The widespread use of such books at this time is one of the cunning devices of Satan. He is seeking to divert the minds of old and young from the great work of character building. He means that our children and youth shall be swept away by the soul-destroying deceptions with which he is filling the world. Therefore he seeks to divert their minds from the word of God and thus prevent them from obtaining a knowledge of those truths that would be their safeguard.
(MH 447.1)
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Never should books containing a perversion of truth be placed in the hands of children or youth. Let not our children, in the very process of obtaining an education, receive ideas that will prove to be seeds of sin. If those with mature minds had nothing to do with such books, they would themselves be far safer, and their example and influence on the right side would make it far less difficult to guard the youth from temptation.
(MH 447.2)
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We have an abundance of that which is real, that which is divine. Those who thirst for knowledge need not go to polluted fountains. The Lord says:
(MH 447.3)
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“Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,
And apply thine heart unto My knowledge....
That thy trust may be in the Lord,
I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
Have not I written to thee excellent things
In counsels and knowledge,
That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth;
That thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?”Proverbs 22:17, 19-21. Proverbs 22:17, 19~21. “He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel”Psalm 78:5.
(MH 447.4)
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“Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
Showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.”Psalm 78:4. “That the generation to come might know them,
Even the children which should be born;
Who should arise and declare them to their children:
That they might set their hope in God.”Psalm 78:6~7.
(MH 448.1)
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“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,
And He addeth no sorrow with it.”Proverbs 10:22.
(MH 448.2)
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So also Christ presented the principles of truth in the gospel. In His teaching we may drink of the pure streams that flow from the throne of God. Christ could have imparted to men knowledge that would have surpassed any previous disclosures, and put in the background every other discovery. He could have unlocked mystery after mystery, and could have concentrated around these wonderful revelations the active, earnest thought of successive generations till the close of time. But He would not spare a moment from teaching the science of salvation. His time, His faculties, and His life were appreciated and used only as the means for working out the salvation of the souls of men. He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He would not be turned from His purpose. He allowed nothing to divert Him.
(MH 448.3)
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Christ imparted only that knowledge which could be utilized. His instruction of the people was confined to the needs of their own condition in practical life. The curiosity that led them to come to Him with prying questions, He did not gratify. All such questionings He made the occasion for solemn, earnest, vital appeals. To those who were so eager to pluck from the tree of knowledge, He offered the fruit of the tree of life. They found every avenue closed except the way that leads to God. Every fountain was sealed save the fountain of eternal life.
(MH 448.4)
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