Counsels to City Mission and Institutional Leaders
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you, sin is your own act. The seat of the difficulty is the unrenewed
heart.
The Worst Kind of Traitor—A man who claims to have believed
present truth for years, and is counted worthy by his brethren to fill
positions of trust in missions or in our institutions, may become care-
less when a change of circumstances brings him into temptations, and
in time he may tempt others. His case is sad indeed, for he reveals
the workings of a corrupt heart, a want of that principle which every
Christian should possess.
When one who is entrusted with great responsibilities betrays his
sacred trust and gives himself into the hands of Satan as an instrument
of unrighteousness to sow the seeds of evil, corrupting the hearts and
minds of others, he is a traitor of the worst type. From one such tainted,
polluted mind the youth often receive the first impure thoughts that
lead to a life of shame and defilement.
Workers Lacking in Firm Principle—If men placed at the head
of a mission have not firmness of principle that will preserve them
from every vestige of commonness and unbecoming familiarity with
young girls and women, after the light which has been so plainly given,
let them be discharged without a second trial. There is a depravity of
the soul which leads to these careless habits and practices, which will
far overbalance all the good such persons can do. We are living in
an age of moral debasement; the world is as a second Sodom. Those
who look for the coming of the Son of man, those who know that they
are right upon the borders of the eternal world, should set an example
in harmony with their faith. Those who do not maintain purity and
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holiness are not accepted of God. The true children of God have deep-
rooted principles which will not be moved by temptations, because
Christ is abiding in their hearts by faith.
A Second Trial Useless—A second trial would be of no avail to
those whose moral sense is so perverted that they cannot see their
danger. If after they have long held the truth, [if] its sanctifying
power has not established the character in piety, virtue, and purity, let
them be disconnected from the missions without delay, for through
these Satan will insinuate the same lax sentiments in the minds of
those who ought to have an example of virtue and moral dignity.
Anything that approaches love-sick sentimentalism, any imitation of