The One Great Object of Our School Work
By C. C. Lewis
As the end draws near, the work of the third angel’s message will increase in strength and holiness. The workers will have Christian integrity, and will love one another as Christ gave commandment. When the true keynote is struck, there will be great zeal and progress. Company after company will leave the black banner of Satan, and will enlist under the glorious banner of Prince Emmanuel. There will be kindled in every soul the fire of holy zeal. The true keynote is that the coming of Christ to this earth will not be very long delayed. See “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 406, 419. This keynote has been partially forgotten. Its clear, ringing tones have been drowned by the noise of less important, though closely related, matters. But our leaders are awakening to the situation, its causes, and its remedy; and they are now calling the denomination back to its true position as Adventists,—believers in the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and heralds of the good news of deliverance. The keynote is again sounding forth with no uncertain tone, and all other notes are being modulated into harmony with it. Let every voice join in the grand anthem that shall sound the gospel of the kingdom to all the world in this generation. But what has our educational work to do with this movement? Much every way. It reaches the mass of our people as no other work does. It begins in the home. In a definite way parents are coming to realize their position as the first and most natural teachers of their children; and home schools are being started where church schools do not exist. If the coming of Christ were the frequent theme of conversation and study in the home, and the home life were filled with the missionary spirit, the foundation would be laid for sending forth an army of laborers into the great harvest field. The faith that was in the heart of the grandmother Lois, and the mother Eunice, dwelt also in the bosom of the son Timothy. Church and intermediate schools are also springing up all over the land. And this is providential; for the church schools are ordained by God to prepare the children for the great work of making known God’s message to the sick and suffering after the way shall become hedged up before the older workers, and they shall be no longer permitted to present the truth. See Vol. VI, pp. 202, 203. Hear it, one and all! The last work of mercy for the world will be done by children prepared for their duties in the church schools! Finally, come the gospel training schools,—schools where students who have studied the common branches as far as the ninth or tenth grade may take up subjects designed to prepare them for the pursuit of a medical course; for the ministry or Bible work; for teaching, nursing, or canvassing; for practicing and teaching music; for shorthand and typewriting; for industrial pursuits; or for a business career. The one great object of all these schools is “to provide places where the younger members of the Lord’s family may be trained according to his plan of growth and development, to engage in the service of our institutions and in different lines of gospel work.” And the third angel’s message, the great testing truth for this time, is to be the keynote sounded and taught in all our institutions. See Vol. VI, pp. 126-128, 133.