“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.