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Lord Jesus; that is where we have to learn Him. We have to

come to a judgment of these wicked cities that have cast out

Christ.

There is a very powerful element in New York among men

who will not have Christ, and they will do all that they can to

stop the gospel. We thank God for every element in the city

which recognizes God and which recognizes Jesus as the Son

of God, and recognizes the gift of the Spirit. But there is a

powerful unbelieving element in this city that will not have

Christ and that has said, as in the past, We will not have this

Man to reign over us! Therefore our attention is drawn to this

wonderful Person who is called the “poor wise man”. Solomon

paused to consider the means of salvation for this city, and I

believe he gave a prophetic word that the time would come

when Jerusalem would come into captivity. And how was it to

be delivered? God’s way are not our ways. It was delivered by

four men in Babylon; that is how it was delivered. Daniel and

his companions were not in Jerusalem physically but they

were holding to the light of Jerusalem in that dark day. And

that is what we are called upon to do, to hold to the light of the

assembly, but as morally outside of these cities in which we

live.

We have a judgment of them.

Think of what came upon Jerusalem because of the rejection

of the Lord Jesus. He said to the women, when He was

carrying His cross, “Weep over yourselves”, Luke 23: 28. Why

did He say that? Because He foresaw the destruction of

Jerusalem. And it was not long after the Lord Jesus died that

Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, not a stone left upon a stone.

What a sorrowful time! Publicly, there was no deliverer, but

there was deliverance for the Christians because they had

another city. They were looking for another city, as it says in

Hebrews, a heavenly city. Paul had that city, and Peter had

that city, and James had that city, an abiding city. And now,

beloved, let us see the way of wisdom in our localities that we