New Year’s Conference at Brunstad

New Year’s Conference at Brunstad

In 1 Corinthians 14:3 we read that the prophetic word is a word spoken unto edification, exhortation, and comfort. The conference we had at Brunstad during the New Year’s weekend was exceedingly rich with such words. Abundant exhortation and abundant comfort were there. They were words that could “fill our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17.

His rest

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest . . . .” Heb. 4:1. In chapters 3 and 4 we read about the people of Israel. They had all left Egypt, but most of them died in the wilderness without entering the Promised Land. Entering the “Promised Land” for us in the new covenant is to partake of divine nature. How much of this land have we conquered? All of us who have left the world need the exhortation in Heb. 4:1 to “fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” It is easy enough to fall short of the promises and get mired in unbelief and earthly things.

If any of the sins that are mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 (the manifest works of the flesh) exist in our life we only live a life in the wilderness. All unrest within us is a consequence of sin in the flesh. However, a promise of entering rest still remains! The intention is for us to have peace and rest in our inner man when our Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels. This is the deepest and most profound rest. 2 Thess. 1:7. For this to happen the fruit of the Spirit has to be manifested in our life. Gal. 5:22.

Everything that is written about the people of Israel is an exhortation to us so that we do not become “idolaters as were some of them” (1 Cor. 10:7), so that we do not divide our heart between God and the world. If our heart is divided we are powerless and live a life in the wilderness without partaking of growth and progress in God. We need revival unto a true fear of God! When we fear and love God this means that we do not grieve Him whom we love—not the least little bit. Then life, an abundance of life, will flow from us to be a help and blessing for people.

The Hebrews had become dull of hearing. Heb. 5:11. We need to pay special heed to the obedience of faith. Everything has to do with faith and obedience. This is where we need to go in faith, because God’s word and commandments will often go against our human reasoning and feelings. Then we will gain wisdom.

When problems arise and brothers and sisters come into difficulties, it is because they seek their own: for example the honour of man. When we read in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 about the last days (the days in which we live), one could almost believe that it describes criminals. However, we read that in the midst of all this they have a “form of godliness.” In other words, people believe in the forgiveness of sins but continue to live according to the flesh. Such people will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The message in the new covenant is that we can overcome all conscious sin so that we can live according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came with grace and truth. Therefore we must love the truth. Our understanding of grace will be incorrect if we do not love the truth. It becomes a false grace. Then you “sin under grace” and end up in fellowship with those whom Jude describes in verse 4: “Ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” We will come to a truly new and overcoming life if Jesus becomes our only Lord and Master.

Many people have become stiff in a false spirituality. They have become Pharisees; they are strong and self-righteous. If you do not love the truth you will not find anything to judge in your life, nothing to put to death. Those who receive a love for the truth are saved. 2 Thess. 2:10. Nothing good dwells in our flesh. One can acknowledge that this is true, but it is something completely different to live in this acknowledgment when we are tempted.

Let us take an example. In 1 Timothy 2:1 we are exhorted to give thanks for all men. In other words, be thankful for everybody. There are quite a few things to discover and quite a few things to put to death by the Spirit if this is to be true in us. Let us not fall behind on the way so that we are locked out from the “land.” May each one of us possess a personal fear of God. Nobody should live on the borderline between God and the world, between victory and sin. We need to possess a radical spirit to be finished with “Egypt”—the world. If your life is a life in the wilderness year after year, then your heart is clinging to the world.

We are a new creation when the old man is crucified with Christ so that we are no longer influenced by the “deceitful lusts.” Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17. Then we will never be on a collision course with our own conscience, and we can enter into rest as Jesus invites us to do in Matthew 11:28-30.

The good confession we read about in 1 Timothy 6:12-13 is: “My kingdom is not of this world.” We need to be grounded in this good confession if we want to enter into His rest. Here is a blessed example of rest: “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” John 14:20. Life becomes simple and restful in such a state.

Divine rest and work of faith

In 2 Thessalonians 1:7 we read about “rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed.” Further on we read about being filled with all desire for the good and the work of faith with power. These two things go together: divine rest and the work of faith, just as God is in rest and at the same time there are powerful works that proceed from Him. When we have a great desire that “the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified” in us the result will be zeal, and we will be diligent to enter into the work of faith. For example, then we are interested in honouring the others instead of speaking disparagingly about them. Then we will receive more and more light about our evil nature, about the things that do not glorify our Lord; then the result will be a great and blessed work of faith.

In Philippians 2:5 we are exhorted to have this mind in us, that “each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” The others’ best! How is it on this point in our life? Could this calling not be more living to us? When we wake up to this glorious calling we will be sure to see that nothing good dwells in our flesh. This will result in a work of faith and we will learn to have the others’ best in mind. The only way to find the evil that is with us is by being diligent to do the good. Rom. 7:21. Then we will also (as we read in Philippians 2:12) work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We will see how glorious the way of humiliation is; we will see the glory of having the appearance of a servant. True enough, the “form” of godliness can shine, but in the midst of this false shining, people can backbite and exalt themselves over the others.

He who is truly born again has a sincere longing for God and for everything that dwells in God. This longing drives us far away from accusing the others, from reproaching them and making demands on them. People should be able to taste in our spirit that we are thankful for them. For example, it should be noticeable that the leading brother of the church in a given locality is for everybody, and everybody is for him.

We ought to come to our meeting as those who have experienced salvation in our daily lives so that we can lift up the banner of victory in the name of our God! Ps. 20:5. There is much need round about us. Those who see the need, bear it, and can bring it before God are valuable people! It is truly sad when we are blind to our own need and the needs of others.

Those who are of the world speak of the world. 1 John 4:5. There is much “speaking of the world.” Should we not rather speak of the “Promised Land”? “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4. We cannot overcome the world with the spirit that is of the world, or defiled by the world.

In New Songs #370 we sing: “Naught that moves or can be shaken on Mount Zion can remain.” Vanity, the desire for honour, and covetousness are tremendous sources of unrest. In one of the books of the Apocrypha we read that the unrest of desire transforms an innocent mind. How important it is to take a definite stand against seeking one’s own, for example. We ought to examine our thoughts in relationship to God’s word. The Word must be allowed to judge the thoughts and counsels of the heart so that the Word becomes our counsel. If someone who is otherwise respected and worthy of honour does something that is unwise and foolish, it tends to create unrest just as much as if someone who does not have an “honourable name” does something foolish.

Concerning this point we ought to take Philippians 4:8 powerfully to heart where we read (among other things) that we are to meditate on everything that is praiseworthy. If the person who is otherwise worthy of honour does something that seems to be offensive, we should, according to this word, continue to pay heed to the things in his life that are praiseworthy! Then we will have rest in our soul, and we can rather pray for that particular person “with thanksgiving.” V. 6. On the other hand, we have those members of the body that we think are less honourable. 1 Cor. 12:23. Perhaps they do things that are not so agreeable. What do we do then? It says that we shall bestow honour on them, not reproach them or push them even further down. In this way we can work with them so they can also become more honourable. All this transpires in the meekness of wisdom.

Holy conduct and godliness

“. . . what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.” 2 Pet. 3:11. A holy conduct is the mark of a person who is separated from sin and sinners and who lives before God. In verse 17 we are exhorted not to fall from our “own steadfastness.” Our “own steadfastness” must be that we exercise ourselves in godliness, just as Timothy was exhorted to do in 1 Timothy 4:7-8. Timothy was a wholehearted servant of the Lord, but nevertheless he received this exhortation. The fear of God is to walk before the Lord’s face. God said to Abraham, “Walk before Me and be blameless.”

Many people associate godliness only with outward things and attempt to get the flesh to appear to be godly. Such people live before the face of men and are mindful of the visible things. We shall live before His face; His pleasure must be the object of our thoughts. In Matthew 6 we read how Jesus warns against exercising our righteousness before the face of man. All of us have abundant opportunities to work out our salvation on this point. Let us say that two people do a certain work or perform a certain ministry. Everybody believes that one of them is the real driving force, and they praise him accordingly. Perhaps it is the other one, who is not spoken about at all, who has done most of it. Not being mentioned, or being disregarded, gives rise to a lot of unrest in the soul of many people. However, a true disciple of Jesus will discover abundant opportunity for salvation in such a case.

“. . . the eyes of Him to whom to whom we must give account.” Heb. 4:13. The Lord hates all pride and we must be united with Him in our spirit in this hate. Then we do not let such restless thoughts live—thoughts that circle around our imagined greatness. None of us are “great” in His eyes. Our “greatness” is only a lie.

Your name is not mentioned, you are not notified, you are not informed, etc. If this happens it is only a question of exercising yourself further in godliness and living the hidden life with Christ in God. Col. 3:1-4. Then you will receive grace to be of help to the others. Paul knew that Timothy walked before God’s face without seeking his own. He did not notice that Timothy became nervous if (for example) somebody encroached a little bit on “his area.”

Further on in Colossians 3 we read about all the things in our flesh that are to be put to death. If we walk before the face of man and seek to have a good name, we can “suppress” all these things. However, if death does not occur we become stiff in our spirit, and we do not go from light to light. The death of Christ is a real death of the desires and passions in our flesh. All those who long to be set free from their carnality and humanness welcome this death.

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Col. 3:23. Then we will live a blessed life in rest and peace. Then fellowship becomes so precious! It becomes so precious to have each other and hear each other.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17 we see that Paul did not proclaim the gospel with human words of wisdom. We can rest assured that in life’s various situations our human reasoning and feelings will produce many “wise words” that are on a collision course with the “word of the cross.” V. 18. It is wise to know which words we should listen to. It is the word of the cross that is power and help.

A wall of prayer

During the midnight meeting on December 31, bro. Kåre J. Smith gave a New Year’s message that should follow us into the New Year and for the rest of our life. He read from Ezekiel 22:30 about building up a wall and standing in the gap before the Lord’s face on behalf of the land. What we need in these days is brothers and sisters who take their prayer responsibility seriously, who cry to the Lord for help for their country, for people, and for families. We must build a prayer wall around our homes and the church. We must be on guard against an indifferent attitude that thinks like this: whatever is supposed to happen will happen. God makes us His co-workers through our prayers. Prayer is work; prayer is to do battle. Prayer suffuses the ministry of the word with power. All of us ought to have someone that we remember before God. Let us draw a circle with a wall of prayer around the church in the New Year, also around our homes, as well as our leaders, our country, and our government. The church has been preserved until this day through the prayers of the saints.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Luke 11:2. Heavenly powers are released when we pray this prayer in the spirit of prayer. In chapter 11:5 flg. we can see how insistent and bold we should be in our prayers. Why does one not live an overcoming life? Why does one not have wisdom? Because one does not pray, because one suffers from a lack of acknowledgment of ones personal need. God answers prayer in the day of need! A heart that loves is also touched by other people’s need. Then it becomes natural to live in the spirit of prayer. Something happens to our heart when we pray. We are affected by other people’s need and our hearts become tender.

The parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1 flg.) teaches us how bold we should be. Much prayer is neglected through superficiality and laziness. We read how Epaphras (in Colossians 3:12) laboured fervently for the church in his prayers. Let us live in this spirit of prayer!

Paul calls the church “a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Further on in the same letter he says that he always thanked God for them in his prayers, “. . . knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.” V. 4.

Jesus loved His disciples even though they were so human that at one point they argued about who was the greatest among them. He knew that their attitude of heart and mind was something on which He could build. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. He said the most glorious things that could possibly be said to such precious people. In His “Sermon on the Mount” He pours out blessings from His inner being. And then He invites them to enter through the narrow gate and walk on the difficult way, because this is precisely the way to the blessedness He possessed and proclaimed.

We become truly happy through a living faith that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. “. . . that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” V. 4. To this we have been chosen! Let us have a living faith in our election and rejoice in salvation. Those who have entered through the narrow gate and have become Jesus’ disciples are God’s gift of love to the Son. They are heirs. Let us rejoice in hope and be strengthened in our faith in God. “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” 1 Thess. 5:24.