82
Messages to Young People
be separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His
power. They will be lost, lost, and will be numbered with the scorners
[88]
of the grace of Christ.
I would rather see my children laid in the grave than see them
taking the path that leads to death. The terrible fact that I had nurtured
children to fight against the God of heaven, to swell the ranks of
apostates in the last days, to march under the black banner of Satan,
would indeed be a thought of horror to me.
Moral Courage Needed
Our youth will meet temptations on every hand, and they must be
so educated that they will depend upon higher power, higher teaching,
than can be given by mortals. There are despisers of our Lord every-
where, who habitually throw contempt upon Christianity. They call it
the plaything of children, invented to impose on the credulity of the
ignorant.
Those who have not moral power cannot stand in defense of the
truth; they have not courage to say: “Unless such conversation ceases,
I cannot remain in your presence. Jesus, the world’s Redeemer, is my
Saviour; in Him is centered my hope of eternal life.” But this is the
very way in which to silence them. If you argue with them, they will
have arguments with which to meet you, and nothing you may say will
touch them; but if you live for Christ, if you are firm in your allegiance
to the God of heaven, you may do for them that which argument will
fail to do, and convince them of the fallacy of their doctrines by the
power of godliness.
There is no sadder spectacle than that of those who have been
purchased by the blood of Christ, who have been intrusted with tal-
[89]
ents wherewith they may glorify God, turning to jest the messages
graciously sent to them in the gospel, denying the divinity of Christ,
and trusting to their own finite reasoning, and to arguments that have
no foundation. When tested with affliction, when brought face to face
with death, all these fallacies they have cherished will be melted away
like frost before the sun.
How terrible it is to stand by the coffin of one who has rejected
the appeals of divine mercy! How terrible to say: Here is a life lost!
Here is one who might have reached the highest standard, and gained