“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, that point to past misdoings and coming penalties.  Such venomous creatures as hatreds, revenges, lusts, and other evil passions are rife in every direction; while the demons of doubt and despair seem to come and go of their own free will, leading men and women on the one hand to indifference, worldliness, and infidelity, and on the other to darkness and despair.  This wild, dismal territory we will style ‘The Land of Uncertainty.’

“In the centre of this unlovable and undesirable country the mountain of which I want to speak lifts its lofty head.  Call it ‘Mount Pisgah’ or ‘Mount Beulah,’ or, if you will, call it ’Mount Purity’—­I like that term the best.  But whatever you name it, there it is, rising up above the clouds and fogs of sin and selfishness, and doubt and fear and condemnation that ever overhang the swampy Land of Uncertainty, of which I have given you a glimpse.

“Look at it.  There are some monster mountains in the natural world, but they are mere molehills alongside this giant height.  Look at it again.  Is it not an entrancing sight?  Its lofty brow, crowned with a halo of glorious light, reaches far upwards towards the gates of endless day, those living on its summit having glorious glimpses of the towers and palaces of the Celestial City.  The atmosphere is eminently promotive of vigorous health and lively spirits.  But its chief claim is the purity of heart, the constant faith, the loving nature, and the consecrated, self-sacrificing devotion of those who are privileged