New Year’s Conference

Look upon Zion!

This is what we read in Isaiah 33:20, and it became a powerful exhortation to the entire church during the first meeting on New Year’s Eve.

One time Jesus entered a Samaritan village, but they did not receive Him, “because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:53. In His spirit He was always turned to God to hear His voice and do His will. We, too, must do the same. Our face must always be turned to the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly life. That will make us as firm and immovable as Zion itself, and nothing on earth will cause us to waver.

Never look at something that the Lord has asked us to turn away from. The tragedy of the Fall occurred when the woman looked at the tree and saw that it was good for food. We read that Lot’s wife looked back. We can’t say that she was bound by the horrible sins that reigned in Sodom, but she was nevertheless bound by earthly things.

“O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; . . . say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” Isa. 40:9. Dear mother and father, do you bring good tidings into your home? Someone who brings good tidings has become happy himself. A true messenger of good tidings can testify of the gospel’s liberating power, about redemption from sin and defeat. Unbelief also has many messengers, even in the religious world. Messengers who bring news of defeat cannot bring good tidings.

In Hebrews 9 we read that in the old covenant they could not become perfect according to the conscience. But now, through the gospel, everything can be restored. Yes, we can even be transformed! We can partake of divine nature! Now nothing else means anything except a new creation. For example, perfect unity! Perfect unity among brothers and sisters in the local fellowship! What a joyful message this is in a world that is full of division and unrest. However, we need to have tasted of the joy that comes from such a life and such fellowship to be able to proclaim it with power. What a joy it is to be able to love your brother and sister without reservation, regardless of how they might conduct themselves.

David asks in Psalm 24, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?” The answer is, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” The person who does not have a pure heart is not allowed to enter into the sanctuary of the Lord. Here we can see the need that David had in his heart concerning purity in this area: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Ps. 19:14.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful . . . .” 2 Tim. 2:13. This is a word that the bearers of unbelief twist shamefully. According to His own laws, God cannot bless unfaithfulness.

In Zion the poor of God’s people find refuge. Isa. 14:32. The poor are those who are lowly in their own eyes, who attain to perfect oneness and become bearers of good tidings of what the Lord can do in a person’s life. They are also made perfect for the work of ministry, to serve the others unselfishly. Their testimony is, “When I have you, I do not desire anything on earth.” Ps. 73:25. Desire nothing on earth! That is the same as “sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:6.

Self-Exaltation

New Year’s Eve was a rich experience with songs and instrumentals, but first of all we received a serious exhortation to be humble. Brother Kåre J. Smith considered it necessary before we entered the New Year to exhort us powerfully to be humble, because God has decreed that all progress and growth in God’s kingdom shall occur on the way of humility. We need to cleanse ourselves from all sin, especially those that have to do with our “self”; otherwise they will cling to us from year to year. This is especially true of self-exaltation. It can be difficult to see this in ourselves; therefore we must love the truth and the Spirit of truth.

God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. This is a principal law in God’s kingdom. 1 Pet. 5:5-6. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God . . . .” God’s mighty hand is, among other things, the fiery trials that come over us.

Self-exaltation is a manifestation of enormous pride. God resists the proud. It doesn’t matter how far you have advanced in a good and sound development; God will become your opposer on the day you begin to assert and exalt yourself. The person who asserts himself wants to be in the center of things; he or she desires attention. Strong people who think they have the capacity to compete with others do this with everything that is in them. On the other hand, those who realize they don’t stand much of a chance in this kind of competition fall into discouragement. In both cases it concerns the same thing; namely, self-exaltation. Then a person has entered into the ways of death. All competition stops wherever there is no self-exaltation. What shall humble people compete about? Humble people have warm and sincere fellowship with each other. They believe that God is the One who has given gifts and ministries in the church, and they are deeply thankful for the place God has given them in the body and have no desire to change with anyone else.

Absalom sought to win the people’s hearts with guile. He became an enemy of his own father because of self-exaltation. We also read that Saul, in the midst of his disobedience, raised up a memorial to himself on Mount Carmel—even while he was persecuting David. He did all this because he exalted himself. Self-exaltation is despising God and His election. We should take these examples to heart so that we stay away from all this ungodly exaltation and competition. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we also see examples of sins that God hates. Among others this one is mentioned: “One who sows discord among brethren.” What a terrible manifestation of self-exaltation!

God’s laws tell us that he who exalts himself shall be abased, and he who abases himself shall be exalted. And if someone in a godly manner has gained entrance into other people’s hearts and is loved as a result, then that which was hidden becomes visible; namely, that he has abased himself.

Self-exaltation is the opposite of being humble. Jesus was highly exalted and given the name which is above every name, precisely because He took upon Himself the form of a servant and humbled Himself. Let us follow Him on this way. If we love the truth, we are sure to discover that each of us can find something in these areas. Our self-life follows us for our entire life, but so does the Spirit of truth. We have something from which to cleanse ourselves for as long as we live. We will have peace and rest and can walk before God’s face for as long as we humble ourselves under His mighty hand.

“The pride of your heart has deceived you . . . .” Obad. 3. Self-exaltation has deceived many; their minds have become utterly sick because of this sin. Concerning Korah and his men Moses said to the people that they should depart from the tents of these ungodly men. God does not regard a person who is wise in his own eyes. Job 37:24. We should stay away from such people.

When we acknowledge that we have a flesh in which dwells nothing good, and that the evil is present with us when we want to do the good (as Paul writes in Romans 7), then we will realize that we have good reason to be humble. At the end of the epistle to the Hebrews we read, “Greet all those who rule over [lead] you.” A humble person has leaders, and he knows who they are. A conceited person may have advisors, but he does what he thinks is good anyway.

Predestined

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will . . . .” Eph. 1:4-5. If we believe this with a living faith, then we will also understand why we were born into this world and what we are predestined for. We will never again have a dark day if we have a living faith in this. And if we believe this in truth, we will also experience more progress in sanctification.

God saw that He could mold us into servants—to serve Him and to be holy and blameless before Him. This is the election by grace. We must have a living faith in this. We also read about this election in Romans 8:29, that we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son. Do we really have a living faith in this? This is a clear explanation for why we felt drawn to Christ even before we were converted. We came to realize that we had everything in God and nothing in this world. We saw that there was nothing but emptiness, lying, and deception in this world. Therefore God has chosen us that we might bear fruit for Him and be co-workers for the truth in this world, being set free from sin and becoming slaves of righteousness, as Paul writes in Romans 6:18. We have been predestined to this. We must believe it!

In Jeremiah 1:5 we read about the prophet Jeremiah’s calling. However, in verse 6 we read that he had an excuse ready: “Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Yet the Lord strengthened him in his task and promised to be with him. We must not listen to carnal voices when the Lord speaks and asks us to get to work. “See, I have this day set you . . . to build and to plant” was the Lord’s word to Jeremiah. V. 10. Yes, this day! Today something new can be done in our life! Today great things can happen in our inner man! Today we shall do the Lord’s work, whether it is to root out and to pull down or to build and to plant, because it has to be built on a pure foundation.

In 1 Peter 4:10-11 the apostle Peter gives us a powerful exhortation to serve. We must serve with our gift. Speak as the word of God. Serve according to the strength God gives. The person whose aim is life is entrusted with God’s word and can speak as the word of God. There is a major difference between speaking about the word of God and speaking as the word of God.

In Romans 8:28 we read, “Who are the called according to His purpose.” We are called according to His purpose, and He does not regret His calling and election. Paul had only one desire, which was to finish his race and the ministry he had received from the Lord. We must have the same attitude with a living faith in our election. In 2 Corinthians 4:16 we read, “Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” If this is in fact the case, then a person does not slow down or become dull as the years go by, but rather more zealous and eager.

The election of grace is an incomprehensible treasure. Its source is wholly by God’s mercy. Therefore the elect are also called “vessels of mercy.” Rom. 9:23.

The Lord’s Chastening

In 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 Paul writes to the Corinthians concerning arguments that shall be torn down along with every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, about obedience toward Christ and about punishing all disobedience. Then he continues to write, “When your obedience is fulfilled.” The Corinthians’ attitude concerning God’s chastening was not the best. In another place Paul writes that in order to spare them, he waited to come to them. They were not receptive to chastisement, which has such a good effect on our spirit. We could say that we are in a bad state when we need chastisement, but we are even worse off if we are not even receptive to chastisement. Therefore it is best for each wholehearted disciple to be in the midst of a living, fervent brotherhood where he can partake of a beneficial and necessary chastisement through life’s situations as well as from zealous, righteous, and good friends.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him . . . .” Heb. 12:5. We are chastened by the Lord when we are not in our proper place. We are chastened in order to partake of a greater and deeper purity. We are chastened by the “Father of spirits” so we can live. V. 9. He chastens unto life. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” V. 11. This peaceable fruit is wisdom. Therefore we must not become discouraged when we are rebuked by Him, but continue to pursue sanctification. V. 14.

It is difficult for a person to acknowledge the truth concerning his human spirit. Some people are ambitious and have a so-called competitive nature; others are slothful and lazy. Yet if we love the chastening of the Lord, we will see ourselves and will come to the understanding that we need more sanctification.

“Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.” Ps. 94:12-13. If people had received instruction from the law of the Lord, they would have seen good days instead of all the evil and difficulties they usually meet up with. Think to have rest from the day of adversity! Then it is good to be receptive to the rebukes from the Lord. We read, “Blessed is the man . . . .” It is foolish to close your heart to chastisement. We will have a rich and blessed life with God’s Word as our guide. And when all our arguments are being torn down, we will receive more and more of a sense of God’s righteousness.

Help at the Right Time

We read that God’s peace can preserve our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We gain the victory in the hour of temptation if our mind is in Christ. If we end up outside the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will soon suffer defeat.

In Hebrews 4:15-16 we read about our heavenly High Priest, Jesus, who was tempted in all things as we are. We read that He has compassion with our weaknesses. We know what our weakness is—we are so easily tempted. Even minor incidents can cause us to be tempted. The trials are innumerable and varied. Our attitude is being tried—whether we really love God with all of our heart. If we truly love Him, we will present ourselves before the throne of grace to receive help at the right time. At the right time! This means that we receive help not to fall, but to gain the victory in life’s trials!

We can see how our Savior and Forerunner reacted in the days of His flesh. In Hebrews 5:7 we read about the battle He fought in prayer and that He was heard because of His godly fear. He opened up the way of victory for us.

We can receive help at the right time—before we fall. You can receive forgiveness for a fall if you pray for it with an upright heart, but a fall means a weakening. A fall weakens you in your spirit so that you fall prey to the devil more easily. Therefore we are exhorted in 1 Peter 4:1 to arm ourselves with this mind, that he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. We get these thoughts when our mind is in Christ Jesus. Many are enemies of the cross of Christ. In other words, they are enemies of taking up their cross daily and denying themselves. If we do not take up our cross daily we obviously cannot help the others and show them the new and living way. When we read in the Great Commission that we shall teach them “to observe all things that I have commanded you,” it is obviously implied that we have learned it ourselves. The world needs such teachers and shepherds. They don’t need oratorical gifts, but rather daily faithfulness in following the Master on the way of the cross. We read so simply and blessedly in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient until death. This is the way.

This is a glimpse of the blessed meetings we had during the New Year’s Conference. May God bless the New Year for all of us. May we let the Word work further in us so that it becomes flesh in us.

Arild Tombre