Will Adventist Schools Be the First to Close?

No, Ellen White does not state that our schools will be the first institutions to close; rather, she emphasizes that as we near the end of time, we must redouble our efforts to maintain them on a proper basis and use them as centers for missionary training10MR 279.2+2. While she warns that schools may have to be closed temporarily if they are mismanaged, burdened with debt, or if the faculty refuses to follow divine principles, the primary objective is to keep them operating as long as possible to prepare workers for the closing harvest15MR 52.1+2.

Conditions for Closing a School

There are specific situations where closing a school becomes a necessary course of action to protect the cause of God:

• Financial Indebtedness: When a school continuously increases its debt without a plan for retrenchment, a halt should be called to devise a more sustainable basis15MR 52.1+1.

• Refusal to Reform: If leaders and teachers are unwilling to change narrow plans or connect with broader principles, it is better for those individuals to be separated or for the school to be closed rather than continue in error4LtMs, Lt 84, 1886, par. 31.

• Lack of Proper Faculty: The Lord requires schools to have the strongest possible help, and human judgment should not break up the plans God has laid out for a school's success16LtMs, Lt 224, 1901, par. 9.

The Role of Schools in the Final Conflict

Our educational institutions are designed to play a vital role in the closing work of the gospel:

• Preparing for the Final Crisis: Students are to obtain a knowledge of God that will be greatly needed as we draw near the close of historyFE 359.3+1.

• Missionary Activity: Schools are "God-sent" and provide a unique opportunity for youth to be educated daily in the truth and prepare for the second advent7LtMs, Ms 44, 1892, par. 12+1.

• Combining Labor and Study: Educational centers should combine mental training with physical labor to develop a stable and courageous character in the youthCH 179.3+2.

• Proximity to Sanitariums: Establishing schools near sanitariums provides mutual strength and influence, though they must remain separate enough to prevent interference in their respective worksCT 519.1+2.

Perseverance in the Last Days

Even when difficulties arise, we are encouraged to move forward with faith rather than yielding to discouragement16MR 129.1+1. The end is near, and it is a time for all church members—including the youth—to act a part in the closing work for this timeDG 152.3+1. We are to be "laborers together with God," building up the waste places and repairing the breach made in His law 1 Corinthians 3:9+1. As we reach the time of the end, the work of God will advance through those who have been trained in the school of Christ to be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men 1 Corinthians 4:9FE 230.2+1.

While the "time of trouble" and the "closing of probation" will bring intense struggles, the Lord's hand is on the wheel, and He will not allow human inventions to control His work for these last days1EGWLM 51.3+1. We must be wide awake, watching for the signs of the times as one knows summer is near by the fig tree putting forth its leaves Matthew 24:327BC 984.1. 🌟