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An Educated Ministry

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Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 30, 1879

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 41.

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An Educated Ministry.

By J. W.

CHRIST, the teacher sent of God to give light to the world, was the greatest educator the world ever knew. The Son of God was the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom. He said to men in the common walks of life, “Follow me,” because those who were proud of their education and position rejected him, and would not be his disciples. He did not call these to be his first apostles because they “were unlearned and ignorant men;” but because they would leave all and follow him. They would humbly sit at his feet, be instructed by his words of wisdom, be impressed by his example, and thus receive from the world’s Redeemer the highest type of education. This qualified them to correctly represent their Master and preach his gospel.
After the opening of the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, a man of learning was needed whose sanctified powers were to be employed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in tracing from the type to the antitype, from the shadow to the substance, thus directing the Hebrew mind from the worship of the old, up to that of the New Jerusalem. That man was Saul of Tarsus, now the Paul of the New Testament. He was the man for the time in which he lived. At that crisis, when the old order of things was passing out, and the new dispensation was being established, a man of learning and power was needed.
Martin Luther was the man for his time. He was daring and sometimes rash, yet was a great and good man. The little horn had prevailed, and millions of the saints of the Most High had been put to death. To fearlessly expose the vileness of the papal monks, and to meet their learning and their rage, and also to win the hearts of the common people with all the tenderness and affection of the gospel, called for just such a man as Luther. He could battle with the lion, or feed and tenderly nurse the lambs of Christ’s fold.
And in order that the church might be brought up still higher from the empty forms of the papacy, and salvation by works alone, God raised up Whitfield, the Wesleys, and others, who stood high among the learned men of their day. For every crisis, God has given to the church men equal to their task.
The world’s greatest crisis is upon us. The grand scheme of redemption is soon to close. And in its closing hours a message of warning is to go forth. A theological conflict is impending. The last message, with its burden of unpopular truth, is to have hurled against it the learning and power of the popular clergy. Men of God, qualified for the work of standing in defense of the great truths of the gospel of the coming kingdom, are wanted.
Time is short, and preparations for the great work to be accomplished in a brief space of time should be made as speedily as possible. Some of those yet in their teens who have the ministry in view should take a full course of study at the Battle Creek College, while others more advanced in years, and who feel pressed to enter the field, should take time, and should be helped, if necessary, to take a term or two. The field is the world, and in the vast harvest there is work for harvesters of different qualifications. Rural districts must be entered, as well as our large cities.
Christ’s ambassadors need not be all Pauls, Luthers, Whitfields, and Wesleys. “For 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.” 1 Cor. 1:26, 27.
There is room for all to labor who have a heart to work, and each should seek that locality to which his ability and qualifications are best adapted. We have but few men who are now qualified to enter large cities and hold a congregation of those who have listened to able speakers. Young men and small men have made grave mistakes in spending time and means laboring in places too large for them, where they have accomplished next to nothing. The same amount of labor and means, in connection with our publications, might have raised up a good church in some rural district. The Lord had places and work for the fishermen of Galilee as well as for Paul, the scholar for his time.J. W.