Yes, proclaim it with songs of joy. What is it that we shall proclaim with songs of joy to the end of the earth? The good and glad tidings! And what are these good and glad tidings? These tidings are that what has never succeeded before shall now succeed fully; namely, that we must overcome all conscious sin, everything that defeated us previously. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is evident that already in this scripture from the old covenant something was proclaimed that is in complete harmony with it. By fulfilling this one condition: heeding God’s commandments (being passionately interested in getting to know them in order to live by them), these three promises will be fulfilled.1. Peace like a river.2. Righteousness like the waves of the sea.3. Descendants (followers) as numerous as grains of sand; in other words, tremendous, almost unbelievable blessings. Even in those days, this was the Great Commission. They were to proclaim it with songs of joy to the end of the earth. What were they supposed to rejoice over? That it would succeed, that it would go just as promised! This is really something to proclaim and rejoice over! What do you think, my dear friends? By God’s great grace and wise guidance this has now become very relevant to all of us. Someone is supposed to have said, “Let the young people learn languages! There is no telling where God will send them!” The order is, “To the end of the earth!” And since the earth is round, the end of the earth is everywhere! Therefore, my beloved brethren, learn languages and prepare yourself! Give yourself completely! Prove it by your action! Now is not the time to enjoy life; it is time to serve and lay your life down. We will get to enjoy life soon enough. We will do that after the battle has ended, throughout all eternity when we will no longer have anything to deny. However, it is not advisable to proclaim something for which you do not have a living faith and which you have not tasted. Therefore, start in “Jerusalem,” that is, in your home and in your locality where you are presently residing, so that God can eventually use you in one place or another in the world, at one of the many ends of the earth. The road signs are now pointing in many different directions. Watch and pray!Your blessed and hopeful brother in the ministry— Elias Aslaksen

“Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy ones, and said: ‘I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted a young man chosen from the people.” Ps. 89:19. The holy saints received a vision of the help that is given to us in Christ, and they prophesied of the grace that would come to us. 1 Pet. 1:10. When God gives us help, it is help that is sufficient so that we can live a life that is worthy of the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. 2 Cor. 6:17-18. Jesus was a young man from His people; He had to become like His brethren in all things. Heb. 2:17. However, He proved Himself to be a mighty man precisely in that state, one who is highly exalted above all other mighty men. He is the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29), and He has the preeminence in all things. Col. 1:18. Christ has an entire flock of excellent brothers who are truly mighty men, who have the same Spirit and the same attitude of heart as He does. He has done everything to help them to become like Him, in life and in their nature, and He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Heb. 2:11. All of them have been excellent, mighty men in sacrificing and humbling themselves, but they have never attained to Jesus’ degree of humiliation and sacrifice. 1 Tim. 6:16. They suffered injustice with joy, but not to the degree that Jesus did. They denied themselves, but never as perfectly as their great Brother. They overcame in life’s many temptations and trials just as He overcame, and they will therefore receive a place together with Him on His throne. Rev. 3:21. However, they did not overcome from beginning to end nor attain perfection as He did. In the resurrection of the dead Christ will be like the sun, and His fellow brethren like lesser suns and twinkling stars. 1 Cor. 15:41-42; Matt. 13:43. Mighty men do not arise unless there are particularly difficult circumstances. Mankind’s great difficulty is that we have a flesh from which arise temptations to do evil. None of the mighty men in the old covenant could overcome this flesh. The law was weak because of this flesh. Rom. 8:3. All of mankind would have been lost if Jesus, the mightiest of all mighty men, had not partaken of flesh and blood as we and had not perfectly overcome everything that dwells in the flesh. Did He become impure as a result? Absolutely not! A person does not become defiled by what he hates, condemns, and judges to the utmost. In the midst of being made sin for us, and sin being condemned in His flesh (Rom. 8:3), His heart and mind remained perfectly pure throughout His entire life. Therefore it is now possible for us to preserve this purity of heart by His great power and help. He is mighty to save. Isa. 63:1. He does not want to be the only mighty man, but He wants to help us to become worthy mighty men and brothers together with Him for all eternity. It would not have been a great thing for Him to be a mighty man all by Himself, together with a flock of small children who had not grown up to manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Eph. 4:13. Jesus was born of the seed of David according to the flesh. Rom. 1:3. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. In this Spirit, which He had from His heavenly Father, He fought a courageous and manly battle against this flesh of David of which He had voluntarily partaken for our sakes, and against the flesh of His mother, His disciples, and wherever else He came up against it. When we read Hebrews 5:7 we can see that this was not an easy battle. As His true followers we need to have that same manly firmness, and to show it in our battle against the flesh. We need to be firm in our faith, firm and unshakable in the battle against our own flesh, so that we do not give in the least little bit in the many temptations that come from the flesh. We need to be firm in love, righteousness, truth, and goodness, until the end. Then we will become partakers of divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), and together with Jesus we will be exalted from among the people. Together with Christ, these mighty men will descend when all ungodliness is destroyed at Armageddon and the millennium is established. Joel 3:11 and Rev. 19:11-21.Aksel J. Smith