"I'll have it if it is for me," and sings:
2. Purifying Faith sets the soul longing after the possession of this Treasure. Looking at a thing which you consider valuable and possible, will certainly awaken the desire for its possession. If I am informed of some site of land, or some piece of property, which I could see would be of great service to The Army, the more I think about it, the longer I look at it, the more strongly shall I desire its possession.
It is so with Holiness, my Comrades. If you believe it to be the precious thing it really is, you will consider it, keep it before your mind, turn it round and round, and the more you do so the more you will desire it. Does your Faith compel your attention? Does it make you think? "O Lord, increase our Faith." If you will only keep on looking at it you will come to long after it with earnest desire.
3. Purifying Faith is the Faith that leads the soul to choose the Blessing. It says, "I'll have it if it is for me," and sings:
"Give me the Faith that Jesus had, The Faith that can great mountains move,
That makes the mournful spirit glad, The saving Faith that works by Love; The Faith for which the saints have striven,
The Faith that pulls the fire from Heaven."
Purifying Faith goes further than merely admiring and talking, and longing and praying: it elects to make the experience its own. It says, "Now, Lord, this great deliverance shall be mine. I choose it. If it is to be attained, I'll have it!"
We all know how the sinners around us pain our hearts by the way they trifle with Salvation. They say, "Oh, yes, it is good, and it's very kind of Jesus Christ to make it possible for us to be saved. We must have Salvation. We must not be lost. But we won't seek it now." Even so, I am afraid many Soldiers trifle with holiness. They say, "I ought to be holy; I wish I were holy. O Lord, make me holy -- but not now." But Purifying Faith chooses the Blessing desired. It says, "I'll begin to seek now with all my heart -- and I'll seek until I find."
4. Purifying Faith compels the surrender of everything that stands in the way of the possession of Holiness. It is willing to pay the price. Oh, how cheerfully people give up pleasant things in order to gain those which they believe to be still more desirable. So here, when men really do see and believe in the worth of Purity, they will be ready to abandon everything which seems likely to hinder them obtaining it.
Oh, my Comrades, have you got thus far? Does your Faith duly value the treasure we are talking about? If not, it cannot be said to be Purifying Faith. If it does, it will cry out.