Nesby Conference

We would like to report some excerpts from Brother Aslaksen’s testimony:

Putting off the old man. What are you left with after you have been converted and have put off some of the sins and vices that have plagued you? The rest! You are left with the entire old man, and the need for sanctification, which begins only after you have put off the old man. The old man has been sentenced to death; you put the entire old man off by faith, not just a few of his works. When the old man is gone, his works are also gone. See Colossians 3:9, the last sentence.

The old man bears an enormous amount of fruit, but his fruit is bitter, sour, and disgusting. “I will; I like; I refuse to do that.” That man is gone, and with him all his works. The person who hates the old man puts him off. If a person is unrighteous, vain, feeling insulted, etc., it is proof that the old man is alive and flourishing; he has not been put off, and the entire sulky man is intact.

One is interested in living a luxurious and modern life, and so one buys and buys. That is covetousness, idolatry; it is pure ungodliness. The new man, on the other hand, is incapable of doing that. The world is full of poor and sick and indebted people, and should we just think of living for ourselves?

It is really glorious to have put off the old man. One of the most corruptible things in existence is people disliking one another and bearing a grudge against each other. Let us reckon with the fact that we have a very short time left, and let us view life with the utmost seriousness. Can you say wholeheartedly: I am crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live? If you are enlightened and do not want to, then you will regret it just like Judas did.

Slander: I have an extremely serious message. Prepare your heart to receive it. Our entire life, our entire salvation is war. Satan has a terrible weapon, which is slander. Lev. 19:16-17. This is the shadow; what, then, is the light?!

A talebearer [slanderer] is out to take his neighbor’s life. You don’t mean it like that, but that is what you are doing. It is really bad to be out to take your neighbor’s life by dishonoring him. It is manslaughter. You are killing your neighbor. That was not your intention, but that is what you are doing. You are slandering because you are evil. You must not slander, but you shall go to your neighbor in love and correct him. Then you have shown that you love him in deed. How many times have you laid down your life by speaking to those who have done something wrong? Make one stroke in an exercise book for each time that you have corrected someone and one stroke for each time you have backbitten someone. The difference will be great, and it shows how deep the corruption goes. We are a bunch of spineless wretches who spare our life instead of laying it down; we are cowardly rogues. “You worm!” You are bold like a soldier behind people’s back, and a cowardly wretch to their face.

1 Timothy 5:13. Speak well of your neighbor, or do not say one word. “In honor giving preference to one another . . . .” Rom. 12:10. Slander [backbiting] means it is said behind the back and not up front. People are occupied with things that do not concern them. Jas. 4:11-12. Imagine slandering your own precious brothers? Talk about unintended murder. The slanderer falls by God’s judgment; that is why so many people experience neither growth nor progress in God. God gives grace to the humble. You will be judged with the same judgment with which you judge. Where do you stand then? Throw yourself on your face and put your hand on your mouth and say, “Perhaps there is still hope for me.” Just think, without being aware of it, you have exalted yourself to the sky, and at the same time you have committed murder; you have killed a brother. The person who slanders judges the law. God destroys those who exalt themselves, but He saves the humble.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13. Here we have the judgment of the light. “Put away from yourselves that wicked person.” Who? Those who slander. We have been too cowardly, but now the end times have arrived; now the light is shining. The person who habitually slanders should by rights have been put out of the church—not the one who has fallen in it once; he is not a slanderer. We have not seen this sufficiently serious and have not spoken about it with sufficient urgency. Before someone is put out of the church, he has to be warned. We have been far too weak when it concerns giving warnings privately, and otherwise. The person who falls once in a while has to stay close to God so that he never falls again. See also 1 Corinthians 6:8-10. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, my dear brothers and sisters! The person who slanders is cast out of God’s kingdom and will stay behind when Jesus returns.

God will thoroughly save you if you have a profound and upright longing for a pure and righteous life. Let us totally commit ourselves to this, and teach others.

God’s laws for the rich and the poor. All earthly things are worth nothing unless they are used in the service of love. You have to lay hold of the spirit in the Sermon of the Mount. Luke 6:34-38; Deut. 15. We honor God by believing and trusting Him and despising everything outside of Him. Look at the third word in verse 10. What a blessed spirit there is in this word “surely.” Pray to get “surely” into your mind, into your body. This is the shadow, an outline of Christ. Take a look at the book of Ecclesiasticus1, Chapter 29, and Deuteronomy 15:10. The rich must keep the laws for the rich and the poor God’s laws for the poor. You shall not borrow more than you absolutely need. Many people have great business plans; they desire an automobile, a boat, a house, etc. We must not make demands on others.