Thank you for your very good letter that I received a few days ago. I heard that Helga is teaching Sunday school and you are having Bible studies. Both are very necessary. God will reward your labor in due time. Some people want to reap as soon as they sow, but what they reap is human approval in the form of “Hallelujah” and “Amen,” etc. We, however, must often sow with tears and sorrow in our hearts, but in due time, we will reap with songs of joy.

This is how I experienced it on Sunday at the Salvation Army’s holiness meeting. My message to the people in the hall, and to those on the platform, seemed to return to me void. I left there feeling sick in my spirit, and I did not feel better again until the afternoon when we gathered with the friends. However, it was not in vain, because the English consul and his wife (both English) had attended the meeting at the Salvation Army that morning, and they both came to Strømme’s house at 9:00 p.m. and stayed until 11:00. They said they wanted to start attending meetings. We were somewhere else that evening. Apparently, they know Mrs. Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts. At Strømme’s place, the consul’s wife mentioned that her mother ran a Christian school for approximately 300 factory girls in England. She had started with two or three students. We’ll see what God will do next.

I didn’t realize that Sr. Susane Norum is Finnish. She was born in Russia to Finnish parents. She has two brothers in Russia who are Laestadian Lutherans, as was her father. She is especially zealous and has clear light. She speaks Finnish, as does Magda Johansen. Now there is hope that these truths of God will spread to the Finns. I’m not sure if I have written about this before. Mrs. Ditlefsen, from Mehavn, has been in the hospital here for some time. Br. Ellefsen has visited her. Yesterday, she was at the meeting at Strømme’s place and followed along with rapt attention.

In the enclosed letter, from Br. Johan Lohne, you will see that this doctrine meets opposition on every front. It seems that Erik Anderson and all his followers are distancing themselves completely from us, which also is evident in Det Gode Budskap. The reason for this is that they are not willing to confess that Christ came in the flesh. Every spirit that confesses that Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Only a human spirit that has been torn free from the flesh is able to truly confess that Christ has come in the flesh. Such ones have realized, through personal experience, that Christ had to have come in the flesh in order to impart this salvation to them. This spirit is of God. The spirit of the devil cannot confess this, nor can any human spirit that is in the flesh confess it either. This knowledge also resides in the body, as does all the other hidden wisdom of God.

This spirit, which is liberated from the flesh through the blood of Christ, is the driving force in the new creation; it is the promised seed in Isaac. But the one who is born according to the flesh persecutes the one who is born according to the Spirit.

It seems that Christ manifested in the flesh will create division in these last days.

There is one flesh of men; we can conclude from this that there are not two kinds of flesh. If Christ did not have lust (sin) in His flesh, then it is a lie that He suffered in His flesh. Then it is a lie that He suffered, being tempted. Then it is a lie that He was tempted in all points as we are, because all our temptations are dependent on having sin in the flesh. Then it is a lie that God condemned sin in the flesh of Christ. Then it is a lie that He is able to aid those who are tempted. Then it is a lie that He was made like His brethren in all things, and it is a lie that He gives aid to the seed of Abraham. It is also a lie that we are reconciled in the body of His flesh through death. But if all this is a lie, then all the Scriptures must be a lie.

However, God be thanked, all these truths have become a precious salvation for us—and that is from God. We therefore confirm that these things, which God has testified of His Son, are true; but those who oppose them stand on the side of the one who is a liar. Christ is the one who came with water and blood. He could not have come with water and blood without sin in the flesh.

“Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit . . . .” This justified spirit confesses Christ manifested in the flesh, because it has come out of the flesh. We are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

The little flock that hears us is not large, but it has victory on its side. Therefore, it is more powerful and more tightly knit together than all the multitudes who oppose us. So we face the battles ahead with great boldness. We don’t cover our faces as Moses did. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . .” This little leaven, which God has brought to life, is already spreading far and wide. Without show or fanfare, without having preachers who make their living by them, these truths are flowing out in all quietness among people from North Cape to Lindesnes, from the Stad Peninsula to the Scandinavian mountains. And who can stop this rolling snowball? Thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Karl Pedersen’s little daughter Ester died from diphtheria about eight days ago.

Thorleif Hansen’s mother has been hosting the meetings in Kristiania for many years. I think it was a nice gesture to give her 200 kroner from the 1,700 kroner in the fund. She is a widow with four children who seek God with all their hearts. It is difficult to find people like her, and she needs to be acknowledged. The churches should honor her and recognize the help she has been when they present the money to her. I assume those who contributed to the fund will understand that this is the right thing and not something excessive in these hard times.

I believe that these truths will spread throughout Finnmark, because the friends here in the north have strong connections with many people. Things have already started brewing and stirring in different places.

Greet your family and the dear young friends.

Warm greetings from your brother,

Continued:

Notice that it is written: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, etc.” As I mentioned before, the spirit of Satan cannot confess this, because that spirit has not come out of the flesh. People occasionally confess that Christ was manifested in the flesh, but the Scriptures do not accept the testimony of a man. A person consists of body, soul, and spirit, and they have the law of sin in their members. The Son does not receive the testimony of such a person. The spirit must confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. This is the justified human spirit which has been saved from the flesh. That is why it says “every spirit.” If it were only God’s Spirit, it would not say “every.” This is the righteousness that comes from God, and every tongue that opposes us will be condemned.

We are not always able to write about these things, so it could be beneficial if more people were able to read this.

Yours,