Chapter 25—The Holy Spirit Essential to Success
The officers and teachers in the Sabbath-school need the guidance
and instruction of the Holy Spirit, that they may be true educators,
able to inspire thought, and to bring to remembrance the things that
they have taught their pupils. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to bring
to mind in clear, distinct lines the words and works of Christ, that
those who teach concerning the Redeemer of the world, may have
power to lift up Christ before the minds of their classes. In all the
arrangements of the Sabbath-school there is need of the help of the
Holy Spirit, in order that men and women may be chosen to fill the
responsible positions of superintendents, officers, and teachers, who
are men and women of God.
It is not best to always keep the school under the management of
one man; for he will give the school the mould of his own mind and
ideas; but there should be workers in the school who will be able to
impart fresh thoughts, and advance the school in spiritual life. The
school may be attached to one who has served long and faithfully, but
the good of the school must be considered, rather than the personal
preferences of teachers or pupils. When it is evident that the school
would be benefited by a change, by the accession of workers who
know what it is to have a burden for souls, then let nothing stand in
the way of the change. Those who have no ambition to lift up self,
though they may be deposed from office by this arrangement, will
eagerly lay hold of every help by which the Sabbath-school scholars
may be elevated and advanced. Those who are old and experienced in
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the work have grasped that which would help on the cause of God, and
younger men, who are not fully adapted for the work, should follow
the example of the older brethren who have proved faithful in what
has been committed to their hands, and thus educate themselves in
wisdom and tact, that they may secure the success that is essential to
good work.
There is a broad field in Sabbath-school work, that needs to be
diligently cultivated, and that is to inspire our youth to give themselves
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