Chapter 18—The Education Most Essential For
Gospel Workers
There are Christian workers who have not received a collegiate
education because it was impossible for them to secure this advantage;
but God has given evidence that he has chosen them. He has ordained
them to go forth and labor in his vineyard. He has made them effectual
co-workers with himself. They have a teachable spirit; they feel their
dependence upon God, and the Holy Spirit is with them to help their
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infirmities. It will quicken and energize the mind, direct their thoughts,
and aid in the presentation of truth. When the laborer stands before
the people to hold forth the words of life, there is heard in his voice
the echo of the voice of Christ.
It is evident that he walks with God; that he has been with Jesus
and learned of him. He has brought the truth into the inner sanctuary
of the soul; it is to him a living reality, and he presents the truth in the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The people hear the joyful
sound. God speaks to their hearts through the man consecrated to his
service. As the worker lifts up Jesus through the Spirit, he becomes
really eloquent. He is earnest and sincere, and is beloved by those for
whom he labors.
What a sin would rest upon any one who should listen to such a man
merely to criticise, to notice bad grammar, or incorrect pronunciation,
and hold these errors up to ridicule. The Pharisees scoffed at Christ;
they criticized the simplicity of his language, which was so plain
that the child, the aged, the common people heard him gladly, and
were charmed by his words. The Sadducees also derided him because
his discourses were so unlike anything delivered by their rulers and
scribes. Those Jewish teachers spoke in monotonous tones, and the
plainest and most precious scriptures were made uninteresting and
unintelligible, buried under such a mass of tradition and learned lore
that after the Rabbis had spoken, the people knew less of the meaning
of the Scriptures than before they listened. There were many souls
starving for the Bread of Life, and Jesus fed them with pure, simple
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