heart in carrying out a great
purpose He "_became_ dead."

This is Ezekiel's Man and Daniel's and _more_, unspeakably more. The Man
they saw has lived amongst us for a generation of time, and then given
His life clear out for us. He has become more in coming as Jesus. He
has taken human experience and suffering up into Himself. He was
Creator. He has become more--Saviour.

There is the same purity and authority speaking out here as there. But
here is _love_ speaking out as never was spoken out before. Here is love
_lived_ out; aye, here love is _died_ out, and never living so much as
when dying. Here is love putting death to death for us. Purity and
authority fastened on a cross! This is love such as man had never known,
and God never shown before. Calvary lets us see the love that burned in
the purity and controlled in the authority.

John's Man is Ezekiel's and Daniel's, but with the love shining out
through purity and authority, and outshining both. Yet that love is the
purity and authority combined in action. We don't know love only as we
know God. And we don't know God only as we know Jesus not living merely
but pouring out His life for men. This is love--that Man, that God-man,
but with the God-glory hidden within, using all His authority over His
life to fasten His purity on a cross with the thorns of our sin, and
then throttling death and bringing up a new sort of deathless life for
us. This--He--is love.

The Outstanding Characteristic.

But we haven't gotten to the heart of this yet. There is immensely more
here than even this. The distinctive thing, the characteristic thing in
this sight of Christ, is yet to be noticed. All of this can be gotten
from other sights of Christ. But notice now keenly _where this Man of
Fire is_. For this is the distinctive thing. He is not up in the
heavens, as in Ezekiel. He has not come on a special errand, as in
Daniel's experience.[62] He is walking _down on the earth_. His whole
concern is about affairs on the earth.

But note where He is on earth: not in Jerusalem, the Jew centre; not in
Rome, the world's ruling centre, nor in Athens or Corinth, the world's
culture centres. He is seen walking among a small group of candlesticks.
This is the centre of earth action for Him. This is _the significant
thing_ of this new sight of Christ. Let us look at it a moment to get at
the simple significance of the scene.

The candlesticks, we are told, are the Churches, the littl