We should ask the Lord to open our understanding, that we may comprehend divine truth. If we humble our hearts before God, empty them of vanity and pride and selfishness, through the grace abundantly bestowed upon us; if we sincerely desire and unwaveringly believe, the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will shine into our minds, and illuminate our darkened understanding. Jesus is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He is the Light of the world, and He bids us come unto Him, and learn of Him. Jesus was the great Teacher. He could have made disclosures on the sciences that would have placed the discoveries of the greatest men in the background as utter littleness; but this was not His mission or His work. He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He could not permit Himself to be turned from His one object. He allowed nothing to divert Him. This work He has given into our hands. Shall we do it? (FE 183.1) MC VC

In the days of Christ the established teachers instructed men in the traditions of the fathers, in childish fables, mingled with the opinions of those who they thought were high authorities. Yet neither high nor low could discern any ray of light in their teaching. What wonder was it that crowds followed in the footsteps of the Lord, and gave Him homage as they listened to His words! He revealed truths that had been buried under the rubbish of error, and He freed them from the exactions and traditions of men, and bade them stand fast forever. He rescued truth from its obscurity, and set it in its proper framework, to shine in its original luster. He addressed men in His own name; for authority was vested in Himself, and why should men, professing to be His followers, not speak with authority concerning subjects on which He has given light? Why take inferior sources of instruction when Christ is the great Teacher who knows all things? Why present inferior authors to the attention of students, when He whose words are spirit and life invites, “Come, ... and learn of Me”? (FE 183.2) MC VC