“Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” 1 Pet. 5:9. In which way is this word telling us that Satan is trying to destroy us? By maintaining that it is different for me compared to the others; no one suffers as I do; none have been tested in my situation; the others don’t even understand me. They are also being tried, but not as I am. It is easier for them. If we know that this is a lie, then we are safe. We don’t seem to understand it like that or feel like that on the day of trial, but by faith we know that it is so. I am not the only one who suffers like that, but all the brothers—every single one—have, are having, or will have the same sufferings imposed on them. It is obvious to everyone that we do not experience the same fate and the same plight or have been given the same lot in life. The external circumstances and situations differ enormously. However, the sufferings they cause by our own will being broken are the same for all those who walk in the steps of Jesus Christ to the extent that we have advanced. And this is the crux of the matter. Whatever has caused the sufferings is totally irrelevant. Suffering in the same way is, in the deepest and truest sense of the word, being tried in the same way. Therefore for this reason, with this understanding and in this sense, the Scriptures can say that Christ was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Heb. 4:15. For this is not literally true, seeing that He was not married, didn’t have to struggle with toddlers, was not rich in earthly goods, was not a salesperson in a store, was not a woman, etc., etc. The same thing applies to us. A man has never been a woman, and a woman has never been a man, and yet we now know—by faith in 1 Peter 5:9—that the same sufferings are imposed on all of us. Everyone has to give up his own will, and this is the likeness and uniformity in everyone’s suffering and everyone’s way. This is the reality and the essence. Also our great High Priest, Jesus Christ—He who was God’s Son from eternity, by whom all things were made, our Savior and Atoner and Sanctifier, our Master, King of kings, our Eternal Bridegroom who is not ashamed to call us His brethren (Heb. 2:11), He who is the most excellent One and firstborn among all brethren—He also, and He first of all, had to give up His own will (John 5:30; 6:38), the will that He assumed voluntarily to His Father’s pleasure by becoming a man with flesh and blood just like ours!!! John 8:40; Heb. 2:14, 17. God be praised for this likeness! For this tremendous goodness, nearness, and grace! For this perfect comfort and the astoundingly great hope that this truly gives to all of those who want to obey Him. He suffered, being tempted. Heb. 2:18. He was made perfect through sufferings. Heb. 2:10. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. Heb. 5:8. He denied His own will, His human will (Matt. 26:39, 42), and this is the very point in which we have fellowship with Him, and with each other. This is truly the essence of the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. Through these sufferings we are being conformed to His death. Phil. 3:10; Rom. 6:5; 8:17; 1 Pet. 4:1, 13, 5:9; Luke 9:23-24; Heb. 12:2. It is also the fellowship of the sufferings of the members of the body of Christ, our fellowship with each other in the same sufferings. As many as know this fellowship with Him and with each other have received comfort and hope, help and protection from it, which far surpass all other comfort and hope, all other help and protection! This is the mystery of godliness. Blessed is the man to whom this is revealed! Seeing that it is such a mighty and preserving power to know the same sufferings have been imposed on all of us, we can get an inkling of the unspeakably great power and comfort it is to know that God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ, has suffered in like manner!!! This is the way that He has made and pioneered, so now it is open to us. “He has no form or comeliness and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. . . . A Man of sorrows . . . .” Isa. 53. His name is highly praised! Instead of “no one understands my situation,” it becomes “everyone understands my situation.” We have fellowship with each other in the light with sincere understanding and compassion. Our battle and our suffering are the same; our weakness and strength are the same; our comfort and joy are the same; we have the same flesh and the same spirit! Everything is the same!!! We forsake the same thing, and we discover and gain the same thing! We are to live and rule together with Christ in all eternity precisely because we share His sufferings in this world! “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.” Ps. 16:5. God be praised! Amen.Elias Aslaksen

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure . . . .” 2 Pet. 1:10. Each person has his own particular calling and unique election. Just as there are many members of the same body, so there are many callings within this body. However, every member can grow up to the Head—Christ. It is just as easy for a servant boy from the country to grow up to the Head as for a bishop in the town, or for a servant girl as the lady of the house. The only thing that matters is obedience to the faith. It is extremely important that we have a clear understanding of how to make our calling and election sure. I think we can all agree that in this, as in everything else, Jesus was the Master from whom we must learn. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.” Phil. 2:5-9. In other words, the way to make our calling and election sure is to humble ourselves. A person can always humble himself, regardless of his state or position. Striving to exalt yourself will always destroy the work of God. It won’t hurt you to be “sung down” in a meeting. Ignorant people did that to John Nelson Hyde, the praying missionary. This godly man simply remained silent. When some people became upset about the way he was treated, Hyde simply excused what the others had done to him. Being the leader of an assembly is nothing to covet if the best way for me to make my calling and election sure is by sitting in the lowest place. Our task is to descend as far as possible. It is God’s task to exalt us in His time. All servants of God have understood this mystery of going down. Paul says, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Phil. 3:7-8. These words of Paul make if very clear that all other knowledge is a hindrance to the knowledge of Christ Jesus. It sounds so absurd when a preacher boasts to his congregation about his education by cleverly weaving it into his sermons. We need education in obedience and faith, in humility, in forgetting what lies behind. When God finally exalts a person, He does it in His own amazing way to put to shame all those who think they are something. He has done this in every age and every generation. Jesus’ mother was lowly in her own eyes, and she had taken note of the way God dealt with the proud. We see this from her words in Luke 1: “The Lord . . . has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. . . . He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.” We see again that humbling ourselves is the way to make our calling and election sure. “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.” Ps. 25:9. “Before honor is humility.” Prov. 15:33. Jesus descended to the lowest parts of the earth. This is precisely why His name is praised among the most lowly, because His blessed Spirit is working among them. “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners . . . .” (i.e., from the leaders of the people, their high priest and the other priests and those who listened to these leaders, or rather, “misleaders”). Heb. 12:3. Wherever the life of Christ is manifested in flesh, it is bound to suffer this same hostility from sinners. But for us, this hostility is also working together to make our calling and election sure. The time is coming when the Lord will turn everything upside down and inside out, so that those who are highly regarded will be despised, and those who are despised will be highly regarded. Those who exalt themselves will be horrified and dismayed when they behold Him whom they have pierced.