Centenary of J.O. Smith

In spite of all light and all understanding and all knowledge that is among us, I suppose there is very little understanding of what transpired with brother Johan O. Smith, who, simply put, is the founder of this assembly. This is unique in world history. Luther is called a reformer, and what he accomplished was good as far as it went, but it was nothing, spiritually speaking, compared to the reformation that brother Smith started. By and large, the entire religious world, except for a few individuals in different places, has gone astray.

The entire world consists of “churches” and denominations, which is the same as sects. We ought to understand what the word “sect” means; it means “a part.” We have the word “sector,” which is a part that, according to the Scriptures, is absolutely forbidden. All believers should be together. There was only one assembly in each city of the churches to whom letters were addressed. They didn’t even know what this muddle was, it did not exist; it appeared many years later. Paul writes, “Whenever you come together, each of you has . . . .” 1 Cor. 14:26. How can you apply this to a denomination presided over by a pastor or two, and a sexton, with the others serving as pew fillers? The reason for it becoming like this is total unfaithfulness and unbelief in the Word. Brother Smith discovered the way of faithfulness in the midst of this confusion. He was of the truth, and therefore he lived in harmony with it and spoke God’s word in truth. He received light and let the light shine. He humbly turned to those who were considered to be persons of note among the believers, but all of them rejected it. He gave his testimony in various assemblies, but he met with opposition and rejection wherever he went. He believed more in God’s Word and in the revelations he received than in all the others put together. In this way he was a tremendous reformer in this area. And this is what it is all about. Usually, especially among the Pentecostals, they maintain that they are a biblical church, yet they are extremely unbiblical; they are just like any other denomination.

Brother Smith discovered the way of faithfulness in the following manner: Every time he let the light shine, every time he expressed some biblical truths, he was met with opposition. That was that side of the matter—it was rejected. But then he became extremely happy. That was the cause of his discovery. Of course, when what he said was rejected irrespective of where he went, in all humility he had to wonder if there was something wrong with him. However, when he did the same thing next time, encountering the same opposition and experiencing the same blessing and glory, he became extremely happy and glad. This told him that this was the right way. Where in the Bible does it say that we must pay attention to what others say? When one of the most famous preachers in Scandinavia heard brother Smith one time, he said, “Yes, this is true, but you will not gather many people in this way.” What had he said with that?

Brother Smith discovered that the way was to believe God’s Word and proclaim it faithfully. Then he received one revelation after another precisely because he was so faithful, for he who is faithful over little will be given authority over much. This is clearly the way of life. As soon as we are faithful over what we have, we will be given authority over more, and as soon as we are faithful over that as well, we will be given authority over even more. That is the way of life. He received light over things that the entire religious world and all kinds of theologians, preachers, and Bible students had completely given up on, in spite of the fact that they interpreted it in various ways, maintaining that it is like that, even though in their innermost being they understand nothing of it.

The revelation he received concerned Chapter 7 in the epistle to the Romans. It was precisely because of his faithfulness, his uprightness, and his self-acknowledgment that he could get light over this. Paul writes that “in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells.” When most people read this, they get confused. They wonder whether Paul was properly converted at that time, etc. They skip over Romans 7; they have even called it a swamp. They are in terrible darkness. By being honest, upright, and truth-loving, brother Smith found his way through it. Through this revelation there arose a crystal clear light over the difference between what I know to be sin and what I do not know to be sin. When I know that what I am doing is sin, I have sinned; and I have fallen in sin, in the temptation. It is a completely different matter when I only receive light over it afterwards, and that there was something sinful that clung to what I said or did. Paul wisely calls these “deeds of the body” because our mind and our spirit were not in agreement with what was said or done. Therefore we are innocent in that respect. This means that we are not committing sin. We cannot avoid sin that we do not know is sin; that is impossible. With this understanding comes the division between committing sin and having sin, as it says in the first letter of John. He who sins—he who is committing sin—is of the devil, and in the same letter he writes that if we say we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Most people cannot comprehend this; consequently, they are confused, saying that the Scriptures are at odds with each other because then they obviously do not agree with each other. Having sin is the sin that we are not aware of. Committing sin is the sin that we do, what we are tempted to do, and do, despite knowing that it is sin. Not committing sin is an overcoming life, and receiving new light over more sin that we did not know of before, is growth and sanctification. Almost no one in the entire world understands this. We have not found it in any writings, nor have we heard anyone speak about it any place in the world. Therefore it is fundamentally unique.

We are members of each other; this is emphasized and stressed and is clearly and plainly written in the Scriptures. By being faithful to it, everything that goes by the name of “church” and “sect” becomes superfluous. All denominations are sects. The fact that a sect is large does not make it any better. They give themselves a name and have a confession of faith and by-laws for registering and unregistering members, etc. You do not belong there if you do not precisely follow what they have decided. Some of them get together one week out of the year to prove that they have a kind of unity. However, it is only a substitute; it is cheating. The church of the living God has arisen without the work of man, without organization, without elections—only through faith, the obedience to the faith and faithfulness, and only by carefully following God’s Word. A reformer opposes the status quo, fully trusting God and His Word. Imagine being opposed by almost everyone and still being able to believe that what is written and the way I have acted, accordingly, is right—it produces blessings, it produces peace, and it is from God. Then it doesn’t matter how many people are against it.

Virtually everyone was against him in the beginning. But then, because of his faithfulness, brother Smith won souls one by one. Brother Smith invested a tremendous amount of work in his brother according to the flesh, the dentist Aksel Smith. This in-depth work went on for years. He believed, and so they came one by one. When I came along, there were no more of us than that we could sit in a circle in a room. I was converted some time previously; I understood nothing and did not have victory. I prayed to God that He would take me away; I wished to die. I did not want to continue to live a life in which I sinned over and over again. God took care of me because this was my longing, and this proves that I was of the truth, and so God led me (so to speak) straight into brother Smith’s arms. If he had not been faithful, managing to resist all unfaithfulness despite the fact that he was the only one, the church as it is today would not exist, and who knows what we would have then become? Just about anything between heaven and earth!

As is only reasonable for such a reformer, brother Smith had various remarkable, strong qualities. One of them was that he was an unwavering, out-and-out opponent of everything great. As the numbers slowly increased, he expressed this thought several times: If only there would not be too many. This is something else than the usual method of proceeding where it is important to have large assemblies and the leader of a smaller assembly becomes the leader of a larger assembly in order to garner a better-paying job. Perish the thought! That is Babel; it is apostasy. Yet it is not that strange, because then people have rejected godliness! They have assigned it to the Old Testament. This is horrible! Imagine saying, “It is true, but you will not gather many people in this way!” This is basically the same as praising unfaithfulness, deciding to be unfaithful, firmly deciding to be unfaithful in order to gather many people, gain much honor, appear to be great, and have a large collection. What a shame and a disgrace! Most such people in churches around the world, as well as all kinds of denominational preachers, desire a salary, a fixed salary, a large salary, seeking better paying positions with a larger salary. Yet the Scriptures say that we shall seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness, then all the things that the Gentiles seek—money and the things we buy with money—will be added to us. Where is faithfulness? Where is that perfect faithfulness? If I am not perfectly faithful, then I am not faithful. Jesus says that you do not light a candle and put it under a basket. You do not put it under the table but in a candlestick so it can shine for everyone. This is what brother Smith did. He was rejected by all men—until they accepted it, one by one, slowly, but steadily. By God’s grace it went the way of the leaven—it is the most reliable of all ways. It spreads from particle to particle in the kneading trough until the entire dough is leavened. This is how it has gone, and by God’s grace we now have work in over twenty different countries, of which six are behind the Iron Curtain.

We have read various books that we happened to find, some of the best in existence outside the church. We have not found anything that resembles this either in writing or in practice—in none of the places where we have been in the world, and it is surely not any different in the rest of the world. We have not found anything that compares to this church of the living God that is truly biblical and is not just called biblical. Neither do people have light over the way of life. For them, everything revolves around being converted, getting into a large enclosure, a large area, a large market place where they jump around, praising God. That is not a way at all, and far less a narrow way and a straight gate that leads onto the way. Brother Smith found this way and was faithful. Try to think about it, and then you will comprehend it best how great he is and was. Try to imagine that it was you who had to stand alone up against the entire religious world and still be faithful, and still believe in progress. How do you think it would have gone with you?

The fact that there was a reformation in Germany through Martin Luther was quite small by comparison; it was a miniature of what happened through brother Smith. Luther’s reformation was that they would receive forgiveness for their sins by confessing their sins, and through faith in God be reconciled to God instead of purchasing the forgiveness of sins with money. Of course it was good that this was done, but it did not avail anything. It did not result in living churches. Many people boast of being Lutheran, but they are not even that. We are called to grow up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and partake of divine nature. This is what it concerns. On this point almost all believers have lived in darkness throughout all these centuries. Contrary to the norm, but in harmony with what is true and biblical, brother Smith worked faithfully with those who accepted the message, in order to spur them on to grow as much as possible in God and, if possible, become greater than himself. This is different from being a pastor with a good salary.

Most believers believe only very few scriptures; they can even count them, and yet they think themselves to be biblical. I would like to read a scripture that we heard from brother Smith’s mouth in the beginning over and over again. It is Isaiah 54:17. Brother Smith believed this verse. He experienced it because it is true and because it is God’s Word: “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [the inheritance of His true, faithful servants] . . . .” It is not every preacher’s inheritance. However, it is the inheritance of all those who love the Lord more than anything and everyone else. “‘And this right is from Me,’ says the Lord.” They are so faithful, and God is so enthusiastic for them that He has decided that this is how it is going to be. In God’s eyes it is right that they get to experience it. This was a tremendous comfort for brother Smith. He believed it, it was fulfilled, and it was true.

Many people have done everything they could to stop us. Various authors have written many books against us, but they have been silenced; they are unable to do anything. In addition, many of them know that we live God-fearing and biblical lives. They also know that there is excellent brotherly love and unity among us, which is not the case among them. Still, they permit themselves to reject us and condemn us. The Scriptures say that he who condemns will be condemned, so this is not a small matter. Poor people! Several of those hard people who have condemned us to hell have gone into their grave without retracting anything. Poor people, how will it go when they will be raised up? By being completely faithful, you receive complete faith and boldness which no one can resist.

By God’s great grace, it has continued in brother Smith’s steps. We have become many without any effort to make things great. We have become many in spite of their faithfulness. Think about this a little bit. According to human concepts, brother Smith has, and also we who have followed in his steps have, by our tremendous faithfulness scared off masses of people. However, we have scared off only those who were not of the truth, which is merely an advantage. This is fabulous, it is astounding. This is the only thing that gratifies God fully. It is amazing to the uttermost to be exact and wholehearted and utterly faithful to all of God’s Word. It doesn’t matter what will happen to us, money doesn’t enter into it. When a person shows interest in money, it is proof that he is unfaithful, that he is an apostate, that he is finished. It is our responsibility to prove that our kingdom is not of this world, and there is no other way of doing it than by not showing any interest in money and the honor of man, and by not making a grand show. Our only interest is in instructing people to be faithful and faithfully follow God as we do.

Now we have received a little insight into brother Smith’s ministry and at the same time, some inescapable into the entire church and the work of the church. None of us are forced into it; everything is voluntary; it is a matter of free choice for everyone; it is a matter of free choice for those who are opponents and for all those who are outside—all the religious people and those who are unconverted; it is a matter of free choice for all the friends. It is a personal matter between each individual and God. What do you choose, brothers and sisters? Unfailing faithfulness, utter faithfulness! Imperfect faithfulness is not faithfulness. Be faithful in great and small! Sirach says that he who despises lowly things will perish over time. This was one of brother Smith’s outstanding qualities. One of his best friends at the very beginning was a young man whose parents were ashamed of him because of the way he was. This is a very good sign of a man of God, and a woman of God; namely, that they do not despise the lowly, nor consider them backward. We ought to esteem them highly because they are not the author of their own small mental endowments, their poverty, and their lowliness. It is God who has done it. He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. Prov. 17:5. This was one of brother Smith’s very strong qualities. Also when there was some opposition even from those who were along, he was faithful to the uttermost. He did not give in, he stood firm as a rock. The faithfulness that brother Smith displayed had far-reaching consequences. The way of faithfulness which he discovered in the beginning—letting the light shine even if everyone was opposed, because by doing it he became very happy— it gave him a good conscience and he was immensely blessed by God. He held on to that in all situations. God be praised and honored! Let us all compete in following him, also those who have not yet begun. Begin today! It is something to follow, something to achieve here in this world and in eternity. God be praised!

N.B. This is a summary of a message by brother Aslaksen on the occasion of brother Johan O. Smith’s centenary in October, 1971.