Thank you very much for your very good letter, which I received today. I also received a letter from Father today. He wrote about being sober and vigilant. Br. Plum wrote a very “loving” letter which testified to a genuine love for us in the Spirit. Rasmussen (the editor) must also have gained confidence in us in the Lord, because he has advised Br. Plum to come to Norway now and then to visit us. God’s ways are amazing. Immediately after you left, I wrote to Missionæren and to Erik Andersen about the ongoing situation. I agree with you completely that God’s people have not been mature enough spiritually to make use of the tremendous gifts of the Spirit that they have sought and received. Now, as opposition arises, it will become apparent that a great many of those who are not mature enough, because of fear and unbelief, will lose the gifts they have received. This is how things are in nature too. In the spring the trees are completely covered with blossoms; but when the storms come and the rain pours down, many of the blossoms are blown off, and only a small percentage of the blossoms bear fruit—even fewer bear wholesome, good, large fruit. A great number of these gifts of the Spirit will probably be blown away, but to those who hold firm to God and to what He has bestowed, they will become all the more precious.

Whether or not the blossoms get blown off depends on how firmly they are attached to the tree. It is the same with the gifts. If a person has sought the gifts because of ambition, these gifts will be blown away by the first reproach or insult that comes along. But if they have sought the gifts in order to glorify God and build His church, then the gifts will remain firmly attached and will not be easily blown away. God cleans out His threshing floor. All this is God’s work. There’s nothing we can add and nothing we can take away. But we can stand by, observe, and receive instruction from it all. However, Jesus’ words apply here more than ever: “For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” We have so much to thank God for.

I was happy to hear that you visited Mrs. Barratt and that you are able to comfort her so that she can then comfort her husband. We have a tremendous task in our time, dear Aksel. For now the time has come when God can make use of our knowledge and understanding, because persecutions will make people sober and attentive. Perhaps that is why God has sent you to Kristiania, so you can live quietly and observe the situation from a distance, so you can discern things even more clearly. Those who persecute do so at a distance; therefore, if you want to get a sense for the whole situation, it is necessary for you to be at rest.

Half-hearted Christians are left in peace as long as they let the world help them build God’s kingdom. Read Ezra 4:1 and 2. But as soon as Christians determine to have nothing to do with them, they try to scare and terrify the Lord’s people into letting their hands hang down, so that God’s kingdom is not being built. Ezra 4:4 and 5. The world will gladly help build something for God, as long as what is built is something that is an abomination to the Lord. But as soon as God’s people begin to build on their own, the world tries to bring fear and dismay and cause their hands to hang down.

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