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 fr