Chapter 27—The Relation of Education to the Work
of God
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for
they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages,
and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he
that reapeth may rejoice together.”
There is a great dearth of laborers to go forth into missionary fields,
endowed with the true missionary spirit, ready to shed forth the light
of truth amid the moral darkness of the world. The enemies of God
are daily plotting for the suppression of the truth, and the enslaving
of the souls of men. They are seeking to exalt the false Sabbath, and
by fastening men in error, deepen the darkness that covers the earth,
and the gross darkness that covers the people. In a time like this, shall
those who know the truth be inactive, and allow the powers of darkness
to prevail? Shall not those who believe the truth for this time be wide
awake, and work with an energy consistent with the profession of faith
they make? Shall not those who understand the truth of God make
every sacrifice to win souls to Christ, to yield allegiance to the law
of God? The day is far spent, the night is at hand, and it is essential
to work while it is day; for the night cometh, in which no man can
work. In a time like this, we should have but this object in view,—the
employing of every means that God has provided by which the truth
may be planted in the hearts of men. It is for this very purpose that the
word of God was sent to the world, that it might control the life, and
transform the character. It is the duty of every Christian to strive to
the utmost of his ability to spread abroad the knowledge of the truth.
Christ has commissioned His disciples to go forth into all the world
and preach the gospel to all nations.
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With the great work before us of enlightening the world, we who
believe the truth should feel the necessity of thorough education in
the practical branches of knowledge, and especially our need of an
education in the truths of the Scriptures. Error of every character is
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