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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
The influence of the sons of Brother D and of several others from
Iowa, also that of Mr. E of Illinois, has been no benefit to our school.
The relatives and friends of these students have sustained them in
casting reflections upon the college. The sons of Brother D have
ability and aptness, which is a source of gratification to the parents;
but when the ability of these young men is exerted to break down the
rules and regulations of the college, it is nothing that should excite
pleasure in the hearts of any. The paper containing that apt and sharp
criticism concerning one who teaches in the college will not be read
with such gratification in the day when every man’s work shall pass in
review before God. Brother and Sister D will then meet a record of
the work they did in giving their son poorly concealed justification in
this matter. They must then answer for the influence they have exerted
against the school, one of God’s instrumentalities, and for making the
colored statements which have prevented youth from coming to the
college, where they might have been brought under the influence of
truth. Some souls will be lost in consequence of this wrong influence.
The great day of God’s judgment will unfold the influence of the words
spoken and the attitude assumed. Brother and Sister D have duties
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at home which they have neglected. They have been drunken with
the cares of this life. Work and hurry and drive are the order of the
day, and their intense worldliness has had its molding influence upon
their children, upon the church, and upon the world. It is the example
of those who hold the truth in righteousness which will condemn the
world.
Upon Christian youth depend in a great measure the preservation
and perpetuity of the institutions which God has devised as means by
which to advance His work. This grave responsibility rests upon the
youth of today who are coming upon the stage of action. Never was
there a period when results so important depended upon a generation
of men; then how important that the young should be qualified for the
great work, that God may use them as His instruments. Their Maker
has claims upon them which are paramount to all others.
It is God that has given life and every physical and mental endow-
ment they possess. He has bestowed upon them capabilities for wise
improvement, that they may be entrusted with a work which will be
as enduring as eternity. In return for His great gifts He claims a due
cultivation and exercise of their intellectual and moral faculties. He