, 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.