become the life of the sinful man's life, and will emancipate him from
the power of his own darkness and evil.

Now, let us remember that _we_ have the fulness of all that was shadowed
to the prophet in this vision, and that the reality of every one of
these emblems is gathered together--if I may so say--not with confusion,
but with abundance and opulence in Jesus Christ Himself. Is He not the
seraph? Is He not Himself the burning coal? Is He not the altar from
which it is taken? All that is needed to make the foulest clean is given
in Christ's great work. Brethren, we shall never understand the deepest
secret of Christ and of Christianity until we learn and hold fast by the
conviction that the central work of Jesus is to deal with man's sin; and
that whatever else Christianity is, it is first and foremost God's way
of redeeming the world, and making it possible for the unholy to dwell
with His holy self.

III. Lastly, and only a word, the third stage here is--the purged spirit
is ready for service.

God did not bid the prophet go on His mission till the prophet had
voluntarily accepted the mission. He said, 'Who will go for us?' He
wants no pressed men in His army. He does not work with reluctant
servants. There is, first, the yielding of the will, and then there is
the enduement with the privilege of service. The prophet, having passed
through the preceding experiences, had thereby received a quick ear to
hear God's calling for volunteers. And we shall not hear Him asking 'Who
will go?' unless we have, in our measure, passed through similar
experiences. It will be a test of having done so, of our having been
purged from our evil, if, when other people think that it is only Eli
speaking, we know that it is the Lord that has called us, and say, 'Here