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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
the church. Prayer had also been offered in their behalf. Their child
had died, the wife was sick, and the husband and father would leave
his case upon us for us to bring before a pure and holy God, that He
might work a miracle and make him well. The moral sensibilities of
this man were benumbed.
When the young adopt vile practices while the spirit is tender,
they will never obtain force to fully and correctly develop physical,
intellectual, and moral character. Here was a man debasing himself
daily, and yet daring to venture into the presence of God and ask
an increase of strength which he had vilely squandered, and which,
if granted, he would consume upon his lust. What forbearance has
God! If He should deal with man according to his corrupt ways,
who could live in His sight? What if we had been less cautious and
carried the case of this man before God while he was practicing
iniquity, would the Lord have heard? would He have answered?
“For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither
shall evil dwell with Thee. The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight:
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” “If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me.”
This is not a solitary case. Even the marriage relation was not
sufficient to preserve this man from the corrupt habits of his youth. I
wish I could be convinced that such cases as the one I have presented
are rare, but I know they are frequent. Children born to parents
who are controlled by corrupt passions are worthless. What can be
expected of such children but that they will sink lower in the scale
than their parents? What can be expected of the rising generation?
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Thousands are devoid of principle. These very ones are transmitting
to their offspring their own miserable, corrupt passions. What a
legacy! Thousands drag out their unprincipled lives, tainting their
associates, and perpetuating their debased passions by transmitting
them to their children. They take the responsibility of giving to them
the stamp of their own characters.
I come again to Christians. If all who profess to obey the law of
God were free from iniquity, my soul would be relieved; but they
are not. Even some who profess to keep all the commandments
of God are guilty of the sin of adultery. What can I say to arouse
their benumbed sensibilities? Moral principle, strictly carried out,
becomes the only safeguard of the soul. If ever there was a time