service of its Saviour.
"Is there a thing beneath the sun, That strives with Thee my heart to share?
Oh, tear it thence, and reign alone, Then shall my heart from earth be free
When it has found repose in Thee."
5. Purifying Faith leads the soul to the consecration of all it possesses to the service of its Saviour.
Now, my dear Comrades, has your Faith got as far as this? I am afraid many come close up to this point, and then grow afraid. They shrink from the full consecration, and give up the holy strife. They will say "If I place myself in the hands of God, for Him to do just as He likes with me, who can tell where He may send me, or what He may want me to do?"
For instance, I fancy some of my Soldiers hang back from the fear that God should say to them: You will have to put on the Uniform; or you will have to speak to your relatives about their souls; or you will have to plead with strangers; or you will have to be Officers, or do something else from which their unsanctified hearts turn back; and so they go no further in the search for Purity.
But Purifying Faith sees Jesus Christ to be the altogether lovely, His service to be infinitely desirable, and the privilege of joining with Him in the work of saving and blessing men so honorable and desirable that the soul controlled by it leaps forward to lay itself at the Master's feet, willing to be used in any way He thinks best, and so gladly offers a consecration which knows no hesitation, has no reservation, the limits of which being only bounded by its ability.
6. But Purifying Faith goes further than this: it realizes that Holiness has been bought by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and is promised in the unchanging word of God. Do you see that this Treasure of treasures is yours, my Comrades, and that God, having provided and promised it, is now waiting and willing to give it you?
Faith hears God say, "From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." Faith replies, "True, Lord, and I am waiting and longing for it to be done. It shall be mine."
Faith hears Him say, "I will take away the heart of stone -- the hardness from your heart -- and give you a heart of flesh -- a tender heart," and answers. "Lord, I am sure you will. I trust you to do it now. The hour of my sanctification is at hand, The Cleansing Spirit is coming to dwell within me. He will make and keep me clean."