The Field, the Message, and the Messenger
[The associate editors take the responsibility of printing here the baccalaureate sermon preached by the editor of the REVIEW before the graduating class of the Washington Sanitarium Nurses’ Training School, on Sabbath, September 30, in the Takoma Park church. Feeling that this review of the world situation and of principles underlying preparation for gospel service presents timely truths for all, we have asked the editor to allow us to print the address entire.—ASSOCIATE EDITORS.] The nurses graduating from the Washington Sanitarium Training School in the class of 1916, have adopted as their motto, “Into the furrow of the world’s great need.” I have taken this motto as the theme of my sermon for this occasion. It seems most appropriate that the members of this class, who are about to enter upon their life work, and indeed all of us whose lives are moved by the same faith and inspired by the same hope, should consider, (1) The situation which presents itself in the great world-field; (2) the distinctive message demanded by the situation; and (3) the qualifications required of those who bear the message. 1. The Present World Situation
To say that we have reached momentous and extraordinary times is to use a phrase which, in view of the startling events occurring from day to day, is becoming more and more commonplace. We face an unparalleled situation. The great European conflict, which has been going forward for more than two years, will bring about many and important changes in the map of the world. It will introduce us to new conditions. Speaking of this, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, says: “The cataclysm is so awful that it is quite within the bounds of truth to say that on July 31 [1914] the curtain went down upon a world which never will be seen again. This conflict is the birth-throes of a new European order of things. The man who attempts to judge the future by the old standards or to force the future back to them will be found to be hopelessly out of date. The world will have no use for him. The world has left behind forever the international policies of Palmerston and of Beaconsfield, and even those of Bismarck, which were far more powerful. When the war ends, conditions will be such that a new kind of imagination and a new kind of statesmanship will be required.” Similarly Oscar S. Straus, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, gives utterance to these words:— “It is to be hoped that out of the extreme suffering and sacrifices that this war imposes there may arise supreme wisdom among the nations. Either there will be a new day or a darker night. All depends upon how this war shall end, and what bulwarks the nations shall erect against future cataclysms.” As never before in earth’s history, great problems confront the state, the church, the home, and society generally. We deal with international questions. Wherever we may live, we are inevitably forced out of our seclusion. We think no longer in the colloquial terms of our fathers. We speak a world language; we are moved by a world spirit. And the events of the last few months have magnified a thousandfold the problems with which we have to do. We number the world’s great armies by millions in place of ten thousands. We measure international finance by billions in place of millions. We face great combinations in every phase of human experience,—great multiplied agencies for good or ill, as they may be used and engineered. By the steamship, the express train, the aeroplane, the submarine, the telephone, and the telegraph, distance has been annihilated, and the whole world has been brought together. As never before it constitutes, with all its heterogeneous elements, one great but inharmonious family of thought and action. As the times are momentous, they are also ominous. Indeed, the very momentousness of the things of which we have spoken increases the danger which exists in every department of life. In the state we see a social, political, and industrial unrest which threatens the very existence of stable government. Society is marked by an increase of moral degeneracy, notwithstanding the heroic fight which has been waged against intemperance, the white slave traffic, and kindred evils. And when we come to individual life, we find ourselves groping in uncertainty, the prey of disappointed hopes, of shattered ideals, of wrecked faiths. But if the times in which we live are momentous and ominous, they are likewise inspiring. We who are assembled here can realize, as the great multitude cannot, that we are engaged at the present time in the last mighty struggle between truth and error. There will be reached in our day the climax of the age-long controversy between the powers of light and the powers of darkness. This age, as no age preceding it, demands brave hearts. Every turn affords opportunity for heroic endeavor, for devoted sacrifice for right and truth, for notable service for God and for humanity. Men need God, but they know it not. They long for peace, but recognize neither its source nor how to obtain it. Amid the jargon of confused sounds, amid the wreck of faiths and the darkness and turmoil which exist on every side, there is need that the divine standard of righteousness be uplifted; that the message of peace and salvation be proclaimed; that the door of hope be opened to earth’s lost sons and daughters. To solve these mighty problems and to do this work for our fellows, we must have a special endowment of heavenly wisdom and power. The meaning and significance of the times in which we live have been clearly portrayed in the prophecies of the Word. The present great conflict we believe was pointed out by the prophet Joel three thousand years ago. He declared that in the day of the Lord’s preparation the heathen should be awakened, the nations would arm themselves for mortal combat, and the industries of peace would be made to contribute to the ravages of war. John the revelator likewise speaks of the time when the nations of men should be angry,—fulfilled in the great European war as never before in earth’s history,—and says that this time of the nations’ anger would be the time when God would judge the dead and give reward to his servants. We in this peaceful land have little realization of the magnitude of the great European conflict, nor how strikingly the anger of the nations is being exhibited. Says Dr. Sherwood Eddy, who4recently returned from a visit to the war zone:— “Think of thirty-eight million men already called to the colors of the leading so-called Christian nations now at war,—a war so terrible that during the last year and a half they have averaged every day a loss of twenty-six thousand men, killed, wounded, or prisoners. Now it is more than twice that number. Think of the more than three million already killed, of the more than four million eight hundred thousand in prison, of the five million wounded. Then there is the daily cost of one hundred million dollars; more than one hundred thousand dollars every minute. “And where will it end? Who can measure the suffering entailed? There is Belgium, with its seven million, and more than three million destitute, lined up in those long bread lines to get their three slices of bread and a cup of soup a day. There is Serbia, with five million destitute, her whole fighting force withdrawn, the women unprotected, with all of the orphans uncared for. “Poland has three million five hundred thousand starving people, two hundred cities destroyed, and fifteen thousand villages wrecked and ruined, people stripping the bark from trees and tearing the roots from the ground for food. “And the terrible war still rolls on. There are forty-five thousand German students in the trenches, pouring out their rich blood. My friend saw in one week four hundred and eighty thousand schoolboys put on their new uniforms and march out to take their places in the trenches, to be mowed down like wheat; while the flower of France is being cut down in the same manner.” As we consider these terrible conditions, and their relation to fulfilling prophecy, we can truly say:—
This is a thrilling time;
Far-reaching questions, mighty in portent,
Concern the mind of statesman and of sage;
The issues of the ages by consent
Focus their climax on this last-day page.
This is an awful time;
Of blood and war and strife and secret shame;
The truth of God is turned into a lie;
In wrathful tones men despise his name,
As rebels bold his government defy.
This is a needy time;
Brave men are needed, loyal for the right,
To stand for God and truth ’gainst sin and wrong,
With courage bold to battle with their might,
Till conflict fierce shall end in victor’s song.
This is a weary time;
Sad hearts are loaded down with pain and care,
The toils of earth in never-ceasing round
Banish fond hope, the joys of life outwear;
In this old world but little rest is found.
This is a solemn time;
For now the Judge of earth and sea and sky,
Upon his heavenly throne in lofty state
Holds solemn court, the sons of men to try;
On its decisions hangs their every fate.
This is a cheering time;
The signs of God point to the glorious day
When he shall come whose right it is to reign;
Bright hope lights up the rugged, darkened way,
That leads to morn from night, to joy from pain. 2. The Message Demanded by the Situation
We come now to consider the message demanded by the situation. In every quarter, thousands are anxiously asking for light and understanding regarding present conditions. May we hope that the great Christian church will recognize the meaning of these times, and be prepared to give an answer to their inquiries? Sad indeed is it that we cannot expect this of Christendom as a whole. Too many in the great Christian church hold the principles of their religion in theory only. Too long has the church cherished in her own membership the very evils the fruits of which she is called upon to combat. She has made her Christian faith and morals objects of barter with the world. Many of her foremost men, trusting in their own intellectual greatness, have discarded the only chart and compass which would furnish them direction in these tempestuous times. They have rejected many of the cardinal truths of Christianity, denying even the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the inspiration of his Holy Word, and in consequence are left to float on the great sea of false philosophy and idle speculation. The church at large regards neither the time nor the significance of the conditions which exist. It is therefore incumbent upon those who know the times and the seasons to give to their fellows the light due this generation. We shall be recreant to our trust if we fail to do this. The state of professed Christianity is likewise a subject of prophetic forecast, and is set forth by the inspired penman as indicating that we have reached the last days of earth’s history. We are glad to note, however, that while the great church as a whole has departed from God, there are still found in its membership many devoted men and women, and to these the significance of the events taking place on the earth make sensible appeal. These disciples are longing for light and understanding. And Heaven will not leave them without enlightenment, nor the world at large without warning. In every age the mercy of God has offered a remedy for existing ills. To the antediluvians God sent a warning of the coming flood, and provided a way of salvation through the preaching of Noah and the building of the ark. The first advent of our Lord furnished the occasion for the message of John the Baptist. In the same way God has a special message to go to the world at this time. That message is summed up in the proclamation of the three angels as brought to view in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. It proclaims that the hour of God’s judgment has come; that the end of all things is at hand; that the kingdoms of this world are soon to give place to the everlasting kingdom of peace. Men are called upon to turn from the service of self and of mammon and of every false god to the worship of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In view of the coming judgment, they are asked to square their lives by God’s ten great requirements. It is, in short, a great message of reform, requiring its adherents to forsake every evil way, and to return to the Bible standard of religious faith and Christian living. It recognizes the human body as the designed abode of the Holy Spirit, and the sanctification of its powers and members to the glory of God as essential to perfect Christian service. Many and varied agencies have been brought into the field to serve the purpose of this message. Schools have been established to educate young men and women as gospel heralds. Printing houses have been erected for the publication of books, papers, and tracts. And not the least among the agencies which have been brought into being are our sanitariums for the alleviation of physical suffering and as exponents of the principles of Christian temperance and healthful living. The influence of these agencies is felt in practically every land. From our sanitarium training schools have gone out many devoted men and women to give their lives to the needs of suffering humanity in both home and foreign fields. In gospel evangelization medical missionary work has come to be recognized as a potent factor. Many mission boards, those operating in the homeland as well as in foreign fields, have encouraged the training and education of this class of workers. This is in recognition of the great truth that the gospel of Christ has to do with the physical as well as with the spiritual nature of man. But it should not be considered that the recognition of this truth is confined to our own age. We have only to look at the earthly life of Christ to see an exemplification of both the work and the worker. He went about doing good, healing the sick, comforting the mourning, preaching the gospel, as the highest exemplification of Christian ministry. Ministry to the physical gives access to the spiritual nature. It is not enough to say to the hungry who apply to us for aid, “Depart and be ye fed;” nor to the naked, “Depart and be ye clothed.” It is not enough to answer the cry for bread with a religious paper or a tract alone. It is indeed true that the hungry and destitute need Christ above every earthly blessing. But let the needy individual first see Christ in temporal blessings, then can he more readily grasp him in the realm of the spiritual. Dr. John Lowe, secretary of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, relates an incident of a minister who was visiting in his parish one of the most destitute and degraded districts of the great city:— “He ascended the long, dark, winding stairs, and opened the door leading into a cheerless garret room. There on a pallet of straw, with no covering save her dirty, tattered garments, lay an aged woman, to all appearances dying. Forgetting for a moment the outward circumstances in his anxiety for the welfare of her soul, the minister inquired with all earnestness whether she had any hope for the world to come. ‘O sir,’ she said, as she stretched out her naked, withered arm, ‘if you were as cold and hungry as I am, you could not think of anything else.’ That servant of God was taught the lesson that to succeed in the highest aim of Christian love our ministry must contemplate man in the whole extent of his being.” It is encouraging to see young men and women devoting their lives to such an unselfish calling. But the opportunities for such labor are not necessarily confined to those who may have had the advantages of a training school, nor is it necessary to go to foreign lands to find openings for such work. Discouraged hearts, depressed minds, and afflicted bodies are found on every side. Every hamlet and neighborhood presents avenues for labor, and every follower of the Lord Jesus has the blessed privilege of engaging in this kind of service. Dr. Parker, who spent years of earnest service as a medical missionary in China, declares of the value of medical missionary work:— “I have no hesitation in expressing it as my solemn conviction that as yet no medium of contact and of bringing the people under the sound of the gospel and within the influence of other means of grace can compare with the facilities offered in medical missionary operations.” And there is a reason for this conclusion by Dr. Parker. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a personal gospel. Christ died to save, not the masses, but the individuals composing the masses. He has chosen to impart his grace through personal ministry. The Christian physician and the Christian nurse in their service of love can enter most deeply into the lives of those for whom they labor. To them more freely than to any other class of workers are the secrets of the soul laid bare. As they relieve pain, as they bring relief to the diseased body, avenues are opened whereby they can minister most effectively to the diseased soul. We have said that our medical work was an important factor in the advancement of this movement. It has been brought into existence for the sole and special purpose of aiding in the giving of the third angel’s message to the world. Outside of this aim, our sanitariums have no right to exist as a part of this special work. And without this definite aim in the preparation of medical missionaries, they might better turn over to worldly hospitals the work of the training of nurses. The medical institutions of the world are by no means behind in scientific knowledge or technical skill. They have competent physicians and well-trained nurses. But our medical institutions are distinctive in that they possess competent Christian physicians and well-trained Christian nurses, who believe the message of God for this generation, and who recognize the divine setting of medical missionary work in this movement. Hence every worker in every Seventh-day Adventist sanitarium should feel that he is there primarily for the express purpose of giving to all who come within the radius of his influence the special message for this day and generation. 3. Qualifications of the Gospel Messenger
When we come to consider the situation which exists in the world, and the importance and solemnity of the message of which we have been made the conservators, we are impressed with the need of adequate preparation on the part of the message bearers. What constitutes a preparation for gospel service? What qualifications should be possessed by those who act the part of heaven’s ambassadors? Many individual qualifications might be enumerated. To my mind they may be classed under three general heads: (a) A knowledge of God; (b) a knowledge of men; (c) a knowledge of books. It needs no argument to prove that one who stands as an ambassador of the government of God should understand the principles of that government. And he should understand these principles not alone in a theoretical way, but should be a living exponent of them in his own life and experience. Indeed, if the testimony of his life does not witness to the theory he proclaims, his message will have little power. The apostle John, in bearing his testimony to the truth of the gospel, says that he declares that which “we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.” How can one proclaim to others the power of the gospel if he himself has never experienced it in his own life? How can he preach Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour if he does not know that his own sins are forgiven? How can he speak of the sweetness and joy of Christian experience if he himself has never entered into real communion with his Master, a communion sweeter than may be experienced with any earthly friend? Declares the Master, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The apostle Paul’s desire was that he might know Christ “and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.” Of his own and his associates’ labors he declares, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” There are too many, even in Christian ministry, who merely know of Christ. They know something about him; they know him as a historical character; but they have not come to know him in his precious attributes of love and mercy, meekness and humility. It was when the patriarch Job entered into this depth of knowledge that he could say, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” May Heaven grant that we who profess the name of the Master may have in our mind a continual and enlarging vision of him, in order that we may rightly represent him to our fellow men. A knowledge of God comes to us chiefly through prayer and through a knowledge of his Word. For that reason we ought to pray. Morning, noon, and night our petitions should ascend to God for forgiveness, for cleansing, for guidance, for spiritual power. There is power in prayer. Heavenly wisdom comes in response to its appeal. The church of God is weak because of the neglect of this holy exercise. The Word should be our constant study. We should make it the man of our counsel, the lamp to our feet, the light to our path. Above all the learning of the ages stands the wisdom of the Most High. The moral value of every book, of every human science and philosophy, must be determined by his revealed will. Indeed, the divine Word has been the inexhaustible treasury from which the wise of the ages have drawn their inspiration. John Greenleaf Whittier says:—
“We search the world for truth; we cull
The good, the pure, the beautiful
From graven stone and written scroll,
From all the flower-fields of the soul;
And, weary seekers of the best,
We come back laden from our quest,
To find that all the sages said
Is in the Book our mother read.” Next in importance to a knowledge of God stands a knowledge of men, and the power to adapt oneself to the varying conditions which may be met in life’s experiences. We may study about men from books, we may learn of their customs and habits, but the real knowledge of men, and the knowledge of how to adapt the gospel message to their peculiar and varied needs, must come through personal association. The power of the gospel worker will be in direct proportion as he is able to adapt himself to others’ circumstances; to view things from their standpoint, to enter into their feelings. One cannot read the gospel record without being impressed with the manner in which Christ did this. We find him carrying on his ministry in the temple, in the synagogue, in the market place, at the social gathering, in the humble dwelling place, in the field, by the roadside. Wherever he could find a heart longing for the truth, he proclaimed the message of salvation.5 The power of adaptation was an important factor in the success of the apostle Paul. His knowledge of God in the abstract, his extensive learning, would have availed little without the ability to adapt himself to his varying environment. He made himself all things to all men. He declares:— “Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, . . . that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” When we come to see in our fellow-men, be they rich or poor, white or black, learned or illiterate, the purchase of Christ’s blood, and their infinite possibilities through the endless ages of eternity, then we shall be able to speak to them heart to heart, and our message will awaken a receptive response. It hardly seems necessary, in this center of education and to this congregation, to emphasize the value of general education and of specific training for the work of God. All things being equal, the more highly educated the worker for Christ the greater his efficiency for doing good. In Heaven’s sight willing ignorance is at a discount, while premium value is placed on consecrated knowledge and efficiency. This movement, before its grand consummation, must be represented in the courts of kings. It must meet and measure strength with the genius of error, with the subtlety of deceptive philosophy. As our work comes more and more into the limelight of publicity and criticism, its advocates must have a training and an experience which will enable them to represent its holy principles with dignity, and in such a way as to commend these truths to the consideration of the honest in heart among the highest classes of earth. Christian education should be so broad in its scope, so practical in its application, that the recipients shall be fitted for life’s duties here and for entrance into the fulness of the life beyond. John Ruskin, in his essay on Modern Education, presents the following excellent statement of what is comprehended in a broad and liberal education. He declares that the educated man will know three things:—
“First, Where he is.
“Secondly, Where he is going.
“Thirdly, What he had best do under those circumstances. “First, Where he is—that is to say, what sort of world he has got into; how large it is; what kind of creatures live in it, and how; what it is made of, and what may be made of it.
“Secondly, Where he is going—that is to say, what chances or reports there are of any other world besides this; what seems to be the nature of that other world; and whether, for information respecting it, he had better consult the Bible, Koran, or Council of Trent.
“Thirdly, What he had best do under those circumstances—that is to say, what kind of faculties he possesses; what are the present state and wants of mankind; what is his place in society; and what are the readiest means in his power of attaining happiness and diffusing it.
“The man who knows these things, and who has had his will so subdued in the learning of them that he is ready to do what he knows he ought, I should call educated, and the man who knows them not, uneducated, though he could talk all the tongues of Babel.” We rejoice that there are open to the young men and women of this denomination opportunities for securing a liberal and practical preparation for the work of God. We are glad that so many in our several schools are taking thorough courses of study, and that such a large number of educated workers are going out from our training centers into the great harvest field. We apprehend that our great danger is not in the underestimation of literary and scientific training. The desire for higher education is strong in the hearts of our young people. Our danger is rather in feeling that this training constitutes the most necessary preparation for the work of God. We need studiously to guard against the growth of this idea. True education is only a means to a definite end, a means through which the Spirit may work with greater freedom and power in the accomplishment of his object. The Right Use of Methods and Means
But methods and means by themselves, whether educational or mechanical, however wisely conceived or efficiently executed, can never serve as the great motive power in the carrying forward of gospel work. This was aptly expressed by a wise missionary in the Far East some twenty years ago. When asked to give his opinion about the work of another prominent missionary, he said, “He is so absorbed with means that I am afraid he will get tired out before he gets to the end to which all his means exist.” Dr. Young, of Arabia, after treating forty thousand surgical cases in that needy field, said: “The curse of Islam is not to be stopped by surgery, any more than immorality is to be cured by free breakfasts.” Nor yet will education alone, as we commonly use the term, give the worker for Christ the power for missionary evangelism. Speaking of this phase of the missionary’s equipment for service, John R. Mott says:— “Education alone, for example, will not evangelize the world. The many regular and established methods of missionary work,—educational, medical, literary, philanthropic,—are right and should be employed as convincing expressions of the unselfish and constructive spirit of Christ, but it is not the expression or illustration of the spirit of Christ which converts and transforms men, but the living Christ himself. He is the Life as well as the Way and the Truth. All other methods are to be regarded as schoolmasters pointing the way to him.
“In the aims of the missionary enterprise the spiritual should hold the central place. The aim of Christian missions is not the expansion of commerce, not the extension of the spheres of political influence of Western Christian nations, not the spread of Western learning and culture, not the disintegration of the beliefs, worships, and practices of non-Christian religions, not even the reproduction in non-Christian lands of the organized forms of Western Christianity. The central and governing aim is the presentation of the living Christ to all men.” Of this living Christ to which Dr. Mott refers, the missionary must be a living witness. In his life and labors, in public work and in private converse, he must exemplify the spirit and character of his divine Master. He must be an epistle, known and read of all men. Education should be sought only as a means, an agency, whereby we may obtain a better knowledge of Christ, and whereby we may better present him to others. “The end of learning,” says Milton, “is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love him, as we may the nearest, by possessing our souls of true virtue.” There are many in the world who lose sight of this end. They seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake, to be counted great, or wise, or learned. The attainment of a degree or the securing of a diploma appears to be, in their minds, the chief aim of all educational acquirement. Dangers Threatening Our Young People
This tendency, we fear, exists on the part of some in our schools. We see an apparent desire to simulate the forms and customs of worldly institutions, to seek for the honor represented in worldly titles, to regard the attainment of intellectualism as the chief object of study and the leading qualification for effective service. This tendency should be regarded as a danger signal in our educational system. We do well to review the earnest warnings sounded by the servant of God some years ago against this danger, which, we fear, threatens our school work even more today than when those warnings were given. We cannot seek affiliation with worldly institutions or adjust our work to meet their standards without unconsciously being molded by their worldly influence, and lowering in consequence the spiritual tone of our own schools. The recent6instruction from the servant of the Lord, pointing out the dangers to our medical students in attending worldly medical schools, applies in principle equally to our young men and women in obtaining their education in the great universities. Scores in seeking such education have been lost to this message, or have imbibed such false conceptions and ideals as to render their labors of little value. Surely we should learn from the sad experiences of the past. The principle enunciated by the prophet of old in declaring of ancient Israel, “The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations,” applies to Israel today. We have a distinctive work to accomplish, and a distinctive character to maintain. We cannot accomplish this work nor maintain this character by joining affinity with the world, nor by sending our young men and women to drink at the fountains of worldly wisdom. The power of this message must ever consist in the great Bible principles which it embraces, and not in its great men. The pioneers in this movement were humble men, without worldly distinction or recognition. This very fact led them to depend upon the power of the mighty God for success. Today we have increased our facilities. We have advanced our educational standards in order to keep pace with the world’s advancement. This is well—well, provided we remember that the power to do the work in which we are engaged must come from God and not from men. It will be an evil day for the cause of the third angel’s message if the time ever comes when we feel that we can carry it to the world through the power of intellectualism rather than through the power of Heaven. Some of the great religious movements of the present day are cherishing this delusion to their undoing. We do well to profit by their sad experience. Declares the apostle Paul:— “Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.” 1 Cor. 1: 26-29. May Heaven grant that with our present-day privileges and opportunities we may not despise the day of small things nor the day of humble beginnings. In the closing work of this message God will employ men of liberal education and, as well, men of meager advantages, to carry his truth with power, because both classes possess humble hearts and teachable spirits. “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” To know the Lord, to know him in his precious attributes of loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, and to know how to bring others to a saving knowledge of his grace,—this is true higher education. This ideal rather than the attainment of worldly recognition, should be kept constantly and faithfully before the young men and women attending our training schools. Illustrating the paramount value of the Christ-spirit in missionary qualification, Bishop Fenwick, in the Sierra Leone Weekly News, relates this trite incident of the examination of an applicant for missionary work:— “The board appointed its wisest and most original member to examine the young man on his fitness for the work. The old man said he would try his best to find out what his qualifications were. It was very cold weather—the middle of winter; the young man lived nine miles away in the country. The examiner sent him a message to be at his house for examination at three o’clock sharp, the next morning. He told his servant to kindle a good fire in his study, and notice exactly what time the young man arrived, and tell him to make himself comfortable. The young man rang the doorbell as the clock struck three. The servant showed him in, and gave him a paper and a seat by the fire. And there he waited, waited, waited, five long hours. The old man did not come down till eight o’clock. Then he came in, and said, ‘Oh, you’re here, are you? All right; when did you get here?’ ‘Three o’clock sharp.’ ‘All right; it’s breakfast time now; come in and have some breakfast.’ “After breakfast they went back to the room. ‘Well, sir,’ said the old man, ‘I was appointed to examine you regarding your fitness for the mission field; that is very important. Can you spell, sir?’ “The young man said he thought he could. ‘Spell baker, then.’ ‘B-a ba, k-e-r ker, baker.’ ‘All right; that will do. Now, do you know anything about figures?’ ‘Yes, sir, something.’ ‘How much is twice two?’—‘Four.’ ‘Three and one are how many?’—‘Four.’ ‘All right, that’s splendid; you’ll do first-rate; I’ll see the board.’ When the board met, the old man reported. ‘Well, brethren, I have examined the candidate, and I recommend him for appointment. He’ll make a tiptop missionary, first-class!’ “Now, my young friends, what do you think of that examination—was it fair? Well, I’ll tell you what I think. I don’t reckon you all could stand it—not all of you.” “‘First,’ said the old examiner. ‘I examined the candidate on his self-denial. I told him to be at my house at three in the morning. He was there. That meant getting up at two in the morning, or sooner, in the dark and cold. He got up—never asked me why.’ “‘Second, I examined him on promptness. I told him to be at my house at three sharp. He was there—not one minute behind time.' “‘Third, I examined him on patience. I let him wait five hours for me, when he might just as well have been in bed; and he waited, and showed no signs of impatience when I went in.’ “‘Fourth, I examined him on his temper. He didn’t get mad—met me perfectly pleasantly; didn’t ask me why I had kept him waiting from three o’clock till eight on a cold winter morning.’ “‘Fifth, I examined him on humility. I asked him to spell words a five-year-old child could spell, and to do sums a five-year-old child could do, and he didn’t show any indignation; didn’t ask me why in creation I wanted to treat him like a child or a fool.’ “‘Brethren, the candidate is self-denying, prompt, patient, obedient, good-tempered, humble; he’s just the man for a missionary, and I recommend him for your acceptance.’ “‘Now, my friends, I think that was the hardest examination I ever knew. I’ve seen a great many examinations in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, calculus, church history, and theology, but that was the hardest examination I ever knew a candidate to be put through.’” The simple but sterling qualities of character possessed by the young man of this story constitute the most essential qualifications for Christian service. Lacking these, the worker is doomed to inevitable failure. It is cause for congratulation that the members of this class have finished their course with credit to themselves and to their Alma Mater. We hope you will not rest satisfied with your present attainments. Your diploma of itself amounts to but little. It is a mere symbol of the training you have received. Your graduation is not the climax of your education. You go out now into the world’s larger school. Before you are heights unscaled, victories unachieved, credits unearned. In the warfare in which you are enlisted be not content to do inferior work. The exhortation of the apostle Paul to the youthful Timothy is as applicable to Christian workers today: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” You must study to keep abreast of the progressive times in which you live. You must study to keep pace with your noble profession. Make the training you have received only a foundation on which to build. By broadening your education add continually to its superstructure. Browning says: “A man was made to grow, and not to stop.” But this continued self-improvement may be secured under the blessing of God only through diligence and singleness of purpose on your part. In the midst of life’s busy activities you must snatch moments for prayer, for meditation, for study. We grow strong in7wrestling with difficulties. In the words of another:— “We rise by the things that are under our feet,
By what we have mastered of good or gain.” John Eliot, the apostle to the North American Indians, in the midst of a busy career, translated and published the Bible in the Indian dialect. On the flyleaf of the first copy that came from the press he wrote, “Prayer and pains, with faith in God, will accomplish anything.” Let this be the motto of our busy lives—“Prayer and pains, with faith in God.” It will do for us what it did for John Eliot. The practical experiences of the great school of life lie before you. Many of its hardest, most practical, and most valuable lessons must be learned through trial, through sorrow, through disappointment. But these experiences will only serve to deepen your sympathies, broaden your comprehension, and bring you more fully into fellowship with the world’s suffering thousands. Everywhere you will find a field for labor. Thousands of hearts on every side are carrying burdens of woe. Whether the providence of God shall lead you to foreign lands or to fields nearer by, you must close your eyes not to see many avenues for Christian service. Remember that Christ is your model, his spirit your motive power, his life of spotless righteousness your covering and protection. May the call of earth’s lost souls as expressed in the following beautiful words of Ernest G. Wesley, a devoted missionary of the Methodist Church, make sensible and lasting appeal to your hearts, as you seek with the spirit and power of the Master to labor in “the furrow of the world’s great need:”— “Lift up your eyes—behold the task to which
The Master calls. Earth’s fields the reapers wait,
And lo! much golden grain is bending now;
So low that fallen, soiled, and stained it lies
Because no hand has gleaned! The harvests ripe
Invite thy love, thy prayer, thy toil. Before
Thine eye and near thine hand the burdened plains
Are spread. Thy zeal for souls, thine earnest zeal,
He asks, who lived and loved and bled and died
Salvation to secure for thee and thine. . . . “Thy hand, thy heart, thy brain, thy wealth, he needs
Today,—thy hand to reap, thy heart to love,
Thy brain to plan, thy wealth to cleave the way
Through forests dark and jungles deep, and e’er
‘His reapers,’ on to fields as yet unreaped,
Where harvests rich lie waiting for their toil. “The day is now, the day in which for Christ
All labor must be done. Too soon the night
Comes on when toil must cease, and what is then
Ungleaned for ever must lie ungleaned and lost!”