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Chapter 40—Self-Deceived Youth
Brother O,
I have been shown in vision the dangers of youth. Your case
was presented before me. I saw that you had not adorned your
profession. You might have done good, and your example might
have been a blessing to the youth with whom you have associated;
but, alas! your inmost soul has not been converted to God. If you
had taken the course a consistent Christian should, your relatives
and friends would have been influenced by your godly course to
follow in your footsteps. My brother, your heart is not right with
God; your thoughts are not elevated; you permit your mind to run
in a wrong channel. Your morals have not taken a pure, elevated
tone. Your habits have been such as to injure your physical health
and have been death to spirituality. You cannot prosper in religious
things until you are converted.
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When you realize the transforming influence of the power of
God upon your heart, it will be seen in your life. You have lacked a
religious experience, but it is not too late for you now to seek God
with earnest, heartfelt cries: “What shall I do to be saved?” You can
never be a true Christian until you are thoroughly converted. You
have been a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. You have
been seeking after pleasure, but have you found real enjoyment in
this course? You have sought to make yourself agreeable to young,
inexperienced girls. You have had your mind so much upon them
that you could not direct it upward to God and heaven. “Cleanse
your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.”
This exhortation is applicable to you. You need to learn the ways,
the will and works of God. You need pure and undefiled religion;
you need to cultivate devotional feelings. Cease to do evil, and learn
to do well. The blessing of God cannot rest upon you until you
become more like Christ.
I am pained as I see the lack of godliness with the young. Satan
takes the mind and turns it in a channel which is corrupt. A self-
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