What Do You Want?

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Is. 43:18-19. It is glorious to look ahead to the future. We must not be plagued by things that are behind us if we have put matters right with God and with people where that was necessary. Then we are not to consider the former things, nor the things of old. “Behold, I will do a new thing,” He says.

Many people cannot get completely free from their past. “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.” When someone is troubled and discouraged—constantly discour­aged, faint-hearted and dejected—there is only one reason for it: he does not have a living faith that his sins have been for­given. How can you be discouraged if you believe that your sins have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west? Do you have a living faith in this? Then all discourage­ment will be a thing of the past. Thanks and praise to God! Do you have a living faith in the fact that He has cast your sins into the sea of forgetfulness, never to see them again? Think about this, reader! Receive a living faith in it! What will hap­pen to discouragement then? It will disappear completely!

We must come to a living faith; that is the foundation. And faith in the forgiveness of sins is the basis for that foundation. It is the introduction to the main point, which is a glorious, victorious life in Jesus Christ. We are to be filled with all the fullness of God—with wisdom, goodness and mercy—so that the meekness of wisdom is made manifest through our bod­ies. This is a glorious life! In the church we speak about an inner life. We are not legalistic. We do not proclaim Moses and the commandments written on tablets of stone. However, we do proclaim the commandments of Jesus written in our hearts and minds, and we proclaim the power we receive to obey them through the grace that is in Jesus Christ. This is a work of grace.

We do as it is written: We abstain from sexual immorality and from blood. The Gentiles were not burdened with a lot of legalistic precepts. Acts 15:28-29. We believe in an inner life. The apostles said, “We preach life to you.” This was the life, the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed by the Son. We preach the Word of the Lord through the gospel. Acts 15:35. If a person does not have a life in God but wants to be zealous for Him, he often starts with “do not touch, do not taste, do not handle.” Those who continue with these outward things have not understood what the church is. If a person continues in this way, he will end up destroying himself and putting pressure on other people. Think about it! Read in Skjulte Skatter and the literature of the church. There is not much said about outward things! Very little!

If something has to be corrected, it is the responsibility of the fathers in Christ, not the children. And at our conferences, it should be obvious that it is the responsibility of the very eldest brothers to do this. Not just anyone can come up and “set things right.”

There are people who speak against outward things. I have heard people speak against refrigerators and freezers in their time. They said, mockingly, “How can you live by faith and have a freezer?” People have also spoken against wearing ties, and I don’t know what else. We must not speak against these outward things! These words are not from heaven. Many of us have always had a radio at home. A number of years ago at Torsteinslåtta, brother Sigurd Bratlie exhorted the brothers to stop speaking about outward things, like ra­dios. And then he impressed upon us how important it is to give people God’s Word.

Today we see how television too, will become a great bless­ing with respect to preaching the gospel over the whole earth. There is nothing wrong with these technological inventions, but they become a curse if we use them to live according to our lusts. Information through the latest innovations of tech­nology will serve us well through the transmission of confer­ences and other gatherings.

We must be very watchful over what we allow into our homes. Ps. 89:25. Here we must protect our homes zealously! We must defend them against all the terrible influences that come from ungodly sources. No polluted streams can be al­lowed to flow into our homes! In this area we have the right to choose! We must ensure that we preach against this pollution! This is where every individual—as well as every father and mother in their home—has a responsibility for what fills that home. Everyone should take this responsibility seriously. Ob­viously our minds are strongly influenced by all these images that become engraved on the walls of our heart. We must be fervently watchful so that we do not serve all kinds of abomi­nable idols, but the Lord alone. Ezek. 8:8-12 and Ex. 22:20. Parents are responsible for their children in this crucial mat­ter.

We are not against one thing or another, but we are watch­ful for the kinds of spirits that enter our homes! Here we must be awake. We may have time for many things, but we must make time to be built up by God’s Word so that we are in an edifying and glorious Spirit. We must redeem this precious time of grace so that we do not waste it. Eph. 5:10-17. This should be clear for anyone who desires to follow Jesus.

If someone is among us because he likes the idea that wives are to be subject to their husbands, for example, then let him go somewhere else and be enthusiastic about it there! What he should be interested in is not becoming bitter toward his wife! The other commandment is addressed to the woman! We have had enough blockheads going around stir­ring up trouble with their preaching and generally making fools of themselves. Go somewhere else until you have re­pented! Come to a life in God! That is the whole point.

What the church does stand for is victory over sin. We do not have a doctrine about raising children, for example. We have had some “specialists” among us who have put pressure on others. Today, almost all of them are outside the church, together with their “fine doctrines.” What has become of them? Just think about that! They have not come to humility. They wanted to be specialists, to explain all kinds of theories and show everyone what a fine family they had so they could become someone. Such hypocrisy is and always will be a great shame! In many cases, they do not even have victory over anger, and they provoke their own children. And yet, ev­erything has to look good on the outside. The church does not support anything like that. The way parents raise their chil­dren is their own private business.

The church teaches the Word of life, the good news, so that love can find expression in our homes. Goodness, kindness and what was central to the apostles’ doctrine is what we teach, namely the virtues of Christ. If someone opposes love, then they also oppose us. And if a false doctrine—as the church is accused of having—produces love and goodness, then let it be false! Because this “falsehood” is genuine, re­gardless of what other people say. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His pris­oner.” 2 Tim. 1:8. Maybe these “wise” Corinthians felt a little bit ashamed of Paul who was in prison. He obviously couldn’t have so much wisdom, since he ended up in prison now and then. Of course the Corinthians themselves had a far better “understanding”! But Paul was humble, and he was impris­oned according to God’s will. It is possible that no one has been as wise as he. Even today, if people want to say some­thing that is wise, they say, “Let us see what Paul has to say.” He was a man full of wisdom. Can you open the Bible now, almost 2,000 years after Paul lived, without being stirred in your heart by him? Just imagine that we have brother Paul in our midst! If brother Paul were here now, we would give him plenty of time to speak to the assembly. Oh, we would rejoice together with brother Paul, a man who was full of joy, peace and glory.

How different from a stiff instructor giving some disserta­tion on how to chastise your children. My, oh, my! On the scrap heap with all these instructors! What a shame! They do not love a life in God; they do not love what is good; they want to have forms and customs; they want to have something that impresses people. They don’t have love or goodness within, but rather dead men’s bones! I have observed this ever since I was a child and have paid close attention to it for many years. As a general rule, people like this, who are admired and con­sidered to be someone great, end up on the outside. People who pressure others are not great at all; they are babes.

I praise God for the church, the pillar and foundation of the truth! Here God teaches us how to live so that we bring the church into our homes. Rom. 16:5. We read in Proverbs about the woman whose wisdom builds her house. What a glory! A mother, full of God’s wisdom, full of the Spirit of victory, with faith and hope in her heart! That is what builds the house! “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” 2 Tim. 1:7-8.

There is a huge difference between enduring evil in my own strength and enduring it in the power of God. We see this in the incident when Paul and Silas were thrown into the inner prison after being severely beaten. You can be sure the whip came down hard and fast. And they sang songs of praise! Here we get a small glimpse of God’s power. “Share with me in the sufferings according to the power of God.” We receive this power of God by faith—first and foremost by believing in the forgiveness of sins, and then by believing in all the glori­ous things that follow. All of this is done through the power of God. You cannot pressure people into sanctification. The bride says, “Draw me, and I will run after you.” This is not pressure. It is the drawing power of love that comes from ev­erything that is of the light. You can see how the sun draws life up out of the ground. It causes life and growth and in­crease. The Holy Spirit brings us into contact with the draw­ing power that is in God. “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle” and all these other legalistic things can never do that. These commandments are given to those who live in the world. These people are chastened to Christ by the law; but when faith comes, we are no longer under tutors. Gal. 3:23-25 and Col. 2:20-23.

“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” It is good to acknowledge this fact and see your need for grace. This grace was given to you personally in Christ Jesus before time began. But you cannot receive this grace until you acknowledge your need for it. Then you will experi­ence this power, this blessed river from heaven that sets you free, that makes you a happy person and allows you to hold your head high! Then you will no longer be anxious; rather, you will see the summer—you will see into the kingdom of God!

This is the Spirit of the church, and from this Spirit comes the doctrine of Christ—full of power and full of grace and truth. And we experience that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more—in our lives, in our homes, and in the church. Rom. 5:20. This Word is a powerful, effective and deadly weapon against all thoughts of drawing back or “turn­ing back the clock” in order to find “the God-fearing times when it was easy and simple to live as a Christian.”

Jesus was thankful that God did not take the disciples out of the world, but preserved them in the world. This is the same Spirit of Jesus that will also preserve us and our chil­dren and lead us to victory in our time.

I praise God for such a life! May God mightily strengthen each and every one of us to go forward on the way of life, filled with the Spirit of faith, so that these words can resound in our heart: “It will succeed for me! It will succeed for me!” And then you will experience all of heaven saying: “Amen! It is true!” What a glorious future!