CHRISTIAN EDUCATION by W. W. Prescott

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 32.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.

By W. W. Prescott

THERE is only one purpose worthy to occupy our time and our efforts, and that is to know God. God is love; all that he does is in love; everything that he does or says is but a revelation of that love of God; and the whole purpose of our lives ought to be to become acquainted with God, and to teach to others the knowledge of God. All that we know concerning God is revealed to us in and through Jesus Christ, and so the whole purpose of life ought to be to become acquainted with God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ, and to be able to give to others the knowledge of God as thus revealed.

When we speak of the subject of education, it is not a subject separate from the other experiences

of the Christian. Christian education is simply a part, and a very important part, of the Christian experience. And just as when we try to instruct concerning Christian experience, it is impossible to put it all into one lesson, so when we come to speak on the subject of education, all we can do is to take one phase of it, or one thought connected with it, and dwell upon that. The subject is too large to attempt to cover it in any other way; and I thought that this morning, in the brief hour that we have, we would consider this special line,—how God reveals himself to us, and how we may become acquainted with God, and what relation this has, or ought to have, to our system and plan of education.

ONE PURPOSE.

You know in the general scheme of education, as followed at the present time, a course of study usually includes the sciences, mathematics, language, history, philosophy; and after pursuing for a given time a course of study in which each line of work is supposed to have its appropriate place, one is said to be educated. Now, I have no objection whatever to pursuing these studies; it is not that; they are all essential; but there should be one thought and purpose in it all; and one thought, one principle, should control in the arrangement of such courses of study, and in following them out, and that is to become acquainted with God, to learn of God.

HOW GOD IS REVEALED.

Now there are three ways in which God especially reveals himself. He reveals himself to us in his works. All true science is but the interpretation of the handwriting of God in the material universe, and all the study of the sciences as related to the works of God should be for that purpose, to see God in his works, and to learn how to read that which he has himself written in his works. Have you thought of this, that for more than two thousand years after man was created he had no written revelation of God, but that his text-book was nature, and that he was able to read God on every leaf of the trees, on every cloud that passed over the sky, and on every object in nature, and not simply as a theory, as an idea that there was a God that existed, but he was able to read in the works of God the love, the wisdom, and the righteousness of God. So clearly has God made this handwriting that if there had been a written revelation of God, man would have been without excuse if he did not know and obey God. The Scripture expresses it in this way: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." The eternal power and Godhead, or divinity, of God were so clearly written in the creation, and his attributes so clearly written upon the face of nature, that man would have been without excuse if God had given him no written revelation of himself; and for more than two thousand years there was no revelation; and yet God was seen in everything. That is, before sin had darkened and debased the mind so that it could not read the handwriting of God—closed the eye, as it were—man could read God in everything, and he could draw from the works of God those lessons of faith, of love, of wisdom, and of righteousness, that were necessary for him to learn in order to live in perfect harmony with the Creator.

It is a significant fact to me that before sin entered into the world, with the face of nature as a text-book, with the works of God before the eye continually in which to read God,

THE SABBATH WAS THE ONLY OUTWARD OBSERVANCE

necessary to remind man of God. Before sin entered, the weekly requirement of the Sabbath, that sign, that memorial, that the God whom they worshiped was the God who made the heavens and the earth and all things that are in them, was the only outward thing, the only outward observance, necessary to turn the mind of man toward God; and that was to remind him that the living God, whom he worshiped, was the one whom he read in nature. But after sin entered, and thus debased the mind of man, then it became necessary that there should be more things to remind him of God. His spiritual vision began to grow dim, and his ability to read God in nature as the God of love, wisdom, and righteousness, to whom his worship was due, became less and less; and it became more and more necessary that God should supplement this with an explanation of what was clear before, and that man should be reminded again and again, and taught again and again, that the God who created these things was a God of love, wisdom, and righteousness, and that his service and homage were due to him as the Creator of all these things.

Then as sin increased, and man went lower and lower, his ability to read God in the face of nature became less and less, and more and more it became necessary to point out to him the lessons that were in nature. That is, I suppose, it was simply like this, that in early times, before man lost his power to read God in nature, the leaf that he looked upon taught him just as clearly of the wisdom, the love, and goodness of God, of his righteousness and holiness, as does this leaf to-day [displaying Bible]; and that just as upon this leaf is printed the statement that he is love, that he is righteousness, that he is wisdom, that he is the Creator and the Redeemer, so upon every leaf like this [displaying leaf] those same things were written. And just as you and I can open this book, and on this page we can read these statements concerning God, and thus become acquainted with him, just so they could look upon the leaves that were open before them all the time, the page of nature that was spread before them continually, and just as plainly they could read of the wisdom, goodness, and love of God, that he was the Creator, and that he was the Redeemer. Let me read a word upon that point:—

"The holy pair [Adam and Eve] were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. They were full of vigor imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than that of angels. The mysteries of the visible universe, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge, afforded them inexhaustible sources of instruction and delight. The laws and operations in nature which have engaged men's study for six thousand years were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held communion with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that playeth among the waters, to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God's glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, 'the balancing of the clouds,' the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,—all were open to the study of our first parents. On every leaf of the forest or stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God's name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke to them of infinite wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction that filled their hearts with deeper love, and called forth fresh expressions of gratitude."—Patriarchs and Prophets.

CLEARER REVELATIONS.

Now after man had lost the ability to read thus clearly the attributes of God in the face of nature, and to see him as his Redeemer, then God began to make clearer revelations to him, to meet him where he was; and as he went downward in the road of sin, God followed him with clearer and still clearer revelations; and when Christ came, he came as the great Teacher, to present in a still clearer light these same truths that were taught from the beginning in the face of nature. And you remember that Christ's teaching consisted very largely in calling attention to the lessons that were taught by nature, and in pointing out the instruction, and in getting connected in man's mind the thoughts, of God with the things of nature. You can readily recall the many lessons that are linked with the things which we see about us every day. "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Now it is God's desire that every time we see the grass of the field and the flowers, we shall think of that. He says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin." Every time we see the lilies, God would have us consider the lesson of their growth as applied to our spiritual growth. And you will find it difficult to think of any object in nature with which there is not a lesson connected in the Scripture. I was speaking of this point before our students one day, and afterwards one of them handed me a list of eighty-two different objects in nature with which lessons were connected in the Scripture, and gave me the reference to chapter and verse.

Now, when one is taught that way, do you not see that he cannot open his eyes upon the face of nature without it speaking to him all the time through the Scripture? The tree—"They shall be trees of righteousness." Does the sun shine?—"The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings." Are there clouds?—"He shall be a cloud by day." Is there rain?—"He shall rain righteousness upon you." We should connect these things of nature with God as he would have us. He has done it so that in every experience of life we should be reminded of him, and that we shall not forget God in any experience of life. "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people." So in everything you may think of you will find a lesson connected with it.

(To be continued.)