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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
Let parents seek the Lord with intense earnestness, that they may
not be stumbling blocks in the way of their children. Let envy and
jealousy be banished from the heart, and let the peace of Christ come
in to unite, the members of the church in true Christian fellowship.
Let the windows of the soul be closed against the poisonous malaria of
earth, and let them be opened heavenward to receive the healing rays of
the sunshine of Christ’s righteousness. Until the spirit of criticism and
suspicion is banished from the heart, the Lord cannot do for the church
that which He longs to do in opening the way for the establishment of
schools; until there is unity, He will not move upon those to whom He
has entrusted means and ability for the carrying forward of this work.
Parents must reach a higher standard, keeping the way of the Lord
and practicing righteousness, that they may be light bearers. There
must be an entire transformation of mind and character. A spirit of
disunion cherished in the hearts of a few will communicate itself to
others and undo the influence for good that would be exerted by the
school. Unless parents are ready and anxious to co-operate with the
teacher for the salvation of their children, they are not prepared to have
a school established among them.
Results of Church School Work
When properly conducted, church schools will be the means of
lifting the standard of truth in the places where they are established;
for children who are receiving a Christian education will be witnesses
for Christ. As Jesus in the temple solved the mysteries which priests
and rulers had not discerned, so in the closing work of this earth
children who have been rightly educated will in their simplicity speak
words which will be an astonishment to men who now talk of “higher
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education.” As the children sang in the temple courts, “Hosanna;
Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,” so in these last
days children’s voices will be raised to give the last message of warning
to a perishing world. When heavenly intelligences see that men are no
longer permitted to present the truth, the Spirit of God will come upon
the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation of the truth
which the older workers cannot do, because their way will be hedged
up.