Easter Conference

The exhortation in Hebrews 10:25 about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but meeting in order to exhort one another was emphasized at one of the meetings during the Easter Conference at Brunstad. This applies first and foremost to meetings and gatherings in our local fellowships. However, we can also be very thankful for the opportunities we have to gather at our international conferences, which always give us a fullness of exhortations and encouragement in the right direction for each one of us who desires to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

In this brief report, we have chosen to render the most important points of the message that were brought out by br. Kåre J. Smith’s ministry.

Of This Salvation . . .

“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired . . . .” 1 Pet. 1:10-12. This salvation was something totally new. It wasn’t just a salvation from committed sin, or the forgiveness of sins. It was a work of salvation so great that Jesus’ life can now be revealed in our bodies! The Word can now become flesh in us just as it became flesh in Him. After we have had our sins forgiven, the Lord begins to work in us both to will and to do; we are even created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared for us beforehand. Eph. 2:10. Then we can become servants of God and have our fruit unto sanctification, as Paul writes in Romans 6:22. Then we really begin to see ourselves; we begin to see our insufficiency as servants; we enter into need over ourselves and we have many opportunities to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. We partake of sanctification. To this end we receive abundant grace; grace to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. This is the bride of Christ. There is a difference between the large flock that we can call God’s people, and the little flock which the Bible calls the bride. Who are these bridal souls? They are the ones who faithfully live the hidden life with Christ in God. You cannot just point them out. This life is hidden, but one day this hidden life will be revealed.

On this way we have fellowship with Him in His sufferings. Phil. 3:10. Here we have opportunity to humble ourselves as He humbled Himself; to suffer as He suffered. We receive revelations of the Spirit and we become stewards who can share with others and help others in their need. 2 Cor. 1:3-7. We are in contact with the living God and are increasingly liberated from people and what they think.

It is great grace to have received an ear for such a life. Most people don’t have an ear for it. However, the person who has an ear for these truths and this life also knows that he has been chosen by the Father to partake of this glory. This must be our whole desire and mind; this is where we have to be anchored.

In Isaiah 51:4 it is written so significantly: “Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, O My church.” Give ear to Me! The church listens to and is led by paying heed to what the Spirit says. Then we hear what only pure hearts can hear, and on this way of sanctification the body of sin is slowly destroyed, because this is a salvation from the very root of sin!

In Isaiah 50:4 we read about hearing as a disciple hears. Disciples hear completely differently than other people. They hear in order to do. They hear in order to learn. They are in training, an exalted training. This is a royal and priestly training and molding, and these words apply to them: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Rev. 2 & 3. The Spirit always speaks of victory. “He who overcomes . . . !” When we are in tribulation, we must always turn our ear to the Spirit, who speaks of victory. Then we don’t just see the tribulation we are in, but also the promises: the greatest and most precious promises about partaking of divine nature, about perfect victory in life’s situations. Therefore let us turn our ear to the voice of the Spirit in our tribulation, and not to the kind of voice that causes us to draw back from God’s grace so that a bitter, destructive root grows up. 2 Pet. 1:3-11; Heb. 12:15.

Stewards of God’s Mysteries

“Let a man so consider us, as a servant of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” 1 Cor. 4:1-2.

In our days there are not many people, who have insight into and an understanding of God’s mysteries such that they can also be considered servants and stewards of them. There are not many people who have spiritual food to give to hungry souls. In Matthew 24:44 ff., we read about such servants and stewards. They can give others food at the right time. They are prepared to serve for the church’s best, for the others’ eternal benefit at any time. They are God-fearing, for it is written in 1 Timothy 3:16 about Jesus Christ that He is a mystery of godliness. It takes godly fear! A person may have a fair amount of life experience, but unless he is God-fearing, the mystery of godliness will not be evident in his life. When we are God-fearing, it is a true comfort for us that Jesus also had to deny and humble Himself. “The mysteries of God” are a great help to a God-fearing person. If a person is not God-fearing, he is left standing with dry knowledge. The God-fearing person is poor in himself; he experiences that God stands at the right hand of the poor to save him. Ps. 109:31. The God-fearing person will also stand at the right hand of the poor without being partial.

From Jesus’ words to Peter, when He asked him three times, “Do you love Me?” and then exhorted Peter to watch and feed the lambs and sheep, we understand that it is the love of Christ that must constrain us to serve others. John 21:15-17. When we love Jesus and serve on the basis of our love for Him, we receive grace to speak words by which the others can be saved. A true shepherd has nourishment to give. However, if he starts beating the sheep instead of giving them nourishment, it is a result of great unfaithfulness in the servant’s life. This is what Jesus says in the parable of the good and the evil servant. He didn’t have nourishment to give and thus began to beat and reproach. That is the result of unfaithfulness in one’s personal life and is the cause of not having any nourishment to give to the church.

In Ezekiel 44 we read about the sons of Zadok who were faithful when the children of Israel strayed from God. They alone were allowed to approach the table of the Lord. The others were not permitted to present holy food; they had a blemish. A person has to be absolutely blameless! Everyone who wants to serve in the church must ask himself in life’s various situations: “As a servant of the Lord, is it fitting for me to do or say such and such?” This is how one ought to begin to live from one’s youth!

We are well instructed regarding this point in Leviticus 21:21, where those who had a defect were not permitted to approach to offer the bread of their God. In a spiritual sense this means (for example) that if someone has sins on his conscience which he has not cleansed away, he has a defect and is not qualified to be a steward. A faithful steward always makes sure to have a good conscience before God and men. Then the Lord can speak to him and he can receive nourishment to give to others.

Our Calling Is to Bless

It is important to remember that we are called to bless when the devil uses people to attack the church. We read about this in 1 Peter 3:9 ff. (among other scriptures). People’s malice presents us with an opportunity to be good. In any case, we shall not do anything evil, but remain in goodness. Such opportunities will serve us for our good if we make use of them to do good, to bless. By doing so we gather treasures in heaven.

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?” V. 13. The only way for people to do us any evil is to get us to sin. Balaam also understood this: he taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit adultery. However, it went badly with him as it does with all those who live in the same deception. We must not be overcome by evil because of others’ conduct. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom. 12:17-21. If we follow these exhortations, we come into the same situation in which Abraham was when God said to him, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.” Gen. 12:3. In Galatians 3:16 we see that Abraham’s Seed is Christ and therefore so are those who belong to Christ, i.e., those who have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Ch. 5:24. When our flesh is on the cross, we bless people. Then no one can do us anything bad—that is, get us to sin—as long as we bless.

It is also edifying to think about Joseph, who said to his brothers: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Gen. 50:20. This was Joseph’s experience precisely because he did the good. What was meant as evil became in reality the greatest gift he could have received. As a result Romans 8:28 was fulfilled.

Growth on a Righteous Foundation

“If I have covered my transgressions as men do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great multitude, and dreaded the contempt of families, so that I kept silence and did not go out of the door . . . .” These words from Job 31:31-34 show us what men do, namely hide their sin and live with many things that have not been brought to the light. People don’t clear up their matters; they would rather live in hypocrisy, trying to get others to believe that everything is in order. However, nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. Matt. 10:36. If you want to progress and experience sanctification in your life, you will have to build on a righteous foundation with a pure conscience.

In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul relates his tribulations and the glory these tribulations produce. We realize from this that Paul had abundant opportunity to partake of more sanctification in his tribulations. Especially in tribulations we see that we are not as “pious” as we may have believed. We get to see the deeds of the body to a greater degree and thus we have an opportunity to bear the dying of Jesus in our body. All this happens so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.

All of us are tempted. Then we can grow in the virtues of Christ if we react in the right way. Growth! The intention is that we shall make progress, and not that the same thing bothers us year after year. Paul shows us the way to this growth by testifying in verse 18 that he looked at the invisible things and not at the visible things. Then our tribulations will be but for a moment and light and produce for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. V. 17.

The Way into Rest

By nature we are restless, and we are occupied with other people’s testimony about us. In Hebrews 4:9-13 we read about a glorious way, a way into rest. We enter into rest on the way of faith on which we have to give account only to God. We cannot ask for advice from our human reasoning and feelings. For example, when it is a question of overcoming evil with good, we must believe and obey, and then we will experience that God’s Word is truth. Paul’s ministry as an apostle was to lead individuals to the obedience of the faith. Rom. 1:5. It is written that the heroes of faith in the Old Testament received a good testimony because of their faith; and by faith they had tremendous experiences. Heb. 11.

God’s Word must separate in our inner man until it pierces “even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Ch. 4:12. Maturity in Christ is defined as having our senses exercised by reason of use to discern between good and evil. Ch. 5:14. When what we by nature understand and feel is separated, then God’s Word can do a work in our inner man.

We learn much from the account of the twelve spies who spied out the land of Canaan. All of them agreed that the land was wonderful, but most of them used their senses and were paralyzed by unbelief. Only Joshua and Caleb counted with God and with God alone. They stayed far away from the doubt and unbelief that enteres through our senses. They rested in God’s guidance in their lives and in His guidance of the people. We, too, must have full confidence and trust in God in all our circumstances, knowing that all things will work together so that we can partake of His holiness.

Perfect Salvation

In Hebrews 6:1-3 we are exhorted to go on to perfection. “And this we will do if God permits,” it says in verse 3. Indeed, if we have a fervent desire for perfection, we can rest assured that we will receive permission. We have a strong comfort, an anchor for our soul that enters “behind the veil.” Vs. 18-20. When we read Chapter 7:16 ff., we see that Jesus has become the guarantor of the new covenant in which He can save to the uttermost (perfectly) those who come to God through Him, and that He ever lives to make intercession for us. This perfect salvation means that everything, yes, everything can be restored in our life. Ch. 9:10. In verse 12 this is called an “eternal redemption.”

The promises are that we become partakers of divine nature. In Chapter 10:23 we are exhorted to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. We are also exhorted not to forget the assembling of ourselves together but rather to encourage one another to love and good works.

If we want to hold fast the confession of our hope and have this hope clearly and firmly embedded in our hearts, we should be zealous in gathering together for meetings and gatherings and encourage each other to this blessed life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Arild Tombre