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Intermediate Schools
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intellectual training. A pretentious display of human learning, the
manifestation of pride of personal appearance, is worthless. The
Lord values obedience to His will; for only by walking humbly and
obediently before Him, can man glorify God.
In giving us the privilege of studying His word, the Lord has
set before us a rich banquet. Many are the benefits derived from
feasting on His word, which is represented by Him as His flesh and
blood, His spirit and life. By partaking of this word our spiritual
strength is increased; we grow in grace and in a knowledge of the
truth. Habits of self-control are formed and strengthened. The
infirmities of childhood—fretfulness, willfulness, selfishness, hasty
words, passionate acts—disappear, and in their place are developed
the graces of Christian manhood and womanhood.
If your students, besides studying God’s word, learn no more
than how to use correctly the English language in reading, writing,
and speaking, a great work will have been accomplished. Those
who are trained for service in the Lord’s cause should be taught how
to talk properly in ordinary conversation and before congregations.
Many a laborer’s usefulness is marred by his ignorance in regard
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to correct breathing and clear, forcible speaking. Many have not
learned to give the right emphasis to the words they read and speak.
Often the enunciation is indistinct. A thorough training in the use of
the English language is of far more value to a youth than a superficial
study of foreign languages, to the neglect of his mother tongue.
Let the school be conducted along the lines of the ancient schools
of the prophets, the word of God lying at the foundation of all the
education given. Let not the students attempt to grasp the higher
rounds of the ladder first. There are those who have attended other
schools, thinking that they could obtain an advanced education; but
they have been so intent on reaching the higher rounds of the ladder
that they have not been humble enough to learn of Christ. Had they
placed their feet on the lower rounds first, they would have made
progress, learning more and still more of the Great Teacher.
The instructors will find it greatly to their advantage to take hold
disinterestedly with the students in manual labor, showing them
how to work. By co-operating with the youth in this practical way,
the teachers can bind the hearts of the students to themselves by
the cords of sympathy and brotherly love. Christian kindness and