Chapter XXVIII: The Spirit of The Army

As pointed out in the foregoing chapter, The General was always anxious to make clear to all, and to avoid, the possibility of a continuance of organisation and a routine of effort without the spirit in which the work has been begun. We could not better describe that spirit than he did in the following address to his Officers gathered around him in London, in 1904.

He pictured to them the idea of Seven Spirits sent out from Heaven to possess the soul of every Officer, and thus described the action of two of them:--

"The Spirit of Life

"We begin with the good Spirit--the Spirit of Life. What did he
say? What were the words he brought to us from the Throne? Let me
repeat them: 'O Officers, Officers, I am one of the Seven Spirits
whom John saw. I travel up and down the earth on special errands of
mercy. I am come from Him that sitteth on the Throne, and reigneth
for ever and ever, to tell you that if you are going to succeed in
your life-and-death struggle for God and man, the first thing you
must possess, in all its full and rich maturity, is the Spirit of
Divine Life.'

"Now, before I go to the direct consideration of this message, let
me have a word or two about life itself

"Life, as you know, is the opposite principle to death. To be alive
is to possess an inward force capable of action without any outside
assistance. For instance: anything that has in it the principle by
which it is able to act in some way, independent of the will of any
other thing or creature outside of itself, may be said to be alive.
It has in it the principle of life.

"This principle of life is the mainspring and glory of God's
universe.

"We have it in different forms in this world. For instance: We have
material life. There is living and dead water, and there is living
and dead earth.

"Then there is vegetable life. In the fields, and woods, and
gardens, you have living trees, and flowers, and seeds.

"Then there is animal life. Only think of the variety, and
usefulness, and instinctive skill of unnumbered members of the
animal world.

"Then, rising higher in the scale of being, you have human life.
Every man, woman, and child posesses, as it were, a trinity of
existence; namely, physical life, mental life, and soul life; each
being a marvel in itself.

"Then, rising higher still, we have a life more important, and
bringing more glory to God than any of the other forms that I have
noticed, and that is _Spiritual Life_.

"On this Spiritual Life let me make one or two remarks.

"Spiritual Life is Divine in its origin. It is a creation of the
Holy Spirit. I need not dwell on this truth. Jesus Christ was at
great trouble to teach it. 'Marvel not,' He said, 'ye must be born
again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit.' You have gone through this
experience yourselves. You must insist on it in your people.
Spiritual life proceeds from God. It can be obtained in no other
way.

"Spiritual Life not only proceeds from God, but partakes of the
nature of God.

"We see this principle, that the life imparted partakes of the
nature of the author of being that imparts it, illustrated around
us in every direction.

"The tree partakes of the nature of the tree from which it is
derived. The animal partakes of the nature of the creature that it
begets. The child partakes of the nature of its parents. So the
soul, born of God, will possess the nature of its Author. Its life
will be divine.

"This is a mystery. We cannot understand it, but the Apostle
distinctly affirms it when he says, the Son of God is a partaker of
the Divine nature.

"Spiritual Life, like all other life, carries with it the
particular powers belonging to its own nature.

"Every kind of life has its own particular powers--senses,
instincts, or whatever they may be called.

"Vegetable life has its powers, enabling it to draw nutrition out
of the ground.

"Fish life has power adapting it to an existence in the water.

"Animal life has powers or senses suitable to its sphere of
existence, such as seeing, hearing, tasting, and the like.

"Human life has faculties, emotions, loves and hatreds, suitable
to its manner of existence. And it has its own peculiar destiny. It
goes back to God, to be judged as to its conduct when its earthly
career terminates.

"And the Spiritual Life of which we are speaking has powers or
faculties necessary to the maintenance of its existence, and to the
discharge of the duties appropriate to the sphere in which it
moves. For instance: it has powers to draw from God the nourishment
it requires; it has powers to see or discern spiritual things; it
has powers to distinguish holy people; it has powers to love truth,
and to hate falsehood; it has powers to suffer and sacrifice for
the good of others. It has powers to know, and love, and glorify
its Maker.

"Those possessed of this Spiritual Life, like all other beings, act
according to their nature.

"For instance: the tree grows in the woods, and bears leaves and
fruit after its own nature. The bird flies in the air, builds its
nest, and sings its song after its own nature. The wild beasts roam
through the forest, and rage and devour according to their own
nature. If you are to make these or any other creatures act
differently, you must give them a different nature. By distorting
the tree, or training the animal, or clipping the wings of the
bird, you may make some trifling and temporary alteration in the
condition or conduct of these creatures; but when you have done
this, left to themselves, they will soon revert to their original
nature.

"By way of illustration. A menagerie recently paid a visit to a
northern town. Amongst the exhibits was a cage labelled 'The Happy
Family,' containing a lion, a tiger, a wolf, and a lamb. When the
keeper was asked confidentially how long a time these animals had
lived thus peacefully together, he answered, 'About ten months.
But,' said he, with a twinkle in his eye, 'the lamb has to be
renewed occasionally.'

"As with these forms of life, so with men and women and children.
The only way to secure conduct of a lasting character different
from its nature is by effecting a change in that nature. Make them
new creatures in Christ Jesus and you will have a Christlike life.

"The presence of the powers natural to Spiritual Life constitutes
the only true and sufficient evidence of its possession.

"The absence of these powers shows conclusively the absence of the
life. If a man does not love God and walk humbly with Him; if he
does not long after Holiness, love his comrades, and care for
souls, it will be satisfying evidence that he has gone back to the
old nature--that is, to spiritual death.

"All Spiritual Life is not only imparted by Jesus Christ, but
sustained by direct union with Him.

"'I am the Vine,' He says, 'ye are the branches; he that abideth in
Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without
Me ye can do nothing' (John xv. 6).

"Nothing will make up for the lack of this life.

"This, indeed, applies to every kind of existence. You cannot find
a substitute for life in the vegetable kingdom. Try the trees in
the garden. Look at that dead apple-tree. As you see it there, it
is useless, ugly, fruitless. What will make up for the absence of
life? Will the digging, or the manuring of the ground around it do
this? No! That will be all in vain. If it is dead, there is only
one remedy, and that is to give it life--new life.

"Take the animal world. What can you do to make up for the lack of
life in a dog? I read the other day of a lady who had a pet dog.
She loved it to distraction. It died. Whatever could she do with it
to make up for its loss of life? Well, she might have preserved it,
stuffed it, jewelled its eyes, and painted its skin. But had she
done so, these things would have been a disappointing substitute.
So she buried it, and committed suicide in her grief, and was
buried by its side.

"Take the loss of human life. What is the use of a dead man? Go to
the death-chamber. Look at that corpse. The loved ones are
distracted. What can they do? They may dress it, adorn it, appeal
to it. But all that human skill and effort can conceive will be in
vain. All that the broken hearts can say or do must soon terminate,
as did Abraham's mourning for Sarah, when he said, 'Give me a piece
of land that I may bury my dead out of my sight.' Nothing can make
up for the lack of life.

"But this is specially true of the Spiritual Life of which we are
speaking. Take this in its application to a Corps. If you want an
active, generous, fighting, dare-devil Corps, able and willing to
drive Hell before it, that Corps must be possessed, and that fully,
by this spirit of life. Nothing else can effectively take its
place. No education, learning, Bible knowledge, theology, social
amusements, or anything of the kind will be a satisfactory
substitute. The Corps that seeks to put any of these things in the
place of life will find them a mockery, a delusion, and a snare;
will find them to be only the wraps and trappings of death itself.

"And if it is so in the Corps, it is so ten thousand times more in
the Officer who commands that Corps--in you!

"Spiritual Life is the essential root of every other qualification
required by a Salvation Army Officer.

"With it he will be of unspeakable interest.

"He will be a pleasure to himself. There is an unspeakable joy in
having healthy, exuberant life.

"He will be of interest to those about him. Who cares about dead
things? Dead flowers--throw them out. Dead animals--eat them. Dead
men--bury them. Dead and dying Officers--take them away. Give them
another Corps.

"If he is living he will be of interest to all about him. Men with
humble abilities, if full of this Spiritual Life, will be a charm
and a blessing wherever they go. Look at the lives and writings of
such humble men as Billy Bray, Carvosso, and Hodgson Casson. Their
memory is an ointment poured forth to-day after long years have
passed away.

"Without this life an Officer will be of no manner of use. No
matter how he may be educated or talented, without life is to be
without love; and to be without love, the Apostle tells us, is to
be only as 'a sounding brass.' But it is not that of which I want
to speak just now.

"Spiritual Life is essential to the preservation of life.

"The first thing life does for its possessor is to lead him to look
after its own protection. When the principle of life is strong, you
will have health and longevity. When it is weak, you have disease.
When it is extinct, you have decay and rottenness.

"Only vigorous Spiritual Life will enable a Salvation Army Officer
to effectually discharge the duties connected with his position.

"Life is favorable to activity. It is so with all life. Go into the
tropical forests, and see the exuberant growth of everything there.
Look at the foliage, the blossom, the fruit. Look at the reptiles
crawling at your feet, and take care they do not sting you. Look at
the birds chattering and fluttering on the trees, and they will
charm you. Look at the animals roving through the woods, and take
care they do not devour you.

"Contrast all this movement with the empty, barren, silent, Polar
regions, or the dreary, treeless sands of the African desert.

"Go and look at the overflowing, tirelss activity of the children.
Why are they never still? It is the life that is in them. Go to the
man at work. With what glee, and for what a trifling remuneration,
he sweats, and lifts and carries the ponderous weights. Go to the
soldier in the military war. How he shouts and sings as he marches
to deprivations, and wounds, and death.

"Even so with Spiritual Life. It never rests; it never tires; it
always sees something great to do, and is always ready to undertake
it. What is the explanation? How can we account for it? The answer
is, Life--abundant life.

"It is only by the possession of Life that The Salvation Army
Officer can spread this life.

"That is, reproduce himself, multiply himself, or his kind. This
reproduction or multiplication of itself is a characteristic of all
life.

"Take the vegetable kingdom. Every living plant has life-producing
seed, or some method of reproducing itself. The thistle: who can
count the number of plants that one thistle can produce in a year?
One hundred strawberry plants can be made in ten years to produce
more than a thousand million other strawberry plants!

"Take the animal kingdom. Here each living creature has this
reproductive power. They say that a pair of sparrows would in ten
years, if all their progeny could be preserved, produce as many
birds as there are people on the earth--that is, 1,500,000,000. 'Ye
are of more value than many sparrows.'

"Just so, this Spiritual Life is intended to spread itself through
the world.

"It is to this end it is given to you. God's command to Adam was,
'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.' How much more
does this command apply to you and to me! You are to be progenitors
of a world of men and women possessed of Spiritual Life; the
parents of a race of angels. How this is to be done is another
question. About that I shall have something to say as we go along.
For the moment, I am simply occupied with the fact that you have to
call this world of holy beings into existence by spreading this
life.

"Every Officer here is located in a world of death. Sometimes we
style it a dying world, and so it is on its human side, but on its
spiritual side it is past dying; it is dead. By that I do not mean
that the spiritual nature, that is the soul, ever ceases to be in
any man. That will never come to pass. Perhaps nothing once created
will ever cease to be. Anyway, man is immortal. The soul can never
die. Neither do I mean that there is no Spiritual Life.

"By spiritual death we mean that the soul is--Separated from God;
no union with Him. In a blind man the organ may be perfect, but not
connected.

"Inactive. No love for the things God loves. No hatred for the
things He hates. Dead to His interests, His kingdom; dead to Him.

"Corrupt, bad, devilish, etc. What a valley of dry bones the world
appears to the man whose eyes have been opened to see the truth of
things. Verily, verily, it is one great cemetery crowded with men,
women, and children dead in trespasses and sin. Look for a moment
at this graveyard, in which the men around you may be said to lie
with their hearts all dead and cold to Christ, and all that
concerns their Salvation. Look at it. The men and women and
children in your town are buried there. The men and women in your
city, in your street. Nay, the very people who come to your Hall to
hear you talk on a Sunday night are there. There they lie. Let us
read the inscriptions on some of their tombs:--

"_Here lies Tom Jones_

"He had a beautiful nature, and a young, virtuous wife, and some
beautiful children. All starved and wretched through their father's
selfish ways. He can't help himself. He says so. He has proved it.
He is dead in drunkenness.

"_Here lies Harry Please-Yourself_

"Mad on footballing, theatres, music-halls, dances, and the like.
Nothing else morning, noon, or night seems to interest him. There
he is, dead in pleasure.

"_Here lies James Haughtiness_

"Full of high notions about his abilities, or his knowledge, or his
family, or his house, or his fortune, or his business, or his dogs,
or something. There he is, dead in pride.

"_Here lies Jane Featherhead_

"Absorbed in her hats, and gowns, and ribbons, and companions, and
attainments. There she is, dead in vanity.

"_Here lies Miser Graspall_

"Taken up with his money--sovereigns, dollars, francs, kroner,
much or little. 'Let me have more and more' is his dream, and his
cry, and his aim, by night and day. There he is, dead in
covetousness.

"_Here lies Sceptical Doubtall_

"Hunting through the world of nature, and revolution, and
providence, and specially through the dirty world of his own dark
little heart, for arguments against God and Christ and Heaven.
There he is, dead in infidelity.

"_Here lies Jeremiah Make-Believe_

"With his Bible Class and Singing Choir, and Sunday religion, and
heartless indifference to the Salvation or damnation of the
perishing crowds at his door. There he is, dead in formality.

"_Here lies Surly Badblood_

"Packed full of suspicions and utter disregards for the happiness
and feelings of his wife, family, neighbours, or friends. There he
is, dead in bad tempers.

"_Here lies Dives Enjoy-Yourself_

"Look at his marble tomb, and golden coffin, and embroidered
shroud, and ermine robes. This is a man whose every earthly want is
supplied--Carriages, music, friends. There he is, dead in luxury.

"_Here lies Dick Never-Fear_

"His mouth is filled with laughter, and his heart with contempt
when you speak to him about his soul. He has no anxiety, not he.
He'll come off all right, never fear. Is not God merciful? And did
not Christ die? And did not his mother pray? Don't be alarmed, God
won't hurt him. There he is, dead in presumption,

"_Here lies Judas Renegade_

"His grave has a desolate look. The thorns and thistles grow over
it. The occupant has money and worldly friends, and many other
things, but altogether he gets no satisfaction out of them; he is
uneasy all the time. There he is, dead in apostacy.

"There are any number of other graves. It is interesting, although
painful, to wander amongst them. All, or nearly all, their
occupants are held down by a heavy weight of ignorance, a sense of
utter helplessness. And all are bound hand and foot with chains of
lust, or passion, or procrastination, of their own forging. In the
midst of these graves you live, and move, and have your being.

"What is your duty here? Oh, that you realised your true business
in this region of death! Having eyes, Oh! that you could see.
Having ears, Oh! that you could hear. Having hearts, Oh! that you
could feel. What are you going to do with this graveyard? Walk
about it in heartless unconcern, or with no higher feeling than
gratitude for having been made alive yourselves? Or will you
content yourselves with strolling through it, taxing its poor
occupants for your living while leaving them quietly in their tombs
as hopeless as you found them? Heaven forbid! Well, then, what do
you propose? What will you do?

"Look after their bodies, and feed and nourish them, making the
graveyard as comfortable a resting-place as you can? That is good,
so far as it goes, but that is not very far. Will that content you?
Decorate their graves with flowers and evergreens, and wreaths of
pleasant things? Will that content you? Amuse them with your music,
or the singing of your songs, or the letting off of your oratorical
fireworks among their rotting corpses? Will that content you?
Instruct them in doctrines, and rescues, and Salvations in which
they have no share? Will that content you? No! No! No! A thousand
times no! You won't be content with all that. God has sent you into
this dark valley for nothing less than to raise these doom-struck
creatures from the dead. That is your mission. To stop short of
this will be a disastrous and everlasting calamity.

"What do you say? It cannot be done? That is false. God would never
have set you an impossible task. You cannot do it? That is false
again, for you have done it before again and again. There is not an
Officer here who has not called some souls from the dead. Not one.
How many thousands--how many tens of thousands, in the aggregate,
have the Officers present at this Congress raised from the graves
of iniquity? Who can tell?

"Go, and do it again. Go, and look at them. Go, and compassionate
them. Go, and represent Jesus Christ to them. Go, and prophesy to
them. Go, and believe for them. And then shall bone come to bone,
and there shall be a great noise, and a great Army shall stand up
to live, and fight, and die for the living God.

"THE SPIRIT OF PURITY

"And now we come to the consideration of the message of the second
Spirit. Let us recall his words: 'O Officers, Officers, the Great
Father has sent me to tell you that if you would be successful in
your campaign against wickedness, selfishness, and fiends, you must
yourselves be holy.'

"I come now to the task of showing, as far as I am able, what the
plan of life is which God has formed for a Salvation Army Officer.

"What must an Officer be and do who wants satisfactorily to fill up
the plan God has formed for him? Of course, there will in some
respects be certain striking differences in that plan. But in the
main there will be remarkable resemblances.

"The first thing that God asks is, that the Officer shall possess
the character He approves.

"You might say the character that He admires. The very essence of
that character is expressed in one word--_Holiness_.

"In the list of qualifications for effective leadership in this
warfare, The Salvation Army has ever placed Holiness in the first
rank. The Army has said, and says to-day, that no other qualities
or abilities can take its place. No learning, or knowledge, or
talking, or singing, or scheming, or any other gift will make up
for the absence of this. You must be good if you are to be a
successful Officer in The Salvation Army.

"Let us suppose that a comrade were to present himself before us
this morning, and say, 'I am a Salvationist. I want to be an
Officer amongst you, and I want to be an Officer after God's own
Heart; but I am ignorant of the qualifications needed.' If I were
to ask you what I should say to this brother, I know what your
answer would be. You would say, with one voice, 'Tell him that,
before all else, he must be a holy man.'

"Suppose, further, that I appeared before you myself for the first
time at this Congress, and were to say to you: 'My comrades, I have
come to be your Leader. What is the first, the foundation quality I
require for your leadership?' I know the answer you would give me.
You would say, 'O General, you must be a holy man.'

"If there were gathered before me, in some mighty building, the
choicest spirits now fighting in The Salvation Army the world
over--Commissioners and Staff Officers, Field Officers and Local
Officers, together with Soldiers of every grade and class; and
suppose, further, that standing out before that crowd, I was to
propose the question: 'In what position in our qualifications shall
I place the blessing of Holiness?' you know what the answer would
be. With a voice that would be heard among the multitudes in Heaven
the crowd would answer: 'Holiness must be in the first rank.'

"If this morning I had the privilege of ascending to the Celestial
City, and asking the assembled angels in that mighty temple where,
day and night, they worship the Great Jehovah: 'What position ought
Holiness to occupy in the qualifications needed by Salvation Army
Officers in their fight on earth?' you know that angels and
archangels, cherubim and seraphim, would join with the Seven
Spirits that are before the Throne with one united shout, loud
enough to make the ears of Gabriel tingle, and would answer, 'Place
it first.'

"If I could have the still greater privilege of kneeling before the
intercessory Throne of my dear, my precious, my glorified Saviour,
and of asking Him what position this truth should hold in the
hearts and efforts of Salvation Army Officers, you know that He
would answer: 'Blessed are the pure in heart.' Holiness comes
first.

"If, further still, borne on a burning seraph's wings I could rise
to the Heaven of Heavens, and, like its holy inhabitants, be
allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, where Jehovah especially
manifests His glory; and if, prostrate before that Throne, with all
reverence I should ask the question: 'What is the first and most
important qualification a Salvation Army Officer must possess in
order to do Your Blessed Will?' you have His answer already. You
know that He would reply: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'

"What, then, is that Holiness which constitutes the first
qualification of an Officer, and which is asked for by that Blessed
Spirit of Purity coming from the Throne of God?

"In replying to this question I cannot hope to do more than put you
in remembrance of what you must already know.

"I will, however, to begin with, take the broad ground that
Holiness, in the sense in which The Salvation Army uses the word,
means entire deliverance from sin. I shall explain myself as I go
along. But I begin with the assertion that holy souls are saved
from sin.

"You all know what sin is. And it is important that you should, and
that you should be able to define it at a moment's notice to
whomsoever may inquire. John says: 'All unrighteousness is sin,'
That is, everything that a man sees to be actually wrong, that to
him is sin. Whether the wrong be an outward act, or an inward
thought, or a secret purpose does not affect its character. If the
act, or thought, or purpose is wrong to that particular soul it is
sin. Whether the wrong be done in public and blazoned abroad before
the world as such, or whether it be committed in darkness and
secrecy, where no human eye can follow it, matters not; it is sin.

"To be holy, I say, is to be delivered from the commission of sin.
Is not that blessed?

"To be holy is to be delivered from the penalty of sin. 'The wages
of sin is death.' Holy men are fully and freely forgiven. One of
the evidences of the possession of Holiness is the full assurance
of that deliverance. Salvation from doubt as to this. Is not that
blessed?

"Holiness includes deliverance from the guilt of sin.

"Sin has a retributive power. At the moment of commission it
implants a sting in the conscience which, in the impenitent man,
lights a flame, which, without the application of the Precious
Blood, is never extinguished. In Holiness the sting is extracted,
and the fire is quenched. Is not that blessed?

"Holiness supposes deliverance from the defilement of sin.

"Sin pollutes the imagination, defiles the memory, and is a
filth-creating leaven, which, unless purged away, ultimately
corrupts and rots the whole being.

"In Holiness all the filth is cleansed away. The soul is washed in
the Blood of the Lamb. This is the reason for so much being said in
the Bible, and in the experience of entirely sanctified people,
about purity of heart. Is not that blessed?

"Holiness means complete deliverance from the bondage of sin.

"Every time a sin is committed, the inclination to do the same
again is encouraged, and those habits which belong to the evil
nature are strengthened until they assume the mastery of the soul,
and the soul comes more and more under the tyranny of evil.

"In conversion the chains that bind men to sin are broken, but the
tendency to evil still lingers behind. In Holiness the bondage is
not only entirely destroyed, and the soul completely delivered from
these evil tendencies, but is free to do the will of God, so far as
it is known, as really as it is done in Heaven. Is not that
blessed?

"Holiness supposes the deliverance of the soul from the rule and
reign of selfishness.

"The essence of sin is selfishness; that is, the unreasoning,
improper love of self. The essence of Holiness is benevolence. Holy
souls are mastered by love, filled with love. Is not that blessed?

"It will be seen, then, that the Officer who enjoys this experience
of Holiness will have received power from God to live a life
consciously separated from sin.

"A man cannot be living in a God-pleasing state if he is knowingly
living in sin, or consenting to it, which amounts to the same
thing. Let us look a little more closely at this.

"Holiness will mean a present separation from all that is openly or
secretly untrue.

"Any one pretending to be doing the will of God, while acting
untruthfully or deceitfully in his dealings with those around him,
is not only guilty of falsehood, but of hypocrisy.

"To be holy is to be sincere.

"Holiness means separation from all open and secret dishonesty.
This applies to everything like defrauding another of that which is
his just and lawful due.

"Holiness also means separation from all that is unjust.

"Doing unto others as you would that they should do to you, may be
truly described as one of the lovely flowers and fruits of Purity.

"Holiness means Salvation from all neglect of duty to God and man.

"All pretensions to Holiness are vain while the soul is living in
the conscious neglect of duty. A holy Officer will do his duty to
his Maker. He will love God with all his heart--such a heart as he
has, big or little. He will love and worship Him, and strive to
please Him in all that he does. A holy Officer will love his
neighbour as himself. The law of love will govern his dealings with
his family, comrades, neighbours--body and soul.

"That is a beautiful experience which I am describing, is it not,
my comrades? And you cannot be surprised that the Spirit of Purity
should bring you the message that it is God's plan of life for you.

"Upon it let me make a few further remarks.

"Holiness is a distinct definite state; a man can be in it or out
of it.

"Holiness is enjoyed partially or entirely by all converted people.
It can be enjoyed partially. No one would say that every converted
man was a holy man, and no one would say that every man who was not
perfectly holy was not converted. But I should say, and so would
you, that every truly converted man is the master of sin, although
he may not be entirely delivered from it.

"Then, again, Holiness is a continued growth in sincere souls. With
faith, watchfulness, prayer, and obedience, the power of sin
diminishes as the days pass along, and the strength of Holiness
increases.

"The line which separates a state of entire from a state of partial
Holiness may be approached very gradually, but there is a moment
when it is crossed.

"The approach of death is often all but imperceptible, but there is
a moment when the last breath is drawn. Just so there is a moment
when the body of sin is destroyed, however gradual the process may
have been by which that state has been reached. There is a moment
when the soul becomes entirely holy--entirely God's.

"By perseverance in the sanctified life spiritual manhood is
reached, and the soul is perfected in love; that is maturity.

"Let me illustrate the doctrine of Holiness, in its varied aspects,
by comparing its attainment to the ascent of a lofty mountain.

"Come with me. Yonder is the sacred mount, towering far above the
clouds and fogs of sin and selfishness. Around its base, stretching
into the distance, as far as eye can reach, lies a flat, dismal,
swampy country. The district is thickly populated by a people who,
while professing the enjoyment of religion, are swallowed up in
unreality about everything that appertains to Salvation. They talk,
and sing, and pray, and write, and read about it, but they are all
more or less in doubt whether they have any individual part or lot
in the matter. Sometimes they think they have a hope of Heaven, but
more frequently they are afraid that their very hopes are a
delusion.

"The land is haunted by troubling spirits continually coming and
going, that point to past misdoings and coming penalties. Such
venomous creatures as hatreds, revenges, lusts, and other evil
passions are rife in every direction; while the demons of doubt and
despair seem to come and go of their own free will, leading men and
women on the one hand to indifference, worldliness, and infidelity,
and on the other to darkness and despair. This wild, dismal
territory we will style 'The Land of Uncertainty.'

"In the centre of this unlovable and undesirable country the
mountain of which I want to speak lifts its lofty head. Call it
'Mount Pisgah' or 'Mount Beulah,' or, if you will, call it 'Mount
Purity'--I like that term the best. But whatever you name it, there
it is, rising up above the clouds and fogs of sin and selfishness,
and doubt and fear and condemnation that ever overhang the swampy
Land of Uncertainty, of which I have given you a glimpse.

"Look at it. There are some monster mountains in the natural world,
but they are mere molehills alongside this giant height. Look at it
again. Is it not an entrancing sight? Its lofty brow, crowned with
a halo of glorious light, reaches far upwards towards the gates of
endless day, those living on its summit having glorious glimpses of
the towers and palaces of the Celestial City. The atmosphere is
eminently promotive of vigorous health and lively spirits. But its
chief claim is the purity of heart, the constant faith, the loving
nature, and the consecrated, self-sacrificing devotion of those who
are privileged to dwell there. It must be a charming place. The
multitudes whose feet have ever been permitted to tread its blessed
heights think so.

"But while gazing on the entrancing sight, the question
spontaneously arises: 'How can I get there?' There is evidently no
mountain railway nor elevator on which, while reclining on pillows
of ease, and serenaded by music and song, you can be rapidly and
smoothly lifted up to the blessed summit. Those who reach that
heavenly height must climb what the Bible calls the 'Highway of
Holiness.' And they will usually find it a rugged, difficult
journey, often having to fight every inch of the way. But, once on
the celestial summit, the travellers will feel amply repaid for
every atom of trouble and toil involved in the ascent.

"The road to this glorious height passes through various plateaux
or stages which run all round the sides of the mountain, each
different from the other, and each higher than the one that
preceded it. Travellers to the summit have to pass through each of
these stages. Let me enumerate some of the chief among them.

"To begin with, there is the awakening stage, where the climbers
obtain their first fair view of this holy hill.

"It is here that the desire to make the ascent first breaks out.
This longing is often awakened by reading various guide-books or
Holiness advertisements, such as _The War Cry_, or _Perfect Love_,
which set forth the blessedness experienced by those who make the
heavenly ascent. Sometimes the desire to ascend the holy hill is
awakened by the pure light which every now and then shines from the
summit direct into the travellers' hearts. Or, it may be their
souls are set on fire with a holy longing to be emptied of sin and
filled with love by the burning testimonies of some of the people
who live up there, but who come down into the valley every now and
then to persuade their comrades to make the ascent. Anyway, it
almost always happens when those who read these guide-books and
listen to these testimonies begin to search their Bibles and cry to
God for guidance, that a spirit of hunger and thirst sets in which
gives them no rest until they themselves resolve to take the
journey up the side of this wonderful mountain.

"A little higher up, and you reach the starting stage.

"Here those who fully resolve upon seeking holiness of heart first
enter their names in the 'Travellers' Book.' On this plateau I
observe that there is a great deal of prayer. You can hear the
earnest petitions going up to Heaven, whichever way you turn. And,
much prayer as there is, you can hear much singing also. One of the
favourite songs commences:--

"O glorious hope of perfect love!
It lifts me up to things above,
It bears on eagles' wings;
It gives my ravished soul a taste,
And makes me for some moments feast
With Jesus' priests and kings.

"There is another favourite song which begins:--

"O joyful sound of Gospel grace!
Christ shall in me appear;
I, even I, shall see His face,
I shall be holy here.

"But, still ascending, we come to the wrestling stage.

"Here the travellers are met by numerous enemies, who are in dead
opposition to their ever reaching the summit.

"I observe that the enemies attack those travellers with doubts as
to the possibility of ever reaching the mountain's top, and with
scores of questions about apparently conflicting passages of
Scripture, and contradictory experiences of Christian people; and,
alas! with only too frequent success, for the whole plateau seems
to be strewn with the records of broken resolutions relating to the
renouncements of evil habits, tempting companions, and deluding
indulgences.

"And I observe that lying about are many unfulfilled consecrations
relating to friends, and money, and children, and time, and other
things; in fact, this stage seems to be a strange mixture of faith
and unbelief; so much so that it is difficult to believe that we
are on the slopes of Mount Purity at all.

"Here you will find posted on the sides of the rocks in all
directions placards bearing the words: 'The things I would do those
I do not, and the things I would not do those I do, and there is no
spiritual health in me.' And up and down you will also see
notice-boards warning would-be travellers not to climb any higher
for fear they should fall again.

"But, thank God, while many chicken-hearted souls lie down in
despair on this plateau, or retrace their steps to the dreary
regions below, others declare that there is no necessity for
failure. These push forward in the upward ascent, singing as they
go:--

"Though earth and hell the world gainsay,
The word of God can never fail;
The Lamb shall take my sins away,
'Tis certain, though impossible;
The thing impossible shall be,
All things are possible to me.

"So, persevering with our journey, higher up, very much higher up,
we come to the sin-mastering stage.

"This is a glorious plateau. All who enter it do so by the narrow
passage of repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ; receiving in their souls, as they pass the threshold, the
delightful assurance of full and free forgiveness through the Blood
of the Lamb.

"Here men and women walk with heads erect in holy confidence, and
hearts glad with living faith, and mouths full of joyous song, and
eyes steadily fixed on the holy light that streams from the summit
of the mount above them. That holy beacon guide is ever calling on
them to continue their journey, and ever directing them on the way.

"Those who have reached this stage have already made great and
encouraging progress; for God has made them conquerors over their
inward foes. The rule and reign of pride and malice, envy and lust,
covetousness and sensuality, and every other evil thing have come
to an end.

"They triumph on that account, but the conflict is not yet ended.
Sometimes the battling is very severe; but with patient, plodding
faith they persevere in the ascent, singing as they go:--

"Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries, 'It shall be done!'

"And now, close at hand, is the stage of deliverance, where the
triumph is begun.

"And now, ten thousand Hallelujahs! let it be known to all the
world around, that once on this plateau the separation from sin is
entire; the heart is fully cleansed from evil; the promise is
proved to be true, 'They that hunger and thirst after righteousness
shall be filled.'

"At a great Christian Conference the other day an eminent divine
said that The Salvation Army believed in a 'perfect sinner,' but
that he believed in a 'perfect Saviour.' This, I contend, was a
separation of what God has joined together and which never ought to
be put asunder. For, glory be to the Father, glory be to the Son,
and glory be to the Holy Ghost, The Salvation Army believes, with
its Lord, that a perfect Saviour can make a poor sinner into a
perfect saint. That is, He can enable him to fulfil His own
command, in which He says: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is perfect.' (_Matthew_ v. 48.)

"But there is one plateau higher still which, like a tableland,
covers the entire summit of the mountain, and that the maturity
stage.

"Here the graces of the Spirit have been perfected experience, and
faith, and obedience, and the soul does the will of God as it is
done in Heaven, united in the eternal companionship of that lovely
being--the Spirit of Purity.

"What do you say to my holy mountain, my comrades?

"Are you living up there? Have you climbed as near to Heaven as
that represents? If not, I want to make a declaration which you
have often heard before, but which it will do you no harm to hear
again, namely, that it is the will of God that you should not only
reach the very summit, but that you should abide there.

"Do you ask why God wills that you should reach and abide on this
holy mountain?

"I reply it is the will of God that you and I, and every other
Officer in this blessed Army, should be holy for His own
satisfaction.

"God finds pleasure in holy men and holy women. We know what it is
to find pleasure in kindred companions. It is to like to be near
them. To want to live with them, or have them to live with us. It
is to be willing to travel any distance, or put ourselves to any
inconvenience to reach them. According to the Bible, that is just
how God feels towards His faithful people. He finds satisfaction in
their doings, and praying, and worship, and song. But when there is
unfaithfulness or sin of any kind this pleasure is sadly marred, if
not altogether destroyed. In such cases the pleasure is turned to
pain, the satisfaction to loathing, and the love to hatred.

"Hear what He says of Israel: 'In all their affliction He was
afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love
and in His pity He bare them, and carried them all the days of
old.' If for no other reason than the pleasure it will give to God,
don't you think every Officer should, with all his might, seek for
Holiness of heart and life?

"Another reason why God wants you to live on that blessed mountain
is the interest He feels in your welfare.

"He loves you. He has told you so again and again. He has proved
His love by His deeds. Love compels the being entertaining the
affection to seek the good of its object. He knows that sin is the
enemy of your peace, and must mean misery here and hereafter. For
this reason among others, He wants to deliver you from it.

"You will remember that by the lips of Peter God told the Jews that
He had raised up His Son Jesus, and sent Him to bless them by
turning every one of them away from his iniquities. That applies
to you, my comrades. You have heard it before; I tell it you again.
Holiness is the royal road to peace, contentment, and joy for you.
The love God bears you, therefore, makes Him ceaselessly long after
your Holiness of heart and life. Will you not let Him have His way?
Will you not do His Will?

"God wants every Officer to be holy, in order that through him He
may be able to pour His Holy Spirit upon the people to whom that
Officer ministers.

"The men and women around you are in the dark. Oh, how ignorant
they are of God and everlasting things! They cannot see the vile
nature of the evil, and the foul character of the fiends that tempt
and rule them. They do not see the black ruin that lies before
them. So on they go, the blind leading the blind, till over the
precipice they fall together. God wants their eyes to be opened.
The Spirit can do the work, and through you He wants to pour the
light.

"The men and women around you are weak. They cannot stand up
against their own perverted appetites, the charms of the world, or
the devices of the Devil. God wants to pour the Spirit of Power
upon this helpless crowd. But He wants holy people through whom He
can convey that strength. He works His miracles by clean people.
That is His rule.

"There is nothing in the work of the early Apostles more wonderful
than the miraculous manner in which they went about breathing the
Spirit of Life and Light and Power on the people. But they were
fully consecrated, Blood-and-Fire men and women.

"What do you say, my comrades? Will you be holy mediums? Do you not
answer, 'Thy will be done'?

"God wants you to be holy, in order that you may reveal Him to the
world by your example.

"Men do not believe in God--that is, the real God--the God of the
Bible; and they do not believe in Him, because they do not know
Him.

"He seeks to reveal Himself to men in various ways. He reveals
Himself through the marvels of the natural world; and many say they
can see God in the sun, and stars, and seas, and trees. He reveals
Himself by speaking to men in their own hearts, and many hear His
whisperings there. He reveals Himself in His own Book, and some
read and ascertain what is His mind there.

"But, alas! the great multitude are like children. They require to
see and hear God revealed before their very eyes in visible and
practical form before they will believe. And to reach these crowds,
God wants men and women to walk about the world so that those
around, believers and unbelievers alike, shall see the form and
hear the voice of the living God; people who shall be so like Him
in spirit, and life, and character as to make the crowds feel as
though the very shadow of God had crossed their path. Will you be a
shadow of God?

"God wants you to be holy, in order that you may know what His mind
is about the world, and about your work in it.

"He entertains certain opinions and feelings with respect to it. He
has His own plan for saving it. He wants to reveal to you what
those opinions and feelings are, and to do this so far as it will
be good for you and those about you. He wants you to know how you
can best fight devils, convict sinners, save souls, and bless the
world.

"You can have this wonderful knowledge. Paul had it. He said 'We,'
that is, I, 'have the mind of Christ.' God is no respecter of
persons. He is as willing to reveal His mind to you, so far as you
need it, as He was to reveal it to Paul.

"But to possess this knowledge you must be holy. Sin darkens the
understanding, and hinders the perception of truth. A grain of sand
in the eye will prevent you seeing the most beautiful landscape in
the universe, or the dearest friends you have. It is with the heart
that men see divine things, and an atom of sin will darken the
brightest vision that can come before you. With a pure heart you
can not only see God's truth, but God Himself. Oh, God wants to
reveal Himself to you. Will you let Him? But if He is to do so, you
must have a clean heart.

"It is God's will that you should be holy, because He wants you to
be men and women of courage.

"Courage is the most valuable quality in this War. There are few
gifts of greater importance. Only think what it has enabled the
Prophets, the Apostles, and the Salvation leaders of modern times
to accomplish! How it covered Moses, and Joshua, and David, and
Daniel, and Paul, and a crowd of others with glory, and enabled
them to conquer men, and devils, and difficulties of all kinds. I
shall have something more to say about this before I have done.

"Courage and Holiness are linked closely together. You cannot have
one without the other. Sin is the very essence of weakness. A
little selfishness, a little insincerity, a little of anything that
is evil means condemnation, and loss of courage, which means
cowardice and failure.

"'The wicked flee when no man pursueth.' Double-minded people are
uncertain, fickle, unreliable in all their ways. 'The righteous are
bold as a lion.' Remember Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.

"God wants you to be holy, in order that He may do mighty works
through your instrumentality.

"I verily believe that His arm is held back from working wonders
through the agency of many Officers, because He sees that such
success would be their ruin. The spirit of Nebuchadnezzar is in
them. He cannot build Babylon, or London, or New York, or anything
else by their instrumentality, because He sees it would create the
spirit of vainglory and boasting, or of ambition; make them
dissatisfied with their position; or otherwise curse them and those
about them. Look at Saul. What a lesson his history has in it for
us all. 'When thou wast little in thine own sight wast thou not
made the head of the Tribes of Israel? and the Lord anointed thee
king over Israel.'

"Now, I may be asked whether some Officers do not fail to reach the
higher ranges of the experience I have here described, and the
reasons for this.

"To this question I reply that I am afraid that it is only too true
that some Officers are to be found who are willing to dwell in the
land of uncertainty and feebleness. They are the slaves of habits
they condemn in others. Their example is marred, their powers are
weakened for their work, and, instead of going onward and upward to
the victory they believe so gloriously possible, they are a
disappointment to themselves, to God, and to their leaders.

"If I am asked to name the reasons for their neglect of this
glorious privilege, I would say:--

"They have doubts about the possibility of living this life of
Holiness.

"They think there is some fatal necessity laid upon them to sin--at
least a little, or just now and then. They think that God cannot,
or that He will not, or that He has not arranged to save them
altogether from their inward evils. They know that the Bible says,
over and over again, in a thousand different ways, that the Blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin; and they read God's promise
again and again, that He will pour out His Spirit upon them, to
save them from all their idols and filthiness; but they doubt
whether it is strictly true, or anyway, whether it applies to them.
And so, tossed to and fro by doubts about this holy experience, no
wonder that they do not seek to realise it in their own hearts.

"Other Officers are kept back from climbing this mountain by the
idea that the experience is not possible for them.

"They say, 'Oh, yes, it is good, it is beautiful. I wish I lived up
there. How delightful it must be to have peace flow like a river,
and righteousness abound as the waves of the sea, and to be filled
with the Spirit! But such a life is not for me.' They admit the
possibility of Holiness in those about them, and occasionally they
push it on their acceptance; but they fancy that there is something
about their own case that makes it impossible, or, at least,
overwhelmingly difficult, for them to attain it.

"They imagine that there is something in their nature that makes it
peculiarly difficult for them to be holy. Some peculiar twist in
their minds. Some disagreeable disposition. Some bad, awkward
temper. Some unbelieving tendency. Or, they are hindered by
something that they suppose to be specially unfavourable in their
circumstances--their family. Or, there is something in their
history that they think is opposed to their living pure lives--they
have failed in their past efforts, etc.

"Anyway, there is, they imagine, some insurmountable obstacle to
their walking with Christ in white, and, instead of striking out
for the summit of the Holy Mountain in desperate and determined
search, relying on God's word that all things are possible to him
that believeth, they give up, and settle down to the notion that
Holiness of heart and life is not for them.

"Then, other Officers do not reach this experience because they do
not seek it; that is, they do not seek it with all their hearts.

"They do not climb.

"They know that their Bible most emphatically asserts that those
who seek heavenly blessings shall find them. No passage is more
familiar to their minds or much more frequently on their lips, than
the one spoken by Jesus Christ: 'Seek, and ye shall find.' And they
condemn the poor sinner who lies rotting in the sins which will
carry him to Hell, because he won't put forth a little effort to
find deliverance. And yet, do not some Officers act very much after
the same fashion with respect to this blessing?

"In their efforts they are truly sincere, but they are not much
more forward for them. They say 'It is not for me,' and settle down
as they were.

"The reason for this is not that the promise is not to them. But it
is because they have not been thorough in their surrender; or
because they have been wanting in their belief; or because they do
not persevere; or because they have been mistaken in some past
experience:--

"Another reason why Officers do not find the blessing is the simple
fact that they will not pay the price.

"There is something they will not do; or there is something they
will do; or there is something they will not part with; there is
some doubtful thing that they will not give up. The sacrifice is
too great. They think they would not be happy, or some one else
would not be happy, or something would not be satisfactory; and so
they look and look at the mountain, and long and long, but that is
all. They would like to be there, but the price is too great.

"Another reason why Officers fail is neither more nor less than
their want of faith.

"This, with sincere souls, is by far the most common hindrance. I
have something to say about faith further on.

"And, doubtless, the reason that some Officers fail to reach the
upper levels of Mount Purity arises out of their mistaken views as
to the nature of this experience.

"You have so often heard me dwell on this view of the subject that
I despair of saying anything fresh that will help you. But, knowing
that I am on ground where truly sincere souls are often hindered, I
will make one or two remarks:--

"I have no doubt that many fail here by confounding temptation with
sin.

"They pray--they consecrate--they believe that they receive, and
they rejoice. But by and by, when bad thoughts are suggested to
their minds, they say to themselves, 'Oh, I can't be saved from
sin, or I would not have all those wicked thoughts and suggestions
streaming through my soul."

"They confound temptation with sin. Whatever they may say about it,
they do not see the difference existing between temptation and sin.

"Some Officers are hindered in the fight for Holiness by supposing
that purity will deliver them from serious depression, low spirits,
and the like.

"With many sincere souls I have no doubt that one of the most
serious hindrances in this strife is the confounding of Holiness
with happiness, and thinking that if they are holy they will be
happy all the time; whereas the Master Himself was a Man of
Sorrows, and lived, more or less, a life of grief.

"Then there comes the last reason I shall notice, and that is the
want of perseverance. There are some Officers who have been up the
mountain--part of the way, at any rate, if not to the top. But
through disobedience, or want of faith, they have no longer the
experience they once enjoyed.

"The condition. You say to sinners that they are never to give up.
I do, at least. So with those who are seeking Holiness. They must
persevere or they will never find it."