1T 498
(Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 498)
I was referred to many passages of Scripture that clearly show the young the will of God concerning them. These plain teachings they must meet in the judgment. Yet there is not one young man or young woman in twenty professing the present truth who heeds these Bible teachings. The youth do not read the word of God enough to know its claims upon them; and yet these truths will judge them in the great day of God, when young and old will be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body. (1T 498.1) MC VC
Says John: “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:14-17. (1T 498.2) MC VC
This exhortation to young men extends to young women also. Their youth does not excuse them from the responsibilities resting upon them. They are strong and are not worn down with cares and the weight of years; their affections are ardent, and if they withdraw these from the world and place them upon Christ and heaven, doing the will of God, they will have a hope of the better life that is enduring, and they will abide forever, being crowned with glory, honor, immortality, eternal life. If the youth live to gratify the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, they are seeking for the things of the world, pleasing their great adversary, and separating themselves from the Father. And when these things that are sought after pass away, their hopes are blasted and their expectations perish. Separated from God they will then bitterly repent their folly in serving their own pleasure, gratifying their own desires, and for a few frivolous enjoyments selling a life of bliss that they might have enjoyed forever. (1T 498.3) MC VC