Thank you for the two letters. I need to think some more about the last one. Br. Andresen from Kristiania is here now; he prays night and day. We had a blessed meeting at our house yesterday. Today he traveled to Tønsberg but is coming back here for Saturday and Sunday. Br. Aslaksen was at Bethel the day before yesterday and got the chance to hear Br. Andresen, who has recently made amazing progress. It would be excellent if you could come while Br. Andresen is here, as he is certainly a greater laborer in God’s kingdom than most in our time. As with everything else that is glorious, there is a covering over him; but in Christ the covering is taken away. When he’s been by himself, he has prayed aloud for Smith, the dentist in Mjøndalen, and prayed that you would sense that he is praying for you. “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes . . . .” Ps. 19:8. “For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me.” Ps. 18:22. There are commandments in the midst of freedom. There is a cross in the midst of the gospel. There is a longing in the midst of rest, and even in the blessing we have already received, we sense an urgent yearning. Always forward, forward, forward.

Those who are God-fearing see the Lord’s commandments, but the ungodly “opened their mouth wide against me, and said, ‘Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.’” Ps. 35:21.

We must keep God’s commandments with exactness. God said to Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, I also have rejected you.” In other words, God yearns for the Word to be personified in us. The Lord’s commandments must become part of our very nature; then we can be received into the eternal dwelling places.

The Spirit of the Lord dwells in the word of the Lord. Outside the Word you can find many spirits, but not the Spirit of the Lord. The Word became flesh, and the Spirit of the Lord dwells in this flesh. The Word is flesh in Christ, and by the life-giving Spirit, it transforms us into and according to the same image. But remember this! The Spirit and the Word cannot be separated. The Spirit and the Word are quite different. The difference is that the Word could become flesh, but the Spirit is Spirit and remains Spirit. The Word comes into existence by the Spirit, not the Spirit by the Word. But since the Spirit is perfect, its words are also perfect. (The Word is created––a new creation–––to form a house for the Spirit; i.e., a dwelling place). People make houses for themselves, and the foxes make dens. But the Lord creates a dwelling place for Himself from His Word, and we are His house. His power makes us into what we ought to be.

Warm greetings.

Your brother,

Greet Judith and your housekeeper.