Gothenburg's Post

"Wherever in the world men's hearts beat for men's sorrows and misery, the message of General Booth's death will be received with sadness and mourning. For with General Booth departed the greatest modern apostle of Christianity, charity, and mercy—a sort of Saviour up to the level of modern machinery and wholesale industrial city life, and one of the most discussed and remarkable of modern personages."



Gothenburg's Evening

"William Booth's life was one in storm and battle—a great man's life, the life of an unwearied fighter. Now the whole world bows before the great man and the great life which will live through all time, and go on bringing help to the suffering."



Smaland's Post

"Booth's blessed and energetic all-world-embracing efforts have, during the last decades, had general recognition, and his native land has in various ways testified its respect for what he has done in the service of mercy."



Upsala News

"William Booth's sleepless energy and restless activity succeeded in forcing his work's recognition, even where people did not approve his methods, and many who before despised him will, now that he is gone, admit that he has done more for his fellows than many whose names have gone down to posterity."



Malmo S. S. Daily

"It is one of the day's strongest personages who is gone—a man with the utmost wealth of energy and power. One could hardly believe he belonged to our times, and yet he had all the qualities of our nervous and restless epoch. There was much in him to remind of the old prophets—the lonely man of God fighting with the mighty and the wrong. Nobody can dispute that The Army did much good."



Stockholm Morning

"It lay in the Leader's extraordinary foresight that The Army had a great and blessed work to fulfil to save the deepest sunken in the community."



Chapter XXVI

Organisation



The high reputation which The General gained as an Organiser seems to make it desirable to explain, as fully as we can, what he aimed at, and by what means he made The Army the remarkable combination it has become. We have, happily, in several of our books his own dissertations on the subject, for he always sought to make clear to all who should follow him, especially in this respect, the reasons for his plans. In his introduction to Orders and Regulations for Staff Officers, he writes as follows:—

"Some of the Converts resided in other parts of London, and they soon commenced themselves to hold Meetings afterwards, and to win souls in their localities. I was entreated to care for these also. The Christian Churches, even when they were willing to receive these Converts, were as a result generally so much occupied with the maintenance of their own existence, or so lukewarm in coping with the necessities of the poor people, as to be unequal to the task of caring for them. I soon found that the majority of those who joined the Churches either relapsed again into open backsliding, or became half-hearted professors. I was, therefore, driven to select men and women who I knew to be lovers of souls, and to be living holy lives, for the purpose of caring for these new Converts. These helpers I afterwards directed to hold Meetings in the streets and in cottages, and then in Halls and other Meeting Places. The Lord was with them in great power, and hundreds of wicked and godless people were converted and united together in separate societies.

"These operations were, in course of time, extended to the Provinces, where my late beloved wife, who was my unfailing helper and companion in this work until God took her from me, preached with much acceptance and remarkable results. It soon became difficult, and at length impossible, for me to express my wishes and give my instructions to my helpers by word of mouth, and consequently I had to issue them in the form of correspondence. This I also soon found to be a task beyond my ability. And yet, if unity and harmony were to be preserved among the people God had given me, and if the work were to be carried on successfully, it was evident that they must know my wishes. I was, therefore, compelled to print such Directions and Rules as I deemed to be necessary.

"This practice has continued to the present day, and been increased by reason of the advance of the Work to an extent I never could have anticipated. Some seventeen years ago I issued a volume of Orders and Regulations for Field Officers. More than once since then this book has been enlarged, and revised to date, and, although some further developments have been made since that time, that volume may be taken as the expression, in general terms, of my present convictions of what a Field Officer of The Salvation Army should be and do, and as such I commend it to the attention of Officers and Soldiers of every rank in The Army throughout the world.

"Soon after the publication of the Orders and Regulations for Field Officers, a volume describing the duties of Divisional Officers was issued. This volume has also been outgrown, by reason of continued developments in the organisation of the Army rendering further enlargements necessary.

"Meanwhile, the ablest and most devoted Officers throughout the world have been contriving, and, with the authority of Headquarters, executing what have seemed the wisest and best methods for attaining the objects we have in view. It now appears to me not only desirable, but absolutely necessary, that these usages should be again examined and classified, and, if found to be in harmony with our principles, corrected, reduced to writing, and then, endorsed by my authority, published for the benefit of The Army throughout the world, and for the advantage also of those who will hereafter be our successors in the responsibility for carrying forward the War. The Orders and Regulations contained in this volume are the result.

"It was my intention to make this book a complete Compendium of Regulations for Staff Officers of all Departments in all parts of the world; but it became evident that, owing to the multiplication of the different branches of our operations, and the diversity of the Regulations required by their varied character and conditions, such a volume would have been swollen to most inconvenient dimensions, and I therefore determined to omit everything not applying to the Officers under the command of the British Commissioner.

"It must not be inferred from this that the Staff Officers employed at International Headquarters, or of those engaged in the Social Work, do not rank equally with those whose duties are herein described. Further Orders and Regulations required by them, and for Staff Officers in other Territories, will be issued from time to time as needed. The Regulations contained in Part I of this volume are to be carried out as far as possible in all Territories and Departments.

"The Regulations herein contained must not be regarded as a final authority on the duties and responsibilities to which they refer. Development has been the order of The Army from the beginning, and will, I hope, remain so to the end. Our methods must of necessity be always changing with the ever varying character and circumstances of the people whom we seek to benefit. But our principles remain as unchangeable as the Throne of Jehovah. It is probable that in succeeding years other Orders and Regulations will be issued by the Central Authority to take the place of these I am now publishing. It is right, and safe, and necessary that it should be so. God will, I believe, continue to make known from time to time, to those who follow His good pleasure, the way in which the War should be carried on, and The Army will, I hope, continue to receive and record in Orders and Regulations that manifested Will, and, by obedience, continue to go forward from victory unto victory!

"I think I may truthfully say that in no words which it has been my privilege to write in the past, and in no work that it has ever been my lot to undertake, have I been more conscious of the presence and guidance of another Spirit, than in the preparation of these Regulations. That Spirit has been, I believe, the Spirit of Eternal Light. I have asked wisdom of God, and I verily believe that my request has been favourably regarded. Of this, I think, these Regulations will, to those for whom they have been prepared, bear witness.

"These Regulations are not, I repeat, intended as a finality. If any Staff Officer into whose hand this book may come, or may be brought into knowledge of the working of the Regulations contained in it, can suggest any improvement, let him do so. If he can show any plan by which the end aimed at can be more simply, or inexpensively, or effectually gained, either as regards work, or men, or methods, or money, by all means let him make the discovery known to us. God is in no wise confined to any particular person for the revelation of His will. It would be the vainest of vain desires were I so foolish as to wish that it should be so. Let Him speak by whom He will. What I want to see is the work done, souls saved, and the world made to submit at the Saviour's feet.

"I cannot conclude without saying that there has been present with me, all the way through the preparation of this book, a vivid sense of the utter powerlessness of all system, however wisely it may have been framed, which has not in the application of it that Spirit of Life who alone imparts the vital force without which no extensive or permanent good can be effected.

"And now, on the completion of my task, and at the moment of placing it in the hands of my Officers, this conviction is forced upon me in an increasing, I may almost say, a painful, degree.

"No one can deny that the religious world is full of forms which have little or no practical influence on the minds, or hearts, or lives, of those who travel the weary round of their performances day by day. Are the Regulations that I am now issuing at no distant date going to swell the number of these dead and powerless systems? God forbid that it should be so! Nothing could be further from my contemplation than such a result.

"However, there must be Regulations. They are necessary. If work is to be done at all, it must be done after some particular fashion, and if one fashion is better than another—which no one amongst us will question—it must be the wisest course to discover that best fashion, and to describe it in plain language, so that it may be acted upon throughout our borders until some better method is made known. We want certain things done in The Army for the Salvation of souls, for the deliverance of the world from sin and misery, and for the glory of our God; and the Regulations herein set forth represent the best methods at present known either to me, or to those around me, for the accomplishment of these things. Therefore praying for God's blessing upon them I send them forth with the expectation that the Staff Officers whom they concern will render a faithful, conscientious, and believing obedience to all that they enjoin."

All this was only written in 1904, and there has been nothing since materially to change the system set forth in the 350 odd pages which follow, and which explain as fully as was necessary how the plans which are so fully explained in the volume of Orders and Regulations for Field Officers, above referred to, were to be carried into effect throughout the whole country.

The opening chapter of these Regulations explains the Organisation as follows:—

"THE GENERAL DIVISIONS OF THE ARMY

"The divisions of The Army in the Field are at present as follow:—

"Ward, under the charge of a Sergeant.

"Corps, under the charge and command of a Field Officer.

"Section, under the charge and command of a Sectional Officer.

"Division, under the charge and command of a Divisional Commander.

"Province, under the charge and command of a Provincial Commander.

"Territory, under the charge and command of a Territorial Commissioner.

"A Ward is a part of a town or neighbourhood in which a Corps is operating, placed under the charge of Local Officers, whose duty it is to watch over the welfare of the Soldiers and Recruits belonging to it.

"A Corps is that portion of a country in which a separate work is carried on, and for which it is responsible. It may consist of a city, a town, or a particular district of either, and it may include one or more Societies in adjoining places, or it may consist of a number of such Societies grouped together, in which case it is called a Circle Corps.

"A Section is a group of Corps placed under the command of one or more Officers.

"A Division consists of a number of Corps grouped together with that part of a country in which these Corps are situated.

"A Province comprises a number of Divisions.

"A Territory consists of a Country, or part of a Country, or several Countries combined together, as The General may decide."

In Orders and Regulations for his Territorial Commissioners, that is, those who hold the highest command over whole countries, he writes:—

"The higher the authority with which Officers are entrusted, and the larger the responsibilities resting upon them, the greater is the need for that absolute devotion to the principles of The Army, and that complete abandonment to the purposes of God which our Orders and Regulations express and represent, and without which no system, however perfect, and no body of men, however capable, can achieve the great work He has called us to do in establishing the Kingdom of God in the earth."

One of the greatest problems connected with all organisation is the keeping up to the ideal of those who are in danger of forgetting it; and, therefore, the following section will, we think, be found especially interesting to those who may ask, How has it been done, or how is it to be done? It is the section on "The Development of Field Officers," and reads as follows:—

"The Divisional Officer is responsible for seeking to develop the spiritual life of the F.O.'s. No matter what gifts or zeal the Officer may possess, if he is not walking in the light, and living in the favour of God, it is vain to hope that he will be really successful.

"The D.O. must always, therefore, when he comes in contact with Officers under his command, make inquiries with regard to their spiritual life, leading them to acknowledge their faults and heart conflicts, so that he may give suitable counsel and help.

"The D.O. must regard himself as responsible to God for maintaining the devotion of the Officers under him to the great purpose to which they have already consecrated their lives. He cannot expect to deal faithfully with an Officer on such matters unless he does so, and he must bear in mind how easy it is to draw back from that whole-hearted sacrifice without which no Officer can succeed.

"The D.O. must see that his Officers possess, and live in, the spirit of The Army. Without it their Officership will be like a body without a soul, or like a locomotive without any power. The D.O. must encourage Officers to cry out to God for this, and must continually explain its importance.

"The D.O. must understand that if Officers under his command decline in their love for souls and become careless about the progress of their work, he will have failed in a very important part of his duty. The D.O. exists for the purpose of helping and saving his F.O.'s.

"The D.O. is responsible for the development of energy and enterprise in his Officers. One great temptation of F.O.'s is to settle down and to be content with a formal discharge of duty, and, what is worse still, to offer all sorts of excuses for their lackadaisical Laodicean condition. Few people have in themselves sufficient force of character, human or Divine, to keep them pushing ahead for any considerable length of time. Officers who when they first enter the Field are like flames of fire, will, if not looked after, get into ruts, and content themselves with holding so many Meetings, doing so many marches, raising the ordinary Corps funds, Meeting the ordinary expenditure, keeping the ordinary number of Soldiers on the Roll, and doing everything in the ordinary day, while the world, undisturbed, is going forward at express speed to Hell. The D.O. should endeavour to prevent this settling down on the part of his Officers by continually stirring up their minds with inducements to labour and encouragements to renewed activity and increased sacrifice for the Salvation of the world.

"The D.O. is also responsible for the improvement of the gifts of his Officers and of their efficiency for the work they have in hand. He must not only show them wherein they fail, but must teach them how they may do better.

"The D.O. must encourage his Officers. If they have gifts and capacities—and none are without some—he should cheer them forward by acknowledging them. He should point out where they do well, at the same time setting before them the higher positions of usefulness they may reach with a little application and perseverance. He may always remind them of Officers who during the early part of their career have had little success, but who, by sticking to the fight have reached positions of great usefulness. There are few Officers who during their early days are not cast down and tempted to think that they do not possess the gifts necessary to success, and that they have missed their vocation in becoming Officers. This class of melancholy feelings should be battled with by the D.O. with all his might, for if allowed to run their course the result will be not only depression, but despair, and perhaps desertion.

"The D.O. should give particular attention to the development of the ability, energy, and religion of the Lieutenants in his Division. Their position in a Corps often makes it difficult for them to exercise their gifts to advantage, and they are often depressed and discouraged. A D.O. should always inquire on his visiting a Corps having a Lieutenant—

"Whether he is happy with his C.O. and in the Work;

"What special work he has to do and for which he is actually responsible.

"Every Division must have its own Officers' Meeting, which should always be conducted by the Divisional Officer, unless the Provincial Commander, or some Officer representing Headquarters be present.

"Every Officer in the Division must be present at, at least, one Officers' Meeting in each month; and where it is possible, in great centres Meetings should be held once a week. The D.O. must be careful that the Officers' Meetings do not involve a financial burden on the Officers, and he must make such plans as will avoid this, and submit the same to the P.C.

"It will sometimes be found convenient to pool the travelling expenses, but this may easily work unfavourably to the smaller Corps instead of in their favour, and in such cases the D.O. must assist his F.O's with part of the travelling expenses incurred in attending Officers' Meetings in all such cases where F.O's are drawing the standard salary or less for their support. Should his Funds be insufficient to meet the whole of the burden in such cases, he must apply to the P.C. for assistance.

"The Officers' Meetings should always be held in a comfortable room of a size proportionate to the number of Officers present. The Officers should be seated directly before the leader.

"Only Field Officers shall be admitted. A D.O. who wishes to meet his Local Officers with his F.O. may announce a Special Meeting for that purpose at any time.

"There shall always be at the beginning of a Meeting some considerable time spent in prayer for—

"The Officers present and the Division in general;

"The universal Army, its Officers and Soldiers, and especially for any portion of it that may be suffering persecution or passing through trial;

"For wisdom for those upon whom the direction of the Army lies;

"The supply of money and all else needed to carry on the War.

"The mightier baptisms of the Holy Ghost, and the Salvation of a large number of souls.

"The D.O., or any other Officer present, shall have the opportunity, if desired, of pouring out his soul in loving exhortation to his comrades, but nothing in the nature of discussion or the expression of opinions on any orders that may be given must be permitted.

"The Officer being most used of God at the time should be asked to urge his fellows to more holy living, greater self-denial, and increased activity.

"There shall be the opportunity for the publication of any great blessing that may have been obtained, or any remarkable work of grace that may have been realised in the souls of the Officers present, or in their Corps, or for the description of any other wonderful work of God that may have been wrought during the week in the Division. When at all possible, every Officer present should pray aloud during the Meeting.

"There should occasionally be a time set apart for the confession of unfaithfulness and for the open reconsecration to God and the War on the part of any Officer.

"There should be a general rededication of all present to the War at every Meeting.

"There must be a time set apart for the statement by the D.O. of any event of general interest to the whole Army, or of any remarkable occurrence in the Division, or any Meetings, Demonstrations, or other services of importance that may be likely soon to take place in the Division or elsewhere.

"There must be an opportunity after the Meeting, to transact business. It is of the greatest importance that there should always be time allowed for personal intercourse between the D.O. and the Officers present. The D.O. should always announce at the commencement of the Meeting that he will be glad to see any Officer present, personally, at its close.

"It will be seen what an enormous power the D.O. possesses in this Meeting for inspiring, directing, and controlling all the forces of his Division; how every week he can spend the greater part of a day, and as much more time as he likes, in making his Officers, who have the leadership of The Army in that neighbourhood, think and feel exactly as he does. How solemnly important, then, must it be that the D.O. should think and feel just as our Lord Jesus Christ would have him think and feel on such an occasion, and in the presence of such an opportunity.

"It is most important that the D.O. should arrange beforehand, with great care, such business as will have to be transacted. For instance, he should have, among other things—

"A list of the matters requiring attention. He will save himself much trouble and correspondence, much loss of time, and much expense in travelling by seeing the Officers about matters that concern their Corps, and themselves personally at the Meeting. If he have no such list, it is probable he will forget some of the most important questions of business he has on hand.

"He should have a list of the Officers he wants to see, together with the business upon which it is necessary that he should confer with them.

"Notes must always be taken by him of the results of these interviews, according to rule. Especially should any engagements the D.O. makes for himself be carefully recorded.

"The D.O. should make some personal spiritual preparation for the Meeting. There must of necessity be many things of a perplexing and trying character in connexion with the Officers whom he will have to meet, and the condition of the Corps concerning which he will have information. He ought, therefore, to make an opportunity beforehand for special prayer for Divine guidance and strength, and so enter the Meeting with his mind calm, and confident in the assurance not only of the Divine favour in his own soul, but that God will sustain and direct him in the Meeting and in all the business that may subsequently come before him.

"The condition of heart and spirit in the D.O. at such times will be instinctively felt by every Officer in the room before the Meeting has been going on for a quarter of an hour, and this will have far more influence—as has been remarked before—on his Command than anything he may say or do. How important is it, then, that he should be as Saul among the prophets—not only head and shoulders above every one present as regards authority, but in the possession of the wisdom and power of the Holy Ghost!"



Chapter XXVIII

The Spirit of The Army



As pointed out in the foregoing chapter, The General was always anxious to make clear to all, and to avoid, the possibility of a continuance of organisation and a routine of effort without the spirit in which the work has been begun. We could not better describe that spirit than he did in the following address to his Officers gathered around him in London, in 1904.

He pictured to them the idea of Seven Spirits sent out from Heaven to possess the soul of every Officer, and thus described the action of two of them:—

"The Spirit of Life

"We begin with the good Spirit—the Spirit of Life. What did he say? What were the words he brought to us from the Throne? Let me repeat them: 'O Officers, Officers, I am one of the Seven Spirits whom John saw. I travel up and down the earth on special errands of mercy. I am come from Him that sitteth on the Throne, and reigneth for ever and ever, to tell you that if you are going to succeed in your life-and-death struggle for God and man, the first thing you must possess, in all its full and rich maturity, is the Spirit of Divine Life.'

"Now, before I go to the direct consideration of this message, let me have a word or two about life itself

"Life, as you know, is the opposite principle to death. To be alive is to possess an inward force capable of action without any outside assistance. For instance: anything that has in it the principle by which it is able to act in some way, independent of the will of any other thing or creature outside of itself, may be said to be alive. It has in it the principle of life.

"This principle of life is the mainspring and glory of God's universe.

"We have it in different forms in this world. For instance: We have material life. There is living and dead water, and there is living and dead earth.

"Then there is vegetable life. In the fields, and woods, and gardens, you have living trees, and flowers, and seeds.

"Then there is animal life. Only think of the variety, and usefulness, and instinctive skill of unnumbered members of the animal world.

"Then, rising higher in the scale of being, you have human life. Every man, woman, and child posesses, as it were, a trinity of existence; namely, physical life, mental life, and soul life; each being a marvel in itself.

"Then, rising higher still, we have a life more important, and bringing more glory to God than any of the other forms that I have noticed, and that is Spiritual Life.

"On this Spiritual Life let me make one or two remarks.

"Spiritual Life is Divine in its origin. It is a creation of the Holy Spirit. I need not dwell on this truth. Jesus Christ was at great trouble to teach it. 'Marvel not,' He said, 'ye must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' You have gone through this experience yourselves. You must insist on it in your people. Spiritual life proceeds from God. It can be obtained in no other way.

"Spiritual Life not only proceeds from God, but partakes of the nature of God.

"We see this principle, that the life imparted partakes of the nature of the author of being that imparts it, illustrated around us in every direction.

"The tree partakes of the nature of the tree from which it is derived. The animal partakes of the nature of the creature that it begets. The child partakes of the nature of its parents. So the soul, born of God, will possess the nature of its Author. Its life will be divine.

"This is a mystery. We cannot understand it, but the Apostle distinctly affirms it when he says, the Son of God is a partaker of the Divine nature.

"Spiritual Life, like all other life, carries with it the particular powers belonging to its own nature.

"Every kind of life has its own particular powers—senses, instincts, or whatever they may be called.

"Vegetable life has its powers, enabling it to draw nutrition out of the ground.

"Fish life has power adapting it to an existence in the water.

"Animal life has powers or senses suitable to its sphere of existence, such as seeing, hearing, tasting, and the like.

"Human life has faculties, emotions, loves and hatreds, suitable to its manner of existence. And it has its own peculiar destiny. It goes back to God, to be judged as to its conduct when its earthly career terminates.

"And the Spiritual Life of which we are speaking has powers or faculties necessary to the maintenance of its existence, and to the discharge of the duties appropriate to the sphere in which it moves. For instance: it has powers to draw from God the nourishment it requires; it has powers to see or discern spiritual things; it has powers to distinguish holy people; it has powers to love truth, and to hate falsehood; it has powers to suffer and sacrifice for the good of others. It has powers to know, and love, and glorify its Maker.

"Those possessed of this Spiritual Life, like all other beings, act according to their nature.

"For instance: the tree grows in the woods, and bears leaves and fruit after its own nature. The bird flies in the air, builds its nest, and sings its song after its own nature. The wild beasts roam through the forest, and rage and devour according to their own nature. If you are to make these or any other creatures act differently, you must give them a different nature. By distorting the tree, or training the animal, or clipping the wings of the bird, you may make some trifling and temporary alteration in the condition or conduct of these creatures; but when you have done this, left to themselves, they will soon revert to their original nature.

"By way of illustration. A menagerie recently paid a visit to a northern town. Amongst the exhibits was a cage labelled 'The Happy Family,' containing a lion, a tiger, a wolf, and a lamb. When the keeper was asked confidentially how long a time these animals had lived thus peacefully together, he answered, 'About ten months. But,' said he, with a twinkle in his eye, 'the lamb has to be renewed occasionally.'

"As with these forms of life, so with men and women and children. The only way to secure conduct of a lasting character different from its nature is by effecting a change in that nature. Make them new creatures in Christ Jesus and you will have a Christlike life.

"The presence of the powers natural to Spiritual Life constitutes the only true and sufficient evidence of its possession.

"The absence of these powers shows conclusively the absence of the life. If a man does not love God and walk humbly with Him; if he does not long after Holiness, love his comrades, and care for souls, it will be satisfying evidence that he has gone back to the old nature—that is, to spiritual death.

"All Spiritual Life is not only imparted by Jesus Christ, but sustained by direct union with Him.

"'I am the Vine,' He says, 'ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing' (John xv. 6).

"Nothing will make up for the lack of this life.

"This, indeed, applies to every kind of existence. You cannot find a substitute for life in the vegetable kingdom. Try the trees in the garden. Look at that dead apple-tree. As you see it there, it is useless, ugly, fruitless. What will make up for the absence of life? Will the digging, or the manuring of the ground around it do this? No! That will be all in vain. If it is dead, there is only one remedy, and that is to give it life—new life.

"Take the animal world. What can you do to make up for the lack of life in a dog? I read the other day of a lady who had a pet dog. She loved it to distraction. It died. Whatever could she do with it to make up for its loss of life? Well, she might have preserved it, stuffed it, jewelled its eyes, and painted its skin. But had she done so, these things would have been a disappointing substitute. So she buried it, and committed suicide in her grief, and was buried by its side.

"Take the loss of human life. What is the use of a dead man? Go to the death-chamber. Look at that corpse. The loved ones are distracted. What can they do? They may dress it, adorn it, appeal to it. But all that human skill and effort can conceive will be in vain. All that the broken hearts can say or do must soon terminate, as did Abraham's mourning for Sarah, when he said, 'Give me a piece of land that I may bury my dead out of my sight.' Nothing can make up for the lack of life.

"But this is specially true of the Spiritual Life of which we are speaking. Take this in its application to a Corps. If you want an active, generous, fighting, dare-devil Corps, able and willing to drive Hell before it, that Corps must be possessed, and that fully, by this spirit of life. Nothing else can effectively take its place. No education, learning, Bible knowledge, theology, social amusements, or anything of the kind will be a satisfactory substitute. The Corps that seeks to put any of these things in the place of life will find them a mockery, a delusion, and a snare; will find them to be only the wraps and trappings of death itself.

"And if it is so in the Corps, it is so ten thousand times more in the Officer who commands that Corps—in you!

"Spiritual Life is the essential root of every other qualification required by a Salvation Army Officer.

"With it he will be of unspeakable interest.

"He will be a pleasure to himself. There is an unspeakable joy in having healthy, exuberant life.

"He will be of interest to those about him. Who cares about dead things? Dead flowers—throw them out. Dead animals—eat them. Dead men—bury them. Dead and dying Officers—take them away. Give them another Corps.

"If he is living he will be of interest to all about him. Men with humble abilities, if full of this Spiritual Life, will be a charm and a blessing wherever they go. Look at the lives and writings of such humble men as Billy Bray, Carvosso, and Hodgson Casson. Their memory is an ointment poured forth to-day after long years have passed away.

"Without this life an Officer will be of no manner of use. No matter how he may be educated or talented, without life is to be without love; and to be without love, the Apostle tells us, is to be only as 'a sounding brass.' But it is not that of which I want to speak just now.

"Spiritual Life is essential to the preservation of life.

"The first thing life does for its possessor is to lead him to look after its own protection. When the principle of life is strong, you will have health and longevity. When it is weak, you have disease. When it is extinct, you have decay and rottenness.

"Only vigorous Spiritual Life will enable a Salvation Army Officer to effectually discharge the duties connected with his position.

"Life is favorable to activity. It is so with all life. Go into the tropical forests, and see the exuberant growth of everything there. Look at the foliage, the blossom, the fruit. Look at the reptiles crawling at your feet, and take care they do not sting you. Look at the birds chattering and fluttering on the trees, and they will charm you. Look at the animals roving through the woods, and take care they do not devour you.

"Contrast all this movement with the empty, barren, silent, Polar regions, or the dreary, treeless sands of the African desert.

"Go and look at the overflowing, tirelss activity of the children. Why are they never still? It is the life that is in them. Go to the man at work. With what glee, and for what a trifling remuneration, he sweats, and lifts and carries the ponderous weights. Go to the soldier in the military war. How he shouts and sings as he marches to deprivations, and wounds, and death.

"Even so with Spiritual Life. It never rests; it never tires; it always sees something great to do, and is always ready to undertake it. What is the explanation? How can we account for it? The answer is, Life—abundant life.

"It is only by the possession of Life that The Salvation Army Officer can spread this life.

"That is, reproduce himself, multiply himself, or his kind. This reproduction or multiplication of itself is a characteristic of all life.

"Take the vegetable kingdom. Every living plant has life-producing seed, or some method of reproducing itself. The thistle: who can count the number of plants that one thistle can produce in a year? One hundred strawberry plants can be made in ten years to produce more than a thousand million other strawberry plants!

"Take the animal kingdom. Here each living creature has this reproductive power. They say that a pair of sparrows would in ten years, if all their progeny could be preserved, produce as many birds as there are people on the earth—that is, 1,500,000,000. 'Ye are of more value than many sparrows.'

"Just so, this Spiritual Life is intended to spread itself through the world.

"It is to this end it is given to you. God's command to Adam was, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.' How much more does this command apply to you and to me! You are to be progenitors of a world of men and women possessed of Spiritual Life; the parents of a race of angels. How this is to be done is another question. About that I shall have something to say as we go along. For the moment, I am simply occupied with the fact that you have to call this world of holy beings into existence by spreading this life.

"Every Officer here is located in a world of death. Sometimes we style it a dying world, and so it is on its human side, but on its spiritual side it is past dying; it is dead. By that I do not mean that the spiritual nature, that is the soul, ever ceases to be in any man. That will never come to pass. Perhaps nothing once created will ever cease to be. Anyway, man is immortal. The soul can never die. Neither do I mean that there is no Spiritual Life.

"By spiritual death we mean that the soul is—Separated from God; no union with Him. In a blind man the organ may be perfect, but not connected.

"Inactive. No love for the things God loves. No hatred for the things He hates. Dead to His interests, His kingdom; dead to Him.

"Corrupt, bad, devilish, etc. What a valley of dry bones the world appears to the man whose eyes have been opened to see the truth of things. Verily, verily, it is one great cemetery crowded with men, women, and children dead in trespasses and sin. Look for a moment at this graveyard, in which the men around you may be said to lie with their hearts all dead and cold to Christ, and all that concerns their Salvation. Look at it. The men and women and children in your town are buried there. The men and women in your city, in your street. Nay, the very people who come to your Hall to hear you talk on a Sunday night are there. There they lie. Let us read the inscriptions on some of their tombs:—

"Here lies Tom Jones

"He had a beautiful nature, and a young, virtuous wife, and some beautiful children. All starved and wretched through their father's selfish ways. He can't help himself. He says so. He has proved it. He is dead in drunkenness.

"Here lies Harry Please-Yourself

"Mad on footballing, theatres, music-halls, dances, and the like. Nothing else morning, noon, or night seems to interest him. There he is, dead in pleasure.

"Here lies James Haughtiness

"Full of high notions about his abilities, or his knowledge, or his family, or his house, or his fortune, or his business, or his dogs, or something. There he is, dead in pride.

"Here lies Jane Featherhead

"Absorbed in her hats, and gowns, and ribbons, and companions, and attainments. There she is, dead in vanity.

"Here lies Miser Graspall

"Taken up with his money—sovereigns, dollars, francs, kroner, much or little. 'Let me have more and more' is his dream, and his cry, and his aim, by night and day. There he is, dead in covetousness.

"Here lies Sceptical Doubtall

"Hunting through the world of nature, and revolution, and providence, and specially through the dirty world of his own dark little heart, for arguments against God and Christ and Heaven. There he is, dead in infidelity.

"Here lies Jeremiah Make-Believe

"With his Bible Class and Singing Choir, and Sunday religion, and heartless indifference to the Salvation or damnation of the perishing crowds at his door. There he is, dead in formality.

"Here lies Surly Badblood

"Packed full of suspicions and utter disregards for the happiness and feelings of his wife, family, neighbours, or friends. There he is, dead in bad tempers.

"Here lies Dives Enjoy-Yourself

"Look at his marble tomb, and golden coffin, and embroidered shroud, and ermine robes. This is a man whose every earthly want is supplied—Carriages, music, friends. There he is, dead in luxury.

"Here lies Dick Never-Fear

"His mouth is filled with laughter, and his heart with contempt when you speak to him about his soul. He has no anxiety, not he. He'll come off all right, never fear. Is not God merciful? And did not Christ die? And did not his mother pray? Don't be alarmed, God won't hurt him. There he is, dead in presumption,

"Here lies Judas Renegade

"His grave has a desolate look. The thorns and thistles grow over it. The occupant has money and worldly friends, and many other things, but altogether he gets no satisfaction out of them; he is uneasy all the time. There he is, dead in apostacy.

"There are any number of other graves. It is interesting, although painful, to wander amongst them. All, or nearly all, their occupants are held down by a heavy weight of ignorance, a sense of utter helplessness. And all are bound hand and foot with chains of lust, or passion, or procrastination, of their own forging. In the midst of these graves you live, and move, and have your being.

"What is your duty here? Oh, that you realised your true business in this region of death! Having eyes, Oh! that you could see. Having ears, Oh! that you could hear. Having hearts, Oh! that you could feel. What are you going to do with this graveyard? Walk about it in heartless unconcern, or with no higher feeling than gratitude for having been made alive yourselves? Or will you content yourselves with strolling through it, taxing its poor occupants for your living while leaving them quietly in their tombs as hopeless as you found them? Heaven forbid! Well, then, what do you propose? What will you do?

"Look after their bodies, and feed and nourish them, making the graveyard as comfortable a resting-place as you can? That is good, so far as it goes, but that is not very far. Will that content you? Decorate their graves with flowers and evergreens, and wreaths of pleasant things? Will that content you? Amuse them with your music, or the singing of your songs, or the letting off of your oratorical fireworks among their rotting corpses? Will that content you? Instruct them in doctrines, and rescues, and Salvations in which they have no share? Will that content you? No! No! No! A thousand times no! You won't be content with all that. God has sent you into this dark valley for nothing less than to raise these doom-struck creatures from the dead. That is your mission. To stop short of this will be a disastrous and everlasting calamity.

"What do you say? It cannot be done? That is false. God would never have set you an impossible task. You cannot do it? That is false again, for you have done it before again and again. There is not an Officer here who has not called some souls from the dead. Not one. How many thousands—how many tens of thousands, in the aggregate, have the Officers present at this Congress raised from the graves of iniquity? Who can tell?

"Go, and do it again. Go, and look at them. Go, and compassionate them. Go, and represent Jesus Christ to them. Go, and prophesy to them. Go, and believe for them. And then shall bone come to bone, and there shall be a great noise, and a great Army shall stand up to live, and fight, and die for the living God.



"THE SPIRIT OF PURITY

"And now we come to the consideration of the message of the second Spirit. Let us recall his words: 'O Officers, Officers, the Great Father has sent me to tell you that if you would be successful in your campaign against wickedness, selfishness, and fiends, you must yourselves be holy.'

"I come now to the task of showing, as far as I am able, what the plan of life is which God has formed for a Salvation Army Officer.

"What must an Officer be and do who wants satisfactorily to fill up the plan God has formed for him? Of course, there will in some respects be certain striking differences in that plan. But in the main there will be remarkable resemblances.

"The first thing that God asks is, that the Officer shall possess the character He approves.

"You might say the character that He admires. The very essence of that character is expressed in one word—Holiness.

"In the list of qualifications for effective leadership in this warfare, The Salvation Army has ever placed Holiness in the first rank. The Army has said, and says to-day, that no other qualities or abilities can take its place. No learning, or knowledge, or talking, or singing, or scheming, or any other gift will make up for the absence of this. You must be good if you are to be a successful Officer in The Salvation Army.

"Let us suppose that a comrade were to present himself before us this morning, and say, 'I am a Salvationist. I want to be an Officer amongst you, and I want to be an Officer after God's own Heart; but I am ignorant of the qualifications needed.' If I were to ask you what I should say to this brother, I know what your answer would be. You would say, with one voice, 'Tell him that, before all else, he must be a holy man.'

"Suppose, further, that I appeared before you myself for the first time at this Congress, and were to say to you: 'My comrades, I have come to be your Leader. What is the first, the foundation quality I require for your leadership?' I know the answer you would give me. You would say, 'O General, you must be a holy man.'

"If there were gathered before me, in some mighty building, the choicest spirits now fighting in The Salvation Army the world over—Commissioners and Staff Officers, Field Officers and Local Officers, together with Soldiers of every grade and class; and suppose, further, that standing out before that crowd, I was to propose the question: 'In what position in our qualifications shall I place the blessing of Holiness?' you know what the answer would be. With a voice that would be heard among the multitudes in Heaven the crowd would answer: 'Holiness must be in the first rank.'

"If this morning I had the privilege of ascending to the Celestial City, and asking the assembled angels in that mighty temple where, day and night, they worship the Great Jehovah: 'What position ought Holiness to occupy in the qualifications needed by Salvation Army Officers in their fight on earth?' you know that angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, would join with the Seven Spirits that are before the Throne with one united shout, loud enough to make the ears of Gabriel tingle, and would answer, 'Place it first.'

"If I could have the still greater privilege of kneeling before the intercessory Throne of my dear, my precious, my glorified Saviour, and of asking Him what position this truth should hold in the hearts and efforts of Salvation Army Officers, you know that He would answer: 'Blessed are the pure in heart.' Holiness comes first.

"If, further still, borne on a burning seraph's wings I could rise to the Heaven of Heavens, and, like its holy inhabitants, be allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, where Jehovah especially manifests His glory; and if, prostrate before that Throne, with all reverence I should ask the question: 'What is the first and most important qualification a Salvation Army Officer must possess in order to do Your Blessed Will?' you have His answer already. You know that He would reply: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'

"What, then, is that Holiness which constitutes the first qualification of an Officer, and which is asked for by that Blessed Spirit of Purity coming from the Throne of God?

"In replying to this question I cannot hope to do more than put you in remembrance of what you must already know.

"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.

"The essence of sin is selfishness; that is, the unreasoning, improper love of self. The essence of Holiness is benevolence. Holy souls are mastered by love, filled with love. Is not that blessed?

"It will be seen, then, that the Officer who enjoys this experience of Holiness will have received power from God to live a life consciously separated from sin.

"A man cannot be living in a God-pleasing state if he is knowingly living in sin, or consenting to it, which amounts to the same thing. Let us look a little more closely at this.

"Holiness will mean a present separation from all that is openly or secretly untrue.

"Any one pretending to be doing the will of God, while acting untruthfully or deceitfully in his dealings with those around him, is not only guilty of falsehood, but of hypocrisy.

"To be holy is to be sincere.

"Holiness means separation from all open and secret dishonesty. This applies to everything like defrauding another of that which is his just and lawful due.

"Holiness also means separation from all that is unjust.

"Doing unto others as you would that they should do to you, may be truly described as one of the lovely flowers and fruits of Purity.

"Holiness means Salvation from all neglect of duty to God and man.

"All pretensions to Holiness are vain while the soul is living in the conscious neglect of duty. A holy Officer will do his duty to his Maker. He will love God with all his heart—such a heart as he has, big or little. He will love and worship Him, and strive to please Him in all that he does. A holy Officer will love his neighbour as himself. The law of love will govern his dealings with his family, comrades, neighbours—body and soul.

"That is a beautiful experience which I am describing, is it not, my comrades? And you cannot be surprised that the Spirit of Purity should bring you the message that it is God's plan of life for you.

"Upon it let me make a few further remarks.

"Holiness is a distinct definite state; a man can be in it or out of it.

"Holiness is enjoyed partially or entirely by all converted people. It can be enjoyed partially. No one would say that every converted man was a holy man, and no one would say that every man who was not perfectly holy was not converted. But I should say, and so would you, that every truly converted man is the master of sin, although he may not be entirely delivered from it.

"Then, again, Holiness is a continued growth in sincere souls. With faith, watchfulness, prayer, and obedience, the power of sin diminishes as the days pass along, and the strength of Holiness increases.

"The line which separates a state of entire from a state of partial Holiness may be approached very gradually, but there is a moment when it is crossed.

"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 to dwell there. It must be a charming place. The multitudes whose feet have ever been permitted to tread its blessed heights think so.

"But while gazing on the entrancing sight, the question spontaneously arises: 'How can I get there?' There is evidently no mountain railway nor elevator on which, while reclining on pillows of ease, and serenaded by music and song, you can be rapidly and smoothly lifted up to the blessed summit. Those who reach that heavenly height must climb what the Bible calls the 'Highway of Holiness.' And they will usually find it a rugged, difficult journey, often having to fight every inch of the way. But, once on the celestial summit, the travellers will feel amply repaid for every atom of trouble and toil involved in the ascent.

"The road to this glorious height passes through various plateaux or stages which run all round the sides of the mountain, each different from the other, and each higher than the one that preceded it. Travellers to the summit have to pass through each of these stages. Let me enumerate some of the chief among them.

"To begin with, there is the awakening stage, where the climbers obtain their first fair view of this holy hill.

"It is here that the desire to make the ascent first breaks out. This longing is often awakened by reading various guide-books or Holiness advertisements, such as The War Cry, or Perfect Love, which set forth the blessedness experienced by those who make the heavenly ascent. Sometimes the desire to ascend the holy hill is awakened by the pure light which every now and then shines from the summit direct into the travellers' hearts. Or, it may be their souls are set on fire with a holy longing to be emptied of sin and filled with love by the burning testimonies of some of the people who live up there, but who come down into the valley every now and then to persuade their comrades to make the ascent. Anyway, it almost always happens when those who read these guide-books and listen to these testimonies begin to search their Bibles and cry to God for guidance, that a spirit of hunger and thirst sets in which gives them no rest until they themselves resolve to take the journey up the side of this wonderful mountain.

"A little higher up, and you reach the starting stage.

"Here those who fully resolve upon seeking holiness of heart first enter their names in the 'Travellers' Book.' On this plateau I observe that there is a great deal of prayer. You can hear the earnest petitions going up to Heaven, whichever way you turn. And, much prayer as there is, you can hear much singing also. One of the favourite songs commences:—

"O glorious hope of perfect love! It lifts me up to things above, It bears on eagles' wings; It gives my ravished soul a taste, And makes me for some moments feast With Jesus' priests and kings.

"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 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.

"What do you say to my holy mountain, my comrades?

"Are you living up there? Have you climbed as near to Heaven as that represents? If not, I want to make a declaration which you have often heard before, but which it will do you no harm to hear again, namely, that it is the will of God that you should not only reach the very summit, but that you should abide there.

"Do you ask why God wills that you should reach and abide on this holy mountain?

"I reply it is the will of God that you and I, and every other Officer in this blessed Army, should be holy for His own satisfaction.

"God finds pleasure in holy men and holy women. We know what it is to find pleasure in kindred companions. It is to like to be near them. To want to live with them, or have them to live with us. It is to be willing to travel any distance, or put ourselves to any inconvenience to reach them. According to the Bible, that is just how God feels towards His faithful people. He finds satisfaction in their doings, and praying, and worship, and song. But when there is unfaithfulness or sin of any kind this pleasure is sadly marred, if not altogether destroyed. In such cases the pleasure is turned to pain, the satisfaction to loathing, and the love to hatred.

"Hear what He says of Israel: 'In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.' If for no other reason than the pleasure it will give to God, don't you think every Officer should, with all his might, seek for Holiness of heart and life?

"Another reason why God wants you to live on that blessed mountain is the interest He feels in your welfare.

"He loves you. He has told you so again and again. He has proved His love by His deeds. Love compels the being entertaining the affection to seek the good of its object. He knows that sin is the enemy of your peace, and must mean misery here and hereafter. For this reason among others, He wants to deliver you from it.

"You will remember that by the lips of Peter God told the Jews that He had raised up His Son Jesus, and sent Him to bless them by turning every one of them away from his iniquities. That applies to you, my comrades. You have heard it before; I tell it you again. Holiness is the royal road to peace, contentment, and joy for you. The love God bears you, therefore, makes Him ceaselessly long after your Holiness of heart and life. Will you not let Him have His way? Will you not do His Will?

"God wants every Officer to be holy, in order that through him He may be able to pour His Holy Spirit upon the people to whom that Officer ministers.

"The men and women around you are in the dark. Oh, how ignorant they are of God and everlasting things! They cannot see the vile nature of the evil, and the foul character of the fiends that tempt and rule them. They do not see the black ruin that lies before them. So on they go, the blind leading the blind, till over the precipice they fall together. God wants their eyes to be opened. The Spirit can do the work, and through you He wants to pour the light.

"The men and women around you are weak. They cannot stand up against their own perverted appetites, the charms of the world, or the devices of the Devil. God wants to pour the Spirit of Power upon this helpless crowd. But He wants holy people through whom He can convey that strength. He works His miracles by clean people. That is His rule.

"There is nothing in the work of the early Apostles more wonderful than the miraculous manner in which they went about breathing the Spirit of Life and Light and Power on the people. But they were fully consecrated, Blood-and-Fire men and women.

"What do you say, my comrades? Will you be holy mediums? Do you not answer, 'Thy will be done'?

"God wants you to be holy, in order that you may reveal Him to the world by your example.

"Men do not believe in God—that is, the real God—the God of the Bible; and they do not believe in Him, because they do not know Him.

"He seeks to reveal Himself to men in various ways. He reveals Himself through the marvels of the natural world; and many say they can see God in the sun, and stars, and seas, and trees. He reveals Himself by speaking to men in their own hearts, and many hear His whisperings there. He reveals Himself in His own Book, and some read and ascertain what is His mind there.

"But, alas! the great multitude are like children. They require to see and hear God revealed before their very eyes in visible and practical form before they will believe. And to reach these crowds, God wants men and women to walk about the world so that those around, believers and unbelievers alike, shall see the form and hear the voice of the living God; people who shall be so like Him in spirit, and life, and character as to make the crowds feel as though the very shadow of God had crossed their path. Will you be a shadow of God?

"God wants you to be holy, in order that you may know what His mind is about the world, and about your work in it.

"He entertains certain opinions and feelings with respect to it. He has His own plan for saving it. He wants to reveal to you what those opinions and feelings are, and to do this so far as it will be good for you and those about you. He wants you to know how you can best fight devils, convict sinners, save souls, and bless the world.

"You can have this wonderful knowledge. Paul had it. He said 'We,' that is, I, 'have the mind of Christ.' God is no respecter of persons. He is as willing to reveal His mind to you, so far as you need it, as He was to reveal it to Paul.

"But to possess this knowledge you must be holy. Sin darkens the understanding, and hinders the perception of truth. A grain of sand in the eye will prevent you seeing the most beautiful landscape in the universe, or the dearest friends you have. It is with the heart that men see divine things, and an atom of sin will darken the brightest vision that can come before you. With a pure heart you can not only see God's truth, but God Himself. Oh, God wants to reveal Himself to you. Will you let Him? But if He is to do so, you must have a clean heart.

"It is God's will that you should be holy, because He wants you to be men and women of courage.

"Courage is the most valuable quality in this War. There are few gifts of greater importance. Only think what it has enabled the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Salvation leaders of modern times to accomplish! How it covered Moses, and Joshua, and David, and Daniel, and Paul, and a crowd of others with glory, and enabled them to conquer men, and devils, and difficulties of all kinds. I shall have something more to say about this before I have done.

"Courage and Holiness are linked closely together. You cannot have one without the other. Sin is the very essence of weakness. A little selfishness, a little insincerity, a little of anything that is evil means condemnation, and loss of courage, which means cowardice and failure.

"'The wicked flee when no man pursueth.' Double-minded people are uncertain, fickle, unreliable in all their ways. 'The righteous are bold as a lion.' Remember Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.

"God wants you to be holy, in order that He may do mighty works through your instrumentality.

"I verily believe that His arm is held back from working wonders through the agency of many Officers, because He sees that such success would be their ruin. The spirit of Nebuchadnezzar is in them. He cannot build Babylon, or London, or New York, or anything else by their instrumentality, because He sees it would create the spirit of vainglory and boasting, or of ambition; make them dissatisfied with their position; or otherwise curse them and those about them. Look at Saul. What a lesson his history has in it for us all. 'When thou wast little in thine own sight wast thou not made the head of the Tribes of Israel? and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel.'

"Now, I may be asked whether some Officers do not fail to reach the higher ranges of the experience I have here described, and the reasons for this.

"To this question I reply that I am afraid that it is only too true that some Officers are to be found who are willing to dwell in the land of uncertainty and feebleness. They are the slaves of habits they condemn in others. Their example is marred, their powers are weakened for their work, and, instead of going onward and upward to the victory they believe so gloriously possible, they are a disappointment to themselves, to God, and to their leaders.

"If I am asked to name the reasons for their neglect of this glorious privilege, I would say:—

"They have doubts about the possibility of living this life of Holiness.

"They think there is some fatal necessity laid upon them to sin—at least a little, or just now and then. They think that God cannot, or that He will not, or that He has not arranged to save them altogether from their inward evils. They know that the Bible says, over and over again, in a thousand different ways, that the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin; and they read God's promise again and again, that He will pour out His Spirit upon them, to save them from all their idols and filthiness; but they doubt whether it is strictly true, or anyway, whether it applies to them. And so, tossed to and fro by doubts about this holy experience, no wonder that they do not seek to realise it in their own hearts.

"Other Officers are kept back from climbing this mountain by the idea that the experience is not possible for them.

"They say, 'Oh, yes, it is good, it is beautiful. I wish I lived up there. How delightful it must be to have peace flow like a river, and righteousness abound as the waves of the sea, and to be filled with the Spirit! But such a life is not for me.' They admit the possibility of Holiness in those about them, and occasionally they push it on their acceptance; but they fancy that there is something about their own case that makes it impossible, or, at least, overwhelmingly difficult, for them to attain it.

"They imagine that there is something in their nature that makes it peculiarly difficult for them to be holy. Some peculiar twist in their minds. Some disagreeable disposition. Some bad, awkward temper. Some unbelieving tendency. Or, they are hindered by something that they suppose to be specially unfavourable in their circumstances—their family. Or, there is something in their history that they think is opposed to their living pure lives—they have failed in their past efforts, etc.

"Anyway, there is, they imagine, some insurmountable obstacle to their walking with Christ in white, and, instead of striking out for the summit of the Holy Mountain in desperate and determined search, relying on God's word that all things are possible to him that believeth, they give up, and settle down to the notion that Holiness of heart and life is not for them.

"Then, other Officers do not reach this experience because they do not seek it; that is, they do not seek it with all their hearts.

"They do not climb.

"They know that their Bible most emphatically asserts that those who seek heavenly blessings shall find them. No passage is more familiar to their minds or much more frequently on their lips, than the one spoken by Jesus Christ: 'Seek, and ye shall find.' And they condemn the poor sinner who lies rotting in the sins which will carry him to Hell, because he won't put forth a little effort to find deliverance. And yet, do not some Officers act very much after the same fashion with respect to this blessing?

"In their efforts they are truly sincere, but they are not much more forward for them. They say 'It is not for me,' and settle down as they were.

"The reason for this is not that the promise is not to them. But it is because they have not been thorough in their surrender; or because they have been wanting in their belief; or because they do not persevere; or because they have been mistaken in some past experience:—

"Another reason why Officers do not find the blessing is the simple fact that they will not pay the price.

"There is something they will not do; or there is something they will do; or there is something they will not part with; there is some doubtful thing that they will not give up. The sacrifice is too great. They think they would not be happy, or some one else would not be happy, or something would not be satisfactory; and so they look and look at the mountain, and long and long, but that is all. They would like to be there, but the price is too great.

"Another reason why Officers fail is neither more nor less than their want of faith.

"This, with sincere souls, is by far the most common hindrance. I have something to say about faith further on.

"And, doubtless, the reason that some Officers fail to reach the upper levels of Mount Purity arises out of their mistaken views as to the nature of this experience.

"You have so often heard me dwell on this view of the subject that I despair of saying anything fresh that will help you. But, knowing that I am on ground where truly sincere souls are often hindered, I will make one or two remarks:—

"I have no doubt that many fail here by confounding temptation with sin.

"They pray—they consecrate—they believe that they receive, and they rejoice. But by and by, when bad thoughts are suggested to their minds, they say to themselves, 'Oh, I can't be saved from sin, or I would not have all those wicked thoughts and suggestions streaming through my soul."

"They confound temptation with sin. Whatever they may say about it, they do not see the difference existing between temptation and sin.

"Some Officers are hindered in the fight for Holiness by supposing that purity will deliver them from serious depression, low spirits, and the like.

"With many sincere souls I have no doubt that one of the most serious hindrances in this strife is the confounding of Holiness with happiness, and thinking that if they are holy they will be happy all the time; whereas the Master Himself was a Man of Sorrows, and lived, more or less, a life of grief.

"Then there comes the last reason I shall notice, and that is the want of perseverance. There are some Officers who have been up the mountain—part of the way, at any rate, if not to the top. But through disobedience, or want of faith, they have no longer the experience they once enjoyed.

"The condition. You say to sinners that they are never to give up. I do, at least. So with those who are seeking Holiness. They must persevere or they will never find it."



Chapter XXVIII

The General as a Writer



None of us have yet any idea how voluminous a writer The General was, because so much of his writing was in the form of contributions to our many publications, or of letters to Officers.

We can only insert here a few, specimens of what he wrote at various dates, and remark that in private letters there was always the very same flow of happy earnest life, the same high ideal as finds expression in the following extracts. In his Orders and Regulations for Field Officers he says:—

"It must always be remembered by the Field Officer, and by every one who is desirous of producing any great moral or spiritual changes in men, that the example of the individual attempting this task will be much more powerful than the doctrines they set forth, or any particular methods they adopt for teaching those doctrines, however impressive these may be.

"The correctness of this statement has been proved over and over again in this Salvation War. Everywhere the people measure the truth and importance of what the Field Officer says by their estimate of his character. If he produces the impression in their minds that he is a mere talker or performer, they may listen to his message, and—if he has more than ordinary ability—treat him with a degree of respect; but if this be all, he will be next to powerless in effecting any great change in their hearts and lives. On the other hand, where the life of the Field Officer convinces his Soldiers that he is himself what he wants them to be, truly devoted to God, it will be found that he will possess a marvellous mastery over their hearts and characters. In other words, if he makes his Soldiers feel that he is real and consecrated, he will be able to lead them almost at will; they will follow him to the death.

"The same shot, with the same charge of gunpowder, from a rifled cannon, will produce ten times a greater effect than from one with a smooth bore. The make of the gun gives the extra force to the shot. Just in the same way the truth from the lips of a man whom his hearers believe to be holy and true will strike with a hundredfold more force than the same message will from another who has not so commended himself. The character of the man gives the extra force to the truth.

"The Field Officer, by virtue of his position, stands out before his Soldiers more prominently than any other man. To them he is the Ambassador and Representative of God. He is their Captain, their Brother, and Friend. Their eyes are on him night and day. They regard him as the pattern expressly set for them to copy, the leader who at all times it is their bounden duty to follow.

"How important it is, therefore, that every Officer should be careful to perfect his character to the utmost in order that he may be useful to the fullest extent.

"The Field Officer must lead his Soldiers on to the full realisation of the baptism of the Holy Ghost; he must make them Blood and Fire. The work of the Spirit is to fill the soul with burning zeal for the Salvation of the world. Christ's work must be finished. He has left that task to His people; it can only be continued and carried on to completion by His Spirit working in the hearts and through the lives of His people. The Holy Ghost was promised for this end. This is what His people have, therefore, a right to expect, and without it they are powerless for the War.