On the contrary, it has led to human factions and denominational churches where division and the work of man, sin, and worldliness are quite common, just as it is in other denominational churches. The main cause is that their leaders have completely misunderstood the way of salvation. They have not at all understood (they have not believed the words of Scripture) that there is a way. What they do not understand (because they do not believe) is the personal salvation and transformation in area after area through new light received over the attributes and content of the divine nature by judging yourself and surrendering into the death of Christ the contrasts to this divine nature that you discover in yourself. Then you grow up in all the virtues, in all things, into Him who is the head, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Instead of walking faithfully on this narrow but glorious way of life, they imagine and make others think that they can immediately and suddenly receive a fullness of life in God—in other words, completely unknowingly, and not by continuous surrender into death, not by walking on the way, not by growing. This is a big blunder of catastrophic proportions that the Pentecostal Movement has committed, of which they are guilty, and for which their leaders have to bear the blame. After a wonderful baptism in the Spirit, or being filled by the Holy Spirit, that obviously results in a blessed atmosphere and a heavenly feeling without any sense of sin and wretchedness, they have been foolish enough to imagine that this was an immediate fullness of a godly life, and therefore, if they remained in this state until the end, everything would be in order. This is easily understandable and forgivable. To begin with, you could not expect anything else. However, not sobering up afterwards and not entering into a state of acknowledgment and being willing to be guided by the Scriptures is, unfortunately, too bad and disgraceful. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you have received the “Teacher of righteousness.” Joel 2:23.NKJV in the margin Imagine the deception, thinking that I have learned the entire curriculum as soon as a capable teacher enters the classroom! Similarly, we receive power through the Holy Spirit to humble and abase ourselves, to suffer injustice, to keep the peace with one another, etc., but thereby we have not accomplished all of it. The Spirit can guide us, and desires to guide us into all truth, but the great and crucial question is whether we are always willing to be guided and are obedient to His guidance. What we should be able to boast of, in a manner of speaking, would then have to be, and ought to be, that we have been obedient to the Spirit and have received and lived according to His instructions, but not that we have received the Spirit or have been baptized in the Spirit. It is God’s goodness, and to His praise, that He has given me the Spirit; and it is to my shame and my eternal loss if I have not obeyed Him. The great thing is not to be led completely unknowingly by the Spirit in a marvelous way, as most people understand it, but rather that I can increasingly understand my own folly, put it off, and surrender it into the death of Christ so I can grow in God’s wisdom, in spiritual understanding and goodness, constantly growing in my understanding of God’s way and will with me in all kinds of situations and difficulties. We can grow up to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, by a constant surrender into death, by a constant transformation. However, we cannot suddenly receive a fullness of the life of God or become a perfect man. You cannot be chosen to be old and wise, or in other words, be an elder brother as a little child in Christ, as it is done among Pentecostals and others—on the basis of your baptism in the Spirit or your gifts, oratorical skills, and pretentious appearance. That is playing church. The usual assemblies are at best “kindergartens” where they play and argue and get offended. They think that godliness and obedience to the Word, to the laws of the Spirit of life, necessarily are and will be bondage, and that you must seek the baptism in the Spirit instead, whereas we should seek this power in abundance so that we can in fact execute godly fear in all areas of life, even in every detail! The deception and darkness is so complete and overwhelming that they have essentially rejected godliness as something old fashioned! No wonder it has gone totally wrong!!! The consequence of the Pentecostal Movement is, in spite of everything and in consideration of what it should have led to, terrifying, spiritually speaking; it is a scandal! Well-known pastors, gross sins, many sins, many factions, much division and strife, even fighting each other in the daily newspapers to the unspeakably great dishonor of the name of God and Christianity and to the immense increase of the unbelievers’ contempt and hardening—the very ones who they claim they love and want to win. Everything that the spirit of the times brings with it of sin and madness is, so to speak, given free play in their assemblies: women’s equality with men instead of submission; divorcees remarried (the “innocent” party) totally contrary to the clear words of Scripture; terrible family planning, which is also in glaring contrast to the blessed and clear words of Scripture; modern, short hair for women, as well as everything that is modern; a church and pastor system and thereby muzzling the liberty to serve in the meeting, contradicting the Word, “Let everyone have something”; people are hired for leading positions just as they are hired in the world; they also resign their position and look for a new one. Alas! Alas! What worldliness! Spiritual growth under such a regime is virtually excluded. Conditions for growth are definitely not present. May many people wake up in these days!Elias Aslaksen

Jesus was taken away after He had given commandments to His apostles (Acts 1:2), and Paul exhorts Timothy to keep these commandments without spot and blameless until Jesus comes again. 1 Tim. 6:13-14. Times have changed greatly during the long period since then, and it takes great faithfulness to preserve the commandments just as Jesus gave them, without adapting them to the times. “And of Levi he said: ‘Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one, whom You tested at Massah, and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah, who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’; nor did he acknowledge his brothers, or know his own children; for they have observed Your word and kept Your covenant. “They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, and Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, and a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar. “Bless his strength, Lord, and accept the work of his hands; strike the loins of those who rise against him . . . that they rise not again.’” Deut. 33:8-11. This prophesy concerns Jesus. He was the Rock that followed them and from which they drank. 1 Cor. 10:4. He was free from everything and everyone. As He was, so we have to be so that we can teach men to keep the commandments and be a complete sacrifice on the Lord’s altar. Jesus says if anyone wants to be His disciple he has to hate his entire family and his own life also. The Levitical priesthood was established through the law of a fleshly commandment. You were a priest if you came from the right family. Heb. 7:16. However, Melchizedek had no family; and Jesus is priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Vs. 3, 17. In some churches there can be several people who are related to each other. If there is a difficulty with one of them, the entire extended family will have it difficult. They are in the flesh. If there are several such families, it can result in cliques in the church. Those who proclaim the commandments and laws of the Lord must be totally free from all kinds of carnal bonds in order to be faithful. Only they can put the complete sacrifice on the altar. There can be much unfaithfulness in the ministry; consequently, the sacrifices that are being brought are not whole sacrifices. The one who wants to be faithful has to reckon with opposition, but “bless his strength, Lord . . . strike the loins of those who rise against him . . . that they rise not again.’” God gives strength to those who are faithful in the ministry, and He also upholds the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek with power, in the deepest darkness of the times, so that the commandments can be kept pure until He comes.Sigurd Bratlie