Every Christian is obviously called to be one hundred percent faithful to the Lord and to His Word; to be firm and steadfast, holy, and pure in every respect by watching and praying; by God’s grace and power firmly to resist all of Satan’s schemes; to oppose all modern worldliness and ungodliness! It is the manifest duty and great responsibility of all shepherds and leaders in particular to stand as alert watchmen on the wall, sounding a powerful alarm against all sin and worldliness, (with all the harmful and ruinous effects that arise) wanting to sneak into the church of God. Instead of being faithful and alert watchmen they are deceived, so to speak, by everything possible that this world thinks is great and attractive. Not long after people in the world have begun to pay homage to a new form of sin, worldliness and ungodliness, unbelief, guile, and apostasy, it is approved and also recommended by leading men among God’s people—by those who should be watching and praying and warning against everything that entices in the wrong direction. When the feminist movement started, their viewpoints were, to a large extent, approved of—in direct opposition to God’s Word. As long as the world did not sanction them, the leaders of God’s people did not do it either; but when the world did approve them, the leaders of God’s people followed immediately. It is the spirit of the times that leads them! For a long time even the State Church managed not to permit divorcees to re-marry. But when the State Church authorized it, other churches followed suit. Even the Pentecostals, who should have received greater strength from God, followed went along with it “faithfully”; that is, unfaithfully, directly contradicting God’s Word! When everyone in the world had acquired their elegant radio, Christians soon followed suit. No fear of the spirit of the world could hinder it! Neither could the word of Scripture about not being conformed to this world, or the word about contentment and mercy, or about being good to widows and orphans, the poor and wretched. Half a thousand kroner for a radio for which there was absolutely no need was soon declared to be compatible with godliness with contentment! As soon as the world invented a really fancy, meaningless bridal gown, God’s people also found that this was quite charming and to the praise of God and His gospel, and that it was in harmony with the doctrine of Christ concerning contentment and that the woman’s beauty should not be in outward things but in a meek and quiet spirit. Already many years ago such “charming” dresses and permanent waves were not only permitted but even required among women evangelist Pentecostals in the U.S.A. Today, women with red-colored lips stand behind the preacher’s pulpit in that country. We can rightly wonder what such watchmen are actually watching over and against what they have actually thought to guard and protect the lambs and the sheep? It would almost seem that they watch to make sure that they are conformed to this world in every detail and that they are well informed about what is going on. The entire dark world has for centuries managed to get along without preventative measures and without promoting family planning, honoring the family as something noble. However, when people in the world and the spirit in the world recommend it, the leaders of God’s people are immediately ready to emulate their example wholeheartedly. Thereby all of God’s people with the exception of the few who are not willing to be led by the spirit of the world but rather by the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, are faithful to the Lord their God in every detail. Now as before, the vast majority of leaders of God’s people are deceivers. Woe unto them! They have indeed truly failed the Lord whom they praise eloquently with their mouths! May God, in these days, strengthen all true shepherds most powerfully to be perfectly faithful and watchful.Elias Aslaksen

Humility is one of the virtues of Christ; yet it is also one of the virtues which Satan uses most in order to deceive people. Jesus says, “I have not come with peace, but with a sword. From now on there shall be division, two against three in one house.” Satan does not like this sword and this division with which Jesus came, so when he is out to beguile us of our reward, he uses humility, among other things. Col. 2:18. War is not fashionable in our days. Even though there has never been as much warfare before as there is now. Nevertheless they still call out, “Let us not have any strife; we must practice tolerance and ally ourselves with each other!” This is considered to be the way of humility, the way of Christ. But Jesus came with the sword that was to separate the noble from the base and the pure from the unholy. Joshua was not supposed to make peace with any of the inhabitants of the land, but rather destroy them all with the sword. This is written for our example. The Gibeonites used guile and wanted to make peace. In their guile they used humility and acted as if they were weak and harmless, and so they robbed Joshua of his reward. This is how many people come to the church—as Gibeonites. In the church the sword of Christ is to put to death the self-life in all of us, and the Word of the Lord still stands to this very day: “Cursed be everyone who keeps his sword from blood.” But then there are some who come, appearing so humble and full of acknowledgment, that one feels sorry for them. The amazing thing, though, is that their humility and acknowledgment do not lead them on to victory over sin. After a few days have passed, it becomes evident that they are no more humble than that they become greatly offended at the slightest thing, and their acknowledgment goes no deeper than that they commit the same sin over again at the first temptation. Others, again, have the ability to use humility as a pious covering for everything they do, so no one dares to use the sword on them. They both appear and sound so pious that one lets them live. Nevertheless, they are using guile, just like the Gibeonites did. These Gibeonites often complain that the Word that is spoken is so hard, and that it only results in bondage. This is a sign whereby they can be recognized, and we must be on guard against swearing peace to them. No one can live for himself and still have liberty to do the will of God. Only when we enter the dying of Christ by the Spirit of Christ can we be raised up to the life of Christ and liberty. Therefore you must not withdraw from the sword by using the guile of the Gibeonites, because then you will never be anything but a slave; neither must you let anyone beguile you of your reward through the same kind of false humility.Sigurd Bratlie