Sigurd Bratlie

I knew Sigurd Bratlie all my life. I also worked with him regarding church matters for about 18 years before his death. I grew up in the same house that he lived in. By nature he was extremely shy and hated drawing attention to himself. He of-ten rode to the meetings and gatherings with my father. If there were others in the car, he would always sit way in the back with my father’s carpentry tools. He was exceptionally thankful and was lowly in his own eyes. Some people misun­derstood this as timidity, and others believed he was arrogant—something he was, in fact, very far from being.

Sigurd Bratlie was the one who best understood the value of what Johan O. Smith passed on to us. He rejoiced inde­scribably over these truths and kept them all his life. He also wrote a great deal about the revelations of “Christ manifested in the flesh” and “the body of Christ”—these fine laws of life. In his books we taste his wisdom and sense the fullness of the Spirit of revelation that he had. These books have also been an inestimable help for many brothers in the church who preach the Word. But the greatest thing about his ministry was that the way he served enabled other young brothers to grow up to be ministers of Christ.

He was very conscious about his health and was a vegetar­ian for ten years when he was young, including the time he lived in Sweden. As a person, he was almost an ascetic, but he never became fanatical or mixed this up with the preaching of the gospel. When Rakel and Sigurd had visitors, Sigurd would often serve the guests delicious cream cakes with plum jam that he had baked himself.

Sigurd Bratlie was an amazing spiritual strategist. He often held his cards close to his chest and didn’t allow others to see them. Though I received a good deal of chastisement and cor­rection from him, I always sensed a warm undercurrent of goodness when he worked with me. His goal was to equip me for service to the edification of the body of Christ. And I needed this treatment. He had a strong personality and drove himself hard, wanting those he worked most closely with to be of the same school. When I think of him, the words of our national anthem often come to me:

Norseman, in house and cabin,
Thank your great God!
It was His will to protect the country
Although things looked dark.
While fathers fought
And mothers cried,
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our right.

Sigurd Bratlie’s good hand dealt gently with me, giving me power to lift up the hands that hung down and to strengthen the feeble knees. In all his treatment of me, I always sensed that he was full of compassion, love and goodness.

I don’t know of anyone who has received such grace to be an apostle in our time as brother Sigurd Bratlie. And I don’t believe I have seen anyone radiate the glory of Christ to the extent that he did. My heart burned within me when I heard his preaching, and what he spoke was so clear that, really, I didn’t need to ask about anything. He portrayed Christ before our eyes in a way that removed all doubt about what we needed to do in our own lives. He was a very zealous priest of God in the new covenant who stood firm and carried out his ministry, slaying the sacrifices until he was over 70 years old. He said that in the years after he turned 70, he really matured—they were the richest years of his life. His progress became evident to all. An eternal wealth of goodness, longsuffering and grace came forth from his life—a longsuffering that was, in truth, divine.

I was with him in a number of difficult situations, and I wit­nessed his faithfulness to the truth. In the midst of everything, he had a great desire to save and help as many people as pos­sible, but not at the cost of the truth.

Once, when some people had left the church, I asked him whether we should do something special to help them. His answer was: “Absolutely not, Kåre. Those people want some­thing different from what you and I want. We should be thankful they have gone. You see, they didn’t want the same thing we want [to be disciples].”

Once I said to him: “I’m sorry you have to suffer all of these trials because of me when you are so old.” (He was over 87 at the time!)

Then he laughed heartily and replied: “Don’t be sorry about that; it’s no trouble for me!”

“Do you really mean that?” I asked,

“Yes, it doesn’t hurt me one bit. We must simply rejoice over everything that happens for the sake of the church,” he answered.

Sigurd Bratlie was a great teacher among us, and he laid a firm foundation in many people’s lives through his preaching. “For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” Col. 2:5. Brother Sigurd Bratlie was an exceptional servant who, by his tireless preaching of the Word, really helped bring the church to the firm ground of faith. He laid the foundation as a wise master builder so that the individual friends could build further in their own lives. He instructed us thoroughly about many things—for instance, how we are baptized into one body by the Spirit of truth, and how the death of Christ can be practiced in our lives. This has been an immeasurable help for many friends at home and abroad.