Importance of Education
71
Will our youth consider that they have battles to fight? Satan and
his hosts are arrayed against them, and they have not the experience
that those of mature age have gained.
Satan has an intense hatred for Christ, and the purchase of His
blood, and he works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. He
seeks by every artifice to enlist the young under his banner; and he
uses them as his agents to suggest doubts of the Bible. When one
seed of doubt is sown, Satan nourishes it until it produces an abundant
harvest. If he can unsettle one youth in regard to the Scripture, that one
will not cease to work until other minds are leavened with the same
skepticism.
Those who cherish doubts will boast of their independence of mind;
but they are far enough from possessing genuine independence. Their
minds are filled with slavish fear, lest some one as weak and superficial
as themselves should ridicule them. This is weakness, and slavery
to the veriest tyrant. True liberty and independence are found in the
service of God. His service will place upon you no restriction that will
not increase your happiness. In complying with His requirements, you
will find a peace, contentment, and enjoyment that you can never have
in the path of wild license and sin. Then study well the nature of the
liberty you desire. Is it the liberty of the sons of God, to be free in
Christ Jesus? or do you call the selfish indulgence of base passions
freedom? Such liberty carries with it the heaviest remorse; it is the
cruelest bondage.
True independence of mind is not stubbornness. It leads the youth
to form their opinions on the word of God, irrespective of what others
may say or do. If in the company of the unbelieving, the atheist, or
the infidel, it leads them to acknowledge and defend their belief in
the sacred truths of the gospel against the cavilings and witticisms
of their ungodly associates. If they are with those who think it is a
virtue to parade the faults of professed Christians, and then scoff at
[89]
religion, morality, and virtue, real independence of mind will lead
them courteously yet boldly to show that ridicule is a poor substitute
for sound argument. It will enable them to look beyond the caviler to
the one who influences him, the adversary of God and man, and to
resist him in the person of his agent.
Stand up for Jesus, young friends, and in your time of need Jesus
will stand up for you. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Either