458. Morning Meeting on the Prayer Day 1932

Jesus came to earth to teach us to do God’s will and to give us the power to carry it out. God never intended to reduce His requirement for us to do His will. Jesus intends to make us a law-abiding people. If we move away from the commandments, we are outside the plan that the gospel has for us. We can see that it is absolutely vital for us to keep His commandments. To begin with, you may think it is bondage to keep His commandments. Well then, so be it. We fall short time and again, and we have to ask for forgiveness, but we soon come to the conclusion that nothing good dwells within us. The commandment is holy, righteous, and good, but the sin that dwells in us causes us to fail. When we come to the conclusion that there is nothing good within us, then the Spirit comes to our aid. We must make every effort to come free from sin. We must keep His commandments. If this is bondage to you, then just slave away. When you keep God’s commandments and do His will, you will see that the Lord is with you, and He will give you power. It is useless to resist the Holy Spirit, so open your heart and let God in. The Holy Spirit which was promised to the Son has come to the earth and convicts people of their sin.

In the forecourt you pass the altar of sacrifices for sin and the bronze basin. If you are obedient there, you go straight into the Holy Place, and you receive power over your life. In the Holy Place the seven lampstands stand and shine for you directly onto the veil. If you are obedient and faithful there and allow the Spirit to work in you, you will also go through the veil and come to where the Lord speaks through the two cherubim. You come to Aaron’s rod that budded, to the golden pot of manna, and to the Testimony. This way has been opened for the man Jesus, but also for you and me, if we only are willing to lose our own life. Now people say: “Hallelujah! The veil is rent,” etc., and believe that everyone can go in there as a group. But no, we must pass the various altars before we enter the Holy Place. It costs something to enter in: we must lose our own life. There is no other way.

As Wetterlund so aptly says: “In these days people try to conjure up salvation without the commandments.” No, this does not work. If we love God with our whole heart, then we are saved by His commandments. We seek to please the one we love. Salvation lies in the commandments. Therefore it is also written: “I will write My laws in your heart and in your mind.”

Finally we will stand on the sea of glass and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Let us take Moses with us, whom people fear and who seems so tiresome, the person that people would rather not hear about. The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, but when it has driven us to the cross, we take Moses with us onto the cross. Those who are in Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. All this is so blessed, and we become so happy as long as we keep His commandments and do His will.

Paul was appointed as an apostle to preach obedience to the faith. Our ministry or our work in the Spirit is of no value unless we bring souls to the obedience of the faith, so that God is able to will and to work in them according to His good pleasure.

There are many different opinions about receiving the Spirit. I received the Spirit by obeying the Spirit. I did not receive it by falling on the floor or crying out or screaming. I was walking around on my own two feet among many ungodly people on board a ship. Obey the Spirit and join forces with the Spirit in the battle against your lusts; then you will come into contact with the right Person, and I’m sure you will receive the Spirit.

Phil. 3:3. Paul never relied on support from his own flesh or anyone else’s. You can say, “I am right” again and again, and we believe that we have many good ideas and opinions. But it is simply the flesh, every bit of it. There is a lack of overcoming evil with good. Try remaining silent, suffering, and bearing all things, and you will experience how well things go. We are to think in the Spirit, speak in the Spirit, and reply in the Spirit; then we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Jesus was always blameless when He was measured according to the law. Verses 4-8. We will gain Christ in every situation where we count everything as loss. Verse 10. Christ works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. This produces works. We are to know Him and the fellowship of His sufferings. When I am driven by the Spirit and obey Him, then of course I must suffer in the flesh. When I suffer with Christ, I will also be glorified together with Him.

Christ also had the desire within Him to be saved from death; He truly suffered death according to the flesh. There is much impatience and unkindness, etc., in our flesh, but this must be devoured just as a chicken eats its way through the egg. We must eat our way through the veil into the sanctuary and be conformed to the image of the Son. However, only a few people here and there are being conformed into His image. Note: being “conformed to the image of His Son.” Only His bride becomes like Him. Those who are one flesh with Him are His true wife. Here we are not talking about His people. Everyone who calls on His name is of His people. They are the ones who are in the outer court. Those who are temple Christians are to be measured. They are the Body itself. We have power within us, and as long as we keep this power, we are people of the temple. If we keep this power, things will go better day by day. If we take up our cross daily, we will make continual progress inwardly.