I have just received a letter from Br. Anthony in which he says that his paper Missionæren is several thousand kroner in debt, and for this reason he is not free. He borrowed 10,000 kroner when he bought the paper, so he feels obligated to edit his paper in such a way that he can make money on it. He said my article will therefore receive an honorable place on the shelf. Well, a lot could be said about this, which is why one should say nothing.

The work of preparing the ground, which is absolutely necessary for true sanctification, has thus been brought to a halt because of the money matter mentioned above. My ministry in Christ has always been directed toward first clearing the ground entirely and then starting to build. Building on foreign ground has always been as loathsome to me as . . . really, I hardly know what expression to give it; to me it is simply spiritual adultery. That is why all those who have worked to break down have appeared to be hard and callous. But those people who out of love for the truth have allowed themselves to be broken down have certainly experienced later that my work in Christ has not only been to break down, but also to build up. Unfortunately, there are not many who have been able to persevere all the way to the end in this, but those who have can bear witness to the blessed fellowship we share in the Holy Spirit.

God has dealt very severely with me right from the beginning, almost more than I thought a human being could bear. He allowed me to go through fiery trials, which I kept between God and myself. Because of being so severely dealt with and so thoroughly uprooted, I came into deep fellowship with Christ in His sufferings at an early stage. Indeed, in the beginning the sufferings were so strong that when I was alone and no one saw me, I was like a madman; but I pleaded with God to force me into obedience, and to be longsuffering with my distressed heart. All of the hardest trials were voluntary. I could easily have cast everything overboard and avoided the sufferings, but I always had the feeling that if I did, my relationship with God would never be the same; I would lose both His power and His intimate fellowship. As a result, I received grace from God to go through all these hardships victoriously—through tremendous sufferings.

Because I had to walk on this way, a work has taken place in my inner being through it—an education, a spiritual education which only God can provide. For this very reason, everything I write is so hard, what I speak is so hard, and my field of work becomes smaller and smaller. When I wrote to Missionæren, I tried with all my might to restrain myself. So the article they received was quite gentle, but that was not without a great deal of effort on my part to restrain myself. I have had to practice moderation for the sake of others.

This very article, which ended up on the shelf, was the fruit of a long-term ground clearing work. It had come to the point that the crowbar was applied to particularly important matters where clearing was vital in order for the work of sanctification to proceed. God has been in it the whole time, and I am certain that He would have given glorious victory even if the enemies of the cross of Christ had raged in indignation. Without my giving particular attention to it, the spiritual work in Missionæren has been guided purposefully in a definite direction toward a definite goal. Nonetheless, each time I am stopped, I continue to realize that my hands are tied; so I am quite content, also in this case.

Today I wrote to Father again about Madame Guyon’s book and told him that this book is particularly good for people who have been justified but who understand absolutely nothing about sanctification; in other words, those who never get past speaking about the truths of the elementary principles: that we are one body with Christ, that we are seated in heavenly places with Him, that we are set free from sin and the law, etc. I pointed out that the book speaks about enduring in sufferings and trials, and that it is not much use speaking about being seated in heavenly places when you get up in arms at the slightest contradiction, since it is precisely in these situations that you need sanctification. At the same time, I highly praised the letter from Br. Aanensen, saying that it looks like the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ has gone deeper than just head knowledge.

It is necessary to write to Father in this manner. He will never learn to think unless you turn things upside down for him. He will probably talk to Aanensen about these things, and then there is the possibility that light will dawn for him. I also recommended that Berglioth read the book. It should be read a little bit at a time so that the reader is able to digest it all.

God has given us a glorious work to carry out, and I value it highly. What’s needed is one person here and one person there in order for the lump to be leavened from many different angles. It will succeed, that is certain. If only people loved the truth, it would go quickly.

There is already a little flock on the way of sanctification. Later we could possibly have a small “sanctification conference” and publish a little paper: Sanctification. This should be the firstfruits, the most excellent fruit of “the movement.”

We need a paper that’s free from everything and everyone, a paper that can raze to the ground and build up, an unbiased paper that won’t take any position that is not rooted in God Himself. People want to build and build, but every man needs to take careful heed to which foundation he is building upon. “As a wise master builder I have laid the foundation,” Paul says, “and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.” If we seek to please people, we are not the servants of Christ; and when that is the case, we save ourselves the effort of clearing the ground. But thanks be to God, no one can build upon another foundation than that which is laid, which is Christ. If anyone has another foundation, it is not possible to build on it. That is why it is so absolutely vital to lay the true foundation first, since you cannot build anything on any other foundation.

On that note, I send my warmest greetings. This time I have written in a more personal manner, because it seems to be appropriate this time.

Your brother, always bound in the truth that is in Christ,