“There is another favourite song which begins:—­

        “O joyful sound of Gospel grace! 
          Christ shall in me appear;
        I, even I, shall see His face,
          I shall be holy here.

     “But, still ascending, we come to the wrestling stage.

     “Here the travellers are met by numerous enemies, who are in dead
     opposition to their ever reaching the summit.

“I observe that the enemies attack those travellers with doubts as to the possibility of ever reaching the mountain’s top, and with scores of questions about apparently conflicting passages of Scripture, and contradictory experiences of Christian people; and, alas! with only too frequent success, for the whole plateau seems to be strewn with the records of broken resolutions relating to the renouncements of evil habits, tempting companions, and deluding indulgences.

“And I observe that lying about are many unfulfilled consecrations relating to friends, and money, and children, and time, and other things; in fact, this stage seems to be a strange mixture of faith and unbelief; so much so that it is difficult to believe that we are on the slopes of Mount Purity at all.

“Here you will find posted on the sides of the rocks in all directions placards bearing the words:  ’The things I would do those I do not, and the things I would not do those I do, and there is no spiritual health in me.’  And up and down you will also see notice-boards warning would-be travellers not to climb any higher for fear they should fall again.

“But, thank God, while many chicken-hearted souls lie down in despair on this plateau, or retrace their steps to the dreary regions below, others declare that there is no necessity for failure.  These push forward in the upward ascent, singing as they go:—­

        “Though earth and hell the world gainsay,
          The word of God can never fail;
        The Lamb shall take my sins away,
          ’Tis certain, though impossible;
        The thing impossible shall be,
        All things are possible to me.

     “So, persevering with our journey, higher up, very much higher up,
     we come to the sin-mastering stage.

“This is a glorious plateau.  All who enter it do so by the narrow passage of repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; receiving in their souls, as they pass the threshold, the delightful assurance of full and free forgiveness through the Blood of the Lamb.

“Here men and women walk with heads erect in holy confidence, 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