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Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work
to be made. The providence of God is leading us on step by step in the
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path of obedience. Let parents and teachers impress upon the minds
of the children that the Lord is proving them in this life, to see if they
will render obedience to Him with love and reverence. Those who
would not be obedient to Christ here would not obey Him in the eternal
world. The Lord is seeking to fit them for the heavenly mansions that
Jesus has gone to prepare for those who love Him.
The Lessons to Be Taught
Do not make the Sabbath-school lessons dry and spiritless. Leave
the impression upon the mind that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is
our rule of faith, and that the sayings and doings of men are not to be a
criterion for our doctrines or actions. One grand lesson must be taught
to the children, and that is that they must be free from every particle
of egotism and bigotry. Teach them that Christ died to save sinners,
and that those who are not of our faith are to be labored for with great
tenderness and forbearance, for their souls are precious in the sight
of God. No one must be regarded with contempt. There must be no
Pharisaism, no self-righteousness.
There are many true Christians not of our faith, with whom we
come in contact, who live according to the best light that they have, and
they are in greater favor with God than are those who have greater light
but who have not improved it by showing corresponding works. At
one time the disciples found a man who was doing a work in Christ’s
name, and John, relating the matter to Jesus, said, “We forbade him,
because he followeth not us;” but Jesus rebuked his spirit, and told his
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followers that “he that is not against us is on our part.” The Way, the
Truth, and the Life, will be clearly revealed in the words, the spirit,
and the deportment of those who believe in and learn of Jesus. Parents
and teachers should manifest the tenderest interest and sympathy for
those who are not believers in the truth. They should never, either by
word or action, wound a soul, the purchase of Christ’s blood. If the
older ones manifest a cold, harsh, unsympathetic spirit, the children
will manifest the same, and their characters will not be moulded after
the divine model. We must patiently educate the children and youth
to feel that they are required of God to be missionaries, that they are
not to be selfish, narrow, and bigoted, but broad in their ideas and