HOW GOD USES WHAT IS LITTLE

J. Strachan

Matthew 18: 1–6, 19, 20; 1 Kings 17: 1–16; Proverbs 30: 24–28

In reading these scriptures it is in mind to speak about how God uses what is little. God is capable of working on a large scale. The creation would be an evidence of that, in its magnitude. In the universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, and so on, you can see the scale on which God is capable of operating. He can also come down to operate in what is little. He particularly likes to do this in His relations with men on the earth. The testimony to that would be in the fact that the Lord Jesus came here into manhood as a Babe in Bethlehem’s manger. God was here amongst men, having come down, to be near to men in the littleness of a Babe. God loves to work out things from that standpoint.

He showed this in Old Testament times in the manna which speaks in type of the Lord Jesus as food for the people of God. It was “fine, granular, fine as hoar-frost, on the ground”, Exodus 16: 14. God supplied the kind of food that was to sustain them in their experiences in the wilderness, where there was nothing to minister to them but what God provided. It is a wonderful thing to find yourself as a believer, going through the world, entirely dependent upon what God provides. It is a type or illustration of what God had in mind when the Lord Jesus came here, because He came into very lowly circumstances. He lived next door to someone—apparently He worked as a carpenter; He was not a captain of industry, nor head of some great organization. He was just a lowly Man here filling out the will of God, and God would say to believers, I want you to feed upon that kind of food. I want you to feed your mind and heart on what Jesus was in the ordinary circumstances of

everyday life, filling out His life in the will of God. All believers, as filling out their place in the will of God, find food in the manhood of Jesus, as He lived in those lowly, humble circumstances.

Then God used the ark to show what was in His mind. The ark was of very small dimensions, yet it was the very centre of the tabernacle system, and represented Christ as the centre of all that is for God’s pleasure. The ark was of small dimensions, two-and-a-half cubits in length, one-and-a-half cubits in breadth, but these half cubits remind us that there was something inscrutable about the Person of Christ, even though He was here in lowly circumstances. You have to gaze in wonder as you think of that—‘God manifest in flesh, O wonder of His universe!’ (Hymn 400). God was showing that He was going to operate in conditions of littleness to achieve what He had in mind.

In Matthew’s gospel, it is interesting that the Lord Jesus is referred to as a little Child, “the little child and his mother”, Matthew 2: 13. Those magi from the east came a long way to do Him homage. They honoured Him, the little Child, by offering to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. They had heavenly guidance. It is wonderful to get heavenly guidance, heavenly light as to the Person of Christ, then to follow it, and find that there is something opening up to your soul as you follow the light that God gives you. These magi followed it, and they went back another way to avoid returning to Herod. The little Child was protected, and then was taken down to Egypt for a time. In this God was protecting the little Child, the Person of Jesus.

In Matthew 18 the disciples ask, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?” The Lord Jesus shows them that He is operating on a different principle. He is not operating on the principle of greatness as men regard it. Men look for some great leader to set things on that they can follow, but Jesus

calls this little child and sets it in their midst. What an object lesson! He then says, “Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens”. We need to be converted to become as little children. It is not natural to us to be like this, hence we need to be converted to become the kind of persons that the Lord Jesus can use. The Lord Jesus is proceeding into great matters in this section. Persons who enter into the kingdom of the heavens are going to be suitable for the wondrous distinguished vessel of which He is about to speak, the assembly. As converted and becoming as little children we become usable in the Lord’s hands. It is wonderful to be a subject in the kingdom of the heavens, under the influence and sway of heaven, and to be amenable to what the Lord Jesus would do with us. He needs amenable persons if He is going to make something of us.

This little child was amenable, it responded to His call. If He calls us, let us respond. He says, “Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens “. That is the path of humility. The Lord Jesus is the One who had led in this.

He humbled Himself. You marvel at the way in which the Lord Jesus came here. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death—to that extent and that the death of the cross, that kind of death. That is how He humbled Himself, and He is saying that the subjects of His kingdom are to humble themselves as this little child. Then He shows how much He values these little ones by saying that “whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea”. They are the subjects of heaven’s protection. The Lord Jesus has great matters in mind; He speaks later about the assembly, this most distinguished vessel, and He must have suitable material to incorporate in this wonderful vessel, persons who have come under the sway of the kingdom of the heavens, and are submissive to Him.

I read verses 19 and 20 as they particularly apply to what the Lord is doing in our day, “if two of you shall agree”, that is two persons who have come this way, who have been converted and become as little children, and have found what it is to have a place in this distinguished vessel, the assembly. Even in the day of small things such as the present, two such persons agreeing are capable of moving heaven, affecting the Father who is in the heavens, for what they ask will come to them. Then He says, “For where two or three are gathered together unto my name”—two or three persons of this quality that the Lord is producing, assembly persons, subjects of the kingdom of the heavens, submissive, who have Christ supremely before them, and who gather together with respect for what is due to Him. Think of what it means to heaven to look down and see two or three such persons gathered together to the Name of the Lord Jesus! He says, “there am I in the midst of them”. These things can be experienced on the principle of being converted and becoming as little children.

In 1 Kings 17 we have the prophet Elijah. He had been fed by the ravens and had been drinking from the torrent, but that had dried up, and the word of God came to him saying,

“Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there—behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee “. He arose and went to Zarephath and the widow woman was there gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink”. She went to fetch it, and he said, “Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand”. We need to notice these things. The woman had a little water in a vessel—that is an important point. Elijah did not ask for much, just a little, but it meant a great deal in a drought. She said, “I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse”. We need to realize the typical importance of these things. The handful of

meal in a barrel means that someone has a little bit of Christ, not very much, but there is potential in it. You can do something with it. It is not lying loose, it is in a barrel, it is protected. The little oil is in a cruse. The oil speaks of the Holy Spirit and again it is protected. It points to the abundant resources that we have in Christ and the Holy Spirit, which we need to realize and appreciate. She and her son were going to eat and die. She thinks that things are going to die out, but that is not God’s mind. The prophet says, “Fear not; go, do as thou past said; but make me thereof a little cake first”. God brought His mind in through the prophet. If we think that things are going to die out, the word is, “Fear not ... make me thereof a little cake first”. That is how things are going to be preserved. What the prophet is doing, in type, is asserting the right of the Lord Jesus to have what is first. If we put Him first, then all other things will fall into their places. He must have the first place, and that is the way we find that divine resources open up.

I like this suggestion of the little cake for it represents the assembly. We accept the smallness of things in our day, but hold in faith that things are not going to die out. All our resources are to be used first of all for Christ. Let us keep that before us in all our local exercises, and all other things will take their place. The widow reminds us of the assembly in her widowed condition in the absence of Christ. She has a son, which reminds us of the great matter of sonship that God has brought us into through the gospel, and wants us to enjoy. Then it speaks of the God of Israel. Think of God as the God of His people, and the great resources that He has to see this woman and her son through, to see Israel through, to see all His people through. He is capable of seeing them all through, but the way we are going to arrive at it from our side is by putting Christ first. Let us hold on to the truth that there is a containing vessel. There are some who would say that there is no longer anything collective, but there is a

containing vessel for the meal and the oil. Let us cherish that thought, dear brethren. It says that she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and proved that there was enough to see them through day by day, week by week. No matter what condition comes up there are enough resources to see us through every vicissitude of the testimony through the whole of the dispensation. I believe we need to be assured that God is committed to use what is little to see His testimony through, and to appreciate His desire that the thought of sonship should be preserved in life. God’s thought is that the saints should enjoy sonship in a living way. The maintenance of the truth of the assembly depends on that. Then there is the prophetic word which would be known as Elijah went through the year with them. These are two important features to be carried with us in our souls—the importance of the prophetic word bringing in the mind of God, and the enjoyment of sonship.

In Proverbs 30 we have these four things that are little on the earth, and they are exceeding wise. God would teach us through these little things in nature as Paul says, “Does not even nature itself teach you ...?” 1 Corinthians 11: 14. It says, “The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer”. The word is, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard”, Proverbs 6: 6. If someone is lazy, let him go and see how the ants work. How industrious they are!

They provide their food in summer. It is good to see the time when things are propitious and provide food then. I would encourage young believers to go in for spiritual food while it is available. The Scriptures are your staple food, especially what you find in them about the Lord Jesus. Let your heart and mind feed upon what you find in the Scriptures, and also upon the ministries the Lord has given, which provide good spiritual food. Young people will find that there is plenty to feed their minds and affections. The time may come when you may not have the same opportunity. So I would encourage you to use this present propitious time to secure food, to get it into your soul; you will find that it will build you

up, and you will grow by it. Peter speaks about the pure mental milk of the word, what your mind can take in. Do not occupy yourself with things that do not profit and are a hindrance to spiritual progress.

Then it says; “the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff”, in a place not easily accessible. It is good for believers to have their house such that it is protected from the intrusion of the world. Then the locusts “have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands”. That suggests the saints here on the earth with no recognized leader, yet they have a bond together in relation to the Lord Jesus, and a bond together in the Holy Spirit, and in the truth. The bands speak of Christian fellowship which is a provision of God.

Saints have fellowship with one another, they have a common interest in the Lord Jesus and His things, and they have a common bond through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and through walking in the truth. These link saints together so that we can enjoy fellowship with one another, even though we have no recognized, obvious leader. It is good to be in the enjoyment of this. Then, “thou takest hold of the lizard with the hands, yet is she in kings’ palaces”. There is nothing spectacular about the lizard, it is within reach, easily available. It is not like someone at the top of a great organization to whom you can have no access. She is of no outward account in the world, yet she is in kings’ palaces. What a fine thing it is for a believer to have access to such palatial surroundings, where the king is, where the Lord Jesus is supreme. It speaks in Psalm 45 of entering into the king’s palace. So you can accept being a nonentity here, where Christ is rejected, knowing that you have access to the royal apartments, where everything is suited to His glory.

We have been speaking, of the Lord Jesus in His lowly circumstances on the earth, but He is in far greater circumstances now. He is in His own, heavenly circumstances, surrounded by all that suits His own glory

and splendour. He is crowned with glory and honour. Before He left His own He said, “I go to prepare you a place” (John 14: 2)—that is a special place for believers who have been secured at the present time, in these circumstances of littleness. He desires that we should have part with Him in those circumstances of glory. So let us just accept the littleness of things here, to be usable by the Lord in them, and prove that we have access to those palatial circumstances surrounding Himself. Tomorrow morning, when we partake of the Lord’s supper, we are hoping that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall touch something of what it means to be with Him in those circumstances that suit Him, and to enjoy His company there according to His desire. May the Lord bless the word.

Address at Buckie
23 November 1991