Digging For Truth

                p r e p a r e    t h e    m i n d          (  2  RELATED  PHRASES  )                     

  Having received the faith of the gospel, the next work of the believer is to add to his character virtue, and thus cleanse the heart and prepare the mind for the reception of the knowledge of God. This knowledge is the foundation of all true education and of all true service. It is the only real safeguard against temptation; and it is this alone that can make one like God in character. Through the knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, are given to the believer “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” No good gift is withheld from him who sincerely desires to obtain the righteousness of God. { PCP 57.2 }  Read entire Chapter 8

  Although Solomon had longed to prepare the mind of Rehoboam, his chosen successor, to meet with wisdom the crisis foretold by the prophet of God, he had never been able to exert a strong molding influence for good over the mind of his son, whose early training had been so grossly neglected. Rehoboam had received from his mother, an Ammonitess, the stamp of a vacillating character. At times he endeavored to serve God and was granted a measure of prosperity; but he was not steadfast, and at last he yielded to the influences for evil that had surrounded him from infancy. In the mistakes of Rehoboam’s life and in his final apostasy is revealed the fearful result of Solomon’s union with idolatrous women. { PK 88.2}  Read entire Chapter 6

  Take your position, teachers, as true educators, and by words and expressions of interest for their souls pour into the hearts of the students the living stream of redeeming love. Counsel with them before their minds are preoccupied with their literary work. Entreat them to seek Christ and His righteousness. Show them the changes that will surely take place if the heart is given to Christ. Fasten their attention on Him; this will close the door to the foolish aspirations that naturally arise, and will prepare the mind for the reception of divine truth. The youth must be taught that time is golden, that it is perilous for them to think they can sow “wild oats” and not reap a harvest of woe and ruin. They must be taught to be sober-minded, and to admire the good in the character of others. They must be trained to place the will on the side of God’s will, that they may be able to sing the new song and blend with the harmonies of heaven. { 6T 158.2} 

  Although the sacramental service is not mentioned here, yet it is embodied in the figures presented. As the believers celebrate the ordinance that keeps before their minds the crucifixion of their Lord, they are eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. Through faith these representations of Christ can be clearly understood. The Holy Spirit will prepare the mind and quicken the perceptive faculties to grasp the grand truths conveyed in the figures. { HM June 1, 1897, par. 13 }  and  { ST July 15, 1897, par. 5 }

  “Ye are laborers together with God,” the apostle Paul declares. We are a part of God’s great plan, bound up with Christ in God. The greatness of our work is to be measured by the power of the grace of Christ to enable us to perform it. We are to be the means of concentrating the light of heaven upon souls; we should therefore pray earnestly that the bright beams of the sun of Righteousness may shine forth. By faith we are to present Christ as a personal Saviour; then Christ will prepare the mind and heart to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. { SFEcho May 1, 1910, par. 4 }  also appears  { PCO 76.1 } 

  It was revealed to Ellen White that she should present an outline of the controversy between Christ and Satan, as it developed in the first centuries of the Christian era and in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, in such a way as to prepare the mind of the reader to understand clearly the controversy going on in the present day. Writing of this in 1888 as she had occasion (just four years after its issuance) to enlarge and revise volume 4, she explained: { 3BIO 212.1 }  also  { WV 268.4 } 

              p r e p a r e    t h e    m i n d s                            

  When the Lord sought to prepare the minds of his disciples for their last great trial in his betrayal and crucifixion, Peter felt that he could not bear to have the words of the Lord fulfilled; and stirred with indignation at the thought of the injustice so soon to come upon Christ and his followers, he exclaimed, “Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.” The impression which Christ desired to make upon the minds of his followers was one directly opposed to the impression that Peter’s words would make, and he rebuked his disciple with the sternest rebuke that ever fell from his lips. He said, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God; but those that be of men.” { RH April 7, 1891, par. 3 }

  When the Lord sought to prepare the minds of his disciples for their last great trial in his betrayal and crucifixion, Peter felt that he could not bear to have the words of the Lord fulfilled; and, stirred with indignation at the thought of the injustice so soon to come upon Christ and his followers, he exclaimed, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” The impression which Christ desired to make upon the minds of his followers was one directly opposed to the impression that Peter’s words would make, and he rebuked his disciple with the sternest rebuke that ever fell from his lips. He said, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” { RH February 6, 1913, par. 3 }

  It is the work of the physician to educate those who are ignorant in regard to these things. There should be training schools to educate nurses and prepare the minds to sense the danger and to see the importance of bringing in skill and tact in the preparation of foods which shall be substituted for the meat diet. This kind of education will pay in the end. Wisdom should be used not to remove meat all at once from those who have been in the habit of using it, but educate the mind to see the importance of the use of healthful food. { 15MR 283.2 } 

   The minds of our brethren and sisters take too narrow and low a range. They do not keep before the mind’s eye the divine plan, but are fixing their eyes upon worldly models. God calls you to look up, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, and then work to prepare the minds and characters of your students according to Christ’s character. If you lower the standard to obtain numbers, and make this a cause of rejoicing, you show great blindness. You should never consider that numbers are an evidence of success, for then Satan indeed is in the ascendancy. He can boast of very large numbers. { 20MR 187.1 }