THE YOUTH OF ALL GENERATIONS.
By Carrie Hathaway
In every important religious movement in this world’s history, we find that children and youth have taken a prominent part. The Lord recognized the enthusiasm that is bound up in young hearts when he said: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” In the young Israelite who was made governor of Egypt; in the shepherd boy of Bethlehem; and in the Hebrew captives in Babylon, we have ample illustrations of what the Lord will do with young men wholly surrendered to him. Pharaoh said of Joseph: “Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.” David became a man after the Lord’s own heart, and one result of the faithful witnessing of the Hebrew children was that the king made a decree that no one should speak “anything amiss” against their God. Of Jesus Christ, the greatest missionary and reformer the world has ever known, it is said, “As he is, so are we in this world.” As a young person, having passed through the years of childhood and youth, the Saviour was able to meet other young persons; he received and blessed the little children; he gave kindly advice and warning to the rich young man, and was a most devoted friend and guest of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Upon the occasion of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the people were crowding the temple courts, and the sick and decrepit pressed the Saviour upon every side, among his beloved followers little children raised their glad voices in praise to the world’s Redeemer, in the words, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” and their blessed ministry was recognized, as he said, “Yea; . . . out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.” Timothy, the bosom companion and co-laborer of the great apostle to the Gentiles, accompanied him in his missionary journeys, going from city to city. “And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” It was the Waldensian youth who sowed the seed of the word of God through Europe, which kept Christianity alive during the Dark Ages. In the times of the Reformation, we find that Melancthon was but twenty-four years of age when actively engaged in teaching and preaching. Ulrich Zwingle, the leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, was but ten years of age when sent to the school of St. Theodore, Bâle. “Young Zwingle made rapid progress. The learned disputes which were fashionable among the doctors of universities had even descended to the youth in schools. Ulrich took part in them. He exercised growing strength against the children of other schools, and was always victorious in the struggles which formed a kind of prelude to those by which the papacy was to be overthrown in Switzerland.”—D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation,” book 8, chap. 2, par. 3. At a little past eighteen, Zwingle took the degree of Master of Arts, and at twenty-two was in charge of a parish. Soon after, having taken part in a civil campaign in Italy, Zwingle perceived that “nowhere is there any imitation of Jesus Christ,” and seeing that a reformer was required, he had a presentiment of his mission. Not long after this, “when Zwingle turned toward the Holy Scriptures, Switzerland took her first step in the Reformation.” “In explaining the portions of the gospel and epistles selected for public worship, he always compared scripture with scripture. He spoke with animation and force, and followed with his hearers the same course which God was following with him. . . . As often as the study of the Bible suggested some useful instruction to himself, he communicated it to his hearers. . . . This forms a new and important epoch in the history of the development of the religious revolution of those countries.”—Id., chap. 4, pars. 9, 10. It was before he was twenty that Charles Wesley manifested the Christian seriousness and faithfulness to the college obligations, that drew upon him and his few companions the epithet of “Methodist.” And John Wesley was ordained a deacon at the age of twenty-two. In the history of the great Advent movement of 1844, children are also found spreading the truth of the Lord’s soon coming. Elder J. N. Loughborough, writing in the REVIEW of June 20, 1899, says:—459 “In countries where the laws forbade the preaching of anything contrary to the established religion, God had his way of working, which men could not stop, and which bore its own marks of divine origin. Sweden was such a country, and had such laws. There the beginning of the Advent movement was with little children from five to ten years of age. In the year 1896 it was the privilege of the writer to pass over those parts of central and southern Sweden where this preaching took place, and to converse with those connected with the movement, some of whom preached the doctrine when they were children.” And we would remember, with gratitude, the calling of Sister E. G. White, at the age of fifteen, to the work of God in the great threefold message of Revelation 14. When we recall the fact that she was but a timid, retiring girl, untaught in the schools of the world, and that the extent of her work has been far-reaching in its influence,—even encircling the globe,—we are led to exclaim, “Who teacheth like Him”! This brings us to the present generation. And now the question very naturally arises, What part shall the youth of to-day exercise in the closing work of the Third Angel’s Message,—the greatest movement the world will ever know? Surely the Lord has a mission for them in this, as in every other, phase of the world’s history; for he has given abundant instruction in this matter. Hear him:— “Young men and young women, you are accountable to God for the light that he has given you. This light, and these warnings, if not heeded, will rise up in the Judgment against you. Your dangers have been plainly stated; you have been cautioned and guarded on every side, hedged in with warnings. In the house of God you have listened to the most solemn, heart-searching truths presented by the servant of God in demonstration of the Spirit. What weight do these solemn appeals have upon your hearts? 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 the Judgment to condemn those who pursue a life of vanity, levity, pride.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. III, page 363. “The youth generally seem to be Satan’s captives, and he and his angels are leading them to certain destruction.”—Id., Vol. I, page 397. “Young men and young women, I saw that God has a work for you to do; take up your cross and follow Christ, or you are unworthy of him. While you remain in listless indifference, how can you tell what is the will of God concerning you? and how do you expect to be saved unless, as faithful servants, you do your Lord’s will? Those who possess eternal life will all have done well. . . . How can you tell how many souls you might save from ruin, if, instead of studying your own pleasure, you were seeking what work you could do in the vineyard of your Master? . . . Begin to pray for souls, come near to Christ, close to his bleeding side. Let a meek and quiet spirit adorn your lives, and let your earnest, broken, humble petitions ascend to him for wisdom that you may have success in saving not only your own soul, but the souls of others. . . . Young men and young women, God calls upon you to work for him.”—Id., page 513. Many more exhortations to the youth from the Spirit of the Lord might be noticed, but these must suffice. However, let those who have access to the “Testimonies for the Church” study the entire chapter in Vol. III, pages 362–367. And will not every older person who reads the REVIEW, place this article in the hands of some young person within his reach,—perhaps some poor boy or girl who does not have the Testimonies? Next week we shall speak of the work among the young people of Battle Creek.