful in its time.”[364] In dress,
as in all things else, it is our privilege to honor our Creator. He
desires our clothing to be not only neat and healthful, but appropriate
and becoming.
A person’s character is judged by his style of dress. A refined taste, a
cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of simple and
appropriate attire. Chaste simplicity in dress, when united with modesty
of demeanor, will go far toward surrounding a young woman with that
atmosphere of sacred reserve which will be to her a shield from a
thousand perils.
Let girls be taught that the art of dressing well includes the ability
to make their own clothing. This is an ambition that every girl should
cherish. It will be a means of usefulness and independence that she can
not afford to miss.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Highest Beauty_]
It is right to love beauty and to desire it; but God desires us to love
and to seek first the highest beauty,—that which is imperishable. The
choicest productions of human skill possess no beauty that can bear
comparison with that beauty of character which in His sight is of “great
price.”
Let the youth and the little children be taught to choose for themselves
that royal robe woven in heaven’s loom,—the “fine linen, clean and
white,”[365] which all the holy ones of earth will wear. This robe,
Christ’s own spotless character, is freely offered to every human being.
But all who receive it will receive and wear it here.
Let the children be taught that as they open their minds to pure, loving
thoughts and do loving and helpful deeds, they are clothing themselves
with His beautiful garment of character. This apparel will make them
beautiful and beloved here, and will hereafter be their title of
admission to the palace of the King. His promise is,—
“They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.”[366]
_The Sabbath_
“IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND
YOU; THAT YE MAY KNOW THAT
I AM JEHOVAH”
[Sidenote: _The Sabbath a Sign_]
The value of the Sabbath as a means of education is beyond estimate.
Whatever of ours God claims from us, He returns again, enriched,
transfigured, with His own glory. The tithe that He claimed from Israel
was devoted to preserving among men, in its glorious beauty, the pattern
of His temple in the heavens, the token of His presence on the earth. So
the portion of our time which He claims is given again to us, bearing
His name and seal. It is “a sign,” He says, “between Me and you; ...
that ye may know that I am Jehovah;” because “in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed
it.”[367] The Sabbath is a sign of creative and redeeming power; it
points to God as the source of life and knowledge; it recalls man’s
primeval glory, and thus witnesses to God’s purpose to re-create us in
His own image.
[Sidenote: _The Family Day_]
The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God’s
purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day more than on
any other, it is possible for us to live the life of Eden. It was God’s
plan for the members of the family to be associated in work and study,
in worship and recreation, the father as priest of his household, and
both father and mother as teachers and companions of their children. But
the results of sin, having changed the conditions of life, to a great
degree prevent this association. Often the father hardly sees the faces
of his children throughout the week. He is almost wholly deprived of
opportunity for companionship or instruction. But God’s love has set a
limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath He places His merciful
hand. In His own day He preserves for the family opportunity for
communion with Him, with nature, and with one another.
[Sidenote: _The Sabbath and Nature_]
Since the Sabbath is the memorial of creative power, it is the day above
all others when we should acquaint ourselves with God through His works.
In the minds of the children the very thought of the Sabbath should be
bound up with the beauty of natural things. Happy is the family who can
go to the place of worship on the Sabbath as Jesus and His disciples
went to the synagogue,—across the fields, along the shores of the lake,
or through the groves. Happy the father and mother who can teach their
children God’s written word with illustrations from the open pages of
the book of nature; who can gather under the green trees, in the fresh,
pure air, to study the word and to sing the praise of the Father above.
By such associations parents may bind their children to their hearts,
and thus to God, by ties that can never be broken.
[Sidenote: _Bible Study_]
As a means of intellectual training, the opportunities of the Sabbath
are invaluable. Let the Sabbath-school lesson be learned, not by a hasty
glance at the lesson scripture on Sabbath morning, but by careful study
for the next week on Sabbath afternoon, with daily review or
illustration during the week. Thus the lesson will become fixed in the
memory, a treasure never to be wholly lost.
In listening to the sermon, let parents and children note the text and
the scriptures quoted, and as much as possible of the line of thought,
to repeat to one another at home. This will go far toward relieving the
weariness with which children so often listen to a sermon, and it will
cultivate in all a habit of attention and of connected thought.
[Sidenote: “_Great Reward_”]
Meditation on the themes thus suggested will open to the student
treasures of which he has never dreamed. He will prove in his own life
the reality of the experience described in the scripture:—
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”[368]
“I will meditate in Thy statutes.” “More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold.... Moreover by them is Thy servant
warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward.”[369]
_Faith and Prayer_
“FAITH IS THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS
HOPED FOR.” “BELIEVE THAT YE
RECEIVE, AND YE SHALL HAVE”
[Sidenote: _What Is Faith?_]
Faith is trusting God,—believing that He loves us, and knows best what
is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His
way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our
weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness.
Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership
and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed
out as secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession
of these principles.
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from
God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency.
[Sidenote: _How to Exercise Faith_]
How to exercise faith should be made very plain. To every promise of God
there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength
is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the promise itself. “The seed
is the word of God.”[370] As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so
surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we
have the gift.
Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which
some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as exercised in
appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must
often bring it in contact with the word.
[Sidenote: _Power of God’s Word_]
In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of
God’s word. In the creation, “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it
stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they
were;”[371] for when He calls them, they are.
[Sidenote: _Results of Faith_]
How often those who trusted the word of God, though in themselves
utterly helpless, have withstood the power of the whole world,—Enoch,
pure in heart, holy in life, holding fast his faith in the triumph of
righteousness against a corrupt and scoffing generation; Noah and his
household against the men of his time, men of the greatest physical and
mental strength and the most debased in morals; the children of Israel
at the Red Sea, a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves, against the
mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe; David, a shepherd
lad, having God’s promise of the throne, against Saul, the established
monarch, bent on holding fast his power; Shadrach and his companions in
the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar on the throne; Daniel among the lions, his
enemies in the high places of the kingdom; Jesus on the cross, and the
Jewish priests and rulers forcing even the Roman governor to work their
will; Paul in chains led to a criminal’s death, Nero the despot of a
world-empire.
Such examples are not found in the Bible only. They abound in every
record of human progress. The Vaudois and the Huguenots, Wycliffe and
Huss, Jerome and Luther, Tyndale and Knox, Zinzendorf and Wesley, with
multitudes of others, have witnessed to the power of God’s word against
human power and policy in support of evil. These are the world’s true
nobility. This is its royal line. In this line the youth of to-day are
called to take their places.
[Sidenote: _In Daily Life_]
Faith is needed in the smaller no less than in the greater affairs of
life. In all our daily interests and occupations the sustaining strength
of God becomes real to us through an abiding trust.
Viewed from its human side, life is to all an untried path. It is a path
in which, as regards our deeper experiences, we each walk alone. Into
our inner life no other human being can fully enter. As the little child
sets forth on that journey in which, sooner or later, he must choose his
own course, himself deciding life’s issues for eternity, how earnest
should be the effort to direct his trust to the sure Guide and Helper!
[Sidenote: _A Shield from Temptation_]
As a shield from temptation and an inspiration to purity and truth, no
other influence can equal the sense of God’s presence. “All things are
naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” He is
“of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity.”[372]
This thought was Joseph’s shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the
allurements of temptation his answer was steadfast: “How can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God?”[373] Such a shield, faith, if
cherished, will bring to every soul.
[Sidenote: _God’s Protecting Presence_]
Only the sense of God’s presence can banish the fear that, for the timid
child, would make life a burden. Let him fix in his memory the promise,
“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them.”[374] Let him read that wonderful story of Elisha in
the mountain city, and, between him and the hosts of armed foemen, a
mighty encircling band of heavenly angels. Let him read how to Peter, in
prison and condemned to death, God’s angel appeared; how, past the armed
guards, the massive doors and great iron gateway with their bolts and
bars, the angel led God’s servant forth in safety. Let him read of that
scene on the sea, when to the tempest-tossed soldiers and seamen, worn
with labor and watching and long fasting, Paul the prisoner, on his way
to trial and execution, spoke those grand words of courage and hope: “Be
of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among
you.... For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am,
and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before
Cæsar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” In
the faith of this promise Paul assured his companions, “There shall not
a hair fall from the head of any of you.” So it came to pass. Because
there was in that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole
ship-load of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved. “They escaped
all safe to land.”[375]
These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but
that the same faith which wrought in God’s servants of old might work in
us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now
wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.
[Sidenote: _Help for the Self-Distrustful_]
Let the self-distrustful, whose lack of self-reliance leads them to
shrink from care and responsibility, be taught reliance upon God. Thus
many a one who otherwise would be but a cipher in the world, perhaps
only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”[376]
[Sidenote: _The Guardian of Right_]
For the child also who is quick to resent injuries, faith has precious
lessons. The disposition to resist evil or to avenge wrong is often
prompted by a keen sense of justice and an active, energetic spirit. Let
such a child be taught that God is the eternal guardian of right. He has
a tender care for the beings whom He has so loved as to give His dearest
Beloved to save. He will deal with every wrong-doer.
“For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.”[377]
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it
to pass.... He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.”[378]
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of
trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; for
Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.”[379]
[Sidenote: _Complete in Christ_]
The compassion that God manifests toward us, He bids us manifest toward
others. Let the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the revengeful, behold
the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter, unretaliating as
a sheep dumb before her shearers. Let them look upon Him whom our sins
have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure, to
forbear, and to forgive.
Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of character may be supplied,
every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence
developed.
“Ye are complete in Him.”[380]
[Sidenote: _Prayer_]
[Sidenote: _“Believe That Ye Receive”_]
Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they need to be studied
together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science; it is a
science that every one who would make his life-work a success must
understand. Christ says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”[381] He makes it
plain that our asking must be according to God’s will; we must ask for
the things that He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in
doing His will. The conditions met, the promise is unequivocal.
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for
wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may
ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God
that we have received.
We need look for no outward evidence of the blessing. The gift is in the
promise, and we may go about our work assured that what God has promised
He is able to perform, and that the gift, which we already possess, will
be realized when we need it most.
[Sidenote: _Secret Prayer_]
To live thus by the word of God means the surrender to Him of the whole
life. There will be felt a continual sense of need and dependence, a
drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a necessity; for it is the
life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place; but it
is secret communion with God that sustains the soul-life.
It was in the mount with God that Moses beheld the pattern of that
wonderful building which was to be the abiding-place of His glory. It is
in the mount with God,—in the secret place of communion,—that we are to
contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled so
to fashion our character-building that to us may be fulfilled His
promise, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.”[382]
[Sidenote: _The Saviour’s Example_]
It was in hours of solitary prayer that Jesus in His earth-life received
wisdom and power. Let the youth follow His example in finding at dawn
and twilight a quiet season for communion with their Father in heaven.
And throughout the day let them lift up their hearts to God. At every
step of our way He says, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right
hand; ... fear not; I will help thee.”[383] Could our children learn
these lessons in the morning of their years, what freshness and power,
what joy and sweetness, would be brought into their lives!
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Cause of Doubt_]
These are lessons that only he who himself has learned can teach. It is
because so many parents and teachers profess to believe the word of God
while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of Scripture has no
greater effect upon the youth. At times the youth are brought to feel
the power of the word. They see the preciousness of the love of Christ.
They see the beauty of His character, the possibilities of a life given
to His service. But in contrast they see the life of those who profess
to revere God’s precepts. Of how many are the words true that were
spoken to the prophet Ezekiel:—
Thy people “speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying,
Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the
Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before
thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them;
for with their mouth they show much love; but their heart goeth after
their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of
one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for
they hear thy words; but they do them not.”[384]
[Sidenote: _The Bible to Shape the Life_]
It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction,
to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and
our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really
is,—the word of the living God,—the word that is our life, the word that
is to mould our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God’s word
as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those
who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism
and infidelity in the youth.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Time for Prayer_]
An intensity such as never before was seen is taking possession of the
world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest for power, in the
very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that engrosses
body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is
speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. “Be still, and
know that I am God.”[385]
Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing
of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried
steps they press through the circle of Christ’s loving presence, pausing
perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for
counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their
burdens they return to their work.
These workers can never attain the highest success until they learn the
secret of strength. They must give themselves time to think, to pray, to
wait upon God for a renewal of physical, mental, and spiritual power.
They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit. Receiving this, they
will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and tired brain will
be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.
[Sidenote: _A Precious Experience_]
Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with
Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him,—this is our need. Happy
will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our schools
when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious
experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:—
“As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved among the sons.
I sat down under His shadow with great delight,
And His fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting-house,
And His banner over me was love.”[386]
_The Life-Work_
“THIS ONE THING I DO”
[Sidenote: _A Definite Aim_]
Success in any line demands a definite aim. He who would achieve true
success in life must keep steadily in view the aim worthy of his
endeavor. Such an aim is set before the youth of to-day. The
heaven-appointed purpose of giving the gospel to the world in this
generation is the noblest that can appeal to any human being. It opens a
field of effort to every one whose heart Christ has touched.
[Sidenote: _God’s Purpose for the Youth_]
[Sidenote: _Individual Responsibility_]
God’s purpose for the children growing up beside our hearths is wider,
deeper, higher, than our restricted vision has comprehended. From the
humblest lot those whom He has seen faithful have in time past been
called to witness for Him in the world’s highest places. And many a lad
of to-day, growing up as did Daniel in his Judean home, studying God’s
word and His works, and learning the lessons of faithful service, will
yet stand in legislative assemblies, in halls of justice, or in royal
courts, as a witness for the King of kings. Multitudes will be called to
a wider ministry. The whole world is opening to the gospel. Ethiopia is
stretching out her hands unto God. From Japan and China and India, from
the still-darkened lands of our own continent, from every quarter of
this world of ours, comes the cry of sin-stricken hearts for a knowledge
of the God of love. Millions upon millions have never so much as heard
of God or of His love revealed in Christ. It is their right to receive
this knowledge. They have an equal claim with us in the Saviour’s mercy.
And it rests with us who have received the knowledge, with our children
to whom we may impart it, to answer their cry. To every household and
every school, to every parent, teacher, and child upon whom has shone
the light of the gospel, comes at this crisis the question put to Esther
the queen at that momentous crisis in Israel’s history, “Who knoweth
whether _thou_ art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”[387]
[Sidenote: _God a Sharer in Suffering_]
Those who think of the result of hastening or hindering the gospel think
of it in relation to themselves and to the world. Few think of its
relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused
our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering
did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a
revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception,
sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right,
every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal,
brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that
were the sure result of separation from God,—subjugation by their
enemies, cruelty, and death,—it is said that “His soul was grieved for
the misery of Israel.” “In all their affliction He was afflicted; ...
and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”[388]
[Sidenote: _When the End Will Come_]
His Spirit “maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be
uttered.” As the “whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in
pain,”[389] the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our
world is a vast lazar-house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow
even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden
would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and
its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power,
through co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end.
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”[390]
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature,”[391] is Christ’s command to His followers. Not that all are
called to be ministers or missionaries in the ordinary sense of the
term; but all may be workers with Him in giving the “glad tidings” to
their fellow-men. To all, great or small, learned or ignorant, old or
young, the command is given.
[Sidenote: _Mistakes in Education_]
In view of this command, can we educate our sons and daughters for a
life of respectable conventionality, a life professedly Christian, but
lacking His self-sacrifice, a life on which the verdict of Him who is
truth must be, “I know you not”?
[Sidenote: _Selfish Aim_]
Thousands are doing this. They think to secure for their children the
benefits of the gospel, while they deny its spirit. But this can not be.
Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service,
reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with
Him in His glory. They reject the training that in this life gives
strength and nobility of character. Many a father and mother, denying
their children to the cross of Christ, have learned too late that they
were thus giving them over to the enemy of God and man. They sealed
their ruin, not alone for the future but for the present life.
Temptation overcame them. They grew up a curse to the world, a grief and
shame to those who gave them being.
[Sidenote: _Absorption in Study_]
[Sidenote: _Out of Touch with Life_]
Even in seeking a preparation for God’s service, many are turned aside
by wrong methods of education. Life is too generally regarded as made up
of distinct periods, the period of learning and the period of doing,—of
preparation and of achievement. In preparation for a life of service the
youth are sent to school, to acquire knowledge by the study of books.
Cut off from the responsibilities of every-day life, they become
absorbed in study, and often lose sight of its purpose. The ardor of
their early consecration dies out, and too many take up with some
personal, selfish ambition. Upon their graduation, thousands find
themselves out of touch with life. They have so long dealt with the
abstract and theoretical that when the whole being must be roused to
meet the sharp contests of real life, they are unprepared. Instead of
the noble work they had purposed, their energies are engrossed in a
struggle for mere subsistence. After repeated disappointments, in
despair even of earning an honest livelihood, many drift into
questionable or criminal practises. The world is robbed of the service
it might have received; and God is robbed of the souls He longed to
uplift, ennoble, and honor as representatives of Himself.
Many parents err in discriminating between their children in the matter
of education. They make almost any sacrifice to secure the best
advantages for one that is bright and apt. But these opportunities are
not thought a necessity for those who are less promising. Little
education is deemed essential for the performance of life’s ordinary
duties.
[Sidenote: _Whom Shall We Educate?_]
But who is capable of selecting from a family of children the ones upon
whom will rest the most important responsibilities? How often human
judgment has here proved to be at fault! Remember the experience of
Samuel when sent to anoint from the sons of Jesse one to be king over
Israel. Seven noble-looking youth passed before him. As he looked upon
the first, in features comely, in form well-developed, and in bearing
princely, the prophet exclaimed, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before
Him.” But God said, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of
his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh
on the heart.” So of all the seven the testimony was, “The Lord hath not
chosen these.”[392] And not until David had been called from the flock
was the prophet permitted to fulfil his mission.
[Sidenote: “_Not as Man Seeth_”]
The elder brothers, from whom Samuel would have chosen, did not possess
the qualifications that God saw to be essential in a ruler of His
people. Proud, self-centered, self-confident, they were set aside for
the one whom they lightly regarded, one who had preserved the simplicity
and sincerity of his youth, and who, while little in his own sight,
could be trained by God for the responsibilities of the kingdom. So
to-day, in many a child whom the parents would pass by, God sees
capabilities far above those revealed by others who are thought to
possess great promise.
And as regards life’s possibilities, who is capable of deciding what is
great and what is small? How many a worker in the lowly places of life,
by setting on foot agencies for the blessing of the world, has achieved
results that kings might envy!
Let every child, then, receive an education for the highest service. “In
the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand;
for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that.”[393]
[Sidenote: _Choosing an Occupation_]
The specific place appointed us in life is determined by our
capabilities. Not all reach the same development or do with equal
efficiency the same work. God does not expect the hyssop to attain the
proportions of the cedar, or the olive the height of the stately palm.
But each should aim just as high as the union of human with divine power
makes it possible for him to reach.
[Sidenote: _Cause of Failure_]
Many do not become what they might, because they do not put forth the
power that is in them. They do not, as they might, lay hold on divine
strength. Many are diverted from the line in which they might reach the
truest success. Seeking greater honor or a more pleasing task, they
attempt something for which they are not fitted. Many a man whose
talents are adapted for some other calling, is ambitious to enter a
profession; and he who might have been successful as a farmer, an
artisan, or a nurse, fills inadequately the position of a minister, a
lawyer, or a physician. There are others, again, who might have filled a
responsible calling, but who, for want of energy, application, or
perseverance, content themselves with an easier place.
We need to follow more closely God’s plan of life. To do our best in the
work that lies nearest, to commit our ways to God, and to watch for the
indications of His providence,—these are rules that insure safe guidance
in the choice of an occupation.
He who came from heaven to be our example spent nearly thirty years of
His life in common, mechanical labor; but during this time He was
studying the word and the works of God, and helping, teaching, all whom
His influence could reach. When His public ministry began, He went about
healing the sick, comforting the sorrowful, and preaching the gospel to
the poor. This is the work of all His followers.
[Sidenote: _Example in Service_]
“He that is greatest among you,” He said, “let him be as the younger;
and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For ... I am among you as
he that serveth.”[394]
Love and loyalty to Christ are the spring of all true service. In the
heart touched by His love, there is begotten a desire to work for Him.
Let this desire be encouraged and rightly guided. Whether in the home,
the neighborhood, or the school, the presence of the poor, the
afflicted, the ignorant, or the unfortunate, should be regarded, not as
a misfortune, but as affording precious opportunity for service.
In this work, as in every other, skill is gained in the work itself. It
is by training in the common duties of life and in ministry to the needy
and suffering, that efficiency is assured. Without this the best-meant
efforts are often useless and even harmful. It is in the water, not on
the land, that men learn to swim.
[Sidenote: _Church Relationship_]
Another obligation, too often lightly regarded,—one that to the youth
awakened to the claims of Christ needs to be made plain,—is the
obligation of church relationship.
Very close and sacred is the relation between Christ and His church,—He
the bridegroom, and the church the bride; He the head, and the church
the body. Connection with Christ, then, involves connection with His
church.
The church is organized for service; and in a life of service to Christ,
connection with the church is one of the first steps. Loyalty to Christ
demands the faithful performance of church duties. This is an important
part of one’s training; and in a church imbued with the Master’s life,
it will lead directly to effort for the world without.
[Sidenote: _Young People’s Societies_]
There are many lines in which the youth can find opportunity for helpful
effort. Let them organize into bands for Christian service, and the
co-operation will prove an assistance and an encouragement. Parents and
teachers, by taking an interest in the work of the young people, will be
able to give them the benefit of their own larger experience, and can
help them to make their efforts effective for good.
[Sidenote: _Foreign Missions_]
It is acquaintance that awakens sympathy, and sympathy is the spring of
effective ministry. To awaken in the children and youth sympathy and the
spirit of sacrifice for the suffering millions in the “regions beyond,”
let them become acquainted with these lands and their peoples. In this
line much might be accomplished in our schools. Instead of dwelling on
the exploits of the Alexanders and Napoleons of history, let the pupils
study the lives of such men as the apostle Paul and Martin Luther, as
Moffat and Livingstone and Carey, and the present daily-unfolding
history of missionary effort. Instead of burdening their memories with
an array of names and theories that have no bearing upon their lives,
and to which, once outside the schoolroom, they rarely give a thought,
let them study all lands in the light of missionary effort, and become
acquainted with the peoples and their needs.
[Sidenote: _Workers from the Common People_]
In this closing work of the gospel there is a vast field to be occupied;
and, more than ever before, the work is to enlist helpers from the
common people. Both the youth and those older in years will be called
from the field, from the vineyard, and from the workshop, and sent forth
by the Master to give His message. Many of these have had little
opportunity for education; but Christ sees in them qualifications that
will enable them to fulfil His purpose. If they put their hearts into
the work, and continue to be learners, He will fit them to labor for
Him.
He who knows the depths of the world’s misery and despair, knows by what
means to bring relief. He sees on every hand souls in darkness, bowed
down with sin and sorrow and pain. But He sees also their possibilities;
He sees the height to which they may attain. Although human beings have
abused their mercies, wasted their talents, and lost the dignity of
godlike manhood, the Creator is to be glorified in their redemption.
[Sidenote: _The Saviour’s Choice_]
The burden of labor for these needy ones in the rough places of the
earth Christ lays upon those who can feel for the ignorant and for such
as are out of the way. He will be present to help those whose hearts are
susceptible to pity, though their hands may be rough and unskilled. He
will work through those who can see mercy in misery, and gain in loss.
When the Light of the world passes by, privilege will be discerned in
hardship, order in confusion, success in apparent failure. Calamities
will be seen as disguised blessings; woes, as mercies. Laborers from the
common people, sharing the sorrows of their fellow-men as their Master
shared the sorrows of the whole human race, will by faith see Him
working with them.
“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth
greatly.”[395] And a world is to be warned.
With such preparation as they can gain, thousands upon thousands of the
youth and those older in years should be giving themselves to this work.
Already many hearts are responding to the call of the Master Worker, and
their numbers will increase. Let every Christian educator give such
workers sympathy and co-operation. Let him encourage and assist the
youth under his care in gaining a preparation to join the ranks.
[Sidenote: _Opportunity for Education_]
There is no line of work in which it is possible for the youth to
receive greater benefit. All who engage in ministry are God’s helping
hand. They are co-workers with the angels; rather, they are the human
agencies through whom the angels accomplish their mission. Angels speak
through their voices, and work by their hands. And the human workers,
co-operating with heavenly agencies, have the benefit of their education
and experience. As a means of education, what “university course” can
equal this?
[Sidenote: _Our Children’s Heritage_]
With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might
furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming
Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end
come,—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a
possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might
receive their inheritance where “the righteous shall inherit the land,
and dwell therein forever;” where “the inhabitant shall not say, I am
sick,” and “the voice of weeping shall be no more heard.”[396]
_THE UNDER-TEACHER_
“_As My Father hath sent Me, even so
send I you_”
_Preparation_
“STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF
APPROVED UNTO GOD”
[Sidenote: _The Mother’s Opportunity_]
The child’s first teacher is the mother. During the period of greatest
susceptibility and most rapid development his education is to a great
degree in her hands. To her first is given opportunity to mould the
character for good or for evil. She should understand the value of her
opportunity, and, above every other teacher, should be qualified to use
it to the best account. Yet there is no other to whose training so
little thought is given. The one whose influence in education is most
potent and far-reaching is the one for whose assistance there is the
least systematic effort.
[Sidenote: _Lack of Preparation_]
Those to whom the care of the little child is committed are too often
ignorant of its physical needs; they know little of the laws of health
or the principles of development. Nor are they better fitted to care for
its mental and spiritual growth. They may be qualified to conduct
business or to shine in society; they may have made creditable
attainments in literature and science; but of the training of a child
they have little knowledge. It is chiefly because of this lack,
especially because of the early neglect of physical development, that so
large a proportion of the human race die in infancy, and of those who
reach maturity there are so many to whom life is but a burden.
[Sidenote: _Education for Parents_]
Upon fathers as well as mothers rests a responsibility for the child’s
earlier as well as its later training, and for both parents the demand
for careful and thorough preparation is most urgent. Before taking upon
themselves the possibilities of fatherhood and motherhood, men and women
should become acquainted with the laws of physical development,—with
physiology and hygiene, with the bearing of prenatal influences, with
the laws of heredity, sanitation, dress, exercise, and the treatment of
disease; they should also understand the laws of mental development and
moral training.
This work of education the Infinite One has counted so important that
messengers from His throne have been sent to a mother that was to be, to
answer the question, “How shall we order the child, and how shall we do
unto him?”[397] and to instruct a father concerning the education of a
promised son.
Never will education accomplish all that it might and should accomplish
until the importance of the parents’ work is fully recognized, and they
receive a training for its sacred responsibilities.
[Sidenote: _The Teacher; Broad Training_]
The necessity of preparatory training for the teacher is universally
admitted; but few recognize the character of the preparation most
essential. He who appreciates the responsibility involved in the
training of the youth, will realize that instruction in scientific and
literary lines alone can not suffice. The teacher should have a more
comprehensive education than can be gained by the study of books. He
should possess not only strength but breadth of mind; should be not only
whole-souled but large-hearted.
[Sidenote: _Essential Qualifications_]
He only who created the mind and ordained its laws can perfectly
understand its needs or direct its development. The principles of
education that He has given are the only safe guide. A qualification
essential for every teacher is a knowledge of these principles, and such
an acceptance of them as will make them a controlling power in his own
life.
Experience in practical life is indispensable. Order, thoroughness,
punctuality, self-control, a sunny temper, evenness of disposition,
self-sacrifice, integrity, and courtesy are essential qualifications.
Because there is so much cheapness of character, so much of the
counterfeit all around the youth, there is the more need that the
teacher’s words, attitude, and deportment should represent the elevated
and the true. Children are quick to detect affectation or any other
weakness or defect. The teacher can gain the respect of his pupils in no
other way than by revealing in his own character the principles which he
seeks to teach them. Only as he does this in his daily association with
them can he have a permanent influence over them for good.
[Sidenote: _Physical Vigor_]
For almost every other qualification that contributes to his success,
the teacher is in great degree dependent upon physical vigor. The better
his health, the better will be his work.
So wearing are his responsibilities that special effort on his part is
required to preserve vigor and freshness. Often he becomes heart-weary
and brain-weary, with the almost irresistible tendency to depression,
coldness, or irritability. It is his duty not merely to resist such
moods but to avoid their cause. He needs to keep the heart pure and
sweet and trustful and sympathetic. In order to be always firm and calm
and cheerful, he must preserve the strength of brain and nerve.
Since in his work quality is so much more important than quantity, he
should guard against overlabor,—against attempting too much in his own
line of duty; against accepting other responsibilities that would unfit
him for his work; and against engaging in amusements and social
pleasures that are exhausting rather than recuperative.
[Sidenote: _Outdoor Labor_]
Outdoor exercise, especially in useful labor, is one of the best means
of recreation for body and mind; and the teacher’s example will inspire
his pupils with interest in and respect for manual labor.
In every line the teacher should scrupulously observe the principles of
health. He should do this not only because of its bearing upon his own
usefulness, but also because of its influence upon his pupils. He should
be temperate in all things; in diet, dress, labor, recreation, he is to
be an example.
[Sidenote: _Literary Attainments_]
With physical health and uprightness of character should be combined
high literary qualifications. The more of true knowledge the teacher
has, the better will be his work. The schoolroom is no place for
surface-work. No teacher who is satisfied with superficial knowledge
will attain a high degree of efficiency.
[Sidenote: _A High Standard_]
But the teacher’s usefulness depends not so much upon the actual amount
of his acquirements as upon the standard at which he aims. The true
teacher is not content with dull thoughts, an indolent mind, or a loose
memory. He constantly seeks higher attainments and better methods. His
life is one of continual growth. In the work of such a teacher there is
a freshness, a quickening power, that awakens and inspires his pupils.
The teacher must have aptness for his work. He must have the wisdom and
tact required in dealing with minds. However great his scientific
knowledge, however excellent his qualifications in other lines, if he
does not gain the respect and confidence of his pupils, his efforts will
be in vain.
[Sidenote: _Administrative Ability_]
Teachers are needed who are quick to discern and improve every
opportunity for doing good; those who with enthusiasm combine true
dignity; who are able to control, and “apt to teach;” who can inspire
thought, arouse energy, and impart courage and life.
A teacher’s advantages may have been limited, so that he may not possess
as high literary qualifications as might be desirable; yet if he has
true insight into human nature; if he has a genuine love for his work,
an appreciation of its magnitude, and a determination to improve; if he
is willing to labor earnestly and perseveringly, he will comprehend the
needs of his pupils, and, by his sympathetic, progressive spirit, will
inspire them to follow as he seeks to lead them onward and upward.
[Sidenote: _Difficulties_]
[Sidenote: _Sympathy and Insight_]
The children and youth under the teacher’s care differ widely in
disposition, habits, and training. Some have no definite purpose or
fixed principles. They need to be awakened to their responsibilities and
possibilities. Few children have been rightly trained at home. Some have
been household pets. Their whole training has been superficial. Allowed
to follow inclination and to shun responsibility and burden-bearing,
they lack stability, perseverance, and self-denial. These often regard
all discipline as an unnecessary restraint. Others have been censured
and discouraged. Arbitrary restraint and harshness have developed in
them obstinacy and defiance. If these deformed characters are reshaped,
the work must, in most cases, be done by the teacher. In order to
accomplish it successfully, he must have the sympathy and insight that
will enable him to trace to their cause the faults and errors manifest
in his pupils. He must have also the tact and skill, the patience and
firmness, that will enable him to impart to each the needed help,—to the
vacillating and ease-loving, such encouragement and assistance as will
be a stimulus to exertion; to the discouraged, sympathy and appreciation
that will create confidence and thus inspire effort.
[Sidenote: _Social Relation_]
Teachers often fail of coming sufficiently into social relation with
their pupils. They manifest too little sympathy and tenderness, and too
much of the dignity of the stern judge. While the teacher must be firm
and decided, he should not be exacting or dictatorial. To be harsh and
censorious, to stand aloof from his pupils or treat them indifferently,
is to close the avenues through which he might influence them for good.
[Sidenote: _Partiality_]
Under no circumstances should the teacher manifest partiality. To favor
the winning, attractive pupil, and be critical, impatient, or
unsympathetic toward those who most need encouragement and help, is to
reveal a total misconception of the teacher’s work. It is in dealing
with the faulty, trying ones that the character is tested, and it is
proved whether the teacher is really qualified for his position.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Responsibility_]
Great is the responsibility of those who take upon themselves the
guidance of a human soul. The true father and mother count theirs a
trust from which they can never be wholly released. The life of the
child, from his earliest to his latest day, feels the power of that tie
which binds him to the parent’s heart; the acts, the words, the very
look of the parent, continue to mould the child for good or for evil.
The teacher shares this responsibility, and he needs constantly to
realize its sacredness, and to keep in view the purpose of his work. He
is not merely to accomplish the daily tasks, to please his employers, to
maintain the standing of the school; he must consider the highest good
of his pupils as individuals, the duties that life will lay upon them,
the service it requires, and the preparation demanded. The work he is
doing day by day will exert upon his pupils, and through them upon
others, an influence that will not cease to extend and strengthen until
time shall end. The fruits of his work he must meet in that great day
when every word and deed shall be brought in review before God.
The teacher who realizes this will not feel that his work is completed
when he has finished the daily routine of recitations, and for a time
his pupils pass from under his direct care. He will carry these children
and youth upon his heart. How to secure for them the noblest standard of
attainment will be his constant study and effort.
[Sidenote: _Self-Improvement_]
He who discerns the opportunities and privileges of his work will allow
nothing to stand in the way of earnest endeavor for self-improvement. He
will spare no pains to reach the highest standard of excellence. All
that he desires his pupils to become, he will himself strive to be.
* * * * *
The deeper the sense of responsibility, and the more earnest the effort
for self-improvement, the more clearly will the teacher perceive and the
more keenly regret the defects that hinder his usefulness. As he beholds
the magnitude of his work, its difficulties and possibilities, often
will his heart cry out, “Who is sufficient for these things?”
[Sidenote: _Our Source of Help_]
Dear teacher, as you consider your need of strength and guidance,—need
that no human source can supply,—I bid you consider the promises of Him
who is the wonderful Counselor.
“Behold,” He says, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it.”[398]
“Call upon Me, and I will answer thee.” “I will instruct thee and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with Mine
eye.”[399]
“Even unto the end of the world” “I am with you.”[400]
[Sidenote: _The Highest Preparation_]
As the highest preparation for your work, I point you to the words, the
life, the methods, of the Prince of teachers. I bid you consider Him.
Here is your true ideal. Behold it, dwell upon it, until the Spirit of
the divine Teacher shall take possession of your heart and life.
“Reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord,” you will be “transformed
into the same image.”[401]
This is the secret of power over your pupils. Reflect Him.
_Co-operation_
“WE ARE MEMBERS ONE OF
ANOTHER”
In the formation of character, no other influences count so much as the
influence of the home. The teacher’s work should supplement that of the
parents, but is not to take its place. In all that concerns the
well-being of the child, it should be the effort of parents and teachers
to co-operate.
[Sidenote: _Co-operation of Parents_]
The work of co-operation should begin with the father and mother
themselves, in the home life. In the training of their children they
have a joint responsibility, and it should be their constant endeavor to
act together. Let them yield themselves to God, seeking help from Him to
sustain each other. Let them teach their children to be true to God,
true to principle, and thus true to themselves and to all with whom they
are connected. With such training, children when sent to school will not
be a cause of disturbance or anxiety. They will be a support to their
teachers, and an example and encouragement to their fellow-pupils.
[Sidenote: _Sustaining the Teacher_]
Parents who give this training are not the ones likely to be found
criticizing the teacher. They feel that both the interest of their
children and justice to the school demand that, so far as possible, they
sustain and honor the one who shares their responsibility.
[Sidenote: _Criticism_]
Many parents fail here. By their hasty, unfounded criticism the
influence of the faithful, self-sacrificing teacher is often well-nigh
destroyed. Many parents whose children have been spoiled by indulgence,
leave to the teacher the unpleasant task of repairing their neglect; and
then by their own course they make his task almost hopeless. Their
criticism and censure of the school management encourage insubordination
in the children, and confirm them in wrong habits.
If criticism or suggestion in regard to the teacher’s work becomes
necessary, it should be made to him in private. If this proves
ineffective, let the matter be referred to those who are responsible for
the management of the school. Nothing should be said or done to weaken
the children’s respect for the one upon whom their well-being in so
great degree depends.
[Sidenote: _Acquaintance with the Teacher_]
The parents’ intimate knowledge both of the character of the children
and of their physical peculiarities or infirmities, if imparted to the
teacher, would be an assistance to him. It is to be regretted that so
many fail of realizing this. By most parents little interest is shown
either to inform themselves as to the teacher’s qualifications, or to
co-operate with him in his work.
[Sidenote: _Teacher’s Aid to Parents_]
Since parents so rarely acquaint themselves with the teacher, it is the
more important that the teacher seek the acquaintance of parents. He
should visit the homes of his pupils, and gain a knowledge of the
influences and surroundings among which they live. By coming personally
in touch with their homes and lives, he may strengthen the ties that
bind him to his pupils, and may learn how to deal more successfully with
their different dispositions and temperaments.
[Sidenote: _A Double Benefit_]
As he interests himself in the home education, the teacher imparts a
double benefit. Many parents, absorbed in work and care, lose sight of
their opportunities to influence for good the lives of their children.
The teacher can do much to arouse these parents to their possibilities
and privileges. He will find others to whom the sense of their
responsibility is a heavy burden, so anxious are they that their
children shall become good and useful men and women. Often the teacher
can assist these parents in bearing their burden, and, by counseling
together, both teacher and parents will be encouraged and strengthened.
[Sidenote: _Parents and Children_]
In the home training of the youth, the principle of co-operation is
invaluable. From their earliest years children should be led to feel
that they are a part of the home firm. Even the little ones should be
trained to share in the daily work, and should be made to feel that
their help is needed and is appreciated. The older ones should be their
parents’ assistants, entering into their plans, and sharing their
responsibilities and burdens. Let fathers and mothers take time to teach
their children, let them show that they value their help, desire their
confidence, and enjoy their companionship, and the children will not be
slow to respond. Not only will the parents’ burden be lightened, and the
children receive a practical training of inestimable worth, but there
will be a strengthening of the home ties and a deepening of the very
foundations of character.
[Sidenote: _Teachers and Students_]
Co-operation should be the spirit of the schoolroom, the law of its
life. The teacher who gains the co-operation of his pupils secures an
invaluable aid in maintaining order. In service in the schoolroom many a
boy whose restlessness leads to disorder and insubordination would find
an outlet for his superfluous energy. Let the older assist the younger,
the strong the weak; and, so far as possible, let each be called upon to
do something in which he excels. This will encourage self-respect and a
desire to be useful.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Bible Examples_]
It would be helpful for the youth, and for parents and teachers as well,
to study the lesson of co-operation as taught in the Scriptures. Among
its many illustrations notice the building of the tabernacle,—that
object-lesson of character-building,—in which the whole people united,
“every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit
made willing.”[402] Read how the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt by the
returned captives, in the midst of poverty, difficulty, and danger, the
great task successfully accomplished because “the people had a mind to
work.”[403] Consider the part acted by the disciples in the Saviour’s
miracle for the feeding of the multitude. The food multiplied in the
hands of Christ, but the disciples received the loaves, and gave to the
waiting throng.
“We are members one of another.” As every one therefore “hath received
a[404] gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God.”[405]
Well might the words written of the idol-builders of old be, with
worthier aim, adopted as a motto by character-builders of to-day:—
“They helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother,
Be of good courage.”[406]
_Discipline_
“TRAIN, ADMONISH, ENCOURAGE,
BE LONG-SUFFERING”
[Sidenote: _Teaching Obedience_]
One of the first lessons a child needs to learn is the lesson of
obedience. Before he is old enough to reason, he may be taught to obey.
By gentle, persistent effort, the habit should be established. Thus, to
a great degree, may be prevented those later conflicts between will and
authority that do so much to create alienation and bitterness toward
parents and teachers, and too often resistance of all authority, human
and divine.
[Sidenote: _Self-Government_]
The object of discipline is the training of the child for
self-government. He should be taught self-reliance and self-control.
Therefore as soon as he is capable of understanding, his reason should
be enlisted on the side of obedience. Let all dealing with him be such
as to show obedience to be just and reasonable. Help him to see that all
things are under law, and that disobedience leads, in the end, to
disaster and suffering. When God says “Thou shalt not,” He in love warns
us of the consequences of disobedience, in order to save us from harm
and loss.
Help the child to see that parents and teachers are representatives of
God, and that as they act in harmony with Him, their laws in the home
and the school are also His. As the child is to render obedience to
parents and teachers, so they, in turn, are to render obedience to God.
[Sidenote: “_Breaking the Will_”]
[Sidenote: _Lack of Moral Stamina_]
To direct the child’s development without hindering it by undue control
should be the study of both parent and teacher. Too much management is
as bad as too little. The effort to “break the will” of a child is a
terrible mistake. Minds are constituted differently; while force may
secure outward submission, the result with many children is a more
determined rebellion of the heart. Even should the parent or teacher
succeed in gaining the control he seeks, the outcome may be no less
harmful to the child. The discipline of a human being who has reached
the years of intelligence should differ from the training of a dumb
animal. The beast is taught only submission to its master. For the
beast, the master is mind, judgment, and will. This method, sometimes
employed in the training of children, makes them little more than
automatons. Mind, will, conscience, are under the control of another. It
is not God’s purpose that any mind should be thus dominated. Those who
weaken or destroy individuality assume a responsibility that can result
only in evil. While under authority, the children may appear like
well-drilled soldiers; but when the control ceases, the character will
be found to lack strength and steadfastness. Having never learned to
govern himself, the youth recognizes no restraint except the requirement
of parents or teacher. This removed, he knows not how to use his
liberty, and often gives himself up to indulgence that proves his ruin.
Since the surrender of the will is so much more difficult for some
pupils than for others, the teacher should make obedience to his
requirements as easy as possible. The will should be guided and moulded,
but not ignored or crushed. Save the strength of the will; in the battle
of life it will be needed.
[Sidenote: _Value of Will Power_]
Every child should understand the true force of the will. He should be
led to see how great is the responsibility involved in this gift. The
will is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision,
or choice. Every human being possessed of reason has power to choose the
right. In every experience of life, God’s word to us is, “Choose you
this day whom ye will serve.”[407] Every one may place his will on the
side of the will of God, may choose to obey Him, and by thus linking
himself with divine agencies, he may stand where nothing can force him
to do evil. In every youth, every child, lies the power, by the help of
God, to form a character of integrity and to live a life of usefulness.
The parent or teacher who by such instruction trains the child to
self-control will be the most useful and permanently successful. To the
superficial observer his work may not appear to the best advantage; it
may not be valued so highly as that of the one who holds the mind and
will of the child under absolute authority; but after-years will show
the result of the better method of training.
[Sidenote: _The Sense of Honor_]
The wise educator, in dealing with his pupils, will seek to encourage
confidence and to strengthen the sense of honor. Children and youth are
benefited by being trusted. Many, even of the little children, have a
high sense of honor; all desire to be treated with confidence and
respect, and this is their right. They should not be led to feel that
they can not go out or come in without being watched. Suspicion
demoralizes, producing the very evils it seeks to prevent. Instead of
watching continually, as if suspecting evil, teachers who are in touch
with their pupils will discern the workings of the restless mind, and
will set to work influences that will counteract evil. Lead the youth to
feel that they are trusted, and there are few who will not seek to prove
themselves worthy of the trust.
[Sidenote: _Requests; Commands_]
On the same principle it is better to request than to command; the one
thus addressed has opportunity to prove himself loyal to right
principles. His obedience is the result of choice rather than
compulsion.
The rules governing the schoolroom should, so far as possible, represent
the voice of the school. Every principle involved in them should be so
placed before the student that he may be convinced of its justice. Thus
he will feel a responsibility to see that the rules which he himself has
helped to frame are obeyed.
[Sidenote: _Enforcing Rules_]
Rules should be few and well considered; and when once made, they should
be enforced. Whatever it is found impossible to change, the mind learns
to recognize and adapt itself to; but the possibility of indulgence
induces desire, hope, and uncertainty, and the results are restlessness,
irritability, and insubordination.
It should be made plain that the government of God knows no compromise
with evil. Neither in the home nor in the school should disobedience be
tolerated. No parent or teacher who has at heart the well-being of those
under his care will compromise with the stubborn self-will that defies
authority or resorts to subterfuge or evasion in order to escape
obedience. It is not love but sentimentalism that palters with
wrong-doing, seeks by coaxing or bribes to secure compliance, and
finally accepts some substitute in place of the thing required.
“Fools make a mock at sin.”[408] We should beware of treating sin as a
light thing. Terrible is its power over the wrong-doer. “His own
iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with
the cords of his sins.”[409] The greatest wrong done to a child or youth
is to allow him to become fastened in the bondage of evil habit.
[Sidenote: _Freedom in Obedience_]
The youth have an inborn love of liberty; they desire freedom; and they
need to understand that these inestimable blessings are to be enjoyed
only in obedience to the law of God. This law is the preserver of true
freedom and liberty. It points out and prohibits those things that
degrade and enslave, and thus to the obedient it affords protection from
the power of evil.
The psalmist says: “I will walk at liberty; for I seek Thy precepts.”
“Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.”[410]
[Sidenote: _Criticism; Censure_]
In our efforts to correct evil, we should guard against a tendency to
faultfinding or censure. Continual censure bewilders, but does not
reform. With many minds, and often those of the finest susceptibility,
an atmosphere of unsympathetic criticism is fatal to effort. Flowers do
not unfold under the breath of a blighting wind.
A child frequently censured for some special fault, comes to regard that
fault as his peculiarity, something against which it is vain to strive.
Thus are created discouragement and hopelessness, often concealed under
an appearance of indifference or bravado.
[Sidenote: _Object of Reproof_]
The true object of reproof is gained only when the wrong-doer himself is
led to see his fault, and his will is enlisted for its correction. When
this is accomplished, point him to the source of pardon and power. Seek
to preserve his self-respect, and to inspire him with courage and hope.
This work is the nicest, the most difficult, ever committed to human
beings. It requires the most delicate tact, the finest susceptibility, a
knowledge of human nature, and a heaven-born faith and patience, willing
to work and watch and wait. It is a work than which nothing can be more
important.
[Sidenote: _Self-Control_]
Those who desire to control others must first control themselves. To
deal passionately with a child or youth will only arouse his resentment.
When a parent or teacher becomes impatient, and is in danger of speaking
unwisely, let him remain silent. There is wonderful power in silence.
[Sidenote: _Sympathy; Forbearance_]
The teacher must expect to meet perverse dispositions and obdurate
hearts. But in dealing with them he should never forget that he himself
was once a child, in need of discipline. Even now, with all his
advantages of age, education, and experience, he often errs, and is in
need of mercy and forbearance. In training the youth he should consider
that he is dealing with those who have inclinations to evil similar to
his own. They have almost everything to learn, and it is much more
difficult for some to learn than for others. With the dull pupil he
should bear patiently, not censuring his ignorance, but improving every
opportunity to give him encouragement. With sensitive, nervous pupils he
should deal very tenderly. A sense of his own imperfections should lead
him constantly to manifest sympathy and forbearance toward those who
also are struggling with difficulties.
[Sidenote: _The Saviour’s Rule_]
The Saviour’s rule,—“As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also
to them likewise,”[411]—should be the rule of all who undertake the
training of children and youth. They are the younger members of the
Lord’s family, heirs with us of the grace of life. Christ’s rule should
be sacredly observed toward the dullest, the youngest, the most
blundering, and even toward the erring and rebellious.
[Sidenote: _Public Discipline_]
This rule will lead the teacher to avoid, so far as possible, making
public the faults or errors of a pupil. He will seek to avoid giving
reproof or punishment in the presence of others. He will not expel a
student until every effort has been put forth for his re-formation. But
when it becomes evident that the student is receiving no benefit
himself, while his defiance or disregard of authority tends to overthrow
the government of the school, and his influence is contaminating others,
then his expulsion becomes a necessity. Yet with many the disgrace of
public expulsion would lead to utter recklessness and ruin. In most
cases when removal is unavoidable, the matter need not be made public.
By counsel and co-operation with the parents, let the teacher privately
arrange for the student’s withdrawal.
[Sidenote: _Justice; Compassion_]
In this time of special danger for the young, temptations surround them
on every hand; and while it is easy to drift, the strongest effort is
required in order to press against the current. Every school should be a
“city of refuge” for the tempted youth, a place where their follies
shall be dealt with patiently and wisely. Teachers who understand their
responsibilities will separate from their own hearts and lives
everything that would prevent them from dealing successfully with the
wilful and disobedient. Love and tenderness, patience and self-control,
will at all times be the law of their speech. Mercy and compassion will
be blended with justice. When it is necessary to give reproof, their
language will not be exaggerated, but humble. In gentleness they will
set before the wrong-doer his errors, and help him to recover himself.
Every true teacher will feel that should he err at all, it is better to
err on the side of mercy than on the side of severity.
[Sidenote: _Reclaimed by Kindness_]
Many youth who are thought incorrigible are not at heart so hard as they
appear. Many who are regarded as hopeless may be reclaimed by wise
discipline. These are often the ones who most readily melt under
kindness. Let the teacher gain the confidence of the tempted one, and by
recognizing and developing the good in his character, he can, in many
cases, correct the evil without calling attention to it.
[Sidenote: _Our Example_]
The divine Teacher bears with the erring through all their perversity.
His love does not grow cold; His efforts to win them do not cease. With
outstretched arms He waits to welcome again and again the erring, the
rebellious, and even the apostate. His heart is touched with the
helplessness of the little child subject to rough usage. The cry of
human suffering never reaches His ear in vain. Though all are precious
in His sight, the rough, sullen, stubborn dispositions draw most heavily
upon His sympathy and love; for He traces from cause to effect. The one
who is most easily tempted, and is most inclined to err, is the special
object of His solicitude.
Every parent and every teacher should cherish the attributes of Him who
makes the cause of the afflicted, the suffering, and the tempted His
own. He should be one who can have “compassion on the ignorant, and on
them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with
infirmity.”[412] Jesus treats us far better than we deserve; and as He
has treated us, so we are to treat others. The course of no parent or
teacher is justifiable if it is unlike that which under similar
circumstances the Saviour would pursue.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Meeting Life’s Discipline_]
Beyond the discipline of the home and the school, all have to meet the
stern discipline of life. How to meet this wisely is a lesson that
should be made plain to every child and to every youth. It is true that
God loves us, that He is working for our happiness, and that, if His law
had always been obeyed, we should never have known suffering; and it is
no less true that, in this world, as the result of sin, suffering,
trouble, burdens, come to every life. We may do the children and the
youth a lifelong good by teaching them to meet bravely these troubles
and burdens. While we should give them sympathy, let it never be such as
to foster self-pity. What they need is that which stimulates and
strengthens rather than weakens.
[Sidenote: “_Be Strong_”]
They should be taught that this world is not a parade-ground, but a
battle-field. All are called to endure hardness, as good soldiers. They
are to be strong, and quit themselves like men. Let them be taught that
the true test of character is found in the willingness to bear burdens,
to take the hard place, to do the work that needs to be done, though it
bring no earthly recognition or reward.
The true way of dealing with trial is not by seeking to escape it, but
by transforming it. This applies to all discipline, the earlier as well
as the later. The neglect of the child’s earliest training, and the
consequent strengthening of wrong tendencies, makes his after-education
more difficult, and causes discipline to be too often a painful process.
Painful it must be to the lower nature, crossing, as it does, the
natural desires and inclinations; but the pain may be lost sight of in a
higher joy.
[Sidenote: _Stepping-Stones_]
Let the child and the youth be taught that every mistake, every fault,
every difficulty, conquered, becomes a stepping-stone to better and
higher things. It is through such experiences that all who have ever
made life worth the living have achieved success.
“The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.”
“We rise by the things that are under our feet;
By what we have mastered of good or gain;
By the pride deposed, and the passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.”
“All common things, each day’s events,
That with the hour begin and end,
Our pleasures and our discontents,
Are rounds by which we may ascend.”
[Sidenote: “_The Things Not Seen_”]
We are to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the
things which are not seen are eternal.”[413] The exchange we make in the
denial of selfish desires and inclinations is an exchange of the
worthless and transitory for the precious and enduring. This is not
sacrifice, but infinite gain.
[Sidenote: _Love That Constrains_]
“Something better” is the watchword of education, the law of all true
living. Whatever Christ asks us to renounce, He offers in its stead
something better. Often the youth cherish objects, pursuits, and
pleasures that may not appear to be evil, but that fall short of the
highest good. They divert the life from its noblest aim. Arbitrary
measures or direct denunciation may not avail in leading these youth to
relinquish that which they hold dear. Let them be directed to something
better than display, ambition, or self-indulgence. Bring them in contact
with truer beauty, with loftier principles, and with nobler lives. Lead
them to behold the One “altogether lovely.” When once the gaze is fixed
upon Him, the life finds its center. The enthusiasm, the generous
devotion, the passionate ardor of the youth find here their true object.
Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. To honor Christ, to
become like Him, to work for Him, is the life’s highest ambition and its
greatest joy.
“The love of Christ constraineth.”[414]
_THE HIGHER COURSE_
_“Since the beginning of the world men have
not perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen, what He hath prepared for him
that waiteth for Him”_
_The School of the Hereafter_
“THEY SHALL SEE HIS FACE;
AND HIS NAME SHALL BE IN THEIR
FOREHEADS”
[Sidenote: _Its Location_]
Heaven is a school; its field of study, the universe; its teacher, the
Infinite One. A branch of this school was established in Eden; and, the
plan of redemption accomplished, education will again be taken up in the
Eden school.
“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”[415]
Only through His word can a knowledge of these things be gained; and
even this affords but a partial revelation.
The prophet of Patmos thus describes the location of the school of the
hereafter:—
[Sidenote: “_A New Earth_”]
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away.... And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.”[416]
“The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it;
for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof.”[417]
[Sidenote: _Conditions_]
Between the school established in Eden at the beginning and the school
of the hereafter there lies the whole compass of this world’s
history,—the history of human transgression and suffering, of divine
sacrifice, and of victory over death and sin. Not all the conditions of
that first school of Eden will be found in the school of the future
life. No tree of knowledge of good and evil will afford opportunity for
temptation. No tempter is there, no possibility of wrong. Every
character has withstood the testing of evil, and none are longer
susceptible to its power.
“To him that overcometh,” Christ says, “will I give to eat of the tree
of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”[418] The giving
of the tree of life in Eden was conditional, and it was finally
withdrawn. But the gifts of the future life are absolute and eternal.
The prophet beholds the “river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” “And on this side
of the river and on that was the tree of life.” “And there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed away.”[419]
[Sidenote: “_All Righteous_”]
“Thy people also shall be all righteous:
They shall inherit the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.”[420]
[Sidenote: _Teachers_]
Restored to His presence, man will again, as at the beginning, be taught
of God: “My people shall know My name;... they shall know in that day
that I am He that doth speak; behold, it is I.”[421]
“The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and
they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be
their God.”[422]
[Sidenote: “_Unto Living Fountains_”]
“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are
they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His
temple.... They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters.”[423]
“Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:” now we know
in part; but then shall we know even as also we are known.[424]
“They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their
foreheads.”[425]
[Sidenote: _Field of Nature_]
There, when the veil that darkens our vision shall be removed, and our
eyes shall behold that world of beauty of which we now catch glimpses
through the microscope; when we look on the glories of the heavens, now
scanned afar through the telescope; when, the blight of sin removed, the
whole earth shall appear “in the beauty of the Lord our God,” what a
field will be open to our study! There the student of science may read
the records of creation, and discern no reminders of the law of evil. He
may listen to the music of nature’s voices, and detect no note of
wailing or undertone of sorrow. In all created things he may trace one
handwriting,—in the vast universe behold “God’s name writ large,” and
not in earth or sea or sky one sign of ill remaining.
There the Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field. “They
shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards,
and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit;
they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the
days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands.”[426]
[Sidenote: _The Kingship Restored_]
There shall be nothing to “hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
saith the Lord.”[427] There man will be restored to his lost kingship,
and the lower order of beings will again recognize his sway; the fierce
will become gentle, and the timid trustful.
[Sidenote: _Field of History_]
There will be open to the student history of infinite scope and of
wealth inexpressible. Here, from the vantage-ground of God’s word, the
student is afforded a view of the vast field of history, and may gain
some knowledge of the principles that govern the course of human events.
But his vision is still clouded, and his knowledge incomplete. Not until
he stands in the light of eternity will he see all things clearly.
[Sidenote: _The Great Controversy_]
Then will be opened before him the course of the great conflict that had
its birth before time began, and that ends only when time shall cease.
The history of the inception of sin; of fatal falsehood in its crooked
working; of truth that, swerving not from its own straight lines, has
met and conquered error,—all will be made manifest. The veil that
interposes between the visible and the invisible world will be drawn
aside, and wonderful things will be revealed.
Not until the providences of God are seen in the light of eternity shall
we understand what we owe to the care and interposition of His angels.
Celestial beings have taken an active part in the affairs of men. They
have appeared in garments that shone as the lightning; they have come as
men, in the garb of wayfarers. They have accepted the hospitalities of
human homes; they have acted as guides to benighted travelers. They have
thwarted the spoiler’s purpose, and turned aside the stroke of the
destroyer.
[Sidenote: _Angel Ministry_]
Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their councils
angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked upon them. Human ears
have listened to their appeals. In the council-hall and the court of
justice, heavenly messengers have pleaded the cause of the persecuted
and oppressed. They have defeated purposes and arrested evils that would
have brought wrong and suffering to God’s children. To the students in
the heavenly school, all this will be unfolded.
Every redeemed one will understand the ministry of angels in his own
life. The angel who was his guardian from his earliest moment; the angel
who watched his steps, and covered his head in the day of peril; the
angel who was with him in the valley of the shadow of death, who marked
his resting-place, who was the first to greet him in the
resurrection-morning,—what will it be to hold converse with him, and to
learn the history of divine interposition in the individual life, of
heavenly co-operation in every work for humanity!
[Sidenote: _Perplexities Made Plain_]
All the perplexities of life’s experience will then be made plain. Where
to us have appeared only confusion and disappointment, broken purposes
and thwarted plans, will be seen a grand, overruling, victorious
purpose, a divine harmony.
[Sidenote: _Fruition of Life’s Sowing_]
There all who have wrought with unselfish spirit will behold the fruit
of their labors. The outworking of every right principle and noble deed
will be seen. Something of this we see here. But how little of the
result of the world’s noblest work is in this life manifest to the doer!
How many toil unselfishly and unweariedly for those who pass beyond
their reach and knowledge! Parents and teachers lie down in their last
sleep, their life-work seeming to have been wrought in vain; they know
not that their faithfulness has unsealed springs of blessing that can
never cease to flow; only by faith they see the children they have
trained become a benediction and an inspiration to their fellow-men, and
the influence repeat itself a thousandfold. Many a worker sends out into
the world messages of strength and hope and courage, words that carry
blessing to hearts in every land; but of the results he, toiling in
loneliness and obscurity, knows little. So gifts are bestowed, burdens
are borne, labor is done. Men sow the seed from which, above their
graves, others reap blessed harvests. They plant trees, that others may
eat the fruit. They are content here to know that they have set in
motion agencies for good. In the hereafter the action and reaction of
all these will be seen.
[Sidenote: _The Heavenly Record_]
Of every gift that God has bestowed, leading men to unselfish effort, a
record is kept in heaven. To trace this in its wide-spreading lines, to
look upon those who by our efforts have been uplifted and ennobled, to
behold in their history the outworking of true principles,—this will be
one of the studies and rewards of the heavenly school.
[Sidenote: _Social Life_]
There we shall know even as also we are known. There the loves and
sympathies that God has planted in the soul will find truest and
sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious
social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all
ages, the sacred fellowship that binds together “the whole family in
heaven and earth,”—all are among the experiences of the hereafter.
There will be music there, and song, such music and song as, save in the
visions of God, no mortal ear has heard or mind conceived.
[Sidenote: _Music and Song_]
“As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there.”[428]
“They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of
Jehovah.”[429]
“For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places;
and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”[430]
There every power will be developed, every capability increased. The
grandest enterprises will be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations
will be reached, the highest ambitions realized. And still there will
arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to
comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of body and mind and
soul.
[Sidenote: _Treasures of the Universe_]
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s
children. With unutterable delight we shall enter into the joy and the
wisdom of unfallen beings. We shall share the treasures gained through
ages upon ages spent in contemplation of God’s handiwork. And the years
of eternity, as they roll, will continue to bring more glorious
revelations. “Exceeding abundant above all that we ask or think”[431]
will be, forever and forever, the impartation of the gifts of God.
[Sidenote: _Service_]
“His servants shall serve Him.”[432] The life on earth is the beginning
of the life in heaven; education on earth is an initiation into the
principles of heaven; the life-work here is a training for the life-work
there. What we now are, in character and holy service, is the sure
foreshadowing of what we shall be.
“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”[433]
Christ’s work below is His work above, and our reward for working with
Him in this world will be the greater power and wider privilege of
working with Him in the world to come.
“Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.”[434] This also we
shall be in eternity.
[Sidenote: _Witnessing_]
For what was the great controversy permitted to continue throughout the
ages? Why was it that Satan’s existence was not cut short at the outset
of his rebellion?—It was that the universe might be convinced of God’s
justice in His dealing with evil; that sin might receive eternal
condemnation. In the plan of redemption there are heights and depths
that eternity itself can never exhaust, marvels into which the angels
desire to look. The redeemed only, of all created beings, have in their
own experience known the actual conflict with sin; they have wrought
with Christ, and, as even the angels could not do, have entered into the
fellowship of His sufferings; will they have no testimony as to the
science of redemption,—nothing that will be of worth to unfallen beings?
[Sidenote: “_The Glory of This Mystery_”]
Even now, “unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly
places” is “made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
And He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places; ... that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”[435]
“In His temple doth every one speak of His glory,”[436] and the song
which the ransomed ones will sing,—the song of their experience,—will
declare the glory of God: “Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord
God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the
ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only
art holy.”
In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted, though it is, the greatest
joy and the highest education are in service. And in the future state,
untrammeled by the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that
our greatest joy and our highest education will be found;—witnessing,
and ever as we witness learning anew “the riches of the glory of this
mystery;” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
* * * * *
“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.”
[Sidenote: “_He Shall Be Satisfied_”]
Then, in the results of His work, Christ will behold its recompense. In
that great multitude which no man could number, presented “faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” He whose blood has
redeemed and whose life has taught us, “shall see of the travail of His
soul, and shall be satisfied.”
SCRIPTURAL INDEX
_Genesis_
1:1, 134
2, R. V., 134
5, 129
27, 15, 130
2:8, 9, 15, 21
9–17, 23
3:3–5, 24
5, 6, 25
15, 27
17–19, 26
8:22, 105
9:16, 115
18:19, 187
28:16, 17, 243
22, 138
32:29, 147
39:9, 255
48:15, 16, 147
49:7, 148
22–26, 53
_Exodus_
3:5, 243
15:1, 2, 6–11, R. V., 162
18–21, R. V., 162
21, 39
16:3, 38
20:11, 250
25:8, 35
31:1–6, 37
13, 250
34:6, 22, 35, 40
35:21, 286
_Leviticus_
19:32, 244
26:3–6, 141
27:30, 32, 138
_Numbers_
10:35, 36, 39
11:16, 17, 37
13:30, 31 149
21:16; 21:17, 18, R. V. 162
23:7–23, R. V. 161
24:4–6, R. V. 161
16–19 161
_Deuteronomy_
1:15 37
4:6 40, 174, 229
6:6, 7 40, 187
7 186
8:2, 5 39
10:8 148
9 149
11:22–25 48
12:19 149
23:14 38
26:19 40
28:10 40
20, 32 143
29:29 171
32:10–12 40
47 174
34:10 64
_Joshua_
24:15 289
_Judges_
10:16 263
13:12 276
_1 Samuel_
8:5 50
16:6, 7, 10 266
22:2 152
_2 Samuel_
8:15 152
_1 Kings_
19:21 58
_2 Kings_
2:2 59
6–15 60
6:1–7 217
_1 Chronicles_
29:15, R. V. 165
_2 Chronicles_
20:1–4, 12 163
14–17, 20 163
_Nehemiah_
4:6 286
9:6 130
_Esther_
4:14 263
_Job_
1:8–12 155
2:5–7 155
10:1 155
12:7, 8 117
13 13, 14
13:15 156
14:13 155
19:7–21, 25–27, R. V. 156
22:21 14
23:3–6, R. V. 156
6–10 156
26:7–10 131
11–14, R. V. 131
28:15–18 18
29:4–16, R. V. 142
21–25 142
31:32 142
33:24 115
34:22 144
37:16 15, 21
38:4–27, R. V. 160
7 22, 161
31, 32 160
42:10–12 156
_Psalms_
3:4–8 165
9:9, 10 257
11:4 132
12:6 244
15:2, 3 236
2–4 141
5 229
17:4 190
19:8 229
10, 11 252
23:1–4 164
27:1 164
29:9 308
32:8 282
33:9 129, 254
34:7 255
36:9 197
37:5, 6 257
18, 19 141
29 271
41:1, 2 141
42:11 164
46:1, 2; 46:4–7, R. V. 165
10 260
48:14 165
50:1–3; 50:4–6, R. V. 181
21 144
51:1–7 165
63:1–7, R. V. 164
73:9–11 144
78:37–39 45
87:7 307
90:17 80
91:9, 10 181
95:3–6 243
97:2, R. V. 169
100:3, 4 243
103:13 245
104:12, 18 118
27–30 131
105:21, 22 53
42–45 40
106:34–36 45
111:8 30
9 243
113:2, 3 166
5, 6 132
116:1–8 166
119:11 190
24, 45 291
48 252
72 137
104–112 48
126:6 105
139:2–6, R. V. 133
7–10 133
14 201
145:16 118
_Proverbs_
2:6 14
3:1, 2 197
9, 10 140
17 206
4:7 225
14 136
22 197
5:22 291
6:6 117
28 136
8:8 69
18 142
10:22 142
11:15 136
24, 25 140
12:18 237
13:4 135
11, R. V. 136
20 136
14:9 291
23 135
34 47, 175
15:1 114
2 225
16:12 175
24 197
31 244
17:22 197
27 135
18:21 235
18:24 136
19:17 141
20:3, 19 135
28 175
21:6 136
22:7, 16 136
11 237
29 135
23:4, 5 140
7 149
10, 11 136
21 135
25:28 236
26:2 146
18, 19 236
27 136
27:18 219
28:20 136
29:20 236
30:5 244
31:13, 15, R. V. 217
16, 17, 20, 27 217
30, 31 217
_Ecclesiastes_
2:4–12, 17, 18 153
3:11, R. V. 198, 248
14 50
5:8 144
9 219
7:12 126
10:17 206
11:1 140
6, R. V. 105, 267
_Canticles_
2:3, 4 261
11–13, R. V. 160
5:10, 16 69
8:7, 6 93
_Isaiah_
1:17 141
18 231
3:10, 11 146
7:15 231
9:6 73
11:4 182
13:19 176
14:23 176
24:1–8 180
14 307
25:8, 9 182
26:1–4 167
20 181
28:10 123
26 219
32:20 109
33:6 229
15–17 141
20–22 182
24 271
35:8 170
10, R. V. 167
40:12 35
26–29 116
41:6 286
10, 13 116
41:13 259
43:12 154, 308
21 174
45:5 174
47:1–5 176
51:3 161, 307
52:6 302
53:11 309
54:9, 10 115
14 182
17 155
55:11 105
57:16–19 147
60:18 182
21 302
61:11 105
63:9 263
65:19 271
21, 22, 25 304
66:13 245
_Jeremiah_
4:19, 20, 23–26 181
6:19 146
15:16 252
17:11 143
29:11 21, 101
30:7 181
17, 18 182
31:12 167
33:3 127, 282
51:13 176
_Ezekiel_
1:4, 26 178
10:8 178
12:27, 28 184
20:37 174
21:26, 27 179
33:30–32 260
34:3, 4 176
_Daniel_
1:19, 20 55
2:21, 38 175
47 56
4:11, 12 175
27 174
30, 31 176
6:4, 25–27 56
7:13 132
12:3 309
_Hosea_
6:3 106
8:12 127
12:4 147
14: 5, 7 106
_Joel_
1:12, 15–18 180
_Amos_
5:11 143
_Micah_
4:10–12 182
_Nahum_
1:3 131
_Habakkuk_
1:13 255
2:20 243
3:3 22
_Zephaniah_
1:14 270
_Haggai_
1:5–10 143
2:16 143
_Zechariah_
2:8 257
5:1–4 144
9:16 309
_Malachi_
2:5, 6 148
3:8 143
10 138
10–12 140
4:2 106
_Matthew_
4:4 126
5:37, R. V. 236
6:26, R. V. 117
31–33 138
7:12 136
10:8 80
11:11 158
28 80
13:28 101
16:22 88
18:3 114
20:28 308
22:39 16
24:6, 7 179
14 264
25:40 139
28:20 94, 96, 282
_Mark_
3:17 87
4:26–28 104
28 106
8:36, 37 145
11:24 258
12:42 109
13:34 138
16:7 90
15 264
_Luke_
2:40 78
3:38 33, 130
4:18 113
32 81
6:31 292
38 103, 140
8:11 105, 253
10:27 16, 228
12:23 200
24 117
33 145
16:9, R. V. 145
22:26, 27 268
22:27 103
31–34 89
27:30, 32 138
_John_
1:3 134
4, 14, R. V. 28
9 29, 134
3:17 79
19 74
30 157
4:14, R. V. 83
6:63 126
64 92
7:37 116
37, 38 83
46 81
12:24 110
32 192
13:15 78
34 242
14:26 94
15:10 78
15 94
16:7 94
13 134
13–15 94
23 95
17:3, R. V. 126
6 87
21–23 86
21:17, 22 90
_Acts_
4:13 95
10:38 80
3:22 48
14:17 66
16:28 66
17:23, 26, 27 67
26, 27 174
20:34 66
26:28, 29 67
27:22–24, 34, 44 256
_Romans_
1:14 66, 139
20, R. V. 134
29–32 236
4:17 254
8:22, 26 263
28 154
34 95
35–39 70
16:25, R. V 126
_1 Corinthians_
2:9 301
11 134
3:9 138
11 30
16, 17 36
17 201
4:2 139
9 154
12, 13 68
6:19, R. V. 201
10:11 50
13:4, R. V. 114
4–8, R. V. 242
12 303
15:42, 43 110
57 126
_2 Corinthians_
3:18, R. V. 282
4:6 22, 28
18 296
5:14 66, 297
17 172
19 28
6:10 68
16 258
9:6 109
10:12 226
11:26, 27 68
_Galatians_
5:13 139
6:1 113
8 109
_Ephesians_
2:6, 7 308
3:10, R. V. 308
20 307
4:24 27
25 286
_Philippians_
3:7, 8, R. V. 68
8–10 192
4:8 235
13 70, 256
_Colossians_
1:16, 17, R. V. 132
19, R. V. 30
27 172, 309
2:3 13
10 257
3:23, 24 226
_1 Thessalonians_
2:19, 20 70
_2 Thessalonians_
1:11 134
_1 Timothy_
4:8 145
_2 Timothy_
2:15 61
3:16, 17 171
4:7 68
_Hebrews_
1:3 132
14 103
2:7 20
18 78
4:3 131
13 255
15, R. V. 78
5:2 294
6:7, 8 216
11:3 134
27 63
32–40 158
_James_
1:5 191, 231
17 50
_1 Peter_
1:10–12 183
12 127
4:8, R. V. 114
10 286
11 226
_1 John_
1:2 84
3:1–3 88
2 309
_Jude_
24 309
_Revelation_
1:1, 3 191
17, R. V. 83
2:7 302
3:4 249
8 282
7:14–17 303
15:3, 4, R. V. 309
19:8 249
21:1, 2, 23 301
3, 4 302
6, R. V. 83
22:1; 22:2, R. V. 302
3 307
4 125, 303
_General Index_
Abraham as a teacher, 187.
Accounts, teaching, 238, 239.
Accuracy, through manual training, 222.
Adam, education of, 14–17, 20–22, 25–27;
temptation, 23–25.
Aged, respect for, 244.
Agrarian laws of Israel, 43, 44.
Agriculture, 34, 43, 219, 220;
lessons from, 111, 112;
see Seed-sowing;
development of character, 112;
opportunity for the unemployed, 220.
Aim, the true, 13, 18, 145, 222, 262, 267, 297;
lack of, 190, 202.
Amusement, dangers in, 207, 210.
Anarchy, 228.
Angels, in Eden, 21;
songs, 168;
agency in human affairs, 179, 304, 305;
our companions, 127;
protectors, 255, 256, 304, 305;
co-workers, teachers, 271.
Apostles, training, 84–96;
diversity, 85.
Application, 232.
Athletic sports, 210.
Babylon, rise and fall of, 175, 176, 183.
Beatitudes, 79.
Beauty, 41;
of the Bible, 188;
all, a reflection of Christ, 192;
through obedience to law, 198;
the highest, 249.
Bible, as an educator, 17, 47, 52, 55, 65, 123–192;
a perfect whole, 123;
range of style and subjects, 125;
stories, 185;
as literature, 188, 189;
the rule of life, 189, 260;
its own expositor, 190;
reverence for, 244.
Bible illustrations from nature, 102, 104–110, 113–120, 175.
Bible teaching and study, example of Jesus, 76, 77, 81, 82, 85, 102,
185;
Abraham, 187; mental culture, 123, 124, 171, 188, 189;
spiritual, 124–127, 171, 188, 192;
purpose in, 189, 254;
original study, 188;
verse-by-verse, 189;
comprehensive, 190;
opportunities for, 191;
family, 185, 186;
Sabbath, 251;
results, 192, 252–256;
“higher criticism,” 227.
Biography of the Bible, David, 48, 152;
Solomon, 48, 49, 153;
Joseph, 51–54, 57;
Daniel, 54–57;
Elisha, 58–61;
Moses, 61–64, 68, 69;
Paul, 64–70;
John, 87;
Peter, 88–91;
Judas, 91, 92;
Jacob, 147;
Levi, 148;
Caleb, 149;
Elijah, 151;
Job, 155, 156;
Jonathan, 157;
John the Baptist, 157;
Abraham, 187.
Birds, teachers of trust, 118.
Book knowledge, 230, 265.
Books, harmful, 188, 190, 226, 227;
wrong use of, 189.
Business, principles, 135, 136;
capital, the best, 137;
stewardship, 137–139;
profit and loss, 140–145.
Calamities, blessings, 270.
Caleb and Joshua, faith of, 149.
Censure, 291.
Character, highest aim, 17–19, 81, 225;
is power, 41, 79, 81, 277, 282;
influence on, of unselfishness, 16;
Bible study, 17, 18, 126, 127, 172, 183, 184, 192;
trial, 23, 52, 53, 295, 296;
self-discipline, 57, 296;
example and association, 87, 237;
see Example;
agricultural labor, 112;
faith and prayer, 258;
lesson of development from seed, 105, 106, 111;
revealed in dress, 248;
the highest beauty, 249;
complete in Christ, 257.
Character-building, symbol of, 35, 36, 258;
perils in, 225–228;
foundation, pattern, 228, 229.
Cheerfulness, 197, 240.
Cherubim, vision of the, 177.
Childhood, of Joseph, 52;
Moses, 61;
Jesus, 77, 107, 185.
Child-training, object-lesson from growth of seed, 106.
Choice, power of, 23, 178, 289.
Christ, light of world’s teachers, 13, 73;
of all mankind, 29;
object of His mission, 27–29, 73, 74, 76;
condition of world at His advent, 74–76;
and the law, 76;
sympathy of, 78–80, 294;
as reprover, 79, 88–92, 294;
recognized man’s possibilities, 80, 270;
power of His teaching, 81, 94, 95;
we complete in, 192, 257.
See Jesus, Prayer.
Church, attendance, a hindrance to, 247;
object of, 268;
duties, 268.
Commission, gospel, for all, 264.
Communion with God, 14, 21, 28, 30, 84;
through prayer, 80, 258;
nature, 100, 108, 120;
Bible study, 127, 192.
Companionship, divine, 127, 271.
Compassion, 257, 294.
Compensation, life’s greatest, 68–70, 305, 306, 309.
Completeness in Christ, 257.
Concentration, 189.
Consecration, 57, 258.
Controversy, the great, 154, 190;
revealed in nature, 26, 101;
in man, 29;
our study hereafter, 304.
Cookery, a branch of education, 216, 218.
Co-operation, with God, Bible examples of, 37, 286;
in our work, 214, 215, 271;
of teachers and students, 212, 213, 285;
parents and children, 283, 285;
parents and teachers, 283, 284, 293;
with Christ and His angels, 270, 271.
Courtesy, of Daniel, 56;
of Paul, 67;
distinguished from etiquette, 240–242;
Christ the source, 241.
Crisis, impending, 179.
Criticism, of the teacher, 283, 284;
of children and youth, 291.
Daniel, life, 54–57, 254;
book, 191.
David, education, 49, 152;
sin, 48;
songs, 164, 165;
faith, 254.
Days of creation, 129.
Deluge, the, and geology, 129.
Deportment, 240–245.
Development, threefold, 13, 16, 195;
unselfishness underlies, 16;
all-round, 232.
Diet, of Israel in the wilderness, 38;
of Daniel, 55;
relation of, to intemperance, 202–204, 247;
to mental development, 204–206, 216;
stimulating, 203;
nutrient value of foods, 204;
selection, combination, 205;
overeating, 205;
number of meals, 205;
regularity, 205;
hurried eating, 206.
Discipline, and organization of Israel, 37, 38;
life’s, 85, 151–154, 295–297;
of home and school, object of, 287, 291;
training the will, 288, 289;
sense of honor, 289;
requests, commands, 290;
rules, enforcing, 290;
the Saviour’s rule and example, 292, 294;
public, 293.
Discrimination between right and wrong, 231.
Display, 247, 248.
Distribution of races, object of, 174.
Domestic training, 216.
Doubt, source of, 24, 25;
results, 26.
Dress, healthful, 199;
devotion to, 246–248;
counteracting influences, 247, 248;
taste and neatness in, 248.
Dressmaking, 216–218, 248, 249.
Eagle, lesson from, 118.
Earth, original condition, 22;
God’s purpose for, 22, 174;
the new, 301.
Eden school, 14, 15, 20–22, 30;
re-established, 301–303.
Education, source, 13–17, 21, 22, 34, 44;
scope, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 38, 41, 225, 232, 233;
aim, 13, 17, 18, 44, 81, 84, 145, 221, 222, 262;
higher, the true, 14, 18, 30, 66, 83, 87, 271, 282;
relation of, to redemption, 15, 16, 18, 19, 28–30, 84, 126, 172;
of Israel, 33–50;
for parents, 34, 275, 276;
for teachers, 46, 276–282;
object teaching, 41, 102, 120, 144, 185, 186;
mistakes in, 45, 49, 50, 74, 77, 189, 207, 208, 225–228, 230, 234,
259, 264–266;
illustrations of true, 51–70;
Christ’s method, 73–96, 102, 231, 241, 267–271, 294;
manual training, 214–222;
mastery of fundamentals, 234–239.
See Nature, Bible.
Education of Jesus, 77, 107, 185, 267, 268.
Elijah, one failure, 151.
Elisha, training and work, 58–61, 255.
End of the world, 179–184, 264.
Enoch, faith of, 254.
Enthusiasm, 233.
Erring, Christ’s work for, 78, 79, 87–94, 270, 294;
ours, illustration from nature, 113;
duty of parents and teachers, 271, 279, 291–294.
Error, mingling of, with truth, 231.
Etiquette, and courtesy, 240, 241;
best treatise on, 242.
Evangelizing the world, 95, 96, 262–271.
Evolution, of the earth, 128;
of man, 130.
Exaggeration, 236.
Example the power of teaching, 41, 49, 56, 57, 78, 79, 87, 150, 158,
259, 277, 282.
Executive ability, 17, 220, 222, 279.
Exercise, physical, 207–213.
Expelling students, 293.
Expletive, 236.
Faith, the key of knowledge, 24;
and reason, 24, 231;
God seeks to encourage, 34;
examples of, 54, 63, 149, 254, 256;
secret of power, 54, 80, 254;
lesson of, from the eagle, 118, 119;
of the sower, 105;
reward of, 156, 254;
Bible evidence for, 169;
definition of, 253;
how to exercise, 253, 257, 258;
teaching of, for the child, 255–257.
Family, the, and the Sabbath, 250.
Family school, 20–22, 33, 40, 41, 45, 77, 84, 85, 186, 250, 251, 275,
283, 285;
see Home.
Fashion, effect of, on education, 246, 247;
a counter-influence, 247–249.
Fear, to banish, 255.
Feasts of Israel, 41–43.
Fellowship with Christ, 63, 65, 69, 87, 120, 127, 192, 264, 270, 271,
297.
Fiction, 227.
Foreign missions, study of, 269.
Freedom in obedience to law, 291.
Fruition of life’s sowing, 108, 109, 306.
Gardening, 21, 111, 112, 212, 213, 219, 247, 248.
Geography, with mission study, 269.
Geology and the Mosaic record, 128, 129.
God, false conception of, 75;
source and upholder of all things, 99, 100, 104, 130, 131;
a personal being, 131–133;
His greatness incomprehensible, 169;
reverence for, 242–244;
suffering of, through sin, 263;
parents, teachers, to represent, 244, 245, 287.
Gospel, in nature, 27, 101;
our responsibility for, 263;
results of giving to world, 264;
closing work of, 269, 270;
work of, the highest education, 271.
Gossip, cannibalism, 235.
Government, its object, 174, 175;
symbol of, 175.
Growth, laws of, 104–106;
divine agency in, 104, 105.
Gymnastic exercises, 210, 217.
Habit, 291.
Harvest, lessons from, 105–110;
life’s, 305, 306.
Hasty speech, 236.
Healing, natural, spiritual, 113.
Health, physical, 195;
effect of mental influence on, 197;
the teacher to preserve, 277.
Heathen, claim of, on Christians, 262, 263.
Heaven, education for, 13, 16, 19, 127;
a school, 301.
Heavenly record, 306.
“Higher criticism,” 227.
History, Bible, 47, 173–178, 183, 184, 238;
philosophy of, 173, 174;
a study, in the hereafter, 304.
Holy Spirit, as a teacher, 95, 134;
object-lesson of, 106;
representative of God, 132.
Home, influence of, 52, 54, 55, 58, 61, 283;
home teaching, 185–187, 196, 202, 216, 217, 235, 240, 242;
see Family School.
Honor, sense of, in the child, 289.
Humility, 237.
Hygiene as a study, 195–200.
Ideal of character, the highest, 18, 73.
Idleness, 190, 202, 210.
Idolatry of Israel, 45;
of Solomon, 49, 50.
Illustration, 233;
see Object-lessons.
Individuality, education to develop, 17, 57, 231, 232.
Industrial school, Israel’s, in the wilderness, 37;
see Manual Training.
Influence, power of early, 52, 55, 58, 61, 119.
Innuendo, 236.
Intemperance, its cause and cure, 202–204.
Israelites, education of, 33–70.
Jacob, retribution, restoration of, 147.
Jesse, sons of, Samuel’s choice, 266.
Jesus, early years of, 77, 107, 185;
as a teacher, 73–96, 102, 231, 241, 294.
Jews, education of, in Christ’s day, 64, 65, 74–77.
Job, a successful career, 142;
testing of, 155, 156.
Jochebed, mother of Moses, 61.
John the Baptist, an illustration of self-sacrifice, 157, 158.
John the disciple, training of, 87.
Jonathan, the faithful friend, 157.
Joseph, 51–54, 56, 57, 255.
Judas, Christ’s dealing with, 91–93.
Key, of knowledge, 24;
to Bible, 120, 126.
Kingship, man’s, lost and restored, 26, 304.
Knowledge, of God, basis of education, 13–19, 21, 34, 81;
faith the key, 24;
through Christ, 27–30, 73, 76.
Knowledge of good and evil, 23–27, 231.
Labor, dignity of, 214–217, 222.
Land, ownership of, by Israel, 43;
for use of schools, 212, 218.
Language-study, 234–237.
Law of God, is love, 16, 65, 76, 77, 287;
taught in Eden, 22;
one transgression, 25, 26, 150;
taught to Israel, 34–36, 38–40, 42, 47;
foundation of national prosperity, 69, 76, 174, 183, 228, 229;
universality of, 99, 103, 287;
in business life, 135–145;
teaching children, 185, 186;
foundation of character, 228, 229;
liberty, 291.
Law of service, 103.
Laws, of growth, 104–110;
nature’s, divine.
Learning by doing, 111, 268, 271.
Levi, curse of, transformed, 148.
Levites, support and privileges of, 148.
Liberality, lesson of seed-sowing, 109;
cultivating, 139–144, 239, 248.
Life, God the source, 99, 104, 108, 197.
Life-work, 262–271.
Light of the world, 13, 14, 29, 57, 58, 73.
Literature, secular, compared with Bible, 188, 189;
and morality, 226, 227.
Little things, faithfulness in, 53, 58, 61;
God’s work perfect, 114.
Love, the law of God, 16, 65, 76, 77, 287;
basis of education and of redemption, 16;
has healing, 114;
the constraining power, 293, 294, 297.
Manual training, in Eden, 21;
a part of education, 34, 37, 47, 52, 58, 62, 85, 214–222.
Manual labor, examples, 66, 77, 217, 267;
for the teacher, 278.
Mastership, 52, 53, 56, 57, 66, 204, 222, 254, 255, 295, 296.
Meditation, 127, 189, 191, 252.
Memory training, 127, 189;
excessive, 226, 230, 231.
Methods of teaching, 41, 76–96, 119, 120, 185–192, 230–239.
Military schools of Egypt, 65.
Mind, influence of, on the body, 197.
Ministry, 139;
the highest, 262–271.
Miracle of the loaves, 107, 108.
Missionary work, training for, 221, 268–271.
Missionary, every Christian, 264.
Model school in Eden, 20, 22, 30, 33.
Money, learning use of, 239.
Moses, 61–64, 68, 69.
Mother, of Moses, 61;
as an educator, 275;
education for, 276.
Music and song, of ancient Israel, 39, 42, 47;
in education, 167, 168;
in the hereafter, 307.
Mysteries, in nature, 101, 134, 170;
in character of God, 132, 169;
in the Bible, 169–172.
National prosperity, its basis, 47, 48, 174.
Natural aptitudes, 138, 233, 267.
Nature, revelation of God, 16, 17, 99;
divine working in, 99, 100, 104, 108, 130, 131, 197, 198;
adaptation of means to ends, 119, 133, 198;
and revelation, 128;
laws of, divine, 196.
Nature teaching, in Eden, 15–17, 20–22;
knowledge of good and evil, 26, 27;
continued, 34, 35, 41, 42, 52, 62–66, 77, 99–120, 208;
Christ’s use of, 102;
key to Bible, 120;
versus fashion, 247;
on the Sabbath, 251;
in the hereafter, 303.
Nature teaching insufficient, 17, 101, 134.
Noah, faith of, 254.
Nursing, training for, 218.
Obedience, expression of reverence, 244;
teaching, 287, 290.
Object-lessons, 34–43, 47, 120, 144, 175, 185, 186;
Christ’s use of, 102;
see Nature, Nature Teaching.
Observation, taught in nature study, 119;
in manual training, 220.
Occupation, choosing, 220, 267.
Old Testament Scriptures, study of, 191.
Outcast classes, Christ’s work for, 79, 80, 270.
Outdoor life, 42, 52, 58, 62, 63, 208, 211.
Outdoor work for the teacher, 278.
Pagan authors, 226.
Palm-tree, 116.
Parable of growing seed, 104–107.
Parents, as teachers, 33, 40, 41, 185–187, 196, 235, 240, 275, 280;
education of, 34, 276;
Abraham’s example, 187;
Christ’s, 294;
representatives of God, 244, 245, 287;
co-operation of, in the family, 283, 285;
with the teacher, 284.
Parties of pleasure, 211.
Paul, 64–70, 254, 256.
Perplexities made plain, 305.
Personal element in teaching, 78–80, 84–96, 231.
Peter, training of, 88–91, 255, 256.
Physical culture, Israelites an example, 38;
importance of, 195, 196, 277;
position, 198;
respiration, 198;
voice-training, 199;
dress, 199;
cleanliness, sunlight, ventilation, 200.
Physician, manual training for, 220.
Physiology, 195–201.
Plain living, high thinking, 202, 248.
Pleasure-seeking, 183, 207, 211.
Poetry, 47;
of the Bible, 159–161.
Political ambition, 49.
Poor, God’s provision for, 43, 44, 139, 141, 220.
Praise, to God, 66, 161–163, 168;
love of, 237.
Prayer, examples, 47, 64;
Christ’s, 80, 259;
reverence in, 243;
of faith, 257, 258;
secret, 258;
answers to, 258.
Preparatory school of earth, 19.
Profit and loss, 140–145.
Prophecy, in ancient schools, 47;
gift of, to Daniel, 56;
fulfilment of, 178;
of the world’s final scenes, 180–182;
benefits of study, 183, 184.
Public worship, a means of education, 168, 252;
reverence in, 243;
a cause of non-attendance, 247.
Rainbow, 115.
Reading, unwholesome, 188, 190, 226, 227;
excessive, 189.
Reason and faith, 24, 231.
Recreation, purpose of, 207;
teacher’s co-operation, 212;
in useful work, 215;
for the teacher, 278.
Redemption, its purpose, 15, 16, 28, 29;
relation of, to education, 16, 17, 28–30, 126, 172;
first promise, 27;
taught in nature, 27, 101, 113, 115;
plan of, key to Bible, 126;
Sabbath a sign of, 250.
Religion in Christ’s day, 74, 75.
Reproof, Christ’s example of, 79, 89–92;
its object, 291;
how to give, 294.
Requests, commands, 290.
Resentment, 257.
Respiration, 198, 199.
Resurrection, symbol of, 110.
Retribution, 108, 109, 146–151.
Revelation, the, study of, 191.
Reverence, 242–245.
Rivalry, 226.
River and plain, reward of service, 103;
river and brook, unrecognized helpers, 116, 117.
Rules, to have support of school, 290;
enforcing, 290.
Sabbath, a means of education, 250–252.
Sanitation, among the Israelites, 38;
in school and home, 200, 207.
Satan, insinuator of distrust, 23–25;
accuser, 154, 155.
School, of Eden, 20–22;
restored, 301–304;
heaven, 301.
Schools, location of, 20, 21, 33, 34, 211;
of the patriarchs, 33;
of Israel, 34–50;
unhealthful conditions, 207, 208;
grounds, beautifying, 212;
for manual training, 218.
Science, divine, 126, 257;
human, not Christ’s theme, 81;
and the Bible, 128–134;
results of false, 227.
Scientists, conflicting theories of, 130.
Scripture, quoting in jest, 244;
see Bible.
Seed-sowing, lessons from, 104–112.
Self-control, relation of, to health and temperance, 197, 203, 204,
206;
object of discipline, 287–290;
by parents and teachers, 292.
Self-distrustful, faith the helper, 256.
Self-forgetfulness, 237.
Self-sacrifice, Paul an example, 65–70;
Christ, 80;
other examples, 154–158;
illustration from seed-sowing, 110;
condition of fellowship with Christ, 264.
Self-seeking, Judas an illustration, 91–93;
as a motive in education, 225, 226;
results, 264.
Self-support by students, 221, 265.
Sermon, to fix in memory, 252.
Service, aim of education, 13, 65–70;
law of life, 16, 80;
taught in nature, 103;
unrecognized, 116, 117, 306;
ground of obligation, 137, 139;
training for, 212–222, 268;
motive in, 226, 268;
the highest education, 264, 270, 271, 309;
object of the church, 268;
organization for, 269;
reward of, 103, 306, 308, 309.
Signs of the times, 179.
Similitudes, 120;
see Object-lessons, Nature Teaching.
Simplicity, of life of Jesus, 77, 107;
in child-training, 107, 211;
in teaching, 233.
Sin, nature and results of, 15, 23–26, 28, 29, 143–150, 263;
its power, 291.
Skepticism, causes, 227, 228, 259.
Sleep, 205.
Social life, of Israel, 41–43;
hereafter, 306.
Social relation of teacher and pupil, 212, 213, 280, 284.
Solomon, life-experience of, 48, 49, 152–154.
Song, 39, 42, 47, 186, 251;
earliest, 161, 162;
a means of education, 162, 167, 168;
songs of David, 164, 165;
the Saviour’s, 166;
in the last crisis, 166, 167;
to meet temptation, 166, 168;
is worship, 168.
Spies, the twelve, report of, 149.
Spiritualism, teaching of, 227, 228.
Stars, lesson from, 115.
Statesmanship, 53, 56, 69.
Stewardship, 57, 137.
Success, 29, 52, 53, 56, 57, 60, 61, 68–70, 142, 145, 222, 262, 267,
271, 306–309.
Suspicion, 289, 290.
Sympathy, insight, 66, 78, 212, 231, 269, 270, 280, 292;
of God with human suffering, 263.
Tabernacle of Israel, illustration of character-building, 35, 36, 258.
Teacher, privilege and responsibility of, 19, 29, 30, 244, 245, 281,
287;
social relation with students, 212, 213, 280, 284;
qualifications of, 240, 277;
physical vigor, 277;
literary attainments, 278;
administrative ability, 279;
self-improvement, 281;
highest preparation, 282;
co-operation with parents, 284;
with pupils, 285;
see Discipline.
Teachers, great, light from Christ, 13, 73;
in schools of prophets, 46;
in time of Paul and of Christ, 64, 65, 74–77;
of the school of the hereafter, 302, 303.
Teaching, methods, preparatory, 29, 30, 41, 187, 188, 201, 247;
Christ’s, 76–96, 102, 231, 294;
personal element in, 231, 232, 278, 281;
simplicity, 233;
enthusiasm, 233;
thoroughness, 234;
of physiology, 195–201;
language, 234–237;
history, 238;
accounts, 239;
geography, 269;
see Bible Teaching, Nature Teaching.
Temperance, 38, 55;
aids to, 202–206;
instruction in home and school, 202, 278.
Temple, the living, 35, 36, 201, 258.
Temptation, why permitted, 23;
the first, 24;
Christ subject to, 78;
safeguards against, 166, 168, 190, 203, 204, 213, 214, 218, 219, 255.
Theological schools in the time of Christ, 64, 65, 77, 85.
Theology, Christ’s teaching of, 81.
Tithing, 44, 138, 250.
Trades, teaching in the schools, 47, 218.
Tree of knowledge, 23–25.
Tree, a symbol of government, 175.
Trees, lessons from, 113, 116, 119, 175, 267.
Unemployed, opportunity for, 220.
Unity, 86, 95.
Unselfishness, underlies development, 16;
illustrations of, 154–158.
Voice, training of, 199.
Victory, through defeat, 62–64, 68, 69, 147–149, 151;
inviting, 162, 163, 165, 168, 256, 258.
Water-lily, 119.
Will, freedom of, 23, 289;
training, 288, 289.
Witnesses for God, 154–158, 262;
in the hereafter, 308, 309.
Workers for Christ, from the common people, 85, 270;
training of, 262–271.
Young people’s societies for Christian work, 269.
-----
Footnote 1:
Col. 2:3.
Footnote 2:
Job 12:13.
Footnote 3:
Job 12:13.
Footnote 4:
Prov. 2:6.
Footnote 5:
Job 23:21.
Footnote 6:
Gen. 1:27.
Footnote 7:
Job 37:16.
Footnote 8:
Luke 10:27.
Footnote 9:
Matt. 22:39.
Footnote 10:
Job 28:15–18.
Footnote 11:
Heb. 2:7.
Footnote 12:
Gen. 2:8, 9.
Footnote 13:
Jer. 29:11.
Footnote 14:
Gen. 2:15.
Footnote 15:
Job 37:16.
Footnote 16:
2 Cor. 4:6.
Footnote 17:
Hab. 3:3; Job 38:7.
Footnote 18:
Ex. 34:6.
Footnote 19:
Gen. 2:9–17.
Footnote 20:
Gen. 3:3–5.
Footnote 21:
Gen. 3:6.
Footnote 22:
Gen. 3:5.
Footnote 23:
Gen. 3:17–19.
Footnote 24:
Gen. 3:15
Footnote 25:
Eph. 4:24, margin.
Footnote 26:
2 Cor. 4:6; 5:19.
Footnote 27:
John 1:14, R. V.; 1:4.
Footnote 28:
John 1:9.
Footnote 29:
1 Cor. 3:11; Col. 1:19, R. V.
Footnote 30:
Ps. 111:8.
Footnote 31:
Luke 3:38.
Footnote 32:
Isa. 40:12.
Footnote 33:
Ex. 25:8.
Footnote 34:
Ex. 34:6.
Footnote 35:
1 Cor. 3:16, 17.
Footnote 36:
Ex. 31:1–6.
Footnote 37:
Num. 11:16, 17; Deut. 1:15.
Footnote 38:
Deut. 23:14.
Footnote 39:
Ex. 16:3.
Footnote 40:
Num. 10:35, 36.
Footnote 41:
Ex. 15:21.
Footnote 42:
Deut. 8:5, 2.
Footnote 43:
Deut. 32:10–12.
Footnote 44:
Ps. 105:42–45.
Footnote 45:
Deut. 26:19; 28:10; 4:6.
Footnote 46:
Ex. 34:6.
Footnote 47:
Deut. 6:6, 7.
Footnote 48:
Ps. 106:34–36; 78:37–39.
Footnote 49:
Prov. 14:34.
Footnote 50:
Ps. 119:104–112.
Footnote 51:
Acts 13:22.
Footnote 52:
Deut. 11:22–25.
Footnote 53:
1 Sam. 8:5.
Footnote 54:
Eccl. 3:14.
Footnote 55:
James 1:17.
Footnote 56:
1 Cor. 10:11.
Footnote 57:
Ps. 105:21, 22.
Footnote 58:
Gen. 49:22–26.
Footnote 59:
Dan. 1:19.
Footnote 60:
Dan. 1:20.
Footnote 61:
Dan. 6:4.
Footnote 62:
Dan. 2:47; 6:25–27.
Footnote 63:
1 Kings 19:21.
Footnote 64:
2 Kings 2:2.
Footnote 65:
2 Kings 2:6–15.
Footnote 66:
2 Tim. 2:15.
Footnote 67:
Heb. 11:27.
Footnote 68:
Deut. 34:10.
Footnote 69:
Rom. 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:14.
Footnote 70:
Acts 20:34.
Footnote 71:
Acts 14:17.
Footnote 72:
Acts 16:28.
Footnote 73:
Acts 17:23, 26, 27.
Footnote 74:
Acts 26:28, 29.
Footnote 75:
2 Cor 11:26, 27.
Footnote 76:
1 Cor. 4:12, 13; 2 Cor. 6:10.
Footnote 77:
Tim. 4:7.
Footnote 78:
Phil. 3:7, 8, R. V., margin.
Footnote 79:
Prov. 8:8.
Footnote 80:
Cant. 5:10, 16.
Footnote 81:
Rotherham’s translation.
Footnote 82:
Phil. 4:13; Rom. 8:35–39.
Footnote 83:
Thess. 2:19, 20.
Footnote 84:
Isa. 9:6.
Footnote 85:
John 3:19.
Footnote 86:
Luke 2:40.
Footnote 87:
Heb. 4:15, R. V.
Footnote 88:
Heb. 2:18.
Footnote 89:
John 13:15; 15:10.
Footnote 90:
John 3:17.
Footnote 91:
Matt. 11:28.
Footnote 92:
Ps. 90:17.
Footnote 93:
Matt. 10:8.
Footnote 94:
Acts 10:38.
Footnote 95:
John 7:46.
Footnote 96:
R. V.
Footnote 97:
Luke 4:32.
Footnote 98:
Rev. 1:17, R. V.; 21:6, R. V.
Footnote 99:
John 7:37, 38; 4:14, R. V.
Footnote 100:
1 John 1:2.
Footnote 101:
John 17:21–23.
Footnote 102:
Mark 3:17.
Footnote 103:
John 17:6.
Footnote 104:
1 John 3:1–3.
Footnote 105:
Matt. 16:22, margin.
Footnote 106:
Luke 22:34.
Footnote 107:
Luke 22:33.
Footnote 108:
Luke 22:31, 32.
Footnote 109:
Mark 16:7.
Footnote 110:
John 21:17, 22.
Footnote 111:
John 6:64.
Footnote 112:
Cant. 8:7, 6.
Footnote 113:
John 16:7; 15:15; 14:26.
Footnote 114:
John 16:15, 13, 14.
Footnote 115:
Matt. 28:20.
Footnote 116:
John 16:23.
Footnote 117:
Rom. 8:34.
Footnote 118:
Acts 4:13.
Footnote 119:
Matt. 28:20.
Footnote 120:
Matt. 13:28.
Footnote 121:
Jer. 29:11.
Footnote 122:
Luke 22:27.
Footnote 123:
Heb. 1:14.
Footnote 124:
Luke 6:38.
Footnote 125:
Mark 4:26–28.
Footnote 126:
Luke 8:11; Isa. 61:11.
Footnote 127:
Eccl. 11:6.
Footnote 128:
Gen. 8:22.
Footnote 129:
Isa. 55:11; Ps. 126:6.
Footnote 130:
Hosea 6:3; Mal. 4:2; Hosea 14:5, 7.
Footnote 131:
Mark 4:28.
Footnote 132:
Gal. 6:8.
Footnote 133:
Mark 12:42.
Footnote 134:
2 Cor. 9:6.
Footnote 135:
Isa. 32:20.
Footnote 136:
John 12:24.
Footnote 137:
1 Cor. 15:42, 43.
Footnote 138:
Luke 4:18.
Footnote 139:
Gal. 6:1.
Footnote 140:
Prov. 15:1; 1 Cor. 13:4, R. V.; 1 Peter 4:8, R. V.
Footnote 141:
Matt. 18:3.
Footnote 142:
Gen. 9:16.
Footnote 143:
Job 33:24.
Footnote 144:
Isa. 54:9, 10.
Footnote 145:
Isa. 40:26–29; 41:10, 13.
Footnote 146:
John 7:37.
Footnote 147:
Job 12:7, 8; Prov. 6:6; Matt. 6:26, R. V.; Luke 12:24.
Footnote 148:
Ps. 104:18, 12; 145:16.
Footnote 149:
Isa. 28:10.
Footnote 150:
Rev. 22:4.
Footnote 151:
1 Cor. 15:57.
Footnote 152:
Rom. 16:25, R. V.
Footnote 153:
Eccl. 7:12; John 6:63; 17:3, R. V.
Footnote 154:
Matt. 4:4.
Footnote 155:
Hosea 8:12; Jer. 33:3.
Footnote 156:
1 Peter 1:12.
Footnote 157:
Gen. 1:5.
Footnote 158:
Ps. 33:9.
Footnote 159:
Gen. 1:27.
Footnote 160:
Luke 3:38.
Footnote 161:
Neh. 9:6.
Footnote 162:
Heb. 4:3.
Footnote 163:
Ps. 104:27–30.
Footnote 164:
Job 26:7–10; 26:11–14, R. V., margin.
Footnote 165:
Nahum 1:3.
Footnote 166:
Heb. 1:3.
Footnote 167:
Dan. 7:13.
Footnote 168:
Col. 1:16, 17, R. V., margin.
Footnote 169:
Ps. 11:4.
Footnote 170:
See Ps. 139:8, R. V.; Job 26:6, R. V., margin.
Footnote 171:
Ps. 113:5, 6; 139:7–10.
Footnote 172:
Ps. 139:2–6, R. V.
Footnote 173:
Heb. 11:3.
Footnote 174:
Gen. 1:1.
Footnote 175:
2 Thess. 1:11.
Footnote 176:
Rom. 1:20, R. V.
Footnote 177:
1 Cor. 2:11.
Footnote 178:
John 16:13.
Footnote 179:
Prov. 22:29; 14:23.
Footnote 180:
Prov. 13:4; 23:21.
Footnote 181:
Prov. 20:19.
Footnote 182:
Prov. 17:27; 20:3.
Footnote 183:
Prov. 4:14; 6:28.
Footnote 184:
Prov. 13:20; 18:24.
Footnote 185:
Matt. 7:12.
Footnote 186:
Prov. 28:20.
Footnote 187:
Prov. 13:11, R. V., margin.
Footnote 188:
Prov. 21:6; 22:7; 11:15.
Footnote 189:
Prov. 23:10, 11; 22:16; 26:27.
Footnote 190:
Ps. 119:72.
Footnote 191:
Mark 13:34.
Footnote 192:
1 Cor. 3:9.
Footnote 193:
R. V.
Footnote 194:
Matt. 6:31–33.
Footnote 195:
Lev. 27:30, 32.
Footnote 196:
Gen. 28:22.
Footnote 197:
Mal. 3:10.
Footnote 198:
1 Cor. 4:2.
Footnote 199:
Gal. 5:13.
Footnote 200:
Matt. 25:40.
Footnote 201:
Rom. 1:14.
Footnote 202:
Prov. 11:24, 25; Eccl. 11:1.
Footnote 203:
Prov. 23:4, 5.
Footnote 204:
Luke 6:38.
Footnote 205:
Prov. 3:9, 10.
Footnote 206:
Mal. 3:10–12.
Footnote 207:
Lev. 26:3–6.
Footnote 208:
Isa. 1:17, Ps. 41:1, 2; Prov. 19:17.
Footnote 209:
Ps. 37:18, 19.
Footnote 210:
Ps. 15:2–4; Isa. 33:15–17.
Footnote 211:
Margin.
Footnote 212:
Job 29:4–16, R. V.; 31:32; 29:21–25.
Footnote 213:
Prov. 10:22.
Footnote 214:
Prov. 8:18.
Footnote 215:
Haggai 1:5–9; 2:16; 1:10; Mal. 3:8.
Footnote 216:
Amos 5:11; Deut. 28:20, 32.
Footnote 217:
Jer. 17:11.
Footnote 218:
Eccl. 5:8; Job 34:22.
Footnote 219:
Ps. 73:9–11; 50:21.
Footnote 220:
Zech. 5:1–4.
Footnote 221:
Mark 8:36, 37.
Footnote 222:
Luke 12:33; 16:9, R. V.
Footnote 223:
1 Tim. 4:8.
Footnote 224:
Prov. 26:2.
Footnote 225:
Isa. 3:10, 11.
Footnote 226:
Jer. 6:19.
Footnote 227:
Isa. 57:16–19.
Footnote 228:
Hosea 12:4; Gen. 32:29.
Footnote 229:
Gen 48:15, 16.
Footnote 230:
Gen. 49:7.
Footnote 231:
Deut. 10:8; Mal. 2:5, 6.
Footnote 232:
Deut. 12:19; 10:9.
Footnote 233:
Prov. 23:7.
Footnote 234:
Num. 13:31, 30.
Footnote 235:
1 Sam. 22:2.
Footnote 236:
2 Sam. 8:15.
Footnote 237:
Eccl. 2:4–12, 17, 18.
Footnote 238:
Rom. 8:28.
Footnote 239:
Isa. 43:12.
Footnote 240:
R. V., margin.
Footnote 241:
1 Cor. 4:9, margin.
Footnote 242:
Isa. 54:17.
Footnote 243:
Job 1:8–12; 2:5–7.
Footnote 244:
Job 10:1; 14:13.
Footnote 245:
Job 19:7–21, R. V.; 23:3–6, R. V.; 23:6–10; 13:15; 19:25–27, R. V.,
margin.
Footnote 246:
Job 23:10.
Footnote 247:
Job 42:10–12.
Footnote 248:
John 3:30.
Footnote 249:
Matt. 11:11.
Footnote 250:
Heb. 11:32–40.
Footnote 251:
Job 38:4–27, R. V.; 38:31, 32.
Footnote 252:
Cant. 2:11–13, R. V.
Footnote 253:
Margin.
Footnote 254:
Num. 23:7–23, R. V.; 24:4–6, R. V.; 24:16–19.
Footnote 255:
Isa. 51:3.
Footnote 256:
Job 38:7.
Footnote 257:
Ex. 15:1, 2, 6–11, 18–21, R. V.
Footnote 258:
Num. 21:16.
Footnote 259:
Num. 21:17, 18, R. V.
Footnote 260:
2 Chron. 20:2, 1, 3, 4, 12.
Footnote 261:
2 Chron. 20:14–17.
Footnote 262:
2 Chron. 20:20.
Footnote 263:
Ps. 23:1–4.
Footnote 264:
Ps. 63:1–7, R. V.; 42:11; 27:1.
Footnote 265:
Ps. 3:4–8.
Footnote 266:
Ps. 51:1–7.
Footnote 267:
1 Chron. 29:15, R. V.
Footnote 268:
Ps. 46:1, 2; 46:4–7, R. V., margin; 48:14.
Footnote 269:
Ps. 113:2, 3; 116:1–8.
Footnote 270:
Isa. 26:1–4.
Footnote 271:
Isa. 35:10, R. V.
Footnote 272:
Jer. 31:12.
Footnote 273:
Ps. 97:2, R. V.
Footnote 274:
Isa. 35:8.
Footnote 275:
Deut. 29:29.
Footnote 276:
2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
Footnote 277:
2 Cor. 5:17.
Footnote 278:
Col. 1:27.
Footnote 279:
Acts 17:26, 27.
Footnote 280:
Eze. 20:37.
Footnote 281:
Isa. 43:21.
Footnote 282:
Deut. 4:6; 32:47.
Footnote 283:
Isa. 45:5.
Footnote 284:
Dan. 4:27.
Footnote 285:
Prov. 14:34; 16:12; 20:28.
Footnote 286:
Dan. 2:21.
Footnote 287:
Dan. 4:11, 12.
Footnote 288:
Dan. 2:38.
Footnote 289:
Dan. 4:30.
Footnote 290:
Eze. 34:3, 4.
Footnote 291:
Dan. 4:31.
Footnote 292:
Isa. 47:1–5.
Footnote 293:
Jer. 51:13; Isa. 13:19; 14:23.
Footnote 294:
Eze. 1:4, 26; 10:8.
Footnote 295:
Eze. 21:26, 27.
Footnote 296:
Matt. 24:6, 7.
Footnote 297:
Isa. 24:1–8.
Footnote 298:
Joel 1:15–18, 12.
Footnote 299:
Jer. 4:19, 20, 23–26.
Footnote 300:
Jer. 30:7.
Footnote 301:
Isa. 26:20.
Footnote 302:
Ps. 91:9, 10.
Footnote 303:
Ps. 50:1–3; 50:4–6, R. V.
Footnote 304:
Micah 4:10–12; Jer. 30:17, 18.
Footnote 305:
Isa. 25:9, 8.
Footnote 306:
Isa. 33:20–22.
Footnote 307:
Isa. 11:4.
Footnote 308:
Isa. 60:18; 54:14.
Footnote 309:
1 Peter 1:10–12.
Footnote 310:
Eze. 12:27, 28.
Footnote 311:
Deut. 6:7.
Footnote 312:
Deut. 6:6, 7.
Footnote 313:
Gen. 18:19.
Footnote 314:
Ps. 119:11; 17:4.
Footnote 315:
Rev. 1:1.
Footnote 316:
James 1:5.
Footnote 317:
Rev. 1:3.
Footnote 318:
John 12:32.
Footnote 319:
Phil. 3:8–10.
Footnote 320:
Prov. 17:22; 3:1, 2, margin; 4:22; 16:24.
Footnote 321:
Ps. 36:9.
Footnote 322:
Eccl. 3:11, R. V.
Footnote 323:
Luke 12:23.
Footnote 324:
1 Cor. 6:19, R. V., margin; 3:17.
Footnote 325:
Ps. 139:14.
Footnote 326:
Prov. 3:17.
Footnote 327:
Eccl. 10:17.
Footnote 328:
Heb. 6:7, 8.
Footnote 329:
2 Kings 6:1–7.
Footnote 330:
Prov. 31:13, 15, R. V.; 31:16, 17, 20, 27.
Footnote 331:
Prov. 31:30, 31.
Footnote 332:
Eccl. 5:9.
Footnote 333:
Isa. 28:26; Prov. 27:18.
Footnote 334:
Prov. 4:7; 15:2.
Footnote 335:
2 Cor. 10:12; 1 Peter 4:11; Col. 3:23, 24.
Footnote 336:
Luke 10:27.
Footnote 337:
Isa. 33:6, Leeser’s Translation.
Footnote 338:
Deut. 4:6.
Footnote 339:
Ps. 19:8; 15:5.
Footnote 340:
Isa. 1:18.
Footnote 341:
James 1:5; Isa. 7:15.
Footnote 342:
Phil. 4:8.
Footnote 343:
Prov. 18:21.
Footnote 344:
Rom. 1:30, 31, 29, 32.
Footnote 345:
Ps. 15:2, 3.
Footnote 346:
Matt. 5:37, R. V.
Footnote 347:
Prov. 26:18, 19.
Footnote 348:
Prov. 29:20.
Footnote 349:
Prov. 25:28.
Footnote 350:
Prov. 12:18.
Footnote 351:
Prov. 22:11.
Footnote 352:
John 13:34.
Footnote 353:
1 Cor. 13:4–8, R. V.
Footnote 354:
Ex. 3:5.
Footnote 355:
Gen. 28:16, 17.
Footnote 356:
Hab. 2:20.
Footnote 357:
Ps. 95:3–6; 100:3, 4.
Footnote 358:
Ps. 111:9.
Footnote 359:
Prov. 30:5; Ps. 12:6.
Footnote 360:
Prov. 16:31.
Footnote 361:
Lev. 19:32.
Footnote 362:
Ps. 103:13.
Footnote 363:
Isa. 66:13.
Footnote 364:
Eccl. 3:11, R. V.
Footnote 365:
Rev. 19:8.
Footnote 366:
Rev. 3:4.
Footnote 367:
Ex. 31:13; 20:11.
Footnote 368:
Jer. 15:16.
Footnote 369:
Ps. 119:48; 19:10, 11.
Footnote 370:
Luke 8:11.
Footnote 371:
Ps. 33:9; Rom. 4:17.
Footnote 372:
Heb. 4:13; Hab. 1:13.
Footnote 373:
Gen. 39:9.
Footnote 374:
Ps. 34:7.
Footnote 375:
Acts 27:22–24, 34, 44.
Footnote 376:
Phil. 4:13.
Footnote 377:
Zech. 2:8.
Footnote 378:
Ps. 37:5, 6.
Footnote 379:
Ps. 9:9, 10.
Footnote 380:
Col. 2:10.
Footnote 381:
Mark 11:24.
Footnote 382:
2 Cor. 6:16.
Footnote 383:
Isa. 41:13.
Footnote 384:
Eze. 33:30–32.
Footnote 385:
Ps. 46:10.
Footnote 386:
Cant. 2:3, 4.
Footnote 387:
Esther 4:14.
Footnote 388:
Judges 10:16; Isa. 63:9.
Footnote 389:
Rom. 8:26, 22.
Footnote 390:
Matt. 24:14.
Footnote 391:
Mark 16:15.
Footnote 392:
1 Sam. 16:6, 7, 10.
Footnote 393:
Eccl. 11:6, R. V.
Footnote 394:
Luke 22:26, 27.
Footnote 395:
Zeph. 1:14.
Footnote 396:
Ps. 37:29; Isa. 33:24; 65:19.
Footnote 397:
Judges 13:12.
Footnote 398:
Rev. 3:8.
Footnote 399:
Jer. 33:3; Ps. 32:8.
Footnote 400:
Matt. 28:20.
Footnote 401:
2 Cor. 3:18, R. V.
Footnote 402:
Ex. 35:21.
Footnote 403:
Neh. 4:6.
Footnote 404:
R. V.
Footnote 405:
Eph. 4:25; 1 Peter 4:10.
Footnote 406:
Isa. 41:6.
Footnote 407:
Joshua 24:15.
Footnote 408:
Prov. 14:9.
Footnote 409:
Prov. 5:22.
Footnote 410:
Ps. 119:45, 24.
Footnote 411:
Luke 6:31.
Footnote 412:
Heb. 5:2.
Footnote 413:
2 Cor. 4:18.
Footnote 414:
2 Cor. 5:14.
Footnote 415:
Cor. 2:9.
Footnote 416:
Rev. 21:1, 2.
Footnote 417:
Rev. 21:23.
Footnote 418:
Rev. 2:7.
Footnote 419:
Rev. 22:1; 22:2, R. V.; 21:4.
Footnote 420:
Isa. 60:21.
Footnote 421:
Isa. 52:6.
Footnote 422:
Rev. 21:3.
Footnote 423:
Rev. 7:14–17.
Footnote 424:
1 Cor. 13:12.
Footnote 425:
Rev. 22:4.
Footnote 426:
Isa. 65:21, 22.
Footnote 427:
Isa. 65:25.
Footnote 428:
Ps. 87:7.
Footnote 429:
Isa. 24:14.
Footnote 430:
Isa. 51:3.
Footnote 431:
Eph. 3:20.
Footnote 432:
Rev. 22:3.
Footnote 433:
Matt. 20:28.
Footnote 434:
Isa. 43:12.
Footnote 435:
Eph. 3:10, R. V.; 2:6, 7.
Footnote 436:
Ps. 29:9.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
3. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together
at the end of the last chapter.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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