TWO LITTLE CITIES
[p. 412] TWO LITTLE CITIES
Ecclesiastes 9: 13 - 16; Genesis 19: 17 - 22
These passages, as you will observe, speak of two little cities. The first, although little, is of sufficient importance to some great king to attack it in great force. He had his own reason for this attack. It is said to be a great king who besieged it and built great bulwarks against it. It will be my responsibility to explain what this means, why it is written in the book of God.
The other little city is introduced to us by the expressed desire of one of God’s people, to be allowed to live in it instead of Sodom. He had been living in Sodom because he had some hankering after the world, and he went to live there accordingly. Now he is denied the privilege of the great city, where the world afforded much for himself and his sons and his daughters, and he would reduce his worldly desires and put them in his pocket, so to speak, so as to be allowed to live in a smaller city, only different from Sodom in size. It was intended to be destroyed as Sodom. Some of the Lord’s people who are worldly, and are pressed under the government of God to reduce their worldly tendencies, still live in the world, that is, the world in a modified way. If there are any such here, the gospel will be for them, for there are many worldly Christians, old and young, and worldliness becomes intense in us as we fail to judge it. It becomes more difficult to abandon, and God is using services such as this to help them if they happen to be here. These services are in the Lord’s hands to be used to deliver such, to break the power of the world in their hearts. These meetings are intended for so-called people of God, as well as others. It is the people of God normally who enjoy the gospel, are always glad to hear it, and it never fails to help them.
[p. 413] Now this great king had a motive. The magnitude of his attack seemed out of proportion to the size of the city, but he knows what he is about. This little city would be symbolic of the people of God in all ages. Though small outwardly, they are great inwardly. The devil knows they are great inwardly. The devil knows their relation with God. Of some of them who were small, God said in Psalm 105, they were but few and of little account. They went from one country to another; the world did not know them; it was not worthy of them, but Satan knew them. Nowadays things are very small; we have to accept it. They are not getting any larger. We have to learn to be content in the sense of smallness, not to be idle in it, not to fail in speaking of what we have through the gospel, yet always remembering that the position is small.
This may refer to some household here. Perhaps your salary is not large, your house is small, you are not of any special notice in the community, but there is something in you that the devil understands. Hence the attack; the great king is building bulwarks against you. You are in danger. Now this has happened a multitude of times. Before Christ came He preached, that is, He preached through servants. As Peter tells us, the Spirit of Christ which was in them preached to the spirits which are now in prison (1 Peter 3: 19). The city referred to in our scripture was small, with only few men in it, but heaven knew the value of those men, and so did the devil; and it is so today. There may be such persons in this place, and they belong to God. Now the next thing is whether the “poor wise man” is in your institution. Is the Bible recognised in the house? Is the ministry of the Spirit of God recognised in the house? Are the meetings attended? Otherwise you have no means of combating this great king. He will overcome you. If it be even one individual, you are of sufficient value if you have [p. 414] any light in your soul at all for Satan to attack you. Your only hope is in affording a place for this poor wise Man. He will not set about making weapons of war after the flesh. Peter used weapons such as that, and the Lord said to him (Matthew 26: 52), “Return thy sword to its place”. He said also, ‘”My kingdom is not of this world” or “my servants had fought”’,
John 18: 36. So that there is no hope on that line, no support from the poor wise Man on that line. Your deliverance must come on another principle. The great king is attacking you. He knows what you are. You have not been paying sufficient attention to the poor wise Man; but still you belong to Him, you belong to that city in which He is. Satan knows about you, your father and mother and your forefathers.
Job is an example. The Lord says to Satan, “Hast thou considered my servant job?”, Job 1: 8. ‘Yes’, he says, ‘but I cannot get at him, You are hedging him about, so that I cannot get at him’. But God says, ‘I will let you get at him’. How serious that is! You may have been neglecting the meetings lately, touching the world, and you are exposed. The devil is watching you and he is prepared to attack you. In the government of God he is allowed and he does attack you. You need to pay attention to this poor wise Man. There are many who can speak intelligently about the Lord Jesus Christ, about His Person, who can quote the Scriptures and perhaps who could speak about Him to poor sinners, but, if they have been neglecting Him in regard to themselves, this mighty king will find an entrance. Something will happen that you do not expect. So it is an opportunity for some here who are bordering on the world to seek the poor wise Man. The devil knows that you are a christian, heaven knows that you are a christian, and the brethren know that you are a christian and they are praying for you, but there is no movement. God says to the devil, ‘I will let you do so-and-so’. You have a lovely child [p. 415] that you are nursing; God may come in and take it away. It may be killed on the street by an auto; your business may fail, or many other things may happen. Think of these four messengers that came to Job one after another, each telling a terrible tale of woe, worse than the preceding one (see job 1: 13 - 19). These are solemn matters. The poor wise Man is in the city, He is making no pretensions, He is not forcing Himself. You have the means of help, but you are not using it; but He is available, that poor wise Man. It is said here that the poor wise Man by His wisdom delivered the city. If anything by the government of God has happened to you, what about the poor wise Man? If He has come into your circumstances, He intends to stay if you will allow Him.
The Lord says in Revelation to the last church, “I counsel thee”, Revelation 3: 18. Think of the Lord counselling Laodicea, the most worldly of the churches, rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, and the Lord says, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white garments, that thou mayest [p. 416] be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see”, Revelation 3: 18.
What counsel will He give? This thing has happened to you. Why did it happen? What are the circumstances? The brethren have not seen much of you. The devil thinks you are worth something, and he is ready to attack you. The Lord is ready to give you counsel and He has what you need. I will just read to you the things that He spoke of there and is ready to give you under these circumstances. He says to Laodicea in Revelation 3: 19, “I rebuke and discipline as many as I love; be zealous therefore and repent”. He says in verse 18, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold purified by fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see”. That is what He is saying to you.
He is the poor wise Man from the standpoint of Laodicea. He is poor, but He is wise and will deliver you by His wisdom; He knows what you need and He is ready to provide for you on the principle of purchase. It is the Lord’s way. You have the means of buying other things. As I was saying, why not think what you owe to God? It is remarkable how much people can do, and how little they can do in another sense. The Lord knows that you are struggling to get the means of purchase to get everything of this world that you need or wish. So the Lord is using that word ‘buy’. It is His way to get at you. You begin to be serious, and to see how you are bartering your way for the very best in this world, and the devil knows it. The poor wise Man is ready by His wisdom to help you. The use of the word ‘buy’ is just wisdom, His way of dealing with you, because He knows your mind clearly. “The love of money is the root of every evil”, 1 Timothy 6: 10. Evil has more than one root, but we have to learn in these days to deal with roots, and the love of money is one of the most powerful roots. Money is of no value except as I use it to buy something that I love, something that I must have whatever else happens. So the Lord says, ‘Since you are on that line, I have something to sell’. It is wisdom, it is the Lord’s way. He says to Job, for instance, ‘You remember when the foundations of the earth were laid-you were born then?’. He just overwhelms you with the wisdom He uses to break you down. ‘You were on the buying line, so I counsel you to come to Me, for I have all you need’. You were so trifling and so shallow and, when you begin to get serious, the Lord says, ‘I can settle all that matter for you’. Hezekiah says, “Jehovah was purposed to save me”, Isaiah 38: 20. In His love for me He saved me, and so it is with the poor wise Man. He knows how to use the language to get you.
You have been on the buying line. You want better things. Salaries are very big now and they are very treacherous and you sacrifice the Lord’s day to get money. The devil knows it. If you will rob God of the Lord’s day the devil has his way. He would rob the Lord Jesus also. The Lord knows how to reach you. He comes down to the seller’s idea. He says to you, ‘Change your mind, change your life; come to Me and I will provide for you. When the time comes for payment I will settle that for you’.
So there were few men within the city, but the poor wise Man was there, “and there was found in it a poor wise man”. It is a question of finding Him. He has found them. He wants to find you, too. One said, “We have found the Messias” (John 1: 41), but the truth was that Messiah had found him. Now He is to be found and, if there is anyone here in trouble at all whom Satan is attacking (he has various means), it is for you to look around for the poor wise Man. It is the present position. Do not look to the big things for help. He is found in the small ones. There was once a certain man, a negro, who wanted to get into a certain church in New York, but his colour forbad him. He therefore told the Lord about it, and the Lord told him, ‘I have been trying to get in there, too, but I cannot get in either!’. You never find Him in stained-glass window buildings, or steeple churches; you will not find Him there at all. I know a man who was found in a theatre by the Lord. Did he find the Lord? No, the Lord found him! The Lord did not go in there to stay. He left as soon as He found the man. If you want Him, He is to be found, in certain places, in a place like this. At the present time God is here if you want Him.
He will come in great glory presently, glory beyond [p. 418] words, the glory of Christ; He will come with many diadems upon His brow (I do not know how many), as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be a great time. The man of sin will be there; the beast and the false prophet will be there. It is only a few years now until He comes. The beast will have an army all ready, a great improved army and great improved guns. They will all be there and the Lord Jesus will come out riding on a white horse, the great Leader of the heavenly army. The Lord is coming out in infinite greatness presently. Before one soldier is slain, the beast and the false prophet are taken and cast into the lake of fire. It is not very far off now. The Lord of glory will come out with the army of heaven, and what a difference between it and the army at the present time! The two great generals of the devil’s army are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire. As King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ has a name written which no man can know. We are going to see a great display of power in Christ.
At the present time it is a small state of things. It is nevertheless a city. The devil knows the value of the city and hence the preparation for attack, and he is besieging day and night. But there is this poor wise Man. That is the attitude of the Lord Jesus. To some soul, some husband and wife with naughty children, some husband and wife who are out for worldly things and whom the devil is after, the Lord is available and He would say to you, as He would say in the book of Proverbs (and it is the very symbol of wisdom), ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me, I have everything, I am Wisdom’. What is the root of the matter The poor wise Man is to be found, and by His wisdom He will deliver you and you will go free, beyond anything that you have known! The second conversion will be greater than the first one. You will come to know the Lord better than you ever have before. You have been treating Him most shabbily, you are neglecting Him. “No man remembered that poor man”. How sorrowful! Yet He is to be found, to deliver you in your desolation, so that He might have you for Himself, and that you might remember Him. He says, “My son, give me thy heart”, Proverbs 23: 26. If you are to be delivered, it is for Himself; it is that you might remember Him; “but no man remembered that poor man”. How many are there here who do not break bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus? This poor Man has done wonderful things for you, but you are not delivered yet. The Lord says, ‘I am available to you to deliver you, but if I do, it is to have you, to have your heart to remember Me, to break bread with the brethren according to My direction and request’ Then the further remark is, in regard to the wise Man that wrought these things: “Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard”. Are you still despising the wisdom of this poor wise Man? “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us that are saved it is God’s power”, 1 Corinthians 1: 18. That is what He is aiming at, to get us to see that. Nevertheless the poor Man’s wisdom is despised. Why not go in for this poor Man’s wisdom? Some great man has said that wisdom is better than strength, and yet many of the people of God are neglecting the wisdom of the poor wise Man. He wants you to remember His wisdom, and get the good of it. Others are enjoying it. Why not you?
I now make a few remarks about Zoar. It is also a little city. It comes into prominence through Lot, a remarkable character in the book of Genesis. His history is given to us as one of God’s people, and we are told by Peter that his righteous soul was vexed every day, like many people who are grieved at the world’s wickedness, and yet they stay in it. Not that God does not take account of your judgment of [p. 420] it, but why stay there? The angels were very urgent to get Lot out; they took him by the hand. “And as he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful to him; and they led him out, and set him without the city”-that is four people, not eight, like Noah’s group; but a very different group. He saved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, but here there are four of them. The sons of Lot did not want to leave Sodom. Angels represent distinct service; they are “ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation”, Hebrews 1: 14. Think of the hand of an angel touching us! Think of the gracious insistence of these two angels to get these four people out of this doomed city! Are you going to stay there?
You have been in the world a good while. This war is intended by the Lord to deliver many, so that they may be saved. Maybe there is one here like that; perhaps you are going to be taken to the army, possibly sent on to the battlefield. All these things must be weighed before God by young people. That is the angelic service to move your heart to get you out of the world. He might change this world in a moment. I am intending to impress you that angels are attentive. The leaders of this world are not going to have it all their own way. God is having to say in the matter. “For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him”, 2 Chronicles 16: 9. Let us therefore look into our hearts and see if God is not seeking to get us out of Sodom. The Lord Jesus says to His Father, “Righteous Father”, John 17: 25. Let us beware, for what is of the world is not of the Father. The world and the Father are opposed, and so God is certainly laying heavy strokes on humanity in order to get the elect out of the world. So the angels laid hold of the hand of Lot and his [p. 421] wife and his two daughters, four of them. What a sight! What a picture to contemplate! Think of the efforts of these two angels to get these four people out of Sodom. Their hearts lingered there, and the poor wife was actually taken out by tender, gracious force, but nevertheless she looked back and became a pillar of salt. If it had not been for those angels, they would have stayed there. The Lord is seeking to help you and you are just pulling away, refusing to be helped. She looked back behind her husband and she became a pillar of salt. Would the angels do that? Let us not trifle with this matter. Angels are here now, sent out to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. The Spirit of God is here greater than all, striving with you. He will not always strive. She became a pillar of salt, a memorial for all time of a worldly heart, a person whose heart is in the world although linked up with the people of God.
Lot made a great plea for the city of Zoar. He was so intent on having the world in a modified way. ‘Well’, the angel says, ‘if you cannot be helped, I will just let you go there’. You may wish to go back to the world in a modified way. You say, ‘I gave up smoking, and I will give up certain companions, and then there is just Zoar’. Lot did not stay there long.
He had a bitter history after that. So that the word tonight is, ‘Come forth!’. The little city is just a big city in a modified way and it is doomed by God. When God spoke to Abraham about Sodom He had this in mind. He had the whole world in mind, the clean world as well as the corrupt, so that the word is, “Come out of her, my people”, Revelation 18: 4. Let us not stay there. Do not be deceived by a modified world. It will come under judgment as the other.
It is only a matter of time. May God bless His word!