Divine Ideals and Holy Purposes.—Moral Safeguards and Temptations
By W. S. Sadler
DEMORALIZATION OF THE YOUNG MAN. No. 6.
Divine Ideals and Holy Purposes.—Moral Safeguards and Temptations.
WHAT has the parent done to inspire the young man with high and holy ambitions? What have father and mother done to hold up before their son the possibilities and beauties of a life of faithfulness, rectitude, integrity, and morality? A high and holy ambition on the part of the young man, a great and noble object in life, constitutes one of the strongest safeguards that may be thrown about the youth of the rising generation. Let every young man, in all sincerity and honesty, ask himself the following question: What is my object in life? Is it simply to maintain an existence, much the same as that which the lower orders of the animal creation instinctively seek to maintain, or do I sincerely desire to make myself, my associates, and the world better for having lived? It may be the young man exhibits special talents. Perhaps he has a strong inclination along some particular line of work or study. This is all well and good if the ultimate objects are worthy, useful, and practical. The effort which a young man often puts forth to attain the end of his aspirations will constitute in itself a most valuable safeguard against his being entangled by the snares of vice and the nets of evil. One of the most powerful auxiliaries to the development of a sinless character is the possession of a sinless purpose. To the extent and with the intensity that the youth of to-day may be led by sanctified ambition to pursue a noble purpose, to that extent will the harvest of their experience yield the fruits of a useful life and a noble character. If the service of God, the work of God, and the glory of God were only held up more continuously and perseveringly before our young men, how many might be saved from the snares of the enemy, to become bright and shining lights in the proclamation of the glorious Gospel to a fallen world! Disrespect for Age and Disregard of Parental Advice.
The disrespect shown by the average youth of to-day for his seniors and superiors is indeed astonishing. It indicates a grave tendency on the part of the young man to magnify his own judgment and opinions at the expense of the more mature and experienced judgment of his parents and older advisers, and indirectly suggests the overlooking of a vital point in the early training of the child. A great deal concerning the future career of a young man may be determined by his regard for his parents and by his respect for religion. A young man who dares to disregard or place a light estimate upon either the counsel or the religion of his Christian parents, is allowing himself to drift into a most dangerous attitude, and is liable at any time to find himself side-tracked onto a highway that will ultimately bring him much sorrow. The Gambling Instinct, Speculation, Card-Playing, etc.
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:32. The plan of salvation is a means whereby man may come into the possession of a divine character, and obtain a glorious and everlasting inheritance. For this character, this inheritance, he pays nothing. He receives it as a gift, free. He gets it by grace. Notwithstanding the old adage, "Don't expect to get something for nothing," God has arranged a plan whereby fallen man may receive something, yes, everything, for nothing. So, in accordance with the Creator's willingness to thus bountifully bestow His riches upon us, His destitute and needy children, He has undoubtedly put a motive, an instinct, as it were, in the hearts of all men to seek for and desire to obtain this grand and glorious inheritance, as well as the priceless treasure of a sinless character. This desire that God has placed in the wicked man to be better, to get good, is nothing more nor less than a desire to receive something (goodness) for nothing (tho by grace), for the God that put this desire in the heart of man well knew that no effort which man could put forth could ever secure for him his hearts' desire for righteousness. The gambling mania, so highly developed in many young men, is but a Satanic perversion of the divinely-implanted desire to obtain great riches,—heavenly riches,—for nothing. The enemy of the youth is constantly at work seeking to neutralize or utilize the great plans of God, and it is thus that Satan takes this heaven-born desire to gain possession of the inestimable blessings of eternal life, and so successfully perverts and lowers it to his own nefarious designs and purposes that we find many a promising young man of to-day wholly absorbed and completely fascinated with the "gambling craze." It is thus that the devil has made one more masterful effort to steal the livery of heaven with which to accomplish his purpose of destroying the youth. And even thousands of professed Christian parents will allow cards, the very emblem of the gambling hell, to be brought into the home, and handled by their children, and thus, by their admission to the family hearth, be dignified in the eyes of the youth. Many argue that the cards themselves can do no harm. To this we reply, No young man ever took his second drink until after he had taken the first, and so but few young men are enticed into gambling who know nothing of cards. Church Fairs, Lotteries, etc., and Their Relation to Gambling.
We can not finally leave the subject of gambling without calling attention to the many questionable methods and devices employed in connection with church fairs, religious socials, etc. It certainly seems to us that this is but a sort of religio-gambling carried on under, and dignified (?) by, the guise of religion and charity. We would not have the reader understand that it is our desire to cast a reflection upon either the church or the motives of those under whose supervision these things are carried forward, but we do wish, if possible, to point out the demoralizing influence arising from these church fairs and the miniature gambling paraphernalia, which is so often present in some form. Do these things, or do they not, assist the wayward young man of to-day in his fight against the human tendency to speculate? Christian workers, parents, and reformers, above all others, should seek to throw about the young man every possible influence of an elevating nature, as well as to exclude those influences and practises which have a tendency, directly or indirectly, to confuse his judgment, muddle his discrimination, and thus, in the end, contribute their share to the contamination of his morals. W. S. SADLER.