Prayer Day Conference

Elias Aslaksen:

1 Corinthians 14:13-20; Hebrews 5:11; Ecclesiastes 1:18. He who increases knowledge, he who desires to grow in all spiritual wisdom, he increases grief. However, what they receive in return after they have suffered in the flesh is much more glorious. Most people will never do anything in order to enter the Holiest of Holies. Their joy is the glory of the first tabernacle. They have never been able to understand that there is something that is called the Holiest. People who have learned to appreciate the things that come after this life will consider it a great blessing to partake of the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, for they desire to partake more and more of the divine nature. It took a long time before it became clear to me that there are Christians who do not bother to press deeper into life, who are quite content on the surface. But now I am convinced that it is so. Most people never come to a full assurance in their judgment of their own or other people’s spiritual state because they avoid the sufferings of Christ. When you do not reckon with gaining fruit from being in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, it is blessed to be saved from this blissful ignorance. The veil has never been rent in their personal lives. We are compelled to believe that they are in no way partakers of Jesus Christ as they should be.

Interpreting tongues is the same as being a blessing for others. Everything shall be done unto edification. However, the person who speaks in tongues without interpretation seeks only his own edification. A person is disobedient when he speaks in a tongue and no one interprets it. Nevertheless, this is done continually in the assemblies. Everything has its source in a wrong understanding of “edification.” One thinks it means something else than what the Scriptures indicate. They have never heard of or believed in what we call edification. What they hold in high esteem is many people, that many people are baptized, and a large collection, etc. They have no idea of what it means to be built up in the fear of God. It is too difficult.

It is edifying when someone speaks prophetically—if someone speaks in tongues and it is interpreted. Then the understanding is quickened and we avoid grieving over our disobedience. However, when we evade God’s instructions the result is not life-wisdom. The lack of wisdom clings to a person as sin, and we contribute toward increasing the pain of those who love wisdom. If we are to gain life-wisdom in order to overcome the evil, then the understanding has to be quickened. More often than not the understanding is not quickened over the course of 5, 15, or even 50 years. We realize this from the fact that they hate life-wisdom and the brothers who possess it. Nevertheless, we still love them in spite of the fact that their understanding is without fruit. They speak about victory, but they do not have it. They like being together with people who are good to them; they like mission work and entertainment. But they do not have manna from heaven. Neither is there any unity among them because sin in the flesh is active. They are not victorious on the day of trial. They do not understand the inner life. They only know about sin and grace, which is the ministry of the tabernacle. There is an entire gulf between those who lead an inner life and those who do not lead an inner life. They speak about being one until they sit each in their own corner. Oneness on the cross is a mystery despite it being so simple.

With a crucified flesh it is our manna to be able to bear what people usually cannot bear.