From Our Midst and Beyond

From Our Midst and Beyond

Sin dwells in everyone’s flesh. That is where tendencies to all kinds of sin dwell, such as the lust to rule, arrogance, greed, the desire for pleasure of all kinds, even for all kinds of malice. All flesh is corrupt.

Sin in the believer’s flesh shall be judged through God’s light. Sin was judged in Christ; now the same judgment of sin is to be executed in us. The person who loves the truth and hates lying is not afraid of judging sin when he receives light over it—first in himself, then in his closest surroundings, and then further and further, like the rings after you have thrown a stone into the water.

In Skjulte Skatter, we will not permit ourselves to judge anything except what Christ has judged to be sin. And we will not—for we do not have the power to do it—judge something to be sin in others which we have not judged to be sin in us first. However, what we have judged to be sin in ourselves, and from which we have been cleansed, we reserve the right to still judge as sin wherever it is found. First the beam has to be removed from one’s own eye, and then you can see clearly to draw the splinter out of your brother’s eye. We do not teach a doctrine of perfection that maintains that sin has been taken out of the flesh; on the contrary, we teach and confess that the flesh with its passions and desires is to be crucified with Christ and that sin in the flesh is to be judged as God’s light judges it in us. We will be among those who cast light over the things that hinder the purity and growth of the church, and we will work from the inside out, not sparing the evil in any form.

When we, in the previous issue of the paper, wrote about the lust to rule in our midst, we had a right and an obligation to do that for chastisement, for guidance, and for help. Our desire is to sweep first in front of our own door. However, there are some people who have seen this and have begun to point fingers, saying something like this: “See, this is how it is among them.” And so the first stone whizzed past our ears from “those who are pure.” Nevertheless, even if the stones hailed down on us, we are firmly resolved to continue by the grace that God gives to judge all sin in the flesh in our midst first.

We are not afraid to visit Their Lordships, the leaders of the Pentecostals, afterwards. We do not intend to put our light under a basket, but it could be profitable to set it in the midst of the Pentecostal assemblies to see what things look like among them.

How is it that the “free friends” in the entire country are split up into countless small groups? How many assemblies are there in Oslo? From where does the division-causing strife come in Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, even in the entire country? Even in small places in the country the “free friends” can be divided up into many small cliques who, with a terrible hardness and gossip, drag each other down into the dirt by feuding with each other.

James asks in Chapter 4:1: “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your lusts that war in your members?” We are bound to ask: What kind of lusts flourish most abundantly among such people? Isn’t it the lust to rule? Everyone wants to lead; everyone wants to rule. Some people want to establish churches; others want anarchy. These consuming quarrels among the “free friends” have made large districts impervious to all religious influence. Many of their meetings consist quite simply of religious quarreling. The terrible thing is that all over they have their leaders—in the Capital and in other places—who fan the fire and incite them to fight, so that the flocks tear each other to shreds. I have statements from their own mouths about the battles that are being fought among the important people for religious influence. I have personally heard Pentecostal leaders characterize each other as popes.

Why do these people not attack sin in their own midst? They ought to clothe themselves in dust and ashes because of this degenerate state among them; however, they put on a halo in their diaries—such halos as you can see on these Catholic icons. In any case, they should leave it to others to proclaim them saints.

In spite of their pitiable condition, they teach that sin was removed through the baptism of the Spirit. Removed!! Shall we speak about immorality, the very thing that has even caused well-known “stars” to fall—yes, we have the authority to go into detail—so that the entire country should wake up to this “Ramah cry.” “Sin has been removed!” Yes, that is what they teach. But I would like to ask together with James, “But where does all this come from?” “Satan will receive the greater punishment in hell because he deceived one of the least of these,” is what one of them said from behind the pulpit (referring to himself) after he had given someone else a tongue-lashing. “Of course, sin had been removed from him!”

“The Spirit told me that I should go to that place and take some wood,” is what an amateur preacher said.

“You will have to send the invoice to Jesus,” is what a preacher said to the hotel owner after he had stayed there for a few days and preached in town.

Sin has been removed!! This is a doctrine that blinds people to sin and is therefore without acknowledgment. It is totally without the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth tells a person how it is, but this doctrine covers sin with the lie of presumed holiness. It is a doctrine without blood. The blood cleanses from sin as God shows it to our inner man. However, these people teach that sin has been removed. What shall we then do with the blood?

It is written that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, then the blood of His Son will cleanse us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.

If we walk in the light, the blood cleanses us to the state in which we now are.

We would like to advise the gentleman leaders to sweep in their own midst—and do it thoroughly—and stop looking after their own interests. In many places those poor sheep have been so tightly shorn of understanding that it is a pity to see. And when the light through the Spirit of truth arises in their hearts, they praise God for being set free from the snare in which they were caught.

To conclude, I would like to say to the friends all over the land: Fear not! Receive every truth into your life. Be willing to be purified over and over again from everything that God may point out in your life. Be willing to acknowledge; fear not to be crushed. There is One who gives life. Pray much. Pray for a love of the truth and for hatred against lying. Be righteous toward everyone so that you can keep yourself undefiled. Do not play the hypocrite before people; do not be afraid to suffer in the flesh in order to cease from sin. Though He was a Son, Christ learned obedience by the things He suffered. Labor for the truth—even though some people shout that it is bondage. The person who works faithfully with what he has accomplishes more than those who proclaim their own holiness. You have nothing to lose when you consider all things as dung.