At my morning service, I preached on the subject, and as I swept over the prairie ten miles, in the face of a driving storm, I resolved to preach on the same subject again at my noon-day appointment.  I did so, and with much better satisfaction than in the morning.  Twelve miles more of storm, and I was again before a congregation to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.  I had now become so full of my theme that I concluded to make it the subject of my next discourse.  So, changing my text, I preached on Gospel purity, showing that experimental religion presents itself to the conception of the mind under three clearly defined ideas.  These are Justification, Regeneration, and Sanctification.  The drift of thought ran in this wise:  By Justification we mean the pardon of sin.  The man, who finds this grace through Christ, stands as fully accepted before the Law, as though he had never sinned.  By Regeneration, we mean that radical change of man’s moral and spiritual condition which subjects all the faculties and powers of the soul to the control of the Divine Spirit.  This work of grace, wrought in the heart by the Spirit, includes not only the entire subjugation of the “Man of Sin,” but the introduction of the reign of Christ.  These two achievements of grace, wrought in the subject at the same moment, we ordinarily call Conversion.  By Sanctification, we mean that higher state of grace which contemplates the removal of all sin from the heart of the believer, and the experience of “Perfect Love.”

This last attainment comes to the believer through earnest seeking, and personal consecration to God.  In thus “going on to perfection,” the believer passes through several phases of experience.  He finds that if he shall retain his justified state, it is necessary to seek advanced attainments.  And if he shall be faithful in the use of grace already received, he will find the Spirit ever leading him to new fields of experience.  As the Astronomer rests his calculations on worlds already discovered when he looks into the regions beyond, so the Christian must maintain his present experience, if he will know the further revelations of the Spirit.

But the moral perceptions, quickened by the Spirit, will furnish painful revelations to the justified soul.  He will discover that there linger still within him remains of the carnal mind.  Pride, the love of the world, selfishness, self-will, and sometimes even anger or other evil passion, will begin to stir in the heart.  Such revelations will awaken a profound spiritual concern, and perhaps, become the subject of temptation.  But there need be no alarm.  It is but an evidence that the good work, began in Regeneration, has not been fully completed by entire Sanctification.  The tree has been cut down, but the shoots around the old stump show that there is vitality still in the roots.  The “Mightier” than the “strong man” must now come and pluck up the roots.  The work of eradication thus accomplished, the absolute reign of Christ will be established.  The heart will now become the Garden of the Lord, without briar, thorn, or thistle.  Relieved of these hindrances, the graces will speedily acquire maturity.