The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-07-03

Youth Is the time for Choices Tor choosing
associates. choosing am occupation CHOOSING
"a wife, choosing between llent anu WINS
courses in life. Everything depends, my
l-otny friend. on Che character OF me choices
Won make. Two OF the most vitality important
stems in MY own life turned on decisions made
liza less than an hour. We read in Gods ora
OF a certain young man that he chose 10 be
Evil enueatod with the people Of GOD, ratner
fhan 70 enjoy the pleasures OIL sin Tor
seas0n.0 On the pivot of that choice turned
The whole career of one Of the most remarka-
Qle men that this world has ever seen. The
temptations of toe royal court Of Egypt were
pr0digiOusiy strong % such a young man as
Moses; and If he had yielded TO them we
should probably never have heard OF him
pNerward In spite OF the prOdigiOus pull OF
ul those fascinating temptations, he deiiOe-
yately decided 90 undergo poverty, hardship
and exile from the Egyptian court. lie made
that memorable decision from principle: he
believed that God was more TO be hOnOred
fhan Pharaoh; that duty was stronger than
selEiudulgence; and Heaven was TO be pre-
lened no a palace i'm Egypt Verify, his wise
sh0ice brought him, in the end, glorious
geWard.
Before every young man are constantly pre-
scented those powerful temptations called
Nthe pleasures OF SIM" il Us folly % deny
that 90 the natural heart many kinds Of sin
are pleasant: for they minister % seligratifl-
cation. IL there were not something very
attractive I'm the bait which Satan puts on his
hooks, would so many niDDle 40 them with
4berisa OF the terrible Consequences 4 bali
room ls so attractive 10 tens Of thousands that
fhoy are willing 20 lavish their dollars upon
Il when they would begrudge a single dime
;or charity. The danger of impure books and
impure theatrical performances is that they
Ir8uoe sensual qualification. No young
f0lu would venture into the door OF her whose
l0lse is the way TO hell, but for the dark
delights" that passion offers; he thinks only
Di them, and shuts his eyes TO the darker
dlmnauou that lies beneath them. The only
reason why mulutuQes OF young men indulge
in the intoxicating glass is That 10 affords
them q temporary enjoyment. They like it's
CIVILIZATIONS; DO gives them q taste OF para
disc 'sf0r "a season" even though it be i0l-
lowed by "a purgatOry of seii-i0athing and
tem0rse. JIG is the gambling prOpenslty-and
3 learlully strong one 10 is tOO--Which finds
ST. qualification over pack of cards, or nm
lottery ticket, or i'm the exciting hazards OF
Tie stock market What is true Of drinking,
gambling or licentiOus indulgence is true Of
nll kinds of sinful temptations, and that is
they crafty the deprayed tastes OF an unre-
bewed heart. Set 10 down as certainty that
Sin has its pleasures for season." set il
down as equally certain that the wages Of
sin are death" There is only one way TO root
Out the love Of sin, and that is by the eXpul-
slYe powell OF "a new affection and new con-
trolling purpose Every young man will seek
some pleasures; If DE does not get them from
God he wiz be supplied with them by the
devil. A choice between the two he must
make. He cannot have both. Moses could
not serve God and Pharaoh also; he could not
have am Egyptian palace and exile with his
prosecuted people of tine Lord. On one side
was "sin for season. on the other side was
suffering; but beyond IT was magnificent
career, and the eternal reward. Every young
.I.r. This article mako erIn
stantiallv the same choice between opposite
roads. He must decide between a life of sin
with its immediate qualification or a life Of
obedience TO conscience and % Christ with its
purer satisfactiOns and its endless rewards
ia the next world. To decide for Christ re-
auires self-denial-inYOYes a hard fight with
evil appetites Of many kinds and sometimes
the scOd of derisiOn. Ou may have 10 break
with some old associates; you viii certainly
have TO break with your old deprayed self.
The currents of society I'm these days do not set
toward Jesus Christ; there ls no little malaria
OF skeptcism in the air, and some prOtessed
Christians, whom you know, DO not make
Christianity very attractive.
Nevertheless the great choice YOU have got
t0make; for YOU cannot walk toward Heaven
and toward hell 40 the same time. You have
the power Of choice: for God made YOU a
free moral agent. Every Christian in this
world is q Christian simply because he ad-
mitted Jesus Christ into mis- heart. Every
impenitent sinner is what he is, because he
chooses 20 De. When Christ said 10 JOhn aud
Simon Peter and Andrew, "FOllOW me-" he
addressed them as rational beings who had
the power 90 decide between him and the old
business they had pursued. Just as distinctly
as Moses said 90 the children OF Israel the
col of mercy and of love says to you: ~ set
before you life and death; choose life" i
need hardly tell you that the word life is
very comprehensive. tt means a pardon OF
your past sins and the strength TO resist new
temptations; it means the favor Of God and
che approval Of your own conscience; It
means Che union of your heart tOJesus Christ,
and nobler character patterned after his
example, even though ID be an imperfect COPY;
Il means the best that YOU can be IN TINS
world, and the Infinite blessedness OF Heaven
IN the next death" signifies the precise
opposite oi AN these: it means the dominion
OF sin in this world, and the doom Of sin in
Inc world t0 come
But you may be likely TO say: IL do not
choose death. no sane person would deliDe-
Lairl choose To be eternally wretched when
he might De eternally happy" This sounds
very possible, and there Us "a certain measure
"l Truth in IT, Men DO not commonly set
success and happiness on the one hand, and
yum on ihe other hand and then deliberately
'l'o-e % be- ruined. Netmen, by the million,
a. constantly selecting and pursuing courses
tlai inevitably lead 10 ruin. Here, for ex-
emple' is ayOung man setting out IN life, with
= preference 90 become rich and prosperous.
Irl DE chooses "a career Of thrltlessness and
'AuaFagance that brings him % poverty; or
ltihaps under the name OF business ne
tAvaihs in all sorts Of gambling ventures
tAat Ding him to an empty purse and All
empll character His failure is the fruit OF
leo"h conduct. SO man voluntarily chooses
tno disgrace and tlo disease and the doom Of
ui uhAehhess. letunnumbered thousands DO /
ouoOse ~ lamper with the winegass and the
Didhuy olllIe and their voluntary choice |
uoes 'ilhg them 10 the drunkard's seli-dam-
nation.
an lne same manner, my friend, when You /
ueciue lof me pleasures OF sin" you decide |
~ iaAe lhe consequences. When you refuse /
U dunll mat loving saviour who is knocking /
az the do0r of your heart, YOU decide TO live /
mIlhOut Christ, who alone can save your pre- |
Vlous soul. When YOU prefer life Of im-
pcuiNnce; when you grieYe the Holy Spirit /
away and are left 80 hardness Of heart; when 4
you tampie on the very cross Of him who /
ultu 10 save you, are you not choosing the /
very ROAD that leads 10 perdiuoni u you are /
IV7l, u VIII Doe your own fault. Those who |
are ln Heaven to-day chose the straight road /
taat leads there; those who do not enter
Heaven shut themselves out IL is trenen-
oous thing 70 have your eternal destiny put /
INTO your own hands; but so II Is, and you |