(2 Tim. 3:1.)

We have sought at different times to sound an alarm concerning the moral dangers to which the young people are especially exposed in these "last days" – by infidel teachings in schools – by movies, dances, pleasure-mad habits, independence and insubjection to parents, who know not where their children go-all of which demoralizes the youth of these days. Parents who allow their children these things do so at the terrible peril of seeing them grow in ungodly ways, self-will, marry with the ungodly and become a grief to them and to God.

"But what can we do, how can we help it?" some may say. It is a great step toward the correction of evil to see the sources or causes of it, and confess it to God if we are implicated in it. Scripture gives us examples which, if pondered, will surely be of help in this.

Abraham is spoken of as "the father of all them that believe" (Rom. 4:11), and his life, in general, is given us as a pattern of faith and obedience to God, with consequent largeness of blessing. Thus we read, in Gen. 18:17-19, "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? … for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken o] him" Thus in "commanding his children and household," God's blessings were secured to them as well as to himself:so Isaac, and Jacob after him, continued in the path of Abraham's faith, dwelling as pilgrims and strangers in Canaan, awaiting God's time to enter into possession, in fulfilment of the promise.

Let us ponder over this, dear Christian parents, and in all probability we shall find that the evils we deplore have their roots in ourselves-in not "keeping the way of the Lord" and not "commanding" our children.

As Abraham is given us as an example, Lot and Eli are for warnings. When Sodom was on the eve of destruction, "Lot went out to his sons-in-law who had married his daughters, and said, 'Up! get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city.' But he seemed to them as one that mocked."-Was he jesting? When the divine messengers came to Sodom they found that "Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" (Gen. 19:1); if thus honorably seated as a judge at the city's gate in the afternoon, did it not seem like jesting to declare that God would destroy it the next morning? So the young people stayed, and perished in Sodom.

In an apparently more favorable aspect than Lot, another "righteous man," Eli, is presented to us as a warning. His two sons' abominable conduct, profaning the priesthood, was a by-word and a reproach in Israel (1 Sam. 2:12-17). Knowing this, and more (ver. 22), instead of removing them from the priesthood, Eli is content with a reproof. Therefore the word of God is pronounced against Eli's house with unsparing judgment (vers. 27-36), and confirmed through Samuel, "because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not" (3:13). Might he not have saved his sons from their untimely end, and preserved his house, by "commanding his children and his household" as did Abraham?

At an earlier time the solemn results of the amalgamation of God's people with the world is given us. The descendants of Seth ("the sons of God") had maintained a holy separation from those of Cain. But the time came when "the sons of God saw the daughters of men (of Cain's posterity) that they were fair:and they took of them wives of all which they chose" (Gen. 6:1,2). Intermarriage broke down the godly separation. Their children might indeed be "mighty men . . . men of renown," but "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," and in abhorrence of it all God determined to sweep the earth with a flood! And we believe, dear reader, that the conditions that brought on the flood and the destruction of Sodom are now in progress in Christianity, if not yet fully developed. We have our Lord's word for it that, "As it was in the days of Noah . . . and as it was in the days of Lot . . . even so shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:26-30). What an answer, this, to the deceivers (and self-deceived) who preach "peace," "progress" and "grand prospects" for the world!

What has urged this renewed appeal to Christian parents concerning their families is a movement now seeking propagation in this country, called, "The German Youth Movement," with which the "Women's International League for Peace and Freedom" is affiliated, with headquarters in Washington, D. C. We quote from the Philadelphia North American of Nov. 14:

In her recent trip Mrs. DuBois* came in contact with the leaders of the various European youth movements, and is setting forth a very appealing challenge to the youth of America to unite with the youth of other countries in order to "help build a world as it ought to be in the midst of things as they are." … It is figured that several thousand young men and women of this state heard Mrs. *Mrs. R. D. DuBois, recently returned from Europe, is one of the lecturers sent out by the association.* DuBois urge co-operation with the German "youth movement" before her return to Washington.

We do not know what Mrs. DuBois had to say about the German youth movement, but since her organization officially commends an article on the subject printed in the December, 1921, issue of the Survey Graphic and written by Bruno Lasker, who avowedly sympathizes with the movement, it is fair to quote therefrom. He says:

It is when we come to the sex relations that the ethics of the movement become most distinctive; for it is of no monkish asceticism. Its demand is for absolute self-control of the individual, and at the same time for a new freedom based upon primal human needs. This implies combat of false shame no less than of prostitution; of marriage of convenience no less than of the one-sided selfishness that has marked the pre-marital concubinage long current especially among students of Germany and the continent.

But the youth movement has gone further, not only by greatly increasing the number of those who take part in long hikes and climbs, but also by introducing new and stimulating elements. One of these is a cult of nakedness, the belief in the healing and preserving power of sunlight. Though widespread also among the older people and those responsible for the welfare of children, this cult has become associated more particularly with that of personal freedom. It means the openness and lightness of dress to which I have already alluded, and mixed open-air bathing, which is new in Germany; even days spent nude in the open air. Pride of body and the duty of health are frequently emphasized in the speeches and literature of the youth movement.

There is much more in this line, some of which we would refuse to print; but enough is said, and hinted at, to show the trend of what is sought to be introduced. "The last days" are surely upon us. May grace and power be sought 'from God to hold for Him all the dear children He has entrusted to our care.