Dangers of the Young
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fluence of worldly professors is injurious to the young. The mass
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of professed Christians have removed the line of distinction between
Christians and the world, and while they profess to be living for Christ,
they are living for the world. Their faith has but little restraining influ-
ence upon their pleasures; while they profess to be children of the light,
they walk in darkness and are children of the night and of darkness.
Those who walk in darkness cannot love God and sincerely desire to
glorify Him. They are not enlightened to discern the excellence of
heavenly things, and therefore cannot truly love them. They profess to
be Christians because it is considered honorable, and there is no cross
for them to bear. Their motives are often selfish. Some such professors
can enter the ballroom and unite in all the amusements which it affords.
Others cannot go to such a length as this, yet they can attend parties
of pleasure, picnics, donation parties, and exhibitions. And the most
discerning eye would fail to detect in such professed Christians one
mark of Christianity. One would fail to see in their appearance any
difference between them and the greatest unbeliever. The professed
Christian, the profligate, the open scoffer at religion, and the openly
profane all mingle together as one. And God regards them as one in
spirit and practice.
A profession of Christianity without corresponding faith and works
will avail nothing. No man can serve two masters. The children of
the wicked one are their own master’s servants; to whom they yield
themselves servants to obey, his servants they are, and they cannot be
the servants of God until they renounce the devil and all his works.
It cannot be harmless for servants of the heavenly King to engage in
the pleasures and amusements which Satan’s servants engage in, even
though they often repeat that such amusements are harmless. God has
revealed sacred and holy truths to separate His people from the ungodly
and purify them unto Himself. Seventh-day Adventists should live out
their faith. Those who obey the Ten Commandments view the state of
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the world and religious things from a standpoint altogether different
from that of professors who are lovers of pleasure, who shun the cross,
and live in violation of the fourth commandment. In the present state of
things in society it is no easy task for parents to restrain their children
and instruct them according to the Bible rule of right. Professors of
religion have so departed from the word of God that when His people
return to His sacred word, and would train their children according