Come, I Will Show You the Bride

Come, I Will Show You the Bride

Before he died, the father of Johan Oscar Smith said he desired to be filled with Him who is the truth, the way, and the life. Johan O. Smith also bore this fervent desire within him during his life. He wanted to learn to know Him. “Who are You, Lord?” All the saints throughout the ages have had this longing. “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death . . . .” Phil. 3:10.

It is by means of this death that Jesus’ life can germinate in our hearts. In the beginning, the Chris­tians were called “The Way.” These “Way-Christians” met opposition everywhere. Seeing that there is a way, there must also be byways. However, not much is being said about these byways.

The Smith brothers had the idea that the “free church” milieu in Nor­way needed a paper that could work like a plow, for the way was covered with snow, and people found it diffi­cult to find the way through all these false doctrines; it was snowed in. Johan Oscar Smith had a great need to give light concerning these byways that lead people away from Christ and into the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit that rules in the religious world. God raised up Br. Smith and gave him light; and without fearing man or wanting to please him, he began to write and proclaim obedience to God’s Word—not with theological interpretations, but just as it is writ­ten. Then he was accused of being in bondage to the law.

When there is talk about obedi­ence, most people think about the law. To them this is terrible. But where is it written that the law is terrible? Paul writes that the law is spiritual and good, yet it had its limitations. It could not lead anyone to be set free from sin. Therefore God had to bring a better hope into the world so we could draw near to Him, hoping to be set completely free from sinning. Enmity toward God’s commandments is a distinguishing mark of the spirit of Antichrist and its work. Read 1 Timothy 6:13-14. The commandments that are men­tioned in this context are the com­mandments of the new covenant, commandments that are in the Holy Spirit which are written in heart and mind. However, the harlot, who has corrupted the entire world, has plucked the commandment out of the new covenant. Rev. 18:3.

The harlot, or the “present-day harlot,” began to lay waste the churches after the revival in 1907 and in subsequent years. The preach­ers began by making their listeners believe that sin in the flesh was removed by the baptism of the Spirit, which means that God’s Word became totally superfluous. However, the consequences did not stay away. There was great rejoicing over such preaching in the kingdom of darkness, and many of the harlot’s leaders fell into adultery. This is where Skjulte Skatter (1) displayed great strength and got things moving. It is not at all strange that the religious world hated Br. Smith. Light and darkness cannot be united!

The byways are right beside the way, and it takes prayer and faith­fulness not to be defiled. It is the present-day harlot that has caused division among the believers, divid­ing them up into denominations. We are baptized with one Spirit to be one body, which is the church, so that the world may believe!

It is highly unlikely that there is another Christian paper on earth that has revealed and shown us who the bride is. In this regard Skjulte Skat­ter is very informative, and we are very much aware of this call by John when we read, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” We also sense in our spirit: “Draw me, we will run after you.” Song of Sol. 1:4. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God . . . .” Rev. 21:9-10. This is the bride, and in verse 11 it is written that it has “the glory of God. And her light was like a most pre­cious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” The bride receives God’s glory here on earth in the same way Jesus received it in the days of His flesh. Col. 1:21-22: “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in His earthly body through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight.” Jesus’ earthly body was a body of humiliation. He humbled Himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross. If we are to represent Him now, we have to be reconciled through that same body of humiliation. If we depart from it and begin to exalt ourselves, we will represent him who exalted himself, the Antichrist. On the way of humili­ation we come to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, which is Christ, in whom are hid­den all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col. 2:2-3. If this was to transpire in Christ, He had to suffer death according to the flesh and be made alive in His spirit. God could put all His fullness into this spirit. This is also the way of the bride—the way of humiliation unto glory.

In order to see the bride, you have to be willing to be led by the angel who has the seven last plagues of the flesh. Judgment over God’s house is being executed now. Jesus also had to become a man and suffer death according to the flesh so He could be a righteous Judge. If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged to­gether with the world. This is a great salvation that gives us hope that we, too, can fight our way through the spirit powers that have power in the air—all the way to Mount Zion. The bride has a firm foundation under her feet; she is a “mountain Christian,”—immovable in the storms of life. This is the mystery that Paul proclaimed with great zeal. Col. 1:27-29. He proclaimed victory in all situations through Him who loves us. Rom. 8:37-39. The bride loves Christ to whom she is espoused. 2 Cor. 11:2. The calling of the bride is total victory over everything that is of the flesh; therefore she flees the cor­ruption that is in the world through lust and fights the good fight of faith in order to preserve her purity and remain a pure virgin for Christ dur­ing her sojourn on earth. She has come to Him, the living City, and she herself has become a living stone. Heb. 12:22-25.

Who is she and who is He, the two central figures who have become one flesh? The first article Br. Johan Oscar Smith wrote was about the bride. His work was first and foremost Skjulte Skatter and to present the gospel of the bride in its pages. This was his living, foremost interest.

The mission of the paper was to show people who the bride is and who the Bridegroom is. This is the mystery of godliness which is revealed to those who are called, chosen, and faithful. God has many thoughts and tasks for people, but He has given this work of bringing forth the bride to the church. The paper Skjulte Skatter, the main voice of the church, is anchored in the form of doctrine that Johan O. Smith laid as a foundation for his own life. 1 Cor. 3:10-11. And by God’s grace the paper will continue to be grounded in this anchorage for generations to come!

Skjulte Skatter has therefore also in our days the same task: to show people who the bride is and who the Bridegroom is. Therefore it is important that you nourish yourself with the paper’s rich content of hid­den treasures so you are not deceived by your lusts and the way is snowed in again for you, spiritually speak­ing. It is terribly easy to drift away from what one hears and reads. Heb. 2:1.

Subscribe to the paper; read it over and over again, and use it as a spiritual tool in your own life and as a means of a missionary ministry. It may make the difference in your life when it comes to making the small and great “way-choices” that lead to that great Day on which you will be presented as a pure virgin to Christ! 1 Cor. 3:23.

1) Hidden Treasures, and so through­out this article and other articles in this edition.