377. Johan O. Smith’s 70th Birthday

On October 11 we celebrated our dearly beloved brother’s 70th birthday in the meeting hall at Horten. This precious and exceptional gathering lasted two days, both Saturday and Sunday.

Due to rationing, it was not possible to invite people to the feast. But because of the love of Christ which has come into our hearts precisely because of the life, sacrifice, and labor of this mighty leader, our thankfulness for him would not allow us to stay home. It came together very naturally. Some brothers came all the way from Bergen and Stavanger, and other friends came from many corners of Norway. There were also many telegrams and gifts. Even though the outpouring was abundant, it was still just a weak expression for the deeply rooted and grounded love and esteem we have for brother Smith. He is respected and valued throughout the land and also abroad by his dear friends—his dear friends who have directly or indirectly been led to light, power, victory, and eternal joy through his faithfulness and diligent labor.

This was no ordinary man’s 70th birthday that we celebrated!

It was a 70th birthday for one of Christ’s mighty princes—a reformer!

By his faithfulness we have been saved from bondage and false liberty, superficiality and human work. We are led into the true liberty of Christ, true life in the church, and fellowship in the Spirit—led onto the way of sanctification, and then forward on this way.

Brother Smith has fought a life and death battle against the false liberty that had had a strong hold after the coming of the Pentecostal movement. While people everywhere were making mistakes and going astray, brother Smith stood fast through the truth and light that God revealed to him. His faithfulness made it possible for him to stand completely alone against the religiosity of the whole country. While many religious groups and movements were of the opinion that it was not possible to have victory over sin, the Pentecostals and so-called “free friends” claimed that they were completely finished with all sin—every form of sin, in every sense. The doctrine that “the body of sin has been taken away” was popular at that time. This stupid doctrine has, by the grace of God, been crushed to smithereens so God’s light can clearly shine throughout the land.

Brother Smith has by the grace of God, by his unfailing faithfulness, and by his unselfish self-sacrifice managed to do what most forerunners have never succeeded in doing. Namely, he brought forth genuine followers and not just spectators. He has begotten sons that walk in these same footsteps.

Extremely happy are those souls who have received such a leader, a leader who goes the way of the cross and can help others to walk on the same blessed way!

Brother Smith’s work is distinctively biblical. It has developed like a mustard seed. It has worked like leaven in dough! In the beginning, in sincerity and expectation, he approached those he thought could understand him, but everyone resisted the truth, without exception. It was an enormous trial: To believe more in God than in all the others combined. He stood the test. Praise God! Then one by one he found people who had an ear and a heart for the truth. So after a while there was a living room full of people, and then it began to spread from city to city and from village to village. Faithful co-workers grew up, and from 1912 on Skjulte Skatter was in publication. The development has gone smoothly and consistently the entire time and continues even now. In Denmark there are friends all around the country who praise God for the light and all the help that they have received from brother Smith, and there are also a few in Sweden and the United States.

Brother Smith spoke on his 70th birthday about his wife and the vital work all the good mothers are doing in their homes. Mothers build the home while the brothers build the church. The Scriptures speak about not forsaking the law of your mother. Mothers plant the law in the hearts of their children.

Several brothers spoke about the big difference between being a pioneer, a groundbreaker, and being one to follow after. Put in this light, we could appreciate brother Smith’s powerful and valuable effort.

Our united desire is that he might live long among us, for even though his body is beginning to weaken, his spirit is strong and alive, and his ministry is still blessed and precious.

Actually, this surpasses all of our ability to describe it. Only on that Day will we understand it fully. Honor be to God in the highest!