p. 63 | Purity of Character

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 7, 1871

Purity of Character.

NEVER in any age was it more important to impress our youth with the value of this great essential principle than at the present time. “Time is money.” How important then is it to us all! Here is pure gold unalloyed, without which our time will be a “drug” upon the market, before entering the world's great banqueting-hall.

Young man, stop a moment and think. What is life? It is a vapor—a dream when one awaketh. Yet life is more than mere mist—it is not a phantasm, but a reality. Yes,

“Art is long, and time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.”

And we are passing away. Whither are we drifting? Has it well been asked: “Young man, what is your life?” It is a precious boon. Now, then, in youth, lay the foundation of a good, manly character; let purity be the beau ideal of thy beautiful life; let thy thought be pure, then shall you go forth well equipped for thy warfare; for life, indeed, is often a struggle. Be prudent, thoughtful; “speak evil of no man.” Remember that charity suffereth long and is kind—beareth all things; endureth all things. “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” The fountain being pure, the stream will be pure. Remember this fact—“you are really what you are in secret.” When alone, your meditation, your reflection, will give shape to your conduct, and your character will thus be formed. You have admired the loveliness of the rose, the flower, and “the beautiful snow.”

You have looked upon the plum and the apricot—did you notice the bloom and beauty of these? That soft, delicate flush overspreading the cheek is said to be more exquisite than the fruit itself. Now, if you strike your hand over it, it is at once gone forever; for it never grows but once. The flower that hangs in the morning impearled with dew, arrayed as no queenly woman ever was arrayed with jewels, once shake it so that the beads roll off, and you may sprinkle the water over it as you please, yet it can never be made again what it was when the dew fell silently upon it from heaven. On a frosty morning, you may see the panes of glass covered with landscapes, mountains, lakes, and trees, blended in beautiful fantastic pictures. Now, if you lay your hand on the glass, and by the scratch of the finger or the warmth of the palm, all the delicate tracery will be obliterated. So there is in youth a beauty and purity of character which, when once touched and defiled, can never be restored; a fringe more delicate than frost-work, and which, when torn and broken, will never be re-embroidered. A man who has spotted and soiled his garments in youth, though he may seek to make them white again, can never wholly do it, even though he wash them with his tears.

When a young man leaves his father's house with the blessing of his mother's kiss still upon his forehead, if he lose that purity of character, it is a loss that he never can regain—never! Such is the fearful consequence of crime—the deep stain of sin: its effect cannot be eradicated—it can only be forgiven, and that forgiveness comes only from the God of all purity.

“Nor bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, Can wash the dismal stain away. Jesus, thy blood, thy blood alone, Hath power sufficient to atone; Thy blood can cleanse us white as snow— No Jewish types can cleanse us so.”