Either we are strong in ourselves and correspondingly weak in God, or we are strong in God and correspondingly weak in ourselves. Every person is truly very weak in himself, even the strongest of these weaklings. When a person, in the midst of his pitiful weakness thinks he is strong, God keeps His help and power back and leaves him to do as he pleases in his imagined strength until afterwards, from bitter experience, he comes to this true acknowledgment that he is one big weakling. When a person from his heart thus acknowledges his weakness, and really understands that he is weak and helpless, God steps in with His immeasurably great strength so that the weakling truly becomes a warrior, a mighty man who bears great burdens with the mind and being and spirit of Christ, that which people cannot manage to do otherwise. Paul states it simply and clearly when he says, “When I [acknowledge that I] am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor. 12:10. Generally, when things are going well, people give the impression that they are brave and strong. People manage to boast and put on a show in their own “strength.” For example, saying that they would give away most of one hundred thousand kroner or one million if they should win that much; they manage to do that easily with no problem as long as they do not have this money. However, if it should actually become reality, they would have to be strong in love and faith and goodness to be able to manage it!!! Unfortunately, such strong men are as rare as comets. Oh, how little most people can do of all the things that are good and godly! That is why the expression, “I can’t do it!” is one of the most common expressions you hear whenever something has to be done, when there are burdens to be borne, whenever it is a question of bearing and enduring great difficulties! Nevertheless, God’s promises are great, glorious, mighty, and true! And the exhortations to seek and receive God’s mighty power are sincere and trustworthy. There is no reason to be weak in God, on the contrary! There is an abundance of many and good reasons to acknowledge your pitiful weakness and sincerely seek and receive great power from God in accordance with the glorious and great and true promises of the old covenant and the new covenant!!! Let us obey the exhortation: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Eph. 6:10. The sooner you come to the end of your own strength, the sooner you will become acquainted with and use God’s tremendous power that really enables you to be good when others are evil to you, even if it seems ever so hard! Glory, glory, glory to God! Your devoted friend and brother—Elias Aslaksen

“His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah. . . . And of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her; and the Most High Himself shall establish her.’ The Lord will record, when He registers the peoples: ‘This one was born there.’ Selah. Both the singers and the players on instruments say, ‘All my springs are in you.’” Ps. 87:1-3 and 5-7. Yes, glorious things are spoken of Zion in the old as well as in the new covenant. The saints have always sung about Zion—this glorious and unshakable city in which God has established His dwelling—with weeping and enthusiasm. “God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved . . . .” Ps. 46:5. “For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation: ‘This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.’” Ps. 132:13-14. “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem . . . O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isa. 2:3, 5. It has always been dark and ungodly on earth, but God’s light has always shone from Zion as a beacon and comfort for the God-fearing. Only if we walk in this light has God commanded blessings. The Lord has invited the saints to dwell with Him in Zion, the city with foundations. He loves the gates of Zion and the upright who enter in there. His eyes watch so that no one who is impure is allowed to sneak in. “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; he who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” Ps. 15. Yes, God be praised for the gates of Zion in our days. That is where all religiosity is sifted and separated. Only those who forsake everything and hate their own lives are allowed to enter into a life of fellowship with the Father and the Son and with each other. Their whole heart’s desire is to partake of the same life that is in Jesus Christ. They enter as wholehearted students (disciples) in order to learn to be like the Master. They are born by the word of truth to be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Jas. 1:18. The Lord knows who was born in Zion, and He knows their number. He will come when the number of this flock is complete and fully molded. This entire flock has one thing in common—they rejoice and sing: “All my springs are in You!” They are free from themselves, from the earth, and from people, and they know that their only joy is to know His will and to do it. For this they were born and elected. Only in this mind and in this spirit can they be trained to be kings and priests for God. The Lord Himself will confirm that they were born on Mount Zion. It will be acknowledged and recognized that all their ways are steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 1 Cor. 15:58. Zion is a mountain that cannot be touched with hands. Heb. 12:18. Its glory is in the hidden. Its laws are written on our hearts and minds and generate an inner life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This inner joy and peace is not shaken by anything that is visible, and no power can take this treasure in our hearts away from us. The glory that is born by the word of truth on Mount Zion is eternal and everlasting. How great it is that we, in the midst of this evil and ungodly world, can ascend this glorious mountain of the Spirit and dwell there forever in fellowship with the saints and the glorious ones. May there be a noticeable, pure “Zion atmosphere” in our homes and in the church. Let us be ardent Zionists with circumcised hearts, redeemed from the earth and from among people. Jesus has redeemed us to dwell on Mount Zion. Rev. 14:3. Therefore we are fully entitled to build and live there. Zion is a reality, not an imaginary mountain. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Heb. 12:22-24. Think that we have in fact ended up in such company, eternally united in the same mind and the same Spirit, in the midst of this faithless and restless world where everything is heading toward destruction. We do not need to spend years just hoping and wishing to enter this unshakable life of joy, rest, and peace. Not at all! We can truly enter into this life so that it will be acknowledged and recognizable in a short period of time. Here on Mount Zion there is an entire city of such living and precious saints of God, saints of God who have the laws of the Spirit of life written on their hearts and minds. Here there is oneness in sincere brotherly love. Here the truth is spoken and righteousness is practiced. Here everyone is in submission to each other in humility, in order to help one another to make progress. Here God’s nature rules, and everything that has its source in our selfish, human nature is cursed. Here is the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings. Isa. 33:14-17. Here the Holy Spirit works, and here a song is born in hearts through faithfulness in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, a song that surpasses all other songs in content and value before God. Satan is furious against this holy and invincible bastion, but all his designs are bound to fail. Satan has always mobilized the religious masses—it was the religious masses that crucified the Lord of glory. They have always spoken contemptuous and mocking words against this exalted life of victory over sin, offering instead a life of defeat as the only possibility. They think that in this state they can really benefit from grace. They are darkened in their minds and estranged from God’s life by the sins in which they are living. However, no one can do anything against the truth, only for the truth. By their written and verbal attacks they actually help to further the truth, though unintentionally, even as they sign their own death warrants. As truly as we live our life on Mount Zion now in covenant with its laws, we will also, when we leave this body, remain there with our spirit together with all the other spirits of just men made perfect. Then, when Jesus comes, and the wedding is about to be celebrated, we will receive glorified bodies that correspond to our glorious life. What a glorious hope and promise this is!Aksel J. Smith