dled
wick; but it cannot shine unless it burns. The candle that gives light
wastes inch by inch as it gives it. The very wick of your lamp, that
conducts the oil to the flame, chars, and you have to cut it off bit by
bit until the longest coil is at length exhausted. We must never
forget that, if we would shine, we must burn. Too many of us want to
shine, but are not prepared to pay the cost that must be faced by every
true man that wants to illuminate his time. We must burn down until
there is but an eighth of an inch left in the candlestick, till the
light flickers a little and drops, makes one more eager effort, and
then ceases to shine--"a burning and shining light."

Obviously, then, we have first _the comparison between John and the
candle, or lamp_; then we have _the necessary expenditure, burning to
shine_; and, thirdly, we have _the misuse that people may make of their
opportunities_.

I. THE LORD'S COMPARISON.--"John was a burning and shining lamp." In
the original a great contrast is suggested between _lamp_, as it is
given in the Revised Version, and _light_. The Old Version put it
thus: "He was a burning and shining light"; but the Revised Version
puts it thus: "He was a burning and shining lamp"; and there is a
considerable difference between the two. In the first chapter of the
Gospel, the apostle John tells us, speaking of the Baptist, that he was
not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light, that all
men through him [John] might believe. "That was the True Light, which
lighteth every man coming into the world."

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World; and I believe that in every age
He has been waiting to illumine the hearts and spirits of men,
reminding us of the expression in the Book of Proverbs--and it is
wonderfully significant--"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord."

Here is a candle, yonder is the wick; but it gives no light. The air
may be full of luminousness, but as yet it has found no point on which
to kindle and from which to irradiate. But, see, of a sudden the light
gathers to the candle-wick, which had stood helpless and useless,
touches it, and it begins to shine with a light not its own. It is
borrowed light, caught from some burning cone of flame.

Men are born into the world like so many unlighted candles. They may
stand in chaste candlesticks, all of gold or silver, of common tin or
porcelain. But all are by nature unlit. On the other hand