Easter Conference

Bro. J. O. Smith writes about an Easter Conference in the April 1931 issue of Skjulte Skatter that was held exactly 80 years ago: “The word of the cross had a gathering effect, and we had the feeling of being one heart and one soul.” He writes further: “We also heard about walking in the light so we can get to see the works of the body that are to be put to death and cleansed away by the blood of Christ. Everything served for our instruction and blessing.”

We who attended the Easter Conference at Brunstad this year can testify that now, 80 years later, we experienced the conference in the same way as they did then. This reminds us of Hebrews 13:8 where we read, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” The way is the same for the one who walks on it. The truth is the same for the one who loves it. Life is the same for the one who lives it. Following is a brief summary from the conference.

Full Surrender—Perfect Rest

In Hebrews 4 we read about entering into rest by faith. A living faith is the same as “the beginning of our steadfast confidence,” as we read in Chapter 3:14. This is a steadfast confidence that God is mighty to save us thoroughly in spirit, soul, and body. This is a faith in real and perfect victory over all sin. We must hold fast to this steadfast confidence of faith until the end so it doesn’t go with us as it did with Israel in the desert. They did not enter the land—into rest—because they would not believe. Vs. 17-19. It has to do with our will. It is unbelief that shuts out the heavenly vision and makes a person lose his calling. We must choose to believe in the promptings of the Spirit in our inner man, and that God has beforehand prepared the works for us that we should walk in them. We enter into rest when we do these works.

The normal way of living is to be anxious for food and clothing, for one’s name and reputation, and for one’s honor, etc. It is a constant striving and laboring. But by being fully surrendered to God, His will, and His guidance we will enter into rest from all that. Then we will find the works He has prepared for us and be blessed in our work—in the very work that is suited for us.

We get to taste this rest after we have been set free from sin. Seeking for honor, suffering from the fear of man and anxiety (by way of examples) is not rest. Perhaps a person has come to faith in God, but when difficulties loom he usually takes matters into his own hands instead of trusting in God and His will and guidance. Let us be totally surrendered to God and His care for us. This is a life of faith. Jesus called out on the cross: “It is finished!” He can also finish His work in every one who is totally surrendered to Him.

In Numbers 13 and 14 we read about the twelve spies who spied out the land of Canaan. They all saw how fruitful the land was and they all had the calling to possess the land. However, only Joshua and Caleb truly believed; the others discouraged the people with their unbelief. There was a different spirit in Joshua and Caleb. These two widely different spirit powers are present even today in God’s assembly. Let Joshua’s and Caleb’s example speak to us today. They reckoned with God and were committed to doing God’s will. A full surrender gives us rest. A lack of rest is a lack of being surrendered. Everyone who has an ear for the message about an overcoming life, and who feels a longing in his heart when this message is being preached, shall know that he or she has this calling. Then we have to say as Joshua and Caleb did: “Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread . . . .” Ch. 14:9. We have to have zeal and a deadly hatred against sin. In Ways of the Lord # 182 we sing: “Cross, death, and grave shall now be the sentence on all that would come from my flesh.” This rest is found only on resurrection ground.

In Hebrews 4, which speaks mainly about rest in God, we are exhorted in verse 16 to come to the throne of grace. If we are to experience perfect rest in our life we cannot come to the throne of grace only when we meet the odd particularly difficult situation. We are invited to live before the throne of grace each day, each hour, during each conversation and each choice we make. Then we will taste the life for which God has chosen us from eternity.

Serve the Lord without Distraction

The essential thing that the apostle Paul wanted to say in 1 Corinthians 7 is written in verse 35: “That you may serve the Lord without distraction.” In the same chapter he writes about marriage as an arrangement that God has given to guard against fornication. Furthermore, he writes that the believers should not be quick to leave the external status in life in which they were when they came to faith. Regardless of what our status in life is, we are called to live an abundant inner life, a life that is filled with eternal glory—the virtues of Christ and His nature; or as Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This is a promise that God cares for us irrespective of the situation in life in which we are. In this connection Jesus says that the Gentiles seek earthly and corruptible things. When a person lives for and seeks, earthly glory and splendor, he will receive it together with thorns and thistles. Such a person ruins his life, perhaps even his marriage and family life. If we seek earthly things that do not serve love they will sooner or later turn into a curse. However, when we—whether we are poor or have abundance—have learned to serve the Lord without distraction, we have rest. Then we have no problems with our fellow men or how they should conduct themselves in their circumstances. We are in rest!

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is the Lord.” Jer. 17:7. Confidence in the Lord! “Wait on the Lord” it says in other places, especially in the psalms of David, and we see the happy result in his life of waiting on the Lord and trusting in Him. David continually experienced that the Lord was near, that He was his helper and his salvation. We learn to be patient by waiting on the Lord, and patience results in a tried mind. We learn to know the Lord and His faithfulness. He can tarry for a long time, but He never comes too late. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Ps. 50:15.

God is faithful in all of life’s circumstances. Therefore we must come to trust in Him more; also trust in His election of grace. Our calling and our election are immovable. Nothing and no one can move us from the work which he has chosen for us.

In Psalms 1 we read if we are God-fearing we will be like a tree that is planted by rivers of water. “And whatever he does shall prosper.” This is the experience of someone who serves the Lord without distraction. Think of the difference between him and those who are described in verse 4: “The ungodly . . . are like the chaff which the wind drives away.” If we firmly cling to the Lord, we will also be immovable in all the storms of life.

The widow in Zarephath that we read about in 1 Kings 17 was in a desperate situation but she received what the man of faith, Elijah, said to her, and did not let go of God’s promises; consequently she experienced a miracle from God.

The Cross

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. This is the King’s Highway to a blessed and happy life. In the following verse Jesus speaks about saving one’s life and losing one’s life. Generally, people are busy with saving their life in this world, garnering as much honor and money as possible, etc., and at the end of their life they have to leave everything behind. They have lost “themselves” or have been destroyed, as we read in verse 25.

In the religious world it is normal to praise Jesus for dying on the cross of Calvary, but the life of which the apostle Paul testifies in Galatians 2:20 is totally foreign to the vast majority: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . .”

In Chapter 5:11 we find the expression, “the offense of the cross.” A person is usually offended when he has to acknowledge that he is utterly incapable of doing the good. Paul expresses it with these words: “But I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14. Once we have come to such an acknowledgment we are able to hate our own life according to the flesh. Then we will love the cross that sets us free from everything we hate.

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything . . . .” Gal. 5:6. Neither do we count for anything—whether we are rich or poor or whether we have certain inherited traits or not, etc. In this context we are all alike. The thing that avails anything is only “faith working through love.” Therefore we have nothing to boast of. Paul boasted of one thing only: The cross of Jesus Christ. Ch. 6:4. For by it he, too, was crucified. He had come to this acknowledgment that he was sold under sin, the sin which he hated. The person who loves his life according to the flesh has no use for the cross; but the person who hates his self-life loves the cross and loves to take up his cross daily and follow Jesus. Therefore we must be so zealous in our spirit that we begin to hate everything that is not pleasing to God. It is not good enough just to have a good name, and be reckoned as a good brother or sister; but it is of vital importance to direct the searchlight against a world of unrighteousness that is found in our nature. It is this “world of unrighteousness” that the cross has to deal with. Everyone who proclaims the Word in the church must possess this hatred against his own flesh. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the Word is the power of God. All those who discover that the word of the cross is a help long to be set free from what they were “sold under.” They can truly rejoice that they have received a holy calling.

Paul writes to Timothy about those who have a form of godliness, but deny its power. We will be among those who have a form of godliness if we do not take up our cross daily. On the other hand, if we take up our cross, we will partake of the power of godliness.

We Confirm Our Calling Through Humility

The account of Saul in 1 Samuel 15 shows us how it will go if we begin in the Spirit but end up in the flesh. Saul was chosen to be king over Israel because he was lowly in his own eyes, but he was rejected because of his disobedience to the Lord’s commandment. He had a good beginning, and if he had continued the way he began, God would have confirmed his kingdom. However, he exalted himself in his own eyes and rejected the Lord’s commandment.

It is in vain for a person to be capable and talented if he does not live in the obedience of faith. The apostle wrote to the Hebrews that according to the time they should have been teachers but they were still like babes because there was a lack of obedience to what they had already heard and learned. Ch. 5:12-14. Concerning servants in the church it says that they shall be tested first, and afterwards they can serve in the church if they have been found to be blameless. 1 Tim. 3:10. We learn from this that we cannot, without further ado, rely on untested people. All of us should, in all humility, realize that in spite of growth and development in God, we have sin in the flesh and commit deeds of the body that must be put to death by the Spirit. And this is the very point: We shall put them to death by the Spirit. The question is what do we do with them when we get to see what we hate?

Many people are rather blind to their own folly. We need to understand that we have such a flesh that we have much, even very much, to put to death by the Spirit. We must love the truth with all of our heart, also when it concerns ourselves, if we are to partake of this thorough salvation.

In 2 Samuel 6 and 7 we see how David reacted in a totally different way than Saul. David said to Michal: “I will humble myself even more than this and be little in my own eyes.” With these words he confirmed his calling. This should encourage us to discover the abominable stuff in us that wants to come up, be exalted, and be visible, so that we can bring it into the death of Christ.

In 2 Peter 1 we read about making our calling and election sure. In the same connection we also read about the virtues of Christ that shall grow and increase in us. The virtues grow forth from the soil of humility. By humbling ourselves in our daily life we make our calling and election sure. It is wise for us to consider that God has appointed a day of judgment over everything that is proud and high, over everything that is exalted, so that it is humbled. Isa. 2:12.

Let us learn from the Master. We read so clearly about His humiliation in Philippians 2. He renounced the glory He had with His Father of His own accord in order to lay down His life for us. He “made Himself of no reputation”! How much have you and I “of ourselves” renounced anything for Jesus’ sake? How much have we prayed, how much have we worked so that others could come to life and glory in God? When we read Philippians 2 we get a glimpse into the life of Him who truly made His calling and election sure, and how it happened; and God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is over all names. In the end He will submit Himself to Him who has put all things under Him. 1 Cor. 15:28. This is truly a fine “race course!

Transformed Into the Same Image

In Colossians 1 we read that Jesus is the image of the invisible God; He is the head of the body, which is the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. If there is a place where we should conduct ourselves with reverence, it is in the church, of which Christ is the beginning. Just imagine what He, who is the beginning, can do for us. He can create new life in us, a holy life to His pleasure. Concerning this we all must have faith and confidence in Him, in His election of grace and cast ourselves down before Him, worshiping Him with the most profound thankfulness. All human honor is excluded in the church! All of us were far, far away from happiness and wisdom. He re-creates us into a new person, and about this new person it is written that he is renewed in knowledge into his Creator’s image. Col. 3:10. Just imagine! Into the image of his Creator! And the new life He creates in us is able to do all God’s will—to do God’s will even as it is done in heaven!

Everything that is born of God overcomes the world. He who is born of God does not commit sin. He who is born of God keeps himself, and the evil one will not touch him. 1 John 5:4, 18. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” V. 19. The person who is envious in his heart or who backbites is not of God. When we do the good, then we are of God. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read that everyone who beholds the glory of the Lord is transformed into the same image. We read, “But we all . . . are being transformed.” Not just a few, not just an “elite,” but all who truly behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed! There are tremendous powers of creation in Him who is the beginning. This process of transformation takes place during life’s many and amazing circumstances in which we must humble ourselves, suffer, and be surrendered into the death of Christ. All this results in our being “blameless in holiness before our God and Father.” 1 Thess. 3:13. Or as we read in Romans 6:5: “For if we have been united in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” And in Colossians 3:4 we read, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

Strive For Purity

In Revelation 3 we read about the angel of the church in Philadelphia who had an open door to all God’s glory, a door that no one could shut. The secret was that he had kept God’s Word. He had a little strength, but his strength was in the Word. He was also humble, for God gives grace to the humble.

We live in a time in which impurity flourishes as never before. And people suffer. Children suffer. We who have a heavenly calling must prepare ourselves for that great Day when the earth will be redeemed from all this darkness. In Revelation 22 we read about the river of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. We are to pass on this crystal clear water. It must not be colored by our person, our opinions. God’s pure Word is also described as pure milk. This is nourishment by which we can grow. They are words by which we can be saved. We are to pass on this Word further to people.

When we read in the epistle to the Philippians, which Paul wrote while he was imprisoned, it is striking how often he writes about joy. He lived an unshakable and good life to which we have also been called; in bad report and in good report, in abundance or in poverty. If we are diligent to keep our heart pure we can lead an unshakable and good life in all of life’s various circumstances.

Jesus speaks about rivers of living water. Jesus had these rivers in His life that flowed out to a dying world. Jesus said to His disciples: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” John 15:3. There was such power in His words because they were pure words.

Arild Tombre