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to fit them for the work will prove a failure. Without a high sense of
propriety, of sobriety, of the sacredness of the truth and the exalted
character of the work, they cannot succeed. The same is true of the
older workers. Unless they are sanctified by the truth, they cannot give
those under their charge an education that will elevate, ennoble, and
refine them.
Our missions must be kept free from all wrong practices, all coarse-
ness, all carelessness. Everything connected with them should be
above reproach. Every one who has any part to act in them should
be an example to believers. There is need that many moments be
spent in secret prayer, in close communion with God. Thus only can
victories be won. Every arrangement of the mission should be such
as to garrison the soul against yielding to temptation. Every unholy
passion must be kept under the control of sanctified reason, through
the grace abundantly bestowed by God.
When a man who is counted worthy to fill a position of trust in one
of our institutions or in a mission, betrays his trust and gives himself
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into the hands of Satan as an instrument of unrighteousness, to sow the
seeds of evil, he is a traitor of the worst type. From one such tainted,
polluted mind the youth often receive the impure thoughts that lead to
a life of shame and defilement.
The men and women at the head of a mission need close connec-
tion with God, in order to keep themselves pure and to know how
to manage the youth discreetly, so that the thoughts of all shall be
untainted, uncorrupted. Let the lessons given be of an elevated, en-
nobling character, that the mind may be filled with pure, Christlike
thoughts. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as He is pure.” [
John 3:3
.] As God is pure in His sphere, so man
is to be pure in his. And he will be pure if Christ is formed within, the
hope of glory; for he will imitate Christ’s life and reflect His character.
* * * * *
When a mission is established in a city, our people should take
an interest in it, showing this interest in a practical, substantial way.
The mission workers labor hard and self-sacrificingly, and they do not
receive large wages. Let not our people think that the conducting of
city missions is an easy work, or one that brings financial profit. Often