Second Letter of Counsel to a Missionary in Africa
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all classes, all nations, all languages, all nationalities, and brought us
into His workshop, to be prepared for His temple.
There is a work to be done for every soul. Some are very untidy
in person. They need to be guided by the Holy Spirit to prepare for a
pure, holy heaven. God declared that when the children of Israel came
to the mount to hear the proclamation of the law, they must come with
clean bodies and clean clothes.
The truth is refining and elevating, and believers must understand
that even though they are poor, they need not be unclean in their
persons or in their homes. On this line true missionary work is to
be done for those who have no sense of what it means to be pure
and clean in person and dress. The poor can be taught to undertake
this work for themselves. Teach them that those who serve God and
keep His commandments must keep their souls pure and clean, and
that this purity must extend to their dress, their homes, their cooking
utensils, their floors, because the ministering angels from the courts
of heaven must have every evidence that the precious truth which has
been received into the heart has made a decided reformation in the life.
The Word says, “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con-
science, and our bodies washed with pure water.” God gave special
directions to Moses in regard to the children of Israel having nothing
unsightly or unclean about their dwellings, lest He should pass by
and see their uncleanness and be offended, and refuse to go out to
co-operate with them in their battles against the enemy.
The armies of heaven are to be the helpers of all who do God’s
work, and those who claim to be children of God and to keep His
commandments, must give evidence to the world that the truth has
worked a reformation in their hearts, purifying the soul and refining
the ideas and tastes. They must show that they are willing to learn,
willing to be advised by Moses, whose instruction came from the Lord.
The words spoken to the children of Israel regarding cleanliness are
addressed to all who have untidy habits. They are bidden to cleanse
themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting
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holiness in the fear of God. The Lord’s eye cannot behold with favour
uncleanness of any kind in any family.
The priests who officiated before the Lord in the temple were
commanded to remove their shoes before entering, lest some particles
of dust should be carried in. They were to wash their feet before