[Not the original copy. Taken from Letters of Johan O. Smith.]

NOTE: Through the course of the years, a bundle of letters from JOS to his brother Aksel was lost. Note the date on the next letter. [Note from the editor of the Norwegian edition of Letters of Johan O. Smith, 1949.]

NOTE: The next letter was found in 1982 among some older letters. It was written by Johan O. Smith to his brother Aksel right at the beginning of the First World War. It was prophetic, looking forward to the present day where lawlessness increases and abounds. A. J. S.

We are living in terrible times, but in the time of trouble God has hidden us in His pavilion. He has used the sea to separate us from the wars on the continent. You spoke about a false peace which will come after this war. I also believe that a dangerous peace will come, a peace that will defy the judgments of the sword of God and will give ungodliness a lasting foothold. This peace will be built upon love of this present life and of things of this earth. People will try to establish a lasting peace, which will be a counterfeit of the peace Christ gives.

Lawlessness will flourish in this peace, because the age of humanism has arrived, and the authorities will, to a certain degree, bear the sword in vain. These days we can clearly see the effects of this spirit by the poor discipline in the Navy. More and more, people just do what they want. This will make it difficult for God’s people, because it will be much more a matter of individual choice whether or not they will submit to law and order. Previously, civil laws helped to restrain the flesh to a certain extent. But this increase of liberty will give people a more flexible conscience and will make it more difficult for God’s Spirit, whose instruction is based solely on laws and guiding commandments.

This will form the seedbed for socialism, anarchy, and contempt for God. This will prepare the way for the Antichrist, even as John prepared the way for Jesus. John turned the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. This spirit of Antichrist will give rise to disobedience to parents. It will be an abrupt departure from the established norms and a rapid transition into a new, lawless time.

We are children of the day, so this time will not come upon us unexpectedly. And how will the hearts of the fathers be turned from the children and the children’s hearts from the fathers in this time? Through divorce and remarriage, just as in the days of Noah. And not just once, but several times. Families are torn apart, and hate is implanted where love was meant to flourish.

The people are in control, and the authorities seek to please the people who have given them their position of authority. In this way, the opinion of the majority will influence the passing of every judgment, and since the majority live in the flesh, judgment will be perverted.

What should we do? Through our life and our teaching, we must impress the obedience of faith upon the coming generation and upon those who will listen to us. This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. We need to leave behind an indelible impression in this perverse generation, and we should leave behind living letters for the coming generation. I don’t mean letters written with pen and ink, but rather men and women in whose hearts the Holy Spirit has been able to write and accomplish Its will. If God is able to accomplish this in and through us, then our life will not have been in vain.

Your brother,