Appeal to the Young.

Dear Youth: The Lord has given me, from time to time, testimonies of warning for you. He has given you encouragement if you would yield your hearts’ best and holiest affections to him. As these warnings revive distinctly before me, I feel a sense of your danger that I know you do not feel. The school located in Battle Creek brings many young people together of different mental organizations. If these youth are not consecrated to God, and humbly walking in the way of his commandments, obedient to his will, the location of a school in Battle Creek will prove a means of great discouragement to the church.T24 40.1

This school may be made a blessing or a curse. I entreat of you who have ever named the name of Christ to depart from all iniquity, and develop characters that God can approve.T24 41.1

I inquire, Do you believe the testimonies of reproof which have been given you are of God? If you really believe that the voice of God has spoken to you, pointing out your dangers, do you heed the counsels given? Do you keep fresh in your minds these testimonies of warning by often reading them with a prayerful heart?T24 41.2

The Lord has spoken to you, children and youth, again and again. And you have been slow to heed the warnings given you. If you have not rebelliously braced your hearts against the views God has given of your characters, your dangers, and the course marked out for you to pursue, some of you have been inattentive in regard to the things required of you, that you might gain spiritual strength and be a blessing in the school, in the church, and to all with whom you associate.T24 41.3

Young men and women, you are accountable to God for the light he has given you. This light and these warnings, if not heeded, will rise up in judgment against you. You have your dangers plainly stated. You are cautioned and guarded on every side and hedged in with warnings. And in the house of God you have listened to the most solemn, heart searching truths presented by the servants of God in demonstration of the Spirit. What weight have these solemn appeals upon your hearts? And what influence do they have upon your characters? You will be held responsible for every one of these appeals and warnings. They will rise up in judgment to condemn those who pursue a life of vanity, levity, and pride.T24 41.4

Dear young friends, that which you sow, you will also reap. Now for you is the sowing time. What will the harvest be? What are you sowing? Every word you utter and every act of your life is a seed which will bear good or evil fruit, and will result in joy or sorrow to the sower of the seed. As is the seed sown, so will be the crop. God has given you great light and many privileges.T24 42.1

After this light has been given, and after your dangers have been plainly presented before you, the responsibility becomes yours. The manner in which you treat the light God gives you will turn the scale for happiness or woe. You are shaping your destinies for yourselves. You all have an influence for good or for evil on the minds and characters of others. And just the influence which you exert is written in the book of records in Heaven. An angel is attending you, and taking record of your words and actions. When you arise in the morning, do you feel your helplessness and your need of strength from God? And do you humbly, with your heart, make known your wants to your Heavenly Father? If you do, angels mark your prayers, and if these prayers have not gone forth out of feigned lips, when you are in danger of unconsciously doing wrong, and exerting an influence which will lead others to do wrong, your guardian angel will be by your side, prompting you to a better course, choosing your words for you, and influencing your actions.T24 42.2

If you feel in no danger, and if you offer no prayer for help and strength to resist temptations, you will be sure to go astray. And your neglect of duty is marked in the book of God in Heaven. You will be found wanting in the trying day.T24 43.1

There are those around you who have been religiously instructed, and some have been indulged, petted, flattered, and praised, until they have been literally spoiled for practical life. I am speaking in regard to persons I know. Their characters are warped by indulgence, flattery, and indolence, so that for this life they are useless. And if useless so far as this life is concerned, what may we hope for that life where all is purity and holiness, and where all have harmonious characters. I have prayed for these persons. I have personally addressed them. I could see the influence they would exert over other minds, in leading them to vanity, love of dress, and carelessness in regard to their eternal interests. The only hope for this class is for them to take heed to their ways, and humble their proud, vain hearts before God, make confession of their sins, and be converted.T24 43.2

Vanity in dress is a great temptation for the youth, as well as love of amusement. The sacred claims that God has upon us all are, the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole affections. The answer some make to this statement is, Oh! I do not profess to be a Christian. What if they do not? Has not God the same claims upon them that he has upon the one who professes to be his child? Because they are bold in their careless disregard of sacred things, is their sin of neglect and rebellion passed over by the Lord?T24 44.1

Every day that you disregard the claims of God, every opportunity of offered mercy you slight, is charged to your account, and will swell the list of sins against you in the day when the accounts of every soul will be investigated. I address you, young men and women, professor or nonprofessor^{*The original publication had the spelling “unprofessor.”}. God calls for your affections, your devotion, and your cheerful obedience to him. You have now a short time of probation, and you may now improve this opportunity to make an unconditional surrender to God.T24 44.2

Obedience and submission to God's requirements are the conditions given us by the inspired apostle, by which we become children of God, members of the royal family. Every child and youth, and every man and woman, has Jesus rescued by his own blood from the abyss of ruin to which Satan was compelling them to go. Because sinners will not accept of the salvation freely offered to them, are they released from their obligations? Their choosing to remain in sin and bold transgression does not lessen their guilt. Jesus paid a price for them, and they belong to him. They are his property, and if they will not yield obedience to Him who has given his life for them, and if they will devote their time and strength and talents to the service of Satan, they are earning their wages, which is death. Immortal glory and eternal life our Redeemer offers as a reward to those who will be obedient to him. He has made it possible for them to perfect Christian character through his name, and overcome on their own account as he has overcome in their behalf. He has given them an example in his own life, showing them how they may overcome. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”T24 45.1

The claims of God are equally upon all. Those who choose to neglect the great salvation offered to them freely, and choose to serve themselves and remain enemies to God, enemies to the self-sacrificing Redeemer, are earning their wages. They are sowing to the flesh, and will of the flesh reap corruption.T24 46.1

Those who have put on Christ by baptism, and have by this act shown their separation from the world, and have covenanted to walk in newness of life, should not set up idols in their hearts. Those who have once rejoiced in the evidence of sins forgiven, who have tasted of a Saviour's love, and then persist in uniting with the foes of Christ, and reject the perfect righteousness Jesus offers them, and choose the ways that he has condemned, will be more severely judged than heathen who have never had the light and never known God or his law. Those who refuse to follow the light God has given them, and choose the amusements, vanities, and follies, of the world, and refuse to conform their conduct to the just and holy requirements of God's law, are guilty of sins the most aggravating in the sight of God. Their guilt and their wages will be proportionate to the light and the privileges they have had.T24 46.2

We see the world absorbed in their own amusements. The first and highest thoughts of the larger portion, especially of females, are for display. Love of dress and pleasures is wrecking the happiness of thousands. And some of those who profess to love and keep the commandments of God are coming as near to aping this class as possible, and retain the name of Christians. And some of the young are so eager for display that they are willing to give up even the name of Christian, if they can only follow out their inclination for vanity of dress and love of pleasure. Self-denial in dress is a part of our Christian duty. To dress plainly, and abstain from display of jewelry and ornaments of every kind is in keeping with our faith. Are we of that number who see the folly of the worldlings in indulging in extravagance in dress, as well as in love of amusements? If so, we should be of that class who will shun everything that gives sanction to this spirit which takes possession of the minds and hearts of those who live only for this world, and who have no thought or care for the next.T24 47.1

Christian youth, I have seen in some of you a love for dress and display which has pained me. In some who have been well instructed, and have had religious privileges from their babyhood, who have put on Christ by baptism, thus professing to be dead to the world, I have seen a vanity in dress and a levity in conduct that has grieved the dear Saviour, and has been a reproach to the cause of God. I have marked with pain your religious declension and your disposition to ornament and trim your apparel. Some have been so unfortunate as to come into possession of a gold chain or pin, or both, and have shown bad taste in exhibiting these things, making them conspicuous, to attract attention. I can but associate these characters with the vain peacock who will display his gorgeous feathers for admiration. It is all this poor bird has to attract attention. His voice and form are anything but attractive.T24 48.1

The young may endeavor to excel in seeking for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is a jewel of inestimable value that may be worn with heavenly grace. This adorning will possess attraction for many in this world, and will be esteemed of great price by the heavenly angels, and above all by our Heavenly Father, and will fit them to be welcome guests in the heavenly courts.T24 48.2

The youth have faculties that, with proper cultivation, would qualify them for almost any position of trust. If they had made it their object in obtaining an education to bring into exercise and develop the powers God has given them for usefulness, that they might prove a blessing to others, their minds would not be dwarfed to an inferior standard. They would show depth of thought and firm principle, and would command influence and respect. They might have an elevating influence upon others which would lead souls to see and acknowledge the power of an intelligent Christian life. Those who have greater care to ornament their person for display than to form the mind for the purpose of exercising their powers for the greatest usefulness, that they may glorify God, do not realize their accountability to God. They will be inclined to be superficial in all they undertake. They will narrow their usefulness, and dwarf their intellect.T24 49.1

But I feel deeply pained at heart for the fathers and mothers of these youth, as well as for the children. There has been a lack in the training of these children which leaves a heavy responsibility somewhere. Parents who have petted and indulged their children in the place of judiciously, from principle, restraining them, can see the character they have formed. As the training has been, so the character inclines.T24 49.2