protest against the evil. One reason why it is so difficult to get anything done along moral lines is because there are so few who have any convictions, so few who feel, as the apostle felt when he said, “Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel.” So profoundly had the truth taken hold of him, such were his convictions in regard to the needs of humanity and the adaptation of the gospel to meet those needs that he simply could not keep still.

We need also men and women of courage—men and women who are not afraid to attack the evil, to speak out in condemnation of the things about them that are demoralizing in their tendency. Another reason why it is so difficult to make any headway in moral reforms is because there are so many cowards in society, so many who are timid, who are afraid to speak out, to lift up their voices for fear of hurting themselves or of offending somebody. Cowardice has silenced many a lip, has paralyzed many an arm that might have wrought mightily for God and truth.

We need also reliable men and women—men and women who can be depended upon; men and women who, when the crisis comes, when the conflict begins, will not desert, but will stand by their colors. There are so many who blow hot and cold on moral issues, who are with you to-day and with the enemy to-morrow.

We need also earnest men and women—men and women who are zealous in the cause of right—heartily in favor of what is pure, lovely, and of good report—who are not disposed to make any compromises with evil, who are out and out in their opposition to the forces of evil about them. And here is another reason why it is difficult to do very much—there are so many who are lukewarm, indifferent, who don’t seem to care whether moral reforms go on or not. If they do anything at all it is in an indifferent, half-hearted, non-committal way.

We need also God-fearing men and women—men and women of faith—men and women who build on God, who stand on the promises of God. One thing we may be assured of—nothing can be effectively done for the moral uplift of the race, for the overthrow of the forces of evil that are at work in our midst, unless we have in every community men and women such as I have been describing, through whom to operate as the first great requisite.

(2). These men and women ought to be brought together in some form of organization. The three hundred men who formed Gideon’s Band were welded together. They understood each other; they saw alike; they felt alike—all had the same object in view; all worked 

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