Education of Workers
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in this training process is likely to remain undone. Who will undertake
this work? We would that there were strong young men, rooted and
grounded in the faith, who had such a living connection with God that
they could, if so counseled by our leading brethren, enter the higher
colleges in our land, where they would have a wider field for study and
observation. Association with different classes of minds, an acquain-
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tance with the workings and results of popular methods of education,
and a knowledge of theology as taught in the leading institutions of
learning would be of great value to such workers, preparing them to
labor for the educated classes and to meet the prevailing errors of our
time. Such was the method pursued by the ancient Waldenses; and, if
true to God, our youth, like theirs, might do a good work, even while
gaining their education, in sowing the seeds of truth in other minds.
“Be strong, and quit yourselves like men.” Ask of Him who suf-
fered reproach, insult, and mockery for your sakes: “Lord, what wilt
Thou have me to do?” None are too highly educated to become humble
disciples of Christ. Those who feel it a privilege to give the best of
their life and learning to Him from whom they received them, will
shun no labor, no sacrifice, to render back to God in highest service
His entrusted talents. In the great battle of life many of the workers
lose sight of the solemnity and sacred character of their mission. The
deadly curse of sin continues to blight and deface the moral image of
God in them because they do not work as Christ worked.
We see the need of encouraging higher ideas of education and of
employing more trained men in the ministry. Those who do not obtain
the right kind of education before they enter upon God’s work are not
competent to accept this holy trust and to carry forward the work of
reformation. Yet all should continue their education after they engage
in the work. They must have the word of God abiding in them. We
need more cultivation, refinement, and nobility of soul in our laborers.
Such an improvement as this would show results in eternity.
“I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that
is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye
are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome
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the wicked one.” The apostle here links the experience of the fathers
with that of the young men; in like manner there is a link between
the old disciples in this cause and those who are younger, who have
not had an experience in the early events of this message. Those who