Dangers of the Young
457
I counsel you to humble your heart and confess your wrongs.
Consider the solemn charge David gave to Solomon on his dying
bed: “I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and
show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk
in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His
judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses,
that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou
turnest thyself.” Take this charge to your own heart. Let no one flatter
you in wrongdoing. While it is a disgrace to sin, it is no disgrace, but
rather an honor, to confess one’s sins. Maintain true individuality, and
cultivate manly dignity. Put away pride, self-conceit, and false dignity;
for these can be maintained only at the most terrible consequences to
yourself.
It is not the boisterous song, the merry company, or the stimulating
drink that can make you a man in the sight of God, or cheer your heart
in sickness and sorrow. True religion alone can be your solace and
comfort in trouble. The discipline you received at the office has not
been more close and severe than God’s word has imposed upon you.
Will you call God unjust? Will you tell Him to His face that He is
arbitrary because He declares that the wrongdoer shall be separated
from His presence?
How plainly the picture is drawn in the word of God of His dealing
with the man who accepted His invitation to the wedding, but who
did not put on the wedding garment which had been purchased for
him, the robe of Christ’s righteousness! He thought his own defiled
garments good enough to come into the presence of Christ, but he was
cast out as one who had insulted his Lord and abused His gracious
benevolence.
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My brother, your righteousness will not be sufficient. You must put
on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. You must be like Christ. Con-
sider the severe test that Christ endured in the wilderness of temptation
on the point of appetite. He was emaciated by that long abstinence on
your account and on mine; He fought and conquered Satan, that He
might give us vantage ground, bringing us divine strength to conquer
appetite and every unholy passion.
I ask you to look at this matter as it is. When you unite with the
despisers of God in drinking beer or wine or stronger drink, imagine
Jesus before you, suffering the keenest pangs of hunger that He may