Standards of Success
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in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” As a redeemed,
free moral agent, ransomed by an infinite price, God calls upon you
to assert your liberty, and employ your God-given powers as a free
subject of the kingdom of heaven. Be no longer under the thralldom
of sin, but as a loyal subject to the King of kings, prove your loyalty
to God.
[30]
Through Jesus Christ show that you are worthy of the sacred trust
with which the Lord has honored you in bestowing upon you life and
grace. You are to refuse to be in subjection to the power of evil. As
soldiers of Christ we must deliberately and intelligently accept His
terms of salvation under every circumstance, cherish right principles,
and act upon them. Divine wisdom is to be a lamp to your feet. Be
true to yourselves, be true to your God. Everything that can be shaken
will be shaken; but rooted and grounded in the truth, you will abide
with those things that cannot be shaken. The law of God is steadfast,
unalterable; for it is the expression of the character of Jehovah. Make
up your mind that you will not by word or influence cast the least
dishonor upon its authority.
Complete Surrender
To have the religion of Christ means that you have absolutely
surrendered your all to God, and consented to the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit moral power will be given
you, and not only will you have your former intrusted talents for the
service of God, but their efficiency will be greatly multiplied. The
surrender of all our powers to God greatly simplifies the problem of
life. It weakens and cuts short a thousand struggles with the passions
of the natural heart. Religion is as a golden cord that binds the souls
of both youth and aged to Christ. Through it the willing and obedient
are brought safely through dark and intricate paths to the city of God.
[31]
There are youth who have only common faculties, and yet by
education and discipline under teachers who are actuated by high
and pure principles, they may come forth from the training process
qualified for some position of trust to which God has called them. But
there are young men who will make a failure because they have not
determined to overcome natural inclinations, and they will not listen
to the voice of God in His word. They have not barricaded their souls