t 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,