.

He has made a plan for sending this flood-light to every one in every
part of the earth. That plan centres in His followers. He is the light.
The Church is the light-bearer, the candlestick. It is to hold _Him_ up
in such a way that men everywhere can get in direct touch with Him. When
He is held up, the darkness goes. The darkness can't stand the light.
This is the immensely significant thing here. This is the sight of
Christ needed to-day, a sight of Him as He stands _waiting_ on the
Church to carry out His plan for the earth.

The faithfulness of the Church is not measured by compact organization,
costly houses of worship, impressive services, eloquent scholarly
preaching, and a ceaseless round of organized activities. It can be told
only by how much of the spirit of the Christ who died is carried, in the
daily life of its individual members, into home and social and
commercial circles until men are compelled to feel its power in
conviction of the sin of their own lives.

Nor yet is it told by transplanting the western type of civilization to
far-away lands, with schools and hospitals and innumerable humanizing
influences. All this may be blessed. And it will be blessed and blest.
But it is the incidental thing. It is sure to follow where the Jesus
light is allowed to shine clearly through and out. It is quite possible
to have these good things without getting the real Christ. It is quite
impossible to have Christ Himself without such influences coming, too.

The emphasis must be not on these things, but on Him, Christ. Men need
Him. He answers the heart longing, and only He can. He changes the
nature, and nothing else is enough. The Church is to take the loving,
healing, personal Christ to men in the fulness of His power, and to all
men. This is the measure of its faithfulness.

What Christ Sees.

The tremendous question that crowds in here is this, What does this Man
of Fire see as He stands among His followers? And He tells us. This is
why the vision is given. He wants us to see things as they look to His
eyes of flame.

The Man and His message are one thing here. Chapters one, two, and three
belong together, and should be held together in our minds. We have put
the Man and His message as separate talks to get a clearer grasp of
each. But they are _one_.

Now we recall enough of the message to note this. Five-sevenths of the
light-holders are in bad shape. The lamps are smoky, badly smoked, and
cobw